Here I am again, finally settled back in Finland. Due to the continuing disasters that plague the euro zone it appears that I won't be getting a job this summer so I might actually have time to write some fanfiction. I haven't given up hope yet but we'll see.
But back to the story. There's been another long time between updates and I'm sorry. Life and moving between countries and other stuff kept my muse away and even when she decided to show up, my attention was on other stories. I think if all my writing had focused on Of Shadow, Shine and Shades the story would be finished already. Well, you can't fight the muse. This story, however, will be finished. Hopefully as soon as possible.
On that note, I have to admit that we have not even reached the middle of my already planned plotlines. So there is more to come.
I would also like to thank 爱人 for inspiring my muse to start this chapter and Merula Aeolus to finish it. It is slightly short but I felt that I covered enough area and that the ending was good as it was. So here we go.
OF SHADOW, SHINE AND SHADES by dra6on
Chapter 20. Steady…
Children shuffled around him excitedly, their voices hushed from anticipation. The sight of Hogwarts majestic structure in the night with thousands of lights twinkling welcomingly in the distance had quelled most of their fears but had done nothing on the rush of anticipation that run through the eleven year olds waiting for their turn to be sorted. All around them hundreds of eyes were trained on the individual sitting the chair with a hat pulled over their heads.
Harry felt nauseated.
He and Caelum had travelled the busy bazaars of China's biggest cities, navigated through the crowded streets in busiest towns in Egypt and stopped by Tokio's greatest tourist attractions in Japan. And he felt pressured by the proximity of his future classmates.
Yes, he was almost having trouble breathing.
It didn't help that Albus Dumbledore, the man that had visited Harry's nightmares on a couple of occasions, was sitting just a few dozen feet away from where he was standing and his beady blue eyes were almost frantically searching for something. Harry had half hidden himself behind the bulk of one of the bigger girls but he still felt exposed.
This was one of the problems that Caelum had spoken to him about. He was used to being around adult figures and treated as one. Even if Zahra sometimes acted like a child, she exactly wasn't one. Here Harry would have to try and get along with his peers who were bound to treat him like a hero and teachers who saw him as an eleven year old kid. He held in a sigh. And the Sorting Ceremony would announce his name to everyone in the school, allowing them to recognize him instantly.
What a wonderful tradition. Now if onlyI could get my headache under control.
Because Hogwarts was giving him a headache. The entire castle was so saturated with history that the images leaked through Harry's Occlumency shields even when he did not touch anything. He had almost been paralyzed by anticipation and fear when he had gripped the boat for support and his Clairvoyance had reacted. In the two seconds that his fingers had touched the worn wood he had seen thousands upon thousands of faces of students past. It had been even more overwhelming than the pyramids since at least those had been empty for a while. The boats were used yearly.
He had not even tried touching anything in the castle itself. He was afraid he'd pass out.
With growing feeling of unease Harry listened to the letters get closer and closer to P and his name. He could do this. Lower his Occlumency shields if he felt pressure on his mind, Caelum had said. It did not matter what House he ended up in, the mage had said.
The few people he had met on the train worried Harry slightly though he had to admit there was a part of him that thought of them as just kids. But if Su, Megan and Wayne did not want to spend any time with him in the future it was on them. He had already seen them all Sorted into Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff but… No buts. He would let the Hat Sort him.
"Potter, Harry!" McGonagall called out and immediately a hush fell over the Great Hall. Harry could hear the whispers and finally let out the sigh he had been holding in for the last half an hour. He took a step forward.
Every eye was riveted on him as he walked forward. His face was blank to keep his thoughts to himself, and he needed it when snippets of the whispers reached his ears. At that moment he was so, so grateful for Caelum for preparing him for this and taking him in in the first place. This would have been horrible otherwise.
Finally he reached the stool and turned to look at the students. A sea of curious eyes stared back at him until the rim of the Hat fell over his eyes and blessed darkness took over his sight.
That lasted about a second.
At the contact with his skin, the feel of past events that had been hovering just at the edges of his consciousness slammed into his mind with the force of a sledgehammer. Harry let out a pained gasp and gripped the stool for balance. In hindsight that was a mistake as direct contact with his skin strengthened his Clairvoyance. Harry's mind was bombarded by everything every student that had sat on the stool with the Hat on their head had ever felt, thought and done. His heart beat in rhythm with their fear and awe. He trembled as they trembled. Shivers of excitement ran up and down his back and beads of sweat formed on his forehead.
