Author's Note: This one and the last are reuploads before anyone asks, long story short: don't try to add an author's note with your phone. And make sure you read the last chapter, this was supposed to be one with the last one but it was two long so I had to split it and I thought I left enough time between them to not confuse people into skipping one but apparently not. Have a good hopefully better then mine day
Thanks to much to: RandomGerman for reviewing!
Wyatt couldn't move, he couldn't blink, he couldn't even take his eyes off the spot his dad had been killed in even as they moved so far away it just blended into the dark mass of dark creatures in the darkest of nights. It only barely even dawned on the peripheral of his thoughts that his father's sacrifice had worked, Marigold was able to run away now he was unburdened by his father's weight. He should probably see how they were doing but he just kept staring at the spot, even though now it was just a distant dark void where his father had been while his dying screams continued to reverberate within the confines of his skull.
It wasn't until he felt the moment of Marigold slowing that his attention reverted back to the people he'd been trying to save, the people his dad had died to save because his own stupid plan was stupid. They were coming out of the herd of Inferi, the ones closest ran after them but stopped a few feet from the others like they'd been programmed to not move too far or whatever way it worked. Sebastian and Marigold were both breathless, panting heavily as they gradually came to a stop on the hillside. Both were also injured, it was clear as the crimson stained the fur where they were hurt and Marigold was still burned.
Wyatt leaped off Marigold and transformed back into a human, testing apparation and groaning irritably as all his body did was tingle uncomfortably. They were out of range of the Inferi but still in the range of the anti-apparation wards so he couldn't leave, he couldn't apparate them to safety. This was it. The end. They were done for. His plan was stupid and everyone was stupid for following him, his dad had died for nothing.
"What now?" Auriga asked him fearfully and Wyatt just shrugged in response as he paced idly, not even looking at them.
"Can you apparate?" Pollux inquired instead, much to his irritation. He didn't want to deal with this right now, he just wanted to be alone.
"No, we're still in the anti-apparation wards," Wyatt answered more icily then he knew he should, a rational part of his mind trying to point out his attitude wasn't helpful and just a result of his grief. He wondered if anyone besides Marigold was aware he'd just lost his dad.
"What now then?" Byron asked, every syllable quivering with terror. These idiots were still depending on him, they were all screwed.
"Shouldn't we just keep going until we get out of the range?" Pollux inquired yet again, determined to just be rational and helpful apparently.
Wyatt stopped pacing and sighed heavily, he should really be the one trying to be rational and helpful. He didn't have time to wallow in his misery, he'd dragged them this far and it was certainly too late to back out now. He blinked back tears he hadn't realized had formed and glanced back to them, all were looking at him rather expectantly.
"Yes, we just need to keep going until we get out of their wards," Wyatt spoke up, trying to sound more determined then he felt, "We'll have to stop periodically so I can test it, try go as fast as you can so we can cover as much ground as possible."
"I'm sorry about your dad by the way," Byron offered timidly, making Wyatt freeze on his way back to Marigold, "What he did was pretty amazing."
"Yeah," Pollux agreed and his sister nodded but Wyatt merely swallowed, he really couldn't deal with this now. He couldn't think about his dad.
"We need to keep moving," Wyatt managed quietly, on that note transforming back into a lizard and landing on one of the werewolves.
So they headed off, the werewolves bounding along and he did notice painfully that without his dad Marigold was definitely running along easier. They did stop periodically as Wyatt had wanted to test apparation but he was having no luck, the wards went rather far apparently and they were running out of time. It was the summer so the nights were short and the sun rose fairly early, it had been a long night already and they were definitely into the early hours of the next day. He knew he should really be more focused, after all they weren't out of the woods yet and the Shadows would inevitably notice their escape and go after them or go ahead to ambush them or something but he felt distracted. It didn't help as a lizard now he lost an entire side of his vision, he had to keep walking in a circle on Marigold's head to look around which felt kinda awkward.
He didn't see anything though and he took to checking quickly with a spell for people whenever they paused so he could check the apparation not just looking with his eyes, so far no sign of anyone. Not even Specters but he kind of expected that, he had observed a lot of use of them as a spy and this last week… well they seemed to have even more limited use than usual, he wasn't sure if James in particular just sucked with them or it was because the Shadow Master was a little of the rails but he wouldn't complain. He couldn't cast a Patronus after all, not a corporeal one anyway. Charms were hard, give him something to Transfigure any day. With a sad pang, his mind was back to his dad.
