Raven | 𝘙𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

Chapter 84

As the night grew darker, Kreacher brought Alexandra and Regulus to the same cave the Dark Lord had taken him. The dark sea before them heaved thunderously and crashed to the sharp rocks with loud roars.

"Here, Master," said Kreacher, his voice echoing through the dark cave. Alexandra and Regulus had both drawn out her wands, lightening up the space around them.

Regulus had been thinking about their plan for long hours, and despite how he kept trying to reassure Alexandra that things were going to work out, there was still this feeling in his gut that told him something was going to go wrong.

     What Alexandra didn't know, was the effects that the Emerald Potion had on people. Regulus was ready to drink it, but he also knew that if he did, there was little chance of survival. But if it came to his life and Alexandra's, he would rather die to save her.

     Although knowing Alexandra, he knew that she would try to put his life before hers, and he couldn't have that.

      "Listen, Kreacher," Regulus started as they stood at the entrance of the cave, turning to face the house elf, "The moment you hear the word 'Raven', it means that one of us is in danger. So what I want you to do is to take the person who still has hope for being saved out of the cave."

And that person would be her, he thought to himself. It has to be.

After Kreacher bowed deeply in understanding, the elf helped them pass through the cave's entrance, the same way that the Dark Lord had opened it up.

An eerie sight met their eyes. They were standing on the edge of a great black lake, so vast that they could not make out the distant banks, in a cavern so high that the ceiling too was out of sight.

A misty greenish light shone far away in what looked like the middle of the lake; it was reflected in the completely still water below. The greenish glow and the light from the two wands were the only things that broke the otherwise velvety blackness.

      Regulus and Alexandra stood beside each other, facing the dark lake. The darkness surrounding the cave was somehow denser than normal. Regulus then glanced sideways at Alexandra, seeing that she was lightly shivering, a look of worry in her eyes.

      "Are you scared?" he whispered, looking back at the lake.

     Alexandra nodded weakly. "A little."

     Regulus then smiled at her, holding her hand in his and squeezing it reassuringly as he said with a grin, "Me too."

     For some reason, at those words Alexandra felt lightly better, though she could feel how cold his hand had gotten.

"The basin is there," said Kreacher, pointing a shaky finger at the middle of the lake.

"How do we get there?" Alexandra questioned, looking around as she tried to come up with an idea, seeing as there was no boat in sight.

But before either of them could say anything else, Kreacher had raised his hand, as if reaching out for something invisible in mid-air. The next moment, both Alexandra and Regulus jumped when a long chain shot out of the lake and landed in Kreacher's hands.

"It's the boat," Regulus observed as they all went forward to help pull it out of the dark water.

With an unsure glance at each other, Alexandra and Regulus got inside the small boat along with Kreacher, which started to float across the lake magically.

There was no sound other than the silken rustle of the boat's prow cleaving the water; it moved without their help, as though an invisible rope was pulling it onward toward the light in the center. Soon they could no longer see the walls of the cavern.