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Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
ASOIAF and all of its characters belong to GRRM
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 99: The Black Wall
The winds howled across the frozen wastes, carrying with them the scent of snow and the not-so-distant promise of a very painful death.
The sky was sickly grey, the color of old bones, and the sun was a ghost hidden behind the clouds, offering no warmth and no comfort. The world had become a vast expanse of white and cold, a frozen hell that stretched to the horizon and beyond.
Joffrey pushed the flying carpet to its limits, his magic straining against the bounds of his endurance. The magical construct was moving as fast as his power would allow, its worn surface humming with energy, its frayed edges flapping in the wind.
Ned, Gilly, and Val clung to the edges of the carpet, their eyes fixed on the horizon as their breaths misted in the frigid air.
Behind them, the darkness was growing.
It was not the darkness of the night, but a living darkness that swallowed the light as it approached. The world behind them was being consumed, sealed away by the advancing shadow until nothing was left.
The primordial creature was coming, and its presence was pressing against the edges of Joffrey's consciousness like a weight on his soul.
He could feel its hunger, its ancient malevolence, its desire to consume all life. It was the antithesis of the Divine Phoenix, a being that brought nothing but death and chaos. Where the phoenix was creation and rebirth, this creature was destruction and oblivion.
It was the cold that would consume the world, the darkness that would swallow the sun.
"Faster!" Val shouted, her voice high with fear. "It's gaining on us!"
"I'm going as fast as I can!" Joffrey snapped, his teeth clenched with effort.
His reserves may have been replenished to some degree after they escaped from the void, but the mental strain was still there. Even if he continued to drain his surroundings for magic, the human body had a limit, and more so... the human mind.
"There is something large ahead!" Gilly pointed, her voice trembling.
Joffrey lifted his eyes, and he saw it too.
The Wall.
It rose before them like a colossus made of ice, its summit almost lost in the clouds that hung low over the world.
Its surface gleamed with a faint light, ancient ice that had stood for millennia against the forces of the north. And seeing it from the air only made it look more massive, as one could see how far it extended, covering the three hundred miles from the Shadow Tower in the west to Eastwatch-by-the-Sea.
"The Wall," Ned breathed, his voice filled with wonder and relief. "We made it. We're almost there."
"Yes, but..." Joffrey paused, his mind racing.
What now? Could the Wall do something against this cosmic being? His eyes narrowed as he studied the ancient structure. He had briefly examined it during his previous visit and was aware of the magic within its icy depths.
The ancient formation locked inside the ice was indeed powerful enough to keep the White Walkers and their undead armies from crossing. It was a barrier of ancient magic, woven into the very fabric of the ice by the First Men and the Children of the Forest.
But as he felt the primordial creature's presence growing stronger behind them, he knew the Wall's magic would not be enough. The Wall had been built to keep out the Others...beings of ice and death, yes, but still creatures of this world.
The thing that followed them was something else entirely. It was a power beyond comprehension, a force that could crush worlds without effort.
"It won't stop it," Joffrey said, his voice flat. "The Wall's magic is powerful, but it was built to keep lower beings, not something like this. The creature that follows us is something far older, and far more terrible."
Ned's face went pale, the color draining from his cheeks. "Then what do we do? We can't outrun it. We can't fight it. What else is there?"
Joffrey's mind raced as he looked for an answer. He had faced impossible odds before, had fought enemies that should have destroyed him. But this... this was something different. This was a power beyond his comprehension, a force that could crush worlds without effort.
He had survived through cunning, through power, through sheer force of will. But against this creature, none of that would be enough.
And then, just as they were about to fly over the Wall, he had an idea.
There was one thing that might stop this being in its tracks. A material that even the ice primordial being had trouble against. A material that originated from its lifelong rival.
'We can use that,' Joffrey realized, his eyes widening with sudden inspiration.
He looked down at the black fragment of phoenix shell that Gilly still held in her hands. It was made of the same oily black stone that had covered the fire creature in Stygai, the same material that had protected the world from its flames.
