Sorry about the wait. It was a pain trying to search for the names of cool spells and I had bit of trouble describing the battle in detail as well as dealing with my laziness.
The Vampire Courts and The Serpent King
5 years later...
It has been several years since Aries agreed to go with Dresden by accepting his offer. Now nearly 15, he lost his boyish look and appeared more like an adult. As Dresden promised, he had immediately taken him under his wing and taught Aries all that he would need to defeat the Order of Blackened Denarius. While Meciel still took the bulk of teaching him, Dresden surprised him by teaching him quite few tricks that surprised him from time to time.
He now had more complete control over hellfire and his magical learning also progressed enough for him to be considered quite powerful by wand-wizards. Dresden took him around the world as they hunted down other Denarians when they weren't distracted by Dresden's detective work and Aries kept tabs on the happening of the magical world through Faes he summoned.
Flashback
Aries looked at the small Fae in front of him with mixture of amusement and disgust as it tore through the fruits voraciously. It was a small figure only about 6 inches tall with silver dragonfly's wings on her back. She was humanoid and beautiful, given that she was a Fae, along with reddish-pink hair and soft silver glow of her Fae magic. Her eyes, a bright blue set of orbs, had soulless look in them. She was quite cute but lacked any table manner judging by the way fruit juice splattered on her clothes.
Right now she was greedily eating the fruits as she chatted animatedly.
"But Benjamin and Neville thought they could find the Heir of Slytherin. They apparently failed rather spectacularly and Dumbledore and others had to go and kill the beast." The Fae rambled on.
"That's nice Cessbulby. Is there any news on the Order of Blackened Denarius?" Aires asked her.
"Well Nicodemus is pretty pissed that Deirdre died and he's fighting against other Fallens who refuses to follow him. Maeve watched your fight against Deirdre and Knights and she was very amused." The Fae, apparently named Cessbulby, continued to inform him.
"She was quite impressed that you were able to hold your ground against Deirdre and let alone chop her arm off as well as fight against 2 Knights of Cross alone." Cessbulby said while idly licking off the juice on her fingers.
"Well I did tell her that I am quite awesome." Aries boasted.
"You know, she seems quite interested in you. When you got stabbed by the Knight, she grew quite angry but got happy again when she saw you were alive." Said Cessbulby as she looked over at him.
"Are you going to sport with her? Cause she sports all the time." She asked with sly smile.
Meciel laughed in his mind while Aries blushed as he knew what Faes meant by "Sporting." His mouth ran dry by doing something that intimate with the beautiful Winter Lady.
Clearing his throat, he ignored her comment and asked another question. "Is there anything else interesting?"
"Nope, nothing." Cessbulby cheerfully said while rubbing her slightly protrude belly. Despite her small size, she could stomach a large amount of food.
"Well Cessbulby, I do hope to talk to you again." Said Aries while giving her a small smile.
"Gotta go! My friend told me that they captured a Summer Fae in the Winter land and they are going to tear her wings off!" Cessbulby chriped excitedly.
In a soft glow of lights and sparkling dust, she disappeared while Aries blinked at what she said.
Flashback Ends
Aries yawned as he lazily looked around the apartment he was staying in. He followed Dresden and lived with him at his Chicago apartment but it wasn't long before he moved out and got his own place. It was quite luxurious with fur rugs, silk sheets, a large bed and expensive cabinet along with polished oak table. Various runes and circles were inscribed onto the ground and the walls as a protection while Judgment was leaning against the wall. His 2 wands and his customized, ornate black and gold pistol named Hades, laid on his desk. He let out a content sigh as he fondly remembered how he got the money he needed to buy this place. Meciel also chuckled in his mind as he took a trip down the memory lane.
Flashback
It's been 2 years since Aries joined Dresden. Currently, he was back in London for a brief business and decided to pay a visit long overdue. After some digging around, he learned that Marge Dursley, a large overweight sister of Vernon Dursley, had inherited her brother's money. She occasionally came to visit her brother and delighted in making Aries's life miserable. She was an unpleasant and arrogant woman with substantial wealth as she gave her nephew Dudley expensive gifts while gloating at Aries. She had a career in breeding bulldogs and lived with 12 dogs. Her favorite was a bulldog named Ripper who she occasionally brought with her and chased Aries around trying to bite him.
He was currently outside her house while carefully spying her movements and schedule. He longed to blast open her front door and beat her up senseless for everything she did to him. He wanted to torture her and see her blood flow as she screamed in agony and beg for death.
'Soon beloved. Be patient for now as you will extract your revenge. Like her pathetic brother, she will scream before you kill her. But first, we need to ruin her.' Meciel soothed his burning fury.
'Yes. Just little longer than she'll face my wrath.' Aries chuckled darkly.
Flicking out his wand, he stalked to the front door and opened it with unlocking charm. Slipping inside, he waved his wand and murmured silencing ward around the house. Smiling darkly, he strode past the kitchen and into the living room where he found Marge Dursley sitting on the couch along with her favorite bulldog that loved to bite him, Ripper.
She was lot like her brother: large, beefy, purple-faced and even had slight moustache. She had shoulder length blond hair and quite ugly to look at. She immediately spotted him and she yelled out at him.
"Who are you? How dare you come into my house uninvited! Ripper get him!" Marge commanded her dog.
Ripper jumped out of the couch and growled at him threateningly. Aries let out a sinister chuckle and turned his piercing, cold emerald eyes at the large woman.
"Ahhh come now Marge, you used to visit occasionally along with that fatass of your brother. I see that you have grown more retarded since the Dursley's death." Mocked Aries.
Marge looked closely at him with her beady eyes before they widened in surprise and recognition. "Yo-You are that freak! I thought you had died but looks like you are still alive!"
"Go get him Ripper!" She commanded her dog.
Ripper was sniffing at him and it seemed to have recognized Aries's scent as the boy it used to bite. However, it sensed something terrifying from Aries but at its owner's command, leaped at him with a snarl. Aries merely sneered coldly at it before drawing his leg back and kicking it across the room. Ripper yelped in pain as he was violently flung across the room from the powerful kick before smashing against the wall with painful crack.
"Ripper!" Marge gaped it him before getting up her fat ass as she lunged at him with a roar of fury.
Aries let out a dark laughter as he stepped forward to meet the giant woman with a fist in her face. His fist collided against her face and he heard a satisfying crack as he broke her nose. Marge staggered back few steps despite her weight due to his demonic strength and was flung to the side as he lifted his leg and kicked the side of her head.
As she laid on the ground in daze, she painfully looked up at him. Aries sneered down at her.
"How does it feel Marge? As your once weakling nephew-in-law give you a smack down? You are pathetic just like your sorry excuse of brother. Did you know that your brother and his family squealed like pigs when I butchered them?" Aries asked with vindictive pleasure.
Marge let out a gasp of surprise. "That's right. I'm the one who killed them. It was wonderful let me tell you. I killed your precious nephew first by ripping him limb by limb before his parents. Then I grabbed that horse-faced bitch Petunia and smashed her head against the wall until her skull caved in. Then I killed your fat assed brother by burning him inside out!" Aries cackled at her.
