Chapter 2

-Essos, 270AC-

Pentos was a beautiful city that was decorated by lavish mansions, paved streets, and startling designed fountains, people walked or rode through the city wearing all manners of colorful clothing, from the elaborate robes of a rich magister, the scant clothing of a prostitute to the rags of a slave, it offered goods, services, and experiences that attract people from all over to visit or do business in the city.

To one freshly arrived Northman and his six Direwolves Pentos was nothing more than a very annoying, and dangerous city.

Eddard had been in Pentos for a month and from the second day he landed he has had to be killing people that kept attacking him, he had left one alive a few minutes to interrogate as to why they were attacking him and found out that a few of the magisters wanted his Direwolves for themselves, and had put out a bounty for his head.

Eddard was beyond pissed when he heard this so he feed the man to Silverfang who was just as pissed as him.

This made it hard for him to find work or lodging in the city which forced him to camp outside its walls at night, he at least was able to rent a small blacksmith workshop so he could make weapons from all the bounty hunters he killed that came after him, he couldn't sell the blades himself and had to share profits with the blacksmith that he had rented the workshop from so that the man would sell them for him.

Eddard wasn't in a rush to leave Pentos as he didn't know Essos like he knew the North so he was having a few maps made for his use before he went anywhere else in Essos.

Eddard walked into an inn near sunset with a dark cloak bidding his identity, he moved through the patrons without bumping into anyone as he reached the bar where the blacksmith he was unwillingly working with sat drinking some ale.

"Gill," Eddard said as he sat beside the blacksmith.

"Eddard," Gill said while shuffling around nervously, drawing Eddard's gaze.

Gill was a muscular man like many blacksmiths and had a head of black hair, he was a foul-mouthed asshole who was more brave than smart so the fear Eddard could smell from him was curious.

"Do you have my gold, Gill?" Eddard asked coldly making the man flinch as if struck.

"Ah, yeah about that something has come up, and I don't have it," Gill said weakly and the smell of fear was getting stronger as he gazed at someone over Eddard's shoulder.

"Fine, goodbye Gill and hope we don't meet again," Eddard said darkly as his anger pulsed beneath his skin, at what Gill had done.

Eddard could smell the newcomers that weren't in the city in the last few days, they smelled of blood, leather, and steel which probably made them more bounty hunters after his head.

Eddard turned away from Gill and quickly assessed the situation; there were four by the entrance, two at the back, six sitting in the corner, and finally five sitting on the upper floor.

Most of these men wore the same thing; black armor with a skeletal design on the armor in grey, they all had daggers and shortswords as their weapons of choice which is smart given the crowded inn.

The five sitting on the second floor were probably the ones in charge of this group, they were all men and the armor they wore was of a similar design, but it was of a much higher quality than the average fighter in their group, one had two shortswords strapped to his back along with two daggers on his hips, he was around Eddard's height but had fewer muscles, he had tanned skin, brown hair, black eyes and an arrogant smirk on his face.

The one directly beside him had a single longsword and dagger, he had blond hair, green eyes, a handsome face aside from a scar on his cheek, and light skin he was the same height as the first man with a more muscular build.

The smallest of the group had short black hair, brown eyes, dark skin, and an expressionless face, he had no visible weapons but every instinct Eddard had warned him that he had the most weapons out of everyone at that table.

The largest of the group had a bald head with various tribal tattoos on it, he had dark brown eyes, and an angry scowl on his face, he was seven feet tall and covered by bulging muscles, he had a large warhammer strapped to his back.

The final person at the table was a tall man standing around six foot six inches, with a large muscular build, medium-length grey hair, pale grey eyes, and a charming smile on his face, his armor was of a higher quality than the other four men sitting around him and his broadsword looked very high-quality as well, this man gave off a feeling of power and authority that made Eddard more cautious of him than all the other men combined.

There was something else to the Old man and it took Eddard a few more moments than he would have liked to realize what it was; the Old man had magic and it was slightly stronger than his own.

This changed things significantly for Eddard, he was hoping to use his magic as his hidden trump card when things went bad, but going by the knowing smile on the Old man's face that won't happen.

"Well there is no point in hiding it now," Eddard thought to himself.

