HP: Fairborn Adventures

June 7th, 1977

Bright flashes of light rushed past him, scorching deep marks as they exploded on the stone wall behind him. A faint, charred scent, coupled with stirred-up dust and small pieces of debris, lay thick in the air around him. A radiant white flash missed his head by an inch as Harry shifted to the side, yet it was so blinding that he was forced to squint his eyes slightly, to keep his focus on the source that was emitting them.

Blonde curls bounced in a high ponytail as Marlene elegantly spun on the spot like a ballerina and slashed her wand through the air in one fluent motion. Sparkling blue eyes were narrowed on him and she bit her bottom lip in a mixture of concentration and irritation.

'She looks so cute when she gets all worked up.'

Harry forced himself to look away from her eyes and consider her an enemy once more. Marlene struck again, unleashing a trio of jinxes, her wand movements sliding from one spell into the next in perfect harmony without halting.

He lazily deflected two of them back at her, side-stepping the last, and began to counterattack, throwing every one of the borderline useless prank-spells the Marauders usually used on each other in classes back at her.

He was deeply impressed when his girlfriend proved almost impossible to touch. She stepped around incoming spells and danced amongst the beams of magic, deflecting the very weak ones she felt comfortable with while avoiding or dodging the stronger ones. Marlene was constantly turning and twisting in irregular and unpredictable ways, which made it significantly more difficult to hit her.

Despite her incredibly fast movements, Harry slowly pinned her down. Abandoning his assault for a moment, he transfigured some of the remaining debris on the ground of the Chamber into fluffy animated teddy bears.

With another flick of his wand, the army of stuffed animals hurried over to Marlene and began blocking her path, making her stumble anytime she attempted to step over them while avoiding a curse.

Unfortunately, Harry's cute combatants didn't survive for very long, as they dissolved into a pool of smoking fabrics and molten plastic when Marlene's fury manifested itself in an avatar of flames that erupted from her wand in a bright crimson blaze.

However, they had served their purpose and just as intended, distracted his girlfriend long enough to force her on the defense. Harry's relentless assault by means of tickling charms and jinxes that would turn her silky golden curls into a mess that rivals Hermione's hair, batted against her hastily conjured shield. Finally the knockback pushed her over and Marlene stumbled to the ground and fell right on her cute butt.

'Expelliarmus,' Harry murmured, watching as her wand came flying over to him.

"Ouch! That's probably going to leave a bruise." With a grimace, Marlene pushed herself off the floor. Lifting up the backside of her skirt she massaged the spot on her butt she fell on and tried to inspect it through its reflection in a puddle of water: "Yep, definitely a bruise. Great, now I'm in for spanking jokes from Florence when she sees it…"

"Would you like me to check on it?" Harry offered with a teasing grin while he walked over to her: "They say my hands have magical healing abilities."

"No!" She quickly lowered her skirt back down, making sure Harry couldn't even catch the tiniest glimpse. Tossing her blonde curls over one shoulder, Marlene regarded him with a cold stare through ice-blue eyes: "I won't even let you have a peek at me because you've been toying with me again! I mean teddy bears? Seriously, Harry?"

"Did they work or not?" Harry flashed her a smile, twirling her wand through his fingers before pocketing it.

"You could at least cast some real spells at me instead of tickling charms or whatever bloody else foolish mischief you jinx each other with in classes!" Marlene scowled at him yet allowed him to take her in his arms, nevertheless.

"I will push you to your limit and try to force you to adapt each time we duel against each other." Harry pressed a kiss to her forehead: "It doesn't matter what spell I hit you with in a duel, because you should act as if all of them are lethal upon impact. That way you won't become overconfident when encountering unfamiliar spells, because dodging them will be like second nature to you."

"I'm not sure if I'm progressing quick enough." She sighed against his chest.

"You're kidding, right?" Harry chuckled: "You literally just successfully deflected several incoming hexes and dodged any other ones. It was only until I started using transfigurations that you showed the first signs of struggle and I promise you that I was casting with serious intent, even if the spells themselves were not lethal."

"Still, things are taking so long!" Marlene groaned in frustration: "You've been teaching me for over an entire year now already!"

"And just look how far you've come." Harry cupped her jaw, forcing her to look up at him: "You can conjure a corporeal Patronus and deflect weak hexes. There's not a single student within this Castle who would hold themselves for longer than a minute against you in a duel."

