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Caspian Darkwood
Essos, Qohor; Dothraki Camp
57 AC
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What could one do after having an encounter with a God for... The second time? Simple, I went to the cabin's kitchen and took a jug of beer made from mare's milk, and drank all its contents in a few gulps.
Kinvara was standing a few meters away, behind the table where my Bloodriders had been sitting earlier. From a distance, I could feel the thousands of questions the woman had, and apparently, she couldn't contain herself anymore.
"What did you see? What did R'hllor show you?" The woman looked at me as if she were seeing a discovery, as if all her life she had been locked up without human contact and was seeing a person for the first time.
"He told me that the Red Temple will follow me," I commented. From the beginning, I had decided to use religion to my advantage, but now, it seemed that had been planned all along. Something had been pushing me down this path, to gain power, hell, even adapting so quickly to a life surrounded by dothraki, men who were practically barbaric slavers. It made sense now.
I had no time to lose, I had to fulfill my deal with Hephaestus; or as he was known here; R'hllor, and hopefully, if one were to believe a God, I could enjoy everything I built in this world.
And I truly hoped to achieve it, because the other alternative was not even up for discussion.
Kinvara did not kneel this time, but bowed and lowered her head; "And so it shall be, the flames spoke to me, and the Red Temple will be your hand, what Azor Ahai wants it to do, the Red Temple will act." A smile bloomed on my face, the idea of having thousands of fanatics at my disposal would make things easier for me.
"Will it do everything I ask, is that true?" I asked her, if only to be sure. Kinvara nodded, "Very well, I had planned to conquer Volantis, I need to have a power base, and start from there to the rest of the Free Cities. If the Red Temple can facilitate my taking of the city, I would be grateful."
She smiled, and for the first time since the conversation began, I felt a wall had broken between us, "If Azor Ahai requests it, so it shall be, the Red Priests of the Temple will begin to preach about the promised warrior, who has returned, and only with him, under his guidance, can we fight against the Long Night."
"Caspian," I said, and seeing that she was confused, I explained; "Caspian, my name is Caspian Darkwood."
"It's a pleasure, Caspian Darkwood." And there it was again, that sincere smile on her red, full lips. "Now, tell me everything you know about the Black Goat, that will be the first to fall."
"Valka," the moment I said her name, Valka materialized in the air, next to me, and I could see Kinvara was surprised by the display, but I didn't pay attention to that, but to how her right hand held a fireball the size of a tennis ball.
That was new, I didn't remember the Red Priests being able to manifest fire at such a level, without even a prayer, as was the example of Melisandre. "My Khal," Valka's voice snapped me out of my thoughts, causing me to look at her and nod, while a small smile appeared on my face.
"Valka, as you know, she is Kinvara, she will help us with the taking of Qohor, and what we need to do so that... Thing, does not escape the city. As for the other thing you saw, we will talk about that later, let's focus on this." She nodded, and I had my Bloodriders enter.
"Qrano, Cakoqqo, and Onno, you will leave as soon as the sun rises towards Vaes Yeraan, gather all the warriors who have the complete gear, and bring them. You have three days for that." I could hear the horses neighing outside, as if they understood they would soon be in the frenzy of slaughter.
"Azor Ahai..." "Call me Khal," I interrupted Kinvara, "My Khal," she corrected herself, and noting that I nodded, she continued with what she was going to say; "The Black Goat is a demon from the Shadow Lands. For millennia it has grown strong thanks to the thousands of sacrifices its fanatics make every day. If we want it to become frail, we will have to kill all those who are faithful to it. That will make it come out, and we can face it head-on."
"We will be able to use potions that may harm it, we can even enchant the weapons with the Enchantment Smite. If it is a dark creature like a demon, the Enchantment will be helpful to us," I thanked Valka with a gesture for her contribution, "Excellent, I myself will provide the necessary books."
"Kinvara, we had planned to attack the city through a multi-front assault. The witches would be in charge of creating necessary distractions at various points in the city, keeping the guard and the Inmaculados busy. I would move the Khalasar around Qohor to instill fear in the nobles and hopefully, make them gather in one place."
