Consort of Destined Death Chapter 3

Is this hell? Harry couldn’t help but wonder, before dismissing that thought entirely. No, there’s no way hell is worse than this. 

The red and corrupted environment of Caelid stretched out in all directions as he and Melina rode Torrent on one of the old stone roads that still remained partly intact.

The very skies seemed to bleed, the sands beneath Torrent’s hooves red like dried blood, while dark and twisted trees lined the road. The wildlife looked mostly dead, with big and disgusting mushrooms and fungal growths acting as scenery. 

And if that wasn’t bad enough, the creatures within Caelid were the stuff of nightmares. Massive hounds, inferi, and even dragons could be seen off in the distance. All of which made the Forbidden Forest outside Hogwarts look like a friendly neighborhood park in comparison.

That wasn’t to mention the stench of it all, the smell of rot intermittent with smoke filling the air. Harry was certain he would have to burn his current Hogwarts robes after leaving Caelid and would be sure to never return. 

“Are you okay, Harry?” Melina asked from behind him, sounding very concerned. 

Am I okay? The answer to that question was a simple no. His head was spinning while his vision felt worse than ever. Everything seemed to be off-balance, and his limbs were beginning to feel heavy.

“Y-Yeah…” Harry stuttered out, feeling as if the breath had been sucked from his lungs. “I just, y-you know…”

At first, he had been sure that it was something in the air that made him feel uneasy, but now he felt downright ill. A fever was taking over his body, making him feel weaker than ever, and it was becoming difficult to maintain balance on his spectral steed.

He reached to grab Torrent’s reins, only for his foot to slide out of the stirrup as he suddenly pitched forward. 

“Harry!”

He could hear Melina shouting his name too late, as he fell from Torrent and landed harshly on the ground. That was when his vision went to black.

/////

“Gah! Pah! W-What the…” He snapped awake, only to spit out a foul liquid that somehow got in his mouth. He looked around, seeing he was in some sort of strange dark place, and had been lying in ankle-deep murky water. “Where am I?”

He could only see so far, with a small area only a few dozen feet in diameter around him, which was surrounded by eerie darkness. He guessed that he was in some sort of cave, but looking straight upwards allowed him to see the stars, meaning that he was somewhere completely unknown. 

“TARNISHED OF DESTINED DEATH” A deep feminine voice sounded out from all directions then. “YOU HAVE ENTERED MY DOMAIN”

Harry’s wand was already out, as he spun around, pointing it in all directions while he searched for the voice’s source. That was when an unknown woman appeared.

A tall, red-haired woman walked out from the surrounding darkness, having the confident poise of a warrior as well as someone extremely dangerous. Her entire right arm was a gold prosthetic, and in its hand was a lengthy gold katana. And yet it wasn’t just her right arm that was replaced, as Harry noted that both her legs were prosthetics as well. On her head sat a golden winged helmet, with slits in the front for her to see.

She’s going to attack me, isn’t she? For some reason, he felt a harsh bead of sweat run down his brow. He wet his lips and replaced his wand with the Tree Sentinel’s Golden Halberd. She’s only a woman with a big sword, Harry, you’ve handled worse.

He thought of his fight against the tree sentinel, and even before that when he fought the Basilisk in his second year. He was desperately trying to boost his confidence, and yet his heart rate continued to skyrocket as the woman got closer. 

“I am Malenia, Blade of Miquella.” She said as she walked closer, enough that he could make out the strange scars on her exposed skin. “And I have never known defeat.”

Wait, did she say Malenia? His eyes widened comically in recognition, as suddenly the woman lunged forward faster than his eye could follow. He barely managed to get his halberd up in time, as she slashed directly at his chest. The next thing Harry knew, he was knocked back by the blow. 

Knocked back would be the polite way to put it, as Harry was actually sent spiraling head over heels twenty feet back before he landed in the disgusting, murky water. 

