Title: The Innocence Of Guilt
Author: ENSIGN
Chapter 10 – Nunquam Lamiae Morde 'Me Ictus'
Location Unknown
"Just what in the world are you doing?" Mary stood by watching her superior crawling on his knees.
"Searching." Was the only reply she got.
The girl huffed and conjured a chair to sit down on. She was long used to his style of dealing with things.
Harry smiled and continued to examine the grass before him.
After the usual gut scrambling travel, the Portkey had deposited the two Unspeakables on the outskirts of what looked like a completely uninhabited village.
Mary had voiced her disbelief on that front, when Harry questioned the lack of a welcoming committee, friendly or not. She had pointed out that they were sent to a lair and despite the silent treatment, there was definitely something hiding.
He had then pointed out, that while logical, the Elder Vampire could have just as easily decided to dump them in the middle of nowhere.
It was also definitely 'The Middle Of Nowhere' as Harry had said, both Unspeakables had been unable to divine their current location either by magic or the stars.
They were in a nut shell, lost, or more importantly, FUBARED.
This of course let to Harry deciding to walk into the village. That was until he had been blown back rather violently. While rather violent, the wards surrounding the village were indeed subtle. He had pointed out that anything nastier than what he had just encountered usually had some sort of warning before they triggered.
Mary didn't buy it. Harry was probably just nursing his bruised ego at being thrown twenty feet backwards.
This of course led to their current situation.
"No. Really, what are you doing?" She moved closer and peered at the ground before him.
Harry had been inching closer towards the space where they both believed the ward line was located. She had somewhat figured that he was trying to find some sort of identifying mark.
"Praying." He answered sarcastically.
"You don't even know where we are, let alone the direction of the Kaaba." Mary pointed out as she held out a still spinning wand, courtesy of a confounded Point Me Charm.
Harry raised his eyebrow at that particular piece of trivia. "The giant black cube in Mecca?" He shrugged. 'Learn something new everyday.' He thought.
"Looking for where the 'Here' ends," He waved his hand indicating their location, "and the 'There' begins." He jabbed his other hand towards the silent village. "Of course, you're more than welcome to simply keep taking small steps forwards till you trigger the ward."
"And get blasted back like you?" She scoffed. "Not likely. You may be my superior Harry Potter, but I would consider that under reckless endangerment to one's teammate."
"It's only twenty feet." Harry mumbled as he warily inched another foot closer. He had no intention of being blasted so soon after the last time.
Mary giggle indicated she had heard him. "Well the ward definitely says we're in the right place."
"Indeed." Harry stood up and arched his back giving it a few pops that left Mary wincing. "Found it." He pointed out.
"Where?" Mary stared at the seemingly normal patch of grass.
"As lame as it sounds, the grass really is greener on one side of the fence." Harry chuckled.
Mary looked closer, and indeed there was a slight discoloration in the green.
"Remember Mary, wards are magic, and like all magic, if left in one place it affects its surroundings." Harry smugly started walking along the supposed ward line with his wand waving every so often.
"And you're now doing?" She followed at a leisurely pace.
"Searching." His simple one word answers were indeed annoying.
"Yes, I noticed. I have these things called 'eyes'. They see. What are you searching for?" She sarcastically snapped.
Harry smirked. His partner was irritated. "Like I said magic affects its surrounding. Thus, positions of concentrated magic have bigger effects. Positions, such as say, a patch of greener longer grass that looks like an animal left its droppings."
Mary stared at the small patch of grass that did indeed look like what her partner had mentioned. "So concentrated magic means?"
Harry rolled his eyes. "I was once told by a friend that Magical folk are rather illogical beings. Didn't believe it at first, now…" He shrugged. "A magical person would have spent the better part of the day wand waving and incanting charm after charm to locate the ward line. This is before he then spends another identifying it and another breaking it."
"You of course have a more logical and faster idea?"
"Already did the finding part. Identifying? Not really needed for my method. As for breaking…" He lazily pointed his wand at the aforementioned patch. "Reducto."
Harry once again got blasted twenty feet away as his curse detonated upon the small innocent looking patch of tuff.
Mary howled in laughter after she saw him flip up in annoyance.
"Forgot about that." He muttered in annoyance. "Wards stones don't tend to be that heavily charged. Especially ones meant to stay hidden."
"Er… James." Mary used his middle name. "I think hidden stones are going to be the least of our worries."
"Well. I'll be fucked." Harry muttered wide eyed as he felt a heaviness settling down upon them. 'Transportation Wards.' He thought in annoyance.
He had been slightly wrong about the wards he had brought down. It wasn't just a simple security one. Apparently, he had brought down an illusionary one as well as setting off a massive trap.
What was once a large abandoned village was now a massive town complete with ancient castle in the middle.
Both Unspeakables' attention was however focused on the largest ever seen army of Inferi shambling towards them.
"Mary, grab my hand." He focused on an elevated position atop one of the roofs within the town. He made to Flash Step when a wave of dizziness interrupted him. "Well now that's just wrong." He complained as the wards obviously prevented that mode of transport as well.
"Wands out you reckon?" He deadpanned as he drew both holly Phoenix and Unicorn ivory wands.
"Ya think?" Mary was already firing off bone destroying and flame spells into the crowd.
"Retreat?" Mary suggested.
"Not taking my chances in the forest." Harry responded shuddering at what dangers might just inhabit a forest surrounding a village chocked full of undead.
"This feels like a bad 'B Grade' movie." Harry commented as he unleashed a wide area flame spell as more and more Inferi emerged from within homes and alleyways and advanced upon the two living Humans.
"Less talk more shoot!" Mary screamed as she started firing off the purple flame cutter that Harry was quite familiar with from his fifth year.
"Accendo, Ardeo Ardere Arsi, Cremo, Flamma, Inardesco." Harry let loose a torrent of flame and destruction as he recited every quick devastating flame spell he knew from memory. Yet despite all this, the wave after wave of Inferi were simply too many and were slowly moving towards and encircling them.
"This isn't working!" Mary shouted as she switched from the complicated flame cutter to the simple but power consuming flame thrower.
Harry noticed it was still in vain as the fire, while indeed destroying the Inferi, was only affecting the frontlines. As such, the wall of burning corpses began to build and the ones behind started to advance using their fallen comrades as flame shields.
