Harry GOT CH 5 updated
While he was making plans in Bravos, he had a very strange encounter. He was walking with Marwyn, Thoros, Bronn, and Mel when Marwyn pointed out someone he knew from Westeros—Jon Connington, the Kingsguard. They followed him and discovered the location of Viserys and Daenerys Targaryen. He was concerned, as there was much talk of his father and others putting a price on their heads.
He needed to have more info, so he set a Witcher—Jax (The Rock from Hercules)—to watch them, protect them, and report back to him their actions. He also was to watch over his Bravos dealings. He ended up splitting up the ships and groups.
He put Arthur in charge of the Ruby, which was now enchanted with the basics to make it 5x faster with the wind engine, less drag, and more durable, with a stasis room, one shower, and one sink. Just the basics with no comforts. Arthur would return to Lorath and clean out the Dwemer city of treasure, finish mapping, copy all the written words, and secure the city better against the Falmor and the Lorathian people who were getting very nosy about what they were doing. He took two of the three Architects he created so far.
They met with the Iron Bank, and after all the treasure they found and the work the Pearl had been doing, he had 720,000 dragons—even after giving large bonuses to his men. They restocked their ships and set off to their destinations.
While on the ship, he tried to catch up on things. He dove into combat training again, studying magic and creating enchantments. He was also trying to forward his plans for other enchantments. He had eight -size quicksilver rings he was enchanting to be wind engines and pre-made hull hardeners and reduced friction plates. All this stuff made the ships about three times faster than regular ships.
They ran into trouble when they passed Tyrosh, when they were approached by a pirate ship. They could have outrun them, but Harry needed to increase his power. The pirates realized way too late it was a bad idea. They used the scorpion harpoon to hit and reel in the ship. Hadrian's men made short work of the pirates, killing all of them.
He spent four days fixing it up, outfitting it with provisions and enchantments. The standard for any 3x ship would include a small wind engine, two friction plates, stasis closet, one sink, one hot plate, and one scorpion. He sent it back to Britain with minimal crew, taking the wounded and goods back along with his Architect.
They then sailed to Lys, which his men enjoyed greatly, where they stayed a few days. In Lys, Harry purchased forty slave sailors, filling his ship and telling them they would be set free if they gave him two years' work. They agreed, so he bought them and set them free. He also paid them fairly, which garnered him much love from his crew.
In Lys, they also put the treasure they had on board from the chest to use and purchased five ships. He filled them with slaves—mostly sailors, shipwrights, and women. He gave them the basic wind engine and runic plates for speed and sent them to Britain and set them free there. The population of the islands was growing rapidly and now had 3,000 people, four Architects, and eight 3x ships used for fishing and trade. He enchanted and sent the ships on their way.
He purchased a large warehouse and manse in Lys from which he would operate. They bought lots of goods in Lys and then sailed east to the Valyrian Peninsula. The shattered land was pumped full of magic and treasure, although they didn't go ashore, as Harry's magic was sluggish and the air was becoming toxic. Harry needed to create some safety equipment first before exploration.
He was making a killing off the storm chest though, as he gained a Valyrian steel dagger, helmet, and a short sword on top of all the other treasure. The Gulf of Grief is where the trouble began—two pirate ships and one slave ship in three days. They killed all the pirates and freed the slaves, who mostly joined him. Twenty Witchers, thirty PK, and five Pack members with ninety sailors were packed into the four ships. It was slow going as Harry upgraded the speed of the ships while the Pearl went to the city of Astapor to purchase sailors, food, and other supplies.
He gave a Witcher command of each ship, and it was slow going until the other ships were 3x speed. He ordered the three ships back to King's Landing with Violet to form the Phoenix Trading Company, run by Violet and his people out of King's Landing and Britain. They would trade between KL, Oldtown, Lannisport, Britain, Lorath, Lys, and Bravos. Once the Ruby was finished—which was 5x speed—they would join them. He wanted to establish firm trade routes, guaranteeing goods shipped.
He started sailing once again full speed, working on all his stuff, up to Meereen. He tried to keep a low profile while he was there for a month but started making a name for himself as the White Wolf. He fought in the fighting pits for a wager to free a group of powerful slave gladiators, and most chose to join him, becoming Witchers. They were a group of twenty-eight extremely skilled warriors.
