Chapter 16 - To Death
Five barrel holes were shoved into their faces the moment they arrived and Harry instinctively almost sliced them to bits.
"Elementals," barked the captain in relief.
The wizards and dwarves were advancing in a square formations and they rained magical bullets down on the rampaging werewolves. The sharp spit of the rifles rattled in the thousands and the scream of rage and pain of beasts being struck down shattered through the air.
"Let's go Freckles!" Harry shouted and the ground beneath his feet began to freeze over. The ran past the gradually advancing soldiers to the front where monsters broke through men like hammer on paste until they were felled by the power of magical guns. The pile of dead bodies grew larger as they closed in on the battle and a blaze of flames signalled their arrival among beasts.
Harry's ears were ringing with the terrifying roars hammering against his ear drums and he ducked under the swipe of a werevamp and gutted his chest with an ice spike.
He looked to find Lillian but he was immediately set upon by a screaming goblin and was forced to defend himself with a wall of ice before raising his wand in a smooth action and blowing the goblins head apart.
Two more werewolves replaced the goblin and a hail of gunfire dropped them before Harry could react. Behind Harry the line of soldiers were protected by a massive shield raised by dozens of wizards together and they kept firing and marching on slowly as monsters broke against their shields.
The shield broke many times against powerful assault and many men died until they got the shields back and pushed ahead once more. But the men did it with heartless resolve and stepped over their dead friends in the fight for survival.
Harry didn't have time to turn back and express his gratitude. Lust was beginning to rage through his blood and a dark grin shadowed his face when he saw the army ahead. He saw werewolves and vampires with wizards at the back and more Bicorns creeping in the darkness spreading out of the tower behind them. Voldemort's experimental beasts and goblins were being used to attack while the rest waited, eager to taste flesh and blood. The aura of violence reeking out of that army was too much for Harry's element to resist and with stormy silver eyes he raised his hands and used the weather to create a sky blotting block of ice over their heads.
"Die!" He hissed and brought the wall down with the power to crush them flat.
He didn't anticipate the Bicorns mutating into black domes over their heads and letting the ice shatter against their bodies.
Low hisses that vibrated in the air creeped towards him and he found his eyes gazing into the black hole that was a Bicorns eye. It was right up against him but the vast darkness that lay inside that captured him and he was suddenly overwhelmed by the sinister magic that was waiting to come out.
The Bicorn raised its tail to attack but a ball of fire crushed it from above and it dissolved with a shriek as Lillian's fire consumed it.
"Harry! What the Fuck!?"
His senses that had left him for a moment retuned with a gasp and his elements bloodlust that had suddenly been dwarfed came back in force.
"Do not look into their eyes," Harry warned Lillian. "There's power in it."
"Got it," Lillian said and turned back to the enemy.
Harry's attack had stopped the probing beasts and now they were gearing up for their full forced attack.
"The Tower is our aim," Harry said and tapped Lillian on the shoulder and whispered a spell. He then tapped himself and said the same spell.
"What was that?" Lillian asked and realised immediately. They could now talk to each other like they were almost face to face. The spell disabled the communication bud that they had but it mattered not because they were now on their own.
"No matter how many beasts get past us we keep moving ahead got it?"
"Why don't I just teleport us?" She asked.
Harry looked at the tower and he could sense the odd magic around it. "I'd rather not risk it, not when we're so close to the tower," he said. "We don't know what magic that is yet."
Behind them the line of soldiers, wizards and dwarves advanced. "Lord Elemental," said a Dwarf, his black eyes blinking solemnly. "What are your commands?"
Harry was thrown a little off guard at the elevation of his status. He then realised that this is what an elemental was to these creatures from the past. Harry half turned and glanced at the sea of leather, cloaks and uniforms. "Lils and I are going for the tower. Don't worry about us and focus on the enemy. It seems they're finally ready to counter."
The pale skinned Dwarf nodded and barked a couple of words in a language far from Harry's understanding.
"Let's go Harry!" Shouted Lillian and wings of fire burst from her back. If she couldn't teleport she would fly.
She was off before Harry could reply and he grinned at the solemn Dwarf. "She's so impulsive sometimes," he said, fondly exasperated. His body then turned translucent and liquid and he shot towards the thousands of organised beasts before him as a dozen fire whips slammed into ground, slicing through many werewolves and shaking the ground.
Harry created a shield of ice and rammed into the snarling werevamps. Sharp teeth, drooling with saliva and yellow eyes, gleaming with hatred rushed past him as he travelled nearly fifty meters into the army until his momentum stopped and his shield was the colour of blood. Bone matter and flesh dripped into the ground and Harry knelt, his head bowed and wand poised a bit above the snowy ground.
Nothing stood a chance against him.
His arms glazed over and tall pine trees with edges sharp as swords erupted out of the ground and split the entire length of the army into two. The Bicorns, vampires and an vast array of creatures were blown away in a red mist that spoke of the power of an elemental.
Harry's body turned water again and he rocketed forward towards the Tower that kept growing larger and menacing. The ground beneath was now covered in the black ooze that drifted outward and his eyes widened when as a man rose out and slashed his wand at him. Harry recognised him. It was Yaxley and his eyes were coal black.
"Die!" he snarled and Harry blocked the curse with wand and slammed a carpet of ice into him crushing the maddened man into a sickly paste like he were a mere bug and the ooze was splattered to opposite ends, leaving the ground clear. But with speed it slithered back and Harry raised a wall to stop them and ran forward. The ooze broke through his ice and shot towards him with intent to pierce until Lillian crashed into the ground beside Harry and with her arms stretched out at opposite ends, she sent a massive column of fire on both sides sending the ooze shrieking in retreat.