"Not good Mary! They have cover, blow it." The Wizard snarled as his Unicorn ward shorted out from the constant overload.
"Explodra!" Both had forgone silent casting as it didn't really matter any longer.
Harry turned away as Mary's explosive curse destroyed a small part of the flesh barricade allowing his flame curses to set the shielded zombies alight.
He drew his War Wand and now started firing explosive bursts of magic into the crowd. "Flame spells! I'll blow the cover. Just don't let them encircle us!"
"Too late!" The Witch screamed as her primary wand failed. "Where are your orbs?"
"Ran out! Used the last back with the Giants!" Harry gave a frustrated yell as both his current weapons failed as well. 'Bollocks.' He cursed as he was now down to four remaining wands. "How many wands!"
"Three left! I doubt they were made to take this much punishment!" The circle had shrunk to less than forty feet in radius. "If you have something special you better use it. My wands are smoking." Mary indicated as they were now back to back.
No longer were they able to pull of their earlier combination of explode and burn. Now they were fighting a losing battle as the wave of dead moved in slowly inch by inch.
"Well fuck me sideways." Harry sighed. "Cover me." He stopped altogether and closed his eyes in concentration.
"What!" Mary screamed in panic as she now had a full circle to hold back. That was when she felt the raw amounts of magic building up beside her. "Holy Shit…" She trailed off. That was one aspect about the young Wizard that amazed her. Despite his lack of complicated spell knowledge he always had an abundance of power to spare. After all, an overcharged Reducto was the equivalent of an Explodra.
"Don't disturb me." Harry's whisper caught Mary's attention.
"Wah?" She turned for just a moment and nearly stepped back in shock.
She had first laid sight upon the emerald eyes of Harry Potter when he had revealed himself. At that time they were shining, a hint of the power he held within himself. Every once in a while they would sparkle when he was teasing or annoyed. Now, they were outright glowing as a small nimbus of light started to form around him.
Not really focusing on anything, Harry took in a deep breath and uttered four words of destruction.
"Ardeo."
The hairs on Mary's skin started to crawl from the barely repressed power.
"Ardere."
The horde of undead stilled as if awaiting judgment.
"Arsi."
The nimbus of power flared as both twin Basilisk fang wands in Harry's hands started glowing at their tip.
"Deflagratio."
Mary ducked as all hell broke loose the moment all that power was unleashed. A blaze so intense erupted from the ends of both wands as the caster swept his arms outwards as if in welcome.
Mary winced as she smelt the ozone coming off her hairs as they roasted from the intense heat.
She knew the curse her partner had unleashed, it had many names, The Dark Flame, The Cursed Fire, or as most knew it best, Fiendfyre.
The searing flames took no shape or form, they simply leapt upon the motionless zombies and disintegrated them.
In one single moment the tide of battle shifted.
Mary stood in amazement as the formless tongues of fires licked amongst the burning Inferi. Both slithering tongues of death had completely left their creator's wands and had now created a ring of immolation.
During this all Harry stood still, his face in complete concentration. All his focus was on the control of the deadly fire. A mistake would have unknown and deadly consequences.
Twisting and waving his wands as if conducting an orchestra, Harry directed the formless flames to begin spreading out into the town. Alleyways, homes and streets all burned as the cursed fires search out victims to continue fueling their unending appetite.
Corpses popped as their watery insides superheated.
Fat flowed as the bodies roasted.
Ozone permeated as hair and skin crumbled under the intense heat.
Bones turned to ash only to be swept up by the firestorm.
Mary gave a whistle.
It was deadly.
It was intense.
It was destructive.
It was pure uncontrolled beauty.
She damn well hoped Harry knew what he was doing. Watching fire surround you and burn was a thing of beauty, getting burnt wasn't.
Harry inhaled deeply as he brought the living flames under control, His mind and magic restricting its flow and desire to consume. He exhaled and with a final roar, the fires of destruction cease to exist.
"That, was hot" Mary indicated the now burning remains of what was once a massive Zombie army.
"I'm tired." Harry stumbled slight, coming off his power high.
"That was Fiendfyre." Mary stated as she supported her now weakened partner.
Harry stared at both his smoking wands in annoyance, overloaded. He had substituted power over control yet again. The flames had been relentless, constantly testing his control as they fought for freedom. He had experimented with the Cursed Flame once before and it had nearly cost his life.
The fire had a thirst for magic. It was ravenous beast that could only be placated though might of will or bribed with magic.
"Yes Mary, it was." The cost on his reserves was extremely taxing.
"That was amazing." She commented in awe as she lowered him softly to the blistered grass.
"And suicidal." He huffed out as a wave of dizziness overcame him. "Never resort to it unless you have to. The only person I know capable of controlling it in such vast amounts is Voldemort."
Mary's eyes widened as they scanned the village for any remaining undead. "Well shit."
"Yeah." Harry closed his eyes hoping the spinning would cease. "Don't bother, Inferi have the nasty disposition of consuming their crippled comrades. What we had thrown at us were all there was."
"So what now?" Mary handed a flask of water to her companion.
"I need to rest for a moment and our wands need to recover. Yours are no doubt overstressed as well."
Mary snorted and pointed at the smoking remains. "I seriously doubt that Wands were made and designed with the intention to withstand constant high amounts of magical channeling."
Harry snorted. "That's what staffs are for, bigger really does mean better."
Mary chuckled as she dragged him to his feet. "If you can crack horrible jokes like that one, you're most definitely recovered."
The-Boy-Who-Lived rolled his eyes. He was certainly better, not great but better, besides, wherever the hell they were, it was getting dark and being caught outside at night was not the way to go.
He rather chance and assault castle full of blood suckers than fend them off when they decided to attack. His burst of magic and flames would not have gone unnoticed to both denizens of the castle and the forest that bordered the abandoned village.
"A short rest, we must make it to the castle by nightfall. I don't wish to spend a night within a small home waiting to be ambushed."
Mary nodded as she kept a watch on their surroundings.
XXXXX
Location Unknown – Deserted Town – Spire: Outlook
The Vampire stared out across the town below him, easily picking up the red flashes of fire and a black trail of smoke rising in the distance.
"I smell fire." A voice commented behind the man making him look over his shoulder at the newcomer. "Hot chocolate?" The other Vampire held up a steaming mug.
Valdosta gave a frown of slight disgust. "How you can stand that awful Human concoction I will never understand, Michal."
