Chapter 11 9 страница

Scanning the room, he noticed that it was devoid of, well anything. The only apparent decorations in the hall were a dozen or so statues of men and weapon that were standing in the center of the room facing one another. All of which were still fully intact. " Alright, " he muttered, slowly entering the room as he sensed the strange resonance coming from the far side. " As if things couldn't get any stranger. "

Walking into the room, he made his way between the statues while constantly keeping his eyes open and his sense outstretched. The moment he walked between the statues he suddenly doubled over as it felt like something invisible struck him in the gut. 'The resonance! ' he breathed, straightening and looking around. 'It's here! '

Looking around widely, he tried to find whatever had drawn him here, but failed to spot anything of note. That was until he made a second turn and noticed a slight flickering of light on the arms of one of the statues. Stopping midturn, Jon walked over to the statue. And on the statue's arm was a golden bracer the length of a man's fist adorned with large red jewel the size of a man's thumb in the center. 'Whatever the hell that thing is, that is definitely where the resonance is coming from, ' he thought as he reached out to grab the armlet off the statue.

Just before his fingers could touch the armlet, he heard something behind him. A slight hiss followed by the sound of leather rubbing against stone. A feeling of dread filled him as he turned around…and found himself nearly face to snot with the largest snake he had ever seen in his entire life! The damn thing was nearly as thick as Jon's torso. It had also reared upwards and poised backwards slightly so, to Jon, that it seemed even bigger than it already was. But what truly made Jon nearly piss himself was the snake's hide. It had a faint orange glow…something he had only seen once before in his entire life. And that was just after they passed by the oversized sea turtle that was at the mouth of the river when they'd first departed the Sea Wolf.

" Fuck! " Jon screamed, jumping to the side behind one of the other statues. He was just in time to dodge the firewyrm's head as it struck, smashing the statue with the armlet into a cloud of debris and dust.

" Shit! Shit! Shit! Not good! " Jon yelled, running behind yet another statue as the snake recoiled and reared itself up again.

The glowing orange of its hide brightened up considerably mere moments before its jaw opened, and Jon could see the flames swelling within the back of the beast throat. " Fuck! " He cried, running away once again, only this time with the flames of the firewyrm right behind him instead of the snake's head. " How the fuck am I supposed to fight this thing? "

Using the Force to lift a larger piece of the statue that'd been destroyed, Jon flung it as hard as he could at the snake, hitting the beast upside the head. The snake hissed loudly, an angry sound that chilled Jon to his bones despite the residual heat of the flames nearby, as the firewyrm coiled in on itself briefly before lunging for him once more.

" I think that only pissed it off! " Jon yelled to himself as he tried to think of something – anything! – that he could use against the beast.

But as he moved to hide behind another statue, he saw something. A flutter of something in the darkness that soon emerged from the shadows and charged the firewyrm. " That's…That's the same man who attacked me in the hall! " he breathed, watching completely dumbfoundedly as the man who'd tried to kill him not moments before completely ignored him as it charged the firewyrm with its sword held high.

The firewrym seemed to completely forget about Jon as it turned its attention to the large man charging at it. Opening its jaw, the serpent sent out another wave of fire, which seemed to do absolutely nothing to the seeming man as he completely ignored the fire and slashed at the underside of the snake with his sword.

Peeking around his hiding place, Jon watched transfixed as the man went toe-to-toe against the firewyrm, dodging the snake's lunges and seemingly to be completely unbothered by its flames. As he watched, he noticed something. The destroyed statue was not far from where Jon presently was and that the golden armlet was still intact. 'Not going to get a better chance than this, ' Jon thought, deciding to risk it while the two creatures that'd just tried to kill him fought one another.

