Battle Of Gringotts

[Isis Moswen]

Isis did her best to tune out everything around her though a noise from below the floor had captured her attention. She could tell that it was a dragon. She had been around enough of them in her travels to be able to tell what type it was just by the sound of their roar. The one that was coming to the surface was a Peruvian Vipertooth. It was strange for the species to be locked in the confines of Gringotts considering their small size compared to other dragons and that the dragon wasn’t even a breed from the country. She was briefly angered. One of the only humane parts about her was her firm belief that any sort of beasts were not supposed to be held in captivity. Isis accredited it to Osi and his ‘one with nature’ attitude. No one had any right to keep what they didn’t fully understand as a pet or defense system. Hence why she hated Wentworth so much. She’d be damned before he weaseled his way into her life to keep tabs on her every move. She was no prisoner. She never would be. What she did with her life and her time was her own business for no one to meddle in unless Darren found it necessary for the greater cause. The thought of him made her glance around. It was strange that she hadn’t seen him since making her grand entrance into Gringotts, but she couldn’t let it distract her. She knew Darren would be able to fend for himself. If he hadn’t, he would have found her by now. He was probably off gallivanting around the scene admiring the chaos. She had heard him cast Morsmorde earlier which in her mind could confirm that he was doing exactly what she had envisioned.

She braced herself once the ground started shaking. The Vipertooth was nearly to the surface. For a majority of those who hadn’t, they were knocked off their feet as the dragon burst through. Isis grinned to herself. She was glad to see that the beast’s freedom was only a few more flaps away. As it broke free, she howled for it and when she saw the Dark Mark radiating in the sky, she howled again. The image of both the dragon fleeing and the Darren’s sign in the sky were exhilarating. They were inspiring. The dragon’s escape represented freedom, the freedom that Isis did her best to not take for granted. The freedom she had now to run around the bank, doing and maiming as she pleased. This was the stuff she lived for. The things that made her who she was. Isis didn’t know a life without doing what she wanted without having to suffer the consequences for it. Well, she hadn’t had that sort of a life since she had been inexperienced anyway. Besides the dragon, the ominous Dark Mark had proven that the Dark Lord was back. Darren was ready for his mark to be made on the world and this was certainly one hell of a way to do it. Everything was going to change now. The support that Darren once had would be flocking back to him like sheep. And the support he didn’t, Isis was sure that the attack would cause new names to pop out and bring themselves to his attention. This battle would be a clear victory for the Dark side. The Ministry numbers were nothing compared to the DeathEaters. She simply couldn’t wait to see how the Ministry was going to attempt to handle this disaster.

Now she needed to stop standing around. Darren had made his mark and Isis needed to continue doing hers. Even if she couldn’t see him, there was a possibility he could see her. She knew her worth, he knew it as well, but she loved showing it off to him, reminding him of just how much of a valuable asset she truly was. She began running in the direction of a group of Ministry officials ganging up on a single DeathEater. She growled, giving them fair warning that she was behind them. Two of them ran off while the other two were stupid enough to stay back and attempt to fight. Lunging at them, Isis closed her mouth around the neck of one of them. As they fell to the ground, she bit down, tearing the skin from the man’s throat. After seeing what she had done, the other man took off, but she wasn’t too far behind. It took two solid leaps for her to catch up. She tackled him from behind, ripping her claws into the man’s back. He wouldn’t turn, but he would be left with a nasty scar running down the course of his back. She looked around, hoping to catch some sign of Wentworth but found none. She was irritated that he was able to remain hidden from her view for so long. The smoke didn’t help, but Isis was arrogant enough to think that her heightened senses would allow her to pick him out from any sort of obstacle. She needed to force herself to focus. That had to help. Though as soon as she attempted, the whimpering of a woman nearby diverted it again. She slowly stalked to where the sounds of pain were coming from. Shortly, she came upon a woman whose chest was heaving at an unnatural pace. Isis couldn’t detect any outward injuries, but at the rate her heart was beating she could tell that it was something internal.

I should put her out of her misery. Isis had been called to after all. This could be her good deed for the day. Lowering her head, she continued towards the woman. Once the woman caught sight of her, she began screaming. They will never understand that it only makes it worse. Screams forced them to take action. Then again, mostly everything forced a bloodthirsty werewolf to take action on their prey. Her pace quickened. She could hear the woman’s heart beating faster. She was terrified. Isis opened her mouth, emitting another growl. The woman’s screams intensified. Whatever spell she had been hit with made her unable to move. Usually Isis wasn’t one for such easy targets, but she was being gracious. She was helping ease the woman’s suffering. She’d come to understand that at some point. She was only a foot or two away when a voice from earlier came to her ears. ”SECTUMSEMPRA!” Instantly, she began feeling like little pins were poking at her sides. Looking to her backside, she could see indents from where tiny little cuts were slicing at her skin. However, because of her healing ability, they were fading as quickly as they were coming. The one thing she was most grateful for when turning was spell’s lessened damage on her. It took immensely powerful curses to even make her bat an eyelash. Clearly someone hadn’t honed up on their werewolf knowledge. Regardless, she was still irritated. Showing her teeth to the man that came through the smoke, she barked once the Ministry man from earlier walked through with his wand in her direction. The man was an idiot. She had given him a free pass earlier and he was stupid enough to ignore it. By the look of things, he didn’t have his beloved little vampire to defend him anymore. He had chosen to follow after Isis on his own. He was asking for an early death.

If he didn’t want to accept her gift, then she was going to have to abide to his request. Isis turned her body around, facing him as he glared at her. What exactly did he think he was going to be able to do anyway? If he thought a weak spell like Sectumsempra was going to stop her, he’d be dead before he knew it. No, she wasn’t going to kill right away. He insisted on messing with her, so she was going to mess with him. Treat him like a ragdoll before his ultimate demise. His arm was rising, ready to send another spell to her. Isis bounded towards him. His spell casting was no match for her speed. She lowered her head, hitting him in the gut as she collided with him. The sheer strength from her head sent him flying several feet backwards. With any luck, he’d get stuck under a pile of rubble so she could torture his exposed limbs before biting his head off. She ran the way his body had gone soaring. It didn’t take too long for her to find him and she was even more excited when she found an added bonus that came with her discovery. Groaning next to him was Ashton. She laughed in her head at the two battered morons trying to raise themselves. They both looked like they had no idea what was going on which was even better for her. She waited patiently, allowing them to have this little bit of free time before she lunged at both of them. It took a good minute or so for the two to stop being discombobulated enough to stand, but when they did Isis suddenly remembered why the two had looked so familiar.

She had attacked them. The scene presently was nearly identical to the one almost four years ago now. The two were fighting each other like children and she watched. When they finally got their heads out of their asses long enough to realize they were being watched, they froze and she did her thing. Isis never forgot an attack. She recalled chomping down a good portion of Wentworth’s side and ripping it clean from his skin. She had tried going for his arm but only managed to tear a few muscles in his arm. As for the other one, she had left several puncture wounds from her teeth in his thighs. Similar to the man earlier, she had also clawed at his back, proud of herself once she looked upon the gory mess of ripped skin and exposed muscle and nerves. The two would not have survived if it hadn’t been for medical attention from the bimbos at St. Everdines that much was for sure. They didn’t look much better now either. The only difference was that they were older and she hadn’t attacked them…yet. This would be Wentworth’s chance to put his skills to the test, to see if he was as big and bad as the Ministry had made him out to be. She expected nothing from the other man. Isis could see that he had gained a significant amount of weight and muscle but considering that she hadn’t seen or heard of him after the Masquerade, she doubted he was anyone of importance. He was just a man whose ego had been burst and he wanted it back. He was in for a rude awakening. Not only would she kill him, but she’d mutilate him so bad that the Ministry coroner would be unable to identify him by anything other than dental records.

A warning growl was sent in their direction as they looked at each other. They were going to team up. If they wanted to work as a pair, Isis would kill them as a pair. It made no difference to her. ”Let’s get this bitch.” Oh they could try. Lowering her torso to the ground she bent her knees, waiting to pounce. Then it happened. The other man sprung towards her and she jumped. The two met in mid-air, her strength overpowering his weak display. Exposing her teeth to him, she opened to bite when a piece of marble hit her on the side of her head. She whimpered, briefly losing focus as the man underneath her swung another piece in the same area. Isis hadn’t expected that. He managed to slid his way out from under her and somehow disappear in the smoke. She howled, furious that both he and Ashton had evaded her. She turned around in circles hoping to see anything, but she couldn’t. At least one pair of footsteps was around her. Judging by the weight distribution it could have been the other man since it appeared Ashton had an injured leg, but she couldn’t tell for sure. All of a sudden she felt a weight on top of her back and arms closing tightly around her neck. Her body wiggled in every direction, trying to get him off but the way his wand was jabbing into her throat was making it difficult. To make things worse, Isis could see a figure coming in from the smoke before her. This was all unacceptable. Somehow she managed to bite down on the man’s wand and fling it off to the side. Catching him off guard, she maneuvered her head out of his grasp and forced herself to fall on her side, pinning the man underneath. His cry of pain made her grin. Placing her hind foot on his stomach, she pushed off of him, letting him feel the weight of her body. As she did so, the figure from earlier had suddenly disappeared, but another had replaced it, one that way flying in her direction with his arm extended.

Isis quickly jumped out of the way. Ashton had returned and he had brought something to replace his wand. She leapt off the ground, catching him in mid air and swatting the foreign object out of his hand. It hit the ground with a soft clink just as his back hit the ground. Forget torturing him. She was going straight in for the kill. She breathed into his face, her hot breath radiating over it. I’m going to get so much pleasure out of this. Bringing her arm back, she growled at him again. This was what she had been waiting for ever since she had laid eyes on the prat and what she had been fantasizing since the meeting in his office. She was going to sink each claw into his face, down to his bone and then rip them out. He wanted to play in the big leagues, he was playing now. Peering down at him, she hoped he could see her grin and how much she was going to enjoy this. She opened her mouth, licking her teeth to intimidate him. Then, she was caught off guard again as something heavy landed on her back, cuasing her legs to give out underneath her.

[Darren Morgan]

Darren had to keep up with her. She was in his line of sight and he had no intention of letting her go so easily. He knew that his motives were only a hunch. He had no proof that Moswen had known Kaydence was in the country. Yet there was that feeling that she hadn’t been entirely truthful with him. She had never lied to him before, nor kept anything from him that she felt was important. His sister’s lingering presence was important. She was a problem that had not been properly dealt with. He had been foolish in thinking that Kaydence would remain away from Austria. He had thought that he and his father had given her ample enough warning that she wasn’t welcome here anymore but that had clearly not been the case. It was a poor lack of judgment, but Darren wasn’t concerned. If his sister decided not to heed to his warning, he would deal with her. However, he had every right knowing her whereabouts while she was in the same country that he was and if there was anyone…anyone who had any knowledge of her, they were expected to come forward and let him know. He had thought that it should have gone without saying, but once again, he was wrong. As soon as things began settling down, he would have to sort through those worthy enough and those who were always hanging by a thread.

As of now, Darren didn’t know where Isis stood, but she needed to be taught a lesson. If she expected to retain her position, then she needed to act like it. If this was all some misunderstanding, he would consider apologizing after all was said and done. If it wasn’t, then she deserved what she had coming. This would be a lesson learned. One that shouldn’t have been taught since she should have known better, but this would be the most effective method of making her understand. No one under his command should ever let the power they had go to their head. That’s when mistakes and rash decisions were made. Isis was infamous for making them. Darren had to give her credit where credit was due though. More so than the others, she knew how to think things through and determine the best course of action. Yet when she saw something she wanted, she frequently went after it on impulse, which was the reason why Osiris was often called to clean up the messes she wasn’t aware she had left behind. It was frustrating, but Isis had too many skills and too much loyalty for him to simply cast her to the side. Besides, she was his only link to her brother. Osiris was more than likely to be the most sought out after of the two simply because he knew how to get things done the way Darren wanted them. Isis was often too much of a hothead to comprehend assessing before reacting. Her brother was the complete opposite. There were times the siblings reminded him of himself and Kaydence, but they were much closer than he and his sister had ever been.

He trudged on through the war zone. Pieces of the ceiling were falling like raindrops. Soon enough he had no doubt that the entire roof would come crashing down, ensnaring anyone left in its wake. Having no intention on being one of the captives, Darren was starting to get frustrated that Isis was nowhere to be found. Honestly, how hard was it to find someone of her size and form in the middle of all the chaos? The battle was coming to a close. Bodies littered the cracked marble tiling. There were still those who were fighting, but the numbers were significantly down from earlier. Everyone seemed to be coming to the realization as well things were nearly over. It was possible that the Ministry had managed to form a blockade to prevent any more people from entering the bank. Reinforcements would be coming. They would need to get a handle on the situation somehow, but they weren’t necessary. The point had been made and it had been imprinted in the country’s history books. Twice now he had been successful. Twice now he had caused carnage of such magnitude that the entire core of the population was shaken. Darren was satisfied with the way things were ending. As much as he hated to admit it, this was probably better than anything he could come up with in his current state of uncertainty with alliances. This would bring them all back. It had to. There was nowhere else to go but up. Avoiding another piece of falling rubble, he heard a howl from not too far away from him. He was closer than he expected. He was practically running to where he had last heard her. The area that he was sure it had come from was covered in billowing smoke, but could make out the black fur from behind it. She was there and she was not alone.

