The Chronicles of Valyria,
Book 1 Resurrection
Chapter 23
It took nearly a week for the giants to pack up everything they had, and a week more to make their way back to Hardhome. When they made their way back to the settlement on Storrolt's Point they saw that despite their more than three weeks' absence, not much had been done about rebuilding the settlement.
They were met by Tormund and the commander of the Braavosi flotilla, whom they had left in charge of their forces.
"I can see that you have been at least partially successful," Tormund said after they exchanged greetings. "Will they join you southwards, or will they join us on our journey south of The Wall?"
With a slightly raised eyebrow Gabrielle responded, "So I take it you have decided then? Are you and your people going south?"
Tormund nodded and replied, "Yes we have. My people all agree, if we are given the chance to live in freedom and safety south of The Wall, then that is a chance we have to take. A small group of our warriors have shown willing to join your cause, particularly those who have lost loved ones to that filth you intend to fight."
"That is excellent news Tormund, and yes, some of the giants will also join us in our campaign against the slavers. Most of the tribe will go with your people, but the chieftain's son, Mag, and thirty of their warriors will come with us."
"I have heard of him," Tormund replied. "They call him Mag the Mighty, because despite his young age, he is already as strong as fully grown giant and he'll be a good ally to your caus..."
At that moment, he was interrupted by a small, red-haired missile that latched itself onto his left leg and cried, "Where did you go Tommund, you said you'd stay with me."
Giving an apologetic look to the two women in front of him, Tormund held up a hand and said, "One moment please." He bent over and softly pried loose the small hands that held his leg in a death-grip. Picking up the little girl he put her on his arm and said, "Ygritte, I want you to meet a few people."
The little girl in his arms turned her head towards Aurora and Gabrielle and gave them a cautious smile, showing two missing front teeth. Opening her mouth further she said, "Hello, my name is Ygritte, who are you?"
Aurora and Gabrielle both made small bow to the girl, earning them a grin, before they introduced themselves. With that done, Gabrielle whistled on her fingers and Silvana poked her head through the covers of the sled.
"What is it mom?" Silvana asked curiously as she saw Tormund holding the little girl.
"Kick your sister and Yara out of the sled will you; we want you to meet someone." With a more or less devilish grin on her face Silvana winked and pulled her head back under the covers.
Maybe ten seconds later, Yara Greyjoy came flying from between the covers and landed face-first in a snow bank. While she was spitting out snow and curse words, the covers opened up again and Lissena's laughing face appeared.
"Are you awake now Yara?" she asked innocently, only to receive a push herself and landing next to Yara in the snow.
Now Silvana also left the sled, jumping out and landing on her two feet. Quickly running around her sister and Yara, who tried to trip her, she stopped next to her moms and asked innocently, "So who did you want us to meet?"
Turning back to Tormund, Gabrielle said, "Silvana, meet Ygritte, Ygritte, meet one of our adoptive daughters, Silvana."
With a cheery smile, Silvana offered a hand to Ygritte and said, "Hey Ygritte, nice to meet you, how old are…" she was interrupted by two snowballs hitting her on the back of the head.
"You had that coming sis," Lissena growled as she rubbed another hand of snow in her sister's face.
Spitting the snow out of her mouth, Silvana had already grabbed a handful of snow to get back at her sister, when an ominous 'SNAP' from Gabrielle's right hand turned the snow in her hands into water.
"Mum," Silvana whined while the molten snow drenched her fur glove, instantly cooling the appendage in the biting cold.
"Stop whining," Gabrielle reprimanded her, "You got them and they got you back, now make peace and come here."
Silvana nodded grudgingly and gave her grinning sister a hug, squeezing a bit harder than needed. When they released each other, the twins turned back towards their mothers and joined Yara who was already standing next to Aurora and Gabrielle.
"Girls, meet Ygritte," Aurora introduced the little girl to the two older girls. "Ygritte, this is Lissena, Silvana's twin sister, and the other girl is Yara Greyjoy, the best friend of the twins."
