Robb
He nearly stumbled and fell only for Euron to grab him by the back of the shirt and haul him back onto his feet.
"Careful there, my prince. The snow hides a lot." He chuckled. "I would have thought you'd realize that… isn't your house all about Winter coming? Or is that just what your father calls his pecker?" His laugher grew far louder, bouncing and echoing through the destroyed village so that it seemed like a hundred ghosts were faintly giggling. "There is a game I used to play… I would try and turn every house's words into something to do with sex. Take mine… my cock might be flaccid but it comes back harder and stronger!" He smacked Robb on the back, nearly making him stumble again, only for Euron to once more haul him back up. "You are clumsy, my prince."
Robb was careful not to say a word. Euron had been treating him with kindness but he knew it wasn't for his benefit. That Ironborn madman was interested in seeing just how far he could push Robb before he snapped and found that the best way to torment him was through kind words and deeds. A parody of a lord invoking guest rights for a visitor. Where everyone else was left to scream in agony over Euron's experiments, something that Robb got to hear every time he was let out of the captain's quarters, he was left alone and only got soft words and gentle teasing.
He knew he should have been grateful for that but Robb couldn't help but wonder when the other boot would drop.
"Damn storm delayed us," Euron complained as he continued through the village. "We'd have been here days earlier if not for that." The storm had been sudden and hard, constantly blowing them off course like the winds themselves were obeying a different master. In the end Euron had commanded his zombie crew to man the oars and while an undead crew didn't need to stop ever from rowing they still hadn't gone as fast as he'd clearly wanted. "Still… we are here!" He threw out his arms. "Glorious, isn't it?"
That wasn't the word Robb would have used for Hardhome.
The wildling settlement was aptly named: to call the place home meant to not have an easy existence. While on one of the most Southern most points of the lands beyond the Wall and on the shore of the Narrow Sea the place wasn't some paradise. Even with the fish that would be easy to get and the protection from the harsher winter storms thanks to the mountains they still were forced to deal with heavy snows that never seemed to melt. And that wasn't factoring in that Hardhome seemed to be forever cursed, disaster always coming and striking the place. Robb knew that Maester Luwin had taught him and Theon and JOn about Hardhome but for the life of him he couldn't remember the lessons other than the fact that the wildlings tried to build it back up several times only to fail.
It had been a while since Hardhome had been populated, judging by the state of the settlement. Houses were torn apart, with great gaping holes in the walls. The snows had buried the path and forced Robb, Euron, and Asha Greyjoy to march through snow that nearly reached their thighs. The buildings that were visible and standing seemed to be a patchwork of different structures, built by hands centuries apart. Different wood and stone, different styles… all falling apart.
"Shows you the folly of man, doesn't it?" Euron said, practically pressing his mouth against Robb's ear as he whispered. "Time and again the wildlings attempted to make this place a home. Some fool would get it in their head that they could do what others had failed at and would rebuild this place into something that mattered. And each and every time they failed-" He suddenly lunged forward, hand plunging into the snow before he jerked back up, revealing a skull with a bit of spine still attached to it thanks to frozen gray muscles, "-and joined in with the curse that hangs over this place." He chuckled and tossed the skull aside without a care. "I am sure the Maesters would love to record the history of this place. No… wait." He shook his head. "Those gray rats only like to discuss noble things from the south. They scorn all of us that don't dwell in the soft plump south. You realize that, don't you boy? To them you and I are the exactly same."
"Yeah," Robb said softly, deciding it wouldn't cost him too much to agree with Euron on that point. The actions of Joffrey and how many faithless Southerners still flocked to him even after what they had done to Sansa remained with him and had ensured that any Southerner that came to his door would need to earn his respect; never again would he trust one freely.
"They miss on out so much through their blindness," Euron told him as he motioned for the group to make towards the mountains that rose up around Hardhome. "This place… oh, the dead have so many tales and for someone like me who has learned how to read their bones… they tell such interesting stories. Hope crushed, dreams ruined, life snuffed out." He wiped away a false tear. "Its like poetry, my prince."
Robb didn't respond.
