In the training yard at Sunspear, silence fell as a woman, known to all as being pregnant, placed the enormous hammer on her shoulder while calmly walking into the circle where the confrontation was to take place. Nymeria looked on with some surprise, wondering how the woman managed to carry it without any discomfort.
Seryna stopped in the middle of the circle, staring her down. The Dornish woman began to walk, albeit cautiously, Nymeria stopped a few meters from her opponent with her scimitar raised.
"We can start whenever you're ready," Seryna commented calmly.
"Tsk." Nymeria did not like the arrogance of that remark at all.
"This can't be happening..." Arianne commented, still distanced.
"I've heard from the Artican men that that metal is unique and lightweight, but that hammer is too much for a woman to use. Is he really going to let his pregnant wife fight like this?" Trystane
"..." Nyra did not comment, just kept watching.
Unable to hold back any longer, Nymeria launched her attack against the woman, believing her speed would be much faster than the adversary with that giant weapon. "Take this then!" She shouted and launched a frontal slash.
Seryna saw it coming and aimed the hammer at the trajectory after calculating it, she simply pushed the hammer forward easily, making the opponent's blade collide and quickly bounce off the hard surface of the eldenmetal.
"Tsk." Nymeria, though caught by surprise, clicked her tongue and started another attack from Seryna's left side, who positioned the tip of the hammer once again with the sound of metal clashing against each other, and the giant didn't stop there, dragging the hammer through the air and striking with the handle at the girl within her reach, Nymeria found herself being thrown to the side by the impact she received.
She quickly fell to the ground as her sword escaped from her hand, leaving all the Dornish even more astonished. "What are these women made of..." Oberyn could not help asking with some caution, first it was a 10-year-old girl with some difficulty, managed to stop Obara and now Nymeria was being toyed with by a woman with a hammer and pregnant.
"Nymeria..." Ellaria spoke cautiously next to her, looking at her daughter on the ground.
"This isn't over!" Just like what happened with Obara, Nymeria growled, getting up and grabbing her scimitar again. This time no one interfered and Seryna just nodded as if it was nothing, even with the hateful eyes of the Dornishwoman.
She launched a wild attack as soon as she ran towards the Artican, who responded by moving the hammer with grace and agility, Seryna parried the furious attacks of her opponent with some ease, she began to push the opponent again to the opposite side and it didn't take long for her to fall to the ground.
"Once more!" Nymeria shouted and stood up again with a new face of anger, Seryna just nodded as if she was dealing with a child.
The other Sand Snakes saw their sister once again fighting against someone who seemed to be just playing with her.
"HEY! What is she doing?" Tyene saw a strange movement from her sister, as she attacked with one hand and placed the other hand on her waist.
Jon also noticed this and widened his eyes as Nymeria took a throwing knife, driven by the humiliation she was suffering and threw it at Seryna.
Seeing it coming towards her, she quickly spun her hammer, blocking the knife from continuing its path while pushing the opponent's sword away, what followed was Seryna, no longer content against her opponent, spinning her body quickly, she delivered a hammer blow to the open chest of Nymeria, who flew through the air with the impact and force, she was extremely angry at the audacity of this Dornishwoman, as she could not stop thinking about her child growing inside her.
Nymeria flew like a rag doll, the pain of bones breaking with the impact of the hammer made her lose consciousness, as she fell unconscious more than 10 meters from the circle where the fight was happening.
"NYMERIAA!!!!" Ellaria screamed, looking at her daughter flying and falling to the ground as if she were dead.
Her sisters looked on wordlessly, wondering how this could happen. Oberyn, on instinct, grabbed his spear, but someone stepped in front of Seryna, Jon stood in front of the Dornish prince drawing his thin Valyrian steel sword, Dark Sister, while keeping Seryna at his back.
This quickly turned into chaos, Dornish soldiers began drawing their swords as the Articans did the same with their eldenmetal.
"This is not good at all!" Trystane said.
"You, go call my father right now!" Arianne looked at a stunned servant by her side, who nodded after the order, running inside the castle.
Everyone was looking at each other, despite the Artican soldiers being outnumbered here, they showed no hesitation against the southern people, pointing their spears at them. However, the soldiers on the garden side soon began to move, while some guards looked oddly at the sudden movement of the Artican people as they shouted to each other in the ancient tongue, something they could not understand.
There were wargs monitoring all the movements of Jon's family, they quickly saw what happened and informed everyone while they began to prepare for a possible war in this castle, this made the Dornish realize when the giants began to quickly equip themselves with sword and shield, since there was no time to put on their armor, leaving everyone swallowing hard nonetheless, who could fight with those things.
The hidden snakes throughout the castle also did not stay behind, Jon had already issued an order for all to prepare. While they were positioning themselves all over the place and would begin to bite Dornish in large quantities as soon as they started.
"Nymeria! Nymeria!!" Ellaria tried to wake her daughter on the ground.
The other two, Tyene and Obara, prepared their weapons with eyes full of hatred for Seryna. Arya also drew her sword, while Ygritte also kept her short spear while out of range of her bow.
"You stabbed my daughter with the intention to kill!" Oberyn growled looking at Jon ready to kill him, taken by his desire for vengeance.
