Way of The Wand

Chapter 6

Kano knew he’d find his half-sister in the sparring room as it was her favourite spot in Airad, perhaps the entire city.

In all her years at Airad, Daila Rakha had never once lost a match.

Before he opened the door, Kano wondered what poor soul, or souls, had the misfortune of facing her today.

When Kano entered the room, the scene he was confronted with was exactly as he’d imagined. Of her seven opponents, four were on the ground writhing with pain. The three left standing had legs so shaky they looked like they would collapse under their own weight.

And Daila? She had that characteristic smirk on her face, hands clenched around an axe she’d just manifested, and a battle pose that would intimidate even the bravest kingsguard.

A spitting image of their mother, Daila had the same clear pale skin, curvy dark hair and eyes of fire.

Her attention diverted to Kano as he stepped into the room.

Her opponents, thinking this as an opportunity to strike, lurched at Daila.

But Daila, even when distracted, remained deadly. She levitated the axe into an opponent’s body, smashing the blunt handle into his gut.

He tripped, collapsing into the other attacker beside him.

The last of Daila’s opponents used his magic to lift the same axe, bringing it under his control and hurling it back at Daila.

Daila, who had materialised it in the first place, made the axe snap back to inexistence. She then manifested a length of chain in her hands and sent it wrapping around her final opponent’s legs, yanking him off his feet.

She then dragged the poor boy across the floor all the way to the other side of the room, and sealed the free end of the chain into the wall, pinning him in place.

Three slow claps rang out as Kano approached Daila.

“Good job,” he taunted. “As always, they were no match for you.”

Daila motioned with her head for her defeated opponents to leave. One of them ran to help free the boy pinned against the wall. Once freed, everyone scurried out as quickly as they could.

Kano chuckled. “They’re terrified of you.”

“As they should,” Daila replied, going over to the coat stand to pick her black robes.

She draped the large cloak over her shoulders, covering her black pants and top, moist with sweat.

“Where did you go?” Daila asked, taking her seat on one of the benches in the room.

Kano followed her to the bench but instead of sitting, chose to remain standing.

“I went out.”

“To where?” Daila pressed.

“Out.”

Daila’s face tightened with displeasure. “You’re only this evasive whenever you go visit that sister of yours.”

“She’s your sister too, you know?”

“Half. Sister.”

Kano shifted his heels on the floor. If Daila was saying Jira didn’t mean anything to her because they were half-sisters, what did that say about his and Daila’s relationship as they were half-siblings too?

“Why do you hate her so much?”

“I don’t,” Daila replied.

It wasn’t a lie. She did not hate Jira, even if it looked like she did. What she felt for her sister was worse—disappointment.

The way Daila saw it, by quitting Airad and choosing to study witchcraft over wizardry, Jira had wasted her huge potential.

Jira had promise and could have become an extremely powerful wizard, instead she settled for mediocrity and chose to become a witch. She turned her back on a life of privilege, a life others would kill for, to go squabble in one of the poorest parts of the city, all in the name of an idealistic pursuit rooted in the false notion that magic ought not be a means to power.

Daila growled under her breath.

“I hate what she’s done to our family, what she’s done to Airad.”

“You know it’s not that big of a deal, at least to me. Wizardry, witchcraft, it’s all still magic.”

“No!” Daila’s voice resonated with resentment. “Don’t you dare compare parlour tricks with true magic.”

She lifted her face to Kano. “I’m glad mother chose me for the task of strength. She has made it my responsibility to destroy whatever little reputation witchcraft has left, and I will not fail.”

Kano maintained his silence as Daila got up and walked out of the room.

She stopped at the exit, turning back to face Kano. Apparently, there was one last thing she needed to get off her mind.

“Witchcraft is on its way out. It’s dying, and I can think of no greater honour than getting to be the one who gets to put the final nail in its coffin.”

The air instantly became warmer as she vanished out the door.

Kano shook his head. He ached for the day when his family would be made whole again, but at the rate things were going, that had as much chance of happening as the witches had of winning this tournament.