Chapter 29
Emily emerged from her tent and stared at the growing party at base camp. They had a fire going, and all of the weird muggle electrical things that provided power hooked up with lights on and bad music playing.
She stretched for no reason other than it gave her a few seconds to stall while she worked up the internal courage to be social. She finished her beer and walked over toward the group of people. Karim saw her and gestured to a folding chair next to him. She found the garbage and tossed her empty beer bottle into it.
She made a mental note to magically assist with the cleanup on the mountain next time. She could do that without it affecting her climbing and it would do a world of good from what she could gather. They'd complained about the conditions on other mountains and she figured it was the least she could do to rather easily rectify that.
After a few moments of planning a spell for massive amounts of trash removal, not caring if the Muggles noticed, she decided maybe it was best to shelve that idea for now until she could come up with a better system. Maybe she should wait to see if Everest was as bad as they all complained about or if it was an exaggeration. Of course she could just pop over there and find out without much effort on her part.
She plopped herself into the chair and peered around the small group. One of the Americans, an older man who'd turned around on summit day because of an issue with the oxygen mask, offered her another bottle of beer. She took it with a muttered thanks that she doubted he heard over the general sentiment of the party.
The rest of the group had praised him for turning around. She wasn't sure why. But she didn't like failure. And given that she was the newbie in the situation she expected her opinion was probably wrong. Not that such a thing was possible, but here she was.
She sipped from the beer as the other American, the fit one who liked the terrible breakfast pastries, rummaged through a pack. Part of her made a mental note to attempt to learn the names of the others on the mountain. But that seemed like a lot of effort. He took out a plate and a clear plastic bag filled with sugar.
Someone punching her arm distracted her from whatever he was doing. She turned to hex the offender but instead saw Jane the Kiwi's smiling face. She made a mental note that she didn't need to qualify her with every thought.
"Well done," the Kiwi said to her. Emily figured it would be rude to hex her for a compliment. Although it wouldn't be the first time she'd gone that route.
"Thanks," she mumbled. Then, thinking it was almost assuredly rude to only offer a one word response to someone who was trying to be polite and personable she added, "You too."
"It was nice to have another competent woman on the mountain. It's been a regular sausage party of late," Jane continued. Emily sipped from the beer to buy herself some time before a response would be required. She felt like it was probably not worth mentioning that the woman hadn't shared that opinion of her when she arrived.
Then again, had some newbie shown up claiming to be a Supremely Talented Witch the likes of which the world had never seen, Emily probably wouldn't have believed them without a test either. At least Jane's test hadn't killed her.
"Is that normal?" she asked. She hoped she didn't sound too dour. But it wouldn't be the first time. She could remember Martin scolding her at times for it. She couldn't help it. She'd never really enjoyed smalltalk. She didn't understand it. She'd retreat into herself and let things pass over her. It made her a bad hostess, he'd said. She'd cared far more about it than she'd let on.
"It can be," she shrugged. "Especially on some of the less popular mountains. But there's a few of us out here. Be nice to have a partner going forward. What did you have in mind next?"
"Lhotse," Emily answered.
"Bah," Jane entoned with a frown. "I've bagged that one. I was going to try my luck on the Gasherbrums."
"Karim wanted to try for Lhotse and Everest," Emily shrugged.
"Joined at the hip with him, eh?" she asked with a knowing smirk. Emily shook her head.
"No. We came to an agreement about funding and he's amicable enough," Emily answered.
"Amicable enough?" Karim laughed from her side. His brows were raised. Emily shrugged her shoulders which only caused Jane to laugh.
"What do you even do?" Jane asked.
"I'm a journalist for a periodical in Japan," Emily lied. She wondered if they'd have to come up with a way to plant some Iphigenia Darnell bylines in some Japanese papers. She didn't think it out of the realm of possibility that Harry and Priya would be able to arrange such a thing. Hell it would probably amuse them. And given she wasn't about to actually pen an article, the things they'd say for her would only compound that amusement.
"There's a lot of money in that? Sorry to be a pest. It's just this is not what I would call an inexpensive hobby," Jane asked.
"Leave her alone," Karim sighed. Emily wondered if he could sense how uncomfortable this was making her. She looked away from the group, focusing on the small fire they were gathered around.
"I inherited some money from my parents," she mumbled. She figured it was best to keep it all vague. Of course the thought reminded her that she technically had no money to her name. As she'd finagled it all to Harry before her second death. Even then she'd never been particularly wealthy. She hadn't needed to be. It was shockingly easy for a Witch to live in the Muggle world for essentially no cost if they were willing to use a few unsavory charms here and there.
Martin had done alright for himself. But he'd died before he could really get promoted into a truly senior position. They'd been well enough off that she hadn't needed to work, despite refusing to quit. But after he was gone it never seemed important to her again. She wasn't even sure if she cashed out his insurance.
Then again that seemed like something his parents might have done for her when she was in her general stupor after his death. But it didn't matter. She'd had some money. She gave it away.
She wasn't quite sure where Harry got all of his money from. Healers were well paid but Priya hadn't been doing it long enough for it to make that much of a difference. And the little clinic wasn't the most profitable venture she'd ever seen. It didn't seem pertinent to ask.
She knew one of the Potters had made a small fortune with haircare potions. Part of her thought she might have even known the man but sometimes her memory of school was oddly fuzzy and she couldn't remember a name or match a face to it. She did remember reading they sold the company for a small fortune. Perhaps it hadn't been as small as assumed.
