The Dawn of Darkness || T. Riddle

Chapter 19: Dark and Demented

"Trust the one with the silver light. For it is with them you must unite."

Chapter 19: Dark and Demented

They were running. Running across Tom's chambers and out the door towards the marble staircase.

Estela found it difficult to run in such a long dress, and found herself tripping over it multiple times, but Tom's grasp on her arm was firm, and kept her steady each time.

Her heart was in her throat as she dared a glance behind her. About a hundred dementors had swooped in through the shattered windows and were gaining on them. Quickly. She panicked. But she just about managed to slam the doors to Tom's chambers shut with a wave of her hand.

But she knew that wouldn't stop them for long.

Tom's grip was still fixed on her wrist as he dragged her down the staircase, and she realised that this was the first time she'd ever seen him run away from anything. He would never run away from a fight or a challenge. He would usually square up to his opponent with a merciless delight in his eyes and a comfort in the knowledge that there was unbeatable power at his back.

But that was not the case tonight. Tonight, he was fleeing as fast as he could. And Estela thought he might actually be scared, or as close as he could get to feeling scared.

She could understand why a normal wizard or witch would be frightened of a hundred dementors closing in on them – after all, patronuses were exceptionally difficult to produce – even the most skilled wizards struggled to conjure one powerful enough. Even Estela. But Tom - he was the most powerful wizard she knew, and it wouldn't surprise her if he could take the dementors down with closed eyes and a lazy wave of his wand.

But that's when she realised. As they ran down a long corridor, it hit her why Tom was running. He couldn't defeat the dementors because he couldn't produce a patronus – or at least a strong enough one.

It occurred to her that you needed a happy memory to cast the spell – an extremely powerful happy memory – and that was something that Tom didn't have. Not to her knowledge anyway.

For once in his life, he might just be outmatched.

They came to a halt in the middle of the corridor when they saw Alden and Avery come bursting out of a room to their left, their faces panic stricken as they eyed them both.

"What's going on?" Alden asked, not missing a beat. "What was that noise?"

Tom didn't let go of Estela's wrist as he spoke to his followers in rushed tones, his breaths heavy, and the way he was acting seemed to unnerve both Alden and Avery even further.

"Dementors. It's an attack from Fawley. Gather the others, they'll need to fend them off."

Estela saw Alden's face quite literally drain of blood and turn almost as white as the marble floor beneath their feet. "Dementors? How many?"

"At least a hundred." Tom informed him. "And it won't be long before they figure out how to unlock the doors. So go, gather the others. Now."

But Alden didn't move, despite the command in Tom's words and Avery beckoning him from by his side.

"You need a patronus to defeat dementors," he said, "And you know as well as I do that most of the people in this manor won't even be able to produce a wisp of silver light."

Estela watched as Tom's jaw tightened and he took one menacing step towards Alden, whose pine eyes didn't lose a trace of confidence despite the imposing figure looming before him. "And you know as well as I that they've got a better chance than me. So do as I say, Viridian, and gather the others."