Out of nowhere, Sebastian suddenly came to an abrupt halt and started winging unhappily. Marigold slowed to a stop beside him and Wyatt scowled in confusion, generally Marigold was the one who stopped first either because Wyatt had or because he seemed to have a good pattern of stopping periodically which also gave a brief reprieve for the werewolves to catch their breath. It didn't seem like long enough since their last stop and they certainly didn't whine about it.
"What is your problem?" Wyatt demanded of him as he transformed back into a human, trying not to let his frustration at the sudden stop bleed into his voice. Of course Sebastian couldn't answer, he just kept looking at him then looking ahead and winging. Marigold sniffed the air and did the same, Wyatt looked ahead – they had the high ground so he could see pretty far and it was just open fields, there were mountains off to the side and woods much further off - but he didn't see anything except worryingly the darkness was starting to bleed out of the night, "I don't see anything, does anyone else see anything?"
"No," the non-werewolves chorused as they glanced back, except the professor who remained unconscious.
"So what is your problem?" Wyatt repeated, knowing full well they couldn't answer beyond continuing the same behavior but he wasn't sure what they expected him to do about something they were nowhere near close enough to deal with if it existed at all.
"Professor Ashain told us that werewolves' senses are better than humans," Pollux chimed up and the werewolves nodded furiously, "Maybe they notice something we don't? Like they can smell something."
"Oh no, it's James!" Byron blurted out, his face draining of every shred of color it had, "It's got to be him, he's up ahead and they can smell him!"
"It's not James!"
"It might be James," Wyatt admitted at the same time as Pollux denied it, Byron started hyperventilating.
"You really think James personally is going to be after us when he was too scared of werewolves to even be in the same castle as one transformed?" Pollux insisted determinedly and Byron gave a shaky shrug, "He'd send other people after us probably but not himself."
"Maybe," Byron mumbled.
"Well whatever it is, we should keep moving," Wyatt spoke up and Sebastian shook his head, whining again, "Look, I can't see whatever you smell because we're too far away from it. I can deal with whatever's up ahead but if we're this far away from it, it'll take me ages to walk to it and we're losing moonlight. Let's get a bit closer and-"
Sebastian yowled and shook his head determinedly.
"You can sense further then humans can, even if they have enchantments up they won't go this far so we can get close-"
Sebastian yowled again and continued to shake his head.
"Marigold, help me out here?" Wyatt sighed and glanced back to the former healer who fidgeted and glanced at Sebastian before shaking his head also, he opened his mouth to argue some more but closed it. Was there any point arguing? He didn't feel up to it and they didn't have time for it, especially if he was going to have to walk all the way to some far off distant ambush, "Fine. You guys wait here and I'll go investigate, are you happy now?"
"You can't go off alone!" Pollux cried and he saw the kids looking horrified though the werewolves nodded, "What if something happens to you? We'll be trapped, you're the only one left who can apparate."
"James is going to get us," Byron whispered, starting to hyperventilate again and he looked on the verge of tears.
"James is not going to get you," Wyatt insisted, running a hand through his hair. This was kind of ridiculous, "How about Marigold and I check it out then? That way I'm not alone and it'll be faster traveling with him, he can even lead me directly to whatever it is they can smell and the rest of you can hide out in a cave while we're gone. Does that sound better?"
"I don't know why we have to stop at all," Pollux complained while there was hesitant nods from the others, except the professor who continued to sleep and Byron who was still seemingly trying to calm himself.
"Neither do I. Come on. And try to breathe, Byron, deep breaths."
Wyatt led them towards the mountain area where he was sure there'd be caves, doing a check with his wand to look for signs of enemies inside said caves but they were clear. He picked just the closest one as he wanted to get moving again as soon as possible, putting up some basic protective enchantments as an added safety net for while he'd be gone. He then had Auriga and Pollux get off the werewolves before helping Byron and the professor down, he figured it was better if Sebastian could also rest.
"I don't like this," Auriga whispered fearfully while Pollux was trying to calm Byron, "I don't think we should split up."
