PROLOGUE
On the fourteenth of July 2022, a lone witch apparated onto the desolate rocks of Chaos Chasm. Her cloak thrashed wildly in the wind, fanning out into the cold, bottomless abyss below. There was a reason she had chosen this stark, sinister place – her master, The Dark Lord himself had wished it. For the third time that day, Narcissa Patricious Malfoy took out the crumbling piece of parchment carefully tucked into the folds of her cloak.
Cissy,
If you're reading this, then I am dead. They murdered me, Cissy. With ice in their festering hearts, they killed your sister, your own blood. The Dark Lord has fallen and the duty falls on YOU, my lovely sister, to complete the task we promised him we would with our lives – our children's lives.
Draco's fate is in your hands. You made the vow – it is your task to fulfill it. Go to Chaos Chasm. There you shall find your destiny. Remember the Dark Lord himself, wishes it.
Bella
Narcissa clenched the note in her fist and flung it into the void stretching out in front of her. She knew of the task her deceased sister spoke of – knowing did not lessen her burden in any way. Etched into the coal black surface of the rock, just where it broke off into the chasm was a small symbol, the size of her palm:
X
Mortem
She did not know what the deep, jagged cross meant; but the words she knew too well. Mortem, Latin for death.
"Charming," she muttered and withdrew the small sharp knife she had brought specially for this task, slicing it swiftly across her wrist, and letting the steady stream of her blood bathe the rune in scarlet. Keeping her wrist firmly in place, Narcissa touched the tip of her wand to the intersection of the two rough lines and began to chant.
"I, Narcissa Patricious Malfoy," Her eyes widened and for a fraction of a second, her voice quivered at the scene. Her blood had begun to flow faster as if the carving itself was pulling it, craving it, using it to satisfy its need.
"… servant of The Dark Lord pledge to complete the task he has set for me."
Narcissa moaned, as her blood poured down in a torrent onto the rocks, her ashen face drawn in pain. Her wrist was burning, the words on the cliff glowing a deep green. For a second she saw two slitted eyes staring up at her from the void and heard a faint mocking cackle from Bellatrix.
Scorpius. Draco. I need to do this to save them.
A faint hiss rose from the chasm, steadily growing louder. Steam was rising all around her, the black vapors coiling around her arms, her legs, gagging and binding her in place. A shapeless figure was rising from the abyss, green eyes glowing like a viper. The hissing filled her ears muffling her cries, blinding green light and smoke rising faster from the void…
Draco Scorpius Lucius Asteria Narcissa cited every name she knew, desperate for something, anything to hold on to. The image of an auburn haired girl, golden tendrils of light shooting from her wand, flashed in her mind before it too was consumed by the tornado of dark power encircling her.
The swirling mass of darkness tore into her heart, and Narcissa Malfoy screamed.