Chapter 16 – A Gift for the Dark Lord
They had touched down in front of the heavily-vegetated cave entrance, Draco cautiously peering into the darkness. He pulled his wand out and leaned his broomstick against the lip of the cave.
"Think we'll find something useful in here?" he asked as Ophelia lead the way.
"Most certainly."
Thrusting the wand toward her, he whispered, "Petrificus Totalus."
Ophelia froze, falling forward onto the floor of the cave.
Draco stepped over her and used his wand to brush her blue-black hair from her face. "'Good night, Lady Ophelia; good night, sweet lady; good night, good night'."
He stood up and entered the cave, calling out "Lumos." His wand lit up in response.
Behind him, a large shadow of blackness appeared, shifting, pulling apart, materializing into four large cloak-like beings and a tall imposing figure with the Dark Mark on his arm.
"Now," Draco said in a voice used to such dark dealings. "Where is that Labrys?"
Within the dark cave, a guardian felt the intent, and a silent alarm was sent out.
* * *
Britomartis was surprised to find a Priestess leaning close to her in the stands during the Bull Leaping Games.
"My Lady," the Priestess breathed in her ear. "Something is happening at the Cave of Psyche."
Britomartis felt her heart stop beating. "The Chimaera?"
"Had sensed an intent. Your orders?"
"I'll be there - get a Granian ready for me."
The Priestess dashed off and Britomartis turned to her companion. "Darling, I have to take care of some business in relation to the Labrys - "
"I'm going with you," Severus Snape stated matter-of-factly.
"No, you're not, you're staying here with the students."
He gripped her arm, making her feel the strength in his slender fingers. "Britomartis Vox, there's only one person who wants that Labrys - we both go in."
She nodded her head a quarter of an inch. "As you wish."
Britomartis leaned forward, told Glynis and Oliver to look after the others, then both teachers left the arena and headed toward the temple.
"When was the alarm sent?" she asked as she entered the High Priestesses' council chambers.
"Nearly five minutes ago, Lady Britomartis," one of the High Priestesses answered. "Ophelia is also missing."
Britomartis felt the blood drain from her limbs, knowing who Ophelia was last with. "I'm going in to see what's going on - I'm taking Professor Snape with me; if there are any of you who can join me, I need your help, this may be more dangerous than simply quieting the Chimaera down."
"I'm going," an old woman's voice proclaimed.
Silence fell over the group as Saphira Vox pushed her way through.
"But Lady Saphira - " one of the Priestesses objected.
"My daughter shouldn't have to do our jobs - "
Britomartis narrowed her eyes at her mother. "Saphira, I was a High Priestess for several years before my family was killed - it was for that reason they were murdered, because I had guarded the Labrys that night."
Saphira blinked. "What the AVERNUS??" she shrieked. "I would have known if you were a High Priestess!!" She turned to one of the other Priestesses. "Celena - "
"Lady Saphira," the Priestess explained. "There was a rift in the priestesshood when you both were on the council - many knew you hated your daughter - "
"I never hated her and why the Avernus did I not notice her at all??" Her white brows lowered over her eyes, then she added, "My mind's been tampered with. Celena, contact my son Klemendis and have him ready to perform a mind scanning when we return - this whole thing smells odd."
"We've no time for this," Britomartis reminded her. "We're going."
Saphira nodded her head, her jaw muscles standing out. "We'll figure it out later - we have the Labrys to protect and you aren't doing it by yourself this time."
A moment later a half dozen armed Priestesses followed Saphira, Britomartis, and Severus out of the temple.
* * *
Draco and his shadowy minions searched the cave inch by inch, endevouring to find a nook or crack that could hide a five-foot-tall golden double-axe.
His lit wand casted a glint against a wall; Draco made his way across the damp cave floor and into a small alcove of rock. Before him, leaning against the wall and gleaming, was the Golden Labrys of Transformation and Rebirth.
Draco ran his fingers over the edges and across the blades, his blurred reflection grinning back at him. "The Dark Lord will be pleased with the recovery of the Labrys at last."
The reflection was suddenly filled with the distorted face of a lion - a lion with large teeth and dripping siliva and breathing down the back of his thin neck.
