hh

Die! Die! Die! Die already, you fucking slave!" the false god shouted as he continued chasing Nox, his blade finding nothing but air and the edge of his lightsaber as Nox stayed ahead of Balerion.

The once-man was powerful, there was no doubt about that. In fact, if the battle was to be decided by sheer power alone, Balerion would probably have been able to best him. But power was only part of the battle. To be a true warrior, one had to be skilled enough to wield both the power and one's self effectively. And while the man was decently skilled with a blade, he could not combine his power and skill and transform them into something greater. At best, he could be considered on par with a high-ranking Lord of the Sith. Not even a Darth, let alone a Dark Council Member. The only reason why the fight had not already ended was because of his more than slightly annoying regeneration capabilities.

Deactivating his lightsaber, Nox twisted into an aerial as Balerion overextended a down sweep with his sword at his legs. Before his feet touched the ground, Nox hit Balerion with a Force push and used the recoil of the attack to flip and twist himself over backwards so that he landed on his feet facing the false god, his lightsaber activating the moment he solidified his stance on the ground. Digging the point of his lightsaber into the ground, Nox channeled a rivulet of dark side energy though the blade and into the ground. Dragging the lightsaber through the ground, Nox sent a wave of dust and superheated debris towards his adversary, temporarily blinding the still recovering Balerion and allowing Nox to once again get a killing strike in. This time piercing the being's heart, or at least where his heart should've been, before wrenching the blade out through his chest and under his arm.

Not giving his enemy the chance to recover, Nox flicked his left middle finger off his thumb on the lightsaber hilt, sending a concentrated burst of Force energy the size of a fist into the unwounded side of Balerion's chest. The concentrated strike hit the false god with the force of several tons packed into a few square inches, throwing the man back through the air for nearly thirty meters before his back struck a wall. The wall collapsed from the force of impact, covering the immediate area in a shower of debris composed of stone, mortar and wood. Raising his left hand, the newly freed clump of debris rose into the air a good fifty feet. Closing his fist, he compacted the debris into a single sphere before throwing it down on the false god, the mass just barely reaching terminal velocity before it impacted the ground where the false god still lay.

Throwing up a Force Barrier, Nox defended himself against the falling stone and wood that was thrown up into the air in result of the makeshift asteroid he'd just hurled down on his opponent. Once the debris had stopped falling, Nox let his barrier drop and calmly walked towards the broken wall. 'I'm actually impressed that he managed to go through this wall without disintegrating in a 'splat'again,' he thought as he observed the hole that had created in the wall surrounding the ruined city of Valyria. 'Either he's durable, or this wall was not nearly as impressive as it looked. Although…considering they had dragons that could fly over any wall built, I'm sure they didn't really care if their constructs were structurally sound or not.'

Walking over the debris, he calmly observed the swirling mass of dark side energy as Balerion once again reformed his body. "Your regeneration is slowing considerably, 'Balerion'," he said the name mockingly, jumping down from the pile of debris so that he could watch the finalization of the reformation. "I suppose that I should welcome you home…But I know for a fact that the current tenants are not all that pleased with you, so I wouldn't really be expecting a warm reception here."

Once whole again, Balerion looked around wildly as he spun in the debris. Slowly, a low rumbling began in the creature's chest that quickly turned into a fully belly laugh. "Ahaha, so this was your great plan, slave? Bringing me to Valyria, my home, the place I have been unable to set foot into since my Ascension. And why? Did you think the Archon's spell would weaken me? Make me mortal? Ha! They are but toothless worms pretending to be dragons, when I am the only true dragon of Valyria!"

"Do you care to put that to the test?" Nox asked calmly. "The Archons gave their very lives to erect the barrier that has kept you barred from this place for nearly four hundred years. Are you so sure of your victory know that you are willing to put your will against not only mine, but of the lost Archons as well?"

The creature faltered. It was only for a split second, but Nox caught it. 'Good, all according to plan.'

"I do not fear those dead worms!" Balerion shouted, and in the distance Nox could hear the undead dragon howl in response to his master's cry. "They are dead and gone! And their magic has worn off such that I can step foot in this city once more! And now, slave! You shall die!"

'Jon. It's time.'

Standing in the center of the twenty men at arms and nobles, Jon kept his eyes and his senses firmly skywards. Around him, the others fought to keep the stonemen away from him, which allowed him to keep his concentration on locating the beast overhead that was trying to fry them all alive. Sensing the dragon swooping lower through the fog once more, Jon focused on the talisman in his right hand as he prepared himself to once again fend off the dragonfire that could melt stone.

Concentrating on the talisman on his arm, he held his hand high as the dragon got close enough that he could see the beast's jaw open as the fire swelled within the back of its throat. Bracing himself for what he knew was coming, he kept himself fully focused on the dragon as the flames spewed out. The heat was almost unbearable, as well as the pressure that seemed to weigh on his shoulders as the gem on the talisman shined, giving him the strength and focus through some means he still didn't understand to hold the flames at bay. But this attack was different from the last, and vastly different from the very first onslaught. It was…well, weaker. He hadn't been able to notice it earlier. But now that it'd come to his attention, he could sense that with each pass the dragon made, the flames were getting weaker and weaker for some reason.

'Am I getting stronger?' he wondered as he directed the flames into the river water, quenching the flames. As if to answer his unasked question, his body answered him as one of his legs gave out and he dropped to a knee as darkness began creeping in on the corners of his vision.

"Jon!" several voices shouted at once as Jon struggled to regain his footing.

