Chapter 14. The Light of my Life.
Detective Sergeant John Burford ran back up to the two patrol cars that were parked to block off the road. Even from a distance he could hear their radios blaring out chaotic instructions to other units. It took several minutes for him to finally get some sense out of the control room but the news they relayed was all bad. Newmarket was experiencing riot conditions and the local police could not be contacted, half of Cambridge was in flames though there at least the police were still functional, as to what was occurring in the villages scattered over the intervening countryside, the control centre had no idea. John returned to Tonks and Julie carrying a map and looking very worried.
"It seems that all hell had broken loose over about a ten mile radius," said John.
"Ten miles from where John?" asked Tonks.
"Here," he said, pointing the short distance to the research station, "right here."
Julie took the map from him and in the light of her wand studied it carefully. "Oh dear!" The inflection in her voice was mild but the look on her face gave her words a disastrous weight. "Did you see this?" She said pointing to a legend on the map. "You don't suppose this has anything to do with what is happening, do you?"
Tonks and John bent close trying to read the small print. The Ordinance Survey map, like all its fellows, contained information not only on the present lay of the land but also something of the geographical history of the area. Sites of battles, ruins of castles, and ancient features were liberally spread over the countryside and the O/S maps covered them all. Running between the villages of Reach and Ditton Green there was a dotted line on the map indicating one of these ancient features, the legend was written in a gothic style to indicate its age, and spaced out down its length the letters read D e v i l ' s D i t c h .
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Three levels below ground the situation in the laboratory appeared frozen in time. Harry, Hermione and the rest of the Tyr were staring at Dobby and the kids, they in turn had their eyes fixed on the adults, but Solomon was focused on the machine in front of him and the huge doorway that was straining to contain the darkness that was within it, no one was paying any attention to Draco.
Then people started moving, the Tyr with Harry and Hermione in the lead rushed over to the group of youngsters and instinctively formed a protective ring around them. The Dreamwraith drifted over to where Solomon stood, the wizard acknowledged the spectres presence then turned his attention back to the instability inducer. Back under the protection of the Tyr, James, Nat and Jennifer were trying to explain their actions to an almost incandescently angry Hermione. Dobby was sobbing with remorse having put his young charges in mortal danger, and Harry was watching Solomon, standing by himself, swaying slightly, the blood dripping off his robes onto the floor. Harry was not the only one to see this, Nat stole a surreptitious glance away from her mother to the wizard who really needed her help.
When she saw the blood on the floor she cried out one word, "NO!" then darted out between Neville and Luna, passing through the Tyr's shield as if it wasn't there. Nat ran across to Solomon and stood beside him, he didn't break his concentration but gratefully rested his arm on her shoulder in order to steady himself.
"Harry, get her back!" Hermione snapped.
Harry was about to move forward when he stopped. "Look Hermione, look at her."
As her parents watched, their daughter changed before their eyes. Nat grew several inches in height, making her robes look as if they were at least two sizes too small, as her shoes and then her ankles emerged from under the hem. As she became taller her body matured, in a very few seconds Nat left her adolescence behind and became the young woman she had been hiding for the last six months. She was ready to take her stand and to use her gift, the last few things clicked into place and then her power began to shine forth.
Solomon must have known that something was happening to the girl by his side as her supporting shoulder rose upward allowing him to stand straight.
He glanced quickly at her once, but showed no surprise, and with a voice that was just above a whisper said, "Can you help me? I am afraid I don't feel too good again."
"You don't look too good either," said Nat, "Let's see what we can do."
Before they could do anything the massive stones forming the Trilithon creaked and groaned and then began to bow sideways as they struggled to hold the darkness in check. The deformation was impossible for the dolerite to contain, it cracked and split, and groaned some more, then with a sharp report the stone shattered. Shards of rock flew in all directions but most of it disappeared into the darkness, which freed from its constraints flowed outwards and began to consume the back wall of the laboratory.