With a roar of rage, Marge pushed herself from the floor and tried to tackle him but Aries merely stomped at her face. Marge screamed in pain.
"Nobody will hear you scream. As much as I would like to kill you right now, I will delay your death so that I can rob everything from you." Aries snarled at her.
"Obliviate." Said Aries while pointing his wand at her.
He wiped out this memory and proceeded to heal her injuries much to his distaste but it needed to be done for his plan if she was to walk outside. He then placed variety of the strongest compulsion charm on her as he didn't know any mind controlling spells yet like Imperius curse. The spells gave her rather unnatural urge to sell her house, cars, and all her properties as well as empty all her money from the bank.
With hellfire singing in his veins, he walked out of the house.
In order to sate his burning bloodlust and to give Marge time to liquidate all her possessions into money, he decided to visit his childhood bullies. With Dudley gone, it seemed that his gang of bullies had lost its leader but Aries still could observe that they went around bullying other kids. Piers Polkiss, Dennis, Gordon, and Malcom were still bullies despite the time passed.
Aries followed their movements from afar before extracting his vengeance on them. He single-handly beat up every single one of them in an abandoned alley and broke several of their bones in rather painful manner. They each had broken arms, legs, and quite few cracked ribs as well as skulls. While they were on the ground moaning in pain, he took out his magically enhanced dagger and proceeded to carve the word "BULLY" onto their forehead.
Their screams of pain were like music to his ears and he chuckled darkly the entire time. Because it was magically enhanced dagger, the scar would not fade by any muggle means and they were stuck with it until their death.
He waited few more days before Marge sold all her possessions and took out everything she had saved. She put everything in two large suitcases and was waiting in her house.
He then ended up beating her to the point of death with his bare fists. While magic was useful, it didn't feel as good as using own fists. Ripper once again growled at him but after few good kicks and broken ribs, it was panting in the ground in pain.
As his last act of vengeance, he grabbed Marge and Ripper and apparated to Africa.
"Where are we?" Marge murmured weakly as she clutched her broken body.
"We are in Africa." Aries commented idly as he ignored his light-headness and a smug smirk curved on his lips when he saw few lions moving toward where they were.
"Take a good look around. It will be your last sight before you are mauled by lions." Aries sneered at her.
"What-" Marge trailed off as her eyes widened at the sight of lions around them and her face paled. Ripper was whimpering in fear from obviously bigger predators.
"Know that I am your destruction. I killed your brother and his family and now you are about to die as well. So I'll say the same thing I said Vernon before I killed him." Aries smirked at her.
"You reap what you've sown. Blood for blood. Debt for debt. And evil for evil." Said Aries.
As Aries apparated away, the last thing he heard from Marge was her terrified scream and Ripper's whimper as the lions pounced on them.
Flashback Ends
After apparating back to London, he was panting in exhaustion but the satisfaction and ecstasy he felt were more than enough to put a smile on his face. He then grabbed the two trunks with a large sum of money inside and deposited in his account in Gringotts.
'As much as those Dursleys were a failure, they were certainly useful for one thing: they gave us several million pounds and allowed us to buy this apartment.' Meciel chuckled.
"Well I can't argue with that." Aries smirked.
At that moment his cellphone started ringing. Putting the device to his ears he said "What's up?"
"Aries, we got a new case. Get ready and meet me at my apartment in 15 min." Dresden's voice called out.
"Is that so? I hope it's something more interesting than last two cases when we ended up just tracking down some amateur murderers." Aries drawled in bored voice.
Dresden chuckled. "Oh it's something much more interesting this time. Now get ready."
"Yeah whatever." Aries grunted and ended the call.
15 minutes later, Aries was at Dresden's apartment along with Nightfang and scowled at him. "This better not be another one of your boring cases."
"Oh don't worry. This time, we will be dealing with vampires." Dresden rolled his eyes.
"Vampires? Which court are we dealing with?" Aries immediately perked up.
"I'm going to see my half brother." Dresden said.
At Aries's wicked grin, he mere sighed. Ever since when he first took Aries to the job he accepted from the White Court, Aries had been quite eager to see the vampires from the White Court, especially those of the House Raith.
Vampires were divided into 3 different courts: the White Court, the Red Court, and the Black Court. Although there was a fourth court named the Jade Court, they were very reclusive and remained in Asia and Far East.
Among the vampires, the White Court is the most human like group of vampires. They are born as a vampire rather than being turned into one and are very similar to succubi and incubi as they feed off the emotions and life force of their prey. They are for all intents and purposes, humans until their inner vampire manifests itself sometime around their age of maturity. There are different Houses within the White Court, each comprising of close-knit family, much like a clan. These different houses squabble and struggle to become the dominant power and as result, there are much infighting between the Houses but House Raith is considered to be the most powerful.
The main difference between the Houses is the choice of emotion they feed upon. Those of House Raith feed upon lust and are considered as sexual predators. They are blessed with supernatural good looks and psychic aura to attract both men and women much like the famous Veelas. They usually engage in sex with their prey as during the intercourse, or any direct physical contact, strong emotions like lust are heightened. Victims of the feedings of House Raith grow to enjoy the experience and become bonded to their predator like a drug addiction.
Unlike the other Courts, the White Court prefer to avoid direct confrontation. They are a court of schemers and stab each other in the back in finely detailed plots to impress others in the Court and they look down upon the direct confrontation.
The White Court is not blessed with supernatural strength, speed or endurance like the Red or Black Courts. They are slightly better than those of ordinary human but can channel the unused emotional energy as a fuel for performance to boost their physical attributes for a limited time. However, they make it up by having far fewer vulnerabilities. Sunlight, symbols of faith, or garlic have no effect on them.
The Red Court of Vampires are less human-like than the White Court. They are slimy bat-like creatures hidden behind incredibly sensuous human skin. The oldest and most powerful Red Court Vampires are capable of wearing any flesh masks to protect themselves from the sun. They use these customs to tick their prey into being more comfortable. They are incredibly strong and fast and can shake off any injuries quickly but they are vulnerable to sunlight. Their saliva contains potent magical narcotic allowing to control their prey by giving them a euphoric feeling and is highly addictive. Red Court is also capable of transforming humans into vampires
The Black Court vampires are made up of the most well-known and common vampires, the reanimated corpses like those in the novel Dracula. Black Court vampires still inhabit the human bodies that they lived in before their transformation. They possesses all the classic strength and weaknesses of the Dracula. While sunlight is deadly to the younger members, it only weakens the older members significantly. The oldest members of the Black Court were among the strongest and most cunning monsters in the world.
Dresden's half brother, Thomas Raith, is a White Court vampire and Dresden frequently dealt with those cunning vampires. He had warned Aries of their back stabbing nature but he was always eager to meet them. The first time Aries dealt with the White Court was when he was around 13 and they were particularly interested in the young Denarian. They could sense the darkness and swirling power in him and he immediately became one of their favorite snacks due to Meciel's presence.
Her demonic presence, combined with the potent hellfire, heightened Aries' emotions much stronger than any mortals especially during the heat of battles and it called out to them like a sweetest nectar and Aries had immediately taken a liking to House Raith due to their sexual nature. Much to Dresden and Meciel's chagrin and annoyance, Aries had become their favorite prey with his coming of adolescence as well as being demonically supercharged.
