Chapter Two
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Ari Potter can feel the hot air kissing her skin as she flies over the hot skyline of Dorne. Say what you will, but lightweight cloaks are a tremendous cheat for those that know how to do it. It is one of the secrets of the Unspeakables from France and the only reason that Ari knows it is because Hermione in her previous life as Harry Potter has traded the secret of flying is a pair of Black Dragon's blood vial which is tremendously hard to acquire all on its own. Thankfully Glaurung, the ill-tempered Black Dragon from his menagerie is available for donation with the right amount of persuasion.
How Voldemort managed to pry off the secret of lightweight flight, Ari would never know. Though her best guess is the Dark Tosser manages to pry it off the brains of some poor Unspeakable.
Right now however she is zooming in the skyline like Superman with her cloak tied around her neck making it drift behind her like a giant cape. She at first opted to wear her robes and cloak while flying. After all, she has the Cooling Charms that she can apply to fend off the heat of the weather.
Ari immediately recognizes that it is an extremely bad idea as her magic is zapped faster than a tire with a hole. She has underestimated the weather and it takes a great toll from her prompting her to cancel out the more advanced part of the Cooling Charms and retain the most basic which is to simply preserve the moisture of her skin and prevent her from being dehydrated.
She spends the next five minutes flying, mentally kicking herself for her stupidity as she zooms in the horizon. There is a reason why magicals use after all runestones and wardstones instead of simply relying on their power when casting powerful charms and magic. Magical exhaustion tends to happen and what a bitch it is to recover.
Thus Ari is down to the white brassiere part of her outfit, her bare navel exposed while sweating like a pig as she continues to fly. Flying might be a fast and great way to travel, but it also brings you extra close to the hot rays of Mister Sun.
Now as to why she is flying and where she is going, it is simple. She is flying to find the Nomads of the Deserts or the La'Os as the Dornish tends to call them. The reasons for her trying to get into contact with them are rather simple.
She needs a base of operations.
Death has not been specific about the Zombie Apocalypse that he wants her to stop, where or when. Thus Ari needs a base of operations, a place where she can lay down her head and rest while she keeps an eye in the sky and an ear on the ground for any hint of anything related to zombie in this world. She needs support, and people that would be able to help her. No man can control the world alone. Even the Dark Tosser realizes this as he obviously does not try soloing the magical world even for all his power and skill. No, he made the Death Eaters to command and to aid him. While a part of Ari would conclude that it is more because also of a way to stroke his ego, one cannot deny that such a tactic of his is rather effective as it resulted in the Magical War that almost brought down the Ministry if not for old snake face's epic fail in murdering a defenseless baby.
As to where she is going, it is rather simple. She's off to find the nearest oasis. Last she manages to glean out from the mind of the poor man's squire is that the best way to find the La'Os is to find the oases littering Central Dorne. The Forgotten Ones might be homeless, but compared to the city and town dwellers of Dorne, they have a knack of knowing where to find fresh water in the desert. That is the reason why they are so successful in surviving the great desert of Central Dorne. Thus to find them, one needs to concentrate on finding the secret oases littering the desert.
Normally finding an oasis in the desert would be nigh impossible even with a map guiding you. However Ari has the ultimate cheat hack of magic and that would aid her in her current problem. Thus here she is right now, flying over small mountains and hills along with a sea of sand as she turns to where the snake head of the refurbished form of the Elder Wand is pointing.
The Modified Point Me Spell is extremely useful. It literally points her to the general direction of where she plans on going. It cannot pinpoint souls yet, but places like oases, it can. And to find the La'Os, you need to find the seret Oasis littering this desert.
So far it seems the Central Deserts of Dorne have proven their notoriety. Ari has been flying for half a day already and all she can see so far is sand and the occasional barren patch of rock neither seeing any sign of any water or life for that matter. Sure it is not all barren literally. Cacti can be found, from small sprig ones to giant ones rising from the ground. There is also the occasional desert animal fleeting from place to place taking advantage of the shades to avoid the scorching heat of the sun. All in all, if not for the fact that she's sure she's another world, Ari might have thought that she's still in one of the old earth's deserts.
The sudden pinging of the snake's eyes at her arm brings her out of her bored state.
"I am here," with a gentle nudge of her magic, the lightweight cloak carrying her moves in accordance to her will making her plummet immediately fastly down from the sky. From her vantage point, she can see it, a patch of solidified rock surrounding a small grove where plants grow. There is the familiar blue of water standing out at the middle saying that it is an oasis. What's better is that she can almost see fifty or so black figures also in the area with a tent here and there alongside camels and horses.
