A/N: So here's the second chapter of my Harry Potter/Codex Alera crossover, to everyone who favorite and followed this story already, thanks so much! So here we go.
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Chapter 2: The Earth's Fury
Harry stopped moving entirely and stared at the small earthen bear cub looking at him. The cub lowered its head and nudged up against Harry's arm.
"Gaaahhhhhh!" Harry scrambled back until he was sitting on the ground about 3 feet away from the bear cub.
"What are you screaming about out there boy? We don't want the neighbors asking questions!" Vernon shouted from inside the kitchen. Harry began to think fast, 'If Vernon comes out here and sees this I'm doomed! I can't let him find out about this!' Harry heard Vernon opening the back door and making his way outside, 'No! Don't come out here! He's going to kill me!' Vernon walked over to where Harry was sitting and Harry shut his eyes tightly preparing for the inevitable storm that was coming.
"Boy! What are you doing lazing about? I should have known that you were out here sitting around, trying to make more work for your Aunt. Get up and get back to work you little freak!" after his tirade, Vernon turned around and stomped his way back inside the house.
"Wha-what?" 'What just happened? Where'd the bear go?' As Harry thought this, the tiny earthen bear with the emerald eyes seemed to crawl it's way out of the ground, shaking off a little bit of excess dirt. As it came closer, Harry hesitantly reached out his hands toward the bear and softly placed his hand on the cub's head.
'What in the world is going on,' Harry thought as he wondered at the touch of the construct next to him. It felt surprisingly soft, like the loam that he often worked in the garden. Periodically, Harry would feel hard stone deposits across what could be considered the bears "skin".
"What are you?" Harry asked in complete and utter wonder. The bear just cocked his head and looked at him with its emerald unblinking eyes.
"Can you talk?" The cub just continued to look at Harry and a rough sound that sounded a lot like a group of stones being rolled down a hill emanated from the small bear. 'Can you talk? What a stupid question Harry! It's a bear! A bear made out of dirt and rocks even! Of course it can't talk!'
"What do you want? Why are you here?" The bear didn't respond, it just began to walk around Harry, getting into the flowerbed and nosing around the flowers.
Harry quickly saw how this could go badly for him,
"Hey don't mess around with those! Aunt Petunia would kill me! As a matter of fact, I still need to get those rocks out of the bed. I need to finish that soon or Uncle Vernon will have my hide."
As he said this, the bear stopped and looked at him, then proceeded to turn and dig into the dirt.
"Hey! Stop that! You're going to get me in trouble!" Harry began to panic, thinking about the disaster waiting for him if this bear thing wound up ruining the flowerbed. However he noticed that the bear had fully submerged itself in the dirt and there was no trace of any damage or digging on the surface of the earth. As Harry looked on in wonder for the 10th time in the last hour, slowly a number of small rocks began to rise to the surface, eventually forming a neat little pile right in front of him. The bear then rose to the surface for the third time, shaking off the excess dirt from its form. Harry couldn't believe what he had just seen, "How did you do that?" The bear just yawned and curled up next to the rock pile, lying in the soil. 'What on earth is happening?'
Before Harry could continue on this train of thought, he heard his Uncle lumbering out of the house his face slowly beginning to turn towards the purple color that Harry knew spelled doom for him.
"BOY! Why aren't you finished yet? You're supposed to be done by now! The living room needs to be vacuumed! If you don't get your lazy, good-for-nothing self up and back to work, you'll regret it I promise you!"
Taking the small opportunity presented to him by Vernon's need to breathe, Harry spoke, "Yes Uncle Vernon, but I just finished getting all the rocks out of the flowerbed,"
Vernon stopped and looked at the pile of rocks in the soil, looked back at Harry and said,
"Hmph, while you may have gotten it done, it still took you far too long. Get inside and start cleaning up the living room. After you put all these rocks in the bin." Harry began to pick up the rock pile and head towards the house, "And don't forget to wash up and change clothes! You won't be getting any dirt on Petunia's carpet if I have anything to say about it!" Harry just sighed and nodded, "Yes Uncle Vernon,"
As the day came to an end and Harry began his usual nightly routine, he came back to the thought that had been running around in his head all day, the strange dirt bear that had been with him in the garden. Harry couldn't believe what had happened. If it weren't for the fact that he had touched it and felt it, he would have just assumed it was a hallucination. However, Harry knew that there was something different about himself, and as he laid his head down to sleep that night he knew that he was special.
As Harry slept, he began to dream of a wondrous land; a land of magic, where the world was filled with creatures just like the earthen bear cub that appeared during the day. He saw a flying man leading armies against monsters, and another man turn into metal and slay the monsters. Harry couldn't believe how amazing this world was; a land of heroes, swords, and magic and Harry wanted nothing more than to be a part of it. He suddenly found himself in a stone room with a wooden desk and cabinet, and perhaps the most memorable thing in the room, a giant stone mural on the wall that looked like a map of a country. Harry slowly made his way towards the mural and placed a hand upon the cool stone.
"It's beautiful isn't it?"
Harry started and turned and before him was the woman he saw in his dream the night before, "I'm sorry! I wasn't going to break it! I promise!" The woman simply smiled and shook her head, "You are fine young one, it is your birthright after all,"
Harry looked at her confusedly, "Birthright? My parents didn't make anything like this. Uncle Vernon said that they were drunks who were killed in a car crash," The woman's eyes flashed dangerously, "That man knows nothing of the blood that runs through your veins. If he knew he would bow before the power that lies within you,"
Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing, "There's no way that I'm who you're talking about, I'm just Harry!"
The woman walked towards Harry and knelt in front of him, "You are far more than 'just Harry' young one. You are the descendant of the greatest kings that this world has ever known. You are one that has manifested a full earth fury at only ten years old without having any idea how to do it. The potential within you is limitless."
"What in the world is an earth fury?" Harry asked.
The woman smirked, "What do you think the bear that met in the garden today was? That was an earth fury, and it is only the beginning of your abilities."
"You mean…I made that bear come out?" Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Yes young one, earth, water, fire, wind, wood, and metal. These are the elements that world is formed out of and within these elements lies untold power. The furies are the physical representation of the elements."
"How do you know all this?" Harry asked.
The woman looked Harry right in the eye and said, "There was once a land that existed a long time ago. A land hidden by magic where all of the things that you have seen in your dreams happened everyday, and furies more powerful than anything the world had ever seen roamed the earth. This wondrous land was called Alera."
"Alera…" Harry muttered to himself, "But you still haven't told me how you know all of this,"
The woman stood and straightened up and looked down at Harry imperiously,
"My name…is Alera,"
A/N: So that might be the longest chapter I've ever written (granted it's a very small sample size) but we're starting to get a little more into it. Alera has revealed herself to Harry and he finally starts to get some answers. I'm currently looking for a beta who I can bounce some ideas off of so if you're interested send me a PM. Please leave a review so I can learn what you liked, what you didn't like and how I can improve. Thanks for reading!
~Uzumaki200
