19 Skagosi Welcoming Party

The moment that the Skaggs noticed the source of the giant shadow that was cast over the snowy battlefield, there was only one thing that they could say;

"Fuck…." Said Lord Magnar of Kingshouse. "Bring the wolves, PREPARE TO WARG!" he shouted

"Are you crazy?!" screamed Lord Stane "We can't fight that thing even with all of our wargs joining hands!"

Lord Magnar grabbed Stane by his collar and stared deep into his eyes "We are Skagosi, we are not cravens! If this is to be our end, we shall take at least one of its wings with us!"

A massive pack of wolves came from the forest and started rushing towards the Valyrian soldiers holding the line, but before they could reach the wooden fort all of them were swallowed by a massive wave of green fire that came down from the sky.

"LOWER YOUR WEAPONS AND SURRENDER!" A shout in common Westerosi tongue came from the back of the flying beast as it landed in front of the wooden fort as if protecting it.

"The bastard talks our tongue!" Exclaimed Magnar "Why would we surrender to some bloody dragon-fucking cunt from the other side of the world?" he shouted, it would be a lie to say that he wasn't intimidated, just the sheer size of that beast was terrifying, but he was a warrior, he would rather die in battle than of old age, Skagos was a place for the strong.

"Because this dragon-fucking cunt could use some extra slaves to do the hard work" replied the young man on the back of the dragon, displaying a sinister grin.

Kael was obviously acting, although he knew he had to kill eventually, he didn't really have to act on it until this day, the nausea wasn't that strong since he wasn't the one swinging the sword, Neltharion was his weapon, and considering his size, Kael could barely see what Neltharion did to those who approached his jaw. It affects you differently when you do it with your own hands.

"FUCKING SLAVER!" Shouted Magnar angrily. "WE MIGHT DIE THIS DAY, BUT WE WILL BE TAKING ONE OF ITS WINGS, AND ONE OF THAT BASTARD'S ARMS AS WELL!" he shouted a final command to his men who cheered in return.

'Fucking idiots… one dragon is worth over ten thousand men on the battlefield, at least… you have what… four… perhaps five thousand? And that's not even counting a dragon with a rider…'

The first wave of savages came running towards the dragon with their weapons in their hands, shouting and cheering like they welcomed death.

Kael closed his eyes and took a deep breath, he could hear the shouts, and their footsteps and his own heart started beating faster 'so be it'... he opened his eyes and said a single word.

"Dracarys"

It wasn't a battle, it wasn't even a light struggle, the Skagosi host was demolished, annihilated, after a single word.

Right now, it was about noon and the Regallyon Soldiers were escorting the healthy survivors towards the slave pits, the injured were examined by the healers that came on the boats, and if they were judged to be easy to heal, they would be escorted as well, if not… then they would be put down, they didn't have resources or even the desire to treat enemy soldiers and slaves.

"Lord Regallyon!" shouted a man, he was handsome with his light purple eyes and sandy short wavy blond hair, he was tall, around 6'2", and wore a long chain mail coat with plated sections on the chest, ribs and hips, it was very similar to Stannis Baratheon's armor from the show, but the pointy pauldrons displayed the classic Valyrian style. On top of it, he also had a furry cloak to protect him from the cold.

Once he approached, he kneeled down "My Lord, Skagos is yours."

"How's the situation? How many men did we lose?" Asked Kael trying to maintain his calm facade, the smell of blood, guts and burned flesh was all over the place, and honestly, it was nauseating. He wasn't prepared for this. No one is for their first time.

"We lost a hundred and twenty men, the other two hundred and ten are injured but we did as you commanded and protected the camp."

"Can the healers use blood magic to help our men heal faster?" Asked Kael.

"Aye my Lord, but it requires a lot of sacrifices" answered the man.

Kael nodded "Start with the heavily injured Skagosi, and move towards the healthiest ones as needed, they would be put down anyway, at least like this their lives can be helpful." He said it, but deep down he was feeling sick about it.

The man nodded "As you command, my Lord!"

"What is your name?"

The man answered with his head still down, displaying his respect. "I am Commander Aren Tharn, my Lord"

"Good, Commander Aren… their numbers were too exaggerated to be considered their defense army, I believe they brought all men that they could gather to this siege. Their lands are defenseless and more important… there will be no danger in scouting the land, send small teams of ten to explore, Skagos is ours so we must know it better than anyone else from now on!"

"I also think like that, my Lord, they had some skilled men among their numbers, but many young, old and clueless people that clearly didn't know how to handle weapons as well. It seems they believed that numbers alone will always win battles." Aren replied.

"There's no guarantee in wars, no plan survives the first contact." Said Kael to both Aren and to himself "Now lead me to my tent, I believe you already have it set up"

"Aye, follow me, my Lord."