He purchased a large manse and warehouse by the harbor with money from the storm chest. He worked hard getting more enchantments done. He got eighty Red Priests, fifty PK, ten mages, twenty Architects, and fifty Witchers to join him. He also recruited another two for his Wolf Pack—Spartacus and Crixus from HBO Spartacus.
He stayed in Meereen for nearly two months. He focused mainly on recruiting from the poor and slaves of the city to make as many Architects and Witchers as possible. He filled his huge manse with recruits and put a team of seven in charge of his affairs in Meereen.
With the Pearl sailing all around Slaver's Bay, fishing and using the storm chest during his time there, his coffers were overflowing. He purchased seven more ships, making six 3x and making the Emerald 5x. He manned these ships and sent them to Violet in King's Landing. The Ruby made the trip to Meereen once, bringing forty Witchers and fifteen Architects who needed the ritual. He sent the Ruby and Emerald back to King's Landing for a large group of people to help him set up his next venture.
He had been working on the plans for a while and he was finally ready for a second settlement that would give him great power in the Slaver's Bay area. He left Slaver's Bay in the Pearl with forty Witchers, twenty PK, twenty crew, and twenty others. The other men in Meereen just trained and recruited and created a sellsword company called the Berserkers. They did everything regular sellswords did, plus slay monsters. They had very high honor and didn't harm innocents. They operated out of the second large manse he purchased, and he made sure no one knew of his connection to the sellswords.
Back in Westeros, with monsters popping up here and there, the Witchers and PKs would venture out hunting monsters and bandits, making quite the name for themselves.
They traveled to Qarth, but after feeling the magic around the city and the dangerous aura, they left right away and went south to Sothoryos. It was hell on earth, and after making three random stops and losing eight people to huge spiders, they left and hit the Basilisk Isles, where they decimated pirates and slavers.
The Emerald and Ruby joined him, full of soldiers. They made interesting discoveries of a different species of human called Toad Men and an oily black stone that was the same as in the storm cave of a large toad, giving off energy that seemed to mutate the local population. He left the Toad Men alone for now, except one who chose to join his Wolf Pack—named Jargo.
They hunted down 11 ships and made them 3x and sent them back to Moureen to load up people and goods and head to Britain and to return with slaves and supplies, leaving his small contingent in Moureen running things and recruiting.
He decided to stay in the Basilisk Isles for 3 months to create the real start of his kingdom. He would call it Avalon after his old world. He attacked every slave or pirate ship, capturing it and upgrading it. There were actually many small villages and towns on the islands and even the coast of Sothoryos. He would attack and capture all of them. They were all full of slavers and pirates. He put the captured pirates and slavers to good use.
Using the knowledge of his old world combined with the Valyrian blood magic, he developed sacrificial rituals to reinforce various enchantments. He used the Valyrian blood magic and the alchemist to create 3 different things that would see his fortunes rise to heights unimaginable. His people, though, were confused about why he was so focused on such things.
The first was a powerful bug zapper. This would draw in any insect or parasite and destroy them. It was a copper bowl about 3 feet in diameter. It would have a version of Gebralthian fire within it. This fire would never go out as it used death magic to power the attraction and keep the flame lit. He would place these flames on every ship, lighthouse, tower, and many streetlights. He would eliminate most diseases and the poisonous bugs that spread them. This would allow him to do what no one else could—tame and conquer the green hell that is Sothoryos.
The second thing, as all the bugs would be gone, would be that he would need to pollinate crops. So he had been working on breeding a magical, non-stinging honeybee that was immune to the zappers and produced immense amounts of honey. He had 3 hives on the Pearl ready to be placed.
The third thing would be a magical ground cover that was the hardest thing for him to do. It was a hybrid of the best low-growing flowering pasture plants. It was quite amazing. It was a cross somewhere between clover, dandelion, rye, and Kentucky bluegrass. Each seed was very magical and needed life energy to grow. It grew 6 inches tall, flowered year-round, and spread by vines all around where you planted the seed in a perfect circle to 77 feet in diameter, choking out all other plants. The plant didn't climb, so a small ring could be placed around other plants to prevent it from choking out crops. It also grew back very fast even after cows or horses ate it, which prevents overuse of pasture.
