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To Battle the Beast II"Immobulus." Damon cried, dodging out of the way. Neville watched as the spell hit the monster but it seemed to do nothing to stop or slow it down. Sharp talons smashed into the place Damon had stood moments before, screeching loudly and leaving furrows in the stone.
Neville dodged behind a pile of bones, shuddering as he brushed against them. The remains of humans, people once living and breathing, scattered about as if they were nothing more than sticks. Neville avoided touching them, craning his neck to see that Damon running away from his direction.
The monster roared, it's skull white head tilting back and huge jaw filled with needle sharp teeth parting. Neville stared at it in fascinated horror. The monster was man shaped and man sized, if a man were skeletally thin and tall. Neville guessed the monster stood about six and a half feet, from taloned feet to horn rimmed bleach white skull. It's long thin arms reached to the floor and Neville watched as it moved about in a half swinging, half running motion, right after Damon.
Neville watched as it's long swinging strides were quickly gaining upon Damon who was now being lost in the dark of the chamber. Neville glanced about and spotted something. Beneath a pile of bones and a skull that looked at him with empty sockets, lay a dull gleaming object. Neville kicked aside the bones and grunted in satisfaction as he lifted up a heavy metal sword.
He ran his gaze along it. Swords weren't something he was familiar with, but he could tell the blade wasn't in good condition. The metal was tarnished, the edges nicked and scored with age, and as he ran a hand along the blade, dull as a club. Though it felt heavy and solid in his grip, plus it had a longer range than the candlestick. Neville nodded to himself, shoving his candlestick into his pocket and looking around for Damon.
A shouted curse and flash of light showed where he was. Neville took a deep breath and headed toward the monster and Damon. The monster was terrifying and vicious looking, but Neville wasn't here to fight the monster. He was here for the wand and that was all. Get the wand and get back to Cho. She was what mattered here.
Neville strode through the piles of bones with trepidation, trying to look in every direction to see if anything was coming at him. There seemed to be no other monsters around and there were no other sounds than the occasional roar from the monster and Damon's yelling of curses and spells. Both of which seemed to be getting closer and closer.
Damon suddenly stumbled into view, fear and terror plainly visible on his face. He staggered a few steps before crashing onto his face into a pile of brittle bones, moments later something large and white landed upon him. Neville watched in horror as the monster rammed a clawed hand through Damon's shoulder, hard nails scraping upon stone beneath Damon. Neville acted, not pausing for a moment to think, instead crossing the short span of space between Damon and him, the sword in his hands swinging in wide double-handed blow.
Neville felt the impact from his toes to his loosen teeth as steel and bone connected. It rocked up his arms and sent a wave of pain across old hurts. But the resistance suddenly ended and Neville toppled forward, tripping over Damon and smashing into the monster. The sounds of screaming from both man and monster filling his ears as he scrambled to his feet.
Something hard and sharp hit him in his side and sent Neville sprawling across the floor, the sword clattering from his hand. Neville ignored the flaring pain in his side and grabbed for the sword lying upon the stones. He heard a roar as his fingers clamped around the hilt and swung it in a blind strike, getting rewarded with another thudding shock through his arm.
There was a crash and Neville turned to see the monster trying to get to it's feet as it lay in a pile of bones. Neville took the opportunity to get to his feet, and look for Damon. He was also getting to his feet, blood running down his ruined left shoulder and his wand shakily pointing toward the monster. Lying at his feet Neville noticed the arm that had pinned Damon down, ending at one of the knobby joints. Neville cast a glance a the monster and saw that it was missing a limb.
"Avada Kedavra!" Damon screamed. Neville gaped and felt a sudden rushing feeling as a wave of green light flashed from the wand. The Killing Curse, Neville thought frantically, just before throwing himself into a pile of bones to get out of the way.
The monster screamed again, thrashing upon the floor. Neville stared at it horrified. The Killing Curse was supposed to kill, but the monster was still definitely alive. Damon too was staring at it in horror, screaming the curse again. Again, another wave of green slashed into the monster, but to no effect beyond causing the monster to scream. Damon cursed at the monster, a non magical one, and then turned and ran into the darkness.
Neville picked himself up out of the pile of bones and quickly crossed the short distance to the monster, smashing down his sword into the creature. Dull steel shattered rock hard bone and the blade sank into the monster with a horrible feeling resistance. Pain exploded in Neville's side and he topple to the floor, crying out in agony. Another blow landed and Neville staggered away, the only thought of fleeing filing his mind.
He collapsed to the floor, pain still roaring in his side. He reached down and felt a sticky wetness. He was bleeding.
The monster rose to its feet, the sword still sticking out of its chest. With a rough tug and the sound of cracking bone the dull blade was pulled out. The monster roared and smashed it against the stone floor, there was a loud snap and the sword broke into two. Neville felt a wave of dread as he crawled to his feet. It was the end now. So much for trying to help Cho.
The monster roared at Neville , but suddenly it turned and began running after Damon. Neville stood there for a moment and then shook his head, a sudden wave of relief flooding him. He knew he should leave, to run while he had the chance, but instead he began following the monster. Cho needed the wand and Damon had it, the monster was chasing Damon.
