Ranni III

She admired the dark wispy wafts of shadow coming from the creature though it was here on the orders of a dark task, she admitted its beauty to some degree, now its interference with her magic on the other hand she was not fond of. There was a warmth behind it. Whether its influence on her magic was intentional or simply an after affect perhaps a countermeasure introduced by the sorceress who cast this spell. A spell to kill a king?

She chucked at the prospect. She had no doubt it was true given how his people treated him and Margaery but they both seemed like such a small thing compared to the royalty of the lands between. Certainly, paling in comparison to the Queen of Caria herself, and even a distant offshoot of Godfrey such as Godrick held so much more power for being such a feeble thing.

But this man was indeed considered a king in whatever weak lands he hailed from. No doubt a similar place to her own, but the power there was assuredly lacking… Yet this shadow gave hints of something great perhaps not quite rivaling these lands, but putting it on par with such…

The thought of unknown magic interfering with her own, especially something as important as her ability to project and return her being was concerning though. Is this typical of their land's magic or of how little was left of it? Or was this simply a rare form that happened to be that which attacked the king by happenstance?

The king seems to find himself smart, and he certainly engaged in more decorum than much of his people certainly more than his feral first knight. He fancied himself a man of words but he was a liar. He claimed they had little knowledge of magic yet he told her of this fire priestess upon their conversation of the baleful shadow of their world. He did not share the blood connection he had with the man who worked in conjunction with this sorceress either.

She couldn't blame the man for keeping things such as that to himself. But he portrayed himself as one who trusted and wanted to work with her and then he lied. If she had the ability to easily leave, and return to the confines of her rise she would, and leave the king to his own devices dealing with the shadow neither he nor his people seem to have much inkling of. His people were already on edge the inevitable death of him would no doubt put most of his company on edge, no doubt being dead and forgotten or amalgamated within the lands in some way assumedly most unpleasant.

Fortunately for the king, the destruction of this shadow served her just as it would serve him. So thus she stayed.

The thing's eyes had a haunting air to them but she felt her own shadow could cause the thing to run if it desired to she saw the thing begin to fade in the twilight of early morning, and this indicated her time to access it. Her astral projection was blocked, but given the weakened state of the being blocking. If the shadow. As it was not hiding as it did in daylight she could push through it enough to get

She envisioned the stars dancing upon the tent and her soaring through it the shadow at the end of the path, the stars blocked her way the path was curved not straight forward but eventually, she reached the shadow, and then the stars in front of her were all around... Though there lacked familiarity of them.

This was not her sky…

Suddenly the cosmos formed into something else it all still was the bright white glow of stars, with hints of blue, purple, and red. But it was forming structure, some stars seemingly making up walls, and opening going off various paths, some she sensed leading to dead ends, and some to places of strange power. A maze of stars?

In the distance she saw a figure walk away down a path to the left, there was the face of the figure seemed to have a rough red to it. Her curiosity briefly went off in her head, but the direction she must go was not towards the figure but the shadow which lay, straight ahead, these stars seemed uninterested in diverting her path. She walked, the stars shaking beneath her, then some begin to dance upon her seems to go with her along her path. Finally, she saw the dark wisps, and the shadow finally came into her vision.

"Here to kill a shadow now?"

She jumped, truly not suspecting anyone behind her. Internally she chided herself, the behavior was unlike her. Even without her magic she always was cautious and trained for years, to sense when someone came behind her.

Turning around she saw the figure who walked off earlier. A woman in a red mask of some sort. The stars seemed to dance around her as if in bliss by her very presence.

"It's rare I see any in this plane, especially in this age. A few dragons have tried, and some have grasped glimpses. Yet you reside here easily"

The woman paused allowing some of the stars to dance along her right hand.

"You enter here with little warning, you mean the stars no harm they seem nearly as joyed to see you as I. You Simply hold the ambivalence of a shadow. Who are you child of the stars?"

"Thou deny to give me your own alias. I shall not give mine own" Ranni said, letting the words take on a threatening air...

