Harry Potter and the Order of Mercaba
by SeraphimBlue
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all the characters of his universe are owned by J.K. Rowling. I hold no claim over anyone here, except for my original characters and the Order of Mercaba, which is my own creation. In this chapter is mention of a creature thought up by Mercedes Lackey.
Chapter Eight
The trip through the Gate had unforeseen effects on Alisa. As soon as she emerged on the other side, her eyes rolled up in her head and she passed out. Alex caught her before she could fall and took Harry from her arms.
"I see we have a situation here. I'll notify Mistress about this and rush back as quickly as I can… but you must hurry."
Marcus took wing and flew off into the darkness leaving Alex with an unconscious wife and a waking Harry. Alex lowered Alisa to the ground and pulled the sling out of his backpack. They'd tried it on Harry a few times and he didn't like it much… but this was an emergency and the poor boy would just have to make do until they could wake up his mother.
"Harry… Mummy is fine, she's just sleeping. I need to put you in the sling for just a bit so I can carry Mummy. Can you be a big boy for Daddy?"
Harry looked at his Mummy lying on the ground then back to his Daddy and the dreaded thing in his hands and frowned. He didn't like the thing. It was tight and didn't feel right around his legs. He really hated wearing it.
Alex saw Harry frowning and wished the boy was able to better explain why he doesn't like it. "I'm sorry Harry. I just wish I understood why you don't like it."
Harry looked up into his Daddy's face and reached out to him, hugging his neck. He knew what he wanted to say but he wasn't able to say many words yet… or make them understandable.
"Tight…"
Alex blinked at Harry. "Is the sling too tight for you? Is that what you mean?"
Harry blinked in shock. He'd finally gotten the right word out on the first try. He nodded eagerly as Alex sighed.
"I can fix that easily… hang on."
Alex grabbed the sling and using his magic, adjusted the fibers to stretch a bit. He adjusted each opening and then expanded the sling as a whole.
"I've made it bigger… a good deal bigger… and I'll put you in it and then if it feels too loose, I'll make it just a tiny bit more snug. Can we try it Harry?"
Harry looked at the sling and it did look bigger. He was nervous but he wanted to be Daddy's big boy so he nodded. He reached out toward the sling and felt Daddy sliding him inside it. First the legs… then the arms… then his head. It didn't hurt.
Harry let out a happy giggle and wiggled on Alex's chest. Alex smiled and kissed the top of his head. "I'm glad your happy… but I'm going to have to adjust you just a little to be able to carry Mummy so hold on just a bit."
Alex shifted Harry to the left a little then adjusted the straps so he could wear both the sling and the backpack. He was going to have to strap Alisa to the backpack and carry her like dead weight. He pulled his backpack over and carefully draped her unconscious body over it.
"Mummy is very sleepy so we're going to tie her to Daddy's backpack and then Daddy will carry her to Grandmother's house. Won't that be fun…"
Harry looked at Mummy as Daddy tied her onto the back of the backpack, his eyes drifted from her face then up at Daddy's. Daddy looked worried and there were things out in the mist around them that kept moving. He could see something big, mean and angry looking moving toward them slowly.
"Monsta…"
Harry pointed into the mist as Alex worked. Alex looked and nodded, wincing. "Yes, I know sweetheart. There are… things out there… but Daddy will keep us safe. They can't come all the way here and Daddy's almost done with Mummy. We'll be okay."
Alex tightened the last strap then carefully moved Alisa and the backpack into a position that would let him essentially almost dead lift her onto his back.
"This is going to hurt…" Alex muttered as he slid his arms through the straps and lifted. Weight strained across his back as he lifted both the pack and his wife onto his shoulders. Pain flared down his spine and he almost bit his tongue from how sharp it was.
Alex stumbled for a second then stood up. He had her secured as best he could and they could now make a run for it. Alex looked down at Harry on his chest and gave him a pained smile.
Harry saw the pain on Daddy's face and kissed his fingers before reaching up to touch Daddy's face. "Kiss owie."
Alex smiled and accepted the kiss. "Thank you Harry. Daddy feels much better now." He kissed the top of Harry's head then turned toward the direction of the river and took a deep breath. He had been planning on Harry sleeping through this… but now he'd have to improvise.
"Your mummy is going to kill me for this…"
Alex started walking forward into the mist, leaving the safe area near the Gate. Moving slowly at first but shifting into a run, he felt the pack bouncing slightly on his back. As he built up speed, he could hear the shriek of one of the things in the mist headed their way and tried to go faster.
"Close your eyes Harry. Daddy won't let them hurt us."
