The Nightblood Wand

Chapter 11 :

               The tension in the room was unbearable. Clarke was still pressed against the wall behind her, looking astonished.

“Lexa?” she said.

               The blonde seemed so sleep deprived and freezing to death. Her hair was dirty and messy. An elastic band was still holding a part of her top hair, three or four hair locks were falling down her face. Her once so pure face that was now covered by dust stains. A part of her shirt was out of her trousers and her sleeves were up her forearms. One of her laces was undone, she had not even bothered retying it. Lexa’s heart clenched when she saw her Clarke so lost that she didn’t even know if anything she saw was real.

“What do you want?” asked Lexa, her wand still pointing at Nia.

“Okay, I thought we would sit, have a drink and talk but whatever” the woman said sarcastically. “I need you to provide me a service. Your parents and I used to be friends back in the time. Just before they decided to ditch me for a fancy wizard community or something.”

               Lexa listened carefully, glancing several times at the blonde behind them.

“I’m going to pass you the details, but all you have to know is that they have something that belongs to me.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about” Lexa lied.

“Oh, I don’t think so” replied Nia, an evil grin on her face. “Come in.”

               The brunette didn’t move her wand but took a quick glance above her shoulder. Six wizards, about Titus and Nia’s age, entered the room. Four of them had their arms around her friends’ necks. Lincoln, Octavia, Raven and Anya. But one was missing. ‘Bellamy’ she thought to herself.

“Drop your wand Miss Woods!” ordered Titus.

               Lexa scanned the area and noticed another door behind Nia and Titus. It was slightly open so the brunette could discern a man’s form behind it. Here he was. She looked briefly at Clarke, she was close from the door. Maybe if she created a distraction then…

“I’m not a very patient person.” Nia said.

               Titus directed his wand towards Clarke before she could say anything.

“Crucio!”

               Clarke fell to the ground, her body overwhelmed with painful spasms. The blonde was screaming so loud. Octavia tried to get away from the man behind her but he kicked her behind the knee. As her knees collided with the ground, the henchman pressed the tip of his wand to her neck. Lincoln clenched his jaws but didn’t move, waiting for the right moment. Lexa looked back at Bellamy and barely saw him nod.

“Okay, OKAY, stop it!” she shouted.

“Crucio!” Titus stopped.

               The blonde’s body relaxed, leaving her panting on the ground. Two or three droplets of blood fell from her nose and Lexa had to contain the urge to jump on the bald asshole. She started kneeling down, bringing her wand with her.

“Very good” Nia said, watching Lexa’s any move.

And when everybody’s attention was on her.

“NOW!”

               With that, Bellamy kicked the door open and punched Titus hard on the trapezium in the process. When his limp body fell to the ground, Lexa rose quickly back up. Anya used her elbow to kick the man behind her in the stomach, then turned around, and kicked him in the nuts. She got her wand back and helped her friends getting rid of the other henchmen. Lexa looked at Bellamy who was already straightening Clarke up by passing her arm around his neck. The two of them left by the door Bellamy just came from. Lexa heard as everything went as planned behind her before looking up and seeing the old light bulb hanging from the ceiling. The brunette rose her wand towards it and with the sound of glass exploding, everything went dark.

***

               The whole mansion was plunged into darkness. The group had been split up out of this room once again and Lexa had one idea in mind. She knew Anya, Raven, Lincoln and Octavia would be ok. She had to find Bellamy and Clarke. 

               Lexa walked along the corridor’s walls, her wand in hand. Muffled sounds resonated in the building, testifying of the battle going on. The brunette opened yet another door silently. The wood cracked under her feet as she took small steps. Her breath was controlled and quiet. She stopped and frowned, to try and see something in the dark room. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Lexa’s whole body tensed and her instinct was to kick the person behind her in the leg. The boy let out a cry of pain, so Lexa turned around to see Bellamy laying on the ground, one of his hands clenching his wand and the other rubbing his now injured knee.

