Kaer Morhen
September 1st, 1272, 4 Days After Events of the Last Chapter
Harry stood and looked somberly into the distance from one of the peaks of Kaer Morhen. Today would be the day that they finally ended it all. The Wild Hunt would come soon and fall right into their trap. Their armies were already in positions slightly further out and the Lodge was positioned on various turrets of Kaer Morhen to overlook the battlefield. Harry had set up several ward schemes all over the surrounding land powered by no less than five runestones that were ready to be activated at a moment's notice. With this, the attackers would be trapped and crushed under them.
There was also the weakening they had already done of the Wild Hunt in killing Imlerith and convincing Ga'el to not commit those who were loyal to him when Eredin called to invade. Calanthir and his sorcerers were the last true threat. Harry planned to deal with him personally. He reached out with his mind and connected to the other magic users.
"Is everyone in their positions?" Harry asked, starting the last check.
"The men are all in position. Geralt and the Witchers stand ready within the courtyard with their troops." Yennefer answered immediately.
"Merigold and I are covering the Westside. We are ready." Philippa replied in her normal confident manner.
"Kiera and I are covering the Northside paths. If they try to sneak by, we will get them." Fringilla responded.
"Sheala and I are ready," Margarita said from the Eastside. Harry looked in their direction in thought. Shaela had been a last-minute add on to their little group. She had said she was coming, but she hadn't appeared so he had figured she had either changed her mind or something had come up. Nonetheless, he had welcomed her help and made sure to remember to reward her for her service. She had placed several traps in areas that were most likely the Hunt would appear at. Harry was sure they would be most helpful.
"Excellent. I, Ciri, and Avallach will now begin the ritual. Prepare for battle." Harry said before cutting the connection. He turned and saw both Avallach and Ciri looking at him expectantly.
"Everything is in place. Now it's our turn." Harry said. Ciri seemed to steel herself at his words and Avallach seemed to take a breath and shut his eyes as if to fully accept the situation.
"Are you sure this will work?" Avallach asked. Harry nodded.
"I have done this ritual before. I will aid Ciri in channeling the power to give her control and you will take the reins and shape the power in such a way that Eredin will most easily notice it. We have practiced this before."
"Not on this scale. I worry about the effect this ritual could have on Ciri."
"She will be able to handle it. Have faith in your student." Harry pointed out.
"And what about the second part of what may happen. Are you prepared for if I am right?" Avallach asked as he looked Harry directly in the eyes, almost seeming to measure him.
"As ready as I ever will be."
"You still aren't sure if your plan will work though." Avallach pointed out.
"No, I am not. But it is the best shot we will have at this. I am confident as I will ever be that I will be able to keep Cirilla alive." Harry said back seriously. Avallach nodded before looking out once more over the landscape.
"There are few places where the White Frost will be able to cross over to this world. Most have been destroyed with time."
"Tor Gavalch'ca is the nearest one, we've been over this already," Harry replied.
"If it doesn't appear there, then we will simply improvise. Avallach, you have already scouted the other possible remaining locations correct?" Ciri interrupted as she looked at the Elven sage. Avallach nodded.
"Good, then even if it is somewhere else, we will still be able to find it."
"Hopefully, before it destroys the world," Harry muttered. Ciri gave him a quick glare to which he responded with a simple shrug.
"Then we are all clear… Let us get this started."
"Ciri… Are you sure you do not want to tell…" Harry tried.
"No… They would only try and stop me. This needs to happen." Ciri said seriously. Harry frowned uncomfortably before nodding.
"Very well. Let us begin." Harry said. With that, Harry and Avallach moved behind Ciri who kneeled, looking away from them. Harry laid his hand on her left shoulder and Avallach did the same with her right.
He closed his eyes in concentration and began to reach out to the magic that lay within her. He felt her starting to channel it out of her body where, on the way, Avallach seemed to grab hold of it so it could be shaped properly. After a moment, a steady pulse seemed to emanate from Ciri and as time went on, the pulse seemed to grow bigger and get farther from her body.
Soon, Harry started to lend Ciri some of his magic to supplant the amount that she was now missing from use. She had more than pretty much any person on the planet except for him, but compared to him, she still had a long way to go. Since he had stopped aging shortly after his magical maturity, but before his magical prime, he was stuck eternally in the period where his magic was still growing albeit very slowly. Slow or not though, a century and a half were a LONG time to let it grow.
Harry felt the magic he gave quickly mix with Ciri's before she used it to channel outward. She continued doing this for several minutes with Avallach continued to do his part.
The pulses around Ciri continued to grow larger to the point where they seemingly doubled in size with every pulse. The color, which had been originally a pure white, was now a clear teal which showed that it was truly from Ciri.
"They are coming," Avallach said as he withdrew his hand from Ciri. Harry quickly cuts off the magical connection between them and did the same. Ciri took a deep breath before standing on her feet.
"Are you okay?" Harry asked.
"I'm fine. It's just… you were right, channeling that much magic without feeling tired from shaping or using it is strange." Ciri said with a scrunched face like she was struggling to describe the feeling. Harry nodded.
"The feeling will pass quickly. In the meantime, you should join Geralt for the assault. You as well Avallach. Make sure nothing happens to her." Harry said, staring hard at the elf. The sage nodded.
