Of Death and Fire

Chapter 4: "To sleep; perchance to dream

Chapter 4: "To sleep; perchance to dream...."

 
Her flesh trembled as she left the sunlight for the dark world of the Necromancers' Guild. The cold, bare Basalt walls of the entrance made her shiver but, in an awkward way, it all felt comforting and familiar. So, this is it, she thought, as she saw the Guildmaster waiting to greet her. There's no way back.

But her transition to her new life was smoother than she expected. She climbed tanksanks from apprentice to master with an ease that made the older members frown. The tasks required of the initiates were things natural to her, just as breathing is for mortals. In the cold silence of the crypts and mausoleums she finally found a home. No more was she the school freak, the one seeing things. Here she was respected and revered for her connection with the dead.

During the first year, she received the Marks of Shielding. Tattoos on her hand and feet imbued with arcane power, protecting her from unfriendly magic and restless dead. The cuts on her body never again manifest after the last of them was finished. And on her eighteenth birthday, she received a small parcel, a gift from Albus Dumbledore. It was a small crystal pendant made of red jasper and engraved with runes, symbols whose meaning was lost in the depths of time. With it came a note in Dumbledore's handwriting: "May my love stand between you and Evil in all the dark places you must walk". She never removed it from her neck.

Year by year, her knowledge of the Ancient Arts grew deeper. She learned how to absorb the vital energy of others, and how to restore it, channeling her own lifeforce. She mastered the Sight, the Necromancer's way of seeing things unseen, the aura surrounding all living creatures, revealing feelings, hopes and fears. Then there were the Seven Levels of Summoning. In every level, cromcromancer had to summon -and control- a certain type of creature. She strolled through it like a walk on the beach on a warm summer night. More tattoos were added on her body, signifying her new place in the guild order.

And, finally, she had to walk through the Nine Gates of Hell, in order to acquire the title of the Master Exorcist and be admitted to the Inner Circle, where only but a handful of humans had been initiated to its power and secrets. Each Gate meant she had to banish a certain type of creature, some of them never even named, some with names in tongues long forgotten. She mastered all eight of them. Not without scars, but in her tenth year of attendance she was the younger ever to reach the rank of the Wielder of the Secret Flame, just one step outside the Inner Circle. Not because of her failure. Some creatures have just gone dormant, hardly surfacing anymore.

~*~

She was studying an ancient, almost shredded Summerian scroll when a young initiate informed her humbly that the Guild's Headmaster requested her presence. She made her way through the dim lit corridors of the Guild to Whitebone's chambers, with a taste of fear in her mouth. This call was highly unlikely, though not unexpected. Perhaps the time of the Ninth Gate had come.

Aurion Whitebone was sitting in his desk, his eerie features looking even more unnatural in the glow of the fireplace. When he raised his eyes to hers, she knew that something had been set in motion.

"Morgaine", he said, "I have been instructed by the Ministry of Magic to transfer you to the Hogwarts School of Magic and Wizardry. If you have no unfinished tasks, you are to leave for Hogwarts the day after tomorrow". His voice was steady, but she could sense his grief of parting with her. "If the Ninth Gate presents itself, you'll be summoned for the trial", he added.

As she turned to go, her own mixed emotions kept her from hearing his last remark.

"Be careful, child. Darkness stands before you".

~*~

In the dungeons of Hogwarts, Severus Snape threw in anger another vial to the wall, cursing his bad luck. It had been a week of bad sleep, with disturbing dreams from which he woke up in cold sweat. He had tried everything there was in the Potions Archives, even a few things that were in no written transcript, and it all failed. Frustrated, she stood staring on the last two vials: two sleeping potions, one based on valerian, the other on wormwood. Every known source insisted that the two shouldn't mix, unless under heavy magical protection. But with his resistance running low, feeling more tired than ever in his life, he said "The hell with it!" and drunk both of them.

In a few minutes he was heavily asleep in his bed.

Some time later he was awakened to the sound of flutter. He opened his eyes and looked around, in case an owl had flew in. With relief, he realized that the fatigue had left his body. Noticing nothing out of the ordinary, he fell back in his covers, turning to his side. And then he realized he was not alone in his bed.

Frozen, he could only stare at a pair of huge black eyes, reflecting the dim starlight. Around the eyes was a young woman's face, pale and beautiful, crowned by fiery red hair. And attached to this gorgeous head was an equally enchanting body, with soft skin, small pointy breasts and tempting round hips, clad only in starlight. She rose a small pale hand and caressed his cheek.

Snape tried to speak to her, but the muscles of his throat refused to comply. And yet the rest of his body was eagerly responding to this strange woman. She moved her hand from his cheek to his neck, and then to his chest, barely ever touching his skin, soft and fragrant like a summer breeze. He turned and lied on his back, allowing the woman to bend over him, embracing with her hair and fingers, leaving a burning trail on his body with her wet, pink tongue.

Her fingers reached his erection, still barely touching, but even this light touch was enough to set his blood on fire. He wanted to grab her and make her ride him hard; to make her scream, to thrust inside her until he found release. But his limbs refused to obey him. Instead, be could only watch, as she moved her caresses slowly downwards to his needing organ. After a time of blissful agony, she gave a soft, tender kiss to his penis, making a wet trail from the root up.

Snape was on the threshold of the most violent orgasm he had in years, when the woman looked up. Only then did he realize the weirdness of her features. Her big eyes were lidless and all black, a pair of huge pits of darkness. She smiled, and he froze in terror, as it revealed two rows of perfect, white shark-like teeth. Seeing his response, she smiled even wider and lowered her mouth to get a taste of his throbbing flesh.

~*~

Severus Snape woke up with a scream. Covered in cold sweat, he jumped off his bed, grabbed his wand and flew at the other side of the room. He searched the darkness with all his senses in alarm, but it vain. He was all alone. r thr the first shock, he sighed in relief and sunk to the floor. He just sat there, with his back against the cold wall, trying to steady his heartbeat.

When he felt himself again,stoostood up slowly. It was a dream, and a very nasty one indeed. No wonder everyone advised against the mixing of the two potions he had drunk earlier. Feeling completely fatigued, he made his way back to the bed. And then he saw that some of the effects of his dream encounter had not worn off. He still had a hard-on, a very demanding one. He fell in bed and his hand moved down his body in the old, familiar way, seeking solitary, but safe, release.


Miles away, in the depths of a forgotten crypt, the lilitu returned to its summoner. Deprived of its nourishment of human semen, that night it fed off warm elven blood.

~*~

 
Author's notes:
The title is not mine. In case you failed to recognize it, it's from Hamlet.

The ancient Egyptians considered the red jasper stone as sacred to Isis. They placed it on their dead for the journey to the Afterworld, so the demons the souls would encounter would know that the bearer was under Her protection.

Old Egyptian blessing: "may the Gods stand between you and harm, in all the empty places you must walk". Quoted from the TV show Babylon 5. If anyone knows of another source, please contact me at tashenubaste@yahoo.com

A lilitu, or succubus, as it was known at later times, is a dream demon, forcing men in sexual intercourse and using the semen to create other liltus or vampire.

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