Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter either. It belongs to its creator J.K. Rowling and probably Warner Bros. too. I'm not too sure about that. This piece of literature is simply the work of a humble fan. I also credit Jim Butcher for various themes, subjects, or references that I may use.
Author Notes: This is a Harry Potter crossover with the Dresden Files the book series. All my knowledge of the Dresden Files comes from the books. I've never seen the TV series. For the timeline that will be stated later. Thanks to the folks at DLP for help with editing.
Awaken Sleeper.
Chapter Eighteen: The Sound of Drums
by: Water Mage
Harry studied the wand in his hands. He could feel it hum underneath his fingertips, tingly and warm like the first light of dawn. It almost made his palms ache. The last time he felt something like this was when he held the Elder Wand. The Deathstick had been an extremely powerful wand with the core of Thestral tail hair, and it's footprint through history was long and bloody. Harry watched Dresden grumble and wipe mud off his face, coughing and hacking something awful while he dug through his gym bag.
Making sure the wizard wasn't looking, Harry kneeled down. His new wand grew warmer his hand in anticipation maybe, maybe… He had a theory—it wouldn't hurt to try. "Reparo!"
The broken pieces of his wand snapped back together like magnets. There wasn't a crack to be seen. It was a seamless piece of wood, whole and once again unbroken. Harry picked up the repaired wand inspecting it from handle to tip.
"Merlin's might," Harry swore, marveling.
He transferred his stare to his new wand, eyes landing on the sigil carved around the handle. The truth of it impacted him then and there. A chill went down his spine. At the core of this wand was the hair from a being that could arguably be labeled a goddess. A fraction of her essence lived within the wood now. Wizards killed indiscriminately for the power of the Elder Wand—if anyone knew he had this wand. Harry hurriedly stashed his old wand up his sleeve. He'd be damned if he told a soul about his new possession taking a cue from Dumbledore. Over his dead body, indeed.
A hand touched his shoulder, and Harry looked up at its owner finding a seven foot tall man, robed in black with a deep cowl, which covered his face entirely. An unwelcome sense of something swept over Harry. A black void flowed readily across his vision, supplanting the foggy marsh with inky blackness. The only fixed reference within this place, neither here nor there was a gate; a pair of massive double doors reaching eight stories high. The monolith vibrated ever so subtly, it called out… Harry blinked and it was gone.
The marsh returned.
The robed man withdrew his gloved hand from Harry's shoulder. He stood up quickly putting a bit of distance between them. There was only one shadowed eye visible beneath that cowl, and within it Harry saw something like comprehension flicker.
"Who are you?" Harry demanded, eyeing the stranger.
Dresden was suddenly at his side. He put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Gatekeeper, uh, crap day we're having, huh?"
"Things are indeed looking dire, Wizard Dresden," said the Gatekeeper, turning momentarily to look at the wooden staff gripped in his hand. "Chicago sits at the center of the coming storm."
"Have you been watching this whole time?" asked Dresden.
Gatekeeper shook his head. "I've had glimpses of you, but my vision is limited. I know you accomplished your mission for the Council in being the Winter Queen's emissary." He turned to Harry then. "However I didn't see you. I suppose that's expected."
"Awesome," said Harry dryly. "Who are you, anyway?"
"This is the Gatekeeper," said Dresden, hand tightening on Harry's shoulder in warning. "He's a Senior Council member to the White Council."
The thread of knowledge that had been nagging at him finally unraveled. Harry was careful to keep the surprise from showing on his face. The Gatekeeper was the name the faerie queens kept throwing out in relation to him, their presence being similar or something. He didn't have a clue what they were talking about. And after that strange vision Harry wasn't up for asking the wizard over for tea to chat. It was instinct. It's in his gut-this man was someone to be wary of.
"This is-"
The Gatekeeper interrupted Dresden's introduction. "Harry Potter, the Lord Consort, husband to the Summer Lady."
"She's on my shit list, by the way," grumbled Harry.
Idly, he noted the Gatekeeper had a gentle accent something part British and something else, like Middle Eastern maybe. He wasn't surprised the Gatekeeper knew him. His name was getting out too much these days. Even with avoiding them Harry still managed to end up on the White Council's radar. Somewhere in the Afterlife Sirius was probably laughing his ass off.
"No one expects you to stop this battle, Wizard Dresden," said the Gatekeeper. "The internal affairs of the Sidhe Courts are no matter to the Council. Mab will keep her bargain and allow the Council safe passage through Winter for the duration of our war with the Red Court. Your involvement is concluded if you so choose it."
Dresden paused for a minute, and Harry made a disbelieving noise and shoved him. "Cool it," said Dresden, rolling his eyes. "I barely even considered it. I'm in this thing. We both are. Too many people are depending on us."
"Bloody amazing how many times I have to say end of the world," Harry muttered, giving Dresden the side eye.
The Gatekeeper nodded. "The current path is splintered, but I find this way you've chosen is righteous. Neither I nor the Council can help you, even though events are spilling into the mortal world."
Dresden snorted. "Politics again." He hoisted his bag up and sent a grim smile at the Gatekeeper, and his muddied face gave it an almost feral edge. "No offense, but to hell with the Council. And to hell with the Sidhe Courts. Aurora took the Unraveling out of my hands, so the consequences of its use will be my responsibility. I'm not going to sit back and crack a brewskie, while some soulless bitch powers up the Unseelie fae with enough juice to send us into an endless winter. So excuse me, I'm going to go clean house."
