"Owwwwe" i groaned weakly as my head throbbed. Why does it hurt so damned much? I asked myself as my consciousness flitted back to life in a frenzy of pain and confusion. It felt as though a mountain had fallen on top of me.
Wave after wave of aching weariness washed over me as my body lay crumpled in the thick darkness. Another moment slipped by before fear began to flood my waking thoughts. Memories of the attack on dragon ridge rang in my mind, forcing my eyes to explode open instinctively. Curses and roars, flames and inferno. Blood and smoke. My heart was already racing at the prospect that i'd survived the gory engagement.
Despite the days events I had not expected the shock of what i beheld when my sight finally adjusted to the gloom.
"Nin ethhhh" (Youuuuu) I hissed, squinting straight into an enormous ruby orb which seemed to glow ember like in the shrouded cave.
The dragon's giant eye was fixed unblinking on the tiny boy like shape strewn awkwardly in its open palm. It blinked languidly as it watched him shift into a sitting position. He's not afraid Ancalagon thought to itself. How could I understand the boys speech earlier? Why had this little child risked his life to try and save me even though I had tried to kill him? The humans are murderers and egg thieves, scurrying around like vermin. Yet this boy—
"—Well i guess we-in eth skothii drucan. Dråūg… thanï… druca—neì—thanï …Ancalagon… fīr havéthon-ïm" (well i guess we're even now dragon. However… thank you drago—no—thank you Ancalagon… for saving me.)
I watched the dragon's expression soften from curiosity to something else. Respect? Fondness? It raised its massive head to turn its face upon me, snaking down and around the small frame of my fragile shape as if sizing me up. If I should have felt unnerved or terrified I did not. I was too exhausted and shocked by my predicament to be afraid. Maybe my calm was what would get me out of this ridiculous situation. As the monolithic creature continued to examine me I noticed for the first time a series of wounds where the rocks of the landslide must have cut the incredible beast.
"Ancalagon… nin-eth vødri!" (Ancalagon… you're wounded!) I squeaked, standing up and walking over to his forearm. Before he could so much as hiss or growl I began repairing the damage with a spell. "Vitae renovo" I barked, enunciating the words as clearly as possible. It wasn't the easiest of spells but I managed to complete it without error.
In fact neither Scorpius nor I was terribly adept at medical magic. Charms, Elemental magic, Transfiguration were second nature to me. Medical magic still presented too tricky a challenge. To my obvious shock and elation I watched the bleeding stop and the sinewy tissue of the dragon's forearm begin to repair itself. It was almost like watching fabric weaving threadlike through a loom.
I was about to move on to the next injury when the dragon picked me up with its talons by the hem of my robe. It reminded me of how a human might grab a mouse by its tail, two fingers pinched together. He deposited me back in front of him as though to indicate my effort wasn't necessary. It did however move to inspect the repaired wound, sniffing at it curiously for several moments.
"My name is Albus by the way. Sorry for the itching. That should stop relatively soon." I offered cheerfully. I knew the moment it had moved me with such delicate effort that I would be safe. It trusted me... for whatever that was worth.
"Nice to meet you Albus" A raspy voice retorted wryly from behind me. A woman cackled loudly as the padding of slow footsteps approached. Ancalagon issued a low rumble from its maw and moved a gigantic claw to form a protective cage around me. I saw through the bars that were his talons an aged crone approaching in the gloom. Her tattered robes hung mismatched from years of wear and patchwork repair.
Bones and rune carved stones dangled braided from various spots along the seems of the fabric as well as on the twisted silvery wooden stick she used to help her walk. A glow of firelight shone from the logs that burned in the distance behind her. I still had barely taken a moment to examine my surroundings before the stranger had seen fit to make herself known. I'd been so preoccupied with Ancalagon that I hadn't paused to consider where I was or who else might be among us.
"This is a rare development indeed. I've never known the greater dragons to be so patient with humans, let alone go to any great efforts to save one." The crone croaked as she continued to hobble closer, unperturbed by the presence of the gigantic black wyrm. Ancalagon's rumble grew finally louder forcing the woman to stop disdainfully several yards away. She cocked her head and squinted disdainfully up at the dragon. "You know I fucking heard you before with that mewling, you silly serpent." She barked, whacking the dragon's talon with her makeshift cane as if she were the one he'd caged. Its tongue flicked in and out at the rudeness of the stranger, ignoring the ineffectual blow. I was shocked that this old woman dared be so familiar with such a terrifying entity. My eyes then caught a flicker of reflective patterns shimmering against her skin. As the crackling firelight revealed more and more of the holographic lines realization turned to surprise. My still spinning thoughts understood immediately what I was looking at.
