The Serpent and The Bird

You do not yield.

"Remember. No magic. Nothing that could reveal our position to the goblins."

Everleigh was exhausted, and cold, and a little hungry. But she remained silent as they trekked through the forest, the sun almost setting behind the dead trees.

She had been walking for the last two days, from sunrise until sunset. And with her, Anne, Sebastian and Ominis. Four Ministry aurors flanked them as they walked, Nikolai amongst them. And finally, professor Fig, who had also included himself in this mission.

"You are my mentee. I shall be there with you until the end".

She smiled, looking at Fig's back as he marched in front of her. He was significantly older than the rest of them, however his jovial attitude had made the journey so much pleasurable than it could've been.
The news of the goblin rebellion had been bombarded by The Daily Prophet and other news outlets every day. Insurgences all around Great Britain had left a pile of corpses, and the Ministry was fighting daily against Ranrok and his loyalists. The problem was... he had dark wizards on his side, making the revolts even more dangerous. Rookwood being one of them.

The group of aurors had tried to be quiet, talking in whispers to each other about the revolts, like they didn't want the Hogwarts students to hear the barbaric crimes the goblins had been committing. Like they were children that needed protection. If only they knew.

The cold air blew on her face and she shivered, turning her hands into fists, just so she could shield her fingers from the unforgiving temperatures.

- Perhaps we should make here our camp for tonight. It will be dark soon.

A voice came from behind her, and she looked over her shoulder to see Nikolai, with his blue eyes on her. He must've been watching her. She faced forward again, avoiding his stare.
For the last two days, he had been silent and kept his distance. And it was entirely possible that Sebastian's murdering glances and snarky comments had something to do with it. Sebastian, who had ran ahead of them to search for a place to set up their tents for tonight, and was coming down the path in their direction.

- There's a glade less than a kilometer away. - He spoke up to the whole group, as he made his way towards Everleigh. She smiled softly at him when he locked their hands together. - Unless you don't think you can make it that far, Volkov.

His tone was sarcastic, and it drew some chuckles from the rest of the group. Everleigh ventured another quick glance at Nikolai over her shoulder, and she found him smiling tightly. But then their eyes met, and he looked at her with an unspoken question in his eyes. She responded with a faint nod and kept walking.
Somehow she knew, if she had given him any indication of not being able to make it to the glade, he would be stopping the group and set up camp right there.

She silently thanked for Sebastians hand on her, tugging her forward.
Her legs felt like giving up.

                                       ***********

They had set up the tents in the glade after casting the necessary protection spells around them. Three tents with an extension charm: one for the group of aurors and professor Fig, one for Ominis and Sebastian, and another one for Everleigh and Anne.
At least those had been the sleeping arrangements before leaving the castle. Once in the woods, it was Sebastian who had slept next to Everleigh the night before and was ready to sleep next to her that night too, while Anne had graciously agreed to share tent with Ominis.

It was for the best, anyway. Everleigh hadn't wanted for Anne to wake up to her screams.

The nightmares had been terrorizing her mind for the last few days, but the night before, the first day of their journey, she had woken up covered in sweat and tears, crying out in absolute horror.
It wasn't until she heard Sebastian's voice and felt the strong arms wrapped around her, that she stopped sobbing.
She hadn't slept again until sunrise, while Sebastian's fingers were still stroking her hair.