Chapter Seven
Ron's words repeated themselves over and over in Harry's head as they worked at the wall. They were soon able to free a few bricks for an opening that they could squeeze through one at a time on their bellies.
"I'll go first," Neville said bravely.
"No one is going anywhere," one of the prisoners spoke up. He shrugged off a tattered blanket revealing his arm which had the mark of the False King tattooed upon it.
"A spy!" another prisoner shouted.
"Guards!! Guards!!" the spy shouted out.
One of the prisoners that had been with them on the journey over tackled the spy to the ground, muffling his cries. "Go!" he cried out to the others. "I'll take care of him."
Neville didn't need telling twice. They all followed suite, crawling on their bellies until they reached an open chamber. There was a lit torch on the wall and Harry took it. A stream of water ran through here and the trio followed it until it forked in two. Two passageways stood before them and they had no idea which way to go.
Ron swore under his breath. "Now what do we do."
"Shh," Harry silenced them. "Do you hear that?"
There was a slight scraping sound, it sounded like metal against stone. Suddenly it stopped. Harry looked into one of the passageways and saw the two glowing orbs again. They were getting closer and the three of them stood together, bracing themselves for what was to come.
Suddenly, an odd creature stepped into the torch light. The two glowing orbs were its eyes reflecting what little light they had. It was small and skinny, with large eyes and ears. It was dragging three swords under its arms.
"It's an elf," Ron said in amazement.
"Oh good, you found the torch I left. This way! Quickly!" the elf said to them as he ran off into the passage on the left.
The three of them looked at each other then grabbed the swords, following the elf. He led them down the passageways quickly until they led to a set of stairs that went up.
"This will lead you to the main entrance," the elf whispered. "Go quietly, there is a man there. Take the first left, then a right, then another left. You will come to the stables. I will have three horses ready for you."
"Why are you helping us?" Harry asked the small creature.
The elf looked up at him owlishly. "I serve the True King and the True King only." Then he disappeared. The three of them looked at each other bewilderedly. Harry began up the stairs but was stopped by Neville.
"Should we trust him?" he asked.
"He's led us this far," Ron spoke.
"He could be leading us into a trap," Neville argued.
Harry shrugged. "There's only one way to find out."
The passageway was hidden by a tapestry on the castle wall. A panel of wall slipped out of the way and Harry peeked around the corner. MacNair was leaning against a banister. Harry motioned for the others to come out. The quietly made their way around the corner, pressing themselves against the wall. Once in the corridor, Harry drew his sword.
"Take Ron and go," he told Neville.
"Harry what are you doing?" Neville protested.
"Just take him and go! I'll follow you."
"Are you crazy?" Ron protested but Harry waved them away and retraced his steps.
He pressed up against the wall and peered around the corner at MacNair, who had his own sword out and was thoughtfully spinning it on the ground, point down like a top. Harry quietly and stealthily made his way up to him. His heart beat in his chest as he was only two steps away.
Suddenly, MacNair turned around, sword held high as he struck at Harry. Harry had only a moment to react, blocking his blow with his own sword but the impact sent him to the ground. MacNair laughed and struck again but Harry rolled out of his way.
"You're a quick little one," MacNair laughed aloud.
"I've just come to retrieve what was taken from me," Harry quipped.
"You'll never get out of here alive, slave."
"That's a point I'm willing to argue." Harry jabbed at the man, but he quickly blocked him and swiped at Harry. He let out a small gasp as the blade cut his arm, thankfully it was not deep.
"That was a close one, wasn't it?" MacNair teased and Harry attacked him. He was able to block a few of Harry's blows but one of them landed in his side. Harry withdrew the blade, its end red with blood. MacNair was angry and struck at Harry hard causing the sword to fly from his hand. MacNair took the opportunity and kicked Harry in the abdomen. Harry fell back hard against a statue. MacNair held his sword high above his head and charged at Harry. Harry looked around, his sword was too far from him. Then he looked up and saw that the statue had a sword. In a split second, Harry reached for the sword, grabbed it from the statue and impaled it into MacNair. He looked up at Harry in surprise, then looked down at the sword in his chest and fell limp.
Harry shoved him off the blade and rested against the statue. Suddenly, the castle was filled with angry shouts. News of their escape quickly traveled. He sheathed the sword then reached into MacNair's cloak and pulled out Hermione's necklace.
"I told you to give it back," he said then stepped over the dead body to join his friends.
"Harry!"
"Harry, come on, let's get out of here!"
His two friends were already on their horses, the little elf was holding the reigns of a third. Harry ran to the horse, picking up the elf and tossing him on the back of the horse as he saddled it.
"You're coming with us," he told him as he raced the horse away.
~*~
Lord Voldemort sat in his chair in front of the fire brooding. The ministrations of his favorite bedmate did nothing to ease his thoughts. The man that was brought in today. There was something about him. Something that he couldn't quite put his finger on.
"So familiar…" he mumbled to himself.
"What was that, Milord?" a female voice broke his thoughts. He was now aware of a sort of commotion going on in the castle.
"Nothing. Bella, what is that racket?" he roared. "I cannot hear my own thoughts!" A knock came at his door. "WHAT?" he roared and a Death Eater entered.
"The prisoners have escaped, along with the King's nephew," he said bravely.
Lord Voldemort tore out into the corridor. "WHAT? HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?"
"Milord, there's more. There's something you have to see."
