Trail of Secrets
Chapter 23
Lily Potter floated above the city of TírnanÓg, her dark hair flowing out behind her, her blue eyes taking in every movement of the occupants below as they prepared to leave.
A purple oval opened up in the sky beside her.
Mitchell Evans stepped out his large hands tucked into the pockets of his grey suit.
"Seems like I made it just in time."
"Daddy, what are you doing here?"
A blonde eyebrow climbed towards his hairline, "You don't actually think I would stay here when the rest of my family is traveling to another universe do you? Besides, I think it's time I talked to Selena."
Lily turned to face him, her hands sliding to the hips of her dark jeans, "What about the family business? What about Petunia?"
Mitchell shook his head, "I looked into Petunia's soul before leaving, she will never speak to me. She's been to poisoned by her mother," he glanced at the city, "I think Penelope knew deep down that I didn't love her as much as I did Selena."
"As for Potter industries, I gave control to one Pepper Pots."
Lily opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off when an explosion shook the ground. Both looked into the distance, finding a small dust cloud rising on the horizon.
"Looks like we better get moving."
"Enter the city," a smirk curled her lips, "mother might need some reassurance."
Mitchell drifted towards the ground. Pausing, he glanced over his shoulder, "I know where Harry is, but I'm surprised James isn't here with you."
"Cernunnos or James is helping the Celtic gods come up with a plan for when they enter my universe. There can't be two sets of Celtic gods after all"
Nodding Mitchell finished his dissent towards the ground.
Minutes later Lily Potter also known as death of the endless raised her hands, pure white energy billowing off them, she glanced into the distance, "Please be careful, Harry."
In a flash of white energy, thousands of people plus the city of TírnanÓg vanished never to be seen in this universe again.
–XX –
Harry pushed off, the ground around him exploding as he closed the distance between him and Herpo. Emerald green energy flowed up from his hands, forming a curved sword.
Laughing, Herpo threw a punch, black energy exploding from his fist.
Dropping into a crouch, Harry rotated his body, bringing his sword around in a horizontal slash at Herpo's middle.
A faint energy pushed against the blade, stopping it from coming in contact with Herpo skin.
Spinning away, Harry rose to his feet now behind Herpo.
'This isn't good, something about his new form is blocking my attacks.'
Herpo slowly turned, his wide feet leaving small trails in the dirt.
His yellow eyes board into Harry's, the bald ridge that served as his eyebrow rising in question, "Is that all?"
In the blink of an eye, Herpo appear before Harry, his fist blurring forward, seeming to come from all directions.
Raising his arms, Harry blocked as many as he could, but quite a few got through. A particularly powerful blow to the stomach sent him rolling across the ground.
"Harry!" Bellatrix called Eldridge power dancing around her slender fingers.
Body aching, Harry slowly pushed himself to his feet, a drop of blood dripping to the ground from a cut on his lip, "I am fine. Stay back!"
Bellatrix's hands curled into fists as she chewed on her bottom lip.
She glanced around her, the trees that ringed the edge of the clearing where Herpo's tower was once located slowly withered and died before her eyes. There emaciated trunks reaching towards the sky in a silent prayer. Brown needles fluttering to the ground to ring their failing bodies.
She glanced back at Herpo. What was it about this monster's very presence that cause things around him to die and why wasn't she affected?
Straightening up, Harry allowed his power to flow free from his body, a white aura bursting around him like fire.
Herpo hissed like a cat, drawing back from the light. He raised one arm to shield his squinted eyes.
Grinning, Harry molded his aura into a pair of pale gauntlets, greaves, and boots. Rising up on his toes, he pushed off, flickering out of existence.
Ebony colored energy exploded from Herpo in a wave.
Harry flickered into existence, punching his arm forward.
The light of his armor seemed to cut through the darkness, like a wave parting down the middle.
Running down the path he had created, Harry tucked his left arm close to his body, energy flowing out of his gauntlet to form a blade. Less than a foot away from Herpo, he punched the blade forward, aiming right for the center of Herpo's chest.
Herpo's body wavered, transforming into a man -sized grey snake.
