Chapter 7
"Harry, remember the plan," his mother said as she floated in front of him, but Harry barely heard her. All he could do was stare up at Karakas hanging dead from the ceiling while he suddenly felt empty inside and utterly numb.
It was strange that this should affect Harry the way it did, since part of Harry hated the man, but at the same time Karakas was the closest thing Harry had to a living parent since he was four. At the very least the man had been a devoted mentor and Harry experienced a sharp stab of pain in his chest realizing Karakas was well and truly dead and wouldn't be coming back.
"Rylan," Harry whispered, because all his mind could come up with was to alert Rylan of what had happened.
"No!" Lily floated even closer to Harry, James not far behind. "You do not owe that monster anything. Remember the plan, Harry!"
"But Rylan – " Harry was unable to say more because his mother had just slapped her very chilly, non-corporal hand across Harry's face.
"Harry, snap out of it, now!" Lily looked like she was ready to slap him again if Harry didn't start acting rationally soon.
Charis moved in front of Harry, all but elbowing James out of the way. "Harry, lower your occlumency shields. All of them."
"Oh dear," Dorea said from further inside the room, apparently catching on to what was happening. "Did he accidentally occlude his trauma?"
"Huh," Harry said, looking between his mother and the rest of the family. His mind felt like it was filled with cotton balls and all it could seem to repeat was the urge to contact Rylan and ask him for help.
"Lower your occlumency shields, Harry, and afterwards we can contact Rylan," Charis said with an utterly reasonable smile, and finally that seemed to make sense to Harry enough that he followed her orders.
The first layer of mental shields was easy enough to lower, but every layer after that became more and more difficult and painful. With every layer gone, more and more mental anguish and shame and guilt filled Harry's head until he had to lean a hand against the wall to keep his balance while he bent over and barely refrained from puking.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck," Harry muttered, his mind suddenly clearer than it had been in many months. "Fuck, this hurts."
"Yes, you were right," Charis said to Dorea. "He definitely has been occluding a little too much, but it probably did make life easier for him over the last year."
"We'll deal with the trauma later," Dorea said with a nod. "Escape first."
"Harry, sweetheart, you must now remember the plan," Lily insisted yet again while giving Harry a desperate look.
Right. The plan. Harry knew this, because his family had hammered the many, many plans they'd come up with over the years into his head over and over again. They'd laid out plans for practically every possible scenario, from what to do when an invading army would take over the school, to Harry accidentally finding himself back home in the wizarding world without warning.
"Plan number one," Harry said, pushing himself upright and finally looking his mum in the eyes. "And using the smuggler's path to escape." Plan number one had always been Karakas' unexpected death.
"Yes," Lily agreed with an encouraging smile. "Now it's time to get your collar off."
Harry inhaled a deep breath while fishing his opal from his satchel. This was it, the moment he'd been trying to make happen for pretty much a decade now. Holding the opal in his palm and pointing a finger at his collar, Harry whispered, "Alohomora."
The leather opened at the invisible seam and the collar slipped away from Harry's neck, landing right in his waiting hand. What followed was a woosh of sheer power that seemed to rush inside Harry so fast and hard that for a few long moments it was hard to breathe as he swayed on his feet.
Harry had never felt such magic, such power, and he now realized that this had always been his, but that the collar had prevented him from accessing it, from even knowing it was there.
Now Harry had all the magic at his fingertips that he'd ever need and he'd never felt more confident or powerful. "Right," Harry said and turned to look at Patroclus. "Go keep an eye on Rylan. He'll have felt that magical burst and I want to know the moment he's heading here." Once his great-grandfather had left he sent a wave of magic towards his remaining family, making sure they'd be visible to others. "Rigel, find Rindyll, and Bernadine, find Valdis. Bring them to me. Everybody else, go explain what is happening to the rest of the students and tell anyone who wants to come with me to pack their clothes and wait in the back courtyard near the springs." The souls flew off while Harry reached inside his satchel to grab another, empty expanded satchel, ready to be filled. Over the years Harry had made many magically expanded satchels and always kept them on his person for an occasion just like the one he was having.
