The Lord Of Stone Tower
A/N; I am sorry to anyone that knows more about Egyptian Lore than me, I only know what my own curiosity as taught me.
Chapter 12; Ra's staff.
Over the last few days things had gone along so well that Harry and Draco had decided it was time enough to retrieve Harry's belated 'birthday present,' better described as the most powerful magical artefact in any of the realms. The Phoenix Staff used to belong to the god Ra but was stolen and used by the chief Mage of Apophis, who was his nemesis.
All of the gods of ancient Egypt were dead or moved on. Ra was eventually killed by Apophis when he used his Staff against him and Apophis had lost his power when the new powers came into play. The lady of Darkness herself had destroyed Apophis' power and left him to die as a mortal but the fallen god ordered his Mage to hide the Phoenix Staff and the Lady of Darkness knew better then to take it for herself knowing that it was better hidden away where mortals couldn't accidentally find it.
It had tremendous powers but could only work in the hands of a Power or a god. The Mage had been given part of Apophis' powers to allow it to work as it had too much good in it and didn't let the God of the Night touch it. It could give its holder powers that made the person very difficult to kill. It would increase Harry's Power over stone and also increase Harry's sensory perception, something that Harry wanted to know which Muggles could be taught to be knights. It was also rumoured to be sentient.
The Chambers of Apophis
"Remind me why we are doing this again?" Draco asked as a phased arrow lanced across where he had just been floating.
"Because the Staff is needed Draco," Harry retorted, "plus if we don't get it you still owe me a birthday present!" He laughed and even Draco chuckled slightly.
Harry phased for a second as an arrow darted across the Corridor. He let out a grunt of frustration and growled when a normal dart came through Draco and he was forced to catch the thing in his hand. He dropped it in pain as it burst into flame in his hand. He concentrated for a second and they both watched as it healed over.
"How far this goes on for?" He asked rhetorically. In response he conjured a stone and cast a wandless spell on it to half phase it and with a flick of his wrist sent it down the corridor and in response they heard the almost silent sounds of darts and arrows lancing across the path for another fifty metres before the corridor slanted down to a lower level.
Harry knelt and clasped his hands down on the ground to both sides of his and cast two shields. One to block physical items and another to block Ghostly items. He turned to Draco.
"You first or me?"
"Your spells, your turn." Draco replied with a smirk. Harry just rolled his eyes in response and took a daring step forwards ready to phase or dodge anything that came at him.
He heard the launch of several arrows and leapt backwards to where he was before but found he needn't of as he heard the arrows and darts snap against the shields and fall to the floor.
"Cool! It worked!" He smirked back over his shoulder at his friend and stepped forward and with more confidence than before started to run down the channel between his shield hearing the constantly clashes as the darts hit the shields. He got to the end and saw Draco floating by his side. "How come it seems that I am doing most of the work in this little adventure?"
"It might have escaped your notice my dear living friend, but I can't do magic. I'm only here for the amusement or to punch someone if you cast that nifty spell on me." Draco said with only a small bit of self pity getting through. Harry knew that Draco truly hated feeling completely helpless. In response he phased and put an arm over Draco's shoulder and gave him a hug.
"I promised I would work out a way to get you some of your powers back and I will in time." Harry said close to Draco's ear.
Draco sighed, "I know, I know, I just feel so useless."
Harry just smiled at his best friend and couldn't help but wonder how times had changed and the events that brought the two of them into friendship. He slipped into a thoughtful mood and was brought back to awareness as he felt Draco slap him on the head to get his attention. Harry snapped alert again and smiled sheepishly at Draco before he lowered his arm from its place on Draco's shoulder and cancelled the phase spell.
"Come on, now point dawdling, I hope to find this thing and get back in time for a visit to Hogwarts tonight." Harry spoke as he started to walk forwards and down to the next level.
The City of Stone Tower
Drale stood on the small balcony deep in thought as he looked out over the grounds. Every bit of land between the Tower and the wall was dotted with buildings, the new houses of the dwellers of Stone Tower. His lord really had outdone himself and he felt proud to be his aide.
He had always been called insightful and intelligent so Harry feeling that he needed someone else with his own lack of years compared to the many other Elves with hundreds of years of experience had asked him to stick around with him. Dark Elves always started training at and early age as soon as their bodies wouldn't be damaged by the training. He had a small amount of Magic power and was undergoing Mage training under the eyes of a few of the practitioners and of course his Lord.
Many of the town's people that were still trying to think of something to call themselves had settled into several different roles. A lot of the people had moved to the island to get away from the city life and were farmers or fishermen and were happy to take over the farms that the Dark Elves had set up, many of the young men who had found out about the true state of the world had chosen to train under the Dark Elves in combat but decided that they needed to stay on par with the rest of the Muggle world in technology. As good as they were the Dark Elves would put up little resistance to a Muggle Army, they wouldn't be able to get close enough to use their swords and their arrows would barely scratch at a tank.
Drale had been talking with the old Wizard and had told him that it seemed that it was almost fate that these people were here. It had turned out that there was a small base on the side of the island that was Military run hence why the Military had responded rather than the normal emergency forces. It was the reason that the island was attacked in the first place. The base was entirely destroyed but a few of the lead scientists had been in the town with their family and were hence saved.
He had been approached by the Mayor and these ten scientists this morning along with a few of the Military personnel that had managed to survive the onslaught and retreat into the town. They had asked for an area where they could have plenty of space to stock up on weapons and also a space for research. He had assigned one of the caves for its use. He had to wonder whether Harry had thought it would happen, because it was only three days ago that Harry had taken Drale down there to show him the great Caverns that were formed from the Granite taken to make the City.