The tent was huge, its shape was similar to old Mongolian Yurts, the color from the outside was mostly grey and red, a regular sized "doorway" could be seen, it was more like an opening with a black curtain covering from inside, the floor was covered by many pelts. Many tapestries depicting dragons could be seen all over the "walls", two small braziers on the corners of the room would bring warmth to anyone inside. It honestly resembled Theoden's Royal Tent from the Return of the King quite a lot.

After removing his armor, only the plated parts, he decided to roam around the camp to understand how the place was built.

He was surprised to see that even their camps followed the classic Valyrian circular settlement style, if one could see the capital of Valyria from up above, one would see that 90% of the city was built to resemble a circle, with the Capitol in the middle. The camp was similar, but in the middle was his Tent surrounded by all the others, beyond that was a wooden wall.

Many slaves could be seen carrying wood, stones, and animal carcasses all over the camp.

After spending the whole day getting acquainted with their defenses, Kael went towards another circular wall connected to the main camp, this one much smaller but it was closer to the shore. The place where Neltharion would rest and, thanks to the slaves, be fed like a spoiled royal brat.

'It's not like I can complain about it' he chuckled as he walked back to his own tent, the sun was setting and he was hungry, he was without food for almost a full day, not only him but the soldiers too, he could've eaten earlier, but his stomach wouldn't let him, not after all he experienced today, after a full day it finally settled down.

Once he sat down on his wooden chair, he saw a lavish dinner on his table and just ate like a proper barbarian king. He had to admit, food never tasted this good before, there was something about feasting after winning a battle that made even the simplest of meals praise-worthy.

The night was cold, the icy wind would brush one's face almost as if it was piercing their skin with thin needles, it was extremely uncomfortable for a Valyrian who wanted warmth and fire always nearby, but for Kael, this was like he was back home. Not Valyrian home, but home home, back in his previous world he loved snow, it calmed him down and helped him to get over the brutal sights of the day.

He slept like a proper dragon, but covered in at least five layers of sheets, furs and pelts, only to awake around noon of the next day and just because someone woke him up, otherwise he would be in a long slumber, cold was perfect for a long nap.

"My Lord, our scouts will be arriving at any moment, we followed your commands and performed blood rituals to heal our injured, we are down almost a thousand slaves now, we had a total of two thousand two hundred and forty-seven, and of those, at least five hundred couldn't survive long enough for the ritual to take place, so we had to do as you said." Said Commander Aren as he kneeled in front of Kael.

Kael nodded as he leaned up from the bed "I understand Commander" he said while still waking up, groggily. "How can you deal with this insane cold?" he asked.

Aren chuckled "We have a lot of bonfires all over the camp and inside every tent, we brought fire mages to tend the fires so they are always burning… no wonder the Valyrians never decided to invade this far north."

Kael laughed "Aye… if it wasn't for Captain Vaelon's report of Frozen Fire in this forsaken island… I would've commanded you all to move somewhere else, Summer Isles perhaps."

Aren stared at Kael and laughed lightly "Good, now I know who I have to punish for making us stay in this damn place." His liege was way more easygoing and friendly than he expected, he never really interacted much with the actual Dragonlords of the family he served, most didn't, he only knew Valanar and even that one was a rare sight due to the difference in status. "To think I could be enjoying the joys of the Summer Isles women if it wasn't for that cunt…"

Kael burst out laughing.

After lunch, Kael kept asking Aren questions about the events that happened since they arrived, he was shocked to know that the Skaggs had wolf partners that seemed as tame as good doggos, but then he remembered that when he arrived, he saw a huge pack of wolves rushing towards the frontlines before Neltharion blasted them with dragonfire.

'Are they wargs? That many wargs?! How is it possible… wait… in the books Rickon Stark was to be sent to Skagos because he was losing to his Direwolf's savage personality, becoming more beast and less man…' he narrowed his eyes 'There's something about this island… we need to find it... whatever it is.'

"Lord Regallyon, Commander Aren, the scouts returned with more information about the island!" said a soldier after doing the proper kneeling.

After learning the details of what the scouts found inland Kael was shocked, no... shocked wasn't the word, he was… gobsmacked… and mayhaps a little scared.

"To think we lost five good men just like that…" Said Aren.

"Aye, it's truly infuriating, I should've known better… this place was always mysterious." Kael sighed "We can only prepare the best we can"

Kael and Aren were at the gates watching the surviving scouts bring what looked like shackled children with nut-brown skin, dappled like deer with paler spots. Paying close attention to their hands, they could see that those little ones had only three fingers and a thumb on each hand, and sharp black claws instead of nails. They had a very angry expression that made their large gold and green eyes glow a bit, and their cat-like pupils were so retracted that they almost disappeared.

'What are these little bastards doing here?! How the fuck is there a tribe on this fucking island?!' Yes, Kael was definitely scared.