Chapter 38
ELIA MARTELL
Elia Martell found herself outside the Castle watching over the throngs of people gathered infront of her with the council at her back as the masses waited for the Crown's official declaration of war.
Though only she knew that there would not be such a declaration. Already, word had spread of the revival of Dragons, and many believed it to be propaganda from the Crown, but the truth was much different.
Letters had arrived from Oberyn detailing to her about the war that had sprung up in Essos as the Free Cities of Meereen and Yunkai turned their spear towards the slaving city of Astapor, the last holding of the Slave Masters.
The Slave Masters were out looking for allies, since all their Gold had been lost in the futile venture of backing the Blackfyre rebellion. And the less said about that rebellion, the better.
She would easily admit that she herself was rather troubled by how their enemies seemed to be gathering their might and how they supposedly had a dragon of theirs. Others in the court worried as well, bemoaning the King's ignoring this budding problem, one that threatened his rule directly.
Though she should have learnt her lesson by now. That one should never doubt Daemon Targaryen, he was the one who beat the stranger himself, the one who slew a dragon, and now he had decimated an entire front against him with a single attack.
One attack. One. It was all it took from him to bring down both the Blackfyres, and the Slave Masters and the traitors that hid in their own land.
"When will the King arrive?" questioned the only other woman in the gathering, a recent arrival in the capital, the Lady Eleanor Mooton. She was the head of House Mooton an important House in Riverlands, one who had acted on the King's behalf and had stood against House Tully in their treachery.
"By now, he sho..." Before she could finish, she saw everyone begin pointing into the sky. She followed their gestures and found herself looking back at the Red Keep. She watched as a massive shadow passed over the Kingslanding, and she saw the winged creature that had bound the Seven Kingdoms into one.
The beasts that were the source of power of House Targaryen, the magical creatures tracing back their origins to Valyria itself.
"Seven Hells!" lady Mooton gasped beside her as the dragon flew around the castle, its roar making everyone tremble in fear before it came over them and landed on the ground. Its deafening roar and green eyes made everyone reel back in shock as a singular figure descended from it, clad in black armor and his usual Valyrian Steel mask.
And at the appearance of the King, people knelt down as the King of the Seven Kingdoms walked to the edge of the platform and addressed the people of the city gathered infront of him.
"Many of you must be expecting me to declare for a war against the pretenders today," he began as he addressed the people of the city.
"Others would be expecting me to call for a campaign against the traitors hiding in our own lands," he ordered.
"But I will not!" he finished as he took out his sword.
"For the war is already over!" and murmurs broke out at the King's words.
"For as I stand here before you, the pretender line who threatened this are now dead. The enemies who supported them in their cause decimated, and as we speak, the very slavers and their men who wished to plunge our land into carnage now lay surrounded on all sides by the free people of Meereen and Astapor!" the King announced.
"Their dragon dead, alongside the last vestige of the accursed Blackfyre line!" he added as the people cheered.
"So, I say war is over!" he announced to grand cheer.
"But we must not rest," the King's ominous words made everyone become silent, and even those in his council frowned at his words.
"For this war may be over, but there are powers at play here that men have long forgotten, powers that are even more dangerous and powerful than the Blackfyres and their dragons," the King's words were somber. His words made people gasp at those words, for to this day Daemon had never cautioned the people about the fear of a power.
"Death comes for us all," the King announced.
"It emerges from the chilling winter of beyond the Wall to our North. Death, an enemy that threatens not just us but each and every living person on this planet. It is the very enemy that drove my ancestor, Aegon, to bind together the Seven Kingdoms, for he knew that if the living were supposed to survive against this great evil, they should be together."
"And so, I call for a Grand Council, in two moon's time, and call for all of the Lords and Ladies, High and Low, to see for themselves the evil that threatens our way of life."
00000
EDDARD STARK
Eddard watched as the Free Folk walked through the gates of castle Black, most of them women and children as the brothers of the Night's Watch eyed them with suspicion and rage, but hopefully Stannis would be able to keep his men at bay.
He stood beside Jon, as he watched the hundred Free Folk walk past those gates, as horses laden with food and other necessities walked the opposite side as per his agreement.
"It is done," Jon added and he nodded. Already he had sent a missive to the King explaining all this, and was not surprised to learn that the King had returned to King's Landing, after ending the war more or less.
One strike. One attack. That was all it had taken to swallow up the whole rebellion gearing up against the Kingdoms, and now the alliance which had been built around the Blackfyre cause was crumbling with infighting as the free cities of Meereen and Astapor launched their offesnivse against the last stronghold of the slavers in Slaver's bay.
Yet the most surprising piece of news was about the dragon. For years now rumors had trickled down from across the Narrow Sea of a dragon taking to the skies, one ridden by the supposed heir of House Blackfyre.
People in the Seven Kingdoms feared the rumors; the tales of the dragon evoked the memories of Aegon's conquest that had brought them together, and yet, despite their concern, the Crown seemed rather content to wait and let such rumors fester.