"With my life."
"Good. I will see you after all this." Harry said. With that, he watched Avallach conjure a portal and they both walked into it. Harry watched them until the portal disappeared behind them. Once it was gone, he turned away and sighed.
"They are coming, prepare yourselves. Remember, let them get close before you engage. We want as many of them to drop in before we spring the trap." Harry called out into the mental connection he had with the Lodge as well as to several officers that were directly commanding the men on the field. He didn't get verbal responses, but through the bond, he could feel the emotions associated with acceptance. He stared for a moment and simply watched.
For a moment, it seemed as if the world itself had gone silent. The wind seemed to slow to a halt, the birds that had been flying overhead seemed to have disappeared and the sounds of the woodland animals and bugs seemed to have vanished. The sky itself seemed to grow darker as what looked like storm clouds seemed to be rolling in from the other side of the valley.
Then, as soon as the calm had begun, it was shattered by a loud crack of thunder. The thunder seemed to be a signal to the rest of nature as the wind, which had disappeared, came slamming back through the valley in the opposite direction it had been flowing before and slammed violently into the walls of Kaer Morhen. Harry casts a quick shielding charm in front of him to prevent the wind from knocking into him.
He watched as the storm clouds now covered the sky and a chill set in the air as the snow seemed to start falling from the sky. Harry's eyes narrowed as he sharpened his magical senses and waited with bated breath as he looked around waiting for the first sign to appear.
He didn't have to wait long as in the distance and down in the valley, he saw the first-dimensional portal open and immediately soldiers came walking casually out of them. Five came out and with them came the icy hounds that the Hunt used for tracking and attacking. Ten men seemed to come out and three hounds before the portal closed.
No sooner did it close than four more portals open in different spots within the valley slowly in closer spots to the castle. The more that seemed to arrive, the colder the weather around him seemed to get.
"Yennefer." He reached out, "Make a shield around the area to keep the cold out. You won't have too long, but we don't want to show them our true protections until more arrive."
Harry heard her yell something from her position before a blue shield seemed to expand in all directions away from her and push the cold and snow away from the castle. The shield seemed to expand several hundred yards in every direction around her. Harry smirked as he saw it. Yennefer truly was a powerful sorceress.
He didn't have time to admire her work though, as more and more portals seemed to open around the castle. They seemed focused in the valley which is what they expected they would do. It was the easiest ground to traverse, and with the improvements and defenses Harry had made on the castle, it was also the side with the only true viable entrance, which was the main entrance.
A portal opened on the only true road leading to the castle and Harry watched as the true target of all of this, Eredin, stepped out. The King looked around for a moment before his gaze seemed to settle on the castle. Behind him, his last true general, Calanthir stepped out with his signature staff. Harry glared as he eyed Eredin's greatest sorcerer and one of the first opponents of the Wild Hunt he had ever faced.
"They are here. Prepare to spring the trap." Harry called out mentally to everyone. With that, he leaned down and placed his hand on the roof of the peak he was standing on. On it, there was a runic scheme that was etched into it that extended down the tower and into the deepest levels of Kaer Morhen. Once there, it connected to the five runestones that would power the various and powerful wards Harry had set up.
"Get ready… Now! All forces attack." Harry almost yelled through the connection. As soon as he said it, he pushed his power into the rune scheme which immediately took it and pulled it down the tower causing the tower to have sharp, geometric, glowing lines snake down it. Immediately, Yennefer's barrier disappeared as she released it, only for a glowing, transparent, gold barrier to take its place expanding nearly 750 yards in every direction away from the castle.
As soon as it did, almost every portal that had been active which had already unleashed a small army of the Wild Hunt onto the land cut out instantaneously. He could see the confused look in the movements of the Wild Hunt as some looked around. Some looked at where the portals had just closed and some were now looking at the barrier that surrounded them. Harry noticed that there were more than he had expected to remain. He had expected the Wild Hunt to only number may be between the one hundred to two hundred range. There was clearly above two hundred here easy, maybe even three hundred. He frowned.
He heard horns coming from up higher in the mountains and various mountain passes around the valley before he heard the loud yelling of large groups of men. Suddenly, the armies that they had hidden above came streaming down from above and charged toward the scattered armed force of the Wild Hunt.
Harry watched as Eredin could slowly be seen understanding what was going on. He started to yell at his men in Elder speech and Harry watched as they started to come together and form a defensive perimeter the best they could. Several of the navigators that had been brought started casting spells that made ice boulders seemingly form around the group to give them protection. He watched as Eredin turned to Calanthir and seemingly ordered him to do something. Calanthir nodded and seemed to raise his staff, which started glowing. Harry narrowed his eyes before springing into action.
Without a word, Harry silently apparated away. As soon as he felt himself drop out of the instantaneous transportation and drop to the ground, he readied himself. As soon as he landed onto solid ground, he fell to one knee and slammed his hand into the ground. As soon as he did so, an explosion of pure force sprung out from him in all directions, knocking all the Wild Hunt near him away violently and causing the ones further away to stumble and either barely catch themselves or fall outright.