“Fuck! Are you mad?”

“Sorry Bellamy” she apologized before offering him her hand.

               The brunette helped him stand up somehow. He looked her in the eyes and nodded. Bellamy then moved over. Lexa’s breath got caught up in her throat when she saw her. Clarke was standing up in front of her.

“Lexa!” Clarke almost whispered.

               The blonde didn’t seem to know what to do since the last time they saw each other, the bitter taste of betrayal overwhelmed their hearts.

“Lexa, I can explain, I never meant to…”

               Clarke’s raspy voice got cut off as strong arms enveloped her. She released the tension in her body and with that, all the tears she had contained until now. Lexa heard her and felt tears run down her cheeks too. She tightened her embrace even more. The brunette took a few seconds to put her head in the girl’s hair and breathe in all of her scent.

“I – I don’t understand what they want. I can tell you everything that happened b – but I promise I never would have done anything to hurt – hurt…”

“Shhhh, calm down baby, I know.”

               Lexa had to admit that even if her heart broke that time, she had always felt in her soul that Clarke couldn’t harm anybody, let alone to her. ‘The eyes can’t lie’ Indra once told her. And what the brunette saw in that girl’s eyes had nothing to do with conspiracy. She released her grip to look at her and kissed her. Clarke’s relief was huge. The blonde seemed to forget the situation they were in and lost herself in that kiss, tears wetting their cheeks. They both stopped when they heard Bellamy clear his throat.

“Girls, we have to get out of here.”

“But if we escape now, they’ll track us until they have what they want” said Clarke. “We have to figure things out.”

“Clarke, we need backup before we try anything. Plus, we already have figured things out.”

               Lexa gave her her wand since Clarke had not anything to defend herself, and grabbed the other one in the back pocket of her jeans. The blonde widened her eyes as she saw the black and red stick in her girl’s hand.

“Is it…”

“The nightblood wand, yeah” winked Bellamy.

“Nia talked about it. What is so special about it? Why do they want it so much?”

“We will talk about it later Clarke,” said Lexa. “For now, we got to get out of here. Let’s find the others.”

               The three of them left the room and wandered in the mansion, searching for their friends. They took several small corridors until they reached the entrance hall once again. Everything was silent. You could hear a fly wander in the air. Lexa hesitated a little and placed her left arm in front of Clarke in a protective gesture. Bellamy took the first step, exposing himself, and suddenly a yellow blast of light gushed through the air, hitting him hard. Their friend’s body flew towards the wall behind them and crashed into it. The two girls didn’t wait for his motionless body to fall to the ground, to set in a defensive stance, their wand pointing at the origin of the blast. A few people appeared from out of the shadows, at the top of the main staircase. Nia was at the front and Titus on her tail.

“Come on, you’re not going to leave now. You just arrived.”

               The bald man had a horrible smile on his face. Lexa turned around to see that Bellamy had not woken up of whatever curse he had been hit by. She then looked at the numerous wands pointing at them.

“What do you want?“ Lexa asked.

“Oh, stop that Miss Woods, you know exactly what I want since you have it in your hand.”

               Clarke and Lexa didn’t move an inch, waiting for something, anything to happen.

“What are you thinking? Three, well now two students, against a bunch of trained pureblood bodyguards. Do you really think you stand one single chance?”

               The brunette felt Clarke’s body trembling behind her. Probably because of the cold, the fear and the exhaustion she had been enduring for too long now. Lexa had one idea in mind; bring Clarke home, safe and sound.

Nia took a few steps forward, carefully, placing herself at the verge of the first step.

“Alright now, give up your wands girls!”

               Clarke looked around, searching for something that could help them. In the corner of her eye, she saw Anya. She also noticed more shadows behind the girl. Clarke took a deep breath before nudging Lexa with her elbow. Lexa subtly searched the surroundings to find whatever the blonde wanted her to find. And she did. She looked back at Nia and smirked. The woman frowned for a moment.