Harry closed his eyes after taking one last look into the mist and buried his face into Daddy's chest as Daddy took off running deeper into the mist.
Embershard Castle
Watching over a map stood a lovely woman with long golden hair and amber eyes. She was currently observing a real time war between her kingdom and a neighboring one… the troops moving as small icons on her map.
"We need more forces near the chasm. Deana, send more soldiers there right away."
A woman in shining gold armor nodded and rushed out of the room. The woman turned back to the map and noticed a flash of gray on the edge of her territory. Moving to that corner of the map, she frowned.
"Why would someone be out in the mists?" she wondered as she tried to get the map to focus more on that area. She tried to enlarge the image but for some reason the map wouldn't move.
Moving away from the map she walked to the next room over, looking for her wizard Urlean, finding him working on a spell. As she approached, he looked up and bowed.
"How may I help you, my lady?"
Melisande motioned back toward where she came and frowned. "Come with me. I need your aid with my map."
Turning she moved back to the other room and pointed to the gray dot on the edge of the map. "What is that and can you make the image bigger?"
Urlean moved to the map and moved in close to examine it in detail.
"There is something blocking all scrying of that location. However, I might be able to break through it."
Rushing back to his materials in the other room, he shifted his spellwork to break whatever was protecting that area. Working with spell and materia, he crafted a breaker and ran back to the map.
"This should break whatever is shielding that area and I'll be able to focus in on it at the point."
He took the created breaker and placed it on the gray dot on the map. As it touched, black smoke began to drift up into the room. Urlean waved his hands over the map and with a loud creak, the breaker shattered and the map shimmered, like oil on water.
"There… my lady. You should be able to see better now."
He moved the debris created by the breaker being destroyed and watched as Melisande enlarged the map… centering and zooming on the location of the now moving gray dot.
"What is that location?"
Urlean leaned in and frowned. "That's one of the Winlow Gates… no one goes there anymore. The mist invaded that area and grew too thick. Why would someone be there?"
Melisande stared at the gray dot and kept enlarging. She knew of only one person who has used that Gate in the last few decades, but why would he be here.
"Send a spy bird to that location. I want to see who that is…"
Urlean nodded and rushed off leaving a confused Queen Melisande behind.
Unknown… mist realm…
Alex trudged quickly through the mist, his eyes trying to make out what was real and what was illusion in everything around him. That was one of the drawbacks of this place, you never knew exactly where you were.
"I should be about halfway to the river by now… if I'm going in the right direction."
The ground was rough and uneven which made it a bit harder to run, but if he remembered things correctly, this should be the right path to get to the river. He remembered that the path was large slabs of granite that lay about unevenly, like giant dominoes scattered about on the ground.
"So down the path… then there should be an incline and the large marble boulders, then beyond that should be the seven white archways that ring a fountain on the edge of the river. If I'm moving in the right direction then I'd guess another fifteen minutes to a safe zone."
Slowing down, Alex moved a bit more carefully over the granite slabs, his eyes scanning for the incline. On his chest, Harry looked around in wonder and fear at everything around him.
"Gotta find the hill… where is it in this mist?"
Harry looked up at his Daddy then looked back into the mist. It was so hard to see through but he saw something dark up ahead.
"Dada…"
Harry pointed to the northeast and Alex followed his directions. Moving carefully in that direction, they came to the edge of the hill and Alex sighed in relief. Kissing Harry on the top of his head, he smiled and began to climb the hill.
"I'm glad you could see that…" he whispered as he slowly made his way to the top, smiling as everything began to become lighter.
As he crested the hill, Alex spotted a beacon of white light cutting through the mist. It was the fountain… it had to be. He just had to work his way down the hill and then…
A soft moan came from behind his head.
"What… the… fuck… happened… to… me?"
Alex blinked and turned his head toward the sound.
"Baby… you finally awake?"
Alisa opened her eyes and looked up at a misty sky. She looked down her body and saw numerous straps across her chest, stomach, hips and legs.
"What happened?"
Alex kept moving as he tried to explain.
"The Gate knocked you unconscious and we had to move quickly so I strapped you to the backpack, put Harry in the sling and took off toward the river. You've been unconscious for a couple of hours now.
Alisa blinked and sighed.
"Is it safe to free me so I can walk on my own?"
Alex looked around them and shook his head.
"Right now… no, not really… but give me a few minutes and it will be."
Alisa groaned and sighed again.
"Fine… just hurry."
Alex grinned and continued down the hill then sprinted toward the arches. As he passed through them, the brightness of the area was almost blinding.
"We're safe enough here. Let me get you down."
