In The Absence of Light
by Inkblot-Crisis
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-Chapter Three-
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"What do you mean 'There is nothing we can do'?!" High Council Member Draconis Lucifer Malfoy, the Commander of the Beta Squadron of the Death Serpent Corps, angrily yelled at the rest of the Council. This caused some of the members, which was primarily composed of middle-aged wizards, to shirk in their seats. Others murmured to each other about how uncouth the young warrior was, while the rest...simply glared.
"As the High Council had discussed, this is a matter reserved for the Alpha Squadron of the Death Serpent Corps, and with that knowledge we are not to interfere with the overall investigation." High Council Wizard Dolohov stated in a stately manner "As for you, Commander Malfoy, you are not allowed to join in on the investigation as your personal ties with the suspect is still being questioned by the Alphas."
Draco frowned. There had been only one witness to the massacre, only one of the Fifty fully-armed Guards of the Twenty-third Regiment. A lone Guard, pinned by his own wand-breaker against the wall, was still semi-conscious when the back-up regiment from the neighboring village of Durr town arrived at the scene. The Guard was muttering in a fearful voice "A monster...it was a monster...he was a monster...a monster..."
"With such a high level of carnage and the all too convenient disappearance of the Captain, Blaise Zabini, the emissary from the Alphas had said that they suspect him of the killings." Millianon LeStrange said in his oily tone "We have no doubt that these was the work of an experienced warrior, one at par with your level of strength, Commander."
Draco slammed his fist on his part of the vast imperial white table where the High Council Members sat "But this isn't his manner of attack!" he stated "Captain Zabini's preference is in spell-casting, I see no evidence of high level spells in these pictures save for one that had occurred in his very own room, and the report done by the Prophet stated that all of the dead suffered from fatal stabs and lacerations, not even once did the attacker perform a spell upon the numerous victims." he argued.
"Be it as it may, the Alphas are handling this case, such anger and doubt is not fitting for such a high ranked Official as yourself, High Council Member Malfoy." Dolohov stated "This Council hereby declares that you are not to meddle in the affairs of the Alphas. Should you intervene, however, the Council will outright excommunicate you from your position and you will be Court-marshaled to the full extent of the Army's Law."
Draco clenched his teeth in anger. He had never felt so powerless in his entire life.
"Good, now, on to other business..." Dolohov stated animatedly.
.-.
A sudden roar and the sound of something crashing from one of the Combat Room of the Serpent Training Facility fills the hall adjacent to it as Draco vented his anger.
Inside the room, Draco was fending off four magicked suits of armor with his custom wand-breakers. Though the advised maximum number of training suits active against a single individual were two, Draco felt that he needed something to unleash his anger upon. And another suit of armor lay on the floor, dented and cleaved into unidentifiable pieces of scrap metal. The Training Facility's Headmaster was always angry with the Commander for wasting good equipment.
He blocks the three remaining suits' attacks with relative ease and attacked in a much more efficient manner than the hollow suits of armor.
"Your sword is an extension of your soul." Draco reminded himself of what his Father taught him. Lucius Malevolent Malfoy was a man of the sword, though he did have a proficiency in both the wand and the sword, it was the more psychological and, dare he say, spiritual aspects of swordsmanship that drew his Father into the life of a swordsman. Japanese Katanas, Ancient Roman and Grecian swords, Fencing Sabers, Broadswords, Short swords and the like were taught to his son to wield at a young age.
If the sword was indeed an extension of the warrior's soul...then Draco's soul must be truly chaotic as of late. The blows he dealt on the armor were enough to cleave a rider and his horse in half. It was a very shocking ordeal when he found out that he wasn't accepted into the Death Serpent Corps' Alpha Squadron all those years ago. They didn't even give him an explanation except that it was the General's decision.