Dresden had more than once caught Aries coming out of an empty room with a smug grin while a beautiful female vampire followed right behind him with a delighted smile while playfully licking her lips. He often had to complain and force Aries to focus on their jobs while Aries always annoyed him by pointing out that he was just jealous because he could get numerous blowjobs despite his age.
"I can't wait to see Sephiria and Lara! Those two are smoking hot and ladies of House Raith sure does love me!" Aries chuckled while Dresden and Meciel sighed.
"The only reason you want to meet them is because you want to get inside their pants and they do let you get inside their pants. Somewhat." Dresden grunted in annoyance.
"And only reason why you don't like Lara is because she's always trying to get you to work for the White Court." Aries immediately shot back.
"Besides, it's ok to feel jealous of me. It's not every day when smoking hot vampires offer you blowjobs and among other things." Mocked Aries while giving him a devious grin.
"Oh please, I already have a beautiful woman as my girlfriend and I don't need vampires to sate my urges like you." Dresden scoffed at him while giving him a glare.
"Oh? Did Molly Carpenter give you a mind-blowing sex yet? Let alone a blowjob?" Aries smirked at him.
Dresden chocked on his own spit and swatted at his head but the young Denarian easily moved out of the way.
"Judging by your reaction, you still haven't progressed beyond kissing and hugging. I'm almost 15 and I already have more sexual experience than you." Aries rolled his eyes.
"Cheeky brat." Dresden glared at him.
"I don't even know how you ended up with Molly Carpenter when you are utterly clueless when women are hitting on you." Aries snorted in amusement.
At that, Dresden was silent but glared at him wishing it would burn a hole in his head. As much as he hated it, Aries had a point when he said he was quite oblivious when women were hitting on him or making advances on him. It was a constant source of entertainment for the young Denarian as he gloated at him all the time. Thankfully, when he catches it he plays for keeps.
"This is just sad old man. Already getting upstaged by your young pupil. I honestly don't see what you see in that girl." Aries snorted as they walked out of their apartment while sadly shaking his head in mocking fashion.
"You don't know what it's like to have a girlfriend Aries. Just one smile from your beloved one is more than satisfying than a numerous nights of passion." Dresden retorted.
"Why get a girlfriend when I got a steady flow of offers from gorgeous chicks? Beautiful immortal girls if I may add." Aries rolled his eyes at the mere concept of getting a girlfriend.
"They are a waste of time and money. Just have sex with them and be done with it. It's obvious that you are suffering from blue balls old man." Aries drawled at him with mocking tone.
Dresden didn't even bother replying, they have been arguing about this topic for several years now and he could already feel a small headache forming. In the years that Dresden had taken Aries with him, he quickly found that the young Denarian had extremely twisted sense of moral. They bickered a lot in regards to morality but managed to work together without much difficulties. He and Aries were almost complete opposites in terms of personality but were also frighteningly similar in many ways.
Despite his age, Aries was sardonic, sarcastic, and possessed a dry sense of humor. He was very ruthless and didn't hesitate to destroy everything and everyone who got in his way. He was also selfish and cared no one but himself and was content to let others die or suffer while he furthered his own ambition.
Dresden, on the other hand, has a strong sense of moral obligation and always tried to do the right thing. He couldn't stand seeing a woman or child in distress and made many questionable judgments involving women in order to help them. He is also fully willing to sacrifice himself for what he believes to be the Greater Good, even it means damning his own soul, whereas Aries simply scoffs and ridicules the idea of the Greater Good and shows willingness to sacrifice the Greater Good for his own good.
And yet, despite such differences in their personalities, they were able to work together due to their similar characteristics such as their cunning and sharp wit. They were both sarcastic and had strong anti-authoritarian streaks as well as being stubborn in pursuit of their goals.
"Just promise me that you wouldn't get distracted in middle of work like last couple times." Dresden sighed.
"Hey I don't get distracted while I'm working!" Aries argues indignantly.
Dresden merely gave him a flat stare.
'Yes beloved. That's why you ditched him last time when Sephiria offered you a blowjob in middle of investigation.' Meciel said drily.
"Ok fine. I may have gotten little side tracked but honestly, spending my time with a gorgeous female vampire is much more entertaining than watching over an old man whining at me." Aries admitted reluctantly.
"Whatever. Can we go now? We are running late." Dresden snapped.
Grumbling under his breath, Aries grabbed Dresden's arm and they side-apparated with a loud crack.
.oOo.
They reappeared with a loud crack. As they straightened, Aries couldn't help but to look around with expression of approval. They were in a large room with circular dome for ceilings and the marble tiles decorated the ground beneath them. Drawn the noise of apparation, a vampire guard immediately drew their weapons before lowering them and the one who was apparently in charge stepped forward to meet them.
"Come, Princess Lara awaits you." Said the guard.
Without another word, he turned and swiftly led them out of the room. They made their way out onto the hallway with many twists and turns before stopping in front of a particularly large door embellished with gold and other elaborate decorations.
The guard knocked on the door. "Princess, your guests are here." Said the guard.
"Send them in." said a soft voice from the other side of the room.
Stepping inside the "throne room" as the inhabitants of this place called, Aries immediately recognized the 3 people inside the room. Standing closest to them was Dresden's half brother, Thomas Raith.
He was a tall man with grey blue eyes and shoulder length dark hair along with very white teeth and a slim but firm build. Judging by his looks, he was obviously a White Court vampire by his attractiveness. Dresden had often called him "unwholesomely good looking," "awfully pretty to look at," and his favorite "a young man whom fathers of teenage daughters would shoot on sight."
The other two were women. Very attractive and beautiful with ethereal beauty that only immortal beings like them could possess. Standing slightly to Thomas's left was Sephiria. She had waist length, brilliant golden locks that seemed to be spurned from gold and voluptuous but slender figure and stood about 5'9. Her eyes were the deepest color of violet and alight with amusement while her lips were curved upward in mischievous and sensuous smile.
The last one, who was farthest away from them was Lara Raith. The princess of the White Court vampires and their de facto ruler as well as Thomas's older sister. While her father was the official king of the White Court, she was the real ruler who ruled from the shadows. She was nearly as tall as Sephiria but had dark shoulder length hair and possessed voluptuous but slender figure like her female companion. Whereas Sephiria possessed playful and easy going aura around her, Lara had sensuous but deadly aura.
"Dresden. Aries. Good to see you guys again and thanks for coming on such a short notice." Said Thomas with a large smile as he shook hand with his half brother.
"It's definitely good to be back among the White Court." Aries said as his lips quirked upward in a smirk.
"Aries. I see that you have grown since our last meeting." Sephiria purred as she gave him a wicked smile while trailing her eyes up and down his body.
"Indeed. We have missed your presence among us. It's been a while since we had you as our wonderful snack." Lara said throatily and licked her lips in obvious way.
"It's been 6 months since we last saw each other. I'm definitely looking forward to our... mutual business" Aries said while his eyes lit in anticipation.