The ship had been emptied of everyone and Robb found himself at the head of a caravan of the damned. Euron pushed them onward, Asha at his back to silently give him a shove if he began to linger just a touch too long. Behind her was the wights that manned Euron's ship The Silence, dragging along the bound and gagged prisoners. Wildlings, Umber men… all were secured and forced to march. When one had tried to escape Euron had simply grabbed onto their shoulder and whispered… something… and the fear that had inspired had caused the man to meekly fall into line.
"The Lands of Always Winter," Euron said, looking about with a slight smile on his face, no different than a knight arriving on a town after a long journey and soaking in the sights. "It is a hard place filled with harder people… but Hardhome proved to be the hardest hard hard in all the hard hard hardy har har." He laughed again at that, wrapping an arm around Robb's shoulders and forcing him close. "Not a single person who came here was able to make that place last more than a generation. Something always happened… a storm, disease, all the normal stuff. Why, according to what I found in some scratches on a wall one time it was because the fish didn't swim this far north. Think about that for a moment, my prince… an entire settlement starved to death because some fish decided to swim someplace else to spawn. That… is shit luck."
And Euron laughed once more.
The high stone walls that surrounded Hardhome looked rather solid but as they continued on Robb soon saw that there were caves that littered their surface. It reminded him of the face of a stableboy back in Winterfell; the lad had broken out horribly in pimples that left scars all across his forehead and cheeks. Theon had teased him that he looked more like a worm-eaten apple than a boy, especially when he picked at the scabs and caused his flesh to become red and swollen. Robb wondered what had happened to the lad, if he was safe and warm in Winterfell or if he too was somewhere he didn't want to be, wishing he could return to the simpler times.
Most of the caves were rather shallow, nothing more than dents in the mountain's surface, but at the base of the cliffs, where the stone met the frozen soil, there was a large cave that plunged downward and Euron gave the command that torches be lit. His wight crew did as he commanded, grabbing brands even as them seemed to stutter as they went to get them.
"They hate the flame," Euron told Robb. "The Others… for them fire represents life. It is warm like blood, burns like passion… Thanos is against all of that. It is said that he seeks to never die because once he loved the Stranger and wished to marry her but she rejected him and now he seeks to at once spurn her and overwhelm her." He shrugged. "I have no idea if that is true but it makes for a pretty little tale, don't you think? Come on!" He waved for Robb to follow, like they were boys daring each other to go deeper into the woods; of course Robb had no choice and he followed after his captor into the cave.
It quickly became clear that while parts of the cave were natural the rest was made by man.
"What are you staring at?" Euron asked and Robb started at that. "What has your attention?"
"These caves," Robb finally admitted when he realized there was no way he was going to get away with not telling the Ironborn marauder the truth. "They start natural but… the marks on the walls… someone began to dig into them, to force the cave to go deeper."
Euron paused before nodding at that. "Clever… most of those I take down here just think this is all natural. No… I think there were Thenn here, at the very first settlement. They know how to mine for bronze. Did you know that? They know how to mine. Have wild cities deep in the North, hidden in valleys. Nothing like the cities the Southerners are used to; not even what you are used to I would say. But cities to them. An amazing people… I'll enjoy killing them. They'll give me a challenge."
It was things like that, little comments about his lust for battle, that reminded Robb that for all his pleasantries Euron wasn't his friend. He was a monster who merely wore a mask of good natured humor to hide the foul beast within.
"But yes, this cave was mined. For something in particular." They came to a suddenly drop and Robb looked down, flustered and startled by how the tunnel just ended and a great gaping hole greeted them. There was a simple wooden platform with ropes hanging from it sticking out into the abyss and Euron easily stepped onto it, Asha forcing Robb forward along with several wights. Euron looked up and the glowing point of light in his eye socket flared and suddenly they were dropping down, gleaming clear stones revealing themselves and burning violet to cast everything in the plum light Euron had unleashed.
Robb could now see that he was on some kind of winch elevator, similar to what Uncle Benjen said they had on the Wall. There were stairs too, made of wood and rickety as hell from the looks of them, secured to the stone walls and this was how the other prisoners were forced to make their way down while Euron, without a care for his own safety, leaned over the rail and looked at the walls before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a gold nugget.
