Giddy Brew

Chapter 29: The Onyx Eyed Horseman and the Witches of the Gilded Cage

By: Jondy Macmillan

A/N: I know it's cliché, but I can't get 'How to Save a Life' by The Fray out of my head. So this chapter is like slightly written to it. We've gone from Kill Hannah to the Fray. Oddly enough, never written a chapter to Say Anything…which is weird, because for the entirety of the three or four years this story has existed, they've been my favorite band. Hmm. This is a short chapter. It was originally meant to be longer, and if I ever come back and edit it will be longer.


Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out.

"Where are we running to?" Prue shrieked at Quant, who was already outpacing her.

"Anywhere," Quant replied firmly, "We can't stop."

"Fine," Prue responded, and slowed her pace. She slipped out of her heels and said, "Okay, now I can run."

Quant yanked her arm hard, "Then do it. Can't you feel them, stupid?"

She didn't have to be reminded. Prue had heard the expression 'the forest has eyes' before, but she'd never felt it quite as much as now. As they wove in and out of the thick tree trunks of the forbidden forest, she felt the enemy at her back. It was as if eyes were literally burning a hole through her skin.

"If we get to Hogsmeade, doesn't that mean we've won?" Prue gasped, jumping over a gnarled pile of twigs.

"No. Remember, it's like hide and seek. Only when they find us and we beat them do we get to go free."

"But we could try going to Hogsmeade."

"Do you really think a couple of thousand year old wizards and witches wouldn't follow us into Hogsmeade? We play the game, Prue. You're the one who volunteered for this," Quant panted accusingly.

"But they had Frank!" she protested.

After five minutes they broke into a clearing. Prue was about to continue running, but Quant stopped her, "No. If we have to fight them, this is the best place to do so. We have the moon on our side here."

The moon hung full overhead, but dark clouds threatened to overtake it at anytime. Still, Prue supposed it would be better than venturing into the cold, dark forest. There was a large rock near the center of the clearing, and Prue realized suddenly that this was the place Bobby had taken her for her birthday. She shivered. Puck had been here even then, she was sure of it. His was the rasping whisper of 'mudbloods'. He would find them here, easy. But as far as last stands went, this would be a good place to make one.

Resolvedly, Prue sat on the rock, "So, we wait."

"Yes, we wait," Quant sat next to her, "I doubt it will take very long."

Grimly, the two stared at the stars, their hands clenched around their wands.


"Mate, slow up," Bobby called after Casey.

"What is it?" the redhead demanded, irritated.

"It's just that there's a clearing over here. We're right by the hag's hut," Bobby recalled, if we just go to the right.

Astonished, Casey demanded, "How do you have such a good sense of direction?"

"I don't," Bobby revealed his palm, where a small compass face glowed blue in the darkness, "It's a spell."

"I always knew there was a reason we were friends," Casey answered, and followed Bobby through the thicket. Up ahead he saw the silhouette of a decrepit hut.

"Because I'm the smart one?" Bobby suggested.

Casey decided to ignore that joke on account of the way his heart was speeding up. This place was evil, he could feel it, "So this is the hags' house, hunh? I kind of imagined skulls on poles and the like."

"It's never too late," Bobby said solemnly, "They could always put ours in front of the door."

"Nah, just mine. I'm the pretty one," Casey grinned, but his heart wasn't in it. They didn't dare go in the house, instead choosing a large oak near the side to lean against. It gave them the best view.

"This is a good place," Bobby nodded to himself, "Yeah, I think this place will be clutch."

"Stop talking to yourself, Stone," Casey snapped.

"No need to get tetchy," the blonde crossed his arms, "Your wand out."

"Of course. I hope we get the one with the green teeth. He looks like a party."

"Casey, I really don't think you should joke about that," Bobby said dubiously.

"If you can't joke now, when can you?"

"I don't know. I really don't know."


"So this is the best birthday ever, I think," Serendipity told her boyfriend.

