Chapter 36
Fight and Flight
KIARA
As you all already know, I had no idea what Sian was planning, or even whether she had a plan. I walked half a pace behind her as we headed down the corridor outside Umber's office, knowing it would look very suspicious if I appeared not to know where we were going. I did not dare attempt to talk to her; Umber was walking so closely behind me that I could hear his ragged breathing.
Sian led the way down the stairs into the Entrance Hall. The din of loud voices and the clatter of cutlery on plates echoed from out of the marble doors to the Great Hall - it seemed incredible to me that twenty feet away were people who were enjoying dinner, celebrating the end of exams, not a care in the world ...
Sian walked straight out of the oak front doors and down the stone steps into the balmy evening air. The sin was falling towards the tops of the trees in the Black Forest, and as Sian marched purposefully across the grass - Umber jogging to keep up - our long dark shadows rippled over the grass behind us like cloaks.
"It's hidden in Mina's hut, isn't it?" said Umber eagerly in my ear.
"Of course not," said Sian scathingly. "Mina might have set it off accidentally."
"Yes," said Umber, whose excitement seemed to be mounting. "Yes, she would have done, of course, the great half-breed oaf."
He laughed. I felt a strong urge to swing around and give Umber a piece of my mind, but I resisted. My scar throbbed in the soft evening air but it had not yet burned white-hot, as I knew it would if Zira had moved in for the kill.
"Then ... where is it?" asked Umber, with a hint of uncertainty in his voice as Sian continued to stride towards the Forest.
"In there, of course," said Sian, pointing into the dark trees. "It had to be somewhere that students weren't going to find it accidentally, didn't it?"
"Of course," said Umber, though he sounded a little apprehensive. "Of course ... very well, then ... you two stay ahead of me."
"Can we have your wand, then, if we're going first?" I asked him.
"No, I don't think so, Miss Pride-Lander," said Umber sweetly, poking me in the back with it. "The Ministry places a rather higher value on my life than yours, I'm afraid."
As we reached the cool shade of the first trees, I tried to catch Sian's eye; walking into the Forest without wands seemed to me to be more foolhardy than anything we had done so far that evening. She, however, merely gave Umber a contemptuous glance and plunged straight into the trees, moving at such a pace that Umber, with his shorter legs, had difficulty in keeping up.
"Is it very far in?" Umber asked, as his robe ripped on a bramble.
"Oh yes," said Sian, smiling at Umber's discomfort, "yes, it's well hidden."
My misgivings increased. Sian was not taking the path we had followed to visit Harlow, but the one I followed in my second year to the lair of the monster Aratota. Sian had not been with me on that occasion; I doubted she had any idea what lay at the end of it.
"Er - are you sure this is the right way?" I asked her pointedly.
"Oh yes," she said in a steely voice, crashing through the undergrowth with what I thought was a wholly unnecessary amount of noise. Behind us, Umber tripped up over a fallen sapling. Sian and I grinned at his displeasure, and neither of us paused to help him up again; Sian merely strode on, calling over her shoulder, "It's a bit further in!"
"Sian, keep your voice down," I muttered, hurrying to catch up with her. "Anyone could be listening in here - "
"I want us to be heard," she answered quietly, as Umber jogged noisily after us. "You'll see ..."
We walked on for what seemed a long time, until we were once again so deep into the Forest that the dense tree canopy blocked out all light. I had the feeling I had had before in the Forest, one of being watched by unseen eyes.
"How much further?" Umber demanded angrily from behind me.
"Not far now!" Sian shouted, as we emerged into a dim, dank clearing. "Just a little bit - "
An arrow flew through the air and landed with a menacing thud in the tree just over her head. The air was suddenly full of the sound of hooves; I felt the Forest floor trembling; Umber gave a little scream and pushed me in front of him like a shield -
I wrenched myself from him and turned. Around fifty centaurs were emerging on every side, their bows raised and loaded, pointing at Sian, Umber and I. We backed slowly into the centre of the clearing, Umber uttering odd little whimpers of terror. I looked sideways at Sian, who was wearing a triumphant smile.
"Who are you?" said a voice.
I looked left. The chestnut-bodied centaur called Madara was walking towards us out of the circle: her bow, like those of the others, was raised. On my right, Umber was still whimpering, his wand trembling violently as he pointed it at the advancing centaur.
"I asked who are you, human," said Madara roughly.
"I am Democritus Umber!" said Umber is a high-pitched, terrified voice. "Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic and Headmaster and High Inquisitor of Dragon Mort!"
"You are from the Ministry of Magic?" said Madara, as many of the centaurs in the surrounding circle shifted restlessly.
