Hello there,
If you enjoy my stories, you can read up to 9 chapters in advance per story on my Patreon page / patreon.com/Samael61.
Readers who enjoy the premise of a strong main character like Ei will definitely like my original story, Arrival : Ruptures. Comments, likes and reviews are appreciated. Here are the links for : AO3, Spacebattles, Royal Road and Webnovel.
—
The Valyrian Empire
Pentos
215 YA / 215 AC
Maegor Targaryen, the new High Archon of the Valyrian Empire, clutched his head. In the privacy of his room, he screamed. The voices were so loud, they plugged his ears.
His head snapped back, fingers trying to dig into his skull to tear the voices out.
And then, everything went silent. Maegor fell like a puppet with its strings cut.
When he rose back, it was with a grin that reached his ears.
—
The Unified Kingdom
Storm's End
It was another peaceful day in the Unified Kingdom.
Chiyo landed on the ground of the royal gardens. Dirt and pieces of stone flew out, and the noise startled Saiguu out of her sleep.
"Ei, bad news from Essos," she said, out of breath.
Saiguu trembled, taking a sharp, deep breath. She turned away, muttering something. Sasayuri, Kage, and Ei merely straightened their stance.
"What is it?" Ei asked.
"The new High Archon, Maegor, went off the rails. He had several nobles, along with their families, burned alive for treason."
She had not expected that of all things. "What?"
Ei knew the Targaryens had burned people alive before, whether in battle or for rituals. For one of them to go this far, it had to be dangerous.
"The organization that approached us through backchannels, the one we informed the empire about, is the Council of Nine. He somehow found their entire membership."
Saiguu crossed her legs and arms. "He could have just hanged the guilty ones and imprisoned or exiled the innocents. Damn retarded product of incest," she screamed towards the end.
Chiyo glanced at the kitsune before she continued her report. "That is not all. He is burning everyone for R'hllor. The workers, the soldiers, even those that had large amounts of trade with the traitors. No one is safe."
"Either he has lost his sanity, which is possible given how his ancestors were siblings for generations, or he is making sacrifices for some reason," Sasayuri summarized. Maegor was known as a recluse with health issues. With the dragons and the magic they offered gone, who knew what could have happened to him?
"Wonderful." Kage laid her face on her hand. "We just needed a religious zealot. At least their dragons died out."
Ei took a slow breath, her eyes closed. "Order a slow but general retreat from the empire. I don't want our people to be caught in the fighting."
"What about the people of the empire? If they beseech you to save them?" Sasayuri asked. If Ei decided to help the empire, even if by herself, their group would not leave her alone.
Neither would the people.
"We will think about it then."
Sasayuri rose from her chair, stretching. "I'll keep the armed forces on alert just in case."
—
Essos descended into chaos due to the actions of High Archon Maegor. Mass sacrifices to R'hllor quickly became commonplace. Once traitors had run out, criminals followed. The population was accepting when rapists and killers burned, not so when petty thieves did.
Yet, the people did not rise, either in fear or in fury.
Maegor held speeches. He promised the people a golden age. He was cleansing the empire from rot. The light of R'hllor would guide the empire to a new golden era.
His words had a mystical effect on the population.
The previously reluctant and even horrified individuals began to change their tune. Suddenly, Maegor was the Herald of R'hllor, chosen to prepare the people for his arrival. As a result, worship of the Red God had turned into a zealous affair.
The Governor of Qohor, Aerion Targaryen, had revolted in answer. The actions of Maegor were unacceptable. He sent word, calling the rest of the cities to join him. At the head of seventy thousand men gathered from Qohor, Volantis, and its towns—Lys, Myr, Meereen, Yunkai, and Astapor—he marched to Pentos to put an end to this madness.
He met with fire.
A skeleton of a dragon, engulfed in crimson flames, burned Aerion and his army down. It was dead walking among the living, but in fire rather than ice.
The cities that had risen in rebellion quickly fell in line. Scapegoats were thrown before Maegor. They quickly found themselves on a pyre.
Maegor, with the assistance of the priests of R'hllor, spearheaded a massive conversion wave in the empire. All that did not belong to the Red God, be it temples, monuments, or people, was destroyed. Those that converted survived.
Small enclaves managed to escape. Families smuggled themselves to Braavos in carts, ships, and even in barrels. Even smaller numbers managed to reach on foot, traversing at night to avoid falling afoul of the empire's men.