Draco slowly turned, swallowing. Funny how his swallow sounded so loud in the cave.
The lion's head gazed down at him in challenge, while the goat's head behind that chewed in an aggravated manner, and the scaled dragon's tail whipped around in a perturbed state.
Draco muttered an obscenity under his breath.
The Chimaera answered with an ear-splitting roar that made his hair blow back from his face.
ATTACK!" he shrieked in return.
The four large cloak-like shadows began to swarm over the mythical beast.
* * *
The group of Granian winged-horses touched down outside the gaping hole of the cave.
"There's Ophelia's Abraxan," a Priestess remarked as they slid off their mounts. She patted the teenager's winged-horse.
"Inside," Britomartis stated. "Have weapons at the ready. If you see a blonde child, leave him to me - if there is anything else, be cautious and kill first chance you get. We are dealing with beings who practice the Dark Arts." She lead the way in, Severus following right behind, their wands drawn and ready. Behind them Saphira and the half dozen Priestesses held functional double-axes, crossbows, and short swords with cellophane tape-covered concave shields.
A little known fact: cellophane tape acted as a defense against magical attacks directed at the holder of the shield. This little, inconspicuous Muggle invention was able to bounce spells back at the caster, no matter how powerful the spell seemed to be. It became the secret weapon of Wizards going into battle against users of the Dark Arts.
The noises at the back of the cave were mixtures of snarls and howls, echoing against the rock.
"It's your niece," Severus said as he crouched down to examine the prone form of the girl near the entrance of the cave. "Looks like a 'Petrificus Totalus' ... " He raised his wand. "Finite Incantatum."
Ophelia rolled over, looking up into the face of her aunt's companion. "I'm really, really sorry I got you drunk last night!"
"Forget about it. What happened?"
"Draco Malfoy asked me to take him to the cave, then I blacked out, then you guys came." She paused, listening. "Oh, Great Mother!"
A Priestess helped her up. "Ophelia, go outside and wait for us, we have work to do."
"Yes, my Lady."
Ophelia dashed out of the cave.
Britomartis continued on, feeling her heart beating like a triphammer. The air held the same decay and dread the night she had escaped the pack of Death Eaters with the Labrys. Now she was returning, defending this same Labrys, and at the expense of what? The loss of a half-dozen High Priestesses, her estranged mother, and her best friend?
"All of you go back," she said.
"No, Lady Britomartis."
"I order you back - this is my battle." The Chimaera appeared, staggering around as several dark patches covered its body. The Chimaera's lion mouth was covered, leaving the goathead moaning pitiously. "What the - "
"Lethifold," Severus answered. "The Living Shroud - four of them. Enchanted by Dark Arts; they would not be normally attack an awake target." He raised his wand and shouted, "PATRONUS!"
A thin silvery mist manifested, then solidified into a large black raven which zoomed in on the dark patches over the Chimaera and began pecking at them. The Lethifolds shuddered, releasing the half-ingested but still fighting Chimaera. The beast fell to the floor of the cave, groaning and gasping.
Arrows enchanted with ancient purification magic rained down on the billowing black cloaks of the Living Shrouds, burning them them up and curling them into ashes.
Priestesses fell to the ground, the scent of the burning creatures choking their lungs as they coughed and wheezed. Britomartis and Severus covered their mouths, their eyes watering from the fumes.
"Look out!" Saphira coughed, swinging her double-axe.
Britomartis pulled Severus down just as Saphira's labrys blade made contact with the neck of a shadowy figure.
The head flew across the cavern, slamming against a wall. The body swayed, then collapsed forward between Britomartis and Severus, the wand clattering out of its hand. Severus immediately turned over the left arm of the unknown man and noted the Dark Mark standing out on the corpse's olive skin.
"Death Eater," he spat. He crawled over to Saphira's collapsed form. "Martis, get Malfoy, I'll stay here; you mother's out cold from the toxins and exertion."
