Awakening

(Location: Starry Mountains)

(Time: Nightfall)

(3rd person POV)

Jon and Arthur are currently on a cliff edge overlooking the brindleman camp, they're currently prone in order to avoid being spotted.

"The camps a lot bigger than I thought it would be" Jon says quietly as he searches the camp for any sign of Sansa.

"Well they have been here for thousands of years, if they were not all infertile then they'd probably have a kingdoms worth of people here" Arthur replies as he looks around the camp for weak spots or gaps in the guards.

"It's gonna be difficult sneaking in, they seem to all be awake at night" Jon states before getting on his knees.

"We'll just have to make do, I'm sure we can take them if push comes to shove" Arthur states confidently.

"Maybe but I've still not fully recovered my magic from earlier, and I'm worried about protecting Sansa too" Jon says while rubbing his chin.

"We'd have to also protect her while fighting" he continues.

"I'm also worried about that big guy" Jon states as he points towards the centre of the camp where a big man can be seen drinking something from a horn of some kind.

"Let me take him if it comes to it" Arthur states also feeling his concern.

"Make sure to get Sansa out first and worry about me second, I can take care of myself but she can't" he continues as he puts his hand on Jon's shoulder.

"It's a new moon tonight so we should have a bit of cover" Jon states he then lights a small fire in his hand as he begins to climb down the mountain and to the grove.

Arthur picks up his lantern once again looking at the big man before following Jon.

(In the camp)

"Sansa I have a plan, kind of" Rhaenys says in a shy voice as she gets Sansa attention who was focusing on eating an apple.

"But it hinges on you being incredibly brave" She continues, Sansa gulps as she thinks about what she is about to ask her to do

'Nothing good ever starts with you need to be incredibly brave' Sansa thinks to myself as she puts the apple down and pays attention.

"When I get taken out to the alter I need you to cause a big distraction, once you do I might be able to get myself loose and grab the stone" Rhaenys explains.

"But I won't lie with the distraction you're probably going to be beaten pretty badly" Rhaenys continues as Sansa looks ever more concerned.

"Now I know you probably don't want" before Rhaenys can finish her sentence she's interrupted by Sansa.

"I'll do it" Sansa says with determination.

"I've been a liability the entire time I've been here, If I can at least be useful this way then I'll do it" she says resolutely as Rhaenys looks shocked at her.

Rhaenys then launches herself at Sansa and pulls her into a massive hug as she rubs the side of her face against hers.

"Aww my little Sansa is growing up" Rhaenys teases as she squeezes her

"Stoooop" Sansa moans as she struggles to get away from the older girl.

Then interrupting them the brindlemen come to the cage and approach the warlocks, they then drag them out and bring them to the alter which Marlok is standing in front of.

He then shouts something in a tongue neither of the girls recognise but guess it means that the ritual is beginning.

The warlock gets tied down to the alter, he frail and thin so he can't put up a good fight against the thickly muscles tribesmen.

Marlok then pulls out a jagged dagger from his waist and the tribesmen form three rows of circles around the alter and they begin chanting.

Marlok then brings the dagger down and straight into the chest of the warlock who screams in pain.

But as he pulls the dagger out an otherworldly essence seems to be drawn out of his body, shaped like a human it is sucked in by the stone which lies just above the stone alter.

"I really hope your plan works Rhaenys" Sansa says in a worried voice as she shivers at the sight of the warlock dying.

"It'll be fine I promise" Rhaenys says gripping Sansas hand and holding it in hers, still hearing the screams of the man who had just been sacrificed.

(Outside the camp)

Jon and Arthur can be seen sneaking through the grove being careful of every step they take avoiding even the smallest of twigs.

With Jon's still unnamed lemur being place in the trees in order to scout ahead it managed to form a path for them to take where they wouldn't be discovered.

His eyes returning to normal Jon turns to Arthur "This way it isn't too far away now" Jon whispers as they continue trekking through the woods.

They eventually start to see the light of the camp and slow themselves down as to not run into any guards.