It barely took more than a thought and a wave of his hand to gather every book and piece of paper and trinket and other possession from Karakas' office. Even a sizable chest which was filled with coins, by the sound of it, disappeared inside the bag. Lastly there was Karakas' staff, and Harry grabbed it and held onto it, because he knew that before the day was over he'd probably need to cast many spells to aid their escape and a powerful tool like a much-used staff would certainly help with that.
Harry gave Karakas' body one last look, his chest constricting a few times with grief and regret, but then he turned around and left the empty office without looking back.
Halfway to the library he was intercepted by Rindyll and Valdis, and he was happy to see that they'd both gotten their collars off as well. Harry handed them each a few satchels. "These are much bigger on the inside and will hold lots of stuff. Rindyll, gather all the food you can, things that will keep, and also pots and kettles and other tools for cooking and eating. Just load them full with whatever you deem useful." Then he turned to Valdis while Rindyll took off without further questions. "Take the hospital and load up on potions and herbs and bandages. Also, any tarps, blankets, clothes and other household goods you think will be useful on the road."
"Were are we going?" Valdis asked as she inspected the satchels.
"Far, far away from here," Harry replied with a huge grin.
"Good, that's all I needed to know." And with that, Valdis ran off as well, and Harry continued his journey to the library at a clipped pace.
Inside, he found Auntie Eustice explaining the situation to a few confused students. "Ah, I am glad to see you, nephew. For a moment I thought you'd forget to pack the books."
"Never," Harry said as he held open a new satchel and waved his hand around, summoning every last book in the room. The library wasn't very big, since books were rather rare and expensive in Santika, but there had to be at least a thousand books there, and Harry guided them all inside his expanded bag.
When that room was empty as well, Harry ran towards an area he'd never set foot in, even when he had a very good idea what it looked like thanks to his family giving him their detailed descriptions over the years.
But before Harry could enter the basement, Broi got in the way.
"You," Broi shouted, standing his ground while Harry halted his trek. "You did this. You killed the master."
"Oh for…" Harry inhaled a deep breath and raised his hand. "Karakas killed himself, you fool. Stupefy." Broi went down like a sack of boks and Harry ran around him and aimed his hand at the basement door. "Alohomora."
The door opened with a soft click and Harry took the stone stairs as fast as he could. There were several doors there and even though Harry had a good idea which door housed what items, he did summon his dad to him with a swipe of his thumb over his amulet.
"This door," James said, and then he pointed his fingers at the runes inscribed in the massive wooden door in the correct order they needed to be activated to open it. Harry pressed the staff against the runes one after the other, releasing a small amount of magic each time, activating them until the door clicked open.
Harry's mouth sank open and he stared for what felt like ages as he couldn't quite comprehend what he was seeing.
Gold. Gemstones. Silver. Jewellery. Piles and piles of it, chests overflowing and baskets toppled over with it.
So much wealth that it dazzled Harry and he just couldn't wrap his head around how much treasure was stored there. He knew Karakas made good money renting out and selling kids, but he'd never appreciated how much exactly.
"Harry, hurry," his dad said, though there was humour in his eyes as he smiled at Harry's response to finally laying eyes on the treasure James had been telling him about since Harry was a little kid.
"Right, Accio," Harry said with a grin and he opened another satchel as all the coins and gemstones and other riches came flying at him. At least they'd be able to pay for food and housing once they reached their destination, Harry figured, even if he wasn't yet sure where that destination was going to be. First they had to keep out of Rylan's hands and make it out of Misty Springs in one piece.
Speak of the devil. Patroclus came flying through the walls. "Rylan just got on his horse and is riding to the school."
"Time to go." Harry ran out the now empty room and was about to hurry up the stairs, but he halted in front of another door. It wasn't warded and simply turning the doorhandle opened the door. Inside Harry saw the runic circle painted on the floor that had brought him and countless other children to this hellhole. Without a second thought, Harry aimed his hand and said, "Incendio." Magical flames shot out and engulfed the floor and walls, and without looking back Harry finally ran up the stairs, shot another stupefy at Broi who was just sitting up and looking around in confusion, and then he exited the building through a side door as black smoke started rising up from the basement.
