Chapter 41: Old Valyria: City of Tyria

(1,200 words)

- Percival Bolton POV -

- Tyria - Old Valyria - Essos - 280 AD -

We had encountered two more Krakens, but I was able to deal with them with my arrows. On each ship there were 40 to 50 people. And we had lost about twelve from the third ship, which was the only target for attack. A pretty good number considering the threat of a Kraken. But with my bow and enchantments I had enough power to pierce their skin. And my marksmanship did the rest of the work. For it's not that it's easy to take down Krakens. Not at all...

But after those crude confrontations, we finally reached Tyria, a small surrounding city north of Old Valyria, which serves as a road to reach the great capital.

It was the only possible way, as the whole area north, east and west was surrounded by rivers of lava that still remains active. In addition to many protective curses. This was one of the only possible routes, and at this point one or another legendary navigator had arrived. But all of them had either turned back before entering the city itself, or had never returned. Which meant that Tyria's treasures were unspoiled.

"It must have been a beautiful city" I said as I looked at the ruins of the buildings. I wasn't talking to anyone though, as Davos had stayed on the ships along with half the people, sailors almost all of them. Which meant that I was walking with about 65 people exploring Tyria.

Slowly we began to split up, as there seemed to be nothing special in the city but curses which I could notice. More than half of the soldiers were "infected", but the effects would start to show in about 4 or 5 days. So it wasn't really a problem. I just had to make sure that none of them went back to the ship to infect the sailors.

I wondered why no wizards came to explore these ruins. Clearly they would have problems with the Kraken, but a wizard with an army could sack this city. Well, an army doesn't normally come to these places for fear of danger.

I suppose there are very few people in history who can scare their subordinates more than the ruins of Valyria itself. I am among them.

"We found something Milord!" one of my soldiers shouted to me as he arrived looking tired. So, together with the main group, we started to follow him. And what we saw was a lot of dust and remains of bones dating back hundreds of years, as well as remains of rusty armor. It was some kind of camp of some ancient army. I could notice the trace of magic, so the guys died with the curses probably.

I started to rummage through the remains of armor, and, in one that looked a bit more elegant than the rest, I found a crown made of gold... This is curious, a king in this place? From the way the camp was set up, above the city, these people were here after Doom of Valyria without a doubt. But by the state of everything, it could be before Aegons Conquest. And everything became clearer when I saw the inscriptions on the crown.

"King of the Rock: Tommen II Lannister" it said... And that was a title from before the arrival of the Targaryens, so I was right.

"My lord! Look!" shouted one of the excited soldiers as he ran with a sword in his hands. At the sight of it, my eyes widened - it was a Valyrian Steel weapon! Something even I have a hard time getting my hands on. After all, they all belong legendarily to famous houses, and with money, you can make history, but not buy it. And those swords were history for their respective houses.

A lost Lannister sword... I began to remember my readings about them, and my eyes opened like saucers with a name in mind. One that I confirmed after reading the inscriptions on the sword.

Brightroar! A Valyrian Steel sword belonging to House Lannister. A sword that was paid for with enough gold to raise an army.

The Old Lion has tried its best to buy another Valyrian Steel sword and modify it to make it similar to Brightroar. But as I said before, the houses are not willing to sell their legendary swords.

In the series, Tywin fulfills his wet dream when he gets Ned Stark's sword, with which he creates two more swords. One for Joffrey, which he gives to him at his wedding with Margaery, and the other.... I don't remember, but I guess it was his. Oh... Now I remember. Ned Stark's sword was "Ice", while the swords that Tywin fashions from Ice, were "Widows Wail", for Joffrey, and "Oathkeeper" for Jaime Lannister. Though the latter gives his weapon to Brianne of Tarth.

"That was a good haul" I muttered as I looked at the sword. We had also found a lot of treasure, and something.... Much more interesting. Books of magic from Old Valyria. Very valuable knowledge.

"You four," I said, pointing to four soldiers who were not yet cursed. They had shown to have naturally greater endurance. But the closer to Valyria, the greater the curses.

"My lord" they replied.

"You four will carry everything to the ship, if you manage to carry all the stuff, you can stay in place and not return" I told them, and relieved smiles formed on their faces. "If something is missing... You don't need to explain it do you?" I added in a cold tone, and they nodded with a bit of fear. So they took the riches and the books. As well as the Valyrian Steel sword. I thought about using it, but I'm not skilled with melee weapons. And if I use the spell to save my life the sword would be lost. Unlike the bow, as this was connected to my soul.

We continued walking to Old Valyria, and I could see that everyone already had death curses, except me of course. The most they could do was to give me stomach pains, but using the vitality of the philosopher's stone that was solved. Until when we reached the place, I heard a scream.

"Enemy attack!" shouted a scout soldier as he ran to our location.

Enemy attack? What the fuck does that mean? Is there intelligent life in Valyria or is it just a beast?

But my answers were answered as deformed, hunched-backed creatures ran towards us with makeshift swords in their hands as they roared.

They were, as I said, deformed and hideous. Their skin was red and had scaled areas similar to the dragons in the series? Hybrids? No, there's no way a dragon would fuck a human. They must be creatures of magic and experimentation. They wouldn't be the only species created by a similar phenomenon. The Night King and his White Walkers are the same.

"Ready bows!" I shouted, and everyone raised their weapons though fearful. "Fire at will! Kill the ghouls!" I shouted again, and everyone fired with me included. Attacking with 10 loads of arrows at the same time shot from my bow, and hitting all the targets.

This had become much more complicated than before....