"Now that's what I'm talking about," Harry said, breaking into a wide smile.
The Gatekeeper held out his hand, a small velvet bag in it. "Wizard, you do have a way with words. Take these. They will help you along."
Dresden took the bag and peered inside. "A stone tied on a piece of thread and a jar of gel?"
"We're in business now," Harry said, his tone dry.
The Gatekeeper shook his head. "You share the same name and attitude. How fortunate."
His matter-of-fact tone made it seem like it was anything but a fortune. Harry decided not to be offended. The Gatekeeper may not know it but Dresden was all Gryffindor. So Harry chose to take it as a compliment. He let the smirk show on his face and thought he saw amusement on the shadowed face within the hood's folds.
"The ointment is for the eyes," said the Gatekeeper. "You'll find it less taxing than using the Sight to see through veils and glamours of the Sidhe."
Dresden pulled out the rock, the chip of stone dangling by the thread in his fingers. Harry stared at the stone seeing colors flash across its surface, gold and bronze and topaz mainly, but here and there was the faintest flicker of azure light.
"What is that," said Harry quietly, staring at the dancing light. There was something familiar about it.
Dresden frowned at him. "What are you talking about? It's just a rock."
"He sees it for the artifact it really is," said the Gatekeeper, his tone almost thoughtful. "It's a piece of the Stone Table. It will show the way to Tir Na Nog. The armies are gathering across the sacred land now."
"Doesn't this count as helping?" asked Dresden, lifting his eyebrows.
"I am merely giving you tools that you may or may not find useful," said the Gatekeeper. His voice was perfectly neutral. "How you choose to employ them is up to you. While the Council cannot interfere, we will do what we can."
Good show then. Dresden grinned suddenly and shook the Gatekeeper's hand. Even though the odds were stacked against them having some help was more than appreciated. The Gatekeeper stretched out his staff and drew a circle in the air. If he blinked Harry would've missed the fabric of the Nevernever blink away. The Gatekeeper opened a gate as easily as breathing, as if he had drawn a circle of Chicago to step into—the familiar street of Dresden's basement apartment was on the other side.
The Gatekeeper bid them a safe journey and they made to leave when Harry stopped before the portal. Dresden let out a sigh of impatience but Harry wasn't listening, something was pulling at his gut.
"What exactly are these gates you're the keeper of?" he asked the wizard.
"That's Council business, buddy," said Dresden, at his side.
The Gatekeeper turned just so, and Harry caught a glimpse of a gaunt face and a strange pair of eyes, one dark and the other metal and silvery looking, inside the hood. "I am the guardian of the Outer Gates."
Harry felt his body freeze, the Outer Gates. Through those doors was the Outside and within that realm awful monstrosities had made their home after they were banished from this world. His universe was somewhere farther than even that otherworldly hell. Trying to get there once had gotten him torn apart, literally. Did the Gatekeeper know—
"Thou shall not seek knowledge beyond the Outer Gates is the Seventh Law of Magic," the Gatekeeper said, quietly. "No one knows it as well as you and I, Mr. Potter. Hurry. You have work to do. Your questions will wait. Our hour is not yet at hand."
With a parting phrase like that Harry wasn't sure if he should sleep with one eye open. He resisted a shudder. Barely. They stepped through the Way and into the gravel parking lot of Dresden's apartment building. The rain was coming down hard and the summer humidity was thick even in the darkening sky. Thunder made his teeth rattle and there was something in the air, some hanging inevitability that made the hair on his neck stand up.
"What's that noise?"
Dresden squinted at him through the sleet of rain. "Thunder, rain, wind? Take your pick?"
There was something… Harry rubbed his temples. "Nevermind."
"So what does one wear to war?"
Harry's smile was wolfish. "I'm thinking basic black."
"Great minds," said Dresden, tapping the side of his head with a finger. "Alright, let's make some calls. The Scooby gang needs to get back together. We haul out in one hour."
Harry nodded. "Meet you here in an hour then."
He turned on the spot and fleetingly caught Dresden's bemused stare as he disapparated. There was a long second of darkness and then he was standing in the living room of his loft. Had it only been a week since he'd been here? It felt like a year since he got the call from Elaine. Dresden was probably still ogling over Harry's vanishing act, but this late in the game secrets didn't really matter when they might not make it out of this alive. And if they were gearing up, Dresden was going to see a few more aces by the end of the night.
The first thing he did was take a quick shower. After today he felt like he deserved it. He dressed in all black—what looked like professional motorcycle gear but was modified body armor. The armor resembled heavy plastic, but was upgraded with stronger plating and the insides of the jacket was lined Kevlar.
He pulled away the fake wall from the back of the closet, and inside the hollowed out space was a stack of rather old and valuable books that had seen languages die and empires topple. He'd gone through a lot of trouble to acquire the rare texts dealing with magic the White Council deemed forbidden. Weapons lined the walls, a mix of modern and medieval. There was a sawed off shot gun a few hand guns, and then there was athemas and a rapier, and even an enchanted axe that he knicked from Aurora's private vault a few years back.
Two black leather belts crossed on his hips. A handgun went on the left and a knife on the right. He fastened the axe around his back. It felt uncomfortable at first, but he couldn't resist the opportunity of cutting down a bunch of fae with faerie steel. It would be poetic justice. His eyes landed on the scroll lying in the corner of the nook. If he didn't die today the Jade Court was going to come calling soon. One attempt wasn't enough. They were going to come in full force. The Jade King wasn't one to cross, and Harry had done so and slapped him across the face while he was at it.