When he passed by the sleeping quarters, Harry aimed his hand in the direction of his own room and summoned his personal chest, which held his clothes, cloak, extra shoes, towels, some notes and whatever trinkets he'd collected over the years. He also summoned his bedlinens because some sheets would always come in handy. It all came flying at him through one of the many open windows and Harry stuffed it all in his satchel and then rushed towards the back courtyard where lots of people were already gathered, most carrying bundles of their own bedlinens with all their belongings stuffed inside. None of them had many personal items, but that made the things they did own all the more precious.
Rindyll and Valdis were there, and so were Genka and Vinka. There were about thirty or so children gathered, mostly the younger ones, who all looked around with wide, uncertain eyes.
"Where is the other staff?" Harry asked, as he removed a few more collars from some of the smallest children until all had been freed. "And the rest of the kids?" Harry slipped the collars inside a satchel as well, not wanting to leave them behind for Rylan to find.
"They're planning on hiding in Shit Creek for a while," Genka said with a shrug. "And then slip out of the city on the cargo boats when they can."
"Yeah, okay," Harry said, looking around their group. Part of him wanted to run after the rest of the staff and children, explain things to them and bring them along, but there was no time because Rylan was on the move and Harry did not want to face him. Not now, when he only just got all his magic back after a lifetime of having it locked away by that fucking collar. "Then we shall hope that the sun goddess shines upon their journey."
"Let her light their way," Genka agreed and then Harry urged everyone to follow Henry and Bernadine, who were the most familiar with the smuggler's path that started just behind the springs and that zigzagged almost straight up the mountain, a narrow, muddy path overgrown with vines and covered by surrounding trees, hiding it from view.
Rindyll and Valdis took the lead, together with most of Harry's relatives, and Harry brought up the rear, looking over his shoulder constantly to make sure Rylan wasn't yet gaining on them.
Patroclus had stayed behind to await Rylan, so Harry would know exactly when he'd reach the school.
"Hurry," Harry called over the children's heads every so often, to make sure everyone understood that this wasn't a relaxing stroll through the countryside.
"He's at the school and he is not happy with finding it all but deserted and on fire," Patroclus said some thirty minutes later when he appeared beside Harry in a flash.
Harry nodded and urged everyone forward, through the wet foliage and across the muddy path, higher and higher up the side of the mountain and deeper into the jungle. Around them monkeys screeched and birds sang and children quietly cried because they had no idea what was happening, but they kept going, since whenever one of the kids was close to a meltdown, one of Harry's relatives would speak with them, offering comfort and staying with them for a while to explain what they could.
"One of Rylan's men who's just arrived at the school knows about the smuggler's path," Patroclus said after what must have been two or three hours of steadily trekking through the wilderness. "They found your tracks and they're in pursuit."
"Fuck," Harry muttered and called ahead. "Anyone who doesn't want to die a most violent death had better get a fucking move on. Rylan Bloodstone is on our heels."
That got people going in a hurry, at least for a while.
"Just a while longer, maybe an hour," Bernadine came to tell Harry at some point. "There is a canyon ahead with a wooden bridge, just over the mountain top. After you cross it, you can destroy it."
That gave Harry a brilliant idea, if he did say so himself, and from that moment on he waved his staff behind himself every minute or so and used his magic to bring down trees and break away pieces of the path, just to make it difficult for their pursuers to follow them. Rylan was a sorcerer and could probably fix it all with magic, but it would take time to do so and thus it would slow him down significantly.
And time was all they needed. Once they crossed the bridge, as Bernadine explained, there were several paths they could choose. As long as Harry erased their prints and other signs of their passage, it would be difficult for Rylan to follow them from there on out.
"Keep going, we're almost at the bridge," Harry shouted, just to keep everyone motivated. Some of the children were complaining that they were tired and hungry and thirsty, but Harry knew they couldn't stop just yet. After another hour they finally summited the mountain and instead of climbing they could now walk down the other side, which helped them pick up their pace considerably. Before long they reached the canyon that cleaved the mountain in half and only a rickety hang bridge connected both sides.
"Go on!" Harry urged Valdis and Rindyll, who were eying the narrow, moss-covered bridge with suspicion. "I won't let anyone fall, promise, but we have to cross it now!"
Finally, Rindyll stepped onto the bridge, holding onto the worn ropes with trembling hands, and crossed it with slow but steady steps. Valdis told a few of the smaller children to follow her and soon enough there was a steady stream of people walking across the bridge, which swung and creaked but held. Harry was the last to cross it, constantly looking over his shoulder, but apparently his attempts to sabotage the path had worked enough to slow down Rylan and his men that Harry never saw them once he'd crossed the bridge.
