Chapitre 334: Surrounded by Nundus!
The corner of her eyes had gone red as if they were bleeding, and even a hint of blood could be seen clung to her teeth.
All because of the internal injuries she had suffered, perhaps?
Then what about the absolute rigidness of her body, and the cloudy blur blinding her sight?
One could even say that for a mere fraction of a second, Darcie Malfoy had lost her life, becoming a puppet.
It lasted for this tiniest fraction, though.
An ethereal burst of profound will erupted within her.
In the next moment, Darcie's face regained color, and her eyes, though filled with terror, also brimmed with life, and her senses returned, along with her thinking capabilities.
Whatever had caused her momentary listlessness must have dealt with by that sheer will, somehow.
But it only seemed like a temporary measure.
If she were to suffer such a shock again, then who knew she would regain her composure or not?
Madam Villanelle couldn't see these changes in Darcie, her eyes failing to leave the sight of Lethifold.
Not even the young Malfoy was aware of these changes about her.
Full of dread and absolute horror, Darcie looked at the cloak from the corner of her eyes.
What she had taken as a light flutter because of the icy wind now felt like faint breathing to her.
The entire cloak was stirring, ballooning, and deflating by the faintest amount that was almost impossible to be noticed.
Not to mention, Darcie felt like it was crawling over her naked skin, as though a piece of silk was brushing her constantly.
Darcie Malfoy was truly terrified now.
Even with her magical powers and brilliant capabilities, not for one moment, she dared to think that she could put up a fight against this magical creature.
Lethifold!
This name itself was the primal fear for many.
This creature was second only to the vilest and evilest creatures known to the wizardkind that crawled the earth, the Dementors.
One consumed flesh, and the other devoured souls.
An even more horrifying thing was that there was little to no information known about Lethifolds.
Where they had originated from, what was their anatomy, what were their powers, did they have distinct sex, and the most asked question, how intelligent were they?
The more Darcie thought, the more she shuddered.
However, even then, her heart was strangely becoming calmer with time.
No matter how terrified she was now, Darcie felt a soothing cold seeping into her through the cloak.
The feeling in the deepest parts of her heart — Nothing would go wrong as long as she was with it — just didn't go away.
At this moment, Darcie realized something.
What the entire wizardkind truly feared wasn't the magical creature, Lethifold, but what it represented.
The Unknown!
This realization brought such joy and calmness to her that Darcie felt all the tiredness vanishing from her body.
"I… I feel good," Darcie blurted absentmindedly, shocking Madam Villanelle, whose wand was pointed at the black cloak.
Hearing her own words made Darcie fluster, but she didn't take them back.
She did feel good, better than ever.
Over their heads, the countless rumbles shook the sky, and the many-colored flashes of bolts of lightning lit up their surroundings, now and then.
No matter what, Madam Villanelle's silver-gray pupils never left Darcie.
"Tell me…" she forced out, her eyes hard, her face harder beside. "Tell me everything. How did you come to have these creatures, Darcie? And don't lie. I want the absolute truth of it, OK?"
Darcie nodded, not planning to hide anything already.
She did lie, though. A bit.
As the Valley of Endless Rumbles rumbled endlessly, Darcie told about her getting captured by a young Thunderbird, at which Madam Villanelle's face paled.
Then she told the older witch how she had used the Shrinking Potion to free herself, and by sheer happenstance, fell near the young Nundu.
As Madam Villanelle heard that, her dark skin almost became white, losing the barest hint of blood in concern.
It was here Darcie adjusted her encounter a little, deviating from the actual happenings.
Her ability to use Wandless Magic couldn't be hidden anymore, or there was no chance a little girl of her age could have survived hours in the valley.
So Darcie let Madam Villanelle know that out of fear she had conjured ropes binding the young Nundu's mouth.
She blamed it all on her instincts.
Instincts, by nature, were dubious.
Then Darcie told her how the potion's effect had worn off, letting her regain her original size.
When Madam Villanelle heard how Darcie had punched the cub, flattening it into the ground and making it lose consciousness, the corners of her lips twitched ruefully for the first time.
The next encounter was even more bizarre, to say the least.
The young Malfoy had been running naked in this abysmal forest until now.
This mere thought was enough to make Madam Villanelle sweat and feel remorse out of concern.
Then Darcie told her how she just happened to see the black cloak floating over the stream, and how she snatched it out, draping it over her body.
She even took extra care to mention that she had felt nothing weird or threatening, either, but only the calmest piece and soothing cold.
When Darcie finished her account, it was also then that Madam Villanelle regained her composure.
There was still a touch of fear on her face, but it bordered more on complication.
"I know I can't keep it, mentor," Darcie said innocently. "I will let it go now."
"Nooooo!"
Madam Villanelle's sudden shout jolted Darcie.
These was Lethifold they were talking about, the darkest creature on the earth, and not something anyone could keep around themselves just because they wished to.
Darcie wanted to put her doubt into words, but time and place weren't in their favor.
ROAR! ROAR!!!
These roars shook the world, and even the endless rumbles felt insignificant compared to them.
In Darcie's embrace, the young Nundu's eyelids trembled.
Out of nowhere, a giant Nundu came lunging out of the forest, some dozen feet behind Darcie.
A smaller, but fiercer, Nundu growled at Madam Villanelle from several feet away, the incomplete Firebolt hovering midair between the creature and the witch.
But the magical creature was closer to it.
It was a pair of male and female Nundus, the cub's parents, and if Darcie wasn't mistaken, the male seemed to be the leader of the leap.
These creatures' movements were so silent that before their roars the two witches had gotten no hint of their arrival or even presence.
The two beasts snarled under their throats, their thorny manes puffing out with every breath.
If there was some intelligence in those blood-red eyes, it seemed to have vanished with the disappearance of their cubs.
"Darcie! To me!" Madam Villanelle shouted, forgetting Lethifold's matter altogether.
She, perhaps, didn't know if this creature was a blessing for Darcie or not, but the two Nundus represented certain death for them.
Darcie scuttled back to her mentor one step at a time, and the black cloak on her shoulders almost fluttered in response.
The two beasts snapped their jaws at them as they prowled toward their prey.
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