Heroes' Trial
Chapter 12
Following the sounds of battle, Gudrun and Harry rushed to where Farouk and Matt were fighting.
Matt's severely distorted voice revealed that he was hard-pressed, as Harry heard the report through his ear-piece. "We're in trouble, Harry. Our wands don't work! Our artefacts still work with their enchantments, and I can still do some wand-less magic…but…" —the communication faltered— "have to hurry!"
Harry desperately wanted to increase his speed magically, but he wasn't about to leave Gudrun behind in there. Matt and Farouk could take care of themselves. They didn't necessarily need their wands to fight.
Fortunately, the Tuning Sword could do much more than just stun. The twin blades were razor sharp and could easily lop off limbs. He didn't know how well Gudrun could wield the sword, but he had no choice but to take her into battle with him.
"Gudrun, how come our wands don't work?"
"I don't know." Gudrun said hurriedly. "I think I heard something about Yamato trying to design an anti-magic field generator that countered the focussing properties of magic wands. Gaal told me about it. Yamato's had years to bring his theories into practice. Maybe this is it."
"Anti-magic? But our artefacts and weapons are still working."
"They've got enchantments on them," she said hurriedly. "It's not the same as casting spells…although…"
"What?" Harry spared a quick glance and saw Gudrun fiddle with her Portkey. "What are you doing?"
Gudrun didn't answer. Instead, her lips formed a thin line as she let her arm drop to her side again and quickened her pace. "Although, a field of this kind could block communication and teleportation magic, and it did. My Portkey isn't working."
"What?" Harry could feel the panic rise in him. Wishing to alert Doc, Harry activated his broadcaster, only to find out that Doc and Nathan were out of reach. The inside of his goggles, which were linked to his broadcaster, flashed a message telling him this. "Damn."
"Don't worry. The way our broadcasters are behaving, I'm sure Doc suspects that the Portkeys are being jammed too."
"How can we counter this?"
"We have to find whatever is doing this, and destroy it—"
Gudrun couldn't say more, because just then, they ran into a group of five zombies in varying stages of decay, which were coming out of a narrow side corridor and were moving to attack Matt and Farouk from the rear. Not the best frontline soldiers, but in sheer numbers they could be dangerous, especially since no one had a working wand.
Harry tapped into his core, drawing from the secret source of power he'd unlocked upon the revelation that Ginny loved him. The same warm feeling he got whenever Ginny was with him stole through his body. Everything seemed to slow down around him as he drew his sword. One by one, he decapitated the zombies, the only way to stop this particular kind of undead. He just hoped that the dark magic used to animate them wasn't so strong as to make the bodies come after them even after decapitation, which was sometimes the case with spells produced by really powerful necromancers. And even though Yamato could be considered powerful, Harry didn't think he'd waste such a draining charm on these rather decayed corpses.
Not stopping to see the heads tumble from the shoulders in slow motion, Harry bolted towards Farouk and Matt, who'd been holding off a large mob of zombies very similar to the ones he'd just beaten.
The strain he was beginning to feel from harnessing the immense power forced him to release the power again. However, the warmth remained in his hands. Looking at them, he saw the sword glowing with power. Its magic had been activated somehow…because phoenixes were symbols of death and rebirth, and these undead creatures clearly went against that universal rule, Harry realised.
It was as if the sword was talking, telling him what to do. He aimed the blade at the three-dozen or so zombies and the sword did the rest. The blade transformed into a sparkling red flame and blossomed outwards in a cone shaped blast, turning the zombies to ashes within seconds.
"By the bloody Big Bunyip, what the hell was that?" Matt asked after a moment, looking from the sword to the smoking piles of ashes in front of him.
Harry shrugged. He himself had no idea what the sword was exactly capable of. "I didn't feel any heat from the blast. Did you?"
Matt shook his head. "No. Farouk, did you feel any heat?"
"I did not." The Iraqi wizard frowned. Then he took off his glove and briefly touched the wall. He obviously felt no heat, for he rested his hand against the stone wall after the initial probe. "The walls are not hot either. It must have been pure magical fire."
