Way of The Wand

Timi didn’t have a chance to talk with Tomi until they returned home. Their classmates had insisted on taking Timi to the park and paying for his rides to celebrate his victory over Korath.

He appreciated their warmth and love of course, but he couldn’t get over the fact that the tournament would be decided in a battle between his sister and Daila.

It was supposed to be him. That had been the plan.

Not that he didn’t believe in Tomi, but unlike him, she wasn’t all that comfortable with sparring other people.

Tomi wasn’t the type to get in people’s faces and challenge them to a duel. In fact, he was sure she’d never been in a fight her whole life, and now, the fate of all witches in Edoh rested on her shoulders.

That deserved a long, private conversation between the two of them, and the opportunity came when they got home and discovered their parents had not yet returned from the shop.

“Are you okay?” Tomi asked when she noticed the grave look in Timi’s face as he sat on the sofa.

Timi patted the space on the sofa beside him. “Come seat.”

He took her right hand in his and spoke in a low soothing voice. “You know what this means right? It’s up to you now to win this tournament.”

The graveness spread from Timi’s face to Tomi’s.

“Yeah,” she replied, her voice even lower than his.

Ever since the day Tomi came out their mother’s belly, Timi had always felt it was his responsibility to take care of and protect her. One decision in his life highlighted just how seriously he took that responsibility.

Education in Edoh was divided into two aspects: non-magical and magical.

The non-magical aspect of Edoh education ran from when kids where seven till they were twelve. Then in their thirteenth year, they began the magical aspect of their education by choosing to study either witchcraft or wizardry.

While in non-magical school, Timi had been two classes ahead of Tomi.

His younger sister’s timidity made her a prime candidate for bullying from her peers, and for years, Tomi kept it to herself, until Timi discovered what was happening and made the bullies pay.

When it came time for him to begin studying witchcraft at thirteen, Timi refused, insisting he wanted to start together with Tomi.

He didn’t want a repeat of what had happened, of strangers belittling and bullying his sister for years all to his obliviousness. He would have known what was going on if he’d been in the same class with her and then he would have been able to stop it before the bullying even began.

And so it was that he waited two years until Tomi wrapped up with her non-magical education just so they could start their studies in witchcraft at the same time.

“Look, I’m your brother—” Timi reminded Tomi as if she’d forgotten. “—and since we started at Jira’s a year ago, I haven’t seen you cast a spell to hurt another human being. Are you going to be okay fighting Daila?”

Tomi withdrew her hand. Everything Timi said was true. She didn’t have any experience in duelling at all, how was she going to face Daila, who according to rumours, ate people in battles for breakfast?

“Well, it’s not a fight, fight,” Tomi said, consoling herself in the notion that the duel would be for show. It was a tournament, not a fight to the death. They wouldn’t be trying to kill each other.

“Even so,” Timi stressed, “you might have to hurt her, and you’ll have to take some hurt yourself. There’s no way around that.”

Tomi’s head dropped as images of her locked in a battle against a faceless Daila rushed through her head.

“I’ll just have to find a way to do it.”

“Yeah,” Timi agreed. “You’re going to need to toughen up, and you know what? I’m going to help you.”

Tomi raised her head, her cheeks puffing with interest. “How?”

“Where’s your wand?”

Tomi reached into her pocket for her wooden wand and showed it to Timi.

Timi got off the sofa and took out his wand too. “Attack me.”

“What?” The interest in Tomi’s face gave way to horror. “Here? Right now?”

“Yeah,” Timi answered, his voice dripping with seriousness.

Tomi glanced around the sitting room, thinking of how much damage they could do, how many pieces of furniture they could end up breaking: The brown curtains their Mum had bought from her trip to Yobe, the vase from Owo, the glass windows that had broken twice before and had to be repaired by their parents.

“If we break something Mum’s going to kill us.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Timi said, shaking his head. “I mastered the repair spell last night.”

“Still…”

Timi dropped his hands. “Tomi, you’re just looking for an excuse not to fight me. Come on, just try to hit me. One shot.”

Tomi motioned her arm in a circle. “Fine. Remember, you asked for it.”

As she made to say the word, “blast,” the front door opened and someone neither of them was expecting to see stepped in.

“Kano?” Timi’s surprise was evident in his voice.

“Hey guys.” Kano waved.

“Our parents aren’t around,” Tomi was quick to say, guessing he’d come to see them.

“Actually,” Kano replied, “I came to see you. I need your help.”