32 Chapter 32: The Winter Spirit P2

Harry rubbed his eyes tiredly while trying to sit up in his bed. The reason that he was not able to sit up turned out to be his half-brother Jon who was holding him for dear life. Last night, Jon has been incorrigible and refused to sleep alone. The kid could not close his eyes without waking up with some nightmare at regular intervals the whole night. To no surprise, all those nightmares involved the blue creature trapped in the ice somehow breaking free and chasing Jon.

Harry being no stranger to nightmares had to use a mild sleeping charm on Jon to keep the kid down for the night. Looking at Jon who was sleeping soundly like a newborn baby, he gathered that the sleeping charm must have worked as intended.

Harry slowly moved out of bed so that he won't disturb Jon. He let out a relieved sigh after slowly extracting himself. Giving one last look at his sleeping half-brother he made himself scarce from the room as well as the magically-expanded tent.

Stepping out of the tent he was greeted by the sound of crickets. Turns out he was a bit early in waking up. The whole island was soundly sleeping, even the guards who were supposed to watch over the blue-skinned creature. It was not a great concern as he had warded the campsite with powerful wards. There was even a rune-powered binding surrounding the icy prison of the creature capable of keeping the creature a prisoner should it somehow break free of the ice. That's why he was not worried to sleep soundly last night. If there was anything untoward happening he'd have been alerted by the wards.

As luck would have it, no incident happened last night which gave him and the group peaceful sleep.

Harry applied silencing charms to his feet before moving towards the icy prison containing the blue creature. The smouldering campfire lighted his path and made it easy for Harry to identify the guards snoring away on their posts. Even his uncle could be seen asleep nearby the campfire.

Harry didn't blame the man. As the sole wielder of an enchanted blade, his uncle was required to stay awake the whole night. Only Frost could pierce the protective magic surrounding the creature's skin. Harry gathered his uncle might not have agreed to take alternating shifts for guarding the creature. It was not a sound decision to make but it turns out to be beneficial for Harry.

Harry applied sleeping charms on the guards and his uncle as he stepped closer to the creature trapped in the ice. He stepped around his snoring uncle becoming one step away from the rune-enforced barrier surrounding the ice box.

"Forgive me, uncle. I doubt you'd endorse what I'm about to do." Harry whispered, flicking his wand around the ice and erecting some precautionary barriers should things go south.

After erecting a series of protective layers he finished things off with a sound-dampening barrier. The last thing he wanted was for some sound to wake up anyone from their sleep and interrupt his work. The nature of the 'work' he was about to do was such that he needed a conducive atmosphere in the physical world.

Gathering up the courage Harty focused his magic and exerted his will on the ice using the Deathstick. The ice surrounding the creature's head melted away but leaving the ice intact from the neck down. Aiming his wand at the creature's head he let the charm fly.

"Rennervate."

The creature woke up with a gasp and proceeded to spit out water. It didn't take long for the creature's strange white pupils to notice Harry. Strangely enough, the creature didn't try to exert its power against him for an attempted escape. Instead, it seemed to settle down and merely observe him from the icy prison.

"Interesting. You are by far the most powerful magical presence I've seen from a human." said the creature.

"I also find you interesting. While you look inhuman I gather you were once a human." said Harry, keeping his senses alert for any funny business from the creature.

"You are strange for a human child. Who are you?" the creature rasped out.

"I'm Harrion Stark of Winterfell."

"A Stark? So, magic has finally returned to your bloodline."

"You know of my family?" Harry asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Of course. I doubt there has been anyone in the North ignorant of the Kings of Winter. Besides, I've been kept appraised of the general happenings of the North thanks to ships getting stranded on the shores."

Harry could detect no emotion from the creature which kept him in the dark about the creature's true intentions. Even a small passive Legilimency scan revealed nothing which spoke to the lack of emotions from the creature. It was quite off-putting.

