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a-secret-bolton-vampire · 3 years

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Daenerys Stormborn, Part 2: Wake the Dragon

Oh hey, I have part 2 already! Guess my brain is really focused on Dany now. In part 1, I talked about Dany's arcs from AGOT to ASOS, exploring the narrative and thematic purpose of her journey. However, the most important part of her journey occurs in ADWD, and sets the stage for some incredibly exciting developments to come in TWOW. For part 2, I'll be talking about the gradual transformation of Daenerys into a slightly different, darker character for the future.

Breaker of Chains & Mhysa

Slavery has been an important background element throughout Dany's time in Essos, even in AGOT, but it becomes front and centre in ASOS. She accepted the Dothraki, a society that uses slaves for many things, and wasn't too perturbed at the use of slaves in Qarth. However, it is in Astapor where she finally realizes just how bad the institution is, as she tells Xaro:

"Whence came this madness? Should I count myself fortunate that you did not free my own slaves when you were my guest in Qarth?" I was a beggar queen and you were Xaro of the Thirteen, Dany thought, and all you wanted were my dragons. "Your slaves seemed well treated and content. It was not till Astapor that my eyes were opened."

As mentioned last time, ASOS is when she begins to take control of her destiny, and she does so by beginning a revolution to free the slaves of Slaver's Bay. She believe she has a greater destiny lying ahead of her, that there is a reason for her dragons, the red comet. She also has great empathy for people and sees this disturbing injustice being played out with nobody to stop it. But she has the power to do so, and thus she begins by going fire and blood at Astapor, killing the Good Masters and freeing all the slaves. Afterwards, she leaves the city with a ruling council of a priest, a scholar, and a healer and moves to Yunkai.

She does a different approach with Yunkai, negotiating with the Wise Masters to surrender their slaves and to leave them in peace. And then when she arrives at Meereen, she decides to stay and rule as its queen. This is where things begin to get difficult for Daenerys. The ruling council of Astapor is overthrown by a butcher named Cleon, who said the council was conspiring to bring back slavery, who declares himself King of Astapor, enslaves the children of the former Good Masters to make new Unsullied, and tries to ally with Daenerys against Yunkai, who has resumed slavery.

Daenerys is not interested in any war with Yunkai. The reason she stays in Meereen is exactly because she learned what happened when she left Astapor. The fire and blood approach didn't work. You can't just dismantle such a deeply engrained system so easily. So instead she opts to rule, and protect the people she can. While a lot of readers view Dany's actions in Meereen as pointless, the whims of a naive girl, and poor leadership, I actually think it's the opposite.

For starters, Dany realized that she can't simply burn the slavers to end slavery, but she needs to stay and instill changes. While King Cleon repeatedly begs for Daenerys to join the war against Yunkai, she refuses, and warns Cleon to not do such a thing. She turns out to be horribly right, as Cleon is killed, Astapor is sieged, before being slaughtered, burned, and sacked, to be reinstated as a slave city once more. Likewise, the Yunkish siege Meereen, first by creating a blockade in the bay with ships, and then by having armies amassed outside the city walls.

In addition, refugees from Astapor begin to pile up outside the city, and a deadly plague called the pale mare (for the horse from Astapor that arrives at Meereen) begins to sweep the starving Astapori freedmen, who begin to resort to cannibalism to survive. Dany blames herself for leaving Astapor a mess, but does not wish to have the same thing happen in Meereen. She wants to protect the people she's freed, not just from the Yunkish, but herself as well.

When a sheepherder brings the burned bones of his daughter, Hazzea, who was killed by her dragons, Dany has Rhaegal and Viserion chained in the dungeons below the Great Pyramid to prevent them from causing any more harm. However, Drogon is still loose, unable to be found. In addition, when the sons of the harpy, a terrorist group opposed to the emancipation of Meereen, begin massacring freedmen, Dany decides to raise a tax on the Great Masters and have all families of suspect loyalty send a child to serve as a hostage and cupbearers. Yet, as the killings continue, she has grown close to the children and decides not to have them killed.

Now, some of you may notice that I am taking a lot from the Meereenese Blot essays written by Adam Feldman. That's not only because they are really well written essays, but ones that GRRM himself has approved of.

"I read those when someone pointed them out to me, and I was really pleased with them, because at least one guy got it. He got it completely, he knew exactly what I was trying to do there, and evidently I did it well enough for people who were paying attention."

So I am retreading some of the ground Feldman has laid, but it's important to do so if I am to build up to what I think is going to happen in the future of Dany's story.

As Feldman notes, Dany's own actions (or in the case of the cupbearers, inaction) actually made a peace possible, because the Yunkish saw that she was someone who is capable of mercy and not a (in their eye) violent mass murderer. Knowing what happened with Astapor, and seeing what happens when her dragons are unleashed with Hazzea, Dany decides to make peace with the Yunkish and marry Hizdahr.

Under the peace, Meereen itself would remain a free city, but the Yunkish would continue to sell slaves. They even sell them in markets outside the walls of Meereen, which displeases Daenerys extremely. In addition, slaveowners could bring their slaves into Meereen without fear of them being freed, and the Yunkish promised to respect the rights of the freedmen in Meereen. Yet, despite the peace and the progress made, she feels as though this is a defeat.

This is peace, she told herself. This is what I wanted, what I worked for, this is why I married Hizdahr. So why does it taste so much like defeat?

The thing is, Daenerys has had to sacrifice so much of herself and her morals to get to this point. Yes there is peace, even if it is tentative, Meereen would not be sacked by the Yunkish, but slavery is still going on, and she thinks that she has let herself and other people down by agreeing to peace and allowing the Yunkish to continue slavery. She has agreed to peace to people she loathes and thinks are despicable, she has married a man she does not love and does not love her, she has chained her dragons in the pit below, she has allowed the fighting pits to reopen. This comes to ahead at Daznak's Pit when she is at the height of her discomfort.

The boar buried his snout in Barsena's belly and began rooting out her entrails. The smell was more than the queen could stand. The heat, the flies, the shouts from the crowd … I cannot breathe. She lifted her veil and let it flutter away. She took her tokar off as well. The pearls rattled softly against one another as she unwound the silk.

And then Drogon arrives, and in the chaos of him attacking the boar and being attacked by the soldiers in the pit, Dany tries to calm him, but he spits fire at her, and she tries to tame him by whipping him into submission. Here, Dany is quite literally fighting herself. She herself in this moment represents the Queen of Meereen, someone who desires for peace. Meanwhile, Drogon represents the dragon inside her, who wants to unleash blood and fire on her enemies. In the end, Dany climbs onto Drogon and they fly away together, which foreshadows and symbolizes Dany's later decision to choose being the dragon.

Despite her frustrations in Meereen, the peace was a good first step. Not to say that it solved every issue, it didn't, but that doesn't need to be the end of it. Daenerys could forge new peaces, new agreements, and if she stayed in Meereen, she could implement great changes throughout Slaver's Bay. But what is done is done, and cannot be undone. The peace that was forged is now gone. Next comes war.

The House with the Red Door

Before we move on to Dany's final chapter and what that means for the future, we must take a look at a very important part of her backstory which is one of the main elements of her own story. Sure, destiny, greatness, prophecy, power, and identity are themes with Daenerys, but at the center of it all is the desire for home. Dany was born on Dragonstone, but was whisked away to Braavos, and there she lived in the house with the red door, with Viserys, Ser Willem Darry, and their servants.

To Dany, the house with the red door was the only place in her life she called home, and she has very fond memories of it, of Willem, or the lemon tree. But after Willem died, they were kicked out and forced to become beggars on the streets, selling off their possessions and travelling the Free Cities. The red door was closed and gone forever after, but the dream of having a home hasn't.

Daenerys has a desire for home, for love, for family. Throughout her childhood, Viserys would tell Dany all about Westeros, how they need to take back the Iron Throne, that the Seven Kingdoms were the most beautiful lands in the world. And sure enough, soon, Westeros represents the idea for home and belonging to Dany.

"I pray for home too," she told him, believing it. Ser Jorah laughed. "Look around you then, Khaleesi." But it was not the plains Dany saw then. It was King's Landing and the great Red Keep that Aegon the Conqueror had built. It was Dragonstone where she had been born. In her mind's eye they burned with a thousand lights, a fire blazing in every window. In her mind's eye, all the doors were red.

Although she takes on the mantle as the new head of House Targaryen and carries on Viserys's dream of taking back the Iron Throne out of a sense of duty, she also does so for desire to belong in a place she can call home. It's a nostalgic feeling she gets of the old days, that she wants to relive again.

But then other ambitions get in her way. She frees the slaves of Slaver's Bay, and decides to stay in Meereen to try to ensure that her revolution succeeds. Thus, her quest for home is put on hold. Throughout ADWD, she gives up parts of herself, to try to become one with the Meereenese; marrying Hizdahr, reopening the fighting pits, chaining her dragons, dressing in the Ghiscari fashion, and making peace. But in the Dothraki sea, hundreds of miles outside Meereen, she finds that she wasn't being her true self, that she can never be the Queen of Meereen, or become a true Meereenese.

I must keep walking. Water flows downhill. The stream will take me to the river, and the river will take me home. Except it wouldn't, not truly. Meereen was not her home, and never would be. It was a city of strange men with strange gods and stranger hair, of slavers wrapped in fringed tokars, where grace was earned through whoring, butchery was art, and dog was a delicacy. Meereen would always be the Harpy's city, and Daenerys could not be a harpy.

The series is all about the human heart in conflict with itself, and Daenerys in ADWD is one of the best examples of that. She was struggling with her two competing titles of Breaker of Chains and Mother of Dragons, but in the end she was not comfortable with being the Breaker of Chains. This final transformation she undergoes in the Dothraki sea really sets the tone for what she will do in the future, and how she will change as a person and character.

Mother of Dragons

Daenerys X is one of the more bizarre chapters in the series, since it follows only one character alone with her thoughts, but it works extremely well as a character study, and the development over the course of the chapter is one of my favourites in the whole series. Through all the hallucinations and visions and dreams Daenerys has during this chapter, it's important to remember that they all (apart from possibly Quaithe) are her, so the discussions she has are with her own internal thoughts directly.

The topic of Targaryen madness reoccurs throughout the series, but it's ADWD where it is brought up the most. Now, the topic of Targaryen madness will be another post i will do in the far future and won't discuss in depth today, but the matter is that Dany is aware of some of it, even if she hasn't fully accepted the truth of her father. She fears that she is succumbing to the madness at points.

"Your Grace?" Missandei stood in the door of the queen's bedchamber, a lantern in her hand. "Who are you talking to?" Dany glanced back toward the persimmon tree. There was no woman there. No hooded robe, no lacquer mask, no Quaithe. A shadow. A memory. No one. She was the blood of the dragon, but Ser Barristan had warned her that in that blood there was a taint. Could I be going mad? They had called her father mad, once.

Later, she implies this fear again to Barristan.

I lived in fear for fourteen years, my lord. I woke afraid each morning and went to sleep afraid each night … but my fears were burned away the day I came forth from the fire. Only one thing frightens me now." "And what is it that you fear, sweet queen?" "I am only a foolish young girl." Dany rose on her toes and kissed his cheek. "But not so foolish as to tell you that. My men shall look at these ships. Then you shall have my answer."

But in an early version of Daenerys III, the answer Daenerys gave was "myself". She fears what would happen if she "woke the dragon", as Viserys put it. She's afraid of succumbing to the madness that consumed her father and probably was consuming Viserys. She's afraid of what would happen if she unleashed her dragons, how many innocents they would kill. But in the Dothraki sea, she begins to question her decisions, starting when she woke up after finding blood between her thighs:

"I am the blood of the dragon," she told the grass, aloud. Once, the grass whispered back, until you chained your dragons in the dark. "Drogon killed a little girl. Her name was … her name …" Dany could not recall the child's name. That made her so sad that she would have cried if all her tears had not been burned away. "I will never have a little girl. I was the Mother of Dragons." Aye, the grass said, but you turned against your children.

The importance of this quote cannot go unnoticed. She thinks about Hazzea all the time throughout the book, feeling deeply guilty about what Drogon did to her. But here, at the end, she cannot remember her name. The in world explanation is that, of course, she is delirious from being in the wilderness eating berries and being sick, but thematically this is her slowly turning away from the people she freed. Next comes a dream with Viserys (long quote incoming):

She dreamt of her dead brother. Viserys looked just as he had the last time she'd seen him. His mouth was twisted in anguish, his hair was burnt, and his face was black and smoking where the molten gold had run down across his brow and cheeks and into his eyes. "You are dead," Dany said. Murdered. Though his lips never moved, somehow she could hear his voice, whispering in her ear. You never mourned me, sister. It is hard to die unmourned. "I loved you once." Once, he said, so bitterly it made her shudder. You were supposed to be my wife, to bear me children with silver hair and purple eyes, to keep the blood of the dragon pure. I took care of you. I taught you who you were. I fed you. I sold our mother's crown to keep you fed. "You hurt me. You frightened me." Only when you woke the dragon. I loved you. "You sold me. You betrayed me." No. You were the betrayer. You turned against me, against your own blood. They cheated me. Your horsey husband and his stinking savages. They were cheats and liars. They promised me a golden crown and gave me this. He touched the molten gold that was creeping down his face, and smoke rose from his finger. "You could have had your crown," Dany told him. "My sun-and-stars would have won it for you if only you had waited." I waited long enough. I waited my whole life. I was their king, their rightful king. They laughed at me. "You should have stayed in Pentos with Magister Illyrio. Khal Drogo had to present me to the dosh khaleen, but you did not have to ride with us. That was your choice. Your mistake." Do you want to wake the dragon, you stupid little whore? Drogo's khalasar was mine. I bought them from him, a hundred thousand screamers. I paid for them with your maidenhead. "You never understood. Dothraki do not buy and sell. They give gifts and receive them. If you had waited …" I did wait. For my crown, for my throne, for you. All those years, and all I ever got was a pot of molten gold. Why did they give the dragon's eggs to you? They should have been mine. If I'd had a dragon, I would have taught the world the meaning of our words. Viserys began to laugh, until his jaw fell away from his face, smoking, and blood and molten gold ran from his mouth.

