Chapter 79. Interview With A Dementor

The mixture burned with ice in my mouth, and my throat as I forced it down. The taste of iron and copper coated all my taste buds, making me feel I was only drinking frozen blood, like some sort of vampire. The concoction after resting in my stomach, slowly began stealing all of my warmth from my body. I felt my stomach grow cold, and my extremities quickly followed. “Urk!” I grunted while rolling into the fetal position, wrapping my arms around my chest to keep me warm. My breath no longer became vapor in the frigid air.

Like the warmth of my body had been eaten away, I shivered uncontrollably. ‘Was I wrong? Was the mix bad? A mistake somewhere?’ I frantically thought, my mind spinning nearly as much as my stomach, where the pit of frozen hell had opened. I panted, my heart beating faster and faster to stop the chill from freezing it solid. I looked up at the creature in front of me, watching me with its hidden face, studying my reaction as I writhed in the pain of my stomach being frozen. I could feel as any portion of my heat returned, it was just as quickly whisked away, leaving me in the cold.

‘Cold… Stomach…’  “Of course!!” I yelled, grabbing inside my jacket for a bottle of Pepperup, needing its properties to warm my body back up. However, the second I grabbed it, the Dementor ripped the only bottle I had away from me, before shattering it in its gnarled hands. “Why-!?" I yelled in anger, the pain in my stomach flaring, forcing me back to the ground as the mixture stole my heated anger. I gasped as my body fell to the ground, only hearing the whispers of apology from the creature above.

I then began feeling my body begin to change. A sensation familiar, but at the same time, foreign. My hands grew larger, and my nails grew long and sharp. My face grew a snout, and my teeth changed, all becoming like knives in my mouth. My body grew much larger, and dark black fur that swallowed all light, mirroring the strange liquid I drank. With a loud animalistic howl, I let out a cry of empowerment, a wave of strange excitement overtook me. The new unfamiliar sights and smells that I knew, but couldn’t place from where surrounded me.

I was used to seeing in the dark, but this was something different. I could see strange dim blue flames emanating from me, with wisps of orange deeper in. I could smell the flames, a strange mix of Pine and brown sugar came from it. “I greet the new Emperor of Fear.” A sudden female voice calmly spoke behind me. I turned around to see the Dementor, lowering its head to me. “A thousand apologies for earlier, however the potion needed to be undisturbed.”  It had the same blue flames as me, but much dimmer, without the other color, and smelled different, like the salty breeze of the ocean.

I tried talking, but words that came from my changed mouth weren’t human, like I was now speaking in the same whispers the Dementor had been doing. “What is this?” I asked, in awe of my own changes, the very first time I had seen myself in this form, as well as the strange sights and smells. The Dementor never raised their head, only talking while still bowing to me. “You now have taken your rightful place on the throne of our kingdom.” I stared at the bowing Dementor, slowly growling on instinct, warily wondering what exactly that meant, what I was.

“Our Kingdom?” I asked, taking slight gasps of air to keep myself as calm as I could be. The Dementor nodded slowly, keeping their head lowered in my presence. “Indeed. You are the one our master last spoke of. You bore the mark he said he would release into the world in search of a successor.” I slowly shook my head in denial, stuttering my strange words of madness. “Y- N- What mark…?” I finally asked, silently demanding the apparition prove its accusation to me. “Your soul…” It responded, pausing for a moment, possibly trying to ascertain the right words to use. “Though I do not know what our last Emperor released. He spoke of the tell-tale sign of the soul that would bear his mark.” My mind froze at this sudden position, now thrust upon me.

Sensing my unease the Dementor continued to explain. “The soul, you can see now the souls of yourself and others.” I stuttered, glancing back down at myself, the blue flame emanating from me, and its strange smells. ‘Is that the smell of my soul?’ I growled more in thought, the rough rumbling emanating from my chest. “Why am I like this?” I asked, surprisingly not hating my wolf form as I felt in control of myself, like the real beast within was still asleep. “You took the form most compatible to handle your Dominion.”  I paused with that statement, a sudden string connecting all the dots in my mind, an idea that fit too well. ‘Did Ekrizdis make the werewolf that bit me…?’ I pondered the idea, the connecting hints littered throughout my life all lining up.

