Chapter 4: Battle of the Preserve
Harry reluctantly left his room. The room was very luxurious, containing a massive bed, a TV, his own personal house elf, and plenty of clothes that somehow fit him. The room, with the accompanying bathroom was clean and comfortable, which pleased Harry. Far too long he had lived in a small room, or cupboard. How, he was sleeping in the nicest room that even put his Hogwarts dorm to shame.
Harry slowly moved throughout Castle Vulpus to explore, while Dudley stayed in his room as he was too scared of all the freaky things he saw. The green-eyed wizard wandered through the Castle's floors, finding several offices, rooms with weapons, kitchens (like, four), and others which he had no name for. Eventually, he came across a room filled with tapestries and portraits. Most were magical, and those "living" within the frames were sleeping.
"Ah, Lord Potter, I see you have found the Room of Remembrance," came a slightly thready voice from behind the bespeckled boy.
Harry startled, spinning around to see an older, greying male, dressed like a butler. He had a faint flush across his cheeks. "Oh! Hello. I'm sorry, am I not supposed to be here?" he questioned, nervous.
The old male simply smiled gently. "You are quite fine, Lord Potter. This room is open to all. The Room of Remembrance is where the ancestors of House Vulpus sleep."
Harry nodded, as if he understood. But his brows furrowed. "Lord Potter?" he questioned, pointing to himself. That was the second time he heard the title connected with his surname.
"Yes, my boy," the butler spoke. "You are the Lord of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter and the Most Ancient and Revered House of Peverell." The older male frowned slightly. "That you weren't informed as soon as you received your Hogwarts acceptance letter is unforgivable."
Harry lowered his head, his nervousness devolving into shame.
"It is not your fault. You can lay that blame solely on Albus Dumbledore's -" the graying male said, followed by several vulgar words that have made Molly Weasley swoon.
Harry blushed, but he soon remembered something else; "What's the deal with Null? I'm still confused on why he wants me."
"I had the honor of being one the Pack's oldest operatives," the butler started. "As Lady Wolf said, the One in the Void is the foe of life, light, family, honor, love, and compassion. He seeks to combine all worlds into the Void, his home, and ensure that all live empty and meaningless lives while in service to his terrible might." Harry briefly wondered if there was a point coming in the older male's ramblings that made no sense to the green-eyed boy's question. His curiosity was sated soon enough. "As to why he hates you; you had previously defeated one of the Dreaded One's minions, the so-called Dark Lord Voldemort."
Harry's eyes widened slightly. "Voldemort serves Null?"
"Perhaps," the man responded, "not willingly, or known, but all Dark Lords are servants of the Great Evil. So, it is possible. Null is the source of all the darkness. He is the King of All Evil. It is by his unholy will that the Dark Arts were created and used. In fact, I fear that Null's agents, the Cabal, have entered the Death Eaters' ranks, or are funding them to influence them to do their evil God's bidding. The reason why Null hates you is also because he hates everything and your blood is something that even the Evil One fears."
Harry raised a brow in question.
"Your family has defied the Darkest One many times. In fact, your ancestors were among the founders of the Pack itself. The Endless One fears those of both magic and non-magic, or half-bloods, as they are part of the two worlds that defy him, and they have access to greater magics."
The old man just shook his head. "I personally don't understand the Pureblood's dumb ideology. It makes no logical sense, yet fear blinds those to the truth."
Harry nodded. He had seen it many times within the halls of Hogwarts. The butler returned his attention to the bespeckled boy. "Now, my lord, if you would follow me to the Vulpus Library, I will explain everything, including the Prophecy of the Thirteen."
As Harry followed the old man, he felt a shudder, that if he would hear this explanation, nothing in his life would be the same again!
Meanwhile, Scar and Wolf have just left the Ministry leaving shocked wizards and witches behind. Martin ran off to carry out Scar's orders to ensure that the other Alphas and Council of Elders were informed of the attack on the Perverse. As they entered the Muggle World, both apparated towards the Perverse, located in a pocket dimension.
The Preserve was a realm where magical creatures were safe from the horrors of both the magical and mundane world. A place where they could live in peace. Now, that peace was shattered by the powers of the Dark King, the Enemy of Light, the Void King…..Null. The armies of the Void, named the Cabal, were armed with members of demons, evil humans, dark creatures, and other unknown beings charged the forces of the Pack.
