AN - I hope you're enjoying the story! Let me know if you don't like the way things are going?

Conversations in italic are in Elvish, the parts that are underlined are Centaur - all others are English.

PHOENIX and DRAGON: Through the World Gate

Chapter 15

"Dumbledore's not going to be happy with this," Dung said as he knelt, reaching to roll the motionless stranger onto his back so he could search through his pockets. "He's injured; we need to get him upstairs." He pulled a wand out of the man's cloak and looked at it curiously before setting it on the floor and casting some sort of charm over it. "Curious…," he muttered.

"What?" Podmore asked impatiently, casting a healing charm onto the stranger to stop the bleeding from his head wound.

"This isn't a wand…there's no core."

"Sturgis, I thought I told you to bring the stranger to me so I could interrogate him…I didn't tell you to put him into a coma!" Dumbledore stepped back from the bed where the stranger lay and turned to frown at the blond wizard. "It is going to be rather difficult to get answers from him now."

"What do you want us to do with him?" Podmore asked, moving to stand beside the bed.

"Take him to St. Mungo's and drop him in the emergency room, without anyone seeing you if possible. Set someone to watch his room and we'll see who comes looking for him," Dumbledore ordered. "We'll get answers one way or another…."

"Great Grandmother? When is Grandfather coming back?" Gavin looked at the ancient seer hopefully, but she shook her head in answer. Myrddin had been visiting other Groves for three months, only coming home for a few days at a time, and the last she'd heard he was planning on going to the human world to try and find Gwydion's godfather. There had been no news at all from him for several weeks, and she was starting to worry.

"I don't know, Gavin," Etain sighed, her heart heavy. She'd been scrying for news of Myrddin and wasn't happy with what she'd seen – too many shadows surrounded him. She'd been unable to identify where he was, other than it seemed to be some sort of healer's hall. He hadn't moved in more than a week, and seemed to be unconscious. "I've asked a couple of the Gate guards to look for him in the human world, but I haven't heard anything yet." The elves guarding the World Gate were the most knowledgeable about the human world in Cymru, since they had the most contact with it, and most could understand English, but even they knew little of what was happening.

Gavin and Gwydion frowned, not happy with the answer their great grandmother had given them. They'd both been having unsettling dreams where their grandfather was frantically calling to them through a heavy fog, but they were unable to reach him.

"It's a beautiful day – would you like to go for a walk on the beach? The storm yesterday may have washed up some new shells," Etain offered, hoping to cheer the twins up. "We can drift to the marker stone there so you can practice, and maybe we'll take a snack with us as well." She smiled when the boys grinned at her, happy to get out of the village after being kept in by a full week of rain.

A wide strip of wet sand lay at the base of the rocky cliff, waves lapping gently against it as the tide went out. Sea shells glistened in the sun, and piles of wet seaweed lay strewn across the sand. Sea birds shrieked overhead, fighting over small crabs they were picking off the newly exposed rocks.

Etain spread a blanket on a flat rock that was sheltered from the cool breeze off the ocean, and carefully sat beside their lunch basket to watch the boys as they ran back and forth on the beach.

"Gwydion! Look, here's another one!" Gavin called, holding up a perfect scallop shell. "Mine's bigger than the one you found," he taunted, his green eyes flashing mischieviously.

"Is not!" Gwydion yelled back, making a face at his brother. "I found another one too, and it's the biggest!" The resulting argument led to the boys throwing bits of sand covered seaweed at each other, acting like six year olds instead of their true ages, and eventually a contest to see who could knock a pebble off a larger rock with a whip made of a long tendril of kelp.

Etain smiled at their game as she set their food out; she knew it was all in fun and neither really cared who won it. She was just happy to see them smiling again. "Wash the sand off your hands and come eat," she called. "Lunch is ready!"

It had been a beautiful day, and the sunset promised to be spectacular. The sun was slowly sinking into a bank of clouds as the three climbed up the cliff towards the drift marker, turning the sky red and orange with streaks of purple towards the east and a bright silver edge to the clouds. "Let's climb to the top of the cliff and watch the sunset," Etain suggested. She stopped suddenly as they reached the top of the cliff, holding her hand out to touch Gwydion's shoulder and keep him from going any further.

"Something's not right…," she murmured, looking cautiously around the area.

"There's someone here," Gwydion answered, lifting his head to sniff the wind.

Gavin nodded agreement, a worried expression on his face suddenly turning to fear. "There's a drift ward up!"

