Chapter 3: A World of Pain

A whip landed hard on his back, tearing through skin and muscle again and again. Blood ran down his back, pooling beneath him. Chained on all fours on the floor, Kai knew he was in trouble. The assassin knew it would take much more than this to break his mind, but his body was systematically being destroyed.

"Come on, assassin, it's been five days. I could go forever, but how much more can you take, hmm?" Avery laughed.

'Sick bastard,' Kai thought.

"Unbreakable as diamond, immovable as the earth itself," Kai repeated to himself.

Most Rikers at the school believed Kai's mantra was simply that, a mantra. What few knew was that it was part of a bloodmagic set that Kai had designed himself. The runes, which were invisible at all times, even when active, banded just below the Parseltongue on his biceps. They were activated by his mantra when spoken in parseltongue and they worked by calming and centering his mind. It was one of his secret techniques that made him famous in the school for interrogation resistance.

Another lash ripped through his back, tearing into the bone of his left shoulder blade. Kai's mouth opened involuntarily in a silent scream. The assassin's limbs shook with the effort to hold himself up, his eyes glazed over in pain. The world was fading.

"You're losing him," Leander said to Avery as he observed the body language of the prisoner.

"Fine," spat Avery, "it's your turn anyway." He cleaned and coiled the leather three-tailed whip, glaring at Leander.

The Death Eaters resented the power Leander wielded and his position with Voldemort, especially since he wasn't a branded Death Eater.

Today, Leander didn't care, he was going to do something he'd wanted to do since Kai stepped foot in Riker. Kai's power was almost tangible; the power in his blood calling out to vampire population. However, as a blood magician even at that young of an age, Kai was practically untouchable. On top of it his occlumency made him impossible to seduce. Not a single vampire in that school, that he knew of, had gotten even a single drop of his blood before. Not one.

Walking over to his rival, he fed him a healing potion and casting a quick healing and bandaging spell on him. A quick Scourgify cleaned him of dirt and blood. Licking his lips, he easily bent down and lifted Kai to his feet, his left arm under Kai's and pressing Kai's back against his chest. Kai fought weakly, but he was too small compared to Leander and to weak from torture and no food. Leander was six and a half feet of vampiric power while Kai was short and lean. Using his right hand, he pushed Kai's now matted hair off the side of his neck.

"Barracas?" Kai murmured softly, barely conscious, his eyes closed.

Kai's eyes shot open, though, when Leander's right hand gently pushed his head to the side and he licked the side of Kai's long neck, searching for just the right spot. With delight, the vampire felt Kai's heartbeat race and his breathing sped up; he knew what was coming.

"Hmmm…" the vampire purred in Kai's ear, savouring the disgusted shiver that ran down Kai's spine, "I've wanted to do this for so long," and with that said, he plunged his elongated fangs into the smooth skin of his rival's neck.

With the first drink, Leander descended into ecstasy. Pure power flowed in the blood of the Bloodmagic Master, like nothing Leander had ever tasted. He lost himself, drinking slowly, savouring.

Avery and Malfoy watched, both disgusted and fascinated, as the vampire drank from the prisoner. To their shock, the Shadow was visibly panicking. The normally stoic assassin's eyes were wide in an almost animalistic panic, though they slowly drooped as he weakened. Small sounds of panic escaped his throat, more sound than they had managed in almost a week.

As much was Kai was visibly panicking, it was much more on the inside. He knew how addicting his blood was and he feared Leander would not be able to stop until he killed Kai. Using all his strength, he lifted his right arm and gripped the back of the vampire's head.

"Leander!" he hissed, but Leander wasn't stopping. With a burst of adrenaline, Kai gripped harder and tore Leander's head off his neck, gritting his teeth as he felt the razor sharp fangs tear into his neck, snapping the vampire out of his trance. Still bleeding heavily from the neck wounds, Kai collapsed into his rival's arms, his vision tunnelling before he passed out entirely.

Leander, still high off the power surge, dropped him and managed only a few steps before falling to his hands and knees gasping.

"Barracas, are you okay?" Avery questioned, stepping closer to the vampire. He gasped when Leander lifted his head. The vampire's cat-like pupils were completely dilated and glowed with power.

