A Semblance of Normalcy
Severus Snape could say with certainty that he had chosen a very unfortunate world to arrive.
The moment he had crossed the portal to the Cosmos Arcane, he had found himself in a desolate mountain, without anybody else of the group accompanying him.
He could aptly describe the place as a world of darkness and gloom. His capacity to see further than ten or twenty metres had been impeded by the dense atmosphere and magic of Ulgu. The Realm of Darkness could honour its name by being a world of perpetual night.
The man had tried casting spells to illuminate his path, but found his ability to do magic blocked by mysterious means. Snape sighed in defeat and began walking, hoping to find signs of civilization.
But civilization had found him first.
It hadn't been more than twenty minutes when a group of strange warriors ambushed him. He could describe them as pale lanky humanoids with sharp pointed ears and carrying dangerous weapons. They wore armour of the darkest black and silver. It reminded him of the classic depictions of elves from popular fantasy books.
When he had tried to speak with them, Severus had found that they spoke a different language.
Captured and dragged in chains, the man found himself brought to an enormous castle that was tall enough to reach the clouds and had been thrown into the dungeons without much fanfare.
Now in his cell, the potions teacher wondered what they had in store for him.
For what he had gathered, the elves had more than humans in the jails of the building. Snape could see a couple of emaciated men shivering in fear and a stout man encased in silver armour that had a steampunk feel to it.
Snape wondered why he had decided to help Potter. The girl reminded him of her mother. With her round face and emerald eyes. But the wild hair of her father and his former tormentor.
Severus Snape wasn't a good man, he knew. When he was younger, Lily and he had been friends since childhood. The two discovered they had magic and had attended the same school. But James Potter had ruined everything. A bully and presumptuous boy, it had been his pleasure to prank and torture everyone that wasn't on Gryffindor, including Severus.
The icing on the cake had been when Potter had the idea of trying to flirt with Lily. Severus admitted he had a crush but had resigned himself to being her friend. But in sixth year had happened the worst, Lily had accepted Potter's love. In a fit of rage, Severus had insulted Lily and their friendship had ended.
But Severus bad luck didn't end there. Voldemort's reign of terror made him join his cause, but he had been horrified when the Dark Lord had chosen to kill Harriet. In his desperation, he begged for him to spare Lily. He joined Dumbledore's side and was assigned as a spy for Voldemort, hoping to stop the madman before it was too late.
But it didn't matter.
Lily and her husband died, and the orphaned girl was marked with the symbol of Voldemort's defeat. When he arrived at the destroyed house, he rescued Harry and looked at the girl with tears running down his face.
The girl had looked at him with those pretty emerald eyes and he had bit his lips until it bled. The years passed and she arrived at Hogwarts. He had been a petty man and used his position as her teacher to punish her for the most menials of misdeeds. When she had asked him why he hated her so much after one of the classes, he hadn't been able to answer.
In the end, Snape had bowed to protect her when Voldemort returned from the dead. And he had failed. The girl was missing, and he couldn't escape the prison. He just wondered what the rest would be doing right now. The wailings of the other prisoners filled the air and he wondered if the elves would torture him.
The man sat on the floor and waited for the time his captors decided to return. In the end, the man waited for five hours before hearing the sound of footsteps approaching.
What stood in front of him was a group of women dressed in crimson armour and with the tattoo of various symbols on their bodies, dressed in very provocative clothing and with long white hair reaching their hips. They smiled ferociously with sharp pointed teeth and ears.
"Tork'a nhapo Khaine sbop'a Morathi bvo'a-se… ert-al Malerion ost'!" One said with a commanding raspy voice. She grabbed a set of keys and opened the cell.
Two other women entered and approached him. They grabbed him by the armpits and using tremendous strength, made him get up from the ground. He could feel their grip and the threat of broken bones that they brought.
He let himself be pulled and pushed forwards. The man and the group walked, leaving behind the dungeons of the castle, and climbing upstairs to the top of it. The man remained stoic, trying to be on guard.
They walked for a little while and Snape observed the decoration of the place. Armour and weapons were displayed in the hallways. Closed doors led to rooms from where pained screams could be heard. Various guards stood to attention without moving a muscle. He found some wore the same black armour as the ones that captured him and standing with lances in hand, while others where women wearing crimson armour and bikinis and wielding sharp curved swords.
Severus wondered what they were called and against whom they waged war. He couldn't imagine if worse creatures and beings could exist in this world and if Potter had better luck than him.
In the end, he was stopped with a hand gesture by the leader of the elven women. He looked in front of him and he arched an eyebrow.
They had arrived in front of a set of double doors that remained closed. They were painted a deep crimson and black, engraved with images of a man and a woman with ornated crowns. The two had pointy ears like the people around him. The size of the gates reached at least thirty meters in height, and a pair of wedges in its surface indicated the handle that allowed them to be opened.
CLOOOUUUNG!
He heard the gates open, and Severus steeled himself. He mentally prepared for anything. His Occlumency shields in his mind rose, calming him down and making his face form into an impassive expression of boredom.