"Very well child of stars. "

"What brings thine lands stars to serve thee." Ranni asked allowing the dancing upon the wall to continue along her fingers.

"I belong to the stars the stars are not mine, I deeply respect when they grant my requests"

The women stared at her. Ranni nodded. With that, the woman turned her head gazing at the colossal force of stars around her. She took a scan of the plane as well. A beautiful thing a maze of grand proportions constructed of stars. There was quite some beauty to it. Though it did not answer who the woman was. She suspected this place was quite a ways more ancient than her.

"The stars favored preservation, they grow fond of relics of times past," the Red masked woman said as she reached for the stars that made up a wall. And the stars along the wall of their creation seemed to flock to her hand. The woman's blue robe seemed to flow in the cascade of stars surrounding them, with an impossible finesse

Ranni proceeded to do the same on her side of the wall and curiously saw the stars begin to flock to her, though with a playful reluctance.

Despite the wall being a creation of stars it felt hard as stone. Sight and feeling did not align in a beautiful sort of way.

"Who are ye, you roam this lands astral plane so readily?

"I am meant, for here, you are a stranger to the plane, you seek to kill a shadow bound to another."

"Does thou intend to hinder mine path to such"

"I serve the stars as said, They have welcomed you. I see no need to disagree"

Ranni looked at the women skeptically, though tried her luck on matters. And began to strip the shadows Soul. Upon which she realized the youth of the thing it held a newborn's cry as the facade of a grown man faded from its grasp… Perhaps if the thing didn't cause her such trouble she'd feel sorry for it, Stripping it more the cry grew shrill then disappeared and she was left with a mess of shadowy tendrils.

"If you drive the shadow farther you shall leave this plane. A fleeting thing long past still echoes in the voice of the cosmos… What is deep holds truth, that which is stalled must be unbound"

She took the words in as she crushed the last of the shadow's tendrils. The beauty around her faded the blue cloak of the woman leaving her and she saw the familiar drab color of the tent.

The Maester jumped seemingly startled she heard the familiar metal of the guard in the tent as well.

"I have felled thine kings Baleful shadow." Ranni's soul smiled beside her.


Blaidd II

He finally passed Godrick's castle. He was greeted by a most unusual sight especially so near to the castle. Sorcerors of raya lucaria. On Stormhilll, it's rare to see them in Limgrave at all. Much less here with Godricks obsession with grafting. He felt some disdain build up at the thought of the practice.

They were casting glinstone spells at someone, but they were being attacked back, with the yellow embers of frenzy.

"I've learned to always be out for myself in this place, and not let anyone touch me"

The voice sounded familiar to him. Though he couldn't be sure

A chaotic mess of frenzy was flinged at and around the sorcerer, upon the high-pitched yelp and the sorcerer gripping his head with a force strong enough, to leave bloody marks where his mask was gripped due to his fingers being shredded. He could tell the man was suffering from madness now.

The familiar red merchant costume told him his earlier suspicion was true. It was indeed Kalé the only merchant he knew who dared to diversify the merchant wear. Dyed a red that really popped out at you.

The sorceress afflicted with madness begin to wildly cast our barrage spells. And was preparing for a glinstone barrage attack, but Blaidd made quick work, splitting the sorcerer in half with a jump attack from his great sword.

He reveled in the scent of the blood. The scent of glinstone was stronger in this one than in other sorcerors. The charred smell of frenzy burning in his blood made the glinstone scent lacking, but hints of it remained.

He jumped forward slashing his blade splitting another sorcerer in 2. The musty glinstone scent is not mixed with frenzy in this one.
Finally the last was done in with another ball of madness courtesy of Kale. The charred scent invaded his nostrils. Though he stopped himself from breathing the scent in too much. A body charred of madness had far from a pleasant scent.


"What brought you here Kalè?"

"I was making my way out of this rainy hell hoping to set up shop a ways past Stormveil."

"A dangerous wager, yet you seem plenty capable," Blaidd said

"Aye, I thank you for the help. Fighting four academy scholars is not an easy feat when you are trying to protect a Mule Kalè smile painting his features.

