Chapter 5 - Old Hound, New Tricks
Sandor Clegane didn't know what the fuck was going on. A weird man with glowing green eyes did something with a fiery red light and the next thing he knew, he was in chains.
"Up you get, dog." Two guards pulled him out of the mud the moment he woke up.
The Hound grunted as he was hauled to his feet, the leg cuffs being a bit much.
"Get a movin' dog! Yer about to get what's comin' to ya!" One of the guards said, no house affiliation on their tabard.
Sandor wasn't impressed, he just grunted and followed on.
He inspected the surroundings until he found a mostly burnt Frey flag on the ground as the guards led him. They were in the Twins, the fucker must have dragged his unconscious ass over there.
Speaking of the glowing green-eye bastard, he was sitting in an out-of-place chair in old Walder's dining hall.
"Ahh, Hound, was it?" The man said, looking up at him.
He didn't say anything, just narrowed his eyes.
"Well, I have an offer for you. Fight me one on one, if I win you work for me from now on. If you win, I give you a bag of gold and you walk free," He said.
"If I win you will be in pieces."
He laughed, "I am giving you a chance to leave, join me, or be on your way to do...whatever it is you would do. A better chance than most would get, I'm sure. You see, I need skilled fighters, and while you are just a big fucker, I need to make sure that you are worth investing in. Understand?"
The Hound sniffed, it wasn't that his nose was running, but the gesture filled the silence between them. "How the fuck did you knock me out?"
The man smiled again, "Would you like me to show you again?"
The anger inside him swelled, "Tsch, fight me square!"
He laughed, "Why would I do that?"
"Fucking tricks...fight me one to one, blade to blade," He was getting mad, but he had no fucking clue what that red light was.
"Tricks? I suppose, but this isn't about fairness. Nothing in life is fair, if that was the case then this would be a much different world, I'm sure," Harry said.
The Hound stared at the Wizard's nonchalant nature. It was rare that the Hound faced someone who had total confidence in a fight against him, though he did just face off against Baric Dondarian and that fucker didn't give two shits whether he won or lost either.
The Hound was normally bigger, faster, and stronger than any opponent, he usually faced off against, making the need for long-practiced swordplay irrelevant.
The man in front of him either relied on those tricks that knocked him out in the first place or he is extremely talented with the blade in non-lethal circumstances like the Knight of Flowers - a pretty boy that doesn't know what killing is about. The Hound knew what war was, what killing was, having fought his whole life. He would have to use that to his advantage.
The Hound didn't see where he pulled that black blade from, but the swirls were very familiar. Too bad it's a tiny thing, a scimitar, or whatever the fuck they call it. Still, it would fetch a fine price when he took it from the man's dead grasp.
He drew his blade with a nod, a crude piece of steel, and lunged forward with a false thrust, then stepped forward with his left foot and put his weight behind the strike. The very same chopping strike that temporarily took the life of Baric Dondarion.
The man casually swiped his slightly curved blade with little effort, like the strike wasn't worth his time. The strange man deflected the blow and reached out with his open left hand. Sandor found himself flying through the air and crashing through a table, having been hit in the chest with an open palm that felt like being kicked by a horse.
He got up though, feeling the pain in his chest. The armor could only take so much of the strike, but the scale mail proved to be tough enough.
"Fucking tricks!" Hound said. This kid might not be as bloodied as he was, but that hit wasn't a joke. He spat blood before growling.
"You're growling...I guess being called the Hound makes more sense."
His only chance was a trick of his own. He didn't have the great sword he usually preferred, having grabbed a longsword on his way out of the capital, but it was longer than that smiling little shit's curved blade, heavier too.
He wasted no time on perfected strikes and went for overwhelming lethality. A strike that could split a tree crossed his opponent at the belly, but something shifted strangely and his strike passed harmlessly. Sandor didn't have time to think about how his eyes weren't showing him what was happening, but he continued with a 5-strike pattern he favored in open spaces. He had felled hundreds of people with each of these strikes.
Yet he found only open air. Each strike wasn't close enough or was easily sidestepped. It was confusing to his honed combat senses, trying to hit shadows with a blade. The last strike was met with another palm in retaliation, he could almost see the force leaving the hand as it sent him flying.
The Hound got knocked on his ass once again as darkness closed over his eyes. The little smiling shit had kicked his ass.
"Well, you are tough, but you aren't stupid," The man assessed. "I can work with that."
~~o0o~~
Harry decided to bid King Robb goodbye for now. He disappeared with the Hound's knocked-out body, gear included. A small crack of the air dispersed and they landed in the clearing where the Hound and Arya were originally. Harry set up a full set of temporary wards, bringing him back to the time he was on the run with Ron and Hermione back in the day.
With a wave of his hand, he conjured a table, strong enough to hold up the weight he was about to lay on it.
Harry gave the Hound a series of healing tinctures of Wiggenwald, Wound-Cleaning Potion, Essence of Dittany for skin regeneration, and a few others. He then ensured that the Hound remained knocked out with a Dreamless Sleep potion which would allow Harry to heal him fully. His chest had a plethora of broken ribs, thanks to Harry's silent and wandless Depulso charms. He had tried to keep them low powered but they still did severe amounts of damage to the normal human.
Harry also applied some burn and scar removal salves that cleaned up the man's brutal facial scars. He finished it off with some hair growth so he wasn't so rough to look at. Even gave him a haircut with a few quick swipes of his wand.
With the Hound sleeping, and his healing finished, Harry discovered something interesting in his bag.
Harry pulled an intimidating snarling dog-shaped helmet out. Harry laughed, "Ah, the Hound indeed."
Harry decided to spend a bit of time enchanting and he came up with a fantastic idea. The helm opened with the top half of the dog's head rising like an engine hood, fangs included. The bottom half is also lowered simultaneously with a simple and effective hinge. The slim viewing window through the snarling mouth was more than most helms gave a knight, but the weakness of having an opening was still present.
"If I can up the intimidation factor by illuminating the eyes and creating a sort of smoke for the mouth..." He trailed off with a devious smile.
He heard a laugh in his mind, "Try this rune, it will have the effects you are looking for."
An image of a rune appeared in his mind, and he stopped what he was doing to absorb the knowledge. He conjured a small piece of copper and transfigured the rune into the surface. Strangely billowing black smoke came from the rune after he filled it with magic, looking like angry black clouds to some degree. It was scentless, like the black mist produced by his scimitar.
It was still a water-based mist so it just left the air around it a bit humid. He could also put a series of control runes to affect each aspect of the smoke as well. He did just that and found a fun combination that should work for the space he was dealing with, reducing the humidity to prevent freezing in colder climates, increasing the volume and production rates, and eliminating any chance of having the smoke reenter the helm.
"Thank you," He quietly said to Death.
Copying the formation of runes looked like a circle with three smaller circles tied to each of the three equally spaced directions. He put it on the roof of the snarling mouth of the dog's mouth so it would flow out like saliva, but not bother his breathing at all. He then set up a smaller transfiguration array that would close off the front of the helm within the mouth, so if struck there any blade or arrow would be stopped.
Breathing was the next thing to deal with, a set of clean-air summoning runes would activate when the helm was closed so the Hound would be able to breathe clean air. The runes were made to summon runes from a location, easy to do with a series of connection runes so the wind was summoned from the rear of the helmet, enabling a constant airflow.
Harry thought for a second, remembering the massive amount of burns he cured on the Hound's face, then he added a flame-freezing rune that would make it so he would be immune to any non-magical flames and partially resistant against magical flames while wearing the helmet. It would last as long as the magic does before something along the level of Fiendfyre consumed them both.
The final set of runes was to increase the wearer's vision, and it essentially was a mix between an alteration and divination rune, allowing for perfect and immediate vision outside of his helm. It would even work in the darkest of situations.
