The Mistress of the Abyss
(From "The Adventures of Mad-Eye Moody")
Chapter Eight – Fire & Ice
The Black Pearl rocked gently on the swells of the fjord; a steady, soothing up-and-down rhythm on the moderate waves of the dark water. Tonks stood at the starboard rail with her companions, surveying the spectacular vista in front of her.
Towering cliffs encircled the ship on three sides. Each bluff was swathed in shining, austere curtains of ice that cascaded grandly towards the eternal sea. Capping the center precipice was an elaborate citadel that appeared to be made entirely of white ice. The central block, the towers on each corner, the crenneling and ramparts all gleamed coldly in the bright sunlight.
Moody grunted and turned to Barbossa. "She's got the place powerfully warded, so Tonks & I won't be able to apparate in. It's lucky I can make out a few details inside the walls. We'll need to make an entrance, Captain."
Barbossa sighted experimentally through his spyglass. "It's not a difficult shot for the deck guns, Master Moody. If you'll mark a target, we'll breach the walls for certain." He turned to the other pirates. "All hands to the guns; boarding party, get prepared."
Chevalle and Teague stuck flintlocks deep into their belts and began filling pouches with powder and pockets with shot. Barbossa and Sao Feng were positioning daggers up sleeves, in boot tops, and down their collars. The remaining pirates were arming and positioning four of the starboard cannons and loading them for a volley.
"Captain Sparrow" Moody bellowed, "Take charge of the ship. See to her defenses." Ignoring Jack's sputters of protest, Moody turned and pointed his wand at the gleaming keep on the cliff. A great golden ball of light appeared at the base of the outer wall. "There's your target" the wizard roared. "Prepare to fire!"
At some unseen signal from the battery teams, Barbossa snarled "Mark your target . . . and fire!!" At his command, fire was touched to powder and four cannons thundered in unison.
The two Aurors moved reflexively with the roar of the cannons. Tonks stuck her wand between her teeth and seized Chevalle and Teague by an elbow each. Whirling on the spot, she concentrated all her mental faculties on the glistening ice castle and the hole she knew was blasted in its outer wall. A moment's disorientation (and a slight feeling of nausea) and she and her passengers stood on the hard-crusted floor of the breached chamber. Instantly, Moody, Barbossa, and Sao Feng appeared beside them and, feeling the relative safety of numbers, Tonks took a quick survey of the room they had just entered.
It was a long, rectangular room about the size of a Hogwarts classroom. It was uniformly made of smooth, blue-white sheets of ice. The low ceiling and rough floor reflected the light from the breach they'd made in the wall. The room was austere and featureless except for a large archway down at their left, a raised dais containing a massive crystal throne to their right, and one thing more.
Sitting directly before them was an object Tonks could only describe as a well: a table-sized rim of carved white marble about two feet high and five feet across. It was perfectly circular and the open center gave off an eerie glow of immense power.
Moody approached the marble well and began examining the carvings. Tonks peered over the rim . . . and immediately wished she hadn't.
The marble surround housed a deep, dark, swirling pit that dove straight down into the earth. Black smoke and forks of lightning were evident nearest the surface and lava and fire were seen far down in the bottomless depths. Tonks felt a vertigo-induced urge to vomit. "Is this it, Mad-Eye?" she gasped.
"It is" Moody rumbled. "These runes" and he pointed at the carvings, "indicate some form of bond between this pit and its mistress."
"I confess meself confused" Barbossa growled. "Why would she leave the source of her power sitting in this chamber, unguarded?"
Before any member of the group could essay an answer to Barbossa's inquiry, a melodious, laughing voice spoke up: "Why, I believe it's easier to destroy my enemies when they come to me!" As one, the adventurers drew weapons and spun towards the sound.
Stepping out from behind the giant throne and striding to the edge of the dais was an imposing figure. A tall, young woman of apparent Nordic descent, she was garbed in a flowing gown of purest white, lightly encrusted with diamonds and showing flashes of crystal buttons. Lovingly, she cradled an ornate crystal scepter in her hands. A diamond-studded tiara surmounted a foaming cascade of honey-colored hair that fell to her shoulders and framed a face of extreme beauty.
