Darcie's fate - The Night when it all began

The creature with red eyes circled Darcie, its gait quieter than silence.

It was like a lion, but dark gray and green of color that bordered black. Its body was spotted with lighter patches of faded yellow, but they weren't easily distinguishable. The neck of this creature looked puffy, with several needle-like hairs pinned backward, and even its tail ended in a lock of hair that looked like long, flexible needles.

It was a cub, Darcie could tell.

But even then, it felt like a dragon to her, with her being the size of a finger. She had brewed the Shrinking Potion meticulously, but the amount she drank was little. So, there were still a few minutes remaining for her to regain her size.

Yet, these weren't the facts that made her heart palpitate with boundless fear.

There was a smile on her face, her magic thundering along with the endless rumbles above. This smile wasn't because of confidence, but rather because of helplessness.

What were the chances of her landing here, in front of this cub? For a moment, she even wished it had been a dragon and not a creature of this race.

Then, she might have some chances of survival, perhaps.

'Nundu!' Darcie hissed in her mind, her pupils trembling. 'A Nundu's cub! That means the adult might be nearby as well.'

Nundus were infamous throughout the world for their viciousness and ferocity. They resembled a leopard in appearance. Moreover, no adult Nundu had ever been defeated by less than a hundred wizards working together. They were almost impervious to Magic, and their breath was toxic and filled with disease so potent, that it could wipe out entire villages of people.

Not to mention, despite its size, it moved so silently that it might as well have been flying.

No wonder the magical species of Nundus were considered one of the most dangerous in wizardkind, from past to present, and to the foreseeable future.

The creature Darcie was facing was precisely the cub of this race; her one foot was already in the realm of the dead.

Yet, the smile didn't go away.

Grrr!!!

The cub let out a beastly growl, and its puffy throat ballooned, gaining the shape of a ball. All the needle-like tiny hairs on its neck stood at their end, and even the lock of hair at the end of its tail tightened, now looking like a weapon similar to a morning star. [Image 1]

Flashes of bolts of lightning lit up the arena of sodden and rotten earth in their surroundings.

And the very darkness loomed over them, watching them with its dead eyes.

Darcie had only one thought.

Survive!

Survive before this cub could use its breath. There wasn't much known about this species, anyway. She didn't know how many of its dark powers the cubs of this species had developed by this age.

Then there was the fact that an adult Nundu might come here, for this was only a cub, separated from its leap. (-leap: a group of leopards-)

With no sound, the young Nundu pounced.

To Darcie, however, it felt like an ancient mammoth had thrown itself at her. Her face was pale, her skin white and drenched, and her expression hard.

Specific. Belief. Intention.

These had always been the source of Darcie's magical prowess. Today, the world put them to the test.

And failure meant death.

The three fireballs burned like little flames, hurling themselves at the incoming cub. With a shua sound, they exploded near its mouth.

They achieved absolutely nothing.

The hurricane of icicles around her moved, then. Several dozen needle-like shards of ice thrust themselves at the cub from different angles.

The young Nundu growled at them, trying to bite them off. But it wasn't because they were hurting him, but because of its playful mentality. Even Darcie was nothing but a game for it, perhaps.

The icicles shattered as they contacted its skin, and the cub lost interest. It did give Darcie a dearly-needed breather, though.

What she needed was a moment to focus, as being specific and her intentions weren't an issue for her. With the transfigured lance in her right hand, Darcie outstretched her left hand, her eyes narrowing at the cub's mouth.

Suddenly, ropes appeared out of nowhere, and coiled themselves around the cub's mouth, shutting it tight. A puff of purple-blackish smoke escaped from the corner of its mouth, corroding the rope instantly.

Darcie's face paled even more, and more ropes appeared, wrapping above the last ones and sealing the creature's mouth for good. The cub thrashed its paws at its mouth, trying to take the ropes off. How could Darcie give it this chance?

A great magical force churned around her and the air under her feet blasted outward, throwing Darcie towards the young Nundu.

Darcie greeted her teeth and lifted the lance, pointing at the creature's shoulder.

Tink!

The tip of the lance bent. In the next moment, one of the wildly thrashing paws found her midair.

Darcie's eyes widened. She flicked her hand, creating a protective shield in front of her. The paw landed on the shield, broke it, and then blasted her figure out, sending it rolling on the ground.

Darcie's eyes rolled back in her head, and every inch of her body ached, going numb by seconds. If it wasn't for the shield, her bones would have snapped on the impact.

'If she is fated with a magical creature, then she can naturally take it with her,' the Witch of Endor's words surfaced in her mind at this moment unannounced.

"Cough! Cough!" Darcie sat up, coughed out blood and spit, and smiled. "I understand… there is no such thing as fate."

An incredible change was happening to her personality now, a change that none could have predicted.