Neville hurried after them, his hand clutched to his side. The pain kept spreading, along with the wetness that Neville didn't want to think about. Getting the wand was all that mattered now. Get the wand, get back to Cho. Get the wand. But the wand didn't seem to work against the monster. He'd seen Damon use it on the monster and nothing had happened. Could the creature be resistant against magic?
Suddenly an ear splitting scream filled the air. Neville stopped and then began running, the scream was human and it sounded like Damon was in trouble. Neville began running toward the screaming, but it seemed like days before he got close, but by then the screams had stopped and silence descended upon the chamber. Neville dodged piles of bones and came across a scene that would have emptied his stomach if there was anything left in it.
The monster was tearing at Damon and so much liquid black covered the stones. Neville looked away gagging and suddenly feeling very weak.
The monster's too large head snapped to Neville and it roared again, suddenly speeding across the distance between them in a heartbeat. Neville staggered back as a heavy clawed hand swiped at him. Neville felt his shirt tear and the sudden searing pain as sharp claws scraped across his chest.
Neville pulled away his hand and saw that it was covered in his own blood. The pain in his side was burning hot now and the monster was making a slow circle around Neville as he staggered to his feet. It's playing with me. Neville thought watching as the monster took a few half hearted swipes at him. Staring at the monster Neville realized he felt nothing. No hate, no anger, no desolation, just emptiness.
He fumbled at his robes, his bloodied hand grabbing hold of the candlestick in his pocket. He gasped in more in shock than pain as his fingers wrapped around the metal, he yanked out the candlestick and saw that it was glowing. He didn't understand as to why it was glowing now or why it hadn't before.
Neville looked down at his hand and saw that his own blood was smeared across the meal of the candlestick. Blood? Neville shook his head, he'd never heard of anything magical using blood to function. Definitely not a damned candlestick, but as he looked down at it he could not deny that it was using some kind of magic. The candlestick was growing hotter in his hands, then suddenly a jet of white flame burst from the tip.
Neville let out a cry of shock as six inches of white hot fire lanced out of the candlestick. The monster roared at Neville and to his surprise it backed off. Neville glanced back down at the flame and then suddenly grinned. The monster was scared of fire, he thought.
Neville looked about and saw a pile of old tattered cloth wrapped about a pile of bones. He ignored the thought that he was digging though a person's body, that the cloth he was yanking off of the bones had once been clothes upon a living person. He wrapped the old cloth around a bone and set it on fire, waving it above his head. The monster continued to back off, hisses and roars of anger coming off of it.
The candlestick was beginning to get very hot and Neville could feel the skin on his hand beginning to hurt as heat from the fire scorched his skin. He couldn't let it go though, it was his only weapon. Neville looked around and backed toward Damon's lifeless body. He still needed to get the wand; the wand and Cho were the main things. The monster could be taken care of later. For now there was Cho to worry about.
As if realizing what he was trying to do, the monster suddenly attacked. Neville tried dodging, but the flaming torch and the candlestick hampered his movements. The monster collided with him, the torch falling away, but the candlestick still clutched grimly in his right hand.
The monster's jaws snapped inches away from Neville's face, splashing it with salvia and the fetid stench of its breath. Neville smashed the candlestick flame first into the abdomen of the monster and got rewarded with a howl of pain. The monster suddenly tried backing off, it's clawed feet skidding upon the blackness upon the floor. The monster crashed to the floor and Neville slammed the candlestick into the jaw of the monster. The sickening stench of charred flesh and bone filled his lungs and the screaming howls of the monster buffeted his ears. Neville hung on grimly, ignoring the terrible slashing of claws upon his arms and back.
The monster's struggling slowed and then finally stopped. Neville toppled off the monster and crashed to the floor, gasping for breath and shuddering with spent adreniline. Pain flared through every part of his body, hot and searing. Muscles ached with terrible pain from his head to his toes, even his hair tingled with pain.
After a few moments Neville got to his feet, glancing away from the ruined body of Damon and the monster. He looked down at the candlestick and saw that it was out. The white flame no longer lit. He crouched down before it, wincing as pain seared up his legs and arms and side. The blood upon the metal was dried and flaking, looking more like rust than blood. Neville wiped his hands and picked up the candlestick, it was warm, but nothing else.
He shoved it into his pocket and turned to the Damon. For the first time he was glad he hadn't had anything to eat in the past two days, or else it would have all came back up. He easily found the wand; it's smooth wood gleaming not far from Damon's hands. Neville also shoved that into his pocket. He stood there for a moment and then remembered the Map Damon had taken.
Digging through the tattered and soaked invisible robes was not something Neville enjoyed. But he found a pocket and pulled out the piece of parchment, along with several coins, a small mirror, and another piece of parchment. Neville shoved them into his pocket, later he could figure out what they were. For now he had the wand, the monster was dead, Damon was dead, and Cho needed to be healed.
Neville got to his feet with a groan and began looking for where he had entered the chamber from. Then something else caught his eye. Across the chamber there was a growing light. Neville reached for his wand, but then stared as he saw something he almost had forgotten about.
Sunlight and a way out.
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Until Next Chapter!!!
(Almost done kiddies)