Chapter 2: The Fel Scarred Guardian
A/N: I edited the first chapter and added some small tweaks to it so that a couple lines make sense. This story was an idea for a while and I just decided to start it to see how people would dig it, and since you guys like it I'll continue it. I decided to call (Harry) Hadrian in this one because it sounded more Warcrafty/Fantasyyyy, but they are still the same character. And I hope to blow your minds when I truly reveal how the harry potter universe and this one are connected. [It will not be that harry is dreaming of the Warcraft universe while he is in the Harry potter universe] Enjoy! ;)
And I'm thinking I'll end this book with a Sargeras confrontation that will blow your fucking minds away. Not because it will be a world shattering fight, but because of a culmination of factors that will piece together at the end of the story.
-3 Months after arriving in Kharazan-
Floating in the warm waters of Kharazan's grand baths Hadrian glided over to the ever-guarding Curator.
'You don't have to have to come into the bath with me'
'Probability of drowning low. But still present. Protocols dictate that I guard'
'But isn't that bad for your armor? Wont it rust?' Hadrian asked.
'Arcane energy levels are sufficient for cleaning' replied the curator.
Nodding his head Hadrian continued to swim around the large center bath, diving down into the arcane boosted waters occasionally to test his ability to hold his breath. He did this until the chirping of an arcane wyrm grabbed his attention.
"Is it time for studies?" he asked.
A happy trill answered his question and begrudgingly Hadrian swam toward the steps of the bath and exited into the embrace of magical robe that flew across the room to cover his body. Behind him the giant body of the curator rose from out of the water and drenched the granite floors with water.
'Who wrote your protocols?' Hadrian asked as he looked at the steaming water flooding the bathroom.
'Confused.' The Curator replied as it expelled water out of its chest cavity.
'Um. How do I put this' Hadrian responded as he began changing into a fresh set of clothes Moroes had left for him on a dresser that was beside a mirror. Before putting on his shirt Hadrian took a moment to observe, in his reflection, the small green tattoo that was on his upper arm, which extended slightly onto his shoulder Moroes and even the ghosts of Kharazan, that he had met so far, didn't seem to know where the mark came from. And it had only showed itself nearly a month after he had arrived at Kharazan.
'Well who was the one that created your dumb protocols then?' Hadrian asked.
'Protocols provide structure to Curator. Without them rampancy is probable in this unit'
'Whatever, forget I asked' Hadrian said as he finished dressing himself in the posh school clothes Moroes had set out for him. 'Will you be at dinner?' Hadrian asked.
'Of course protocol dictates that while not in your use that normal functions of menagerie custodian be implemented….' Droning out the construct from his long list of responsibilities Hadrian walked out of the bathroom and made his way towards Professor Horace's study session in the library.
'all per the override protocol that was established upon my revival 2175 hours ago' the curator finished to an empty bathroom.
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The Library was dull place in Hadrian's mind. At least when professor Horace was teaching him arcane runic structures. The majesty and the privilege of being in a room with so much knowledge, that even in the largely extended lifetimes of guardians he could never hope to read even a fraction of it, was just lost too him.
"The runic structure for a basic arcane shield is as follows" said professor Horace before using his ghostly hand to write down the structure of the spell.
Hadrian copied with haste but the practical aspects and use of the shield were lost to him as the ghost gave examples of how such shields have been used throughout the recorded history of Azeroth.
Instead of listening to the ghost Hadrian read the history of Aegwynn, of the guardians and their achievements, and of the enemy that they all faced at one point. The burning legion.
A force of fel fire that has tried and tried again to consume this world and everyone in it without mercy. Slaughter for the sake of slaughter as the author of the tome Hadrian read put it. Demons of all kind were described in history of the guardians, and it showed how even the weakest of imps brought great devastation to inhabitants of azeroth.
And Hadrian felt a sorrow in himself as he read the atrocities that the guardians had to deal with. A brought a numbness to himself that he may too have to face such a situation when he finally became guardian.
Although Moroes and the professors never brought it up Hadrian wasn't clueless to the situation he found himself in. He understood what it meant to be the lord of this tower, the tower that arguably the greatest guardian, Aegwynn, had created herself.
He was being raised to be the next guardian.
He was being raised to fight the burning legion.
But did he want to?
That was the question that Hadrian had been asking himself recently. He was slow with his studies, although the professors didn't show it outright they were not impressed by his practical magic. Always telling him that he'll be better next time or that not everyone has an aptitude for magic when they first start off learning the foundations.
How was he ever supposed to fight demons that could scorch even the sky?
And so, Hadrian recently began to lose himself in the stories of adventure that filled the library. From the sands of Ulduar to the forests of Tristfal his mind traveled as he read, feeling in some way that he himself was traveling the world that he was being raised to protect.
