AN: So, here we are with the next chapter. As I said last week, you will not be needing tissues for this chapter, but the next chapter 'til the end of the book you will definitely be needing them. So, here's this chapter and I will be posting again next week, same day as always.

Chapter 31

Flight of the Princess

KIARA

I felt as though I, too, were hurtling through space; it could not have happened ... it could not have happened ...

"Out of here, quickly," said Triphorm.

She seized Malty by the scruff of the neck and forced her through the door ahead of the rest; Silverfur and the squat brother and sister followed, the latter both panting excitedly. As they vanished through the door I realised I could move again; what was now holding me paralysed against the wall was not magic, but horror and shock. I threw the Invisibility Cloak aside as the brutal-faced Love Destroyer, last to leave the Tower top, was disappearing through the door.

"Petrificus Totalus!"

The Love Destroyer buckled as though hit in the back with something solid, and fell to the ground, rigid as a waxwork, but she had barely hit the floor when I was clambering over her and running down the darkener staircase.

Terror tore at my heart ... I had to get to Crighton and I had to catch Triphorm ... I could reverse what had happened if I had them both together ... Crighton could not have died ...

I leapt the last ten steps of the spiral staircase and stopped where I landed, my wand raised: the dimly lit corridor was full of dust; half the ceiling seemed to have fallen in and a battle was raging before me, but even as I attempted to make out who was fighting whom, I heard the hated voice shout, "It's over, time to go!" and I saw Triphorm disappearing round the corner at the far end of the corridor; she and Malty seemed to have forced their way through the fight unscathed. As I plunged after them, one of the fighters detached themselves from the fray and flew at me: it was the werewolf, Silverfur. He was on top of me before I could raise my wand: I fell backwards, with filthy matted hair in my face, the stench of sweat and blood filling my nose and mouth, hot greedy breath at my throat -

"Petrificus Totalus!"

I felt Silverfur collapse against me; with a stupendous effort I pushed the werewolf off and on to the floor as a jet of green light came flying towards me; I ducked and ran, headfirst, into the fight. My feet met something squashy and slippery on the floor and I stumbled: there were two bodies lying there, face down in a pool of blood, but there was no time to investigate: I now saw brown hair flying in front of me: Chris was locked in combat with the lumpy Love Destroyer, Acantha: Acantha, who was throwing hex after hex at him while he dodged them: Acantha was giggling, enjoying the sport: "Crucio - Crucio - you can't dance forever, handsome - "

"Impedimenta!" I yelled.

My jinx hit Acantha in the chest: she gave a piglike squeal of pain, was lifted off her feet and slammed into the opposite wall, slid down it and fell out of sight behind Chrissie, Professor Darbus and Meers, each of whom was battling a separate Love Destroyer: behind them, I saw Todd and my parents battling an enormous blonde witch who was sending curses flying in all directions, so that they ricocheted off the walls around them, cracking stone, shattering the nearest window -

"Kiara, where did you come from?" Chris cried, but there was no time for me to give him an answer. I put my head down and sprinted forwards, narrowly avoiding a blast that erupted over my head, showering us all in bits of the wall: Triphorm must not escape, I must catch up with Triphorm -

"Take that!" shouted Professor Darbus, and I glimpsed the male Love Destroyer, Abaddon, sprinting away down the corridor with his arms over his head, his sister right behind him. I launched myself after them, but my foot caught on something and next moment I was lying across someone's legs: looking around, I saw Nikita's pale, round face flat against the floor.

"Nikita, are you - ?"

"'M'all right," muttered Nikita, who was clutching her stomach, "Kiara ... Triphorm 'n' Malty ... ran past ..."

"I know, I'm on it!" I said, aiming a hex from the floor at the enormous blonde Love Destroyer who was causing most of the chaos: the woman gave a howl of pain as the spell hit her in the face; she wheeled round, staggered and then pounded away after the brother and sister.

I scrambled up from the floor and began to sprint along the corridor, ignoring the bangs issuing from behind me, the yells of the others to come back, and the mute call of the figures on the ground, whose fate I did not yet know ...

I skidded round the corner, my shoes slippery with blood; Triphorm had an immense head-start - was it possible that she had already entered the Cabinet in the Room of Needs, or had the Order made steps to secure it, to prevent the Love Destroyers retreating that way? I could hear nothing but my own pounding feet, my own hammering heart as I sprinted along the next empty corridor, but then I spotted a bloody footprint which showed that at least one of the fleeing Love Destroyers was heading towards the front doors - perhaps the Room of Needs was indeed blocked -

I skidded round another corner and a curse flew past me: I dived behind a suit of armour which exploded; I saw the brother and sister Love Destroyers running down the marble staircase ahead and I aimed jinxes at them, but merely hit several bewigged witches on the landing, who ran screeching into neighbouring paintings; as I leapt over the wreckage of armour I heard more shouts and screams; other people within the castle seemed to have awoken ...

