Valley of Endless Rumbles - Thunder Calamity (1)

A sheltered creek marched through the vibrant jungle, the environment full of afternoon's burning sunlight, cries of a thousand creatures, and songs of ghosts and birds alike.

Madam Villanelle's wand was out, her brows pressed together in a deep frown.

A few steps behind her, Darcie marveled at the sight with a stunned expression.

They had flown for quite some time before arriving here after they met with the rare magical creature, Zouwu. It was a lush forest, and even Madam Villanelle had to search for half an hour before pinpointing the location of the nest of the magical creature she had been looking for.

Avalon was too big for anyone to scour its land thoroughly. Much less needed to be said to monitor all creatures all the time.

'Creatures with intelligence will never attack a human here,' Madam Villanelle had told Darcie midway. 'It doesn't mean that they will submit to us easily as per our desire. No matter what, they are beasts and have their own land, children, and pride to look after.'

There was a doubt in Darcie's mind that suggested Madam Villanelle was just too familiar and had an odd way with magical creatures. Still, she had understood what her mentor meant to say, then.

Even if Madam Villanelle could interact with certain creatures of high intelligence, she should refrain from acting too presumptuous in front of them.

And now that Darcie saw this scene, she agreed with her wholeheartedly.

There was an enormous boulder in front of them, oval-shaped, and its top was relatively flat. Over this flat-topped boulder was a nest. But it didn't belong to a bird.

There was a 10 ft tall winged-serpent coiling in this nest. It had azure-colored fur that looked like scales, and its mouth felt more like that of an eagle than a serpent. Its wings were huge as well, darkening everything under the boulder when it brandished them. The crown of azure plumage over its head gave it a majestic appearance. And if Darcie wasn't mistaken, then she even saw a pair of bird-like legs on its belly, with sharp talons jutting out like hooks.

It was an Occamy, a winged, serpentine magical beast.

Madam Villanelle had brought Darcie to it exactly because it was a serpentine creature.

However, Occamies were extremely aggressive and even more protective of their eggs, which were made of the purest and soft silver. Not to mention, they were choranaptyxic, meaning they grew or shrank to fit space.

From this, one could guess how large the size of this nest was.

The moment adult Occamy found Madam Villanelle approaching its nest, it let out an ear-piercing cry that was a mix of a bird's call and a serpent's hiss. It beat its wings, creating gales toward the two witches.

Madam Villanelle stopped. "Lola!" she cried. "Have you not recognized me?"

Then the older witch gently swayed her wand left and right, creating a green-golden path of sparks and flowers. The adult Occamy's bird-like eyes followed the wand's movement, and then her entire head swayed along with it.

After a few minutes, the Occamy let out another cry, but its intensity was much less threatening than before. It coiled and coiled, beating its wings.

Then the winged-serpent lunged at Madam Villanelle.

The older witch joined her palms, making a cup, and Lola shrunk instantaneously. When Darcie walked forward, she saw a tiny serpent coiling and crying merrily in her mentor's palm.

"Let's go," Madam Villanelle said, approaching the nest.

The nest was just too high for them to see into it. So the older witch flicked her wand again, making Darcie and herself float up, bringing their waists to the nest's edge.

There were three young Occamies coiled inside many spherical broken pieces of glittering silver; the shell of eggs.

"Try it," Madam Villanelle said, gesturing with her chin. "Just make a cup with your palms, and wait for them to approach you."

Darcie did as she was told.

The tiny Occamies slithered into her tinier palms, shrinking to become overgrown worms. Their fur felt moist and smooth to Darcie, and there was a bird-like smell on them that even their serpentine ancestry couldn't get rid of.

Just when it seemed all the young Occamies were getting comfortable in Darcie's palms, all slithered back to the nest.

Madam Villanelle caressed the shrunken adult Occamy's beak, and then let it return to the nest where it returned to its original size.

Darcie said nothing while going back.

Only when they were mounting their brooms did Madam Villanelle suddenly squeak. "Darcie, look!"

Darcie looked at her mentor, who was pointing up at a tree, and followed her gaze.

At some height, over a branch, there was a branch of Bowtruckles looking down at them. They all looked like several stalks of grass and green branches came alive. For their branch to be here meant that this tree possessed wand-quality wood. [Branch: group of Bowtruckles]

And it signified even more.

"There must be a colony of fairies nearby," Darcie mumbled, her eyes thoughtful.

Madam Villanelle nodded. "Fairies are easily obtained in Diagon Alley," she added, praising Darcie's acute remark inwardly. "But if there's a Fairy Queen among them, then there would be nothing more wonderful than that."

Fairies were small, humanoid magical beasts with large insect-like wings, which were transparent or multicolored. They possessed diminutive intelligence and lived mainly in woodlands. The fairy was a vain creature and allowed itself to be used as decoration by wizardkind. Because of their vanity, fairies were almost constantly grooming themselves.

However, a Fairy Queen was a different matter altogether. Its intelligence was no less than that of a human, and unlike the normal fairies of its colony, it possessed great magical power and could even converse in human speech.

Madam Villanelle flew over the jungle with Darcie, trying to find the fairies' colony according to the description.

It didn't take them much effort to find it.

Alas! There was no Fairy Queen among them. Not all colonies had such a creature, otherwise, it would be just too absurd.

Cry!

Suddenly, a mournful cry reverberated through the jungle, sending all fairies running in a clamor.

'This?!' Darcie knew what was happening, and why the cry had sounded full of sadness and ominous. Despite the beauty of the fairies, even they were the prey of some creatures up the food chain.