Most, though, had pleaded with the merchants and sailors of the Unified Kingdom, begging to be taken across the Narrow Sea.
Citizens of the kingdom present in the empire had already been ordered to return for their own safety. Taking the people who wished to escape this madness along with them was the least they could do.
Maegor did not care about the ones who had escaped. He had something grander in his sight.
Braavos.
Long had the only city that had not fallen to the empire on the western part of Essos enjoyed its status. He would change it, but first, the kingdom would have a reason to stay out.
—
The Northern Prefecture
The Wall
Aron coughed.
Even a Stark suffered from cold when the Watch itself has been kept so warm. It weakened him, but he did not complain. Not with all the tools that made daily life so simple at the harshest point of the kingdom.
He turned the corner, about to reach his office, when a young Brother of the Watch barreled at him. He fell, groaning in pain as his aging bones took the hit hard.
"Commander, you have to come; there is an attack on the Wall."
"What?! Who?"
"It's a dragon, a Targaryen one, but it's just bones."
Aron shook the young man by the shoulders. "Bones? What are you blubbering about, boy?" Rather than waste any more time, he ran to the elevator.
The journey towards the top of the Wall was quick, but the elevator kept shaking. After minutes that felt like hours, he arrived, bearing witness to what exactly the boy had warned him off.
A dragon, one that was naught but bone, was burning with flames so intense, the Wall had begun to melt, even if slightly.
The problem was the destroyed sections. He could see holes blasted into the wall near the ground, creating new paths through the structure.
The cannons were returning fire to no effect. They were positioned to shoot the Wildlings and, should they ever come, the Others at the ground. An enemy from the skies was not among that list.
He held on as the wall shook again. The hellish creature had turned its attention on the cannons now, and each burst of flame left explosions behind.
He tried to think of a way to defeat the monster. The cannon fire could not reach it. The electro batteries, on the other hand…
He ran for the hatch. Pulling it up, he looked down to see two of his brothers desperately aiming the cannon to fire.
"Quick, give me a battery," he screamed. The men turned to him sharply. The one responsible for targeting knew better than to question. He hauled up the purple metallic orb. Aron took it, straining to lift the heavy, ball-sized orb with one hand.
Falling on his back, he leaped to his feet, holding the orb tightly. He had seen what happened when one was breached.
"Draw it here." The men reacted to his order, and the cannon roared once again. The dragon circled back. The flames it has been shrouded in intensified.
Aron bellowed, running like a madman. He jumped, throwing the orb right inside the dragon's chest. The orb fell right between two ribs. The heat burned through the outer layer in seconds.
The explosion of electro met with the cursed flames of the dragon, leading to an even greater explosion. Several meters of the top of the wall were eradicated. Even more was cracked.
Aron Stark, the 988th Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, died before he hit the ground. His scorched body left a crimson mark of blood and flesh on the snow.
The Brothers of the Watch were quick to call the Governor Lord Brandon Stark to report the situation while securing the Wall.
—
Storm's End
"And the Wall's status?"
"The dragon left great destruction behind. It could have been far worse if not for Commander Aron Stark's heroic sacrifice."
"This means war."
"That it does."
"Order the cabinet to start preparing for war. We will meet the Targaryens on Essos rather than let them step foot into Westeros."
"What do we do about the wall?"
"Brandon Stark has enough forces as the governor to secure the Wall. I will also send the Thunder Dragon as support."
"I suppose this was inevitable in the end. Two powers, separated only by a sea, were bound to fight. If it wasn't because of Maegor's madness, then it was because of something else."
—
An official declaration of war against the empire had been announced to the population the following day.
The armies of the Unified Kingdom, fighting under one leader for one purpose, were quick to mobilize. Prefectural governors had sent all available manpower not necessary for defense against potential raids. The nobles were tasked with producing and bringing supplies.
From the Vale came the heavy cavalry. Riding armored vehicles built to cross rough terrains, the Warmachines would take the first line. Great on both offense and defense, their slow approach made them easy targets.
Brave as their ancestors who had once ridden horses, they would not be stopped by the enemy.
The Riverlands had the Light Cavalry. Vehicles similar in shape but opposite in purpose were readied to sail across the Narrow Sea. Meant to quickly respond to any unforeseen circumstances and run down the routed enemy, they covered the weakness of the Warmachines of the Vale, which did the same in return.
