They remained on the ground, holding as still as they could as their pursuers searched for them, splitting into a long line and scanning the ground with bright witchlights. Wings and shouts echoed overhead, coming within meters of finding them. His breathing was a ragged with fear but he desperately held it when lights flashed behind clenched eyelids.
Finally, the voices faded, the searchers returning to their camp. Gellert opened his eyes, shifting off the uncomfortable stone in his back. His body ached, bruises and cuts he didn't remember getting throbbed in uncomfortable concert with the searing staccato of his heartbeat which pulsed in the injuries on his hips.
Berg swore from his left and the massive bird stirred, letting out a soft, mournful mewl. Then Berg was standing over him, wand drawn.
'Are you okay?' The boy asked, eyes searching for any obvious injuries.
'No, but I'll survive.' He took the offered hand, gritting his teeth as Berg helped him up and shuffled towards where the bird was watching them with one glistening eye.
'He's injured, lost some feathers on his left wing and a nasty cut to his right side. I think he's pretty unfit too, that flight exhausted him. They got him with a conjunctivitis too, but I've already used the counter curse for that.'
The cut on the bird's side was nasty, but there was really nothing they could do except hold their shirts against it and hope it would stop bleeding. The raw skin from beneath the manacles was just as nasty and the injury was full of gummy sand from how they'd been lying. Gellert cleaned it up and sacrificed more of his shirt to turn into bandages, then Berg came and tended to Gellert's wounds. With them all patched up as best they could, the two boys took a seat either side of the huge beak.
'What now?' Berg finally asked. They were free, they had a mode of transport even if it was injured but they still had no food and no idea where they were. Gellert's injuries were still bad and getting worse by the hour and the lack of food wasn't helping his body fight off the infection.
'We're clearly on the edge of a desert of some sort and we're several hours ahead of the time at Durmstang, so we must be somewhere to the south and east. I think we should head northwest until we find civilisation.' He glanced around, wondering where north west was.
'Even muggles?' Berg asked nervously and Gellert shrugged.
'Muggles eat.'
'Yeah, plague ridden rats and rotten milk.' Berg said nervously.
'I don't think so... I snuck down to the village near the castle once to meet them and we ate apples. Hermione doesn't eat rats at home either.'
Berg still looked sceptical but agreed nevertheless.
'Do you think you can fly, or do you want to sleep for an hour or so?' The Tunninger heir asked the bird. The eyes snapped shut, decisively answering his question and the two boys laughed.
'One of us should stay awake incase they come back.' Berg decided. Gellert volunteered and they decided to move on when the moon had moved two hand's breadths from its current spot... and, they realised, keeping track of the motion would give them an idea of which direction was east and west. He should also be able to find Polaris, the North Star if he could orientate himself.
Several hours later he was sore and stiff, but he knew what direction they would be going in. He woke Berg and the bird, neither of whom seemed particularly excited but they rose as a group anyway, the two boys climbing up onto the birds back, then the bird clambered to its feet. They had left a patch of dark, bloody ground where they'd camped out but there was nothing to be done.
The bird took off with a rapid beat of wings, surging up not the air and gaining height rapidly. The ground dwindled below them, rocks and shrubs becoming spots and pimples, then fading all together into a rippling plain beneath them. The night may have been balmy on the ground but at this height it was freezing, especially as wind whipped past them. Both boy's clothes were tattered and almost all of Gellert's had been torn into bandages, so the wind blasted his bare skin and he desperately tucked his fingers into the feathers of the bird's back to keep them warm. Berg seemed marginally better and he peered over the sides of the bird's neck to keep a lookout for civilisations.
Gellert must have drifted off because he awoke blearily when the first rays of sunlight pierced his eyelids. They were on the ground, the bird squawking happily as Berg chattered along. A moment later the other boy noticed he was awake and almost skipped over, a chunk of something black in his hand.
'Meat!' Berg exclaimed, shoving a charred chunk in Gellert's direction. He sat up quickly, his stomach grumbling as he almost snatched it from the other boy. 'Star caught it.'
He was too busy gorging himself on the offered food to care who Star was, or even what he was eating. It was chewy, mostly burned and the best thing he'd ever eaten. He cleaned it right to the bone in minutes, moaning in delight. Berg grinned at him cheerfully.
'That,' Gellert announced, 'was the best thing I've ever eaten.'
'It was a bird of some sort. Star caught it just as we were landing.' As if it could hear them, the bird squarked and shuffled over, dropping to the dusty ground with a heavy thud next to Gellert. He found himself looking up at a distinctive patch of white feathers that looked like a star on the bird's throat. He glanced around, wondering where they were.
It was still dusty with lots of prickly looking shrubs dotted around small ridges and rocky cliffs. Berg saw him looking and pointed in a seemingly arbitrary direction, telling him that they'd flown for a couple of hours, crossing a wide river and setting don just before they crossed a large mountain range, currently hidden behind the closest crag.
'Are you sure that bird was edible?' Gellert asked suddenly. His stomach which had previously felt wonderfully full suddenly felt like it was churning. Berg opened his mouth, then hesitated, clutching his own stomach with an odd expression, as though trying to figure out if he felt sick.
'I think so?' He finally answered. By this point, Gellert was feeling terrible, the meal squirming in his guts and threatening to come straight back up again. 'I feel okay?' Berg said finally. Gellert scrambled up, stumbling a couple of meters away and hurling up everything he had just eaten into one of the spiky shrubs.
Several seconds of trembling limbs and acidic burn followed before he felt he could safely navigate back to where he'd been sitting and tenderly lie back down again. Berg watched him worriedly, then crawled over and started cautiously unwrapping his injuries. The smell made Berg gag and Gellert was glad that the taste of bile meant he couldn't smell. Star cooed sadly and extended a single clawed foot for Gellert to grasp in preparation for the inevitably painful cleaning process.