"The witches would take advantage of that, immobilize them the moment they gathered, and with the whips taken from their hands, the Unsullied would not pose a problem. After that, storming the city would be easy, and we would only have to deal with the mercenaries or slave soldiers the city had."
Kinvara nodded, accepting the plan, "I know where every noble in the city with a whip is staying. If you give me a map of the city, I can show you. That way, it won't be necessary to make them gather, we can finish them all at the same time."
I smiled at that, it was great to have skilled people. I quickly took one of the city maps that the cartographers had made, and placing it on the table, I asked Kinvara to show us.
"In Qohor, only six nobles share control of the Unsullied. The slave soldiers and mercenaries operate under the control of the others, but they are not as well-trained as the Unsullied, whom we must take control of. If you enter the city with your Khalasar, many will die. The narrow streets and alleys will be helpful to them, they know how to fight in guerrilla warfare, so taking control of them is a priority."
She pointed out each location on the map with perfect detail, explained the number of guards that might be at each mansion, and even showed where the Unsullied' resting barracks were.
"There are four hours of darkness left. If you let your witches go, they can get the whips before the sun rises. By then, you will only have to march into the city and take the city, and begin to cut off the root of the Black Goat's food source." The idea didn't seem bad, but the low number of dothraki I had with me at the moment didn't appeal to me, although a dothraki with potions would make him worth ten men.
I looked up and observed my Bloodriders, who also looked at me, and everyone seemed anxious to take Qohor. Valka nodded when I looked at her. They had made their decision, only I remained, and looking at Kinvara, I sighed and nodded. "So be it, Valka, go with all your sisters, do it."
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Third Person
Qohor
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The city was silent. In a time when there wasn't much entertainment at night, sleeping became an obligation. Near the city center, music and shouts could still be heard, whether from dances, the taverns and inns still full of people, or the brothels.
But in the far north of the city, where only the powerful lived, the atmosphere was different. The moon was not visible. Before, one could see it was a full moon, but as if the moon itself sensed what was approaching, it hid behind a line of dark clouds, which brought more gloom to the city.
The guards were making their rounds like every night, some even nodding off occasionally, as if they were beckoning someone in the darkness with the gesture of their heads.
But today was different. Today they should not fall asleep; they had to be alert, their gaze always focused and their spears and swords well-gripped; because today, today death had descended.
A guard walked through the corridors of his master's mansion. The torches provided little light tonight, which is why the guard carried a candle lantern in his left hand, his right hand always near the hilt of his short sword.
The man walked confidently, with the ease that comes from the practice of having walked those corridors many times before. But upon reaching a certain part, he turned around and observed the surroundings carefully, even in the midst of the darkness, confusion adorned his face.
He had already passed through that place, and the route he was taking did not lead him back here, and there was no corridor he could take to turn back. "What the hell?" he exclaimed aloud, uneasy with the whole situation, but even so, he continued walking, though this time with his hand resting on the pommel of his sword.
And for some strange factor, he arrived at the same place again. Not only that, the corridor was colder and darker, with a strange fog reaching up to his ankles. "Hahaha." The man turned to where he heard what sounded like a laugh, but saw nothing.
Although if he hadn't, he would have seen a person dressed in black running past behind him from one end to the other without making any noise. The man witnessed that something was happening, something very bad. His body began to feel uneasy, something inside him, his survival instinct, told him that something was not right.
He started walking faster, hoping to meet the other guards who were on duty, but no matter how much he walked, he couldn't see anyone else, even the torches were shedding less light. "Don't run."
A whisper was heard in his right ear, and he immediately drew his sword and turned around, but once again, there was no one. "Who's there?!" The man shouted, and nervousness was heard in his voice. His eyes were wide open, he swallowed saliva over and over, and drops of sweat fell down his forehead, even in the middle of the cold night.
But no matter how much he shouted asking, no one answered him. Sheathing his sword again, he wanted to continue on his way and turned, but a strong hand grabbed him by the neck and lifted him from the floor, and before he could even react, he felt himself falling. He had been thrown from the fourth floor from the corridor.