"And that I expect you to be able to summon small objects by the end of next week's lecture on arcane runic structures Hadrian" Professor Horace said, finishing off his lecture for the day, before floating away and through the wall of the library.
Sighing to himself now that the professor was gone Hadrian lifted himself off his chair and began to explore the library for a book that could help him on summoning objects.
Grabbing the grimoire of the library, that the professors had shown him could summon any book he requested from the great archive in the library, Hadrian said "Books of summoning"
And alarmingly a swarm of books came flying in his direction, almost like a giant wave of water, causing Hadrian to yelp in surprise and run to his desk which he promptly flipped on its side to protect himself from the flood of books.
Once the rattling of his desk had stopped Hadrian peeked over the desk to see a small sea of books separating himself from the libraries grimoire.
Sighing to himself Hadrian made his way through books and towards the pedestal that held the grimoire. And once there he saw that upon the open grimoire a small dusty journal that had no doubt just been hidden deep within the stores of the library was laying innocently open to a magical seal.
But everything seems innocent to the eyes of a child.
"Hear my voice through the arcane streams of this universe and head my commands. I summon thee -" The last word was hard for Hadrian to read out as it had been crossed out. But bringing his eyes close enough Hadrian was just able to make out the final word.
"Aluneth" he said not exactly sure if he was making out the crossed-out word right.
'Where have I heard that name before' Hadrian pondered as he removed the dusty journal from the grimoire. Unaware of the small portal that was beginning to form behind him. Instead he brought his focus onto the grimoire to see if he could manually find a book within the depths of Kharazan's collection that would fit his needs.
When the sudden torrent of arcane energy blew him down one of kharazan's many book aisle's ,and vaporized his professor Horace's classroom, Hadrian was very much caught off guard.
"Free at last!" yelled out an ethereal voice. And from a now open portal a creature of the purest arcane clawed its way out of the blindingly white vortex of energy.
"You will rue the day you trapped me in that infernal staff Aegywnn!" Aluneth stated before he began to use his vast power to rip through the grand library. Defense drones that were alerted to the being's presence in library fell victim to the intense arcane storms surrounding it.
Hadrian hid and ducked out of sight fearing the worst if he made his presence known. But he could not let the arcane being continue its rampage, he needed to find out what it was and how to stop it.
And so brazenly he ran to the journal that he had inadvertently used to summon the creature and quickly read where he had left off.
"Aluneth is a being of tremendous power and knowledge that I had hoped would answer many of the unsolved riddles of ancient text left by the titans involving the use of the arcane powers. But he is unrelenting in his defiance, he cannot and will not be tamed like so many of the other summons from the other planes. Too dangerous to be left to his own whims I have placed him within a great staff so that maybe his power can be harnessed by others. Until such a time arrives I bid thee well, Archmage Aegywnn"
'That tells me nothing' Hadrian thought as finished and looked back to see more defense constructs, as well as the Curator, had entered the library and were currently fighting Aluneth. They were slowly getting pushed back by the being and it was only a matter of time before Aluneth would defeat them.
Looking around frantically Hadrian thought of something, anything, that he could do to help his protector and friend. And his green eyes finally caught something so mundane yet out of place that he never noticed it had been there in the first place.
A great staff made of dark wood and glittering crystals laid near Aluneth's hovering arcane form. And with no real plan or any inclination that his in the moment idea would work Hadrian bolted for the staff.
The tips of his hair singed as they touched Aluneth's arcane storms and he narrowly dodged a slash of arcane that hit the curator. But Hadrian made it to the staff and hoisted its full length, which was much taller than him, into the air and screamed.
"Seal!"
But nothing happened and the fighting between Aluneth and the defense constructs continued in full swing. All that Hadrian had succeeded in doing was causing Aluneth's attention to focus on the individual holding eons old prison.
"I will not be sealed ever again" Aluneth stated before blowing the defensive constructs across the library with a great arcane push.
Aluneth gathered a tremendous amount of arcane energy into a fist and struck down towards Hadrian. Bent on destroying the container that had been the cause of his torment for so long.
On instinct Hadrian lifted the staff above his head in a desperate attempt to survive the being's crushingly powerful attack. In the single moment after Aluneth's blow had cut straight through the staff and was just inches from vaporizing Hadrian a great magical seal stopped the beings movement.
"What?" Aluneth questioned as tendrils of white magic exploded out of the broken great staff and began to surround him.
Aluneth thrashed against the binding seal and tried to rip apart the tendrils but the more he fought the stronger the magic became. After all, the failsafe that Archmage Aegywnn had placed in the great staff were designed to do so.
"Aegywnn!" Yelled Aluneth as his body began to be sucked into the binding seal. The fragments of the great staff began to glow red hot as it tried to contain the beings massive power. And in the heat of the process the broken pieces of the staff melded together.