"Your daughter threw a knife at my wife, you seem to forget that, I thought you Dornish at least would honor a small sparring, but you seem not to honor even that." Jon spoke sternly as tensions rose.
"That sword..." Oberyn for the first time looked at the sword Jon was holding pointed at him, it was none other than Dark Sister. "It does not belong to you!" He spoke, accumulated with the anger of seeing his daughter flying, he took the first step against Jon.
Jon saw him coming and stepped back to Seryna. "Step back, and if you see any movement from another Dornish, kill them all." He spoke to his men, leaving the Dornish hearing this with even more anger, but they did nothing more, after all, this fight was of the Red Viper of Dorne, no one could interfere.
"I will have my fight with you now, bastard." He spoke and Jon sighed, seeing that he would not let this man get away unscathed from this fight.
"Come then, Dornish." Jon spoke as everyone watched both of them approach each other, increasing the tension in the air. Nyra from a distance along with his cousins, was nervous seeing Oberyn look with the intention to kill in his eyes at Jon.
Oberyn began to spin his spear looking at Jon as if he were dancing in front of everyone, Jon just silently watched him calmly, "Used to beating children like you all the time, however today I am in a bad mood, it might not end well for you." He spoke as he walked around the circle without taking his eyes off Jon.
"If you fight as much as you talk, then I should be worried." Jon spoke calmly.
"Tsk. So be it!" He clicked his tongue and declared before lunging at Jon in front, but Jon just turned his body dodging the attack, he could see with his gray and green eyes, the small liquid that was on the tip of the spear.
'Poison...' Jon thought calmly.
He spun his body and quickly launched a cut at Oberyn's opening, who moved his feet to catch balance on the impact and used his spear to defend. The two blades clashed against each other, making a metallic sound.
"You really are better than I expected, bastard." He said with a malicious smile.
"Pay attention, it's not worth that much." Jon said, pulling his blade back, he launched another attack, while Oberyn defended, but Jon used his strength to start pushing his weapon away and kicked the man who seemed too confident so far in the chest.
Caught by surprise, Oberyn was thrown to the ground, even leaving the circle. "Get up, if that's all you can do, then your title is worthless." Jon, also a bit irritated with this guy, decided to provoke him.
While Obara and her sister snarled at Jon and Ellaria helped her conscious daughter with the maester who had arrived, Oberyn got up holding his weapon more firmly as he returned to the circle.
Jon decided to make it clear that he was the best there and launched his attack while the Dornish prince was already in a fighting stance, he began to move his sword at high speed, while Dark Sister glowed with the reflection of the sun on it, Oberyn found himself in trouble, stunned while being pressured by a child as well.
With every step, Jon increased the pressure against the opponent, "He is defeating the uncle..." Arianne murmured incredulously, for her, Oberyn was always an invincible person who would not lose to anyone, but now he was being humiliated by a boy the age of a squire.
"What kind of fighting style is that?" Trystane said, amazed as he watched Jon's unique movements.
"I don't know... but the way he holds that sword, it's like the Targaryens of old, I think Daemon Targaryen, brother of Viserys, had a similar style of holding the sword." Nyra spoke as she watched Jon dancing with the sword that should belong to his family, she was not foolish enough not to realize that this sword was the famous Dark Sister and the fact that Jon came from beyond the wall perfectly matched how it was lost.
"UNCLE!" Arianne shouted when she saw Jon make a cut on Oberyn's face as he fell backward.
Oberyn fell to the ground surprised as a line of blood came out on his cheek. "Come on, Prince of Dorne, you can't even defeat a bastard from the North?" Jon provoked him once again and the people of Dorne hearing this were ready to intervene, while the Articans were already making movements in that yard and outside it.
"You are really good, better than I imagined..." Oberyn got up growling, "But do not underestimate a Dornish!" He spoke and went back to attack, but Jon continued pressing against him, making the man miss his attack and act again while being pressured.
At a moment while his spear was lost again missing the attack, Jon delivered a direct punch to the Dornishman's face, throwing him to the ground again, falling unconscious.
Everyone saw Oberyn fallen on the ground while Jon seemed untouched and sweatless from this fight, which left all the Dornish quite impressed with a touch of astonishment, unlike the Articans who already expected this kind of result.
Silence had settled in the place, until Oberyn's daughters decided to act, "Attack them!!!" Making all the Dornish men begin to act.
"We have to stop them!" Nyra said.
"STOP EVERYONE! AS THE HEIR OF DORNE, I WANT YOU ALL TO STOP THIS!" Arianne, knowing it would not end well for either side, shouted, however, she was not her father, her voice did not reach while Obara and Tyene were already advancing against Seryna.
Jon did not move and looked angrily, deciding to act, snakes began to come out of places, and when the guards realized this, they were already flying at the necks of those who came launching attacks.
Obara and Tyene were no different as snakes crawled against them and jumped on them wrapping around their necks, falling to the ground before attacking Seryna who was already expecting the attack. The chaos had just begun, as countless Dornish were thrown to the ground trying to get the snakes off them, scaring all the others, who did not know Jon's abilities, which made them even more afraid seeing those snakes launching an attack against their own people as if they were being commanded.
