Hunting For The Sun

CHAPTER THIRTY NINE

Castle in the Clouds

It was with a certain relief that I pulled on some dry clothes. I hadn't realised how unpleasant it was to be damp, or at least I had forgotten. I washed my hair, too, cleaning the salt water out of the coppery strands. My face was sort of crusted with salt along my jaw, so I scrubbed at my face for a while too. I dressed in a close fitting leather jacket and pants that I found in my wardrobe. I would swear that they weren't there before, but there you go. Magical wardrobes will do that to you. I couldn't quite get the zip done up on the jacket, so I was left with a lot of cleavage showing. I decided to pretend that I didn't notice, and had meant it to be that way.

As I looked in the mirror, arranging my now dry hair, a flash of light caught on my dragon pendant. I paused what I was doing, my hand straying down to it where it rested against my chest. I remembered taking it. I remembered why I took it. I clenched my fist around it, closing my eyes briefly, before letting it drop back to my chest and walking away from the mirror without another glance. I slipped my boots on and sat down to tie them up, looking across at the table, now devoid of its plant, since Draco smashed it when he pushed me over. I got up and walked to the corner where he had cracked my skull open, my finger tracing a line along the streak of blood, which had soaked into the wall.

In a sudden rush of fury, I kicked the wall hard, my metal-toed boots saving me from hurting myself. I spun on my heel and marched into my bedroom at the other end. I went through all the draws to find that pair of biker gloves I had seen last week. I pulled the studded leather things onto my hands and buckled them tightly, fastening my belt and slotting my weapons in. After a pause, I drew out my gun.

'Exemplarus,' I murmured. I held out my left hand, hoping this would work. A ball of blue-green light began to coalesce on my palm, swirling into the shape of the pistol. I hefted them both a couple of times and slotted my fingers through the trigger gap, spinning the guns over my fingers and pretending to fire several times.

'Nice,' I grinned, putting Draco out of my mind as I put the first gun away, then duplicated the holster onto the other side too. The click of the straps was satisfying, and I grinned again, wondering whether or not to tie my hair back. I settled for not, just fastening my goggles around my neck, then pushing them up to hold my hair back. I hooked a small lock of my fringe out with a fingernail, checking the result in the oversized mirror.

Satisfied, I left my rooms, walking through the corridors to the room where we had agreed to meet for something to eat. I pushed the door wide and posed dramatically, rather alarmed that I could actually move in this leather two-piece cat suit of mine. Skye laughed, Perse clapped, Neit grinned at me and Ori wasn't there.

I shrugged and went to sit down at the round table made of onyx, with throne-like wrought iron chairs stationed around it. A ring of candles sat in the middle of the table, lighting the area we needed to see. The walls were painted white with black swirling patterns and writing on them. The floor was tiled in onyx and shone in the light from several iron candelabras standing around the room. A dish made of glass with a black rim stood on the table, filled with bread, cheeses and grapes. I plonked myself down in the chair, and my leather pants creaked alarmingly.

Skye was in hysterics by this point, which I couldn't understand. She herself was wearing paint-on trousers and a see-through top. Perse and Neit were looking at her too, now.

'I don't get it,' Neit said slowly.

Skye waggled her hand at us, so I shrugged and started filling my glass plate with food. I poured a glass of something that looked like white wine, but tasted like bitter fruit juice.

'Our little Rae,' Skye had gathered herself enough to say. 'All grown up and wearing her first cat suit.' She wiped away and imaginary tear and broke down laughing again.

I picked up a small bunch of grapes and picked a few off absently, then started pelting her with them. She screamed and dove under the table, covering her head with her hands. I felt two hands grab at my ankles and pulled my legs up reflexively, bouncing onto the table in the same move, neatly dodging the ornate glass bowls. Neit put both hands on the table edge and flipped up as Skye went for her knees.

I was on my knees on the tabletop, bending over with my back to the door, trying to find Skye, when Ori came in. He leaned against the doorframe with his arms folded.

'Well, well, that IS a nice thing to see when you enter a room,' he said languidly. I squealed and spun around quickly, Neit slithered back into her chair and Skye crawled out from under the table. I lowered myself into a seat, hanging my head.

'Don't act like I'm some kind of teacher or something!' Ori protested, sitting down. I stared hard at my feet. 'Oh for God's sake!' Ori snapped, throwing a roll at me.

~

Hogwarts seemed even larger in the dark. I gazed up at the high walls, huddling into my leather collar. Ori was pacing around and Perse, Skye and Neit were leaning against the wall.