Harry finished everything off with the central governing runes. Then he wrote out a contract that was tied to the enchantments on the helm. He wrote out a contract with a scribing spell Hermione taught him back in school, then signed with a more advanced blood quill that was known as a Signatory Quill. This one just signed with a small amount of blood as it painlessly took a single drop for a signature.
The contract that Harry wrote outlined everything that he expected from the Hound in perpetuity. It also had a clause that said if he betrayed the contract then he would lose his life, his magical possessions, and anything else. The Hound would have been killed if he hadn't saved him on account of trying to ransom Arya, this is how Harry would ensure his loyalty.
Now to find him a proper great sword to include in the contract, after all, every good swordsman needed a worthy sword.
"Know of any interesting great swords people wouldn't mind losing?" Harry asked Death. "And what was the metal you were talking about earlier? Dragon-flame steel or something?"
Death appeared like she had been standing there the entire time, perhaps a bit too pleased at him calling for her. The rasping voice of Death didn't flow out audibly, but went directly into his mind, bypassing any form of occlumency he had like it didn't exist.
"Valyrian steel, yes. There are a few that fit your needs, a Valyrian Steel great sword, stolen from house Royce to start. The blade was in the hands of House Wheaton for a time, it is within a cave lost to time," Death said. She projected an image of the blade, named Lamentation, to his mind.
It was long, 180 centimeters (~70 inches), scorched-black Valyrian steel ripples flowed along the dark blade. A golden cross guard and red-leather wrapped double-handed handle held the blade together. It was capped with a golden pentagonal pommel with a perfectly square sapphire held in a central hole of the pommel.
Harry nodded at the image and attempted one of his newer spell ideas, which only had a chance of working as he could fully picture his target, "Portus-Accio Lamentation."
The sword appeared in front of him with a thumb of displaced air, wrapped in old cloth like a temporary scabbard. A strip of dark steel covered the tang on both sides, inert and nonsense runes were carved along the blade doing nothing and adding nothing to the user or the blade. He disassembled the blade, leaving a clean piece of Valyrian steel behind.
Strength, speed, imperviousness, cutting power, momentum, sharpness, self-cleaning, and the returning runes were placed in a linear array along both sides of the fuller. Perfectly mirrored.
He would have to finish the rest of the parts at another date, as well as finish the enchantments by filling them with magic.
Death's voice poured into his mind after he finished the rune-work on the blade, "Another is known as Vigilance, only a longsword, owned by the House of Hightower and wielded during the Dance of Dragons. It was lost in the First Battle of Tumbleton, stolen after its wielder was killed, but then lost in some bushes, where it remains," Death explained and also sent an image of the sword into his mind.
It was a dirty thing, covered in the wear and tear from years of sitting in the elements. He summoned it as well with a Portus-Accio and immediately followed up with a Scourgify. Plans for this sword were on hold, but it would be fun to fix up later on.
Into his moleskin pouch for both swords until he could finish them. At least they were clean for now.
It was then that he hit the Hound with a silent Enervate spell, bringing the healed man back to consciousness.
"Morning then."
The Hound grumbled but he opened and closed his jaw while grimacing and moving this face around. The previous scarring had constantly pulled on his face with every move, leaving him to keep a straight face instinctually or the pain of stretched skin straining would be constantly present. Now being able to move without pain had to be relieving, if strange.
He groaned at waking up from unconsciousness once again, unsure of how many times he had been knocked out recently.
"So, you lost the fight between us, stacked against you as it was, but the final question remains. Will you work for me?"
The Hound stared at him for a long minute then finally shook his head, "What do I have to do?"
Harry grinned and explained the contract, what he had in mind, and the expectations of the Hound. The only thing that he said would be guaranteed was enough gold to do what he needed when he wasn't on duty but would be expected to do his job whenever Harry needed him to.
"It's this or death," The sheer conviction in Harry's glowing eyes was enough for the Hound to see the writing on the wall. "I won't have someone I can't trust get my back, after all."
In the end, the Hound signed it and Harry smiled, "Good man!" He stood up, "A gift for you there. I healed your scars as well as made it so when wearing your helm you are immune to any sort of non-magical flames. I have a sword for you, but it's not ready just yet. I will give it to you soon, so just stick with that piece of shit until then. You are on watch, for now, if you need me just knock on the trunk, yeah?"
Harry summoned and climbed into his trunk leaving the Hound to start his watch.
"What the fuck," The Hound said. This had to be the strangest day he had ever had.
~~o0o~~
"Chancey, bring the new exterior guard some food. Don't let him see you."
"Yes, Master Harries!" Chancey said, popping out as fast as she came.
The little elf loved bringing people food and the Hound probably hadn't eaten since before Harry kicked his ass.
"A new pet for my champion?" Death's voice slid into his mind like a snake looking for prey.
Harry laughed, looking over the lake within the Peverell Manor. The dimensional space was the largest self-contained dimension Harry had ever seen. Made with ancient runes and Peverell Family magic, the pocket space felt like an entire realm of his own. This was his favorite gift upon realizing his inheritance included the Peverell vault. It was still no surprise that Death could enter as easily as anything.
"A curiosity. Willis?" Harry asked. The Elf in charge of his Armory appeared.
"Good day, Master Harry Sir!" The old male elf appeared.
"Would you put these on my workbench" Harry started pulling Lamentation and Vigilance out, "And if you are looking for something to do, feel free to use that basilisk hide to start on a scabbard for this blade." He pointed at Lamentation to have the scabbard made, regardless of its state.
His eyes widened in delight, "An interesting metal, sir! Willis would be honored to make a sheathe for mMasterHarries! Would you like me to finish the blade?"
"Hmmm, sure, but keep it dark and unadorned. It's for a brooding figure, so a bunch of gems don't make sense. Leave the other one for me though, I think I will rework it at some point."
The little guy disappeared with a huge grin, both blades in tow, and got to work.
Death laughed, but changed the subject, "Do you remember how to enter the dream world?"
"I do. The whole Astral Projection thing, but while sleeping. Easy."
"This world's Dream is filled with wooden faces, frozen eyes, blue tongues, burning souls, and..." Death's smile grew as she kept Harry waiting, "A mother of dragons."
"A whole lot of vague things and then the Mother of Dragons?" Harry asked. "That's not ominous at all."
"She wanders in the world of dreams, a lost hatchling waiting to be devoured. Another Champion is there, of the depths, of the sea. The fool defies Death...he will learn there is no escape."
"Another Champion...I'll take a peak, but this is a strange way of telling me to get more sleep."
"I wouldn't want my Champion to exhaust himself."
He nodded, "Well, good night then."
His mother's face smiled her terrible smile, this time filled with pride of sorts. He couldn't even begin to parse that so he just shrugged it off.
Harry enjoyed walking through the Manor, the expansive halls were much closer to that of a castle. But it said 'Peverell Manor' on the title so he went with that. Today, he Apparated to the master bedroom after walking into the large hall. It was an entire wing of the castle, hidden behind a beautiful set of carved doors nearly 10 meters tall. The dark wood looked like a black cherry or something along those lines and the symbol of the Deathly Hallows was carved into it with delicate skill.
It didn't take long to go to sleep, the last few days without it were starting to add up, but he made his preparations to head into the Dream world.
The Peverell Manor was more than just a realm in a box but was a magical artifact tied to the blood and magic of its owner. When he awoke in the world of dreams, his own personal dreamscape was housed within an Astral Projection of the Peverell Manor. It was a fortress in both physical reality, and in the world of dreams, one overlayed with the other.
