The Chronicles of Valyria,

Book 1 Resurrection

Chapter 29

The immense fleet, more than 1.800 ships, packed to the brim with soldiers and their families, freed slaves, settlers and fortune seekers, slowly turned away from Tyrosh. The last ships to leave the harbor were the Chain breaker, carrying the girls, Ashara, Elia, and the rest of the family, which was flanked by the Sapphire and the Emerald.

Aurora, Gabrielle, Francine, Valaya, and the 30 chosen warrior-maidens were standing on the docks, waving them off. They would be taking a little detour on their way to Valyria.

Over the past week-and-a-halve, Francine, Valaya, and the others had been given new armor. Each of the women was now dressed in supple leather armor, sewn with small dragon scales for added protection, this combination made it very light-weight and supple, but tough enough to negate a sword-blow.

Each of them was armed with a recurve bow, with 50 arrows in a double quiver over their right shoulders, a pair of long knives, and a glaive. The glaive was something special, it consisted of three separate parts, two 3-foot long pieces of Ironwood, and a 2-foot long falchion made of Valyrian steel, which could be attached by means of a screw-lock to form a 8 foot long weapon capable of slicing through a steel breastplate as if it was cloth. The separate pieces where stored in a special holster on their backs, allowing them to draw the falchions over their left shoulders.

The falchions had been Aurora's project as, without access to the Valyrian forges, she was the only one amongst their blacksmiths capable of reworking Valyrian steel. Gabrielle and Francine had taken the task of 'skinning', the dragon corps with the aid of Valaya and the others. The bones, wings, meat, and the largest scales had been saved to be processed later and were stored back on the flatbed and were on their way to Valyria.

They waved the fleet out until the last ships had sailed out of the harbor, before turning to the city and all those who were staying behind. The Greatjon and the majority of the remaining forces from Westeros, some 30.000 men, were still occupying the city and awaited the colonization from the Seven Kingdoms. Jon had said a heartfelt farewell to Dagmer and Oberyn, with whom he had formed a tight friendship during the months they had spend together.

"Well Jon," Aurora began as she and her wife stood before the large Northerner, "I guess the time has come for us to also say our goodbye's. The Dragons are waiting for us and are eager to get going. We have an old friend to find, and an empire to build."

"I'm afraid the coming years will be dull without your presence." The Greatjon answered with a grim smile as he shook Aurora's offered hand. "But I wish you all the best in the world for the future and I hope to see you again one day."

"Likewise Jon," Gabrielle said while shaking the man's hand, "We wish you all the best and please give our greetings to the Royal family when you return to King's Landing. Tell Rhaegar we'll come and visit them once we have everything running smoothly in Valyria."

"I will my Lady," Jon answered before adding with a grin, "Or should I say, Your Grace."

"Not yet Jon, not yet." Gabrielle replied while she and Aurora grinned softly. "but you will never have to call us that."

Jon made a small bow, which was replicated by the rest of the army before Aurora and Gabrielle led the others away until they were well out of sight of the city and any human eyes.

Stopping on a large clearing, Aurora and Gabrielle turned to the others and with a wink to Francine, Gabrielle said to Valaya and the others, "Aurora and I have decided to let you in on a little secret of ours. I'm sure you've all seen the dragons and you are probably wondering where they are now, so let us show you."

At those words Aurora walked away from the group and once there was a good distance between them, she changed. Screams of shock and fear where heard from the group and an impressed whistle from Francine could be heard before she whispered in Gabrielle's ear, "You guys are certainly a lot larger than last time I saw you."

"Yea, I know right," Gabrielle whispered back before turning the others. "As you can see, Aurora and I are not what everyone thinks we are. We don't ride dragons, we are dragons." She proceeded to tell them where they had come from and what their purpose was in Essos. Next she re-introduced Francine to them, telling them who she really was and finally what their mission was.

"We are going to Meereen to rescue Ivan, Francine's husband. He is an incredibly powerful warrior and will be the one to lead our army into battle. He is a person we cannot lose, which is why we are taking you along. Prove yourself during this mission, and you will have earned your place within our Royal Guard."

