Intervention Upon a String

Chapter Six

All Marcus wanted more than the entire world on that specific night was to sleep. He didn't care where or how. He just wanted to close his eyes a bit and rest and dream of that huge steak dinner he was going to have when he got home. But supposedly, that was too much to ask for.

Angelina, Harvey, and Marcus were all silent as they huddled under a large tree trying to stay out of the pouring rain. It began in the middle of the night as a light drizzle and evolved into a typhoon in minutes. The branches of the trees swayed in the wind and the horizontal rain stung at their faces. It was cold and biting. Occasionally, lightning flickered across the sky.

"We can't stay here, Marcus," Angelina said as she eyed the forks of light dashing nearby. "If lightning hits this tree we're done for."

She grabbed onto his arm and silently urged him to stand. They remained bent over to protect their faces from the stinging rain and started to run. The barren ground was now muddy and slimy and the night was pitch black, making the possibility of traveling anywhere practically impossible. The only light they could rely on was the lightning that illuminated the sky in dazzling white. Their footsteps stumbled and splashed in the mud. They kept running and slipping; soaked and chilled to the bone. It didn't help that the terrain became rockier as they progressed. Angelina slipped and scraped her knee on a rock. She cursed as Marcus urged her to stand and they kept running. The wind picked up and blew in the trees, causing the branches to whip about madly.

Marcus suddenly stopped and looked around frantically. It was useless trying to run nowhere. There had to be shelter around. Angelina stopped as well. "What are you doing?" she shouted over the wind.

Lightning flickered and illuminated some hope. To his left there was a cliff with what appeared to be a cave. "Come on!" He took off towards it with Angelina and Harvey at his feet. Lightning hit a tree nearby and caused Angelina to yelp and run faster. Finally, they reached the base of the small cliff. "Climb."

They did so very awkwardly. The rocks were jagged and wet and one slip could mean impalement. It didn't help that Marcus had to help both Angelina and Harvey. He tugged on her arm and pulled her up and then grabbed the little unicorn's hoof and did the same. Step by step they took it. Somehow, Harvey wasn't having too much trouble. His hooves jumped onto the rocks and scrambled up. With every progression, Marcus would reach down and grab Angelina's hand to pull her up. He looked down and didn't realize how high up they were. He'd underestimated the size of the cliff. He'd also underestimated his own attention span as he heard Angelina scream and her foot slipped.

"MARCUS!"

With speed that could rival the lightning in the sky, Marcus snatched her hand before she fell. He held onto it with a crushing grip in one hand as his other hand clung to a rock for dear life. Blood started to pour from his fingers as the sharp edges cut into his flesh and it ran off in rivets with the rain. He groaned as his muscles worked and lifted the weight of Angelina. "Come on," he said. "Grab onto the rock."

"I'm trying!" Angelina cried. "I keep slipping!" Her fingers tried grappling a jagged rock but she had no where to put her feet. She struggled and gripped Marcus's hand as tightly as she could as that, too, was slipping. "Marcus," she whimpered in fear, trying frantically to get up.

Then, suddenly, with a burst of strength, Marcus used whatever energy he had left to heave Angelina up. He groaned as his muscles protested but he tossed Angelina high enough where she could grab onto a ledge and stable herself. She clung to the rocks for dear life and shook.

"Up," Marcus said and urged her to climb again.

Angelina swallowed hard and nodded. She looked up and saw Harvey scrambling up towards the cave on a bed of slick gravel. Tiny pebbles tumbled down towards them as they climbed. The little unicorn made it and peered over the edge for Marcus and Angelina. Marcus reached the top first and turned around to grab Angelina's hand and lift her up. They both toppled into the cave winded, exhausted, and wet. For a moment, they laid there panting in the dark and damp cave as the rain blew around outside the entrance. Harvey went over and licked Angelina's face. She took that as a cue to get her bearings and she stood gingerly to wipe the mud from her hands. Her leg was aching, as was Marcus's as he stood as well. For a moment, the both of them only stared into the cave that seemed to swallow them in blackness. They couldn't see far in at all.

"Should we cut through?" Angelina asked. Her voice echoed off the walls.

"Come on," Marcus responded and began to walk.