At any rate he'd shown no qualms about her spending it. But then again, from what she'd overheard about their planning of expeditions, it was a far bit pricier than she'd assumed. She'd promised Karim the next five years. She wondered just what Harry's face would look like if she flat out asked for half a million quid. Still, if she ran into a problem, she'd figure out a way to fix it.
"Oh I see," Jane said. There was a sort of tremble in her voice. As if she wasn't sure to disbelieve the other woman, or to express her condolences for the loss of her parents. She didn't do either of those things though, but largely because the fit American interrupted by approaching them with a plate.
"You in, newbie?" he asked with a gesture down to the plate. Emily peered at it, wondering why he'd lined up rows of what appeared to be powdered sugar on it.
"What's this?" she asked. Given that there was a snicker of amusement from just about everyone else at the small camp. Karim looked ready to step in for her, which annoyed her as she didn't need someone to defend her. And frankly, if she did, she had a better man to back her up than the Iranian climber. Granted, he was in Japan, but he could get there if need be.
"Cocaine has a place in every high-altitude first aid kit," the American said with a bright smile.
"And I look like I need first aid?" Emily asked, raising her brows and peering upward at the American. His smile only grew as he shook his head.
"No. But there's no point in letting it go to waste after the expedition is over," he answered. Once again he offered the plate toward her. She peered down at it, then back up at him, then down at it.
It gave her pause. She knew very little about the drug. It must have become popular during her time as a wraith. She wondered why it would even be something that would wind up in a first aid kit or if the American was just screwing with her.
A quick glance around the camp revealed quite a few eyes on her, as if waiting for her decision. For some reason she doubted that it would have any bearing on their own decisions, but there she was. She turned her attention back to the drug. It looked innocuous enough.
"Forgive me if I sound foolish, but I've never done that before," she said, staring down at the neatly spread lines on the plate. The American seemed to pick up on her implication and nodded.
"You snort it. It's pretty awful but worth it in the end," he said. She peered around again, wondering if this was some sort of game they were playing with her. A more nefarious part of her thought there was a simple solution to that. Just make them do it first. But to her surprise, a calmer, softer part of her won out.
It wasn't like they were trying to kill her. And if a little bit of white powder did the job she'd have to seriously reevaluate her own opinion on herself. She took the plate from the American, threw her hair over her shoulder, hunched over and snorted a line.
It burned. Which was obnoxious. And it felt like there were bits of it everywhere. She immediately tried to brush it off of her face as she sniffed more through her nostrils. There was some laughing, which irritated her as she hated being the butt of the joke, but nothing that felt malicious. A moment after she'd finished the American did the same thing, but with far more polish.
He offered the plate to Karim, who shook his head, his lips drawn into a tight frown as he watched the group. And then to Jane, who took it from him and started to pass it around.
She wondered what it was supposed to feel like. Mostly her nose just burned, which was obnoxious. And she felt like she had to sniffle a lot. Which she kept doing. Over and over. Which was also obnoxious.
It didn't seem to be an uncommon trait on the mountain. Everyone seemed to sniffle more than necessary. She'd so far avoided it by being better than the rest of them, but now she seemed to have joined them.
Her eyes shot around the campsite as the plate continued its way around. She'd have guessed half of the people partook in the drug while the other half mostly ignored its presence. She sipped at her beer as the American pulled his chair over toward her and Karim.
"I do have to ask one thing," he asked. They hadn't talked much. Like Jane, he'd more or less ignored her when she arrived at the mountain. He and his climbing partner kept to themselves for the most part. A few of the others deferred to his judgment on quite a few minor things and he'd mediated one of the disputes with the porters, but mostly he'd done his own thing. He and his partner were far and away better than anyone else on the mountain. And all of them knew it.
It wasn't until one of the stupid acclimatization runs that he'd even taken note of her. And that was largely because he'd arrived at the higher camp, turned around to say something to his partner, and then noticed her standing a few feet behind them. He'd blinked at her, as if startled, and then peered down at his watch before blinking at her again.
She'd ignored him. She was great at ignoring people. Some may say it was one of her favorite ways of dealing with people. And gone about her business at the camp. Which consisted mostly of making something to eat and wondering why she didn't just use magic to conjure up something more edible than whatever it was they were trying to pass off as ramen. And no, Pop-Tarts did not count.
He'd come over and chatted briefly with her that day. But she'd largely blown him off once Karim made his way into the higher camp. He'd stop her on occasion on the mountain and help with her gear or adjust something she was doing, or have a comment here or there. She thought he did it far more to her than any of the others.
It should have bothered her. And she guessed it did to a degree. But he was fit and handsome and there were far worse things to look at on the mountain. So she could ignore his prattling and stare.
Despite that he never felt like he was criticizing her. And when she actually listened to his advice, which admittedly took a while, she found it sound and helpful. But they hadn't really talked. He hadn't seemed the type to enjoy smalltalk and the like. Which she appreciated. Now, however, he stared at her waiting for her permission to continue on.
She figured she'd tell him to go away. And that would be the end of it. But instead she nodded.
"What's that?" She cursed herself for saying it. She hadn't wanted to talk to the buffoon. She let her eyes shoot around the camp as she continued to sniffle. She almost didn't even notice her fingers tapping quickly against her chair as she leaned slightly toward him.
"Where did Karim find you?"
"Iran," she answered. The American raised his brows and looked over at Karim. The other man shrugged.
