Chapter 19 - A Dream Too Far

<A small boat, Konrad Arryn>

Eight men and a young boy climbed into two boats and made their way towards the closest ship. Truth be told, Konrad prayed to God every second after he got into the small boat, asking for guidance and for a strike of luck.

The night was their ally and luckily for them, neither one of the ships, kept too many lights on the deck, precisely not to make them a clearer target than the rest or so Konrad thought. No one said anything about the young lord coming to battle, after all for most of the mountain men it was pretty normal to learn how to fight and kill at such a young age.

After a few good minutes, both boats arrived at the back of their target and as planned, Gendel together with one went to the left side while Konrad and his boat went to the right side. Once his boat was as secured of the ship as it could, he and his men started climbing only to find, the deck packed with slavers.

"Attack! Konrad screamed as he and his men charged at the shocked slavers. To their defense, no one had not expected such a sudden attack in the middle of the bloody sea.

The four men that were with him screamed and ran after the young lord as Gendel and his three warriors began cutting down slavers from behind. The latter group was made of men with more than enough battle experience, while Konrad's group was made mostly of farmers and miners who spent their lives toiling on the land before being forced to become slaves. Being attacked from the front and rear, what little discipline and order the slavers might have possessed evaporated in the face of the assault.

The slaver rank fell apart as Konrad and his group ran at it, using only their weapon and makeshift shields to block axe blows and sword thrusts before they crashed into the slavers plunging their swords into faces and necks. Only a few slavers wore helmets, the rest either fighting bareheaded or wearing leather skullcaps for protection. But they offered little defense against iron and steel weapons, particularly from the downward strikes of the freemen.

Just as he struck down another slaver, a young-looking slaver with no headgear and armed with only a sword ran at Konrad, but the young lord jumped to the side before brushing away the sword with his own followed by a direct slash on the slaver's left calf. The young slaver howled in pain before collapsing on the ground. Not being someone who would leave an enemy to suffer, the young slaver was silenced as Konrad thrust his sword down to sever his spinal cord.

The fight had now degenerated into a series of single combats, Gendel being surrounded by three men wielding axes determined to hack him to pieces. But the middle-aged chieftain killed the man facing him when he chopped the shaft of his adversary's axe with his sword and then rammed the end of his cross guard into the man's eye. Spinning round, the other two ran at him, axes raised above their heads. He jumped to the right and swung his sword as they passed, cutting into the skull of one, before ignoring the falling boy as he ran at the last slaver, barging into him and driving the point of his sword forward with such force that it went through the wooden handle of the axe and into his guts. A second later, Gendel released the hilt and the slaver collapsed to the ground, blood oozing from his belly. Fearing that the man could still do some damage, Gendel grabbed his hair and cut the slaver's throat, before throwing the body back on the ground.

And with that, the fighting was over. The last to fall was the captain with a few loyal men around him, cut down by a crossbowman. Leaving his warriors to check each and every fallen body, Gendel rushed towards his young lord, who by now looked like he just jumped into a blood bath.

"Are you alright m'lord?" Despite the boy's young age, his feats in combat had earned Konrad the respect of all of the mountain men, including the chieftain.

"I'm fine, Gendel. What about our losses?"

"Believe it or not, m'lord, we didn't lose anyone. That old bastard that took the crossbow saved many a man killing the slavers from a distance. Some injuries here and there, but I reckon those could be easily healed back on our ship."

"You are right, Gendel. Follow me, we have to free the slaves and leave this ship before it's too late."

After saying that, the young lord and his sworn warrior made their way down below the deck where the other slaves were being held. Just like on his ship, Konrad expected to find men and women of various ages and origins, but what he saw made his heart sink. Most if not all of the slaves were children, mostly boys with only a few girls. They were chained to the walls, dirty and malnourished, some with visible scars and bruises, and if that wasn't heartbreaking already, when their eyes stopped on the mean-looking mountain man and the pale boy, all of the children gasped and tried to move away, fearing that this would be their end.

Seeing that, Konrad tried to put on the most innocent smile he could muster as he quickly took out the keys and began to unlock their shackles one by one.

"We aren't with the bad men. I and even that brute over there were just like taken by force by the bad men."

Thankfully, his words calmed the older children who in turn calmed their own little groups. Now that he took a closer look, Konrad recognized quite a few children of Valyrian, Dothraki, Ghiscari, Lhazareen, Qartheen, and even Westerosi descendancy, making him wonder just how many slaves were in the Slaver's Bay.

Once all of the children were freed and Konrad asked the older ones to lead them outside, he and Gendel made their way back outside and to the helm.

Gendel looked at the ship's wheel and frowned. He had never sailed a ship before, and he doubted Konrad had either.

"M'lord, how will we even sail this ship? Nyssa is commanding the other ship, and she is the only one who knows how to navigate these waters. Do you have any idea how to steer this thing?" He gestured at the wheel and the various ropes and levers that controlled the sails and rudder. 

"No, that's why we will abandon the ship. We'll take their two boats and everything we could bring to our ship before leaving it. From what Nyssa told me, usually these slavers have a ship with only sellswords and I'd rather not test our luck attacking another ship."

"A wise idea, m'lord. I'll have the men prepare the boats, but it would take more than one trip to bring everyone."