The plan, if one could call it that, had been going well for a time. The arrival of the stonemen had forced them to forgo going outside the walls of the Valyrian to fight the dragon in the open field. Which unfortunately left them boxed in with buildings to one side, water to the other and only a single path forward and back. Thankfully, the stonemen were neither numerous nor were they attacking from all directions, which allowed Prince Oberyn and the rest to prevent any of the diseased from reaching him. But it had also cost the group two more of their number to do so. Despite the almost insurmountable odds being sent against them in the form of the dragon and the stonemen, they were holding their own. But there was a problem. A major one.

"I'm alright," he forced out, doing his best to hide just how badly he was lying with that.

He was nearing his limit and he knew it. A lot of Master Nox's training had been focused on, what he called, surpassing his limits. Which usually meant running, lifting stones, or fighting until the point of physical exhaustion and then using the Force to either purge that exhaustion or to perform some other task. Other times, though, he would have Jon, Robb, and Arya use the Force until they fainted, usually by forcing them to hold stones several times heavier than a man in the air for hours on end. And having succumb to that form of training more than once, Jon knew that he would not be able to keep using the Force like this for long.

'Jon. It's time.'

The sudden voice in his mind sent a shock through him as if he'd been doused with a bucket of icy water. "Master?"

"The sorcerer is back?" Oberyn yelled as he speared a charging stoneman, then sidestepping to allow the once-man to fall on his face dead. "It's about time! Where is he?"

"Aye," Jon nodded, trying to not divide his attention too much from the dragon overhead as he searched for Master Nox. "He's…in the city again!"

"Good!" Umber yelled, cleaving a stoneman in half with his new Valyrian great sword while making sure to stay clear of the corpse when it fell to the ground. "Tell him to kill that god's damned dragon then!"

"It doesn't work like that!" Jon shouted back as the dragon descended once more. It was the truth, he wasn't sure how exactly Master Nox was able to speak to him in this manner, but it wasn't as if he was hearing him. It was more like…feelings and pictures from a book that left a message in his mind.

Fighting through the exhaustion screaming through his entire being, he channeled the Force into the talisman once more, just as the flames of the dragon descended upon them. 'The flames are getting weaker!' he thought as he once again pushed the flames away from himself and the others. 'But…why?'

"Then what the fuck are we supposed to do?" Asha asked her axes held at the ready, waiting for the next group of stonemen to jump out from the ruined buildings surrounding them.

As if to answer Asha's question, the sound of something crashing through multiple walls, followed quickly by the sound of a building collapsing brought Jon and the rest around to face down a pathway leading into the city. Something, gods only knew what, had crashed into a home less than a few hundred paces from where they were. They weren't given long to wonder either as a dark…mist almost, came from the wreckage and formed into almost arrow-like objects before firing off into the distance like they'd been loaded into a ballista.

The bolts of mist didn't make it far as they simply…ceased to exist midflight. Then Lord Nox was there, his blood-red glowing blade alight in his hands as he ran directly into the building the dark figure had broken through not a moment before. Within moments of him disappearing, the dark figure was flung out of the wreckage and across the wide street into the buildings on the opposite side. Once again, Lord Nox appeared right behind the figure, only… By the old gods, Jon had seen Master Nox fight in the past. Hells, he'd sparred against him for years and he'd always thought that he could somewhat hold his own against his Master. But now, watching Lord Nox defy almost every law of nature as he all but flew through the air, performed flips and turns that even mummers would think impossible…Jon knew without a shadow of a doubt that Master Nox had only been playing with everyone who'd ever sparred against him in Winterfell.

"No time for daydreaming!" Prince Oberyn shouted, shaking Jon and several others out of the trance they'd fallen into, so enthralled were they with the battle between Lord Nox and the strange figure in the distance.

Clenching his fist, Jon forced himself to look away from the fight between his Master and the unknown figure and turned himself back to the task at hand. 'I'm not angry he's been holding back!' Jon said to himself, whether he was trying to convince himself that or not, he wasn't even sure. 'But now, now I have a true goal to reach! I will reach Master Nox's level! And it starts now!'

Eyeing the dragon, Jon concentrated on the talisman, pouring as much power as he could into the object as he could as the ancient beast once again descended from the sky. Only this time, it wasn't heading for Jon and the others. No, this time it was heading for Master Nox instead.

"It's heading for Lord Nox!" Jon shouted, breaking off from the rest as he sprinted as fast as his legs could carry him towards his mentor and Master.

The world seemed to almost slow as he watched the dragon draw closer and closer to Lord Nox. The ground shook and several ruined buildings lining the street collapsed as the dragon landed onto the street, its body acting as a barrier blocking Jon's path, preventing him from reaching Lord Nox.

"Master Nox!" Jon yelled as he watched on, helpless, as the dragon's head lowered, and its maw opened.

Dragon fire erupted from the beast, covering the street and all the nearby buildings that surrounded Master Nox and his advisory. 'No!' Jon thought, his steps faltering as he watched the man he admired, trained under, and looked up too as a second father was blanketed in a wave of fire. 'No!'

"Stop worrying so much, acolyte! If it was this easy to kill me, I would've died a long time ago."

Jon could've wept with relief at hearing Lord Nox's voice in his head once more. And even more so as a Master Nox leapt out of the flames and landed on top of the nearest building that would put him above the level of the flames.

'Now, Jon! Use what you have! Trust in the Force! And it will set you free!'

Jon didn't need telling twice. Channeling what little strength he had left, he forced his legs to move as he ran head long towards the dragon. Behind him, he could hear the Prince Oberyn, Asha, and the others yelling for him to get back, but he paid none of them any heed as he focused solely and only on the black eyes of the dragon. Sliding feet first, Jon could nearly feel the heat of the dragon's scales as its spiked tail passed over his body. Slapping his hand on the ground and pushing with the Force, Jon threw himself into the air, twisting his body in the air as the dragon's maw snapped shut in the air where he'd once been. Reaching out a hand, he grabbed hold of one of the dragon's horns, using it to stop his motion and pull himself down on top of the dragon's head.