"I don't like it either but we'll be back as soon as we can, sit tight and come on, Marigold," Wyatt said as he strolled outside, the larger white wolf following nervously, "I hope this is worth it."
He transformed back into a lizard, the former healer taking off the second he landed on his back. He figured a lizard was lighter so faster for Marigold and gave him the element of surprise, on the downside he couldn't use his wand to look for people. Marigold seemed to know where he was going at least, occasionally sniffing the air and altering his direction slightly. When they drew close to the wooded area however, was when he started to slow down and then Wyatt heard it. A sound he had very much not expected to hear, not from the Shadows anyway.
It was a growl, a werewolf's growl. That was why Sebastian had been so concerned, if they could smell it then it could probably smell them or would if they got closer. Admittedly Wyatt hadn't thought they'd set up werewolves as part of an ambush, clever buggers though as a plus this meant this was probably close to the end of the apparation wards. He was going to have to deal with them, he saw movement in the trees a split second before he saw a glowing pair of golden eyes gleaming in the darkness.
Wyatt leaped off Marigold while two Shadows jumped down from the trees and a werewolf charged for the former healer, he grabbed the side of a tree and pushed off from it to propel himself behind one of the Shadows – who only had eyes for Marigold – so he could transform back unnoticed. He stunned the closest one in the back while the other one fired what looked like a spell to bind Marigold with ropes, Marigold managed to dodge it. However, he failed to dodge the massive lump of a werewolf that leaped out of the trees at him, slashing at him with his claws and pinning him down. Marigold yowled in pain as the large cocoa colored werewolf – who was almost twice his size - kept him down and tore into his shoulder with his huge jaws.
Wyatt made to help him but the second Shadow had seen him and engaged him in a duel, he was forced to throw up a Shield Charm to defend himself from whatever the other man had thrown at him. The man had already fired a second spell, Wyatt had to throw himself out of the way to avoid that one and into a roll which he came out of to send a spell of his own back at the Shadow. The Shadow dodged that one effortlessly which was good because Wyatt hadn't wanted to hit him, he'd wanted to hit the tree behind him. The branches came to life in an instant and the man cried out in shock as the tree grabbed him from behind, his wand was forced from his hand though his head had smashed into the tree rather violently, more than Wyatt had wanted.
The man – who Wyatt thought he recognized as one of the Hogwarts guards he'd taken out earlier - went limp but he didn't have time to ponder his fate so he had to turn his attention back to Marigold, the former healer managed to free himself from beneath the other werewolf but still looked like he was losing. The larger werewolf just kept biting and slashing him with his claws, Marigold was mostly just trying to avoid with mixed success and all attempts to fight back seemed feeble. Really it seemed to be toying with Marigold who despite being a werewolf, seemed absolutely clueless how to utilize the strengths of one and wasn't used to this kind of confrontation. Actually, Wyatt got the impression Marigold was probably unused to any confrontation that wasn't verbal.
Wyatt raised his wand to help and froze momentarily, catching sight of a Specter's orbs of endless darkness. He swallowed but returned his attention to Marigold, that could wait until he stopped Marigold from being dead. He quickly cast a spell to release the Specter the tree held before launching a Blasting Curse at the enemy werewolf, there was a yowl of pain and he was thrown back into the tree which grabbed him instead. Not that it would hold that thing as well as it had a human and he couldn't stun a werewolf, the large beast was already struggling violently against branches starting to crack from the pressure.
"Must I do everything myself?" a familiar voice complained and Wyatt spun in panic, seeing the eldest son of Harry Potter was now standing there. A cocky look on his freckled face as he rolled his dark brown eyes, maybe an earned arrogance as his wand was already in hand and an ominous fiery black spell was speeding towards Wyatt.
It was all Wyatt could do to throw his body out of the way, so close to failing to avoid it that he felt the heat of the jet black fire on his cheek. He raised his wand to fight James and heard a howl of agony, he made to glance back and barely noticed on the peripheral of his vision that it had hit Marigold instead before he spotted another spell James had fired on the other side of his peripheral vision. This one he ducked but James had already fired another, Wyatt quickly countered it with a Shield Charm but he was nonetheless afraid. James was good. There Wyatt was panting while James hadn't even broken a sweat or moved a single step, the corners of his mouth turned up and his eyes glittered with sadistic delight at whatever pain his spell had caused Marigold.