Gill was going to get up to slip out of the inn when Eddard grabbed him by the back of his neck and in a surprising feat of strength Eddard snapped Gill's neck.

The sound of a neck being snapped silenced the inn and drew all eyes to Eddard, he took everything he could from Gill before he turned him into ice only to shatter him into hundreds of pieces with a simple tightening of his grip.

Eddard maintained eye contact with the five men on the second floor; the bald one had a smirk and an eager look in his eyes, the dark-skinned man narrowed his eyes dangerously, the blonde one had a concerned frown on his face, the brown-haired man with the two shortswords lost his arrogant smirk and had a hateful look in his eyes, the Old man was the most surprising as he had a look of intrigue and approval in his eyes.

A moment after the last of Gill fell on the floor pandemonium erupted in the Inn, people were shouting, screaming, cursing, or praying to their gods, they were all rushing to the exits uncaring of whoever they hurt in their rush to get to safety.

Eddard disappears into the crowd and moved with it towards the entrance, as he got closer to the exit the four at the entrance saw him so without hesitation Eddard threw his large cloak at them, it obstructed their sight of him for but a moment which cost them dearly, four wintersteel daggers tore through his cloak and found their target in the four men's throats guaranteeing their death.

It also revealed Eddard to the others looking for him, and Eddard's instincts flared a warning which he heeded by swiftly dragging two unsuspecting people, who he used as a shield against the four daggers that pierced their bodies. Eddard caught a glimpse of the short dark-skinned man with several daggers in his hands, which means he was the attacker, Eddard took one of the daggers out of his meat shield and then dived behind the counter of the bar.

Eddard heard a sharp intake of breath and turned to see the barman looking at him in a mixture of fear and hate as he was the cause of all this, Eddard had no time to entertain any of the thoughts going through the barman's head so with a swift stroke Eddard slit the barman's throat effectively removing him from the equation.

"I know I am pretty face but why are you trying to kill me? I don't think you guys are that hard up for gold based on your high-quality armor and weapons," Eddard shouts to the men while balancing the dagger the short dark-skinned man threw, it was good-quality steel and was perfectly balanced, and given that the man had dozens more it must be expensive to maintain.

"You are right, we don't need the money but I find myself wanting some Direwolf pelts," a charming voice said with authority and Eddard just knew it was the Old man even if he couldn't see him talking. "I have sent a few of my men to find your camp outside the city walls so all I have to do is stall you while men kill those Direwolves of yours." There was a dark tone in the Old man's voice as he finished.

Eddard froze as images of Silverfang, Midnight, Shadow, and the others being killed for nothing more than their pelts made his blood run cold with dread, the feeling of dread was soon replaced with ice-cold rage that turned his blood to ice, he lost a family once before and he had no intention of letting it happen again.

The temperature in the inn suddenly dropped making everyone tremble from the sudden cold temperature, their breath was now visible for all to see.

"You made a mistake doing that," Eddard said in a cold dark voice.

All the fires in the inn suddenly died shrouding everything in darkness, there was a sudden flash of icy-blue energy followed by a spear made of ice going directly at the Old man.

In an almost impossible physical feat, the Old man rose from his seat and shattered the ice spear with a single swing of his broadsword that was made of valyrian steel.

There was the sound of bones being broken and fabric being torn which was followed by the growls of a beast, there was no light in the inn so nobody could see what was making those noises.

The Old man narrowed his eyes as he felt the magic coming from Eddard suddenly shift from frigid ice to something more animalistic in nature.

"I had my men watch him for weeks before I made a move like this, he was only supposed to have ice magic and the magic he used in the blades he created," the Old man thought as he signaled his men to be on guard.

The Old man name Ulric was a very talented bounty hunter who has been doing this job for the last five decades, he made an elite group of bounty hunters under his leadership and has enjoyed success more than failure from his targets.

The money the magisters had put on that Eddard Stark's head was substantial but not enough for Ulric to invest his time or people on, but when he heard of the Direwolves he got interested for Direwolves were some of the beasts that naturally represent or house certain aspects of magic and if this boy young man had six of them he must have magic as well.

Ulric had an obsessive hunger for magic in all forms, he was a young boy when a sorcerer had used magic on him to make him a more powerful killing tool for him but Ulric turned the tables on the sorcerer killing him, it was the first time he had got a taste of someone else's magic and he has chased that high his whole life.

