Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Harry Potter characters.
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Phoenix
"Look at me, Harry. Stay with me."
"P-pull it out..Dray..p-pull...it..out..."
"No, Draco!" Don't touch it." Ginny barked in warning, explaining; "The blade's right against his spine. Move it a hair either way and you'll kill him."
"Merlin!"Draco gasped, pulling his reaching hand away as if scalded.
"Stop it, Harry." Ginny snapped, batting his hands aside as he feebly tried to pull the offending blade from his stomach.
"Jimmie, Rafael, hold his arms." The two grim faced knights each grabbed up an arm in a vice like grip without hesitation.
They'd arrived in mass scant minutes before to find the battle over and Harry mortally wounded and kneeling amidst a still hissing and bubbling molted slag heap with an entire dragon hoard poised in a circle protectively around him. Fiona was at his side mewling softly whilst Harry mumbled reassuringly to his familiar that he was .. "fine".
"Draco, take his shoulders." Ginny ordered. Draco clamped his hands down gently enough, but held on in a white knuckled grip as Ginny poised her wand to cast.
"This is going to hurt, Harry." she warned.
"Can't you give him anything for the pain?" Jimmie growled. A pale faced Rafael was nodding his agreement on Harry's other side.
Ginny shook her head. "I can't risk it as he's barely breathing now."
"So-kay...t-take it out." Harry reassured, blood dribbling down his chin, his eyes distressed and glassy.
Ginny waved her wand and vanished the sword.
Harry grunted, biting down on the scream that threatened to tear from his throat, pitching forward despite the strong arm straining to hold him still.
"Look at me Harry. Keep looking at me." Ginny demanded trying to keep him from slipping into unconsciousness.
"S'not hard to do..heh-heh- urgg!" Harry started to chuckle, but broke off as the trembling wrenched his insides sending a fresh spasm of pain lancing through his midsection.
"Damn it all!" Ginny hissed in frustration casting her wand aside. She'd tried several times to magic his wound close to no avail. There was no magic within him for it to work on.
She ripped open a medi-pack, grabbed a handful of gauze and began packing the wound.
Harry grunted and paled as each handful of dressing she applied sent a fresh wave of excruciating pain through his torso.
"S-Sorry.." she apologized, but continued undaunted, ignoring everything but the wound that was slowly draining his life away, and hers along with it.
So intent was she on the wound that she failed to notice the dark looks the knights were exchanging with each other or the way that Harry drank in her appearance. He was mesmerized by every frustrated expression and grimace she made as each attempt to stabilize his wound failed and he continued to lose copious amounts of blood.
She'd already given him blood replenishing potion till it came out of his ears until he gagged at the mere thought of another dose. The potion had little to no effect on muggles as they had no magic for it to interact with.
Ginny even tried banishing the blood he'd lost back into his wound or directly into his venous system, but it leaked out as fast as she could put it in and eventually she was forced to abandon the attempt in favor of sealing the wound as the highest priority.
The gauze she'd packed the wound with was cast aside in a growl of disgust as it was completely saturated and useless.
She was about to reach for another handful of fresh gauze when an idea hit her and she paused with her hand poised over the medi-kit.
"Hold him tight!" Ginny barked out grabbing up her wand.
"Ginny..." Draco sighed reluctantly, drawing her attention. Her determined eyes met his finding them resolved. The other knight's gazes echoed the sentiment, having all reluctantly come to the same conclusion that Harry was dying and it was time to let him go.
"No!" Ginny growled. "Hold him..." the others tightened their grip, but she could see by their expressions that they all felt it was a futile gesture.
Harry's eyes were lidded and vacant within a too pale face; he was struggling to draw breaths, his head lolling as he no longer possessed the strength to keep his chin upright.
"Harry, this is going to hurt, a lot. I'm going to cauterize the wound from the inside." She warned him putting the tip of her wand to the wound that was barely dribbling blood now as there was none left to lose.
The spell was on her lips, but Harry's own hand reached out and caught hers up in a vice like grip that was seemingly impossible for someone in his weakened condition.
"No...k-kiss... kiss...me..." he pleaded with the last of his strength.
"N-No..Harry.." Ginny initially reeled apprehensively. At seeing the final, fatal look in his gaze she clamped shut her eyes and shook her head refusing to look into his any longer.
"N-No Harry, fight... fight for us." Ginny halting begged her voice catching as she fought not to break down in tears.
The whole of Knight Watch Seven was standing around them, many locked in tender embraces or holding hands as they tried to draw support from one another. Some shuffled nervously, moving slightly away, not wishing to intrude on these last private moments, but still wanting to remain as close as possible to say their farewells before it was too late.
"G-Ginny...?" Harry whispered pleadingly.
The damn broke and Ginny's buried her face in her blood stained hands and sobbed out her frustration and utter despair.
"G-Ginny...kiss...me.." Harry continued to plead, but there was something in his voice, not resignation but...
Draco caught the inflection in his voice and twisted over Harry shoulder to see his friend's face.
There! Not pain or despair, or even resignation, but.. Defiance. Harry's face was the very picture of Defiance.
Draco's eyes went wide in understanding. Understanding? It was an earth shattering epiphany!
Draco gasped, grabbing Ginny's shoulder with his free hand and demanded: "Kiss him, Ginny, NOW!."
"Wha..?" Ginny shook off Draco's clutching hand and opened her tear stained face to find Harry's green eyes glowing with an inner fire.