"Holy shit!" Leander gasped. "His blood has so much magic in it... addicting... if Kai had not pulled me off, I would have drained him dry."

The Death Eaters helped the still unsteady vampiric assassin to his feet.

"No one's been able to get a reaction out of him like that."

Picking up Kai's limp form, he licked the open neck wounds, healing them. He threw his thin rival over his shoulder and started walking back towards Kai's cell. Leander loved the feeling of power he was getting from having so much control over the Shadow.

"He's a blood mage; that means he carries a great deal of his magical power in his blood. It is more essential to his life than a normal wizard; therefore, it hurts him more to have it drained. He protects it viciously. All his instincts went wild the moment he knew what I intended."

"Good. We've had to have a guard holding a magic suppression ward on his cell to deal with his wandless abilities. This might be a solution to that issue."

Leander set the unconscious assassin down on the floor of his cell. He ennervated Kai long enough to force feed him a double dose of blood replenisher, before allowing him to fall back into unconsciousness.

The vampire licked his lips as he left the dungeon, "We'll do this again soon, Shadow, real soon."

Unbreakable as diamond, immovable as the earth itself.

If Kai felt something at the moment, it was anything but unbreakable. To the contrary, he was sure a high proportion of the bones in his body were broken. He had to admit, Lucius was talented. For a man who hated Muggles, he excelled at Muggle torture techniques. Kai was covered in hundreds of razor cuts, many still bleeding and most definitely infected.

It had been a day since Leander had fed on him; Kai shivered thinking of it, and his body was still reeling. His bloodmagics, the ones that helped him heal were down. Leander had literally sucked a huge amount of power of Kai's out with his blood.

The assassin felt his temperature rising dangerously high and his mind clouding with pain. He knew if it got any worse he would likely begin to hallucinate. He dropped into a restless sleep.

When he woke sometime later a cold hand was pressed on his forehead gently.

"Fever…bad…bastard Lucius," he heard muttered above him in an unfamiliar deep rumble.

"Good, you're awake, drink this," a vial was pressed to his lips. Unable to fight it, and sensing no ill intention from the man, he drank it and several other potions before falling heavily into unconsciousness once more.

"He doesn't have much time," Potion Master Severus Snape muttered. He had been in a dark mood since he had been assigned, by Voldemort, to keep their newest celebrity prisoner alive.

Albus Dumbledore leaned back in his chair, hands steepled, "Have you learned any more about him? What are the others saying?"

"He's powerful, very powerful. Apparently he's been responsible for the Inner Circle killings that Shacklebolt has been telling us about, the one who took down the Lestrange brothers."

The headmaster leaned forward, interest piqued. He had been hearing little bits about the prisoner for over a week from Severus and had been considering running an operation to pull him out. "Really now? If he's so powerful, how did he get caught?"

The dark haired man shifted in his seat, "They had Rookwood kill the unspeakable that was his contact from the ministry then champion to be his replacement. They then hired him to assassinate Malfoy within a certain time and went so far as rigging Malfoy's house up with muggle intruder systems, something the assassin would never have expected. Malfoy slept clothed and armed for 2 weeks with a set of armed guards on the property at all times."

"He could be a great asset to the Order," Dumbledore seemingly wondered out loud, really testing for Severus' reaction.

"He's a dark wizard and an assassin, Albus, not exactly your normal member."

"Neither are you, my boy, neither are you."

Severus narrowed his dark eyes, "And your point is?"

"If we were to pull him out, what would the chances be of him joining us?"

"Unknown. He's a Riker; he has all the resources he needs to take his own revenge if he decides to go solo."

Albus' eyes widened just a split second, now that was a surprise, "A Rikerian assassin? Indeed, he must be powerful. He would feel in our debt though, would he not?" the headmaster continued.

"Most likely," the spy said resignedly. "Does that mean I have permission to pull him out?"

A thoughtful nod gave Snape his answer.

Severus had seen many bad things after he became a Death Eater, but watching them tear about someone that reminded him so much of his first friend tore him to the core.

"He would be a formidable ally," the potion master interjected. "The assassin hates the Dark Lord and he has no fear of the Dark Lord's power."

"Are you willing to take the risk, Severus?"

