Chapter 11 Of Gods and Men

 

Ryan, Justin, Saphir, and Brad sit around a long table in the restricted section of the castle. They’ve taken this room as their research center for the time being. An examination of the bodies of the black robed demons which attacked the school gave them some very interesting information... they are not completely demon. Rather, they are regular humans, whom have infused themselves with demon blood. They look like normal humans as well... with the exception of the slightly decayed appearance of their features.

 

The current research topic is simple... figure out which demons these freaks are using, and come up with a list of weakness the good guys can exploit. However... the actual research is far from easy.

 

“What about this... Allo Ver guy?” Arrowny passes the book over to Saphir. In times of crisis, all four of the Dragoon Warriors are willing to get down with the old musty books and do some reading... but it is really Saphir’s domain. When it comes to book research, there’s nobody better than the Glaive Bearer.

 

Saphir takes on look at the book before handing it back.

 

“No... Allo Ver doesn’t like humans enough to give them power.”

 

Brad jumps up and points to a passage in the book he’s reading.

 

“The Malitfor! They’ve been known to get involved with human affairs, and it is possible to transfer their powers!”

 

Saphir shakes his head.

 

“But their power is based on the number of them that are alive... and they’ve been dying out like crazy over the last few years. If it were the Malitfor, they wouldn’t have been able to fight as well as they did.”

 

The door to the restricted section opens slowly, and Professor Snape steps through. Arrowny notices how tired the Potions Master looks, and only then realizes that they’ve all gone a full two days without any sleep... the Warriors doing research, and Snape running tests on the poison that is slowly killing the Head Master.

 

“How are the tests going, Sev?” Arrowny is truly concerned that he may be pushing his limits.

 

“Actually... they are complete.”

 

All four of the Warriors jump out of their chairs... Saphir so fast that he knocks over one of his books.

 

“So... is there an antidote?”

 

Snape nods... Brad claps his hands.

 

“Well... how long will it take to make?”

 

“I can’t make it. The antidote is a very rare material... in fact... it is nonexistent in this day and age. I cannot cure the Headmaster.”

 

Arrowny just stares at the wall.

 

“That can’t be right...”

“I’m afraid that it is... Dumbledore is under the effect of Sionop venom.” Each of the Warriors snaps to attention at this bit of information. Ryan slowly sits down on the edge of the research table. “The only cure for Sionop venom is the life blood of a Sionop demon... that is to say”

 

“Yeah,” Arrowny holds up his hand to stop Snape from talking, “We know... the blood that is in the demon’s heart at the moment of its death. We know all about it.”

 

“Then you also know that the magical properties of the blood cannot be synthesized. Professor Dumbledore is going to die... we need to accept that fact.”

 

“Actually,” Ryan shrugs, “we don’t. If you look on the top shelf of my closet in Slytherin house, you’ll find a jar that has the heart of a Sionop in it. There’s more than enough blood in there to cure Dumbledore.”

 

Snape is completely dumbfounded.

 

“But... how... you... it... extinct...” He takes a deep breath to calm himself. “How did you get the heart?”

 

The Warriors are quiet for a moment. Justin and Saphir nervously glance in Ryan’s direction. After a few seconds, Brad steps forward.

 

“Who do you think made the Sionop extinct? Now... just go get the thing, say ‘thank you very much’, and get on with your job... ‘kay?”

 

Snape leaves the restricted section muttering something about ‘insolent prat’. The warriors turn back to the task at hand. As they sit down, Saphir reaches down to pick up the book he knocked off the table earlier, and lets out a small shout.

 

“I FOUND IT!”

 

He passes the book around so that the others can see...

 

“It’s Doom Gaze... that’s who they got the power from! See here,” he points to one of the little paragraphs under the picture of the large winged demon, “it says that he wasn’t actually killed when everybody thought he was. He just lost all his power, and then spent a few thousand years getting more and more angry at humans... until finally he decided to lend out his power to anybody who vowed to use it to ruin the world. He fits the bill perfectly. But...”

