Axel Light Trilogy: Wands and Shield

Chapter 32-A

Once Linden got an all-clear, he had Translocated directly from his office to a designated and secured spot at Xeliq Hospital. Rowen, Pickard and Robert were waiting there for them, with some nurses and a stretcher ready for Axel.

Once Axel laid down on the stretcher, he closed his eyes, grimacing in pain. But he did not shout or complain. He held his wands close to him, clutching them and would not let the nurses or anyone, not even Robert, to pry them away from him.

'It's OK, you can keep them with you,' said Robert warmly when they reached an operating room, 'Commissioner Linden, you have to wait outside.'

Linden stopped at the door of the operating room, Rowen pulling him back slightly. He did want to go into the operating room, he was not really thinking straight.

'Commissioner Linden, we have a meeting in a few minutes,' reminded Rowen softly, 'Axel will be fine. We have double-securities and only those who are cleared are allowed to be here.'

Linden looked at Rowen who had given him a smile. He felt tired suddenly and hungry. He gave Rowen a nod.

'I'll grab some coffee and sandwiches before...'

'We had prepared some in the meeting room, Commissioner Linden,' said Pickard quickly, 'Everyone needs them.'

In the meeting room, Linden had a whole pot of coffee to himself. He had polished the sandwiches in a few seconds. He listened to the reports by Rowen, Pickard and Monsford, while he poured more coffee into his cup.

'We believed that Johnson is not in Xeliq. She must had left right after she had brought Axel to Veldor Mansion. She would have an hour before we closed the borders which all she needed was five, ten minutes to take a broom and fly out from Xeliq,' said Monsford, 'We had retrieved some memories from her father, who had willingly allowed us to. We can confirm now that it was an Elite called Carter Benson who had hurt her father. He had warned Johnson's father not to give any more trouble to his girlfriend.'

'Carter Benson... one of Cyrus Veldor's right hand man?' asked Rowen, frowning.

Monsford nodded grimly, 'I believe he was the one who had injured Elliot as well. The same ruthless style.'

'What if Johnson was bewitched... she was not aware at all what she was doing...' said Pickard edgily.

'It is too late now, isn't it?' quipped Monsford, 'We don't even know where she is now. We must release her from our roster and place her on a warrant for an arrest. Axel and Stanley are the witnesses. Stanley had tried to fend her off when she had gagged him with a handkerchief full of poison.'

'What did Axel say about his encounter with Cyrus Veldor,' asked Rowen curiously.

Linden drained his cup of coffee – the pot was now empty. He looked at the faces staring at him, waiting for him to tell them everything that Axel had told him in his office.

'Axel's mind was clouded. I tried to penetrate it, but I could not,' said Linden, 'I had to rely on what he could remember, which was not a lot, and it was messy. I don't think he knows what was real and what was not. Like, he said that he saw his mother. He had also said that Cyrus Veldor took his key to have a look and gave it back to him.'

'To have a look?!' said Rowen surprised, 'Cyrus Veldor would either take it or leave it. He would not 'borrow' anything...'

Linden nodded grimly, 'Axel's mind is in a mess. He said that Cyrus Veldor had read his mind and placed some memories in his mind. I believe it was deliberate to confuse us. A ruthless tactic. He must had placed some fake memories, so that we or Axel, can't tell what is real and fake, and we can never extract Axel's memories to use as evidence against him.'

'Evil!' cried Monsford, 'To temper with Axel's mind... it can make him go crazy!'

Linden nodded again, 'I am surprised he has not. He is stronger than we think he is. He was speaking calmly and logically. He was just confused. Very confused.'

'What do we do next, Commissioner Linden?' asked Pickard.

'We need to get back to Stirling and keep Axel there,' said Linden, 'We can't risk having him here at Xeliq. Too close to Cyrus Veldor and...' he paused.

'The Ministry, isn't it?' said Rowen softly, 'Minister Ringard is pushing the idea of using Axel as their poster boy against the resurgence of threats to Non-Magical, isn't he? Since Axel was a Non-Magical, a lot of Non-Magical would see him in common, that he would understand Non-Magical very well. While in the Magical world, Magical are still amazed with his sudden appearance. Words had spread that he owns two wands and also, his escape from the Elites unscathed while Elliot lost a leg.'

Linden sighed and rubbed his forehead.

'Not totally untrue, but taken out of context,' sighed Linden, 'Axel had no idea what he had done at all. But people choose to believe that he is special.'

'He didn't do anything! That's the whole point!' cried Monsford, shaking his head.

'We have no control at what the Ministry wants to do. The good news is that the Ministry can't ask us to do anything as they like. I will make sure of that,' said Linden firmly, 'The priority now is to bring Axel back to Stirling as soon as we can.'

'Yes, Commissioner Linden,' barked Rowen, Pickard and Monsford.

'We have to wait until Stanley is recovered too, you know, he is Axel's...' said Rowen uncertainly.

'Stanley is fine, I just went to see him earlier,' said Pickard, 'He should be out of the hospital soon.'

Linden nodded gladly.

'What about the second?' asked Rowen, still worried.

Linden glanced at Pickard and Monsford – both had inflated their chests, ready to be called upon by the Commissioner.

'I would prefer Pickard to stay here to handle Traffic. There's a lot to do at Traffic recently, with all the breaches,' said Linden thoughtfully, 'But Monsford, you have a young child at home...'

'I am willing to take your orders, Commissioner Linden!' said Monsford determinedly, 'It will be an honour to be Lieutenant Stanley's second!'

'I think Monsford is the best choice, right at the beginning, actually,' said Rowen agreeably.

'Thank you, Commander Rowen!' barked Monsford proudly.

Linden looked at Monsford determined face uncertainly, 'Do you want to discuss with your wife before you agree...'

'Already done so, Commissioner! My wife gives her full support to me and MaxPol!' said Monsford loud and clear.

Linden gave Monsford an appreciative nod.

'We will make it a tight group for direct access to Axel. I am not taking any more risks,' said Linden grimly, 'No new MaxPol. Only those who are cleared.'

'Understood, Commissioner Linden!'

'This is just the beginning,' said Linden grimly, 'What we had, was just a glimpse of what Cyrus Veldor is planning to do.'