The Fire Wand

CHAPTER 1: Escape

'For the world's more full of weeping
than ye can understand.'
W.B. Yeats, Stolen Child

She ran.

She ran so furiously that her legs moved independently of her mind, which was struggling to work her lungs. She wondered if she had forgotten how to breathe, but every momentary gasp that rasped through her throat proved otherwise. Every breath was painful, every pump of her legs agonising. And yet none of the pain compared to what would happen if she was caught.

'Siana!' He roared. The voice rumbled through the tower and Siana whimpered, panicked. She stumbled forwards down three of the mossy granite stairs and it was only by pitching herself upright that she was able to continue. Breathless. Terrified.

And now thoroughly alone.

Siana now took the steps four at a time, her jumps awkward with fear. Her wild and irregular breathing bounced off the stone walls, damp from the storm outside. Her hair, wet and sodden with blood was starting to dry to her neck.

I'm going to die here.

She gasped twice in succession and landed badly. She cried out as her leg bent underneath her and she fell forward. Her hands extended outwards and grasped thin air. Her knees were scraped of skin, and then her head hit the stone. Hard. Only her arms wedging herself against the narrow and circular staircase stopped her from falling further.

I can't die here.

Her head was now bleeding from more than once place.

So what if I do die? Everyone else has. End it now, end it here and there will be nothing to worry about. Nothing. I won't have to fight anymore. Imagine! Not having to fight anymore.

'Stopped have we? Never mind child, it was bound to happen eventually. Get up.' The voice was cold. Detached.

Siana looked up, her eyes clouding with disorienting stars. She had hit her head hard. Harder than she thought.

He stood there. He who had loathed her family from the very beginning, hunted her down with a specific purpose in mind. Delivery.

'I'll not go with you. I'd rather die!' she said coldly, defiantly. Her voice was shaking, tears were streaming down her face without her knowledge. She'd lost everything in the space of an hour. Everything I held close to me, everything I ever thought was safe. Everything. I wasn't lying, I would rather die. Except I don't want to give the cold bastard the satisfaction.

'You won't die. You'll come with me and not complain. My Master has been looking forward to meeting you for a very, very long time.' The cold voice taunted and Siana stood rebelliously. One hand against the chill stone wall for support. Her eyes tried to hold the gaze of the criminal, the murderer, but there was no emotion in the icy grey depths. There was nothing.

She had to look away.

'I'll not go with you. I'll fight you. With my bare hands if I have to. Every step of the way.'

'Do I have to stun you?' the voice said incredulously. She knew, he was surprised at her determination to fight. He had destroyed all her internal structure. Mercilessly. He was probably completely disconcerted to find himself confronting someone who would fight back. Yet his wand did not waver from its position. She was staring down the point of a black wand. A wand that with Priori Incantatem would bring forth her entire family.

One curse to silence me. One more to end the legacy of the Basilicas. No!

'Your Master is a coward. Getting you to do his dirty work. I'll not ever, ever conform to your substandards you miserable wretch,' she whispered angrily, her voice stronger than she felt.

'I should have killed you and taken your damned brother instead. I should have known you would have been so insubordinate as to stand up to me. I will break more than your wand,' he promised on a vengeful snarl.

'Macnair, you will never get the chance.' Her snarl was just as bitter.

And then she began to change, quickly, rapidly - a change that had been practised so many times she did not even need to think. A change that had not been registered with the Ministry, though the other had. Her arms turned membranous and leathery, her teeth became the teeth of a berry eating herbivore, her eyes turned useless as her ears became suddenly so attuned she could hear the destructive power crackling around him. She knew what he was. She knew what he was about to do.

When he yelled the words that would lead to her death she was hurt inside. The loudness, the amplified strength of his voice was enough to almost destroy her hearing close range. And so she fluttered blindly away, following the echoes of her tiny vibrating squeaks.

Siana didn't even see the green streak of light shoot past her, but she felt it blast a hole into the tower and with a spurt of desperation she flapped frantically through the hole. Siana was anxious and frightened, flying in erratic zigzags so she would not be an easy target. Her sonographing equipment picked up another curse amongst the heavy raindrops and she flew upwards.