"The Dark General." Draco muttered to himself as he sneered while blocking the last armor's attempt of hitting him. That man intrigued him. The General had never been seen by anyone else in the Military, not even a faint glimpse of the most powerful man in the Army was heard of in all two years of the occupation. It was rumored that he was the only one that the Dark Lord allowed to converse to directly, such prestige was very much sought after as the Dark Lord seemed to have succumbed to a chronic case of Xenophobia in the past years, never leaving the dark halls of his throne room.
With a quick stab to the armor at his feet he finished without breaking into a sweat.
He finally took notice of the numerous Trainees that had watched him since he entered the hall. Some had the look of awe (and hanging jaws), some even had the look of fear on their faces, but one of them had the look of utter boredom, and that was nearly inexcusable.
"You there." Draco called out to the one looking at him with a bored expression. The Trainee was dressed in the longer version of the training robes, usually given to those with unsightly scars or disfigurements or any other faults, but from the looks of it the Trainee was in pristine condition. He would even go as far as saying the Trainee looked rather feminine.
The Trainee raised an eyebrow and pointed his own thumb at himself rather stoically.
Draco nods and does the 'Come here.' sign with his index finger.
The Trainee lets out a chuckle and flicks away the toothpick in his mouth. He then unclasped the large wand-breaker from its strapping and lets it rest on his shoulder as he walked in a slouch towards the center of the Training Room's vast Fighting Area.
"A Giant-slayer...are you sure you can handle that?" Draco asked with a smirk.
The Giant-slayer type Wand-breaker was the heaviest of all the wand-breaker types, it was cumbersome to wield and had little magical use, it was purely made to smite a giant, or in the War's case half-giants, down in one or two blows...should the wielder be able to use it properly, that is. It was a rare and wondrous sight to see a Giant-slayer wielded correctly, Draco only knew of two that had such skill in the entire Army, both of which he defeated in a friendly spar such as they were about to have.
The Trainee only gave him a mirror smirk as he tied his long, light brown hair in a high pony with a piece of black string with one hand. They looked alike with their hair tied, but Draco had his tied at the nape of his neck.
"Timer." Draco called out.
A wizard in a small booth at the corner of the hall nods "Setting the clock to five minutes, Commander."
.-.
"Um...does the Commander know...?" A Trainee with a standard issue wand-breaker asked his classmate.
The other Trainee shakes his head "No, I don't think so...but it will be pretty funny to see his expression when he does though."
.-.
The two combatants then went into their respective sides and performed their pre-fight rituals.
Draco only craned his neck from side to side, letting out sickening pops as his neck sets itself. He them unsheathed his swords and raises one in the air while keeping one parallel to the ground, both swords were pointed at his opponent. He lowered his stance slightly as to increase his center of gravity, making him much harder to push down from either side.
The Trainee also goes into a similar stance. Holding the double-length sword handle with both arms, he kept the large sword level to Draco's, in anticipation for either blocking or a parry.
Draco recognized that look the Trainee was giving him before, the bored and unfeeling stare. It was a calculating look an opponent does when watching an enemy in battle; in this case the Trainee had already considered fighting him all the while he was watching. He didn't use his entire bag of tricks while fighting the armors so he had a few aces up his sleeves should the Trainee be more proficient than he had thought.
The light on the timer goes green and the fight begins.
.-.
It seemed for the past three minutes...that they were dancing, only one of them advancing while the other merely defended "You're holding back." Draco stated as they locked swords for the third time "Don't."
The Trainee nodded and kicks Draco in the gut, causing the Commander to fall back a few steps. In an instant the Trainee slashed at Draco, nicking him slightly at the legs.
Draco took a leap back and surveys the damage...a mere scratch "Good..." he prepared for one of his more advanced techniques "...but not good enough." he stated before leaping back into action. He threw one sword towards the Trainee like a dart, in turn the Trainee blocks it with his own...but he did not see the other sword quick enough and had to haphazardly move his larger sword again at an unbelievable rate...
...the block was again successful...
...but he was left wide open for an attack, and a large fist was coming straight at the Trainee's face. Draco was surprised the Trainee didn't spout a word as the punch connected, none-the-less he delivered the next punch at the Trainee's chest with a quick right blow follow-up in the abdominal area. He watched as the Trainee stumbled onto the floor, clutching his sides as he lets go of his weapon.