For the first time in her life, today Darcie had felt like her existence had almost no value when she met those six figures; the ones who don't belong to this era. No matter how great she would become, could she reach their heights? Darcie had trust in herself, believing that she could be as great a witch as the wizard, Professor Dumbledore, in the future, and even greater. But what about King Solomon, Circe, and the likes of the Witch of Endor?

Meeting them was as great a setback for her as it was a motivation.

Then there was the matter of repetitive failures.

Darcie had been hearing whispers about her dark origins, her birth, and her family ever since she could make a sense of them. Even then, she had never faced such humiliation, for she was a brilliant witch.

For her to not share a fate with those grand magical creatures dealt quite a blow to her self-esteem.

Yet, she preserved. But what her perseverance had brought her?

The young Nundu growled under its throat, its needle-like hair trembling and throbbing. Its murderous gaze locked on Darcie's figure, and once again it pounced toward her; to finish the game.

Darcie had always maintained a calm and composed appearance, burying the anger she felt toward this world that gave more importance to rumors than facts. Why had she been working so hard? Why had she been studying, learning so much?

It was because she wanted to prove herself with actions, not words.

Now the world and these eminent beings wanted to tell her she had no fate with magical creatures when even Professor Dumbledore got the approval of a Phoenix instantly?

"There is truly no such thing as fate!" Darcie shouted, her emotions all over the place, but her heart was resolute. "If I want something, then that naturally shares a fate with me! And I will start with you!"

The young Nundu came at her like an angel of death. Darcie threw her hands outwards.

A burst of black smoke exploded from her palms, darkening everything around them. The cub thrashed its paws at the smoke, but couldn't find the target.

Darcie had already fluttered out of the smoke, feeling that it wouldn't keep the cub occupied for long. She used a version of the Water-Making Spell, creating a large globule of water. The water ball hurled itself towards the cub, and covered its nose, making it hiss out bubbles.

Then she used the Arrow-shooting spell to fire several arrows at its eyes, making it howl in pain. Meanwhile, the water ball didn't let it breathe, either.

"Cough!" Darcie coughed out more blood, knowing well that she had suffered great internal injuries. But this wasn't the time to tend to them. Her hands moved, assisting her to focus on the spells, and then she used the Wings-conjuring charm to create a set of wings on her back.

She fluttered to the space above the young Nundu's head, avoiding its wildly thrashing tail, full of needles.

Then, like the most elegant Fairy Queen, Darcie pointed at the cub's head.

A dense burst of blue flash exploded out of her finger and hit the skull of the cub with a loud thump. It was a stunning spell.

The focus needed for it was so great that the water ball vanished, and even her wings blurred. But she didn't take her eyes off its head and kept firing tiny stunning spells one after another, making the cub howl. If it weren't for the deafening rumbles overhead, these howls could've awakened the entire valley by now.

At last, Darcie pointed both of her palms towards the young Nundu, and for the first time, she decided to use a verbal magic wandlessly, taking no chance.

"Bombarda Maxima!"

An ethereal shockwave left the space in front of her palms.

The young Nundu's head got planted into the earth as if someone had stomped on it ruthlessly. Not even a painful howl could be heard, and from only the light trembles of its tail one could guess that the cub was still alive.

With a thud, Darcie landed on the ground, feeling extremely tired because of the relentless use of Magic. Her hairs were disheveled, and dirt had covered her figure like a blanket.

Inside her, pain galloped with no mercy.

It was then a pi-pa sound that echoed out of her tiny figure, and then with a pop, she enlarged, regaining her original size.

A dense bout of coldness made her shiver, and Darcie's teeth chattered along with it. She observed the tiny cub with her poisonous green eyes but then shook her head, deciding against killing it.

Suddenly, a smile surfaced on her face, full of pain and pride. "See?" she said, talking more to herself and the world, and less to the cub. "I wanted you. So, it's natural you share a fate with me. Hehe!"

Darcie flicked her hand, trying to conjure a blanket to wrap around her, but failed. Any single instance of magic made her wince, making her body ache as if needles were pricking her joints.

But she must move, Darcie knew. The adult Nundu might come anytime, and even if she were to become as large as a dragon, she would not be its match.

Darcie lifted the Nundu cub and noticed it had lost consciousness but was still alive. Then she chose a random direction and ran away, not remaining at this place a second longer.

She couldn't run forever, though.

At this place, there was no concept of day and night. But, as she kept running, Darcie could feel that evening had come and gone an hour ago, and the cold of the night was now seeping into her bones. She would have stopped to warm herself if she wasn't so scared of getting caught by the adult Nundu.

One must not forget that even though Darcie had caught a cub, this was but the most vicious magical creature. Not to mention, unlike the cub, the adult Nundu would have greater intelligence.

How could a broken and tired little girl survive something like that? So Darcie only stopped when her feet refused to move even an inch further.