"Well some of us weren't born undead you know. Besides hot chocolate is practically ambrosia." Michal gave a grin, his fangs glinting from the reflected sunlight.
"And you were born undead, Michal, yet you still drink it."
"Meat and poison, we're all entitled to our own individual tastes." He shrugged. "So what's burning?"
"Some fools triggered the trap again, too far to make out though. They normally try to sneak in." Valdosta said squinting to get a better look, the cover of black smoke was obscuring his enhanced vision. "Doubt we need to inform anyone. Idiots like those tend to die rather fast.
"Nothing of terrible importance then, I'll just reset the wards later." The second Vampire shrugged, took a sip of his chocolaty drink and set the other mug upon a ledge.
"So what brings you up here Michal, other than trying to convince me to partake in that vile substance you ingest?" Valdosta lost interest in the magical battle occurring.
Michal finished off his drink and reached for the other. "Heard that you locked up the Master's little Human pet."
The man growled in annoyance. "Little bitch tried to escape again, made it all the way down from the upper levels this time, almost got out the front door."
"You would too. The Master probably likes them young." Michal gave a dark chuckle. "Pity we can't harm her, too bad really. Virgin blood really hits the spot."
Both Vampires chuckled.
"Besides, what's the little bitch's story?"
Valdosta shrugged. "No idea. Was here way before I came, those that really knows are those that are allowed above beyond the fifth floor, in other words, the Steward himself."
"Ever seen the Master?" Gossip was still present in Vampire society despite being undead blood suckers.
"Only once, his presence is…" Valdosta tried to find the right word. "Intense." He shuddered. "I can't imagine what he does. Only three people allowed up there to my knowledge, the Master, the Human pet and the Lord Steward."
"That one is old news. Those that go up tend not to come back down."
XXXXX
Location Unknown – Deserted Town
Mary had to admit that she was slightly unnerved as the two of them moved across the town towards the massive wall of stone ahead. Like many old medieval castles, the one ahead of them had the standard defensive wall surrounding a massive castle. Mary really couldn't classify the thing she saw emerging from within the wall as a castle. It lacked the classical look, most castles she'd seen. It was definitely not Hogwarts.
Unlike the magical school, there was the absence of the high reaching towers that Hogwarts was famous for. Instead it stood as a single massive spike, jutting out approximately four hundred feet towards the heavens.
She supposed it must have been an engineering marvel back when it had been constructed. The Spire, as she had come to refer to the supposed lair of the Vampire Lord, fitted the position of a watch tower so much more than that of a castle or fortress. Then again, a lair did sound like a hideout located deep within the bowels of the earth.
She stared at The Spire in slight admiration. It was no doubt magical or at least required magic during its construction. Such construction just didn't seem possible all those years ago.
However what confused her was the town. It was definitely non magical and felt positively ancient. The buildings were mostly ruins, gone were the wooden doors and thatched roofs. The place had definitely been uninhabited for probably hundreds of years if the state of buildings were anything to go by.
Her partner's nudge caught her attention as he signaled towards a graveyard outside a church they were passing.
Mary's saw the slight irony in the fact that they were willingly visiting a graveyard in a town once full of undead. 'No one ever said curiosity killed a Human before.' She supposed as she silently followed.
"Well. The town's definitely old." The other Unspeakable waved his hands indicating the worn eroded gravestones.
Mary stared at the dates. The general theme was within the mid 1400's. "Inferi can last that long?" She voiced her curiosity.
"With preservation techniques and magic they could last forever as long as the magic holds." Harry shrugged. "The Egyptians were masters at it. Some of their Inferi date back 5000 years at least. That's probably the beauty of it all, a complete inexpensive method to guard something throughout the ages."
She grunted in distaste at the idea, the inexpensive method did require the corpses of Humans. Then again the Egyptians probably used the bodies of dead slaves for that sort of thing. It made her wonder if the Inferi they destroyed earlier had been the bodies of the town's people or were they victims, killed, reanimated and accumulated over the centuries.
She shuddered at the later thought as her partner tapped her on the shoulder.
"Remember how in movies the graveyard scene always has zombies bursting out from the ground." He smirked.
She gave him The Look. "Don't even joke about that."
Harry snorted. "Movies are nonsense. Five centuries would have rotted the pine coffin away and six feet of compressed earth would prevent anything from digging its way out from the ground."
"Let's just leave." Mary walked away from the church. She didn't like the idea of pushing Murphy's Law.
XXXXX
Location Unknown – Deserted Town – Spire: Steward's Office
"Lord Melchior." The Vampire looked up from the novel that he had been reading to see one of the few Vampires inhabiting the Lord's Lair.
The Vampire Lord mentally sighed in annoyance at the interruption. He had just gotten to somewhere good.
He gave a mental frown at the fledgling Vampire entering the threshold of his office despite the open door. They just didn't have the respect to wait outside to be invited anymore.
"Speak." The simple command was filled with hidden message, 'This had better be important'.
"My Lord our outer defenses have been breached." The Vampire's eye twitched.
"Get Valdosta to renew them. Leave me." The Lord returned to his book. The outer defenses were constantly being tested by foolish Hunters and Wizards trying to discover what lay beyond the initial wards.
The Vampire gave another nervous twitch. "Sir."
The Lord glared at the interruption in annoyance. "What!"
The fledgling flinched. "The Inferi have been annihilated."
The Vampire's red eyes widened in surprise. His earlier annoyance now gone, he snapped the book shut and spun in his chair and approached the window overlooking the spot he had felt the earlier magical disturbance.
Sure enough a trail of black smoke could be seen rising on the outskirts of the town. Focusing, his vision amplified and zoomed in on the pile of burning corpses.
"Where are they now?" He demanded.
The younger blood sucker relaxed, the Steward seemingly no longer irritated, at least not at him. "By the main gate, they haven't been able to breach the wall. It seems they are a party of two. What are your orders?"
"The Master left orders not to be disturbed. Whether they come hostile or in peace, it matters not. Kill them. The Master only holds an audience once every ten years."
XXXXX
Location Unknown – Deserted Town – Spire: Defensive Wall
"So now what?" Mary pointed out irritated as the two of them stared at the massive portcullis barring them entrance.
"Well we could always get a length of rope, a grappling hook and start climbing, either that or a good Exploding Hex." He announced sarcastically as he stared at the parapets that made up the top of the wall.
