The outer walls of the fortress lay in a crumbled ruin, splattered with
blood. The stonewalls that remain stand as symbols of the gruesome fight.
The grass is littered with bright red drops of blood and wind blows through
creating a soft, haunting whistle. A crimson mist stales the air in thick
clouds, and here Cota lies, face down, unmoving, with his arm out stretched
towards his sword, that lies a foot out of reach. The night covers him like
a thick blanket as he hears the order over and over again in his mind:
'Reinforcements shall come at sunrise' Sunrise? That was too far out of
reach, it was like a cookie jar, and he was the little kid staring up at
it. Knowing where it was, but not seeing it and not being able to reach it.
His eyes are closed, sleep seems to grab him and lull him into its safety.
A place away from pain. He hears voices around him.
"Where is he!?" A frustrated voice rings out.
"I don' know. Maybe 'es dead" A more cheerful voice says. "Relax Snape"
"The burning of a warm fire that singes your skin" Snape answers.
"So you're saying that we don always get what we want?" The cheerful voice asks.
"Congratulations on FINALLY catching on, Roland" Snape growls.
"Ya say it enough and eventually, we all get it" Roland announces. "But let's just find the kid and get out of here. I thought I saw 'im fall near here"
Cota froze. Were they looking for him? He slowly crawls toward his sword and reaches out his hand, silently, slowly. Irritated with the amount of pain that was causing. He feels his fingertip brush the sword, and inches closer. He grimaces as someone steps on his hand.
"Nice try, lad" The cruel voice hisses.
Cota is kicked in the side and the man steps off his hand. He barely has time to open his eyes or recover before his is grabbed and pulled to his feet. The person who grabbed him shoves him forward and he stumbles, almost falling before someone else grabs him and twist his wrist behind him. Restraining him and forcing him forward. Cota's vision is cloudy and everything seemed to be a blur. The man takes him through one of the fortress hallways and shoves him into a room. The man walks in and grabs Cota by the shirt. He pushes him backward against the wall and pulls him off the ground. Cota grits his teeth and forces himself to focus and remember that he has a knife in a small sheath on his belt, one on his left wrist, one in the inside of his trench coat, and one in his boot. They had been prepared to fight with every ounce of strength in the. However, before he can even move to grab one, the door opened and a newcomer enters the room.
"Come now, Nott. That is no way to treat a guest" The newcomer states.
Nott releases Cota, dropping him to the floor. Cota falls forward in pain with the sudden force. He is shaking all over and the newcomer speaks again.
"This gallant fighter is hurt, can you not see that? There is no need to be rude" The newcomer comes closer and as Cota's vision clears he can see who it is.
He is staring directly at Lord Voldemort. Cota scrambles to his feet and presses his back against the wall. He reaches for the knife in the hidden sheath on his belt.
"I would recommend you not try that" Voldemort states. "Or the one in your right boot, or the one in your trench coat-"
A Death Eater reaches to grab his weapons, Cota instinctively jerks away, and the Death Eater goes for an attack. Cota reaches for the knife on his wrist and nails the Death Eater in the face with one swift action.
"Or that one" Voldemort finishes and Cota is slammed into the wall.
Voldemort excuses the Death Eaters who are injured and looks back at Cota. His eyes snake like and hungry. 'And this is the creature that was going to be given Kira? This was the thing that could sentence a child to that horrible of a life' Cota finds enough disgust to get up the courage to glare back into those eyes.
"Well, we finally get to meet" Voldemort states as if Cota should be pleasured. When Cota makes no response, Voldemort continues. "I've been watching you,]. You stood out from the beginning of tonight's...adventure. You rode differently, I thought that made you weak, yet you brandish your weapon like a pro and have knowledge in spells far beyond what I thought you would have" Again he pauses as if to tell Cota to be thankful of such compliments, Cota begins slowly inching his hand toward his trench coat knife. "Then you read my letter and figured it out rather quickly, I assumed a normal rider to blow it off as a taunt. Then you come to the rescue of your comra-"
Voldemort stops and hits Cota with an attack that forces his hand away from his knife and sent a wave of pain crashing over him and up his spine.
"I told you not to try that" Voldemort states as if it justified the attack. "Where was I?" Voldemort asks.
"Rescue of your comrades" One of the Death Eaters answers.
"Thank you, Macnair. Yes, as I was saying. You always came to the rescue of your comrades. You risked quite a bit on getting that girl out"
Cota glares and tried another slow attempt to grab his knife, this time the one in the sheath; it would be less noticeable.
