Harry raised his wand, but found a shimmering barrier standing in between him and his wife. He whirled around, snarling at Voldemort. "What is this, Tom?"
"Simple, really. You turn your back on me, you die." The dark wizard smirked. "We haven't finished our duel yet."
Gritting his teeth, Harry kicked the barely-visible barrier before him. It didn't budge. He could only watch in horror as Ginny incapacitated Hermione and Tonks, and prepared to deliver the killing blow to his wife. He mentally kicked himself for not realizing it sooner. Ginny had supposedly portkeyed away to Nair'i'caix - he'd seen her disappear. There was no way Tonks would have been able to get to her. The only way this would have been possible was if Ginny hadn't portkeyed to the fortress at all. She probably portkeyed to Voldemort, then went to fetch Tonks, but Tonks found her first and caught her. Damn! It was right under all of our noses!
To Harry's immense relief, Tonks seized Ginny's legs, causing the shorter girl to topple over. Both of them rolled to their feet. Harry tore his attention away from them and the large puddle of blood that was forming under Bella. Rage bubbled up within him, enough that he actually wanted to cast the killing curse, but he held himself back. He needed to get to Bella first. The hand holding on to his wand trembled. He didn't even notice that Tonks had managed to disarm Ginny, and the two were now slugging it out with their fists and feet. He only saw the expanding puddle of red beneath his wife, feared for her life, feared for the life of their unborn child. He could see her weakly rolling around in the expanding puddle of her blood as she tried to stem the flow even as she went into shock.
"Let me out of here," he snapped at Voldemort. "Let me take care of Bella first, then I'll duel you."
The dark wizard laughed. "Oh Harry, Harry, Harry. It doesn't work that way. You duel me now . You see, here's your situation: you don't have a choice. The only way you're going to get to your beloved Bella to save her is to defeat me first. That is, if you can defeat me." Voldemort glanced over to where Ginny and Tonks were brawling, their wands forgotten. "Oh, and if my little pet doesn't kill her first," he added, almost as an afterthought.
Rage flooded Harry's conscious mind, overriding any other thought in his mind as he realized Voldemort and Ginny could just very well have killed not only his wife, but their child, as well. He hurled the most powerful blasting curse he knew at the barrier, and the impact created an echoing boom in the cavern that shook the entire room from the power the shield had just dispelled. Fear was displaced by hatred, more intense than anything he'd ever felt in his life, far beyond the anger he felt at Voldemort for killing his parents, or for anything else the dark wizard had ever done to him.
" Avada Kedavra !" Harry spun around hurled the killing curse at Voldemort, who merely stood there and let the green bolt pass through him. It splashed harmlessly against the marble walls behind the dark wizard. "What?" Harry stared in disbelief. He could feel the aftermath of the curse, the absolute power singing through his veins. It had felt more powerful than any spell he'd ever cast before. The euphoria of casting it was so great that he almost forgot… almost forgot about his wife lying in her own blood on the cold marble floor, almost forgot about Voldemort and his insane ambition to rule the world.
Voldemort laughed. "You cannot kill me that easily anymore, Harry. I'm afraid I lied. The killing curse will not kill me. If you truly wish to destroy me, you will have to-"
The dark wizard cut off abruptly as Harry appeared in front of him and slugged him across the face. "Shut up," Harry hissed. "Shut up! Shut up!" He continued pounding away at Voldemort's body, uncaring that his knuckles were turning bloody or raw. He only cared about inflicting pain on Voldemort, and judging from the grunts of pain coming from the older man, he was succeeding.
" Enough !" A wave of power exploded from Voldemort, slamming into Harry and carrying him all the way to the barrier the dark wizard had conjured up around their makeshift dueling arena. Motes of light flared up, coalescing around Voldemort's form as he began to glow. "Harry Potter," he began, "now you meet your end."
Harry stood, wiping the blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. "If I'm going, I'll take you down to hell with me, Tom." He walked forward, until he stood just five paces away from his nemesis. "Let's end this, Tom."