I pelted towards a short cut, hoping to overtake the brother and sister and close in on Triphorm and Malty, who must surely have reached the grounds by now; remembering to leap the vanishing step halfway down the concealed staircase I burst through a tapestry at the bottom and out into a corridor where a number of bewildered and pyjama-clad Badger-Stripes stood.

"Kiara! We heard a noise and someone said something about the Death Trail - " began Emily Mac.

"Out of the way!" I yelled, knocking two girls aside as I sprinted towards the landing and down the remainder of the marble staircase. The oak front doors had been blasted open; there were smears of blood on the flagstones and several terrified students stood huddled against the walls, one or two still cowering with their arms over their faces; the giant Lion-Heart hour glass had been hit by a curse and the rubies within were still falling, with a loud rattle, on to the flagstones below ...

I flew across the Entrance Hall and out into the dark grounds: I could just make out three figures racing across the lawn, heading for the gates beyond which they could Disapparate - by the looks of them, the huge blonde Love Destroyer and, some way ahead of her, Triphorm and Malty ...

The cold night air ripped at my lungs as I tore after them; I saw a flash of light in the distance that momentarily silhouetted my quarry; I did not know what it was but I continued to run, not yet near enough to get a good aim with a curse -

Another flash, shouts, retaliatory jets of light, and I understood: Mina had emerged from her cabin and was trying to stop the Love Destroyers escaping, and though every breath seemed to shred my lungs and the stitch in my chest was like fire, I sped up as an unbidden voice in my head said: not Mina ... not Mina too ...

Something caught me hard in the small of the back and I fell forwards, my face smacking the ground, blood pouring out of both nostrils: I knew, even as I rolled over, my wand ready, that the brother and sister had overtaken using my shortcut and were closing in behind me ...

"Impedimenta!" I yelled as I rolled over again, crouching close to the dark ground, and miraculously my jinx hit one of them, who stumbled and fell, tripping up the other; I leapt to my feet and sprinted on, after Triphorm ...

And now I saw the vast outline of Mina, illuminated by the light of the crescent moon revealed suddenly from behind the clouds; the blonde Love Destroyer was aiming curse after curse at the gamekeeper, but Mina's immense strength and the toughened skin she had inherited from her giant father, seemed to be protecting her; Triphorm and Malty, however, were still running; they would soon be beyond the gates, able to Disapparate -

I tore past Mina and her opponent, took aim at Triphorm's back and yelled, "Stupefy!"

I missed; the jet of light soared past Triphorm's head; Triphorm shouted, "Run, Dani!" and turned; twenty yards apart she and I looked at each other before we raised our wand simultaneously.

"Cruc - "

But Triphorm parried the curse, knocking me backwards off my feet before I could complete it; I rolled over and scrambled back up again as the huge Love Destroyer behind me yelled, "Incendio!"; I heard an explosive bang and a dancing orange light spilled over all of us: Mina's house was on fire.

"Gnasher's in there, yeh evil - !" Mina bellowed.

"Cruc - " I yelled for the second time, aiming for the figure ahead illuminated in the dancing firelight, but Triphorm blocked the spell again; I could see her sneering.

"No Unforgivable Curses from you, Pride-Lander!" she shouted over the rushing of the flames, Mina's yells and the wild yelping of the trapped Gnasher. "You haven't got the nerve or the ability - "

"Incarc - " I roared, but Triphorm deflected the spell with an almost lazy flick of her arm.

"Fight back!" I screamed at her. "Fight back, you cowardly - "

"Coward, did you call me, Pride-Lander?" shouted Triphorm. "Your mother would never attack me unless it was four on one, what will you call her, I wonder?"

"Stupe - "

"Blocked again, and again, and again until you learn to keep your mouth shut and your mind closed, Pride-Lander!" sneered Triphorm, deflecting the curse once more. "Now, come!" she shouted at the huge Love Destroyer behind me. "It is time to be gone, before the Ministry turns up - "

"Impedi - "

But before I could finish the jinx, excruciating pain hit me; I keeled over in the grass, someone was screaming, I would surely die of this agony, Triphorm was going to torture me to death or madness -

"No!" roared Triphorm's voice and the pain stopped as suddenly as it had started; I lay curled on the dark grass, clutching my wand and panting; somewhere above me Triphorm was shouting, "Have you forgotten our orders? Pride-Lander belongs to the Scarlet Lady - we are to leave her! Go! Go!"

