The end of the world is the kind of thing that you never see coming until it comes and then it's all you can see anymore. My best friend claims love is like that too, but at 17, who really even knows what love is? I stared at the kettle sizzling over a smoldering fire, hoping to pull it off just before it starts to whistle. I know what you're thinking. Why not let it whistle? Because it's not safe. Why not just use magic to silence it? Because they are watching. Who's they? Well none of us know for certain. Our best guess is part of the goblin rebellion. All we know for certain is that magic is being watched. Sometimes the magic is safe, nothing happens. Sometimes just a wee bit of magic is performed and suddenly WHOOSH, innocents are taken. Mostly the people just disappear, but sometimes the goblins come instead. We try not to talk about when the goblins come. My best friend figures it's the same kind of trace magic that the Ministry uses, well used, on underaged students. I figure that none of us want to be taken to find out. My best friend, for the record, is Theodore Pinkerton. I keep telling him to go by Theo because Theo is the kind of name that elicits mental images of handsome, dangerous men with chiseled jaw lines, but he insists on Theodore.
"Don't want to disappoint them from the start!" He laughs. Well, he used to laugh. He hasn't laughed even once since his sister was taken. Now that I think about it, he hasn't smiled either. The thing about children is that it's hard for them to bottle in their magic when they are frightened. We were always frightened.
Just as the kettle began the low whistle I snatched it off the fire and dumped the contents into our reusable water bottles. The tea tasted vile, but we choked it down anyway. The distinct sour flavor of citrusy aspirin coated my tongue and Theo cringed outwardly. Today it was pine needle tea. The most abundant of ingredients, seeing as this part of the forest was nothing but pines. The vitamin C would help us keep a robust immune system and most importantly keep our energy up. Neither of us were skillful hunters and food was scarce. My ribs and hips were becoming more pronounced with every waking moment. The gnawing hunger aching in my stomach couldn't be sated on pine needles. As we sipped the last of our tea, a crunch of leaves and a ricochet of startled birds sent us packing our knapsacks frantically. I shoved the searing hot kettle into the knapsack, grabbed Theo's hand with my free one, and pulled him into a sprint through the woods. His heavy breathing did us no favors and I was certain that anyone within a few kilometers could hear the blood pounding against my eardrum, hammering the familiar tune of survival in my mind. We just needed survive long enough to make it to Greenland.
"Riya, do you think anyone–?" Theo began to ask if he thought we'd been followed. I shook my head vigorously, but we both sprinted onward, careful of the hazardous lay of the land. We very well could have been followed, hell, we probably were. The thing about Theo is that he just needs reassurance. Panic attacks aren't conducive to our attempts to survive. We didn't slow until we were in much denser woods. We'd be more difficult to follow here.
"Did you know that one of King Arthur's twelve battles took place here?" Theo asked me as we stumbled through the knobs and tree roots threatening to trip us.
"Really?" I asked disinterested. All I wanted was to pitch our tent and rest my aching legs.
"Yeah, Merlin and his legion created an army of trees to battle the enemy!" Theo went on, oblivious to my lack of interest.
"Fascinating." I retorted sarcastically. Sarcasm could strip down to its knickers and smack Theo in the face and he'd still have no idea.
"Right? The name comes from Pliny the Elder. Did you know that it's a temperate rainforest?" Theo prattled on.
"Theo, you know I love you, but for Merlin's sake and mine. Please. Shut. Up." I snapped. He puckered his face with a sour expression but did shut up.
If I had been anyone else he'd no doubt be affronted. He'd probably go on some mind numbing rant about ancient rituals to sacrifice the tongue of someone so rude or something equally annoying. Bloody Hufflepuffs and their love for torturing innocent Slytherin girls stuck hiding in forests and drinking pine needle tea. Merlin, I miss the Three Broomsticks. Hell, at this point I'd even settle for Puddifoot's and that's saying something.
"You know what I would kill for right now?" I asked Theo, wanting to lighten the mood and make his face stop scrunching in that unpleasant way.
"A bath?" Theo teased, rubbing dirt from my nose.
"That too, but Mum's pork vindaloo." Theo loved my mum's cooking. When he visited us on the island last summer he nearly ate us out of house and home. Mum, naturally, loved him for it.
Theo moaned at the the thought. "And those rolls she makes with the good crust."
Another cracking noise resonated across the forest and I grabbed Theo's arm, pulling him under a large overhanging rock that was tangled with snaking tree roots. He opened his mouth to ask me what the bloody hell I was doing, but I covered his mouth quickly with my hand. He nodded and I released him, hand drifting toward the zipper of my backpack. My machete was packed away. The noise of quiet crunching drew closer and Theo's eyes widened.
I inhaled deeply, overwhelmed by the musky scent of the mossy, moist earth. I held the breath for as long as I could, hoping desperately not to give myself away. I pushed my body as hard as I could against the freezing rock and compacted soil, willing myself to be invisible. Of course, I wasn't invisible because that would require the use of precious magic and a massive risk. Insects descended on the new habitat that was my body. Leafhoppers and needle sized beetles crawled on my skin, perhaps confused that I was nearly the same shade as the clay I was pressing my body against, and it took all of my willpower not to scream. The tiny legs were almost as terrifying as the horrendous, bloodthirsty creature about to descend on us. Almost.
