Neville's Guardian by Sharpe34
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
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Chapter 10: Duck duck goose:
Dae moved down the stairs silently. The strange scent of troll was everywhere, and so strong. Quirrell must have almost rolled around on the thing to drag that much scent up the stairs. His brow furrowed, there was no blood trail here. Did he see it and run? How did the scent get so strong? He looked for any of Rika's surveillance bugs. Too much magic on the stairways, they never lasted more than a few hours. He paused, stilled himself, felt his center and felt for the troll. So much life in the castle, hell the castle itself was alive on a certain level. It angered him. Too much life, too many different types, the indifference of the staff, the smugness of the wizarding world... The insanely passive attitude about enemies and dangers... It drove his rage. It burned, deep in the castle a bonfire of anger and rage, he reached out with it. There, down by a disused section of the castle, magic wards keeping them out of a room. Five large life signs; a sixth, but it was more of a hive mind; and there... a seventh, magical, and artificial... an eighth, set into a pattern, a will, but no individuality. What the FLARK was down here with him?
"Flark it, trolls first," he said. He moved quickly through the maze of tunnels. Turn after turn, over pitfalls, through spells, shattering wards, and setting off alarms in Dumbledore's office. He didn't care, he had been locked up in a school with children for too long. There, at that door, five trolls...wait five? Flark that Quirrell, the jerk couldn't count, let alone teach people how to fight.
The twin snap-hiss of his staff drew the attention of one of the trolls, it moved to intercept Dae, and the Sith Lord laughed. He jumped into the air, spinning, letting the blade intercept the troll's thick neck. Dae bounced off and smacked into the hallway wall. The troll howled and rubbed the scorched mark on the side of it's neck. It wasn't even burned, not a blister, nothing but a red sunburn.
"Oh flark."
Dae looked at the staff, the power gauge said 100%. He poked the wall, stone melted and ran. "Well feed me to a Hutt," he muttered, "flarking trolls are laser resistant." He ducked a massive club and danced aside as a second one smashed into the wall where he had landed. Splinters and chips of stone pelted him, and he felt his blood start to run. He had stupidly gone into a battle without his armor. "Flark, flark, flark!" he exclaimed. He twisted out of the path of two more clubs. He realized that stupid trolls, without a thought to share among them, had actually encircled him at a four way intersection. He faced the fifth troll inside the circle and understood he was in trouble. If he fully engaged this one, the other four could pound him easily.
"Ok, when fighting multiple enemies, cheat."
He dove under the troll he was facing, and jabbed the tip of his staff's saber blade into the eyes on the one in the south hallway. It blinked and turned its face away. "Duck, duck, GOOSE!" His return stroke was a long low arc, the troll that was directly behind him was looking the wrong way. The staff's blade skidded, then slid between cheeks, and went downtown. The troll screamed, and gore steamed out of it's mouth. Lungs exploded, and it fell dead to the floor. "Not so tough on the inside are we?" Dae taunted.
Dae spun back to the center of the intersection. It was both the safest, and most dangerous place to fight the trolls. He kept the staff spinning, the trolls respected it now. They may be dumb, but they learned. Dae's boots squelched in the blood and offal. Two clubs swept at him, one high, one low. He dove between them, the twin saber blades spanged off the clubs. He was unable to cut through the wood on a glancing blow, but the deep grooves showed a concentrated attack could sever them.
He gestured to the north troll. Lightning arced to the troll, it screamed as its eyes exploded. He waved at the south troll, a wall of Force swept the troll back over 100 feet. It rolled, bones snapped, and the troll mewled holding its broken arm to its chest. The smallest troll, in the west hall, moved in. It was much faster than the others, and it had a glint to its eyes. On its forehead was a long mark, like a skull dagger, green and glowing. It had a slim metal rod in its fist. It took Dae a moment to understand what he was seeing. It was armed with a straight bladed sword. The blade struck his staff, sparks flew. Again and again the attack was pressed, and due to its strength and size the troll forced Dae back down the hall.
"Ok, good news, bad news," Dae panted, "they can now only come at me one at a time, and somehow this troll is a master swordsman." The vicious assault was fast and furious. The troll looked distressed, then suddenly it fell to the ground, gasping, blood streaming from its mouth and nose. It had pushed itself so hard its heart exploded.
"Well that's two." The trolls were back at the door, pounding on it, having forgotten about him. He almost felt insulted until he saw the troll in the south hall playing peek-a-boo. "Sooo, I come down the hall, play with Neal and Bob, and Gus splatters me. Trolls are stupid! How are they making traps?" Dae shook himself. He was coated in sweat, troll goo, and his own blood. He had not noticed before, but he had two long wounds. One on his right outer thigh and another on his left rib cage.
"Flark you all." He tore down the hall, the Force giving him speed and strength. As the blinded troll turned at the sound of his voice, Dae leapt up, his fingers forming a spear point. He rammed his hand into the empty left eye socket. He felt the eye socket snap and shatter around his strike.
When angered, he had taken pride on punching through ablative Mandalorian armor, to rip out a heart. Tonight, he grasped a fistful of Bob's brain matter and yanked. He rode Bob's body down, and as they hit the floor, he tossed the brains into Neal's face. "Catch!"
The troll screamed with rage and Dae lunged. The staff's blade pierced the inside of Neal's mouth and stopped at the skull. In the second it took Dae to pull it free, its brains boiled, and the head blew apart. "Gahh, so nasty!" Dae hollered. He turned to face the last troll. "Ok Gus, just you and me now."
"Little teacher, you dare intervene? Know now, you are marked, and your death shall be painful!"
Dae stared, then lost his cool, he screamed. The sonic attack shattered bone and stone, and the troll turned to mush. Dae jumped on it, and stamped over and over again on the corpse. His boots squishing into the jellied body. His rage took a few moments to cool, and by the end of it the body was split open and oozing down the drains. He panted, fighting to get his center. He knew he had failed himself, the school, Rika, and his students.
"So, what the hell was so important that they wouldn't follow up and finish me?" he wondered. He walked to the split door and reached inside. The wards had failed, the traps had all been triggered, and there was nothing but a thrown bolt keeping the door closed. He pulled it back and swung the battered door open. The room was smallish, and the light was low. There was a large mirror in the middle of the room, and nothing else.
Dae stepped to the mirror, and looked at himself. Satele Shan gazed back at him. She was wearing a mixture of Empire armor, and Jedi robes. Behind her was the Jedi Temple, and the banner flying from it, was a mixture of Sith and Jedi emblems. Dae saw himself beside the woman, their hands linked. Jedi and Sith bowed to them both. Armored Eternal Elite Warriors formed an honor guard behind them, and the Eternal Fleet was following the Armada in a celebratory fly-over.
"Ah, I see you found one of my lessor secrets, Lord Amadeaus," Dumbledore said softly. Dae turned away from the mirror, and looked at the old man. "It's not a prophecy, or even a possibility, it's a reflection of your heart's desire." The old wizard shook his head. "I thought placing it here was a good idea, considering the wards and barriers... apparently not." He smiled softly. "Would you mind explaining what you were looking at?"
Dae nodded and said simply, "sure, but not here."
Coming soon, Chapter 11: Of such dreams.