Disclaimer: still don't own anything.
Summary: Voldemort attains an old treasure through the help of a child.
Warnings: Hints of a child acting under the imperio curse.
Chapter 14: Laughter in the wilderness
In the deepest part of the darkest forest you have to go north and follow the dry riverbed up, up to the mountains, that guard this unholy place. There you seek the deepest cave and find the darkest spot filled with black water. Beware not to touch the dark liquid, for it is...
A man and a child walked through a forest. The man's crimson eyes were awake and alert. He knew exactly where he was and what he intended to achieve in this wilderness. In his hand, he hold his ebony coloured wand. Although it was nearly impossible to see even the hand before your very own eyes, he did not lighten the path. The child by his side had green eyes so bright, they shone in the darkness. It was a lively glow that did not quite match the blank expression on the boys face. The child walked in a calm pace while the man's steps were predatory. They sure were an unmatched pair.
The man stopped suddenly, looking around and mumbling low. For what he searched with his eyes in the darkness is not possible to say, though a grin on his face indicated he found what he had sought.
"Don't you want to greet your guest who was kind enough to bring you a gift?", the high pitched voice asked into the darkness, and waited.
But no answer came.
Again he searched the darkness and chuckled. "I should have known", he spoke softly.
Slightly amused, he started to walk again. The child right behind him.
They reached a small clearing where the earth sharply descended into a dry riverbed . The moonless sky barely illuminated the burned looking earth. Lord Voldemort turned around and looked north. It took him a moment before he could make out the peaks of the mountains towering over the dark forest. He went down into the riverbed and started to walk again. Something screeched, startled by the unnatural sound of footsteps and...
Voldemort stopped again, opening his mouth to speak. The wind increased and screamed at him angrily. He shook his head. No. It is irrelevant to talk to it. It wont answer. It was not commanded to answer.
He started to walk again. Faster this time. The boy behind him had no trouble to keep up, although he was a scrawny little thing, despite his age of ten.
It took them about three hours to finally reach the foot of the mountains. There, Voldemort stopped. He turned around to look at the small child next to him. The boy did not seem to mind the other person. He walked past the watchful eyes and followed a path between two huge rocks, barely seen in the moonless dark night. A path, one would not have seen, even if he had searched for it. Even if he had known its exact location.
The man with the crimson eyes smiled a strange, almost loving smile. His right hand with the wand rose to the air only to sunk back down immediately. And the Dark Lord sat down on a chair.
Still smiling he looked up in the night sky. He felt at peace and confident and... happy.
XXX
By the time the child emerged between the two stones, the sun was already rising. The first shy glimmer of daylight brushed gently over the darkness of the lands, illuminating the white face of the boy slowly stepping into the sunlight.
The bright eyes of the boy looked at the man, who gracefully rose from the chair. The small, shivering fingers clutching an old book, holding it as though his dear life depended on it.
Voldemort smiled.
"Ah yes, I knew I could count on your abilities, my young friend. Now," , he stretched out his left hand: " give me the tome of Ekrizdis." The last word sounded more like the hiss of a snake, though it was unintentionally.
A whimper escaped the child. His hands clutched the book even tighter.
Voldemort smiled, talking in a sweet, almost alluring voice: " Don't worry, boy, don't worry. Give it to me. You will feel better after you gave up on it. Just give me the tome."
The green eyes, which had been shining in fear just a moment ago, now blurred and went blank again. The child held up his hands and presented the book.
To say, it was an old book, would be an understatement.
The black leather holding the yellow pages together was dry and broken, the iron on its back, rusted. The once silver letters on the cover had faded away to illegibility. And the seven jewels decorating the front had long lost their shine and were broken. Another eight jewel missing completely. When Voldemort took the tome out of the small hands, a few part of the dried out leather crumbled away and fell to the earth. He did not mind and looked at the book just as though he had found the greatest treasure on earth, mesmerized by the crumbling piece in his hands.
The wind blew stronger.
Something was... here.
His head jerked up immediately.
The presence from the night before was back again.
And it definitely was not a friendly presence.
Holding the tome with one hand, he reached inside his robe and took out a green vial.
He looked at the woods, scanning the fleeing shadows. After a moment he started to talk in his usual high, commanding voice: "I will take with me what bound you to this place. No human took it from where it was sealed. No vengeance for the intrusion is obliged. Your duty is done."
A deep rumble filled the air, echoing on and on between the naked stone of the mountains until it reached a multi-stated cacophony. Sounding just like the earth itself laughed.
The Dark Lord screamed into the laughter: "I will now free you entirely. As a special gift."
The woods, vibrating from the sound, seemed oddly alive, rising and falling like waves on a stormy sea in the rhythm of the laughter. The sound of the cracking wood accompanied the loud rumbling laughter, highlighted by the crashing sounds of house-sized lumps of rocks falling from the shaking mountains.
Voldemort opened the vial and poured it on the vibrating ground.
The bright green liquid vanished into the earth in the same moment it touched it.
He and the boy stood calmly at the end of the dry riverbed whilst the world around them rampaged in overwhelming sick joy.
XXX
"Well," Voldemort turned to the child: "Lets get you home, boy. I might have some use for you in the future. After all, you are not under his influence. That is rare."
The child took the white hand offered to him and both vanished and left the dry flat dessert.