She gasped in hope and threw herself desperately at him, sealing her lips over his as she poured all the longing, love and passion she felt for him into the kiss.
"Whoa..." Jimmie exclaimed, releasing his hold on Harry's arm, not that either Harry or Ginny would notice, nor anyone else for that matter, as everyone was staring transfixed at the passionate scene before them.
Phoenix song rose on the breeze. People began to gasp and mumbled hopefully as the trilling of thousands of phoenixes filled the air, rising to a crescendo.
Draco and company staggered back in alarmed wonder as the two lovers erupted in golden flames. Ginny's hair was still the same shade of red, only now it was like living fire as it danced and crackled in the breeze, it was the only thing that distinguished the two as they were no more than living flame, each a single log within a blazing campfire; two parts of the same whole.
Finally, one pulled reluctantly away from the other and the trilling around the clearing faded to a mere wisp. The flames snuffed out and died over Ginny, but Harry still glowed a golden hue that sparkled and glimmered in the fading light of sundown.
At the exact moment the sun fell into the distant horizon, blazing its last rays across the world, it seemingly reignited the fire that lapsed over Harry's body, consuming the last vestiges of all that he was.
Harry collapsed into a fine powdered ash that ghosted away on a breeze of fading phoenix song that erased all evidence of his passing.
Ginny screamed, clutching desperately at the last motes of him that winked in the air before disappearing from existence.
It had taken everyone many weeks to come to terms with Harry's passing, not that they ever would, at least not entirely.
Especially hard for all was the last missive Harry had left in his quarters, detailing his last wishes of:
No funeral and no marker.
He would not condone morning in his behalf. If they wanted to mark his passing, then he wanted it 'Marauder Style' with a party to blow out all parties before.
One month to the day that Harry had fought his final battle in the light's service, Messer's Fred and George Weasley hosted the party of the century.. Marauder Style. There were games, pranks, pickup games of quidditch, feasting, drinking,..er,.. a lot of drinking, and even a show.
And what a show.
The master disc that Harry had left for Hermione was more than just a master recording of his last unpublished songs. It was a pensive recording of Harry performing them in a one man show.
The first offering was a shattering performance that Harry had aptly titled: "Defiant to the end!"
The last offering of the night was from Harry's final 'live' performance at Knight Watch.
That song had ended up being a prophetic prediction of what was to come; a defining glimpse into an unsurpassed life of one man's struggle to make the world a better, safer place.
All those who Harry had touched in some way had come for the show; there were untold thousands.
The marauder stadium had to be magically expanded several times to accommodate them and even then, it was standing room only.
Later that night after the last of the guests departed...
William Hoag cleared his throat drawing the small gathering's attention. "As you all know, Harry wanted a party, not a funeral, to mark his passing. He did, however, leave a last letter that he wished for me to present to you that he opened the letter and began...
"Hi, Bill and everyone.
If Bill is reading this now, then I have fallen.
I can only hope that the contingency plans I set in motion were, not only, adequate to protecting you, but also in seeing to our ultimate victory.
I've tasked Fiona with rousing the Dragon nation to our aid. If there's one thing I've learnt from the war with Voldemort it's that the undead do not respond well to fire,.. and what better, all consuming, fire then that of dragons?
If Azriel, al' Tothanum's minions attack in mass, as I suspect he's plotted they do... they are in for a warm surprise."
Bill paused, chuckling at that as many others did, amidst several sniffles of loss and longing.
"I'm not a fool, at least not a complete one..shut up, Draco."
Bill paused in his reading to fix Draco with a challenging glare , who was fidgeting uncomfortably under the scrutiny.
"What..I didn't say anything?" He complained.
Satisfied, Bill Hoag continued...
"I know the finality of my chosen course. I know the loss of my core will most likely herald the end of my life. I also know that I have far less time then I'd hoped."
Many gasped at this, looking to one another for confirmation, only to be met with puzzled or surprised expressions.
"I can feel a change coming. There's a certain sense of expectation to it as if it is meant to be.
The only problem is, is that I want to stay with all of you. You are my friends, my family. I found with you my place and my home, as my mother had bid me to do.
It proved not a task, but a joy. What once seemed insurmountable became easy with friends like you to help me along the way.
I forfeit my magic with a full heart, resigned to the course that I will deny our enemy that which he covets.
I will not allow even the barest nuance of myself to be used by the dark for its foul designs against our fellow man.
I defy such with the glad and certain knowledge that you will continue the light's cause in my stead.
I find it highly ironic that the means of accomplishing my goal was inadvertently of my own design; my own vow will allow me the means to forfeit my magic, thereby denying Azriel his prize. Though I think it naïve to assume that this, in its self, will prove the daemon's undoing. If truly a god, albeit a lesser one, can he truly die?
My intuition tells me that the temple is the daemon and the daemon is the temple. I think the temple houses the daemon, his will his power... his soul. It is both prison and sanctuary allowing the daemon to exist in the realm away from the security and comforts of his once celestial home.
The humanoid version of Azriel is but a puppet; a focal point that both allows communication and interaction in a form we can understand, and at the same time, protects the identity and thereby the safety of the true threat in the seemingly innocuous disguise that is the temple.
I could most like destroy the physical representation of Azriel a thousand times over and never truly destroy the daemon. Weaken him or it, perhaps, but not truly affect his death.
