The Dread Lord of Essos (Ch. 56)

The Dread Lord of Essos

Chapter 56

Harry stood north of the Thenn and deep within the Lands of Always Winter where no man dared to go. Even if they were brave enough to venture that far, they would quickly freeze or starve. During the days, the cold would pierce through you, and at night, if you were caught without a shelter or campfire, you couldn’t hope to survive longer than an hour. This far north, nothing grew. There was no tree, bush, or blade of grass to be seen. Animals were just as scarce, and only the most foul and unspeakable things could be found there.

He could feel his drones feasting on his magic to keep themselves going. Normally, Harry would have just vanished them and found a more suitable site for them to work, but the mountains in the far north were practically overflowing with resources. Iron, lead, tin, copper, gold, and sapphires the size of golf balls were being torn from the mines. Harry was also harvesting aluminum from the rocks, though getting even a fraction of the amount of the other resources that he was getting was time-consuming. He wasn’t mining the metal for him, however. Here on Planetos, aluminum was worth even more than gold, and the Iron Bank was eager to get their hands on the rare metal. As the only current supplier of it, that gave Harry major influence within the bank’s walls. Most of it he sold to the bank, but he did keep some for himself … just in case he needed it for anything. As such, Harry was using the extra energy to keep his drones mining twenty-four-seven. Unfortunately, a nearby magical disturbance had been interfering with his operation.

Standing on the edge of a steep cliff, Harry was looking down at an army of undead at least a million strong. It was easy to spot the Others, or the White Walkers as some called them. They stood gaunt and tall with thin, wispy hair the color of fresh snow. Their eyes glowed like blue moonlight and they wore reflective armor that camouflaged them against prying eyes. Their swords were made of thin crystal, and as rumor has it, they could easily piece chain mail as though it were mere silk. Some of the Others were nearly all bone, which shined like polished milkglass and were covered in pale, blue blood. And though the Others were plentiful in number, their Wights made up the majority of the army.

Wights was the name for the resurrected men and animals that the Others used as battle fodder. Necromancy was a magic that the Others were masters in. There were hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children scattered throughout the cold, white plain. Harry wondered how long it took for the Others to gather such an army. The wind was fierce and the heavy snow blew in nearly horizontally as it hid the distant reaches of his eyes. Still, Harry thought he saw something. Using his powers to focus his eyes, his vision cut through the heavy snow and fog. It was then that he saw the true size of the undead army. The million or so that he had seen only moments ago was perhaps only a tenth of the army. Stretched past the horizon was a wave of men and creatures, all of them slowly shuffling south. Far in the distance, Harry spotted what must have been several thousand dead giants, their long, muscled arms dragging roughly hewed, stone clubs behind them, leaving deep ruts in the snow. The flesh of their shaggy, fur-covered bodies was milky white, which matched their silvery-gray fur. Not far from them was an entire herd of mammoths, some fully formed while others looked to be skin and bones. Harry couldn’t count the number of creatures they had in their ranks. The majority of the beasts seemed to be wolves, which wasn’t surprising. Wolves were the most abundant predators north of the wall after all. Direwolves, bears, and horses were also plentiful among the massive army.

Harry looked on in appreciation, and a smile formed on his handsome face. ‘Perhaps this will be a challenge for me,’ he thought as one of the closest White Walkers looked up and trained his glowing blow eyes on him. Harry could see them narrow as the corner of his lip pulled up menacingly. Though he couldn’t hear it, Harry sensed that the creature was growling at him. Then it opened its mouth wide, and a terrible shriek cut the air and echoed off the mountainside. One after another, all the dead men and beasts turned their gazes to him. They now knew that they were being watched. The White Walker began running in his direction, so Harry pulled out his black blade and ignited its magical fire hotter than he ever had. With a mighty heave, he threw the flaming sword in their direction. The flaming sword spun through the air until it landed twenty rows deep into the first wave of the dead. When it hit the ground, it detonated with a concussive force that sent thousands of Wights and the Others twirling through the air, their bodies torn to pieces. At the point of impact, a tidal wave of fire exploded outward in every direction. Harry once again heard the high-pitched shrieks of the Others, but this time, it was laced with terror as their entire front line was engulfed in fire. A large, icy-blue spider scuttled off to the side, its back on fire. A moment later, it rolled over, and its long, spindly legs curled inward while it twitched. A horrible, chittering sound could be heard all the way up on the cliff as it died, its razor-sharp pincers clacking together.

