Chapter 7
Last Time:
Lady Stark was staring at Tamo in a sort of fascinated horror and her husband was rising to his feet as the Stark children looked on.
"Look north, children of the first men. The cold wind blows and the ancient foe waxes…I see a great host shambling south."
Before anyone could speak, Tamo swayed on her feet and collapsed to be caught by a shocked Brynden Tully.
oOoOo
Lord Eddard Stark had been mulling over the words spoken in his great hall to the point that he was obsessing. He paced outside the room set aside for their guest as she recovered, drawing concerned looks from his wife, Maester and children.
Luwin had examined her and found that the woman was simply exhausted and likely just required rest.
"What do you make of all this Luwin?" Eddard asked quietly.
Luwin shook his head slowly, "I know not, my Lord. I have spoken with Cat. She claims that it is not unknown for a seer to be exhausted after a vision. Mistress Cat is quite worried about Tamo and has confessed that she had no inkling that anything would happen. While I am no expert on her abilities, I do know that the true seers of the East are renowned for their accuracy. If indeed it was a true vision."
"You think it not?" Catelyn asked in a worried tone.
"I fear it might be true, I'd rather it was not," replied Luwin.
"But what could it be about, the wildlings?" Brynden asked sounding perplexed.
"Perhaps," admitted Eddard, sounding unconvinced.
Luwin looked pensive as his wrinkled hand rubbed his chin. "I have little liking for the message myself, my Lord. But we can do nothing until we glean its meaning. I had thought magic gone from these lands but this…this was no mummery. I will confess that it chills me and despite my mistrust of magic I fear that it was indeed a true vision."
Eddard sighed and looked toward the door and lowered his voice so that none but those in the room could hear. "I will speak to Lady Tamo on the morrow and send a raven to the Lord Commander. If there is trouble beyond the wall it is the Night's Watch that will see it first."
"I think that is a wise course," said Catelyn who still looked off-balance and worried.
oOoOo
The Many-Faced-God never slept, at least in a metaphorical sense. And with the Great Other making another attempt to usurp the world from the Gods that now held primacy…it would be folly for him to set aside his self-assigned quest to disrupt his enemy's plans.
"You set a dangerous course brother," said an oddly accented voice beside him.
Turning in surprise he spotted what appeared to be a young girl by his side. The girl was pale, and her hair was so silver it looked white, but it was her eyes that caught his gaze. They were silver and reptilian.
"Liaxes," he said coldly. "Why are you here?"
"Watching you, Brother," the smaller figure replied. Her voice was not even remotely human sounding with odd resonances. "Your self-appointed quest interests me."
"I find that unlikely given that you are rarely concerned with the western lands," he replied fixing his gaze on Liaxes. "Your worshippers never lived in these lands, and you have long abandoned the surviving Valyrian peoples."
Liaxes shrugged, "Valyarian blood ruled these lands for centuries and despite their abandonment of their gods there is still Valyarian blood in their veins of some folk and thus they are under my purview. "
The Many-Faced-God shrugged dismissively and turned back to studying the icy vista. The Outsider, known variously throughout the years as the Great Other, the Blackness and the Whisperer had dropped from sight. Which was odd given the setbacks he had suffered. He knew well that it had little regard for its tools. Save for how they may advance its own nihilistic goals. But it needed those tools to do its bidding because it could not physically interact with matter on this plane. Unlike the gods attached to this plane, it lacked a connection to the world. It had used the bitter and desperate Children of the Forest and it used the creatures of Ice, the deadly creatures of the void. It played on old hatreds and fears. It manipulated friends to become bitter enemies and foes allies. And yet, when its plans began to reach a critical point…it disappeared from even the sight of the gods.
"If you are looking for the Whisperer, he has vanished from sight," Liaxes added with almost mocking helpfulness.
"A fact I am aware of," replied the Many-Faced-God.
"Would you like to know where your quarry has fled to?" She asked.
He turned to look at the smug childlike figure. "What do you know?"
Liaxes looked up at him, "I wish to make a pact…I help you and you help me retain the remaining bloodline of the Targaryens."
"In many of the futures that I have seen she helps break the world," He replied coldly.
