The Ritual

(Location: The Pit)

(Time: Nightfall)

(3rd person)

The tunnels were pitch black, it was a dark place full of pain and suffering, how the people navigated the tunnels Jon did not know but he felt exposed the only source of light a flame from his left hand while he held his sword with his right. Jon hadn't felt this kind of trepidation since he had been trapped in the forest with Sansa, though while that darkness seemed to be alive the one in these tunnels seemed to be a void of nothingness, a pit where nothing can escape.

Jon kept on walking through the endless maze of tunnels, they seemed to go across the entire city, Salladhor had said they were created by one of his ancestors as a last resort in case the people on the island turned on him. Though they had been added to since then, somewhere along the line they created a holding place for slaves which is known as the pit.

Trying to walk carefully in an attempt to mask his sound Jon hugs the wall as he moves through the dark corridors, though it seems to be in vain as he hears a crunch sound that seems to echo all throughout the tunnels.

Wincing Jon looks down to see he's crushed an animal skull, though when he takes a closer look at it by squatting down he realises that it's not an animal skull though it's not entirely human either, it seems that the back of the head is elongated and the teeth seem to all be fanged, looking up and increasing the intensity of his flame he can see that most of the length of this part of the tunnel was filled with bones, most from rodents and small animals though a lot were also those strange creatures.

The air was filled with the putrid smell of death and decay the walls were splattered with dried blood and other bodily fluids.

'Maybe I should've risked going through the top' Jon thought to himself as he crept through the dark corridor.

Turning right at an intersection as per the maps instructions Jon finds himself in a large room that were full of cells that stretched at least 50 metres long. On one side of the room there was a sign saying transitioned and on the other side it said human.

Jon creeps up to the cell marked human, they are similar to the pale hairless beings that surrounded the Toad statue, they shivered and groaned in the floor, nothing was provided for them nor a blanket to keep them warm or a bucket to relieve themselves

"K-h-heel m-me" one of them grounded out as he made eye contact with Jon, it seemed that the person that was once a man could no longer speak properly due to the growth of his teeth in his mouth.

He tried to move forward towards the bars of the cell that they were in but he just toppled on the floor, whatever this corruption was it seemed to take away their strength as they turned into something else.

*Kkkkkkthhhhhhh*

Jon hears a raspy wet slurping sound behind him where the cells marked transitioned were, he didn't know if he had the courage to turn and debated in his mind whether he should just turn and leave and forget about all he's seen.

Steeling himself Jon turns around and shines the light in his palm towards the cells where the inhuman sounds came from, illuminating the cells Jon is greeted with a creature even stranger and more terrifying than those that inhabited the lands of Sothoryos.

It was a pale green colour it's feet were wide and flat, it's legs were long and and thin but muscled, it looked like he muscle had been condensed in order to take up the least space possible along its back was a spine that you might find on a fish it extended outwards and was leathery but almost translucent at the same time it's body was fat and bulged around the middle it had brown spots littered around the sides of its belly but the belly was a pale white colour.

It's arms were similar to the legs being made of condensed muscle and at the end of its arms were wide webbed hands that had long claws at the end of them, it's face was something completely devoid of anything human, it's mouth seemed to take up most of its face as it could extend to unnatural lengths the teeth seemed like thousands of needles and it's face seemed to lack any features at all not even having any eyes, though at the sides of its face were indentations that seemed to open every once in a while.

Looking at the creature Jon realised that it wasn't even standing it was squatting, if it stood it would easily clear Jon's own height and maybe even reach the same height as Hodor, moving his flame down Jon realises that the reason the creature was squatting was it was currently feasting on the remains of what used to be a woman, Jon could only tell as much because the creature hadn't yet feasted on the face.

Unable to hold in his shock Jon curses as he walks backwards hitting a rock against the wall, the noise makes the creature stop feasting and hold still. It moves it's head in Jon's direction and it starts to make a clicking noise. Jon is unable to get his breathing under control and is panting heavily his heart is racing as the creature seems to zero in on his location.

Jon deciding not to stay here any longer retreats and runs down the length of the cages, all the creatures are now banging at the cell doors some even managing to bend the metal, through all of it the ones who were still human just whimpered and cried.