"She was wandering aimlessly through the mountain villages. It looked like she had no idea what she was doing and she was woefully underequipped," Karim explained.
"And you decided to help her?" the American asked. Karim shrugged his shoulders.
"It seemed like the personable thing to do, Matt," he said. "She needed help and I was able to provide it adequately."
"She looks like she disagrees with your assessment," Matt answered. Emily didn't even realize she was glaring at Karim until the other man pointed that out. Karim spared a momentary glance at her before looking away.
"I didn't need help," she scoffed. "He just started following me."
"Yet you followed him here," Matt responded. Emily shook her head and tried to sound as defensive as possible with her answer.
"Lucky timing, nothing more," she said. Neither man looked like they believed her. She decided the best course of action would be to turn the conversation back on them. "How do you know each other?"
"We did Cho Oyu together a few years back," Karim answered.
"And discussed Broad Peak but haven't been able to come to an agreement on that one," Matt answered. "This community isn't very large once you get into it. We all know each other or at worst have similar acquaintances. Even if you wind up on different expeditions you often wind up on the same mountain."
"I see," Emily answered.
"Which is why you, Gina, are such an oddity," Matt said.
"I'm sure plenty of people try mountaineering every year. Last I heard you can buy your way up Everest," she countered. She felt oddly warm. The weather must have been turning in their favor. She let the warming charm on her fade and unzipped the down jacket. She peered around the camp again before deciding her hands needed something to do. So she put her hair into a ponytail.
She conjured the hair tie while doing it. It wasn't until after she was done that she realized she'd done so. She wondered if either of them noticed. But she was fairly convinced that Muggle men assumed women of any type could conjure a hair tie at will.
"Plenty do," Matt agreed. "And many of them show up as unprepared as you did."
"I was perfectly prepared," Emily said. And she was. She'd apparated to Australia one day to go to a sporting goods store. She could have done it in Japan but she figured there was slightly less of a language barrier. A few very helpful sales people provided everything she could have needed. She'd charmed a bag and brought most of it. Even if she'd only used about a third of it. And some if it only once.
"Yes, you had brand new everything. Most people would tell you bringing brand new boots to a mountain is a terrible idea. How many blisters are on your feet?" he asked with a knowing smirk.
"My feet are perfectly fine. You've obviously never worn stilettos," Emily said. It got a chuckle out of Jane but no reaction from anyone else.
"Can't say I have. So how many blisters?"
"None."
"Bullshit."
Emily raised her brows at him. Then, mostly out of spite, leaned forward on her chair. She pulled her jeans up to the middle of her calf and rolled the baselayer up as well. She untied the shoes she wore and pulled them off her feet. Her socks followed a moment later. She leaned back in the chair and wiggled her toes. The only blemish on her feet was the rather embarrassing fact she'd painted her toenails periwinkle blue. Don't ask.
"None," she repeated. Matt snorted and shook his head. She put her feet down in the light snow. The coolness felt nice. She fidgeted against it and smirked with her own superiority at the men before her.
"I don't believe it," the American laughed again. "How?"
"Good self-care," she shrugged.
"You're going to get frostbite if you do that," Karim said, gesturing to her feet.
"I doubt it," she shrugged.
"Iran?" Matt asked. Karim nodded.
"I doubt I'm anything special," Emily lied. "I'm sure you're just selling all the others short."
"And how much training did you do before you decided that you were going to climb an eight thousander?"
"I did Fuji," she said. Matt rolled his eyes at her.
"I run five miles a day as a warm-up. I've found routes around my home that take me up the most hills. After that I often do an hour or so on a stairmaster with a full pack. I lift almost daily. I'm nuts about it. I'll admit that. I don't think I've ever been on a mountain where I wasn't the most fit person there," Matt said.
"Most arrogant, too," Emily teased. She couldn't manage to suppress her giggle.
"That too," he agreed. But if her comment bothered him he didn't show it. The smile never left his face. "So how did you train?"
"It's a long uphill walk back home from work," Emily shrugged. It was true, too. The whole mile or so of it. "I bike some too."
"And you've never been at altitude before," Matt said.
"I've been in a plane," she answered. And Portkey too. But there was some debate as to exactly how Portkey travel worked. Some theorists thought it launched the people high into the air and brought them back down at their target. Others thought that was an illusion of the magic. Given that she was, well, her, she rarely saw the need for a Portkey and apparated to most places instead. The logistics behind it has never interested her enough to think about it for more than a second.
"Cute," the American answered.
"I don't see why any of this matters."
"You're an anomaly," Matt said. "I was hoping to understand why."
"Maybe I'm just naturally talented," she said.
"I've guided my fair share of total newbies up such peaks as Rainier, Denali, and even Everest. I've never had someone keep up with me on their first climb. Especially not someone who thought a carabiner was a caribou," Matt said. Emily felt the blush rise into her cheeks. She wondered if she could memory charm that out of their mind. She knew she should have worked on the vocabulary before hitting the mountain.
"I misheard you," she said in a soft voice, turning her gaze away from the American.
"Why lie?" the man asked. "This can't be your first mountain. What's the point of the ignorant facade?"
"I don't lie," she said.
"What are you then?" he asked, his tone growing more stern. Emily shrugged her shoulders. She wondered why she could feel her heart in her chest as they spoke. She felt like she should just finish the questioning and call it a day. The thought of apparating back to Japan was quickly becoming more appealing.