 

Saphir gets a sudden look of dread on his face...

 

“Doom Gaze doesn’t have any really special weaknesses... just extreme heat and cold... which the human parts of these guys are also weak against.” He slams the book shut. “We’ve got to kill them just like we would normal people... except they’ve got all the extra strength and speed. Sorry, but there’s nothing else in here.”

 

Arrowny nods...

 

“Well... at least we know.” He stands and stretches a bit before heading for the door. “Come on... Dumbledore will be awake soon... and we need to talk to him.”

 

*        *        *        *        *        *

 

“Well, Ryan... I am infinitely happy that you just happened to have that antidote in your possession!” Dumbledore made a quick recovery after Snape gave him the blood. It’s only been a few hours, and already he’s sitting up in his hospital wing bed, pillows propped up behind his back, looking around at the gathered people... Snape, McGonagall, Harry, Arrowny, Justin, Saphir and Brad.

 

“I’m glad you’re feeling better and all... but we really need to talk.” Arrowny lowers his head... “They got Draco... and we need to go rescue him. There’s still a chance he might just be the one I was sent here to protect.”

 

Dumbledore slowly nods...

 

“Yes... it seems as though we have a problem. We cannot mount a rescue attempt until we know the location of Lord Voldemort’s lair.”

 

They sit in silence for a while... each running plans to discover the location of the Death Eaters hideout through their heads... until a very frantic voice sounds out through the hallway outside the hospital wing.

 

“I KNOW WHERE THEY ARE! I KNOW WHERE THEY ARE!”

 

By Harry’s reaction, Arrowny guesses who the voice belongs to long before the ragged face of Sirius Black bursts through the doorway.

 

“I know where Voldem...” He looks around the room, stopping on Arrowny. “You’re one of Voldemort’s men!”

 

Ryan shakes his head.

 

“Nope... but I wonder who told you that?”

 

Sirius doesn’t even hesitate to draw his wand and point it at Arrowny. He takes a cautious step forward, glancing over to Harry.

 

“Last time you wrote to me... you told me that somebody inside Hogwarts was working for Voldemort... is this the guy you were talking about?”

 

Arrowny interrupts before Harry can respond.

 

“No... I’m actually one of the good guys. Harry’s the one working from the inside to make life easier for old Voldy.”

 

Sirius lowers his wand, a look of shock spreads across his face.

 

“What... do you mean?”

 

“Let me spell it out for you...” Arrowny steps up close to Sirius, and leans in next to the wizard’s ear... and shouts as loud as he can, “HARRY HELPED THE BAD GUYS!”

 

“LIAR!” Sirius screams as he lunges toward Arrowny... only to be tripped up by Brad’s freakishly long arms before he could even raise his wand again.

 

“Nice try dude... but since I’m one of the good guys... why don’t you tell me where Voldemort’s base is?”

 

“I WON’T TELL YOU!” Sirius struggles to break from Brad’s grasp, but to no avail.

 

“Sirius...” Dumbledore tries to keep his voice calm as he addresses Harry’s godfather, “You can trust Ryan. Please... tell him.”

 

“NO!” Sirius pushes himself backwards, slamming Brad against the wall, forcing the Warrior to break his hold. He again lunges toward Arrowny, but only gets within a few feet before Justin steps in, places one hand on the side of Sirius’ neck, and gives a gentle squeeze... putting pressure on a specific nerve cluster, and  knocking the large fugitive out cold.

 

“Thanks Justin.”

 

The technomage gives a small nod in response. Arrowny turns to look at Dumbledore.

 

“We need that information... and he won’t tell us willingly.”

 

The Headmaster shakes his head.

 

“You cannot go through with what I think you are planning Arrowny. There are other ways to get information from people. We can use Veritaserum... or Occlumency... either of which Professor Snape would be willing to help with.”

 

Ryan shakes his head.

 

“Doesn’t work that way. He’s trained to fight off the mind reading stuff... and if we give him any kind of truth serum, he’ll just talk freely about his public life. There’s only one way to get the location from him... and it’ll only take us, what,” he turns to Brad, “twenty minutes?”

