It been four months since Harry's birthday and over a year since Harry been in the past. Even though he missed his friends from the future, Harry had enjoyed being in the past. With Shawnie visiting him almost weekly his life had gotten better than when he was in the future, and he hoped he would stay long enough to have a life with her, but unfortunately didn't know how long he be there. Harry made the decision to enjoy himself while helping Arthur and Merlin while he could.
In the middle of the fourth month there were reports of bandits hiding in a newly discover cave just before the outskirts of Arthur territory. Harry and Lancelot, along with a dozen of Arthur's regular knights, were sent out to investigate and drive off the bandits. The bandits were causing a number of problems in the nearby towns.
It took almost a week to reach the cave. Lancelot had everyone resting just half an mile before reaching the cave, just as the sun was setting.
"This shouldn't be a problem. We're only dealing with regular bandits," Lancelot said as they sat by a fire.
"So there no dark knights with them?" Harry asked. Dark knights were often seen with bandits.
"No, but we not even sure they are part of Morgana's army."
Harry nodded. Morgana had a large array of fiends to help her, from bandits, to dark nights, and dark creatures.
"So how long are we staying here?" Harry asked.
"Just till morning, why, are you expecting a certain someone?" Lancelot said, smiling.
"I could just apparate back you know, and leave you to fight the bandits," Harry teased.
"I don't think Merlin would like that," Lancelot said, with a warning.
"I know, I was joking," Harry said defensively.
"I know, come on, let's get our guards stationed around so we can get some sleep," Lancelot said, before ordering several of the knights to plan a rotation of guards for their camp.
By the next afternoon the cave was in sight. The thirteen knights and one wizard hid themselves in the dense forest.
"I don't see anything," Lancelot said.
"I can't feel a presence," Harry said, using his empath ability to scan the area. "But I think there are wards placed about the cave. I can't tell what they are," Harry warned..
"Then we have no choice. Lets head in and please keep that shield of yours up to protect us," Lancelot said, then gestured everyone to head out.
Once in the cave the bandits attacked the knights. Harry cast a number of spells to knock out several bandits. Harry quickly switched to his sword. Luckily for the bandits, the sword only severely stunned anyone it hit.
The battle was intense. Harry and the knights were winning, but after taking out a number of bandits, Harry saw a fellow knight run down the cave. Thinking he was after some escaping bandits Harry ran after him to help him.
Once at the end of the cave Harry stopped. He was in a crystaline cave. Harry turned when he heard a click from behind him. When he looked a number of traps were visible.
"Great now what," Harry said, not enjoying knowing he was trapped. A presence alerted him to danger. He turn to the knight he followed.
"Harry Evan's. Glad to have you to myself," the knight said. Harry knew from intuition that this knight could not be trusted. Also, this knight trapped him. One plus one equals two.
"You are a traitor to Arthur," Harry said, stating the obvious. Harry could now sense deceit and a darkness coming from the knight.
"I hide it well. Thanks to Morgana's spells you never knew did you?" As he said that his armor changed from the silver color of Arthur's knights to a blackened color, that of Morgana's Dark Knights. "Well it looks like I get to kill you. So long," the knight said. Before Harry could move the knight launched his sword at Harry, running it through Harry.
With the sword through Harry's stomach, the knight laughed. "I did it" he cried out, but stopped as Harry suddenly disappeared.
"You forgot I can apparate, and cast spells in a blink of an eye," Harry said, from behind him, glad that he could do that.
"Why you!" The knight swung at Harry, but Harry blocked it. The battle began.
The fight lasted for an hour and neither had the upper hand as they circled each other.
"You were taught well Evans, but not well enough."
They began fighting again. Harry could tell they weren't going to end this fight anytime soon, so he blocked and ran to the corner of the crystal cave. From the corner Harry fired a powerful stunning spell. The knight saw it, and quickly dodged it.
"You think you can hit me?" As he said that the spell reflected off the crystals. To Harry and the knight's surprise the red spell turned into a pure white beam when it bounced off countless crystals.
