Chapter 4: Escape
Snape came two days later, looking nervous. He looked even more nervous when he saw Kai. Kai knew he looked bad; Lucius had gone another round on him yesterday with his blades. There wasn't one inch of him not in part covered with his own blood. The only upside, Kai thought, was that they believed he would be magically drained from the blood loss so Leander need not drink from him that night. This wasn't true as it was a special vampiric magic that drained the magic in his blood. His body was at its absolute worst but his magic just might be good enough to get him through this without going into shock.
When Snape knelt beside him, the assassin could not summon the physical strength to lift his head off the frigid stone floor. The potion master gently touched his shoulder, catching his attention.
"The Order of the Phoenix is a half kilometre off the wards. I have the potions you require," he spoke quietly.
Kai lifted his left hand, silently requesting assistance. Snape gently lifted the assassin into a sitting position, holding the swaying man up with a hand on his shoulder. He then helped him take the necessary potions.
"Gods, I feel like hell," Kai rasped before coughing hard. "Let's get this over with. The assassin reached out and grasped the spy's left arm, pulling up his sleeve and pressing his hand over the dark mark, feeling Tom's magical signature.
"This is all going to happen very quickly. Just clear your mind and focus on linking your magic to me. These wards are going to come down hard."
Snape nodded, but Kai had already closed his eyes and cast himself out to the outer wards. Taking a deep breath, he pulled the trigger thread. The very foundations of the manor shook when they fell, raining dust and dirt on the dungeon's occupants.
Letting his magic weave off of him he raised the anti-apparation and anti-Portkey wards, preventing the magical escape of any Death Eaters in the manor and the Dark Lord himself.
Pulling back into himself, he linked himself to Snape's aura, wrapping it in his own mage power. His magic sought the shadows, they became one and quickly shifted the pair into the shadows of the nearest Riker safehouse. Only a slight jerk and a sudden feel of smooth hard wood beneath him told Kai they had safely escaped, before the energizers wore out and he collapsed forward. Always quick, Snape caught the youth.
Snape quickly held a pendant around his neck and gripping the assassin tight, whispered "Freedom."
The hospital wing floor came hard for them both and Severus was glad that the assassin was already out.
"Sweet Merlin, Severus!" the sharp voice of Poppy Pomfrey startled him.
The medic swooped down on him, levitating the prisoner from his arms to a bed. A quick medical cleaning spell removed the blood and Poppy gasped.
"No healing potions? Is he mad?" she shrieked, distressed.
"Yes, he said his magic levels may be too low to support it. Nothing until he wakes."
Poppy fussed before binding all his broken bones. His right hand and wrist bones would need to be removed and replaced when possible. She bandaged all the open wounds, using Muggle methods. When she was satisfied he was stable she turned to Snape.
"Severus, why don't you rest, you look like you haven't slept for days," she cleaned the blood off his arms and robes and gently led him to a bed, slipping him a dreamless sleep potion saying it was a calming draught. It was a sign of how tired he was that he either didn't notice or didn't care. Quickly, he was sleeping quietly on the bed next to her newest patient. Poppy noticed as she stepped up to him that he bore a resemblance to someone she once knew, but she couldn't place it.
Curious, she ran as scan of his magical core. She was shocked. Low core, my bottom, she thought, his core magical energy was above average for a wizard, not low at all. She decided then that the young man must've been wrong and dosed him with numerous healing potions before putting him into pajamas and magicking his still shivering form under the covers. She bound him lightly to the bed, preventing him from shifting in his sleep and jarring his healing injuries. With a final look, she cast a ward to alert her when he awoke and left for her office.
Kai jolted awake six hours later, magical alarms blaring in his mind. The thestral was frantic, his magic levels a finger width above critical. Upon finding himself bound, the thestral went mad, its instincts ramming through the mental shields he had around them, flooding his mind. His breathing was rapid, causing his chest to heave against his healing ribs.
