Deep in the night, a group of five wizards, three men and two women, ran with panic on their faces through the dense jungle. At this hour it looked especially ominous, as this was when most monsters came to life and began hunting the unlucky ingredient gatherers who had failed to leave the Magical Jungle or find somewhere secluded to make camp.
"Damn it! How could they find us there?!" one of the wizards shouted, fists clenched tight, not daring to look back because the path ahead was already treacherous. One wrong step and he could be caught in a vine or trip over a ledge or branch.
"Shut up, you cretin! Do not attract even more monsters!" A pair of blazing blue eyes under long lashes bored into his back, promising very unpleasant consequences if he did not listen.
The others did not waste time arguing. Without looking, they flicked their wands behind them, sending weak gusts of air that knocked the four-legged shadows chasing them backward, but not for long. The shadows snapped back into formation quickly, and their growls only grew angrier.
The red-haired wizard glared back at the girl behind him, and that became the last mistake of his life. In the next moment he stepped into mud left by recent rain, slipped on almost level ground, and smashed his head into a nearby tree heavy with fruits that looked like apples.
Even in the deep of night, almost everyone recognised the tree at once, and without hesitation, or rather without thinking at all, they bolted away from it. Among hunters there was a saying: if you fall into the sweet trap, there is no way back. Within a heartbeat, spiders poured from the tree like rain, swallowing the unlucky man almost instantly.
The others did not even slow for the loss of a teammate and continued to retreat. Privately they were glad to be rid of the red-haired wizard that way, because the monsters chasing them also froze for a few seconds, giving the group a small head start, and they did not waste it.
What is wrong with these monsters today?! How could blood wolves even end up near our shelter when their territory is twenty kilometres south? Patricia, the dark-haired witch leading the expedition, seethed inwardly. She had spent more than twenty years guiding people through the outer part of the Magical Jungle, not counting the ten years she had explored it alone, but today had been strange since morning: black crocodiles had left the swamp and were hunting on land; lizards were wandering aimlessly; red monkeys, who would normally not miss a chance to throw stones, were frightened by something and did not react even when one of the group members stumbled into their territory.
Although Patricia had suggested turning back, or pushing harder to reach the safe zone faster, the red-haired wizard had delayed them. So when he died, even though she stayed outwardly composed, part of her still gloated.
Of course, everyone in the group knew how to Disapparate, but it did not work inside the jungle. The same was true of Portkeys, which was why the Magical Jungle was considered one of the most dangerous places in the world. Mostly only desperate people, or the overconfident chasing easy profit, decided to enter, and those who simply wished to study the flora and fauna made up less than one per cent.
One of the two remaining men slowed slightly and drew level with Patricia.
"Any ideas?" Louis asked evenly, his face betraying nothing. Inside he felt panic, but he understood that showing it openly was a bad idea. First, save his own skin; panic could wait until he was somewhere safe with a mug of beer in his hand.
"The safe zone is still forty kilometres away. We will be exhausted before we reach it. All we can do is hope we meet someone along the way and can join forces. Then we would have a decent chance of survival."
"Well, or dump these mutts on them," the other wizard muttered irritably. He turned for a moment and aimed his wand at the pounding footsteps behind them. "Aerea Laoret Mollis!" he shouted, and a powerful blast of air tore from his wand and slammed into a large white fruit tree. Spiders burst from it and rained straight down toward the huge pack of wolves.
"Idiot! Why did you—" Patricia hissed in fury, almost shouting, but she reined it in, her voice dropping from a shout to a hard whisper.
The wizard only snorted in contempt.
"This will slow them down."
"Moron." Patricia immediately began to distance herself from him. The others saw her move and, without thinking, followed. Over the course of this single day Patricia had saved their lives more than once, so they had learned to trust her and watched her almost constantly, especially in moments this dangerous.
That gesture did not escape the wizard who had cast at the tree.
"What are you— AAARGH! It hurts!" he began, but never finished, because something sharp pierced his back. Weakness flooded his body and he collapsed to the ground, his face twisted in horror.
A huge spider stood on his back, driving its sharp, poisonous legs into him. All he felt was searing pain and spreading weakness. He could not even scream anymore, and died from the venom within seconds. The spider queen only glared toward the others, but she did not pursue them.