He could see traces of movement and hear thuds and groans that sounded like they were coming from men. The smoke cleared slightly and Darren was able to see that a man was on her back. It was ballsy. Isis was a vicious beast in form and the man was either an idiot or not all there from the wear and tear of battle. Nonetheless, it was amusing to watch. When he saw the glare of light reflected off of the man’s chest, a grin formed on his face. This was it. This was the perfect way to teach Isis that he didn’t approve of defiant behavior. Why not let her get a taste of life behind that bars of an Azkaban cell? She got the better of the man, rolling over on her side and landing on him. Another one quickly joined the fray though. Upon closer inspection, he scowled. He despised Wentworth already. The man was a gnat who seemed to be everywhere Darren was throughout this whole battle. He would get his eventually, but for now, he would allow the man the one thing it looked like he wanted the most. Isis. A pile of rubble off to the side spoke to him. Extending his hand in the direction of them, he lifted up a few pieces, making sure that at least one fairly large piece of marble was in the group. He kept them levitating in air, waiting for the perfect moment. Isis had tackled Wentworth to the ground, so close to making him another one of her victims. Her head was lowering itself closer to his face, her leg pulling back. Any second now. Her leg stopped. This was it. Darren turned his wrist sharply in her direction and the marble went right towards her, landing heavily on her back and causing her body to fall to the ground. He took several steps backwards to admire the scene as best as he could.

“May I offer my house Sir?” Darren turned to face the voice. It was Maddock again, looking rather pleased with himself. He thought he had seen the man in action while chasing after Isis, but hadn’t been too sure. The invitation was considerable though. He needed an escape route since the Ministry would be on any building he had ever owned or lived in before the day was over with. Maddock was offering his home up so freely. Under normal circumstances, he would have never allowed himself to be at the mercy of a stranger, but with the man’s last name, he doubted he would suffer any repercussions for it. The man had been eager to please him from the first time he had made his way over to him. He supposed a chance could be given. The family name had always been loyal to the Dark side. This man looked like he hadn’t been astray. “Very well,” he responded. Darren took one last glance over to Isis. The Ministry men had her under control. She would be furious when she awoke, but she had dug her own grave. He saw another figure out of the corner of his eye. Looking towards it, it wasn’t hard to make out Osiris’ towering frame from the entrance. Darren made sure to step out of the way to allow the man to see what his sister had done. Smirking, he brought his hand to his side, showing off his handiwork. Without wasting another moment, he grabbed on to the man’s wrist and not even a second later, they were gone. He had done his part and could now only sit back and watch the events unfold as he hoped they would.

[Centara Zealon]

The chaos in the room seemed to only get worse with the collapsing of the ceiling. People were recovering from the surprise of a dragon coming out of the floor but even more so, they were dodging pieces of marble and concrete flying at them from all around. Centara sidestepped a falling piece of ceiling that landed right where she was standing. This place was getting far too ridiculous for her liking. When she was about to turn and leave was when Keara came and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her in the opposite direction. “We’re leaving. Now. Before this place caves in on us.” Centara would not have objected if it weren’t for the tone in the vampires’ voice. In the years that Cen had known Kea, not once had she ever heard the girl this upset. The only time it had even been this close was in Transylvania when she had been insulted by a werewolf about her height. Though the subject was not touchy, the werewolf had been. Apparently the two had history that made them mortal enemies, including the fact that the wolf had nearly left a scar on the poor girl’s perfect frame. Cen was already damaged and only after 23 years. Somehow Keara had gone 89 years without a scratch. And then the surprise.

Keara’s voice got even more deadly and then she showed her opposite arm. Centara’s eyes widened as she saw the four long claw marks that were bleeding terribly, covering the woman’s arm and dripping onto the ground. If it had been human blood, she was sure she would be all over it but the fact that it was vampire blood, Cen could only be surprised, not hungry. She was about to ask what had happened when she realized just what those could be from. The howl that sounded reminded her of that. Turning around, she looked in the direction of Isis who was now facing off against two Ministry workers. Granted, the scene was so smoke filled she only hoped they were Ministry workers. A moment later she felt another tight tug on her arm and she was being pulled towards the door and just in time. A large piece of the building landed right where they were just standing. Keara was right, they needed to leave and she knew it. However she wanted to see how this fight between Isis and the Ministry ended. She wanted to see if the wolf would be taken down by them or if Centara would get another chance to show her power, to show how she was worth being an opponent.

Glancing back at Keara, she held up a finger. “Give me a second. I wanna see this,” she said, seeing the frustration in Keara’s eyes. Glancing back, she could see someone stalking close to the wolf, but couldn’t make out the figure. All she knew was that it was a male and that he looked to be pretty tall, however that was about half of the men in the building right now. She attempted to focus in on him and see his face but the smoke was too much. The only figure she could make out in the fray was Isis due to her irregular form. The next thing she knew, Isis on the ground. She wasn’t sure if the man had caused it or if it had been a Ministry worker, but the wolf was down and the Ministry was taking advantage of it. For a second, Centara lingered, almost wanting to run to Isis’ side and get those Ministry Officials off of her. No one deserved to be held hostage by the Ministry and subject to their torture. Not even Isis. Pity almost overcame her until she realized exactly what the wolf had done in her past. One day she would leave their hold and that would be the day that Centara would be waiting, strong enough to take down the wolf; strong enough to finish this fight. She would have enough focus to keep their battle going and to take the wolf down and sink her fangs right into the woman’s neck. The next time the two met would be the time where she would get her revenge for her sister and the damage that had been dealt in this fight.

Before she had a chance to turn away, one last thing came to her ears. She had been so focused on listening to the voices in that area that she actually picked up something not too far away from the fight. She knew the voice well however she did not recognize the words coming from her mouth. Had Kaydence just used the killing curse? Looking in the direction of the sound, she could only see shadows but right where she was, she could see a figure falling to the ground as the green light dissipated. Things were happening so quickly that she wasn’t sure what to think, but a grin overcame her lips before she turned and gave into Keara’s rough grip around her arm. For once, Kaydence had actually done something that Centara would have never expected. Not once in her life had Cen ever though Kay would go through with killing a person. Sure, she probably killed a house elf or two, mostly during their training, but never a person as far as the vampire knew. Granted, how well did she know her old friend? As the two vampires left the falling bank, Keara finally letting her grip fall when she was sure Centara was following; Cen began to wonder if it might be worth it to become close with her old friend again. It wouldn’t hurt. At this point they had a business deal going on but if she had changed this much, it might be worth it to take a chance on the woman.

Taking one last glance around all of the damage her and Isis caused, Centara couldn’t help but let out a sadistic laugh, stopping in the middle of the alley and looking at all of the bodies, both dead and injured. The Ministry Officials were so busy that they couldn’t even see the fanged woman in her excitement. The healers were so busy trying to get people out of the area. “This is what I live for. Even if Darren is getting the credit for this, it is one step in the right direction,” Centara said to no one in particular. Holding out her hand, Keara took it gladly in her frustration and a moment later, the two disappeared with a pop, off to the Estate that they both called home. Now that this amount of destruction happened, that just meant that their planning would have to speed up. Soon the world would realize you can’t keep a good vampire down.

[shawnj]

The moment Shawn had stopped in front of the pair, he could see the woman’s wand move in Ashton’s direction. In a flash, the man’s body had rose into the air and he was sent flying across the way, falling where he was no longer visible due to the amount of smoke and dust in the air. It was getting ridiculous in here but the good thing was, the hole that the dragon had created was actually sucking out some of the dust, making the air more clear than it had been before. Attempting to see if Ashton was okay, he began to think that maybe he hadn’t been a DeathEater. The lack of the tattoo was sign one but the fact that the DeathEater had just thrown him across the room mean that he was not in close ties with her. Maybe he had just been trying to ensure that she didn’t die? Maybe she was too important to allow her to leave or die in this building? In that case, he would have to be sure to take extra care in case that was the truth. He didn’t want to ruin anything that Ashton had just done to save the woman if they needed her alive for questioning. That could possibly ruin his job.

Looking back at the female, he narrowed his eyes when she spoke up. “Show? You call throwing him aside a show? I’ve seen better,” Shawn remarked, realizing that his wand arm had dropped a bit during his daze to find out where Ashton had landed. Raising back up to full height, he made the decision that he was going to have to paralyze her and move her out of the area and to a secure place where she could get that leg treated before it killed her. He had heard of instances where someone getting their leg or arm crushed had actually caused enough toxins to build up in their body. The moment that crushing force was released, it also released those toxins into the body which could cause a lot of complications. Most of them resulted in death if the circulation wasn’t balanced so the blood could flow back slowly, allowing the kidneys to properly handle the toxins. This all mean that he was really going to have to be careful with her. That also meant he would have to get her without a struggle. “Potrificus totalus!” he shouted, only realizing a moment later that her wand skills were quite fast. The spell was bounced of a shield and sent in another direction, disappearing into the dust. Narrowing his eyes, he kept his wand where it was at. Despite her condition, she was going to put up the last bit of fight she had left in her, apparently.

When she spoke up again, he raised an eyebrow. “A puppet? What the hell are you talking about?” he questioned, taking another step closer to get a better vantage point. He could not hear her properly from where he was standing and he would have a much better chance at handling her when he was closer to her. From here, the mark was more than obvious against her skin and he could see it moving. The mark had always been disturbing in his eyes. The fact that the thing moved against their skin whenever they were being requested. Then it came to him. She didn’t want to be called. That was the puppet comment. Being called by a tattoo had to feel like you were a slave, like you had to go wherever you were told to go. He didn’t blame her for not wanting that but she had been the one to receive it. She had been the one to choose to go through whatever process it was to gain that tattoo. She had to have realized what she was getting into when she got in with the Dark Side. If not, she didn’t deserve to keep that leg. She needed to be kept out of the world where she could potentially be dangerous. Pointing his wand directly at her, he was about to send another spell in her direction when her voice turned cold and dark. A grin spread across his lips. “I don’t listen to orders.”

Moving his wrist slightly, he was about to send another spell to paralyze her when a flash of green light and those deadly words escaped her mouth. His eyes widened and that playful grin he had disappeared as quickly as they had come. He was far too close to her to get out of the way and he was in the middle of another spell, making it impossible for him to send a blocking spell in that amount of time. For a moment, he held his breath as time seemed to stop. That green light appeared in his eyes as it crept in his direction. No matter how much they tried to prepare a person for their inevitable fate during Auror training, nothing could prepare you for the moment it would actually happen. Everyone had to die and in that last moment, it had to be the worst feeling in the world. The last thing he thought about when getting up that morning had been “I’m going to die today”. He still had a team he had to lead; a team that he had to use to fix magical incidents. Then the thought crossed his mind; he had spent the last two years working. Damn him for not enjoying his life. Then the green light entered into his body, filled his eyes, and dropped his body to the ground, the killing curse taking another victim. His last though that was now engraved in his mind that he wished he could tell his friend and family: I’m sorry.

[erin]

The relief she felt when the stranger came to break up the fight was immense. She wasn't sure how much more she could take, how much more her body could take. Head wounds bled a lot, and fast. At the rate she was going, she'd lose consciousness in a quarter of an hour. The effects were really starting to hit her, especially after a blow like the cruciatus curse. She was beginning to feel light headed, and her vision was blurry. When he told her to get out of the bank, she figured it wouldn't hurt if she sat down for a few moments before making her way to the exit. Why not, right? She had time, and the ringing in her ears were killer. The random ministry worker probably had things covered, it was his job after all to deal with breakers of the law such as Morgan and Wagner. She hoped they rotted in Azkaban.

That's how she spent the better part of the next few minutes, delirious and hidden from the rest of the battle. She had this talent of becoming very compact and out of the way. She rested her head on her knees and zoned out as a puddle of her blood began to collect on the floor. It wasn't until a chunk of the ceiling missed her be half an inch did she awaken from her slow lapse in to the real of the unconscious. She knew she really had to find her way out, but how she wasn't sure. She wasn't very steady and she was finding it hard to think about anything except for the pain of her arm and the swimming colours that danced around the pillared hall. She knew they were spells, but she wasn't sure she would be able to avid them all. The entrance, or in this case the exit, was across the hall and it was a long walk for someone who had lost so much blood and sanity.

But, she pulled herself up shakily, leaning against the wall for support. If she stayed focus on her task at hand, then maybe it would turn out okay. So, she took a step and then another. Soon, she'd covered some ground with out any accidents, and congratulated herself on this accomplishment. She glanced around at the scenes unfolding and couldn't at first pick out her original opponents. This was good. Maybe the ministry guy had dealt with them easily and she could make it out with little trouble. If she were feeling a bit better than she would have apparated out, but that seemed impossible with out splinching herself in the process. At that point, an episode like that would likely kill her. She was of sound mind enough to know this.

