Fan Fiction ❯ The Weaver Telarius ❯ Retribution ( Chapter 19 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

There was little time for words. "Everyone capable of producing a patronus fall back to the final line of defense. Cordelia and Deanne, acompany them. Everyone else will be with me. We will hold the second line for as long as possible. Cordelia, keep in latent contact with me to relay orders to the back line. Deanne, how much longer before you can produce another infernus?"

"Ten minutes," came Deanne's unfortunate reply. I had hoped that my calculation for the preparation time was off in our favour.

That was a long time. "Alright, change of plans. Patronus-casters, hold this line. Everyone else will charge in with me. We shall give ground as slowly as possible, the casters holding at the final line of defense. Hopefully we can buy ten minutes before they get within the blast radius."

There was no discussion. No protests from the crowd. There simply was not time. I drew my newly-acquired saber and began the charge forward. I was accompanied by four, Hagrid being amongst their ranks. The others I did not know the names of. I remember wishing that Phillip was there. He would have been a grand asset to charge onto the field of battle with.

I parried the first attack on me and took a single, small retreat. Another thrust, then two cuts from another opponent. A few inches with each retreat. Hopefully I could keep this up. Occassionally I made a cut or thrust here or there to give the illusion of an offense. They had nothing behind them, of course. They were meant to make the opponents hesitate. And hesitate they did. I had no idea how our other combatants were doing. Every once in a while, I saw silver light overhead and the dementors in my locale were forced to back off.

After a time, I saw that our melee forces were down to Hagrid and myself. I had no idea how much time had passed. Most likely not much at all, since combat seemed to take a lot of time while really it took mere seconds. Hagrid was holding his own.

~They have Harry Potter,~ Cordelia's message came through quite clearly, even with the haze of combat over my mind.

I said some colourful curse at that moment. There was no possible way we could manage an offensive. I looked to Hagrid for a moment, then responded through the telepathic link. ~Tell Hagrid to take a full retreat. Tell him that I'll be right behind him,~ were my orders.

~Done. Will you be?~

~After a fashion.~

Hagrid turned and ran at his first opporunity. I followed suit, but stopped after I had covered enough distance to give myself a reasonable buffer zone. I then brought my wand out and set to weaving the fastest spell I had ever weaved. The enemy forces got incredibly close, but I finished in the nick of time, just before the fastest of them came unto range. I forged the spell into the magical matrix, then took a few retreats.

It was time. I sheated my wand and extended my right hand. At first, the enemies paused at this gesture. Then, I think in a moment of ephiphinal horror, they realized what it was I was doing. The energy surging around me probably gave it away, but not soon enough. A wave of silver fire erupted from my hand in a direct line through the enemies, all the way to Vincent, before it stopped. With a clear line to my objective, I proceeded to run. It was not a normal run. No. I was a sorceror, and could spellwork without the need for wands or words. Thusly my feet and legs were gifted for a brief time with supernatural quickness.

When I was within advance-lunging distance of Vincent, I stopped my dash and brought out my wand once more to cast my newly-woven spell. "Solificate," I hoped in that moment that I had woven the spell correctly in the pinch that I was in.

In a five meter radius around the center point between Vincent and myself, a barrier appeared, sparkling and brilliant. Not only did the barrier prevent any passage by biological beings and warded magic better than most any spell in existance, but it also implanted in those near enough to it a fascination with what transpired inside. It was a simple combination of a fascination spell and the now-infamous X spell which I wove earlier in the year. Thus was the army nullified. Now all I had to worry about was the Riddle-embodied Vincent. The same embodiment that almost destroyed me when I was practically at my best during the challenge several months ago, only now minus the intermittent assertation of the original personality.

"Dracius lebtus," Vincent spoke, turning his wand into the sword Adin.

"You took the words right out of my mouth, Riddle," I said with a sneer, "Dracius lebtus."

Bastard sword versus claymore. And he was also much taller than I. A distinct reach advantage and I felt as though he knew exactly how to take advantage of it. If he did his job correctly, there was no way that I could get a single wound on his skin. I had to hope for him to make a mistake. I felt slightly comfortable that I most likely only needed to hold him off for nine more minutes.

Only nine minutes. I was dead.