Together, they cautiously entered the cave. It was damp and cold but sheltered them from the rain at least. Marcus pulled his wand out. "Lumos," he whispered and pointed the light ahead. The cave became illuminated by a beam from his wand. The two of them peered in and saw nothing but dripping stalagmites and rocks. The cave seemed to be vacant. As they traveled further in, the air increasingly took on a pungent odor of musk and sulfur. Angelina screwed up her face and covered her nose. "Look," Marcus said.

Angelina looked ahead and saw that the light of Marcus's wand illuminated two new openings in the cave. It was a fork in the road with one option not looking any better than the other. They glanced at each other and knew what they had to do. If they were going to find a way out, two heads were better than one.

"I'll go left," Angelina said.

"What? No. We'll do them one at a time. You don't have a wand. How are you supposed to see, woman?"

"I can see just fine," Angelina lied.

Marcus gave her a 'yeah right' glare and shoved his wand in her hands. He shook his head and headed towards the right cave muttering something about silly daft girls getting him into trouble so much.

"So how are you supposed to see, genius?" Angelina called after him.

Marcus paused and then bent down to grab a stalagmite and broke it from the earth. He motioned for his wand and when Angelina gave it to him, he transfigured the stalagmite into a torch. Using another spell, he lit the end and then gave Angelina a cocky smirk as he handed the wand back. She shook her head at his ego and smirked as well.

"Go," Marcus said. "If you don't see an entrance in 100 paces, turn around and meet back here. And take your stupid horse with you." He scowled down at Harvey who looked up at him curiously.

"Come on, Harvey," Angelina whispered and patted her leg. The unicorn turned and trotted after her.

With torch and wand in hand, they both slowly went their separate ways. Angelina used the wand like a flashlight and illuminated her path. All she could see was blackness and wet cavernous walls all around her. She was walking through a vast black tunnel and aimed her wand all around herself to take in her surroundings. The ceiling was high and played home to a dozen or so black bats. Angelina shivered and whispered for Harvey to stick close. Their footsteps echoed off the oozing walls and they were far in enough now where they could no longer hear the rain pouring outside. Angelina shivered and rubbed her arms. She cast a drying spell on herself and lit the wand once again to light her path.

"So," Angelina said quietly to Harvey. "What do you think of him?" She looked down at the unicorn and smiled. Obviously, he wasn't going to hold a conversation but she'd rather hear the sound of her own voice than total silence. "That Marcus Flint bloke? He's not so bad is he? I mean, once you get passed his foul mouth and perversion and temper and ego, he can be quite charming. Maybe it's just because I'm stuck with him so I'm being an optimist?"

Harvey blinked and kept walking.

"But he did save us many times. I don't mean to get into so much trouble. It's just that...well...I have no Forbidden Forest experience, you see? But some of this trouble is his fault too. We should have gone towards the lighter part of the forest like I said. We could have been out by now...but then we never would have found you, Harvey." She smiled down at the unicorn. "If this were about Quidditch, though, I'd kick his sorry ass. I'm the fastest Chaser there ever was, Harvey. He can rule the forest, I rule the pitch. But assuming we lay our differences aside, do you think he has the potential to be a decent guy?"

Again, Harvey only sniffed around in silence. Angelina giggled as she looked down and watched him explore the cave. Shit! I forgot to count paces! Angelina stopped fooling around and looked ahead of her again. Well, there was no sense in worrying. If she got lost, all she'd have to do was turn around. The cave had only one route. Shrugging, she kept walking.

Marcus shivered as he traveled solo into the cave. His torch did little to light his way and only caused the stalactites to flicker back and forth in his path; making it hard to see where they were before he stubbed his toe on them. He cursed and moved on, squinting hard to adjust his eyes to the dark. Marcus grumbled to himself. He was tired, cold, wet, and still quite hungry. It didn't help that every step he took, his foot sunk into a puddle. He wondered what time it was and when the sun would be coming up and if it'd be any warmer than the previous day.

"Ow! Damnit!" Marcus hissed as he stubbed his foot on another rock in the cave.

He moved the angle of his torch to better light the cave as the way ahead of him seemed to grow darker. Marcus squinted and approached slowly. He saw now that he had come to a dip in the cave where it seemed to cascade downwards into yet another cave below him. He aimed his torch down to see but saw nothing but a descent covered in gravel. Marcus glanced behind him. Was Angelina back at the starting point? He shrugged. She could wait. After all, this could be a way out.