"PROTECT YOURSELVES!" Nat shouted in the direction of the Tyr. In answer their shield flared anew as Hermione gripped the stone of her necklace and added its power to that of her friends.
Julius Magus lifted his head from his hands and beheld a scene that he had wanted to be a part of since he was twelve years old. The group of witches and wizards on the far side of the lab all held wands in their hands. They were projecting around themselves and those they were protecting a ball of energy, golden-hued, that flashed and sparkled with the power that was holding it.
The witch and wizard standing alone, their clothes and hair being whipped by some unseen wind, were confronting the growing negation that had spread over half of the back wall. It was this seething blackness that drove Magus to act, he could feel it pulling at him and suddenly he wanted no part in what was happening. Getting to his feet, he sought the handle of the door that was in his corner of the laboratory. He gripped it tightly, then opening the door he slipped away unable to witness the outcome of the battle about to be fought.
Draco Malfoy was in a lot of pain, his hand was crisped and useless but it was still sending messages to his brain that burned like the fire that had caused the injury. He watched the unfolding drama before him, it was useless, the few minutes the Infundus had spent in his mind had taught him that, there was no way to fight it, they were all going to die. He scrambled across the floor on his hand and knees until he was alongside the Tyr in their protective shield. The Potter girl and Aegis stood their ground, Draco thought there was something there with them but he couldn't make it out.
Aegis looked in a bad way, his face was pale and drawn and there was a considerable amount of blood around his feet. The girl was radiant; Draco didn't know how Potter and Granger had managed to produce that one, for she was beautiful, the power shone in her face. Not for the first time Lucius' son regretted the direction his life had taken him, perhaps for Draco this was the most important occasion on which this had happened, for it was to be his last.
He climbed to his feet and looked at the witches and wizards of the Tyr, and laughed a silent laugh. It may be that when death is inevitable and close at hand some of the barriers that separate our lives begin to crumble and then we see the complete picture and our part in it. Draco saw more in those few moments than he ever knew existed, and that bad as he was, his part was essential to the whole and he had played it to the best of his ability.
'Just time for a little goading before I go,' thought Draco. He saw James standing in the midst of the Tyr, his arm wrapped protectively around Jennifer. Another spasm of 'if only' briefly touched the blonde haired wizard "Lucky boy," he said, and gave James a salacious wink.
"Leave him alone Malfoy," said Hermione, "Why don't you go and find somewhere to die?"
"Now, now, Granger that's not polite," replied Draco in and oily voice that was so like his father's. "Anyway I think we have all found somewhere to die," he said watching the darkness as it crept slowly towards where he was standing. Draco had the satisfaction of seeing a look of anguish pass across Hermione's face, then from the corner of his eye he thought he saw a movement in that impenetrable blackness and Harry had seen it too.
Harry didn't know what it was, but he had a pretty good idea that they didn't want it to get out. He fired spell after spell through the Tyr's shield, eventually using the one he had avoided all his life, the green scream streaked into the blackness and splashed against something, but it appeared to have no effect. Draco looked at his old adversary and smiled to himself.
"Useless Potter," he sneered, "you have all that power, but there is not enough hatred in you to make that one work."
"It would work against you Malfoy," Harry said through gritted teeth.
"Yes I expect it would at that," Draco said quietly, "and I expect I would deserve it."
"Feeling sorry for yourself then?"
Draco's mouth curved in a small smile, "No," he said, "I feel sorry for you; because however much you will hate doing it, you will have to give me credit for this. If you live long enough, that is."
Knowing that death was waiting for him, Draco wasn't going to allow it to take him with just a whimper. He drew in a deep breath. "Goodbye Potter, Granger, Weasleby, it's been fun." Holding his wand in his good hand he turned and ran full tilt into the darkness screaming "ADAVARA KEDAVRA" at the top of his voice.
The curse flew from his wand again and again crashing against something invisible in the darkness which gave a huge bellow full of horror and pain. Then Draco crossed the threshold and vanished into nothingness.