Getting to the end of the room and going through the door Jon slams it shut and puts his back against it breathing heavily and sweat pouring down his neck, he'd thought spending a year in a place like Sothoryos would prepare him for anything but he was wrong, it felt like he was once again trapped in the city of Yeen with creatures and horrors that aren't natural.

Jon held his back against the door until he could no longer hear the screeching of the creatures till all that was left was the whimpering of the ones who were once men but have been corrupted by the foul magics of whatever ritual they have been performing.

Jon slaps his face a few times and takes deep breaths and tries to regain his courage, he thinks of Sansa, he promised to take her home so long ago and he was so close to keeping that promise, but that's not the only thing that he has to worry for anymore as he has the others that he needs to get out of here and back to some relative safety.

'You're probably the most powerful person on this island stop getting scared cause of a few creatures' Jon reprimands himself as he pushes off the door and then looks at the map Salladhor had provided him, he turns left and behind to head into the pit.

(The Ship)

Thoros was currently drinking himself into another drunken stupor, nothing unusual but he couldn't help but be amazed at the little crew he managed to find himself among.

'Arthur bloody Dayne, I may have not met the man himself but every whore and her son knows about his sword' Thoros thought to himself as he took a big sip from a bottle of wine.

Dawn is probably the most recognisable sword in Westeros and probably most of Essos, though many Valyrian swords are well known none can match the uniqueness of Dawn, being composed of a light milky metal that seems to shine like starlight, if a child from Bear island or Tarth had seen the sword they would be able

To recognise it and most likely know that the man holding it is Arthur Dayne, though that was before his alleged death.

'Ned Starks bastard and Sansa Stark and Rhaenys though I can't be certain if it is the same one, I heard the stories from Robert himself of how her corpse was spread out in front of him stabbed a hundred times' Thoros kept contemplating to himself.

'Then of course there's Joy…' Thoros thinks to himself but he's then cut out of thoughts by someone sitting next to him. Putting his bottle down and turning he is met with the innocent smile of joy, her emerald eyes peering into him.

"Hello Thoros, it's been a while" Joy says in a sweet voice as she leans her arm on the table holding her head.

"Hello…Joooooy" he says in a drawn out sarcastic tone with a smile on his lips as he picks his bottle back up to take a swig.

"How may I be of service" Thoros says with a bow of the head though Joy recognises that it's not genuine and more of a mockery.

"It's nice to see that you've managed to find a group of people more like yourself, though it is a shame that most of them are going to be dead by tomorrow, I'm sure you'll enjoy drinking to every single one of their memories" Joy says in a dreamy tone with no hint of mockery or malice.

"What do you want…" Thoros says loosing his jovial mood putting his bottle back down on the table.

"I want you to keep doing what you do best… drink sit there and don't talk maybe even eat some of those apple tarts you loved so much" Joy says lightly as she smiles at him, suddenly the whole atmosphere shifts as Joy loses her smile and her eyes seem to lose any light they once had.

"Don't meddle in my life" Joy says in a cold emotionless tone that sends a shiver through his spine and a cold sweat down his back, this was a 1 and 3 name days old girl and she was making this old priest nervous.

"Understood" Thoros says trying to laugh it off though it comes off as entirely fake.

Joy regains her smile and pats him on the back "Marvellous, I'm glad that you've joined our little crew it's always nice meeting old friends" Joy says as she claps her hands together and gets up heading towards the door of the galley.

Feeling a sigh of relief Thoros takes a big gulp of his wine only to spit it all back up, it tasted completely of salt, looking up at the door he sees Joy looking back at him the same dead face that he'd seen just a few minutes ago.

"Next time it won't be salt" She simply says before leaving a half confused and half terrified Thoros in the Galley.

'Maybe I should take my chances on the island' Thoros thinks to himself.

Meanwhile Arthur was sitting in the captains cabin reading through the old captains journal. It was mostly boring stuff usually about the man who had taken as a lover the big pirate Arthur had slain, though some of it was concerning, it seems the captain was part of the fleet that had transported the toad statue from the island.

He had recorded a few incidents where members of the crew when missing, nearly a quarter of the crew had mysteriously disappeared, one witness said that he had seen his brother being taken beneath the waves though he was dismissed as the lad was clearly half mad. Though the captain was a cowardly man by nature so he decided to double to night crew and post guards around his door.

