A/N: I posted "Serpent's Blood" once before, but I changed a few things, then decided to repost it. Figured I should attempt to get it finished before the actual book six comes out in July sobs with happiness and weeps with joy. Should anyone read this tale, there are a few things that I'd like to point out. First off, it's probably not completely up to canon standards (I can't remember EVERYTHING that's happened, but I am rereading the stories). Secondly, yes, Drageni is my own little piece of story telling. Third, no, this isn't a "Mary Sue" story, but "interesting" thingswill happen eventually. Anyway, please enjoy. Review if you can. Thanks. --EDS
Chapter One:
Summer Travelers
To say it was the beginning of summer, the night was cool and crisp. A breath could easily be seen on the air. Goose-bumps spotted any skin exposed to the night. The soft breeze, carrying the sweet scent of musky earth with it, only made the sensation worse. Not only that, the moisture gave the cool air a clinging sensation, like it had grabbed hold and refused to let go.
It was silent–almost too much so. Stillness took the night for the most part, only to be broken by the loud clacking sound of hooves on the cobblestone road and buggy wheels turning.
The blue grey carriage trotted along at an easy pace, led by two beautiful black horses that gleamed in the paleness of moonlight. Thanks to a spell, there was no driver, just a pair of invisible hands guiding the team of stallions. A soft yellow light glowed within the carriage, just bright enough to show the outlines of two people inside, sitting across from each other.
Despite direction from the invisible hands holding the reigns, the horses suddenly slowed their movement along the paved road until they both stopped. The pair fidgeted, making neighing sounds as their metal horse shoes clicked and clanked on stone.
"Woah!" a man's voice called within the carriage, "What's wrong with you two?"
The black horses continued, becoming more agitated with time.
"Something has the horses spooked. Let me go out and check."
He slid to the left door of the carriage, opening it slightly. Before he could step out, he noticed just how high up they were along the mountainous road. The menacing cliffs plummeted into darkness spotted with moonlit treetops. With shaking hands, he closed the door again, giving his companion a nervous chuckle.
"I think I'll try the other side."
This time he slid to the right side of the carriage which led to a safe ledge to stand on. Sighing with relief of firm ground, the man walked to the horses, giving them a gentle stroke with strong hands. His long black fingernails seemed to shine from the paleness of the orb in the sky. For a moment, the sight took him by surprise, but he quickly came to. After a quick shake of the head, he went back to attempting to calm the horses down.
"Hey, fella, whasamata? Everything's fine." He said to the first horse. A fine stallion named Oni. "Hush, Oni, what's the problem?"
Of course, the horse didn't speak. Oni and his counterpart, Mage, both moved away from the man with fear in their dark eyes. Their owner frowned as he watched them, still trying to soothe them.
The man looked around at the scene. The path beyond them was as clear as the night. He looked to his side. The mountain's side jutted up to the sky with nothing out of the ordinary waiting for his eyes. There was nothing for the horses to fear, yet . . .
"Alright, you two . . . let's just get going, eh?" he said, deciding to head back to the coach. He stared at his companion warmly with a small smile playing on his lips. "I think they're just playing a game with us tonight, they are. Nothing's out there other than cliffs and rocks."
The woman smiled back and shrugged.
"I think we need to get this journey on the road, don't you?" he asked her, "The faster we travel the road, the sooner we can get this over with."
He reached into the candle-lit buggy and grabbed her hand. With a sweet twinkle in his eye, he brought her hand to his lips, pressing his mouth on her skin. He lingered there for a moment, closing his eyes as to savor the sensation, then let out a soft but content animalistic snort from his slightly flared nostrils. The hand within his moved away, gently tracing his jawbone with a finger with a sharp black nail, matching his own. His eyes opened, still with a twinkle that suddenly turned playful.
"I see you're ready to end this as well." He growled quietly to her.
"Maybe." She said with a voice as playful as his eyes.
Oni whined loudly, leaping onto his hind legs, kicking his front feet in the air wildly as though fighting something off. The man dropped the woman's hand as his face turned to the horses. He clicked at them annoyed as the invisible hands tugged on the reigns.
"Oni!" the man cried out, loudly
And then there was a rush of energy with a blast of light, followed by the quick movement of wind from something moving far too quickly. Suddenly, the man was thrown backwards to the rock face of the towering mountain, knocking his head against it. Before the man could even see what hit them, he heard the carriage and the horses sliding over the edge of the cliff.
"NO!" he screamed, his voice turning rough and fearful in an instant
He tried to reach out, but it was too late. The carriage plummeted into darkness with a loud roaring sound. The man scrambled to the edge, clawing at the stone road and screaming into the night. He couldn't see anything.
Rage shook him. How could this have happened?! His dark nails started to grow longer as he clutched the ground with a shaking fist and his eyes began to glow a golden color. His skin seemed to ripple as thick, dark scales suddenly formed on him. A heart wrenching call sounded from deep within him as this continued.
Another blast of energy and light washed over him and he crippled up in pain with another anguished scream. The man fell completely to the ground, immobilized.
Someone stepped from the shadows of night. The man was too dizzy to make him out, but he could sense the malice in the being that was slowly approaching. The dark creature stepped closer and closer, till the fallen man could practically taste his scent.
A clawed and scaley hand closed around his throat, almost as reptilian as his own, and he couldn't fight it off. How desperately he wanted his revenge . . .
"I've been waiting a long time for you." The hand squeezed with claws digging into skin, "You are going to help me do something I've been wanting to do for far too long." The bastard said with a hissing voice.
