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123 AC, Sothoryos
Harry Potter walked alongside Daphne as they delved deeper into the horrors before them, and despite it all, he couldn't help but feel a sense of fascination with what he was witnessing. He never thought he would ever see a place so steeped in chaos, for even Valyria hadn't come close to this. Nothing in this place was alive, not really, just chaos mimicking a semblance of order that had once existed, that he had once consumed.
Everything, the trees, the plants, was technically part of the same organism (if one could call the eldritch amalgamation of chaos that), or at least, they were quickly becoming one, as chaos slowly tore apart the structure of existence, and swallowed it whole. He kind of understood why the Elder Dragons would fight tooth and nail against this, because there was nothing that one could do to stop such an advance, not when it held such a foothold in this place.
There were also telltale signs that the current advance was done quite quickly, given the obvious contrast between how fully subsumed the world became the further South it was. There was more movement, mimicries of life, at first. He had even seen large humanoid shades walking around like a mixture of inferi and cavemen. He guessed that they were what remained of the 'Brindled Men' that he had read about. It was a shame, since from the looks of it, they didn't exist anymore. Nothing existed anymore, in Sothoryos, just more or less part of its invading forces, slowly withering away the memories of matter.
Harry wished that he'd have come to this place earlier, at least before the Outsiders' expansion of their domain North. He would have loved to see these Brindled Men in action, as well as the proto-dinosaurs that he was seeing moving in the darkness. It was a shame, because this was proof that there might have been dinosaurs living in this place at some time. That might have been one of the greatest crimes that the Outsiders had ever committed, depriving this world of dinosaurs. They would have been great to have in the Menagerie, too, like when he added a few Mammoths there during one of his trips North of the Wall.
Jokes aside, there were also some draconic movements to the shadows in the sky, which he assumes were remnants of the Wyverns that remained living, which were said to roam the skies of Sothoryos.
All in all, this place was one of the most horrific yet interesting places that he had ever seen in this world, and unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, given his obsessive need to find answers, he needed to delve further into it.
This sort of incursion had to have a source, a breach that started it all. After all, it was obviously spreading North over time, meaning that it had a source, which he needed to track down. Honestly, as far as threats went to this realm, the Outsiders were, by far, the more dangerous and the most troublesome ones to deal with.
They were like an entropic force of nature, an inevitable end that would subsume this world, like a rot that simply could not be defeated, and a veritable threat to every species in this world, especially long-lived ones like the Elder Dragons. It would also be a threat to the gods, should they gain access to the fragments of Black Stone that connected them to this material realm. After all, the Elder Dragons prioritised dealing with them for a reason, even if it was mostly to preserve the realm to reproduce.
Harry looked at his wife, with a resolute look on her face, and smiled, for she had never looked as beautiful or as radiant as she had in that moment. Even then, she was doing a good job at hiding how unsettled this place made her. He supposed that as a druid, she would feel more than anyone just how wrong this place was, and how horrible this mimicry of life that surrounded them truly was.
He smiled at her and spoke up, "Do you remember the plan?"
She gave him a resolute nod, but froze for a moment, "Are you sure about this, Harry? This… You've never done this before. The cloak…"
Harry waved his hand dismissively, interrupting her, "I'll be fine. Besides, we both know that things will probably not be quiet on my end anyway, and that it's more important that no one sees you coming."
Without any further ado, Harry did something that he hadn't done for years, and took off his invisibility cloak, and wrapped it around his wife. He was still the cloak's master, and the field that hid them still covered them both for now, but nevertheless, he felt somewhat naked without it. It had been a constant weight on his shoulder, and he wore it while it was disguised as a cloak or coat, ready to turn invisible at a moment's notice.
Nevertheless, their plan required Daphne to be hidden for as long as possible, and Death had proven to be something beyond what the Outsiders could understand, for they existed in chaos, in a void without a beginning or an end, without even Time. In fact, given what he saw during his confrontation with the Outsider in Valyria, they tended to be stopped by things that were beyond their understanding. It was, in fact, why the Patronus Charm worked so well on them; positive emotions were fundamentally beyond them, and this spell was pretty much an amplifier for such a thing.
