Chapter Three: Into the Shadowlands
Sirius felt himself pass into shadow, the colors of the world seemed to seep away.
He could not hear anything, he could not breathe, his heart beat loudly in his ears. Time itself seemed to stretch and bend. Space warped and shuddered unnaturally even for a wizard who had been raised with Floo Powder, Diaparating, and port keys.
Light and shadow flashed before his eyes in confusing fractals ever branching out before folding back into themselves and beginning anew.
The nails of the creature that had grabbed him were biting into his neck drawing blood, it's grip was iron, immovable no matter his struggles. After years or seconds or centuries the horrid journey straight out of the darkest nightmare of some mad god suddenly stopped.
Sirius could breathe once more, he was drenched in sweat, his entire body ice cold and shivering. He opened his eyes to find himself in the shadowed reflection of the Druid grove he had just been abducted from. The trees were just as ancient, but the color of the bark and leaves seemed to have been leached away.
Quickly flicking out his wand from his holster, (House of Black rule no. 22: only the uneducated or the poor kept their wands in their pockets), he looked about the alien place he had found himself. Whatever had dragged him here was nowhere to be seen, he sighed in relief. He began to take stock of his situation, checking himself over for any other abnormalities or injuries while he glanced about the darkened clearing.
The stars peeking through the canopy were barely visible glints of malevolent red light. The shadows in this place were deep and seemed to move when he was not looking directly at him. The heir Black shivered and murmured to himself, "Damn. You really screwed the pooch this time padfoot".
The stone at the center of the clearing was free of the plant life that had hidden it on the other side of whatever mirror gateway he had passed through. The same runic circle and polished stone showed a deep blanket of Ivy on the other side. The colors were absolutely vibrant compared to his dreary current surroundings. He hesitantly reached for the Ivy, and his hand met stone.
"Double damn!", Sirius hissed and began casting what few diagnostic charms he knew trying to figure out what he was dealing with, completely forgetting his earlier reticence. Every single one of his charms failed. They simply bounced off of the stone runic mirror, or runic gateway as he now knew.
The heir of Black was beginning to panic. Deep breaths, in and out, think damn you!
Heir's ring. Sirius tried to send out the distress signal. Usually only used in life threatening situations, many heir rings in the wizarding world had similar enchantments to a muggle distress signal. The magical call went out…
Silence. The ring did not warm like it should when the signal had been received. This meant he was under extremely heavy wards, very far beneath the ground or ocean, off planet, or no longer on the material plane...
None of the options made him any calmer, and he struggled to not cry out. It would not be smart to disturb the silence and draw attention to himself. Now that he thought about it this place was eerily silent, no wind, no animals, no signs of life.
"Mipsy?", Sirius whispered hopefully. Mipsy wasn't technically bonded to his family but she had answered his calls once or twice when he was staying with the Potters. It was a long shot but better than calling on his own family's elf. His panic was beginning to grow. He would have to let go of his pride it would seem.
"Kreature?", he said hesitantly. He searched within himself to find the thread of his magic that was connected to the evil little git, it was the magic given in payment to the house elf's servitude. It was gone. His magic felt frayed, the little bastard probably severed it after Walberga blasted him off the family tree and he ran away from home.
"Rikard!", the young man prayed for the head elf of the Black family. The tears were starting to come back now as panic gripped his heart. He was so fucked.
Suddenly, Sirius felt the hair stand up on the back of his neck, within him padfoot was growling. Something was near, it was powerful, it was a predator. He quickly took up a ready stance, wand held aloft. He may hate his family but the dueling lessons he had been given throughout his life were much appreciated at the moment.
His eyes strained to pierce the shadows cast by the canopy overhead, his ears working equally hard to pick up any sign of danger. He quickly backed up against the runic gate to half the area he needed to be aware of. Whatever was coming he would be ready for it.
"Hallò an rionnag bheag", the words were whispered in Sirius's ear. He did not shriek like a banshee and jump four feet into the air spinning around as he landed on his ass.
The mirthful laughter of his evil twin from hell turned fear to fury. It was hanging upside down from a… rope made of shadow? The 'rope' was connected to an overhanging branch above the gate. The laughter soothed the heart attack he had just been subjected to and stoked his anger. It was maniacal, almost unhinged.
Sirius immediately pointed his wand at the creature wearing his face, tip aglow with a ready peircing hex (Not that kind of wand you perverts).
"You goat buggering slag! What, in the name of the three, do you think you're play'n with? By the Morrigan…", Sirius made up for his high pitched squeal with gusto and creative language. The doppelgänger's only response was a smile, all teeth.