The last thing the man saw before the world went dark was dark red eyes filled with coldness and hatred.
School was out for summer, but things were still very busy in the wizarding world. Now that the Ministry of Magic finally accepted what was what, that he-who- . . . Voldemort, had returned, things were beginning to change. Something of a war was looming on the horizon. Everyone started to prepare for the worst, which didn't seem like such a bad idea.
Despite things being at their worst, some decided to get out and about to do some things before things got any worse. Hagrid happened to be one of these people.
It just so happened that on that very day--the day after the carriage attack--Hagrid was taking a hike through the dense woods surrounding the Misting Mountain. A few other creature collectors informed him that a rare breed of bugbear lived in the woods. That was more than enough incentive for him to venture.
He and Fang traveled in the dense woods close together. The old dog sniffed at the forest floor while they moved. Hagrid kept his eyes on the whole terrain, hoping to see one of the little bears. If he was lucky, he could get a hold of one to take back to Hogwarts. The kids would surely love that, he thought with a smile. Not many people got to see one up close and most people didn't know how to care for one. He'd love to show the students just how.
A crackling sound held Hagrid in place. He held an arm out to Fang to stop him.
"Hold on there, boy, let's see wha' we got here." He said quietly as he bent down and started pushing bushes apart with caution.
Within the parted greenery was a cute little bear, no more than a foot and a half high. The little fella had his back turned to Hagrid as he played with a stick and a rock on the ground mindlessly. Hagrid smiled at the brown and black bugbear, then reached out to catch it, foolishly with bare hands. Just as his hands got close enough to be tickled by fur, Fang poked his nose a little closer with a sneeze.
The tiny bugbear turned around, slowly, facing Hagrid and Fang. His big golden eyes gleamed for a moment, staring at him like a sad kitten would. Then after a moment, sharp white teeth and angry red eyes showed themselves to the half giant and his dog. Fang immediately ran to find a hiding spot, while Hagrid's eyes went wide.
The bugbear hissed as it jumped to an attack position, snapping its elongated teeth two times at Hagrid's massive hand. Hagrid backed his hand away quickly, which caused the bush to slap the approaching animal in the face. It whined sadly from within, then started running off.
"Wait, come back!" Hagrid said as he took off after the creature through some the trees and bushes.
The trees were thick and slightly wet from the morning dew. Each branch hung low, at least by Hagrid's standards. As he pushed through in pursuit, the leaves and bark slapped him on the face. Some of those branches got him just hard enough to give him tiny cuts along his face.
He continued to go on, though he had a good feeling he lost the tiny bear. He muttered a curse, just as he pulled into a very small clearing, surrounded by the rest of the woods. The sun shone on the grass, giving it a slightly misty glow. It brought a smile to his face as he stepped further within.
His black eyes lazily scanned the area, finding some inner peace within because of the scene. It was like something out of a fairytale. Peaceful, beautiful, serene, perfect . . . well, except for the carriage door dangling from the treetops.
"Wha's that?" he said to himself as he rushed over to find out.
He moved through the opposite side of the clearing to the next part of the woods. As soon as he stepped inside, he stumbled across a black horse, lying on the ground. He could tell in an instant that the poor creature's neck had been broken. His mouth curled in a frown as he bent down to look a little closer. By the way he was on the ground, Hagrid realized that he must have fallen from the road in the mountains above quite some time ago.
Standing up straight, he sighed with a slightly weeping groan to it, then began moving further into the woods. He passed another horse, in the same condition if not a little worse with burn marks on the side of his face. However, this one still had its reigns on. The other's must have fallen off during the fall. The sight made him slightly queasy. Something awful must have happened.
Then finally, he came to the carriage, lying on its side near the tree with the dangling door. One of the wooden wheels had been snapped in three, part of the metal had been dented in. It was quite a horrible sight to see. And he hoped with all his large heart that no one was in the carriage . . .
With mild hesitation, he stepped up to the carriage to peak inside, then let out another sigh. A young woman was inside. Long dark braids fell to one side of her face, covering up her eye and nose, but left her mouth exposed. A small trickle of blood was at her lips to her soft brown cheek, still wet. He reached a hand out to her face, cupping her cheek to wipe off the red trickling stain. Once he did, he jumped back a little. The blood was still warm!
He held her firmly with the massive hand, feeling along her neck. He could feel her heartbeat underneath her skin, but it was going very slowly. Somehow she survived the fall. It was a miracle. It was even more a miracle that he'd stumbled across her.
"Hey, can yeh hear me?" he whispered.
For a moment, nothing happened. He just watched and waited. Then her eyes began to flutter. They didn't open, however. It was enough to let Hagrid know that she could hear him.
"I'm gonna git yeh some help. This migh' hurt a little." He said as he pulled part of the carriage apart enough to be able to open it. He reached inside and as carefully as he could, he pulled her out.
She made a gasping sound as he moved her, which made him wince. Even though she seemed out of it, she looked in pain. It made him a little worried about touching her, but he had no choice. He had to get her some help. There was only place he could think of right now, and that was back to Hogwarts. From there someone could take her to St. Mungo's.
He took a good look at her as they headed back to somewhere where he could get himself back to Hogwarts quickly and easily. He couldn't put his fingers on it, but something was odd about the girl. She looked human enough . . . still . . . there was some quality that wasn't. It didn't matter. He'd get her to safety. The rest could be figured out later.