Britomartis nodded silently, now feeling the memories screaming back into her soul - fire in the temple, dark figures surrounding her, hands reaching out and gripping her limbs, hands attempting to tear the Labrys from her grip, running through the humid night, her arms aching from the heavy artifact, her home in flames, the mangled bodies of her children on the lawn and the disemboweled figure of her husband reaching for her as she cradled him in her arms, feeling the Life-Force leave his body ...
"My Lady," a Priestess coughed. "Here, take my shield."
She got up and strode to the back of the cave, her wand clutched tightly in her hand and the shield held before her.
Draco Malfoy appeared, apparently having dragged the Labrys across the rocky floor and out to the main caverns. He gazed at her, his eyes glowing white and his body tinged with a faint current. "Britomartis Vox ... " he snarled. "Come to defend the Golden Labrys again? What price will you pay this time? Every single child within your family? Your own life? Or the life of your lover?"
Britomartis set her jaw. "Draco Malfoy, stop this foolishness at once - "
"Right and wrong," Draco commented, leaning against the Labrys' hilt and pointing his wand at her. "As always. Even as a child, the Dark Lord had coveted you. Why do you think he had your own mother ignore your existance? He had to recruit his servants from somewhere, didn't he? You would have been more pliable to him whims, after all ... just ... like ... Snape." Draco sneered, looking exactly like his father. "Of course, from what I gathered, the Dark Lord did not count on your siblings raising you - of you being drawn to the Light despite everything. And of course you had to be sent away from Snape so you wouldn't interfer with his own descent into Darkness." He stretched his wand out. "You and the Potters nearly destroyed the Dark Lord's works - he shall have his revenge. With his own body he will finish the destruction of their son Harry Potter and claim his rightful place as the Dark Lord of Earth."
"Great Mother, you are more of a monster than I thought." Britomartis dropped her wand into the folds of her dress. "Clever of you, Lucy, to take over your son's body - I suspected you of being Voldemort's minion when you exposed Severus as a Death Eater. How convenient that your son was going on a field trip with the one teacher who knew where the Labrys of Rebirth was located, so that you may acquire it for your master like a dog fetching slippers." She lowered her face, the sunglasses slipping down her nose and exposing glowing green eyes. "Ingenius plot, Lucy."
"Thank you, Britomartis," Draco answered. "CRUCIO!"
The Cruciatus Curse ... Britomartis heard and even felt the wind being sucked out of the space between her and Draco's wand controlled by Lucius Malfoy.
Desperately, she held up the cellophane tape covered shield, the concave side pointing back at him -
The spell hit the tape, slamming her back to the floor, but not before bouncing back and hitting the body of Draco Malfoy.
He dropped to the floor, shrieking and writhing with pain.
Britomartis got up, picking up the screeching boy. "I'll give you a minute to fully leave his body, Lucius, before I reach in with the Earth Magic and yank your ass out and into the cave where a very pissed off Chimaera is ready to shred you." She leaned close to stare into the still glowing white eyes. "And if I EVER find you possessing your son again, I will personally send the Furies down on you and have you EATEN ALIVE! Do I make myself clear?!"
The eyes stopped glowing, leaving the twitching boy in her arms. Laying her hand over his forehead, she sang a low note, tearing away the curse from Draco's soul.
At last, the boy stopped shaking in her arms, now only moaning in relief. "I'm sorry, Mr. Malfoy, but you weren't yourself." His eyes remained closed as he tucked his arms close and rolled up against her body, barely conscious of anything around him. She brushed his blonde hair out of his face. "Poor darling."
* * *
The toxins in the air had been cleared out, the Priestesses recovering enough to get up.
"The Chimaera is too far gone," a Priestess reported. "She'll have to be put down."
Another Priestess nodded. "Help me."
Britomartis appeared from the back of the cave, carrying Draco like an infant.
"Martis?" Severus called.
"All is better, although we have a lot to talk about. Mr. Malfoy is recovering from being possessed by his father. How's Mother?"
"Also recovering." He pushed her sunglasses back up on her face.
"Lady Britomartis," an older Priestess stated. "We must decide on a permanent solution concerning the Golden Labrys."
Britomartis turned to her. "You all decide what to do with it - it's brought me nothing but death and trouble. Severus, we need to take our student and my mother back home."