'Never gets any easier' Arthur thinks to himself as he reminisces about the days where he was carefree and him and Rhaegar would travel around usually having fun but mostly Rhaegar getting himself into trouble and Arthur having to rescue him. Though Rhaegar had rescued Arthur a few times.

'Guess somethings never change' Arthur thinks to himself as he closes the captains diary, he knocks on the door to the captains chamber, Arthur had insisted Rhaenys use it after seeing how sick she had become earlier today.

"Come in…." Rhaenys says weakly, Arthur walks in to see Rhaneys buried under a blanket on the captains bed.

"How're you feeling" Arthur asks as he sits at the end of the bed, Rhaenys takes the blanket from on top of her head.

"Like I've been punched by a king ape" Rhaenys says as she lays there feeling miserable.

"Maybe let Thoros take a look at you, I doubt he is a maester but mayhaps he has some training in the healing arts since he's a priest" Arthur says worriedly as he looks at her. Her hair and violet eyes remind him so much of his sister Ashara.

'It's been so long Ashara, I promise I'll see you again' Arthur says to himself, he have very few people left in his life that mean anything to him, he lost all of his brothers and he lost the king he chose. Sometimes he wonders if he deserves to have lived so long and maybe he should've joined Rhaegar and the rest in the next great adventure.

But meeting Jon and finding Rhaneys again makes him glad to have lived long enough to protect and serve them for as long as he is able to anyway.

"I'm sure I'll be fine by morning" Rhaneys says tiredly as she starts to drift off to sleep. Arthur just puts the blanket back onto her and leaves the room.

Back in the captains cabin he is joined by Joy who is sitting in a small alcove by the window reading an old looking book.

"Everything well Joy" Arthur says as he sits back in the captains chair by the desk. Joy looks up at him with a small smile though not as bright as it usually is.

"I'm reading a book Jon obtained in Sothoryos, and the more I read of it the more certain I am that we are all going to die" Joy says simply her helpless smile remaining on her face.

Arthur frowns as he leans back in his chair, he gestures for Joy explain, getting the hint she does so.

"This language is Ancient Yi Ti so it isn't a surprise that Jon doesn't know how to read it, even the modern language is quite difficult to master" Joy says showing Arthur the book.

"How can you read it if that's the case" Arthur asks.

"I can't really, I know the Yi Ti language but this ancient form is quite different, it's why reading this book has been so slow, I have to figure out the words I don't understand by cross referencing the context the word is used in every page, through that I try and construct the original meaning of the page, if it makes sense I'll know I'm close enough that the language doesn't matter" Joy says as if what she's doing is a simple matter.

'She's Sansas age and already she's got the brain of a Maester' Arthur thinks to himself awed by the girls intelligence.

"What does the book mention" Arthur asks getting back to the original point.

"It talks about the use of black stone, It states that only a dragon can provide the final ingredient to create black stone, but the dragons depicted in this book look different than the ones the Valyrian's rode" Joy states with mild confusion, she turns the book to Arthur and it shows a black drawing of a dragon though in this picture the dragon is seen having four legs with their wings on their back.

'So is Vhagar not a dragon, or maybe the drawing has been romanticised" Arthur wonders to himself looking at the picture.

"Using fire that does not come from a true dragon will result in less than desired results" Joy quotes the book.

"Does it say what happened to these dragons" Arthur asked curiously.

Joy scrunches her face in concentration trying to translate the words on the page, flicking through previous pages and even going to the next ones. After a couple minutes off flipping back and fourth she sighs.

"The best I can make of this is that, a hero of some kind left after saving the world from the darkness and the last dragon went with him" Joy says though she's not confident with her answer.

"Where did they go" Arthur asks even more enthralled in the book.

"The grey wastes, apparently the man thought it wasn't over yet and that he needed to finish things" Joy says while shrugging.

"This has been an interesting history lesson Joy but I don't understand why this concerns you" Arthur says simply relaxing into his seat.

"Because every mention of the toad statue I've found, in ancient Yi Ti they don't call it that, I hope I'm wrong but every other mention in the book is in the same context which is binding or being bound, so it can only be…" Before Joy can finish she's interrupted by Arthur.

"A prison" Arthur days grimly as he can now understand the danger that they're all in now.

"If Jon doesn't come back by tomorrow morning I'm going to get him" Arthur says resolutely as Joy just Nods her head.