The moment that the silverly cloak covered Daphne, she obviously shivered, which made him snort in amusement. She always had that reaction whenever the cloak's magic was used. The first time Harry had phased through a spell alongside her, she had complained for days afterwards. Sure, he'd done it out of instinct to escape a collapsing Aztec temple that they were exploring, and there were other ways to do it, but her reaction had been hilarious. So much so that he teased her by doing it when she didn't expect it.
Speaking of which, his wife gave him a glare, knowing that he was enjoying her reaction, "You're a prat, Harry. You know that, right?"
"A prat you married," the sorcerer answered cheekily.
Daphne rolled her eyes, but then looked hesitant, "Are you sure about this? And I don't just mean the cloak. This is pretty out there… even for you."
"We have to try, at least. And we do have our backup plan, just in case of an emergency."
The blonde looked like she wanted to say something before slumping, "Just… don't do anything reckless."
"Would I ever?" Harry answered cheekily, making her roll her eyes once more.
"I love you," she said finally.
"I love you, too."
Smiling at her, Harry leaned in, and their lips met in a short, familiar kiss, which his wife readily returned. He could practically feel the tension drain from her shoulder as he spoke up to her, "Stay under the cloak at all times and use our wedding ring to tell me when you're done. This could go wrong very quickly if we don't time things perfectly."
Daphne nodded resolutely, "Alright, let's get this over with."
Harry gave her one last look, committing the sight of her to memory out of habit more than any actual worry, before stepping back. Daphne could handle herself, and even then, the cloak should keep her well-hidden from the Outsiders. Even in case something happened, he knew that she would be able to hold her own for a while, and escape if it was necessary. He hoped that nothing would happen. After all, her side of the plan required subtlety and to remain hidden.
Despite his confidence in her capabilities and the fact that she wouldn't hear it, he couldn't help but mutter beneath his breath, "Good luck," as he walked deeper into the depths of horrors of Sothoryos.
Despite not having the cloak on him, he had gotten used to its magic over the years. It was a part of his legacy as the Head of House Peverell, and he learned that he could mimic its ability to hide from almost anything well enough, though it was very straining, doubly so given his surroundings, and not quite as powerful. He had tried to replicate phasing through objects and magic, but his calculations didn't look very optimistic in many ways, at least, for the spell to be activated with just a thought, and not some complex and draining ritual.
Anyway, his magic hid him well enough, given the fact that he hadn't been swarmed by Outsiders. That would have been quite bothersome to deal with.
He was still salty about the boat, though. He'd spend the better part of a year working on that thing, only for it to be destroyed so quickly. He hadn't even gotten to use the damn magic canons, though, or their ability to go underwater.
His inner rant about his boat disappeared as he found himself standing before a large clearing. There were no fake trees, no imitations of animals, no movement, a strange stillness in the endless chaos that ruled Sothoryos.
There was only a city, made entirely of Black Stone, or at least the remnants of one; the walls almost looked as if they were melting. He'd read about it, about the fallen city of Yeen, but what little he found, even in the entire library of the Citadel, didn't prepare him for this. After all, from the moment he looked at it, he knew that this had been the source of the Outsider's incursion.
The eye of the storm, that would have been how Harry would describe it, and everything around him cemented this. This was a breach, a hole in the world, that just continued to let more and more of the chaos outside into the world slip in.
Looking south of the city, the world was almost subsumed by it, almost completely taken over. Harry had spent years learning how to navigate the void between worlds, between universes, and he was finding little to no difference between it and what lay south of Yeen. It was as if it was settled, conquered, a great contrast to what lay north of it, becoming a complete and utter realm of chaos.
As he walked deeper into the city, the sheer concentration of chaos made containing the spell he crafted to mimic the cloak increasingly difficult to maintain the closer he got. It wasn't often that he felt strained maintaining a spell, but the very air that surrounded him wanted to unravel his spell at all costs.
Nevertheless, he held on and continued forward, ready to find the source of the breach that had caused all of this. He quickly did, for it was certainly not subtle, though the sight did take his breath away.
It was the melody that he felt first, one that sang of a desperate light and endless pain, like an endless, sad choir. It was the first melody, the first soul, that he had heard since the utter silence that existed in these cursed lands.