My plan is this: I intend to hold his attention long enough for Fiona and her chosen wing of dragon warriors to get into position and melt the temple to slag beneath an impenetrable dome of dragon fire that I pray will prove sufficient to contain the physical representation of Azriel al' Tothanum until the temple itself is destroyed.
That accomplished and hopefully the daemon finished; Fiona and company will burn the surrounding lifeless vegetation, purifying it with fire. The jungle will eventually heal itself and life will return and flourish.
I know my chances of vacating the temple before it's brought down around me are slim... Fiona knows it too, but we are resigned to it. Azriel is a cancer upon the earth, one that must be excised before it can grow further and spread. If I am the surgeon tasked with his removal and my sword is to be the scalpel that does the deed, then naught else matters but that our world continues to thrive in the light.
If Azriel is correct in his summation that he and I are but pieces on a celestial chessboard of Light against dark, good against evil, order against chaos; then I am honored, truly honored to be one such Knight through which the Light shall work its will.
I place my faith in you that you shall continue to better our world as the champions of light that you are- one and all.
I place my faith in the great Father of all Magic's will that this is the path he has chosen for me.
Make no mistake though? I am no martyr. I do not wish to perish in the attempt as I find myself now wanting to live more than I have ever wanted anything ever before.
If I should fall then bury me in secret with my parents and Sirius, but place no marker upon my grave nor have a funeral service.
Though I am sad to be leaving you all, I rejoice in that I will be rejoining the rest of my family.
I have found peace and contentment in visiting the graves of my parents, but in retrospect, I believe they would have rather I lived and celebrated their lives rather than mourn for what was or what might have been.
Celebrate my life 'Marauder Style', do not mourn me or waste your time talking to lifeless stone. You can talk to me anytime you wish. I will always be around and although I may not be able to answer you, I will always listen and will always be there for you.
The goblins will see to my estate for which Knight Way, the Phoenix Foundation and Knight Watch will continue and flourish for generations to come.
This, however, is not my mark upon the world...you are.
At this, William Hoag, strong man that he is; broke and scrubbed furiously at his eyes with the sleeve of his tunic.
A hand patted his shoulder and gentled the letter from his grip, for which he nodded gratefully, taking a nearby chair.
Hermione Granger-Weasley cleared her throat and finished the letter...
I was the dream, but you are the reality; the drive and conviction that has fulfilled my dream and in so doing have made the world a better place.
But this is not the only dream I had, but the first part of it. The second and most important part, at least to me, was that in making the world a better, safer place, I would be free to pursue my own dream of a wife and family of my own.
Because of all your hard work and unfailing dedication, you have made my dream a reality and I now know the simple joy of being in love whilst loved for just me...H-Harry."
Hermione's voice cracked at that, but still she was able to recover herself and finish Harry's final thoughts and wishes.
"Of my personal effects...
I leave to my Godson' Benjamin Malfoy, my cherished firebolt. As you all know it was a gift to me from my own godfather and I can think of nothing finer then to continue the tradition.
To my namesake; Harold Weasley, I leave my invisibility cloak. It was gifted to me posthumously by my own father and so I pass it on to the next in line as it was meant to be so.
To Remus Lupin, A.K.A.-Moony; I leave the infamous Marauder's Map. It belongs with the last true Marauder to pass on to his own 'next generation' of pranksters. May your adventures be many.
To Draco Malfoy... I leave my sword: Potter's Providence. It belongs with a true Gryffindor at heart."
Hermione paused in her reading. Draco Malfoy had collapsed, crying in disbelief into his wife's arms, though many around him nodded their heads and murmured approvingly with that sentiment.
Hermione gasped before voicing...
"To 'Mione...
A bittersweet smile ghosted over her face at the sentiment for which she was so fond and proud... the affectionate abbreviation of her name that Ron and Harry had coined.
"To 'Mione... There is a picture in my room,.. er,.. it's the only picture in my room, anyway.. it's a picture of the four of us... I think it belongs with you."
Hermione broke down in tears at that. She knew the picture to which Harry was referring; it was a picture of Harry, Ron, her and Ginny.
It was from another time when they were all still together,... and all in love.
Ron helped his distraught wife to a chair, passing off the sacred letter to McGonagal's sure hand, who stepped forward to continue where Hermione had let off.
"I leave my armor to Angelina Johnson...You'll fill it out nicely, Angie!"
McGonagal paused, raising a dubious eyebrow in Angelina's direction who had her embarrassed face buried in her hands whilst her comrades jeered and chuckled appreciatively.
McGonagal cleared her throat and continued primly...
"To Jimmie... I leave you my dragon hide boots. You once told me that you could never fill my boots. Well, I'm of the opinion that you will,.. and then some."
Knight Jimmie Collins sat pale faced and gapping. His brother knights: Rafael and Kevin patting his shoulders supportively.
McGonagal smiled down at the letter, marveling at the elegance with which Harry bequeathed to everyone what they most sorely needed.
Even in death he's watching over them. She considered affectionately.
"To...Ginny... I've already left you my most cherished gift. I also leave to you my love and profound gratitude. That said... I'm off to see what Sue Bones is up to as it's not like you and I are m-married or anything. I may be dead, but I'm not,... well, dead!"
Ha-Ha!"
The laugh was McGonagal 's she'd tried not to, she really had, but that, while unexpected, was a real zinger.
"Of all the nerve!" Ginny Weasley screeched, jumping out of her chair like a scalded cat, whilst the room laughed shamelessly around her at her expense.