Jon places his hand on Arthur's chest and points into the distance, two guards can be seen standing around looking bored.

Arthur nods his head and points to himself and then the left and then to Jon and then the right.

Getting his meaning Jon nods and then they split off and walk in different directions.

Sneaking up behind both guards Jon and Arthur make eye contact, they both draw the daggers and Jon sees on Arthur's hand that he has three fingers up and begins counting down on them.

Getting the message Jon gets ready to strike and finally at the end of the countdown they both leap from their hiding places and stab the guards in the neck, though with how thick they were they had a bit of trouble but it didn't save them in the end.

As they slowly lowered the bodies onto the floor, Jon looks at his hand and sees blood.

He then realised that this is the first time he's ever killed another person, he stands up and then leans over the tree and throws up.

With understanding on his face Arthur walks up to him and pats him on the back.

"Does it get easier" Jon asks in a quiet voice still bent over.

"It never should" Arthur replies while rubbing his back.

Steeling himself and remembering why he was here in the first place Jon gets up "Im fine, come on we need to move" he says before composing himself and going onwards.

(In the camp)

The last warlock can be seen getting thrown onto the alter where they repeat the ritual and he gets killed before they toss his body to a man who has a large cleaver as he begins to dismember the bodies.

The leader then approaches the cage with Sansa and Rhaenys in it and looks down at them.

"You should truly feel honoured that you two will be the ones to fully power the stone and in turn change the world" he says in a slightly manic voice.

He then opens the cage and reaches in and grabs both of us, Rhaenys struggled as much as she can but it's all in vain as the man is much bigger than her, while Sansa let's it happen as she is as stiff as a leaf.

"Now which one of you would like the honour to be sacrificed first" he says as if they should want to volunteer.

Sansa still can't speak as she's terrified but she doesn't need to as Rhaenys holds her head up high and says "I will do it, I'm not afraid"

She then looks at Sansa with a little bit of concern hoping she will be able to fulfil her part of the plan. Sansa just stands there not really focusing on her situation.

Rhaenys is then strapped to the alter as the men start to form a circle with Sansa just standing outside of it with her captors.

They start praying while Marlok starts to take out the dagger. Sansa seems to snap back to reality as she sees this but is still terrified.

'I feel as if I can't move' Sansa thinks to herself as she watches Rhaenys about to be sacrificed and sucked into the stone.

'I have to do something!' Sansa shouts in her mind, not knowing what to do Sansa just decides to do the first thing that comes to her mind.

She turns around to the guard and headbutts his nose then kicks him in the balls all while screaming in order to draw in the attention to herself. She then starts to run away.

"Get her Now!!!!" Marlok shouts as the dagger gets placed back into his waist and he behind to move around the alter.

Taking the chance Rhaenys creates a small fire in her palm that she tries to use to burn away at the leather straps that they have her in.

She keeps burning it and burning it but nothing happens.

"A clever plan but I'm afraid you won't be able to burn through that, those are made of Wyvern hide" Marlok says as he walks up and throws Sansa on the ground, she has a busted lip and a black eye and is drifting in and out of consciousness.

"Sansa!" Rhaenys shouts she sees the state of the young girl who she'd come to befriend.

"Now I hope we have no more distractions" he states before going back towards the alter and bringing out the dagger.

Rhaenys starts to struggle and move till her wrists bleed and the skin peels off, she's never felt this much terror before than she has now at the other end of the knife.

As the prayer ends Marlok gets ready to stab the blade into Rhaenys chest but before he can do it.

*Boom*

A large explosion of violet flames is seen igniting all the tents on the east side of the camp.

With a scowl on his face Marlok puts the dagger down.

"Come on men let's go we are being attacked, leave no one alive!" He shouts as the men follow him to the east side of the camp.

A few minutes later Arthur and Jon can be seen coming in from the North side of the camp.

Jon runs straight over to where Sansa is on the floor and picks her up.

Arthur runs the the alter and sees the girl on there, she looks familiar to him but when she looks at him and opens her eyes he can feel himself start to cry.