Draco crouched down and looked at the Trainee in the eye "Never think that your opponent will go easy on you, otherwise you'd have end up much worse." he said as he stood up and began walking away. He was a few feet away when he had to look back as he heard the sound of metal dragging against the cement floor behind him. He was slightly impressed as he saw the Trainee was back up and the Giant-slayer in his hands again, the Trainee raised his sword as he goes into a different stance, that of which Draco recognized immediately. The Trainee was preparing for a sword-thrust, a move that sends the wielder and its weapon into a suicide sprint towards the opponent and releasing all the strength the wielder had into one fatal thrust. Not a smart gambit considering that Draco still had at least one of his swords, which he now held with both hands, further increasing the speed and power of his own blows.
The Trainee smirked before he sprang into speedy sprint. Just as he was about to enter Draco's area he crouched down and delivered an upward strike, holding the blunt side of the large sword up to increase the leverage.
In show of prowess Draco simply took a step back and dodged the attack like it was nothing. Before the Trainee landed he takes a step forward and points his sword at the crouching Trainee's face "End time." Draco stated in a calm and clear voice.
They both turned towards the clock.
"0:00:02"
Two seconds before the end of the round "Not bad for a Trainee." Draco stated as he sheathed the sword in his hand, the other one was lying a couple of yard away. He made towards it.
"Thank you, Sire." a female voice answered.
Draco raised an eyebrow at this and turned around. It made sense as to why the Trainee looked quite feminine, he...was a she.
.-.
"How long have you been in the Academy?" Draco asked as they walked together towards the Medical Wing. He had to go patch the flesh wounds on his legs, while Viridian, the Trainee he sparred with, had to get something for her bruises.
"For about two years now, Sire." she answered stoically.
"Which division are you applying for?" he asked. It was quite a long walk to the Medical Wing and the halls towards there were empty as there were no 'scheduled' scuffles in the campus, the silence that went on between them was getting sort of awkward, Draco even almost began humming...keyword being almost.
"Well..." she stated in a tone that held a bit more emotion than her usual drone "...I was thinking of applying for the Beta Squadron of the Serpent Corps, Sire...if the Corp is still recruiting by the time I graduate from here, that is." she smiled.
"We're always looking for new blood..." Draco stated "...and a female member is a rare sight amidst the barracks, are you sure you can handle the attention?"
Viridian lets out a snort "If you mean the groping, harassment and being labeled as a tomboy, then yes, I can handle it." she heatedly spat, she then shakes her head "Forgive me, Sire, I didn't mean to go on like that." she apologized sincerely.
"You won't be mistreated in Beta. We Serpents have a code of honor to uphold...we never disrespect our own." Draco stated and smiled slightly at her face relaxing "We merely kill our own... should treason be evident."
They rounded a turn.
"Permission to speak freely, Sire." she began, upon seeing Draco nod she continued "You...you make it sound so easy, your duty, I mean." she stopped walking "Don't you feel guilty about killing?" she looked at him with both fear and curiosity.
Draco turns to her with a bit of sadness in his eyes "There are those times..." he stated as he leaned his back against the wall and looked at the ceiling "...but then I'd remind myself that there wouldn't be any change if I just stopped what I was doing...besides, all the people I've killed were armed and listed as soldiers and warriors for the other side..." he sighed "...though that's what I tell myself to make it a little bearable." he leaned forward and continued walking.
"I am sorry, Sire." she said from a few steps behind him "I just heard stories of you and your men going mad with bloodlust in battle. I know now what's true and what's n-" she was cut off by Draco's voice.
"Which village?" he asked in an emotionless tone, more like an order than a question.
"Excuse me, Sire?"
"Which village is the most unbelievable?" he elaborated.
"Corrigan, Sire, it was after the fifth day of the War, only six Serpents of your unit, including yourself I believe, were sent there for a surgical strike. I believe the body count was-" again she was cut off.