Harry snapped up as soon as they fell and did a short-distance, quick, apparition right in front of Calanthir. The mage was still on the ground and had managed to hold onto his staff. He looked up at Harry just in time to watch as Harry reached down and grabbed him. As he pulled him violently up, he did another quick apparition that brought them near the top of one of the closest mountain peaks that hung over the valley. As they came out of the apparition, Harry threw the man away from him, causing him to fall on his side and roll violently away from him.
As he rolled, his mask seemed to fall off yet still, the man kept a hold of his staff. As he came to a stop, he slowly got onto one of his knees before taking a breath. Harry allowed him this as he wanted to truly defeat this man at his best. This piece of scum had chased one of the people who were truly precious to him over several worlds for years. He would pay for it.
Calanthir stood after steadying himself and looking over at Harry. As soon as their eyes met, the elf glared at him. In truth, it wasn't even remotely frightening as Calanthir had the smooth, almost feminine features that most elves seemed to have. Without the mask, they truly weren't nearly as terrifying which is probably why they kept them on.
"You will pay for standing in our way Black One." Calanthir seemed to spit at him in Elder speech. Harry rolled his eyes.
"Please, you couldn't defeat me as a child when I was at my weakest, you won't be able to touch me now." Harry goaded. Calanthir continued with his glare, though Harry could see he had confusion in his eyes based on what Harry had said. For a moment, Calanthir looked at him closely as if he was having difficulty thinking of something before something seemed to click with him.
"You… No, that is impossible. The boy from the woods." Calanthir said with a dawning realization.
"So, you didn't remember me. Which means this will be easier than I thought it would." Harry taunted as magic seemed to spark around him like electricity.
"That cannot be. This is not your world. You cannot be here." Calanthir continued as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"You of all people should understand that there are ways to get around such things. You should never have underestimated me. You did when we met and you almost let a boy kill you. Now, as a man, I am a thousand times more powerful. You won't survive if you do it again."
"… I see. So, you are how she has hidden from us. I had suspected the traitor was responsible. Hmph, well it will not matter. You are still nothing but a mortal. Before the ice, you will fall." Calanthir was nearly yelling by the end before slamming his staff into the ground. A wall of frost sprung outwards and rapidly approached him.
"Very poor choice of words…" Harry muttered before reaching out and conjuring a violent gale of wind, which blasted the wall of frost apart before it reached him. Then he lunged with his other hand forward. The magic that had been sparking around him condensed in an almost cloud of electricity for a moment before cracking and racing forward in a lightning strike straight toward the elf. Calanthir held his staff in front of him and managed to block the lightning strike and redirected it away from his body. He tried to cast something, but nothing happened and Harry smirked as he realized the man had just tried to make use of a portal. Unfortunately for him, they were still within Harry's ward. Harry charged and conjured and spear with which he lunged.
Calanthir used his staff to knock the spear away. Harry simply spun it back to its original position to then block several strikes that Calanthir responded with. Harry knocked several away with his enhanced strength. Once he knocked the spear far enough away from his body, Calanthir reached forward with his palm and slammed it into Harry's chest before launching a magical blast directly into him launching him back and into the air.
Harry spun while in the air so he was facing away from Calanthir before apparating away. He almost instantly reappeared in the air right behind the man who was still looking in the direction where he had just disappeared. With the momentum as he continued forward in the air, he thrust his spear forward and buried it deep into the man's shoulder. The force knocked Calanthir forward off his feet and caused him to fall on his face. Harry, who was basically on the man's back now, braced his feet on the man as he fell forward and then used the position to roll over him and onto his own feet once the man landed on the ground. As he rolled, he yanked the spear out of the man's shoulder in a way he was sure caused the elf no small amount of pain.
Harry stood slowly and looked at the downed man who seemed to struggle to get to his feet. As Calanthir did, he reached towards his back and touched the wound. He visibly flinched as he did so and pulled his hand away to look at the blood on his gauntlet. He frowned, showing he was able to somewhat manage the pain.
"I bet that hurt," Harry called out as he spun the spear in his hand in a circular motion before stopping and pointing it right at the man in a challenge. Calanthir grimaced but steeled himself as he picked up his staff, which he finally had dropped.
"This battle is not over," Calanthir called out.
"Yes, it is. You just don't know it yet." Harry said. As he finished his sentence, a dark purple flame sprung up around the spear tip of his spear. With that, they charged each other again. As they got halfway to each other, Calanthir lunged forward and turned into a full spin as his staff tip glowed a teal blue. Ice shards formed on the ground right under the staff as he spun it and once he completed a full rotation, he launched the ice directly at Harry. The Ice shards flew up off the ground and right at Harry's rapidly approaching torso.
Harry's eyes narrowed as he saw his oncoming attack and collapsed his feet and slid under the flying ice on his shins. He watched the ice sail over his head as he lowered his back as close as he could to the ground. As soon as it went over, Harry moved his knees upward and rotated his feet back so the soles were on the ground as he pulled himself back into a standing position where he could continue his advance on the suddenly exposed Calanthir. The elf's eyes widened as he registered what had happened and looked at him with clear fear in his eyes. Harry jumped and sailed through the air once more thrusting his spear forward and burying it into one of the metal ribs on the man's armor. The purple, flaming, tip went straight through it like a hot knife into butter before burying itself into the elf himself.