Etain suddenly waved her hand in a circle, palm forward, and spoke the words to form a protective shield just as a powerful cutting spell hit her across the chest and shoulder, knocking her to the ground before the shield could form completely.

"No!" Etain gasped as Gavin instinctively turned to help her. "It's too late for me. Run!" Both boys took off, dodging their unseen attackers as best they could, but there were too many of them.

"NO! Gavin!" Gwydion screamed as he saw his brother forced to the ground. He struggled as someone grabbed him, twisting his arm painfully behind his back. He gasped as a strange smelling rag was held over his mouth and nose, sending him into the darkness. The last thing he saw was Etain, blood pooling around her as she went limp, the light in her eyes fading.

Gwydion moaned as he awoke. His head ached and he felt nauseous, so he sat up carefully. The room was dark, but there was enough light that he could see Gavin on a bed on the other side of the room, still unconscious apparently. He closed his eyes, and a single tear fell from his eye as he realized Etain was dead.

":- Grieve later child...you need to escape while you can. There were too many ways they can enforce obedience.-:" Gwydion froze as he heard that in his mind. There were a number of spells and potions to make someone follow another's will, and he was surprised their captors hadn't already bound them to their cause. They had to get free as quickly as possible before that happened.

Gwydion quickly wiped his cheek, then looked around at their temporary prison. There was a small window in one wall, but it was covered by a roughly hewn shutter. A door on the opposite wall had a strip of light showing through the uneven gap underneath it. He heard the faint sound of voices, but was unable to distinguish what they were saying.

"Gavin," Gwydion said softly, crossing the room to gently shake his brother's shoulder. "Wake up…."

"Ohh…my head hurts…," he moaned, pushing Gwydion's hand away. "She's dead… isn't she?" Gavin asked hesitantly as he opened his eyes, already knowing the answer but hoping it was wrong. Gwydion sighed and nodded sadly.

"Where are we…?"

"I don't know," Gwydion answered, moving to check the door. "The door's locked and warded, and there's a drift ward up." He walked to the window and pushed on the shutter. "There's a latch, its locked too, but I think we can get the hinges open on this side…do you have your knife still? They've taken mine."

Gavin joined his brother at the window, pulling a small knife out of a hidden pocket in his leggings. Several minutes later, he dropped the hinge pins to the floor and carefully swung the shutter open, one shutter dangling from the other by the lock on the latch, and looked out the window. They were in a room on the second floor of a roughly constructed log building sitting partway down the side of a steep brush covered hillside. There was a stand of taller trees at the bottom of the valley and he could see what looked like a small creek.

"It could be worse, I guess," Gavin commented. "At least there's a little cover for you."

"First thing is to get out of here. You can fly, but it's too far for me to jump. Help me tear up the sheets," Gwydion pulled a sheet off one of the beds and began to tear it into wide strips. Gavin tied them together as fast as his brother handed them to him. "Good. Tie it to the bed frame…." They froze as they heard the sound of voices raised in loud argument coming closer.

"GO!" Gavin hissed, changing quickly into an eagle and flinging himself out of the window. Gwydion threw the improvised rope out and climbed onto the window sill, turning and grabbing the knotted sheet as he slid down the side of the building.

"They're getting away!" A voice yelled from the open window, just as Gwydion reached the ground. "Catch them, you fools!"

Gwydion ran down the hillside towards the trees, changing into his wolf form as soon as he reached the sheltering darkness under their bare canopy. He paused for a moment, looking for Gavin.

"Kweee!" Gwydion tilted his head, his ears perking up as he heard the soft chirp from off to his right and then ran quickly in that direction, following his brother's lead as he moved through the bushes along the creek for about a hundred feet, then climbed the hill and stealthily circled to the opposite side of the building from where they'd escaped before beginning to run once more. The boys soon left their captors behind; they were searching in the wrong direction since they didn't know about the boy's other forms and had assumed the children took the easier path and went down the hill in an attempt to get beyond the drift ward. The boys kept going until the sky started to brighten with the approaching dawn, covering nearly thirty miles before they stopped.

"What should we do now?" Gwydion asked quietly as they rested for a while out of the wind against a fallen log. "The Lord says Great Grandmother has crossed over. If we go back to Oakwood Grove the Council may not be able to protect us, and it will cause a lot of trouble for the village." He pulled his knees up and wrapped his arms around them, trying to get warm. They had been lucky, it was overcast and windy, but the rain was holding off so far. "We could drift, but I don't know where we could go that we'd be safe - they can trace us if we use the drift markers. Anywhere we go, they're going to try and kidnap us again…and I don't want anyone else to be killed trying to protect us."