 

Brad shrugs...

 

“Fifteen if he can stay conscious.”

 

“Okay then.” Ryan turns to Madam Pomfrey, “We’ll need you to get some emergency medical supplies ready... and we’ll need an empty room in the dungeons... no sense in letting the students know what’s going on, right?”

 

At this, Harry jumps out of his seat.

 

“Just what do you think you’re going to do to him?!”

 

Ryan looks confused by the question.

 

“We’re going to torture him... what’d you think we were talking about?”

 

“Ryan, I will NOT ALLOW this to take place in my school!” Dumbledore stands, still shaking a little bit. He picks his wand up off the bedside table, and points it at Arrowny. “You will not commit such an evil act in my presence!” He glances over at Saphir and Justin, “I know you two do not condone such atrocities. How can you allow this to take place?”

 

“We... ‘allow’... nothing.” Justin’s calm tone only infuriates the gathered wizards. “The four of us may not see eye to eye when it comes to acts such as this... but both Saphir and myself know that sometimes they become necessary. I am not willing to torture, or kill... but sometimes it needs to be done... and in those times, I am thankful that Ryan and Brad save me from making the hard decisions.”

 

Saphir steps beside the technomage...

 

“It’s a balance. Sometimes we are the ones to hold them back... and sometimes they push us forward. Ryan’s right though... there’s no other way to get the information.”

 

“But you CAN’T!” Harry is almost in tears at the thought of how his godfather could suffer.

 

“We have to Harry, and do you know why?” Arrowny gets right in Harry’s face. “Because you told him that we not to be trusted... that we were evil... and that we were the bad guys. And now... we have to be. It’s all you’re doing. You should feel very, very proud.” He turns to Dumbledore, “And unless you want Sirius to die, you’d better order Poppy to get her supplies together.”

 

A few minutes pass before Dumbledore lowers his wand, and nods to Madam Pomfrey, who starts to gather various potions into a small medical bag.

 

Brad and Ryan drag the unconscious Sirius down the many flights of stairs, with Madam Pomfrey, Snape, and Harry right on their tail. The three observers stand a little ways down the hall from the selected room, and it’s all Snape can do to stop Harry from breaking into the room to try and aid his godfather... in fact, it’s all Snape can do to stop himself from rushing to Sirius’ aid as well. It would have been easier, except that nobody thought to put a silencing charm on the door. Each and every one of Sirius’ screams echo loudly through the stone hallway...

 

Harry cries silently...

 

And exactly twelve minutes later, Ryan and Brad emerge from the room. Their clothing is stained with fresh blood. Arrowny stops in front of Pomfrey...

 

“You’ll want to help him... I think we hit an artery.”

 

*        *        *        *        *        *

 

“Okay guys,” Ryan unfolds a map of the Asian continent, and places it on their table in the restricted section of the library. “This is where Voldemort is.” He points to a small section of the Himalayan Mountains. “According to our good friend Mister Black, there’s a large cave at this location,” he passes a small piece of paper to Saphir, “And that’s where we need to get to. Any problems, Saphir?”

 

“Nope,” the Glaive Bearer smiles, “I can warp us there anytime!”

 

Arrowny nods...

 

“Good. We don’t know anything about the layout of the cave... so we’ll need to just search all of it to find Draco. We get in, get him, and get out! If we get the chance to kill a few things while we’re there, then so be it, but we’re not there to fight them.” He looks around at the three other members of the Dragoon Warriors, “Everybody ready?”

 

With nods from Justin and Brad, they each grab their weapons from the nearby shelf. Saphir pulls one of his cards, this one, the FENRIR card, showing a great grey wolf howling before a full moon, and touches it to the tip of the glaive’s blade.

 

“FUah-haneayn FEaen-bae.”

 

A bright flash of light envelops the room, and when it fades away, the four Warriors find themselves outside a small cave about halfway up a mountain. It’s very cold, and Arrowny suddenly wishes he’d thought to pack his winter coat.