He looked over at said mule, the creature seemed to startle being within his line of sight. Though Kale softly scratching the animal seemed to bring it back to normal.

"Why are ye leaving Limgrave, I seem to recall you have been ere for awhile. The curse of the nomadic merchants catch up to ya"
Kale considered the question.

"Of a sort, a large army seemingly appeared from light itself. Given my own history, I taught best to not tempt fate"


With that, the trek was mostly calm excluding the wolves they swiftly dealt with, and the troll which took a bit more work. But a largely uneventful stroll through Limgrave until his nose found a familiar scent, the scent of one he detested.

He sniffed around the foul hound Darriwill… he dared to try to hurt Ranni wearing his own face.

"You sense something troubling Blaidd?"

Kalè said with worry evident in his tone

"An old hunt of mine, another threat of my Lady"

"Ah, that way? Hmm, there was an evangoal that way, was active for quite some time. But it seems whatever was in there was dealt with. Passed it upon my hasty exit from the church of Elleh. "

He took a deep breath from his nose, the majority of the hound's scent seemed to lie in the direction of the hound.

He lied in this he was no more. Though the faintest trace of his scent could be smelled. Heading to the northwest. It was not Darriwill but whomever took on his justice. The scent lead up towards the east, He glanced over at the hill leading east envisioning the land beyond it...

"Someone killed who you were hunting. Where are they?"

Blaidd shrugged

"A place I do not travel to lightly, besides there's more dire matters that need my attention. You said you left in a rush after you saw a large group seemingly appear out of thin air."

"Yes, the same spot you first came across me, as I said thought better than to tempt fate. was heading back to my usual spot there, a league to the west of the bridge of sacrifice. Nearby when suddenly a light nearly blinded me and then a strange lot was left where the light shined"

Blaidd grunted in confirmation at that, sounded like the right place based on what he knows of his Lady as well.

"I will stay behind as you go on ahead. Stay safe in these lands my friend. They grow even stranger these days." Kale stated
With that Blaidd was on his own again feeling the eyes of Kale on him as he made his way towards the Church of Elleh.


Loras IV

He could not believe it Renly was free of the shadow, at least according to the Maester. It was gone the witch managed to do what she claimed she would. He was quite surprised. Half expecting her to accomplish nothing or for his suspicions to be further confirmed…

Though he would take being wrong in this case. If it meant Renly and Margaery would no longer be in danger. At least from the shadow. The witch on the other hand was still another matter.

He asked Renly if he could see her before, he left. He truly had no ill intentions behind it. He wanted to get another read of her. A heavy weight seemed to be lifted shortly before he was told of the shadow being vanquished. For once he believed the witch which garnered another visit.

Yet Renly denied him from seeing the witch again, if he wanted to he could fight the matter he supposed. But it was a matter to worry about after he dealt with the king's request. This did little to soothe his anger at the denial but he honed that into his blade.

With that, he, Robar, and the soldiers lead Guthry began slowly making their way down the steep slope. Followed by the remaining 27 members of their company. 10 of which made their way down. They weer interrupted by an awful screech.

Startled many of the soldiers turned quickly looking for the source, Loras turned slowly, and saw that the source was an unbelievably large bat… He recalled learning about something of the sort native to Sotoryos, but he never quite believed it despite the supposed records of Oldtown. He recalled the creature being much smaller the size of this bat was enough to cause his chest to pound, and the men around him didn't seem in much better shape. None screamed thankfully but there was a look of fear amongst them all.

One of Guthry's men was brave enough to slash at the thing, it returned the favor by attempting to bite into the man's helm. Based on the groan heard from the man it seemed to have succeeded but with a slash from another, the bat quickly fell to the ground. Then another showed in his vision this one screeched right to Guthry's face. He grunted pained. Yet persevere swinging and thrusting his sword at the bat, yet it seemed to have a keen ability to avoid it. With that Robar slashed at the things back and it joined its friend in the dirt.

three more made themselves known.

