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(Disclaimer....I feel like this is becoming repetitive, if you haven't figured out I don't own Harry Potter but do own the OC's then you're a lost cause =P)

(Chapter 9 Start)

The entire Order of the Phoenix was rushing down Diagon Alley from the Leaky Cauldron. The apparation point in Diagon Alley had been warded and the only option was to floo in and rush from the Leaky Cauldron. Luckily no Death Eaters were attacking that point of entry. Though Jericho couldn't understand why.

Slowing his running to a jog, he waited till he was a safe distance behind before separating from the group. A lot of things weren't making sense lately and he needed to do some investigating before he fought. Ducking between two buildings, he climbed the drainpipe to the roof and started following the Order from the rooftops. As he neared a large building, he saw lights flashing from various holes in the roof. Deductive reasoning said that was the Ministry of Magic.

Approaching one of the larger holes, Jericho peeked in on the battle below him. The Death Eaters were few, which was surprising. He had thought that for such an important structure, they would at least send enough troops to make sure victory was a possibility. Bodies lay all around, hardly any of them were Death Eaters. Jericho watched a Death Eater be stunned only to be revived and understood why hardly of them were Death Eaters.

'No wonder these people are losing, they aren't fighting a war. There treating the Death Eaters like juvenile delinquents.' He thought.

The Order of the Phoenix burst through the door, with Albus leading the pack. Many of the aurors seemed to sigh with relief.

'Wow! The real Albus Dumbledore is here! We're saved!' Jericho sarcastically thought.

The Death Eaters stopped and watched as one figure stepped up. The aforementioned Death Eater lowered their hood to reveal a feminine face with black hairs and violet eyes. Jericho had to admit she would be attractive if her face didn't scream, "PUT ME IN A PADDED ROOM!!!!!"

"Bellatrix Lestrang, give up you are severely out numbered." Albus ordered.

"Ha! Out numbered maybe, but not outgunned!" She shrilled. Glancing at the walls to each side she nodded and two figures revealed themselves. Jericho gasped, they were dressed in Templar robes. Both were wielding golden glowing long swords. The aurors nearest cast stunners at them, both Templar severed the spells in half and charged them. The aurors didn't stand a chance as they were ruthlessly cut down.

'WHY ARE THEY REMAINING STATIONARY? MOVE DAMMIT!' Jericho's mind screamed.

The Order was much smarter and moved further away from the two Templar. However, a scream from behind drew their attention. A man, Jericho recalled his name as Mundungus Fletcher had a knife protruding from his chest. The person holding the knife was still under a cloak and removed the knife. Quickly hiding his arm behind the cloak, Jericho assumed he moved to a different location since the spells fired his direction didn't hit anything.

The Order which was once organized was now in chaos. They were grouped like cattle and couldn't effectively cast spells without fearing friendly fire. The Templar with long swords stalked forward. Dodging spells from the Order, after all Jericho told them what spells would force Templar to dodge.

The Death Eaters weren't being idle either, a few well placed spells and the Order was effectively scattered. With wide enough gaps to work through the two Templar rushed through. Screams were heard as some people barley dodged fatal strikes, while others weren't so lucky.

"Group together! And keep your guards up! Don't let the Death Eaters scatter us!" Albus ordered. The group of witches and wizards were quick to group together, but some members weren't quick enough to get back to the group and were either slain by the Templar or by the Death Eaters.

Fleur was rushing back to the group when a bone breaker curse hit her leg.

"Ahhh!" She screamed in pain as she collapsed to the floor.

"Fleur!" Bill yelled while he tried to get to her, but Moody was holding him back. "Let me go!"

"No! You'll only get yourself killed, idiot boy!" Moody said.

The two Templar rushed at Fleur's fallen form. Bill closed his eyes, Fleur closed her eyes, but the Templar's eyes widened. Their swords which would have skewered the girl were stabbed into the ground, a boot on each blade kept them in place. The wicked glow of a Greek styled sword was all they saw before Jericho made their heads roll. The Death Eaters stood in shock

"Fleur!" Bill said as he broke free of Moody's grip. He made it to them and noticed Jericho glancing all over the place. "What's wrong?"

"There were three of them." He replied as he continued to look around.

A glimmer caught Fleur's eye, Jericho also saw it, but was to late to respond.

