The Dread Lord of Essos (Ch. 73)

( Every character in this story is a legal adult over the age of 18 )

The Dread Lord of Essos

Chapter 73

The path up the uneven and winding steps was long and difficult. Several times, they were forced to stop to let the women rest. Eventually, Harry grew bored with waiting for their muscles to stop burning and wrapped his arms around their waists. Kinvara squeaked as they levitated a few feet off the ground and began floating. Harry's impatience and his growing concern for the women’s well-being led him to use his powers to ease their journey. Up the mountain they traversed, floating along until they reached the first structure. The higher they climbed, the more bitter the chill was, and when they finally landed, both women were rubbing their arms to help fight off the cold. Foggy mist escaped their mouths and noses with every breath of air, and Kinvara shivered. “Are you cold?” Harry asked them.

“A little, My Lord,” Kinvara confessed, shivering slightly. Usually, Melisandre and he assumed Kinvara, as well, could handle the cold better than others since they were so aligned with R’hllor, but Stygai was plagued with an unnatural chill that penetrated the flesh down to the bone. Harry could see the goosebumps on her otherwise flawless skin and snapped his fingers. Warm, pleasant air encircled the two women, fanning their long hair out behind them. Both of them shuddered from the sudden warmth. Melisandre smiled beautifully at him while Kinvara closed her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thank you, my love,” Melisandre lovingly said, looking at him with worshipful eyes. She wrapped her arms around the back of his neck and sweetly kissed his lips. Harry took a short break to enjoy the curves of her body. He moved his hands down from the sides of her bountiful breasts and over her slender waist. He explored the flare of her wide hips and the bulge of her jutting backside. Harry then broke the kiss and gave her bottom a soft smack. Melisandre stepped back with flushed cheeks, looking pleased with herself. Harry chuckled and shook his head before examining the area.

Despite being the smallest building in the dark, ancient city, it still managed to dwarf any structure found in Asshai. Like every other structure in the Shadowlands, it was crafted from a greasy, black stone that seemed to swallow what little light there was, casting an ominous aura over its surroundings. The corpse city of Stygai was situated within a steep valley and received only the barest amount of sunlight for a brief period at midday, and even less so when the sky was overcast, which it usually was. The structure’s size was imposing, and its unremarkable box shape was accentuated by dozens of pillars that lined each side, reaching the highest point of the oily black walls. The archway around the entrance was intricately carved into the forms of humans with the heads of various animals. There was a man with the head of a goat, a woman with the head of a vulture, and another man with the head of a lion, whose maw was open, baring its fierce teeth. More figures adorned the arch, though many of their finer details had fallen into disrepair from years of neglect or had been chipped away from countless battles.

The smell of decay hung heavy in the chilly air, and the faint sounds of leathery, flapping wings echoed through the valley. No doubt more of those giant bats were hiding in the highest recesses of the city. Harry walked up to the old structure and placed his hand on the rotted wood door. The double door was twice as tall as he was, and once, it must have been at least six inches thick. He could tell that iron bands had once crossed the thick wooden planks, lashing them together, but those bands had long since rusted away. The only thing holding these planks together was thousands of years of filthy grime. Harry pushed the rotted door in, and it instantly fell apart. It cracked horizontally down the middle, and the top half tipped forward toward Harry. He easily stepped aside and let it fall to the stone ground. It hit with a loud bang, breaking into a dozen large pieces and dozens of smaller ones.

“SHHHH!” Kinvara panicked, wildly looking around and expecting to see some horrible creature waking up from the shadows.

“Calm yourself, Kinvara,” Harry calmly told her. “Whatever beast or apparition that calls this place home already knows we’re here. There’s no point in hiding our presence,” he said, kneeling down and picking up a piece of the broken wood. The wood was very light and broke apart when subjected to the slightest pressure.

“Perhaps,” Kinvara relented while still looking over her shoulder. “But must we make it easier for them?” Harry chuckled and stood up. He walked over to her and kissed her forehead. Kinvara closed her eyes and luxuriated in the sensation of his soft lips against her skin. She then tilted her head up and was rewarded with a soft kiss on her full lips. “Mmm,” she hummed in delight and tried to deepen the kiss. Unfortunately, Harry pulled away before she could.