"Takar Dolsangma," Karim answered for her. Her eyes shot toward him. Like the American, he was smiling. But he was more patient. It had less of a leer to it. He'd grown accustomed to her secrecy.
"Wrong mountain," Matt answered.
"And yet here we are," Karim said. "I choose not to argue with her. She's ignorant…"
"Hey!"
"Well you are. But you learn quickly. Shockingly so at times. You do not repeat mistakes. You help when asked. Even if you glare and pout the entire time," Karim said.
"I don't do any of those things," Emily glared. After a moment she let her expression shift into a pout as she wondered if maybe she did.
"And she's funding your next expeditions," Matt said. "Be a shame to kill the golden goose."
"If I didn't think she could do it, I wouldn't take her up on the mountain. Not all of us have guide companies scrambling for our services," Karim shot back. Matt shrugged as if that wasn't his problem. He looked ready to continue the conversation except the plate made its way back to them. Emily noticed there was one line of the powder left prepared on it. She took the plate and repeated the process, mostly so Matt wouldn't get to.
"Not a party girl, eh?" Karim scoffed. He looked more amused than annoyed by her actions. She only shrugged her shoulders and cursed herself for the burning in her nose. She was thinking of a charm to undo that problem when the glint of a happy young woman caught her wandering eyes.
Aside from Jane, there weren't any others on the mountain she could apply that descriptor too, so she turned her attention toward the woman, curiosity bubbling to the front of her mind.
Except it wasn't a happy young woman she saw. Instead it was the reflection of one of the serving trays the Sherpa cooks used. Someone had discarded it next to the tents.
She blinked at the woman in the mirrored image. The woman with the bright eyes and slightly flushed cheeks. The woman with the upward curled smile and an almost annoyingly cute mischievous expression. With a perfect dimple plastered onto her face. A woman who, perhaps worse of all, looked like she loved herself.
Emily hated her.
She could feel herself starting to hyperventilate. Her heart seemed ready to explode in her chest. Her eyes tried to look at anything but her reflection but no matter what she did they flashed back to it. The woman's smile only grew. It was like she was laughing at her. Taunting her. Making fun of her. She needed to be crushed.
She rose to her feet, intending to do just that but the entire world spun around her. It took her a moment to steady herself, ignoring the men as they rose to try to help her. Instead she stared at herself, fury growing in her as she laughed it off.
"I need to get some air," she said, ignoring the fact that she was outside. She heard Karim call after her, something about shoes and wellness and she didn't care. Instead she fled from the evil woman at the camp.
It wasn't until she was a few hundred meters past her tent that she stopped. Her feet had gone numb. Which was obnoxious. She looked down to find them a rather angry pink color. A quick charm fixed that. She wiggled her toes to make sure everything was functioning as intended before turning her attention up to the stars.
The nights were beautiful up here. There was something crisp and clean about the air and everything felt almost as if it were glowing. She could understand why her companions had fallen so hard for the hobby they chased.
She let her thoughts collect themselves, ignoring her ragged breathing and wondering if she'd run a bit faster than she thought away from the camp. She had to laugh at that, the sound echoing a bit around her. She wondered what Dumbledore would have thought of her being forced to flee by her own reflection.
She could imagine Priya's comments easily enough. The healer would have just raised her brows and peered down her nose at her and commented something like if she conjured a blade again she was cleaning up the mess this time.
Harry would have been more vindictive. He'd have made her clean it up the muggle way.
Still, she had to admit, life three wasn't proving to be filled with glorious victories for Lord Voldemort. Felled in battle by an orgasm against Grindelwald and scared off by her own face on a mountain.
She crossed her arms over her chest and figured she'd need to rectify that somehow. How exactly? Well that remained to be seen. She could come up with something. Or if she was desperate, fabricate something.
Once the scenery started to bore her. Which only took about twenty more seconds, she started to contemplate her next action. She could return easily enough to the party. But if she did that there was at least a minor chance she'd be asked why she'd fled. And she didn't feel like answering that question in her own mind much less aloud to some pissants.
Of course, there was always the chance they wouldn't comment, or care, about her mysterious flight. And that all she had to do was go back, grab another beer, and rejoin the party. But that didn't feel right. Of course they'd be interested. It was her. How could they not be?
She stood in the open air and sniffled until the sound emanating from her own nostrils irritated her. It took about three breaths.
Just when she'd decided to be an adult and go back to being social something shifted in the air. It hit her right as she was turning around to return to the camp and knocked her off balance. No matter what anyone said she did not fall onto her backside in the snow. That would have been stupid.
After she finished dusting herself off, which was wholly unnecessary because she had not fallen over into the snow, she peered back toward the camp just in time to see figures flashing about. The unmistakable presence of magic filled the air. But there was something else with it that gave her pause. Something that made her muscles tense and her body feel far more on edge than normal. Something that felt almost corrupt.
Her first thought was Harry. But the corruption felt different. And he wouldn't have been that dumb. Even in a dire emergency. He had ways he could get messages to her far more easily than apparating to her.
There appeared to be four of them. She could feel magic flare around the camp. Magic that seemed unusually powerful for four people when none of them were named Emily Price. It was worth investigating.
No noise came from the camp. Which felt like a problem. Part of her thought that there was no point in her bothering. She could just start heading home and call it an adventure. But she was planning on abusing Karim into organizing the rest of her expeditions so it seemed prudent to make sure he was at least mostly whole. And Lord Voldemort didn't run.