Snape barked a bitter laugh, "We both know the Dark Lord suspects me, Albus. As it is, I'm losing my usefulness now that he has Barracas. Every time I get called could be my last."

The old wizard sighed, guilt flashing through him. Stroking his long white beard, he spoke, "All right, Severus, speak to the assassin about it. He knows his own limits."

The potion master nodded sharply before turning on his heel and leaving.

Kai had noticed the tall, grumbling medic that had kept him alive for the last 2 weeks. He knew some of the potions he had been given were by order, but some, like the mild pain reliever and the fever reducer that kept his mind clear, were not. He heard, while the man thought he was unconscious, the stranger's mutterings. Strategies ran through Kai's throbbing head over and over. That's how Kai decided that he would speak to the medic next time he came.

'Which should be soon,' the weary assassin thought to himself. Snape always came at night after one of his sessions with Lucius. The bastard brought his little heir with him this morning. Lucius tried extra hard to get him to scream, trying to show off. What Lucius missed was how horrified his son looked, if you need wjat to watch for.

His internal clock told him it was nearing midnight. Leander should have done his round lomg ago, well before the medic arrived. It took every ounce of willpower Kai had to stay awake and coherent through the pain.

The shadowed darkness of his cell caused his skin to lightly tingle when his magic was at its most recovered, like tonight, as it had been over two days since Leander had fed on him. The tingling told him he was nearing the threshold of shadow-stalking, a mage power he had that previously worked only sporadically. Shadow-stalking, the reason he got his name, allowed an individual to disappear into a shadow at one location and appear in one elsewhere. The sensation told him that they had passed July 31st. Kai's coming of age solidified his grasp on his mage powers. Unfortunately, they kept him too magically depleted to do anything but ensure his continued existence. The tingling was near maddening as he knew it was just out of reach.

He closed his eyes, meditating to keep centered, listening for the near silent footfalls that signalled the medic's arrival. Soon after, his heart jumped with nervous energy as he heard them approach. Green eyes snapped open as he heard the sounds of a scuffle and a body slam into the frigid stone walls.

"Move, Snape, I'm late," the assassin's stomach dropped as he heard the sharp baritone that only came from Leander.

'Damn,' he thought, 'there must be a way I can be able to speak to the medic. But Leander normally drains me to unconsciousness...fuck my pride.'

Snape stood outside the cold dark cell, raging on the inside at his inability to do anything for the assassin. The eyes that were cool, collected and powerful in front of the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters filled with hatred at the sight of Leander. His face fell into a look of resignation from his position leaning against the back wall, watching the vampire approach.

"Snape," the Dark Lord's second snapped, "come in here. I need you to pull me off when he passes out, that's the indicator that I've taken enough."

The dark potion master entered the cell, sneering mask in place, standing just on the other side of the bars. With a wave of his hand, Barracas cast a cleaning spell on the prisoner, removing layers of dirt and blood from his bruised body. The now sneering vampire bent over and hauled the much smaller assassin to his feet, blood lust shining in his eyes.

Snape watched with what could be called morbid fascination as the vampire pushed the prisoner against the wall harshly, flipping the long black hair out of the way.

"Kai," Leander purred, just loud enough for the potion master to hear, "I will never tire of this," and sunk his extended fangs in his neck. The prisoner, known now to Severus as "Kai", gasped in pain, the strangled quality of the sound showing Kai's struggle to breath. The potion professor carefully watched the man's eyes, seeing them flash with an animalistic panic and fury.

The almost familiar emerald eyes' power weakened quickly, clouding over in intense pain. A vampire could make the experience pleasant for his victim, but Snape quite doubted he would do so for Kai. One look at the assassin told Snape that Kai would hate that even more, making it even more like a rape than it already was.

A strangled gasp came from the prisoner as Leander shifted, pulled Kai closer to him possessively, sinking his teeth in further.

Only moments more passed before, chest heaving, Kai's eyes rolled up and he collapsed, unconscious in Barracas arms. Knowing this was his cue; Severus walked forward and snapped the vampire from his trance. The Dark Lord's right hand snarled, still bloody fangs gleaming, eyes glowing with power, and released his victim. Kai fell to the floor, back against the wall, head slumped to his chest. Two vicious holes ripped into his neck.

