Chapter 20 – Treasure Hunting

<Sailing to freedom, Konrad Arryn>

Konrad and his followers had been sailing for about a week. The wind was favorable but not the best so Nyssa said that they weren't going as fast as they normally should, then again, the Smoking Sea wasn't exactly the best sea to sail. Still, being out on the open sea, despite the nightmarish landscape was in a way both calming and refreshing. While he did stand close to Nyssa to learn as much as he could about sailing and how to properly command a ship, Konrad spent most of his day teaching the children how to pray as well as how to take care of small wounds. Yet at the same time, some of the boys wanted to learn even more about being a knight like their savior and because of that, Konrad promised to teach them how to fight with a sword when they returned to the mainland.

On the sixth day on the sea, Nyssa called for him and Konrad knew why she did.

"What do you want to do, my lord?"

"I would lie if I were to say that I'm not curious about what was left behind after the Doom."

"I thought as much, my lord. Gendel and a group of eight volunteers are already waiting for you at the boats."

"Thank you, Lady Nyssa."

"No need to thank me, my lord. I'm just doing my job as your faithful captain." She smiled at him before shooing him away. Mostly because she knew just excited her young lord.

Once he climbed into one of the boats, Konrad could see that everyone was as excited as he was, after all the promises of treasure and gold were something not many would choose to refuse. The group rowed to shore in two rowboats through very calm waters, something no one was expecting considering the strange weather as well as how unsettling the water looked.

From what Nyssa told him, when you were that close to the shore you should always expect some choppy waves but contrary to her warning, the sea was eerily calm and smooth. Maybe the maesters were right about the Doom still having a hold on this place?

After a few minutes of rowing, the two bots finally made it ashore on a strangely empty and quiet beach. Rather than jumping out of the boat, under Gendel's order, no one stepped foot on the beach just yet, instead, using one of the spears that they managed to make onboard, they poked the sand and only when nothing came from under it, Konrad and the other climbed out of the boats and onto the sand.

"This place feels…cursed." One of the mountain men said while tightly gripping his axe.

"I'm not a maester or a scholar but from what the books say, something horrible happened here centuries ago. Valyria was home to one of the world's greatest empires. There wasn't a part of Essos they didn't venture to. They conquered city after city with their dragons and if the legends are true about them, they also wielded magic just like the first men. Alas, this is all that remained of a mighty empire." Konrad explained while trying to sound as neutral as he could about Valyria's fate. Thanks to his uncle and Ser Tyrek he didn't lack any books he wanted, and because of that, he learned a lot about Westeros and Essos, especially all of the big wars fought on both continents.

Konrad's explanation did little to ease the tension among the group, especially when even the most uneducated man knew that Valyria was a dangerous place, full of hidden perils and ancient secrets. But at the same time, Valyria was a land of opportunity, where fortunes could be made or lost in the blink of an eye.

The group made their way deeper into the island, following a narrow path that led them through a forest of twisted and blackened trees. The air was thick with smoke and ash, and the ground was littered with bones and dead trees, making everyone wonder if anything could even live in this place. They continued walking for another hour until they reached a plain area. There, they saw something that made them stop in awe. It was a small ruin, made of some kind of white stone, and judging by how it was built, it was either a forward base or an outpost.

The building itself, had a circular base, with four arches supporting a dome-shaped roof. In the center of the roof, there was a hole, through which they could see the sky.

The ruin was covered with vines and moss, but it still retained some of its original beauty and elegance. It was clearly of Valyrian origin, as it had the distinctive style and craftsmanship of the old empire.

"Look at that," One of the men whispered. "It's amazing."

"Aye, it is. Now, let's carefully move towards it." Konrad said while he and Gendel lead the party.

It was quite funny to see a seven namedays old boy walking beside the towering mountain man, but no one had any desire to laugh at their savior. Time and time again, Konrad had proven that despite his young age, he was more than able to lead people in battle.

As the group approached the outpost, everyone felt a gust of wind, followed by a loud whistling sound. They barely had time to react, as a dozen spears flew past them, missing them by inches. Some of the spears hit the trees behind them, while others embedded themselves in the ground.