Well, except from her own smiling face. But that was completely different!
She stalked back to the camp and was only mildly surprised to find four dark robed figures holding wands toward the terrified frozen faces of her new companions. She peered around at them all.
She recognized the variant of the body-bind well enough. They'd performed it well, completely freezing most of the Muggles there. The version of the spell rendered them comatose. If it ever faded, most would wake up and assume they'd partied a bit too hard but were otherwise no worse for wear. It was one of the more humane variants they could have used. She was rather impressed they'd managed to get it on the entire camp in such a short time.
It held true for everyone at the camp except for Karim. His eyes shot around as his jaw clenched in obvious pain. The wizard who bound him had his back to her, but Emily had a fairly decent idea who it was. He'd chosen the Iron Maiden variant of the spell. He'd sealed his fate with that, even if he didn't know it yet.
"Where is she?" the wizard hissed. It was a stupid question. He'd have to relinquish the spell for Karim to be able to formulate a reply, and he showed no interest in doing that.
"What do we have here?" Emily asked. All four of the hooded figures turned to face her. None of them looked alarmed by her appearance. And none of them cowered in fear of her presence like they should have. Perhaps she shouldn't have let Harry Potter ruin her reputation.
Then again, she doubted she looked frightening as she walked up toward them, barefoot with her pants rolled up as if she was in a flood while wearing a bright puffy coat. Even she had to admit it might have been the least menacing ensemble she'd ever donned.
"Hand out of your pockets," the main wizard said. He'd spun around, Karim magically floating between them as a shield. "Hands out of your pockets or I kill him."
Emily tilted her head to the side as if contemplating her next move. She let them twitch, feeling her heart flutter more than she would have expected at such a standoff. She felt warm, flushed, like she was sweating. All things that seemed pointless. She didn't want to spook them, though, so she didn't fix it with magic. Instead, she withdrew her empty hands from her pockets.
Her fingers fidgeted as if on their own as she sniffled once more. Really, she thought, doing wonders to make her seem more menacing than she already did.
"What do you think you're doing?" she asked. The man lowered his hood. He looked like he expected her to be surprised by his appearance but she kept her expression blank as he stared at her.
"We're going to take you," Jochen said. Emily raised her brows at him.
"I told you already, you'll never get to have me," Emily said. She tried to sound sultry when she said it. She didn't think it worked. But in her defense it had been decades since she'd tried to flirt. She wasn't sure if licking her lips helped or not.
"Oh I think we will," Jochen sneered. Emily wasn't sure how much she wanted to get into this back and forth. Especially when she wasn't currently holding a beer. So instead she looked at him like he was a petulant child.
It was annoying that he didn't melt at her feet in that instant, but even she couldn't win them all.
"What do you want?" she asked.
"I told you," Jochen said. "We're going to take you."
"Why?" she asked. Jochen bliked at her. Clearly that hadn't been the response he'd expected.
"Because you're you," he said.
"So?"
"So our boss would like to speak with you," he said.
"Why?"
"He thinks you can come to an understanding," Jochen answered.
"Why?"
"Because he feels you have similar views on Muggles."
"Why?"
"Because of how you treated them during your rise to power!" Jochen yelled as if the answer was obvious. He leveled his glare on her. As he did so, Karim grimaced in even more pain as the German's magic shot through his body. "You of all people have to understand how worthless they are. But he's found a way for them to be useful. Look at the power we have. That's from but a few of them. We can drain them, we can use their life essence to grow our power. We can increase the superiority of magic-"
"Why?" Emily interrupted, feeling like the monologue was growing less interesting with each word he uttered. Jochen's eyes narrowed as she spoke, his jaw tightening as his glare stayed focused on her.
"To make the world a better place," he sneered. She wondered if he noticed her twitch.
"Why?" she asked.
"I'm not playing this game anymore," he said. He let his magic flare and she watched Karim grimace against it. Tears were forming in the corners of his eyes. The magic was far stronger than she'd sensed from him in the cave all those months ago. It raised certain problems on a larger scale. But nothing that she felt was outside of her ability to handle now.
"Stop that," Emily said.
"Once you agree to peacefully leave with us I will let all of them go. No further harm done," Jochen sneered.
"How did you even find me?" she asked. The possibilities seemed endless but each raised as many questions as they answered. Could Grindelwald have done some sort of tracking spell on her in the cave? But if so, why would he wait so long to do anything about it? And how precise would he have had to be for her to not sense it?
"Our Boss is the greatest Wizard of all time," Jochen started. Emily interrupted him by giggling. Loudly. Jochen talked over her rather than wait for the fits to subside. "He is capable of sensing those with any power from thousands of miles away if need be. He decided it was time for you two to meet under better circumstances."
"I've met him twice. He's a prick," Emily said. That; however, was an interesting bit of knowledge. A useful talent to have, she thought as she half wondered about how she could learn it.
"He's informed me that he'll be willing to help you eliminate Harry Potter," Jochen said. And another piece fell into place. If Grindelwald could have sensed them from thousands of miles away, surely he'd have been able to tell they were living together.
"He pays my mortgage. Why would I want to kill him?" Emily asked.
"What?" Jochen blinked. Technically her name wasn't on the deed. And she was pretty sure they'd paid the entire thing off up front. But those details didn't seem pertinent to the conversation.
"Just seems like a stupid decision on my part," she shrugged.
"Enough of this." Jochen started.
