Second Goal reached, we are well pass the 25th rank, wonderful job! Thanks for all the hard work! Here is the second of the Extra Chapters! Tomorrow it's my regular release date, Saturday let's try to get back to that 10th rank, so please donate some power stones.
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Picking his way carefully and making sure not to step on any tails or paws, Sirius had no idea how these creatures would react to him after he was apart from them for decades on end.
Just as he was halfway through the throng, one of the Cerberus stirred.
Freezing in place, the wizard did his best to try and hold his breath, and stay as still as possible with not even a muscle moving an inch. Counting the seconds in his head, once he reached 100, he slowly turned to the one that stirred in its sleep, and thankfully it was back to snoozing.
Letting out a deep breath he did not even know he was holding back, Sirius wiped away at the sweat on his forehead and continued on his way.
However, unknown to him was that the Cerberus he imaged went back to sleep, actually opened one of its eyes, and stared at his receding back.
Wishing that he could somehow just run up to his target, the more rational and survivalist part of him kept a more cooler head. He made sure to keep on repeating 'slow and steady wins that race,' like it was a mantra.
It was one of Lily's favorite muggle quotes to James, him, and even Lupin at times when she wanted them to slow down and think through things when they come up with some of their more foolhardy and crazy plans.
Just thinking about it got a smile on his face, and his rattled nerves and beating heart started to slow down. Now that he was three quarters of the way there and could make out his quarry much clearer, there was a bit of spring in his steps.
However, suddenly he heard a bark coming from behind him and could feel the hot breath of something very big beating against his back and neck.
Slowly, ever so slowly, Sirius turned around until he was face to face with three giant heads that stared at him with slightly tilted heads.
"FUCK," the wizard wore as he spun on his feet and started to run like hell.
The giant three-headed dog did not seem to want to lose track of him, so it gave chase while each of its steps sent mini earthquakes along the ground almost making Sirius fall onto the ground in a heap.
Sirius did not even dare to look back as all the yapping and barking was a good enough indication that the creature was still on his tail. From all around, he could see that the other Cerberus were walking up from their naps thanks to all the noises he good friend was making.
Sirius knew that he was in a real pickle, and as if that thought made the universe want to prove him even more wrong the Cerberus chasing him tried to lap him up. If he was thinking it through straight then the thing tried to just lick him, but he knew that couldn't be right.
Whatever the creature was trying, he did not want to find out, now it was time to transform and try to get out of here. He would have to find some other way to get these winged serpent's men out of his property.
Leaping underneath a paw that tried to squish him in his opinion, Sirius suddenly went from a man to a great black hound.
The giant three-headed dog looked around in confusion as a low whine echoed from all three of its throats. Pausing, Sirius gave the Cerberus a second look while in his dog form, somehow it kind of looked familiar.
Shaking his in his dog form which was more of a waggle, Sirius banished the thought, there was no way this murdering creature was familiar, he had to be losing his marbles. What he needed to do was get out of here before any of them could sniff him out, Cerberus had a very good scene of smell and their nose could catch just about anything- even a wizard pretending to be a regular dog.
Without any notice, a loud yawn echoed in the chamber sending waves of bellowing air through all the tunnels and caverns. Even some of the lava flowing down the walls and in the chamber started to warm up.
Looking up from the place he was hiding in, Sirius saw that the giant mount started to move until six eyes popped open. Coming up to its full height, the biggest Cerberus among them all stood tall with three different crowns on each head and its eyes resting on the previously rampaging Cerberus.
"Muderbeast," a clearly feminine voice spoke from the center head, "what are you doing running about like an idiot?"
"Muderbeast?" Sirius repeated to himself as he stared at the cowering three-headed dog with an unreadable expression.
"Do you have anything to say for yourself, boy?" the head on the right asked as this time a clearly male voice spoke up.
Giving a low whine, the previously obnoxious dog tried to hide its heads as best it could while all its siblings looked on.
Before the three clearly leader Cerberus could speak up again, Sirius stepped out as he transformed back to his human form. "Great Begetters," the wizard called out as he respectfully bowed to the crowned Cerberus. Every head in the place turned to him, and if he wasn't a more braver man then he would have been wallowing in fear and terror.
"Please do not blame Muderbeast for this, all this racket was my fault and the blame of waking you up from your slumber lays at my feet."
Abruptly the third head on the left came a bit closer to him as it stretched its neck and took a whiff of him sending a small tornado at him. "You are a Black," it stated in a genderless voice.
"Yes," Sirius answered, "I am Sirius Black the new head of the family!"
"What are you doing sulking about?" the head on the right growled as it eyes narrowed on the wizard.
Clearing his throat awkwardly, Sirius answered reluctantly, "I feared how you would react after not seeing a member of my family for years."