Dashing out from his hiding place, Jon slide across the ground feet first through the gravel and shrapnel of the destroyed statue, grabbing the armlet as he passed it. The moment he laid his hand on the armlet, he knew exactly what its purpose was. It allowed the wearer to control fire, as long as the wearer had magic, or the Force. How he knew that he didn't know, all he knew was that he knew it to be a fact. Slapping the armlet onto his arm like it had been formerly worn by the statue and securing it, Jon sprung to his feet, ready to face the firewyrm and the dark cloaked figure. But the two seemed to still be completely ignoring him as they continued to fight one another.

'Okay, this is going too well, ' Jon thought, as he slowly inched back away from the two. 'As long as they're fighting one another, I can make a break for it and get the hell out of here! '

But just as he was about to make his break, he saw the firewyrm lunge out once more, only this time the dark cloaked figure wasn't able to dodge in time. The result was the snake being able to tear his sword arm clear off. The cloaked man immediately fell to his knees, clutching at the bloody stump that had once been his arm. The firewyrm rose to a height twice as tall as the man, its glow brightened again as its mouth opened and flames welling up in the back of its throat as it prepared to roast the man alive.

'Firewyrms do not kill their prey, not right off. ' The words of Prince Oberyn fluttered back to him as he watched the scene before him. 'They'll burn their prey, but they won't kill them. At least that is what little evidence we have says. No one has really studied them, considering how dangerous they are. But it is believed that they'll roast their prey slightly and then implant them with their larvae or hatchlings. And then the prey becomes a host. A host which is slowly roasted alive from the inside until the larvae grow large enough to consume their host. It's a fate I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy… Well, maybe one or two. But it is definitely one of the worst ways one could ever possibly imagine dying from. '

The cloaked man may have just tried to kill him, but Jon couldn't just leave him to suffer such a fate. If he did, he would never be able to face his father or siblings ever again, or call himself a Stark, even if he was just a bastard. " Fuck, " Jon cursed out loud, holding out his arm with the armlet. " You better not attack me again after this! "

The fire of the firewyrm shot out of the snake's mouth and descended upon the helpless man. But just before it could reach him, the jewel on the armlet glowed brightly and the flames stopped and instead of roasting the man alive started billowing upwards and around the intended victim as if hitting a brick wall. After just a split second of this, they suddenly seemed to warp back on themselves and back towards the snake.

One of the many exercises Master Nox had forced Jon and the others to undergo was making fire dance. It was a nearly impossible task, and one that couldn't be maintained for long. Holding onto the fire and manipulating it was like trying to hold onto a freshly-caught slime covered fish that was the size of your arm. And that was just with a candle's flame. But now, with the armlet's augmentation, Jon could control the fire with such ease that it honestly felt like cheating.

The snake hissed in pain as its own flames attacked it. As the snake thrashed about, Jon let go of the flames and charged forward with a cry, his sword held high as he readied himself to cut the firewyrm's head off.

But the moment Jon's sword was about to contact the snakes hide, something happened. There was no resistance. In fact, there was nothing. It was like Jon's sword was cutting through mist as it passed uselessly through the air and struck the ground where the snake had been.

Catching himself, Jon readied for whatever counter the firewyrm was about to launch, but there was nothing. The room was…empty. No giant snake. No cloaked man. No flames. No destroyed statues. Nothing. The only thing that remained was the amulet on his arm.

" What in all the hells was that? " he muttered still not understanding or believing that all of that had just happened.

But just as he was beginning to question his sanity once more, he felt another resonance from the Force. Unlike the previous resonance with the armlet, this one was almost like a physical pull so strong that nearly took him off his feet. And in the center of the room he found a box, roughly the size of a man's head just…sitting there. A slight white glow coming from underneath the lid.

Not entirely sure just what was going, or even sure that the box was even there, Jon cautiously approached the box and used the tip of his sword to open the lid. Within the box he found the source of the light. It was a small white jewel the size of a man's thumb that seemed to glow with the light of sun somehow contained within it. A jewel that was practically calling out to him through the Force. But that wasn't the only thing in the box. Resting underneath the jewel was a large, scaled black stone with light grey stripes running around the numerous scales' edges.

