Inception: Rise of the Heir
After the murder of Hepzibah Smith, Tom Riddle disappeared for ten long years. He sank deeper into the Dark Arts & pursued knowledge that others could only dream of, consorting with the darkest members of wizarding society. With his eyes set on North America, he has no idea that the magic he so desperately seeks will shape his life & his inevitable future for years to come. TomxOC
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing except for my o/c's and my own storyline.
The candles flickered softly against the cavern walls as the chamber grew quiet, the only sounds that could be heard were those emanating from the large cauldron, the liquid inside gently bubbling and popping as if it had reached its boiling point.
"I said bring the girl here." The creature demanded once more, it's voice cutting through the silence, cold and filled with notes of displeasure, seemingly angry for having to repeat the demand.
Tom watched as the cloaked figure stood before Lyra's unconscious body, hesitant and suddenly wary.
"T-this won't hurt her will it?"
"You test my patience." The voice hissed, provoked by the sudden question, pointing a long clawed figure towards it's trembling accomplice.
"You promised that-"
"- And long as you continue to obey me, I will keep that promise. But if you continue to question me, your impudence will have consequences."
Quivering hands reached over towards Lyra's limp body, picking it up gently and carefully carried her over towards the stone cauldron, each footstep echoing loudly in Tom's ear. He watched in anger as her body was lifted gently over the side, still cradled in arms she did not belong in and he felt his blood burn as the cloaked figure pushed the hair back from her face tenderly, stroking the skin on her cheek as if the touch would soothe her.
He watched from afar and as he continued to spy upon them, he felt a clawing sensation rip through his stomach at the sight, the hot blood that raced through his veins began to flood his brain and although his first instinct was to grab his wand and curse the figure before him, he held his composure and his ground, waiting instead for the perfect moment to make his move.
"Patience." He reminded himself.
After what felt like ages, decomposing hands began to reach towards Lyra, it's bloody claws outstretched eagerly and he felt his body grew stiff and alert as a gleam of silver flashed against the cavern walls, the candlelight dancing across the silver dagger in its hands raised over her limp form.
"It appears that time has finally run out." Tom thought to himself as he stepped out from behind the rocks, his figure still concealed by shadow. He had been cautious when he first arrived, preferring to observe his opponents before acting, but at the sight of the blade and its close proximity to Lyra, he knew if he did not act now, it would be too late. Their intentions were unknown and he was less than willing to accept the consequences if he did not act quickly.
Raising his wand over his head and thrusting it back down, he sent a curse hurtling towards the monstrous figure and heard a shriek of pain as the withered hand holding the blade fell into the pool of silver, severing it from the rest of its body.
"That should buy a few more minutes..."
Using the dark surroundings to his advantage, he crept closer to the blood chilling screams, brandishing his wand once more. Although he had chosen to attack the creature first out of urgency, his focus remained on the cloaked figure behind the cauldron, his jaw tensing furiously as he sent another curse towards the altar.
The sound of rocks crumbling echoed around him as his spell was met with another, quickly deflected from its course and hitting the wall behind them, rubble and dust flying through the air. He repeated his action quickly, sending one curse after another as his opponent averted them, finally throwing Lyra to the ground in haste in order to defend themselves.
"Good. Now come on...take the bait." Tom thought to himself as he cast another spell, the cavern ablaze in flashes of blue and red, the duel starting to intensify. He knew that from where he stood he held the upper hand, curses only whizzed past his body, missing their mark as they bounced angrily off the walls behind him. It was only a matter of time before he would be pursued, leaving the creature without the aid or help it seemingly needed. It would take him little or no time at all to best his adversary and after that, he would be able to deal with the more pressing matter at hand.
"You fool! You were followed!" The living corpse screamed, it's remaining hand pointing towards the hooded figure angrily. Low pitched sounds that sounded like threats gurgled from its throat as it clutched it's severed stump, the blood which should have poured forth from the wound strangely absent and he watched as it moved around inside the cauldron menacingly.
