Lore
By: Tara
Summary: Harry is brought to the Labyrinth while still a babe. With the powers of wizards, dragon lore, the gifts of the Labyrinth, and an entirely new way of life, Harry Potter is no more, but reborn Underground as the second son of the one and only Goblin King and his Queen, he will reach powers neither Fae or Wizard has ever seen. And one can never complete such a task alone... HPDM, slash!
Author's Note: Toby is going to a MAIN character in this story. You'll see him a LOT. yes, I skipped the whole, lets get Sarah and Jareth together and just threw them together. This is SEVERAL years after that as they had a child, she's not a teenager, and their child is roughly 5/6. So, a LOT of this story has to do with the Labyrinth and the way I view it to be. So, when I get to the Hogwarts part, if some things seem out of place from the way JKR had them, it's cause they fit in my storty with the inclusion of the the Labyrinth.
Disclaimer: I own not anything from JKR's books or of the Labyrinth. But my dragon lore is mine! :p
Genres: Humor, Romance, Dangerous Muse, Who Knows
Rating: M just for safety purposes
WARNINGS: The Dragon Lore is my own creation and would like to state that it is in fact mine and would like it to remain so. Part of that lore is shown here in this chapter, but I would like to NOT see it turn up in other stories. Thank you! ^.^
Chapter Two: Lore
"...and their coats glimmer as the fluctuating moon. Their horns beautifully twisted to a point and easily catching the moon beams to play with. For the wizards, unicorns are sacred beings, their blood holding immortality with a terrible cost."
Conrí was rooted to his seat. His eyes trained on his uncle and hanging on every word, committing it all to memory. "What is it, Uncle Toby? What happens?"
Toby gave his nephew a sober look, though inside he was enjoying Conrí's curiosity. "Well, young prince, when one drinks of the blood of a unicorn to achieve immortality, they must continuously drink their blood to maintain their life. They become addicted and soon loose the sense of life and mortality they feared loosing through death."
Conrí's eyes were huge as understanding blossomed. "You mean they kill the unicorns?"
Toby nodded sadly. "Yes, Conrí. They kill and must continue to kill them." Toby reached out to wipe the tear away from the boy's cheek. "It's a horrid sight to see such a magnificent creature dead. But I had the chance to see their blood. An old wizard had a vial of it he used for some rather interesting potions."
"He didn't kill a unicorn, did he?"
"No," Toby assured him. "Actually, this particular wizard lived in a dense, dark forest and the blood was freely given. Unicorns are one of the most amazing creatures I have come across in the Above."
Toby paused and eyed the boy. "In fact, a very long time ago, unicorns lived here in the Underground, their forests and fields were where the barren lands now are. It is said that when they left, the sky cried and flooded the land, stripping away the life and leaving it barren until their return."
"Why did they leave, Uncle Toby?"
"A king, Conrí. A dark and terrible king who found sport in their hunt. The very same king who sought to conquer the Underground as a whole for himself. He was the one to banish the dragon's after claiming the heart and claw of the Lady's daughter."
"He killed her?" the boy's eyes were so expressive, Toby himself could feel the sorrow the boy felt.
"No. No. Remember what I told you about claiming a dragon's claw?" Conrí paused and thought.
"You claim control over them?"
Toby shook his head. "That's the heart. By claiming her heart, the king held power over her." Toby paused, but continued when he saw no more guesses were forth coming. "It binds them to a human form. By taking her claw, she was forced to remain as a maiden."
"Oh." Conrí leaned forward. "What happened to her?"
"He forced her to marry him and sent all her kindred Above."
Conrí nodded to himself, assimilating the information. "Will they ever come back?" he asked, thinking now about his birthday wish.
Toby shrugged. "You never know. There's a prophecy of a dragon boy, born Above and Under as a human and very magical. It is said he will bring Light to the Dark of the Sky and life to the barren land. With him shall the dragon's once again return to their lands and with them bring the breath of raw power and ignite the long lost pits of magic."
"Wow," Conrí whispered. "Are they really that powerful, Uncle Toby?"
"You know of the pits?" Toby asked surprised.
"Yes. Father told me about them a few months ago. The council was here and I was listening and Father said the reason why there isn't any new magic is because the pits can't be lit. He said the pits is where the true power of magic comes from."
Toby nodded his head in agreement. "It's true, young prince. First the pits need to be found and then only a dragon's breath of power can light them." Toby paused and was cut off before he could launch into another long story.
"Father said the council wanted to search the Labyrinth. He said the other lands are loosing their magic, but that ours isn't."
Toby gave the boy a quizzical look. "I'll need to talk to your father later about this. Do you know why the loss of power is bad?"
Conrí nodded. "Because it is the only way to survive here. Father says the Underground is a magical place, thus we need the magic to live."
"It is more than that," Toby spoke. "To us, magic is life. It is more than just a way of life. In the Above, magic is just a way the wizards live. We cannot live as they do because magic is how and what we breathe. Everything here is magic. The food you eat, the air, and even the water you drink. Do you know why iron is deadly to us?"
