"Okay, you definitely heard that," Cassidy remarked as yet another grumble sounded from beneath their feet.
Aragorn insisted on traveling nearly nonstop to make up for lost time. Thus, they were now climbing up the mountains in near darkness. Aragorn refused to allow Cassidy to cast a simple lumos and thus she relied on Gwedel to prevent her from tripping on the sheer cliffside. Remus and Aragorn seemed to be doing just fine in the dark, but she could practically feel the way they were looking at each other.
Aragorn had brushed off her earlier claims that she could feel something stirring beneath them, but now it was becoming a bit too obvious. Cassidy knew that he, just like Remus, didn't want her to worry. But their efforts were rather pointless as she was perfectly capable of worrying with or without them heeding her words.
"It may just be the rocks settling," Aragorn kept his voice low as he led them along the winding path.
"Mmhmm," since there was no light to see her rolling her eyes, Cassidy made sure to push as much sarcasm into her voice as possible. "That's why you've had you hand on our sword for the past two hours... to beat away the settling rocks."
"Hush, it's best to not talk," Aragorn replied.
"Oh ya, caus the rocks might hear us," Cassidy grumbled, more to herself than anyone.
In truth, she didn't see Aragorn with his hand on his sword, but judging from the fact that he didn't correct her she could assume that she was right. She was able to presume as much because she had long ago drawn her wand. Something was very very wrong and she had no idea when whatever was following them underground would give up following them and attack.
Whatever it was, it wasn't just rocks.
All at once, Remus grew still. Aragorn and Cassidy followed suit and watched as the silhouette of Remus turned his head slightly, sniffing the air. Aragorn tightened his grip on his sword and Cassidy lifted her wand.
"Something's coming," Remus whispered.
"Trolls," was the response from Aragorn before he gestured for them to follow him.
The trio took off, sprinting up the trail, leaping across rocks, and scrambling over fallen slate. Cassidy had one hand on her wand and the other on Gwedel as she desperately attempted to keep up without tripping. They didn't speak as they moved, but the sounds of their heavy breathing and the rocks sliding out from under them seemed to echo across the empty mountains.
As they turned a sharp and rather precarious corner, there was crash a hairsbreadth from Cassidy's back, the very spot where she had been standing only seconds ago.
"Expelliarmus!" the spell shot from her lips on sheer instinct and she heard the distinct sound of something rather large and heavy flying backwards.
"Run," Aragorn yelled, increasing his speed till he was practically flying up the hill.
Cassidy bit back a sarcastic 'what do you think we're doing?!' and pushed onwards. She had to put all her focus into keeping up and maintaining her footing for both Aragorn and Remus had annoyingly long legs. As they ran, a rumbling sound emerged from behind and Cassidy knew that they were being followed. The further they ran, the louder the rumbling became and the more obvious it was that the apparent trolls were gaining on them.
"Up ahead," Aragorn called out. "There's a tunnel up ahead, we need to get through!"
By the sounds of it, their pursuers weren't at all perturbed by the near total blackness that they moved in and seemed to have no problem following the sounds of their footsteps. Thus, Cassidy gave up on all pretenses of secrecy as she used a Lumos to light the area around them.
Her heart rate spiked when she finally saw what was chasing them.
Encroaching from all sides where the type of creatures best left to linger alone in the shadows. All around them, clambering over rocks and stone were terrible, misshapen beasts in colors ranging from grey to green. There was no obvious intention behind their form for they were all of different shape: some even, some lopsided, most large, some small, some with bulging muscles, and some that looked scrawny and hungry. Many of the creatures carried crude looking weapons of clubs and rusted blades whilst others seemed contend to bear their tusk-like teeth. Cassidy could count at least twelve of them, and she had a sinking feeling that there were more.
"Almost there," Aragorn shouted.
Several meters up, Cassidy could see a slightly darkened shadow in the rocks and she knew in an instant that she was looking at the entrance to a cave.
"They'll follow us in!" Remus yelled.
"It leads through the heart of the mountains," Aragorn replied. "It's our only chance!"
