Author's Note: Make sure to check out part I of this story. Thanks for reading :) s/14030483/1/Tales-of-an-Auror-Eidola
It was a dark and rainy night in late August, somewhere near Roanoke, Virginia. Four people dressed in long black cloaks with their hoods up are all running near the shore of a lake. Their boots making a splashing noise as they sprint across the wet and muddy ground. They kept running with only a single wand and the occasional flash of lightning illuminating the way. The one leading the group sees a single lantern in the distance. They hold out their arm to stop the rest of the group.
"That way." He says, pointing at the lantern.
They continue running towards the light, picking up their pace. As they get closer to the lantern, they could make out a hooded cloaked figure sitting underneath it. They are leaning up against the one of the posts that make up the short dock with their head down to keep their cigarette lit in the pouring rain. A small aluminum boat with a small boat engine was the only boat currently attached to the dock.
"We're looking to go fishing." The man with the wand says to the figure under the lantern.
The figure under the lantern takes a long drag from their cigarette before snuffing it out on the dock. The figure nods their head in the direction of the boat, indicating for them to get on. The cloaked figure remains sitting until the last person gets on to the boat. They then reach their hand up to the lantern and extinguish the flame before standing up. They then untie the boat from the dock and push the front part of the boat away from the dock before jumping onto the back of it. They pull a cord on the engine, and it jumps to life.
They slowly make their way out of the harbor, only picking up speed up once they get further away from the dock. They are completely shrouded in darkness as the low cloud ceiling and the dark rain clouds block the moon from lighting the lake. The cloaked figure didn't seem bothered by the night as they roar the engine to full speeds, cutting thought the lake. The rest must keep their heads down to keep the ice-cold rain from pelting them in their faces.
They continue on the lake for about another thirty minutes before they take a turn into a wide river that connects itself to the lake.
The boat bounces hard against the rapids almost tossing the passengers overboard as they climb up streams holding on to the boat tightly. Loud bangs of rocks hitting the hull of the boat as they continue to climb up small cascades of water. They can finally relax when the boat slows to a stop and the cloaked figure shuts the engine off. The only sounds that can be heard is the sound of the heavy rain hitting the earth, and the occasional low grumble of thunder. The waters were calm as they slowly drift with the river current.
They cloaked figure points to the woods on the right side of the river.
"They checkpoint must be there." One says to the others.
"Come on, let's go." Another one says as they jump from the boat and into the waist height water.
"Thank-you." The last one says as the rest get off the boat and into the water.
The cloaked figure stands up and watches as a crack of lightening shows all of them get to the right side of the river and up the embankment.
"Behind you." A voice says in the cloaked figure's head.
They casually lean to the left as a green bolt of a spell shoots past their head. More green bolts start flying out of the darkness and at the figure in all directions. They figure has their wand ready and blocks them while balancing themselves on the boat. Another crack of lightening flashes and the cloaked figure could see the group from the boat reach the Port Key, a small red wagon hidden in the bush. The cloaked figure blocks more green bolts coming at them as the group looks back at them through the flashes of green before they all place a hand on the wagon and disappear into the night.
The cloaked figure shoots a red flare up in the air from the end of their wand, revealing around ten masked assailants surrounding them from every angle except the right side of the river. As the flare burns out, the cloaked figure on the boat could hear chuckling coming from the masked assailants as they are all consumed in darkness again.
They stop chuckling when they hear a more ominous voice laughing, getting louder and louder.
Suddenly the night sky lights up bright green as a raging inferno erupts from the middle of the river. Green fire pushes and spreads out, washing over the masked assailants. When the fire extinguishes, only the cloaked figure is left standing on the boat in the darkness. Another flash of lightening reveals only piles of charred smoking bones where the masked assailants once stood.
The cloaked figure's wet and muddy boots squeak across the linoleum floor as they enter a large thirty-two story building. They stop in front of the elevators, hitting the 'down' button and waits for the doors to open. Once the doors open, the cloaked figure enters inside and hits the top part of the panel with all the buttons with their fist. The face plate falls off and they point their want at the now exposed panel box. The elevator jerks then starts moving downwards, bringing them to the basement levels. They wait until the elevators stops and the doors open. They exit into a long white hallway, about twenty doors on either side, all of them closed. The cloaked figure walks down the long hallway until they reach the end. They stand in between the last two doors on the left and point their wand at the wall muttering "nam lux." The wall moves, revealing an entrance. They walk through the entrance and the wall closes back into place behind them.
