Chapter 19.

Unfortunately, like Irk had hinted earlier, it turned out that an ambitious demon and its armies were leading a war against the king for control over this timeline, and probably some others.

While I couldn't care less about demons gutting each other in the most brutal and overwhelming fashion, I soon realized that finding Natasha would be near to impossible if she was to be sent to defend the castle like most of the soldiers created. There were literally billions of undead going to war against billions of others, and it wasn't really a loss since the one who won could harvest all the souls and re-create soldiers with them. It was a wonder why demons needed so many souls when they were actually infinite and indestructible. In the end, it all boils down to always the same thing, even without a good reason to, they all want to have more souls than the neighbour...

When July finally came, the battle was raging as hard as it had been for the past month, and the castle was constantly pounded by massive rocks, explosives, living projectiles and other stuff, thrown by the enemy's catapults and ballistae. The fortress was big enough and the slaves efficient enough for it to hold the assault pretty well, and I had stayed hidden on the King's tower roofs, definitely the best vantage point.

I had studied the soul grabbing system during my four months of waiting, eating inferi and avoiding rock bombs. The thing was completely demonic, I couldn't make head or tail of it, but the result was that every single soul spawned in 1991 came directly to the king. The King was an ugly mastodon of rock and bones, sitting in a throne as big as a house, in the over-decorated gold and platinum main room of the castle, however covered in a layer of dirt and dust. From here, for hundreds of years, the gigantic lich-like demon had consistently created his workforce and army.

Their rituals required no ingredients whatsoever. They were no more than circles with a few lines here and here, carved in the floor, and the magic they used to power them wasn't all that different from wizard's magic, I had decided after observing them for a few hours.

I couldn't approach the place too closely, I had seen it only once and it had almost cost me my life. The throne room guards weren't nearly as willing to discuss the weather as Irk had been, and they had promptly launched an attack on me when they had spotted me on the parapet. Not willing to make myself an enemy of the King, I had tried to escape without fighting but the armoured guards proved incredibly fast and strong and rained down on me before I could.

I had barely survived, my axe had been melted to nothing and the wound I had received took me weeks to heal. I had never been all so good with healing magic in general, but in this realm it was even worse, like the air itself denied any healing to happen.

"God damnit." I swore once again. This wasn't nearly as simple as it should have. Every hour, a new platoon of undead soldiers was sent to battle, and Natasha would soon be one of them. The problem was that demonic armies didn't have anything like order and discipline, and by nature they seemed to indulge in massive chaos.

I'm gonna have to slip into the soldiers and find her before we reach the battleground and things becomes too hot for me.

I looked at my watch, today was 21th, July 1991, 13:00, according to what I had calculated beforehand. Natasha was one of the souls wiggling in the sky right now, and soon she would be a disfigured monster crawling on the battlefield.

I waited until 13:25 and jumped down a level. I was on the west roofs, in front of the main courtyard and facing the King's tower. I didn't know where would the King send the next army, but I was about to find out. The armies took underground paths connected to the King's basement to avoid being slowed down in the thin streets of the fortress and got out by either the east, north or west doors. This way, even if the fortress was breached, as long as the King had his tower, he could keep producing his armies and sending them out. It was a problem for me because even standing on the top of the King's tower, I wouldn't have enough time to reach a new army once it'd cross the doors. No, my best choice here is to choose a door and get lucky... if it isn't the right door, I'll have to run for it.

After two dozen minutes of waiting impatiently, I suddenly heard a faint increase of war cries in the general chaos, coming from the north side of the castle.

"Fuck!" I swore and broke into a run, leaping madly over the roofs, jumping up and down the different levels with my enhanced strength. I had to get to the north doors before the new platoon definitely crossed them and launched itself in battle. I ran and ran, but I knew how fast they were, a lot faster than me. When I reached the door, they already had been closed and there was no traces of the army I was after, they had reached the battle ground before I could even see them leaving the castle.

I swore and swore again. 13:30. I had made many calculations about it and was persuaded she was on the battlefield. I didn't have much of a chance now, but I couldn't back up.

If I avoid direct combat and stay in the back lines as much as possible, I should survive. The war these demons waged was so brutal, I knew it would be the end of me if I came to close to frontline. I was a pussycat lost in a battle of chimeras and nundus.

Maybe I could hold my own against a few of those inferi, but there's no way I can fight those demon warriors. I thought darkly, remembering the massive demons I had seen slaying through the ranks of inferi a few weeks prior, their demonic aura creating an atmosphere of death that seeped into wounds and rot the flesh and bones of the undead warriors so fast they were dust before hitting the ground, enemies and allies alike. They were death incarnated on the battlefield, mesmerizing beasts of cold bones and steel summoning the black flames and devouring everything on their path.

