Here is the forty-sixth chapter in Book 4 released on time as planned. This is the final chapter in the final major arc of this story and is the one that y'all have known is coming from the very start so I won't say anymore now. I will say that I am happy to announce that the draft for Book 5 is complete so I did finish it on time. Based on the draft, I expect it to be the shortest Book in terms of words though chapter length it is the same as Unity (32 chapters plus a prologue and epilogue) so that means that Books 2, 3, and 5 will all have the same number of full chapters (32) which I swear was unplanned, it's just how the drafts turned out. However, that is all I have to say for now so just sit back and enjoy the 46th chapter in the fourth installment of Avatar: The Tale of Harry. Book 4: Family.
Disclaimer: As always I own nothing related to these two great works of fiction.
Chapter 46
Harry stood in the center of the saddle on Pandora's back in his winter combat gear looking out grimly over the battle unfolding beneath him. Harry had seen battle before; he had fought in 2 conflicts that were considered wars prior to this and been part of the two worst battles of his lifetime before the Principate War, but they paled in comparison to what was going on today. This was the third major battle of the Principate War and Harry's first, he also knew that whatever happened today it would be his last of the war.
This battle was raging in the air between planes, airships, and hummingbird mechs. It was raging on the sea between the battleships and other smaller ships of the two fleets. It was also waging on the ground in the streets of the Capital and on the steps of the Northern Palace itself according to reports. The death and carnage was on a scale likely unseen before in human history. Harry knew that whoever won, this war would change the world.
Until this point Harry had avoided the major battles, he had been too busy to deal with them and if he was honest he was too afraid to face his son and the evil that James had inflicted on the world. Now, though, he was going to have to deal with it and end this war, no matter the cost. The sake of the world was at stake, he had to do his duty and end the threat his son posed.
"Harry, you don't have to do this alone." Luna said to him as she turned to face him, lowering her hands, and stopping her bending as she did. "I was with you when you confronted Voldemort and Hermione, I can be here for you now. I can fight by your side as I always have to end this evil."
Lysander had been flying the bison while Luna and Lorcan had used their bending to provide camouflage from above so that they could get to where Harry needed them to be without being attacked. They had been forced to be slow and steady and let the battle begin so that they could now reach their final destination undetected. Now they were here, they were finally above James's massive flagship at the front of the airship formation.
"I know Luna, but this is different." Harry said with a sigh as he walked to the edge of the saddle. "Unlike before, this is something that I must do this myself. It is the only way. James is different from the others, you know that."
"Just because you're right doesn't mean I have to like it Harry." Luna said sadly. "We are a team, remember that. Ron, Ginny and I should be with you right now."
"We will always be Team Avatar." Harry replied. "But we are not all here now are we. Neville is dead, Ron and Ginny are needed in the city because that is where they can best work in this environment. I cannot ask you to risk your life with me if it is just us, especially because I know that I will have to kill any resistance I encounter. Its either all of us or just me alone and this will be done alone."
"Very well Harry." Luna said and Harry was glad that she was accepting his decision. "What are your orders? I will still help as best I can."
"You are not a soldier Luna; you have always been the gentlest of us and as such the best of us." Harry said kindly. "You are skilled and gifted, and I know you won't hesitate if need be, but this is not it. You are the greatest spiritualist in the world and have a connection to the spirits that even I do not have but you are no warrior. You have only taken life when you had no choice and that was 45 years ago. I don't want to ask you to violate your beliefs again."
"That may be true Harry but fuck that." Luna said seriously. "Times are different now, this is unlike any battle we've been in before. We are defending the very nature of the world today. We are defending peace and balance against a threat never before seen. If we fail then the world falls, the stakes have never been higher. I will act in self-defense and defend the world until my dying breath if need be, I have always been ready to do this. I am part of Team Avatar, that means something, and you fucking well know it. Tell me what to do and I will do it, but I am not sitting this shit out."
"I can always rely on you Luna to bluntly put me in my place." Harry said with a smile at his friend's outburst. "Very well, aid the air force and defend the skies, you have a radio so place yourself in the chain of command and follow orders from the officers in charge. That is where you are best right now so that is what you will do."
"It will be done Avatar." Luna said with a nod. "Now go, end this shit and restore peace and balance to the world as you always do. Beat the fucking Princeps and win this war."
Harry just nodded. He had to do this and there was no more time for hesitation. It had to be done and done now. Without another word, Harry leapt into the air with a little airbending, flipped forward, and let gravity take over. He trusted Luna to do what she needed to do, now it was his turn to do what he had to do.
