The Dread Lord of Essos
Chapter 41
The wind was howling, and the seas were churning as the storm buffeted the long line of ships that were crossing through the strait between the Isle of Cedars and the mainland. The hurricane-force winds made the spider-silk sails snap violently while the ships rocked from side to side. All of Harry's ships were enchanted for stabilization, but that could only do so much.
Twenty-foot high waves slammed into the bow and broke, sending water spraying over the deck. Everyone except Harry's drones was below deck, relatively safe from the storm's rage. Unfortunately, quite a few had become seasick from the constant rocking of the waves, which made for an unpleasant trip for everyone else.
At the front of the line, the lead ship rose high into the air, riding the massive wave before the bow tilted downward. The ship rode the wave back down, sending several of Harry's drones tumbling overboard. On the lead ship with them, Harry was keeping track of the number of drones going the sides of each ship. When they did, he simply vanished them and created a new one to take its place. The rain was practically coming in sideways, drenching his drones to the bone. Harry, on the other hand, had a small force field of magic covering him to keep him dry and warm.
He was thankful that they weren't sailing directly into battle. There was nothing worse than having to fight while being seasick. No, the majority of his navy would anchor as close as possible to Meereen before going ashore. They would then make camp, recuperate, and then make for Meereen the following morning. Meanwhile, a smaller portion of his navy would sail directly to the slaver city and begin softening it up with his catapults and ballista. The storm, while a nuisance, was also a blessing. No one would notice the several hundred ships sailing by, nor would they be able to send their carrier pigeons to warn the Great Masters of Meereen. If the storm held on for another six or so hours, they would likely go completely unnoticed by the city's forward scouts. No doubt that his men wished for the storm to subside as quickly as possible, but they would be better off in the long run if it didn't. The ship groaned deeply as the thick, wooden boards and beams flexed and rubbed together. Had they been anyone else's ships, many would have already been at the bottom of the sea. The war would have been over before it even began.
The Dread Lord of Essos
Harry was glad to see his ships unloading their soldiers and supplies at the dozens of piers that he had secretly created the night before. Roughly twenty miles west of Meereen, in the dead of the night, Harry used his magic to create the temporary harbor. The following morning, all that his men would need to do was pack up and move North a couple of miles until they hit the Demon Road before beginning their march East. If everything went according to plan, their jobs would be much easier upon arrival.
Fifty ships didn't stop and unload. These ships had no soldiers or supplies. All they had aboard was the firepower needed to help bring down the city. Even then, the catapults and ballista couldn't do it on their own. The city walls were too thick to topple from weapons of war alone. They were amongst the highest and thickest in the region. They would need to concentrate their efforts on one single stretch of wall. Harry smiled as the large city came into view. By then, the sky was blue without a cloud to be seen. The sun was shining bright, and the waters were calm. It was the polar opposite of the previous day. Harry was very thankful for that, even if he was sure that they could now see his ships approaching. As if on cue, the sound of a loud, deep horn reverberated from afar. Only a few seconds later, more horns began blaring. The warnings had been sent. With that, Harry disappeared from the deck of the ship.
The Dread Lord of Essos
Nohklaz Pahl's head was hammering painfully. Of all the worst times to hear the city's war horns booming, it was right then, he thought as he gathered his gear.
The previous night was spent indulging himself with a variety of spiced wines from all over Essos. His family had the money to enjoy the finer things in life. He particularly enjoyed Arbor Gold. It was fruity but still had a nice kick. Normally, he refrained from getting drunk while on duty, but seeing as a brutal storm had been passing through, there was little else to do. That was why he looked the other way when his men broke out their own bottles. Soon, whores were added into the mix, and they had themselves a raucous party. It was a night to remember, but he paid for the fun the following morning. Waking up, he vomited in his mouth and was forced to swallow it. He could feel his head pounding while his mouth was as dry as the Red Waste. His vision was blurry, and he could barely think straight. The only remedy for such a hangover was more wine. He grabbed a half-finished bottle and drank greedily from it, not caring that there was pipe ash floating around in the lukewarm liquid. Beside him, the whore in his bed woke up.