"I'm flattered by your ability to project your power into my mind. It must be the Greenseer blood lending you this power." said the creature.

Harry was a bit perturbed by the creature's ability to detect the mental intrusion. He should have been a bit more subtle in his attempts. He quickly changed the subject not wanting the creature to get annoyed by his attempted Legilimency probe.

"You know who I am. Now, tell me about yourself."

"You need not fear me Harrion Stark. I'm not a White Walker as your men fear. A long time ago I was a human like any other. I went by the name of Twerlton."

"You are a Stane of Driftwood Hall." Harry quickly remembered the story Lord Stane regaled as a warning.

"Driftwood Hall was found after my time by my son. But yes. I was a Stane." the creature admitted.

"How did you become like this?" Harry asked, even though he had an inkling of what happened.

"I was cursed to this state because I consumed the meat of a Unicorn foal. It is forbidden to do so as drinking the blood or consuming the meat of a Unicorn is a sin punishable by the Old Gods." said Twerlton.

"No. Consuming Unicorn blood or meat will leave you to lead a cursed life but it certainly won't make you immortal. There is more to the story, isn't there?"

"You are perspective for a child. Tell me, how old are you Harrion Stark?" Twerlton asked, his white eyes looking at Harry keenly.

"I suppose I'm seven namesday old."

"Truly?" Twerlton looked suitably impressed.

"Anyway, you didn't give me an answer. There is something else that made you into your current state. Your necromantic powers didn't come from the curse. What is it?" Harry prodded.

"It is better if I show you." said Twerlton looking straight into Harry's eyes.

Harry was a bit hesitant to use Legilimency once again but he went for it anyway. His need to know triumphed any fear of a possible trap. Not to mention, he was wasting valuable time as someone from the camp could wake up. Without further dawdle, he launched an incursion into Twerlton's mind.

Flashes of images raced past his mind as he immersed himself in the well of knowledge. It was a deep well but Harry was determined to scale the full length.

XXXXXXX

Harry held on with a strong grip on the back of Twerlton as they flew straight for one of the highest mountain ranges on the island. It was quite disconcerting to be this close to Twerlton. The cursed magic surrounding Twerlton was off-putting to his senses.

Harry had to shroud himself in protective charms from head to toe to withstand the unnatural magic of Twerlton. If it wasn't for the protective charms, Harry was sure the Necromantic magic hanging around Twerlton would have corrupted his magic. This wouldn't have been a concern if he was a bit more physically older.

"You know, your people will panic once they learn of our absence." said Twerlton.

"Nothing I can't handle."

"It is strange of you to have immediately absconded with me. Aren't you afraid I'll turn on you?" Twerlton asked.

"I've sifted through your memories. If you posed a threat, I would know." Harry said, dismissively.

"I could have faked my memories to deceive you."

"If that was the case, I would have known the moment I was in your head. Besides, what makes you think I can't destroy you now?" asked Harry.

"Your magical fire could only wound me temporarily." Twerlton reminded him which made Harry laugh.

"That is not the strongest fire I can make. Your body is protected by one of the vilest magic in the world, Necromancy. There is also the curse of Unicorn blood and meat augmenting that magic. If I use a suitable form of fire powered by dark magic then I can destroy your body for good."

"I see. That's good." said Twerlton before falling silent.

"Why is that good?"

Harry's query remained unanswered as they neared the mountain.

"This is the Spirit Mountain, the lair of the Winter Spirit." said Twerlton.

Harry looked down from the sky taking in the snow-covered mountain in great detail. It looked like a snowy paradise with bright green trees partially covered in snow and clear blue ponds and waterfalls scattered around the mountain. The air was nourishing with the smell of mint being prevalent in the surroundings.

As Twerlton lowered towards the mountain the entire mountain shook. The snow covering the mountain was launched to the sky as something huge rose up from beneath the snow. Harry had to use his magic to repel the snow away from him as it was dangerously close to piling up over his head. When the snow settled Harry looked into the pitch-black eyes of a colossal dragon.

