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Aemon Targaryen – Little Hangleton

Everything trembled around him, the ground and the trees, the very air ionized from the clash of spells that launched golden and crimson lightning everywhere, carbonizing everything they touched.

Dumbledore was…formidable, he might be a damned old man, but he was a master of sorcery and he used his magic to enhance his body to such a degree that he could move faster than Aemon was capable of perceiving.

Even with Stark and Targaryen magic empowering Aemon, Dumbledore’s experience and his own family magic presented themselves as a genuine challenge.

He moved at absurd speed, there were no useless wand gestures or meaningless spells.

Only power and will.

Dumbledore was an army of one man, summoning animals from nothingness that hurled themselves toward Aemon with ferocity while even animating nearby trees, making the roots emerge and begin walking toward him.

-Give me the ring!- he shouted, completely out of control, accompanying his creations with powerful golden flames.

And although the old man’s assault was simply overwhelming, Aemon was not afraid…

Quite the opposite.

His blood…both Stark and Targaryen alike, roared with gallantry and joy.

The dragon and the wolf had found a worthy rival in the phoenix and although Aemon knew perfectly well that this would not be an easy fight…

He was more than ready for it.

Magic thundered through the battlefield with such violence that the forest itself seemed to recoil from the duel taking place within it.

Aemon focused all his attention upon Dumbledore, one of his eyes now carrying the amber color of the Wolf Lords while the other shone with the characteristic Targaryen violet, an indication that he was using both branches of his family magic simultaneously.

With glazing speed, the Dragon Prince took control of all Dumbledore’s beasts, ripping away the old wizard’s control with ease and forcing every single one of them to turn around and launch themselves toward their own creator, while at the same time releasing the voracious Targaryen flames, instantly carbonizing the dozen furious trees walking toward him.

-Your talent and your power are impressive Jon, I am not your enemy, just give me the ring- said the old man, his tone pleading, much to Aemon’s suspicion.

-What the hell is wrong with you Dumbledore? Use your damned Occlumency and protect your mind from the curse- he snapped.

The old man hesitated for an instant before shaking his head and looking toward Aemon with determination.

-The stone…after so many years…Ariana waits for me, I…need…- he said while shaking his head before moving his wand once more, launching a dozen spells in less than five seconds and resuming the duel.

Aemon answered with ferocity, spells collided at incredible speed, shaking everything around them, Aemon had no doubt the muggles probably believed some kind of earthquake was taking place.

And what was worse, with the amount of noise and destruction they were causing, it was only a matter of time before the idiots from the Ministry sent someone to investigate.

Although thinking about it properly, the Aurors would probably witness the scale of power involved in the duel Aemon was fighting and think twice before interrupting.

One way or another, he stood alone against Albus Dumbledore, one of the most powerful wizards he knew.

No pressure.

He needed to find a way to break the spell as quickly as possible and only one method came to mind.

Destroying the ring that had caused this disaster in the first place.

The problem?

The insane old man throwing lethal spells around as if they were candy.

No pressure, thought Aemon while grimacing after feeling a conjured spear from Dumbledore pass far too close for comfort, responding by taking control of the earth beneath both of their feet and manifesting a path of lethal rock spikes that surged toward the old wizard.

If the old man wanted to play, then so be it, thought Aemon with a feeling of exhilaration unlike anything he had ever experienced before.

Dumbledore destroyed the spikes with an elegant movement of his wrist and answered, to Aemon’s surprise, with wind magic, generating some kind of…air discs that moved at incredible speed and—

-AAAHHHG!- shouted the young dragon after feeling a deep cut across his arm, courtesy of one of the damned discs, which had moved with simply absurd speed.

Blood struck the burned earth beneath them while the storm above intensified, illuminated constantly by crimson and golden flashes of magical lightning.

Dumbledore offered no quarter, releasing the remaining wind blades toward Aemon, who rapidly conjured his famous Indomitus.

Yet the assault did not stop, Dumbledore created dozens of wind swords with seemingly no effort whatsoever, although Aemon was able to identify that the old wizard remained far more concerned with locating the stone sphere containing the cursed ring.

What the hell was so important about that stone for Dumbledore, one of the wisest and most powerful wizards Aemon knew…to behave like this?

Aemon, maintaining the Indomitus with one hand, knelt against the ground and with his other hand began channeling his own attack.

Slowly, a crimson magical energy began emanating from his hand, moving rapidly beneath the shield toward where the old wizard stood.