"Wow!" Gudrun said in awe. "Harry, do you have any idea how valuable that sword has to be? I wonder what Lei Li did that warranted such a gift. It must be an heirloom of the entire Phoenix Clan. This must've been forged with ancient, powerful and nearly forgotten magic."
Harry knew it was just Gudrun's artificer's nature to ponder these things, but they had other fish, or rather, zombies, to fry at the moment. "We can work that out later. First, we have to find whatever is disrupting our wands, and destroy it."
"If it's portable-sized, we have to try and switch it off and keep it in one piece." Gudrun said.
"You want to take it with us?"
"If possible. If we figure out how it works, we might devise some countermeasures."
"How do you propose we find it?" Matt frowned.
Gudrun rolled back her eyes. "Do you think I'd suggest finding it if I didn't have a plan? Really! Stick to what you're good at. If there isn't anything to fight, just stand there, keep your mouth shut and be pretty. Leave the thinking to those of us who are good at it."
The look that Matt got in his eyes whenever some wisecrack formed in his mind came out, but he seemed to bite his tongue at the last minute. Instead, he stuck to the business at hand. "So what was your plan?"
"It seems our communication gets worse the closer we come to this jamming device,"—she activated her broadcaster, and her voice suddenly rang in their ear-pieces— "the worse the signal from our broadcaster gets. When we can't hear each other anymore, even at this range, we'll know we're nearly on top of the treasure."
"Like a metal detector, only the sound will diminish, instead of increase." Harry nodded. "Good to know we've got some brains to lead us."
Gudrun's cheeks turned pink and she looked very pleased with herself.
"Well, well, a good brain as well as a butt that just won't quit." Matt grinned. "But will your plan work if this device has an effective magic shutdown range of a hundred yards or more?"
"Do you have a better idea?" Gudrun snapped.
Matt held up his hands diplomatically. "Just asking…Hey, would it make any difference in the transmission if I stand where I am now, or right next to you, if we're being jammed?"
Gudrun nodded. "Distance is in direct relation to the quality of the link." She looked at Harry. "We may have to stand cheek to cheek when we get really close to the source."
"Oh, pick me, pick me!" Matt said, jumping up and down theatrically.
Gudrun snorted, but the tension drained out of her expression. "Shut up, you!"
"We have to get going!" Harry said. "The sooner we disable or destroy this thing, the faster we can get out of here. Which way?"
Gudrun walked about fifty metres along the ash-filled corridor, and spoke. "How's this?"
Her words sounded very faint in his ear-piece.
"I think it's that way," Harry said.
He glanced at the sword again. It seemed to lack much of the energy it had held earlier, and Harry suspected that it would need to recharge for a while before it could once again perform that particular feat.
For one long hour, they searched through the maze of tunnels, looking for the source that prevented them from using their wands. Now, according to the increasing limits on their communication artefacts, Gudrun deduced they had to be really close.
They came upon a large chamber that, from the looks of it, must have served as a command and control of sorts, they could see a reddish glow emanate from a pit inside the room and they could hear a hum that reminded Harry of a swarm of attacking doxies. That had to be whatever was jamming their wands, and logically, something so valuable to the enemy was likely to have guards.
The emblems of scarlet triangles with the droplet of blood in the middle made his heart stop beating for a split second. The guards were the fabled Bloodhounds. The Order's intelligence sources had heard of this special unit within Anastasiou's organisation, but none of the patrols had actually encountered them before.
According to their sources it consisted of anywhere between sixteen to twenty-six skilled wizards, and vampires which were at least one hundred years old and had all the powers that vampires gained as they aged.
Even though there were only four of them, all vampires, Harry didn't think any of his companions could fight them off without their wands. The vampires had weapons too, and were faster and stronger than their human adversaries. More than ever, Harry missed Wolfe, who would likely have been able to take them all with his bare hands without breaking a sweat.
He knew he could also hold his own against one or two of these vampires, and under more favourable conditions, all of them. But the fact of the matter was that he was trapped below ground in an area with Apparition wards and an artefact that prevented him from using his wand. To make matters worse, his adversaries were wearing a new type of armour that looked very solid, and Harry had no doubt in his mind that the armour would easily turn Matt and Farouk's arrows.
