Harry Potter The Master of Death
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To their credit, the giantÆs reacted fast. The goat man immediately grasped the table they were eating at and lifted it, sending dishes and food clattering to the ground before throwing the table at him like it weighed no more than a baseball.
Harry stopped it before it reached him, halting its forward motion with a simple Impediment Jinx, before stepping up to stand atop it, lifting himself into the air in order to rise high enough to rise onto the giantÆs table. On top of it as he was, he stood even with the Goat in height.
Snarling, the taller of the two humanlike giants, a man with eyes the color of seaweed, rose from his seat, acrid green light gathering between his hands.
But the grey-eyed giant just pondered Harry and the men behind him, rising much more slowly. He lifted a hand to stay his underlings from attacking.
ôIn fact,ö He said, speaking in slow, amused tones. ôWe were just talking about you. But I must admit, I hadnÆt expected to see you again so soon. However, perhaps this is for the best; I had wished to speak with you aboutùô
The giant cut himself off, throwing himself out of the way of HarryÆs curse, which instead hit the wall and reduced a section of it to fine powder. The taller giantÆs snarled and he had to react quickly to block the sphere of acid that had been meant for his face.
ôI know literally hundreds of languages,ö Harry said, transfiguring the acid into water and letting it splash harmlessly against him. He twitched his wand and all but one of the dishes on the ground sprang towards the giantÆs face. The giant stumbled back, startled by the unexpected form of attack, and that was more than long enough for the remaining dish, a huge plate that the Goat had been eating of off, sprouted eight legs and shifted into a massive, hairy spider. With a gesture, Harry threw it at the giantÆs face and the creature was so enormous that its thick legs wrapped all the way around his head and met in the back. ôAnd I canÆt think of words in any of them that would properly express how little I care about what you have to say!ö
He was about to transfigure the spider into a helmet that was spiked on the inside when the Goat charged at him with an enraged roar. Snapping his wand down towards the table instead, it twisted and began to match the Goats charge, even as HarryÆs feet lift its surface and he slid back through the air.
ôLetÆs try this againàö Harry murmured as the table leapt to tackle the Goat, even as its form shifted, growing into a mass of strong, hard muscle, thick fur, and sharp claws and teeth. ôGoat Man vs. Man Bear, round two. Rip him to pieces.ö
The enormous creature only snarled in response, but it was quick to try to obey. Where before its attacks had been glancing blows and light wounds meant to intimidate and drive back, now it sought only to kill. Its fangs sunk into the flesh of the goatÆs shoulder as its claws left bloody gashes in the giantÆs flesh and it tried to sink them deep and get a good hold with which to rip its prey apart. The Goat gave a scream in reply, not of pain or of fear, but of animalistic bloodlust, and its handÆs quickly sought the BearÆs throat.
With agility he would not have expected from someone with only one leg, the fourth giant was looming over him, swinging a cabinet that it had literally torn for the wall in a blow that would not so much kill him as give the walls around him a red paint job. Not even giving thought to attempting to match that power, Harry willed himself away, feeling himself being crushed into an impossibly small space before reappearing on the other side of the room, facing the giantÆs back with a curse on his lipsùbut before he could say a word, the giant began to scream.
One of the warrior, Eogan, Harry realized, and run up behind the giant and stabbed it in the back of the knee with a wordless cry. Without pausing or even taking a breath, Eogan tore his sword from the giantÆs flesh and began to furiously slash at it, opening deep wound and lacerations as he swung, not with control or skill, but with the simple raging passion of a man who wanted nothing more than the death of the thing in front of him.
As if EoganÆs fury had broken the spell that had kept them in place, as one the other warriors rushed forth, joining him with their own wordless cries. They amassed around the giant as it fell, its one leg giving out, and they stabbed down at it again and again, pouring out all their wrath upon it in stab after stab, screaming until it was impossible to distinguish the giantÆs cries from their own.
With a shout that Harry just barely heard over the screaming around him, the seaweed-eyed giant tore the spider off his face, spreading it to blood chunks. Throwing away the spiders now spasming body, the giant rushed at him without even pausing to brush the legs out of his hair.
Harry flickered out of the way of the first blob of acid, letting it splash uselessly against the wall behind him, before swatting the second away with a flick of his wrist. Standing firm before the giantÆs charge, he swung his wand in an arc, producing a whip fire that struck the giant across the chest. The giant gave no more than a hiss of pain, not slowing down in the slightest, even when the whip became a snake and lunged towards his throat.
Grabbing its head in one hand, the giant crushed it like it was no more than a paper cup and swept up something that had been leaning quietly against the all, swinging it as he ran. As he swung it towards him, Harry saw what it wasùa beautifully crafted sword, made out of some sort of coral.
ôYouÆre dead!ö The giant shouted, spittle flying from his mouth.
But his sword passed only through air.
Behind him, Harry swung his wand as if it was a sword as wellùand its slash rent an arc on nonexistence, as if it were an invisible blade that erased anything in its path.
The giantÆs left arm fell off, then, cut several centimeters below the shoulder, before the rest of the giantÆs body fell apart as everything that had been in the path of HarryÆs wand disappeared.
ôNo,ö Harry said flatly, swinging his wand once more to bisect the giantÆs head. ôYou are.ö
Harry stopped it before it reached him, halting its forward motion with a simple Impediment Jinx, before stepping up to stand atop it, lifting himself into the air in order to rise high enough to rise onto the giantÆs table. On top of it as he was, he stood even with the Goat in height.
Snarling, the taller of the two humanlike giants, a man with eyes the color of seaweed, rose from his seat, acrid green light gathering between his hands.
But the grey-eyed giant just pondered Harry and the men behind him, rising much more slowly. He lifted a hand to stay his underlings from attacking.
ôIn fact,ö He said, speaking in slow, amused tones. ôWe were just talking about you. But I must admit, I hadnÆt expected to see you again so soon. However, perhaps this is for the best; I had wished to speak with you aboutùô
The giant cut himself off, throwing himself out of the way of HarryÆs curse, which instead hit the wall and reduced a section of it to fine powder. The taller giantÆs snarled and he had to react quickly to block the sphere of acid that had been meant for his face.
ôI know literally hundreds of languages,ö Harry said, transfiguring the acid into water and letting it splash harmlessly against him. He twitched his wand and all but one of the dishes on the ground sprang towards the giantÆs face. The giant stumbled back, startled by the unexpected form of attack, and that was more than long enough for the remaining dish, a huge plate that the Goat had been eating of off, sprouted eight legs and shifted into a massive, hairy spider. With a gesture, Harry threw it at the giantÆs face and the creature was so enormous that its thick legs wrapped all the way around his head and met in the back. ôAnd I canÆt think of words in any of them that would properly express how little I care about what you have to say!ö
He was about to transfigure the spider into a helmet that was spiked on the inside when the Goat charged at him with an enraged roar. Snapping his wand down towards the table instead, it twisted and began to match the Goats charge, even as HarryÆs feet lift its surface and he slid back through the air.
ôLetÆs try this againàö Harry murmured as the table leapt to tackle the Goat, even as its form shifted, growing into a mass of strong, hard muscle, thick fur, and sharp claws and teeth. ôGoat Man vs. Man Bear, round two. Rip him to pieces.ö
The enormous creature only snarled in response, but it was quick to try to obey. Where before its attacks had been glancing blows and light wounds meant to intimidate and drive back, now it sought only to kill. Its fangs sunk into the flesh of the goatÆs shoulder as its claws left bloody gashes in the giantÆs flesh and it tried to sink them deep and get a good hold with which to rip its prey apart. The Goat gave a scream in reply, not of pain or of fear, but of animalistic bloodlust, and its handÆs quickly sought the BearÆs throat.
With agility he would not have expected from someone with only one leg, the fourth giant was looming over him, swinging a cabinet that it had literally torn for the wall in a blow that would not so much kill him as give the walls around him a red paint job. Not even giving thought to attempting to match that power, Harry willed himself away, feeling himself being crushed into an impossibly small space before reappearing on the other side of the room, facing the giantÆs back with a curse on his lipsùbut before he could say a word, the giant began to scream.