"That's right!" said Umber, in an even higher voice. "So be careful! By the laws laid down by the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, any attack by half-breeds such as yourselves on a human - "
"What did you call us?" shouted a wild-looking black centaur, whom I recognised as Basha. There was a great deal of angry muttering and tightening of bowstrings around us.
"Don't call them that!" Sian said furiously, but Umber did not appear to have heard her. Still pointing his shaking wand at Madara, he continued, "Law Fifteen "B" states clearly that "any attack by a magical creature who is deemed to have near human intelligence, and therefore considered responsible for its actions - " "
" "Near-human intelligence"?" repeated Madara, as Basha and the several others roared with rage and pawed the ground. "We consider that a great insult, human! Our intelligence, thankfully, far outstrips your own."
"What are you doing in our Forest?" bellowed the hard-faced grey centaur Sian and I had seen on our last trip into the Forest. "Why are you here?"
"Your Forest?" said Umber, shaking not only with fright but also, it seemed, with indignation. "I would remind you that you live here only because the Ministry of Magic permits you certain areas of land - "
An arrow flew so close to his head that it caught at his mousy hair in passing: he let out an ear-splitting scream and threw his hands over his head, while some of the centaurs bellowed their approval and others laughed raucously. The sound of their wild, neighing laughter echoing around the dimly lit clearing and the sight of their pawing hooves was extremely unnerving.
"Whose Forest is it now, human?" bellowed Basha.
"Filthy half-breeds!" he screamed, lowering his hands and pointing his wand back at Madara. "Beasts! Uncontrolled animals!"
And before Umber could cast a curse at Madara, Sian (rather foolishly, I thought) jumped in between the two parties, , holding out an arm to stop each of them. I don't know who looked more shocked between Umber and the centaurs, but both lowered their weapons a little. Umber was the first to recover, though.
"Stand aside, you foolish girl!"
"I will not, sir! I will stand by and protect these creatures, just as I would any human who deserved my help and protection from the likes of you!"
The centaurs looked even more shocked at this; they looked like they were undecided about whether they wanted to attack Sian or not. Indeed, I believe the centaurs had never known a human to defend their entire herd before.
"I am not asking you, girl, I am telling you - "
"And what makes you think I am going to answer or follow you, Professor Umber?" Sian questioned him. "I only answer to my mother, no one else!"
"So you stand by these half-breeds, do you?" Umber tried to sneer, though he was clearly intimidated by the centaurs. "You stand by these beasts, whose intelligence - "
"Yes, I do!" said Sian. "I do not care if their intelligence is higher than mine or not. What matters to me right now is defending these centaurs from the hands of a deranged mad man, who does not understand that respect must be earned, not gained, which you can achieve by not bellowing our laws in their territory, which we did not get permission to cross in the first place!"
"You were the one who brought us in here, you foolish girl!" Umber yelled at her, his eyes popping.
"What's this?" asked Basha, and the centaurs began to paw the earth again. "Our defender brought this man into our midst?"
Sian turned to face Basha then, standing tall with her head held high. "There is no excuse to make amends for what I've done, I know, and I also know that there is no apology that I can say to you that will be good enough for you to accept. Whatever punishment you have for me, I will take it, but I am trying to save you. The question is, will you let me?"
The centaurs stopped pawing the earth and looked at each other, and then at Sian, studying her closely. Finally, Madara spoke, "Never in all our years have we had a human defend our entire herd before. It is a rare thing for we centaurs to be in the debt of a human, and it is not a debt we favour. But I see that you speak wisely and with truth, and are indeed willing to accept any punishment we give you." Madara paused, studying Sian closely again. Sian remained staring at Madara without a trace of fear. I looked around at the centaurs, who were watching Madara closely, some of them playing with their bows. I was very scared for Sian, hoping that they wouldn't attack her. After what seemed like an age, Madara spoke again. "You may proceed, human girl."
Sian said nothing, but Basha did.
"You're trusting this human, Madara? This human, who led this human man here to insult our kind and attack us - "
"I am fully aware of what this human girl has done, Basha, but we must not forget that this human girl is protecting us from the human man's magical attacks." Basha looked stony, but Madara ignored her and looked back at Sian.
Sian wisely said nothing but bowed her head humbly. As she turned back to face Umber, the man himself raised his wand, pointed it at Madara and screamed, "Incarcerous!"
"NO!" Sian screamed, jumping in front of Madara, as ropes thick as snakes shot out of mid-air and wrapped themselves around Sian's throat. I watched, horrified, as she fell to the Forest floor, her hands around the ropes constricting her throat, trying to pull them free as she gasped for air, her limbs jerking uncontrollably.