For a moment it looked as if Draco had saved the day, the darkness contracted in on itself and flickered, but then again began to advance seemingly faster than before. The generators and other mechanical devices had long disappeared; the only part of the instability inducer that had not been swallowed up was the large crystal that had formed its heart. It hung in mid-nothing, its inner light made it visible but that light did not illuminate anything around it. The shadow of the Infundus could be seen clouding the very centre of the jewel, and it was with this shadow that Solomon was battling and he was losing.
'I can't go on Natalie, I feel so tired and the Infundus is too strong,' Solomon's thoughts betrayed how badly things were going.
'You need help, that is all,' the calm thoughts of the girl returned to him, 'I am here, and if I am not enough we will call the others."
'There is no need to call, I am here with you,' Eleanor Wicca's thought rolled in from a great distance.
'And I, my son.' Lady Niniane responded.
'We will need us all,' Solomon's thought was desperate, 'Where is my father?'
Solomon felt a physical hug as well as a mental one, and then thoughts so tantalisingly familiar filled his head.
'I am here in his stead, I carry his gift now. He needed to go on and he wanted us to be together again.'
Solomon turned to look at the girl by his side with more than just his mind. His vision was blurred, and his mind clouded by weakness, but surely this wasn't Nat, not Harry and Hermione's Nat? He remembered feeling her change and the fleeting vision of the face next to him, then as he gazed into her emerald green eyes she became one with the face of the little girl who had died so young, and then of the woman that Solomon had loved so long ago and thought never to see again. 'Gwen?' he whispered, and at that moment the blackness reached them and they were engulfed.
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The Tyr had watched Draco fling himself into the darkness, and were heartened when it appeared that his apparent sacrifice had worked, but whatever daemon he had attacked was only part of the danger that confronted them, and that danger flared anew.
Hermione was almost unaware of what was happening around her, her power and that of the stone on her necklace were bound with that of the Tyr, but her mind was fixed on her daughter standing side by side with the old wizard Hermione had considered her mentor.
She didn't understand how or why Nat had changed, but there was no doubting the look in her daughter's eyes. Hermione had seen that very look in others so many times before. It was the look Luna gave to Ron, it was the look Ginny gave to Neville, and she had little doubt that had she a mirror handy she would see the same expression on her face when she looked at Harry. So why would Natalie see Solomon in that light, there had to be a logical explanation, and what were Solomon's feelings toward her daughter?
Hermione saw Solomon turn to the girl by his side; he was as confused as she was as to why Nat should be there. Then Hermione watched as Solomon's expression changed from confusion to wonder, wonder to hope, then like a wave the blackness broke over the pair and they were lost to view.
A frantic "NO!" was all that Hermione had time to cry out, as the tide of darkness reached the Tyr and they were too busy fighting for their lives to think about anything else.
It was a most peculiar sensation, the shield held, and its light was turned inwards illuminating the inside of the bubble they were trapped in. There were no points of reference other than the other occupants of the shield, to look into the total black that surrounded then on all sides was to risk complete disorientation. Harry was thinking as hard as he could, they would not be able to hold this shield forever and he didn't want to contemplate what might happen if it failed. He was out of ideas and running out of time, he sent a thought to Nat and Solomon and received nothing in reply.
Harry looked around at his friends; he was amazed at how calm they all were, then he knew that he shouldn't be. They had such confidence in each other, and the bonds that held them together were so strong, that none of them had doubted that they would survive he thanked the day that Solomon had pulled the Tyr together. Six friends that had shared the danger of the fight at the Ministry so long ago, welded into a team that had defeated Voldemort, and now would survive against this Infundus.
It suddenly occurred to Harry that there was something that hadn't changed, down still meant down, they weren't all floating around without any weight. He remembered seeing the television news at the Dursley's when he was much younger and astronauts were practicing weightlessness in a plane, but here despite not being able to see it, the floor was still there. He banged his foot down several times to test his observation and received a quizzical look from Ron.
"Floor is still here," said Harry in answer to the unasked question. Ron's confused expression deepened. "It means we can move and I suggest we head over to where Nat and Solomon were when they disappeared into this muck."
