As they approached the chamber of the dragon lords, the chosen members of the delegation once again began to feel an oppressive weight unknowingly descend upon their shoulders.

"This is really unavoidable, isn't it?" Xaro Xhoan Daxos muttered sullenly, even as Benello Lorgar nodded in agreement.

"It is unavoidable, yet, inevitable," Egon Emeros spoke out in a whisper even as they approached the door.

"What do we know of them so far?" Xaro asked after a moment to which Benello replied.

"The Archon is named Hadrian, the Lady is named Ginevra, the eldest boy is named Sirius, the younger Albus, and the daughter is named Lilian," Benello recalled the names that they had been given from memory.

"Rather different than the normal Valyrian names we know from our records," Egon observed.

"They have been in Sothoryos for over 400 years, perhaps they have assimilated a few native customs?" Xaro proffered, to which Benello nodded in agreement, "Could be … could be."

At that moment, they approached the door and informed the guard to announce their presence.

After announcing their presence and requesting an audience, they entered upon being permitted.


"Greetings, Your Eminences," Egon spoke out and entered, while Ginny received them with a smile and asked them to take a seat. This was a charade they had played out countless times in various formats, and this was but another number in that list.

"Speak, Egon of House Emeros, was it not? You asked for this audience and now you have it," she spoke in an imperious voice, to which Egon nodded hesitantly.

"May I ask if your eminences have already tried to contact any other families in the Freehold, yet?" Egon asked in a delicate tone, to which Ginny turned towards Harry, who gave a small nod.

This byplay was observed the Qartheen who wisely remained silent.

"Not yet, we thought it prudent to rest for a few days before doing so," the lady replied back to the relief of the members of the delegation. In fact, all of them seemed visibly relieved.

"And, if I may be bold enough to ask, My Lady, am I to assume that you have had no contact with the Valyrian Freehold at all during this expedition?" Benello asked in as polite a tone as possible, to which Ginny raised her eyebrows.

"This is indeed bold," she mused, while the Qartheen's paled at that rejoinder. "But no," she continued, "We were actually born 200 years after our father commenced the expedition, so we have not yet had the honor of returning to our ancestral lands in the Freehold. Upon our Father's death a hundred and fifty years ago, my Husband assumed the position as the head of our house and continued the expedition. So, in essence, we will indeed be setting foot in the Freehold for the first time, despite being one of the three ruling houses of the Freehold," she concluded, while the Qartheen's looked at each other awkwardly.

"What is wrong? Do not dance around and cleave to the matter at hand," the eldest boy, Sirius, spoke out, to which the three members of the delegation kneeled and bowed with their foreheads touching the ground.

"What is the meaning of this?" the young man asked again, to which Benello stood up, and spoke out.

"My Lord, it pains me to be the harbinger of bad news, but I must tell you the truth. I only hope that you will direct your fury towards me alone and spare this city from ruin," Benello spoke out with the voice of a man who seemed resigned to his fate.

"Is it not too early to talk of fury before even delivering this news?" the girl, Lily, asked as she looked at him and then her brother who seemed to consider her words and nodded.

"Your Excellencies, it pains me to tell you that the Valyrian Freehold is no more …. ack …," instantly Benello choked as he floated into the air and grasped his throat, while the eldest boy had his right arm stretched out, with his fist making a grasping motion while the throat of Benello visibly constricted.

"Heresy! Blasphemy! You dare …," Sirius Belaerys was livid and his face was incandescent with rage, while the other two members were rooted on spot, with Xaro actually wetting himself in fear.

"Enough!" the word came with a whisper, but the authority was undeniable, as the Archon himself strode forward.

"But father … this …," Sirius spoke out, to which his sister grabbed his arm and shook her head warning him to stay silent.

"I will hear their words. For them to speak such words despite knowing who I am, for such courage alone, their words shall be heard. I shall render judgement afterwards," the Archon declared, at which the boy retreated without a word, while Egon and Xaro let out a sigh of relief.

"Speak," the word was softly uttered, but the pressure of those words floored the Qartheen to their knees.

"My Lord, this happened roughly three hundred years ago, perhaps the dates may vary by a few decades or so, seeing that it happened after your exalted family had departed on its expedition, but we only know that on one day, all the fourteen volcanoes of the Valyrian Freehold erupted simultaneously and the entire Freehold was lost, and only one family survived the calamity, as they had fled to Westeros a few decades back. This event is known all over the world as 'The Doom of Valyria'," Egon spoke out quickly and again bowed to the ground shaking in his boots.