They continue down a long corridor that leads to a big open room. A giant cork board full of posters and new paper articles about attacks happening in England and around the world is hanging on the wall in plain sight when you first enter the room. There's a table with old newspapers and letters on it nearby and also a small kitchenette in the corner with a coffee pot and a microwave.
Lieutenant Ripley is sitting at the table, reading an American newspaper.
"How did it go?" Ripley asks as the cloaked figure approaches him, not looking up from his newspaper.
The cloaked figure removes their hood and removes the hair tie holding their hair up in a ponytail. They shake their hair to loosen it and brunette medium length hair falls down to their shoulders. She grabs a clean coffee cup and pours herself a cup of coffee from the kitchenette in the corner.
"The package has been extracted safely, but that spot is burned. They were ready with the ambush." Paige says as she lights up a cigarette. "They are getting smarter and camping known sites now."
"You know, a diet of just coffee and cigarettes isn't healthy." Ripley comments as he folds up the newspaper and puts it on the table.
"Just find me a new spot." Paige snaps.
"We have new orders Captain." Ripley says with a smirk as he hands her a letter.
"Don't call me that." Paige says, snatching the letter from him.
Captain Asher,
Paige rolls her eyes.
The boarders are getting too dangerous to cross. There was a brutal attack at the north location last night. Thirteen dead. We need you to assemble who's left and cross yourselves before it's too late. I have accommodations ready for you and your team. Leave tomorrow night and use the Port Key at the caves. Safe travels.
A.D
Paige lets out a sigh.
"You knew this day was going to come sooner or later." Ripley comments as she puts the letter back on the table.
"Yeah, I was hoping for later." Paige remarks.
"You'll probably be to busy to even see him, Paige." Ripley says leaning forward in his chair.
"Fingers crossed." Paige says frankly.
"You'll have me, Juan and Bobcat there too. We will make sure you're good." Ripley says as he grabs her hand.
"Tomorrow night, huh?" Paige replies, pulling her hand away from his, not wanting to talk about it.
"Yeah, listen. I got packing things up here and closing down shop. Go home and rest. The real work is going to begin over there." Ripley says as he stands up.
"Don't have to tell me twice." Paige replies as she puts her coffee cup down on the table.
"Sometimes I miss the 'all work and no play' Paige." Ripley says with a smirk.
"I don't." Paige says as she turns to leave. "See you tomorrow."
"Don't be late new Paige." Ripley calls out to her as she leaves.
"Paige, you have to eat something. I feel like you're withering away in front of me." Theodard says as they are sat at his kitchen table for dinner.
Paige is poking at her food, lost in her thoughts.
"Paige. Hello?" Theodard says, waving his hand in front of her face.
"Sorry." Paige says snapping back in reality and putting her fork down on her plate.
"What are you thinking about so damn hard?" He asks her.
"Just about leaving tomorrow." Paige replies, looking down at her food.
Theodard puts his fork and knife down on his plate.
"The war part or the seeing him part." He asks as he stands up from the table.
He picks up both plates from the table and brings them to the kitchen.
"Both." Paige replies honestly.
Theodard sighs as he places the dishes in the sink. He opens a cabinet above the sink and grabs a green bottle with two glasses. He brings them back to the table and pours the liquid into the two glasses.
"This war is going to be different then anything else you've ever faced before." Theodard says as he hands her one of the glasses.
Paige takes it from him and sniffs it and recoils at the smell.
"The worse it tastes, the better it is for you." Theodard says clinking his glass against hers.
Paige sighs and remembers how bad the potions that Severus made her drink tasted. A flash of a memory appears of Severus sitting beside her in her hotel room. She shakes her head, thinking that her memories were now getting jumbled together.
"It's going to be bloody and dark and you're going to see things you've never even imagined in your wildest nightmares." Theodard continues taking a sip of his drink then smacking his lips.
"You're still talking about the war, right?" Paige asks, drinking all the liquid in her glass all at once.
"As for him." Theodard says, pouring her another glass from the bottle and ignoring her comment. "He'll probably be too busy teaching and crap."
Paige sighs in despair knowing that he's apart of the Order and that he most likely won't be at Hogwarts all the time.
"I know it's easier said than done, but I wouldn't worry about him, Paige." Theodard says concerning as she stares at the table.
Paige drinks the whole glass of liquid without even flinching. She puts the glass back on the table for him to refill.
