Chapter 103

Domeric looked at the moon hiding behind the clouds in the night sky. The cold wind ruffled his hair and made a shiver go down his back. He closed all the windows in his room and put a note in the bed before with a tug and a twist, he was in another place.

A place he had build purely with magic over the past year. An underground base that was accessible to him and only him. A base underneath a cluster of Weirwood trees he'd planted in the middle of no where which would provide it with more than sufficient energy to keep the base running.

He looked at the room he had entered. It was filled with soft lights coming from dozens of runes that illuminated the room. The room was mostly empty except for a few suits that were also created by him by using magic.

He picked the most advanced one that covered his face from top to bottom without letting even the slightest bit of his body out in the element. The suit had an oxygen breather and a glass mask that he had charmed to be unbreakable. In fact, he had charmed the whole suit with to be unbreakable along with a few other dozen charms that would save him in most physical confrontation.

But the place he was going now, the suit was the bare minimum that was required of him to survive.

After wearing the suit, he took out an iron ball from a tray filled with similar Iron balls and said the password.

The portkey activated and dropped him in the mountain of Dragon Stone. He took a moment to center himself before he spoke another password and the repeatable portkey then took him to one of mountain near Volantis. Another moment to deal with the slight nausea that came with using portkey and then another password and portkey use.

This time, he found himself standing in outside the middle of main city of the Valyrian empire.

The air outside his suit was hot, humid and filled things that would kill a human within a minute of inhaling them.

The area in front of him was filled with a think fog that gave him zero visibility of what laid behind the fog.

He took a moment to prepare himself before he took out a stick hanging from the side belt in his suit and enlarged it.

It turned into a broom made of a Wierwood branch. He rode the self made broom and took out a Wierwood branch and chanted "Expecto Petronum."

A memory for the first time he had made love to Ginny. And even if it was tinged with the slight bitterness that they eventually fell apart, the memory still served him well enough and a few moments later, there was a giant house sized glowing Stag standing proudly in front of him.

And as always, despite the large amount of magic used to perform the patronus Charm, the Weirwood wand didn't broke. He still has not found the reason behind that.

But the fact remained that the Weirwood wand would not serve him well anymore so he put it back in his pocket and took out the Snakewood wand.

Then he directed the Stag to run toward the thick maismic fog and as it did, he flew after it in his broom.

5… 4… 3… 2… 1… The ethereal stag and fog made contact and the fog recoiled from the patronus as if it was terrified of it.

Before the fog could get a chance to retaliate, the stag increased it's speed. Tearing through the darkness inside the fog like a butter through knife, him following behind the stag as it effortlessly plowed ahead in the darkness that now surrounded him. He made sure to keep close to it at all times. He had been stuck inside the fog once before.

It had not been pretty.

He travelled through the fog for a whole minute, the patronus glowing as strong at it did before even if he noticed that it had slightly decreased in size.

Then the patronus broke through the darkness, coming out of the other side and as he followed after it, he came back to the scene that always reminded him of hell itself.

The broken civilization of what was once the greatest empire known to man.

The city was a rubble. The tall towers were once the homes of the Dragonlords now lay in runes. Glowing magma still flowed through parts of the city that had been submerged completely under the lava.

And just like always, he could hear the tortured screams of the ghosts that still roamed the place even centuries after their demise. So, so many ghosts.

He pointed the wand at himself and chanted "Clypeus Fortium spiritus". A golden sphere took form around him before becoming invisible.

He nodded at his patronus charm. It had lost it's primary use after going through the magma, it still provided him with a source of light and a source of emotional support.

Just like before, the Stag lead and he followed behind on his broom.

On the way to his destination. Hundreds of ghosts tried to come to him, wanting to share their misery. But the invisible shield lit up whenever someone tried to touch him and repelled them with ease. The ghosts didn't try again and went on their way crying, screaming and begging.

His heart went out to them but he still had no idea what it was that anchored them to this realm. For all he knew, it might have been the whole city in which case, he would not be able to do anything to help them.

The stag lead him from the front and he followed behind in silence until they finally reached his destination.