"Besides you, of course." Marlene huffed: "I know that I'm talented, but even so it feels as if no talent in the world could compete against raw magical power like yours, Dumbledore's, or Voldemort's..."

"You're right to a degree." Harry brushed his lips against hers until the cute pout vanished and turned into a faint smile: "But magic has given us ways to circumvent those limits you speak of, has it not?"

He felt the briefest shiver run down her spine as he held her in his arms. "Another ritual then?" Her breath hitched slightly.

"I've talked to Aurelius about it." Harry whispered: "The summer solstice is coming up soon. There won't be a better opportunity to undergo a ritual until Samhain once it has passed."

"What kind of ritual is it?"

"He hasn't shared many of the details yet, but we can always ask Aurelius later." Harry replied, gently massaging her scalp: "What I do know, is that it will make us stronger."

"Us?" Marlene's eyes met his: "Will you take it as well? Even after you have undergone a few already."

"This one is supposed to have benefits that I can still capitalize on." Harry nodded.

They remained silent in each other's embrace for a minute while Harry's hands traveled down her hips and gently cupped her butt: "But first we shall give you the chance to avenge that bruise. What do you say, love?"

"Hey! No touching until it's healed!" Marlene playfully swatted his hands away and pecked his lips: "Hand me back my wand and I'll make sure you have an even bigger bruise sporting each of your cheeks!"

With a small chuckle, Harry's hand dipped inside his robes, feeling for the thin piece of wood he had taken from her during the duel. Yet when his fingers found it, he pulled it out with a frown, twirling it in his fingers with concern.

"What's wrong?" Marlene's nervous gaze traveled down to her wand.

"It's still warm," Harry murmured, running his index finger along its length: "Our duel ended almost five minutes. It should definitely not be warm."

"Are you telling me yours never gets hot?" Marlene asked in disbelief.

Harry shook his head: "If I hold Fiendfyre for long periods of time, I can feel the heat in the flow of my magic as I channel it through the wood. However, the material itself should never get hot." He flicked the Elder Wand into his palm and handed it to her to demonstrate.

"I had wondered about it." Marlene mused, playing with the small bumps on the shaft: "Yours always feels rather cold. But it's a pleasant, not a hostile coldness, you know. Almost like a tiny part of your magic is embedded in the wood."

"It is actually." Harry bobbed his head: "I drenched the Elder Wand in my blood to strengthen my connection with it."

He switched wands again, giving Marlene back hers: "Has it always behaved this way and gotten hot after you cast with it?"

"Actually, no." The blonde denied it after a few moments of pondering: "In fact, it pretty much started when we began dating last year." She looked up at him curiously: "Do you think I've overworked it by practicing so much with you?"

"I doubt that's the reason for it." Harry frowned: "But we should definitely get it checked out at Ollivanders' over the summer. Trust me, you never want to be working on delicate pieces of magic with a damaged wand."

Images of Lockhart blowing up the ante-chamber with a failed memory charm danced through his mind.

"Then I promise to be extra careful when kicking your cute butt in the next few minutes," Marlene replied with a teasing grin. Pecking his lips one last time she took position on the other side of the Chamber again.

"Come on, Peverell." She smirked while adjusting her stance: "Either I manage to give you those bruises on your butt or I'll grant you that peek you so desired. Maybe I'll even allow your magical healing hands to work on my bruise and whatever might follow after it, love."

"That almost sounds like you're winning either way then." Harry chuckled, flicking the Elder Wand back into his palm.

"Of course I am." Marlene blew him a kiss: "But we both know that only one of the two options would be enjoyable for you as well..."

June 21st, 1977

The end of term was now rapidly approaching and with the fifth and seven years having sat their exams, even the majority of teachers started to become more laid back in their classes. By now the lessons either consisted of some easy repetition, or the more engaging professors spoiled them by displaying entertaining pieces of magic they might learn next year when they take their NEWTs.

Marlene had thoroughly enjoyed these first days of summer, spending the majority of time with either Florence and her friends from Ravenclaw or with her boyfriend and his bunch of Gryffindors. Yet there had been this one ever-constant issue in the far back of her mind, that no matter where she pushed it, always came back to the surface and spoiled her mood.

'Where should she stay this summer?'

