Here is chapter two for everyone. I hope you are enjoying the stroy. Please keep reading and giving feedback.
Again this chapter has been recently revised. Several small changes have been made, again the fact Loki and Hector are interchanged is the most prominant one.
Please leave reviews letting me know of any further suggestions you have for editing. This is still a work in progress and you're all my proofreaders.
The clock in the library chimed 10 in deep clear notes. Calida stood up from her chair and snapped her fingers. Instantly she was dressed in long black robes. She walked into the living room where the rest of her family would be waiting, except for Tellus, who would be in bed now. She entered the room to see her mother, father, and brother all smiling at her, all wearing black robes just like hers.
"Ready?" Atabulus asked.
"Yes, is it time?"
"Nearly," said her mother who was beaming at her. The clock chimed a quarter past ten and her parents exchanged a brief look at each other.
"It's time," said her father. He pulled up his hood and disapperated. Her mother and brother followed suit. Calida took one last look around and pulled on her hood smiling to herself as she disapparated.
Calida appeared in a dark clearing surrounded by woods. She stood back watching others apparate around her. As each one apparated they all fell to their knees and crawled forward to kiss the hem of the robes of a tall, hooded figure. Calida knew who this was, she had met him on several other occasions (most of which she had been too young to remember), but it made him no less intimidating.
Each person kissed his robes and backed away on their knees before standing up to form a circle. There was a gap in the circle exactly opposite the figure she knew to be the Dark Lord. This would be where she would stand.
Calida walked forward and stepped into the circle, filling the gap for only a moment before falling to her knees. She crawled forward to the very center of the circle, and kept her head down waiting.
"You come, Calida, before me with a request, do you not?" said a high cold voice, as he lowered his hood.
"Yes, my Lord," she replied softly.
"And what, Calida, is your request?"
Calida stared up into his scarlet eyes and responded "I wish to serve you, my Lord."
He gazed back into her eyes; she knew he was checking her mind for any signs of falsification. She did not blink but stared determinedly back, and allowed him to search her thoughts and feelings.
"You will be the sixth in your family to serve me, Calida. They have served me faithfully for many years. I expect no less from you."
"You have my unwavering loyalty, Master. I shall fulfill every command, or I shall perish in the attempt."
"Would you ever renounce me, would you change your ways, should death seem to befall me?"
Several people in the circle shuddered. She knew why. They were the ones who never tried to find their Master when he seemed to be dead. They were the ones who had never served in Azkaban for him.
"Never, my Lord. My mind and flesh shall rot within the walls of Azkaban before I renounce you, or believe that you have truly fallen," she looked once more into his eyes and saw him smile. It was a twisted smile that distorted his snakelike face. She saw his slit like nostrils twitch.
"Your arm, Calida," he said, his soft voice full of malice and amusement.
Calida raised her left arm brining the sleeve of her robe up past her elbow as she did. She dropped her head as he stepped toward her and she felt his long cold fingers close around her wrist. She opened her eyes and gazed at her arm, just below the elbow, and watched as the tip of his wand came closer to her arm and felt a tingling feeling as it touched.
He pulled his wand away but the skin looked the same as ever, there was no Dark Mark visible at all. She looked up at him with a confused expression. An evil smile appeared on his skull white face and he pressed his finger to the spot on her arm, whispering to her the incantation she knew she would use only to set the Dark Mark above the body of her victims.
It seared with pain and she let out a sharp gasp. She knew without thinking about it that she was the only one who felt it, that the Mark would not burn upon the arms of others until the next time he touched it.
Calida looked back at her arm and saw the Dark Mark burned black into her skin. She stared, transfixed for a moment before turning to her new Master. She bent down and kissed his robes with a soft "Thank you, Master, thank you."
She crawled back to make room for the others who were moving forward and falling to their knees as they had done when they arrived. Each Death Eater kissed the robes again, crawled backwards, stood up, and disapparated. Calida knew that she was to be the last to leave, but this suited her, she had questions for her Master.