 

He looks around at his group, and notices that Justin has quite a big smile on his face.

 

“Doing all right there, Justin?”

 

The technomage nods. Ryan is happy to see that, since they are now beyond the anti-muggle technology charms around Hogwarts, Justin has returned to full power. It will make their rescue mission a great deal easier.

 

“Alright then. Justin, take point... Brad, take the rear... let’s go!”

 

With their weapons drawn, they enter the cave... Justin going a few meters ahead of the rest of them, for reasons that become very obvious when they run into a Death Eater guard after about twenty meters.

 

The guard turns on them, and fires a curse at Justin. The magic energy hits a force field around the technomage’s body and is absorbed. The Death Eater looks on in shock as Justin calmly walks up, and jabs his quarterstaff into his stomach. One major electric shock later, and the Death Eater is out cold on the stone floor.

 

As they walk past the fallen guard, Ryan is amazed at just how much the cave opens up... some of these paths are bigger than the hallways at Hogwarts. The walk for a while more, only meeting up with one or two more Death Eaters, but luckily they don’t run into any of the demons.

 

After about an hour of silent walking (Arrowny wonders just how large these caves are!) Justin holds his hand up to stop the group. He glances around the corner, and then turns back to face Arrowny.

 

“There’s a big cavern around here,” he keeps his voice low, “Draco’s in there... along with two guards. He’s chained to the wall and his mouth is taped. There’s a throne on the far side... and some sort of triangle on the floor.”

 

Arrowny has learned to count on Justin’s keen observational abilities, figuring that it probably has something to do with his powers.

 

The group huddles together so that Arrowny can give orders.

 

“Saphir and I will take out the guards and get Draco. Brad and Justin watch our backs. There’s only two in there, so with any luck we’ll get in and out quickly.”

 

Brad takes a tighter grip on his axe handle.

 

“I don’t like this guys... it’s just too much like a movie. We’ll go in there, free him, and then be ambushed... I just know it!”

 

“Brad, man...” Arrowny just shakes his head, “life is not like the movies. Just because it would be dramatic for us to get caught in a trap, doesn’t mean we will be.”

 

With that said, Ryan pulls out a throwing knife from his denim jacket. “Let’s go.”

 

They rush around the corner, and Arrowny throws the knife, striking one of the Death Eaters in the chest. As the other turns, Saphir uses a force wave to slam him against the stone wall of the cave, knocking him out.

 

The chain holding Draco to the wall break easily with one swing of Sky Render. The blond falls to his knees, trying desperately to remove the tape from around his mouth, and screams...

 

“IT’S A TRAP!”

 

Arrowny looks around to see that about twenty people, both Death Eaters and demons, have filled into the cavern from various crevasses along the wall. As Ryan pulls Draco to his feet the other Dragoon Warriors take up defensive postures. Arrowny stands beside Brad, trying to find an escape route... Brad leans over and whispers...

 

“I told you it was like a movie...”

 

Lucius Malfoy is at the front of the pack, smiling viciously. He raises his wand, and each of the other Death Eaters does the same. The black robed demons brandish their blade like claws, snarling at the intruders.

 

“Welcome, noble Protector!” Lucius’ smile gets wider as the Dragoon Warriors are backed up against the stone wall of the cave. “We have been expecting you. Quite frankly, we thought you would have been here sooner… what with your renowned honour and nobility. We are very pleased that you could make an appearance.”

 

Arrowny turns his head slightly in Justin’s direction, and notices a look of pure bewilderment on the technomage’s face.

 

“Justin... why didn’t you pick these guys up on your scan?”

 

“I... really don’t know...”

 

“How about the rest of your powers? Are they working?”

 

Justin closes his eyes for a second, and then nods to Ryan.

 

“They’re working fine.”

 

“Good.” Arrowny knows that if Justin’s powers are working, there is nothing to worry from the Death Eater’s magical attacks. The problem is the actual number of enemies. They need a plan to get them close enough to start hacking away.

 

“Guys... we need to think of something.”