This time, Calanthir yelled in pain and jerked backward, causing Harry to let go of the spear so he would not be pulled with the man's motions. He watched as Calanthir lay on the ground and panted heavily. Harry watched him cautiously as he seemed to try and catch his breath. Once it was clear that he wouldn't be able to, Calanthir simply reached up to his chest and tried to take a deep breath before ripping out the spear inside him before throwing the now snuffed out weapon away.
Harry watched as the man pulled himself up onto his knees. Even once he did, it almost seemed like he was too weak to look up. Harry gave the elf a moment and eventually, he did manage to look up. Blood was leaking from his lips easily and it looked like he could barely keep his eyes open.
"I seemed to have missed your heart, but the blade broke straight through one of your ribs and into your lung. When you removed it, you allowed the blood to start flooding in. The fire on the tip of that spear was meant to make sure you would be unable to seal the wound. In other words, you are about to die." Harry said doing a cold and clinical analysis of the man's wounds.
"Ho-how?"
"You still underestimated me. In truth, I could have killed you from the start of this with one spell. It may have blown this mountaintop apart, but I could've done it. That being said, I need to conserve my strength so I made sure my attacks were… minimalist, in nature. You know it's funny, you have the same weakness as Cirilla. You both heavily rely on your ability to be able to traverse anywhere on a battlefield instantaneously. Once you neutralize that, your combat ability goes way down. Luckily for Ciri, she will have a chance to fix that after this. Unluckily for you, that same opportunity will never be available to you." Harry told him as he watched the man slowly fading.
"You… are right. I… I did… underestimate you. But you… have done the same…" Calanthir said in a mocking tone as he smiled up at Harry. Harry rose an eyebrow and smiled back.
"I imagine you are referencing the fact that you have been building up all your magic to do something like, oh, I don't know, unleash a suicide attack on me," Harry said, not being able to keep the cheek out of his voice. Calanthir didn't seem to find the statement funny.
"You will… not win Black One. No matter what… the girl will be chased for as long as she lives… Even if not by us… she will always run."
"Maybe, but I will always be there to kill the bastards that chase her if that is the case. No matter how many of you come, I will always remain at her side… for as long as I live. Now, just shut up and die already." Harry said as he looked coldly at Calanthir. The elf said nothing as he looked down and closed his eyes. Harry could feel the magic within the man finally reached a point of no return and he apparated away.
He appeared on the original tower, he had started on in Kaer Morhen. From the position he looked up at the mountaintop he was just at and watched as blinding light suddenly filled the sky and a loud boom sounded through the entire valley. The bright light faded after a moment and it looked like the peak had been completely blown off the mountain.
Harry smiled in satisfaction for a moment before looking down at the battlefield. It was a complete mosh pit of Nilfgaardian, Avalonian, and Wild Hunt forces clashing against each other. The Wild Hunt was certainly the stronger warriors, but Harry's force still numbered almost double theirs. Even further was the fact that the sorceresses were unleashing area attacks down on the fortified area the Wild Hunt had created. Despite this, they had also gotten dangerously close to the gate. Harry reached out to the Lodge.
"What is the status of the battle?"
"We are making progress. There are more of them than we originally planned, but we are still winning this." Yennefer responded.
"Did you deal with the Elven sorcerer?" Philippa asked bluntly.
"I did. How is everyone doing magic wise?" Harry asked.
"I am running low, but Shaela has come to help pick up some of the slack. Fringilla and Kiera are dealing with those who keep trying to sneak past and into the keep." Triss answered. Harry could hear the tiredness in her voice. He frowned at that. Triss wasn't the most powerful of the Lodge but she was certainly no slouch either. If she was getting tired that meant the rest weren't far behind. If they had to stop and could no longer provide magical support, it may give the Wild Hunt the advantage they needed to concentrate their efforts and cut through his men.
"Who has eyes on Eredin?" He called out as he searched the battlefield.
"He is part of a small group that has broken away and is approaching the main gate. He will soon be on it if we can't figure out a way to stop him." Yennefer answered. Harry looked down near the gate and did see a force of near twenty of the Hunt cutting through the soldiers as they pushed towards the keep. Harry frowned in thought for a moment.
"Let him pass. Concentrate your effort on the ones outside the keep. Don't go over your limits." Harry ordered.
"He'll get through."
"I know. That's the plan. Once he does, we'll close the gate behind him and trap him with him away from his reinforcements, which he would realize if he wasn't getting so desperate."
"Very well. We will concentrate on the main group."
With that, he cut the mental conversation and watched as the sorceresses stopped splitting their effort and watched as Eredin kept cutting through his men as he approached the main gate. At this point, he had reached the bridge to enter. Harry took this as his cue and quickly apparated to the gate mechanism to get ready to close it. He hid for a moment near the wall as he watched Eredin march through the gates looking as menacing as he could manage. It seemed the man had taken several warriors as well as the remaining regiment of navigators he had brought.
As soon as he stepped through, Harry hit the mechanism causing the gate to drop heavily and smash down on two warriors who had been trying to come through. Eredin spun at the noise and saw the gate had been closed behind him.