Ygritte blushed a little as now the trio of girls focused all of their attention on her, and she was not really used to so much attention from people who all thought her, 'cute'.
After a nudge from Gabrielle, Silvana took Ygritte from Tormund's arms and placed her on the ground next to her. Lissena took Ygritte's other hand and together the four girls wandered off to play in the snow, leaving the adults to finish their 'official talks'.
When the girls were gone, Gabrielle asked Tormund, "Is she your daughter?"
Tormund shook his head sadly and replied, "No she is not. During your absence, we were able to make a full list of casualties, more than 300 of my people were killed by those slavers, and Ygritte's entire family was amongst them."
"So, she's an orphan," Aurora stated with a small lump in her throat.
Tormund nodded, and replied, "Yes she is, one of 49 orphans in total. I have managed to find new families for all of them, and Ygritte is staying with me and my family."
Both woman nodded and talking about less consequential things, they made their way towards the coast, followed by sled, which still held Ashara and her daughter, and their Forlorn guards. The giants followed behind them in a separate group.
When they were nearly back at the ruined settlement, several riders came racing towards them. All three riders were Free Folk, riding the same breed of longhaired horses as Ferrego had given to Aurora and Gabrielle.
The middle one, a woman, waved her right arm and yelled, "TORMUND! SHIPS ARE APROACHING!"
This immediately roused their little group and the humans sped towards the beach. Aurora and Gabrielle remounted their horses and Tormund took one from the trio of Free Folk, while Gabrielle ordered half their Forlorn guards to stay with the girls and the sled.
Pushing their horses to the limits of their speed, the group rushed to the beach where they found their own small fleet of 7 warships already preparing to cast off to confront the still unknown approaching ships.
The Braavosi ships had been pulled up on the shore so they were in no immediate danger, while their crews armed themselves in case the ships proved to be hostile.
Aurora and Gabrielle quickly jumped into a couple of sloops when they reached the shore and after Tormund and their remaining guards joined them, they were rowed to the Chain Breaker.
Once back onboard, Aurora immediately took command and yelled across the water to the other six ships, "PREPARE TO INTERCEPT. DON'T ATTACK UNLESS THEY DO!"
The orders were repeated aboard the other ships and when everything was ready Aurora joined Gabrielle in inspecting the unknown incoming ships, which were by now only three miles out.
There were a dozen ships, each with black sails and black flags flying in their masts. Four looked to be war galleys and the others were an assortment of cargo ships and what appeared to be fishing vessels.
"Crows." Tormund growled behind them and when they looked at him with a questioning look, he explained, "That is what we call the men of the Night's Watch. Those ships come from Eastwatch-by-the-Sea."
"So, they're friendly's?"
Tormund scoffed at Gabrielle's question and replied, "Depends, half the time they come to trade and the other half they come to attack us, so don't blindly count on it."
Turning to her partner, Aurora asked out loud, so Tormund could also follow it, "What do you think love? Should we scare them off or wait and see what they have to say? They might have been sent on Ned's orders, he did promise to send word to Lord Commander Qorgyle, about Rhaegar's orders about the Free Folk."
"We intercept them at sea and find out what they want. By now Rhaegar should have spread the description of our coat of arms around the Seven Kingdoms, so they should be able to recognize our sails."
Aurora agreed and turning to Tormund she asked, "Who is likely to be in command of those ships?"
"Cotter Pyke," came the short reply, "He's a former Ironborn raider and a right true asshole. Qorgyle put him in charge of Eastwatch and he takes to the sea at every opportunity. I believe he hopes that it will give him an opportunity to continue with the activities that got him sent to The Wall in the first place."
"So, you've met him I take it?" Aurora asked, noticing the bitter tone in Tormund's voice.
"O I've met him all right. That fucker hung my brother when he went to Eastwatch for trade. Cotter claimed that my brother tried to assassinate him by selling him poisoned fish."
