Chapter 40

Narcissa tapped her index finger along her lower lip pensively. She even closed her eyes briefly to try to clear her mind of the day's events as she hunkered over the book in her lap looking out the window she sat at.

The last two days following the abrupt departure of her son and his three companions had been somber for the House. At first, it had seemed that the individual parents would be able to pass it off lightly, and without the burdens of their worries to weigh them down, but she had been wrong.

Following her outburst at the Master Mora and her now subsequent avoidance of the Lady, Narcissa had found that even the Gresham's had largely taken to themselves and each other outside of meals in the comfortable little dining Hall that they visited. Uncertainty was painted on their brows and emanated from their collective silences each time she saw them, and she knew this well because it mirrored her own.

Today had been the first time that Ursa had asked her, in a strikingly soft way, to join her to read in the family's library, which Narcissa had accepted. Now, here they subsisted in a quiet that seemed heavily pregnant with fears unvoiced; the Lady Gresham in one chair, and The Lady Malfoy in another.

But Narcissa found that even now, she could not focus on the words in her book, and her mind took to wandering and speculation as the days seemed to creep by.

It was in this distraction that Narcissa found herself gazing curiously at the clouds that had begun to roll down from the high mountain peaks with speed and violent gusts that it occurred to her how dangerous this toil would become. Never taking her eyes from the dreadsome sight, she closed her volume with a dull thud and rose to close the distance between herself and the glossy panes. From behind her, a tiny gasp escaped the lips of Ursa as well, and she found herself joined by the fellow lady as the terrifying sight before them unfolded.

Her icy blue eyes darted nervously to Ursa's, and she found that the Lady's unspoken concerns met her own. Heedlessly, the aloof woman reached out in a tactlessly connecting gesture and slid her hand into Ursa's as she fought against the prickling of tears that dared to spring forth.

Ursa found that she could not even offer a comforting smile, but she gripped Narcissa with equal strength in the grasp as they, together, looked out as the blizzard came crashing down around the peaceful little valley, each praying to the Gods they held in esteem that their children should remain safe, and intact through this awful journey.

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Despite the chill in the air from the raising altitude, and the snow-covered path that the horse navigated carefully, Tyt'o found that the cold had not yet permeated him to the point of discomfort. For the journey the four had been clothed in fur-lined long coats with hoods to cover their heads as well, for the higher air was wicked and cold.

Regardless of the recent closeness the four youths had grown into, a ponderous silence persisted over their travel. Instead of voices and laughter, as they had all come to expect and offer during their normal riding routines, all that was to be heard was the jingling of riding tack as the dull thuds of hoofs was all that could be heard in the static of silence around them. The path into the mountains had started first through the forests that they had come to some familiarity with over the past months, but in the dead of winter the pathways had become hidden under snow so deep it could reach to his hip in some places.

The unnamed leader of the group, he had assumed the head of the trail himself, with his sister in position behind him, and Draco and Theo following behind. The Gresham siblings were more familiar with the terrain than the other two, and being the eldest the onus of leading fell to him.

He swallowed hard with anticipation. It has finally come. He thought excitedly, his eyes watching all around through the thick layers of tree trunks they passed, memorizing the snow-covered boughs of the pine trees, and the barren snow-splattered branches whose twisting prongs resembled the gnarled fingers of a wizened old crone. Since they'd been mere babes, their parents had strived to prepare them for the possibility that they two would embark upon this sacred pilgrimage, and the fates has conspired to see it a reality.

It was enough to make him positively giddy. But by the fluttering feeling of nervous energy floated around in his belly, like the tickling of birds' wings, he understood as well how treacherous the path they undertook would be.

The shameful truth was that even they did not know the exact location of the nest. They had been set upon this with only the Call to guide them, and their magic to bolster their chances of safety for a successful campaign. There was no guidance save their parents loving support and kind words. He didn't have to question if their companions were aware that they were, almost completely, traveling without any specific direction. And in a time when winters last wrathful tempers would rage against its eventual abdication to the warming of springtime.

From behind him, the sound of hooves plodding the ground interrupted the silence around them, and he turned his mind to other things. From his isolated position at the head of the small caravan he gulped back his doubts surrounding his capabilities as the leader. Though the questions he had of himself remained: Would he be brave enough to be able to face Goldoduur down as an invader into the sacred place? Would they be greeted kindly, or with trepidation? Suspicion? A Dragon possessed by his territorial rages could be dangerous and deadly.

Admittedly he had always felt that he, between the pair of siblings, was the one least intimately connected with their Dragons when compared to his sister. Her intuition was so finely and naturally honed that her actions and reactions were often instinctual. He himself he found that he was forced to rely on the tutelage and knowledge of his father and the assurances of his mother and sister. It was often infuriating, though he would never cop to that. Females, it seemed, were more intuitive to Dragons in many ways that he would be unable to achieve. Though with having been weaned from his mother's breast to the magical presence of a Dragon, he was more sensitive still, it was not to the same degree as his sister.

The tall young man turned to look behind him at the trio trailing behind him, each themselves bundled nicely against the elements they would come to face through this trial. Their hoods shielded their faces and their spines bowed lightly forwards to ward away the chill surrounding him.

