[Please send some Power stones.]
The death of Harry Strickland and Khal Gorro was like a further ignition to the already charged beasts and a soul crushing blow to the already demotivated soldiers and the Dothraki.
The majority of the men, mercenary and Dothraki alike, had seen their leaders being toyed with like children and then killed at the hands of Lord Aeos. They had lost all their confidence.
And thus, even the slight resistance they had been offering to Lord Aeos and his beasts fell apart. What little had been a battle between the two sides turned into a full fledged massacre. The insects and the larger beasts continued to wreak havoc and the demotivated and the frightened men became nothing more than vegetables on the chopping board waiting to be cleaved.
After a moment of silence and inaction, Jon himself jumped into the massacre. With a thought, another sword, Dark Sister, appeared in his spare hand, and he moved.
There was a flash of steel before the necks of two Dothraki were severed. Their heads had not even hit the ground when Jon was already on the move again, his sword arcing toward its next target.
And when Lord Aeos began his slaughter, everyone realised that even the legendary Essosi Scorpions were not as fast as Lord Aeos in killing humans. He was like a killing machine, slaughtering men with terrifying ease.
Wherever he passed, it was as if death itself had danced through the area. Corpses were littering on both sides and Lord Aeos was proving to be a demon. The last bit of resistance crumbled.
(Grey Worm POV)
I am Grey Worm, Lord Commander of the Supreme Shadows, the unit responsible for the protection of Lord Aeos.
It was a laughable notion that Lord Aeos required protection. How powerful was he? I did not know. Perhaps a small army would be required only to tire him out. Maybe one thousand men. Or two thousand. I could not say. And while this may sound unbelievable to any ordinary man, I was certain in my heart that my assumption was true.
But this was not the only mystery associated with Lord Aeos. Perhaps, it was the smallest of them all.
My spear pierced the heart of another man who had somehow been able to evade the circle of beasts and come out. As per Lord Aeos' orders, me and Lady Melisandre were patrolling the rear and the two sides to prevent anyone from escaping.
Since the battle had erupted, more than a dozen men had managed to get out of the circle, but none had gotten far before being killed either at my hand or at Lady Melisandre's.
I was stationed at the rear end, and though it was hard to make out what was happening at the front, I could tell that the enemy army was at their last stand. Very soon, victory would be ours.
I spotted another man emerging from the circle, and my hand tightened around my new spear. A spear made of Valyrian steel, a gift from Lord Aeos.
With the spear held firmly in my grip, I was about to push my horse forward when there was a flash, and Lady Melisandre's sword cleaved through the man's neck. She too was holding a Valyrian steel sword in her hand.
How Lord Aeos was getting so much Valyrian steel was a story of its own. Perhaps Lady Rhaenys was the appropriate person to tell it.
She gave me a nod before turning away. With victory closing in on us, I could not help but find myself lost in thoughts about a few things.
It had been a few weeks since he had revealed the five dragons to us and that had been shocking. Another of Lord Aeos' mysteries.
But when we learned that he was a Targaryen, the shock had been smothered a bit. A Targaryen with dragons was not something the world had witnessed for the first time. Perhaps, him being able to bring dragons back in the world was the more shocking part.
He had then left for Qarth and had returned after securing a victory against the warlocks. Immediately after his return, he had set his next plans in motion, and the massive army, his army, had begun their march toward the Free Cities.
And soon, as the army had travelled a certain distance, it happened as we had been expecting. Thirty five thousand men, a mix of Dothraki and mercenaries, were advancing in our direction.
I had been worried and anxious, but the calm demeanour of Lord Aeos had given me some confidence.
We, I along with Freydron and other officials had assumed that Lord Aeos might have some secret plan, but as the enemy army reached closer, we realised that he did not seem to have any plan at all.
We had been growing restless when he asked for arrangements to be made for a discussion with the leaders of the advancing army. It had not been a difficult thing to arrange.
Lord Aeos only chose to bring two people with him for the discussion. Me and Lady Melisandre. Everyone should have resisted the decision, but they knew that adding a couple dozen men was not really going to make a difference. If anything really happened, Lord Aeos could very easily save himself. A couple of dozen men made no difference to the strength of our group.
The meeting happened. I had been expecting or thinking of many things, expecting Lord Aeos to try to buy them off with more gold, or perhaps threaten them with some other repercussions but nothing of that sort happened in the meeting. Lord Aeos only offered to spare their lives if they chose to return back and abandon their campaign. Like them, I too had been shocked at the absurdity of the proposal.
As anyone would have done, they only mocked us for it.
I was very confused about what Lord Aeos was planning. A part of me wondered if Lady Rhaenys was going to swoop in with the dragons. That was the only thing I could think of that could grant us a swift victory.
But Lady Rhaenys was far away, and there had been no news of her coming. Maybe Lord Aeos had contacted her.
But then what happened chilled me to the bone. Beasts after beasts started to emerge from the nearby forests. It had been an unbelievable sight, even more unbelievable than seeing dragons for the first time.
The dangerous predators of the deserts acting so docile in front of Lord Aeos, it had been a sight I could never forget.
That was when I learned that Lord Aeos was also a warg, someone who could control animals. I had heard of wargs, but how powerful did he have to be to control so many creatures at once?
When he asked me to sit on top of the Essosi Scorpion, my heart pounded with so much fear. I had braved myself to ride on the scorpion and began to march towards the enemy camp. Towards a victory which now looked certain.
And now we were on the edge of that victory. The enemy army was falling apart but they could not run. Death was the only option they had.
#
#
#
[Add the book to your collection. Send it some power stones. Leave a rating and a review.]
[Access advanced chapter on P@treon. Replace @ with a. One additional advanced chapter each week on P@treon. ]
[email protected]/imaginarywriter