"Did he?" Aurora asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, yea he did," Tormund replied, "But only because Cotter refused to help us when we asked for help when floods washed away our camps and destroyed our food supplies for winter. We were kind of hoping that a new commander would be more willing to help us."
Aurora grinned softly at Tormund's words while Gabrielle slowly shook her head and muttered, "I really don't understand what's wrong with people sometimes."
They waited in silence while their ships hurried towards the Night's Watch's flotilla that was closing in on them.
When only half a mile remained between them, Aurora roared across the water, "REEF THE SAILS, DROP THE ANCHORS."
Her orders were followed immediately and ahead of them the ships from the Night's Watch did the same.
Less than three hundred feet separated the two flotillas' when they finally came to a stop. The lead ship of the Night's Watch dropped several sloops with men, which continued to row towards the Chain Breaker, which, showing its position as the flagship, was anchored two ship lengths in front of the others.
Aurora ordered rope ladders to be lowered down the side of the ship, so that the black brothers could climb aboard. She and Gabrielle donned their helmets before they joined the cordon of Forlorn that was spread out around railing, forming a half circle around Tormund and the railing.
The first man to set foot on the deck was Cotter Pyke, judging by the low growl that escaped from Tormund's lips. Cotter Pyke was a lean man, wiry and hard. He had small, close-set eyes and a pox ravaged face with a sparse, rough beard.
"Hello Tormund," Cotter grinned evilly as soon as he stood before the trio that welcomed them. "How's your brother? O wait, I hung him, didn't I?"
Tormund replied with a roar and a solid right hook that broke Cotter's nose and slammed him down on the deck. Immediately the dozen black brothers that accompanied him drew their swords and made to attack Tormund.
A single snap of Aurora's fingers saw a double line of Forlorn surround the black brothers on all sides, effectively neutralizing them and separating them from Cotter and Tormund who were now rolling over the deck, fighting.
They were stopped when Aurora grabbed them both by the neck and pulled them apart. "That's enough from you two," she growled, which sounded all the more terrifying by the metallic tone produced by her helmet.
She handed Tormund to Gabrielle, while keeping a hold of Cotter herself. Turning her helmet back to the man in her right hand, she growled, "Why are you here?"
Cotter's only reply was to spit at her and yell, "Fuck you, you wildling lover."
Not the least bit impressed by his deviance, but more than a bit irritated by his lack of common sense when confronted by an obviously stronger opponent, Aurora balled her left fist and planted it firmly in Cotter's stomach. The vicious, inch-long spikes, on her knuckles absolutely destroyed his organs and while yelling in pain and coughing up blood, she dropped him on the deck, tearing him up further as she removed her fist.
"LET ME MAKE ONE THING VERY CLEAR." She roared to the other black brothers. "By order of the King, any conflict that may have existed between the Night's Watch and the Free Folk, is now over.
Every member of the Free Folk, that comes to The Wall seeking safe passage will be allowed to do so, with no exceptions. They have been invited by the King to come south and settle in The North, where there is plenty of land for them to live without disturbing anyone."
She kicked the now lifeless body of Cotter Pyke and said, "Well he's dead, so who is your commander now?"
One of the men stepped forward, an imposing man of roughly fifty years old. He had a shaggy grey beard, a stern gaze, and a raven sitting on his shoulder. "That would be me." He said, "My name is Jeor Mormont, former Lord of Bear Island."
"Nice to meet you," Aurora replied dryly while Gabrielle had finally released Tormund, as he had stopped struggling the moment Aurora had dropped Cotter. "Now you tell me, why are you here?"
Not wanting to suffer the same fate of his late commander, Jeor was quick to answer, "Lord Commander Qorgyle sent word to Eastwatch that we had to send every available ship to Hardhome to help with relocating the wildli… I mean Free Folk."
'Sigh', "Then why didn't that fucking moron just tell me that when I asked him."
"Probably because he had an intense dislike of the Free Folk, he made sure to work against them wherever possible."
