Chapter Four
Ice
Cavern
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One thousand years ago, the Ice Caverns had been a place of worship for a small cult of dragon worshippers. Gifted by the white dragon with power magical skills, they went out into the world to spread peace. It turned to war and the black mage, Fata Morgana, trapped the white dragon in its ice prison. It is said that those surviving worshippers returned to protect the sacred home to their dragon god.
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Sirius was at a loss for words. He had, in all of his years of travel with the Marauders, never seen anything like this cavern. Standing at the entrance, looking at the ice covered walls, he found the sight intimidating, if not unnerving. The mage still thought they were walking to their deaths and Weasley was still trying to convince the prince to return to Gryffindor. Sirius ignored them for now, intent on studying the glittering walls for a moment. He rubbed his arms, covered in gooseflesh.
Severus spoke after a moment, "It is nearly spring; this ice should be melting."
Sirius shrugged, not caring and took a few steps forward. The thin layer of ice on the floor crunched under his boots as he walked. The others followed quickly behind him.
"Have you heard of this place?" Remus asked.
"The old legends," Severus answered simply, "of the founders tells about the white dragon forever imprisoned in ice by the dark witch, Fata Morgana."
"Didn't they beat her?" Sirius called back to them.
"Yes, Salazar, Rowena, Helga, and Gryffindor defeated Fata Morgana only after the death, or imprisonment – it depends on who is telling the story – of the white dragon. Well, according to Slytherin storytellers, it was Salazar that struck the killing blow."
"According to the elves, it was Helga," Weasley said sharply.
"And we in Gryffindor say that it was Godric," Remus said smoothly. Sirius rolled his eyes. It figured each blood kingdom would want their founder to be the one who killed Morgana.
"What would you know of elves and their tales, knight?" Severus asked accusatorily.
"I happen to be from Hufflepuff," Weasley said.
Sirius looked back as Weasley removed his helmet, revealing carefully trimmed red hair, sharp blue eyes, and softly pointed ears. He rolled his eyes and ignored the three behind him in favor of deciding on which direction they should go at the split path up ahead. He would have to ask them eventually.
"And yet you are a Gryffindor captain," Severus sneered.
"The reasons for my dwelling in Gryffindor and choosing to serve its king are of no concern of yours," Weasley said defensively. "And you are one to speak, half-elf."
Sirius had had enough. He didn't care if the mage was a bloody naga. He turned around and very nearly had to jump out of the way as the knight nearly walked into him. Weasley looked at him for a moment and he scowled.
"Right or left?" he demanded. "Unless you'd rather just walk blindly through this place and be eaten by something?"
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"Have you searched the crash site?" Cornelius demanded.
"We were unable to, Your Majesty. The creatures in the forest swarmed in on us as soon as we landed. I had to order them to retreat to avoid casualties," Granger answered, standing at ease before her king, her left hand resting on the hilt of her sword.
"The prince is worth more than a few of your soldiers, Granger," he snarled. "I want that site searched."
"We will return in the morning, Your Majesty," she bowed her head.
"No," Cornelius stood up abruptly from his throne. "I want it to be searched tonight."
"I," Granger gazed at her king in surprise. She knew he was upset about his son's disappearance, but she did not think that the lives of twelve soldiers was worth a search through a crashed airship that had likely been abandoned. They would do better if they searched elsewhere. "Yes, Your Majesty."
She bowed low and then turned and left the room, nodding at the two black mages standing outside. She ordered the two soldiers at the door to allow them through and stood by the door listening as they approached the king. What were Slytherins doing in Gryffindor?
"We have ways of retrieving your son, Your Majesty," said one, his voice raspy from beneath his hood. Granger pressed her back to the wall beside the door and strained to hear.
"I need my son alive, not in pieces," Cornelius said coolly.
"We have an agent that can be sent to find him."
"Then do it," Granger ducked out of the way as the footsteps neared the door and watched as they left, talking quietly. First the prince is kidnapped by a troupe of actors, Weasley is named as traitor, and now black mages were helping the king find the prince. She shook her head. It truly wasn't any of her business, but her curiosity had been peaked. She certainly wasn't going to risk her position, but she would keep her ears open.
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Sirius studied the icy wall in front of him. They had been walking for nearly three hours now and the prince had decided that he wanted to take a break. Despite Sirius saying they could walk at least another hour, the prince's icy glare had made him drop the matter. Severus had started a fire and the other three were sitting around it, blankets being used to keep the cold from the floors from seeping too much into their clothes.
So, rather than bothering with them, Sirius took his time surveying the area, wondering if he could just drop the mage off the edge of one of these paths and into the dark abyss below. He contemplated it, but it was too much work to do it. Involved in his examination, he didn't hear Remus approaching him from behind. He saw the dirty white robes and brown hair out of the corner of his eye and nearly jumped in surprise.
"It's very pretty," Remus said after a moment.
Sirius shrugged.
"How much longer until we reach Ravenclaw?"
"We'll stop in Hogsmeade for the night," Sirius said. "From there, three days at least. It depends on how many times we have to rest."
"We should move onward," Weasley said suddenly. Sirius turned around and looked at him. "If you are ready, Your Highness."
Remus nodded.
