Disclaimer: This story is based on characters created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
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Chapter 5
The next months flew by for Orion while incipient summer settled around him and the year moved into May.
While he applied himself with urgent, renewed fervor in his lessons with Grindelwald and in his study of Cadmus' journal, he breezed through his classes at Hogwarts and Durmstrang with the attention span of a gnat.
At Durmstrang, everything was much the same, he briefly spend some idle time with his friends, mostly with Kara and Evander since Calypso was making herself more scarce than usual, while Viktor and Titania sometimes dropped in the sixth year's common room to be with them; holding hands, Viktor looking extremely smug and happy, Titania fondly rolling her eyes at his antics and sometimes shooting Orion measuring glances holding a hint of thrilled expectation.
Titania hadn't approached him to discuss his estrangement from the spirits, and even if she wanted, Orion knew that the secrecy vow she had taken as an Aux wouldn't allow her to speak openly, since she wasn't as high up in the Aux's ranks as Sebastien was. But he knew what she was waiting for, since he was certain that all the Aux had been informed that he was training with Grindelwald. They were all waiting for him to step up in his plans of attempting to become the Vindico.
Regardless, even though she was an Aux, he still considered her a friend, and more importantly, she was his right hand in the Elite, now that Calypso didn't attend the DA's training sessions. When they held battle simulations, he always put her in charge of the opposing side while he led his own group of fighters, and he had come to trust her as a competent leader and an efficient, powerful follower, who obeyed his instructions yet always expressed her own opinion if she disagreed with him.
Orion was becoming increasingly proud of the Elite and their abilities, and also of the rest of the DA, seeing that some were starting to reconsider their choices in the war. All the members of the Dark Army were dark purebloods with relatives or parents who were Death Eaters or supporters of Voldemort, and they knew that a war would soon break out in the wizarding world.
As initially intended when founding the DA, the members were training to become skillful fighters, readying themselves for the war, but also to have an alternative other than becoming Death Eaters to participate in the war. They would soon have to decide if they would take the Dark Mark or if they would become his followers, since they all knew by know that he was Voldemort's spouse, part of the Dark Allies, and that he had his own group of supporters, such as the English werewolves and the Zravens.
Many DA members had already approached him to discuss their options, like the Elite had done time ago, wanting to see what they would gain if they supported him and not the Dark Lord.
Orion had admitted to them that he wanted to have his own followers, to fight alongside Voldemort and his Death Eaters and the Dark Allies, independent from them but also part of the Dark side. And he had set up several meetings with the interested DA members, offering them what he had offered the Elite.
Moreover, he had revealed to them that some of their DA comrades had already pledged their allegiance to him, telling them about the Elite and which DA members conformed it, and that those interested in forming part of the Elite would be first evaluated and tested by the rest of the Elite, and then welcomed if they wanted to become his supporters.
From the sixty two students who now formed part of the DA, half of them had already told him that they were interested in becoming his followers, most aspiring to be accepted in the Elite, while the other half were still carefully weighing their options.
Nevertheless, Orion had no intention to push them and he had gladly expressed that they had all the time they wanted to make a choice between becoming a Death Eater or his follower, since he wouldn't be acting yet.
All in all, however busy he was with his own plans, he was satisfied about the way things were going in Durmstrang; with the exception of Calypso's increasingly introverted behavior, but he was leaving her alone until she was ready to confide about what was troubling her.
In Hogwarts, however, he had started to act indifferently towards his 'friends' and acquaintances, with the exception, of course, of Luna.
At first, Hermione had kept approaching him, insisting that he had to fix things with Ron, but after he had resolutely and sharply told her that he wouldn't do such thing, she had dropped the matter. Nevertheless, even though she was now friends with Ron, she attempted to divide her time between the two of them, though he usually made himself scarce since he was always busy with his own studies of Cadmus' journal and the scheming of his plans.
Nowadays, he spend some time with her while they did homework in the library, Luna accompanying them, but he no longer felt at ease with her, since Hermione had started to steal glances at him, her expression pensively troubled and shrewd, as if she were trying to unravel something, like a hound sniffing the air for some track or clue.
Ron, obviously, was no longer his friend, and the red-headed boy would glare at him, fist his hands, and stomp away every time they saw each other.