"Is it really you" Arthur says weakly as he approaches her tears in his eyes.

"Arthur" She says In a equally weak voice.

"I thought you were dead!" They both say at the same time before laughing as Arthur hugs Rhaenys.

While Arthur and Rhaenys were reuniting for the first time in years. Jon had Sansa in his arms and he was shaking her trying to wake her up, seeing her in her bruised and battered state did little to help him remain calm.

"Sansa, come on, Sansa wake up please" he says in a tear filled voice. As he keeps shaking her she slowly opens her eyes.

"Is that you, Big brother" she says in a tired weak voice.

"Are you a dream?" She asks holding her hand out to his face.

"I'm not a dream, I'm really here" He says smiling.

"I missed you" she says sleepily.

"I missed you too, come on I've come to take you home" Jon says trying to speak in a light tone.

"I really get to go home, that would be nice" she says as she starts to cry.

Jon then picks Sansa up and lifts her to her feet and then walks them over to Arthur.

"Arthur we need to leave now!" Jon says loudly breaking up the reunion. When he sees the girl that Arthur was holding he feels something weird stir inside him.

Rhaenys can't help but feel the same as she sees the person who must be Sansas brother cause weird stirrings inside her.

Arthur takes out dawn and manages to cut through the Wyvern leather shackles and then lifts Rhaenys off of the alter.

"So it really was just a distraction" Marlok says as he walks back to the centre of the camp with his men.

"Though I did consider the possibility I didn't think a small man with his old friend could cause such damage on their own, I thought it must've been s rival tribe" He continues as he keeps walking forward the earth seemingly shaking with every step.

"Though it matters not the ritual will be complete and by dawn the new world will be ushered in" he says before drawing a Great War hammer.

Sansa seems to flinch in Jon's grasp when she sees him which Jon takes note of.

'He must be the one who did this' Jon thinks angrily to himself.

"Arthur protect the girls the big one is mine" Jon says venom dripping off his voice. The group can see steam coming off of Jon as he draws his sword and approaches the giant.

It seems as if time stands still as the boy who is barely 6ft squares up to the man who is almost as large as the mountain.

Marlok smirks at this and then says "Capture the girls and kill the old man" before lifting his Warhammer off of his shoulder.

"You're going to die boy, how does it feel knowing that" Marlok says with a smile on his face.

"I don't know, but I'm sure you can send me a letter when you reach the other side" Jon replies In a still voice.

Marlok scowls and then lifts his warhammer up and then swings it right at where Jon is, Jon jumps to the side but nearly trips at the tremors that the warhammer caused.

He gets his sword ready and with a lunge he aims for giant man's throat as he is still bent over from swinging his hammer, Marlok grabs the blade with his hand though it slices trough it causing him to howl in pain it gave him enough time to dodge the thrust of the sword.

"I'm guessing you've never seen Valyrian steel before" Jon asks with a smirk on his face as he goes back into his fighting stance.

"Valyrian steel or normal steel, it won't protect you" Marlok spits out as he picks up his hammer his hand still bleeding as the cut was deep.

Meanwhile Arthur and the two girls have backed themselves onto the alter as it is on a raised platform. With the small army of the brindlemen approaching Arthur points is sword at them and then draws a small line in the ground.

"You may not understand this but any of you who cross this line will die" he says in a stern voice as he lifts his blade back from the ground and gets in his fighting stance. Behind him Rhaenys and Sansa are standing close together, Rhaenys picks up the dagger that Marlok left on the alter and puts it in Sansas hands.

"If they get passed him make sure to stick them with the pointy end" she says folding Sansas hands around the dagger.

The brindlemen begin to charge at Arthur but as soon as they cross the line he has already leaped into action swinging his sword cutting the head off two of them at once.

Not giving them a chance to rest he thrusts into one behind the now dead brindlemen creating another corpse. However it begins to get more difficult as they start to surround the Knight but he doesn't give up as he pivots and slashes and swings anything in sight.