The wind was knocked out of him by that singular blow, his strength rendered useless while his newfound confidence withered and died. He tried to orient himself upwards, barely managing to sit up, but that was when his eyes widened in horror. 

Malenia was already standing over him. She hoisted her blade up before bringing it down almost casually, and once again, Harry had to scramble to get his own weapon in the way to block her sword. 

“AH! Fuck!” He was damn near flattened by the blow, with her katana pressing against his halberd, which, in turn, pushed him against the ground. He could feel pain in his chest from her strength, his arms trying and failing to push against her blade. 

Eventually, she pulled her weapon back, and it was then that Harry quickly rolled to the side before lunging on all fours to get away until he got to his feet. He then holstered the halberd and took out his wand before pointing it at the woman. Malenia simply watched him with indifference as he gave his wand a twirl. “Expelliarmus!”

The spell neared her, getting closer and closer, until finally, right as it was about to hit, she sidestepped it with ease. He was left gaping by the move, as despite it being a simple sidestep, the eight-foot-tall redhead pulled it off with the grace of a professional ballerina. So swift and graceful were her movements that Harry immediately knew he had no chance at winning this fight.

Don’t give up! He screamed the words internally as his wand was moving and launching spell after spell. Each of which was dodged and danced around with movements he thought impossible for such a large woman, done with speed and grace of movement that spoke of skill he couldn’t dream of competing with.

Finally, she got close enough and launched outwards with a diagonal swing of her blade that was ready to bisect him. Harry moved in that moment, launching himself back and missing the blade’s edge by a mere inch. But Malenia wasn’t done, and another swipe of her blade cut through the air with a loud whoosh. 

He wasn’t so lucky that time, as part of his left arm was cut, and blood began to stain his robes. But Harry didn’t stop moving, as to pause for even a moment against such a foe would guarantee certain death.

Her blade came in from the side then, almost as if smelling blood and targeting his left side specifically, and Harry brought up his wand. Carian Slicer. 

He poured magic into the spell, erecting a sword at the end of his wand, which he wielded with one hand. It slammed against Malenia’s blade mid swing, eliciting a loud clang as his glintstone sword held strong. The only reason he didn’t go flying in that moment was because of the sheer amount of magic he poured into the move, requiring a substantial amount of power to simply stop her blade before it could reach him. 

If Malenia was unsettled, she didn’t show it, instead twisting her massive katana in such a way that he had to jump back, or else he risked losing his arm. And yet he didn’t get away unscathed, with the edge of her katana slashing the upper part of his right shoulder.

I can’t keep this up. The dark realization came as he examined his wounds, seeing that his bloody left arm was dangling uselessly at his side while his right shoulder was beginning to numb as it leaked blood. His body was going to give up if he didn’t finish things soon, and yet Harry knew he would never be able to beat his opponent in such a state.

As if knowing he was distracted, she launched herself at him again, and Harry conjured the Carian slicer before bringing it down. His movements were now slow and sluggish, his breathing heavy, and he missed the redhead by a wide margin with his conjured sword. 

Malenia didn’t try to stab him this time, instead flipping over him as if she was going to stab him in the back. Yet she subverted his expectations, as she instead grabbed his robes before flinging him into the air. 

Airborne, Harry was unable to do much of anything as he was sent flying high, before gravity reasserted itself, and he began falling back down to earth. And it was then he realized what the redhead’s intention was, as the wicked, sharp edge of her sword was pointed straight upwards, ready to skewer him through once he finally landed.

This can’t be happening. This cannot be happening. The words repeated in his mind as he fell towards the sword. Time seemed to come to a crawl, with the events of the past hour coming back to him then. 

He remembered entering Caelid, and then quickly falling ill before ultimately falling off Torrent. After that… Well, Harry couldn’t remember anything after that. He had woken up in the strange location he was in before being attacked by one of the most infamous demigods in the Lands Between. The suddenness of it all was too strange and made practically no sense whatsoever. And it was at that point that he came to a gradual realization.

