There was no means of steering; the dragon could not see where it was going, and Harry knew that if it turned sharply or rolled in midair they would find it impossible to cling onto its broad back. Nevertheless, as they climbed higher and higher, London unfurling below them like a gray-and-green map, Harry's overwhelming feeling was of gratitude for an escape that had seemed impossible. Crouching low over the beast's neck, he clung tight to the metallic scales, and the cool breeze was soothing on his burned and blistered skin, the dragon's wings beating the air like the sails of a windmill. Behind him, whether from delight or fear he could not tell. Ron kept swearing at the top of his voice, and Hermione seemed to be sobbing. Percy was yelling in delight while Annabeth clung to his back and Nico was completely silent, it was as if he wasn't even there.
After five minutes or so, Harry lost some of his immediate dread that the dragon was going to throw them off, for it seemed intent on nothing but getting as far away from its underground prison as possible; but the question of how and when they were to dismount remained rather frightening. He had no idea how long dragons could fly without landing, nor how this particular dragon, which could barely see, would locate a good place to put down. He glanced around constantly, imagining that he could feel his seat prickling.
The dragon seemed to crave cooler and fresher air. It climbed steadily until they were flying through wisps of chilly cloud, and Harry could no longer make out the little colored dots which were cars pouring in and out of the capital. On and on they flew, over countryside parceled out in patches of green and brown, over roads and rivers winding through the landscape like strips of matte and glossy ribbon.
"What do you reckon it's looking for?" Ron yelled as they flew farther and farther north.
"No idea," Harry bellowed back, yelling over the wind. His hands were numb with cold but he did not date attempt to shift his grip. He had been wondering for some time what they would do if they saw the coast sail beneath them, if the dragon headed for open seal he was cold and numb, not to mention desperately hungry and thirsty. When, he wondered, had the beast itself last eaten? Surely it would need sustenance before long? And what if, at that point, it realized it had three highly edible humans sitting on its back?
The sun slipped lower in the sky, which was turning indigo; and still the dragon flew, cities and towns gliding out of sight beneath them, its enormous shadow sliding over the earth like a giant dark cloud. Every part of Harry ached with the effort of holding on to the dragon's back.
We're losing height!" said Annabeth after a considerable amount of silence. It was true, the tiny houses below them were growing steadily, but (to Harry's relief) they didn't descend in a village. It circled over a lake, going lower and lower.
"Jump, now!" said Percy.
"We're too high!" Harry said back, "We'll be flattened!"
"Not if I can help it." Said Percy, and he slid off the dragons back, followed by Annabeth and Nico. Harry glanced at the other two, then, in sync, they jumped off. The water rushed upwards to meet them, and then swallowed them whole like some bizarre sort of whale.
Harry was holding his breath until he realized he didn't need to, he wasn't even wet! He, Hermione, Ron, Nico, and Annabeth were encased in a giant air bubble at the bottom of the lake. Annabeth and Nico were laughing happily at Harry, Ron and Hermione's stunned faces. Outside the bubble, Percy was floating in the water, breathing normally and completely dry. He moved the bubble towards shore, swimming ahead of it.
When they reached the shore, they all lay exhausted on the grass, except for Percy; the water seemed to have restored his strength.
Harry, who was visibly hurt and exhausted staggered up and began to perform protective spells around the place. If they were going to camp here, they would have to put up the spells quickly. When he had finished, he joined the others. It was the first time that he had seen them properly since escaping from the vault. The polyjuice potion had worn off and Hermione looked like herself again. They all had angry red burns all over their faces and arms, and their clothing was singed away in places. Annabeth and Nico were both eating something that was healing them and Percy was using the water to heal Hermione and Ron, just as he had done for Dobby. Hermione took out the fresh clothes they had gotten from shell cottage from her beaded bag as well as some pumpkin juice. After they had changed and drank their fill, they set up the tent and headed inside.
Harry felt a bit of relief as he walked into the tent, it was like a second home to him.
"Well, on the upside, we got the horcrux!" he said, watching at Nico take the cup from his pocket.
"On the downside, no sword." Said Annabeth, examining the cup closely.
"The dirty, double crossing little scab." Ron muttered through gritted teeth. "How are we gonna' get rid of this thing now?" he gestured to the cup.
Harry had no ideas as to that. They had lost their one weapon against the horcruxes. But to Harry's surprise, Nico smiled.
"We can get rid of it easily." He said, "I'm literally the son of death, killing a soul that was already meant to be dead? Piece of cake."
"I don't know Nico…" said Ron "If a horcrux is about to be killed, it'll do, uh, strange things to its attacker."
Harry knew what Ron was talking about. It was he who had killed the locket horcrux and it's final act was torturing Ron.
"I've faced pretty bad things." Said Nico.
"If you think you can, do it!" said Percy.
They took the cup outside and gathered around Nico. He held his hand out, pointing it at the cup. He began to slowly curl his open hand into a fist. A horrible screaming sound began to emanate from the cup. Nico had barely bent a few of his fingers and he was already sweating. The screaming from the cup grew louder, and suddenly, the figure of a girl materialized over the cup. She looked a lot like Nico, with the same olive brown skin and dark silky hair, which was long, and tied back into a ponytail. She had a bow and arrow on her back. The screaming from the cup began to come from her,
"Nico! Nico stop!" she screamed, "Why are you hurting me!?"
Nico's eyes widened and his half closed hand snapped open. "Bianca?!" he asked, as if hardly daring to believe it.
Harry, Ron and Hermione stared confused, but Percy rushed up to Nico and put a hand on his shoulder. "It's not Bianca, Nico! Don't listen to it!"
But Nico shook him off, his eyes fixed on Bianca.
"I'm alive, Nico!" she said, "I'm in the cup! If you destroy it, you destroy me!"
"W-What?" breathed Nico, looking from the cup to Bianca, tears of joy beginning to fill his eyes, "Y-your alive?"
"No, she's not, Nico!" screamed Annabeth, "It's not Bianca! Don't listen to it!" but Nico was deaf to anything but Bianca's voice
"You can bring me back, Nico! A soul for a soul, remember!" said the fake-Bianca "If you kill Harry, I can come back to you!"
"K-kill Harry? I-l can't, he's my friend!" stuttered Nico.
"Yes you can, Nico!" implored fake-Bianca, "Is he more important to you then me?!"
Images began to form behind her; first, he and Bianca were merrily playing as children. Next, they were both in Halloween costumes, eating candy together. Then, Bianca was standing up for Nico at a school to a group of bullies. Then lastly, Bianca was hugging him tight. She kissed him on the forehead, and then, the images dissaeared.
"If you kill Harry Potter, I can come back!" she said. Slowly, Nico turned to face Harry, his eyes were pure scarlet. Then, they returned to their normal black. He turned back to Bianca.
"I'm sorry." He said. And in one fluid motion, he clenched his open hand into a fist, and the cup shattered, the scream of Bianca echoing through the night.
Nico collapsed on the ground, tears streaming from his eyes. "Goodbye Bianca." He whisered.