"Impossible! No one else knows where we are and even if they did, they could not have entered this cave. I took every precaution -"
Long claws motioned towards the shadows, its black eyes narrowing dangerously as it interrupted him, it's shuddered breaths long and ragged. "- Clearly you did not. Fix this or you shall know pain unlike any other you have ever experienced. I may not yet have my full strength, but I can still end your wretched life!"
Still disguised and hidden behind long robes, the dark figure stood above Lyra's body and paused for a moment, as if contemplating what to do and only sprung into action as another curse, sent by Tom, whizzed past, exploding into the altar beside them.
"Go! Leave the girl to me! No time can be wasted!"
Tom frowned as his opponent descended down into the chamber towards him, sending curses into the dark veil where he lay hidden and he quickly observed Lyra's motionless body laying against the base of the great stone cauldron, noting her vulnerability. Though he could easily fight two wizards in a duel, he could not be in two places at once and until he had subdued one, there was nothing he could do about the other; he was already far too familiar with the monster's strength, its speed and he was loathe to underestimate it again. Reaching into his pocket quickly, his fingers fell upon the dark black wand that belonged to her and grasped it firmly, starting to murmur a spell under his breath. He knew that although Lyra could perform wandless magic quite effortlessly, in her current condition he was unsure that if or when she awoke she would possess the strength necessary to do so.
"If she wakes, she might be weak, but with her wand she would at least be able to defend herself." He frowned as her current state still lingered in his mind, her helplessness inconvenient and problematic.
He needed to act quickly if he was to improve their odds.
Without warning, the wood slowly disappeared from underneath his fingertips leaving his pocket barren and empty. A curse flew past his cheek as his mind snapped back to his surroundings, unable to wonder if the wand had made it to its intended destination.
Tom listened as heavy footsteps neared where he stood and raised his wand in response, a curse flying out from its tip, hitting his intended target square in the chest. As the figure crumpled to the ground momentarily, Tom looked over toward where she lay and pointed his wand in her direction, murmuring quietly under his breath. "Surgito."
It was his last chance to aid her without distraction and he frowned as he turned his attention towards the cloaked form before him, rising to their feet to duel him once more. "With that counter-curse, hopefully whatever enchantment has been cast over her will be lifted and she'll be able to fend for herself until I'm done."
His opponent held no particular threat to him, he knew that there were very few that could hold their own against him one-on-one, but there were questions he needed answered and he could not be rushed when trying to attain them.
That, coupled with his strong desire to cause them pain, gave him more reason to take his time, to savor his victory.
They would feel his wrath, by whatever means necessary.
"I'm going to enjoy this, I think." Tom thought to himself smugly and watched as the figure walked closer to him, entering the shadows in which he hid. Grasping his wand calmly, waiting for the distance between them to narrow, he held back the slew of curses he wished to unleash, knowing that in time he would get his satisfaction.
"Show yourself." The voice spoke loudly, dripping with false courage. He smirked at it's tone, detecting the faint quiver of fear that lay behind it and felt reassured in his assumptions, knowing at once that he would have the upper hand.
"I hardly think it necessary." Tom replied softly, running his long pale fingers over the wood he held in his hands, "I think you already know who it is that followed you."
The dark presence before him growled and raised their wand menacingly, as if the sound of his voice had provoked them. He tilted his head in amusement and continued to speak, enjoying the waves of fear and anger that rolled off his foe. "You ask me to show myself, yet you are the one who is hiding. Pull back your hood and face me with courage, not like a coward sniveling behind scraps of fabric. Or are you afraid Lyra will finally see who it is that has been the cause of all her suffering?"
"I'm not a coward!" The deep voice replied angrily, a bloody hand reaching up quickly to pull the hood down, falling prey to the insulting remarks he had thrown in their direction.
Through the dimly lit cave he could make out the distinct features on the face of the figure before him and tried to keep his composure calm and collected as he glared, his eyes full of animosity.
"Once more, I'm afraid I have to disagree with you Cassian."
Lyra tried to subdue the bile that rose in her stomach and suppress the panic that filled her head as she struggled to move, disgusted and enraged by the situation she found herself in. She had tried to regain her motility, but to no avail; every time she found the strength within herself to cast a charm or spell that would aid her, the words either floated away from her, lost in a cloud of confusion or she found herself too weak to act.
