We Light the Way:
Summer Sea:
The Battle off the Arbor or the Battle in the Storm had ended with the complete annihilation of the entire Greyjoy Iron Fleet. The Iron Fleet had once consisted of over 100 longships, now they had all been wrecked by Kaleen's warfleet or by the storm. Also, many Ironborn warriors were dead, many of the proud houses were probably destroyed, the Ironborn culture may never recover from this and Theon Greyjoy thought it was for the best. The only major Ironborn warrior left was Baelor Blacktyde, a man who had joined Victorian after Euron's victory and he had the same beliefs as Theon after being kept in Oldtown after the original Greyjoy rebellion many years ago. Now even the great Victorian Greyjoy was dead, in a way, Theon felt relief that he would not witness the potential end of the Ironborn ways. After the battle had ended, they discovered the body of Theon's other uncle Aeron tied to the prow of Euron's flagship 'The Silence.' The Silence was still in good condition and so Theon and Kaleen had taken it as a prize. They now had to give Theon's uncles a proper send-off. Theon did know the Ironborn way of burial but decided to give them a warrior's send-off instead.
The bodies of Victorian and Aeron was both placed on the badly damaged Iron Victory and they let the ship drift off while Theon, Kaleen and many others stood on the deck of the Spearhead watching. Baelor Blacktyde began giving the rites, although he had converted to the Seven, he was still the best man to give them "Drowned God, please take your faithful servants Victorian and Aerion Greyjoy back beneath the waves." He said "Let the creatures of the sea feast on their flesh, let their bones rest with his ancestors and his children for what is dead may never die but rises again harder and stronger in the Drowned Halls."
With that, Kaleen and several other fired flaming arrows at the ship which caused the Iron Victory to catch fire. They all watched for a while as the ship burnt and then sank beneath the waves. Kaleen looked at Theon "He may have been a raider but he was a good man." She said
"And one of the last members of my family." Theon said "Euron claimed Yara escaped so she must be back in Oldtown, we have to get there now."
"With the Iron Fleet destroyed, the way to Oldtown is open." Kaleen stated "I've already sent a raven informing the kingdoms of our victory. We will sail to Oldtown, I fear the final battle of this war against the Mythic Dawn is approaching."
Theon nodded and soon, he would get the chance to see his sister again.
Oldtown: The Hightower:
Samwell Tarly carefully approached the entrance of the Oldtown Resistance hideout with his squad that had joined him for the infiltration mission. The squad consisted of himself along with Loras Tyrell and several Westerland knights consisting of Lyle Crakehall, Raynald Westerling and Robert Brax. They had been told to head through the sewers and knock on the main door that would take them into the Hightower where the Resistance was based. Sam eventually found the door and knocked where it was soon opened by someone who Sam had met many years ago.
"Samwell Tarly." Baelor Hightower greeted "When I heard you were coming I was shocked, I thought you joined the Blades as an apprentice to their Loremaster."
"I did." Sam replied "But when I heard my family had been taken, I couldn't just sit back and do nothing."
"Family is important, I just hope that they're okay." Baelor stated "The stories I've been hearing are horrible for what these cultists are doing to people and to our city. This was the oldest city in Westeros and the second biggest, it will take years for us to recover from this."
"There is another reason we were sent here." Raynald Westerling spoke up "Our lord's heir Tommen Lannister, brother to the king was taken by the cultists."
That caught Baelor's attention "If the heir to the Westerlands is here then they must be trying to draw the king here, but why?"
"Magic has many things, it is never good nor evil despite what those religious folk or my fellow Maesters claim, magic is like a weapon, harmless unless it falls into the wrong hands. Dark magic often requires dark deeds and these cultists are surely doing such dark deeds." Archmaester Marwyn stated.
"And I was held prisoner." Aicantar stated "These cultists had me and I saw them sacrificing people to fuel their magic."
"And they targeted the Faith first." Zachery Frey added "That was probably to send a message that they see the Faith of the Seven as beneath them or inferior."
"If they are sacrificing people then we must find them." Sam spoke up.
Baelor brought them over to a table where they had a map of Oldtown laid out "The Mythic Dawn have had people held all over the city. We've been striking their locations but whenever we've eliminated one group, more just take it back. We've been unable to retake any of the city and we can't risk our men, we've been limited in both men and supplies. It's too risky to try and hold these locations and these Oblivion Gates just help them replenish their losses."
Sarella Sand then came over "I believe the highborn prisoners are being held in the Citadel itself. It's one of the few locations we have not struck, the Mythic Dawn have made it their headquarters. I've been scouting the place and I found the hidden escape route was discovered, the Mythic Dawn have it heavily guarded. And that dragon makes a frontal assault all but impossible."
"The only way to stop the Mythic Dawn rebuilding is to close those Gates." Sam stated
Baelor sighed "We already tried that. I led a group in one when I heard of the Martell victory at Starfall but not longer after we sealed it, a new one just replaced it. The Mythic Dawn have whatever they're using to open the Gates in the Citadel probably."
"Then attacking the Citadel is a top priority." Loras stated "I can get a message to my brother, if we attack the Citadel while they're attacking the gates, we can divide the forces."
"This will be a hard battle no matter what." Sam stated "It seems like it's all or nothing, the Mythic Dawn have retreated here but they seem to have drawn us here so they will fight to the death for their mission."
"I'll kill every Mythic Dawn and Daedric scum that I find!" Baelor snarled "I will avenge what they've done to my home. My Resistance is with you."
"We all are." Sarella stated
"Well them." Sam stated "We've got work to do."
Essos: Meereen:
Aegon had gathered his sisters along with Connington, Travis and his new advisor Brown Ben Plumm who seemed to be getting along with everyone. Daario Naharis had also joined them. They had all gathered in a tent to plan the assault.
"This attack will be the hardest we've faced yet." Connington stated "We may have a large army be we are starting to run out of supplies to face it."
"And although I've sent word to New Ghis, it will take time for any more supplies to get here." Travis stated
"We cannot have a prolonged siege." Aegon stated "We must take the city as fast as we can."
