Blood Ties 14

Pic by Syrena. Thanks so much!

..... The tunnels rang with the howls of the wolves. Sirius jogged toward the sound, following the pale smudge that was North’s white coat in the darkness. Behind him was the ragged breathing of the Professor Zephyr trying to keep up with him. The air was getting steadily colder, so he guessed they were heading back towards the surface again. The cavern was vibrating with the clamor from Rosie and Tanner. Several other tunnels branched off.

..... This whole place must be a warren, thought Sirius. He wondered if any of the caves actually led to Hogwarts. For all the secret passages he knew, he had never found one that led this far into the woods. Up ahead, North began to bark and the white dog picked up speed, breaking into a lope. Sirius quickened his own stride, barely noticing that Lorelei fell further behind..

..... A sudden blur of color made him slide to a halt. Down one of the winding passages he could see a glow. It was a wholesome flickering light, so he was sure it wasn’t the Morthahg. Lorelei caught up with him, still gasping.

..... “There’s a fire,” he said, perhaps unnecesarily. Lorelei wheezed, bending over. She was still clutching her chest through her robes. Morbid curiousity had him wondering what the injury actually looked like, but then he remembered how awful it hed felt just to have the Morthahg pass by. The thought of having it actually touching him sent prickles over his body. He tried to look at the Professor with more sympathy.

..... “Can you go on?” he asked. She gave him a look that all but singed his eyebrows.

..... “Would you leave me behind if I couldn’t?” she spat between pants. Sirius felt annoyed with himself for bothering to ask.

..... “Yes,” he said, turning to follow North again. Behind him, she made a disgusted sound, but stumbled after him. North was still barking . Following the sound through the winding tunnels was weird. Sound bounced and echoed. Once when he glanced back, Sirius saw that Lorelei had clung to the un-enchanted compass. Maybe she could it get working again, but he doubted it. He had a feeling that the Morthahg ruined magic for good.

..... Growls and snapping sounds got louder, but it was hard to tell which tunnel it was coming from. He would have had no idea which way to run if North hadn’t come back to bark impatiently at them. Sirius broke into a faster jog, more concerned now with finding the wolves than Zephyr keeping up. North scurried around a turn and the tunnel opened up to another large cavern.

..... Rosie and Tanner were there, struggling with a figure draped in wizard’s robes. The only light was a wizard’s lamp, a floating ball of light that hovered over the wizard’s head, casting a weak yellow radiance. As the man fought with the wolves, the light spun with him, casting bizarre and savage shadows all around. The two wolves had the stranger cornered, but seemed to avoid touching him. They dashed around him, worrying him like a sheep, grabbing mouthfuls of his cloak and yanking him back and forth. Rosie looked especially frustrated. The black wolf’s hackles were on end, making her seem even larger than usual. She was all but foaming, lunging in to sink her teeth into the struggling figure and being driven back by whatever power of repulsion the wizard had.

..... Sirius shouted out as he ran to them. North hung back, waiting for Zephyr. Tanner also danced back and shot a wicked snarl that stopped him in his tracks. That was a Stay Back! and not an unfriendly one. The red wolf was warning him. At that moment, the shrouded wizard, swung something at Rosie and she leaped away, but not before something that made a whistling crack bounced off her shoulder and sent her sprawling. Tanner turned at her yelp and the cloaked man bolted into the darkness beyond the cavern.. The wizard’s lamp’s light vanished with him, leaving them all blind again.

..... In the sudden darkness, there was the rush of paws on the floor as Tanner started to chase him and then changed direction in midstride to run to Rosie. Sirius broke after the other wizard or at least in the direction he had run. Tanner’s human voice rang out and called him back.. The red shifter had obviously shifted to human form to help Rosie back to her paws.

..... “Don’t !” he snapped, then his voice softened. “He’s more dangerous to you than us. We’ll track him.” He was breathless from the struggle. Sirius could barely see his shape moving inthe darkness and stepped toward it.

..... “Who was it?” he asked. “The Ordered One?”

..... “Yes,” spat Rosie. her voice so furious Sirius wasn’t at all sure she had shifted back too. “Stronger than before, but still him.”

..... “Why couldn’t you touch him?” Sirius stepped forward cautiously. Rosie’s growl rippled out again.

