In The Shadow of Our Choices

Chapter 118: The Last Stand

Previously:
Silas Larson asked Elizabeth for any information she might have regarding normal Rookwood gang camp defenses. Elizabeth wondered if they were planning an offensive, and Andrew confirmed her suspicions via letter, letting her know too that the gang was at Clagmar Castle. Elizabeth, Ominis, Sebastian, and Anne invited themselves along to watch the end of the Rookwood gang, since Andrew was set to be a lookout as an apprentice Auror, for a bit of catharsis.

Elizabeth

Elizabeth was, actually, desperately curious to see how the aurors would conduct this raid. It was her main reason for wanting to come tonight, besides being able to watch the Rookwoods fall at long last. She was certain it would be nothing like her wonderful past attack strategies that usually involved setting everything on fire and jumping into the fray with only Sebastian as backup. She was already duly impressed with the massive anti-apparition ward the aurors had had to put up, even if it had meant they had had quite a hike to get to their current position atop the escarpment. So, when the signal sounded, Elizabeth watched with rapt attention, interested in what else they had up their sleeves.

In the moment after the lookout turned towards the quiet noise, he was hit with a silent stunning spell and slumped where he sat. All around the castle walls, she saw small flashes of red as other stunners took down the rest of the lookouts. The men inside the camp were still laughing and chatting, oblivious to the fact all their sentries had just been taken out. For several long minutes, it seemed like nothing else was happening until a shimmer of movement caught her eye. Disillusioned aurors, barely more than ripples in the air, were spreading out all along the tops of the walls, encircling the camp.

When it seemed they were all in position, every single light in the camp guttered, as if a massive gust of wind had swept past, then they all snuffed out all at once. The camp was plunged into pitch blackness, the change accompanied by shouts of alarm. The darkness lasted approximately thirty seconds before the night was lit up with red - a grid of stunning spells spanning the entire camp. At the same moment, there was a tremendous pop that made the ground beneath them jump, and barriers shimmered to life in the gates of the castle as well as in every window and hole in the walls.

The fires had rekindled half-heartedly, casting a little light over the scene - many of the men had crumpled, unconscious, but several still stood and others were now flooding out of tents, shouting in confusion. A few of the smarter ones simply dropped their wands and threw up their hands when they saw the aurors lining the walls.

"Get down!" One of the aurors barked, their voice magically amplified to carry through the ruins. "Lay flat, don't move, and you will not be harmed."

"Merlin, they make it look easy," Sebastian said, keeping his voice low as angry shouts rose from the camp.

"That's because it's their job," Andrew said.

Full body-bind curses found the men who had surrendered, swiftly followed by another grid of stunning spells, but this time the gang members were ready and many of the spells were met with shield charms. This time too, one of the ashwinders retaliated, whipping a brilliant green curse at an auror's head, narrowly missing as they ducked behind the crumbling remnants of a stone fortification. Others quickly followed suit, firing spells up at the aurors, scrambling behind crates and overturning tables for cover. A cry rang out as one of the Aurors went down, clutching at her leg where a slicing hex had torn through fabric and flesh. The Ashwinders were scrambling, but desperation made them dangerous. The main fire in the camp roared, flaring high and beginning to form into the shape of a snarling lion.

"Fiendfyre!"

The call came from one of the aurors, and immediately several wands were trained on the ashwinder casting the spell. A glittering dome of the same magic as the barriers on the gates bloomed around the fire, but the caster was caught too. Inside the fiendfyre exploded to life, contained, but still deadly.