Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 136: The Final Incantation
Harry was slammed against the far wall, and his vision became blurry. Blood dripped from a gash on his forehead. His left arm hung limp at his side, dislocated from the impact.
Excalibur remained clutched in his right hand, its golden light flickering weakly.
Across the chamber, Arthur was already rising. The corrupted king's armor was cracked, and black ichor was seeping from a dozen wounds. But the purple mist was already knitting him back together, sealing the gashes and restoring his broken form.
"You see, Merlin?" Arthur's voice echoed. "You cannot kill me… I am invincible!"
Harry pushed himself to his feet and grunted in pain.
His magic was nearly exhausted, and Excalibur's light was dimming. He had tried everything he could think of, but Arthur simply would not fall.
The black stone seemed to provide him with infinite energy and regeneration.
'Excalibur alone is not enough,' Harry realized. 'I need something else. Something that could equal the power of that black stone.'
His mind raced back to the black book. Al Azif. The pages he had never been able to decipher. The symbols that matched the stone.
'The book contains the language of the stone's creators. The language that can affect it.' He was not completely sure if that was the case, but it seemed like a gamble worth taking at this moment.
"Urgh!" Harry grunted as he hit his left shoulder against the wall to set it back in place.
Then, he painfully raised his left hand, palm up. The black book manifested before him and rested on his hand.
Arthur paused, his purple eyes narrowing. "What is that?"
"Al Azif," Harry said, his voice steady despite his exhaustion. "The book I told you about. The one that shares your stone's origin."
Arthur laughed. "You think a book can save you?"
"I think…" Harry said. The book burst open by itself, and the pages began to flip quickly until they arrived at the text he was looking for. "…I think it's worth a try."
He found the final pages… the ones with the symbols that had defied him for so long. His eyes scanned the incomprehensible text, and he took a deep breath.
And he began to read aloud.
The sounds that came from his mouth did not seem human. They had no meaning that his mind could grasp; they were simply guttural clicks, hissing vowels, and tones that seemed to bend space around them. Such was the language of the voice… the tongue of the Ancient Ones.
The black stone began to emit a loud, sharp sound that almost resembled a scream.
Arthur stumbled backward, clutching his chest. "What are you doing?!"
Harry kept reading. The symbols on the page glowed with a pale purple light, similar to the mist created by the stone. The air in the chamber grew heavy and oppressive. The purple mist recoiled from Harry, retreating towards Arthur.
The stone was pulsing wildly now.
"STOP!" Arthur shrieked. He raised his dark blade and lunged.
Harry did not stop his reading. He raised Excalibur with his other hand and met Arthur's blade with his own.
The strike of the dark blade was deflected, but it ended up causing a deep gash on Harry's right shoulder, leaving a nasty purple residue behind.
But despite the agony he was feeling, Harry did not even flinch and continued what he was doing. It was obvious that it was affecting the stone, so he was not willing to stop for anything now.
His eyes reached the last part of the page.
Golden and purple sparks flew from their swords, and Arthur was suddenly driven back by an invisible force. It was the power of the words themselves.
Then… the black stone began to detach itself from Arthur.
Harry saw it clearly. The stone that had been fused to Arthur's chest for centuries began to lift. Thin tendrils of shadow stretched and snapped.
Arthur screamed in pure agony, as if the stone was tearing out his soul.
"Nooo!" Arthur cried. "No! NO! You cannot do this! It hurts! IT HURTS!"
Harry kept going. His voice grew stronger, the words flowing from his mouth as if something else was speaking through him. The final page… the last line… and then, Harry spoke the final syllable.
The stone ripped itself free.
Arthur collapsed to his knees. His chest was a smoking ruin.
The black stone hovered in the air for a moment while pulsing frantically, then… it tried to flee from the chamber.
It shot towards the ceiling, but Harry moved faster.
He leaped into the air, Excalibur raised high. The sacred blade came down on the stone just as it reached the highest point of its ascent.
The impact was deafening.
The stone shattered.
Fragments were scattered across the chamber. From the pieces, a thick, dark smoke began to rise.
The smoke seemed to converge at one point and formed a figure that produced a loud howl.
Harry was beyond exhausted now, but he still raised Excalibur once more, ready to fight whatever this was…
But the shadow did not attack him. It merely stared at him for a moment, and then… it simply unraveled. The howl faded, and the darkness dissolved into thin air, as if it had never been.
Silence fell over the chamber.
Harry stood over the shattered remains of the black stone, his chest heaving. Excalibur's light flickered a few more times before it settled into a steady, gentle glow.
"Is… is it over?..." he muttered.
Behind him, Arthur coughed.
Harry turned around.
The former king was on his knees, his purple eyes now fading. The glow was dimming like a candle reaching the end of its wick. And beneath the corruption, Harry could see glimpses of the man he had once known: the strong jaw, the blue eyes, and the weary smile.
"Merlin…" Arthur's voice was no longer raspy and inhuman. He sounded more like his old self. "The stone… it's gone… I can… now…"