Having enough of all the foolishness around them, Aurora removed her helmet and said sadly to a slack-jawed Jeor Mormont, "I am really sick and tired of all the prejudice in this world, why is it so hard to just accept your fellow men for who they are and try to get along with them?"
Guessing it was a rhetorical question, Jeor was smart enough not to answer that and instead he turned to Gabrielle, who had likewise removed her helmet. "So… what is going to happen now?"
"Now," Gabrielle replied before throwing a concerned look at Aurora who was staring of into the distance toward the narrow sea. "Now, you take command of your ships and follow us back to Hardhome. With any luck, we can fit all of the Free Folk onboard your ships, which allows us to ferry the giants on our own ships."
"Giants?" Jeor asked a little disbelievingly.
"Yea, an entire tribe of them, about 200 in total. We are relocating the whole lot of them towards the southern edge of The New Gift. That's land they have been allocated by Lord Eddard Stark. The various tribes of the Free Folk are to be divided over the land, so they aren't living anywhere to close to any of the northern settlements.
It will take a few years for everyone to get used to the new situation and get to know their new neighbors. Once the Free Folk are settled and have made proper homes and settlements for themselves, the Northmen will find that they don't have to raid, as long as they have the means to care for themselves. With access to proper farmlands, permanent villages and the means to go fishing, they will have no need to, in order to feed their families."
Jeor nodded and said, "I hope you are right my lady."
"So do I," Gabrielle muttered softly to herself, while Jeor descended back down to the sloop with the rest of the Night's Watch's men. Two of his fellow black brothers carried the body of Cotter Pyke between them.
She gave the orders to raise the anchors and to turn the ships around back to Hardhome, while she went to stand next to Aurora, who was still staring across the water. Carefully untying the spiked shoulder guards, she removed the metal plates and put her head on Aurora's shoulder. "What's up sweetie. Still reminiscing about the past?"
"Yea…" Aurora replied with a sigh. "Remember back in Britain, some of these idiots are nearly as bad as the Death Eaters were. Why is it always the same in every world we come to. There is always some group who thinks they are better than others for whatever reason."
Softly turning her partner's head, Gabrielle put a tender kiss on her lips before she said, "Don 't worry about it my love, it always works out in the end. It will be alright, we are going to make sure it will be alright."
"I know, we'll make it right, we and the girls are going to make a better place for everyone."
"Now come on love, let's get this over with so we can start our plans in earnest."
They did just that. It took about a day to get everything loaded on the ships, before they loaded up the Free Folk and the giants. The Mammoths were so large and heavy that they could not load up more than 5 per ship which caused a little trouble as they would now be forced to make multiple trips.
In the end, it was decided that Mag and his thirty followers, along with ten of the Mammoths, all young and healthy beasts, would stay behind. The Free Folk who would come with them to Valyria, about 150 in total, would likewise stay behind. Everyone else would be loaded onboard the ships, who would then sail to their destination. From there, the Night's Watch's ships would return to Eastwatch, while their own fleet would go back to Hardhome to pick up the others before they returned to Braavos.
Luckily for everyone, the plan went off without a hitch and when they reached their destination, they were awaited by a party of Stark bannermen led by Benjen, Eddard's little brother. Benjen greeted them politely and after Tormund's people and the giants were back on solid ground, they said their goodbye's.
They were thanked full heartedly by many of the Free Folk and the giants made a respectful bow to them as they lifted the anchors and turned their ships back northwards. Just like on the way south, it took them a week to travel the roughly 400 miles between Hardhome and the new Free Folk settlements on the southern edges of The New Gift.
On the third day of their return journey, just after they split off from the Night's Watch's ships, Aurora and Gabrielle were on deck, teaching the girls about sailing. Yara especially proved to be a natural when it came to handling ships. She was jumping from the helm to the sails and back, and since the Forlorn had been ordered to follow her orders about sailing, she was controlling the ship as if she had been born to do so, which considering her heritage, was not unthinkable.