In seconds, the giant airship of the Princeps came into view. It was a sight to behold that took Harry's breath away, despite his current assault on it. Larger than any known airship in history, it was held aloft by countless propellers and moving forward on two twin turbines that made it faster than the other airships, possible one of the fastest there was if Harry had to guess. It led them in a V formation as it bore down on the Northern Water Tribe, the ominous sign of the end of the war when it reached the city.
The ship was forest green with a massive golden laurel wreath on either side to indicate who's it was, if the size didn't give it away already. There were walkways all around it with benders and mechs walking defending it from any attack that the defenders might try.
The whole airship seemed impervious from attack or penetration. The only thing that Harry could think of that had been on the scale of this airship had been Kuvira's mega mech that she'd used when she'd attack Republic City. However, Harry was certain that the airship was not made of platinum, it was too impractical to use for it.
That theory was confirmed when Harry approached the airship and felt the impurities in the hull. He could metalbend it and that was what he was going to do. The time for subtlety was over. It was time to make an entrance and remind the Principate of his strength. Entering the Avatar State and surrounding himself in power, Harry slammed into the airship, speeding his approach with fire jets out of his feet as he punched the outer hull with all his strength.
The metal resisted him as well as wet paper would. Harry tore open a large crater in the top of the hull and destroyed a fair bit of the upper levels of the airship as he fell through it. Judging by the screams Harry knew he had taken people out that had been in his way, but they were fair game as enemy combatants. He also had to ignore them and get to the bridge.
Fortunately, that had been easy to see from the outside. As with all airships the bridge was at the front and about midway up the airship behind reinforced, likely purified, glass. Harry had already plunged into the middle of the airship by the time he stopped himself with his bending and left the Avatar state in a crouch in the middle of a corridor. All he had to do was go forward and he would reach the bridge, or at least where he could go up and access it.
Harry did have to do a bit of cleanup as he had collapsed part of the corridor on his way down but that didn't take long. After that it was smooth sailing to the bridge, though he did have to climb a to the level above as he'd punched too far into the airship.
Harry only ran into a few enemies on the way, cutting them all down with metal from the walls without hesitation. For the most part it seemed that the crew were dealing with the hole he had made on the way in.
Harry had clearly caused some sort of damage as he felt the airship slowing down and claxons were starting to wail so he'd probably hit something necessary. However, it had been at the top and middle of the airship which was not where the really important machinery was, so it was probably not a crippling blow.
All of this was immaterial to Harry, however. He had one set destination and he was going to get to it. It didn't take long for him to reach the small area in front of a reinforced door that led to the bridge. The placard saying bridge helped Harry confirm he was in the right place, as did the pair of armed commandos standing outside the door.
"It's the A…" One of them began before Harry silenced them with a pair of metal spikes from the amor he was wearing under his clothes that took both men in their throats and impaled them standing up against the wall.
Harry didn't even stop. All he did was enter the Avatar State, raise his foot, and slam it into the door with all the metalbending power he had, which in this state was equal to James's in terms of raw power. The door and part of the wall was blasted back and into the bridge with the force of the explosion. Judging by the screaming and mechanical hissing, Harry had caused a lot of damage to the crucial systems in it. All Harry did was calmly draw his swords, leave the Avatar State, and walk into the smoke of the now ruined bridge.
With a wave of one arm Harry bent the smoke away to see the devastation he'd caused to the bridge. All the machines that were on the bridge and helped fly and control the airship seemed to be sparking with a few completely destroyed. Several officers and techs were scattered around the room, all were injured, and few were on the floor not moving as blood pooled around them.
The only exception was at the end of the bridge were there was no equipment and only the large glass windows showing the rapidly approaching city and the battle raging before them. The remains of the door was just floating in the air as a metalbender calmly held it. In a second it was crushed into a ball and chucked to the side revealing who Harry knew was there.
James stood there; his artificial left hand outstretched for a moment before he lowered it. A calm smirk graced his handsome face as he looked at Harry. Just as the last time they had seen each other, James was wearing his long green greatcoat, standard military uniform, and black glove with his axe at his side. In addition to all of this, the platinum laurel wreath crown around James's head to denote him as the Princeps. He looked like the conquering emperor that he in effect was.
"Hello father, I knew that you would come here so I made sure that all my senior officers were on other ships." James said as Harry looked his son in the eye on the bridge. "Are you here to watch my victory and the uniting of the world under one nation as it should be or are you here to end me? Judging by your swords, stance, and impressive entrance, I am going to assume the latter."