So moving together, they shuffled slowly forwards and to their right, rolling their shield with them, like a rat in an exercise ball. Until with a dull clang their shield connected with another.
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The darkness washed over them and Solomon, acting on instinct, threw out a shield to cover them, but that act took the last remaining vestiges of his energy and he sagged to his knees. Nat struggled to hold on to him and keep him from collapsing to the floor, but he was a large man and too heavy for her. Solomon raised his head for the last time and gazed full into Nat's eyes, now moist with unshed tears, his eyes closed and his full weight fell against her. Both would have fallen but Nat felt the presence of the Dreamwraith wrap itself around them and Solomon became the weight of a child. As she managed to bring his limp body to its feet again, Nat looked about her in fear remembering the shield that Solomon had conjured, it was still intact, so he must be alive, and the relief flooded through her.
'His mother and I will keep you protected,' Eleanor Wicca's thought, was kindly meant but dashed Nat's hopes again. Then Nat felt the Dreamwraith shift his position, he was behind Solomon drawing him away from her, she tried to hold on to him and pull him back.
"You must give him to me," said the Dreamwraith. "We must do this thing and only he and I can do it if we are together."
"No I can't," Nat cried, tears of realisation were beginning to fall from her eyes. "I have only just found him, you can't take him, I won't let you." She began to form a spell that would drive the Dreamwraith away when a calm quiet voice sounded in her mind.
'Natalie, you must do as he asks. I could not be with you like this anyway. I am far too old and you are far too beautiful. I am grateful that I have seen you so full of that beauty, so full of the innocence that Sophie gave you, and so full of the grace of my dear, dear Gwen. I must finish this task and this is the only way. You must let me go.' Solomon's thoughts …his mind …his very being, was slowly drifting away, and Nat couldn't bear it.
"Nooooo," the negative was quietly said and full of sorrow, but she understood. Unwillingly Nat released her hold on Solomon's body; it did not fall but drifted and hung in the air a few feet from her. The glowing nimbus that made up the form of the Dreamwraith completely enclosed Solomon and then slowly faded as it was absorbed into him.
At this moment with a dull clang the shield enclosing Nat, and what she could only call the Dreamwizard, made contact with that enclosing the Tyr. At that touch Eleanor Wicca and Lady Niniane enlarged their shield to encompass them all, and the conversation amongst the members of the Tyr fell silent as the sight of Nat and Solomon popped into view. Harry and the others slowly let their shields down and then he moved to comfort a distraught Nat and stare in wonder at the slightly glowing form of the Headmaster.
"What's going on?" Harry demanded.
"Oh Daddy," Nat wailed, "Solomon is gone." She turned away from the glowing figure to bury her face in her father's chest.
"Then who or what is that?" said Ron, pointing towards what appeared to be Solomon Aegis.
It was definitely a voice that answered Ron's question, not a thought, and it emanated from Solomon, but his mouth did not form these words and neither did his eyes look toward the questioner but remained staring straight ahead seeing nothing.
"I am light." It said. "As the Infundus is darkness I am its opposite and I hold the wisdom of Aegis and the dreams of man. One or other of us will prevail at this meeting, if darkness wins then chaos will result and all will go to naught."
"What do you mean by all?" said Hermione.
"This land, this world and in time the whole of creation will be brought to it's knees and become as black and desolate as that which surrounds us now."
"Good definition of all," said Ron as lightly as he could.
"You expect us to sit back and let you take this on all by yourself do you?" said Harry passing his daughter to Hermione and standing in front of the Dreamwizard.
"No Harry Potter I do not," said the voice, "I expect you to fight for your world, I expect you to give me time, I expect you and your fellows to hold this at bay."
At the last word the total darkness that had been enveloping them, lifted and flowed away behind them, as if it was a curtain that they had just passed through. The darkness had not been the unimaginable emptiness that Magus and Draco had thought; it was merely a passageway to something far more terrifying. A sight dredged from the deepest recesses of man or wizard subconscious was revealed before their eyes, a sight that tried to drive away the sanity of their minds; a sight that would remain with all of them for the rest of their lives.