Conrí shook his head, enthralled by his uncle's words.
"Iron has no quality of magic. In the Above, it is everywhere, which is why we cannot live Above. It drains magic and since we cannot live without magic, iron becomes a deadly weapon against us. Not even the dwarfs will touch iron."
"Then why can wizards live Above? The use magic."
Toby smiled. "They use magic, yes. But they are not magic. The easiest way to think of it is that you and I are a part of magic. We are magic. Wizards can only use magic but they are human."
"So they can live with iron?"
Toby nodded. "Yes. They can live with iron."
"But why? How can they use magic without being like us? Are dwarfs like us?"
"They are human and I believe that when the dragons went Above, they brought with them their power and magic and some humans were able to begin to understand how to us it. I can explain it much better when you are older. Just know that we are vastly different from wizards. And yes, the dwarfs are magic just like us which is why they live in the Underground like we do."
"The dragons," Conrí whispered in awe. "What was it like with dragons."
"Would you like me to tell you a tale about dragons?"
Conrí nodded vigorously. "YES!"
Toby laughed. "Very well. I'll start at the beginning." Toby took a moment to compose himself before beginning. "Dragons were first born of the waters of Life. With them, so were the wraith. Where the dragons gave life, the wraiths could take it. They are the two first balancing powers of the Underground."
"What does a wraith look like?" Conrí interrupted.
"Well, they're creatures of shadow and death. You'll know if you ever are by one, because you'll feel the heat leave your body and all happiness leaves your heart and mind. The very air freezes and if they ever get too close, they can suck your soul out." Toby stop for a brief moment to think. "No one knows what they actually look like, only that they wear hooded cloaks and stick to the night, but they could very well look like a dragon since they are related."
Conrí's eye were huge once again. Toby almost broke the enchanted mood by laughing, but with the grace of a true story teller – as his sister had taught him – he pulled the boy further into the world of mystery and wonder.
"The dragons, from the beginning, shed their claws to take the forms of Maidens and as the Underground began to form, so too were wells of raw magic. It was from these wells that many a magical creature was born. The dragons, wise at their birth, took the forms of maidens to protect these sacred places.
"The first birth was from water and the dragons themselves are of the element at birth. They ruled the waters and when they looked up to the sea of the sky, some spread their wings and took to the clouds and the stars. Those born in the hottest of the waters at the base of the volcano learned to relish the element of fire and so it was them who could breathe the hot flames.
"And that was how the Three Elder Dragon races were born."
Toby halted in his tale as Conrí vigorously shook his head. "Uncle! There are Four Ancient Dragon races! You forgot the earth dragons!"
His uncle's rusty laughter caused him to pause. "No, my young prince. I have not forgotten them at all. They have their own story. I will tell it if you wish it."
Conrí bounced in his seat. "Please! Please Uncle Toby! Please tell me!"
Toby's laughter, though still a bit rusty, was gaining much of it's life back now. Unknown to them, two other sets of eyes were riveted to the tale as well and mentally echoed the boy's plea.
"Very well," Toby smiled and began the Tale.
#
Three beautiful and fair maidens lounged around a cool pool of crystal clear water, no life swam about, but the water itself rippled with life.
The maidens all bid their time, tending to the surrounding forest and glade. Mindful to leave no trace of their presence should any ventured near their sacred pool.
It was a dragon who came one morning, before the sun yawned and spread its arms to the sky to great the Underground. He could not take a human form, yet he still spoke unto the maidens.
"Come share the wind and the sky with me," his musical tones beckoned.
The vision of grace and beauty, Nekane, born of the Lady and one of her few lovers and was fourth eldest of the many siblings, stood and spoke.
"Leave us, Nátael (nu-tall) and take your need and wicked eyes to the daughters of another. We remain as we are and will not take wing."
Nekane was a true prize of the dragons. She wore honor and duty as a crown and held truth and power as her throne. She was a true Queen in every right, but never once had she given herself to one worthy as king.
Nátael only began the dragon ways of seduction, moving in the grace of his kind. Unmoved, Nekane turned her back to him and beckoned the other two to follow, but one maiden was swayed by his dance and took to the skies to soar at his wings.
As time passed by, many more came and at some point the other left Nekane to tend the pool alone. Nátael, even mated with many others, would return, never quenching his thirst for her beauty.
After a time, even he rarely ventured to her. Left to her duty, it was a man who finally claimed her heart. A man who one day stumbled into the glade of the pool, lost within the forest. Nekane found him sitting and staring off into its depths.
Sighing, she tended to his appearance, knowing no souls could look into the pool but dragon born. The pool was a link to a universe of raw power and magic and a man would simply sit there staring until he literally faded away, leaving no trace of his presence.
But this man did not fade as the days slowly passed and Nekane became drawn by his handsome features. Unknowing to her, he was a prince, but what matter should it be to her? She was forbidden to lay with a man, only as a dragon and with one of her own. But by his presence, she became ensnared in love's trap.
Two weeks had passed and he was still there. She sat a distance away, watching, and for the first time since she found him, she spoke. "What keeps you here when you cannot leave the water's hold?"