I don't have much of a choice anyway. I have to find Natasha.

I took a deep breath and jumped down the wall.

Just as I was about to head down to the underground room, it came.

Irk and its two voices I hadn't missed at all landed in front of me, tearing big gouges in the rock, just as if the castle hadn't suffered enough after half a year of constant assault. It folded its wing and dropped to a more human position before speaking to me.

"Hello, my dear, dear friend Harry... did you not find your treasured soul... I wonder."

It already pissed me off quite a deal. I wrinkled my nose and started to walk down the staircase that lead to the sewer path.

"Let's just come back in our original timeline and time. I'll look again." Irk followed me, still giggling its usual disturbing laugh.

"Interesting! Fascinating... you have come to understand how our world works, I can see... yes, fascinating..."

"Bollocks, I don't understand a single thing about this world. I'm just doing what my old self told me to do... this asshole, he actually spent the fucking year looking for her and not finding her, I did!"

This time, I laughed myself. I guess I'll have to be evasive about it too, that's just how it goes.

I didn't even want to start pondering on what would happen if I'd say the truth to my past self. It's probably impossible.

"Next year I'll find her for sure. I know exactly what's going to happen."

"Next year..." it started, but I cut it short.

"Yeah, yeah, next year, this year, whatever! Just send us back."

Having spent most of the year on a battlefield with demons and undead had taught me countless things about them, and I wasn't nearly as intimidated by Irk as I had been in the past. While I wouldn't call myself a friend of the demon fiends I had spent months with, I had shared words with them enough to not tremble under their gaze.

We reached the room and I was pleased to see the crudely carved circle still perfectly visible and glowing faintly. It wouldn't fade in a million years, but I was afraid something might have happened.

We walked in the portal and Irk hissed "TI-SHDSRKA", the portal swallowed us and tortured me so hard on the way that I wondered if it had lasted the four years we had travelled.

Or is it one year? Four horizontal and one vertical, I guess that's about right. I commented to myself as I picked myself up. At least I didn't faint this time.

I stood up in the same unchanged underground cache and looked at the circle at our feet. It wasn't here anymore, as expected. I stretched my limbs and set my pocket watch to the right time. It was 15:35 when I had watched it for the first time, and I had been in 91 for about twenty minutes. So right now is around 15:15.

When I put the watch back in my trusty belt pocket, Irk had already drawn another circle in the floor, ready to throw us back in January 1991 without further discussions.

"Wait, if you draw the circle here, won't our past selves find it when they come back?" I asked before I realized that our past selves would actually be us right now. But the portal to come back, the one in 1991...

"I mean, the way back, the one that'll open in 91?"

It looked at me strangely and laughed again.

"I wonder, Harry... do you remember seeing that circle, I wonder, but I do not."

I shrugged, that was actually a good thing. That means I'm going to take the exit before my past self, who looked for her until 31st December. That means I'm going to find her and get out sooner. Or maybe I just missed it...

"Nevermind, let's go."

"I do hope to get that soul you traded to me soon, mortal... do not forget you can only live a few centuries..." it warned, before opening its arm and shouting the incantation "AKRSDHS-IT".

I wanted to correct him about the average wizard's lifetime, but was cut short by the excruciating pain of demonic time travel.

Since we had left 96 a few seconds after my past self, we arrived a few seconds after him too. On the muddy ground was myself, in a still somewhat unscathed Mage Knight armour, axe and helm included, lying on the floor. Right, I had passed out for a while. Sitting on a stone patiently next to him was an exact replica of the Irk standing beside me, watching both of us without a hint of surprise.

The Irk accompanying me reached the door without waiting and beckoned me to follow.

"Yes... let us walk away before you wake up, Harry."

I hurried behind it and followed it through the sewers, shaking my head. This was beginning to become a mess, no, it already became a mess and I was only starting to become aware of it.

"You remember having seen that, right?" I tried, only to confirm.

"Of course I do... did you not see me, watching us, I wonder..." it explained simply as we reached ground level.

How do they not become insane, I don't - oh wait, they are insane, definitely.

We made our way to where I had met myself a year sooner and in a few minutes, talking about demonic things. I had gotten used to demonic small talk over the months, it was mostly banalities about what wounds you've received or what last creature you've killed. Although Irk wasn't overly talkative compared to some I had met. Perhaps he simply didn't engage in combat in the last thousand years.