'No, ' he thought, kneeling and inspecting the contents of the box. 'Not a stone…An egg. A dragon egg. '

Deep within the darkness of a ritual chamber buried within the Fourteen Flames, two figures performed a dance of death as old as time, circling one another with blades unlike any other. Nox's blood-red lightsaber illuminated the surrounding area, the only light source available to see within the chamber as the blade spun around in quick movements. Its counterpart, a Valyrian steel blade, and its wielder, the false-sorcerer god 'Balerion', did everything in their power to keep up with the sorcerer. The hall leading to the surface echoed with the hissing and clashing of their blades as the two moved steadily down the corridor towards the outside world. Exactly where Nox wanted the false god.

Ducking beneath a wild swing and placing his left hand on the ground, Nox spun on his hand in a move that would make any dancer green with envy as his feet left the ground, only to plant themselves in the chest of the would-be god before following up with an upswing that cut the creature from hip to collarbone diagonally across it's body. But as had happened countless times before, the mortal wound closed almost immediately after being inflicted. Though, Nox noticed the regeneration seemed a touch slower than it had been when the fight began. Before he could fully regenerate, Nox let loose a barrage of Force lightning, flinging the would-be god across the slight expanse left in the corridor and out into the land of Valyria.

" You…are…infuriating! " The false god shouted, his power flaring in response to his temper. " Why won't you die already!? "

Again, the fool was basically telegraphing his attacks as his anger and ego overrode any common sense. So, it was but a trifle matter for Nox to swat the attack aside once again. An attack which was little more than a barely solidified bout of dark side energy that obliterated a nearby rock formation.

" Many better than you have tried, " he remarked idly, slowly spinning his lightsaber in his right hand as he waited for the false god to provide him an opening once again. " They have all fallen to my power and blade. And you shall be no different. "

The false god sneered at him for a solid minute before its features morphed from one of frustration to one of confidence. " Ah, I see… That is your weakness! "

Raising a brow over his sightless eyes, Nox tilted his head. " Okay, this ought to be good. What is my weakness? "

" Your feelings! " the false god laughed. " You feel a sense of comradery for those you brought with you, yes… I have been watching you ever since you and those you brought with you entered my domain. Because of that comradery, you've overextended yourself and your power from trying to protect them from my influence for days. Yes, your weakness is that you can be distracted by them! And with the protections around Valyria that those foolish Archons put in place with their last breaths now weakened…how easily it will be to influence some of them to attack the others! Yes…I will do just that! Many were already set to betray you and it will be nothing to give them just the right push in that direction to accelerate the process. With all that treasure you have found, it will be easy to sway their hearts and minds! They will attack the others and kill them! And what will you do then? Rush to defend them? Or continue our fight here? Haha, yes! Your weakness is your care for those you brought with you! And now, it shall be your downfall! "

Lowering his lightsaber, Nox fixed the false god with a sightless glare.

" You truly are an idiot, you know that? " he asked, shaking his head and chuckling, much to the bafflement of the false god. " I already know that there are those that are planning on betraying me within my expedition force. You see, I made sure that the force I brought with me was composed of all of those who were willing to betray me as well as a counterbalancing force that would be able to handle them easily. So, go ahead: influence those traitors into making their move. Have them make the moves I have already predicted and already have countermeasures against. You see, I knew that I needed a decent sized force to reach Valyria. But I don't need the same size of a force to leave. You will actually be doing me a favor by exposing the traitors and helping me clean house before leaving these shores. You will find that those who are vital for my long-term plans or those who are not traitors are shielded such that you will find no purchase in their minds. "

The false god faltered, then sneered as it gathered its resolve. " You think you're so smart. Don't you, slave? "

" Yes, " Nox responded with a shrug. " I won't pretend I'm the smartest man in existence, but I am, at the very least, smarter than you. "

