Dragon Rising
Chapter One: Dreams
A/N I don't own anything from the Harry Potter universe.
He stood gauntleted hands clasped behind his back, feet shoulder length apart, he wore armor made of intricately overlapping metal scales with two swords hanging from his belt on either side of his waist, overlooking the castle walls he watched as balls of fire rained down upon them, launched from catapults as the army outside laid siege, the walls were fortified with numerous wards providing protection.
Those protections wore thin as the siege continued, he had two thirds of his standing magic users keeping them up, with the last third focused on offensive fire with the archers, once they breached the walls however as he knew they would eventually they would switch to healing and defense, providing cover as his men retreated the second level.
The castle had three levels; on the first you had the outer wall that housed the main population, the seconded level held the shops which included Blacksmiths, Woodworkers, Tailors, etc. there were also several Inns, as well as the Barracks along with various other buildings, and finally on the third floor you had the Keep which was where he now stood.
He stood watching as a ball of fire flew over the outer walls and impacted something invisibly in mid air, "at this rate it won't be long till the break through the outer wall, Gillen I hope you on your way back with aid, for I foresee us not lasting the night under this siege"
Gillen was his most trusted scout, he had sent him the second he felt the felt the army through his connection with the wind, how they had gotten so close without word reaching him he didn't know, he had barely enough time to sound the warning bells and get everyone inside the castle walls and the gates sealed before their foe was upon them like water on rock.
It'd been mid-morning when the siege began now it was dusk, the light slowly receding plunging the world into darkness, "BOOOOOM!"
A large section of the outer wall exploded inward showering rock and debris in amongst the houses, he felt the shockwave all the way at the Keep, the wind carried the screams of the wounded and dying to him, clenching his jaw he tried to drown out the screams piercing his ears, his connection to the wind was a gift and a curse at the same time.
A gift because of all the times it'd warned him of impending attacks like this one, be it ambushes or assassination attempts, but here and now it allowed him to hear every cry of pain, every scream, every clash of sword on sword.
He could no longer take it, sitting here waiting watching as his people fought while he sat in safety, "Callen!" he barked, a man wearing heavy plait armor rushed to his side, he was older than most of his guards with gray streaking his short light brown hair, his face was all hard plains and angles with a scar running along his jaw, hazel eyes locked into his own as he saluted, "Sir!"
"Ready your men, it's time we stop sitting here on our hands and do something to help" a cold smirk appeared on Callens face, "eager to join the fighting Sir" it wasn't a question, "I lead from the front, not the back, always have and always will" drawing the sword on his right hip with his left hand he flicked his right wrist, a Silver wand with a Black spiral shot into his hand, "cya guys at the bottom" he called over his shoulder before proceeding to leap over the balcony railing.
Hitting the ground with a loud thump he fell to one knee to help dissipate the force of landing, which really didn't matter in the long run anyway considering his armor was enchanted to reduce the force of any impact, if it wasn't he probably would have broken a leg or both from the Sixty foot fall from balcony to cobblestone street, glancing up at he saw Callen leaning over the railing probably making sure he was ok, he muttered a curse before pulling his head back and shouting orders to his men, a smile tugged on his lips.
He didn't have to wait long for his Guard Captain and his men to reach him, the clanking of armor leading their way to him, "I really wish you wouldn't do that Sir!, You almost gave me a heart attack" Callen grumbled, he did smile this time "that's nothing I've jumped from higher, ask Rock about it sometime" growing Sirius again he dashed across the Keeps courtyard and through the gates heading for inner wall it had to hold.
Sadly it was not to be though; it was barley insight when they came upon the fighting, he felt his stomach knot with dread, they had already breached the inner wall, not stopping to ask how he carved his way to where a familiar figure fought, "David! Down!" the shout was all that was needed, David dropped to one knee, pulling his right arm back he let it snap forward, the solders around David were blasted off their feet with enough force to send them flying almost Thirty feet.
David rose to his feet as he approached, "Damn! Alex if you're not a site for sore eyes" he clasped David's forearm briefly, "what's going on how'd they get through the seconded Gate so fast?" David growled deep in his throat, "the Mages that were supposed to help up fortify the second wall turned on us the moment they broke through the outer wall, my men are the only reason more hasn't reached us, their barley holding them at the Gate"
Alex found his anger rise before he beat it back, he needed to keep a clear head, "that's a third of our Magic users, what happened to the others?"
"They're trapped in the housing districted with the rest of our men; they won't last long without help." "Then let's go give it to them, Callen I want that Gatehouse back under our control by the time we get back."
"Yes Sir!"
"You ready to use that again" Alex gestured to the two handed sword in David's hands.
