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~~~Military Base in Qarth, Xandar~~~
~~~June 1942~~~
At the large airfield that served as a place of refuge, control, and rest for the Wyverns, the American reconnaissance plane was forced to land on runways commonly used to house airships, providing the plane with a suitable runway for its landing.
As for their crewmen, both were escorted to the base's place of confinement, pending orders from superiors on how to proceed with the two guests.
As for Rick and William, both were in a huge level of shock and surprise. Since they landed, they discovered and saw things that they believed were impossible to exist. The soldiers stationed at the base were all wearing steel plate armor and patrolling on strong armored horses.
Large carriages were pulled by ravaging, what looked to them like huge buffaloes, wyverns of all sizes and colors could be seen in the sky, letting out occasional roars and displaying an enormous level of aggression.
It was as if they had entered a fantasy world. "What will become of us?" William, unable to remain silent, spoke to the Dothraki guarding the cell where they both were, who were looking at them with a kind of undisguised curiosity on their faces, since, as far as they knew, the only ones who had the power to conquer the skies were Xandar.
But now everything seemed to indicate the opposite, making the soldiers, who were under a high level of stress thanks to their superiors who were doing their best to protect and guard all of Xandar due to their sudden transport. They relaxed for a moment to observe those flying in what looked like lifeless metal wyverns.
"They look Westerosi, did they come from there?" The Dothraki were talking amongst themselves, not bothering to answer the two pilots' questions, engrossed in learning more about the base's newest addition.
"I don't think so; they speak the common tongue, but... As far as I know, the Westerosi don't have metal wyverns." Just as one of the Dothrakis finished speaking, a man entered the room where the two Americans' cell was, causing the two Dothrakis to stop talking and straighten up.
"Ko," the two Dothrakis greeted the man, who turned out to be a Ko, who approached the cell and looked suspiciously at the two men inside the cell, "Did they talk at all?" he asked, as he continued to watch Rick and William like a fish in a fishbowl.
"They asked about their fate, they're worried about their lives."
The Ko nodded, and approaching the cell, raised his left hand, only to have it then occupied by the cell keys, handed to him by one of the two guards stationed there. The Ko then proceeded to unlock the cell, only to then address the two men inside.
"I don't know why you are here or where you came from, but know one thing: you are now in Xandar, and I ask you, strongly, do not tickle the sleeping dragon." The Ko Akho spoke to them in English, which to him was the common tongue.
"We want no trouble with your nation; we are only reconnaissance members, you can communicate with our leaders and rectify it for yourselves," Rick said, scared of what they might do to them.
Ko Akho did not remove his grimace of dissatisfaction from his face, seeing that they did not look like warriors, nor did they have braids that spoke of their martial prowess. "The Great Khal wants to meet with you, something I do not agree with, especially with weak men without braids, but that was his order, so you will be brought before him, and please put up a resistance, I wish it."
With those foul-sounding words, William and Rick were led out of the cell and escorted to meet Azrael.
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~~~Rick Jones~~~
"The Great Khal wishes to meet with you, something I do not agree with, especially with weak men without braids, but that was his order, so you will be brought before him, and please put up a resistance; I wish it." The man with a contorted face, as if he had swallowed a lemon, said, then went back to speaking to the other two men in their strange language.
"It sounds like a union between Russian and German, they have that rustic, aggressive accent," William whispered next to me, being unable to understand the language, a strange thing in itself, since the two of us, as reconnaissance personnel, were versed in several languages, but the language spoken by these people did not resemble any familiar one.
Remembering their absolute strangeness, I asked William. "What could they have meant about us not having braids?"
"I don't know, but that seems to mean a lot about them. Look, look, they all have long hair with bells attached to it," William told me, and looking well at our captors, I realized that point, and it was that all, without exception, had long hair, tied in a braid, with bells attached to their hair. For example, the four men who were guiding us had only three bells; on the other hand, the man who had taken us out of the cells had more than ten.
'It seems that the more bells, the higher his position,' I assumed. It was an odd sort of rank characterization, but it seemed to be a big deal with them.
Over the next few minutes, a total of six of these men were in medieval armor. Something that added to the already strangeness of this place. They led us through the halls of the building, a huge and very well-constructed building, from which I could see the entire base, or what I thought was one.
I was constantly seeing various dragons taking off, either vertically or, in the case of larger ones, they had to gain momentum. It was a place that worked differently, but no less dangerous for that, remembering how those dragons had reached our plane effortlessly.
And that's when I saw it—the biggest and most terrifying creature. "What the fuck is that?" I exclaimed in utter fear, seeing in the distance a beast straight out of hell itself, through and through.
"It's a dragon and a huge one at that!" William was surprised too, and how could he not be? The dragon we saw in the distance was the size of an aircraft carrier, and unlike the previous ones we had seen, this one possessed four legs as well as appeared much more terrifying.
"If that thing flies over a city, it will turn it to dust with the flapping of its wings," I said to William, who nodded with a conflicted look, "if you continue to keep my Khal waiting, I will kill you and carry their corpses." The unfriendly-looking man threatened us, causing us to keep walking.
By this point, neither William nor I were struggling, fully realizing that we could die at any moment, and from what I had seen, there would be no conflict if we were killed.
After a short time, we arrived at a room that was protected by several people, both men and women, all dressed in armor, only that these... They shined—yes, that would be the correct term; the armor shone with various colors, from pink to purple to even blue.
Once inside the room, we could see another mythical creature. What looked like large piles of mats shifted, giving way to giant whitish-furred wolves, still sitting, towering over six feet. "They're beautiful!" I exclaimed, enamored by the wolves, six.
"Yes, they are beautiful creatures, very loyal and fierce," a man suddenly spoke up. He was sitting in a wide, cushioned armchair, which I had not noticed as I had been attentive to the wolves.
"You are in the presence of Azrael Jaesyrian, Horseman of Endoxes, Khal of the Eternal Horde, Emperor of Xandar and its surrounding lands, Yukbreaker, Father of the Newcomers, Stallion Who Mounts the World, King of the Sea of Grass, Conqueror of the Yellow Cities, and Vindicator of the Jhogos Nhai." A man dressed in strangely patterned black armor introduced the man sitting on the couch.
Doing what I thought would be the most accurate thing to do, I made a sort of bow, being mimicked by William, who was also confused, "I must comment that I am stunned to learn that two men have entered the skies of my realm, especially only hours after sinking several ships off the north coast carrying these flags."
Azrael, as the man was called, expounded, tossing a flag at our feet, one he knew very well, which just the sight of it made my blood boil.
"We have no ties to the nation this flag represents," I immediately replied, gritting my teeth, "in fact we are enemies."
"And how can I be sure of that, how do I know you are not spies sent to my kingdom after learning how your damned fleet was destroyed?" The king said, with an angry tone.
"We can communicate with our country, create ties, communication, we can provide you with all the information of the nation that attacked you if you wish," I stated my proposal, ignoring the look William was giving me.
For his part, the king leaned forward, to then throw a shining knife at the flag of the Japanese Empire that was on the ground, which began to catch fire after the knife touched it, "one," the king said, showing his index finger, "only one will go, and convey what you promised, otherwise, your companion will die forgotten."
"Yes, we will keep our word, that I assure you," I said to the king, at which point William could stand it no longer, facing, "What the hell are you doing?"
"Saving our hides," I replied, "go to the fleet, share everything we learned here, and tell them we could be meeting a powerful ally that will help us destroy Japan once and for all."