Chapter 16 - Bindings of the Bloodraven
"What is wrong with him?" Harry asked.
"He needs a rider...a connection," Daenerys said, worry filling her voice. She held the tiny form of Viserion, the cream dragon had been refusing to eat.
Harry sighed, "We can try Jon Snow, but I forced him to make an oath that he wouldn't try to challenge you...giving him a dragon is...I don't know."
She looked up at him with a raised eyebrow, "I know you said he was related to me, but why go through so much effort?"
Harry shrugged, "It wasn't much effort if I am honest, I just didn't want him to try and claim anything. He should be where he is, leading troops and such."
"Instead of trying to replace me?" She challenged.
He didn't reply.
"I see...and what do we do about Viserion?" Daenerys asked, cradling the small dragon in her lap. While his brothers had grown to be massive, Viserion remained around the size of a large dog. The lack of a budding magical connection prevented his rampant growth. He refused to eat and drink water since he could not keep up with his much larger brothers, a depression taking hold.
"We find a rider."
In his mind, he whispered to Death, "Do you know of anyone that would fit?"
"Besides Jon Snow?"
"Yes."
"There is one, but you will have to earn it. To approach her is to put her life in danger," Death said. Harry could feel her smile, taunting or maybe challenging him to see if he would fail. To see if she would claim a soul that he tried to save.
An image appeared in his head, a woman bound in an obscuring mask, not just physical, but magical. She was in Qarth, helping some sick people with alchemical applications. She seemed to sense the scrying, but couldn't pinpoint the location. It made her wary though, and she quickly finished up and left. She had one dark black eye with no iris and one silvery-blue eye.
Her hair was brown and the blood-red lacquered mask she wore stood out starkly against her black robes. Harry could even get an idea of her magic just from the scry. It was shadowy and...bound.
"She has the potential to connect with a dragon?" Harry asked to Death.
"She had a great magic pool before she was bound. You must release her of her bindings," Death said.
"Harry?" Daenerys asked, using the name she used when it was just them.
"Yes?" Harry said, still looking into the distance within their quarters of the Meereen Palace.
"Are you alright? You seemed to have zoned out..."
He shook his head, "I think I know of someone who might be able to bond with Viserion...but it will require some work."
She fully turned to him with an eyebrow raised, "Oh?"
He nodded, "Her name is Quaithe."
Daenerys looked shocked, "Quaithe? I think I know her..."
"Oh?" Harry asked.
She nodded, "She appeared to me, saying cryptic words that I will never forget: 'To go north, you must journey south. To reach the west, you must go east. To go forward, you must go back, and to touch the light you must pass beneath shadow'."
Harry stared at her as he listened to the words. They contained power and purpose, fate and destiny. "...you must pass beneath shadow."
Daenerys nodded.
"And she helped you?"
"Cryptically, she seemed like she wanted to help, giving me advice and encouragement. I have dreamed of her several times," She said.
"Very interesting. What do you think about it?"
"About you trying to recruit her?"
Harry shrugged, "About asking her to try and bond with Viserion...if she has the magic. I think it would be worth it...though I have an ominous feeling about it. That I will have to do some things to help her."
"How so?"
He shook his head, "Something about her magic being bound by someone or something. I will have to investigate it. It is leaving her incapable of accessing it fully. It would have to be fixed before the mount ritual would work."
"Where is she?"
"A city called Qarth? You have been there, right?"
Daenerys nodded, "I have. They call it the city of merchants. The Pureborn rule from the Hall of a Thousand Thrones and constantly contend with the Thirteen Merchant Princes, The Tourmaline Brotherhood, and the Ancient Guild of Spicers. I was betrayed by one of the Thirteen and had to flee Qarth after destroying one of the Warlocks in the House of the Undying. It was a mess."
Harry nodded, "So...you don't mind if I cause some havoc?"
She looked over to his smirk, and once again was surprised by how her heart fluttered at the roguish wizard. She shook her head, "I don't want you to force her to help you, but if you can convince her to come here then I am open to having her help. And I don't particularly care what happens in Qarth."
"Then should I bring a Legion?"
She laughed, "Maybe hold off on that for now, you said something about the Frost Legion not being ready just yet?"
"Not just yet, but they are coming together fantastically. I just had the first few sets of siege equipment built, along with the armor for the Commanders and the giants. They are fully armed and armored now, practicing tactics and maneuvers while incorporating the giants. Another week or so and I say we send them into combat."