Once at the spot I had dueled my old self, Irk concluded the small talk with a "I wish you good luck once again, Harry the mortal... find what you seek and let us conclude our trade." and took off to the east again.

I didn't bother answering and watched Irk take off in the distance. I suppose I'll give a few pointers to myself and take the next four months to make sure I'm ready. I jumped on a higher roof and waited to watch the scheduled scene.

Five minutes later at most, Irk and me finally came out of the basement and started to discuss about time. I didn't remember the demon's words, but I didn't exactly care anymore. I had more or less understood how all of this worked by now, at least enough to do my work and go back home. Home, heh... I had almost forgotten about my world, and it seemed more like a distant dream than something real.

I waited for the old Irk to fly away and jumped down on the roof, as silently as possible. I walked behind myself in deep reflection, sketching this world's structure on a stone.

"... so once I'll take it in July 91 after having grabbed the soul, I'll get back to ... July 96." I heard him mutter before he fell silent.

"You're thinking of the exit as an entrance." I explained helpfully, not being sure those were the words I had heard back then, but knowing they were.

"Didn't Irk told you there was one entrance and one exit? Each are to be used only once. An entrance brings you wherever you aim it at, and the exit brings you exactly where you opened the entrance. Both in time and location. Or maybe he didn't really say it, demons don't care that much for it, actually, time means so little for them. Especially Irk's kind."

He stood up and shot me a dark glare. Yeah, shit got real at that exact moment, I was kinda panicked.

"Don't think too much about it, that's the secret." I said, remembering how Irk didn't seem to care at all. No use breaking your mind thinking on it.

"Does that mean I'm about to spend a year looking for her and find nothing?"

Ah! Here it is! The crucial moment that, for a long time, made me believe that time was too intricate to understand and that having seen myself didn't necessarily meant I wouldn't find Natasha. All because I lied to myself.

"Take it like you will, but don't make hasty conclusions." I answered cryptically, as if there was some hidden truth to discover.

"How many of me are there?"

I shrugged. I have no idea. I remembered the cloaked shape I had seen at some point, darting out of a window and down into the fortress. Probably me in a few month... I hope.

"How old are you?"

"I'm the closest to you. I'm not even sure if there are others, I've never met them... I've seen one, but it could have been an illusion... or it could have been myself." I let out a chuckle, I sounded a lot more mystical than I felt, lost in this world of war and desolation. "If they're here, they've decided to hide from us."

"So... did you meet me, in the past?"

I nodded. We stayed silent for a while.

"Oh, for fuck's sake, you're me! So stop being an evasive cunt about it and tell me what I need to know!" he shouted angrily, rolling his eyes.

I chuckled at the excitement he was displaying and turned to him. It's been a long time since I've felt this energized. I'm not sure I even remember it.

"There's a somewhat pure source of water three days from here, I recommend you skin on of these and make yourself something to hold water." I offered, remembering that I would probably never have found it if I hadn't told myself about it, "I've taken care of making sure the king won't eat Natasha's soul, so don't go and do something dumb like trying to catch the souls yourself before he can. That's all I remember hearing from myself, good luck."

That was a lie, but I figured he would trust me - himself, to do it if I told him I'd do it, since I had. The truth was that the armies would be against the castle when Natasha comes, and every single soul was to be sent to battle, so there was really no need to make sure of anything.

He stood up and pointed his wand at me.

"I don't remember saying we were done."

I turned around and waved a good bye sign. Not only I know exactly what to do to win this match, but I'm too strong for him to have any chance anyway...

I stopped his first and only attack easily, using the small control of demonic fire I had gained over the year, both by training and life threatening situations. I shaped the black fire into a ball by focusing on the circle carved on the back of my wand hand and sent it to him. As expected, he dove under it. I overpowered a levitation spell and made a block sprout out of the pathway, letting his unprotected nose crash against it.

Well that's all, if I remember right. I jumped down the wall, landed in a small alley and disappeared out of his vision forever.

I heard him shout something and walked away to make my plans for the year. This time, I wouldn't fail.

30th December 1991.

Again.

I had missed Natasha, somehow, and had been unable to find her in the absolute mess that was the demon versus demon war that had lasted most of the year. I had looked as hard as I could, of course, but to find an inferi looking even remotely like Natasha in this tempest of steel and death was an impossible task. Demons waged war differently from humans; while we were pragmatic and careful in our advances in enemy territory, demons would simply rush in furiously and spread like wild fire. There was no telling where Natasha was gone once the platoon had started advancing, and I was sure I had chosen the wrong group to follow when there had been a distinct separation of the army, one to the west and one to the east. At least now I know not only which door she'll come from but also that she isn't part of the group that left for the west.