 

At these words, Brad takes a few steps away from the rest of the group... throws his axe at the ground, burying the blade in the stone floor so that the handle is sticking nearly straight into the air... and raises his hands over head.

 

“I give up!”

 

Lucius snickers, and motions for two of the demons to approach the surrendering fighter. The other members of the Dragoon Warriors look on in awe as the demons surround Brad. Arrowny just shakes his head...

 

“Brad... that’s not the kind of something I meant!”

 

Brad’s eyes shift uneasily at Arrowny’s words...

 

“Oh...”

As the demons get close, he reaches out, grabbing the handle of his axe. He pulls it out of the ground with all his strength, and slams the blade into the jaw of one of the demons, crushing every bone in the creature’s head, and forcing some thick grey ooze to spray out of its ears.

 

The cavern erupts in action.

 

As Ryan had guessed, Justin’s full strength technomage powers are more than enough to protect all four Dragoon Warriors, as well as Draco, from any curse type harm... and with that element on their side, it doesn’t take long for Lucius to call his remaining troops back to regroup.

 

“Impressive young warriors!”

 

The voice does not belong to any of the enemies before them. They turn to see the red robed demon leader, and a short, plump wizard whom Arrowny recognizes from pictures Snape had shown him as a man called Wormtail. They are standing on either side of the empty throne.

 

“I am truly happy that you could provide my entertainment for the day!”

 

But the voice is not coming from either of them. Rather, it seems to be emanating from the throne itself.

 

Strips of orange, yellow, and green fabric appear out of the air around the throne, flowing like liquid... twisting around each, forming a slightly human shape. The fabric pulls away from the head and hands, allowing the Warriors to get a look at his face. He isn’t that much older than they are... dirty blond hair... makeup around the eyes. The fabric stops winding about, and falls around him as brightly coloured robes. He sits in the throne, and smiles brightly.

 

Arrowny raises Sky Render, preparing to defend himself. He turns toward Justin.

 

“What are your scans telling you about him?”

 

The technomage just shakes his head.

 

“Nothing... according to my sensors, he doesn’t even exist.”

 

Arrowny blinks in confusion... and turns to Saphir.

 

“What about you? Can you tell me anything?”

 

“Yup... I can tell you that, whoever this guy is,” he shows Ryan one of his magic cards, and Arrowny is shocked to see that the name and picture have vanished from it, “he blocked the card’s power as soon as he appeared. I can’t warp us out of here.”

 

Arrowny turns to the remaining member of the Warriors... who is looking at the man with amazement in his eyes.

 

“Brad... anything you want to add?”

 

“That was a HELL of an entrance. I think we need to rework our entrances. His was just... so much more impressive than anything we’ve got!”

 

Arrowny stares blankly at his friend...

 

“Remind me... what do I pay you for, exactly?”

 

Brad just shrugs his shoulders.

 

“To kill stuff... I guess.”

 

“Oh,” Arrowny nods toward the colourful man, “okay then... let’s kill him!”

 

“Okay!”

 

Before the Death Eaters can react, Arrowny pulls one of his throwing knives from inside his jacket, and lets it fly at the man... it is a perfect throw, and the knife heads directly for his throat... twenty feet... ten feet... five feet... two feet... six inches...

 

And it stops.

 

The man stands, with the knife still floating just inches from his neck.

 

“You know... there’s something familiar about you.” He cocks his head sideways, looking directly at Arrowny. “Yeah... it’s in your aura. Artist... and Assassin. Who would have thought that after nine thousand years... the first threat to my power would end up being a member of the same family as two of the original people who ended my first rule? Is it coincidence... or is it fait? Doesn’t really matter... you’re gonna die either way! You see... the Assassin... he double crossed me way back when. He actually had the nerve to attack me, just because I broke our contract and tried to off him! So... you know how I feel about him... his daughter the Artist... and their whole freakin’ family line?!

 

I hate...

 

Hate, hate...

 

Hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate...

 

HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE THEM!”