Harry appeared by the front entrance and looked out into the wider world. Flying across the realm of dreams wasn't like flying in reality, with no wind resistance or danger of falling. Harry summoned a mental projection of his Firebolt, hopping on the ghostly copy with glee. He flew off in any direction since it didn't matter, and regardless of how well he knew the speed of the broom, it felt like he was going faster than ever.
Things started to change when he saw a light in the distance. A woman of blood and flame stood with her eyes closed.
Tentacles and dark turquoise water flowed around her, but she couldn't see it. She hadn't fully manifested in the Dream yet, but her magic had.
A man with two personalities, behind two different eyes, stared at the woman with greed, lust, and hunger. His face constantly changed as if the two personalities were at war within. Each time it did, the eye patch switched eyes, leaving one glowing eye illuminated.
One eye as deep blue as the ocean, filled with sanity, charisma, and ambition.
The other a glowing red, containing madness, malevolent will, and pure hatred.
Harry let his aura go a bit, magical power flowing from him like green death energy. He realized that his sword seemed to affect him within this realm. Within his right hand, the blade appeared, cruel and dark, ready for work.
The man noticed him and turned with a snarl.
Black mist billowed out, easily replacing the willpower behind the man's attacks. Tentacles tried to slam at Harry, but the strange nature of the Dream was that willpower was the most important attribute a being could have here. His had been tested his whole life, constantly training to master his magic made it easy to overpower the other champion. Harry was just too strong.
The dwindling image of the woman was reignited as the shitty attempt at magical control was rebuffed by Harry. With a single swipe of his sword and the man was blasted away, banished from the Dream with a stunning blast.
The woman still didn't have her eyes open but he extended a warm hand to her, "Come with me?"
She nodded, a subconscious movement as she reached for his hand. He took it and recalled them both.
The duo appeared within the Peverell Manor's Dream projection, where Harry had begun with a magical fire to increase the ambient energy by adding fire-attuned magic. The flames started to spark and reach out to her, the Mother of Dragons, as if her very soul called for it. He watched the sight with a bit of fascination.
She had to be the most interesting person he had seen since coming to this world.
~~o0o~~
Daenerys Targaryen was cold. She felt wrong like something was feeding on her very lifeforce, stealing away precious bits of her being. Yet, when the warmth came, it felt so good that the memories of the cold were quickly forgotten.
Her eyes opened to a strangely vibrant sky, turquoise and purple gas swirled through a twinkling sea of stars. She didn't feel her body, nor the need to breathe like she was in some sort of...Dream.
"Hello there," A strangely accented voice said.
Daenerys turned to see two glowing green eyes peering at her over the lip of a stylized cup of sorts. The man had dark hair, as glossy as obsidian, that went down to his shoulders. His skin was a clear and healthy white with a powerful square jaw. His lithe frame seemed dangerous, even if just sitting and drinking tea.
"Where am I?"
"Ah, forgive me, but you are still dreaming. Do you know much about the World of Dreams?"
Her eyebrows creased at his strange accent, but it felt so refined to her ears that she couldn't help but think she was staring at some form of nobility.
"Forgive me again," He stood and performed a perfect bow, "Hadrian Peverell, Wizard. Might I know your name, Lady of Fire and Blood?"
"Hadrian Peverell. Is wizard your title?"
"No," He said, "I am a Wizard, but that isn't my title."
"And why did you call me that?" She asked.
"Why did I call you Lady of Blood and Fire?"
She nodded.
"Well, that is what you are, is it not?" He shrugged, sitting back down in an equally plush chair to her own. "I don't know who you are, but in the Dream, our magic shows who we are."
She emanated skepticism, taking a closer look at him. He looked like a man in black and green robes and armor, strange looking, perhaps even slightly ethereal but no less intimidating. The edges of his form were hard to discern as black smoke and green light billowed from his very being.
It made her heart race in recognition of what it was.
Death.
There was more to it as well, including fire and something not exactly like a dragon, "What are you?"
"I am a human, though different from the normal kind. I am a magical being and it is my training that makes me a Wizard."
"I see," it was her turn to shake her head. Daenerys briefly looked around, a gorgeous moonlit lake that could just be another night sky with how perfectly calm it was. A long waterfall in the distance and it was then she realized they had to be on some sort of balcony looking over the area.
She felt his gaze on her, "Forgive me, I am Daenerys Targaryen."
"Not a witch?"
"No, I am no Witch, nor Red Priest."
"But you have so much magic about you, even something familiar...draconic perhaps?" Hadrian asked. Of course, he knew this already but wanted to hear it from her.
She immediately tensed, not her body but her inner self-image within the Dream. It flickered like she was pulled into unconsciousness.
Harry put his hands up, "Whoa, I don't mean any harm, I just have a bit of dragon about me as well. Well, it's more snake actually. I was bitten by a Basilisk you see."
She stared at him confused for a long while. Not taking her suspicious and defensive gaze off of him until she saw movement. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement. The word 'draconic' came to mind once again, spoken internally with Hadrian's voice.
Daenerys stood for the first time, realizing that she didn't physically stand up, but was just standing a moment later. Not only that, she was at the railing without having taken a single step.
A massive draconic form, larger than all of her dragons combined, dove from the sky and fully submerged into the large lake.
"Jormandeza, the Cerulean Scythe. A Norwegian Ridgeback," Hadrian said with an amused yet loving tone in his voice. "This place is the Peverell Manor, but it is an entire pocket dimension that also projects a warded bubble into the local Dream. Jormandeza here, is magical enough to exist in both the physical and the Dream. Most magical creatures can manifest like that."
"It has four legs?" Daenerys couldn't help herself. That shouldn't have been her first question, which should have been 'How the hell do you have a dragon?'
But it came out all the same.
He nodded, "Mhm, she is a true dragon, meaning she has four legs and is getting quite up there in age."
"My dragons do not have forelegs like that."
"Mmmm, they are wyverns then."
"What is that?"
"Uhh, a wyvern is a type of dragon that shares a bloodline with certain types of hydras. Of course, hydras are earthbound and unable to fly on account of having wings. That being said, the many-headed hydra is unparalleled at regeneration and growth. They can sometimes even form different elementally attuned heads-"
He was cut off with a hand, "I'm sorry. You said a hydra was a many-headed dragon without wings, did you not?"
"Uhh, that is a way of putting it I suppose," Hadrian replied.
Daenerys' mind immediately went to the symbol of her house, nearly gasping as a small flag formed in her hands.
"And tell me, Sir Hadrian Peverell, what would you consider this?"
She held up the Targaryen symbol, a three-headed dragon with wings, as it was known to her.
He seemed to smile, "Yes! A perfect example of the lineage of a wyvern, is it not? The wings and power of a dragon, yet it also has the many heads and unparalleled growth of a hydra."
"Where do you see unparalleled growth?" She asked, looking at the flag to spot where he saw things.
"Uhh, well do you know the symbol for infinity? Matter of fact, how are you in arithmancy? Or sorry what was the muggle word, yes, mathematics?"
He was some sort of scholar she thought, using words that even she, with a relatively decent education, didn't recognize. "Forgive me, but no, I have been taught a bit of numbers, if that is what you are referring to."
"I see. Well, do you understand the concept of infinity? Something that continues forever, it isn't a precise number because it is infinitely growing. So much so that we call the concept of unlimited and boundless growth, infinity. That is often depicted as this symbol," Hadrian said, drawing a finger through the air.
A green sideways 8 appeared, the symbol of infinity.
"You see, it never ends and never will end. It is never static but a concept. But if we were to look at your image once again," He gestured to the flag, it was now floating next to the symbol of infinity.
With another gesture, the symbol moved and lined up with the lower left side of the flag. The tail of the dragon-hydra curled twice, into a crooked version of infinity.
She gasped as if never noticing this before, "That is incredible. Wyverns..." She shook her head, "Is there anything that you can tell me about raising them?"