The Artican men were still prepared for any attack as they watched the Dornish being entangled by dozens of snakes. "This can't be happening..." Arianne said in shock.
"They're coming after us!" Trystane pointed behind them when he saw two snakes approaching, showing their fangs, leaving Arianne, Nyra, and Trystane quite frightened and stepping back.
"What is this?!"
"Why are the snakes acting like this!"
"If we get bitten, we don't have the antidote!"
"It's him!" A soldier pointed at Jon being surrounded by snakes as they showed their fangs to everyone. "He's a northern sorcerer!" A soldier shouted scared.
All the confidence they had until a short time ago was transformed into terror, for there were more than 5 snakes circling the men of Dorne in this courtyard, while no Artican was threatened by the creatures. Men were on the ground fighting against the snakes on their necks, which bit them without hesitation, there were at least 20 men on the ground, leaving everyone else frightened as more and more men arrived looking at the surreal scene.
"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!!??" Doran finally arrived in his chair carried by servants, he quickly became alarmed, the courtyard was surrounded by snakes, men fallen on the ground, a scared maester looking at the snakes with much fear while trying to treat Nymeria, her sisters on the ground fighting against the snakes asphyxiating them, Oberyn fallen on the ground unconscious, Ellaria screaming in despair seeing her daughters on the ground, but the snakes wouldn't let her get close.
The leader of Artica, looking at all the soldiers waiting for any movement from the newcomers and the remnants, while more than 12 shadows surrounded him showing their fangs to anyone.
It was a surreal scene and was broken by a servant arriving at Doran. "My lord!! THE GIANTS OUTSIDE THE WALL ARE GETTING READY FOR BATTLE!!!" He shouted scared and this alarmed Doran's heart even more, how all this could have come to such a thing, seeing that it was a mistake to hope that his brother could behave, knowing that this was caused by him.
"Father!!! We must do something!" Arianne shouted looking at her father while the snakes wouldn't let them pass.
Doran tried to breathe, seeing that the snakes were not being aggressive, his gaze returned to the mind behind all this bizarreness, ignoring the servant with the report of the giants. "Lord Artican, I still do not know what happened here, but if I brought any trust between our agreements, I ask you to stop this madness." Doran spoke trying to be as respectful as possible, his family was at risk of life there, it was enough that he lost his sister a long time ago.
"Your brother and your daughters threatened me and my family after losing some fights, do you think we have anything more after this? Prince Doran, when my family is in danger, I do not intend to spare anyone, and if that means saving my family, I will exterminate everyone here." Jon spoke loud and clear with magic, making people fear him at this moment with his voice and words.
"I know we can reach an agreement, please. I do not intend to harm your family, we should not come to this situation." He said once more as everyone awaited Jon's response.
"Remove Prince Oberyn from this place if you still want anything with Artica, if I see him here again, I will not hold back, you see, I can control any snake of Dorne." He said and the snakes hissed in all directions while their fangs dripped venom. "I will kill him as soon as he touches the same ground as me and my family." Jon declared, he was not an honorable man like his father now, he would act for the good of his family, even if it meant killing an enemy using just a snake in the dark.
Doran was thoughtful, it was not an empty threat, Oberyn had ruined everything with his daughters, perhaps he was a fool to believe that everything would be fine with Oberyn fighting against Jon with the hatred he harbored for the Starks.
"Alright, I will put Oberyn on a ship out of Dorne while you are here, he will not step foot in the kingdom. I only ask you to call off your snakes, spare the lives of the soldiers we can save with antidotes, and do not harm my children. I will not hold anger or seek revenge; I have realized that you are a man not to be trifed with or taken lightly." He spoke almost pleadingly, an ambitious player full of schemes, but knew when to retreat. Jon had proven himself to be far beyond anyone they could handle, and it was his mistake to think Nyra or Oberyn could deal with them, weakening any alliance they might have been forming in this place.
"Fine, keep your word and we can still salvage something from our negotiations. Play any more games, and I'm leaving Dorne, whether by forging a path by force or leaving peacefully, you choose." Jon declared, before the snakes stopped showing their fangs and began to move away from everyone, entering holes in the courtyard, unraveling from necks, and moving away as the Dornish finally could escape that nightmare.
"Bring the antidotes, quickly!" Doran ordered as his children finally could breathe, even still frightened by what they had witnessed.
Jon returned to his people, "I want you to join the people outside the courtyard and try to calm them down, I'm going back to my room and I want my sister with me." Jon finally calmed things down, he had to organize the chaos his men had created with this near-conflict and take care of his family.
People nodded, while some Artican guards went outside, men began to treat all those who had been bitten by the snakes and were suffering on the ground. Jon went back inside passing by Doran, while everyone moved away from him with great fear, after all, Jon Artica would be remembered in Dorne forever after this day.
Dorne had never been conquered because its people were always deceitful, attacking from the dark or being lucky enough to hit a dragon, but today they encountered someone extremely dangerous, someone who could launch an even more deceitful attack, who could use their own snakes to kill them, they would never look at snakes the same way again while Jon Artica had his stay in Dorne.