Then he looked at its source and froze. It was a pool of liquid Black Stone; Harry had gotten familiar enough with the stone to quickly recognise it, but within it, in a sharp contrast, was a woman. She was pale, completely naked, and kneeling down in despair. The most interesting part of it was the huge, feathered wings that came out of her back, twisted unnaturally, and pierced with shards of Black Stone, which looked almost like spikes rather than stone.
Despite the grotesque situation it was in, the best description he could have of the creature before him was that of an angel, one that was obviously imprisoned there against its will, feeling immense pain, as the pool of Black Stone almost looked like it was trying to subsume it.
The Black Stone obviously had an effect on the creature as well; its flawless skin was riddled with pulsating black veins that tainted even its wings. There was no mistaking the pain that the creature felt, for it was the only thing that he could truly perceive of the choir that made up its soul, the hurt, the begging to be released from its curse. That was all that remained in its soul, the only desire, for the pain to end.
The angel was obviously the source of the breach, though quite unwillingly. Harry wasn't sure what really happened, and he doubted that any magic in the world could uncover that, but the creature's song, which was so pure in soul and in heart, in pain and in agony, brought a tear to his eyes.
Looking at the state of the world surrounding the pool of liquid Black Stone, it wasn't hard to discern that the Outsiders had been invited in, much like they had in Valyria, though the Elder Dragons were not there to contain the breach. Was this what would have happened to the world if they weren't there? No matter what issues he might have with them and their schemes, especially ones involving him, they had done this world a solid with this one.
Still, looking at the angel, Harry couldn't help but wonder how long it had been like this, trapped in this hell with no way out, its soul being used as a bridge between chaos and this world.
Harry knew immediately what he needed to do, both to close the breach, which was something that he needed to do, but something inside him protested at the thought of it, "How clever… They used an angel on purpose, knowing of its resilience, and that by instinct, no one would try to kill them."
He could help but compare it to the inherent magic of unicorns, but there was no changing what had to be done, the mercy that he had to administer for the sake of the being before him, and the world itself. Harry steeled himself and, for the first time in quite a while, took out the Elder Wand from his holster. He raised it towards the kneeling angel and spoke the dreaded words, "Avada Kedavra."
And so, a green jet of light came out of the strongest wand in existence, a killing curse cast by a master of soul magic, and the claimant of the Deathly Hallows. He tied it to the sheer concept of death in this realm, hence the faint red sparks that surrounded the spell.
The magic sheared forward and met the angel in the chest, and following this, the world almost froze. The angel looked up, raising its neck, and its expression of pain and sorrow morphed into a grateful one for a moment, as its soul was carefully manoeuvred outside the ritual and the grasp of the Outsiders, moving towards its well-earned rest. For just a fraction of a second, the angel's song changed into that of a choir of pure hope and love that took Harry's breath away.
He recognised the angel's power in this moment, a fragment of existence after death, one that could be used to curse its murderer, and yet, it did not. The creature was only grateful and let its body fade away into motes of light which speared through the endless chaos surrounding it, illuminating the sky for a moment, and taking with it the anchor of the breach that the Outsiders used to invade this realm.
Harry was spellbound by it all, though he was broken from his stupor as the Black Stone began to bubble violently and exploded outwards.
He quickly ran out of the city of Yeen, watching as the entire city was being absorbed into the pool of Black Stone, which finally stopped at its border. He took a few breaths, having escaped it and looked at it. Well, that was the breach closed, and while that was significant, it did not magically banish the Outsiders from the world.
It did deprive them temporarily of their main foothold and maybe slow down their expansion for a few centuries, but it wasn't anywhere near enough.
Still, that was step one done. Now, onto step two… A small smile appeared on his face as he remembered it. Oh, this was going to be fun.
He did feel like he was forgetting something, though, something important. He wondered what it could have been. A quick movement in the corner of his mind reminded him, and he immediately waved his wand and cast the Patronus Charm. After all, using a Killing Curse on the source of the breach was probably a giveaway to his location, no matter how well he tried to hide himself.