She'd made it quite a ways when a flash of green light caught her by surprise. She stood for a moment, her eyes closed, wobbling unsteadily, awaiting to see when the effects would appear. When they didn't she opened again and squinted in the light looking around. About three feet away from her position sat Kaydence. She saw her first because she recognized her so well. Then her eyes rested on the still figure on the ground, and knew him as the stranger who'd intervened between the fighters. It took her a few seconds of her eyes going from the now dead man to the wand being held by the woman, but the connection came eventually. When it did, Erin knew that she couldn't just move on and ignore it. She was too disgusted and shocked and delirious to do nothing. That was never the kind of person she was.

Anger boiled within her and her wand was whipped out and pointed at Kaydence before her brain had registered she'd done it. She looked terrible and almost completely unrecognizable due to the dirt and blood that covered every inch of her face. She took a moment to spit out a collection of the red metallic stuff from when she'd bit her tongue on to the floor so she could pronounce the words properly. And then she began to throw curses at Kayence. At first she started with expelliarmus, and then she moved on to stunning spells and body binding curses. She resorted to anything she could fire off with out having to even say it she'd successfully cast them so often. The result was an impressive display of flying curses of every colour that shot off as soon as the previous had ended. She hoped that in being lightning fast and fired off as many as she could before Kaydence could react, then she might hit her opponent before she had time to react with something.

[Cammie Wagner]

It was instant gratification. The second the spell hit Erin in her tiny little chest was marvelous. The most delectable sound tore from Erin's lips, filling the air. An odd calm washed over her whole body, this was the main reason that she had become a Death Eater in the first place. It was no coincidence that her tattoo was on her wand arm, she could see it now, standing out brightly against her otherwise pale skin. Even whenever she was a little more tan it was just as visible. The squirming serpent only furthered her concentration she didn't ever want to break the spell. She didn't much care who was watching now, or what the repercussions of her curse might be. She wanted Erin to beg for her life, the plead and cry, beg for mercy Cammie had no intentions of granting. Blood was coming out of her mouth, spearing across the floor, that had to be uncomfortable. She hoped Erin's twitching body would do even more harm to her body than the curse would. The sound of the killing curse being cast not far behind her was enough to make Cammie break the spell and turn to look who had done it, but she couldn't make anything out in the haze. By the time that she turned back around Erin was standing, and Kaydence had found her way back to her side. She hadn't felt this empowered in such a long time, it was like she was able to breath again. The fact that a curse like that could make her feel so wonderful, scared her just a little bit. Surrendering to the part of her that craved violence, she was about to place the curse on Erin again, before she heard a sound coming from behind her that stopped the word in her throat.

”MORSMORDE!” Taking a step back she turned her back from Erin, not the most intelligent thing to do, but she was pretty sure that the little girl's arm was broken and she was confidant in her ability to drop to the floor rapidly if a spell was fired. She looked in the direction of Darren's voice. It was like her drug, her eyes widened and her jaw lowered a fraction of an inch as the sign parted the smoke and placed itself firmly into the sky. He certainly did know how to leave an impression. The screams from outside were intantanious, the terrified voices and the demands for him to 'show himself' and 'leave them alone' were audible even over all of the fighting going on in the bank. She knew that this couldn't of been planned, he couldn't have seen them going into the bank, unless he had been following them for a very long time. She was starting to feel hurt again. Forcing her gaze to return to Erin she started to move back to her target, but Kaydence had beat her to it this time. “That was a nice trick, but I think you should share the fun.” She watched with a sadistic pleasure as her wand raised slowly, Erin didn't seem thrilled with the Idea, but seemed to be attempting to put on a brave front. She should know better by now that flattery and pleas would have been better in the attempt to spare her pathetic life. “Imperio!” A low laughter left her throat “Make her walk barefoot on the glass” She offered, knowing it might take time to make Erin remove her shoes, but the effect would so be worth it. “What should I make her do first, run into the wall?” Cammie nodded “Oh, that's better. Do that” Kaydence didn't need to be told twice “Run to the wall face-first.” The short little legs started peddling, attempting to close the distance between the two of them and the wall. Falling into a very short lived fit of laughter she clapped her hands together, bending slightly before righting herself, the sound died in her throat as Erin stopped only an inch away from the wall. Or so it seemed.

A light hit Kaydence in the side “What th-” a man was running toward them, a Ministry man. Acting the valiant hero and standing between then and Erin. If only he knew the reasons behind their actions. This wasn't some random Death Eater violence, this was a personal matter finally being settled. “You should get out of here. Let me handle these two. You’ve done enough,” Done Enough? Looks like she was getting her hind end kicked rather effectively, taking a step to keep Erin from running off into the distance, she frowned. Who the hell did this man think that he was? “Hello, ladies. Why don’t you just make this easy on all of us and just turn yourselves in?” From the looks of his Ministry badge, he obviously thought that he was some sort of hot shot. Cammie didn't care who he was, but if he wanted to be her next curse victim so badly, she wasn't going to disappoint him. Her tattoo was itching, urging her to inflict more harm, cause some pain, to do something. Yet, they were stuck in a small limbo, she waited to see if he was going to make the first move or not. “You and what army?” She had a point. There were two of them, and only one of him. He was outnumbered, and if he thought that Erin was going to be of any use to him, he was mistaken. Cammie was confidant that she could take Erin with her eyes closed and both hands tied behind her back. “It seems like your comrades are a little busy dying at the hands of the Dark Lord.” She wanted to chim in, but Kaydence had this covered. She felt like any petty 'yeah' she threw in would put her into the annoying sidekick role, and she wasn't that. “If you expect to walk out of this alive, I suggest you leave me and my friend here alone.” Redistributing her weight between her feet, she held out her wand once again, aiming straight for his chest. Every word that left her mouth just made her desire to duel grow stronger, if Kaydence was expecting her to be the good guy here and step in for the voice of peace it wasn't going to happen. He had been ruining their fun. “That was a warning,”

Cammie looked at Kaydence in confusion, a warning? What had he done to deserve a warning? Curse first, ask questions later. The darker side of her was taking over, she wanted to hex him into oblivion, and all he was doing was his job. “get out of here.” Frustrated, she wanted to tell him not to move, that she wasn't even close to being done with him, whenever he lashed out at Kaydence ”Impedimenta!” And she was the one being reasonable. Whenever Kaydence was thrown backwards against the wall she shrieked watching helplessly as the wall started to come down on her. She wanted to go to her, to help her but she knew that if she did then the man would just follow them, and make matters worse than they already were. “CRUCIO” She aimed the spell at the Ministry man, but he was already in motion, she started to take off after him whenever the floor started to rumble. Her arms went out to her sides to steady herself. Her feet were already aching and she didn't doubt that they were going to be so swollen she was going to have to magic off her heeled boots to remove them. Of course the floor would be exploding, of course there had to be a dragon, just in case this day wasn't going poorly enough. She stumbled backwards whenever the floor exploded, covering her head and torso with her arms to block the rubble and coins from hitting her body, but they didn't seem to fly out quiet this far. Whenever she opened her eyes again, she had lost him. Looking up, a strange sense of nostalgia struck her, would it be so bad to go crawling back to Darren? If he was still this powerful, what else had she been wrong about? Shaking her head to knock the thought out of her head she started to look for the official once more. Instead, she managed to find Kaydence instead, her leg exposed. She had just started toward her whenever the killing curse left her lips. She watched in satisfaction as the man fell, the light leaving his eyes. She wondered if anybody would even care that he was gone. Just one less name on the payroll. Smirking since he did get what was coming to him, after all, Kaydence had warned him to leave her alone. Dropping to her knees, not caring that she stung all over or that her legs were streaked with blood from the various cuts she had she collapsed next to her friend. This was supposed to have been an easy shopping day.

Erin appeared out of nowhere, she didn't know when to quit did she? She was firing spells at a woman who was on the ground and bleeding. Childish. Holding up her wand she deflected the first spell that she could, "STUPEFY!" she didn't know what had happened to Erin, only that the spells were no longer coming. The safest place for the both of them would be Marlon's house. She didn't know if Kaydence knew her brother but the Ministry officials wouldn't be looking in the houses of their own, he wouldn't rat them out. There is no way that he could kick them out either. He was too kind and he was about to take full advantage of the situation again. “Kay? We need to get out of here. NOW” Her eyes scanned her friend's body, there was no way that she was going to be able to bear weight on that leg. Not in that condition, Marlon would know what to do. A low stream of 'oh my's' and 'goodness' was leaving her lips, her hand almost touched the exposed flesh of Kay's swollen, disfigured leg but her hand bounced and she retracted it. She could always apparate them outside, but the Tattoo, there was no way she was going to get it hidden, and stay hidden. They were no doubt testing every single person that they were treating outside for the Dark Mark on their forearm. Normally, the charm worked well since the ministry wasn't allowed to revoke charms without probable cause. Which was exactly what this was.

[Deleted]

Tristan didn’t know what the hell to expect. Ordinary spells didn’t work on werewolves. Spells that did caused minimal damage. He remembered both of those things from Care of Magical Creatures class way back when. Sectumsempra surely couldn’t have been one of those ordinary spells. Its result sliced and diced at its target causing massive blood loss if not stopped within a minute of its casting. He had never conjured the spell himself, but he had witnessed it first-hand. He had seen examples of its effects during Auror training and then the spell itself at the Dark Lord’s last attack. He wasn’t too sure, but he saw two Ministry officials, both dead, off by one of the pillars in his earlier running around with slits in their skin that had bled out. It was horrendous, something he’d never wish on his worst enemy, including Wentworth. However, this chick had tried to kill him. Tristan took relief in knowing that merely for the fact that he knew the woman would be locked up in Azkaban for awhile after this. The Ministry didn’t look highly upon those who turned their wands against Ministry officials, even more so those who tried to kill them with one of the unforgivables. He prayed this woman would slip up somehow and give him just enough time to be the one to capture her and get all the glory. If he was looking for a way to be promoted, it was staring right back at him.

He was disappointed to see that the spells were having no serious effect on her. Tristan was sure he saw a look of annoyance on her face actually. It was astonishing to see the pieces of fur go down as if they were reacting to the cut, but then rise up only a second or two later. He envied the ability to heal so quickly. Merlin knew he needed it now. His wrists were still killing him and his right fist was still throbbing from the contact it made with the wall earlier. Still, even with the pain and the fact that he had an irritated werewolf several feet away, he began walking in her direction again. She showed her teeth and barked a clear warning to stay the hell away from her. But Tristan had no intention of doing so. He was too stubborn to simply walk away. Plus there was something within him urging him to trudge forward. There was something about the wolf that was so familiar to him. It was strange, but he knew that she needed to be stopped for more than just reasons of the safety of the general public. She had been in his life at some point before. It frustrated him to no end not knowing at what interval that had been. Though he did enjoy the rush of adrenaline kicking in to motivate him to keep at his target. It was one of the stupidest things he could be doing given the circumstances, but the woman needed to be punished for everything that she had done today. And to him.

Tristan raised his wand again as he approached her. He was hoping another spell would come to him in the spur of the moment. Unfortunately for him, he was never given the time for it to happen. The woman came running towards him. Not even a second later he was flying through the air. The pain in his gut only added to the rest of his injuries and from the looks of it, so would his entire body whenever he decided to land. Once he did, his body landed on his side. He could feel blood gushing from a gash in his lip. Even worse, there was pain shooting up and down his arm from a central point at his wrist. There was no doubt in Tristan’s mind that it was broken since his left side had been the one he landed on. Forcing his body onto his back, he squeezed his eyes closed as he brought his broken wrist to his stomach. This was going to make things more difficult. He could at least be thankful that the broken wrist wasn’t on his wand arm. If he had been smart, he would have kept his eyes open as he lay in the rubble waiting for the woman to come find him. The pain was too much though. He cursed himself though as something heavy dropped from the sky and landed on his chest. The pain from the impact on his wrist was so numbing that Tristan couldn’t even open his mouth to react. All he knew was that this was a very good time to open his eyes and push off whatever it was that had landed on him and his wrist.

Groaning, Tristan began pushing at the mass with his free hand. Fortunately, the thing, which now felt like a body with the amount of movement it was making, had no intention of remaining put. As the body maneuvered itself off of him, his hand went to the opposite wrist as he forced himself to sit up. A loud crunch resounded through the space as his back bones popped from the movement. He was definitely going to need a day long massage after this, or a chiropractor. The same time that he sat up, the werewolf woman appeared through a cloud of smoke that had surrounded him and the uninvited guest. She stopped a little ways away from them, watching the scene as it unfolded. Tristan found it peculiar that she wasn’t attacking since both his and the stranger’s bodies were in a weakened state, but judging from the arrogance she displayed earlier, maybe she preferred a challenge. Then again, she had set her sights on the defenseless woman earlier. He took the liberty of looking over at the equally dusty figure with the time the woman was allotting them. Wentworth. He rolled his eyes. Of course the man would be whose body had landed on top of his. This was the second time it had happened today. Yet as badly as Tristan would have liked to pummel his fists into the man’s head, there was a more important matter at hand. The werewolf. Using his good arm, he slowly pushed himself off the ground, wincing slightly as the taste of iron crept into his mouth. He spit it in the direction of the wolf. He had hoped that it would hit her square on the snout, but it simply landed as a bloody pool right by one of her hideous paws.