Marcus steadied himself on his rear and gently began to inch down the cave opening. With a torch in one hand, it was hard to get a grip on the shifting pebbles. He could hear them echoing as they tumbled downwards but still couldn't see the bottom. Luckily, some stalactites aided his descent as he grabbed onto them for support and inched downwards. He lost his footing and clung to the jagged earth and panted. Get a grip. Marcus, once more, was able to control his way down. He slid slowly and used his feet as a brake. A few more inches down was another stalactite. Marcus scooted down towards it and held on to catch his breath. The descent was longer than he expected. He aimed his torch downward again to try and see any hint of a bottom. Nothing. Just then, his weight against his stalactite was too great. It snapped unexpectedly and Marcus began sliding down swiftly. He yelped and let go of his torch to grab anything he could but it was useless; all he could feel in his fingers was shifting gravel. Marcus began to topple downwards, catching glimpses of light as his torch fell with him. Finally, he somersaulted to the bottom and landed hard in a rather large puddle. For a moment, he remained motionless and trembling from the fall and the cold of his landing place. His head was throbbing as was his wrist as he had fallen on it horribly wrong. To his right, he could see the torch that had landed next to him. It was still barely flickering. Marcus closed his eyes to shake away the pain and opened them again to push himself up. He grimaced and grabbed the torch before it went out; cursing as he gently blew on it and urged it to catch fire again. When it finally lit up again, he wished it hadn't. Marcus froze.

Angelina hummed to herself to calm her nerves. She felt like she was walking forever. The sulfur smell was dying out but it still remained dark and creepy in the cave. Occasionally, a bat would flutter by and squeak but she paid it no notice. Harvey lapped at the water that gathered in puddles along the floor. Angelina glanced around, looking for anything useful or even unusual until she finally looked ahead and saw it. She squinted just to make sure she wasn't dreaming. There it was; straight ahead; a small beam of light. Angelina began to jog over to it and grinned. The morning must have come because the beam of light was none other than sunshine pouring in through one tiny hole in the wall of the cave. But the wall was not solid. Angelina saw that it consisted of boulders and stones as if it had caved in years ago and the rocks fell together like a puzzle with a missing piece; a missing piece that would spell their escape. Angelina grinned and began to run back towards her starting point. "Come on, Harvey!" she called and they ran together.

Marcus very slowly and very quietly backed up away from the cave of sleeping mountain trolls. They were snoring loudly and drooling and Marcus's fall had luckily left them dreaming. Still, he trembled and began to gently climb back up the rocky descent. It was hard to get his footing as the pebbles gave away under his feet. Marcus cursed and had no choice but to drop the torch. It rolled down and put itself out with a 'hiss' as it landed in a puddle. Marcus, feeling panicked, began to scramble up towards the top as fast as he could. He made little progress. And then...

"Marcus!"

He heard his name echoing off the walls over and over again. Marcus froze, hoping the trolls didn't hear. Angelina had made it back to the starting point.

"Marcus, I found a way out! Come on!"

Shut up shut up shut up!

He began to clamber up again until he realized he could no longer hear the snoring and grunts of the trolls. His eyes were adjusted to the dark to see well enough, and when he slowly turned, he found himself staring into the dripping and ugly face of a very angry and very sleepy monster. For a moment, the two only seemed to stare at each other in bewilderment until the troll let out a rip-roaring scream; sending spit flying onto Marcus's face. The other trolls scrambled to alert and grabbed their clubs but in their confusion, they stood up too fast and hit their heads on the cave's ceiling. Marcus took advantage of this and began to climb as fast as he could. A troll slammed his club down and narrowly missed him but sent him jolting up into the air. He latched onto the stub of the broken stalactite for dear life and kicked himself up. At the bottom, the trolls were also beginning to climb. One grabbed onto Marcus's ankle and tried to pull him down to club him but Marcus twisted his body and kicked the monster square in the nose. The troll gurgled and stumbled back, knocking down another troll who was on his way up.

Meanwhile, Angelina waited patiently at their starting point. She peered curiously down Marcus's cave and furrowed her eyebrows. Did she just feel the earth jolt? She headed down his way a bit and aimed her wand forward to light her way. She scrunched up her face in disgust as the odor of sulfur was stronger on this route. Angelina gasped as she felt another jolt and dust fell from the cave ceiling. And then she heard a cry; Marcus's cry. "Marcus?"

"Johnson!" Flint called back.