This isn’t real. He realized as he fell. Everything from the unknown location, the surrounding fog, and even the night sky was fake. This is a vision.

That realization brought about change, as everything froze all of a sudden. He looked down at Malenia, seeing the red-haired demigod staring up at him with a blank expression. And yet, as the room began to fade and the vision ended, he could’ve sworn a small smile found itself onto her face.

////

Slowly, his eyes opened as familiar blood red skies greeted him once again. The stench of Caelid came next, nearly drowning his senses, and he quickly felt his body for any wounds, only to find none. That caused him to let out a sigh of relief, meaning that it really was a dream and not real.

“~ary? Harry? Harry, are you okay?” Melina was hovering over him then, looking immensely concerned. 

“Y-Yeah.” He managed to get out, feeling out of breath. “How long was I out?”

“Only a few hours.” She held a hand to his forehead. “Whatever sickness you had is gone. I had to drag your body here and hide behind this rock.”

Shame burned in him then, knowing that his Maiden had to drag him to safety in the middle of Caelid of all places. It didn’t help that he got beat up by a beautiful woman in a rot-imbued dream of all things.

He sat up and looked around, seeing they were in hidden in one of Caelid’s forests. Melina had indeed dragged his unconscious body off the road and found them a temporary safe place behind a large boulder.

Something large roared in the background then, and the hairs on his arms raised in fright. “What was that?”

“There’s a dragon nearby.” Melina answered, peeking over the boulder before gesturing for him to follow. He did so and found himself next to her as they both spied on what could be described as a large dragon covered in white fur.

The beast looked sickly and thin, yet rabid at the same time. He watched as it stood next to the main road running through Caelid, and knew if they wanted to continue onwards, they would somehow have to get past it.

“Is there any way around it?” He asked, not wanting to fight such a beast. 

“There is.” Melina looked grim. “We can ride Torrent through the Swamp of Aeonia, a pool of rot sitting in the center of Caelid. It will actually cut a lot of time off our trip, as the town of Sellia lies just beyond it.”

Going through a rot swamp sounds appealing. Harry thought sarcastically as his eye twitched in irritation. For a moment, he considered facing the dragon instead, thinking that he might be able to sprint past the beast on Torrent before he discarded that idea entirely. Dragons could fly, and this one might also be able to breathe fire, meaning it would be nearly impossible to try and escape it. 

“The swamp it is then.”

/////

If Harry thought the stench of Caelid was bad before, it was even worse now. Each step of Torrent’s hooves caused liquid rot to splash up, all while fumes drifted upwards and caused him to cough. 

Scarlet slush was visible everywhere, the swamp’s fog making it hard to see more than a dozen feet in front of them as they rode through. Every now and then Torrent passed by ruins and broken statues, and sometimes even the swamp’s disgusting residents, whether it be rotten rodents or more inferi.

After a while, his spectral steed seemed to have had enough of the swamp. Torrent’s head jostled and bucked in irritation, as he neighed and snorted to convey his contempt. 

“Even Torrent grows tired of the rot.” Melina noted from behind him, her arms wrapped around his midsection. “We should find a place to stop soon and let him rest.”

Harry nodded as he began looking around for somewhere to rest in the swamp. Eventually, they came across stone ruins that looked safe enough to stop, and Harry dismounted Torrent before the spectral steed dissipated into motes of light.

“A moment to rest should do us all some good.” Melina said, walking over to a fallen pillar before taking a seat. 

Harry just nodded and began looking around the ruins for anything interesting. He walked along the ruined stone wall of the building, tracing the ruin’s perimeter, before something caught his eye.

A giant stick resembling a wand that Hagrid would use laid on the ground, likely having been untouched and left behind by whoever occupied these ruins before. Harry reached down and picked it up, examining the large wooden stick that was used for casting sorcery. 