“I thank you for your hospitality but unfortunately,” Lexa looked at her best friend and nodded, “we have to go!”

               Nia turned to where Lexa had been looking, then her team, but it was too late. A blast of light left Anya’s wand and Nia jumped just in time to avoid it. Once again, a hail of jinxes flew across the mansion. Clarke and Lexa were fighting side by side, taking one or two men down. Lexa dived behind a large column to avoid a strong spell. She sited Octavia running along the walls and making her way to her brother, still laying on the ground. The girl rose her head towards Lexa. Both of them nodded and with that, Octavia disapparated, bringing Bellamy with her.

Lexa’s attention went back to the war field. She watched as her blonde girl stood her ground fighting a tall woman, so she ran to another one.

“Anya!” Lexa yelled. “Grab Raven and Linc and go you know where, we’ll be right after you.”

              The tall blonde nodded before casting one last jinx and running to her other friends. Lexa and Clarke weren’t close enough. They had to, because the minute Anya, Lincoln and Raven would be gone, the other guards will come to them. Spells were heard every now and then. Lexa used the wand at the perfection and ended up taking Titus down. She was feeling the power of the nightblood all across her being. It was like pure adrenaline flowing in her veins. She looked on her right and saw Clarke still fighting the same woman. The brunette started walking towards her but a vile voice came buzzing into her ears.

“Miss Woods, give me the wand!”

“You wish” Lexa spat at her. “Stupefy!”

               Nia countered it. Lexa continued throwing different spells but somehow, Nia managed to block all of them. A single droplet of sweat made its way along the woman’s face, her eyebrows were furrowed but she kept her focus. Suddenly a muffled sound echoed from farther. They did it. Anya and the others had just apparated. They had to go now!

               Clarke had the upper hand on her assailant, even though she was using Lexa’s wand and not her own. She understood her friends were out of the mansion already and that she had to do the same with Lexa. Clarke saw the brunette battling with Nia. She had to get rid of her assailant.

               The blonde broke the link between their two wands before casting her spell.

“Confringo!”

               A spark left her wand and came crashing on the ground just before the woman in front of her, creating an explosion. She got the desired effect since the woman got smashed into the wall behind her but what she had not desired was to suffer the aftermath. Clarke was thrown a few meters away into a large cabinet, a little cry escaping her mouth. She was closer to Lexa and Nia though.

               The sound of the explosion made Lexa lose focus, turning to Clarke and that is when Nia stroke.

“Expelliarmus!”

               The nightblood wand quickly got off Lexa’s grip, letting her defenseless.

“Well, it is not what I had in mind but now that we’re here…” Nia said with a malicious grin.

               Clarke rose her head from the ground with a huff. No. The blonde quickly recovered and searched for a wand. She saw the red and black stick two meters from her. The nightblood wand. Everything seemed to move in slow motion, the seconds becoming minutes. She crawled and seized it. Clarke ignored the burning sensation in the palm of her hand as Nia pointed her wand at her lover. The woman noticed her in the corner of her eye. Her eyes widened. Lexa turned to look at her too.

“Clarke, no!” she yelled.

“Stupefy!”

               A big flash left the wand to hit Nia hard. Lexa observed the woman’s limp body before running to Clarke. The time seemed to stop.

“Clarke! Love, please!”

              The brunette kneeled next to the blonde and grabbed her upper body into her arms. She started to cry as the girl laid motionless on the floor. Her lips were slightly parted and no breath was coming out. Lexa placed her hand on her cheek and brought her closer.

“Please!” she said.

              More tears came running down Lexa’s face with the lack of answer from the girl pressed into her. Loud whispers were heard. The other henchmen were getting close. The brunette lifted Clarke from the ground. She contained a whimper as she didn’t feel any sign of movement and as her arms were left hanging in the air. Lexa took a last look at her lover dangling head before disapparating with her.