Perhaps if she had had her wand or any of her other resources at her fingertips things would be different...but for now she needed to figure out something, anything that would get her away from this place.
"The struggle alone is draining me."
As she racked her mind, searching desperately for a solution, she heard the bone chilling voice speak once more, followed by the muffled replies of her companion, causing her heart to start racing.
"What are they saying?"
In her desperation to find a solution she had tuned them out, more so than she should have and found herself trying hard to listen to the conversation between them, silently scolding herself for her folly.
"You lost the book! It was not yours to take!"
"Book? What book?" She thought to herself as she strained to hear, frustrated and helpless. The only voice she could hear, raspy and strained, continued to argue with the other, belittling them for reasons unknown and Lyra frowned when she realized that her abductor's voice was still disguised to her ears, the replies muddled and inaudible.
"Hearing only half this conversation is of no use to me…whoever it is certainly doesn't want me knowing who they are...but why?"
"Bring the girl to me."
Lyra's heart started to pound viciously at the sudden statement and could feel a shadow lingering over her, casting a dark silhouette over her useless body. Muffled words danced through her ears from above her, sounds that were unclear and she felt a lump form in her throat as the gravelly voice spoke again.
"- And long as you continue to obey me, I will keep that promise..."
"Promise? How does any of this have anything to do with me?"
Without warning, cold, hard hands gently lifted her off the stone slab she had been placed upon and although her body was still unresponsive to the commands that raced through her head, she held back a victorious smile when she realized that objects were starting to come into focus, blurred and still hazy, but more strongly defined than before.
"A stunning spell perhaps...that mixed with another nasty little curse. That's what's to blame for this, but whoever cast it was sloppy. Its effects are already starting to wane…" Lyra remembered the one rule that was necessary to follow when casting curses or spells that were more complex in nature. "In order to cast a successful curse one has to mean it...that determination drives its success. Which means that the curse was either poorly executed because whoever cast it didn't have the skill necessary - or they didn't truly wish to hurt me…which means that it's likely someone I know."
She felt the arms around her suddenly loosen, resting her atop something hard, her delicate frame wedged between flesh and stone. What it was she couldn't be entirely sure of, but as steam began to hit her face, the bubbling sounds and strange smells starting to assault her senses from below, she could already tell that whatever it was wasn't going to end pleasantly for her. Casting her eyes downward, the rim of what appeared to be a large basin hazily came into focus, filled with some sort of liquid and as she tried to make out the rest of her surroundings, her heart stopped as she caught a glance of a horrifying creature that appeared before her.
"It couldn't be…"
Although her vision was still slightly impaired, she could clearly see the terrifying face of the corpse-like figure before her, it's black glittering eyes unmistakable as it stared at her greedily and she thought back to Tom's description of what happened to her body when she would black out.
"How is this possible? None of this makes any sense."
Her heart, still racing, began to pound viciously in her ears as the eerie voice called out to her, androgynous and strange, filling her head with endless whispers, taunts and praise.
"Do not be afraid, child. Your suffering is almost over." It spoke in a tone that was abnormally soft, the strange sound echoing through her ears. At once she knew that the voice only existed inside her mind, no one else could hear what was being said.
The realization rattled her, making her more uncomfortable than she had been before.
"I don't understand." Lyra replied. "Who are you-"
"I have been called many things..."
Angered by the creature's cryptic answer, she summoned all her ire, trying to mask her increasing desperation. "If you won't tell me your name then you could at least tell me why you're doing this...why I'm here."
"I would think you of all people should know why. To create life one, there must be great sacrifice."
"What kind of sacrifice?" Lyra demanded again trying to avoid its gaze, ignoring the last statement, unwilling to draw attention to the curse's waning effects on her body. "Why am I here?"
The bone chilling voice spoke once more. "You'll see in time. You ask me why you're here, but you yourself willed me back to life. I could not have done it without your efforts. Your strength...your perseverance -"
Lyra felt her heart skip a beat, her earlier suspicions confirmed. The beast before her was the same one that had inhabited her body, that was responsible for all her woes. "That means…"
The voice laughed eerily and she stopped herself from thinking, aware that the walking corpse could hear her thoughts. Summoning up her courage, she responded angrily, lashing out at the sound. "That was unintentional. Anything I did was to help rid myself of you, not fortify you. If I would have known -"
"By keeping yourself alive, you kept me alive...intentional or not. Not that you had a choice...But I ask you, did you not seek me out with open arms? Was it not you who entered the cave in search of answers? In search of glory?"