If he could use it to reinforce the Wall's already existing defenses and transform its structure into something far more powerful, then there might be a chance.
"Land," Joffrey commanded, his voice urgent. "We need to land now."
He directed the carpet downward, its worn surface skimming over the snow-covered ground. They landed on the southern side of the Wall, startling dozens of Black Brothers who had been standing guard. The men of the Night's Watch stared in shock, their hands flying to their weapons.
"Stand down!" Ned shouted, his voice carrying across the courtyard. "We are not enemies!"
"L-Lord Stark?" One of the men recognized the worn-out figure of the Lord of Winterfell. But the rest were still on guard, their eyes fixed on the strange group that had descended from the sky.
Joffrey ignored them. He turned to Gilly, his eyes wild with urgency. "Give me the thing. Now."
"The what?" Gilly asked, her face a mask of confusion.
"The thing!" Joffrey shouted, his voice sharp with desperation. "The black thing from the egg! The shell! Hurry!" He did not have the time to explain to the others what he was planning to do. Every second they wasted was a second the creature grew closer.
"Oh, that!" Gilly's eyes widened with understanding. She fumbled in her furs, her fingers closing around the black fragment. She pulled it out and handed it to Joffrey, her hands trembling.
Joffrey snatched it from her, his fingers closing around the warm, smooth surface. He could feel the power still thrumming within it, the ancient magic that had been born from the fire of a god. This was the material he would need to replicate, so he needed this piece as a model.
"Get down from the wall!" Joffrey shouted to the brothers on the wall. "If there is anyone still up there, tell them to get down from the wall! It's going to get a bit shaky!"
The brothers hesitated, their faces pale with confusion. But then they heard the sound...a deep, rumbling growl that seemed to come from the very earth itself. The Wall trembled, and cracks began to appear in its surface.
The ice groaned and shifted, ancient fractures spreading across its face like veins of darkness.
"Move!" Joffrey shouted, his voice carrying across the courtyard. "Move now!"
The brothers scrambled, their discipline forgotten in the face of terror.
They ran for the elevators, their feet pounding against the frozen ground, their shouts echoing off the ancient ice. Men pushed and shoved, desperate to escape the coming horror.
Joffrey turned back to the Wall, the black shell clutched in his hand. He could feel the creature approaching, its presence pressing against the edges of his consciousness. It was close, so close that he could almost see it...a vast shadow that blotted out the sky, its countless eyes fixed on its prey.
"Let's do this," he muttered, his voice low.
He had never attempted a transmutation of this caliber. He was about to transform the entire Wall, a massive structure that had stood for millennia, into the same oily black stone that the primitive humans had used to create Stygai.
But unlike those primitive sorcerers, he had never received the knowledge of how to do it from the primordial being. So he was forced to use a different method.
By analyzing the black shell, which was made from the same stuff, Joffrey was essentially going to multiply it while fusing it with the ice at the same time.
Meanwhile, he was going to tap into the magical formation of the Wall and reinforce it, incorporating it into his new creation. It was an extremely complex piece of magic that was going to need his full concentration and power to pull it off.
And he did not have much time.
He pressed the black shell against the ice, his magic surging through his body like a flood.
The shell began to glow, its surface heating until it was almost too hot to touch. The ice beneath his hand began to change, its pale white surface turning dark, oily, black. The transformation spread like ink in water, the darkness bleeding into the ancient ice.
"Yes," Joffrey breathed, his voice filled with grim satisfaction. "Yes, that's it."
The transformation spread, slow at first. The black stone crawled across the surface of the Wall like long tendrils, their surfaces beginning to drink in the light. Where the ice had been pale and reflective, the stone was dark and absorbing, a void that swallowed the sunlight.
But it was too slow. Joffrey could feel that the creature was already here, could feel its hunger driving it forward.