His heart hammered in his chest but not even Occlumency could save him as Harry felt a foreign presence slip through the just formed cracks in his barriers and tear them down from the inside. He held in a whimper that threatened to escape.
"What have we here? Oh, dear. Just a moment, please."
And it did indeed take only a moment for a sweet silence to fall on Harry's mind. After the earlier cacophony of the past the silence felt almost deafening.
"That's better, isn't it? Sorry about that but I have a safeguard against all kinds of shields. I had no idea you would be harbouring other secrets as well, Mister Potter."
Harry drew in a shuddering breath. The Hat's presence in his mind had a distinct feel and even as he "heard" the words, he knew it was going through his mind with speed neither the Master nor Caelum could match. It told him how powerful a thing he was talking with.
Thanks for making it stop, he tried to be polite. I didn't know my talent would become extra-sensitive in Hogwarts.
"Quite so, quite so. You are magical by core and thus it follows you are more sensitive to magic. You are also very sensitive by nature and it has only been enhanced by Hogwart's ambient magic. But, we should really get to the Sorting."
Harry steeled himself and released his grip on the stool tough the Hat seemed to be running some kind of interference between his Clairvoyance and his mind. His skin tingled where the Hat was placed but it was not an unpleasant feeling altogether.
"You are very brave and loyal by nature but your courage is borne out of self-preservation and your loyalty is only for those close to you. You will defend a weaker party but running head first into danger is not your first instinct. After your change in company you have taken to studying and you love learning about magic. You also know the value of hard work but know how to manipulate your way out of trouble if there is need. My, my. What to do with you?"
A sudden thought occurred to Harry. This is all private, right? You're not gonna go and spill all my secrets to Dumbledore, are you?
"Everything between you and me is private. The purebloods would have otherwise insisted on another sorting method hundreds of years ago in fear of family secrets spreading." The Hat sounded slightly insulted at the implication. "Now, to be honest you would do well in any of the houses. You are going to grow into a very powerful wizard indeed and all Founders would fight tooth and nail to have you in their House."
That sent a jolt of shock through Harry's system. They would have fought over him?
"Quite so. Be that as it may, your talent in Knowing the Past and Parseltongue as well as the family you have gained quite generously tip the scales. I cannot with good conscience put you in Hufflepuff where the others' over-exuberance would only hinder you. Enthusiasm of youth, Mister Potter, the Hat answered his unspoken question of what exuberance meant. Neither can I Sort you Gryffindor. It may be your parents' House but I think your patience would be tested quite a lot in the House of lions. Ravenclaw or Slytherin, Mister Potter."
The boy got the feeling the Hat was waiting for an answer and gave the only one he could, Put me in the House where I will be the best I can be.
"Hmm… Not making it easy on me? A word of caution, young Clairvoyant. Tread carefully and ask for help when you need it. SLYTHERIN!"
Harry exhaled into the silence and removed the Hat from his head, his Occlumency shields immediately springing back into existence and wrapping his mind in a protective cocoon. He saw the shock on people's faces and felt it in the silence that had fallen in the Great Hall. It's okay, he told himself, handed the hat to McGonagall whose eyes had widened as well and started walking towards his House table. Hundreds of pairs of eyes followed his slow trek and it was slowly eating away at Harry's confidence. It was only after he had passed all the other tables that the Slytherins remembered to clap but it was nowhere near as enthusiastic a welcome as all other students had received so far.
He took a seat next to a boy whose name he thought was Nott. Careful not to let his skin touch anything as his Occlumency shields already had trouble with the bench, he turned his eyes on the table and took a deep breath. Whatever happened Caelum, Zahra, Syl, Citala and even Kreacher were on his side. They would help him with anything. And so he looked up and met the hundreds of eyes that were still staring at him. It was making him really uncomfortable.
Thankfully McGonagall seemed to remember her duties at that moment and called out the next name. As the Sorting progressed Harry could only hope the Hat had not been wrong. He had a feeling his time in Hogwarts was going to be a lot more complicated than he had thought.
oooOOOooo
Severus Snape was having the worst day in years. Potter, The Boy-Who-Lived, son of Gryffindor's golden couple and the hope in the paused war against Voldemort, had been sorted into Slytherin. Into his House. And now instead of spending the evening brewing his potions and not thinking of the Potter brat, an emergency staff meeting had been called and they probably would be discussing nothing but the Potter brat.