Harry's eyes widened briefly he noticed their form turn denser and loose their lustre and he reacted quickly using his element to cut through them smoking parts. A high pitched scream pierced the air and Harry watched a part wither into ash and vanish.
"Freckles! Keep the fire going and move towards the tower!"
They ran forward, Lillian lighting the way and Harry attacking from behind. Amidst the thunderous power of his element and it's lust of death Harry couldn't help but think if all this was fated. Lillian was the light; the flame that could drive the darkness away and he was the sword, crushing the darkness in the shade of the light. It was a perfect combination regardless of them being opposites in nature.
Suddenly the light of the sun vanished and Harry and Lillian found themselves in the shadow of the tower. It was no longer a speck becoming larger but an enormous structure that loomed over them, it's walls making them feel like ants looking up a skyscraper. Only this one was oozing shadows out of hundreds of shafts in the black as night tower. The entire army that the Resistance was facing rose out of the shadows one after the other and there seemed no end to the rising monsters. Even the sound was dulled and the roar of the battle felt distant and softer. A sinister chill had settled in the atmosphere that even Harry was able to feel. The roaring sound of Lillian's fire and the sound of ice cutting through air and exploding on contact with the confringo curse hidden within. It was a combination Harry found very effective and he made sure to limit the attacks to the path in front of him. He had to conserve his power for what lay ahead of them and he was glad Lillian was doing the same.
When they reached the base of the tower the alien magic felt so strong that if they abandoned their elemental states, they would have been brought to their knees and crushed under its weight. Strangely the shadows didn't attack them and they had a moment to catch their breaths and look for a way in. They couldn't think too much, not with the pressure they were feeling.
Harry soon realised they didn't have a choice. The fastest way was teleportation. He linked his arm with Lillian's and gestured up when she turned her fiery eyes on him. She had a half smile on and Harry knew she was enjoying herself more than she ought to.
His world momentarily turned orange and then blue with a massive black roof, shaped like a crown below him. They landed on the roof with their senses high on alert and ready for any attack. But nothing came and they looked around the top of the tower for clues.
"What the hell is this place?" asked Lillian, "This doesn't feel like metal or stone and brick. What is this thing made of?"
"More importantly where is Voldemort? And Dumbledore for that matter?" Harry muttered. He could see far across the horizon and his eyes lingered on the two massive armies clashing against each other. The beasts were advancing and over powering the first line and Harry hoped the Dwarves did something soon.
His worry was erased when the pressure bearing down on them spiked and became even more intense. But it was not enough to bend their knee and Harry and Lillian watched in fascination as a hole opened up in the centre of the roof and a man emerged from its depths. It looked like a man but it was just a glistening shadow in the shape of a man.
The man opened his mouth and a harsh guttural noise that sounded like words pierced the air.
Harry and Lillian instinctively raised a powerful shield mixed with the magic and element but no attack came.
Cautiously they dropped their shields and watched in perverse fascination as Lord Voldemort, a man who clung to life from the grave and then rose to destroy the world appeared as the shadows retreated and reformed into a throne.
"Are you here to become one with me Elementals?" hissed Voldemort and Harry knew this was not Voldemort. His voice was deeper and his eyes lacked the madness that kept Voldemort alive. Instead they were the same pits of darkness that Harry had seen in the Bicorn, only this time it was much more powerful and Harry knew to withstand it.
"Were here to kill you actually," Lillian said airily. Her elemental power made her believe she was capable of anything and she had proven it over time. Her hotheadedness combined with the nature of her element made her bloodlust surpass Harry's and at times even he found it difficult to hold back her impulses. But that was a long time ago. Now she was in harmony with her element and she had discovered she liked the lust her power craved and got along with it just fine.
Voldemort didn't laugh and focused his gaze on Lillian. Remembering Harry's warning she didn't look into his eyes. "I cannot be killed," he said. "The passage through the vessel has begun. It will be complete soon and I will be reborn. With me this world shall be rebuilt in my image."
"What are you?" Harry asked. He had to hear it from the source. He wanted the truth.
"I can hear your thoughts accursed Elemental," Voldemort hissed. "Your stench is as repulsive as ever but we have time. I shall indulge you until the transfer is complete."
Lillian threw a ball of fire at him with intent to kill but to her surprise it just dissipated into nothing.
"I cannot attack you and you cannot harm me until the transfer is complete. I must say this vessel is highly intelligent. The human race has evolved splendidly. My thoughts are coherent and I have a sense of I."
"What are you?" Harry asked again.
"I am the opposite," Voldemort replied. "The birth of this planet came with two opposites. Two powers that rejected the others existence and had no intelligence or consciousness. Time passed by, the opposites evolved and the powers gained conscious. The methods of the clash, too, evolved and we gained the power to create. Two opposite energies locked in an eternal war began to divide their power and gained a semblance of intelligence. With intelligence came imagination and a clash with my opposite resulted in the opposite stealing my power and creating a new life."
Rage, an emotion Harry was very familiar with, rippled through the space making the skin on his arms prickle. Harry summoned more of his power and the temperature dropped drastically while the air around Lillian began to heat rapidly. It was a response to the anger radiating from the creature and the clash of opposite elements besides each other created a hissing mist.
"I am the opposite, destined to spread my energies into this planet. I can sense what my opposite has done with the planet. I can sense its power coursing through my stick in your hand and I can feel its power foul the air around us."
