𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐖 𝐎𝐅 𝐌𝐀𝐆𝐈𝐂 || 𝐒𝐄𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐎𝐖

Chapter Twenty-Three: Reconciliation

Chapter Twenty-Three 

The sun was just barely rising when Esme, Matty, Ominis, and Sebastian got up to get ready to leave. Sebastian had barely slept—he was too busy wondering if Anne was okay or not. The fact that whoever had taken her had killed Mrs. Aves so mercilessly made him fear for what they may do to Anne.

Matty had repeatedly assured him that everything was going to be okay and that they'd get Anne back. Sebastian could only hope that she was right.

They weren't sure exactly where the location they were given was, but Sebastian was determined to apparate there since it was the quickest way to get there. In his mind, there wasn't a second to lose. And with enough determination, pretty much anything was possible in the eyes of Sebastian Sallow.

They left the castle quietly although nobody was awake. The ghosts were still roaming the halls and they didn't need anyone to hear about how they had left. They got far off of the school grounds before deciding what they wanted to do. The location was far enough away that it'd take ages to get there on foot, so apparition seemed like the only chance they had at getting there quickly.

So, one right after another, they all apparated, trying to focus the best that they could. They all wound up in an unfamiliar forest. They had all landed decently close, thank goodness. "Are we sure this is the right place?" Matty asked, looking around. There didn't seem to be much here, or any people for that matter.

Sebastian took a look around. "I think so. Perhaps there's someone around here waiting for us and we just have to find them." He suggested, knowing that their apparition hadn't been spot on. So they could be miles away from where the person intended them to get to in the first place.

While searching for any signs, Matty began to hear some voices off in the distance. Hesitantly, she slowly began to move in the direction of the sound. Soon, she realized that she was on top of a hill, and at the end of the slope there was a flat terrain where she could see people walking around but she couldn't quite make out anything else.

"Sebastian, Esme, Ominis! Over here!" She called out to them just loud enough for them to hear.

Within a couple of moments, they were all next to her, observing the area she had discovered. "Do you think that's who we're looking for?" Esme asked.

Sebastian nodded his head. "Must be. I doubt it's a coincidence that this would all be here right next to the location we were given." He replied. Matty looked over to him, giving him a look as if asking him if this was what he wanted to do. He looked back at her and gave her a firm nod. "We should check it out. But we'll have to be discrete about it."

Slowly, they made their way down the hill. It wasn't too steep so it wasn't hard to get down but it definitely made it harder to not be seen. Once they were down, they hid behind some foliage to be able to scout out the area before doing anything else. Matty went first, peeking out from the foliage, and the sight that she saw shocked her.

A tent—a poacher tent was set up and poachers were walking around, standing guard, and talking to one another. And that wasn't even the most shocking part. Outside of the tent, there were goblins chained up, being forced to do metalwork. For what? She had no idea. She assumed weapons, dragon collars, and other things. "Guys, you're going to want to see this," Matty whispered just loud enough for them.

Sebastian crept up behind her. "Are those... Rookwood's poachers?" He asked, his brows furrowing in confusion.

Matty nodded her head. "Looks like it." She replied. "But look, those goblins. They must be the goblins that the daily prophet was talking about. The missing ones." She said, looking back and forth between Sebastian and the sight in front of her. This was definitely not what she was expecting.