"Open it," Eredin commanded to his men. As soon as he said it, the five men who had made it in with him looked around for the mechanism and quickly found it along with him. Harry hadn't been hiding at that point, he was simply standing calmly near the gate mechanism. He looked down directly into the eyeholes of Eredins mask and could feel the man looking directly back at him.
"Kill him," Eredin commanded.
"Why don't you come and try to kill me yourself, or are you truly as cowardly as I have heard." Harry shot back to him. As he was speaking, Geralt along with the other Witchers of Kaer Morhen came rushing down from the upper courtyard to come to confront the Wild Hunt. As soon as they reached the lower courtyard, they drew their weapons. Soon, the regiment under Geralt's command came rushing after them having been unable to keep up with the mutants.
"It would seem you are outnumbered," Harry said with no inflection in his voice as he looked at the Elven King.
"The number of ants does not concern me."
"A sentiment that you and I share," Harry replied, this time in the man's native tongue which seemed to anger him.
"Attack." Geralt yelled and they charged at the Hunt. Harry frowned at that as he heard a breaking noise as part of the gate broke, allowing the ones he had sealed away to enter into the fray. Harry's distraction cost him as he no longer had the option to cast any area-of-effect spells as there were allies mixed in with his enemies. He supposed it was better this way, he did still need to conserve himself.
Harry quickly conjured a long sword before jumping down and joining the fray. He ducked and dodged as he made his way as quickly as possible to Geralt who was directly engaging with Eredin himself. Harry twirled his blade to get a feel for the hilt before surging forward behind the big elf and attempting to unleash a heavy slash across the man's back between the chinks in his armor. He felt the blade cut into flesh, but as soon as he did, Eredin spun faster than he thought possible for the man and smacked him away.
Harry landed heavily before tucking into a backward roll and landing in a crouched position. He looked up at the man who had backhanded him and growled. Eredin glared back before putting his blade behind his back to cover an attack Geralt had attempted to launch while he was distracted. Harry got to his feet and ran at the man again.
Eredin noticed and shifted so he had Geralt on his left and Harry on his right with him between both. He blocked an attack from Geralt before quickly switching over and launching his attack at Harry. Harry ducked under the much taller man's attack before moving in close to try and attempt a thrust at his torso. Eredin reached out, ignoring the blade to instead grab Harry by the collar. Before Harry could move to get the elf to release him, Eredin yanked Harry up in the air and spun before releasing Harry and throwing him right into Geralt's approaching form, knocking them both back to the ground. They lay next to each other for a second groaning.
"He's fucking fast." Harry bit out as he held his stomach in pain before silently numbing it and made his way back to his feet.
"Yeah. He is… We need something to knock him off his balance. Can't you use some magic?"
"I could, but in this mess, if I miss, it could easily hurt one of our allies. Judging by his speed, he could probably dodge anything that isn't cast within a foot or two away from him." Harry said as he saw Eredin approaching slowly as he swung his sword back and forth.
"Then do that." Geralt said as he picked up his sword.
"Easier said than done," Harry growled before launching himself back at the man swinging his sword from his side. Eredin batted it away and then immediately moved to block a swing from Geralt. Harry could pretty much match the Witcher in speed and strength, but he still didn't have anywhere near the skill to truly match. At most, in a sword battle, Harry could hopefully provide a distraction against someone like Eredin to give Geralt a chance.
The rest of the battle seemed to continue this way, Eredin seemed to be able to manage both him and Geralt at the same time, though both Geralt and he had managed to read some of his moves and figure out when he would try to strike or just reach out and grab them. Luckily, it did seem like Eredin was starting to slow down at this point. Keeping up the speed to stop both of them was apparently weighing on him. It gave Harry an idea.
"Get ready," Harry called out to Geralt. Geralt didn't verbally respond, but he gave a quick nod of acknowledgment. Harry, with a renewed energy, kept pushing against Eredin and put himself between both Eredin and Geralt, forcing Geralt to back away. It didn't take more than a moment for Eredin to take advantage of Harry's poor maneuver before he suddenly seemed to gain a burst of strength and swung his blade with such force that it knocked Harry's own away. He reached down and grabbed Harry by the throat before easily lifting him into the air.
"Time to die, little sorcerer," Eredin said before positioning his sword to shove right through his chest. Harry grit his teeth and suddenly reached out with one hand and put it against Eredin's faceplate.
"Incendio amnis," Harry called out. Instead of the small fireball that came with the usual fire spell, this one, instead, shot a stream of flame like a small flamethrower. Harry held back as much magic as he could to prevent it from going beyond his opponent and striking the fighting men around them.
A small spurt of flame immediately came out of his hand, luckily not enough to reach anyone nearby, but enough to reach out and burn the man holding him. Eredin seemed to understand what he was doing at the last second and pulled away, dropping Harry. Although he prevented the flame from going straight through his helm and roasting him, the small spurt did force him back from the heat and did get part ways under his armor. Eredin stumbled back and fell on one knee as if dazed.
As soon as he did, Geralt wasted no time as he lunged forward and slashed his sword upward hitting Eredin right in the face with the edge of his blade knocking the Elven King back and launching his mask right off his face. Geralt paused for a moment to see if the man would get up and Harry did the same as he rubbed his bruised throat in annoyance. He moved to stand next to the Witcher.