He watched aghast as his own demonic visage grinned savagely at him and began to morph. His clone's features sharpened, becoming more effeminate. The creature's hair lengthened, the body grew in height, feminine assets of the highest caliber grew into place.
She looked down at him, or would it be up since she was hanging upside down? An elegant eyebrow raised in amusement as if she was looking at a particularly angry puppy. Her eyes alight with mischief and curiosity.
"What the fuck is wrong with you!?!", Sirius asked in rage, "Where am I? Who are you? What is this place?". Magic swirled around his form as his emotions empowered his outcry. Familiar black tendrils of dark magic coalesced around his form. He was as high strung as a live wire, ready to unleash the fury of a Black. Padfoot was growling within him.
Yet, the flurry of questions were met with that single raised eyebrow, her face still held perfectly in the infuriating mask of a pureblood; feigned disinterest and mild amusement. With the grace of a cat, the unknown woman dropped, flipped, and landed without a sound in a crouch. Her eyes never leaving him. Her lips quirked slightly upwards in amusement.
Sirius backed away slowly, away from the runic gate and his kidnapper. It gave him a bit more space to get a spell off if she tried anything.
As he moved he took in the strange woman's appearance. She had the darkest hair he had ever seen, the little light that there was in the grove seemed to bend as if drawn to it. Her features were fair but sharp, her ears were elongated and the tips of which were pointed and poked out from her hair. She was beautiful to behold yet utterly alien.
Her eyes were dazzling scarlet rubies, he could see magic literally blaze within them. Only mages of immense power had eyes such as those, Albus Dumbledor or Gallert Grindelwald, and the current 'dark lord' being recent examples. Though her gaze was analytical and utterly timeless, the mirth in dancing in her eyes was real.
She was tall, taller than many men would be. While many mages were overly thin or portly due to lack of physical exercise, she was well muscled. By no means Herculean, but she was lean, like a jungle cat. Her legs lithe and arse probably perfect enough to calculate pi with.
Her skin was celestially smooth alabaster as if she had been a statue carved by a divine artisan. She wore a simple crown of braided black iron, but no other adornments. Sirius swallowed, this might be one of the most terrifyingly beautiful women he had ever seen.
'Damn my evil twin is a fine bird! If I was a woman and looked half as good as his shadowy reflection, forget the top-ten-would-shag list for the year group, he'd be number one pick at Hogwarts for all time. Honestly looking at this creature was like looking at a demented mirror, hot as hell, but very disturbing', Sirius thought.
"Well?", Sirius asked, ignoring the very humiliating crack in his voice, he thought that by nearly 17 he would be over that by now. She slowly began to circle him, each step purposeful. Sirius adjusted his stance accordingly, grateful for his family's lessons in dueling, both wand and sword. Seeing him properly adjust his stance to her own movements made her give him a slight smile.
"Sirius Orion Black", the woman said each word as if she was savoring it, her strange accent making his name sound sensual in a way that sent shivers down his spine and made blood rush to his groin.
No! Down boy! Be serious Sirius! Damn dog animagus form, he was already a hormonal sexbomb before he met his inner animal. After padfoot was manifested? His sexual escapades were absolutely legendary, honestly he'd put Venus herself to shame. He didn't think he could ever get married, unless his wife was as randy as he was on an hourly basis.
Sirius would even lick himself once or twice a day (Don't give him that look, dogs do it all the time!). A strange shadow lady that looked like she could be his red eyed elder sister didn't even rank in the top five weirdest sexual experiences in his 16 going on 17 years of life.
"How do you know my name?", Sirius almost squeaked. She paused her circling of him.
"I have been watching and waiting for many years. My family vowed they would one day return, and now they finally have", her small smile turned sorrowful, her eyes flared with power and the air around the clearing began to chill. Sirius had no idea who the fuck this crazy lady was, but at the moment he had no means of escape, he kept his wand trained on her.
"The promise has been kept", she continued her predatory orbit of him, "After two thousand years of waiting". She stopped as shadows began to coalesce into a wicked spear of darkness.
"W-what promise?", Sirius began backing even further away from the obviously insane witch with the massive fucking spear, that she had conjured silently and wandlessly. He was in danger. A lot of danger.
"My grandchildren and their followers, my entire family, swore an oath to return after vanquishing the invaders. The so called legions of Roma slew my family, heir of Black, or Umbra as your house was once named long ago", she hissed his house name like it was the most vile of curses.