"And I don't understand your plan," Emily said. "If you think I don't care about Muggles, then how would threatening their wellbeing sway me to come with you?"
She couldn't help but smile as Jochen stared at her. Karim sagged against him as the magic waned for a moment. She could feel him wondering about how useful his hostage was. A flash of something passed through his expression before she could place it. A sense of betrayal, perhaps?
"Stop this stalling," he hissed. "I can sense your fear."
"My fear?" Emily blinked. It was her turn to be surprised. Lord Voldemort wasn't afraid of anything. Well, except for accepting strange tea from Priya Patel. Even if the others drank it first.
"Yes," Jochen laughed. "Look at you. You're fidgeting like a schoolgirl ready to be scolded. Your heart is out of control. You're sweating. You're obviously terrified and trying to stall for time-"
"Oh," Emily said, interrupting him. "That's the cocaine."
"What?" Jochen again shook his head at her. Whatever he had expected from this encounter, this hadn't been it.
"It's a Muggle drug," Emily shrugged. "I don't think I like it. It made my nose hurt."
"Enough. We've gone to great lengths to make sure you can't escape." Jochen repeated. He let his magic flow around him. Again, Karim buckled against it. The power that emanated surprised her. But little more than that. He'd certainly grown far stronger than he was. His companions let their own magic rise at the same time as he continued. "The four of us represent a new breed of Wizard. One that will-"
"There's only three of you," she said. Jochen paused and looked over his shoulder at his three companions. All of them looked confused. They peered around, counting their number as he looked back to her.
"There's four," he said. And as he spoke one of the wizards with him, the one furthest from her, crumbled and collapsed to the ground.
"Three," Emily countered.
"What did you do?" Jochen hissed. He pulled Karim back closer to him. The others were wise enough to duck behind other hostages. Which seemed stupid to Emily as it wasn't like she had to go through them.
"Nothing," Emily lied. But they all responded immediately. Magic swelled around them, sealing them from her more subtle spells. "Did you think apparating up to seventeen thousand feet wasn't going to have some effect on you?"
"He assured me our magic would counteract any negative effects. There's so much of it it should be an automatic fix," Jochen countered.
"Boss spends a lot of time in the mountains?"
"He grew up in the Alps." Jochen spat back. Shit, she thought, he had her there. Although she was fairly certain they were higher up than any point in the alps.
"Not quite the same," she quipped. She could still feel their magic growing. She couldn't help but wonder if she should be worried about that. But the more curious part of her wanted to see where it would end.
Jochen and one of the others shifted while the remaining hooded figure moved to inspect the downed companion. She felt their general shield flash toward her as they waited for confirmation on his fate. Emily figured it was as good of time as any to kill the act.
With an altogether unthreatening sniffle she let her power go. The shockwave that burst out from her wasn't the most powerful spell she'd ever used. But a tiny part of her didn't want to cause an avalanche and it took a fair bit of skill to end it as soon as it hit the edge of their camp. And it took more focus than she would have liked to make sure it didn't hit any of the Muggles in the process.
Jochen kept his feet, which irritated her, but his companions both toppled into the snow. She smirked and took a step forward, black leather boots forming around her feet as her clothing shifted into a black dress. She tilted her neck to the side as if stretching to prepare for a fight. She let her eyes meet Jochen's, relishing the newfound fear behind them.
"Did it never occur to you that I might resist?" she chuckled. "And what that would mean. Surely he told you who he sent you to deal with."
"He knows what you are. And he knows we are enough to deal with you," Jochen argued. It was cute. He actually believed it.
"I'm feeling generous. I'll let you leave. You can run back to daddy with your tails between your legs and tell him how you failed. I'd have to imagine he's more lenient than I am," Emily said. She made sure to smile. People always thought her smile was sinister. Despite her never intending it to be so.
"You're nothing we can't handle," Jochen said. But his voice hitched which only served to widen her smile.
"You're going to die here," she stated. Jochen had no response. Instead he leveled his wand on her and shot a series of hexes her way. She didn't bother identifying them. She held up her hand, trying Harry's trick from before and caught all three of them.
She flicked her wrist and some of the power vented off of her and shot back toward Jochen. He dodged out of the way, but she'd never intended for it to hit him anyway. The companion behind him stumbled as soon as the spell hit his chest. It knocked his hood back and the color started to fade from his face as soon as it hit.
By the time he collapsed to the ground he was a pallid gray color. His breathing stopped moments later.
"You," Jochen growled.
"It was your spell. Rather a nasty one too."
Rather than respond he continued his barrage. She didn't bother with the hand trick. Instead she focused on dodging and blocking. It felt oddly good to be racing around. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest. She'd always liked the thrill of the fight and the exhilaration it brought on. And she liked making them feel helpless. As helpless as she'd felt for all of those years. It was her own petty revenge.
She toyed with Jochen for a few minutes. Letting him attack, letting him cast, letting him think it was actually a fight. Anything to keep him engaged, more or less. He had to notice that none of his spells hit her. And that nothing he possibly could do would slow her. It was a lesson she should have taught him back in that cave in Iran.
She wondered why she hadn't. Had she been so afraid of being Lord Voldemort that she hadn't wanted to. Or had she merely been too amused by the pantomime of it all to let that part of her slip out? It didn't matter. She'd do it now and that would be the end of it.
His remaining companion quickly noticed that there was nothing he could do to help his fallen companions so he decided to help Jochen. Emily rectified that with another twist of her wrist and giggled as his neck snapped and he fell to the ground.