"Your little speech and message will be something but I know men." Daario stated "No one not even slaves want to see their children or families butchered for a lost cause. If we want to inspire an uprising then we need to make sure it's one that they think they can win. Some have already lost children, they won't want to lose anymore."
"We have already constructed battering rams and Balaq has his archers ready to send flaming arrows over the city but those walls stand strong." Visenya stated "There's no point trying to make any catapults, we have nothing to launch, the rocks here would just crumble doing do damage when they hit the walls."
"Maybe we can sneak some men into the city to incite a rebellion amongst the slaves." Plumm stated "There's an old sewer grate at the main walls that sends the overflow from the sewers into a ditch that sends it away from the city, it's got iron bars on to prevent slaves from escaping though it has been neglected in recent years and has gotten rusty. A small group could enter the city that way and convince the slaves to rise up. One warning though, Meereen is like a maze so it might be a good idea to mark you ways so you can find your way out."
Aegon looked at Connington who nodded at the plan "Alright, to really send the message across, I'll send in some of my former slaves. Grey Worm will lead some Unsullied across and find any slaves willing to fight while I will lead an attack here. Visenya, I need you to help Balaq create a distraction tonight so Grey Worm can enter the city without being detected."
"I will brother." Visenya smiled, soon they will have achieved their mission and liberated the last stronghold of slavery in the region.
Oldtown Sewers: Dark Brotherhood sanctuary:
Babette finally made it back to the sanctuary and to her horror, it seemed that Mankar was right, the sanctuary was under attack. She found Tenek standing pinned to the door pierced with so many arrows, he had been guarding the door when the attack came. She quickly made her way in and found the sanctuary was on fire. Barrels of oil were being used to set the rooms on fire while the Daedra were able to resist the heat. Babette carefully made her way through being careful which was hard because of the thick smoke making it hard to breath. Babette soon found Antoinette's body lying on the ground having been ripped apart by scamps. She heard growling and quickly found Hildegard fighting in her vampire form against a Daedroth, next to her lay the body of Kor in his own Werewolf form and nearby, Arnbjorn was also in his Werewolf form fighting off several Dremoras. Babette quickly got into action and took out the Daedroth. She had saved Hildegard but was unable to save Arnbjorn as while he took out the Dremora, an archer nearby pierced his heart with an arrow killing him. Babette quickly took out the archer by throwing a knife at it.
The two surviving assassins quickly ran to the back room where Nazir was still alive fighting someone, this last person was not a Daedra but a dark elf dressed in Mythic Dawn robes "This is the end for your guild of assassins, your friend betrayed you all and we betrayed her."
"She will get her punishment in the void!" Nazir growled "If I die today, so be it. But you'll not soon forget the Dark Brotherhood!" Babette and Hildegard quickly joined and took out Nazir's attacker, Nazir coughed and looked at Babette "So you are alive, I was starting to wonder."
"Someone betrayed us!" Babette snarled "I took out Isolde but the Mythic Dawn confronted me."
"Yes I know." Nazir stated "It was Astrid, I always knew she was scepital of the leadership but I never expected this. She talked to Harrow, her target and offered up the location. Then she came back here and was talking to her husband when they attacked, Tarek and Antoinette didn't stand a chance."
"Are we the only ones left?" Hildegard asked transforming back to normal
"I believe so. Astrid tried to leave but got trapped." Nazir hissed "If I find her then I will make sure I end her painfully!"
"We need to get out of here now!" Babette yelled
"Indeed, this place will roast us alive!" Nazir shouted coughing due to the smoke.
The three assassins quickly tried to find the exit only to find the only way out had been blocked by a large fire. They were trapped until Hilgedard shouted out "I know a safe place, I built a little hideaway behind the sewer waterfall here, the fire won't reach there but keep your head down, the smoke will choke us."
The three of them made their way to the waterfall where the sewer pipes flooded into an overflow pool. The water was disgusting but it was their only hope of surviving the fire.
Honeyholt: The Reach:
Tywin Lannister and Garlen Tyrell along with Randyll Tarly looked at the letter that Sam had sent them. "He suggests that we all attack at the same time, it's suicide!" Randyll hissed.
"Though he does have a point." Tywin stated "If we wait here then the Mythic Dawn could overwhealm us, I've already lost nearly a third of my men and my heir to the ambush by that dragon. He could attack us again."
"Just how are we going to take care of that dragon?" Garlen questioned. Then they heard a loud roar "Oh no, it's back, everyone get to a defensive position."
Quickly the archers got onto the Walls of Honeyholt while the infanty formed a defensive position using a shield wall that might at least deflect some of the dragonfire. Everyone was shaking slightly as the dragon flew overhead.
But Tywin noticed that something was wrong "Wait, that's not the same dragon, the one that attacked us was yellow and gold, this one is silver."
The dragon did not attack anyone and then landed in the courtyard. Spears were pointed at it but still the dragon did not breath fire or even snap at them. Instead it just turned its head allowing the rider Tywin saw on it. The rider was wearing fine made armour which Tywin
recognised as belonging to the order of the Blades, King Martin's newest order or sworn protectors. The rider then removed his helmet releaving who he was.
"Grandfather, Ser Garlen, Lord Randyll." King Martin himself greeted.
"Your grace?" Randyll greeted "What are you doing here."
"It is too dangerous for the king to be here." Tywin stated
"And I cannot just sit back and do nothing!" Martin snapped "When I got word that Tommen has been captured I decided I could not just sit back and do nothing. This is my kingdom and what kind of a King would I be if I let it be slaughtered by a group of Daedric cultists. I fought in the rebellion against my brother on the front lines so why shouldn't I do that here? Besides, he looked at Silverwing "I had the perfect weapon to even the odds now, allow me to introduce Silverwing, the dragon that once belonged to Queen Alysane Targaryen, sister-wife of King Jaehaerys I, later ridden by Ulf the White during the Dance of the Dragons until his death and then she vanished until the Mythic Dawn's dragon found her and fought her resulting in her fleeing to King's Landing where we nursed her back to health. Now she wants to take her revenge against those who hurt her." Silverwing roared in response "You concentrate on the Daedra and the Mythic Dawn, I'll concentrate on the dragon."