"Impossible," Ginevra Belaerys uttered in shock and collapsed onto her chair while the children trembled and stepped back. Only the Archon remained silent.

"You say a family escaped? Which one?" the younger boy, Albus, asked after a moment, while Egon winced.

"House Targaryen," Egon whispered to which Sirius guffawed in mirth, "Those worthless merchants upon whom the council took pity and elevated to the council of forty! You are saying that all the noble lineages of Valyria died while the weakest of all survived? Do you take us for fools?" he ended in a wrathful tone while Egon stood his ground.

"I dare not lie in such matters, My Lord. House Targaryen did indeed survive and they went on to conquer the entirety of Westeros! House Targaryen has ruled over a united Westeros for over two hundred and fifty years, nearing three hundred soon!" Egon held his ground, while Sirius looked at him in disbelief.

"Well, I suppose it can happen," Albus, the younger son spoke out, "Even the weakest Valyrian family is far greater than the greatest lineages of Westeros! No wonder those weaklings did so well after all, if what you say is true," he added at the end.

"We stake our lives on this," Benello Lorgar spoke out, while everyone became silent. The disdain that these Valyrians had for House Targaryen did not go unnoticed by the three, but they chose to remain silent on that matter. It was not pertinent to the matter at hand.

"I presume you have proof for your claims," the Lady Ginevra asked, to which Benello nodded in relief, and turned to the door and signaled the guards outside.

A few minutes later, ten servants wheeled in two small wheeled tables overlaid with books and scrolls. "The written history of the world and all its major events documented since the fall of Valyria for your perusal, Your Excellency!" Benello spoke out, while Lily approached the tables with a curious gaze.

"Perhaps there is something to be checked here, brother," she spoke out, even as she looked at her eldest brother. "It is impossible for them," here she pointed to the three Qartheen, "to fake the history of the entire world in less than four hours. No one can," she said, as she pointed out to the huge number of scrolls. Indeed, it was impossible, even for dozens of men to write so many scrolls in a few hours while ensuring that they would pass scrutiny.

"Perhaps," James seemed to waver, while Albus spoke out, "They did say that House Targaryen survived! Should we contact them to check the veracity of these claims?" he added hesitantly.

"INSOLENCE! ALBUS BELAERYS! HOW DARE YOU?" his mother roared in anger even as all the items made of glass in the chamber shattered into pieces at the roar while the heat in the room rose to an intolerable level. The three Qartheen fell to the floor unable to bear the pressure while the three children stepped back visibly in fear.

"We are the Archons of Valyria! We do not visit the lesser houses! They visit us! Even if those mongrels have managed to conquer Westeros, they are still beneath us! By right, we are their lords, and it is they who should come to visit us! How dare you suggest otherwise?" the woman roared in anger, while the listening Qartheen winced at hearing those words.

Despite the severity of the situation, Egon wondered how King Aerys Targaryen would react to such words. He would pay all his wealth just to see the reaction of the Mad King of Westeros when these words would reach his ears.

"Enough!" a single word from the Archon ended the misery, as the environment returned to normal.

"Your mother is right! Know your place," the Archon commanded his son who looked contrite.

"As for you three," he turned to face Egon, Benello and Xaro, "I shall get to the bottom of your words, but know this, if your words are false, then Qarth will cease to exist," the warning was given in a plain tone, but they had no doubt that it would be carried out.

"Sirius, you will come with me to the Freehold! We shall go to the Freehold directly and ascertain the truth ourselves! Wife, Daughter, the both of you shall go through all these written lore's and verify their truth," he commanded while both mother and daughter nodded in agreement.

"And what about me, father?" Albus asked, to which Harry looked at him.

"Go to the House of Undying and speak with the warlocks. I sense that something has gone wrong with the flow of magic in the world. It seems … diluted and poisoned. Discern the truth of this matter. If the warlocks refuse to cooperate, eliminate them!" the Archon ordered, while the Qartheen were startled to hear such a command. Xaro attempted to speak, but Benello forcibly restrained him, warning him not to react and doom them all.

"Let's go! I shall have the truth of this!" the Archon commanded as he and his eldest son walked out, while the younger son simply vanished on the spot, startling the three Qartheen.

"Sit, My Lords, we have much to discuss and many questions to ask," the Lady Ginevra spoke curtly as she pointed to the pile of scrolls at the side, while the three men reluctantly sat down with the terrifying woman.