One of the warrior, Eogan, Harry realized, and run up behind the giant and stabbed it in the back of the knee with a wordless cry. Without pausing or even taking a breath, Eogan tore his sword from the giantÆs flesh and began to furiously slash at it, opening deep wound and lacerations as he swung, not with control or skill, but with the simple raging passion of a man who wanted nothing more than the death of the thing in front of him.
As if EoganÆs fury had broken the spell that had kept them in place, as one the other warriors rushed forth, joining him with their own wordless cries. They amassed around the giant as it fell, its one leg giving out, and they stabbed down at it again and again, pouring out all their wrath upon it in stab after stab, screaming until it was impossible to distinguish the giantÆs cries from their own.
With a shout that Harry just barely heard over the screaming around him, the seaweed-eyed giant tore the spider off his face, spreading it to blood chunks. Throwing away the spiders now spasming body, the giant rushed at him without even pausing to brush the legs out of his hair.
Harry flickered out of the way of the first blob of acid, letting it splash uselessly against the wall behind him, before swatting the second away with a flick of his wrist. Standing firm before the giantÆs charge, he swung his wand in an arc, producing a whip fire that struck the giant across the chest. The giant gave no more than a hiss of pain, not slowing down in the slightest, even when the whip became a snake and lunged towards his throat.
Grabbing its head in one hand, the giant crushed it like it was no more than a paper cup and swept up something that had been leaning quietly against the all, swinging it as he ran. As he swung it towards him, Harry saw what it wasùa beautifully crafted sword, made out of some sort of coral.
ôYouÆre dead!ö The giant shouted, spittle flying from his mouth.
But his sword passed only through air.
Behind him, Harry swung his wand as if it was a sword as wellùand its slash rent an arc on nonexistence, as if it were an invisible blade that erased anything in its path.
The giantÆs left arm fell off, then, cut several centimeters below the shoulder, before the rest of the giantÆs body fell apart as everything that had been in the path of HarryÆs wand disappeared.
ôNo,ö Harry said flatly, swinging his wand once more to bisect the giantÆs head. ôYou are.ö
Almost immediately, the men around him began to cheer, but Harry didnÆt join them. Narrowing his eyes, he confirmed what he suspected.
The grey-eyed giant had decided to cut his losses and run.
Narrowing his eyes, Harry thought quickly. It didnÆt take him much thought to realize where the giant was going and he Apparated a moment later, reappearing with his back to the magical curtain that kept out the sea.
Right in front of him stood the Giant, face startled as he quickly tried to turn his run into a backpedal away from the enemy that had suddenly appeared in his path.
ôGoing somewhere?ö Harry asked flatly as slashed his wand horizontally, releasing a wave of ghostly purple flames. The Giant, moving with more agility then he would have given something so large credit for, leapt completely out of the way of the flames, turning the leap into a cartwheel to return to his feet.
Frowning after him, Harry lifted his wand again. Slashing his wand vertically, gouges appeared on the ceiling, but the giant had already realized how dangerous it was to be anywhere his wand was pointing and quickly slid out of the way before he was erased.
Harry saw the GiantÆs eyes dart around quickly, as if searching for a way out, before his eyes landed on something behind him and narrowed dangerously.
Harry swung his wand toward the giantÆs face, intending to relieve him of his head, but the Giant spat something in a hissing, guttural language and a tremendous force hit Harry in the back and knocked him to the floor.
Pressed to the floor by a rushing torrent of water, it took him a moment to organize his thoughts and realize what had happened. Somehow, with either a password or a spell, the Giant had turned off the curtain that was holding the water at bay and with nothing holding it back, the sea was quickly rushing in.
The giant ran towards him, either trying to get out of the building or attack him, and he Apparated out from under the rushing water. Reappearing several meters down the hallway in a vertical position, he couldnÆt help but stumbled as the rush of water hit his knees, throwing off the cast spell he cast.
Swallowing his annoyance, he tried to readjust his aim before the giant fled from sight, but in the water, the giant had the advantage of both three-dimensional movement and room to make use of it. The giant grabbed the upper edge of the doorway and pulled him up out of sight before he could hit him.
Unable to repress a snarl, Harry Apparatedù
Back into the kitchen.
As much as the mere thought of letting the giant get away pained him, killing him wasnÆt HarryÆs first priority, no matter how much he wanted to.
He was here to save the captives. Including the warriors who would drown if he left them alone while the water came rushing in.
Appearing amongst them as the water flooded in, he whipped his wand in a wide circle above his headùand a moment before the knee-deep water could reach them, it arced up, curving in mid-air to connect above their heads, and then hardened into a massive crystal orb that shielded the entire group.
ôThereÆs been a change of plans,ö Harry said. ôWeÆre getting out of here right now.ö
The tip off his wand lit up with a bright green light, sending a silent signal to the transporters down below.
ôIÆll go on ahead to get our ride prepared.ö He continued. ôThe others will be coming up momentarily and then weÆre going to leave as quickly as possible. IÆm going to break this thing into smaller crystals, so break up into groups.ö
Apparating out of the sphere, Harry gave them a moment to separate into smaller groups while he gave himself gills again.
ôIÆve set your pods to follow me in just a minute. I have to make sure our ride is ready for us, first.ö Harry told them as the sphere broke into smaller sets of octopi. ôIÆll only be a minute.ö
Appearing outside, he quickly looked around, in hopes of finding the giant whoÆd escaped. He was nowhere to be seen, however, even after Harry Apparated a hundred meters straight up to look around. On the Brightside, no of the other giants flitting about the city seemed to be responding in alarm.
That almost surely wouldnÆt last. The giant that had escaped would probably be back soon, likely with a few dozen other giants at his back.
For a moment, Harry gave serious thought to waiting around for them. He could wait invisibly for them to come back and set up an ambush. If he had time to prepare, he could transfigure a number of helpers and then he could introduce those giants to some of the most horrific creatures of the sea.
He wanted tooùhe couldnÆt deny that. He wanted them to pay for the lives theyÆd stolen and ruined.
But that wasnÆt why he was here, was it?
He had people to save. Maybe he could return later, to keep them from hurting anyone else, but here and now he had to concentrate on saving lives.
Entering the giantÆs ship, he immediately focused on his first concern and began to make it bigger on the inside. It would need to be large enough to hold everyone and he made sure it was. Then he checked the ships controls, wincing as he didnÆt recognize them in the slightest. But then, heÆd expected thatùand even if heÆd known how to steer it, it wouldnÆt have changed anything. He couldnÆt well steer it himself, when problems were almost guaranteed to arise around the ship. So he began weaving Charms, animating the shipÆs controls, readying it to steer itself.
With that done, he opened the ships doors, and saw the first of the transports and the towers doors. He gestured at them to come as he stepped through the æcurtainÆ around the ships entrance, re-entering the water once more.
ôHurry up,ö He said in Mermish. ôWe havenÆt got much time.ö
At once, the transports responded to their MasterÆs will and flooded out of the tower. The enter the ship once by one, not getting in each otherÆs way. For a moment, everything seemed to be going well.
And then, he heard it. A sound like something rushing through the water.
Or a lot of somethingÆs.
Half-knowing what he would find, Harry gave the still boarding transports a glance before Apparating high above, expecting the worse.
He was not disappointed.
A dozen ships, larger and better armed than the one heÆd stolen, swam towards them. Around them, one hundred giants, clad in armor, spears and swords of coral in their hands. As they swam, more forces joined their ranksùand leagues behind them far off in the distance, more ships were gathering.
æHow?Æ Harry wanted to ask. æHow did they get ready so quickly?Æ
It should have taken longer than this to get them all ready. Maybe even an hour or two, since theyÆd been caught by surprise. Harry had expected them to respond in force, but not like this! With his surprise attack, it shouldnÆt have been possible, from a logical point of view!
Yet, here it was. And who was he to speak of logic in the first place? He knew full well how illogical the world could get.
And in the end, how it had happened didnÆt matter.
One way or another, their army had come for him.
The grey-eyed giant had decided to cut his losses and run.
Narrowing his eyes, Harry thought quickly. It didnÆt take him much thought to realize where the giant was going and he Apparated a moment later, reappearing with his back to the magical curtain that kept out the sea.