(The Pit)

Walking into what seems to be a centre of suffering Jon walks into the pit a place where all the tunnels converge at one point. Jon looked up and could see the toad statue, it felt like it was watching him as soon as he entered the space.

All around Jon were the unconscious ex pirates that were now in different states of transition, some closer to the statue were very similarly looking to the creatures Jon found in the cages while the ones further back were somewhere in between humans and those creatures.

Jon started to wonder if he stayed long enough would he start to show signs of changing, hoping not to find out Jon decides to get a move on and head to the opposite side of the pit from where he was currently standing.

Being careful not to step on to anyone Jon couldn't help but be distracted by the statue, it's like it vibrated the air with its mere presence, it didn't seem like somethings likeness just carved into stone but an actual living creature.

Jon now wondered if Joy had a point to what she was talking about earlier and if there was more to this statue that meets the eye.

'If the creatures weren't the first hint something is very wrong just seeing this statue in person makes me nauseous' Jon thinks to himself.

Every step he takes it feels like the statues eyes are on him but Jon ignores it and heads on.

Reaching the other side Jon takes out his map and looks for the tunnel that will lead to the keep, finding it he sneaks close by and hides within the shadows extinguishing the flame, he doesn't know how long he waits but the moon has currently reached its apex and is shining directly onto the pit. Hearing footsteps Jon hugs the wall even closer, from the door that leads to the keep the king can be seen coming through with his group of different coloured priests the red one in step with the king.

"We have enough, the ones here will do for the ritual" the red robed priest states to the king.

"If that's the case why did we bother making so many of the creatures" The king asks impatiently as he steps on the unconscious pirates.

"Every king needs an army, these ones will be loyal to you and only you, by mixing your blood with the substance from the stone they will recognise you as their master" The priest replies to the king causing a big smile to grow on his face.

"The drowned one will awaken soon and he will reward his champion, all those cockless iron born who stood by while my brother cast me out for his own inadequacy, they will look upon the avatar of their god and bow down as me Euron Greyjoy and the drowned God retake the world with the iron price" Euron says grandly to those who could hear.

"Yes your grace it truly is lucky we found someone like you" The red priest says with a smile though Euron couldn't see it Jon could and it looked malicious.

Shaking it off Jon started to sneak towards the door that lead towards the castle, slipping through while they are distracted Jon heads down the tunnel towards the keep.

Making it into what seems like a wine cellar Jon relights his hand trying to find the exit of the cellar. He walks up the stairs and enters a large entryway, he has a lot of rooms to search since Salladhor could not give him an accurate prediction of where Euron would keep his chest, though he did say it would most likely be in his chambers.

For the next few hours Jon would search the keep for the treasure that he needed, he wasn't having much, coming to another door near the wine cellar it seemed to go down into a downstairs area.

Following it down he was greeted with a similar sight to the ones he'd seen in the tunnels with the exception that the people in these cells were not creatures but tortured people, all at different levels of torture. Seeing Jon they all seemed to get up, even those that could barely walk got up and approached the cells door.

"Please let us out"

"Please help me"

"He's crazy"

"Let us out!"

Jon heard numerous pleas for help and it made his stomach sink, it would hurt into the time he had a lot if he freed them now but if he left it too late he might not get the opportunity.

'I can't leave them' Jon thinks to himself as he clenched his fists.

"Fuck!" Jon shouts before heading to the wall near the stairs, a large pair of keys were left on a hook there, Jon grabbed them and one by one opened each of the cells directing them to the place where he first met Salladhor since it had a tunnel that led to the cove.

They all thanked him with tear eyes as they went up the stairs, the stronger ones helping the ones who couldn't walk. Jon looking to see if anyone was left behind, he could hear whimpering that seemed to come from the far back, as he approached he could see a door made of solid iron, it had a hatch on the door that looked like something you might find in the citadel for people who had a contagious sickness.

Jon approached the door and opened the hatch, he surprised to find a young girl maybe 1 and 8 name days old sitting in the room with her head in her knees not really aware of her surroundings, she had short dark hair and was dressed in what looked like an exposing nightgown.

Looking up from her knees she looked straight at Jon with narrowed eyes.

"So does my uncle have a new bum boy, fucker seems to go through them quite a bit, here's my advice stay tight for as long as you can otherwise he might just kill you" She says in a low sultry tone, she chuckles a bit afterwards but then goes back to ignoring Jon.

