Expedition

Chapter 2: Expedition

"Whee."

"Last one in is a rotten egg."

"Woohoo."

Lucius looked up to see three girls clad in their undies emerge from their tent and race each other to the cold mountain stream. He went back to tending the breakfast fire.

"I'm impressed by your adult attitude," said Andromeda.

If you're impressed by my adult attitude, thought Lucius, you should see my adult fantasies.

Andromeda looked at Lucius as the three girls in wet lingerie ran from the stream to the improvised bath enclosure where a kettle of hot water awaited them.

"Are you disappointed they're only wearing white cotton?" asked Andromeda.

"That's a strange question," said Lucius.

"They're quite virginal, you know," said Andromeda. "Can't you tell from their conversation? And it's not just because of the war although they're having a postponed childhood on this trip."

"They have their girlish moments," agreed Lucius, "but they're mature enough about the mission."

"Speaking of mission," said Andromeda, "what do you think their mission is? Do you think their running in front of you in wet underwear is some thoughtless act?"

"Well, yes."

"How thick are you? Don't you recognize desperate women when you see them? We've concluded we're not buxom enough for you."

"Desperate? We?" asked Lucius.

Andromeda snorted in derision and headed to the bathing enclosure. Later, four scrubbed witches took bread, tomatoes, eggs, and sausages out of stasis and had a fry up. It was the fifth day, and they had searched two promising areas with no success. They would move to the next location today, and begin covering the next site that night. They had chosen early autumn as likely to be a quiet time in the mountainous wilds before the weather became too severe.

As they were making their way to the next site, the four women noticed that Lucius was deep in thought. They assumed he was reviewing the reconnaissance-broom design for flaws, and they seamlessly took over the tasks of navigation and lookout. In actuality, he was reviewing himself for flaws. Ginevra was ambitious and loaded with talent; Luna was independent minded and freakishly intelligent; Hermione was gifted and determined; and Andromeda was highly competent and self-possessed. He had assumed that made the four women sought after since Cissy was all of the above and he thought her desirable to the point that he was certain everyone else did. It had never occurred to him that those qualities might deter some wizards.

His thoughts drifted to their non-buxomness. He hadn't thought about it that way. He considered them athletic, blessed with physiques that would last their entire lives, but that was mere frosting on the cake of companionship they could offer, although Andromeda claimed the three younger ones hadn't had a chance to demonstrate their caring nature. He also thought that white cotton, wet or not, was perfect for the younger three while royal purple would suit Andromeda, who, he realized, now that he reflected on it, exuded sexuality even when modestly dressed. They would be tigresses in bed. Finally, he concluded that it would have been better if he had not had these revelations. This expedition was potentially dangerous, and he had to adhere to the high road even though it meant that the women would decide he was cold, heartless, and didn't like them. Curse Andromeda and her taunting him. Now, all he could do was try not to ogle them and obsess about getting in their pants.

That night the reconnaissance clone pinged. They were all up and staring at the ink spot on the map before convincing each other it would be better to get some rest and make plans in the morning. But the next morning saw no plans, just a dash to the ancient enclave where, despite Lucius's warnings, the four witches swarmed over the ruins. Luna called Hermione over when she found preserved scrolls. They were transferring them to a carrying case as Andromeda unearthed a box of silver bars. They heard Ginevra say, "Come look at what I found," and they all arrived in time to hear Ginevra scream and see her fly back to land on her bum where she looked at her burned hands. Andromeda waved her wand to apply healing spells.

"It's a wizard's staff," said Lucius, levitating it and placing it in stasis. "They're primed with hexes too powerful to carry in one's head. I didn't know any still existed. If we're lucky, the scrolls will tell us how to control it."

A more cautious search found more scrolls, some preserved wheat and honey, and a rack of wands which Lucius placed in stasis without touching them. They decided this site was a minor outpost, and they returned to camp to have a late breakfast, properly pack their find, and rest.

"There may be numerous small outposts," said Luna as they were sipping tea and contemplating the clear blue sky. "This land is barren, and people would have to disperse."

Hermione couldn't figure out the storerooms. They were large, but mostly empty. Everyone admitted it was a puzzle. Had the occupation of this region ended with a siege that had depleted their supplies?

That night there were two pings, and in the morning, there was a discussion about who would explore and who would guard the camp. Lucius advocated staying together for safety, and the witches finally agreed they would check out the new sites together and risk leaving what they had already found unguarded. The clinching argument was that one of the new sites might be a major one containing much more than the minor site of yesterday. Acting on Luna's insight about scattered settlements, they took the reconnaissance-broom with them for a quick search for nearby sites.

The first new site looked minor, and they proceeded to the other, but as they left the first, they thought they heard the faint beating of a drum. The second site looked like a major fortification in ruins. There was an enclosure surrounding a cave. Lucius approached the cave opening, but backed away declaring it dangerous. They could hear the drum beat reverberating through the hills.