Sorceress Sellen had used a staff herself to cast glintstone sorceries, and Harry could use his wand to cast sorcery and spells as well. That said, it wouldn’t hurt for him to have an extra staff on hand to use for magic. It’s called the Meteorite staff... wait, how did I know that?

He shook his head, putting the staff away and turning to investigate the rest of the ruins. In the middle of the ruined stone building sat stairs that descended underground, and Harry pulled out his wand before following them down. 

“Lumos.” He murmured, casting a light with his wand as he entered the ruin’s basement. It was at the bottom of the stairwell that a metal door sat, and a wave of his wand opened it. 

Behind that door sat a chest, and Harry opened it to find a scroll inside. Still holding his wand for light, he opened the scroll, only for his eyes to widen at its contents. Instructions for the Rock Sling sorcery… Can’t say I’ve heard of this gravity magic stuff before, but it sounds useful.

“Harry?” Melina’s voice called down from behind him. “Harry, are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” He called back, putting the scroll away and vowing to look into gravity magic in the future. “I’ll be right up.”

He walked back up the stairs to find Melina waiting for him. “I think you can call Torrent once again; he should have recovered by now.”

He nodded, taking the spectral steed’s whistle in hand and summoning Torrent. After that, they were both on the saddle and riding through the swamp once again.

“I can’t wait to get out of this swamp.” He said as they rode through the red slush that was the Swamp of Aeonia. 

“I think that’s true for all of us.” Melina spoke. “Caelid used to be beautiful and prosperous once… that was until Malenia and General Radahn’s battle. Some say this very swamp is the sight of where their battle took place, and where Malenia cursed Radahn and unleashed her scarlet rot.”

Harry shivered, feeling his heart beat quickly at the reminder of how powerful the demigods were. He suddenly remembered his vision of Malenia then, and realized he had forgotten to tell Melina. “Melina, I-”

“Harry, look!” She interrupted him, pointing ahead to where the swamp finally came to an end. “We’re almost out.”

Indeed, murky red scarlet rot slush soon transitioned to red sands, as Torrent gave a happy noise as they finally exited the swamp. Harry sighed in relief, grateful that he no longer had to deal with the overwhelming stench of the swamp, not that the air in Caelid was that much of an improvement.

Suddenly, right as Torrent turned and walked around a twisted, rot-infected tree, a massive man clad in thick armor came into view. He looked to be infected with scarlet rot, his face swollen, with his once-pristine armor dirtied by time and the Caelid wilds. In one hand, he held a massive halberd, even bigger than the tree sentinel’s own weapon, which he pointed Harry’s way.

“Foul Tarnished.” The giant knight boomed as he approached Harry. “You stand before Commander O’Neil, prepare to die!”

“We don’t have to fight.” Harry tried, yet knowing it was useless to try and resolve things peacefully.

Suddenly, the man sniffed the air, specifically looking at Harry as he did so. His expression became oddly more serious compared to before, and something twisted in Harry’s gut.

“You have her stench.” Commander O’Neil looked displeased. “The Blade of Miquella sent you here.”

He froze, and Melina looked at him strangely. “Harry, what is he talking about?”

“It was a vision.” He recalled his fight with Malenia—or rather, the dream he had where he fought the demigod. “After I entered Caelid, I fell ill and passed out. When I first awoke, I was in some strange cave, and Malenia was there. She tried to kill me.”

Melina stared at him with blanket confusion, her singular eye wide. However, O’Neil had a different reaction, as he hoisted up his halberd. “Then I shall finish what she started.”

“W-Wait!” He stuttered out, not wanting to get in a fight once again. “It was a vision, nothing more!”

“The Rot works in mysterious ways, boy.” The commander growled, for once sounding oddly coherent. “Prepare yourself, Tarnished, for I shall show you no mercy!”

The halberd slammed down into the earth, and suddenly Harry was surrounded on all sides by ghosts. They resembled soldiers, as they wielded weapons of all kinds as they turned to face him, with those holding crossbows launching bolts his way while the ones holding swords charged. He swiftly dismissed Torrent and sent Melina away, before facing the ghost-like soldiers that the man had summoned.