“Fear is their greatest weapon,” Harry wisely explained with a soft smile. “Panic leads to mistakes, and mistakes to death. Keep a level head and all will be well,” he assured her. He then walked back to the half-broken door and kicked the rest in. The bottom half fractured into several chunks and flew into the building. “Stay behind me,” Harry ordered, and both women quickly followed. They scampered to him and remained behind his broad, muscular back.

Harry strode into the structure and held his palm out, facing upward. A large ball of light blinked into existence and hovered above his palm. The swirling light then split into two, and one ball drifted over to the open entrance and remained on guard. The other ball of light floated higher into the air and hovered over their heads. Though the light was nearly blinding, it somehow barely lit the room. The black stone suddenly appeared even oilier than before, and it almost seemed as though the grease was moving and crawling along the walls. They were thankful there was still enough light to see.

The ground level was a tremendously large open room with a massive staircase against the left wall that led to the next floor. The staircase was also made of the same black stone and was wide enough to allow ten men to walk up it, side by side. Piles of rubble were scattered throughout the lower level, and Harry walked over to one and kicked it. “More rotten wood,” Harry said. He kicked the pile again and heard metal scrape across the ground. He kicked away some of the rotted wood, revealing an old sword. He picked it up and held it closer to the light.

“It’s not steel,” Harry concluded. “It would have rusted away long ago. It’s not Dragonsteel either.” The sword was heavily tarnished, and based on the color of it, he guessed that it was some kind of silver alloy. There was nothing spectacular about the sword. It didn’t appear to be anywhere near high quality. Harry checked a few more piles of rubble and found several other swords and daggers.

“Was this an armory?” Melisandre guessed. Harry tossed the sword away and nodded.

“Most likely. These are the weapons of common soldiers,” Harry explained, nudging one of the swords with the tip of his boot.

"OVER THERE!" Kinvara practically shouted, her voice echoing through the dimly lit hall. Harry turned to look at her, hearing the urgency in her voice and the intensity in her gaze. She was pointing frantically at the top of the massive staircase, her eyes wide with a mixture of fear and disbelief. "I saw something," she insisted, her voice trembling slightly. "It was leaning down from the floor above, peering at us!" Her words sent a shiver down Melisandre’s spine, and Kinvara moved closer to Harry for reassurance. The shadows seemed to deepen, the hovering ball of light flickered, and the air grew more frigid, heightening the sense of unease that enveloped the priestesses.

“What was it?” Melisandre asked, staring at the spot she was pointing to. She, too, moved a little closer to Harry for safety’s sake. She had heard many tales of this haunted city throughout the centuries, and she wasn’t eager to see if they were true.

“I’m not certain,” Kinvara stated, her breath sounding a bit ragged. “It was hiding amongst the shadows, but its eyes …” Her voice trembled as she tried to catch her breath. “They were milky white.”

“Hmm,” Harry murmured thoughtfully before unsheathing his dark sword. The sound of the Valyrian Steel scraping against the edge of his scabbard hung menacingly in the air. He took a step toward the shadowy staircase, intent on exploring the space above, but was suddenly halted as Kinvara's delicate hand clasped his armored bicep. The cold metal was a stark contrast to her warm touch, making her shiver. Her magical hands could almost feel the power surging through the icy metal of his armor. Pausing, Harry turned his gaze to the captivating woman, her eyes filled with concern.

“You’re going up there?” she asked in disbelief. It seemed ludicrous that anyone with a functional brain would decide to go up there when some wicked creature was on the loose. Harry could certainly understand her thought process, but thankfully, he was no ordinary man.