"Raising them, oh?! You are the Mother of Dragons!" Hadrian declared.
"Or is it the mother of Wyvern's?" Daenerys challenged smirk in place.
Hadrian smiled back at her, "I doubt anyone will mind you retaining the name as is."
Daenerys smiled at the handsome wizard, containing knowledge beyond anything she had experienced. He wasn't creepy like the Warlocks of Qarth, who wanted to entrap her, he seemed realistic and upfront.
If she could use this man to learn more about her children, then why not? Anything to help them grow and keep themselves safe, "I am the Mother of Dragons and I have found that raising dragons is becoming quite difficult. What do you know of it?"
"Uhh, well, I haven't actually raised a dragon before, but I have hatched one! Another Norwegian Ridgeback in fact," He nodded to Jormandeza. She was dipping in and out of the water, enjoying the cool feeling on her scales.
She didn't say anything and he looked at her and realized he didn't fully answer.
"Oh, well, wyverns want to grow, so make sure you don't put them in a cage. I know a bit about finding a good domain point for dragons, but I can search my library a bit. I know there has to be some stuff about wyverns in there."
Daenerys looked disappointed, "Domains...I feel like I can learn so much about them from you. How do I know if I will ever see you again?"
"Well, you just need to awaken a bit more of your magical power I would guess. The more control you have over your magic, the more power your will can demonstrate within the dream realm. The more awake you are, the more power you control inherently."
"How do I do that?"
"Hmmm, just looking at your aura, fire is the superior affinity, though you have a fair amount of blood and draconic magical affinities along with it. I would be careful, but surround yourself with fire as often as you can. They say submerging yourself in the atmospheric magic of your chosen type is quite a powerful tool to begin to awaken your affinity for it. Tell me, have you cast any accidental spells or magic of any kind?"
Daenerys could only think of one event. The single event in which she hatched dragons, "I believe so."
She didn't elaborate, "Well, you don't have to talk about it, not a problem. There are all sorts of types, like once I accidentally made a window disappear, causing my fat cousin to fall through. But something like that will do the trick, magic just keeps flowing the more you use it. I could always enchant a few Flame-Freezing Charmed necklaces or something so you can experiment without getting burnt."
"That won't be necessary. I have no problems with flames, but I guess I have avoided fully bathing in them," It had been a while since she had bathed in fire.
Harry laughed, "Dragons huh?"
She turned and finally felt comfortable enough to laugh, as he missed what darkened her thoughts, "Sure, dragons."
The two spent what felt like not enough time speaking before they felt the time within the dream coming to an end, "How do I contact you, Hadrian Peverell?"
"Hmmm, I suppose I could send you a speaking mirror, which lets us communicate directly, over any distance," he said with a smirk.
A smirk that she liked way too much.
"I will be expecting one then," Daenerys said a strangely pleased smile on her face.
And without thinking of how she did it, she woke up. Perhaps something to do with will. She left a flabbergasted Hadrian who had suddenly been all too captivated by those glowing purple eyes.
"Oh, you are already awake my lady," Missendei said.
"I am, Missendei. We need to prepare for our arrival at Yunkai," Daenerys replied, having found incredible amounts of energy to go about her day.
~~o0o~~
Back in Westeros, Jaime Lannister found himself running back to where he left her. The blasted woman was too damn good to be left to die like that. He found her fighting a bear with a wooden sword. In a dress of all things, humiliation and death in one disgusting act.
He turned, the sick fuck who cut off his hand was laughing, "What a pathetic performance."
"A wooden sword? You gave her a wooden sword?" Jaime asked, barely holding his rage back.
"We only got one bear," Locke said with a shrug. His scarred face was gaunt and cold, taking perverse pleasure in Brienne's suffering.
"I'll play whatever the price. Gold, sapphires, whatever you want. Just get her out of there!"
Locke shook his head, reveling in Jaime's anger, "You Lords and Ladies still think that the only thing that matters is gold."
Locke grabbed his stubbed arm, "This makes me happier than all your gold ever could," He pointed down at the pit, "That makes me happier than all of her sapphires. So go buy yourself a golden hand, and FUCK YOURSELF WITH IT!"
Jamie had enough of that and jumped into the ring. The bear had just slashed Brienne twice, it was looking like it was about to finish her.
"Get behind me!"
"I don't need your-" She was interrupted when the air vibrated from the growl from the bear, so loud that it echoed through the wooden arena.
It stalked closer and as it was about to attack, a bolt from a crossbow appeared in the neck of the bear. Not enough to kill it, but certainly enough to make it rethink its strategy.
"What are you doing!?" Locke yelled at the guard.
"Lord Bolton tasked me with bringing him to King's Landing! That's what I'm gonna do!" The Bolton guard said.
Jamie forced Brienne to climb up and the Bolton soldiers helped her before helping Jamie. They barely made it out.
Things were going to come to a fight again, Locke wanting to put the Lannister back in his place. But too many people with power were waiting for Jamie to make it back to King's Landing. Brienne made it out with him, bloody and tired.
They headed to King's Landing with a Bolton escort.
Chapter 6 - Frozen Dreams
The scaled Valyrian steel chest piece only showed in the holes and open chest of his long leather jacket. His right eye, the color of the deepest ocean, stared with barely restrained glee. He was surrounded, not by enemies, but by his thralls. His hands flexed and released constantly, like grasping the very air itself.
They had 5 men with blue lips on their knees. All were silent, shackled in Valyrian steel cuffs.
It was almost time, but first...this liquid they made, Shade-of-the-Evening, was the key.
"Silence...so beautiful."
His men stood still, perfectly interpreting Euron's will.
As it should be. They belong to him.
He dipped a cup in the basin where the blue liquid sat. He filled the cup to the brim and stared deep into it.
"That is too much...You will..." The warlock was cut off with a stare from his eye.
"I said...silence." The words were whispered but terrifying in the quiet room.
One of his men walked over and forced the warlock's mouth open. With no care for pain or discomfort, the man reached a disgusting leather gauntlet into the warlock's blue-stained mouth.
The grip on his tongue was iron. The taste of blood and dirt crossed his mouth as he struggled.
The pull felt like he was going to lose his entire throat, but the pain only began there.
A rusted knife sheared right through his tongue. His mouth was stuffed with fabric and he was left on the ground, screaming in pain.
Euron's face was filled with a strange sort of pride as his crew member ate the tongue.
He nodded at the man, then swapped eyes for his eye patch.
A glowing red eye stared at the cup. Whispers began to filter into his mind. He couldn't pick one voice to listen to yet, he had to get ahead of it for now.
"SILENCE!" He yelled into the quiet room.
He drank the blue swirling contents of the cup.
His mind expanded, and visions took him. It was different this time.
The whispers were silent, but the images were constant.
His conscious mind breached into the Dream world where he split.
There was one that was screaming and one that was silent. The eye patch was supposed to hide them! He wasn't supposed to be two!
"NOOOOOO!" Euron screamed.
"NOOOOOO!" The Anger wailed.
Two different voices screamed into the dream, a foolish thing to do. His red eye now had a name, the Anger was watching. It was free and he was lost.
He was in a forest now, looking around. There had to be people here, bloody tears were flowing from faces in the trees.
The white bark was like skin and the leaves were...His mind split again then fully reformed.
Visions united his broken persons, his being was overwhelmed with terrible knowledge. Beings beyond time and space, beyond his recognition, stared at his broken soul. He was lost and the trees knew everything. Ravens were in the branches, they knew everything he did.
Was it the raven or the trees?
They feasted on his mind, but the Anger wouldn't have it.
"NO!" He was gone from the forest, gone from those visions.
Was he walking for days, or was the journey just an illusion?