He could feel the rage, the hatred…the pain coming from the powerful beast beneath his feet as the creature began bucking and thrashing, trying to toss Jon from his head. Putting his faith into the Force fully as he held on with only one hand, Jon reached above his head blindly with his right hand and…felt something solid strike the palm of his outstretched hand. Pulling his hand down, Jon could only gawk at what was in his hand. 'Lord Nox's….lightsaber…It's…It's lighter than I thought it would be.'

'Stop daydreaming, boy, and finish that beast!'

Copying the movements of Lord Nox, Jon pressed his thumb down on a specific spot on the hilt. The blood-red blade shot forth, startling Jon. For just a moment, he could do little more than stare at the light coming from the blade. 'It's…so light.' Reversing his grip on the hilt so the blade was pointed towards his feet, Jon stared down at the top of the dragon's head he was standing upon. Letting go of the beast's horn, he grabbed the hilt with both hands and brought the sword down with as much force as he could.

The lightsaber cut through the hide and bone of the dragon's head with only slight resistance, like he was using a freshly sharpened knife to cut through boiled leather. Beneath him, the dragon let a cry of agony as Jon fought to keep his balance atop the beast while cutting deeper and deeper into the dragon's head. Slowly, the bucking of the dragon slowed as the beast collapsed, its head flopping down heavily on the ground and throwing Jon from his spot.

Ducking his head, he let his shoulder absorb the hit from the ground as he rolled just as Lord Nox had taught him. Coming out of the roll he brought the lightsaber to bare as he turned, ready to face the dragon once more. Only…the dragon wasn't moving. The ancient beast was merely, laying on the ground less than a few paces from him. One blackened eye open and staring at him.

"End it!" The voice that rang in his head was louder than the bells of Winterfell, nearly bringing him to his knees as he fought against covering his ears. "End this!"

Shivering, he met the eye of the dragon that was staring at him. 'That…That was the dragon. I…I didn't think dragons could talk.' Cautiously, Jon met the dragon's one remaining eye as he reached out to the downed beast through the Force. What he felt nearly made him loose his stomach. Pain. No, anguish. Fear and…longing, a longing to rest. 'It wants to die,' he realized, keeping the lightsaber held firmly in front of himself as he slowly approached the dragon. 'It's…very existence is pain. What…Why? What…What happened to it to bring it to this state?'

Reaching the dragon, he transferred the lightsaber to his left hand and gently laid his right hand on the dragon's scaled head. 'You…You're already dead,' Jon realized with a start, looking down into the dark pool that was the dragon's eye. 'You're dead but…your rider has been forcing you to stay alive, somehow. Stuck between life and death, but neither one nor the other. Gods…why?'

Letting his hand drop, he took a moment to compose himself before clutching the lightsaber with both hands and raising it above his head. 'May you finally find rest,' he sent out to the dragon before bringing the lightsaber down once more upon the dragon's head.

Hearing the dying cries of the dragon brought a smile to Nox's face as he sensed the intoxicating fear and despair coming off the would-be 'god' of Valyria as his dragon was brought low by a mere boy.

"No!" Balerion yelled, his movements becoming more and more frantic as he felt his companion being ripped away from him. "No! This cannot be! I am a god! I am immortal! You shall no—!"

Having grown more than tired of the monologue, Nox, now without his lightsaber, calmly brought his hands forward and unleashed a blast of Force lightning into Balerion's chest. The would-be god tried to fight back against the current, but as he was now, there was absolutely nothing he could do.

"I told you before we began that your ritual was a failure," he said after ending the onslaught and letting Balerion drop to his knees. "But I never specified why I said that, did I? You did manage to collect the souls of your followers and the slaves you sacrificed and added their power to your own. But you made one egregious mistake. You collected their power, instead of absorbing it. Which means that all those thousand plus souls within you have retained their individuality, even after all this time."

"There is no difference!" Balerion shouted, rushing at Nox with his blade held high.

It was almost pitiful with ease that he was able to sidestep the attack before burying his armored fist into the creature's gut, dropping it to the ground where it was left gasping desperately for air. "The fact that you do not recognize the difference only serves to prove my point, idiot."

Not even bothering to dodge what he knew was coming, Nox simply used the Force to strengthen the palm of his hand and caught the edge of the Valyrian steel blade as Balerion tried to cut him with a weak backhanded strike. "What?" Balerion gasped, staring dumbly at the edge of his blade, held firmly in Nox's grip. "This…This cannot be happening! I am a god! You cannot be more powerful than me!"

Wrenching the blade from the would-be god's grip, Nox casually tossed the blade aside before delivering a full arching kick straight to the man's jaw. He could feel the bone break under the pressure of his foot as Balerion was lifted off his knees and sent careening into a nearby wall.

"At the start of this fight, you would've been correct in saying that I was not as powerful as you," Nox lectured as he squatted down a fair distance from Balerion and watched him through his sightless eyes as he tried to reform his jaw. "But, like many before you, your pride and belief in your supposed immortality led to your downfall. I must thank you for not even bothering to block my first couple of attacks, by the way. That allowed me to not only form a theory, but to test it as well. Do you want to know what I learned? I learned that you imprisoned the souls within your body and then started to channel the power from those spirits. While this method does allow one to become more powerful, there is a problem. A problem that exists with all prisons. In that prisoners can escape."