The gates moved slowly until they opened completely. The man was pushed inside, and he let himself be dragged to the new chamber.
He looked forwards and his eyes opened. His mind tried to protect him from the vision in front of him, unsuccessfully. He felt a shiver run down his spine and his legs tremble. An oppressive darkness encroached the room, preventing him from seeing it completely. His eyes moved upwards slowly, and he gulped. The feeling of his very soul being crushed by a titanic weight made him almost fall to his knees. The man shuddered.
What awaited him inside the throne room was a God.
XXX
Harry and Neville reached the inn and entered the building with happy faces. The owner looked at Harry's companion and abstained from making a comment.
"Hi, I want my friend Neville to have a room, if possible. I will pay" Harry said. She took out her pouch and paid the woman. She wrote the boy's name in the book and handed them the keys.
"The next to yours. Enjoy your stay" The woman said without enthusiasm.
Neville and Harry ignored her tone of voice and climbed up the stairs. Once on the first floor, the two entered Harry's room and closed the door. The girl rested in the bed and took off her shoes.
"What a day!" Neville said. He sat beside Harry and looked at her "I'm so glad you're okay… We were worried sick".
Harry nodded and smiled.
"Thank you guys… I just hope we can find the rest and do something productive. Voldemort is who knows where doing who knows what".
The boy grunted and bit his lip. He was worried too. Aqshy and Ghyran had been the only two realms he had visited, and Neville didn't knew the possible dangers that could await them. His friends and the rest of the group were missing but he could proudly say that the girl they had been looking for was alright.
"Yeah…".
"Tell me all about what had happened while I was away… How the hell did you suddenly appear from a portal made from plants?".
He chuckled and began explaining the situation.
"Well… Once I appeared at the other side of the gateway, the world around me was an immense forest. You couldn't believe the kind of new plant-life it could be found there! I can't wait to visit that place again! And the humid heat of that forest!" The boy said with enthusiasm.
Harry grinned. Neville had always been passionate about herbology. She was happy knowing he hadn't changed even if they found themselves in a new world.
"I was walking for a while when I met a woman ridding a huge beetle. It was enormous! Like the size of an elephant! She had pointy ears and in her back a couple of wings. They were made out of plants, flowers, and leaves! She was named Alarielle, but I didn't know because we couldn't understand each other".
Harry absorbed the information and wondered if the woman he described was the same that had disappeared when she had interrupted her conversation with Sigmar.
"Yeah, me too. It seems the language here is different from Earth" She showed him the bracelet and continued talking "I was give this bracelet so I can understand them. But how can you do it?".
"I drank the juices of a magical fruit Lady Alarielle gave me. She brought me to this weird city with their building carved into trees the size of a town. In one of them, there was this spring and she made a tree grow using my blood and a strange seed".
"Wooow…".
"She asked for my name and declared she was a goddess. I don't know about that, but Lady Alarielle is surely not human" He said.
Harry scratched her chin. Sigmar and Alarielle had called themselves gods. She had witnessed the man's power and seen how his subjects treated him. The girl wondered if there could be more living gods in the Mortal Realms and if they were benevolent.
"And what did you do after arriving here?" He asked in curiosity.
"Mmmmh…. I was very surprised to still being alive for once, but the place I ended up was not very safe. The surroundings were empty of anybody that could help me. I was rescued by a bunch of soldiers from an army of ghosts. Much later I learned the world was called Shyish…".
"Shyish?".
Harry nodded.
"It seems that this world is divided in nine Realms, each with a name and characteristics that are different from the rest. The soldiers that rescued me brought me to one called Azyr to meet their leader. He made sure somebody told me everything that I could need to live here and gifted me the bracelet".
"Could you explain all of it to me?" The boy asked.
"Yeah, no problem… I imagine you are as confused as I was".
Neville thanked their luck. He couldn't imagine the problems they would have otherwise. The boy hoped the two could reunite with the rest, but it was better if Harry shared all the information she had.
In the end, Harry spent the rest of the morning explaining the Realms and her journey to Hammerhal before having to go eat lunch.
XXX
Lord Castor Mordian had been the small owner of a dukedom in Shyish and proud of his accomplishments. Castor had battled the Daemons of Gold, the Beast of the Depths, and the Butchers of the Murderous God. He prayed every day to His Master and Lord and defended the land from invaders. His subjects couldn't find a more wonderful leader and he was happy knowing they loved him.
Today had begun with a feast on his castle, chatting and eating with his subjects when a messenger had arrived with news from outside.
Currently, he was organizing a hunting party to punish a pair of dangerous men that were yelling curses while fleeing from his soldiers. They spoke in a barbaric tongue he nor his men could understand.
The Duke of the Golden Plains watched from atop a crag his men pursuing them. He was sitting atop his steed and Castor nodded to himself. One of his servants awaited his orders and play the horn of battle.
His best friend the count Sebastian Tarp approached him. Clad in armour of pure kaelite, the man made an imposing figure. He wielded an enormous axe that had made him famous far and wide across Shyish.
