I hadn't planned to publish another chapter, but I received news that Eva Green is returning to her roots; The gothic genre. Playing Aunt Ophelia in the third season on Wednesday. And well, Valka looks just like her. And you know I love that woman. So, nothing new, another chapter.
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Caspian Blackwood
Essos, Camp near Qohor
57 AC
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Kinvara, in the series, was presented as a mysterious woman, who assumed that Daenerys was the Prince That Was Promised, that she had been reborn from the ashes, and had hatched fire made flesh through her dragons.
But that was, or was going to be, in two centuries, in an era that would undoubtedly be different now that I was in this world, because even if I did not see it, it was evident that the butterfly had already flapped its wings.
But now, seeing Kinvara, the High Priestess of the Red Temple of Volantis, kneeling before me, was a sight I did not think would happen when she entered. Her composure and certainty were gone, replaced by a person who seemed to be facing something much bigger and inexplicable to her.
And that word, Lightbringer, I swore I had heard it before, but I could not remember where. "Stand up, there is no need for you to be prostrated on the ground any longer." I asked Kinvara, and without modesty or neatness, she stood up from the ground so fast that I even thought I was seeing things.
"Kinvara, Priestess of the Red Temple of Volantis, and you are Azor Ahai, the warrior who was promised to us, the one who will end the Long Night and the horrors it brings with it, you have even found Lightbringer." That word again, I did not understand what she was referring to.
I was not any warrior or this Azor Ahai. Of course, I knew something about his story, but that meant nothing.
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Kinvara
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I had found him. Cotarro would be pleased. The promised warrior had appeared, and from what I had seen, he was already building his army of light. The Dothraki would be the cavalry that would bring fire to the whole world, and with it, the darkness would be driven away forever, never to return.
«Dawn. We have been granted another day, praised be R'hllor. The terrors of the night flee.» I thought. R'hllor was just and kind. I had spent the night in the chair by the fire, as usual. Since my arrival in Qohor, my bed showed little use. I had no time to sleep, with the weight of the world on my shoulders. And I was afraid to dream. «Sleep is a little death, dreams of the whispers of the Other, who will drag us all into his eternal night.» But one day, I prayed, I would sleep and dream freely. «By R'hllor, by his divine grace.»
The darkness was fading again... And this time, hopefully forever. On the other side of the Wall, the enemy was growing stronger and stronger. In Qohor, The Black Goat was still bound. In Sothoryos, the Toad was still locked up on its island.
"What do you mean I am Azor Ahai?" The promised warrior asked me, confused, and I did not understand how he did not know who he was. "Azor Ahai is the warrior promised by R'hllor millennia ago, who will guide us to fight against the Long Night. You are Azor Ahai, that is why you are here, that is why you have awakened."
I noticed that he did not believe me, skepticism and doubt growing in his eyes, those very eyes that shone like burning fire. "Why did you say before that we had to leave? That we couldn't touch the city because of the protection of the Red Temple? We are Dothraki, there is no permission that can stop us from taking a city."
I had to teach him, guide him. A warrior without knowing how to wield the sword was a toothless tiger, but not now. The place was crowded, the secrets of the Temple could not get out. "Get out, leave me with her. I will let you know if anything happens." He must have noticed my indecision, ordering his men to leave, who questioned if it was a good idea to do so.
Perhaps they should go through the training of the Fiery Hand, maybe that way they would learn to follow orders without doubting.
But it seemed there was respect and something more buried in their gazes, because they left in the end. "Good, we are alone. Start explaining or your head will be on a spike by the end of the night."
I smiled. Many had threatened me years ago, but there was a certain joy in being threatened by Azor Ahai. "Millennia ago, R'hllor, the one true god, descended to earth, walking among mortals and spirits alike. Humans had not been born yet."
"But something darker and older already had; the horrors of the night came from the Shadow Lands, drawn like moths to the light, by R'hllor's divine fire. They attacked like a swarm, a battle of a thousand years and ten thousand seasons, but in the end, R'hllor won, locking them all in the place where they came from."
"But not all were imprisoned. Three of them managed to escape: the Great Other, the Black Goat, and the Toad. By the time R'hllor realized it was too late, they had obtained sacrifices and ceremonies from the first humans, and their power took hold on earth. R'hllor could only create prisons for them: the Eternal Winter, Qohor, and Toad Isle.
Since then, the Red Priests have watched over the protection of these bastions. Each place is very well guarded. If even one of those beings escapes, the world will plunge into another Long Night, because R'hllor is between this plane and the next. Do you understand why Qohor must remain standing?"