Meanwhile Jon isn't having an easy time with the leader as he can barely parry the mighty weapon let alone block it, if he attempted to block a swing with such force it would most likely shatter his arms and still break through anyway.

Marlok swings from over the shoulder and Jon intercepts it with his sword parrying it away from his body he pivots around the giant attempting to kick the man's legs out from under him but he ends up pushing himself to the floor.

Marlok turns around with a smirk as he brings his warhammer high up into the air.

With a panicked expression on his face Jon manages roll himself out of the way before being turned into paste.

Arthur looks over and panics when he sees the state Jon is in and attempts to get to him but he is already being crowded by brindlemen so he struggles.

Jon gets up and with a side ways slash cuts the face of Marlok who roars in anger before hitting Jon in the chest with his big meaty fist.

Jon feels the air get taken out of him just like when he was in the city, though the armour did a better job of protecting him this time and he was able to recover, only to have to immediately duck as the large warhammer passes a hairs width away from him.

Meanwhile Arthur is slowly being overwhelmed and has taken a few hits from their crude blunt weapons, one of the brindlemen gets thorough and charges Sansa only to run straight into the dagger.

Has he falls off the dagger his soul is slowly removed as it stays attached to the dagger, it is then absorbed by the stone in the alter.

Sansa feels horrified at what she just did but isn't able to think about it as another one gets behind Arthur and charges at Rhaenys.

Rhaenys takes the dagger and gets ready to defend herself.

"Rhaenys wait don't do it" Sansa tells but it's too late as she's already stabbed the approaching tribesman in the chest and his soul can be seen being ripped out of his body and being absorbed by the stone.

While this is happening the right between Jon and Marlok seems to be reaching its conclusion as Jon manages to disarm Marlok by cutting off a few of his fingers.

He roars again and boots Jon in the chest which sends him flying as well as him losing his grip on the sword.

Struggling to breath and feeling pain he doesn't realise until Marlok is right in front of him and gets down on top of him.

"You lasted longer than the rest boy, but in the end you all fall the same way" he says as he begins the squeeze Jon's head.

Screaming in pain Jon tries to stop him but isn't able to.

"JON!!" Arthur shouts as he can be seen pushing tribesmen out of the way in order to rescue him.

Jon weakly puts his hand up to Marloks face.

"Still trying to fight, I commend you" he says while laughing slightly, he then sees Jon grin as he sees a bright light coming from his hand.

Jon shoots a stream of weak flames from his hand but it's enough for him to stop the giants execution and sends him off trying to put out the fire.

Marlok is screaming as he reveals his face is half charred with one of his eyeballs melted.

But before he can think of retribution the earth starts to rumble as the sorcerers stone flows. Then all of a sudden a red lightning strike from the sky hits the alter throwing everyone to the floor.

The stone acts as a lightning rod and the current is spread across the whole camp and mountain.

When it's over Arthur and the girls run to where Jon is and Arthur helps him up.

"Are you okay Jon" Arthur asks with concern as he checks him over.

"I'm fine Arthur" Jon replies as he wipes blood away from his mouth.

"Are you sure Jon" Sansa asks in a low voice as she huddles close to him with watery eyes.

"Sansa I'm fine really" Jon relies giving her a small smile.

Before Rhaenys can say anything the group can hear Marlok laughing, even with his badly burned face and skin he stands tall.

"I must thank you girls, even if I would not have preferred to use my own men you managed to complete the ritual" he says with a crazy look in his eye.

"The sun is coming up and with it a new dawn shall rise" he states as he points to the horizon as the sun pours over the land.

Before the group can question what he's talking about the ground begins to move again.

"Is it another earthquake" Rhaenys asks Arthur who looks concerned.

"No I don't think so it feels different, as if the ground is moving up and down, sort of like the ground is"

"Breathing" Jon finished for him showing a concerned look.

*BHEEEEEHHHHHHHHH*

And then the world starts to move.

(AN: been pretty exciting writing this we are almost concluding the first arc which we will then have a time skip, makes me feel a bit better bout the 🍋.

Anyway hope you enjoy it and let me know what ya think)