A short silence fell over the clearing until Francine spoke up, "If you're done with the touchy-feely, can we get going, I have waited long enough to have Ivy in my arms again and I want to get there as soon as we can."

Gabrielle had to chuckle at that and Aurora let out an amused snort, before Gabrielle removed her pouch from her belt and started to remove the two saddles they had also modified a bit the past week. They had been reinforced and elongated so now they ran from the base of their necks, down their backs, to their hind legs, offering a comfortable seating for 18 people max each, though adding so much people would slow them down significantly.

Whereas without any passengers they could make the trip to Mereen in two days, it would now probably take them at least 3 days to reach their destination. They had the time though, as the fleet was not expected to make it to the edges of the storms that surrounded Valyria, for 3 weeks.

Seeing as they had already shown the others how to properly fasten the saddles, Gabrielle changed into her dragon form as well. Francine immediately took charge, which the others accepted without problem because of her standing with the Ladies, and directed the 31 warrior-maidens in how to attach the saddles. Once they were secured, Francine double checked each buckle and knot to make sure everything was as it should be.

Once she was satisfied, she mounted on Aurora with 15 others, while Valaya climbed onto Gabrielle with the other halve of their group. Everyone strapped themselves in securely, Aurora and Gabrielle had not needed to express the importance of that, as none were eager to fall to their deaths. Once everyone was seated and secure, Aurora and Gabrielle stretched their immense wings and beat them faster and faster as they took a short running start before jumping into the sky.

It became immediately clear that not everyone was equally comfortable in the sky. Of the 32 passengers, nearly half were initially feeling rather nauseous, but most felt better once Aurora and Gabrielle had reached their desired altitude and leveled out in a smooth flight pattern. Only 3 kept feeling sick for the entire duration of the trip.

The third evening after they left Tyrosh, they could see Slaver's Bay stretching out below them. With their incredible eyesight, Aurora and Gabrielle were able to see the cities far better than their passengers. When they flew over Astapor, they had to suppress the urge to land when they recognized the trio of carracks they had given to Argyle, where they lay in port.

An hour later they flew over Yunkai, the Yellow City sprawling beneath them in the waning light. An hour after that again, the two dragons descended, careful to remain out of sight, and landed between the sandstone mountains that lay to the north of the greatest of the slaver cities.

Once they had landed, Aurora and Gabrielle changed back to their human form and laid down on the floor to sleep, exhausted. They had taken only two sleeping breaks during the trip, and the last one had been 20 hours ago, between that they had only made short stops for their passengers to relief themselves.

As the Ladies slept, Francine sent the others out to scout the terrain around them. They had all slept in the saddle, for as good as they could, so they were somewhat rested. In groups of three they went their separate ways to find out what was around them. Francine, Valaya, and three others remained at their camp to watch over the Ladies as they slept.

The groups were away for several hours before they began to return. Most groups had little of note to report, save for three of the groups, who had went to the lower lands in the direction of the city. They returned leading two dozen horses they had 'liberated' from a slaver caravan leaving the city. They had also brought two of the slavers to interrogate and a few saddle bags filled with gold coins and other valuables they had no doubt gained from selling their victims.

Upon their return, Aurora and Gabrielle where woken by Francine who shook them softly and said, "The scouts have come back, we need you to interrogate some prisoners they took."

Stretching themselves out they groaned softly as their stiff muscles protested, sleeping on the hard ground in their armor was not exactly comfortable. As they rose, Francine handed them each a skin with water which they used to wash the sleep from their eyes.

Once properly awake, they turned on the two prisoners. The two men wore long robes made from blue silk and they had light brown skin. They were both bald on the top of their heads but they had thick beards covering their cheeks and chins.

Stretching their fingers, Aurora and Gabrielle each grabbed the head of one of the men and broke into their minds. After a few minutes they pulled back again and in an identical move, they snapped the necks of the men and their bodies dropped to the ground.