All her powers of navigation were tested, raindrops could bring down a small fruit bat, and any curse could destroy her in her prone form. The forest, if I get to the forest. I just have to get to the forest. He can't touch me there. No one can. I know my way. She thought frantically - the trees were not that far away. She could sense them, solid monoliths of bark, protective. Something to offer temporary asylum.

It was the first time in her entire life that she had fled to the trees knowing that she would never return back to her home. The thought had not sunk in, but the steely talons of change were in her. The scent of despair was starting to curl in her stomach.

And still she dripped tiny droplets of blood from her injuries which, though she was transformed, still remained.

I get to the forest, I can Apparate out. Only, I have no wand, no, I can't leave the forest once I'm in there. I have no where to go! Unless...unless I go to...no, he has enough to deal with. He doesn't even like us. Not since he and my father had that disagreement. Siana squeaked in misery. Not that it matters anymore. My father isn't there to disagree with him on academic principle. Yes. I could go there...but...

Oh father. Oh Dad. Her mind curled in on itself. She focussed now on navigating the forest, the leaves and the branches. The owls that would willingly swoop on her despite the night rain. A fruit bat was tasty. In fact, there were more predators here than from where she had come. Perhaps she was safer in the form of human.

She flew closer to the ground and changed back with such fluent knowledge that she was able to continue running as a human without faltering. Her favourite subject had paid off in more ways than one. She ran now furiously. Without the imaging abilities of a fruit bat she could not see her way as clearly, and she crashed noisily through the forest.

Her legs moved over rocks and branches, occasionally she tripped and stumbled, but her thought was not to travel at a safer speed. Her only thought was to get into the heart of the forest, where light did not penetrate through the trees. Where she could transform again. Become predator instead of prey, carnivore instead of herbivore. It had taken her a long time to balance changing between the two. One that loved the taste of blood, the other that loved the taste of vegetation. Then there was herself, who loved a good roast.

She crashed through the pathless forest. Animals sprinted, crawled and veered out of her way, they sensed the tumultuous fear and knew she was dangerous in her terror. Even without a wand. A big creature crashing through the undergrowth trampled and destroyed both animals and homes if they weren't aware enough to move out of her way.

Siana flew backwards when the branch cracked across her face.

* * * * *

You're not scared are you? Why would you be scared? What do you have to be scared of? You're going to wake up and go downstairs. You're going to say hello to Mum and Dad, and you're going to ignore the way Uncle Frederick looks at you. If he touches you, ignore it, ignore it all. You're a Basilica, you are good at ignoring that which is beneath you. And he is beneath you.

Siana moaned softly, the pain was already starting to seep in underneath her eyelids. She heard a soft noise near her ear and chose to ignore it.

The wind washing over me, that's refreshing. I'll go downstairs and feel refreshed. Nothing they can throw at me will hurt my feelings. I'll serve Mum and Dad their tea, and Uncle Frederick his coffee. Then I'll go see Antonia about cleaning out the stables. I'm sure she wanted it done. I'm sure, that will get me out of the house. Away from them. I love them, but sometimes it's all too much.

The hooting wouldn't stop. She moaned again and turned over. Red firebolts of pain exploded behind her mind and she cried out sharply. Her eyes flew open and for a moment she had no idea where she was.

It was the forest. It was very dark, it didn't take her very long for her eyes to adjust. Pain was rocketing through her limbs, nothing as intense as the cruciatus curse. She could after all still concentrate, something the cruciatus curse robbed from one's mental faculties. She groaned as she tried to sit up, her knees protested, her head ached, her palms were grazed. She looked down at her knees and momentarily forgot why they were scraped raw.

Oh Artemis. She thought suddenly. Let none of it be true.

'Gods no,' she said in terror, ignoring the way her body screamed in protest as she stood. 'Gods no let it not be true. It's just a bad dream. I slept in the forest. I do it a lot. There's Athena. Hi Athena,' she whispered shakily as her searching violet eyes landed on a large barn owl. The owl hooted softly in reply, her eyes bright, her fierce claws hooked into the bark. Siana noted the claw marks all along the bark, Athena had been sitting there for a while, clawing up and down the branch, it was strange, Athena usually perched in one place.