And I felt the ground shudder under my face as the brother and sister and the enormous Love Destroyer obeyed, running towards the gates. I uttered an inarticulate yell of rage: in that instant, I cared not whether I lived or died; pushing myself to my feet again, I staggered blindly towards Triphorm, the woman I hated as much as I hated Zira herself -

"Sectum - "

Triphorm flicked her wand and the curse was repelled yet again; but I was mere feet away now and I could see Triphorm's face clearly at last: she was no longer sneering or jeering; the blazing flames showed a face full of rage. Mustering all my powers of concentration, I thought, "Levi - "

"No, Pride-Lander!" screamed Triphorm. There was a loud bang and I was soaring backwards, hitting the ground hard again, and this time my wand flew out of my hand. I could hear Mina yelling and Gnasher howling as Triphorm closed in and looked down on me where I lay, wandless and defenceless as Crighton had been. Triphorm's pale face, illuminated by the flaming cabin, was suffused with hatred just as it had been before she had cursed Crighton. Before she could say or do anything more to me, however, two figures jumped between myself and Triphorm, and looking up, I saw that the figures were my parents, both of whom had their wands pointed at Triphorm and were looking furious.

"Get the hell away from our daughter, Triphorm!" my father growled, striking the ground at Triphorm's feet with his wand; Triphorm was thrown backwards, but she quickly got up again, looking angrier than ever.

"Oh good, the Pride-Lander seniors are here!" sneered Triphorm. "You know, it's good that you both showed up in time to stop your darling daughter here from using my own spells against me - I, the Half-Blood Princess! And she had the nerve to use my inventions on me, just like her filthy mother - "

My father, forgetting all about his wand, struck Triphorm across the face, looking angrier than I had ever seen him; Triphorm clutched at her stinging cheek, looking at my father in shock.

"You do not get to talk to my wife and daughter that way!" he shouted at Triphorm. "You know, I once thought long ago that you and I could ... but I see now as I saw all those years ago that I made the right choice. You disgust me, Triphorm, and you are absolutely nothing to me!"

Triphorm looked shocked and hurt at my father's words; I was shocked that he had once had a thing for Triphorm, but my rage and contempt for her soon took over, and I said, "What's the matter? Too scared to hurt my father after what he said to you? Why don't you kill us and get it over with like you killed her, or are you too cowardly to - ?"

"DON'T - " screamed Triphorm, her attention back on me, and her face was suddenly inhuman, as though she was in as much pain as the yelping, howling dog stuck in the burning house behind us, " - CALL ME COWARD!"

And she slashed at the air: I felt a white-hot, whiplike something hit me across the face and I was slammed backwards into the ground. Spits of light burst in front of my eyes and for a moment all the breath seemed to have gone from my body, then I heard a rush of wings above me and something enormous obscured the stars: Noelani had flown at Triphorm, who staggered backwards as the razor-sharp claws slashed at her. As I raised myself into a sitting position, my head still swimming with its last contact with the ground, I saw Triphorm running as hard as she could - my parents both kneeling down beside me, watching her - the enormous beast flapping behind her and screeching as I had never heard her screech.

I started to get up, but Mum forced me back down on to the ground, and my father laid a hand on my shoulder and said softly, "She's not worth it, sweetheart." I knew he was right, but that did not stop me from being angry at Triphorm for what she had done. Moments later, my parents and I turned our heads to the gates, where the Hippogriff was screeching as she circled the gates: Triphorm had managed to Disapparate just beyond the school's boundaries.

"Mina," I muttered, still dazed, looking around. "MINA?"

"I'll go and help Mina, Kiara, don't worry," my father said. "Nala, you stay here with Kiara."

Mum nodded, and my father ran to Mina's cabin, where I could just see the woman herself emerging from out of the flames carrying Gnasher on her back. I slumped against my mother in relief, who put her arms around me, reassuring me that everything was all right. Together, Mum and I watched as my father helped Mina put out the flames. Once the fire had been extinguished, my father and Mina made their way over to where Mum and I were sat, Gnasher trotting along behind them.

Spotting me, my father ran to me and held me tight. Withdrawing slightly, he surveyed me closely and said, "Thank God you're all right! Does anything hurt particularly bad?"

"No, Daddy," I panted, scratching Gnasher behind the ears when she came up to me. "My whole body aches ... but I'll be all right." I smiled at him, then turned to Mina and asked, "And you, Mina? Are you all right?"