The dream terrifies Daenerys, but once again, Viserys (really herself here) is telling her she is stalling in a place she doesn't belong, that she needs to go home, that she should embrace being a dragon. The climax of this comes right after she realizes Meereen would never be her home, where she argues with Jorah (again, herself):

Meereen would always be the Harpy's city, and Daenerys could not be a harpy. Never, said the grass, in the gruff tones of Jorah Mormont. You were warned, Your Grace. Let this city be, I said. Your war is in Westeros, I told you. The voice was no more than a whisper, yet somehow Dany felt that he was walking just behind her. My bear, she thought, my old sweet bear, who loved me and betrayed me. She had missed him so. She wanted to see his ugly face, to wrap her arms around him and press herself against his chest, but she knew that if she turned around Ser Jorah would be gone. "I am dreaming," she said. "A waking dream, a walking dream. I am alone and lost." Lost, because you lingered, in a place that you were never meant to be, murmured Ser Jorah, as softly as the wind. Alone, because you sent me from your side. "You betrayed me. You informed on me, for gold." For home. Home was all I ever wanted. "And me. You wanted me." Dany had seen it in his eyes. I did, the grass whispered, sadly. "You kissed me. I never said you could, but you did. You sold me to my enemies, but you meant it when you kissed me." I gave you good counsel. Save your spears and swords for the Seven Kingdoms, I told you. Leave Meereen to the Meereenese and go west, I said. You would not listen. "I had to take Meereen or see my children starve along the march." Dany could still see the trail of corpses she had left behind her crossing the Red Waste. It was not a sight she wished to see again. "I had to take Meereen to feed my people." You took Meereen, he told her, yet still you lingered. "To be a queen." You are a queen, her bear said. In Westeros. "It is such a long way," she complained. "I was tired, Jorah. I was weary of war. I wanted to rest, to laugh, to plant trees and see them grow. I am only a young girl." No. You are the blood of the dragon. The whispering was growing fainter, as if Ser Jorah were falling farther behind. Dragons plant no trees. Remember that. Remember who you are, what you were made to be. Remember your words. "Fire and Blood," Daenerys told the swaying grass.

And here is where everything changes. She has spent time trying to protect innocent lives, to make peace, not war, to be loved and accepted by Meereen. But here, she decides that it is time to do away with that. Meereen is not her home, Westeros is, and it's time to wake the dragon and burn Yunkai. No longer will she be burdened by the idea of a cost of innocent lives, no longer will she fear herself, and no longer will she linger. When the time comes, she will burn her enemies and leave for Westeros.

I need to make a few things clear here, however. For one, I don't think she's mad now, this is just her resolving her internal conflict. For another, I don't care what she does to the slavers. They deserve what's coming for them. She will still care about the innocent, but she's now going to go full-blooded Targaryen and burn cities to the ground, and this will mean massive collateral damage she will try to rationalize away.

Daenerys has now transformed into a different, much darker character, which I feel will continue to define her for the rest of the series. She is now the Mother of Dragons, in her entirety, and Essos is about to bleed and burn. I really appreciate how GRRM put this together, and that she didn't stay fire and blood after Astapor. His character development is realistic, and sometimes the development is not linear. In part 3, I will be discussing predictions about Daenerys's arc and story in TWOW, more specifically what she will do in Essos.

#asoiaf #asoiaf meta #asoiaf character arcs #daenerys targaryen #daenerys stormborn #mother of dragons #adwd #meereen

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quazartranslates · 3 years

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Welcome to the Nightmare Game - CH110

**This is an edited machine translation. For more information, please [click here]**

[<<< Previous Chapter | Table of Contents | Next Chapter >>>]

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Chapter 110: Slaughter Secret Society (XII)

The seed of slaughter broke out!

Luo Yishan, whose protective cover was broken, sank into the seed of slaughter's control after it was triggered by the sudden crisis, and the crazy seed of slaughter turned into thorns piercing his body. The demon energy flowed furiously in the half-field and surrounded the altar, and the surging rain cloud of demon energy generally enveloped this half-field controlled by lava.

On the cave’s dome ceiling, the blue light of the thermophilic fungi was like a vast starry sky. Under this gloomy and strange blue light, the seeds of slaughter caused the believers to lose control one after another, devouring all reason in an instant!

Qi Leren’s, after loading the save file to resurrect himself, felt his eyes go red as the cold power ran down his neck. It was flowing through the current of his blood. That terrifying, destructive power encroached on his reason. At this moment, there was no memento ring before his eyes, no Ning Zhou. His eyes only sought death!

Luo Yishan, who had lost his hand, was the same. He forgot the wound that was constantly spraying blood, didn't even remember to pick up his amputated hand, and forgot the ring on his amputated hand. His healthy right hand roared at Qi Leren with a heavy stick, and thorns swept towards him like heavy rain!

The two frenzied men fought in the open space, and the Qi Leren, who was fully inspired by his fighting instinct, was as agile as a bobcat. Even under the control of the seed, he did not forget his shortcomings, and Luo Yishan’s powerful hits never connected. But even so, the significant difference in combat effectiveness between the two men was not enough for him to defeat this opponent. If Ning Zhou hadn’t helped with his archery, he would have been beaten in little more than ten seconds.

The half-field was in chaos, and Mrs. Kathleen became suspicious because of how quickly Ning Zhou had broken free, but at this time she was already riding a tiger*, so after consideration still she chose to believe him. She didn't let Luo Yishan's cronies control the whole situation. However, under the traction of the huge demon energy, all the believers had been caught in the outbreak of the seeds of slaughter, and the believers whose seeds were deeply developed had been pierced by thorns one after another. The large black thorns unscrupulously harvested the lives of believers and a melody of death rose from the spewing blood and death wails.

*{E/N: in a precarious situation}

There was no right or wrong, just killing for celebration, and celebration for killing.

A silver arrow shot a long line of electric light across the ground, exploding into frost and spreading. The extremely cold temperature made the magma around it freeze for a moment, to say nothing of the believers in that area, their bodies and thorns becoming covered with a layer of frost that slowed their movement. Ning Zhou drew his double knives out of their sheaths and rushed to the devil worshippers who had turned to ice, killing them amidst the blood rain.

On the edge of the altar, Qi Leren had turned around and climbed up the altar, fighting bravely with Luo Yishan. His clear consciousness had been suppressed under the desire to kill, but the countdown was progressing lower and lower.

The S/L Skill’s effect time was only… seven, six, five, four, three…

Luo Yishan's thorns swept over the rocky ground, and the limb that had been cut off by Qi Leren flew out. With its arc, it fell towards the magma.

Qi Leren, who was avoiding Luo Yishan's attack on the altar, suddenly woke up for a moment. If the ring fell into the magma, his recent painstaking efforts would be completely invalid!

Two seconds.

With a push of his foot, he jumped up like a cat lunging for his prey.

One second.

His hand was two meters away from the flying amputated hand. He was still rising, but the bloody hand was falling away.

Zero seconds.

He also began to fall, but was still half a meter short! Only half a meter away!

The save time had passed, and the skill cooling countdown was 0:59:59.

His feet were no longer solid ground but hot lava, and the terrible heat was on him, getting closer and closer…

He’d lost his center of gravity, falling upside down. The world was inverted before his eyes. Ironically, at this moment, he could calmly look at the absurd Slaughter ceremony not far away. In this upside down world, the blood gushing everywhere was like red rain falling from the sky, more dazzling than the magma.

A cold voice laughed wildly in his mind. It was the seed of slaughter’s consciousness, and it joyfully commanded him to die.

No, stop! There was still a way, there had to be a way... Yes, he could use the [Countercurrent Sand] to reset a skill card at will, but... Even if he reset the S/L skill here, he would still fall into magma in midair after loading the file!

It was over.

Once again, his sober consciousness was swallowed up by the seed of slaughter. Qi Leren looked at the hot red manga indifferently as he watched himself rush towards death.

"Qi Leren-! Grab the ring!!!” Ning Zhou's voice came from far away, waking him from his zen state like sudden thunder.

Qi Leren's consciousness once again overcame the seed of slaughter, and he realized that he was falling into the abyss of death.

To fall into magma was to fall into hell. He would be reduced to ashes and disappear here forever.

There was only one chance for him to survive…

Grab the ring!

Although his spiritual power left after breaking from his meditative state was weak, it made the impossible possible at the moment when it seemed lost. Qi Leren stretched his hand out hard and grabbed the hand at the moment when it was about to fall into magma. The cold temperature of the memento ring shocked his system, and he frantically screamed in his his mind-

Get out! Close the field! Get us out of here!

A white light flashed, and the half-fields was closed.

At this moment, this feast of the Devil of Slaughter’s dance…

Abruptly ended.

　　&&&

In front of him was a hot red. As if given an electric shock, Qi Leren sprang up from the sofa only for his legs to go soft, sitting back down.

At the last second in the half-field, the hot magma had almost touched his head, and the terrible heat seemed to have burned his soul. At that time, his S/L skill had run out. If Ning Zhou hadn’t woken him up at that time, if he hadn’t caught the amputated hand at that time…

The amputated hand was still in his hand, yet before Qi Leren could take off the memento ring, his hand was grasped.

An awkward Ning Zhou pulled his wrist, and his blue eyes were like the sea in the storm, brewing a horrible mood. Qi Leren was stunned, a little embarrassed.

"Oh... We’re okay," the old man Qi Leren said towards the ground, but he didn't have any confidence in his heart.

His wrist hurt, but Qi Leren didn't dare to look at Ning Zhou's face. Just now, he couldn't tell whether Ning Zhou was going to hit him or hug him... Probably hit him. He also knew that the image at that moment had been too thrilling, enough that someone watching would have a heart attack.

After leaving the half-field, his seed of slaughter was controlled, and now it was back to hiding in the back of his neck. Qi Leren was a little distracted thinking about it, only to suddenly hear Ning Zhou's voice: "At any time, living is the most important thing."

"...Um, I see." The atmosphere was too strange, and Qi Leren had no intention of arguing. He took his hand away and contacted the Trials Office with a walkie-talkie. "The ring is here, come quickly."

"Three minutes, wait on the roof," Al's calm voice came from the other end of the walkie talkie.

There wasn’t much time, and the Slaughter Secret Society’s belivers would surely come here. They had to leave before they arrived.

Qi Leren took the ring off the amputated hand and held it in his hand. He didn’t complete the ritual task or kill another candidate, so the ring didn’t belong to him, nor was he the Slaughter Secret Society’s keeper. At most, he could only use part of this half-field.

Unfortunately, believers summoned to the half-field could refuse to enter it, otherwise he could now pull all the believers into the half-field and escape with ease.

"Let's go and wait for the airship on the roof," Qi Leren said to Ning Zhou.

On the roof, the sun shone like blood.

The Nightmare Game had not explained why the Nightmare World had this strange weather in the Village of Dusk. This human sanctuary shrouded in the sunset all year round seemed to have been forgotten in time, together with the sunset that never fell.

But at this moment, the two people have no intention of appreciating such beautiful scenery. From the direction of the setting sun, a large group of bats were coming towards them like migratory birds. Looking down from above, believers wearing cloaks and masks appeared in the distant streets. They were coming here to stop them from taking away the memento ring!

The Court’s airship appeared at almost the same time. The helicopter-like airship headed straight toward the roof where the two were located.

Hurry up, hurry up. Qi Leren looked to both sides, praying that the speed of the aircraft would be faster than the approaching tide of bats.

He looked at Ning Zhou again, who had taken out his bow and arrow without saying a word.

Sure enough, there it was. Qi Leren was used to his style, but there were too many bats. Were there enough arrows? Or did he intend to use the frost arrows that could freeze bone dragons?

A dark arrow was draped over the metal longbow, and as the string was pulled back, the arrow shot out with a loud bang. Such a sound was surprising to the ear. The arrow shot out like lightning, and bats fell from the air like iron blocks. The sound echoed like thunder.

What kind of arrow was this? Qi Leren watched curiously, secretly looking at the bow and arrow in Ning Zhou's hand.

"Gravity increase," Ning Zhou said.

Qi Leren didn't really know whether this was a skill or something, but everything had been happening so quickly recently that he hadn’t been able to change his mentality. Not knowing how to pretend to understand, he nodded blindly.

Only two meters away from the roof, the nearby aircraft opened its door. Ning Zhou motioned for Qi Leren to go first, and Qi Leren struggled for a moment. He jumped high to reach the door and strained to climb up then turned back to Ning Zhou to stretch out his hand and pull him, but before he had turned around, Ning Zhou had come up.

Almost at the same time, the believers flooded onto the roof.

A man-made rain cloud condensed in the sky and the wind blew with thunder and lightning. Lightning as thick as wrists fell from the sky onto the roof. A shield popped open instantly on the aircraft, blocking the thunder and lightning.

The aircraft rose, getting farther and farther away from the roof. Through the translucent shield, Qi Leren saw the large group of believers wearing cloaks flooding the roof, and believers with ranged attack abilities were trying to break the shield and shoot down the aircraft.

In the crowd, only one person was not wearing a mask, and Qi Leren saw him at a glance.

Ashley.

In the violent, chaotic crowd, he looked up at him. Through the thunder and heavy rain, his childish eyes changed.

He had many things to ask and say. That encounter in the rainy night had turned out to be the beginning of a plot of destruction. His longing, his yearning, and his silent love were all false.

There was no Red in this world. What he had fallen in love with was just a carefully woven phantom.

Just as the day they had met, his first love, which had never started, came to an abrupt end in the midst of a rainstorm that clouded his eyes.