"Bill!" Fleur cried out as she pulled him closer to her. A red blade shot out of nothingness and left a deep scar on Bill's back. Jericho was quick to react and slashed his blade at the invisible figure, leaving a deep cut into the invisibility cloak. The figure removed the cloak to reveal a man dressed in Dark Templar clothing.

"Darky!" Tonks gasped as she recognized the figure and his wicked looking dagger.

"Fleur, take Bill to headquarters." Jericho said. Fleur quickly pulled out an emergency portkey that the Order members carried and activated it. Glancing at the rest of the Order he added, "Everyone leave this is no longer your fight. If you interfere I'll kill you myself." He didn't want to kill them, but his mission was now a higher priority than assisting the Order of the Phoenix and as such if they got in the way, he would dispose of them.

"That goes for you fools too," The Dark Templar said to the Death Eaters.

"Just who the hell do you think you are?" One of the Death Eaters said. The Order were having the same thoughts about Jericho. Everyone's thoughts vanished when a red bolt of lightning hit the wizard and left a smoking hole in his chest.

"I'm serious Albus! Get your Order out of here! You'll only get in the way." Jericho said as his arm glowed with magic. Hopefully a little intimidation would get his point across.

"Very well Jericho. We must treat our wounded anyway," Albus said. Turning to the Order he said. "Return to headquarters this is out of our hands now."

Over by the Death Eaters, Bellatrix gave out similar orders. Everyone pulled out some random looking object and disappeared.

"What's going on, Hugolin?" Jericho questioned as he raised his blades in a defensive manner.

"Nothing much, Jericho. Just following orders." He said, the rasp in his voice causing him to cough.

"Myren has alerted me of no such orders. In fact I was under the impression Myren was trying to find out who was aiding the Death Eaters and to dispose of them," Jericho paused for a moment. "Were you the one aiding them?"

Hugolin tsked, "Jericho, I would never waist my time comong up with such a plan. These orders came from Councilman Ferres...or is it Lord Ferres now? I'm not sure which."

"What do you mean?" Jericho asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Oh you haven't heard? Well I must say I'm quite surprised. Well allow me to be the one to share the news." Stopping to cough he continued. "Myren has fallen! All your friends and loved ones are dead."

Jericho inhaled sharply, composing himself, he said. "You lie!"

"Really? What would I gain from that?"

"Even if what you said were true, the Templar outposts across the world would still have enough troops to retake Myren!"

Hugolin tsked again, "Jericho you forget who you're dealing with. Ferres wouldn't make such an obvious mistake. The outposts have been destroyed. I should know since I led the attack against one of them."

Jericho was speechless. He wanted to deny it. Yell that it wasn't true, but the lack of communication and the way Hugolin's voice didn't waver when he spoke put a sense of dread in Jericho. Besides the plan sounded like it would come from Ferres, considering the ruthless efficiency it had and if Myren had fallen, it would explain a bit.

Jericho started to hyperventilate. 'Amadues, Marcel,...Raimond. NO! Father...are you really dead?'

Hugolin started laughing, "Hahaha, poor Jericho. Don't worry I'll send you to meet them."

His words struck a chord in Jericho. Stabbing one of his blades into the ground, Jericho reached up and unclasped his cloak. Hugolin's eyes widened as Jericho's cloak pooled on the floor. Grabbing his blade, Jericho pulled it free and pointed it at Hugolin, "Sorry, Hugolin. But I can't die yet. I have one to many people to kill first...starting with you."

"Hmph, fine then." Hugolin replied as he unclasped his own cloak and let it fall free. This would be a fight to the death and such garments would only get in the way. As the cloak fell away it revealed the face of a pale bald man in his mid to late thirties with a glaring red scar vertically running down his right eye. "I pity you Jericho." He said as his dagger started glowing an ominous red color, "My specialty is poisoning, one cut is all I need to end this fight. Heh while we speak that boy is probably dieing a very painful death."

'BILL!' Jericho thought in realization, "Then I'll avenge him too."

Doing a few stretches, Hugolin replied, "Well, I'd say the talking is finished by now, wouldn't you? From here on its straight fighting."

Jericho didn't even have time to answer as Hugolin rushed him. Slashing his dagger at Jericho's chest, Jericho was forced to jump back to avoid the blazing red dagger. Hugolin was quick to follow-up his slash with a kick to his chest. Knocked off balance, Jericho turned his fall into a backwards roll, narrowly avoiding a downward stab from the dagger.