"Yep." She replies, still starring at the table.
Theodard sighs and pours her one more glass before putting the lid back on the bottle.
"We're approaching the caves. Everyone be on their guards." Ripley says to the team over their earpieces.
Paige, Ripley, Hernandez and Bobcat were somewhere in the Colorado Mountains, following a small game trail up hill to a secluded cave where a Port Key was waiting for them.
"How's everything looking at the rear Captain?" Hernandez asks Paige.
"Looks clear back here and stop calling me that." Paige snaps.
"Sorry, force of habit." Hernandez replies with a chuckle.
"Stay focused." Ripley says aggressively.
"Sorry Ripley." Hernandez replies.
"Yeah, sorry Rip." Paige says with a smirk, knowing flooding the Comms drives him nuts.
"More serious. Please. Remember? Death Eaters?" Ripley reminds them.
"No, you're right Ripley. We're going to take the Death Eaters more serious." Paige says laughing.
"Oh no, anything but the Death Eaters!" Hernandez replies, laughing as well.
"I'm trembling in my boots guys." Bobcat chuckles, joining in on bugging Ripley.
"Knock it off guys. Or else!" Ripley threatens.
"Who are you going to run and tell Rip? We're all rogue here." Paige says to him with a smirk on her face.
"I'll tell Dumbledore." He replies seriously.
They all laugh at Ripley over the earpiece.
"Oh, thank god. I'm at the Port Key." Ripley says enthusiastically changing his tone.
Paige hears rustling coming from behind her. She quickly turns around; her wand drawn. She didn't see anything.
"Let's pick up the pace." Paige says over the earpiece more seriously.
"Oh, now you want to be serious." Ripley replies in a snarky tone.
"Are you good back there?" Hernandez asks her.
"Just keep moving. Quickly." Paige replies as she starts to walk at a faster pace.
"I see Bobcat, just waiting for you two." Ripley says over the earpiece.
Suddenly Paige hears a sharp snap of a branch from her left. She stops and tries to look for what caused the noise. She sees a person in black robes walk out from behind a tree and hide behind another.
"Hernandez, run." Paige says as she starts running herself.
"Behind you." Otakemaru says inside her head.
Paige quickly ducks behind a tree as a green bolt of a killing curse flies past her.
"How do they know about this spot? We were so careful." Paige asks herself as she starts to run again towards the Port Key.
"Paige, what the hell is happening back there?" Ripley asks her concerningly.
"I have incoming. No eyes." Paige says she sees a green bolt flying at her from the left.
She quickly blocks it, but two more from the right fly at her. She drops to her knees to avoid one of them and blocks the other with her wand, narrowly getting struck by it. She quickly gets up and continues running up the hill towards the others.
"I see Hernandez, where the hell are you, Paige?" He asks, more panic in his voice this time.
"Left." Otakemaru says in her ear.
Paige sees the green bolt coming at her to her left. She blocks it and turns around, checking her surroundings.
"There's too many. I'm not going to make it to the Port Key." Paige says over her earpiece. "Just leave without me."
"No fucking way in hell I'm leaving you behind." Ripley says to her angerly.
Paige spots someone on the trail behind her, she shoots a red bolt at them, hitting them in the chest and causing them to stiffen and fall over.
"I'll find another way. I promise. Just get out of here." Paige says as she spots two Death Eaters hiding behind the same tree as each other.
"Where is your location. I'll come help you." Ripley says to her desperately.
Paige shoots an orange spell at the tree the two Death Eaters were hiding behind. The tree trunk suddenly snaps in half and falls on top of the two Death Eaters, crushing them to death.
"No Ripley. I need you to get the other two out of here." Paige says as she spots two green bolts coming at her from the right.
She blocks them both but couldn't see who shot them at her as she tries to scan the forest.
"I see them coming up Ripley, it's now or never." Hernandez says over the earpiece.
Paige could make out small figures standing at the mouth of a cave, Death Eaters slowly climbing up towards them.
"Ripley. Get them out. Now. That's an order." Paige demands as she dodges another green bolt from her left.
"God damnit, Paige." Ripley curses.
"Go! I'll be fine. Just trust me." Paige yells, needing them to leave before using her powers.
"Extracting in three. Two. One." Ripley says quietly in her earpiece.
