Chapter 22: Vengeful Bloodlord
I started learning Mandarin during COVID19 lockdown as a 3rd language. Truth be told, it didn't mess up my writing of this story as much as I thought.
Reading translated Xianxia novel, on the other hand, did.
That and trying hard not to cross the smut line. I want this story to be a bit naughty but it's quite hard to hold back the inappropriate ideas.
Another important note, I decided to split this project into multiple, let's say, Saga. I feel like many people would want to see Jon and his "family" back on Planetos. While I plan to do it after Innistrad Arc, but I feel the tone would be much more different as we delve into a mess that will happen on Planetos.
So, I will end this story when I finish this current arc and write a sequel with a more serious tone. I plan to do some character study and plan how to write a serious & less bonkers story which will take quite a long time.
In short, this story will end in about 5 chapters or so. After that, I will take a break before writing a sequel. I will try to not procrastinate much, but no promises.
Hope that will give me the best chance to create a decent story.
Sorry for the delay.
…
Q/A
Amino Fanfiction: I love this book I'm probably going to save it wait for you to get farther in the store and then read it all again.
Cheers.
Ksveela: I love this. I want the Seven wiped out of Westeros. Burn the sept, the septas, the septons. They are much a political group than a religious one.
I plan to have Jon came back and have a double take on WTF had happened in his name. I imagine wake up and do the same on Ixalan.
…
Pain.
PAINNNNNNNNNN.
Everything hurts.
Existence is pain.
Because Ugin did not show any mercy on them when, as he put it, tutoring post-mending planeswalkers a proper decorum.
"AAAAAAWWWWWWWWW" Groaned Arlinn Kord as she twists and turns on her bed. "I think my entire ribcage broke."
The comment on the stage of her wellbeing is received in silence. There is no wind in the sanctum. No bugs or birds. Only her and her 'family'.
…. Planeswalker guide to common vocabulary, 276th edition ….
Family. [fam-uh-lee]
Noun, plural: fam-i-lies
A basic social unit consisting of parents and children, considered as a group, whether dwelling together or not. Blood relation is not a necessary requirement even though is common.
28 Zuun AR 4559/ Ugin's addendum: Unless two are spouse, no sexual intercourse should not occur between the member of the family. The violation of this addendum within the vicinity of Ugin's sanctum will be heavily punished according to The Reckless Sparks accord.
[Classified] / [Classified]'s addendum: Due to an appeal by [Planeswalker] and [Planeswalker], an artificial being such as Innistrad's [Retracted] can be considered part of one family if the said creation is created in the 'Parents' image.
…
"No, Arlinn. You feel like your ribcage broke. It's all in your mind." Said Narset who laying on the nearby bed. "Just steel your mind and focus through the pain. If you don't succumb to it, then it cannot hurt you."
Arlinn's eyebrows twitch as she tries to comprehend the collection of words that came out from the Ojutai monk's mouth. Narset, as lovely as she is, tends to speak in a riddle. It is one of few things about the younger planeswalker that grind Arlinn's gear.
The usual solution for the she-wolf when that happens is to have both of them 'grind each other gear', but Ugin 'Told' them they cannot do that here anymore. Doing it somewhere out-plane would take too much out of her so that is also not a viable option either.
On an incredibly special occasion perhaps. She heard that Vol and Narset went to Zendikar recently.
Arlinn smiles as she put the thought into an 'to-do list'
"Then why did I hear a cracking sound when I turn too fast, huh? The pain is physical." She groans. "Vol, can you apply ice on my ribs?"
She gives him a sly smile.
"But it will not end with just and ice won't it? Ugin made it clear. The less physical contact we had the better. I, for one, don't want to face his fire again."
Sometimes she feels that Vol is far too afraid of Ugin more than her liking, but he does have a point. In Tarkir, Ugin's word is the law. If they want to stay here, they had to follow it to the letter.