The crowd flocked to the aircraft, but Ashley suddenly turned around and left against the stream of people. He held Red’s mask in his hand, which broke from being clutched too hard. The fragment cut his palm, and the blood was dissolved and washed away by the rain.

"Ma'am, get out of here. The Village of Dusk is no longer safe," Ashley said to Mrs. Kathleen, who was hiding in the shadows.

In the heavy rain and thunder, Mrs. Kathleen looked at him wearily. Her delicate makeup had been washed away by the rain and her face had become blurred, decadent and ridiculous. She vaguely felt that her subordinate had changed and his youth had faded from his face, leaving no trace, and giving the outline of a mature man standing in the rainstorm.

"Pull yourself together... Let's go, let’s go to the Underground Ant City. The Village of Dusk’s enchantment has been broken by the Trial." Mrs Kathleen made the decision and gave up calling to her other subordinates. She would take Ashley to the border with her.

Ashley looked up at the flying aircraft, which had passed through the magic rain cloud and flew towards the distant sunset.

One day... Ashley carefully put the mask he held away into his item bar. One day, they would meet again.

At that time, he must not be what he was today.

-----

Editor’s Notes: Next chapter, the final arc of Part 1 begins...

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[<<< Previous Chapter | Table of Contents | Next Chapter >>>]

#Welcome to the Nightmare Game #欢迎来到噩梦游戏 #danmei

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parasite-core · 3 years

Note

HONESLY??? I am most curious about Roland like tell me every lil thing about him. I wanna know about him like. Where'd the PTSD come from. How's he handling life now. Does he have a fave chill 'down time' activity.

(Art by IoanaMuresanArt on Twitter)

Roland was one of my first Pathfinder characters and he is very dear to me. As a result this got long because I got a bit overzealous, so I’m putting this under a cut.

Okay so chill time is the short answer so we’re going with that first lol. Roland is very very bad at relaxing, he is high strung and tends to keep himself busy. When his friends do manage to pull him away from his work for a bit, he likes to whittle. He’s not necessarily good at it, but he finds it soothing. He also habitually writes in his journal, he keeps very thorough notes on everything that happens (I actually have a separate blog which is his canon journal of events from our first Pathfinder game, @roland-terrasold-blog. It’s incomplete because I don’t ever finish anything but I actually got pretty far lol.)

As for the PTSD…there’s a lot of context to explain that.

The short answer is that he had a very rough childhood up through his young adulthood, all leading up to doing something terrible that ended up haunting him. On top of almost dying/literally dying depending on how you look at it, and a childhood friend coming back as a crazed vengeful undead who blamed him for her death and purposeful violently triggered him with his dead lover’s body.

The long answer:

Roland is an orphan, no idea who is parents are and no interest in finding out. He was in an orphanage in infernal Cheliax, but…the end result of aging out of an orphanage in Cheliax is being handed off to the nobility to be used as potential slaves or sacrifices to the nobles devil summons. So at a young age Roland decided he wasn’t sticking around for that, and instead risked the dangers of the streets of Westcrown. He ended up living with other street kids for a number of years, and became particularly close with two others: Ashton and Emmery. Emmery however was extremely ill, and they knew if she didn’t get medicine she’d eventually die.

Roland and Ashton decided to try to steal medicine from a storehouse of the Council of Thieves. They got caught however. They by sheer luck managed to kill the young thief who caught them, and escaped. They knew if they stuck around the thieves guild would hunt them down for what they did, and Emmery and the other kids would get caught up in it as well, so they skipped town. Eventually they left Cheliax altogether, and joined a mercenary band called the Dragon Raiders.

The Dragon Raiders took any job that paid well enough. It was for survival, it was necessary to keep themselves off the streets and fed. Like a frog being slowly boiled, it was easy to justify as things got slowly worse, more morally grey, more violent, their methods more cruel. At the same time, Roland and Ashton got into a romantic relationship that quickly became very unhealthy. Ashton was passionate, possessive, jealous. Roland knew that Ashton was getting more sadistic and cruel in their missions, but he couldn’t quite let go of the idea of the person he’d known all his life, and the relationship they’d always had.

One night the Raiders took on a mission, which Roland was told was to clear out an encampment of devil worshippers. What they found was more like a small village, of tieflings and devil blooded people sure, but the settlement did not hold the horrors he’d been told. Despite that, they did their job.

What he found was that they were just people. Afterwards, he was horrified with what he’d allowed the Raiders to make him and Ashton into, and with the acts they’d committed. He tried to convince Ashton to leave with him, but Ashton lashed out at the idea. He felt like Roland was trying to drag them down, that Roland wanted them to go back to the destitution they lived in before joining the Dragon Raiders, that he’d forgotten what life was like beforehand. They got into an ugly fight, in which Ashton almost drew his scythe on Roland, before Roland backed down.

Roland left the Dragon Raiders in the middle of the night, sneaking out when Ashton was asleep. He abandoned his blood red armor, except a single pauldron he kept as a reminder of his actions and to never become complacent and just thoughtlessly follow orders again. He travelled pointlessly for a year, taking off jobs but having no real purpose.

Then he took a job as a soldier. And in that battle he should have died. He was stabbed through the heart with a lance. In that place between life and death, he was visited by a yhohm, one of the goddess Sarenrae’s divine servants. The mythical bird told him that he had so much wasted potential, and that if he would dedicate his life to repenting for his past deeds and walk the Path of Truth and Light, then he could have a second chance at life. Roland agreed, and he awoke later in the silent abandoned battleground, a phoenix feather and a holy symbol of Sarenrae on his chest, atop his heart—which was healed besides a scar that proved it was not all just a dream.

It later turned out that this was actually not what happened. Roland was stabbed in the heart, but his heart was replaced with an artifact that has Sarenrae’s herald Sunlord Thalachos trapped within. Roland is not *technically* entirely alive, he’s a type of undead called a graveheart, which is a rare undead powered by positive energy that can absorb the memories of others via their hearts. The vision was all an illusion, created by a follower of the Runelord of Greed Karvoug, who needed Roland to become a powerful cleric to fulfill a prophecy of his own making—he’d implanted the souls of his friends and advisors from 10000 years ago into each of the party members and was going to use each of them as a sacrifice to bring Ancient Thessalon back to the present day, despite the chaos and deaths that would cause for the modern peoples. The soul Roland had was of a cleric to the Peacock Spirit, so Roland needed to become a powerful cleric to mirror him.

Emmery came back as a vengeful graveheart herself who thought Ashton and Roland abandoned her. She murdered Ashton and threw his mutilated corpse at Roland’s feet and basically triggered him so hard he went catatonic for a day. He uses a scythe now because when he discovered he was a graveheart he ended up absorbing all of Ashton’s memories after taking back his heart from Emmery, so he uses it out of memory because even though Ashton was not a good person Roland still holds affection for the memory of him. He ended up putting Emmery to rest, and later resurrected her as an actual person again so she could live a real life—because she’d only been doing the things she did because being a graveheart had made her unstable (Roland is an exception because of Sunlord Thalachos, most gravehearts go violently undead monster like she did)

So yeah that’s Roland. He’s been through a lot. But he’s also had good friends, and a lot of support, and his faith has been unshakable. By the end of the first campaign he was in a fairly good place, he was at peace with himself, he knew what he was working towards, he knew he’d done good things and would continue to do good, and he was all around working on himself.

Then Sarenrae died after the Hell Arc and that definitely set him back some, although he had work that needed to be done so there wasn’t time for him to focus on mourning and hurting, he’d been tasked with leading and growing a new following for her successor Valoria. And that pretty much takes up the rest of his very very long life.

Since he’s undead and kept alive by a celestial in his artificial heart, Roland could theoretically live forever. He doesn’t want to live forever, he wants to rest eventually. Roland ends up living for 300-800 years or so, then when Valoria’s following has come into its own enough that he feels they don’t need his guidance anymore, he’ll release Sunlord Thalachos and finally rest. After that his spirit and Thalachos’ fuse into Valoria’s herald, Arbitor Thrask, a four winged platinum skinned angel with a hole in his chest that has a soft gentle light in it when viewed by good people, a void when viewed by neutral people, and a burning blinding light when viewed by evil people.

😅 sooooo that was a lot more than you asked for, I got carried away.

#Roland Terrasold #my ocs

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sweetmemories2606 · 5 years

Text

Dangerous Game (NaLu and Gruvia fic)

Wrote this piece for @gruvia is coot from Discord since today is their birthday.

It's yet another plot twist I've thought of-though this time it's less insane- and the focus will be on NaLu and Gruvia.

Title: Dangerous Game

Summary: While Natsu wonders about all the times he failed to protect Lucy, Gray worries about the dangerous game that he's been playing. Who will have to pay the price for his decision to leave Juvia behind?

Timeline: Avatar Arc (SPOILERS if you haven't watched the first 8 eps of the Final Season)

Genre: Angst

Word Count: around 1500 words

I hope you'll enjoy!

_______________

Dangerous Game

"I need to get stronger." Natsu whispered while he concentrated on increasing his magic power. Flames ignited his skin, however he didn't mind the heat. "For Lucy. I have to protect her."

He remembered the first time he had failed to protect her and how much it had changed him.

It had happened during the battle against Phantom Lord; when Lucy had been kidnapped while he was too busy fighting them. When he should've been there for her, but he wasn't.

The dragon slayer could never forget how his heart had stopped and his blood ran cold once he overheard Gajeel talking about Lucy's successful capture by the Element 4.

Natsu recalled emotions that overwhelmed him at that moment. Fear. Dread. Anger. Regret. He had been so scared of losing her, of losing his best friend-besides Happy, of course.

Thankfully, he was able to rescue her from Jose Porla.

After she was back at the guild, safe and sound, the realization still stayed with him: something had changed that day.

After that, he became more protective, careful. Remembering what it felt like to lose her, even if for a short while, was enough to make him always wish to be by her side.

Unfortunately, he couldn't always be.

During the Battle of Fairy Tail, it happened again. Lucy was taken away, or at least that's how he saw it when she was turned to stone.

Once again, he wasn't able to protect her. He didn't even see the danger coming because it came from old friends.

That moment also changed him forever, because he finally understood the phrase: "Betrayal only hurts so much because it always come from those we would least expect; those we trust the most."

Natsu kept those words in mind during every mission; every battle. It made him less trusting of people, but also enabled him to protect Lucy better.

Over the course of the next few battles they had-against Oracion Seis, in Edolas, on Tenrou Island- Natsu managed to keep her safe.

He wasn't always by her side, but that was okay because Lucy had grown stronger over time. He was proud of her; even more so knowing that he was the one who had helped her grow.

Thus he hadn't worried much during those fights, knowing she could take care of herself just fine.

_______________

Until the Grand Magic Games.

Those 7 days when they were competing, Natsu failed her more times than he could count.

First there was her battle with Flare, when he took so long to figure out why she wasn't fighting back.

If he claimed to know her so well, why didn't he realize that she was selflessly taking the heat in order to protect the ones she cared about?

Then, during the fourth day, he was forced to watch once she was mercilessly tortured by Minerva.

In those terrifying minutes, Natsu completely lost it and later he started to wonder about his reaction to seeing her get hurt.

He realized that if it had been anyone else he wouldn't have been as scared, angry or broken. Not because he didn't care about his other friends, but Lucy was more important.

She was his best friend, but was she just that?

Remembering when Erza and Gray had been talking about his situation with Juvia a few days before-they always forgot he had dragon slayer hearing-he decided to figure out exactly how he felt about Lucy.

The answer came 3 days later and it wasn't too unexpected.

Natsu loved her. For real.

When Future Lucy died right before his eyes during the most dreadful moment that would haunt him forever, his feelings became crystal clear.

Unfortunately, he wasn't sure what to do about them. Should he tell her? Was that a good idea? Or could it ruin their friendship if she rejected him?

Natsu didn't have time to think about it, though, for their world was soon thrown into chaos. After the long, exhausting battle was over and they had won, all he could think was that he had failed Lucy.

He had let her die-or at least a version of her-thus he didn't deserve to love her. He wasn't good enough.

That's why, in the following months, he pretended as if nothing had changed and they were still just good friends. Even though it killed him to be so close to her without being able to truly be with her, he stayed strong.

When they fought against Tartaros and he failed her again, that was the final strike.

He wasn't there for her when she had broken down. He wasn't there when she was forced to fight against Demons by herself.

Thus Natsu decided that he needed to get stronger; not just to defeat Zeref, as his friends had assumed, but to make sure that he would never fail Lucy again.-also to avenge Igneel, but that was another story.

The dragon slayer decided to leave for a year of training and, when Happy wondered why he didn't bring Lucy with him, Natsu was honest.

"Lucy just lost Aquarius, so I think she needs some time by herself to come to terms with it." He shrugged. "Besides, this training mission will be dangerous. I don't want her to get hurt again."

Happy understood then that leaving Lucy behind was Natsu's weird way of keeping her safe.

With Tartaros gone and the Balam Alliance broken, he believed there no immediate threats to her life. She would be fine until he came back and, and afterwards, he would always be there to protect her.

Unfortunately, things didn't work out the way Natsu had wanted. Though he did grow stronger during that year, when he returned it was only to discover that Fairy Tail-his family and home- had been disbanded.

He came home to find none of his friends and Lucy really mad at him. It saddened him that he had spent a whole year trying to become a better man who could protect her only to fail her again.

At least, this time, he could make it up by bringing Fairy Tail back together. _______________

Their journey to find their friends led them to Gray's secret mission at Avatar and they helped the ice mage defeat them.

Then, the day after this battle, an unexpected threat presented itself and Lucy's life was in danger once again.

They were back in Magnolia, having traveled there for Fairy Tail's reunion.

Natsu was proud upon noticing that most Fairy Tail members came despite Lucy's fear that they might've moved on. If he were to be honest, he had been scared too.