Voldemort stood quietly in front of the statue of the seated lady and the lion at her feet. The sword was missing. His Death Eaters stood on either side of him, apprehensive and petrified with fear. Voldemort said nothing, he only stared at the statue but the anger was crackling off him. At last, he spoke.
"Find him," he said quietly. "He has dark raven hair and emerald green eyes. Take the dragons, take the fastest creatures, take whatever. Just FIND HIM!!"
~*~
The three men and the elf rode all night until they reached the edge of the forest. They took a brief rest where the elf, whose name they learned was Dobby, healed and refreshed the horses with a magic that they couldn't explain. They decided to stay in the cover of the trees as they headed southeast to Arneau Tak. Dragons flew overhead, searching and they could hear the snarls of vicious creatures and the horses of the Death Eaters that pursued them. The forest would end soon, they knew, and it would have to be a flat out run for their lives as they crossed the flat plains to Arneau Tak.
Inside Arneau Tak, Viktor stood with Draco and a handful of other soldiers as they poured over a map, discussing the best way into the Shadowlands and to the castle of the False King. They could hear the men shouting outside followed by a sharp and piercing roar of a dragon. Draco and Viktor raced up to the wall.
Forty men on horses, accompanied by large tiger-like cats were chasing three lone riders on horses. Three dragons circled above them, once in awhile diving to take a swipe at them. Viktor took a lens from a nearby soldier and peered into it.
"Open the gates!" he ordered, tossing the lens back to the soldier. "It's Ronald! Open the gates!"
Draco drew his sword and pointed it at the archers that lined the fort's wall. "Draw your arrows!" he ordered. "Aim for the dragons!"
"Ready the catapults!" Viktor yelled as he made his way down to the main floor of the fort.
"Go!" Draco yelled and the archers released the first wave of attack. They had managed to take out one of the dragons, its body falling from the sky.
"Release!" Viktor ordered as five of the catapults pelted large boulders over the wall, crushing a few of the riders who chased the three men.
"Take it out! Kill it!" Draco shouted to the archers as they released their arrows. Draco picked up a spare bow and strung an arrow. "Again!" he shouted.
Harry, Ron and Neville all rode their horses hard. Blood mixed with the foam at the horses' mouths, the men were delirious with exhaustion.
"They're opening the gates!" Ron shouted.
"We're going to make it!" Neville cried.
The third dragon fell to the ground and Draco redirected the archers to the ones who were pursuing the King's nephew. "Shoot them!" he yelled.
Harry heard the whiz of the arrows fly over him and land behind him. He heard the yelps of the creatures, the neighs of the horses and the shouts of men. But he was quickly losing conscious. He looked over at his two companions and saw that they too, were barely hanging on. Miraculously they passed through the gates.
"Close the gates!" Viktor ordered.
Draco and the other archers took out the remaining enemies locked out of the fort.
The horses screamed and collapsed on the ground, their riders tumbling to the floor. Harry breathed heavily on the straw covered floor. He looked at Ron a few paces from him.
"We made it," Ron said between breaths. "We made it."
Harry closed his eyes and welcomed the darkness.
~*~
The sound of shouting awakened Harry from his slumber. He was in a simple room with a bed and a small table. He winced at the ache of his sore muscles as he moved to get out of the bed and dress himself. A fresh pair of trousers and a tunic was left for him. He examined the bandage on his arm that covered the cut MacNair had given him. Harry opened the door and stepped out into a courtyard.
"A Slytherin inside Arneau Tak! What the hell is going on here? I leave for a few weeks and we're comrades with Slytherin?!" Ron bellowed at a tall man Harry immediately recognized as the one who led Hermione's entourage.
"A nice thank you, considering I helped save your life!" a man with blond hair shouted back. Viktor held out his arm, holding Draco back.
"Malfoy volunteered to be here. I allowed it," he stopped speaking when he saw a familiar looking man with dark hair join the group.
"You allowed it," Ron said with frustration. "Since when do you…" But he was silenced when Viktor pulled back his cloak revealing the raven on his armor. "A General? Since when did you become a General?"
"Since he asked for the Lady Hermione's hand in marriage and she agreed," Draco spoke up.
Harry's insides turned to lead and stared at Viktor who matched his gaze in return.
"Is it true?" Ron asked quietly.
Viktor broke his stare with Harry to face Ron. "Yes, it's true."
Ron didn't say anything for awhile, he just stood there. Then suddenly he turned. "I want three horses ready for me," he told another soldier who immediately ran off to fulfill the request.
"Three?" Viktor asked signaling for his horse.
"They're coming with me," he said, nodding to the three men. "They are my guests for the festival."
Harry opened his mouth to protest but Neville cut him off. "A festival? We'd be honored to be your guests." He looked at Harry eagerly.
"I don't think it's a good idea," Harry said flatly. He could not face Hermione after this piece of news.
"I agree," Viktor said as a stable boy brought out three saddled horses. "We can send an escort with them to make sure they reach Hufflepuff."
Harry narrowed his eyes at Viktor. "You know what?" he said more boldly. "I changed my mind," he mounted the horse. "Some festivities would do us some good, Neville." Harry challenged Viktor who glared at him in return.
"This is going to be great, Harry. You'll see!" Neville said eagerly as he mounted his horse.
Harry smirked at Viktor then trotted away, Viktor and Neville followed. Ron had watched the exchange between Viktor and Harry with narrowed eyes.
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