Dreadfort Castle
POV of Domeric Bolton
Domeric looked at the moon hiding behind the clouds in the night sky. The cold wind ruffled his hair and made a shiver go down his back. He closed all the windows in his room and put a note on the bed and with a tug and a twist, he was in another place.
A place he had built purely with magic over the past year. An underground base that was accessible to him and only him. A base underneath a cluster of weirwood trees he'd planted in the middle of nowhere. These trees would provide more than sufficient magic to keep the base running.
Normally he would use his magical suitcase as his base of operation, but he couldn't apparate into his magical suitcase and he needed someplace that was only accessible with the apparition and he could use for some dangerous experiments. So, he built this place.
He looked at the room he had entered. It was filled with soft lights coming from dozens of runes that illuminated the room. The room was mostly empty except for a few suits that were also created by him with magic.
He picked the most advanced one that covered his body from top to bottom without letting even the slightest bit of his body out in the element. The suit had an oxygen breather and a glass mask that he had charmed to be unbreakable. In fact, he had charmed the whole suit to be unbreakable along with a few dozen other charms that would save him in most physical confrontations.
But for the place he was going now, the suit was the bare minimum that was required of him to survive.
After wearing the suit, he took out an iron ball from a tray filled with similar iron balls and said the password.
The portkey activated and dropped him in the mountain of Dragon Stone. He took a moment to center himself before he spoke another password, and the repeatable portkey then took him to one of the mountains near Volantis. He took another moment to deal with the slight nausea that came with using the portkey and then another password was used and he portkeyed again.
This time, he found himself standing outside the middle of the main city of the Valyrian Empire.
The air outside his suit was hot, humid, and filled with things that would kill a human within a minute of inhaling them.
The area in front of him was filled with a thick fog that gave him zero visibility of what lay behind the fog.
He took a moment to prepare himself before he took out a stick hanging from the side belt in his suit and enlarged it.
It turned into a broom made of a weirwood branch. He rode the self-made broom, took out his wand, and chanted "Expecto Patronum."
The first memory that came to his mind was a memory of the first time he had made love with Ginny. But when he remembered her betrayal, the memory lost its power. It was a memory that was tinged with bitterness, and he couldn't use it for his patronus charm anymore.
So, he changed the memory with his first time hugging his aunt in this world. It was the closest thing to a mother's hug for him. And a few moments later, a giant house-sized glowing Stag was standing proudly in front of him.
There were many changes between his life in this world and his life in the previous world, but his patronus was still a stag. It seemed that some things never changed.
He directed the stag to run toward the thick miasmic fog and as it did, he flew after it in his broom.
5… 4… 3… 2… 1… The ethereal stag and fog made contact and the fog recoiled from the patronus as if it was terrified of it.
Before the fog could get a chance to retaliate, the stag increased its speed, tearing through the darkness inside the fog like a hot knife through butter. He followed behind the stag as it effortlessly plowed ahead in the darkness that now surrounded him. He made sure to keep close to it at all times. After all, he had been stuck inside the fog once before.
He traveled through the fog for a whole minute, the patronus glowing as strong as it did before even if he noticed that it had slightly decreased in size.
Then the patronus broke through the darkness, coming out of the other side and as he followed after it, he faced the scene that always reminded him of hell itself.
The broken civilization of what was once the greatest empire known to men.
The city was rubble. The tall towers were once the homes of the Dragonlords now lay in ruins. Glowing magma still flowed through parts of the city that had been submerged completely under the lava.
And just like always, he could hear the tortured screams of the ghosts that still roamed the place even centuries after their demise. So, so many ghosts.
He pointed the wand at himself and chanted "Clypeus Fortium Spiritus". A golden sphere took form around him before becoming invisible.
He nodded at his patronus charm. It had lost its primary use after going through the miasma, but it still provided him with light and emotional support.
Just like before, the stag led, and he followed behind on his broom.
On the way to his destination, hundreds of ghosts tried to come to him, wanting to share their misery. But the invisible shield lit up whenever a ghost tried to touch him and repelled them with ease. The ghosts didn't try again and went on their way crying, screaming, and begging.
His heart ached for them, but he still had no idea what it was that anchored them to this realm. For all he knew, it might have been the whole city in which case, he would not be able to do anything to help them.
The stag led him from the front, and he followed it behind in silence until they finally reached his destination.
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.106: Valyrian Vault
Ch.107: New Secret Hideout