Warily, Polaris replied, "You're not getting hysterical on me, are you?"

"No. No, I'm serious. I think this is just the best party I've ever had. But, I'm ready for it to end now. You know, I really think I'm ready for this joke to end."

"Sere," Polaris said gently, "Don't worry. Everything's going to be fine."

"No! No! This is not fine. Everything is not fine!" Serendipity's shoulders slumped. They had stopped at the bank of a river barely two minutes ago, and already she was panicking. She shook her head, she knew this wasn't the time to go mad, but she couldn't help it.

Polaris wrapped his arms around her, but Serendipity shrugged them off, "Keep your hands on your wand. Where are they, anyway? The twenty minutes was up twenty minutes ago."

"Has it been that long already?" Polaris muttered, but he had no way to check that it was true. It did feel like they'd run for a long time, but…He wondered how the others were. The silence in the woods was stifling.

"We should walk farther up," Serendipity said suddenly, "To where the river forks."

"What? I thought we both agreed that this was the best spot."

"No. Further up," Serendipity pointed north, and without warning started running, "Now!"


"Stop it! Get away!" Elanore shrieked at the horrific creature in front of her. It made no reply, just lifted the twisted branch of a wand it held and fired off another spell. It had no tongue to speak with, so she couldn't even predict what they were.

The monstrosity moved ever closer, slowly, like an injured animal. Morgana dragged one leg as she walked, but her spells had range. Even Elanore had to admire that. She ducked as another spell flew by. Something had hit Noah minutes before, and the only thing Elanore knew for sure was that it hadn't been an unforgivable. Still, there were other ways to kill. They were fighting next to the river, and when the spell had hit him, he'd fallen in. She had no idea whether he was dead. She hadn't had time to get him under Morgana's constant barrage of hexes.

"Appareo assimilares," Elanore dodged to the left, crying out her spell. Instantly, dozens of hazy doppelgangers of her form appeared. She hadn't perfected the spell yet, and their ghostly forms floated through the air, barely fooling the ancient witch. Her skin crackled as she moved forward, wordlessly waving her way though the translucent figures of Elanore.

"Velox," Elanore cried again as the witch came closer to the real her, and all the images of herself gathered to form one ball of energy, all of which flew at Morgana. The witch brushed the jinx off as though it had never existed in the first place. Frustrated, Elanore opened her mouth to let loose another spell when suddenly, the witch was gone. She spun around to find herself in an empty clearing.

Practically sobbing in relief, Elanore rushed to the river, to see if Noah was still there, and still alive. But when she reached the bank, those terrible eyes were there to greet her.

Oh god, Elanore thought, as that ghastly mouth opened to form a word that wasn't ever going to be heard, how stupid I was. Absently, her mind's eye traced the syllables the mouth could be making, her wand hand limp at her side from shock. Con- no, karn. Carney? Fecks. Carney fecks, how strange, Elanore thought. That's not a spell.

Then she heard the word, like a whisper across her brain, "No, no, silly. It's Carnifex. Isn't that grotesque?"

And then, Elanore didn't think anything anymore.


Casey had gotten his wish. The green toothed Arawn had met them in front of the hags' house with his luminescent grin. He liked to talk, which suited Casey and Bobby just fine. They were trying to distract him, but Arawn seemed like he fought and talked the same as he lived and breathed. It was just a natural skill for him.

"And then, when I was a wee lad, maledictio," Arawn would should a curse off in Bobby's direction then continued, "my mother used to tell me…"

In any other situation it might have been amusing, but it was getting rather tiring.

"Astrum," Casey's wand released an array of sparks in Arawn's direction, to which the elf responded with "Ooh, pretty. Crucio."

The spell barely missed Casey, but it gave Bobby time to yell, "Caelum."

The very air around Arawn seemed to gather up to hold him. Casey took this as his chance and muttered, "Sidereus."

A web of stars appeared around Arawn just as the air released him, and the elf smiled his foul smile, "Such clever boys. Ensis."