He glanced at the other Rangers. Gudrun was looking very pale, instinctively taking a step backward to hide behind Matt. The grim Australian threw his bow to Farouk, who didn't have any short-range weapons, and drew his long twin daggers, stepping in front of Gudrun protectively. Farouk activated the enchantment on the bow to turn the string razor sharp and ready for some serious cutting.
Knowing he had to get everyone out in one piece, Harry opened himself up to the power within, concentrating like he'd never concentrated before. He had to maintain the power-increase long enough to dispatch these vampires, but he knew it was going to be hard. He drew his katana and charged the nearest vampire.
Its pale face showed it had clearly been startled by the fact that Harry's speed was equal, if not superior to its own. But it successfully blocked his attack and answered with a riposte of its straight-sword.
Harry's desperation grew as he witnessed two more vampires approach from the corner of his eye, knowing that these reinforcements would help their comrades make short work of them if he didn't do something quickly. He knew he had to dispatch his adversary quickly so he could help the others, who were hard pressed to defend themselves. It was time to fight creatively, like Wolfe had taught him.
He spun around, pretending to make a powerful backhanded sweeping attack with his blade, fully expecting the vampire to choose ducking over blocking the sword, which it indeed chose to do. But now that Harry was overextended, the vampire counterattacked, using the same attack that Harry had just used, in an attempt to decapitate Harry. Harry leapt over the attack and drove hid katana into the skull of the vampire.
While not fatal to the vampire, the attack was enough to incapacitate it and leave it defenceless. This was a good thing, since Harry couldn't have finished it off even if he'd wanted to, because a second vampire was attacking him with a heavy battle-axe.
Harry focussed on the axe briefly before making a shoving gesture as he attempted a wand-less banishing charm. It worked beautifully, and sent the heavy axe crashing into the back of one of the vampires that had been trying to get past Matt to threaten Gudrun, who was the easiest prey. She was bleeding rather profusely from a wound in her neck, which she was clutching tightly to stop the flow of blood, but it continued to seep through her fingers. One of the vampires must have tried to indulge its thirst for blood. But it should have waited until the battle was done, because now it would pay for its arrogance.
Matt took advantage of the vampire's distraction and surged forward, crossing the blades of his daggers and cutting off the vampire's head as if he were using a pair of large scissors. This left his flank exposed, and to Harry's horror, the second vampire moved to exploit this. However, Gudrun stepped in and blocked the blow that had been meant for Matt.
The vampire staggered back, clutching its sword and struggling to remain on its feet. Clever as always, Gudrun had activated the Tuning Sword as she blocked the vampire's slash, and the vampire was now trying to shake off the stunning effect. But Matt never gave it the chance, and another head rolled over the floor of the chamber soon after. Then Gudrun and Matt rushed over to Farouk, who had shot a dart into one of the Vampire's faces at point blank range, but was in serious trouble with the remaining two.
But Harry was forced to mind his other business again, as the vampire he'd disarmed with the wand-less charm charged him with claws extended. Harry summoned the sword of the downed vampire and tangled it in the vampire's legs.
The agile creature succeeded in turning its trip-up into a gravity-defying somersault, and it plucked the weapon from between its legs in mid-air before it softly landed some five metres away, on the other side of the pit. Then it turned away and escaped in one of the passages.
Harry briefly considered going after it, but decided to help Farouk and Matt, who were clearly having trouble fending off their faster and stronger opponents. Several gashes along their Graphorn armour skin attested to the fact that it had probably saved their lives more often than once in this battle alone. He sprinted over to Farouk and knocked the vampire's rapier out of line.
It jumped backward, narrowly avoiding the razor-sharp bowstring. But Harry didn't give it a chance to take a better stance. He immediately followed up Farouk's attack with a thrust of his own, instead of a sweeping attack, which the vampire had clearly expected, for it had begun to duck. Instead, Harry's blade pierced one of its eyes and emerged through the back of the vampire's head. As the creature collapsed, the remaining vampire leapt away and fled into one of the other entryways.