I kept a mental link to Cordelia open on a hunch about my dearest Deanne. The body which was Vincent's circled around mine, Adin flaring as it drew closer to Xorlempt. I held Xorlempt directly in front of me, my front foot forward. It was a standard position for the type of weapon I was using. Vincent decided to come overtop with his strike, and I stepped to the side and closed the distance. During this motion I shifted my stance, such that my right foot was now in the back with Xorlempt across my abdomen, point facing back. Of course, he read my action and took a hefty step back, bringing his sword around in a circle for another downward swing. I was prepared for this. I responded by cutting up and left, deflecting his strike to the side. I let the force that I received move my arms to the right, and I completed a small circle over my head, coming with a cut to his midsection from the left.

By all rights, that cut should have landed solid and ended our confrontation. I did not anticipate that Riddle's timing and balance in Vincent's body was so precise that he could leap onto Xorlempt as I cut and catch me across the face as he passed, then hopping neatly off and landing behind me.

That being said, he did. I acted quicker than a tired body should have to get out of the way of whatever punishment he was attempting to dish out... namely I rolled to the side, hoping that would avoid any strike he chose to do. He cut at an angle, though, and a sizeable chunk was taken from my left shoulder. After a deserved cry of pain I quite expectedly collapsed. I assume it was from blood loss.

I could not have been out long, though, for I remember rolling meekly again to avoid a downward thrust, then chopping into Vincent's calf quite heartily from the ground whilst he attempted to remove Adin. It did not sever the bone, but it had to hurt all the same, and did serve to trip him to the ground. I scrambled to my feet, finding my movements slower than usual. Vincent was already at his. This usually meant the beginning of a new phrase. Our swords did indeed cross a few more times, during which the most bizzare of occurances insued.

~Telarius... how are you still standing?~ came a voice from light years away.

~What makes you ask, Cordelia?~ my mind was somehow capable of replying.

~Well, because by our scans, you have no blood left in your body.~

I remember taking the mental equivalent of an eternity trying to comprehend both known truths. Their magical scans were not inaccurate. She had no reason to lie. Therefore, I had no blood in my body. This was a truth. In addition, I was on my feet, breathing, and actively holding my own against a superior opponent. This was also a truth.

I will stubbornly maintain to this day that I lost that duel to logic. My last mental command was a murmur, and barely understood at all. I remember darkness, and then wetness. I pondered what wetness in the afterlife could mean, shuddering quickly as the thoughts led me ultimately to Tartarus. I believe it was then that I realized that I shuddered. It was not a mental shudder, either. My muscles moved. If my muscles moved, I wasn't dead. Then what was this darkness and this wetness?

I opened my eyes. Okay, darkness portion of the equation solved. The wetness was coming from the eyes of my beloved. I would have grinned at being right about Deanne possessing the healing tears of a phoenix, but there was no time to be smug and I was also not really in the mood.

I did a kippup, shocking Vincent into the next dimension. I ignored him at the moment, turning my attention to my love. "So, how did you know I was not beyond recovery, love?"

She wiped her eyes. "Hrm?"

"Silly question. Xorlempt is unbroken, of course. I told you once that if I died, he would shatter."

Deanne hugged me tightly then, and I realized that she thought I was gone forever. I do not believe I have ever felt more like a bastard in my entire existence than I did at that one moment.

So, I decided to take my anger with myself out on Vincent. "Deanne, love. Please remain within the barrier. I shall modify it such that your spell can penetrate it going out, but not coming back in. Do stay out of the way as I introduce Riddle into new and profound meanings for the word pain."

Vincent's eyes widened. I chuckled. "Never show weakness, Riddle. It's not a good idea," I tsked him, then formed Xorlempt into a wand once more.

I knew this manuver had to confuse Riddle. It was not why I did it, though it did buy me the necessary time to cast my penultimate trump card: "Telarius Vera."

I do not believe anyone in the room understands just how gutsy of a manuver this was. Allow me to explain it, and I'll use small words for the pure bloods in the audience. I had no clue whatsoever what that spell was going to do. I know what I wanted it to do... namely to change me into the my true, adult form. It could have changed me into truth itself. It could have changed me into a head of cabbage. It could have obliterated me entirely. I was always a bit fuzzy on that whole transfiguration thing (and still am unfortunately).

