A/N: It's been a while, but due to the last movie premiering today, I was inspired to continue this story. Unfortunately, I had to delete chapter 6 and since then, my hard drive took a nosedive. Sadly nothing was salvageable, and thus I'm basically starting from scratch with this chapter. It will be similar to one I had upload earlier, but will obviously have its differences. So, enjoy!

Chapter 6

Logan took a deep breath of the chilly, winter air. To warm up his cooled lunges, the wizard took a quick swig of his flask. "So, this is it?"

Harry stepped forward and carefully examined the frozen pillar. He brushed away the snow particles, and beneath the snow was a stone totem pole covered by a thin layer of ice. There were intricate carvings along the granite pillar, but revealed nothing to them.

"Did you—" Logan repeated.

"I heard you," Harry said. The young wizard continued forward with Logan trailing after him. After a few minutes of marching through the dead wood, they came across a giant stonewall. Despite the fierce storm, there was little snow around it. There was obviously an enchantment place to protect it from the elements. Harry then pulled out his wand and tapped the wall.

The ground began to shake as the stone and mortar started to part like a doorway. Behind the makeshift entrance was nothing, but darkness. The tip of Harry's wand lit instantly as he took his first steps down the stairs.

"Did I tell ever you I don't like going underground?" Logan asked jokingly as he followed his companion. Like usual, Harry bid him no attention as they descended into the temple. "Harry?"

Logan gave a sigh of relief when they reached level ground. The journey into the abyss felt like a lifetime, and he was quite happy to have solid footing once more. The short corridor led them to a giant hall that Harry's wand could not completely illuminate. To help, Logan brought out his wand and lit it. Across from them was another hallway that led to more darkness. However, that did not stop Logan from admiring the décor of the room.

Along the walls stood statutes of stone and marble. Each statue was a wizard or witch holding a different stance. The only thing common about them was the small flag draped at their feet. Unfortunately, each flag were charred and burned, permanently obscuring its coat of arms, except for the background, which was a deep red. Then Logan stopped when he realized how strange their surroundings were.

"What?" Harry asked.

"The statues," Logan simply responded.

"Yes?"

"Look at them." Logan slowly approached the statute next to the doorway. Harry followed his lead. "Something's wrong with them."

"What's wrong with them?"

"They're clean," Logan muttered as he wiped the nonexistent dust from the podium. He then took the flag up into his hand and brought it up to his face. The flag had recently been burned; he could still feel the heat resonating from charred fabric. Not good.

"That means they could still be here?" Harry said.

"Just my luck." Logan replied as they continued their journey. The hallway was long and narrow. Everywhere Logan looked, large icicles hung from the tile ceiling. The frozen water that broke through the cracks and crevices resembled roots. Frightening roots. To stem his growing fear, Logan drank from his flask again. It did not help with his cowardice, but it did warm his body, even if for a moment.

"You really should stop drinking that," Harry whispered. "I can smell it from here."

"Of course you can. You're standing right next to me."

"That's not the point. It'll speed up the onset hypothermia."

"What? How?"

"It draws the heat from your limbs to your core. You cool down faster."

"I did not know that."

"I know."

Logan squinted when he saw a third light source before them. It was small, but the tired wizard instructively recognized its orange hue. It was fire. That meant warmth, but that also meant company. "Do you see that?"

"Yes," Harry replied without slowing down. In contrast to Logan's feelings, Harry sped up his stride, almost to the point of a run. As the silhouette of a doorway grew large, Harry and Logan extinguished the light from their wands.

When they reached the end of the corridor, Harry quickly crouched to the ground and used his hand to direct Logan. The older wizard quickly followed suit as they entered the room. They came up to landing of a staircase that was built along the wall. Harry took cover behind the stone railing as they made their way down the stairs.

It quickly leveled out, but it didn't lead to the ground floor. Instead, it wrapped around the room link a balcony. Both wizards froze in their steps when they got a clear view of room beneath them.

In the middle of the open room was giant stone table surrounded by several hooded figures on their knees. On the table is what concerned them, a being of stone. The hooded figure at the head of the table stood up and drew back his hood. Despite the great distance, Logan would have been able to make out the wizard's facial feature. However, the white mask he wore made any attempt to discover his identity futile. The others followed his lead as they drew their wands.

"It is time, my brothers and sisters," the lead wizard spoke. He raised his arms up into the air as if practicing prayer. "Touch the golem." The wizards and witches touched their wands against the stone figure.

"We are ready, Consul," they said in unison.

The Consul pulled out an ivory blade from his robes and pressed it against his open palm. With a quick slash, he drew blood and pressed his hand against the forehead of the golem. He started to chant, but it was inaudible to Logan and Harry. Within a matter of seconds, the golem roared to life. Its eyes burned red as it let out a scream that shook Logan to his very soul. Not good.

"Harry, I think it's time to go," Logan tugged on the sleeve of Harry's robe.

The wizard to the Consul's immediate right looked up at their location and raised his wand.

"Not good," Logan said aloud. Light erupted from the wizard's wand. The jet of energy instantly broke with a swish of Harry's wand.

