Dealing With The Pain
The following morning, Dane woke early, as he intended. He went straight to the Black Lake, finding a secluded part of the beach, and then began his practice. He summoned a shadow, took a weapon—a wooden staff—out of his coat, put his coat aside, and prepared for battle. The shadow waited for him to attack; he did. Their weapons collided, locked, and disengaged. Dane attacked again, was blocked, switched to another tactic, was blocked again. He retreated, considering his next move. The shadow flew at him. His defenses came up instantly, parrying the blows, and then counter-attacking. The shadow gave some ground and then held fast against him. Their staffs locked again. Dane was sweating but his breathing was even. So far, anyway. He pushed the shadow back. It seemingly gave way—only to move with surprising quickness and nearly knock him off his feet with a low circling sweep. As it was, Dane was caught off balance; fortunately, he recovered. In retaliation, he nearly struck the shadow's side with a jab but the shadow moved out of the way.
Dane backpedaled out of harm's way. The shadow did the same. He glared at it, trying to focus his thoughts but they kept on turning to someone else...she lay still in his arms, he knew she was dying, with her last breath, she tried to speak and it sounded like "You promised" and Dane knew that he had made a promise to her and now he had failed...
The shadow took advantage of his distraction to lunge inward and knock him down with a stunning blow. The shadow moved back; luckily, Dane hadn't made it too aggressive. He sat up, feeling the pain in his side and his jaw.
Then he heard the singing. Even the shadow sensed it and seemed to still itself, as if to listen to the haunting melody woven by a voice that seemed to come from all around. Dane managed to stand. He planted his staff on the beach to mark his practice area and went to look for the source of the song that he wasn't simply hearing—he could feel it, note for note, inside him.
Felicienne was standing on the beach, looking out at the Black Lake, singing a spell to help keep Fleur calm as she was preparing for the first day of the tournament. She wanted to be with her senior schoolmate but decided that that she would need solitude in order to concentrate. Madame Maxime had allowed her to find a secluded place to sing her spell.
That was when she heard what sounded like fighting. She stopped, trying to determine which was the sounds of the skirmish were coming from; when she felt that she had pinpointed the direction, she went towards it. Perhaps someone was hurt.
As she walked along a path through the woods bordering the lakeshore, she ran into Dane.
"Dane!" she cried out, surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, hello, Felicienne," Dane said, steadying her. Once again, he'd nearly knocked her over, he thought. "I was practicing, like I told you last night."
"Did you hear the fighting?"
"What fighting? Oh—that was me."
"You?" Felicienne cocked an eyebrow upward questioningly. Dane fleetingly thought about kissing that eyebrow.
"I was practicing my combat technique—come on, I'll show you."
"All right." Again, Felicienne took his arm as she walked alongside him. He led her to his place at the lakeshore.
"What's that?" she asked, pointing at the shadow that stood waiting for Dane.
"Oh, that's just a shadow fighter," he explained. "I was taught to summon shadows by one of my teachers. They make great sparring partners. Watch."
Dane picked up his staff and assumed a combat stance. The shadow mirrored his position exactly.
"See?" Dane said, keeping his eyes on the shadow. "It can mirror your moves." He attacked. The shadow evaded, countered, was blocked, broke away, and then attacked again. Dane parried its blows until he found an opening and went in for the kill. His mind zeroed in on the shadow's exposed area. Unfortunately, his mind strayed again...the face of the killer, the monster that had taken her away from him...he had him now... The shadow somehow sensed his lack of focus and anticipated his move. It saw a vulnerability in Dane's form and struck. Dane flew back from a bodyblow that jarred him.
"Dane!" Felicienne ran to where he lay. Dane was groaning and clutching his ribs. She knelt, cradling his head carefully.
"Of course, it can also think—after a fashion," he told her, grinning despite the pain. "It knows a lot about how I fight because it is a part of me, after all. And if you attack it aggressively, it responds the same way. In this case, even more."