"Okay, then," he muttered, replacing the false wall. "One thing at a time."
Harry apparated back to Chicago and into the heart of the storm. The ground shook from the force of the thunder, and he jogged across the gravel parking lot to the boardinghouse building. He banged at the door cursing at the rain and the pounding between his ears that grew louder with each clap of thunder.
"Oh look, it's Houdini," said Dresden, letting Harry in and closing the door behind him.
Harry crossed the candlelit room and leaned against the arm of a battered sofa. "I have no idea what you're chatting on about."
"You may use a focus, but you're no wizard," said Dresden. He locked up the door behind him. "Are you some type of sorcerer, retired godling, a hell scion?"
A smile twitched at his lips. Harry shook his head. "I thought we had that Hardy Boys thing going for us. Let it go, mate."
"I like to know who's watching my back."
Harry spread his hands. "Look at this face. Doesn't it just scream trust?" He sighed at the man's blank stare. "Look Dresden, I like you, but I'm not into sharing and even if you don't know what I am you know our goals are lined up. Aurora's going down by your hand or mine. I don't fancy an ice age anymore than you."
Dresden picked up his rune covered staff. "Touché. Paying rent for an igloo is going to suck."
"Can we get to the real issue in the room?" Harry crossed his arms, and then asked, "What the hell are you wearing?"
Dresden tugged his black ball cap down over his shaggy hair. The Coca-Cola emblem on the front played at odds with his black military boots and jeans, but especially so with the heavy leather duster. He looked like a mix of fictional 'cool' vampire and retired mercenary on a budget.
"Jealous," said Dresden, doing this ridiculous wiggling thing with his eyebrows.
Harry blinked. "If the meaning for jealous changed to foolish then I agree."
Dresden snorted. "Saddle up, boy wonder. The wolf pack is due in a few minutes. Then we ride out."
A gym bag and an old school Doctor's valise sat by the door, and Harry stood by while Dresden packed up his gear in the open bags. He threw in his staff, his blasting rod—which was the wizard's magical focus that was as subtle as a magnum handgun. Even then he tucked away a heavy caliber, long barreled .357 magnum. A handful of potion vials joined the weapons. They hurried outside at the sound of a honk. A minivan was parked on the street and through the tinted windows Harry could make out maybe a dozen people crammed in. Parked next to the van was a running pickup. Michael was in the driver's seat of the truck.
"I'll ride shotgun with the knight," said Harry.
"I have to school the wolves on what to expect," said Dresden, hefting up his gym bag. "Try to be less mouthy around Michael. He's good people."
"That's easy Dresden, I'm only like that around you," replied Harry, saluting sharply and then turned to sprint through the rain to the idling truck.
Harry slid into the passenger seat. Michael leaned over from the driver's side and pointed at the seatbelt. "Buckle up first, please."
"Seriously?"
Michael nodded. "Safety's important even in these perilous times."
"I agree completely," said Harry with a straight face, eyeing the man's bloodred surcoat and cloak covering the full suit of mail. "Nice duds. Give me your guy's number later. I could do with some gear like that."
"Thanks, it's one of my wife's best works." Michael pulled away from the curb following behind the minivan. "I'll tell her you agree."
"Lucky." Harry stared at the blade in his lap. "The only crafting my wife knows is how to plot Armageddon."
Michael's mouth tilted in a somber frown. "The faerie are creatures that don't know the Lord's grace. Let His faith in you touch her, too."
"And if that doesn't work, and I can't talk her out of it?"
Grey eyes focused steadily on the road. "You'll have to make the hard choice."
"There's no choice to it," said Harry, his voice quiet but hard. "I'll take her out one way or another."
"Then I'll pray whatever she has that passes for a soul goes on to a better place."
It was three heartbeats before Harry's muttered, "Amen" followed.
They drove steadily east making turns and barely breaking for signs. Their time limit was midnight. Summer loses it's lease after that and all that stolen power gets poured into Winter, and Mab with a power boost was terrifying—probably more so than the endless winter. The cold was merciless and unforgiving, and Mab would make him pay for escaping her rage during their last tango in Arctis Tor.
A sign proclaimed they were nearing Burnham Harbor. The dark waterfront was illuminated with sporadic light from lightning flashes. A few minutes later, the dark receded as they pulled up to the wharves. Halogen floodlights every couple of feet bathed the docks in a silent glow. The entire area was surrounded by a high chain link fence.
They parked the vehicles on the street. Michael and Harry waited in the drizzling rain as the Alphas piled out of the van. Surprisingly Meryl and Fix came out last, behind the wolves. Harry eyed the changelings. They looked so damn young. Meryl had to be part troll her hulking stature told it all, but with hair that white and his delicate bone structure Fix was probably half Sidhe. He looked around with dark, nervous eyes and carried a heavy looking tool box in his right hand.
Meryl's makeshift armor of a vest covered with steel spoons jingled a little as she turned to Dresden. "So where's this battle at? We have to save Lily before it's too late."
"Close," said Dresden, eying the piece of stone from the Gatekeeper. Thunder rumbled ominously.
Michael pulled Amoracchius from a gym bag then tossed it back into the truck. He fastened the sword to the belt around his hip. "How close?"