Ginny proceed to rip the offending letter out of McGonagal's tittering grasp, grumbling... "Let me see that. He wouldn't of said...?" she hurriedly scanned through the document halting with a gasp..
"He did! The git actually says he's gonna make a play for Susan Bones?... I'll kill him!" Ginny shrieked in a fit of temper.
The room around her, though initially shocked by the finality inherent in that threat, couldn't help but burst into further laughter at the irony.
McGonagal pulled the letter back from Ginny's distracted grasp before she could ruin it, earning herself a death glare for her trouble.
She cleared her throat.. getting the room to quiet down, as she finished Harry's letter..
"I'm not sure that I ever told anyone, but from personal experience I can vouch that the dead can feel when we have a good thought for them. So, if you ever...
Jane Granger? Not only are you already married, but you're like a mother to me, for Merlin's sake. You ought to be ashamed!"
McGoanagal paused and glared reprovingly in Jane Granger's direction.
"Mother?" Hermione chastised in a shocked and scandalized tone of voice.
"What,..b-but I didn't ..huh?"
Jane Granger stood goggling as the rest of the room erupted in gales of laughter at her expense, her own husband doubled over holding his sides.
When the room finally quieted to a dull roar, McGongal finished...
"Where was I, oh yeah,.. have a good thought for me now and again and you can be sure that it'll find me.
I leave you my personal effects with the understanding that it may only be a temporary loan because if I find a way out of this fix...I'm gonna want my stuff back!
Always and forever- Harry."
Mcgonagal finished amidst chuckles that turned to wistful sighs.
"I'd like a copy of that if I may, Minerva? Arthur Weasley requested.
"Me too."
"Here-Here."
McGonagal nodded and waved her wand over the letter casting a duplicating charm to provide everyone their own copy.
The group finished the evening with many toasts and happy recollections of Harry.
The next morning is when things became more interesting...
Clang-Clang-Clang
"Knight Watch teams Alpha, Beta and Gamma report to command. I repeat: Knight Watch teams Alpha, Beta and Gamma report in full battle gear to command. This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill."
The emergency alarms sounded over head as blurry eyed revelers, from the night before, scrambled out of bed and into their field issue uniforms.
The hallways of Knight Watch were filled with people hurriedly making their way to their assigned posts .
As quickly as the alarms went off, they were shut down with the announcement of: "All clear" puzzling some and others grumbling irritably as they made to return to their quarters and try and regain sleep that wouldn't come.
"What do you mean, 'it just disappeared'?" Draco growled, hovering over his subordinate's shoulder, glaring at the vid screen the man was stationed at.
"I-I can't explain it, sir." The man nervously answered. "It was there a moment ago, I swear it was. There was a level five dark magic spike in the s-south hemisphere, near sector th-three and,..and then it just wasn't there?" The man shrugged helplessly.
"South hemisphere, near sector three?" Draco echoed suspiciously, mindful of the curious attention their conversation was evoking around the rest of the command center.
Everyone knew that area. It was indelibly etched in their minds forever.
"Y-Yes , sir" The corporal answered hurriedly.
"If you mean where Harry fell then say it?" Draco growled.
The man nodded apprehensively. "Dead center, sir." The man confirmed.
"Have Knights three, four and five report to apparition point two. I'll join them there in five minutes. Chang will assume command in my stead."
Draco left the command center before his orders were even confirmed, let alone carried out. He knew they would be and within moments.
What he didn't know, was what was brewing in the Amazon basin, but he intended to find out.
He hadn't made it a dozen steps when a second set of claxons rang out alerting all staff to their emergency posts.
Draco trotted back to command, making straight for the early warning magical detection com.
"Report" he barked out to the same corporal he'd just left a moment ago.
The man's hands were flying over his keyboard as he triangulated the incoming signal.
"Sir,..." he began distractedly, still busily tending to his counsel. "There's another spike in Southern Sector three, er,.. I mean where the First Knight fell, sir...only... whoa! There's another spike.. this one's off the scale... I've never seen anything like it... it's...?"
"Unbelievable!" Draco gasped, staring wide eyed at the screen, seeing the same thing.
There was a throbbing, red warning light that seemed to be growing in size and intensity with each passing moment and almost on top of it was a green light moving to intercept, matching its expenditure,.. perhaps even out stripping it.
Draco's eyes scanned the read out...it just wasn't possible. No one and nothing could generate that amount of energy.
At least, nothing human? Draco startled at that last, hurriedly barking out his previous orders as he bolted from the room.
Six Minutes later...
"Are you sure this is the place?" Rafael asked in a hushed tone scanning the perimeter of the encroaching jungle.
Draco nodded, eyeing the area with the same level of caution.
"I...I've got a bad feeling about this?' Jimmie whispered on his right flank.
"Steady, Jimmie." Kevin tried to calm his younger friend.
"I mean it, guys. This is where..."
"We know." Kevin acknowledged apprehensively.
This was where they lost Harry.
Though it was only a few weeks, the scorched jungle land around them remained just that; scorched and barren. Only,.. it should be showing signs of new growth, even weeds at the least?
The black slab that had once been Azriel al' Tothanum's temple, or the daemon itself, was like a black stain before them, a veritable hole in the floor of their reality.
The light of the noon sun over head disappeared within its inky depths as if it had never been, unsettling the reconnaissance party.
"S-Shouldn't the sunlight reflect off that?" Rafael questioned worriedly.