Turning to the others Gabrielle spoke, "Luckily for us, these two… 'things', have visited the fighting pits while in the city, so now we know where to look. The best chance to find Ivan would be at the great pit of Daznak, the greatest and most opulent of the fighting pits."

"Why there?" Valaya asked curiously, "you told us he has been in the city only a few months, and the greatest pits are only for champions."

With a small grin it was Francine who answered, "Well let me describe him for you. Without his armor he stands at 7 foot 6, weights in at about 700 pounds of pure muscle, and he can crush a grown man's skull with a single hand." Looking over at the ladies she added, "With his armor on he looks about as intimidating as those two, but a few sizes larger."

"So he's a Sothoryi?" One of the others asked carefully.

"A what?" the three asked nearly as one.

"A Sothoryi," Valaya explained, "they live on the continent of Sothoryos, which lies south of Essos. They are all large, heavily muscled and considered savages and incredibly potent fighters, if a bit dimwitted."

"Ivan is not a dimwit" Francine snapped back, "though he can be quite the savage in bed if I'm in the mood for it." She added with a blissful smile on her face.

To answer Valaya, Gabrielle explained, "Ivan is not a Sothoryi, once he was a man like any other, but like us three, he has been blessed by the Old Gods with a new body and great strength."

The others nodded in acceptance of this explanation and Valaya asked, "So how do we proceed? Do we go in, kill everything that tries to stop us and free your man, or de we go for a subtler approach?"

"Well first of all we are just going in to visit, get the lay of the land and find out where Ivan is being held. After that I'll first see if we can't buy him free, which I hope because it'll save us some trouble. If we are unable to buy his freedom, we break him out forcefully and then flee the city. Under no circumstance are any of you to start a fight or to insult anyone. Just try to act calmly and composed. There will be men who insult you, and men who will try to buy you, just ignore them and keep your eyes open. If there is trouble, I want you to wait before engaging it, unless it would endanger either yourselves, Francine, my wife, or myself, or if you can 'take care of it', without drawing attention."

The others all nodded and seeing as dawn had arrived a few hours ago, they loaded up the horses, incinerated the two corpses of the slavers, and readied the horses. Aurora and Gabrielle changed into the same long robes they had worn during their scouting trip to Tyrosh, and they buckled the short swords around their waists.

Their armor and the rest of their weapons they had stored into the pouches to prevent anyone from recognizing it and linking them to Ivan. A few of them had to share their horses, and Aurora and Gabrielle took the largest and strongest horses for themselves, as even without their armor, their bodies were larger and heavier than those of the others.

Going on a steady pace, they rode on for several hours until they approached the gates of Meereen around noon. As a precaution, Francine, Valaya, and all the others wore leather half-helmets to cover their faces and avoid anyone from recognizing them. They were stopped by six guards carrying spears, swords, and shields emblazoned with a harpy.

"What is your business in Mereen ?" The apparent officer asked in bastard Valyrian

"We want to visit the fighting pits," Gabrielle replied, "we are interested in buying a champion." She reached in her money pouch and tossed a silver piece to the officer. "Perhaps you could direct us to a place where they sell champions?"

The man caught the silver piece and bit on it to judge its worth before replying, "If your purse is big enough, the Great Master Allazar, of the house of Daznak, has acquired a monster of a man a few months ago. He is known as the Demon of Daznak, for he has killed everyone send against him. I myself have seen him kill 10 veteran pit fighters in a single battle with naught but a loincloth and a blunted sword.

Master Allazar wishes to sell him, for all other Great Masters refuse to set their fighters against the Demon for fear of losing their best fighters, so he is losing profit."

Hiding the gleam in their eyes, Aurora, Gabrielle and Francine listened intently to the man's directions as to where they could find this Master Allazar. They had a very good idea as to who this Demon was.

Once the officer had told them everything they wanted to know about master Allazar and the 'Demon', Gabrielle tossed him a golden honor and they were let into the city. Following his directions, they rode through the busy streets and passed the many opulent pyramids where the Great Masters lived with their families.