"I did not seek this. I did not will you into existence -"
"- Often the answers to the questions we seek are not what we expected. But yet we still have to face the consequences...no matter how undesirable they are." The voice continued, it's tone becoming increasingly smug. "Still...I suppose it was not entirely your own decisions that brought you here...Your arrogance most certainly played a part… but no, I must confess that you were brought here by another to fulfill my wishes and...their own."
"Who?"
A soft hand touched her face and she found herself wishing once more that she could move, or escape from the unwelcome attention, her head screaming for it to stop.
"You have greatly suffered. This I know, this I understand. I myself have lived a half life, doomed to live in this cursed state...but soon both of our pain will cease."
"Answer me." Lyra demanded angrily, her patience dwindling as the wraith continued to ignore her request. Aggravated by it's silence she spoke once more, her voice dripping with malice. "Your pain will not end, despite what you think. The minute the constraints on my body are gone I promise that I will stop at nothing until you are dead. You will regret ever having done this-"
The creature ignored her statement and paused, carefully addressing her once more. "- Your determination is admirable - futile - but inspiring nonetheless. Because of what you have done for me -and will do for me - and despite the threats you make, I will at least provide you with the clarity you so desire."
Her anger unbridled, she felt herself respond coldly, unwilling to play the game the creature seemed to enjoy any longer. "Why should I care now? Nothing you have said so far has made any sense, instead I've been met with riddles and empty words."
"So you no longer wish to know who is responsible for your fate?"
Lyra remained silent, unsure of how to respond. Her chest burned with an unspeakable rage, but she could not help but yearn for the knowledge of who was truly to blame for her misery.
"I thought so." The voice responded smugly, its tone less harsh than before. "Your anger towards me, although understandable, is misplaced."
She bit her tongue, trying desperately to hold back the poisonous words she wished to unleash, her hatred instead pooling inside her body, clawing at her insides incessantly.
"I was made to promise that I would not speak the name of the person who led you to me due to the terms of our arrangement -."
"Arrangement? - "
The voice ignored her interruption, instead continuing on. "- but I can tell you that the hands that currently linger upon your skin are not unfamiliar to you."
"More riddles…" She growled. "There's not one person I know who would stand to benefit from any of this -"
"Can you think of no one who would betray you in such a way? To use your situation to their advantage? Is there not one person in your mind who you know that would rather resort to trickery to achieve their desires instead of accepting your rejection?"
At those last words Lyra felt her mouth run dry, her body suddenly filled with an uncontrollable fury and in her anger she felt herself push the creature from her brain, stonewalling her mind's defenses against anyone else who might try to gain access to her emotions and thoughts.
Although a name had not been spoken, she knew now that she did not need one, the answer was as plain as day.
The feeling of those same foreign hands against her skin made her blood roil with enmity, there was something unnatural about it, something greedy. It was a feeling that she did not understand, nor did she want to and as the calloused skin touched her own the bile rose in her throat, her mind focused on the masculine fingers that lingered against her cheeks for longer than they should have, sweeping her hair aside and grazing her lips without permission.
"If I make it out of this alive, I promise that suffering will not even begin to describe what I'll do to you.." She silently vowed, pretending that he could hear her inaudible threats, the murderous thoughts flowing through her mind like water. Entertaining her emotions, she imagined every ounce of pain she could inflict, savoring each method, wondering which one would make him feel as horrible as she did now. "You will pay for everything that you've done to me."
Without warning, a large explosion erupted from behind her, the sound of the earth blasting apart, ripping her unwillingly from her chosen method of coping with her humiliation and instead she listened carefully to her surroundings, trying to understand what was going on.
The sound of a high pitched scream hit her ears as she was yanked backwards from the basin, rocks and dirt flying across the air as curses continued to bombard them. With a final earth shattering noise, she felt the ground shake underneath her, the rough hands that had been wrapped saliciously around her body had finally relinquished their hold and she felt herself hit the ground violently, alone and forgotten.