"Then you came back and side attacked, heroic move. You made it through the fire and rescued everyone else. Too bad you were too late to help your friend" Voldemort turned his back to Cota.
Cota's hand is hovering over his sheath and he is about to grab it when Mcnair lashes out and deals him a powerful blow. Cota falls to the floor, gasping for air and Mcnair takes his knife, holding it to Cota's throat. Cota feels the cold steel and freezes, the knife is pressed hard enough to hurt, but not cut, not unless he moved.
"I distinctively remember telling you not to do that" Voldemort states and gestures his hand. Mcnair grabs Cota and pulls him to his feet, dropping him again, in a chair this time.
"What do you want with me?" Cota chokes out, trying to sound like he isn't afraid and almost pulling it off.
Voldemort stares at Cota as if it was obvious what he wanted. He walks closer and Cota tenses and his mind quickly races to the option of using his knife to slice Voldemort's throat.
"Simple. I want you to join me" Voldemort states. "Oh, and I wouldn't try that, you'd be dead before that knife in your boot even reached me" he adds as he steps with in range of an attack and is still moving closer.
All rash thoughts leave Cota's mind and he finds himself smile and answer in almost a laugh.
"You're kidding me"
Voldemort simply continues walking; circling the chair Cota is in. The look on his face says he isn't extremely surprised by the answer. He stops, behind Cota and puts his hand on his shoulder. Cota's instinct flares and his hand itches to grab his knife.
"You just don't understand the beauty of my plan. However, you can obviously fight and I like your spirit" Voldemort states. "Join me and I can use that spirit to its full potential"
"I'd rather die" Cota growls.
Mcnair sneers, raising an eyebrow and letting his eyes travel to the knife in his hand. Voldemort waves him off. "Come now, there isn't a need for that" Voldemort states, removing his hand. Mcnair's face becomes that of someone who is slightly disappointed.
Cota stares straight forward and remains unmoving. That is his decision; he isn't going to join the monster. He knows that sealed his death, but he isn't going to abandon everything he believes in just because this monster scares him.
"You need time to think about this?" Even though it was phrased as a question, Cota knew it wasn't. It was Voldemort telling him he needed time. "However, here is not the atmosphere I want, so we'll take you to my estate where you can think"
"I, will, not, join, you" Cota states, attempting to make every word as clear as possible.
Voldemort ignores him and signals Mcnair. Mcnair steps forward, grabs Cota by the collar of his trench coat, and yanks him out of the chair. Cota can feel eyes on him and knows that whatever choice he makes right now he had to go by no matter what. One choice sealed his fate, the other his death.
"Where is he!?" A frustrated voice rings out.
"I don' know. Maybe 'es dead" A more cheerful voice says. "Relax Snape"
"The burning of a warm fire that singes your skin" Snape answers.
"So you're saying that we don always get what we want?" The cheerful voice asks.
"Congratulations on FINALLY catching on, Roland" Snape growls.
"Ya say it enough and eventually, we all get it" Roland announces. "But let's just find the kid and get out of here. I thought I saw 'im fall near here"
Cota froze. Were they looking for him? He slowly crawls toward his sword and reaches out his hand, silently, slowly. Irritated with the amount of pain that was causing. He feels his fingertip brush the sword, and inches closer. He grimaces as someone steps on his hand.
"Nice try, lad" The cruel voice hisses.
Cota is kicked in the side and the man steps off his hand. He barely has time to open his eyes or recover before his is grabbed and pulled to his feet. The person who grabbed him shoves him forward and he stumbles, almost falling before someone else grabs him and twist his wrist behind him. Restraining him and forcing him forward. Cota's vision is cloudy and everything seemed to be a blur. The man takes him through one of the fortress hallways and shoves him into a room. The man walks in and grabs Cota by the shirt. He pushes him backward against the wall and pulls him off the ground. Cota grits his teeth and forces himself to focus and remember that he has a knife in a small sheath on his belt, one on his left wrist, one in the inside of his trench coat, and one in his boot. They had been prepared to fight with every ounce of strength in the. However, before he can even move to grab one, the door opened and a newcomer enters the room.
"Come now, Nott. That is no way to treat a guest" The newcomer states.
Nott releases Cota, dropping him to the floor. Cota falls forward in pain with the sudden force. He is shaking all over and the newcomer speaks again.
"This gallant fighter is hurt, can you not see that? There is no need to be rude" The newcomer comes closer and as Cota's vision clears he can see who it is.
