Chapter Four: Capture the Flag
The half moon was quickly clouded over, plunging the field into near darkness. The stars in the sky twinkled then faded as a cloud passed over them only to shine again when the cloud passed. There was a dim glow of firelight from a couple of tents and the large campfire that was blazing in the middle of it. Six men sat around the fire, lazily drinking mead and feasting on the haunches of an animal that was roasting on a spit. Six dragons were held nearby, the raw meat of sheep was their dinner for the night.
Harry crouched low to the ground as he ran, stopping behind a small hill. Two others shortly followed. Harry peeked over the crest and saw that the men were well occupied as were the dragons. He signaled into the woods behind him, a low hoot of an owl. A group of men came scurrying from the shadows, carrying large bloody bundles. A dragon stopped its feast to lift its nose in the air, the smell of blood was on it and it let out a curious grunt. Harry and another man grabbed a bundle and crept towards the dragons, the others followed in pairs as well. The dragons lifted their heads and watched as the strange beings, that smelled of blood ran amongst them. The men dropped off their bundles into the other carcasses that fed the dragons then quietly crept back into the shadows.
The night watchmen of Arneau Tak paraded along the portcullis, gazing in the distance to the side where the small dragon camp lay, then out to the dark field ahead of them. The half moon and the cloudy night sky was proving to be trying for them. But their confidence against an attack promoted a sense of laziness amongst them. For who would dare attack the fort of Lord Voldemort?
The horizon suddenly seemed to light up with dozens of tiny lights. The night watchmen ran to the balconies, curious.
"What is that?"
"I don't know!"
The lights suddenly seemed to leap in the air and in an arch seemed to head straight for them. At the last minute the men realized that what they were looking at were not tiny lights at all but arrows set aflame.
"ATTACK! We are under attack!"
The whizzing of arrows filled the air before landing inside the fort. The screams of injured men cried out into the night as the arrows made their marks. Soldiers scrambled out of their inaction and readied their posts, coming from different directions in the fort. Another wave of arrows reached them before they could set up their archery squads.
"The dragons!" a man ordered. "Take the dragons to air!"
The steady drumbeat of a battle march could be heard in the distance. An army approached the fort, a large one at that. Men scrambled to unchain the dragons and send them to the air for an aerial assault. They climbed on the backs of the mighty beasts as they snorted and roared, they too felt the excitement of war. With a great whoosh of their leathery wings they took flight and headed for the moving river of the approaching army. The parapets threw their boulders and the dragons swiftly dodged them before they landed inside the moving mass but still they approached. Suddenly, the dragon's wing beats faltered and they made strange gagging sounds. No longer responding to the commands of their riders they began to thrash violently in the air, performing absurd aerial maneuvers before they crashed to the ground.
The dragons no longer a threat, the army marched forward shields up as the arrows flew out of the fort and embedded themselves in them, although a few made their mark. Large fireballs flew into the fort causing large explosions. That was the signal and as the ladders were raised to the forts walls, underneath in a secret tunnel, the second squadron emerged.
The False King's army was ambushed, outnumbered they fell easily and quickly surrendered. They had no choice, the closest army was days away and they could not send word. The flag of the False King was ripped down and in its place was a large crimson one with a gold lion in the middle of it.
~*~
Draco and Hermione sat in the throne room conducting royal business when the doors burst open and a rider for Slytherin came rushing in.
"Forgive me, my King and Queen," he said as he took off his helmet and knelt to one knee.
"What is the meaning of this?" Draco said angrily and stood abruptly from his throne. Hermione put a calming hand on Draco's forearm, he looked down and visibly relaxed as he sat back down. "What news do you bring that has you rushing in to interrupt the King's business," she said calmly and kindly.
"Thank you my Queen, may your grace and beauty forever shine on this throne," the messenger groveled and Hermione sighed wearily and gestured for him to continue with his business. "Arneau Tak has fallen at the hands of Gryffindor a fortnight ago."
"WHAT?!" Draco roared and stood up. He looked back at Hermione and saw the look of genuine shock on it.
"Good sir," Hermione stammered. "You must be mistaken. Arneau Tak has been in the hands of the False King for sometime now."
"There was a great battle. We only received word a few days ago and I was sent to ride here post haste," the messenger said quickly.
Hermione's left elbow rested on the arm of her throne, her fingers resting on her lips, deep in thought. Harry in Arneau Tak? What was he playing at?
"Arneau Tak?" It was a disbelieving question from the King.
"There's more," the messenger said nervously.
"More?" Draco said with exasperation.
"His army is rumored to be heading south," the messenger swallowed, "to Rowena."