Resolving himself for the next torturous moment, Severus opened the staff room door and stepped in. He appeared to have been the last one to arrive and anxious eyes greeted him. All of staff was present, including Filch and the half-giant as well. Even Trelawney had dragged her drunken self down from her tower, thought Severus suspected Albus had done most of the dragging.
"Now that we've all gathered, we may begin. I believe all of you know why I have called this meeting", Dumbledore began with eyes twinkling with worry.
"I dun' understand," the Gamekeeper sneezed. Severus' lips curled back in disgust. "How can Harry Potter be in Slytherin?"
"Albus, surely there has been some mistake?" Minerva McGonagall asked with a trembling voice. "He should have been sorted into Gryffindor! The boy's entire family's been there. Isn't a new sorting in place?"
The Headmaster seemed troubled. "I have already discussed the matter with the Hat. To a point it told me to bugger off or it wouldn't be performing the Sorting next year. It will not change its opinion about young Mister Potter. I am afraid-"
Severus found this the perfect time to cut in and remind everyone just how biased they were being. "May I remind you all that while Slytherin has a notorious reputation, not everyone graduating from my House turns Dark." He shrugged, disgusted with his next words but Slytherin loyalty won over his dislike of the boy's father. And he had a debt to pay. "It may well be that the Hat found it necessary for Potter to be sorted into a House that would give him better understanding of the powers that you all expect him to face in the future." Severus could care less that he had almost admitted his House was more dark than others. It was and everyone knew and expected it but just because of the prejudices he wouldn't let one of his snakes be kicked out of Hogwarts. Even if his snake happened to be a Potter and constant reminder of days gone past.
No matter that Potter held little resemblance to either of his parents. The hair and the eyes came from them of course but the brat held himself in a completely different manner and Lily's eyes had never held that look. In addition, the boy's darkened complexion gave hints as to where he had spent his time during those months he'd been missing. Apparently Egypt had not just been a short stop on his travels.
Everyone munched on his words but Severus could see they were not convinced. His respect for his colleagues was dropping dramatically not that there had been much to begin with. Were they really biased enough to judge an eleven year old before even meeting him? Even Severus wasn't, and he had a good reason for his expectations.
"I am with Minerva," Aurora Sinistra, Slytherin herself, surprised anyone."Potters have always been in Gryffindor. The world expects Harry Potter to be a Gryffindor. And you all saw how long the Sorting took! There obviously were other choices than Slytherin."
But did Potter argue against or for the noble House of snakes, Severus pondered. If it was against… He would know soon enough and Potter's life would become as hellish as he's just had.
Albus sighed heavily to get their attention and continued, "I see the truth in your statement, Aurora. But the situation is even graver than you all suspect."
Severus' eyes widened. Surely Albus did not mean to…
"The truth is," the aged Headmaster continued into the abrupt silence, "that Harry was abducted from his relatives last Christmas and has spent these last months with persons unknown. There is really no telling what has happened to him and how the influence of his recent company has affected him."
Several of the staff members gasped as the implications of such a happening occurred to them. The Potions Master stared at the Headmaster with narrowed eyes. There had never been any discussion of including the staff in the little secret that Potter had been missing. Now, only when the boy had been found, did Albus divulge that information and as a Slytherin Severus could only admire the manipulation even if his colleagues were falling for it. Well, it was not like he respected them much anyway.
"This is why Harry's placement is such a concern. He has a reputation as a hero but there are those who wonder what kind of powers the child possess for him to have defeated the Dark Lord when he did."
"S-surely y-you d-d-do not sug-suggest that P-potter might b-b-be-bec-become a-a… D-d-d-ark L-l-lord?" Quirrell seemed to be on the verge of fainting by just uttering such words and the man paled rapidly. Severus could not contain his sneer. The Mark on his arm suddenly tingled and he had to bite his lip to hold in a gasp. Some of his surprise surely showed on his face but he blanked it as quickly as he could. Quirrell…
"If there is even the slightest chance we are harbouring a future Dark Lord, we cannot let him stay and teach him magic. Our world has barely recovered from You-Know-Who."
"What do you suggest then?" Severus snapped. He and Sinistra got along with each other badly even on good days. "The boy's got magic, probably more than his bloody parents, and binding it is not an option."
"Why not?" Kettleburn asked.
"Because it would bottle up and probably kill him when he finally turns seventeen," Dumbledore answered in a tired voice and his words caused silence to fall to the room. Severus noted that no one wanted to be responsible for murder, even if they believed the victim to be a pending Dark Lord.