He opened his mouth in a hiss, his six-inch fangs dripping poison. Pulling his body to the side, he flicked his tail, knocking Harry sideways.
Rolling, Harry came up in a crouch. Raising his right arm, he formed a second blade.
"Herpo wants to keep me at a distance, it has to mean he's afraid of the pure life energy I give off," he shook his head, "or it could just mean he's a distance fighter, but I'm being optimistic."
Harry glanced at Bella, cursing at what he found.
The black energy Herpo released seemed to pool around her. A flickering shield of Eldridge energy seemed to be the only thing stopping her from being consumed by it.
"Bella," he called.
Bending his legs, he launched himself into the air.
Curling into a ball, he concentrated on the energy his armor was admitting willing it to shine like a small sun.
The black oil like energy around Bellatrix sizzled away, leaving a small patch of pale brown earth behind. Landing on the ground in front of her, Harry turned, morphing his gauntlets into a revolver style pistol.
A white flash of light exploded from the barrel as he squeezed the trigger.
Herpo raised his hands, a wall of ebony energy appearing before him.
The bullet punch through the wall, the energy emitted from it creating an even larger hole around its impact point.
Herpo's eyes widened.
The bullet impacted to the left of his heart. His right hand came down to slap over the wound. He staggered backwards, falling to one knee.
Dark blood flowed between his fingers.
He looked down at the wound, he could feel the energy of the bullet within him slowly eating away at his power.
Pushing himself to his feet, he clenched his free hand, he would not die here. He would not fade into a memory.
"Are you alright Bella?" Harry asked never taking his eyes off Herpo.
Bellatrix shook against his back, her face pale, her voice quavering, "I'm fine."
Harry shook his head, she wasn't fine, the proximity to that energy seemed to drain her. He glanced around, everything around them was dying and the effects seem to spread by the moment.
He should've never allowed her to come here with him.
Movement caught his eye, he tensed as he saw Herpo rise to his feet.
He could see the hole where his bullet had impacted, he could feel its energy reacting with Herpo's own.
"I will not fade into the darkness!" Herpo screamed raising his bloodied hand into the air, "all will remember the legacy of Herpo the foul. All will recognize my genius and my power."
The tears in the fabric of Otherworld ruptured, flooding the medieval dimension with unnatural light. Dark purple almost black energy poured from the tears, snaking its way through the air to wrap around Herpo.
It flowed into his body, causing it to grow larger and elongate.
Massive legs slammed onto the ground sending tremors through the earth. Three giant snake-like heads burst from the energy, their eyes burning like heated coals.
Each had opened its mouth, revealing two rows of serrated teeth. Their serpent like tongues wiggled as a roar cut through the air.
The black energy that had been billowing from Herpo's body exploded out in the form of a purple cloud, turning everything in its path to grey ash.
Harry slapped his hands together. Pushing his power outward, he wove it into a dome of pure translucent energy. Placing his hand on the dome, he focused on the aspect of his power that allowed him to purify souls.
The miasma around them sizzled evaporating away into pale missed that had the scent of fresh rain.
Harry glanced back at Bellatrix, "Are you okay?"
As he watched, the color began to seep back into her body, her trembling stopped, and she straightened. Her purple eyes glared up at Herpo, "I'm fine, but how are we going to defeat that. It's growing larger with each second."
Harry glanced back at the Hydra. It was indeed growing larger. For every inch the miasma covered, for every little bit it devoured. The Hydra would grow a little larger
"What have you done!"
Morgan Le Fay descended from the sky, her wavy black hair fluttering in the wind, her green eyes burning with Eldredge power. Her gaze flicked to Herpo.
'To think that sniveling little worm could amass this much power.' Her gaze swiveled around her, taking in the land of grey ash that was growing larger by the second.
Grabbing the edge of her dress, she picked it up as her feet touched the ground.
"Morgan," Harry greeted keeping his eyes on Herpo.
"Morgan Le Fay," Bellatrix whispered, her purple eyes wide. Everyone in the magical world had heard of the legend of Morgan Le Fay, but very few had seen her in person. None of the magical world had seen her. She didn't take kindly to their presence.