Suddenly the doors that led to the hold of The Chain Breaker were kicked open. One of the Forlorn stepped on deck, a struggling creature wrapped in a blanket held securely in his hands. He placed the bundle on the deck before Aurora and Gabrielle and said on the familiar emotionless tone, "I found her hiding in the hold."
He unwrapped the blanket and revealed a young girl, dressed in thick fur clothing with a bundle of fiery red hair escaping from under the hood of her coat.
"Ygritte." The two women exclaimed surprised before Gabrielle asked, "What are you doing here sweetie? Why aren't you with Tormund and the rest of your people?"
The girls had come running when they heard the adults call Ygritte's name and likewise looked surprised to see the little girl standing there.
Meanwhile Ygritte looked a bit uncomfortable after being caught, and she mumbled a bit.
"I'm sorry, I didn't get that," Gabrielle said gently to not make her upset.
Ygritte sniffed a few times before she answered, "I… I… I want to stay with you. I want to help bring the dragons back to their home."
"Oh sweetie, if you wanted to stay with us you could have just asked us. Why did you hide yourself?"
"I didn't want to be left behind. And Tommund would never have let me go. He thinks I'm too young." now starting to sob softly, Ygritte clamped herself to Gabrielle's left leg and said, "I want to hurt the people who took my mommy and daddy."
Reaching down, Gabrielle softly pried the little girl loose and held her securely against her chest. She and Aurora were not wearing their plate armor onboard, so Ygritte buried her face in the thick furry coat Gabrielle was wearing over the mail.
"What do you think love?" Gabrielle asked quietly.
"I don't know Gabby, it's as you said with the twins, we need the guardian's permission. If what she says is true, then I doubt that Tormund will agree, he obviously liked the little girl."
"True, but if he had the choice of having her grow up in a village or in a palace, what do you think he would choose?"
"Good point, should we go and ask him?"
"Yea I think that's best; will you fly or shall I fly?"
"I'll fly," Aurora decided, "Just keep her occupied for the moment so I can slip off of the ship and into the water to change."
"Sure thing love."
Aurora winked at the twins and Yara, Ashara didn't really like the cold air so she and Elia where spending most of the journey in her cabin, before she slipped away and threw a rope overboard which she then used to climb down into the water.
After Aurora, had snuck away, Gabrielle said softly to the little girl in her arms, "Hey sweetie, you have seen Saphirus and Violet, right?" When Ygritte nodded enthusiastically Gabrielle continued with a small grin, "Do you want to see one of the big dragons?"
At those words, Ygritte went wide-eyed and after nodding again, Gabrielle stood up from the chair and after putting the little girl back on the deck, she held her hand and led her over to the railing where she held her securely while Ygritte peeked overboard."
Once under water, Aurora had changed into the 270-foot dragon, the massive explosion in size slightly rocking the ships above her thanks to the water displacement. Carefully rising up in the water, she stuck her head above the surface to be met by a wide-eyed little redhead that was peeking over the railing of The Chain Breaker.
Opening the sides of her maw, she took a big gulp of water in her mouth and spat it up, like a fountain. The water came easily to the same height as the flag on top of the mast, and she heard the girls cheering.
"Whoa, it's so big." Ygritte gasped when Aurora stuck her neck above the water, and brought the rest of her body to the surface as well.
"She's a girl, and she's the one I ride on."
"Can I ride on one too?" The sheer hope and excitement in the little girl's eyes was enough to make her smile.
"Sure thing sweetheart, we are going to fly on her in a bit. I will put her saddle on and then we are going okay?"
Ygritte just nodded again, still looking at the humongous dragon floating in the water besides them.
While Gabrielle removed the saddle form her pouch, with the help of Yara, she thought, "I'm glad we told the Braavosi that the dragons were swimming beneath us, otherwise this might have caused a little panic."
"You got that right love." Aurora replied mentally. "It wouldn't be the first time something like that happened."
"Uh uh."
Having removed the saddle, Gabrielle hung it under the boom of a crane that had been installed onboard and swung it out over the water. Aurora maneuvered her body under the saddle and once it was located just right, Gabrielle jumped overboard and secured the straps under water.