'You'd think they'd answer,' Ori grumbled, for the fifth time in ten minutes. Mind you, overall it was about the seventeenth time, since we had been waiting for an hour. Ori had already told me not to call Draco. I started to think he was regretting that rash decision, but male pride prevented him from going back on it.

He rubbed his hands together, blowing on them to warm them up. I looked at him fondly, although it was hard to see him in the darkness. I tried to push the thought that he might not pull through the transformation to the back of my head. He'd given up smoking, since he became mortal. Hence that chewed off little pencil he always seemed to have. I was very proud of him, though. He didn't smell funny any more, either. Not that he ever had stunk like some people do. Somehow, his resilience to the effects included the smell.

I glanced up at the dark, star-smattered skies over the plains and mountains. A few lilac smudges of cloud obscured the horizon, and the air was cold but still. My breath was a steely plume in the crystalline air as we waited. Clouds began to boil over the horizon as we stood in silence and, after about half an hour, the violet blanket of the heavens were obscured by a layer of lilac cloud. Then it began to drizzle, then to rain. It was a spattering rain that sent us all groaning in despair and huddling by the wall. My hair began to frizz up and coil into my eyes, and water ran down inside my jacket. Ori swore and kicked the wall. How long had it been now? We had all lost track long ago.

Eventually, when we were all soaked through to the skin, noises could be heard from inside. The warm, unsteady glow of a guttering candle bathed the honey-stone walls, and the grinding of the bolts behind the gate revealed Adura, swathed in a cloak of goats' wool, which barely held the water off her. It ran in miserable rivulets from the brim of the hood, just missing the tip of her nose to splatter onto her arm where it held the lantern.

'Why didn't you call us?' she demanded, ushering us inside the walls.

'We did,' I snapped. 'Loads of times. We banged on the door and shouted, but there was no answer.'

I was barely able to keep from hitting her, even with this one comment.

'Oh,' she said sheepishly. 'Oh. Sorry.'

Oh. Sorry. OH. SORRY. I snarled, and then covered it with a shiver of cold.

'Let's get you inside,' she said eventually.

As we stepped into the brazier-lit warmth of the grand entrance hall with its sweeping marble staircase, I realised quite how cold I actually was.

'They're upstairs. We've broken into one of the old common rooms,' Adura told us, hurrying up the stairs. Her lantern swayed in her hand, casting flaring shadows up the walls.

'I'm supposed to be her Protector,' Ori muttered, 'and she pisses me off so much that I reckon if someone attacked, I'd let them at her.'

I grinned, noting the similarities between that and my own thoughts.

'Ah, don't I know it,' Neit commented lightly. 'I'm meant to die to protect her.'

'Well, I don't know what I'm meant to do,' Perse grinned, 'but I doubt I'd be all that enthusiastic about it. I like you way more, Rae.'

'Me too, but then, I'm meant to,' Skye muttered.

I blushed with pleasure at their words, following Adura at a safe distance. She led us to a large, empty canvas, which looked like it had once housed a portrait. Now it was hanging open on one hinge, with deep shreds taken out of it.

'Raven and Draco got a little impatient,' she explained, looking very disapproving.

I could hear voices inside, so I pushed past her and walked through the small tunnel to enter a room all decorated in red. Raven was sprawled across a sofa with a coffee table before her, laden with documents that she was reading. Draco was flicking intently through an enormous manuscript entitled 'Hogwarts: A History' and taking notes on a piece of parchment laid beside him on the arm of his chair. Cloud sat at a desk with a stack of paper, but he clearly hadn't touched it. He was looking around himself with an expression of wonder and sadness. I was puzzled for a moment, then I remembered that this had been his school, ten or eleven years ago.

'Skye!' he cried, coming out of his reverie. She grinned and held her arms out to him. He got to his feet and hugged her tightly. 'I'm so glad to see you!' he exclaimed.

'You too,' she grinned, flicking her hair back.

'What have you found?' Ori asked, turning to Raven and deliberately blocking out Draco. Draco didn't seem to mind, though, as he bent his head more intently to the book, so that his hair spilled across his face.

'Well, we know roughly what their plan is. Also, we know that, although the rebels who live underground inside the city are part of the Hogwarts Crew, the ones in El Karem are totally different. Their objectives are something else entirely. Hogwarts wants to take over London and rule. They've lost sight of what used to be the prime objectives: freeing the Muggles and allowing civil rights to reign. The El Karem rebels simply want to overthrow the Death Eaters and make everything how it was. Our reckoning, although we were unable to get into the more secret bits, as there are still people there, is that the Hogwarts rebels would make everything just how it is now. All they want is power. Their mobilisation is slow, and they're going by air. They're picking people up all over the country, and they haven't nearly reached London yet.'