"Blood them, as it were," Daenerys said, a slight challenge in her voice.
Harry raised an eyebrow, "They need to be in combat at some point. If we need to rely on them, we will be in trouble if they don't have experience fighting as a single force."
Silence grew between them for a bit until Daenerys spoke up, "You said you wanted to build an empire."
She looked up at him, her burning amethyst eyes focusing on his, "Where do we go from here?"
Harry nodded and walked over to the table where they had procured a map of Essos. "What do you know of Elyria, Tolos, and Mantarys?"
"Tolos and Mantarys are slaver cities. Elyria was, like the others, a Valyrian Stronghold that survived the Doom, but now represents an extremely wealthy class that buys slaves by the shipload from the other two. I was thinking of sending people to negotiate with them, but Maester Aemon advised against wasting the time to do so."
Harry smiled, "So we can't really call it the Bay of Dragons...not yet. Not until we end all slavery within the bay."
Daenerys smiled back, "Bay of Dragons..."
"We need Jon Snow to secure Astapor, we need the Frost Legion ready to fight...and we need our third rider. Then we can move on to those three cities."
"Have you checked in with Jon Snow?" Daenerys asked.
"No, but I can do that right now," Harry said, summoning the Journal of Legions.
"Ah, looks like he has left an update," Harry said as he read the small message.
Ghost Legion:
"We have arrived in Astapor, and are slowly sneaking more and more men into the city. I met with the Council and have determined that an open display of force will make the Butcher and his men go underground. What is worse, the Butcher was a slave who is now convincing people that the Council is trying to reinstate the Good Masters. He is somehow rallying people behind that cause, and our responses are minimal as we can't find proper targets.
If you have any way of helping us find the Butcher we can end this quickly.
- Jon Snow
Harry replied, "Give me a day and I will come help."
~~o0o~~
Harry used the Time-Turner and went back 5 hours. He quickly appeared in his closet within the Peverell Manor and found a decent old duster jacket. It was a thick and dark brown cloth made up the coat, leaving room for a large hood and full sleeves. It was rugged and durable, made with materials that wouldn't be seen on Planetos for years if ever.
"Perfect," Harry said.
With the help of Willis, he worked to enchant the jacket which would become the master copy for the rest of the Ghost Legion.
He had a few ideas about what he wanted to accomplish with the jacket. The first thing was to make the wearer hard to detect, a simple Notice-Me-Not enchantment would work. The second thing would be a way to track people, a sort of Point-Me spell that could be used while the hood was up. The third thing would be a temperature control charm. This was a dark brown, nearly black, jacket with a hood. It wouldn't be easy to wear in the desert without magical help.
That made him think, on top of the Notice-Me-Not charm he could input a changing camouflage charm of sorts, something that blends in very well, while in any various environments. He would also need a basic size-adjustment enchantment along with an impervious dual enchantment to add to the array.
That was six enchantments that he needed to form into an array.
Harry quickly drew out the array circles for a 6-way enchantment.
"Willis, do you have a color-changing enchantment? Or at least a type of camouflage?"
"I do, Master," Willis pulled up a scrap piece of parchment and began to draw, "Something like this? It changes the color to some degree, a Chameleon Enchantment. It wouldn't take as much magic as a full invisibility charm."
Harry nodded, "That should be fine, I will have to increase the initial magic I put into the coat."
Willis nodded, "We should also input some magical thread throughout the jacket. It will make the enchantments more effective."
"Perfect. Now do you have any idea how to implement a tracking charm? A way to track a target they are searching for?"
"Hmmm," Willis inspected the template for the enchantment array and went into deep thought.
Harry found a piece of cloth that could hold the enchantment array and magically bound it inside the jacket. Harry created the enchantment array out of metallic threads carefully sewn into the jacket with precise wand movements. After about a half hour of work, he had the outline and base of the enchantment array lined up.
"What about something like this, Master?" Willis asked, offering the patch of cloth he had been working on.
Harry inspected the small cloth and Willis explained how to use it.
The small rectangular patch looked like a compass with a static directional arrow.
"Press the central point with your finger and focus on me," Willis said.
Harry held the patch and pressed on the central point while doing as asked. A large arrow appeared to the right, as direct as possible to Willis. As he turned to point the central arrow at him, the other arrow stayed in line with Willis, aligning with the pointing forward arrow.