Darcie and Madam Villanelle looked up and saw a vulture-like creature fly by.

"An Augurey!" Madam Villanelle named it.

The Augurey, also known as the Irish Phoenix, was a thin and mournful-looking magical bird, somewhat like a small underfed vulture in appearance, with greenish-black feathers and a sharp beak. They were intensely shy creatures, and there was a time when wizards took its cries as an inauspicious signal of approaching death.

However, it was nothing but a misconception.

"Augureys don't cry without reason," Darcie said, her eyes following the disappearing creature in the sky. "A rainfall is coming, I think."

To her side, Madam Villanelle sighed. "Sigh! If it was anywhere else, then you would've been right, Darcie," she mumbled. "Augureys cry a lot here. I didn't know we had inadvertently come so close to that place."

'Which place?' Darcie wanted to ask, but when she saw a frown and a touch of apprehension on her mentor's face, she didn't. "I think I should try it," she said instead. "Augureys are quiet, and I like that."

At this time, even if a creature was mute, Darcie would settle for that, too. Her face wasn't showing it outright, but a deep sense of disappointment was lingering in her heart. She knew her capabilities, and she had not overestimated herself. It was this knowledge itself that made her question her fate, to begin with.

"Augureys are stupid," Madam Villanelle declared. "But you are right. They are indeed quieter than others. Let's go. I think I know where its nest is."

The witches left the dense patch of jungle and fairies' colony and flew towards a rather steeper cliff. This cliff was covered in green, but sharp rocks were jutting out of the vertical wall here and there as well.

Madam Villanelle brought the brooms to a stop at the top of the cliff.

It was then Darcie heard the rumbles.

Darcie let the incomplete Firebolt go and walked towards the cliff's edge on the other side. Her eyes widened instantaneously.

It was a vast valley, vaster than imagination, and guarded by two more cliffs from left and right. These two cliffs kept widening outwards, but even then Darcie could neither see the end of the rocky walls nor of the valley.

Yet, it wasn't the valley or the incomprehensible scale of the cliffs that had made her widen her eyes. It was the blackness of the distant sky. The entire horizon was drowned in black ink, and they could see occasional green and white flashes there, followed by gurgling rumbles.

How big was this thunderstorm? Darcie couldn't help but ask herself, astonished beyond astonishment.

Madam Villanelle came to a stop near Darcie. "The Valley of Endless Rumbles!"

"A fitting name," Darcie nodded. "May I know the reason for this odd environment, mentor?"

Madam Villanelle took a deep breath. "I have never visited that place, to be honest," she said, smiling ruefully. "But my other self had told me that this entire valley beyond this cliff is the nest of an old Thunderbird King."

Darcie drew a frigid breath. Thunderbirds were no less magical and powerful than a Phoenix, their temper even strange and erratic. A Thunderbird King was the leader of its flock, the mightiest of all, and some tales claimed that it could challenge even adult dragons… and win.

No wonder the Auguries cry here all the time. It was a valley of endless rain, lightning, and storms.

Darcie looked down, then. The ground, squeezed between the distant valley and the cliff, was still comparatively peaceful. She saw hordes of Unicorns, running through the grassy lands and disappearing into the forests like white ghostly blurs. Beyond them, there were several Hippogriffs, flying and crying along with distant thunder.

"Don't worry," Madam Villanelle told Darcie. "We would not need to go beyond this cliff. Come with me. The Augury's nest must be over the cliff's side toward the tower."

Darcie gave a last look to the bolts of lightning, blackness, and rumbles, and turned around. As they approached the other side of the cliff, Madam Villanelle told her more about the Thunderbirds.

This cliff they were on right now was running from east to west and was north to the tower. The thunderstorm was even further north to this cliff, with an incomprehensible long valley between them.

The cliff's slope towards the tower's side wasn't as steep as the one on the valley's side, but it still wasn't something the witches could just tread on.

Both of the witches peeked over the edge and noticed a nest inside a crack in the rocks. The Augury was perched there with two hatchlings, and another adult Augury was making a round overhead, searching for prey.

"Umu," Darcie nodded. "I think it's the one, mentor."

Madam Villanelle had interacted little with Darcie. But then again, Darcie interacted little with everyone. Still, the time spent with the young Malfoy was enough for the older witch to know that it wasn't like Darcie thought it was the one, but more like she hoped it would be the one.

Meow!

This sudden noise startled both witches.

Darcie looked to her left, just above the nest, and found a purple-colored kitten, with spotted fur, large ears, and a lightly plumed tail, akin to that of a lion's.

"It's a Kneazle," Darcie whispered to her mentor. "It's going for the chicks!"

No. How could this be? What if one of the chicks was fated with her? Questions popped into her mind instantly, making her eyes flutter.

Kneazles had a top level of intelligence and an uncanny ability to detect suspicious and untrustworthy people. Not to mention, they made excellent pets. But pure-bred Kneazles were hard to find, even in the grand magical world.

This particular kitten looked purer than any Kneazle breed Darcie had seen in the Magical Menagerie. There was one, named Crookshanks, in the shop, she remembered. An orange-colored old half-kneazle.

Suddenly, something happened that none of the two witches would have foreseen.

Just as the adult Augury flew off the nest, joining its partner in the hunt, the young Kneazle pounced on the baby Auguries. However, one of the kitten's paws got stuck into a vine, and its pouncing posture got broken.

One second, it was standing with a solid footing. In the next, it was already falling.