Harry finally released the awesome power he'd been wielding, and the pressure in his entire being seemed to diminish. It had left him exhausted, and he didn't know how many more times he'd be able to draw on his power like that.
Matt was already dealing with Gudrun's injury, and searched a pouch that Gudrun had taken over from Ivanova when they'd left the mediwitch at the entrance with Gedeon. He quickly took out a bottle filled with translucent liquid and poured it into Gudrun's wounds. Gudrun stopped losing blood as the wounds quickly sealed, courtesy of the phoenix tears. Harry silently thanked the four Concordian phoenixes for their helping the Order of Illumination, and vowed to visit them to show his appreciation somehow.
Phoenix tears were fine agents to close wounds and counter poison, but they couldn't completely compensate for all the blood Gudrun had lost. She still looked a bit pale as she looked at Matt and offered him a shaky smile. "Thanks for getting that vampire off me. My hero!"
Matt blushed and cleared his throat. "Just doing what I'm supposed to do," he muttered. "I owe you one too. My head would've been shish-kebabed by the vampire if you hadn't stepped in."
"Let me have some of that," Farouk said, as he took the bottle from Matt and poured a few drops into a particularly nasty looking flesh wound, where the vampires must have scored a hit. "Their weapons were coated with poison. It is a good thing that we have a supply of phoenix tears," he said, as his wounds closed up too.
Harry quickly chopped off the heads of the two incapacitated vampires, which had obviously regenerated, as they had begun to stir again. Then he strode over to the pit and looked down. It looked like a stone cube with lots of runes carved into it. "Gudrun, is this it?"
"It certainly looks like it," she answered, as she walked over to have a closer look, leaning heavily on Matt. "Get me down there so I can figure out how to shut it off."
"We don't have much time," Farouk said. "The bloodsuckers that got away have probably worked out the reason of our presence. They must have gone for reinforcements."
"Then we'd better hurry," Gudrun said. "Matt, lower me into the pit."
The Australian, however, was looking uncomfortable. "I don't know if you should go down there. I bet Yamato's booby-trapped it."
"How do you know?" Harry frowned.
"Ron told me. He said it would fit in Yamato's character profile to place traps everywhere."
"Ron said that?" Harry asked, surprised.
"We talked about these things when we were on patrol together."
Harry looked down into the six-foot pit. Ron had keen insight when it came to these things. "Then we'll just have to destroy it."
"With what?" Gudrun shook her head. "We need our wands to activate the Curse Capsules. Damn, I knew I should have pre-charmed the Curse Capsules" —she paused as something else drew her attention— "Your sword is glowing again. "Maybe it'll do the job."
Harry drew the weapon from its sheath. It crackled with energy once more, and the warmth returned to his hands as he held it, partially restoring some of the energy he'd expended while fighting.
When he'd fought the zombies, it had seemed like he'd been communicating with the weapon. Now, even though it seemed recharged, it wasn't talking to him. He had no idea what to do. "Err, all right, but what to I do now? I don't know how to handle this thing."
"You knew how to roast those zombies well enough." Matt pointed out.
"The sword almost did that by itself…it reacted to the zombies. It isn't reacting now, though."
"Perhaps you could slash it in two?" Farouk suggested.
"I don't know. It looks like it's made out of stone." He sighed. Then he remembered something Merlin had taught him: Magic over matter. All he had to do was concentrate. "All right, here it goes, but I'd feel better if you stood back."
The others nodded and retreated farther from the pit.
For the third time, Harry let the magical power flow through him, only this time he channelled some into the blade as well. It seemed to reward him with a feedback of invigorating energy, as he could feel his power grow even more, as if the sword were magnifying it.
He raised the blade and jumped into the pit, bringing the blade down on the magical cube as he dropped. For half a heartbeat, he seemed to freeze in time and space as the blade touched the cube. Then the cube emitted a huge shock wave that sent him flying backwards. A quick Shield Charm easily absorbed most of the wave, and he only flew halfway across the room, before landing and tumbling into a backward roll. To him, all this seemed to happen in slow motion.