"You fool! You were followed!"
Lyra's heart skipped a beat as the monstrous beast growled, it's voice riddled with venom and pain and as she listened to the threats that poured from its decaying lips, wondering if what it was saying was true.
"Had someone followed them?"
"Could it be?…"
There was only one person she could think of that would even care in the slightest about her fate.
Trying to calm her nerves, she found herself unwilling to give in to the hope that rose in her chest and instead felt a grin pull at her mouth when she realized her fingers were finally starting to respond to her commands, gently unfurling from their paralyzed position.
As she lay there amidst the chaos and screams around her, she continued to stretch her fingers, her mind starting to regain focus. Lyra closed her eyes, squeezed them tightly before opening them once more, repeating the action again and again, in hopes that her vision would return to its normal capacity. She silently swore to herself when it did not, the ground still slightly blurred and out of focus before her, her elated mood dropping in disappointment.
"Damnit!"
"Go! Leave the girl to me - !" She heard the creature yell and began to feel her heart pound viciously in her ears, preparing herself for the worst. In her position she was still vulnerable and despite her wishes, defending herself was not yet an option.
A shadow fell over her and amidst the noise and chaos she could feel it hesitate at her frame before it departed, leaving her to her own devices. Claws scratched against stone as she heard the pool of strange liquid beside her bubble and pop.
"Think Lyra...think." She scolded herself, unwilling to accept defeat and as she scoured her brain for a solution, she felt a hard object suddenly materialize underneath her fingertips, it's surface smooth and somewhat familiar. Casting her eyes downwards, her mouth opened in surprise as her wand lay underneath her, relief rushing through her body.
"I left this on my bed…" She thought to herself carefully as she wrapped her hand around it. "If it's here now, then that means…"
Bright colors illuminated the space around her, flashes of blue and red resonating from the shadows in the distance and she felt the small whisper of hope that she had tried to strangle within her chest start to grow, confirming her earlier suspicions of who had come to find her.
"Tom."
How he found her, she could not be certain, for not even she knew where she was, but she felt a small blanket of relief wash over her body as she continued to watch the flashing lights before her, grateful for his presence. For a few moments the electric sound of magic filled the air around them, crackling and spitting back and forth, spell meeting spell, and she felt herself holding her breath in dismay as they suddenly stopped without warning, the chamber becoming eerily silent.
"What's going on?" Lyra thought to herself, squinting as if the simple action would allow her to see more clearly, her heart continuing to thrum in her ears. A nauseous sensation began to pull at her stomach, knotting it instantly as a fleeting thought crossed her mind, panicked by the idea. "What if he's hurt?"
"Don't be stupid." She told herself, dismissing the concern as she continued to narrow her eyes towards the darkness, hoping to catch a glance of what was happening. "You know by far he's the better wizard….besides...you need to worry about yourself."
Looking downward towards her hands, she continued to wiggle her fingers, growing frustrated by the lack of her body's advancement. Some motility had started to return to her, but it wasn't nearly enough to be of any use, her mind, although clear in direction, was still clouded and hazy when it came to magic, her skills still dulled. "Nasty little curse…it's making all of this very inconvenient."
"It's because he was frightened by you." She clenched her jaw, continuing to think. "He knew there was no way he could best you face to face or get what he wanted without some sort of deceit. This is a coward's curse."
The spell in itself should have been her first clue as to who had abducted her and forced her into this position. Only someone close to her would have known her proficiency without a wand, had it been any other witch or wizard they might have overlooked such a minor detail and she would not have found herself as incapacitated as she was.
"If I make it through any of this, pain will not even begin to describe what I have in store for you."
As she started to despair, angered and humiliated by her weakness, she felt a strange feeling start to slowly wash over her, as if someone were pouring a bucket of warm water across her body. The sensation began to quickly spread and as the gentle heat reached her face, her back grew stiff, suddenly realizing that the hand she had tried to move earlier had begun to respond to her commands. Lyra felt her palm rising up to her cheek, her fingertips brushing against her skin softly.