"Course I am ..." she said, "take more'n that ter finish me."

I smiled at Mina, but my attention turned to my mother, who was stroking my hair and was looking intently at me. "Kiara," she said, "before, when we faced Triphorm ... you said that she killed someone - a woman. Why would you say that?"

I looked into each of the adults' faces, all of whom were staring at me intently. I wanted to tell them, I really did, but what could I say. Hey, Crighton's dead and Triphorm killed her! No, they wouldn't believe me. I shook my head, not knowing what to say, but I didn't have to say anything, for through the silence the sounds of loud, harsh sobbing reached us, and I knew where they were issuing from. I saw my parents and Mina look at each other, each of them wearing an expression of mixed shock and curiosity. Then, after a few moments, my parents helped me up and, with their arms around me, we started to walk back to the castle.

I was still shaking uncontrollably as we walked, and as we directed our steps back to the castle, I saw that many of its windows were lit: I could imagine, clearly, the scenes inside as people moved from room to room, telling each other that Love Destroyers had got in, that the Death Trail was shining over Dragon Mort, that somebody must have been killed ... and it didn't matter that I couldn't tell my parents or Mina what had happened to Crighton, for they were going to find out soon enough anyway, for the howling sobs were growing louder and louder as we walked, and I could only imagine who it was ...

The oak front doors stood open ahead of us, light flooding out on to the drive and the lawn. Slowly, uncertainly, dressing-gowned people were creeping down the steps, looking around nervously for some sign of the Love Destroyers who had fled into the night. My eyes, however, were fixed upon the ground at the foot of the tallest tower, where the howling cries were issuing. I imagined that I could see a black, huddled mass lying in the grass there, though I was really too far away to see anything of the sort. Even as I stared wordlessly at the place where I thought Crighton's body must lie, however, I saw people beginning to move towards it, and it was there that my parents, Mina and I directed ourselves.

My parents, Mina and I walked silently together, with me still feeling the aches and pains in my face and my legs where the various hexes of the last half hour had hit me, though in an oddly detached way, as though somebody near me was suffering them. What was real and inescapable was the awful pressing feeling in my chest ...

My parents, Mina and I moved, dreamlike, through the murmuring crowd to the very front, where the dumbstruck students had left a gap.

I hear my parents' and Mina's moans of pain and shock, but I did not stop; I felt my parents' arms drop slowly from around my shoulders as I walked slowly forwards until I reached the place where Crighton lay, her chest covered by a sobbing girl with dark brown hair, and I crouched down beside them.

I had known that there was no hope from the moment that the Body-Bind Curse that Crighton had placed upon me had lifted, and I knew that it could have happened only because its caster was dead; but there was still no preparation for seeing her here, spread-eagled, broken: one of the greatest witches I had ever, or would ever, meet (the second being Sian).

Crighton's eyes were closed; but for the strange angle of her arms and legs, she might have been sleeping. I then gazed over Sian's back and down at the wise old face and absorbed the enormous and incomprehensible truth: that never again would Crighton speak to me, never again could she help ...

The crowd murmured behind me. I then noticed Sian looking at me, her faces, arms and legs had a few scratches here and there, and what I saw shocked me, for instead of the strong, wise woman I expected to see next to me, I saw a lost little girl staring back at me, looking scared, vulnerable and ... alone, with unashamed tears streaming down her cheeks. I didn't know what to say, for she looked exactly how I felt. After a while, Sian looked away, and I became aware that I was kneeling upon something hard and I looked down. The locket we had managed to steal so many hours before had fallen out of Crighton's pocket. It had opened, perhaps due to the force with which it had hit the ground. And although I could not feel more shock or horror or sadness than I felt already, I knew, as I picked it up, that there was something wrong ...

I turned the locket over in my hands. This was neither as large as the locket I remembered seeing in the Pensieve, nor were there any markings upon it, no sign of the ornate S that was supposed to be Snake-Eyes' mark. Moreover, there was nothing inside but for a scrap of faded parchment wedged tightly into the place where a portrait should have been.

Automatically, without really thinking about what I was doing, I pulled out the fragment of parchment, opened it, and read by the light of the many wands that had now been lit behind me:

To the Scarlet Lady,

I know I will be dead long before you read this but it want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match, you will be mortal once more.

O.B.W.

I neither knew nor cared what the message meant. Only one thing mattered: this was not a Horcrux. Crighton had weakened herself by drinking that terrible potion for nothing. I crumpled the parchment in my hand and my eyes burned with tears as behind me Gnasher began to howl.