When the last Death Eater, who she knew to be her brother, had disapperated, she looked up at her Master once more and spoke softly.
"Master," she said, "I wanted to ask you a few questions, please." She hesitated and then added "And I wanted to tell you something, I don't know if it's important, but I feel like you should know."
He looked carefully at her and she felt him searching her mind again. "You will join me," he said finally, "at the house of my father. Come." He held out his hand and pulled her to her feet. Before she had time to register what was happening she found her self standing in a small room lit only by the fire in the hearth.
"Sit," he said gesturing at a chair and taking the one opposite her. She sat down and hoped that she would live to see the sunrise as she did so.
"Master, earlier today Draco Malfoy came to see me."
"Did he now? And what did young Draco have to say?" His serpentine lips were curling into a smile, and she could see the cruel amusement blossoming in his eyes.
"He asked me to speak to you, to ask if you really planned to kill him," she hesitated and added "Do you plan to kill him, Master?"
"I had told him that if he did not kill that muggle loving fool I would kill him, yes. On the other hand, he made it farther than I ever expected him to. It is also true that he found a way to let my Death Eaters enter Hogwarts completely undetected. I will, of course, take that into consideration. I have not decided what to do with Draco yet. Is that all you wished to ask me, or did you plan to try to sway my judgment?" With this his eyes narrowed suspiciously at her.
"No my Lord. I did not wish to try to influence your decision. It is not my place. The decision is yours to make, I am merely keeping my word to a friend. There is something else I wished to discuss with you though, Master."
He eyed her for a moment, she knew he was looking for any trace of attempt to sway him. Finally he nodded to indicate that she could proceed.
"Well…you see…forgive me, my Lord, if I've done something wrong, but my great-grandfather left something of yours in my possession before he died. A cup, a golden cup he said had once belonged to Helga Hufflepuff, but belonged to you now. He told me to guard it, and I have done so, my Lord. But it did something strange today, you see," she was speaking very quickly, she wasn't sure, but she thought she felt anger emanating from him.
"I occasionally hold it, it makes me feel safe and comfortable, but today when I touched it, I felt scared and there was…there was pain, like the Cruciatus Curse. I passed out and when I woke up I put it away under every protective spell I know. I thought that you would want to know, my Lord, as it was yours." She hung her head low and waited for the blow to fall. She was preparing herself to feel the aches of the Cruciatus Curse, or else to feel her life ripped from her body.
"What spells did you use, Calida?"
She was amazed at the gentle tone of his cold voice. She looked up into his eyes and could no longer detect even the faintest trace of anger there. This made her uneasy, she wasn't sure if he was truly no longer angry or if he was now so furious that she could no longer detect it.
"S-s-several, my Lord," she stammered. "It is in a closet in my room, one that I made, that cannot be seen and can only be opened by speaking the proper words in parseltongue. Beyond that, there is a spell that requires a blood price to pass. The next I used is a, well it's a mist, I don't remember where I learned of it, but it has to hear the right words, e-English this time, and must be touched at the right place. If it isn't it resembles the Cruciatus Curse, or that's how I remember it anyways, I'm not sure if-"
"I am familiar with the curse Calida, continue."
"Well, the last one, is a power one, you have to have the right level of power to pass. I haven't worked with it enough to know what happens if you try to pass anyways."
"Are there any other protective spells surrounding it?"
"Yes, my Lord. There is an anti-disapparation jinx on my room. And to enter you have to use a special word in parseltongue, and a different one to exit."
He was silent for sometime, lost in thought as far as she could tell. Finally, he let out a long low hiss that she understood to mean "Tell me Calida, do you speak parseltongue?"
Calida took a deep breath and responded. "Yes, my Lord, but you are the only one that knows." She heard her own spitting sounds as she spoke, and smiled back at the Dark Lord, who now had a gleam of happiness in his eyes.