He could sense Balerion startle as fear began pouring off the fool. "Utter dragon shit!"

"I have no reason to lie to you. And you know that I'm telling the truth." Nox replied dismissively as he advanced on the now cowering being. "Each time I delivered a fatal blow to you, I weakened your hold on the souls imprisoned within you. And then you did me a favor by overextending yourself by manipulating the stonemen and using a fair portion of your power to reanimate your dragon. But now, your dragon is dead, and the power you used to reanimate it is gone. And what little power you have left, you need to use to keep your spirit anchored to this plane. In short, your powerless now."

Growling, Balerion threw his hands forward, dark mist forming in the palms of his hands. "I'll show you powerless, slave!"

Nox didn't even bother trying to form a defense. The attack was so pitiful that the dark mist simply bounced off him before dissipating harmlessly into the air. "As I said, powerless."

Holding his hand above his head, Nox began pulling heavily on the dark side of the Force as he prepared himself to call his wrath down upon the fool. "Unfortunately for you, you still have quite a few souls left to help anchor you. So, I'm just going to have to kill you again and again and again until all those souls you imprisoned are set free. And you are once again mortal."

"Wait!" Balerion screamed, hands held out pleadingly as the being scrambled to get to its knees before him. "I – I will swear myself to you, my Lord! My knowledge will be yours! You will be able to take over the world! And I will serve at your side for eternity!"

If the being expected Nox to be moved by his plea, well, he was correct that it moved him. But not in the direction it'd been hoping. Snarling at the kneeling man, Nox paused what he had been preparing and opted instead to simply lay into Balerion with a blast of Force lightning.

"Did you think that kind of plea would work on me?" he all but yelled as he carefully maintained the current of the lightning to optimize the pain but making sure it wouldn't kill him further. "You sacrificed thousands to get here. Destroyed an entire civilization in your pursuit of power! Now, you dare to plead for mercy! How fucking pathetic! At least have the decency to die like a fucking man and not a sniveling coward! And besides, I already made a deal. A deal to end your pathetic existence for good."

Ending the attack, he once again raised his hand towards the sky. As he did, he could feel the powers within him shift once, twice, thrice and again and again until the seven beings he'd contracted temporarily separated themselves from him so they could be revealed before Balerion. For his part, the would-be god could do little else but whimper as he stared at the now eight faces glaring down at him.

"I told you. Had you used your full power from the moment you saw me, you potentially could've defeated me. That was not a chance I was willing to take. So, before confronting you, I took my time to track down the seven Archons who gave their lives and bound their spirits to the barrier to protect the souls of Valyria from you. It didn't take much to get them to agree to be temporarily bound. I just had to give them my word that they would have a front row seat at seeing you being obliterated. In return, they would grant me their powers. And now, now it is time for me to uphold my end of my bargain. May you rot in whatever hell you believe in, God of Valyria."

He could feel as the seven Archons gave up their forms and returned to him, boosting his connection to the Force like a dam that had all its floodgates opened simultaneously. The sky above him crackled and boomed as lightning arched through the sky and the wind began to blow fiercely enough to kick up dust and even start to move rocks. On the ground, the false god begged again and again for its life, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. Nox let the storm of Force energy saturate everything around him. Dropping his hand, Nox unleased the strongest Force Storm he'd ever conjured.

The wind surrounding them whipped up into a frenzy, tearing buildings apart as its cyclone spread around the two of them. Force lightning fell all around the two of them, reducing everything to ash and sand before crystalizing it due to the extreme heat before vaporizing the crystallization once more. And in the center of it all, the false god convulsed on the ground, screaming as loud as the being could as its body was torn down to a molecular level. Only to be reformed by its own power, just so that it could be torn asunder once more. As he poured more and more power into the onslaught, he could even feel the fabric of space and time around the would-be god begin to tear, ripping into the creature even more deeply than the lightning. And, through it all, Nox stood his ground, acting as judge, jury, and executioner on the one who brought about the Doom to Valyria. Nox had no idea just how long he remained, standing amongst the storming winds and lighting of the Force as the creature sufferer. But, eventually, the last of the souls held captive within the creature were ripped from him, leaving Balerion defenseless. Snarling, Nox focused harder on the being, condensing the Force energy around him as he ripped his connection to the Force from him before using the Force to tear him apart cell by cell until there was nothing left of him. Physically and in the Force.

Letting go of the power, Nox leaned his head back as the storm slowly started to dissipate around him. As it did, he could feel as the seven archons left him, only to reappear before him in their astral forms.

"Our pact is done, sorcerer from the stars," Archon Dracequitem said, standing in the middle of the archons. "The fool is gone."

"Aye, he is."

Nox was tempted, Force knows he was tempted. But he knew the risks of keeping the spirits bound to him indefinitely like this. While the Force Walking Technique allowed one to bind a Force ghost, there was a price to pay. Binding four Sith Lords had nearly killed him and would have killed him had he not all but remade his body down to a molecular level. Binding seven beings of nearly equal power…Well, that was not going to end well.

Going to his knees, Nox lowered his head on as he called upon the power within him that he hadn't even known he was capable of until he met Ashara, and later Nyra. "May my light, what little there is, redeem your spirits in the Force. And may you find peace as you leave this plane and become one with the Force."

One by one, the spirits of the last Archons of Valyria glowed brightly before dissipating as they became one with the Force. Soon, only Dracequitem was left standing before Nox. As his body began to glow, the Archon asked, "The boy. The one whose presence you guarded when we first met. The one you sent to the breeding grounds. Is he—?"

"He is," Nox stated, cutting the spirit off.