The rock beneath the battlefield began heating rapidly, transforming into burning lava which erupted violently in the shape of magma dragons, creatures that did not hesitate for even an instant before launching themselves toward the old wizard.

Dumbledore did not flinch.

He simply vanished at the precise moment, appearing several meters away completely unharmed.

However, in doing so, he became incapable of continuing to control the wind swords he had been launching toward the young dragon.

Without hesitation, Aemon summoned more magma dragons and hurled them ferociously toward the old wizard, detonating them in suicidal explosions with the intention of keeping the mad old man as distracted as possible.

Alas, Dumbledore was not considered the most powerful wizard in the world for nothing and in the blink of an eye, he regained complete control of the battle, appearing rapidly and condensing a wall of water around himself, keeping Aemon’s creations at bay.

And falling directly into Aemon’s plan.

The exhausted wizard glanced toward his hand, directly toward the Stark ring, and his mind rapidly drifted toward the dangerous spell one of his ancestors had designed specifically to deal with elusive wizards such as Dumbledore.

However, it was a complicated spell and required time to conjure.

Time Aemon truly did not possess.

He needed a distraction and he possessed the perfect bait to deal with the old wizard.

Aemon channeled his magic directly toward Chuck Jr.’s sphere, causing the construct to reappear with the ring Dumbledore desired so desperately in its hand.

And then…

He ordered every magma dragon to cease attacking the old wizard and instead launch themselves in suicidal assaults…

Directly toward Chuck’s hand.

Thanks to his Valyrian steel alloy, Chuck himself would emerge completely unharmed from the explosions created by the suicidal magma dragons.

But the ring…

Aemon was not nearly as certain about that and judging by the expression of absolute terror upon Dumbledore’s face…

The old wizard believed exactly the same thing.

-NOOO!- screamed Dumbledore, his eyes utterly crazed as he Apparated directly between Chuck and the incoming dragons and, with magical mastery worthy of envy, summoned enchanted roots to immobilize Chuck while simultaneously destroying the Valyrian dragons with surgical precision.

However, Aemon’s full attention remained focused upon preparing the spell that would grant him the advantage necessary to win this fight.

He knew that no matter how much his pride hated admitting it, Dumbledore possessed decades more magical combat experience than him.

There was no possible way he could defeat the old wizard in a clean duel of magic.

Therefore, Aemon would attack in the one area where he possessed a genuine advantage over Dumbledore.

In the ocean of souls.

Aemon knelt down, placing both hands against the earth as he began chanting in ancient Nordic, a guttural, powerful and ancestral language created to channel the immense magical power of Yggdrasil itself.

And the language necessary to cast one of the most powerful Stark spells Aemon had ever witnessed.

The Wrath of Mjölnir.

The young dragon released a mighty roar while slamming both hands against the ground and unleashing the spell and shaking Earth itself in the process.

Storm clouds immediately began forming across the heavens while thunder illuminated the dark night and the smell of ozone and raw magic consumed the battlefield.

And precisely when the old wizard finished destroying the final magma dragon and focused all his attention upon Chuck…

The spell completed itself.

The clouds above unleashed the accumulated magical energy, flooding the battlefield with devastating lightning bolts and creating a massive magical cage that ionized the very air itself.

And prevented a wizard from using Apparition.

The old man’s greatest advantage.

The heavens themselves seemed to rupture apart beneath the fury of Stark magic, thunder roaring with such force that even the cursed Gaunt shack shook violently beneath the storm.

Without hesitation and with adrenaline flooding through his body, Aemon raised both hands and launched a devastating Depulso directly toward the old wizard.

Dumbledore immediately focused upon the incredibly powerful and impossibly fast attack and, exactly as Aemon predicted, attempted to Apparate...

Without success.

Aemon clearly saw the precise instant Apparition failed upon Dumbledore’s face and although the old wizard managed to conjure an improvised shield, the sheer amount of power Aemon had poured into the spell had been simply monstrous.

The young dragon’s Depulso shattered the old wizard’s shield completely and launched Dumbledore backward directly into the Gaunt shack, granting Aemon the advantage in the duel for the very first time.

Fawkes released a powerful cry while hurling himself directly toward Aemon in an attempt to defend the old wizard.

However, the phoenix was intercepted by Arraxys, who seized Fawkes with his powerful jaws and carried both of them into the sky, far away from the battlefield below.