"I can move again…"
Staring down at the arm and hand that now moved effortlessly, responding to her every wish, she gasped in delight as her eyesight suddenly dimmed and refocused, every detail of her dark surroundings finally coming into view. Rubbing them gently with the back of her forearm she looked around, finally realizing where she had been taken.
"The cave."
A million questions racing through her mind, Lyra tried to ignore them and instead grasped her wand tightly, slowly starting to rise from off the ground, balancing herself carefully as she stood. Relief washed over her when she found that her mind was no longer muddled and hazy, her vision was now crisp and clear and the curses she could not think of before suddenly materialized on the tip of her tongue, ready to be unleashed upon her opponents.
As she turned around to face the corpse behind her, she felt a sudden sharp pain erupt from her side, a set of claws tearing into her flesh, beginning to drag her backwards, the creature had wasted no time in incapacitating her when it finally realized that she had been restored to her former strength.
Before she could think, she felt herself shriek in pain as the nails sank further into her body, securing their hold upon her. Their presence left her no time to formulate a plan as she scratched and pulled at the stropped talons with one hand, trying to aim her wand at them desperately with the other, the slew of spells escaping her lips flying off in different directions as she tried to avoid hitting herself.
It was no use.
She had misjudged the feeble form that she had set eyes upon in her altered state, assuming that the dealth-like figure would not be able to move as quickly as it did and she was now paying for her hubris. Instead of reveling in her relief, she should have acted quickly and placed more distance between them, assessing the danger from afar.
"I should have known better-" Lyra thought through gritted teeth and tried to muffle her screams of agony as she failed once more to seperate them from her flesh, it's leathered arm proved to be unnaturally strong as it continued to yank her backwards, it's grip unyielding. Grabbing the withered hand desperately, she muttered a spell under her breath, hoping it's effects would end its terrifying hold upon her.
"Incendio!"
The creature shrieked as the rotted flesh started to spit and burn from the small flames dancing across its arm and before she could celebrate, Lyra became aware of her own folly when her skin started to burn alongside it, her mind screaming with the shrill voice in unison.
As the white hot flames raced across her own flesh, the feeling almost unbearable, she once more felt her stomach sink in despair when she realized the torture she had inflicted had only caused the monster to latch on to her tighter, its nails like cold steel hooks, ripping her side apart in retaliation to the pain, the searing wounds growing larger as she struggled.
In her efforts to escape, she had only caused herself more harm.
Reeling backwards, her hands slipping against its hide slick with her own blood, she felt her backside suddenly meet the cold hard stone of the cauldron, her head hitting its rocky exterior violently with a sickening thud, blood pouring from the fresh wound in her head like crimson tears.
Dazed and unbalanced, Lyra felt her body lift slowly off the ground, the monstrous limb quickly dragging her up against the basin's side and towards the simmering silver liquid housed within its belly. Panic and dread swirling around in her mind, she could not help but scream in agony as she finally allowed the creature to achieve its victory, it's skeletal hand pulling her into the ominous mercurial pool.
"The harder I fight, the more damage I cause myself."
As her body hit the water, she felt herself quickly dragged down into its depths, the boiling fluid that enveloped her filling her lungs as she screamed and desperately tried to rise to the surface and felt her heart skip a beat as her attacker finally relinquished the excruciating hold upon her.
Clutching her side in pain, Lyra silently repeated a healing spell over and over again in her mind as she rose to the surface, coughing and gasping for air, her breathing short and ragged, the water that surrounded them both stinging and burning the gaping lacerations carved into her flesh.
"The wounds will only be partially healed and I'll be scarred...but it'll have to do." She thought to herself as she kept one hand upon her mutilated torso, the other grasping her wand firmly, raised towards the creature now standing opposite her in the small pool of silver.
"Stay back." She warned, before she cast her eyes towards her trembling hand, now cold and numb and noticed the liquid around her turning red, her blood spilling into the pool before her. "It's not working fast enough...I've lost too much already."
"Or you'll do what?" The strange beast laughed raspily as it spoke, the two glittering black eyes upon its face watching Lyra hungrily, like a predator hunting its prey. "You're in no position to dictate."
