Disclaimer: I do not own anything in association with Harry Potter
Authors note: the song lyrics are from the famous anime called Record of Lodoss War the music was composed by Yoko Kanno.
And the Rain came Tumbling Down
Chapter Five
The winter had settled itself like a mantle upon Hogwarts, ringing in Christmas. Everything had been silent, no attacks except for a few mysterious disappearances and a couple of new deaths, nothing out of the ordinary yet.
Eridani sat by the frozen lake singing in her native tongue,
The dark night sky separates us
To lay bare our hearts as they call out to each other.
Cast off your useless trappings. Some things can only be seen
When you've lost everything
Eridani looked into the lake, now nothing but pure ice.
Oh wind, I will stand and face you!
I will go to the sea of anguish,
Though bonds cut my chest,
And the crushing waves are endless
Eridani's face was no longer scarred and her hand had healed completely, she tentatively placed her leg out into the ice and skid over it.
She flailed her arms and spun in circles like a graceful ballerina. The snow began to fall and her nose turn a slightly reddish hue.
What does everyone seek by fighting?
Does spilled blood cause flowers to bloom?
Until the precious tomorrow is in my hands...
Until the day we meet...
The one moment of peace belonged to her, but then she began to go fast and deeper into the frozen lake. She panicked and then she slid and fell on her bottom, twisting her ankle. She muttered an Elvish curse to herself and tried to get up, but the pain in her ankle caused her to lose her balance.
Eridani looked at the distant shore, the only way to get back is if she slid on her butt all the way back. However, behind her Eridani looked and saw that the Dark Forest lay inviting her in. It was a lot closer than the other shore, so Eridani decided she would.
The trees were bare and covered in the powdery snow. It was not as threatening as it looked for most of the time, but it looked ominous nonetheless.
Eridani carefully got onto the bank and began to trek through the snow slowly. Eridani realized that she needed support so she grasped a strong branch and tore it from the tree.
The tree seemed to recoil in pain.
Eridani decided that she would walk around the lake to get back to Hogwarts, but it would take a long time.
" What spirits must dwell here," Eridani muttered a little frightened, as she made her way through the snow.
The trees seemed to look at her and murmur.
O wind, I will stand and face you!
I will go and head for the brilliance.
Embracing prayer to my heart,
I wander the seemingly dark future.
The snow kept Eridani's ankle from swelling, but the pain, was agonizing. Eridani sat down and carefully placed the branch next to her. She was not too far away from Hogwarts, but she had learned her lesson.
Eridani wondered darkly if they would actually worry if she went missing if they would even notice.
" Probably don't care, the load of them." Eridani cursed in elvish.
Something then cold and slippery wrapped itself around her neck. Eridani screamed as she frantically pulled at whatever it was. " Let go!" Her breath grew shallow and she could no longer feel her lungs fill with air or her fingers. A white light burned and she lost all consciousness.
Severus Snape shuddered in the cold of his dorm room. He was busily reading books on curses and jinxes and practicing them on a pretend action figure that belonged to a Hufflepuff. Of course the curses did not provide an adequate result, but it was good practice. Christmas was coming soon, and Severus felt it was time to reflect on his life.
It increased his bitterness tenfold; hence it made him more sarcastic, which is what he wanted.
Severus Snape a year in review, Severus thought sarcastically. You nearly killed the idiots form Gryffindor, got detention for two months. Eileen died, Tobias ran away with his mistress, you found friendship in an Elf, who got you interested in mind powers which by the way are increasing and then you slapped the hell out of the same person. And there it goes Severus your year in Review.
He then thought about the night he had asked Eridani about the binding to increase his power. She sharply rebuked him, saying that it was not safe and that it was a serious process, which she would have no part of.
Severus brushed back his hair and walked over to the window, the joys of winter were completely wasted on someone like him. He looked out and saw the frozen lake and a small dark little figure dancing on it's ice.