"It should." Draco agreed solemnly, eyeing the black slab suspiciously as his right hand snaked toward the well worn pommel of his sword, seeking its deadly reassurance. He still wore his own sword, the one Harry had conjured for him. He couldn't bring himself to carry 'Potter's Providence' just yet. He doubted he ever would.
"Wands out." Draco ordered. "Scan the perimeter of the area, but stay clear of that." He nodded cautiously toward the black stain that marred the jungle floor.
His three companions began casting detection wards around the area, searching for any sign of recent magical expenditure.
After several minutes of casting, everyone reported, having found nothing, in a half disappointed- half relieved tone of voice.
Having no other avenues of concern, Draco reluctantly turned his wand toward the black slab and cast a standard detection charm, seeking evidence of dark magic. The brown beam of light disappeared into the inky blackness, just as the light from above seemed to.
Draco cast again with the same result. Puzzled, he drew his blade, gratefully emboldened by the shriek of a hunting bird when the blade cleared its sheath.
He steeled his resolve and plunged his blade downward, only, having found no resistance, he stumbled and almost fell bodily into what was not a slab, but a hole; a tear in the very fabric of their universe.
Draco caught himself on the edge, and fell backward unceremoniously to his back side, his right leg falling into the hole.
Draco screamed like he was on fire, clawing madly at the blackened ground around as he was pulled toward the very object he was desperately trying escape.
His fellows startled, moving forward. "No!" he shrieked, frantically waving them away. "It's a trap. Get back! I-It's Alive!"
Draco was dragged downward the bottom half of his body disappeared as if it was cut off in mid air.
Draco began thrashing and screaming as if he was being torn to shreds. His face went deathly pale and he vomited blood as he made a last futile attempt to try and pull himself free only to fall deeper into the abyss.
Jimmie moved forward despite his warning, desperate to help his friend though he feared it was already too late.
He barely made it a step before a blazing bolt of lightning tore out of a cloudless sky and streaked straight into the blackened hole that was dragging Draco down.
An unholy bellow erupted from the depths of the hole and the earth beneath their feet pitched wildly like some wounded beast was thrashing beneath them.
Draco used the momentary distraction to drag himself free of the hole, pulling himself across the jungle floor. His legs were gone having been torn from his body, giant rents in the flesh of his upper thighs ending in bloody stumps of gnawed bone and tattered strips of gristle.
A roar, that was unlike anything they'd ever heard and certainly nothing they wanted to meet, erupted from the pit.
Kevin bolted forward, grabbing up Draco and disappearing with a loud 'POP' of displaced air as he activated their emergency port key that would take them back to base's medical bay.
An enormous, green mottled tentacle erupted from the depths of the hole slapping wetly across the ground, blindly seeking its previous meal.
Jimmie and Rafael fired reductors into the undulating mass, putting as much power into the spells as they could muster. The exploding hexes tore out great hunks of gristle and black blood spewed across the barren floor hissing and spitting where it came into contact with the ground as if it were pure acid.
Each exploding hex that landed was followed by an enraged howl of pain. The ground split and something, from a nightmare out of hell, pulled itself out of the blackness from which it came. No.. it was as if the blackened slab, or hole coalesced upward becoming the thing itself.
Putrid green and mottled with black spindly veins served as its roiling flesh. Tentacles hooked and pulled the rest of the mass upward from the pit. Its many appendages were cruelly barbed continually seeking prey as they undulated outward grasping and clawing at its surroundings.
The body, or trunk of the thing was a writhing, hydra like mass of mottled decay that led to a gapping maw that sported row upon descending row of razor sharp teeth that gnashed and grinded at the very air, desperately seeking sustenance for a hunger that would never sate. The thing glared down balefully, from some twenty feet up, through dozens of eerily shinning, dead light eyes.
The maw twisted into a cruel mockery of a smile as it settled it's many gleaming eyes on the two knights; who were rooted to the spot, helpless to do anything, but stare in horror at the beast towering over them, poised for the kill . Its tentacles were almost upon them despite the high powered blasting hexes they were throwing with reckless abandon. It shrugged off the curses as if no more than an annoyance despite the great gouges of flesh the curses tore into the beast. The flesh healed up faster than they could destroy it. Hooked barbs still stained with Draco's blood and glistening with gore descended. The two shared a last glance that spoke volumes. They would stand or fall together.
The next thing they knew.. they were waking up in Medical Bay-One of Knight Watch Seven with Commander William Hoag hovering nearby, both worried and impatient.
"How...?" Rafael began uncertainly, his eyes drifting out of focus.
"Where are ...?" Jimmie added, also gapping in disbelief at his surroundings.
"You're safe, that's all that matters." William Hoag confirmed, clapping a reassuring hand on Jimmie's shoulder and his other to Rafael's forearm.
"B-But we should be...?" Jimmie gaped wide eyed and confused.
"Dead?" Rafael finished the thought. The two shared a puzzled look, before they blurted out anxiously at nearly the same time..
"Draco?"
Hoag's supportive hands tightened, almost painfully so as his face paled. "He's fighting for his life, that's all we know right now. The healers have sealed the room. Marcus Pomfrey said he will let us know... when there's something to know." He informed them grimly.
"Can you recall anything of what happened after Kevin left with Draco?" He asked, hopeful for some bit of information, not that he wasn't already just exceedingly glad that they had survived, but how?
