Raylynx's POV

The morning was hazy. The clouds rolled down the mountain and made it humid and foggy.

Sehtzer, Jasper, and I met quietly at the edge of the forest and disappeared across the boundary line together. Once we were inside the first layer of forest, I placed the tip of my wand at the ground and whispered the spell for a silver thread, attracted to Dark Magic, to appear in the ground like a fault line. We followed it quickly, trusting Jasper's werewolf instincts to warn us of incoming vampires. The darkness deepened quickly, and soon, it was difficult to see Sehtzer's back as he ran lithely in front of me. The cliffs became quite ragged and sharp, and we had to levitate ourselves over cliffs. We used only the simplest spells, so as not to trigger the vampires' sense of magic- or worse, Voldemort's sense of magic.

But after a long spell in the dark and our hushed, but ragged breathing after trying to scamper up the upwards terrain, we finally came to that clearing surrounded by the vampires' caves. The tree could barely be made out in the darkness. It looked like ragged edges of darkness- a rip in the universe of dark matter itself. It was freezing cold, and our breaths were visible in the air.

Sehtzer held out his arm to stop us. Jasper came to a stop just beside me. He was gritting his teeth and he had a tight grip on his wand. The werewolf blood in him despised this setting and was about as on guard as a person- or wolf- could be. I slowly moved past Sehtzer and looked closer at the tree. It looked like the darkness was pouring from the tree itself- like smoke pouring from dark, dark ashes. It was terrifying, and I could barely breath. All of my senses seemed compressed, like I was far, far below the ocean.

I was only a foot away from the tree now. Sehtzer hissed at me to be careful, but I barely registered his voice. I reached out to the tree. Stretching my hand out, I pressed my palm against it.

There was a moment of deathly silence and then, with a terrible roar that screeched in such a metallic voice that I thought someone had stabbed my ears with knives, I was thrust back from the tree as smoke exploded out from it. I went flying through the air.

Strange, ghostly visions passed before my eyes, flashing at the speed of an image a second: There was a dark stone, and Voldemort's marred, inhuman face rose out of it and screamed at me. Then, there was a glittering tiara, but a vampire appeared from the darkness behind the jewels and thrust its long, curved fingernails directly at my heart. The image was quickly replaced by a leather-bound journal, which flipped open and a snake poured from its pages, and snapped at me with its giant, vicious fangs.

Suddenly, a string in my mind snapped and I was seeing tormenting visions from my own past: My parents were writing on the floor, dying; my sister was grabbing the front of my robes and crying; my brother was falling, unconscious. Regulus was trapped by a thousand Inferi, but he pushed me into the ocean. I fell thousands of leagues down, down, until I opened my eyes to complete darkness. I was at the bottom of the ocean, but there was a man there. I reached out my hand to touch his shoulder, but when the man looked back, it was Sirius, but his face was sunken, and he had no eyes. I screamed.

"-ke up! Raylynx, wake up! You must wake up!"

A sharp pain in my face brought me back to reality, though it was hard to tell because everything was utter blackness, and the darkness was heavy and pressing and pulsating, like some living thing.

Then, another horrible screech, this time much more tangible, sounded out. My blood froze, and my heart clenched in icy terror. That scream paralyzed me. I could feel that ever-familiar sensation of sharp fangs at my neck, even though no vampire had appeared yet. My body would never forget its old wound.

From his werewolf senses, Jasper, too, knew it was the vampires. He bared his teeth for a moment, his wolf-like senses straining to destroy its old enemy. But Sehtzer, who was furiously battling the largest snake I had ever seen in my life, was yelling at him to drag me up and get out of here, as Jasper had run over to me as fast as he could and was now trying to wake up.

I grabbed onto Jasper's shoulder. Realizing I was conscious again, Jasper grabbed my hand and we started to run. He let me go and had me jump down from the clearing first onto the lower level of mountain rock below. I dropped and fell forward onto my knees, unable to make a steady landing. Sehtzer, who had managed to trap the snake in some kind-of midair cage, had dropped behind me, and he lifted me up from behind and helped me on my feet.

Sounds of fighting and the spark of spells sounded out above.

"Jasper!" I cried out.

Sehtzer reached into his cloak and pulled out a small vial that was glowing. He crushed it in his hand and then, holding the fire in his hand, he threw it up at the clearing above us. So, that's why he drew the Fire Rune on his palm. The tree caught fire. The vampire above, who had been fighting Jasper, screamed in terror and pain as the fire raged far more quickly than a fire.

Jasper managed to jump down. I could see blood trickling down his neck.

"Jasp-"

"No time!" he shouted. "Run!"

The three of us had only jumped down two more times when we heard a high, piercing scream. The call was answered by a horde of screeches, and we knew we had a horde of vampires on our tail. We hurried down to the base of the ragged mountain-scape.

"Camouflage!" Sehtzer said urgently, and he immediately uncapped and drank his own potion.

"Don't fall behind," I said sternly to Jasper, for if he did, I would have no way of knowing.