Theo glanced at me, a question scrawled across his glowing pale face. I knew what the question was from the last close call we had. If it's a goblin, will we risk disapparating? Yes. Absolutely. I nod slowly. The other option was to pretend to be muggle campers but that comes with all sorts of dangers itself. It's better to take the risk of being taken rather than risk being killed outright.
The crunching noise was practically on top of us. My breathing was so loud, my heart was pounding. I just knew I'd give our position away. I covered my own mouth to muffle the sound. I mentally listed our rendezvous points in case one of us was taken. Borough High Street, Lavender Hill, Piccadilly Market. These points were picked, despite being difficult to find each other, for the very reason that it would be difficult to find anyone in such a mess.
Theo gripped my hand, squeezing it reassuringly. I dared not look at him. I dared not move. Suddenly, a loud thud landed in front of us. I sucked in air, terror filling every nanometer of my being. I didn't care about the tiny monsters crawling across my skin anymore. Only the monster standing before me. I felt Theo freeze beside me. The small goblin, with sharply pointed ears and saggy leather skin, standing directly in front of us let out a muffled grumble of Gobbledegook, rubbing his sore back that was facing us. He paused a moment, ears perked, and slowly glanced across the woods from side to side. His long, bony fingers drummed into his side. I could make out a missing fingernail on his left hand. It was fleshy and raw looking, oozing something that appeared to be blood. I bit my lip, praying to gods I don't believe in that his neck wouldn't crane our way. Then, he took a step toward the trail he no doubt believed that we followed.
Even after he was long gone, we dared not move or speak.
With the early hours of nightfall, we were concealed enough to feel safe. Well, relatively safe. Goblins had notoriously awful eyesight and the darkness would just further compound it.
I stepped away from the overhang and glanced side to side. Theo peaked out behind my back, wobbling when I stepped forward into the night.
"The caverns were only a couple of kilometers out. Let's hurry." I explained as I broke into a jog. Theo was not a fan of jogging or running or really any physical activity other than video games (does that even count as physical activity? Theo says yes, but I say no), but the darkness brought out the darker creatures of the forest so he nearly sprinted.
He complained in hushed tones as we hurried to the caverns. Caves were popular destinations for witches and wizards on the run but we still haven't come across more than a few stragglers since our last camp. No one trusts each other to stay long other than to exchange news.
The last straggler we found was a lone teenager not much older than us, maybe 19. He, like most of the wizarding world, immediately tried to blend in with the muggles. His family believed that since they didn't vote for the Goblin Registry Act (GRA for short) the goblins wouldn't come after them. Like all witches and wizards with this mindset, they were shortly eliminated. Unfortunately, the goblins were merciless. They demolished entire muggle villages in the hunt for magical folk. Goblins had enough of wizarding kind. All of them.
A bellowing growl rumbled through the forest, causing us to stop again. Theo sunk against a tree and I crouched down, trying to determine which way the sound had emanated from. The growl rang out again, this time much closer. Theo let out a whimper and I smacked his leg. It was reckless to make any unnecessary noises at a moment like this. He mouthed an "ow" to me but I shook my head, a finger to my lips.
The sound was very reminiscent of a manticore and though it was unlikely that they would be in this part of the world, I wouldn't be too surprised if that's exactly what it was.
I glanced back at at Theo with a glare that I hope translated roughly into "shut the hell up" and waited for another growl. It was close and it seemed to be coming from the direction of the caverns. Borough High Street, Lavender Hill, Piccadilly Market.
I turned slowly, silently to face Theo and pointed up. He looked up slowly, his face as pale as the moon hanging in the sky and I realized he misunderstood me. He thought the possible manticore was in the tree. I rolled my eyes and pushed him carefully to the side and grabbed ahold of the lowest hanging branches, pulling myself up. Understanding dawned on him and he followed me up the tree. The caverns were likely compromised and sleeping in the tree canopy was our best bet.
Theo didn't have to say a word, the whining emanated like an aura around him. The last time we slept in a tree he fell in the middle of the night and knocked into a hornet's nest on his way down. I only laughed a little before helping him because I'm an excellent friend. I secured the rope around my waist and encouraged him to do the same. It was uncomfortable and I wouldn't sleep well but I wouldn't fall out of the tree and have to risk using magic.
"Does it feel like we are being watched?" Theo whispered just as my eyes fluttered close.
"I think we already established we are being followed." I whispered back referring to the goblin incident.
"No, it feels different." He hissed. I knew what he meant. After we lost the goblin it still felt like we were being followed. It didn't feel as terrifying though. I couldn't find the words to comfort him or explain how it felt so I just tried to shut him up.
"Try to get some sleep, Theo. We're going to need our energy." If something was hunting us we wouldn't be difficult to find. Both of our stomachs were rumbling and grumbling with hunger and would soon be loud enough to attract hordes of goblins.
"Right. Wake me up when it's my turn to take watch." He nestled into the branch, but I knew he wouldn't sleep much.
Theo pretended to sleep and I kept watch. Then I pretended to sleep and he kept watch. The world was going to hell and we couldn't even be well rested for it.