You could have called it Abaddon, Gehenna, Acheron or Hades; Hermione knew that her mother and father would have given it the name Hell. A vast cavern which stretched into the distance with no end in sight; whose floor fell away from the place where they were standing, sloping down and down, so that the bottom could not be seen. A place that was unimaginably chaotic in form, and was filled with all the horrors that the imagination could produce, and a place, that on a small outcrop of rock, not far from them, a blonde haired wizard fought for his life against the denizens of this unwholesome world.
"Merlin!" said Harry.
"Bloody Hell!" said Ron.
Hermione swallowed the fear that had threatened to rise, "I think Ron that for the first time in your life you may actually be right." She said, trying to lighten the moment and failing miserably.
"I must destroy the Infundus, otherwise your world will become like this and then it will disappear forever." said the voice of the Dreamwizard. "You must help me reach it, …there." One of Solomon's long fingers pointed to a pinnacle in the distance beyond where Draco was fighting. At its top was an area of blackness like an ink blot on parchment, but this blot writhed with the evil that was bound inside it, and Harry could feel the hatred that flowed from it like a physical presence.
Harry drew a deep breath, and looked at the others, they hid their fear well and that gave him confidence, he knew that only death would keep them all from trying. They formed up with Harry and Hermione in front, flanked by Ron and Neville, Ginny and Luna protected their backs and James, Jennifer, Dobby and Nat were sandwiched between the adults. Solomon walked along with the youngsters, his feet were only just touching the ground, he more floated than walked. The shield that Eleanor and Lady Niniane were somehow providing began to waver at the edges as the group moved further into the cavern then Harry felt it give altogether.
"SHIELDS." He roared, in an effort to be heard above the cacophony of yells, screams and worse that issued from the residents of Hell.
Several cries of "orbis maximus gladius" could be heard and on each of the Tyr's arms appeared the small fighting shield with the blood red edge that they had used against Voldemort and his Death Eaters. They continued to walk forwards fighting off insane attacks by beings that if you studied them too closely would draw you into their insanity. To add to the confusion jets of flame and billowing smoke began erupting from vents all around them. The monsters attacking them paid no attention to this additional hazard and suffered for it, several were torn apart when one particularly violent column of flame burst into life beneath them.
The Tyr sent destructive spells in all directions; Hermione was having particular success with shouts of "DETONATUM" but as she was in the van they had to keep stepping over the results of her spells.
As they moved slowly forwards two of the five protected by the Tyr recovered from their shock. Nodding to each other as a silent message of love flashed between them, James and Jennifer positioned themselves at either side of Luna and Ginny and added the weight of their spell work to that of the Tyr. Nat stayed quietly within the group walking along, her head bowed low, holding on to the fingers of one of Solomon's limp hands.
The group gained the outcrop that Draco had positioned himself on, he was fighting like a thing demented, and there was a respectable pile of bodies scattered around his rock.
"Not quite what I was expecting when I ran in here," Draco yelled between curses. "I thought it would all be over by now."
Harry looked at the one wizard he could cheerfully send on his way with a green scream. Draco deserved nothing from them, no help no pity, he had done so much that was unforgivable, and caused so much pain and heart ache. But standing on that rock Harry saw him as a single wizard trying to defeat the hounds of hell, and hate him though he did, Harry extended the hand of salvation.
"Down here!" he shouted at Draco, at the same time opening a breach in his shield to allow Draco passage through.
Draco couldn't believe his luck, at a time like this Potter had weakened and was prepared to give him shelter. Now the last Death Eater had a choice, and being the man he was there was only one to pick. Draco fired off a few spells to drive off the encroaching daemons and turned to look down at the Tyr, Potter wasn't even concentrating on him, this was going to be far too easy. He flourished his wand and the words began to form in his throat that would send Potter to his maker, but he never finished the curse. A small figure rose up from his position hanging on to Harry's robe.