The others weren't able to protect themselves nearly as well as Harry had. Farouk was thrown out of the chamber entirely, and flew through one of the passageways. But he'd been lucky compared to Matt, who was slammed into a wall with tremendous force, while trying to shield Gudrun from the impact. Gudrun had been standing behind Matt when Harry tried to destroy the cube, but he had somehow reversed their positions to soften the impact. But he'd been seriously hurt. He was lying in a heap along the wall, and Gudrun's desperate attempts to get a reaction were unsuccessful.
Harry looked at the cube, hoping his effort had at least done something to disable the cube. It was still glowing, but there was a huge crack on its top. The glow began to dim as the crack grew and ran down the entire length of the cube. Then the glow vanished altogether, and the two halves of the cube fell onto their sides.
Farouk came into the chamber again looking a bit winded, but otherwise all right. But Matt was still out cold.
"Matt…" The look in Gudrun's eyes became more and more panicked as she tried to get him to react. "Wake up…please." With difficulty she drew his upper body into her arms. She caressed the back of his head and her hand came away bloody. "Oh, no!"
Kneeling down beside them, Farouk checked Matt's vital signs. "Very shallow breathing and a weak pulse. He has a heavy concussion." He grimaced. "I shouldn't have wasted the phoenix tears on my trivial wound. We need Ivanova."
Harry shook his head. There hadn't been anything trivial about Farouk's wound. If the tears hadn't countered the poison in it, he'd have been worse off than Matt right now. But he knew how Farouk felt. Because of the limited supply, phoenix tears were actually only meant to heal damage that ordinary healing magic couldn't counter. But without working wands, the tears had been their only option.
Maybe one of the spells Ginny had taught him would work. He drew his wand and aimed it at the spot where the blood came from. He concentrated, flicked his wand, but nothing happened. "Uh oh! Our wands still aren't working."
"I was afraid of that," Gudrun said. "There must be more of those things scattered throughout this place. We'll have to find them and destroy them all. But we've got to make sure that Matt is okay first." She took the small bottle that had contained the phoenix tears and held it upside down over Matt's slightly parted lips. Slowly, the remaining liquid crept along the neck of the bottle and formed a drop. It fell into Matt's mouth, but there was no visible effect. Gudrun kept holding the bottle upside down, and managed to shake two small droplets out.
Matt's lips moved and he opened his eyes a little, looking at Gudrun. "Ma? Ma…" he croaked, before he lost consciousness again.
"Who?" Harry frowned. "He's delirious."
"Maybe he was asking for his mother. Then again, he may just have been babbling," Farouk said, as he bent down to checked Matt's vital signs again. "As near as I can tell the tears helped a little. But he still needs to receive proper medical attention—"
"Matt!" a deep voice cried. Heavy footsteps pounded on the floor, and Nathan appeared out of nowhere as the invisibility cloak he'd been wearing slipped off. "What happened? Will he be all right?"
"He has a severe concussion, and we need to get him out as quickly as possible."
"Did you give him phoenix tears?" Doc asked.
"I got bitten in the artery in my neck, and Farouk was struck with a poisonous weapon. We used up most of the tears. We only had a few drops left," Gudrun said guiltily.
"That's all right, we've haven't used any of ours," Doc said reassuringly, as he produced a small bottle from his own first aid pouch. "First, we've got to pour some on the wound itself…" His long goblin-like fingers combed through Matt's hair until he found a nasty-looking cut. "He may have a cracked skull, and I'm not sure if the tears will heal that, but there's only one way to find out."
Harry nodded. "You might as well give it a try."
The wound sealed as Doc poured some drops along its length, but there seemed to be no change in Matt's condition, so Doc poured a few drops into his mouth as well. Still Matt wouldn't return to consciousness, and Doc was beginning to get worried. "I don't understand. I'm no mediwizard, but he should be showing signs of improvement."
"Ooh, it's all my fault, he was shielding me from the blow," Gudrun said, running her fingers through Matt's hair affectionately. Then, although Harry couldn't be sure, he thought he saw Matt's lips move ever so slightly. Maybe he was reacting to Gudrun's ministrations.