Thomas laughed at his half brother's groan of annoyance. "Come now Dresden, you should know by now how popular Aries is among the House Raith. Ladies tell us that he tastes quite delicious."
"I sometimes wonder why I bother bringing him with me here." Dresden grunted.
"Say Aries, how come you never let me have a taste? Your emotions are very enticing." Thomas chuckled.
"Sorry Thomas but I don't feel comfortable with a male vampire feeding from me. I don't have anything against you but I just don't swing that way." Aries answered with an easy going smile.
"I'm not homosexual and you already know that. I'm just hungry that's all." Thomas pouted while rolling his eyes.
"Now that we had our little greetings, why did you call us here?" Dresden asked impatiently.
At his question, the three vampires became serious. "A few days ago, our outpost in England was wiped out. When we sent an investigation team, we found everyone was slaughtered. We don't know why or who did it. So we need you to solve the case and dispatch the ones responsible if you can." Said Lara.
"Any suspects?" Aries asked after a moment.
"We think it's either the Red Court or the Black Court." Said Sephiria.
"Alright. We'll check it out. What's our reward?" Dresden asked.
"You'll be paid handsomely depending on how bad the situation is. As for you Aries, I believe you'll enjoy our little get together after this is over." Lara purred while running her hands across his chest.
"You sure know how to motivate a guy Lara. It's a deal." Aries grinned.
Turning on his heels, Aries walked out of the room followed by Dresden before apparating away to England.
.oOo.
"Well shit. This is a fucking carnage." Aries grimaced.
All around him, corpses of White Court vampires lay strewn around the room. There were about 10 vampires and blood was all over the walls as well as the grounds. Aries and Dresden both crouched over the corpses and examined their nature of death.
"Judging by their wounds, it seemed they were engaged in a brutal battle but overpowered." Dresden commented as he looked at particularly gruesome corpse where it lacked an arm.
"Hmm it seems to be by another Court doesn't it?" Aries asked while looking at the slashes and claw marks.
"It seems so." Dresden nodded.
Standing up, Aries walked toward the window and looked out the mansion toward the back gate. White Court vampires had placed the place under investigation so that muggles and magicals wouldn't interfere. While the front gate was blasted open, the back gate seemed quite different.
He strode out from the house and knelt as he examined the ruined back gate. It looked as if something had forced its way in. Aries spotted a curious looking trail almost thick as an oak tree and saw that it traced its way to the forest around the mansion.
"Any idea what caused this Meciel?" Aries muttered.
'It seems almost like an animal track. Judging by the width of the trail, it's quite thick.' Meciel said after a moment of thought.
At that moment, Nightfang, who was quiet, stirred and flicked his tongue to smell the air around them.
"Hatchling, I smell something similar in the air. It's coming from the trail and it leads into the woods." Nightfang hissed.
He frowned as he carefully followed the trail into the forest. His sharp eyes caught parted leaves and trail marks around the bases of trees.
'Wait, what's that over there?' Meciel asked.
He saw something gleam in the moonlight and crept closer until he saw the object of his curiosity. Holding it up, he saw something quite similar to a scale. It was nearly as big as his palm and was deep green in color.
"Meciel what does this look like?" Aries asked while his eyebrows furrowed.
'It almost looks like a scale you would find from a reptile.' Said Meciel.
"Yea, that's my thought too and I can feel a pulse of magic from it." Said Aries as he turned the scale over while examining it closely.
'It's definitely reptilian in nature and it's magically resistant. There are few things that match its description. The most prominent among them would be a dragon.' Meciel said worriedly as she shifted in his mind.
"That's would be my guess but if it was a dragon then the mansion would be destroyed and set on fire." Aries deduced.
Nighfang tasted the air again and stared at the scale in his hand with curiosity.
"I wondered why the smell was so familiar. It's the smell of a snake." He exclaimed.
"A snake? This scale and trail is from a snake?" He hissed in surprise.
"There is no mistake. However, I can tell that it is a magical snake like me." Nightfang hissed back.
He strode back into the room he left and spotted Dresden knelt next to a corpse.
"Did you find anything? Cause I found this big reptile scale in the woods as well as an animal trail." Aries asked.
"Yea, I found some corpses near the front door where they died. The corpses had no wounds or any sign of injuries. It's almost as if they dropped dead." Dresden answered.
Aries handed the scale he found to Dresden and walked to the front door where he found bodies Dresden mentioned. Curiously, they had no injuries or any sign of fight.
'I don't sense any magic cast one them. It's almost as if they suddenly dropped dead.' Meciel said while she examined the corpses.
"Do you think it had something to do with the scale and animal trail we found?" Asked Aries.
'Could be, but nothing is sure at this point. Only thing we know is that the suspects are the Red or Black Court and I'm not sure how the animal trail or the scale we found relates to them.' Meciel said.
"Lara would never place her subordinates unwatched or unguarded. Let's go check the control room." Aries said.
He quickly walked toward the basement where he found various screens and computers all smashed. The whole room was a mess and he could see that a safe was torn open.
'Whoever came here obviously got what they were looking for. They must've destroyed the system so we couldn't trace back to them.' Meciel deduced.
"Well it looks like the suspects did a bang up job in here." Dresden commented as he walked inside.
"The whole system is destroyed but I think we can still salvage some tapes and take it back." Said Aries as he rummaged around the electronics.
Dresden sighed. "Damn, Lara is going to be so pissed."
In the end they salvaged 5 tapes but they were in very bad shapes. "Do you think they can fix those?" Aries asked.
"Probably but it would take quite a while and I saw the animal trail you found. It looks almost like a snake trail as they were no visible foot prints." Said Dresden.
"Those were my thoughts too. I have a suspicion on what it is but I'll need to check something before I know it's true. I'll have to go into wand-wizarding world again." Aries hummed.
"Wand-wizards? You believe they hold the answer to this?" Dresden asked while lifting his eyebrow.
"Yup. I'll go check it out. You take those back and go talk to Lara." Said Aries.
"Hey wait a min-" Before Dresden could finish his sentence, Aries turn on his heel and disappeared with a loud crack.
Dresden cursed. He was not looking forward to talking to Lara who would undoubtedly angry about the situation. The vampire princess and he did not get along well. Sighing in resignation, Dresden walked away muttering under his breath about cheeky little brats.
.oOo.
'An animal trail... no foot prints... big green, reptile scale... dead bodies with no wounds...' These thoughts ran around his head repeatedly.
Aries was currently sitting in Leaky Cauldron looking through a book for needed information.
'Our suspicion fits all the requirement but even if it's true, it's quite hard to believe.' Meciel murmured.
"Aha. Here it is." Said Aries.
He quickly read the content and couldn't help but to grimace at the information.
"Of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam our land, there is none more curious or more deadly than the Basilisk, known also as the King of Serpents. This snake, which may reach gigantic size, and live many hundreds of years, is born from a chicken's egg, hatched beneath a toad. Its methods of killing are most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the Basilisk has murderous stare, and all who are fixed with beam of its eye shall suffer instant death. Spiders flee before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy, and the Basilisk flees only from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it." He read.
'Well shit. It fits all the clues. The animal trail with no foot prints, big reptile scale, and corpses with no wounds.' Aries couldn't help but to sigh.