"Division into groups of five, for each."

The remaining bats were dealt with easily enough. Unfortunately, the dog chomping on his plateleg was not accounted for but he made quick work of the demonic thing after. Thanks in no small part to Guthry dealing the first blow to get the damn thing off his left arm.

Unfortunately with the defeat of the dog. He was made painfully aware of the injuries that befell some of the others. Guthry's second who he was training to be captain got screeched at by the bats so much there was blood coming out of his right ear… One of the newer additions to Renly's force. Mason had scrapes and skin peeling off all over his left wrist and arm leaving a bleeding mess. The one who got attacked by the bats through his helm had a series of cuts along his cheek and down his lip.

"Commander should I send them back" He knew the answer, though he didn't like it they already had to send some soldiers back and they barely were away from the camp. Though Guthry also needed to learn to discern these matters himself. He couldn't always be asking him for confirmation.

"It's your men, your call captain." He says sternly

Guthry paused looking over at those injured badly.

"Bryen how ya' holding up?"

"Fine sir, the scarring stings but I can still handle a sword," the man with the scarred face said.
"Your orders are to escort these men and have them see a Maester including yourself."

"But Captain, I can fight just as well I assur-" The man began to plea

"I'm sure you can but you need to be looked at, this isn't the typical battlefield, and I'm no expert on facial injuries from giant bats. You are one of my best and I need you in top shape?"

Bryen looked annoyed but left back up the slope nonetheless helping the man with the torn hand and bleeding ear up with him.

Loras nodded at Guthry.

Guthry seemed to stand just a bit taller upon the recognition.

After they were ways up to slope Loras directed the company towards the structure ahead, Seeing it as a good contender for a small force to camp out. His thought on the matter seemed to be shared by the small pack of dogs that began to run after them. Which Guthry's men did quick work of.

Then he heard a familiar noise and found a strange blue pebble lodged into his armor, that quickly disappeared. Quite reminiscent of the very magic the witch showed them as an example. His head turned towards the camp at the action. Yet he saw no sign of the women anywhere. Then he heard the noise again and another pebble lodged into his shoulder guard. This one left quite a dent. A sharp constant pain entered his shoulder…

He heard the noise again and then Robar managed to cut down the source which seemed to be an older man dressed like a Maester. Unfortunately, this was not the last of them; they dealt with a few more dogs, and some magic maesters and most of the company ended up with a few dents in their armor. But they successfully cleared it out, without sustaining any serious injury. Though some others Guthry included ended up with dents in their armor.

With that, they gave the ruined structure a quick look around it small but it had stonework, and seemingly a stairway… Guthry looked towards the stairs down. Though Loras stopped him... Given the craziness of these lands, his desire to go deeper underground was quite lacking. He also figured they could check the lake and then circle some of the area surrounding it first. With a focused look across the lake, he saw a group of men seemingly doing some sort of activity together reaching… They had an uncouth look to them but they seemed human certainly more so than that witch.

the group of men in the distance reaching up were unnerving, to say the least, but he did not desire to hurt anyone who potentially meant them no harm though he also would rather deal with potential threats now out in the open, as opposed to risking them doing something to the camp later on. So he ordered Guthry to only engage if attacked or threatened first. Guthry seemed uninterested in heeding the command keeping his sword held in a combat stance,

As he slowly trudged through the shallow water of the lake, which was much more like a swamp. Though despite it being a shallow body of water on land like this the lake did not look muddy. It had a darker shade but it did not look like it was filled with muck.

His platelegs and boots didn't share the interest. He was dreading the sogginess building up within. As he went towards Guthry with haste upon seeing the curious spectators staring up at the sky look towards Guthry instead.

A roar was heard above with that Guthry looked up along with the rest,

"…"

What stood above them was a dragon, the sight was something to behold,

Then it breathed fire. Roasting Guthry.

Loras chest began to pound vigorously.