And the last thing he could see was how a pair of shining eyes looked at him from the corridor where he had been, until the fall made him lose consciousness.
Valka had killed the last guard of the mansion. Dozens of dismembered bodies decorated the corridors and courtyards, some without arms, others without a head, but all with expressions of terror on their faces, as if they had witnessed something that terrified them in every possible way.
After finishing with the guards, she walked towards the noble's room. Upon entering, she wrinkled her nose slightly at the repulsive smell. Incense mixed with sweat and fluids adorned the room, and in the middle of it, a fat, greasy man was asleep in a large bed, surrounded by four women covered in bruises and marks on their chests and necks.
She did not approach the bed, but searched the room until she found it, a small golden statuette, shaped like a woman with exposed breasts, and wings and legs like those of an eagle, along with five leather straps that fell and acted as a tail for the woman.
Having found what she had come for, Valka decided to end this quickly, and with her fingernails, she began to make a screeching noise as she scraped them across the room wall.
"Hey! Shut up, damn it," the obese man woke up startled, shouting at Valka with post-sleep anger and confusion. "Wait, how did you get in here? And what are you? What do you want?" The man, upon looking closely at Valka, lost all trace of sleep and began to feel uneasy at Valka's ghostly and sinister presence, but she ignored him. Instead, she looked at the women who were in bed with the man and signaled for them to leave.
The women didn't need to be told twice, and grabbing their few garments, they ran out of the room, "Where are you going?! Bitches!" the man shouted at them, but it was useless, the women did not want to return and be in Valka's presence again.
Distant screams were heard outside. The women had most likely encountered a body, which made the man open his eyes in horror and shout for the guards, but no one answered.
"I'll double it, not triple it, whatever they paid you, I can pay you more, I have gold, lands, women, everything." The man's attitude changed as he felt close to death. But seeing that Valka did not react or say a word, he got angry; and that was his biggest mistake.
"Whatever your master paid you, I can give you more, there is no one greater than me in Qohor, serve me, and you won't have to serve the scum you are currently loyal to." As if possible, Valka's eyes shone brighter, and her presence felt even more imposing and terrifying in the midst of the darkness.
"My order was to be discreet and quick against all the whip masters,"Valka began to speak from the moment she entered the room, while taking off the mask that covered her face. "However, you have insulted my creator, and I will not allow it." Her face, which showed those ugly marks on her cheekbones like rivers of melted black wax, widened, until her whole face looked like a broken clay plate. With many scars.
Her voice seemed to come from some place beyond the grave, as if the very dead beneath the city's fighting pits were speaking to him at the same time. That was the tone of voice that Valka used, chilling his blood. "Die," Without warning, Valka's mouth opened unnaturally, and a row of teeth was all the man could see in the midst of so much darkness.
After Valka killed Ikahts, as the former noble was called, her face returned to normal and, with a soft melody, she covered her face with the mask again and then left the room, leaving behind a body torn to shreds on the bed, as if he had fallen onto a working chainsaw. To then head towards the next victim.
At various points in the city, an identical scene was seen, with the streets and alleys in darkness, no matter how many torches and lights the slaves lit, and several decapitated bodies belonging to good masters or nobles.
In less than three hours, fifteen witches managed to kill all the whip-bearers and most prominent slave owners, without alerting the city guards or drawing attention.
For the slaves, merchants, and people from other Free Cities who were in Qohor, it was simply a particularly cold and very dark night, almost similar to the usual ones in mysterious Asshai. It was not until the first ray of light dawned on the horizon that the great city gates opened, letting in an entourage of five thousand Dothraki, dressed in plate armor and mounted on armored horses, without being hindered by the Unsullied, as they had not received orders from their masters.
With the sunlight, the Dothraki entourage headed to one of the largest mansions in the city, where a small, two-meter-high hill stood, composed of decapitated, dismembered bodies, or even arms or legs, belonging to the powerful people of Qohor.
In a single night, the city had been conquered, without the need for a single clash of swords or the spilling of civilian blood in the city. It was a historical milestone. And in front of the hill of bodies, Caspian watched the fire devour the bodies, showing no emotion, with Valka and Kinvara standing on either side of him.