Thousands of glowing silver doves appeared from his wand, circling around him at great speeds, each one concentrating its aura into something of a dome, a variation of the charm that he had created mostly out of curiosity and boredom.
His instincts were proven to be correct when the world around him shifted. The shadows in the sky distorted, and moved to take shape, and came roaring at him at once. Masses of teeth, uneven and layered over each other, pushed forward from every direction. Limbs followed, most clawed, like those of animals, and even a few giant fangs, all of whom formed and collapsed with every second.
They met the barrier of Patronus Charms, and it flared brighter as the first impact landed, but the pressure increased, and the giant mass of Outsiders rotated around him, surrounding him, trying to swallow him and his Patronus whole.
He could almost hear countless voices screaming at him in rage at what he had done, intensifying their attacks, "STRANGER!"
Harry waved the Elder Wand once more, and each of his Patronus constructs pulsed with light. Pushing them further away. To someone else, this might have looked like a bad position, and, if he were honest, it wasn't exactly a nice spot to be in, but thankfully, he wasn't exactly powerless before them.
Still, he walked forward and spoke up loudly, exerting his pressure, his dominion into the world, "ENOUGH!"
His words seemed to still the almost feral Outsiders from attacking him, and he looked at the amalgamation of creatures that surrounded him, and said softly, yet his voice stopped him, "I confess to not knowing exactly what you are hoping to achieve here, why you want to invade this realm, but I do know this… You are intelligent enough that you schemed against the Elder Dragons, arranging the Doom to either be able to expand your influence here or gain a new foothold in the world through a new breach… You clearly know what you're doing, that you planned this, not through some kind of instinct. I realise now that the why doesn't matter, not anymore. What matters is what you represent to anyone who calls this world their home… And so, I say to you, no more…"
Harry raised his hand, specifically the one where he wore his new ring, one with a band made of Daphne's golden tree, and its gem being a fragment of the stone that held the power of the Great Stallion.
The Outsiders must have noticed that something was wrong, as they immediately went further on the offensive, their screams intensifying, trying to pierce through his shield of Patronus Charms and coming very close to doing so. Alas, they were not fast enough, not to stop him from raising his hand, and puppet the corpse of R'hllor's realm, and for just a moment, gain access to the fragment of Light that lay within.
And just like that, the world froze, and a pillar of light spun out of Harry's location, banishing everything away, and making the amalgamation of Outsiders stay away with a screech. Harry watched as, with the authority granted to him with just this fragment, the world around him, the entire continent of Sothoryos, had its time stopped completely, including the Outsiders.
After all, despite being eldritch beings beyond Time and Space, they remained invaders of this realm, and until they subsumed it, would obey its rules. He understood then the power that was held within the fragment of Light, and it was certainly intoxicating. For just a moment, he could feel himself become all-powerful, all-encompassing, and the supreme power of this world. He understood why anyone would be taken with this power; it was beyond words and granted a complete and utter control over an entire realm.
Harry then waved his hand, and Time started to retreat. Everything that he had learned regarding the principle of Time told him that it should have been impossible, but that didn't matter, did it?
He was the Lord of Space and Time, and for just a fraction of a second, he was also the supreme authority over this realm, and its rules were his to command, and he commanded Time to turn back.
Just as he willed, the outbreak of Outsiders began to be peeled away from the island of Sothoryos, slowly being pushed back with every blink of his eyes. He saw centuries of influence revert themselves, and trees, actual trees, appear in the northern part of the continent. Everything, every fragment that held the influence of the Outsiders was being absorbed away into the pool of Black Stone.
Unfortunately, the lands had turned completely barren of life, since Time couldn't bring the dead back to life. Their souls had passed on. Powerful as he might feel during this moment, Harry knew that pushing the laws of life and death would invite a lot of issues in the future.
At least the flora was returning, since they held no souls, but that was barely more than an afterthought, really. Still, Harry pushed through, and he felt his body and soul straining the more he pushed the world to rewind, quickly pulling him out of the thrill of the power that he had access to. The Northern section of Sothoryos was free of the Outsiders at least, everything that was North of Yeen, but the South remained completely untouched by his actions.
The chaos was so entrenched there that it wasn't part of the material realm anymore, and the laws of Space and Time did not obey them. There was nothing to rewind, to undo, in the first place.