Moving to his knees, Alex lowered the backpack and slid out of it, then carefully turned around and untied his wife. Looking at her frustrated face he smiled and kissed her lips.
"Hi love. Are you feeling okay?"
Alex helped Alisa to her feet and she shook her body, getting feeling back into it.
"Yeah, I'm okay… embarrassed at being unconscious this whole time but yeah, I'm fine."
She looked at a very excited Harry on Alex's chest and reached out to take him.
"Hello baby… Mummy's here."
Harry smiled and rubbed his face into her breasts, giggling happily at having his Mummy back.
"Mummy…"
Alisa smiled and kissed his head as she looked around.
"Where are we?"
Alex looked up from the backpack as he pulled out a couple of blankets from inside.
"This is called the Fountain. We're officially in… her… territory now so we can't stay here long. The river we want is to the east but I can feel that the magic is neutral enough here for me to… Transfer… us to grandmother's."
Alex handed her one of the blankets while wrapping the other one across her shoulders.
"Wrap Harry up in the blanket. It's colder in here than back home when we go through the shadow realm. You both might freeze if you're not warm enough. I figure blankets on both of you and then a warming field and you should be okay."
Alisa wrapped Harry up carefully and held him against her breasts as she watched Alex wrap the other blanket around her.
"What about you? I know you don't feel it… or so you say… but if it's colder, are you sure you'll be okay?"
Alex nodded and pulled the backpack on before wrapping his arms around them.
"I'll have to be. Now… close your eyes, take a deep breath and hold onto Harry tightly."
Alisa did as she was told and even little Harry took a big breath before pushing his face into her right breast. Alex nodded and pulled them into the shadows…
The Realm of The Morrigan… an hour earlier
Marcus flew in and circled around his Mistress. Morrigan extended her arm and linked her mind with her most favored familiar. As she saw what happened, she frowned.
"I see. Alexander will have to make his way here on his own. Things have escalated too much for me to send forces to escort him. The area is currently too hostile. We will just have to hope for the best."
Marcus nodded and looked to the courtyard, his eyes locked on the location where Alexander and his family would arrive… if they arrive.
The Realm of The Morrigan… sometime later
Marcus sat on his perch and maintained his watch. He had been sitting there for close to an hour and the worry was increasing more than his tiny body could handle.
"Please let them be safe…"
As he watched a tiny dot of white light formed in the middle of the courtyard… waves of energy drifting upward.
"Mistress… they're here!"
The dot grew larger and formed a ball as Morrigan rushed in. She watched with Marcus as the ball formed a gateway and Alexander, Alisa and Harry stumbled out… their bodies covered in frost.
"Warm clothes, food, hot tea and blankets immediately!"
Servants observing everything rushed from the area to obey her orders while Morrigan herself moved to begin warming them.
"Come on… open your eyes, my darling."
Alex blinked and opened his eyes, ice holding his lashes together.
"Are… they… okay?"
Morrigan checked Alisa then Harry and both had steady heartbeats.
"They're fine… cold but fine."
Servants rushed in at that moment and wrapped everyone up in hot blankets. As the warmth seeped into their bodies, Alisa gasped in shock and Harry cried.
"You're safe, my darlings, you're safe. Come… let's head inside and get you all warm. You're home now."
Alisa looked at the gorgeous woman before her and smiled. Her words sank in and she nodded, letting a young woman escort her into a huge mansion before her. She felt hands reaching for Harry and saw it was Alex's grandmother. Nodding her thanks, she let her take Harry and was soon being stripped out of her cold damp clothing and moved into a hot tub to warm up.
Being naked around strangers, Alisa panicked for a moment until she heard Alex's voice.
"It's okay, baby. These are grandmother's servants. They helped raise me when I lived here. Just relax and get warm… it will be fine."
Alex stepped naked into the hot steaming water and let the warmth fill his body. He smiled as he was joined by his wife, cuddling up into his side. He watched the servants moving about bringing food and hot tea and smiled.
Morrigan bounced a sleepy Harry in her arms as she watched the couple.
"I'll attend to young Harry while you two get warm. I'll have clean clothing brought in for you. Please join me when you are ready."
Alex nodded to his grandmother as she walked off with Harry, then turned and pulled his wife close to him, cuddling her as they warmed up.
Outside the bathroom
Morrigan smiled at the young boy in her arms as she carried him to her quarters.
"I want a warm bath prepared for him, warmed milk and clothing. I'll take care of him until his parents are ready."
Her personal attendant, Anders, nodded his head and rushed off to prepare everything. As he left, Morrigan smiled at Harry and ticked his tired little face.
"Hello my little love… you and I are going to become great friends. I'm going to teach you so much..."