He and Wentworth had risen at the same time. Their shoulders nearly touched as they both studied the werewolf in front of him. Then it hit him. Tristan remembered why he felt such a need to destroy the beast. She had tried to do so to him and Wentworth about four years ago now. His eyes narrowed as the scene replayed in quick bursts in his mind. They had been fighting which thankfully wasn’t what they were doing now. The wolf had taken advantage of it. He remembered being sick to his stomach at the sight of Ashton’s entrails sliding out on the floor next to him, yelling out in pain from the blood that oozed from the gashes from her claws in his back. An invisible, uncomfortable weight was felt from his back as if reminding him of what had happened. Tristan had been terrified that she had placed her curse on him, but the Healers at St. Everdines had done wonders for him. He was sure the same memories must have been replayed through Wentworth’s mind as the man’s eyes resembled his own. This was the chance to right the wrongs she had done to them. Two was a much better advantage than one against the werewolf, especially when the other was an expert in this sort of thing. In this moment, he had never been more grateful to have Wentworth at his side and that the anger running through their bodies was not directed at each other but at a common enemy. Tristan bent down, keeping his eyes on the wolf as he secured his wand from the ground to the side of him. Like earlier, he had no idea what he was going to do with it, but it felt necessary once noticing Ashton’s hands move over his chest as if searching for something. If the man had an idea, he was going to do what he could to make sure that it went through.

Once he stopped, the two exchanged glances. Wentworth did have something up his sleeve and he needed Tristan’s help to make sure it happened. “Let’s get this bitch,” he said, his way of agreeing. As soon as Ashton nodded, he brought his wand up and grunted as he dove in her direction. She was waiting for him, as he expected and caught him in mid-air, slamming him back down on his back. Her face was so close to his. Looking off to the side, he instantly grabbed for a large piece of marble conveniently next to him. Gritting his teeth, he hit her on the side of the head with it with as much force as he had. At the sound of her whimper he did it again. This time it managed to distract her just enough to slide his way out from underneath her massive body and quickly crawl away into the cover of the smoke. Tristan waited until his chest stopped heaving at its unnatural pace. He smirked to himself as he rose. For a beast with such finely-tuned senses, the angry howl at not being able to find him or Wentworth was encouraging. As soon as he caught glimpse of her back turned to him he jumped. His arms quickly locked around her neck and he jabbed his wand into her throat. She reacted, squirming every which way to get him off but his lock was too tight. He was so focused that he didn’t even see the figure watching them through the smoke. Panic rushed back to him as she found some way to take his wand from him and toss it off to the side. Tristan didn’t have any time to react as she forced herself to fall back on top of him. He sighed in relief as his left wrist hadn’t been subject to the fall. However, his legs were very uncomfortable with the amount of weight on them as they struggled to break themselves free. He shouted out as she put even more of her weight on his before standing up. He grimaced again as she planted her paw on his and used him as a jumping board. Her claws left little holes in his chest from where they had been.

His attention quickly went to the scene in front of him. Wentworth had returned with something in his hand, aimed directly at the werewolf. Tristan’s excitement kicked in. She was finally going to be stopped. It sucked that Ashton would get all the glory, but he’d deal with his jealousy later. The expression on his face fell though once the wolf woman collided with him. Copying what she did earlier, she brought Wentworth to his back, sending whatever was in his hand off away from him. How quickly things always seemed to turn. Her face was lowering to his, her mouth open and seeming ready to tear his face off with one quick rip. Somehow the rip never came. Tristan had to crane his neck out of the way as a pile of levitating rubble came sailing past him, aimed straight for the wolf. Once the rubble met its target her weight gave out from under her. There was no time for questions. Pushing himself from the ground with both hands, he ignored his angry broken wrist and charged towards the wolf. Throwing himself on top of her as Ashton rolled his way out from her he once again put her in a choke hold, this time with more fury after being fallen on top of and having his enemy almost killed by hands, or in this case paws, other than his own. Tristan squeezed with every ounce of strength he could muster. Her body was wiggling under his, but the impact of the rubble pile affected her more than she realized. His head turned only once as he saw Wentworth grab what he had been looking for. “DO IT WENTWORTH!” Although it didn’t feel like the werewolf would be able to get herself out of this one, he didn’t want to take any chances. “DO IT!”

[Ashton Wentworth]

It was taking too long for him to reach the mass of fur that was her back, luckily she was only a couple of inches taller in her form than he was normally. He was getting too smug, he had assumed that Tristan could at least manage to keep her attention on him, he was good at that sort of thing normally. Yet, she had still sensed Ashton coming, he needed to keep his head in the game instead of just assuming this was going to be like every other obnoxious, power tripping werewolf he had come in contact with before. Of course, the only time he had been close to one in form, was her and she had kicked his ass. He was intent on having things end differently this time. Her body impacting against his changed his trajectory path. He was forced to watch in what seemed like slow motion as she swatted his tonic out of his hand, he hoped that the thick glass vial wouldn't break upon impact. He had missed his one shot, nobody would know not to touch the vial, or that it was more valuable than a sum of most of the vaults underneath their feet. His fist grasped at the empty air in a lame attempt to catch it while there was still a slight chance that it might be in reach. Whenever they hit the ground, he could feel her full weight pressing down on his body, try as he might he could hardly wiggle underneath her pressure, much less attempt to break free and he wasn't exactly weak. “Man. You need to lay off the Twinkies” Of course those weren't exactly the last words that he wanted to utter in this life, but if she was still capable of understanding English in her form then it might just make her angry enough to kill him quickly, instead of dragging it out, and that was really all that he could hope for at this moment. He turned his face away from hers, not wanting to have to inhale her putrid breath for any longer than he absolutely had to. He didn't like house pets, much less wild, rabid animals. He somehow managed to work his knees up under her body, and that was keeping at least a couple of inches between them, it might be helpful as leverage, or it might just buy him some time until she pressed so hard that his skins snapped under her muscle and his legs gave way by force.

Instead, her weight seemed to almost double instantly, and she whimpered softly, his legs gave and the full weight of what had to be two people landed on top of his chest. Yup. There went a rib or two, he didn't have to hear the crack, it would have been impossible under all the flesh and fur, but he could feel the pain, and instantly he was only able to grab short, ragged breaths. Only it wasn't a person, it wasn't Tristan coming to his aid like he had expected, rather a ton of rock had been thrown on her. Was it Tristan's doing? Or somebody else's entirely? He wasn't going to have time to look around for his helper, he would just have to hope that they would come forward later, no doubt wanting a price or their name in the paper. It couldn't be Tristan, because he was in the process of running into Isis's temporarily stunned body once more, he knocked the pile of stuff off of him just enough to inch out from under her, his breath causing him great trouble as he heaved in attempt to get enough air into his system to function properly. He was pulling himself with his good arm toward the vial, as quickly as he possibly could. His fist closed around the syringe, he slid his fingers into the metal loops and pushed himself into a crouched stand, his shoulders hunking and his ribs not allowing him to stand properly, he limped toward he body “DO IT WENTWORTH!” He didn't need to be told twice. Dropping to his knees directly in front of Tristan and Isis, he had her by the neck, she wasn't going anywhere. Looking her straight into her still golden eyes, he smiled in triumph, and jammed the needle into the thick part of her neck, and pushed until all of the liquid was now coursing though her body. Sinking further onto his bottom, he motioned for Tristan to let her go, she wasn't going to be hurting anybody else any time soon. His eyes remained open as he sat there, gasping for air, watching her shrink down half of a foot, a horrible sound coming out of her mouth, the needle popped out of her skin and fell to the ground as her skin became visible again. His eyes were widened in an emotion that he couldn't fully place. He wasn't sure if it was terror, amusement, or awe. It was strange watching the hair suck back into her skin, her bones realigning themselves little by little. He could only imagine that it must have felt excruciating to her, he knew that the tonic was some sort of mutation between the wolfsbane potion, quick silver, and who knew what else so the Ministry certainly didn't have her comfort in mind. He hoped it didn't kill her, at least until they were able to make her pay for that week he had to spend in the hospital. Their truce was over now, and as soon as she was tucked behind bars they could go back to hating each other just as they wanted. Unfortunately, he was sure after his assistance, Tristan was going to get the active status he had been craving so much. Swearing under his breath he watched as Tristan punched the girl in the head. Ash supposed it was cruel, but he could no longer look at her as human, couldn't picture her as a woman, just that thing who had attacked him all of those years ago. He couldn't blame the man for wanting to have the last word.

Scooting over to Tristan, he rose to his knees behind he man, sticking his arms underneath Tristan's and pulling back, lacing his fingers together behind the man's head so that his arms were forced to stick up and he would stop punching. “She's done” was all he managed to say, even if he could fully understand the man's rage toward her. He had a good dose of it himself, but he didn't want to kick somebody who was fully incapacitated. Unless it was Tristan himself. Letting the man go, he collapsed for just a moment, needing to catch his breath before doing what else needed to be done. His whole body was still shaking, he couldn't hear any more shouting, he didn't see any more stray spells going around and the dust was starting to clear. He couldn't hear the footsteps, which was good since right now he was laying on the floor and would have been highly vulnerable to any oncoming people. Propping himself up on his good elbow he rolled over until he was kneeling, and then even slower until he was standing, even if he was leaning off to one side a tad. Was his hearing compromised or was it becoming quiet? Were they nearing the end? Looking around him, he spotted people apparating out of what was left of Gringotts, it was going to be hell to make this look normal again, if the goblins ever allowed the to get close to the bank again that was.

Limping over to his jacket, he tucked the box with the one vial left into his pants pocket, causing it to jut out at a strange angle. Scooping up his wand, he placed that in his pocket next to the box, brushing off the tops of his thighs as he stood. Bringing the jacket over, he draped it over Isis's nude form, rolling her over until he could zip it up, it hardly covered what needed to be covered, but apart from giving her his own pants there wasn't too much that he was going to be able to do about it. Grasping one of her arms, he lifted her twitching torso off of the floor, motioning that Tristan should grab the other one, which he did and they started to drag her toward the door. Her head was rolling forward at an unnatural angle, but from the state of her he doubted that they were going to need to restrain her for a very long time, but he would anyway. Black pillars of smoke were appearing all around them as the living Death Eaters were leaving, it was over, it was all over. Once the clean up crew got in here they would be able to drag out the corpses and start to identify everybody. It was strange how bright it still was outside, it felt like he had been inside for days, when It had obviously only been a couple of hours at most. He had to squint to adjust to the light. It had been so hard to see anything in there, it was making it just as impossible to see out in the light. They had some difficulty seeing on the stairs, and getting down them meant slipping a few times, which was not fun on his bum knee. They didn't have time to get all fixed up, they didn't even have time to get patched up, they needed to get her out of here. They should have a few jumpsuits in the transport. Luckily they were so close to the Ministry building. Pulling his badge up to his mouth he stated as clearly as he could “Rutherford” since his throat was still raw, it was a feature just as new as the summoning system. “Message: Apprehended mole. Headed to Azkaban. Summon Transport. End message” He would have to hear it, so at least they ferry would be ready for them once the truck brought them there. It would have been too difficult to apparate her to the beach front and onto the Ferry with the three of them, it was hard enough to focus on walking and holding her body up. They would have been splinched for sure.

The truck came around instantly, of course his sense of time could be warped. Pulling open the door he hoisted Isis' limp body into the truck, her body slumping on the metal floor. Using his arm to hoist his body into the truck, waiting for Tristan and allowing the other man to slam the door shut. He went about strapping her arms into the cuffs attached to the wall above her head. He was about to move to her feet into the floorboard shackles but Tristan had already gotten to it. Sitting upright his good hand moved to the side of his torso where his ribs were aching the worst. This was the pits, sitting still was going to allow him to really feel the extent of his injuries, and he wouldn't be able to show anything. No doubt the second his wheezing got out of control Stavros was going to pounce. He didn't much want to be on his guard any longer, the fight was out of him for now, and until he could walk properly he didn't much care to try anything else. Pulling out the pack of more than smushed cigarettes from his pocket and a box of matches he relaxed against the metal siding as best as he could, he dropped a few of the sticks to the ground that were damaged beyond repair, pulling one out that was smashed into a triangle shape but still useful and placed the filter on his lips. Pushing open the box of matched he dropped out the few broken ones, and used the bottom of his boot to ignite the first working one he could find, cupping his hand around the flame he lit the tip, and inhaled deeply. Certainly it was only making his condition worse, but it was making him feel better, and he didn't give a damn what anybody else had to say about it.