"This is perfect Willis, thank you," Harry said.
The elf nodded at him then pulled a spool of metallic wire, "I will thread this throughout the jacket."
"Great, I will have to change the array to link to this tracking patch, but it should be easy," Harry said. He flipped the patch over and took a look at the rune work Willis did to activate the tracking charm. It would be easy to add to the array with the thread.
An hour of work and the jacket was perfectly enchanted. After that, it was time to start making copies of it, just like the armor for the Frost Legion.
Harry quickly went through his work and began to make copies. It took the rest of the day for him and Willis to copy and imbue magic into all the jackets. But after he was finished, he had crates of jackets that he packed into an extra storage chest with an expansion charm on it.
"Great work, Willis, I am off."
"Aye, Master Harries," Willis said with a nod.
Harry shrunk the chest and pocketed it as he checked the time.
He appeared in the shared room with Daenerys within the pyramid, causing her to jump.
"Back already?" She asked.
"Only to say goodbye. I will deliver some jackets to Jon Snow, then head to Qarth and find our potential third rider."
She smiled at him, " While you do that, I am going for a ride, are you taking Rhaegal?"
Harry shook his head, "Let him fly with you, will you?"
"Of course."
He leaned in and kissed her before he spun on his heel and Apparated outside the town.
"Alright Shimmer, can you picture Jon Snow for me?"
The bird appeared on his shoulder with a burst of flame and a yawn, "I was enjoying my nap."
Harry laughed, "You can go back to sleep after you take me there, your teleportation is much better!"
Shimmer huffed, "Don't try to butter me up. I know it's better."
They disappeared in a flash of silver and black flames.
Harry appeared in a meeting room, finding the Commanders and Lieutenants of the Ghost Legion in a heated discussion.
The conversation died as they all stared at Harry in shock.
"Lord Hadrian, thank you for coming," Jon Snow said.
Ygritte was next to him, looking frustrated. Daario Naharis was holding his dagger as if he was ready to throw it. Grayson was trying to maintain composure as he stared at Harry, looking equally frustrated as the rest.
The Tattered Prince was the only one besides Jon who held onto his composure. He raised an eyebrow, "Come to solve all our problems, wizard?"
Harry laughed, conjuring a chair of his own and sitting down at the table, "No, no. I said that Jon here should prove that he could complete this task, but I think he needs a little bit of help. All of you do."
Jon looked uncomfortable and it was then that Harry noticed Ghost who was curled calmly in the corner. The red eyes of the massive dire wolf were locked onto him, silent and calculating.
"Right, I have this here..." Harry tossed the trunk and had it grow in size. "I figure if you are to be called the Ghost Legion, then you should be able to fade into your surroundings like a ghost."
He summoned one duster jacket and floated it over to Daario, "Please, try that on."
Daario grabbed the coat and slung it over his back, even while wearing leather armor. It quickly sized up to fit the armor comfortably. Immediately the jacket changed colors to blend in with the darkened beige stone of the room.
Frowns appeared on the faces of those watching, and Harry smirked as he noticed the effects influence the minds around them.
"This jacket is special, you see, it makes it hard for anyone not wearing one to clock one who is. While wearing this jacket, you will be hard to detect, blending into your surroundings while moving unnoticed. Not only that, but they are temperature controlled, keeping you cool in the heat and warm in the cold."
Harry floated enough jackets for everyone in the room to ignore the Notice-Me-Not enchantments.
"I have to say...that is quite the jacket," Grayson said.
The Tattered Prince nodded, "I have never seen anything like it, being able to blend in the moment he put the cloak on, in front of my very eyes no less."
"Incredible," Ygritte said, watching the cloak shrink to fit her.
"There is more, inspect the inside of the left wrist."
Each of them lifted the left arm and discovered the compass-like patch.
"This will help you find or track people. The more you know about a person, the better it will track them. But anything from titles, blood, mental descriptions, and anything that can help you identify a person will help to track them with this. I think the range is about a kilometer, so you will need several people working together to get locked in on a potentially unknown target," Harry explained, then described exactly how it worked.
He talked about the rest of the enchantments. "Right, so I have 15,000 of them in there," He nodded to the chest. "That should help you with your mission. Any questions?"
Jon shook his head and Ygritte spoke up, "This will be perfect for rooting out those Butcher fucker's, right?"