Lavander kept acting as if he didn't exist, most times whispering with a bunch of girls and snidely giggling whenever he was present, other times flicking her hair at him and haughtily turning her back to him.
But none of it bothered him, since he was concentrated in his own goals and had finally completed several tasks. He had finished translating Slytherin's research journals from parselscripture to English, writing it into the thick tome he was planning on giving to Snape as soon as possible, he was progressing astoundingly quickly in his lessons with his mentor, and he had plotted in excruciating detail how to free the Resurrection Stone, how to kill Cadmus and how to rescue his father's soul in the process.
Moreover, he had asked Loki to take him to the Guild on three circumstances, and as agreed in their pact, the Necromancers had taught him how to communicate with a Dementor.
Necro Master Vresi had taken upon her that task and Orion had spend with her countless hours in a dark chamber of the Guild's third level, while time passed by quicker for them than for the rest of the world, allowing him to stay in the Guild for several days while just a few hours crept by for the outside world.
He wasn't allowed to see much of the Guild, he was always quickly taken to a third level chamber while passing countless locked doors thrumming with magic, while he heard distant howls, far away eerie voice, and sensed shapes lurking in the dark.
Learning how to communicate with a Dementor hadn't been pleasant or easy, and it was even more complicated since the Necromancers couldn't summon a Dementor in order to make him practice on the real thing, since his confrontation with Cadmus was meant to be a surprise attack and since the Guild remained neutral and supposedly ignorant of his plan.
Regardless, after three lessons of countless hours, Necro Master Vresi had deemed him ready. In simple terms, to communicate with a Dementor he had to use his skills in Legilimency and his Necromantic powers. Necro Master Vresi had simulated the mind of a Dementor as well as she could, and had made him practice on her.
Since a Dementor had no soul of its own, only those he captured and slowly consumed, the creature's mind was a havoc of messy, intelligible instincts. It was the instinct to hunger for souls which ruled a Dementor's behavior, since without a soul of its own, the creature didn't have awareness, not in the traditional sense, and therefore, it didn't have a clear process of thought but yearnings and incoherent strings of ideas; incoherent, at least, for humans.
But Orion had learned something he hadn't known before; however soulless a Dementor was, it still had some faint recollection of its previous life. And the more a Dementor fed - the more souls it had inside- the more 'aware' the creature became and the more it remembered.
Orion had realized that it was due to the partial 'awareness' that a Dementor gained when fed, that Cadmus had been 'aware' enough to know that he wanted to Kiss his father, taking revenge on Ursula Black by killing her descendants, like he had promised in his journal.
Thrilled, finally discovering a way in which he could kill Cadmus, Orion had persuaded the Guild to help the Dementor feed as much as it could on the souls in the spiritual plane which were ready to undergo the Ultimate Transcendence, since he wanted Cadmus to be as 'aware' as possible during their confrontation.
The Guild had agreed, mystified and curious about his request, but he hadn't disclosed his plan to them; it was risky, it had great chances of failing, and he knew that it would only work on Cadmus, but it was the best scheme he could come up with, and he counted on his understanding and empathy for the wizard to help him destroy the Dementor.
All in all, he was as ready as he could ever be, and he knew it; it was now or never. And the only thing he still needed was the Resurrection Stone, with its powers unrestrained and untainted by Voldemort's piece of soul.
And he was ready to unleash it as well, but not now, he would do it tomorrow, as planned, because at present he was running for dear life and he had to force himself to concentrate and disregard the pain he was in.
It was Sunday evening and the grounds of Potter Manor had never looked so beautiful. One could bask in the ambiance of dogwoods and redbuds and flowering peaches and plums. Like billowing sails, the pine trees, oaks and cedars waved their leaves through the breeze, spouting tiny flowers, seeds and twigs. Birds twittered happily, basking in the dusking sunlight, while squirrels skittered and deer grazed in the surrounding forest, some gently lapping water from the large pond.
But Orion didn't have time to contemplate such things; he kept running for dear life, his heart pounding wildly, his chest aching, his left arm throbbing with a deep slash which kept spurting blood, his twisted ankle sending shocks of pain through his leg, while his shredded and scorched robes flapped around him as he willed his legs to carry him faster.
