Way of The Wand

Chidi had a stressful school today, and as the bell for his final class that day rang, he whipped up his bag and threw it over his back.

He had told some of his classmates they’d get lunch together at the cafeteria, but he was too tired to even eat now. His one need at the moment was sleep. A long, restful and relaxing sleep.

It was his fault he’d been dozing in class. Had he not spent the entirety of the previous night with Jira, this wouldn’t be happening.

He slugged to the elevator, barely responding to greetings from other classmates. He hoped they would forgive him for being such a snub.

The enchanted elevator responded quickly. On other days one could wait ten minutes and still not get a free elevator.

Chidi stepped in and rested his body against one side of the metal box, suspended not by ropes and pulleys, but just magic.

He had refused to use the elevator throughout his first week at Airad. He was so terrified of the floating box that he would climb the stairs all the way to the thirteenth floor and back rather than get in.

How things had changed. He was no longer scared of heights like before, having started preparations for his flight training, which would begin the next semester. For now, all he could do was leap high into the air until gravity pulled him back. But soon, he would be able to soar like Kano.

He pushed the button for ninth floor, but as the door to the elevator closed someone put a hand through it.

The doors retracted, revealing Daila Rakha and Korath Leman.

The two older students stepped in and positioned themselves at either side of Chidi.

The door closed.

Chidi kept his face straight. His throat bulged, sending a lump down his chest to his heart. Whatever their reason for cornering him like this, it couldn’t be good.

“Chidi,” Daila called softly, but even in that tone, she sounded as menacing as a raging spirit.

Chidi cleared his throat. “What do you want with me?”

Before Daila could reply, the door opened again. Someone had pushed the button for it to open on the third floor.

Daila shot the pack of students waiting for the elevator a cold stare and cocked her head to one side ever so slightly.

The students got the message and backed away from the elevator. One of them mumbled to the rest, “Come on, we’ll take the stairs.”

The elevator closed without anyone coming in, leaving Daila with a smirk on her face.

As the elevator continued to rise, Daila spoke.

“Chidi, you snuck out to help out Jira.”

Chidi stuttered as he tried to make a denial.

Daila shushed him. “Nothing happens in this school without my knowledge. My Mum can be sometimes clueless, but not me. I know everything, even if I turn a blind eye to most things.”

“What do you want?” Chidi tried to harden his voice, and yet it still came out shaky.

“You’ve been helping Airad’s opponent. That’s treason Chidi, and it’s grounds for expulsion. But lucky for you, I’m in a good mood today so I’m willing to keep your indiscretions between us.”

“And in exchange?”

“Surely you can’t be stupid as you look. Stop what you’re doing. No more calls, no more meet-ups. I don’t want to hear you as much as voice out Jira’s name. Capisce?”

“And if I refuse?”

Diala interlocked her fingers. “I won’t just get you expelled from Airad, I’ll make sure no wizarding school in Edoh takes you in. Your dreams of becoming a powerful wizard and helping your poor family will burn to ash. So, ask yourself, is my sister really worth that much to you?”

Chidi sighed. “Fine. You got it.”

“Good,” Daila said, and then made the elevator stop. “Now get out.”

Chidi looked at the number of the floor they were on. Seven.

“I’m going to the ninth floor.”

Korath turned his head to face Chidi. “She never repeats herself.”

That was all the warning Chidi needed and stepped out immediately the elevator’s doors opened.

Daila pushed the button for the thirteenth floor as the doors closed again.

“Now let’s go see my Mum.”

As usual, Kalinda Rohka was in a fabric so red it looked like it was sewn from blood.

Korath and Daila met Kalinda in the middle of a call.

When Kalinda noticed the students, she informed the person she was talking to that she had to go, and then, the head of water she’d been speaking to collapsed back into the small calabash on her table.

“This better be good,” Kalinda said, “you interrupted my call with a member of the King’s court. Apparently, King Bolu is having a hard time convincing his daughter to enrol here.”

Daila strode to her mother’s desk. “Weren’t you and King Bolu classmates? Didn’t you date him at one time?”

“I’ll be asking the questions young lady,” Kalinda said.

Daila leaned forward, a sly smile forming on her lips. “I’m just saying, if you had married the king, I would have been a princess.”

Kalinda rolled her eyes. “Daila if I had married King Bolu, you wouldn’t have been born,” she said, wiping Daila’s sultry smile from her face.

Kalinda beckoned to Korath to come closer.

“Principal Kalinda,” he greeted as he joined Daila in front of Kalinda’s desk.

Kalinda gestured for one of them to talk. “I don’t have a lot of time, so if you came here to tell me something, say it.”

Daila placed a hand on her mother’s desk, lowering her voice as she spoke. “Mum aren’t you worried about the next task?”

“The task for smarts? Why would I be worried?”

“For one, we all know due to their lack of sheer power, witches often compensate by resorting to tricks. Which means, this is Jira’s territory. Plus, Kano let it slip that Korath would be representing Airad, and no doubt Jira has done her research on Korath by now. What I’m trying to say Mum is, we’re at a massive disadvantage here.”

Kalinda locked her hands together and repositioned them on her desk. “What would you have me do?”

“Tip things to our favour. On the day of the task, we’ll say because Jira knows the identity of all our champions, so we’re striking out the secret identity rule.”

“I don’t see how that makes any difference.”

“I’m not done yet.” Daila sucked in a breath of air and continued. “We convince Jira to allow a coin toss decide which of the remaining two champions gets to compete in which tasks.”

Kalinda laughed. “And you expect Jira to go along with this?”

“Jira? No. But her pupils? Absolutely. Witches are desperate for a win. That little girl’s performance against Kano gave them false hope. We’ll use their hope to our advantage.”

Korath brought out a gold gamin coin from his pocket and dropped it on Kalinda’s table. “My grandmother gave me that. It’s enchanted.”

Kalinda picked the coin and twirled it in her fingers. “Yes, this will do.”