Chapter Thirteen: Koji: The Warrior of Time

The silence that now surrounded them was eerie. The broken barrier allowed the evil aura to flow from its long time prison. The earth around became chillingly silent, not a bird twittered, not a twig snapped. The wind even calmed herself, leaving a silence unlike any other. Hermione's good mood left her as her single step onto the lands echoed twice before fading out.

"Stop!" called a booming voice.

Hermione whipped around to see a tall, sleek figure being slowly surrounded by snarling wolves. Probably just one of Voldemorts' minions… she thought half-heartedly. She approached slowly and examined him. He seemed as if he had somehow adapted to the wild. He wore a fur vest made of, what appeared to be, wolf hide. A belt of the same material resided around his waist with a wolf tail hanging down. The belt held up the bottoms of a black pair of a kimono and his face and chest bore many scars.

"Who are you to order us about in that manner?" Kalina questioned.

In an instant the pack had lowered its stance and surrounded their alpha as she rose to her feet. The mans head turned from the wolf to Hermione and back again. He bore a confused expression as his arms lowered to his sides. Hermione smirked at his confusion.

"She wishes to know why you think you have the authority to order us around." She translated.

"You know not of me?" he questioned.

"I'm afraid not, dear sir." Katherine replied nattily.

"I am Koji the-"

"The Warrior of Time." Miroku finished.

All eyes turned to Miroku for a further explanation on the strange man standing in their midst.

"Fifty years ago Koji fought a tremendous battle. The king for whom he fought was eternally grateful and told the knight of a way to preserve himself at himself just the way he was. The knight took him up on his offer and continued to fight for the king and his descendants until one fateful day when they were all slaughtered. He remained near the castle, waiting for another to take over. Thus becoming known as the Warrior of Time." He explained slowly, allowing Hermione time to translate for the others.

Koji watched interestedly, he had never seen a woman like her before. Her ability to speak with and understand these animals was uncanny. What kind of black magic would she have to possess in order to be able to speak with them?

"Young girl, how is it that you are able to speak with these creatures of Darkness?" Koji asked.

"They are not creatures of Darkness. If you want real evil just look there." Hermione said, gesturing towards the castle behind her, "An evil beyond any that you can imagine lurks within the shadows of that castle, waiting, watching, for the perfect time to unleash his evil unto the lands."

"That is why I came to this place. I sensed a break in the barrier that has kept me away from these lands for so long. I wished to return to my rightful place." Koji said humbly.

"He seems trustworthy enough…" Cazador sighed to himself.

The wolf pack howled in joy again, the whole pack was together now. Looks like we're all up to speed again. Hermione thought.

"Okay then, come along." Lupin said.

Snow crunched under their feet as the group walked onto the lands, the castle seemed to be growing darker, danker, and less inviting the more they approached. A silent agreement had kept everyone quiet while they made their way, at an agonizingly slow pace, towards their destination. Pieces of stone crumbled and toppled to the snowy ground, taking whole vines with them. Soon they stood where a drawbridge would be, if there was a moat, or any water, for that matter.

"This is it…" Hermione said with a gulp.

"No, let us go first." Fred and George said, stepping in front of her, "We know the layout better."

Despite further protest, the twins led the way into the unknown that lay before them. Hermione had lagged behind, though she had tried to appear brave so no one else would be scared, she was truly afraid. She jumped as a hand grasped hers tightly and looked up to find herself staring into the eyes of her former worst enemy, Draco Malfoy. He bore no smirk and did not sneer at the frightened figure beside him as he led her slowly towards the castle. Hermione suddenly felt inspired, like she could have taken Voldemort on alone.

Deep within the confines of the Castle

"Why do you interrupt me?" Voldemort questioned sternly.

Wormtail shuddered at the menacing sound of his angry Masters voice.

"Master," he said, voice shaking, "The dark deed you requested is complete."

"Wonderful!" Voldemort called.

"What do you plan to do with our daughter!" Kyle called.

Voldemort laugh maliciously, red eyes glinting as an evil plan came to the surface of his mind.

"Your daughter will be the single reason her friends will be cast into the fiery pits of hell!" he called, laughter in his voice.

"Please, I beg of you! Spare them! Take me instead…" Kyle whispered.

"Pathetic mortal, why would you wish to sacrifice yourself for them? You could have eternal life if you joined me…"

With mysterious woman…

"You can offer them nothing…your powers are a mere shadow to mine…" she whispered to herself, "Soon you will see the force of a true and great power…"

Back with the group

Hermione turned at the sound of more rocks crumbling and toppling to the ground, she was sure she saw something. Her eyes scanned the area for any movement, nothing. Draco tugged her hand and they sped up to reach the others again.

"This place is so creepy…" Hermione whispered.

"Yeah…you scared?" Draco asked.

"A little." She admitted sheepishly.

She felt him move a bit closer and squeeze her hand as if in reassurance. A tiny smile made its way onto her face, despite the knowledge that somewhere ahead loomed unbelievable danger. A loud 'omph' ruined Hermione's thoughts as she whipped around to see Koji on the ground.

"What happened? Were you attacked?" Lupin asked in frantic whispers.

"Nope…just fell." Koji admitted gruffly.

A sigh of temporary relief traveled through the group as they helped Koji from the ground. Lupin motioned for Hermione to stay behind with Koji to assure to further incidents. The loss of Draco's warm hand was saddening but she stayed nonetheless, a scowl upon her features.

"That boy, you are with him…yes?" Koji asked.

Hermione was eternally grateful that there was hardly any light in the passage, her flushed cheeks were hidden for the moment. A sudden swoosh, followed by a high pitched scream, kept her from having to answer.

"Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley screamed, no answer.

"Did you see it?" Arthur asked.

"Ginny…my dear baby Ginny…"

Molly could say nothing else of it, her youngest and only daughter had been taken. Hermione fumed with rage, Voldemort would pay for what he had done.

"Split off into pairs. Search the castle and if anyone gets into a fix…you know what to do…" Hermione said grimly.

A/N: Well? Do you like? I hope so because it took a bit of revising to get it right. A very special thanks to Kristy who, more or less, forced me to finish this chapter! Anyway I hope you guys are a bit satisfied at the moment because I'll be working on the next chapter of Despair and Destiny at the moment! Luv ya'll and plz review!

Emma