A searing pain ripped through Orion as he was struck by another curse, and gnashing his teeth, he rolled to the ground, before he crouched and aimed his wand at the forest, "Arbulum ripto!"
A bunch of nearby trees were ripped from the soil, and with a knee sunk on the ground and a foot firmly in place to maintain his balance, he brought up his left hand, his fingers flexing as if grabbing something.
Swiftly, with the use of Occlumency, he reordered and compartmentalized his mind as Grindelwald had taught him, to be able to cast spells simultaneously with wand, nonverbal, and wandless magic.
Wandlessly, with his left palm, he directed the uprooted trees towards the advancing wizard, while he shot a nonverbal spell and aimed his wand at him, shouting, "Crucio!"
The trees flew across the expanse of terrain, brutally ramming against Grindelwald, knocking him to the ground, before Orion's nonverbal spell transformed the trees into a tight cage which trapped the old wizard inside, just as the Cruciatus Curse struck the old wizard's chest.
With a smirk of satisfaction, his wand aimed at his mentor, still subjecting him to the Cruciatus Curse, Orion slowly stood up, his body painfully aching as he smoothed his ragged robes with a hand.
Grindelwald was flailing and convulsing inside the cage, but the old man didn't let out a single scream, and even from the distance, Orion could see a gleeful smirk on his face; the old wizard was always sadistically giddy during their duels.
"This won't be enough, mein junge!" shouted Grindelwald, his voice pained but taunting nonetheless, as his limbs jerked and snapped against the ground. "We will end in another stalemate if you don't come up with something better!"
Orion nodded, tiredly carding fingers through his hair while he maintained the Cruciatus Cruse a bit longer, watching with intense satisfaction as his mentor writhed in pain – it was only fair after all the curses the old wizard had managed to inflict on him despite his best shields and counterattacks.
But the old man had a point; lately, after having fully mastered how to fight simultaneously with the three types of dueling tactics and after controlling his dark magic in elemental form, their endless duels had always finished in a stalemate, both of them too injured and exhausted to continue.
At present, both of them were already in pretty bad shape after five straight hours of dueling, where everything was permitted for him except the Killing Curse, though the old wizard did like to cast it once in a while, just to keep him on his toes.
Orion flicked his wand to end the Cruciatus Curse, and immediately bellowed inside his mind, 'Sectumsempra!'
But before the nonverbal dark spell struck to rip and slash the old wizard's chest, Grindelwald had wandlessly blown apart the cage, flicking his wand –the Phoenix wand Orion lend him for their lessons- and Orion was blasted away.
He flew through the air and painfully crashed against the hard ground, letting out a hiss of pain when his damaged ankle cracked. Swiftly, he stood up while he muttered a spell, conjuring bandages which tightly wrapped around his ankle, while he leaned all his weight on his uninjured leg.
He saw Grindewald standing up and quickly casting some healing spells on himself as well, and quickly, he aimed his wand at the old wizard and bellowed, "Cruor hervire!"
The blood boiling curse was swiftly blocked by the old man with a powerful shielding charm, and with a vicious smirk, Grindelwald crouched and pressed his palm on the ground.
Knowing what to expect, Orion groaned and made a dash for it as he felt the ground under his feet quake and grumble, before a great crack split open, forming an abyss. He jumped to a side, rolling and tumbling as the ground shook and spikes of earth and rock soared upwards.
Orion quickly cast a cushioning charm around his body as he rolled and crashed against the walls of rock that kept surging around him, while Grindelwald kept using his unique dark magic to manipulate the elements of the earth.
His head impacted against a hard mound of rock and soil, the earth still quaking and cracking under him, and dazedly, Orion allowed his Necromantic abilities to surge in him, aiming his wand at the chortling old wizard, and he bellowed, "Malsana maleficio!"
That shut up the old wizard's crows of sadistic enjoyment, and Orion saw Grindelwald grimacing as the wizard's leg started to quickly rot and decompose, the Necromantic curse killing every living cell of the flesh as it spread further and further along the leg, starting to creep towards the wizard's hip.
Grindelwald quickly wrapped his fingers on his hip, his face contorted in concentration and pain as he made the curse stop, though he couldn't reverse or heal the damage already done.
