CHAPTER FORTY THREE
— there is no security in war
"ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT DRAGONS ARE REAL?" Eddie's incredulous voice filled Rhea's ears as they sat inside his treehouse. Rhea watched as the stones she had collected from the fairies in the forest floated a few inches away from the tip of her wand. A small, amused grin played on her lips at Eddie's question. She always found it so fascinating at how he was impressed by things that she thought everyone grew up knowing. Rhea glanced over her shoulder, the stones dropping to the ground as she turned her body to face the boy. He'd hit a growth spurt while Rhea had been away at school, a fact that slightly saddened her.
"Of course dragons are real." Rhea said amusedly, watching as Eddie's eyes grew wide. "They're incredible. There's all sorts of different kinds too — Peruvian Vipertooth, Ukranian Ironbelly, Hebridean Black —"
"Which is your favorite?" Eddie interrupted excitedly, glancing up from the charcoal sketches he had sprawled out in front of him.
Rhea's grin grew even wider.
"The Hungarian Horntail," She sighed. "It can make a stone turn red hot in seconds. It's so viscious that even the most skilled dragonologists have a hard time taming it. I used to dream about finding one and being able to ride one."
Eddie frowned.
"Is that what you want to be then, a dragonologist?"
"No." Rhea shook her head firmly. "Father says that I need to work in the Ministry, so I decided to become a Hit Witch. He believes that I'll be able to work my way up and gain a lot of valuable allies that will help us restore the family name."
Eddie didn't say anything for a few seconds and Rhea knew it was because he didn't understand. He didn't understand that this was the way that things were in her family. Her father was always pulling the strings, even if it didn't seem like it. Rhea realized that the moment he pulled her and Pluto aside and told them who they would be before they boarded the Hogwarts Express during first year.
Pluto was to ask the Sorting Hat to put him in Ravenclaw and he would spend his time with his nose in books while dating someone from a good family ("like the Carrows", he had said). He would be quiet, have little to no friends, and keep his head down, so as to not say anything to mess things up for them further. Rhea, on the other hand, was to make friends and allies with as many people as she could while keeping up the appearance that she was kind and perfect, on a path destined to right her family's wrongs. She'd perfected her act to a pathological degree and most of the time she had difficulty determining what was really going on in her head.
Eddie cracked a smile, noting the troubled expression beginning to appear on Rhea's face.
"Maybe one day you'll have a dragon of your own that you'll be able to ride all the way into the clouds with." Eddie said hopefully. Rhea smiled, picturing that image in her head. Her, on the back of dragon with the wind hitting her in the face as they soared through the air.
"Yes," Rhea said wistfully, "Maybe."
Rhea gasped when the memory came to an abrupt end and she found herself dropping to her knees in shock, catching herself with her hands to keep from falling over. For a moment, all Rhea wished for was to return to the comfort and safety she felt in that memory as she talked about dragons with Eddie. It wasn't until she looked up and saw her father standing several feet away from her with his wand at his side, smoke bellowing from the tip, that Rhea remembered where she was.
Nurmengard Castle was as Rhea had imagined it — dark, dreary, and crawling with wizards from the Alliance. Grindelwald's slogan, "For the Greater Good", was carved over the prison's entrance where Rhea and her father dueled at. Every morning before the sun even had a chance to rise over the Alps, her father would summon her from her bed where they would train, day and night.
"Pick up your wand and rise to your feet, child." Cauius said, in a tone that let Rhea know that she had no choice but to do as she was told despite the pain that rippled through her body from the force of her father's spell.
Rhea grimaced and cursed Eddie for resurfacing during such an important moment. She outstretched her hand and reached for her wand, only to suddenly be struck by her father's spell once more as it hit her back. Rhea cried out in pain as her body twisted and contorted, desperate for the spell to end as searing pain coursed through her entire body.
"You take too long, Rhea. If this was a real fight, you would already be dead, now — pick up your wand!" Her father's voice boomed around her as Rhea whimpered in pain on the ground. She barely had any energy left after spending the past few hours throwing her best spells at her father. "Has that school of yours taught you nothing?"
Rhea gripped onto her wand once more and lifted her cheek from the ground as she slowly rose to her feet on wobbly knees. Her blouse and hair were dirtied from being blasted around the courtyard all afternoon and Rhea had to hide the pink that was beginning to rise on her cheeks when she looked over her father's shoulder and saw Grindelwald and the rest of his acolytes watching. They'd been there all afternoon too, quiet as ever, and merely watched as Cauius fired spells at his daughter until she was covered in a mixture of dried dirt and blood.
"Good," Cauius said. Rhea resisted the urge to smile proudly and it was a good thing, because her father had already raised his wand and sent another blast her way. A wave of dark magic came crashing towards her and Rhea had mere seconds to throw up a Shield Charm before her father sent another her way. And another. And another until Rhea was caught off guard and hit directly in the chest, flying backwards until her back hit the wall of the castle, leaving a crack where she connected.