It distracted Jochen enough for her to blast him with pure force in the chest. He landed hard on his back a few meters away. She crossed her arms and stared down at him as he gasped for air, the alarm evident on his face.
"How?" he muttered.
"That isn't what you should be worrying about," Emily smiled.
"What?" he coughed as he struggled back to his feet. To his credit he had thrown a magical barrier around him. She could have broken it. It didn't seem worth the effort yet.
"You got a little taste of power and the four of you thought they could beat Lord Voldemort. See how that ended? And there's still a dirty little secret you don't even know," she giggled. She was having too much fun. She knew that. There was no point to the taunting. She should just end the fight. Well, it was already over, even if one of the combatants didn't realize that. But she was prolonging it for no reason.
"And what's that," he coughed again.
"Harry Potter is stronger than me," she answered. She couldn't hide the annoyance in her voice. Saying it aloud somehow made it worse.
"Boss already beat him once," Jochen sneered.
"Sure. In the same way I could take a Firebolt and outscore a professional Chaser playing with one arm disabled on a Cleansweep One," Emily answered.
"If that's what you have to tell yourself," Jochen sneered. "You weren't there. I know what I saw."
"And yet Harry didn't fight back. Not until he was hit with that poisoned cutter. You know, the one that usually kills the victim in minutes? He didn't even try to counter it and is still kicking. Funny how that works, isn't it?"
"You don't know what you're talking about," Jochen said. She felt the power rising in him and the strength of his shield growing. It intrigued her enough to see where he was going with it.
"Sure I don't," she said with a shrug. He let his power focus and then smirked at her as it wrapped around him. The look in his eyes was so confident, so superior, that she had to chuckle.
He let it burst from him and in an instant she knew she'd guessed wrong. She'd expected some sort of last-ditch attack to disable her. Instead he'd chosen to flee. She saw the swirls of magical travel start around him.
It didn't matter, though. She held out her hand and let her own power reach out. She grabbed him mid spell and threw her arm back, tossing him effortlessly across the camp. He rolled onto his back, his face filled with fear, and she walked toward him.
"How?" he asked as he realized he'd been ripped mid apparition right back to where he was.
"I told you Jochen. You're going to die here," she said.
"But that's impossible. You can't…"
"Pull someone away mid spell? And yet I just did it," she said. "No one escapes me if I don't want them to."
He attempted to regain his feet but she knocked him back down with another blast of force. It pushed him further away from her but she was enjoying stalking him around the camp.
"The only question now is how do I want to kill you?" she asked as if he had a choice in the matter. "It's been so long since I've done something like this."
"Let me go," he begged as his fate finally dawned on him.
"No."
"Please," he begged. "I'm sorry. We'll leave you alone. You don't have to be involved."
"Either did the girls in Iran. And yet they were raped and abused while you did nothing."
"I tried to stop it!" he argued. "I didn't want that to happen!"
"And I didn't want to kill you. Yet here we are."
"So don't. You can always choose not to."
"Oh I already did," she smiled. "I'm not going to kill you."
"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you," tears started to flow from his eyes. He made to rise to his feet again but stumbled. She merely peered down at him before adding.
"The mountain is," she said.
"What?" he blinked. She focused her magic and pulled his wand from him, she ripped away any defenses he had left in a single motion and hit him with the same body-bind they'd used on the Muggles. And then, with a wave of her hand he disappeared. She used her magic to direct his body into a crevice on the mountain and waited.
It took less time than she'd have expected for the last traces of him to vanish from her mind. If they ever found him, the outfit might look strange. But she doubted the body would ever be recovered. A snap of her finger was all it took for his companions to join him.
She took a deep breath, finding it annoying that she could still feel her heart beating in her chest after the fight was long over. But she suspected that had little to do with the fight.
She walked through the camp, checking on the bodies she found. No one was hurt although she suspected most of them would have killer headaches in the morning. Or, more realistically, the afternoon when they finally woke.
It almost made her feel bad that she'd killed Grindelwald's followers. Maybe they would have left everyone unharmed. It didn't do her any good to dwell on that.
She watched Karim as he started to regain his breathing and pulled himself into a sitting position. He didn't seem like he was about to try to attack her. Or like he was going to run off screaming. So she took the next few minutes to get everyone back to their tents. A few warming charms to make sure they were comfortable when they woke.
When she finished she turned her attention to Karim. He was clutching his side and had thrown himself into one of the folding chairs. A bit of blood dribbled from his mouth. She walked over toward him and kneeled next to the chair. He flinched away from her and she responded by glaring at him.
"You are Takar Dolsangma," he coughed.
"No," she said. She moved his arm out of the way and pressed her hand into his side. She could feel the magical trauma done to him. Some of his organs were starting to fail. He flinched away from her as she touched him.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Fixing what they did to you," she said. "I can take your memories of it too."
"No," he said.
"It's for the best," she answered.
"No," he responded with more force in his voice.
"Fine," she said, wondering why she'd cave so rapidly.
"What are you?" he asked.
"I'm a witch," she said. He blinked at her and started laughing. The motion caused him to wince in pain and she pressed her hand harder to him until she relaxed. He grimaced against her.
"You did something to me in Iran," he said.
"I admitted to that already," she answered.
"Why?"
"Because you irritated me and I'm a selfish, vindictive, bitch," she replied.
"No you are not," he answered. "Or you wouldn't be helping."