Liaxes nodded sadly, "In that possible future, yes," She shook her head at his expression. "Do not look so shocked brother. I too can walk the probabilities. Your Darkheart will help avoid that path, but I fear it will not be enough. Let me have the girl, she can be saved and moulded."
He shook his head, "No, in her madness she helped destroy the world."
Liaxes didn't relent and her eyes remained locked onto his, "She can be saved. Loss drove her to madness and that can be avoided. The savage ruined her and that can be avoided. Dragons need to return but not as weapons of conquest. They will be needed."
He wanted to disagree, but the dragons would be needed. "I will oppose a return to the ways of the Freehold."
Liaxes frowned, "I never imposed…"
"But you never had your worshippers decry it either," he interrupted coldly. "Only I ever moved against those ancient injustices. You and the others…"
"The others have gone," Liaxes replied with a hunt of sadness in her odd voice.
The Many-Faced-God looked at her incredulously, "What?"
"Look for yourself, Brother," she suggested.
He frowned and then closed his eyes, extending his senses into the realm of the Gods. He had been searching wholly for his enemy and had not…there was nothing. Not even the faintest echo.
"What has happened?" he demanded, shocked beyond imagining.
Liaxes shrugged, "They turned from remembrance and distant hope to despair. In the end, Balreth opened a portal to the unknown realm and the others walked through."
"How did I not know of this?"
"You walked away, Brother." Liaxes made a dismissive gesture. "I understand why…not that I fully agree, but I understand."
"What do you know?"
The goddess shook her head, "Help me and I will tell all."
That gave him pause. Liaxes was not a deceitful being. Cunning but not deceitful. In the Valyrian Freehold, she had been worshipped as the Goddess of Children and the Patron of those that Teach. But, like all the Valyrian Gods she had faded well before the destruction of the Freehold. The majority of the Valyarian people were secular and saw even their Gods as little more than another way to manipulate their people and control their vast slave workforce. There had, of course, been exceptions and enough believers remained to keep their beliefs alive in at least a ceremonial sense.
She had been among the triad of gods that were worshipped as the divine custodians of draconic lore.
"If," he began speaking carefully, "I was to help you, I must first know what it is you seek from the girl."
Liaxes studied him for a moment and then nodded, "We need dragons, she is the last key to that bloodline."
He hid a smile. She was not the last. Thanks to some of his personal meddling, Darkheart as well as Jon Snow bore the blood of Dragonlords. Better yet, both were free of the inbreeding that led to the Mad King. His concern was the world of men. Last time the Great Other suborned a dragon which cancelled out their effectiveness. This time the Dragons would need to be used more effectively, in concert with the strength of men. Tamo had the abilities and more importantly, the skill to see to Daenerys Targaryen's safety. He would ensure no repeat of the Mad Queen…would Liaxes and her plans disrupt his or strengthen them? He thought for a moment and then decided.
"Have you been watching events?" He asked.
"I have, she served you well before," replied Liaxes in a neutral tone.
"Tamo aided her, and I rescued her, bringing her into this world. As a repayment of that service, she is tasked with the death of Viserys Targaryen and Aegon Blackfyre. She will also see Daenerys safe until she is trained and needed."
The Goddess frowned, "I have seen her kind before, they are tricksters. Can we trust her?"
He shrugged, "She is…interested in Darkheart, and she gave her vow."
Liaxes shrugged taking his word for it. She had other concerns, larger than a fox spirit. "You truly have two with the blood of the line of Dragonlords!"
"Darkheart was never a rider, but I used one of my disciples as the model for her new form. Aveyra was a good woman, and she had the blood. That makes two."
Her look of excitement changed to concern. "Wait, what of Viserys? Brother, Viserys must live. His seed is needed."
"He is mad," he said flatly. "He sits in Pentos considering raping his sister even as he plans to sell her for an army."
Laixes winced, "Still though…"
"There is another." He reminded her.
"Who?" She demanded.
"Look at the Snow boy," He suggested.
Liaxes was quite for a moment and then grimaced, "The pact of Fire and Ice."
"Indeed," he said softly as he watched Liaxes carefully. She might not be deceitful, but she was not above trying to get her own way. "He will grow into a good man."