Dresden pointed up at the flashing clouds. "Up there's ground zero. Here we go, guys. Let's do this. Line up and stick out your mugs. I got some ointment to put under you eyes. It will let you see through faerie glamour and prevent their mojo from influencing you. Hold your nose if you want. It kind of smells."
"I'm down for that," said the mouthy redhead wolf from that morning. His faux hawk was wetted and slicked back now. Harry had taken to calling him Weasley in his mind. It made him smile.
Billy pushed Weasley out the way. "No way, Big Red. Me first. The Winter Lady is wacko."
"Here, here," said Meryl.
Fix glanced around like Maeve herself was going to pop out the shadows just by mentioning her. He clutched the toolbox tighter, and Harry wondered what he had in there. A screwdriver didn't acquire that kind of security. Michael glanced at Harry after Dresden finished applying the ointment under his eye, little half moons of dark, greasy brown.
"You need some?" asked the Knight of the Cross.
Harry shook his head. "No, thanks. I can throw off glamour pretty well."
With the juice he planned on using Harry would tear apart any veils or glamour. At this point he was itching for a chance to finally cut loose, for real. They stood at the end of the pier watching as Dresden stretched out his hand over the cold waters of Lake Michigan, with a dozen wolves, two changelings, a heavenly appointed knight and an extra-universal wizard standing behind him.
"Something's here," muttered Dresden.
Harry nodded, feeling the undercurrent of energy. "Yeah, I feel it too."
Michael caught Harry rubbing his temple, a distracted look on his face. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, fine," replied Harry, shaking his head. He stared off into the rain. "Do you hear that? Its four beats. You seriously don't hear it?"
The Knight shook his head, a concerned look apparent in his eyes. "I don't. Maybe you—"
Light exploded across the docks as bright as fireworks in the sky. It shot into the sky like a shooting star but as solid as ice. The emanation shape resolved itself to be a starry staircase that began at the end of the pier and climbed into the storm above. Dresden put one foot on the lowest step and it bore his weight, leaving him standing on a block of translucent moonlight over the turbulent lake water.
"Way cool," said Fix, awed.
Meryl stared at the congealed starlight, warily. "Up we go?"
Harry chuckled. "Would you prefer we took a broomstick?"
"There's a joke in there somewhere," said Dresden, and took the next step. "Let's go, folks. We don't have anymore time."
The enchanted staircase climbed about a mile into the sky. It was a rudimentary way to transcend the boarder between this dimension and the in-between one that was Tir Na Nog. Harry didn't get a chance to make it that far. He followed behind the group and when his foot touched the stair his senses exploded. One, two, three, four. Every beat of his heart and each one louder, stronger than before. He clutched at his skull as the noise in his head paralyzed him. He barely heard the others calling for him.
Hands reached out to him but fire suddenly burst to life across his body. Rainwater, leaves of the wildest forests, and the scent of the Spring wind filled his nose. He didn't scream as the noise in his head amplified and the flame swirled around his body to greater degree and he vanished.
The fire receded leaving him in a far different place then when he had last been here. Harry stood on a hilltop, breath panting, staring across the battlefield stretching below the hills down into the valley of the Stone Table. Mist still obscured much of the terrain, and sounds of battle rang through the air followed by the snap of lightning and the rumble of thunder. Devastation was everywhere as faeries of every breed and lore matched might over the sound of blaring trumpets and beating drums. The noises, the shrieks, roars, bellows, was nothing human sounding. And over the valley winged monstrosities battled it out in the sky and the air shook in their fury.
Harry couldn't see the Stone Table through the haze of battle, but there was a faint pull to the east that made him narrow his eyes. Not even ten yards away was a squad of toad-man creatures, watching him with dark gazes and spears ready. More creatures stood nearby, a pair of centaurs, and a legion of Sidhe knights, dressed in full faerie armor and mounted on warhorses of red and yellow and grass green. The Sidhe knights had gold cloaks that marked them as the Queen's own guard.
Harry homed in on the biggest source of power that was practically making his teeth vibrate, leading out past the armored knights; beyond them to the top of the hill, a regal Titania clothed in a topaz gown, with white hair free and falling to the cloudy ground, sat upon a golden horse. Harry marched confidently to the ring of guards and they drew their swords at once.
"I don't have time for this," said Harry. He drew his own wand. "Let me through, boys. Or I'll make my own way."
"We don't answer to you," said the Sidhe knight, whose helmet resembled a swan.
The air grew suddenly warm and a bead of sweat rolled down Harry's brow. "Let him pass," came Titania's voice from the air itself.
Immediately they sheathed their swords, and Harry didn't bother them with another glance as the ring of guards parted to allow him admittance. He strode up the slope of the hill to its top and the air grew hotter, thicker like he was suddenly in the middle of Sahara. If he wasn't who he was he would find it sweltering, but it was manageable because power recognized power and the Summer fire in him practically basked in it.
The Faerie Queen was a thing of wonder upon her golden steed. She stared out in a kind of meditative trance, green eyes bright and absolutely glowing with power. There was something terrifying about her, and the shimmer of power radiating about Titania made him reluctantly look away as his eyes burned with something awful when he focused on her. Titania blinked and turned her stare to him.
"You've come to take your place," said Titania in a lulling voice, still appearing heavily focused on some unseen task.
Harry raised his eyebrows. "Didn't have much of a choice. You snatched me from the moon staircase like I was an eight year old lost in a mall."