"Maybe, but I'm not dead yet." Lyra said softly, trying to shake the tired feeling from her eyes, her body growing weaker as the vermillion pool before her continued to grow. "Which means that you haven't won."
"You'll be dead soon enough."
"You underestimate me." Lyra spoke, her breathing becoming increasingly labored as she felt the world around her grow dim, her focus still on her disparaging wounds, the blood from her forehead still leaking down her face and falling into her eyes, hindering her vision.
"I've spent enough time in your body to understand its limits." The creature smiled, it's flayed lips tugging up into a terrifying grin. "But before you die, you have something of mine, something I need back."
Too weak to respond, she frowned in confusion as the ghastly figure approached her, it's arms outstretched. Wiping the gore and sweat from her eyes, she noticed the missing hand which had been severed from its corpse and smiled slightly, a glimmer of hope rising in her chest.
"Whatever it is, it's not infallible...it can still be hurt...or killed. Either way I just need to hang on long enough to do so."
Lyra looked past the beast off into the distance, the lack of sound still unnerving her, her hopes still faintly riding on the outcome.
"You still think your friend can save you?" It laughed at her, it's voice dripping with amusement. "He is too late."
It waved its severed arm towards her menacingly and smiled. "Although he did disfigure me quite inconveniently...But it makes no difference. I'll deal with him later..."
"I don't need him to save me. I can do that myself."
"Silly girl, don't you see? In a few moments none of this will matter." It waded through the water slowly towards her, it's black eyes glittering in the candlelight. "I do commend your resilience though...it's an admirable trait."
Closing the distance between them, it looked at her strangely for a moment before raising its bony withered arm. "Now, to get back what it is you've borrowed so that I may be whole once more."
"Borrowed?" Lyra responded weakly, pressing herself up against the back of the cauldron in order to stay above water, her strength continuing to fail. "I took nothing from you."
The creature ignored her as it began to chant, it's voice unnaturally soft and calm as it held its hand out toward her, the language in which it spoke unintelligible and unfamiliar.
Still trying to cast her own healing charm, she felt a wave of nausea wash over her as her body began to tremble and shake, the bile rising in her throat with each passing moment. "What is it doing to me?" Unwillingly, she felt the muscles in her stomach begin to spasm in response to the strange words, the voice growing louder with each empty wretch that parted her lips until finally a small sharp object slid up from her throat and into her mouth. Disgusted and confused, she spit the foreign matter into the water before her, desperate to rid herself of its presence against her tongue.
"What was that?"
Moisture still trickling down her forehead, Lyra opened her eyes weakly as she tried to examine what had left her mouth and into the water and stared in revulsion as what appeared to be a small bone covered in blood and bile was scooped up by long, terrifying claws.
"It was a risk to part with this...but a necessary one." The corpse spoke carefully, the candlelight dancing in its obsidian eyes as it admired the disgusting lump, holding it up in the air. Looking towards her face, it laughed at her expression, smugly grinning. "You have no idea what this is, do you?"
"The last thing I care about is what that disgusting thing actually is, but the longer I keep her occupied, the better my chances are."
She winced as she shook her head, hoping that her last ditch attempt to buy her more time would work.
The living cadaver made a strange gurgling noise as it continued to admire the bone, rubbing it tenderly. "This is what allowed me to survive all these years, what let me possess your strength and body when I needed it. The same hands that brought you to me, placed it inside you back when you were here last."
"I don't understand."
"Inside this small insignificant scrap of skeleton, lies my essence...my soul. There is a word for it in my language. One I'm sure is foreign to you."
Lyra's mind raced back to the old pages of the book Sani had shown her, the excerpts and their conversation flashing through her memory as her mind came to a sudden realization.
"Chindi." She whispered softly, closing her eyes as she tried to maintain the conversation and still pursue her hopes of healing her wounds.
"Very good. You continue to surprise me." The beast spoke, eyeing her carefully. "In order to permanently bind us, I needed to put a piece of myself inside you, for the Chindi alone could never have accomplished what I needed by itself and I knew that I would need it back, unharmed and unattached to another in the unfortunate case that you died."
"And now that you have it back?"
"It will never be parted from me again."