"Get down!" Gendel shouted, as he pushed Konrad to the side and rolled behind a large rock. The others followed his example, and quickly took cover behind whatever they could find.

"Who's attacking us?" One of the men asked, as he peeked over a fallen log.

"I don't know, but they're not friendly," Konrad answered, as he loaded a crossbow that he took from one of his men. "They must have been hiding in the ruin."

"Or maybe they came from somewhere else. We can't dismiss the slavers, m'lord." Gendel said, as he scanned the area. And then he saw it, movement in the distance, and when his eyes lay on the grey figures quickly moving towards them, he realized that there were more enemies than they had expected. Pointing in that direction, Konrad counted at least fifteen figures, wearing leather armor and animal skins, and wielding spears, axes, and bows. They looked like savages, or maybe pirates.

As the group approached the outpost, all of them felt a gust of wind, followed by a loud whistling sound. They barely had time to react, as a dozen spears flew past them, missing them by inches. Thankfully, most of the spears embedded themselves in the ground, while only a few went above them and hit the trees behind them.

"Get down!" Gendel shouted, as he pushed Konrad to the side and rolled behind a large rock. The others followed his example, and quickly took cover behind whatever they could find.

"Who's attacking us?" One of the men asked, as he peeked over a fallen log.

"I don't know, but they're clearly not our friends," Konrad answered, as he grabbed sword from its sheath. "They must have been hiding in the ruin."

"They are not slavers, that's for sure. The spears are too crude to be used by them."

For a moment, no one knew who the enemy was, until at least twenty or maybe even more grey looking men, or at least looking like me made their way towards them holding the same kind of spears in their hands. The men, looked like were made of stone, something that if his memory was serving him right, meant that this were people infected by the grey scale or as most sailors call them, stonemen.

Turning towards the two men with crossbows, Konrad nodded at them before the two men fired the bolts right at the stonemen's chests. Yet two men were not a hundred and because of that their effects were minimal at best, while they managed to kill the of the stonemen, there were still at least twenty of them left still charging towards them.

As soon as he realized that, Konrad gave the order for his men to mount their attack and led them towards the stonemen. But their progress was slowed almost immediately by the ground and to their surprised the rather hidden bones that were beneath the muddy ground. When the two groups crashed, the stonemen were the first to cried out in pain and then collapsed in the mud, being trapped and slowly killed by their own kin. Meanwhile, Konrad ran his sword thought one of the shorter stonemen'\s neck killing the creature.

More and more of the stonemen fell down as Konrad and his men kept at slashing left and right with their swords. After nearly half an hour the stonemen were either dead and or had been forced to flee back into the forest, leaving Konra free to rally his men and lead them towards outpost and see what in the name of God could be in there for so many stonemen to defend it with their lives.

Three of his men had been injured quite badly and will probably have to forget ever lifting a sword to fight, but that didn't mean they won't be able to learn another craft. Sadly, at the same time, two of his men died and since they had been touched by the stonemen, they alongside all of those infected people would have to be burned, something that one of the freemen that came from a small village on the coastline of Essos told him.

After the battle was over, Konrad and his men gathered the bodies of their fallen comrades and the stonemen. They piled them up in a clearing, and set them on fire. As they watched the flames consumed the flesh and bones, Konrad and his men prayed to God that the souls of both their people and that of the stonemen would find peace in heaven.

Once they were done praying, Konrad had Gendel lead the men towards the Outpost, since the middle-aged man was definitely more experience than him with leading men against a place that might be defend.

"Come on lads. Let's see what's inside."

Surprisingly enough, the entrance into the outpost was sealed as the gate didn't look to have moved ever since the Doom. Since neither one of them were a giant, getting thought the gate was just a wishful thought, instead, Konrad suggested that he might be able to climb up top and get inside to get the gate opened, but that was quickly dismissed by his men.

Rather than having their lord do that, Gendel ordered two of the men that weren't injured to climb and get that damned gate opened for them. And so, they did, albeit after almost five and ten minutes. Once inside, Konrad was the first one to notice one rather significant detail about the interior.

"It's clean… almost like it has never been abandoned for centuries."