Fortunately, their worries were untrue, thus he was able to relax while watching everyone sharing hugs and talking about the past year.

The dragon slayer chose to stay silent; taking in the atmosphere once memories of the good days crossed his mind.

Until he suddenly got the feeling that something was wrong.

It was like a chill ran down his spine and he immediately knew that the enemy was close.

Natsu looked around, waiting for someone to come and attack then. There was nothing.

Once he watched his friends, he saw nothing different. There were no strangers ready to ambush them and no one else seemed to be alert.

Except for Gray that is.

The dragon slayer followed his gaze towards Lucy and Juvia, who were hugging. Though he failed to understand why the ice mage seemed so tense, he figured Gray must sense it too.

Noticing his stare, the ice mage looked back at him and there was a familiar expression on his face.

Natsu knew then that he was hiding something, but before he could ask, Gray looked back at the two girls; even more anxious.

Trying to figure out what made him so tense, the dragon slayer chose to follow his gaze again. His blood immediately ran cold once he saw it.

There was a knife. Juvia was holding it and she was about to swing it at Lucy. What the hell?

It made no sense, but in that moment all Natsu could think about was keeping Lucy safe.

"Lucy!" He screamed her name at the same time as Gray.

The celestial wizard looked at them, confused, before turning around and stepping away from Juvia's embrace. "What's wrong?"

The water mage rolled her eyes at this and, before either man could say anything, she was behind Lucy. The knife pressed against the celestial mage's throat and suddenly Natsu couldn't breathe.

He vowed he wouldn't fail her again.

Once everyone stared at the scene in complete shock, Juvia turned to Gray with a smirk that they had never seen.

"What's it gonna be, Gray? Who are you going to save?"

PS: there is a part 2 coming on September 7th.

#fanfic #nalu #gruvia #angst #fairy tail #avatar arc #plot twist #natsu x lucy #gray x juvia #natsu dragneel #lucy heartifilla #gray fullbuster #juvia lockser #dangerous game #chapter 1

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tonystarkbingo · 4 years

Photo

TSB Week 6 Roundup! These also include the remaining adopted prompts from January, and even one or two from February!

And for last week, Alex was the earner of a Participation badge! Congratulations!

And now, on to the fills! Go give them some love!

Title: I do, me too, me three Collaborator: Trashcanakin Link: Tumblr Square Filled: S4- Marriage of Convenience/Pretend Couple Ship: Tony/Bucky/Matt Rating: Gen Major Tags: none Summary: [Moodboard + Prompt] Tony fake dates both bucky & matt for some undercover mission, later, he marries them also for a mission. But they stay married at the end 'cause love.

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Title: Newton’s Cradle Collaborator: ABitNotGoodieBag Link: AO3 Square Filled: A2 - Vibranium Ship: None Rating: Teen Major Tags: TeamSalty, Not Steve Rogers friendly, Peter is a little shit, Tony is a little shit, Team Iron Man, IronDad and SpiderSon, Post CACW Summary: Steve asks where his shield is, Peter tells him. Word Count: 1546

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Title: Red and Blue Collaborator: Politzania Link: AO3 Square Filled: S1 - Present Tense Ship: Pepperony Rating: Mature Major Tags: Established Relationship, Present Tense, Scavenger Hunt Summary: Pepper sends Tony on a scavenger hunt around the mansion. Word Count: 424

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Title: let the soft animal of your body love what it loves - Chapter 9: ix. Collaborator: deathsweetqueen Link: AO3 Square Filled: S3 - resolve Ship: Stony Rating: Explicit Major Tags: Summary: Word Count:

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Title: Adventures of Tiny Dragon Tony and His Treasure (Loki) - Chapter 38: Snapshot #38: La Vie en Rose Collaborator: BennyBatch Link: AO3 Square Filled: T2 - shapeshifter Ship: FrostIron Rating: Gen Major Tags: AU, established relationship, Fluff Summary: Who knew pink could be both at once so infuriating yet so fetching when it concerned one tiny dragon. Word Count: 27,401

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Title: this is where worlds end (and ours collide) Collaborator: cadmvs Link: AO3 Square Filled: A1 - Doom Ship: WinterIron Rating: Mature Major Tags: Character Death Summary: The end of the world is here, and Tony is stuck with Bucky. Many of their friends have died, some of them are alive. What happens when they used to be too scared to admit their repressed emotions and now seems to be the perfect time? Word Count: 2134

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Title: Self-Preservation Collaborator: ashes0909 Link: AO3 Square Filled: S5 - AU: Hydra Won Ship: Tony Stark/Strike Team, Tony Stark/Brock Rumlow, Tony Stark/Jack Rollins Rating: Explicit Major Tags: Hydra Trash Party, Rape/Non-Con Elements, Dark Ending Summary: When shit hit the fan, Tony’s self-preservation always won out, because there was always the next fight, and he had to be alive to see it, even if that meant he had to get used, degraded, torn down. It’d give him time to plan, to escape, to come back and take his vengeance. Word Count: 2880

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Title: N/A [Art] Collaborator: trashcanakin Link: Tumblr Square Filled: Adopted - Power Swap Ship: N/A Rating: Gen Major Tags: N/A Summary: Tony as The Scarlet Witch? Seems legit Word Count: N/A

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Title: IM Spotter Collaborator: Gavilan Link: AO3 Square Filled: A3 - Free Ship: Tony Stark & Peter Parker Rating: Gen Major Tags: POV Outsider Summary: Floriana has headed up the IM Spotter club, New York branch for years, in a certain cafe with a very good view of Stark Tower. Never has she dreamed of having such a special guest, however. Word Count: 2154

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Title: Feelings that Flood on the Page Collaborator: PoliZ Link: AO3 Square Filled: A4 - Vulnerability Ship: Stony Rating: Gen Major Tags: Alternate Universe: High School Summary: Steve gets a somewhat anonymous love letter in his locker; Bucky pushes him to confirm his suspicions as to the author. Word Count: 710

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Title: You’ll Do Collaborator: camichats Link: AO3 Square Filled: S2 - Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch Ship: Tony Stark/Scarlet Maximoff Rating: Teen Major Tags: Fake Relationship, Getting Together Summary: Wanda had agreed to bring her fiancee to a family vacation so everyone could meet. Unfortunately, a week before that vacation, she finds Brock cheating on her. Tony gets roped into not only going on that vacation with her, but into pretending that they're engaged. Word Count: 2368

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Title: About Face Collaborator: Politzania Link: AO3 Square Filled: Adopted - Brock Rumlow/Crossbones Ship: background Stucky Rating: Teen Major Tags: CA:CW canon divergence, occult Hydra bullshit, de-aging, redemption arc Summary: Brock Rumlow is having a weird fucking week. After surviving the explosion in Lagos thanks to occult Hydra bullshit, he is tasked with assisting Helmut Zemo in an improbable (at best) plan to destroy the Avengers. But getting a new lease on life may have given Brock a change of heart as well; when the plan turns Captain America, the Winter Soldier and Iron Man into children, Brock takes on the role of protector. Word Count: 2746

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Title: Phase Two Collaborator: betheflame Link: AO3 Square Filled: K1 - Vampire / Werewolf Ship: Stuckony Rating: Teen Major Tags: fem!Tony Summary: Toni and her fuzzy favorites celebrate the day of manufactured affection. Word Count: 1495

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Title: Pizza for Valentine's Day Collaborator: newnewyorker93 Link: AO3 Squares Filled: S4 - writing format: 5+1 (Chapter 1) S1 - wish (Chapter 2) K4 - Morgan Stark (Chapter 6) Ship: Pepperony Rating: Gen Major Tags: fluff, Valentine's Day, 5+1 Summary: Five times Tony and Pepper had pizza for Valentine's Day + one time they didn't. A series of short ficlets and drabbles of Tony & Pepper celebrating Valentine's Day - together and apart - from several years before the events of Iron Man 1 through 2020. Word Count: 2310

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Title: let the soft animal of your body love what it loves - Chapter 10: x. Collaborator: deathsweetqueen Link: AO3 Square Filled: K4 - graveyard Ship: Stony Rating: Explicit Major Tags: Time Travel, Endgame Steve goes back in time to be with Post AOU Tony, Explicit Sexual Content, Dirty Talk, Past Domestic Violence, Post AOU AU, Breaking Up and Making Up, Marriage Counselling, Superfamily, Team Iron Man, but not Steve unfriendly, he's just a moron, a lot of fighting and arguments, Dubious Consent due to Identity Issues Summary: In 2023, Steve Rogers, after burning his husband's body, goes through the timelines to return each of the Infinity Stones. In 2015, Tony Stark’s husband returns to him and for the first time in years, he has hope for his marriage. Word Count: 44,670

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Title: The Berry Thief Collaborator: newnewyorker93 Link: Tumblr Square Filled: T3 - I regret nothing Ship: none Rating: Gen Major Tags: none Summary: Gerald the Alpaca absconding with the last of Pepper’s goji berries:a reenactment in felt

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Title: Zoom! Collaborator: monobuu Link: Tumblr Square Filled: A4 - Iron Dad Ship: Tony Stark & Peter Parker Rating: Gen Major Tags: Shenanigans, Tomfoolery Summary: They've got an iron man suit, roller skates, and a free afternoon. Word Count: N/A [Art]

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Title: Missing - Please Return Collaborator: Turtlesse Link: AO3 Square Filled: T1 - Tony playing piano Ship: WinterIron Rating: Gen Major Tags: None Summary: What Tony needs is sleep.Oddly enough, what Tony wants is sleep.What Tony doesn't want but probably needs anyway is to sign those damned papers.What Tony neither wants nor needs is Bucky calling him in a panic. Yet, that is what he gets. Word Count: 2836

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Title: Forever Intertwined Collaborator: alexisriversong Link: AO3 Square Filled: S5 - Steve Rogers/Captain America Ship: Stony Rating: Mature Major Tags: None Summary: symbiote!Tony infests Steve but rather than taking over, falls in love with this Very Dumb Human, 'oh god, how did you survive without me' Word Count: 1000

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Title: People. Ugh. Collaborator: Turtlesse Link: AO3 Square Filled: K5 - Writing Format: a pairing you’ve never done Ship: FrostIron Rating: Gen Major Tags: Alternate Universe - College/University Summary: Loki hated students. Rather unfortunate, as a professor.However, he did not hate Professor Stark. Word Count: 1072

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Title: Booty Booty Booty Collaborator: monobuu Link: Tumblr Square Filled: K5 - Art Format: Comic Layout Ship: None Rating: Teen Major Tags: Shenanigans, tomfoolery, butts Summary: Tony finds a penny, picks it up, and chaos reigns in the gym Word Count: N/A [Art]

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Title: Perfect Solution Collaborator: 27dragons Link: AO3 Square Filled: K1 - Puzzle Ship: WinterIron Rating: Teen Major Tags: Established Relationship Summary: Despite telling Tony that they didn’t need to exchange gifts for their second dating anniversary, Bucky's got something for Tony -- a puzzle to solve. Or rather, several. Word Count: 984

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Title: Adopt-A-Prompt: Stephen Strange Collaborator: lronhusbands Link: Tumblr Square Filled: Adopted - Stephen Strange Ship: IronStrange Rating: Gen Major Tags: moodboard Summary: Where Tony Stark and Stephen Strange work for NASA, find a new planet, and argue about what to name it.

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Title: Armageddidn’t Collaborator: rebirthofaphoenix Link: Tumblr Square Filled: Adopted - AU: Good Omens Ship: Tony/Crowley/Aziraphale Rating: Mature Major Tags: immortality, blood, crossover-ish, AU-ish Summary: its a moodboard lads (of course Harley and Peter become friends with Warlock and Adam)

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Title: Attempt 200 Collaborator: Pyrone Link: AO3 Square Filled: S1 - on the run Ship: Tony & Stephen Rating: Gen Major Tags: none Summary: Stephen’s 200th out of 14,000,605 timelines. Otherwise known as the timeline Stephen just grabs Tony and runs off with him. Word Count: 858

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Title: Bedtime Story Collaborator: dixiehellcat Link: AO3 Square Filled: S2 - old team Ship: Nick Fury & Avengers Rating: Teen Major Tags: Reading Aloud, Insomniac Tony Stark, well insomniac Avengers really, Avengers 2012—freeform, Helicarrier, mention of past dysfunctional childhoods, Nick Fury is a good bro Summary: The Avengers are stressed after a disturbing mission, especially Tony. Steve turns to Fury for help, and the SHIELD director has a unique idea. Word Count: 2532

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Title: Can’t Get Enough Collaborator: SierraNovembr Link: AO3 Square Filled: S3 - KINK: orgasm denial / edging Ship: Tony/Sam/Bucky Rating: Explicit Major Tags: Smut, Threesome - M/M/M, oral sex, anal sex, biting, orgasm delay/denial, laughing during sex, bottom Bucky Barnes, top Sam Wilson, Sam Wilson is a delight Summary: The idea was that they would tell Bucky they needed him urgently, Bucky would hurry in to see what they needed, and then he would be here sooner and with a tiny hint of a lovely flush as a bonus. He would take one look at them snuggled naked under the covers and want to join them. Affection. Sex. A good morning for all. Word Count: 2318

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Title: Morgan's Valentines Collaborator: rebelmeg Link: AO3 Square Filled: K5 - I Love You 3000 Ship: Morgan & her family Rating: Gen Major Tags: Valentine's Day Summary: Morgan makes a valentine for all the people, creatures, bots, and AI's in her life. Word Count: 2100

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Title: Red String of Fate Collaborator: rebirthofaphoenix Link: Tumblr Square Filled: T1 - polyamory or open relationship Ship: Clint/Tony/Pietro Rating: Teen Major Tags: Pietro didn’t die, happy triad, soulmate tattoos, Celtic influences Summary: moodboard

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Title: Outdoorsy in That I Drink on Patios Collaborator: betheflame Link: AO3 Square Filled: S2 - KINK: nippleplay Ship: Stuckony Rating: Explicit Major Tags: explicit sexual content Summary: Tony wants to take his boyfriends skiing. They discover other uses for his mountain cabin. Word Count: 1359

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Title: A Thousand Words Collaborator: tisfan Link: AO3 Square Filled: S5 - Tony Stark / T'challa Ship: IronPanther Rating: Teen Major Tags: were creatures, Tony Stark Does What He Wants, Wakanda Summary: Tony knows he’s not supposed to cross the border, but the call of a prize winning photograph is strong. When he finds his subject, things are more than they appear... Word Count: 1897

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Title: Upside Down - Chapter 1 Collaborator: Iron_Eirlyssa (Eirlyssa) Link: AO3 Square Filled: Adopted - AU: Alice in Wonderland Ship: Winteriron Rating: Teen Major Tags: Alice in Wonderland AU, canon-typical violence, developing relationship, happy ending Summary: Time after time, Phil lures an unsuspecting Alice down to Wonderland. And time after time, Bucky has to watch as they fail to succeed in the one task set for the Alice - to kill the Hydra with the Vorpal Sword. He doesn't expect this 'Anthony' to do any better. Word Count: 733

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Title: Define Winning Collaborator: lbibliophile-mcu Link: Tumblr Square Filled: A5 - writing format: missing scene/ epilogue/ coda Ship: Stephen Strange & Eye of Agamotto Rating: Gen Major Tags: the Snap,14,000,605 futures Summary: When fighting against impossible odds, you need to know exactly what you are trying to achieve; what is the one battle you cannot lose. Sometimes, success all comes down to asking the right question.