The Tattered Prince nodded, "These jackets give weight to the name Ghost Legion. We will walk unseen and be able to find anyone. We will truly be Ghosts."
Harry smiled, "Ghost Legion indeed. Oh, and I don't want to put a time limit on this, but in about a week or so I will have a new mission for the Legion."
Jon Snow raised his eyebrow, "A week?"
Harry nodded, "A week."
~~o0o~~
Harry sent Shimmer the image of the alleyway he watched Quaithe walk down. It was deep within Qarth, southeast of the Bay of Dragons, and across the Red Wastes. A handful of Dothraki encampments could be seen along the way, with the two other port cities of Qarkash and Port Yhos.
The flash of dark flames pushed dust away in the alleyway, and Harry quickly summoned the Invisibility Cloak as Shimmer entered her tattoo. He peered around and left the alleyway in the direction Quaithe had been walking courtesy of Death's vision. Harry summoned the Elder Wand and silently cast a Point Me spell.
His wand spun in circles like it couldn't find a target.
A frown appeared on his face and he looked around, "Now that is strange..."
Death laughed in his ear but didn't comment.
He cast a tracking spell, trying to find footprints in the path Quaithe might have left. There was a trail, but they ended with the alleyway, the street turning into an open thoroughfare. Harry debated summoning a House Elf to help locate her but decided to figure it out.
He walked for a while, letting his instincts and magic guide him. It took him through the beautiful streets of Qarth, where colors contrasted vibrantly with the beige stone. They would have to add this city to the Dragon Empire at some point, it would be a fantastic jewel. After getting lost in thought for a time he felt something interesting.
His magic was slightly drawn to something a few streets over. He walked over and looked, but couldn't find what had pulled his attention.
Harry felt frustrated as night fell, having spent the whole day searching for her. He found an expensive Inn to spend the night in the city, hoping to have better luck the next day.
It took a long time to fall asleep, but Harry woke up in the Dream. He didn't bring the Peverell Manor and instead woke up within the manifestation of Qarth.
Shimmer appeared with him and they took a good look at their surroundings. The extravagant features that made up Qarth appeared as a false visage that hid the dark truths behind the city.
While they didn't have slavery, at least not publicly, the dark secrets were no less disgusting. The vibrant colors that gave life to the city in the material world, only served as lights to contrast the shadows.
Shimmer commented on the city, "I don't like this place."
Harry laughed at the ball of black and silver flames, "It doesn't have great vibes does it?"
They began to explore a bit, walking into the darkness, while there could be terrors within a place like this, even in the Dream, not many can come close to contending with the Master of Death.
He walked, and the regalia of his station floated around him, a tattered cloak of the reaper. It only allowed his two glowing green eyes to shine beneath the hood. Shimmer decided she had enough and joined with Harry's magic.
Shade's began to move, just out of sight like the early part of a horror film. They couldn't be focused on, they thought they couldn't be seen. But that wasn't the case.
Harry allowed the Elder Wand to land in his hand, and he began to draw on his connection to Death. His magic brought forth manifestations and representations of his will, taking the shape of a dozen Grim Hounds. Their matching green eyes immediately locked onto the shades and chased them down, following Harry's will.
He knew what these shades were, remnant ghosts of people that met their end. They filled the back streets within the Dream, making it a hellscape of darkness hidden by vibrant lights.
The Grim went to work, each bite connecting to a shade forcing the remnant spirit to disperse. He could feel a concentration of them, a foul and desecrated place that seemed to be the source of the shade infestation in the distance.
Harry worked his way through the city, and unlike normal landscapes within the Dream, he didn't just skip to his destination. It took time to get there, the resentment of the remnant shades were a cohesive force within the city, in the Dream.
Summoning more and more Grim hounds, the clash of shadows and darkness fully ignited into a battle. Shades tried to flank Harry, but Black Mist tore through them as easily as the Grim, sending the broken remnants into damnation.
The Scimitar hadn't seen much combat since they took Meereen. The shades had no true form but seemed to flow between humanoid and unrecognizable blobs of shadows as they tore through the alleyways.
He approached the source, a tower with a distorted screaming face as the entrance, blue lips marking the threshold. Each shade flowed out from the mouth, continuously vomiting tortured souls. Harry didn't charge in and waited to see how the Grim countered the flow of shades. He felt something as his hounds began to close in.
Another shadow. This one wasn't a remnant shade, it was...something else.
