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As Lucius felt himself solidify he looked around at unexpected surroundings, and turned a questioning gaze on the man who had brought him here. Before he
could speak, however, he spotted Hermione falling to the forest floor and writhing in pain.
"Damn it!" he growled. "She's not quite together, Egremon. Can you try again?"
"It will do not good Apparating her a second time," the man insisted. "Cast a healing spell on her, see if it helps."
"Rennervate," he whispered softly as he stroked her head. Hermione's eyes popped open and she groaned.
"You needn't have awakened her yet," Egremon commented as he looked back over his shoulder at them. "She'll need some rest."
"I want her to tell me where she hurts," Lucius explained. "Hermione, can you talk to me? Your head is healed shut already, where do you hurt, love?"
Wordlessly, Hermione pulled at the clothes covering her right shoulder so she could point to the spot where the demon had scratched her. Tears welled up in
her eyes, and then she passed out again.
"Bloody hell," Lucius growled as he took in the swollen, reddened mark. "Egremon, look at this. I've never seen anything like this before."
The man stepped over and examined the wound, shaking his head gravely.
"What is it?" Lucius demanded.
"She's been tagged," he said. "That's why it was so easy to get away."
"You mean they can find her, no matter where she is?" Lucius growled. "Is there anything that can be done about it?"
"Only one thing, I'm afraid," Egremon said as he hung his head. "We'll have to go hide in the Muggle world. The demons can only travel there for limited
periods of time, and only in darkness. We're lucky the moon is full for a couple days—it'll give us a bit of a head start."
"How do they normally track someone?" Lucius wanted to know.
"He's gotten the scent of her blood, and his own poison is also in her system," Egremon said. "If she survives it, he'll be able to smell his way to wherever
she is eventually. It's lucky for you that Voldemort will want you alive, so he can force you to perform the ritual. But the Muggle is expendable now. He's made
a new enemy—in me. Knowing the Dark Lord as we do, I'm sure you're well aware of how my betrayal and yours have affected his disposition."
"I'm going to assume there are a few less demons in his employ than he started off with," Lucius commented dryly. "Let's hope he's really mad, maybe he'll just
do away with them all."
"Let's see if we can get some of that poison out of your wife's system," Egremon said. "That at least doesn't require a great deal of knowledge in the healing
arts."
"What do you mean?" Lucius asked.
"We're going to get it out the good old-fashioned Muggle way," he told him. "You might as well get used to life without magic. There's no telling how long
we're going to be on the run, and any trace of magic use would be easily spotted if we used it among the non-magical types."
"Why are you helping us, Egremon?" Lucius demanded. "You could have easily abandoned us somewhere and simply returned to Garamond."
"My Lord, have you not realized by now that Garamond is under the control of the very group of people who wanted you to follow Lady Hermione to the cave?" he
said. "Surely by now they have all been told of my actions tonight. If I returned to Garamond now, I would be killed—or worse. Besides, it is my duty to serve
the lord of Garamond, a vow I made when I was a mere boy and have never broken in all the time since. I see no point in starting to do so now."
"Your help will be invaluable, you know," Lucius told him. "I must confess I never have acquainted myself much with the ways of Muggles. It was bred into me
to disdain anything to do with them. Fancy a man like me winding up with Hermione Granger." At this point he chuckled and shook his head. "She really is a
fabulous witch when she's not on the brink of death, you know. She was at the top of her class. I always admired her tenacity, even when I was supposed to be
hating her."
"Don't speak as if she's gone, my Lord," Egremon chastised him. "Here, open the wound with this dagger. Suck out as much blood as you can—but don't swallow
any of it. It could just as easily poison you if you did."
"Well, that's quite the barbaric method, isn't it?" Lucius commented. Taking the dagger in his hand, he quickly made an incision in Hermione's shoulder and
forced the blood to flow. When his lips were on her and he'd gotten his first mouthful of the bitter tasting blood, Egremon took the opportunity to speak again.
"Muggle's are very proud creatures, for all that they lack magic for the most part," he said. "This one, especially, possesses a fire in her spirit that I was
completely unprepared for. I do not wish to see Hermione die, my Lord. I would like to see the skills you speak of so fondly."
Lucius spat out the blood and smiled at him momentarily before moving to do it again.
"I believe it would be wise to spread it about that the two of you have perished," Egremon continued. "We were, after all, on a high mountaintop when we
Disapparated. It would be a small matter to spread the notion that you did not come down from the mountain alive."
"Do you think it would buy us time?" Lucius asked after spitting a second time.
"Not if the demons are at all intelligent," he said. "But it may stop the humans who are helping them for a while, if nothing else. The last thing we want is
to be found, even by the well-meaning friends of hers who would be highly likely to come looking if they learned she was gone. It would not surprise me if
someone from Garamond were to inquire if either of you had been seen in London."
"It's something I would do," Lucius agreed as he spat a third time. "The wound seems to have stopped bleeding. Do you think it did any good?"
"We'll have to watch it, and see," he said. "Cover her up in your cloak, Lucius, she looks like she is going into shock. Elevate her feet so they are above her
heart. That's right. Now, all we can do is wait."
"And that, my friend, is the hardest part of all."
"We should take it in turns," he said. "I will stay awake and watch her for a time, if you want to get some rest. You've had a busy day."
"Rest?" Lucius scoffed. "How can I rest while my wife is in danger of dying? No, Egremon, I would not be able. I might as well take first watch."
"As you wish, my Lord," Egremon agreed, and laid his own cloak on the hard dirt of the forest floor and made himself as comfortable as possible. "Wake me if
there is any change."
"I will," Lucius agreed. "You can be sure of that."
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