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Title: Doppelganger Downey Jr. Collaborator: martianwahtney Link: AO3 Square Filled: S4 - Doppelganger/Evil Twin Ship: IronHusbands Rating: Gen Major Tags: crack Summary: 'Apparently Robert Downey Jr and Tony Stark are two different people. Could have fooled me’. the instagram post by Harley Keener quickly goes viral and Tony Stark does not agree Word Count: 682

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Title: more than i love you Collaborator: summerpipedream Link: AO3 Square Filled: S2 - fluff Ship: Stony Rating: Gen Major Tags: poetry Summary: On the subject of why you, Tony Stark, and I, Steve Rogers, should get married. Word Count: 473

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Title: Synchronicities Collaborator: dixiehellcat Link: AO3 Square Filled: Adopted - Christine Everhart Ship: Christine & Fate Rating: Gen Major Tags: pre-Wordsmith, journalism, are there coincidences? Summary: Reporter Christine Everhart gets a chance at the big break she's been hoping for, and finds herself swept along by the tides of fortune. A story about the feeling when everything comes together and you wonder if it's all happening for a reason. Word Count: 1025

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Title: i wrote an entire album (about us drowning) Collaborator: asphxdels Link: AO3 Square Filled: A1 - Steve Rogers / Captain America Ship: past Stony Rating: Gen Major Tags: angst Summary: what troubles him right now the most though, is the fact that tony is here. he is with him, walking beside him. Word Count: 1547

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Title: let the soft animal of your body love what it loves - Chapter 11: xi. Collaborator: deathsweetqueen Link: AO3 Square Filled: T4 - nightmares Ship: Stony Rating: Explicit Major Tags: Time Travel, Endgame Steve goes back in time to be with Post AOU Tony, Explicit Sexual Content, Dirty Talk, Past Domestic Violence, Post AOU AU, Breaking Up and Making Up, Marriage Counselling, Superfamily, Team Iron Man, but not Steve unfriendly, he's just a moron, a lot of fighting and arguments, Dubious Consent due to Identity Issues Summary: In 2023, Steve Rogers, after burning his husband's body, goes through the timelines to return each of the Infinity Stones. Word Count: 48,895

#tonystarkbingo2020 #tsb2020 #weekly roundup #week 6 #tsb week 6 roundup #badge earners

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fableweaver · 4 years

Text

Arc of the White Sorceress

The night was dark, the moon hidden behind the constant clouds that accompanied the Orc army. Martel suppressed a yawn, knowing the slightest sound could give her away. She had been used to hunting in the forests of the Broken Isle, sitting still for long periods of time while she waited for prey. Hidden now much like she had been before, with sigils and leaves, she was perched in a tree. Kalyani was nearby, implementing the Elder Magic in much the same way, Pepper the witch also hidden somewhere else.

Martel had found war was much like hunting, long periods of nothing with short bursts of action. Though that just might have been the way they had to wage war. So, few of the Aldan had meant guerilla warfare was needed, the forest environment aided in this.

Movement below alerted Martel that their prey was nearby, breaking into her thoughts about war. She tensed, daring not to move or breath. Five Orcs came into view, a sigil aiding Martel in seeing them. She was the one that would strike first, drawing out a short bow and arrow. Taking aim, she fired, hitting the Orc in the back of the party. It squealed as the arrow took it in the eye felling it, the others whirling around to look for the foe.

Pepper struck next, throwing down one of the munitions, a flash grenade setting off a bright light. The Orcs screamed; Martel having covered her eyes knowing it was coming. She looked again just in time to see Kalyani drop down among them. Stunned and one dead from the light, Kalyani made quick work of the Orcs. When all were dead Pepper and Martel climbed down to join Kalyani, her talons dripping with black blood.

“I wish these things were nice to eat,” Kalyani said wiping her talons off on some moss. “I eat carrion and I still can’t stand the taste of them.”

“Best nowt try,” Pepper said grimacing. “Baint ken why ye would, they stink.”

Kalyani just nodded and they began the onerous task of clearing away the bodies into the bushes. Pepper walked around the site with her hands out, dust and dirt moving around. Martel knew she commanded the gnomes to cover the signs of combat, thought she could not see them. Their task done they returned to their posts. Just in time as Martel heard the troop approaching, the main force of Orcs that these had been the scouts for. Hidden up in the trees Martel saw the troop spreading out on the ground below, fifty Orcs moving cautiously along several paths.

She waited until more were past her before taking out the iron rocks. She threw them down into the troop, two exploding with violet force, tearing apart the Orcs. There were shouts and bows were drawn, but none looked up. Despite having been using the same tactics for some time it didn’t seem like the Orcs were catching onto their hiding spots up in the trees. As chaos reined below it was Pepper’s turn to attack. Using the Elder Magic she called on fire, Martel seeing the fire suddenly rage to life among the Orcs. There was an instant rout as they all tried to flee the fire, but it chased them through the trees. Kalyani was there to prevent others from escaping, stalking the trees for those trying to flee.

It was not long for the Orcs to be entirely wiped out, Pepper extinguishing the fire in moments. Martel descended again, seeing the smoking carcasses of the Orcs. Not a single tree or leaf was burned, the fire had only burned the Orcs. Pepper has said it was the power of naming, Martel wishing she could learn how to do such a thing. Sadly Pepper could not do it everywhere, and it took her several days to prepare the area for such a feat.

This time they did not bother to clean up the bodies, they simply made sure no fire would start on its own before they left. Hiking through the woods they used small animal paths that wound and twisted through the trees, Pepper implementing her powers to cover their tracks. Kalyani stalked through the trees as silent as a cat despite her size. Martel wished she could ride on Kalyani but they had many miles to cover, and their path was a hard one, the Griffin could not spare the energy to carry her. It was a hot a long journey, the sun rising as they traveled but thankfully kept at bay by the shade of the trees. The trees did not provide enough darkness for the Orcs to travel by, so they were stopped during the day until night fell again. The season was in their favor, the days had grown long and hot, which did not agree with their enemy.

They arrived back at the camp near evening, dusty and thirsty from their hike. Pepper however did not wait to rest, going instead to the command tent with Kalyani hot on her heels. Martel stayed back to seek food and water. She got a hearty hunk of nut bread and a meager piece of cheese to be washed down with her ration of water. She sat in the shade of a tree to eat and soon dosed off. She was woken by the sense of someone standing over her, and she woke to see the Aldan man Dacre standing over her.

“You are well?” he asked crouching down. “Pepper sent me to check on you.”

“Yes, thank you,” Martel said. “Any news?”

“Not any you don’t already know no doubt,” he answered with a smooth shrug.

“The enemy advances,” Martel answered, and he nodded. “At this rate it will take them a month to get to Alma.”

“I know,” he answered, his eyes sad. She had nothing to say to that, so he spoke instead. “Lycus says he is well.”

“Tell him I am the same,” Martel said with a ghost of a smile. Lycus was still out on a similar raid as her own, with Dacre’s lover Jude. “I never thought war was like this.”

“Like what?” Dacre asked tilting his head to the side much like a dog would.

“The waiting,” Martel answered. “I thought it would be much faster, always action, instead there is more waiting than fighting.”

“That is what war is about, gaining ground,” Dacre answered with another shrug.

“Or losing ground,” Martel said crossly. “Tell me, do you believe the other kingdoms will come to our aid?”

“I hope they will,” Dacre said. “I believe some might and know few will.”

“Yet you fight,” Martel said.

“Most of us do so because we have little choice,” he answered. “Though believe me when I say if I knew my death could be sudden and peaceful, I would have laid down at the Orc’s feet and let them kill me. Our people have been wearing away, our lives so long and thin we have started to wish to join our kin in Tir Aesclinn. But we do not have the choice of a clean death here.”

Martel shuddered as she remembered seeing a scout captured, skinned, and roasted over a fire while still alive. It was a sight that would haunt her forever, one that she now knew Xavier wished to protect her from. Part of her regretted not listening to him, but another part was proud she had held true. She had watched and remembered, she would remember that scout, a boy little older than her named Thatcher, and she hoped he knew he had not gone on forgotten.

She felt a warm hand on her arm and looked up to Dacre to see him staring at her with a new spark in his eyes, as if he had seen the private thoughts in her. Before he could say anything shouts rang out in the camp. Her nerves tight Martel sprung to her feet until she saw Dacre was not worried.

“You and Pepper took out the scouting party,” Dacre said. “Now our way is clear to take on the force that moves behind them.”

“How many?” Martel asked.

“Three thousand,” Dacre answered.

“And us?” Martel asked.

“A thousand,” Dacre answered. “But we just got a crate of your friend’s munitions.”

Martel did not say how little that seemed for the odds. Even fighting from the safety of the trees with traps and arrows they were sorely outnumbered.

“What will we fight for if we are all dead?” Martel asked bitterly. Dacre did not answer, he simply turned away to join the muster. Martel went to the command tent to seek out Pepper. She almost ran into her as she left the tent, strapping her sword to her hip. She stopped and nodded, her hand dropping to the hilt of her sword.

“Melanthios wants ta ken somewhat,” Pepper said and Martel looked at her puzzled. She knew the name of her sword was Melanthios, and she recalled some story with a dragon, but she did not know it could talk. “He wants ta ken bout the High Magic.”

“What does he wish to know?” Martel asked, a talking sword no longer rising much questions in her.

“His spirit be in this sword,” Pepper said patting the blade. “Do ye ken a way ta free ‘im?”

“No, the High Magic cannot handle spirits,” Martel said shaking her head. “Until I saw the Elder Magic, I never heard of spirits or things beyond this world. The High Magic is a magic of this world, not the aether like the Elder Magic.”

Pepper nodded and then turned her eyes to the sword. There was a long moment as she conferred with the dragon before she nodded.

“Right, well ye ready fer battle?” Pepper asked.

“No,” Martel said softly, and Pepper smiled sadly.

“Aye, me too lass,” Pepper said with a wry smile. “All the same we need ye. Come along.”

She led the way to a supply tent where they retrieved more arrows and munitions. They then joined the rest of the Aldan as the set out into the forest. Martel was surprised that Pepper was not leading the way like much others had before, there seemed to be no order to the band other than scouts that ranged ahead. They used many different paths through the forest, several of the Griffins following them silently.

The one advantage they had was they could choose where battles would take place. They arrived at a forest glen, the trees ending to a wide-open meadow full of tall grass and wildflowers. Despite the open space they knew the Orcs would gather here, too many ambushes and traps made it a path that was the easiest for the Orcs to take. That had been the role Pepper, Martel, and Kalyani had just performed, wiping out a scouting party so the main force would head to this pasture.

Pepper went out into the pasture and began walking in circles, Kalyani joining her. Martel could not tell what they were doing, though she strained her mage sense trying to catch a whiff of the magic they employed.

“Do you sense it?” a young Aldan scout by the name of Haver asked lowly.

“No,” Martel answered, getting no sense of magic. If she did not know they were working the Elder Magic she would have thought they were just walking in circles for no reason. “Can you?”

“Some, I can taste it one the wind,” he answered. “It is a powerful working they are finishing. I would have thought you could sense it in some way. Like I do not speak Xinian, I don’t understand the language when it is spoken but I can hear the words all the same.”

“It is more like trying to see the wind or hear colors,” Martel answered. “I do not posses the sense to perceive the Elder Magic.”

“Is it the same the other way around?” Haver asked. “Can those with Elder Magic not sense the High Magic?”

“I don’t know,” Martel said she drew a quick sigil, one of a spark of light.

“I saw the light,” Haver said. “But I could not sense the working.”

“Could you see the sigil?” Martel asked.

“No, just the flash,” Haver said.

“Then I guess only those who possess both can sense both,” Martel said. She thought of Xavier, he had never tried to explain the Elder Magic or how it differed or crossed the High Magic. Maybe when things were calm and peaceful again, she could talk to him. She hoped they would reach those times.

Pepper and Kalyani finished and returned, seeming pleased with their work. It had taken them several weeks to prepare the sight, Martel hopped that time would mean they could put a good dent in the enemy’s numbers. She had no idea what magicks Pepper had laid however, only that she had been teaching Kalyani what she knew. She had not revealed it to anyone what nature the trap she had laid was, then again no one had asked either. Martel now wondered if no one had asked because they had all been able to tell.