"I agree, Harry." Both of them stood still, Voldemort dissipating his shield. They both knew that this was it - they would go all out. There would be no more running around dodging spells and firing them off - they would be using the most powerful spells they knew, spells that had not been seen on this world for centuries. There would be no dodging those, and survival would depend entirely on who was more powerful. Harry had a vague idea why Voldemort was immune to the killing curse now. Voldemort was a warlock, much like Harry himself. How the dark wizard had acquired that kind of power was something Harry didn't know, but he wouldn't put it past him to use dark rituals.
Warlocks were able to visualize magic flows in space, Hiscophney had explained, mostly in the form of free-floating runes. The Trazkabanian sorcerers were those whose gift of magic was similar, he had explained, in that they directly manipulated magic without the need for a wand as an amplifier. In essence, a warlock was the ultimate mage, capable of forcing the magic to do anything and everything, simply by altering the patterns of the magic they could see.
During one of their discussions on runic magic, Hiscophney had hinted that a warlock, if powerful enough, could transcend the mortal plane and sever his soul, making him effectively invincible to the killing curse by destroying his mortal body and becoming an astral projection. It was a similar concept as to what he theorized that the Rod of Dominion did, tearing the soul free of the body, only that the Rod destroyed said souls afterwards. The only way to combat a warlock at that level, the Count had admitted, was to use spells that warped reality itself. Only a warlock could kill a warlock. Battles between warlocks of that kind of power tended to be highly destructive, which was why the sorcerers had banned anyone from learning any of the warlock-grade spells. Hiscophney had admitted to having illegally learned one of the forbidden spells, and had provided Harry with the material to study the others. They both had hoped that it would never become necessary for Harry to learn them, but it seemed that the time had come.
Calling up on the forbidden magic that he had only read about thus far, Harry settled himself, clearing his mind. He hadn't dared practice these spells anywhere near others because of their destructive power, and even Hiscophney only had a vagues idea of how they worked. His vision cleared as he began to see lines of color floating around him. Runes floated in the air, just waiting for him to combine them in the correct patterns. He raised his wand, and began to cast spells he had never attempted before. Power flooded his veins, and a strange sense of understanding filled him as the world snapped into focus. He could feel the magic around him, instinctively knowing which lines did what… and he began forcing them into the patterns he had studied as a last resort.
"Awaken the song that speaks of empty sky…"
Voldemort mirrored his stance as the dark lord began his own spell.
"Hear the screams of the souls of the damned…"
Harry's brow furrowed in concentration as he mentally forced the runes to combine before him. He began to glow, much like Voldemort, as invisible lines of magic became visible, coalescing around him.
"Now harken ye the voice of the ocean's lord!"
A circle of light began expanding from around both of them as the runes flickered into visibility, forming patterns on invisible planes before both of them. Voldemort continued, undeterred.
"Answer my call, and unleash the fury of the abyss!"
Both brought their wands forward with a heave, and the two runic circles floating in the air before them slammed into each other.
" Tidal Wave !" Harry shouted.
" Bloody Curse !" was Voldemort's answer. The two spells battled for dominance, causing a brilliant cascade of lightning to flare up where they met, bathing the room in blinding light. Wind howled in the underground cavern, tearing at their robes as they both pushed with all of their might. The space in between their spells distorted, flickering with an unearthly glow as reality itself was ripped to shreds. Waves of power washed across both of them, and the marble floor cracked and crumbled beneath their feet.
When it faded, the two combatants stood there, unharmed, but the tips of their wands were glowing with expelled power. Voldemort nodded in acknowledgement; for Harry to match a warlock spell was a feat even he acknowledged as impressive, but the young lord of Polairix looked winded. One more spell would finish him off. Voldemort began casting again.
"In the abyss, the trident of Hell's Lord dances…"
Harry realized that he needed to keep going. He'd only been studying runic magic for a short time, with a lot of help from the Trazkabanian sorcerers, since they were more aware of it than wizards, but even they had limited themselves to a single runic spell, and even that spell was sealed away. He had completely underestimated the amount of sheer power and concentration it took to cast one of these spells, even though he knew that what he was casting was not even the perfect execution of the spell. He forced himself to keep going, struggling to remember the words that would help focus the powers.
