Chapter fifty-three: Trouble in Paradise.

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~~~Third Person, Tenth Moon, 276 AC~~~

~~~Ischyros, Xandar~~~ 

Valery was too happy; being in front of powerful enemies of her king thrilled her since this allowed her to measure herself and show her might, to prove that she was worthy to be in charge of the protection of Xandar and of what her king, her God, had created. 

And these two men, who used supernatural and mystical tactics that were very different from what she was used to, motivated her to fight better. 

So far, the conflict has been on her side, as she had knocked one of them 'out' of combat, leaving her alone against a single enemy. 

This time, she put away her whip, as the confined space could cause her to fall victim to her attacks. Instead of the whip, she pulled two long blades from her sleeves, which she slid down her forearms, holding them by their handles once they touched her wrists. 

Valery moved on to look at the other intruder in good condition, who had a blade attached to a chain, ready to fight and die. "Shall we dance?" Wasting no time, Valery quickly approached the faceless man.

Without warning, the faceless man also pounced on Valery. With fluid movements and trained by several years of constant training, Valery was on the defensive, as she carefully watched the faceless man's movements, her eyes following his every move as she dodged his attack attempts. She watched the way he placed his feet, the way he swung his blades, and how he did it with enviable dexterity.

Wanting to get out of the defensive, Valery took a step back and raised her arms, fists clenched tightly, receiving a roundhouse kick to the head coming from the faceless man. Valery dove to avoid the cut from one of the faceless man's blades that passed over her helmet then countered with a swift blow to his stomach. The blow knocked him out of breath for a moment, sending him staggering backward.

However, such a blow did not stop him, as the faceless man, taking advantage of his agility, tried to kick Valery's legs after coming back towards her. Valery stepped aside, evading the attack, and then delivered a powerful hook to the man's chin with her metal gauntlet, sending him flying through the air and landing hard on the ground.

The faceless man lay on the ground for two seconds, then maneuvered with the help of his legs and got up, attacking again, this time more aggressively. 

He unleashed a flurry of slashes and implements, trying to overwhelm Valery with his speed and strength. But she was ready for them. She dodged and zigzagged, her movements fluid and graceful. She parried their attacks and then launched ultra-fast counterattacks, each blow landing with precision and force.

The faceless man tried to stay in the fight with everything he had, but in the end, he was no match for Valery's skills. Which, taking advantage of the fleeting carelessness of the faceless man, delivered a final blow, knocking the man unconscious and leaving him lying on the ground. 

Valery stood there for a moment, catching her breath and assessing her victory, happy with the result. While her attack methods were based on unsuspecting attacks, using potions or her famous whips, this time she decided to engage in close combat, and by today's result, they yielded good results. 

"Did you have fun?" a voice was heard behind Valery, causing her to look back and observe one of her sisters holding another faceless man, while two other witches were behind her. 

"I had something to prove; besides, you guys saw the whole confrontation, so if I died, these two wouldn't be going anywhere anyway," Valery replied, looking at her sister with a flirtatious smile. "Or what? You wanted to join in the fun?"

The other witch removed her helmet as she gritted her teeth. "You know you can't have fun at times like these; the safety of Xandar and our king is at stake; you can't be complacent."

"Come on, do not be a killjoy," Valery commented, stowing his knives inside her clothes. 

"Do we know anything about these two men?" Valery asked, going over to where the one whose leg she had cut off was standing and, reaching out, grabbing his chin, only for it to come off, like badly stuck wallpaper. 

Immediately, the other witches grabbed their knives and took defensive poses, ready for any movement from the faceless man, only to see his 'face' come off with the help of Valery, who continued to remove his overlapping faces, like masks superimposed one on top of the other. 

"Sound the alarm; faceless men from Braavos have entered Xandar" Valery ordered, "and notify the king of what has happened." 

Several witches went out to do as Valery had asked, and while she stayed with others of her sisters, they seized the two faceless men and imprisoned them, then took them to the cells of Ischyros. 

The road to where they were was close to their destination, and soon enough they came upon a huge metal gate, with four armed guards in it. 