And now they all saw the reason. For the Crown had a dragon of its own, one much larger and older than the one of their enemies.
"I never thought I would ever see the day when a dragon would take to the skies once more," Jon's tone was filled with amazement and curiosity, and there was a part of Eddard who wished to travel to the capital to see this might beast for himself right now.
But he would have to wait, for he had his hands full.
"And I never thought I would see a dead man walk and kill again," he scoffed as Jon nodded.
"Indeed, the world has become a much different place than I remember it to be," and Eddard nodded, agreeing with the words.
"Come let us see this undead creature for ourselves," Jon added. They both made their way to the basement of the Castle, where a contingent of Night's Watch members stood guard alongside his own men.
Each of them was among the bravest from the watch, and yet they had paled as they stood there eyeing the room where the ten boxes had been laid with tense eyes.
Outside the door, Jeor Mormont stood guard at his command and opened the doors for them. Both he and Jon entered the room alone, each armed with not just their own swords but also the Dragonglass swords sent to the watch by their King. Inside the room, the screeches and screams were louder as both him and Jon looked at each other.
The room smelled of death, and despite it being lit by several torches, the cold air in the room was so chilly that it penetrated to one's bones.
And with a steely heart, Eddard reached for the binding keeping the box together and untied it, and immediately, a side of the wooden box fell down as the screeches got louder.
"AGGGGG!" and he jumped back as the sound of chains cackling came from the box before a skeletal creature jumped out of it, though thankfully it could not take more than a step outside, due to the chains that were wrapped around it.
"Seven Hells!" Jon gasped from the side, and Eddard could feel his own blood chill at the sight of the monster infront of him as he watched it thrash against the chains with no care for itself. Its skin was eaten and rotten away, and its eyes were replaced by blue hollow orbs. The clothes were in tatters, and many of his bones showed, showing that this was not someone alive.
"This is what we have to face?" Jon asked, and he nodded.
"This is what is coming for us," he added, as Jon nodded.
"And they say steel is useless against them," that was true. The King had been clear about that, it was why he had supplied both the Wall and the Fremen with Dragonglass weapons for nothing.
"Now let us test them," and with that, he took out the obsidian blade and gripped it in his hands; the undead creature seemed to recoil at the material as if afraid of it. The screeches got louder, not just from it but from the other nine bound in their cages as well.
It tried to break free, and yet the chains around it held strong, and with a steady hand, Eddard Stark swung true.
"ARGH!" and in a single swing, he cut off the undead's head and watched as the faint glow from the eyes vanished as the monster crumbled into bones infront of his eyes.
"It works," Jon gasped as he crouched down and picked up a broken and lifeless hand.
"Seven Hells, the King was right!" Jon added, and Eddard was never more thankful for the man than today, especially at the enemy he had just seen. For a part of him felt that without Daemon Targaryen at the helm, the Kingdoms would not have been prepared enough to deal with this.
"Aegon was right," he whispered as Jon turned towards him.
"What do you mean?" he asked. And he looked towards the man as he told him of the tale the King had told him, a tale whose records he had found buried in Torren Stark's diaries.
"Aegon Targaryen, the conqueror, he was a seer, or at least it is thought so," he answered, and Jon seemed taken aback by that, for no such proclamation was ever made by the man or his descendants. The last known seer was still Denys the Dreamer the one who foretold the Doom of Valyria.
"To this day, many question why Torrhen Stark chose to kneel when even Dorne resisted and felled down a dragon," it was one of history's most important questions. One to which none had been able to give a definitive answer.
"But in this entry he spoke of the Conqueror on how he chose to join hands with the House of the Dragon for he knew that in this alliance lay the path of salvation," that was entry. The records showed that Torrhen's decision had caused a rift in his own family, it had won him no friends yet now he understood the significance of this.
"After the rebellion, the King called me into his chambers and showed me something," Eddard continued, remembering that day.
"It was a dagger. Aegon's dagger, one passed down by him, and when the King held it over an open flame, a text glistened on it. The very text which made Aegon turn his gaze towards the Seven Kingdoms, the text which also made Torrhen Stark give up his crown," and Jon was listening now with rampant attention.
"He called it the Song of Ice and Fire..."
0000
Atop the Wall, a somber Stannis Baratheon watched the expansive true North with a pensive and dour mood as the Lord Commander entertained their guests, leaving him in command of the Watch and its men.
And suddenly, as he stood there, he frowned. He felt a chill penetrate into his bones and watched as a massive storm began to brew in the distance.
He took out his far eye, looked into the distance, and stilled at the scenes he saw, and as he brought it down, he turned to the man at his side.
"Get me, Lord Stark and Lord Commander! NOW!"
0000
Read ahead and support me on Patre 0n. Help me write this and other such stories, if you can.
www.Patre 0n.com/Drkest
Have a nice day!