I gulped, forcing the idea to the back of my mind, instead asking what would matter most by tomorrow. “How do I change back?” “By your will.” The Dementor quickly answered, as if the answer was obvious. With that bit of my unease gone, I stared at the bowing creature, its dim blue flame radiating across its body. I could finally ask the question that spent a week gnawing in the back of my mind. Already new ones taking its place. “Is this what you wanted me for? To be your King?” I asked, wondering if I truly had control over these creatures.

The Dementor nodded without a hint of delay, and I could somehow feel that I could. Without a thought, I had already asked it questions, expecting answers without a shred of doubt in my mind that she would stay silent. Now it was finally time to learn more of these creatures. “Tell me about yourself.” The Dementor stuttered, and remained silent for a second, seemingly confused with my command. However, it quickly recaptured itself, explaining what it was.

“I was the first of my kind to be made. Created with a sliver of Death, mixed with a dark creature in black magic. Ekrizdis reveled in my being, enjoying the suffering I was constantly placed under, as well as how easily I had to share that suffering with his command.” She explained, much like Luna with almost no hint of emotion in her tone. A lot to internalize, I paused for a moment before asking the most important question on my mind. “What suffering are you under right now?”

The Dementor was silent, before slowly answering, her voice shaking from time to time. “Hunger. An all encompassing, mind numbing hunger. The constant agony of starvation, and desperate desire for satiation. After he died, and we no longer could feed on those he sought to torture, we no longer could feed ourselves on others or him. Many have gone mad, only my mind mostly remains as I had first picks when it came to feeding.”

I stared at the creature with a new found sense of pity. They were creatures from birth to be in constant agony. In such desperate need of food, they constantly sucked out the happiness from their very surroundings for some semblance of appeasement. Their creator forced them to feel the very same knife piercing pain I felt after drinking that potion to attain a sort of command over them. ‘If she is the most sane out of the rest, has she been holding herself back from doing the very same? I never felt the inherent joy in me fade away, but others did…’ The back of my mind immediately pointed towards the overwhelming idea of Ekrizdis changing my body beyond any other sort of curse others had to live with.

I had more questions, many more worrisome questions, but I felt she couldn't help me with them. 'She was only a tool he used to inflict suffering, not a partner he would explain his motives to.' I growled, realizing the truth of myself to be further just out of my reach. I then shook my head, focusing back on the creature in front of me, finding some solace in fulfilling more of my dream. “Have you ever been full?” The Dementor nodded immediately, as if reminiscing over a good memory, the only good memory they had, after everything else had been eaten away by their mad inducing hunger, there was only one colonel of happiness left from a better time. “Only when I was first created, was I not hungry.” I growled in thought, wondering if she wasn’t created with hunger, then it might be possible to feed her enough to not be in pain, as well as other Dementors.

“If I call for you, will you come to my side?” “Yes, no matter how long it might take, I’ll come to your side.” I nodded at her, glad that I could see her again to test out ideas for the future. The thing I always wanted to do from as early as I remember, was study magical creatures, perhaps even a magical creature that others have never seen before. While not a creature undiscovered, it was still a dream I was beginning to fulfill. “Good. I’ll find something for your hunger. I will relieve you of your pain.” I promised to the bowing creature, wanting to help all the Dementors at some point, but starting with just this one as she was apparently the most tame.

The Dementor remained silent as I slowly breathed out, feeling my body contort, crack, and shift into my usual appearance. I glanced at my hands to check, only now noticing I was naked now, my shredded clothes beneath me, together with my potions, tossed on the ground. I repaired the clothes, placed my potions back in my overcoat, and collected the rest of my things before leaving.

Exiting the stables, I froze, now seeing what was waiting for me. On the ground, stood proud near a hundred Thestral's, above them hovered Dementors of similar numbers. They all lowered their heads, greeting me with respect. I let out a shaky breath, my unexpected excitement over leading a pack being forcefully restrained under the threat of being caught out here. I cleared my throat, before waving my hand. “Dismissed.”