The two shared an odd look before Rafael answered. "W-We should be dead...it was right on top of us..."
"Light! I..I remember light, everywhere." Jimmie added excitedly recalling that tidbit, or was it something more. "Light,...and..."
"Phoenix s-song!" Rafael gasped, remembering as well, Jimmie nodding his head excitedly in confirmation next to him.
"Phoenix song? Are you sure?" Hoag shot back with more hope than he dared feel.
"Y-Yes, sir." Jimmie stammered. "Light was s-so bright, but it didn't hurt. It was everywhere, all around us. It was ..."
"Gold at the center." Rafael added. "Strange that.. comforting somehow."
"I wasn't afraid anymore. I felt..."
"Safe. Safe and confident that everything was going to be okay." Rafael finished again for his friend and comrade.
"It was like when,.." Jimmie's eyes went out of focus for a moment before he gasped in understanding. " It was like when Harry was alive. Like you knew, just knew, that somehow, someway,.. everything was gonna be alright."
Rafael was nodding his agreement and Hoag's face was swiveling back and forth between the two.
He was just about to press for more when Marcus Pomfrey bolted into the room from the trauma bay.
"Commander..Commander?" he squawked in alarm as he rushed into the room, Abigail Malfoy could be heard sobbing and stammering nonsensically as she ran toward the open room he'd just left.
Bill Hoag's face fell.
Christ on his throne! First Harry, now.. Draco. He surmised dejectedly.
"Commander...I can't understand it? I'd only left the room for a moment to retrieve a potion and...?"
"He's dead then?" Bill Hoag assumed.
"Dead?" Healer Pomfrey shot back incredulously. "By all accounts he should be dead, but he's not. He's completely healed. New legs and all!" The man exclaimed, both dumbfounded and overjoyed.
Hoag now recognized the reactions from the other room more clearly. Abby was sobbing in joy, not grief, as she mumbled and stammered her thanks to every deity she could think of, though Bill Hoag suspected it wasn't a deity,( at least not directly), responsible for Draco's miracle of a recovery.
"What happened?" Bill Hoag demanded firmly, ignoring the excited reactions of the two knights beside him.
"Nothing, everything.. I don't know?" Pomfrey stammered, spreading his hands out disarmingly as he struggled to make sense of things.
"I'd just left the room and the crack under the door filled with light and.. Phoenix song? Yes,.. that's it, Phoenix song ..it was everywhere, all around. I..I tried to get back into the room, but the door was stuck and when I finally did, everything was as I left it, only Draco was ..healed? Completely healed!" The man was helplessly exuberant.
Hoag nodded his relief as well. He was both grateful and relieved. He'd thought for sure that he'd lost them all when he saw the magical spike of dark activity over the command council. Nothing could match that kind of power-nothing.
Harry had been a devastating loss, still was, but to lose all the knights in his wake would have been beyond catastrophic.
Bill Hoag found himself offering a silent prayer of thanks for the first of many times since he'd made Harry Potter's acquaintance. Thanks having been given where due, he activated his com link and called for an emergency meeting of all command personal.
An Hour Earlier...
Rafael and Jimmie shared a last look of unfathomable friendship and gratitude. Neither of them had any misconceptions that they would survive the next moments.
Their only consolation is that they would be with Harry again.
Cruelly hooked and barbed tentacles descended with the murderous intent to rip and tear them to shreds, but slowly... painfully slow as it had done for Draco. Intending to make them suffer in agony before death released them from their torment.
They shared a last look with one another. Hideously intelligent eyes savored their resolve and delighted in their despair, only to be denied at the last instant.
Light! Burning, inescapable light blinded its many eyes, and the things tentacles recoiled in horror just at the moment it was to claim its prize.
Phoenix song filled the air. An agony!
The thing recoiled in revulsion, its gapping maw bellowing in anguish.
The light faded and at its center stood a celestial Knight, resplendent in shimmering gold hued armor.
"Hello Azriel. Did you miss me?"
The thing that was, no...is; Azriel al' Tothanum bellowed its horror and rage, surging forward, tentacles clawing, tearing through the air with vengeful intent.
A sound like that of the sigh of creation filled the air. It was more beautiful than a golden sunrise. Phoenix song paled before it.
And it filled the daemon with utter revulsion... and terror.
Its appendages were a hair breath away from claiming flesh when the bite of steal, a steal such as it had not felt in ages tore through its mind and soul, cleaving its members with no more notice than one would swat a fly.
The pain! The pain was like hot ice burning though its veins, seeking out every crevice and nuance of its existence.
The great roiling mass shuddered in horrified agony as if poisoned.
"Did you honestly think you could just slink back unnoticed to work your master's vile will upon an unsuspecting world? The great Father of all is no fool, nor is he blind!" The celestial knight chastised.
"Remove yourself forthwith from this dimension, and for all time. Do this and you may live to fight another day. Not that what you do is fight, but more like dishonor yourself shamefully." he goaded.
The beast flailed impotently in its rage, thrashing about leveling trees and pulverizing rock.
At length, the knight asked in a bored voice. "If you've quite finished...? Your celestial rectum awaits your departure." He gestured with the tip of his glimmering sword toward the black stain that marred the jungle floor, consuming all stray light that ventured near.
With a flailing roar of purest hate and loathing the beast shot forward intending to tear its adversary to shreds before consuming the gristle that was left over.