Nathan must have seen it too, because he narrowed his eyes and looked at his brother intently. "Wait a sec…the tears healed him all right. He's faking!" He scowled and lightly nudged his brother's leg with his foot.
Matt's eyes snapped open and a mischievous grin swept over his face. "Sure, spoil my fun, Nathan!"
Gudrun huffed in outrage and shoved Matt away. "How could you! Do you any idea how worried you had me?"
Matt's eyes lit up and he clambered to his feet. "Why, Miss Njalsdottir, I didn't know you cared."
"In your dreams, Matt!"
"Hey, you called me by my first name. Not Kelly, not Captain Gigolo…I'm wearing you down, sweetheart!"
"Bah, I just felt a little guilty, that's all. Get over yourself," Gudrun snapped.
"She's in the denial stage," Matt said, winking at Harry.
Harry, however, couldn't see the humour in it. "Damn it, Matt. Now is not the time to play those silly games."
Matt's grin evaporated. "Yes sir, Ranger Potter sir," he said, in a slightly mocking tone.
"Hey, stop acting like a baby, little brother," Nathan admonished. "You wasted valuable time with your antics. You ought to be put on report for this."
"I'm not going to put anyone on report," Doc said. "Now, we have to find that other anti-magic field generator and destroy it. I'm not going to risk an attempt to deactivate it, because Yamato is very good at planting traps. I'm not sure I could find them all. Besides, we don't time on our side."
"Do you have any idea where it is?" Harry asked.
"We think we know where it might be," Nathan answered. "We passed an area with increased security, mostly zombies and skeletons. But there were nearly a hundred of them. I couldn't hear Doc's broadcaster even though he was less than two feet away, so we reckon it's in that direction."
"Nearly a hundred zombies and skeletons? I don't like those odds, especially when we can't use our wands," Harry said. "And we've still got two Bloodhounds to worry about."
"They weren't so tough," Matt boasted.
Gudrun raised her eyebrow. "Really? I thought one of them would have, as you so colourfully put it, shish-kebabed your head if it hadn't been for me." She tapped his chest-plate. "And they'd have cut you to ribbons if it hadn't been for this!"
Matt shrugged. "Details."
"She saved your life?" Nathan eyed Gudrun shrewdly.
"Yeah…so? I plucked that bloodsucker off her as well. What're you smiling about?"
"Oh, nothing." Nathan said airily. "It's just that when a wizard saves another wizard's life—"
"Are you implying that a bond was formed? We were just doing our jobs. I don't think that situation qualified," Gudrun said, scowling at Matt. "As if I'd ever wanted to be bonded with him anyway."
"All right, I got the point. No need to rub it in." Matt smiled, although it was clearly a forced smile that didn't reach his eyes.
With a start, Harry realised that Matt really liked Gudrun. This was very odd, since Harry knew for a fact how long a single woman could hold Matt's attention, and it wasn't very long. If a woman didn't give in to his charms he shrugged it off and went on to the next one. But he seemed to look at Gudrun in a different light, and while Harry was no psychologist, he had a feeling that Matt hid his true feelings behind his façade of uncaring. Maybe Gudrun's feelings for him not going beyond friendship was the universe's way of exacting revenge on Matt for all the hearts he'd broken.
"So how did you destroy that cube?" Nathan asked Harry.
Harry pointed to his sword. "This is a more powerful magical weapon than I thought." He reached back and drew it out of its sheath, presenting it to Nathan.
"Hmmm, I wonder how much it would fetch on the black market," Doc said, as he examined the sword up close. "Hypothetically, of course!" he quickly added. "All right, we've wasted enough time standing around. Nathan and I have planted a few charges and tracers here and there, but we can't activate them while our broadcasters are jammed. Let's find that other cube."
Doc took the lead as they set out to find the other cube. They encountered no opposition at all, which made Harry feel a little uneasy, but didn't worry him outright, since the compound was being abandoned, after all.