Right in front of him stood the Giant, face startled as he quickly tried to turn his run into a backpedal away from the enemy that had suddenly appeared in his path.
ôGoing somewhere?ö Harry asked flatly as slashed his wand horizontally, releasing a wave of ghostly purple flames. The Giant, moving with more agility then he would have given something so large credit for, leapt completely out of the way of the flames, turning the leap into a cartwheel to return to his feet.
Frowning after him, Harry lifted his wand again. Slashing his wand vertically, gouges appeared on the ceiling, but the giant had already realized how dangerous it was to be anywhere his wand was pointing and quickly slid out of the way before he was erased.
Harry saw the GiantÆs eyes dart around quickly, as if searching for a way out, before his eyes landed on something behind him and narrowed dangerously.
Harry swung his wand toward the giantÆs face, intending to relieve him of his head, but the Giant spat something in a hissing, guttural language and a tremendous force hit Harry in the back and knocked him to the floor.
Pressed to the floor by a rushing torrent of water, it took him a moment to organize his thoughts and realize what had happened. Somehow, with either a password or a spell, the Giant had turned off the curtain that was holding the water at bay and with nothing holding it back, the sea was quickly rushing in.
The giant ran towards him, either trying to get out of the building or attack him, and he Apparated out from under the rushing water. Reappearing several meters down the hallway in a vertical position, he couldnÆt help but stumbled as the rush of water hit his knees, throwing off the cast spell he cast.
Swallowing his annoyance, he tried to readjust his aim before the giant fled from sight, but in the water, the giant had the advantage of both three-dimensional movement and room to make use of it. The giant grabbed the upper edge of the doorway and pulled him up out of sight before he could hit him.
Unable to repress a snarl, Harry Apparatedù
Back into the kitchen.
As much as the mere thought of letting the giant get away pained him, killing him wasnÆt HarryÆs first priority, no matter how much he wanted to.
He was here to save the captives. Including the warriors who would drown if he left them alone while the water came rushing in.
Appearing amongst them as the water flooded in, he whipped his wand in a wide circle above his headùand a moment before the knee-deep water could reach them, it arced up, curving in mid-air to connect above their heads, and then hardened into a massive crystal orb that shielded the entire group.
ôThereÆs been a change of plans,ö Harry said. ôWeÆre getting out of here right now.ö
The tip off his wand lit up with a bright green light, sending a silent signal to the transporters down below.
ôIÆll go on ahead to get our ride prepared.ö He continued. ôThe others will be coming up momentarily and then weÆre going to leave as quickly as possible. IÆm going to break this thing into smaller crystals, so break up into groups.ö
Apparating out of the sphere, Harry gave them a moment to separate into smaller groups while he gave himself gills again.
ôIÆve set your pods to follow me in just a minute. I have to make sure our ride is ready for us, first.ö Harry told them as the sphere broke into smaller sets of octopi. ôIÆll only be a minute.ö
Appearing outside, he quickly looked around, in hopes of finding the giant whoÆd escaped. He was nowhere to be seen, however, even after Harry Apparated a hundred meters straight up to look around. On the Brightside, no of the other giants flitting about the city seemed to be responding in alarm.
That almost surely wouldnÆt last. The giant that had escaped would probably be back soon, likely with a few dozen other giants at his back.
For a moment, Harry gave serious thought to waiting around for them. He could wait invisibly for them to come back and set up an ambush. If he had time to prepare, he could transfigure a number of helpers and then he could introduce those giants to some of the most horrific creatures of the sea.
He wanted tooùhe couldnÆt deny that. He wanted them to pay for the lives theyÆd stolen and ruined.
But that wasnÆt why he was here, was it?
He had people to save. Maybe he could return later, to keep them from hurting anyone else, but here and now he had to concentrate on saving lives.
Entering the giantÆs ship, he immediately focused on his first concern and began to make it bigger on the inside. It would need to be large enough to hold everyone and he made sure it was. Then he checked the ships controls, wincing as he didnÆt recognize them in the slightest. But then, heÆd expected thatùand even if heÆd known how to steer it, it wouldnÆt have changed anything. He couldnÆt well steer it himself, when problems were almost guaranteed to arise around the ship. So he began weaving Charms, animating the shipÆs controls, readying it to steer itself.
With that done, he opened the ships doors, and saw the first of the transports and the towers doors. He gestured at them to come as he stepped through the æcurtainÆ around the ships entrance, re-entering the water once more.
ôHurry up,ö He said in Mermish. ôWe havenÆt got much time.ö
At once, the transports responded to their MasterÆs will and flooded out of the tower. The enter the ship once by one, not getting in each otherÆs way. For a moment, everything seemed to be going well.
And then, he heard it. A sound like something rushing through the water.
Or a lot of somethingÆs.
Half-knowing what he would find, Harry gave the still boarding transports a glance before Apparating high above, expecting the worse.
He was not disappointed.
A dozen ships, larger and better armed than the one heÆd stolen, swam towards them. Around them, one hundred giants, clad in armor, spears and swords of coral in their hands. As they swam, more forces joined their ranksùand leagues behind them far off in the distance, more ships were gathering.
æHow?Æ Harry wanted to ask. æHow did they get ready so quickly?Æ
It should have taken longer than this to get them all ready. Maybe even an hour or two, since theyÆd been caught by surprise. Harry had expected them to respond in force, but not like this! With his surprise attack, it shouldnÆt have been possible, from a logical point of view!
Yet, here it was. And who was he to speak of logic in the first place? He knew full well how illogical the world could get.
And in the end, how it had happened didnÆt matter.
One way or another, their army had come for him.
Why do I get the feeling that there has been a misunderstanding somewhere? Say, Harry stumbled onto a den of criminals and the local law enforcement has come to raid them or is responding to the violence and magic? As stated, this level of organized response is a bit much given the time frame...
I get that "John Cleese going into the castle and slaughtering the wedding guests" feel here. Though I think it pretty clear that the giants in this particular tower deserved it.
The other big outstanding question is Why? Why torture, warp or mutilate? What is the master reason here? The one giant seemed somehow reasonable - willing to talk at least. I doubt its just pure meanness, though that is possible in an inhuman sort of way.
I get that "John Cleese going into the castle and slaughtering the wedding guests" feel here. Though I think it pretty clear that the giants in this particular tower deserved it.
The other big outstanding question is Why? Why torture, warp or mutilate? What is the master reason here? The one giant seemed somehow reasonable - willing to talk at least. I doubt its just pure meanness, though that is possible in an inhuman sort of way.
malcolm75k said:
Why do I get the feeling that there has been a misunderstanding somewhere? Say, Harry stumbled onto a den of criminals and the local law enforcement has come to raid them or is responding to the violence and magic? As stated, this level of organized response is a bit much given the time frame...
I get that "John Cleese going into the castle and slaughtering the wedding guests" feel here. Though I think it pretty clear that the giants in this particular tower deserved it.
The other big outstanding question is Why? Why torture, warp or mutilate? What is the master reason here? The one giant seemed somehow reasonable - willing to talk at least. I doubt its just pure meanness, though that is possible in an inhuman sort of way.
I get that "John Cleese going into the castle and slaughtering the wedding guests" feel here. Though I think it pretty clear that the giants in this particular tower deserved it.
The other big outstanding question is Why? Why torture, warp or mutilate? What is the master reason here? The one giant seemed somehow reasonable - willing to talk at least. I doubt its just pure meanness, though that is possible in an inhuman sort of way.
They are signatories of the Unseelie Accords.[1]
They are related to the Jotuns and the Fae .[1]
A gate to the court of King Corb is located in Lake Michigan.[1]
Within hours of the fall of the Red Court , groups like the Fomor began to try to seize power and engage in genocidal tactics similar to those employed by Vitto Malvora., only the Fomor do not kill, they twist and enslave. The White Council had gone from "fighting one war to the middle of another," where this time the enemy was legion and faceless. However all these minor threats are not individually as strong as the Red Court was, "little fish trying to grow" into sharks. The Fomor do not have the resources to withstand the Wardens or remove the Brighter Future Society, hence their efforts to aid the Capiorcorpus returning to human form.