"Yes, let us continue,"
Severus tapped the ground with the end of his staff. The top lit up with blue flames and the small, badly made fire went out. Sirius wondered if that had just been magical, but decided not to question it. They had a lot of ground to cover if they wanted to get out of this cave and he had no way of knowing how far from Hogsmeade they would be.
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Some hours later, Sirius led the way through a narrow tunnel and out into the cavern beyond it. He could see the pale outlines through the icy walls from the sun and sighed with relief; they were nearly out. He helped Remus through and turned around to examine the room. To their left, a dragon stood on its hide legs, its body encased in ice, and eternally preserving it's massive scaled body.
"The white dragon," Severus breathed, coming up behind the two of them. "I never thought that in all my years, I would see such a sight."
"It's huge," Sirius said, gazing at the fierce looking monster. "You'd think Morgana would've kill it rather than trapping it."
"The dragons are immortal. You can only kill them by destroying the heart. Even the head is re-grown should it be removed," Weasley explained.
"Is it worth anything?" Sirius asked.
"It's priceless," Remus said smoothly.
Sirius snorted.
"Of course," he stretched. "Well, excuse me, but I think we should keep going. This thing isn't exactly going to be waking up and gifting us with extraordinary powers to save the world or something so let's just get out of here. We need to get to Hogsmeade."
Weasley glared at him and he smirked.
"Yes, let's continue," Remus began to walk toward the opposite side of the room. Weasley followed quickly behind him, armor making enough noise that Sirius wondered if it would wake up the bloody dragon. Severus shook his head.
"It is said," he said suddenly, looking pointedly at Sirius, "in elven lore that the white dragon gifted the founders with Animagery. Of course, the founders were after Fata Morgana, so it is likely just a legend."
Sirius shrugged, picking up his pace again and walking far enough behind Remus and Weasley to not be heard.
"You think I'm an heir or something ridiculous like that?" he asked.
"Perhaps. Do you know anything about your family?"
Sirius shrugged.
"Enough to know I'm not an heir of some long dead kings and queens figure," he turned his attention away from the mage.
The room was deathly silent, the only thing of interest the ice-encased dragon. Its eyes followed them. The ancient magic that protected this sacred place swirled to life, creating a sudden breeze through the cavern and around the four walking the ice below. There was an earth-shattering crack as the ice melted and fell upon the party.
Weasley immediately moved to protect the prince, wrapping his arms around Remus's small frame and covering him. Ice hit his armor with a loud crash, denting it as it bounced off. Severus had a shield of fire magic and the ice turned to steam in a matter of seconds, leaving the mage a bit damp. Sirius was unprotected. He cried out in pain as a shard of ice cut through the skin of his shoulder. Something snapped and he fell to his knees.
He felt hands on his shoulder and hissed as the icicle was removed and warm blood soaked through his shirt. Remus murmured a healing spell over the wound and it closed.
"Can you move your arm?" Remus asked.
Sirius shook his head.
"I can't heal broken bones," Remus said, frowning. "Weasley may be able to help."
"That really shouldn't be our biggest problem," Sirius said and suddenly the dragon that had, just moments before, been a block of ice, struck out at Severus.
Severus crumpled to the ground and Remus abandoned Sirius's side to dash toward the fallen mage. Weasley ran forward, drawing his sword as Sirius struggled to his feet, his right arm hanging limply at his side. The dragon lashed out at Weasley, but the knight managed to dodge the blow and his sword cut the delicate skin between the toes, drawing blood.
The dragon howled and this time its blow knocked the knight to the ground, blood standing out brightly upon his armor. The dragon turned its attention to Remus as he knelt beside Severus, all of his energy going toward healing the clawed marks on his side. Sirius stumbled to his feet, pulling one dagger from his belt and holding it with his left hand.
"Hey!" the dragon's red eyes snapped to him and without a sound, the fearsome creature was upon him. He resisted the urge to transform and instead twisted, pulling his arm painfully to avoid the sharp claws. He felt his shirt rip, but there was no pain.
Weasley was on his feet again, rushing back to join the fight, cutting through the soft membrane of the left wing as it was presented to him. By now, Severus was conscious and moving slowly, his wounds healed, but sore. Remus wished suddenly for a weapon of some kind as Severus leaned heavily upon his staff, calling upon a blast of ice magic that froze one wing solid.
The dragon struck out again, screaming now, and it knocked Weasley back several feet, but his armor saved him from any substantial damage. Sirius cursed and rushed forward, ignoring the pain in his right shoulder. The dragon ducked down to catch him in her jaws, but he saw the move and jumped, his boots catching on the scales of her snout. His dagger buried into the membrane of the dragon's right eye.
Rearing back, the dragon tried to shake him off, but he kept his grip on the dagger, crying out as his arm was jerked further from the socket. It was worth it though. Weasley saw his chance and Severus was there to help him. The mage cried out another spell and Weasley's blade sank through the scaled chest into the heart. Blood gushed from the wound as he pulled back, spilling across the ground.
Sirius was thrown from the dragon and he lay on the ground, taking deep breaths, trying to gather the energy to get to his feet. Nearby, he could hear Remus whispering softly in the language of magic and Weasley was at his side, examining his shoulder, muttering about broken collarbones and slings. Sirius breathed a sigh of relief, too happy to be alive to bother struggling as the knight set about setting his collarbone.
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i Next Chapter: The group arrives in Hogsmeade... /i
