Wreathe of the Darkness
The first thing that I can remember was the biting cold. It chilled me right down to the very marrow of my bones, and my throat pained me from inhaling icy air.
Gradually as my awareness came back into the forefront of my mind. My ears picked up a distinctive sound of the wind, as it's savage cutting chill whipped though the bows of the trees.
I lay uncomfortable on my back, legs flung at an awkward angle, exposed and numb to the elements. Beneath me were the gnarled and twisted roots of plants, and earth. God I was cold.
I moved, regretting the moment when I shifted my twisted position and felt instant stabbings as something jutted like a blade into the small of my back.
I managed to move away from the offending rock and sat up slowly rubbing away the pain and all the while letting myself adjust to my strange predicament. The dilemma being was that I couldn't remember for the life of me what I was doing here, or for that matter how I had stumbled into this problem in the first place.
Rubbing my sore eyes I recall walking alone through a dense glade in the forest admiring the quiet and tranquillity, but this time something had felt different, felt wrong, as if a spell had been cast into the very air that I breathed. I distinctly remembered that the woodland had been silent, no bird song, not even a breath of air.
It was like stepping into another world, quite literally compared the hustle and bustle of normal life. That place had been my sanctuary for years, a way to wind down and collect my thoughts and forget my troubles. Well, at least for a little while, until I started sensing how wrong everything was. It was as if evil was tangible and I could touch it, absorb it and breath in the darkness that coated the very fabric of nature.
* * *
I had stood motionless when I saw it. A glittering beam of light that reflected through the trees and onto the broken surface of what first had appeared to be glass. I then moved forward, my instinctive curiosity to investigate what had caught my eye. I took a step closer to it then bent down.
The jewel was half hidden in mossy earth. A hunger pushed me to claim it. My find. I would be rich if this thing really was a precious stone.
Carefully I pushed away the damp earth surrounding it and blew away a few sparse fragments then my breath caught in my throat. It was huge, a thick chunk of deep turquoise crystal.
What I had done next was stupid. I know that now, but had I known that then I wouldn't have found myself here I supposed.
As my finger touched it I felt a sensation like pulling from behind my navel. Then there was nothing until I had woken up.
I appeared to have laid unconscious here on the ground for God knows how long.
I shook my head, trying to clear my mind of the hazy foggy memory and rid the tired cobwebs that were once again slowly clouding my judgement. It definitely wasn't the time to panic.
I kept telling myself to stay calm, but I knew I was kidding myself, for the fear had already taken hold the moment I opened my eyes and saw unfamiliar territory.
My vision gradually cleared and I moved my head, scanning the perimeter of the forest with my eyes. The place was the darkest, most depressing place I had ever seen. Tall-strangled naked trees grew in clusters, their slimy limbs reaching out like semi amputated arms with angry crusty wounds.
I swallowed. The air tasted musty and smelt of decaying vegetation. A mist gradually spread out though towards me and I saw a number of black figures gliding like phantoms toward me, moving with exaggerated slowness. Then again, it wasn't those that nearly frightened me to an early death for I heard something so chilling, so inhuman it nearly made my blood freeze in my veins. It was scratchy high-pitched laugh, more like a cackle. Then I saw it.
I preyed that this was just a nightmare.
The thing was ashen in appearance, it was the shape of a man, cloaked in darkness, but human indeed it wasn't. It had the head of a huge snake with blood red slits for eyes. Its face was waxen and pallid, currently pulled into a stretched grimace that made its bloodless reptilian skin look even more alarming.
The thing murmured something in a language I had never heard. It was like the sound of the winds, a hissing low rasp and I stood transposed, never once noticing the hooded shapes that focused into the forms of men. The thing however moved it's head toward me and stretched out a clothed arm in my direction.
I heard a rustle on the ground, something dark, something black, huge and winding, a hissing spitting sound and the snap of jaws. The largest snake I had ever seen slithered around me, hissing, biding its time before it decided to strike. I opened my mouth but only a silent scream immerged.