"Well, that went well, don't you think, Dad?" James asked Harry who paused for a moment and smirked. "You really must control your penchant for acting out like those movie characters you know, it is becoming a bad habit," he chided his son with a light smile on his face, while the boy laughed heartily.

"So, now what?" James asked even as they both apparated out of the city gates.

"We now go to the Valyrian Freehold. I will send him back for now," Harry spoke out even as he pointed to Ancalagon, who was sleeping. Soon, Harry began to chant an elvish spell, and after a few minutes, Ancalagon vanished as he was sent back to his dimension.

Instantly, shouts could be heard from atop the walls of Qarth.

"Well, that got their attention,"" James mused even as his father glared at him.

"Enough fooling around, James, we have work to do now," Harry spoke out, even as he picked a pebble from the ground and turned it into a portkey.

After a minute, father and son disappeared from the spot and reappeared atop the mouth of a dormant volcano in the Freehold.

"Holy shit! What happened here!" James exclaimed in horror, even as he looked at the devastated surroundings. It was as if the apocalypse had descended upon the area, as it was festered with broken islands and archipelagos while the very air itself was a mix of noxious gases and fumes.

"No wonder magic is dying out here! The leylines have been mangled! This is …," James whispered in horror, even as his father took in the visuals with a stony silence. For someone who had seen a lot of bad things, this was definitely in the top five and that was saying something.

"Premeditated," Harry uttered harshly, "This was no natural cataclysm, these leylines were methodically sabotaged and primed, until they overloaded and ruptured, being unable to bear the strain. Someone clearly wanted to exterminate the Valyrian empire with extreme prejudice!" Harry finished his explanation, while James struggled to come to terms with the scope of the crime committed.

"Now I understand why we were given carte blanche to use all our powers," Harry spoke out even as he looked around. "It is faint, but I can sense the hands of multiple gods and lesser divinities behind this act," he finished and stepped down.

"James, stand guard, I will be bringing out the veil and staking claim over the leylines, as well as get some answers," Harry spoke out harshly, even as the hallows manifested around him.

James nodded, even as the sword of Gryffindor appeared in his hands.

Soon, Harry began to utter a myriad collection of Latin chants, even as the veil of death appeared in front of him, fluttering in all its glory.

"Hello, old friend," Harry muttered, even as he sat down to meditate, while James stood guard.

For three days and three nights, Harry sat still and meditated while his eldest son stood guard. At the dawn of the fourth day, the Veil vanished while Harry opened his eyes.

"Well … Dad? What did you learn?" James asked, even as Harry sat down on a boulder while James did the same and sat on another facing his father.

"It seems that this was a coordinated effort between a coalition of minor deities who were not too pleased at the overwhelming growth and prosperity of the Valyrians. The Seven Gods of the Faith of Seven, the Red God known as Rhollor and the Divine Horse of Dothrak are the primary instigators of the cataclysm," Harry recalled from the information that he had gained from the other side.

"All of them knew that as long as Valyria existed, sooner or later, it would conquer the world and that would be the end of the other civilizations in the world, where only Valyria would reign and their faiths would fade away, leading to their deaths. So, they plotted and together instigated this plot to bring down Valyria by bribing a Valyrian family to betray its roots," Harry spoke out, while James nodded in understanding.

"Now I understand why those Targaryen's survived! So, this was the payoff!" James realized, while Harry nodded.

"The Targaryen were the lowest ranked family in Valyria and had no chance of rising in power at all, and sooner or later, would have lost their seat at the council. Knowing this, these deities approached the leader of House Targaryen at the time via the means of 'dream speak', and offered a bargain, which they took. The Targaryen's then slowly sabotaged the leylines over the next few decades and then abandoned Valyria while spouting off that they had divined a prophecy of Valyria's doom, which was a brilliant double bluff. It was the truth, but no one believed it. And in return, they were granted the right to rule over all of Westeros by the Seven Gods of the Faith of Seven," Harry spoke out distastefully.

"And because of who they were, they were able to avoid suspicion," James snorted in disgust while his father nodded in agreement.

"Exactly, oh the other noble families were on guard sure, but that was against the ordinary power plays and politics between aristocratic families which was the norm. But to suspect that one of them was planning for the demise of their entire civilization? No, their pride wouldn't even permit their minds to conceive of such a thought!" Harry shook his head ruefully.

"And then it happened," James nodded in agreement, he had seen such betrayals occur too many times, had even been part of some, so he understood.