'Indeed. I'm worried about how a creature like Basilisk can be used by the Red or Black Court. These serpents are one of the deadliest creatures ever to roam this world.' Meciel said worriedly.
"How do you think they tamed it?" Aries asked with a frown.
'I would guess they used extremely dark ritual to mind control the beast. While wand-magic have its own way to control other beings, true-magic is more powerful in terms of raw power.' Meciel said thoughtfully.
He closed the book and pushed it away from him and leaned back on the chair.
'I seriously am going to need a vacation for this.' He grumbled.
He stood up and made his way into the Diagon Alley before apparating away.
.oOo.
A few days later, Aries stood once again in the room with Dresden, Thomas, Lara and Sephiria.
"A Basilisk? They have a fucking Basilisk?" Thomas swore out while rubbing his the bridge of his nose.
"Unfortunately, it fits all the description." Aries grunted.
"Did you fix the tapes we got? They may give us who the suspects are." Said Dresden.
"We did and you are not going to like it." Lara grimaced.
With a click of a button, a screen projected the image of the attack. They watched in silence as they saw blurry forms of vampires that attacked the mansion. Finally, they saw a huge shape of snake that killed the vampires in the front door with merely its gaze. Sephiria paused the tape and they could see the deadly, yellow eyes of Basilsk staring into the room.
"It was the Red Court. I recognize some of the members." Said Lara.
"Why did they attack the mansion. Wasn't it just an outpost?" Asked Aries.
"Not really. It was one of our bases and it contained several important documents. Also, there was an important shipment awaiting to be exported to here. I think that's why they used the Basilisk in the raid. It was far too heavily guarded for them to do it alone." Sephiria said uncomfortably.
"What's your plan of action?" Dresden asked Lara.
She was quiet for few moments as she gathered her thoughts. "This attack cannot go unpunished. Gather our soldiers, we are going to storm their base and retrieve what was stolen from us."
Sephiria nodded and immediately went out and began to bark out orders. Thomas turned to his half brother and Aries. "I suggest you ready yourselves as well. It will be a tough fight."
.oOo.
"Raven unit report."
"Locked and loaded sir. Awaiting your orders."
Thomas turned to Lara. "All units are standing by awaiting your call."
They had tracked down the Red Court and were now just outside their base. All of them were dressed form-fitting combat suits and armed with heavy assault rifles as well as few explosives. They could see the walls surrounding the compounds and lights were visible here and there.
"The important rooms are underground. The Raven unit will cut off the electricity and we will storm the compound after opening the gate. Aries and Dresden sneak in from the back and will help us kill the Basilisk. Any questions?" Lara asked. Around her, the vampires nodded in confirmation.
"Alright. Everyone get to your positions." Commanded Lara.
It was late at night, the stars twinkled in the night sky and the moon shone faintly. They could see guards stationed here and there patrolling the perimeter. Aries and Dresden, along with about 10 vampires, stealthily moved to the back of the compound by keeping to the shadows.
"Damn. Why is it that my enemies always have way cooler houses than I do?" Aries muttered sourly.
'Well, after this whole fiasco is over with, I'm sure Lara will be willing to pay us quite a lot. Then we can go buy those silk sheets I've been wanting.' Meciel mollified him.
"That's nice but I'm not looking forward to this." Aries grimaced.
'Is that so? You are usually very eager to get into a battle with hellfire singing in your veins as you unleash your powers and destroy everyone who stands in your way.' Meciel said mildly.
"Yea but not against battles that might get me killed. Especially not against a giant snake that can kill people by its mere gaze." Aries snorted.
"Will you be able to counter the death glare?" Asked Aries.
'I believe so but it will be quite difficult. We should neutralize its sight before fighting it.' Meciel advised.
"Snipers take out the guards. Raven unit cut off the power." Lara's voice buzzed from Aries's radio earpiece.
They tensed as various guards began to dropped to the ground while others' heads were completely blown off. Few seconds later, the entire compounds submerged into darkness as the power was suddenly cut off. The back-up lights immediately flashed and siren began to blare, alerting the inhabitants of intruders.
"That's our queue." Dresden muttered.
Rushing forward, Aries pointed his wand toward the gate in front of them. It wasn't as big as the front gate but it would still take several of them to open it without magic. "Alohomora." He hissed out.
The gate groaned slightly but it opened enough to let few people passed through shoulder to shoulder. As he rushed inside, he could hear the explosions going off and sound of gunshots filled the air as Lara led her forces and stormed the compound from the front. Ignoring the sounds of battle Dresden and he led their group into the building.
He pointed his wand to the door and hissed "Reducto!"
The blasting spell left his wand and the door exploded inward. There were shouts of surprise and pain as those insides who were too close to the door were caught in surprise. Dashing forward with Dresden and White Court vampires, Aries charged in and began to cast spell after spells with deadly accuracy.
"Frendo!"
A dull roar rang throught the air and Aries's vison was engulfed by sapphire light as his wand trembled and shuddered in his hand. The dark curse erupted from the tip of his wand and he watched with cold smirk as a group of Red Court vampires who were tightly packed together near the hallway exploded in a shower of blood and flesh, leaving them as nothing more than chunks of flesh.
Flicking his wrist, he brought out his other wand and snarled "Diffindo!"
The normal cutting spell, in this case, was highly powered by his own magic as well as the hellfire and cleanly chopped off a vampire who was about to rip an arm off from one of his team. The cutting spell cleanly cut through his chest and the corpse, missing upper part of its chest, collapsed in spray of blood. The White Court vampire he saved nodded him in thanks before leaping to engage another enemy.
"Keep moving forward! We need to secure the files and data!" Dresden yelled.
Aries scowled as more and more enemies poured into the hallway they were in. Snarling in anger, he pointed both of his wands at the enemies charging en mass at them and yelled "Cornollivo!"
The dark pulverizing curse erupted from the business ends of two wands and he watched with savage glee as it literally crushed the rows of enemies in an instant. The vampires were immediately pushed back before the force of the spell caught up with them and their bodies exploded in shower of blood and gore. He idly noted several limbs fly off from high pressure of his spells. While the Red Court vampires certainly moved faster and packed stronger attacks than White Court's they did not possess any counter against the spellcasters like Aries and Dresden, thus easily allowing them to dispatch numerous enemies at once.
"Forward." Aries's voice calmly broke through the shock on his team's faces.
The vampires snapped out of their initial surprise before doing as Aries ordered. Dresden looked distastefully at the bloody carnage his pupil created but wisely kept his mouth shut. He had learned since long ago when he first took Aries under his wing to not complain about his brutality and ruthlessness. While they both used powerful, and often destructive, spells due to the nature of their enemies, he didn't like using them on regular basis. Aries, on the other hand, seemed to relish in unleashing destruction where ever he went as he turned all his enemies into bloody paste.
Exiting from the hallway, they came upon a large room with high ceilings and ornate furniture.
"This looks like the main room of this base. Spread out and search the rooms. Aries and I will deal with the Red Court and the Basilisk." Dresden commanded.
The vampires nodded and broke into several groups as they spread out for the search.