A lacquered red mask on a dress of flowing shadow elegantly glided toward the tower. A feeling of wonder and curiosity emanated from the being as she watched the waist-high Grim Hounds consume the shades.
"Not a bad sight is it?" Harry said.
The feminine form flinched and the red featureless mask snapped towards him. Her heterochromatic eyes met the unending darkness beneath the hood, two deathly green eyes staring back.
Her eyes looked troubled and like something was suppressing their light. Could it be the mask?
A distorted and feminine voice came from behind the mask, "What is this?"
Harry held his hand out as if to pet one of the Grim, causing a shadow to grow into another summoned one, "These are Grim Hounds, quite effective against these remnant shades."
Her eyes were darting between the hound and Harry, panicked if not worried, "How are you doing this?"
Harry shrugged, "It's who I am. What I represent."
She hesitated, as if asking the next question would only reveal the darkness she feared to peer into, "What is that?"
The glowing green eyes flared, "Death."
She stumbled back, an aura of fear potent in her presence.
"Relax, I don't come for you. You are not the cause of this...atrocity."
"The Warlocks?"
Harry nodded, "You have enough magic to manifest within the Dream...yet you seem...diminished. Why is that?"
Her gaze dropped to the ground, "Bindings are terrible things. Even the freedom of a mask can only help so much."
He already knew who this was, his potential third rider. He could feel his magic reaching out to her like it did with Daenerys but he forcefully held it back. With that, he pulled his hood back, allowing her to see his face, "Would you like to come with me as I clear this infestation of shades? You need not do anything besides witness."
She shivered at his absolute confidence but nodded as she inspected him. He had a grim look, matching the atmosphere in these dark alleyways.
"Allow me to introduce you to my phoenix companion, Shimmer. She will protect you as we delve into this place."
Shimmer appeared with a beautiful if mournful cry. It brought tears to Quaithe's eyes. They traveled down her red mask like luminous streams of blue light.
Shimmer flapped her wings and glided over to the woman, allowing beautiful tones of her song to flow through the woman. Shimmer landed gently on her shoulder and she looked up at the beautiful bird, perhaps feeling more vulnerable than she had in a long time. The Dream is a strange place, and it affects people differently.
"Come, follow me," Harry said quietly.
Quaithe noted the long black scimitar that left clouds of black mist, a fitting weapon for someone hidden behind a cloak of darkness. He walked with the same confidence he had shown the whole time and whistled lightly, calling his hounds.
With the whistle, hundreds of Grim Hounds began to flow around them and charge into the tower through the tortured stone face. A sense of excitement emanated from the charging Grim, a cacophony of snarls, claws, and barks.
Screams echoed from the mouth as shades were ripped and torn. They entered the tower and found a maze of corridors, yet Harry walked on confidently, seemingly knowing where he was heading.
"Stay close," Harry said, as he leveled his wand to the side and a bolt of green energy struck a sneaking shade. His blade flashed out and found another pair of shades. Their screams would haunt Quaithes dreams, cries of souls dragged to hell.
Shimmer created a barrier of silver and black flames around Quaithe, preventing any shade from touching her. The silvery light barely provided enough illumination as they trudged through the maze, but it was enough to spot shades.
After an unknown amount of time, Harry stopped as he passed by a particular wall. A low chuckle came from under his cloak and he quickly slashed the Elder Wand at the brick wall.
It sliced through the illusion as if it was made from paper. It began to turn to ash as Harry walked through it. Beyond was a burning and screaming bald man, yet no sound came from his horrified rictus. Beyond him were nine kneeling warlocks, their tongues cut out, faces in horrible pain as they begged for release.
"What is happening? Are they the source of the shades?" Quaithe asked.
Harry nodded as he watched a few more shades climb out of the throats of the nine, "It seems like it."
A scythe formed from his wand, made of pure deathly magic. He casually swiped his hand and the shades fell to dust and ash. The silent screamers all perished, and the House of the Undying began to unravel.
"Let's get out of here," Harry said, holding out his hand, the wand now gone. Even now his magic billowed off of him in waves of unrelenting power, and what is more, the bound magic inside her was straining to reach out to it. Like his magic could free her from this fate she has lived for so long.