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Caspian Blackwood
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All that sounded like low-budget fantasy. From what I remembered, there was never any evidence of the gods, and only in the show was it shown how Jon Snow was resurrected under the power of R'hllor, using Melisandre as a conduit.
But even Qyburn had achieved something similar, although it was more of a zombie than anything else.
But perhaps I could use this to my advantage. I had had plans to take Volantis, and if the Red Priests saw me as their promised warrior, perhaps they could be helpful in taking the city quickly and with the least possible bloodshed.
But I had to be careful. With the Dothraki of my khalasar, it was easy to do because they saw me make horses appear out of nowhere, along with other things. But these fanatics had magic, or sorcery, whatever it was, and at the slightest hint of me not being Azor Ahai, they could turn against me.
I noticed Kinvara staring at the flames of the cabin fireplace, her eyes unfocused, as if she were looking at something I could not notice. "R'hllor, R'hllor wishes to speak with you, he calls you, he screams for you." Kinvara's words came out of her lips in a whisper, and if we were not alone and in silence, I would not have heard her.
«But the flames?» The last thing I wanted was to burn my face believing I could see something by looking into some flames. But still, something told me I should do it, a strange feeling, like the feeling of knowing you have forgotten something, but you do not know what.
But I was not going to throw myself into the fire without preparation, so, taking a fire resistance potion from the menu, I drank it without thinking. Kinvara approached the flames, and as if by magic—perhaps it was—she did not burn herself after putting her bare hand into the fire and playing with the flames.
She motioned for me to come closer, and sighing, I approached the fire. "Look into the flames, there you will find the answers you have so longed for but forgotten."
I glanced at the woman, and I did not know which of the two of us was crazier, whether it was her for believing in fire visions, or me for going along with it.
But still, I focused my gaze on the flames, and as I expected, nothing happened. The fire continued to burn in the fireplace as it had before.
But without warning, the flames swirled as if they had life, and like a conscious creature, it lunged towards me.
My sight turned dark for a moment, and a scorching heat surrounded me as if I had entered a sauna after leaving a cold room. The heat was so much that my body shuddered.
But as quickly as it came, it left, but then a chill bit into my bones, and a shiver ran down my spine.
"Hello, again, Caspian." Opening my eyes suddenly, not knowing when I had closed them, I noticed that I was no longer in the cabin. The place surrounding me was dark, but briefly illuminated by colored dots that passed so quickly that it was as if I were in the middle of a meteor shower. "I see you ran into my fanatics."
That voice was heard again, but no matter how much I looked around, I could not see who was talking to me. "There is no need to waste energy looking for me, you cannot see me, and if you did, you would only go mad."
"Who are you? R'hllor?" I asked. There was no other explanation for whoever was speaking to me. "That was the name they gave me when I fell here, but I AM HEPHAESTUS, god of fire, the forge, and artisans, and you, Caspian, have a deal with me."
A deal, what was he talking about? "Oh, I see you do not remember. It is normal, your mortal mind suffered the moment your body descended to earth. Let me show you." Before I could react, I felt two hands around my head, and memories rushed into my mind with the force of water from a broken dam.
I fell to my knees, my head spinning, but when the disorientation managed to calm down, I could see those memories that had been erased from me.
And the truth, it was more surprising than I thought. I believed I had fallen to Essos without any reason, or unprecedented circumstance, even a passage through some ROB (Random Omnipotent Being), as I was accustomed to under those few stories I had read before.
But this, this greatly surpassed it.
I had made a deal with a God. I had to hunt three beings that had managed to steal part of his eternal fire, and without which, he could not leave the plane he was on and return to his Pantheon. And as help, he had given me access to a Minecraft menu, a half-baked tool due to his low power level, but one that would still help me with the task.
When all those memories clicked into place in my mind, there was no other word to describe my situation than being screwed up to the waist.
At the time, I had thought it was a good idea to make a deal with God, avoiding going to hell in exchange for helping him, but the threat of a much greater eternal suffering if I failed to comply was now taking its toll on my mind.
"Now you remember, now you are complete. You know what you have to do... Get it done and enjoy everything you can build, or fail and fall with me, and I assure you, the hell you were going to would be heaven compared to that."
"The Red Temple will follow you. Keep your word, Caspian, or suffer the consequences, NOW GO."
I felt my body being thrown backward with force, the darkness vanished, and before I knew it, I was back in the cabin, kneeling in front of a fireplace whose fire had died.