Euron found solace in the journey, but when it ended he found a wall. One that was too tall to see the top of, made entirely of ice, yet he was standing on it as soon as he thought of it.
It glowed in this dark world, he thought he could see as far as he could to the south. But he turned north...
Two blue eyes were waiting for him. No, not two. Thousands.
More than he could ever count. The air was so cold that it froze in front of him, flakes of snow floating away.
No visions, no words. Only silence. He loved every second of it.
He spent an entire week drinking Essence of Nightshade, eventually losing his first confrontation with Death's Champion as he greedily tried to take everything from the Mother of Dragons.
~~o0o~~
"Do you know of any other Valyrian steel swords that are ignored or abandoned in Westeros?"
Death smiled, "Most are in Valyria, lost to time. You must go there to find those."
Harry sighed, "Any that are with morally questionable people? That maybe I could just show up and steal them?"
"Champion of petty theft, your new title."
"Oh come on, if they are evil I have no problem relieving them of their nicer wares," Harry said with a smirk.
Death laughed, perhaps enjoying her champion's new hobby of sword restoration just as much as him, "Red Rain, Orphan-Maker, and Nightfall. Three more longswords, one deep in the ocean, two in houses of the Iron Born."
"Perfect! Mind describing them?"
"No, you must get those in person. They are protected, for now, wielders bound by blood."
His mood was ruined, "You are trying to ruin my day. You will not succeed."
More laughter, "Afraid of a little work?"
"No, no... I can handle it, any word on the Boltons?"
"Their army rides for the Twins, but their leader will soon be within Death's grasp," His mother's smile had never looked so vicious, he was sure.
Harry nodded, wondering if Robb would assimilate or destroy the incoming riders. Bolton's forces were entirely comprised of cavalry and support wagons, numbering around 8 thousand riders with a few hundred support staff.
As he sat there, he realized he had a promise to keep to a certain queen across the sea. A quick bit of permanent conjuration and transfiguration let him create two hand-held mirrors, the first one started with three dragons and he decided to copy it to have a matching one. He imbued them with the runes that Sirius had left in the form of his original two-way speaking mirrors and then activated the enchantments.
They worked perfectly.
"Now just to send it to her," Harry said. Thinking of a ritual to lock onto someone's magical power. "A bit of Scrying with a secondary Portus spell should work."
He wrote a note as well:
To Her Majesty the Queen, Daenerys Targaryen,
One Mirror of Communication, as promised! Simply call my name while imbuing your will into the mirror to contact me. You were getting the hang of using your will actively by the end of the night so this should be a perfect opportunity to practice outside of the dream! If you feel it shake or vibrate, it is me trying to contact you and you simply need to look into the mirror for it to connect.
I am doing some research today, on the topic of dragons, wyverns, and their bonds being the focus of my time. I am going to compile what I know before sending it over to you. I look forward to seeing you in the Dream, and even more so in the real world at some point.
Remember that everything is based on willpower, not just your magic, but how the world perceives you.
- Hadrian Peverell
He quickly tied the note around the mirror with a bit of waxed twine and then conducted the ritual. It easily locked onto her familiar magical signature, if only surprisingly distant before Harry activated the Portus spell. By all his estimates, the package made it right to her.
Chancey brought him breakfast on the balcony, and he had her bring another plate to the Hound camping by the trunk entrance. He would put the Hound to work soon enough, but as he was eating, a new friend of his decided to wake up.
Shimmer appeared from the living tattoo on Harry's left hand, flapping her wings as she stepped onto the table. Harry welcomed her first, "Good morning."
The beautiful dark phoenix yawned and stretched her wings, "Good morning, Harry. How is our new world so far?"
She seemed tired still, having slept for a long time after passing through the Realm of Death.
"It's quite interesting so far. Much fun to be had," He said.
"What kind of fun?" Shimmer's tone was surprisingly hostile, daring Harry to say something not in alignment with her moral code.
"Well, saved a good man and his army, but we aren't quite finished with that yet. I also cleared out a disgusting incestual asshole of a man named Walder Frey, took his castle over, and gave it to the King I saved."
"He was a King?"
The conversation continued until Harry had got her caught up on events.
"And what are your plans for the day?" Shimmer asked.
"I need to spend some time researching Wyverns and raising them. Also, I would like to find a sort of mount-rider familiar bonding ritual like what we did," Harry said.
"That wouldn't work for wyverns, they cannot be one's familiar. However, they can go through a magic-sharing mount-bonding ritual, though it will be fairly different from what we did, though no less powerful," Shimmer said, her words a melody.
"How different?"
"The runes would change, our ritual aligned our magic so that I may reside within yours, a familiar bond. A mount bond would just share magic and power, enabling a similar amount of communication as ours, but they would not be able to reside within the other's magic. Also, depending on the magical types, there might have to be an affinity-based element to connect on or the ritual may fail," She said.
"Like we connected through Fawkes' Tears?"
"Exactly like that. Your blood has so much fire magic that you make for an easy connection to a phoenix or a dragon. That is the important part, a magical connection," Shimmer stated.
"You seem to be quite knowledgeable about such things," Harry said.
She nodded, "I am nowhere near the level of Fawkes in ritual magic, but I do know a fair amount about bonds, elemental affinities, and the nature of relationships between magical beings."
Shimmer sounded confident when she spoke, getting excited at the prospect of magic. Her Enochian words were as sweet as the most beautiful phoenix song. The moment she mentioned relationships and affinities, however, her tone lost some of its magic.
Their empathetic connection was fairly new, yet he didn't need that to read the emotions that just crossed over his new familiar's words. It was clear that she had been affected by her past in terrible ways.
"Don't worry Shimmer, we have nothing but time alright? How about some breakfast? Chancey?"
Chancey appeared with a few more plates and even conjured a stand so Shimmer didn't have to bend over. Harry smiled at the bird, already picturing Chancey taking care of her.
"Oh my! Gold-flaked raspberries!" Shimmer said, excited at the delicacy.
Chancey smiled, "And dragon-fruit smoothies with special spices!"
Somehow the little elf could understand the phoenix and probably made the drink herself.
"Phoenixes enjoy spices, do they?" Harry asked.
"Of course Master Harries! Phoenixes love spicy fruit drinks!" Chancey said, her horrible pronunciation more cute than anything.
"Hmmm, I see."
They finished breakfast and went to the Peverell Manor Library, Shimmer resting on Harry's shoulder. He walked through the castle for Shimmer's benefit, giving her a basic tour now that she was awake.
The grand hall was more of an atrium traveled between the many floors of the castle. The library was not quite as big as the atrium but was the largest one he had ever seen. Unless he counted the Hall of Prophecies as a library, within the Ministry of Magic back on Earth.
"Mixy?" Harry called out and a skinny little elf in comfortable scholarly robes appeared, adjusting the glasses on her face.
"Greetings, Master Harry, I am excited to have you within the Library once again. How may Mixy help you?" Mixy had a very clear voice, the most refined among any House Elf he had interacted with.
"This is Shimmer, Mixy. My new familiar, please make her feel welcome should she have any desire to read within our library," Harry said.
Shimmer nodded to Mixy.
Mixy curtsied and smiled, "It would be my honor Miss Shimmer."
"Now then, I was hoping to find some books on Wyverns or at least on dragons if not them. Maybe even something about raising them. The second topic I am looking for would be a sort of Mount-Bonding ritual, so if you knew of any books that could help with that, or at least to help figure out a ritual for something like that, it would be fantastic," Harry said.
Mixy wrote everything down, "Please give Mixy a few minutes, Master Harry. If you would like to find a seat, I will bring what I can find."
Harry nodded and transfigured a chair into a bird stand that was the perfect height for Shimmer to read a book on the table. In less than 5 minutes Mixy returned with a plethora of books and Harry began to search through them while taking notes.