Her smooth, flawless complexion was detailed with high cheekbones and a petite nose. Azure-blue eyes surveyed the group from under half-drawn eyelids with the expression of a cat surveying a group of mice. The red lips of her full mouth were drawn back in an arrogant smirk of amusement and cruelty.
She stopped at the edge of the dais and addressed the adventurers. "You've been far more trouble to me than I'd imagined. But, now that you're here at the seat of my power, I'll dispose of you quickly and completely." With a chuckle, she raised her scepter. "Destroy them, my pets!" she shrieked.
In answer to the witch's summons, a ravening avalanche of fur-covered fury came stampeding through the archway, directly at the band of intruders. A tidal wave of blazing eyes and ivory fangs bore down on them, snarling furiously.
"Wolves!" Sao Feng hollered, pulling out his cutlass and impaling the first attacker that flung itself at him.
"Backs against the wall" Barbossa called, striking out with his sword. "Don't let them behind you or you'll be pulled down for certain." Blades flashed like lightning, accompanied by the thunder of flintlocks as the dark cloud of the wolf pack spread out through the throne room.
Tonks was charged by a large wolf; foaming, growling, and snapping its jaws. A thrust of her wand and the wolf received the same treatment as one of the attacking orcas: levitated and flung through the hole in the wall to the sea below.
The two wolves charging Moody got a blast from his wand and were incinerated on the spot. Suddenly, a swirling white cloud of fog belched out of the marble maw next to him and engulfed the Auror from head to foot.
Tonks screamed and turned to her mentor. But, the fog dissipated, leaving behind its handy-work: Mad-Eye was encased in a shell of pure ice!
"No!" Tonks bellowed, thinking frantically of a spell to free her partner quickly. Just then, she saw the magic eye swivel towards her and a red glow emitted from the wand frozen in his right hand. "He's alive!" she thought, "and breaking free."
Tonks saw water beginning to pour off of Moody's ice-encased form and was beginning to ignite her own wand to speed the thawing along when another sound made her stop. Behind her, she heard the throaty laughter of the sorceress and, dismissing all other considerations from her mind, turned to face her enemy.
The enchantress stood at the edge of the dais, twirling her scepter in her hands, a sneer of contempt pasted across her features. "I've decided to dispose of you personally, my sweet. Make your peace with this life; perhaps the next will be kinder."
Tonks didn't waste any breath in threats or boasts. Alert, poised on the balls of her feet, wand at the ready, fully focused on her opponent; she was a very picture of the warrior ready to strike.
The witch struck first; sending a bolt of killing potency flaring at her target. But, the target wasn't there. Tonks had hastily dodged right at the first glimmer of movement of the woman's staff arm.
"Oh, you're a nimble little minx, aren't you?" the witch cackled. "So much the better; let's find out just how quick you are." So saying, she shot another bolt at Tonks.
This time, Tonks shoulder-rolled to the left. She was determined, however, not to be the target in some bizarre shooting gallery. So, as she rolled to her feet, she came up firing.
"Stupefy" she roared and blasted a stunner directly at the witch. The energy bolt flew directly at its target . . . and exploded mere inches from her chest. The impact sent her staggering back, but she quickly regained her balance and glared at her young foe.
"Foolish wench!" she snarled. "I possess the power of the earth itself. Your paltry little spells cannot hurt me." With this pronouncement, she unleashed another bolt at Tonks.
This time, Tonks' dodge was a back somersault to land in a crouch next to the blasted wall where they had entered the chamber. She took a quick survey of the room.
The ice-encased form of Moody was half-completed with its thawing, but too slowly to help her.
Sao Feng and Barbossa stood back-to-back, withdrawing cutlasses from wolf carcasses at their feet. Chevalle and Teague worked in unison; one reloading while the other fended off ravening wolves with flintlock thunder. But, there were always more wolves.
"So . . . how about indirectly?" Tonks snarled. Levitating a piece of broken ice from their impromptu entry-way, Tonks chanted "Surculus" and fired it at the witch. The makeshift missile struck her on the cheek, shattering into a thousand shards and eliciting a howl of outrage and pain. Raising a hand to her face, she wiped blood from a gash in her cheek and then turned an expression of pure hatred on her young assailant.
"Slut!!" she shrieked, "you will pay for this! I'll make you beg me to kill you!" The witch levitated the ice fragments and fired them back at Tonks like a flock of silvery needles.
