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Elemental: Battle of Woolacombe Sands

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Another illustration from the fic Elemental. Tom and Bella in battle together, 1973. Marlene McKinnon has spotted Tom - and his distraction with Bella - and seized the moment to take a shot at him. Left to right in fighting pairs: Rodolphus Lestrange and Mad-Eye Moody, Sturgis Podmore and Alecto Carrow, Yaxley, Dorcas Meadowes, and Emmeline Vance, Edgar Bones, Evan Rosier and Caradoc Dearborn, Bellatrix Lestrange, Marlene McKinnon and Tom Riddle, and Lucius Malfoy and Benjy Fenwick.

Woolacombe Sands is a beach in Devon. I chose it solely because the texture of the sand in a photo was a close match for the sand in the image.

Specs and credits: Hexagon 2.5, Daz Studio 4.6 Pro, 3Delight, Voldy's Wand by Oro_Snake, Smoke Set 1 by Falln-Stock, Fractal Brushes Set by Mark-S.

Link: My Credit & Re-Use Policy

Extract:

In battle, Tom felt at home.

His life was a stressful one. His mind was too active. It went in too many directions at once, foreseeing too many paths. It was a great gift, but it was tiring, too. Like being endlessly trapped in a noisy, crowded room.

Battle was different. There were so many things to track, different yet part of a unified whole, that his mind rarely wandered any further. He was comfortably occupied. Completely in the moment. Undivided.

Whole.

The only other time he felt like that was with Bella. Being with her was immersion. The rest of the world, past and future, fell blessedly silent.

She was there this time, and as always, he felt drawn to fight beside her. There was something irresistible about partnering with her in a duel. They sparked off each other like two electric charges crossing streams. Often, he fought the urge – it wasn't always the right strategy – but today, he wasn't needed anywhere in particular, so he decided to indulge.

He made his way over, and fell into formation beside her.

"I wondered when you'd get here," she said through smiling lips, but her eyes remained trained on Dumbledore's forces, such as they were. Not much had changed since he'd been at Hogwarts. The old fart still chose his pets on the basis of sentiment rather than skill. Marlene McKinnon was a reasonable fighter – he'd have her on his side, in a pinch - but the rest of them he'd have used for target practice long ago.

"Am I that transparent?" he wondered, deflecting a surge of solid green from McKinnon, who broke ranks to do it. He thought, with some admiration, that she must have decided to take a shot at him while she had the chance. "How disappointing."

"Never disappointing," she demurred, fending off a distant renegade Black with the barest flick of her wrist. He was a filthy specimen, rather reminiscent of the boy Sirius, who was already showing signs of blood treachery at the tender age of fourteen. No doubt the boy would soon follow in his kinsman's footsteps. Bella would hate that; Tom found it amusing. For all the Pureblood sensibilities to the contrary, family loyalty was usually only skin-deep, while shared values were forever.
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snowyblackrose's avatar
AMAZING! :heart: I love your works, really ♥