Snoring as a small bellow of wind swept through the chamber, the feminine head stated, "We are firm in our alliance with your family, boy, it is an insult for you to doubt us like that!"
"I did not mean that, and you have my deepest for the misunderstanding. I know that you, Cerberus, Masters of the Nether have been steadfast in their support of my family," Sirius declared. "But I just did not know how you would react to me, in particular."
"Yes, the wayward son," the head on the left uttered, "I remember you well, now. Both of your mother and grandfather spoke of you very often."
"I hope all good things," Sirius joked, however, he knew how nervous he was as he gave a weak smile.
"Your mother, not so much," the genderless voice answered, "but your grandfather, mmm, he saw you as a great change for your family, but he never knew whether it would be good or bad. So tell me, what would it be?"
Staring up at the Cerberus with a solid set of eyes, he answered with a shrug, "I do not know."
Abruptly they heard the low howl of some bestial creature from deep within the tunnels and the shouts of countless men. Turning back to the giant Cerberus, Sirius announced, "Oh, did I forget to mention, that your territory is being invaded by winged serpents men."
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"Woohoo," Sirius shouted from on the back of Murderbeast as if he was a cowboy back in the wild west. He charged ahead with countless giant three-headed dogs besides as they run up the tunnels, and it wasn't only the Cerberus he ran with. Countless different magical canine creatures also appeared out of the alcoves and tunnels from Blink Dogs who teleported in and out, to two-headed Hell Hounds who spewed out lava, Frenzy dog who seem to be covered in blood and with madness in their eyes, and Shadow Mastiff who staked out of the deep corners and shadow, plus Death Dogs who spread death and decay in their wake.
Finally, they all came upon the Malfoy men who looked shell shocked at the stamped of a myriad of magical creatures. None of them really had a chance as they were all bulldozed over and torn into when they fell.
"Lupin," Sirius shouted as he spotted his friends form on the ground. He looked to be in some very bad shape as there were deep gashed all over his body, his wolf mane was caked in blood all over from his enemies and himself, and he panting in and out on the ground.
Taking his wand out of his holster, Sirius cast a levitating spell on his wounded friend and brought him over to him. Slowly resting him on Murderbeast's back, he whispered to him in low comforting tones, "Rest, buddy, rest. You did an excellent job."
Nodding his head and closing his eyes, the werewolf slowly transformed back into a man, and his enhanced werewolf healing came into effect and his wounds slowly started to knit together.
Seeing that his companion would recover, Sirius turned back to the battlefield, he could see that the Malfoy men were already broken and had started to scatter. Victory was at hand!
However as if the universe wanted to prove him wrong again, Sirius heard some hissing coming from the tunnels and whoever was making them was approaching very fast. Then suddenly from out of one of the burrows, a giant snake's head appeared, then its body which was glistening green and black scales, finally its massive bat-like wings that stretched out. And it wasn't alone!
More of these Winged Serpent creatures appeared from the tunnels with riders on their heads until he counted a good twenty.
Cursing under his breath, deep down Sirius knew that this would happen, there was no way Lucius Malfoy would have sent his family's men here without the proper backup- whatever sort of asshole he was.
"Come on boy," Sirius growled as he patted the Cerberus he was riding, "let's set these snakes a lesson they will never forget."
Already the wizarding foot soldiers and the wizard knights riding on the backs of the Winged Serpent were getting back into order as they formed a proper line and held off the magical creatures.
However there was no way Sirius would allow that, whistling out loud to get the other Cerberus attention all he needed to do was make the proper gestures and they were behind him. Then without further ado, he charged as he let out a loud howl quite similar to that of a mad dog.
One of the wizarding knights must have spotting him gleaming in his green and black armor made of the same hide as the creature he rode. Stepping up, the serpent knight was ready to face him with wand in hand and his mount hissing green acid.
Snorting in contempt, Sirius focused on the spot right behind the wizard knight and suddenly apparate right there. Startled, the Bannerman had no time to react at all as Sirius launched a ray of very dark scorching flames at him.
Armor kicking into gear, his shielding came to life as it took the brunt of the spell, as for the rest, the man bore through the flames thanks to his strict training and scrap of magical resistance.
However the magical armor was totally toast as it was burnt in places and scorched all over.
Murderbeast too took advantage of their surprise attack as it tore into the winged serpent with its sharp, gleaming claw raking a whole gorge across its body and spilling its blood in fountains. Shrieking in pain the winged serpent went into a blind rage as it lashed out with its tail and smacked against the three-headed dog's body
Taking a tooth for tooth, the giant dog jumped at the snake and tore into its neck with all three heads.
Crying out shrilly the snake went mad as it began to start spitting acid at the giant dog, however Sirius quickly came to the rescue as he threw up a shield to protect his buddy.