I ran as fast as I could to Sian's side, as the centaurs charged towards Umber. I tried to wrench the ropes free, but had as much luck as Sian was having. As I was trying to help Sian, who was turning purple, I heard the centaurs bellowing and screaming with rage.
"Noooooo!" I heard Umber then shriek. "Noooooo ... I am Senior Undersecretary ... you cannot - Unhand me, you animals ... nooooo!"
Out of the corner of my eye I saw a flash of red light and knew he had attempted to Stun one of them; then he screamed very loudly. The pounding of hooves sounded close by, and looking up I saw Basha carrying Umber high above her head running into the trees.
I didn't have time to focus on the satisfaction of seeing Umber carried off, for Sian's body movements were slowing, and the ropes were cut so deeply into her skin that I was sure there would be scarring. I frantically searched around for something to cut it with, before I remembered my parents' knife. I pulled it out and, being careful not to cut her skin, I quickly sliced through the ropes that dug into Sian's neck.
As soon as they were cut, Sian took in great lungful's of air. I watched as the colour slowly returned to normal in her face. After her breathing had slowed down enough and the colour in her cheeks had returned to normal, I sat her up. She pulled out a piece of cloth and a flask that was full of some strange, sparkling blue liquid out of her robes. She then poured the sparkling blue liquid on to the cloth, and surprisingly, none of it dropped on to the Forest floor. Sian then wrapped the cloth around her neck; her eyes sparkled the same blue as the strange sparkling liquid, and the said sparkling liquid that was on the cloth glowed a little brighter for a few seconds, before it faded. Seeming satisfied with the result, Sian took off the cloth from around her neck, waved the cloth around her head so that wisps of some charcoal-black substance came off it and not one drop of the strange sparkling liquid, before she held the cloth back over the flask, where the liquid magically poured back into it, then she fastened the flask and stuck it and the cloth back inside her robes.
"Are you OK?" I asked, rubbing her back.
"I will be," Sian answered slowly, her eyes popping slightly. "Thank you, Kiara."
I smiled at her, but then we were brought back to reality by the soft pounding of hooves nearby. We looked around and saw the centaurs studying us closely. I got to my feet and helped Sian up, and the two of us watched the centaurs closely. Once again, Madara spoke.
"Never in all our years has a human ever sacrificed themselves to save our kind before. You are a very strange human indeed ... girl."
"Thank you," said Sian, "but like I said before, I would protect you just as I would any human who was in the same situation. But that does not mean that I see our races as equals, for I know that your race is far superior to ours, as you have clearly pointed out."
"Well said, human," said Madara, bowing her head. "And despite the fact that you trespassed on our land without asking us first, your bravery and courage for protecting our kind against that human shows us that you can be trusted. Therefore, human girl, we offer you one request. Use it wisely."
Sian spoke almost at once. "All I ask is that my friend and I leave here in peace. This is my only request."
Before Madara could give her answer, there came a crashing noise on the edge of the clearing so loud that all of us, Sian, myself and the fifty or so centaurs filling the clearing, looked around. The centaurs raised their bows and arrows again as two thick tree trunks parted ominously and the monstrous form of Harlow the giantess appeared in the gap.
The centaurs nearest her backed into those behind; the clearing was now a forest of bows and arrows waiting to be fired, all pointing upwards at the enormous greyish face that was looming over us from just beneath the thick canopy of branches. Harlow's lopsided mouth was gaping stupidly; we saw her bricklike yellow teeth glimmering in the half-light, her dull sludge-coloured eyes narrowed as she squinted down at the creatures at her feet. Broken ropes trailed from both ankles.
She opened her mouth even wider.
"Meanher."
I did not know what "Meanher" meant, or what language it was from, nor did I much care; I was more focused on Harlow's feet, who were almost as long as my whole body. Sian gazed apprehensively up at Harlow; the centaurs were quite silent, staring up at the giantess, whose huge, round head moved from side to side as she continued to peer among us as though looking for something she had dropped.
"Meanher!" she said again, more insistently.
"Get away from here, giantess!" called Madara. "You are not welcome among us!"
These words seemed to make no impression whatsoever on Harlow. She stooped a little (the centaurs' arms tensed on their bows), then bellowed, "MEANHER!"
A few of the centaurs looked worried now. Sian, however, gave a gasp.
"Kiara!" she whispered. "I think she's trying to say "Mina"!"