Gavin nodded sadly, "Awel said the High Council wants us to be their wards – this would give them all the reason they needed to force Oakwood to give us up, for our safety of course. We have to find Grandfather."

"It's not going to be easy," Gavin sighed. "We need a way to get through the World Gate, and then we'll have to find him…somehow." They looked at each other wearily, knowing it wouldn't be easy.

"It is time," the centaur said quietly. "The children will be leaving tonight." His companion nodded solemnly and began filling a small pack with journey rations and healing potions.

The darkness of the next night found the boys lying on their stomachs under a large holly bush, watching the guards on the Cymru side of the World Gate. It turned out that their captors had only taken them a relatively short distance from the Grove, and their travel the previous night had luckily been in the right direction. They'd hunted, and then found a small cave and rested through the day before moving to a place a short distance away from the Gate once evening set in.

"Hissssst!"

The twins froze, trying to identify the odd sound.

"Hissssssst!" It came again, sounding impatient, and this time they spotted what, or who rather, had made it.

"Newlyn!" Gwydion slid backwards out of the bush and crawled over to where the young centaur stood concealed behind a large tree. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to help you, stupid," Newlyn hissed. "My father sent you some supplies," he said as he handed the small pack to the elfling. "I'll distract the guards while you slip through the Gate."

Gwydion chewed thoughtfully on his lower lip for a moment, and then looked at his friend with a mischievous glint in his eye. "Do you think you could draw them off if I put a glamour on you – maybe made you look like one of us?"

Newlyn grinned and nodded his approval. "I'm also supposed to give you a message." He cleared his throat and recited from memory. "Prophecies children must steal the Dog Star from the soul killers before he is lost. They will need his guidance and protection in the coming days." Both boys looked at him blankly. "It's something to do with Gwydion's godfather I think," Newlyn informed them. "I overheard my father talking about it."

A short time later the guards straightened and moved a short distance away from the Gate as a shrill call came out of the darkness and the form of a small black haired boy staggered into sight between the trees.

"Help! Oh, help me!" The boy held one hand out, as if begging for help. "I need your…cough, cough…help!" He fell against a tree as if exhausted, clinging to it desperately for a moment before turning to stagger back into the darkness.

"This…way…Please…Help!" The boy sobbed, leading the guards further away from the Gate at a remarkable speed, given his apparent exhaustion.

"Now," Gavin whispered, watching as the last guard moved away from his post. Newlyn's acting skills were impressive and the deception had been effective enough to clear the way for them. "You activate the portal, and I'll disillusion us."

Gwydion nodded as he stepped into the rune circle and began to chant softly. The power required to open the Gate was more than most elves possessed, so normally more than one person would perform the activation ritual…they didn't have that luxury, however. Gwydion would have to do it himself, because Gavin would have to cast the spell needed to hide their entry to the human world before they passed through the Gate, and then get them out of the area as quickly as possible once they were on the other side. A great deal of power would be required to hold the spell that would hide them stable while they crossed, but waiting until they exited the Gate to cast the spell wasn't an option. They couldn't hide the Gate activation, so they had to make it look as if someone had opened the Gate but not crossed. There could be no trace of their passage or the hunters would be after them. The High Council would never agree to what they planned and would likely do anything possible to get them back… and under their control.

Gwydion staggered through the portal just before it closed, gasping and shaken, and Gavin caught his arm to pull him away from an approaching guard.

"This way Gwydion," Gavin whispered. "We need to drift…do you have enough energy to hang onto me?" His brother nodded weakly, leaning heavily against him with the last of his strength.

Gavin closed his eyes and quickly reached out with his senses, finally locating one of the marker stones Myrddin had taken them to on that long ago day when they'd gone to find Harry. "Alright, hang on." They drifted…appearing suddenly beside a water fountain in a small park. The marker stone was set as part of a low wall around a small tree. Gwydion collapsed onto the wall, gasping for breath. Gavin turned slowly, looking for danger with all his senses, before he joined his brother on the wall.

"I think we're safe for now," Gavin said quietly, tucking his brother's cloak around him against a cold wind. "It will take them some time to trace us, if they even realize it was us." He dug into the pack and pulled out a couple bars of compressed fruit, grain, and nuts, meant to be used as emergency travel rations. "Here, eat this – it will help you get your energy back." Gwydion sighed wearily, chewing the bar without enthusiasm and washing it down with cold water from the fountain.

"Where are we?"