Rhea coughed as she turned onto her side, tasting metal in her mouth before she spit blood onto the ground. Rhea pressed her hand to her lip gently, feeling anger rise in her when she pulled her finger away and saw blood.
Rhea turned her head to her father, an angry snarl on her lips before a loud screeched ripped through the air, startling everyone except for Rhea. The girl scrambled to her feet, all thoughts of pain forgotten as she turned her eyes to the clouds where a bright red streak hurtled towards them.
A smile formed on Rhea's face when Phytios let out a roar that was enough to make Grindelwald's acolytes exchange nervous looks with one another. Her dragon had gotten a bit bigger since the last time she had seen him thanks to her Aunt Pavlina's care for the creature. Now, Phytios was the size of a Diricawl, was flying at faster speeds, and was noticeably fiercer than Rhea remembered. Her father said he had a lot of trouble getting Phytios to Austria since the dragon ate two of her father's men, but the Fireball seemed to take a liking to anyone who had Hel blood running through their veins.
"Phytios," Rhea breathed out, stepping forward as the dragon landed before them. Rhea heard her father sigh, knowing that their fight was forgotten as she flocked to her dragon. Fresh blood covered Phytios's mouth and Rhea could make out the flesh of an animal stuck in her dragon's teeth as he nuzzled against her leg.
"We should chain the dragon up to keep him from causing too much suspicion," One of Grindelwald's acolytes, Atkinson, had suggested two days prior. The dragon instantly lept into the air and took the head of the acolyte into his jaws. The man didn't even have a chance to scream.
Rhea had sent Phytios away after that since her father told her that some of the other members of the Alliance would be fearful having a dragon — especially one that hated humans as much as Fireballs did — around. Phytios had roared when she'd done it before taking off into the clouds and Rhea had been fearful that her dragon wasn't going to return to her. Yet, he had come back to her, all anger and hurt at being cast aside forgotten now that he'd had a fresh kill.
"I will send people to track the dragon's trail. We need to know if it did any damage." Vinda Rosier announced, glancing at Grindelwald for approval before she spun on her heel and walked away. Phytios' wide, beady eyes trailed after her as she began to walk away but Rhea turned to her father.
"I can go," She offered. Her eyes met Grindelwald as he silently watched her. Although he had been the one to send for her, he never gave away much of what he thought in terms of her magic. He would always silently watch as spent days dueling with her father or low-level members of the Alliance that had yet to prove themselves. Rhea could tell he was trying to figure her out — she'd felt him almost seamlessly slip into her mind without her noticing sometimes. Almost. And Rhea could tell that it surprised him that she was able to keep him out so easily, though she wasn't sure how long that was going to last. "Phytios and I can cover more ground."
"If you're sure." Cauius replied, his brows pulling together slightly as he, too, turned to Grindelwald for approval. It was an odd thing to see, really — the great Cauius Hel asking for approval from anybody. Her father had always been the true Titan of the Hel family — never bending in his ways and fearing no one. Her father had cut down mighty men while barely lifting a finger, yet here he was trailing behind and begging for approval from someone else. "Don't take too long and be careful. I don't want anyone to find out that you're in Austria."
"Yes, Father." Rhea said as she gave Phytios a quick, soothing pat on the cheek before she held out her hand and summoned her broom to her. Rhea could hear the sound of crashing before the door to the castle swung open and Rhea's broomstick landed in her hand. When she climbed on, Phytios seemed to glance back at her curiously, Where are we going. "Show me where you came from, Phytios."
As though the dragon understood what she meant, he shot into the sky and flew high above the clouds as Rhea followed after him. She held on tightly to her broom, careful not to fall off.
They flew over and around the Alps at a quick speed with Rhea at his back. Phytios took off at faster speeds than Rhea was used to, but she did her best to keep up. With the wind rippling through her hair and the opportunity to get away from the castle, Rhea thought back to the vision of Eddie that she'd had while dueling with her father.
She hadn't thought about Eddie in so long and she felt extreme guilt flood her because of it. How could she have been so focused on Tom knowing that the last person she cared about was six feet under because of her and her family? Tom was half wizard, unlike Eddie, but he still had Muggle blood running through him and her family wasn't exactly known for its kindness. Her mother may have been dead, but deep down Rhea knew that Caliope had done what anyone else in their family would have done to Eddie. What would they do to Tom if they knew about whatever was going on between them? What would they do to him if they knew that Gaia Krane was aware of their relationship?
Rhea cursed herself for allowing something like this to happen again. Love was not something girls like her got to experience, especially in a time like this. Maybe one day things would be different — when she was older and could make her own decisions — but she had a role to play and she decided that she would play it as perfectly as she always had.
Rhea was entering her seventh and final year at Hogwarts, meaning that once the year was finished she would be free from Tom and his Knights and married to Atlas Krane. She'd already jeopardized the engagement enough, so perhaps breaking things off with Tom would be best for everyone. She hadn't written to him or told him she was in Austria, so perhaps she would be able to keep up the pretense that she wants nothing to do with him once the school year started. It would be difficult having to fake as though she didn't care about Tom at all, but Rhea had always been great at pretending.