"Are you hurt?" she asked him.
"Not while you're here," he said, still grinning. "I just lost focus there for a moment." Dane sat up, preparing to resume his training. But Felicienne stopped him. She looked into his eyes; Dane found her gaze both unbreakable and unbearable at the same time. He knew she was looking inside him.
"So much anger...and so much pain..." Felicienne said softly. "And so much sadness..." She wept silently as she stared into Dane's eyes. "Oh, Dane..."
Dane wanted to stand but Felicienne's gaze held him where he was. Then she helped him up. She pointed to his staff and told him to pick it up.
"Continue," she said in a voice both gentle and firm. "But this time, concentrate. Let me help you."
"How?" Dane asked but she said nothing. He shrugged, assumed his combat stance, and recoiled as the shadow attacked in lightning fashion.
The singing began again. The melody entered into Dane's head and flowed through him. He saw his hands move; the staff defended against the shadow's attack fluidly, like water running across a channel. Instead of the visions that had troubled him earlier, he saw something else...she was laughing, calling out to him, to chase her as she ran like the wind...and when he caught her, she embraced him, whispering her love...the shadow's attack was plain to see no matter how quickly it moved. He shifted slightly, allowed it to move in closer, and then struck. The shadow fell, sprang back up...her hands guided his...and he sent the shadow flying this time. It tried one last attack but he anticipated it and...feeling her dance with him, guiding him...he knocked it back down. At the third strike, the shadow disappeared.
The singing faded into silence. The staff vanished from Dane's hands. He turned around and looked at Felicienne. She was smiling at him proudly.
"You were the one who was singing a while ago?" he asked.
"Yes," she replied. "I was doing it for Fleur earlier. But now I did it for you." She tottered and Dane ran to her, taking her into his arms to keep her from falling.
"Are you all right, Felicienne?" he asked worriedly.
"Yes, Dane, thank you for not letting me fall," she said, holding onto him. "It takes a lot of strength, sometimes, to sing a person's fears away." He sat her down gently, reached inside his coat for a bottle, and then gave it to her. She thanked him and drank from it.
"Mineral water," he said. "I wish I had brought some Gatorade along but I forgot to buy some at the airport."
"This is enough, don't worry," Felicienne told him. "Dane...if you don't mind my asking—who is the girl?"
Dane sat beside her, as if exhausted. He was silent for awhile and Felicienne was about to withdraw her question when he spoke.
"Her name was—is Raine. She was my ward. More than that, she was my friend. I made a promise to her parents, to her that I would protect her. But then a time came when my house was attacked. Evil men...evil things...who wanted me dead.
"I fought them but there were too many. They knew that they had a chance to defeat me if they brought superior numbers so they did. When I was close to falling, she stood between me and those monsters and held them back. But she was young and her power had not come into fullness. She eventually fell fighting beside me. My anger gave me the strength to repel them at last, even their master, who was as powerful as he was evil. He left but he knew that he'd beaten me because he'd caused me to fail in my promise.
"I cradled her in the ruins of my house—our house. She spoke one last time, reminding me of my promise. She knew that I had failed.
"She was gone before the dawn came. When I had said farewell to her in the proper manner, I left. I knew that I had to track down the monster who took her life.
"I had to keep my promise to her."
Dane fell silent at the end of his tale. His heart felt like breaking, just as it did that dark moment in his life. Felicienne gazed at him, realizing now that she understood at least a small part of why he had come to Hogwarts.
She took his hand in hers. Together, they sat there, looking out at the lake, in perfect silence.
The silence didn't last long. A loud thud reverberated through the ground. Then it was followed by a terrifying roar.
"What was that?" Felicienne said. Dane picked up his coat and put it on, all exhaustion gone from him. He took her by the hand.
"I don't know but I don't like the sound of it," he told her. "I think it came from near the school."
"Is there a shortcut we can take?" Felicienne asked.