“Pepper,” Martel ventured and the moor witch turned to her. “What is the spell you cast over the clearing?”

“Ach I forgot ye baint read the Elder Magic,” Pepper said.

“Does that mean everyone else here can?” Martel asked. “All the Aldan have power.”

“Well aye just the same as all mages baint?” Pepper asked and Martel blushed, she was right. “I mean in some measure o’ course. Well I’ll tell ye then bout the trap. It be an earth ward, un that changes the nature o the soil o the clearing.”

“How?” Martell asked.

“How be the powers o namin, I changed the name o all the soil here that unce I command it, it’ll change nature,” Pepper answered. “See everything has some o the aether in it, it be the substance what lies betwixt. I can control the aether, n in someway the fabric o the very world. It has its limits, that which lies betwixt be much less than what lies in.”

“I see,” Martel said completely fascinated. She used the High Magic to force the material of the world to her will, the High Magic powerful enough to force that which was ‘in’ the world as Pepper had put it. But the Elder Magic seemed much more subtill in its manipulation, probably why it took longer.

“Aye well, I changed the name o the soil so that when I command, I mean finish with the spell o namin, the soil will become dust,” Pepper said.

“So it will make a hole?” Martel asked and Pepper nodded, flashing her a grin and a wink.

“Aye, n trap the Orcs so we can rain fire n wrath on their heads without risk,” Pepper said.

“Not without risk,” Kalyani chided, her crest high. “Our trap will not be big enough to catch them all, then there will be battle.”

“Aye, but hopefully we catch most,” Pepper answered unphased. Kalyani sensed her bravo however and Martel knew her well enough to know a scolding was coming by the angry glint in her eye.

“Not enough Pepper,” Kalyani said. “This field can hold at most a thousand and maybe more, some will fall in all the same, but at best I believe we will only capture half of the force we face. We are still badly outnumbered and I want you to remember that or else we face disaster.”

Pepper was grim faced now, her mouth a thin line.

“Aye ye be right,” Pepper said sounding frustrated. “I had prepared the trees for fire too, but ye gonna tell me that still won’t be enough.”

“Yes, I want you to face what war is,” Kalyani said. “Loss.”

“Aye,” Pepper said grimly. “Well I baint swallow that easily Kalyani, n I mean it. I’ll make sure we come out on top o this.”

“If you do you truly are more powerful than me,” Kalyani said.

“I might be able to help,” Martel said and both turned to her.

“How?” Pepper asked.

“The Orcs hate light,” Martel answered. “They’ll be coming after dark I take it? Well I can cast a sigil of light over the hole that will be made, that will make sure none of the captured Orcs will try to escape since they will be paralyzed by the light. It may even kill some. Then we can concentrate on those left behind.”

“No,” Kalyani said, her feathers twitching as she thought. “I think we should wait to cast the light for if we are losing to chase those who are left into retreat.”

“What?” Pepper said angrily. “I be sure want ta kill every last un o the filthy bastards.”

“No, you want victory, retreat gains us ground and time,” Kalyani said fiercely. “Only if it looks as if we cannot hold.”

Pepper’s face was fierce but she nodded, her hand going to Melanthios. She grimaced again seemingly at an inner thought than turned away.

“Fine, have it yer way!” Pepper said as she stalked away. Kalyani nodded and turned to Martel.

“What do you need for your sigil?” Kalyani asked.

“I can draw it now in pure power until it is ready to use,” Martel said. “The Orcs cannot see the High Magic can they?”

“From what we have seen they do not even sense the workings of the Elder,” Kalyani answered. “Go ahead then.”

Martel nodded and sat, going into a trance to gather the power she needed. Darkness was falling and Martel looked to the stars to decide what characters to use for a greater working. The stars here were strange to her still, Zaire had taught her some however before she left. On the Broken Isle the stars had been hundreds of years old, and from her homeland the stars had been entirely different. If she got her calculations wrong her sigil would fail, at best it just wouldn’t work and at worse it would explode.

She at least had the advantage of being unfamiliar with the stars if she had been a learned mage of the current era her teachings would not have worked with the sky as it was now. The looming march had somehow changed the stars and how they aligned, a change that was so foreign but quiet to the current mages that their sigils were failing. But Zaire had taught Martel the current lay of the sky and from there Zaire was able to calculate on her own.

So, she was able to draw the power she needed and make her calculations before darkness fully fell. Darkness was falling fast however, the forest made twilight short lived. Martel stood and drew her wand and started to walk around the clearing drawing the sigil. She was so intent on the task to make sure the greater sigil was drawn correctly that when she finished someone grabbed her from behind. Startled Martel saw it was Pepper dragging her away into the trees.

“They come,” Pepper hissed as she pulled Martel into the trees. Martel nodded and followed her, hoping her sigil would still work. She had finished but she hadn’t checked to be sure everything was in order before Pepper had dragged her off.

Martel scrabbled up into the trees as Pepper returned to the clearing, drawing the black blade Melanthios. The sword seemed to eat the light around it, Pepper disappearing into shadow. She stood in the middle of the clearing, only visible by the void of darkness she had made. This was the hard part of their plan, in order to do her casting Pepper had to be in the center of the field and would fall with the Orcs she intended to trap.

Sounds of the approaching army reached them first, the Orcs unable to move silently through the trees. The scouts arrived at the clearing first and stopped outside of it, milling about suspicious of the open space. Then one moved forward and when he was not taken down after a few strides a few more followed. Soon the rest of the scouts were walking into the clearing, walking right past Pepper without even pausing.

The full force started to come through, hundreds starting to fill the clearing. Martel spotted a leader, marked by his easy stride and the Orcs that followed him. The leader stopped suddenly, the others following suit as they milled around him. Martel felt her stomach drop, there were not enough in the clearing yet to spring their trap.

“Show yourself witch,” the leader called out. “I smell your sweet blood and soft flesh.”

A heartbeat and then Pepper lifted the veil of power that concealed her, Melanthios drawn and raised.

“Ye baint like the others,” Pepper said crossly.

The leader grinned and bowed to her, his yellow eyes glinting in the dim light.

“My name is Raigo,” he said with a grin, showing off his yellow tusks. “And yours witch?”

“Names have power,” Pepper answered.

“Aye,” Raigo said as he laughed. “Take her alive.”

The Orcs swarmed forward, Pepper attacking back with Melanthios. Martel watched amazed as Pepper fought, surrounded by Orcs. She was unhindered by having no qualms of killing or maiming her foes, but she stood alone. If the Orcs had been trying to kill her she would have fallen, but their desire to take her alive made them only fight her one-on-one. Any other would have been captured shortly as well, but wielding the dragon blade Pepper was faster and her blade far more deadly made her hold her own well.

Finally, Raigo stepped forward, wielding a long bastard sword. The other Orcs melted away, keeping a wide circle around the duel. It was a duel to behold, Pepper fought with speed and strength beyond a normal human, drawing on the aether to aid her. But Raigo was a stronger and faster than a human as well, matching her in tricks and power.

Martel scrambled down from her tree to find Kalyani not far away, watching with her talons dung into the earth.

“We need to help her,” Martel said lowly.

“Not until Pepper springs the trap,” Kalyani said her ears flat against her head. “If we go now we risk breaking her concentration and the Orcs winning over. It would not be hard then to whisk her away before we can reach her.”

“Pepper can’t while she is battling,” Martel said afraid.

“She can, I know he powers,” Kalyani answered.

“Then she won’t, not until more of the Orcs are in the clearing,” Martel said. “Or until she wins against the Raigo.”

Kalyani turned to her, her eyes bright with fear.

“You are right,” Kalyani said. “Your light then, it is the only way to save Pepper, the trap has failed.”

Martel nodded turning to the clearing. It only took a touch of power to activate the sigil. A blinding white light burst into the sky, thousands of Orcs crying out in pain. Martel only managed to close her eyes just in time from blinding herself. She opened her eyes slowly but it took a painful few moments for her eyes to adjust to the bright white light, brighter than the sun. The Orcs in the clearing lay scattered around, only a few moving weakly.

Pepper stood dazed rubbing at her eyes, blinded from the light. Her opponent still stood as well, stock still as if suddenly turned to stone.

“Attack!” Kalyani bellowed, and their forces let volley a rain of arrows. They took out the weakened Orcs easily, but Raigo still stood for none dared to aim near him with Pepper there as well. The sound of arrows seemed to rouse him however and he lunged forward. Pepper, still blinded lashed out and missed, the Orc slipping into her guard. His fist connected with her jaw and Pepper fell, dropping her sword.

“No!” Martel shouted drawing her bow and dashing out into the field. Raigo scooped up Pepper and fled back into the trees, the Orc army swallowing them. Kalyani growled and follow Martel as they ran into the trees. Her light did not reach far into the trees and once it had become shadows Orcs still stood and milled around. Martel fired off an arrow, looking around frantically for Raigo and Pepper. Kalyani barreled into the Orc ranks, tearing and lashing out with talon and beak.

They were soon joined by the Aldans and drawn into a thick battle. Martel soon became so intent on survival and fighting that she lost time and thought for Pepper. It was the fading of her light sigil and the realization that the Orcs were only growing in number that they had lost this battle. A retreat was called, and Martel reluctantly followed back into the clearing where the fading light from her sigil still provided enough protection for their forces to limp away.

They retreated back to the meeting camp, where they had planned originally to retreat to after battle. A medical tent awaited the injured, but camp was a hive of activity as the generals and captains called for camp to be broken so they could retreat to a more stable holding. Kalyani approached Martel, Melanthios held awkwardly in one talon.

“What should we do?” Martel asked afraid. “We need to talk to the Generals; they need to order a force to follow the Orcs to save Pepper.”

“They will not order that,” Kalyani said. “And if they do it will take them days to agree upon it and mount a rescue mission. We should go, just you and me, now.”

“But…” Martel said afraid.

“The Generals will not give us permission so we shall not ask,” Kalyani said. “You, me, and Melanthios stand the best chance of saving Pepper.”

She held out the dragon blade to Martel and she took it, surprised to find how light it was.

:Greetings: a voice reverberated in her mind like it were her own inner voice.

“Melanthios,” Martel said surprised to hear a voice.

:It is the first I have spoken to a Mage and come so close to the High Magic: Melanthios said. :It burns brightly:

“Yes,” Martel said feeling awed, unsure how to answer with her own mind, so she spoke aloud. “Will we really be enough to save Pepper?”

:I do not know: Melanthios answered. :But we need to:

Martel nodded and turned away to fetch her carpet. It was surprisingly easy to gather a few supplies, get her carpet as well as a spare sheath for Melanthios, and slip out of camp without anyone stopping them. Martel suspected by the time someone noticed they were missing they would be well on their way.

They traveled on the ground for most of the night until dawn. Kalyani called for a rest when the sun started to rise, Martel objecting.

“We have to move on,” Martel said.

“The Orcs will not travel in the day,” Kalyani said. “And if we continue you will faint from fatigue, eat and sleep. We will continue after you rest.”

Feeling as though Martel was holding them up, she ate a short meal of trail bread and an apple, before lying down to sleep. She thought her nerves wouldn’t let her sleep, but as soon as her head was down, her exhaustion took hold and she slipped into a dreamless sleep. She as woken around midday by Kalyani, and they continued once more. They could cover more ground in the air, but they were forced to track the Orcs over ground, Martel surprised by how far the Orcs had retreated.

It seemed they had been intent on returning to where more of their forces had gathered. The Orcs had the lead on them, and despite resting through most of the day, they traveled fast at night. Martel and Kalyani followed the force for three days, never catching up. Martel feared what the Orcs were doing with Pepper in those three days, her imaginations limited of what pain they could cause her, but all the same terrible for their vague threat.

After five days of tracking the Orcs they caught up with them, only because the Orcs had reached their main forces. Martel did not know the names of the places that had once stood here, but now the Orcs had cleared the forest to make a fortress. Made of roughhewn logs and mud the structure provided little in the way of protection other than from arrows and sight. It was haphazard and oddly constructed, like the Orcs knew only how to make ruins or half of structures. There were a few look out towers and walkways on the walls, but there were other parts that Martel wasn’t sure what their purpose was.

The other details escaped her through the horror of what decorated the walls of the fort. Bodies in various stages of decay hung on the walls, from bare bones to fresh bodies. Martel could even see a few people that still lived. Many were Aldan, some Elmerian, and a few Regarians decorated the walls. Heads and other body parts were skewered at the top of the walls, and larger parts littered the bottom. Crows, rats, and flies swarmed the walls, feasting on all they could reach.

“Can you fly over the fortress?” Kalyani asked lowly from above her. They were perched in another tree as close as they dared to be to the fortress for fear of being seen. The sun was high, and the only figures that seemed awake in the fortress were either dead or the few human soldiers that the Orcs had brought with their forces. “Without being seen?”

“Hiding sigils only work to blend one in with their surroundings,” Martel answered. “They don’t work well in the sky.”

“Very well, plan B then,” Kalyani said. Then she screeched, her call sounding much like a crow or another bird of prey. A few of the crows turned and flew over to their tree to look at Kalyani and Martel with inquisitive black eyes. Kalyani squawked at them, and they answered in the same, the conversation going on for a few minutes. Martel was surprised she hadn’t thought that Kalyani could talk to animals, it made sense after all she was more beast than man. They finished talking, Kalyani talking to a few of crows before they flew back to continue eating.

“It is a good thing they were crows, very smart birds,” Kalyani said pleased. “They told me the lay out of the fort, as well as where Pepper is.”

“Where is she?” Martel said surprised that the crows were smart enough to recognize a single person.

“The center of camp,” Kalyani answered. “There is an alter there, she is chained to the alter. I sent the crows to tell her we are here.”

“We should move now then while the sun is high,” Martel said excited. Kalyani clicked her beak, a sign of her displeasure.