Their advances into the states and cities bordering large bodies of water have been the motivation for Baron John Marcone forming the Chicago Alliance between vigilantes like the Alphas , the Brighter Future Society, the outfit and local White Court nobles.
------------------
from some wiki page
anyway as I understand it they used to be big ages ago but got their asses whuped and driven into the sea which i suspect is what were seeing here. so ya they dont have a perfectly good reason for abducting hundreds of people and torturing thim into becoming slaves.
I believe they come from Irish mythology if I'm not mistaken. The Jotun are Norse, yes? The Fae are Irish as well.
I would think the torture would be used more as operant conditioning than "slave training", but what do I know? I would think that with their ability to trap them in areas that would be impossible for them to leave, the giants would have areas for work in the complex and set them to it, and if the work was not done, torture them. If it was, they might get extra rations or something.
Perhaps this area is just a processing pen, and the torture was just to soften them up, perhaps break them for mind alteration/physical alteration.
Mind you, any such logic can be void since we are dealing with non-humans. It could be the answer to "why" would be "Because the sky is purple and I saw a hawk today."
I would think the torture would be used more as operant conditioning than "slave training", but what do I know? I would think that with their ability to trap them in areas that would be impossible for them to leave, the giants would have areas for work in the complex and set them to it, and if the work was not done, torture them. If it was, they might get extra rations or something.
Perhaps this area is just a processing pen, and the torture was just to soften them up, perhaps break them for mind alteration/physical alteration.
Mind you, any such logic can be void since we are dealing with non-humans. It could be the answer to "why" would be "Because the sky is purple and I saw a hawk today."
malcolm75k said:
I believe they come from Irish mythology if I'm not mistaken. The Jotun are Norse, yes? The Fae are Irish as well.
Worth noting:
The Fomorians have enslaved people since the very beginning. Mythological, they were the first people to live in Ireland, but then Partholon came. The Fomorians didn't enslave him or his people, but only because Partholon was beating them until all his people died of plague.
Then came Nemed and his people, who got enslaved after they were beaten. They later rose up against the Fomorians, but then all of them died except for thirty people on a single ship, who scattered across the world.
The Fir Bolg didn't meet the Fomorians at all, but when the Tuatha DÚ Danann arrived and Bres (a half-Fomorian) managed to become their king, the Fomorians enslaved them, too.
Why do they keep enslaving people? I have no idea. Probably for the same reason people enslaved each other, I guess.
(Or it could just be their nature. No free will and all.)
The Fomorians have enslaved people since the very beginning. Mythological, they were the first people to live in Ireland, but then Partholon came. The Fomorians didn't enslave him or his people, but only because Partholon was beating them until all his people died of plague.
Then came Nemed and his people, who got enslaved after they were beaten. They later rose up against the Fomorians, but then all of them died except for thirty people on a single ship, who scattered across the world.
The Fir Bolg didn't meet the Fomorians at all, but when the Tuatha DÚ Danann arrived and Bres (a half-Fomorian) managed to become their king, the Fomorians enslaved them, too.
Why do they keep enslaving people? I have no idea. Probably for the same reason people enslaved each other, I guess.
(Or it could just be their nature. No free will and all.)
Ryuugi said:
(Or it could just be their nature. No free will and all.)
Its a pain.
malcolm75k said:
Ryuugi said:
(Or it could just be their nature. No free will and all.)
Its a pain.
He had to think fast; he started, as he always did, with a check of the current situation.
He was greatly outnumbered and none of the warriors he had with them would be of any use to him in the sea. Everyone he wanted to protect was on a small ship that was almost certainly slower than theirs and just as certainly much less armed. The sea was his enemies domain and if he wanted the men and women heÆd rescued to be truly safe, heÆd need to take into account that he would have to, at the very least, get them completely out of the water.
He could do that, once he got to the surface and had a chance to work his magic.
But the surface was very, very far away, and getting there meant heÆd probably have to go through most of an armada to do it.
Which meant he better not hold back.
With a wave of his wand, the clear water changed slightly in color. At this depth, it was hard to see them, even for him, but heÆd conjured a swarm of Box Jellyfish as he retreated and ordered them quickly towards the oncoming swarm. He wasnÆt sure of the exact details of giant physiology, but he was pretty sure a bunch of Jellyfish would ruin their day.
Of course, if he ended up to close to them and accidentally brushed against one, it wouldnÆt do wonders for his day, either, so he magically ordered them to stay far away from him and put a respectable distance between himself and his creations before starting to enlarge them.
As he continued to retreat towards the boat, he began to conjure more and more creatures. He was careful not to send them to attack, knowing that it would be pointless if he got them to close to the Chironex heÆd conjured.
Instead, he conjured them in waves and allowed them to spread throughout certain areas. A wall of tiny Blue-Ringed Octopi that he left the same size, before creating swaths of much larger and more dangerous looking creatures as the next line of defense. Sharks, Stingrays, and Sea Snakes may not generally attack unless provoked, but his control had them ready to kill.
Harry took a deep æbreathÆ through his gills as he lowered his wand for a moment to hitch a ride on a Great White Shark heÆd made. He kept his eyes on the approaching giants as they ran into the first line of creations.
Almost immediately, horrible looking red markings spread quickly across the flesh of the foremost giants, as they tried to push roughly past the Boxes of Death and were promptly put in their place for their folly by thousands of microscopic poisonous darts. If they had been normal Jellyfish, pencil thick red lines would have appeared wherever their tentacles had touched.
His creations, naturally, inflicted wounds that were significantly larger than that, leaving agonizing, ropelike marks on the giants flesh.
With them close enough, Harry urged his creations to attack, rather than simply wait, and large tentacles began to brush against the giants in deceptively gentle strokes as the Boxes of Death floated forward. Panic was immediate as mere contact with the creatures caused horrific pain, and for a moment it seemed like they would break rank and scatterù
But a firm, but almost musical voice slid through the army, carrying smoothly through the water.
Noàit was like it coming from the water, speaking from the liquid all around them. The sea called out and demanded to be obeyed.
As one, the giants on the frontline moved back away from the Jellyfish and a series of other giants, wearing strange cloaks over shell-like armor, and strange light began to gather around them, before the water started to blur.
Harry looked away, knowing before they even cast their spell what would happen. As he reached the ship, he was pleased to see the last of the transports entering the ship. He had his shark pull up by the doorway.
ôAre you the last one?ö He asked.
A young boy with slightly tanned skin nodded back and said something that the water distorted. Harry nodded and gestured the doors of the ship shut, before sending a spell whizzing down into the tower to double check, just to be safe. If there was anyone else, he could quickly Apparate them up, but he didnÆt receive a reply.
Harry patted his sharkÆs head and gave it a nod before Apparating up to stand atop the ship. As the shark rejoined its fellows, Harry looked around from his new vantage point, working his jaw.
The giants had annihilated all of his Jellyfish and were making quick work of the larger predators heÆd created. He imagined they were still having trouble with the tiny octopi, but they seemed to be bearing the poisons that were running through their systems fairly wellùat least in that no one had collapsed yet. It would take at least several minutes for major symptoms to appear, though, if they did at all.
That was fine. He hadnÆt really expected the aquatic giants to be unable to deal with the dangers of the sea. It sort of went with the territory, he figured.
They were just there to buy time for everyone to board the ship and they had.
The ship lurched into motion beneath him, slowly beginning to rise, but Harry ignored it. With everyone safely aboard the ship, it was his turn.
Taking one last breath, he prepared himself for what he was about to do, lifting his wand like he was a maestro before an orchestra. He held it there, at rest as the first of the giants broke through, before he dropped it low and then brought it sharply up high, a gesture that demanded response.
The only warning was a roaring, bellowing noise, perfectly audible, even beneath the sea.
And then the Fiendfyre leapt eagerly to its masterÆs call and he set the sea aflame.
He was greatly outnumbered and none of the warriors he had with them would be of any use to him in the sea. Everyone he wanted to protect was on a small ship that was almost certainly slower than theirs and just as certainly much less armed. The sea was his enemies domain and if he wanted the men and women heÆd rescued to be truly safe, heÆd need to take into account that he would have to, at the very least, get them completely out of the water.
He could do that, once he got to the surface and had a chance to work his magic.