The elf ripped through Casey's constellation trap with his wand, which for all intents and purposes was now as useful as a sword. Just as he flew at Bobby with a cry of, "Ictus" the air seemed to crackle with energy, if only for a second.

Arawn stopped his lunge, but the smile on his face grew, "How now. Poor, poor, clever boys. That was the shortest game I've ever played."

"What do you mean," Bobby asked wearily, eyeing the elf's still right arm.

"One of the players is done," Arawn replied, pursing his lips, "But I want to keep playing. Avada Kedavra!"

Bobby rolled to the ground as the spell flew over his head, "What do you mean done playing."

Startled, the elf said, "Why my boy, I mean dead. Done, dead, done, dead."

"No," Casey whispered, "You're wrong."

"Who?" Bobby demanded, flying towards the elf without regard of the wand, or anything else. They landed in a jumbled heap on the ground, "Who?"

Arawn grinned, "Well now. You. Nex-"

Before the spell could leave his wand, Casey yelled, "Imprecor."

The hex hit Arawn squarely in the head.

"You idiot," Casey muttered as he helped Bobby to his feet, "What do you think you have a wand for?"

Bobby gave him a look, "That curse is only going to last for a few minutes. Let's go. We have to find the others."

They started off into the woods, leaving the elf before the deserted house. The eyes that had been watching from the dust darkened windows closed.

"We can kill the boy now. They've lost," a rough voice spoke.

"Make it slow," a woman's rasped.

Jasminder Shah stepped out from the shadows, raising her wand over Frank's prone form. The blonde struggled against the bonds that held him tight.

The girl's cool, clear voice called out, "Inficio."

Frank could feel the infection that spread from her wand take hold. He could feel his veins blacken and harden. It was the most painful think he'd ever experienced. His very last thoughts in the world were one of rage, one of hatred, and one of Noah.


The first thing Puck did when he got to the clearing was to calmly say, "Intemptesta Nox."

The moonlight Quant had so been relying on was engulfed by the dark clouds as they descended upon the clearing. It was so dark that he could barely see a foot in front of him.

"Caruncula," he saw the spell as it hit him, tearing bits of his flesh from the bone. Quant cried out in pain and fell to his knees. This was bad.

"Quant!" Prue yelled, "You jackass. Umbraro."

He couldn't tell if the shadow spell had any effect on Puck in the darkness, but he doubted it. Seconds later Puck said rather cordially, "Miss Gelliston, where are you hiding?"

As if it was a suitable response, Prue yelled back, "Audran."

A great ball of fire shot through the clearing, illuminating the inky darkness. Quant saw Puck on the far side of the meadow, shooting spell after spell towards Prue. Judging by the green light, the onyx eyed man was fond of the killing curse.

Stumbling to his feet, Quant lifted his wand, "Pestis pestis."

The hex missed it's mark, harmlessly hitting some poor tree. Quant didn't feel remorse for the large pine, doomed to rot from the inside out. He'd rather it would have happened to the dark haired wizard, who now turned his attention to him.

"Conticeo," Puck aimed towards Quant and did not miss. When the black haired boy opened his mouth to say another spell, he found he could not. He'd been silenced in the worst possible way. It was as if even the few spells he could perform without saying had dried up in his mind. Helplessly Quant turned to Prue, who was dueling rather poorly with the elf.

"Imperio," Puck would yell and Prue would quickly counter with some weak spell, such as, "Stillicidium."

Droplets of mist froze the elf into place, but only for a few seconds, and then he would shoot off another spell.

"Give up, mudblood. You will never win. Actually, the game is already over. One of your friends is already gone."

"You're lying," Prue cried back, and tried, "Incendio."

"I do not lie, you human scum."

Taunted Prue, "Oh, what you're not allowed?"

She'd been trying to get the elf's attention away from vulnerable Quant, and it seemed to have worked, "Whatever do you mean, mudblood?"

