Disclaimer: Mr. Paolini, I did the worst sin an author can do… I killed the bad guy without the monologues and speeches. There was not even an epic battle, we just pumped the bad ones full of lead. Don't worry, I still do this for free. Mrs. J.K. can confirm it.

Previous:

In the evening, Tracey came back with two thousand elves. Any resistance stopped at their arrival, the snake's head was cut off, all that was left were some convulsions of the body.

Tomorrow we secure the lands.

9. Mopping up.

That evening, the elders of the elves that came along gathered in the throne room. Lord Dathedr expressed his gratitude and surprise at our success: "Lord Potter, words can not describe our feelings now that we are standing in Illirea again. We expected it to be a long and hard campaign with a lot of causalities. Most of all, your way of transporting troops is making a big difference, tell me what are you planning next?"

I thought for a moment and answered: "Thank you for the compliments Lord Dathedr, my wives and I appreciate it. Our plans are to hunt the Ra'zac and their worshipers in the Helgrind and Dras Leonas.

The worshipers are easy to recognize, to please their so-called gods, they sometimes sacrifice parts of their own bodies, so anyone in that city with missing limbs must be questioned. When they are dealt with, my wives and I will travel to all cities and read the minds of their rulers.

After that, we will decide who can stay in power and who will be punished. The same will go for the Varden and Surda. We must hunt the shade too. And last but not least we need a solution for the Urgals."

Lord Dathedr conversed with his elders and spoke up: "Lord Potter, you can take 1500 elves along with you to Dras Leonas. 500 will stay here to secure the city. Can a few of your wives stay here too? Dragons are a bigger deterrent than elves, our best magicians will accompany you to Dras Leonas and act under your command."

Great! I can boss elves around! They being 1000+ years old, and me in my mid-teens. Bouya! Hop on one foot! Bark like a dog!… I think that will not work. The wives will ban me to the couch, I am getting scolded…hard times.

That night, we had new victims to torment, Murtagh and Tornac were kept awake because the girls 'forgot' the silencing spells on our room. Especially Fleur Katie and Padma were extra loud, it must be the frustration of moving through the tunnels that needed venting. Of course, I was happy to fill their heavenly tunnels.

Xxxxx

The next morning we prepared for take-off, Fleur and Padma decided to stay and help secure the city, the other girls came along. I loaded 1500 elves in my manor trunk and introduced Murtagh with his red egg to them. They calmed down when they heard of the green egg which is destined for an elf and the existence of hundreds of others.

The manor hung around my neck when I took off to Dras Leonas in my trusty Spitfire. Imira was riding shotgun, she said: "Harry my love, I can't get enough of flying with you. Can you teach me to fly when this war is done? Oh, Islanzadi told me to thank you for the gift of our family to the Elf nation.

The expansion runes on the trees are going great, we did a test site at our outpost with different kinds of trees and sizes. The return mana is not much for each tree but combined it is a large increase.

We even reduced the outflow to prevent overloading the woods with magic. I even found another use for it in our orchards. Each tree gets a small pocket space, big enough for birds or small mammals to live in, the magic circulation results in magical fruits. The fruit is much healthier and tastes better."

I laughed: "Imira, magic still amazes me, the uses for it are so diverse, it can take us to the moon and stars if we want to. But like I said before, it stunts the development of normal people. The next generation of dragon riders have to learn from their past mistakes, and become teachers instead of judges."

Xxxxx

The rest of the trip was spent in comfortable silence, we enjoyed the view and company. When Dras Leonas came in sight, the walls were manned and gates are closed. I commented: "Well, they are expecting us. News of the king and his dragon got here faster than I expected."

Imira nodded: "You are right, the magicians probably abused their position and fear retribution from us."

I landed outside the city to prepare. With the manor trunk wide open, I asked volunteers to fly Spitfires to hunt the Ra'zac parents if they try to escape. Ginny, Pansy, and Milly jumped to the occasion and prepared their planes.

Lord Dathedr: "Lord Potter? Do we start from here or do we fly into the city and debark there?"

Tracy answered: "We fly into the city as dragons, we will find a spot to close to the cathedral and open the trunk. The most important things are the Ra'zac and their parents, next are the eggs, we suspect there are eggs hidden to raise other Ra'zac in case the adults are killed."

The girls took to the sky with their Spitfires and circled the Helgrind mountain. Everyone present turned into their animagus dragon, Winky saddled Katie, Luna, and Tracy for Ophelia, Lenora, and Miramar to ride on.