Lyra watched as the creature slowly closed its fist over the small bone and murmured quietly under its breath until it opened its withered palm once more, a small chain now hanging off the dark talisman. Its breathing became labored as it placed the chain over its head, the grisly trinket now resting upon its fetid, wrinkled neck.
"Why are you telling me all of this?" Lyra asked as she looked on, trying to ignore her own feeble attempts to prop herself up, sinking steadily into the water with each passing moment.
"Were you not curious?" It asked her slyly, grabbing her face with its grotesque remaining hand. "Besides who will you tell? In a few moments all of this will be over."
Despite her repulsion at the touch, she stared into the eyes of the corpse defiantly and clenched her jaw. "You won't succeed, despite what you think."
A muffled scream echoed off in the distance as Lyra turned her head towards the sound, anxious to see who the voice belonged to, but before she could think she felt the withered hand grab her hair and yank her head back, pulling her into the center of the large cauldron.
"I already have. And as much as I've enjoyed this conversation, it's time for it to finally end."
Lyra tried desperately to pull away from the creature, aiming her wand towards it's belly, the few spells she managed to cast, bouncing off it's exterior fruitlessly.
"Why are all these spells not working? Earlier I used one and it seemed to work just fine-"
"You can try all you like, but you cannot harm me with your weak magic. Believe me when I say it brings me no pleasure to do this. If circumstances were different, your life might have been spared."
Frustrated by her failures, Lyra responded angrily, unwilling to show the beast the fear that lurked within her. "And believe me when I say I will have my revenge."
"Do you not think I have not already thought of that? No. Your anger, your persistence is why you must die...I've spent enough time in your body to know that as long as you breathe, you will never stop being a thorn in my side."
"Perhaps fire is the only way to harm it at all...but even that barely worked…"
"With your blood I will become mortal once more and all shall fear me as they once did."
"Mortal? Does that mean right now in this state it can't be harmed?" A sudden realization hit her as the terrifying corpse yanked her head back by her hair, exposing her neck. "Of course not...it's already dead! The necklace is what's tethering it to life...but if it were to become human once more...I'll have my chance."
There was only one option for her now, if she were to have any chance to succeed. The creature needed to think she was dead.
"Or close to death anyway…"
The choice was risky and at the uncertainty of the outcome she felt her mouth become dry, her tongue suddenly laying heavy within her jaw. "It's the only way."
As her body trembled apprehensively, she slowly stopped chanting the spell that was ensuring her survival and started to remove her hand from her side, feeling the pain rush to her wounds once more, the healing process coming to an abrupt halt. As her blood continued to pour out from her injuries, she noticed what had once been a pool of silver had now changed and instead had become a murky red.
"How much longer until my body completely shuts down?"
Beginning to shake from weakness, her consciousness slowly started to fade in and out, she realized that her limbs now felt cold and numb, reluctant to answer her demands.
She was dying or at least the process had begun.
"This is my only chance…" Lyra reminded herself, her head pounding slowly as her assailant's grip loosened, it's voice smug and condescending.
"Although I admire your determination, it seems like your body has already begun to betray you. It won't be long now...your miserable suffering is almost at its end..."
She felt the withered hand slide from her head, her heartbeat slowing its pace as the creature's final words met her ears, the sound far and distant as she slipped under the vermillion water, sinking the the bottom of the cauldron like a stone
"And through your death, comes life."
So sorry for the absence! I have been working so hard on this chapter for what feels like ages, it didn't quite seem right to me at first, I had tons of notes to go through, tons of ideas to get down and it was so hard to write and get everything I needed typed out! Hope everyone enjoyed it, (its super long compared to the others I've written) the next chapters are going to be just as difficult to write, so please bear with me.
I don't really have too much to say about this particular chapter, except that it seems like things aren't looking too great for Lyra! Hope everyone enjoyed the little twist, although who else but Cassian would be responsible for doing something this terrible to her? Unrequited love can make people do terrible things. As for Tom, will he save the day? Who knows? You'll just have to wait for the next update to find out!
Please follow the story if your enjoying the series so far and review if you have some input! I totally love feedback! Otherwise thank you for making it this far into the story! It means a great deal to me!