They were the eyes, the ears, and the reflex of the entire army.
The Reach brought its massive support corps. Cooks, healers, mapmakers, road pavers, and more. Anything the army needed to operate easier, they brought in addition to fifty thousand well-equipped infantry. Ships of Redwyne, Oldtown, Florent, and Shield Islands had created a line on the canal for days.
A potent mix of naval and land power, the Reach was the grease the machines needed to run smoothly.
The Western Prefecture was a manufacturing powerhouse. They were the only ones who could match the production of electro batteries, solar engines, and artillery in the Storm Prefecture. Wartime conditions had increased the production rates even further. They could not boast as many infantry as the Reach, but they had brought a lot of heavy machines for the war.
They intended to steamroll the enemy into either submission or total destruction.
The Storm Prefecture, the most advanced prefecture due to being the first one to be propped by Ei, prepared its massive arsenal for war. Cannons, mortars, heavy guns, explosives, and even the latest weapon to be designed, the Lightning Summoner, in addition to thirty thousand infantry and just as many cavalry units, had been embarking ships for the war for days.
They were akin to the storms that were once a common sight. Loud and able to cause destruction in a wide area.
Famous for their underhanded methods, the Dornish had the smallest military, as they were not trusted with a sufficient force for decades. Regardless, they made the best with what they had. Bereft of the heavy machines of war, they had instead trained deadly infantry units for sabotage, raids, and target elimination.
Each unit was lethal, silent, and quick.
The Northern units were specialized to fight in the cold. Infantry, cavalry, and the support units were meant to fight in heavy snow. Even with the short winters, the North was still too cold. They would not have been useful in Essos. Regardless, their capabilities in artillery, earned through decades of practice against Wildling attacks, made them preferable commanders.
However, the Wall was in shambles. While the Wildlings weren't an issue, Ei had detected a disturbance in the far North. The Others must have realized that the Wall was damaged and considered an attack beyond it.
The Thunder Dragon would be at the Wall, along with plenty of reinforcements.
—
Ei stood at the docks, gazing at the fleet. Hundreds of ships of steel would ferry the army and its components to Essos.
She did not want war. She had enough of it for two lifetimes. It still found her anyway. At least, there were no Heavenly Principles that they had to fight. However, the enemy appeared to not be interested in playing around either.
She could see that Maegor was marching on Braavos, intent on conquering the last of the Free Cities. His army had cannons, rifles, and explosives, all of which were inferior to what her army carried.
Maegor, unless he had been living under a rock, should have known he could not win. Yet the dragon proved he could do magic more impressive than anything she had seen this world produce so far.
Divine interference was at hand.
She had never met R'hllor, nor ever wanted to. Anything that required human sacrifices, live ones at that, was nothing more than a parasite in her eyes.
Her nose twitched.
Now, Maegor had lost his mind. He was dragging two continents into war, and as always, the innocent would be the ones to suffer.
"I'll keep things under control here," Saiguu's voice came from behind.
Ei slightly turned back as her friend walked to stand next to her. "That's what the cabinet is for, so you don't have to."
"You know how they are," Saiguu waved her hand at the crowd. Civilians were currently kneeling before Ei, holding necklaces with kitsune, oni, tengu, and the electro symbol. "Divine approval matters a lot."
Kage glanced at one of the females. She was old, yet did not seem to mind kneeling. One of her earrings carried the electro symbol, and the other, a kitsune mask. She had purple silk fabric wrapped around her wrist.
A devotee in her truest form.
"Listen," Saiguu cleared her throat. "I don't know what you four will see there, but if you die, I'll resurrect you just so I can kill you myself."
Her friends chuckled as one.
"We love you too," Chiyo said with a light tone, hugging Saiguu.
The kitsune returned it, hugging each friend one by one.
Saying their farewells, they boarded the Thunder's Call, the flagship, and sailed to Essos.
Chiyo stood at the docks until the sky darkened. Sending her friends to war made her hate the Targaryens even more.
—
Notes: And we are starting with the war between the Unified Kingdom and the Valyrian Empire.
—
In the next chapter:
The Battle of the Narrow Sea was a one-sided slaughter.
The royal sailors tried to help the stranded enemy units out of the water and to take prisoners, but it was proven to be a horrible idea. Acting like nothing more than wild beasts, the enemy sailors clawed at the poles, trying to pull their saviors down.
Curious about the next chapter? Please consider supporting me on Patreon.