"It doesn't have to be either of those." Harry said with a note of pleading in his voice as he approached James but still maintained a good distance. "Son, it doesn't have to end this way. You can still surrender, end this all and accept your punishment for your countless crimes. You know what can happen if you face me, do you really want that?"
"A tempting offer." James said mockingly that told Harry he wasn't taking it seriously. "But I think that will have to decline it. I have no intention of surrendering, losing my bending, and being executed for doing what was needed in uniting the world to restore balance. I will continue and I will unite the Principate as is my destiny. If you stand in my way then I will do what I must to ensure that the world is united, and that the next Avatar is properly educated in my correct philosophy."
"You're mad." Harry said realizing the truth that his son was completely insane; he had been consumed by his ideology and pushed to the extreme meaning that there was nothing that would stop James now short of defeat. "You are just like any of the other fanatics that have plagued the world throughout history. I can see that there is no reasoning with you son."
"Only those who do not understand me would lump me in with those actual fanatics." James said shaking his head in clear denial as Harry was expecting. "But seeing as you brought them up let me ask you this father; how many of them have willingly surrendered to you when you met them in battle? You have faced Voldemort, Hermione, Delphine, Johannes, and Cresswell, as well as numerous Death Eaters and Chosen; did any surrender to you without violence?"
"You know that answer." Harry said darkly. "They all chose to fight rather than come quietly, well except Pyrites, but he was always an oddball. The two movement leaders lost their bending while the Unholy Triumvirate opted to fight to the death. They were all in too deep to be saved. It seems like you are as well."
"To you I am but I don't care because I know that I am right." James said holding his arms wide. "Look around you, unlike the others that you have faced I still have a whole fucking military behind me, as well as almost all the known world under the banner of my Principate. Only Ozai united more than me and that was because he was the Firelord, so he had the Caldera which I don't have. Voldemort was practically defeated when you called him out, Hermione was surrounded and done for but too delusional to see it, and the Unholy Triumvirate had no backing, but not me. That is why I will actually win."
"I see that you have made your choice." Harry said with a sigh. "There is no saving you James. Just know that I will not hold back. Unlike last time when we dueled, I will use all of my skills to take you down and I will stop you, no matter what it takes."
"I wouldn't expect any less." James said with a grin. "So come on dad, bring it. Let's end this once and for all just as we knew we would."
Harry didn't hesitate, he charged. He had held out one last, desperate, hope that he might be able to talk James down, that there was still some part of the boy he had raised and seen grow into a fine young man in there. However, it was clear after everything that the James Harry had raised was dead. What was left was the young man who had been driven mad by power and a desire to achieve his twisted world view and become a monster in the process.
That corruption had led James down a path of evil that had resulted in countless deaths and mass destruction all over the world, including executing Neville and killing his own brother during this war. Harry was going to have to end him, permanently if it came to it.
Harry charged forward, accelerating his attack with his airbending, as he brought his swords to bear in the small area of the bridge. The goal had been to use the space and his ability to bend all the elements to his advantage. That goal evaporated as soon as James acted, showing Harry a level of skill that he had not expected from his son and given James's skills that was saying something.
As soon as Harry brought up his left-hand sword, James raised his right arm in a swift movement, his demeanor not changing at all. Suddenly the blade snapped just before the hilt and was hurtled back at Harry. Only the movement of Harry's arm and the closeness of the quarters prevented the blade from taking Harry in the throat as James clearly had intended to do and thus end the battle right at the start.
Instead, the platinum blade that had served Harry so loyally for almost a half century as the Avatar slice clean across the top of his left shoulder cutting a deep wound there that would definitely scar. Harry ignored the pain and blood as his new broken blade flew away and focused on the battle.
Throwing aside the useless hilt, Harry instead leapt into the air and spun as he tried to bring his remaining sword down on James's head. James leaned out of the way, a look of frustration on his face as Harry knew his son had tried to use that move to end the fight before it even began. Now Harry was too close for James to truly use his metalbending on Harry's weapons.
Harry landed and didn't give James a chance to bend again. As he brought his sword down at James, he fired a blast of fire from his now empty left hand showing that James had made a mistake freeing up one of Harry's hands. James was forced to twist and pivot out of the way of both attacks and draw his axe, doing so in a single, smooth move as his coat billowed around him as he moved.
James was faster, younger, and had more disciplined training than Harry did, and he used that to bring his axe up at Harry's hip as he finished his move. Harry lowered his left forearm and intercepted it with his metal gauntlet, the axe clanging off the armor. James just adjusted and parried Harry's next strike as the duel of blades, their second, began.
