Out of the Shadows // Sebastian Sallow

Chapter One

I ran. I needed higher ground.

I could hear the footsteps pounding behind me and the sounds of distant voices... giving directions? As to my location most likely. But I knew. I knew I could handle it.

I found flat ground. My legs burned slightly from running up hill out of the forest and into the sunlight, now fading to a blood orange on the horizon, streaking across the sky like deep slashes indicating night would be here soon.

I reached for my bag and pulled out a Wiggenweld Potion and drank quickly so I would be in top form when the time arose. I disillusioned myself and ducked behind a tree... waiting... listening. Heart pounding.

I could hear the faint footfalls slowing and the voices growing clearer. I had already taken care of most of the poachers at the camp. Five? Maybe six. There were only these three left. A cakewalk. My breathing slowed and my body relaxed slightly as the Wiggenweld took effect.

"Running away just when it's time to fight... bloody coward." A deep voice was just near, on the other side of the tree. My eyes seemed to tunnel as I concentrated, knowing the fight was near.

Two men with strange half masks that looked like skulls in a way rounded the tree, coming out of the shadows, almost exactly in front of me.

"Did you hear something?" The slightly taller one with dark hair said to the shorter, stalkier one.

I positioned myself just right. "Petrificus Totalus!" Both poachers' bodies went instantly rigid, legs and arms locked to their sides, a glaze filling their eyes and they both fell forward, flat to the ground. Well, that was easy. I thought to myself.

"What was that?" The third poacher, a woman with the clear marks of a duelist on her coat, said and came striding in to view toward her two petrified cohorts on the ground, wand raised and at the ready. I let the Disillusionment Charm fall and appeared a few yards in front of her, ready for a quick duel to end this whole thing.

"Reducto!" She yelled.

"Protego!" I had just enough time to shield myself. Quickly, I yelled, "Levioso!" Smiling to myself, remembering the day I learned this particular spell. As she flew straight up from the ground, suspended in the air and stunned for words, I said "Glacius." The unknown woman was immediately iced over and in a frozen state.

I circled her slowly. Slightly enjoying my handiwork. It was too easy now. "Diffindo!" I cried.

She shattered into a million tiny pieces without so much as an errant cry, leaving behind no trace.

I sighed in relief. It was over.

I slowly made my way back to my hiding tree to retrieve my bag while sliding my wand into the back pocket of my worn, trusty highland hunting trousers, smiling to myself as I walked.

"Well, well, well... if it isn't the Hero of Hogwarts." A rough, heavily accented voice came from behind the tree. Another poacher. As he rounded the tree, twirling his wand I could see he was tall and bald and had the look of an executioner about him.

Shit.

I had gotten overconfident and he caught me off guard.

He raised his wand. "You'll pay for this... CRUCIO!"

I didn't even remember falling to the ground but the hardness under me indicated I had. Never had I felt this crushing pain! It seared through every muscle, every sinew, lighting my senses on fire as I could barely see the sparks of the red curse flowing into my body through my clenched eyelids.