"You think we got him?" Harry asked as he looked at the prone form. Suddenly, as if in answer to the question, the large elf started moving and slowly made his way back up. The elf rolled onto his stomach and started rising with his back to them. He then slowly turned and looked at them. Eredin's face was now exposed showing both his new cut which went up diagonally the entire length his face and right through one of his eyes, as well as the apocalyptic rage that was now on his face.
"No." Geralt answered back as he twirled his blade into a reverse grip in preparation while Harry conjured another entirely.
"Of course, he isn't."
Eredin didn't even bother making any threats this time. He simply raised his blade and slashed down in their direction. Suddenly a wave of light seemed to spring from the blade and come speeding toward them. Harry jumped to one side while Geralt went to the other. It passed them and seemed to cut into two of their men behind them, killing them instantly. Harry winced with guilt as he looked at that and back to Eredin.
"Well, that's not good," Harry said lightly as he picked up his fallen blade and started dancing away from the wave attacks while Geralt did the same. Now that he started with the magic attacks, they couldn't even approach him. Eredin didn't seem to care if he hit friend or enemy which gave him an advantage over them as Harry still wasn't going to unleash magic that could kill those around him.
"Any other plans?" Harry called out to Geralt.
"I'm thinking."
"Well, don't let me rush you," Harry said back sarcastically as he was forced to move away from the man once more to dodge another attack from the Elven King.
"You're going to have to use magic to deal with him." Geralt finally said.
"What about the men?"
"There won't be any left if he is allowed to continue with this." Geralt shot back. Harry looked around for a moment and saw he was right. At this point, there was barely anyone less of the Wild Hunt but the same could be said for their men at this point.
"Fine. Flammis Acribus." Harry yelled unleashing a wave of white flames racing towards Eredin. The man tried to launch a horizontal slash attack to block it, but it simply slowed the flames down before the raced forward and slammed into the man. Eredin roared in pain for a moment as the white flames seemed to catch around his entire body. The wave went past him and continued catching three other combatants alight, one of which was a Nilfgaardian soldier. Harry frowned but was less put out, then he probably should have been. He simply stood and watched to make sure this finished the man.
Eredin seemed to flail for a moment before yelling something unintelligible. Harry didn't even have time to ponder what it was before an icy wave blasted from Eredin extinguishing the flames and knocking everything, even semi-close to him, such as Harry and Geralt, back. Harry landed heavily on his back and right on what felt like a sizable rock embedded in the floor. He groaned in pain as he immediately reached back and cast pain-numbing charms on himself. He looked up and saw Eredin on his feet, though he was in clear pain, smoking, and limping. He slowly approached with a deep scowl on his face with his eyes on Harry. Anger flashed within Harry as he saw the man still alive.
"You still won't die? Fine, I'll do to you what I did to your dog earlier." Harry yelled as he slowly stood and got ready to apparate. With Eredin now slowed down and no one around him, he could likely do it with ease. Eredin raised his huge blade and looked ready to say something in response. He never got the chance though, because as soon as he made the motion, a teal flash appeared behind him and a woman appeared flying on his back with a sword raised poised to strike. Harry's eyes widened as he watched the blade come screeching down onto the man's back and slicing into his burnt flesh.
It looked like it was happening in almost slow motion as his eyes took in every detail of Ciri's striking form as she landed on the ground right in front and slightly to the left of Eredin. As she landed, Eredin dropped to his knees and opened his mouth to most likely unleash another roar of pain. However, it seemed Ciri wasn't done as she did a perfectly performed pirouette in place, keeping the momentum of the initial swing she made and adding to it. When she made the full 180 degree turn to face Eredin, she brought the blade down with amazing aim, cutting right through the Elven King's neck, decapitating him before he could even let out his scream.
Harry could only stare in amazement as he watched the blood splattered across the floor. After a moment, the elf's head fell and joined his blood on the dirt. He froze as Ciri looked at her handiwork for a moment before spitting on the corpse and looking at him. As she did so, she clearly could see Harry's awestruck expression and smirked.
"Hey." Was all she said as placed her blade casually over her shoulder. He simply stared at her for a moment before eyeing the corpse next to her and then looking back at her. It took him several more moments to figure out how to make words come out of his mouth.
"Did you just watch us get our asses kicked for like ten minutes when you could have done that the whole time?" Harry asked calmly. Ciri just scoffed.
"Blame Mr. Grumpy Pants next to you. He's the one who gave me this whole speech about staying back and away from the fighting." Ciri said. Harry looked at Geralt baffled. Geralt for his part just looked at Eredin's corpse with an expressionless face.
"Why did you tell her that?" Harry demanded incredulously.
"… I thought it was the best option at the time." Geralt admitted. Harry just shook his head, feeling more than a small amount of exasperation.
"Well, it wasn't."
"Yeah… I can see that." Geralt said as he nudged Eredin's now corpse with his foot.
"Guess those lessons with Avallach on precision are paying off. The timing and positioning of that jump were perfect." Harry said as he looked at Ciri who simply continued to smile devilishly at him in response.