'He's fast!' Jericho thought as he got back to his feet and raised his blades up.

'Good reflexes, how much longer can you dodge before you're forced to parry?' Hugolin questioned to himself as he appraised Jericho.

Jericho was wary in going on the offensive. One scratch would be the end of him, maybe not right away, but it would still be the end. Hugolin smirked as he watched Jericho's face exude his confusion on how to go about the fight. Advantage-wise, Jericho had reach as well as the ability to attack two spots at once or defend and attack at the same time. Hugolin, however had speed, experience, and a one-hit kill advantage. It was his experience that made him most dangerous.

'Come boy, show me what you're capable of.' Hugolin thought as he watched Jericho's face harden.

Jericho rushed forward this time, thrusting a blade at Hugolin's head and the other slashing horizontally at his waist. Waiting for his chance, Hugolin danced around the blade coming at his head to Jericho's unguarded side, avoiding the blade aimed for his waist at the same time. As Jericho passed him, he slashed his dagger at the back of Jericho's neck. Knowing the danger he was in, Jericho used his forward momentum and dropped to the floor in a forwards roll, making sure to slash at Hugolin's foot as he rolled away. Hugolin raised his leg to avoid the sword as he watched Jericho roll away.

'Kid likes to roll. However, I won't let him do it again.'

As Jericho got back up he glared at Hugolin, 'Shit! This would be easier if I didn't have to worry about being hit!'

Hugolin leisurely walked over and picked up his cloak before turning back to Jericho again. Jericho was confused, but didn't think too much on it as Hugolin rushed him again. Jericho realized just how dangerous that cloak was when it was thrown at his face, blocking his view. Slashing at the cloak to get it out of his way, he had a split second to see the dagger being thrust at his heart. Acting on instinct he brought his second blade up and parried the dagger to the side, missing his shoulder by centimeters.

'To close to run now!' Hugolin thought as he pulled his blade back and slashed at Jericho again.

Reversing his grip on the sword in his right hand, Jericho met the blade with his own. Hoping to score a hit, Jericho thrust the sword in his left hand. Hugolin saw the incoming blade and dropped to the floor kicking Jericho's feet out from under him. When he hit the floor, Jericho rolled to the side to avoid the plunging dagger. He continued to roll as the dagger kept sticking itself into the place he last laid.

Knowing he needed to do something and fast, Jericho turned his roll to a spin that would make any break-dancer envy and kicked Hugolin behind the knees. As Hugolin fell to his knees, Jericho still in mid-spin kicked Hugolin in the chest with his heel, knocking him on his back. With both his feet in the air, Jericho turned his spin into a handstand and pushed himself off the ground, back to his feet. Hugolin was in the process of standing up when Jericho charged again.

Slashing his dagger in front of him, he hoped to ward Jericho from coming closer. Jericho anticipated the move and paused in his footing letting the blade pass-by. Kicking off the ground he launched a forward kick into Hugolin's gut, knocking him up in the air. With perfected timing, Jericho launched another kick into his gut while still in mid-air launching Hugolin a few feet higher.

Landing on the ground, Jericho quickly thrust his blades into the falling form of his opponent. Hugolin looked down and saw the blades that he wouldn't be able to avoid. With the last of his strength he brought up his dagger and gave one final downward slash at Jericho, as the swords entered his gut. Jericho felt more than saw the dagger as it dragged down the right side of his face leaving vertical scar down his right eye, the tip barley avoiding the eye itself.

So there the two stood in the middle of the ministry building, Jericho with both his swords stuck in Hugolin's gut and Hugolin clutching his bloody dagger. Jericho carefully extracted his swords as Hugolin fell to the floor, breathing heavily. With great effort Hugolin, crawled to a pillar and used it to support his, now sitting body.

Jericho dropped his swords and brought one hand to his face. Touching the right side of his face, he pulled his hand away and saw the blood. Realization hit him, he'd been cut! His knees grew weak and they gave out from under him, forcing him to sit down.

"...Looks like I only got to avenge Bill..." He sadly said, "How long till the poison works its course?"

The dying Hugolin glanced at Jericho, "Hour maybe two if you're strong enough."

Jericho looked down depressed.

"Fortunately you won't have to worry bout that." Hugolin gasped out.