For a moment Harry was tempted to simply destroy the bridge with a Bombarda, but then he realized that would make it a lot easier for Rylan to repair the bridge if the wreckage was still there at the bottom of the canyon. Best to make sure there was nothing left to fix.
"Incendio!" Harry called and the whole bridge burst into vicious, magical flames. Harry watched it burn for a moment before hurrying after the others. From that moment on Harry made a very real effort to hide their tracks, because they were now taking one of the many paths that were available and Harry wanted to make it difficult for Rylan to figure out where they'd gone. And Harry quickly discovered that using a reparo charm worked best, since it fixed any broken branches and bent leaves and did away with any muddy footprints, leaving the jungle exactly as it had been before a few dozen people trampled through it.
A little over an hour after they'd crossed the bridge they came across a gentle stream with a small waterfall and Harry told everyone to take a rest. Rindyll dug through the satchel of food and produced bags of dried fruit and nuts so everyone could eat and keep their energy up. Harry crouched beside the stream and splashed water across his face before drinking several handfuls of it. The water was cold and sweet and perhaps the most delicious water Harry had ever tasted, but he realized that might also be because this was the first time in his life that he'd really been free. The Dursleys had already treated him like a slave and since arriving in Santika he'd been an actual slave.
But not anymore. As Harry sat beside the stream, gazing up at the many trees and vines around him, listening to a whole flock of colourful parrots squabble, he swore he would never be anyone's slave ever again. And he was going to do whatever it took to make that happen, not just for himself but for his friends as well.
"We'll continue until the rain comes," Harry said after an hour. Some of the kids whined and groaned, but they all got up eventually and they resumed their trek through the jungle.
Occasionally Harry heard voices and at first he thought it was just people complaining.
"Watch where you're going!"
"Do you have to make such a ruckus? I'm trying to sleep."
"Hey, I was tracking that rat and now you've chased it away!"
Harry slowed down a little as he tried to pinpoint where that last voice had come from. He didn't think any of the kids ahead of him on the trail would complain about a missing rat, but then where were those soft voices coming from?
"Hello?" Harry finally called out as he looked around the bushes and trees, trying to make out any humanoid shapes. Had Rylan already caught up with them?
"Did you say something?" Fleamont asked as he floated closer to Harry.
"I keep hearing voices around us," Harry said with a shrug as he picked up his pace again. "Mostly they're complaining about us making too much noise and scaring away rats."
"Well, I'll have a look around," Fleamont said and then offered Harry a dubious but kind smile. "Though perhaps it's time to make camp for the night. And maybe get something to drink. You might be dehydrated." And with that Fleamont floated off into the trees around them. He returned half an hour later. "I've checked the whole perimeter, Harry. There's no one here, just the normal critters of the jungle."
"All right, thanks," Harry said and decided that maybe it would be a good idea to stop and have some rest if he was starting to hear illusionary voices. Since the bridge they'd been following a path going down the mountain and Harry kept an eye out for a patch of jungle that was reasonable flat and big enough to hold 40 people or so for the night.
They passed a stretch of jungle that seemed to fit their needs fifteen minutes later and when Harry peeked up through the thick canopy, what little he could see of the sky seemed to darken with oncoming thunderclouds, so it was time to stop and make some shelters anyway.
"All right, we'll camp here for the night!" Harry's announcement was met with many relieved noises from all the kids. The youngest children were tasked with collecting firewood. Really, whatever sticks they could find would do, since Harry would light the fires with magic anyway. The rest of the children were told to find the largest leaves they could reach so the adults could use magic to turn them into makeshift waterproof tents by gluing them together with magic.
Not that much later they had their camp set up and Genka and Vinka got several large cast iron pots full of boks porridge going over the fires. The smaller kids all simply sat down under the makeshift tents, exhausted from the day's travel. Just when the porridge was done the sky opened but everyone kept dry. Harry quickly transfigured sticks and rocks into wooden spoons and bowls so everyone could have a hot bowl of porridge before they turned in for the night.
"Where is all this smoke coming from? I cannot smell a single bird anymore. Are the trees on fire? What is happening?"