Of course, she could stay with her parents; they had made it clear that she was not officially banished from the House. However, having to endure their disappointment and scandalous looks on a daily basis would surely make her snap at one point or another. If they wanted to treat their own daughter like some whore from Knockturn Alley merely because she slept with the man she loved, who happened to be a half-blood, then they shall do so without Marlene being present.

Feeling the need to talk to someone besides Harry about the matter, Marlene had entrusted Florence with her difficult situation. As expected, the brunette had instantly offered for Marlene to spend the summer with the Fawleys on their estate in Wales. However, the one person Marlene truly wanted to be with, even if she'll get to see him each day during their internship, was Harry.

'Yet how could she approach Harry, who still resided with the Potters himself, and ask to remain with him for the duration of the holidays?'

"Something on your mind?"

Marlene shook her head perhaps a tad too quickly when her boyfriend's voice brought her back to the present.

"Just nerves then?" Harry shot her a slightly concerned look, walking over to where she rested against one of the many pillars inside the Chamber of Secrets.

"No, it's nothing really." Marlene met him halfway, taking his hand to guide him back to the wooden table in the middle of the Chamber, where they had placed Aurelius' tome.

"Alright then, old man." Harry grinned as he flicked open the yellowed pages: "It's finally your time to shine."

Lines of black ink twisted and formed the burst of Harry's ancestor: "Is it the summer solstice already?"

"Indeed it is." Harry readied a few pieces of parchment, presumably to take notes: "So you should probably start sharing some more information with us."

"I finished just in time then." Aurelius hummed: "I ran the last check and everything should be working fine. Not that I doubted my own work of course..."

"Uhm, your own work?" Marlene frowned: "What exactly do you mean?"

"Back in my time, I began the design of a ritual that will allow a wizard or witch to improve their flow of magic." The tome began explaining while ink ran over its pages and accompanied the whispers with images in black: "Due to more important concerns, including keeping the Hallows secure and within my family, I abandoned my pursuit. However, magic and especially our understanding of it has progressed far over the last centuries. Even since he found me, Harry has supplied me with knowledge, recent breakthroughs in magical theorem, and complex arithmancy. I continued the design of my ritual in the background, for I might not be capable of reaping its benefits any longer, but my descendants surely will."

Marlene was deeply impressed by the revelation. She knew the tome had something like consciousness, a mind of his own, and was aware of what's going on around it, but the fact that you could feed it new knowledge, which Aurelius then utilized and examined, was incredibly remarkable.

"What exactly does the ritual do?" Harry inquired curiously: "How does it improve the flow of magic?"

"Magic is wild in its nature. It refuses to be subdued and always has a mind of his own." Aurelius began his explanation: "Brooms and wands are tools for us to channel our magic. If the intent is strong enough, we can shape it to our will and produce any desired outcome, for example, a spell, jinx, or curse. However, anytime that magic is willed into a certain shape or form, its inconsistent nature will lead to some loss as the transfer is never as efficient as it could be. The first part of the ritual I designed will allow you to manipulate your magic more easily, for you will be able to feel it flow within your body. There will be fewer losses and rarer inefficiencies, leading to more powerful and consistent outcomes."

Marlene nodded appreciatively. Establishing more control would always be useful. However, she couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed when it came to the power-related aspects of it: "What about the second part then?"

"It's much more complex to describe, but perhaps an example will do." Aurelius suggested: "The human body is particularly durable and capable of much more than the average man or woman will ever suspect or witness. Under the right circumstances, we can run faster than ever before, jump higher than what should seem possible, lift weights that would normally crush us."

"The right circumstances, as when we feel threatened or are in danger?" Marlene murmured: "What's stopping us from always performing at our physical peak?"

"Nature and evolution build in a safeguard to stop the human body from potentially hurting itself and only allowing those powers to break through when absolutely necessary. If it weren't for those safeguards and your brain preventing you from continuing, one could bite off their own fingers, for your jaw is more than strong enough. You could hold your breath until your lungs suffer grievous injuries. You could expose your muscles to so much stress that they almost burst."

"You think magic has a similar safeguard." Harry mused: "And you want to manipulate it to allow us to access any hidden reserves more freely?"