'Oh. Ooooooh. She's crazy', Sirius didn't know how that fact would help at the moment, but he took note of it anyways.
'This bird is actually insane, damn, the prettiest ones always are. She speaks as if she was there when the founder of his house killed all the druids that called the forest of shadows home? He had conquered with wand and sword, proclaiming himself 'Dominus Umbarum', the heir of Black thought as he still searched for an escape.
"Ah. Well, that makes things awkward", Sirius blurted out grimacing, trying to fill the silence with something as his mind raced. Who the hell was this person? She spoke of ancient history as if it had happened the day before, and though she said they were related, she glared at him as if he himself slew her entire family.
She gave a harsh laugh despite the absolute inferno of pain and fury in her eyes, "Quite".
"You have his eyes. The same as the murderer and rapist, that slew my family and took my granddaughter as a prize broodmare", the witch seethed as her anger rose to a crescendo. She drew back her spear, magic viably roiling off her form in dark waves, her body grew, her muscles rippled, she now towered over the young man.
She was a true goddess of death. Her voice was slightly distorted by the amount of magic that was pouring off her, "Now, after so many long years, I have the heir of my enemy in my company. A chance to sate my anger, if only a little".
She sneered at him, her gaze all but setting him alight, as she prepared to smite the heir of Black who practically cowered before her. Sirius could barely move beneath her righteous fury. The awe inspiring might of the woman before him made him feel like an insect compared to her godlike being, she was ancient, she was magic, she was the end.
Sirius gave a wry grin in the face of his demise. The heir of the most ancient and most noble house of Black whispered to himself, "It seems this is it, padfoot. Sorry James, I don't think I'll be able to help you woo your lily flower this year. I called it, Death by a world class beauty'' , Moony owes me 20 galleons. Though I'm not drowning in bodily fluids or lack of oxygen from erotic asphyxiation, I owe Wormtail half of my prize… Damn", Sirius chuckled thinking of his brothers by choice.
Sirius took a deep breath and he made his stand. Black rule no. 10: 'Always attack first. Always aim to kill'.
The heir of Black began to fire the darkest curses he knew at the angry magical titan. Organ-expellers, blood-boilers, blood-freezers, acid-arrows, flayers, bone-breakers, a myriad of spells he would have been arrested for casting on British soil erupted out of his wand.
Sirius may be young, but he had been trained to be the best, as every heir to the house of Black always has. A deadly barrage of Black family spells was cast without restraint.
The woman clad in living shadow batted the dark spells aside with her spear contemptuously, her moves fluid and graceful despite her deadly intent. She strolled through the soon to be 7th year's spell chain as if it wasn't even there.
The goddess's form flickered in shadow and before Sirius could react, she was steps away from him. Sirius' wand was soon cleaved in two and he was knocked to the ground after being struck in the face with the butt of her spear. Based on the loud crunch, she probably had broken his nose.
Her foot pinned him down and with a yell, she lifted her spear to smite the descendant of the man who slew her family. Sirius closed his eyes with his most winning smile upon his face, never let it be said that the heir of Black feared death.
A massive crack split the air as the spear descended swifter than the speed of sound. The ground cratered from the strength of her blow.
As the dust settled, the clearing once again became silent. Just as quickly as the magical weight had descended on the clearing, it lifted, the shadows coalescing around the woman's form disappeared.
Sirius Black opened his eyes and stared up at the weeping woman who stood above him. Her tears dripped onto his shirt, her form shaking as she tried to stifle her sobs. The spear, sunk deep into the stone beside his head, began to fade back into shadow.
"Why? You claim I am the heir of the man who slew your family, even I would not spare such a foe?", he asked. She choked out a pained bark of self loathing laughter, it wasn't much different from a sob.
"You have my damned son in law's smile", she bit out, her voice trembling. "I hated his womanizing and philandering, but I was fond of him. He was my best student, a son in all ways but blood".
Sirius had no words.
"You have my daughter and granddaughter's nose and cheekbones, the same regal bearing. It's the Fae blood, my blood. Of course you also have something akin to my own hair", the almighty witch hiccuped as she tried to stop her tears. It was humanizing and a complete contrast to the godlike magical strength that made her so alien.
"I could not. Can not. My granddaughter loved her children, despite what that evil man did to her and her family. My family…", the witch removed her foot from Sirius' chest and sank to the ground beside him, burying her face in her hands as her sobbing renewed.