"Ninety-five. Eighty-two Wizards and Witches, six Muggle mercenaries, three centaurs and two giants, all of which were armed to the teeth." he stated in a monotone.
"You have an impressive memory, Sire...but...how did you know?"
"I should know...I killed over half of them in that skirmish." his tone was neither proud nor shameful; it was cold like the surface of a frozen river, emotionless yet with trouble brewing underneath.
Viridian Reinhart stopped in her tracks again, this time in utter shock.
Draco turned to her with his eyes cold and emotionless, the light didn't reflect off them as it did earlier "That tale is true."
.-.
"Where in Merlin's name have you been?" Pansy Parkinson shrieked as she entered the Medical Wing, which earned her a shushing from the Head Medi-witch "Don't you 'shush' me!" she answered indignantly, she turned her attention back to the Commander who was having his legs repaired for a slight weapon wound "I sent two owls already to your office and you didn't reply from either one of them..."
"I was held up by work." The Commander merely answered.
Viridian was watching the exchange like some sort of a play. She was told by a medi-witch that the Healing Balm would take a much faster effect if she didn't move from her position, sitting up on one of the beds, so she listened...and was slightly amused of the fact that this very angry woman was berating the infamous Commander Malfoy.
"Oh, work? Is that what you call disappearing for two days without even leaving a note to your secretary stating where you went? Honestly Draconis, how gullible do you think I am? I know of your rounds in the Slums late an night, that you often frequent the areas of the Red Light Dist-" the sound of a wand-breaker being unsheathed slowly was then heard from the entrance, followed by another, and another, and many more.
Viridian's mouth went dry; as did her lips pale and sweat turn cold, and for good reason.
At the entrance were nearly a dozen Serpents, all armored for battle and their weapons unsheathed. The markings on their armor specified that they were different from the ordinary Serpent Corp soldiers that were under Draconis' watch, the markings were made of tempered silver alloy...clearly indicating that they were indeed members...
...of Alpha Squadron One.
"Commander Malfoy. A direct order from the General states that you are to come with us for questioning, resistance will be deemed treacherous." The one standing in front of the others had said in a very commanding tone.
.-.
Draco's brow furrowed "Alpha Squad?" he said in thought "Why in Merlin's beard do they need me for?" None-the-less he complied and moved to strap the belt that held his wand-breakers, as he did, danger filled his senses and called for him to stop.
"You are not allowed to carry your Breakers, sir, another order from the General." the Alpha from before explained.
Draco, with a heavy heart, nodded and shoved the belt into the Alpha's out-reached hand. He walked in the middle of the escorts, both angry and bewildered at the Dark General's orders to his men.
He had done nothing to intervene with the Hogsemade Investigation, not yet, but still, he had done nothing that breached the High Council's orders.
"Then this has nothing to do with the Investigation...perhaps." Draco deduced.
Well...at least this got Pansy off his back, for now.
.-.
"Wait here." The Captain said from behind his helmet.
The Alpha Barracks was identical to his own Beta. The floor was of black marble, the walls were painted black as well, the only difference would be seen by an untrained eye. There were no guards in their posts. Draco, of course, knew that the guards were there, hidden by the enchantments of Invisibility Cloaks. Draco with the three remaining escorts, stood in room used to entertain High Council Members should they have the will and nerve to visit the infamous Barracks for inspection...it was surprisingly decorated in a subtle manner.
"Ah, Commander Malfoy..." a voice said as the large double doors swung open, it revealed a middle-aged man Draco only knew as Commander Guilton North. Draco had heard that this particular Commander didn't pursue the use of brute force as much as the others and that he used his guile and a silk tongue to make the enemy succumb to his will. If Alpha was already pushing out their best interrogator, then he must be holding some pretty valuable information from them...the only problem was he didn't know exactly what.