"Many people mine for things," he said; the gold looked so very odd in the purple light that was illuminating their descent. "And what they mine for varies. The Lannisters mine for silver and gold which is why my anscestors always salivated at the thought of striking at the Westerlands. The Thenn mined for copper. The North mines for Iron but everyone mines for iron… though your cousin Antony found some unusual metal, didn't he?" Euron didn't wait for Robb to answer. "Even the Reach mines for rich and fertile soil, buried deep in the earth."
He paused before dropped the nugget down into the darkness, letting out a whistle that grew fainter till he finally went "poooooh", flaring his fingers out.
"But down here there is something far more powerful. Gold and gems only have worth because we say they do. If I convinced enough people that my own shit was worth more than gold, that they should use it to barter and trade with… did my shit suddenly become valuable? Or are we all fools squabbling over something foolish? Metal makes more sense but its worth has decreased because everyone has access to it. Even a farm hand can save his stags and buy a cheap sword now. But down here… there is something rare. Something important." He gripped the rail of the lift. "And its MINE."
Finally reaching the bottom Robb was forced to step out and continue on after Euron who marched ahead, wights scurrying past them to light more torches so that everything wasn't merely bathed in purple light. They moved towards the center of the massive chamber where Robb could see that some large hole, as large as the full training yard of Winterfell, had been dug.
"No one knows when it happened. After the Long Night but long before many of the great houses were settled. I suppose it doesn't matter in the end, just that it happened. Something descended from the stars and crashed here, massive and powerful. Originally there was no place to build a settlement, did you know that? If you look the mountains come up right to the sea. It is only here that there is a break and it is because of what fell from the stars, breaking the mountains and flattening them before becoming buried deep underground, buried by the crumbling remains of the peaks it destroyed. Those that built Hardhome were drawn here by it, building their first settlement, not realizing what had landed.
"Tell me, my prince," Euron said as they drew closer to the large hole, "did you notice the condition of some of the buildings? How they had not fallen apart by time but because of destruction? They looked like some enraged bull had smashed through their walls?" Robb merely nodded; he had noticed that but thought little of it, focused on Euron and making sure that madman had no reason to kill him. "That was the wildlings. They did that themselves… because of what is down here. The power that is soon to be mine."
He raised his hand and Robb hear shouting behind him, turning to see a group of wights dragging a restrained man in Umber colors forward. The man was around Jory's age with a thick dark beard and misshappened nose that had clearly been broken more than once. He spat and snarled and hurled insults at the wights that pulled him forward, straining against the heavy ropes that had been wrapped around his wrists and torso.
"You crab fucker!" the man roared as he spotted Euron. "How about you put a sword in my hand and we settle this the proper way? Or are you just another cowering Ironborn wretch who knows he can't win a real fight? Bet your fucking ancestors are so proud to see you sitting there with a shriveled dick and no fucking courage."
Euron though merely laughed. "Oh, my ancestors hate me for a lot worse than that!" He suddenly lashed his hand out, grabbing the man by the back of the neck and forcing him forward. The Umber guard struggled and eventually tripped up but Euron just kept going, making the man's boots drag against the stone floor as he pulled him towards the edge of the hole. "Oh my prince!" Euron called out and Asha was suddenly beside him, grabbing his arm and forcing him forward to join Euron and his captive. "You will want to see this."
Robb came to a stop at the edge of the hole and saw that it was more like a lake with a sudden drop off from shore to the water's edge. Except… it wasn't water that greeted him at all.
"Many wildlings stumbled upon this place after the first settlement destroyed itself," Euron said softly, looking down at the dark lake with a flickering intent eye. "Each time history repeated itself. They were unable to prevent themselves from destroying all that they built. Such is the way with power. That farm hand I mentioned… the one that could buy a sword… he is just as likely to chop off his own hand as he is to kill a bandit. Only those meant for power… deserve power."
