A Search for Balance

Chapter 45 - Rewrite the Stars

It took Orion a moment to register what Katriona had said. When he did, he felt the blood drain from his face. The noise of people screaming and fleeing faded, the only sound left the beat of his heart and the echo of Katriona's words.

That was by our camp, wasn't it? That's where Skye and Lizzie are.

Before Murphy and Katriona could stop him, Orion turned and ran. His steps were pounding on the trampled grass, his breath burning in his lungs from the smoke pervading the air, but he didn't so much as notice it. All but the fires shining in the distance were driven from his mind.

He didn't know if Lizzie and Skye had really returned to their tents - he prayed that they hadn't - but the possibility of it was enough to send his mind spiralling with fear. Where else would they have gone, after all? He didn't stop to consider the possibilities. He needed to know Lizzie wasn't there, was safe somewhere else. He needed to see.

A gnawing feeling of dread took over him as he reached the part of the campsite where they had set up their tents the day before. The smoke was heavier here, pieces of burning wood, canvas, and debris littering the way. A little further off, a group of wizards, whose faces were covered with black scarves, were being tackled by whom Orion assumed to be Ministry people. Leaving them to it, he turned a corner, ran past a burning tent of once-striped silk, and dashed toward their camping spot.

The fires hadn't spread to here yet. Small pieces of broken wood and ash were dotting the grass, but otherwise, the scene looked almost peaceful. Peaceful and deserted. No one was here.

"Lizzie?" Orion called out, his voice rough from both the smoke and fear. "Lizzie, are you here?"

His calls were met with silence. He turned on his axis, shouting her name again and again, but here, in the darkness beyond the fires, nothing stirred. Orion took a deep breath. Lizzie wasn't here - that was a good thing, right? But then, where was she? There had been chaos and fires all over, and now he didn't have a clue about where she might have gone. She might be safe in the woods, or where the hooded figures had been, or...

His eyes went to the Dark Mark shining eerily above the scene, pushing the unbidden thoughts away. No, the chances were too odd. It was a horrific sight, but the Dark Mark had nothing to do with her. Impossible. Lizzie was safe somewhere. She had to be. All he needed was to find her.

A crack coming from behind him had Orion spin around. For a moment, time seemed to stop, his mouth going dry as his heart began to beat twice as fast as it had before.

A few feet away from him, Lizzie had suddenly appeared. Skye was hanging limply by her side, her arm slung around Lizzie's shoulder for support. Staggering from her friend's weight, Lizzie's knees collapsed into the grass a moment later. Orion rushed forward, closing his arms around her, whispering her name over and over again. Lizzie slung her free arm around his neck, her fingers digging almost painfully into his back as she pressed against him. Her hand was icy, Orion noticed, and she was shivering all over.

"You're alright," he whispered, his voice shaky with relief. "Thank Godric, you're alright."

Only now did he see the blood on Lizzie's hands and shirt. There was a dark streak of it on her face, too, but Orion quickly realised that it wasn't hers but Skye's. There was a badly bleeding cut on the side of her forehead, her hair and clothes soaked with the blood oozing from it. When Skye heard him saying her name, she raised her face slightly, but her eyes were hazy. She mumbled something indiscernible and hung her head again.

"She got cursed," Lizzie said shakily, her eyes wide and dark. "We saw the fires going up and ran to help. People were running and screaming everywhere, and the people in their cloaks, and the masks, the Muggles, and even the children..."