Their two interlopers, had evolved over the months evolved into companions –and even friends. They had been though trials that were never supposed to be a precedence for them. And yet they had prevailed, and withstood the hardships of training. The lack of initial welcome into the House, and the community within notwithstanding. They traveled with them as brothers now –Tyt'o bit back a smirk as he turned back to face forward again and bit his chuckle inward. Draco, it appeared, really would be a brother, soon enough. And with how his mother's affection had extend to encompass Theo under the wing of her maternal urges, in one way or another they were to destined to be inextricably bound to their family. Through affection, marriage, and the bonding of their lives and magic to those of the Dragons they quested to find, they were a part of their lives now, whether they wished it or not.

Despite his playful musings and the humor they bought to him now, Tyt'o turned his focus to the forest, and the path he intended to navigate. The trees were providing a shelter of sorts against the winter elements, but they would eventually rise above them in their gradual ascent. As they reached the steep and dangerous routes that led them upward, the horses would have to be left behind as the paths would be too sharp for the cumbersome equines.

He patted his mare affectionately, knowing that she would have to find her way to shelter in the valley below without him when that time came. Though he couldn't predict what would happen as the animals found their way home, his father bred them for their sure-footing and their even tempters. For certainly they wished to return to the comforts of home as greatly as he himself would as well.

Cutting through his internal monologues, Tyt'o was distracted when he realized that even through the inconsistent protection of the branches and boughs above them, soft flakes of snow had begun to fall all around them, and the light from day had slowly diminished as the sun made to see them to sleep for the night.

It was time they found a place suitable to shelter them, and the horses for the night. It was only their second day up the mountains and in order to give the animals a chance at a return trip it was pertinent that their riders not push them to the very brink.

"We make camp for the night as soon as we find a place proper for the horses as well." He announced, turning his body fully around so those behind him could hear his voice, and was met by the nodding of the three heads from beneath their hoods.

He sighed as he flexed his chilled hands around the reigns and began to scan the area surrounding them.

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Darkness fell on the second day of their ascent into the mountain range, and further away from the presence of family and safety. The night was calm and the winds more gentle and breeze-like than was typical of the altitude and time of year. The four travelers counted it as a blessing and superstitiously mentioned nothing on the subject, lest their fortunes change.

The night sky was clear and sprinkled with the light of stars above them; the clouds of distant nebulas like fluffy bats of unspun colored wools marked the heavens in a great arc through the twinkling stars. Despite the beauty of their surroundings, the four pupils found that they had little to talk about, as each took to themselves in deep thought and seriousness now, with the pressing knowledge of what lay ahead of them.

It was when they had all taken to their bedrolls, bellies filled with dried meats and bread for their meal, where they had settled into the blankets over their clothed bodies. Tyt'o had nestled himself next to Hermione at the center of the group; when they were clearing the area of stones and debris, Tyt'o had caught Draco's eye when he lay his bedroll directly next to hers. She was the smallest of their crew and without discussion he knew she would be better protected from the elements between himself and one of their fellows. So long as that wasn't Draco.

The Heir to the House of Malfoy didn't bother to allow his annoyance get the best of him; At this juncture, it was all but spoken aloud what his interest in Hermione involved. He recognized that if he had a sister, he would protect her similarly as well.

Draco tried to clear his mind of his musings around his sweetheart to focus on the tasks of situating their sleeping shelter, but from the corner of his eye he found himself acutely aware that she had taken up the hilt of fashioning two long poles to create a tent against the mountain they butted up against. It wasn't until he realized that his attention had been noted by her brother that he found himself wordlessly admonishing his uncharacteristic brazenness, and lack of subtlety.

The task took little enough time, and soon the four settled into their own meager beds beneath a lowly hung tent, their small fire dwindling slowly as the kindling burned into ashes and allowed the darkness to permeate the area once again.

As Hermione curled up against her brother, she offered a watery smile as she closed her eyes. At the side of the mountain there was an indentation protected from where the winds could fully reach them, and the horses, that had managed to avoid any real snowfall. This is where they had made their small encampment for the night.

With her frame more slight than the three boys she traveled with, Hermione was grateful to be surrounded at least by their bodies as well. The space was small, but not constrictive, and the silence between everyone had been heavy through the last 48 hours of travel as the reality had finally sunk it.

It wasn't for several minutes that Theo's voice finally broke the calm with a question.

"How long will it be until we reach the nest?" His voice was hushed, but the mystery had hung in the air since the first day he had arrived in the House, and there had seemed no proper moment to ask it before.

Hermione nuzzled her face out from the bedroll to uncover her mouth, even though she curled herself tighter. In the darkness they could not see each other, only exchange conversation as the fire had reduced itself to embers and coals now. She sighed before responding.

"There is no certainty because of the conditions on the mountain." She offered. "If storms come, we might be delayed until they pass."