After half an hour of navigating through the streets, they reached a large round building located next to one of the pyramids. "I guess this has to be the place." Francine said before taking a long deep sniff of the air around them. A blissful smile spread slowly over her face and she said, " He's here, I can smell him."

Aurora and Gabrielle followed her example and they could detect Ivan's distinct smell amongst the thousands of others that surrounded them. "Well then," Aurora said with a grin, "Shall we go get your husband?"

Francine nodded quickly but Gabrielle added, "Remember Sinny, act as if you don't know him, or otherwise it might draw suspicion to us. We need to avoid a confrontation if at all possible." Francine nodded solemnly and they headed towards the gates of the arena.

At the entrance they were stopped by six Unsullied guards, who aimed their spears at them and one of them asked in bastard Valyrian, "Who are you and what is your business here?"

"We have come from afar in search of a champion pit fighter, and we heard that the Great Master Allazar of the House of Daznak is selling such a man." Gabrielle answered the eunuch.

The guard who had spoken nodded once before he replied, "Wait here, this one shall inform it's master." Raising his spear, he marched off into the arena while the other five kept their spears trained on them.

After maybe five minutes, the guard returned followed by a man in a white silk robe they recognized as a local fashion called, a tokar. The man bowed before them and spoke, "The Noble Allazar, Great Master of Meereen welcomes you to the great pit of Daznak. He invites you to enter the arena and see for yourselves the wares he has to offer."

Aurora and Gabrielle bowed their heads back in reply and Gabrielle said, "We thank the Noble Allazar for his hospitality and gratefully accept. Is there perhaps a place where we can water our horses, we have ridden far and our mounts are thirsty."

"Of course," came the reply, "you will find stables inside. The slaves there will take care of your horses while you speak with Master Allazar."

Aurora and Gabrielle bowed again and followed the man into the arena. They rode through what was obviously not the official entrance, and they came out on a large square with what looked like cells around two of the sides. One side was occupied by stables housing horses, camels, and donkeys. The fourth side was blocked by the pyramid and showed a large terrace where the Master could entertain his guests.

The square itself was nearly five-hundred foot from side to side, and around 200 men were practicing with a wide variety of weapons. To their disappointment they couldn't see Ivan anywhere, but they managed to not let it show.

Before the entrance of the pyramid stood a man in a purple silken tokar. He was flanked by two young women who softly waved feathered vans to keep their master comfortable. Next to the entrance and scattered around the courtyard stood pairs of Unsullied soldiers, to keep an eye on the training fighters.

At a word from Aurora, Francine and Valaya flanked her and Gabrielle, while the others took the horses to the stables to make sure they were well cared for.

Walking towards the pyramid, they stopped before the entrance and the man in the white Tokar introduced the man with the words, "I present Master Allazar, of the Great House of Daznak. Trainer of Champions and master of spectacles".

Aurora and Gabrielle made a small bow in greeting to the man in the purple tokar, a gesture that was replied to with a bow of his own. Gabrielle introduced them in turn, "My name is Gabrielle and this is my business partner Aurora. We are traveling merchants and have a client who is very interested to buy a Champion Pit fighter. At the gates we were informed that you had one such Champion for sale."

"That I do indeed," Master Allazar replied. "I keep him apart from the other fighters, since his mere presence frightens the others. But before I show him to you, I must warn you, he does not come cheap."

In reply Aurora snapped her fingers and Valaya opened one of the saddle bags she had taken from her horse. A golden shimmer greeted the greedy eyes of Master Allazar and Aurora said, "Our pockets are deep, so do not worry about that. If your Champion is what we seek, then I have no doubt we can come to a mutually prosperous arrangement."

Allazar seemed to be pleased by the look of gold, so without further delays, he led them across the training yard and into the arena proper. They followed him through a maze of tunnels and cells until they reached a thick sturdy door guarded by four Unsullied armed with a combination of axes and spiked maces.