We flew in full stealth mode to the city, silently, Luna landed close to the cathedral, once down, Ophelia opened the trunk wide enough to let the elves swarm out and storm the cathedral with my wives in the lead. Luna and Ophelia transformed the walls into doorways in several places to avoid the heavily barricaded entrances.

While they were busy, I showed myself and amplified my voice: "People of Dras Leonas! The mad king is dead. I killed him myself, lay down your weapons, and leave the walls. As you can see, you can't keep us out anyway. We are here to destroy the beasts that prey on humans. You are even stupid enough to feed those beasts of your own free will, thinking they are gods. How stupid can you be to feed them voluntarily?

Every idiot that worships those animals after today and tries to shelter them will get killed together with those beasts."

Hmm, did I point it out enough that they are animals? No, I think it will take months to get that cult weeded out of the city. Invisible, Katie and Tracy flew around the area and dismantled their heavy weapons and barricades, transforming them into big dogs that attacked the soldiers. Any leader, magician, or commander that shouted orders got sheeped… literary, they got transformed into sheep.

Slowly the army dropped their weapons. On my order, the Gates stayed closed, any rats that want to run away will be easier to spot that way.

Xxxxx

Pansy noticed two big leathery bird things leave the mountain with three passengers on top. She called me: "Harry, they are leaving, two big ones with… there is one with red hair, the other two are dressed in black. Do we gun them down?"

I radioed back: "Do the same as we did with the king dear, The red-haired one is the shade, he can only be killed with a shot through the heart, so pepper him with holes. Happy hunting."

Twenty minutes later the Ra'zac were reduced to a pulp. The shade got a full load of bullets and explosive rounds, so one of them got into the heart according to Ginny. The three girls started to patrol the outside of the city for runaways, the city has quite some hidden tunnels, several nobles and priests were caught that way and gunned down. It might be cruel, but compared with a normal siege, the causalities are low. No ladders at the walls, or a battering ram at the gate, no boiling oil or arrows, just some transfiguration and pinpoint executions.

Luna reported the success of the raid in the cathedral. Dobby and Winky did their thing again, they found the eggs and secured them in the mansion. A legilimence on the bishop revealed all hidden chambers and priests It was a strange sight, He missed all his limbs, he sacrificed them all to his gods.

Luna was ruthless with the interrogation, preventing the bishop from suicide or burning his own memory.

She said: "There is no escape you poor fool, you are too far into your own delusion that you are willing to die for those beasts, well, your gods just got killed outside the city. Do you really believe they are gods? What was Galbatorix? The supreme God? He was commanding them for a hundred years like slaves. Here is a new trick for you… feel that? That is your magic disappearing... Ophelia? Do you think I am starting to sound like Harry?"

Ophelia smiled at her: "You let it sound that it is a bad thing sister. You are young and still searching for your own way. Getting influenced by harry is not a bad thing. Now, put that poor thing out of his misery, it is not good to keep him alive."

That evening, the nobles and commanders got a tour of the home of their gods, we explained the eating habits, and showed the pile of bones that was left from the human sacrifices.

I commented: "If you still believe in those animals, then I will sacrifice you here and now. If you think you are farm animals, then you are too far gone to be kept alive. Now, make up your minds."

That night the city was ours, all of the nobles bend their knee to us.

The next day we gathered all civilians that had missing limbs and did legilimence on them one by one, every fanatic was led away until everyone was inspected, then they mysteriously disappeared, never to be heard from again. I know, but I have no patience for zealots. It takes too much time to change their mind. If they are lucky then they end up in the same place the girls send their gods too.

Xxxxx

At lunch, Flora contacted us that they reached Farthen Dur and exposed the twins. Brom went into a meeting with the leaders of the Varden, the dwarves, and Aria with her escort. She reported with a smiley that Brom was grumpy all the way to Farthen Dur after he got the news we killed the king without him and his little helpers.

To be honest, that put them in a weak position. We have control of the dragons, the capital, and the country will follow soon. The elves are completely on my side after we introduced a new way to build homes, saved the dragons, and got rid of the mad king. The dwarves won't care either way as long they can stay in their tunnels.

Worse, now that the king is gone, the Varden will lose their reason to stay with the dwarves, so I expect them to be kicked out of the mountain in a month or two.

They are on the verge of being homeless vagrants. Hah! I can't wait to rub it into the old man's face. Bow to me! Lick my boots! BEGGG!

Luna slapped the back of my head: "Snap out of it my love, your facial expression is scaring me. Whatever you are thinking is not good.

I whined: "Hey! I was thinking about how to sass that old guy. Let me have that fantasy at least."

Luna hugged me: "Honey, power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. That is not you or us. We do our thing and find the way back to our sisters once they elected new leaders."