This included making a few copies of different passages that would be good for anyone trying to raise a creature of draconic blood. Among the books Mixy brought for him, he found four that he deemed the most relevant. He made copies of passages from 'Draconids: A Large Lizardling Family', 'Growth, Not Just for Hydras', 'From Egg to Inferno, A Dragon Keeper's Guide', and 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'.
In no time there was a few dozen pages worth of information compiled into a new book he conjured that referenced each of the four books he was going through. This is a new world, but there is no reason to not give credit where it was due, so he marked every reference properly.
He went further than that, compiling a fairly decent amount of material on different topics about dragons. He copied an entire book on crafting and fitting armor to draconids, including design and material options. Another book had some fairly well-written passages on how dragons don't need rituals to give them strength, but instead just need more magic.
An example would be some of the rituals Harry had done to fix his long-term malnourishment, eyesight, and more. Years of missed growth had to be overridden, and he started that process with some rituals to strengthen and grow. Those rituals weren't needed for draconic bloodlines but it was a good place to start when researching the rituals they could use.
He then started a new section in the book he was making for Daenerys and started researching a proper rider/mount ritual bond based on the one Fawkes had used to create the ritual bond with Shimmer.
Mixy had brought a few more books on rituals and bonds, including: 'Familiar Rituals and When to Use Them', 'A Will to Join: A Practical Guide to Magical Bonds and Contracts', and finally the most promising 'Mounts and How to Bind Them.'
Shimmer also found some specific blood-based bonding rituals she shared with Harry, "Usually blood is the key to any sort of ritual, a perfect medium representing a creature, both magically and physically. That is why blood contracts or contracts signed with blood are so powerful. This ritual is closer to what we did, a bond between the familiar and master that connects both magic, blood, and soul. But with the mount bond, we will be using strictly blood and magic."
"I see, so if anything the ritual is less intricate than ours, if only more power-consuming," Harry replied.
The phoenix nodded from her perch, "It would seem so, do you need help forming the Circles?"
"I would very much appreciate it," Harry said with a smile, conjuring a new piece of parchment, this one big enough to display a miniature version of the ritual, but large enough to view clearly.
~~o0o~~
Harry decided to travel west to the Iron Islands, telling the Hound to hold the location of his Trunk secure. He followed the trail of Point Me spells for a good thirty minutes, finally coming to an open bay with islands on the horizon. He made it to the islands where he began searching. Most places seemed to be filled with old and tired people. He saw the flags of the first location which held a stylized reaper scythe. Harry narrowed his eyes at that, he would have to teach a lesson it seemed.
Appearing by the largest building in the center of the small island, his Invisibility Cloak made him completely undetectable. Another Point Me spell locked onto the sword he was searching for within the hall of the central building. He walked in to find a group of men in House Harlaw colors, drinking and feasting. The patriarch at the head of the table had the sword in question in hand, leaning on the Valyrian blade like it was a walking stick.
Harry shook his head and didn't bother fighting anyone, he just took the blade with a quick summoning spell and then channeled a series of Sectum Sempra's, leaving the pirate house in shambles. He quickly relieved the place of gold and then ignited it with a quick blast of Incendio. There were a few people there, but a few Apparations let him find everyone remaining within the keep, slaying those of the house and saving the servants.
The longsword Nightfall was now in his grasp. He placed it within his moleskin pouch and moved on. He appeared in the central hall once again, this time he released some more potent flames, and Shimmer got in on it a bit as well. Her fire was strange, it seemed to cut through the air as it bit into whatever it wanted to burn. The first thought Harry had was that he wanted to try and forge something with it, regardless of how hot the flames were.
In the light, Shimmer's flames looked like dark smoke with scything silver blades, but in the darkness, the black flames glowed silver. It was a strange difference, but that made the flames no less potent. They were entirely magical on the level of draconic fire and could turn damn near anything to ash or slag.
It was inherently different than the cursed flames of the Fiendfyre spell, which was malevolent and hungry to eat magic. The twilight flames of Shimmer held interesting insights into her magical type, something that his magic was making room for the more their bond grew.
With a wave, some more black and silver flames billowed out, starting to melt the stone of the walls, "Shimmer?"
"Yes?" The beautiful Enochian language cascaded through his magic.
"Why is the fire not hurting me?"
"Hmph! How could fire hurt a phoenix?" She said.
"But...I am not a phoenix."
"Yet it remains as one of your Animagus forms."
"Well, I have a few Animagus forms so I am not sure I could be called a phoenix much less a basilisk."
"I am unsure about that, but you have not only my blood and magic flowing through you, but Fawkes' tears as well, I shouldn't expect any flames to actually bother you."
"Huh, that is surprising."
He Apparated a second later, casting another Point Me spell upon arrival. It took him to another nearby island where an Iron Born ship was just docking. The first one down the gangway was the man with Red Rain, Valyrian Steel Longsword. Before revealing himself, he locked onto the three people who would be behind him as he confronted the main Iron Born.
Harry became visible as the man he was looking for turned down the ramp, the man halted on the dock when faced with Harry's smirk.
"What's this then? You here for a beating?"
Harry looked down to his right hand where his sword, which was totally not called Black Mist, appeared in his hand. The scimitar was deadly looking, the rippling steel as black as night and the dark mist was already starting to leak off of it. Harry turned back to the man and snapped his fingers once.
The three Iron Born behind him immediately collapsed, dead as can be, and souls reaped. The Iron Born didn't say anything else, just drew Red Rain and stalked towards him.
Harry let the man strike first, a feinted strike that he followed with a thrust and another vertical slash. A few steps and he easily evaded everything, but he decided to give the Iron Born something to be weary of.
He stepped into the third strike, slicing the black mist scimitar along the inside of his opponent's thigh. Harry spun back and followed up with a horizontal slash at neck level. To his surprise, the blade went right through the armored man's throat and killed him instantly.
The rest of his men were staring at their downed leader then began to sprint at Harry, only to see a bond white wand pointed at them, "Bombarda."
The dock from 5 feet past the downed corpse was instantly blasted away, men included. He reached over to the ship and a tongue of twilight phoenix fire launched out like Shimmer taking flight. The graceful flames burst into the hull and began to devour the ship.
Harry walked away calmly as men ran for their lives, "Red Rain was it? Not bad at all."
He inspected the bloody red blade, it didn't look like dried blood, but rather that the Valyrian steel was somehow colored red, it looked more than just a dye, seemingly an effect of the forging process. He dropped it next to Nightfall in his moleskin pouch and apparated back onto shore.
"Two down one to go. Now, Death, you said this one was lost at sea? Why shouldn't I summon it?"
"A shipwreck worth investigating," her amused voice said. She didn't appear next to him but
"Point me..." Harry said, watching his wand spin to the south and out to sea and beyond the bay that he was standing on the edge of.
With a sigh, he cast the charms needed to dive down into the ocean. A bubble head charm, a pressure-reducing charm, and a few others to remain dry and to maintain orientation while diving. It took a while to find, the Apparation spell was pointless since there wasn't a point of reference at a distance worth spending the energy to teleport to.
He used his Basilisk Animagus transformation for as long as it took to accidentally make eye contact with a school of fish, killing them all.
Death laughed.
Harry turned back into his human form and cast a water-gliding spell to increase his movement speed, then he settled in for a long swim.
It took a couple of hours, but he found the wrecked ship, something with no legible name and barely a hull to show for itself. Harry dove into the remains casting Scourgify over and over again to clear the debris everywhere. He found the sword eventually, another black-bladed longsword named Orphan-Maker. A long-lost blade from the Targaryen Civil War.