The magical wolves paid no attention to the rain of spiders at all, because the spiders did not bite them. Those that fell quickly fired webbing to cling to branches and leaves, and those that landed on the wolves scrambled straight back into the trees. The wolves also kept a five-metre distance from the big spider on the corpse. It was a strange sort of symbiosis that brought almost no benefit to either side beyond mutual non-aggression.
Patricia had stumbled across that odd alliance by accident five years ago from a colleague, which was why she had called that man an idiot, while still regretting she had not warned the others the moment the blood wolves had appeared on the horizon.
"W-we are going to die," the other witch whispered, panic thick in her voice, still hearing the howling behind them.
"Cretin, but I am no smarter."
"It is not your fault, Patricia," Louis tried to reassure her, already understanding they were unlikely to survive the night. "I... I have been afraid to say this for a long time, but perhaps these are the last minutes of our lives. I love you!"
"Louis! Damn you! Could you not pick a better time?!" Patricia narrowed her eyes at him. Still, she snapped her wand up and sent a stream of air at the wolves closing in, throwing them back a couple of metres.
"But better late than never?"
"Go to hell with jokes like that!"
"Patricia, if we survive, will you marry me?"
Patricia's right eye twitched. She wanted to punch him in the face, but now was not the time. And if she was being honest, she was even a little glad that at the end of her life she had at least heard those words from someone.
"If we make it out, I will not only marry you, I will even quit this damned job!"
"I will remember that! And do not you dare back out later. I will tie you up and carry you to the registry office!" Louis laughed out loud, watching Patricia's sudden embarrassment.
At that moment, one of the red wolves, a little larger than the others, opened its maw and exhaled a stream of flame that rushed toward the group and swallowed them in an instant.
When the pack finally reached the place where the flame had hit, all they found was empty ground. The smaller wolves glared with fury at the one who had burned their dinner. The larger one growled back and spat flame at them, sending the others scattering in panic as they began searching the area.
At the same time, less than ten metres away, Severus sat by a small fire stroking Nagini's head as she coiled around his neck, while Nelly worked on dinner.
"May I congratulate you on your upcoming wedding?" Severus asked with a smile, glancing sideways at the three frozen wizards.
Just then a wolf appeared five metres from them, making the trio go pale, but to their shock it simply trotted past and ran back to the main pack.
"I set up several barriers so they cannot detect us. You can relax."
"M-master, your dinner." A tray appeared in Nelly's hands, a plate with a knife and fork already laid on it, and a few seconds later a lizard steak and a glass of juice appeared beside them.
"Thank you. Make them something too."
"Yes!" A large cleaver appeared in Nelly's hand and she headed toward the corpse of a monster lying nearby.
"Wh-who are you?" Patricia finally managed, coming to herself after the chase and the sudden rescue. Half of the unknown wizard's face was covered by a mask.
"A simple treasure hunter."
"Why did you save us?"
"For information," Severus answered calmly, cutting off a small piece of steak and feeding it to Nagini, who watched them with mild curiosity.
Nelly returned with three more pieces of meat and went back to cooking.
At his answer, Patricia and the others exchanged glances. Louis nodded.
"We will answer all your questions if you let us stay here until morning."
"No problem. Sit down. I am not going to eat you."
Still listening to him cautiously, they edged closer and sat on the opposite side of the fire, already watching Nagini with wariness. Her colouring made it obvious she was dangerously venomous.
"Since I entered the jungle, you are the first people I have come across. Do you know why?"
"Most likely connected to the monsters." Patricia took a deep breath and steadied herself. "Many of them have left their habitats. I suspect a new creature has appeared, something far stronger than anything that belongs in the outer part of the Magical Jungle. It could have slipped through a gap in the barrier from the inner part. This place is at least three thousand years old, after all, though those are only my guesses. As for people, they have probably left the forest or taken shelter in the safe zone, and in the worst case, they are already..." Patricia did not finish, but her meaning was clear.
"I see. I have a few more questions, but let us have dinner first." At that, trays with steaks appeared on the ground before each of them.
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