A massive black tendril shot through the Wall, punching through the ancient ice with terrifying ease. It created a hole that was as wide as a castle gate.
The brothers on the Wall screamed, their cries echoing across the courtyard.
"Fuck!" Joffrey cursed, his teeth clenched with effort. "I'm not going to let you-"
He poured more power into the transformation, his body glowing with an eerie light.
The black stone spread faster, its surface rippling like water. Another tendril tried to push through, but this time, it hit the already transformed part of the Wall, and the oily black stone was proven to be much more resilient. The transfigured stone cut the shadow tentacle like a blade going through flesh, sealing the hole in the process.
"Yes... YES." Joffrey's voice was a snarl, his eyes blazing with power. "You cannot... FUCKING PASS!"
The surge of magic in his body was making him ecstatic, as if he was riding the high of his life. Power coursed through his veins like fire, burning away his exhaustion, his fear, his doubt. He felt invincible, unstoppable, a god in his own right.
The transformation accelerated, the black stone spreading across the entire surface of the Wall like a wave. It reached the spots where the tendrils had made holes, sealing them shut, cutting off the creature's advance.
The oily black stone was now covering the entire three hundred-mile structure, its surface gleaming like polished obsidian in the pale light.
The primordial ice creature screamed.
It was a sound that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once, a sound that pierced the souls of everyone who listened to it and made the very air tremble in fear.
The creature threw itself against the Wall, its massive body smashing into the black stone with a force that sent shockwaves through the ground.
The earth shook, and the brothers of the Night's Watch stumbled, their faces pale with terror. Chunks of ice and stone rained down from the Wall, and the ground beneath their feet cracked and split.
But the Wall held.
Joffrey continued his work, his body shaking with exhaustion. The transformation was almost complete, the black stone covering every inch of the ancient structure.
He could feel the magic of the Wall, the ancient formation that had been built into its very bones. It was a lattice of power, intricate and beautiful, woven into the ice by the hands of the First Men.
He reached out with his power, reinforcing it, strengthening it, making it a part of his new creation. The ancient magic merged with the phoenix stone, creating something new, something far more powerful than either had been alone.
"Runes," he muttered, his voice barely audible. "I need... runes."
He pushed his magic into the stone, his mind creating patterns of power that would hold the creature at bay. Bright runes appeared on the surface of the Wall, their golden light gleaming against the black stone. They were ancient symbols of protection, of warding, of the eternal struggle between light and dark.
A semi-translucent film began to spread from the top and sides of the Wall, trapping the entirety of the lands north of the Wall into some sort of protective dome.
The shadow creature cried out as it was pushed back, its tendrils retreating from the surface of the black stone. It was being driven back, its power broken by the ancient magic of the Wall and the strength of the phoenix stone.
They had won... for now.
The creature had been stopped, but it was far from being defeated.
Joffrey could feel its hatred, its rage, its endless hunger. It would not forget this humiliation. It would not forgive this defeat. But for the moment, it was contained.
Joffrey stood there, his right hand pressed against the newly created Wall.
His metal arm had disappeared during the struggle, as he no longer had the power or concentration to keep it in place, so it had returned to its original state of scrap metal, lying at his feet.
He turned around and realized that his vision was starting to fail him.
The world was growing dark at the edges, the colors fading to grey. His breath came in ragged gasps, and he could barely stand anymore.
Ned, Gilly, and Val were staring at him, their faces filled with shock.
The brothers of the Night's Watch had gathered in the courtyard, their eyes wide with disbelief. No one dared to speak, no one dared to move.
They had just witnessed something beyond their comprehension, something that defied all understanding.
Joffrey looked at them, a faint smile playing at his lips. He was barely conscious, barely aware of the world around him. But he had to say something. He had to leave them with something to remember.
"You know..." Joffrey said, his voice barely a whisper. "I just defeated a cosmic god... with one hand. You lot should be a lot more impressed than that."
His eyes rolled back in his head, and he collapsed.
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