The magic that gave him his strength also burns through his body slowly killing him, by all rights Ulric should have died years ago and only the magic that remains inside him was what kept him alive, the magic in Essos has become very weak bordering on non-existent and that made very slim pickings for Ulric on harvesting magic.

Eddard was like a large banquet hall full of food compared to most magic users in Essos and Ulric was a man who hasn't eaten in years, and the more power that Eddard showed the more Ulric wanted him.

"You know you can't win, just come quietly and I won't kill you, hell I may even spare your Direwolves," Ulric said with a smirk, and with a flick of his wrist all the flames in the inn roared back to life.

The eight men that were down on the first floor moved towards the bar which was where Ulric last sensed Eddard's magic coming from.

"Jax, when he comes out introduce him to your blades but don't kill him," Ulric said to the short dark-skinned man.

Jax just nodded in agreement.

There was an inhuman growl then the body of the barman was flung with astonishing strength straight at Jax which forced him to dodge out of the way, his daggers could never stop the body from being thrown at him.

The sound of screaming from the men on the first floor drew the attention of the men on the second floor and they were horrified by what they found.

Standing in the middle of the bar was a beast none of them has seen before; it stood well over twelve feet tall, and it was covered in fur of the purest black that made it seem ethereal as the light from the fires seem to be absorbed into the dark fur, its eyes were large shimmering silver-grey orbs surrounded by darkness, it's body was made out of powerful bulging muscles that are bearly contained by the fur, it's mouth opened releasing frigid air from between its jaws that were decorated with endless rows of razor-sharp fangs longer than a man's arm and shining like the purest ivory, long limbs made of powerful muscles with palms the size of a grown man's upper body with razor-sharp ivory claws.

It looked like a massive bipedal Direwolf monster, but the unique silver-grey eyes made them all aware that that monster was Eddard Stark.

Surrounding him were all the men that they had on the first floor, they were all ripped apart including their armor which gave them an idea of the power that Eddard had in this form.

The massive bipedal Direwolf monster bent his knees as if he was going to lunge after them on the second floor which made them all draw their blade, making sure they were ready for him but that was not what happened.

The bipedal Direwolf monster lunged forward but not at the men, he slammed into the wooden pillars holding up the second floor and obliterated the wooden beam upon contact, he didn't stop until it all came crashing down with the men caught in the fall.

Ulric and the others didn't expect that and thus were slow to react, and as the support beans got torn away they lost their footing hindering them further which made it almost impossible for them to jump off the second floor as it collapsed with them, only Jax the one closest to the edge was able to jump off and Ulric wished he hadn't because the moment he did, the monster was there with its massive jaws open and the moment they snapped shut the fangs tore Jax in two sending blood flying everywhere.

Eddard was not an idiot, he knew that even with the collapse of the second floor none of them were dead aside from the one that jumped out leaving himself vulnerable to attack, Eddard is much stronger in this form than his human one but it cost him a lot more stamina, and magic to maintain so he rarely uses it for it leaves too weak after he changes back.

He has to end them now, no matter what he has to do to accomplish it.

Eddard grabbed a few barrels of rum or ale it didn't matter to him then he threw them directly where he could smell the other men from, he was rewarded with the sound of one of the barrels cracking a skull which made him grin a savage smile.

He then grabbed a lantern and threw it on all the spilled alcohol, in mere moments the inn was ablaze with fire spreading everywhere, the entrance and the back door were slowly being consumed by the flames.

Eddard grabbed a few more barrels of rum adding them to the inferno around him, he could feel the heat of the flames and knew he should leave the inn before he gets trapped in the blaze.

Eddard did not move, or better yet he couldn't move, he knew if he didn't kill that Old man he would be hunted his entire life by him, Eddard could smell the hunger, the obsession, the greed coming off that Old man.

Ulric burst out of the flames with a savage smile on his face, his armor was melted in places and his flesh was burning, but none of that matters to him at the moment, all that mattered to him is feasting on that magic that flows through Eddard's veins.

Ulric had to sacrifice his other men to heal his own wounds from the fire but that was always their purpose so he didn't hesitate to kill them for his own sake, he will need every advantage if he was going to kill this monster.