[Osiris Moswen]

It had been a very long day. He had been stuck busing tables in a tiny shack of a cafe for the majority of the morning, for somebody of his height and size it was not the easiest of tasks. The kind of day that made him want to do nothing more than the kick off his shoes and fall asleep in front of the fireplace. He was hoping for rain, to bring an array of new smells into the forest, perhaps would lead him to do some hunting tomorrow, which would effectively wash all of his own stresses away. He hadn't heard from Isis since she had come to visit so long ago, it wasn't like her. Normally she wrote at least once a week. Osiris had just assumed that she had made herself busy with either Darren business, or her actual job. Working herself down to the bone wasn't exactly out of character for her. So, instead of dropping in to see her since he had been in Alzubra most of the morning, he had gone home. There was the leftovers from a very succulent rabbit minced stew in the kettle, and that was enough for him. Whenever he had gotten home, he had removed his shoes, and gone for a nice long walk to clear his head. It was wonderful to feel the earth beneath his feet and on his skin, to listen to all of his neighbors going about their days, he wondered if they had to worry about anything other than what to eat later in the day. Must be a nice way to live. Whenever he had gone home, he had finished off the stew, and just as he had wanted to earlier, curled up in front of the modest fire glowing in the hearth, and fallen promptly asleep. He wasn't sure how much time had passed, just long enough to develop a proper crick in his neck but not long enough to feel rested before he was being woken.

The silver light appeared in front of him, for a moment, Osi found himself puzzled. Isis had to know that the easiest way to get a hold of him was by owl, his brow furrowed. Whenever the thing slowly formed into a snake a voice that he was all too familiar with came out from it's mouth. She's out of control. Come and get her at Gringotts. As quickly as the light had come, it was gone again. His eyes widened. For a moment his whole body was locked in shock. Obviously she had done something to upset Darren, which was beyond strange for her since she normally lived to please him. Something had to be terribly wrong. As he jumped to his feet, the rug he had been laying on bunched up and flipped over, and he didn't take the time to right it before jogging out of the house barefoot. Why hadn't Isis told him that she had something going to happen today? She knew that he was always going to be here to help her, all she had to of done was ask. He considered going back for his wand, but knew that if she was really out of control enough for Darren to contact him, then no spell was going to be enough to take her down. The earth felt warm under his feet, perfect for running but it wouldn't be fast enough. Even if she shifted into form and ran as fast as he could, he doubted he would be able to make it in time before she cut all ties that she had been working her whole life to achieve. He was going to have to apparate, something that he hated just as much as flying. There was just something not right about traveling without one's feet on the ground. Made him uneasy inside. Grimacing, he closed his eyes and felt the shrink wrapped feeling overcome him.

Whenever he appeared on the other side, he was standing outside of a building that he worked in on occasion. He took out their trash for them, cleaned up whenever it was needed. Only, the building was no longer there. Confused, his nose started to tell him the story. He could smell his sister's scent on the air, lingering in the debris from the building. He could smell something else, a sickly sweet sort of smell that was offensive to his nose. He could feel his eyes turning from their normal golden shine to a much darker yellow. There had been a vampire here, must have been the one that she had told him Darren was having her follow. She had said something about being allowed to 'play' with the woman, but if this was 'play' he didn't know what she would think of 'taking it easy' or 'subtle' Isis had been raised better than this. She knew better than to fight out in the open like this, who was going to pay for the damages? Not her that was for sure. She was exposing herself and she knew better than that. Moving towards the building a little at a time he frowned, his skin tightening as the stench overwhelmed his senses. He crouched down low, tuning out all other sensory indicators but his nose. She had moved down the road. Turning his head in the direction of the bank Darren had summoned him too, it was like the world became a little more clear. He returned to his full height, walking toward the stream of running, frightened people. He could hear their screams now, opening his ears to the onslaught. People were bumping into him as they ran, he must appear strange, moving so slow at first, attempting to wrap his head around what Isis could have possibly been thinking. Above the bank loomed Darren's sign, it must have been the cause of all of the disruption. What was her role in all of this? Why couldn't she just listen to him once in awhile and leave well enough alone? He needed to get her out of here, back to his cabin where it would be safe. From there, he could confine her, it might take knocking his house to the ground to do so, but he would stop her. Keep her out of Azkaban no matter how determined to go there she seemed to be.

He was coming up on the impromptu nursing station, he could hear terrified murmurs of the people being treated on spot, and more screams from the people they were deeming too injured to be treated here and needed to be brought back to the hospital. His nerves were starting to settle into his tissue, this was going to be bad news. He placed his hand softly on one of the healer's backs, a pretty little thing, putting on a good front but he could smell the fear coming off of her, raising her pheromone levels drastically. “How many are still in there?” What he really wanted to ask was how many people were here because of werewolf bites? If he was really lucky, she wasn't turning people left and right in there, but he wouldn't put it past her. The girl didn't have a chance to answer him before the person waiting in line to be treated answered him with a dramatic shaking of his head over and over again. He didn't seem too bad off, he wasn't bleeding anyway, seemed like a few things were dislocated but he was handling it well enough. ”There's so many of those THINGS in there, with the cloaks, the cloaks...their skin...CRAWLING” Osi gave him a sympathetic nod once, the man was babbling like fool. Apparently, he wasn't handling it as well as he could have been. He knew that he must be talking about the Death Eaters, their cloaks were unmistakable. The crawling, that was more of a puzzle but if he was forced to guess he would have to mean either the tattoos, or Isis turning. The reminder made him need to move faster, no time to ask questions. He needed to charge in there and extract her. This place was already crawling with Ministry. For a moment, he wondered which one of these men was that Ashton Wentworth she had been telling him about. No doubt he was going to have her number from now on, she would be placed at the top of the wanted list for managing to embarrass the ministry this long. Operating under their roof without them ever suspecting a thing. There was no way of knowing without inspecting closer, and he just didn't have that kind of time.

Turning away from them and leaving the man in the hands of the healer, he took off at a jog, quickly turning into a run as he headed toward what was left of the bank. Pushing people out of his way without regard as he did so. There was no time to think about them now, he would be helping them more by stopping his sister than by helping them now. How in Merlin's name had she managed to cause this much damage in such a short time span? It couldn't all be her. Of course, he knew that she had to of been the instigator, her smell was all over this Alley and he doubted it was because she had been shopping the better part of the morning. He could still hear the spells being fired inside, he was still a good six feet away whenever the stench from inside hit him like a brick wall. He was forced to stop in his tracks, his hand clamped onto his face, covering his mouth and nose as well as he could. He resorted to taking longer breaths, he could hear her howling from outside, people were starting to scream every time the sound left her lips. She was already in form then, he contemplated shifting right then and there, due to the fact that it would be easiest to take her down if he did so, but the eyes of people staring at him pushed the thought away. He would be of no help to her in prison himself. They no doubt were thinking that he was a crazy man, standing so close to a building about to be condemned, the sound of her strangled cry was all he needed to dive forward. Without giving himself a chance to reconsider he took the steps three at a time and ducked inside of the hole. Inside was no better than outside apart from the fact that there seemed to be a lot less people. He didn't see her first off, and it was off putting that he couldn't hear her any longer. Panic was starting to set in, he didn't see Darren, why wasn't the man helping out the woman that had done so much for him? He couldn't see anybody that he recognized. All of their scents were unfamiliar. Moving farther into the building he thought he caught a glimpse of her on the ground, but it turned out to be just another body. He was starting to feel distraught. Darren ended up making his way to him, rather, making his presence known. He made a grand gesture that he could only guess was 'look what I have done' following the gesture with his eyes, concern started to knot in his stomach. From his spot at the back of the room he started to see the few remaining people. A couple nursing their wounds, the majority of the Death Eaters seemed to of shagged tail and were no longer here. The ministry was licking their wounds and gathering their people.

She wasn't even here. How then had he heard her? Osi started to retrace his steps, was this one of Darren's mind tricks? If so he needed to get out of here, and fast. As he neared the door he saw them, Isis was hanging limp in between the two larger male figures. They had draped a jacket over her naked body and each had her by the bicep, her feet were dragging behind her body, small nicks and cuts being caused by the broken glass and grime on the floor. Why weren't they healing? What had they done to her? Cuts of that nature ought to heal on contact for a girl like her. He took a step toward them, who were these men? Was that the Wentworth man? If so, how had she been foolish enough to fall prey to him? He was only human, he could smell it. They both were only human! He was beyond outraged, why hadn't Darren summoned him sooner? He would have come to help! There was no way that he could do that now, not without risking her safety, and chancing a trip to prison himself. She was going to be registered now, and there was no way they weren't going to make her do time, not with the amount of blood in this building. He was going to have to seek out Darren. Appeal to his better nature, if he even had one. There was no other choice. They were descending the stairs now, her body bouncing off each one as they dragged her out in public, no doubt to make a spectacle of her capture. It wasn't right, they had no business harming her or lugging her around like that. He could feel his hairs starting to stand on end, his fists balling at his sides. Even in his human form he knew that they would be no match for the raw strength coursing through his veins right now. Yet, logic was taking over, for that he should be thankful, taking a step back into the shadows he needed to go in search of Darren. He just needed to find out where he would be. Not at the manor, it would be crawling with Ministry very soon, he had to of apparated out of here, so it was going to be near impossible to trace him. Stalking toward the door he attempted to get the very best possible view of the men taking away his sister, hopefully Darren would be able to help identify them, and help him exact some justice.

[Kaydence Morgan]

The voice that spoke the curse wasn’t hers. It had started from her larynx, vibrated off of her tongue and come from her lips, but it wasn’t hers. The only time Kaydence had ever used the killing curse had been against a house elf or two in DE Training but never actually against another human being. Pathetic as it may have been, Darren had never asked her to do anything that required it. The Masquerade perhaps, but she had been out of commission then. Since that time, there had never been another time in which she had. There had been several instances in which she wished she would have but never actually went through with it. Upon future reflection of this moment, Kaydence would still say that it had not been her doing. The tattoo on her arm had been the perpetrator, and she was merely its very disgruntled puppet. Her eyes widened as the man’s body fell to a crumbled heap with a disturbing thud. She was unable to look at the expression forever frozen on his face. She couldn’t deny the very small bit of satisfaction at what she had been forced to do, but the feeling of shock was far too overpowering to give it a second glance. I don’t know what you expected the voice in her mind said to her. If you can’t handle me taking over and killing someone, then how do you really anticipate getting rid of your brother? The voice had a point but not one Kaydence was willing to listen anymore to. Enough had happened today to make up for the years she had been away from this Merlin forsaken country.

She couldn’t take her eyes off of the stiff body lying in front of her. Though the demand had been conveyed to her brain from her arm, Kaydence was the one who physically carried out the act. And she would be the one held responsible for it if anyone had seen. Looking around quickly, she was relieved when no one seemed to have their wand pointed at her and demanding she drop her own. However, the entire battle hadn’t been about capturing DeathEaters. At least in Gringotts it had been about survival. Now that things were winding down though, she could see Aurors walking out with the wands pointed to the backs of hooded figures that were leading. If one Ministry official even saw her with her wand in her hand and the man’s body next to her, she’d have a ticket to Azkaban for sure. Kaydence knew that this was her time to escape. It was now or never. And as if on cue, Cammie appeared a few feet away, hastily closing the distance between them and joining her on the floor as she approached. “So much for that scarf, huh?” she chuckled weakly. As much as she would have preferred to sit there with her friend and take the time to breathe and close her eyes, it would be far too dangerous. Her paranoia was kicking in. Someone had to be watching her, them. The last thing she wanted was for Cammie to be charged with being an accomplice for the act she had been forced to do. Her friend hadn’t even been in the vicinity. Cammie would never forgive her if she was held responsible for a crime she had no part in.

Kaydence had opened her mouth to tell her friend that they needed to leave, when a beam of light came straight for her head. The spell missed her head by an inch only because she dodged it only a second before it should have hit. She had been caught. “Shit,” she said to herself, attempting to push herself up. Though she soon collapsed as several more spells went crashing into the wall behind her, causing even more of the marble to collapse and enclose the two in a cloud full of thick smoke. She coughed, bringing her hand up to her mouth and nose to prevent anymore of the dust from coming in. ”STUPEFY!” Thank Merlin for Cammie. If it hadn’t been for the woman, Kaydence would still be defenseless and probably a victim of one of the various curses that had been aimed for her. Now there was nothing. The space around them was still too full of smoke to see what could have happened to the spell caster, but she didn’t want to waste anymore time in finding out. She could hear the yelling exchanges between Ministry officials to clear the area for body removals as well the pops from departing DeathEaters. ”Kay? We need to get out of here. NOW.” She swallowed nervously and nodded. Ministry officials were coming closer now. The realization that she was going to be question from the Ministry themselves was quickly dawning on her. If Darren had actually set out for what he had been wanting for all these years the Ministry was going to know that he was the Dark Lord. And she was going to be the first person they sought. It was something that even if a relationship with Ashton had existed; it wouldn’t be enough to prevent her from taking a trip to the Ministry.