They had touched down in front of the heavily-vegetated cave entrance, Draco cautiously peering into the darkness. He pulled his wand out and leaned his broomstick against the lip of the cave.
"Think we'll find something useful in here?" he asked as Ophelia lead the way.
"Most certainly."
Thrusting the wand toward her, he whispered, "Petrificus Totalus."
Ophelia froze, falling forward onto the floor of the cave.
Draco stepped over her and used his wand to brush her blue-black hair from her face. "'Good night, Lady Ophelia; good night, sweet lady; good night, good night'."
He stood up and entered the cave, calling out "Lumos." His wand lit up in response.
Behind him, a large shadow of blackness appeared, shifting, pulling apart, materializing into four large cloak-like beings and a tall imposing figure with the Dark Mark on his arm.
"Now," Draco said in a voice used to such dark dealings. "Where is that Labrys?"
Within the dark cave, a guardian felt the intent, and a silent alarm was sent out.
* * *
Britomartis was surprised to find a Priestess leaning close to her in the stands during the Bull Leaping Games.
"My Lady," the Priestess breathed in her ear. "Something is happening at the Cave of Psyche."
Britomartis felt her heart stop beating. "The Chimaera?"
"Had sensed an intent. Your orders?"
"I'll be there - get a Granian ready for me."
The Priestess dashed off and Britomartis turned to her companion. "Darling, I have to take care of some business in relation to the Labrys - "
"I'm going with you," Severus Snape stated matter-of-factly.
"No, you're not, you're staying here with the students."
He gripped her arm, making her feel the strength in his slender fingers. "Britomartis Vox, there's only one person who wants that Labrys - we both go in."
She nodded her head a quarter of an inch. "As you wish."
Britomartis leaned forward, told Glynis and Oliver to look after the others, then both teachers left the arena and headed toward the temple.
"When was the alarm sent?" she asked as she entered the High Priestesses' council chambers.
"Nearly five minutes ago, Lady Britomartis," one of the High Priestesses answered. "Ophelia is also missing."
Britomartis felt the blood drain from her limbs, knowing who Ophelia was last with. "I'm going in to see what's going on - I'm taking Professor Snape with me; if there are any of you who can join me, I need your help, this may be more dangerous than simply quieting the Chimaera down."
"I'm going," an old woman's voice proclaimed.
Silence fell over the group as Saphira Vox pushed her way through.
"But Lady Saphira - " one of the Priestesses objected.
"My daughter shouldn't have to do our jobs - "
Britomartis narrowed her eyes at her mother. "Saphira, I was a High Priestess for several years before my family was killed - it was for that reason they were murdered, because I had guarded the Labrys that night."
Saphira blinked. "What the AVERNUS??" she shrieked. "I would have known if you were a High Priestess!!" She turned to one of the other Priestesses. "Celena - "
"Lady Saphira," the Priestess explained. "There was a rift in the priestesshood when you both were on the council - many knew you hated your daughter - "
"I never hated her and why the Avernus did I not notice her at all??" Her white brows lowered over her eyes, then she added, "My mind's been tampered with. Celena, contact my son Klemendis and have him ready to perform a mind scanning when we return - this whole thing smells odd."
"We've no time for this," Britomartis reminded her. "We're going."
Saphira nodded her head, her jaw muscles standing out. "We'll figure it out later - we have the Labrys to protect and you aren't doing it by yourself this time."
A moment later a half dozen armed Priestesses followed Saphira, Britomartis, and Severus out of the temple.
* * *
Draco and his shadowy minions searched the cave inch by inch, endevouring to find a nook or crack that could hide a five-foot-tall golden double-axe.
His lit wand casted a glint against a wall; Draco made his way across the damp cave floor and into a small alcove of rock. Before him, leaning against the wall and gleaming, was the Golden Labrys of Transformation and Rebirth.
Draco ran his fingers over the edges and across the blades, his blurred reflection grinning back at him. "The Dark Lord will be pleased with the recovery of the Labrys at last."
The reflection was suddenly filled with the distorted face of a lion - a lion with large teeth and dripping siliva and breathing down the back of his thin neck.