No one would believe that something or rather anything would ever survive yet alone live in this sands.
No one would believe, that just a moment ago a forest grew here in the shadow of a mountain.
Everyone would believe, that even though it had been a forest, nothing lived inside it.
Nothing, not even the forest itself.
XXX
Lyall Lupin unbarred the entrance door and entered. He took of his hat, his coat and his woollen scarf to hang it on the outer left hook of the wardrobe next to the entrance. Although it had been an unusual stressful night at work, he was in a very good mood and felt quite awake. By the time he entered the kitchen, he was singing a merry version of "The little witch and the cauldron cake". The smell of coffee greeted him as well as the smile of his beautiful wife, Hope Lupin. He gave her a good morning kiss and took the mug of hot coffee offered to him.
"How was work, darling?"
"Stressful, love, very stressful. There were nine vampires throwing a blood party in the middle of London. And a territory fight between a Common Welsh Green and a Hebridean Black in a small city... what was its name again... ah... I forgot... Rare to see a territorial fight between dragons. And it was not easy to handle them, trust me. But we managed somehow. Where is Remus?"
Hope put a plate with buttered warm toast before him: "He is still asleep. Should I wake him up for breakfast?"
"No. Let him sleep. The last week was exhausting for him. He could use a bit more rest.", Lyall said between two bites of his toast. He took a sip of coffee and looked through the window at the sky. Not even one cloud could be seen. It sure was a nice day. Maybe he should take Remus outside and play with him in the snow. His boy would surely like it. The snow had already began to melt but it still would be enough for a snowman or a snowball fight. He looked at the trees behind the small path leading to the house. The untouched snow still glittered white there. They had moved here last summer and the house was perfect. The next house was nearly 800 meters away and its only inhabitant was an old man who had shut the world out a very long time ago. Only a small path through this forest led to their new home. No one would find their way here by accident. Remus was safe here.
A moving shadow at the edge of the forest caught his attention. A hungry animal maybe? But when he blinked and tried to focus on it, the shadow was already gone. Probably just an animal. He took another bite of his toast and shoved the thought aside.
Hope sat down next to him with another plate and another cup of coffee.
"I finished the pullover I knitted for you.", she announced proudly.
"Really? That's lovely, dear. I hope it will still fit. I lost a lot of weight lately.", he said, closing his eyes slightly. With his belly full and the hot mug warming his fingers, he started to feel a little drowsy. "I should try it on.", he said. slowly opening his eyes again to take another sip of coffee. He did not want to get sleepy yet.
It was just a coincidence that he looked into the direction of the window and that he actually saw what happened at the edge of the forest. Had he looked through the window just a moment later or earlier, he would not have seen the small person stumbling out of the forest and falling to the ground right behind a small heap of snow.
"Oh my God.", he sprang up and ran to the door. By the time he heard his confused wife shouting his name, he was already out of the house and ran up the small hill.
Why was his son out there? Was he hurt? Did he...
His son lay in the snow, unconscious. The pale skin almost as white as the snow. With shaking hands he knelt beside his child. He could not see any wounds. Remus still wore the clothes from the evening before. His chest lifting and lowering in a steady yet fast pace.
He lifted the unconscious boy from the ground. Remus was pale, but otherwise warm and unharmed. The father walked back to the house with his child safely in his arms. His eyes fixed on his only son. His brows furrowed with worry. The mother running barefoot through the snow towards him. Her eyes wide in shock and fear.
XXX
It took Lupin nearly ten hours to wake up again. And of the events of this night, he does not know anything. But when he dreams, he still dreams of a rumbling, shaking earth, of a dark cave and even darker, deadly cold water with an old tome on its ground and of red eyes belonging to a man with a high, sweet, cruel voice. And whenever he dreams of those eyes and this voice, he wakes up shivering. Not remembering what caused this fear. Only remembering a deep rumbling laughter.
bold talk in 3...2...1...
Hello everyone!
I know this chapter is a little strange (like most of Voldy's chapters), but I try to build a little story he will follow for a few chapters. Seriously, his chapters are really hard. I have trouble imagining how you build up an evil empire. I wouldnt be a good evil mastermind, of that I am sure. :)
So, Remus Lupin was in this chapter. Didn't know it would happen, but when I wrote it, he was suddenly in there. I originally wrote the chapter with Geyback in it and a negotiation between him and Voldemort. But I hated it. It was pretty lame. So I rewrote it and somehow swapped the least favourite werewolf with the most favourite one. I don't think it is a break with the cannon because Remus will never remember this scene (except if he surprises me again). But I think there might be hints to this in future chapters regarding his nightmares.
About the tome... well, you will see in future chapters. It is not cannon, but it doesn't break with cannon either.
A big thanks to boaru. I am happily reading your comments.
He made a comment on Tom Riddle Senior in the first chapter. Well, the first chapter is very special and I rewrote it countless of times before I was finally satisfied with it. There is a reason why it must have been Toms father who Voldemort met there. Actually, more than one reason. A lot about the end of the story lies in those reasons. That is why I wont tell you one of them. Only this much, I already wrote down the ending of this story before I started the first chapter, because I wanted to hide some hints. It is not possible to find the end now. But later on, it could be possible. We are still far away from the story I want to tell.
Thanks everyone for reading. Comments would be nice.