"My Lord, the two strangers are moving towards Xereus' Last Breath. Should I go and stop them?" The man asked with a thick accent. His red hair was combed backwards, giving him an aristocratic look.
"No. If they enter that place the fools are already dead. Let our soldiers expel them and the beast feast with their corpses" The duke ordered.
"It will be done, My Lord…" Sebastian bowed and retired to relay the duke's orders.
The man looked at the two running men and scowled.
"May Pater Nagash collect your souls from the Great Desert" Castor said to the air. He made a gesture of blessing and pulled the reins of his mount. The beast snorted and growled.
The sound of the flapping wings echoed through the air, alerting the soldiers that their lord retired from battle. They cheered and hollered, raising their weapons in the air.
"Lord Castor! Lord Castor!" Ones cheered.
"Praise be The Lord! Praise be The Lord!" Others repeated again and again.
The duke smiled and closed his eyes, feeling the wind caressing his face. He yelled his answer.
"Death to the Unfaithful!" Castor claimed.
Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh!
The men answered him. He watched from the skies as the two strangers finally lost themselves in the forest of crystalized magic known as Xereus' Last Breath. Their lives were now forfeit and the army stopped their chase, aware of the forest terrible reputation.
A glorious victory had been dealt today and the duke couldn't wait to return to his castle to celebrate.
XXX
Remus and Sirius continued running for their lives, hoping to lose their pursuers. Harry's godfather looked every once in a while and shuddered in disgust.
The two men had been walking through Shyish for a while when they had suddenly been attacked by a horde of humanoid monsters. The man had watched horrified as their pale visages were covered in dry and fresh blood, wielding the bones of their meals, and wearing rags for clothes.
The beasts lacked any hair, and their eyes were a glassy white. The two men couldn't understand how they could follow them if they couldn't see. Remus could smell the dry blood and rotten meat stuck between their fangs, making his eyes fill with tears.
"Grooouuuurrrrgh…!" One growled.
Remus couldn't transform and Sirius doubted his Animagus form could run fast enough. And so, the two had been forced to run as humans. The two hoped for a miracle that would allow them to escape.
The werewolf cursed blood and Harry's godfather athletic body allowed them to endure more than normal. But it wouldn't last forever. The man could feel his lungs burning and his heartbeat become more and more quick. The men felt their feet begin to hurt from the haphazardly uneven ground, jumping and leaning on .
The two friends' surroundings consisted of rocky hills and valleys, between mountainous formations from where more and more creatures came. The sky of the Realm was a pale grey and clouds covered the rays of the sun. Twisted trees appeared sporadically, protruding from crevices on the ground and mountains. Corpses of different races decomposed themselves around them.
Sirius was pretty sure that their demise had been due to the ghouls currently on their tail. He didn't want to die. Not until finding Harry and making sure she was okay. Until he could hold her again and tell her how much he loved her. The daughter he had never had.
The ran fast enough to not be caught by the horde and hopping to be left alone. Remus squinted his eyes when he saw a patch of white ahead of them.
Remus and Sirius reached the change in scenery moments before the ghouls could reach with their clawed hands towards their cloths. They heard the strange guttural sounds their throats made and Sirius shivered in disgust.
Ggggggggggguuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuooooooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggh!
The sound of the monsters cheering, and yelling reached their ears, but they ignored them. The white expanse that divided the ghoul's territory with the unknown was not much further ahead. It became bigger and bigger the closer they were.
Just a little more! C'mon! Just a little more! We can do it!, Sirius thought.
The contrast between Xereus' Last Breath and what Castor had called the Golden Plains was like night and day. A border had formed from the different looks of the two terrains. The ghouls stopped the moment their lord's silent order reached their minds.
The two men from Earth continued running, not caring about the change in behaviour.
Sirius closed his eyes and began praying for some kind of miracle. He wanted it to stop. The man would do anything if that meant getting rid of these creatures. He would…
Croujh! Croujh! Croujh! Croujh!
The sound of their shoes stepping on some kind of crystalized material snapped him out of his reverie. The man looked around him and found that they had reached the strange new environment that he had seen from afar.
"It seems they have stopped following us" Remus turned around and looked at the retreating horde.
Sirius stopped in his tracks and rested his hands against his knees.
"What the hell were those things?!" Sirius exclaimed.
"I don't know… Some kind of ghoul or man-eating monster" He scratched his chin thoughtfully "The good thing is that they had stopped. The bad thing is knowing why" Remus said.
Sirius and his friend looked around them and their eyes widened. They had been so worried about their pursuers that they hadn't registered their surroundings.
It could be most aptly described as a forest of crystalized death. The ground and trees were covered in a strange white substance. The life of everything in the area had been stripped away and the corpses of men, women and animals were frozen with expressions of horrified pain. If Remus would had to compare it with anything on Earth, he would say it resembled the impact of the Vesuvius on Pompey.
They walked forwards slowly, taking in all that they could observe. Sirius crouched and touched the ground. The man shivered, the sensation of smoothness was unnerving, and the temperature was cold like ice.
