ᴅɪsᴘᴇʟ ᴍʏ ʙᴏʀᴇᴅᴏᴍ | ᴍᴀʀᴀᴅᴇᴜʀs' ᴇʀᴀ

Chapter 59: Salvation

They arrived at Sherwood Forest at the same time. Beata apparated to the southern border, Marauders to the north one, Lucius to the west. If they had crossed by chance now, they would have a good laugh at such a coincidence. If they would've been able to laugh at all.

Lucius stepped inside first, crossing the invisible magical boundary, and the forest changed at once. He could see flashes of light everywhere, he heard screams, the crunch of breaking branches and the shouts of spells. It was like one of the Hogwarts parties arranged in secret from the professors. But at this party only Slytherins had fun.

Marauders were in their animagi form, flashing animal eyes. Remus had to stay in Blackshire; Andromeda locked him in the wine cellar, the only dungeon uncle Alphard had.

Beata, grabbing her wand, went forward without hiding. Dry needles and fragile twigs crackled under her feet, a lit cigarette in her teeth smelled bitterly, but Beata was not afraid of werewolves. Not now when it came to Emily Parker.

They all moved to the center of the immense Sherwood Forest, the epicenter of madness.

Regulus Black ran away with everyone else. Like a hound dog, he ducked to the ground, taking the trail by some sixth sense. Regulus was not scared; he knew that no one would touch him. The dark mark burned his hand with a black flame, and for half of the visitors of the forest it was like the brand "Friend".

Regulus stopped only for short periods of time to test a search spell aimed at Emily. Her magic, dim blue with muddy black veins, floated in the air, illuminated by Regulus's spell, mingling with the flashes of other spells. It burned strongly, then weakened. Every time the dark blue glow flashed again, Regulus would either pray or swear. A new spell meant she was alive. But it also meant that Emily was attacked, and it was impossible to say if she repulsed another attack.

Regulus ran faster. His lungs were burning, his right leg ached and Black could feel blood gushing from a punctured heel. But all this was unimportant.

He had to keep running.

The forest became quieter and darker. Regulus got tired, and the trees stopped flickering at such a speed; the bluish moon emerged from the clouds. The entire world was blue-green, enveloped in smoky clouds and the alien voices of the victims and their tormentors.

After a while, the voices drifted away, Emily's magic became barely perceptible, merging more and more with the blackness around. Regulus almost wept in despair, afraid to lose track. He stopped only twenty minutes later, his hands trembling. Regulus doubled over, wheezing to regain his breath. The trail he took for Emily's magic turned out to be only his sick imagination, illusion. He realized this when he blinked, and everything disappeared.

He lost track.

The moon seemed to flow out on the snow around, and it flickered in a white canvas. Regulus recast the Search Spell again and again, and again... but it was all useless. Emily had used no spell for half an hour or more.

At about the same time, Beata Sprinkles also lost sight of Emily Parker's magic, but she had no time for thinking. She ran into a pack of werewolves she successfully avoided before and focused on the battle.

Regulus straightened, wiped sweat from his brow, blood from the bitten lips, and looked back. The forest was exactly the same on all sides, and he could not imagine which side could be the way out. All that left was to put all his strength into the searching spell and check every area around him. If Emily is nearby, it will respond. This forest cannot be infinite.

✨✨✨

Emily has been running for an eternity. At first fear drove her, then she continued to run by inertia, and only when the voices subsided did she make herself stop. Her body needed rest, and there was no point losing consciousness after such a long run.