The wizard clasped his hands around Malfoy's in a friendly gesture "...good to see a fellow Commander in the Barracks. Do excuse the Grunts, Alpha Squadron doesn't exactly train them to be gentle and kind." he stated eloquently in a manner that would have them deemed as old friends. He was dressed casually, Draco noted, with only his breastplate and gauntlets as the only pieces of armor on his person. The Alpha Commander's own wand-breaker was a Spear-type, which was currently being held by a witch at his side.
The Commander seeing Draco's eyes on the witch broke into a smile "Allow me to introduce my Apprentice, Trainee Kaitlin Kincaid."
Kincaid, a woman of eighteen years, went into a snapping salute "An honor, Sire." she addressed Draco.
Draco merely nodded at her "Why am I here?" he asked, his attention returned to the Commander.
"Please, allow me to direct you to the lounge chairs, they are charmed to shift softness to the seated person's liking." North stated in his smile.
Draco saw no harm in this, and besides, he was a bit tired of standing around, his leg-wounds were still stitching themselves closed and it wasn't advisable to let the healing charm linger for a prolonged period of time. He sat down on the lounge chair and found it quite relaxing just as North had said "You haven't answered my question." Draco stated in his calm tone.
North lets out a chuckle "To the point." he had comment "Just like your father."
At this Draco leaned forward "You knew my father? How?" he was slightly put off, he knew each and every friend his father made, some even at a first name basis now-a-days, but he hadn't heard North's name until he was in the Corps, and that intrigued him.
"Know him? Why, we were the ones who came up with the idea for the Corp in the first place, did he not tell you before?"
"No...it was more likely that he didn't have the chance to." Draco said with his eyes downcast "I was handpicked by my Father to lead Omega Squad at the time of the War, since Epsilon and Theta were purely Magical Support and Magical Offense teams, I would have stuck out like a Muggle if I had been placed in those Squadrons." he continued as he raised his head now "He was said to have trained most of Alpha Squad, with yourself, I believe."
"That is mostly true." North said with a nod of his graying head "I was given the duty to train those Serpents whose Breakers were not of the sword-type. They need a different approach you see, as the handling varies from weapon-type to weapon-type."
Draco nodded in response; he had been trained fully by the sword. He had wielded a spear-type once, a Naginata (a spear with the blade formed in a straight edge two or three feet in length). It was just so as his own Breakers were in the Battlefield somewhere after his opponent unleashed an increased Expeliaramus blast.
"But enough of the past, glorious as it may have been." North said as he also leaned forward "I had you called under the order of the General, he said that you might have information about the incident in Hogsmeade."
"And how did the General know I might?"
North smiled "We have independent informants, Young Malfoy, you would be entirely surprised at to what they can reach in an hour."
Draco seemed to take this to consideration "Tell me what the General thinks, and I'll clear up any misunderstandings the informant may have found."
North gave a chuckle "Alright." he agreed, which surprised Draco at the least "The informant said that the suspect, the Beta Captain Blaise Amoreleus Zabini, was investigating an area that was deemed off-limits by the New Order's Law. Incidentally he was also been banned from our Archives here in the Alpha Barracks a few weeks ago."
"Banned? Why on earth would he be banned from a Barrack's Archives?" Draco knew of Blaise's thirst for knowledge, it rivaled that of the Book-worm Granger's. There wasn't a tome, scroll or written parchment in the entire Beta Archives that Blaise hadn't read, he often visited other archives as well.
"The Head of the Archives spotted the Captain within the Level Twelve Restriction Areas, while his Pass only allowed him Level Eleven Access. The Twelfth Area is strictly for the General's use only, you see. It was a sign of good faith that the General didn't brand him a traitor for disobeying the rules...but that proved to be a mistake on the General's part."
"Two nights before the incident in Hogsmeade, Captain Zabini was seen arriving at Hogsmeade with the intent of investigating the ruins of Hogwarts. A routine investigation on the surface...but in reality it was something much, much worse than we'd imagined."
"What was so important in those Archives that he would risk treason?" Draco asked out of pure curiosity.
North shakes his head lightly "I do not know much about it myself, only the General would know and now perhaps Blaise Zabini."