"What! No I'm here to let you out" Jon says as he goes through each of the keys trying to find the one that fit the door correctly.

"That may have worked the first three times but it won't fool me anymore, tell my uncle he can go fuck himself I won't play that cunts games" she says harshly.

"No I'm serious I'm going to let you out" Jon says in a serious tone getting frustrated at the lack of a key that fit the door.

"Fuck off, I'm sure my uncle needs his balls attended to in his chambers, leave me be" She says with finality before putting her head back into his knees.

Finally having enough Jon summons a hot violet inferno into his hand and condenses the flame till it looks like a miniature sun, he pushes it into the lock on the door turning the metal red until it becomes nothing more than molten sludge forming a big hole in the door. Easily pulling the door open after the lock had been destroyed Jon quickly approaches the girl.

"I'm sorry for whatever hell your uncle seems to have put you through, but I'm not sure how long I have before your uncle realises all of his playthings have escaped so if you wanna stay here be my guest but I have to go find a treasure chest full of shit that I don't have the first clue what where to find because some pirate lord wants to retake this shit hole" Jon growls out at her before getting up to leave.

"Fuck… wait listen" The girl says struggling to get up before limping towards him, Jon flushed for a second as the outfit she had on was made very finely and he could see her exposed groin straight up towards her breasts, though she didn't have as bigger chest as Rhaneys she had large nipples that were a dark pink. Hoping he hadn't been caught in his glimpsing of her body he looks at her, she's around the same height as himself.

"Do you have a way out of this shitty island" She asks looking at Jon with a serious expression.

"Yes I have a ship just off the island" Jon replies, a look of relief shows in the girls eyes though she doesn't let it show on her face.

"I know where my uncles chambers are, he would take me there every time his balls would get the better of him, though luckily the priests would remind him that I need to be kept pure, I'll show you where in exchange for a spot on the ship" she says to Jon. It was an easy decision for Jon since he probably would've let her come free of charge but it worked out better this way.

"Deal, let's hurry I don't know how long we have" Jon says before heading back out the door, with the girl following him close behind.

"You say your uncle? Does that make you a Greyjoy" Jon asks looking back at the girl, she was pretty though in a tomboyish sort of way, the nightgown she had on seemed to clash against her natural charm.

"Asha Greyjoy" she simply says looking back at him with her dark eyes.

"Theons sister?" Jon replies questioningly, perking up at the mention of her brothers name Jon sees the first remnants of positive emotions on her face.

"You know Theon? How?" Asha asks.

"He was my uncles ward, Lord Stark" Jon quickly replies not realising the blunder he just made.

'Lord Stark doesn't have any nephews his family are dead and his last brother is in the watch' Asha thinks to herself suspiciously.

"Is he doing okay?" Asha asks in a quiet voice, it was painful when she had to watch her baby brother get taken away, especially after loosing her two older ones.

"He's a prat but Lord Stark treats him like part of the family" Jon says reassuring her.

They make it back up the stairs and are now in the main keep, Asha signals Jon to follow her, with a nod he follows close behind as they make their way up the keep. Though Jon can't keep looking at Asha with a weird look, something she notices and ignores at first but eventually she gets annoyed by it.

"Cunt, stop looking at with such a weird look on your face it's creeping me out!" Asha shouts at him in a whisper.

"If you have something to say then say it" she continued.

Feeling a bit embarrassed Jon scratches the back of his head "Sorry it's just what you said before about the priests keeping you pure, if you're anything like Theon I don't understand how you still are" Jon says with a small smile.

Asha huffs and then turns back round to continue walking towards their destination "I'm sure Theon is the type to stick his willy wherever, I refuse to lay with a weak man, if my lot in life is to submit to a man he must be capable of making me submit I'll settle for no less even if it makes my hand my only companion" she replies in a short tone.

Not knowing what to say Jon wisely decides to keep his mouth shut as they walk through the castle, eventually they come upon a room that looks more grandiose than the others. Walking into the room they are met with a woman who's tied to the bed, though taking a close look it's clear to see she's dead with bruising around her neck.