And oh how Cassidy loved hearing those words. That's how you know everything is going just wonderfully, her mind quipped in. Right when someone shouts that out... no better sign that everything's under control.
Aragorn made it to the entrance first, his sword drawn and a clash ringing out as his blade made contact with one of the creatures. Remus was quickly behind him and he unsheathed a long dagger that had apparently been gifted to him sometime before they left the Woodland Realm. Cassidy's old professor guarded Aragorn's back swinging the blade wildly in an attempt to deter any more of the creatures from approaching. The man was brave, but clearly unused to muggle weapons and it was painfully obvious that even the trolls knew he wasn't much of a threat with the blade.
Cassidy eventually caught up, Remus grabbing her by her arm and yanking her up to the slight shelf that stood in front of the entrance to the tunnel just as she was about to slip. As soon as Cassidy was on two feet, she whirled around to face the encroaching monsters.
"Ventus!" she cried out as she swirled her wand creating a strong gust of wind that pushed the closest troll out of the way."Protego!" she also threw in, having little faith that the simple shield would stop the hulking trolls.
One glance at the troll that Aragorn was battling showed Cassidy that this wouldn't be an easy fight. His sword rang true and fast, but each blow seemed to glance off the creature's skin as if it were made of iron. A myriad of spells ran through Cassidy's mind, most being unsafe to perform in the limited space of the tunnel. She couldn't use any blasting curses, no fire, nothing that could damage the mount of stones around them.
One spell came to mind and she prayed that it would work on the seemingly impenetrable skin of the troll. She was about to warn Aragorn to duck when the troll managed to swing one arm around unexpectedly, knocking Aragorn through the air until his flight was abruptly stopped by the walls of the tunnel. A disconcerting thud was sounded as his back crashed into the unforgiving stone and Cassidy knew that she had one shot.
"Sectumsempra!" she screamed out the spell that she once learned from a borrowed library book, her wand directing deep, gouging slashes around the beast's chest, hoping that his heart was places somewhat like a human's.
To her relief, the spell worked and the troll gave a roaring cry of pain as deep wounds opened up. Taking a chance, Remus dashed forward and shoved his blade into one of the gouges before being knocked back. Aragorn, seemingly well despite his crash, leapt to his feet. His sword had been pushed aside but it made no difference as he surged forward and grabbed the long dagger already in the troll, twisting it as the beast cried in pain.
A crash sounded from behind and Cassidy turned to see several more trolls encroaching on the entrance to the cave. She looked around frantically, but knew that she didn't have time to cast any effective shielding charms. Thus, she pointed her wand at the rocks above the entrance to their tunnel.
"Descendo."
At her spell, the rocks tumbled downwards, effectively blocking the trolls out and them in. As the rocks fell, she used a Lumos to light the area and take stock of damages.
They were all panting for breath; a combination of fear, adrenaline, running up the cliffside, and exhaustion from their battle weighed on all of them. The troll was splayed out, clearly dead with the blade's hilt still protruding from its chest. Cassidy finally had a chance to get a good look at the creature and she couldn't help but compare it to the troll that once wandered into the Hogwarts dungeons during her first year. While that creature had been large and stupid as well, it was nowhere near as strong and vicious as this troll was.
Cassidy held her wand high, allowing the light to illuminate the cavern where they were now stuck. Remus was already walking towards her, seemingly checking her for injuries when he was the one who was just battered into the wall by a troll.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," she brushed off Remus' worried looks as she cast a simple medi-witch charm to check for any immediate damages to him. "You okay?"
"A few bruises, nothing I haven't dealt with before," he remarked. There was a slight burn on his hand that Cassidy made a mental note to check up on later before turning with the intent to help Aragorn.
"And where did you learn that particular curse?" Remus asked. Cassidy didn't even bother feigning ignorance as to which spell he was referring to.
"I found it my fourth year when I was studying a borrowed copy of Advanced Potion-Making," Cassidy brushed it off. She knew very well which professor's handwriting was scribbled all over the book. She'd seen it in markings on her essays enough times. "I had a passible enough understanding of Latin to test it on a tree and I've used it sparingly since."