"You shall not harm Harry Potter!" cried Dobby using exactly the same spell on the younger Malfoy that he had on his father, many years before.
Harry's attention snapped back to Draco as the spell from the house elf lifted the blonde wizard off the surface of his rock and threw him back. The creature that was approaching from behind Draco was probably fifteen feet tall, his long arms ended in hands with three fingers, the talons on each of them sharpened to a point. These talons were maybe two feet in length and with a stabbing motion the creature drove a handful into Draco's unprotected back as he flew through the air.
He didn't even cry out, there was a look of complete surprise on his face, Harry was staring in horror as Draco's eyes rolled upward, the monster freed his hand and the wizard collapsed to the rock he had so desperately defended, within seconds it was swarmed under, the daemons ripping and tearing at his body.
Harry returned to the resolute march of the Tyr, Draco had been right, he certainly deserved credit for what he had done that night, but maybe not very much. They were closing on the pinnacle, Ron and Neville with shouts of "VOLANTI" sent their shields skimming over the horde that was pressing in from all sides, a few of the creatures tried to catch the wildly spinning discs and on each occasion failed, the shields passed through flesh, bone and rock with impunity. Two of the largest beasts any of them had seen crashed into the side of the formation using no weapon but their weight and inertia, and although Harry and Hermione reinforced the shielding on that side, they were all forced sideways into the base of the tower that was their goal.
Harry was firing curses through the shield as fast as he could, bringing monster after monster to its death, then a reptilian shaped daemon shot out its rope like tongue towards him. There was a horrible sizzling noise and the smell of burning flesh as the tongue hit and then passed through Harry's shield, although the creature was screaming in pain its tongue whipped through the air to wrap itself around Harry's wand and his hand.
The grip on his hand was incredible and Harry was inexorably drawn closer and closer to the edge of his shield and destruction. Struggling with all his might to resist the daemon Harry knew his situation was futile, there was no way he could free himself and his wand and so he did the only thing he could to save his life, he let go of his wand. In a flash it was grasped and pulled out into the horde of nightmares, whose hungry hands scrabbled for it and ripped it into matchwood.
Harry could do nothing but watch as his constant companion since the day of his eleventh birthday, the friend who had saved him on uncountable occasions was destroyed before his unbelieving eyes. The phoenix feather at its core floated free and for the last time in his life Harry heard Fawkes' unearthly and beautiful song. The song reached a glorious crescendo as the feather settled downwards and the creatures nearest to it shrank back in fear of the sound, then as the feather touched the ground there was a tremendous detonation that cleared the rocky floor for fifty feet in every direction.
Without his wand Harry's shield disappeared, the daemons recovering from the shock wave of the exploding feather pressed closer and closer. As Harry frantically thought of a way out of this impending disaster he felt the touch of a mind so familiar, yet one he had assumed had gone for ever.
'Use the magic within you Harry. The loss of your wand is not the end of your power it is the start of the journey to new levels of understanding, for you to reach your true potential. …Use the magic within.'
Harry glanced quickly at the slightly glowing body of the old Headmaster, it was hanging there as unresponsive as ever, and then he looked into his own hands, sweaty and grimy from the battle. He turned his thoughts inwards and he felt the power locked inside, he concentrated the magic and he channelled it down his arm and out through the palm of his wand hand. There was but an instant of hesitation as Harry's shield flared anew and then from his fingers destructive spells spewed forth blasting the devils of hell back once more.
Despite Harry's use of wandless magic the numbers of their foe were incalculable and slowly but surely the Tyr was being overwhelmed. Their backs were pressed up against the rocky face of the pinnacle, this was going to be the site of the Tyr's last stand, one final effort then it would all be over.
It was at this point that Nat finally let Solomon go, she knew he was gone as surely as she knew that in a very few minutes she the rest of her family and the friends that were so dear to her would be gone as well. It was not in her nature to give up without a fight, and so pushing past her mother and ignoring her pleas to return, stepped out in front of the Tyr.