Looking up in the night, Konrad smiled before turning towards his sworn warrior. "We have time, Gendel. At least a few more hours before anyone would even realize that something must have happened."

After more than one hour since they attacked the ship, everyone other than Konrad, Gendel, and two mountain men were already back on their ship. Konrad decided to give the slavers one last gift before leaving, in the form of a slow sinking, and empty ship. And so, with that in mind, he had his men drill holes in the hull and cut the anchor rope so that the ship would drift away and fill with water. Once that was done Konrad jumped into the last boat and rowed away with his companions, leaving a sinking wreck.

Looking back at the ship, he couldn't help but smile in satisfaction. He had done what he had set out to do: free himself and as many people from slavery, before leaving this God-forsaken sea. A few seconds later, the young lord turned his gaze to his own ship, where Nyssa was waiting for him with a smile. She had done an amazing job of keeping everything in order while he and Gendel fought the slavers. He had to give it to her, after all without her expertise, there was no way in hell, they would be able to leave the sea alive.

As soon as they climbed on their ship, Konrad was greeted by everyone cheering for him and chanting his nickname, The Pale Lord while some boldly called him The Breaker of Chains, a title that Konrad knew would undoubtedly earn him a bounty with the slaver from Slaver's Bay.

"I know that all of you are happy to be free, but please calm down. We are still in danger and if we aren't leaving by the first sunlight, then there will be a high chance we will have to fight against two ships filled with slavers and sellswords. Thankfully for us, Lady Nyssa was more than happy to sail us as far away from this place as possible, but once again that doesn't mean we will be safe." By now all of the now free people and children looked at Konrad expecting the young lord to tell them whom they return to land. "Together with Lady Nyssa and my sworn man, we have decided that our safest bet would be to go through the Smoking Sea. No sane slaver would chase in there and while the sea is extremely dangerous, I trust Lady Nyssa to get through. "

Just as he expected, as soon as the older slaves heard their plan, they started to argue, and for a good reason. No sane person would ever sail through the smoking sea, and ever since the Doom, few had managed to do that feat and survive to tell the tale. Truth be told, Konrad could understand why these people were so fearful of that damned place, as even he, who had seen another life would fear the horrors that might dwell in the shadow of Valyria.

"I understand that you are scared, but please have some faith in Lady Nyssa. "Konrad tried to calm down the slaves or better said, ex-slaves.

"Lord Konrad is right. While the Smoking Sea is anything but welcoming, I have sailed through it before. Like many merchants, we had tried our hand at smuggling weapons and gems to the Slaver's Bays more than once and the only 'safe' passage was through the Smoking Sea. Too many pirates, slavers, and even private ships sail the open sea. Just as Lord Konrad said, have some faith in this old woman and I can promise you all that we will make it through this cursed sea alive."

Thanking God for Nyssa's speech, Konrad finally relaxed when he saw that most if not all of his people had calmed down and accepted that they would sail through the cursed sea of Valyria.

Without wasting any more time, Nyssa took over the command and started ordering a few men and older boys to sail, after all, the sooner they left the open sea and the fleet, the sooner they would be able to lose the slavers.

After both Gendel and Nyssa forced him to go to sleep, Konrad woke up the next day only to find that the weather had changed drastically overnight, meaning that they must have already sailed into the Smoking Sea. The sky was dark and cloudy, with flashes of lightning and thunder. The air was hot and humid, with a smell of sulfur and ash that it forced Konrad to take deep breaths if he wanted to breathe properly. Walking outside, the first thing that Konrad noticed, other than the lack of people, was the water, which was murky and bubbling, with occasional jets of steam. And thanks to the heavy smoke and fog, it was hard to see anything beyond a few miles.

Failing not to think too much about the horrors that might inhabit the waters, Konrad walked over to Nyssa, who was standing at the helm with a map in her hands. She looked calm and confident, despite the perilous situation.

When she saw him coming towards her, Nyssa smiled before greeting her new lord.

 "Good morning, Lord Konrad. I hope you slept well. We are making good progress. We should be out of this hellhole by the next week if we are lucky."

Konrad nodded and tried to sound optimistic, but the shaking of voice betrayed his true emotions. "That's good to hear, Nyssa. You are doing an amazing job of guiding us through this nightmare. But please do humor me and tell me, how do you know where to go through this fog?"

"I have a few tricks up my sleeve, Lord Konrad. I have studied this map for years, memorizing every island, every volcano, every current. And of course, I rely on my instincts and experience. I have sailed this sea before, remember? I know its moods and its secrets. Besides, as a future lord, you should always remember that a woman, especially one that is past her forty namedays has more than one secret that would save her life."

Her response, was both surprising and somewhat refreshing, something that Konrad had to admit made him reconsider his future interaction with older women, after all if what Lady Nyssa said was true, then he would definitely need to be careful when talking with them, unless, of course, he would want to be eaten like a lamb in a wolf's den.

"But enough about me, my lord. Do you want to stop at one of the less dangerous shores? Who knows mayhaps you could find some Valyrian swords or artefacts. But don't answer me yet. There are still a few days before we even reach one of those shores. Take your time, my lord, and may God bless your soul."

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