"Well, you're some kind of servant right? I bet your masters don't want their pet spouting off lies to them. They've got you well trained."

"I serve only one master," Puck answered solemnly, and his wand released another spell. Great gusts of wind pushed Prue back, so far away that she wasn't in range to do another spell, "More terrifying that you could imagine."

"I am not afraid of you, or your master," Prue yelled into the face of the great wind, then closed her eyes and took a deep breath. This time she whispered, "I am not afraid."

Her eyes snapped open and Prue found herself nose to nose with Puck.

"I think I might like you after all," he said, his onyx colored eyes boring into hers. Suddenly, Prue felt a searing pain in her stomach and she gasped, stumbling back. Blood was seeping through the cloth of her dress.

"Prudence!" That was when she heard Casey calling her name.


"Serendipity, geez, wait up," Polaris called after his girlfriend.

The redhead had been running up river for over fifteen minutes, stopping then saying, "No, not far enough."

When they'd been tracked down by the elf called Robin, she's blown past him with a quick yell of, "Stupefy."

She hadn't even paused in her run. Polaris was amazed. Maybe the big bad wizards weren't so scary after all. At least that's what he thought right up until they reached the fork in the river.

Serendipity didn't scream. She didn't even seem surprised when she reached the base of the oak near the river split. Instead, the redhead sunk to her knees and moaned, "Oh, Elanore."

Polaris didn't realized what she was talking about at first. Then he saw the shadow near Serendipity's knees. It was large, and moving, swaying gently with the breeze. How strange. He looked up.

The face was bloated and purplish, and too big for the body. He didn't notice the rope wrapped around her neck for a few moments. He didn't recognize Elanore for minutes after that. When he understood, finally, he didn't say anything. He sat by Serendipity's gently shaking form and just said nothing.


The first thing Bobby did when he saw Puck poised over Prue's prone figure was cry, "Letifer." The jinx hit the elf square in the back. With a cry, the man fell to the ground crumpling in pain. Seconds later he apparated away.

"He'll be back soon," Bobby warned Casey, who had already rushed to Prue's side. She had fallen to the ground, dirt coating her face. The blonde started when he saw her; there was so much blood. Too much blood. He closed his eyes, pushing the thought away, then told his friend, "I'll get Frank."

Casey barely heard Bobby leave. His entire being was absorbed in Prue as he held her in his arms.

"Hey Casey," Prue grinned weakly, "I think that I prefer board games."

"I completely agree with you," he chuckled back, but his eyes were dark.

"Hey, what's wrong? You look so serious," Prue tried to shift her weight, but winced as she moved.

"Stay still, silly. You're going to make it worse," Casey told her gently. He wondered how he was going to get her out of the clearing before Puck came back.

"Don't you wish we took that apparition test now?" Prue laughed, as if reading his mind, "It was only a week from now. Would have been so helpful."

"You can take it next week. Those medi-witches do wonders, Prudence."

"Don't call me that," the blonde grinned, the said, "I'm feeling kind of dizzy."

Pulling her closer, Casey protested, "No you don't."

"Ow," Prue objected, then coughed. It was a deep, racking cough. She clutched her hands to her mouth. When she pulled them away, she found blood on her skin.

"Casey, I don't like this," she managed, staring wide eyed at the crimson staining her palms.

The wizard was worried. He frowned, then realized his expression was probably scaring Prue.

"Don't worry," he whispered, and kissed her ever so gently.

"Casey," Prue struggled with him, "Don't, it's gross."

She was referring to the blood that now touched his lips, the metallic taste in his mouth making him cringe. He shook his head and kissed her softly again, but she pulled back, closing her eyes.

"Prue! Prue! Come on, what am I going to do without you? Please, please, stay awake. We'll take you back to the castle, everything will be okay."

"You'd be fine without me," Prue whispered with a slight smile. It looked almost grotesque the way blood dribbled from the corner of her lip down her chin.