Irk came to me as I was sitting on the wall, a few dozen feet above the entrance of the cache, playing with a ball of the black flame I had summoned in my palm. I was getting almost better than demons at playing with it. I had many discussions about it with the demons themselves, it seemed that fire in this world was the opposite of regular fire. Instead of creating heat, it devoured heat and spread cold, instead of creating light, it devoured light and spread darkness. It was a curious thing, like a ball of black fur you couldn't tear your eyes from, devouring life in all its aspects. Few used it, preferring to kill undead with crude steel weapons and devour the souls within them, instead of burning the whole package in the black flame.

"What Irk are you, anyway? For all I know you could be the first, the second, or any other that could possibly exist." I asked without raising my head, observing the small ball of fire roll around my hand.

"I am always the same, mortal, I am your companion in your journey..."

"Can one walk in an exit that doesn't belong to him? If I were to walk in my old self's exit, right now, would I -" I started, trying to find out if Irk could have been plotting something of this sort. I had asked about it to demon captains but they didn't know any better than me, they were an odd bunch, really. They had used countless portals in their lifetime but never asked themselves those question. Or maybe they did but forgot, or maybe they're all batshit insane as I had guessed.

"I wonder... aren't you you, mortal? Perhaps you are very, yes, very different from yourself... I wonder. Try it, perhaps." it said, cutting me short. "An exit is linked to an entrance, and the link is immovable... it belongs to a certain time, a certain entrance, it belongs to those who have walked in the entrance... to take an exit you are not mean to take, walking through time would be that simple... I wonder."

"But you said one can close it, didn't you?"

It laughed and jumped down the wall, not bothering with the usual stairway.

"Yes... yes, the link is immovable... but it is not irremovable."

We reached our room and walked in the portal that belonged to us without waiting. My past self would walk in the other portal in a day and become me from a year ago. And he'll spend a year in this chaos not finding her.

The thought was depressing, but I was done being depressed. Two years in this realm, two years of fighting demonic undead beasts, two years of transfiguring those same beasts's carcasses in nondescript pieces of grey meat for survival, two years of conversing with mad demons who constantly menaced to shatter my mental defenses only by laughing or looking at me, two years of trying to catch a glimpse of my beloved sister in the face of horrible looking inferi had molded me into an immovable object, I often wondered if I wasn't simply becoming a demon myself. You gotta be when you start laughing at Geoebr's jokes...

While we went through the unspeakable horror how having my soul travel up and back different timelines, and then back once more a few moments later, I pondered on what Irk's words meant. I can't switch myself with the 2nd harry for instance, and take his exit, that would make me pop in 96 a few minutes earlier than I left it... that would be time travel, in the demonic timeline. While it would have been fairly useless for me, it would have been a problem if Irk could do it. If he planned to invade my world, for instance.

No, even if Irk could do it, he can't kill me before I give him the soul, and even if he'd use the first exit from 91 to 96 to come earlier than the third me, he can't transport an army with him in that exit, since we walked the portal together. In the worst case scenario, Irk could receive the soul in 96 around 16:00, then open a portal to the same hour in 91, take my first exit with the first me, pretending to be the first Irk, and getting back at 15:15 in 96, then bring the second me to 91 at 15:20, fly away and open a portal to another year, buy an army as fast as he can and open a portal for it to 96, as soon as possible. Then he comes back to 91 and take the exit at the end of the year with me. Then he would invade the mortal realm, as soon as the army arrives, in 96. I counted the steps on my fingers and nodded.

He knows I won't let myself get killed easily, and once he gets the soul, I'm leaving pronto. With this plan, he could have his army invading the portal of Horus before I even give him the soul, if he's fast enough. But he'd have to buy the army and open the portal in less than 3 or 4 hours, that's what I'll take to reach the portal from here. And there would be no way to make the army come sooner.

Yeah, that would be definitely possible, if one could step in another exit than the last one he opened. However, Irk said you can't ... or did he? At any rate, I can't really trust him. He said that there were ways to time travel through their timelines... and I don't see how else than walking in exits that you would have placed earlier.

I snorted at the demon watching me think. The only way to prevent it from happening would be to simply not give it the soul at all, that way, it wouldn't even be able to buy any army. But if I assume he can step in an exit that doesn't belong to this version of him, I have to assume that I gave him the soul... otherwise he would have travelled back to 91 and tried to kill me right away.