David Peverell was usually considered to be quite handsome, with his strong jaw, dark blue eyes and dirty blond hair that grew past his ears, while he was shorter then Alex standing at about 5'11 where as Alex was 6'3, he was a lot stouter especially across the shoulders and arms, he was built for strength where as Alex was built for speed and agility, don't get him wrong he was quite strong, David just had heavier muscles, his lips usually in a constant lighthearted smirk were now smiling coldly, "right behind you Alex, let's go show them why it's a bad idea to mess with a Dragon"
Together they charged toward the wall climbed the stairs and leapt off the edge, bypassing the Gatehouse completely.
They reached the trapped solders and Mages, the fighting was taking place in the town Square, there were his people wearing the Black, Silver and Blood Red of his army, were surrounded by gold and blue the colors of House Gunder, his men held their defensive circle desperately solders ringing the outside protecting the Mages and Archers inside, Alex took all this in within the amount of time it took him to slam into the enemy.
The reason he was called Dragon was because the way he fought, flying in the wind every stroke with a blade or motion with his wand left enemy soldiers lying dead at his feet, it also helped that he had a trick with Magic, drawing a deep breath he flicked his wand sending his opponent stumbling back, he let the air out of his lungs with a roar, blood red fire spouted from his open mouth looking exactly like an actual Dragon had breathed the flames, the fact that they only hurt what he wanted it to was just a bonus.
The flames cleared a path for his men to make a break for it, he called to them getting their attention and gestured for them to get out of there, the solders formed a funnel that let the Mages and Archers pass unhindered as they ran past Alex and David toward the inner wall they knew had to fortify it or they wouldn't last much longer with more of House Gunder's forces flooding into the city.
Alex retreated with his men, upon reaching the Gatehouse he saw it was once again under his control.
Dashing through the open Gate he side stepped out of the way letting the solders pass before the Gate swung shut at was sealed in place, he waved his wand over the blade of his sword cleaning it of blood before sheathing it and returning the wand to the holster on his wrist, leaning against the wall he took deep breaths, the Dragons Fire had taken more Magic power then he'd thought, "Sir!" glancing up he saw Callen standing there saluting him.
Grumbling he waved his hand, "at ease" he'd never get used to all this saluting, he'd told Callen and several others not to but they did it anyway, though the bowing was way worse in his opinion, "Sir!, most of the men made it inside only twenty unaccounted for" Alex was surprised he'd expected heavier casualties, "really, that's good make sure the wounded get patched up, we're going to need them soon"
Callen saluted once more before setting off at a brisk walk armor clanking, next to approach was David he was one of the only ones who didn't salute or bow outside formal occasions to which he was grateful it was hard to remember who he was before all this started sometimes.
He was about to open his mouth when they heard a scuffle and a cry of pain above them, they ran up the stairs nearby.
Till the man Alex had put in charge of the Magic users that had betrayed them stood hands bound together with a bloody knife in his hands, in front of him one of Alex's men pulled a wounded solder away from Till a brutal gash down his arm, Till turned to face him as his men parted to let him through, he was a small man stretching himself to full height he might reach Alex's chest, he wasn't built for the front lines, he was all skin and bones barley any muscle or fat one him, his face was just as boney as the rest of him with a large nose and brown eyes, he was almost bald with a small patch of white hair sitting atop his head, he was a brilliant Mage though, one of the best Alex had following him.
"You" Till snarled his brown eyes filled with hate, "you're weren't supposed to leave the keep, now you've gone and ruined everything"
"Why Till? Why'd you betray us, why'd you betray the ideals so many have died for already" Alex asked softly.
"Why" he scoffed, "you just said it perfectly, how many of died chasing this fairy tale of yours, five hundred? Thousand? When are you going to learn that you can't win, you can't change the world, how many more have to die before you realize that, huh, these ideals of yours are nothing but lies with you hiding behind them like the coward you are"
Till's words felt like a slap to the face, "how much did they pay you?" the words were cold as ice.
"Money, you think money's the reason I did this, no I did this to try and save these men from you, you've become power hungry Alex, I've watched you strutting around in that fine armor of yours all shiny and new having men bow and scrape before you telling them what to do so you didn't have to get your hand dirty, your no longer the man I chose to fight alongside two Cycles ago, you've become worse than Zevran ever was" the last words came out in a shout "and I'll die knowing I took you with me" he charged knife aiming for Alex's heart.