"A good man at the wall…His blood is needed, he cannot go to the wall," Liaxes argued passionately.
He slowly nodded, "Very well, you do realise that the Westerosi despise slavery?"
Liaxes made a face at him and rolled her eyes, "Brother, I was never for slavery…and yes, I know that I should have done more. Daenerys Targaryen was certainly against it in what I saw of that future."
That was something he could not argue with. "Very well, and where is our enemy?"
"Essos, he hides among the shadows of the city of night. I am not sure of the details but that is where his trail disappeared."
"Thank you…sister."
oOoOo
Stygai – The City of Night - Shadow Lands of eastern Essos.
The Many-Faced-God had little liking for this place. It was accursed in the most literal meaning of the word. Dark magics cast millennia before the fall of Valyria tainted the very stones around the broken decaying city. It was wrapped in shadows and near-constant darkness thanks to the surrounding peaks as much as the evil of the place itself.
Nothing lived here for long. Animals avoided it, humans shunned it and even plants failed to take hold in the dead soil.
And yet there was a presence here…a feeling of being watched.
He used his powers to travel to the vast temple of the Shadows. A building near the centre of the ruins. It had once been the centre of worship of the Goddess Velose, the 'mother' of the darker magics. Both Shadow and Blood Magic had their roots in her dark temple. The temple was at the heart of the corruption that had killed Stygai. It was not however the cause of it.
He passed through the still active defences of the temple. They had been erected by other sects, now lost to time, who had sort to contain the madness. They had only partially succeeded. Their wards barred entry to mortals but could do little to deter the worst of Velose's children. Here his divine senses were diminished and had his enemy hidden here it would have been difficult to locate.
And there below him was the breeding pit.
The centre of the horror, a place where nightmares were made.
Here he lit a brand, he had to rely on little more than human senses. Velose's warping magics still held sway here and he had no desire to risk catastrophe in trying to undo her dark sorcery. So he ventured downward in the sickly flickering light.
Then he saw a dark shape in the centre of the black stone floor.
He hurried forward and found a body.
She was female and her face was beautiful, even in death. Pale silver hair and purple eyes stared sightlessly at him. Her torso and abdomen were torn apart and she lay in a pool of dried blood. Death held no fear for him, but this was not about death. Something terrible had happened here…recently by the lack of decomposition.
He squatted to look more closely at the corpse. It was difficult to tell what had happened, but it looked as if something had burst out of the woman. There was a silver coin in the woman's clenched hand. He gently pried it open and studied it. With a sigh, he stood and gently picked up the broken body, unmindful of the blood and gore.
An hour later he stood by the banks of the river of Ash and waited.
When the one he had called arrived, it was without fanfare. One moment he was alone, the next a figure stood opposite him.
"Pantera," he said in greeting along with a polite nod.
The Cat Goddess of Lys was very beautiful, but it was an inhuman beauty. She was nude save for a cloak and her body was covered in golden fur. Her face was beautiful, despite its cat-like eyes and ears.
She ignored him and looked at the body lying at his feet.
"She is one of mine," Pantera stated firmly. "How did she come to die in this place?"
He shook his head, "I do not know. She was in the temple of Velose."
Pantera flinched, "Surely not!"
"She was as you see her when I arrived. I was hunting the Great Other and Liaxes suggested that he had hidden away here," he explained.
"You know what this is, Lord of Death?"
"I fear that I might be correct," he replied quietly.
Pantera gestured and the horrific wound closed, and the dead woman was whole again. "Then she must tell us. Do I have your permission?"
He found himself frowning, even though he had suspected that she would ask this of him.
Pantera's expression did not change, "I understand your…concern. But we must know. Aeryll was devout enough that I can see her past…but not her death. If the Great Other has done this, we must know why. Aeryll can tell us that."
He was still frowning as he nodded. "Very well."
He called on his power and after a moment the corpse took a shuddering breath.
The woman, Aeryll, opened her mouth to scream and then Pantera touched her arm, and her eyes grew wide. "My Lady!"
Pantera lifted Aeryll to her feet and embraced her. "You are safe now, Aeryll of Lys."
The young woman sobbed and shook as Pantera stroked her back. Eventually, she calmed down and agreed to share her story.