“I am,” Harry confirmed. “Remember to stay close,” he reminded them. Kinvara did her best to remain brave, though she was certain she didn’t look it. She could feel her hands trembling, and it filled her with shame. She was the High Priestess of the Red Temple, and she had faced many dangers over her extraordinarily long life. Her cowardice was an insult to the Lord of Light, and she mentally reprimanded herself. R’hllor himself requested that she give herself, mind, body, and soul to the man leading her up the darkened staircase. The Heart of Flame would not have done so on a whim. The Lord of Light trusted Harold to protect and provide for her, so it was only right for Kinvara to trust him in return. She exhaled loudly and clenched her free hand into a fist, gathering her courage.

Kinvara swallowed the lump in her throat, which sounded abnormally loud in the deathly quiet room, and nodded before releasing his arm. Harry reached the base of the grand staircase and began his ascent with a determined look in his eyes. Behind him, the women winced with every step they took, their expressions strained as they watched him climb. Their legs still ached from the long, grueling journey up the mountain, each muscle screaming in protest with every slow swing of their shapely legs. Harry heard a loud thump from the floor above, and he turned to the women. “Be on your guard,” he warned them.

Harry climbed the last step and entered the pitch black second floor. The orb above his head cast light that couldn’t fully penetrate the supernatural darkness, though he could see that there was a long, straight corridor traveling the full length of the building. On either side were several dozen rooms whose doors were in various states of disrepair. Harry held his sword out and ignited the blade, casting a flickering, orange light that easily cut through the heavy gloom. He heard Melisandre and Kinvara let out shaky breaths now that they could properly see. “We’ll go from room to room, clearing each one out,” he told them. Both women nodded. Harry walked to the first door on his left and kicked it down.

The door exploded inward in a shower of rotted wood. He held his sword up and looked inside. His nose wrinkled from the musty smell. It smelled like the room hadn’t been aired out in centuries, which was probably true. There was nothing inside except a thick layer of crud on the ground. He then turned to the door on the right and did the same. Again, there was nothing inside except a thick layer of rot covering the ground. The next door on the left was already falling apart, and he could easily see inside. Harry continued down the corridor, going from room to room. When he reached the fifth door on the left, he placed his hand on it to push it in, when a hand burst through and wrapped around his wrist. The women behind him yelped, and the hand squeezed his wrist tightly.

The hand appeared old and withered, its oily skin shriveled and marred with blackened scabs that loosely clung to its rotting surface. Each sickly yellow fingernail extended nearly an inch, their edges chipped and ragged. An overpowering stench of decay wafted from the hand, assaulting Harry's nostrils and causing him to groan with disgust. He was very glad that the putrid hand was clenched around his armor and not his bare skin. With a phlegmy, wheezing growl rumbling from the depths of the room, the hand yanked at him with surprising force, but Harry didn’t budge an inch. Without a second thought, he clamped his own hand around the creature’s wrist with a bone-crushing force and yanked it through the doorway, shattering the ancient wood and sending splinters flying through the air. Melisandre and Kinvara leaped back, eyes wide as the door exploded outward in a shower of musty-smelling debris. Harry's pull was so powerful that the creature hurtled past him and crashed into the wall behind them with a meaty, bone-jarring thud. Pinned against the wall by Harry’s godly strength, the humanoid creature screeched out a high-pitched squeal, like a pig being slaughtered. Frantically and violently, it thrashed, raking its vicious, claw-like fingernails across his armored forearm in a desperate attempt to break free. The sound of its razor-sharp nails scraping across the metal wasn’t pleasant to hear.

Harry held his sword up, and the creature was suddenly bathed in the orange glow of his fiery blade. It shrieked in obvious discomfort and averted its gaze. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Melisandre and Kinvara slowly backing up, trying to keep as much distance between themselves and the creature as humanly possible. Harry couldn’t say he blamed them. The stench of putrefaction was so pungent that his eyes were beginning to water. He heard both women gag from the grotesque smell.

