Descent - Mattheo Riddle

Chapter seventeen

Lucia

May 22nd, 4 p.m. , Forbidden Forrest

The rumbling grew louder, almost deafening, reverberating through the dense forest. It was an unpleasant, ominous sound, hinting at danger. Then we saw it—the source of the noise. We were near a swamp, though we hadn't even realized we'd crossed one, so absorbed were we in our discussions and the events of the past few hours. Suddenly, something appeared before us, emerging from the muck. I had never seen anything like it.

It resembled a deformed toad with rock-like protrusions covering its back. Its eyes glowed red, and its mouth opened to emit another bone-chilling growl.

As Mattheo and I tried to inch backward, hoping to slip away, we were horrified to find ourselves surrounded by more of these monstrous creatures.

"What the hell is that?" I whispered, my voice barely audible for fear of provoking an attack.

"Stoneback dugbogs," Mattheo muttered just as quietly. "Swamp monsters. They blend perfectly with their surroundings until you trip over them... or they reveal themselves to you."

I gulped. Attack-happy swamp monsters were the last thing we needed right now. My eyes fixed on the monster in front of us. While I pondered which spell might be most effective, I saw Mattheo slowly draw his wand out of the corner of my eye.

The dugbogs were already moving. Though not fast, they didn't have far to go to reach us. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, trying to concentrate. I knew some places in the Forbidden Forest were steeped in ancient magic. In such places, I could gather strength and become more powerful. It was why I'd had such a good chance in the forced duel at Hogwarts—Hogwarts itself was a nexus of ancient magic.

Unfortunately, we were far from such a place now; otherwise, I would have sensed it. I wouldn't be able to do much without a wand. Meanwhile, Mattheo tried every spell he could think of—fire curses, hexes, slicing spells—but none had much effect. Raising my arms, I sent blue, lightning-like energy at the dugbogs. They were momentarily paralyzed but quickly resumed their advance.

"For Merlin's sake, how do you defeat these things?" I cried in frustration, flinging small bursts of fire at the now dangerously close dugbogs.

"How am I supposed to know?" Mattheo hissed back, hurling curse after curse at the monsters.

"It's not fire!" I shouted. At that moment, one of the creatures lunged at me, knocking me to the ground. Its weight pinned me down, pressing me into the muddy forest floor and leaving me nearly immobile. Mattheo looked at me helplessly for a second, but as the creature opened its massive mouth and rolled out a slimy tongue, he acted.

"Glacio!" he shouted, pointing his wand. The monster froze, still on top of me but no longer able to move. Its icy tongue stopped just inches from my face, and a shiver of disgust ran through me.

Mattheo quickly followed with another spell. "Diffindo!"

The stoneback dugbog shattered into hundreds of tiny pieces, freeing me from its crushing weight. Mattheo, however, didn't help me up. Instead, he used me as bait; whenever another creature lunged at me, he repeated the same sequence of spells, shattering them into fragments.

Only when the adrenaline wore off did I feel the sharp pain in my legs, as if countless knives were stabbing through my nerves. I tried to straighten up but realized I couldn't stand. My lower body was paralyzed.

"Are you coming? We need to get out of here!" Mattheo called. He stood a few feet away, his back to me, breathing heavily from the fight. Though he wasn't far, his voice seemed distant, and I realized I was getting dizzy.