She could have gone back to Innistrad, but Jon could not. His training is yet to be completed, and there is no reason to piss off Sorin more than they already had.
"We could always planeswalk somewhere else, Vol." She replied. "What Ugin doesn't know, can't hurt us."
"Ha. Ha. Not a chance." Vol replied. "I'm not going to risk getting ghostfired. Not even for that."
"Ghostfired. Is that even a word?" Asked Narset. "And what is 'that' you're referring to exactly?"
"Oh. It's …." Arlinn leans in and whispers at Narset's ear. A few words in and the Ojutai monk is already reddened like a burning sun. And that whisper lasts far too long for any man comfort.
But that is the story for another day, for the perverted minds.
…
Meanwhile, Jon Snow is having another type of problem.
And that's because Ugin does not fuck around when he gives a lesson.
"Concentrate, Young Snow. You have not been improving at all since our previous lesson." Said the Elder Dragon. "Your flame is unfocused. Your strength is poorly utilized. This mistake needs to be rectified as soon as possible, or it will cost you your life."
Jon turns silent. His mount is wide open. His eyes stare blankly at the elder dragon.
"Utilized. Rectified. Those are … err … Words." He said.
Ugin's eyes start to twitch. But considering how the boy was raised, he should not be surprised. "You don't understand what I just said do you?"
Jon nods.
"You need to work on your vocabulary, young Snow." Said the dragon as he materialized a thick tome out of thin air.
And purposely drop it on the boy's head as he asked "Vo-cab-u-lar-y?"
*WACK*
"This." Ugin points at the tome. "Is called a dictionary. Also known as Planeswalker guide to common vocabulary. This one might be outdated but you can use it the same. It would help you deal with a more …. Let's say sophisticated entities."
"I don't see how knowing more words would help us in a fight?" innocently asked Jon.
"It will help you not further aggravate them from reckless actions you and your mother always do." The dragon squints his eyes. "This lack of your knowledge included."
Jon soon finds himself caught a cold sweat. Moreover, he could actually see his hair stands straight up.
"I don't know what aggravate means, but the point is well taken, Lord Ugin."
"Good!" The dragon nods. "Now. Shall we correct your fire breathing …."
…. Planeswalker guide to common vocabulary, 276th edition ….
Aggravate [ag-ruh-veyt]
Verb (use with object), ag-gra-vat-ed, ag-gra-vat-ing
To make thing worse or more severe, intensify, as anything evil, disorderly, or troublesome.
Also, what planeswalkers usually do to any ordinary problems.
…
Three hours later, inside the resting chamber lies a boy. Bruised and beaten, Jon is glad he is resting on a cold hard bed of the sanctum once again.
The difference was that this time, in addition to soreness everywhere, there are third-degree burns. His outer layer of flesh and skin did not just char, it was totally evaporated. Of course, the damage was recoverable due to Vaevictis's heritage. The foolish boy should just treat it as a form of body tempering.
And no, Vaevictis Asmadi doesn't care for the boy's opinion. The boy should just man up and take it.
Like Poet Clarkson used to say: What doesn't kill you make you stronger.
Then again, Jon was not Vaevictis, no matter what the dragon's lie is. It hurts. LIKE A BITCH.
Then his mother walked in.
"JON!" she screams as she dashes toward the wounded boy. "What happened to you! Why are you in this state! How could you still alive! Are you in pain?"
As soon as her hands touch the burnt flesh, Jon recoils.
But the pain didn't come. If he could recall what Ugin told him about nerves, he would know that ghostfire had already burnt all the receptors away. Alas, he had no idea what half of those words mean. It would be a pain to explain to his mother what happened.
Well, pain is probably his middle name by now. Whatever those 'middle name' was, he wasn't sure. He had never heard of one in Westeros.
"Err. A lot of things. Ghost fire. I don't know either, but Ugin said something about my nerves. No, I don't feel anything." Jon replied.