When the bottle was finished, he fell back into bed and ordered his whore to "wake him up properly". He was halfway through a blowjob when the first horn began to bellow. His eyes widened drastically, and he cursed. Pushing the whore's head away from him, he jumped out of bed and nearly fell over. After the world stopped spinning, he steadied himself on his feet and threw on some clothes as quickly as possible. The whore didn't bother waiting around. She was dressed and out the door before he could tell her to leave. He barely got his boots on when more horns boomed across the city. This was something major, he thought with some panic.
When he finally exited his private quarters, he saw that hardly any of his men were awake. Down below, the barracks were likely filled with snoozing members of the City Guard, desperately trying to sleep away their hangovers. He walked over to a large chain hanging down from the ceiling. He preemptively winced before pulling. As he pulled the chain, a loud bell began ringing. There was no way the rest of his men would sleep through that, he thought. The loud sound echoed through his skull and rattled his brain. His pounding head felt about ten times worse now. Nohklaz very much hoped that he could get his hands on the person responsible for all of this so he could wring his neck. "UP! GET UP!" he yelled loudly as his men finally pulled themselves out of their drunken stupors. They stumbled up the stairs and into formation. He had to admit, they looked even worse than he did.
"The war horns are blowing … You know what to do," he told them. "Get into positions while I assess the situation." They all nodded and went down into the bowels of the building to grab their gear. With his men up and running, he grabbed a skin of water and exited the building that housed the City Guard. He only made it less than fifty yards away when he saw a massive shadow pass over him. He stopped and looked up. He saw nothing … not even a cloud in the sky. Shaking his head, he carried on. He took a few more steps before he saw the shadow again, only this time, the shadow remained in one spot. The shadow grew larger, and he looked up. As he did, the sun partially blinded him. All he could make out was a large, dark figure. Before he realized what it was, the black mass pulled up and began gliding parallel to the ground. He watched on, his alcohol-addled mind unable to comprehend what he was seeing. It was heading directly for the City Guard. His men hadn't even had time to leave when the monstrous beast opened its deadly maw and engulfed the entire building in flames.
The concussion of the blast along with an intensely hot wind hit Nohklaz right in the face. He was blown off of his feet as stone and wood were launched high into the air. All around him, the pieces of one-quarter of the building were raining down. The town's folk were screaming and covering their heads, afraid of the red-hot stones falling down on them. He was barely able to make out the doors of the City Guard bursting open. Four men spilled out into the street, each of them fully on fire. One spun around wildly while another rolled on the ground. The two others ran off, only managing a few steps before dropping dead. The sound of stones crumbling brought him out of his daze. He turned his head back to the building just as the rest of the roof completely caved in. There was no doubt in his mind, the rest of his men were dead.
Nohklaz cared nothing for their lives. He was a member of the noble Pahl family. He was better than them in every way. The problem was that he was the commander of the City Guard. It was his job to protect the city. Now, suddenly, he had no men left. The Great Masters were a superstitious bunch, including some members of his own family. If the battle did not go well, the blame would be placed on him and his family. That was definitely not a good thing. He did not want to be sacrificed to the Gods for something that he had no control over. Pushing himself to his feet, he began running toward the Western Wall. Within minutes, foul-smelling sweat dripped down his forehead, belly, and back, making him feel incredibly uncomfortable in his pink and white tokar. Like most wealthy citizens of this great city, Nohklaz was out of shape. The only exercise that he regularly got was from fucking whores and his bed-slaves, and even then, he made them do most of the work. One hundred yards away from the upper wall's entrance, he stopped short as a massive rock slammed into the cobbled floor. Those unlucky enough to be close by were peppered with stone shrapnel. Those that were really unlucky were hit by the thundering stone which was as large as a pot-bellied pig. The sight was quite sickening. After the initial impact, the stone continued to skip down the street. One master and his two slaves were instantly crushed before the stone slammed into a bathhouse, punching a hole right through the wall. He heard terrified screams within. The sight of the master and slaves made him want to vomit in his current hungover state. The master was nearly flat. His guts were splattered all over the road. One slave had his skull caved in, while the other's body was bent and twisted into odd angles. Shaking his head, he suddenly remembered what he was supposed to be doing. He needed to get to the bastion on top of the wall! He looked up just in time to see something glowing red coming over the wall.
When this one slammed into the ground, the noise wasn't nearly as deafening. Although, the aftermath was all the more terrifying. Somehow, a large section of a tree trunk that was glowing with embers slammed into the ground, sending red-hot charcoal and embers all over the place. Those that weren't panicking certainly were now. Everyone screamed and ran.