Then something grabbed me.
I yelped in pain as something claw like attached itself on my arm and was pulling me to my feet.
Through the hazy field of my vision I could make out a black silhouette. It moved closer until the thick fog was only in the background. Evidently what was gripping me so hard was a hand. Extended from a black clad arm. A man.
I shuddered involuntarily as the man made a grab for my shoulder and I nearly tripped on the root in a desperate attempt to get away. The man squeezed harder. I couldn't see his face, but his voice resonated in my head.
He appeared to be very angry.
"What in the name of God are you doing out here you foolish girl," he said obviously not expecting an answer and he was correct. I was too terrified to answer. I mean I had awoken alone in this dark horrible foreboding place only to be...Gods what was to become of me? I started to prey.
Oh God what was this man going to do to me?
A low trembling moan escaped my lips, which I immediately regretted. A dull aching terror flooded through me and I felt icy sweat drip like tears of blood down my spine. Then I saw his eyes, the darkest I had ever seen and also the most...
God what am I thinking? I must have hit my head when I fell. I stared as if bewitched. They were as cold as black ice.
I swallowed.
I could feel my heart pumping, as if straining to free itself from my chest. I was glued to the spot fearing for my very life. Then something happened. Not to sure what to do I opened my mouth to reply, but words weren't easy. I tensed and stared.
By now the man was scowling and let out a long mournful sigh.
I tried to move again but was unable to take my eyes off of his. It was as if they were locked, like an invisible magical supremacy was draining slowly into me, rendering me incapable of any self-motivation. All I wanted, all I desired for was to drown in those unfathomable black pools.
No wait; there was something more there. An elusive, shadowy whisper of something almost intangible. A strange kind of foreboding sadness, and coldness behind pain that even the strongest of souls couldn't penetrate. It was painful to look at his eyes for more than a moment but at the same time...I couldn't pull myself away.
Then he blinked.
Suddenly reality came crashing down and hit me hard. I some how managed to free myself from that grip and ran. My God I don't think I have ever ran so hard and so fast in all my life. I barely heard the strange words he muttered but I was sure that I had just seen him extract something long and narrow from the folds of the black cape he was wearing.
The moment hadn't come quick enough. The need to get away had given me a previous unfelt bout of strength and I embraced it until I fell to the ground immobilised.
I lay sprawled on the mossy ground, unable to move a single muscle.
Something strange caressed over me. I may have imagined it but I saw… felt a pale blue light. Confused dizziness wracked my brain and I felt sick, regardless I knew I had to get out of the forest.
Suddenly I opened my eyes. Had I just passed out? I swallowed and became aware of my senses. I could move once more and gingerly got up.
"Hey!" I exclaimed aloud with confusion. I saw an eerie shadow move from behind an old twisted oak, gliding like a willow the wisp into darkness.
Then it vanished!
Looking around the dim forest for some kind of way out I felt something stir in my mind, something that gave me a distinct impression that I shouldn't be remembering, as if a spell hadn't worked and had rebounded into the density of the forest.
I remembered.
The snake man with his coven of sinister figures and the dark man with those eyes. I felt I had seen something dangerous, ancient magic at work. I must have imagined it, but his eyes, they would haunt my dreams forever.
My breath caught in my throat and I turned scanning around as far as my eyes could see. I somehow knew that the stranger was gone but one thing odd remained. I wasn't where I had been.
I suddenly heard the sound of traffic; I must be near the road. Relief swept through me as I got my bearings and sprinted toward the sound of civilisation.
The man stood silently and watched. Hidden by a simple invisibility spell the woman who had strayed into Death Eater surroundings was now safe. Voldemort's unknowing sacrifice had escaped.
He watched her for a few more moments then picked up off the damp floor a large glistening turquoise jewel and vanished.
End
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