Axel Light Trilogy: Wands and Shield

Chapter 19-A

Nottingway of Forensics placed Axel's key and wand, sealed in MaxPol transparent bags on Linden's desk.

'Nothing?' asked Linden, disappointment written all over his face.

Nottingway nodded grimly.

'We could not find any abnormalities with the key. Except that it will not open anything at all,' said Nottingway.

They had tried the key everywhere. The doors, the windows, anything that they could fit in a key at Natasha Wyndham's house – outside of it – they had tried. Nottingway had tried on master locks in Forensics too, one that could fit any key. Nothing worked.

'What about the wand?' snapped Linden as he massaged his forehead.

'As common as my wand and your wand, Commissioner Linden,' said Nottingway, 'Well, the physical wand – the wood, the built, everything is common. The Magical part of it though, we need Axel to hold it before we can do any testing.'

'Which is not possible. I don't want him to lay a finger on the wand. Not so soon. Anyway, he is in Stirling,' said Linden, his eyes twitched suddenly, 'I don't want him to step a foot in Xeliq at all.'

'But he will be without a wand,' said Nottingway worriedly, 'As a Magical, he will feel lost without a wand.'

'He had done so for sixteen years, he can go without it for a few more days,' quipped Linden, 'I want him to calm down before he would hold the wand again.'

Nottingway nodded agreeably as he watched Linden suspended Axel's key and wand above his desk, protecting them in blue mists. Only Linden could reach for the key and wand and retrieve it. Other people, Nottingway included, if he would reach out for it, once his fingers touched the blue mists, he would be electrocuted. Nothing that could kill, but Linden would know immediately that someone had tried to reach for them.

Linden picked up the file that Nottingway had placed on his desk with the key and wand earlier.

'So, the last spell was...' Linden had gone quiet as he stared at the report.

Nottingway nodded gloomily.

'Not a spell that he knows,' said Linden grimly as he looked up from the file, 'Definitely not something that he had deliberately wanted to cast.'

'Well, technically, yes. You can't cast a spell that you do not know about. Just like you can't sing a song that you had never heard of before,' said Nottingway, 'But he did know that the spell existed.'

Linden looked at Nottingway thoughtfully, 'You can't execute a spell by just knowing there is such a spell. You need to know the chant and the stance. Otherwise, everyone can do anything with a wand.'

'But Axel Light had just done that... execute a spell that he did not know of,' said Nottingway nervously.

'Jeremy Krow said that it is in fact, possible,' said Linden.

'Jeremy Krow? The wand seller? At Million Wands?' said Nottingway, surprised.

Linden nodded, 'That's where Axel got his wand. I went to ask about the history of the wand, where it came from, if there was a previous owner, its make and special abilities.'

'What did he say?' said Nottingway edgily, anticipating for an answer.

'He said that only the buyer has the right to know and that it is confidential,' said Linden, his face crumpled in annoyance, 'A Magical bond that he can't break even if it is required by law. Not even when I had showed him the wand. He could only give generic answers, that is, if I phrased the questions in the right way.'

Nottingway looked at the Commissioner, startled with his sudden fury. Well, the Commissioner would normally get what he wanted. But Mr. Krow was always known to be eccentric and difficult to work with.

He had interviewed Mr. Krow many times throughout his Forensics years. Sometimes, he needed to know a wand owner, sometimes, about a make of a wand. Mr. Krow knew every of his wand. If it was not from Million Wands, he would know immediately and could tell him where it came from. So, usually, Nottingway would pay a visit to Million Wands first, of all the wand shops in Xeliq, saved him lots of time.

'I had told Mr. Krow what had happened to Axel's wand, but he still would not say anything about it,' said Linden bitterly, 'He even had the guts to joke that Axel might turn up in his shop to get another wand, since I am keeping his wand from him.'

'Did he?' gasped Nottingway while Linden sneezed.

Having interacted with Mr. Krow for a while now, Nottingway sometimes suspected that Mr. Krow had some sort of a premonition.

Linden nodded while rubbing his nose with a handkerchief, 'He said that Axel could do it once, he could do it again.'

'Then what did you say?' asked Nottingway, curious.

'I asked him to let me know if he sees Axel,' said Linden sarcastically, 'What else could I say?'