Tonks threw her arm across her eyes as the projectiles struck. She felt them rip into her forehead, cheek and chin; stinging like a swarm of wasps. Quickly shifting position again, she fired several more missiles at her enemy, but the woman had apparently learned from her mistake and erected a magical shield against such projectiles.
"Try this" Tonks shouted . . . and fired a 'Reducto' blast directly at the marble circle of the well. The discharge took out a large chunk of the marble rim, raised a cloud of smoke, and brought out another shriek from the witch.
"No!!! You will not rob me of my power!!" A detonation knocked Tonks backward. Scrambling into a crouch, she looked up.
The witch had left the dais and now stood between Tonks and the abyss, shielding it from the young Auror. Her hair was disheveled, her cheek bloodied, her mouth drawn into a snarl, and hellfire blazed in her eyes.
"You brainless little fool; prepare to die" the sorceress hissed. She raised her staff for the kill.
Pointing her wand at the woman's feet, Tonks bellowed "Calderia Inverto". A mound about one foot high erupted straight up out of the level floor, throwing the witch off balance with the sudden change in elevation. As she frantically struggled to regain her equilibrium, Tonks launched herself from her crouch.
As she sprang, Tonks swung her left arm in a roundhouse punch aimed directly at the witch's face. All the strength of her athletic young body was in that clout and she felt the satisfying smack of fist against flesh as her haymaker landed on target.
Another shriek of indignation and pain escaped the woman's lips and, through a thin haze of blood dripping from her torn forehead, Tonks saw the pale form of her foe driven backward from the force of her blow. The witch went whirling back; swiftly, inexorably . . . straight toward the marble-rimmed pit behind her.
She went tottering backwards until her legs fetched up hard against the marble edge. There was a split second where Tonks saw an expression of horrified realization on the pale face . . . and then, the sorceress flipped backward over the rim and plunged headfirst into the endless reaches far below.
A single, drawn-out scream echoed and faded, but, when Tonks reached the edge of the orifice and looked down, the witch was gone. Tonks wiped blood from her eyes and snarled after her departed enemy, "So who's brainless now . . . you bitch?"
Overwhelmed by exhaustion and aching all over, Tonks wanted nothing more than to curl up and sleep right on the spot. Suddenly, she felt strong hands seize her upper arms and draw her to her feet. She started to lash out when she heard Moody's familiar growl in her ear. "You've been brilliant, lass; but, stay focused! I can't apparate everyone and this place is falling apart."
Shaking herself, Tonks stood up and looked about. The aperture was flashing violently with sickly green pulses of light. The walls were shaking in stronger and stronger tremors. Cracks appeared in wall, ceiling and floor; debris was raining down and a deep rumble could be heard from every direction.
Tonks leaped forward and grabbed Chevalle and Sao Feng by the elbows. Concentrating as she never had before on the deck of the Pearl, she turned sideways on the spot . . . and felt the welcome sensation of a heaving wooden deck beneath her feet, sun on her face, and wind in her hair. Behind her, she heard the roar of an avalanche.
Looking about frantically, she let out her breath at the sight of Moody, Teague, and Barbossa disentangling themselves from their appearance on the other side of the deck. Giving in to weariness, Tonks slumped to a seat on the nearest hatch cover and glanced at the citadel of ice.
In place of the glittering ramparts, a smoking pile of crystal rubble marked the location of the former palace. She nodded her head. "Held together by her will . . . sealed forever" she murmured.
"Aye, Dora" she heard Moody say as he approached her. "You've taken care of every little detail. Now, let me attend to you . . . then, it's off to the cabin for a well-earned rest." So saying, Moody began applying the Episky charm to her cuts and bruises.
Barbossa approached Tonks, his expression one of disbelief mingled with respect. "Suren, I thought we was all goners. How was you able to best the witch, missy?"
Tonks grinned at the pirate captain. "Obviously, she never had the benefit of training with someone like Moody. One of the first lessons he ever taught me was: Don't be deceived by appearances! She couldn't have chosen a more dangerous opponent than me. "
At Barbossa's puzzled look, she laughed and elaborated: "Moody may look like a monster, but, when it comes to dealing with women, he's chivalrous and quite gentle." She sat up proudly and pointed at her chest with her thumb. "I . . . am . . . neither."