Eyeing the dead and blackened flesh, Orion sniggered smugly, though that was before Grindelwald shot him a nastily malevolent smirk, and suddenly, a rolling mass of earth swamped over Orion, suffocating him as his body bounced and crashed against rocks and stones, while a great wedged opened in the ground again, and Orion was flung into the abyss, still entrapped in the mass of earth.
He felt himself rapidly dropping into a free fall; he couldn't breathe, the pressure from the stones, rocks, and soil around him becoming excruciating as his lungs burned for air and as he kept impacting against the tight, hard mass.
Without a second thought, he transformed into Firebreath and batted his grand wings while he let out a surge of fire through his jaws. He kept batting his wings and flinging his limbs as he tried to break through the mass of earth, and finally he soared upwards as the earth kept falling into the abyss Grindelwald had created.
He flew upwards, shooting out from the great wedge in the ground, and as soon as he landed, he transformed back to himself and dissapparated.
With a 'crack', he apparated to stand behind Grindelwald, who was glancing around, his posture alert and ready, and Orion aimed and roared, "Lingua extracto!"
But before he managed to rip out the old wizard's tongue, Grindelwald had jumped to a side, the curse shooting past him, and bellowed, "Crucio!"
The curse struck Orion on the chest, and he crashed against the ground, his teeth gnashing and his jaw clenching to hold in his screams of pain as his body convulsed and his limbs snapped against the hard, cracked ground.
He didn't know for how long the old wizard was maintaining the curse, but the waves upon waves of burning, piercing, excruciating pain were mercilessly ravaging his body and he wouldn't withstand much more of it, since it was the third time that he had been subjected to it during the duel.
As he writhed in pain, Orion cracked open his eyes and saw that Grindelwald was calmly looking down at him, his hazel eyes alit with gleeful satisfaction and enjoyment though the wizard was also sporting a grimace of pain as he tried to shift his weight away from his deadened, blackened leg.
With supreme effort, pulling his mind away from the waves of pain, Orion summoned all the strength and dark magic he could muster and he slapped a palm on the ground, swiftly copying Grindelwald, making the earth under the wizard's feet shake and grumble.
When the wizard lost his footing, Orion swiftly stretched out a hand towards him, conjuring a swirling mass of black flames, shooting it outwards and making it encompass the old wizard.
The Cruciatus Curse stopped ravaging his body, and with deep, pained gasps of breath, Orion crouched on the ground as he observed the sphere of black fire tightening around Grindelwald, the wizard's robes catching in flames and his blond and gray locks of hair scorching.
While Orion tried to feebly stand up and recuperate from his wounds and the lingering pain surging through his body, Grindelwald shot a hand through his shrinking prison of fire, the black flames burning off the flesh of his wrist, but the old wizard seemed resolved to disregard the pain and the stench of burning flesh, and he directed his palm towards Orion.
Abruptly, Orion found himself trapped in a swirling mass of black water, the orb rising from the ground with him flailing and flapping his limbs inside, his lungs burning and filling with water.
Frantically gasping for air, he tried to swim towards the periphery of the swirling orb of water, to breathe and to keep shooting his dark magic outwards to maintain the walls of fire around Grindelwald; to enclose them around the old wizard to harm him enough to force him to stop directing his dark magic towards him, so that the sphere of water would disappear.
But Orion found that every time he swam towards the border of the orb, the water surrounding him swirled violently, throwing him to the center of the sphere in a vortex of spiraling waves.
His eyes stung, his lungs were fiercely burning while he frenziedly gasped for air and flapped his arms. He stopped focusing his dark magic to produce the walls of fire around Grindelwald and he tried to direct it to manipulate he water around him, but he found that he couldn't control it since it was formed by Grindelwald's unique dark magic, not his.
In the same way that his fire harmed Grindelwald, the old wizard's water was now drowning him. They were only unaffected by the manifestations of their own dark magic; even if it was the same kind of power, the other's dark magic hurt them.
Orion forced himself to relax and think clearly, and in the midst of violently swirling waves of black water, he aimed his wand at his face and conjured a bubble charm. He took a deep breath of air, his lungs and throat painfully throbbing, and he allowed his body to be violently swirled within the orb of water, while he slowly directed his palm towards Grindelwald.