"In my hand the Creator's sword that calls eternal sleep!"
Purple light flickered to life in front of Voldemort, dancing in his eyes like flames.
"Dripping crimson truth lights the one true path!"
Red light flared up in front of Harry, and the marble floor ripped open around Voldemort, explosing flows of molten lava beneath. Colums of fire raced towards the dark lord as Harry continued his spell, forming a runic circle of flame beneath Voldemort's feet.
"Honor our pact and hear my command!"
" Maleficent Harm !"
" Animate Earth !"
The ground around Voldemort exploded as Harry's spell took effect, bolts of flame licked up angrily into the air. At the same time, a huge purple blast of magical energy erupted from underneath Harry. Both flew through the air, having been unable to shield themselves, and crashed to the ground. The marble floor was gone at the spot they'd stood at before, exposing angrily glowing lava beneath. Harry managed to stand first, clutching his broken ribs as he faced Voldemort. Realizing that now was his chance, before the dark wizard recovered, and he started another spell despite the drain on himself. His lungs burned as he forced air into them to form the words of the spell, every nerve in his body on fire from the energy he was channeling through it.
"Sapphire light burns deep into hell…"
Voldemort was picking himself off the floor when he heard the quiet chant. Not bothering to rise past his knees, he jutted out his wand.
"Harken the angel's summon…"
Harry found himself staring up as a giant runic circle formed above him, a good twenty yards in diameter, slowly rotating, humming with barely restrained energy. The spell he was about to cast was the most powerful from the archives Hiscophney had given him access to, something that could be as lethal to the caster as it was to the target. The Count had hinted that this particular spell hadn't ever been cast since almost the time of Merlin. Usually, Harry would be reluctant to cast something that he could easily loose control over, but it was his best shot at ridding the world of Voldemort. He didn't care if it tore asunder the fabric of space, or if he warped time. All he wanted was for Voldemort to die.
"Witness their sins, and call forth the day of judgment!"
Voldemort looked up at a similar circle floating above his head, bathing him in a stark yellow glow. The dark lord smiled insanely as he conjured up the powers of the forbidden spell, intent on wiping Harry Potter from existence.
"The true path shall guide you, find peace in annihilation!"
" Pale Flare !" Violet bolts flashed from the circle above Harry's head, curving around to slam into Voldemort's unshielded body. He braced himself for the onslaught he knew was coming. He recognized Voldemort's spell. It was the sister to his own.
" Phantom Destruction !" Yellow bolts of lighting crashed into Harry, driving his body all the way back to the wall as Voldemort's barrier failed. The magically-reinforced marble crumbled around him, and all time seemed to stop as he contorted in agony. He couldn't breathe, couldn't feel the blood rushing through his head. He couldn't fall to the ground as the magic continued to spear into him, pushing into the marble until he was embedded into it. Their spells tore open reality, opened portals to other planes as they called forth untold amounts of power, power that wasn't supposed to be handled by any human.
Their wands hummed and disintegrated under the strain as otherworldly lightning continued to cascade into both of them. The two runic circles connected, forming a cage around them as the world around flickered in and out of existence as the forces of nature tried to combat this defilement. Pale violet arcs fought with bright yellow lightning for dominance, causing a tear in reality to open up between Harry and Voldemort. It flared with unholy light, alternated with inconceivable darkness. It was as bright as the surface of the sun, and as dark as the event horizon of a black hole. Thunder crashed and went unheard as nature was violated.
Then, suddenly, he crashed back into the real world as his body hit the floor. The barrage of the spells was over. Nature had sealed up the damage that had been caused, dissipating the energy the two had summoned from the higher planes by diverting it somewhere else. The tear in space was gone. So was the barrier around the Rod of Dominion, and the staff clattered to the torn ground, resting amidst the crumbled and crushed marble.
"I… I'm impressed," Voldemort managed as the dark wizard lay slumped against the opposite wall, unable to get up. "I never… never expected you to master the highest levels of runic magic."