Getting smaller and smaller as Aluneth too got smaller and smaller the staff began to take the shape of a wand. And in a final surge of power that blew a mighty gust across the grand library Aluneth's form was sealed completely.
Leaving behind a purple crystal wand that held within it a swirling arcane torrent. No doubt representative of the angry being that had just been sealed within it.
"Woah" was all Hadrian could say as he took in the aftermath of the situation. His hair was frazzled by the arcane energy, many of the library aisles had been destroyed, and more importantly the classroom Moroes had set up for him had been vaporized.
Picking up the wand from the ground Hadrian could still feel the heat radiating off it from its creation mere moments ago. The wand felt right to him in some way that he couldn't describe. Staffs and rings had always felt unnatural for him to use but wands, especially this one, seemed to call out to him.
But of course, the professors had insisted that he learn how to use what they considered the more powerful magical focus in great staffs. Especially after all the wands he had previously wielded had their cores burned out with a few uses.
Laughing to himself and lifted his new wand as high as his short arms could let him.
"Take that professor Horace" Hadrian said before continuing to giggle at the absurdity of summoning an extremely powerful arcane being and trapping it within a brand-new wand.
'Injuries negligent?' asked the Curator as he looked down at his lord.
"mhm" Hadrian hummed affirmatively at the Curator.
"But your left arm is gone. You should get that checked"
'Will initiate maintenance protocol when tower systems are re constructed' The curator replied before going over to many of the broken defense constructs on the floor and picking them up.
The sudden rush of footsteps and voices caught Hadrian's attention and he turned his head to see ghosts, Moroes, and the great Nether drake Netherspite rush into the library.
The drake's arcane magic was bubbling just beneath his scales and came off of his massive body like a mist.
"Where is he! Where is that pathetic swine Alunteth!?" the dragon asked as it looked around the damaged library.
"My Lord are you okay?" Moroes asked before going over to Hadrian and personally checking his wellbeing.
"Uh yeah I'm fine…. But I might have sorta maybe probably accidently summoned something I shouldn't have" Hadrian replied while trying to look away to hide his admission of guilt.
Looking at the damage the library had taken Moroes replied "Evidently my lord. Evidently. One must be careful of the spells they recite from the books of Kharazan. Some of the knowledge hidden away in these tomes should remain that way"
"Nether you're never in this part of the tower, can we go flying?" Hadrian said lifting his hands in the arm in the hopes of the dragon would pick him up.
"Soon my Lord" replied the nether drake nonchalantly as he began sniffing the air for traces of the Aluneth's essence, looking to find a tear in to the twisting nether to follow the arcane being. So, they may continue their duel that has shaken the twisting nether for the past millennia.
Sniffing, sniffing, sniffing the air the dragon continue until his nostrils were sucking in Hadrian's hand. Causing the dragon to lurch back in disgust.
"You reek of swine" Nether said.
"Watch your words Nether he is the lord of this tower and the only reason you are still here" reminded Moroes.
"It's okay Moroes. I think Nether doesn't like the smell of my new wand" Hadrian said as he held up the crystal wand for all to see. And no one other than the nether drake saw it for what it was.
"Hahaha. Trapped again are you Aluneth?" Laughed out the drake. His chest rumbled in delight at seeing his foe trapped in such a prison. With his sharp claws, Nether gently picked up Hadrian up and placed him on his back, together they laughed their way out of the library.
"What just happened here Curator?" Moroes asked
"Defense protocol 122-45 initiated automatic teleportation using reserve energy was established. Then protocol 1.2D was enacted…"
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Flying high above the forests of Deadwing pass and not too far from the great tower of Kharazan Nether flew faster and faster with the wind to his back. Diving, twirling, and climbing in the air in a stunning show of acrobatics. Using arcane energy to supplement his speed Nether flew faster and higher than most other dragons could dream of, much to the delight of young Hadrian.
As he gripped tightly on one of Nether's back spines Hadrian unknowingly pushed more arcane energy into the dragon whenever he noticed nether beginning to slow. A child like Hadrian would make the dragon fly for eternity if he could.
"We should head back I my Lord. Supper will be ready soon." Nether said as he came to a stop just above the clouds.
"But I'm not hungry" replied Hadrian.
"Little hatchlings are always hungry"
Pouting at the dragon's sound logic Hadrian took a moment to gaze at the sun setting below the clouds before an idea that Moroes would disapprove of came to mind.
"Catch me Nether!" Hadrian called out before jumping off the drake.
"What?" Nether replied dumbly before feeling his charge jump off his back. The drake's eyes went wide in fear as he lost the boy in the clouds and in a burst of arcane speed the drake dived through the clouds to follow him.