Robb barely heard him, so focused was he on the surface of the lake. It was black, blacker than the waters of the pond beside the Heartstree in Winterfell, but there were also streaks of color that ran like currents through it. Red and blue warring with each other, swirling like little eddies. Oranges and purples and yellows like the sunset. Green and browns like old bile and vomit. All moving through the black liquid. It was thick too, he could tell that; far thicker than water. It reminded him of a watery pudding, to be honest: churning but not solid in the slightest but also not easy to move through. It didn't bubble and boil like a pot left on a stovetop but there was still movement there; the liquid rose up and then dropped back down again, forming humps and valleys that for a moment made Robb believe that something was alive under the surface of the liquid. But there was no pattern to it, not trail like a fish swimming close to the surface would leave. Just the rippling liquid.
"You want to fight me?" Euron told the man he was holding. "I will gladly fight you. But I'm going to make this even more interesting. If you can say my name you won't even need to fight me… I will let you go and you can do whatever you want. Oh, you can still battle me… or you can do the smart thing and flee. Just… say my name."
The Umber man shot him a dark look. "Eur-"
The Crowseye threw the man over the edge, his comment turning into a scream as he twisted in the air before splashing down into the liquid below them.
"We need to back up," Euron told Robb, taking a step away from the edge. "Things get a bit messy when they first come out… only proper to give him some space." Robb found himself pulling away, not needing Asha to guide him this time, and Euron joined him as he folded his arms over his chest.
"Did you kill him?" Robb asked.
"What?" Euron asked, honestly startled. "No! Of course not! That won't kill him!" He paused. "When he comes out I'll kill him then but I'm not going to kill him now! That isn't sporting in the slightest! You… you Starks. Sometimes I wonder about you."
Robb's brow furrowed at that before he could say a word a roar tore through the cavern.
"Ah… he was weak," Euron said as… something… clawed its way back to the surface.
The Umber Man had been muscular already, as was the norm for all who called The Last Hearth home, but whatever had been in the lake had caused him to balloon with muscle. But it wasn't uniform and rather than making him look strong it instead made him grotesque. One arm was far larger and thicker than the other, making him look like he was half hunching and half leaning as he got to his feet. His pants had shredded around his calves but one thigh was normal while the other was so corded with muscle that Robb could see his veins which bulged out of his skin. He was shaking, trembling, letting out sounds that would have better fit a mongrel dog than a man, and looked about with crazed eyes.
And then there was the thick slime.
It covered parts of his body, a brownish-yellow like mucus when one had a serious sinus infection. It didn't merely cling to him but seemed to be tugging at his skin, yanking on it so that parts of his flesh looked ready to tear off his bones. On his bulging left arm the slime was actually driving into his skin and as he took an unsteady step forward the veins popped and went from blue to yellow and his muscles swelled even larger. More of the fluid clung to his face, grabbing onto his mouth and forcing it open to reveal the man's teeth now were thin and needle-like. Suddenly some of the yellowish-brown liquid rushed over the right side of his face and he let out a scream. It covered one of his eyes leaving only a white patch while the other rolled about wildly, seeing everything and nothing.
"Say. My. Name." Euron said simply.
The Umber Man snapped his head towards Euron, reaching out with his left hand, guttural growls echoing from his throat. His hand was bloated, fingers fat and clumsy, and then the tips of them exploded to reveal blacken bone that sharpened into talons.
"I thought not," Euron said with a sigh before jerking his head to the right. "Nebula, protect our prince." Asha grabbed Robb and dragged him away while Euron removed his war hammer from his back and gave it a twirl. "Pity… but still…" he grinned, "I so do love kill you failures!"
With that the Umber man leapt forward, screaming like a beast, fingers outstretched as the slime that covered him stretched out into a hundred small tentacles that sharpened into points. Euron though easily sidestepped the attack and swung his hammer into the man's back, right at the spine, causing it to shatter and causing the Umber Man to fall to the ground.
"One… two… three… four-" Euron said before his opponent roared, slamming his hands on the ground and more of the slime jammed itself into his back. Robb watched as the skin, already too tight from the rapid growth the man had undergone, became so paper thin he could see the bits of spine that had been broken be forced back together while the slime wormed its way into the man's torso, causing him to balloon up all the more. He suddenly lashed out with his hand, striking Euron and sending him flying but the Ironborn reaver easily flipped and landed on his feet even as the Umber man stood up, turning and revealing more of his face was becoming mutilated, his tongue now forked like a snake and three times as long as yellow slime dripped from his mouth.