"Time to go," Harry shouted. The Consul shouted a command in a strange language. The golem roared as it stood up. The stone table beneath shattered and the monster crushed one of the wizards. The Consul and most of his followers disappeared as the remaining wizards and the golem took chase.

The corridor shook violently as Harry and Logan made their way. Pieces of ice spires and stone tiles fell around them from the ceiling and walls. The ice splintered into small shards while the granite shattered into dust. While it caused them no physical ailments, it did make it harder for them to maneuver through the debris. Logan's attention was quickly drawn to the jets of light that flew past them. The distance between them and their attackers made their spells inaccurate, but it did not lessen the danger they were in.

"Keep moving, Logan," Harry shouted over the explosions caused by the impact of the spells against the stone and ice. Logan constantly checked behind his shoulder to make sure Harry was behind him while casting his own spells. Harry followed his example and swung his right arm aimlessly as he casted random spells and hexes that came to mind. The darkness swallowed the light that erupted from their wands and sent it back at them with much more ferocity.

Logan tried to cover his face. Not from the attacks per say, but from smell of burnt hair, his shaggy hair and beard to be exact. The small beanie he once wore was long gone. He would miss that cap. His nostalgia for his beanie was soon replaced by his concern for Harry. A spell made contact with a small column next to partner and the explosion sent him into the opposite wall. Logan turned around quickly to help him.

The grizzled wizard grabbed Harry's wand and muttered, "crispo eversio." The ground next to Harry's feet erupted violently. The destruction formed into a wave about waist high that rode down the corridor.

"C'mon," Logan demanded of Harry as he helped back onto his feet. Harry tried to look at the damage caused by Logan, was pulled away by his collar. When they reached the hall of the temple, Logan stopped and let Harry run past him. "Run, Potter!"

Harry halted next to the staircase when he heard Logan and yelled back, "I can't."

Logan was exhausted and he knew Harry was aware of his condition, but that did not matter. He had to protect his friend and it was that simple. The old wizard remembered anecdotes and stories about courage and fear. Fear was nothing to be ashamed of as long as one had the courage to stand up against that fear. He hated that. There was no such thing as courage. Just stupidity. But he hoped, he hoped Harry would describe him as courageous.

"No. I'll hold them—" Before Logan could finish, a loud bang echoed through the room as light from the hallway destroyed the darkness around them.

Logan felt no pain as he was sent through the air. Lucky for him, the spell had struck a few strides behind him, but the impact was strong enough to move him. However, his landing did hurt.

"Look out," Harry shouted. The young wizard shot spells from his wand to deter their attackers. Logan looked up at the corridor, but there was nothing. As he stood up, the golem broke through the doorway. Logan watched in horror as he watched the stone monster drag the wizards into the room. He was confident they were dead, and adamant that the golem was out of control.

"We can't let this thing escape."

"What?"

"We can't let this damn monster escape." Logan took the lead in the charge. The wizards split up and attacked the golem from different sides. The spells had no affect on the beast. The spells either bounced off or disintegrated on impact. He seemed immune to their attacks. Not good.

"Nothing's working."

"Attack the ground at its feet," Logan shouted. "Try to immobilize it." With an arm swing, the ground in front of him broke apart like wave. It struck against the golem as if it were a cliff and had the same effect: nothing. However, the floor crumbled beneath its weight. Harry followed suit with similar spells to dig a deeper hole for the golem.

Golem roared in anger and twisted and turned to break free. Its movements caused the rest of the floor to crack. The statue beside Logan fell onto him. The old wizard managed to dodge it, but lost his wand.

"Get out of there." Harry noticed what was happened.

"I have one final move."

"What?"

"This," Logan pulled out a gauntlet from his robes. He put his right hand into the strange weapon. The fringes of the gauntlet attached itself to sleeves of his robe as it tightened around his wrist and fingers.

"What is that?"

"I'm sorry to have lied to you, Harry." Logan flexed his guarded fist to get a feel for the gauntlet. "They're looking for weapons."

"Weapons?"

"Yes. The golem is one of them." Logan closely examined the gauntlet. "And this is another." The old wizard opened his palm as the glove started to electrify the air around it. "Run, Potter, while you still can." Logan formed a fist as electricity ran up and down his arm. He charged at the golem. The monster tried to repel his attack with projectiles and swing of its large arm. However, the creature was slow and encumbered. Logan ducked beneath the golem's arm and punched it in the side. The stone body of the golem cracked and parts of it shattered. Even though the attack did not put the golem down, he did manage to hurt it.

His attack was not enough to stop the golem. The stone monster turned to face Logan and grabbed his neck. It lifted Logan into the air with little effort. Not good. Logan dangled almost lifelessly in the creatures hand. However, the fear that once grasped him was gone. He felt calm and light. Harry screams and shouts were lost to him and he fell into darkness. The old wizard gave up and let the golem take him. There was nothing. No pain. No fear. Just a smile.

A/N: More to come next week and hopefully I'll be able to hit another comfortable stride.