He could practically feel the relief and joy that was coming off from the spirit as it began to disappear. "In the end, our will was done. Train him well, sorcerer. And see him safe." With his piece said, the last Archon of Valyria became one with the Force, and Nox was left alone.

'Well, that's that I guess,' he thought, rising to his feet and rolling his neck as he took a moment to study the land now that the Archons and the false god were gone. 'The land is still heavily tainted in the dark side of the Force. And without the Archons' protection, the various monsters that call this land home will be able to start claiming parts of the ruins here. But give it a century, maybe two, and this land might actually start to become something close to habitable for again.'

Turning his back on the where the Archons had disappeared from, Nox made his way across the freshly ruined landscape towards where the rest of the expedition was standing. 'Perhaps that was a bit overkill,' he thought as he listened to his boots crunch through the ground, which had been partially transformed to glass. From what he could tell, everything within a half mile radius of where he'd been standing had been reduced to nothing. There wasn't even any evidence left of the structures that had once surrounded him. 'But highly satisfying. Now, I know that creating a Force Storm of such magnitude is indeed possible. And not only that, but at that level of intensity,it was warping time and space, creating a wormhole effect. Interesting. I wonder if such a phenomenon could be controlled.'

Standing near the edge of the ring of destruction he'd caused were the surviving members of his expedition force. Each of whom, from Oberyn to his acolyte and the sailors, were all staring at him with varying degrees of shock, awe, and fear.

"What's our status? Have the ships been loaded and are they still in one piece?" he asked as he stepped out of the ring of destruction before his men and women.

"Gods, that's the first thing you say?" Oberyn asked with a forced chuckle as Nox calmly brushed some dust and debris off his overcoat. "People say that I like to showboat on occasion, but you, sorcerer? You give a whole new meaning to the word."

"That was not me 'showboating'," he said, only slightly lying. "That was simply the level necessary to destroy the fool who was responsible for all of this. Now, what is our status?"

"We…We still have all the boats and a skiff Prince Oberyn managed to find and repair, Master," his acolyte said, tentatively stepping forward and holding his lightsaber out for him to take back. "But there was a mutiny and, with the dragon and stonemen as well, we only have half of our original number, my Master. If we want to take everything with us, we'll have to tow the boats down the river."

Taking his lightsaber back, Nox gave it a quick check to make sure Jon hadn't damaged it in some manner before reattaching it to his belt on his left side. "Then that is exactly what we'll do. Spilt the boats in half, three will carry our spoils along with this skiff and those of us still alive will be in the remaining three. Scour the docks for chains or ropes or anything that we can use to lash the boats together. Now."

"You heard the sorcerer!" Asha yelled, being one of the first to break out of her stupor as she rounded on the others. "He's given you lot an order. Now get your asses in gear before I put my boot up it! Now!"

Except for Jon and Prince Oberyn, everyone all but jumped as their senses came back to them. Then it almost seemed like a race to see who could get away the fastest leaving only the two men and the boy at the edge of the ruins.

"Jon," Nox said, turning towards his acolyte. "Show me the talisman."

Jon hesitated only a moment before rolling up his right sleeve, revealing the talisman attached to his arm. "I see," Nox said simply after only a moment's investigation. He had a pretty decent idea about just what the talisman would do, but it never hurt to confirm one's suspicion. "I must admit that I have not seen many items like this in all of my travels, and that is saying something. For the Dragon Lords to have been able to construct such an object, perhaps they were more Force adept then I had originally theorized."

"And, for those of us who don't speak your cryptic tongue, sorcerer, care to translate?" Prince Oberyn asked, eyeing the talisman on Jon's arm warily.

Reaching out, Nox laid a single finger against the talisman. "A full explanation would more than likely leave you even more confused then you are now. Suffice to say, when the Dragon Lords crafted this talisman, they imbued it with the Force with the purpose to give the wearer the ability to control flames, even those from a dragon. Such Force constructs are not unheard of, but it takes a certain level of knowledge of the Force in order to achieve such a specific result. Perhaps, yes. If they were able to manipulate the Force to such a degree and create an object with such a specific purpose, they could also…Is it that simple? It must be… Interesting. Hopefully, one of the tomes we collected will have the answers. But then the question would become how to mass produce it without a sufficient heat source. Hmm."

"Um, Master Nox?" Jon called out tentatively, breaking Nox out of his thoughts.

"It is nothing," Nox responded. 'At least not now, but soon it could be much more.' "And what of the crystal you gathered? Let me see it."

This time Jon didn't hesitate in removing a small coin purse he had tied to the waist of his pants. His acolyte didn't even need to open it for Nox to know what was inside. But even knowing what his impressive acolyte had found didn't fully prepare Nox to see the small finger-size kyber crystal in Jon's outstretched hand. It wasn't the fact that Jon had found a kyber crystal that had surprised Nox so much so. While rare outside of Ilum, other veins of kyber crystals were known to exist elsewhere. No, what truly surprised Nox was the fact that the crystal in Jon's hand glowed with a steady white glow. A feat only obtained when a corrupted kyber crystal became purified.

'But Jon couldn't have purified the crystal,' he thought, examining the crystal through the Force. 'To do so takes a tremendous amount of time and energy, not to mention a level of understanding of the Force that is currently beyond my young acolyte. Which means the Valyrian's either corrupted a kyber crystal and then purified it somehow, or they took an already corrupted crystal and purified it. Perhaps I was a little too hasty in dismissing the spirits of the Archons before I could bleed them for more information.'

"Do you know what you have in your hand Jon," he asked rhetorically. He hadn't yet explained to Jon or any of his acolytes just what a kyber crystal even was, seeing as how he doubted that he would ever encounter another outside of the lightsabers he'd brought with him when he crash landed on this planet.