But the surface was very, very far away, and getting there meant heÆd probably have to go through most of an armada to do it.
Which meant he better not hold back.
With a wave of his wand, the clear water changed slightly in color. At this depth, it was hard to see them, even for him, but heÆd conjured a swarm of Box Jellyfish as he retreated and ordered them quickly towards the oncoming swarm. He wasnÆt sure of the exact details of giant physiology, but he was pretty sure a bunch of Jellyfish would ruin their day.
Of course, if he ended up to close to them and accidentally brushed against one, it wouldnÆt do wonders for his day, either, so he magically ordered them to stay far away from him and put a respectable distance between himself and his creations before starting to enlarge them.
As he continued to retreat towards the boat, he began to conjure more and more creatures. He was careful not to send them to attack, knowing that it would be pointless if he got them to close to the Chironex heÆd conjured.
Instead, he conjured them in waves and allowed them to spread throughout certain areas. A wall of tiny Blue-Ringed Octopi that he left the same size, before creating swaths of much larger and more dangerous looking creatures as the next line of defense. Sharks, Stingrays, and Sea Snakes may not generally attack unless provoked, but his control had them ready to kill.
Harry took a deep æbreathÆ through his gills as he lowered his wand for a moment to hitch a ride on a Great White Shark heÆd made. He kept his eyes on the approaching giants as they ran into the first line of creations.
Almost immediately, horrible looking red markings spread quickly across the flesh of the foremost giants, as they tried to push roughly past the Boxes of Death and were promptly put in their place for their folly by thousands of microscopic poisonous darts. If they had been normal Jellyfish, pencil thick red lines would have appeared wherever their tentacles had touched.
His creations, naturally, inflicted wounds that were significantly larger than that, leaving agonizing, ropelike marks on the giants flesh.
With them close enough, Harry urged his creations to attack, rather than simply wait, and large tentacles began to brush against the giants in deceptively gentle strokes as the Boxes of Death floated forward. Panic was immediate as mere contact with the creatures caused horrific pain, and for a moment it seemed like they would break rank and scatterù
But a firm, but almost musical voice slid through the army, carrying smoothly through the water.
Noàit was like it coming from the water, speaking from the liquid all around them. The sea called out and demanded to be obeyed.
As one, the giants on the frontline moved back away from the Jellyfish and a series of other giants, wearing strange cloaks over shell-like armor, and strange light began to gather around them, before the water started to blur.
Harry looked away, knowing before they even cast their spell what would happen. As he reached the ship, he was pleased to see the last of the transports entering the ship. He had his shark pull up by the doorway.
ôAre you the last one?ö He asked.
A young boy with slightly tanned skin nodded back and said something that the water distorted. Harry nodded and gestured the doors of the ship shut, before sending a spell whizzing down into the tower to double check, just to be safe. If there was anyone else, he could quickly Apparate them up, but he didnÆt receive a reply.
Harry patted his sharkÆs head and gave it a nod before Apparating up to stand atop the ship. As the shark rejoined its fellows, Harry looked around from his new vantage point, working his jaw.
The giants had annihilated all of his Jellyfish and were making quick work of the larger predators heÆd created. He imagined they were still having trouble with the tiny octopi, but they seemed to be bearing the poisons that were running through their systems fairly wellùat least in that no one had collapsed yet. It would take at least several minutes for major symptoms to appear, though, if they did at all.
That was fine. He hadnÆt really expected the aquatic giants to be unable to deal with the dangers of the sea. It sort of went with the territory, he figured.
They were just there to buy time for everyone to board the ship and they had.
The ship lurched into motion beneath him, slowly beginning to rise, but Harry ignored it. With everyone safely aboard the ship, it was his turn.
Taking one last breath, he prepared himself for what he was about to do, lifting his wand like he was a maestro before an orchestra. He held it there, at rest as the first of the giants broke through, before he dropped it low and then brought it sharply up high, a gesture that demanded response.
The only warning was a roaring, bellowing noise, perfectly audible, even beneath the sea.
And then the Fiendfyre leapt eagerly to its masterÆs call and he set the sea aflame.
dr.michael92 said:
And in the next scene, he will casually pull a suit case nuke out of a vanishing bag.
Provided that the nuke hasn't been magically altered to be environmentally friendly short.
malcolm75k said:
Ryuugi said:
(Or it could just be their nature. No free will and all.)
Its a pain.
Say that Nevernever creature A is a greedy asshole. He's always been a greedy asshole and will always be a greedy asshole, but he can make certain choices. He can make greedy asshole choices, mainly. He can look out for his greedy assholish best interests, and he can choose the best choices to pursue his greedy asshole goals.
But he can't not be a greedy asshole. Any time he's faced with a decision, he'll come at it like a greedy asshole. He can shy away from courses of action that don't make sense for a greedy asshole and choose ones that support it, but everything about him can be seen through that greedy asshole lens.
Now, take a greedy asshole who's also a human. He can do all that--but he can also not act like a greedy asshole. He can change himself and come at things different ways and all that jazz.
How often he'll do that is up for debate, but he can. That guy from the Nevernever? He can make choices, but they all have to be done firmly from his position as a greedy asshole.
Ryuugi said:
malcolm75k said:
Ryuugi said:
(Or it could just be their nature. No free will and all.)
Its a pain.
Say that Nevernever creature A is a greedy asshole. He's always been a greedy asshole and will always be a greedy asshole, but he can make certain choices. He can make greedy asshole choices, mainly. He can look out for his greedy assholish best interests, and he can choose the best choices to pursue his greedy asshole goals.
But he can't not be a greedy asshole. Any time he's faced with a decision, he'll come at it like a greedy asshole. He can shy away from courses of action that don't make sense for a greedy asshole and choose ones that support it, but everything about him can be seen through that greedy asshole lens.
Now, take a greedy asshole who's also a human. He can do all that--but he can also not act like a greedy asshole. He can change himself and come at things different ways and all that jazz.
How often he'll do that is up for debate, but he can. That guy from the Nevernever? He can make choices, but they all have to be done firmly from his position as a greedy asshole.
And by inference, there would be no nature vs nurture debate for a being of the Nevernever. It is all determined by nature from the beginning, and the ship is locked to a single point of the moral compass for its course. You can expand this to likes and dislikes as well.
Those would *influence* choices, however, not dictate them, which is what lack of true free-will indicates. For the purposes of a given story, however, this can be glossed over. Its definitely easier to work with.
I look at it as scripted vs random branch paths. From the perspective of a divine being outside of the universe, the beings lacking free will have scripted events, while the free-will types have variable decision points. The divine being could tell the difference since there would be minor variations among those beings with free will for each iteration of the timestream, while the ones lacking free will would react the same pre-programed way each time. One would need to exist outside of time, or have access to the "person code", to determine which was which. Its a point of view rarely found in stories, and when it is, those lacking free will are aware of it, and have some form of cognitive dissonance going on that causes them to speak out on it. Like, "I'm sorry, but I have to try to kill you. I would rather not, but it is what I was ordained to do when time began".
The Master of Death
The Flames That Marched Against the Sea
The fire bloomed up from the depths like smoke, unhindered by such petty concerns as water. It boiled the water around it in an instant and large bubbles of scalding steam appeared around the flames, rising quickly towards its prey.
It wasnÆt hard to make Fiendfyre kill. In fact, it was too easy. In a way, the hellish fire had a mind of its own, if an alien and malicious alien one; it wanted nothing more than to devour anything that was not itself. The flames reached up from the deep like jealous, grasping claws, able to sense the life all around them. It could feel their power like they were sparks in the darkness. It wanted them; to take them and burn them away until they could not distract from the glory of its much greater light.
And Harry wanted the same thing. He could feel them at the edge of his perception and he wanted to destroy them and everything else, until nothing but ash remained.
Such was the nature of Fiendfyre. It wasnÆt easily controlled like the creatures heÆd conjured, or even easily understandable like humans, but it was far too dangerous to leave unchained. Those who played with fire would find themselves burnedùwhen it came to Fiendfyre, this was a horrible, dangerous fact. It sought life and if he let it go, it would delight in devouring him like would anything but itself.