Her hand went to her arm. The mark had finally stopped moving, Darren’s summoning being accomplished. As Kaydence’s eyes went to her wand, she realized that if she were questioned it was possible that they would secure the permission to search her wand for previous spells cast. They would see the mark that had been permanently sketched into her arm, but the very least she could do was dispose of her wand. A broken wand was better than watching weeks or days of previous spells that could convict her of a lengthy sentence in Azkaban be witnessed by a room full of Ministry officials. Taking her wand into both hands Kaydence turned to the side and quickly broke her wand in half. She repeated the process two more times, making it unable for reconstruction. She could pay a visit to a wand shop in another country later on in the week to replace that one. She was saddened at the loss of her wand. It had been in her possession ever since she got her acceptance letter to Hogwarts Galaxia. Twelve very long years had passed with more fond memories with the wand than bad. Though she reminded herself that this was a small price to pay then have it used incriminatingly against her. Using Cammie’s arm as stability, Kaydence finally got to her feet. Her leg was a dull pain and she was sure it had gone an even darker shade of red in the time that had been spent defending herself. She needed medical attention stat.

“I can’t go anywhere other than Golovanov,” Kaydence finally said, watching the smoke begin to clear from around them. Borya Golovanov was Darren’s trusted Russian Healer who served only those injured who dedicated their life for the same purpose. He was one of the best on the Dark side and would probably be the only one who could fix her. It would be risky since she had no idea if Darren had gone to see him as well, but she had to take the chance. There was no way she could go to St. Everdines, not with all this going on. Not with the chance of being exposed. “Are you going to come with me?” Cammie shook her head no. Although Kaydence didn’t agree with her, she wasn’t going to press the matter. Her friend probably had her own plan of treatment. “Alright, well I’ll call you after I’ve been treated and we can figure out where to go from here. This is going to change everything.” She pulled her friend into a quick hug before releasing and grabbing at the knee of her swollen leg. With one last small smile to her friend, she closed her eyes and envisioned the front porch of Golovanov’s cabin in the Altai Mountains. After feeling the pull of her feet into the ground she sucked in her breath and yelled out in pain once her feet hit ground, collapsing onto the wood outside of Golovanov’s front door. As if expecting her, the man opened the door almost instantly. “Hi Borya. I need your help.” Golovanov helped her up and began leading her inside gingerly, shutting the door behind them. “You better get ready. I have a feeling you’re going to be pretty busy for the next day or so.”

[Isis Moswen]

Isis knew she was in trouble. It took a lot for her to be caught off guard in the heat of battle so when it happened, it was much more difficult for her to get her head back in the game. The only times she had been distracted in similar scenarios had been from a bit to a limb from another werewolf or the area she was resting being engulfed in flames from angry villagers. Over time as she became more experienced with her abilities, she was able to handle distractions far better than when she was younger. Though as much as she hated to admit it, there had been those points of weakness here and there. The last time she had been seriously affected had been many, many years ago. Like now, it hadn’t been from her own doing. It had been during the last month of being the alpha female of her pack. She and the other wolves had been trailed by a group of rogue and vicious wolves from the West. Their numbers had been unexpected, four more than what Isis had. The attack had been unfair from the beginning and by the end, only she and one of her other members remained. There were five against two. The two wolves were side by side, awaiting the death that was sure to come. Any move Isis tried to make was blocked. They were helpless. The rest of the events had always been fuzzy, but somehow they had managed to make it out alive. This situation, however, she wasn’t able to foresee its result, but with the amount of weight that had been dropped on her back, things didn’t look too promising.

She whimpered slightly as yet more weight found its way onto her back. The arms that had snaked their way around her neck earlier were back. Though this time she was unable to do anything about it. The man’s arms squeezed tighter around her neck and her movement to break free increased but not enough to send him flying. Isis wished she knew where the flying rubble had come from. Wentworth had been too preoccupied to levitate them, plus he didn’t even have his wand. She had left the other man off to the side. She was sure he had been too weakened and oblivious to think of doing it. This led to the conclusion that the floating rubble had been from an outsider. It was pointless to try and see who it was now. She had a man attempting to cave in her trachea and another off trying to find who knew what that was apparently strong enough to stop her. Isis continued to try and wiggle her way out of the man’s grasp, but the way his body was positioned on the base of her spine made it nearly impossible. It was the area that had been hit the hardest by a piece of marble and the extra weight on the already bruised bone was excruciating. ”DO IT WENTWORTH!” Her panic kicked in. Had the man found what he was looking for? She did her best to shake the oaf from her back off. It wasn’t enough. ”DO IT!” She could hear the footsteps near her. What was he going to do? Nothing he had could take down a werewolf of her size, right? She was wrong. Very wrong.

Ashton’s face suddenly appeared in front of her own with a triumphant smile on his face. Isis stared into his eyes. He had won this battle, but the war was far from over. The score was one to one. She’d be damned if it went up another point in his or his companion’s favor. If she could speak, she would tell the prat that he better enjoy his victory because it would be his first. If she had her way about it, it’d also be his last. She hoped he could at least get some hint of the message from her piercing gaze. This was far from over. As his arm reared back Isis’ eyes landed on the item he had been searching for glimmering in his hand. Upon closer inspection she saw the end of a syringe filled with a purple looking liquid. Her eyes widened and ter body began trembling. The needle was coming closer. She was terrified. If there was one thing that frightened Isis more than anything else, it was the unknown. Though she lived her life on a day to day basis, it was only when she was confronted with it face-to-face that it made her fearful. She had no choice but to face it and accept whatever consequences resulted. Merlin help the son of a bitch who had brought this upon her. The moment she found out she would stop at nothing to make sure they died a slow and painful death. No one took down Isis Moswen and expected to get away with it. Nobody.

The needle was thrust into the side of her throat. Isis’ insides began bubbling. It felt like every single organ, bone and muscle was melting. A sickening groan came from the bottom of her throat. Her body was shrinking. Her limbs morphing back into their original form. Every strand of fur was slinking back into her skin, her natural olive color appearing more and more with every second. She was back in human form with a minute, but to her it felt like years. The pain from the shifting was incredible. Not even the first few years of learning how to transform could compare to this. Isis was sure it could be attributed to the silver that had to have been in the syringe. This was why she had always been told of the horrors of the element. She wondered if Wentworth had permanently prevented her from ever being a werewolf again. Her exposed skin still felt hot, but it had been hot outside all day and even more stifling inside the battle-ridden bank. However, there were aching pains all over her body. Her healing should have kicked in by now, but it wasn’t. The potion was making her to woozy to understand what was going on. All she knew was that she was laying on the ground exposed to the world and had gotten punched in the head by the man who still had his other arm tight around her throat. If this wasn’t being taken advantage of than she didn’t know what was.

She was relieved when the man was torn from her body. Isis’ head dropped lifelessly on to the ground underneath her. It was hard to describe what was happening. She was aware of what was going on, but unable to react or even think clearly. What had he done to her? Her body was being moved, covered and then hoisted up in the air. Her head limply hung forward as she began being transported towards the exit. She could feel every shard of glass penetrate her skin and stay there. Normally, the shards should have fallen out as soon as they pierced as well as the wound clearing up almost instantly. Now they just gathered as her feet drug across the floor. Couldn’t they at least have the decency to pick her up? Bright light suddenly surrounded them. The noise from all over indicated that they were outside now. If she had been in her right state of mind she would have been humiliated. The only thing barely covering her was a jacket. Isis wasn’t ashamed of her body in the slightest, but she was ashamed to be nearly naked and vulnerable, at the mercy of two Ministry officials. They continued dragging her into the alley. Wentworth was speaking, but the other was silent. She loathed feeling like she was brain dead. He could have at least knocked out so she wouldn’t have to suffer this torment. A noise come from her which she was sure would have been a protest of some sort to her treatment. How she wished Osi was here. He’d lay the two men out in an instant and take her back home to be examined. Or he’d at least take her to Darren. She knew Darren had connections all over the world to Healers that’d know what had been done to her. That was wishing for too much though. There was no one here to help her. The one bad thing about being part of the Dark Lord’s side was that everyone looked out for themselves and Darren. Unless you were friendly with one or a group, which she never had been because she sucked up to Darren so bad, you were on your own.

The sound of a car pulling up filled her ears. The next thing she knew she was being moved again and then lifted into the air. Her body was thrown into the vehicle as if she were a rag doll. Isis hadn’t been on the floor for five seconds before she was lifted again and placed upright on a bench. Her arms were lifted above her head, chained to the wall. Her ankles received the same treatment by another pair of hands. If she hadn’t been vulnerable before, she was now more so than ever. At least they had the decency to keep the jacket on her and close her legs. If not, she would have done much worse than killing them the next time she had the chance. The vehicle moved from under her, causing Isis’s still limp head to sway with every bump in the road. She didn’t know where she was going, but it was probably safe to venture a guess. Azkaban. She had heard all of the horror stories and seen the different personalities people came out with. It was one of the only places she was frightened of. If she would have been of right mind, she would have cursed Wentworth and the other man into oblivion until her arrival. She would have to do her best to remember that this was only temporary. Darren would soon learn of her capture and send forces to rescue her. She was too valuable to him to simply let her rot in a cell in the wizarding prison. Little did Isis know that things were not as she was envisioning them and that the bitter truth would reveal itself to her once she had her wits about her again. She was in store for a long road ahead with even worse repercussions then what she could ever imagine. She wasn’t even able to comprehend that she would be registered now, her identity known and tracked with the Ministry for as long as she lived. Another noise came from her as her vision began to darken. Finally she was getting what she was hoping for. This was the last time she could enjoy being oblivious to everything around her because when she awoke next, everything would be different.

[Deleted]

Her weight gave out underneath him almost instantaneously. Tristan didn’t know what Wentworth had just injected the woman with, but it was working. It felt like air was escaping from a balloon. Though this balloon’s insides were shifting. It was the most uncomfortable feeling he had ever experience, but he wasn’t about to let go in case the effects suddenly stopped and the rabid beast was unleashed again. The sound of her agony didn’t even cause him to loosen his grip. More and more he kept slinking into the ground. She was changing back into human form. He did his best to avert his gaze from the disappearing fur and bones realigning themselves, but he couldn’t get the vomit-inducing sounds out of his ears. If watching her shift hadn’t been enough for him to convince him that he had no interest in ever becoming a werewolf, this was definitely the nail in the coffin. To his relief, the shifting ended shortly after. What was once a large and vicious werewolf was now the abnormally toned and tall woman that had tried to kill him earlier and she was naked. Tristan allowed his arms to finally loosen from her neck. Normally, the nude form of a woman, especially one as exotic as her, would have been arousing. However, she did try to kill him both when her clothes were on and when she had morphed into a towering beast. Needless to say, that was a turn-off. The longer he looked at her face, the angrier he became. The woman underneath him was the reason he had been in St. Everdines for nearly two weeks after the Masquerade. She had tried to kill him three times now and had almost succeeded all of them. He closed his eyes, hoping to rid himself of the memories but they were now more present in his mind than ever.

Tristan was never the type of man to hit a woman, but he was also never the type to associate those who did physical harm. His eyes snapped open and a look of pure resentment crossed his features. It could have been due to the events of the day, the realization that the naked woman underneath him had tried to murder him, or a mixture of the two, but he lost it. Grunting, he pulled his arm back and gave her a solid punch to the head. Normally, he would have felt guilt and shame over punching a woman in the head, more so since she was in a vegetative state, but this was different. This was not a woman. This was a beast. Why should he bother having feelings towards a woman incapable of having them herself? Tristan braced himself for another punch, and probably several more, when he felt arms underneath his and was pulled back. ”She’s done.” He had almost forgotten Wentworth was there. Looking up to the man, he scowled. “You can’t be serious. This is all she gets when we were laid up in the hospital?” The man fell backwards in response. Spitting at the woman’s body, he wiped the excess water from his lip. “You better have at least took her abilities away from her so it’s easier for me to kill her later on.” His breathing lightened as he began to take notice of their environment. Everything had basically stopped. Ministry officials were beginning to pour in to attempt to capture remaining DeathEaters or excavate bodies from the massive piles of rubble that lined the banks lobby. A couple of them were near the desks trying to put out the huge fire that had been caused from a stray spell. The battle was over and order was beginning to get restored.