"I caused this," she said, peering around the camp.
"Are the others dead?" he asked.
"No. They'll be fine. A rough day when they wake up, but nothing they won't assume is worse than a hangover."
"Why did they hurt me so much then?"
"Because the German remembered you from Iran," Emily answered.
"What are you talking about?"
"He appeared at our camp in Iran the morning we parted ways," Emily answered.
"No he didn't. We looped back around to my village and you went on your way," Karim answered. Emily frowned. Clever, she thought. He'd erased himself. Far more subtle than just offing the Iranian. Which would have been her course of action.
"He made you think that," Emily said.
"You can do that?" he asked, fear evident on his face. But she'd nearly finished undoing the magical damage to him. Finding herself oddly glad Priya had made her review some healing techniques before venturing off to the mountain.
"Yes," she admitted.
"What did you make me think?" he asked.
"Nothing," she said.
"Should I believe you?"
"If I were making you think things I'd make you," she said. He frowned at her words.
"No one will believe this," Karim said.
"You'd be an idiot to tell them," she said.
"Would they kill me?" he asked.
"Too much effort. Everyone would label you a kook," she answered.
"What happens now?" he asked as she finished the healing treatment.
"How do you feel?"
"Fine," he answered. He sat up a bit and looked surprised at himself. "Better than fine, really. How did you do that?"
"I'm a witch," she repeated.
"Were they hunting you?" he asked.
"In a way I guess," she said.
"Are you a criminal?"
"I was. And you did just watch me kill four people," she answered.
"I couldn't follow anything that was going on," he admitted.
"That's for the best," she answered. He stared at her for a moment and then his expression hardened. His tone was more forceful when he spoke.
"Wait. Is this why you're so good at climbing?"
"Sort of," she couldn't help it. She laughed. His eyes narrowed as he looked at her.
"Explain."
"I don't use magic on the mountain. But some of it I can't help. I'm powerful. It will do things without me having much of a say in it. Like providing oxygen. Or keep the muscles far more fresh. I recover quicker."
"That explains much," he answered. She shrugged. He was taking it surprisingly well, she thought. But he was almost certainly in shock.
"I wanted a physical challenge. I needed something to do I guess. I tried Fuji and enjoyed it. Then I found you again," she shrugged, hoping he wouldn't take offense to it.
"I understand that allure," he smiled at her. Then shook his head. "In the stories, nothing good comes from cavorting with witches."
"Was this something good?" she asked.
"I knocked a peak off of my list," he said. "You are not going to take that from me, are you?"
"No," she answered.
"And you are not going to take anything else?" Karim asked. She could sense his fear then. Fear for himself, for his family, for his friends on the mountain. His expression hardened as he stared at her.
"No," she shook her head.
"I don't know what to make of all this," he said. "I'm not sure I believe any of it. Are you doing that?"
"No," she answered.
"So I have to ask again, what's next?"
"I have to go," she said. She gestured toward her tent and her pack flew from it and into her hand. She pulled the journal from it and stared down at the blank cover. There had been no reply from Harry or Priya. She didn't know if that was a good or a bad thing. Despite knowing there would be nothing there she turned the pages to the latest entry, seering her own cheery words made her stomach fall.
"Will more of them come?" Karim asked.
"Not with me gone," she answered, hoping it was true. Some more of his followers might come looking for their friends. But if they saw she wasn't there, hopefully they would leave.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"You can't trek back alone. That's dangerous," he commented, looking toward his own tent. She turned her eyes toward the path they'd taken to get there. And then looked back to her book.
She'd promised herself she'd do it the Muggle way. That she wouldn't cheat unless she absolutely had to. She peered off into the darkness and dug a pen out of the bag.
"I'll be fine," she answered and started walking.
"What happens with us?" he asked.
"I'll make sure you have the funds for the next expedition in the next couple of days. Write to me with the details. Let's meet, say, April first in Kathmandu? If I'm not there, move on yourself," she said.
"You're going to do something dangerous?" he asked.
"Yes," she nodded. They'd walked to the far end of the camp. He paused and stared ahead of her into the darkness.
"Then peace be with you, Gina Darnell," he said. He offered his hand. She looked down at it, then back up at him before taking it.
"It's Emily, actually. Emily Price. But you too," she answered, taking his head. She figured he'd at least earned her name. He said nothing more as she walked away and she didn't have the heart to look back at him. She doubted he'd be waiting for her in Nepal next year. And she couldn't blame him for it.
Once he was out of sight she put pen to paper in the journal.
Grindelwald's men showed up at basecamp. I killed four of them who threatened the other climbers. Jochen from Iran was leading the group. They were stronger than they should have been. Starting back now. Please provide update.
She put the journal back into the pack as she continued to walk in the darkness. She was being stupid. She should just apparate. Her own personal goals didn't matter. There were far more important things.
But it was stupid to assume they'd challenge Harry or Priya. Or that they wouldn't have contacted her. It could, she figured, at least wait a little bit.
She'd give them until morning, she decided as her walk shifted to more of a jog, her body seeming to move independently of her brain as she willed herself back to civilization. If she'd heard nothing by the morning. She'd apparate back to Japan then.
And if she didn't like what she found? Well, what was it they said? Hell hath no fury? That would do.
Author's Note: As always thanks for your continued support. If you wish to support me further I am available at PAT RE ON at TE7Writes. There are about five more chapters of this currently available there as well as nine or so of my other WIP Conjurations & Catacombs.