"You have done well Calida. The Dark Lord is pleased. If only Lucius had been as careful with my possessions as you have been. You will be rewarded for this, Calida."
"My Lord, thank you. Thank you." Calida couldn't believe it, not only was she not in trouble, but she was to be rewarded for her actions. She felt a deep sense of pride swelling inside her, but knew that she would tell no one of the conversation that had taken place.
"You are quite right, Calida. You are to speak to no one of this. Should you be asked, you are to tell them that what the Dark Lord says to you is not of their concern. Now is not the time for you to receive your reward either. You will receive it in due time, Lord Voldemort will provide for you, Calida. You are dismissed."
Calida kneeled and kissed his robes before standing up. "Thank you, my Lord," she hissed softly, then disapparated.
Calida appeared in a small empty field surrounded by the smiling faces of those who had been present at her initiation. She smiled back at them and took several steps closer, only to be engulfed by her hugging friends and family. She disentangled herself and looked up at Hector.
"I told you I would see you soon, didn't I?" she said to him slyly. He smiled and pulled her close kissing her.
"You could have told me you know."
"No I couldn't," she smiled at the shocked look on his face, "I wanted it to be a surprise," she giggled.
"What took so long sis?" her brother asked, thumping her hard on the back.
"I needed a word with the Dark Lord," she said simply.
Her brother opened his mouth to inquire further but was interrupted as their father flicked his wand and a large table laden with food and several very comfortable looking chairs appeared. Calida took her seat at the head of the table. She was familiar with the procedure, though it was her first time participating.
It was something of a tradition to welcome the newest Death Eater to the ranks with a feast, the new servant always taking the seat at the head of the table. Usually the feast would take place at the home of that person, but tonight they were outside. Calida looked up at the sky and noticed the moon was dangerously close to being full.
"Why are we eating outside," she asked while they waited for her to invite them to sit, as was customary.
"It's a nice night, and we know you love the stars. We thought it would be a nice touch, dear," replied her mother sweetly. Calida smiled and gestured for them all to take their seats.
The seat on her left was filled by Hector, which came as no surprise to her. The seat to her right, however, was occupied by a tall, pale blond boy who looked very frightened. Calida knew he was waiting for her to tell him if she had asked the Dark Lord what she had told him she would. His parents filled the next two seats, both looking just as scared as he did. Calida looked away and saw the seats by Hector had been filled by her father, mother, and brother.
Calida had expected all of these people, but there were two people present that she had not noticed before, and one was most unexpected. The first was sitting on the other side of Lucius. Calida recognized the greasy curtains of hair parted around the face of her former Potions Master and Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Severus Snape. Calida smiled and understood why he had been invited, as he was her former teacher. He had even given her private lessons in the Dark Arts while she was still in school.
The person sitting exactly opposite her at the table, she knew by sight and name, but was baffled as to why he had been at her initiation. The initiation process was supposed to be so sacred that only close friends and family were allowed, as the person's name would be used most frequently, it prevented the Death Eaters from being able to name each and every one of their fellows. This man's name she knew was Walden McNair, but she couldn't imagine what he would be doing here.
Calida just smiled at everyone and began to help herself to the feast in front of her. The food was as delicious as any other feast she had ever had. She supposed that her parents had ordered the house elves to prepare the food in advance. Despite the fact that Calida knew her family owned many house elves, she only knew one by the name of Chaka, who had been assigned specifically to watch over and take care of her.
For the first half of the feast everyone remained rather quiet eating, as most of them had not eaten since lunch. Calida looked over and noticed Draco just shoving the food on his plate around with a fork.
"I spoke with him Draco," she said quietly, leaning over so that only he would hear. Draco looked back at her but did not speak. "He said that he is taking everything into account, how far you got in your mission and all, but that he hasn't made a final decision yet."
"What all did you say?" he asked timidly.