Harry lowered his empty bowl and licked his spoon clean and then quickly got up to look for the person behind that voice. He'd heard it loud and clear, coming from just outside the tent. It was raining steadily, but Harry ignored it as he walked around the trees outside in the falling darkness.
"I haven't eaten in two weeks, and now these monkeys are ruining everything."
There! Right in front of him. Harry pushed some of the leaves from the tent aside and he came face to face with a bright green snake curled around one of the thinner branches from the tree they were using as a post for their tent.
The snake raised its pointy head and stared at Harry. "What do you want? I'm busy here."
"Er…" Harry blinked, not having expected to find a talking snake. Then again, what did he know about snakes, really? He'd never seen a real one, he didn't think. The school and its grounds had been warded against them, since there were plenty of venomous snakes that packed truly impressive bites in the jungle around Misty Springs. And now Harry learned that there were also talking snakes to be found, apparently.
"Sorry to bother you," Harry said, because it couldn't hurt to be polite, even to a snake. "But could you please tell me how it is you can talk?"
The snake didn't seem very impressed as it looked Harry up and down. "I was going to ask you the same thing. I've certainly never met a talking monkey before."
Before Harry could explain he wasn't a monkey, a distressed sound came from behind him. As he turned around, he saw his mum and dad floating there, both looking like they'd seen a ghost, which was rather funny considering what they were.
"Harry," Lily breathed, one hand covering her mouth in shock.
"How is this possible?" James said, shaking his head a few times before going back to staring at Harry with wide, disbelieving eyes.
"What?" Harry was genuinely confused why his parents were so obviously freaking out. "It's just a talking snake. There's plenty of them around here because I've been hearing them all day as it turns out."
"No," Lily said while giving Harry a smile that wavered as she tilted her head in confusion. "That's a regular snake. You're a parselmouth, but I don't understand how that's possible."
"Could it be any of the magic he's been learning here?" James wondered, looking at Lily. "Maybe becoming a necromancer allows him to speak parseltongue somehow?"
"I honestly don't know. It doesn't run in either of our families, as far as I know." Lily floated a little closer to Harry. "It doesn't matter, sweetheart. So you can talk to snakes. It's bound to come in handy while trekking through the jungle."
And his mother was right, of course. Though Harry was confused about his parents' reactions at first, he eventually pushed it out of his mind. He had far more important things to worry about, after all. That very night a thick, constricting snake came sliding inside their tent, lured in by all the enticing scents of small children, no doubt. Harry had a firm talk with that snake and sent it on its way, and from that moment on he was the official snake wrangler of their group. Whenever someone spotted a snake anywhere, Harry was called to tell it to go away.
They continued their escape through the jungle for another three weeks, heading north, since south was just jungle all the way down to the ocean. Harry still remembered the maps he'd studied in detail. Plus Henry and Charlus scouted ahead for days to make sure they were going in the right direction and not accidentally circling back to Misty Springs or something equally horrifying. Eventually they'd leave the jungle behind and hit the plains where there were many towns and cities they could disappear in.
"Where are we going?" Rindyll asked every few days until it became something of a joke between them.
Harry shrugged and said, "We'll know it when we see it." And he was honestly convinced of that. Somewhere in Santika was a place where they could hide away from Rylan while living fulfilling lives. They just had to find it.
Thanks to Harry's snake charming abilities, no one got bitten by one of them, but one little girl did receive a serious spider bite that made her hallucinate for an entire night. Thankfully, Genka and Valdis were good healers and managed to nurse the child back to health. They dealt with all sorts of minor injuries all the time. Cuts and bruises and the occasional sprained ankle. One boy got a fever that lasted for a few days, but Harry transfigured him a stretcher that he floated behind him while the boy slept so they could continue their journey.
They also started hunting, since they weren't sure how long their journey would last and they wanted to ration their dried food as much as possible. Tree-rats were abundant. They were rodents the size of chickens with long tails and thick fur that lived in the canopy. Harry soon learned that summoning them from any direction always worked and every night they'd have four or five to clean so they could add them to the porridge. There were also lots of small deer the size of medium dogs running through the undergrowth that were delicious roasted over the fire. One time Harry spotted a large animal that resembled a wild pig but its nose was long and agile and it had white stripes on its black fur. Whatever it was, it kept them fed for a week. Boks grew plentifully around them so even when their dried stores ran out they could find enough fresh boks to keep them all well-fed.