"Exactly!" Aurelius exclaimed: "The key to it is a hormone you described as adrenaline. From what I understood, it signals to the body that a situation is potentially threatening, heightens our senses, makes us more aware, and even improves reflexes. However, the biggest impact it has, is that it convinces the brain to temporarily lower those safeguards I talked about and allow us to draw upon reserves we've likely never experienced before."

"This sounds extremely dangerous." Harry's eyes hardened as he frowned: "Are we going to trick our magic into thinking we're in constant danger only to access those reserves?"

"No." Aurelius burst shifting from side to side: "Magic is not as easy to trick as the human brain; it will always know whether you perceive a situation as actually life-threatening or not. My analogy to the physical body and adrenaline was only meant to explain those safeguards because I believe to have found an arithmetic way to make them less sensible by a small fraction, which will still have huge implications."

"Like what?" Marlene asked curiously.

"In a duel, you will no longer need to sustain some injury or be pushed into a corner for your magic to recognize the severity of the situation. Any time you perceive a situation as potentially threatening, the safeguards will be less reluctant to lower themselves. The way I have designed the ritual, it should allow you to draw upon some of that hidden power at pretty much any point in time."

"Are there any drawbacks or lingering effects to this?" Harry's voice carried a hint of concern: "Or could something go wrong during the ritual?"

"During the ritual, there is nothing that could go wrong so to say. Either the arithmancy works and you reap the benefits, or it doesn't and you feel nothing at all." Aurelius illustrated: "As for the drawback and lingering effects... The ritual might yield some permanent changes in both of you. How could it not, when it manipulates so many of magic's fundamental principles? These changes might range from small personality differences and how volatile you react, to how your magic behaves in general. With the safeguard becoming less sensitive, your senses could be alerted quicker than before. Situations might be perceived as more threatening than they actually are. I recommend decisive occlumency training to counteract any undesired outcomes."

Marlene gulped heavily: "How will it work? What do we sacrifice for those benefits?"

"Blood, pain..." The tome's cold whispers echoed from its ancient pages: "Even tears perhaps..."

"All things worth sacrificing then." Marlene nodded with a grim expression.

"What about the runic work?" Harry inquired.

"There's no need to carve the runes in stone, just draw them in the air with your wands." The inked burst twisted into a series of complicated-looking runic equations with small formulas that explained each sequence: "Magic will judge how much blood will be necessary to sacrifice. All it needs is an access point, so a cut on your wrist should do."

"I suppose clothes will have to come off as well?" Harry asked with the hint of a grin as he shrugged off his robes.

"Nothing should be on your body by the time you've drawn the runes and performed the cut." Aurelius confirmed: "Make sure to place your wands aside by then as well."

Marlene took a deep brief as she slowly opened the buttons of her blouse. Yet now there was no time for ambiguity. Casting a glance at the nude form of Harry beside her, the blonde reminded herself that she had vowed a long time ago to go to extremes to see their dream come true. They already had many powerful enemies and people who wanted to separate them.

'The stronger I am, the fewer the number of people that could take Harry away from me.'

With newfound strength, she continued until her clothes littered the floor next to her boyfriend's.

"I suggest you levitate my tome in the air in front of you while I show you one sequence after the other." Aurelius suggested: "I also feel obliged to share a word of advice. This will hurt... a lot. More so than your previous ritual and likely anything you've experienced before."

She felt Harry's fingers slip through hers as he took her hand and gently cupped her jaw with the other. Kissing her deeply, he pulled her closer against his hard chest until their bodies were crushed against each other.

"Focus on why we're doing this." Harry whispered after pecking her forehead: "Embrace the pain, knowing it will only make you so much stronger in the end."

'Embrace the pain.'

"For us." Marlene nodded slowly as she untangled herself from his hug: "Always for us."

They stood roughly a meter apart when Harry flicked the Elder Wand and levitated the tome to hover in front of him.

Marlene's fingers tightened around the wood in her hand as she drew the very first sequences. Purple flames and sparkles burst from the tip of her wand, curving and twisting in the air until they formed an exact replica of the runes shown to them.

Soon, each of them was surrounded by bright purple arrangements as their wands drew the last complicated pattern.

'Now begins the real part.'

Harry and Marlene turned toward one another, their pale, nude bodies partly covered by the runes that separated them. In one fluent motion, they each trailed the tip of their wands horizontally over the wrist, wincing as the crimson dwelled from the depths of the cut.

'Embrace the pain.'