"You're a dark elf!" I shot, recognizing the silvery tattoos that snaked over her sagging face and the exposed skin of her arms where the worn robes failed to cover her. Her wrinkled face contorted awkwardly at my words. I simply turned back to face the dragon, ignoring her shock. "Erm… thank you Ancalagon… for protecting me… but i think i'll be alright with her." I offered blushing at the idea that the dragon had wanted to protect me at all. He peered down at me again before closing his eyes and blowing a stream of hot air at me. He removed his claw but lay his head down in a small half circle around us, one enormous eye kept open to observe our exchange. His blood orb hung glowing like a fiery dagger... threatening the old woman should she dare to hurt me.
"He really likes you this one." The woman shot moving closer. No sooner had she reached me than her bony hand shot forward to grab me by the jaw, nails digging into my flesh. A snarl shook the cave then, although the dragon moved no more than to raise its lip to expose its gigantic fangs.
"Quiet wyrm, you know that the laws of Baciu Tarn are sacred. They bind even you! If you wanted to protect the whelp you should have brought him elsewhere. Now boy, how do you come to know what i am?" Her face was as leathery and wrinkled as the rest of her. Hermione had always told me that wizarding folk aged more slowly than muggles. Judging by the state of her face and the withered quality of her thinning silver hair she must have been ancient indeed.
"As a general rule, madame, I tend to be unbelievably patient and kind, but if you don't remove your hand from my face this instant I will have to remove it from you." I bit angrily out through squished lips. My eyes changed to their snakelike red slits. I could feel powerful magic rising inside me out of protective instinct. My nighfyre ring surged and boiled energy straight into my blood. She released me then with a chuckle and I slipped my hand into my robe to withdraw excalibur. I proffered it to her nonchalantly as though it were a passport instead of a weapon. "How's that in answer to your question? I know of your kind because your prince revealed himself to me."
She gawked, half recoiling in shock at the sight of the artifact now proffered towards her. A hand darted out like a viper again, this time plucking the wand from me as though it were merely a common twig. She moved too fast to be human or even dark elf for that matter. The fact that she dared touch Caledfwlch let alone take it from me spoke volumes about her character and confidence. She was a powerful witch if entirely too rude for my liking. It did really irritate me. Clearly she had not lived around people for a very long time to so casually disregard polite speech or actions.
"So i take it the dark stories of Baciu Tarn stem from it being an entrance to the Svaltalfa realm? One of the key cities must be hidden beneath the stretch of forest in romania which means all those wizards and muggles who vanished here did so at the hands of dark elves protecting their land."
She examined me and the wand cautiously before handing it back.
"I had heard the rumors that a prince had returned one of our peoples heirlooms to your ilk. A fontling for sure, you have the smell of deep and old magic about you, but a human none the less. Mostly…"
She turned and began to retreat to her fire and cauldrons deeper in the cave. She made a beckoning motion back over her shoulder for me to follow her, her long branch like arm and fingers curling in the air. I hesitated, exchanging a glance with the black dragon.
"No need for concern young drake, I give you my word. Upon my life I will do the boy no harm. No more harm than fate has already seen fit to deal him hence." She cackled, clearly amused by herself. The dragon closed his eye again and i knew it was safe for me to follow her.
Bones and more bones were scattered about the cavern's floor. I tried to step around them but each time I took a pace forward i could hear the sickening crunches beneath my feet. Charms made of bird skulls and feathers as well as animal bones and antlers were installed everywhere. Hanging ominously about her campsite were all manner of the morbid trinkets and runes fashioned from the lifeless remains of animals she had consumed. In the distance I spied a hut covered in mushrooms and moss. It too was decorated by the curious effigies. I found a place to sit on a log beside the fire, turning my attention from my surroundings back to the hag.
"Do I get your name? Or shall i simply call you crone?" I asked sarcastically.
"Call me crone again and I will turn you into a toad."
"I thought you promised Ancalagon not to harm me?" i quipped back wryly.