" What the bloody' hell." He said quietly watching the figure gracefully glide across the ice. " Bloody ice princess, they should know better." Severus shrugged his shoulder and went back to his bed and wondered where Eridani was.
Eridani woke up and breathed in a lung full of air. She had lost her sense of direction and gravity and began to panic. However, her entire body was wrapped in a sticky residue that reminded her of a spider's web.
Eridani began to wiggle around violently trying to free herself, but it was impossible. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she gave up all hope of freeing herself. IT was at that moment that the horrible reality of her situation dawned on her.
" Stop moving little creature." Said a wispy voice. Eridani moved her head to look at where she was and where the voice was coming from, but the shadows of the trees made visibility very difficult.
" The out of the snow and mangled trees came several giant spiders over to where she was. Eridani yelped in horror as she saw them, never before in her life had she seen such things. This time Eridani looked around her and she noticed she was pinned against a giant web and she wasn't the only one there. Several other cocoon like things clung onto the misty web. And several of them Eridani could tell were human.
" Let me free, please I have done nothing to offend you!" she pleaded, not wanting to suffer the same fate as the others.
" Sorry my dear," said one of the spiders, " We have only been able to have dead blood in such a long time. We desire a live one with flowing blood that we may all have."
Eridani shuddered and tried again to bargain for her life, " How is it you came upon these others?"
"Your kind throws them here already dead, saves us time really." A giant brown spider said clicking its deadly pincers.
" Let me go or you shall regret it." Eridani said forcefully.
" I don't think you are not in a position to bargain little witch."
" I am not a witch!" Eridani said, " I am an daughter of Nahir the Elve."
" An Elve, your kind does not reside here, you lie!" The furry spider said coming close to her.
" Don't." Eridani said recollecting her wits. She made the furry one fly and hit a tree using the power of her mind.
"How dare you attack one of our own!" shrieked the spider, " Daughter of an elve or not we hunger for blood and we will have yours." Then all the spiders began to advance on her helpless form. She knew she could not even begin to try to block them all. She was doomed for sure.
" You wouldn't dare drink the blood of a Goddess!" Eridani lied, trying to buy time.
The spiders stopped in their tracks one of them extended their long hairy legs similar to an accusing hand.
" Are you not then the daughter of and Elve?" it said angrily.
" That too." Eridani said trying to keep herself from hysterics, " I am a Goddess too. If you pierce my skin for my sacred blood you shall die instantly and be banished to the deepest levels of," she hesitated thinking for any random word, " whatever hell you believe in."
" Tell us then Goddess of…" the spider asked for her domain.
" Goddess of the Wind." Eridani corrected him.
" Right," said one as the goop fell from his pincers, " What will you do for us if we set you free?"
" You will all go home as heroes for releasing me and will be rewarded." She said wiggling again trying to get out.
" Sorry not good enough."
" She's lying! No Goddess would ever be caught in our trap!" the brown spider said quickly crawling up the web to where Eridani was.
" True, I'm hungry said the other one crawling up the web rubbing both of its legs together anxiously.
" WAIT!" Eridani said, " I will give you all something wonderful if you do not eat me!"
The spiders paused again, " What is it that you shall give?"
Eridani paused looking at the spiders on each side, salivating for her. " Why, I will give you the gift of foresight. All you need to do is look for one special ingredient! You can find it in this very forest. Bring it tome and I will give you such powers."
" Foresight eh?" said the furriest spider, " what is this?"
" You will be able to look into the future and tell when your enemies come to hurt you!" Eridani said loudly."
" Very well," said the biggest of the spiders, " We shall find this ingredient, but you shall be bound until we come back, if it works then we will let you leave."
" Thank you!" Eridani said, " thank you all, now you will all have to search for it because it will be very hard to find."
" Tell us!" said the spiders impatiently.
Eridani thought quietly for a moment, thinking of how to describe it. " You will look for a flower. It is as bright as the sun, but beautiful as the moon. In its center you will find…blue powder, where pixies place their children. The more you bring the more powerful your foresight will be." She lied to all the spiders, but they believed her.