With a slight scowl, Aurora asked, "Why the guards? Has he tried to escape or something?"

Allazar shook his head and said, "No, he has not, but there has been attempts at his life by rival Masters who have lost their best fighters, or great sums of money thanks to him. So to prevent the loss of such a valuable fighter, I keep him here under constant guard in his own private courtyard."

And indeed, once the door opened, they saw a small open space, about 20 feet by 20 feet, with walls going up for maybe 40 feet. A single door led to a sleeping cell and they could see a badly battered tree trunk standing in one corner with several wooden practice swords laying in pieces besides it.

"DEMON," Allazar yelled in Bastard Valyrian and within seconds, the largest man Valaya had ever seen came walking out of the sleeping cell. He was so large he had to almost fold himself double to be able to fit through the door, and they could literally feel the ground shake with every step.

Next to Valaya, Aurora, Gabrielle and Francine had to forcibly stamp down their excitement as all three immediately recognized Ivan. He only wore a linen loincloth, clearly displaying his immense musculature. His hair was black and cut into a Mohawk leading to a short braid ending between his shoulders. His dark grey, almost black eyes widened a little a he recognized the three women, but upon seeing their faces, or part of it in Francine's case, he immediately catches on to the plan and stays mute, not showing any reaction whatsoever. He stretched himself out to his full height and stood before Allazar and his guests.

"This is him," Allazar said proudly, "The Demon of Daznak, the greatest champion I have ever trained."

All three Ladies had to suppress a snort as they knew more than certainly that Allazar had absolutely nothing to do with Ivan's fighting prowess.

"He is certainly impressive," Aurora praised while walking slowly around Ivan. "Where did you get him?"

"I bought him from a caravan coming from Yunkai. They claimed they found him and a woman crawling from the waters of slaver's bay. They were clad in armor so they were exhausted once on dry land."

"Where are this woman, and their armor?"

"The woman was sold to someone from Lys, so I have no idea where she is right now, especially since Lys seems to have been conquered by those savages from Westeros. I did manage to buy both their armors though, as he seemed to be attached to it, hers in particular."

All three women looked up at this, as it was more than they had dared hope for. They had already made peace with having to search the entire city for those armors. "Can we see those armors?" Gabrielle asked neutrally, "Because if he is attached to them, it might help to keep him under control."

Allazar nodded and replied, "I keep them in the pyramid under guard, we will go there after you have finished your inspection. My solar is a much more comfortable place to have business talks."

Aurora and Gabrielle nodded in agreement and pleading with her eyes for forgiveness, Aurora grabbed Ivan by the mouth and opened his lips to inspect his teeth. "Nice and strong," she muttered before quickly releasing him. She next turned to his muscles and squeezed his biceps and before turning to his legs. To her amusement she saw that his upper legs were about the same size as Valaya's torso.

As she stood back up, she nodded in satisfaction and turned to Allazar, "I have seen enough, let's retreat to your solar and speak business."

Allazar nodded and turned to Ivan saying, "We're done, you can go." Ivan nodded and turned back around, folding himself to get back inside.

Allazar led them back through the maze of tunnels and out into the training yard again. They crossed the yard and followed Allazar into the pyramid, up a few stairs until they reached a massive ironwood door, reinforced with steel bars. The six Unsullied standing guard before the doors stepped aside when they saw their master and opened the doors, letting them in.

They arrived in what was no doubt a treasury/trophy room, as several sets of richly decorated armor stood against one wall, while the other was covered by closed reinforced chests. The centre pieces of the room where placed against the back wall.

Two sets of armor, one gigantic, brutish, black set with blood-red engravings all over it, and the other was about a third of the size, with the same colorings, but much more streamlined and made for movement. Both were full armors, black plate steel with rusted red mail beneath. Walking closer to the armor and weapons, Aurora and Gabrielle inspected them closely.

The black one was similar in looks to the armor of Aurora and Gabrielle, with a few differences. The shoulder plates were smooth but with two horns, one on each, curving upwards to about ten inches. Funnily enough, the horns were hollow halfway up and formed what appeared to be lanterns, judging by the half molten look of the few metal standers that connected the upper and lower halves of the horn.