He withdrew into himself, using Occlumency to try and calm the beast, but it was useless. Until he had evidence that they would be safe, the beast would keep fighting, never quite trusting Kai. This only happened when he was this weak magically. He considered it the only weakness for using a soul animagus.
His blazing green eyes shot open, taking in his surroundings quickly. White curtains, ceiling, sheets, the sterile smell; he was in a hospital.
Just then, a small woman opened the curtains, "Good morning young man," she then released the bindings.
Before she could say anything else, Kai darted out of the curtains with a cat like quickness that belied his injuries, looking for escape. Unfortunately, he immediately came face to face with a rather tall, powerful old wizard who Kai knew to be Albus Dumbledore.
He jumped back, bouncing lightly on the balls of his feet, his stance screaming: fight or flight. He waited for the old wizard to make the first move.
"Shadow?" the violet robed man stuck out his hand slowly, though Kai still shifted away, his long black hair falling partially over his eyes, "I'm Albus Dumbledore, Severus Snape's employer."
Kai took a few deep breaths, 'I'm at Hogwarts,' he thought. 'Just like Snape said. Calm down, Dumbledore is a Light Lord' settling back a bit on his heels, he clasped the other man's hand, holding back a gasp as he was painfully reminded that his right hand was shattered. He kept it in though and observed the relief in the other man's eyes.
"I am Kai Boudreau," the assassin replied, "I apologize for my near attack. It's been a long few weeks as you may imagine." What was left unsaid and was thoroughly understood by the headmaster was that Kai's instincts were more powerful than the average person's and were backed with years of training.
Kai leaped away as a hand touched his shoulder, whirling to glare straight at the medic, "Madame, I'm going to have to ask you not to touch me without my expressly given permission. My instincts will attack without thought," he paused, murmuring, "especially with my magic levels so low. Now where is Severus Snape?"
"Young man," she snapped back, "There is nothing wrong with your magic levels. I tested them myself; you are above average for a wizard at this moment. Most wizards cannot deliberately sense their power level and as such I disregarded your recommendations and gave you the potions necessary to save your life!"
"You did what?!" Kai hissed, "You could have killed me! A normal wizard, she says, did you ever consider the option that I'm NOT a WIZARD!"
The raven haired assassin let out a loud gasp as pain lanced through his body and he was wracked by full body tremors.
"Shadow," Dumbledore was in front of him, concerned. "What is wrong?"
"By disregarding my orders, your medic has brought my magic levels to critical, upsetting my body's homeostasis, which in turn is causing my body systems to begin to shut down," Kai rasped out, arms holding his sides, praying it was not too late.
"Sorcery," he heard the old man gasp. He was close, but not correct.
"Where the hell is Snape?" Kai asked again.
"I am here," that familiar baritone came from behind him.
The assassin sighed in relief, raising a shaking left hand to accept his blade of power.
"Move away," Kai ordered sharply before activating his natural mage allure, drawing the building's ample free magick to him. The others gaped in shock as power crackled around the youth, playing over his skin. The air in the whole room thickened with power. They watched as Kai carved out two runes that had appeared glowing on each palm, cutting deep. He then placed the pitch back blade between his palms, blood coating the blade.
All three jumped as the magic became a windless tornado, swirling around the assassin, crackling before diving sharply through the blade into Kai. The youth a lit with power. When the tornado ceased, Kai literally pulsed with power, each pulse send a wave from his center out to his head and feet, lighting up hundreds of runes of various sizes all over his body. The runes glowed a beautiful amber.
When the power entered Kai, it took all his control not to moan with ecstasy, as the pain drained away and his body responded to the return of his true life's blood.
Suddenly, his awareness of the room dropped away to nothingness.
Greetings, young War Mage. It has been too many years since one of your kind has walked my halls.
'Hogwarts?' Kai asked, confused.
Aye, Mage, responded the soft feminine voice, I have yielded you a portion of my free magicks. I hope it aids your recovery. Please, remain in my walls for as long as you desire.