Harry couldn't help but think about Darwin and feel a little put out at the destruction of part of theory of evolution.
The being could hear his thoughts and it almost smirked bringing back a familiar expression on Voldemort's now stoic face.
"There are two breeds of humans Elemental. Those born from the opposites and those born after my defeat and my opposites integration with this world. The world of the past and the world of good integrated after millennia and you two young elementals, have the blood of those created from the collision of two forces. Your blood is the foul blood of humans who ripped through dimensions to gain a higher power. With my revival it will be I who will integrate with the planet and evolution will have its roots in me."
Harry had heard enough and he snapped a bludgeoner at Voldemort but just as the being had said. His attack didn't touch him and it dissipated into nothing.
"This transition is between dimensions Elemental. No power can penetrate the barriers between realms. This tower is where I created the dark arts and was locked in another realm to prevent my force from destruction. The space inside these walls are the gates and indestructible. You cannot harm me until I am free."
"Then what the hell is that outside?!" Lillian yelled. Her frustration at being useless and having to listen to a freaks monologue was grating on her nerves. She wanted to rip that bastard apart but apparently she had to wait patiently. There was a war for survival going on far behind them and here a monster was exuding massive intent to destroy but was sitting on a throne as cool as a cucumber.
"Lord Voldemort was furious at his defeat and unable to think of any way to retaliate he raged and allowed me to overpower his mind. While you have been rebuilding your world I have been transferring myself back into this realm and now you have no way of stopping me."
Lillian ground her jaws and her body was licking with flames.
"Calm down Lillian," Harry said sharply. "If there's nothing we can do we wait. Believe in our friends and wait for the moment to strike. I believe it's almost over." Harry's eyes flickered to the flow of the shadows and noticed they had stopped.
"Good eyes," the creature said. "Now all the foolish creatures that have touched my power are going to supply me their magic. Voldemort's followers gained strength by immersing themselves in my power and now I shall take it all back and grow stronger than before." Voldemort stood up and raised his hands and looked to the heavens. The shadows began to swirl around and what had been oozing out was now beginning to get sucked back into the body. "You are going to be destroyed!" roared the monster, his voice thunderous loud and the air began to thicken.
Harry's eyes widened and he grabbed Lillian and pulled her into him. "Teleport now!" he yelled.
She took them back to the battlefield in an instant and shocked they stared at the horrifying scene before them. The humans and goblins were screaming as the life was sucked out of them by the writhing shadows. The Bicorns had become as large as mammoths and were consuming the soulless shells left behind. All the shadows were retreating to the tower and the tower itself was shaking with power. The screaming stopped and the army they were facing was gone. The Bicorns too, were sucked into the tower and wizards in their own army began to scream as their magic was sucked out if their bodies and joined the shadows.
All became quiet. The tower was still. The shadows gone.
"Positions," yelled a Dwarf and the monstrous weapons they had brought along began to glow red.
The entire Drakon army joined the front, dropping out of the sky with a boom. "Now it begins," growled their leader.
The pop of apparation signalled Dumbledore's arrival and his eyes were cold.
"Prepare the Elvish shields," shouted Sirius whose robes were drenched in blood.
"It's coming," whispered Lillian, feeling a powerful presence choke the air.
And then it came. The tower rippled and burst. A shock wave tore through the air and the shields bent against the force, taking the brunt of the force and then shattered. A black tornado roared in its place and the ground came loose. The shields were raised with panicked screams and rocks and ice the size of elephants and dogs hammered into them.
No man stood without terror freezing their very being. It was just a few and the original creations of Good that stood firm and withstood the blast.
"Attack!" Roared Drakon leader.
The Drakons bent their legs and leaned forward. The cracks on their body glowed bright and magic pooled in their guts to be blasted out of their mouths,
"Fire!" Roared the Dwarf and together, the Drakons and Dwarfs powered their magic towards the growing tornado.
Eyes were blinded by the red power that blotted the sky and a terrifying screech brought them to their knees.
Harry stood still with his hand on Lillian's shoulder. He was watching carefully and making a plan. "Now it can be hurt by magic," Harry murmured and Lillian listened. "It's body was damaged but it's recovering incredibly fast." Before the Drakons attacked, he had put an enchantment around their eyes to see. "It's weak to fire and is brought to a destructible state for an instant. Flamel said we have to hit its heart. That's the only way to kill it so look for the heart. When we find it we target it."
"That things a bloody cloud of glossy smoke. How exactly are we supposed to find a heart? For that matter does it even look like a regular heart?" Lillian whispered back.
A rain of black needles attacked them and the squad of wizards and Dwarves raised another shield to block it. They screamed in pain as the force of the impact was immense and the shield began to crack. They were not going to make it!
Harry's heart hammered and he cursed, preparing to conjure a shield but suddenly a blue light began to seep into the shield squad and their fatigue was erased and power restored. Harry, with wide eyes, saw immaterial human silhouette appear among them and they were glowing blue and sending their magic into the living.
"Neytons; the providers," Harry muttered, finally understanding what they meant by providers. The simply gave what was needed and the shield stood strong until the Drakons and Drawf weapons launched another barrage.
Evil was twisting into another form. It was compressing and resembling a shapeless cloud. This time it countered the attack by opening a mouth in the cloud and screaming a blast of black magic.
The shock wave that followed knocked everyone to the ground.
"Retreat and keep attacking," shouted a Dwarf. "We must increase our distance!"
Even though the creature was besieged on three sides it made no difference. It's attacks kept coming and it kept twisting into a different form. It was now a revolting face with multiple eyes and it was changing still. The only thing certain was it was shrinking.