"Harm? What harm is there in transformation?" She mused quietly, staring into the crackling flames. She had six cauldrons bubbling at low temperature and one with some manner of foul looking stew which boiled at full force. "If something bigger eats the toad I can hardly be blamed for that. Crone! Crone he says! Little one, I am one of the yaga. Niime Yaga is my name. The unlucky few amongst the slavs who have encountered my sisters and I, call us the baba yaga… although much is exaggerated in their muggle tales." My eyes went wide at the name. Baba Yaga.
"Dark sorceresses…" I whispered softly. She turned to look me in the eyes and I shivered. Now in the full light of the fire i saw just how warped and terrifying she appeared. She wasn't tall but her limbs were long and her nails sharp like talons. She looked a bit like an enormous bird woman and the feathers in her robes did nothing to dispel the illusion.
"We are peerless witches of dark magic yes. The longest lived females of we dark elves tend in our boredom to dabble in dark magic. So we are shunned by many of our more civilized brethren. We who end up inducted into the Yaga sisterhood live many many lifetimes by your muggle standards. We number just thirteen now and act as guards to the borders of our sacred land. If you were to follow the trail behind my hut you would find a stairwell that delved down and farther into the deep. Thirteen Yaga… and yet even the king fears and respects us for together we could wreak a dark plague across the land. We could weave death and dark spells that even you with that tainted blood would quiver to behold."
I winced at the mention of my curse but chose to remain silent. She noticed the motion and smiled.
"Oh yes boy I smell that unmistakable Riddle serpent scent about you… mingling in with whatever other font magic graces your glorious blood." the way she spoke the word blood sent another shiver down my spine. "He came here once looking for secrets you know. Oh yes. Oh yes..." she mused to herself. At that I truly was shocked.
"You don't mean that you met Voldemort?" I inquired curiously. "What was he like?" She looked at me again and back to the dragon.
"I see why the young one likes you." Niime offered almost sweetly. "The dragon's mother never returned to help hatch him or raise him. She must have been killed or died hunting in the gloom lands below the forest. Whatever doom she met in the end it was I who came by the enormous egg that would become that overgrown lizard over there." I chuckled to myself thinking how I had disparaged him similarly at the battle.
"When he hatched… he had not the strength he has now… he grew sick…and for all my knowledge i was still merely an apprentice yaga at the time. I was the youngest and under the tutelage of the matron when he showed up. Yaga are peerless blood witches, dark practitioners and nature weavers so i should have been able to help the young hatchling but something beyond my art afflicted him. Fate, prophecy, i could not tell. So when that soul-rent dark wizard appeared searching for our secrets…"
I sat by the fire, so entranced by the tale that i heard myself blurt out "And?"
Niime chuckled before turning back to me "It had occurred to me to offer you some stew but then I figured fermented rabbit and squirrel entrails might not be all that appetizing to you. Still you may have some if you like?" She offered, pouring herself a bowl of the boiling liquid. I almost gagged as the smell wafted over from her dish.
"No thank you... Niime…" i managed trying not to grab my nose. I wanted her to continue her tale.
"Well as i said. He appeared looking for secrets and wanted entry to the realm. No doubt he wanted to use our people as pawns in his war of conquest. Without waiting I set upon him and to his credit he did not fall immediately." she smirked to herself as she took a sip of her stew.
"He fell though… didn't he? You bested him. Am I right?" I asked confidently. She nodded, her smirk widening.
"He was shocked by it, I think." she added in absent minded monotone. A a branch cracked in the fire then, sending twinkling cinders into the air as the heat waves danced in front of us.
"Well in all honesty this sounds like he wouldn't have been at his strongest yet." I was analyzing the facts rather than attempting to criticize her. She gave me a look that brokered no room for misinterpretation. 'I could best him still' … 'I could best anyone...' her expression seemed to say.
"He offered me then a bargain in exchange for his miserable life. He knew how to heal the little hatchling over there, he claimed. If i would let him enter the realm of the svaltalfa, he would do this for me."
My eyes went wide at the implication. "Surely you did not grant him passage?"
"Careful boy! Do not imply i would betray my people for the sake of a tiny iguana! I would never fail to discharge the duty that is my protection to the realm!" She crowed, the air chilling in response to her anger.