Morgan strode forward, ignoring Bellatrix's stare, "What have you done to my home?" She demanded stopping just outside of Harry's barrier.
"I didn't do this. This was you're doing."
Morgan took a step back while crossing her arms underneath her breasts, "I have no idea what you're talking about."
Harry glanced over at her, his eyes glowing with power. "The dead do not lie Morgan, especially not to me. Lucius Malfoy was closer to Herpo than Meruda was, he remembered your meetings. You wanted the magical community out of Otherworld along with the mutants we brought in, but you couldn't do it directly since we had the protection of the Celtic gods."
He shifted his gaze back to Herpo, "So, you contacted your old pupil and called in a favor."
Bellatrix looked at Morgan, "You taught Herpo the foul?"
Morgan waved away her question, "I am much older than I look. Even if I wasn't, time has no meaning to one such as I."
Harry gestured around them, "Is this what you wanted, Morgan, more of your people are dying by the second."
Morgan looked down, "No, this isn't what I wanted."
"Then why?" Bella asked.
Morgan looked at both of them with repulsion burning in her eyes, "I didn't want anything from Earth tainting a land of pure magic."
"But we are magical just like the other denizens of Otherworld."
Morgan's lip curled and discussed as she smoothed down the fabric of her plum colored gown. "No, you are just a special breed of mutant," she spat the word. "That ability allows you to tap into the sacred energy of magic, the pure power of possibility."
Bellatrix rocked back, unsure of what to say the unspeakable's had proven that they were indeed a variation of mutant, but did that really matter? They were all connected by magic.
Harry broke in, "None of that matters right now what matters is saving the people that still reside here."
Harry turned fully to Morgan, "I need you…"
He was cut off as Herpo's voice reverberated through the air a distinct serpentine his coloring each word.
"Morgan Le Fay, my old mentor, how nice of you to be here on the day of my ascension."
Morgan glared up at her former pupil. She rose into the air, Eldredge static electricity crackling around her form, "Herpo, you fool, this isn't what we agreed on. You were supposed to get the magical world of earth out of Otherworld."
Herpo's three heads bobbed in unison, "Which I did."
Morgan gestured around her, "But look at what you have done to my kingdom, your very presence is turning the world to ash."
Herpo's yellow coal like eyes burned with malevolence, "We never agreed on what condition the world had to be in when I accomplish my task. Besides, a god does not have to follow the rules of an insect."
The head closest to Morgan opened its mouth, black energy building in the back of its throat.
Morgan's eyes widened before narrowing.
Energy swirled around her forming into a red translucent sphere.
A boom rent the air as the energy flew from Herpo's throat, a black beam of death with a purple core hurtled straight towards the ancient Sorceress.
Spinning, Harry tapped Bellatrix in the chest transferring the protective barrier to her.
"What are you doing?"
"I can't let Morgan die. We need what she knows."
Turning away from Bellatrix, Harry bent his legs, launching himself into the air at an angle so that he appeared in between Morgan and the blast
Stretching out his senses, he grabbed a hold of the wandering souls that had been killed by Herpo's presence pulling them into him. His eyes shone like to green suns as he made a chopping motion with his hand.
A wave of pure life energy launched from his arm, cutting the wave of black energy in half before continuing on to land a slicing blow between Herpo's heads.
Obsidian scales split open, a crimson geyser shooting into the air.
Harry thrust his hand forward, intent on making the earth rise up to bind Herpo, but found that this dead earth would not bend to his will.
Cursing he wrapped an arm around Morgan, who had allowed her barrier to fade after his attack. Pulling them both towards the ground, he closed the distance between him and Bellatrix again expanding the barrier to encompass the three of them.
Morgan stared at him, "Why did you save me?"
"You know things about Herpo that no one else does, he needs to be stopped your people don't deserve to suffer for your mistakes."
"What do you mean?"
Harry's eyes hardened, "With each second more and more people of Otherworld die from the energy Herpo releases. I'm pulling in as many souls as I can to give them the chance of another life even if they don't remember this one, but with this battle going on and having to split my focus. I can't get them all. Some will wither away and be converted into pure power for Herpo."
