The Andre Miller Saga

Andre Miller 5 The Assault

"OK, remember what we told you. Don't be angry or frustrated when you use this one. Be assertive. Express your will on the rune and force it outward. If you do it with anger, you could seriously hurt someone." Andre said from behind Frankie.

Frankie was lined up about 50 feet from a stump with a five-gallon jug of water sitting on it. He was learning the shove combat rune. It had been a year since he started learning magic and he was proving a fast study. For his 21st birthday, Andre and Caleb had agreed to teach him a simple combat spell. Shove created a rush of wind and force to knock the target away and hopefully dissuade them from future hostility. "I got it. Assertive not angry, aware not fearful."

He made the rune with his wand in hand, slowly as he had practiced hundreds of times on paper, once the glowing rune appeared in the air, he thrust against it with his off hand causing the energy to rush forward and slam into the water jug and knock it into the air in an arc away from him and landed about 30 feet away and broke open. "Yes!" he exclaimed.

"Well done kid," said Caleb, "right on target." He patted him on the shoulder.

Andre jogged down and reclaimed the broken jug. It was caved in along one side and cracked along the bottom. He walked it back and showed it to Frankie and Caleb. "That's a good hard shove right there, good job. 5 gallons of water is 40 pounds, and you blew it 30 feet back, from 50 feet away. That'll knock a full-sized man around if you need it to. But remember..."

"I know, only as a last resort. Combat magic can carry bad karma if you do it wrong, and I don't need any more bad karma." Frankie had been in a cult from 17 to 19 and done some bad things that got him a lifetime's worth of bad karma in just a few short years.

"That's right," said Caleb, "I think the kid is starting to get it, Andre. Let's try it on the jug again. Now that it's empty, you're going to knock it around a lot. Try controlling the force to just bounce it 20 feet at a time."

They practiced for an hour, until Frankie had started to sweat from the exertion of casting the rune over and over. Andre called it good, collected what was left of the jug, and then headed back to the van. "You were getting the rune to go 5 out of 6 times. That's a hell of a good start. Keep practicing on the weekends and you'll have it down in no time." Andre said as they climbed in and headed back to the office. "How is the new job going?"

"Good, Tilly said I'm doing well keeping everything stocked and organized. The sales end of it is still a bit difficult, I'm not used to working with people." Frankie replied.

Frankie had started working as a clerk and stockman at Tilly's Shield, the local defensive magic store. He was taking lessons in defensive magic from Tilly's brother, Kyle. He got to practice and learn 3 days a week and worked 4 days a week at the shop, plus did clean up at the office. Since he had begun learning the basics of defensive magic he was in charge of warding the office and van at the end of the night. He'd been doing a good job.

They arrived at the office and there was a package leaned against the door, on the step. "What's this now?" said Andre as he picked it up, "Did either of you order something from," he looked at the label, "Bjornson's Emporium? It's addressed to the office."

Both of the others shook their heads. They unlocked the door and went inside. Andre did a quick scan of the box to make sure it wasn't boobytrapped. The three of them had enough collected enemies that it was standard practice to scan everything before opening it. He opened it with a knife and inside was a black wood box with silver inlay with a simple latch. He took it out of the cardboard and there was a card underneath.

"For his 21st birthday, a gift befitting an up-and-coming mage." But it was unsigned. Inside was a long knife in a black leather sheath. Andre drew it from the sheath and it was a kris-style long knife made of silver set with a large topaz in the pommel. The curves in the blade made it resemble a flame in profile.