Everyone nodded in response, finding the place just as strange as their lord did. Thought it was one of the mountain men that found the treasures they were searching for.

"M'lord here." The man shouted and soon, all of them saw what he had found.

Inside the room, they found what looked like it had been once an armory. There were racks and shelves that were meant to hold weapons and armor, but most of them were empty or broken. However, some of the items were still there, scattered on the floor or on the racks. Albeit no in large quantities, they did find a few swords, spears, bows, arrows and shields with no helmets or breastplates to be seen anywhere in the room, almost as if none had survived the passage of time. Yet as strange as it may seem, all of the weapons or shields looked surprisingly well-preserved.

Konrad would have to lie if he were to say that he hadn't be amazed by the sight. While he was raised for half of his life away from home, Konrad read about Valyrian steel and these weapons, while resembled the famous metal, Konrad didn't know if they were real.

"Look at this." One of the men said, as he picked up a sword from the floor. It was long and thin, with a curved blade and a silver hilt. It had a symbol engraved on it, which looked like a bird with three heads.

"What is it?" Konrad asked.

"It's a Valyrian steel sword." The man said. "I've heard stories about them. They say they are the finest blades in the world, forged by dragonfire and magic. They can cut through anything, even stone."

"You think so?" Konrad asked, as he took the sword from the man, but as soon as he grabbed it he felt the weight and while it proved his fears, whatever metal this sword was made from was still something that Konrad wanted to know, after all a metal that will not rust was something he was looking forward to equipping his people with.

"It's not Valyrian steel."

Hearing that all of the men looked at him waiting for a proper explanation from their lord.

"Valyrian steel is supposed to be light, and yet this sword," Konrad said while struggling to lift the sword in the air. "Is by no means made of Valyrian steel. It's too heavy, but at the same time, this wasn't made with your normal iron or steel.

The men were disappointed that they had not found Valyrian steel, but they were still happy to find some good weapons and shields to arm themselves and the rest of their people.

After Konrad and Gendel left the men to gather everything and prepare for traveling back to the boats, they decided to take the stairs and see what was on top of the outpost's tower. While Gendel didn't care all that much about this place, Konrad hoped to find a better view of the surrounding area, and maybe some clues about the purpose of this place.

When they reached the top floor, both Konrad and Gendel were surprised to find a skeleton sitting on a chair looking out at the forest. Slowly approaching the skeleton, Gendel taps it with his sword, and to his relief nothing happens.

"He should be the one in charge or at least was the one in charge," Gendel said just as Konrad noticed a small letter on the table.

Taking the letter in his hands, Konrad began to read:

To whoever might find this letter, let it be known that I, Austin Welsher, Lord of the East Watch and Protector of the smallfolk, died while keeping the traitors from winning over my lands.

By the time someone would be brave or foolish enough to venture into the ruins of our great empire, the Targaryen would have already taken over Westeros… I pity those men and women who live there. Dragons… those beasts had taken over the minds of the Targaryen.

The fights between keeps, the inexplicable deaths of the smallfolk and so, it was done by them. They wanted power to rule Valyria only to find. For years we have fought against them and for years we have failed. These bastards had one thing that none of us had and that blood magic. Most if not all of the great houses that serve the king had magic, but none as potent as the Targaryens, otherwise why would the king let those fuckers be anywhere near our companions?

My friend, Drax, died in battle against his kin and so did many of the dragons that remained loyal to Valyria, but alas in the end we had to do it. Tens of thousands had to be sacrificed to destroy our legacy so that those traitorous cunts won't sit on the throne of Valyria. We gave our lives in exchange for their destruction. Maybe it won't be quick but in time… the dragons will die. We cursed them as we cursed our lands. Shall even one Targaryen set foot on these lands then by all Gods will they find only death and destruction.

As for you, whoever found this letter, wish to learn more about the truth of our doom, gather your most trusted men and head to the capital, fight whatever monstrosity resides there now and learn the truth, learn what it took and how deep the curse is, for I shall be resting here as all of my fellow Lords would do.

Not even in death does our duty end,

Lord of the East Watch, Lord Welsher of House Welsher, last kin of the royal blood to still fight the traitors.

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