Devoid of the slightest hint of fear; the knight raised his sword and an eldritch beam, of purest magic, burst from the tip of his sword and slammed into the slavering monstrosity. Azriel shrieked in pain as the beam tore a hole through its center and burst through to the other side, shooting into the abyss beyond. Only this time the light did not die upon entering the black depths but shot into the ether where it was met with titanic roars of pain and outrage.
The beam widened and intensified as the knight strode forward, forcing, the mewling in agony; Azriel, to begrudgingly retreat into the soothing black depths from whence he'd come.
"Here me Dark Ones, and here me well..." The knight shouted into the abyss, standing at the edge of the great devoid; proud and unafraid.
"The Great Father of light will no longer suffer your intrusions into this world. The realm of Earth is his and his alone. Return... and you will surely die the true death. Painfully, slowly... a thousand years will you suffer before night claims you for its last embrace. Doubt this and you have but to look to your own knight and watch helplessly as the light burns its way through his flesh. His death will be long in coming,.. but it will come."
The knight raised his sword up over his head, reversed the grip and plunged his gleaming blade into the abyss.
"Lest you forget!" The knight bellowed in challenge as his sword lanced into the darkness.
Unholy shrieks of torment , followed by wails of pain and despair answered as beings devoid of pity now knew what it was to beg mercy, gasping their last as the portal sealed taking the sword to its depths. It would serve as a painful reminder of what befell them should they ever return.
The knight stared at the now earthen floor beneath his feet where unending blackness dwelled only moments ago.
Though his mind did not miss the sword, his fingers had come to know in the years he'd been gone, his fingers still searched for the familiar weight and feel of it's well worn pommel within their grasp.
Years? Had it really been years? Of course it had. If the father wills it so then years within moments could be as moments within years.
He chuckled at that. Hermione would have a fit over that analogy.
He paused in his musings as if distracted by a sound beyond mortal hearing.
With a nod, he disappeared in a flash of purest magical energy, to appear scant moments later in the Knight Watch Trauma Bay.
Draco Malfoy lie helplessly sprawled across a gurney amidst his own sweat and copious amounts of blood.
Death was rife within the room. It hung like a shroud, trying desperately, relentlessly, to drag Draco down into its night black depths.
The knight shook his head and the darkness dispelled filling the room with light and phoenix song.
The knight laid his hands upon Draco's ravaged form. Draco was healed in a trice, for if the light willed it so,..then it was so.
"H-Harry...?" Draco gasped barely coherent. "Am I... am I dead?" he gasped in resignation.
"I'm not gone but five minutes and just look at you?" His friend growled half seriously.
"Huh?" Draco gapped.
The knight put his palm to his friend's forehead and Draco fell into a deep and healing sleep.
"Sleep well valiant knight and remember only... that the light's favor is upon you and yours."
He bent over Draco's slumbering form and kissed his forehead gently, murmuring in a voice slightly different than previously, for it was the other who spoke: "Till we meet again."
The knight winked and disappeared in a flash of magical energy just before Healer Marcus Pomfrey burst into through the room's door.
Commander William Hoag entered the, filled to capacity, Command's Conference room and hastily recounted the events as they were currently known by the surviving Knight's of this morning's encounter.
Whilst the gathering was still trying to process the information he added Draco Malfoy's miraculous recovery and the events since.
William Hoag paused to breath before detailing the last. "Magical spikes are cropping up all over the world, even as we speak. I dispatch teams and they arrive moments later only to find themselves far too late as wrongs have already been righted, victims no longer victimized and the guilty brought to justice. It's happening far faster than we can intervene or even continue to monitor." He left unsaid his own theories and suspicions, but a shrewd eye read his expression.
"You have a theory, commander?" Raynock inquired from within the video feed.
Bill Hoag nodded. "Only a suspicion, Lord Raynock, but I can think of nothing else that could account for Light Magic of this magnitude, save the creator's own hand? It's like the very world itself is being healed as we speak." He shrugged helplessly at the magnitude of what was happening around them.
Despite the unsettled murmurings of the room, Raynock pressed forward expectantly. "Your suspicions, Commander?"
Commander Hoag cleared his throat and the room fell silent around him...
"H-Harry...?" Angelina Johnson gasped from her place next to, a now recovered, Knight Kevin Anderson.
"Yes,.. I think that.." Bill Hoag began to explain his reasoning for his assumption, not grasping that Angelina wasn't guessing wildly, but seeing...
"I think she means me, William Hoag?" The knight surmised in a strangely formal tone, stepping into the room from the doorway, or more properly; through it.
"Merlin Above!" Bill Hoag swore in shock.
"Actually, it's more like among us, but, I get the gist of it." The knight chuckled dryly.
Bill Hoag fell into the chair he'd been perched over, staring in wide eyed wonder along with the rest of the room.
"What,... have I got something on my face?" He wiped at his mouth and examined his fingers after, seeking the evidence.
He stood before them in glittering, gold hued armor that practically glowed with power. His emerald green eyes gleamed with the knowledge of one who's traversed the stars themselves. As much as they radiated power they were softened by kindness and virtue, alighting with humor and mischievousness as he wriggled his fingers in greeting.
"H-Harry...?" Bill gasped both reverently and in grateful surprise.
The knight smiled. "Yes... and no."
"Yes...and no?" Hoag echoed. "A-Are you Harry or aren't you?" he demanded.
"I am and I'm not." The Knight answered cryptically with a devilish gleam in his eyes.