"No, Master Nox," Jon answered honestly. "But I could feel it through the Force. Like—Like it was calling out too me. And…it feels like your lightsaber, on—"

"Prince Oberyn, perhaps you could assist the gathering and disposing of our dead," Nox interrupted his acolyte as he turned to face the Prince of Dorne. "You've been a great asset to this expedition so far, and my acolyte and I have words that must only be said between the two of us."

On the outside, Oberyn didn't appear to have registered anything as he gave Nox a polite nod before moving away to go about the task. Nox though knew that was furthest thing from the truth. Oberyn was sharp. And Nox didn't forget the primary reason as to why the Prince was even in Essos in the first place. To gather knowledge about Nox and his powers. And while his display did give Oberyn a good idea about just what he could do, Jon had just given the Prince a clue as to how some of his abilities could work.

"Master, what—?"

"You need to learn to watch that mouth of yours Jon." Nox lectured his acolyte as he used the Force to fashion himself a chair of sorts before sitting down. Between the journey to Valyria and the fight with Balerion, even with the aid of the Archons, he was starting to feel the familiar signs of fatigue beginning to wear him down. "Oberyn is not our ally. Not yet. And he is not a Sith nor a Force user like yourself or your Stark brethren. Yet you have just given him vital information that is not known. That is not acceptable. You must watch your tongue in the future. Anything you say, even if it might seem trivial to you, can be used against you by your enemies if they are cunning enough. Or even your friends, if they are ambitious enough."

Jon seemed thoroughly confused as he tried to put together what had just happened. "But…What—?"

"What is this?" Nox asked, motioning towards his lightsaber.

"Your lightsaber," Jon replied without hesitation.

"Yes, now, have you ever seen a weapon like this before? Or do you know of any who can create this type of weapon?"

Frowning, Jon shook his head. "No."

"And that is because no one besides myself and those I decide to teach in the future will know how to make them. Let alone what needs to go into their making," Nox lectured, leaning forward so he could rest his elbows on his knees. "But one of the key parts to creating a lightsaber, the very core of a lightsaber in fact, is the utilization of a kyber crystal. A fact that you just now hinted to Prince Oberyn with your offhand comment. Now, it is highly unlike, improbable even, that some smith and scholar working together could manage to hit upon how to make a lightsaber based on what Prince Obery now knows, or some weapon that is similar to a lightsaber. But if it ever did happen, what do you think would happen once those weapons start to become as common place as, say, Valyrian steel? Don't answer right away. Think first. Think of what my lightsaber can do, then think of it in the hands of those unworthy of wielding it. And what that would do to the lay of the land."

He could see the wheels turning in Jon's head as he thought everything through. "I'm…I'm sorry, Master. I'll be careful with what I say in the future."

"Good," Nox nodded. The boy was learning but he still had a long way to go. "Despite your slip of the tongue just now, you have done exceedingly well. Kneel."

Jon's eyes widened as Nox stood while he went down to a knee before him. Resting a hand on Jon's head, Nox added a little more flare than he usually did to his acceptance. "You have stood against that which many cannot. You have survived your Trials and come out stronger than you were. You still have a long way to go, but you are no longer an acolyte, Jon Snow. From this day forth, you are now my apprentice. Rise."

He could practically feel the pride and joy bursting off the young boy, but thankfully he was at least able to keep most…well, some of it from showing on his face. "Um, what now, Master?"

"Now?" he questioned. "Now, you are going to help Prince Oberyn with the last details on loading our boats and getting ready to leave this place."

Jon nodded. "And what will you be doing, Master?"

"Me?" he asked, a grin coming across his face as he thought of what was to come. "I have a few degenerates to teach a lesson to. Oh, and by the way, that other thing you found in the hatchery? Make sure you keep it safe and hidden. No telling what will happen if it becomes common knowledge about what else you found."

Catching himself with his hands on his knees, Theo Snow – or Theo Pyke, when he was out of the North and back where he belonged on the Iron Islands – resisted the urge to rip the blasted leather mask off his face so that he could breathe properly. But despite his deep hatred for the sorcerer, he couldn't deny that the man was intelligent, frighteningly so. And because of that, when the sorcerer spoke of the dangers of Valyria, Theo listened and obeyed. Even if he had been planning on stabbing the man in the back ever since before the Sea Wolf set sail from White Harbor.

Glancing to his left and right, Theo took stock of the few that were left who he'd managed to convince to go along with his little plot. Of the ten he'd convinced to follow his lead in leaving the sorcerer and taking the treasures for themselves, only four, including himself, remained. There was some bastard, from the Riverlands he thought, and two others from the North. The Riverlands fuck was bleeding, curtesy of the Red Viper's cunt of a daughter. And one of the men from the North was nursing a broken arm, thanks to that Mormont bitch's mace which she'd taken from the Vault. The other six were all dead. Killed when that skeleton-fucking-dragon decided to show up and breathe fire down on the ruins. And then there were the fucking stonemen that came right behind the beast…

'Two of us are lame…and we're weighed down,' he thought, his eyes glancing to the leather saddle bag he had hanging around his shoulders. A saddle bag that was filled to the brim with more gold than he'd ever seen in his entire life. Enough gold to set him up with his own ship and his own crew. This bag was his future…and he would be damned if he would let it out of his sight. 'Our best…and only – hope is that the fucking dragon and stonemen managed to finish those noble fuckers, the sorcerer, and bastard boy off.'

"Never should have listen to ya…Fuckin Iron Born cunt."

