Author's notes:

I'm considering to change the location of the orb to some unknown place, since I fear that Viz-Jun will be introduced in some addon completely ruining the story.

HARRY POTTER AND THE BURNING HELLS

by CreatorZorah

Chapter 10: Badly attached things

"I want to eat!"

Zanashi sighed. The brat was getting annoying with his constant demands of real meals. More importantly he dared to refuse to go any further than kisses and embraces. Not that she really wanted it, kisses were enough to feel the pleasurable warmth and to drain a bit of his life-force. A year more or less, it wouldn't matter for him in the end, because he had a few hundred years to live if he would want. She couldn't help but do it, since it was in her nature. She was an undead.

Her annoyance, however, was caused by being unused to rejections. She teased him, having a lot of fun, but his rejections hurt. She knew that for an undead it wasn't really surprising to be rejected, but still Zanashi was saddened that she couldn't even seduce a young hormonal teen.

"You don't need to eat, Harry," she reminded him.

"But I want to. A real meal," he demanded.

"There is no need to act so childish. I know that you're just trying to get out of here to join your female friend."

He sighed. "I can't help but think about her, Zanashi. You have to understand."

"I do, but think about it. How would you find her?" she asked. "By now your friend is days away. What is the chance to meet her accidentally?"

"You're right, but... I won't forgive you if something happens to her."

"Your friend is resourceful. She'll manage."

"Yes, that she is," he agreed. "But that doesn't change the fact I want to eat."

She growled and gave in to his demands. "Alright, I'll command a few skeletons to get something to eat for you."

"Thank you," Harry said. "Eh... Zanashi, I was thinking..."

"Yes?"

"All these undead here in this tomb. I didn't really realize that until now, but you... killed them. That's hundreds of men and women. Just to save your own soul."

Zanashi scowled and said, "I didn't drag them here. I didn't force them to fight me, I didn't force them to fight the undead I controlled. It was their own choice to plunder my tomb. The graves of the dead shouldn't be disturbed. If they were foolish and greedy enough to come here for treasures then it was their own fault that they found their death."

He didn't answer for a few minutes and then said, "Well, that's reasonable, I guess. But there is one more thing that bothers me. You're very powerful as you are, why don't you go for the orb yourself or send your dead warriors after it?"

"My powers are tied to this place," she explained. "The further from the altar the less powers I have. And I am not really powerful, Harry. Strong enough to defeat you, but that's all. The moment you touched the knife I took your energy and began to feed on your magic. I'm powerful because you're powerful."

"Won't it somehow reflect on my abilities?" he asked.

"No, you silly. You'll gain all your powers back..." She blinked and added, "Almost."

He jumped off the bed and exclaimed, "What does that mean?"

Zanashi smiled, trying too look innocent, and answered, "You have to understand that it was an accident. The small thing was so badly attached to your body, that I kind of absorbed it accidentally."

"Badly attached?" he asked in horror. "What did you absorb?"

"I believe you would notice if I had absorbed that..." she deadpanned.

"I didn't mean that," he said rolling his eyes.

Zanashi smiled. "It was a piece of some dark soul. Not sure what that thing was. I hope it was nothing important to you."

Harry sighed. "You've got me lost. I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about."

That got her confused. Had he really no idea about the piece of soul that had been attached to the scar on his forehead? It's like missing the mountain Arreat standing at its foot. But then again magi of his world were quite clueless about magic. The moment she got him under Entoli, she absorbed the piece of soul... not really accidentally, quite the opposite. She deemed it dangerous to her and decided to not risk. Besides it made her more powerful and Zanashi could feel for the first time that she actually could exist outside of the tomb. She would be powerless, but still...

She didn't want to tell him that though. Zanashi had assumed that he was using it as a power source, but now he was saying that he had no idea about its existence... She wished she could read all his memories and not just things he believed to be important.

"The scar on your forehead," she said. "It contained a piece of soul."

His eyes widened in realization. "Voldemort's soul?"

"Ah, that Dark Lord I saw in your memories," she said nodding. "Perhaps."

"Well, that makes sense," he said shuddering from the thought that a piece of that monster was inside of him all the time. "I always wondered why I had a connection with that monster, could see through his eyes. If there was a piece of his soul, I'm actually glad that I got rid of it. But does that mean that you have it now?"

"No, it was destroyed and converted in a sort of a power source," she said. "I think we can continue our lesson."

"I have one more question before that," harry said.

Zanashi rolled her eyes and nodded. "Ask."

"Can you help us get back to our own world?" Harry asked.

"In my current state I can't summon a portal to your world. Even if I get the orb and regain the lost part of my soul, my powers are limited. I'm an undead. But everything you need is in the book I'll give you after your friend brings the orb. I'll explain you some of it too," she answered. "You'll need some time to learn about portals, but you two will find a solution."