She blocks another green bolt with her wand then quickly looks back up to the mouth of the cave. They were gone and now that the earpiece was silent and she knew they were safe, she can now focus better. She looks over to her left when she hears leaves rustling. A Death Eater is peaking at her from behind a tree. They slowly move from the cover of the tree and start walking towards Paige, wand in hand. She watches him curiously as he approaches her to duel. As soon as he raises his wand to her, she lifts her hand, palm facing upwards with green fire building inside her palm. The Death Eater raises in the air in confusion. She clenches her open hand, and he suddenly bursts into green flames, his flesh burning abnormally fast. As she lowers her hand, the charred bones fall to the ground.
"Behind you." Otakemaru whispers in her ear.
Paige glances being her and sees ten Death Eaters approaching her in a large pack.
"You want some fun?" Paige asks Otakemaru with a smirk.
"I thought you'd never ask." Otakemaru says as Paige engulfs in green flames.
The Death Eaters all take a step back in awe as the green fire grows larger and larger. Suddenly the fire starts to die down. To their horror, a green, giant ten-foot, horned, half ox half demon creature emerged from the remaining flames. Otakemaru shows the Death Eaters his razor-sharp teeth in a roar as spit, and slobber land on them. They are all still frozen in place, too afraid to move. He roars again and it rings through-out the silent forest. They all suddenly remember how to run, and they scatter in different directions. A giant green wall of fire appears in front of them and all around them, surrounding them in a ring of green fire.
One of them braves the fire and walks through it. A charred skeleton the only thing left that remains of them on the other side of the fire wall.
Otakemaru sees two of them pinned against a tree nearby. He raises both of his arms, and both fly up in the air. He claps his hands together above his head and the two of them fly into each other, both erupting into a ball of green fire. Ashes fall from the sky like black apocalyptic snow.
A green bolt flies past Otakemaru's head. He turns, snarling at the Death Eater who tried to hit him with the spell. The Death Eater puts up their hands as an apology as Otakemaru stomps over to them.
"Please, I'm sorry." They plead to him.
He picks them up and instantly rips them in half at the waist. Their blood and guts spilling out onto the ground below him. He hears another Death Eater scream in fear as he throws both halves of the now Death Eater on the ground. He walks over to the nearby tree and peaks around it, finding a Death Eater in the fetal position trying to hide from him. He grabs them by the scruff of their cloak and brings them out to the other body. The Death Eater screams in terror as Otakemaru throws them on the ground next to the bottom half of Otakemaru's previous murder. Otakemaru picks up his leg and stomps hard on the Death Eater's head, silencing their scream.
He looks up from the now dead Death Eater and sees two more of them standing near the fire wall. They were closing their eyes and trying to apparate out of there.
"I don't know why it's not working." One of them says, closing their eyes tighter.
"Mine's not working either." What the hell?" The other replies.
Otakemaru laughs as two fire balls grow bigger in his hands. He throws them at the unsuspecting Death Eaters, still trying to apparate. They hit them directly and they both suddenly burst into green flames. Two charred and smoking skeletons fall to the ground in their place.
He hears sobbing to his right as he turns his snarling head at them. They scream and just jump through the fire ring, killing themselves.
"I'm not afraid of you!" One yells from behind him.
Otakemaru turns around and sees a Death Eater standing there, his wand pointed at him. They shoot a green bolt at him, and it bounces off him, proving to be ineffective against him. Otakemaru stands staring the Death Eater, smoke slowly venting from his nostrils. Otakemaru suddenly raises his arm high above his head, sending the Death Eater sky high into the air. He turns his attention to the last remaining Death Eater, who is standing with their back up against a nearby tree, still in too much shock to do anything. Tears start rolling down their face as Otakemaru approaches them slowly.
"What the hell are you?" They ask, their eyes wide with fear.
"Your worst nightmare." Otakemaru says with a smirk as he picks up them with his giant hand and quickly bites their head off.
The blood from his neck wound spurts a bright red blood as Otakemaru spits their head back out on the ground next to the other murdered Death Eaters. He throws the torso into the tree trunk before erupting into green flames again.
The fire dies down and Paige is left by herself in the forest. Blood dripping down her face as she stands in the middle of Otakemaru's massacre. She suddenly hears the scream of the Death Eater he threw into the air as they fall back down. She watches as he lands near her with a heavy thud. She leans over their body sees blood coming from his eyes, nose and ears and it leaves her unfazed.
She looks back up to the caves with confliction. Her team was long gone along with the last Port Key out of here.
