Disclaimer: I'm sure that by now we all know that I don't own anything and if you don't know that then you're a little weird, aren't you?
Author's Note: Okay readers, just so you know this is probably the darkest chapter in this part of the story and it also happens to be the second last chapter. Isn't that wonderful? Read, review, even if only to declare that I'm insane and depraved, I won't mind. Hey, I thought that I'd let you all know that if I can't post up the next chapter tomorrow then I'm going to at least make sure that everyone who has reviewed this story gets it. P.S. This story is a trilogy, the second part is going to be called, Inevitable: Forsaken. Ciao.
Chapter Nine: Dark Alliance
The winds of change begin to blow...
It was silent on that cold May night, unnaturally so, even the leaves in the trees were silent as there was no wind. The air was dead, unmoving and the animals stayed silent and still in their homes, every one of them cowering in fear as they felt the presence of an ancient and familiar power walking the world once more.
The people within the mansion were oblivious to what was happening in the outside world, wrongly believing that they were safe from prying eyes.
Out in the dark a shadow moved, drawing ever closer to the faintly lit mansion and its inhabitants. The shadow moved from beneath the trees and into the faint moonlight, which refined the shadow into the shape of a heavily cloaked figure. The cloaked figure was tall, the only bit of skin showing was its, strangely enough, bare feet and there was an air of distortion around the figure making it look like it was underwater. The figure paused for a second at the edge of the trees before walking up to the mansion and through one of the walls as though it wasn't there. The figure continued through the mansion with cat like stealth and agility, heading for an upstairs room where it knew the occupants to be.
There were three people in the room upstairs and one snake, which had hidden its self as it felt the ancient power drawing ever nearer. Not phased in the least by the power the three in the room had the uninvited guest just walked right on in.
"Who the fuck are you?" asked the only female in the room, who without her false look was stunningly pretty.
"Come now Bellatrix, that's no way to treat a guest" said the stranger in a voice that even though it was without all traces of emotions, was filled with the crackle of tremendous power.
"How do you know my name?" demanded Bellatrix Lestrange taking a threatening step forward.
"I have an uncanny ability to know the true names of those I meet and even if they have other names I refuse to call them by them" replied the stranger calmly.
"If that is ssso stranger then what is my name?" asked one of the two men in a sibilant voice.
"You are Tom Marvolo Riddle, also known as Lord Voldemort, The Dark Lord, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, You-Know-Who and more recently Lord Thingy" replied the stranger in the same lifeless tone.
"So, you know our namesss and yet we still don't know yoursss" said Voldemort.
"Oops, how rude of me, you may call me Bane" said Bane bowing.
"Bane? As in the Bane? The Bane that killed hundreds of thousands of Demons, Angels, Dark Angels and Light Demons thousands of years ago? The Bane who cast a massive spell at his death so that none of us would ever be the same again? That Bane?" asked Bellatrix winding herself up.
"Yes" replied Bane calmly.
"Prove it" challenged Voldemort.
"As you wish, cast Avada Kedavra on me" said Bane.
With a shrug Voldemort raised his wand pointed it at Bane and said "Avada Kedavra".
The jet of green light streamed towards Bane who calmly raised his gloved left hand and caught the spell. Bane held the killing curse for a second, then clenched his fist and shattered the spell.
"Okay, now Bellatrix you call your sword and stab me through the heart" said Bane.
"Your funeral" said Bellatrix with a shrug and she called her sword; which was a pale blue colour and stabbed Bane through the heart.
Bane just stood there while Bellatrix drove her sword through his heart and then pulled it out, causing Bane to fall to the ground. There was a second's stillness, and then Bane stood up and dusted himself off with no signs that the sword had affected him in any way.
"Ho…ho…how are you still alive?" stammered the other male.
"Because Peter, I am Bane and all spells and swords have absolutely no effect on me" replied Bane in his lifeless tone.
"But… the legend says that the four races defeated you with a spell" pointed out Wormtail fearfully.
"They did not defeat me, I allowed that spell to work and I twisted it to suit my own needs" explained Bane.
"We do not need a hissstory lesson so why don't you get to the point and tell usss why you're here, Bane" hissed Voldemort.
"Fine, I am here because I want to join your forces" replied Bane.
"You, the most powerful being ever to exist, want to join my forces?" hissed Voldemort unbelieving.
"Yes" answered Bane.
"Why?" asked Bellatrix suspiciously.
"Because I like the Dark mark and it's either this side or the other side but before you make your decision you must know that I will only do what I want to and not what you tell me" said Bane.
"So, it's either my side or the other side, tell me Bane would you do something to prove that you really wish to be on my side?" questioned Voldemort.
"What?" replied Bane simply.
"Will you go to Azkaban prison and free the Deatheaters they have trapped there?" asked Voldemort.