"Little Whinging, just down the street from where you used to live," Gavin admitted with a frown. "I'm sorry…it's the only place I knew it would be safe to drift to." Gwydion nodded, accepting that it was the safest place they could be at the moment. He wanted to leave as quickly as possible though – this place had too many bad memories.

"Look," Gwydion pointed towards a group of trees across the field behind the park. "I'll find a place to hide until I have recovered a little, and you can go aloft and see if you can find someplace better for us."

Gavin nodded reluctantly. It was dark and he hated flying at night, it was against every instinct he had in eagle form, but it was the best plan he could think of as well. He hugged Gwydion and then watched as his brother changed into a wolf, picked up the pack in his strong jaws, and started towards the trees at a weary trot.

Gwydion shifted slightly where he was curled up in his nest of dry leaves, raising his muzzle to sniff the air for danger, before tucking it back under his fluffy tail to warm it. Gavin had been gone for hours and he was beginning to worry. Clouds had moved in and it was going to rain, although as cold as it was, the rain would likely change into sleet before morning. They needed shelter soon, and a safe place to make their plans while he regained his strength.

They got lucky…Gavin had located faint traces of another marker stone close enough to fly to, and he'd gone to check it out. Just before dawn they'd drifted into the middle of a tangled forest, bypassing the cracked marker stone set in the center of what was apparently the remnants of an ancient Grove. There were still wards up that prevented humans from being aware of it or entering by accident. Gwydion had shifted back into a wolf and found them a dry cave where they would be sheltered from the weather. The wards were still strong enough that it was safe to use magic without fear of detection, so it wouldn't take them long to transfigure and conjure what they needed to be comfortable while they searched for their grandfather and Gwydion's godfather.

Several days later, Gwydion's magic reserves were restored to their normal levels so they began to plan.

"I'd like to try and find my godfather first," he began. "We need someone who knows the human world. We don't even know where to begin to look for Grandfather."

Gavin nodded in agreement. "You said you had a link to him…can you follow it?"

Gwydion closed his eyes and reached down the link, trying to determine distance and direction. "Yes…I think it's…." He pointed in the direction he thought the strongest pull came from then opened his eyes. "It's that way." Gavin turned to face the same direction and reached out to find a marker stone. They'd discovered a long time ago that Gavin had a greater sensitivity to the peculiar energies the marker stones radiated, so he would locate them and guide them during drifting, while Gwydion provided the actual power for their movement.

"Got one. We'd better be disillusioned – who knows where we'll end up."

Six drifts later, several near mishaps with their landings, a couple good frights…and finally they stood on a rocky beach, looking out across the churning water at a forbidding, mist shrouded fortress.

"He's out there somewhere, and so are the soul killers – I can feel them from here," Gwydion said quietly. "We're going to have to do this quickly, it's going to take a lot of energy to hold them off and I'm not sure how long I can keep my shields up." Gavin nodded, already having figured that out. The wraiths would be drawn to the pain in Gwydion's memories and it would be difficult for him to keep them out.

"At least there's a marker stone – it's really old though, and it seems to be a Goblin one," Gavin remarked as he made sure the pack containing the healing potions was securely tied. They didn't know what condition Gwydion's godfather would be in when they found him, so they came prepared.

"I'll concentrate on finding him; you keep the soul killers away from us, since you're better with the holy shield."

Gavin reached for his brother's hand and nodded. "Let's do it."

They drifted, appearing in what seemed to be an unused storage room, if the broken boxes and crates a quickly cast mage light revealed were any indication. It might once have been a reception room of some sort, from the faintly visible goblin runes around the stone door frame and the marker stone set into the floor. They cast a quick spell to hide any noise they might make and masked their scent in case there were guard dogs, dismissed the mage light, and then opened the door carefully to find a corridor, dimly lit by flickering torches. Faint voices could be heard to the left, around a bend in the corridor. Gwydion pointed to a set of stone stairs to the right, leading downwards into the darkness.

"Down there…," he whispered. They moved silently down the stairs, and then along a dank passageway lined with barred cells, some containing the pitiful remnants of human beings.

Halfway down it they froze – a dark cloaked figure drifted out of a cross corridor and turned to confront them, soul numbing despair and an icy cold flowing off of it. The man in the cell next to them woke and began to moan as the dementor's effect hit him.

Gwydion shivered as everything went dark; he heard a woman scream and saw a flash of green light. "No, not Harry…take me instead…."

Gavin strengthened the shields on his mind and a pure white light filled the corridor as he began the incantation for a holy shield, driving the apparition backwards. The dementor floated silently for a moment, just outside the furthest reach of the glowing shield surrounding the boys, before drifting away into the darkness.