At that precise moment Harlow caught sight of the two of us, the only two humans in a sea of centaurs. She lowered her head another foot or so, staring intently at us. I sensed more than felt Sian shaking next to me as Harlow opened her mouth wide again and said in a deep, rumbling voice, "Sharn."
"Goodness," Sian breathed, "she - she remembered!"
"SHARN!" roared Harlow. "WHERE MEANHER?"
"I-I-I d-don't know," Sian stammered. "I'm s-sorry, Harlow, I d-d-don't know!"
"HARLOW WANT MEANHER!"
One of the giantess' massive hands reached down. Before I could pull Sian out of the way, the centaurs had started moving towards Harlow.
It was what the centaurs had been waiting for - Harlow's outstretched fingers were a foot away from me when fifty arrows soared through the air at the giantess, peppering her enormous face, causing her to howl with pain and rage and straighten up, rubbing her face with her enormous hands, breaking off the arrow shafts but forcing the arrowheads in still deeper.
She yelled and stamped her enormous feet and the centaurs scattered out of the way; pebble-sized droplets of Harlow's blood showered on Sian and myself as we ran as fast as we could for the shelter of the trees. Once there we looked back; Harlow was snatching blindly at the centaurs as blood ran down her face; they were retreating in disorder, galloping away through the trees on the other side of the clearing. Sian and I watched Harlow give another roar of fury and plunged after them, smashing more trees aside as she went.
Looking out from around the tree, we saw that one centaur had remained behind; Madara was looking straight at us, her eyes fixed on Sian.
"You may leave here in peace today," she said quietly, her voice loud and clear in the small clearing, "but know this, we centaurs do not forgive, and we do not forget." Then she turned and galloped away after the rest of the herd.
Sian breathed a sigh of relief and leant against the tree for support. Then she gave a gasp of horror.
"What is it?" I asked her.
"Oh, that was horrible," Sian breathed. "And Harlow might kill them all."
"I'm not that fussed, to be honest," I said bitterly.
The sounds of the galloping centaurs and the blundering giantess grew fainter and fainter. As I listened to them, my scar gave another great throb and a wave of terror swept over me.
We had wasted so much time - we were even further from rescuing my parents than we had been when I had had the vision. Not only had I managed to lose my wand but we were stuck in the middle of the Black Forest with no means of transport whatsoever.
"Smart plan," I spat at Sian, having to release some of my fury. "Really smart plan. Where do we go from here?"
"We need to get back up to the castle," said Sian faintly.
"By the time we've done that, my parents'll probably be dead!" I said, kicking a nearby tree in temper. A high-pitched chattering started up overhead and I looked up to see an angry Bowtruckle flexing its long twiglike fingers at me.
"Well, we can't do anything without wands," said Sian hopelessly, letting go of the tree. "Anyway, Kiara, how exactly were you planning to get all the way to London?"
"Yeah, we were just wondering that," said a familiar voice from behind her.
Sian and I moved together instinctively and peered through the trees.
Chris and Chrissie came into sight, closely followed by Kestrel, Nikita, Keziah and Lincoln. All of them looked a little worse for wear - there were several large scratches running the length of Kestrel's cheek; a large purple lump was swelling above Nikita's right eye; Keziah's left eye was puffy and swollen; Chris' lip was bleeding worse than ever and Chrissie's nose looked broken - but all were looking rather pleased with themselves.
"So," said Chris, pushing aside a low-hanging branch and holding out my wand, "had any ideas?"
"How did you get away?" I asked in amazement, taking my wand from Chris.
"Couple of Stunners, a Disarming Charm, Nikita brought off a nice little Impediment Jinx, and Keziah took down Malty," said Chrissie airily, now handing Sian her wand. "But Chris was the best, he got Crate - Bat-Bogey Hex - it was superb, her whole face was covered in the great flapping things. Anyway, we saw you out of the window heading into the Forest and followed. What've you done with Umber?"
"He got carried away," I said. "By a herd of centaurs."
"And they left you behind?" said Chris, looking astonished.
"Not exactly," said Sian. "It's a long story, but they got chased off by Harlow."
"Who's Harlow?" Lincoln asked interestedly.
"Mina's little sister," said Chrissie promptly. "Anyway, never mind that now. Kiara, what did you find out in the fire? Has She-You-Know got Simba and Nala or - ?"
"Yes," I said, as my scar gave another painful prickle, "and I'm sure my parents are still alive, but I can't aww how we're going to get there to help them."
We all fell silent, looking rather scared; the problem facing us seemed insurmountable.
"Well, we'll have to fly, won't we?" said Lincoln, in the closest thing to a matter-of-fact voice I had ever heard him use.