"You traveled by light and neverwere, and they are my domain," she said with the slightest edge in her otherwise quiet tone. "You are my daughter's husband, my kin. You've heard the Call. Go take your place. The thief eluded you and now the world will burn."
"That's not true." Harry's grip on his wand tightened, and he said as even as possible, "I found the thief, Queen Titania. It's Aurora."
Titania's eyes zeroed in on him and he felt his heart falter. Her body went unnaturally still and for one long second Harry was sure she was going to supernova him. There was something moving in her eyes that made him nervous. Then finally she breathed again turning her stare to the battlefield below.
"Are you certain of this?" she murmured, regarding the scenery with empty eyes.
Harry nodded once. "I can prove it. She'll be at the Stone Table soon. She's going to try—"
"I understand the matter," said Titania with something like worry on her face. Harry could tell she did, with that reveal she understood the entire chain of events. She took a breath and said, almost to herself, "The notes are disarrayed; the song is changing pitch."
Titania's eyes narrowed and she lifted her hand and an entire quadrant of battlefield flooded with a sudden golden radiance. The aura around her was like looking at the sun and Harry choked on the heat. Cerulean fire swept across the valley and met the gold, and there was an explosion of emerald energy as the two clashed, canceling one another out. Titania lowered her hand and turned to look at him again.
"Direct attack from Mab?" asked Harry, after regaining his composure.
"Forever in conflict, Winter and Summer…" Titania tilted her head, but continued staring at Harry. "But balanced we always must be—the horde of travesties unleashed." She turned her gaze to the eerily lighted mist in gold and blue, green mist churning with death where they met. "At the height of power I may be for now, but that will change, and doom will fell us if my Knight's power becomes Winter's."
Harry lips thinned. "I can't let that happen."
"You plan to stop her," Titania considered him thoughtfully. "Thy wife is my own child. Why should I let you contest her instead of obliterating you where you stand?"
"Because if she succeeds Mab will come for you Midwinter at the peak of her strength, and with your court crippled she'll annihilate you. She'll make Lux Sanctum into another North Pole. Bet on it."
They shared a measuring stare. Titania's expression was blank when she finally said, "I hereby name you Aequitas Lumina, Guardian of the Realm. Do not let this abomination take place."
Harry felt his wand vibrate in anticipation. "I'm all over it."
"Our forces will not harm thee. You are the Queen's Hand," said Titania. "Take the river North and it will take thee to the hill of the Stone Table. Something's amiss. The mirror lies. Move swiftly now."
Titania turned back to the battle slipping once more into her trance-like state eyes lighting with amber fire. Harry made his way downhill into the chaos. The sound of battle was deafening now. He passed the wounded recovering here in Titania's camp. A company of fierce looking satyrs with gore covered blades were being tended to by nixies, coating their wounds with violet paste. Unidentifiable dead bodies of fae creatures of all sizes and shapes were being piled high by monstrous titans with inhuman efficiency. A trio of goat-man creatures galloped past on warhorses and straight into the thinning yellow mist that was giving away to cold blue the further downhill he went into the valley.
The air grew thick with the smell of death the more distance he put from Titania's encampment. He passed a troll bashing the head of a gnome with the heavy end of a bone club. Brain matter exploded in one fell stroke. Humanoid creatures with gangly limbs jumped a Sidhe on a horse, pulling him down to the ground and descending on the armored faerie with jaws full of salivating fangs. The nightmarish carnage was everywhere. The mist bled to green and the sounds of battle were louder here, steel on steel and the shouts and cries filled his lungs.
Towering, scarlet and blue skinned ogres in faerie mail appeared from the mist. Over a dozen soldiers came at him screaming an unintelligible war cry. They had been waiting for him. An ambush was it. Wrong day. His wand was arching through the air before they made it within striking distance.
"Don't hold back," Harry growled, thrusting his wand into the sky.
Violet lightning fell from the heavens and detonated in the middle of their sloppy attack formation. Their advance was halted as waves of over pressurized magical electricity washed over them. Those at ground zero were obliterated into less than dust and limbs went flying in all directions as the attack dome grew. A bolt of red streaked into the dome and the two attacks doubled and expanded. The resulting crater was six meters deep and nothing was left living within its center.
"Wicked," Harry breathed, staring at the wand. "Got a bit of a punch, don't you."
A beast jumped out through the mist, claws aimed for his face. Harry turned and black fire poured into the thing's snarling face and melted it clean to the bone. Another flick launched a javelin of ice straight through its heart and out its back, spearing it like a boar. Five points for Gryffindor.
"Alright, the river's that way," he said aloud, making out the sight of splashing water less than a quarter mile away. He gripped the wand tighter. "Let's continue this test run, then."
Harry grabbed the axe off his back. Wand in the right and axe in the left hand, he ran into the fray.
Two acid green bolts ripped into the rear of the horde forming ranks down the river. The attack went left and right carving into the faerie masses. The surprise attack caught the back lines unawares, but there were still the front line troops to deal with. They regrouped at a startling speed, reinforced their ranks and arrows promptly filled the sky aimed at his position.
"Depulso!" Harry snapped, sending a crescent pulse sweeping into the swarm.
