ᴅɪsᴘᴇʟ ᴍʏ ʙᴏʀᴇᴅᴏᴍ | ᴍᴀʀᴀᴅᴇᴜʀs' ᴇʀᴀ

Chapter 58. Game of Survival

All the jailers disappeared somewhere, the cages opened at once with a series of ringing clicks and in front of each of them fell a magic wand, as if someone invisible was dropping them from the air. Only the semi-magical races were deprived of this little joy. However, in front of the fairy, the sac with pollen fell, and in front of the centaur was his bow and a quiver of arrows. It was like the DADA exam; only there were no courteous teachers here and the death was peeping from behind each tree trunk.

Emily looked around, picked up her wand and rushed into the forest. Unlike the others, she was in a far better shape, spent not much time in an uncomfortable cage, and was warned about everything in advance. And now she needed to take refuge, shelter from both enemies and those who should have been on her side. One cannot be sure that after the days, and maybe the weeks spent in this hell, someone has kept their sanity. Here every man for himself.

"Emily! Emily Parker!"

She was making her way through the thick bushes, when several voices called her from behind. Emily turned around, put her wand in front of her, and squeezed her lips. She must survive at all costs.

The thought of Remus gave her courage. Then, at a career review in London, when her fellow students were everywhere, she was so scared of the Death Eaters that she could not move in the first minutes. And now, alone in the middle of an unfamiliar forest full of enemies, she was not at all afraid. She had someone to fight for.

A group of teenagers of about the same age climbed out of the bush in front of Emily. They all held wands in front, but there was hope, not fear, on their faces.

"Emily, I'm Olivia, from Ravenclaw," said the oldest of them, stepping forward. She was panting, she had cuts and burn marks, a huge multi-colored bruise disfigured her face, but she looked impressive.

Emily peered at her swollen face and nodded to herself, recognizing. Behind Olivia, two boys, it seems from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, and another girl who looked like a little animal, strangely enough was from Slytherin. Noticing Emily's look, she smiled apologetically.

"I dated the muggle-born," she nodded sideways at one boy, "and Sebastian Nott dragged us here."

They did not seem to lie and even wanted to help.

"We noticed you next to Malfoy, and I remembered that you were from my house. It will be easier together," Olivia said, nervously looking back from where the screams and the sound of a breaking bush came. "We must hurry. Are you with us or not?"

Teenagers shifted their feet. But they wanted to help, and it was hard not to appreciate it. Maybe it was a lie and a trap, but Emily could not afford to disbelieve them. That would be too much. Emily nodded.

She was wrong. She was scared, and she wanted to share her fear with someone else. For the first time in many days, she was among her own.

As a group, they rushed away, putting out their wands and twitching whenever a suspicious noise started close by. None of them was born for the war, and the DADA lessons still could not prepare them for this.

"Listen," Emily gasped. "Don't ask how I know, but they told me that those who would try to leave the forest would die."

"And you believed it?"

"I had my reasons to trust the source."

"And if we don't try, then what?" Justin, one of the two guys, ran alongside.

"I don't know, but in this way, we can save our lives."

"Lives in captivity?" he grimaced. "Fuck it! Better die trying to escape than─"