Turning to Aries, he asked. "Do you know where we are suppose to go? There are too many passages."
He frowned as he raised his wand and braced himself. "Echosondra!"
The invisible waves of sonic energy left his wand and travelled down the multiple corridors at great speed. He winced as the wave struck walls, floors, and ceilings and shattered into a thousand different parts, ricocheting throughout the building. High-pitch bursts of sound, unable to be hard by anybody apart from Aries, struck the Denarian's ear and with each tone came tantalizing flash, a grainy image of lines and darkness. Thousands of these tones left Aries with a clear picture of the physical layout of the building and adjoining rooms.
"Found anything?" Aries asked Meciel.
An image flashed in his mind. Grainy and dark, like an old photograph, and full of odd lines and angles.
"That massive coil, is that the Basilisk?" He asked.
'I believe so.' Meciel answered. 'But there is also someone near it.'
"Most likely to be one of the top brass of Red Court." He muttered sourly.
Turning to Dresden he said "I found the Basilisk but there is someone else down there. Most likely to be an Noble."
"Lead the way." Dresden grimaced. A Noble was not someone to be messed with. They were one of the most powerful vampires of Red Court due to their sheer power, experience, and age.
Aries led him down the passage that travelled deeper into the ground, blasting anyone that stood in his way until they reached a massive steel door.
"Bombarda!" He hissed.
The blasting curse tore through the thick steel and the door exploded into chunks of metal as they exploded inward. Stepping into the room, Dresden and Aries saw a lone figure standing on the far side of the room. He was a tall man but bit scrawny. He had graying hair and onyx eyes that looked at them with unreadable expression.
"A true wizard and a wand wizard." He muttered as he raised his eyebrow in small surprise.
"I assume you are the one in charge?" Dresden asked him.
"My name is Arcturus Kusinis. It was foolish of you to come here mortals." He hissed.
"Like you're the one to say you old geezer." Aries taunted him. He could feel the intoxicating rush of hellfire as he embraced it for imminent battle.
Arcturus swiveled his gaze to Aries. He frowned his he sniffed the air in his direction.
"You are not what you seem wand-wizard. You are different." He asked with slight puzzlement.
"Oh I'm not merely a wizard, vampire. I'm much much more." He smirked.
"But still, it was foolish to come here." He said.
"Have you finally gone senile with your old age? If you are thinking about the Basilisk, than we already know." Aries drawled.
The vampire's eyebrows shot up in surprise before narrowing. "How did you find about the Basilisk?"
"It wasn't that hard to figure out after the attack on the outpost." Dresden answered him easily.
"Very perceptive of you mortal." Arcturus bared his fangs.
"What I want to know is how you got yourself a pet Basilisk. They are not the type to listen to anyone, even if you are an immortal vampire." Aries asked shrewdly.
"We raised it from birth. Of course, we had to perform few rituals to bind its will to our cause." The vampire shrugged.
"The snake will not save you from us." Dresden said.
"We shall see." He replied back with cold smile.
"Praecido!" Aries snapped.
A jet of silver light blasted from the end of his wand, almost blinding the occupants in the room. Arcturus nimbly stepped aside with inhuman speed and twisted his body around to dodge a blasting spell from Dresden. He grabbed a desk near him and threw it at the wizards. Snapping up his wand, Aries yelled "Reducto!"
The desk exploded in a shower of woods and the vampire ducked under a ball of fire before drawing his hand back to punch Aries. Flicking his other wand, he twirled it in circle around himself as he yelled out "Contego Puniceus!"
The hellfire warped around the tip of his wand and extended outward into a burning dome of dark fire that surrounded him not a moment too soon as vampire's arm lashed out. Aries hissed in pain but Arcturus howled in agony as the dark fire licked his skins and immediately withdrew his arm, clutching it in pain and valiantly trying to stop the spread of fire.
Before he could even attempt to put out the fire, he was blasted backward by Dresden and crashed through the wall onto the next room. Snarling out in pain and anger, thrust his hand forward and bright light shot toward the two wizards. Aries rolled out of the way but Dresden thrust his staff toward the ground and shimmering magical shield formed in front of him as the light impacted against it.
"Argentum Telum!" Aries snapped. A silvery light shot forward from his wand like an arrow but before it could tear into the vampire, Arcturus stomped his foot and raised his hands upward. A thick wall of stone erupted from the ground and shattered into chunks of rock as the light collided against the raised stone wall. He pivoted as Dresden shot a wave of crackling electricity toward him snarled out something in vampire tongue while pointing toward his enemies. As one, Dresden and Aries raised their staff and wand, respectively, and a powerful magical shield was formed and it immediately began to glow white hot under whatever spell the vampire shot at them.
Shrugging off the attack, Dresden swung his staff and a scorching wave of fire erupted from its end and raced toward Arcturus. The vampire jumped and dodged the flames by nearly touching the high ceilings of the hallway and brought his hands together like a clapping gesture. With a loud boom, the air in front of him shimmered and began to ripple as a wave of spell began to travel toward his enemies.
With a bloodthirsty grin, Aries brought his wand forward and barked "Siagrus!"
A shimmering pulse of near-invisible magic rippled the air as he directed it at Arcturus's spell. With a loud gong, the dark spells clashed in midair and bright light flashed as they canceled each other out. Seeing the opportunity, Dresden shot his hand forward and Arcturus grunted as he felt something slam into his gut with a force of sledgehammer and went flying into one of the rooms.
As powerful as he was, Arcturus was being pushed back before the combined might of the two wizards. If they were two ordinary wizards, than he would've dispatched them quite easily but both Dresden and Aries were a formidable magic users by themselves. In one-on-one battle he somewhat stood a chance but he was no match against them together. Snarling out in anger and pain, he reached out with his mind to the connection he shared with the Basilisk aroused it from its slumber.
'He's raising the Basilisk! You must seal the entrance!' Meciel hissed out in anger.
With hellfire throbbing in his veins, he quickly searched for an entrance that Basilisk would use. He snapped out his wand and yelled "Echosondra!"
He listened intently as the sonic energy ricocheted around him, his brows furrowing in concentration as he saw grainy image of Basilisk uncoiling itself down the chamber below. The echo travelled further and he saw the image of entrance into its chamber.
'There! Seal the door!' Meciel pointed out. He could feel the rushing power and ancient fury from her as he ran toward his destination.
"Keep him busy!" Aries yelled out to Dresden.
He raced out of the room and snarled out "Bombarda!"
He blasted the walls and jumped through the hole he created. Rushing toward his goal, he saw a large trap door in a room with circular dome above. Pointing his wand, he let out a series of spells. "Reducto! Bombarda! Cornollivo! Frendo!" He snapped out.
The spells rapidly shot out from the ends of his wands and stuck the trap door as well as the areas around it. The heavy steel door groaned from the impact before being blasted apart. The grounds exploded in chunks of stones and cement as they rained down to the empty hole. Aries sent out two more dark curses and watched with glee as he caved downward, raising a dust cloud and burying the Basilisk below.
At that moment, Arcturus dashed into the room and roared in rage at the state of trap door. Faster than he could blink, Aries pointed his wand at the vampire and yelled "Cruento Adustum!"