Having waited a dozen minutes before coming back to 91, we arrived to the damp room after both precedent Harries. As we got out of the underground basement and up the highest wall, I shrugged and shook my head. It all already happened, anyway, so do I really have a hand in it? We'll see what happens when the time comes.

Before that happens... I've got to find Natasha.

"Oh well, see you, Irk." this time, I jumped down the wall and into the valley before Irk could take off mysteriously.

I couldn't believe my eyes. It had to be an illusion.

I ducked under a massive circular blade zipping over my head and slammed my hand on the charcoal ground, conjuring and spreading a carpet of black fur from my hand to the foot of the fat abomination blocking my path. It raised its blade again as I focused on the magic and commanded the flames to awaken. The black carpet saw its flaming fur wiggle madly and jump onto the beast, overwhelming it in a second and completely consuming it in a minute. I didn't stay to watch the inferi demon monster rampage around and burn, I had just found something vastly more important to do.

It can't be! I hurried toward the shape I had spotted a few minutes earlier, stepping on a rock to get higher and looking around furiously.

I had more or less willingly followed this part of the army deeper in the enemy's side, after the big east/west separation, when everything started to break into even smaller armies and pushed in different directions.

That group had made a breaking in the enemy's line of defense and took the opportunity to go and ravage all they could in the backlines - which weren't any different than the frontline as far as I could tell.

Auburn hair, a small figure, blue eyes. I jumped off my rock, ran along an ally inferi, sent a few lethal spells in a pack of undead in front of us and kept running to the left side of the battle. Until I saw her again.

I couldn't tell if it was her or not yet, many times I had been fooled by something who kind of looked like her, and turned out to be something, someone else. But this time, I had a feeling.

A few feet away from me, near a big black rock and fighting among a relatively complete group of inferi, I could see her. Even in this colourless world I could recognize her auburn hair, but what made me so sure was her profile, even deformed by demonic rituals and manually modified for battle, it was eerily familiar to my eyes. It had to be her.

She had long and sharp metallic spikes for legs and arms, and was slicing through inferi savagely. She wasn't any stronger than the others, though, she took some kind of harpoon in the chest and got blasted back to the rock behind her. I modified my course and ran faster than I could recall ever running.

"Natasha!" I yelled desperately, not believing it. It was her, without a doubt. I could almost recognize her broken face, even though it was grey and falling apart. Her eyes were white, but very few inferi kept their original eye colour, so that didn't convince me otherwise.

She ignored me and started to get back on her metallic limbs, swaying slightly at the change of balance because of the heavy harpoon stuck through her torso. She started running to the enemy again, I came from her front and jumped on her. I stabbed my wand in her torso, ready to blow up her rotting flesh to earn her soul. She reeled back, staggering, and surprised me with a sharp head butt to my own face, throwing me off.

I landed on my back and rolled immediately. She was angry. She stabbed the ground, missing my throat by a few inches and with inhuman speed, stabbed again, and again and again. I rolled madly, using my own enhanced abilities to dodge the lethal stabs at the last second. I saw an opening and grabbed her left spike after a few seconds with both my hands as she raised it again in the air. I got pulled on my feet by her limb and released it as she made to stab me again. I jumped back, dodged a swing that threatened to behead me, and produced my wand in my now bleeding hand again.

I started with a heavy banisher to get some air, she was pushed back against the rock and staggered some more.

"Not used to high heels, princess?" I joked, feeling wonderful for the first time in years. "You'll have all the time to learn, I'm bringing you back home! Voraxignium!" I shouted. She avoided the fireball and I blasted a rock in her legs, destabilizing her again. I used the distraction to run and jump on her again. She reeled back and tried to throw me off but was soon losing her strength, demonic magic running from my hand to her body, a chill that seized both the body and the mind, a hypnotizing threat of death flowing in her blood.

That magic was strong, and even undead had a primal fear of death, although hidden deeply behind the battle trance they were dipped into. She staggered back, temporarily quiet, and I jabbed my wand to her head.

The cutting curse was clean, her head fell and rolled, the body following soon.

I didn't lose any time, I ran to the body, looking left and right to make sure I wouldn't get surprised by an enemy and started to dig in the remains of her body. After a bit of fighting with the bones and flesh, I found the crystal encased in her chest like every inferi had. It was Natasha's soul, I was sure of it. I carefully cleaned the crystal with my cloak and put it in my sturdy belt pocket immediately to avoid losing time staring at it stupidly in the middle of the battlefield. I looked around us frantically, nothing seemed to care about that little commotion at all, it was even safe to say that nothing had even noticed it in the midst of chaos.