"Someone is cranky today." Mary rolled her eyes. The wall most definitely had enchantments barring climbers and the gate was most likely shielded from mundane straight forward attacks.
"I get blown back a good twenty feet, get attacked by a massive shambling undead army, suffer magic exhaustion, I feel grimy, have the stench of rotting, decaying and burning flesh clogging my nose and finally I have to think how to gain entrance to this stupid fucking Lair. Yes, I am cranky." Harry snapped in annoyance glaring at the grills that dared hamper him from reaching his destination.
Mary jerked back in surprise at his vehement outburst. "Sorry." She had apparently never seen him such a fowl mood before.
He took a deep sigh and counted to ten. "Sorry there Mary. Not your fault. I'm just annoyed. Didn't mean to snap at you there."
The girl grinned. Her partner did loose his temper sometimes. "No offense taken. Just a bit surprised that's all. You just seemed like you always have everything planned and ready for whatever gets thrown at you." She pointed out.
"Yes, That's because I do plan ahead for just about any outcome that arises, that and I'm pretty experienced at winging it when the situation goes to hell. Having yearly run ins with someone out to get you sort of helps." He fired off a spell at the gates, only for it to bounce off and set a nearby shrub on fire.
"Magical folk tend to not really learn from their mistakes and will always use the same method over and over again. This on the other hand," He pointed at the gate, "Is new and thus annoying. I can already tell the thing is extremely warded and unless either one of us can cast a perfect Killing Curse we are going to have to do this the hard way…" Harry trailed off a smirk gracing his lips.
Mary instantly recognized the look as one in which her partner had just discovered something new and interesting. "Which is?" Mary raised an eyebrow as she leaned forwards.
"Well seeing as I earlier said magical folk are a bit daft when it comes to certain things. I believe this would be an excellent example. Defodio." He pointed his wand at the no doubt thick stone wall and with a jerk caused a massive chunk of rock to come ripping out.
Mary ogled at the sight and smacked her hand to her forehead. "They didn't enchant the actual stones."
Harry smirked. "Plenty of wards, strengthening spells and repelling charms preventing anything from getting to the walls. Heck, plenty of spells on the wall as well. Too bad they didn't enchant each individual stone. Then again who would?" He shrugged as he yanked another large boulder out of the wall. "Well?" He gave his partner a stare.
"Oh, right." Mary drew her wand and proceeded to help.
XXXXX
Location Unknown – Deserted Town – Spire: Steward's Office
The two Vampires were startled as the entire Spire shook slightly from the resounding explosion coming from below them.
The Steward gave a questioning look.
"That would be the front door My Lord." The Vampire had been about to leave to carry out the orders when the explosion had occurred.
"They have breached the wall?" The Elder seemed almost shocked at the speed that their defenses had been breached.
"From the sound…" His sentence was interrupted by another Vampire running into the office.
"We're under attack. The main doors have been breached my Lord." The newcomer announced.
"Alert the others and summon the ghouls. The Master must not be disturbed." The Elder hissed.
"YES SIR!" Both hastily ran out of the office.
The Lord stared at the book he had been reading. "Wasn't that interesting anyway." He mumbled as he lifted an ancient broadsword from a display stand across the office.
XXXXX
Location Unknown – Deserted Town – Spire: Main Entryway
"So, I guess it's going to be wands blazing for you and sneaking for me." Mary rolled her eyes as she tapped her wand over her head and activated the cloak's disillusionment ability.
"Yeah, I'm the bait, going to cause as much chaos as possible. I'll take right, you go left. All routes generally meet at the Throne Room and that's probably at the higher levels if magical buildings are anything to go by." Harry waved his wand over the woman applying a few more simple yet effective charms.
Mary recognized the silencing, notice me not and scent covering, there were a few more she didn't recognize, but heck if Harry's ability was anything to go by, they probably worked extremely well.
"Now go." Harry ordered as he spied two Vampires hurtling towards them. "Reducto." The spell impacted on the corridor's stone walls showering the area in shrapnel.
One of the Vampires crumbled as a large piece of masonry smacked its head, the other further from the blast vaulted over it.
Harry dodged backwards avoiding the claw swipe and flashed stepped forwards in one fluid motion. Appearing behind the startled Vampire he drew his blade and swung around in one smooth turn. The blade bit into the left upper torso and the Vampire jerked. Harry's foot followed and rammed the Vampire forwards off his sword.
"Confringo." He followed through with the spell, blasting the assailant into bits of burning flesh. He grimaced, Vampire or not, he had taken a life yet again. Since Mary's encounter with the Killing Curse he had formed his resolve to always deal out deadly force. No matter what, dead was the ultimate method of removal.
Both Vampires, while fast, had been fairly young if their speed was anything to go by. It was a general statistic there were always few Elders a couple mid aged and tons of young fledglings. It was the mid aged and Elders that he had to watch out for.
His main advantage here was the Line-Of-Sight Apparation, he was slightly surprised that unlike the town, the Spire, as Mary kept calling it, wasn't warded. Then again the long thin angled corridors made that ability practically useless.
He absently fired a severing spell as he walked past the unconscious Vampire, liberating its head. He felt a slight pain in his chest at his action.
Harry once again wondered why all magical fortresses had long stone corridors. The Spire had definitely been heavily expanded on the inside he considered as he stalked past a suit of armor.
A slight cold shiver was his only warning as he dived forwards, a long clang of metal on stone indicated he had closely dodged a fatal hit. Harry spun around still crouched, sword and wand held at ready.
"Confringo." The hex, instead of exploding, merely dispersed upon contact.
'Magic resistant armor.' Harry identified as he backpedaled as the hulk of metal swung its poleaxe. 'That rules out animation.'
'Deprimo.' Harry silently unleashed a blast of wind, hurtling the steel clad individual into the wall.
Glad to have put some distance between him and the rather nasty poleaxe, Harry quickly aimed his wand at the wall. "Defodio, Waddiwasi." Using the earlier rock carving method, a large rock dislodged itself from the wall and flung itself into the advancing armor's head.
'Always attack the head.' Harry smirked as the faceplate deformed under the brutal strike and the knight collapsed backwards.
First thing Harry did was to levitate the crude bludgeoning tool and bring it down a few more times. Satisfied he nudged the badly dented helmet off.
