A/N:I made it! I wrote another chapter for this story. I hope you like it, if you, people, still follow it.

HARRY POTTER AND THE BURNING HELLS

by CreatorZorah

Chapter 14: Runes and Illusions

The road to Viz-Jun took five days. Almost the only things Tracey saw were the boring rain forest, rivers of diverse colours and sometimes mountains. And various animals, of course. In company with Selia, the witch felt much safer and slept better. They talked a lot and Tracey learned tons of new information about the world she was in and the organization Selia was a member of.

Selia began teaching Tracey runes. In this world people used them to create very creative and powerful things, like Selia's weapons. The redhead had always loved crafting magical items and the runes of this world were very interesting She was eager to learn anything new and the demon hunter had nothing against sharing her secrets. It was very difficult, because the language, Selia used, had more than five thousand runes that could be combined in any possible way. An immense amount of knowledge. Thankfully the language wasn't really a secret. The libraries of Lut Gholein had some literature about it. Of that the demon hunter was sure.

On the fourth day, following the Selia's instructions, Tracey managed to produce a stone that would explode once charged with magic. A crude creation, but it was the beginning. Tracey knew that they would eventually part their ways and wanted to learn as much as she could from the demon hunter. Tracey's main goal was to learn rules about building phrases with the runes. Then she would be able to learn without Selia's help.

Broken ribs still ached a bit, but Tracey was pleased that the healing potion worked well. Still, she vowed to learn a few healing spells. He hated being so helpless. Even Harry knew a healing spell!

And, of course, they discussed tactics of fighting demons in team. Obviously, unlike Tracey, the demon hunter knew lots about that. They didn't have much time to actually train together, but the redhead found it very useful, because she wasn't really used to fight. Wizards and witches in her own world weren't taught fighting along someone like Selia.

When Zanashi had said ruins, she had thought of boulders, not of a huge city that even jungles failed to consume completely. Even parts of the city wall made out of white stone still stood high. It had failed to protect the city though.

Selia climbed onto pile of stones in the destroyed part of the city wall and looked around. Tracey joined her. The sight was stunning, it reminded her of the aztec and chinese architecture at the same time. A kind of mix between the two. Some buildings seemed to be immense. But now, that she was closer Tracey understood why people had never attempted to recolonize the place. The city was destroyed, the huge buildings were nothing but debris.

"I feel the demonspawn," said the demon hunter. "We shouldn't linger in the open."

Tracey nodded and followed Selia, who swiftly moved inside the city. As they moved Tracey couldn't help but turn her head to left and right.

"What if there is no way to get to the orb of power?" Tracey asked. What if it's so deep in the ruins that no one can reach it?

"Calm down, Tracey. We'll cross the bridge when we come..."

Selia suddenly stopped in her tracks. Tracey understood her without words and prepared herself for a fight channeling her magic to the staff and conjuring a shield around her and the demon hunter. They were in the middle of an ancient street, nowhere to hide. The first thing she heard were hoofbeats, lots of them, and then she saw some weird creatures, that reminded her of satyrs of her own world, just five times larger and deadlier.

As the first spears and arrows flew at Tracey and Selia, they began to act. Selia was first to rush towards the creatures, while Tracey followed trying to keep close to insanely fast woman, that was already raining death upon the foes. Unlike their first battle in the cave, Tracey took on a support role creating shields around them, blocking arrows and spears, pushing the creatures away from them and creating walls of fire to separate enemies in small groups. That didn't mean that she wasn't killing them, however.

Finally there were no more foes to kill. Two dozen corpses lay around them, while the others had fallen back.

"Khazra," said Selia looking at the fleeing creatures.

"What are they?" Tracey asked, as she kneeled down to study a fallen creature.

"People say they were once humans, now demonic beasts, twisted by the magic of ancient vizjerej mages to serve as mindless warriors during the Mage Clan wars, that resulted in the destruction of Viz-Jun," explained Selia, gathering her thrown weapons. "Don't let your guard down, they're still here, watching us."

"Mages transfigured humans into these?!" exclaimed Tracey. "That's horrible."

"As I said, we humans sometimes are just as bad as demons," said Selia as they continued to walk down the ancient street.

"I guess, violence is a part of our nature."

"It is," Selia agreed. "And minions of the Burning Hells use it gladly against us."

As they were passing by a hole in the ground, the staff in Tracey's hands suddenly came to life and she sensed that Zanashi's soul was hidden somewhere down there.

"Don't tell me we have to get into the catacombs," said Selia.

Tracey sighed. "I'm afraid we do."