But therein lay the one way to tame the flamesùand the reason why it was considered one of the most dangerous forms of magic out there.
It would not devour itself.
To control the flames, Harry had become one with them, until they were but an extension of himselfùor perhaps, until he was but an extension of them. They would obey nothing but their own twisted will, so he made that will his own.
And so the battle began. Not just between Harry and the Giants, but between his will and the flames. His will was a part of it, but unless it was the strongest part, it was a dissenting voice in a burning field of flawless unity. The flames would not permit such a thing anymore then they would permit any life; there could be only one voice and only one will.
If that will was his own, the flames would conform to his demands.
If it wasnÆt, the flames would hollow him out. Those flames could burn anything, even souls. What was a mind to them? They would consume him completely and he would be nothing but an extension of the whole, until they decided to consume him completely, until he was just another part of the fire.
Even now, it was trying to quash him. He could feel it, like a burning on his mind. He felt like he had a horrible fever and he knew from experience that it would only get worse with time, until he felt like he was burning alive. He could have used Occlumency and shut out the foreign influence in an instant, but he didnÆt.
That wouldnÆt have let him control them. No; to do that, he would have to be a bit more subtle, at least at first.
The flames broke apart, twisting at first into orbs before becoming a massive school of piranhas, and that was when Harry began. With a whispered thought, he suggested that the flames would spread more quickly if they attacked multiple targets at once. For a moment, there was a stirring in the flames, as if it were about to question itself, but it smoothed out almost before it began. It realized, in its way, that the suggestion would indeed spread the flames. The next flock of piranhas also broke apart, even without him suggesting anything, as his idea spread.
As the different groups began to reach the giants, he concentrated on one that was faltering, injured by the Jellyfish and Octopi. Through the flames, Harry could see him and the painful wounds upon his flesh. All around him, other giants fought with sudden fear against the unnatural flames and jets of water broke them apart, casting them into sparks that immediately began to reform.
Harry ignored them, focusing on the weakest member of the pack.
This one, he urged, drawing in some of the surrounding piranhas to assist those in charge of taking down his target. Kill this one first.
There was a moment of resistance, but it was small. It didnÆt really matter to the fire whether it killed one man or another, as long as it was killing something. The idea of purposely sparing someone for a time was a strange, foreign idea to it, but after minute of no success against the slowly uniting front of the giants, a small school of piranhas broke off to assist in attacking his chosen target.
The giant was weak. It had taken a particularly harsh beating from the Jellyfish and enough time had passed for the poison to start to take effect. It was attacking his nervous system, heart, and skin, all at the same time. Given how many times heÆd been stung, he might even go into cardiac arrest soon.
In other words, he was easy pickings for the flames and they sunk into the horrified giant with wicked glee. He could feel their pleasure, then, at having something to burn. The frantic giant tried to pat out the flames, shaking from the venom and the pain. His movements were clumsy, though, and wouldnÆt have worked even if he hadnÆt been. The fire danced joyfully upon his flesh, spreading unnaturally slowly.
They knew their victim was suffering and they delighted in it. They wanted to burn him slowly, which was why the piranhas had gone after his hands and feet. The flames would crawl sluggishly up his limbs as he screamed and cried and begged, burning away inch by slow inch until they reach his body. TheyÆd spread across him, then, and burn the rest of him alive. The flames could control how hot they were and theyÆd turn it down to burn him slowly. TheyÆd burn his flesh, char his meat, and then gnaw on his bones in delight, but theyÆd make it take as long as possible.
They wouldnÆt let him die until theyÆd had all the fun they could.
But Harry didnÆt kill like that, so he cast his will towards the flames burning the man alive and spoke to them, not with a quiet suggestion but with an order that must be obeyed. They fought him for a moment, but he moved quickly, targeting only the flames around the giant and leaving the rest to do as they pleased.
He crushed them and made them obey.
The flames flickered and the giant gasped as they heated quickly, spreading across his body in seconds. He screamed, his voice ragged and torn for a momentùand then he fell silent as the flames burnt his throat away. He struggle then, just for a moment, still trying to scream.
And then it was over.
The dark mind of the Fiendfyre raged immediately, outraged as if Harry had committed a crime by swiftly ending a life, and the heat upon his mind abruptly increased. Harry gasped at the sudden flash of pain that streaked through his head, but tried to ignore it.
The Fiendfyre controlled most of the flames that now lit up the seaùbut not all of them. A burning patch around the quickly burning remains of a giant answered to him, now. And that patch would grow quickly under his command, until their situations were reversed and he controlled more that the Fiendfyre and could take complete control.
For now, however, he had to focus. He drew upon an image and his will sculpted the flames under his command.
Others had been poisoned by his creations and were getting weaker by the minute. HeÆd pick them off on by one while the Fiendfyre raged at anything that it could find and spread quickly through the battlefield.
A burning shark began to swim through the water, seeking its already dying prey. Harry focused on it completelyù
Until a voice spoke to him, the voice of the sea.
ôI see you, Firestarter,ö The leader of the Giants purred. ôYou made a mistake coming into my domain.ö
And suddenly the water stopped passed through his gills. Instead, it wound around his neck twice, pulled tight, and suddenly he couldnÆt breathe.
The Flames That Marched Against the Sea
The fire bloomed up from the depths like smoke, unhindered by such petty concerns as water. It boiled the water around it in an instant and large bubbles of scalding steam appeared around the flames, rising quickly towards its prey.
It wasnÆt hard to make Fiendfyre kill. In fact, it was too easy. In a way, the hellish fire had a mind of its own, if an alien and malicious alien one; it wanted nothing more than to devour anything that was not itself. The flames reached up from the deep like jealous, grasping claws, able to sense the life all around them. It could feel their power like they were sparks in the darkness. It wanted them; to take them and burn them away until they could not distract from the glory of its much greater light.
And Harry wanted the same thing. He could feel them at the edge of his perception and he wanted to destroy them and everything else, until nothing but ash remained.
Such was the nature of Fiendfyre. It wasnÆt easily controlled like the creatures heÆd conjured, or even easily understandable like humans, but it was far too dangerous to leave unchained. Those who played with fire would find themselves burnedùwhen it came to Fiendfyre, this was a horrible, dangerous fact. It sought life and if he let it go, it would delight in devouring him like would anything but itself.
But therein lay the one way to tame the flamesùand the reason why it was considered one of the most dangerous forms of magic out there.
It would not devour itself.
To control the flames, Harry had become one with them, until they were but an extension of himselfùor perhaps, until he was but an extension of them. They would obey nothing but their own twisted will, so he made that will his own.
And so the battle began. Not just between Harry and the Giants, but between his will and the flames. His will was a part of it, but unless it was the strongest part, it was a dissenting voice in a burning field of flawless unity. The flames would not permit such a thing anymore then they would permit any life; there could be only one voice and only one will.
If that will was his own, the flames would conform to his demands.
If it wasnÆt, the flames would hollow him out. Those flames could burn anything, even souls. What was a mind to them? They would consume him completely and he would be nothing but an extension of the whole, until they decided to consume him completely, until he was just another part of the fire.
Even now, it was trying to quash him. He could feel it, like a burning on his mind. He felt like he had a horrible fever and he knew from experience that it would only get worse with time, until he felt like he was burning alive. He could have used Occlumency and shut out the foreign influence in an instant, but he didnÆt.
That wouldnÆt have let him control them. No; to do that, he would have to be a bit more subtle, at least at first.
The flames broke apart, twisting at first into orbs before becoming a massive school of piranhas, and that was when Harry began. With a whispered thought, he suggested that the flames would spread more quickly if they attacked multiple targets at once. For a moment, there was a stirring in the flames, as if it were about to question itself, but it smoothed out almost before it began. It realized, in its way, that the suggestion would indeed spread the flames. The next flock of piranhas also broke apart, even without him suggesting anything, as his idea spread.
As the different groups began to reach the giants, he concentrated on one that was faltering, injured by the Jellyfish and Octopi. Through the flames, Harry could see him and the painful wounds upon his flesh. All around him, other giants fought with sudden fear against the unnatural flames and jets of water broke them apart, casting them into sparks that immediately began to reform.
Harry ignored them, focusing on the weakest member of the pack.