"The heart is in the centre," came Dumbledore's voice. He had linked into their spell connection. "We must attack the instant after the Drakons attack. Get ready."
The creature was now twice the size of a dragon and what now looked like liquid darkness lanced out from every part of it, shooting towards every living thing around it. It was going to destroy everything.
Harry and Lillian turned immaterial and the powerful passed through them harmlessly. But they felt the drain on their elemental magic and grunted at the power needed to keep up their immaterial form. Dumbledore cocooned himself in a ball of magic and the black magic bounced away from him.
Harry used magic to increase his speed and he conjured a slab of ice in mid air and flashed onto it and using it has leverage, he shot towards the creature. He summoned all his power into a massive spear in front of him and he launched it into the massive black dragon with a scream. It slammed into the beast and it was blasted into the ground creating a huge crater. The slicing curse Harry had added bit into the beast and it's screech of pain echoed in the aftermath.
"It can be hurt! Don't stop attacking!" Harry shouted.
He never noticed the devastation the power of Evil had caused with its last attack they he had avoided. Hundreds of men and Dwarves lay dead, their bodies torn apart and even a Drakon had lost half it's body. He didn't feel the terrible sense of hopelessness that weighed over every human in all directions. Even the Dwarves seemed to be shocked and afraid when the creature began to shrink. They had always know it to be a force of darkness and now they were witnessing its evolution. The Drakons prepared to back the elementals and Dumbledore but Harry noticed none of it.
"Piercing curses! If we can get its heart this will be over before it can start!" Dumbledore shouted.
Harry, Lillian and Dumbledore attacked together, the elementals moulding their element into sharp edged blades and Dumbledore summoning his magic for a tunnel piercing curse.
Lillian scream of exertion followed fiery blades; almost burning white. Lillian was summoning the deeper part of her element and her skin was all flames; flickering lazily while her wide eyes radiated power.
Harry's previous attack had almost settled and the trio of attacks powered into the creature. The land scape cracked and quaked and behind them the Drakons arrived and screamed multiple blasted of magic into the same place unable to see anything but smoke and destruction.
"Keep attacking!" roared the Drakon.
Harry splashed into the ground and immediately reformed into his body. The ground beneath him was broken and no longer plain. It stuck out at odd angles and was still quaking after the attack. If it weren't for the many enchantments on his body to maintain balance and filter noise, he would have long been crushed and bleeding from his ears and eyes. He didn't have to look back to know their assembled army was essentially useless. They had prepared for an assault on Voldemort to stop Evil's revival and instead had found the revival complete.
This was the worst possible scenario and Harry gritted his teeth and focused on his elder wand. It was going to be draining, but he had to take in the wands power into his element.
The air exploded in an hail of shadows and before Harry attack he was surrounded by the shadows. "Shit!" he exclaimed and immediately turned into water. The shadows didn't just pierce, they smashed into him from all sides and even as water Harry felt pain and the drain on his element was enormous.
When it was over he was on his knees and panting harshly. Blood trickled down his lips and head and his eyes were burning in rage. How dare this creature hurt him like this!? How dare it bring him to his knees!
The shadows receded and Harry stood up, his wand clenched firmly and his body half ice half skin with smoke curling out of the ice. Harry had dropped to a temperature where even the cold of the North felt hot. His pupils had enlarged and emerald green was held fast by a smoky silver ring. He turned to Lillian and saw her flames almost white and felt satisfaction. She had immersed into her element as well and now the only thing that they could see was a being powerful enough to be worthy of a kill. All thoughts about keeping his comrades in war safe evaporated and even thoughts of Dumbledore disappeared from his mind. The only one he saw in this state was another elemental of equal power and the opposite whose power felt even more vast.
"Let's go Freckles," Harry hissed and together, in flash of white blue and red they launched upon Evil and were instantly countered by two raised black hands.
The Earth behind the now humanoid creature exploded outwards as the clash of their power was blocked by an open palm. Their fists hissed against the palm of Evil and side by side, the Elementals hissed and poured more power into the blow trying to tear through the hand but it failed.
Cursing they leaped back and glared at the creature as it lowered its arms and the shadows over his face finally receded to reveal the face of a young Tom Riddle. It's transformation was complete and the body of Tom Riddle stood before Harry Potter and Lillian Austin. The shadows had turned into midnight black robes and his skin was pale with black veins running all over. His eyes were pools of malice and his black, crusted lips were curled in the manner of a smile.
"I feel the rift in your blood," he whispered. His voice was soft, harsh and trembled with malice. "It's wide but not as wide as the Elementals who defeated me." Evil chuckled and spread his arms. "This human vessel is truly amazing. I am capable of such complex thoughts and am able to comprehend things once beyond by grasp! My opposite created this complex species and now it is mine!"
Far away from the three the Resistance was drowning in a sea of blood. The injured and dead were increasing and the attacks that pierced them was spreading out of their bodies like a parasite and killing anything in its path. There was complete chaos as muggles fired their weapons at the black ooze and the Dwarves cut through the black magic with huge magical axes, roaring while they did it. Dumbledore had retreated to help them and was conjuring a storm of wind to blow the ooze away with incredible accuracy. Sirius stood beside him, his left arm limp and bleeding while he cursed and cast the banishing curse over and over again.
"This is madness Dumbledore!" Sirius shouted in despair. "We can't hope to keep up with this monster! We have to get away! We must hide Dumbledore!"