He scouted all the islands. There were many different islands to choose from, but he finally found the perfect one. He settled on a small uninhabited island with a single extinct volcano in between Skull and Toad Islands. He captured another 12 ships and upgraded them while creating 25 architects to transform the island into a paradise of modern and magical convenience.
He received 1,000 settlers from Westeros and 10,000 slaves he set free and began his work on the island now named Olympus. He also brought everyone in Sothoryos there to work or be sacrificed for the creation of his 3 new inventions. He did make sure to only have his Witchers, architects, and his most loyal mages help him with the sacrifices, as it would paint him in a very bad light should anyone learn of it. The Red Priests had no aversion to sacrifice, so he put Melisandre in charge of holding and sacrifice.
It was a small island with nearly half the island taken up by the long-extinct volcano. The island was in the shape of a V with the volcano at the point of it. The volcano was very large, stretching 2,000 feet into the air with a large bowl on the top. In the bowl was a small lake he would expand and purify. The rest of the island was flat land covered in jungle. It had 2 natural bays—one along the sheer cliffs in front of the volcano on the tip of the triangle and another in the V of the island where the two wings of the triangle meet, a good 500 feet in front of where the volcano begins.
The sides of the volcano were very steep, and his plans were to put a road circling the volcano at a slight angle all the way to the top. He figured it would need to circle the volcano about 23 times before it got to the top. He would carve the city right into the mountain using earth elemental magic. He also planned to put in 2 sets of elevators that would be near the ports all the way to the top. He also planned on carving out a port under the mountain on the front, which would be for citizens only, like the rest of the island.
The port inside the V would have a small city that foreign ships could come and trade at. The small market city would be walled in with 100-foot walls, which would be the same as the walls around the entire island. The walls would be built 100 ft into the water, leaving room for his ships to traverse around the island after making the water deeper and teeming with life. The visitor's port would have a wall 20 feet out of the water with a large gate. Any enemy ships would be picked apart by the scorpions on the walls in the V-shaped bay.
He decided the name of the island would be Olympus, and the mountain, Mount Olympus. He began by having his people clear-cut and scorch the island one acre at a time after he set up the big zapper. Once the area was cleared, he would plant the ground cover where there wouldn't be a building or road, and then move on. He pulled out his bees and planted several orchards and fields to feed his people. He tasked 5 boats to fishing.
This island would be the capital of his new kingdom of Olympia, which would include all of the Basilisk Islands. Olympus would be the centerpiece of his new kingdom and would be the trade center for the rest of the world—uniquely positioned between east and west and all 4 continents. With this in mind, he designed the most beautiful and impressive city in the world. It would be luxurious and modeled after Ancient Greek architecture with a modern Mediterranean feel. It would be full of gardens, art, and magic.
He determined that no matter the cost, he would make it feel like the kingdom of the gods. It would take many years, but he would see it done no matter the cost. The kingdom of Olympia would be one of many kingdoms he planned on starting, which would all belong to the nation of Avalon.
After the 3 months of working on the island, he put a group of 3 architects, 3 Witchers, and 1 mage in charge of ruling in his name, leaving 100 Witchers, 39 architects, and 20 upgraded 3x ships to start trade, fish, and capture other ships. He started to plan what he was going to do with all the islands and also planned to use Olympus as a staging point to invade Sothoryos and maybe even Ulthos.
He took one of the smaller ships he had captured that was in very good condition and enchanted it with one purpose in mind—it was going to map the coast of Sothoryos, then the islands all around it. It was designed for exploration and mapping. To that end, he enchanted it in a way to make it incredibly strong, fast, and also hold a great deal of supplies so it wouldn't need to go to shore. He put his best sailors and mages on the ship and sent it south.
He wished he could go himself, but there was much to do, so he delegated. He placed a large standing order for ships and slaves from Slaver's Bay. One of his ships would go once a month and trade for supplies and slaves. He would also receive a ship from King's Landing full of goods, and he would send his large amounts of honey and other products he was starting to make.