"I got you, princess! I got you!" I laughed out loud, patting my pocket feverishly. A huge grin on my face, I slowly extracted myself out of the battle.

I immediately set course back to the fortress. It'll take me a couple weeks to get back to the castle. I thought, ecstatic. This was it, finally. Three times' the charm! I knew it! I couldn't contain it, for the first time in years I felt truly happy, finally, I had found her. And this time it's really her, without a doubt!

I focused deeply and spoke aloud.

"Irkrkakk - kisshi kat..." I hissed in the wind, hoping that I had gotten it right. After years of fighting, discussing and sharing tricks with demons, I had learned more than a few strings to my bow and speaking demonic was one of them, if you could call it a language.

"...kerr...ka..." answered the wind, with the unnerving voice of Irk. I smiled widely.

In the end, It took me three whole weeks to come back to the castle, still under heavy attack. The way back wasn't as safe as I thought, instead of the expected path littered with bodies, I had found with surprise that some armies had somehow managed to get back and battle on this land again. I had to be extra careful to not get involved in massive confrontation and stick to the ally side of the battle if there was any. Once more, one last time I survived the battlefield.

I eventually reached the good old fortress and snuck in by one of the safe doors, caressing the familiar stone with my fingers as I thanked it for being here. I was so happy I felt like I could kiss Irk.

Irk met me near the entrance of our underground passage.

"And thus, the mortal comes back with his treasured soul... how interesting, Harry, I will truly miss your fascinating stories." it declared, opening his arms like if there were spectators to hear him.

"And I will miss this wonderful place you live in, believe me. I wonder if I can cook myself some inferi back in my good old human realm." I quipped, feeling better than I could possibly remember feeling. "Now stop the chattering and bring us back forward! I've got a sister to resurrect."

It laughed, and for the first time, I matched its laugh with mine.

"I wonder, mortal... if you can come back... you have changed, yes, so much that I truly wonder... I wonder..." it murmured, shaking weirdly.

I had noticed it myself, I was no fool. An unprotected soul gets tainted by the demonic rituals, of course they do.

But I wasn't a demon yet, not nearly. I was still human, and I still loved my sister more than anything.

"Let me worry about that, you take care of the portal and nothing else."

A few demonic words and a few eternities of pain later, we were back in 1996, the year in which I had opened the portal of Horus. I beckoned Irk to follow me and got out of the castle to set course to the portal of Horus.

"Let us proceed to our agreement, Harry the mortal."

"I'll give it to you when we're at the portal. Fly us down, would you?"

After some inquiries and fruitful discussions with a demon general, I had obtained the information that it was impossible to gather an army in less than 3 hours, at least for someone like Irk, so the only thing left for him to try, if he desired to invade my world, would be to kill me right after I'd give him the soul. And to do just that, he could prepare an ambush with several versions of himself. We both knew I could take him on if he tried, but if he had a few of himself to back him up...

Irk laughed, again, but this time it was a lot deeper and malicious than usual.

"I wonder... mortal... is your nose so sharp that you could smell my plot, I wonder." he kept laughing softly as I jumped on its back.

"You stink the rotten plot miles away, Irk." I laughed as well.

"Interesting! So very interesting! I will truly miss you, Harry!" he laughed before taking off suddenly, almost throwing me off his back.

We didn't stop laughing on our way to the portal, almost like a competition of laughter, we kept laughing stronger and stronger. Eventually, the beast landed in the desolated valley, a few minutes from the deep forest that housed the portal of Horus. I jumped down and started running to it, flanked by Irk. I didn't know why but I needed to run, I needed to go fast. Now that I finally was about to go home, I couldn't wait a single second more, I had to get here as fast as possible.

I stopped my mad sprint when we reached the white mist. The portal had been open only for about six hours, but I had been in there for almost three years, and the eerie feeling I had felt when I had first stepped into the malicious forest was today absent. The forest smelled of death, I could still notice it, but I reeked far worse.

I took a quick pause to appraise the once whispering trees, now silent in front of me. Was it really all right for me to come back in the human realm? I shook the thought aside and focused on the matter at hand, Irk was behind me.

For the first time in three years, I opened the belt pocket containing the old Egyptian wizard's soul and took it out, holding it in my hand before my eyes, both me and Irk observed the glowing orb. It was glowing a much darker shade of grey than it did when I had received it. It's probably a demon already.

