The Wand and the Sword
The wind blew silently through the tall grass, swaying it back and forth. The sun was setting now, low on the horizon, a crimson sphere spreading its color throughout the sky. Death was in the air. There was a hush on the descending on the landscape, as if the world knew its end was coming.
A sole figure stood in the tall grass, underneath a jut of rock, his face shielded by the darkness. He stood silent, wrapped in a dark cloak. He was tall, but his features indistinguishable in the shade.
In one hand, he held a wand. Made of birch, it shone in the dying sun, reflecting the red light outwards. In the other hand, he held a glittering sword. It was long, almost a claymore, but he held the weight in one hand effortlessly. He still stood.
The sun finally set, and darkness fell across the land. The figure stepped out of the curve of rock, and into the moonlight. With that, a loud Crack! issued into the quiet, still night air, and another figure appeared.
He had appeared out thin air, walking towards the other man. Dressed in all black, the mans face was covered by a thin white mask. Attached to his hip was a holster, and inside was his wand, where his right hand rested.
The first man spoke, in a clear, booming voice which rang across the plains, causing the tall grass to rustle. "I thought you would never come, Lucius."
The second man, raised his free hand to his face, where he removed his mask, revealing a pale, sneering face. He took out his wand, and let it lay limp at his side. The sneer turned into a slight smile. "Perhaps you would like to remove your hood, and we can get on with this? Or perhaps you would like a peaceful way out?" he said mockingly.
The tall figure reached up and removed his hood, revealing the head of Kingsley Shacklebolt. His face was unfathomable, completely expressionless. "Perhaps we had better get to it, Lucius, before you lose your nerve."
Lucius Malfoy reverted back to his sneer. 'How dare this muggle-loving Auror?' he thought. He looked at the sword in Shacklebolt's hand. "Would you prefer that we resort to muggle-duelling, Shacklebolt? Or have you just come to die tonight?"
Kingsley looked at him silently, and then spoke. "This weapon will be your death, Lucius. However, I believe in a level playing field." And with a flick of his wand, a large sword of the exact same type and stature rose out of the tall grass, and hovered beside Malfoy's free hand. "Severus Snape tells me you were quite the fencer in school," continued Kingsley. "Elementary lessons will not save you tonight, Lucius." And with that, he gave a loud, booming laugh. The laugh spread throughout the plains, and made Malfoy flash his eyes with rage. He was fast, Malfoy was, but Kingsley was much, much faster.
Malfoy grabbed the sword, which was still hovering, and raised his wand to curse Kingsley. But Kingsley had already considered that move, and raised his sword in defense. The spell, a bright red in color, hit Kingsley's sword and rebounded to the ground, causing a smoking hole. Malfoy was already rushing, spell after spell, but Kingsley was dodging them. Despite his very large size, Kingsley was very fast on his feet, and had jumped and landed ten feet from Malfoy.
"Very well, Kingsley. You tire of our game already? I was hoping to take you alive to the Dark Lord, and what a gift of information you would be. But it seems that you would much prefer death. So be it, Auror."
Malfoy made a slashing motion with his wand, and bellowed, "Avada Kedavra!" There was a flash of green light that blinded even Malfoy, who squinted to avoid losing sight. When the flash subsided, he saw a smoking crater where Kingsley had been standing. Malfoy stood silently; in the exact same pose, with his wand at the ready. He walked cautiously forward, ready to blast anything that moved. He approached the crater, and looked for Kingsley's body.
It wasn't there.
"Nice try, Malfoy. Perhaps I could be allowed to fight, now?" Kingsley was standing behind Malfoy! Malfoy spun around but Kingsley had tired of this game, and with a shout of "Expelliarmus!", Malfoy's wand went flying from his hand and fell several feet in the tall grass.
Malfoy looked up, the malice in his eyes replaced with fear.
"No, Malfoy, I'm not going to kill you. Dumbledore would like you alive, but believe me when I say this, Malfoy. I would take pleasure in destroying dirt like you."
Malfoy was weighing his options. Be taken back personally to Dumbledore, where there would be no breaking free, and no bargaining. Dumbledore would surely extract all the useful information from his mind, and then discard him back to the Dark Lord, who would kill him just as quick as look at him. Or he could try to fight here, against this Auror, and be killed just as quickly. And what did he have to fight with? His wand was gone, but all he had was this sword. The sword, his mind whispered. Use it!
"I'm going to tie you up, Malfoy, and wait for some backup. Do not try to struggle or I will kill you. And drop that sword while you are at it, wont you?" Kingsley backed away one step, and Malfoy bent down to drop the sword, but with one clean motion he swung the heavy sword upwards. Kingsley had not slowed down, and jumped backwards, but his wand hand stayed forward, ready to tie up Malfoy. The tip of the sword hit Kingsley's wand, and cut it in half cleanly.