Through the black mass of water, he could see the wizard looking up at the sphere, no longer encompassed in black flames, though the wizard looked like death warmed over.
The old wizard's hair was singed, his robes scorched and ragged, a hand with burned flesh peeling off, a blackened, dead leg which hung limply, his torso had several deep, bloody cuts, and his body was jerkily shuddering due to the several Crucios that Orion had managed to cast on him during the duration of their five-hour duel.
Yet, Grindelwald wasn't proclaiming that the duel was over, and he was the only one allowed to determine that.
Orion slowly moved his head inside his bubble, as he flapped his arms inside the sphere of water, trying to convey to Grindelwald that this was madness and that the only way this would end was in a stalemate and with both of them on the brink of death.
He was bruised and battered, with a broken ankle, a sprained arm, several damaged ribs, deep cuts and wounds, and his nerve-endings were still painfully snapping with the lingering pain of the Cruciatus. His body was more resilient and he healed much faster than Grindelwald thanks to his youth and to Lezander's blood, but nevertheless, there was so much that his body could withstand before his mind shut itself to make him fall into a magically healing coma.
Grindelwald merely shook his head, smirking at him as he flipped the hand which was directing the sphere of black water, and Orion found himself aggressively jostled inside it, the bubble of air surrounding his head popping in a cracking implosion, before his lungs were painfully filled with water.
With a snarl of fury, damning the stubborn old wizard, Orion tried to find a sense of direction as he was violently rolled inside the orb of water, and when he caught sight of a blurry Grindelwald, he shot his palm towards him and produced a tunnel of tempestuous black wind, directing his dark magic outwards.
Orion found himself rushing out of the mass of water, flying through the air midst a violent wind, and he quickly cast a powerful cushioning charm on himself, before he struck the hard ground and bounced several times on it, ending up sprawled in a jumble of aching limbs.
He heard a curse being bellowed and he snapped to attention, jumping to a side with a gasp of pain, swaying and about to drop on his knees from exhaustion.
Tired and feeling an increasing surge of simmering anger, he aimed his wand forward, not truly caring where, and hissed, "Bassilisska flameo!"
A grand, magnificent basilisk of flames and smoke rose several feet before them, its tail coiling and its sharp fangs smoldering, as it hissed threateningly, and Orion hissed crisply, "Burn the old man until he passes out!"
"Beautiful, mein junge!" said Grindelwald, cackling joyfully, hopping on his good leg while he grabbed the Phoenix wand with his uninjured left hand. "But parselspells won't be enough either. And today, I won't admit a stalemate between us. Today, you defeat me or we go on until we're both dead!"
The basilisk lunged at Grindelwald, but with a soft 'crack' the old mad had dissaparated –since Orion had adjusted the wards around Potter estate to allow him to do that within the borders. He saw Grindelwald smirking gleefully, having apparated behind the basilisk and shooting a great spurt of water at the creature.
Orion snorted, and jeered, "That won't be enough, old man!"
Water dosed the basilisk, its flames only marginally dwindling while greater swirls of smoke crept into the air, before the creature reared its magnificent fiery head, hissing, before it launched an attack on Grindelwald again, snapping its jaws.
The old wizard shot him a toothy, crooked smile, before casting a Killing Curse his way, disapparating again with a soft 'crack'.
With a snarl of anger, Orion flung to a side, the beam of bright green light rushing over his head, and he crouched on the ground, his arms shaking under the strain of his own weight.
"Crucio!"
Orion was forced to roll to a side to avoid the incoming curse shot at him, and he saw Grindelwald standing near him, jerking his hand at the basilisk and producing a black storm of wind which captured the immense creature, flinging it towards the nearby pond.
With a great splash of water, the creature of fire loudly hissed as the black ravaging wind forced it to submerge deeper into the pond, and it summarily disappeared from the surface, its tail flailing as its fire was consumed, the water of the surface boiling and letting out rivulets of stinging smoke.
Grindelwald swiftly spun around to aim his wand at him, a broad smirk on his face. Orion, crouched on his hands and knees, swiftly stretched out a palm towards the wizard, feeling exhausted beyond his limits, infuriated with the wizard's stupid persistence of getting the both of them injured beyond repair, and sensing his dark magic violently and animatedly burbling and swirling throughout his body.