The thing looked to have been human at one point, but was somehow twisted and corrupted into the wretched creature before him. Its head was mostly bald except for a few patches of silvery gray hair dotted around its flaking scalp. The areas not covered with grimy hair were pockmarked or crusted over with dried warts. The loose skin on its forehead sagged, nearly covering its deeply sunken eyes. The eyes themselves were a fishy pale color like those belonging to a fresh corpse. Its nose was completely missing, and only two slitted holes remained. The upper lip was shrunken and pulled back, exposing a row of crooked, rotting teeth, several of which were missing. His chin was bony and pointed, and the lumpy, beaded skin under the jaw drooped down like a turkey’s. The ears were almost non-existent, with two wadded lumps of crumpled flesh indicating where they should be.

Its body was completely bare of clothing and was almost as thin as a skeleton, stripped of its flesh. What little skin and flesh there was hung loosely and flapped disgustingly as the creature struggled to break free. Having seen enough, Harry drove his sword right through its chest, pinning it to the stone wall. The flames immediately engulfed its body, and an ungodly screech pierced the hallway. It thrashed so hard that the bones in its chest snapped, and it broke free. It wailed pitifully as it ran away from him, sprinting down the corridor. When it reached the end, it turned left and crashed through the door of the last room. Suddenly, dozens more began to yowl and hiss, and many more doors exploded outward.

“So many!” Kinvara gasped as the corpses lumbered out of their rooms. Some of them were wielding swords of their own. He could hear the nervousness in her voice. They began charging down the corridor, and Harry flicked his wrist and sent them all tumbling backward. They landed on top of each other in a pile of tangled limbs. The corpses instantly began trying to get back to their feet.

“Go ahead … Test your skills, my dear,” Harry calmly told her with a smile. Kinvara looked at him questioningly. When she realized what he meant, she slowly nodded and exhaled deeply.

Kinvara began chanting in a language Harry didn’t know. She held out her hands, palms facing outward. The flame on his sword flickered, and the orb of light above them slightly dimmed. The corridor suddenly became darker, as though she was absorbing the light with her palms. For a split second, the corridor went completely black, and when the light returned, a beast crafted from pure shadow stood in front of them. From what he could see, most of the creature was made of shadow, but the core of it seemed to be solid. In fact, the core appeared to be made of the same oily grease that covered the black stones surrounding them.

The shadow construct wasn’t very large and only reached the middle of Kinvara’s chest. It was humanoid in shape with short, deformed legs and long, spindly arms. Its fingers looked twice as long as Harry’s, and its claws were long, curved, and extremely pointy, similar to those of an eagle. Harry couldn’t see its face, only the back of its head, and it almost perfectly blended into the darkness. It growled menacingly and sprang into action. It charged forward with surprising speed and lunged at the pile of corpses. Harry actually winced in pain when the corpses all began screeching at once. It was difficult to see what was going on, but one thing was clear. Kinvara’s shadow beast was tearing them to shreds, but not without taking damage. The corpses piled onto the shadow man, reaching through the shadows and tearing at the pulsating core of black goo at the center. The shadow creature threw its head back and roared loud enough to make both women stumble back and cover their ears. It thrashed its long, slender arms left and right, slamming corpses into the walls on both sides. At one point, Harry even saw one of the corpses’ arms getting ripped off. Still, there were many corpses against a single opponent. When it became clear Kinvara’s creation wouldn’t be enough to take out all the corpses, Melisandre stepped in.

The sexy Red Priestess stepped up next to Kinvara and held her palm up. She also started chanting, but this time, the corridor didn’t grow darker. Instead, little by little, it grew brighter. Melisandre’s palm began smoking, and a tiny flicker of fire appeared hovering above her upturned hand. Slowly, the fire grew, consuming the darkness around it. Her long, red hair began fluttering, and Harry could see beads of sweat forming on her brow. The flames condensed into a ball of fire the size of a marble. A few seconds later, it was the size of a golf ball. When it reached the size of a grapefruit, the perfectly round shape of the ball began warping, and it was clear Melisandre was about to lose control. She cried out and flung the ball into the nearby battle. Melisandre and Kinvara turned away, covering their faces. They knew what was about to happen. This time, it was Harry who stepped in. He grabbed his women around their waists and pulled them back. He flung out his hand just as the fiery ball reached the mass of twisted creatures.