"Nerves! You are telling me that Ugin burnt you so bad it fired all your receptors in the dermis layer. Perhaps short circuit your entire nervous system." Arlinn looks in horror. Her little pup is burnt so bad she can barely recognize him.
It is true that the wound would probably fully heal by the end of the week, but Arlinn prefers to deal with the present, not the future. That is just how she rolls.
"What the fuck wrong with that's old wyrm? This is not how one teaches a child." She mumbled.
'Your punches and kicks were not that much better, mother. If you could breathe fire, you would probably try to burn me as well.' Thought Jon. He knows better not to say it out. He's not an idoit.
He tried to keep up a straight face. It is hard when part of it is had been turned to ash.
Arlinn looks worried for about …. Few seconds. Then her expression changes as she seems to remember something important.
"Well, on the bright side, at least you will not feel so much pain when your lymphatic system treats your wounds. Unless those wounds are infected, then it would be a bitch to deal with. We need some wound dressing and let your draconic heritage deal with it. You might still get a phantom pain though." She spoke as she channeled some church's healing magic on his wound. It's not much but it's the thought that count.
Jon, on the other hand, is very disturbed.
What. The. Fuck. Is. Going. On.
Jon is so shocked he feels like his eyes are coming out of his socket. No. That was the effect of getting a tail slammed on the head.
He feels like his jaws are dislocating. No. That was the effect of overloading mana during his dragon roared.
He feels. Well, fuck it. A lot of questions start popping up in Jon's head, not many of them make any sense. Questions such as, 'What the fuck are you talking about?' And 'How the fuck did you get so knowledgeable about the human body.'
But he knows that his ass will be mercilessly beaten for swearing, if she was his mother, that is. So, he asks something a little bit cleverer instead.
"Who are you, and what had you done with my mother?" Jon asked.
The woman answers by slapping the back of his head. "What sort of question is that?"
Well. It is his mother that he knows and loves alright.
" ? Did they teach that in the church?" Jon answer the question with another question. As for the topic, he was not sure. A lot of words his mother spoke is somewhat intelligent. It is far beyond his reach anyway so he couldn't care less.
His mother laughs. Very loudly.
Some minute has passed yet she is still laughing. It's a surprise that she isn't in tears right now.
"HA! You think I learned all of that from the church! Do you really think they would include it along with prayers and how to torture heretics?" She continues.
"Then how …" Jon tries to ask but his mother cut him off.
"When you sleep around so much, you are bound to pick up something eventually." She nonchalantly said. "Sometimes you learn something new if you played your cards right that is."
WHAT!
"Don't worry, Jon. You will do the same when you are older, eventually." She adds. "See. When puberty hits you, you will feel the urge. You will do anything to keep your wolfspirit satisfied. I tried to pray it away, it didn't end well. Normally, it will end up in slaughter and blood orgy. Sometimes its normal orgy. Sometimes it's both."
Jon knows right then that the topic is about to go downhill, right into the gutter even. Worse still, he doesn't have enough strength to get out of this conversation.
"Come to think of it, we were on the way to meet him before we went hunting for Garruk." Arlinn bites her lips. "I thought of bringing you to him, but Geralf would probably end up stitching you an extra arm."
WHAT!
"But then again, Geralf is a germophobic perfectionist. You would probably get healed first before getting extra bits. Oh. Don't eat or drink anything he offers you when we visit him later. By the way, when we're there make sure you stay with me at all times. I'm quite sure Geralf swings both ways."
WHAT!
"You went silent for a bit. Hmm. That usually means you are thinking something. Something that you are not sure you should say." She looks right into his eyes. "Something that going to get your ass beat."
She is right. That was quite a truth bomb to drop. When his mother bound the wolfspirit to him, she didn't explain all the downsides. Well, maybe she did but he was too young to understand then. Reading between the lines was not a skill he had mastered, not even now.
Fuck. His future is bleak. It goes against everything he had been taught in Winterfell, but then again Winterfell is no longer his home. But what about his morals?