Dumbledore eyes reflecting the same terror but was controlled efficiently.
"Tell Harry and Lillian to get out of there Dumbledore!"
"They will fight. Don't lose hope Sirius, there is no place to hide anymore."
"How the hell do we kill that thing! We can't even keep up with it and its a monster. It's a force of nature Dumbledore! We can't bloody kill nature!"
The fear Sirius was showing was reflected in every one. The army to the East and West was in panic and retreating as fast as possible. The distress and despair their voices held hurt Dumbledore more than he could imagine and his own fear was constantly fighting to break loose. The Neytons were under attack as well and they were keeping up with their opposite and providing all those in their range constantly.
Dumbledore realised that they had to stop the spread before it got too deep into their army lines. It was already in a fourth of the length of the army and strengthening his resolve Dumbledore apparated to the point where they hadn't reached.
"Ventus Extremeus!" he roared appearing between two dwarves and the stabbing and leaping ooze was blown away into the sky. "Orbus!" he screamed and the wind swirled trapping the entire parasite in a sphere of sharp blades of spinning wind.
"Dwarfish weapon now!" Dumbledore shouted and a boom of a dwarfish trebuchet engulfed the parasite. When the sky cleared there was no sign of the parasite and the army cheered.
"Continue the retreat!" Dumbledore yelled. "Prepare the weapons and construct shields. Another attack will be coming soon!" Dumbledore closed his eyes, wished for Harry and Lillian's victory and apparated to Kingsley's army in the East. They had to regroup. There was no other way now. Their formation was not going to work.
"Dumbledore!" exclaimed a bleeding Kingsley. The parasite had been destroyed here and his ear piece buzzed with the same report from Amelia. They had used Dumbledore's method to dispatch the parasite.
Not responding to Kingsley, Dumbledore tapped the ear piece and connected to Casey. "General, can the satellites see what's going on?"
"We're preparing a remote strike immediately but our elementals are in the target zone!"
"We can't worry about them," Dumbledore said grimly. "Be precise and attack now. We cannot let it attack again. We already lost nearly four thousand."
"Understood," came the sombre reply.
Harry prepared for another strike against Voldemort. In his mind this was Voldemort and no one else. Whatever lay behind those eyes he closed his mind to it and focused on the chest. He had to get to its heart.
"With this mind I can make you a part of me," Voldemort hissed. "Your power will serve mine well Elementals."
Lillian scoffed. Her blazing eyes were filled with scorn and disgust. "You are our opposite. Your nature is to devour. Ours is to grow. You are destined to be defeated worm. Have you retained any of that vanity Lord Worm was famous for?"
Harry felt like laughing. Lillian was stalling for time. Good. But then he looked in her eyes and realised she was just baiting him. She wanted him to attack and was mocking him to try. Harry rolled his eyes and waited. His element too was straining to attack but it no longer had control over him. He was now the master of the element and no matter how deep he sunk into that pit of power his mind was his own.
"You are not human yourself girl," Voldemort hissed. "I can taste my stolen power in you, you are from the blood born in the beginning. The rift in your blood through which you summon powers not meant to be here are an abomination and you will be destroyed."
The scream of a jet distracted them and threads of yellow flashed in the sky and exploded around Voldemort. Harry flashed away and Lillian teleported and they watched nearly a dozen jets pass low, in sky, peppering Voldemort with heavy caliber bullets made with magic.
It was useless.
The ground smoked and when it cleared the holes punched through Voldemort closed with a swirl of shadows.
Harry narrowed his eyes and noticed the abdomen free from injury. "Lillian the stomach is where we aim," he whispered. Harry took a deep breath and raised his wand. He reached for the magic around him; the magic of Good and channeled it into his wand. He could feel the power grow and he mentally pictured the rune spell the Drakons had taught him.
"Now Freckles!" he shouted and she rushed ahead of him summoning a huge ring of fire before her. Harry knew that attack and grinned. He drew back his own wand - the wand created by Evil but filled the power of Good - and launched his spell the moment Lillian let her ring fly.
Voldemort's body bloated to counter but the ring burned and ropes of fire burst out clinging around the shell of Evil and the ring passed through him before launching more ropes from behind. Voldemort screamed in pain and those empty eyes almost flickered when the saw a chain of runes follow the fire. It recognised the magic and intent and exploded his body.
Lillian's world turned black and her body was flung away violently. She wound her fire tightly around her and slammed into the ground and rolled roughly and furiously. She felt her skin tear and bones crack as the force of the explosion sent her careening over the deformed ground, smashing through rocks and ice and she felt her hold on her consciousness weaken. By the time she came to a stop her body was in terrible pain but her hold over her element was still strong.
She groaned and tried to move but only felt agonising pain. "Harry," she whispered, hoping for a reply but she got none. Her eyes flickered open and she saw the cloud of Evil again. It had exploded in such a highly compressed state and was now rapidly filling the sky. "Harry," she whispered again. "Harry are you alright?"
"Don't talk," came a soft voice. "You're injured badly."
Lillian turned her head and felt her element try to slip away. She screamed when pain followed its retreat and howled in agony and pulled the power back. It was the only thing keeping her alive. "Where's Harry!" she cried.
The face of an elf entered her vision and she felt his calm flow into her. "You were sent flying over miles little girl," he said kindly. "You're in the rubble of a crater that is miles wide. Most of our friends are dead and a few managed to retreat to the medical camp."