After a while they ran into a dozen skeletons. However, those proved to be no obstacle at all for the four Combat Rangers and the skeletons were soon reduced to piles of bones.
"Taking us out requires more than a skeleton crew," Nathan joked as he balanced the axe that had formerly been carried by one of the Bloodhounds that got away on his shoulder.
"These skeletons are just to slow us down. I bet they've been raised in the local cemeteries. They'll collapse as soon as Yamato is gone, as will the zombies," Doc said. "Enemy presence is much lighter than it was an hour ago. I think the evacuation is nearly complete. We're running out of time."
"Why is that?" Matt asked.
"Because if Yamato's psychological profile is at all accurate, I don't think he intends to let us get away. He'll blow this place up with us in it."
"But he can't leave while that cube is still working."
"Do you honestly believe that? I'm sure he invented something that would shield him from the cube's effects right after he invented the cube itself…if it is a cube. For all we know, this one may be shaped like a pyramid."
Matt shrugged and stepped on a broken skeleton's shield, causing its far end to flip up so he could grab it.
"Why would you need a shield?" Doc asked.
Matt tapped its silvery surface, and Harry saw that smooth dragon scales covered it. "It's covered with dragon hide. It may buy me an extra second or two, unless the bad guys start throwing killing curses. Like Doc said, Yamato probably has something that prevents the anti-magic field from affecting himself, or his magical tools and maybe even his wand. He's probably granted the same means to a select few of his henchmen, which means we've got a serious disadvantage."
Harry blinked. He hadn't even thought of that. Wolfe probably would have, but he was glad that the others shared the burden with him like this. "Good one, Matt."
"Well, well, a good brain as well as a butt that just won't quit." Gudrun smiled, using Matt's earlier remark against him.
Farouk chuckled and grinned under his thick moustache, but Matt apparently didn't find it funny. He shrugged indifferently. "Whatever."
"That was a compliment. What's your problem?"
"There's no problem. But I'm just a vain, dumb surfer boy, remember? Maybe I'll read too much behind it," Matt said gruffly. Then he turned to Doc. "If this place is going to blow, why are we wasting time by standing still?"
That said, they resumed their search for the second anti-magic device, and after using the increasingly shortening range of their broadcasters as an improvised scanner to narrow down their search, they found a damp corridor with a faint red light reflected off the walls at the far end.
It had to run parallel to an underground water source, because moisture beads formed on the left wall and streaked down to make the floor wet and slippery.
The light got brighter and brighter, and the corridor became broader, until they reached the landing at the top of narrow stairs that ran down into a large chamber similar to the one they seen Yamato in earlier. The bright light produced by the generator was kept in an antechamber at the far end of it.
Harry saw about two dozen rotting zombies, five vampire ghouls, the two Bloodhounds who got away, and a handful of wizards. Yamato was among them, and he turned to face the Rangers after the vampire that had fought Harry earlier alerted him to their presence.
The necromancer laughed derisively at the Rangers. "Come here to capture me? I think not. I'd ask you to give Janos Gaal my regards, but that's impossible, because you won't be leaving this place."
"Bloody hell, get out of my way so I can put in arrow up his—" Matt yelled, but Yamato was already running towards the antechamber, followed by the wizards and the vampires. The zombies and the ghouls, with no self-preservation instincts, stayed behind to act as a buffer.
Nathan held the axe ready as he started down the ladder but as soon as he'd taken his first step, a foul smelling liquid shot out of a crack in the wall and splashed his armour. Startled, the big Australian stepped back. "What the…bloody hell, it's burning through the armour!"
Graphorn skin was even more resistant to fire, spells and other elements than dragon hide was. It must have been a powerful magical acid to be able to burn through it.
Nathan hastily removed his armour and examined it. The acid had burned a hole cleanly through it, and was now nibbling at the edges of the hole, widening it. It would have burned through his clothes and skin if he hadn't taken off his armour.
Doc had put on his goggles and was staring at the wall. "Good grief, he's put traps all along the wall. They're all multiple discharge," —his gaze followed the wall— "but I can see the deactivation switch. It's at the base of the stairs, right behind the ghouls."