Wyatt lashed out at him with Acuta while he was – maybe? Hopefully? – distracted but James countered it with ease sending sparks flying, slashing back with one of his own so violent that it forced Wyatt back even though he repelled it. He was briefly distracted by a snapping behind him, alerting him to the fact the werewolf was now free. He knew they had a werewolf army, why had it never occurred to him that they might use any of them?
He heard another yowl of pain from Marigold telling him the beast was targeting the former healer but couldn't do anything more as James had fired another spell at him, forcing him to slam up another Shield Charm for protection to send it bouncing off. James was already twirling his wand upwards in massive swings to use a Wind Charm, causing an updraft that was only powerful enough to blow the leaves off the trees. Pretty useless unless he also did-
Wyatt cursed mentally as James cast a second spell, one that transfigured the leaves to acid to rain agony down upon them. He at least had time to slam his wand up, twirling it frantically and casting a repelling charm to defend himself from the drops of pain. The werewolves were not so lucky and he heard both of them crying out in pain, of course as a downside Wyatt was completely open for attack while he had to keep his wand up for protection for a few seconds while they fell so he'd have to dodge physically. James was already going for another spell though he didn't direct it at him, instead aiming for the ground in front of Wyatt.
Wyatt instinctively jumped up into the air and with good reason, the ground regurgitated a sea of sharp spikes. He heard more cries of pain from both werewolves and noticed the unconscious Shadows being skewered by them, one penetrating the skull of the one Wyatt had stunned. Did James really not care for the safety of his own people caught up in his spell work? He could only assume not in the fractions of seconds he had to think as he aimed his wand downwards since gravity was pulling him back, he transfigured the spikes to harmless pieces of sponge.
Landing safely, Wyatt had no time for a reprieve as James cast a spell of his own at the sponge. One that set off a chain reaction of causing them to violently explode like miniature Blasting Curses or those muggle things… bombs? Wyatt jumped again, this time jabbing his wand at the ground and casting a spell to make him spring upwards way beyond the height of a normal jump. Sailing skyward in the dangerously dawn-like sky, he could look to the werewolves who were behind him since he felt Marigold was in dire need of help and helping him would also stop Wyatt from having to fight off a werewolf at the same time as James.
He was apparently wrong however, the werewolves had seemingly made their way to the edge of the now minefield. Marigold was safe, the other werewolf was frantically running to avoid the encroaching explosions. He lunged towards safety but Marigold jumped up himself, shoving him backwards and a look of horror crossed his face as the werewolf was thrown into the explosion. There was a scream of pain and pieces of the werewolf – now human once more – were scattered, he saw Marigold throw up but he was already falling.
Wyatt was about to cast a spell to slow his descendant to the now safe ground but his concern for Marigold had cost him as he'd taken his eyes of James, the Shadow who had not only approached him but had already fired another spell – of course he had - and it struck Wyatt square in the chest before he could stop it. He wasn't sure what he was expecting James to have cast but he felt his body imploding, for the first time in years his body hurt from the transformation as it was forcibly compressed back into a lizard against his will. James snatched him out of the air before he could do anything and laughed, a triumphant yet chilling laugh as he gripped him painfully tightly.
"You know, Wyatt, when you escaped so quickly I wracked my brain for how it could've happened without help because there was no one near you. Stephan thought you could cast Disillusionment Charms wandlessly but I think Stephan overestimates the talents of non-Elites, no, I had a different thought," James recounted, an unbelievably smug look on his face as he withdraw a black blade, "I thought what can actual wizards do wandlessly, you can't apparate because of the enchantments but you would be able to transform if you were an animagus. Unregistered animagus exist, my namesakes are proof of that. I have to admit, I thought you would be an insect of all things but no, you're a lizard. I'm not disappointed though, it just means there's more of you to hurt."
On that note, James plunged the knife into Wyatt's left wing. Wyatt screamed in pain – though it came out as an awkward lizard sound – as James tore through the thin flap of flesh, his mind pounding from the pain so intense he feared – or maybe hoped - he'd pass out as he watched the brightly colored skin hacked away, watched it fluttering to the ground. He tried to transform back but he couldn't, not when James was holding him.