At the sound of her voice, the man turned to see such beauty he had never before seen. She was magnificent and he could think of nothing else but the glow of her eyes and the shimmer of her skin.
She was at a lost. No man ever left the thrall of the water. No man could know of its existence, of its power.
"My name is Edan, youngest son of the King Igode (E-go-d)." He took a moment to register his surroundings. "What is this place? I was lost in the forest and do not recall coming here."
Nekane cautiously eased closer to him. "Nor would you, for you should never have been here." She paused a few paces away from him. "I am Nekane. I am the Watcher of this place." She gave him a quizzical look. "You did not fade. How is it you broke the lure of the water?"
Edan looked back to the water and saw in it the swirls of the universe and the raw power of magic. Turning, he looked into her eyes and swore he saw nothing more magnificent then those emerald eyes.
"It is pretty, but your voice is the very song of temptation and your eyes behold all the glory of the stars. If I am to fade from staring into fate, it will be from your eyes and I would die happy as long as I can always hear your voice."
Nekane was taken by his words and that night she gave herself to him and his gentle hands.
The were in love and lived peacefully for a few months before Nátael ventured into her glade and witnessed the lovers rise. In a fit of rage, he rose to the sky and to the Dragon Council.
By their decree, Nekane was transformed into a grand tree, forever watching the pool as is her duty. As for the man, they left him to death by the elements, trapped within the sacred forest with nothing to sustain himself, he should have died.
But it was at the pool's edge where he nearly took his own life. Instead he broke the one promise he had made to his love – he drank from the water.
Nekane watched on in sorrow and with the vines about both tree and glade, she drew his body into the water, ever watching his sleeping form. The Dragon Council, upon witnessing his drink of the sacred water, banished mankind to the Above.
Nekane watched all and from her tears of sadness were the first true creatures of the land born. They hated the dragons with a fierceness that rivaled the true nature of the winged beasts. The dwarfs tended to the dirt, digging out the mountains and were the first to create weapons. Their home was Arkaitz.
The elves, limber and in tune with the green of the land and the creatures living within, tended to the forest, making their homes within the thickest parts. There they called the Vidar.
Though others were born, these two, born from the sorrow of a dragon maiden, grew into a force to challenge the dragons and each race claimed the sacred wells of their lands, freeing the maidens from their duty who in turn took refuge with the elves.
But Nekane's tree and her glade were the most sacred to the two races. As time flourished these two races, a new race was born. From her coupling with the prince, Nekane bore, from her form as a tree, a new dragon. This one took wing, but thrived with the land.
Aware of this new dragon, the Dragon Council shunned the boy, not granting his kind to council. The maidens who had been freed (seven in all) became his wives and from them both Fae and dragon were born.
As Nekane watched, her heart once more knew love, the love of a mother for her son and her family. She cried again and this time water spites and tree nymphs were born and they aided her son. The elves taught him the ways of illusion. The dwarfs taught him of stones and gems and the secret powers of metals. The nymphs taught him how to shift his form, to become man, beast, or dragon.
All this he taught his children and the Fae ventured out to claim what once had been man's.
#
Conrí sat in silence. "What of the maiden, Nekane? And her prince? What happened to them?"
Toby gave the boy a sad smile. "As fas it is known, she still remains a tree and he in her pool."
Conrí shook his head. "That isn't fair!"
"And when is it fair, son?" Jareth spoke as he entered the library, the babe in his arms.
"Father!" Conrí stood from his seat, but remained still as he saw the bundle his father held. "Father," he started again. "What is in your arms?"
Jareth laughed. "A Boy-child, my son. Who may or may not become your brother." Jareth beamed at the joy in Conrí's eyes. "WE shall find out tonight. Uncle Thanatos is coming for dinner, so be respectful and don't ask him too many questions."
Conrí jumped for joy, bidding both father and uncle a quick farewell before going in search of his mother.
"That was some story, Toby," Jareth addressed his wife's brother. "And with such a gift for telling stories."
Toby bowed his head in gratitude. "Yes, well, I thought it best for entertainment and knowledge. I don't believe it is simply a story, Jareth. I believe that when the dragons went above with all their power, they unintentionally created wizards. I am close, but I believe it is all entertwind."
"Very much like the Labyrinth," Jareth mused.
"Very much so, brother."
Jareth presented Harry to him. "He is connected to Sarah. They share the same source of power. Will you still not let me see you?"
Toby sighed. "You will not like it and I will not become your test subject." He paused and thought for a moment. "Once, Jareth. Only thus. Only once."
Jareth gave him his word and cupped his face. Staring into those eyes, much as his own, Jareth left solid form and ventured into the magic of Toby.
Not please was an understatement. When he returned to physical form, Jareth was livid!
TBC
So, yup. As I said before, It'll be awhile until we get to Hogwarts. It's a crossover, and it'll be mainly Labyrinth until "Harry" grows up. :D Hope you enjoyed it!
REVIEWS! They're like ambrosia to use writers! Mmmm… yummy! Seriously!