the marriage stone (Discontinued)

Chapter 36 Carrying the Stone

It was all the cue the Winter Land warriors needed. Freed of the worry of the Dementors, the archers were already shooting arrow after arrow down into the Grendling pack. The dog masters now drove their brooms toward the ground, and released the harnesses, letting the dogs drop the short distance to the ground. Barking gleefully the dogs leaped into battle. A moment later, Alrik's warriors, swords and axes raised to strike, joined them, meeting the Grendlings head on with a great battle cry.

Fifty men landed on the Capstone, fanning out and driving the Grendlings away from it.

"Get ready!" Severus shouted to Harry. Harry hesitated only a moment before driving his broom downward, seeing the opening that cleared near the stone. A dozen more men followed him from the sky, shields and swords raised to keep any Grendling from attacking him as Harry at last set foot on the frozen ground. He took only a moment to release Prongs from his command, letting the Patronus loose with the last order to circle the battle before turning his attention to the great Capstone.

Feet firmly planted Harry aimed his wand at the enormous stone, only vaguely aware of the men fighting all around him. "Wingardium Leviosa!" he shouted, and the great stone seem to come to life - the carved knots and runes on the stone suddenly burning with an inner fire. The stone rose obediently into the air, but this time Harry felt its enormous weight and he staggered under the sensation. Unlike the other stone he had lifted, this one seemed different - connected somehow to the Earth - and the Earth did not want to release her hold.

But Harry focused his mind, his heart pounding, and channeled everything he had into the weight of that stone, commanding it to move, begging the Earth to let it go. And impossibly the stone obeyed, floating silently through the air toward the great Well of Despair that now had a cloud of Dementors being forced down into it.

With every step Harry took across the now blood-stained ground, his feet sank into the frozen earth as if he himself was suddenly heavy beyond imagining. His whole body strained beneath the weight of the stone, but his hand never wavered, his magic never hesitating even when he was splattered with blood from the warriors and Grendlings fighting around him.

Twice dark shapes leaped at him, only to be driven back by large metal shields that were raised to protect him just in time. His legs shook, his feet leaving deep imprints as he took each painful step toward the Well. Beyond he could see the silvery Wolf and Dog racing in a fiery circle around the lip of the Well, the flames of the Phoenix driving the last of the Dementors back down into the Earth. It seemed as if the air itself was filled with the screams of the damned and every step closer brought the cold icy touch of despair to Harry's soul.

"The Wyrms!" someone shouted. "The Wyrms are coming!" And distantly Harry could hear some far off sound of hissing that sounded vaguely familiar.

"Keep going, Harry!" another voice shouted to him, Sirius he thought. "You're almost there!"

And Harry pushed onward, forcing the stone ahead of him, forcing his legs to keep moving despite the great weight that seemed to be crushing him now, pulling him down. Only vaguely was he aware that something had changed in the battle, something different in the sound as men were shouting and screaming as some new horror bore down upon them. Harry could not spare even a glance away from the stone to look, the last of the Dementors now disappearing beneath the earth.

Five more steps, he staggered, driving the stone forward until at last it hovered over the Well, its fiery sigils pulsing now with each beat of his heart. One flick of his wand and the stone dropped, slamming down over the Well and shaking the Earth all around. But connected now to the stone and the Earth, Harry could feel the great pressure of darkness beneath the stone pushing upwards at it, and the roar of hissing voices was growing louder by the second. He knew he had to seal down the stone before the darkness broke free once more and he could feel the Earth herself waiting for something, waiting for some word or command from him.