She was almost shaking in his presence. She felt how effortlessly he slashed out with more magic than she had ever felt at a single time. She had followed him into this terrifying place solely because of his confidence as he wiped out shades. Traveling throughout the city within the Dream was always dangerous with the House of the Undying active. But since they had been wiped out, the Dream had only grown more dangerous as what remained from their actions were unleashed.
She had her own means of going unnoticed within the Dream but relying on her mask when the city was overwhelmed like this wasn't enough safety for her liking. Then when she saw the terrifying hounds of darkness, Grim he called them, so effortlessly take down those shades, she knew she was looking at something different.
Quaithe reached out and grabbed his hand as the Tower of the Undying collapsed around them. They disappeared, not just from the Tower, but from the Dream entirely.
She woke up from the Dream and found herself in the room she had stayed in for so long. It was a simple room, but she decorated it with flowing silks to break it up and add volume.
Harry let go of her hand, "Are you alright?"
She sat up, wearing the same black robes and red lacquered mask from the Dream, "How did we get here?"
Harry shrugged, "I just pulled us out of the Dream and appeared by you. Hope you don't mind..."
It quickly grew awkward as Harry stood there, "Well, ahem, I was hoping to ask you...Are you of Targaryen blood?"
"Why?"
"Well...I am hoping to...well, this is much more awkward than I thought it would be..." Harry said. Instead of moving forward through the heavy atmosphere, he decided to give her some space. He stepped back, "Do you mind if I have a seat?"
She looked around the room knowing there wasn't any chair outside of the one for the vanity. She shrugged.
Harry summoned one of his favorite drinking chairs and had himself a seat, "Look, I will be honest with you. I came to Qarth looking for you. Running into you within the Dream was entirely coincidental."
"Why do you seek me?" She had a smooth and elegant voice, just as ethereal as it was in the Dream.
"It is simple. Daenerys has a dragon that needs a bonded companion. A rider."
The elegant woman tilted her mask curiously.
Harry went on to explain the entire situation with Daenerys, Viserion, and his connection to it all. He described the type of ritual that would bind her magic to the dragon, should she accept the role of rider. He explained that he would require her to sign a contract that would ensure both Viserion, as well as Daenerys and his budding empire's safety.
She sat quietly for almost 5 minutes as she thought about it, then looked up for clarification, "You wish for me to become a dragon rider?"
Harry nodded at her, "Though I must ask. Does that mask of yours conceal your magical energy? Or is it...something else?"
Quaithe's reserved demeanor only seemed to heighten as he spoke those words. He only got a quick glimpse of her eyes, both of them holding a terrible sadness and maybe an ounce of fear.
"Quaithe?" He prodded. "Even if you accept to help save Viserion...if your magic is suppressed then the ritual will fail."
She didn't respond.
"Whatever it is, I can help. I have extensive knowledge of magical curses, maladies, and even things like possession. In fact, I would argue that I am the only person on this planet that has the amount of experience I do-"
"Unlikely," Quaithe said.
"Oh?" Harry smirked.
"The Shadow Binders of Asshai are extremely well-versed in such magic. It is where I learned to conceal what little remains of my magic," She said.
"What little remains?"
She seemed reluctant to keep speaking on what ailed her, but Shimmer decided to help.
A quick burst of flames and Shimmer appeared on the arm of Harry's chair.
Quaithe leaned back in surprise, "This is her from the Dream? What was her name?"
Shimmer chirped and let Harry introduce her, "Her name is Shimmer, a twilight phoenix. She is my companion and familiar."
"She is beautiful," Quaithe said, staring at the phoenix.
Shimmer began to sing a phoenix song, something that caused her silver flames to dance around the room. They didn't touch anything but began to weave around the room and create a brilliant display of light and music. Harry had his head tilted back with his eyes closed as he enjoyed Shimmer's song. It contained Shimmer's emotions on the last few months she spent on Earth.
She had yet to open up to Harry about what had happened to her, but it was clear that she lost someone close to her. He would let her open up to him if she wanted to, but wouldn't pry. Tears came to his eyes as well as Quaithe. The power of Phoenix song is incredible and unique.
After she finished, Harry ran his hand through her flaming feathers, "Thank you for sharing that with us, Shimmer."
She chirped in the affirmative.
Harry was smiling at Shimmer as Quaithe began to speak, "My magic is mostly locked away...being siphoned off to someone else."
Harry's smile dropped and he looked over at her, "Siphoned off?"
She nodded.
Death spoke in his ear, "A fascinating enchantment...a bloody ritual of dark magic. You will love dismantling it."