 

The knife vanishes... and Arrowny feels a sharp pain in his left shoulder. He looks down to see a wet, red spot on his denim jacket. He lifts the left side of his jacket... and sees that his own throwing knife has reappeared, buried to the handle, in his own flesh. He falls to his knees... trying to fight back the pain enough to think.

 

Brad turns to Draco.

 

“Who the HELL is this guy?!”

 

“He’s... Kefka. He killed Voldemort.”

 

“Thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat’s RIGHT!” Kefka strikes a dramatic pose... arms stretched out to the side, head tilted sideways, “I killed him, and drained his energy! I didn’t even give him a sporting chance! But... for you...” he takes a few steps back, and sits on one of the armrests of the throne, “I think I’ll make a game. If you can escape this cave, I will allow you to go back to Hogwarts.”

 

You see... I think it is more than pure coincidence that the great-great-great-great.... etcetera... grandson of that blasted Shadow... who also happens to teach a course about little old me at a wizard's school, is the one who came here to save the blond kid. In honour of all this... I’m going to give you a fair chance. If you escape this cave, Cardboy’s magic will come back, and you’ll be able to teleport. If you do not escape... I kill you all in the most horrific way I can think of.

 

Also, only one of my followers will be fighting against you.”

 

Kefka points to Wormtail... and deep inside, Arrowny feels totally relieved. He remembers reading Snape’s file on Wormtail... and the line ‘weak, dimwitted poof’ is still strong in his memory. Kefka chose, quite possibly, the weakest person he could have picked... and Ryan couldn’t be happier.

 

“And, to those of you who are happily thinking that I chose a really... really weak person to hunt you...” Arrowny stares in shock at the brightly coloured sorcerer, “think again!”

 

Two years ago, Wormtail severed his own hand in order to revive Voldemort. In return, he was given a new, magical, silver hand. There was nothing particularly powerful about the hand... until Kefka came along.

 

Wormtail raises his silver hand and points it at Justin. A ball of energy shoots forth from it. Justin stands tall, expecting his force field, which held strong against dozens of curses just a few minutes earlier, to protect him...

 

It does not.

 

The energy passes effortlessly through the field, striking the technomage in the chest. Justin falls to the ground, his clothing smoking from the impact. Saphir quickly checks him, and Arrowny is relieved when he sees that, although the attack hurt him, it didn’t do much more than just knock him down.

 

The point is made, however... Wormtail has power... and he can break the force field. This, along with the fact that it is the great, all powerful Kefka standing before them, forces Arrowny to give an order he has only had to give on precious few occasions before.

 

“Run!”

 

True to his word, Kefka does not allow any of his followers, save Wormtail, to give chase. This gives the Dragoon Warriors a slight advantage, because even with Arrowny being slowed down by loss of blood, they are just a little bit faster than the short, fat,

 

“Energy throwing, dog food, god damned PUNK!” Brad is angry. All of the Warriors know that sometimes, retreat is a perfectly valid option... but above the others, Brad absolutely hates to run from a fight.

 

They’ve gotten so far ahead of Wormtail now that they cannot even hear his footfalls coming from behind... and with the exit just ahead... they’re home free...

 

Unless of course the reason they can’t here him behind them is because he took a shortcut to the exit and is waiting for them to turn the corner so he can blast them into little, itty bitty bits... which, of course, he is.

 

Wormtail blasts Justin back against the cave wall.

 

“There’s nothing you can do! Kefka has given me the power!”

 

The small size of the corridor limits the usefulness of Saphir’s Glaive... but that doesn’t stop the shortest Warrior from punching Wormtail right in the face.

 

“Gods help... you are ANNOYING!” The blow pushes Wormtail back against the wall. He stretches his arms out to stop himself from smashing face first into the stone.

 

Brad sees his opening, and swings his axe as hard as he can at the special silver hand. The specially designed axe has little trouble smashing the magical appendage into thousands of small silver shards. Wormtail screams in pain as blood pours from his forearm. He turns around, and leans his back against he wall.