The marble tiles on the ground glowed as dark magic twisted the blood around the vampire into a raging maelstrom of power. He glared coldly at him as the glowing crimson bloodfire whipped up and splashed against the vampire Noble with devastating effect.
Dresden came running into the room and saw him get surrounded by crimson fire from Aries's spell. To his surprise, he saw a dark blur shot up from the flames. Looking up, he couldn't help but to grimace at the Red Court vampire's true form.
Arcturus was now a slimy bat like creature with thick furs on his back. His wing span reached around 12ft and his head was transfigured into grotesque bat like face with two, large pincer like fangs. He kicked off from the ceiling and crashed into Aries in inhuman speed and Dresden watched as they both tumbled into the ground below, leaving a large hole on the floor.
"Go help the others! I got this!" He yelled at Dresden.
The tall wizard hesitated for a moment before nodding and disappeared from his view.
Aries snarled in fury as the large bat-like creature slammed into him. They both had travelled down from the impact and he grunted as they slammed into the ground below and the rocks tumbled in, closing the gap. With dark power glinting in his eyes, he heaved the vampire off him. He winced at the wounds he got but immediately sighed as Meciel began to heal his body, hellfire roaring in his veins and he felt the pain fade away.
He glared coldly at the vampire as it rose while baring its fangs. His bone wings crossed protectively over him. It was a good thing that he was able to bring out his wings just before the vampire slammed into him, thereby reducing the impact somewhat. He sheathed his Phoenix and Holly wand and drew out Judgement.
Black lightning crackled into life and basked the blade in its power. With roar of rage, Aries and Arcturus clashed against its each other. Aries brought up his bone wings and lashed out with them, attempting to impale the creature in front of him but the vampire twisted and slashed at his chest. Aries brought up Judgement and blocked his attack and watched with dark smile as the black lightning crackled and cut through its hand. With a loud screech, Arcturus immediately withdrew his hand but was blasted back from blasting spell from Aries.
Spreading out his wings, he regained his balance before sending a toxic breath at Aries from his jaws. "Laedo Fervefacio!" He barked, brandishing his wand like a whip. From the end of his wand erupted a whip made of hellfire and the stones cracked under its dark spell. Twirling his wand in circles, Aries began to spin the fire whip into a blazing storm of inferno and it ate up the toxic breath.
Arcturus screeched as Aries began to use the fire whip to attack him from the distance, whenever he closed in he was met by bone wings and the sword writhed in powerful black lightning.
"Did you know you are a one hell of an ugly fuck face?" Aries taunted him.
Arcturus snarled in anger and pounced on him. Aries nimbly side stepped him and slashed at his stomach with Judgement before leaving another deep gash on his back with his fire whip.
"Now now, you have been very very bad. Didn't your mom ever teach you manners?" He taunted him. "Oh that's right, your mom's dead. But don't worry, you'll see her soon."
Twirling his wand hand in circles once more, Aries began to spin the fire whip into a blazing storm of inferno as he backed Arcturus up against the wall. Snarling in fury, the vampire leaped forward as he realized that he was trapped. Aries merely smiled coldly before stepping forward to meet the attack.
The circular motion of the wand had created a wall of flame that blocked Arcturus from seeing his enemy. Ashen wings of bone snapped forward and each impaled the bat like wings and he screeched in pain before it was cut off by a gurgle and a gasp. Looking down, he saw the sword had impaled his chest, right where his heart was. Lifting his head, his shocked yellow eyes met the cold, piercing emerald eyes of his enemy.
Aries sneered at him. "It's time for your retirement, you old fossil."
The black lightning surge forward and poured into the impaled vampire, vaporizing his organs and muscles. He twitched and struggled futilely as the light faded from its yellow eyes and Aries wrenched the sword free from its chest. With his enemy dead, he closely looked around his surroundings. The walls were gray and he could see that they were quite old.
"Now this is turning out to be bloody fine day!" He exclaimed with a wide grin. He couldn't help but to feel ecstatic as euphoria washed over him. The feeling of hellfire was good, but after nearly 8 years of honing the skill under Meciel's guidance he was easily able to resist its intoxicating pleasure. As of this moment, he basked in the feeling of victory.
'You have to get out of here Aries. This is the lair of Basilisk.' Meciel warned him as he felt spike of hellfire.
When Arcturus crashed into him and sent both of them tumbling downward, they had ended up in where Basilisk resided. No doubt, it would've hear the sound of fighting and was on its way here.
He scowled at the ruined moment of victory and took off running. He twisted at the corner and ran down the long hallway and came upon a gigantic underground room. It was circular and he could see something close to a huge bathtub. Stepping forward with his heart pounding he saw bloodstains on the walls and ground around the room from the dim light. Something glistened under the dim lights and he found looking at the familiar scale he found back at the mansion. The scale of Basilisk.
Shit.
Feeling the ground tremble, he turned and saw a giant snake sliding forward into the room. It was nearly 50ft long with venomous green scales and as thick as an oak tree. Its jaws filled with razor sharp teeth and two elongated fangs on the top. He could see the scarlet plume on its head as it reared up. Lastly, he saw its eyes. They were pair of deadly yellow with cat like slit for pupil and he winced as he felt devastating effect of its death glare. He could feel the hundreds of frequencies and deadly spells that attempted to enter his eyes by trying to suck out his life from his body.
Hellfire blazed in his mind as Meciel reared up and shattered the effect of the Basilisk's glare. He could feel her battling furiously against the Basilisk's stare with her magic, negating its effects. He quickly broke the eye contact and stared at its body, keeping its head on his peripheral vision.
"Stop!" He commanded in Parsletongue.
"You killed my master and I will destroy you!" The Basilisk hissed back in clearly insane voice.
'The Basilisk is clearly insane. The dark rituals must have permanently altered its mind. You can't persuade it.' Said Meciel.
He didn't have the time to respond as he rolled out of the way as it struck. Bringing his wand up, he yelled "Abhorreo!"
A streak of electric-blue light zapped forward and struck the head of the snake. It hissed out in pain and reared back while its tail swiped at him. Aries jumped out of the way and sent another dark curse on it but the spell simply bounced away from the snake's scale.
'Spells are useless. Basilisk scale is far too thick for spells to affect it.' Meciel hissed in anger as she glared at the massive snake.
"Corium Ustulo!" He spat.
A cone of dim orange light shone from his wand, much like a powerful lumos charm. The light shone upon the giant snake, who paused for a moment before letting out a pained snarl. It was supposed to fry it from inside and out but the spell couldn't penetrate the thick scales completely.
The Basilisk struck again, intending to devour Aries, so he had to break off the spell and roll to the side. Snarling out in anger, he pointed his wand at the snake and barked out "Exturbo Arduro!"
Hellfire spilled out in scorching waves and surrounded the snake. While its scale was magically resistant, it didn't completely protect it against the scorching heat and hellfire was much stronger than the dark fires. He smiled cruelly as the snake thrashed and brought out his bone wings. The emerald flames surround the wings and he took flight as he flapped his wings.
'Aim for its eyes. It should be much easier without the death glare.' Meciel advised him.