"Thanks," Harry said. "Let's continue our studies."

"Is that your... tool?" Selia asked looking at the broom with confused expression.

Tracey sighed and answered, "Yes, it works like this." With that she mounted the broom and flew around for a few seconds.

"Is it... safe?" the demon hunter questioned, still being unsure if she should use such an obscure way to travel.

Tracey smiled reassuringly. "If we don't fly too fast, it's perfectly safe, Selia. Even if something happens, I can slow our fall down and we'll be perfectly okay. Come on, get on the broom."

Selia looked at her with hesitation, but mounted the broom and a few moments later Tracey took off feeling as Selia clutched at her with everything she had.

"Fear of heights?" Tracey asked accelerating towards the attacked village.

"No, fear of weird things that shouldn't fly," the demon hunter answered. "I'd be much calmer if it was you who would levitate me. But a broom..."

"Relax, and enjoy the flight. We'll be alright."

Selia stayed silent for a few minutes and the redhead noticed that she actually relaxed and got much calmer. Tracey could understand her distrust in the broom, anyone unfamiliar with this kind of magic would be wary. The idea of a flying broom was just... ridicolous.

"Why are you traveling to Kurast by the way?" Selia asked suddenly.

"Actually my destination is Viz-Jun," Tracey answered. "I wanted to hire some mercenaries in Kurast."

"Viz-Jun is a dangerous place," the demon hunter noted. "Ever since the fall of the city, dangerous creatures corrupted by minions of the Burning Hells are living there."

Tracey wasn't really sure what the Burning Hells was, but decided to not voice it. "I know," she answered. "But I need to get there. The life of my friend depends on it."

"Your friend?" Selia asked. "What happened to him? Is he there?"

"No," Tracey answered, but wasn't sure if she could tell the demon hunter about the orb. In the end she decided to trust the demon hunter. "We were investigating an ancient tomb in the deserts near Lut Gholein, hoping to find a way home, but it was a trap set up by the ancient undead sorceress. She defeated us as if we were helpless kittens and took my friend as a hostage. He's the only person I've got, I have to help."

"That's a very disturbing story," the demon hunter exclaimed. "I'll help you defeat her and free your friend, if you allow me."

Surprised by her words, Tracey said, "Eh... thanks, but I think the sorceress didn't really mean any harm. She just wants to be freed."

"You shouldn't trust a word of a restless spirit. They're selfish, cruel and treacherous beings. If you want to see your friend alive, you should hurry. What did she ask you to do?"

The redhead paled and began to worry about Harry again. Why did she trust the words of an undead so easily? "To bring her an orb of power, where a part of her soul is sealed," she answered. "And the orb is at Viz-Jun."

"If you want, I'll accompany you to the Viz-Jun after we investigate the village. This way you won't waste your time for mercenaries."

Stunned, Tracey asked, "Why would you do all this for me?"

Selia didn't answer for a few seconds, before saying, "Because I know the pain of losing someone dear to you and from how you talked about him I can say that he is important to you. I don't want anyone to feel the same pain if I can prevent it. We'll save your friend before the darkness claims him."

"Thank you, Selia. I can't express how grateful I am. What about the village?"

"I'm here to investigate, not to fight. But we'll see once we get there."

For a few minutes they didn't say a word to each other, both deep in thoughts, before Tracey asked, "May I ask you what demon hunters do? Is it some kind of organization?"

"No," Selia said resting her jaw on Tracey's shoulder.. "It's not really an organization. We're all survivors of demon attacks on villages. I was found as a child, as a lone survivor. They took me in and trained."

"Do you use some kind of magic to fight... demons?" the witch asked.

"Depends on how you define magic. I'm not a sorceress, but I channel hatred into my body, tools and weapons. Like this crossbow bolt, for example," she said handing it carefully to Tracey while clutching with the other hand the redhead's shoulder. "The runes engraved on them make the bolt explode while my hatred powers them."

Tracey glanced at the bolt and frowned. "Using hatred is dangerous. Hate leads to..."

"Destruction and Destruction begets Terror as Terror begets Hate and Hate begets Destruction," Seila interrupted her. "I know the dangers of using my hatred."

"I wasn't going to say 'destruction', but your words fit as well," Tracey said wondering where she read these words. She could swear that some history book she deemed to be a fairytale said something like this, but to think about it during the flight wasn't a good idea.

"We're trained to maintain the balance, to temper our hatred with discipline," the demon hunter explained.

"You can easily lose yourself while using negative emotions."

"Some of us do lose themselves," Selia agreed. "That's the danger we all face."