She pulled a large map towards her. It was covered with multicoloured scribbles and notes, marring its beautiful cartography.

'The main force has reached Nottingham, we know that much. That was about two days ago. They won't be much past that if their force keeps growing like this. About half of it is travelling on the ground, so they're going at about thirty miles a day. They made good time out of the Grampian mountains and down to the Scotland-England border. After that, their army was too big, but they were moving three times as fast as they are now.'

She seemed to be avoiding one main fact.

'How big is their army?' I asked, not really wanting to hear the answer.

She looked at me with those ruby-coloured eyes.

'Pushing five million,' she said flatly. I swore.

'What exactly do we have to do?' I asked.

'Well, technically, we have to stop them. Obviously, we won't be able to. Rae, you know the population of El Karem...?'

'It's more than ten million,' I answered, still proud of my heritage.

'And the Death Eaters?' She turned to Draco.

'It was about seven million in my day. Salime's been adding to it ever since he came into power, about...'

'Ten months ago,' I answered promptly.

'So it'll be up to about eight or nine million by now,' Draco finished.

'Either way, the Hogwarts rebels are the most hopelessly outnumbered,' Raven said. 'I suggest we try to stop them first.'

They all turned to look at me expectantly.

'What?' I asked, unnerved. Did I have something on my face? Had I farted by accident.

'Rae, you know the score, right?' Raven said uncertainly.

'No...'

'You have to persuade them. You have to make them stop.'

'All of them?!' I demanded incredulously.

'All three armies,' Raven added. 'Like I said, it's probably best if we go for the Hogwarts army first...'

'Raven! I can't!'

She looked at me appraisingly. Everyone exchanged glances.

'Look, last time this happened - the prophecy, I mean - the Light were in charge. Adura would have had to make the speeches and all that. This time, it's you.'

'Woop-di-do!' I exclaimed sarcastically. 'Lucky. Old. Me. Adura can do it this time. Really.'

'No she can't,' Raven disagreed. 'You have to. Why do you think you were chosen? It's nothing to do with your heritage or any of your knowledge. You and Adura were chosen and we were built up around you. You were chosen to do this, because people love you. People want to know you and listen to what you say. You're attractive, you're engaging, you have a spark. You throw yourself into things with your heart and soul and people believe you. They trust you because they know that, underneath, you're like them. None of the rest of us could do it. Adura, no offence dear, wasn't chosen for that. She isn't allowed to do it this time, but she has to be here to provide the balance. Some of us are too upper-class, too wealthy, too clever, too sheltered, to be able to identify with people the way you can. You can make friends with anyone. Haven't you noticed?'

I thought a little bit, blushing from all the praise, but still sick to the stomach with terror. There was a pause while she allowed me to ponder this. There was only the sound of the wind outside and the rain spattering and drumming on the leaded windows.

'So we'll head to Nottingham to catch up with the Hogwarts army,' she continued, breaking the silence gently. 'Once we've put all we can into stopping them, whether or not we have to curse their generals, we'll move on to London.'

'El Karem first?' Neit asked. 'I always wanted to go there. They have the biggest army...'

'Well, actually, we need to decide who should rule,' Raven told us.

'Well...' I thought about it for a moment. 'Shouldn't it be us?'

'Us?'

'Well, yeah. I mean, we could make sure that there are no more wars, combine the armies, use my amazing powers to get everyone to get along with each other... it would work fine.'

'I think you're right,' Raven said slowly. 'We'd need one from each side ruling equally. Rae, it has to be you.'

'Who else? Shouldn't it be me?' Adura asked, a hunger in her voice that I had never heard before. Raven obviously caught it too, because she hesitated.

'Well, not necessarily, dear.' She looked around the room, after gazing into Adura's eyes calculatingly for a moment. 'All the Light, line up over here. Dark over there. Ori, you stand in the middle.'

Neit, Perse and Adura came and stood on Raven's left, and Draco, Cloud, Skye, Raven and I moved to her right. Ori shifted slightly to stand in the middle of the room.

'We have two more Light agents to find,' Raven said. 'I believe that one is in the Hogwarts army, and the other is in El Karem. One, I know is called Seth and the other is Agafya.'

My head snapped up.

'I met her mother,' I said suddenly. 'In Russia. She must be about thirty years old. She has blond hair, and she's a lot like me.'