"And the Resistance can focus on rescuing the hostages." Garlen added
"Everyone, we strike at midnight!" Martin yelled while Silverwing roared while the soldiers all cheered and Tywin had a slight smile on his face, if there was any family member he could say he was proud of, it was Martin.
Nightfort: The Wall:
Former King beyond the Wall Mance Rayder looked at the courtyard of the Nightfort. He had just received a raven from Castle Black informing them of what had happened. Commander Mormont had led a group to see the progress of the Night's King and the army of the dead and had fallen into a trap. Not only that but some of the Night's Watch had mutinied and taken over Craster's Keep. In truth, he cared little for the wildling informer who was hated by many not only because he gave information to the crows but also because of his incest relationships with his own daughters. By the Old God standards, that was a major taboo just like the Faith of the Seven and was one of the few things the two faiths shared. Mance believed that the mutineers would most likely eat all of their supplies and then die and so he believed it was best to leave them. As for Craster's daughters, many wildlings saw them as abominations as so would be best to leave to die. There was one bit of good news, Benjen Stark had been found though sadly he was unable to return south due to being half undead now, Benjen had been one of the few Crows that he had respect for even if he had never actually met him.
But there was one bit of news that worried Mance the most which was that the White Walkers had also raised the Dragur as well. That would increase their numbers a lot but it also led to a disturbing possibility that the Night's King would potential raise the ancient Dragon Priests for his army. The thought of that was scary enough. The people of the south may have forgotten the tales of the Dragon Priests and the dark magic they wielded but the Free Folk always held onto the tales since some of them were descendants of the people who had fought against these priests. He knew that at least eight Priests inhabited the lands of the north and beyond the Wall though the location of their tombs was lost to time, he also knew that one priest had already been destroyed since he had been told that the tomb of the Priest Rahgot at the temple of Forelhost had been opened by a group of scholars who destroyed the Priest and took his mask and staff so he felt some relief that one was destroyed but he was concerned that the others could rise and he had no idea where their tombs were.
Mance soon heard the sound of boots approaching him and he turned around to see his sister in law Val approaching him "You looked troubled." She said
"Is it that obvious?" Mance questioned "I'm the first leader of the Free Folk who managed to get our people south and to safety from the White Walkers and take away a large chunk of their potential army but now a new threat has come. The Walkers have managed to raise the ancient dead to take their place."
"At least unlike the wights, these dragur can be killed by normal weapons." Val stated
"But they are stronger than the Wights and wield weapons like soldiers which makes them a bigger threat not to mention the potential threat of the Dragon Priests."
"I remember the tales of them." Val stated "Our storyteller told us the story of Otar, a First Men king who one day became corrupted by the dragons and went mad. Two great Warriors called Torsten and Saerek led a rebellion against him at his city of Ragnvald and sealed him away in a great tomb. Another similar tale talks about Hevnoraak who was sealed by the warrior Valdar."
"These tales may have some truth to them and the power they wield is worrying." Mance stated "Even though we've revealed the danger and we're getting more help, it may not be enough especially since the lands are facing other threats weakening them even more."
"We'll just have to hope that the damage done now is not as bad so the kingdoms still have the strength to fight the true enemy when it comes." Val replied
Mance carried on staring until he was disturbed by a frantic call "My king, my king!" he turned to see Sigorn, the son of Thenn leader Styr running towards him.
"What is it Sigorn?" Mance asked
"It's your wife, she in labour but there's a major problem." Sigorn stated
"What kind of problem?" Val asked
"There are complications with the baby." Sigorn replied "You need to see for yourself."
Oldtown: The Reach:
Night had fallen and what was seen as the final battle in the War against the Mythic Dawn was about to begin. The combined armies of the Reach, two legions and what remained of the Westerlands had gathered in several lines near the entrance to Oldtown and this was the first that many of them had been able to see Oldtown since the war began. No one had been sure what to expect but what they saw was not good, even though it was meant to be night time, the sky was instead an eyrie red and there was a distinct glow of fire coming from the city as well as the red glow of several Oblivion Gates surrounding the city. The combined armies were brave but still scared as they had never faced a threat like this but they knew that if they didn't fight then many people would suffer.
Facing them was the army of Daedra, the Dremora lords and their black armour glowing red was surrounded by swarms of red skinned Scamps, fierce clawed Clannfears and a few snarling Daedroths. Up in the Citadel's tower, Mankar Cameron stood watching the battle with Viserys Targaryen at his side as well as Gerold Dayne. "Looks like they've decided to throw everything they have at us." Gerold stated
"Well, I guess they don't want to risk the king coming here to protect him, surely he's head of what we have." Mankar sneered
Viserys glared "I am the only king here, not the usurper's spawn." He snarled "If he doesn't show up then I guess the boy will be of no use to us. Once this battle is over, I'll slaughter him myself and send his head to his brother!"
"Still, this will be a hard battle." Mankar said looking at a pedestal where there was a magical barrier surrounding the floating Elder Scroll that Viserys had recovered from Blackreach "The magic we've gained is running out, even with the Gates we've opened we can't keep bringing more Daedra here, if the king does not show up then it will take what we have left for us to start our ultimate plan, we cannot risk using up our power to summon more Daedra. Whatever Daedra we have here will be all we use for this." He then looked at Gerold "Head down to the cells, have Cingor and Styrbjorn gather the remaining prisoners and prepare them for sacrifice."
"As you command Master." Gerold replied and he left while Viserys mounted Vulthuryol and the dragon took off.