I sighed: "You are right love, I would be a lousy ruler, I am a control freak when I am in charge, and ruling this country would drive me crazy and tear us apart. All of you would be stunning Queens though. We will save it for a role-playing game at night. I can be the cruel tyrant that chained the princesses on his bed…" I got lost in my fantasy, leaving Luna a bit worried about my sanity.

"Sure honey, once we have a home and silenced our bedroom." She left me and started writing in her journal, probably spilling the beans to the sister wives.

Xxxxx

That evening we portkeyd back to Illirea, we decided with the elves to rename Uru'bean back to her old name. We took some nobles from Dras Leonas with us to show how fast we can be at their doorstep if we want to. With a last warning, we ported them back home.

We ate dinner in our mansion, Daphne reported on her progress with the Eldunari: "Galbatorix did a lot of damage on those Eldunari. Most are just bat stir crazy. I just can not get through to them, so it is best to erase the last hundred years from their memory in my opinion. I don't see any other way."

Fleur spoke up: "No Daphne, not a hundred years, leave some memories of their capture so they will know what happened and learn from it. It is said that Galbatorix secluded himself after killing all the dragons and riders, it was to enslave the Eldunari. They will understand the loss of memory better that way."

That was quite smart of Fleur, if we erase their capture completely, it will turn them back to the arrogant beings from before. Doing it Fleur's way, the Eldunari are going to remember it and be grateful to us for their rescue. Win-win for us.

Finally, I summed it up: "Daphne, Fleur, I agree with you both, but it is not our decision to make. It is for Glaedr, Umaroth, and the rest of the sane Eldunari to take responsibility. Offer the treatment as an option we can provide. For now, put them asleep or in a trance to keep them calm. Murtagh, how are you doing so far?"

Murtagh smiled and answered: "Just fine, Lord Potter, I am still having trouble believing this is real and I'll be riding a dragon soon. Thank you for giving me the chance to be a dragon rider."

Daphne commented: "Murtagh, the sins of the father are not to be blamed on the son, only if the son is walking the same path. You witnessed the fall of the traitors and their faults. The teacher you are going to have learned from his mistakes too. We hope this will be a new era for all of us to live in peace."

Xxxxx

We celebrated our victory loud and messy, my chain fantasy backfired, I found myself blindfolded, handcuffed, and chained to my bed. That night the girls played their fantasy of punishing the Tyrant. Murtagh and Tornac had a sleepless night again.

At breakfast, Murtagh and Tornac had walls under their eyes. Mumbling that they were going to take a nap they left after eating.

I commented: "We will silence our room tonight. I feel kind of sorry for them."

Luna chuckled: "You were screaming too loud dear. And be honest, it did not hurt that much. You were exaggerating a lot."

I protested: "Hey! That were phantom pains! Hearing you describe those tongs and clamps made it hurt before you even started."

We left our mansion trunk and stepped into the throne room. It is handy if you can move your home anywhere you want to.

Dathedr and his elders were already waiting for us, we lend several tents to them to get them out of our home. Dathedr started the meeting: "What are your plans for today Lord Potter? Are we consolidating the rest of the country?"

I nodded: "Yes, we will divide ourselves into teams, and make a portkey grid. The girls that can pilot a Spitfire will fly to the cities south and west from here. Each will take ten elves with them in their apartment trunk. Once at their destination, she will make a two-way portkey and send an elf back with it. The pilot will fly to the next city, while we return to that city and take control of it. That way we can do several cities in one day, and each city will be in reach instantly."

Padma added: "Parvati contacted me. The council and the leader of the Varden want to talk to us, and so does the king of the dwarves. What are we going to do? Get them here or meet them there?"

Tracey said: "Tell Parvati to portkey to the hideout. I will meet her there and portkey her up here, so she has this location in her repertoire. Then she can get them all here. If the king refuses to come, bring a representative along."

Tracey left and returned after a few minutes with Parvati. Parvati jumped into my arms and whispered: "I can't believe I missed out on roleplaying last night. You have to repeat it when everyone is here love."

I shivered, 29 wives and me chained on the bed? I can picture myself dying that way. After a kiss, she ported back to Farthen Dur.

Xxxxx

Parvati brought everyone back, accompanied by Brom, Ajihad, the council, and a delegation of dwarves. Last, there were three elves that came along. I guess the female is Aria… she is a looker alright. Easily a twelve on a scale of ten. My wives hurried to me for a kiss and stood behind me to back me up. It was an imposing sight, me sitting on the throne with a busload of wives behind me.

Alright, let's put the Varden back in their place.