"What the hell happened here?" He murmured.
"I don't know, but it doesn't look natural. The fact that living things are covered with this strange thing is telling enough to indicate an attack on a massive scale. Maybe magic from a wizard? A weapon used in a war?".
"I don't know, but it gives me the creeps. Let's hurry and get out of here" Sirius felt a chill run down his spine and began walking once more.
Remus nodded and followed his best friend. Around them, the plants, corpses, and ground made a continuous landscape, fussed together by the unnatural phenomenon. Some had been encased in the substance in poses that indicated they had tried to run away unsuccessfully.
The two men walked through Xereus Last Breath without saying a word, thinking about all the strange occurrences since arriving there.
Sirius hoped the rest of the group would be having better luck in their endeavours.
XXX
The next day, Harry told Neville about her job on the Houses of Glass. He nodded and agreed to also search for a part-time job in Hammerhal.
She apologised to Glenn for not going on a date the day before and thanked him for the suggestion.
"It's alright, Harry" He glanced at Neville and turned back to her with a smile "I was busy with the meals and cleaning the kitchen anyway. We can go later".
Harry grinned and waved him goodbye. The girl took a carriage to the greenhouses and entered the building.
The girl worked until lunch, cleaning the studies, and bringing books to some of the caretakers when they asked. Once finished for that day, the emerald-eyed girl went back to the inn.
After eating a delicious salad and fish, the girl went to her room to prepare for her date.
Harry looked at herself in the mirror and began combing her wild hair, in the futile attempt to tame it. She changed clothes to something the girl considered more appropriate for the date and grinned in giddiness.
She put on a blue dress with a long skirt reaching her ankles. The clothes had been gifted by Sigmar and given to her by the maids in Sigmaron. It was decorated with flowers, and she put on a pair of comfortable shoes. The girl covered her scar with the bangs of her hair and was surprised to see it beginning to slowly fade away.
The wound had remained in her forehead since she was a baby. Every time Voldemort was near her, her head hurt and when he had touched it, an explosion of pain had made her almost faint. The girl remembered it beginning to bleed the moment Harry appeared in the Mortal Realms. Now that it was healing, Harry wondered if it was thanks to the archway in the Death Chamber.
Harry remembered the disastrous last year, when she had gone to the Yule Ball with Neville, and everybody had accused her of cheating to enter the Triwizard Tournament. Her crush Cedric had gone with his girlfriend Cho Chang and the girl had witnessed his death at the hands of Peter Pettigrew, the man that had betrayed her parents. Her anger at his actions almost made him kill him in retaliation.
But the situation had went from bad to worst. Voldemort had used a ritual to resurrect and had fought her in a magical duel. Harry had escaped but had bowed to be prepared for the next time they would certainly meet.
Harry needed power. Harry wanted to be strong. To avenge her parents and all the people the Dark Lord had killed. When Lehaanna had told her the magic in the Realms was difficult to learn, she had wanted to scream in frustration. A raging desire for anything to help her get an edge on that monster in human form had grown inside her heart.
"I will win. I will stop him… He is going to die" She whispered to the mirror. Her eyes glowed a faint purple colour for a second and the girl almost jumped in surprise "What the hell?!".
Harry brought her face closer to the mirror and looked at her own pupils. She stood still for what seemed an eternity. The emerald irises remained unchanged, as if nothing had happened and she sighed.
"That was weird…" She said to herself. The girl shook her head to snap out of her daydream and walked towards the door.
Descending down the stairs, she found Glenn waiting for her. The boy smiled when he saw her and greeted her.
"Hi, Harry! You look stunning" He complimented her.
Harry blushed and grinned.
"Thanks! You look very handsome…" The girl answered.
He rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. The boy took her hand on his own and smiled. Glenn wore a shirt and trousers with his hair combed. Harry and he walked out of the building, with the owner arching an eyebrow at the pair.
Outside, the two walked for a while and made small talk.
"So, where are we going?" Harriet asked him.
"There's a troupe of street performers close by. They came a couple of years ago and always do various acts on the weekends. I thought we could go and have a good time" He explained.
Harry nodded and looked around them. The streets of Hammerhal were full of people strolling, working in the various businesses, shops, and smithies.
"Come! Come! Let me show you wonders! This is the lost Sword of Marie Thunderhammer, the Stormcast that fought a horde of daemons to protect Vandium! You will not find it anywhere else!" One person announced.
"Fresh fruit and vegetables! The best in all Aqshy!" Another said a couple of houses away.
"I tell you; he saw two companies of Vanari riders arrive at Barak-Nar to fight the skaven horde…" One woman talked with a man while they passed close to them.
Merchants spoke loudly about all the goods they sold Guards patrolled and visited the inside of buildings, searching for anything illegal. The sound of the factories creating armour and weapons echoed in the distance.
The two continued walking until they arrived at a city square in the middle of various households, stores and a tower from where robbed men and women walked by.
The size of the place was incredible. Street performers danced, bards sung poems, and jugglers threw dangerous knives in the air. Tourist and citizens alike talked and laughed.