Nohklaz coughed violently and tried to cover his eyes. The ash and smoke carried by the sea breeze were choking his lungs and stinging his eyes. Suddenly, the ground shook, and he instinctively ducked for cover. The sound of stone shattering made him cover his ears and cry out. That sound could have only been one thing. A boulder had just slammed into the city wall.
The Dread Lord of Essos
On the back of Daemon, the city whipped past him as he flew over the top. They banked hard to the left, and Harry could see that his ships were beginning to pound the wall. Harry sent a mental ping to his drones to stop firing for a moment. The dark dragon flew over the Skahazadhan River and skirted the edge of the city. When they came back around, they flew low, only a hundred or so feet above the Western wall. Daemon's chest and neck expanded as he sucked in a deep breath. When its mouth opened, a jet of flames spewed out and covered the entire stretch of wall that his ships were aiming at.
The Dread Lord of Essos
Nohklaz had only taken a single step into the stairwell that would lead him up to the top of the wall when the black shadow whipped by. The shadow was instantly replaced by a flash of bright, orange light. After the quickest of rumbles, he was blown out of the stairwell by a blast of intense heat. He hit the ground hard, the back of his head slamming into the cobblestones. For a moment, he was knocked senseless. He wasn't sure what had happened or where he was. When his vision cleared and his ears stopped ringing, he noticed that his clothes were on fire. Needless to say, he was instantly awake. He screamed in pain and rolled around until the fire was snuffed out. Groaning, he slowly pushed himself up. His face felt tender. He touched it gently and winced. Not wanting to do that again, he stumbled back toward the entrance of the stairwell only to see smoke billowing out from it. Looking up, he gasped when he saw that the entire upper half of the wall was burning. The massive stone blocks that made up the wall were beginning to glow from the heat. Again, what sounded like thunder made him duck as the trembling of the ground made him stumble. They were attacking the walls again, only this time, it was continuous. The ground shook beneath his feet, making it nearly impossible to get where he wanted to go. All around him, flaming logs were slamming into the ground and tearing through the walls of buildings and shops. He decided that he needed to get out of there right away. 'Great Masters be damned!' he thought to himself. He didn't want to die for them or the city. He was too important!
It was easier said than done though. He realized that they were covering the ground with embers and chunks of flaming wood to keep reinforcements away from the area being attacked. Unfortunately for him, it made it very difficult to escape the area. The smoke was getting thicker, and it aggravated his lungs. His eyes were watering and stinging as he tried his best to avoid large pockets of burning debris. The constant assault on the wall wasn't helping either. The ear-splitting noise, the rumbling, and the vibrations in the ground, they all made for a terrifying trek to freedom. To his side, he saw the body of an older woman. She was clearly a freeborn. From the color of her tokar, she had belonged to the Merreq family. She made for a grizzly sight. Her bottom half was trapped underneath a massive slab of burning wood. The tokar covering her upper half was burnt and torn, exposing her old, saggy breasts and blistered belly. Frozen on her face was a look of pure agony. The worst part was the smell. Nohklaz could smell her flesh being roasted, and he could have sworn that he heard the sound of her body's fat and juices sizzling as if it were a pig roasting on a spit. He fought the urge to vomit and pushed on.
He was just able to jump over a large scattering of embers and slip around the pile of rubble that was once a granary just as another flaming log hit the ground near them. More embers scattered everywhere. Nohklaz covered his face and mouth to protect himself from the small particles that were continuously damaging his throat and eyes. As he hid behind the pile, he heard the muffled cries and pleas of the building's workers that were trapped beneath the mound of broken stone and wood. Obviously, he ignored them. They were nothing to him but a distraction from his true purpose … escaping this hellstorm and making his way to freedom. His safety was the only thing important. From behind the rubble, he saw the black beast in the sky coming closer. As it made another pass, more fire erupted from its open mouth. The entire stretch of wall on either side of the main gate was an inferno. The air was so thick with smoke and ash that it no longer appeared to be daytime. Clouds of black, acrid smoke were blocking the sun, turning day into night. The only light was the burning wood scattered across the streets and squares. All around him, the tiniest of embers danced and moved with the strong wind currents that were blowing in the direction of the fire. The firestorm was consuming everything now … even the air they breathed. Not wanting to be there for another second, Nohklaz bolted from behind the rubble and made a break for it.