Aemon, grateful for the opportunity, immediately began sprinting toward the stunned old wizard, who was already recovering with alarming speed.

-IT DOES NOT HAVE TO END THIS WAY LORD STARK!- shouted the old wizard while shaking his head desperately before forcing himself to focus once more and resuming the barrage of spells toward Aemon.

However, it was obvious Dumbledore was no longer at his best.

The old wizard launched spells slower now and with noticeably worse precision, allowing the young dragon to slowly close the distance between them.

Aemon forced enormous stone hands and powerful roots to erupt from the ground around the shack, forcing Dumbledore to divide his attention between attacking Aemon or preventing himself from being restrained.

Normally, Dumbledore would have been more than capable of defending himself.

But between the anti apparition storm, the stone hands, the roots, and Aemon’s relentless spellcasting…

The old wizard simply had no opportunity.

Overwhelmed by the sheer number of simultaneous attacks, Dumbledore’s leg was finally caught by one of the Valyrian stone hands while the enchanted roots rapidly climbed across his body, restraining him.

The old wizard moved his wand rapidly, abandoning his attacks against Aemon entirely while trying desperately to destroy the stone hands.

But Aemon did not allow him the opportunity.

The young dragon raised both hands without slowing his sprint and forced twice as many summons to attack the old wizard, keeping him as distracted as possible.

Aemon was close now…

He needed to reach the old man and take away the wand before Dumbledore could recover.

Above them, the heavens burned with black and golden flames while Fawkes and Arraxys battled ferociously, shaking the skies themselves with their clash of titans.

Every instinct inside Aemon screamed at him to move faster, strike harder, finish the duel before the Ministry descended upon Little Hangleton and witnessed the scale of destruction unleashed there that night.

Aemon had to hurry, it was only a matter of time before the Ministry sent the Aurors and he truly did not wish to explain what had happened here, the last thing he needed was giving the Wizengamot weapons to interfere in his affairs and those of the alliance.

The dragon Lord approached the old wizard, grabbing his beard and pulling it violently, forcing a cry of pain from him while the young dragon seized the wand from Dumbledore’s hand with a brutal yank.

And the moment Aemon took hold of the old wizard’s wand…

An immensely...familiar power invaded him, a titanic magical presence, as though the old wizard’s wand had somehow…finally returned home.

But Aemon did not pay much attention to it at this precise moment, instead focusing all his magic and, using the wand, pointed directly toward the old wizard’s forehead and shouted.

-PERSONA!-

And everything turned black.

However, before completely losing consciousness…

Aemon was capable of hearing a feminine, powerful, and icy voice.

-And so it begins-

///

Aemon Targaryen – Somewhere, Somewhen

-Shit- muttered the young dragon heavily while forcing himself to stand with difficulty.

Aemon looked around curiously.

He stood within some kind of…Scottish moor, with an enormous and frankly terrifying river flowing nearby.

Where the hell were they? he wondered while observing how Dumbledore already stood near the shore, staring toward the river with an expression of total calm.

Aemon cautiously walked toward the old wizard, who looked toward him with serene composure.

-Ah Lord Stark! I assume you possess some idea of where exactly we find ourselves?- asked the old wizard, thankfully once more carrying his natural calm and composed demeanor, nothing like the terrifying madman from moments earlier.

Aemon stared at him silently for several long minutes, carefully considering his answer.

-We are within the ocean of souls. I needed to balance the fight in my favor- he admitted honestly, causing the old wizard to nod slowly.

-I do not know what this…ocean of souls truly means, but I feel we are about to witness a very important event- declared the old wizard with a tone that revealed he somehow understood exactly what moment of history they were standing within.

Aemon frowned deeply and opened his mouth to question him when a masculine voice suddenly interrupted.

-Hurry up Ignotus, do not fall behind!- shouted the voice in the distance.

Aemon turned immediately toward the source of the voice, observing three young wizards walking toward them.

-And now it begins!- declared the old wizard while watching the approaching trio with visible excitement and although Aemon had absolutely no idea what was happening…

Something deep inside him whispered that this moment mattered.

That this was important.

When Aemon prepared to question the old wizard again, Arrax’s voice suddenly echoed within his mind.

-This moment…is important Aemon, pay attention- declared his Persona.

Those words immediately put him on alert and the young dragon focused entirely upon the scene unfolding before him.

Unaware that he was about to complete the final piece necessary for his journey home.