"The boy's future lies in darkness shrouded with mist," Trelawney said in a distant voice and Severus hid his tensing up. Fortunately everyone else only noticed the glance McGonagall had shot the Divination teacher. Their disagreements were common knowledge. The Potions Master kept his eyes away from the Headmaster, not wanting to subject himself to the annoying twinkle.
"Perhaps we should wait a week before judging the boy," he suggested, and added as an afterthought"Then you can decide whether or not to abandon him to death."
Knowing his words would at least make everyone think twice about Potter's destiny he left, more than ready to hex anyone that tried to come after him. Tomorrow the insufferable brats would again start filing to his class and he was certain Potter being in his House would bring even more work for him. It was going to be a hellacious year. And he needed to start it with the traditional House meeting.
Potter.
oooOOOooo
The waning crescent shone its meagre light over the Forbidden Forest as the only mage to walk this earth wandered beneath its canopy of leaves. Not much light filtered through to the ground level but it was not a problem for the man. Two green eyes glowed with power though the rest of his face was covered beneath a dark veil. This hunter prowled the forest floor, searching for his prey, ignoring the other hunters that out of instinct knew to leave him alone.
Caelum quietly chuckled at the thought but it held some truth in too. He was hunting. This was the fourth night he had spent in the forest. Four nights that Harry had been at Hogwarts and Zahra alone with their relatives or alone at Grimmauld Place and he was beginning to question his decision. The plan had sounded good in his mind but it depended on the Dark Lord's outing habits. Something that he had little to no knowledge of.
Too much of it depended on luck or Fate or whatever one wanted to call it. He did not even know that Voldemort was drinking unicorn blood this early in this universe but he had fallen into the ever-present trap of optimism. So many things were different yet even more of them were the same and he had trouble keeping track of everything. He could not simply throw everything he knew out of the window and start from a clean slate but still the differences were great enough for most of his preconceptions to be useless. And then there were the little things that were the same.
Ugh.
Caelum paused in his steps and closed his eyes. Sometimes the world spoke to you louder if you stopped looking and watching and simply listened and felt. He knew the Forest was Dark but he felt more at ease here than he did in many other places. He knew any creatures would give him a wide berth and he loved the feeling of untamed magic in the air. Hogwarts and the Forbidden Forest were situated directly above a crossing of leylines but in the castle man had been present for so long, the magic had changed. Here in the Forest that man feared, the magic had run wild.
It was in the air, in the trees and in the earth itself. It surrounded Caelum, pressing against his shields. And then he felt it a distortion. What he had had been looking for.
His eyes snapped open and Caelum crouched on the forest floor. Mage Sight told him only the ambient magic surrounded him, like sparkling dust floating in the air. With every breath he took, he breathed in magic.
The man began to move, his feet silent on the forest floor. He glided through the foliage like a Lethifold on the hunt, his instincts telling him where to put his feet. The forest around him grew silent as he neared his prey, sensing that something not only Dark was walking beneath the cover offered by the trees. Something evil had wandered into this Dark Lair and the creatures withdrew to their holes, waiting for it to pass.
The mage paused in the shadow of a tree, seeing a shape before him, prowling the forest and loud and heavy with its steps. He looked upon this version of his prophesied enemy.
Quirrell was, and always would be, a pathetic creature. Caelum knew it could not have been long since Voldemort had taken the wizard as a host but already Quirrell's magic was completely tainted by the Dark Lord's mark. Even in this weakened form the wraith had managed to completely take over the man and little remained. Quirrell was nothing more than a shell that still believed himself to be fully human.
He was condemned. No magic Caelum had knowledge of would let the man survive.
So he knew his game plan.
"Lovely night for a stroll, don't you think so?" he asked with a hoarse, gasping voice and stepped out of the tree's shadow.
Quirrell whirled around and whipped his wand out. Even only when he was turning Caelum waved his hand and the wand was ripped out of Quirrell's grip and sailed towards him. With practised ease the mage plucked it from air and the duel was over before it even began.
"Who are you?" the turban headed wizard demanded. His eyes were glued on the wand that Caelum was twirling in his fingers. Willow and dragon heartstring.
"A concerned citizen," Caelum rasped. He flicked the wand, forcing his magic through it and put up a ward around them. It was an all-purpose ward he had developed already against his Voldemort. Anti-Apparition and physical barrier not unlike Protego both tied together. An area ward and a single point ward co-existing.
It had been the first sign that Caelum had some talent hidden within him.
"What else could I be when the Dark Lord walks the halls of Hogwarts and no one is any wiser?"