'It's alright Athena.' She was trying to reassure herself more than the owl. 'It's alright. I'll just go back and apologise to Mum, then I'll make her some fruit salad. Fruit salad with fresh apples. She'll really like that. Mum's usually forgiving. Right?' She nodded blankly as she started walking. There was something she was missing, something pressing in on the edge of her thoughts aside from the pulsing pain. Something which she felt she should have recalled by now.

Part of her mind was insistent that she had nothing left to go back to. Part of her mind remembered the curses, the screams of terror, falling down the stairs, running into the branch. The larger part of her refused to acknowledge it. Refused to acknowledge the fear and the terror. She walked more quickly, still not watching where she was going.

Mum'll be so worried. Because Mum's there, and she's not dead, so she'll be worried.

Siana hadn't even noticed the tears. Athena hooted softly as she flew gently behind her, she'd noticed, chose to quietly acknowledge the grief she could feel. Chose to acknowledge something which Siana was fighting against.

Suddenly Siana turned abruptly away from the direction that would lead her home, and started jogging fiercely in the other direction. I don't want to know. I don't want to, it's not there. I don't want to know. It's not true, none of it happened. I'll go this way, and they'll find me soon enough. I'll feel the spell touch me, the spell that means they're looking for me. The locarius spell. I'll feel it, and everything will be alright.

Her chest heaved.

'Perhaps I should change. I'm going to see GrandWizard Dumbledore. Imagine that Athena. Dad hates him so, won't it be funny to see the expression on his face? Now where is he now? He wouldn't be with the Ministry helping them, Hogwarts. He'll be teaching students at Hogwarts. The school that Dad never let me go to because of the animosity between himself and Dumbledore. Isn't animosity a strange thing?' She was talking faster than usual, her face paler than it's usual pale ivory. Her tears were drying, the shock was settling in.

'I'm going to change. Predator. Predator,' she muttered as she walked, hardly noticing that she was growing fur as her body changed. And then suddenly she was loping along the forest floor, a huge canine. Larger than the usual of her species, an animal that no longer existed. Extinct for many hundreds of years. Hunted to extinction. She was an enormous vixen, a terra-cotta red all over, with a white belly and tipped tail. She had white ears and long flowing hair around her shoulders that was also white. Her eyes were not yellow or brown though, they were a mysterious lilac, one of the markings she was known by in this shape. This was the animal that was registered with the Ministry of Magic. The gigantic fox, once large enough to have hunted smaller foxes and wolves. So possessive it once nearly wiped itself out through disputes over territory. Perfect for a territorial Basilica.

Who has no home. She thought as the scents of the forest filled her nose and the sights of the forest filled her eyes. Athena followed behind her, safely, she was in no danger around this huge animal. This experienced animagus who had protected her from danger when she was a young owlet. Athena felt safe around Siana even when Siana was scared.

It was a large depth of trust.

Siana was feeling better now in the shape of a predator. It was hard for a carnivorous creature to go into shock as easily as a herbivore. She knew it from experience. Being in the form of vixen gave her rationality, some peace of mind. Enough to think things over. Being in the form of vixen also gave her the ability to communicate, though indirectly, with Athena. It was a comforting thought.

So I'll go to Hogwarts. She thought decisively, increasing her easy lope to a faster canine canter. She could manage to run for a long time. Though she didn't know how long she'd last with her head being so sore. If only I had a wand to Apparate. God, without a wand I feel so useless. But what more can I do? I'll just keep running. Keep running.

If I get there, I'll go through the Forbidden Forest. It's safer there than out in the open. Though not by much. Not by much. Hopefully he'll know what to do. Hopefully I'm not wasting my time.

Maybe there's nothing wrong anyway. I'll make a fool of myself. That's nothing out of the ordinary. Any moment now, I'll feel the spell touch me. Mum'll be calling me home. I'll make her fruit salad. Any moment I'll feel the spell touch me. Any moment now...