When he regained consciousness they were up in the air again, and he was slung face down over he bird's shoulders. The sun was warm on the back of his neck, the feathers soft beneath his cheek. He could feel Berg behind him, shifting with the movement of the beast beneath them. The massive, sand coloured wings fluttered in the headwind, occasionally beating to keep their speed and altitude. He tried to sit, but his head spun and he felt queasy again, so he gave up, flopping back down again. Berg had noticed he was awake and he offered him some water which Gellert drank greedily, feeling parched.
'What's the time?' Gellert muttered.
'Late afternoon. You've been out for a while.' Berg replied. 'How do you feel?'
'Like dung.' He replied and Berg's eyes flicked to the puncture wounds at his waist. He noticed suddenly that Berg was topless, skin burned an angry red by the sun and wind. His shirt was on Gellert, tight against his slightly wider shoulders.
Gellert allowed his head to roll sideways to that he could watch the land passing underneath him. They were flying over khaki coloured mountains that ran in long ridges, bright specks of green in the valleys and deep blue pearls of lakes.
'There's someone up ahead.' He noted absently. There was a small spiral of smoke, a slight grey smudge that turned into a white plume higher up.
'Where?' Berg leaned sideways so that he could see too. 'Fantastic.'
With confidence that Gellert found incredibly impressive, Berg clambered over him and shuffled up the bird's neck seemingly regardless of the miles of air between him and the ground. He muttered something into the bird's ear tufts and it angled it's head sideways. The wings shifted and they wheeled slightly, beginning a gradual descent.
The bird wasn't as fast as Hermione's Longma, but they still came up on the small house quickly. The little plume of smoke grew from a wisp to a definite cloud, and eventually became recognisable as a large bonfire in a field. They swept over the field, massive wings sending dust and sand up in clouds. Sheep scattered, fleeing from their shadow as they came up on the house, landing heavily at the edge of a lovingly maintained garden that battled the encroaching desert. It was silent as the dust settled and Berg dismounted, sliding down the feathered back and jumping off sideways just before Star's tail. Gellert watched with a feeling of fevered disconnect as the boy drew his wand, squared his shoulders and marched through the garden towards a curtained archway.
It was a pretty building, built of rough hewn stones that blended perfectly with the surrounding sand. There were several trees providing shade and he noticed a little scene set out below one - fluffy sheep with little stick legs being overseen by a straw shepherd. A straw woman with a scrap of fabric wrapped around her head oversaw little straw children.
He was distracted when Berg reappeared, a terrified looking woman following him. She wore a floor length, worn black dress with long sleeves and a black scarf wrapped hastily around her head. She hesitated, eyeing the beast warily as Berg talked Star into settling so that Gellert had less distance to climb.
It ended up as more of a fall than a climb and Berg helped him stand. His legs had become all weak and wobbly and the world spun as he stumbled forwards. He concentrated on his feet, placing them deliberately one after the other until they were in range of the woman. She quickly gathered him up, hands fluttering over his skin as she inspected him from every angle. He couldn't find the energy to feel self conscious.
She babbled something, then started leading him into the house. It was cool which was an incredible relief after the burning sun of outside. It took several seconds for his eyes to adjust, during which time the woman snapped something into the darkness. Someone else, distinguishable only as a shape with gleaming eyes clattered around, then he found himself being lowered onto a hard, cool surface. Berg stepped forwards and unwrapped the bandages around his waist, the putrid smell making both boys gag and the woman gasp. She snatched a bowl off the counter and passed it to a small figure in the corner of the room, snapping an instruction. The child hurried out of the room, then she pulled out another terracotta bowl and passed it to Berg, miming drinking, then pointing out of the door. Berg shrugged, then pointed his wand at the bowl, filling it with water.
The muggle woman shrieked, peering into the bowl suspiciously. She tasted some of the water, then shrugged and dipped a cloth in. Gellert fainted.
He woke up in the pale, steady light of a flickering fire. Berg was dozing on a stone bench and he realised he was laid out on a long, matching stone table. His side itched and throbbed uncomfortably and he still felt feverish, but he was more awake than before. He desperately wanted to see more of the room, and his hand obeyed when he lifted it, his magic jumping happily to create a glowing witchlight.
In the sudden flood of light he realised he was in a relatively small room, walls lined with shelves and hung with pots. There was a pile of sheep's wool in the corner, and a woman stirred in the sudden light. She blinked a couple of times, then scrambled up, looking fearfully up at the light. Her eyes darted over to them as she hastily rearranged the scarf around her head. Berg stirred too, awoken by the noise of the woman rising hastily. He sat up, glanced up at the light and turned to the woman, making soothing noises.
Steeling herself, the woman stood and made her way over, continuously glancing up at the light. Gellert watched her as she came closer and allowed her to lift the damp cloth that was laid over his stomach.
'She's a muggle.' Berg whispered to him. He nodded, having gathered as much. 'Muggle healing is terrible, she's been putting bugs in your injuries all evening.'
'Bugs?' Gellert croaked, feeling queasy in a completely different way to earlier.
'Leeches and flies. Really nasty. She seems pretty confident though and you were in terrible shape already, so I let her do it.'
The woman dropped the cloth back down and headed over to the fire where there was a big pot set near the coals. She spooned out some liquid and passed the bowl to Berg, along with a spoon. She mimed eating, then shuffled off back to her bed. Berg sniffed the food cautiously, then, seeming pleasantly surprised, he helped Gellert eat. It was a spicy meal that set his lips burning and nose running but made him feel cleansed when he was finished.
'That's good.' He muttered, flopping back onto the hard table. Full and in much less pain, he drifted off to sleep again, the witchlight fading with his consciousness.