"Stop!" Kurama said, and they did, with Sukina, Shuura, and Naoko immediately going down onto their bellies. Guerrilla training had its uses. Harry, Hermione and Ron followed suit a moment later.
Kurama hunched himself, and took a deep whiff of a purple flower that resembled a poison ivy, but he bent down closer to them once his examination was complete. His tone was so low that they strained to catch it. "Naoko, what was that monster? Not the Mind-Killer, was it?" he asked. Naoko shook her head.
"Fenris. Probably a descendent of the monster from Norse Mythology," she whispered.
"The flowers indicated that there were too much rotten meat nearby. The cave's entrance is about three metres away. There are three guards. All Death Eaters," Kurama said.
"How did you know that?" Harry asked.
"They had that mark about them," Kurama replied, and then looked at all of them.
"Sukina, can you and Shuura make a diversion?"
"No problem."
"Harry, you, Ron and Hermione will go in and search for Ginny. If we need to split up, Naoko, you'll stay with me. The creature would put Ginny down before it goes to sleep…" Kurama was saying when Naoko cut him off.
"I can track it," she said confidently.
"Good. Are we ready?" he asked. His cool thinking had been replaced by an icy rage. No one did what they did to Hiei and got away for it.
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They agreed on that Sukina and Shuura would wait three minutes before they launched their diversion. Sukina spoke softly to Shuura her plan to divert them, when she felt a pain in her chest where the Crystal Rose hung. No. Not now! Then her sister's reassuring presence washed over her, taking the pain away. Sukina felt blessed relief, but wondered how long her sister would be able to cope with the pain.
Sukina's attention wandered but for a moment, as Shuura pulled her tee to indicate it was time. Whispering an ancient spell, she pointed her wand towards the cave entrance, where the three guards were. They immediately began to scratch themselves, first innocently, and then as the bugs spread, frantically.
However, the plan was not only to distract the outer guards, but to get the inner guards out as well. Sukina and Shuura grinned, and then they both stood up and laughed. As soon as the guards saw them, both of them pointed their wands at them. They were still laughing as they cast the spell.
"Conjunctivitus!" Shuura shouted at one guard.
"Petrificus Totalus!" Sukina at another.
Before the third guard could draw his wand, the two laughed and ran away, deliberately crashing through the undergrowth. The third guard screamed for help, and at least six other Death Eaters came rushing out. Sukina and Shuura immediately knew that these were the new ones, for the smell of whatever potion used to create the Dark Mark was still fresh on them.
They spilt up, taking different directions, but no one saw the A-class demon slip out of the cave with the Death Eaters to follow Sukina.
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"Quickly!" Kurama said as soon as the guards were gone from sight.
All of them ran into the cave. It smelled of rank meat, mouldy, cesspools and stale air. Hermione immediately let out a sound of disgust, while the others scrunched their faces. Kurama covered his nose, but his nose detected a passageway that did not smell so horribly and was quite fresh compared to the others.
"This way," he said, leading.
As they went through the passage, Kurama reassessed his first assumption. This was the correct passage alright, but it did not smell… Used. Something was waiting for them in the depths. Something unpleasant. He motioned Naoko to his side, and they conferred, leaving the other three to guard their backs.
"Lumos!" Hermione said softly when it grew too dark.
The light gave them sufficient illumination. At least now they could see where they were going. Kurama and Naoko nodded, and the two of them turned to the students, and spoke softly of their plan to them. The students nodded, and they continued on their way.
As expected, the creature that had captured Ginny jumped out of the shadows as they began to move again. They were prepared though. Kurama and Naoko ducked while the three wizards casted their agreed spells. Hermione extinguished the light, then casted her own spell, a second later than the boys.
"Expecto Patronum!" Harry said, followed by Ron's "Deletrius!"
Harry's magnificent stag stopped the monster in its tracks, and the ground beneath the monster disappeared under Ron's curse. With Hermione slapping the cover "Impedimenta!" over the hole, the monster was buried and could not escape. Just to be safe, Naoko and Kurama reinforced it; Kurama with his plants and Naoko with her Illusions.
"I didn't know you could do that," he commented.
"The idea of reality obsessed me at one time, and Illusions seemed the way to go," the girl shrugged.
Wisdom seeks a young companion
Beware for all is not what it seems.
"Which do we take?" Harry asked, as they were confronted with three passageways.
Naoko closed her eyes and sought to find the threads of life in this place. She pointed to one passageway. They entered it.
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Sukina only had two Death Eaters on her tail, so she jumped up into the trees and waited for them to pass. As soon as they did, she fell behind them and knocked them out easily. She turned to help Shuura, only to find a youkai blocking her way. The demon hissed at her. Sukina got prepared to fight.
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Shuura heard Sukina's scream as she was fighting the nightmare. "Sukina-onee-chan!" he called, rushing back to her so quickly that the men did not know what happened to their quarry.
A bat may fly to ears of grain
To fight against soft-falling rain.
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"Here," Naoko said, "This is where Ginny is."
They found the girl alive, but asleep. Kurama and Naoko both knelt next to the girl to examine her. A door opened.
"Voldemort…" Harry nearly hissed the man's name. He stood in another room, the connecting doors open. The snake Nagini was hissing.
"Harry… No!" Naoko shouted as Harry charged at the man in anger. The snake pounced, and Ron and Hermione ran towards it, trying to stop the snake from biting Harry. As Naoko and Kurama got up to stop them, the doors closed, and they couldn't open it.
Heart of a lion
Grace of a bear
Knowledge of Chiron
Deep into the demons' lair.
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Crap! Another stupid chapter. Well… All shall be revealed in the next two chapters. Until then…