Euron brayed in delight.
"A challenge!" he declared, throwing his arms out wide. "Wonderful! Let us show them what two predators can do!"
The Umber Man roared and charged forward, dropping to all fours like an animal as he lopped forward. Euron charged and swung his hammer, smashing the man's face in but that only caused him to keep coming. The mutating man's feet bulged before exploding, leaving only muscles and bone held together by the slime. His face reknitted itself but now both eyes were covered by the slime, leaving only jagged witch patches and his mouth which was being forced all the wider by the slime which latched onto his lips like fish hooks, slowly ripping it open. His flesh was tearing but he didn't stop as he again and again lunged at Euron who just kept hitting him with the hammer, shattering bone that was quickly repaired by the slime.
"Fuck…" Robb could only whisper in horror as the man ballooned out even bigger, now nearly twice his original height, limbs all different sizes, skin blotching as blood pooled to certain parts while draining away from others. The slime was thrashing about his skin now and driving into his arms and legs and chest, shooting out of his torn flesh to form spikes and hooks. And still the Umber man was roaring as he charged at Euron… or perhaps he was screaming. At that moment Robb couldn't tell the difference.
But what he did know was that Euron was laughing up a storm as he attacked the man with his hammer, dodging his powerful blows. As Robb watched he realized two things about the fight.
'That slime… it made him powerful but its also made him slow. Uncoordinated. He's letting on what his blows will be.' The Umber man moved to grab Euron and actually did get his fingers on Euron's clothing only for the reaver to bring his hammer down on his arm, shattering it and allowing him to escape. The Umber Man though just kept trying to grab him with his broken hand, fingers flopping about as the slime worked to try and repair the damage. 'And Euron…'
"Kill him!" Robb shouted.
He felt Asha break out of her stone cold stare and actually look at him. Euron did too, quirking an eyebrow at his outcry.
"He can't fucking win, Euron!" Robb cried out. "He's in agony! You've shown me everything… just let him die!"
Euron though merely smirked and shook his head. "There is one more bit you need to see, my prince. One more bit." He sighed. "For a moment I thought you were getting interesting."
The fight continued on. Euron continued to leap about the cavern and Robb had to admit… the man was good. Insanely good. Against 10 Winterfell guards Robb would reluctantly put his money on the reaver. He understood that battlefield completely, never placing his foot where he didn't want it to go. He might have been laughing like a madman but there was a logic and skill behind every action he made. His boasts and insults and broad dramatic gestures full of flair? They all served a purpose.
And then Euron suddenly darted back, out of the mutated Umber man's grasp, and allowed his body to become loose and relaxed, eye watching the Umber man as he began to claw at his own skin, tearing out ragged chunks.
"Won't be long now," Euron said. "This one lasted a touch longer than others but not the most impressive I've seen. Though the ending-"
The Umber Man exploded.
His body just burst open like rotted fruit dropped onto a stone. A bloody paste of organs and viscera shot off in all direction, Robb only able to stare even as blood misted all over and bones clattered to the ground, mishsappened and twisted. A nearly 10 foot wide circle of once living tissue now marked where the Umber man had died. There wasn't even a piece larger than his thumb that Robb could see; everything had been reduced to a gristly paste.
A paste… and the quivering brownish-yellow slime.
"I don't know where it came from," Euron said as he casually walked towards the center of the explosion site, where the puddle of slime was concentrated, slowly pulling itself back together and, to Robb's horror, trying to drag what large size bits of the Umber Man to it in an attempt to repair the damage. "Not from where the Others came from, or the Children of the Forest or any of that shit. This… this is something far different. From another place entirely." He paused. "I once found a man who said he was a maester. Or had tried to be one before they took his chain. He was very curious about my family lineage. Also very concerned about what women I had been with. Gave me a list of people he wanted me to fuck, even gave me some money to do so. I am not quite sure how I feel about that, to be honest… I love money and I love fucking but getting paid to fuck by someone I'm not piercing?" He shook his head. "It doesn't matter. But he told me that this isn't the only world out there. That every star we see in the sky has other worlds happily rotating around them, some of them filled with life as well. I think what crashed here was from one of them.
