In the Shadow of Azkaban

Volume I: XIV

I awoke to the ground around me shaking.

"Ominis!" I yelled. I propped myself up on my elbows. I peered around in the darkness. He didn't respond.

I placed my hand over his cot.

It was empty. What in Merlin's name was going on?

Even the trees were creaking as the earth started to break below. Leaves swirled around me as they fell from the commotion.

I slipped out of my makeshift bed silently. My nightclothes whipped against me as the cold breeze picked up. I started to put my cloak and shoes on. The ground vibrated beneath me.

As soon as my heel made its way into the shoe, I heard a loud thud. A hairy leg appeared in my peripheral. I heard a muffled scream in the distance.

Ominis.

I whirled around swiftly drawing my wand in the process. I kept it crossed against my chest.

A Thornback Matriarch peered down at me with its thousand fiery eyes. It jolted itself forward toward me, and I barely escaped as I dodged her attack.

She revved herself up for another go. I threw a cast directly at her and screamed, "Descendo!" It caught her off guard and she stumbled.

I picked up my pace toward her. I threw multiple casts.

"Incendio! Confringo! Bombarda! Expelliarmus!" My wand felt as if it were on fire. If there was one thing spiders despised, it was flames. But the eight-legged monster persisted. She lifted her front limb and drove it into my arm.

I winced and immediately covered the wound. I reached into my pocket for a Wiggenweld potion. I placed a vial to my mouth and drank as if I had just spent months in the desert.

"Imperio!" A voice yelled from afar.

I turned toward the sound. Ominis appeared out of the forest. His face was cut and his hands bloodied. He walked toward the Matriarch. He pointed his wand at her. It looked as if he had an electric current run through his body as he cried, "Expelliarmus!"

The spider took its leg one by one and stabbed itself to pieces. Once it completed its ritual, it folded itself neatly on the forest floor.

Ominis spat on her carcass.

His gaze met mine for once. He profusely apologized, "I can never forgive myself for attempting to lead them away from our camp. I should have known that Matriarch was going to avenge me killing her lot." His hands felt for my forearm. He smoothed his hand across it.

His forehead moved downward as his brows drew together. "You're alright?" He shook his head. "But how?"

I pulled out a Wiggenweld potion for his wounds. "I always keep these at bay," I smiled and opened the bottle for him. He gulped it down quickly. The slice on his face turned a shimmery green and then disappeared.

I had hoped he could feel my eyes burning through him. "But I could ask you the same question. Are you alright? An Unforgivable? You swore you would never—"

Ominis interrupted, "I swore I would never use them unless absolutely necessary. I could feel it in my bones that she was planning on ripping you to shreds. I meant that curse because I would only ever use it to save you." I could see his eyes were wider than normal, as the light from the moon shone against them.

His arms opened. I leaned against him ever so gently. He nuzzled his face in my hair and kissed me. My eyelids felt heavy. They closed as Ominis carefully moved to lie down on the ground.

My eyes squinted as the sun lifted itself above the landscape. Dawn was upon us. We needed to continue our journey.

Ominis stood up and yawned. I had hoped we were able to finish the trek.

"After you," Ominis gestured to the south. We sustained our quest to Feldcroft.