Glaring to his left, Theo spared the Riverlander a sneer. "You were just as ready to betray the fucking sorcerer as I was. So, don't give me no shit just because you wanted to get your fucking cock wet in that Dornish cunt."

"Probably couldn't even get his cock wet," one of the northerners chuckled as if there was something amusing about their current situation. "Bet that one is as dry as the deserts those snakes call home."

"Cunts, cocks, fucking, gold…none of it fucking matters right now, just in case none of you pieces of shit realize how deep of shit we're fucking in," the other Northerner spat, surprising Theo as he actually spoke a semblance of sense. "We've all seen the horrors of this godless land, and now we're stuck in the middle of it, alone, without the fucking sorcerer to guide us and no boats to hide on."

"We won't be out here for long," Theo countered, resting his back against the rocks they were resting behind. "Between that dragon and the fuckin stonemen, no way those noble pricks survived. And even if they did… Well, they won't stay here long. All we need do is hide out here a day and then go back. If they're dead, we loot their corpses and take the boats. Then continue with the plan to convince the others on the Sea Wolf to turn on the fat fuck, and then the Sea Wolf, the treasure, and the path to Valyria will be ours to sell to the richest Lords and Ladies in Essos. We'll live like fucking kings still. Mark my words."

"And what if they're not dead?" the riverlander challenged. "If the…the sorcerer ain't dead… What then?"

Shrugging, Theo tried to make himself as comfortable as possible. "Then we wait until they're gone. Fashion a raft out of all the rubble that the Viper found along the docks and make our way out to Essos. Either way, we still get to leave here with as much coin, jewels, and Valyrian steel as we can carry. I doubt the sorcerer, if he is even still alive, will care about us. All we need ta do is hide and wait."

"I wouldn't be too sure about me not caring."

Theo felt all the blood in his body freeze as it suddenly felt like he was standing naked atop the Wall.

'No…It can't be,' he half whispered, half prayed to the Drowned God as he slowly turned around as his sight traveled upwards. But the Drowned God could not hear his prayers, not in this forsaken land. For squatting atop the very rockpile he was leaning against was none other than the Northern Sorcerer. His rumored eyeless face hidden behind his ever-present cloth and the leather mask he made them all wear. "You know, while hide and seek isn't my favorite game, I'm not all that bad at it either. Wouldn't you lot agree?"

Theo had heard stories from the ones who'd survived the massacre of The Pyke. Tales of the sorcerer being the Storm God reborn. That he destroyed the very walls of Castle Pyke with thunder and lightning he'd summoned forth. How his sword of fire cut through wood, steel, and leather as if they were nothing. Of how battle-hardened Ironborn now pissed themselves out of fear just from the thought of getting too close to him. But Theo had always thought the stories to be horse shit, especially after traveling with the man for months. But now, staring up at that mask and cloth covered face, Theo felt as if he were staring into the very eyes of the Storm God and the Stranger of the Seven, had they somehow combined into this one vengeful being.

"Run!" he hardly even recognized his own voice, and he wasn't even sure just how he managed to pull the dagger from his sheath and throw it at the sorcerer. All he knew was that one moment he was staring down death and now he was running for his very life.

'Fucking – Shit…! Ass-fucking nobles!' he cursed, squinting as he tried his best to see as the land became darker and darker. 'Fucking Balon Greyjoy ordering me to come! Fucking sorcerer!Fuck that Greyjoy cunt! Bet she's fucking the sorcerer and that's why she didn't join us! She probably sucks his cock and kisses his ass whenever he tells her too! She's nothing but a fucking puppet he's going to send back to the Iron Isl—' "Ahh fuck!"

His screams echoed as the ground beneath his feet gave way to nothing. He could feel the air rushing past as he fell deep into darkness, his hands reaching desperately for anything to break his fall. And suddenly it ended as his back hit the ground, driving the air from him. "Fuck," he coughed, rolling over and noticing that he wasn't the only one who'd fallen into this pit as the other three had joined him. Getting his hands under him, he tried to clear his head as his hand…slipped across the ground. Despite his slightly dazed state, he could immediately tell that that wasn't normal…whatever it was he'd put his hand in.

"What the fuck?" one of the others mumbled, lifting his hand, which was covered is some…strange substance. "What is that fucking stench! And what the fuck is this shite?"

"That 'shite' is a viscus secretion from a rather unpleasant creature that calls this area it's home."

Looking up, Theo found the sorcerer, once again squatting above them all. Only this time he was on the edge of the hole that they'd fallen into. And hole which seemed to be as deep as four men standing atop one another. Turning away from the sorcerer, he tried to find some way of getting out of this hole, but the dim light barely provided them with enough light to see much of anything in the hole they were stuck in. Quickly giving up on looking around, Theo yelled up at the bastard, "What the fuck are you on about cunt?" as he was trying to get to his feet…only to slip in the strange substance.

With the dim sky light backing him, Theo could do little more than watch as the sorcerer picked up a stick of some sort and scraped one end around the inside of the hole, collecting the strange substance on the end. "This slime is a mucus secreted from a slug-like creature. And that smell you noted is a compound that, if I had to guess, is a type of petrochemical. In other words, it is highly flammable. Shall we test that theory?"

The air hissed as the sorcerer's strange fire-blade came to life. Holding the stick in one hand, the sorcerer brought the fire-blade to the end of the stick he'd rubbed inside the hole, and to Theo's fear, the stick burst into fire as if it were coated in oil. "Interesting. Highly flammable. And the gel consistency isn't affected by heat. In fact, the heat almost seems to be hardening the gel, making it cling even more tightly to whatever is on fire. Interesting defense mechanism. The dragons were the alpha predators of this land…so these creatures developed a natural defense against them by fighting fire with fire. So, if the dragons burned them or tried to eat them, their secretions would ignite, burning and sticking to whatever killed them. Makes one not want to mess with them. Such a curious evolutionary trait."