..... “He hurts us to touch. He’ll hurt you worse if you touch him. We’re naturally shifters. We can recover. Your kind may not heal so well..”

..... “Rose, you’re bleeding!” Tanner said suddenly, dismay sounding wrong in his cheerful voice..

..... “I’m fine,” she replied curtly. “Ack, get your fingers out of the cut and maybe it won’t bleed so much! Idiot!”

..... “Sorry! Is it bad?”

..... “I said no!”

..... Then, a new gasp from Zephyr as she arrived made them all quiet. She cast a light spell with an irate hiss and they all squinted in the sudden brightness. Rosie’s left shoulder was bleeding and her sleeve was stained, but she didn’t seem to notice. Now that the room was lit, they could see a flight of hewn stairs curving away from the room. Rosie and Tanner sniffed at it and then Rosie was gone up them in a flash. Tanner paused to look back at Sirius and Zephyr.

..... “The air is cold and fresh,” he said. “It leads back out to the forest, judging by the smell.” A howl from Rosie had him running up after her. “We’ll catch him!” he shouted over his shoulder. Then, he was gone. Zephyr was leaning backwards against the far wall, panting. She was pale to begin with, but now she looked almost transparent. Her veins were much more visible than they should have been and Sirius could see them vibrate with her shaky pulse. She looked terrible.

..... “You have to take another vial within 24 hours,” he said, remembering what Esme had told him. She swallowed hard and nodded. A cold draft of air made Sirius shiver, and he squinted up the stairs where the wolves had disappeared. “We should go too.”

..... “How...will you...explain...your hair?” Zephyr asked. Speaking looked painful for her. Sirius had forgotten that his hair had turned back to its original state. After a moment of quick thought, he held out his hand for her wand. Her bloody-bruise-colored eyes narrowed at him, but she handed the wand over without arguement. Sirius conjured a hood from the neckline of his robe and pulled it up to cover his hair and shadow his face. He gave the wand back and then started up the stairs. She drew a shuddering breath and started after him.

..... He intentionally went slowly so she could keep up, but on the third step, Zephyr stepped on a piece of paper and her foot slid on it. She dropped to her hands and knees with a gasp and North was immediatly beside her.

..... “Are you all right?” Sirius asked and she nodded. She squinted at the paper and then picked it up as she got back to her feet.

..... “It’s a letter,” she murmered, turning it over. ‘To that mad child, Raye.”

..... “The vampire hunter?” Sirius came down the stairs between them to look at it,too. Zephyr raised a white eyebrow at him.

..... “She’s a child,” she said.

..... “Is the letter FROM the vampire hunter,” Sirius asked dryly. “She was getting letters from one, I’ve heard.”

..... “Heard from who?” Zephyr demanded. She looked incredulous, but had made no move to unfold the letter. Sirius took it from her in a quick snatch that made North bristle. Zephyr made a sound of protest which Sirius ignored as he read aloud.

..... “...What??” sputtered Zephyr, snatching it back from him. “That’s the most-who is telling her this??” She read over the letter herself, fingers tightening until the paper crinkled. “An Eye of Heaven doesn’t require blood! Or any part of a bat, or....Oh no....”

..... “What?” Sirius leaned closer to her as she swayed on her feet. “What’s wrong?”

..... “This,” she shook the letter at him. “Is a resurrection spell. If that little basketcase succeeds in making it, it will revive whatever’s blood is used.”

..... “There’s no such thing!” Sirius protested. “There’s never been a spell that can bring the dead back to life.”

..... “If...this is about vampires,” Zephyr locked eyes with him. “A vampire is already dead. It wouldn’t be returned to life, but it would be revived to its former state of unlife. What if it’s not a hunter, but another vampire?”

..... “How do you know this?” Sirius asked.

..... “Vampires, even if they were wizards before they were changed, aren’t as steady with magic,” she explained. “For a spell like this, they would usually go to Dark Wizards for help. This is a Dark Spell.”

..... “And how do you know THAT?” Sirius asked again. Her odd-colored stare turned frosty.

..... “How does one hope to teach any defense of the Dark Arts if one doesn’t know what they are defending against?” she asked. Sirius didn’t have a real answer to that, so he just shrugged and started up the stairs again.