Groaning, a throbbing pain in his left wrist reminded him that it was broken and was eager for some sort of relief. Bringing his blood-encrusted right hand to the area, he winced as he touched it. It was so badly swollen that it hurt to even graze it. Perfect. At least his lip had stopped bleeding although he was left with the iron aftertaste. Tristan spit once again in the woman’s direction for good measure. Once Wentworth began to lift himself up, he followed suit. He was ready to get the hell out of here. He was also ready for the woman to finally get what she had coming for her and he had every intention of seeing it through. It was hard to refrain to yelling obscenities as Ashton covered her body with his jacket, but he reminded himself that he was part of the Ministry. Enemies still deserved some sort of dignity even when they were being apprehended. Walking to the woman’s left side since his wrist was not cooperating, he took hold of her upon the man’s request and began towards what was once the door. As they walked through, Tristan was grateful for the fresh air. It had been tainted by the battle that had taken place outside, but it was more agreeable with his lungs then the air inside of the bank. They cautiously maneuvered their way down the steps and walked over to the side. He watched as Wentworth lifted his badge to his lips and began talking into it. The cruel feeling of jealousy washed over him as he turned away. Though he was sure things had to go in his favor after this, the fact that he had done all this without an Auror badge upset him. Instead, he chose to focus on a group of Healers leading injured civilians towards St. Everdines. They would have their hands full for the next week or so. He didn’t envy them at all. Mostly due to the fact that the Ministry’s workload would be tripled what they would have. He didn’t know what his part would be, but the uproar over today’s events was going to be immense. Damage control would have to start taking place immediately if they even had hopes to keep the public from rioting.

The appearance of truck brought Tristan’s attention back to Wentworth and the woman they were holding. It stopped inches from where they were. He watched as Ashton opened the door and flung the she-beast in. He smirked, grabbing the edge of the door and lifting himself up into the truck. At least he did that much. The man pulled the woman up and sat her on a bench extruding from the wall of the vehicle. While he chained her arms, Tristan took the liberty of shackling her ankles. She still didn’t look in any state to fight but it was best to be prepared just in case. He nearly collapsed onto the opposite bench once she was securely fastened. Leaning his head back against the wall he breathed deeply once the truck started rocking as the wheels began moving. They were going to be out of the area within minutes, away from the destruction every member of the Ministry would have to face whenever they came back to the country. The longer he could be away from it, the better. Leaning up to look at Wentworth, he was sure the man felt the same. He hoped his enemy wouldn’t expect things to be over with between the two of them. Just because they had reconciled to take down a common enemy didn’t mean that he had any intention of leaving Wentworth alone. There was still too much bad blood between the two to let that happen. For now though, he had no desire to start something. Tristan wanted to enjoy the peace and relaxation after being caught up in the war of good versus evil. He wanted to enjoy it before he got to Azkaban. He had never been to the wizarding prison before but he had always been curious to check it out. Resting his knees on his legs, he hung his head and began rubbing at the back of his neck with his good hand, thinking about everything that had transpired today.

If this didn’t get him a damn promotion, he was moving back to Greece. No ifs, ands, or buts.

[Juliet Delia]

Waves of nausea continued to wash over Juliet as she fought to keep the world in focus. She was most definitely concussed, and it was definitely going to take a few days of healing and a few strong potions to heal. Thankfully, she had several of such potions waiting at her home for her, just in case she needed them for such an occasion. On the other hand, first, she had to actually get home, and that was turning into a seemingly impossible mission in and of itself. She, for whatever reason at this particular point in time, trusted Damien to get her home and make sure she didn't die during her healing process. Then there would be a serious and most likely unpleasant discussion about the issue at hand. She had the feeling that the argument would involve alcohol, but it was hard to tell if that would make things better or worse overall.

Part of her wanted to absolutely knock Damien out right here and now and leave him for the arse-kicking of a lifetime from someone. Afterall, how dare he come into her house and not share that tiny piece of information with her. It was more than obvious now as to why the Ministry had ripped her whole goddamn house apart while she had been gone: she had been harboring a Death Eater. On the other hand, her better nature was much calmer, and simply wanted to know why. It was true, he had never done anything to cause her direct harm. Damien had never been anything less than a gentleman to her when he wasn't trying to get her pants off. If he hadn't told her, it had been for a good reason, and he would therefore have a perfectly sound explanation for her when she asked for it. Right? She sighed deeply, pushing the thought from her mind. Now was not the time to decide whether or not to knock his teeth out. They needed to get out of this place before it fell down and killed them both.

Clearly, Juliet was beginning to fade in and out, because she only snapped back to reality when she decided to give Damien his wand back. Her eyes widened as she realized that the Dark Mark was now hovering in the sky, something that meant the awful situation they were in now was about to get infinitely worse. "Fan-fucking-tastic..." she muttered, her hand drifting to her head as she winced. Focus was paramount at this point. The crack of marble from above her caused her to squeak, and she was suddenly pressed against the pillar by Damien. It was in that moment that, for the first time in this battle, she felt safe with someone. Bizarre, considering that only moments before she thought he was here to kill her. Interesting turn of events. She coughed, clearing her lungs of the smoke and dust that was floating in the air as Damien pulled back from her. The world was beginning to slide back into sharp focus, and she decided that it was more than advisable to take the coming clarity to escape from this hellhole.

It was a very strange feeling that came over her as Damien spoke to her against the pillar. Suddenly, she felt very small in this battle. She nodded in agreement, her mind clearing even further; she still felt like crap, physically, but she was now fully functional, which was more than what she could have hoped for considering her situation. She'd bet money she'd feel awful later on in the day, if they made it out alive. Juliet grasped Damien's hand, and they made their way around the pillar and into the centre of the battle. Not more than a few seconds later, she had fired off two stunning spells. The room was nothing but fire, smoke, dust and rubble now, with the occasional spell flying through the air. There were several bodies, but she couldn't tell who was alive and who wasn't. It was a very unsettling scene, especially considering that it was in these times that she was supposed to be helping people. The Hospital would be an absolute mess tonight, and for a moment she regretted that she wouldn't be there to help. The dull ache in her back and the thumping against the back of her skull reminded her that she had herself to tend to, first. Then she could deal with helping other people.

Damien's spell reached her ears and brought her eyes to the scene just beside her. Walking towards them through the smoke was O'Neill, and the look on his face made her stomach turn violently once she recognized it: she was his target. She opened her mouth to say something when Damien's whisper stopped her. This was a moment that was not going to end well for someone. "Damien..." she said, her voice low with warning, but he didn't reply. Josh had been her friend in school, and even if he did want to eat her, her better nature still didn't want to see him dead. He had never done anything wrong to her, until now, and even though being someone's meal target was kind of a big deal, she still wanted nothing more than to get the hell out of the bank as soon as she could. Her hands flew to her mouth and she winced as Damien caused the wall beside Josh to explode, sending rubble everywhere. Just as she had thought that had been the end of it, a split second later her stomach dropped as she heard the curse fall from Damien's lips.

Juliet ran forward and grabbed Damien by the arm, attempting to tug him away from the scene. "He's not worth it right now, Damien," she hissed, her eyes darting around the room, which was now beginning to fall apart around them. "Just leave him and let's get the hell out of here. You told me yourself we have to go." Juliet pointed her own wand at Josh and sent the strongest stunning spell she could think of his way. Even a vampire would be slowed down for at least enough time for she and Damien to get out and away. The nausea suddenly hit her like a Mack truck, and she dug her nails into Damien's arm, as if to make her point. "Now," she growled. If she didn't get out of this bank soon, she was either going to vomit or pass out, and both would make escape very difficult. "Please?" she sighed, her grip tightening on her wand. She was leaving one way or the other.

[Damien Monroe]

The anger coursing through his veins would have proven for a very effective Cruciatus if Damien had been given the opportunity. The spell was one that he prided himself on, so much that Darren had even given him a compliment in the man’s own way. The amount of focus needed to perfect the spell was key and somehow he always managed to find a way to tune out the world around him and focus on his enemy. He supposed that was a good enough reason for Darren to keep from killing him every time he screwed up. Not even he could say that he wasn’t one of the select few of his followers that had that ability. A majority of them were too power-hungry and caught up in the moment to be really effective. Though Damien was aware how strange it must have been to think of him being able to focus on anything. All the drinking he had done in his life so far would have surely made the average person brain dead. Thankfully, he wasn’t an average person. Plus because he drank so much his body had to have gotten used to all of the abuse it had went through all these years and just accepted the substance without repercussions. That had to have been it. If it wasn’t, there was no way he would be able to function the way he was now after the night he had last night. There would be no possible way. Looking back on it in the future, Damien would maybe realize how pathetic he was, consuming so much alcohol that his body accepted it with no issue, but for now, he was grateful for it. He just prayed that it would keep up so he could get himself and Juliet out of here safely.

However, it was only seconds that the spell had left his mouth that he was interrupted by a pull at his arm. ”He’s not worth it right now Damien.” Now that his concentration was lost, he was able to look at Juliet. She looked so pitiful. Her face had been drained of its color and she looked sickly. Concern washed over him, but once her words registered in his mind, Damien couldn’t help but to scowl. “Not worth it?!” he angrily asked. “How is he not worth it?! Did you not see what he just tried to do to you? He tried to attack you Juliet! When you did nothing to deserve it!” Pointing his wand at O’Neill, he wiggled it in his direction. “This is no time to show compassion! I saw the look in his eyes. He didn’t think you were the enemy Juliet, he wanted to kill you just to give himself some sort of sick satisfaction!” His irritation at her lack of understanding was apparent. Sure the roof was caving in and he could hear the howls on angry Moswen, but he was convinced he had enough time to punish the arrogant prat before being crushed to death. As she tried to throw his words back in his face, Damien groaned, ready to pitch a fit. Before he could say anything though, Juliet sent her own spell in O’Neill’s way. His eyebrows raised in surprise as he watched the man fall to the ground. Vampires were able to better deflect most spells than ordinary humans so for Juliet to be able to make him collapse in a heap, she had definitely done something right. He couldn’t help but to be surprised. A sadistic grin quickly formed on his face as he raised his wand in the man’s direction. He wasn’t usually one for kicking a man when he was already on the ground, but this one had tried to hurt Juliet.

Damien’s lips were already beginning to form words when her nails embedded themselves in his arm. “OW!” he yelled, his eyes going to the area she was abusing. She hadn’t released her hold, but he could feel the blood rising to the surface of his skin. If she hadn’t broken it, there would definitely be bruises by the end of the night. ”Now.” He wished she would just let him take care of O’Neill, despite the vampire looking like he had already been taken care of. Now that she knew his secret, he couldn’t help but to want to show off a little bit for her. Let her get a taste of what he was capable of when his body wasn’t hung over a bar stool. ”Please?” Damien wasn’t sure how it was possible, but the expression on her face was faltering even more. She looked sick to her stomach and he was pretty sure he could see faint traces of green starting to appear in her cheeks. She really did need to get out of here. As much as he wanted to beat the living hell out of O’Neill, he wasn’t nearly as important as Juliet and her well-being was. Whether she wanted to admit it to herself or not, she needed his help in getting out of here alive. It didn’t matter that things had finally begun to wind down. Being in the bank put her life in jeopardy. He had to swallow his pride and deal with O’Neill at a later time. Spitting in the direction of the man, Damien sighed and grabbed her hand. “Fine, but if you think this is the last time I try to make him pay for what he wanted to do to you, then you’re wrong. Come on.”

He began darting them through the path of failing rubble to another hole that had formed in one of the walls. Damien was going to help Juliet, but not at the expense of exposing himself to the Ministry and getting a one-way ticket to Azkaban in the process. The hole was off to the side enough that he was sure they could get out undetected considering the Ministry was beginning to charge through what used to be the entrance. They had just avoided a large rock when his eyes landed on an unconscious girl lying on the ground next to a broken pillar. She looked like a broken doll, disposed of because she was no good anymore. A sickening feeling washed over him as the girl suddenly turned into Nolan. That had been the last image of his brother before the fiery roof of the abandoned house had caved in and killed him. Damien didn’t know what had happened to the girl, or if she was even still alive, but he had to save her. The murder of his brother had left a spot in his heart for weakened children. He couldn’t leave her here. Shifting direction to the left, they made it over to the girl just as another large piece of ceiling fell behind them. Scooping the girl up into his arms, he looked over his shoulder to Juliet. “KEEP HOLD OF MY ARM!” Now that he had an innocent child with him, while he already had a girl and was cloaked in dark clothing, he was an easy target for the Ministry. He needed to leave just as badly as they did. ”HEY! YOU! LET GO OF THEM!” His eyes widened. Without wasting another second, Damien quickly ran in the direction of the open hole, narrowly avoiding the colored beams of light passing by him from the Auror’s wand. When they finally reached the hole, he turned around and raised his wand up. “STUPEFY!” The man fell back instantaneously.

Making sure Juliet was still holding on to his arm Damien ushered her forward. Once she was through, he followed suit with the small girl and jumped down the short distance to the cobblestone of Alzubra. His breathing intensified. They were free, though by the looks of things, no better off inside than outside. The Ministry’s numbers outnumbered the DeathEaters that had remained to fight. He could see Healers darting every which way to rescue the injured and bring them to safety. Looking down at the girl, he was relieved to feel her shift in his arms. She wasn’t dead. Laying her down gently on the ground, Damien pulled his hood closer to his head as he straightened himself back up. “Get her help,” he ordered, looking back to the closest group of Healers to them. “Do the same for yourself. I can’t stay here with you but you know where to find me when you’re better, if you choose to.” Taking her hand in his, he squeezed it. “Please Juliet, if I’ve shown you anything here today I hope you realize that I’m not what you think I am. Don’t tell them where I am. I deserve it, I know, but if anyone asks you about me, just say you don’t know who I am. I promise you I’ll explain everything if you give me a chance. But not now. I’ve got to get out of here.” He pulled her in close, giving her a kiss on the top of her head before stepping back and away from the two girls. “Make sure she’s okay,” he said, pointing down to the girl. Before she could protest, he placed two fingers in his mouth and whistled, getting the attention of two Healers from the group he had been studying earlier. Giving her one last look, he closed his eyes and disappeared in a waft of black smoke.