“Wait, we have time,” Kalyani said. “We should consider this. If we fly in the soldiers will shoot arrows at us.”

“I can draw an arrow ward,” Martel answered.

“Unlocking Pepper’s chains?” Kalyani asked.

“I have a lock picking sigil,” Martel answered.

“And our escape?” Kalyani answered.

“Pepper can transform into her bird form,” Martel answered. “I can cast a shield sigil to give us time.”

“And if Pepper isn’t in the condition to make a skin or fly?” Kalyani asked and Martel shivered.

:I will weave the skin: Melanthios said. :And I can even move it for Pepper if she is not well enough to use it.: Martel repeated the dragon spirits words for Kalyani who seemed doubtful.

“If you could do that why not cast a skin for yourself to have a body?” Kalyani asked.

:A skin is just a skin not a body: Melanthios answered and Martel repeated it. :Martel is right, we need to move soon before darkness falls. They are going to feed Pepper to the Crippled One as soon as darkness falls:

“Very well,” Kalyani said. “Both of you begin your castings, I’m going to scout around to see what I can find from the ground.”

Martel nodded and once again went into a trance to concentrate on her castings. Immediately she sensed something wrong and frowned.

:Sorry: Melanthios said in her mind. :I believe our castings are interfering. Drop me to the ground, that should be enough space:

Martel nodded and dropped him to the foot of the tree and returned to her castings. Casting arrow wards was not hard, Martel cast five to be sure, tying them to medallions. She cast a few more light sigils as well just in case, and a lock picking sigil. Her sigils ready she climbed back down to pick up Melanthios.

“Ready?” Martel asked.

:As ready as I’ll ever be: Melanthios answered. :Has Kalyani returned?:

“No, I’ll look for her.”

Martel climbed back up the tree, looking around the forest and sky for Kalyani. She worried they would lose the light, but Kalyani returned unphased and ready.

“We should move now, we are losing the light quickly,” Kalyani said. Martel nodded as she took out her carpet. She took flight, Kalyani joining her. They flew fast, soaring quickly over the fort walls. Shouts and alarm followed them, arrows missing the mark as they flew for the center of the fort. Martel had little time to take in any details of the fort other than muddy streets and running men. They arrived at the center of the fort to find a great stone, dark with dried blood, Pepper chained to the stone.

Martel stopped when she saw her, horror freezing her in place. Pepper was naked covered in bruises and bite marks, blood caked between her legs. She looked up at them, her eyes dull with pain.

“Run,” she croaked.

“Hurry Martel,” Kalyani hissed, snapping Martel out of her fear. Martel leapt forward and started to apply her lock picking sigil to the chains that bound Pepper. But there were no locks, the manacles and chains had been bolted and welded in place.

“There is no lock to pick!” Martel said startled.

:Then break the chains: Melanthios said in her mind.

“I will buy us time, hurry!” Kalyani said as men started gathering. Arrows started to fly, Martel and Pepper protected by the arrow ward. Kalyani roared and ran to the men scattering them as she fought with talon and beak. Martel started to draw a sigil to break the chains, having to choose the sigil carefully for fear of hurting Pepper.

:You must get the manacles off her or the skin will not hold on her: Melanthios said in her mind. :The iron will warp the skin:

Martel gasped and started again on her sigil, it would be a hard task to break the manacles without harming Pepper. Her concentration was so hard on the manacles that she did not hear Kalyani fall until Pepper stirred. Startled Martel turned around to see Kalyani pinned under a net of chains, several Orcs surrounding her. A dark cloud now hung in the sky, Orcs gathering out of the tents and buildings of the fort.

Something cold touched Martel’s throat and she turned to see an Orc standing over her with a blade at her throat. He motioned for her to stand and she did, and it reached out to take Melanthios from her. When the Orc touched Melanthios it yelped, with drawing its hand as if burned.

:I will guard you: Melanthios said. :But only from their touch, I cannot turn a blade:

“Leave her,” a voice commanded and Martel turned to see the Orc leader had arrived. The Orc bowed and withdrew, leaving Martel standing alone against the Orc.

“So, you tried and failed to save the witch,” Raigo said with a wicked grin. “I wonder how sweet your flesh must be.”

Martel drew Melanthios, trying to hide how her hands were shaking.

“Try me and see,” Martel said and Raigo laughed.

“Such fight,” Raigo said. “Let us see what you can do!”

He drew his sword and lunged at Martel, Melanthios suddenly coming to bear to stop his blade from taking off her head. Suddenly Martel was fighting with skill she never knew she had, before she realized it was Melanthios controlling her limbs. She moved as if in a dream, unable to keep up with what was happening.

Suddenly the guidance stopped and Raigo’s fist connected with her jaw. Martel saw stars, falling to the ground as the world spun.

:Sorry, I could not aid you for long, the magic in your blood burns my spirit: Melanthios said in her mind. Raigo kicked Melanthios from her hand, Martel struggling to try to stand. She could hear Pepper screaming and shouting as Raigo reached out to grab her tunic. He screamed as he tried to rip her robe from her, snatching his hand back. Martel realized then he couldn’t touch her, the High Magic of her clothes and armor burned him.

“Magic,” Raigo hissed. “Not like the Elder. Well, I may not be able to take my fill but the Brothers may.”

He turned and hailed the gathered men and a few hurried over.

“Take your pleasure,” Raigo said waving at Martel, but the men hesitated. “Well, go on.”

“That is a mage sir,” one of the men said. “They can burn anyone who tries to rape them.”

“She’s just a girl,” Raigo growled but the men still did not move. “Fine, bind her. We’ll see if Kal Ba’el will want her. If not we’ll slit her throat. Then you can rape her.”

The men nodded and hurried over to tie Martel up to the chains that bound Pepper. Martel lay limp as if she were unconscious, though she was very much aware of how close she had come to avoid a much worse fate. One of the men went to pick up Melanthios but could not lift him, this time the dragon blade seemed too heavy for him to lift.

“Leave the black blade,” Raigo ordered. “He will be dealt with by Kal Ba’el. Go and fetch the sacrifices, we need to summon him.”

The men nodded and scurried away, Raigo still standing over them.

“Bastard,” Pepper spat and Raigo turned to her.

“You will be fed to Kal Ba’el, he will be pleased to finally have a meaty spirit to feast on.”

“He is not a god,” Pepper said. “He is a broken spirit.”

“You don’t think I know that?” Raigo said with derision. “Our world was crumbling and dying, he brought us here and we have feasted and flourished for centuries. It took us some time to recover from the journey and get used to this world, but soon it will be ours.”

“You would destroy this world in your hunger,” Pepper warned.

“Like we had our own,” Raigo said as he laughed. “And when we are done the Crippled One can lead us to another, and another. His hunger is like our own, it will never stop, though he likes to think it may. He will learn soon that he too is hunger and will always be starving. When he does he can eat without end, and the pleasure that comes with destruction.”

“Monster,” Pepper hissed and Raigo laughed.

“Which reminds me, I am still hungry,” Raigo said as he worked at undoing his belt. He walked over to Pepper and pulled her up against the blood coated stone, laying her out on top of it. She struggled and cursed at him as he got on top of her. Martel looked away but could still hear Pepper’s shouts as Raigo took her. It seemed a long time before he finished Pepper falling silent. She slid down to slump next to Martel, her eyes glassy and filled with pain.

“Are you alright?” Martel asked and Pepper simply shook her head. Martel had nothing to say for comfort, so she fell silent. She looked up to see Raigo still standing over them, his back to them but all the same Martel knew she could not risk freeing herself. She could easily destroy the ropes that bound her, but the chains that held Pepper were the larger problem. As well as the chains that now held Kalyani.

Martel scanned the ground and found Melanthios laying not far away. Slowly she inched her foot over to the sword and dragged it over, keeping her eyes on Raigo. The Orc general didn’t turn, his attention on the alter that was being hastily made as well as the victims that were now being dragged out. Martel did not want to watch how the Orcs and Bandaged Brothers prepared their victims for sacrifice, so once she got Melanthios near enough she turned her attention to the black blade.

:Help: She formed the word in her mind and sent it to the dragon blade, hoping it worked.

:Pass me to Pepper: the dragon answered and Martel slid the blade over to Pepper. She did not hear the conversation they had but it was long before Pepper passed Melanthios back to Martel.

:Her powers have been greatly reduced: Melanthios said. :The iron that binds her weakens the Elder Magic. If you can free Pepper, we can free Kalyani and escape.:

:How?: Martel asked.

:Can the High Magic not break iron?: Melanthios asked. Martel could not answer in though the complexity of what Melanthios asked, but he continued anyways without her answer. :If you cannot free Pepper we will all die:

That was final enough and Martel felt true fear as she realized Melanthios was right. She needed to free Pepper, she was the only one who could. Closing her eyes Martel went into a trance, closing out the growing screams of people and the growls of Orcs and men who were no longer men.

She needed a sigil that would be powerful enough to break iron yet not touch the flesh that lay under it. Her mind went over several possibilities before settling on a fire sigil. She would make it hot enough to cut the iron, but controlled and concentrated so it did not burn off Pepper’s hands. All her mind and energy went into the casting but at last she had the sigil, drawn in power on the tip of her finger.

She activated it, producing a small white flame, it burned so hot it was a steady line of fire. She only spared a glance up to be sure Raigo was not looking nor any of the Orcs. Raigo had stepped away to give more commands for the alter, and make sure no one was getting too carried away in their blood lust. Though his task seemed futile from the quick glance Martel had.

She turned quickly to Pepper’s chains, taking the flame to the iron.

“Stop me if you feel pain,” Martel said lowly. Pepper seemed unconscious or so withdrawn she didn’t answer. Martel hoped she would warn her if she caused her pain. She set the flame to the iron and immediately it started to cut through, sending up sparks and making the iron glow red hot. Pepper stirred, a muffled cry coming from her throat. Martel stopped but Pepper was awake now.

“Keep at it,” Pepper said lowly.

“But…”

“Go lass er it’ll be too late,” Pepper growled.

Swallowing Martel set the fire to the iron, going as fast as she could to cut through the manacle. The flame cut through the iron like a hot knife through butter, Pepper’s arm freed but Martel saw the scorched flesh and blisters on her wrist.

“The other now!” Pepper gasped. Martel nodded about to reach over to the other wrist when a mind not her own made her leap back away. Melanthios controlling her body saved her neck from Raigo’s blade, Martel turning to face the Orc general.

“Rat,” Raigo hissed. Martel took no time to burn away her ropes with her flame, Melanthios raised to block another descending blow. Her arms rang after the blow, but Melanthios guarded her well controlling her as the Orc General bore down on her. Two more blows and suddenly Raigo was knocked back a step, Melanthios lashing out and drawing a line of black blood on the Orc’s arm.

That second was all Martel needed, dropping the dragon blade she summoned the High Magic. The light sigil she had prepared blazed to life, this time hitting Raigo full in the face. He screamed, dropping to ground as he rolled around in pain. Martel turned back to Pepper, cutting through her other manacle. Pepper stood weakly and she bent to retrieve Melanthios. Once she held the dragon blade Pepper stood with power, her indigo eyes glowing.

“Now ye’ll see the power o the Elder Magic,” Pepper said lowly, Martel unsure who she spoke to. The air rippled and in Pepper’s place stood a wyvern, scales a molted gray and black. Raigo, still blinded, did not see his death as the wyvern bore down and snapped his head off with one swift bite.

Martel looked around to see the Orcs stunned or fleeing from her light sigil, the men doing much the same. The wyvern waddled over to Kalyani who was still pinned under the iron net, which was torn aside like a piece of paper. Martel then looked and saw the intended sacrifices, some of the poor people were still alive.

“We have to help them,” Martel said starting over to the people.

“No!” Pepper’s voice came out as a distorted growl but Martel recognized the voice. “Look.”

Martel looked to the alter, a bloody stone and rusty iron nail, shimmering with strange dark shadows. Her breath came short as she saw the darkness writhing, something making her want to turn and run to never look back.

“The Cripple One,” Pepper growled.

“The Errant Knight,” the darkness laughed. “One of Arke’s small army.”

“Be gone from Miread filth,” Pepper growled. “You cannot enter here, not even with one of the gates.”

“Ah but I just had a wonderful meal,” the Crippled One answered. “His spirit was far richer than any other lost soul I caught along the lines.”

“No!” Pepper wailed, her tail lashing. “You lie! Absalom would not have fallen!”

“He fell, and I ate him,” the Crippled One answered. “As will I you!”

“Fly!” Kalyani cried out taking to the sky. As if a spell of fear was broken, Martel ran leaping onto Pepper’s back just as the wyvern took to the air. The darkness dissolved into thousands of tiny specks, spreading out like a swarm. All those it touched the people cried out and died, Martel granted only a glance of their fates as Pepper flew them into the air, just escaping the Crippled One’s jaws. They took to the air, flying away from the fort and its horrors, Martel knowing they had only escaped for a time. They Crippled One had grown in power, and so too had their war.

#Fantasy #series #please read #writing #fairies #dragons

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writcrinthedark · 7 years

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The Spoils of War: Thoughts on the episode

Y’ALL. I AIN’T EVEN BREATHING RN WHAT IS THIS OHMYGOD DRAGONS!!! I MEAN JUST DROGON BUT OK AND DANY!! IN BATTLE!! BITCH!!! ARYA FIGHTING BRIENNE!!!! TWO!!! TWO (2) STARK REUNIONS IN ONE EPISODE. I HAVE BEEN B L E S S E D BY THIS EPISODE. MY CROPS ARE WATERED, MY SKIN IS CLEAR, AND MY HUSBAND IS BACK FROM THE WAR. Y’ALL STRAP IN FOR THIS WILD RIDE WITH LOTS OF CAPS LOCK

SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT YO!