He decided he would dominate all ships that entered the Basilisk Isles or Sothoryos, and he would allow none to leave to spread word of his plans.
He realized his naval power with the wind engines would be his greatest asset for both trade and war. He then decided to send word ahead and have the Ruby and Emerald meet him in Pentos with a full contingent of crew.
He arrived in Pentos, and the Ruby and Emerald were already there. He was drinking in a tavern purchased by him and run by a Witcher who managed his affairs in Pentos, including the manse and dock in the harbor. Utred was telling him about emptying and mapping Lorath's maze and other business, including the sellsword companies in KL, Lorath, Lys, and Meereen, the trade company, and the fishing company with 17 ships in KL, 16 in Cercei, 8 in Lorath, 32 in the Basilisk Isles, 2 in Lys, 2 in Braavos, and 4 in Meereen.
Most of his focus and resources were going into his naval fleet, then the Witchers and Architects.
After stocking their ships overflowing with supplies, two days later they sailed straight west, then north. Hadrian decided to make a quick stop in White Harbor in the North, which was home of House Manderly. Lord Manderly was a jovial man, unlike most others he had met from the North. The lord welcomed him with a feast. He stayed for two days visiting and discussing trade. In the end, an agreement for trade was made, and Hadrian had made friends with Lord Manderly's son, who was 17 years of age.
He decided he wanted to travel with the prince on an adventure and see the world a little. Hadrian got permission, so the lordling and three sons of minor lords of the North joined him on his trip. They left the North having enjoyed the people greatly.
They arrived at their destination—Hardhome, north of the Wall. He thought about when he saw the Wall briefly when he stopped at Eastwatch, and he marveled at the huge monstrosity and the powerful magic each block of ice contained. The magic felt familiar to him, but he couldn't place it.
He gave food and supplies to the very needy Night's Watch, which they were thankful for. Now that he was beyond the Wall, the level of magic increased slightly. He decided to create a little settlement that was heavily fortified, as he needed info if what the Old Gods said was true. It was cold, very cold—and it is summer.
He brought 100 settlers, 10 Witchers, 10 Phoenix Knights, 10 Architects, and 5 Mages to start the colony.
One year later—three years and three months since he had been gone from King's Landing, only exchanging letters via Fawkes with his family—the Ruby, Emerald, and Pearl had made many trips to Braavos, Pentos, KL, and Tyrosh. He had added two more 5x ships: the Sapphire and Amethyst. He now owned warehouses, manses, and docks in KL, Britain, Braavos, Pentos, Meereen, the Basilisk Isles, Lys, Oldtown, Tyrosh, Lorath, and the Rock, not to mention his port in Winter Town. He had 1.5 million dragons in the Iron Bank, 200,000 in the Oldtown Bank, and 20,000 in the Bank of Meereen.
He purchased and created another 17 3x ships with the standard enchantments. He also captured 21 ships in the Basilisk Isles and cleared most of the non-Avalon citizens out. He had 8 fishing ships in KL, 7 in Winter Harbor (Hardhome), 15 in Cercei, and 21 in the Basilisk Isles. He used his earth magic, alchemy, and lots of labor to build a walled port town. He had a population of 50 Witchers, 50 Architects, 50 Phoenix Knights, and 1,850 others.
He had become very fond of the far North the last year. He isolated himself on the Hardhome Peninsula and was fairly careful about keeping his presence mostly secret. The first three months he spent building the 20 ft tall wall at the top of the cliffs around Winter Harbor and also cleared out the ice spiders that inhabited the caves in the cliffs. These spiders had a slight magical presence, and he had been experimenting with their body parts and webs in potions and rituals. He also built a walled harbor extending out into the water and providing shelter for the port.
The month after he arrived, he was hunting and found a baby direwolf that was solid black. The direwolf was very young and wouldn't survive on its own. He began to feed it his blood mixed with potions and used the fan to pump magic into the puppy. This was not nearly as effective as with Albus, as this animal was already born, but the direwolf began to change into a very dark black direwolf which was growing rapidly and would likely be faster than any natural animal. It seemed it was gaining the ability to track prey on the wind from miles away.