At first Harry had been unsure how to catch and skin an animal, and none of his living companions had any idea either, but Auntie Eustice had an encyclopaedic knowledge of pretty much everything, and Henry and Bernadine had been outdoor enthusiasts and avid campers in life and knew plenty about how to survive in the wild.
There was also plenty of ripe fruit to be found. Bloodfruit, which had thick skin you had to peel to reveal the bright red, juicy fruit, and honey-eggs, a type of golden berry that grew in large clusters on abundant vines and which tasted like honey.
They washed in the many little streams and curling rivers they encountered and that's when they also cleaned their clothes, which inevitably got muddy while trekking through the jungle.
Fires kept them warm and it also kept the larger predators away. They could hear wolves howl from time to time but they never saw them. They did see tracks of bears on the paths they traversed, and of a valter, which was a large, man-eating cat with stripes that could also climb trees. Lily said it looked a bit like a mix of a tiger and a leopard when she spotted one near their camp one night. Whatever it was, it liked to stalk them after dark and they often found tracks around their camp in the morning, but their wards kept them safe.
All throughout the weeks they travelled Harry tried his very best not to think about Rylan, though he often found his thoughts going in the direction of that man when he was lulled into a state of meditation while quietly walking for miles each day.
Thinking of Rylan filled Harry with many conflicting thoughts and feelings. He was disgusted with the man and with himself for everything he'd done. Rylan was a rapist and a murderer and yet there were times Harry missed him.
Harry was free, as he'd always wanted to be, but sometimes, in the dark at night when he was trying to sleep on the damp floor of the jungle, Harry felt an overwhelming wave of fear for having to stand on his own two feet, for having to make all the decisions for himself from then on.
What if he messed it up? What if he was leading the people around him to a much worse fate than what Karakas and his school had in store for them.
Life had been so much simpler when he'd been Rylan's little pet project. Let the man fuck him, have a few orgasms himself, and learn magic from the man.
Simple. Nothing to think about.
Nothing to fear.
Except that wasn't true, now was it? Harry had everything to fear from the man. Everyone had everything to fear from Rylan Bloodstone and his torturous, murderous ways.
So Harry kept walking in the opposite direction, as far away from Rylan as his feet could carry him, no matter what his treacherous mind whispered in the dead of the night.
Eventually, after weeks and weeks, the jungle made way for more temperate forests that slowly lost their density and included more meadows and grassy hills, with cool winds that swept through their camps at night. They used the furs and skins they'd kept from all the animals they'd hunted to make warm boots and scarves and gloves. All the blankets and sheets were used to create trousers, since all of them were dressed only in knee-high tunics, which were fine in a warm rainforest but far too cold in the open plains. Harry learned how to transfigure several types of natural materials into simple wool sweaters, which they could wear over their tunics, while their waterproof cloaks helped keep the wind out while they walked. The sheets of canvas Harry found inside the expandable satchel full of fabrics were used to create real tents, with thick branches used as poles, since they could no longer rely on finding enough large leaves to create makeshift shelters every night.
The rains also changed, from warm, fat drops to cool, sharp pricks that felt like it might cut their faces open from time to time.
They passed through a few small settlements, hardly large enough to even call a village. Harry bought some bread, root vegetables and salted meat for a few copper coins that kept them fed for a few days. They ran out of boks but found out that the many rivers they crossed were filled with all kinds of edible fish and crustaceans that Harry could easily summon, so from that moment on they ate a lot of fish stew.
"Where are we going?" Rindyll asked yet again with a crooked smile as she dipped a chunk of dark bread in her bowl of stew.
"We'll know it when we see it," Harry replied, as always, not realizing that they'd see it sooner than expected.
"Just ahead, a few miles," Fleamont said the next morning as he and Charlus returned from scouting ahead. "Over that hill."
"What?" Harry asked, equal parts worried and excited.
"Just go. You'll see it," Fleamont said with a huge smile.
Harry urged everyone on in the direction his grandfather pointed at and they trekked up the hill as quickly as they could. Over the weeks they'd all built up enough muscles and improved their physical condition, even the smaller children, that climbing a hill was hardly a challenge anymore. Once Harry crested the hill he looked out over the valley before them and gasped in surprise.