Feeling sick at the fate of the woman Jon turns away and decides to start searching for the chest, it doesn't take long to find it as it was placed at the foot of the bed, it wasn't too big maybe the size of Jon's upper body however it would be awkward to carry so Jon opened the chest and started transferring the treasure to his knapsack, he reminisced when he took a hold of the dragon egg feeling the warmth of the scaled stone almost immediately.

'I think Rhaenys would like this' Jon thinks to himself as he places it in the sack. Jon leaves most of the gold coins and non artefact ornaments as they were only worth what they weighed, though he did take the opportunity to top up his own coin purse filling it to the brim with gold.

Getting up and turning around he's met with the naked visage of Asha who had throw her nightgown to the floor, he had a full view of her backside while not the biggest it was tight with muscle and she had strong legs that Jon couldn't help but imagine wrap around him. At the moment she seemed to be stealing some of her uncles clothes putting on a white tunic and acquiring some of his breeches though she had to tie them tightly as they were a lot bigger than her, then she grabbed a spare pair of boots before standing back up.

"Let's go" Asha says to which Jon nods and they both head towards the entrance to the keep, Jon deciding that their cover would probably be blown in the next few minutes it would be best to run rather than sneak.

Heading through the castle Jon is met with a squad of soldiers at the end of a corridor, Jon unsheathes his sword quickly despatching the first soldier by thrusting into his neck, withdrawing the sword Jon turns on his foot swinging the blade and decapitating the guard just behind him.

With five guards left one runs straight passed him, Jon cursing turns and throws his dagger to Asha behind him, hoping that she can back up her talk from earlier.

Seeing that the four were grouped together enough Jon decided to save time and take them all out at once. Lighting his sword with flames he slashes it swords the men bisecting them at the waist.

He quickly turns to help Asha before seeing that she doesn't really need help, he sees her dodge the guards initial swing before stabbing at the joint in his elbow, catching the sword as he dropped it, she then in a move that made Jon wince stabbed straight from his balls into his stomach leaving the sword there.

Shaking it off Jon turns around and continues running hoping that Asha didn't see his display of magic as it would be a bit hard to explain.

Finally getting to the front gates after dispatching two more squads of guards they make it back to the slave market right outside, breathing in the humid night air with the full moon illuminating the area they freeze as a voice they both recognise stops them dead.

"Taking a little moonlit stroll Asha" Euron Greyjoy announces from the gates of the keep.

"You didn't tell me you found someone to court you and someone that's prettier than you" Euron laughs out as his voice echos across the night.

Asha is a mix between pissed and terrified as she mutters a string of curses while pale as a ghost.

"I'm afraid your dalliance with the boy is over, you'll have to come with me though don't worry I'm sure you can visit your lover at the orphanage" Euron jokes.

"Fuck if I go anywhere with you, I'd rather go down fighting and feast in the halls of the drowned god" Asha says proudly.

"You won't enter his halls you stupid bitch, the drowned god is here and he has chosen me to be his champion" Euron says grandly as he points to the pit.

"The ritual has been completed, his kin have been sacrificed and when the night of the new moon is over and the first light of dawn hits this island the drowned one shall return and I shall rule by his side" Euron states with a manic smile on his face.

"He's crazy" Asha simply says currently experiencing shock.

"But I need to show my devotion to our God and what better way to show that devotion than by giving you to him" Euron continued.

"I'm sorry boy, but the lady will no longer be interesting in courting you" Euron says with a chuckle.

"Asha we need to leave, we have what we need we can get out of here, he won't be able to catch us" Jon says quietly to Asha though not quiet enough because Euron hears what he said.

"Not to worry I won't be chasing you, no it wouldn't be fitting for a king and Demi god to dirty his hands like that" Euron states.

"Which is why my soldiers will be doing it for me" he continued, from behind Euron two large silhouettes came into view, Asha didn't recognise the monstrous creatures but Jon recognised them as the same ones that were in the cages.

Growling as they walking and eventually went in front of Euron Asha was trembling, and Jon was too though he managed to keep himself in control. Before anything could get any worse Jon grabs Asha by the hand and they both run.

"By all means try and run" Euron says as he signals the creatures and they chase after the duo.

(AN: Ughhhh im tired. Finally finished this chapter longest one yet and to think I was going to finish this arc in one part. Longest chapter yet nearly 6,000 words, apologise to those like myself who have short attention spans, hope you enjoyed it and let me know what you think.