Of Cunning Minds: Sebastian Sallow

Chapter 35 - Bloodshed

"We're certainly outnumbered," Thea muttered under her breath. Sebastian watched as she gripped her wand tighter between her fingertips. "He has an army,"

"We have a Basilisk," Ominis countered. His face was contorted with anger. "They can't be allowed to reach the village. We need stop them here, on the shore."

"I'll take care of Clyde," Thea spit out bitterly. "Ominis, you got the dragon?"

"Yes, what about the trolls and the rest of Clyde's men?"

"Leave them to me," Sebastian grinned.

The three of them turned and sprinted towards the Basilisk, hopping onto its back one after another. Ominis commanded something in Parseltongue and within seconds they were rushing through the grassy hilltops and down towards the sandy beach.

Sebastian shrugged off his jacket and threw it behind him as soon as they reached the shore. He pushed himself off the serpent's body, rolled into the sand, and fired a spell at the nearest goblin. He could hear Ominis and Thea casting spells nearby. Clyde's army was scrambling from the surprise, reaching for their wands and trying to organize their ranks.

"Confringo!" Sebastian yelled. The spell collided with the river troll to his left. It swung its club stupidly and slammed it into the sand, narrowly missing Sebastian. "Flipendo!" he shouted. The club shot upwards, striking the troll in its own face. The beast swayed and stumbled, stomping on several goblins in the process.

Sebastian turned his attention to a group of wizards standing nearby. They appeared to be frozen in fear at the sight of the Basilisk. "Glacius!" he called out. Each wizard went rigid and fell to the sand. Sebastian smirked and ran off to fight another group of enemies.

The beach had become a bloody battlefield in mere minutes. The violent screeches of the dragon and Basilisk rang across the shore as spells fired and trolls roared. Clyde clearly lacked control over his army as some of its members began fighting one another amidst the chaos. Wizards and goblins clashed in a storm of violent spells. Sebastian incapacitated a few more opponents as he frantically searched the blood-stained sands for Thea.

He finally spotted her just up the shore, locked in a fierce duel with Clyde. He managed to beat one of her defenses, causing a slicing spell to hit her shoulder. She yelled and clutched the injury.

Sebastian sprinted in her direction, ignoring the surrounding turmoil with each step. He only made it a few yards when a powerful, knockback jinx struck him in the back.

"I have a bone to pick with you, boy," came Harlow's sinister voice.

~~~

Thea's shoulder stung from where Clyde hit it. Blood trickled down the front of her jacket as she pressed her hand against the wound.

"You won't be able to stop me," Clyde taunted. He circled her slowly, twirling his wand between his fingertips. "Even without your precious soul, I have the power to level cities. No one will stand in my way of becoming the most powerful wizard known to man."

"Depulso!" Thea yelled. Clyde flew back several meters and fell to the ground. His hand quickly gripped his wand as he fired another slicing spell. Thea dodged it this time and threw several more jinxes in his direction.

"Protego!" he shouted, blocking each one in turn. He pushed himself back to a standing position and grinned. Blood oozed from his lip and he licked the crimson liquid. "Do you honestly think three stupid Slytherins can stand a chance against me? Cunning minds are no match against genius ones."

He flashed his teeth and fired a spell at the rocky cliff behind Thea. Shards of stone fell to the sand below, surrounding Thea in dust and ruins as she tried to find her bearings. She moved to step over a large piece of rock when Clyde used another spell, hurling her body back against the cliff.

She hit the stone with a thud and darkness began to cloud her eyes. All she could process was a wicked laugh and the sound of a dragon wailing.

~~~

"Teeth only," Ominis whispered in Parseltongue to the Basilisk as he commanded it to go after the dragon. He couldn't risk exposing Thea or Sebastian to its deadly gaze. Besides, he preferred if this fight remained as non-lethal as possible. He shuddered at the thought of dead bodies covering the peaceful beach. Thea and Sebastian promised him they wouldn't use Unforgivables, but Clyde made death practically unavoidable when he brought trolls and bloodthirsty wizards to the fight.

Ominis grimaced and sprinted after the giant serpent. He needed to be nearby in case it struggled against the dragon. Ominis recognized the brutal clashing of fangs and bodies and the two beasts raged at one another.

Using his wand as a guide, he managed to stun several wizards who were paying too much attention to the fighting creatures to notice his presence. He whipped around and fired another stunning spell at a goblin, only to get hit in the leg by painful jinx.

He groaned and stumbled in the sand, pivoting quickly to defend himself against his attacker. However, the next spell that came belonged to a feminine voice.

"Stupefy!" Anastasia shouted. Ominis heard the distinct sound of a wizard crumpling to the sand.

"What are you doing here?" Ominis seethed, rushing forward to pull Anastasia into his arms. "You need to go! It's far too dangerous—"

"So that's the snake, huh?" she commented. "It's certainly impressive. And you, my dear, are utterly ridiculous for thinking I wasn't going to help you take down this psychopath." Ominis could tell her hands were on her hips. "There are more goblins up ahead, let's go get them," she smirked.

"How did you know where we were?" Ominis yelled as they ran along the shore, firing spells and dodging trolls.

"I figured you'd be near the village. I would have gotten here quicker, I just had to make a quick pitstop. Diffindo!"

~~~

"I lost four fingers because of you!" Harlow shouted, holding up his disfigured hand. "I fell on an acid plant while running from that troll of yours. It burned them straight off."

Sebastian titled his head and shrugged. "I'm sure your other hand can keep you company at night just fine."

"Why you little—Crucio!" Sebastian protected himself from the spell, but just barely.

"Stupefy!" He shouted back. The spell brushed Harlow in the cheek. For a moment, Sebastian thought it had done nothing, but then Harlow spit two bloody teeth into the grass.

"Oh, I'm going to have fun ripping every ounce of flesh of your body," he snarled. "Bombarda!"

The ground near Sebastian's feet exploded in a fury of sand and dirt and he was thrown to his side. His left ear rang painfully as he stumbled to a standing position. "Confringo!" he shouted. In his state of dizziness, the spell only grazed Harlow's arm. He screamed as he tried to pat out the flames.

Sebastian pressed a hand to his swaying head and tried to steady himself. A familiar voice came from behind him.

"Come on, you can do better than that. You're the one who taught me that spell."