The game trail Darcie had picked half an hour ago brought her to a stream, its black waters reflecting the dark, purple bolts of lightning in the darker sky. From head to toe, she was trembling, and all her measures of keeping herself warm had failed. Not because she couldn't do magic, but because the little magic she could do had gone in confusing the cub in her embrace, who had already woken up two times.

The only thing to be thankful for was that it was sleeping now.

Darcie put the cub down and collected a few twigs and branches, hoping to create a fire. Who knew when Madam Villanelle would find her? She would die of this cold before then.

After several tries, she lit a light fire, letting in a deep, relaxing breath. This was the first time Darcie got to know how hard it was to transfigure something without proper focus and mental state. With her chest and limbs aching, and her bones shivering, Darcie couldn't even manage to transfigure a blanket for herself.

Her breath misted as the warmth of fire kissed the tips of her fingers and the soles of her feet.

Sleep and dreams pervaded her mind, making her eyelid droop deeper every second.

It was then she noticed a flash, blacker than the black waters.

Darcie felt as if everything had gone silent around her; a thing she blamed on her sleepy state. The air became colder; the fire crackled low, and the young Nundu sleeping beside her trembled even in its vicious dreams.

Darcie lifted her head and noticed this flash had come from the stream, whose water was galloping without making the slightest gurgle.

And the moment she realized what it was, her eyes widened, and her entire body went tout.

It was a black cloak; a large black piece of cloth was gliding over the stream, and was just about to pass her.

What was a cloak doing here? This question did pop into her mind, but only momentarily. Her nakedness wasn't something Darcie had been feeling good about, and god knew she could use something to keep the cold away from her.

Darcie threw herself toward the stream, her feet splashing the cold water underneath. And just when the black cloak was about to glide away over the black waters, she snatched it out with a smile on her face.

Darcie brought it near the fire but suddenly realized that the cloak wasn't even wet.

Suddenly, she guessed where it must have come from.

'Those vicious Thunderbirds!' Darcie spat, frowning. 'They must have caught more humans from the other side of the cliff to their nests in the past. It must belong to one of them.'

The realization that this cloak's previous owner was probably dead made Darcie sigh.

She rubbed the black cloak between her fingers absentmindedly. It was very smooth, the purest piece of silk. Darcie rubbed it on her cheeks, and she giggled. She didn't know why, but when she looked at it and rubbed it against her skin, she felt quite sanguine, as though nothing would go wrong. A sense of mysterious happiness lingered on her face, making her lips curl upwards.

She covered herself with the cloak and sat down, recalling her experience. Memories appeared like a veil in front of her eyes.

Failures after failures, Madam Villanelle's hidden looks, full of pity, and surviving death in this abysmal valley, and that too by the oddest flukes…

Darcie's eyes moistened, and she longed to hug her mother. Half in shame and half in hopelessness, she buried her face in the black cloak wrapped over her knees… and cried.

Boom!!!

The sudden explosive sound, different from the crack of lightning bolts, jolted Darcie. She looked up at the sky and saw green and red bursts of sparkles.

"DARCIE!!!"

The shout thundered throughout the valley, full of power and might. It belonged to Madam Villanelle.

Darcie rubbed away the tears. It wasn't the time to hold back her magic. She reached for the fire in front of her, her eyes narrowed, and then a lump of fireball shot up toward the rumbling sky, screeching through the air.

Sure enough, in mere seconds, Darcie saw a blurry shadow approaching her from the depthless clouds, cutting the rain and wind alike.

Darcie lifted her fated magical pet, the young Nundu, and stood up.

Madam Villanelle landed a few feet away from her, her eyes red and moist. She threw herself off the incomplete Firebolt and ran towards Darcie.

"Oh, Darcie! I…" Madam Villanelle cried, but suddenly forgot the art of speech.

Under the calm and composed eyes of young Malfoy, the reincarnated biblical witch staggered a few steps back, her face losing color.

Darcie had never seen someone so scared.

Madam Villanelle's eyes were trembling, and so were her hands, and then her entire body shivered. She kept muttering "This…". "This…", "How…", making no sense.

Darcie looked down and lifted the young Nundu, realizing something. "It's a young Nundu, mentor," she said, handpicking her words. "It shares a fate with me, I think." Even though it was a cub of the most dangerous magical species, Darcie couldn't figure out the reason for her mentor to show such fear toward it, especially when it was sleeping so quietly.

Madam Villanelle might as well have heard nothing. She took another step back, brought out her wand with her trembling hand, and pointed it at Darcie.

And then, with an ear-piercing shriek, she blurted, drowning the rumbles of countless thunderbolts.

"Lethifold!!!"

*************

- A Lethifold [Image 2]

ANNOUNCEMENT: (A break tomorrow. We will continue with how these events have affected Kai's conciousness and his comprehension in the next chapter)