My apologies for the multi-syllabic words that I still managed to sneak into that explanation. As you all must have heard by now, it worked as I wanted it to. Unwounded and in a mature body, though still slightly beneath that of Vincent in height, Xorlempt became a sword in my hands without the need of words. This form was far better for sorcery than the one Riddle had bound me to, and all the muscle memory with weapons and other forms of combat I possessed could now finally be used to their fullest extent. Wisps of silver flame lingered about me, and Riddle appeared both awed and afraid by the dark brown of eyes which sought retribution and the natural, matching colour of the large amounts of hair both in length and thickness. It was not that these characteristics were in themselves intimidating, but moreover what they represented.

"You should have picked your manuvers and targets more wisely, Riddle," my voice was now without accent of any sort, indicative of my training as a classical vocalist, "And now you fear that you can no longer succeed in this, the confrontation you thought to be a stepping stone on your way to total domination of the wizarding world," I profiled by body such that my left faced him, head turned to meet his gaze, with Xorlempt positioned behind me in one hand, point down, "You are not in error."

His response was easy to see. It was often my experience that meglomaniacs were disturbingly easy to manipulate through simple chiding. If you cut into their ego more deeply, what followed was nothing short of frenzy. In frenzy, the human body gains a great deal of power and prowess as adrenaline dictates smoother and more efficient movements and the instinctual mind is surrendered to. Response time is at maximum potential in most cases of frenzy. Hell, it was quite likely that Adin's weight was no longer a factor could have been weilded with one hand. Indeed, frenzy was a dangerous thing to goad anyone into when physical confrontation was inevitable.

Unless, of course, you knew that reason would be abandoned entirely in this exercise. Focused frenzy is the most terrifying form of combatitive ability, but most masters of martial arts abroad never truly reach that level. I cheated, of course, and still do. A new body meant energy unburned, and thus hyper-cognition was available once more. I had no qualms or reservations about annihilating Riddle; in fact, it was the inevitability of my aims. I shifted into my hyper-cognitive state with a smirk upon my face, knowing that Riddle would have to abandon reason while I could incorporate it.

The trickiest part of this was finding the rage to focus upon. It did not take long, though, as the death of Vincent was still fresh on my mind. I allowed the fire to build until it almost poored from every orafice, then used it to temper the mettle and steel of wit and reflexes, strength and stamina, reason and awareness. The final stroke of the hammer was made before Riddle was within his own striking range. His attack was easily readable... a large swing from right to left. With a weapon of that size backed without thought, his strikes would be limited to the vertical and the horizontal, resorting to grappling when the distance was too close.

Realizing the exact timing of the attack, I placed a barrier of energy to my left, deflecting his blade more than adequately, but took no response. This did not end his frenzy, of course, but increased it. This was my goal. I had to be absolutely certain that all cognitive processes were subdued by the animal instinct before I played my last card and destroyed the vile entity. I performed a similar tactic for the next eleven or so strikes, at times taking a step in one direction or other, for the sake of variety. At all times, my face exuded the extremes of being arrogant and smug.

The time had come to bring my temperment into the next stage. His next strike was vertical, and I stepped to the side and in, striking with the blade of my left hand forcefully upon his collar bone. I cannot imagine that it felt too comfortable for him, as the involuntary howl of agony would indicate. His reponse as a step back and a horizontal strike, which I ducked easily. I cannot emphasize enough how sickening of an advantage having perfect timing and distance is in a combat situation. A simple sweep brought him onto his back. I kept Xorlempt behind me as I stood, resuming my former stance.

The body of Vincent stood slowly, leaning upon Adin as if it were a crutch. This was taking a long time, much to my advantage. He seemed almost to wonder why I had not yet finished him off, or at least attempted it. Before he could realize that the barrier only existed so long as the duel continued, I chose to open a dialogue. "At this point, you are pondering. You wonder why I have not yet used Xorlempt to end our confrontation," I said in an 'I can read your mind' type tone.

"I suppose you're going to tell me that it revolves around some master plan, wherein you also reveal to me the fundamental flaws in my mode of thought," came his reply through gritted teeth.