Dane stopped. "Yes, there is. Hold on to my hand—whatever happens, don't let go." He opened a doorway for them out of thin air. "Come on, Felicienne," he said. He led the way in and Felicienne followed him without question.
They reappeared near at the bottom of the bridge spanning the river that passed by the school. At the base of the bridge wassome fantastic creature. There were some students approaching it.
"Keep back!" Dane shouted to them. Large, winged, reptilian...he had a feeling it was something that wouldn't like having humans in close proximity to itself.
In a few moments, he was proven right. The creature—it had to be a dragon, what else could it be?—sat up and roared. The students who were going to take a closer look wisely stopped and then began to retreat. A few , however, seemed frozen in fear.
"It must have escaped from the arena!" Felicienne said. "How else could it have gotten here?" The Triwizard Tournament—of course, it made perfect sense. That was one task that would show just how good a wizard or witch was. No one had apparently taken into account that dragons hated captivity.
"Stay here!" Dane told her. He opened another door and reappeared just in time to rescue the more frightened students from a fiery death. Then he returned to Felicienne's side.
"The thing is hurt," he told her.
"How do you know?" she asked.
"Its left wing—I think it broke it when it fell. That thing's going to be uncontrollable unless something is done."
"What did you have in mind?"
"We're going to have to do a little first aid on a dragon," Dane told her evenly. "Are you up for it?"
Felicienne didn't have to be asked twice. Even the dragon keepers were going to be in for trouble if the creature wasn't calmed down. She nodded.
"Hold on to me again," Dane said. "We have to get closer."
"All right," Felicienne said. She put her arms around Dane's waist. "I know you won't let anything happen to us, Dane."
Dane didn't move for a few moments. You promise? Raine asked him and he said yes, he did, he would protect her...and so he would.
"I won't," he told her. "I promise."
In the blink of an eye, they were much closer to the dragon than either of them would have liked. The dragon, apparently, didn't like their presence either. It released a burst of flame from its gaping maw. Dane moved quickly, covering Felicienne with his own body. The flame passed over and around them harmlessly. Felicienne looked around her in wonder.
"It's a flame shield," Dane told her. "Listen—can you sing this thing to sleep or at least into a better frame of mind?"
Felicienne looked at the dragon. It had stopped breathing fire. It shifted positions and lifted its tail up high. Dane instantly transported them out of the way. The tail crashed against the ground, sending rocks flying.
"That was close," Dane remarked. The dragon was looking for them, tail ready. "We'd better get a move on. Can you do it, Felicienne?"
"Yes, of course," she replied.
"Stay here. It can still hear you from here," he told her, standing up. "I'll distract it."
"Distract it? How?" Felicienne asked, concern in her voice.
"I'll figure something out!" he said, disappearing from her sight. When he showed up again, he was closing in stealthily on the dragon. The dragon, however, either had an incredible sense of hearing or it was just bad luck on Dane's part. It wheeled around and sent a torrent of flame his way. His shield deflected it but the force of the blast sent him sprawling.
Felicienne nearly screamed when he fell. Dane, however, got to his feet and quickly avoided the rush of fire. Thank goodness, she thought. Dane could take care of himself; now she had to play her part in this task. She closed her eyes and began to concentrate, letting the music and the song build in her. This spell would require all her strength so she could not allow herself to be weakened by fear or by doubt.
As Felicienne was readying her spell, Dane kept the dragon's attention focused on him. Whoever got this thing must be very grateful if they got away from it alive, he told himself. It sucked in another breath in order to resume toasting him.
"All right, big girl, let's play, shall we?" he said to the creature. His staff appeared in his hand. The dragon took it as a threat and sent another fiery wave his way. Dane spun the staff like a windmill, drawing the flames away. Now I know how a barbecued chicken feels like. The heat was terrific. If he wasn't under his shield's protection, he would have been toasted to ashes by now.