He nodded. "I won't, partner," he promised, and then drank his own Potion.

"Follow the silver line," I reminded them both, and then drank my own Potion. My hands and feet disappeared first, and then the rest of me vanished.

I could no longer see Sehtzer and Jasper, but I trusted that they were already ahead of me. I ran as quickly as I could, leaping over the uneven terrain and trying not to trip in the darkness.

The vampires were fast gaining on us, desperate to get at us before they lost us in the morning sun that existed beyond these trees and their infernal darkness.

My blood was racing in fear, and there was a high buzzing in my ears, but I kept going, my invisible feet pounding away at the ground. Suddenly, a vampire appeared right behind me. I jumped to the right, barely avoiding the vampire's attempt to snatch at me. Unable to see me, he screamed in frustration. I kept going, glancing back to see at least ten vampires racing down the hills at us. But I could start to make out a bright line before me, and I knew the boundary line between the village and the forest was close.

"Aargh!"

I recognized that voice. Jasper had tripped.

The vampire pounced on him immediately.

"Incarcerous!" I cried, and ropes appeared around the vampire.

I saw a flurry of leaves as Jasper got back up and started running again.

But the vampires had seen where my spell had come from and raced towards that spot.

Suddenly, another streak of flame fired past me and hit the vampires. Sehtzer must have thrown that.

I was only a few strides away from the boundary line now. I ran into someone in front of me. I cried out and we tumbled out of the forest together and fell forward across the line, triggering the Runic Circles.

Circles of flame sprang up immediately.

I pushed whoever was in front of me to get them out of the Circle.

I fell onto my hands and knees myself as I tripped over them yet again, but I quickly looked up. One of the vampires had attempted to leap over the flames, but the vampire evaporated as the flame reached up to guard against them.

The vampires screeched angrily.

Just then, I could see Sehtzer beginning to appear. Using his hands to push the flame down, he had been able to enter the village land again. So, that must mean that I had run into Jasper. As I looked down, I saw Jasper appearing in front of me. He was kneeling in the ground, with his elbow on his knee as he struggled to catch his breath. He got to his feet and stared at the vampires huddled across the line, their pale faces and livid red eyes staring furiously and hungrily at us.

Then, I, who had been the last to take the potion, also appeared before Jasper.

Seeing me in front of him, Jasper grasped my shoulder in relief.

"Raylynx," he said, between ragged breaths.

I merely nodded, completely winded.

The village people had started to come to see what the commotion was about.

Sehtzer raised his hand to stop them from coming any closer.

Slowly, the vampires began to retreat back into the mountains. I thought the cloud seemed less thick, and in fact, shafts of morning sunlight were beginning to appear on the forest floor. This triggered the vampires' complete surrender and they raced back to safety, to their lair. Sehtzer closed his eyes and mouthed a prayer of thanks.

Jasper, too, closed his eyes, but he grimaced.

"Jasper," I breathed out. "Come, we've got to get you to a Healer."

Sehtzer came over to us and pulled Jasper's arm gently over his shoulder. They walked to the village together, and as he passed the people who had gathered, he called out to someone to come with us. A woman, who had a powerful aura of grandeur, followed us up to our tent.

Sehtzer easily ripped off Jasper's cot fabric and laid it on the floor as a makeshift bed. The woman leaned over Jasper and put her hand on his neck, where his wound was. She drew something from her pouch and pressed it against his neck. Jasper gritted his teeth.

She murmured something to Sehtzer, who nodded.

Sehtzer looked at me and said, "She says that his werewolf blood will save him. He will not suffer any long-term effects, but as his blood tries to defeat the venom within, he will feel cold."

I shivered, remembering the feeling myself. It was horrible, like shards of icy glass trying to make its way into your heart.

The woman worked speedily, and there was an incredible softness in her hands.

"Who is she?" I asked Sehtzer quietly.

"Iseline," he answered in the same quiet tone. "The Head Sage of Potions and Alchemy, and also my wife."

I looked at Sehtzer and indeed, in his ever-sharp gaze and formal expression, I saw a deep tenderness in his eyes as he watched his wife.

About twenty minutes later, Iseline rose and said, "I've done what I could do to heal the wound itself and to stop the pain. However, the cold, I fear, is inevitable. He will pass the rest of the day and the night in discomfort, but come tomorrow morning, I hope his werewolf blood will have purified the venom."

"I'll look after him," I promised.

"Yes, and please, come and find me if you need me," Iseline said. "Ask the villagers. They will know where I am."

"In the meantime, we will keep a watch on the forest, to make sure the vampires stay in their lair, and to see if the darkness has thinned," Sehtzer told me.

"Yes," I agreed, "and please notify me if anything happens."

Sehtzer nodded. He put his arm around Iseline's shoulder, and together, the two of them went out.

I kneelt down beside Jasper.

His eyes were closed, but he was grimacing and moving gingerly, clearly in discomfort. I took one of the towels Iseline had left behind and carefully wiped his face, first with cool water, and then I gently pressed a towel with warmer water against his cheeks and forehead. He seemed to fall into an uneasy sleep.