Harry couldn't find the breath to respond as he heaved for air, scrambling to rise. His arms wobbled, unable to support his weight, and he crashed back down to the ground. He absently realized that his wand was gone. That same part of his mind registered that he was still alive, which came as quite a surprise to him, considering that the final spells he and Voldemort had unleashed were quite capable of wiping entire islands from reality.
Both of them struggled for breath, unable to rise, and they both noticed the Rod of Dominion sitting on the ground in front of them, unguarded by the wards that had held them at bay. Voldemort smirked, realizing that his ploy had worked; shifting an object from a higher plane to theirs required immense amounts of energy, something that could only be found in warlock spells that were capable of tearing asunder the natural order of things. Even he would not be able to generate the necessary power by himself. Goading his opponent into casting the required spells and matching them with a spell of equal power had caused the Rod to shift back into three-dimensional space from where it had been, when reality had been warped by their colliding spells. Voldemort had no intention of destroying reality - after all, if everything was gone, what was there to rule over?
Harry realized what Voldemort was thinking, and forced his sore muscles to move. They spasmed erratically, and he could only drag himself along the broken floor at a snail's pace. The only consolation was that he knew Voldemort was in a similar condition. The only reason either of them were still alive was because neither had the required knowledge or control over the spell to bring them to completion, something Harry was glad for. A Voldemort with complete control over spells that could create black holes and tears in reality capable of swallowing up entire islands was not a pleasant thought.
Almost there….almost…. Harry thought as he reached a shaking hand towards the Rod that was now only a few inches away from his fingertips. He could touch it… tried to wrap his fingers around it, but the Rod slipped away and towards Voldemort. No! he thought as the dark wizard reached for the staff that was now within arm's reach. No, please, not after all we've been through, not like this!
A foot came down on the staff before either of them could get their hands on it. Their eyes travelled up a booted foot, up the tattered robes, and to the head. Voldemort smirked as he extended his hand towards the woman. She reached down and picked up the Rod, looking at it closely, her quizzical gaze wandering from the artifact to Voldemort and back.
Harry wanted to scream in frustration. He'd forgotten about Ginny and Tonks. Now that Ginny was holding the Rod…
Voldemort smirked as Ginny turned to hand him the Rod of Dominion. It was over, he had won. Harry didn't have the energy to stand, much less cast any spells. Suddenly, the redheaded girl collapsed to the ground, the staff rolling from her limp hands to the side where neither Harry nor Voldemort could get to it.
"About damn time she went down," Tonks muttered as she lowered the broken piece of wood she'd used to knock out Ginny.
"What are you doing to my sister!" a male voice shouted from the entrance, causing everyone who was left conscious to look over. A cadre of wizards stood in the archway, led by Kingsley Shacklebolt and Severus Snape. Behind them were a few members of the Legion, and, to Harry's utter disgust, Ron Weasley and his parents. Before anyone else could react, Ron had his wand up and blasted Tonks with a bludgeoning hex that sent the auror crashing to the ground and coughing up blood.
"Weasley!" Shacklebolt yelled, only to have the redhead run ahead and kick the downed Harry in the side.
Harry rolled with the blow, grunting at the pain as the older wizards caught up with Ron and pulled him away before he could do anything more than sneer at him in contempt. "Voldemort, Bella," Harry managed to mumble, and Snape immediately understood.
The potions master sent several of the wizards to round on the dark wizard, casting binding and immobilizing spells on him, while Snape himself left to tend to Bella. Harry caught his breath and looked around for the Rod, but one of the witches in the group had gotten a hold of it before he'd even spotted the black staff. The woman glanced at the staff for a moment, before looking over at Harry and grinning maliciously. The young lord of Polairix swore under his breath when he recognized her as Madame Arretha, the witch who'd confronted him two days ago when they were planning for the siege and had discovered there was a traitor among them.
"So this is the weapon you talked about, eh, Potter?" she mused with thinly veiled amusement, catching everyone's attention. "A weapon capable of destroying the most powerful dark wizard in centuries. It doesn't look like much." She shrugged, then levelled the staff at him.
"We ought to test it," she said with a grin full of malice. Ron stood behind her, nodding in agreement.