Once upon a time, the Cabal would never dare to strike the Preserve, but many things have changed. With the sudden disappearance of the reigning Omega and their second, the Sigma, the Pack had fractured into different factions. Each held a different ideology. While all were allied under the common goals of the Pack, the two primary factions had different ways of leading.
However, now was not the time to ruminate upon the fractured Pack's structure. It was time to fight. Time to stand against the Darkness.
As the armies of Light and Darkness battled, Scar and Wolf apparated into the battlefield. There was chaos; explosions of spells and shouts, roars and snarls of different creatures, and the scent of blood tinged the air. Wolf, smelling the blood, perked up slightly as a twisted smile curved her lips. With a twist of her wrist, her wand appeared. The blackthorn and ebony wand was off to her side, pointed back and at the ground. Within a second, the wand was nonverbally transfigured into a gladius and charged off into the closest skirmish.
As soon as word spread that the Daughter of War, also known as the Queen of Blood and the Bane of Darkness, had arrived, a few things happened. For those of the Pack, the sight of her fighting alongside them with a sword in hand, splattered with the ichor of their enemies, inspired them. For those of the Cabal, seeing her slaughter their compatriots with ease, terrified them.
Wolf was a hurricane of movement and magic. Her wand, changing from weapon to wand, firing spells and slicing through Cabal with a blade's edge. In her other hand was a simple branch she had transfigured into a pugio - a dagger of Roman origin. As she moved between skirmishes, she lost the dagger-branch, and opted to transform into her animagus form between firing spells.
Black ichor, the blood of the divine, started to coat her skin as often as the ground from her demon victims.
Meanwhile, her partner, the Lord of Courage, the Bane of Shadows, and the Great Lion, had other ways of dealing with the invasion. As he made his way over to a collection of buildings, the Cabal attacked the Master of Light. Scar merely unleashed a volley of powerful light spells, demolishing them with ease. His cloak blowing behind due to the force of his spells. Not long after, a Beta, with his men, came up to him;
"My Lord, the Pack of the Preserve is at your command. What are your orders?"
Scar's answering grin was savage. "Let's have some fun." The air was rent with cheers in response, making Scar sigh slightly. Apparently, he was spending way too much time with Wolf as it seemed that her bloodlust was rubbing off on him. The Beta simply grinned his own agreement and Scar glanced at him. "It is good to see you again Jacob. I hope you will put on a feast for us."
Jacob Kowalski, mundane friend and the Beta for Newt Scamander, the Alpha of the Preserve, smiled broadly, "Anything you wish for, my Lord."
The rest of the Pack had charged. Scar had set up wards around the buildings after they were secure and made them Home Base, where orders could come in and be sent out, and where the injured could be looked after by healers. And so, the Pack fought, fearless, with the two Master Guardians at their sides.
They fought, and they died, but they had won. Losses were high and many Pack brothers and sisters lay on the dusty and blood soaked ground. Others nursed varying degrees of wounds, those with major wounds taking precedence over those who only had scrapes and bruising. Physical wounds could be fixed easily. It was the mental ones that would take the longest to heal.
Scar watched the healing of his Pack colleagues stoically, though inside he was gutted. He had spent two hundred years of his life as a member of the Pack, pretty much since the day he was born. Yet, he lost more family in one day than he had in all his years beforehand. Not even the Mystic Wars never had this amount of casualties, not in one day or one battle. It is clear that Null is planning something big. Scar made a mental note to figure it out as soon as possible.
As he tried to figure out what Null's plans were, he was joined by Wolf, who had taken it upon herself to make a lap around the entirety of the Preserve in animagus form to see if there were any Cabal stragglers. While covered in ichor, she didn't have any fresh patches, so there must not have been any. Scar eyed his partner. The corners of the markings around her eyes were a faint red, but seemed to be fading fast. She also seemed to be pouting slightly, sad that she had no one else to fight.
It was then that Newt Scamander joined them.
"Newt," Scar acknowledged as the Magizoologist.
"Lord Scar, Lady Wolf. Thank you for your help," Newt said, bowing his head slightly.
