Phoenix Flame

Child of the new Dawn

Disclaimer: don't own don't sue

A/N sorry for the long wait, but I've been under a lot of stress with my best friend's mom in the hospital among other things, but she's ok so its all good now! My school is starting this Wednesday so updating may take a while, but I hope to update every week or two weeks. Reviews do motivate me though!!! Anyway hope you enjoy this new idea I had!!


Enter the Hunters

Voldemort stared into a glowing black crystal ball that floated at eyelevel above a white marble pedestal. His expression was nonchalant as he watched Azkaban go up in flames. So far his plan had been a compete success; Dumbledore's lackeys were so easy to manipulate to his will. The Potter boy's abduction was unexpected and Lord Voldemort wondered what intentions the captors had, but he pushed it to the back of his mind.

He broke his gaze from the floating ball to look behind him where a figure stood waiting in the shadows. "Soon, soon you will face my foe, and destroy him... body and soul." The figure brushed long black hair out of his pale blue eyes and smirked at the dark lord.

It had taken quite an effort to bring his new guest here to his keep. Potter had inadvertently completed the process himself, by killing that Umbel and spilling its blood onto the runes painted onto the floor where they had fought.

Yes.... Potter would beg for death before the end...
Harry was consumed by flame....

Then covered in a sheet of ice....

He cried out in pain as the flame and frost smothered him...

Someone forced him up into a sitting position and a drink was poured down his throat...

The fire was banking and the ice was leaving him....

With a soft sigh Harry fell back and let the darkness take him.


Harry awoke to find himself alone in a large circular room with stonewalls. He was lying on a stiff, but not uncomfortable, bed that was pushed into one side of the room. Across from him was a large circular brazier full of unlit coals and behind it was a closed wooden wardrobe.

He sat up slowly, surprised when he didn't feel any pain. He could now see there was a wooden stand beside the wardrobe that looked like it was made for holding something. There was also a fairly large window beside the stand, from which sunlight was pouring in.

Pushing back the heavy woolen blankets, Harry shivered at the sudden cool of the room, realizing he only had a pair of thin white cotton pants on. He walked over to the wardrobe and pulled the wooden handle to reveal all his old clothes either hanging or folded neatly in the drawers. Grabbing some warmer clothes, Harry turned to see his trunk at the front of his bed.

Wondering where on earth he was, Harry got dressed and walked toward the window. Looking out he found he was up in a tower that was built at the top of a hill. Below him was a set of stone steps leading down to a flattened section of ground. The ground was divided into areas of flat stone where people were dueling physically or with magic. Beyond that was an arch and more stairs leading down to two more towers and a gate. A stone wall enclosed the entire.... what? Where was he?

Just then the door opened and Harry turned on his heel to meet the eyes of..... Jaegar. "You brought me here?" Harry asked his eyes widening in surprise.

Jaegar nodded calmly and stepped into the room toward him. "Welcome to Iceland, or more specifically, the Hunter's Keep, Potter."

"The Hunter's Keep? What is this place and why did you bring me here?" Harry asked backing up toward the wall, frowning.

Jaegar raised an eyebrow, "First of all you should be thanking me for saving your neck back at Azkaban. That Nightghaust would have killed you if the poison didn't first."

"It was you?" Harry asked surprised, "Why would you want to save me?"

Jaegar shrugged, "It doesn't suit my purpose for you to die so needlessly, which brings us to your second question. I want you to get training here, to defeat Voldemort. The Hunter's Keep is where the traditional arts of fighting are taught. You're wasting your time focusing on magic, safe inside your order's little hideaway. Here you'll learn to actually fight, if that little stick of yours is lost."

"I'm not helpless." Harry muttered angrily, "And you still haven't told me why you want to help me. How do you gain in all this? Why should I bother to stay?"

Jaegar gave a feral smile, "Because, little hellion, you are a long way from your little hideaway and from what I hear, Lord Voldemort has recently invited a guest to his castle; who you will not, under any circumstances, want to meet."