Quirrell froze at his words, all masks completely forgotten. To Caelum's eyes the man's magic began to fluctuate dangerously as the wraith too reacted to his words. An owl hooted in a nearby tree and the Dark Lord and his host jumped in fright.
"Just an owl, Quirrell, nothing more," Caelum smirked. He had to admit, he like the feeling of power over Voldemort. He knew the risks of his plan but he also knew that he had no knowledge of Horcruxes in this world. He needed time to find them and to figure out a way to spare Harry's life. He needed Voldemort contained while he did that and letting the Dark Lord know there was another player in the game was a risk he would have to take.
"What… do you… want?" the Dark Lord whispered in a voice that was even more broken than the one Caelum was using.
The mage grew serious behind his veil and green of his eyes began to whirl with his magic. He did not answer the monster, simply held out his hand. From non-space Zahra's bottle landed on it and Quirrell took it in with a fearful stance. "W-what is that?"
"Powers by powers," Caelum chanted and the intricate runes of the bottle began to glow."Force by force. Energy. Magic. Mind and Soul. May the Genie be free evermore!" With a ruthless strike, Caelum sent his magic at the bond that still bound his Zahra to the cursed prison. He was defying the will of a god by his act but he did not intend to leave the bottle empty for long.
Like wisps of smoke the bond disintegrated before his eyes. He felt Zahra's surprise through their parental bond and he knew he had to hurry. As the last wisps vanished into the surrounding ambient magic, the bottle literally opened its mouth and its magic reached out. Caelum dropped it between himself and Quirrell and quickly backed away from the whipping strands of magic that searched for their lost prisoner.
With the magic of the bottle going berserk, his prey was attempting to escape. Quirrell was pounding against his ward with the desperation of a man who knew his death was nearing. Voldemort was screaming at him but the ward held true. "You fool! Break it, break it!"
Caelum sent a simple Stinging Hex at the bottle, catching its attention and then threw the wand away. Once more it sailed the distance between him and Quirrell and smacked the wizard at the back of his head right where Voldemort's nose would probably have been had the monster had such an appendage.
The angry magic of the bottle reached for the wand and found Quirrell.
"Aaaarrrggghhhh!" The screaming man was lifted by something he could not see or feel. His arms flailed desperately searching for something but there was nothing he could do. With the Mage Sight Caelum saw the wraith starting to separate itself from its host and he readied himself to capture it should there be need. But the magic of the bottle latched on the escaping sliver of soul and pulled it with it. The Dark Lord screamed in pain and the voice held true desperation.
Lines began to form on Quirrell's visible skin. As the bottle sucked the magic and soul towards its prison, the separation process that Voldemort had started neared completion and Quirrell began to die.
In his first year Caelum had come face to face with Quirrell and Voldemort in front of the Mirror of Erised. His mother's protection had saved him and he had watched Quirrell burn to nothing in front of his eyes. This death was different but just as cruel.
Life was sucked out of the man. As Voldemort desperately grabbed at anything to hold him out of the bottle, his host's life and magic were drained out of him. The skin turned grey and wrinkled, his eyes lifeless and cold. The skin stretched over the bones until the bones gave way and Quirrell crumbled to dust, the grey skin giving one last flap before it too disintegrated. Caelum looked up in time to see the magic of the bottle surround Voldemort's struggling and screaming spirit and nearly viciously dive for the mouth of the bottle.
And finally, silence fell.
Caelum's senses returned to him in a rush and he dispersed his ward, willing the magic not to return to him. It had been channelled through Quirrell's wand after all and the ambient magic would absorb it and his magical signature would vanish in a matter of minutes. With a sigh he took in the sight of a pile of dust and the bottle. Gently he picked it up and gave it a little shake. Distant screaming nearly brought a smile to his face but it was not over yet.
With one look around him the mage Disapparated silently.
He appeared in the middle of nowhere, snowy terrain stretching in every direction all around him. He was so far North, few men had ever been here. From an old map he had found that this island was actually called Itop but not much else. Here he had built the Dark Lord's prison.
It was a cavern in ice, warded with layers upon layers of impenetrable wards. Runes were carved and drawn in the ice itself while the floor was littered with traps for anyone foolish enough to take a step inside. Specified wards detected use of magic, movement and anything that Caelum could think of. It was as fool proof as he could make it and the only one able to access it was himself.