I wondered how I could get his cot back onto the poles. I realized I should have asked. I was hopeless at the rope-tying that the villagers were experts in, and I did not want to risk poor Jasper's cot giving out from under him tonight.

Finally, I managed to whisper a Levitation spell that gently lifted Jasper from the floor. I struggled to levitate him, but I managed to move him into my cot without waking him. When he was snugly in the cot, I fell back in the chair, breathing hard after that exercise of heavy levitation. I closed my eyes and despite the whirling images of the tree in my head, the exhaustion took over and I fell asleep slumped forward on the desk.

The sound of a soft cough woke up.

I sat up immediately.

I looked towards my cot, where Jasper was sleeping.

He coughed again, and I knew what he was feeling- that awful feeling of glass forming in one's throat.

Keeping as quiet as I could, I hurried to make him some hot tea.

He coughed a few more times, and I could tell that he was somewhat conscious.

"Jasper," I said quietly, "drink this. It should help."

Jasper's eyes fluttered open tiredly.

He reached out for the mug I was holding. I meant to help him with it, to make sure he didn't spill, but he said, between coughs, "I'm all right. I can do it."

He brought it up to his lips and sipped carefully. It did seem to help for a while, and he looked much better after he'd drank all of the tea.

He was conscious enough to notice that he was sleeping on the other side of the tent than he normally did, and he saw the makeshift bed and used towels on the floor.

"Am I in your cot?" he asked me weakly.

"Don't worry about it," I said. "I'll repair yours."

"Can you?" he said, and he smiled slyly. But the next moment, he shivered as a wave of cold crashed into him.

"You're cold, aren't you?" I said. "I know."

"You know…" he started to say, before shivering again.

"Yes, I've experienced it before," I replied quietly. "But Iseline says it'll pass by morning."

Jasper nodded.

"I'll get some more tea," I said and started to get up.

Jasper grasped my wrist gently. "I'm fine," he said.

His fingers were ice-cold around my wrist.

He held on tighter and murmured, "You're quite warm, Raylynx."

I knelt down beside his cot and put my hand over his heart, which I knew was where the ice was trying to get to. To my surprise, his heart was thumping quickly. So this was the difference between a werewolf and a human. With me, my heartbeat had nearly stopped, and barely beat as it had to work against the ice that kept trying to encase it.

"My heart nearly stopped," I voiced aloud. "But yours is fighting strong. That's amazing."

"Is it?" he said. He brought his other hand up and placed it over mine on his chest.

I shivered slightly, but in a matter of moments, my hand had warmed his.

Jasper seemed to be fading back to sleep, but he whispered in a hoarse voice, "I should move. Where will you sleep?"

"Anywhere," I replied, unable to think of anything cleverer to say.

The corner of his mouth came up as he pointed out, "That doesn't make any sense."

"Or I can just stay like this and keep you warm," I said.

Jasper's hand slid down to my wrist and grasping it, he pulled me weakly towards him. I hesitated, realizing what he was asking me to do. The image of Audrey in the courtroom and the terrible vision I had seen when I touched the tree flashed through my mind. I looked at Jasper's face, and I remembered the words he had said to me over six years ago, when we were waiting on that rooftop to ambush our targets. "I'm not asking for commitment, nowhere near. Just… a chance- if something were to happen, a chance to let it take its course…"

I carefully climbed into the cot, which, because of the way it carried weight, pushed both Jasper and I towards the center of the cot, and towards each other. He put his arm out, and I rested my head between his shoulder and chest. I pressed my hand against his chest again to make sure he remained warm. He grasped my hand again and after a little while had passed, he fell asleep again. This time, he seemed to sleep more peacefully as my body, pressed up against the side of his, warmed him.

I couldn't sleep. I was fighting waves of guilt roaring inside me. I looked up at Jasper's sleeping face. His normally immaculately pushed-back hair had fallen softly in front of his face, and the weariness on his face had somewhat done away with his normal formality and sharp elegance. Now, he just seemed like a man before me. My heart thumped.

He was not Sirius. He could never be.

But perhaps, it was time to move on.

Everyone around me had moved on, and their efforts had been well-repaid by the world.

My eyes traced Jasper's face as I watched him sleep.

Then, my eyes fell to his chest, where I saw his necklace- a silver chain with a golden wedding band.

A voice in my head whispered, "You are the only one who is unable to let go the past. And yet, he tries to move forward. Do you fault him for that, or respect him for that?"

Had I lived a normal life, the sight of a wedding ring hanging from a man's neck might make me incredibly anxious, but in this strange, nonsensical life I had lived, it helped me to feel more relax. That's what loss does to you. It rearranges your recognition of what is comfort and what is anxiety. Most people are afraid of confronting their fears, but I am equally afraid of disappearing underneath them, without so much as a bubble of air on the surface.

Just before I finally fell asleep, my mind whispered to me: I have to overcome my past.