"And now you want to know if he had spoken any of this to me?" Draco caught on as to why he was called.
North nodded solemnly "The Records show that you had used a Threstal to go to Hogsmeade on a personal trip. There you stayed and presumably conversed with Captain Zabini for a moment before leaving. If the Reports of the Prophet is true then that would make you the last person leave Hogsmeade just a few hours before the incident occurred."
"I was there, on personal matters. Zabini's sister owled to me the night before and had insisted that her brother was missing, I used the entire night figuring out where he could have gone to. I finally deduced that he was in Hogsmeade and so I went. I arrived in Hogsmeade in about five hours and we did indeed talked for a short period of time." Draco explained.
"Was there anything that was out of the ordinary about the Captain?" North pried.
Draco shook his head "He was being his curious-self, he immerses himself in his research whenever he can...Knowledge is Power, as he would say."
"Did you see exactly what the Captain was working on?"
Draco thought for a moment and remembered maps, detailed maps of Hogwarts, one of them might have went as far back as to the fabled Original Castle, the castle Godric Gryffindor's Ancestors used to call home. There were also notes, details of a tunnel and a timeline of events in shorthand writing (a manner of coded writing that only the writer would fully understand).
"There was certainly a lot of short-hand writing, that's about as much I could tell you...that and maps." Draco stated in full honesty.
"Maps?" North seemed to have been pricked by a needle at this "What sort of maps?"
"Old Structural Maps, some as far back as Ancient times, I suppose." Draco shrugged; there was little power in Ancient Wizardry as it was more aligned in Mysticism and Herbology than the modern methods of Magic such as Advanced Potions and Combat Magic.
"I...see." North said as he leaned back into his seat.
Draco noticed that North's Apprentice didn't speak much, she had been staring at him for quite some time now...and it was beginning to get a little uneasy on his nerves.
"I thank you for your cooperation, Commander." North began as he stood up. Draco and North's Apprentice followed suit "I do hope that this little conversation of ours didn't put you in any inconvenience."
Draco put on his best face "None at all." he said "You actually saved my arse." he thought as he remembered Pansy's face.
"I'll order an escort to any destination you wish." North said as he clasped Draco's hand again "I thank you again for your help."
Draco shook back lightly and nodded to the saluting Apprentice "A pleasure." he stated smoothly to her. With that, a couple of Alphas were by his side and escorted him back to his office.
.-.
"Was it all true then?" Guilton North asked his "Apprentice".
"Yes, he was telling the truth, but it concerns me that this Blaise Zabini is really as clever as Draco Malfoy would believe." The "Apprentice" said as she sat down with a sigh, she massaged her head for a while before North's hands replaced her own "He had a couple of mental blockades that I couldn't pass through instantly, it took me a while but we have a bit of what we need."
"And did Captain Zabini really figure out about 'It'?" North asked as he continued to give his "Apprentice's" temple a massage.
"I couldn't tell, even with the Tal's assistance I couldn't exactly make odd or end from the images, but he did appear to have a general idea about what had went on that night." she waved away his hands "Go tell Mandolion and Seran to ready for a Black-Op Mission."
"What type of mission should I have them prep for, Commander Kincaid?" North, the real assistant, asked his Superior Officer.
"Assassination." The Commander said as she stood up and twirled the spear in her hands expertly. It was clear that her prowess with the weapon exceeded her mentor, that was the main reason why she went up the ranks in the first place. It was entirely difficult to determine where she was going to attack in the spear's blurring speed.
North smiled at her display knowing fullwell that it was what she did when she was bored "And the target?"
She suddenly stabbed the seat where Draco had sat on "Their target will be the Commander of The Death Serpent's Beta Squadron, Draconis Lucifer Malfoy." she said with a manic grin.
.-.
-Chapter Three End-
-Deception's Face-
.-.
-/-.-/-.-/-
AN
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A bit of the plot shows through now. And not to worry all D/G lovers...Ginny'll be in the next chapter.
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