This one, he urged, drawing in some of the surrounding piranhas to assist those in charge of taking down his target. Kill this one first.
There was a moment of resistance, but it was small. It didnÆt really matter to the fire whether it killed one man or another, as long as it was killing something. The idea of purposely sparing someone for a time was a strange, foreign idea to it, but after minute of no success against the slowly uniting front of the giants, a small school of piranhas broke off to assist in attacking his chosen target.
The giant was weak. It had taken a particularly harsh beating from the Jellyfish and enough time had passed for the poison to start to take effect. It was attacking his nervous system, heart, and skin, all at the same time. Given how many times heÆd been stung, he might even go into cardiac arrest soon.
In other words, he was easy pickings for the flames and they sunk into the horrified giant with wicked glee. He could feel their pleasure, then, at having something to burn. The frantic giant tried to pat out the flames, shaking from the venom and the pain. His movements were clumsy, though, and wouldnÆt have worked even if he hadnÆt been. The fire danced joyfully upon his flesh, spreading unnaturally slowly.
They knew their victim was suffering and they delighted in it. They wanted to burn him slowly, which was why the piranhas had gone after his hands and feet. The flames would crawl sluggishly up his limbs as he screamed and cried and begged, burning away inch by slow inch until they reach his body. TheyÆd spread across him, then, and burn the rest of him alive. The flames could control how hot they were and theyÆd turn it down to burn him slowly. TheyÆd burn his flesh, char his meat, and then gnaw on his bones in delight, but theyÆd make it take as long as possible.
They wouldnÆt let him die until theyÆd had all the fun they could.
But Harry didnÆt kill like that, so he cast his will towards the flames burning the man alive and spoke to them, not with a quiet suggestion but with an order that must be obeyed. They fought him for a moment, but he moved quickly, targeting only the flames around the giant and leaving the rest to do as they pleased.
He crushed them and made them obey.
The flames flickered and the giant gasped as they heated quickly, spreading across his body in seconds. He screamed, his voice ragged and torn for a momentùand then he fell silent as the flames burnt his throat away. He struggle then, just for a moment, still trying to scream.
And then it was over.
The dark mind of the Fiendfyre raged immediately, outraged as if Harry had committed a crime by swiftly ending a life, and the heat upon his mind abruptly increased. Harry gasped at the sudden flash of pain that streaked through his head, but tried to ignore it.
The Fiendfyre controlled most of the flames that now lit up the seaùbut not all of them. A burning patch around the quickly burning remains of a giant answered to him, now. And that patch would grow quickly under his command, until their situations were reversed and he controlled more that the Fiendfyre and could take complete control.
For now, however, he had to focus. He drew upon an image and his will sculpted the flames under his command.
Others had been poisoned by his creations and were getting weaker by the minute. HeÆd pick them off on by one while the Fiendfyre raged at anything that it could find and spread quickly through the battlefield.
A burning shark began to swim through the water, seeking its already dying prey. Harry focused on it completelyù
Until a voice spoke to him, the voice of the sea.
ôI see you, Firestarter,ö The leader of the Giants purred. ôYou made a mistake coming into my domain.ö
And suddenly the water stopped passed through his gills. Instead, it wound around his neck twice, pulled tight, and suddenly he couldnÆt breathe.
Does anyone else think it's a horrible idea to incapacitate someone who's controlling Fiendfyre? Especially when it's already in the middle of your army? Though I don't think it's just the bad guys that are going to get burned if Harry loses control... maybe it's the source of the grudge some of the Faye have against him?
Not sure about quality since I sick as a dog, but here's an update.
______________________________________________________________________
The part of his brain that still thought logically despite being strangled by the ocean itself knew that there were probably many ways to get out of such a simple problemùbut when something enormously powerful closed around his throat with enough force to bruise, Harry didnÆt take time to ponder the best course of action.
He just reacted.
Reappearing twenty meters away, he took a reflexive, relieved breath and tightened his control on the Fiendfyre under his command. It had lapsed momentarily but he recovered quickly before the raging mind of the Fiendfyre could attempt to usurp his grasp.
And then the watery noose found its way around his throat again.
ôYou cannot run from me within my own kingdom,ö The voice purred in his ear, sounding as nearby as always. ôThere is nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.ö
Harry opened his mouth to retort with something witty.
ôGrrk,ö Was all that came out as the noose continued to tighten around his neck. At the rate the pressure was increasing, it would probably break his neck before he could do anything else.
Apparating again, this time farther away, he couldnÆt keep himself from raising his left hand to sore neck, rubbing it gently as he swallowed. Waiting slowly, he counted.
Oneàtwoàthrù
He Apparated again, not even waiting for the water to fully grasp his throat.
About two seconds, he thought with a frown. He glanced around quickly, looking for any of the giants that he thought stood out, but he couldnÆt find anyone that immediately drew his eyes. He snorted in annoyance before Apparating again, wincing as he reappeared and glancing towards the Fiendfyre.
That had been close. Apparating wasnÆt hard, per se, at least not after the amount of practice heÆd had with it, but it did require one to be completely focused on reaching oneÆs destination. Splinching was what happened if you Apparated with insufficient determination to reach your destination.
Normally, that didnÆt matter, but even the briefest lapse in focus was dangerous while using Fiendfyre. The first few times heÆd gotten away with it, because the Fiendfyre hadnÆt seen it comingùbut apparently he wasnÆt the only one timing his jumps. That time it had struck almost exactly when his control had lapsedùalmost.
If it had hit him half a second soonerà
He couldnÆt keep Apparating around. Two seconds wasnÆt enough time to do anything important, especially while fighting the giants, the Fiendfyre, and whoever was trying to choke the life out of him. At the very least he needed to get out of the reach of the latter, so that he could get rid of at least one of the other two.
He quickly flicked through his options before the water tightened around his neck again, followed by his arms and legs until he was held firmly in place. Apparently giving up on just choking him, the water tried to force its way up his nose and past his tightly closed lips.
Harry would have growled if he could.
There was no helping it.
He wasnÆt safe in the water.
He flickered out of existence and reappeared in the front of his stolen boat and had a fraction of a second to prepare himself before the Fiendfyre struck.
It wasnÆt enough. Maybe it would have been if heÆd been using his Holly wand, but against the fires the Elder Wand had dragged up? It was a paper defense and was pierced in an instant.
Gasping in pain, he lifted his hand to his head, desperately trying to cover a wound that wasnÆt there.
But he couldnÆt help it. It felt like someone had taken a pickaxe and swung it hard at his forehead. He tried to fight against it, but the burning pain spread in an instant, sinking into his mind like the thorned, twisted roots of some sort of horrible plant.
The Fiendfyre had the advantage and it had every intention of pressing it all the way to the deepest layers of his mind.
And in that moment, as it tried to make him conform, he was closer to the Fiendfyre then heÆd ever been before.
It wasàhard to describe. The Fiendfyre was almost overwhelming, now that he could really feel it and for a moment he felt daunted at having to face such a thing. It hurt too much to bring up his Occlumency barriers and he couldnÆt focus through the pain running through his mind. Even if he could, with the way it was already sinking deep into him, he wasnÆt certain he could fight it out of his mind. Put up false memories, perhaps, and mislead it, but since it only wanted to destroy his mind, it wouldnÆt care whether what it found was real or fake. And he wasnÆt sure if he could match his will against the sheer burning fury of the Fiendfyre; as it was, he could only pull his thoughts around himself and try to keep them safeù
He had an idea.
Through the pain, he felt what he knew the fire was trying to do to him. It was trying to make him conform to its will; hollow him out so it could pour itself inside. So he let a few falsified memories float to the top of his mind amidst several useless thoughts and waited as they were instantly devoured and replaced by the foreign, intrusive mind of the Fiendfyre as it tried to fill in the gaps it had madeùand he struck as soon as it had.
As heÆd done with the piranhaÆs before, he slid his will forward, attacking when it didnÆt expect him to, and took control of the fire that had formed inside his mind. Focusing on it completely, he turned it against the flames at the edge of his thoughts, letting the fire grow into a wall by burning the fake thoughts and memories he quickly fed it. The two flames were like maddened beasts at first, but the simple surprise of what heÆd done gave him the advantage and he stopped the Fiendfyre, for the moment, at the cusp of his mind.