The dragon tried its spiked tail once more. Dane powered up his shield, using his staff to focus his magic. The staff held against the tail's blow. Dane felt the shield absorb and dissipate the force of the rock-hard spikes. Then he sent a knockdown spell against the creature, trying to take it off its feet. The dragon took it with just the slightest flinch.
Uh-oh, I need more power, Dane thought. The dragon advanced. By the look in its eyes, it meant business. He took up a defensive stance, alertly watching the creature's moves. Abruptly, it stopped, looking at a point above him. Music filled Dane's entire being. Felicienne—it had to be her. He looked behind him; when he saw her, he nearly dropped his staff in surprise.
She was levitating a good six feet above the ground. Or maybe levitating wasn't the right word. From what Dane saw, there were two silvery gossamer wings that looked like they were attached to her back. The wings moved gently, as if blown by a soft breeze. A shimmery aura of the same color as the wings, touched with blue, surrounded Felicienne. Her voice rang out floated free, clear, and strong.
The dragon stood transfixed by the spell song. Felicienne could feel its rage subsiding. Good, she thought. She began to lower herself slowly. Dane was watching her and the creature in case it went wild again. Felicienne approached it slowly. It grumbled warily but did not make a move to stop her in any way. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw some of the Hogwarts students and their counterparts from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang come closer to watch what she was doing. Dane told them to keep a safe distance.
The dragon was now within a few feet of her. Its grumbling stopped. Felicienne could look it in the eyes. She could sense pain, bewilderment—but not too much anger. Slowly, the dragon began to sit down on its haunches.
Dane, now what? she asked as she continued to sing it into tranquility.
Now it's my turn, he replied. He got rid of his staff and approached it carefully, not wanting to spook it, even if it was under Felicienne's spell. He spoke to it using the dragon language that one of his teachers—another dragon, this one Japanese—had taught him painstakingly. The dragon seemed to understand that neither he nor Felicienne bore her any ill will. It allowed Dane to clamber onto its back. The students surrounding them gasped in amazement. He used the spikes growing on its skin to leverage him as close to the wing as possible.
"Here's where the pain is..." he said. It was near the main joint that allowed the creature to flex its wing. The dragon let out a grumble as it noticed his intent to touch the wound where a bone was protruding.
"No, friend," he told it in dragon's words, though it hurt his throat (European dragon languages tended to have a harsher sound as compared to Oriental dragon languages). "Letus help you, please." The dragon calmed down as a warm glow began to emanate from Dane's hand. He held it close to the injury.
What happened to it, Dane? Felicienne asked.
It probably hit the bridge while it was chasing someone, most likely a contestant in the tournament, Dane replied. He watched the broken bone and torn flesh mend itself. Pretty soon, the wing looked as if nothing had happened to it.
I'm done—you'd better start going back, Felicienne, Dane said.
Don't worry, Dane, Felicienne replied. Look—she's asleep.
Dane turned and saw that Felicienne was correct. The spell must have calmed it down a great deal. And since the pain was gone—most if it, anyway—it was no longer wild with the hurt. He took the opportunity to get off the creature. Just in time, he saw a large individual appear at the crest of the slope where the dragon lay. It was Professor Hagrid; with him were the entire dragon keeper contingent that was responsible for these creatures.
"Hello, down there!" he called out. "Are you all right?"
"They saved our lives, Hagrid!" one of the younger students at his side told him. "They put the dragon to sleep!"
"Is that so, Justine?" Hagrid remarked. "All's well then." He gestured at the two to come up.
Dane went over to Felicienne, who was now standing on solid ground. "Let's leave her to the experts," he told her, taking her by the hand. "Our work is done."
"Yes, lets go," she said. "I feel--" Felicienne didn't get to finish her sentence or go any further. Instead, she collapsed. The last memory she had before blacking out was Dane catching her as she fell and carrying her up the slope, Hagrid telling him where the dispensary was, then being transported there via Dane's magic.