He caught Till's bound hands, twisting them painfully so he dropped the knife with a cry of pain, "you were with me from the beginning, you were my friend, you helped me try and rebuild these lands into something greater, you joined me because your son was killed because he didn't have your power and therefore useless to Zevran"
Till looked at him surprised, "yes I knew who your master was, I didn't say anything because I thought you truly believed, turns out I was wrong, may the Creator have mercy on your soul because you won't find it here"
Alex kicked Till over the crenellations of the wall, a scream was heard followed by a crunch, turning his back to where he'd kicked Till over the crenellations he strolled back down the Ramparts stairs and headed toward the nearest building which happened to be a Blacksmiths Forge which had a watering trough filled with fresh water drawn from a nearby well, pulling off his gauntlets he used his hands to splash water on his face, resting his hands edge of the trough he watched the water ripple thinking.
Could Till be right? Was he any better than Zevran, he slashed his face again, "you're not going to find what you're looking for if you keep splashing" a voice he recognized as David's came from behind him.
"And what if I'm looking just looking to wash me face" Alex grumbled softly.
David chuckled, "then you're just fine, however we both know that's not what you're looking for"
"And what is it I'm looking for?"
David sat on the edge of the trough, "you looking for your refection, but at the same time you're scared of what you'll see"
"He's right isn't he, Till I mean, I'm no better than Zevran am I?"
"I won't lie the way he spoke reminded me of how I look at you before I joined, armor so shiny it could never have seen battle before, people bowing and scraping before you, and your nose stuck up so high in the air It was wonder your feet touched the ground" Alex went to speak but David held up a hand to stall him, "but since then I've fought beside you, celebrated in victory, suffered in defeat, mourned loss of life, through all of this I stood by your side why?"
Alex shrugged, "because I saw how wrong I was, I watched as you lead from the front never the back, I watched you tell the men off for bowing, I watched you taking part in the work around camp be it gathering wood or digging lateens though I would rather not have you cook ever again, we have enough on our plates without you trying to kill us with your cooking"
Alex couldn't help but laugh at the pun as well as the memory of him cooking for the men that one time.
"you never asked something of your men you would not do yourself" David continued, " I watched as you let anyone willing to help have a chance to even if I myself would've, I watched as the men under your command became something greater than just an army on the march, they became a nation banded together with the simple ideal of every man equal to the next whether one of them had magic or not, and at their head was you, a born leader one that come once every five-hundred Cycles"
David locked eyes with him, Dark Blue staring into Shining Silver, having Alex's undivided attention he continued in a softer voice waving his hand towards where the men still stood watching before coming to a rest on his shoulder, "these men would follow you into Hell and back again. As would I, the fact that you question yourself already makes you ten times, no one-hundred time better then Zevran could ever be, just don't let those question cloud who you are and what your fighting for" finished with his little pep talk he walked away leaving Alex to think about what he'd said.
Watching David leave he turned his attention to the water underneath him, it had stilled during their talk and now it shown with the light of the moon silhouetting his reflection, Silver eyes looked back at himself his hair was black and untidy sticking up slightly in the back and… and…and.
Harry bolted upright breathing hard; he was covered in sweat snatching his glasses off the nightstand and shoved them on.
He was still in his dorm room he heard Ron snoring in the next bed over, slipping out of bed, he crept to the bathroom as to not disturb his dorm mates, as he passed by Dean's bed he heard him twisty and turning in his sleep, walking to the nearest sink he turned the knob and took his glasses off just long enough to splash his face with cold water.
He stared into the mirror above the sink, Emerald Green eyes looked back at him, "what was that?" he whispered to himself, he'd had a few of these dreams over the years but they were always foggy but this one, this one was clear as crystal, every face distinct, every sentence spoken clearly.
He wondered what brought this one on; he'd been having nightmares about the death of Cedric Diggory and the rebirth of Voldemort since the end of the tournament two days ago.
With a sigh Harry dried his face and returned to bed, he need his sleep if he was going to deal with all the whispering and pointing tomorrow, setting his glasses back on the night stand he climbed back into bed and pulled up the covers, his mind wandered back to the dream, Alex looked like an older version of himself, shaking his head he turned on his side grumbling, "it was only a dream, it doesn't mean anything" closing his eyes he drifted off to sleep.
Harry's fourth year at Hogwarts was ending, but despite everything he had to deal with this year, Dragons, Sphinx's, Merpeople, and the Yule Ball, competing as a champion in a damned tournament that kept trying to kill him while everyone in the school turned their back on him, having to watch a friend die and the rebirth of Lord Voldemort, despite all that, Hogwarts was the only place Harry could ever call home.
Authors Notes. This story is in no way connected to Heart of Fire, and while I'll be writing for this one every so often, my main efforts will be on Heart of Fire, please leave a review with your thoughts and on a final note, the Title for this book isn't set in stone so if you think of a better one feel free to let me know.