He created a wizard's familiar bond with the wolf, who he now called Padfoot, which allowed his warging to be instinctive. The wolf grew quickly due to the magic from the bond and the amount of food she was given. He had a crazy idea that he should breed the lion and the wolf together, which would be very tricky magically, and perhaps use the lightning stone for the birth. It would give him a very unique and powerful familiar.
The next two months he focused on building two rows of townhouses in the port, in which he pumped water from a nearby hot spring to heat the homes and provide hot water. He also had running water and septic for the little town. There were 60 townhouses, one warehouse, a glass house, and a great hall built before he left. But he left with orders and plans with a council of seven left in charge, led by a Witcher who lost his sword arm to an ice spider.
He decided to take a break from the newly dubbed Winter Lands to map the coastline north of Hardhome and then straight east after he hit the coast of the Ice Shelf on the northern pole of the planet. This trip was hard and very intense. The further north he went, wild ice magic got more intense. Several men died, and the Pearl took some damage from the many icebergs it hit. Glimpses of sea monsters and many strange sightings on the shore made the crew travel fast and not land anywhere, just making the map and observing what they could see.
After about two weeks, the coast started angling southwest at a steady rate. Just after it started angling west, they ran into their first true sea monster. It was a kraken, and using the scorpions and Hadrian's lightning, they were able to kill it and drag it to shore. The Pearl took some damage, and seven men died. It was slightly larger than the ship. Hadrian didn't know if that was a normal size or not.
They stopped on the shore only briefly, as the cold seemed to cut straight through his mild heating enchantments. They rendered a good portion, taking samples of everything, including all the organs, barbs, and ink from an ink pouch. The kraken was actually magical, so he took as much as he could. He carved and made small magical Valyrian steel knives for all of his men with an enchanted handle made from the barbs of the kraken. These blades were then heavily enchanted.
They left the Ice Shelf with over half of the beast and continued east. Another month of mapping and Harry realized he was likely just north of Ib, so he went straight south. Just as he predicted, the island appeared. It was a strange place. It reminded him of Iceland and was actually slightly larger. The hairy people on the island were very strange-looking, kind of like Neanderthals. He visited a few villages and wasn't overly well received but was able to resupply, trade, and even gained a few followers. His greatest finds were ancient true dragon bones that apparently lived on the island at some point.
He decided to go south and west to visit another very mysterious place: the Thousand Islands, which he heard were actually closer to 300 and had very little known about them. It took another 2 weeks to arrive. The islands were a forested version of the Shetland Islands. They were a dangerous place, as the sea was perilous with countless reefs just below the water and would sink almost any ship unlucky enough to hit them. But luckily, his ship was magically hardened and took much less damage.
The strange people of the islands were terrifying—hairless with green-tinged skin which was smooth and yet felt thick like a snake's skin. They had a very slight magic to them—not enough to do anything but enough to be noticed. They were also terrified of the sea, which was really weird as they lived on the many islands. He could also feel powerful earth magic, and he put it together, especially as he saw just below the surface in many places at low tide many ruins of structures beneath the waves.
Sometime in the past, someone used the hammer to shatter this area, which was likely an enemy kingdom, and sunk it beneath the sea. He was now intrigued, so he decided to create a stronghold on a small uninhabited island on the outskirts of the islands. It was very small—half a mile wide and 1.5 miles long. He went to shore and built a 20-foot-tall wall 100x100 ft. He had been working at it for three days, then on the third night they were on the island when all hell broke loose.
The same creatures from the Storm Cave started coming out of the water and attacking his men. These beings were alive, unlike those in the Storm God's cave. Hundreds came, and his men retreated behind the incomplete wall and fought for two hours before the creatures retreated back into the water. The incident spooked the men, especially as the men from the Pearl arrived from where it was anchored in the little harbor area, and they learned the creatures also attacked the Pearl as well. It took some damage and suffered 21 deaths, mostly due to the surprise attack from the creatures scaling the ship.
Harry was worried about them sinking the ship now and rushed to finish the walls, extending them slightly into the water, creating a very small walled harbor complete with a dock and a gate to prevent the creatures from swimming in. This used up nearly all his and all the 20 Architects' power. He unloaded many supplies, 20 Architects, 20 Witchers, and 20 Phoenix Knights to build the small fortress and hold it against the creatures while building a wall all the way around the island over time.