"What's happening?" Harry thought as he and the knight continued to follow the spell with their eyes. It seemed to gain more power with every bounce.
The more crystals it bounced off the faster it seemed to go. Harry and the knight dodged the spell several times but eventually the knight was too slow in dodging. The knight let out a terrifying scream and crumpled to the ground, dead.
Harry couldn't believe one of his spells had killed someone. Harry never once killed anyone, even in battle. "I'm sorry," he said, bowing in respect for a minute, then decided to continue into the crystal cave. The exit back into the cave with the other knights was now blocked with traps.
At the far end of the cave Harry was met with a wondrous sight. A crystaline cave full of the most beautiful birds. Harry quickly recognized them as phoenixes. Although they all look like Fawkes in shape they all were pure silver. Fawkes was red and gold.
"Wow, there must be hundreds," Harry said as he walked into the center, looking at each and every one.
As Harry looked on, a large phoenix, flew to him, and thrilled, a confronting song.
"Thank you, that really helped me," Harry said. The song had relieved him of his guilt for killing the knight. But as soon as he was comforted, Harry knew he had to leave. He had to get back before the knights tried to get through the traps. "I'm sorry, I have to go.. I promise I will again visit."
Harry apparated to the entrance of the cave, where a very worry Lancelot pounced on him.
"Where were you?" he asked angrily.
"I'm sorry. I followed one of the knights into the cave, but he was a traitor." Harry then explained what had happened. When he was done.. Lancelot nodded.
"It's all right. King Arthur will understand. Come, we have some prisoners to take back to Camelot. " Lancelot gathered his knights and got ready to leave.
Just as Harry was about to follow the large phoenix appeared and landed on Harry's shoulder. Harry felt a wave of magic go through him, tying him to the phoenix.
"Where did he come from?" Lancelot said, pointing to the phoenix.
"From the crystal cave. I think he is mine now, " Harry said, looking to the phoenix.
"It looks like you are right, hopefully Merlin will teach you to care for it" Lancelot said, as they got ready to leave.
As it turned out, Merlin was a mine of information about phoenixes, and helped Harry looked after the silver phoenix. Harry named his new phoenix Destiny. Everywhere Harry went Destiny was always either by side, or flying nearby.
In the middle of the fourth month there were reports of bandits hiding in a newly discover cave just before the outskirts of Arthur territory. Harry and Lancelot, along with a dozen of Arthur's regular knights, were sent out to investigate and drive off the bandits. The bandits were causing a number of problems in the nearby towns.
It took almost a week to reach the cave. Lancelot had everyone resting just half an mile before reaching the cave, just as the sun was setting.
"This shouldn't be a problem. We're only dealing with regular bandits," Lancelot said as they sat by a fire.
"So there no dark knights with them?" Harry asked. Dark knights were often seen with bandits.
"No, but we not even sure they are part of Morgana's army."
Harry nodded. Morgana had a large array of fiends to help her, from bandits, to dark nights, and dark creatures.
"So how long are we staying here?" Harry asked.
"Just till morning, why, are you expecting a certain someone?" Lancelot said, smiling.
"I could just apparate back you know, and leave you to fight the bandits," Harry teased.
"I don't think Merlin would like that," Lancelot said, with a warning.
"I know, I was joking," Harry said defensively.
"I know, come on, let's get our guards stationed around so we can get some sleep," Lancelot said, before ordering several of the knights to plan a rotation of guards for their camp.
By the next afternoon the cave was in sight. The thirteen knights and one wizard hid themselves in the dense forest.
"I don't see anything," Lancelot said.
"I can't feel a presence," Harry said, using his empath ability to scan the area. "But I think there are wards placed about the cave. I can't tell what they are," Harry warned..
"Then we have no choice. Lets head in and please keep that shield of yours up to protect us," Lancelot said, then gestured everyone to head out.
Once in the cave the bandits attacked the knights. Harry cast a number of spells to knock out several bandits. Harry quickly switched to his sword. Luckily for the bandits, the sword only severely stunned anyone it hit.