'Let's find a safer entrance then," the demon hunter said and then muttered, "Why is it always catacombs? I hate catacombs."

"Have you already been in some?" Tracey asked.

The demon hunter nodded. "Several times back in the western lands with my mentor. Minions of the Burning Hells prosper in the ancient dungeons, using our innate fear of darkness."

"Is it why you hate them?"

"No, I hate the smell," Selia answered.

"If you wish I'll conjure some delicate flower perfume around us," offered Tracey, trying to not smile. "I'm actually proficient in these spells."

The demon hunter raised an eyebrow. "You're joking, right?"

"No."

Selia looked at Tracey in disbelief. "That was a very weird rock you've lived under," she muttered.

Tracey snickered. "Look!" She pointed with her hand. "Another entrance to the catacombs, this one with the stairs. Looks safe enough to me."

"Perils may remain unseen until it's too late. Light up your staff, and be very careful with your steps," the demon hunter said as they approached the entrance. "Ancient catacombs are very dangerous places."

It had been ten days since Tracey left the tomb, and Harry was getting more and more nervous. Zanashi had assured him that Tracey was close to the goal and soon would come back, but her words hadn't easened his worries. He hated being helpless. At least he had been learning and not wasting his time.

Time-space magic had proven to be very difficult, but interesting and extremely useful nonetheless. With Zanashi's help he had mastered teleportation, and the control over the time itself. He had learned to tap into the arcane energies and using them to manipulate the gravity, but he yet had to learn to control the natural elements. But before that…

"Delicious!" he exclaimed biting down on some strange fruit. It reminded him of a peach, but a large one. "It's a food of the gods!"

"There are no gods, Harry," Zanashi said.

Harry shrugged. "It's a matter of perspective. One of the things you can't be certain of."

The sorceress hovered to Harry and wound her arms around his neck. "Had the gods ever existed, they left the Sanctuary a long time ago."

"Maybe, maybe not," Harry said. "Anyway, I don't really want to start a theological debate. Thank you for the meal."

"I'm glad you like it," said Zanashi, kissing him on his cheek, avoiding his lips.

For the first time in ten days he, finally, was eating something. He had never known that food would be so delicious after ten days of starvation. Well, not really starvation, since Zanashi kept him healthy using arcane energies. A feat he was still unsure how the ancient sorceress had managed, but something she had promised to teach him.

"Now, are you ready to continue the lesson?"

"Yes," Harry answered. "What are you going to teach me next?"

"The art of illusions," said the sorceress. "It's one of the most important skills you will learn. Tell me why."

Harry frowned. "I'm not sure. To play pranks on people?"

"No, you dunderhead," Zanashi said in frustration. "You're not a jester to play pranks. Let's try again, why are illusions important?"

"Well, they may be useful as distractions," Harry answered after a pause he took to think the matter over, "to catch a foe unaware."

"The idea is correct, but the reason is wrong. You shall use them to stay safe and hidden, to create opportunities to flee a dangerous foe, and to avoid close-ranged battles. You shall use illusions to win some time in order to gather more arcane energy for your attacks."

Harry slapped himself on the forehead "Right, I'm a sorcerer and my strength is the long-ranged combat."

"Never forget that. Now, how would you create an illusion?"

He scratched his head. "Some kind of mind control perhaps?"

"Let's assume, you're fighting ten foes, would it be possible to confound all of them at once?"

"No, of course not. I've honestly got no idea."

"A few days ago we studied the properties of light and how to control it," the sorceress gave a hint.

Harry's eyes widened in realization. "Oh..."

"Indeed. You should learn to use the knowledge, not the tools I give you. Otherwise once I'm gone you'll stagnate. Skills without knowledge are useless, but knowledge is worth nothing without the ability to use it."

"I understand that," Harry said.

"We'll start with something simple," Zanashi continued. "For instance, how would you go about making yourself invisible?"

"I… I'd need to bend the light around me."

"I believe you don't need my explanation to do this."

Indeed, Harry didn't need an explanation. A few days ago when he had learned to use the light as a weapon, he had been focusing it in a single point. Now he needed the opposite. He tapped into the arcane energies and began to bend the light. He quickly realized that bending the light around him wasn't a simple task, it required a very fine control. After a few attempts he, however, successfully did it.

"Am I invisible?" he asked.

"More or less," the sorceress answered. "However, your invisibility is imperfect. Tell me why."

"Because I've got a smell," he said.

"What else?"

"People may sense the energies I wield."

"Good. The finer your control, the less likely your opponent will sense it," she said. "Now that you managed to make yourself invisible, do the opposite, make a clone of light."