In a blink of an eye, he allowed his dark magic to swell and completely take hold of him. But this time, it was different; this time, his raw, wild dark magic didn't simply fling the wizard into the air to make him crash against a wall.
Orion could only think that he wanted the duel to end, that he wanted the wizard in great pain to utterly incapacitate him, and his magic burst out from his body through his fingertips in a blasting wave that shone in the most brilliant of obsidians, waves of wild, roaring, melting and blazing dark magic.
His forehead began to fiercely throb, his heart was pounding with elation, the blood in his veins seemed to boil, growing hotter every moment, and his dark magic seemed to be burning inside him, bursting him open while he felt an indescribable pleasure surging throughout his body.
And he limply slumped on the ground, his eyes feverishly glazed over as more waves of magic burst from his extended fingers, seeing how they rushed forwards in undulating motion, swiftly striking Grindelwald before the wizard had time to blink.
In a second, he saw the old wizard utterly encompassed by the ever-expanding waves of darkness, and Grindelwald shrieked. For the first time, the wizard screamed in agonizing pain, and Orion, slumped on the ground, did nothing but smile in elation, wonder and a deep sense of triumph due to the soaring pleasure he was feeling.
His breath was haggard, panted and heavy, his wide eyes unseeing and glazed, and he was utterly lost in the extraordinary sensations he was feeling.
He was aware of the movement in the air, and how everything around him seemed to vibrate at different rates with each beings' pulse; his quickening, Grindelwald's weakening. He was aware of every dimple in every stone on the ground, every crack in the rocks. He was aware of the frantic flapping of birds' wings, of the rushing fleeing pounding of deer's hooves in the forest, of the swish of his robes around him.
Time lost all meaning to him, while his magic seemed to expand, filling everything around him until he felt that he was his surroundings, that he was his dark magic which undulated and rushed and roared in smoldering waves, waves with a purpose, magic obeying his desires and wishes as it wrapped around an agonizing Grindewald, the old man's screams rising and ringing in his ears.
But the screams meant nothing to him, he was too far gone in the pleasure, in the elation of feeling such power and darkness; in feeling himself, utterly unrestrained for the first time in his life.
The extraordinariness of the magic he was unleashing enticed him in a fiery vortex of pleasure, elation and hunger for more.
But suddenly, he felt as if he were in a midst of a burning fire which rose within him. He was suspended and trapped in the magic which kept roaring inside him and flowing outwards without restraint.
Abruptly, he screamed and his limbs flailed as he was consumed by searing pain, something inscrutably and relentlessly pushing from within him, painfully ramming and bursting. He clawed at his throat, feeling he couldn't breathe, feeling he couldn't think, as it inexorably grew; demanding, fierce, restless...
His sight seemed to explode in a burst of darkness and then all his senses where encompassed by a rushing of feelings, sensations, images, and voices...
…A wizard with a handsome, aristocratic face framed by silky platinum-blond hair was writhing and agonizingly screaming on the floor, blood spurting from his mouth, contorted with horror and terrified agony, as the silvery eyes lost focus and began to roll to the back of his head, dilated…
…Wizards fiercely fighting against wizards in the midst of the night… dark creatures, vampires, werewolves, attacking and ripping limbs, the flash and clink of swords… screams and wails of pain and shouted incantations… there was magic pulsing in the air, vibrating all around them… the carnage was brutal… and in the midst, a lone figure, untouched by the violence and surrounded by wizards and creatures who fought in front of him, as if creating a protective circle around him…
"Yes…yes," whispered an enticing, lulling voice, "come to me, my child… I'm waiting… longing for you… so close…"
A frenetic chant that became louder with each heart beat… like drums being banged wildly, increasing in tempo, as two words were repeated by a large crowd of eager voices…. "Lord Black…. Lord Black… Lord Black…"
A handsome, cold, and ruthless face with intense all-black eyes which surveyed the carnage in front of him with impassivity... A fear-gripping, powerful aura of dark magic pulsed violently around him…
….A wizard with black hair and green eyes was cradling a baby in his arms, a beautiful baby girl with wisps of black hair, her eyes closed while he lovingly rocked her, his body trembling, hunched protectively, while his green eyes were unfocused, tormented, pained, and brokenly sorrowful…
…Wizards and creatures ran into a battle, a wizard continuously swished his wand through the air… His raw magic funneled into a massively destructive force which flooded outward like a wave intent on destroying everything in its path… Dark magic shot from his hands, striking enemies within reach… torn bodies soon dropping dead with a last agonizing scream…
"Feel it," whispered the enticing voice, "See it… what will happen… no change… no alteration… accept… come to me…"
…A wizard with all-black eyes coldly smiled as ghostly forms rose from convulsing living bodies, dark magic pouring from his palms and enveloping the shapes which screeched and twisted until they disappeared in puffs of whiteness…
Intense, all-black eyes looked unfeelingly at a weakened wizard. "Just tell me why, Tom..."