"No problem," Wolf said with a fanged grin and a slight salute.
"My Lord Vulpus," a goblin Pack agent said as they approached, followed by a mundane agent who was dragging a lesser demon up to the Light Lord. The demon was red with impish features, a long pointed tail and ears, and spiraling horns twisting away from its head. "Agent Crestwood and I found this scum trying to sneak away." The demon fought against the hands of the mundane agent, but was not successful due to the dagger pointing against its throat by the mundane agent.
Scar stepped forward as Newt watched warily and Wolf's eyes seemed to sharpen as she focused on the little imp. "What was your mission here, Messenger of Darkness?" As the Lord of Light spoke, the Pack Agents pushed the demon to its knees and stepped back as the other members of the Pack surrendered their leader and their captive.
The small demon lips twisted into an impish grin, showing off jagged shark-like teeth. When it spoke, it's voice was rasping and oh-so-dark; "Greetings Scarious Vulpus and Enya Nox Romulus. It is good to see you again."
Scar's eyes widened slightly as Wolf's hardened while she prowled forward to stand next to her partner, wand in hand. Both knew the voice. They had heard it many times, in life and in their nightmares.
"Null," Scar deadpanned. The Pack that heard it shuddered at the mention of the name of the King of Evil.
"What are you doing here," Wolf demanded, eyes narrowing and her fingers tightened around her wand.
Through the mouth of the possessed imp, the Darkest One chuckled. "To simply speak with you two. The final countdown has begun and the Void hungers. Soon, all will be me and nothing escapes me."
Scar stepped forward, closer to the possessed demon. "We will stop you."
The demon laughed darkly. It's pitch eyes locked with the blue eyes of his foe as the Master of Darkness spoke again. "Even you, Guardian Vulpus, will serve me. Just like your brother, and your mother. I have foreseen it. In the end, nothing escapes the Void and the darkness. So, gather your remaining eleven Guardians, Scarious Vulpus, because in the end, it won't matter. All will fall into the might of the Void."
The One in the Void's echoing laughter surrounded the group. Wolf bared her teeth at the demon and flickered forward, wand transforming as she did so. Just as the blade from her weapon kissed the demon's neck, the King of Evil released his minion. The blade rent the demon's head from its shoulders, staining the ground with its demonic taint. However, the laughter of the Lord of Nightmares stayed with the group, seeming to echo across the battleground of the Preserve.
Wolf spun the weapon, slamming the butt of it into the ground next to her feet. Her attention turned from the body of the demon to her partner. "What now?"
Scar just looked at her. "Now, things are going to get worse. So much worse. The war is just beginning."
HIs brows raised at seeing the weapon in her hand. It looked like a naginata from feudal Japan. The wooden staff was about her height and the metal blade extended up into the air another twenty inches. The wooden staff bore red decorations in the form of snarling wolves. Close to the base of the blade was a strip of red cloth, ragged and marked with the symbol of her House.
"Uh, Noxxie," Scar said, coughing slightly, "what is in your hands and where did you get it?"
Wolf blinked slowly before looking at her weapon. "Oh. It's a naginata. I transfigured my wand into it using ancient family magic." Her eyes narrowed and she turned back to Scar. "I thought you already knew this."
Scar gave a wavy gesture with a hand. "I might have," he began, "though I am still surprised every time I see you do it."
Wolf merely grinned. "Scar, you've been alive since the eighteen century, are half druid, have been to different realms, fighting monsters and demons almost every day, and can cast magic. Yet you question how I can turn my wand into different weapons?" She laughed, which led her to thwack Scar over the head with the pole part of her weapon.
"Ow!" Scar winced and rubbed his head. "Why?"
Wolf smirked. "Because you are like a piñata, and I want candy."
Around them, the agents of the Pack chuckled at their commanders' behavior, only to be silenced by a look from Scar. All the tension over facing the Darkest One vanished. Secretly, Scar knew Wolf could turn her wand into weapons, however his pretend ignorance helped his men relax. Yet, as Scar bantered with his best friend, both knew that the war was just getting started.
Null is rising, and only they, the Pack, and the other eleven Guardians stand in his way!
A/N: Whew, that took a while. Hope you guys like it. Let us know what you think and thanks for your patience.