Unlike the last time when Harry had dueled his son 8 years ago, this duel was with one weapon each, not two. However, both made up for it by bending around their strikes in a seamless blend of blades and bending that few could match. Harry had been James's first trainer and knew his aggressive son's style well, but James had continued to train in new ways and his strength and skill was second to none. Still, Harry had the edge in overall power.
The bridge did not allow for much space to fight but they made it work as they utilized their bending to maneuver around the area using the sides as well as the floor whenever necessary. Harry knew that was a lot of shit going on all around them but right now the battle was just between Harry and James.
Their blades clashed and sparked in blurs of platinum as they also bent the room around them. James was sending metal from everywhere, including important equipment, in his attempt to kill Harry. Harry was dodging or redirecting as best he could but a few sharp pieces that made their way through Harry's defense and he was bleeding from several cuts on his body, including a nasty one he had taken on his forehead right above his left eye that was bleeding freely and would definitely scar.
For his part Harry was returning everything to James. He was using his metal, air and firebending to keep James on his toes and dodging and flipping away from his attacks as Harry tried to tire his son out. The results were several singes on James's coat and a few cuts where he wasn't wearing his winch system.
However, on the whole they were both still in fighting shape and could go at this for a while. It was a stalemate effectively that Harry knew he would need the Avatar State to win, that or something external to change the tides of the battle in his favor, or just to change how the battle was being fought. It was the latter that happened.
"Incoming!" Someone yelled and Harry and James only had a moment as their blades locked to look up and dive out of the way in time.
What was incoming was the flaming wreak of a hummingbird in the colors of the United Forces. The mech slammed into the window of the bridge. The glass was reinforced to prevent it from breaking from metal projectiles and likely purified to prevent bending. It was not designed to prevent a flaming hunk of metal that was hurtling through the air at it.
The glass shattered and the wreck of the hummingbird exploded on impact. The remains of the bird crashed into the bridge and killed the rest of the crew, taking out the few still working instruments that was holding the airship under control. The airship was now crippled and was going to go down in time, smoke billowing out of the bridge. Despite this, Harry and James were both still alive thanks to their metalbending.
Harry groaned as threw away the metal sheet he'd pulled up to protect him and rose to his feet, his eyes slits through the noxious smoke and icy wind that was now in the remains of the observation area they had been fighting in. Thanks to the warning, Harry and James had been able to throw themselves far enough away from the mech and pull up metal survive the impact.
Harry staggered to the center of the deck trying to airbend the smoke away, but he was still too rattled from the explosion to do so effectively. The deck was already slanted as the ship began to list without anyone in control of it or any of the machines needed to direct the engines. The windows were gone, the bridge was on fire, but Harry was still alive. Cut, bruised, and pissed off but alive and that was what mattered.
"Let's take this outside father." James yelled from somewhere in the smoke. "You'll remember this move."
"What?" Harry was able to get out of his still dazed head before James slammed into his side and tackled him out if the remains of the window and into the clear, cold, air.
The blow did remind Harry of something and it snapped his mind back to the fight at hand. What James had just done was Harry himself had done to Voldemort many years before when they finally met face to face. James had used his metalbending to push off from somewhere in the bridge and tackled Harry out of the window. It gave Harry the clarity he needed.
With a tremendous effort, Harry twisted in James's grasp and kneed him in the gut to temporarily distract him. Then he grabbed his son with his left hand and flipped them over by using his feet to firebend so that he could spin them and now Harry was on top as they fell. Harry then got his feet under him and used his airbending to push off the still winded James and backflip up into the air as his attack sent James downwards.
Harry had no idea how high they were up in the air, or what was going on around the airship, until now. As he spread his arms and looked down he saw that they were high above the battlefield but had somehow ended up over the icy tundra to the east of the city. He also noticed that a Norther Water Tribe airship, one of the ones that had hung back to defend the city if the air fleet reached it, was under them and James had slammed into it.
Harry's son was lying in a small metal crater on the top of the airship. He had used his bending to break the fall, but James was still dazed, and Harry was not going to give James the time to recover. He would have to apologize to Sirius later for damaging one of his ships, but it was a battle after all so shit like this happened.
Harry sheathed his remaining sword, which he was amazed he still had in his hand and turned his body into a dive and blasted down with his firebending, right at James. As he reached his son and the airship, Harry braced himself, cocked his right fist back and punched the metal hull with all of his non augmented metalbending.