Draco slowly turned, swallowing. Funny how his swallow sounded so loud in the cave.
The lion's head gazed down at him in challenge, while the goat's head behind that chewed in an aggravated manner, and the scaled dragon's tail whipped around in a perturbed state.
Draco muttered an obscenity under his breath.
The Chimaera answered with an ear-splitting roar that made his hair blow back from his face.
ATTACK!" he shrieked in return.
The four large cloak-like shadows began to swarm over the mythical beast.
* * *
The group of Granian winged-horses touched down outside the gaping hole of the cave.
"There's Ophelia's Abraxan," a Priestess remarked as they slid off their mounts. She patted the teenager's winged-horse.
"Inside," Britomartis stated. "Have weapons at the ready. If you see a blonde child, leave him to me - if there is anything else, be cautious and kill first chance you get. We are dealing with beings who practice the Dark Arts." She lead the way in, Severus following right behind, their wands drawn and ready. Behind them Saphira and the half dozen Priestesses held functional double-axes, crossbows, and short swords with cellophane tape-covered concave shields.
A little known fact: cellophane tape acted as a defense against magical attacks directed at the holder of the shield. This little, inconspicuous Muggle invention was able to bounce spells back at the caster, no matter how powerful the spell seemed to be. It became the secret weapon of Wizards going into battle against users of the Dark Arts.
The noises at the back of the cave were mixtures of snarls and howls, echoing against the rock.
"It's your niece," Severus said as he crouched down to examine the prone form of the girl near the entrance of the cave. "Looks like a 'Petrificus Totalus' ... " He raised his wand. "Finite Incantatum."
Ophelia rolled over, looking up into the face of her aunt's companion. "I'm really, really sorry I got you drunk last night!"
"Forget about it. What happened?"
"Draco Malfoy asked me to take him to the cave, then I blacked out, then you guys came." She paused, listening. "Oh, Great Mother!"
A Priestess helped her up. "Ophelia, go outside and wait for us, we have work to do."
"Yes, my Lady."
Ophelia dashed out of the cave.
Britomartis continued on, feeling her heart beating like a triphammer. The air held the same decay and dread the night she had escaped the pack of Death Eaters with the Labrys. Now she was returning, defending this same Labrys, and at the expense of what? The loss of a half-dozen High Priestesses, her estranged mother, and her best friend?
"All of you go back," she said.
"No, Lady Britomartis."
"I order you back - this is my battle." The Chimaera appeared, staggering around as several dark patches covered its body. The Chimaera's lion mouth was covered, leaving the goathead moaning pitiously. "What the - "
"Lethifold," Severus answered. "The Living Shroud - four of them. Enchanted by Dark Arts; they would not be normally attack an awake target." He raised his wand and shouted, "PATRONUS!"
A thin silvery mist manifested, then solidified into a large black raven which zoomed in on the dark patches over the Chimaera and began pecking at them. The Lethifolds shuddered, releasing the half-ingested but still fighting Chimaera. The beast fell to the floor of the cave, groaning and gasping.
Arrows enchanted with ancient purification magic rained down on the billowing black cloaks of the Living Shrouds, burning them them up and curling them into ashes.
Priestesses fell to the ground, the scent of the burning creatures choking their lungs as they coughed and wheezed. Britomartis and Severus covered their mouths, their eyes watering from the fumes.
"Look out!" Saphira coughed, swinging her double-axe.
Britomartis pulled Severus down just as Saphira's labrys blade made contact with the neck of a shadowy figure.
The head flew across the cavern, slamming against a wall. The body swayed, then collapsed forward between Britomartis and Severus, the wand clattering out of its hand. Severus immediately turned over the left arm of the unknown man and noted the Dark Mark standing out on the corpse's olive skin.
"Death Eater," he spat. He crawled over to Saphira's collapsed form. "Martis, get Malfoy, I'll stay here; you mother's out cold from the toxins and exertion."