'A man who passes the sentence should swing the sword. If you would take a man's life, you owe it to him to look into his eyes and hears his final words. And if you cannot bear to do that, then perhaps the man does not deserve to die.' That's what Lord Stark used to say.
Could he really be a cold blood killer who would not shed a single tear to innocents that he killed? Or worse, a man whore. Actually, no. A whore gets paid.
Fuck.
"So, you are telling me ... That I will grow up being a murderous necromancer-fucking slut like you."
Oh, shit. He didn't intend to say it out loud.
Hearing that, Arlinn becomes silent. She set her arms straight and stretches her hands. The corner of her mouth lifts as her eyes gleam with power. Her aura surges with a ferocity he had never seen before except a fight to the death.
It was at this moment Jon knew he fucked up.
He tries to bolt but finds himself cannot move that fast. His mother's hand blurs as she snatches his unburnt ankle. The only thing that Jon can do to prevent his face slamming on the floor is to put his burnt limbs in between the two.
And that was much more painful than he thinks it should.
"Where do you think you are going? Hmm." Arlinn yanks his leg upward, making him stays upside down. "And how many times I have to tell you that those words are not appreciated here in this household."
"We live in either a barrow, or a den, or a cave!" Jon yells. He knows it's not much to lighten up the mood, but every little bit helps.
"Humor won't save you! Your discipline shall be rough and merciless." Countered his mother.
"I'm sorry!" Jon shakes his head.
"Too late!" Arlinn nods hers. Her palm fiercely comes down. Jon's defense would handle it from causing real damage, but it will still leave a mark.
*SLAP*
Jon yells but his cry fell on deaf ears, while his mother's grin gets wider and wider.
*SLAP*
The commotion attracts the other two human residents of the sanctum. When they hear the words that are being said, they decide to pop their heads through the door.
*SLAP*
When they see what is going on, they decide to pop back and try their best to forget what they had seen.
They might be batshit crazy, as Ugin had bestowed that title to them, but they are not that rude. Discipline one's child is a very private matter. The outsider should not be present, even those outsiders frequently share the parent's bed.
…
Many spankings later… That seems wrong, let's try again…. Many ass beatings later, Jon's burnt wound is not the reddest part of his body. A red palm-sized print on his left butt cheek is.
Due to some magic related reasons, the print would not fade anytime soon.
Why? Well, fuck him that's why.
Just as Arlinn Kord intended. Her pup would think twice before cursing again after this. At least he would when he is within her hearing range.
Only after the ruckus died down does Narset and Vol came in. They look at Arlinn and smile. Then they look at Jon and smile even wider.
"Is it done?" Asked Vol. "What seems to be the problem?"
"Poor child." Added Narset.
Hearing that makes Jon squirms. The pain was not that much but he could not feel his bottom anymore. Jon was not an attention-seeking child, but even he couldn't resist presenting himself to earn some extra pity points.
"He's swearing too much. He even called me a slut." Arlinn answered. "Broke my heart."
Jon wants to scream 'You do not!' but he doesn't want more spanking.
The two Tarkiarians look at each other. Their eyebrows raise in disbelief. Then they turn back to Arlinn and wait. And wait. And wait.
But there is nothing more to add. It makes the two look at her as if she grew an extra arm.
"That's it?" Asked Narset.
"The brat is not wrong." Vol jolly adds.
"Well. Actually …" Arlinn pauses, which raises the two Tarkiarians suspicion even more. "I just wanted to hit him a couple of times, you know, to get the point across. Then I found that he got turned on by it. So, I decided to beat the devil out of him."
Two pairs of eyes widened after hearing the explanation. Their owners' attitude shifts 180 degrees as they see Jon in a new light.
"Fair enough." The two Tarkiarians nod. "Quite kinky, if I had to say so myself."
"You promise not telling anyone!" Jon bellows. "And how is that fair?"
Alas, the adults totally ignore him.