Harry said nothing, causing Jaegar to smirk, "Good not as thick headed as I thought. Now, the Keep is divided into orders, much like the houses at Hogwarts; the highest being Telekos, then Cigmas, then the Sorens, and finally the 'gifted' house, Isidro.

Most hunters start at Soren and move up to Telekos over a period of time, six years at a minimum usually. To move up an order, the hunter must earn each symbol in the order's crest. Soren only has two, but the others have three. The hunter must pass tests and win duels with the signature weapon of their order. Soren's is a staff, most often with a blade attached to the end, Cigmas' is a leather whip, and Telekos is a set of twin daggers that are personalized to the owner once the hunter passes the tests.

However, the order of Isidro is for those who have special gifts. The sign of the order Isidro is rarely shown, unlike the other orders. They are a group of Hunters that have special abilities that must be taught to control along with the regular training. Along with training for their gifts, they also take training from all three orders. At the moment there are only three members: Rekem, Frost, and my daughter Takara. You shall be the fourth."

Harry stared at him, "B-but I can't stay here for six years! And I haven't got any special abilities-"

Jaegar held up his hand to stop Harry from continuing, "I sensed the power when I first saw you in Tiernan's castle. You know the power of the Trials of Forlorn Hope do you not? Innocence Lost? And there is something else...a metamorphamagus perhaps.... not a strong one mind... but there's enough power to at least change the features of your face.

As for your objection to staying here, you're right in thinking we don't have the time to fully train you. However, there is a way out for you, if you can survive it, that is. At the end of August to the beginning of September the Delaney Syn is held. It is a tournament that allows anyone who wishes to participate and skip ahead in his or her training. The tournament includes three large challenges, not unlike the Tri-wizard Tournament. The winner earns the order of Telekos with the daggers, the title of fully trained hunter, and I believe a medal is presented as well... Win the tournament and you win your freedom."

Harry sighed, there was no choice really. He knew he needed the training and that he wouldn't stand a chance trying to escape from a Keep full of hunters. Besides did owe his life to Jeagar, wearily he turned to him and said, "What do I need to do?"

Jaegar nodded, "The requirements for the tournament are fairly simple; you need backing from one of the elders, which I will provide as second in command of the Keep, and you will need dueling robes and suitable weapons toward the end of the tournament."

"What are the tasks?" Harry asked nervously.

"The first is a fight in pure darkness, the second is a maze where you will simply need to find your way out alive, and the final is a simple tournament with duels to the winner." Jaegar said calmly, "You will have two weeks to prepare for the first, and then there is a week before the second, and two weeks before the final task. You'll get more details as the date comes closer."

"Isn't it a bit soon? I haven't even started yet. Is two weeks enough?" Harry asked. He was sure he didn't like the way Jaegar grinned and said, "It'd better be if you want to survive."

"Now then," Jaegar said looking around the room, "This is where you'll sleep. You'll learn the Keep's layout quickly enough. There are four main towers on the top level where we are now." He gestured to the window, "Down those steps are the training grounds for fighting and below those are the Warden's and the Seer's towers."

"Who's the Warden?" Harry asked glancing out the window.

"The Warden is first in command here. Watch what you say to him, if he speaks to you at all. You better be prepared to fight here, if you piss someone off they won't hesitate to act on it."

Harry nodded, slightly proud of himself for not gulping audibly, "Then who's the Seer?"

Jaegar nodded toward the far tower from Harry's window, "She lives there alone. You'll meet her eventually; she asks to meet all the Isidros."

He turned and started out of the room, calling back, "Follow me."

Harry hurried forward and followed Jaegar down the stone steps of the tower, and through a door. There was more dueling going on outside, separated either into groups or pairs, people wearing similar uniforms practiced. In the center, where there was no fighting, was a crest engraved into the stone. It was a shield coming up to three points at the top with a Dagger in the center with a rose entwined around it and with a wand laying diagonally behind them.