She has found one of the wandering tribes of the La'Os.
"Now how to deal with them," she wonders to herself as she hovers for a few minutes.
She has to put them under her subservience. She is an unknown in this region and the little glimpses of the culture here of the La'Os from the brain of the dead squire tell her that the nomadic people are a proud one. She can't pose as one of the Lords or Ladies of Dorne, the La'Os barely care for titles, preferring to follow the rule of the strong and the wise. They have their own set of Elders that leads them and they still follow the old worship of Mother Rhoynar, staying true to the old customs of their ancestors rather than following the teachings of the Faith of the Seven which seems to be the official religion of this continent.
"Maybe I can use this, to gain my entry and my continuing stay," she thinks to herself. Humans are not so different from animals. Once you provide for their needs, they will be extremely amicable, docile and subservient to you. Even the most rabid of animals follow that rule.
"And what do these desert dwellers need most if not for water, and a place to stay to call home," she thinks to herself with a grin. She can use this. Man would not follow man, but someone greater than them, they will follow without hesitation. It is the nature of man after all to worship beings greater than they are.
For the sake of her plans, she would be one.
Vanishing her pant and leaving herself in her underwear and her brassiere only, Ari lets herself free-fall. Normally she would not be making an exhibitionist of herself but it is part of the plan to be as enigmatic as possible. She plans to use the belief of these Desert Dwellers to her advantage and be their coming Messiah.
Letting the cloak lessen the impact of her fall, Ari splashes right at the middle of the oasis. Immediately water engulfs her entire being. The Oasis is deep enough to cover her head and she immediately casts the Bubble-Headed charm to take care of her air. Despite her depth, she can still hear the panicked shouts and cries of the surprised desert dwellers as they obviously does not expect something or rather someone falling directly from the sky.
Grinning mentally to herself, Ari schools her expression. In her previous life she has more than enough on practicing her poker face. She manages a magical Zoo after all and that means she is also a provider for magical raw materials needed by the magical world. She has more than enough experience in making deals with different Family Heads who more than one have an ego that needs stroking in diplomacy.
Walking towards the shore, she puts up her most enigmatic look even as fishes and other watery critters go past her Bubble-Head Charm. The moment her scalp breaches the waters, she immediately cancels the charm letting water splash her face and head before slowly walking towards the direction where she can see the majority of the gasps came as she appears.
Her eyes immediately zero in for the first time up close the La'Os, and she is not impressed.
They look more like a ragtag group of strangers wearing turbans and dirty white cloaks covered in sand and stuff. Both women and children are also the same. Some of them have dark skin, while others look extremely tanned. It is not surprising there seeing that they are desert nomads and are under the heat of the sun always. At their sides are long knives, and dirks with the occasional scimitar from the men. Again, Ari is not surprised. The desert is a hostile place and the animals that dwell on it are also hostile. In such a harsh environment, it is either you are the predator or the prey.
Enigmatically she strides upward even as everyone observes in silence, either from fear or wonder. Already she can hear murmurs as more and more of her body comes out, the waters of the Oasis cascading down her bare skin. She lets a small amount of magic gather at her eyes and she knows that more of the murmurs that follow comes from the fact that they see her emerald eyes glow brightly.
"You do not belong here unnatural being!" booms suddenly one of the La'Os walking forwards to meet her. Ari immediately zeroes in on him. He is a big man, almost six'four in height with giant muscles rippling below what seems to be boiled armor. At his sides are giant bronze war axes which he wordlessly draws, one on each hand, handling them like nothings before charging forward at her with a ferocious battle cry.
Ari simply observes his charge in silence, analyzing his movements. It might look terrifying but it is so effortlessly simple. The times of the modern era might not have much use for swords, but hundreds of years of refinement since the middle-ages have improved the skills of using one, and Ari is a master of many of them.
Ari simply avoids the horizontal first swipe by stepping back a little, the tip barely scratching her brassiere, the second follow up of the other axe she also dodges by moving her head, making her see bronze for a second. The giant La'Os makes a twirling motion as he uses his entire body weight for a follow up diagonal strike this time making her slide sidewards in bare feet before ducking the second follow up attack, her lithe form dancing and weaving.