"While I could see the fun for you to spank the brat, but won't this cause him problems in the future?" Said Vol as he pulls Narset by her waist. The former monk does not even resist the pull and giggle. She seems to share the same wavelength.
Strange. Since when did those two get so in sync.
"Vol is right, you know. How will our little Jon do when girls see your palm print on his bottom in the future? He would be embarrassed and probably fail to court them." Added Narset.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA …." Jon tries to drown the room with noise, but his mother puts her fist in his mouth. She does it so nonchalantly and doesn't even care whether he would bite. "MFFFFF…."
Jon just knows there will be much more ass beating in the near future if he did.
"Ha! What would you two know? I could name two girls who would enjoy spanking my little pup!" Arlinn proudly claims. "And do you know what the best thing is? They are not on the same plane!"
Arlinn also laughs far louder than she should.
Jon struggles harder but to no avail. His mother's hold is too tight.
"Oh my. That was unexpected." Said giggling Narset. "Naughty little boy."
"Indeed. So that is his type, heh?" Said Vol. "What a player."
FUCK.
…
It took Jon about one week of recuperation for his wound to be healed. Well, heal might be the wrong word to use. Perhaps 'progressing from totally fucked into still fucked but more pleasing to the eyes' is more accurate.
Anyway, it took him a week before his 'family' see fit for him to be trained again, albeit this time with no sort of fire involved. What used to be a charred flesh and perpetually incinerated is now …. Black. Just black.
At least it was not burning anymore.
That should make him happy but it's not.
He doesn't even feel pain. He had never felt better in his life. That's because Vaevictis Asmadi is a sadistic bastard, and his awakened blood runs deep in Jon's vein.
Lately, he had been losing sleep, thinking about how he could be.
Living as a bastard son of Ned Stark in Winterfell sounds more and more terrible as the time pass.
He saw life as a swinging vine. Swing his heart across the line. In his face was a flashing sign. He feels that if he seeks it out then he shall find. He's old but not that old. He's young, but not that bold. And he doesn't think that the world is sold. He's just doing what he was told.
Why he feels something so right doing the wrong thing? Why he feels something so wrong doing the right thing?
He could lie?
To quote the codex of Counting Stars 'Everything that kills me makes me feel alive'
It is a bit vague but that feeling keeps drawing his attention away. There is something that awakened after his experience with ghostfire. Thoughts keep popping up in his head, but he wasn't sure that it was his. The sound of it was unlike that of Vaevictis when the damn dragon decides it's worth to converse with him. No. The sound was his.
It was like he is turning mad, but he knows he isn't.
On the 'That's messed up' scale from what he had experienced so far, it is a solid 6 out of 10.
That was what irritates him this morning.
He finds it extremely hard to focus on his light exercise when his mind is being pulled in three different directions. No. Four.
The adults are at it again. Their absurd conversation that would aggravate Ugin is on. His mother takes the helm, actually.
He knows he should treat it as wind and air, but he couldn't bring himself to. The topic is too interesting not to listen.
…
Arlinn is happy.
Her son is doing well. Again. Common sense tells her that she should not let Jon get hurts as often as he did, but every time her pup was gravely wounded, he came back stronger.
So, fuck common sense. They are planeswalkers. Common sense does not apply to them.
Seeing him now, Arlinn feels proud. His partially blacken skin looks weird but it is not so bad. Besides, he already got girls who probably don't care about it, perhaps even get turned on by it.
Sort of.
Just a week after getting cooked alive and her pup is already up and kicking. His draconic heritage is unbelievable. She is sure about it. That level of a healing factor does not come from wolfspirit. Well. Dragons breathes fire so that should be a thing, so they should not be bothered about getting burn.
So here she is. Sitting on a side bench watching Jon twirling his spear while doing acrobatic.
That's not a euphemism. He really did practice his spearmanship.
Since Narset suggests everyone else be on standby in case Jon has some accident, so all three of them just sit there and watch.
And watch.