" Insolent slave! " the false god screamed, fire springing to life along the length of his blade. " Perhaps you have accounted for potential traitors in your midst, but your paltry minions will not stand against my army which will soon descend upon them! "

" You mean the roughly three-dozen stonemen that are making their way towards Valyria from the northwest over that way? " he asked, waving his hand towards the north. " Yeah, we were already prepared for stonemen as well. We were heading into Valyria after all, and the Smoking Sea is known to have a colony of stonemen that have chosen to exile themselves there. So, not really a surprise that there would be some in the area. Honestly, I was more surprised that there were not any stonemen that'd laid claim to the city. But again, your taunts are meaningless. Those that I brought with me are prepared to fight your infectious 'army'. And I have the means to mitigate any damage after the fight as well. So, nice try. "

He could feel the fury coming from the false god, his emotions such that the dark side itself was reacting. Forming small wisps of miasma around the being's form as it stood fuming before Nox. " You! Are! Nothing! Slave! "

" Wrong, " Nox countered, leveling his lightsaber at the being. " I was a slave. But then I was thrown to the darkness and left to die. But in the darkness, I learned. I learned peace is a lie and there is only passion. Through passion, I gained strength. Through strength, I gained power. Through power, I gained victory. And through victory, my chains were broken. The Force set me free. And with this code, I became something far more than you could ever comprehend. "

" Pathetic drivel that means nothing! Fitting that one such as you would spout it! " Balerion cried, holding his sword up high. " Let me show you the true meaning of power! "

Holding his lightsaber before him, Nox braced himself for the attack while gathering the energy to create a Force Barrier between himself the false god. The buildup of Force energy from the fake deity was immense and sudden. But as quickly as it came, it went…with no adverse effects to Nox at all. " Rise! Rise, my companion of old! It is time to unleash your fire once more! Time to feast on flesh once more! Rise! Rise and smite those who dare to challenge the God of Valyria! "

Frowning, Nox followed the path of the Force energy that'd been unleashed. He found it settling on a pile of rocks along the edge of the volcano. A pile of rocks that began shifting and rising, dust and loose ash falling to the ground as a large shape began to pull itself up and out of the place it'd been buried for so long. Nox only stared with a blank expression as he observed how the Force was being twisted and warped into recreating a deceased artificial life.

" Have you prepared for this, slave?! " the false god laughed as the last rocks fell away, revealing a winged creature the size of several troop transports rising from its grave. " My companion! My dragon! The mount of Balerion! Fly forth once more and lay waste to those who dare desecrate our sacred city of Valyria! "

There was little Nox could do but marvel as the undead dragon spread its wings, which somehow managed to retain their webbing despite centuries of being buried beneath the ground and took the sky. Its path was clear as, with a few powerful beats of its massive wings, it headed straight for Valyria, giving off an earth-shaking roar as it passed the two of them by. " Well, slave. Did you plan for my dragon as well? "

" No, " he answered plainly. " Honestly, encountering an undead dragon being raised and sent to attack those under my protection was perhaps one of the last things I expected to see when I was planning this voyage. "

" Haha, so the slave is not all-knowing, " the false god laughed. " So, what will you do now? Without those you came with, you cannot hope to defeat me, nor can you ever leave this place. You. Are. Mine! "

" You should've had the beast attack me instead of sending it after my expedition force, " Nox continued on calmly, observing the undead beast through the Force as it struggled to stay in the air with its tattered wings.