 

“I’LL KILL YOU!” From within his robes, Wormtail draws a short sword with his good hand. A still crouching Arrowny draws yet another knife from his jacket. “YOU CANNOT HARM ME!” He throws... “I WILL KILL YOU ALLG-gug...” The knife enters Wormtail’s wide open mouth... the blade pierces the Death Eaters spine through the back of his neck, and jams itself into the stone wall behind him. Wormtail’s head falls forward, but the knife holds him to the wall, preventing him from falling to the ground. The life drains from his eyes... his sword drops to the stone floor.

 

Arrowny picks the weapon up, and slowly stands... there is a steady stream of blood dripping down his left arm now...

 

“We win... let’s get back to Hogwarts.”

 

One quick Warp spell later, they find themselves in the Hospital Wing, with a shocked Madam Pomfrey, who immediately tends to their wounds.

 

*        *        *        *        *        *

 

The next day, the group gathers in the Headmaster’s office.... the four Dragoon Warriors, Snape, McGonagall, Dumbledore, Hagrid, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Draco, even Sirius black, whom had the entire situation explained to him... and Professor Trelawney. Arrowny’s wound was quickly healed the night before... but his arm is still a little tender. Madam Pomfrey nearly had a fit when he told her he would not be staying in the hospital wing for observation.

 

It’s easy for Arrowny to see that the students, and also the Gryffindor and Slytherin house heads, have a hard time understanding why Trelawney is here... but Ryan knows better. He’s had some... experience... with seers in the past. Even if Trelawney isn’t that powerful... the object that she is holding will allow her to have a true vision.

 

The Prophet Stone, a small, rose quartz coloured sphere, grants seers the chance to view destiny itself. When Arrowny first heard of its power, he was sceptical... but he knows better now. At the moment, Sybill’s hands are grasping the stone, and here eyes glow the same colour as the stone.

 

“Kefka wants his power back. He needs the Goddess Statues... and the Espers. He will attack Figaro to get Poltergeist... and he will attack the Siberian Warlocks for Doom Statue... and he will attack Hogwarts for Goddess. Since the Espers are dead, he searches for their descendant. He also has the same information that the Protectors have... that it is a student at this school. He will attack here last... at sunset in thirty days. We have until then to prepare.”

 

Her eyes stop glowing, and she hands the stone to Arrowny. McGonagall looks seriously at her.

 

“Sybill... can we win the fight?”

 

Arrowny turns his head slightly to face the head of Gryffindor.

 

“It doesn’t work that way. The journey is written... not the destination. She can see the battle... but not the outcome. That’s the extent of destiny... it cannot see beyond something that is going to be effected by free will. The only reason she can see all that stuff is because Kefka has already made up his mind about exactly what to do.” He puts the stone in his pocket. “We can trust the information.”

 

Dumbledore places his hands flat on his desk. His usually calm face betrays his emotions concerning the coming events... he is worried.

 

“Ryan... what should we do?”

 

“Luckily... I already have a plan worked out.” Arrowny breaths deeply, and hopes that they will all go along with his idea.

 

“Firstly, since Kefka knows the descendant of the Espers is not a muggle born student, we send all those who are not from a long wizarding line away from the school. The attackers will not think twice about killing them... but they will be under orders not to kill anybody who potentially holds the power of the Espers. Which is why... I want to use the rest of the students in the fight.”

 

Arrowny was expecting some outrage at this part of the plan... but when he receives none, he continues.

 

“We need to drop the anti-muggle charms from around the school. We have a technomage... we’d might as well take full advantage of that.

 

Dumbledore, call the Minster of Magic, and get him here, tomorrow! We’ll need his help.

 

Brad and Saphir will be in charge of training the students. Those with the highest marks in Charms and Defence Against the Dark Arts will work with Saphir. They will be our magical offence.

 

All others will work with Brad. He’ll teach them how to use melee weapons and to fight hand to hand. They’ll be our main infantry. Get one of your house-elves to help him get the weapons we need.

 

We have thirty days to prepare for the most important battle of the last nine thousand years... Let’s get to work!”