He looked up and saw there were flags on the top of each tower; on his was a deep blue flag with a dagger printed on it. The dagger had an eye in the middle and three tears fell from it to the top of the word Telekos printed at the bottom. The tower to the right had a red flag with a shield with a rose printed on it and a star and moon in opposite corners of the shield with the word Cigmas. Farthest from Harry, was a green flag with a muggle pistol and a wand crossed with the words Soren printed under it. Finally the tower Harry faced had a plain white flag fluttering in the breeze at the top.

Harry followed Jaegar into the tower and into a large circular room, occupied by three people, who looked around Harry's age or a little older. They turned when Harry and Jaegar entered and Harry could see they were wearing similar outfits, yet of a different make of the people outside. They each gave a slight bow to Jaegar and were looking at Harry curiously.

Jaegar pointed to a girl with hair lighter than Malfoy's dressed all in blue, "That's Frost, an ice elemental." Frost bowed her head in acknowledgement. "Rekem, creator," A boy with black hair tied back by a red piece of cloth on his forehead and dressed in blood red and black smirked, "And Takara, speaker." Takara had Jeagar's dark hair, but her eyes were a light and honey-colored brown. Her clothes were light brown and tan and she bore no expression as she studied Harry.

"And you are?" Rekem asked raising an eyebrow slightly.

"Harry," was Harry's short reply, something about Rekem's expression put him on edge.

"And what is your skill?" Takara asked softly, still watching Harry.

"A metomorphomagus, a judge of the Forlorn Hope trials and the fourth member of Isidro." Jaegar answered for him, before Harry could open his mouth.

Frost, Rekem, and Takara all nodded and Jaegar turned without a word and left.

Rekem grabbed a long staff of wood and tossed it quickly at Harry, who caught it out of reflex. "You any good at dueling?" Rekem asked twirling his staff expertly.

Harry grinned slightly, "I'm not bad."

Frost gave him a small smile from behind Rekem and Harry saw her eyes were a pure sliver-blue color with no visible pupil. Just then, he saw movement out of the corner of his eye and just managed to block Rekem's staff from hitting his staff. Though feeling slightly off balance, Harry managed to fend off Rekem's attacks.

Rekem stopped suddenly and nodded, "Not completely worthless."

Frost suddenly made a motion with her hand and Harry duck low to miss having his head cut off by a white blade. Something shattered behind him, and Harry turned to see the blade that had been thrown at him to be made of ice.

"Good reflexes." Frost said in a soft voice.

Takara frown and Harry readied himself for another attack. She straightened suddenly, and whipped her arm in a similar way Malfoy had when he tried to attack Harry with a snake in Harry's second year at the Dueling Club. A thick black cobra appeared and rose up, reveling a yellow stomach and hissed menacingly at Harry.

Harry grinned and, with a few choice words in Parseltongue, had the snake curled on his arm, perfectly content.

"Not worthless at all." Frost said happily as Takara's expression darkened.

A loud bell echoed suddenly and the others started to leave.

"What does that bell mean?" Harry asked Frost.

"Time to go back to your rooms and dinner's ready. We come back here at dawn."

"Thanks."

She smiled at him and hurried up the stairs.

"She never talked before." Rekem said behind Harry, who turned to face him, "It's strange to see her talking so normally."

Harry walked back to the tower, wondering what he had gotten himself into.


A/N Ok what did you think of the Keep? Of Harry's reactions? Did he give in too easily? More details of what they wear and eat will be in the next chappie. The name for the tournament name means Delaney- descendant of the challenger in Celtic and Syn- invoked during trials in Norse, as Icelanders have both ancestry with Celtic and Norse I combined names from both.

We'll hear from the Order and the others later! Harry's got his work cut out for him! Review please and tell me what you think!!!

Thanks to- DarkFelineHuntress-glad to have you back,

Rosepetal13-oh dear a lifeline? Thanks for your great reviews!,

TuxedoMac- poor Harry has no luck. I'm gad you like my new style of writing,

Lady Arwen of Rivendell- wow you have earned the gold medal in speed reading for my fic! Congrats!!

Hi- heheheheheeh

Athenakitty- no I'm afraid Voldie had a good day...