It took some maneuvering, but he finally made it to a stretch of road that was far enough away from the wall that the catapults couldn't reach. That was all he needed. As fast as his legs could carry him, he ran in the opposite direction. He knocked an old lady down as he fled, and he never looked back. Slaves chained to the sides of buildings were begging to be released, but he paid them no mind. Children crying in the street … he simply ran them over or knocked them to the side. His only thought was to get back to the familiar pink and white pyramid that his family called home. Members of the City Guard from deeper within the city were now coming his way. He hid his face, not wanting to be pulled back into the fray.
"Nohklaz!" he heard the voice of his second in command. "Thank the Gods I have found you."
He cursed as he saw the painted red hair styled into wings that he was so familiar with. "Teroq … I was just …" he said, trying to come up with a valid excuse as to why he was moving away from the action.
"The Great Masters are having an emergency meeting! They demand your presence!" Teroq told him.
"Oh … Yes, of course … I will go at once!" he stated as his friend nodded and ran down the street to catch up to his men. Turning toward the Great Pyramid, he began running as fast as his feet could carry him.
The Dread Lord of Essos
"Where are our ships?!" one of the Great Masters asked furiously, banging his hand on the table. "Why are they not defending the port?"
Many of the others were standing out on the balcony, high above the rest of the city. They were looking on as the Western part of the city was taking a severe beating. Black smoke plumed high into the air. Nohklaz stood in front of the table, sweating profusely.
"The attack happened so fast … We never had a chance to …" he started before being cut off.
"And you did not notice dozens of ships sailing into our waters until they began firing at our walls?" another asked, his eyes narrowing.
"The storm! We did not …"
He tried to use the only valid excuse that he had, but it was clear that they didn't want to hear it. He suddenly heard the rest of the Great Masters cry out in panic as the black dragon flew past their balcony. He ran out to join them, desperate to gauge the situation. The dragon flew back to the burning wall, its massive wings flapping to keep it hovering above. Just like before, a torrent of fire rained down on the wall. By then, the blocks of stone were cherry red. As the dragon flew off, another well-aimed strike hit the wall with incredible force. They heard the cracking of stone all the way up at the pinnacle of the pyramid.
"What does the Dragon King want?" one cowardly master asked, his legs and knees shaking uncontrollably. "Why is he attacking us now?"
"We have done nothing to him!" another shouted as dozens of massive stones slammed into the crumbling wall. Just then, a pigeon fluttered into the room with a note pouch attached to its leg. It landed on the table, and the master wasted no time in snatching the bird up and removing the note inside. He read it silently.
"An army marches down the Demon road," he said, practically numb at this point. "At least fifty thousand strong … They will be here by nightfall," he read, crumpling up the paper and tossing it on the table. Then his anger exploded. He threw the pigeon with all the strength that he had. It slammed against the wall with an explosion of feathers.
"What is the plan?!" he shouted, standing up. No one said anything. The only sound in the room was the terrifying roar of the dragon flying in the distance.
"Nohklaz Pahl! Your City Guard will defeat this Westerosi bastard or it will be your head!" he threatened.
"Be careful what you say," another man dressed in pink and white said, walking over to them. "I will not have you threatening my brother!" the man glared.
Nohklaz felt lucky that his older brother was one of the Great Masters of the city. That was all he felt lucky about this day. The burden of war still rested on his aging shoulders. The roar of the dragon sent shivers down his spine. Could he possibly win? He thought about it for only a second or so. No, he could not. His only hope was to stall long enough for their allies to come to the rescue. He was suddenly brought out of his thoughts by the scream of a man. " … coming this way!" is all he caught.
He looked toward the commotion. His eyes widened as he saw the black dragon heading directly for the balcony. Its mouth was beginning to open! The Great Masters cried out and began pushing toward the stairs. Nohklaz joined in, pushing down a member of House Loraq in his bid to escape. He had just flung himself downstairs when the entire room was filled with fire. He yelled in pain as he bounced down the stone stairs, hitting the wall before landing on a soft pile. The pile beneath him grunted. When he rolled off of it, he saw that it was a pile of bodies that were beginning to move. These Great Masters were the lucky ones. He heard the others' torturous screams as flesh melted off of bone. Their screams didn't last long though. They soon fell silent, and only the roar of the flames could be heard.
The Dread Lord of Essos 41