"Yes," Harry admitted, "The Valyrian council did indeed plan a massive ritual for magical empowerment, and the preparation itself took three decades as it would require the power of all the leylines. However, they were not aware that it was a trap baited for them, and once the leylines ruptured," here Harry paused even as the images of the cataclysm flowed in front of his eyes, and he shook his head. "The Fourteen Gods of Valyria found out the truth and when they were trying to stave off the cataclysm, they were attacked by the coalition of these Gods. They were stuck between a rock and a hard place. They could face off against the invading Gods, but doing so, would force them to abandon their worshipers which would destroy the Freehold and their source of power from Worship. But, if they were to focus on saving their people, it would leave them vulnerable to attack and even possibly death. There was no way out, so, they took an incredible gamble and went all out," Harry shook his head.

"They detonated the leylines themselves," James whispered in reluctant admiration while Harry nodded his head gently.

"They decided to go out on their own terms," Harry admitted. "They sacrificed themselves and the souls of all their worshipers and rewrote the laws of the world. They sealed off the invading Gods from their worshipers, so that they could no longer be empowered by the faith of their adherents, and sentenced them to a slow death. There is a reason why the worshipers of Rhollor are insane, theirs is a symbiotic dependence, and once Rhollor was sealed away, his worshipers lost most of the abilities they gained by his patronage. Same for the Faith of the Seven, they can no longer influence their worshipers, and the less said about the barbaric Dothraki, the better. But their final strike was against the betrayers of House Targaryen. They cursed them to a generic slow decline, which is irreversible. Their line was cursed with infertility, mental degradation, and their ability to control dragons would slowly deteriorate and in a few generations, they would lose the power to even hatch any more dragons. Because of their curse, 4 of the 5 dragons, which the Targaryen's took from Valyria died even before they could set foot on Westeros. There is a reason why their conquest began decades after the destruction. Their line will end in another two generations, it is ordained. The pain, the suffering of thirty million people who died because of their treachery, it must be answered for, and the current generation of Targaryen's will pay for the sins of their ancestors!" Harry slowly finished, while James remained silent.

"Now what?" James asked, even as Harry stood up.

"Now, we return and begin our conquest. I have set up a runic cluster to repair the leylines, and it will take two years to complete. Once it is done, we will rebuild this land, and I have received permission to bring one of the dead cities in lore back to life to serve as our capital. When the leylines are repaired, we will bring a city into existence by magic, thereby cementing our position in the minds of the people of this world!" Harry admitted, while James whistled.

"This is going overboard, now we are being granted the permission to grow a city like a vegetable?" James asked in a wan tone, while Harry chuckled.

"Crude, but true. Remember we have only twenty-five years before the decisive battle of this world is fought! We can't waste time playing Civilization and city building," Harry pointed out to his son, who nodded in agreement.

"Which one?" James asked after a moment, to which Harry smiled.

"Pompeii. I think it makes sense in a way. It was lost due to a volcanic eruption. Makes sense to give it a second chance beneath another volcano, or a dozen as is the case here," Harry added after a moment, while James smirked.

Suddenly, both of them paused, as they felt a flare of magical power which was extremely potent. In fact, even the leylines of Valyria were reacting. They had no doubt that this flare up of power had been detected all over the world.

"Albus! Something has happened at Qarth!" James whispered in shock and surprise as Harry scowled.

"ANCALAGON! I SUMMON YOU!" Harry roared out, even as the leviathan of the skies arrived and Harry and James jumped on its back.

"To Qarth! And make it fast!" Harry commanded the beast, even as it spread its wings and raced towards said city.


Meanwhile, at Qarth, Ginny and Lily both stood up as they felt the flare up of power. Egon, Benello and Xaro realized that something had gone wrong and stood up as well.

Suddenly, screams could be heard throughout the city and a huge roar was heard as a gigantic black dragon roared in anger and flew over the city.

"Glaurung! What is … NO! Albus!" Ginny muttered in shock and raced to the balcony of the pavilion as everyone followed her.

There, everyone paused and watched in shock as the gigantic dragon unleashed a torrent of flame so powerful that it disintegrated a majestic building atop a hillock in the city to rubble in seconds.

"The House of Undying! The Warlocks!" Xaro exclaimed in shock as Egon and Benello fell down on their backsides in fear and shock.

Bells began to ring all over the city, even as Lily and Ginny disappeared from the pavilion and made their way to the location.

When they arrived, they saw Albus holding a man aloft by grasping his throat even as the surroundings burned to ashes around him.