Harry looked at Glenn and saw him point in front of him. She followed his finger and nodded when the girl saw a woman made inviting gestures to the masses, so they came closer to her.
The woman was currently atop a wooden platform inside a makeshift theatre. The structure was decorated with a wall painted with the intention of imitating a landscape and enormous curtains were parted to the sides. In front of it, rows of wooden banks had been put, so the audience could sit and watch the act.
"Come! Come all! Let me tell you a story! Of wonder and horror! Of Gods and Monsters! Of friendship and betrayal! Let this humble woman tell you a story!" The woman announced, catching the attention of Harry and other people.
Glenn and she walked closer to the podium where the announcer was. Other people gathered around them. Harry sat in one of the banks with the boy beside her.
In no time at all, at least ten men and women had approached them, sitting behind them, and murmuring between themselves.
Once the woman saw nobody else would come to witness the act, she continued talking.
"Hello to all of you! Thank you all for coming here today! My name is Samantha, and I would like for you to hear my stories…I see new faces around here, hoping to be entertained, to marvel at the wonders of the Realms, to dream, to laugh and cry, to dance, sing and cheer…! Now, let us begin with our tale… " The woman moved to the left of the stage and hid behind the curtain. With a mechanism that they didn't see, the stage darkened. Harry watched as small lights began glinting and sparkling in the air "It all started before the birth of the Cosmos Arcane, where the void between the Realms was filled with uncoalesced magic…".
Fwwwwwwwwwwwwooooooooooouuuuuuuuuummmmmmm!
An enormous ball of fire appeared from the right side of the stage, illuminating the stage. It was the size of a small child and moved slowly in the air. Harry blinked a couple of times, trying to not be blinded by the sudden change in brightness.
"Mallus, the burning rock in the heavens, soared the void like a comet. Carving a path of flame in the emptiness, it split the nothingness apart and filled the silence with the roaring of its burning body…".
Suddenly, a wooden doll descended from above, it represented a man wearing glowing golden armour and with a short, braided beard. Harry recognized him as Sigmar himself, and she remembered Lehaanna's lesson about the Mortal Realms.
"God-King Sigmar, loved by all, grasped with his powerful arms Mallus. He drifted through the Aetheric Void, and the energies of Azyr coalesced around him" Harry watched as the doll caught the flaming ball and stripes of golden colour moved around them.
Harry and the rest watched as more multicoloured stripes of cloth floated, moved, and danced in the stage. The objects began moving in circles around Mallus and forming eight balls of colour. In the end, the stripes vanished, and spheres of coloured glass the same size as Mallus appeared, hanging in the air. Harry recognized them in an instant.
"Meanwhile, around him, the winds of magic coalesced into worlds of their own, becoming the Mortal Realms" Samantha's voice announced. The spheres moved around the doll and burning sphere, and Harry remembered the position of the spheres in the model Lehaanna had showed her.
Harry looked at Sigmar and Mallus and watched as the puppet remained intact from the burning Mallus. The two objects stood together for more than ten seconds, without the narrator saying anything. Harry began to wonder what was going to happen, when from above the stage another wooden figurine appeared. It was a metallic serpentine figure, with a pair of enormous wings and long tails that made it resemble a comet.
"The Celestial Drake, Dracothion, flew through the Aetheric Void and found God-King Sigmar. The two conversed for many days and became friends with one another…" The representation of Dracothion moved closer to Sigmar's. The space dragon orbited Mallus a couple of times and Sigmar grabbed the beast "Dracothion informed the Great God-King about the Mortal Realms, and the two flew to Azyr".
Harry watched as the two dolls moved towards the golden ball of glass. The stage darkened once more, and everything vanished. The girl felt Glenn clench her hand and she looked at him. The boy grinned and Harriet smiled back. Her attention was brought back to the stage when the light inside it returned.
The stage had changed once more. The Realmspheres made of glass had vanished and the decorations had been changed into some that looked like Azyr itself. Various props and wooden pieces of furniture, representing the buildings of Azyrheim, were scattered across the stage. From the sides of the stage, various dolls moved around. They looked different, wearing clothing, and resembling humans, duardin and aelves.
"Sigmar brought to Azyr the mortal races, helping them build a civilization and hoping to make a united alliance for the betterment of all. But he didn't stay in Azyr for long. For he had a dream, of conquering the Mortal Realms and populate them with the sentient races and make a wondrous utopia".
The background and decoration moved and changed to ones of a clear blue sky with flourishing trees and beautiful flowers. The smell of vegetation filled Harry's nostrils. She watched as a man dressed as Sigmar walked through the stage, wielding an elaborated hammer in his hand. The girl saw him take a couple of steps before stopping.
An enormous flower bloomed at his left and from inside it, a woman appeared. She had pointed ears and wore a beautiful white dress. In her hands she had a long spear and from her back two pair of wings grew. Harry recognized her as the one she had seen having audience with Sigmar not too long ago.
The woman had her back turned to the man and began crying softly, bringing her hands to her face.
