In the far-off city of Qarth, a girl with silver-gold hair and violet eyes sat atop a Dothraki stallion.
She was watching a street performer, a red-robed sorcerer who moved his arms in hypnotic patterns. Suddenly, a ladder of pure, white-hot flame erupted from the cobblestones, stretching dozens of meters into the air. The sorcerer climbed the burning rungs with the agility of a cat until he reached the apex and vanished into thin air, taking the fire with him.
Daenerys felt a phantom heat against her skin. Behind her, in the shadows of a bullock cart, three small heads emerged. One black, one platinum, one bronze-green. They hissed, their tiny needle-teeth glinting, sensing a change in the world that only they truly understood.
The Twins.
The rain had been falling for three days straight, a relentless grey curtain that turned the world into a swamp.
The guest room the Freys had given me was decent enough, solid stone, velvet hangings, and a feather bed. But the damp was inescapable. Everything felt clammy. If you sat still for five minutes, your tunic would stick to your back. The bedding had to be changed every morning just to keep the mildew at bay. Living on a bridge in the middle of a river during flood season was a special kind of hell.
But early that morning, the "System" had chimed in my head, and suddenly the weather didn't matter.
[System Notification: Magic Tide has reached a critical threshold.]
[All daily casting limits +1.]
[Novice Magic List Updated:]
Animal Friend: Commune with and see through the eyes of small animals. (Cost: 10 SP / 1 SP per cast).
Magic Arrow: An elemental projectile with perfect accuracy within 20 meters. (Cost: 10 SP / 1 SP per cast).
[Intermediate Magic List Unlocked:]
Weakness: Instantly saps the strength of a target, leaving them unable to move. (Cost: 50 SP / 5 SP per cast).
Thunderbolt: Summons an explosive burst of lightning. Powerful enough to kill a bear instantly. (Cost: 50 SP / 5 SP per cast).
The dragons are breathing fire in Essos, I thought, staring at the ceiling. And the Others are probably picking up the pace at the Wall.
I was a battle mage now. A "Thunderbolt" in my pocket meant I wasn't just a lord with a big axe, I was a walking piece of siege equipment.
I checked the loyalty of my squad. Dita Calandre and the others were still green in the system: [Loyalty: Excellent]. I had filled my 50 slots with elite Karstark veterans on the march here. I had eighteen "Excellents" and thirty-one "Goods." No one was being bribed by Frey gold or distracted by Frey girls.
A knock came at the door. It was Dita.
"My Lord," she said, her voice low. Since I'd been promised the Golden Tooth, "Young Master" had officially been retired for "My Lord." I liked the sound of it. "I scouted the nearby villages. The Freys have picked them clean. They won't sell to us, they don't have enough left to feed themselves."
"Figures," I grunted, strapping on my plate armor. "Old Walder is a locust. Get ten of the boys. We're going on a supply run further out. I'd rather eat what we buy than what Walder 'generously' offers us."
I stepped out into the hallway and ran straight into Ser Lyman Frey.
Lyman was the current heir to the Twins now that his father, Stevron, had died from his wounds. He was the opposite of his son, Black Walder. Where Black Walder was all muscle and rage, Lyman was a round, soft man who smelled like cheap wine and expensive perfume. He was the type of guy who knew every brothel in the Riverlands but couldn't tell you where his own sentries were posted.
"Eddard! Just the man I wanted to see," Lyman chirped, his belly wobbling. "The rain's finally let up a bit. Why don't we head out and find some... entertainment?"
I knew his game. Old Walder had told him to spy on me, and Lyman's idea of "spying" was trying to get me drunk.
"Actually, Ser Lyman, I was just heading out to buy supplies for my men. If you know the local villages, why don't you lead the way? I'm sure a Frey banner would help the 'negotiations.'"
Lyman beamed. He thought he'd finally cracked my shell. "Of course! I know exactly where the best... 'supplies' are kept."
War is a game for the lords, but it's a death sentence for the smallfolk.
We spent the morning touring the lands around the Twins. This region had been spared the Lannister raids, but the Frey conscription had sucked the life out of the villages. All the young men were gone, leaving only the old and the very young to tend the fields.
Still, the land was rich. The Green Fork provided plenty of fish, and the wheat was high. It was a gold mine of resources, supporting the massive Frey population. Compared to the rocky cliffs of the Golden Tooth, this place was an Eden.
No wonder the Freys are so powerful, I thought. They have the bridge, the people, and the food. If they ever had a leader with a spine, they'd own half the North.
"My Lord," Lyman said, sounding bored. He'd tried to steer me toward three different "inns" that were definitely brothels, and I'd turned him down every time. "Water Mill Town is just over the next hill. They've got a massive granary. If we can't buy wheat there, we won't find it anywhere."
"Lead on," I said.
We rounded the hill ten minutes later. I saw the water wheels first, churning the Green Fork to irrigate the dark, fertile soil. But as the town came into view, the "Eden" disappeared.
A thick, oily plume of black smoke was rising from the center of the village. The wind shifted, bringing the faint, unmistakable sound of screaming.
I pulled my reins tight, my hand moving instinctively to the hilt of my sword. My squad, ten of the best riders I had immediately fanned out into a defensive wedge.
Lyman Frey turned pale. "Is... is that a raid? Here?"
"That's not a raid," I said, my eyes narrowing as I saw the figures moving between the burning houses. "That's a massacre."
[System Quest Triggered: The Broken Men.]
[Objective: Neutralize the raiders and protect the supplies.]
[Reward: 20 Soul Power / Rare Item.]
I looked at Dita. "Spears out. Shields up. We're going in."