"I told him I promised you that I would ask. I said nothing to try to persuade him Draco, I'm not stupid. Just do your best. Follow your orders, Draco, and I think that you'll be fine."
He didn't look at all reassured by this but began to eat rather than prod his food as if it were a slug he caught that refused to move at his will. Talk gradually started up and the dinner foods left the table to be replaced by desserts of every kind. Calida helped herself to all of her favorites.
Everyone at the table seemed to be talking and laughing, even Draco was now talking to Hector about whether it would be possible to use the vanishing cabinets in some other way. Calida looked down at the end of the table and saw McNair staring moodily at his plate of apple pie. She wasn't the only one shooting curious glances at him either, she noticed. Calida dismissed this unusual presence as her father's voice caught her ear.
"So Lucius, how did you and McNair manage your Azkaban escape? I didn't even notice it in the paper," he was saying.
"Well, with the dementors gone, it wasn't that hard. We were heavily guarded, and they snapped our wands of course," here Lucius mumbled something indistinct to her at this distance, "so we had to try some wandless magic to unlock the cells when they weren't looking. As it happened, that didn't work, so McNair suggested that we wait until they opened the doors to feed us and beat the hell out of them."
Calida's father laughed and motioned for Lucius to continue with his story.
"It actually worked too, but then we still had the problem of getting back, we had to dodge a lot of curses when they figured out we were escaping. McNair yelled back to everyone else that we would be back for them then we jumped off the island into the water.
"You wouldn't believe how cold that water is. We had to swim quite a distance before we could apparate back to land, and then not having wands we nearly froze our asses off before we finally caught up with the Dark Lord, who handed us each a wand almost identical to the one we had before.
"Personally, I like this new one better, the dragon whose heartstring is in it was more powerful I think. I was surprised he had it for me, I was expecting death, to be honest."
Calida heard her father ask McNair what he thought of his new wand but McNair only shrugged noncommittally, and she thought she saw his eyes flash angrily at Lucius.
The food disappeared as everyone finished eating. Calida stood up and everyone else followed suite. Her father waved his wand again and the table and chairs all vanished. Everyone moved closer into a small huddle to say their goodbyes and congratulations.
"I expect great things from you, Calida," she turned to see her former teacher. She supposed he was smiling but it seemed to come off as more of a smirk. She concentrated and tried to search him for any hint of sarcasm or mocking, but found none. Calida wasn't entirely sure that it was because Snape was such a good occlumens, or if he was really sincere.
McNair came forward and shook her hand quickly before disapparating. Everyone else was preparing to follow when a loud BANG shook the night. Calida noticed that everyone's hands instinctively flew to their wands and to bring their hoods up. Calida did neither, but stepped forward to face the entourage of Aurors approaching them with their wands out.
"Calida!" she recognized Hector's voice and held out her hand to silence him.
Calida turned back to one of the Aurors. She recognized him as Gawin Robards, and knew him to be the new Head of the Auror Office, and so she set her sights on him.
He motioned for the others with him to apprehend her fellow associates. Calida knew they could take care of themselves so she didn't spare a second thought for them.
Robards drew back his wand and prepared to bellow a spell at her, but she was ready. Before he had even finished the incantation she had flung out her hand and yelled "Rictusempra!" Calida smiled to herself watching as he struggled to utter the incantation that would release him from the spell.
Robards stood up panting. "You play childish games, do you? I thought you and your friends were supposed to be experts with the Dark Arts, and yet you choose an elementary spell? You're a fool then. Calida was it?"
He smirked and raised his wand again.
Calida could feel the cold hatred that rose within her at his words. She was not a child, and so she wouldn't play games with him any longer. If he wanted to see the Dark Arts, then he would face the Dark Arts.
Calida screamed "Crucio" into the night and a jet of light shot from the palm of her hand.
Robards was hit, dead center in the chest, and collapsed shrieking and twitching on the ground. It was Calida's turn to smirk as she stepped closer, watching him jerk uncontrollably. She twitched her hand upwards and he stopped screaming.