First of, we get the creepy creep creeping creepily around Winterfell. We all know there is only one person who requires this many creeps. I love how he was trying to turn Bran to his side with his sweet talk and Lord Stark this Lord Stark that, then Bran ’404 Emotion not found’ Stark just went “chaos is a ladder” on him. Which is, of course, part of his long spiel in the throne room some seasons ago about his ambitions. He is understandably creeped out. How does it feel being on the receiving end, Baelish? Maybe now you’ll stop whispering weird shit in poor Sansa’s ear.

ARYA!!! HOME!!! IN WINTERFELL!!! REUNITING WITH SANSA IN FRONT OF NED STARK’S CRYPT!! dude. the significance of this i cannot even?? they’ve come full circle. ned used to try to get arya and sansa to stop fighting by saying that line we heard in the trailer:

“When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives.”

And here they are, living that truth, in front of his grave. Can somebody?? please??? scream with me?? And it was a little awkward and a lot perfect and dude. Wow. Mentioning the kill list and having Sansa laugh is a nice touch at how long the Starks have been separated. Arya’s reunion with Bran is !!!!! like she got a sweet new Valyrian steel dagger but good ol’ Bran is still channeling the Terminator, if the Terminator was psychic. It makes me so sad that Bran would never be the same again. None of the characters ever will be, but Bran more than most. He didn’t even acknowledge Meera much when she left, and that is incredibly telling. Gods, I’m getting so emotional over this.

I’m glad Arya and everyone else agrees with me that command suits Sansa. I really like the sound of Lady Stark, and how you can see both Ned and Catelyn in her in both appearance and demeanor. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Sansa has one of the best character arcs in the entire series full of good character arcs, given that it didn’t kill off that character prematurely.

The Arya sparring with Brienne scene made me live like 50 years longer than my life span. The joy on her face. The confusion and pride and mix of emotions that played out on Sansa’s face. Littlefinger nodding to Arya, which makes me beyond nervous. I imagine that Arya would want Sansa’s approval, having been so long without family and the lack of Jon at this moment. Speaking of, that is the only Stark reunion left we’ve yet to see, and I know it would be the best one yet. Sansa acknowledged it herself. I just really, really, really want to see Arya and Jon’s reunion. Please just give it to me, Thrones. Don’t deprive me any longer.

The subtle Jonerys nod in the scenes on Dragonstone, though. The knowing looks Missandei gives Dany, Davos teasing Jon, like dude, give it allll to me. I cannot even handle. This aside though, Dany’s persistence that Jon bends the knee is understandable but like, girl, just let him have the North. What would you even do with it?? You’ve both come so far to be here. But hey, I totally get where they are both coming from. It’s exactly the fact that Dany has come so far to be here that she demands complete loyalty from Jon. She has been betrayed before, so she is understandably wary. Asking her to lay off would be a little unrealistic of us and Thrones knows it.

ThE SEXUAL TENSION IN THAT CAVE THO!! THEY KEEP!! STARING!! AT EACH OTHER!!! I SEE Y’ALL!!!! JUST THERE!!! HOPING NO ONE NOTICES!!!!

That’s all I’m gonna say about it. I’m scared I’ll go on a long spiel that will make everyone lose interest in this post. If anyone ever feels like fangirling with me, just message me and I swear I can keep on going forever.

But hey, Dany made that nod to the theory I had last week. Mentioning the enemies as Tyrion’s family. It’s a bit harsh of her to put him on the spot like that, but wow, I love it when Dany loses her temper. It hints just enough that she isn’t as perfect as we hoped she would be. (To me she kinda still is, since the following scene of her actually riding Drogon to war just made me go !!!! inside)

Now, for That Battle ™. Guys. I don’t have any words to say except that this is the first time in seven seasons we’ve seen a fully grown dragon in action. I had zero pity watching Lannister men burn. Cersei might have drawn first blood in this war, but goddamn Dany has gone for the kill. You can see that she has ridden all this way out to the Reach with blood on her mind. Tyrion watching, concerned, on the sidelines is a nice flip on the trope that women are always wringing their hands while men go to war.

Consider how significant this battle could be in the war: Jaime is either captured (again) or killed (highly unlikely), all of that Tyrell gold is gone in the flames, Dany now realizes how mortal her dragons actually are. This could easily be the best battle scene in the series, except I harbor a special fondness in my heart for Hardhome and the Battle of the Bastards.

Here I’ll add another section: what I think based on the preview of Episode 5. Varys telling Tyrion that they need a way to make Dany listen to them is feeding even more fuel to the fires of the Mad Queen Dany theory rampaging through Reddit lately. I’ve always loved Dany’s conviction and confidence and the strong need to exact vengeance, which has been with her since the finale of Season1, but what happens when these qualities turn against her and turn her into Cersei? Even Tyrion is starting to look concerned. If Tyrion betrays her, I think that will be her last straw.

(I really hope that doesn’t happen. I love Tyrion and he’s in my Top Five, but what will happen to him if he betrays Dany???)

Dany on Drogon, Drogon screeching at Jon?? NOT GOOD. I’LL START PRAYING RIGHT NOW FOR MY SON AND MY SOUL’S SURVIVAL. PLEASE GOD LET THINGS GO MY WAY FOR ONCE.

Right, I’ll leave you guys now with this. Season 7 just keeps getting better and better. Can you believe there are only 3 episodes left until we’re all back to the endless wait. The wait between seasons is the Long Night for Thrones fans, indeed. This episode was so insanely good that my mind is blown and now I need time to recover. For being the shortest episode this season, it gave me so many emotions than I know what to do with.

I’ll see y’all next Sunday for more emotional wrecking and suffering if I don’t end up in therapy before that. Thanks for going on this wild journey of screaming and screeching and crying with me :)

#game of thrones #season 7 #s07e04 #spoils of war #daenerys targaryen #jon snow #arya stark #sansa stark #bran stark #brienne of tarth #missandei #jonerys #tyrion lannister #cersei lannister #got #tv #thoughts on the episode #iheartgot

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wearethegladiators · 5 years

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this rant was a fail but i am still going strong

few things i wanted to say include:

WHY IS IT ALWAYS 7 YEARS

why is everyone so serious this is SAD

ok kids, so today we’ll be ranting about......... *crowd cheering* YES, WYNONA!! (why. am. i. like. this. j’ai des pics d’excitation d’enfants de 3 ans ptn)

(if you’re asking “is this the new wynona?” hm. HM. i mean............)

(the hairstyle. the outfit. the environment. WE STAN.) i’m not entirely convinced by older!raven as incendio3!wynona. but i guess WE’LL SEE, that’s not the focal point.

the important thing to remember about wyn (bc it’s tragic and we all love a good drama) is that she didn’t want to be part of this war. she didn’t want to fight. she was neutral with even a possible tendency to work with the deatheaters to protect her family. it’s always been family first with the blackbirds.

now, what happened to wynona during the war?

well she did surprisingly good for a while. she joined the rebellion “temporarily” (mdr) to help rescue sacha. and.... caught up by her wish to make the world a better place + the need to stay close to sacha + the whole edan storyline + (eurm) (nathan)...... she pretty much got stuck/stuck herself.

she’s a warrior, she’s spirited, she’s hella smart and has an impressive réseau (always thought she may have coerced kyran into giving her plans of the ministry, and then would have proceeded to show up to the rebellion with those - allowing them to attack). so she’d be a valuable element, and she’d fit in well i guess? she’s a bit of the stereotype of the rebel imo. and she would def like it even though she wouldn’t say it.

she’d go back and forth between the domain and the headquarters of the rebellion. becoming good friends with carmen i guess? (i also love to fantasize about a weirdass friendship between carmen and lily. started from rivalry to mutual respect/companionship. ofc this would be more complicated now but... WAIT WHAT IF CARMEN BECOMES SORT OF A MEDIATOR BETWEEN NATHAN AND LILY??? i’m sorry. i’ll go back to this later hihi)

WYNONA. she got involved gradually, taking part in fights and bigger events involving explosions :’))

BUT

on one of those missions, one day, she’d be super badly injured. it would happen during a sort of “7 potters” thing? like she’d be flying on a broom (DRAGON) and she’d get hit by a deatheater. fell pretty hard, lost one (or both) of her legs.

(i like how i’m illustrating this like it’s some kind of nice little story)

wynona always had two nightmares throughout her life: losing a kid and losing her legs.

she’s an athlete. she hungs out with athletes. she’s a duellist. she has a super physical job which includes taking care and controlling among the deadliest magical creatures out there. she’s a “mother” of 8. she’s a control-freak that FREAKING hates relying on someone else. she is passionate about flying. and now what?? she can’t do any of these things without her leg(s). it’s like her whole life is losing purpose.

you sad already?

well she certainly is. more than that - she’s destroyed by it. she can’t see why she should keep on living (remember that wynona is a very utilitarian character - if she has no purpose/utility then she’s just as good as dead in her opinion).

so that’s depression, edgy behavior, pushing away the people she loves (sorry sachou :’()

btw, about her relationship with nathan: well, some stuff happened. to what extent is a good question. i’m pretty confident she’d have developed actual feelings for him by now (but would never say it ofc mdr). anyway, he’d be important in that moment.

wynona is an engineer. she was working on two PHDs AT THE SAME TIME before she got involved with the rebellion. ofc she’d be trying to build something to get better, even if magic can’t save her, even if she’s so damn low. i could see nathan helping her with that? eventually they’d find something that’d help her gain some mobility back. she’d be BEYOND excited. way too much tbh.

(also i have this absolute headcanon that - ELO PLS SAY YES - nathan is helping her with the kids too)

(i actually have a way too precise scene in mind. one night, wynona is working on her thesis at the rebellion’s headquarters. nathan walks by and sees DRAGOOOONS. she ends up explain she’s doing her thesis in magizoologie bc she wants more dragons for her domain. he’s excited. she eventually brings him to the domain. he sees dragons and is beyond excited. byeeeee c’est tout pour moi)

ANYWAY

she’d insist on going back to the battlefield. quickly. too quickly. would be upset because people are overprotecting her because of her legs; could get captured or something but that wouldn’t last.

THE BIG DRAMA IS YET TO COME

hmhm. here we are.

remember wynona’s worst nightmares? hmhm.

with wynona being more and more involved in the rebellion, she may have rapatrié the kids from hogwarts. they may be living permanently at the domain, or coming once in a while at the rebellion’s headsquarters. anyway, they would have been in touch with the rebels

and one of the kids (i don’t know which one yet) would manage to make it to the battlefield. guess what? ofc he/she gets killed. and wyn cannot do anything because of her leg

here we areeee, she just reached her personal hell

remember the blackbird dynamic of “blood must have blood”, “there’s honor in revenge”, “revenge and justice are the same thing”, “judge, jury, executioner” and so on and so forth?

she’d track down the murderers. show up to their houses to kill them. she had a plan: torture and kill the parents. she didn’t plan on hurting children. wynona is the Biggest Savior of Child™ there is. except that.... she would??? she’s beyond fucked-up at that point. so yeah, she slaughters the children as well.

i have pictured multiple times in my mind her coming back to the QG covered in blood and everyone going silent. everyone knowing.

she would go to nathan but even he couldn’t forgive her ofc?? their bond would be broken because he can’t understand, he can’t forgive (i guess??? or is it just me wanting angst??)

i don’t even know if she’d be able to maintain a relationship with carmen. like this is some kind of terrible violence right here

so i guess she’d be marginalized/ejected from the rebellion. she’d go on a personal vendetta for a while, not being able to stop the killing spree, before joining a rogue/extremist movement. totallyyyyy fucked-up.

and this is pretty much what would have happened up until the end of the virus: rogue!wynona, with still some distant connections to some people (sacha, nathan, lily...? helping her with the kids. i mean, she can’t make it without them hihi)

btw, i’m working on the relationship between wynona and lily. as odd as it can sound, i think lily could understand. especially now. they’d still have a connection, maybe stronger now. like i can see lily calling wynona when burning the bodies of her family and having a breakdown. alright now i’m excited abt it

after the virus: wyn is getting tired of this shit just like everyone else. she’s feeling f*cking guilty bc YES SHE HAS FEELINGS TOO

i mean, she pretty much did all this horror for love, for her kids

and she’s lonelier than ever. wynona isn’t into loneliness. she likes being alone when chosen, or being surrounded by her creatures, or being independent. but not freaking loneliness.

btw: she’d only be calm/soft around her creatures. yeah. and potentially her kids, but even that would be hard. the kids would be scared of her and this would break her even more

edan coming back would be a HUGE gamechanger. she’d rush to sacha of course. having someone to support and coming back to this old role of “good protector” would give her old vibes. that’s the opening of her resilience arc

i really really really want a resilience arc for wynona. she’s done horrible, unspeakable things and now she will always be about fire and destruction and blood. but she’s not a bad person. she deserved better.

doesn’t mean she will be a hero, especially if she ends up snapping on edan

this would be the trigger that she went too far and that she’s got to stop

she’d go back to the rebellion

try to let go of her “murder” and “absolute chaos” habits

reconnect with nathan?? that would be very very very important for her. if he can forgive her then maybe she can forgive herself and move forward

she was only a mother who wanted to save the world. she’ll be forever haunted by what she did. she deserves B E T T E R

also this may be interesting to work on her relationship with carmen, esp. since they both went down a rogue path

also i’m so happy about sacha having his dragon !!!!! jealous too tho cause i wish wynona could have one and ride it :’(

“question: how do you make a monster stop feeling so monstrous?

you give her something she can hold in her palms without crushing. you give her something sweet and tell her to keep it.

you wipe the blood from her hands. you say her name, over and over, like an absolution.

you forgive her. you forgive her. you forgive.”

alright that’s all for me kiddos!! let me now cry tears of despair over my tragic babies, thanks. i’ll be back for a small thread about the environnement and lily/nathan relationship?? (ANGST there will be) love u elo :’)

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