Something was definitely wearing the armor. A magic resistant suit of armor just couldn't be enchanted. His left eye twitched at the gruesome sight. Despite his attempts to mash the things skull it was still intact. Harry snarled in disgust at the shriveled and dry face of what used to be a woman.
It was definitely a Ghoul. Not like the ones the Wizarding world were familiar with and kept as pets. Vampire Ghouls were as tenacious as Inferi, just smarter. They could wield weapons and were a lot faster. Thankfully they were extremely rare.
Ghouls were the result of a turning gone wrong. There was a one in a hundred chance of a victim going Inferi instead. Not the usual desired result in mind, but they did make excellent guardians. Coupled with magic resistant armor they were deadly.
Glancing at the armor he made note to smash/pummel all suits of armor on his way, regardless if they were occupied or not. He absently withdrew a small ampoule of blue liquid that he tossed casually over his shoulder. The containment shattered and the blue liquid rapidly evaporated.
XXXXX
Location Unknown – Deserted Town – Spire: Common Corridors
Mary considered herself extremely lucky as yet another group of Vampires rushed past the suit of armor she had taken cover behind.
Normally the chameleon like effects of the Disillusionment Charm wouldn't have protected her from a Vampire's superior vision. However the sounds of explosions from where she had left were no doubt occupying all the Vampires attention.
Twice already the castle had provided for her suit of armor to duck behind as a group ran by cursing. Mary emerged from her hiding place and made sure to stay away from any windows. The sunlight still filtering in played havoc with the charm and left multiple distortions in her image.
She had already made it up two levels with ease. Navigating the fortress hadn't been hard. As it was originally circular on the outside, the insides were similar as well. The main entrance split into two corridors that curved constantly within the tower before meeting with stairs to the next level.
She assumed the design was made not so much to confuse an attacker but to instead make them take a long route of spiraling corridors to make it to the next level.
Along the way she had passed by numerous rooms but held off entering them. She wasn't going to risk walking into an occupied one. Besides, Harry had told her to make it to the Throne Room, and she somehow entertained the thought that despite the defenders he would no doubt arrive before her.
XXXXX
Location Unknown – Deserted Town – Spire: Common Corridors
Harry rolled his eyes as he lazily sent a massive fireball, courtesy of the flamethrower spell down the length of the corridor. Like every other being composed of flesh, fire was a major threat. As such the small confined corridor was perfect for creating a massive wall of flames.
He heard the distinct sound of glass shattering and assumed a Vampire had thrown itself out the window then risk conflagration. As he advanced upon the burning bodies he noticed an open door and a badly singed Vampire in the room.
The thing was moaning in pain, Harry ignored it and spelled the door shut and layered multiple locking charms on it.
The armors hadn't given him any more trouble as the earlier Ghoul inhabited one did. He still didn't hesitate to smash every one he came upon.
He knew it wasn't right, but he was sorely disappointed with the lack of quality Vampires. So far he had only encountered non magical grunts that were most definitely cannon fodder. He supposed it was logical after all. Not many Vampires were magical as Muggles were easier to prey upon, and the magical ones usually lived longer, thus were further up. Magic was a benefit in keeping one alive after all.
He had yet to encounter a Vampire that could defend against the 'narrow corridor of flames' tactic. Sure he had encountered a few Vampires with wands, but they mostly relied on their superior reflexes to retreat, too bad magical fire advanced faster than one trying to backpedal.
He sighed as a door smashed open as he passed, a small ambush party waiting within the room. 'Deprimo, Deflagratio.' The sudden blast of wind took them by surprise and prevented their exit. The flamethrower followed and the screams of being burnt alive, gave a slight amount of pain in his chest.
'The next ambush I blast them back and lock them in.' He mentally amended as he reached corridor's end and entered the room after flaming it.
XXXXX
Location Unknown – Deserted Town – Spire: Stairway
Mary discretely snuck into the room, silently closing the heavy wooden doors behind her. She stuck to the walls in case a large group of Vampires decided to come down the stairs.
Like before, she hesitated on using the stairs. Focusing, she tried to discern if there was anyone approaching the stairwell, it wouldn't do to be bowled over when someone came rushing down.
Unlike her partner, she doubted she had a chance against a true undead in close quarters combat. She had barely decided to proceed, when a massive wave of searing hot flames poured into the room from the adjacent door.
She reacted instinctively, her wand held before her as a shield. She immediately felt the massive drain on her magical reserves as a brilliant shield covered and protected her from the magical fire.
"Mary?" The surprised voice of her partner called out.
She snarled in annoyance and deactivated the shield. "Ever heard of friendly fire?"
"You're not very friendly at the moment." He joked as he leveled one wand at the stairs and another at the door he just entered from.
"Well, you don't just go flaming every room you're about to enter. I could be in it." She conjured up two massive boulders and barricaded both doors as she fired locking and strengthening charms.
"I expected you'd be way ahead of me seeing as I'm the bait." He raised an eyebrow at her actions.
"I'm sneaking, something you seem to lack the ability to do. Instead of barreling down the corridors, I have to slowly avoid getting caught."
Harry shrugged. 'I got rid of most of the Vampires guarding the hallways for you. Just what are you doing!?" He indicated the heavily fortified exit.
"Preventing the Vampires from ambushing us, I heard a couple who ran past me saying they were going to double back and form an attack."
"Did they now?" Harry smirked as he played with a blue test tube.
Mary instantly recognized the look he had. It was the look of someone who just discovered that everything was going according to plan. "You planned on being ambushed?"
"Hey it was a lair. I expected long, narrow passageways deep beneath the earth, this seems pretty close." He shrugged. "They're Vampires, they shouldn't be so easily caught."
"What's it do?" Mary just accepted that he really did plan for just about anything to occur.
"This, my dear is a rather volatile potion I read about a while back. Not so much a potion but the result of a mistake. The book stated that adding one ingredient before the other results in a highly sublime solid." Harry waved the tube about.
"I take it the vapors are dangerous." Mary motioned for him to proceed up the stairs first.
"Not really." Harry informed. "They're actually extremely inert," He saw Mary's look of disbelief and amended his statement, "Inert til a particular amount of time passes."
"And then boom." Mary dead panned, already guessing the most likely effect her partner usually went for.
"Er… whoosh actually."
"Whoosh?" They reached the room above and Mary made for the left corridor.
"Whoosh." Harry confirmed as he left through the right door.