His feet hit the garbage area behind the Boar’s Head with enough force to almost knock him over. Once regaining his footing, Damien quickly took off his cloak and tucked it tightly underneath his arm. He looked around anxiously. No one had seen him. Making sure his sleeve was covering his tattoo, he quickly walked from behind the building and out into the streets of Somerset. Shoppers had formed various groups on the street and he could hear their excited whispers about rumors of an attack at Gringotts. Wanting to avoid the curious glances looking at his dust-ridden body and dirty face, he kept his head low and walked to the Dragon Scales Inn with haste. As he made it to the steps, he took them two at a time and had barely made it through the door before he was already on the bottom step of the stairwell leading up to his floor. Fortunately the owner wasn’t at the main desk, nor was anybody else in the pathetic excuse for a lobby area. Damien already had his key out and in the lock when he reached his door, opening it then closing and locking it as soon as he entered. Tossing the cloak to the side, he went for his desk and grabbed the nearly full bottle of sherry he had brought back with him from the bar last night. He went to the edge of his bed and slide down the footboard, chugging the bottle as he came to a stop on the floor. He didn’t quit chugging from the bottle until there was only a quarter of alcohol left. His head fell backwards and he closed his eyes. He didn’t want to think about what had just happened, what was going to happen from today’s events. Damien didn’t know what had started it, but he did know that it didn’t matter. Darren was going to use it to his full advantage and he had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that he was going to be one of the first names on his list to contact.

Finishing the bottle, Damien let it dropped from his hand and roll across the floor. Darren wasn’t going to make this attack like the last time. He had been looking to make himself known again for awhile now and this had been his opportunity. The Dark Lord was only getting started and the world, not even he, knew what else he had up his sleeves. Things were going to pan out much differently than after the Masquerade and he was fairly certain the tattoo on his arm would be burning his skin more now than it ever had before.

[Autumn Stanton]

As scared as she was to be in the middle of a warzone, Autumn couldn’t help but to feel empowered over taking charge. The fact that everyone seemed to be listening to her made that feeling grow even stronger. She took relief in knowing that she wasn’t the only one afraid. She could even see the arm shaking of the male Healer who was constantly deflecting spells that came hurdling towards the small group. It was in this instance that she was grateful for a Healer’s requirement to exceed expectations in Defense Against the Dark Arts. It was only one of a few things Healers were expected to excel in, but at this point, it was the one thing she was without a doubt the most appreciative of. She herself had her highest marks in Charms.

It was the same routine. The male Healer, as well as a few of the apparating females when they had the opportunity, would protect the incoming two Ministry men and the other male Healers carting victims of the battle. Autumn and Noelle, the woman who had agreed to do on-site care, would then take the victims and mend them to the best of their abilities with what little they had. Those victims would then go to the hospital in order of severity of injury. The ones whom were seriously injured or dying were instantly taken St. Everdines to receive immediate treatment. The hospital was by far more suitable for taking care of those types of patients. In their possession, the small group of Healers at the battle site only had gauze, bandages, a few types of potions and ointments and their wands. They were in shape or form capable of treating those with injuries that needed the attention of more than what they had. Unfortunately, not even all of them together were enough to alleviate some of the pain from victims they had been brought to them. Earlier, the male Healers had brought back a man with burn marks up and down his back. The burns were so deep that the ointment Autumn tried to put on his back did nothing but cause him to scream out in pain even more. One thing was certainly evident. If she had been unsure the extent of the damage that the battle between good and evil had caused, seeing it up close and personal was enough to confirm it for her, and then some.

The chaos just didn’t seem to stop. The number of injured just kept growing. Those who weren’t brought in by the males assigned for pick-up flocked to the small group, desperate for medical attention and safety. The distractions were mounting. So much so that Autumn was seriously considering asking one of the Ministry members to stay behind and keep the frightened at bay or call for more reinforcements. She wanted nothing more than to help those who needed it, but she needed her focus to help those whose injuries were much graver. Though if she thought things were bad now, a whole different level of pandemonium was unleashed when a loud explosion filled the air followed by the deafening roar of a dragon. What in the world was going on inside of that bank? She was thankful that she remained outside since the fact that the dragons that guarded the vaults of the banks were now fleeing meant that serious destruction had to be taking place inside. At least outside there was more open space. Autumn could only imagine that now bits of the ceiling must have been caving in causing more obstacles for the fighters and innocent civilians inside. However, it was the next thing that happened that forced everyone to stop in their tracks for the briefest of seconds. The noise that surrounded them was dark and frightening. Autumn was caring for a woman with a large laceration on her leg when the woman was suddenly covered in a bright green light. Furrowing her brow she slowly looked up and into the sky. From her vantage point, it was not hard to see. Though the screams that soon followed would have been enough indication of what it was for all who had the misfortune of seeing it. It was the Dark Mark.

Autumn had never seen the Dark Mark before, well, not cast in the sky anyway. She had cared for one or two former DeathEaters throughout her short career that each had the visible mark on their forearms. Even though it was just a tattoo, it was still intimidating. She had no desire to see it when it was activated. Seeing the mark now, enlarged, green and hovering in the sky was more than intimidating. It was horrific. The hiss of the slow moving serpent was low, nearly inaudible from a sound that couldn’t be described as anything less than the sound of doom. As much as Autumn wanted to keep her eyes from it, she couldn’t. The Dark side officially had the advantage in this fight. Sounds of cheering came from within the alley. This was sure to cause even more damage and mass hysteria. The Dark Mark being cast in a public location, especially one as busy as Alzubra was unheard of. Knowing that it levitating over Gringotts was even more shocking. How had things gotten this bad? Gringotts was supposed to be the safest place in the world. People were supposed to be safe out in the open doing their normal routines. What did this all mean? As the world finally began to move again and shrieks indicated that people were on the move again, Autumn frighteningly looked at the two Ministry officials. They were both stunned, which wasn’t a good sign. Even the Ministry wasn’t expecting this. There was no doubt that tomorrow, at very latest, the country was going to be hounding their government for answers and rightfully so. She hoped that whatever officials were currently in the building now were already starting the process of figuring out what needed to be said and done to keep from all hell breaking loose.

The moan of the weakened woman she had been treating called for Autumn’s attention. At the same time, a loud pop sounded from next to them. Another group of Healers with two more Ministry officials had reappeared. Thank Merlin. They really needed all the help that was available to them. Grabbing a thing of gauze and an aloe potion from the side of her, she carefully poured five droplets of the mixture onto the woman’s cut. Once the smell of mint had reached her nostrils, she pressed the gauze down into the wound and held it there for ten seconds. As she lifted the gauze up, the wound had stopped bleeding. Autumn hovered the tip of her wand a centimeter or so above the wound and muttered a healing spell which forced the skin to join together. The laceration would no doubt need stitching, but this would at least keep it from gaining infection. Reaching for a large bandage, she put it on the skin and nodded to one of the new Healers that arrived. The Healer picked up the woman and took her to the side. She gasped as a beam of light sailed past her and hit the brick wall behind her. A DeathEater had sent a spell in her direction, unaware to the three men that had joined the one defender from earlier. The last time a spell had hit her had caused her to lose her memory for several months after the Masquerade so it was safe to say that anytime a spell was aimed for her, Autumn was more than a little terrified. ”Autumn! Are you alright?!” She weakly shook her head. One of the men shot a stunning spell at the DeathEater who had tried to harm her at her response. This was getting out of hand.

She had no idea how much time had passed. What could have been minutes felt like hours. The injured never stopped coming. At one point, Autumn had seen a flux of Ministry officials enter the alley, but was so busy with the patients she kept treating that she had no time to stop and see what progress was being made. She had one task to do and she needed to keep focused on it. These people needed her. They deserved her attention. She had just popped a shoulder back in her place when her name was called from behind her. ”Miss. Stanton!” Looking over her shoulder, one of the Ministry officials that had brought her group was starting back at her. ”Miss Stanton. I need you to come with me.” Her eyes widened. “I have people to take care of. I just can’t…” The man would have none of it. ”Another wave of Healers are coming. I am taking you and four others with me into Gringotts.” Autumn could feel her eyes nearly bulge out of their sockets. Go into Gringotts? Were they trying to get her and her co-workers killed? Had he not seen what was still over the rooftop of the bank? “Sir, isn’t it unwise to go in there now? There are still hundreds of people out here who need our help and the bank is unsafe.” The man quickly shook his head. ”I understand your concern Miss. Stanton, but the fighting outside has decreased tremendously. DeathEaters have been apparting from the fight one by one. The Ministry has been able to step in and take control of the situation.” Puzzled, Autumn looked around. Though her vision was obstructed, the amount of noise had lessened. The smoke was nearly as heavy as it had been before and there were more officials running around than previously. The Dark Mark was still over the bank but had faded slightly.

”Miss. Stanton, please!” Autumn was sure that she could argue until she was blue in the face to stay put, but what good would that do? Not only would it prevent her from taking care of those who needed it out here but it would do the same for those inside of the bank who were probably much more frightened. The man had assured her that things were safer. She had to believe him. Then again, he did work for a Ministry that had been incapable of gaining leverage of the situation for so long now. She had no choice. She had to go. Noelle, watching the situation, came over to her side and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. ”Go ahead. You’ll be fine. I’ll make sure things don’t get too hectic over here.” Autumn gave her a small smile and nodded. Pushing herself up from the ground, she gripped onto her wand. “Let’s hurry please.” Following the man to gather the remaining needed for the excursion into the bank, they were able to quickly hurry in the direction of the entrance. There were now only three DeathEaters who remained fighting. One of whom was stunned and captured by the Ministry. Looking to the large hole in the side of the bank Autumn watched as two officials came limping out with a incapacitated and bruised-looking women between them. She was concerned for the well-being of the female considering the woman was barefoot and presumably nude given that all that was covering her was a leather jacket, but she had no time to linger on it as they were being ushered faster towards the bank. As they got closer, an incredibly tall, dark and unscathed man appeared from the hole, watching the retreating men with the woman. The man watched for only a moment before quickly going down the stairs and disappearing off to the side. She wondered how many parts had been played in the battle.

Though security was evident, she was still nervous as they began taking the steps to the hole leading into the bank. Black smoke surrounded it. Merlin she hoped she wasn’t walking into her death. After being advised to hold their breath, Autumn covered her mouth and nose with her hand as she stepped in. Unfortunately, it was not enough to keep traces of the scent of blood and death from finding its way into her nostrils. The scene was like something out of the books she loved so much. The tile on the floor was cracked and jacked. Chunks of marble had been taken out of the decorative pillars and walls. Burn marks covered areas as far as her eyes could see. Desks and tables were smashed, bits of wood lining the floor of the teller area. The crunching of glass sounded from underneath her shoes as they walked into the middle of the disaster area. The entire bank had been darkened, the only light coming from the gaping hole in the ceiling. Ministry officials were already underway in removing bodies from the rubble. Blood splatters were all over the place. How there could possibly be survivors in this destruction was unfathomable. Yet there were some. Autumn could hear moans and cries of pains. These people were incredibly lucky to still be alive after this ordeal. Suddenly, she was overcome with an urgency to help. She had to get them to Everdines. They had been through so much already. The Ministry official stopped them in their tracks once they were under the light. ”Spread out and give assistance and any and all that you can. If you need help freeing someone from rubble or transporting a body, whether dead or alive, out of the bank, send up red sparks. The area has been secured by the Ministry though you need to keep an eye out of falling pieces of ceiling and unsturdy walls and pieces of floor. If you sense any danger, send up red sparks. We have officials keeping a look out for all of you. These people need you. Go ahead and find them.”

She didn’t need to be told twice. Heading over to a man bleeding from his back, Autumn dropped her knees as she approached him. He was unconscious, but blood was still pouring from his wounds. It was hard to see but even she could make out what had happened. Those were werewolf scratches. This man needed to get to Everdines before he bled out. Lifting her wand above her head, the wood emitted the required red sparks for attention. Two officials had come to her within seconds. “This man needs to be taken to Everdines immediately,” she ordered. The men obeyed, lifting the man with wingardium leviosa and guiding him out of the bank. Rising back to her feet, Autumn scanned the area to see who she could help next. There was so much carnage. Bringing her hand to the side of her face, she slowly began walking around the area. She needed to go ahead and started preparing herself now. She had an overwhelming feeling that these next few days were going to be the busiest of her life and she highly doubted that sleep would even be an option.