Marlene threw her wand away, making out the faint clatter of a second wand rolling over cobble stole tiles. Purple glowed brighter than ever before around her, yet it was hardly necessary to announce the beginning of the ritual...

Barely a few seconds had passed before a sharp pain invaded her mind with brutal force. Marlene dropped to her knees, with a silent cry of misery, forcing her jaw to remain locked tightly. A dull thud next to her indicated that Harry had followed her to the stone tiles soon after.

Her head hurt too much. Her body hurt too much. It seemed that everything hurt too much. She closed her eyes, which rolled in their sockets, in a desperate attempt to block out anything else, yet it was to no avail.

The pain felt like a sharp-toothed creature eating her from the inside out. She barely felt the cold stone tiles as she withered and twitched, crumbled in a fetal position. What she did notice was wetness running down her hands from where her nails dug into the flesh of her palms.

Marlene bit her own tongue to stop herself from screaming until a coppery taste filled her mouth, still, the pain was too much to endure. She eventually lost the battle as her jaw was seemingly ripped open and she screamed in agony like never before.

Her throat had gone hoarse at some point and far too soon there was no voice and no energy left to continue screaming. All she could attempt to do was cling to the words Harry and she shared merely minutes ago.

'Embrace the pain.'

If she could, she would chuckle.

'How naive had they been?'

How could any benefit be worthy of the misery and agony she currently suffered? All she wanted was for it to finally stop, yet the pain just continued, perhaps even increased.

It became too much. It became unbearable. Purple spots swam in her vision before eventually everything turned dark and her head hit the tiles with a low thud.

June 29th, 1997

Excited chatter and bright laughter roared through the Great Hall from all four House tables. Hundreds of candles bathed the scene in bright warm light. Not for the first Harry wondered how in his now seven-years at Hogwarts not once had a student fallen victim to droplets of molten wax from above.

'There must be some spell then.'

Looking back down and glancing over the head of his peers, he spotted a crown of familiar golden curls sitting over at the Ravenclaw table. Marlene felt his gaze upon her and looked up, sending him a brief, soft smile before her attention was pulled away by Florence.

Over a week had passed since he woke up freezing on the cold tiles in the middle of the Chamber of Secrets. Despite the echoing pain in his skull, his first thought had belonged to Marlene, who lay bare next to him, blonde curls sprawled over her face and arms, which she had curled around her stomach, dried crusts of blood on her lips.

Her eyes had been closed and it was only thanks to the rhythmic heaving and lowering of her chest that Harry had known she was alive. He had been fully aware of the necessity of undertaking the ritual. Nevertheless, hearing her screams, watching her withering in pain, and the way a numb coldness seized his heart in a vice-like grip upon seeing her laying next to him, all belonged to a string of memories he would like nothing more than to obliviate himself from.

'At least it was done now.'

"Stop scowling already, Blackbeak, and have a toast with us!"

Sirius gave him a friendly slap on his shoulder, shaking him out of his thoughts.

"A toast to what?"

"To the end of our sixth year of course!" James raised his mug of butterbeer for a toast, pulling Lily, who said between Harry and James, closer by the waist with his other hand: "Skoll!"

"Skoll!" The four remaining Marauders replied in unity.

"So Blackbeak it is now?" Lily's eyes sparkled in amusement as the redhead wriggled out underneath James' embrace and leaned over to Harry: "You've finally been successful then?"

"I'm not exactly sure how much you know; therefore, I will have to deny everything..." Harry grinned over the edge of his cup.

"Come on, Harry." Lily giggled: "Remus' monthly disappearances, the weird nicknames, which all resemble some part of an animal, you meeting up with James and Sirius over the course of the year to do only Morgana knows what. I had figured most of it out even before James and I started dating."

"Not trying to mingle in your business, but how is it going between you two?" Harry inquired, chuckling as his father bumped cups with Sirius once more, each boy gulping down the contents in one fluent go.

"It's- it's really great." Lily blushed slightly as she smiled, her eyes gaining a dreamy expression. However, she suddenly pointed a finger at him accusingly: "But don't think for a second I didn't catch on to your and Marlene's little game, Harry Ignotus Peverell! The way you pulled my attention to James' date with Antonia back before Christmas was just too obvious to be random."

"I just knew that you guys could be great together, especially with James having matured so much over the last months." Harry shrugged with a grin: "It was practically my duty to make both of you see sense."