"No, actually. I just want to make you suffer."

"What!?" his shock was without equal.

"I want to make you suffer," I repeated, "In fact, I'm getting a rather interesting sensation from it. I could almost call it pleasure, but with a darker flavour to it. Sort of like the difference between milk chocolate and dark chocolate... a bit more bite, but sinfully delicious."

"Now," I continued, "Is when you wonder why I am taking pleasure in your plan when I so obviously am a representative of a faction which renounces these things as the core of all that is evil. Allow me to explain in the simplest words possible. You killed Phillip. No, that's not quite right. What you did was worse. If you had simply killed Phillip, I would think him an unfortunate casualty of war and slay you with nothing more than a quick breath of righteous fury. But you didn't. You forced me to do it. You forced me to kill a comrade, an ally..." I paused, forcing down the well of emotion that threatened to break my hyper-cognitive state. My next words were naught but a whisper, "...a friend..."

I shook my head, maintaining my stranglehold on my cognitive processes. My voice bore an intentional edge for the finale of this explanation. "Throughout history, we find people just like you, commiting atrocities just like that, and dying quickly through suicide or in their beds of old age. I do not believe any one of them ever experience what they do to others. Unfortunately, I have not the capacity nor the will to do unto you what you have done unto me. Physical pain, though... that can be prolonged, such that victim eventually loses all sight of comfortable sanity. They spiral, forever downward, until they are no longer truly a person. They lose the capacity for rational thought, resorting only to the primitive instinct, wishing to end the pain. Suicide is common at this point, but can be prevented, such that the subject reaches the next stage."

"With all rational thought stripped away, the victim is educated anew into the realities of life. At this point, they see the error of their prior ways in a flash of cognitive memory and seek repentance. You now have acheived perfect conversion through the use of nothing but physical pain."

"But this is not my goal with you. I will break you, oh yes. You will reach that point in a matter of minutes, though it will seem like eternity in your eyes. And I will give you that moment. I will tell you how your entire life has been leading up to a lie, and that your existence has been nothing but the epitome of error. At this crucial stage, you will realize your wrong, as in the previous example. I will not stop there, though. At that point, I will forcefully rip your spirit away from the body it inhabits, proceeding then to annihilate your essence from the very tapestry of creation itself. I will deny you all the repentance you will then seek, never to be achieved in any incarnation. Your last memory before oblivion will be that you were the truest form of failure and evil, and will never be able to change that."

I grinned. "And to add insult to injury, while you were busy soiling yourself and listening to that albeit wonderful dissertation, my love has been recooperating from her first casting. If you would please, love?"

Deanne performed another casting of the infernus, wiping out Riddle's remaining army in its entirety, and lowering the elevation of the area surrounding the barrier, such that the crater we stood in was now above the level of the rest of the battlefield. I removed the barrier with a simple thought, grinning in triumph as Riddle's emotions shone clearly through Vincent's face.

He charged me, and I deflected a few blows, actually parrying others this time for the spice of it. One he became winded, I took several paces back, knowing the time had arrived. I knelt and placed Xorlempt on the ground, standing unarmed against my foe. He charged again, and parried him at the arms, proceeding then to introduce his groin to the finer points of my kneecap. A simple right front kick was more than adequate when aimed at his achillies, and an open palm strike to his dantien sent him back to a reasonable distance. At this point, I took the offensive, ignoring his strikes with blade and fist as if he were moving at the speed of a snail. To my perception he was, as I had attained celerity through rapid calculation of combat variables. I systematically pounded fist and feet into different areas, ensuring new and different injury and pain sensation with each strike.

At some point, he managed to take me down. The weight of Vincent's body was too much for me to overcome, and he stood over me, preparing to drive Adin into my chest. It was at this crucial moment that my trump card was played. In his complete frenzy, he forgot that sorcery could be used for telekinetic purposes. Xorlempt's point shot through his chest, mostly because it had just entered through his back.

Prepared to declare victory, I was instead confronted with another, unfortunate revelation. At the exact moment of Xorlempt's entry, I was no longer killing Riddle. He had let go at the last possible instant, leaving only Vincent to die. I hastily shoved his weight to the side and removed Xorlempt, not wanting Xorlempt's additional effect to continue on this already tortured soul. There was no time for words, as Vincent's death was relatively instantaneous.