The banishing charm reversed the flight paths. Another curse lit the arrows on fire and it rained purple death into their forces, increasing the faerie casualties at an exponential rate. There was a shimmer in the sky and it took a second for Harry to realize that the molecules in the air were freezing. An ice dome formed over the decimated ranks stopping the barrage. A wave of desolate cold swept over the field, and Harry looked up to see a white dragon streak through the starry sky. Its rider wore mail of purest white, stylized with snowflakes, and her hair was a riot of blue and green dreadlocks bound close to her head. Green eyes met green, only her were cat-slitted and inhuman, and she blew a kiss at him.
It was a no brainer who the Sidhe was; the rider was Maeve, the Winter Lady and youngest queen of the Winter Court. She lifted her hand and he staggered as the ground split wide open, he braced his feet as the shattering earth formed a long crag that belched a geyser of freezing cold water. A score of armored Sidhe charged from the spray of frigid waters wearing warped looking armor of blue, purple, and green.
"You've got to be kidding me," said Harry, scowling at the hundred to one odds. "Nice to meet you, too, bitch."
Maeve and her ice dragon were already swooping away, snow falling in their wake. Harry chucked the axe at the soldier leading the charge and its bladed edge suddenly burned bright with plasma that cleaved right through its plate. It left a gaping hole in the faerie's chest and continued its momentum into the trooper behind him, melting its way through his sternum.
Harry jabbed his wand at the ground and a long, solid wall of earth rose up nine meters high. Like he was front row at a show, the soldiers jumped over the wall resembling a league of ninjas. He'd been expecting that. Ruby lances whipped through the air and Harry dragged the beam wide, ripping through body parts like a butcher as he picked them off easily. The lead ranks went down and those that got through slowed their advance but they were still coming, leaving their maimed and dead without a backward glance.
He scrambled away as a soldier darted in blade swiping at the air where he once stood. Harry didn't risk apparating in the valley. Time and space were too mutable here, increasing his chances of splinching to a deadly degree. There was a bang and the soldier's head simply exploded. Harry fired his gun again and the steel-jacketed round tore through another soldier's neck, blood arching into the air and the skin burned and blistered from the steel content.
A purple armored soldier closed in at point blank range and Harry's dodge saved him from getting skewered by a lance. Pain flared through Harry's side as the soldier's clawed hand raked down the side of his exposed torso, cutting through his body armor like tissue paper. The space between them flared with light and ribbons of dark purple passed through the soldier, he looked down at the streams of light and then at Harry. Blood trickled down his mouth and he fell over, dead.
There was still so many of them. Harry hosed down waves of troops, but they kept coming and with them came other fae. Goblins and trolls and ogres all with field plate emblazoned in the colors of Winter. He wasn't a soldier. He couldn't last long in a hand to hand, but dealing magic into their forces was buying him time that he didn't have. The battlefield was hideous. The carnage was heightened by the monstrous creatures fighting through the valley, dealing death with weapons that were wielded with murderous precision.
Harry called forth the Charmed Fire and it burst into life led by a trio of fiery phoenixes. The wildfire halted their advance, but with every tide he dispensed in flashes of green death and bolts of hot blue more came to replace their brethren. Idly he noticed the mist around him was churning from gold to blue as Winter overtook Summer's position. This was getting ridiculous. He didn't have time for this shit.
Something like a sunbeam streamed through the field followed by the thunderous sounds of hooves as a battalion of mounted Sidhe came riding from within the light. The riders were more Sidhe warriors, but their armor were stylized with flowers and sunbursts. The vanguard mowed down the Winter troops, spearing them through with lances that turned into pure plasma in flight, and they surged across the field in force.
"Finally!" Harry shouted, sending a white hot beam carving into the torsos of a trio of hobgoblins encroaching on his flank.
Their intestines poured out in a steaming pile, and Harry turned as a flash of gold lit up on his right. A Summer warrior cleaved away the skull of a beast trying to get the jump on him. His glowing sword reversed its vector and slid into the chest of another beast like butter. His savior was none other than Titania's Little Knife. Puck faced him and there was a long cut across his right cheek. Teenage boy he may look, but this Sidhe armored in shining crystalline plate was in charge of leading Summer's entire army.
"Appreciate the assist, General," said Harry, finally getting a second to really breathe.
Puck's eyes were a violent storm of cerulean. "As my Queen commanded, I obeyed. Lord you are and king you are to be, but you're Aequitas Lumina now. That makes you a peer."
Goody, being on friendly terms with the General, Titania's little assassin, was sure going to comfort him at night if he lived past this. Puck was a force of devastation all on his own. Where Harry dealt magic into the horde, Puck met force with force. He danced between blades making it look effortless, as he took advantage of their misses to maim them to pieces mercilessly. Puck and his men surrounded the enemy on all sides and the tables were turned, and the fight transformed into a true slaughter.
"Summer holds this part of the valley now," said Puck, a gleam of savage triumph momentarily shined in his eye. "Your way is clear."
Harry saluted him with his wand, blood dripping from his fingers. "Right on, mate."
For a second he had almost replied with owe you one, mate but common sense kicked in, telling that to one of the fae was like signing yourself up for the draft. Puck could have him turning tricks for one small favor. He jogged off through the melee toward the river and his original destination, the Stone Table. Aurora wasn't there yet or all Hell would've broken loose by now. It wouldn't even be a battle anymore but an Armageddon. He heard a howl in the distance.
"Alphas," he muttered, trying and failing to peer through the haze of battle.