"I bet you used to be a good spy with his form," James commented thoughtfully as he finished butchering the left, leaving Wyatt blinking through tears of pain to gaze at the space his wing had been.
He rolled his eye to James fearfully, some part of his mind still functioning through pain registering what James was saying was bad. He was smiling sadistically, his eyes alive with pleasure as he shifted his position so he could hover the blade ominously over his other wing. Please no, Wyatt silently begged, whimpering in fear and pain in what he was sure was a pathetic display. He screamed again as James mercilessly stabbed into the other wing, cutting it away, cutting it all away. Wyatt was sure he'd pass out from the pain, or throw up because he felt sick. He felt so sick. He wasn't sure exactly what his wings translated to as a human but his sides felt like they were on fire, they also felt slick with blood.
"But now you're nothing," James told him coldly, looking him in the eye and Wyatt couldn't see a single shred of humanity staring back at him, "You're going to lead me to Gray because I am not going easy on you anymore, Wyatt, I'm going to tear you apart and whatever pathetic lump is left of you will beg me for death. If you want me to grant you mercy then, I suggest you tell me sooner rather than later. Gray won't save you now you're useless to them, you're nothing."
Wyatt couldn't even process what he said before James looped his tail around the knife, in one quick moment severing it and he cried out in pain once more. James then jabbed the blade into his arm and dragged it through, slicing through his frail lizard body like it was half-melted butter and splitting his wand arm in half.
The explosion of pain was unbearable, darkness swamped his vision and he was sure he only didn't pass out as he heard a growl. An instant later James gave a high-pitched shrieked of terror and Wyatt was thrown from his grip, he transformed immediately while he had the chance and hit the ground in a roll. He glanced quickly to James, seeing Marigold had recovered and was on top of him. He might not know how to fight another werewolf but he seemed to have figured out how to overpower a human. One claw was in James' stomach and the other was on his head, blood streaming from both wounds while Marigold lowered his head with his jagged teeth starting to clasp around James' throat and-
Damn it! Wyatt swore mentally as James' body was engulfed into darkness, quickly vanishing into the shadows as a Specter transported him instantly to safety before Marigold could end him. Marigold gave a howl of frustration that Wyatt emphasized with, James had gotten away.
Darkness danced in front of his vision again, forcibly reminding him that he was in bad shape. One side of each arm going down through his armpits, sides and legs felt raw and damp, as did the base of his spine. Then there was his right arm which was split in two was just streaming blood, his arm was soaking in it already. He fumbled for his wand, having to use his trembling left to shakily attempt to conjure bandages to just bind his right limb back together. He knew it far from fixed it but he had to try to stop the bleeding or he would die- well he might still die, darkness was still trying to choke him but he definitely would die if he couldn't stem the blood flow.
He succeeded in doing that and let his head fall back onto the dirt, he didn't feel good. His heart was pounding but his breathing felt shallow even with his mouth hanging open, a cold had swept through him making him shiver or maybe it was the thin layer of sweat on his brow but he was cold. His stomach churned and he felt oddly thirsty, the worst was the darkness still trying to envelop him. He was fighting just to stay awake, he had to get out of here before he died or James – who hopefully at least was injured himself - sent people after them.
He tried to apparate, desperately needing to get help from Gray if he was going to save the others. It didn't work, he was still inside the apparation wards. He'd felt his whole body tingle though, that meant it was weaker here, they were almost clear of it. Wyatt groaned unhappily, trying to keep his eyes open as he noticed Marigold was beside him.
"We're so close," Wyatt breathed weakly, feeling like everything was falling apart at the last second when they were right at the finish line. Marigold was kind of nudging him like he was urging him to get up but Wyatt couldn't, his body suddenly felt like it weight a million… whatever weight measurement was a lot, "We're close to end of the apparation wards but I can't… I can't move."
Marigold continued to nudge him and it dawned on Wyatt that he was actually trying to let him climb onto his back, Wyatt managed to pull himself up with one arm – barely – and practically collapsed onto the soft white fur. Marigold started to run and Wyatt only realized he'd been slipping into unconsciousness as he was jostled awake by the fact he'd started to slip, he righted himself and gripped the white fur with his one not destroyed hand.