There was a pain deep in her chest as she outlined a plan in her head to end things with Tom. Even though she knew it would be for the best, there was a part of her screaming at her to give her own happiness a chance while she still could.
"What do I do, Phytios?" Rhea asked the dragon as she looked down at the towns that they flew over, careful to make sure Phytios hadn't made a pit stop somewhere and decided to burn a village to the ground.
The young dragon let out a huff, a mushroom-shaped cloud of smoke came billowing from his nostrils before the dragon swooped suddenly to the left, startling Rhea as he screeched loudly and she was left staring after him in shock.
"What's wron —" Rhea didn't get the chance to finish her sentence when a fireball the size of Bludger went whizzing past her head. The heat of the flames licked at her skin and Rhea's guard went up in seconds as she realized that they were being attacked.
Phytios let out the loudest roar she'd ever heard him make as he searched for the source of their attacker. Rhea freed one hand from her broom to grab hold of her wand when another fireball flew at them from below.
Fire will not hurt a dragon, Rhea noted, They're aiming for me.
"Higher," Rhea commanded and Phytios flew higher into the clouds beside her until she knew they were no longer visible from the ground. Phytios hovered next to her, flapping his wings to hold them in place as Rhea looked down at the ground before speaking in the ancient language her family used to communicate with dragons and each other and said, "Now."
Phytios cried out once more before he gave a great flap of his small wings and shot off towards the ground. He swooped low and fire streamed out of Phytios' nose in the shape of mushroom that was as big as Rhea. The dragon directed it to where their attacker was, keeping it trained on that spot as a long stream of flames came from her dragon and reached the ground below.
Once Phytios had no more fire left in him, Rhea waited to make sure they hadn't missed before she flew down to investigate who had tried to knock her off her dragon.
Rhea used a Charm to make a jet of water pour from the tip of her wand to stop the field they landed in from burning. But, as she climbed off her broom and looked around, she didn't see anything. There were no bones to indicate that anyone had been there.
Rhea returned to the Castle with Phytios at her side. No one tried to attack her again which did nothing to put Rhea at ease. Someone had tried to knock her from the sky, but who was it and why?
By the time they returned, supper was to be served. When she wasn't eating with her father, she took her meals to the small room she had been placed inside. It held nothing apart from a small, narrow bed that was big enough to fit Rhea, a short desk and chair that was tucked away into one of the corners, and the dresser where Rhea stored the clothes she had brought with her.
While she ate alone in her room, the Alliance would gather in the Great Hall and listen to anything Grindelwald had to say. Rhea was never allowed to sit in on those, since they were strictly limited to those who were members of the Alliance.
She had to admit that being at the castle was quite lonely. Vinda was always off leading groups of Grindelwald's followers into battles against Ministries from all over the world and training never allowed Rhea much time to catch up with or talk to her father.
All she had was her dragon and Phytios was always darting around or flying somewhere now that he was able to.
Once the sun set below the sky and Phytios slumbered in the corner of Rhea's room, ready to protect her if need be, the girl tucked herself away under her covers and prepared herself for bed. Rhea was half asleep when she heard a faint knock on the door that was so soft she nearly didn't hear it. With a sigh, she climbed out of the bed, careful not to trip over her nightgown, and opened the door.
No one stood in the hallway when Rhea poked her head out, causing her to frown deeply. Rhea stepped back into her room, closed the door, and turned around to find a cloaked figure standing with Phytios in their arms. Their was an odd, helmet-like contraption on the dragon's head that kept it from being able to open its jaw and Rhea could tell that the black ropes wrapped around her dragon were made from magic by the way they constricted whenever Phytios moved, desperate to escape.
Rhea looked into the frightened golden eyes of her baby dragon and felt rage unlike anything she'd ever felt before settle inside of her. There was only one thing on her mind now, and that was to save her dragon no matter the cost.
Before the abductor had a chance to react, Rhea's wand was flying into her hand from its place on the nightstand and she pointed it at the culprit, the words of the Killing Curse at the tip of her tongue. But, before she had a chance to say the spell, the thief revealed his own wand, pointed at her, and a blast of magic emitted from the tip. The blast pummeled into Rhea's chest and was so powerful that it sent her flying backwards into the wooden door of her room with a crack. It knocked all of the wind out of her as Rhea lifted her head in time to see the thief climb onto her window ledge.
No. No. NO!
Rhea quickly tried to scramble to her feet, ignoring the pain shooting through her back as she stood, before the figure jumped from the window. Rhea grabbed her wand from the ground, raced to the open window, and pointed it below, ready to kill the person who took her dragon then and there.
But, they were gone. They weren't falling through the air from the high castle window or running on the ground — there was no sign of Phytios or his captor at all.
Rhea could feel her entire body shaking with anger as other wizards ran in with their wands in hand, wondering what the commotion was about.
"I will kill whoever did this," Rhea vowed as she stared into the darkness of the night where her dragon was out there, alone and afraid. "I swear it."