"What the fuck are you on about, sorcerer?" Theo shouted, finally rising to his feet and looking around. If this shit did burn like the sorcerer was showing, then Theo really did not like the way the sorcerer was holding that torch so close to the edge of the pit. "You…You fucking caught us. We surrender."

"Surrender?" the sorcerer asked, his head turning back towards them. "Oh, forgot you lot were there. Sorry about that. I tend to get carried away when I find something fascinating. Oh, and as for your surrender, that's going to be a 'no'."

"No?" one of the Northern men barked. "I – I'll take the Black for my crimes! You – You serve the Starks! I've decided to take the Black! So, you're honor-bound to see me to the Wall!"

The fire-blade disappeared as the sorcerer stood to his full height. "Am I? While it is true that I do serve Lord Stark, that is primarily because one: I like the man. And two: for the time being, our goals align. But that does not mean that I share Lord Stark's sense of honor. You lot have been planning this mutiny with the others since before we departed Braavos. I know you lot planned on leaving the rest of us to die. That you planned on using the riches of Valyria to make the other crewmembers of the Sea Wolf turn against Ser Manderly. I also know that you either planned on either selling Lady Talisa and Lady Ellaria into slavery or turning them into your own version of Salt Wives. And I also know that each of you were sent to White Harbor to spy on the North. You, the Riverlander, were sent by House Frey. You were sent by the Lords of Skagos. You were sent by the Lords of the Three Sisters. And you, loudmouth, were sent by Balon Greyjoy. Each of you had orders to sabotage the expedition or to make sure I never returned to the North. So, what makes you think that I would show you mercy now?"

Theo felt his blood run even colder, if that was even possible. "Horse shit!"

"Didn't you find it odd?" the sorcerer continued. "That you lot were always thrown together during the voyage? I knew that you were all planning on trying to kill me and the others, even if you didn't know that about each other. I planned this all from the very start. I made sure you traitors were always together. I even gave slight…encouragement to your planning. I was the one who planted the idea of leaving me to rot here in Valyria."

With each word, Theo found himself involuntarily taking a step back until his back was pressed against the slime covered wall of the pit. He didn't want to believe the sorcerer…but…it all fit. He hadn't even questioned the fact that his bunk, isolated in one of the lower levels of the ship, was with so many others that were of similar mindset to his own. And he hadn't even thought twice when all of them eagerly jumped at the chance to join the expedition…Nor had he baulked when the suggestion came about that, instead of stabbing the man in the back, that they would leave him to die in Valyria. 'No…He's spewing horse shit! He—He couldn't have planned all of this!'

"Yes, I did plan all of this, Theo Pyke." The words made his breath catch as he suddenly couldn't breathe. "You see, I knew it would require a decent amount of manpower to get to Valyria. However, the same amount of manpower would not be needed to leave. In fact, keeping the same number would be a nuisance as it would mean that I would have to leave some of the lost knowledge of Valyria behind. And Force only knows when I'll be able to come back here to gather more. So, the most obvious solution is that I needed to leave with fewer men than which I came with. And you and your accomplices provided the perfect solution to that. After all, no one will question the loss of traitors. And speaking of which, I suppose it's time we wrap this up. If I were you, I wouldn't let this touch the ground."

Time slowed as the sorcerer held the torch over the pit and then let it go. The others with him started yelling as they tried to get away, but he knew it was no use. This slime was everywhere. Which meant there was only one chance for survival. Tracking the falling flame, Theo waited until just the right moment before snatching the torch from the air.

"Hahahahaha!" he laughed, holding the torch high and glaring at the sorcerer. "Is that the best you can do, cunt!?"

"No," the sorcerer shrugged. "I can do far worse than that. But, if I were you, I would be far more worried about those things, especially as I am no longer holding them back. I wonder if they'll simply eat you or if they'll use you as incubation hosts for their young. But, eh… a study for another time, I guess. Oh, and by the way, I do believe they are attracted to heat signatures… So, if I were you, I would find a safe place to put that torch down."

A loud chittering noise followed by the sound of flesh tearing and a scream of agony brought Theo and his torch around. One of the Northmen was on the ground…covered in…large slug-like creatures nearly half as tall as a man. And when one pulled back away from the screaming man, it came with a strip of the Northman's flesh as if he'd been flayed.

"Fuck!" Theo shouted, drawing his dagger in his hand as he back peddled away from the dying and screaming man.

Hearing more chittering from behind, he whirled about just in time to duck as another slug flew through the air, it's maw open like a fucking lamprey, showing off rows of thick serrated teeth as it passed him by, only to land on the chest of the Riverlander, bringing the poor fucker to the ground where he was immediately swamped with other slugs coming up from the ground. "Fuck this!" The other Northman yelled, going from the pit wall.

"We can climb this! Just need to find the right f–! Oh fuck!" A piece of the pit wall gave way, revealing no less than two more of the slug creatures which immediately lurched out, one going for the man's face and the other going for his crotch.

"Fuck!" Theo yelled, dodging his way through the pit and trying to block out the sights and sounds of the others being torn to pieces. Holding the torch above his eyes, he looked to where the sorcerer had been standing, prepared to get on his very knees and beg for his life, only to find empty space.

"Fuck," he murmured, not caring as his fear drove him to piss his pants as he turned back to the pit. The light of the torch revealing a swarm of the slug creatures rising from the slime and coming towards him. "Fuck…Fuck…Fuck you, sorcerer!"