Chapter 16

What is this place? wondered Pansy as she jumped from the tunnel into the large cavern.

The place sparkled with light which was reflected off the calm pool which lay in to center of the room. From an island in the center of the pool grew an enormous tree, around which was wrapped a string from which hung what appeared to have once been scrolls.

"We must be in the heart of the Inu-Kitsune shrine," muttered Pansy as she approached the reflecting pool.

"The Dog-Fox shrine?" asked Draco as he approached from the other side of the tree. "I've never heard of such a thing."

Pansy nodded. "Inu-Kitsune was a great kami said to have created sorcery.

"Supposedly 2000 years ago, the mage called "Kitsune" was gifted with clairvoyance, which at the time was not exactly a rare gift. However, her gift of clairvoyance was quiet different from most. Instead of seeing or sensing evil forces, she had to power to actually purify them. Through visions and years of experiments she found a way to alter the dark forces, bending them to her will. However, in the process, her eyes lost their color, making it impossible to step into the light of the sun ever again. This is why the sorcerers prefer the shadows.

"Through her visions and experiments, she also came to realize that what was once seen as evil by most was in fact no evil at all. It was simply different. The war she once waged on the darkness of the world, she realized, was destroying that which was not a threat. Her experiments with the "evil" energy led her to discover a whole new type of magic, what we now call sorcery. It is a boundless magic, which sees no good or evil, simply two different views. That's why sorcerers are such peaceful people; they see no reason to fight. And because their magic draws on the pure energy which we see as dark, their magic is powerful and, to us, corrupt."

Draco nodded, taking this all in. Some how, it seemed vary familiar to him. Now he was beginning to understand more and more why most sorcerers seemed opposed to wizardry. But one question still bothered him.

"I understand now where the "Kitsune" came from, but why is it called the INU-Kitsune Shrine?"

"Because," explained Pansy, "the sign of the Ankh was branded on her chest, just under the hollow of her neck. And the jackal-headed god Anubis, of who her family had served for years, some even say personally speaking with him and doing his bidding, used the Ankh as his sign. The mark had been present since her birth."

Things finally made sense now. He knew that many priest-mages had fled Egypt when it fell to the Romans, most of them retreating far into Asia and ending up on the northern island of Japan, in the mountains beyond Sapporo. That explained why Kitsune was a priestess to Anubis but had a Japanese name. And why she was called Inu-Kitsune.

"I wonder why Harmony would come here to hide," muttered Draco as he looked around the chamber.

"Perhaps because Kitsune is the one who founded sorcery and is there for looked on as a protector of sorcerers?" suggested Pansy.

"Or perhaps," said Draco slowly, "it's because shrines are sacred places which can not be defiled through violence."

Pansy considered this possibility, though it seemed unlikely.

How did she even know about this place? wondered Draco. That was another thing bothering him. When he had fallen into the tunnel, it seemed as if the place was ancient and hadn't been in use for ages. He wasn't about to tell Pansy this, but he was almost certain that those tunnels were in fact ancient sewers which had probably been abandoned long ago.

"I doubt it," said Pansy suddenly. "There was no violence for Harmony to run from. It wasn't like she was abused in her home or anything."

It took Draco a moment to realize that Pansy was trying to answer his earlier question about why Hermione would hide someplace like this.

She's so naïve, he thought quietly. It amazed Draco that Pansy had remained innocent this long, though not in the sense that most people thought of as innocent. She was innocent to the ways of the world. Though the whole story was still unknown to him, Draco was aware that Harmony had not had the most pleasant life one could, and wondered now if Pansy would be able to understand or even handle the information they might find.

"Draco, are we going in?" asked Pansy, though she still couldn't see where they were going. Draco shoved his thoughts away and nodded, heading around the side of the large reflecting pool.

On the opposite side, it became very clear what their location was. On the opposite side of the tree was an arch like those which appear before shrines in Asia.

"Was she hiding in there?" whispered Pansy. She wasn't sure why, but she suddenly felt as if she should not talk as she normally would.

"Yes," said Draco quietly as he gazed at the arch and into the darkness beyond.

She was hear, I know it. Her presence still lingers in this passage. Harmony, if your down there, then please remain there and by Merlin, let you be alright.

He moved forward swiftly, with no hesitation or consideration of what might lie beyond. All he cared about was finding Hermione.

Pansy gulped and stared after Draco's retreating form until he disappeared into the tunnel. She didn't like the thought of running head long into a dark corridor, but at this point she wasn't going to turn back either. Taking a deep breath, she followed quickly behind, clinging to the wall to keep her balance.

Please don't let there be any traps here, please don't let there be any traps here…

"Draco," she whispered into the darkness "Draco, where are you?"

"I'm here," his voice echoed up ahead.

Pansy slowly crept forward, trying not to stumble in the darkness.

"Here where?" she asked, trying to use his voice to pin point his location.

"Down here," he called again, his voice reverberating from a side corridor. However, as soon as Pansy stepped into the corridor, she slipped and tumbled down a flight of stairs in a most comic manner. Upon reaching the bottom of the stair well, her butt was very, very sore.

Standing stiffly while rubbing her sore rear, Pansy began to move slowly down the new tunnel, not wishing to have a similar experience. Ahead, she could see a sliver of light appear in the tunnel. Moving towards it with greater speed now, though still being cautious, Pansy watched as the sliver of light transformed into a large arched space. An exit!

And she ran. Pansy, who was afraid of the dark, who hated being blind, shot through the last meters of the tunnel and into another bright cavern, with no thought as to what could be inside. And suddenly, she regretted having been so rash.

Before her, a herd of horses with flaming manes, tails, and hooves raised their heads, several snarling at her. Large, black wings that reminded her of the wings of a bat spread from their backs in a menacing manner. Behind them, younger versions of the beautiful horses scurried towards the darker corners of the cavern.

"Pansy," called Draco from among the horses. They parted, allowing him to pass. Pansy couldn't help but pout. He always had had a way with animals. That's why she was so shocked when Buckbeck had bit him.

"Draco," she asked as he approached, "what are those things?"

Draco turned back to look at the horses. "Those are Nightmares."

"Nightmares?" asked Pansy as she gazed at the creatures with awe and wonder.

"Yes, they're a rare breed of horses. I don't know where they are even found, though obviously here is one place. They were at one point bred by sorcerers for their speed and quick healing, but too few could ride them without being burned so the herds were released and theserals were used to replace them," explained Draco. "They won't hurt you."

Pansy nodded and Draco moved back over to pet the leader of the herd.

While waiting for Draco to settle the herd again, Pansy glanced around the small cavern. Unlike the great cavern she had seen above, there was less light in this place, though some how the suns rays managed to penetrate the cool, damp rock chamber. But she didn't see any signs of life in this place beyond the Nightmares which, by now, had been calmed and were flying upwards into the invisible top of the cavern.

"How are they going to get out?" wondered Pansy.

"I wouldn't worry about it," Draco assured Pansy. "They don't have enough food to allow them to live full time in this cavern. There's probably an escape tunnel up there."

He moved calmly away from Pansy towards the area where, previously, the Nightmare herd had been clustered. And now she saw why they had hidden in that particular corner.

Damn, how could I have missed that? She wondered as she approached a large, Japanese style hut built in one corner of the room. The place was more of a triangle shape then a rectangle so it would fit into the corner, but it seemed sturdy none the less. The place was made of a light colored wood with rice paper over the windows and a shoji door. The walls reflected an old shrine she had seen once in Kyoto, Japan. Noting Draco was already over the circle of water which surrounded the small hut, Pansy ran to catch up, never realizing what she would find inside.