Hierarchy of Need [t.r]

Chapter Twenty Three

Delilah whirled around, firing the first spell to come to mind. His body was thrown back due to an invisible blow to his chest, his back hitting the post on his bed before he fell to his knees. A sharp pain shot through his side, but he ignored it with a clench of his jaw and stood up slowly.

"Are you done?" That was the wrong thing to say, which he came to quickly realize as her wrist flicked, sending a scorching wave of blue tinted fire towards him. Throwing up a defense, it wasn't as strong as it should've been and the wooden post of his bed caught fire. Quickly putting it out, he was just barely able to block her next spell.

Biting her cheek, Delilah caught sight of the books on the floor to her left in her peripheral vision and the fireplace on her right.

Barely flicking her wand, she sent the books hurtling at him. While he was distracted with that, she turned her focus to the fireplace, tearing it apart brick by brick.

At the sound of what appeared to be grinding stone, Tom turned and was barely able to register what was happening. The fireplace crumbled as the heavy stone bricks hovered in the air for a moment, before spinning and turning into sharp daggers.

His eyes widened slightly as Delilah gestured forward, and they came shooting towards him. Tom crumbled them with ease, but she sent what appeared to be a more controlled version of sectumsempra.

Hissing at a sudden sting in his leg, Tom looked down to find a deep laceration across his left calf, blood soaking through his pants. The incantation to heal wounds from that spell was slightly tedious, and he didn't exactly have time to even begin it when she sent a gust of wind at him, making his feet slide back across the door, attempting to knock him off his balance.

"Delilah this is ridiculous," he shouted over the whistle of air that was pushing him this way and that. She lowered her wand then, her expression so stiff she almost appeared to look like one of those statues she adored so much.

"Ridiculous?" she said incredulously.

"Yes, we should talk this out like civil people," he stopped short when a bark of dry laughter left her lips. "Civil? Are you joking? Riddle you are the least civil person I know."

Before he could utter a word, she pressed her hands together and muttered something so quietly that only her lips gave any indication she was speaking.

The runic spell she was currently casting was something she had only done once before, because afterwards it left her utterly exhausted. But with her vexation and adrenaline mixing together, she didn't think twice when she started to murmur the incantation.

He stepped back cautiously when the room suddenly became heavy, almost suffocating as energy charged the air around them. A dim purple glow started to weave its way around her, almost like it was alive, dancing between her fingers and in her hair.

His brows furrowed, completely fascinated and distracted by the curious sight in front of him. He's never seen magic like that before. "What are you doing?"

Delilah's head raised and her eyes seemed to be glowing such a bright blue they almost seemed white, she then pushed her hands out, and the magic that was tangled and bonded so tightly around her suddenly exploded.

The shockwave of the miniature explosion sent him hurtling back, his skull slamming into the wall with a loud crack as his body collided with the hard stone. He squeezed his eyes shut and a slight groan left his lips as he fell to the floor painfully, gripping at the back of his head he felt something warm and wet.

Delilah dropped her hands to her sides, the dim purple glow still cracking around her fingers as she slowly walked forward.

"Civility is something beyond your comprehension."