…Hungry lips against soft ones, fingers being carded through platinum blond hair, silvery eyes looking up dazedly as a black haired wizard plundered the soft lips of the young wizard below him, caressing demandingly, undulating his body against the other's, feeling a deep scorching surge of maddening desire and inexorable, lustful hunger…
…An old woman raked a long, sharp fingernail across a wizard's cheek, his green eyes wide, observing her, as his skin broke along the fine cut, small drops of blood dribbling down his jaw.
Her intense obsidian eyes glowed while she smudged her fingertip with his blood, bringing it her mouth. A red tongue flicked out and quickly licked the blood from her fingertip, and she closed her eyes, slightly tilting her head backwards.
"Hmm… Perfection… at last… I've waited for you…" she whispered in a low, deep and eerie voice, her words cutting through the deadly silence of the room…
"Why, you ask? Is it not plain enough to you, Orion?" Crimson eyes flashed in anger and fury, but also with an unvoiced plea. "I DID IT FOR US! -- I DID IT FOR YOU!" The wizard shakily advanced forwards and clasped the other wizard's shoulders. "I ASK YOU TO SAVE SOME PART OF US!"
"You did it for yourself," said the other wizard, his voice cold, unforgiving, his all-black eyes glowing.
…A chant became reverent, high-pitched and eager as the fighting continued… voices became zealous, fervent and feverish as they screamed a name as if it was their battle-cry, while swords were plunged and dark curses bellowed… "Lord Black!… Vindico!… Vindico!… Vindico!…"
"Yes," whispered the enticing voice, "feel it… let it fill you… accept it… direct it… unrestrained… powerful… wild… this is you, my child… I'm waiting…"
…A tall young man with long black hair and slightly slanted pale blue eyes was softly kissing a wizard slumped against a wall, green eyes wide and dazed as the other deepened the kiss hungrily, demandingly, but also gently. There was warmth, belonging, and urgency as their clothed bodies writhed together, each gripping the other closer.
Pale blue eyes darkened with need. "It's not too late. Don't you feel it – our blood bond calling us to complete it? This was meant to be, dragostea mea. I won't let you go again. I will not lose you again. I can't."
Incisors sharpened and elongated, and they sank into the smaller wizard's neck, green eyes glazing with fevered need and desire before they rolled, and the wizard sagged against the taller young man who moaned and kept drinking...
"I've allowed you to live for this long because of what we once shared," said a toneless, ruthless voice, all-black eyes cold. "I can't afford to postpone it any longer; it would always end like this, Tom."
"I'm waiting, my child," whispered the enticing voice. "You're so close… almost ready… come to me…"
…An intense, black blast of magic seemed to plunge into a wizard's chest, as if a hand was gripping something inside and pulling it out. The wizard violently convulsed, his crimson eyes wide, and he screamed in agony as his flesh started to be ripped apart by the black magic coming from a wizard with cold, unemotional all-black eyes.
The air became unbearably heavy as the dark magic finally pulled a ghostly shape from the wizard's body, and with a last agonizing scream, the wizard dropped to the ground, his corpse only a torn mass of flesh, the crimson eyes wide, empty and lifeless...
The remaining wizard's hands shook as the trapped ghostly form began to violently twist; unearthly, high-pitched wails and shrieks of agony pierced the deathly silence of the vast landscape.
Dark magic poured from the wizard with all-black eyes, the magic going into a dark sphere as it plunged into the ghostly shape, savagely ripping it to pieces.