"Well, I'm glad you picked up your little bow and arrow and decided to play cupid." Lily snorted.

Harry was about to reply when the noise level in the Great hall suddenly dropped.

"Another year gone!" Dumbledore said cheerfully as he stood up from his seat in the middle of the staff table. "And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully your heads are all a little fuller than they were as you have the whole summer ahead of you to get them nice and empty before next year starts…"

Harry couldn't help but notice some strong similarities between this speech and the one he witnessed in his first year.

'Did Dumbledore perhaps cycle through a set of seven speeches to ensure no student ever hears the same twice?'

"Unfortunately, we look back at a term unlike any our beloved Castle has witnessed before." The mood in the Great Hall immediately became more solemn as people realized what topic would be approached next.

"While I'm relieved to share that Ms. Miller and Mr. Williams will make a full recovery from the dreadful attack they suffered, it is with a heavy heart that I admit that the chances of them joining their peers for the next term are extremely slim. The skillful healers at Saint Mungo's saved them from the clutches of Death, however, their magic might be forever lost. Still, our thoughts are with them tonight and we continue wishing them a speedy recovery."

The Headmaster continued with his speech, yet the attention of most students was slowly pulled away when they caught sight of what else was going on up at the staff table.

Professor Bletchley, who was completely ignoring whatever Dumbledore had to say at the end of the term, was studying his fingernails as if spotting the tiniest pieces of dirt was of utmost importance.

What Bletchley failed to notice was that his cup with pumpkin juice was slowly levitating from the table, until it hovered right above his head. The eyes of all students were drawn to the cup as it danced up and down ever so slightly, threatening to spill its contents each time it dipped.

"However, nevertheless in times like these, we should all- " Finally Dumbledore seemed to notice that barely anyone was paying attention to him and glanced to his left and right.

Yet just when we spotted the object hovering above his colleague's head, the cup finally dipped completely.

"WHO BLOODY DID THAT?" Laughter erupted all over the Hall as Bletchley jumped from his chair, robes drenched and dripping with pumpkin juice: "BY MERLIN IF I GET MY HANDS ON YOU..."

"Edward, I must remind you to consider your language." The ghost of a smile passed over the Headmaster's face: "We have plenty of young students sitting here."

"This is it- " The Professors mumbled under his breath when no one replied. He tried to dry the front of his robes with a handkerchief: "THAT IS FUCKING IT!"

"I QUIT!" He pushed his chair back and stomped around the table: "I'm sick and tired of this bloody school, those bloody disrespectful brats, and the bloody pranks!"

"I'm sure the staff will be devastated to receive your resignation in written form." Dumbledore reminded the man, watching with amusement as he hurried down the gap between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff table, accompanied by the loud laughter of pretty much every student.

"You guys wouldn't happen to have anything to do with this, do you?" Lily raised an eyebrow at her boyfriend, barely holding back a giggle.

"Ask me no questions and I shall tell you no lies." James exchanged a knowing grin with Harry and the other Marauders.

Harry looked up to check how his girlfriend received the news, knowing that she was as little of a fan of their latest DADA professor as he was. The blonde flashed him a wide grin before winking and blowing him a kiss across the tables that separated them.

The famous curse on the Defense position seemed to have struck again and proved to be as much of a blessing as it had many times in Harry's previous years.

His repeat of sixth-year at Hogwarts had been far from ordinary or relaxing. Due to another confrontation with Voldemort, in whatever shape or form, the year certainly stacked up to what he was used to from his original time. Apparently, some things just never change

'And yet, things were also completely different.'

He glanced from Marlene, the girl that held his heart, back to his father and mother, watching them exchange a small toast on their own while they whispered in each other's ear until Sirius demanded back some of James' attention.

'This is what I fight for.' Harry repeated to himself.

'Not magical Britain and certainly not some Greater Good.'

The selfless Harry James Potter, who the world had gotten to know as the boy who sacrificed himself, died during his trip to the past. The man reborn was nothing like his former self.

A grim expression, full of determination, manifested itself on Harry's face as his thoughts roamed toward distant times. Once more in his life, a tall, pale, dark-robed figure, its eyes burning like glowing coals, blocked any path towards the future he envisioned for himself and the few he loved.

'You have no idea what's coming for you, Tom.'