With another twitch of her fingers, his wand flew from his side and landed several feet away. He tried to sit up but Calida placed her toes just under his breastbone and pressed, watching him struggle for air.
"You think I play childish games? You think that you can beat me? Well let me catch you up then, Robards. You are nothing. I am a servant of the Dark Lord, and you are blocking his way to power. Do you know what I do to those who displease the Dark Lord?"
She paused for a moment as if waiting for an answer, but knew the pressure she was putting on his chest would keep him from doing so. She giggled softly at his vain attempts to pry her foot from his diaphragm before softly answering herself.
"I make sure they're dead."
Calida searched her memory for the perfect spell to do it, she wanted to make sure people knew she was faithful, that she took her job seriously and was not some child playing a game. She remembered a spell that Severus had taught her, and an evil glow seemed to light her face.
Calida raised her hand, holding the wand that had appeared only seconds before. She stepped back off Robards' chest. Before he could even make a move to stand up she called "Sectumsempra!" and brought her wand down to slash his face, neck and chest in a sort of sideways V.
Blood spurted from the deep wounds that had appeared, soaking his robes and the ground around him. She stood watching the life slip from his body, enjoying the gurgled gasps for air as he held his hands to his bleeding throat, until at last she was sure he was dead.
Calida turned to see the rest of the battle. Only her parents and Snape were still fighting, the rest of the group it seemed had disapperated. Spells were being shot off in every direction from a haze of smoke, and Calida ran forward to aid them. She hadn't taken three steps when those remaining from the group of Aurors vanished from sight.
The smoke drifted off and she looked at the three faces before her. All of them were sweaty and seemed amazed she was still there.
"What happened?" she asked.
"They got Atabulus. They took him to Azkaban. Don't worry," her mother added seeing her look of panic, "he's safe. I'm sure he'll be back with us soon enough."
The confidence in her mother's voice calmed her.
"And the others?"
"They took off pretty quick; we assured them we could handle it. Hector said he would be waiting for you at home. He wants to be positive that you're ok," said her father gently.
Both her mother and father were looking at her with some concern. Only her former professor seemed aware of what she had done, for he was smiling more broadly than she had thought him capable of.
"And what happened with you, Calida," he asked silkily.
Calida knew instinctively that he already knew the answer to this question, but decided to humor him anyways.
"I fought with Gawin Robards," she started slowly. She heard her parents both draw breath at the same time.
"And?" Snape asked, his voice slick with cruel amusement.
"He's back there," she pointed her wand in the direction where the body was lying.
Calida turned and walked off toward it, still clutching her wand. She stopped and heard her mother gasp behind her. Turning to face her mother she saw the smile the woman was wearing. Her father had an identical smile on his face, and Snape was wearing a look of triumph. Calida knew he had recognized the spell as one he had invented. Her parents both embraced her in a tight hug.
"We'll see you at home," said her father. Then both he and her mother turned and disapperated.
Calida turned to face Snape.
"I'll see you soon, I'm sure," he said. "You did well, Calida. Set the Dark Mark before you leave," and he too disapperated.
Calida stood alone in the field next to the mutilated body that had once been an excellent Auror. She took a deep breath and smirked.
"Call me a child will you." She spat contemptuously at the body before her feet. She raised her wand pointing it directly above her and spoke the incantation
"Morsmordre!"
A large shining skull with a snake protruding from its mouth erupted from the tip of her wand. It raised high into the air, growing as it went. The glistening green image stopped directly above the body of the Auror, marking the spot so that all would surely see it and find him.
Calida twisted her wand in her fingers and it was gone. She stepped back and took one last look at the body, basked in a sickly green glow, and then up at the mark in the sky. Then in a swish of her robes, she was gone.
Chapter 3 should be revised and updated within the next couple of days. I still have every intention finishing all revisions within the week.