"Wha-? What are you saying?! Everyone is dead?! How can you be so calm!" She felt her strength return and the pain faded away and her hazy eyes cleared. Pushing the elf away, she stood up and horror filled her mind. She didn't recognise where there were. The landscape was smooth and brown. She looked behind her and saw mountains of ice and rocks piled all over and she grasped the scale of destruction. What kind of magic was this? She thought in horror. Had any one even survived. "Harry!" she gasped and her eyes darted wildly looking for any sign of him while the elf continued to pour white healing magic into her under the spreading darkness.
The massive cloud of shadows above them began to rain black lightening down on them and Lillian conjured a metal shield. The lightening struck and Lillian poured her magic into the shield and only just managed to keep it strong.
"Damn it!" she screamed when it stopped and she angrily summoned her element again. "Harry where the fuck are you!"
Harry apparated beside her and she nearly punched him. His clothes were torn but he was unharmed and she grabbed his shirt and pulled him in for a rough kiss. Harry's eyes widened in surprise but then he saw the fear and relief in her eyes. She had thought she lost him.
He pulled away to breath and the sky was relit with the red glow of the dwarf weapons. "We have to attack again," he said. "The elves are here and thousands are wounded. The Dwarves and wizards managed to raise shields but it wasn't enough. They need time to get them to safety."
"Which part do we attack?"
The cloud was shrinking again and this time it was faster.
"Let's aim for the centre together," he said and wrapped his arm around her waist. "Teleport us above it Freckles. We could take it by surprise."
Remotely guided missiles struck the creature and it screeched as the high temperature explosion hurt it and the parts of it turned to dust before turning into thin strands of black and rejoining the cloud. It retaliated by splitting a piece of its body and shot it into the air.
Lillian teleported them far above and they experienced the sudden force of gravity and plunged in free fall. Harry saw a black blot heading towards the distant sea and his heart squeezed. He knew what was to follow but there was no time to dwell on it. He had seconds to react.
He pushed out his arms and made an twenty foot long spike. More spikes grew out of the main body until a massive thorn tree could be made out from the ground below. Fire burst into existence and coated the entire thorn tree and explosively increased its destructive power.
They pierced the monster like it was nothing.
A ear shattering, never ending scream tore their ear drums apart when the plunged into the darkness but withstanding the pain Harry strained and extended his senses as far as possible.
"There!" he shouted, but he had gone deaf and so had Lillian. Blood was pouring out of their ears and with desperation welling deep inside him he put all his power into a single attack and blasted it towards the tiny beating thing that he had sensed inside the monster.
He didn't know if he hit or if he failed. The last thing he thought before blanking out was that the turbulence had become more violent.
Lillian and Harry fell to the ground unconscious.
"Got you!"
It was Dumbledore and he was bleeding all over. His eyes were burning with power and he looked triumphant as the monster twisted and folded on itself. Whatever Harry and Lillian had done it had worked! They had landed a decisive blow on the monster.
Ennervate! Helios! Gold light shimmered around their bodies removing their injuries.
Harry and Lillian groaned back to life and felt wearier than they had ever felt before. Neither had thrown such heavy and powerful magic over such a long period of time.
"Get ready," Dumbledore said. "It's not over yet."
The Drakons had surrounded the black mass. Their mouths were wide open and light was pooling in front of it aiming at the spot Harry and Lillian had opened up. Faint wisps of humanoid bluish silhouettes rose around Harry and Lillian and they felt their magic being replenished.
The Drakons screamed and a terrible pressure pressed down on everyone still around. Rocks were shaken loose and and the sky turned red.
"Fire!"
The Dwarves keep the volley going. All their remaining trebuchets boomed together and the red sky turned blue.
The quaking of the Earth never stopped and the sound never stopped screaming.
Harry and Lillian drew upon their elements and prepared to launch once more but a voice filtered through the violence and urged them to wait.
Harry was stunned. Both the elementals recognised the voice. Penny?
Do not attack. Our trap is set. You'll know it when you see and attack with everything you got after that.
Harry, Lillian, in the short time we met Penny and I were happy. It was Nicolas. Lillian, if you ever feel like changing your name. Know that a long way down the line, Perenelle Morgan is your aunt.
Goodbye.
The light and power cleared and Harry got a good look at the condition of the monster.
It was a shrouded cloak of ragged black and it was twisting pitifully on the ground. You're all dead. It's voice was grating and the humans clamped their ears shut. It was worse than chalk screeching on blackboard. Hahahahahaha. You pushed me!You overwhelmed me! But it's all useless! I cannot be destroyed!
"Evil monologue now!?" Lillian cried, tears forming in her eyes because of the terrible sound. Her ears began to bleed again and Dumbledore healed her again.
The black shroud exploded and it's dark power expanded faster than the speed of light.
Terror froze every being under its malevolent presence and all knew it was over. They had lost. Hopelessness had drowned them. Even Harry, Lillian and Dumbledore had looks of despair. The evil power was vast, it had blotted out all light and their hopes with it.
Goodbye.
The blanket of darkness above them began to recede. It was sucked back into its source and Harry could sense its surprise. Something had caught it unawares. The darkness swirled around the source, shrinking steadily until the visage of a giant remained. It was a huge pitch black body with slits for eyes and nothing on its face. It's limbs were long and arms even longer with claw like fingers.
The shock reflected in its eyes was unmistakable.
This is! It gasped. The brothers spell!
It saw two figures on opposite side standing at the apex of a highly complex polygonal runic network. The figures; a man and a woman; commonly known as Nicolas and Perenelle Flamel were ageing rapidly and their body was withering in front of their eyes.