If the teen wolves were nearby then so was Dresden and the rest of his merry men. Arrows whizzed overhead and a griffin dropped from the sky, crashing to the earth and skidding to the ground in a long trench. Its right wing was ripped to shreds and a flaming giant's sword was jammed into its jaw. A company of sylphs descended on the wounded creature in the blink of an eye.
Two huge scarlet tigers, the size of ponies, appeared from the mist and ran beside him, flanking his left and right. Without thinking about it Harry instinctively knew they were Summer and here to help. There it is. The stream came up ahead guarded by a group of lumbering trolls, armed with tree trunks carved into clubs. Harry readied his wand when the tigers startled him by abruptly racing ahead. They leapt on the trolls hulking forms, riding down the creatures with jaws locked tight around their throats.
"That's helpful," Harry said under his breath, a little awed at how the diretigers tore into the massive trolls.
The pull he felt was the only thing he had to go on and it was leading him distinctively north. Harry ran to the edge of the river, and across the way Winter held that side of the valley and the land around the Table. He stared at the water rushing downstream. A Firebolt would be wonderful right about now.
Alright, so it was time to pull out a trick from his bag. Snape and Voldemort weren't the only wizards with a gift at understanding the rare magics. All it took was dedication and the ability to want it that made magic as potent and mutable as it was. Plus, Harry had plenty of power to back it up. He jumped in place once and then twice. One second he was on the riverbank and the next he was in the air, and like Voldemort and Snape, he was flying. For one lasting moment with the wind rushing in his face and hair blowing, it took Harry back to his youth at Hogwarts and Quidditch. The waters below exploded and a pair of luminescent, shapely arms shot out. He caught golden eyes and wet red hair right before he was tackled midair.
They hit the water hard and Harry felt his lungs burn as they went under. He grappled with the arms holding him and the water was doing shit for his vision. All he saw was a blurred body intent on strangling him under the waves. His wand was still in his hand and it didn't matter where he pointed it.
"Vis Maxima!"
It was a garbled incantation but intent was key and he was intent on getting the hell out of this alive. There was a bright blue flash as energy was pumped into the water at the molecular level so quickly that when all that energy was released it caused a spectacular blast. Harry and his attacker went rocketing out of the river. He didn't get to enjoy the luxury of breathing again before gravity exerted its force and they slammed into the ground. There was a loud pop from his shoulder and Harry cried out and laid there, stunned. He weakly grabbed at the dislocated joint.
Harry rose to his feet a half second after his attacker. Leanansidhe licked her blood red lips and water dripped down her battle gown, which was little more than an armored corset with emerald encrusted gauntlets and matching tiara. Her hair fell down to her thighs in a cascade of wet curls.
"What the Hell," Harry snapped, glaring at her. "Are you insane? I don't have time for your crap right now. Don't you have a kennel full of hellhounds to run?"
Lea spread her hands, revealing their sharpened claws. "I told you we would meet again across the battlefield, Summer Lord. Now that you're Aequitas Lumina it's even more fitting, since I am Veritas Glacio."
So she was his Winter Court counterpart. Harry wanted to deliberately roll his eyes at the dramatics of it all. "First of all, is there a memo going around? How does everyone know about that?"
"Titania spoke it and all of Faerie heard it."
Harry grunted as he knocked his shoulder back into place. He faced her with a fierce scowl, "Whatever, lady. Get the hell out of my way."
Blood red lips curled into a smile. "I decline."
The ground shattered beneath his feet spewing a storm of ice spears. Harry was airborne before the ground even buckled simultaneously releasing a volley of crimson bolts at the Leanansidhe. Her fingers went into a swift movement of warding gestures and the attacks splashed harmlessly against a conjured pink shield. He started to raise his wand when a gigantic snake shattered through her shield and reared its head at Harry, bigger than even Slytherin's basilisk. Its serpentine body slithered across the ground at lightning speed.
As its jaws opened to swallow him wide, Harry almost carelessly faced it and hissed, "Kill that bitch."
The snake's fangs dripped with venom when its jaws snapped closed and it slid around, setting its sights on its conjurer. Lea's eyes widened and she clicked her fingers sharply. At once, the snake burst into flames and its scales held off the fire until her eyes brightened and the flames flared bright blue. It was over quickly and the thrashing summon collapsed to the earth in a smoldering ruin, inert.
"Lamia child," Lea muttered, watching him like he was something to be taken apart.
"I don't know what that means," said Harry, watching her carefully. "But it sounds rude."
A tidal wave of black swept toward her and everything it touched froze and turned ashy gray, lifeless. The black plague as it was whispered about in back alleys in the Eastern world back home, overtook Lea's position and Harry focused the vaporous cloud in a thick solid column. It hit her dead on and her skin was leached of color, rapidly turning sickly gray, and cracks formed up and down her body. Harry slashed his wand and the unmoving Sidhe shattered to pieces and fell to the ground in a jumbled pile.
"Mmm," whispered a soft voice in his ear, and Lea ran her tongue over the tip. "Impressive."
Illusion! Harry spun around to face the real Lea, but she was already darting away with a brilliant smile on her face. He growled in his throat and launched a barrage of burning silver pulses. Some went wide and some she narrowly dodged, and the landscape burned with luminous fire that raged violently through the blue misted terrain.