"A ghost?" Keven assumed, disappointedly.
"No" The knight denied flatly, still grinning and obviously enjoying the game.
"An angel!" Angelina gasped reverently.
The knight's eyebrows shot up at that. "Hardly, but I can see your confusion... it's the armor isn't it?" he chuckled.
"What are you then, if not Harry, and not dead, ghost, angel or what have you?" Hoag growled, losing patience with the impish teasing of the knight.
"I am phoenix." The knight stated in a forthright manner as if that one statement explained everything.
At seeing their puzzled expressions, the knight sighed and explained further. "I am the physical representation of the phoenix. I am not a creature of the flesh, therefore I have chosen a form with which you could identify and be reassured."
"Are you ...God?" Raynock 's video image asked in awe.
The knight's eyebrows shot up again. "Merlin, no!" It chuckled. "I am not the Great Father, but more the power, or one such power through which he works his will. I was there at the dawn of creation and I was there when one amongst you fell." It left off solemnly.
"Harry's dead, then? Truly dead?" William Hoag surmised dejectedly.
The knight pulled a face that could at best be described as indecisiveness. "Yes and no." he answered vaguely, but without the amusement he'd previously displayed.
At seeing the arguments coming that he'd elicited by his statement, Phoenix explained further.
"As mortals perceive death than yes, Harry Potter has died. His mortal shell has ceased to exist on this plane of existence." The phoenix stated factually.
Whimpers and murmurs of regret mixed with sniffles and sobs followed his pronouncement, puzzling the creature.
"You grieve for one who would not have it so." He reminded them.
"How would you know?" Kevin shot back sarcastically, not expecting an answer and certainly surprised by the one he got.
"Because, as I said; he is both dead and alive. His mortal shell has passed, but his spirit, Harry Potter himself, is alive in me in this life as I was alive in him during his. All that Harry knew, hoped and cared about is alive in me, he can hear you and see you even now. He so very much wants to speak to you, but alas,.. he is weak, very weak and requires rest." The phoenix apologized, but still others seized upon the vain hope that they could reach their friend.
"H-Harry, please... please talk to us?" Angelina begged.
The phoenix quirked an amused, though reassuring smile as he answered. "He is speaking to you child, after a fashion. There was a time when Harry Potter began to love you." He paused to let the knowledge sink in that he was speaking of passionate, not platonic love.
Angelina shuddered in understanding, her hand unconsciously seeking Kevin's in reassurance as her face flushed and her eyes lowered to the table top. There was a time when she would have giving anything for that to be a reality.
That was before Kevin.
The phoenix continued to intimate, it's voice altering slightly as Harry bled through. "It would have been so easy to love you, Angie."
Angelina's eyes shot up , recognizing that the phoenix was speaking more with Harry's own voice and mind just then.
"And in that love I chose for you what your heart truly needed, a brother and mentor. Another..." The phoenix nodded his chin toward Kevin. "Another was meant to share your heart. One who deserved and would cherish you far more than I could."
Angelina broke down into sobs. Kevin's arm snaked around her, pulling her close, murmuring reassurances into her hair along with gentle kisses.
After a respectful pause, the knight caught Kevin's eye. "Hello, my brother." He greeted in Harry's true voice.
"H-Harry.." Kevin chokingly acknowledged, wiping at his eyes.
The phoenix smiled, but again spoke with Harry's true voice, though weaker. "How long?" he asked vaguely.
"Angie will complete her training in a few months." Kevin acknowledged.
The phoenix shook its head and reiterated more pointedly in its former, strong tone. "He wants to know how long until the wedding?"
Angie gasped and pulled back to search Kevin's eyes. Kevin grinned and answered to the entire room. "We haven't decided yet, but were thinking July...?"
Angie turned and added to Harry, via the phoenix. "July 31st to be exact."
The phoenix nodded. "An excellent date to be sure. One in which the Great Father breathed promise into the world."
The knight paused again as if listening to a silent voice within its own mind. "My time grows short and there is more to do."
"W-What is it you're doing exactly?" William Hoag asked, finding his voice despite this shocking turn of events.
"The Great Father's will, of course." Amusement again returning to the knight's voice.
"As I said before I am not the father, but merely a tool of his will. I am setting to right that which was put wrong by the dark god's influence." He spat that last distastefully.
"And when you finish?" Raynock asked from the vid screen.
"I shall depart for distant shores. I am but a pawn upon a celestial board waiting for my turn to affect things as the father wills. Harry Potter was one such celestial chessman. Not a pawn, but a knight and a valuable one at that. Do not think his loss was not keenly felt within the light as it was so within your very selves. His was a harsh and difficult existence, but an important one in the greater scheme of things. He was as a stone thrown into the pond that is the very plane of existence, sending ripples out ever wider, affecting not only this world but other realms as well. For a time I served the light working through Harry Potter and an honor it was too. His was a noble and selfless existence, the likes of which I have rarely seen in my eon's long existence. The light was greatly pleased with Harry Potter's life, but was also that pleased and proud of his death. He died as he lived: with unshakable faith,.. and love."
The phoenix turned to leave, the trilling of phoenix began to fill the air as it whispered.
"Such knights are not readily sacrificed upon the celestial chessboard and never without the certain knowledge and conviction that they will reenter another game, another day."
The room filled with light and when their eyes finished blinking away the spots that filled their vision,.. the phoenix was gone.
It left hope in his its wake. Hope for another game, another day.