This was always their purpose. The elemental brothers in the ancient past had used sacrificial magic to bring Evil to a kill able state. They had sacrificed dozens of humans before they perfected it and their wives served as the final sacrifice. Ignotous Peverell had recruited Nicolas Flamel and eventually Perenelle Morgan to be the sacrifices if Evil ever rose again.
They died smiling and content.
Harry was not going to let their sacrifice be in vain.
"Attack!" he shouted. The battle was now on even grounds.
Black met white and their powers clashed.
Claws tore through the ice crashing towards the exposed body but it left its own self open to attack.
A barrage of blasts from the surviving Drakons blew it away and it screamed in rage having missed Harry's neck by a whisker.
Harry was unfazed. He felt the attack coming and was ready to dodge. He felt Lillian's presence behind him and channeled magic to his feet to explosively increase his speed.
Lillian teleported beside him with timing born from hundreds of duels fought against the Drakons and together they attacked the monster again.
But it was too quick. It's hands were like whips and Lillian teleported them above, and the blasted their power into its head.
"It's getting wounded! Aim for the chest. It's body seems to be like a human now!"
You will not kill me!
Black threads burst out of every pour in its body and no one it's their path survived. Just like that the population of the dwarves was cut in half and they were only three Drakons remaining.
Lillian teleported back to the ground.
"We got to penetrate its skin!" Lillian cried. She was panting and had a small grin etched on her face. She was still enjoying the battle. The terror, the fear and the thrill of power was what her element was and she was one with it.
What followed was breathtaking sequence of attacks.
Harry and Lillian burst forward, wielding their elements like the weapons of mass destruction that they were. Dumbledore appeared out of no where behind the creature, his wand thrust forward, it's tip glowing gold. The last Drakons swooped down from the sides, spheres of crackling red magic pooling in their mouths and the tips of their wings. The Dwarfs launched all their remaining weapons, the sleek missiles whistling through the air.
Humans and wizards were no where to be seen. They were dead or gone. Being within miles of the creatures presence was too much for their bodies. They couldn't handle the immense power of Evil.
The impact was silent.
The white light following the impact suppressed all sound and sight. Anyone alive within the impact radius only saw white and felt the backlash of an explosion that levelled mountains and shredded the Earth.
Harry awoke in a hail of fire and ice.
His eyes fluttered open and he first felt pain. He couldn't move, he couldn't hear. "Freckles," he croaked, but he couldn't hear his own voice. He knew where he was and what had just happened and made a desperate effort to move. Agony wreaked his body and he screamed a noiseless scream.
Gasping and crying he willed the pain away and turned his head, desperately looking for Lillian. He had seen the creature counter just before they attacked and he feared it was still alive and they had to move.
Harry took deep, shuddering breaths and summoned his wand to silently cast a numbing charm on his body. He felt the pain subside and he struggled to his feet.
He had been blown all the way back to the retreat zone where the army was frantically trying to save those caught in an explosion that put a nuclear holocaust to shame.
"Lillian!" he shouted and he heard himself a little this time. His eyesight was coming back and he witnessed the destruction all around him first hand. In seconds he had been blown from one country side to another. He saw elves and tents behind him and heard whispers of what he knew were screams of terror.
"Lillian!" he screamed again looking all around him frantically, ignoring the signals his brain was sending him to rest and heal. Only Lillian consumed his senses.
"Harry!"
He turned to his nine o'clock and felt relief. She was fine. She looked a little frazzled but she was fine and she was alive.
Now he had to refocus on a war that he prayed was over. His body was reaching a limit he hadn't thought was possible.
The elves ignored their presence and focused on those caught unawares by the explosion of magic.
"Harry we won!" He heard Lillian shout with exuberance. "I just flamed to Canada and there's no trace of that monster! We fucking did it! We won!"
Her words didn't register at first.
"We won?" he repeated dumbly.
"Dumbledore survived too and so did a couple of Drakons and a few dwarves! Holy Christ Harry, the entire country is a giant arsehole in the Earth now! There's nothing left!"
She was screaming and running and finally when she was close enough she jumped him and wrapped herself around him, her lips finding his with delight and exuberance.
Harry felt a bubble burst in his gut and the happiness took over him. He returned the kiss enthusiastically, letting her tongue invade his mouth and allowed pleasure to wipe away the pain. His was still trying to digest the fact that they won.
They broke apart for air and Lillian dissolved into a bundle of giggles. "We did it!" she kept saying over and over again. "We did it!"
Harry laughed. Clearly Lillian was finding it difficult to believe as well. Was the war really over? Had the won the battle for Earth?
He never saw the blonde slam into his body and shove him out of the way.
"Wha?" Harry groaned. He recognised the figure above him. It was Luna Lovegood and her eyes were sad.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
Lillian never saw it coming. Her surprise and happiness blinked to surprise and confusion in an instant.
"FRECKLES!" Harry screamed in horror.
She fell to her knees, slowly becoming aware of the dozen shadows that had pierced her body.
Lillian coughed blood and felt her vision turn dark.
"Hahahahaha, you can never destroy me!" The Flamel's gambit had failed. Evil had surpassed the magic that defeated it millennia ago.
Threads of evil burst out of the ground, ripping through the survivors and fighters and it's body reformed in the midst of the place everyone had hoped the fighting would not reach.
Harry could only watch in horror as the threads retracted and Lillian's clothes began to turn red. Luna's intervention was forgotten and the fact that she had saved his life didn't cross his mind. The mysterious blonde had already disappeared.