"I told him to prepare to die. It was then that his serpent familiar moved to protect him. The poor creature was bound to him but also was her own tragedy. The heart of a human women echoed from deep within her. I agreed then out of pity for his cursed pet, to gift him one supreme treasure. Instead of entry into svartalfheim, a secret spell could be his, if he would but honor his original offer to heal the dragon. I warned him if he darkened that dragon in any way I would flay him alive. No blood spell, no warping the creatures heart or soul. And he agreed. He gathered all of the fragments of the hatchlings egg and forged it into this gem."
She withdrew from her robe a beautiful jet black octagonal gem which glowed ruby at its core. In the swirling smoke and embers of the dancing flames it sparkled, transfixing my gaze like a hypnotic lure. Voldemort had crafted this artifact.
"He said his teacher Albus had taught him this spell long ago. I made sure he had not dabbled with the dragon in any way, and true to his word he had merely healed the creature using the trinket he had that night. He told me the jewel was still bound to the hatchling. I would know Ancalagons thoughts and he could sense me and mine through it. He swore that this was the extent of the magic infused within. I need not fear harm befalling the gem or that it could be used to control the dragon. It was magic well wrought... even by Yaga standards."
I stared at the burning black object… entranced by its light.
"And the secret gift you gave to him?" I enquired, still rapt with curiosity at the tale being told.
"Birds boy. I gave him the secret of birds." She whispered. Suddenly I heard the song of crows cawing and blue jays chirping. The flutter of wings in the air. "Do you understand?" she asked of me. It took me a moment even for me to comprehend what she suggested. I had to recall my lessons on Voldemort's abilities before it finally hit me.
"Flight! You were the one who taught him the secret of unaided flight?" I shot excitedly. My excitement turned sour when I realized that the witch in front of me had actually made Voldemort stronger.
"Yes… and when I sent him on his way… true to his word… I never saw him again." She finished somberly although i felt there was more to the tale than she let on.
"Niime what about—" I inquired hesitantly after several moments elapsed in silence.
"—He wants you to have this." She offered, interrupting my question by handing me Ancalagon's egg gem. My eyes widened, turning back to the half sleeping dragon.
"Thank you… I… I don't know what to say." I was speechless. The minute she pressed the gem into the palm of my hand i could feel a wealth of emotion and sensations tingling there. Then a whisper…
"Thank you… for the mountain… prince…"
They are sentient! They are wise! I was suddenly drunk with elation at the realization. My heart bubbled with joy unbridled. He can speak! Charlie would kill to know any of this.
"Get some rest boy. You will need to depart in the morrow, lest your comrades come searching for you. I will not guarantee their protection as well…"
I lay down on a pile of worn furs that sat heaped just close enough to the fire. I stared upwards towards a crack in the ceiling where a thin beam of moonlight shone through. I could feel my muscles aching still from the exertion of holding up all that mountain side. Even with the magic assisting me I thought i may have damaged something. The nightfyre crystals energy had roared through me like a shot of adrenaline.
I tossed Ancalagon's gem into the air a few times, catching it deftly as it fell back down towards me. Today had been by far one of the strangest days of my life.
"Thank you again for this gift. It is an honor." I thought loudly into the crystal.
I could feel his amazing consciousness brush against mine. He was the grateful one. He knew he would have been crushed by the collapsing rocks had I not intervened to save him.
"If ever you need me or my fire… princeling… I will come…" He answered calmly. Even though he was communicating telepathically through his gem I could almost smell the smoky charcoal of his breath when he spoke. I peered over to him to catch his large eye slitted open. He was still observing me. That made me blush for some reason. He could feel my embarrassment and the funniest emotion slipped through the gem. He was chuckling. He found my embarrassment amusing.
"Will I be able to hear and feel your thoughts all the way in england?" I asked suddenly, curious at the limitations of this gem. I also wondered how much of his presence I dared indulge in. He was a great being… it felt rude to engage with him so… informally.
"The farther you are the more difficulty you will have. I will be able to keep some sight of you… but you will not be able to hear or communicate with me… unless by great effort and strain… at least until i decide to next visit the isles that is." He added as an afterthought.
We remained quiet after that… I yawned and rolled onto my side. Falling asleep for several hours. I woke to a tingling from the gem. I sat up groggily and noticed that Niime sat beside me.