He immediately set sail west, straight back to the Winter Lands, stopping briefly at Ib, Lorath, and Braavos. He also made a quick stop at the city of Sarys. The Dothraki call it Vaes Graddakh, or City of Filth. It was a completely abandoned huge city at the mouth of the Sarnor. The city likely held over a million people during the height of the Sarnor kingdom. It was in total ruin, but the raw materials and basic structures were still there and would be relatively quick to repair and renovate.
That would be for another time, though.
He arrived back after three and a half months of leaving. He immediately sent a fully stocked Pearl straight back to Marcella Island—named after his sister—with many men to secure the island. He would use it to open up the East. Among those were 20 Architects who would help finish building the harbor fortress.
For the next month and a half, he began to range out into the Winter Lands. He ran into several wildlings and was a little disappointed in their culture. He learned the language of the Old Tongue rather quickly due to the cloak. It really was a harsh land, but he was loving it—especially the reprieve of being on land after the trip he just had.
He had been studying warging and practiced it with other animals. He believed having the cloak greatly increased this ability, as he felt like he could understand the animals' emotions. He was also collecting many magical plants and animals for use in potions. He was surprised that the magic north of the Wall was much thicker than south. He knew it had something to do with the giant ice Wall, since as he passed it by Eastwatch, he felt the drain lessen considerably.
After three days of ranging, he came upon a group of wildlings invading another group's camp. The attackers were all men and being brutal. One was even raping a young girl, so he stepped in and fought with the outnumbered defenders. There was surprise all around as he cut down four men in three seconds—two throwing knives, an axe throw, and Blackfyre.
Then the fight was on. After cutting down another six, the survivors ran away. He immediately started healing people with potions and power. They were obviously very wary of him, and more so when he knelt over the girl on the ground who had been stabbed. She was likely in her late twenties and very close to death. She was fairly beautiful, and judging by the beautiful young girls by her side, they were her daughters.
As he approached her, the beautiful blonde girl—who was perhaps 13—lunged at him with a spear. He was caught off guard and barely dodged, the spear grazing his left arm and leaving a gash. He batted her aside out of reflex and tied her up, then pushed the other daughter a few feet away as he bent down and gave the woman a healing potion. He pulled the bone knife out of her chest and put his glowing hand over the wound.
It wasn't enough, so he called Fawkes. People screamed in fear when Fawkes appeared in a burst of fire. Hadrian's nose started to bleed from the healing, and he had Fawkes cry into the wound, which scabbed over. Hadrian continued to heal her until she sat up with a look of confusion and awe.
He stood up and swayed on his feet but shook his head and quickly got his bearings. He looked around at the 22 people, all looking at him in fear and awe. He stepped back just as her daughters ran to her side, the blonde still looking at him in distrust. He took stock of everyone—some were injured and a few wept over fallen family members.
He noticed the brunette sister was the one being raped—the one he saved when he hit the rapist in the eye with a throwing knife. Speaking of, he walked over and retrieved his knives after sheathing Blackfyre. Everyone was still staring, prepared in case he suddenly attacked.
He held up his hand to his side, still looking at everyone. Everyone jumped as he summoned Stormbreaker to his hand from off to the side, where it tore through a man and kept going into the woods.
"Who are you?" an older man demanded.
"My name is Hadrian."
Just then, Utred and Violet came out of the trees. Utred had a small doe around his shoulders since they were out hunting, which greatly alarmed the villagers. Utred just looked amused and asked Hadrian what happened in Common, to which he answered, "These people were being attacked—I figured I'd lend a hand."
"Where are you from? You don't look like Free Folk or crows," the same man asked.
"I've traveled all around this world. I'm originally from the southern part of Westeros."
"Kneelers!"
Hadrian shrugged it off. "If that's what you call them—although I've never knelt before anyone."
"I would love to learn more about this land. Perhaps we can share this doe and revel in a battle well fought."
Although wary, they gathered their own dead and burned them. They gathered the enemy dead and placed them away from the tents for the shadowcats. They spoke around a fire for a while, Hadrian learning about their people, customs, and beliefs while they all ate the doe.