"If you two are done flirting, the battle is not yet over," Lambert said from nearby. Harry immediately turned serious at that and made eye contact with Ciri. He could feel it now, the buildup as the walls between this world started collapsing. Although those here didn't know it, the Conjunction had already begun.
"He's right. Geralt, you take your remaining men and go deal with the last of the Hunt outside. I will go check on the Sorcerers. Ciri, go rejoin Avallach within the Keep. There are still navigators here, and if one of them can get their hands on you, their goal can still succeed." Harry said with a pointed look. She made to argue for a second before holding back and slowly nodding in understanding as she saw his face.
"Fine." She said with a grumpy tone. With that, Harry apparated away, though not where he had told Geralt he was heading. He landed in the now-empty keep where the Elven Sage was waiting.
"It has begun." Was the first thing out of Avallach's mouth.
"I am aware. We must go quickly." Harry said back.
"Where is Ciri?"
"I am here," Ciri said as she appeared at the entrance of the hall and ran over to them. Avallach nodded.
"Are you ready? There is no going back once we have departed." Avallach told her. Ciri took a deep breath, then nodded. Avallach returned it with a nod of his own before turning and casting a spell, opening a portal. He went through it and Ciri followed. Harry paused and looked at a nearby table. He walked over to it and pulled out a sealed letter addressed to Geralt and Yennefer. With that, he turned and walked through the portal.
As he exited onto the other side of the portal, he was surprised as he was hit by the pure amount of chaotic magic that surrounded him. Harry looked around in confusion as he saw they were not at Tor Gavalcha'ca. Further inspection showed that while they hadn't arrived there, they were close as he saw it was further down a path Avallach had taken them too.
"Why did you bring us here instead of directly to the tower."
'I can take us no further through magical means. I doubt even with your power, you could either. There is too much interference to get an accurate landing point. I am surprised I could even get us this close." Avallach explained. Harry frowned but nodded. Before he could respond, a loud boom suddenly sounded and echoed around them. A pillar of twirling white light seemed to surround Tor Gavalcha'ca and ascend high up into the air.
"We need to hurry. That is the White Frost entering this world." Avallach called out as he started running towards the tower. Harry didn't need to be told twice as both he and Ciri broke out into a sprint after the man. As they made their way to the tower, Harry watched as something resembling portals though not quite started opening all around them and releasing all manner of creatures. Some of them were familiar and others were not.
"We need to get there now. The walls of this world are collapsing." Avallach called behind him towards him and Ciri. Harry didn't bother verbally responding. Instead, he simply picked up his running pace which was a little difficult due to the incline of the hill that led up to the tower. Harry was so glad he kept in shape much easier due to the mutations he had subjected himself too.
After several more minutes of almost all-out running, they finally made it to the foot of the tower.
"Avallach, it's time. We will be counting on you to make sure that nothing approaches." Harry said to the Elven Sage.
"I will protect this place with my life if need be," Avallach said with a visible conviction. Harry took the Sage in for a moment before holding out his hand to him.
"I was wrong about you sage. I may not have liked your secretive methods, but I can appreciate you truly did something you thought was best to save this world. Thank you." Harry said. Avallach looked at him and then down to his hand. He reached out and took it, shaking it with purpose.
"It was my pleasure. Now go! We don't have much time." Avallach said. Ciri approached the Sage and gave him a quick hug.
"Thank you Avallach, for everything," Ciri said, looking at the Sage. Avallach looked almost pained but calmed himself and nodded. With that, he spoke words Harry had never heard in Elder speech before a barrier was created and expanded around the entire tower. The only thing that seemed to be able to get in and out of it was the pillar of light that was coming out of the tower.
Harry had no time to admire the Sage's handiwork as he pushed into the last intact room within the tower where the light from the pillar seems to be concentrating and roaring with power.
"We have to do it now," Ciri called out as she approached the epicenter of power. Harry grabbed her arm.
"Ciri wait… In case… in case this is the last time we can speak… Damnit! I am still not good at this. Look, I want you to know… I love you. I've never loved anyone like I have loved you and my life was better for knowing you." Harry said as he felt a ball settle within his throat and his eyes felt like they were getting wet as he finally managed to bring himself to say the words. It had just hit him for the first time this day that this may be the end. He didn't want there to be anything left unsaid if that were the case.
Harry didn't even know how to describe the life he had lived up to this point, it was certainly strange. Had you asked him when he was eleven if he thought he'd spend his life chasing after one girl he would have thought you were crazy… Well, maybe not crazy. He had been starved for affection both physically and mentally till that age after all. Yet, Harry could find no regrets in the years he had tirelessly worked to get to this moment. Seeing Ciri now, everything he had done and what he was about to do, all seemed worth it to him.
Ciri looked at him as he said those words and seemed to process them. She paused for a moment before lunging. Harry was caught by surprise and reached out to catch her body which she had just flung at him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and before he could ask her what she was doing, she reached up and pressed her lips against his.
For once, Harry could understand what it meant to have the world seemingly melt away in these moments. For one brief moment, the years between them no longer mattered, the danger of the world didn't matter, the annoying politics that they had jumped through to get here didn't matter. All that mattered to him right now was her. Holding her in his arms and clutching onto her as hard as he could without hurting her, keeping her close enough to feel the warmth coming off her body, and feeling the slightly rough but infinitely pleasant feeling of her chapped lips pressing against his. All that mattered was the moment that they shared between them.
