Ortum Infernum [d.m]

Chapter Twenty-One

Odette backed away with her wand raised in front of her. She hoped that her charms had worked and the door leading to the classroom was veiled from their sights. To them, it should be an empty hallway with no doors. A disillusionment that she fabricated.

One of them silently advanced towards her, tall and imposing. As much confidence as Odette had in her duelling skills, she knew she wouldn't be able to handle three opponents at once.

A great duellist won't care what method they used, as long as they win. Her tutor's voice rang inside her head.

A wise duellist will be patient and wait for the perfect moment to strike. A smart duellist will take advantage of their environments.

With a swiftness that rivaled the flight of birds, Odette swirled her wand over her head and all the windows in the long corridor exploded in glass and steel.

The extravagance of it was enough to distract her opponents, just long enough for her to flick her wrist and send the vortex of shrapnels towards them from different directions, all at once.

They conjured a shield to deflect it, but it was hastily forged. It would not last.

She was smart. Odette attacked them in careful brutality.

She sent barrages of broken glass against their shield, then slowed down just the slightest to let them think she had run out of ammo; when really she was spotting the cracks in their defence.

She didn't need much. Just one small crack—there.

Odette channeled the remaining shards of glass and steel, steered them at the crack and pierced through the veil. Shattering their defensive system.

Two of the Death Eaters were heavily wounded. Their bodies pierced with large shrapnels and jagged glass.

The remaining one standing had been hiding behind one of his partners; using their body as a physical shield. He shoved his limp partner aside, letting the body slump onto the ground next to the other. Both of them were unresponsive.

Before Odette could predict his attack in time, he had hurled her against the stone walls with such force that she felt all the breath being knocked out of her.

She met the wall with a sickening crunch before she slumped onto the cold, hard floor. Dark spots danced in her vision. The left side of her body was blazing in pain, causing whimpers to leave her parted lips.

"Oh. Looks like something's broken," the masked man crooned as he knelt on one knee in front of her crumpled form.

He prodded her ribs with his wand and the pain flared like a vicious flame licking up the side of her body. Odette wailed in agony. Tears burned in her eyes like venom.

The Death Eater brushed her hair away from her face and leered at her with a gaze that made her feel sick. "Such a pretty face. It'll be a waste if you died here today."

His hand trailed down the side of her neck and Odette tried to jerk away but she reawakened the pain. The man tutted, withdrawing his intrusive touch.

"Look at how terrified you are. A battlefield is no place for a little bird like you." Odette could feel his gaze blazing down her body, to where her skirt had ridden up and exposed her thighs.

"Why don't I take you away from here?"

Trepidation froze every fibre in her body. Odette could feel dread constrict her windpipe and her hand desperately clawed at the ground, in search of her wand.

"No one will notice that a girl has gone missing," was the man's final words before Odette screamed in excruciating pain.

He had casted a spell to mend her broken ribs. Before he could lay his hands on her to pick her up, he was forcefully torn away from her.