Looking at the scuffed ivory handle, chipped ruby pommel, and scratched golden cross guard, Harry knew that he would be reforging this blade at some point while creating a new handle, cross guard, and pommel. Preferably with Twilight Phoenix Fire. He searched a bit more and found a simple dagger of Valyrian steel and a chest containing 10 ingots of the very same metal.
A quick and impressed whistle came from Harry, echoing around his bubble and he quickly stowed the find. Another broken crate or box was next to it, and there were a few different and strange-looking metal ingots, two of each type. Two weren't tough to identify at all, looking like normal steel. Another set was a milky white that faintly glowed in the dark.
He silently cast a Lumos spell, illuminating the last two sets. One looked like a shimmering azure blue, shining in the water while the other looked like the dull yellow-green of orichalcum. He claimed all of them as well and searched around a bit for some more stuff. An intact silvery-metal box about the size of a shoe box was on its side, and Harry opened the lid to find large gems nearly filling the entire thing. Rubies, sapphires, emeralds, diamonds, damn near every time of gemstone he could imagine, all larger than a marble up to the size of a golf ball.
"Now that isn't bad at all," He looked some more and found a small pile of gold and a few rusted steel swords, that were not Valyrian. Happy with his finding so far, he Apparated back to the Hound's location. Water splashing like a tidal wave knocked the Hound back off of his stump and doused the campfire. He accidentally brought a bit of the ocean with him.
The Hound jumped up and drew his ugly longsword, "WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?"
"Sorry about that, bit of water came with me."
The Hound was utterly shocked at the smiling wizard, "Fuckin' wizard cunt."
~~o0o~~
"And I, King Robb Stark, hereby eliminate the House of Bolton. You, Roose Bolton, have betrayed the oaths to the Warden and King of the North and now forfeit your life, your lands, and your family."
Ice was in his grip, the massive great sword that had taken his father's life would now be used to cull the betrayers of the North.
Roose was forced over the chopping block, in front of thousands of troops. Robb's gaze was hard, and he took a breath as he lifted Ice.
He focused on precision, the blade heavy enough on its own to fall straight through, as long as he hit the neck properly. Robb had already been an executioner, so this was an easy strike. The blade did its job, and Roose was gone. The Boltons just had a few bastards that needed to be removed, then it would be over.
Only the soul of Roose saw the figure floating above the stage. To him it was Death, a form of dark flames and billowing shadows, it had to be the Stranger or some Old Primordial God. Those terrible, horrible green eyes! Roose felt true fear for the first time as his soul was reaped to the afterlife.
Robb cleaned Ice and sheathed it. Still keeping the blade in his possession.
"There are no other options or choices. You all kneel, swear fealty to the North and me as the Warden and King of the North, or be executed here. I will distribute you as I see fit to help the rest of the houses of the North retake their homes and save their people," Robb said, speaking to what must have been most of the officers remaining in Roose's calvary.
Harry appeared from nowhere, much to the surprise of everyone present, "King Robb, I believe I might be able to help with that."
"Lord Hadrian Peverell, I was wondering if you would come by today," Robb said, only respect and gratitude in his voice.
"I couldn't help but notice a certain traitor's death and decided to stop by. I can help you with the problem of loyalty, magical contracts are very powerful after all," Harry said.
He explained how it would work, and conjured a contract that had an expansion charm for the thousands of signatures or fingerprints that it would take. Harry acted as a scribe to lay out the terms on paper, and Robb Stark read it to the 8,000 men who surrendered when their Lord was captured.
Lady Catelyn also read over the contract that Harry and Robb made, finding it acceptable for a bunch of traitors. She was surprised when he outlined the consequences.
"Well, Lady Catelyn, you will more than likely see a few men afflicted by the consequences today. Fear not though, for a traitor's death is only the start to the torment that awaits them in the afterlife."
People exchanged glances at Harry's words. He shrugged and went back to finalizing the contract, even putting an Impervious Charm on it, in case people had any bright ideas.
"Alright, it should be good for now. Just have everyone leave their mark and it will work," Harry said.
"Lord Hadrian, I don't mean to correct you, but it comes to mind that most men are not literate," Robb said.
"Ah, yes," Harry said, "Give me a minute."
Harry put the contract down and added a few more charms, so that a soldier need only press his thumb and a single drop was taken. He didn't bother with removing the pain aspect and instead just signaled Robb how it would work.
They explained everything and over the course of 5 hours, the 8,000 soldiers put their marks on the contract and walked across the Twin's Bridge, horses in tow, where they were mostly split up and sorted into a few different groups for each of Robb's Bannerman. A single larger group would join Robb's forces. Families would be collected after they sacked the Dreadfort and the Bolton line was ended for good.
In the end, 8 thousand mounted heavy cavalry and supporting people and wagons to match were added to Robb's Army. A pile of Flayed-men tabards, standards, and shields were set on fire. It was time to take back the North.
~~o0o~~
Harry was exhausted as he cleaned up after such a long day of travel and dealing with the army. He had a fantastic meal on his favorite balcony in the Peverell Manor, watching the sunset. Chancey had prepared barbeque chicken, mashed potatoes, and asparagus. He had a starter salad before the main course, balsamic vinaigrette, and a tiny (huge) slice of treacle tart for dessert.
Harry thought about trying to contact Daenerys on his mirror but wanted to wait for her to contact him first. It would mean she had more control over her magic and had been able to activate it on her own. He went to sleep with thoughts of meeting her in the Dream.
An unknown amount of time later, Harry found himself floating in the huge interior of the Peverell Manor Dreamscape Projection. He searched around, but instinctively knew that she wasn't there. The magical form of Daenerys was quite the presence, and he could only imagine how much different she looked in reality.
The world of Dreams had a way of distorting things, but he knew she was beautiful beyond compare. The world seemed a bit darker without her there now.
In her absence, he decided to pop out into the wider and non-warded world of dreams. There was always more to see.
Harry was wandering for a while, floating amongst clouds until everything started to freeze over. That is, all of the clouds began to freeze into solid masses of ice, before slowly falling like crashing blimps. As each frozen cloud impacted the land, waves of frost spread from them like cancerous growths. There was more to this cold as well, something trying to usurp the cold grasp of death.
It felt instinctively wrong to him and his magic, corrupt even. That was when unflinching eyes of frosty undeath, met the burning green eyes of true death. He had crossed the Wall at some point, without paying attention, and was now face to face with the White Walkers.
Waves of power crashed between the titans of magical power. The problem with the frozen monstrosities was that they fed on Death energy, turning it into a more corruptive frost of undeath. The very air itself began to freeze.
These were powerful foes, but they had mistaken Harry as a being of only death. That wasn't entirely true, despite being Master of Death.
"I am here!" Shimmer said, utilizing their connection to form herself near him in the dream world.
Harry smiled, "Perfect timing Shimmer, let's do this!"
Waves of Twilight Phoenix Fire crashed away from Harry and Shimmer. The entire force of Death energy that the enemy was feasting on immediately turned to fire and rebirth through flames. The snow didn't just melt but burst into the steam, thermal sublimation caused by extreme magical fire.
The frozen blue eyes recoiled in fear and horror, all the power accumulated instantly igniting. The blaze continued until the stone beneath the previous layer of ice melted into magma.
"Well done, Shimmer! Let's get out of here," Harry said.
They appeared together, flying above the lake within the Manor grounds. Harry on his dream-Firebolt Broom and Shimmer easily keeping pace. The bird looked like a silver and black blur more than anything else, her flames trailing behind her like a comet's tail.
Landing on his balcony, the smiling magical projection of Daenerys Targaryen was waiting for him.
"Well, hello there!" Harry said, hopping off his broom.
"Hello, I wasn't aware that brooms were such an effective means of flight," She said.
"Only certain ones, including my Firebolt here," He said.
A precious few notes of phoenix song changed the atmosphere between them. Shimmer made herself known between them.