They scattered away into the dark forest leaving Eridani alone with the corpses and all the time in the world.
She clawed at the webbing and to her disgust used her teeth to try and bite through it all. It was getting really cold and night and night along set over the horizon. The webbing was tough and Eridani was not sure she could stay alive in such temperatures in such conditions for very long. And she wasn't quite sure how intelligent the spiders were.
Eridani managed to tear through a lot of webbing and then soon she had one arm free, but it was getting really cold. Eridani shuddered and looked again at the corpses and realized that one had a long chain hanging from their neck. Eridani strained her eyes to read it in the darkness, it read: Bethilda Hotchbagins Department of Mystery.
Eridani closed her eyes and said a little prayer, nearly all of the bodies held some sort of identification, all which seemed to hold some position in the ministry of magic.
All those people gone missing?
Eridani wondered if she would ever truly make out alive, but then some hope flickered when she remembered she was telepathic.
" Eridani Proycallos call for help!" she said slapping her forehead with her one free hand, " how can you forget something like that!" The only problem was that as much as she could use her powers she realized that anyone that could help her was too far away.
" I have to try," she said tearfully, " I can't die like this, not yet." Eridani began to tear the webs apart and began to scream in her mind, directing her energy to the only one she knew that would understand.
The day had been uneventful for Severus again. Sighing he finished his dinner quickly avoiding any conversation with his peers. As he began to leave the Great Hall however, he heard faint voice call out his name. He shook his head and turned around to see who was calling him.
No one.
Snape opened the doors and began to step out and the little voice called out his name again. Irritated he turned towards the hall one more time, but no one claimed responsibility for calling out his name.
Snape rolled his eyes and stepped out of the great hall and commenced to walk through the corridor. Halfway in between his name was called out more frantically this time. Severus shifted his eyes and knew that something was wrong.
Severus conked his head; he couldn't believe what was happening. The little voice grew louder as he seemed to recognize it.
Severus, help, in the forest large $ spiders!
Severus, help, in the forest large $ spiders!
Severus, help, in the forest large $ spiders!
Like scratched oil disk the message kept replaying in his mind louder and more frantic each time. He had no idea if he could talk back but realized that he had to tell Dumbledore before Eridani became spider fodder.
Severus ran back to the Great Hall again opening the doors and running through the eating area all the way up to where the teachers were eating. Severus walked all the way to Dumbledore who was enjoying his meal.
" Headmaster," Severus said calmly, " Eridani the Elve is in danger, she is in the Dark woods. I think the spiders have her."
Dumbledore regarded Snape carefully, " How would you know this Mr. Snape?" Dumbledore said rising from his chair gravely.
Severus pointed to his head. Dumbledore nodded and touched Minerva's arm and that of Hagrid. He pulled them aside and told them the situation at hand. Minerva's mouth dropped and Hagrid placed his hands over his eyes in shame.
" Lets go Severus, lead us quickly." Dumbledore said. Severus looked at them and heard the voice in his head.
" Don't worry the closer we get the more you will hear her." Dumbledore said, " Now lets go young man."
Eridani was shivering violently as she pulled and tugged at the web. It was so tough and it was actually beginning to cut her fingers as she scraped it. Her mind kept calling out warning message to Severus, but she was growing weak the more she used her powers to call out top him. And there was no guarantee that he was getting it at all.
Thoughts of her family began to come to flood her thoughts. She wondered how sad they will be when they hereabout her death. Her reflection had been right; she was going to die a failure.
It enraged her that she would die such a dishonorable death.
" Its not fair," She muttered, " Things always happen to me, I can't just be a regular elve, carefree. No I had to save the world!" Eridani pulled at the webs again, " No one is going to save me!"
As she yelled the spiders came from back from their false quest. Eridani saw their figures and multiple legs and her heart sank. She knew this time there would be no escape from their poisonous pincers.
" We have them!" said the biggest spider of them all. In its furry arm, Eridani saw the bright orange flower. She gasped; she thought she had made the flower up.