The blow sent out a wave of the metal right by James. Alas James was still a skilled bender and trained warrior, and his reactions were second to none. James had apparently recovered enough to flip back as Harry hit the hull and ride the wave in a backwards somersault until he landed in a crouch further along the hull from Harry.
James was breathing hard as he rose, his coat was torn to shred so he ripped it off and discarded it with his metal hand, he had lost his axe at some point, but he was still alive and in one piece, figuratively speaking as he didn't actually have a left hand. It showed that James was still able to fight and the look in his eye told Harry that he wasn't going to give up.
Harry could also see the glint of metal through the rips in James's clothes and realized he was wearing some sort of metal exoskeleton under his clothes. It wasn't armor but seemed to be part of the winch system Harry had noted on James's back when they'd dueled. It was likely what had prevented him from breaking his back upon hitting the hull.
"You're ruining everything father!" James yelled, the insanity taking hold of him as he spoke. "You are forever dooming the world to imbalance and instability! Only I can bring balance to the world, only I can bring peace as the Princeps. Only through the unity of the Principate can peace and balance be achieved for generations to come."
"No." Harry said forcefully as he slowly walked over the warped metal towards James, bending it back down as he did to keep his footing. "It is my job as the Avatar to protect peace and balance. You have done neither of those as the Princeps. In fact, you have done the exact opposite. You have plunged the world into an imbalance that in may never recover from in my lifetime. You have brought wanton death and destruction on a scale not even the 100-year war could achieve, and you did it in a year. You are the very thing you claim to be stopping."
"Never!" James yelled as he pulled up bits of the hull to form two long metal spike at his wrists. "All that I have done has been to create this new world, something that can only be done through blood. I am balance, I am peace, I am the Princeps, and I will lead the world as is my destiny."
"No, you won't." Harry said shaking his head, blood splattering the deck from his injuries, but he ignored it. "Face it, the end in nigh James. It is up to you now to decide what you want. Surrender and I will take your bending and ensure that you are not executed or face the full power of the Avatar. Keep fighting and I cannot guarantee that you will survive this."
"I will never surrender." James yelled, his eyes wide and nostrils flaring. "Come on father, show me what you got. Show me all that the Avatar has to give. It will only strengthen me and my cause when I kill you just as I killed Albus when I left him to die on that train. I am the Princeps! I am the future!"
"So be it." Harry said as he sighed and closed his eyes, his breathing slowed. "You have made your choice. I will have to live with the results of our actions today."
Harry opened his eyes and went into the Avatar State. He had only ever used the state to make a point or to take bending, with the exception of breaking Voldemort's blood hold, but now James had pushed him the edge and he had to use it in this battle. Otherwise, he might not win despite the advantages so far.
Harry brought his fists together and sent out a massive fireball right at James. James instantly pulled up a large sheet of metal from the hull to block it. The fire hit it and scorched the metal but didn't break it. James wasted no time in detaching the metal and bending it around him before hurtling it at Harry in a spinning move edge first that was impressive.
Still, it was aimed at the Avatar while he was in the Avatar State. Harry just raised his hands and took hold of the metal as he walked forward. Without breaking stride, he ripped the metal in two as that he could pass through it as it crashed away over the sides of the airship.
However, James had not been quiet, he had used the attack to bend up a swarm of metal spikes that he unleased behind the slab of metal, holding his ground as Harry approached. Harry just formed a wedge of air in front of him to harmlessly part the spikes as he walked. As he did this for the first time a flicker of doubt and fear crossed James's face at the power Harry had.
That was gone in a split second as James leaned forward and charged as soon as the last spike was blown aside. He was clearly trying to close the gap, but Harry had been waiting for this, he had been waiting for James to break his stance. Had James not broken it then Harry probably could not have moved his son short of summoning up gale force winds. Now that James was moving, it was a different matter.
As James closed in, Harry spread his arms wide and clapped them together in front of him. As soon as his hands met a spiral of air faster than any he could have produced without the boost of the Avatar State blasted towards James. The Princeps didn't stand a chance.
The gust of air slammed clean into James's chest and blew him backwards as if fired out of a canon. James tried to stop himself, but he had not chance in the winds Harry had created. The improvised weapons that he had made were thrown off his wrists as he bounced off the hull, trying to get a grip with his bending but he couldn't focus long enough to do so. In a split-second James had bounced off the back of the airship and into the air.