And watch.
Her son is doing fine so they got nothing to do. It's boring.
"So. What made the old wrym so tense anyway? Well. I know he is an elder dragon with an 'I know about everything more than you attitude', but this time he seems more …. Him than usual" With her legs kicking, she mimicked the elder dragon tone. "I swear that dragon just needs to get laid!"
"While I agree that sex is a great stress-relieving activity, must everything need to be related to it, Arlinn?" Asked Narset who sipping a cocktail made from tomato and well whatever Atarka put in their drinks. She picked that up from her last trip to Ravnica.
Truth be told a Rakdos's Bloody Mary is much darker in color and stronger in taste. She still has not figured out their secret.
For her sake, she better never will.
"Besides" Vol added. "Ugin created dragons on Tarkir via the vortex. I don't think his physiology is the same as us."
"So. You're telling me Ugin is a virgin?" Asked Arlinn.
Silence follows.
Awkward silence.
It is so quiet that they can hear Jon's movement. Until a lovely monk breaks it.
"Technically? Yes." Answered Narset. "Can we not discuss this. Please. I don't want to face ghost fire again."
The silence continues some more.
Time passes. Jon continues to train. The adults watch.
"Vol can you …" Arlinn smirks. The other two adults know it means only one thing. Trouble.
"No." Vol interrupts. "Whatever scheme you cooked up; the answer is no. I had enough of Ugin's ire for a year."
"Come on. You have yet to hear my idea." She punches the dragon man. "This one is brilliant."
"You said the same the last time too." Her hand is smacked by the monk. "And now Ugin's eyes are on us more than ever. I don't mean the last time was bad but … maybe we should lay those off for a while."
Then Arlinn stands up with her hands on her hips. She then points at Vol. "And that's why we need to distract that old wrym. Vol, you once traveled the multiverse in search of dragons, right? So, you must know some dragoness to introduce to Ugin. And let nature do its course."
Vol seems amused and afraid at the same time. "So, you want me to be a wingman? Hmmm. I think Lathliss had no partner for a few decades now. … wait. No!" he shakes his head. "No. No. No. I don't want to get burned again."
"Besides," Narset added. "Ugin had Eldrazi to worry about."
"Eldrazi?" Arlinn looks at the monk with confused eyes. "What's Eldrazi?"
…. Planeswalker guide to common vocabulary, 276th edition ….
Eldrazi [El-dra-zi]
*Error* [Classified]
*Error* [Level 5 restricted knowledge]
*Error* [Authority not recognized]
*Error* [Accesses Denied]
Contract [Omitted] on [Retracted] for more information.
…
As their conversation is going on, they detect the rupture of space. Air stops flowing. Light stops reflecting. Cold and darkness ensue.
And out of the darkness come to its prince. The ancient vampire. Lord of Innistrad. The Bloodlord. And many, many more titles.
His voice silences everything else. "Eldrazi are being of blind eternities exist only to destroy. They are a threat to everything in the multiverse. We once trapped them on Zendikar but now the seal is cracking. This would be enough problem had you not fucked up on your assignment on Innistrad."
"Sorin."
"Don't 'Sorin' me, Kord. You had one job. ONE SIMPLE JOB! Instead, you picked up a fight with another planeswalker and almost get my servant killed. What say you?"
…
Custom Card of the Chapter
Name: The Reckless Sparks
Mana Cost: GWUR
Types: Legendary Planeswalker – Arlinn Narset Sarkhan
Card Text:
+2 The Reckless Sparks deals 3 damage to any target. Scry 1. Draw a card.
-3 Target creature you control deals damage equal to its power to target creature you don't control. Excess damage is dealt to that creature's controller instead.
-7 You get an emblem with "At the beginning of your end step, create a 2/2 green wolf creature token with trample, a 2/2 white and blue monk creature token with hexproof, and a 4/4 red dragon creature token with flying."
Loyalty: 4
Rarity: Mythic Rare