Once the saddle was secure, Gabrielle climbed back onboard, using her inner heat to dry her fur overcoat before she stepped back on the deck.
"So, are you ready to go sweetie?" Ygritte responded to Gabrielle's question with a cheer and ran to the railing, trying to jump on the saddle. Gabrielle caught her before she jumped and said, "Wait up, we go together okay." Turning to the twins and Yara she added, "You three behave okay, I'll be back in an hour or two."
The girls all agreed and still holding Ygritte, Gabrielle jumped onto the saddle and strapped the little girl in tight, before fastening herself to the saddle. When they were both secure, Aurora carefully swam away from the ships until she had the space she needed to lift off.
Stretching out her wings, Aurora made speed in the water until she had enough lift to come loose and flew away. Just like the girls, Ygritte cheered loudly as they soared through the sky and seemed to enjoy it immensely to be flying.
It took them less than an hour to fly back to the new Free Folk settlement, and when they came into sight, they were low enough to see the panic that Aurora's appearance caused.
Aurora quickly landed, as she saw some of the giants grabbing their ballistae-sized bows and aiming them. Quickly releasing the straps holding her and Ygritte, Gabrielle jumped down into the snow and ran toward the mass of tents.
"WAIT. DON'T SHOOT!" Tormund had recognized Gabrielle's description of the dragons and was already calming his people before they arrived at the tents.
Tormund met Gabrielle a small way from the tents and when he saw the little girl in her arms, he realized why she was there. "Thank the Old Gods you found her, I was so worried when we couldn't find her. Where did you find her?"
Gabrielle hoisted Ygritte a little higher in her arms and replied, "She had hidden herself on our ship. Quite well actually as we only found her like two hours ago. But she has something to ask you Tormund."
Tormund looked a little confused at Ygritte who blushed terribly and looked up at Gabrielle, who smiled encouragingly and said, "Go on sweetheart, you can do it."
Ygritte took a big breath and turning to Tormund she said, "I'm sorry for hiding, but I want to go with them to where the dragons come from. I want to help them hurt the men who attacked us."
Tormund was more than a little surprised to hear those words coming from a little three-year-old. However, he quickly got over the shock when Ygritte jumped from Gabrielle's arms into his and she said softly, "I'm going to miss you Tommund, but I really, really want to go."
Tormund's face softened when he held the little girl in his arms and said, "It's all right little one. If you really want to go, then you can go."
Ygritte flung her arms around Tormund's neck and cried, "O thank you, thank you, thank you."
Gabrielle smiled as well and said, "With your permission Tormund, Aurora and I will raise her as our own. She'll be a sister to the twins and a daughter to Aurora and myself, she'll be a princess one day."
Tormund looked surprised by this offer and said, "That would be more than I could ever ask for. And I know she'll be safe with you."
Gabrielle inclined her head and replied, "You have my word Tormund."
Gabrielle took Ygritte back in her arms and Tormund led them back to his family, so they could say goodbye to Ygritte as well, and to get what little possessions the girl had left behind her.
Fifteen minutes later they were back with Aurora, now accompanied by most of the Free Folk who wanted a closer look at Aurora. Gabrielle, with Ygritte hanging on her chest, climbed back into the saddle. Strapping the little girl in she said, "Say goodbye sweetheart, it's time for us to get back to the rest of the family."
Looking up with a smile on her face, Ygritte said, "Okay… mom."
Author's note:
Okay I know I said chapter 21 was the last one in Westeros, but I decided it was better to end their time there this way. Next time we'll get back to Braavos and then it's southwards, towards the battle Tyrosh.
I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, please let me know if you did.
I must admit that the near lack of reviews is not very encouraging for me as a writer and it is causing me to lose my drive for this story. I'll do my best to keep going but my supply of chapters is out so i have to put the story on hold for a while.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter and hopefully I'll see you all soon.
Medieval Maniak.