"As you wish" replied Bane then he bizarrely added "Wraith".
Before anyone could ask Bane what he meant by 'Wraith' a massive black portal like hole, that seemed to absorb all light and warmth into it, opened and a creature as dark as the portal stepped out of it.
"This is Wraith" explained Bane walking up to the creature and patting its neck.
The creature closely resembled a horse with a few key differences, this animal had a lizard-like head, a dragon's tail complete with spines, long blades facing downwards coming from the knees on its front legs and from the hocks, facing upwards on the back legs. It also had two horns coming from its forehead that closely resembled the horns of an antelope and while it had a horse's mane the rest of its body was covered in scales. Since it came out of the hole the creature had done nothing but stare at the strangers through dark violet eyes.
"I'll go free your Deatheaters now, shall I?" said Bane and without waiting for an answer he mounted Wraith and rode into the portal, which closed once they had entered it.
Azkaban prison, the place may have been dreaded once but without the Dementors it was nothing but a shadow of its old self. The guards were relaxed almost sleeping, with the noise of the night creatures going about their hunt for food a constant sound, all was peaceful.
Then the guards suddenly jerked to full alertness, something was different about the night and it took them a few minutes to figure out what it was. All the animals had vanished or so it seemed to the guards who were straining their ears to hear any sound at all.
Then the two guards standing on duty at the entrance saw a shadow move deep within the dark.
"Who's there?" questioned one of them.
There was no reply and the two gripped their wands tighter as the shadow moved closer and closer until the light finally reached it and revealed it to be a heavily cloaked figure.
"Halt! This is Ministry property and you're trespassing" ordered one of the guards with false bravado.
The two guards became increasingly jittery as the figure continued walking closer without any reply. Then the guard on the left jumped as he felt hot liquid and mush hit his left side. Turning to where his friend had been standing the guard was met with the sight of a person in pieces. Stumbling backwards the guard shot a distress signal into the air and then felt a strange sensation deep within before he too exploded as though there was a bomb within his centre.
Bane continued to walk forward, unfazed in the slightest by the gore that rained done on him. At first the guards were eager to try and stop the intruder but as their spells continuously had no effect and they kept exploding they tried to escape instead. It didn't take them long to realize they were trapped for an invisible wall had surrounded the prison, stopping anything from leaving.
So the guards hid themselves and trembled in fear as they felt the presence of the stranger passing by. Unknown to them the stranger continued down to the holding cells where the doors just melted away in a cloud of smoke as the stranger walked past them. The prisoners had heard the bewildering screams and shouts of the guards and now their doors were melting as though acid was being poured onto them.
Bane continued until all the holding cells were open, then stopped and waited for the prisoners to come out, which they did slowly and one by one.
"Who are you?" asked Lucius Malfoy approaching the stranger.
"Tom asked me to come and free his Deatheaters" explained Bane instead of answering the question.
"Who?" asked one of the other prisoners.
"The Dark Lord" replied Bane calmly.
"Behind you!" said Lucius warningly.
Bane had sensed the presence of the Demon sneaking up behind him and was unfazed by it because he knew Wraith would take care of it. Sure enough, the dread beast stepped out of the Void which was its home and grabbed the Demon by its throat. The Demon didn't stand a chance against the Void creature, for its razor sharp teeth had the exact same effect as the special swords that the four species wielded.
The Demon was fighting desperately to free itself, so Wraith snapped its powerful jaws shut and broke the Demons neck. Wraith released the Demon which slumped to the ground, dead, then turned and looked at the strangers that were watching it wearily.
"Don't worry you have nothing to fear from Wraith, unless you try to attack me that is" said Bane unreassuringly.
"So how are we meant to get out of here?" questioned Lucius curiously.
"I have shattered the spell that stopped people from Apparating out of here so all you need to do is Apparate and I'll see you later" said Bane mounting Wraith and once more riding into the Void.
Voldemort, Wormtail and Bellatrix were waiting quietly for Bane's return and were quite surprised when he returned an hour after he left.
"You weren't gone long" said Voldemort suspiciously.
"Of course not" replied Bane calmly.
"My Lord! Look at his feet" said Bellatrix shocked.
Both Wormtail and Voldemort looked at Bane's feet and saw that they were covered in blood and bits of flesh. Looking closer at Bane the three realized that his clothes were also covered in blood and bits of flesh.
"The guards were explosively happy to see me" said Bane with dark humour when he realized what the three were looking at.
"You killed the guards?" asked Wormtail worried.
"All those that I saw" replied Bane passively.
"Hold out your left arm and I'll grant you the Dark mark" said Voldemort.
So Bane rolled back his left sleeve and allowed Voldemort to brand him with the Dark mark, while outside the wind picked up in a fierce, cold gale foretelling the darkness in the future to come as a Dark Alliance was formed.