There was some drama when Albus and Sirius came in from hunting. Albus, being the size of a full-grown lion and still growing, and Sirius was about twice the size of an average wolf and still young. He figured they would both grow to be about the size of a horse—maybe a bit bigger. The villagers calmed when they rightly assumed he was a warg, which was not super uncommon in the Winter Lands, as Harry called them. Although, apparently, Harry was even closer to his familiars than they had heard of wargs being, as it was mutual affection and not domination.
He learned the two young girls' names. Val was the beautiful blonde, and Dalla was the petite brunette. Their mother, Ves, was very thankful for his help—although distrustful of his magic. Everyone became more at ease with the newcomers, and they turned in for the night. Hadrian had a four-man tent enchanted to be very warm that he let Val's family and another with an infant use.
The next day, he spent with the Free Folk, getting to know them and helping them get firewood. Utred and Violet left to hunt. Val followed Hadrian around—partly out of distrust, partly out of fascination, and partly because he saved her sister and defeated her in combat, provided food and shelter—all of which would make her "stolen" by him.
She asked many questions about the places he visited. He started teaching her to read and write and even let her use the cloak to advance quicker. He learned this was a permanent village for these people, as they were on the corner of the bay where Storrold's Point started. The water was about half a mile away, and they supplemented hunting with fish traps.
Harry then started building small stone homes with magic—five of them, with one extra building that had a modern bathroom, bathtub, and a small stasis room. The five homes all had very minor heating runes and a fireplace. This was finished a few days before he had to leave, as he was going to build ten homes but couldn't.
After being there for three days, he sent Utred and Violet back to Winter Port to bring some other supplies. He had Ves, Dalla, and Val in his tent from then on, as Utred left his tent for the others of the village.
He started growing close to Val and her sister. Dalla even asked him if he was going to steal her like he did her sister, to which he replied she was too young for that. They would lay with their faces about a foot away from each other, talking quietly long into the night. They were surprised when they learned his age—11—where Val was 12 and Dalla 14.
He kept up teaching Dalla and Val to read and write. He taught Val the sword and Dalla the bow. Two weeks before he left, things changed between him and Val. They were talking with their faces close together, and Hadrian took Val's hand. She was surprised but didn't move it or say anything. They slept closer together, and Hadrian woke with Val on his chest or his arm around her a couple of times—much to her mother and sister's amusement.
Then, three days before he left, things changed again. As they were laying closer than normal, Hadrian kissed Val lightly—and she returned the kiss.
The next day, everything changed. Fawkes flashed in from KL with a dire message: the Ironborn sacked Lannisport, burning the fleet and the town, and began raiding the Westerlands, Reach, and Riverlands.
Harry was furious. He sent Utred and Violet a letter in Hardhome with instructions. He told the Free Folk that he must leave, as his father and grandfather had come under attack from the raiding Ironborn. He hurried up and finished the fifth home that day.
That night, he spoke to Val about it. She asked him to stay with her and not go, and said she wouldn't fight him if he stole her properly. He explained he had to go to protect his family and people but asked her to go with him. She refused, saying she wasn't a kneeler and that her place was here with her family. She had a deep hatred for the South, and he was the only exception.
She once again asked him—almost begged him—tearing up, and rolled away from him when he refused.
The next day, Utred and Violet arrived with an extra horse and some gifts Harry had for the Free Folk. He gave them 10 steel swords, 10 steel knives, five shields, and three high-quality bows. He also gave Ves a steel spear and Dalla a nice bow.
Val had left that morning, hurt from his refusal to stay and saying cruel things to him as she was heartbroken—threatening violence on him if he ever came back. So he gave a sword to Ves to give to her—a Valyrian steel sword with an intricate sheath and enchanted beautiful white leather armor that would always fit her. Along with it, an enchanted white cloak of snow bear fur to regulate temperature.
He gave Ves, Val, and Dalla each a handkerchief with his personal sigil on it and told them to show the Night's Watch, Winter Port people, or any Southerners to receive aid—and they would help.
He was very upset being parted from her, but he had to go. He really could picture her being his wife—or one of them, if the damn prophecy was true—but it seemed he had burned that bridge. Hopefully, he would see her again.