Harry had never seen a dragon of this size before. Its teeth alone were as long as a two-story house. Its scales gleamed under the sunlight with crystal blue colour. Two large horns projected out of the dragon's head reaching into the sky. Its tail was huge filled with icy spikes that promised death and pain to its enemies. The dragon could fill up a whole Quidditch stadium and it still won't be enough to contain the great beast. On a cursory look, the dragon looked invincible.

But, that was not the case. Harry noticed the blackened mark on the scales close to the dragon's chest.

"Welcome Harrion Stark. I've dreamt of this day for years." the dragon spoke into Harry's mind.

Harry didn't even detect the dragon's presence in his mind until it spoke. It was a chilling realization that the dragon can easily bypass his mental defences undetected.

"Your soul might be old but not as old as mine, young one. I've seen thousands of years in this world. Your defences while a credit amongst your kind is nothing before these old eyes." said the dragon.

Harry gulped at being put on the spot. His grip over the elder wand tightened as he perceived the danger this dragon posed. He knew the dragon was dangerous from the memories of Twerlton but not to this extent.

"What do you want?" Harry asked, in an even voice covering up how intimidated he felt.

"My kind, the ice dragons once thrived on what your people call the Lands of Always Winter. We were few in numbers compared to your species. One day, an entity arrived in our midst. It was not of this world and it was hostile. It wielded the one power that we had no defence against. It had power over darkness and death. It waged a war against my kind that decimated us. We paid a great price to destroy its physical form. We thought it dead but it somehow survived and was bidding its time. It forged an army of dead using the carcass of our fallen launching what you humans understand to be the Long Night. A great battle that determined the fate of this continent and the world. Your ancestor beat them back with my aid but I was not left unscathed from the War for the Dawn." said the dragon, its giant icy paw tapping the blackened wound near its heart.

Harry was left scratching his head at the impromptu history lesson from the ice dragon. If the dragon thought it was explaining the situation, it was wrong. The dragon's version of the story only left him with more questions instead of clearing the air so to speak.

"I'm sure you have had a very long and interesting life. But, my question is, why am I here? Why did you want to meet me? Also, how do you know my soul was old?" Harry asked, looking up into the dark eyes of the dragon.

It was not the dragon who answered Harry. Instead, it was Twerlton.

"Haven't you sensed it Harrion Stark? Look at the great dragon's injury. Do you not sense it?" Twerlton asked.

Harry frowned and reached out with his senses. The moment his magic touched the blackened portion of the dragon's scales he could hear the same whispers he heard at Castle Black. Last time the whispers of the entity were tempting and offering help but this time it was hostile. The dark entity was not at all happy to find Harry was with the ice dragon. It was reeking of malice and most importantly it was afraid.

Harry broke out of the overwhelming feeling of hate and fear the magical aura was exuding.

"I sustained this injury while I began the construction of the Wall. The dark one wanted me dead but it failed. However, its magic has been slowly infecting me and my magic. Soon, it'll take over my body and it will turn me into its unthinking slave. What I need from you Harrion Stark is your strongest fire magic. I want you to destroy me so that the dark one can never use me in its schemes." said the dragon, making Harry blink back in surprise.

He looked at the injury and then at the dragon's black eyes.

'Ah! The black eyes are not natural. The dark magic is behaving like an infectious disease.' Harry observed.

"I think I can help. But, it'll be painful." Harry warned.

"There is no greater pain than watching your loved ones perish child. I've watched the sun set on my kind leaving me as the sole survivor. Whatever pain that comes from my death will not compare to the pain that I've already endured." the dragon spoke, sadness oozing out in every word.

"If you are sure. Now, before your passing, I have some questions for you. Would you be kind enough to answer a few of them?" Harry asked.

The ice dragon lowered its head so that it was looking straight into Harry's eyes.

"I suppose I have some time to spare. What do you want to know?"