Thrusting his wand forward, he sent out more hellfire toward its head. Unfortunately, Basilisk was thrashing around too much to aim correctly. Snarling in anger, he began to set the entire room ablaze with fire. Torrent of hellfire bathed the ground from above while Aries let out a cold laughter as the stones became glass from the scorching heat.
"Now this what battle is suppose to be like! Burn little snake burn!" He cackled.
The massive snake hissed out in fury and pain and coiled itself like a spring before launching at airborne Aries. He was able to dodge out of the way and slashed Judgement at its head. The sword, its edges further enhanced by the lightning, easily cut into its thick scale and left a nasty gash near its jaws. Extinguishing the flames, he began to concentrate as he jabbed his wand toward the ground. Due to the blazing heat, the stone had become a glass and he began to transfigure the ground into a mirror. He wasn't able to completely transfigure it into a perfect mirror but he was able to make it so that reflection wasn't distorted. Basilisk screeched as its death glare was reflected and immediately closed its eyes and its forked tongue lashed out, tasting the air.
This was the signal he had been waiting for. He swooped down and slashed one of its eyes with the sword. It immediately reeled in pain as the sword ripped through one of its eyes and thrashed its head in agony. Aries had to pull back with a snarl but grinned manically when he got the clear chot at the other eye. Thrusting his wand forward, he barked out "Putesco!"
A murky-brown beam of light blasted forward from the tip of his wand and tore through the snake's other eyelids. The Basilisk let out a terrifying screech as its eyes were ripped apart, rendering it blind. Aries was slammed by its massive head as it shook its head in agony and he crashed into the ground while his wand and Judgement flew out of his grasp.
"Fuck! Why don't you just die you fucking snake!" He hissed out while pushing himself off the ground.
The snake frantically tasted the air before opening its maw and striking again. Aries disappeared with a loud crack and reappeared where his sword laid on the ground. Picking up Judgement, he directed his magic onto his left hand where a ball of white lightning was formed. The Basilisk, hearing the crackle of electricity, pounced on him with intent to pierce his body with its fangs. Aries merely gave it a bloodthirsty grin before shooting his arm forward while nimbly side stepping the beast. White lightning shot from his palm and struck the open mouth of the snake, cooking its mouth with its heat. The Basilisk, unable to control its momentum, continued forward and Aries brought Judgement in horizontal slash and the powerful sword left a long gash on it from the side of its mouth to the upper body.
With a roar, it thrashed its head toward his direction but Aries turned on his heel and quickly apparated. With a crack, he reappeared several feet away from his original position and thrust his left hand forward and watched as the lightning in his hand shoot toward the snake. The Basilisk screamed as it struck but instead of bolt of electricity, it was a lightning in a shape of a sword. Aries grinned coldly at the beast and began to run toward the beast, running his lightning made sword deeper into the wounds he struck.
It was one of the things that he had been working on with Meciel, he was able to manipulate the natural energy of elements and use it however he wanted. It was difficult but he managed to control it without the use of his wand. Right now, he had manipulated the lightning into taking a shape of a long sword that pierced the hard scales of the Basilisk.
The Basilisk struck again, forcing him to roll out of the way.
'Paralyze it. It's moving too much for you to deal the death blow. You need to lock it in place.' Meciel advised him.
Gathering his energy on his left hand, the lightning glowed more powerfully as it grew bigger and bigger in his palm.
"C'mon little snake. See if you can bite me." He taunted it in Parsletongue.
It an enraged roar, the Basilisk struck again but just as it opened its mouth, Aries struck. The air crackled and a sound of thunder was heard as the lightning shot forward and engulfed the snake. Aries could smell the ozone in the air along with sulphur as hellfire pumped in his veins. The Basilisk convulsed at the million volts running into its body via mouth.
Disappearing with a crack, Aries appeared in midair above the head of convulsing Basilisk and brought down Judgement with a roar. The snake jerked as the sword impaled its head and Aries held onto the grip of Judgement for dear life. It fell forward with a thud and only thing that filled the silence was the ragged breathing of Denarian. With a sickening squelch, Aries pulled out his sword from the head of the Basilisk and stared at its corpse.
'Well done Aries. You just killed a Basilisk, the king of serpents, as well as a Noble of the Red Court. I'm so proud of you.' Meciel said. Aries grinned tiredly as he felt warmth from Meciel and opened his eyes at the soft rustling of clothes.
Meciel stood in front of him with her immaculate white and silver gown and her eyes were alit with pride and fondness. She reached out and ran her fingers through his messy, raven black hair and he leaned into her touch.
'We should head back up. You need to let them know that you killed Arcturus and the Basilisk.' Meciel murmured as she continued to stroke his hair.
"Yea, I suppose so." He sighed.
Meciel's illusion disappeared and he picked himself up as he searched for his wand. Humming in satisfaction, he casually strolled out of the gigantic chamber while leaving behind mutilated and disfigured corpse of Basilisk behind. He had little bit of bounce in his steps and a wide smile plastered across his face. All in all, he was in a good mood.
Scratch that, he was in a bloody fantastic mood.
He grinned at nothing particular as he hummed. It was a good fight and it was quite fun to kill both the vampire noble as well as the giant snake. He had almost reached where he fought Arcturus when he heard several voices talking. Turning around the corner, he saw several White Court vampires kneeling over the bat-like corpse of Arcturus.
"Yo. You guys sure do have impeccable fucking timing." Aries called out lazily while his right arm came up in two-fingered salute.
The vampires started in surprise but relaxed when they saw who it is.
"Sir, The operation was a success. The princess is waiting for you outside." One of the vampire informed.
He gave a grunt of understanding and heaved himself up to the floor where it all started. Just as he brought himself up and walked few steps, he was tackled by a mop of blonde hair as the figure wrapped him in a hug.
"Aries!" The figure exclaimed. His arm unconsciously wrapped itself around the figure very slender waist.
He gave a small grunt at the impact and couldn't help but to grin. "Sephiria."
Her beautiful face was alit with joy and her deep violet eyes sparkled at seeing him uninjured. His grin grew larger as his hand travelled down her slender waist to her firm buttocks and gave a squeeze.
"Miss me? I know I'm smoking hot and sexy and all but there is no need to get your knickers in a twist." He smirked smugly.
"Sephiria, if you would stop strangling him for a moment so that I can talk to him." A sultry voice called.
Blushing slightly at the comment and at Aries's hand that still was kneading her butt, Sephiria let him go and moved out of the way but stayed at his side.
Lara Raith stood few feet in front of him along with Thomas and her subordinates. Her eyes travelled up and down his body (his clothes were torn and burnt from the battles.) smirking in appreciation.
"Good to see that you're still alive. Now, if you would give me what happened down there? Dresden filled me in until you disappeared into that hole." Said Lara
'Damn today was a good day and it's about to get better! Imagine the rewards they'll give me when I tell them that I killed both Arcturus and the Basilisk!' He crowed mentally.
'Of course. How can I forget your obsession with sex.' Meciel said drily.
Putting on his most charming smile he looked at the audience while giving another playful squeeze at Sephiria's butt. "Well, let me tell you exactly how I killed both Arcturus and the Basilisk." He grinned.