"Right, now that we have it, we can get rid of both of them," the redhead agreed.
Harry snorted. "You're kidding me, right?" It took some effort, but he managed to get to his feet, albeit shakily. "First of all, you have no idea how it works, so it's not like you can use it right now, so just give it to me and let me kill ole Tom there, and be done with it."
"Who said anything about using it right now?" Madame Arretha sneered. "We're taking you into custody, Harry Potter. You will be held in prison until such a time that the manner of your execution has been determined."
"On whose authority?" Harry sneered back.
"Mine, and the Order of the Phoenix," she replied confidently.
"Yeah, right," Harry spat. "That Order of yours isn't even a legal organization, much less one with the authority to make arrests and issue punishments." He flicked his wrist, causing his black ash wand to slip into his hand from his holster. "Besides, if you want to take me, you'll have to take me by force."
"That can be arranged." On her command, every single wizard and witch in the room turned their wands on Harry, forming a circle around him, Snape, the bound Voldemort, and Shacklebolt.
"What is the meaning of this, woman?" Snape bellowed.
Madame Arretha glared at the potions master. "It is simple, Severus. You are all hereby taken into custody, for charges of illegal black magic, murder, conspiracy to commit murder, treason to the wizarding world, and crimes of war."
"Crimes of war? Are you kidding me?" Shacklebolt shouted incredulously. "Have you lost your mind, Madame?"
"Silence!" the woman slapped him across the face. "You have sided with the traitor, Harry Potter. Therefore, you are as guilty as he is."
A low chuckle could be heard from the ground, and everyone turned to look at Voldemort, who was laughing. "You see, Harry, this is the thanks you get."
"Yeah," the black-haired teenager muttered, "I'm starting to wish I'd let you wipe them out. This is getting annoying."
"There is still time for that, you know," Voldemort taunted.
Harry looked like he was considering it for a moment before shaking his head. "Look, this is getting stupid. Give me the goddamn staff so I can kill Tom here, then we can all go our merry ways."
Ron laughed. "What do you take us for? Idiots? If we give you the staff, you'll just kill us all after you kill him," he nudged Voldemort.
"Well, yeah, you're sure acting like a moron," Harry muttered under his breath. Out loud he said, "Shouldn't you worry about Dumbledore first? The old man's been knocked out over there." He gestured in the general direction and frowned. Thinking of Dumbledore made him think of Hermione and Bella. Bella! He needed to make sure she was all right. I haven't got time for this, he thought irritably.
"The headmaster is of no concern. I lead the Order now," Madame Arretha declared haughtily.
"Oh yeah, really getting sick of you now," Harry muttered. "Look, get out of my way, or get hurt. It's your call."
"Ha! You can barely stand, Potter, how do you expect to take on all of us?" Ron smirked, his wand held on Harry.
Like this, Harry replied silently, mustering his remaining strength to pull off one last spell. He quietly muttered the words to himself. "Blazing light, shatter strength forged hard in hellfire… Sublime Horn !"
A vortext of purple light flared into existence all around Harry, hurling the people standing around him into the air and scattering them all across the room. He stood quietly in the eye of the storm, breathing heavily from the exertion, along with Snape and Shacklebolt. The two older wizards eyed him in wide-eyed surprise, in awe at the power of the spell even as drained as he was. The blast subsided as quickly as it had appeared, dropping the Order wizards out of the air and onto the hard marble floor. Bones cracked and broke form the impacts, but Harry couldn't bring himself to care. All he wanted was for it all to end so he could go home with Bella.
Walking through the carnage he'd caused, he picked up the Rod of Dominion. Looking around for Voldemort, he kicked himself when he realized that his attack had also blasted the dark wizard away, and most likely dissipated any magic bonds the wizards had put on him. "Impressive, Harry," Voldemort's voice came from behind him. Harry spun around, spotting the dark wizard standing a few feet behind him.
"You know the prophecy, right?" Harry asked.
"Yes, though the same thing you told that Order hag applies to you… you have no idea how to unlock the Rod's true power," Voldemort answered calmly.