Confusion etched Jericho's face, "What do you mean?"

Hugolin weakly laughed, "Let me tell you a story. The first real Templar I killed years ago gave me this scar." He said pointing at the scar on his face. "Told me "You win this fight, but everyday you look in the mirror you'll know you also could have lost it.". So let that be a reminder to you Jericho. You beat me, but I could have killed you too."

"Why?" Jericho yelled in shock and surprise, "Why did you spare me!?"

Hugolin coughed, blood coming out his mouth and dripping down his chin, "Jericho, I am a Dark Templar probably days away from being promoted to a Blood Templar." He stopped to cough up more blood. "You are a Grand Templar about twenty some-odd years younger than me, the fact that I'm sitting here now on my last leg of life is a testament to your skills."

"There are skills and then there are skills." Alaman's word ran through Jericho's mind.

"But what about Ferres? Betraying the Templar?" Jericho questioned.

Coughing some more he answered, "I told you I'm only good at following orders. I've served Ferres for most of my life, there was little likelihood that I would turn against him...but who knows, maybe I spared you because part of me cursed my weakness and believed that you could stop him...or I just felt merciful. I honestly don't know and right now I don't care. I'm going to die and I'd like to spend my last moments in peace, not be interrogated. There are plenty more traitors for that."

Jericho wanted to ask more, he wanted to force answers out of the dying man. But at the same time he felt he should respect his dying wishes and remain quiet. It was the least he could do since his life was spared.

"Use my cloak to bandage up that cut. Last thing I need is for you to bleed to death after I spared you." Hugolin ordered. Jericho complied, ripping a long piece off the cloak and bandaging the scar, making sure to leave his eye uncovered. It wasn't damaged after all and you never know when you may need it. After he finished wrapping his wounds, he walked over to his cloak and fastened it back on.

"The rat's back." Hugolin weakly called out.

As he finished clasping the cloak and raising the hood, he replied, "I know."

Tonks stood at the doorway looking at the two Templar. She had seen the last moments of battle, from Jericho stabbing Hugolin to the point where Jericho strapped on his cloak. She was too far, however to make out anything other than his black hair, wouldn't matter much, though since most of his face was wrapped in the black makeshift bandage.

"What are you doing here Tonks?" Jericho questioned as he sheathed his swords.

"Dumbledore asked that I come pick you up if you were finished. If you weren't or if you had died I was to get the hell out of here." She answered as she stepped closer.

The three stayed silent until Hugolin went into a serious bout of coughs. "Looks like this is it for me, take care of yourself, boy."

Jericho quickly looked up, "Wait! Is there a way to counter the poison?"

For once, Hugolin looked sad, "I'm afraid only a Life Templar could counter it. It's why poison masters are feared. We aren't physically strong or exceptionally cunning, however we make up for our weaknesses by the little amount of effort it takes for us to kill."

Jericho looked down, "...I see."

With heavy breathing, Hugolin spoke his final words, "Goodbye, Jericho...I hope I don't see you soon."

Life left the man's eyes and Jericho made sure to close them, mumbling, "Don't worry you wont."

Getting up and turning to Tonks, Jericho ordered, "Tonks, burn him. I'll not have your ministry desecrating his corpse for their studies."

Tonks nodded sadly and cast a spell, burning Hugolin's body. "What about them?"
She asked pointing to the headless Templar.

Jericho spitefully answered, "You heard him...they aren't real Templar."

"Then what are they?" she curiously asked.

"That...I do not know." Looking back at the burning body, Jericho said a quick prayer before saying, "Let us go back to headquarters."

Tonks nodded before pulling out a length of rope. Jericho took hold and the two disappeared. The day had hardly begun, and already it looked like it would be miserable.

(End of Chapter 9)

Wow that was an intense fight. Hope you all liked it. Can't believe it took two pages for a fight between two people. Probably could have been longer, but unlike the movies a fight in a story CAN drag. So I figured it was pretty damn good as it was. Anyway sorry for the delay chapter 11 was a pain to write but it's finished now.

Anyway wish I had some music to suggest for Hugolin and Jericho's fight but couldn't think of one. If you have a suggestion leave it in a review and I'll listen to it and read the fight if I think it fits I'll replace this chapter with an A/n before the fight suggesting readers to listen to the song while reading it.

Thank you readers, faithful reviewers, and reviewers in general.