"Īlon maghagon lanta prisoners bona īlva dārys iksis waiting naejot rhaenagon" Valery greeted them and explained their reason for the golden cells, telling them that they were carrying two prisoners, whom the king had to meet. 

One of the four guards nodded, and in a joint movement among the guards, all four of them snapped golden keys into four compartments, causing the door to creak and detach from the wall, and then be moved to the right, making room to enter. 

Valery nodded, and with the help of her sisters, she entered with the two faceless men into the prison, greeted by the amazing sight of a huge room, with raised stone bridges, over a sea of lava in the background, causing the temperature of the room to be quite high. 

The group reached where the wide bridge gave them passage, where two other guards were standing, who began to operate some controls and levers in front of them. At this point in the air, where hundreds of cages were held in the air, they began to move. 

Some were occupied, either with people awaiting their trials for having committed crimes or, in other cases, because they were spies for the free cities. 

Soon, two cages came down and arrived at the end of the bridge, where one of the previous guards advanced and opened it, giving space for Valery to put in one of the faceless men. 

After that, the guard moved to close the cage, at which point his partner made the cage rise, taking it to the heights, where there were thousands of Enderman hovering around the cages, ready to assassinate their members if they tried to escape. 

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Ferrego Antaryon watched as the king of Xandar left the red lady and her companion at the table, as he took his leave and departed along with his entire retinue. 

In all his years of life, he had not seen such beautiful and spectacular things, not since he started filling his zoo with creatures from all over the known world. He had seen strange animals; he had been there when the very men without faces changed their appearance and formed into another person. 

He had been there, but all those experiences had not prepared him for what he would find in this place: huge buildings, wide streets, strange-looking ships, the enormous wealth shown by Xandar as a whole, everything. 

All that had surprised him greatly and, at the same time, unsettled him and frightened him, and he knew that everyone in this event was in the same situation as he was. It was enough to see their faces of complacency when Azrael left to realize that none of them were there of their own free will, but that they were searching for their benefit. 

And sure, that was fine; he, for his part, was looking to create ties that would make Braavos connect with the southern part of Essos, something that had been cut short thanks to the slaver cities, but now that they were gone, a door of unique opportunities opened up, and he would be a fool not to take advantage of them. 

"Sealord Ferrego Antaryon, His Majesty the King desires your presence." A loud voice brought him out of his musings, causing Ferrego to raise his gaze and look to his left, noting a well-built man, clad in Valyrian steel armor, complemented by a single shoulder cloak behind his back. 

'A Blood Rider' he thought, observing the warrior in front of him. If parts of Dothraki culture had remained so far, then the man in front of him would be a window to approach the king, as Blood Riders were brothers to his Khal in every sense of the word. 

"Yes, by all means, lead the way," Ferrego Antaryon agreed, rising from his chair with difficulty thanks to his overweight, an act copied by the guards he had brought along for the event, among them the first sword of Braavos, his friend Syrio Forel.

The Blood Rider of Azrael led them through the corridors of the Academy, passing through teaching spaces, gardens, libraries, and other important places until they passed through a part more absent of people, where only teachers of the academy were seen, as well as acolytes. 

Soon, they reached a circular room, where the king of Xandar himself was present, in the company of his remaining Blood Riders, who were positioned in several corners of the room, along with the large wolves lying at one end, the only difference being that this time there were not four of those witches, but eight. 

'Something happened' he thought, and boy was he right, when Azrael instead of greeting or introducing himself, made an aggressive comment, "Did you wish to murder me, Sealord of Braavos?" 

Ferrego Antaryon was unsettled by Azrael's tone of voice, which, his apparent age and youthful face aside, exuded a dangerous aura. Which, accompanied by the people following him, made the atmosphere more tense. 

"I don't know what you're talking about, Your Majesty," Ferrego answered him, confused by the turn of events and blind to what could have happened. 

"Two faceless men were just caught loitering in Ischyros, Sealord; I was their target, so I came back and asked you, did you have anything to do with it?" 

Ferrego stood static, his thoughts racing, thinking of words befitting the situation, since that meant Braavos and Xandar would not go to war.