Hermione flew out of her seat. "This is madness," she said aloud. "Have my ladies pack my things, I am heading to Rowena."
Draco paced the throne room floor. So, the Gryffindor King wishes to wage a war against Slytherin, Ravenclaw and the Shadowlands. It was time to show the rider that he had bitten off more than he could chew.
Hermione burst into the nursery. "Pack James' things," she said to his maid then she turned to the witch. "I must speak to you in private."
She led her into her own chambers and closed the doors. "Ready Jamie," she said in a low voice. "We leave at midnight." McGonagall nodded and motioned to leave but Hermione stopped her. "I need your owl."
McGonagall nodded. "I will send him up to you."
As her chambermaids packed her and her son's things, Hermione sat down at a writing desk and began to compose one of the most important messages of her life. The snowy white owl that the witch provided her with held out its leg patiently as she tied it on.
"Be quick," she whispered to the owl. "And be safe." With its wings spread, the owl flew out of her window and out into the evening sky.
Hermione and the witch planned it perfectly. Selecting two people from the surrounding city and paying them well for their silence. One was a young woman of the queen's build and height, the witch fixed her hair to look like the queen's, even dressing her in the queen's garb. She would be veiled so none could get a good look at her face. An older woman would accompany her, the other one from the city, dressed to look strikingly like the witch. She, too, would be veiled and would be holding a straw bundle in her arms. These two imposters would board the carriage that Draco had ordered and with a heavy entourage, they would make their way to Rowena.
That was the plan for tomorrow, but now at midnight in Slytherin, two cloaked figures crept quietly in the darkness to the gate of the castle. Telling the guards that the queen no longer needed their services, they were able to slip out into the city. The same person that aided the queen earlier with Jason was waiting for them with two horses and let them out past the city gates. Hermione thanked him and dropped another heavy purse filled with gold in his hands. Hermione looked down at the swaddling sling that the witch had made for her, Jamie thankfully still slept and was comfortable and snug.
"He will be safe my Queen," the witch said. "I put special charms on it that will keep the babe snug while we ride."
Hermione nodded and closed her cloak around him. She gave a soft click with her tongue and she, James and McGonagall made their ride to the north. To Jason. To freedom.
~*~
Harry walked down a long stone corridor, turned and found he was at a set of stairs. They went up into the darkness where the sound of an infant's cry pierced the silence. For some reason, he knew this sound in his heart. It was his son crying out for him. Harry raced up the stairs, they were never ending and he stumbled with exhaustion. But his son still cried and he kept running.
At last!
He came to a door and burst in. There was a cradle in the middle of the room, draped and adorned in the colors of Gryffindor. He had reached his son. But a terror he had never known crept into his chest and seemed to seize his heart as he watched a serpent slither up the side and hover over his screaming child. He silently pleaded with the snake, take his life, take anything and everything he had. The serpent hissed and Harry watched, paralyzed with horror, as the snake struck his son.
"NOOOOO!!!!" Harry screamed as he sat up in his bed.
A startled Ron jumped away from him. Harry sat there a moment, drenched in sweat and breathing hard.
"Harry," Ron gasped, Harry had nearly scared the life out of him. "Are you alright?"
Harry got his bearings back and looked at Ron. He said nothing, just jumped out of his bed and put his sword belt on.
"Harry, wait! Where are you going?" he asked as he followed Harry out of his sleeping chamber.
Harry ignored him and kept on walking out of the rooms and into the fort's courtyard where the stables were kept, Ron jabbering on about something the entire way. He stopped suddenly and turned around.
"Where's Hedwig?" he asked.
"That's what I've been trying to tell you!" Ron said exasperatedly. "Jason must've taken her."
Neville came out of the stables holding the reigns of three horses. "They must have left only a few hours ago, if we leave now we can catch them."
Harry looked to Ron for an explanation.
"Jason's gone," Ron said. "And so are the rest of the Slytherin Knights."
"All of them?" Harry asked in disbelief.
"All of them," Ron confirmed. The men mounted the horses. "I told you we couldn't trust them. Their loyalties obviously lie elsewhere, for all we know they're off to tell the Slytherin King of our plans."
"There are twenty of them," Harry said thoughtfully. "We'll take forty men. We'll leave the rest under the command of Joffrey. We leave now!"
Fifteen minutes later, forty horsemen rode out in the night to hunt down the renegade Slytherin Knights. Harry knew that his plan had been successful in getting Hermione to leave the castle for Rowena. What he miscalculated was Jason's loyalty, the lioness had called for her army. And now, to get to his son, he would have to go through her formidable Knight.
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