~~~Azrael Jaesyrian, Eleventh moon, 277 AC~~~
~~~Godswood, Red Keep, King's Landing~~~
The weirwood located in the center of the Red Keep's Forest of Gods looked exactly as one was said to look, completely white bark, as if it were plaster, along with its blood-red leaves, created a tragic, captivating yet haunting contrast, which along with the face carved into the trunk, with sage dripping from its eyes and mouth, painting an unearthly image.
However, it was not the tree that motivated me to approach it, but what the tree gave off, a tense, mysterious, and unexplained energy that made it captivate me... It called to me.
As I reached the front of the tree, I felt it... A sensation of current, like placing my arm in front of the off-screen of an old television, feeling the hairs stand up and a current lick my skin.
I was sure that Magic existed in this world, but being in contact with something as ancient as the weirwood, a tree that was still mystical, made me relax while not giving off magic but something else.
"Kricgrü ølå, jarük," as I stood looking at the Weirwood, soft words, almost in a whisper, reached my ears, there was no need to look around me in search of the voice, for I already knew who it belonged to, one of the witches who was always near me in expectation of some danger, like now.
'They are watching you, my king', that had meant the words Valery said to me, in the language only they and I knew. While I did not search for the source of the voice, I did glance fleetingly around me at that supposed watcher, and the search led me to a branch of the Weirwood, where a raven was standing on a branch.
The crow seemed to have a higher level of intelligence than a bird should have because the crow knew he was spotted, and instead of fleeing, he interlocked glances with me, "What do you want Brynden Rivers?" I said without consideration, that was something I had earned, that was the backing that power offered me, instead of beating around the bush and submissively, I could show myself as a roaring lion on the savannah. Or at least that's how it is as long as I have power, if I didn't, I'd end up worse than a fighting pit slave.
The raven stood for a while on the branch without moving, and I didn't have to read minds to know that the man behind the raven was thinking about what to do, and I didn't stop him or rush him, our... Our last encounter had been when I was riding in the carriage with Valka in Xandar, and it ended with the raven being killed.
It was obvious that Brynden was somewhat reluctant to make direct contact, but I wasn't about to waste time, "Shall we have a conversation like royal people as we are, or not? Because I have more important matters to attend to."
This time, the crow swooped down to the ground, and with one of its feet, pointed to the Weirwood, "What, you want me to touch it?" I asked, and the crow responded by nodding, "Very well, Cakhoqqo, if you see anything unusual in my behavior, feel free to count my hand and terminate my contact with the Weirwood."
Cakoqqo did not hesitate at any point, he simply nodded, and that was enough for me, so extending my right hand, I held it in front of the Weirwood's trunk for a moment, hesitating whether to do so, "Well, here we go," I decided, and without further ado. I placed my hand on the bark of the tree.
.
.
.
~~~Third Person~~~
Azrael's eyes turned white, the red leaves of the Weirwood moved with an occasional breeze from the Blackwater Bay, and the raven, which had been on the ground before, rose back up to one of the branches, looking down at Azrael below him.
As for Azrael, he felt as if he stepped into a puddle of water, his foot sank into the water, and with that, he lost his balance and felt as if he had fallen into a pool, the body felt weightless, and only darkness surrounded him, or at least for a few seconds.
The darkness slowly began to leave, and Azrael's sight took notice of where he was now, he was no longer in the Red Keep Godswood, but in what looked like a cave, a very large one, branches covered much of the roof of the cave, which seemed to glow, and when he turned around, he saw Brynden or the Three-Eyed Raven, he was lying on the trunk of a tree, only suspended more than a meter high.
The tree he was propped up in was a weirwood, easily four times the size of the Red Keep, thick thin bone-colored branches ran through it, keeping him suspended in the air, but at the same time, it looked like torture.
"Yes, I haven't seen my reflection in years, but you don't need to see me that way, I accepted my fate years ago," Brynden or the Three-Eyed Raven spoke softly, his voice sounded hoarse, as if he hadn't spoken for a long time.