Raising his head was still an impossibility and darkness kept grating on his vision, Wyatt was sure he was going to pass out and unsure if he hadn't already. More than once he was jostled like he'd started to drift again, he felt simultaneously like he'd been sleeping forever and was so exhausted he just needed to sleep. He was sure not much time had passed even though it felt like a long time to him, his bandage was already bloody. This was how he was going to die, he was sure of it. He was going to bleed to death, he wasn't even going to succeed in saving the others before succumbing to death. He'd failed, his dad had died for nothing. He was failure, he couldn't do anything. He couldn't do anything right, not even when people's lives depended on him. He'd let them down, he'd let everyone down. You're nothing, Wyatt, James' voice taunted in his mind.
Wyatt jolted, blinking back the beginning of pathetic tears as he heard Marigold's feet racing across stone. He'd thought they'd been going through the forest so he could try apparating to get help, instead he realized the former healer had brought him back to the cave where the others were. It also occurred to him why, when darkness wasn't drowning him he saw it was actually light. The sun was rising over on the horizon, the werewolves were about to turn back. Marigold bounded through the illusion wall that Wyatt had cast, throwing him off and giving a yowl of pain.
"What happened?!" Pollux burst out in shock as Wyatt pulled himself feebly into a sitting position, although he remained forced to lean against the wall and his eyes attempted to close.
"Ambush," Wyatt managed to mumble in response, losing the battle with his eyes – or eye, he only had one he recalled – though he could hear howls of pain from the werewolves, alerting him to the fact they were turning back but it was hard to stay awake…
"Wand!" a voice barked and Wyatt's eyes snapped open, making him realize he must've lost consciousness for a bit as Marigold – now human again – was the one speaking.
He fumbled with the pack, fighting his mind to stay awake though his hand explicitly remembered which pocket had Marigold's wand. He started to hand it over but Marigold snatched it from his hand along with the Strengthening Potion which he downed before moving back towards Sebastian, Wyatt caught a glimpse of him on the ground with his chest looking bloody and his breathing sounded pretty bad. Wyatt tried to watch to see if Marigold could save him, wanting to see if the poor kid would be okay or not but his eyes just wouldn't stay open…
"Wyatt?" Marigold's voice – sounding oddly raspy, he realized, and breathless – questioned and Wyatt's eye rolled back open to see the healer was now removing the bandage off his arm, "You still awake?"
"I'm done for," Wyatt admitted weakly as Marigold continued unfurling the crimson strips of conjured cloth, still having to fight to keep his eyes open, "But where we were close to the end of the wards where we were… you know what I mean, just get back there and keep going. I'll tell you where you need to apparate to so you can get help-"
"Don't be so overdramatic," Marigold complained sharply, his voice definitely raspy.
Wyatt was about to object when Marigold made a complicated motion with his wand before jabbing it down onto his arm. Wyatt gasped in shock as he felt as if Marigold had plunged ice inside his veins, there was even an icy glow to the spell he was doing. Marigold had an intense look of concentration on his face as he dragged his wand slowly and carefully over the split in his arm, the acrid cold feeling and icy glow following with it.
It seemed to be helping though, the part already covered had knitted the skin back together. To some degree anyway, the skin was slightly raised where the wound had been and it looked as if it had been encased in ice. He brushed his fingers across it, learning it was cold to the touch but felt like flesh just harder. It was nice though, the cold seemed to absorb all the pain. Too bad he still felt like he was going to pass out, Marigold's wand movements were getting shaky near the end too.
"There, it's sealed," Marigold announced weakly as he finished and knelt back. He then started fumbling in the pack with shaking his hands, twirling his wand arm and summoning some vials to himself. He handed one to him that Wyatt recognized as Blood-Replenishing Potion, another which was a painkiller and one he didn't recognize them, he looked half asleep, "Drink those, they should help. Then you need to book it before it wears off, just reach the apparation point and get help. You said it was close."
"I don't know if I can make it," Wyatt admitted what was an understatement, he didn't think Marigold understood how weak he felt. He drank the Blood-Replenishing Potion first as he felt it was most important, he was quite familiar with it and then the painkiller.
"Drink the other potion and tell me that," Marigold offered cryptically, moving away from him.
