Powers and Gods

Lys's streets were bustling with people. In one of the streets were two young man walking side by side. One of them was looking around excitedly while talking to the person beside him, from time to time. The other one was smiling warmly and talking with the boy. His hair was brown and it was attracting attention because it was not common to see brown hair in Lys. The blood of Old Valyria was strong in the Lyseni. Even the smallfolk in Lys have the pale skin, silver hair, and purple and pale blue eyes of the dragonlords of old. So, it was strange to see someone with brown hair, here.

These two young men were, of course, Gerold and Aemar Eragor.

Back in the street, when Aemar came to his senses, he was cautious of the boy who was hugging him. However, he looked at the boy in front of him with gratitude when, suddenly, he recovered his memories. He did not know how he did that but he knew that it was his luck to run into him. Before being cured, he was feeling like a bird in a cage with a sealed door. Like he was watching himself from outside but not able to do anything.

To Aemar's luck, fate took him from his hand and brought him to that person's, Gerold's path and now they were going to his home together. He learned that Gerold was homeless and just came to Lys. Despite just becoming acquainted with him, he felt close to him like a brother.

"Gerold, if it's not a problem, can you tell me what was that white light that cured me?" Aemar was looking at Gerold with excitement.

Gerold was not sure whether to tell him the truth or not so he decided to test him first, "Do you believe in God, Aemar?"

Aemar looked at him wryly and said, "Well, it was the Gods who created me with this sickness and it was your powers that saved me from their shackles."

Gerold warmly smiled and said, "Then where do you think my powers came from?"

Aemar frowned and looked at him seriously, "I don't know, maybe you're from Asshai. I heard they are able to do magic there."

"Aye, they can but their magic and power come with a price. They do not born with magic, they sacrifice something to the devils, they worship, in return for power. Only beings born with magic can use it without sacrificing anything. For example, there are skinchangers in Westeros, they are able to enter the mind of an animal and control its actions. Their magic comes from their blood, they do not need to sacrifice anything to use them. However, there are others, you should know the warlocks from Qarth. They sell their soul for power and immortality. However, what is a body without a soul, it's nothing but a shell without emotions." Gerold was looking at Aemar with glowing eyes.

"Then what about your powers? Did you also sacrifice something or did your magic came to you when you were born? Besides, how do you know this much, you are smaller than me…" said Aemar, he was a curious child. Although the things they talked touched the line of forbidden knowledge, he did not mind it. It was this forbidden powers that saved him. Seeing them as a blasphemy would make himself a hideous thing.

"There are special people who are born to guide others to goodness. God is sending them to free this world from its corruption and they are freeing people from their shackles. And I am one these special people, sent to guide others." Gerold was looking at him with a serious face.

At first, Aemar thought Gerold was speaking nonsense but after seeing him talking with a serious face, he realized that Gerold was speaking about himself. He looked at him with wonder and asked, "Then which one of the gods you worship?"

"There are not 'Gods', Aemar. There is only one God. People worship the order and, hence, they create Gods to maintain that order. Look at the Faith of the Seven, it represents the seven aspects of society. Or the R'hllor, a foul demon gives power to his followers to strengthen himself. They gain power from the belief of humans. Demons would even kill each other to stay on top. My God does not have a name, however, he also needs the power to free us from our shackles. Thus, I shall spread his guidance to the people so they can find the goodness inside themselves. For your last question, it's not important whether I'm small or not because my mind is filled with God's words, I represent his will with my existence…" Gerold's words were a shock to the Aemar. According to Gerold, all he knew until this moment was just a lie. Like Gerold was talking about a different world but in a strange way, his words were felt like truth.

While Gerold and Aemar were talking, they arrived at their destination. There was a grand manor in front of them. It was designed beautifully and its front yard was filled with flowers. Aemar went to one of the guards protecting the gate and talked for a while. The guard's face was full of shock. His young master shouldn't have been able to talk like this.

After a while, Aemar came back to Gerold's side and led him to inside. Maids of the manor were looking at their young master weirdly because he was talking in a normal way and not making weird noises while talking.

Aemar looked at one of the maids and called her, "Heny, do you know where is my father?"

The maid called Heny was shocked. She looked at her young master and said, "Mi'lord is in his study room, young master."

Aemar led Gerold to his father's study room. He knocked on the door and waited a bit.

"Come in." A stoic voice came from inside.

Aemar opened the door and went inside with Gerold.

Aemar's father, Reaner Eragor was sitting on his chair and there was a young girl sitting in front of him. She was his sister, Elaesa. They were surprised when they saw him. Elaese quickly went to his side and hugged him, "Where were you? Do you know how much we were worried? Father sent men after you!" Elaesa looked at her brother's face and shocked, "What happened to your face!?"

Aemar hugged his sister's neck and said, "I'm sorry, I was lost. Jaenar and his friends found me and beat me up." Aemar let his sister's neck and pointed Gerold, "He found me and saved me."

Father and daughter duo looked at Gerold and like they realized something, they looked at Aemar again, "Wait a minute! How are you able to talk like this!?"

Aemar smiled excitedly and said, "It was all thanks to Gerold, he fought with Jeaner and his friends and saved me. He also has weird powers that were able to cure my sickness."

Reaner and Elaesa looked at Gerold cautiously. The boy was smaller than Aemar and from the hair, it was obvious that he was not local.

Gerold looked at them and smiled wryly, "Hi, I am Gerold. I saw your son while passing the street and seeing him getting abused I couldn't stand so I decided to help."

Gerold forgot to mention to Aemar that he should keep his powers as a secret for a while. Thus, although early, he decided to reveal the truth slowly.

Elaesa relaxed a bit after hearing him but quickly tensed up again, "Aemar said you have weird power that cured him. I wonder where did you gain those powers?"

It was tiresome and not a good idea to explain everything fully so he answered vaguely, "Well, I was born with these powers. Truthfully, I know your worries and I'm not a warlock from Qarth or a shadowbinder from Asshai. My powers are pure and without harm."

Aemar's father, Raenar looked at the boy and, finally, spoke, "Elaese, can you take your brother to his room? I want to talk with our guest, privately."

Although Elaese wanted to stay he obeyed her father's words, "Of course, father."

Elaese took his brother from his hands and led him to outside.

After the doors closed, Raenar looked at the boy in front of him and said, "Come sit, young man."

Gerold went forward sat to one of the chairs. He looked around and saw many bookshelves. There were hundreds of books there and all of them were in different languages. Gerold turned his head to look at Raenar and said, "You have a great study room."

Raenar was a bit surprised, he did not expect him to talk about his room. He looked at Gerold's eyes and saw them shining like stars. He grew serious while looking at him and asked, "Who are you?"