Azrael laughed, though his laughter did not denote the characteristic gaiety one would have to have when laughing; "Well, my Throne looks like this, only grander, covered in gold, and overall, a huge seat covered by a soft red cushion, it's like lying on nice breasts."
"I haven't seen it, but I've heard stories, it must be magnificent, at least much more comfortable than the Iron Throne," Brynden agreed, his tired look seemed to dim, it had been a long time since he had spoken about something in his family.
"As much as I appreciate the fact that you're interested, I must tell you that I like women, and I wouldn't trade Valka for a man, let alone one who has branches sticking through his ass, so please specify why you're keeping an eye out for me."
Brynden chuckled, "Wow you're energetic, and you're supposed to be a king? You're too fast-paced to be one," Brynden wanted to say something funny, but seeing Azrael's serious countenance, he took the subject seriously, "I need your help."
Azrael grimaced, "Yes, everyone wants my help right now, gold, fame, women, power, what could a man who can't get out of a dank, dark cave possibly need?"
"To live."
Azrael raised his eyebrow, not impressed by the answer, "You need to be more specific about that."
"The Long Night is coming, the Others are mobilizing from the North, led by the Corpse Lady, the Long Night of old will seem like child's play compared to this, your appearance, the power you wield, though you don't know it, has awakened powers and strongholds in the world, which will rise like titans and plunge the world into an age of death and chaos."
Azrael sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his index finger; "my fault you say, how innovative, someone who is just now blaming me for something, in case you don't know, and I doubt it, I have in my power the largest fleet in this world, the most deadly and trained army, and a dragon in case that is not enough, never seen anything like it or like it since Old Valyria, so forgive me if I am not interested in the fact that ice skeletons are about to attack a wall, when this is happening on the other side of the world. Thousands of miles from my realm."
"You don't understand, this isn't about the North or Westeros, this is about the world as a whole, you took it upon yourself to destroy the stronghold of one of the gods of this world, tand hose others are upset about this, they don't like someone similar to them influencing their power play, and certainly, the God of Many Faces didn't like what you did to the House of Black and White, and what better way to get revenge, than to use an army of the dead and throw them like an avalanche upon Xandar?"
Azrael became serious, and his gaze hardened, and for a small moment, his eyes took on a white tinge, "if the Many-Face God gets his way, and gets rid of you, nothing in the world will be able to stop them, and with that, the end of the world will happen, I cannot let this happen, and so I warn you, the Corpse Lady got hold of some of those black flowers that your infernal creatures released, not only that, but she was able to rescue the body of her Herald."
"Herald?" now Azrael if confused, "Yes, he used to be known as the Winged Knight, now he is nothing more than a puppet of the Corpse Lady, with him in her power, creating an army of Winged Men will be no problem, and the sea will no longer present an impediment to the dead reaching all the world," Brynden explained, and his face looked more weary.
Azrael nodded, "what do you want me to do?" he asked, he could no longer stand idly by, apparently Westeros was in trouble, and no doubt Essos would be in trouble shortly as well.
"It will still be years before the Corpse Lady reaches enough power to destroy the Wall and cross over, but while that happens, the Night's King and his minions are slowly exterminating the free people, children of the forest and giants alike, nothing escapes them, and when the time is right, they will have an army of millions behind their ranks."
Brynden looked intently at Azrael, stranding him, "Come to the North, take the Free People, the Children of the Forest, and the Giants, and take them to Xandar, where neither the Corpse Lady nor the Night King can get their hands on them, you will save millions of life, and curb the impulses of those hell beings, they will help you in the task."
With that said, dozens of beings began to appear out of the shadows, small silhouettes resembling children, only with greenish-grayish skin, pointed ears, and youthful appearance, they were dressed in leaves or things from nature, and certainly the name children of the Forest was acceptable to them.
"Very well, but you have to help me with something," Azrael agreed, but he also asked for something in return, "recently there are some surviving Faceless Men who have been presenting me with problems, help me find them and I will assume your debt paid off."
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