The snarls of a monstrous Direwolf and the shouts of a man could be heard through the inferno as they fought with the sole intent of killing the other, ivory claws flash through the flames tearing armor, flesh, and bone from Ulric as his valyrian steel blade slices through fur, flesh, and steel-like muscles, back and forth they went with no signs of stopping even as everything burns around them, and the thick smoke makes it hard to see or drawn a breath.

Ultimately though, age won the day as Eddard's young body could handle the strain easier than Ulric's aged body, the smoke from the fires was too much for his old lungs and it caused him to halt in his attacks which cost him his life as ivory claws skewered him before his body was ripped apart sending blood, bones, and organs everywhere.

Eddard was beyond exhausted as he moved through the fire and had only paused for a split-second to take up the valyrian steel broadsword of the man that almost killed him.

He broke through the back door as the inn burns behind him and ran off into the night heading back to his camp.

When Eddard reached his camp he saw that his Direwolves had slaughtered the two dozen men that were sent after them, he promptly passed out with relief.

Eddard woke up a few days later with Midnight, Shadow, and Shade at his side, his wounds have already healed from the fight so all he really needed at the moment was some food and water after being asleep so long, he looked around the campsite as he made some food for himself, all the dead bodies were gone which meant that the Direwolves buried the bodies which was good because he didn't feel up to digging graves.

After he ate Eddard went to the river to wash himself before coming back to the campsite, Silverfang, Skrull, and Shard were lounging around when Eddard came back and it warmed his heart to see that his family is okay.

Eddard spent the following days recovering and making plans to deal with all the people wanting his head, when Eddard had snuck back into the city he found out that people had seen his transformed state and the bounty on his head was quadrupled, and instead of a few magisters after him this new bounty was fully endorsed by the entire city of Pentos.

Eddard could not depend on anything he had originally set in motion in the city to still hold water anymore, he was now public enemy number one in Pentos and he needed a solution fast.

Money or weapons won't change things for the city of Pentos has infinitely more than him, which left only one option, Magic.

So he searched through the ancient tomes for an answer and he found one after several days of searching while constantly moving his camp so that people don't find him.

The answer was the Blood Oath; this was a ritual that men used to do in the Age of Heroes to pledge themselves to their lords or kings, the men would cut their palms with a bronze dagger and offers the blood to a Weirwood tree as they recite their pledge to their ruler in the presence of the Old Gods.

The specific method of the Blood Oath that Eddard was after was the part that only applies to those that had magic in their blood, these lords would offer a drink spiked with their blood and when the pledge was made the magic in the blood would bind the men to the oath they made rendering them unable to ever betray the Lord.

Now, Eddard had powerful magic and he knows how to craft a spell based off this Blood Oath to serve his needs, using the spell he had crafted he wouldn't need an oath to get their subservience just needed them to drink his blood and then he would mold their minds with his magic, the only issue was who he was going to use it on initially.

Ideally he would want to use it on the upper class, the people who ran Pentos but that was unlikely to happen given that everyone was looking for him now, so the leadership of the city was out of reach for the moment.

The average citizen would be much easier to get to under his control but they were didn't have the power that he needed on their own, plus the moment they all started to act differently all of a sudden; right now the average citizen in Pentos were afraid of him and are constantly on guard for anything out of the ordinary, which are not the type of mental state that suits the spell well.

This left him with the largest and most docile group of individuals in Pentos; the slaves.

For every single free citizen of Pentos there is at least two dozen slaves, the slaves do most of the tasks required for the city to run outside of direct administrative duties, they raise the children, cook the meals, pour the nobles wine, warm their beds, wash their clothes, guard their person and wealth, clean their streets and sewers, the slaves were everywhere and are mostly ignored unless called upon.

The slaves are forced into this life or they are born into it, but one thing remains clear and that is the fact that they are made to follow orders without question, which makes them the easiest to influence with his magic.

Their is a garrison of around four thousand Unsullied that was there to protect the city from any surprise attacks from the Dothraki horselords, Eddard had plans for them specifically as they had have their identities and wills broken only leaving weapons that only existed to serve their masters.

With a plan now in place Eddard got started.