" Do what you will with them." The spider said noticing the tears in the webbing, " Have you tried to escape!" It said angrily.
" No!" Eridani said violently, " Now put the all the flowers you go in the center."
The spiders complied and placed all the flowers they found in the center.
" Umm, okay…I will now say the incantation!" She said loudly, " But you must swear on your eight legs that you will!"
The spiders did not respond, just looked at her with all their eyes.
" Father of time, carrier of the scythe, give these creatures the powers of your foresight!" Eridani yelled at the top of her lungs.
The spiders stood their ground waiting for something to happen.
" Well, that's all I needed to do…you can let me go now." Eridani said nervously.
" Thank you much Goddess of the Moon, Daughter of Nahir the Elve we will be forever grateful, but we are in greater need of food."
" Goddess of the Wind!" Eridani yelled even louder hoping that someone anyone could hear her.
The spiders began to make their way up the web to feast on the elve.
The snow was not at all pleasant especially during the night. The Dark forest was literally a dark silhouette in contrast to the night sky. Dumbledore held his wand out and lead them all into the forest. Hagrid held the lamp high up to illuminate the ground and Minerva held a map of the forest.
" Is she still talking to you?" Dumbledore yelled at Severus. He wanted to make as much noise to keep the creatures away.
Eridani's constant nagging in his brain was driving him insane. Severus nodded at Dumbledore and went where his mind was leading him.
Minerva called out Eridani's name but it only echoed back.
They went through a lot of foliage. The snow was so cold that it wouldn't melt on their body heat.
Snape then stopped halfway. The voice in his head melted away and he lost track of where she was.
" Severus what's wrong?" Minerva said coming over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"It stopped." Snape said as he felt his stomach turn over in his belly. McGonagall's face turned pale.
Dumbledore scratched his head and headed in the direction, " We must hurry our time is done."
The branches of the dieing trees scratched them as they continued to keep going through the thicket. It was as if all hope was lost when they could no longer find any trace of her. Hagrid however, Hagrid's eyes found a thick piece of frosty web.
" Its here." He said bitterly.
As they made their way closer to the clearing they heard voices originate from it.
" Wands at the ready everyone." Dumbledore commanded.
Eridani's frantic speech could be heard over the spiders, she was, from the sound of it enchanting something.
There was no time to lose, they all ran through and broke the branches and came upon the clearing where they witnessed the most macabre scene they had ever seen. Multiple spider legs shuffling up a huge web embedded with bodies of dead animals and humans and one insane Eridani flailing one arm.
" Evanesco!" Dumbledore bellowed and the others followed suit. Flames imploded from their wands and directly at the Spiders. The spider's screeched and yelped in pain as their backs burned away.
Soon all the other spiders were scared off, leaving Eridani alone.
" Good heavens!" Minerva McGonagall said running to the web, where Eridani hung.
" Poor lass!" Hagrid said angrily tearing the webs, which bound Eridani. He pulled her down and cradled her in his arms.
" Is she still breathing?" Severus said coldly.
" Yes, she's alright just really tired." Hagrid said, looking down at Eridani's pale face. " Blasted Aragog." He mumbled.
" We must leave quickly before they decide to come back." Dumbledore said calmly.
" Albus what about the other bodies!" Minerva said really agitated.
" Odd isn't it." He said and then walked back into the forest.
Severus looked at the bodies and shuddered, this wasn't natural at all.
Eridani woke halfway through the forest, still being carried by Hagrid.
" Calm down lass, its gonna be alright." Hagrid said holding her firmly. She had started to scratch him and then realized she was no longer in the web.
" Thank the creator!" Eridani said faintly, " Zombie?" she said curiously, lifting up her neck to look around.
She found Severus's eyes and smiled, " I owe you big my friend."
" Ms. Proycallos please remain silent, you will have much to explain tomorrow." Dumbledore said calmly as they went through the forest.
too much school work!
Sorry for the wait Plz review!