But that was a mistake, a real big mistake as the knight sent a glob of acid of his own at the shield, caused it to shimmer and wain as the poison ate away at it.
Now they were at a stand still with the Cerberus holding on tight on the snake's neck, Sirius holding up the shield, the wizard knight casting endless acid bolts, and the Winged serpent spraying its own. Whoever gave in first was obviously the one to lose the battle and their life.
Abruptly one of the Cerberus head unclamped itself off the snake's neck then a pitch dark ball of flames gathered in its mouth. Then without further ado, it launched the attack in a wide beam at its enemy which encompassed the whole of the Winged serpent's head and its rider.
As the volatile attack slowly disappeared and the smoke was cleared all that was left were absolutely nothing whether it be of the wizard knight or the creature's head. Seeing no point in grabbing on, the other two heads let go of the serpent's neck and let its body drop to the floor.
Letting the shield drop, Sirius let out a long sigh of relief, it seems like he would live for another day. Slowly patted the Cerberus neck, Sirius looked around the battlefield, it would seem like the Malfoy men were overwhelmed even with their back up.
He could spot countless men laying about unmoving with some creatures already picking at their corpses. He could also see that the Winged Serpents where all dead as the Cerberus handled them by themselves.
However that did not mean his forces did not take any losses, there where an untold amount of more magical canine creaturs that were lying either dead, dying, or slowly bleeding on the floor.
Taking it all in, it sort of reminded him of days long past he would have wished he had forgotten about long ago. Jumping off his mount he gave it a pat again and let it have at the corpse of the Winged serpent it was drooling over.
Before he knew it, the Crowned Cerberus appeared in the battle field surveying everything with a keen eyes like a Monarch would have its domain.
"We could have sued your help," Sirius called out as he made his way over to the giant thing. From the corner of his eye, he could still spot the three downed Cerberus who laid there in a puddle of liquified flesh as the acid dripped down their ruined bodies.
Even if the losses of Cerberus where minimum compared to the rest of the other magical creatures, it still cut him deeply. Unlike the other magical canines his family has- who can produce countless litters for them, a Cerberus is rarely born every few decades.
"We would have loved to tear apart those little serpents," right head answered as the bloodlust was clear in its eyes. "But it was better for our children to bloody themselves against the spawn of Nāgas. We can not always be by their side."
Deep down Sirius knew that they were right and a very cold rational part of him knew it was best to test their metal now when the odds were stacking in their favor. However he still saw all the losses they suffered, and knew that if he/she/it stepped forward it would have all been over in a blink of an eye.
Ruthlessly putting down his dissatisfaction, Sirius announced, "Well I best be going now, but I will be back."
"Before you do," the central head called out, "here." Out of the blue, a pitch-black fang appeared right in the air before the wizard, picking it out of the air, Sirius turned it his hands.
He knew what this was, the first tooth, the item that would give him complete command of all creatures tied to his bloodline.
Nodding its head, Sirius swallowed it one gulp, he ate much worse in Azkaban so this was nothing. Then shaking his head like a dog, his eyes momentarily went pitch dark and back to normal.
SPeaking up, the head on the left stated, "We will see you soon I believe, Lord Black."
Turning around, Sirius still did not know how he felt about that title, but said nothing about it. Looking over he saw that his friend was already moving about as best he could but he had a serious limp in his leg.
Running up to him, he grabbed him before he fell headfisrt onto the ground and pulled up to his feet. "Hey, come on. I know I am the reckless one here, but you? I sure as hell never expect that coming from you."
Chuckling the werewolf immensely broke into fits of coughing, patting him on the back to ease his pain, Sirius reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a green vial. "Here," he said as he offered up the healing potion.
Taking it, the wizard quickly gulped it down in one motion and instantly his cheeks started to gain a red healthy glow. "Thanks," he breathed out as he started to stand on his own.
"You would think holding off a small army would be easy," he joked as he started to do some stretches.
"Would you look at that," Sirius laughed uproariously, "Lupin making jokes."
"Yeah, yeah," the werewolf waved off, "what do you think happens if you spent years with two jokers."
"I guess you are right," the Black family head noted as he smacked his friend on the back, "we were a great influence after all."
"You tell yourself that," Lupin stated. Gazing around and seeing all the death around, he shook his head to himself, "Let's go, don't we have other places to be."
"Yeah," the animagus said as he gazed the battle scene one more look and turned away from it. War, it truly is a pointless thing.
"Hey, Muderbeast," he called out before he apparated out of here. He still could not believe how big the thing had grown up, he remembered coming here with his father and brother and seeing how small it was as a pup.
Turning its head towards him as blood spilled down its muzzle, Sirius shook his head to himself. "I will be seeing you later, you little monster."
With that, they were both gone.
Suddenly appearing at his family's Black Host fortress, his jaws nearly dropped at what he saw.
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