No matter how powerful a body is, wielding such heavy weapons takes a toll and there is always that tell as one takes a breath. Ari uses that tell to grab the knife sheathed at the man's back, the bone looking sharp object glinting at the midday sun. The man is of course enraged and attempts to bisect ari in four pieces by swinging diagonally again with both axes. Once more Ari dances through his swing with bare feet on the sand before plunging the bone knife straight at his abdomen.
It cuts through boiled leather, skin and flesh before reaching the soft portions underneath. She hears the man grunt in surprise and agony but Ari is not done yet. Pulling the knife through, she plunges upwards on the same hole and in repeated motion plunges again for the third time, the sharp pointy end finally reaching the heart as she uses her entire momentum and body weight behind her final attack.
The man grunts one final time before wordlessly crashing on the sand.
Cries immediately can be heard around her of "Chief!" and the most prominent of them all is "Father!" as a black looking young man in his early twenties charge forwards at Ari this time with a knife of his own.
"You'll pay for that! I'm going to kill you!" hollers the young man attacking her as he easily bridges the distance between him and her.
He tries to punch her in the face but Ari simply head butts his fist making him howl as his bones break. A quick application of the hardening charm towards her forehead is the reason. He compensates for it by lunging towards her with the knife at his free hand in a series of slashes and strokes which Ari admits, is quite good. If not for her more advanced skill and her blood running thick with magic, she might have been hit. As it is, he stands no chance. She has zero desire on letting things go long and toying with her opponent.
When he tries to lunge for her again, she sidesteps him easily before plunging her stolen knife right at his left ribcage diagonally, the sharp pointy edge driving straight to the heart. With a choking sound, the young man coughs once, twice making a few steps forward before also joining his father in death.
"Your chiefs have fallen!" Ari makes sure to use a sonorous spell to make sure that she is heard by everyone on the tribe. "I am Arianne! By sand and blood, I claim the position as right of conquest. If any of you can stand against me for the position, then do so!" she declares loudly making sure to turn her eyes to the oldest of the clan.
Immediately a wordless Legilemens strikes deep into his brain. Unlike before, Ari does not make an in-depth scan which would have turned his brains to mush but more of a passive one, gleaning from his thoughts what she needs.
Immediately she grins inside as she strikes gold. This clan is not one of the larger La'Os clans but in fact a small one. As traditional by the clans, their leader is their best fighter and their protector. The position is usually held for many generations. By law, anyone can challenge a chief of the clan which usually can be inherited by father to son. However it is extremely rare for anyone to challenge the leader. Judging by the number of warriors in this clan, no one can challenge her for the position. She just manages to off their best fighter after all and the second best. No one is stupid enough to challenge her.
One by one she observes as they bow to her in subservience their heads touching the sand with the Elder being the last one.
"Rise, all of you," she intones as they one by one lifts up their heads. "Elder, might I know your name? I am sure you have a lot of questions for the sake of the tribe,"
The old man raises his head, he looks like he is in his early sixties with a forked graying beard with deep black eyes. He looks wise enough but terribly afraid as he approaches her.
"I am called Baruch, chieftain. You are right, by right of sand and blood you are chief. Might I know what you are and what your plans to my people are? Are you one of the gods?"
Arianne lets a tinkling laugh leaves her lips making the man in front of her flinch. "For the answer to your second question Elder, I am not one of the gods. There are gods and there are men and there are those of us in between. As to what I am, I am the Voice from the Outer World, the emissary of the rivers, I am the Emissary of Mother Rhoyne from beyond the sea to bring her blessings to her people once again. As to what I plan to your people, be at peace, I have no intention of hurting any of you. The blood price of the blessing has already been paid," at this Ari gestures to the unmoving bodies of the former chief and his heir.
"I am here to lift you up from this barren land that you travel and call home. I know that you La'Os pride yourselves in the fact that everything that you need is provided to you for the land despite how barren it is. I am the Voice from the Outer World telling you that you are wrong, what you lack here," Ari kicks the dust on her bare feet, "…is water,"
"And what does the Voice from the Outer World says about it? If you are from Mother Rhoyne, what do you see for all of us?" one of the women asks.
Ari simply smiles at the questioning woman before answering her:
"Green Paradise,"
…
Author's Note:
Sorry for the long update. Life is busy and I am still recovering from one of life's challenges and problems. Anyway hope you enjoyed this chapter. We are taking it slow before we hit our stride.
Anyway I am leaving one of the options for you readers. What do you want Ari's surname to be?
Potter, Atreides, Peverell (Though this is kinda overused already) or something else?
As usual please review and comment for your reviews are the song to this writer's heart.