"On Ghyran, Alarielle, the goddess of life was awoken by the God-King from her slumber. She grieved the death of her people, the aelves that had protected her from the hordes of Chaos before she was born. Sigmar told her of his wish for a prosperous future, but she didn't listen, too lost in her pain…".
"Come with me, Everqueen. Let us gather our people, so we can protect them from the darkness…" The man said to the woman with an imposing voice, but she shook her head.
The actor exited the flower and strolled through the stage, and the audience watched as she crouched every once in a while. From hidden trapdoors, actors appeared on stage, all of them looking like humanoid trees.
"Alarielle sowed the seeds of her people's souls, and they became the first Sylvaneth. She taught them about the world, their duty to protect life in the Realms and many other things that she deemed important. Once finished, the goddess went to Sigmar's aid".
The woman exited the stage and the decorations changed once more. Light flooded the stage and strange geometric shapes replaced the lush forest and plants. Harry had to blink a couple of times due to the brightness and watched as a couple of aelves wearing blue and white clothes appeared.
They wore silver armour and one of them had his eyes closed. They were of pale complexion and had swords hanging from their hips. The actor representing Sigmar walked towards the two and made a greeting gesture.
"Tyrion and Teclis, the twin gods of light, wandered Hysh for many years, reuniting the aelves that were there under their rule until they were found by Sigmar. He explained his desire for unity and the two agreed to help him. The aelven gods brought the mortals magic to heal and protect from the darkness and Chaos itself" The woman narrated.
Once more, the stage turned into another of the Mortal Realms and Harry watched as mountainous peaks and metallic sounds of forges filled the air. A pair of stout duardin were chained to a rock, and the actor that represented Sigmar used his hammer to break the props, freeing them.
The duardin were very different from one another. One had red hair combed into a mohawk that resembled flames and a long wild beard of similar colour, in his hands he had a couple of axes. The other had silver hair and a braided beard, in his hand a hammer. The two had tattoos engraved into their skin.
"We thank you Sigmar, for breaking the shackles and chains that bound us. Your ambitions are ours and your enemies too" The later spoke with a respectful tone.
"From Chamon, Grungni and Grimnir were freed, and they swore oaths of friendship with the Great Lord of Thunder. The first created many wonders that still persist today as relics of immense power and weapons of legendary renown, and the second's followers made the strongest force in the alliance's army" Samantha narrated.
After saying that, the scenery changed once more. In the place of mountains, a forest stood, filled with enormous bones and corpses of monstrous beasts. A pool of amber liquid shackled a man wearing tribal clothes, pelts and hair decorated with bones. A two-faced mask hid his face, with a pair of tusk growing from the lower jaw.
"In Ghur, Sigmar-Loved-By-All stumbled upon Gorkamorka, the god of destruction and creator of the orruks inside the liquid body of Drakatoa. In exchange for becoming God-King's ally, the Lord of Storms allowed The Destroyer to battle any enemy that was strong enough to reshape the Realms or had godly powers".
Harry watched the play, intrigued with all this new information. She wondered if all of these gods beside Sigmar would still be living in the Mortal Realms. Glenn stole glances towards the girl, but Harry didn't pay him any mind. She was fascinated with the performance and wondered what would happen next.
The stage changed one more time and Harry's eyes widened. She recognized the dark deserted Realm of Shyish. From a corner of the scenery, a figure walked towards the actor playing Sigmar's role.
It was a tall figure dressed in armour made of bones and black metal. In his bony hands, a sceptre topped with a winged skull. The god that it represented was a rotting corpse, and his eyes glowed a sickly green. In his other hand, the actor had a book with its cover made from leather and resembling human skin.
"At Shyish, God-King Sigmar approached the terrible God of Death. Nagash, begrudgingly accepted their alliance in exchange for the dominion of all afterlife. His eyes burned with bale fire, his breath was a terrible curse, his voice continuously whispered the names of every person that would ever die. He plotted in secret the fall of the God of the Heavens, his ambition too great and terrible to be stopped" The woman's voice acquired a sombre tone and a little bit of spite.
Harry looked at the actor representing Nagash and felt a strange sensation in her body. There was something about that god in particular that reminded her of Voldemort. A terrible and dreadful premonition about to become reality. Something inevitable. A future that she hoped would never come.
Glenn looked at her pale complexion and frowned. He squeezed her hand in reassurance, mistakenly believing her change of mood because the implied danger of a god of death described so negatively. She smiled at him and muttered a 'thank you'.
The two turned back towards the performance and saw the actors begin fighting puppets the size of adults in the shape of monsters.
Another pair of actors appeared on stage. The first was a woman wearing an intricate crown with twisted metal horns and snakes with eyes made from gemstones, on her back there were a pair of wooden wings painted a metallic colour. The second was a dark humanoid dragon, with wings on his back, an encroaching shadow whose eyes shone cruelly.