"Gwydion," Gavin whispered frantically, pulling on his brother's arm to get his attention. "It's gone now, I chased it away."

"That... was a... soul killer?" Gwydion answered shakily from where he had collapsed onto the floor. "I heard my mother die, I think…." He worked quickly to strengthen his occlumency shields, angry that he'd let the wraith affect him like that.

Gavin put his arm around his brother and helped him up. "We need to get out of here as quickly as we can. I can hold them off if they only come a few at a time, but they affect you so badly that we'd be helpless if they attacked. They can see us through the illusion hiding us too." He shook Gwydion gently and watched with concern as his brother finally focused on him. "Let's go?!"

Gwydion nodded and stood on shaky legs. "He's this way…down one level more I think, we'll need to find the stairs."

Several side passages later, three dementors blocked the way. Gavin cast the holy shield again and the light drove them back…but they didn't leave. Several more glided up behind them, staying just out of reach of the shield's effect. Gwydion shivered and strengthened his occlumency shields to their strongest, but the despair still seeped through. He cast holy shield as well, and they were eventually driven off, but both boys knew they would be back. Another set of stairs down, a quick unlocking spell to open a sturdy wood door reinforced with iron bands, and they finally reached the area where Gwydion thought his godfather was being held.

"He's here…somewhere close," Gwydion said. He closed his emerald eyes and lowered his shields as he walked slowly down the row of cells, pausing in front of each for a moment as he tried to pinpoint the right one using passive legilimency. "Here…this is where he is." He opened his eyes and looked into the cell.

A skeletal figure in ragged robes lay curled up on its side on a thin layer of moldy straw, facing the cell door. Long filthy hair was tangled around a pale face with dark circles around the sunken eyes; gaunt cheeks were partially covered by a straggly beard. The only sign the man was still alive was the slow movement of his chest as he breathed.

"Can you open the door?" Gavin asked softly, keeping his eyes on the dementors flowing down the corridor behind them. "We need to hurry, the soul killers are gathering and I think they're going to attack soon. I think they're angry…and I don't think I can hold them back for very long."

Gwydion nodded as he studied the spells holding the door shut. "There's an alarm and a locking spell on the door, and a magic suppression spell on the cell itself…I'll have it open in a second, but we have to bring him out of the cell to drift." He concentrated for a moment then reached out to touch the lock. A quiet click as the lock was disabled and then he pulled the door open with a screech of rusty hinges and stepped in, falling to his knees beside the ragged man.

"Wake up…we're going to get you out of here," Gwydion called softly, reaching out to shake his godfather's boney shoulder. The man's eyes snapped open and he rolled away, ending up crouching in the corner with a wild look in his grey eyes.

"Who…how did you…," he stuttered, looking at Gwydion in shock. "No, it's just a dream…not real…," he mumbled, bringing one shaky hand up to rub his face. "Just a dream…."

"It's not a dream…we're real," Gwydion said softly as he moved closer. He could hear the sound of an alarm going off in the levels above them, and the sounds of aurors calling to each other. "We're going to get you out of here." He reached out and touched Sirius gently on the cheek. "You're not dreaming," he said reassuringly. Sirius reached up and touched Gwydion's hand, tears starting down his face as he realized the boy wasn't a dream.

"Who are you?" The black haired man whispered softly, his eyes studying the boy's face in confusion. "Harry?" He moved out of the dark corner, pulling the boy with him into the corridor where the light was better. "Harry?! But how…they said you were dead!" He dropped Gwydion's arm and backed away, shaking his head, denying what his eyes were telling him. "No…not real…you're dead…they said you were dead!"

"They lied to you! I'm alive. I'm really here, and we're getting you out of here!" Gwydion said reassuringly as he patted his godfather's filthy shoulder.

Gavin looked past his brother and saw the dementors starting to move closer, despite the pain the holy shield was causing them. He spotted several auror's coming down the stairs from the other direction. They hadn't seen the boys yet, but they would in a minute.

"Gwydion, we're out of time. Let's go!"

Gwydion nodded and then reached out and grabbed one of his godfather's bony wrists. Gavin put his hand on the man's other arm, and then they drifted, pulling Sirius along with them.

The dementors drifted forward as the shield disappeared, milling around in front of the empty cell in confusion until the auror's arrived and drove them back.

The front page of the next day's Daily Prophet had a picture of a black haired man with wild eyes above a large headline: "Sirius Black Escapes Azkaban! Mass Murderer on the Loose! (See page 3)."