“Protego!” He cast a shield just in time, blocking the crossbow bolts headed his way. After that, the ghosts wielding swords attacked and smashed their weapons against his conjured shield, causing cracks to appear.

He pulled out the golden halberd he had taken from the Tree Sentinel, while in his other hand he wielded the Carian slicer sorcery with his wand. Eventually, the surrounding ghosts broke through his shield, and that was when he struck. 

He launched himself at two of them wielding swords, his halberd smashing one ghost into smoke while his wand slashed with the carian slicer a couple of times to little effect before the other ghost finally dissipated. 

As that happened, the other ghosts approached, all while Commander O’Neil watched him patiently from the background. It seemed that it was part of the Commander’s strategy to examine his enemy while he dealt with the summoned ghosts, before finally confronting them. Harry would admit it was a good strategy, as the ghosts were meant to tire a strong enemy out before the Commander finally intervened. 

A few crossbow bolts whizzed past him then, and Harry ended the Carian slicer sorcery before pointing his wand at the two summoned ghosts firing arrows his way.“Expulso! Stupify! Reducto!”

His first spell obliterated the ghost on the right, with the second stunning spell only dazing the other ghost. That was when he used the Reducto curse and destroyed it. 

It was when he finished that the remaining summoned ghosts attacked, and Harry blitzed through them with his golden halberd, smashing them to pieces with pure brute force. 

Finally, he faced Commander O’Neil alone, his wand and golden halberd in hand as he stared the rot-infected man down. The commander simply growled, lifting up his halberd and giving it a great twirl.

He realized too late that the Commander was using some form of magic, as the air around him began turning into sharp gusts of wind which formed cutting blades. The air swirled like a hurricane around the Commander, and Harry caught the stench of scarlet rot, which amplified the attack. 

Harry threw himself to the ground to avoid the wind-based attack and managed to look up to see the Commander launch himself towards him. He barely managed to get his own halberd up to deflect the blow, before swiftly moving back to gain distance. 

“You’re too young to challenge me, Tarnished!” Commander O’Neil boasted, as he twirled his halberd to perform another wind attack. 

A sudden thought occurred to Harry then as he watched the man prepare to use his wind-based sorcery, being that wind was weak to fire. Wildfires often spread because of harsh winds after all, and the same concept could apply on a smaller scale. 

He held out his wand and waited until right before the Commander started his hurricane attack, before twisting his wand in a flame-like motion. “Incendio!”

Fire left his wand and conjoined with the strong winds surrounding Commander O’Neil, as what was a sprout of flame from his wand suddenly became a tornado-like inferno. The fire was so hot he had to move away and end the spell early, else risk getting burned from the heat alone. 

When the flames turned to smoke and drifted away, it revealed a torched and charred Commander O’Neil, his body nearly unrecognizable with his armor melted onto his skin. 

“Harry!” Melina called out from behind him, and he saw her walk out from behind a nearby tree. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m just fine.” He answered, feeling the runes from his defeated opponent flow into him and make him even stronger than before. Commander O’Neil was stronger than the Tree Sentinel, that much he could conclude, yet his might still paled in comparison to Malenia and the other demigods. But that didn’t mean his defeated foe was to be ignored, as Harry was sure most wizards would be taken down by the Commander.

Harry thought all this while he eyed the man’s burned body, until something got his attention then. An intricate gold needle stuck out from the Commander’s armor, looking masterfully crafted while being untouched by rot, and Harry reached down to take it.

Disclaimer: All Characters are over the Age of 18

A/N:

Malenia appears… or at least an echo of her rot self. She’ll be important to the plot, and especially important to Harry in the future

Harry will return to Hogwarts either next chapter or the one after that

Also, sorry for there being one chapter this week as I’ve been sick )=