They saw a huge caravan of people, a few hundred of them at least, all moving along in a procession of people on foot, some on horseback, with many carts pulled by enormous pankies. There were flags and banners everywhere, all depicting some sort of version of the sun.
"They're Mardigans," Harry said, unable to hold back a smile.
"What?" Rindyll asked in confusion as she stood beside him.
"I've read about them," Harry explained to the others as they joined him. "They're ritual worshippers of the sun goddess Mar. They travel from town to town, performing rituals of blessings and prosperity and such. You can also hire them to bless a birth or marriage. They don't accept money in payment, just things like food and clothing, whatever people can spare."
"They've got potential," Valdis said with a shrewd look.
"Exactly," Harry agreed with a huge grin. "They're peaceful and they'll probably be happy to accept a bunch of kids in their midst that need a new home."
Before they walked down the hill to join the procession, Harry and the other adults had a very serious talk with the kids.
"Tell no one where you really come from. If someone asks, tell them the orphanage burned down and that you can't remember the name of the city. And tell no one about magic. Our lives depend on it, understood?"
Harry received many solemn nods in reply, but when he, for the first time since they'd escaped, cut off power to his relatives so they weren't visible to others anymore, he was faced with many pouting and crying children, since Harry's relatives had spent lots of time looking after the kids and they were well-liked by everyone.
"You'll make new friends, meet new people who will help you," Harry quickly said, waving towards the long line of people walking across the grassy valley. "Now we have to hurry or we'll have a hard time catching up."
And with a spring in his step Harry all but ran down the hill, exceptionally relieved they'd found a nice bunch of people that could look after the small children in the long run.
"Greetings, travellers. The sun goddess has shone upon your path to bring you to us," a man with brown skin and bright blue eyes said when they reached the caravan of people.
"Yes, she has blessed us indeed," Harry said with a friendly smile. "We were hoping to join you and help spread Mar's blessings."
"All are welcome here," the man said. "I am Benko."
"Harry. That's Rindyll, Valdis, Genka and Vinka. Nice to meet you." Harry felt like a huge weight had just slipped off his shoulders, now that they had found a group of friendly people to join.
"Food carts are up ahead. When we stop for the night they'll provide us with a hot meal." Benko spent the next hour explaining the ways of the Mardigans and it was pretty much as Harry had read. They were a peaceful, religious people who travelled to spread Mar's blessings around and they were accepted in just about every city they visited. For most settlements it was an annual event, the arrival of the Mardigans, that was celebrated with songs and dances and some alcohol as well, of course.
It took very little time for them to fit in with the Mardigans. There were plenty of families with children there, and when word spread that Harry and friends were orphans made homeless when their orphanage burned down, plenty of people were willing to adopt one or two of the small children into their own families and before long all the small children previously in Harry's care had found new parents.
"It's the best possible outcome," Valdis said one evening after they'd finished their meal of vegetable stew provided by the dozens of food carts and cooks that could be found around the busy camp.
"Yeah," Harry agreed. The Mardigans seemed a decent people, at the very least, and Harry knew the small kids would be better off with new parents than sticking with him. They'd looked after the kids during their escape, of course, but Harry hadn't felt any close bond with them, nor a desire to care for them for the rest of their lives. No, this was better. Harry had too much on his plate to worry about thirty small children for years to come.
Valdis then got up to flirt with Benko some more. She seemed to genuinely like the man, even if he was twenty years her senior, and Benko appeared to have a bit of a crush on her as well, if his lovesick smile was any indication. Genka and Vinka were a couple, which had become apparent during their journey, and thankfully the Mardigans had no problems with two people of the same sex in a relationship. Genka and Vinka had adopted three of the kids they were closest with and formed a new but happy family.
That left Harry and Rindyll as they odd couple out in some ways. They still planned to stay with the Mardigans for a good long while because blending in with their crowd offered them good protection.
Unfortunately, that protection wasn't good enough when the person hunting you was a necromancer.
One night, while Harry just laid down in his small tent on the outskirts of the camp, Rylan showed up out of the blue.
Well, a translucent, non-corporal Rylan floated inside the tent, scaring the shit out of Harry.