"What I do know is that this… it is a parasite. And a poison. It doesn't like being on its own unless its in that lake. It needs a living creature to survive. But-" the light in Euron's eyesocket flared, "-it is really bad at what it does, my prince. A good parasite feeds off its host but keeps them alive for as long as it can. Because if you burn through a meal to quickly then you need to find another one. Everyone knows that. The quicker you eat the quicker the meal is over. Yet here is our slimy friend, latching onto people and doing… well, you saw."
And with that Euron slammed the tip of his hammer's handle into the ground and released a shockwave of purple energy that threw Robb and Asha off their feet.
As he slowly got up Robb saw the slime was now boiling, its form bubbling and bursting until it just… turned to vapor, completely and utterly destroyed.
"A piece that fails with a host is worthless to me. I've tried putting it back into the lake but it will be the one that comes out next time and do the exact same thing. It feeds and gets stronger but it can't hold onto a host. I learned that the hard way, thinking I just needed to feed it enough people in order for it to grow strong enough for my purpose."
Robb couldn't stop himself from saying, "And what purpose is that?"
He snapped his jaw shut at that but Euron merely pointed a finger at him, black lips spread open into a grin. "The grandest of all purposes: to have my own power. Thanos… he commands armies of the dead. Utterly impressive. He has given me power beyond measure. Awe inspiring. But… it isn't enough. I want something that is just MINE." He stood and walked back towards the lake. "And this will be mine."
Robb just stared at Euron in horror and disgust. "This… this is vile."
"All power is vile, my prince."
"You can't control this though. This… this isn't wildfire." He took a step forward, not scared that Euron might hurt him. He didn't even see the man as Euron Greyjoy at the moment, a man he should try to kill. He just saw someone moving towards a horrible mistake and he NEEDED to convince him to turn away. "You can't control this!"
"Not yet," Euron said, leaning forward and flashing his white teeth. "But I will figure out how. I just need to keep testing, figure out what is going wrong. Because something is wrong. Something is broken with these parasites and I will figure out what it is. And when I do… the power of this lake will be mine." He turned and threw his arms out. "Didn't you see what happened to that man? Stronger than even the Mountain! Able to heal from injuries that would leave one as dead! And what other fantastical abilities might this lake provide… once I learn how to bend it to my will. An army of those creatures, no longer mutilated but made whole, serving at my whim… oh, that will flip the board."
"You think… anyone will serve you? After you've made clear how much you loathe free will? Look at what you've done to your own crew!" he gestured at the wights. "No one will trust you!"
"And they shouldn't!" he taunted. "But that doesn't mean they won't flock to me. There are more ways to win loyalty, my prince." He turned and slowly looked back at Robb. "If I figured out how to improve this method… would you submit?"
"Never," Robb said. "I might as well be dead because your idea of submitting would see me become a mindless weapon you commanded."
"Even… if I promised to use the secrets of this slime… to heal your brother?"
Robb froze.
"You saw it… I smashed its spine and it walked still." Euron began to slow his speech, making sure that every word lingered on his tongue. "I could do that for him."
"You'd still wipe out who he was."
"What is he now? A broken boy who lives in a bed, only able to see the world if he is carried about? I would let him conquer kingdoms that have not seen a Westerosi before. Same with you."
"At the cost of our souls," Robb argued.
Euron scoffed. "Souls are overvalued, I've found." He gave a shrug. "We'll see. There is plenty of time. I won't experiment on you till I run out of men and my wights are finding me plenty of people I can toss into the lake. So you just sit there… and think on this."
And with that Euron called for the next prisoner to be brought forth.
~MC~MC~MC~
Author's Notes: So this chapter has an interesting bit of history as it was the first one I did a LIVE reading of over on my Discord channel! As I did the final read through I did it, audio book style, for several of my discord members. Thinking if they continue enjoying it maybe people would be interested in me doing A Man of Iron on Youtube as an audio book.