He was sure that the Lord wouldn't have minded him giving one of the larger caverns for storage and one of the smaller ones for research and had told the Military personnel that they could begin plans down there but that he would have to wait for his Lords permission to give them use of one of the Spindles for the Muggle Military. He knew that one was to become a school for both Magical and Muggle studies and another was to be the home of the Knights. So already half were given out and if the Muggle military took one then a fifth would be used and only three spare.
When he had left the enthusiastic military officers and soldiers the twenty five of them had been planning how to set up the space in the larger cavern, from personnel lifts to go with the five hundred steps to get to the cavern and also a way to transport larger things like tanks. He had thought better to ask what a tank was though, he would have to remember to ask he new friend, Neville, next time he saw him.
He was interrupted from his musings as he noticed a small group of children being led across the arena in front of him by a teacher being told where they were allowed to go in their spare time. A few of the children looked up at him a turned to talk to their teacher. Drale pricked his ears to catch what the women said.
"That Elf is our Lord's aide," she replied obviously having been asked who he was. "His name I believe is Drale. You are not to play tricks on him do I make myself clear." She said this last bit to a trio near the back who had been muttering between themselves. She looked up and he caught her eye and smiled and nodded respectively before he turned to walked along the balcony.
Chamber of Apophis
Harry and Draco had come to a sudden stop when they came across a great stone door way laced with more Magic then Harry could imagine. It would have taken Harry a year to put this kind of ward up.
He pointed out the symbols on the door to Draco.
"They're Hieroglyphs." Draco said.
Harry snorted and raised an eyebrow at his dear friend. "You know, it's a good thing that we are going to visit Hermione tonight, you must be so eager to tell her how your skill of stating the obvious is getting so great."
Draco rolled his eyes. "What's it say then?"
"How am I supposed to know?"
Draco shook his head, "You know for a great Mage you wouldn't stand a hope without me around."
"Yes I know Draco," he tried to keep the laughter out of his voice.
"You could always try a translation spell." Draco said with not a little sarcasm in his voice.
Harry blushed slightly at his own forgetfulness. But cast the spell anyway. The first one had no effect. He frowned; one of the spells must be blocking the magic. The translation spell normally needed no level of magic even if you cast it on a thousand pages at once instead of just one line. He concentrated and placed his hand about a inch away from the door and again cast the spell, putting ten times the power behind the spell. A white light flashed from his hand to the door and spread out. A cackle was heard as the magic clashed with the spells but the spells finally stepped apart to allow the spell to hit the door.
Red letters formed over the top of the Hieroglyphs,
'He who wishes to enter here should fear,
For this is a door that's purpose is clear,
To stop mere mortals from entering here,
For beyond this stone is power dear,
To those who rule over mortals.'
The message ended there and just as Draco was about to speak it flashed.
'Half mortal of Stone,
Only one with the dead may go through,
Only one with the living may enter.
Only together can they move.'
"What does that mean?" Draco asked.
"Isn't it obvious?" He said smugly glad to be able to get one back on his friend, "I would be the one with the dead, and you are the one with the living. Take my hand!"
He phased himself and took his friends hand in his own. And together they stepped through the door. The room on the other side was pitch black and Harry almost immediately sent up a ball of white light. It flew out of his right palm and went to the ceiling of the cave and stuck to it, lighting the room up in a dull light.
Harry and Draco managed to glance around briefly before the light snuffed out.
"I take it that shouldn't have happened?" Draco sounded worried, not for himself as he was already dead, but for Harry.
"It didn't die, it was countered or more specifically something took the Magic." Before Harry could elaborate a light came from a small wooden frame in the centre of the room. On it was the simple Staff. Impossibly black Wood with a blood red tint that glistened in the faint light that surrounded the Staff. At the top of the shaft was a circle just large enough that a child's hand could fit through it if not for the five pointed star that fit inside it. Harry knew that this Staff was made of an original tree from an oasis that has never again been seen and was made of one single piece of unflawed wood.
He heard Draco gasp in awe, even as a ghost he could feel the Magic emitted by the Phoenix Staff and it made him shiver slightly. "Come on Harry, I don't like it down here. Let's just grab it and go."
Harry stepped up to it in response and tentatively grabbed it just below the circle. He rejoined Draco and took his hand again and before either could think about it he apparated outside of his City gates. He let go of Draco's hand and stepped forwards.
He felt a surge from the Staff that he carried in his hand which although wasn't painful, the sheer amount of power that started flowing between him and the Phoenix Staff was overwhelming. Draco, through their bond, felt Harry's shock and interrupted the cry from the Gate to identify themselves.
"By the Lord of Stone Tower, open the Gate!" The gate reacted without the control of the sentries and swung open without a sound. It would only open when it sensed Harry and as Draco was boded with Harry it would react if he called for it too.
Draco called for the Healer that was always stationed at the Gate. "Healer, get here and help the Lord!"
A/N; Thanks to SilvaBluVixen, Lillian Marie Potter, HarrySlytherinson, insanechildfanfic, David305 and Kookidoe
Just a note;
David305; I am glad someone can bring me up on things like that. There is a Scottish Army but not a Scottish Military. I'm sure there is because I live in the Lake District and we always get 'join the Scottish army' adverts on the TV. But I see what you mean. As I mention in this chapter there was a military site on the island so it isn't unlikely that so soon after the attack there would be specialist Scottish troops to react. Not entirely sure though. Thanks for mentioning it!
Kookidoe; There wasn't any attackers left on the island. Harry destroyed the town before leaving and as mentioned in this chapter there wasn't much inhabitable land to stay in. When the people sent back are found by the Military then they could just say the attackers destroyed the army! In any case it was their choice to leave the Stone Tower in the first place. Tough choices have to be made in a war.