Wyatt supposed he was intrigued as he drank the second potion, for a second feeling nothing but then he felt a surge of strength. His eye snapped open, wide open, he felt wider awake then he'd ever felt. He suddenly felt like he could run a thousand miles- no, a thousand million, just a thousand wouldn't successfully burn off this energy. He was fidgeting, he couldn't sit still, and he needed to be moving. Even his eye was swiveling around the room, spotting the kids sitting in a line with Pollux closest the entrance and opposite him holding his wand like he'd been ready to defend the others, then Byron, then Auriga and opposite them beside Wyatt was the professor lying down still asleep. Sebastian was lying in a blanket on the other side of Auriga, seeming alive as Marigold was cupping his head to help him drink some potion. Marigold's strengthening solution seemed to be wearing off, he was blinking repeatedly as if trying to keep himself awake like Wyatt just had.
"Are you okay?" Pollux asked with a hint of concern and Wyatt glanced back to him, "Your eye just got really dilated."
"I'm good," Wyatt blurted out, the words flying out of his mouth he was speaking so fast, "Real good. Feel great. Potion is great. Lots of energy. Wide awake. I got this."
"It won't last forever so you should move," Marigold urged him, moving away from Sebastian to sit back beside him.
Marigold then threw up abruptly on the ground and the first thing Wyatt noticed was that it didn't smell like vomit, it smelled like burning flesh. Wyatt glanced at it and noticed it was a black bile that had a weird consistency, reminding him of eggs. It also suddenly struck him that Marigold had been hit by that curse from James, had… had that done internal damage? He looked back to Marigold, the healer already riddled with burns, bites and deep gashes. His face had an unhealthy grayish tinge to it and he was trembling, he wasn't looking so hot.
"Are you okay?" Wyatt asked him and Marigold merely shook his head, leaning back against the wall weakly, "Well sit tight, I'll be back as soon as I can which will probably be pretty soon because I can run pretty fast."
"Try not to get ambushed," Pollux offered, looking genuinely concerned.
Wyatt merely nodded as he left the cave, clambering down the brief section of mountainside. And then he ran. He ran and ran and ran, did a cartwheel because… he was still feeling really energized and he couldn't run fast enough. He ran through the fields back towards where he came, nearing the forest which was when he started to feel his strength sapping again.
He made it to the edge of the forest where they'd fought which was easily identifiable by the craters and the bloodstained ground and of course the corpses, he couldn't see any Shadows except the dead. He took out his wand, trying to decide whether it was better to use his normal wand hand – which Marigold seemed to have stabilized but was stiff and awkward to move – or his healthy but not dominant hand. He ultimately went with the latter and awkwardly started trying to check magically for people with wand movements his left had never cast before, he didn't seem to be picking anything up though.
It was a bit odd although he thought they'd probably had people and werewolves set up at different points with the Specter to check them, the Specter controlled by James. If James had been injured too badly or knocked out he might not have been able to pass on the location they'd been in, might've bought them some time. He hoped James died from his injuries.
He pushed on through the trees, testing for the apparation wards to end and feeling his strength continuing to wane. The deeper he pushed on in the forest the closer he felt to the apparation wards but also the weaker he was, he was stumbling through the trees by the time he was out of the small wooded section and only then could he apparate.
He'd heard the base had fallen so he went to the Embry's, they were supposed to be backup and at the very least they'd know where the new base was or how to find Gray or just… something, anything useful. He didn't think he'd ever been happier to feel like he was being shoved through a tube, reappearing in the calm muggle street.
He rushed over to the door, breathing heavily and feeling faint once more as he banged on the frame. He really didn't care if it was a rude awakening, he needed them to come and help him retrieve the others as soon as possible. Just because he hadn't seen any Shadows, it didn't mean they couldn't be back at any time. He was hammering so fiercely on the door he almost punched the elderly man who opened it in the face, Richard Embry was his name though Wyatt didn't know him well. He looked like he'd just woken up, wearing a bathroom and slippers. Though from the way his eyes bulged in shock upon seeing him, Wyatt thought he was probably awake now.
"I escaped from Hogwarts," Wyatt blurted out quickly, possibly a hint of the last remnants of that potion, "Along with the prisoners but they're still in a cave, I need help to extract them before the Shadows return."
"I'll rally the troops then," Richard assured him, already turning back inside and calling out for people. Wyatt leaned against the door frame for support, though he finally breathed a sigh of relief.