The helmet was also different, being sculpted in the shape of a massive snarling skull with two blood-red horns growing upwards from the sides, meeting above the head. Standing besides the armor were a massive greatsword, easily the length of a fully grown man, and a solid metal flail with a three-and-a-half foot handle and a head the size of a human skull. 3-inch spikes covered the head of the flail, and the two-and-a-half foot chain connecting the handle and the head was likewise covered in inch long spikes.

The other suit of armor was very elegant and beautifully made. The deep black was not painted on but came from within the metal itself. The breastplate was very obviously made for a woman as two elegantly flowing metal plates extended from the abdominal part to cover the wearer's breasts. Likewise the shoulders, gauntlets, elbows and knees were all made with flowing shapes allowing for supple movements.

No spikes or horns decorated this armor, but the helmet was shaped like a bird's head with a sharp beak extending over the forehead to shade the eyes when looking towards the sun. engravings of feathers covered every surface of the armor, filled in with blood-red metal. The gauntlets had very sharp claws at the tip of each finger apart from the first 3 on the right, which had claws, but they could be folded over to allow easier use of a bow.

The weapons were also displayed besides the armor and consisted of two long knives, each a foot-and-a-half in length, and a glaive, not unlike the ones Aurora had made, but made entirely of metal. The blade was 2-and-a-half foot long, pitch-black with a red spine and small red veins running along the blade towards the edge. The handle was 6 foot long, separated in one-foot long pieces and engraved with blood-red feathers.

The main weapon though was a bow, it was of a kind no one in Essos, or Westeros had ever seen before. It was a compound bow made out of a single piece of Dragonforged steel, black, with red veins running all over it. It was 5 feet in overall length, but the curve of the limbs shortened it with 6 inches on both ends. The limbs were split about a-foot-and-a-half from both ends and metal pulleys were fixed to the ends between both parts of the limbs.

A double quiver with 50 arrows stood besides the bow and when Gabrielle pulled out one of the arrows to inspect it, she saw it was made of ironwood. The arrow was 3 foot in length, had a dragonbone nock, Dragonforged steel bodkin point and red-feathered fletching.

Looking up from the two sets, both Ladies looked back at Allazar and after replacing the arrow, Gabrielle said, "What is your price? For the Demon, and both sets?"

With a small grin Allazar replied, "150.000 golden honors."

Sharing a long look with her wife, Gabrielle finally turned back to Allazar and said, "Deal, will you accept gemstones as substitutes for gold, we don't have that amount in honors with us."

Allazar nodded and replied, "What kind of gems do you have?" They spend a few minutes haggling about the worth of a stone but they settled on 500 rubies, sapphires, and emeralds, and three dozen diamonds, in addition to three-quarters of the gold they had brought.

Upon completing the deal, Allazar clapped his hands and the servant in the white tokar reappeared from the hallway. "Get the Demon and tell him to wait in the training yard for his new masters." The servant bowed and moved off as fast as his garment allowed him to go.

Aurora turned to Valaya and said, "Get the others up here, we're going to need some help with moving the pieces of armor, they look rather heavy." Valaya saluted and moved off quickly, easily overtaking the servant.

It took them half an hour to get the armor to the training yard and loaded up on the horses. In that time Ivan was brought up from his private cell, now dressed in a simple linen toga thrown over his right shoulder and reaching to his knees. He wore large steel manacles joint by heavy chains on both wrists and ankles.

Aurora and Gabrielle stood on one side with the saddle bags filled with gold and other valuables, while Master Allazar and Ivan stood on the other side. The trade went smoothly and once Allazar's servants had taken the gold, he indicated for Ivan to walk over to his 'new masters'.

"It is done," Allazar stated officially, "The Demon is now your property."

"Good," Aurora replied smiling, "Then I wish you much fortune in your coming days. We shall be going now, as we have ways to go yet before we reach our destination."

