Destiny Dragon
The Fall of Essos II
"I am Cobalion. Once I was a simple Swasbuck, one of many thousands of my kind. But then came the great wars of Houses Black and White, when all of Unova was threatened by the actions of man. I chose to take this form, chose to end the threat and save my kind, chose to dedicate my life to protecting them! What did my peaceful life matter, compared to the suffering of the many? Have you ever even considered doing something so worthwhile?" "I wonder where Keldeo is." "I understand the reasons behind their actions. In the long term, perhaps I will even be grateful. But I cannot forgive them for the blood they have made me spill!" "Ai Ai Deoxya funatlin!" "You cannot change what I have foreseen! The future is already written!"
- Cobalion, to the Slavers of Astapor
"Eh, I'm sure he's fine."
- Virizion and Terrakion, while arguing about travel plans
- Allion the Great, to a crowd of former slaves.
"...uh, could you say that again?"
- Deoxys and Daenerys, in Qarth
"Not today."
- Pyat Prye and Daenerys, before the former was doused with dragonfire.
It would take a while for the news of Meereen's destruction to reach the other cities of Slaver's Bay. This is not surprising, considering the lack of ravens in Essos and the destruction of the small fleet. Messengers were also slow in coming, hindered by both fear and the chaotic situation in the ruined city. However by its absence, the destruction of Astapor was made much easier for the three 'Sacred Swords'.
That is not to say that it would have been particularly difficult anyway, as the beasts quickly used the same magic as before to turn the slaves against their masters. Before this however, Cobalion himself questioned the Slavers for the reasons behind their actions, behind their cruelty and greed. And not satisfied with their explanations from where he stood upon the walls, he raised his head and begun the attack.
The Astapor slavers actually managed to manage themselves better than their counterparts in the opening stages of the battle. Many of them instantly retreated into their fortified pyramids, behind doors and walls - slaughtering those few slaves that were inside during Cobalion's speech. A 'Good Master' named Grazdan mo Ullhor was responsible for the deaths of nearly a hundred slaves, after he succeeded in releasing the pet elephants of the masters and driving them into a frenzy. Sadly the animals were soon obliterated by Terrakion, while Grazdan himself fell to a group of possessed Unsullied. Several of the Masters also managed an spirited defence with the bow, taking up positions on the balconies of their temple fortress to fire upon the slaves and beasts below.
Interestingly enough, this resulted in the first known injury being dealt to one of the magical creatures, when Virizion received an arrow to its flanks (Suicune's injury would come a few weeks later). Unfortunately for the slavers, the beast was not slain and quickly sent a blast of light at the Good Masters who were responsible.
And by nightfall the city was firmly under slave control. The great pyramid had held out for less than an hour, and by the passing of two there were no surviving slavers in the city. A family of them did escape west without notice, but would only now play an important role much later on in the conflict. As with Meereen, a large number of the slaves were utterly traumatised by the murder they had been forced to do, even if the dead were usually hated by the slave population.
Unlike Meereen however, many of them - particularly the surviving Unsullied - were prepared to do something about it. According to a leader of the new force (named Allion the Great in posterity) they were grateful to the beasts for being freed from their chains. However they could not forgive being forced to kill against their will, not when much of the population was utterly broken after the battle. And they would have revenge. The Hunt of Slaver's Bay had begun.
At the same time that this was going on (or near enough, as dating is difficult in this theatre of the wars) Daenerys Targaryen, last known scion of the Targaryen family was arriving as the city of Qarth after a long trek through the desert. With her was the remnants of her husband Khal Drogo's Khalessar, an exiled northern knight called Jorah Mormont and three baby dragons.
The population of Qarth was understandably impressed by the dragons (though not by the Khalessar) and allowed the Targaryen lodgings within the city. They also apparently embroiled her in their schemes, though little is known of whether anything became of this). And isolated from the rest of the world by distance, Daenerys continued to make her flawed plans to return to Westeros in relative peace.
That is not to say that everything went smoothly for the girl. For reasons that had never been revealed by the time of her death, Daenerys was present at the Tower of the Undying at the time of its destruction, if not directly responsible. What is known is that she had been invited by a 'warlock' of the temple (Pyat Prye) to visit and that apparently her dragons were involved. And that she had met another of the beasts there.
But Deoxys was no ordinary beast. Unique among the ones discovered so far, he/she/it had the ability to change form, shifting features from a hulking brute to a thin athlete in a instant. And even stranger, unlike the other beings who spoke the common tongue of Westeros fluently, Deoxys spoke a strange otherworldly language. Much of this was later credited to a different origin for Deoxys compared to the other beasts however, for unlike the other who appeared all at the same time, Deoxys had arrived earlier. The being had crashed into the ground as a meteor, five years earlier.
And he was not the only one...