Back with the combined army Tywin stood with Garlen Tyrell and Legates Tituleius and Caesennis as the Daedric army then began charging towards them. "Archers!" Caesennis yelled and the Legion Archers along with the Lannister crossbowmen and Reach archer drew their bows "Fire!" hundred of arrows and crossbow bolts fired from the army and towards the Daedra. They used a standard legion tactic by having the archers in three rows, the first fire first, then the line behind and then the final row which allowed a continuous fire of arrows and bolts. This cut down the Daedra and they charged and the few that did arrive were blocked by the shield wall created by the legion, another strong tactic that used a horseshow formation to prevent the Daedra from hitting them from the sides, spars and pikes were used between the shield wall to pierce the incoming attackers.
Viserys saw this and flew Vulthuryol towards the army planning to incinerate them in one swoop. Tywin saw this and looked at Caesennis "He's coming."
Caesennis nodded and shouted at Dickon Tarly to send the signal. Dickon got a flaming arrow and fired it to the west away from the battle. Viserys saw the arrow but thought nothing of it and when he heard a roar, he didn't think much either. That was until he suddenly felt hot and looked up at a column of flames coming at him and he quickly turned away and felt a rush of air flow past nearly knocking him off balance. After he regained control, he looked to see what it was that came at him, it was another dragon, a large and silver scaled one, a dragon that he realized was the one that he had tried to claim at Red Lake but failed.
And riding on that dragon an armoured figure dressed in the armour of the order of the Blades and had a head of black hair, he quickly realized who it was "So, it seems the usurper's spawn had indeed arrived." He sneered
"You wanted my attention Viserys and now you have it!" Martin snapped
"Once I kill you I will claim my rightful place as king of these lands and kill anyone who gets in my way." Viserys snarled
Martin just smirked "You're going to have a harder time with that than you think. You honestly believe that people will bow before a Daedra worshipper, no one will do that willingly, all you've done is cement yourself as a madman just like your father, believe what you wish I mean I was never born during his rule but he was no angel. Things you heard were not just propaganda although even I knew that my father was not perfect either."
"Doesn't matter what you think, I will rewrite history so that your father is only seen as a traitor to everyone!" Viserys snapped
"You still have to win this first." Martin hissed and stroked Silverwing "I guess it's poetic then, two major dragonriders fighting each other for the first time since the Dance of the Dragons, you may have won the last fight against Silverwing here but now she has a rider, it's time for round two." Silverwing roared in response and quickly glided towards Viserys and Vulthuryol.
Beyond the Wall: Icereach:
Icereach was a small island located off the eastern coast of the Lands beyond the Wall in the Shivering Sea. The island had a small ruined castle on which may have once been an island fortress for the Valyrian Freehold or just a simple merchant trading post but it had been abandoned for many years, no one knew why but it was believed it was too costly to maintain as the waters surrounding the island would often freeze and snow would cover the island making it a treacherous place. Despite the castle being ruined, it still had some inhabitants, a group of wildlings known as the Icereach clan. The Icereach clan were a group of Wildlings who were strongly hated by many of the other Wildling groups due to their practises of dark magic including human sacrifices and they also did not prey to the Old Gods but rather to the Ancient Daedric Princes. Because of this, they had been driven from the mainland and too Icereach during a war which saw them travel across the ice covered sea and then get trapped when the ice melted though this made it a blessing since they were now free to practice their beliefs.
The magic that the Icereach clan knew was ancient and it was what was needed for the Worm Cult to start their major plan. Manimarco had travelled to the island along with Ramsay, Belain and Rada al Saran in order to gain their allegiance. Manimarco had already sent a message ahead asking for a meeting with the clan's matriarch or their leader. Their small boat arrived on the coast of the island where they were approached by a group of women, one of which stepped forward. "Greetings King of Worms." One greeted "I am Sister Hiti of the Icereach clan, Mother Ciannait sent us to escort you through the island, be warned, some of our family may take offense to how you look at them."
"We'll be on our best behaviour." Belain stated
"Good." Another sister stated "I'm Gohla, this is Bani and Maefyn, we hope mother will accept your offer, we haven't had a real chance to let our magic loose in a long time so it will feel good to be ourselves for once."
Oldtown: Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary:
The smoke filling the sanctuary finally began to dissipate and the fires died down. The area behind the waterfall had an air hole to the surface meant to help air flow down to the sanctuary so the survivors were able to breathe. The three surviving members, Nazir, Babette and Hildegard finally made their way out and saw the condition of their base, everything was wrecked, the fires had destroyed everything and all the bodies had been charred that there was no way to find out if they were their family members or if they were bodies of the Mythic Dawn.
"Yikes what a mess." Nazir grumbled "I guess this is the end."
"Not quite." A voice called and they all turned to see Speaker Elam Drals approached them dragging a burnt body that seemed to be alive. "The brotherhood is an idea, it can never die as long as a single one of us lives. Like the saying that if you leave one wolf alive and the sheep are never safe." He then threw the body down and they could see it was the badly burnt body of Astrid.
"Astrid, I can't believe it." Nazir stated
"I can't believe you, how could you have done this to us?" Babette asked
"My brother, all of our family members here?" Hildegard stated "Why?"
Astrid coughed "I have no excuse." She weezed since it was hard to talk "I just wanted things to go differently, I wanted the Dark Brotherhood to be feared again, we were going nowhere with how we were going so I decided it was time to begin anew." She then coughed hard again "By Sithis, I was such a fool, you were right, the Night Mother was right, her way is the true way." She looked at Babette "You know what you have to do, end me, let Sithis judge me in the void."
Astrid pulled out a blade and stabbed Astrid in the heart "May Sithis judge you in darkness."
Astrid sighed "Thank you." She whispered before she breathed her last.
"Astrid is dead, it is as it should be." Elam stated "May she find redemption in the void. While we live the Dark Brotherhood lives, we will rebuild but I cannot risk the last of my family, you will all return to our Westerland headquarters now. Your mission here is done."
"And what about you?" Hildegard asked
"I still have one contract left here though this is now personal for me now." Elam stated "The forces of King Martin have engaged the Mythic Dawn above while the Resistance targets the Mythic Dawn headquarters. I already helped them by taking out the guards at their target entrance, now it is up to them but I will take out the final target. Mankar Cameron betrayed Astrid's offer, he needs to die by my hand for that. I will stay and take him out myself, if anyone will kill him it will be us. I will show him how the Dark brotherhood lives.