After releasing a slightly hysterical shriek, Harry stared at his enemy in disbelief. "Are you dead?"
"No need to sound so happy with my demise, my boy," Rylan said, his shimmering face breaking out into a sharp grin. "Sadly, though, I have to disappoint you. I'm not dead, I'm merely casting my soul towards you so we can have a little chat."
Harry's heart hammered in his chest, his mind going a thousand miles a minute trying to figure out what to do, all while Harry sat still and stared at Rylan.
"I've rounded up most of Lord Carcass' kids that fled to Shit Creek," Rylan said in the same kind of bored tone one might use to describe the growth rate of boks. "I've used up those that I could and the rest has been put to work in the castle."
"Used up," Harry said, narrowing his eyes. Since Rylan wasn't there in body, Harry's confidence returned, knowing Rylan couldn't actually hurt him. "You mean murdered."
"Harry," Rylan said, looking at Harry as if he was a disobedient toddler that deserved a spanking. "Why do you care about the cattle? The sheep? Because that is what they are." Rylan waved a translucent hand towards the encampment outside Harry's tent. "We are better than them. Why shouldn't we use them?"
"Because they're just kids and it's wrong," Harry said with conviction. He'd never forgotten the sight of Roy's battered dead body. Roy had deserved so much better than that. "Why do you kill them anyway? It can't be for sex. You've fucked me plenty of times without any murder and you seemed to get off just fine."
Rylan threw his head back and laughed, long and loud. "You are right, my boy. I enjoy fucking the little ones, but I don't have to kill them to get off." Rylan fingered the stone that hung around his neck. "I use their lives for other purposes."
"What purposes?" Harry asked eagerly.
Rylan's look was almost condescending. "Now why would I tell you that, you little traitor? I treated you better than anyone, I taught you all I know, and still you fled with your tail between your legs at the first opportunity."
Harry shrugged and gave Rylan an even stare. "Better a traitor than a slave."
"What an ignorant little fool you are, Harry." Rylan's twisted smile promised several things, none of them pleasant. "And once I catch up with you, I will teach you the error of your ways, mark my words. But for now I need the ritual."
"What ritual?" Harry asked, genuinely confused. As it stood, Rylan knew a hell of a lot more rituals than Harry did.
In a flash Rylan sat almost on top of Harry, his face pressed as close to Harry's as it could without actually touching him. "The ritual to summon magical children here, you fool!"
"Er…" Harry blinked at Rylan while his mind was working overtime trying to figure out where that ritual went. "I don't have it," Harry said, keep his voice as steady as he could because he'd just remembered the pile of paperwork Karakas had given him right before his suicide. On top of that, Harry had taken every book and scroll from Karakas' office anyway. He just hadn't examined any of the contents of that satchel yet, since he'd been a little busy surviving in the jungle.
Rylan seemed to smell Harry as he moved his face up and down as he stared into Harry's eyes. "You lie. I know it."
"Didn't the school burn down?" Harry offered with smug little smile. "Whatever was kept in the school has been destroyed, I'm guessing."
"Hear me, boy," Rylan said, his silvery eyes blazing. "I am coming for you and I will get that ritual. For your sake, Harry, I sincerely hope you still have it because you won't like what I'll do to you if you don't."
Harry gulped before he could stop himself because that was a threat that made Harry more than a little nervous. Before he could reply, Rylan's translucent form shimmered and dissipated, leaving Harry sitting in the darkness of his tent on the brink of hyperventilation.
"Fuck," Harry muttered, running both hands across his face. "Fuck, fuck."
Rylan had a way to track him, because he'd found Harry, even if it was just by casting his soul out of his own body. And who even knew Rylan could do this? How did it even work?
Harry was screwed and he knew it. He needed to flee, lead Rylan away from the others, because if Rylan found the Mardigans, he'd kill every last one of them just to weed out the magical children so he could eventually fuck them to death.
But most importantly, Harry needed to know everything he could about that ritual Rylan wanted so badly. And Harry knew just who to call.
Brushing his thumb across his amulet, Harry pictured the familiar face of his devoted mentor and focused on summoning a new soul.
"Karakas," Harry ordered once his dead master floated in front of him. "Tell me everything you know about Rylan Bloodstone and the ritual you used to summon us here."