"I think I can probably break that down...but I would need your consent to try."
"I don't even know your name."
Harry looked surprised at that. Meeting someone conscious while in the Dream was so intimate, it was showing them your magic, your being. It hadn't even crossed Harry's mind to introduce yourself.
"Where are my manners?" He stood up, "I am Hadrian Peverell, Master of Death."
He displayed his trademark smirk and gave the lady a courtly bow.
"Master of Death? You mentioned something about death when we were in the Dream. That you represent it...what does that mean?"
"Hmmm, well, I guess you could say I am a sort of champion of Death. As in, I represent her interests in this realm, so to speak."
"I don't understand."
"It's hard to describe without context, but I can't really give you any unless...you die. But that wouldn't be helpful right now, would it? I have come asking for your help, and in return, I will help you."
"If you can."
Harry nodded, "If I can. As a part of this...binding, do you have any sort of marking that represents it? It's not the mask, right?"
She shook her head, "No, the mask just ensures that he can't find me."
Harry thought about how his Point Me spell couldn't target her and realized it was because of the mask. Then he asked the more important question.
"Who is he?"
"The Three-eyed Raven, but I know him as the Bloodraven.
That gave Harry a bad feeling, "Quaithe. Will you trust me to help you with this?"
"Trust? That will be difficult. But allow you to help? That I can do. If you can help me then I will do my best to help Viserion, though I am unsure how that works."
"Don't worry about that for now. We need to focus on you," Harry said.
She nodded, taking in a deep breath, "I understand."
Quaithe stood up and made eye contact with Harry. Her dark hair cascaded around her and her heterochromatic eyes decided to trust him. She allowed her robes to fall to the ground, revealing pale and flawless skin. He didn't know how old she was, but her perfect chest and surprisingly fit body made her look like she was in her 20s.
She turned around, showing no shame in her nudity. She looked over her shoulder at him as she revealed that massive magical circle on her back. Its binding circle was written in wet blood, yet it was static and unmoving. Harry immediately moved past her nudity and began to inspect it with his soul and magical vision.
The circle went deep into her, reaching beyond the physical and into her magical core. Harry stood up as Quaithe lay on the bed, giving him access to her back. He inspected it, Shimmer also looking interested in the horrible circle.
Harry reached out and put his hand on the delicate and smooth flesh of her back, touching the horrible binding that marred otherwise unblemished skin. He pushed his magic into it and through it, his eyes went black. He began to see within the Dream. His vision took him extremely far.
Across all of Essos and the Narrow Sea. North through the Riverlands and past Winterfell. He passed through the wall that kept the darkness at bay and found himself flying over endless fields of snow and ice. Through blizzards of unbelievable cold and beyond.
Then he saw it, a tree, beautiful and terrifying, not just because of its majesty, but because of what it represented.
The Old Gods.
It was a Weirwood Tree, not just any, but THE Weirwood Tree. The anchor point for all of them. It was filled to the brim with magic, and its blood-red leaves fell constantly around it, floating like drops of blood in the Dream. His vision passed underneath it, into a barrow of roots and snow.
He found a throne of pain and corruption. A throne that could see many things even though it was deep underground. The horrid roots of blood and shadow dug deep into the husk of a man who sat upon the throne. He seemed to notice the attention Harry gave him. One remaining eye, as the other was pierced by roots long ago, looked up at Harry with a devious smirk, "You cannot have her, foolish wizard!"
The man had a sword in his hand, clearly Valyrian steel, but it was skinny a rapier. It was dug deep into and through the remaining flesh of his thigh and he pushed it further down. Harry instinctively knew that Quaithe was screaming in the distance.
"Death will see you soon," was all Harry had time to say.
He quickly reappeared in his body and began casting.
"Chancey!"
The little elf appeared but Harry didn't give her time to speak, "Grab everything in this room and move it into the Peverell Manor!"
While he was doing that his spell came together and he pushed Quaithe into a stasis, stopping time from affecting her. "Shimmer! We need to go to the infirmary, now!"
Shimmer nodded and flames crashed over the three of them.
"Milly, Tilly!" Harry called out. "I need help!"
He continued feeding magic into the stasis spell but would need them to cast something of their own to help.
The two Medi-Elves hustled over and began analyzing what was happening.
"A dreadful curse, Milly!"
"A horrible ritual, Tilly!"