Allazar bowed slightly in goodbye and Aurora and Gabrielle replied in kind before mounting up and leading their company out of the yard and back into the city.

They rode through the city, drawing quite a few curious looks as Ivan walked between their horses. The fact that the 'Demon of Daznak' had apparently been bought, drew large crowds who all wanted to look at the legendary fighter for one last time.

It took them nearly two hours to ride through the city and reach the same gates through which they had entered the city. The captain who had given them the directions towards Daznak's pit was still on his post and upon seeing them he said, "I can see your search was successful."

"It was indeed," Gabrielle nodded before tossing the man a silver and riding on towards the hills they had come from. For once it was great to have a plan go smoothly and without bloodshed.

As soon as they were out of sight of the city, Ivan stretched his neck, snapped the chains holding him as if they were made of wet grass and said, "I got to say Ladies, it took you bloody long enough to get here."

Both Aurora and Gabrielle burst out laughing while Francine threw of her helmet and jumped out of her saddle, right into Ivan's arms who pressed a passionate kiss on her lips. "I've missed you so much Ivy." Francine cried with tears running over her cheeks.

"I missed you to Sinny," Ivan replied softly before kissing away her tears. "Did they hurt you?"

"They can't anymore," Francine said softly before kissing him again. "now come, let's get you properly dressed my love."

"And you as well sweetheart."

Francine grinned and nodded.

Fifteen minutes later both were finally again clad in the same way as when they arrived. Ivan swung the greatsword around in his left hand while doing the same with the flail in his right. To their surprise, Ivan had showed them that the chain could be retracted into the handle, turning the flail into a mace. Also the spikes could be retracted to allow for safe storage and carrying. The greatsword went into a scabbard attached to his back, while the flail hung from a ring on his right hip.

Francine likewise was putting on the double quiver, allowing her to draw the arrows over her right shoulder. The quiver also had a sheath attached to it to hold the bow. Speaking of the bow, after giving it a few stretching's to test the string, she squeezed a hidden lever on the handle and a pair of blades shot out between the two parts of each limb. The blades were a foot-and-a-half long and razor-sharp.

Putting the bow into the sheath, she grabbed the glaive and gave it a few swings before twisting a hidden mechanism. The shaft shot into itself leaving a handle a foot in length. After swinging it around a few more times, she sheathed it into the holster over her left shoulder. The two knives went into sheaths of their own, which ran upside-down from the ones holding the glaive and her bow, allowing her to draw the knives from her hips.

When they looked around them again, they saw that Aurora and Gabrielle had likewise put their armor back on and with a small grin, Gabrielle snapped her fingers, causing blue flames to spew from the lanterns on Ivan's shoulders, giving him a demonic appearance in the quickly deepening twilight.

Turning back to the city, the four super-human warriors looked out over Slaver's Bay, vowing that when next they would see it, they would burn it to the ground.

Author's note:

And there we have it, the crew is finally complete now that Ivan has joined them. Those of you who are also following my Harry Potter story will probably recognize him, though he is a bit bigger here. The reason for this is that during one of their past adventures, (the story of which is already in my head just waiting, for the current two stories to be finished, to be written down), he and Francine were turned into genetically enhanced super-humans.

In Ivan's case this means that he is now comparable in size, strength, and abilities to a Space Marine from Warhammer 40K, his armor though is inspired by those worn by the Warhammer Fantasy Chaos champions seen in the game; Total War Warhammer.

Francine also comes from my Harry Potter story, in which she is a Veela, this explains her exceptional beauty. She is more or less my version of Tauriel from the, The Hobbit movies. Meaning that she is faster and stronger than any human, and also has far greater developed senses (eyesight, smell, hearing) than any 'normal' human. Her skills with knives and glaive are almost unsurpassed, and with the bow she has no equal in Westeros or Essos.

If there are any question concerning either of these two characters, or about any other subject concerning the story, please send me a review or a PM and I will do my utmost best to answer them without spoilering the story to much.

Till next time,

Medieval Maniak.