The wails decreased and finally silenced, when the ghostly form was reduced to nothingness, ceasing to exist with a blast of powerful dark magic exploding from the empty sphere…
"This is it," whispered the enticing voice, "I've been waiting so long… so long… you're here, at last… let it have you… make it yours… direct it… open your eyes and see… I'm waiting… come soon… open your eyes…"
…The wizard dropped his hands and his all-black eyes glanced at the corpse at his feet, staring unemotionally at the crimson, lifeless eyes, as he whispered coldly, "There's nothing left of you now. Good-bye, Tom."
"Make it yours… Open your eyes!"
A wave of blazing pain surged through Orion's body and he screamed, his eyes snapping open, his body giving one last jerk, before it suddenly stopped.
Everything seemed to halt and his scream died in his throat, his eyes glancing around, wild, frantic, burning with the prickle of tears, his head throbbing and swirling with the images he had seen, his heart pounding and aching with what he had felt.
And then, he caught sight of what was happening around him. He saw Grindelwald lying motionless on the ground, his body ravaged beyond recognition, everything dark and vibrating around him, his dark magic still pouring from him in undulating, searing waves of unrestrained, wild magic.
Frenziedly, terrified, Orion haggardly gasped for breath, unsteadily trying to stand up, but he screamed in pain when his broken ankle gave way under him, and he fell to the ground.
He was frantic, scared, horrified as he gazed at the unmoving German wizard, but he forced himself to relax. He took deep breaths, he shrouded himself in his Necromantic abilities, finding detached tranquility, and he imagined his dark magic, searching for his inner magical core.
It seemed to thrum all over him, flowing and vibrating through his veins, he could feel it pulsing within him, in time with his heart. And everything inside him seemed to be glowing black, pumping like his blood pumped through his veins.
He wrapped himself in it, and took a deep breath, clenching his extended hand, calling back his magic, forcing it to obey and come back to him, to fill him. And he took back control of what felt like his broadened consciousness—he took control of the raw dark magic he had released, still vibrating in the surroundings and suffusing everything in darkness.
He breathed in and continued to call it back, and the air began to move, began to swirl around in twisted spirals; his unleashed dark magic began to obey. He pulled it toward him, and he heard a sucking sound that grew to a roar, and watched as the dark magic pulled itself away from Grindelwald.
With urgency, he gathered all his focus and will, and forced it to come back to him at once, and abruptly, with a deafening BANG which resounded throughout the grounds, the air around him collapsed back on itself and he saw his waves of dark magic rushing towards him, plunging into him as he was thrown backwards…
Groaning, Orion found himself lying on his back, feeling dazed while his body seemed to be burning with searing pleasure and vibrating power. He shook his head and slowly got to his knees, and then stood up, feeling revitalized, empowered, invincible and complete.
There was a pleasant, warm thrumming around him, wrapping him, and in wonder, he glanced down at himself, and he saw it for the first time; his dark magic pulsing around him like a zealous lover, relaxedly vibrating, embracing him.
And he knew at once that this was what Sebastien had referred to; his dark magic had overflowed, he wouldn't be able to cloak it, he wouldn't be able to restrain it so that others wouldn't sense it.
It had happened, and everything would change because of that.
He heaved in deep breaths, forcing himself not to panic though he knew what this new development meant and the consequences it would have.
When he regained his composure, he straightened and hopped towards Grindelwald, paying no mind to the numerous aches and complains of his battered body, while his chest clenched with pained dread, fearing that he had killed his mentor, and that part of the backlash had been the old wizard's power plunging into him.
As he neared the motionless, ravaged old wizard, his mind spun and his throat constricted. It was too soon, he still needed Grindelwald, it hadn't been his intention to kill him. He cared for the old man.
He shakily carded his fingers through his hair, his eyes burning. Merlin, don't let him be dead!
Orion dropped to his knees besides Grindelwald's fleshed out body, ravaged with deep bloodied wounds, the skin scorched, black and purple, the old wizard's face burned beyond recognition.
He gazed at him, his stomach churned, and he froze, his body becoming rigid, his face losing all its color as he observed what he had done, his chest painfully clenching with wrecked guilt, remorse, and deep-rooted sorrow.
Abruptly, Orion lurched to a side and retched everything inside his stomach, his body violently shaking and arching as he kept frantically heaving, unable to stop himself.