Disappearing, the false god reappeared almost within arm's reach of him, his Valyrian steel blade aiming to remove his head. " The damage will be the same. " The false god laughed as Nox almost lazily leaned back and let the blade pass uselessly through the air. " Already your moves are sluggish. Your attention is divided! This fight is—! "

Twisting, Nox shifted to ataru, flipping over the head of the false god and cutting his head in half and landing behind him. " You talk too much. " Nox murmured, shifting back to soresu and ignoring the dragon for now. " Victory is never assured until your enemy lays dead at your feet. And as for your dragon…I care not. My acolyte is more than capable of handling such a beast, especially now. And if he is not, then I have wasted my time training him. "

Cracking his neck as his head reformed, the false god turned towards him. " And what gives you such confidence in that uncultured barbarian Westeros boy you call your acolyte? "

" Simple, " Nox smirked. " Let us just say, that the Archons of your time were not wrong in their beliefs. "

Standing on the edge of the stone pier overlooking their boats, Prince Oberyn idly cleaned the blood off his newly acquired spear as he watched the man he'd just killed bob in the water for a moment before the weight of the steel plate he'd been wearing beneath his tunic dragged him below the surface of the water. Turning aside, he saw the Mormont girl cleaning a man's brain off her mace while Asha retrieved one of her new throwing axes from the back of another man. Hearing a growl, Oberyn turned his attention to Small Jon Umber, who was returning from down the dock with Eddard Karstark and two other north men that'd stayed true to their cause.

" Fucking bastards disappeared into the damned wilds, " Small Jon spat. " Couldn't even bloody my new sword…. lucky bastards. "

The mutiny, for that was exactly what they'd faced, had been poorly thought out and even more poorly executed. A group of ten sailors had apparently decided they wanted the treasure for themselves and had concocted a half-crazed scheme to take the women hostage before jumping on the boats and sailing off into the distance. Apparently, they'd thought that his daughter, the Mormont girl, and the Greyjoy would be easy for the taking. Or perhaps they thought that the Greyjoy would join them considering her family history. Stupid, but the plan did have an inkling of sense in that they at least waited until most of the men, with the exclusion of Oberyn himself, had left the docks to make one last run at the vault before making their move. Of course, their plan had gone tits up the moment they pulled their poorly hidden daggers and tried to grab hold of the women. His daughter had gelded the man who grabbed her before slitting his throat nearly to the bone. The Mormont girl had simply thrown her head back, breaking the nose of the one that tried to grab her before swinging around with her mace and braining the poor sod.

'Pathetic, stupid…ill conceived, and costly, ' Oberyn thought as he observed the bodies littered across the ground. They'd started out with forty strong, eight men to a boat. They lost three on the trek up the river. Now, ten more had mutinied. Of the ten, six were dead and four had scattered to the wind. But before that, they managed to kill two others that'd stayed loyal to the expedition. Bringing their number down to thirty. 'Thankfully, they waited until the boats were mostly loaded before launching this hairbrained scheme of theirs. '

The looting of the vaults had not been an easy task, just as the sorcerer had predicted. The first problem had been locating anything that would be able to carry the valuables. Thankfully, there were lower levels within the palace and other homesteads in their immediate vicinity that were still moderately intact, and they were able to find the chests and crates to load the valuables. The second obstacle came to transport them out of the city. Despite the three losses on their voyage, they were still numbering fifty strong. And the boats simply couldn't hold much in the way of valuables and men and stay afloat. Which was why, if he'd been a pious man, he would've thanked the Seven and the Old Gods when one of the sailors stumbled upon a small building that had several small skiffs located inside. None of which by themselves were seaworthy. But with a bit of rearranging, they were able to tie two of the skiffs together and create a large enough raft that, while definitely not useable on the open sea, would be able to float down river easily enough and hopefully out to the Sea Wolf. And best of all, they had been able to load it with over a dozen extra chests of loot.