The battle was intense. Harry and the knights were winning, but after taking out a number of bandits, Harry saw a fellow knight run down the cave. Thinking he was after some escaping bandits Harry ran after him to help him.
Once at the end of the cave Harry stopped. He was in a crystaline cave. Harry turned when he heard a click from behind him. When he looked a number of traps were visible.
"Great now what," Harry said, not enjoying knowing he was trapped. A presence alerted him to danger. He turn to the knight he followed.
"Harry Evan's. Glad to have you to myself," the knight said. Harry knew from intuition that this knight could not be trusted. Also, this knight trapped him. One plus one equals two.
"You are a traitor to Arthur," Harry said, stating the obvious. Harry could now sense deceit and a darkness coming from the knight.
"I hide it well. Thanks to Morgana's spells you never knew did you?" As he said that his armor changed from the silver color of Arthur's knights to a blackened color, that of Morgana's Dark Knights. "Well it looks like I get to kill you. So long," the knight said. Before Harry could move the knight launched his sword at Harry, running it through Harry.
With the sword through Harry's stomach, the knight laughed. "I did it" he cried out, but stopped as Harry suddenly disappeared.
"You forgot I can apparate, and cast spells in a blink of an eye," Harry said, from behind him, glad that he could do that.
"Why you!" The knight swung at Harry, but Harry blocked it. The battle began.
The fight lasted for an hour and neither had the upper hand as they circled each other.
"You were taught well Evans, but not well enough."
They began fighting again. Harry could tell they weren't going to end this fight anytime soon, so he blocked and ran to the corner of the crystal cave. From the corner Harry fired a powerful stunning spell. The knight saw it, and quickly dodged it.
"You think you can hit me?" As he said that the spell reflected off the crystals. To Harry and the knight's surprise the red spell turned into a pure white beam when it bounced off countless crystals.
"What's happening?" Harry thought as he and the knight continued to follow the spell with their eyes. It seemed to gain more power with every bounce.
The more crystals it bounced off the faster it seemed to go. Harry and the knight dodged the spell several times but eventually the knight was too slow in dodging. The knight let out a terrifying scream and crumpled to the ground, dead.
Harry couldn't believe one of his spells had killed someone. Harry never once killed anyone, even in battle. "I'm sorry," he said, bowing in respect for a minute, then decided to continue into the crystal cave. The exit back into the cave with the other knights was now blocked with traps.
At the far end of the cave Harry was met with a wondrous sight. A crystaline cave full of the most beautiful birds. Harry quickly recognized them as phoenixes. Although they all look like Fawkes in shape they all were pure silver. Fawkes was red and gold.
"Wow, there must be hundreds," Harry said as he walked into the center, looking at each and every one.
As Harry looked on, a large phoenix, flew to him, and thrilled, a confronting song.
"Thank you, that really helped me," Harry said. The song had relieved him of his guilt for killing the knight. But as soon as he was comforted, Harry knew he had to leave. He had to get back before the knights tried to get through the traps. "I'm sorry, I have to go.. I promise I will again visit."
Harry apparated to the entrance of the cave, where a very worry Lancelot pounced on him.
"Where were you?" he asked angrily.
"I'm sorry. I followed one of the knights into the cave, but he was a traitor." Harry then explained what had happened. When he was done.. Lancelot nodded.
"It's all right. King Arthur will understand. Come, we have some prisoners to take back to Camelot. " Lancelot gathered his knights and got ready to leave.
Just as Harry was about to follow the large phoenix appeared and landed on Harry's shoulder. Harry felt a wave of magic go through him, tying him to the phoenix.
"Where did he come from?" Lancelot said, pointing to the phoenix.
"From the crystal cave. I think he is mine now, " Harry said, looking to the phoenix.
"It looks like you are right, hopefully Merlin will teach you to care for it" Lancelot said, as they got ready to leave.
As it turned out, Merlin was a mine of information about phoenixes, and helped Harry looked after the silver phoenix. Harry named his new phoenix Destiny. Everywhere Harry went Destiny was always either by side, or flying nearby.