Meereen: Essos:
In the dead of night, Visenya Targaryen gathered the archers of the Golden Company as well as the catapults they had constructed and began firing a barrage of rocks and flaming arrows at the western eastern wall of the city. As expected, the walls stood strong but they had never intended to break them, this was just to get the Meereenese attention away from the task force led by Grey Worm who were sneaking into the city via a an old sewer grate on the western wall of the city.
With the wall's men distracted by the barrage coming from the west, Grey Worm and his group of Unsullied were able to sneak up to the old Grate and managed to pry it open and they entered, they had changed from their Unsullied armour into the ragged robes of slaves and even wore some of the collars that they had taken from the liberate slaves of Yunkai. Once they were inside, they lit some torched and began to wade through the sewers, the water was filthy and thick with sewage which made it difficult to wade through even though it was mostly only came up to their knees. It did go deeper in parts but they soon made it through and went up a set of stairs that led to the slave holding pens where many of the slaves were currently held. Usually this place was used to hold unsold slaves but due to the risk, they had all been held here.
As they approached, they heard voices talking in a mixed dialect of Valyrian and Ghiscari.
"You heard them." One called "They have come to free us."
"You are a fool!" another snorted "The Masters are too strong."
"They defeated the Masters Champion, they have a great army, do any of you want to spend the rest of your lives in chains. Some of us were born into this life but others were free until the slavers came. I've seen people from islands far away, what gives the people here the right to steal us from our homes and sell us like property."
"And what if they fail!" a woman cried "They took my child, the one I gave birth to and loved. They tore her from me and nailed her to post. They will do it again."
"Which is why we must fight!" another man shouted "If we don't then this will just carry on, the cycle must end. I say we give the Masters a taste of their own medicine!"
"I want to live!" a new slave spoke up "I have lived through three slaves revolts and they always end the same way, the masters in power and the slaves dead."
"But this time it's different." The original speaker stated "The previous times we were alone, now we have allies."
Grey Worm decided that this was the time to come in "You do have allies" he said as he entered and everyone's eyes turned to him "This one's name is Grey Worm, I was taken as a child by the slavers of Astapor, raised and trained as Unsullied, now I fight for the Breaker of Chains, the Slavers Breaker Aegon Targaryen."
The doubtful slave just scoffed "You are Unsullied, they trained you to fight since you could first walk, we are not soldiers."
Another slave added "We have no training, no weapons."
Grey Worm responded by throwing down a bag of weapons which was followed by the other Unsullied "There are three slaves in this city for every Master, no one can give you your freedom, you have to take it. Create chaos throughout the city, kill any slaver or master, anyone with a whip. If the soldiers come, we will take care of them, an Unsullied is worth ten times a soldier that Meereen has."
The slaves all gathered weapons and looked at Grey Worm, the one who started the talking before just smiled and raised a sword above his head which was followed by most of the other slaves.
Oldtown: Front Gates:
The fight was going well for the Reach forces surprisingly. Despite the fears, for some reason the Daedra weren't replenishing their forces. In fact, one Oblivion Gate closed before their eyes and they did not even send someone in to close it. The Mythic Dawn's power must be waining and they weren't as strong as previously believed. Tywin was busying fighting but couldn't help noticing the fight going on above. Two dragons fighting each other was something that no one had witness for over 150 years, the last time would have been during the Dance of the Dragons, most notably the battles of Tumbleton and the Battle over the God's Eye. This wasn't a smaller dragon versus a massive dragon but two dragons of nearly equal sides. The last time these two dragon had fought, it had ended with Viserys' victory but now Silverwing had help from Martin who used his Blades training to guide Silverwing away from Vulthuryol's strikes of fire and claws.
The Legion's shield wall had held against the first onslaught and now they were marching in line while the Lannister and Tyrell Calvary charged around and hit the Daedra on the sides. Now the combined forces were gaining the upper hand and were approaching the front gates.
Above the city watching the battle, Mankar watched with distain, he had been forced to close an Oblivion Gate in order to preserve what little power they had left, if Viserys could bring down the king, then they could get the power they needed, if not, well he had another plan in case, no matter what, he would not fail this time.
As Martin and Silverwing managed to dodge another strike, Martin had another idea and caressed Silverwing's side, "Hey, if these boys want to fly, then let's show them how we fly, now up."
Silverwing gave a soft roar and flew up and Vulthuryol soon followed with Viserys sneering at him "You can't hide from me in the clouds!" he hissed think that was what he was doing "I will find you!"
Silverwing just flew up, she was old and massive which made her slow but Vulthuryol was even bigger and overweight from being confined to underground for who knows how long. Vulthuryol also suffered from difficulty breathing the air which Silverwing did not have this problem. This allowed Silverwing to gain the speed.
"Wait, wait." Martin warned and then as Vulthuryol got closer and opened his jaws to give a blast of fire, he yelled "Now!"
Silverwing managed to use her more manoeuvrability to turn around and fire a blast of fire right into Vulthuryol's mouth causing the dragon to screech and fly past Silverwing who was hovering, as he flew past, she also bit into the large dragon opening up a massive wound on the leg. Vulthuryol shriek and shook almost throwing Viserys off.
"No you blasted fire breathing lizard!" he yelled "I am your master, I am the true dragon, you will obey me!" he struck his sword against Vulthuryol's top jaw.
Martin saw this "He hasn't got the bond, he only sees him as a beast of burden." That gave him an idea "Then let's see how much he'll let him take."
Nightfort: The Wall:
Mance Rayder and Val entered the bedroom where Dalla lay on the bed moaning in pain. The new Maester was next to her holdin her hand. Although the Free Folk were untrusting of Maesters, Mance had allowed one to come here after Dalla had lost two children. She hoped that at least this child would survive but there seemed to be a problem.
"It's a breach birth." Maester Pylos, the man assigned to the Nightfort stated "We've tried everything to turn the child around but now there seems to be another problem, the umbilical cord had wrapped around the child's neck, if we don't get it out soon then the child will die."