"OK," I said irritably, rounding on him. "First of all, "we" aren't doing anything if you're including yourself in that, and second of all, Chris and Chrissie are the only two people here with broomsticks that aren't being guarded by a security troll, so - "
"Look Kiara, we're all here, we're all with you - except for Kestrel," Sian added.
Kestrel was shocked. "What? But Sian - "
"Sweetie, I'm sorry," said Sian, "but I'm the eldest, and as the eldest it's my job to make sure that my youngest siblings stay out of danger, and that's why you're staying behind. Besides, you're - "
"Oh, don't give me the "you're too young" crap," said Kestrel, which made Sian's jaw drop. "I'm three years older than Kiara was when she fought She-You-Know over the Mirror of Wishes, and - "
"Yeah, but - "
"We were all in the CA together," said Nikita quietly. "It was all supposed to be about fighting She-You-Know, wasn't it? And this is the first chance we've had to do something real - or was that all just a game or something?"
"No - of course it wasn't - " I said impatiently.
"Then we should come too," said Nikita simply. "We want to help."
"That's right," said Lincoln, smiling happily.
"I took down my own cousin for you, doesn't that mean anything?" said Keziah, earning her a lot of strange looks.
My eyes met Chrissie's. I knew Chrissie was thinking exactly what I was: if I could have chosen any members of the CA, in addition to myself Chris, Sian and Chrissie, to join me in the attempt to rescue my parents, I would not have picked Kestrel, Nikita, Keziah or Lincoln.
"Well, it doesn't matter, anything," I said through gritted teeth, "because we still don't know how to get there - "
"I thought we'd settled that," said Lincoln maddeningly. "We're flying!"
"Look," said Chrissie, barely containing her anger, "you might be able to fly without a broomstick but the rest of us can't sprout wings whenever we - "
"There are ways of flying other than broomsticks," said Lincoln serenely.
"Oh, I s'pose we're going to ride on the back of the Kacky Snorgle or whatever it is?" Chris demanded.
"The Crumple-Horned Snorkack can't fly," said Lincoln in a dignified voice, "but they can, and Mina says they're very good at finding places their riders are looking for."
I wheeled round. Standing between two trees, their white eyes gleaming eerily, were two Thestrals, watching the whispered conversation as though they understood every word.
"Yes," I whispered, moving towards them. They turned their reptilian heads, throwing back long black manes, and I stretched out my hand eagerly and patted the nearest one's shining neck; I didn't know how I ever found them ugly.
"Is it those mad horse things?" said Chrissie uncertainly, staring at a place slightly to the left of the Thestral I was patting. "Those ones you can't see unless you've watched someone snuff it?"
"Yeah," I said.
"How many?"
"Just two."
"Well, we need four," said Sian, who was still looking a little shaken but determined just the same.
"Five, Sian," said Kestrel, scowling.
"I think there are eight of us, actually," said Lincoln calmly, counting.
"Don't be stupid, we can't all go!" I said angrily. "Look, you four - " I pointed at Kestrel, Nikita, Keziah and Lincoln, "you're not involved in this, you're not - "
They burst into angry protests. My scar gave another, more painful, twinge. Every moment we delayed was precious; I did not have time to argue.
"OK, fine, it's your choice," I said curtly, "but unless we can find more Thestrals you're not going to be able - "
"Oh, more of them will come," said Chris confidently, who like Chrissie was squinting in the wrong direction, apparently under the impression that he was looking at the horses.
"What makes you think that?"
"Because, in case you hadn't noticed, you and Sian are both covered in blood," he said coolly, "and we know Mina lures Thestrals with raw meat. That's probably why these two turned up in the first place."
I felt a soft tug on my robes at that moment and I looked down to see the closest Thestral licking my sleeve, which was damp with Harlow's blood.
"OK, then," I said, a bright idea occurring, "Chrissie and I will take these two and go ahead, and Sian can stay here with you five and she'll attract more Thestrals - "
"I'm not staying behind!" said Sian furiously.
"Me neither!" said Chris.
"There's no need," said Lincoln, smiling. "Look, here come more now ... you two must really smell ..."
I turned: no fewer than seven or eight Thestrals were picking their way through the trees, their great leathery wings folded tight to their bodies, their eyes gleaming through the darkness. I had no excuse now.
"All right," I said angrily, "pick one and get on."
AN: OK, so I know the thing with the centaurs is quite different here, but I think it's better. I have to admit that I did struggle with the centaurs' thoughts during this chapter, but I think I did it justice, and I hope that you all liked it, too. More still to come.