"Ah, forgive me. Daenerys Targaryen, this is my Familiar, Shimmer. She is a Twilight Phoenix and is very excited to meet you," Harry said.
"You can understand her?"
Harry nodded, "Enochian, it's called, the language of these majestic birds."
"I have never heard of a phoenix before, she is very beautiful."
Shimmer trilled at her words, happy for the compliment.
"She likes your fire," Harry said.
"My fire?"
"Your magic, most likely."
Daenerys smiled while inspecting the flaming bird's dreamworld projection. She looked like a constantly shifting ball of black and silver fire in the shape of a bird.
"Ah, I had some time to do a bit of research, by the way," Harry prompted.
"Oh? On wyverns?"
"Indeed, Shimmer here was a great help and we found some interesting things I will have to send you. We also designed a ritual to mutually bind a dragon and their rider, allowing the sharing of magic and thoughts. It will be different from a Familiar Bond, like what Shimmer and I share. But it essentially makes you partners where you share magic. It is like doubling your pool to draw from as it builds between the two of you," Harry said.
Daenerys laughed lightly staring at Harry as he continuously spoke about the research he did.
"What?" He asked.
"Nothing, you are just passionate about magic, it is not something I am used to," Daenerys said.
"What do you mean? You aren't used to magic?"
"No, I have seen magic. It was just always from people trying to take things from me," she paused. "My life, freedom, and dragons as well."
The swirling image of her purple eyes drilled into Harry as he inspected her.
"I would ask you, Hadrian Peverell, are you trying to take things from me?" She asked.
Harry was taken aback before Death spoke to only him, "It seems the Warlocks of Qarth tried to imprison her, among a few other magical assassination attempts."
"I see. Well, me saying it here doesn't mean as much, but I promise that the first time we meet, I will swear that I mean you no harm. Not to you, your dragons, or your people," Harry said.
"Oh? Can't promise now?"
He stared back at her, impressed by her willpower. She had improved while practicing to utilize her magic. "I can but choose not to right now because it is easy to fake things in the dream world. The moment I meet you in person, I will promise that I mean no harm to you," Harry said.
She stared at him but accepted his words. "Alright then, Hadrian Peverell. You owe me an oath when we first meet."
"Of course, our meeting will only take place after you have figured out how to use the Communication Mirrors," Harry smirked that smirk she liked so much.
She scoffed, pretending to be unworried, "Moving on, tell me what you have learned about my dragons."
"About yours? Nothing, as I haven't seen or inspected them. But about Wyverns in general...well, I would love to talk about that."
~~o0o~~
"There is power in your blood, the power of kings," Melisandre said.
"The only reason I exist is cause my father chose one woman at the bar instead of another," Gendry replied. She had revealed that he was the bastard of the late King Robert Baratheon. "I'm a mistake."
"There are no mistakes. Not for us. You can't even begin to understand, but you are here because the Lord of Light willed it. He brought me here to draw that power from you."
She began undressing him, "We're both a part of his plan. He wants this of us, no, demands it of us."
"This doesn't seem very religious," Gendry said.
"You pray to those fools who worship the seven? Those dried-up cunts pray all day, but there are no answers," Melisandre said. "God is real, or he's not. You only need eyes to see."
She untied the sash holding her robes together, revealing soft and unblemished skin, "Death is coming for everyone and everything. The darkness that will swallow the dawn, and we can stop it!"
She threw him onto the bed and jumped on top of him. Looking down he saw things he had never seen before, things that he would never forget as they were seared into his memory.
He once had the pleasure of seeing his former Master work on Valyrian Steel, and that had to have been the best thing he had ever seen.
Until right about now.
In his mind, only perfectly forged steel should be that smooth. Those perfectly creamy white thighs had to be made by a god, how could anything be so perfect? The Red Priestess was the most terrifying being he had ever seen, representing power and beauty, hand in hand. He touched her thighs as she teased him, moving her hips and making noises that left chills through his mind and body. He looked deep into those incredible ruby-like eyes staring into his soul as she kissed him.
He wanted to give everything to this woman. She only needs to ask.
She tied his hands back to the best posts, but he had heard about this. Rich men loved to get tied up or something, maybe this is part of the experience?
"What's this? What are you doing?" He couldn't contain the fear and excitement in his voice as it shook.
After his hands were tied, she pulled three leeches from a jar and placed them along his body. It took time for him to process that things weren't as they should be, that things were going wrong.
"Why are you doing this?" Gendry yelled breathing hard at the sight of the huge leeches.
"I told you, there is power in the blood of kings. And you have so much blood," Melisandre held the last word she spoke, that it rattled Gendry's mind as she stole his blood.
She put the three full leeches back into a bowl and walked over to a brazier she lit earlier.
Stannis Baratheon walked in, stone-faced as ever. Davos Seaworth followed behind him.
There were no words exchanged as Stannis walked up to the brazier, immediately grabbing a leech. This was a practiced action, having been done many times before.
No one noticed the silent Harry Potter, sitting comfortably underneath his Invisibility Cloak. Not even the Red Priestess picked up on his magic yet.
He asked Death silently, "Can I borrow some of that Dementor cold aura?"
Death laughed, "You already have it, just use your willpower to manifest it. It is usually suppressed due to your companion, however."
Harry nodded and focused on his magical aura, the aspects that were attuned to Death. He found his connection to her and pulled that magical effect that Dementors have into being.
Stannis threw the first leech in, "The Usurper Joffrey Baratheon."
He reached for the second as cold began to spread about the edges of the chamber. Melisandre frowned as she detected the discrepancy in the ambient magic.
Stannis tossed the second leech, "The Usurper Balon Greyjoy."
The death aura increased in power as Harry stood and stepped closer, fully directing it at the brazier.
Stannis grabbed the third leech as Melisandre looked down, frost grew at a terrifying speed as if it had a mind of its own.
He threw the last one just as the fire froze over. The leech landed and turned to ice as it hit.
"What is this?!" Stannis yelled.
"You said, Death comes for everyone and everything, Red Priestess," Harry had decided to become visible, but the Invisibility Cloak remained, now a ragged and terrifying black cloak, moving in unseen winds.
Harry's two glowing green eyes seemed to be the only source of light in the now freezing room. He waved his hand, the Elder Wand made a series of grey-blue lights form, a multi-casted Lumos in the absence of firelight.
"You are right."
Melisandre was frozen as the now frosty ground by her feet held her in place, if not the fear of this man, "What do you mean?"
"You got one thing wrong, however. Those fools of frost are no minions of Death. They will pay...and I sense you still have a part to play in that, so worry not. I won't take any of your souls today. But you will cast no spells against House Stark, Shadow Binder."
Melisandre gulped and her eyes opened wide.
"You will cast no blood magic, no ritual sacrifice against them, or I will come to reap. Do I make myself clear?"
"How dare you-" Stannis began.
Harry waved at him casually, and he was frozen solid with a silently cast Petrificus Totalus, and the Onion Knight ran to catch him before he hit the ground.
Harry didn't even acknowledge him beyond that. Melisandre nodded at him all the same the fear palpable as he suppressed her aura that seemed to be a mockery of Danaerys' Fire and Blood magic.
"Good," Harry looked around, seeing a shivering Gendry on the bed.
With another wave of his hand, the restraints fell away.
"Get up lad, you are coming with me."
He gulped, not sure who was scarier, the Red Priest or the man of darkness. He did as was told though and got to his feet, grabbing his shirt, pack, and hammer.
"Just remember, Death doesn't need to come for you. Everyone goes to it, eventually," Harry said. His casual tone made the threat sink in. "And priestess? Trust me when I say that we have our eyes on you."
Harry released the spells and his aura just before he and Gendry apparated away, leaving a frozen room in darkness.