"Please." Dalla begged "Don't let me lose another one."
Pylos then came close "There is something else, the stress of this child has caused intense internal bleeding, even if we get the child out it may be too late to save the mother."
"What are you saying?" Val gasped fear evident in her eyes
"I'm saying that the mother will die soon after. She may get the chance to see the child but with so much blood loss already, there's no saving her, this has happened multiply times, we don't have the medicine here to try and save her." Pylos stated
"Are you saying my sister will die?" Val gasped
"I'm sorry my lady, but I can't see any hope of saving her." Pylos replied "We can save the baby but we have limited time. Our attempts to turn the baby have failed but there is another way, there is a technique taught at the Citadel where we can cut into the womb and remove the baby. The ensuring blood loss will surely kill the mother but sometimes the father has to make the decision, save one or lose them both."
Val looked at Mance "My king, you surely can't be considering this."
"Val." Dalla cried "It's alright, I can feel the bleeding myself, I know what it means, I'm not losing this baby now." He then looked at Mance "Just do it, please."
Pylos looked at her "There will be pain. A lot of pain."
Val cried and got a piece of cloth "Bite on this, it will at least help you cope."
Dalla nodded and bit down on the cloth as the Maester got a scaple and carefully cut into Dalla's belly, the woman screamed through the cloth as there was a lot of blood as the Maester managed to get the baby out and was able to unwrap the umbilical cord. He gave a few soft smacks onto the baby's bum and soon, the baby began wailing.
"It's a boy." He said and cut the umbilical cord and wrapped the baby in a clean cloth and gave him to Mance "He will live thankfully, despite this, he seems healthy. What is his name?"
"We free folk don't name our children at birth." Val stated with tears flowing from her eyes "It's unlucky since many children die in infancy among our people. We wait until their second nameday when after that there's a stronger chance for survival."
Mance looked at his son with tears in his eyes as the baby finally began to settle and then looked at the limp body of his wife "I promise you Dalla, I will ensure that our son lives and will lead our people into their future."
Oldtown: The Citadel:
Tommen woke up in the cell with Melissa and Talla as he heard the rummaging of keys and saw several Mythic Dawn agents opening the cells and dragging the prisoners away. He recognised Gerold Dayne as well as Styrbjorn and Cingor.
"Take them all to the chamber, Mankar wants them all cleared out." Gerold ordered "I'm going back to the Seneschal's room to keep an eye on the scroll."
"Aye Dayne." Styrbjorn replied and Gerold left while Cingor opened Tommen's cell.
Talla began to cry and beg while Melissa tried to fight to protect her daughter. Tommen joined her.
"You know what." Cingor sneered "Let's just kill the little prince, no one is safe from us."
"Yeah, hold him down." Styrbjorn replied. Tommen tried to fight and Talla was smacked as was Melissa when they tried to fight. Styrbjorn drew a dagger and closed his eyes when he heard a growl and a howl of pain. Tommen managed to see a large ball of fur knock Cingor down and bite at his threat. Styrbjorn barely had time to react when a large dart penetrated his face coming through the back of his head and out his face, then his skull was ripped from his spine. Tommen was able to get up and saw his pet Jaguar, Ser Pounce, had torn out Cingor's throat. He then approached and Talla backed away.
"It's alright." A voice called "He's with us."
Tommen looked up to see a small force of soldiers led by a man wearing plate armour with the Hightower crest and a slightly overweight person waving the rope dart around.
"Sam?" Mellissa gasped
"Mother?" Samwell Tarly gasped "You're alright, when I heard what happened at Horn Hill, I feared the worst."
Talla got up and embraced her brother crying her eyes out with Sam comforting her telling her it will be alright.
"Sam, you get these prisoners out of here." Baelor ordered "We still need to find this Elder Scroll Marwyn told us about."
"I overheard a Mythic Dawn member Gerold Dayne saying he would be guarding the scroll." Tommen stated
"Gerold, the Darkstar. He's here?" Sarella gasped
"I recognised him from a tournament he attended once." Tommen admitted "He said he would be guarding the scroll in the Seneschal's chambers."
"I know where that is." Sarella stated "And Gerold killed my sister, he's mine to kill."
"Lead us." Baelor ordered "Sam, you and Raynald take the prisoners back to the hideout, they're going to need some care."
"Understood." Sam replied and he along with Raynald Westerling led the prisoners while Baelor, Sarella, Lyle Crakehall and Loras Tyrell went off to confront the Mythic Dawn leadership.
Icereach:
The Icereach sisters led the Worm Cult across the island of Icereach. They got a glimps of the type of magic they used including the Briarheart ritual where the heart of a warrior is replaced by a special item called the Briar Heart, something that only the Icereach people could do, the other people who knew this ritual had been wiped out over the years. Another ritual was the Hagraven Ritual where women were turned into bird-human hybrids called Hagravens. One of the higher ranked members Sister Skelga was a hagraven. The Icereach clan also seemed to have some of the monsters that roamed beyond the wall including an giant called Kjarg.
They soon made it to Mother Ciannait, leader of the Icereach clan where Hiti introduced them "Mother, we have some visitors here."
Ciannait turned around, they couldn't see her face since she was wearing a wooden mask that was made to look like a tree and had a hood covering her hair "So, after so many years, the Grey Host has decided to make a return. I suppose you're here to make an alliance."
"Indeed." Manimarco stated "You folks have been hunted over the years because of your practises, surely you want to have a chance to get back at the people who vilified you and treated you like barbarians and animals."
"Aye but I have to be sure that you're not just planning on using us." Ciannait replied "After all we do have completely different ideas and beliefs, how do we know that you're not going to betray us."
"Maybe this will sweeten the deal." Belain stated and held out a large black gem "A powerful soul we ensnared and trapped here."
"A nice offer but you did betray him though." Ciannait replied "You did bring this Joffrey over to you, made him powerful and then betrayed him."