Angelina took off running towards him. She jumped over rocks and stalactites and ducked under low ceilings until she screamed and skidded to a stop; almost falling down a sharp decline. However, aiming her wand down, she knew where the commotion was coming from. "Marcus!" She saw Marcus grabbing onto whatever he could to pull himself up. He was too far down for her to grab. "I'm coming down!"

"NO! There's fucking trolls down here!"

Angelina screamed as she saw a club smash down inches from Flint. He jolted up from the force against the earth again and lunged for another rock to grasp. A troll below him gave a might kick forward and shot up as well but only aided Marcus further up the incline as his head pushed on his feet. Marcus reached for Angelina's outstretched hand. He was still too far and kicked his feet against the gravel even more to gain some friction. Finally, their fingers touched and Angelina clung to his hand with both of hers and pulled. Marcus grappled the top of the incline and finally pulled himself out with Angelina's help. They didn't even look behind them at the climbing trolls; they only stood and ran as fast as they could with Harvey at their heels.

"This way!" Angelina shouted and pulled him towards the left side of the cave. "I saw a hole! We'll have to dig!"

They ran hand in hand so as to not lose each other in the dark. The roars of the trolls echoed mercilessly off the walls of the cave behind them. Soon, they reached the end where the rocks showed a glimmer of light.

"Dig!" Angelina said.

The two of them began to throw rocks off the pile frantically. The loud stomps behind them were getting louder. When Angelina heard Harvey bleat in terror, she turned around and screamed and then shielded her head. A troll brought his club down between them and sent rocks smashing in all directions.

"Give me my wand!" Marcus shouted. Angelina fumbled in her pocket and handed it to him. Immediately, he aimed it at the troll and spat, "Petrificus Totalus!" The troll froze in mid-attack; his green and sunken face petrified in an eternal roar. "Keep digging," Marcus panted.

They did but soon, they heard not one, but two ear-shattering screams behind them. Angelina and Marcus dodged another flying blow from a club as Harvey hid behind a large boulder and trembled. They had no choice but to run and dodged underneath the troll's legs but skidded to a halt. Three other trolls raised their clubs in front of them. They were surrounded. With five trolls around them, all Marcus and Angelina could do was make themselves as small as possible. Marcus tried to protectively shove Angelina behind him but it was useless. "I don't know a spell that can take them all down at once," he said apologetically.

Angelina clung to him in fear. They closed their eyes and ducked as a troll advanced with a raised club. But instead of feeling it smashing down on them, they heard a sharp grunt and looked up. For some reason, the attacking troll and another one were butting heads. They both aggressively came at Angelina and Marcus but were so appalled that the other troll would dare interrupt their attack that they took the clubs to each other instead. They promptly knocked each other out.

"The fuck?" Marcus said in confusion.

The remaining three trolls only paused in a short daze and scratched their bald potato-shaped heads. Then, they shrugged and raised their clubs once more. But again, the trolls began to argue in grunts and roars about who had the privilege of killing their meal they had surrounded. Angelina and Marcus could only watch in awe as they moved out of the way of falling trolls one by one. "How fucking stupid can they be?" Marcus whispered.

"Marcus!"

They dodged another club. There was only one troll left and he was certainly not going to let them escape. He began to swing his club wildly as Marcus and Angelina took shelter behind a large boulder. The troll grunted and looked around. Marcus then had an idea. Running out from his hiding spot, he stopped right in front of the rocks blocking the cave's exit. "Over here you stupid, smelly oaf!" he shouted and waved his arms.

The troll spun around and roared, raising his club. Marcus waited until the right moment and then jumped out of the way right as the troll brought his weapon down on the pile of rocks. He sent them flying everywhere shattered to bits. The rest of the rocks tumbled down from the lack of support and a hole big enough to crawl out appeared. The sun poured in and blinded the troll for a moment.

"Come on!" Marcus shouted and grabbed Angelina's wrist. He pulled her out from behind the boulder.

"Harvey!" Angelina called out. The unicorn came running.

Taking advantage of the troll's stunned demeanor, they quickly crawled out the cave's exit and stopped upon a ledge.

A very large ledge.

A very high ledge.

Their day had barely started and it was already turning out to be horrid. Angelina picked up Harvey to make sure he didn't slip off the edge. She looked at Marcus and blinked. "Now what?"

The troll screamed and tried to push through the hole in the cave. Marcus looked down and then grabbed Angelina's elbow. "Jump."

Before she could protest, they were falling.