She frowned at his back trying to figure out what made a whooshing sound.
XXXXX
Location Unknown – Deserted Town – Spire: Common Corridors
Michal led the group of Vampires around the bend. He was in the oldest of the group and thus decided to be at the front. Unlike the others who were mere fledglings, he was a good century into his undead life.
Being born a Vampire also helped as he was more naturally used to recognizing and using his powers. As such he had easily picked up the smell of smoke, not that the dead burning bodies weren't a hint. He was in the front so that if anything were to occur his early warning would probably save most of his ambush team from a fiery death.
His ears twitched as banging and screaming came from a door further up the hallway. He jerked his arm as intent based magic was invoked. Natural born magical Vampires didn't require the use of wands like their turned counterparts and were thus capable of much greater feats of intent based magic. It was practically a natural talent.
"Follow me." He ordered as he swept past the doorway moving at superior speeds than his follow group members. The older a Vampire, the faster and deadlier they became.
He paused allowing the rest to catch up. His red trench coat fluttered as wind blew in from a shattered window ahead. Air wasn't a necessity and being born undead he seldom partook in breathing, unless he was hunting. He heard it was an act that the turned refused to give up on.
He took a deep breath tasting the air. The main scent was that of smoke and roasted flesh, the second was blood followed by the smell of rot coming through the window. He never got further, when his sensitive olfactory organs detected an almost faint tint in the air.
He frowned, it wasn't normal, the scent was practically non existent and he doubted any Vampire younger than him would have detected it.
He took another sniff of the air. It was unmistakable, there was a different and unique smell. He held out his arm, halting the members who came around the bend. A few more sniffs and steps brought him to a pile of smoldering Vampire remains. His eyes narrowed at the shatter pieces of glass on the stone floor.
There had been no broken windows nearby and a piece of broken fragments looked like the bottom of a test tube. His eyes narrowed, the scent was definitely coming from the stuff.
The wind shifted, the hairs on his forearms detecting the sudden change of air currents. The air was moving faster, this usually happened when flames were consuming much needed oxygen. However the air flow wasn't in the direction they were headed, it was opposite. His ears twitched as a faint whooshing sound could be heard.
He turned and his vision zoomed in further up the corridor. Small pieces of glass upon the floor reflected the sun's dying rays. The window was intact. He turned and spied similar pieces before his team.
His eyes widened in realization and fear.
"AMBUSH!!! OUT THE WINDOWS!!!" He roared and flung himself out the nearest exit.
He winced as the panes of glass cut into his exposed skin, his advanced healing already healing the flesh wounds. He spun in mid air in preparation to land and to get a look at the building he had just vacated.
His faster teammates had responded and followed his example of diving out the nearest window.
His eyes widened at the sight he received from the lower windows. A great fireball could be seen traveling across the lower floors upwards. Every so often a small fireball could be seen bursting out from a shattered window.
He growled as the fire caught up to his previous location, the small ball of flame consuming the Vampire making to leap out and the rest of the team remaining.
His feet hit the dirt of the courtyard as his remaining team landed around him. He side stepped the screaming body that smashed headfirst into the ground where he stood.
"Fuck." He summarized as half his team had been immolated and the rest having to make the long journey up five levels.
XXXXX
Location Unknown – Deserted Town – Spire: Forbidden Corridors' Entrance
Harry paused in his advance as he came upon a single Vampire awaiting him at the corridor's end.
"Halt." The figure calmly announced.
Harry arched an eyebrow and responded appropriately. "Deflagratio." The overcharged flamethrower spell unleashed a massive wave of scorching white flames down the path.
Harry's view was immediately obscured by the fire and was thus caught by surprise when a distortion in the air sliced into his shoulder. He grimaced in pain and was forced to duck another that flew past his head.
His eyes widened as his flames that were traveling down the corridor suddenly seemed to be advancing upon himself instead.
"Oh fuck. Deprimo." He fired a blast of wind to hamper the flames advance.
Quick thinking saved him a fiery death like his earlier victims as he blasted down a nearby door and flung himself into it. Ending with a roll he jumped to his feet and blasted another wave of wind at the doorway.
The wind prevented the flames from entering and roasting him as the traveled further down the hallway.
Harry looked about the room. It was large and empty like many of the others that he had passed on the lower levels. It was excellent for dueling or simply storing unneeded stuff. He actually did wonder why someone would go to the trouble of expanding all the rooms in the place to the size of a small family home. 'Space is no matter to magical folk.' He mentally realized. After all, who wouldn't want massive rooms if space cost nothing but a bit of magic?
'Voco Calo Ignigena' Harry waved his wand to his right and conjured up a large magical fire. The red flames rose to his height and constantly sent out small sparks and embers.
His attention however wasn't on the flames, the earlier Vampire had just walked into the room as calmly as he had been standing in the hallway.
"Firing a great ball of flame is not the way one normally introduces himself." The man spoke as if lecturing a small child, which Harry supposed he was if age was taken into account. The Vampire was no doubt an extremely powerful mage when he was alive or a rather aged Vampire. The turning process played havoc on ones living magic and made it weaker than it was in life.
"Neither is trying to decapitate them." Harry replied his sword pointed downwards in anticipation.
"Touché." The man smirked showing off his pearly white fangs. "My names Valdosta, may I enquire as to the name of my opponent?"
"You may.' Harry slowly stepped to the right as both began circling one another.
A moment of silence passed as the Vampire approached and glanced at the angry flames. He smiled as he caught Harry's taunt. "And what is your name then?"
"I didn't say I would answer now did I?" Harry smirked despite knowing it probably wouldn't be seen.
The Vampire however did pick up on the emotion. "Rather rude aren't you…" Further conversation was interrupted as the flames gave small flare of red sparks.
"Shit." The Vampire jumped back startled as a gaping maw snapped out from the fire aiming at his legs.
The undead moved by cautiously as the hissing announced the emergence of a Salamander from the flames.
Harry smiled the creature was similar to a large monitor lizard provided one managed to ignore the glowing red scales and small tendrils of flames whispering off between its joints.
"You like?" Harry questioned waving his wand and creating another similar flame.
"Die!" Valdosta hissed as a distortion in the air signified an incoming attack. Harry ducked to his right and smirked as the Vampire was forced to dodge when the Salamander lunged for him and fired off a shower of embers.