"No, I won't," Casey growled out. It was too painful for him to even think of life without her. She'd been there since first year. It felt like she'd always been there, "I'm not strong enough."

Prue coughed, hard. Casey's hold tightened on her, but her smile remained, "We're all stronger than we know."

"No, I'm not strong. I'm not," Casey protested, "Not without you."

"Especially you. You're so strong, Casey. You just don't realize it yet.

Casey cradled Prue's body in his arms, "Don't you dare die, Prudence. Don't you dare," he whispered fiercely, his hot breath tickling her ear.

"I don't plan on it, you know," she chuckled dryly, wincing as blood trickled from the corner of her lips. He wiped it away gently with his finger, licking the places it stained.

"Since when have you been a vampire?" Prue demanded weakly.

"Since I found out how sweet your blood tastes," Casey replied softly, "Although I'd prefer not to see it. Did you have to let the guy rough you up so bad?"

"He would have hurt Quant…"

"Prue, you know he can take care of himself," he stroked her cheek, kissing her forehead ever so lightly. Prue coughed again, splattering blood across his face.

"Sorry!" she was so close to tears, it hurt, "Maybe you should just stay…away." There was so much blood.

Tenderly, Casey brought his lips to her cheek, mumbling soothing words against her skin, tongue drying away her tears.

"Casey," Prue stammered, "Stop. This isn't right. Bobby will see."

"Does it make you feel good?" He asked between licks, and she nodded, "Then its right. Don't worry. He can't see, and I won't tell him."

"Casey," she whispered as he continued lathering her face. He moved down to her neck and shoulders, nibbling near her collarbone. She felt her face heat, "Casey!"

"Hmm?"

The words tumbled out before she could stop them, "…I don't want to die."

He stopped his attack, lifting his head, eyes boring into hers, "Don't be so dramatic. You just said you wouldn't."

"I know," she started to cough again, deep and racking. Her blood didn't scatter all over this time because Casey had covered her mouth with his own. Rather than pull back when her body stilled, his lips moved over hers, his tongue beginning a new exploration.

Her blood found its way into his mouth, the metallic taste a compliment to the bitter, dizzy dance their tongues had entangled in. Tears intermingled with saliva and crimson, and Prue noticed Casey tasted like hot sauce and pineapple, like summer and rain, and everything good and alive. She breathed in his scent, spice covered in the thick soil he'd fought in. The air shimmered with magic, but it went unnoticed.

"Prue? Casey? Bobby? Where are you?" The voice broke their contact, and the moment was lost, for the time being. Casey rubbed Prue's blood from his lips, and joked, "We're saved."

She was fading fast, but he didn't notice the way her mute nod took her breath away. It was so hard to breathe. Inhale. Exhale. At least she'd had that time with him, her mind mused.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, and hoped he understood. Sorry for Cerulean and Bobby, sorry for Frank and Elanore and Jasminder. Sorry that she would never get to tease Serendipity and Polaris again, or witness the first time Sylvester found a girlfriend. So very sorry. Prue was sorry she hadn't understood a thing until this moment, and she was so sorry that she'd been hurting Casey for so long that they'd only had these four weeks together. But her world was going black, and her words had gone unnoticed. How lame, she thought, he can't even hear my apology. How like a guy. But…I really do love him. I really, really…
When she closed her eyes, she knew they wouldn't open again.

"We're over here!" he called, searching the surrounding forest for distinguishing landmarks. Finding none, he started to sing the British Anthem as loudly as he could. Holding Prue's head, now limp, close to his chest, he waited for another coughing spasm. But none came.

In fact, she wasn't moving at all.

No.

"Prue?"

No.

"Hey, Prudence, they're almost here."

Nothing. No.

"Prudence, wake up this instant," he ordered severely, then chuckled. That would do it. She hated her name.

No.

No.

No.

"Prue?" his voice cracked, and he shook her, but she didn't move, not even a slight exhale. Kissing her cheek, he asked again, "Prue?"