With a look of disgust to Snape, Leander swept from the room.

Turning back to the prisoners he met a pair of emerald eyes set in a face showing a weak smirk.

Snape smirked back, "Impressive," he drawled.

Then prisoner rasped a laugh, "Leander is so high on my bloodmagic right now he wouldn't see a deception if it," he paused, a hacking cough ripping through his chest, speckling his thin lips with blood, before continuing, "bit him on the ass."

Quickly, the potions professor kneeled to Kai's right, pulling numerous potions from the inside of his robes and, recognizing the prisoner was too drained, helped him take the potions. When he was finished, Severus sat back on his heels.

Kai closed his eyes, savouring the pain free moments, "What can I do for you?"

Snape quickly threw up a silencing ward; he then did something Kai never expected, spoke in the Rikerian language, "I am an agent of the Order of the Phoenix. I've been given authorization to get you out."

The assassin stared this gift horse in the mouth. With Snape touching him, Kai could reach out his senses and feel the honesty in the man's aura.

"Why would the Order spare resources to free me?" Kai looked at him suspiciously. "They must know I'm a dark wizard."

Snape nodded, understanding his reservations, "Leadership felt you'd be a powerful ally."

The prisoner finally got a good look at the medic. He was tall, much taller than Kai, and broad at the shoulder, like Leander. Black hair fell almost to his shoulders, lank and greasy. He had dark, near black eyes and a nose that looked like it had been broken in a brawl. The lines of his face suggested he was a hard man from a hard life.

"The head of the Order told me to speak with you before creating any plans, as you know more about what you're capable of than anyone."

Kai nodded, "These potions, they are not Leander's. Did you brew these?"

"Yes, I am the other potion master on base."

"Good. I can transport us off base," he paused, weakly holding up his left hand to quiet Snape, "Yes, through the wards. Now a number of important things have to happen for me to get out of this place alive. One, the transport requires for me to be alert both physically and magically; I'll need anything you can make that will allow that to happen for as long as possible. I will transport us to a location familiar to myself. Have a Portkey ready to take us from that location to your secure location, which I assume is Hogwarts," he paused for confirmation, "as we both know, I'm in desperate need of medical attention."

"Anything else?" The plan was so simple, nothing difficult to manage.

"This may be difficult. On the night I was captured, three blades were taken from me. One of these is pitch black metal with an emerald hilt carved into a striking snake," Kai stared at the dark medic, hoping desperately that he knew the location of his Dagger of Power.

"I know this blade. Lucius stole it but found himself unable to touch it. It's in my lab at Hogwarts right now for testing," Snape raised a perfect eyebrow, curious as to how a blade could hold this powerful warrior's life.

The assassin visibly relaxed; his dagger was safe from the taint of death magic inherent in this damn building. "Then I will be able to take more risks magically. That dagger will let me recover from otherwise deadly magical exhaustion." Kai's eyes narrowed, "I wouldn't normally get involved with fighting factions such as yours, but I find myself feeling a bite spiteful these past weeks," the feral grin on the assassin's face made Severus smirk in anticipation of impending mayhem.

"You know of the state of Lucius' wards?" Snape nodded. "They are quite literally hanging by a thread. So…let's imagine that someone told the Order the exact coordinates of the Malfoy manor," Kai gave the professor a look that said exactly who that would be, "and they were 100 meters outside of the wards as the whole set fell…"

Snape smirked at the possibilities.

"Oh, one last important thing. If I am not conscious when we arrive at your location, please advise the medic to not use any healing potions or spells on me. When I regain consciousness I'll advise them if my magic levels are high enough. If they do otherwise the additional magical strain could kill me." Kai looked deep into Snape's eyes, his green eyes hard, trying to convey exactly how serious this was. 'When I'm conscious I'll be able to use the danger to restore my magical energy to safe levels."

"It will be as you say," Snape nodded in understanding.

"I will prepare then; you know what you must do.," with that said Kai stopped fighting the pain and exhaustion and slipped into unconsciousness.

He didn't see the frown on Severus Snape's angular face as he stood, 'Something so familiar, the eyes and that smirk…'

Setting it aside to think about later, Snape immediately headed to Hogwarts to tell Albus of his success.