He is staring directly at Lord Voldemort. Cota scrambles to his feet and presses his back against the wall. He reaches for the knife in the hidden sheath on his belt.
"I would recommend you not try that" Voldemort states. "Or the one in your right boot, or the one in your trench coat-"
A Death Eater reaches to grab his weapons, Cota instinctively jerks away, and the Death Eater goes for an attack. Cota reaches for the knife on his wrist and nails the Death Eater in the face with one swift action.
"Or that one" Voldemort finishes and Cota is slammed into the wall.
Voldemort excuses the Death Eaters who are injured and looks back at Cota. His eyes snake like and hungry. 'And this is the creature that was going to be given Kira? This was the thing that could sentence a child to that horrible of a life' Cota finds enough disgust to get up the courage to glare back into those eyes.
"Well, we finally get to meet" Voldemort states as if Cota should be pleasured. When Cota makes no response, Voldemort continues. "I've been watching you,]. You stood out from the beginning of tonight's...adventure. You rode differently, I thought that made you weak, yet you brandish your weapon like a pro and have knowledge in spells far beyond what I thought you would have" Again he pauses as if to tell Cota to be thankful of such compliments, Cota begins slowly inching his hand toward his trench coat knife. "Then you read my letter and figured it out rather quickly, I assumed a normal rider to blow it off as a taunt. Then you come to the rescue of your comra-"
Voldemort stops and hits Cota with an attack that forces his hand away from his knife and sent a wave of pain crashing over him and up his spine.
"I told you not to try that" Voldemort states as if it justified the attack. "Where was I?" Voldemort asks.
"Rescue of your comrades" One of the Death Eaters answers.
"Thank you, Macnair. Yes, as I was saying. You always came to the rescue of your comrades. You risked quite a bit on getting that girl out"
Cota glares and tried another slow attempt to grab his knife, this time the one in the sheath; it would be less noticeable.
"Then you came back and side attacked, heroic move. You made it through the fire and rescued everyone else. Too bad you were too late to help your friend" Voldemort turned his back to Cota.
Cota's hand is hovering over his sheath and he is about to grab it when Mcnair lashes out and deals him a powerful blow. Cota falls to the floor, gasping for air and Mcnair takes his knife, holding it to Cota's throat. Cota feels the cold steel and freezes, the knife is pressed hard enough to hurt, but not cut, not unless he moved.
"I distinctively remember telling you not to do that" Voldemort states and gestures his hand. Mcnair grabs Cota and pulls him to his feet, dropping him again, in a chair this time.
"What do you want with me?" Cota chokes out, trying to sound like he isn't afraid and almost pulling it off.
Voldemort stares at Cota as if it was obvious what he wanted. He walks closer and Cota tenses and his mind quickly races to the option of using his knife to slice Voldemort's throat.
"Simple. I want you to join me" Voldemort states. "Oh, and I wouldn't try that, you'd be dead before that knife in your boot even reached me" he adds as he steps with in range of an attack and is still moving closer.
All rash thoughts leave Cota's mind and he finds himself smile and answer in almost a laugh.
"You're kidding me"
Voldemort simply continues walking; circling the chair Cota is in. The look on his face says he isn't extremely surprised by the answer. He stops, behind Cota and puts his hand on his shoulder. Cota's instinct flares and his hand itches to grab his knife.
"You just don't understand the beauty of my plan. However, you can obviously fight and I like your spirit" Voldemort states. "Join me and I can use that spirit to its full potential"
"I'd rather die" Cota growls.
Mcnair sneers, raising an eyebrow and letting his eyes travel to the knife in his hand. Voldemort waves him off. "Come now, there isn't a need for that" Voldemort states, removing his hand. Mcnair's face becomes that of someone who is slightly disappointed.
Cota stares straight forward and remains unmoving. That is his decision; he isn't going to join the monster. He knows that sealed his death, but he isn't going to abandon everything he believes in just because this monster scares him.
"You need time to think about this?" Even though it was phrased as a question, Cota knew it wasn't. It was Voldemort telling him he needed time. "However, here is not the atmosphere I want, so we'll take you to my estate where you can think"
"I, will, not, join, you" Cota states, attempting to make every word as clear as possible.
Voldemort ignores him and signals Mcnair. Mcnair steps forward, grabs Cota by the collar of his trench coat, and yanks him out of the chair. Cota can feel eyes on him and knows that whatever choice he makes right now he had to go by no matter what. One choice sealed his fate, the other his death.