No less than thirty green balls flew at him through the smoke. Harry transfigured the snake carcass into a shield and ducked for cover as the balls detonated, turning the heap into an incandescent inferno. He waved his wand in an infinity arc chanting under his breath. Wind howled to life in a violent gale swirling into a furious tornado. An orange beam cut through the cyclone and crackling lightning danced to life within the spinning tempest. It tore up the earth as it advanced, snatching up dead bodies and debris. The savage winds almost sucked up Harry, too, but he was already braced behind magically created cover and the vortex hungrily devoured whatever was in its wake. Lea didn't stand a chance. The vacuum consumed her and the area was filled with her excruciating screams.
The devastating force didn't last long. It wasn't meant to. It died fifty five seconds later a bit up stream taking with it the bitter winds. Harry surveyed the destroyed landscape. A feeling shot through his spine before he could even glimpse half the field, and he dove out of the way as a garnet bolt raced past him. There was an explosion that he only heard because he was coming under attack.
"Merlin's might," he swore, scrambling away as a turquoise ball hit where he once lay.
The ground iced over and he jumped to his feet and hid behind a boulder to get his breath back. Lea looked like she'd gone one on one in a ring with a heavyweight, but she was alive and despite looking a little bloody, she was still deadly. The boulder all of a sudden freaking disintegrated, even as Harry was already sending spellfire downrange.
They went at each other using tactics and tricks that Harry hadn't called up in years. The air was alive with the thick smell of ozone as they burned the air itself with magic. It was chaotic as flashes lit across their battle field. Rocks were turned into bombs, water transfigured into gleaming blades, and the ground shook as creatures of nightmares were called into being to take out the other.
Harry threw a lance of fire at her and it only grazed her shoulder when she dodged. Grabbing at her injury that should've ripped through her, Lea hissed and returned his attack with a salvo of hyper dense bolts of water. He whipped his wand in a loop and banished the attacks into the river, discharging on impact to freeze half the stream solid. Harry bombarded her position with a shower of crystalline orbs that detonated in balls of sentient fire. Lea clapped her hands and an oversized white wolf phased from her body. It howled at the living fire that converged on it and they trembled and died into little more than smoking burns on the ground. The wolf continued howling, long and lasting, and it turned into a terrible sound that made Harry clap his hands over his ears. The sound was in his head. It pounded at his brain, damn near bringing him to his knees.
The sinuous power underneath that terrible howl settled in his bones and it was enough to drive him to insanity. He just wanted it to stop. Warmth spread across his hands, then. It raced through his body and the power threaded through that howl fled before the fire of Summer that was flooding Harry. His wand grew hot in his hand and he snapped his head up, eyes burning with fire. A golden light surrounded his body searing through the blue mist in a ten-foot circle around him.
"Behold the fires of Summer, Leanansidhe of the Winter Court," said Harry in an otherworldly tone, deep and not even his own. Even he was shocked, as he lifted his wand without meaning to. "I am Lord of Summer, Aequitas Lumina, the light of justice of all the Seelie fae. Fall beneath the might of the White Wand, the shining ray of dawn!"
A beam of white hot death shot from the wand. Lea threw herself out of the beam's path and she turned wide eyes on the silver firestorm and the ensuing cloud that mushroomed into the twilight. Indecision flashed in her golden eyes and she must have seen the shock in his eyes, that burned with white fire, and whatever was speaking through him scared her enough that her form flickered and she retreated without a parting word, vanishing.
Whatever was using him as a mouthpiece withdrew without an apparent threat. "No way," Harry said, staring at the wand from Mother Summer. Was this thing alive?
"Don't have time, don't have time," he muttered, taking off for the hill in the distance. He could vaguely make out the Stone Table on top.
There were more faerie bodies here littering the fields. It made sense since Titania was pushing Mab's advance around the Table. Harry kept moving. He didn't stop to deal with any of the fighting going on. He was intent on his destination. Finally the ground started to rise, and the hill of the Stone Table was clear. The hill was filled with activity when he got to its waist.
Talos and Dresden were dueling, magic flared between them along with the flash of silver of the Lord Marshall's blade. Elaine and Michael were nearby and faerie steel clashed against heavenly anointed steel. The Alphas kept the Sidhe cavalry busy, and their leader was none other than the Winter Knight. Lloyd Slate was fighting Meryl with a frozen blade, and even from this distance Harry could see she was wounded and there was no way she'd last too much longer against the sadist.
And there was the head bitch herself at the top of the hill. The stone figure of Lily set upon the Table, and Aurora was a slender, gleaming form, looking at Fix who was pleading with her to just stop. A tortured scream ripped through the air and activity momentarily halted as all eyes turned to Lloyd Slate. Harry lowered Meryl gently to the ground not giving Slate another glance as the Winter Knight reached for the knife jammed through his throat. Harry cast a healing spell over the wound in Meryl's side.
"She's only a girl," he said under his breath, turning to Slate with hate in his eyes.
Harry slashed at the air with his wand, there was a flash of white, and Slate's head tumbled from his shoulders. It rolled to the ground two feet away and his body fell a moment later. Harry looked past the shocked stares of his allies. He only had eyes for Aurora.
"Hello, honey," he said. "We need to talk."
Author's Notes
So thing's have continued changing from the events in Summer Knight, people mainly and events that are to come. Also, a quick few things: The Potters and Aiden will remake an appearance later. They still have parts to play, as well as getting to the bottom of Aiden's abilities, Harry's, and whatever similarly he has to the Gatekeeper. He's not an Outsider, I'll say that right now.