THE VISION THIEF - D. MALFOY

55. lights out

My hands twitch heavily, and my palms are hot to the touch. The whole room is dead silent. It's the loudest form of silence that has ever surrounded me. 

Until Cole Remington breaks that silence in half. "Get her!" He orders the other Death Eaters. At least four spells come flying at me, advancing on me from all directions in under a second. But they never touch me. Not an ounce of magic. 

Instead, the second I brace for impact, my arms flying up to cover my face, a shield is produced, protecting me. And the spells all ricochet off the large shield surrounding me. 

I watch in absolute shock as each of the spells rebound, was they wipe out two of the Death Eaters and horrifically one takes down Harry, knocking him unconscious. The first Death Eater  falls to the ground, growing as stiff as a board. The second drops on his hands and knees. He yanks off his own mercury mask to reveal Sebastian Remington. He gasps for air as a million tiny little cuts etch themselves into his skin, tearing away at his body. 

A sickening feeling fills me immediately realizing that could've been me. That curse was directed towards me. Pure dark magic.

He drops to the ground, blood spilling out from the cuts. 

My jaw hangs off its hinges, and I stare at him, absolutely dumbfounded and disturbed. 

Until I meet Cole's eyes. He is red with rage. My shield breaks on the spot and I stumble back, quick to grab Malfoy's wand from where I hand previously dropped it. That leaves Cole and Elena, to fight off. 

But my mind is reeling, thoughts rumbling around like a stampede and I can barely think straight. Malfoy is on the ground, still recovering. My friends appear to be on their last leg, still just trying to catch their breath from the heavy dueling they have endured. 

And Elena and Cole are inching forward slowly. 

Ron quickly casts a stunning spell at Cole, but he blocks it, moving quickly and throwing one back at an impossible speed that causes Ron to spiral to the ground, falling unconscious. Lily apparates next to me in under a second, and the two of us face Cole and Elena. 

I meet her eyes, she shoots me a devious glance, a glimmer of chaos in her deep blue eyes. I know, and she knows, there's no way we are letting the Dark Side win tonight. 

And the second our gaze breaks, we fall into action. 

Each spell I cast has a surprising amount of power behind it, no doubt fueled by my heightened emotions right now. Cole blocks each blow. Barely. For a short while I have the upper hand, moving harmoniously and with ease. It amazes me how natural it feels, dueling like this. Usually I struggle a few seconds in, fumbling with curses and spells, and barely managing to shield myself. 

It's different now. I feel power flowing through me. It feels easy. Almost too easy. 

And suddenly Lily has been struck down. It pulls me from my reign of success in an instant, as she flies back, hitting the wall hard and slumping to the floor. I snap my head back around just to block a curse from Cole right in time. I no longer have the upper hand. 

Elena stares me down like I am her prey, and Cole just looks like he could rip my head off in a second. I think he might even try. 

"Uh oh. She's all outnumbered," Elena pouts to Cole. 

My eyes narrow and darken. I widen my stance as they inch closer. "How unfortunate," Cole smirks viciously. 

I swallow hard, backing up as they only advance on me. 

"Come on Ashwood, what will your first move be?" He questions, a malicious glint in his eyes. 

"How about we take a timeout and discuss this later?" I mutter sheepishly.