And suddenly he had room to think. The Fiendfyre was still there; he could feel it circle around his mind, poking and prodding for weak points. His trick wouldnÆt work on it twiceùit never did, at least not on the same batch of flames. If it had a chance, it would try to invade his mind again and it wouldnÆt make the same mistake; it would burn away everything before trying to replace him.
But heÆd bought himself some time, at least. It was up to him to make sure the Fiendfyre didnÆt get another chance to erase himùwhich meant he had to end this.
ôùada!ö One of the men nearby shouted as Harry stumbled to his feet. ôNuada, are you okay?ö
HarryÆs brow furrowed when they called him that before relaxing as he understood. HeÆd never given them his name, had he?
æProtectorÆàHopefully he could live up to that title.
ôIÆm fine,ö He said. ôI just have aàheadache.ö
He tried his best not to falter as he slid towards the window, but he couldnÆt keep himself from shaking at the close call and the adrenaline rushing through his veins. He looked out into the ocean, eyes searching. The Fiendfyre had been busy while heÆd been distracted, and had spread rapidly through the ranks of the giants. The flames heÆd brought under his command had been subsumed back into the flock as well.
HeÆd have to start over. But this time, he didnÆt have time for the æsafeÆ and subtle approach.
He focused, reaching out to the smallest spark in the sea. It wasnÆt large enough to be a piranha or even a snack for a piranha. But it was there and it was small enough to bring under his command.
He lifted his shaking wand and braced himself for what he was sure would be a massive headache.
And then, with a wave of his wand, all the water within ten meters of the little spark separated into Hydrogen and Oxygen.
Harry managed to see his spark become an inferno before the pain drove him to his knees.
______________________________________________________________________
The part of his brain that still thought logically despite being strangled by the ocean itself knew that there were probably many ways to get out of such a simple problemùbut when something enormously powerful closed around his throat with enough force to bruise, Harry didnÆt take time to ponder the best course of action.
He just reacted.
Reappearing twenty meters away, he took a reflexive, relieved breath and tightened his control on the Fiendfyre under his command. It had lapsed momentarily but he recovered quickly before the raging mind of the Fiendfyre could attempt to usurp his grasp.
And then the watery noose found its way around his throat again.
ôYou cannot run from me within my own kingdom,ö The voice purred in his ear, sounding as nearby as always. ôThere is nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.ö
Harry opened his mouth to retort with something witty.
ôGrrk,ö Was all that came out as the noose continued to tighten around his neck. At the rate the pressure was increasing, it would probably break his neck before he could do anything else.
Apparating again, this time farther away, he couldnÆt keep himself from raising his left hand to sore neck, rubbing it gently as he swallowed. Waiting slowly, he counted.
Oneàtwoàthrù
He Apparated again, not even waiting for the water to fully grasp his throat.
About two seconds, he thought with a frown. He glanced around quickly, looking for any of the giants that he thought stood out, but he couldnÆt find anyone that immediately drew his eyes. He snorted in annoyance before Apparating again, wincing as he reappeared and glancing towards the Fiendfyre.
That had been close. Apparating wasnÆt hard, per se, at least not after the amount of practice heÆd had with it, but it did require one to be completely focused on reaching oneÆs destination. Splinching was what happened if you Apparated with insufficient determination to reach your destination.
Normally, that didnÆt matter, but even the briefest lapse in focus was dangerous while using Fiendfyre. The first few times heÆd gotten away with it, because the Fiendfyre hadnÆt seen it comingùbut apparently he wasnÆt the only one timing his jumps. That time it had struck almost exactly when his control had lapsedùalmost.
If it had hit him half a second soonerà
He couldnÆt keep Apparating around. Two seconds wasnÆt enough time to do anything important, especially while fighting the giants, the Fiendfyre, and whoever was trying to choke the life out of him. At the very least he needed to get out of the reach of the latter, so that he could get rid of at least one of the other two.
He quickly flicked through his options before the water tightened around his neck again, followed by his arms and legs until he was held firmly in place. Apparently giving up on just choking him, the water tried to force its way up his nose and past his tightly closed lips.
Harry would have growled if he could.
There was no helping it.
He wasnÆt safe in the water.
He flickered out of existence and reappeared in the front of his stolen boat and had a fraction of a second to prepare himself before the Fiendfyre struck.
It wasnÆt enough. Maybe it would have been if heÆd been using his Holly wand, but against the fires the Elder Wand had dragged up? It was a paper defense and was pierced in an instant.
Gasping in pain, he lifted his hand to his head, desperately trying to cover a wound that wasnÆt there.
But he couldnÆt help it. It felt like someone had taken a pickaxe and swung it hard at his forehead. He tried to fight against it, but the burning pain spread in an instant, sinking into his mind like the thorned, twisted roots of some sort of horrible plant.
The Fiendfyre had the advantage and it had every intention of pressing it all the way to the deepest layers of his mind.
And in that moment, as it tried to make him conform, he was closer to the Fiendfyre then heÆd ever been before.
It wasàhard to describe. The Fiendfyre was almost overwhelming, now that he could really feel it and for a moment he felt daunted at having to face such a thing. It hurt too much to bring up his Occlumency barriers and he couldnÆt focus through the pain running through his mind. Even if he could, with the way it was already sinking deep into him, he wasnÆt certain he could fight it out of his mind. Put up false memories, perhaps, and mislead it, but since it only wanted to destroy his mind, it wouldnÆt care whether what it found was real or fake. And he wasnÆt sure if he could match his will against the sheer burning fury of the Fiendfyre; as it was, he could only pull his thoughts around himself and try to keep them safeù
He had an idea.
Through the pain, he felt what he knew the fire was trying to do to him. It was trying to make him conform to its will; hollow him out so it could pour itself inside. So he let a few falsified memories float to the top of his mind amidst several useless thoughts and waited as they were instantly devoured and replaced by the foreign, intrusive mind of the Fiendfyre as it tried to fill in the gaps it had madeùand he struck as soon as it had.
As heÆd done with the piranhaÆs before, he slid his will forward, attacking when it didnÆt expect him to, and took control of the fire that had formed inside his mind. Focusing on it completely, he turned it against the flames at the edge of his thoughts, letting the fire grow into a wall by burning the fake thoughts and memories he quickly fed it. The two flames were like maddened beasts at first, but the simple surprise of what heÆd done gave him the advantage and he stopped the Fiendfyre, for the moment, at the cusp of his mind.
And suddenly he had room to think. The Fiendfyre was still there; he could feel it circle around his mind, poking and prodding for weak points. His trick wouldnÆt work on it twiceùit never did, at least not on the same batch of flames. If it had a chance, it would try to invade his mind again and it wouldnÆt make the same mistake; it would burn away everything before trying to replace him.
But heÆd bought himself some time, at least. It was up to him to make sure the Fiendfyre didnÆt get another chance to erase himùwhich meant he had to end this.
ôùada!ö One of the men nearby shouted as Harry stumbled to his feet. ôNuada, are you okay?ö
HarryÆs brow furrowed when they called him that before relaxing as he understood. HeÆd never given them his name, had he?
æProtectorÆàHopefully he could live up to that title.
ôIÆm fine,ö He said. ôI just have aàheadache.ö
He tried his best not to falter as he slid towards the window, but he couldnÆt keep himself from shaking at the close call and the adrenaline rushing through his veins. He looked out into the ocean, eyes searching. The Fiendfyre had been busy while heÆd been distracted, and had spread rapidly through the ranks of the giants. The flames heÆd brought under his command had been subsumed back into the flock as well.
HeÆd have to start over. But this time, he didnÆt have time for the æsafeÆ and subtle approach.
He focused, reaching out to the smallest spark in the sea. It wasnÆt large enough to be a piranha or even a snack for a piranha. But it was there and it was small enough to bring under his command.
He lifted his shaking wand and braced himself for what he was sure would be a massive headache.
And then, with a wave of his wand, all the water within ten meters of the little spark separated into Hydrogen and Oxygen.
Harry managed to see his spark become an inferno before the pain drove him to his knees.