Harry was slightly disappointed with the young fire lizards. The ones he had seen were had been able to literally breath flames. At least they still had teeth. 'Oppugno.' He commanded the two emerging summons to attack the Vampire.
Valdosta hissed in annoyance and waved his arm effectively splitting one of his attackers into two. The lizard gave a moan of pain before exploding in embers. Seeing their brethren's demise only spurred the other two one to attack harder.
However against a Vampire's speed they were merely an annoyance. Harry knew that and instead of making more left the two fires to continue spawning allies.
Harry rolled out of the way of several spells as the Vampire relied on his speed to remain out of the lizard's jaws. Harry mentally congratulated himself on the idea of a constant ally spawning source as another two Salamanders prevented the Vampire from approaching.
He returned fire with a small barrage of slashing and severing spells. The Vampire easily dodged the relatively slow spell and instead of retaliating, chose to kill off the two attacking summons. Valdosta snarled when he realized that in the time it took to kill off the two and evade the spells another four had spawned from the flames.
Harry smirked, continuing his barrage but stayed back and ready, he wanted to see how this turned out. Waving his wand he unleashed a small fireball at the Vampire.
To his surprise, Valdosta leaped upwards and defying the laws of gravity, walked upon the ceiling.
"Enough!" Valdosta announced annoyed and now out of the reach of attackers. He clapped his hands together and the fires died out.
Harry frowned as his summons moaned as their energy left them and they crumbled into chunks of burnt rock, their fires extinguished.
'Otheo Shatteria.' Harry was surprised when the Vampire's hands glowed white and he simply deflected the bone shattering curse with a swipe.
Valdosta's red eyes burned with annoyance as he flung himself off the ceiling and at Harry. Eyes widening Harry twirled his cloak and flashed to the opposite side of the room.
Valdosta snarled. "We could play this all day mortal. I'm too fast for your spells and you don't seem to want to say still for melee combat."
"Are you now?" Harry smirked and tapped the wall behind him with a wand. "Otheo Shatteria."
Valdosta easily swatted the bone shattering curse but was surprised when it deflected off the wall at an angle and continued flying throughout the room.
"I can shield while you have to block." Harry announced as he began firing off a multitude of spells with one wand and deflecting with the other while keeping to a corner of the room.
Valdosta was wide eyed as his superior vision calculated the increasing number of spell hurtling around the room. His arms were moving at a blinding pace as he deflected the jets of lights. He too had taken shelter at the opposite corner.
"Bye bye now." Harry waved and flashed stepped out the doorway. He conjured a door and flashed to the door that Valdosta had been guarding earlier.
He was amazed when the sound of splintering wood behind him announced the Vampire's return.
Valdosta had escaped managed to dodge most of the spells and had used his brute strength to barrel through the door. The tears and blood on his suit indicated he had not done so unscathed.
The Vampire growled in fury his red eyes gleaming in the setting sunlight. "I'll have your hide for this."
"Really? I suggest you run." Harry wrenched a massive boulder out of the wall and flung it down the hallway.
Valdosta made for another room to avoid getting smash. "Avada Kedavra." The Vampire jerked back as the green Killing Curse flashed by, prevent him from entering.
"Avada Kedavra, Avada Kedavra, Avada Kedavra, Avada Kedavra." The multiple curses prevented him from entering a room or retreating down the bend in the hallway.
Valdosta's eyes widened in fear as the boulder advanced. He cursed and took the only option left. "Curse you!" He screamed as he threw himself out the window, narrowly avoiding being smashed as the boulder rammed into the wall.
Harry snorted at the Vampire falling for the fake Killing Curse barrage. No one, not even Voldemort had the power to constantly fire successful Killing Curses. The Elder he had faced had been much more of a challenge.
XXXXX
Location Unknown – Deserted Town – Spire: Common Corridors
Mary paused in her sneaking and tilted her head in surprise. She could just pick up the sounds of screaming and banging ahead of her.
Mary approached, picking up her pace, displaying less caution than she had been earlier. If anything, it was not normal Vampire behavior to cause as much noise during an invasion of their lair. Vampires appreciated silence where they could utilize their superior hearing to its maximum potential.
Mary ridiculously entertained the idea that her maniac partner her somehow overtaken her, doubled back down her corridor and locked some non magical Vampires in a room. Mary snorted, the chances he would waste his time on something like that was just ludicrous.
"- Out of this room you stupid blood sucking fucks."
Mary caught the tail end of a screaming rant as she got closer. The woman smirked at some of the more colorful phrases she decided to incorporate into her future repertoire of words.
"Arrrghh!" A sharp crash and wood splintering followed the scream of rage.
The voice was definitely female if the high pitch was anything to go by.
"Let me out! You fucking blood bags can't keep me locked up forever!"
The Witch shrugged, the girl didn't seem to like the Vampires very much and the old saying usually held true, 'Enemy of my enemy, is a friend of mine'.
She waved her wand slashed her wand at the door unleashing a burst of intent based magic. Mary choked out a gasp as the magic left her feeling much more drained than usual. The door had been warded pretty heavily.
The person inside must have noticed the situation as the banging instantly cut off followed by a click.
Mary warily backed up as the door slowly swung open of its own accord.
A head stuck out through the crack and tilted in Mary's direction. Blue eyes blinked and an eyebrow rose.
"I can see you pretty clearly as you're standing in the worse spot possible for a Disillusionment Charm." The female had a pleasant lilting voice that immediately made Mary jealous.
"Crap." Mary voiced as she realized the sun was in the process of setting and the glaring vermillion rays easily gave away her position. She did however take comfort that it would only last for another fifteen or so minutes before darkness claimed the fortress and at least she now had a potential ally.
"You aren't a Vampire." The girls stated the obvious.
Mary cancelled the Disillusionment Charm as she inspected the girl who had emerged fully from the room.
Her straight raven locks flowed down her shoulders, stopping at her waist, the white streaks brightly reflected in the dying sun. Mary estimated the girl was around five feet tall, and around sixteen years of age, Mary couldn't really be sure as she had the whole gothic Lolita look going for her. The female had a rather thin yet strong facial structure and peculiarly arched nostrils with a high bridged nose.
Looking downwards she refrained from rolling her eyes at the weird neo gothic style that Vampire aristocracy seemed to favor. The girl was dressed in a frilly dark red dress coupled with an assortment of dark green ribbons and was finished off with a black corset and choker. Mary assumed the numerous buckles on the corset were rather for design than restriction. She had a few rips on some of the lace work, probably caused during her capture.