"Do you have a stasis spell or something to stop the activation?" Harry asked. The Bloodraven had activated the ritual and was about to drain her of all her magic. It was quite obvious that he would have to eliminate this Bloodraven or lose the chance at saving Quaithe.
"Yes, Master Harries!" Milly said.
"Trust us, Master Harries!" Tilly said.
They snapped their fingers at once and he let his spell fizzle out as they took over, keeping her in stasis.
~~o0o~~
"Hey," Harry said lamely.
"Hey?" Daenerys replied into the communications mirror, an eyebrow raised with a smile.
"I got Quaithe, but...there are some problems."
She seemed less amused, "Elaborate."
"Well, it seemed that she was cursed by some horrible blood ritual and I had to put her in stasis..."
"Stasis?"
"Yes, like I paused her time so to speak. She is frozen in time so the triggered ritual won't kill her until I can remove the anchor item so to speak."
"I see," Daenerys said. "And why are you surrounded by snow? Last I checked it was fairly warm in Qarth."
"That is because I am north of the Wall, where I will hopefully find the man known as Bloodraven. He is...as far as I can tell, a shitty person. I am going to kill him, then save Quaithe."
Daenerys looked worried, "It sounds extremely dangerous. Isn't that where the undead are?"
Harry nodded, "It is, but I shouldn't be fighting them just yet, a few years hopefully. I will be fine, alright?"
"You better come back to me."
Harry donned his classic smirk, "You know I will. Call for Chancey if you want to go see her, my people are looking after her until I get back. I am sure she would like a friendly face when she wakes up."
Daenerys nodded, "I will. See you soon."
Harry smiled and closed the connection.
Daenerys sat back in the chair within her room with a sigh, "That man..."
~~o0o~~
Harry popped into existence, following the trail of magic deep into the north. He found the tree, bigger than the Womping Willow, and also found...a group of children. They were sprinting with one huge man carrying another on his back. The group was spread out, on their last legs, and Harry instantly recognized them for who they were.
It was Bran Stark's party who had been trekking north for weeks, trudging through the blizzards and snow, dodging the undead. They made it this far and as Harry watched, the young man in the back was grabbed by a skeletal hand that popped up from under the ground. He summoned the Elder Wand and his scimitar and quickly Apparated behind the boy. Black Mist fell through the rotting skull of the wight that grabbed the lad, ending it immediately.
That was just the start as dozens of wights burst from the snow. Harry immediately went to work, summoning Shimmer to protect the young lad he just saved. Ahead of him, there was one huge man, who was dragging Bran's sled along.
The girl held an axe and seemed to have plenty of experience using it. She responded the fastest and was already taking down the fastest of the wights.
Bran's dire wolf tore through a few extremely fast, but quickly turned around and began to defend his master. Bran was apparently paralyzed and he looked on in fear.
Harry went to work. He quickly fired off a dozen spells to the furthest enemies by the larger group. Around him a dozen more undead began to rush him. He took out about a third of the pack with a single Bombarda, then closed the distance with Black Mist. He slashed across two of them, parried an incoming rusted blade, and cast Protego to knock back a few more. Harry wasn't done, he channeled Sectum Sempra and sliced through half a dozen more.
Harry spun around again, Apparating behind the big guy, and slashed through several more wights. After he removed those two, he saw Shimmer release a large column of black and silver flames, surrounding both her and the other boy.
A few more wights collapsed into ashes.
The girl seemed too tired to scream but she watched in horror as the black flames consumed her brother. When the flames disappeared she was once again shocked to find him unharmed if exceedingly tired.
"Well done, Shimmer," Harry said. He then inspected the youths, "Are you lot alright? I mean...all things considered?"
They turned to look at him, confused at how he had appeared behind them. The girl spoke up, "You saved us?"
"Was that a question?" Harry asked. "You lot look exhausted."
No one had time to respond when a voice from behind Harry spoke up, "Come with me!"
They found a strange-looking feminine creature with skin that was made of green bark and leaves protruding from all over. Harry knew this to be a Children of the Forest...the ones who had created the Night King in a desperate attempt to stop the humans back in the day. Harry had the children enter behind him, ensuring that he protected them.
Walking through tunnels of roots and stone, they eventually came across a throne.
A throne of roots that dug into the flesh of the occupant that sat upon it.
"Welcome, Son of Death," The Bloodraven said as he cackled.