The last issue present came about exactly as the sorcerer had predicted. And that was with what to take. The smallfolk of the crew had wanted to take all the gold coins they could find, while the Lords wanted to horde as much Valyrian steel as they could hold. Even his own daughter was not immune as she had eyed several Valyrian weapons she wanted to bring. Surprisingly, only the Greyjoy and the Mormont had shown the slightest bit of foresight. Coins were good, as was Valyrian steel. But gold was heavy. And if you could learn the secrets of Valyria, particularly how to reproduce their steel, then they could easily recoup the loss of leaving behind most of the weapons. So, it was with no small amount of moaning and groaning that the expedition began filling the first several chests with scrolls and books. After filling five to the point where they could hold no more, he had them move on to the strange crystals that the sorcerer had been admiring, which had filled another three chests before he decided they had enough. And while Oberyn himself could not see any value in the things, as they were obviously crafted crystals from a forge, he had learnt to trust the sorcerer to a degree where if the man said they were valuable, he would take his word for it.

With the books, scrolls and crystals loaded, Oberyn then directed their attention to the Valyrian steel. While most of the blades were too big to be placed into chests, they were easy to load onto the skiff once they were rolled up in whatever cloth they could find. The last four chests that went onto the skiff were loaded with gold and jewels. As a compromise, Oberyn had agreed that each man present could find a satchel and load it with whatever they wanted from the Vault and keep it as payment for their services. He'd hoped that would've been enough to satisfy the men, but he should've known better. Greed was a powerful motivator, after all.

" They can't have gotten far, " his daughter stated, a hard look in her eyes. " If you lumbering fools can't track them, give me five men and I'll track them down and end them. "

" Let them go, " Oberyn ordered, surprising his daughter and several others. " We've all seen what is out there. Those four won't last but a few hours. And neither would we if we pursued them. Best just to leave them to their fate and let the land itself take care of them. "

His daughter, nor the Northmen, seemed particularly pleased with his orders, but as the sorcerer had made it known that in his absence Oberyn was in charge, they wisely kept their opinions to themselves. Walking slowly back towards the others, he made certain to keep a close eye on each of the fallen, just to make sure they didn't have any sleepers waiting to strike when his back was turned.

" Fucking fools, " Dacey Mormont spat as he approached the young she-bear and the Greyjoy girl. " What the fuck were they thinking? "

" In short, they weren't, " Oberyn sighed, not for the death of the men, but rather for the inconvenience it was creating. " Their greed blinded them to the cost. And now their short-sightedness is going to cost us more than it already has. "

" Aye, " Asha nodded, throwing the rag away that she'd been using to clean the blood off one of her axes. " We've lost a quarter of those we set out with. It will be difficult rowing back downstream, especially given what it took to get us here. And now we got the skiff to consider as well. We'll have the current to help take us downstream, but it won't be enough to offset what we've lost. "

She was right. The voyage upriver had been anything but easy. All of them, himself included, were nearing the point of exhaustion, he could feel it in his very bones. The current downstream would help. But as Asha correctly pointed out, losing a quarter of their number meant they had a quarter fewer to row. Which meant they would either have risk rowing to the point of near exhaustion, or risk staying in this accursed land longer than necessary, or they could leave behind some of their loot. None of which sounded particularly appealing to Oberyn.

" Perhaps we should wake up the Lannister. " Dacey muttered. " The lions might not have much in the way of honor and he might be half out of his mind, but at least he'd be one more pair of hands to man the oars. "

The idea was not without merit, as much as he loathed to admit it. And, granted, Gerion was not his brother nor the Mountain. But still, the idea of having to rely on a Lannister for anything was not something he was willing to entertain. 'Nox has seemed to have had a counter plan for any potential issues that arose so far this voyage, ' he thought, his eyes flickering to the boat where the Lannister man remained asleep. 'I wouldn't be surprised if he even suspected a potential mutiny before we left. Let's just hope he has plans for how to get all of us out of here in a timely manner. '

The shifting of rubble away from a wall brought all of them around, their weapons leveled and ready to fight. Only to hold themselves in check as Jon Snow appeared on the other side of the rubble and stopped dead, his hands held out in a nonthreatening manner while his eyes took in the scene with the several dead men scattered across the pier. " What in the name of the gods happened? "

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