"LILLIAN!" Harry was screaming and stumbling. The ground was shaking as Evil erupted from the depths of hell but Harry had heart only for Lillian and that heart was crumbling.
He reached her and immediately wrapped her in his trembling arms. "Lillian! Freckles! Look at me please! Say something. Freckles!" His voice was panicked and pleading, his eyes were wide and filled with horror and tears, breathing was painful and his mind was hurling towards a dark chasm without hope, without life.
"Harry," Lillian whispered, her eyes unfocused, but finding his green. A small smile played on her lips. "Harry I love you."
Her eyes flickered shut.
"No," Harry croaked. "No. No. No!"
A terrible scream of denial tore from the depths of his shattering heart. He had filled it with thoughts, only of her and now she was gone. The overwhelming distress he was feeling made him blind to the fatal attack flying towards him.
Dumbledore, Sirius and others ran towards Harry, shouting his name and crying out warnings but Harry was non responsive.
"Delecto!" screamed Dumbledore, slashing his wand through the air desperately. He knew Harry was their only hope and they could not let him die.
The attack was blasted out of its path and a scream of rage reverberated through every molecule of air.
"It's aiming for us now Dumbledore!" Sirius cried in panic. There was no one but Dumbledore and Harry now, who could stand up to the power. Sirius and all the terror struck wizards and witches put up an inconsequential shield.
Dumbledore's eyes were blazing with power and with a flourish he summoned a physical shield around every person in range and stopped the attack in its track. The power put into the shield was tremendous and for a moment Dumbledore felt his body go into mild shock and he was rendered immobile and drained.
He had saved his friends but Harry was now unprotected. The move by Evil was calculated and a massive column of its terrible power was falling from the heavens, directly above Harry.
None of this affected Harry as he slowly withdrew his blood soaked hands from Lillian's body. The images of the wizards, the Drakons and all the other species that had come into this final battle with a being that wanted to wipe out their existence, melted out of his vision. Darkness engulfed his entire existence and the only thing he could see was Lillian; Lillian lying at his feet, dead, without a sign of life in her open eyes. Those glassy, empty eyes staring at him through a desert of darkness as he slowly got to his feet.
Dozens of voices were screaming, shouting his name desperately, and yelling at him to get out of the way of the column of magic that was descending on him.
But Harry heard nothing. He saw nothing. It a brief instant of time, Harry's heart had been broken into a million shards of ice that pierced his soul, tearing and ripping their way excruciatingly through the terrible agonising darkness that had fallen upon him.
A dull beat echoed in his head and a sense of weightlessness entered his body. He could hear a noise, an odd music that was instilling an envelope of acceptance around the void where his heart once was.
It felt so dark and reassuring at the same time. It was showing him a direction in the darkness, the only direction that he capable of seeing after the only woman he could ever love was killed right in front of him and he had been incapable of saving her.
He closed his eyes and turned around, feeling more at peace that he had ever felt in his life.
Thousands of eyes watched terrified and hopelessly as the evil magic crash into Harry and he disappeared in an explosion of magic that was fatal to him. A piercing victorious screech of noise resounded through the entire battle field as it pumped the devastating magic that took away Lillian thundered into Harry in exponential quantities.
The magic receded and eyes braced to find the dead body of Harry Potter and the annihilation that was soon to follow. But what they didn't expect to see a humanoid being, completely made of pure white ice, with green emeralds for eyes that had a crackling silver light shining inside the crystals.
Harry Potter had transcended into something more.
He had become the very thing that the creature had feared and that fear had suddenly been realised in its beating black heart. The elemental had blocked its force like it was nothing and he was radiating such power that all the beings around him were being suffocated under its power. The battle had stopped and evil began to suck all it's magic around its heart. He took it all back into his magic and strengthened its magic to the greatest potential it was capable of reaching. A potential that had kept the world locked in an endless war since the creation of the world. It turned itself into a power that was capable of unleashing a magic that could eviscerate half the planet and it aimed that power at the unimaginable being that Harry Potter had become.
The survivors of this Armageddon looked at the being and at the creature, feeling the life being squeezed out of them under the clashing powers of the transcendent and the creature.
Even Dumbledore was on his knees, gasping for air.
The full power of evil was launched at Harry and Harry, protecting the body that had been connected to his soul, bent his knees and with a gentle push flew into the path of the magic, breaking the sound barrier without causing any damage behind it, nor leaving any trace of sound itself.
He pierced through the layers of magic and wards that protected the creature's heart and then he pierced through that heart, ripped through the entire black mass of the creature and lightly landed on his feet on the other side.
The suffocating magic disappeared and the entire world became silent.
Three seconds later, the black mass shuddered and began to collapse into itself. Black thunder crashed into the red sky out of the body and the ground was quaking fiercely.
The intensity of the screaming voice and the quaking began to go down and the race that was born out of the brighter side of the coin, stood back on their feet. The darkness was disappearing and a heart, black in colour with a large hole torn through its centre, lay flopping on the ground, disappearing out of existence.
The logical conclusion was suppressed by disbelief. A span of ten seconds had overwhelmed all thought and those that were still alive and standing knew what had just happened but they just could not believe it nor voice their obvious thoughts for fear of falling into another pit of despair.
But then someone summoned the courage everyone else was lacking and screamed at the top of his lungs, "We've won! It's over, we've won, we've won!"
This time the ground quaked with the sound of joy and ecstatic emotions overflowed. They had seen it happen. They still couldn't believe their eyes. But they couldn't deny the truth.
They had won. Harry had won. Humanity had won!
Harry gently landed far away, tears glistening against his cheeks.