Then the dragon dipped downwards skidding the surface of the water, landing on 3 of his men and depositing 2 in its back claws, the 3rd was done already, the man no doubt not surviving the extent of the dragon's weight then it released a barrage of fire, Loras felt his hand practically cooking,

Robar screamed the metal of his sword was warped and melting onto him.

The dragon then crushed both the men deposited in its claws the brought the claws up to its nose as if sniffing it.

With that the dragon seemed to leap into the air again and flew above, its eyes seemed to drink them in,

With that, it released another barrage of fire on the water below roasting 7 of his men,

"Agggh"

He heard some still screaming and groaning in pain.

They needed to get out of there,

But with the camp so close they couldn't afford to bring it back near there

"Fall back, fall back"

He watched as he saw his men turn around and begin to run, and with that, he turned

He was sprayed with the blood of his men. Walking with the stench of iron across him

The smell strangely brought him into focus.

That dragon killed his men if he hoped for his men and him to survive. He glanced at the camp not far above them…

They couldn't bring this beast back towards camp with it so close. He heard his men scream. Some headed towards a ruined building quite away from the camp near the border of the lake but were quickly pounced on by the dragon. The ground shook wildly as it landed. The water turned into rippling chaos.

"Lord Commander, with me"

He looked over to Robar. Who was heading not towards the camp but back towards the ruins they cleared out earlier.

"We can't"

"Lord Commander please follow" Robar Practically pleaded. With that he ran towards Robar who also was motioning for other soldiers to come.

He looked where the men tried to flee debating in his head. But ultimately he knew he was as good as dead running that way.

He followed Robar running through the water, as the dragon flew above the raining fire thankfully the stone helped blocked it but the heat from the close proximity made his eyes water, and he felt burns from the parts of his armor touching skin, He dropped his sword from the sudden pain.

Nonetheless, Robar led him down to a section of the ruins they missed. Underground. Upon entering he saw 3 others. Robar joined behind him, and Loras. Took as many measured breaths as he could. Feeling the briefest sense of relief.

That quickly disappeared upon hearing another roar from the dragon. Then came another man, a straggler it seems but he recognized him. Though He couldn't say he knew the man's name. He was glad to see another survive after that horror…

Then he felt the ground shake and saw some of the stone crumble as the dragon landed above them, then he breathed fire down the stairwell just as he reached the bottom, an agonizing screen was heard for a moment then the flame subsided the man shook, his armor melting into the skin as he let out groans of pain. As his armor delved deeper into his skin still. His skin blackened, He shook wildly, and then finally he ceased dead…

He emptied his lunch on the worn stone floor.

No one said anything for a minute. Hoping the dragon would leave. It didn't... The whisper of Robar broke the silence.

"We have to get out of here, maybe the chest has a weapon we can use against the dragon"

Loras doubted it would. Robar seemed unconvinced on the prospect himself though despite that Loras still went closer to the chest.

The other one of Guthry's men spoke as well

"Lord Commander some of my family is here, We need to get out of here. But most of us don't have weapons"

Glancing around he realized it was true he reached for his own sword on instinct… Disappointed to not feel the familiar scabbard in his hand.

With that thought, Loras began to try his hardest to open the chest, but with his shoulder and the general weak feeling he had post-emptying of his lunch, it proved hard. But he would get this open he had to…

Yet With Loras shoulder knocked he couldn't budge the chest,

"I'll do it lord commander" Robar anxiously exclaimed

With that Robar pulled with all his might on the chest face turning red. Finally, he opened the chest, a thick mist came out.

"Back up from it Robar" Loras yelled frantically

"We shou-"

Whatever Robar Royce was gonna say he'd never know as With that Robar Royce was gone and the chest closed itself…

Loras and the other 3 men back up at the sight, Standing as far away as they could from the chest well still being well away from the stairway.

"Where did he go Lord Commander?"

"I don't know… I don't know" His eyes watered. Not entirely from the amplified heat.


A.N. Well there is chapter 6. Hope everyone enjoyed, believe it or not the part the chest plays has been planned since chapter 2. Appreciate feedback as always. Curious what everyone thinks of the direction of this story after this chapter, since it has quite a lot.