More frantically now, Casey shook the girl, who must have only been sleeping, because she looked more breathtakingly beautiful now than he'd ever noticed before, even though her face was covered in blood and dirt, and her hair fanned out like some sort of skewed halo.

No.

It's funny how beautiful people look when they're giving up their soul.

"No. No, no, no, no, no. Prue," he choked out, "Wake up. Please."

"Casey?" Bobby had rushed over, one of Quant's arms slung over her shoulder, "Alone time's done. Serendipity, Polaris, and Joshua are here. We have to get out of the woods, now."

Numbly, Casey asked, "Where's everyone else?"

Bobby took a deep breath, "Elanore's dead. Noah's missing. Sylvester ran like a little bitch when Hysteria appeared- Joshua had to take her on alone. We don't know where he went."

"Oh," Casey said.

Bobby leaned in closer, noticing something was wrong, but not placing it, "Casey, is…is Prue okay? She's just sleeping, right? You know you're not supposed to let blood loss victims sleep, right?"

Casey didn't answer. Bobby helped Quant to sit then knelt beside him, "Casey?"

When Casey didn't answer, Bobby put his fingers against her neck, feeling for her pulse. Nothing.

Panicked, Bobby said, "Casey, she's not breathing."

When he stayed wordless, Bobby said again, "Casey, she's really not breathing."

"We've got to get out of here," Casey said.

"What about Prue?" Bobby demanded, horrified.

"She's dead, Bobby," the redhead said, laying her head gently to the ground, "We can come back for her body, but right now, we have to get everyone else out of this forest."

"We can't just leave her here," Bobby protested.

"We can. Elanore's dead, Stone. So is Prue, and Frank probably is too. Maybe Noah is as well, we don't fucking know. So right now, we have to get Polaris, Quant, Joshua, and Serendipity out of here. We have to get the adults, Bobby. There's nothing more we can do."

"Casey-"

"I said nothing," he barked, "Nothing."

And so they left the clearing, and Prue. They made it to the edge of the woods without any problems. They made it into Hogsemeade, and they made it into the Three Broomsticks, which was brightly lit and cheery. They were covered in mud and in some cases blood.

At first, Serendipity's parents and their rich friends didn't realize something was wrong. They cried 'Happy Birthday' and started singing. Then someone noticed the blood across Casey's front. They saw the mud splattered across everyone's nice clothes. They screamed.

When Serendipity's hysterical parents brought them back to the school to explain what exactly had happened, no one believed them. There was no evidence that these thousand year old wizards and witches could still live, and besides, hadn't they said they'd track them down when they tried to run? Where were the bodies, they wanted to know? They sent aurors out into the woods, but they couldn't find the bodies.

Sylvester had showed up at the castle later that night, scared out of his wits. He said he'd ended up on the other side of the woods, and that he'd been so terrified that he'd never get back. But the twisted witches and wizards had never come after him either.

They found Noah in the trickling brook the river running through the forest became. They were lucky they found him when they did. He would live.

And still, no one believed their story.


---- Okay, so that was kind of rushed. I actually put the part in the middle, where Prue is dying, in from a long time ago. I had to super edit it though, because apparently I had originally planned on Prue dating Cerulean yet again, and going with Dirk at one point. So, any part that sounds stunted is because of those details. One more chapter to go. cries

Umbra-shadow

Audra-kindle

Stillicidium-drip rainwater

Letifer- death dealing

Nex- slaughter

Debrio- to intoxicate

Conticeo- to be silent

Imprecor- to curse

Maledictio- to curse

Pestis pestis- plague

Astrum- star

Sidereus- constellation

Caelum- sky

Intemptesta Nox- dead of night

Ictus- stab

Ensis-sword

Assimilares- similar

Appareo- appear

Caruncula- a piece of small flesh

Velox- to hasten

Carnifex- hangman executioner

inficio - to poison taint corrupt