The result was very unexpected. An explosion blew them both apart with such force that Kingsley flew back nearly thirty feet, and Malfoy flipped over onto his stomach, the sword lying by his side, emitting a smoke from its edges.
Kingsley sat up immediately and looked for what was left of his wand. Nothing. The remains had turned to black powder, and he crushed the substance with his hand in anger.
He stood, the sword in hand, and began walking towards Malfoy. Malfoy saw this, and stood quickly, despite the pain in his sides and his chest. Grasping the sword with both hands, he prepared himself for battle.
Kingsley brought the sword behind his head and gathered all his remaining strength to his limbs. When he was three feet from Malfoy, he brought the sword down with such force that Malfoy staggered under the assault, but blocked it with an upraised hand. Kingsley had obviously brought magical swords to the duel, and they emitted sparks when they clashed. Malfoy stepped backwards, and did a quick stab to Kingsley's stomach. Kingsley jumped back and blocked Malfoy's parry. He spun, bringing the sword into a slashing move aimed at Malfoy's neck. He ducked under the move and slashed at Kingsley's shoulder, which he blocked with a strike of his own. They battled for several minutes, and found that strange things were happening to the swords. When Malfoy blocked a blow from Kingsley, he saw the sword grow nearly a foot in length. Pleased with this increase in reach, Malfoy went on the offensive, doing quick parries and stabs at Kingsley's midsection.
Kingsley wanted the battle to end quickly, because he knew that Malfoy's cronies would be arriving soon, much sooner than his comrades had intended to arrive. Malfoy swung the sword around his head and brought it down, to cleave Kingsley's bald head in two. But Kingsley stepped to the right and kicked Malfoy in the side, bringing his sword up to cut his head off. Malfoy raised to block and ducked out from under Kingsley's attack. Malfoy looked in amazement, as Kingsley's blade had lit on fire. He felt the searing heat of the blade each time Kingsley took a swipe at Malfoy's face. Kingsley would not be backing off now, and he attacked with increasing anger and rage. Each blow weakened Malfoy, and soon he fell backwards on to his back, and saw Kingsley raise his sword, presumable to stab him in the heart. Malfoy dropped his sword, hoping that Kingsley would show him mercy, and at least arrest him.
Malfoy's hand fell to the ground, and there he found something he did not expect. Your wand! shouted his mind. FIGHT! And Malfoy raised the wand, and issued a spell from its end. Kingsley still managed to block the spell, but at this range, it didn't matter, and it knocked him backward off his feet.
Malfoy was on his feet, and to his amazement, he saw Kingsley standing as well. Fear and panic overtook Malfoy. He is no man, his mind said fearfully, you cannot kill him. You have lost. But Malfoy would now die fighting. He raised the wand and shouted "Stupefy!!" but the spell bounced harmlessly off of Kingsley's sword, who seemed to have a prescient ability of when the spell was coming. "Stupefy! Stupefy! Stupefy!" he screamed at the now charging Kingsley. He was ten feet away, eight feet, five feet, and he blocked all the spells with casual swinging of the sword. He saw Kingsley raise his sword to shoulder level and bring it ready to swing. Too late, Malfoy bellowed, "Avada Ked-," but his words were cut off. He couldn't speak for some reason. Belatedly, he felt a sharp pain in his neck, and then all went black.
Kingsley stood over the crumpled body of Lucius Malfoy, whose head lay some a few feet away. He bent down, picked up Malfoy's wand, and pocketed it.
"Thank you for the help, Albus." Kingsley bowed his deeply, in deference to the man who had just arrived.
Albus Dumbledore walked towards Kingsley, wand in hand. "It is a shame that he could not be taken alive, Kingsley. But I commend on your efforts, and I realize that you had no other choice. Lucius Malfoy will be missed among the ranks of Lord Voldemort, and they will be angry at the loss of his lieutenant."
He began to walk, and Kingsley walked to his right, silently.
"You have a question, Kingsley?" Dumbledore stared right ahead, but Kingsley knew that the older man could tell what he was thinking.
"How did the others fare? Is Nymphadora Tonks all right?" Dumbledore sighed.
"She fared well, and she managed to capture McNair. But..." Dumbledore stopped. "Before she arrived, he managed to kidnap and execute a muggle."
Kingsley closed his eyes for peace, and hoped that the muggle who was killed could now find peace. He would be paying a personal visit to McNair soon. Kingsley loved to interrogate Dark Wizards.