"Morathi and Malerion were mother and child, priestess of Khaine and god of Ulgu, helped by the Twin Children of Light defeated and imprisoned the terrible Whore-Concubine of Chaos, but not before freeing more aelven souls that had been eaten by It" An enormous puppet with androgynous features appeared on stage, with its features loosely represented and faceless. The actors that acted as those four gods sliced open the stomach of the puppet, and small figurines spilled forth from it " They imprisoned the God of Depravity in a secret place, so It would never harm another ever again".
The actor that represented Sigmar began swinging the hammer left and right and with every hit it made one of the puppets drop to the ground. Sparks were generated by the dolls using an inner mechanism, representing the God-King's powers.
"But the God-King didn't stop with them. He recruited more and more allies, other minor gods to serve as lords of aspects of the Cosmos Arcane…With the pantheon of gods made possible, Sigmar battled some of the terrible Zodiacal Godbeasts infesting the Realms and horrors that would have destroyed all creation. But all good things can't last forever…" The voice of the narrator changed into an ominous tone of dreadful premonition.
"Grimnir fell in battle when he killed Vulcatrix, the Ur-Salamander. His followers, the Fyreslayers mourned him and left the alliance first" A monster in the shape of an enormous lizard covered in flame. The duardin actor and the puppet wrestled with one another and in the end, the head of Vulcatrix fell to the ground and the duardin acted his death.
The puppet and actor were taken away from the stage
"Graaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrgh!".
Gorkamorka's actor roared and swung a club against Sigmar's, he was stopped just inches away from hitting its target.
"Gorkamorka, tired of the other gods, rejected the alliance and united the orruk tribes into a monstruous war against the God-King. It seemed like everything couldn't worsen, but he two-faced god was not the only one that betrayed the Alliance…".
The scenery changed to Azyr, and the audience saw the various actors representing the gods begin discussing among themselves. Alarielle and the twins were first, soon followed by Morathi and Malerion. Grungni made a dismissive gesture and left the scene. Nagash moved slowly away from the group and vanished behind the curtains.
"One by one, they left the God-King and his subjects, too busy with their own plans and ambitions. Since Chaos had been banished from the Realms, the mortals had been brought to civilization and peace reigned. In the end, the Lord and Saviour of All was betrayed, and the forces of Chaos saw the opportunity to strike".
Harry watched as various actors dressed in various clothes representing opposing factions moved around the scenery, fighting each other. Aqshy was the Realm represented by the decorations, volcanic structures and ash floating in the air filled the scenery.
"Chaos and Its minions assaulted the Mortal realms, driving back the Alliance's forces day by day. The Battle of Burning Skies, it was there where everything was decided, the last bastion of Good against the Evil Gods. But it was useless. A defeat so great, God-King Sigmar had to retreat to Azyr, leaving the mortal races to fend for themselves. A price to pay so He could reclaim the Mortal Realms once more. When the Stormcast Eternals would descend like lightning itself!".
The scene changed one last time. It returned to Azyr, where actors appeared wearing clothing that represented Sigmar's soldiers, the ones that had helped Harry escape from certain death. The sound of thunder made by the troupe entered the audience's ears and she remembered their sudden appearance on that town filled with ghosts.
The scenery darkened once more, and Harry heard the sound of objects being moved around and the actors walking around the stage. Once the stage was illuminated again, Harry and Glenn saw that only the narrator remained atop of it.
"Great and Powerful is God-King Sigmar! For He alone has obtained the impossible! Praise be Sigmar! Praise be the One True Benevolent God!" The woman screamed with her arms raised into the air.
"Praise be Sigmar! Praise be Sigmar! Praise be Sigmar!" The audience chorused.
Harry watched as Glenn's eyes shone in adoration and how he yelled with the multitude. She arched an eyebrow but abstained from saying anything.
The actors from the play walked out on stage and Harry could see the various costumes they had been wearing. She tried not to shudder when looking at Nagash's actor.
"Thank you all for coming here today! Be "
The performers bowed to the audience and exited the stage. People began walking away from the makeshift theatre. Harry watched as some of the actors conversed with members of the audience that had stayed behind to congratulate them.
Harry and Glenn got up from their seats and the boy stretched his limbs. The girl thought of the story and remembered the version Lehaanna had told her. Harriet wondered if there was more to it than what she had been told.
Harry tried to supress her curiosity. She berated herself and chastised her desire for meddling in matters she wasn't asked for. The girl remembered all the troublesome situations that had resulted of her curiosity and need to act like a hero. The girl snapped herself back to reality and looked at the boy.
"Man, that was fun! We need to come back again! I wonder what other stories they have to tell…" Harry exclaimed enthusiastically. He chuckled in amusement.
"Yeah…What say we go and have dinner before returning?" He asked her. The girl nodded and the boy grasped her hand.
Harry and Glenn moved away from the stage and walked towards one of the buildings in the city square. It was a restaurant named Sigmar's Thunder. They entered it and were helped to an empty table. The two were informed of the different dishes that the place had and ordered a couple of them to eat.
The time they spent having dinner was filled with conversations about their lives and the performance they had seen earlier.
XXX
The day after being rescued, Hermione woke up to the sound of people training and working in the camp. She exited the tent where she had been staying with Ron and Luna. She walked around the camp, watching some people patrol its perimeters and others talking between themselves.