Irk, however, didn't seem to care about it at all and waited patiently for me to give it to him.

I shrugged.

"I, Harry Potter, mortal, hereby declare that I willingly offer this soul to Demon Irkrkakk." I exclaimed before tossing the thing to Irk, who snatched it with both hands, his face dangerously morphing in one terrifying smile.

"See you later, Irk." I concluded, turning around.

Irk didn't even answer, he immediately plunged on me, its claws ready to gut me. I was ready for that, I opened my mouth and yelled from the bottom of my lungs:

"PAKR", producing a gigantic shockwave from my mouth, which tossed Irk away as he opened his eyes wide at my display of demonic magic.

I turned around and broke a sprint to where the fog was thickest. I had expected another Irk to spring on me on the way here, I had expected some kind of ambush and was ready for the worst, but for some reason, there wasn't anything. Irk didn't seem to have planned anything. Perhaps time isn't so easy to manipulate, after all.

As I penetrated the cotton-thick mist, I heard Irk's heavy steps following mine. He was coming with me.

I ran through the forest, leaving the white yet dark abyss behind me, toward the ritual circle itself, hoping to reach and destroy it before anymore demons could penetrate my world. I burst out of the shadowed forest and winced hard.

The light on the other side was simply blinding. I could barely make out the shapes in the overwhelming light, I staggered and tried to shield my eyes with my arm, not to avail. The dark clouds had disappeared, blown by the winds, to let the ever burning sun shine upon Norway and its icy mountains.

Heavy footsteps behind me awakened my senses, I spun around and faced irk, who was, for the first time in his timeless life, bathing in the sun. Behind us, on the other side of the ritual, muggles had gasped and run away. Not willing to give Irk a second of respite, I crouched down and called upon the magic I had learned in his world. Visualizing the circle and focusing on the carved circles in my body to synchronize the will of Death with my own, I pulled out of the void a creature of bones and ectoplasm. Half ghost and half undead, half from my world and half from the other, a lich wielding a phantom sword that would pierce even Irk's hide.

Devoid of a mind, the lich obeyed my command and plunged on Irk as I summoned the black flame at the feet of my once demon friend.

Irk seized the lich by the throat, grasping what could not be grasped, and blocked the swing of its sword with its other arm, earning a deep wound that would rot forever. The flame licked his feet and ignited his whole body, but Irk controlled a flame of his own to coat his body and protect it.

I roared and cast two strong cutting curse to the immobile form of Irk breaking the body of the lich and effectively cut his right arm. He didn't show sign of pain but didn't counter attack either. I cast another couple of cutting curses and separated a leg from Irk, making him fall to the ground, I didn't lose a second and bound him with four conjured beams of steel falling upon him.

I walked to it calmly and sighed. For the first time, I stared in its red eyes. I wasn't scared of it anymore, I had seen enough, I had became enough to withstand its malicious power. Irk returned my stare and smiled.

"I don't get it, Irk. If you wanted to invade my world so much, why didn't you plan something better?"

It laughed once more, a laugh so familiar to me now that I couldn't remember what a human laugh was like.

"Invade your world, Harry? I wonder... I do wonder why, yes why you think that... do you not think I have enough wars to fight in my own, I wonder..."

"Then why? Why trying to kill me at all?"

Irk took a small pause before answering, he looked around us with his red eyes wide open and his grins as large as ever.

"I merely wanted to get a look at your world, that world that you cherish so much... It is truly a wonder, I have to say... fascinating indeed."

I didn't expect Irk to be that innocent, but now that we were here, I wondered why I had expected it to plan my world's invasion. It's not like Irk even tried something bad against me... I just expected him to be hiding his game all along when actually he didn't have any.

"Well, you've seen it, I'm sorry but I'm gonna have to kill you now, friend." I apologized, raising my wand above its head. I had come to like Irk, like many hell dwellers I had met, but I was out now, I was back home, and I didn't want to jeopardize it by letting demons roam free.

"Kill me?" it laughed madly again. "I wonder, mortal, how many more years should you spend in my world to notice that nothing can possibly die... I truly wonder."

I stared at it, my eyes still burning from both the light and the stare of my demon friend.

"Then it is but a goodbye, Irk. I can't say I look forward meeting you again, but I'm happy that I will." I raised my wand higher and started a conjuration.

"Farewell, Harry the mortal."

The massive blade I spawned above Irk's head weighted so much that my eyes barely saw its fall to the ground, followed by the bearded demon's head. I tossed a ball of the black flame to feast upon his carcass and leave nothing of him in this world. Perhaps it was a way to pay respect to the fallen monster, I didn't dwell on the thought any longer.