"Sparingly?" Remus frowned, but Cassidy ignored him and turned her attention to Aragorn.
The man was still standing, but he leaned heavily upon the wall and had one hand clutched to his side. If the slight wheeze of his breath indicated anything, it seemed highly likely that the man had broken, or at least cracked, a few ribs. As Cassidy stepped closer, she noticed that he had acidic burns trailing up his arms and splashed over his face and neck. Looking at the pattern, she quickly realized that the troll's blood was some sort of acid, possibly magic. As usual, Cassidy opened up her bag and began rummaging through it.
"You did well," Aragorn seemed to be speaking to both Cassidy and Remus as he pushed himself to a full standing. "But we need to keep moving. The trolls are strong, and they'll eventually clear the entrance."
"No no no," Cassidy interrupted, still digging through her pouch. "There is no way you two are traveling while you're still injured."
"Unfortunately, we don't have the luxury of time to wait for us to mend," Aragorn had a terse sort of patience in his voice. "If we-"
"Here," Cassidy cried out, triumphantly digging the bottle of Burn-Healing Paste from her bag. She handed the bright orange jar to Remus who liberally applied it to his hand in demonstration before passing it off to Aragorn. "Apply that to the burns," she instructed.
"This is troll blood," he replied grimly. "It's slow to heal and most herbs-"
"If it works on dragon fire, I'm pretty sure it'll be fine for troll blood," Cassidy cut him off, already searching her bag for another item.
Aragorn took a suspicious sniff of the paste before deciding that it was worth a try. He used several globs to coat his forearms and neck where the troll's blood had caused the wounds. When Aragorn finished applying the paste, Cassidy then retrieved another vial of Murtlap Essence. She ordered Remus to turn around and, upon seeing the determination in her eyes, the man obliged. He lifted the hem of his shirt to reveal already coloring bruises which she sprinkled with the Murtlap Essence, instantly causing the blossoming purple to fade.
"How much healing supplies do you carry?" Remus asked, suspicion coloring his tone.
"I like to be prepared," she brushed off.
"And how often do you need to-"
"Your ribs," Cassidy abruptly turned her attention to Aragorn who was looking at the paste on his arms in shock. "Broken?"
"Only one- maybe two," he admitted as he shifted and grimaced in pain. "I'll bind them and-"
"Stay still, this might sting," she warned. Cassidy focused her attention on his torso, squinting her eyes in concentration. This wasn't a particularly difficult spell, but it could very very easily go wrong. She was carefully to maintain a light, swaying motion as she uttered out, "Emendo."
There was a sharp crack and Aragorn gasped, suddenly straightening as his ribs were pushed back into place and healed.
"I see you've been spending time with Madame Pomfrey," Remus remarked.
"After Lockhart's disaster, I made sure that I knew how to perform it properly," Cassidy replied as Remus chuckled at her answer.
There was a loud shifting of the stones behind them and all three turned in alarm. Even Gwedel seemed apprehensive, though Aragorn whispered a few words that seemed to sooth the horse.
"Protego Maxima," Cassidy held her wand firmly pointed as she set up a shield on the fallen rocks. "I'm not sure if that's gonna last..."
"We should get moving," Aragorn replied abruptly, sheathing his sword and walking further into the darkness of the tunnel. "Keep your light up and follow me."
Cassidy knew that Aragorn still had some pretty severe bruising that she would really like to treat, but she also knew when to shut up and listen. Thus, she quickly packed the Murtlap Essence and Burn-Healing Paste in her bag, rushing to keep up. Though they had been traveling for a good number of hours, there was obviously no time to rest when the trolls may still be attempting to come after them.
As they walked, Cassidy holding up her wand to project light on the tunnel, she soon found her hand straying to her belt where she took a deep swig of her flask. She sighed heavily and leaned one arm on Gwedel who seemed surprisingly calm after what happened. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Remus shooting her a look that very clearly said 'we're going to be talking about this later,' but at the moment, Cassidy really couldn't find it in herself to care.
She was tired, wrung out, and frankly... they still had a lot of walking to do.