Harry didn't waste any time. He had to confirm his defeat of James, and if possible save his son by taking him in alive. Using his augmented power, Harry sped down the hull and launched himself after James using his firebend to speed up his descent.
As he flew towards James, Harry exited the Avatar State to look at his son. James was falling towards the ice plain back first, a look of shock, anger, and frustration on his face as he tried to recover. Harry reached out to grab his son, he could use his waterbending to save them when they hit the ice.
"Son, grab me." Harry begged as he neared James. "I can save you."
"Never." James yelled slapping away Harry's outstretched left arm with his metal hand, the metal breaking Harry's arm with an audible snap and causing Harry to spin in the air.
Harry gritted his teeth through the pain, drew his sword and in one smooth move while still spinning slashed the binding holding James's metal hand to his wrist, cutting his forearm in the process. The hand came off and spun away from them as Harry used his airbending to stop the spin.
"No!" James screamed as he raised his remaining hand towards Harry's sword as Harry steadied himself.
Harry saw his sword shiver as James tried to bend the platinum as they fell. Harry knew he couldn't let that happen. He had to act now, and he had to act decisively.
"I'm sorry son." Harry said as the tears came into his eyes. "Forgive me but I have no other option to stop you. I hope you can find the peace you haven't found in this life."
James was still scowling at him, his teeth gritted as he continued to try and bend Harry's sword, and Harry knew that James had not heard him. It didn't make what happened next any easier for him to do but Harry still did it.
With a burst of fire from his feet, Harry closed the final distance between himself and James, his sword still outstretched and pointing right at James. The acceleration gave Harry the boost to overcome James's bending and the tip of his sword sank into James's chest, right where his heart was before James could break the sword.
As soon as the blade entered him James realized what had happened. His eyes went wide, the look of anger shifted to one of shock as the blade sank deeper into his chest. Harry knew he was crying but he pushed on, driving his sword clean through James's heart and out his back to make sure that it was done.
Of course, that was when Harry realized just how close the ice was. They were hurtling towards it at terminal velocity with only seconds before impact. Harry had no time to think, no time to act, it was pure survival instinct. He automatically entered the Avatar State without trying. The defense mechanism of Raava to protect him in moments like this had been activated and just in time.
Harry had no memory of hitting the ice. One second he was hurtling towards it, the next he was in the Avatar State and they slammed into it at full speed. Apparently the impact could be seen and felt from the city but by this point Harry had temporarily blacked out as his power acted on its own to save his life.
The last thing Harry remembered was the ice approaching faster than he thought possible, his right hand still on the hilt of his sword that was buried in James's chest. Harry didn't know but his powers cocooned him as best they could with a mix of air and waterbending, but they didn't protect him from injury. He was thrown spinning into the air before crashing back in the crater on the ice he had made.
Harry didn't know any of this. One minute he was about to hit the ice, the next he was lying on it. It took a moment for the pain to hit him but when it did Harry would have yelled if could from the agony he was suddenly in. Still, it meant that he was alive.
Harry's surroundings came to him for a brief moment. He had enough energy to know that he was in a crater on the ice and how he got here. He couldn't move but he could see. What he saw would be seared into his mind for all eternity despite the pain fogging his mind.
Lying a few feet from him, at the center of the ice crater, was his eldest child. James lay on his back, his body broken, blood staining the ice red around him and soaking into it, and the broken remains of Harry's primary sword sticking out of the center of James's chest impaling his body to the ice.
There was no doubt that James was dead. Harry could tell because his head was turned towards James's and he could see his son's eyes open and blank staring back at him frozen in shock at his defeat. Harry had killed him. He had killed the Princeps, ended the threat he posed and hopefully ended the war once they announced it. All that didn't stop the fact that he had killed his own son.
Harry knew, through his pain, that he had done what was necessary and it may have cost him his own life to do so but he had killed James. Harry knew he shouldn't pass out as he might die but he had no strength, nor any willpower, left to fight it. As the world went black Harry had one final thought pass through his mind before he surrendered to unconsciousness and possibly death.
They had won.
What a way to end the climatic finally battle of Family, Harry had to do what was necessary to end the Princeps's threat but it may have cost him his life. A nice and annoying cliffhanger for y'all to enjoy for the next week. There are only two more full chapters after this to look forward to that will wrap up Family nice so stay tuned for them but after a chapter like this, that is all I have for y'all. So as always please follow and favorite both this and myself so that you can stay up to date with new releases (chapters and stories) and please keep the reviews coming as I do love to hear from y'all regarding my work, it means a lot to me. Until next time.
Stringdog