The witch found the boy sparring with a training dummy. The girl arched an eyebrow and wondered why he was doing that. The redhead swung a wooden stick against its head and stopped when the girl entered his field of vision.
"Hermione! What's up? How are you feeling?" He asked her.
The girl shrugged and turned her head to look at Luna. The girl approached them and hugged her curly-haired friend.
"Good morning, Ron. You too, Luna…I'm better than yesterday" Hermione greeted them.
"Nice! When I saw those creepy green-men trying to kill you, I almost had a heart-attack!".
"Don't be silly, Ronald! Hermione is too strong for them! She could have easily crushed them!" Luna said matter-of-factly.
Hermione smiled and bit her lip.
"Thanks Luna. But I was so scared! I couldn't believe I was all alone on that swamp, surrounded by monsters. And I still don't understand anything anybody else is saying!" the girl exclaimed in frustration.
"No problem. Luna and I can totally translate for you! And we are together! That must be something, right?" Ron reassured her.
The bookworm nodded and sighed.
"We still need to find Harry and the rest. I hope they are okay…" Hermione wondered.
"Oh, it's okay! This very important dude told us he had met Harry!" Ron announced. Hermione's eyes widened in surprise.
"What?!".
"Ronald is saying the truth. Lord Sigmar helped Harry and rescued when she was in danger. He told us she was in the city of Hammerhal" Luna explained.
Hermione nodded and began pacing from left to right. The girl absorbed the new information and thanked God Harry was okay. The girl had been her best friend since they were eleven and the thought of something happening to her frightened Hermione.
"Then we will have to go to this Hammerhal. Poor Harry must be so lonely!" Hermione turned around and spotted Yndrasta talking to Lucian. The girl marched with purposeful steps towards them, followed by her two friends close behind.
The two soldiers turned towards them, and the man arched an eyebrow.
Luna turned towards the two and began explaining their wish to go to Aqshy,
"Hi, Lady Yndrasta, Lord Lucian. We wanted to talk to you about something, if you don't mind…".
The man nodded and made a gesture.
"We need to go to Hammerhal. Harriet Potter, the friend we came for is in there".
The man scratched his chin and began talking.
"Troam'anb bnoa…Ro-ao'va vja eska'rp. Alero'ena-abvu etpsiau'wacbq-ao ciah-ai cdopyw'hq Ghur. (I see… Very well. We will go tomorrow. Today I have to finish some of my assignments here on Ghur)" He said in his strange tongue.
"Nice!" Ron turned towards his friend and explained what the Stormcast has said.
Hermione and her friends watched as the two soldiers walked away from them, with Yndrasta returning to her tent and Lucian approaching some of the cavalry attending to their mounts.
The rest of the day was spent with Ron continuously trying to practice sword-fighting and Luna wandering through the camp, looking at everything around her.
XXX
After eating in the restaurant, the two decided to return to the inn. They had begun walking back towards it when Harry began talking.
"That was incredible!" Harry said enthusiastically. She looked at the boy and smiled "It was fun! Thank you for bringing me there".
Glenn nodded.
The two continued walking, with their hands interlocked together. The people around them ignored the two, too busy running their businesses or talking to others. Harry saw a pair of humans trade precious gems of a substance with the aspect of coal with a duardin smith. She saw it glow faintly and wondered what it was.
"It was my pleasure Harriet…" He bit his lip "Hey…I was thinking… If you would like, we could go on another date…" Her companion looked at Harry, waiting for her answer.
"I would love that" Harry answered.
The boy smiled happily.
In the end, the two stopped at the inn's entrance and looked at each other. She kissed his cheek and he blushed faintly. Harry hugged him and entered the building. The two waved each other goodbye and the girl climbed up the stairs.
Once inside her room, she sat in the bed and sighed contentedly. The girl went to the mirror and looked at her scar. She saw that the fading mark was already almost unnoticeable and wondered what the boy would think of it knowing Sigmar symbol of the lightning bolt was very similar to the scar.
The girl took off her shoes and laid in the mattress. She closed her eyes and let her mind drift away so as to take her worries away.
Today had been a very peaceful day, in contrast to all her crazy adventures while on Earth and she couldn't wait to see what would happen tomorrow. Harry could get used to days like these, where she didn't had to worry about Dark Lords, plots, and imminent death.
The girl frowned for a second and remembered the strange occurrence from that afternoon with her eyes. Harry hoped that didn't warn of terrible things to come.
"No… I don't want that. I just want to be normal. To be happy. No more evil wizards, no more murderous schemes…" The girl spoke out loud to herself. She imagined a day when nobody would pester her about criminals and deranged madmen. A day when she wouldn't have to worry and hide from people trying to kill her. A day when she had a family, and she presented her children to Sirius. A day when Harriet was in a cosy home with her significant other and read an interesting novella.
But while Harry daydreamed about the future, terrible forces had begun moving, and the girl would come to understand that her happiness in Hammerhal couldn't last forever.