In the middle of the room was a pedestal upon which he placed a vase bought from a cheap Muggle store. It was inside the pedestal where he placed the bottle. With one last look behind him, Caelum tied the wards together and folded them out of sight before sealing the entrance behind him.
The Dark Lord was trapped.
oooOOOoo
Zahra Lycoris Black was bored out of her mind. No, that was overly melodramatic. She knew what being bored out of her mind felt like and this was just plain old bored. Still, it was something she would rather not be.
Her Aunt was busy going over the table manner lessons that she had been forced to endure when Caelum went to hunt Voldemort. Lucretia had been more than surprised when she had been finally introduced to the next generation of Blacks formally but a little memory charm from Caelum had taken care of any repercussions the incident with the floo might have had. So when she was left with her new relatives, Lucretia had taken it upon herself to teach her the ropes of being pureblood, so to say.
Cassiopeia had taken a look at her, called her a bastard daughter of a bastard son and shut herself in her wing. Zahra was planning on poisoning her food the first change she got. Not fatally of course, Caelum would have a fit if she was caught.
"Are you listening, Zahra?"
She glared at the woman and gave her an insincere smile. "Of course, Aunt Lucretia." The puny witch had no idea who she was facing and the girl itched for the chance to make her see her own faults. The wand she had acquired to compliment her also newly acquired magical core twitched with her hand.
But Caelum would not approve.
Her entire world view had changed with the arrival of the mage, Zahra mused as the witch continued her lecture and she pretended to pay attention. It was a first for her, caring for someone as much as she did for Caelum. And Harry too.
She vaguely remembered her childhood. Her mother's face had vanished from her memory with the time but other sensations had remained as if they had been so ingrained in her being that not even thousands of years of maddening loneliness and servitude could erase them. The touch of her mother's hands as she brushed her long hair and the smell of their home was something Zahra would never forget, no matter how long she lived.
"You are clearly not listening."
Her eyes focused on the light haired woman as her mind resurfaced from past memories so distant her present company could never fit her view of the world to comprehend them. She was trying to teach her about forks and spoons and suitable conversation topics fit for a lady of her status when Zahra had been dining with royalty when her ancestors had slept in the mud and dreamed of stone buildings.
Not that she would ever waste her time in trying to make Lucretia Black understand that.
"When is my father coming back?" she asked as fit for her supposed age. The "older" witch sighed gently, seeing her efforts to educate her as futile as they were.
"I am sure he will be here soon. Would you like to get ready to turn in for the night?"
She looked to the clock on the wall that told her it was nearing ten. It was late for a normal eleven year old and too late to be having lessons of pureblood etiquette. Not that Lucretia understood it. Zahra knew that she had lost her husband not long ago and suspected her interest in Caelum's "new daughter" was her way of coping with the loss. The elven witch cared, in fact, knowing the reasons only made her resent the situation even more.
"Sure." Short and simple. That's how you dealt with annoying "relatives". She only wished that Caelum would return sooner rather than later so that he could take her away from here. She wished she could use her powers to make Voldemort appear before the man but that was wishful thinking. Even without most of her powers she could feel the Fates' objection to that.
With a near silent sigh she got up and left the room to get ready for the night. She would wait for Caelum for a while and then probably fall asleep and dream. She loved dreaming now that she finally could, and thanks to Occlumency she was always in control. She could go anywhere she wanted to, be anything she wanted to be. It was worth being a human. And part elf.
It must have been nearing midnight when the Genie finally slipped between the covers of the bed in the guestroom. She had taken a nice long bath and then read for a while. She had a lot of studying to do until she could do all with wizarding magic that she had been able to do as a Genie.
She had just shut the light when it struck her. She felt the tiny portion of her that was still tied to her bottle stretch like a rubberband, all the way to infinity. Caelum's familiar magic accompanied that feeling and it twisted. Then it was over. The connection was gone and with it all that made her a Genie.
Zahra screamed.
It felt as though a black hole had opened up inside of her, sucking away everything that she was. Her magical core was trembling, trying the compensate for the loss of power. Her elven blood was boiling and trying to heal her when there was nothing left to heal. Her insides felt like they were being slowly scrubbed apart with sandpaper, causing her pain as rivulets of blood began to escape her veins and pool inside her. Something was pulling her apart and she knew she would die. She would die a meaningless death.
I guess… Caelum was wrong, she thought as her vision blurred and darkness rolled over the world like the fog from the sea. You can't oppose the gods.
She closed her eyes and knew no more.
A/N: That's it. I'm not making promises about the future updates but hopefully you'll hear from me soon.