"Are you checking me out?" The girl she rescued seemed almost amused.
"Your fashion is rather unique." Mary commented as she noted the girl's lack of extended canines and relaxed a bit more. She still turned her head up and down the corridor incase someone was approaching silently.
The female snorted and rolled her eyes. "Stupid Vampires and their fashion traditions, I would much prefer jeans but one can't be choosy from such a limited wardrobe in my current conditions."
"Who are you and why are you locked up?" Mary asked the question that seemed most important.
"Me? I'm Lucy Murray, been here all my life. Been trying to escape for the last few years, but I keep getting caught. Managed to get up to the front doors this time, would have made it out if some idiot hadn't set off the alarms for breaching the wards." She glared at Mary at this point in annoyance.
"Er… Sorry, I guess." Mary shrugged seemingly unconcerned at the girls failed escape. "I'm Mary Sue."
Lucy arched an eyebrow at the name. "Really, well shit, your parent really hated you. On that note, why can't I see your face?"
Mary coughed. "Yes, I am a Mary Sue and I'm an Unspeakable here to meet with whoever owns this Lair."
The raven haired girl snorted. "Unspeakable eh, well good luck with that, I'm out of here." She started to head in the opposite direction unconcerned as she gave a backwards wave.
"Wait!" Mary halted the girl.
Lucy stopped but refused to turn. "Yes? You already ruined an escape, I should be making the best of the current situation and use your assault and the chaos to escape this den of blood sucking lowlifes."
"Yeah… about that, I doubt you could." Mary pointed out the window she was standing before.
Lucy glanced out the window nearest to her and started to curse in a foreign language. When she was done, she took a deep breath and glared at Mary. "The Vampires are gathered in the courtyard."
"My partner was rather creative in his traps." Mary informed.
The escapee seemed to be thinking things over as she crossed her arms and perched a hand beneath her chin. "Fine." She huffed. "Might as well accompany you then, makes no difference to me now, might as well save the Vampires the trouble of them dragging me back up. At least with you I just might get out of here."
Mary smiled. "That's the way." Mary patted her on the back. "We woman have to stick together." She joked.
Lucy snorted. "Optimists." She mumbled making sure the other girl heard her. The new girl kicked down a nearby armor and requisitioned its warhammer and short sword. She gave a few experimental swings and nodded in affirmation at her new weapons.
Mary raised an eyebrow but held back her comment. "Would you like a wand? I have a spare that might work." Mary offered.
The girl stared disdainfully at the stick in Mary's grip. "I'm not a Witch and I rather prefer a weapon that would actually work for me if a bloodsucker decided to indulge itself on myself."
"Suit yourself." Mary assumed the girl might have something against magic if she had been held captive by magical creatures for as long as she claimed.
"Excellent, now disillusion us both and we can see to getting you to the throne room."
Mary tapped the wand on Lucy's head. The girl seemed to accept magic being used on her but seemed to have something against Mary wielding a wand. 'Weird.' Mary thought.
"Good." Lucy complimented and both proceeded up the tower, pausing for Lucy, who had decided to sidestep and slam a lone Vampire in the temple with her hammer as she swept by.
A further decapitation by sword left Mary slightly pale at the ruthlessness displayed by the teenage female.
"Fucking lowborn shits." The girl had commented as she grabbed a fistful of the Vampire's clothes and wiped off the blood staining her sword before calmly continued on.
'Why do I always get the screwed up teenagers?' Mary thought as she avoided stepping on the pool of blood from the cooling corpse.
XXXXX
Location Unknown – Deserted Town – Spire: Courtyard
Valdosta's eyebrow twitched in pain as the shock of slamming into the ground after a six story dive out the window set in.
The elite Vampire forced his body upright despite the pain shooting up his knees. The Vampire's healing ability was already repairing the torn muscles and cracked bones.
Valdosta's eyes narrowed at the small group of Vampires gathered around the entryway into the fortress.
"Who's in charge here?" He snapped off the question as he stalked towards them.
"Valdosta?" The familiar voice of Michal called out from within the crowd. "Hah! I see he got you as well."
"Cheap Wizarding tricks." Valdosta growled at his wounded pride. "Why are you here Michal? You were supposed to ambush the intruders."
Michal shrugged. "Got ambushed instead, whoever it was left us… presents. My whole team was damn near destroyed via booby traps. Besides we wouldn't have made it to him in time after we had been forcibly vacated. Seeing as you're here he's probably entered the forbidden sectors."
Valdosta gnashed his teeth. "Yes. Pursuit is no longer an option."
Michal shrugged. "Guess we wait outside then, in case they try to exit. I suppose it's up to Lord Melchior and the fortress's defenses now."
Valdosta snorted. "I suppose we wait then."
Michal smirked and held out a mug. "Chocolate?"
Valdosta growled in annoyance as he shot his friend a baleful glare.
Author's Note:
Anyway here's the next chapter. I apologize for it ending a bit suddenly. I originally wanted to finish the entire mission in one chapter like I always do. However, when I sat down a typed this particular excursion up, I just kept going.
The result was a chapter spanning 17000 words and I wasn't even finished yet. As such in keeping with my usual chapter length of around 10000 words as well as my now quite usual update of 3 weeks, I decided to chop the chapter into two parts.
Seeing as I still haven't finished the whole Vampire thing yet, I decided it was best to simply go with posting the update rather than making you all wait another three weeks before I update a massive chunk that would probably stall some slower net users.
On another note, bloody Blizzard announced that Starcraft 2 has been yet again postponed till 2010. I mean WTF? They announced it's released all the way back in 2005 and said it was coming out in 2006. I upgraded my computer and guess what? It got delayed. So basically, they're 4 years behind scheduled release.
I just hope that it lives up to everybody's expectation as 5 years is a really freaking long wait. Not to mention that I already paid for my preordered copy. Having a preorder option just got my hopes up that it really was going to be released soon.
On that note they are releasing each campaign as its own individual game. Thus you have to actually buy the Terran, Zerg and Protoss campaign. How bull is that? The game better deliver or I'm seriously considering boycotting Blizzard games, maybe except for Warcraft 4 (when I does eventually comes out in 2015 or so).
ENSIGN
Nunquam
Lamiae Morde "Me Ictus"