Well, okay, that was not the only reason that time for words was not alloted. The disappearance of Riddle's spirit from Vincent's body meant something. Namely, it meant that Harry Potter was most likely no more. These suspicions were confirmed as I gazed across the battlefield at the remaining Death Eaters, all kneeling before their Lord Riddle. As they approached, Riddle called across the battlefield.

"You forgot to break my will and obliterate my spirit, Telarius!" his voice was mocking.

"And it never once occured to you that I might have been lying through my teeth to buy time? Obliterate a spirit? Yeah, like anyone in their right mind would weave a spell that could to that!" I mocked him in turn.

He seemed to choke a moment, but then grinned once more as he and his Death Eaters closed. They could not get too much closer without action on our part, and so I took a few steps back. Deanne wisely followed suit. In the process, I grabbed the now-wand form of Adin. Vincent must never have been able to perform the ritual to bind Adin to his being, as it was unbroken. This was not time for that thought, though. Action had to be taken. Through Cordelia, I gave the word to Deanne to open fire without ever speaking nor revealing the order to the enemy.

Deanne caught Adin as I tossed it, and wielded the pair of wands menacingly only for a moment. After that, she performed the most impressive barrage of offensive spells I had ever laid eyes on. Firebolts, gusts of wind sharp enough to tear through steel, ball lightning, and comets from the heavens themselves dotted her impressive arsenal. I smiled proudly, knowing that Riddle's forces could not possibly have been prepared for the onslaught that my love was capable of.

Nor was I incorrect. The Death Eaters crumbled before her assault. Riddle, however, was unaffected. He did not seem even the slightest bit phased. I could not believe what my eyes were telling me. There was no way that he should have survived her strike. Unless...

I had no time to speak or even communicate through telepathy. I grabbed Deanne, whose child form was easy for my adult form to carry, and ran like a demon possessed by Hermes. Damn it all! This battle would not rely at all upon skill or prowess on the battlefield. Magical power was equally useless. Sorcery could not harm him. Only one spell out of fifteen (though I suppose sixteen, not that Riddle could have done the last) would get through to him, and I would have one shot. Then each person remaining would get one shot, should I fail. There were not fifteen people on hand with the power to cast those fifteen spells. How did I know all of this?

He had the goddamned x spell up. The perfect defense. I cursed myself for Weaving that dreaded thing in that moment, but supposed that it was a twisted form of irony that I should have to pierce the defense that I devised. I considered making out a pecking order to be followed after my death, but that would only be to ensure Deanne's survival, and everyone involved would realize this and not follow my mandate.

After dropping Deanne off, I walked slowly out into the battlefield to meet Riddle. There was no time for explanations, telepathic or otherwise. Riddle had to be stopped, no matter the cost. I had a vow to live up to, even though living up to that vow now relied on a one in fifteen chance. Straight random guessing would not work. I attempted to read Riddle, and at the same time processed all the data I had on him. His personality, his mannerisms... what would he choose?

It was almost too late when I made my decision. His wand was raised and he was closer still. I reverted back to my youthful form. I would need it if this succeeded. Xorlempt was a wand once more in my hands, and I raised it quickly to utter in the strongest, most potent vocal form, the one spell I believed he would have chosen: "AVADA KEDAVRA!"

The green light shone from the tip of my wand, and for a moment I thought that it was deflected by the barrier and I had chosen incorrectly. The look upon Riddle's face informed me otherwise. His body fell to the knees and slumped over, but that no longer concerned me. Using what little sorcerous power this body had, I accessed spiritual sight, observing the form of his soul emmiting from his body. He saw me in turn and laughed the laugh of any villain. "You think you have beaten me!? I am eternal, and you know it. This is not the end, Telarius. I will return and I will make your life more miserable than I have ever made any life that opposed me! Mark my words!"

I smirked. "And mark mine, Riddle. I lied again," a quick wave of Xorlempt proceeded: "Harmonis!"

I closed my eyes after the spell was complete, and spoke in scarcely a whisper: "Vengence is complete Phillip... I have done as promised. Rest now, my friend."

With one word, Riddle's soul had been obliviated.