Andromeda stood guard as the others frantically searched. Ginevra found a room of scrolls, miniaturized them, placed them in stasis, and packed them in a bag. Hermione opened a storeroom to find only a few urns of wheat and several moldy cheeses. Luna moved some timbers to reveal a shelf of strangely shaped objects. Without touching them, she levitated them into a box.

Lucius was casting about for precious metals when the drums stopped and he heard Andromeda's warning. He reached her as a deft movement of her wand decapitated an oncoming demon. He heard the girls scream. He dashed to the other side of the enclosure to find them surrounded. He dispatched a demon, but two more grabbed his ankles from behind and were dragging him away when Andromeda appeared and his captors' heads exploded. As the other demons were running away, the young witches sent hexes flying after them. The drums began again.

"We can't leave with just museum pieces," declared Lucius.

Hermione volunteered to return with him to the cliff overhang where he thought his wand had sensed valuables. They dug up two boxes heavy with metal bars and returned to the others who were contemplating their situation.

"The demons are out there waiting for us."

"They're going to ambush us when we move."

"We're vulnerable in the open, but we can't stay here."

"It would help if we knew where they were."

"We have the scouting broom," said Lucius.

He had it airborne and flying in expanding circles around the ancient enclosure.

"It's flying too low," said Hermione

"It's okay, and I'm getting a reading," said Lucius. "They're behind those big rocks on the slope."

A flurry of stones, clubs, and axes knocked the broom out of the sky. There were the sounds of a broom being demolished.

"I think we found them," said Ginevra.

The four told Lucius they thought it would be foolhardy to attack the demons' position. What did he think? Lucius agreed. The women declared the best plan was to lure them into the open by hurling insults at them.

"Listen up, you mongrel pack," shouted Andromeda. "We've got something to say to you."

Insults? thought Lucius.

"You can't tell your wife's arse from a burnt biscuit," began Hermione.

"You're uglier than the backside of bad luck," added Ginevra.

"The best part of you dribbled down your father's pant leg," chimed Luna.

Oh, thought Lucius.

Andromeda stood atop the fallen wall and bellowed. "You Redneck Peckerwoods!"

Nine demons boiled out of hiding.

While the others braced themselves for the onslaught, Andromeda tore open her shirt to reveal bare breasts. Before the demons could recover from the force of her witchcraft, she was among them, performing a wand kata. Arms, legs, and heads flew. Andromeda stood in the midst of demon parts. The other members of the expedition regarded Grandma Tonks.

"Well," said Lucius as Andromeda buttoned her shirt, "we've lost our reconnaissance broom, located all the artifacts we can carry, and alerted the neighborhood. We should pack as quickly as we can and head home."

The others nodded in agreement.

"It doesn't make sense," said Luna as they were packing. "The local ecology couldn't support the number of demons we encountered."

Andromeda thought the drums may have called them from a great distance. Ginevra wondered if the demons were responsible for the depleted storerooms. Hermione didn't think the storerooms were large enough to support the demons for a thousand years. Lucius suggested the demons had begun raiding the storerooms only recently. It may have taken a long time for the magic he had experienced in front of the cave to subside in which case the large number of demons was temporary. Andromeda concluded that they had arrived at a critical moment, between the time that the repellant magic was too strong and the time when the magic was gone and the demons had moved into the sites and despoiled what the ancient wizards had left behind.

"We can hide what we've found at Lovegood Tower, and we'll have time to sort it out there," said Luna. "My father and some German wizards are trying to photograph the Black Forest werewolves this month. He told me to be a good girl while he was gone."

They made it to the lowlands by late afternoon where they had to halt from exhaustion. A passing shepherd invited them to share his hut and fire for the evening meal, but they declined.

"He looks beady eyed," said Ginevra.

That gave them pause. They realized their acquired treasure had made them suspicious of others.

Luna spoke first. "My father and I are going to squabble. He will want to revive the magazine. I will want him to invest for his old age because he deserves a comfortable retirement after he's devoted myself to serving wizardkind, but he will ask how could he retire with peace of mind knowing he could have done more if he hadn't been selfish,"

There was silence for a space.

"I know why you're all looking at me," said Ginevra. "I face a large family who have suffered years of humiliating poverty." Ginevra sighed. "All the important things we mean to each other will be destroyed."

"We will have to keep an important part of our lives secret from those we know," said Hermione.

"I had a privileged childhood followed by a hard-scrabble adult life," said Andromeda. "This will unbalance me."

"There is a saying," said Lucius. "'I've been rich and I've been poor. Rich is better.' All of you are strong enough to come out of this well."

Andromeda looked around the group. "We have each other."

They made the last leg of the trip to the Lovegood Tower in deep secrecy. Andromeda made a quick round trip to her in-laws where she picked up Teddy and dropped him at her house before returning and telling Lucius that he was a tattered mess from being dragged by demons. There was no way she could allow him to return to his wife in such a state. And he needed a bath. Luna, Hermione, and Ginevra announced they were perfectly capable of maintaining a vigil.