"It's not really betrayal since he was just a means to an end." Ramsay sneered "He was of no use to us alive, after all he was just a whiny spoiled bastard who always got what he wanted once. He's more use to us like this than alive. Your people on the other hand held power most have never heard off. You're useful allies and better for us to be alive, killing you would bring us nothing, we don't have access to your magic, we need your help, not your magic for us to use."
Ciannait smiled "A good answer, very well, the Icereach clan is at your disposal but remember, we won't take orders from you if they serve us no purpose, we're not fodder for enemy armies."
"Understood." Manimarco replied "We do request you perform a great Harrow Ritual though, it will help send a clear message to the world."
"It will take time to prepare but you will have your ritual soon." Ciannait replied.
Oldtown:
Martin and Silverwing hid in the clouds as Viserys flew around on Vulthuryol trying to find them. "I know you're out there, my dragon can smell you. Once I have dealt with you, we shall finish off the ritual with your blood and our master plan will come into action, one that will see to it that your army will be finished and not only will Westeros bend to us but so will the rest of the world."
Martin wondered what the master plan was but right now, he was concentrating on dealing with Viserys and his dragon. Since Vulthuryol was so old and massive, he flew around much slower and nosier while Silverwing was more gentle and quite which allowed her to fly under Vulthuryol in his blind spot right under. Martin waiting for the right time and Silverwing fired a column of fire at the less scaled underbelly causing Vulthuryol to growl. Silverwing then dived in front of Vulthuryol "Come and get me!" Martin yelled and Viserys growled ordering Vulthuryol to follow. Martin's smaller dragon quickly picked up speed but did not go too fast, Martin felt the rush of air flowing around him which was getting more intense, he ordered Silverwing to dive further going at a more intense angle, he had a plan. The two dragons dove and Martin and Viserys began to feel dizzy and disorientated although this was Martin's plan. Since Silverwing had been flying more than Vulthuryol had since the Ancient Dragon had been trapped underground for so long, Silverwing knew when the ground was approaching and slowly pulled up. This caused the heavier Vulthuryol to dive past her. Viserys tried to get him to pull up but now he had no idea of which way was up, exactly what Martin wanted.
Viserys only realised too late that the ground was fast approaching, with a loud crash, Vulthuryol crashed right into the ground smashing through one of the Oblivion Gate pillars causing the portal to close and crashing through the front gate close to the battlefield. The impact threw Viserys off since he was further back allowing him to survive the fall since he was low enough. Viserys' fall was cushioned by the rubble but still hurt and he soon crashed straight down onto the cold ground, he had no idea where he was now.
Citadel:
Baelor Hightower led his group of Resistance fighters up the Citadel following Sarella Sand's lead. Sarella had been to the Citadel disguised as a boy since women were not allowed here but she knew all the locations and knew where the Mythic Dawn headquarters was. She had also heard that Gerold Dayne was here and she wanted to be the one to take him out since he was the one who had killed her sister Obara. They also had a chance to take out Mankar Cameron, leader of the Mythic Dawn which would be a big boon to the cause.
They soon came out onto a ruined balcony where the walls had collapsed and they saw the fighting outside was getting intense. The saw the blasts of dragonfire above as the dragons clashed and was able to see one dragon crash to the ground, they couldn't see which but they had another task.
"This is it," Sarella stated "There's a secret passage that leads to the Seneschal's quarters behind the fireplace. The switch should just be here." She quickly found it and the fireplace moved up to reveal a spiral staircase. They all quickly made their way up and soon found what they were looking for.
"Aye." Gerold Dayne sneered "So I see the Resistance has come at last. I knew it was only a matter of time."
"You know why we're here!" Baelor hissed
"Indeed although it may be for nought, Mankar is gone, he had something else to do, his master plan will soon come into action though there has been a change of plan. Even so he wants the Scroll guarded even though it's really useless now that we've exhausted it's power granted to us. Still it poses a danger to the plan if you get it so I will be guarded it with my life."
"I was hoping to take you out and avenge my sister!" Sarella snarled drawing a dagger.
"Ahhh, I thought you looked familiar." Gerold sneered "You're one of Oberyn's spawn, Sarella correct, daughter of a sailor from the Summer Islands. Your sister was something even if she was the daughter of a whore from this very city. I found her mother you know, now she's resting with her own daughter after the Ironborn had their way with her. She was old but still a woman."
Baelor held Sarella back "He's trying to bait you!" he warned
"Smart one, let's end this." Gerold decided and soon Gerold began fighting. Despite being outnumbered, Gerold was a skilled fighter. Despite taking a hit from Sarella, he knocked her back against a wall, Baelor saved her from being killed. Sadly not everyone made it out of the fight alive. Balon Botley and Robert Brax were both killed by Gerold. Baelor fought hard but Gerold slowly pushed him back. But then he began to feel weak.
Sarella laughed "I inhirited more of my father than you think." She sneered "He's called the Red Viper for a reason, I didn't just spend my time here reading books, I learnt a lot about poisons. Tyene and I loved them but our favourite was the Long Farewell. Kill you slowly, now I get to watch you die."
Gerold fell to the ground and struggled to speak. Then a dagger impaled him through the back of the head causing the remaining people to look up.
"Never leave anything to chance." Elam Drals spoke "I heard everything, I came after Mankar but now he's gone. Still, you guys might want to take this." He threw the Elder Scroll to them and Yara noticed the barrier that protected the scroll was down and the scroll was missing from the pedestal, Elam had used Gerold's fight to take the scroll "Take it to your king, he will need it, tell him that the Dark Brotherhood will locate Mankar for him." Elam then walked into the shadows and vanished.
The Starey Sept:
Viserys Targaryen groaned as he tried to push himself up. He had fallen from his dragon when it crashed but since he fell off at a low altitude, the impact did not kill him although it seemed that he had broken his leg and was struggling to stand up let alone walk. He had fallen at the remains of the Starey Sept and he could see the ruined statues and stained glass of the once grand Sept. He looked outside the see the battle going on outside.
"Once I get back to my dragon, I'll be sure to destroy your whole army!" he growled as if he was talking to Martin although he was nowhere in sight.