She had been a freeborn servant of a noblewoman of Lys. The older woman liked her, and she enjoyed working in a wealthy household. She had been shopping for her mistress, buying rare fruits and herbs, when she had been struck.
She had then woken on a ship. She had been kept comfortable but watched constantly. Eventually, she had been taken to a tower in what she assumed, from what she had seen was Asshai. There she was confined, again with no explanation until a man had come. He had worn a mark of red wood and he had told her she had been chosen.
Aeryll broke down at this point and wept for several long minutes as her goddess comforted her.
Her story grew darker as she continued. She was chosen and her part was to bear a child. From that moment she was forced to drink odd-tasting potions and had been forced to sleep with several men, sometimes hourly until the man in the red mask had pronounced that she was with child.
She had then been kept locked up until she was, she thought, nearly eight moons along. Then she had been drugged and brought to a dark place. The man in the Red mask had undertaken some ritual, a terrible ritual and "smoke and shadow" in the shape of a man had entered into her. Then she only remembered pain.
One memory she had retained was of a baby being lifted from her torn stomach. It had not cried but its eyes were open, and they were red and yellow.
oOoOo
Aeryll had departed in the company of Pantera. The young woman would be forever marked by her experience and even as they had left Pantera was whispering to her young charge. She was already suppressing the worst of her memories.
The Many-Faced-God disliked releasing those that had found their way to his care but in this case, it was something needful and perhaps the life of Aeryll might find a better end this time.
The trail was cold once more. But he knew more than he had when he arrived even if that knowledge concerned him greatly. Something had taken a mortal host. If the Outsider had taken a mortal host, it was a dangerous move for the entity. A mortal of this world could be traced, tracked and found even with the most potent of masking magics there would be something.
He stopped in his musing and frowned, yes it was an opportunity to track his enemy or perhaps the servant of his enemy but that was a double-edged sword. They would know they could be tracked. The concept of ploys within ploys was well known to him. There had to be a reason, even if he could not see it…yet.
It was time to visit his estranged fellow powers.
oOoOo
The next few days were rather strange. Lord Stark, Maester Luwin and even Brynden Tully questioned Tamo extensively. The more they did, the more worried they looked.
Lord Stark had sent a pair of ravens to the wall and the answer had Lord Stark frowning direfully as he read it.
"Ned?" prompted Lady Stark.
"Something has happened at the wall…something odd. Lord Commander Mormont reports increased wildling raids, missing patrols and warns that he needs more men."
Luwin frowned and shook his head, "I like this not, my Lord. Lady Tamo's warning and now this from Lord Commander Mormont. She warned of something north of the wall. An ancient foe and a great horde. A King beyond the wall would be bad enough but something tells me that this is not about the Wildlings." He sighed and for a moment he looked old and weary. "I don't like these magics…I had thought such things were lost in the past. But I admit that this vision has warned us of a threat to the north."
"True, but we need more information," decided Lord Stark. "We have questioned Lady Tamo and she has told us all that she has seen. Her…gift is not something that she can fully control. We may get more or nothing else. I feel that we cannot wait."
"Perhaps our request to the Lord Commander will yield answers," suggested Luwin. "If any might know more it will be the Watch."
oOoOo
He had received a raven back from the Lord Commander and the words of the leader of the Night's Watch had troubled him. He had sent ravens to his most trusted bannermen and women and then spent several days waiting for replies.
"I don't like this…mystery, it sets my blood cold. The more I hear the more a part of me wants to call this...madness. But then I consider the warnings we have received," he said as he lay together with his wife in their bed.
Catelyn frowned, "I don't like it either, Ned. But it worries me too. Tamo's warning was one thing. This latest news, well it speaks of something happening north of the wall."
Ned sighed, "I fear I may have to travel to the wall. The realm and the North most of all need to know what is happening."
Catelyn's arms tightened around her husband.
"I had feared that you would."
"If there was another way…"
Catelyn laughed, "Ned, you could no more pass on your duty than I could fly."
"You are not angry?"
"Angry, no. Frightened yes."
"I'm not going to fight but to see what is happening," Ned tried to reassure her.
His wife was not convinced but sighed and moved closer to him. "Promise me that you will take good men with you."
"I promise."