Seeing that pushing more wouldn't help. Harry walked forward, giving the chaos of a world past Yeen a cold look, knowing that the Outsiders could hear him, "You may have made these lands your own, made them beyond your domain, but I will not suffer your presence, not anymore."
He knew that they could still recover from this, that the foothold that they had in this realm would remain like a cancer, a part of the world that would not die, and they knew it.
Unlucky for them, Harry knew exactly what to do to stop cancer. So, he raised his hand, puppeteering R'hllor's realm once more, feeling the strain on his soul this time as well as he did so. What he was about to do was probably something that no one with their right mind would have, something that they wouldn't even think of.
And as he raised his hands, he conjured a sword of Light in his palm, which hummed in his grasp, as if knowing what its purpose would be.
Harry spoke up softly, though his authority due to the power of the fragment of Light made it echo into the void before him, "I banish you from this realm and from its laws. You do not belong here. Begone alongside your rot."
The wizard raised his blade up, and he could feel the ground in front of him tremble, as if trying to resist what would happen. Alas, Harry dove the sword down, nonetheless.
It pierced the ground effortlessly, and fissures of Light began to spread across the entire continent of Sothoryos, separating its North and South. Harry then smirked at the amalgamation of Outsiders before him, despite his very soul straining from the act, and spoke the words that he'd always wanted to say, "You shall not pass."
A line of Light appeared from the fissure that the sword had cut, splitting the very lands in two. It was not cutting the ground, not really, but a chunk of the world itself was being cut away. The ground and sky were split, cut in two, by a great white slash, and then the world turned white.
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The Mysterious and Cursed Lands of Sothoryos
By Malora Hightower of Oldtown
I write this letter to you, my father, wondering how the Gods loved their mimicries, for while you had returned home after your obsession with the lost city of Qohor, I find myself feeling similar sentiments as we landed in Sothoryos.
A cursed land, they call it, and yet, I would more fittingly describe it as haunted, for the moment that we set foot on its land, the world was not quite right. I am a capable mage of my own, and yet, I could not find a single trace of curses or any form of magic. There was tellingly also not a trace of life, not as described into the world.
The Maesters of Oldtown may have shamed our house and Oldtown as a whole, but they had a tendency not to record any traces of what they found unnatural, not the opposite. In my time on the lands of Sothoryos, I had not seen a single living creature, only trees and jungles. There were no giant snakes which were as large as a dragon, no basilisks that could poison a man in seconds, no wyverns flying atop the sky, and no savage Brindled Men, who would attack us on sight. We may distrust their words, but such falsehoods are strange indeed, especially as we have found remnants of the attempted Ghiscari and Valyrian settlements which had fallen.
There were many spices that were grown naturally in the jungles, a great fortune that we brought back to the ship, and if it remained such as this, this place could raise our house to new heights, likely not since the days before the scandal of the Citadel of Oldtown.
Still, it is strange that none had attempted to invade this place, that even the Rhoynar had fled it, should it have been as it is before me, which meant that it was not always as safe. I have tried to use any form of divination magicks, but all I saw was an endless, blinding light.
Despite the riches, I find myself enthralled by this mystery. We have already begun an expedition to the fallen city of Yeen, or at least, where the Maesters report its existence. Perhaps, in this place, I would finally find my answers.
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AN: Phew, that chapter got away from me a bit. The first part of it was meant to be in the previous chapter, which is why it's a bit dense, though I'm not fully sure about how it came out. I had initially planned a different confrontation with the Outsiders, with it being a larger mystery to be solved, like what exactly happened in Yeen with the angel and everything, but I decided that it would have dragged on a bit too much, and that there was no reason why Harry wouldn't just get it over with. He has access to the fragment of Light through R'hllor, and he wasn't exactly subtle with it, which will have consequences. Also, I know that relegated Daphne's role a bit here, but it's a critical part, for what's coming (sorry, I'm trying to avoid spoilers). As usual, please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions.
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If you want to support me, check out my patréon at https://www.patréon.com/athassprkr
I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions on them, so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.
Thank you guys for your support in these hard times.