"How can we get down there without springing the traps?" Gudrun too was now looking at the stairs through her V.E.G. goggles. "The way Harry moves, it shouldn't be a problem, but most of the steps are charmed to be slippery."
Harry frowned. He'd been planning to use his enhanced speed to run down the stairs, springing the traps as he went along but avoiding their discharge. "I could jump down and slow my fall with a levitation charm," he then proposed. I'll fight my past the ghouls, and Matt and Farouk can help me—"
"I don't think so," Doc said, looking down next to the stairs. "There's no floor there. It's an illusion charm, hiding a spiked pit."
Harry saw the reddish light turn purple. "What's that?"
"They've opened a portal," Doc said.
Harry understood. Blue light mixed with the red would turn purple. He swallowed. Yamato was about to leave, and they had no way to get past the traps. "Uh, any ideas?"
***
Author's Note: I'm going to try and speed up the updates, so I'll try to maintain a ten day instead of a two week gap between updates. It isn't much, but it's the best I can do right now. So if you want to read the next chapter as soon as possible, look for the date of posting for the last chapter, and add ten days. That's when you can expect the next chapter.
You know, there are lots of people who put me on their favourites list, which is very flattering and encouraging, but it doesn't work as well as leaving a review. Its one of the things that make writing more enjoyable. After all, a writer's ego is very important, and it needs constant nourishment. It also makes me write faster, and since I'm racing the OoTP publish date deadline, I need all the help I can get. I'm not complaining, mind you. You've all been very kind to me, oh noble readers.
Lord Tiger VII: Nice of you to leave a review. Yeah, Harry can lead, as long as he's not really aware that he's doing it. :-) But he's not going to get promoted again so soon.
Ginny1946: I can't answer questions that could potentially give away the story.
Petals: I think it was a bit shorter, yeah. As for Wolfe…see the answer I gave Ginny 1946. Invisibility Cloaks are rare, according to cannon, so I've kept them rare in my story. The order does have a few, but not enough to equip all the Rangers with them at all times. Doc is about five feet tall. In PS, the goblin at the door of Gringotts was described as being a head shorter than Harry. So not all goblins are as short as the actor who played Griphook in the film. I think I've reached the halfway point of the story now.
rowan: There is going to be another Legolas moment in the next chapter. :-)
nycgal: They do seem made for each other, don't they?
Gogirl: Ironheart's wife? I don't think I've ever given her any dialogue, except when she answered the call for Ironheart. Maybe you meant Wolfe's grandmother when she fussed over him after he woke up from his coma.
Lamina Court: I can't answer any questions that could potentially give away the story. ;-) And forgive me for linking Matt to Legolas. I'm just in a LoTR phase in my life right now, and it reflects everything I do.
Casual Reader: Why indeed?
RogueAngel: About the love letters, ah, well…sorry, but I can't answer that. You'll have to wait for the next chapter.
the.grey.lady: Original writer? Hardly! Do you know how many quotes I've borrowed left and right? But thanks anyway. You're praise means a lot. Oh, and Draco already knows about Harry's attachment to Ginny. Sound like someone needs to re-read the final chapters of EaL. ;-) I can't promise anything regarding Max. All the Rangers deserve to live happily ever after, But their work is extremely dangerous, and every so often one will die.
Blue Roses: I'm going as fast as I possibly can, woman!
A-Potter-Person: Hey, even Stackpole and Allston can't claim the 'dying and returning' plot for themselves. It's an ancient plot device. And I neatly disclaimed whenever I used some of their quotes, be it adapted, or word for word.
ExCaLiBeR: Do you mean the Hogwarts years, or the two pre-Ranger but post-Hogwarts years. Nah, I'm not going to touch the Hogwarts years. As for the pre-Ranger years, I'm not going there either. Harry would be at the height of his anguish as everyone was shunning him. It would be too hard for me to write convincingly. I'm not that good.
Lana Riddle: I'll be focussing elsewhere in the story for a while, but I think Wolfe and Malfoy might return in chapter 15.
bubblez fairy: Yup, Aberforth is Gandalf, and Matt is Legolas.