Harry wasn't sure how long they had stayed like that, it could have been for eternity for all it mattered yet, despite that, when they finally pulled away, he couldn't help but feel as if it was too soon. Ciri looked into his eyes and smiled.
"Was that worth waiting a century and a half for?" She asked in her usual teasing quality that warmed his insides. For some reason, he had a feeling she wasn't talking about the kiss.
"That and then some," Harry said back with a goofy smile on his face.
"Then you better make sure we both come out of this alive, so we can do it again," Ciri said before pulling away. Harry smiled at that, but he didn't answer. Ciri turned and reached out with her hands at the epicenter of the light. Immediately her signature teal magic started coming and swirling around her. As he had done earlier, he reached out and laid his hand on her shoulder for the second time today.
This time was completely different. Harry wasn't sure how she knew what to do, but he could feel her magic, dropping as she seemed to pump it into the tower with no regard. That was the least concerning part about what was happening though. He could feel the true effect of this on her life force. His soul itself was almost fading away from her.
'It's a ritual.' Harry thought to himself with a sad realization. After going over everything he knew about this previously, he suspected this might be the case. The ritual was going to combine the power of her magic and the importance of the sacrifice of an Aspect to permanently seal the cracks of this world and lock the White Frost away in the world it was forever.
Harry grit his teeth at that. He would not let it take her! No matter what, he would make sure she would come out of this alive as he had promised to her. Harry reached out into his connection with death and grabbed hold of his soul for the first time. Harry had once promised he would never tamper with his soul after seeing what it did to those who did. It would seem he would only be able to keep one promise today.
He quickly moved it to where Ciri's soul was being sucked into the ritual that this tower was now a conduit to. With a quick, invisible, motion, he supplanted his life force, his essence, his soul in place of hers. The magic of the ritual seemed to pause for a moment before continuing as normal. Clearly, it did not matter what Aspect was sacrificed to it. As long as Ciri kept pumping her magic, so closely entwined with the power of time and space, the ritual would continue as normal.
"What are you doing?" Ciri yelled behind her. She could clearly tell he had changed something but likely could not determine what.
"Just keep going. I am handling it." Harry yelled back over the roar of wind and magic around them. Ciri didn't say anything and Harry could feel more and more of his powerful essence being sucked away from him. His head was starting to feel lighter and lighter and he could feel his motor functions starting to fade. Harry kept his eyes closed as he concentrated on pushing everything he had into the ritual with a single-minded determination. He had to make sure to keep pushing or it would latch back on to Ciri.
It was strange what he was feeling now. After everything, his mind seemed to almost unwillingly go back to all those years ago back on his own world. He remembered his abusive relatives whom he had once wished for the approval of so much. He remembered going to Hogwarts for the first time and making his first friends. He remembered Quirrell, the first man he killed.
His mind flashed, then for the first time, he had met Sirius, the godfather and one piece of family he had never gotten the chance to truly connect to as much as he wanted to. He then remembered Voldemort and how he rose from the grave. How he began once more his campaign of death. He remembered meeting Ciri on the floor of the woods outside his home. Remembered bringing her to his house to nurse her back to health. He remembered watching her leave and believing he would never see her again.
His memories shifted to something darker as he remembered the war that he had fought in against the Dark Lord. So many had died before he had finally taken the man down. He remembered meeting Daphne and feeling the trust and bond of friendship grow between them. He remembered his relationship with the sweet Gabriella, who had given him so much and yet, he found he could not give her a fraction of what she had given him. Even now he hoped she found happiness.
He remembered doing years of research into anything he could get his hands on to relieve the boredom and emptiness he had felt inside. He remembered the decision to make a jump into a new world in which he was in now. Suddenly, it seemed like the rest was history.
It was another strange realization that he suddenly saw and remembered all these things because he was dying. These would be the last things that would go throw his head as he passed on to the next adventure. How unfortunate, it had seemed that just when he had seemingly found what he wanted in life, he was destined to lose it. Yet, he still could not regret it.
Given his position, he had never bothered to contemplate his death. It was not something that he thought would be attainable with his status. He never thought he'd find such a powerful, natural, ritual enforced by magic itself, which would be capable of taking his life. Still, it wasn't such a bad way to go out.
His last thoughts were interrupted as he suddenly felt an explosion directly in front of him. He felt the magic that Ciri had been pumping into the ritual become cut off as both she and he got launched backward and away from the epicenter where they had been standing. Harry felt his body collide with a wall and then land on his side with a loud thud. Despite this, he barely even registered the pain his body was probably in. Too much of him was gone at this point and he was sure it was only due to his status that he even lingered this long. His gaze stared blankly up as he saw the pillar of light retreat from the towers form and ascend back into the sky where it seemed to coalesce with itself.
The energy and magic stayed in a ball together before exploding violently outward almost like a dying star before dissipating into the air. Harry could no longer even move, he simply stared upwards, pale and broken.
How funny, as he sunk into the abyss, he could've sworn he heard someone calling his name. It sounded so pleasant yet sad.