Theo mulled this over in him mind. The other two lay quietly as well as the conversation went on. "What is the direction we seek? How will we know it?" The ambiguity now seemed unnecessary and unsettling, anymore. But being lost in a dangerous mountain range while searching blindly for a mythical occurrence had similarly begun to border on idiocy. He'd understood, to a degree, why it hadn't been discussed with them prior to this point. The assurance of secrecy had been so paramount that the Gresham's had avoided any topic where the actual journey to the Dragon nest had been concerned. But now, in the mountains, days upon a treacherous mountain path into the unknown, it felt right to ask finally.

And it seemed that the Gresham siblings concurred as well, for after a brief pause before responding, Theo heard the faintest of whispering back and forth between Tyt'o and Hermione before he registered that she had sat up fully, her head nearly up to the cloth ceiling of their makeshift tent.

"Do you remember Dragon Tears, Theo?" Theo nodded as he responded positively, even though no one could see him. "Do you remember the feel of the magic, when you drank the waters of the falls? The feel of the Dragon magic?" He whispered his grasp of this, too, and she sighed once more as she paused.

"This magic, it –it is not endemic to you. You two are outsiders to us; you were not raised here." She said plainly. "By drinking from the waters, and taking the rites of our Gods, you have been baptized in it. In eating the food, and bathing in the water; all of it is influenced by those same magics. It is how you came to hear the Calling." Her voice got so quiet is was nearly inaudible when she whispered out her last sentence. "You're all but blood to us now. A –At least the Dragons will see you so."

The statement hung in the air heavily in Draco's ears as he tuned in acutely to what she had said. 'All but blood'? Had the magic changed them somehow? Was he no longer a Malfoy? Even laying down he felt lightheaded suddenly and rolled his head to the side to acclimate himself and try to get his bearings. The implications washing over him in a cold sweat, but before he could provide commentary, Theo continued. "Why would the Dragons see us as your blood?" He interjected in curiosity.

Hermione couldn't see her brothers face, but she knew if she did it would look pinched and displeased at the admissions of their ancestor's secrets. She didn't share the same furtive motives as he did, for here they were; at the side of the mountain after months –Nay! –Years of hard work and training for the siblings, and a commitment at least from the recent additions to their band of riders.

"Our Dragons will never bond to anyone but a descendant of the Gresham's." She confessed carefully, facing over her shoulder to her beau from the other side of her brother. Tyt'o rolled over to his back as he suppressed a groan.

"But then why train us? Why bring us with you? What point does all this have?" Theo asked with a small voice, feeling the pit of powerlessness grow inside his belly, threatening to claw out from inside him with its waves of sorrow.

The daughter of the House of Gresham, though in the dark, could feel tears of anger at herself –at her family- for leaving out such details of import to their two new kin. Anger at her father for forbidding them to impart such secrets, yet being so cowardly he could not warn the two young men at the same time. She tried not to chock as she felt the precious moisture fall from her eyes. To keep her voice even and belie the emotions she showed.

"We had no other choice." Tyt'o interrupted in a deadly calm tone. "Your fathers are pressing suits and sanctions against our people and lands because of a long-dead covenant between the Gresham's and the Malfoy's where our treacherous ancestor broke a contract of marriage in favor for the woman he loved." The man wiped his palms down his face in exhaustion. "Our father was given the option of heavy taxation to his people and lands for reparations, which would starve many of our people out of the lands they've tilled for generations. To fulfill the contract between Houses, or to abdicate two seats for rider training."

Draco heard the words ringing in his ears loudly as they were spoken, and they ran his mouth dry. His eyes searched in the darkness for Hermione's face, and yet he could see was the silhouette of her back and the curls of her hair as she cast her eyes to her hands in her lap, unable to look back at him.

"So it was all for political protection. For gain between rival Houses?" He asked, not even trying to hide the bitterness in his tone.

From beside him, Tyt'o could feel his sister's body shaking with silent tears. A testament to her control that she refused to utter even a single sound despite being clearly distraught over the implications presented.

The hesitation from both Gresham's spoke without words, which both Theo and Draco heard clearly enough. They were not family. They were not friends. They were a fulfillment of duty, and nothing more.

"D –Draco, I-" Hermione stammered out before Draco interrupted her.

"We need know no more." His voice was hard, and the words were like knives when he spoke them. The only noise he made after that was a pointed thud as his body hit his bedroll. Hermione shut her eyes so tightly that they hurt as she crushed her fists against her mouth. 'No!' She wanted to scream, but the words had come out all wrong! All facts, and no social niceties! It was her biggest weakness to regurgitate the facts and leave nothing left for the emotional parts. 'You are part of us now! Forever and ever! You will be as family, as one of the House in your own rites now! The magic has woven you into our lands, as one of our people, and one of us!' But the words died in her mind as a sob escaped her lips, her declarations fading away as the hurt inside her swelled and absorbed her.

Tyt'o reached up and pulled his sister into the protection of his chest as she shuddered in the darkness. From either side of the siblings, both Theo and Draco found that their eyes burned with tears of rage and betrayal in hearing that the months of bonding and companionships built had, truly, meant nothing.

And while Theo curled up tighter as he fought back his doubts and fears as the dark vespers held them in their embrace, it was Draco who willed his heart to turn to stone.

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