Raven frowned at me. 'Well, obviously you were meant to meet her.'

'I guess.'

'We may be able to use that, if she's in any position of authority in the army,' Raven mused. 'Now. Ori.'

'Yes?' he asked slowly.

'You are the most obvious choice for Person-Rae-could-get-along-with-for-a-decent-length-of-time, however, you're also partly Dark.'

'Won't that all disperse after we gain control?' he said, hiding his emotion from his face.

'Look,' Draco snapped, glancing at me briefly. I felt like cattle being auctioned. 'All of us rule. It's simple. We all play the same part as our counterpart. Neit and I are one thing, Ori and Skye are one thing, Rae and Adura are one thing, Raven and Perse are one thing, I presume that Agafya and Ori will be one thing, and then Seth and Cloud.'

'Wouldn't the throne be a little crowded?' Neit asked, raising her hand slightly.

'Oh shut up,' Draco snapped, glaring at her.

'Just proof that you two couldn't be Councillors of the Exchequer together,' Skye said, grinning.

'Oh hardy har,' Ori drawled. 'Aren't you listening? Malfoy wants to rule the show.'

'And don't pretend that you don't,' Skye said scornfully.

'Lay off him,' Raven snapped at her. 'If anyone's going to be in charge, it should be Rae. I'd need to advise her, though...'

'Well of course,' Skye snarled.

'Shut up, Skye,' Persephone barked. 'Just because you wouldn't have any authority at all as Official Royal Chamber-pot Emptier.'

'You have no authority over me!'

'And like I'd ever scrub toilets,' Ori added angrily.

'Oh shut up. It wouldn't matter to you, because you'd have two positions of authority,' Draco retorted. 'Dark or Light - it doesn't make a difference to Ori the Redeemed.'

'At least I am redeemed,' he hissed. 'My girlfriend made me alive, she didn't have to kill me...'

'Who killed you?' Neit put in, frowning.

'Shut UP!' Draco shouted. 'What would you know? You only just got here!'

'And because you've been here since the beginning, it's your right to park your arse on the hot-seat? Just because you ruled tyrannically before, doesn't mean...'

'Well, right now it sounds to me like you're the one itching to take a seat,' Cloud commented. 'All due to the overruling fact that you're Little Miss Sunshine...'

'STOP!' I shouted at the top of my lungs. Everyone fell silent, and all that could be heard was the thrumming of rain and a crackle of thunder. Everyone had been staying in their lines, but getting closer and closer. Ori was at the edge, forming a semicircle with Adura and I at the open end, standing in silence. They all took a step back, looking at me sheepishly.

'What is WRONG with you?' I demanded furiously, stepping into the centre and glaring at them all. 'You're behaving like animals! The point is that we STOP this war, not make one of our own.'

They stood silently, looking at their feet.

'You obviously can't be trusted to sort this out between you, so, even though we're the youngest, it seems clear to me that Adura and I are going to have to be in charge and decide what you all do for ourselves. Am I making myself clear?'

They all nodded shamefully, not looking me in the eye. I felt about ten feet taller, chastising naughty schoolchildren.

'I thought you were meant to be adults,' I said deprecatingly. 'Now I see that I was wrong. You will all say sorry.' They didn't move. 'NOW.'

'Sorry,' they mumbled, glancing at the people in the opposite line at whom they had shouted. I noticed that Draco didn't say a word.

'DRACO,' I barked. He glared insolently at me.

'Where do you think it'll get you to be disobedient? You heard Raven. I can make you all do anything I want. Stand there.' I pointed at a spot in the middle of the circle. He clenched his jaw and didn't move.

'Right. We'll do it the hard way, then.'

I drew in my energy, feeling a ball of blackness rise like a tidal wave inside me.

'Stand there NOW.'

As I pointed, a jet of black light sparked off the ground. Draco fell to his knees and crawled into the centre like a wooden puppet.

'APOLOGISE,' I ordered. I could feel a gale rising, and the documents began to fly around. My hair whipped from side to side and sparks gathered around me.

'I'm sorry,' he croaked.

'LOUDER.'

'I'M SORRY!'

I clapped my hands together sharply, and the wind and sparks died instantly. Draco fell down, curled up in a ball. They all looked at me in silence. I felt awful immediately. No one seemed to want to meet my gaze. I looked at the floor for a second before turning and walking out, my head held high. I slammed the portrait behind me and ran through the halls, crying hysterically. I don't know how far I ran, but I kept going until there was no more energy left in me, then I slumped against a wall and fell into an exhausted sleep.