'Thank you, it has helped greatly.' He had spoken to magically conscious buildings before. They resulted from massive amounts of magic being absorbed into the very foundations. He had never spoken to one quite so old or powerful though.
It is nothin. You are much too important to this war to die. It will eventually come to my walls without you and Riddle would destroy me.
'How? What?'
You are the prophesied child. The child of the storm... The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... So it has been prophesied.
'You...know who I am?' he asked. Kai considered one of his only weaknesses to be his desire to know of his family. He knew they were dead, one of the only things that his…relatives…had told him that he knew to be true. He knew nothing of them, only that he was part of a very powerful pureblood magic line reaching back thousands of years, which told him nothing of what kind of people his parents were like.
His mind, against his volition, flashed back.
"If there's something wrong with the bitch, then there'll be something wrong with the pups. Sometimes it's best to just drown them."
Kai shivered; they had tried that…
Oh, young mage, you have suffered too much. Your birth name is Harry James Potter, son of James and Lily. The mark of the storm you bear on your forehead is the mark of the killing curse.
It was not possible! He wasn't the Boy-Who-Lived; he cringed mentally at the name, some society's boy hero. Oh gods that was unthinkable.
'No one else knows…right?'
No. Just you and I. Only those who saw you that fateful night know of the scar. Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, Sirius Black and Rubeus Hagrid, only those.
'Good, good, last thing I want is to have to deal with that fawning, undeserved attention.'
The voice chuckled softly, That is why you hide your heritage.
'Yes,' it was unnerving how much the castle knew about him, 'but that will come in handy soon.'
It will. I'll leave you now. Heal well, young mage.
Kai snapped back into his mind, his eyes shooting open. Holding his knife by the handle, all blood gone, he slowly stood, testing his body. He held back a flinch at how weak and tired his body felt.
Noticing the pulsing magic, he slammed his shields down and controlled the power, restraining it into his body, feeling it rush through his veins. The sheer power from the ritual had activated his bloodmagics, the glowing runes, which was very dangerous. Some of those rune sets were for healing, speed, endurance, but others were less benevolent.
"Bloodmagic!" the medic shrieked. "Dark magic in my infirmary?!"
Kai stretched his now-healing body, still weak from his stillness and malnutrition, "Madame, please calm yourself. That was not blood magic, it was a mage rejuvenation. None of the magicks cast were dark in that they were used to heal not cause harm. It would be a paradox to call such healing magic dark," he looked at the witch coldly. All in the room noted how his voice now vibrated with power and confidence.
"Mage?" Dumbledore questioned as Kai checked himself over.
"Aye, I am a mage, not a wizard. If the medic wants, she can look at what my power levels really are," he was not pleased with the older woman.
Kai waved his right hand, removing all the bandages and salves from his body. The super powering of his healing bloodmagics by Hogwarts had taken care of the physical trauma, made easier by the healer's bandaging and setting his bones.
He felt very weary though. His body had a lot of recovering to do before he would be as he was before capture. Weeks with little food and physical torture had done their damage.
As he observed his new, rather impressive set of scars, Dumbledore spoke again.
"Impressive wandless magic," he eyes twinkled merrily, "Why there hasn't been a war mage, I'm assuming you're a war mage, since Gryffindor himself!"
"You are correct," the assassin replied with reservation. He'd never met someone that knew about war mages.
"Shall we continue these discussions in my office. That way we can talk in both a more comfortable and private location?" Dumbledore asked hesitantly.
Kai knew now that the cards would soon be laid on the table, that is, the price of his rescue. Kai would honour any debt he felt he owed to the Order. He was an honourable man.
The assassin nodded and gestured for the older wizard to lead the way. Kai made it to the infirmary doors before turning to look at Snape who had not been following.
He raised an eyebrow, "Are you coming, Mr. Snape?"
The potion master smirked, "Of course." He looked at the assassin in consideration, as if taking in his motives. "And it's Severus."