"Absorbing souls," Morgan spat, "what makes you any different than Herpo."
Harry leaned forward, his breath tickling her skin, "I don't feed on the energy of the soul, I gained strength from the experience of the life they've lived. I strip that from the soul and then release them back into the ether to be reborn. If those experience are ingrained deep enough, they may remember a past life."
He poked her in the chest, "Now if you truly care about your people tell me how to defeat Herpo before there is no otherworld," he looked around, "at this point I'm not even sure there's enough left to save."
Morgan looked down at the finger poking into her chest then back up at Harry's hard eyes. Air exploded past her lips, "All I know for sure is that an entity from outside our universe called the darkness. Merged with another called the goblin force inside Herpo long enough to create something new."
Spinning on his heel, Harry scanned the black mass that made up Herpo's body.
Below its three heads, almost in the center of his body he found what he was looking for. A glowing spec of white light.
Turning around, he once again tapped Bellatrix transferring the barrier to her.
"What are you doing?"
"I know what I need to do."
"What's that?"
"Get eaten."
Without another word, Harry blurred out of existence, creating a cloud of dust in his wake as he closed the distance between him and the serpentine Herpo.
Morgan looked at Bellatrix, "Is he serious?"
"I don't know."
Harry sprinted towards Herpo, the world blurring around him. Holding out his right arm, a cone of energy formed a javelin that started at his elbow and encompass the rest of his arm.
Herpo's serpentine laugh echoed through the air, blowing the desiccated remains of trees away, "Such a puny little bug." his middle head built up a blast of black energy in the back of its throat.
The ball spun, pulling in massive amounts of air.
Bending his legs, Harry launched into the air, soaring in between the left and center head.
Twisting his body, he slammed his javelin into the middle head just as it fired its beam.
The black wave of death chewed up ground in the distance, creating a wavering cloud of grey dust.
A purple flash lit up the sky as the energy exploded.
A wall of air pushed Harry backwards towards the left head.
A shadow loomed over Harry.
Out of the periphery of his vision he could see row upon row of serrated teeth.
Pulling his legs up to his chest, he allowed his javelin to fade away, forming his energy into a pale egg -shaped cocoon.
'I hope this works.'
Herpo's jaws slammed down.
Harry grimaced as the pressure built in his mind.
Teeth pushed on him from all sides and Herpo's large tongue flicked up and down in an effort to swallow him.
Harry's hand twitched as he slid towards the void of darkness that was Herpo's throat. Part of him wanted to expand his power and use it to tear Herpo's head apart from the inside, but he didn't know how much of the Hydra's physiology Herpo had copied. The last thing he wanted to do was create more heads.
With one last flex of the tongue, Harry slid down Herpo's throat.
–XX –
"He's in," Morgan stated, her gaze locked on the lump that was moving down Herpo's left throat. She turned to Bellatrix, "I just hope he knows what he's doing."
"So do I," Bellatrix murmured chewing on her bottom lip. She shook her head, her curly hair flying about, "what do we do now?"
"We keep this thing distracted and hope your friend does his job."
Morgan stretched forth her hands, Eldridge energy crackling around her fingers, dust rose up around Herpo's large tree-trunk size legs, only to fall back to the earth, "Damn."
"What's wrong?"
Morgan glared at the world around her, "Herpo's presence is changing the very laws of Otherworld magic it's no longer responding the way it should."
"So, what do we do?"
"We have to reestablish the laws of our reality."
"And how do we do that?"
Morgan spun, a dagger appearing in her right hand. Without a word, she plunged the blade into Bellatrix's stomach.
Bellatrix gasped her hands flying to the wound.
Twisting the blade, Morgan yanked it out, cutting Bellatrix's hands in the process.
Bellatrix fell to her knees, crimson liquid spilling onto the grey sand.
"Why?" She rasped.
Morgan stared at her, her eyes emotionless emeralds, "You may be a filthy mutant, but your blood still contains magic, I can use that to reestablish the laws of reality within a small area giving me a base of power to fight back from," a grin split her aristocratic face, "Now be a good girl and bleed."