There was a flash of blinding light as a semi-transparent shield of magic flickered to life. The shield covered them from wall to wall and floor to ceiling. Following the flash was a concussive explosion that nearly blinded them and deafened their ears. The stone floor beneath them trembled, and centuries of dust rained down on them from the ceiling. Dozens of the living corpses scattered in all directions from the mighty blast. Arms, legs, and even heads were blown clean off their bodies, and everything else was set ablaze. Agonized squeals could be heard from deep within the inferno, and Harry could only see vague shapes flailing around behind the wall of fire. The heat radiating from the blaze was intense, and within seconds, Harry could feel sweat dripping down his chest and back. Slowly, the squeals and screeches died out, and Harry couldn’t see anything moving within the fire. He gave it another minute before speaking with the girls.

“Stand back,” he ordered. “When I lower the shield, the heat will come rushing at me.” They nodded and scooted back. “Further,” Harry told them. They did as he said and moved even further back. When they were far enough away to satisfy him, Harry quickly lowered the shield and held out his hand.

Harry hissed as a wave of heat washed over him, singeing his skin. The sweat on his face and forehead instantly turned to steam, and before the heat could reach the girls, Harry held up his hands. Frosty wind erupted from his palms, instantly cooling the scorching heat. Harry swung his arms all around him, cooling the area nearest to him. Once he was certain the girls weren’t going to get roasted, he turned his attention to the burning mass of bodies piled up further down the corridor. Harry walked over, spraying the floor, walls, and ceiling with icy wind, frosting them over, and when he reached the bonfire, he sprayed that as well. The flames flattened out as the magical wind hit them, and he groaned from the smell of cooked, rotting bodies. After a few seconds, the fire died out, leaving a tangled mess of charred remains.

“That is truly revolting,” Melisandre said as the girls came up from behind. They both had their hands over their noses and mouths, and he couldn’t blame them. The stench was overpowering.

“Indeed,” Kinvara agreed. Both of them were breathing heavily, and when Harry turned to look at them, he could see how exhausted they were.

“Perhaps we should take a break and make camp,” Harry suggested, wanting to give them some time to recover.

“That’s a good idea, My Lord,” Kinvara said, sounding relieved. Melisandre readily agreed as well.

Harry led them back outside and found Daemon perched high on a cliff, watching over the area. He roared loudly when he saw Harry. Kinvara looked around and sighed. “I do not believe we will find much firewood. Trees are scarce in this part of the world, and the wood inside was all rotted.”

He hadn’t really thought of that, but he had an easy solution. With barely a thought, he fixed their problem. He smiled at Kinvara and stated, “I believe the answer to our problem will arrive shortly.”

No sooner than he said the words, someone blew a horn from downriver. Harry led the girls to the bank of the river and watched as a dozen or so small boats sailed toward them, their sails snapping in the harsh mountain wind. They waited until all boats had grounded themselves, and several dozen of his drones began unloading supplies. The girls spotted plenty of firewood, stocks of delicious food, water, and wines, cushy chairs, and even a large bed. They looked at him with wide eyes, clearly pleased that they wouldn’t have to sleep on the hard ground. The drones quickly unloaded everything and stacked it further away from the foul-smelling river.

“Finish going through the building,” Harry told the drones while pointing at the armory. They silently nodded, pulling out their swords. He then turned to the girls. “Once they finish, we can turn the lower floor of the building into our temporary base. They’ll keep watch while we rest,” he told them. That was music to their ears. They would have been most vulnerable while sleeping, so it was quite reassuring to them. Harry placed three chairs side by side and sat down in the middle one. As he sat down, his armor disappeared from his body, and he sighed when he butt hit the thick, fluffy cushion. Kinvara joined him on his right, but Melisandre had a different idea. She plopped down right in his lap and giggled when he immediately went for her neck. Kinvara saw this and sighed in resignation.

‘Why didn’t I think of that?’ she mentally kicked herself. All she could do was jealously watch as Harry kissed his way up her neck while his hand caressed her thigh. One thing was for certain, when their day ended and it came time for bed, she wouldn’t be sitting on the sidelines.