I was still shielding my eyes with my arm and my hood, but my eyes were getting used to the light. I turned around and faced Victor and a few dozen muggles, immobile and aiming their weapons at me. For a moment, I didn't move. I didn't know what to do.

Focus. I'm back in my world, I'm in the 15th January, only a few hours after leaving. It's the afternoon. I paused my thoughts and risked a look at sky and panorama of the Swedish meadows, down the mountain. The sight was absolutely amazing, for a moment I was paralyzed by the beauty of my world. The sheer amount of colours, the pink, red and blue sky, the orange and yellow setting sun, the white snow around us, the green trees, the grey rocks, colours I had forgotten. I took a deep breath of the incredibly fresh and pure air, it almost hurt my lungs to breath such a wonderful air. I opened my eyes wide, ignoring the tears that flowed down, caused both by the light and by the impact this view had on me, and laughed. I laughed a raw laugh, one definitely human laugh, reverberating in the mountain and echoing back in my ears. I laughed for a minute and settled down.

It's good to be home. I had spent years in hell, but I was home. I was finally back.

"Mister Horus, I presume." asked a wary voice from my right. Victor was staring tensely at me, his gaze flickering to the cold fire behind me, devouring light and matter alike.

I acknowledged him offhandedly and focused on what mattered at this moment.

No time to lose, Natasha, the ritual, the girl in Hogwarts... But first, make sure nobody ever opens this portal again.

I had decided that beforehand. After giving it a good thinking, I had concluded that it was actually way to dangerous to even open it. We had been lucky, but if a demon Lord had happened to hear of it and had decided to invade our world, there wouldn't have been much we could have done to stop it. I couldn't simply let our work open to anyone who wanted a try at it and endanger the whole world.

I let my gaze wonder on the crowd in front of me and focused on a familiar face. It took a few seconds to remember what his name was.

"Gregory!" I shouted, making Victor tense visibly.

Gregory, who was staring at the flame too, turned his head to me but didn't approach. They had been witnesses of Irk's little goodbye speech, and I was sure they were scared of me. I was obviously not the Horus they walked in with, I was a good deal more dangerous and they knew it.

"We can't let anyone open this portal ever again." I barked strongly, looking straight into Gregory's eyes. "Death, or obliviation?"

"Kill him!" shouted Victor, reaching for his sword in a fast motion.

I raised my wand and blasted an explosion curse at the group of muggles as they opened fire, I dodged the sword slash Victor aimed at my right arm and punched him in the chest, took a bullet in my arm and dodged some others. Vampire or not, a direct hit from my fist assured to make some damage, he was thrown back a few feet and landed on his second in command who grabbed him. The muggles contingent had been all but blown up, and most of them were unconscious or picking themselves up, I used the short time window to turn to Gregory while I removed the muggle projectile from my arm, barely an inch into my muscle.

Gregory took a few steps to me and nodded.

"Don't go easy on me, I don't want to remember any of it."

"No!" shouted Victor, jumping on his feet. By the time he reached us, I had finished casting the charm. Gregory wouldn't remember a single thing of his past 30 years. It was a bit over the top, but I wouldn't take risks. He was the only one outside of me and Zephyros who would have been able to open it again.

"You fool!" bellowed Victor, enraged. He wouldn't try to hit me anymore, though. I was the last person on earth with the knowledge he was after and he knew it. Vampires were immortal, their point of view on everything was vastly different than for us mortals, I had learned that from demons. He was probably thinking that the occasion would come again, and as long as I was alive he could find a way to use me and my knowledge.

Fat chances, I'm not allowing this portal to be opened ever again. Horus had sealed the demonic world from ours by walking in the demon's realm and stealing the demon's names, to ensure no one could entreat them from our world again. I had learned so much from the demons themselves. I know the names now, but I can still make sure no one else will ever do. I had walked in the footsteps of Horus and learned the forgotten names, and yet I had promised myself to continue his work and ensure that I would be the last to ever hear the name Irk or any of the others.

I reached my belt pocket and took out the three years old portkey, I checked it with a quick charm to make sure it was still working and, pleased by the result, turned to face the Sapphire of the tomb in the middle of the ritual geometrics.

I sent the biggest explosion curse I could manage to the Sapphire and yelled activate, disappearing before the mountain-shaking explosion could obliterate me along with the door to dreams and nightmares of wizardkind.

an: I wonder if my vision of hell was clear for anyone.