Then he felt a sharp pain in his back and he fell face first, he reached back and grabbed what had struck him and found that it was Mehrunes Razor, the weapon he had used but he dropped it when he fell.
"A shameful performance madman!" a voice hissed And Viserys rolled onto his back and looked up to see Mankar Cameron approach him, he had the staff and mask of the dragon priest Rahgot with him in his hands.
"Why?" Viserys wheezed "We've worked together for so long and now you turn on me."
"Because you are a disgrace and a failure!" Mankar hissed "When I first found you I saw potential in you to be the Champion of Dagon, now I believe I was mistaken, you have been reckless and obsessed over taking out Martin, you could have used you're dragon's strength and power to end him but you were determined to take his own dragon as well. I will not allow your impulsiveness and recklessness to destroy what I have built here. Thankfully I can still complete the ritual and bring my lord here, although now you will be the one to provide the power, you may be mad but you still have the blood of the dragons though not as strong as your sister or the king." He used his magic to summon back Mehrunes Razor and jabbed it into Viserys' stomach causing the Targaryen to howl in pain and then his eyes began to roll back as his wound glowed red as red light flowed from his wound and formed a ball of magic draining the colour from Viserys skin and hair turning them grey and into a husk which then fell to the ground.
Mankar then walked to the desecrated altar of the Starey Sept which had been desecrated by the Mythic Dawn and he knelt in a meditating position and opened the Holy Tome of the Mythic Dawn, the Mysterium Xarxes and began to chant.
"Oh Mehrunes Dagon, the lord of change and the prince of destruction, I have served you for many years and you granted me eternal life and power allowing me to last. I know I seemed to have been failing you but I offer you this. After so long since the Septim sacrifice and the sealing of the Dragonfires, they have weakened again, I offer you this blood offering as well as the importality you granted me in order to undo the binds that Martin Septim did. Use what power we have left and you shall walk this world again." A large rune surrounded Mankar with him in the centre and the magical orb dissolved into the circle while Mankar glowed blue and the runes began to shift as the ritual went on.
Main Gates:
Tywin Lannister watched as the two dragons fought each other in the sky. The combined armies had begun gained the upper hand against the Daedra, they weren't as powerful as they believed but he knew they needed to be ready for anything. He then watched as one dragon crashed to the ground and had been worried for a moment that the king may be dead however that fear was quickly replaced with relief when he saw the clearly silvery dragon land safely. Viserys' dragon was weakened but not dead but one wing had been trapped under some rubble and was unable to fly. Silverwing shielded Martin from a blast of fire and then Martin charged at the dragon doing a crazy trick landing on top of its head and falling into its blind spot. Vulthuryol tried to shake Martin off but Martin was able to push his sword right through a loosened scale injuring the dragon, he quickly jumped off the head and under the mouth where he plunged his sword upwards into the lower jaw. Vulthuryol roared loudly and then collapsed.
Martin stood up and place his hand on the dying dragon's head "You've been through so much now, be at peace, die on your own terms." Vulthuryol gave a small breath like of relief of being free and almost thanking Martin for ending him. At the same time, the remaining Oblivion Gates closed and the Daedra were cut down. The gathered army began to cheer, it looked like it was over.
Tywin smiled for a moment but then a look of confusion appeared when he saw the fallen dragon glowing yellow. Then the skin seemed to dissolve into light which swished around Martin and then into his body. Tywin saw Martin's eyes glow yellow before returning to normal.
"I can't believe it." Legate Caesennis gasped "You really are Dragonborn."
"Dragonborn?" Garlen asked
"An old legend from the Septim Empire." Caesennis stated
"A figure born with the blood and soul of a dragon." Legate Tituleius added "They say that the Septim Emperors were Dragonborn. The Dragonlords of Valyria claimed they were Dragonborn too but they never had the power of the Thumm like Martin has. Rumours spread after Martin was able to use the Thumm powers but you don't have to be Dragonborn to use them although learning them are easier. The Nine Divines are said to be the ones who bless the power to people when they're born. I guess this shows that the ancient powers and magic really are returning."
"Dragonborn or no, we still have a job to do." Garlen stated
"Indeed although it seems like the battle is over." Tywin stated "We should secure the city and find any Mythic Dawn hideouts."
Almost as soon as he said that though, the ground shook and there was a loud rumble "Oh what now?" Martin groaned. Then a massive explosion threw everyone off balance and when they looked at the city, they saw a massive beam of light emerging from where the Starey Sept stood. All over the city from the gathered armies at the gates to the Citadel where the Resistance was and to the ground where Samwell Tarly was escorting his family, Tommen and other rescued hostages to safety, they saw the beam of light reaching the sky. Even outside the city in the waters where Theon and Kaleen were sailing, they could see the light.
The light soon began to fade and to everyone's shock and horror, a massive creature now stood towering over Oldtown. This creature was standing as tall as the Hightower itself, it had deep blood red skin with horns on the head and four massive arms, each fitted with large claws and one held a massive axe nearly as big as Viserys' dragon.
The readers of ancient law realized what this creature was. "By the Divines!" Caesennis gasped "That's..."
"The Daedric Prince Mehrunes Dagon himself!" Martin gasped
"THIS WORLD IS MINE!" Dagon roared.
Chapter end:
Notes: Well here it is, the second to last chapter of season 3 arc. One chapter left and season 3 is finished and a major event here has happened with the Daedric Prince Mehrunes Dagon himself appearing. The final chapter may be shorter since it may not have much happening. In this chapter a huge number of characters have died including one of the main villains Viserys Targaryen. Mankar killed him since he failed to weaken Martin and had not outlived his usefulness since he had caused a lot of trouble by acting recklessly. Mankar also sacrificed much of his power since Viserys' blood was not as powerful for the ritual. The majority of the final chapter will be the final battle finishing off just like this chapter with a few other sub plots being finished for season 3. After that I will be taking a massive break from this story to concentrate on other projects but I can't say how long of a wait the final chapter of season 3 will be before it is finished