"Really," Harry gritted his teeth. All he really wanted was to run over to Bella and make sure she was all right. He could feel she was still alive through the bond they shared, which calmed him down somewhat, but he could feel she was weakening. And he had no idea what had happened to their child. The wound probbaly wasn't fatal, he realized, but blood loss may kill her anyway. He glared up at his nemesis. "And here I thought I'd just hold it up and think something like, 'Die, Tom,' and you'd drop dead."
Voldemort laughed. "You still have not realized it? That staff is more than just a powerful tool, or a weapon. It is a key to the universe itself. Without it, warlocks can tear holes into space, tear asunder reality… but that only lasts for a short time before nature reverses the damage. With the Rod… you control reality. When you rip into space, the hole remains. When you tear apart this dimension, it will not heal. You can create your own universe, or destroy this one, because with the Rod, nature will not interfere. That is the true power of the Rod."
"W-what?" Harry froze, unable to comprehend what Voldemort had just told him. "You're delusional!"
"Hardly, Harry," the dark wizard smirked. "Think of it. The Rod was suspended in its own dimensional pocket. It took both of us and our combined spells to tear reality apart for just an instant - just long enough for the Rod to fall back into our reality. Why do you think it has remained suspended there for all these centuries when any damage we did, any tears we caused, were healed almost instantly?" Voldemort threw out his hands, causing a cage of golden lightning to arc around and enclose him and Harry.
Magic crackled as the entire area around them shifted into tones of grey. Time seemed to slow down and finally stopped, just before everything faded to black, leaving the two adversaries floating in a see of nothingness, surrounded by a golden cage. "I just shifted us into another plane," Voldemort explained. "That is what the proximity of the Rod will allow me to do. Once I hold it…"
Harry glanced around, staring at the absolute blackness around them. "So, what happens if nature kicks in and seals the hole you've created, Tom?"
"We would be trapped here, for all eternity," Voldemort replied with a toothy grin. "On the other hand, here we can finally finish our duel."
Harry arched an eyebrow. "I don't think so, Tom." He raised the Rod and pointed it at Voldemort. "It's over."
"You can't kill me, Harry," Voldemort told him. "Remember? The killing curse will not affect me." He smirked arrogantly. "Besides, do you really want to do these unworthy idiots in the wizarding world the favor?"
Harry shook his head. "I'm not doing them the favor, Tom. I'm doing it for myself. For everything you've taken from me, for everything you would take from me if I let you live. For everything you've taken from those willing to stand up to you."
"Not so noble now, are we?" Voldemort commented in amusement, seemingly unbothered by the fact that Harry now held the Rod of Dominion.
"No," Harry conceded. "That was something you taught me… selfishness. And you know what? Thanks. You showed me who my true friends were. That was probably the only good thing you've ever brought to my life."
The dark wizard crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Go ahead, then. Strike me down. Satisfy your need for revenge. Let me see all the hate you have for me." He bared his teeth in a feral snarl. "Show me how much you hate me for killing your parents. Show me how much you hate me for causing your godfather's death! Show me how much you despise me for your lost childhood!"
Harry gripped the Rod tightly in his hands, his knuckles white. He carefully recited the words to the final warlock spell he'd learned. "Awaken, lord of the four treasures, sealed since the origin of time. Let my strength be the sword of the oppressed… Spiritual Lancer !"
The staff in his hands elongated and widened until he held a two-sided spear, each blade four feet long, tapering from the tip to twelve inches wide, separated by a short shaft that he was holding on to. With a cry full of all the anger he felt, Harry lunged forward, impaling Voldemort on the weapon, piercing straight through the dark wizard's torso. The bladed tip emerged from the other side, but Voldemort still stood. The non-existing ground underneath them erupted into a brilliant blue sphere and three ethereal spears slammed upwards, impaling Voldemort's body. Harry took a deep, shuddering breath before he looked up, confused and surprised to see the dark wizard still standing.
"Well, it appears you have what it takes, after all," he said in amusement. "It is just too bad that you are there alone." With that, Voldemort's figure faded, as did the golden cage, leaving Harry in perfect darkness.