Her form began to shift from the Warrior goddess to a younger form, she grew smaller until she resembled a six year old girl. Her sharp features morphed to a softer, cherubic face. Her cries were the only noise within the silent glade.
"I have watched his descendants in your realm, they followed their sire's ways. Ruthless, prideful, arrogant. They cut a bloody path through history. I have been waiting for one to find the gate of the Skye, to pull them into the Shadowlands. To have revenge for what he did to my family and all the pain and suffering his entire line has caused to the world!", the now small child was hysterical as the words poured out, the anguish in her voice was heart wrenching.
Sirius sat up and stared at the witch, not knowing what to do. He was dazed from the whiplash, from the brink of death by an insane witch to watching the same witch weep in a complete meltdown. He felt like he was having an out of body experience.
"I have been alone for s-so long. W-watching, waiting, my anger b-building for thousands of years! Yet you are my blood. All that's left of m-my f-f-family! I can n-not do it, you are too much like th-them!", her voice was strained, the words sneaking through sobs, the tears unending.
Sirius hesitated, but eventually reached out a hand and placed it on her childish shoulder. She stiffened looking up at him, ruby eyes wide and bottom lip trembling.
"I'm sorry", the heir of Black said simply.
The witch-child wailed and tackled him in a hug, burying her face in his chest as she clung to him. It reminded him of Regulus when they were young.
Sirius felt slightly awkward hugging the insane sorceress that only moments before, had been about to kill him. But the brotherly instincts that his mother tried to beat out of him came to the fore, he gently rubbed the witch's back as the all powerful being in a child's body sobbed.
The heir of Black didn't know if she truly was who she claimed to be. Sirius didn't know if it mattered if she was telling the truth about being his ancient grandmother, her claim was ludicrous, but he was in a strange realm and she was most likely his only way back. He would play along, even if, according to her claims, she likely still hated him for his ancient ancestor.
Sirius didn't hold her hate of his family against her, he couldn't, he hated his family too.
So the heir of Black sat comforting the most powerful magical being he had ever even heard of. This primordial titan of power, a terrifyingly beautiful Fae-kin of old, who is also apparently a metamorph of some kind, and his many times removed grandmother…
Shit. He had gotten a hard on for his own Merlin be damned great-great-whatever-grandmother. Fuck you padfoot, you randy horndog.
"The fuck is my life?", Sirius asked himself as he looked up past the canopy into the shadowy night sky. He was glad to be alive, but Merlin, why couldn't his life be simple. The girl's tears eventually slowed, the constant sobbing turned to hiccups. "I'm sorry, that was embarrassing", the small girl whispered into his chest.
"It's okay. I was just doing the same earlier, a good friend of mine says everyone needs to do it every once in a while", Sirius replied kindly.
"I know… I was watching", Sirius felt the witch shift in his arms and he returned gaze from the strange red starlight to the now once again fully grown and voluptuous bombshell grinning up at him as they embraced.
Sirius's eyes widened. He felt he was in danger. The crazy witch was eyeing him like a piece of meat. Sirius didn't know if he should be shaking in fear or… terribly aroused?
Both?
Yes. He was definitely both.
"Ah, um… My Lady, I don't think I ever got your name?", Sirius whimpered. She was really touchy-feely now. He could feel the blood rushing downward and he prayed she did not notice.
Her form faded into shadow only to reemerge standing above him, her demeanor instantly shifted from flagrantly flirtatious to the most imperious of courtly manner.
The swift change in demeanor left Sirius reeling once again. He felt foolish laying on his back, his tight leather muggle pants leaving his erection on full display. Her evil grin told Sirius she was riling him up completely on purpose.
Her voice was seemingly apologetic but it did not hide her mirth, "My apologies, I've not had much need for manners in the many years since my court disbanded".
Her eyes hardened and her tone that of a teacher, "Names hold power, heir of Black, but I will voice to you my titles". The shadows darkened around her and her very presence seemed to fill the grove. Her red eyes glowed with power.
"I am the Witch-Queen of the Shadowlands, the Warrior-Maid, slayer of the Dark-god, keeper of Dún Scáith. I am Teacher, Warrior, Mother, Queen and I am the Guardian of the Isle Skye", the statement of power and rite rang through the clearing like a thunderclap.
Magic itself screamed "Truth!", in response to her lofty claims. She was a god, an Arch-Fae of greatest power, a queen of an entire realm of existence.
Her Queenly demeanor vanished as her stern visage continued softening to something akin to affection, "and I suppose, I am your many times great-grandmother".
Hallò an rionnag bheag- Hello little star