It was complete chaos as the Wights stumbled around, falling over each other as they desperately tried to squash the flames. Of course, none of them were smart enough to do so. That was the problem with Inferi … They could only follow the most basic commands, and they certainly couldn’t think on the fly. The initial White Walker that challenged Harry was rolling around on the snow and was just able to snuff out the flames before burning to death. As it pushed itself to its feet, Harry held out his hand and magically called the sword back. Somewhere in the crowd of burning bodies, the sword launched itself back in his direction, piercing and slicing anything in its path. Arms, legs, torsos, and heads were severed or torn as the black sword shot through the throng. The White Walker was no different. Fiendfyre pierced his side and tore a chunk of flesh and armor from its torso. Its body spun forward ten feet and hit the snow hard. Harry watched for a moment until he saw it twitch. Turning around, Harry walked away. He had sent his message. They were moving south, and eventually, they would reach the Wall. Beyond that wall was the Dread Lord, a formidable foe who wouldn’t back off. From their speed and the distance they were from the Wall, Harry calculated that it could still be several years before they became a threat. He would keep a close eye on their progress while preparing for the inevitable battle.

When the White Walker lifted its head from the snow and looked in his direction, it saw only an empty cliff face. All around him, his fellow White Walkers were screeching in anger and confusion.

The Dread Lord of Essos

Needless to say, Catelyn and Sansa were none too pleased when they received word that Winterfell had been sacked. They were furious with the Ironborn and with Theon specifically. They were also very worried about the two young Starks in the castle.

“What are we to do, mother?” Sansa asked worriedly while Harry gently rubbed her back. The ship was docked in White Harbor, and the two Stark women were enjoying the hospitality of House Manderly. Both the Starks, Harry, and Wyman Manderly were in a private room discussing the current problems.

Lord Wyman Manderly was a man nearing sixty namedays with a belly so big that he could no longer ride a horse. Because of his weight and appearance, he was sometimes ridiculed and mocked by his own people, thinking him oaflike and foolish. Wyman Manderly was anything but. In fact, he was quite the opposite … shrewd, cunning, and intelligent. He was also fiercely loyal to the Starks which was exactly why Catelyn had asked him to be involved in the matter at hand.

“I’ll tell you what we do, My Lady, we march over there and …” Wyman declared in his booming voice but was cut off by the tapping on glass. A loud caw made Sansa jump. Harry walked over to the window and opened it up. A raven flew in with a note for him. He didn’t need to read it since he had gotten the scoop straight from one of his drones. He had had the raven sent from his ship. It was all just for show. He opened the letter and read it, pretending to scowl in anger.

“What is it, Harold?” Catelyn asked, moving next to him.

“I’m afraid taking back Winterfell has just gotten harder. From the information sent to me, the Boltons have taken the opportunity to march on Winterfell. They know that only a small force of Ironborn hold the castle, and Roose is eager to control it,” Harry told them.

“What madness is this?!” Wyman boomed. “I know that Roose isn’t exactly a man to be trusted, but would he really risk his family by betraying the Starks?”

“With Eddard and Robb gone and Jon Snow at the wall, he surely sees it as easy pickings. I doubt he knows that Catelyn and Sansa have returned and are speaking with you, Lord Manderly. From his perspective, it should be an easy win. The good news is that Dreadfort is almost equal distance to Winterfell as White Harbor is. If we are quick, we can catch Bolton before he even gets there,” Harry said as Sansa joined his other side. He could feel her warm fingers tickling his arm.

“There’s a problem with that,” Manderly sighed. “To pull together an army of any significant size, it will take time, and from what you tell us, time is a luxury we don’t have. You also must remember that it is winter. It could take weeks just to gather enough men to make any kind of a difference.”

“That is true. Winter will also hamper Bolton’s efforts. The trek from Dreadfort to Winterfell will be especially long and brutal for his men, and while they must walk, we have the White Knife to aid us. We can take the river up until we are east of Winterfell. From there, we can set up an ambush and take Bolton’s men by surprise. Gather your men as quickly as possible. I’ll provide all weapons, food, and other provisions. I’ll have it here within a week.”

Catelyn and Sansa perked up, and Sansa squeezed his arm just a little tighter. He could feel her warm breasts mashed against his arm. The sexy redhead really knew how to get his motor running.

“That is very generous … Your Grace …” Manderly seemed unsure of what to call him. “But even so, it will still take weeks.”

That will not be a problem, Lord Manderly. I think I have a way of slowing him down,” Harry smiled.

Just then, a mighty roar made the walls and floors tremble. Catelyn yelped in fright while Sansa hugged his arm tightly. Wyman nearly lost his balance and almost tumbled to the ground. They all went to the window and looked out just in time to see Daemon, Harry’s massive, black dragon flying by as he circled the castle. Down below, the townspeople screamed and scurried away in a panic as the dragon roared. All Harry could do was chuckle.

The Dread Lord of Essos

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