Britomartis nodded silently, now feeling the memories screaming back into her soul - fire in the temple, dark figures surrounding her, hands reaching out and gripping her limbs, hands attempting to tear the Labrys from her grip, running through the humid night, her arms aching from the heavy artifact, her home in flames, the mangled bodies of her children on the lawn and the disemboweled figure of her husband reaching for her as she cradled him in her arms, feeling the Life-Force leave his body ...
"My Lady," a Priestess coughed. "Here, take my shield."
She got up and strode to the back of the cave, her wand clutched tightly in her hand and the shield held before her.
Draco Malfoy appeared, apparently having dragged the Labrys across the rocky floor and out to the main caverns. He gazed at her, his eyes glowing white and his body tinged with a faint current. "Britomartis Vox ... " he snarled. "Come to defend the Golden Labrys again? What price will you pay this time? Every single child within your family? Your own life? Or the life of your lover?"
Britomartis set her jaw. "Draco Malfoy, stop this foolishness at once - "
"Right and wrong," Draco commented, leaning against the Labrys' hilt and pointing his wand at her. "As always. Even as a child, the Dark Lord had coveted you. Why do you think he had your own mother ignore your existance? He had to recruit his servants from somewhere, didn't he? You would have been more pliable to him whims, after all ... just ... like ... Snape." Draco sneered, looking exactly like his father. "Of course, from what I gathered, the Dark Lord did not count on your siblings raising you - of you being drawn to the Light despite everything. And of course you had to be sent away from Snape so you wouldn't interfer with his own descent into Darkness." He stretched his wand out. "You and the Potters nearly destroyed the Dark Lord's works - he shall have his revenge. With his own body he will finish the destruction of their son Harry Potter and claim his rightful place as the Dark Lord of Earth."
"Great Mother, you are more of a monster than I thought." Britomartis dropped her wand into the folds of her dress. "Clever of you, Lucy, to take over your son's body - I suspected you of being Voldemort's minion when you exposed Severus as a Death Eater. How convenient that your son was going on a field trip with the one teacher who knew where the Labrys of Rebirth was located, so that you may acquire it for your master like a dog fetching slippers." She lowered her face, the sunglasses slipping down her nose and exposing glowing green eyes. "Ingenius plot, Lucy."
"Thank you, Britomartis," Draco answered. "CRUCIO!"
The Cruciatus Curse ... Britomartis heard and even felt the wind being sucked out of the space between her and Draco's wand controlled by Lucius Malfoy.
Desperately, she held up the cellophane tape covered shield, the concave side pointing back at him -
The spell hit the tape, slamming her back to the floor, but not before bouncing back and hitting the body of Draco Malfoy.
He dropped to the floor, shrieking and writhing with pain.
Britomartis got up, picking up the screeching boy. "I'll give you a minute to fully leave his body, Lucius, before I reach in with the Earth Magic and yank your ass out and into the cave where a very pissed off Chimaera is ready to shred you." She leaned close to stare into the still glowing white eyes. "And if I EVER find you possessing your son again, I will personally send the Furies down on you and have you EATEN ALIVE! Do I make myself clear?!"
The eyes stopped glowing, leaving the twitching boy in her arms. Laying her hand over his forehead, she sang a low note, tearing away the curse from Draco's soul.
At last, the boy stopped shaking in her arms, now only moaning in relief. "I'm sorry, Mr. Malfoy, but you weren't yourself." His eyes remained closed as he tucked his arms close and rolled up against her body, barely conscious of anything around him. She brushed his blonde hair out of his face. "Poor darling."
* * *
The toxins in the air had been cleared out, the Priestesses recovering enough to get up.
"The Chimaera is too far gone," a Priestess reported. "She'll have to be put down."
Another Priestess nodded. "Help me."
Britomartis appeared from the back of the cave, carrying Draco like an infant.
"Martis?" Severus called.
"All is better, although we have a lot to talk about. Mr. Malfoy is recovering from being possessed by his father. How's Mother?"
"Also recovering." He pushed her sunglasses back up on her face.
"Lady Britomartis," an older Priestess stated. "We must decide on a permanent solution concerning the Golden Labrys."
Britomartis turned to her. "You all decide what to do with it - it's brought me nothing but death and trouble. Severus, we need to take our student and my mother back home."