The young woman faced the creatures of the abyss, they snarled and slavered, anticipating a meal which had not presented itself in the dark regions for a millennia. Harry and Ron had pushed out a shield as far as they could and they were straining to hold it against the weight of the devilish fiends pressing against it. There was a space of no more than ten feet separating the Tyr from the horde, and in this space Natalie Potter stood, she took a deep breath and shouted out at the top of her voice.
"AVALON!"
There was a deep rumbling noise that could be heard above the tumult of the gathered raveners, and a few of them looked around with surprised and nervous faces. The ground in front of Nat split open with a grinding crack and a brightly shining staff, some six feet in length, with a five pointed star at its head, flew out of the crevice that was rapidly widening and into the hands of the waiting witch.
Nat raised the staff of Avalon above her head and the daemons recoiled from its brilliance. Then she brought the staff down, waving it as if it was as light as a wand and a blast of power shot from its end fanning out and incinerating anything within sixty feet of the base of the pinnacle. The shockwave spread out as far as the eye could see knocking imps, ghouls and daemons off their feet and bowling trolls and incubi end over end, sending the host of darkness into disarray.
Bringing the staff crashing down to plant its butt end in the ground she cried out once more "AEGIS INEXSUPERABILIS!" and a wall of force grew out of the ground, rising higher and higher to arch over the peak of the tower of rock and seal the Infundus inside the dome with them all.
Natalie turned to face her parents and the others, the light of power shone from her emerald eyes and her dark hair flew in the static from the magic.
"Bugger," said Ron, with feeling, "I'm glad she's on our side." He glanced nervously at Hermione. "She is on our side, isn't she?"
Any answer was cut short as a hand touched Hermione on the shoulder making her jump; she turned quickly and found herself staring into Solomon's sightless eyes. The Dreamwizard spoke quietly, "Hermione my dear, we have a favour to ask, we need to borrow your necklace. We promise that somehow it will be returned to you, but without it we cannot defeat the Infundus."
She looked at what remained of her old friend with great sadness, then nodded not knowing if he could see her or not.
"Harry, undo my necklace please."
Harry said nothing but removed it for her as she asked and placed it in the palm of her hand. He watched his wife intently as she in turn passed it on to the Dreamwizard; there was no reaction as Hermione's Tear touched Solomon's skin. On the only other occasion Solomon had touched the jewel the shock had knocked him off his feet, now there was nothing, Harry and Hermione knew now that Solomon was really gone.
From the midst of the group the limp form of Solomon Aegis rose into the air, eventually drawing level with the writhing blob of darkness with the crystal containing the shadow of the Infundus at its heart. Under the control of the Dreamwraith, Solomon straightened, his head came up and his arms opened wide, Hermione's necklace was dangling by its chain from one hand.
"As you are the darkness I am the light," the voice of the Dreamwizard rang out clear and true. "In the presence of light there can be no darkness, and this time you cannot run from me."
In answer there was a noise that sounded like the crack of doom, and then the Dreamwizard actually laughed.
"It is too late for that; there is no mind to turn, only pure thought and the dreams of man inhabit this body but it still holds its power and that is your undoing."
The Dreamwizard embraced the darkness and squeezed it in his mighty arms. As he did so Hermione's Tear touched the edge of the darkness and it flinched from it, then both the Dreamwizard and the stone began to burn brighter and brighter.
Tighter and tighter the Dreamwizard contracted down on the Infundus, smaller and smaller they became, and brighter and brighter they shone. Until all that remained was a pin point of light more brilliant than the sun. Had they been able to see through that incandescence Harry and the others would have seen that the strange double pulse of blue light that normally inhabited Hermione's Tear was beating in there, but they were clinging to each other and shielding their eyes with their robes.
Nat stood alone, the staff of Avalon burning in her hand and the tears of sorrow rolling from her eyes, she looked upward to the light that was the man she would have loved, then suddenly it disappeared and there was total darkness.