Game Of Thrones: A Wizard In The World Of Westeros (ASOIF) [8]

"As you say." I began. "I don't think we can make it home. I'll definitely keep trying, of course." I pulled out a book named 'Old Valyria and the Doom' by some Archmaester who-gives-a-shit-what-his-name-is.

"This might prove to be a decent read." I said, before getting back on point. "But I can easily read it during my travels. I heard talk of the King riding with his court to Winterfell, so I'll head there, see what kind of King this is, and then make my way north to the Wall."

"Understood." Erebus acknowledged. "When do we leave?"

I considered his words for a few moments, before nodding to myself.

"I'm moving out tonight." I said. "I'll buy a horse and stick to the roads."

§Have you ever ridden a horse, Harry?§ Balthazar asked curiously as he bumped his head against mine in a rare show of affection. I patted his head.

§No, but I've ridden a hippogriff, and those are way more ill tempered, and a lot more easily offended.§ I replied. §How hard could it be?§

The rest of the day was spent bidding my farewells to the few here with which I struck up conversation— the inn keeper and his son Edmund, the bookshop owner, an old man by the name of Torwynd, and the collector at the Square Market.

Buying a horse was a simple matter. I had to get it a saddle, some food, and I was all set. Feeding it, and putting the saddle on would be child's play; Hagrid made sure to teach us how to feed hippogriffs in my Third Year, after all.

It was always nice to see when your schooling paid off in the real world. I muttered a low thank you to the giant man, wherever he was right now, before telling the inn keeper that I was leaving.

When he tried to give me my money back, seeing as I was leaving early, I handed it back to the man with a real smile— adding a little extra to it— and told him to remain an honest man for the rest of his days. Heartfelt words were exchanged, and I left Torrhen's Square, riding out through the Kingsgate on the eastern side of the city.

Torrhen's square was reportedly around two hundred or three hundred miles away from Winterfell, and this horse could trot at... say... Ten miles an hour? I could probably get him to run at twenty five, maybe even thirty, but that would just exhaust the poor thing a mile out.

This way, I could maximize the distance ran and make good time.

So, assuming the road wasn't a straight line, it would probably be around three hundred fifty miles at least. Knowing that, it would nominally take me thirty five hours to reach there. That wasn't taking into account the fact that we would need to take breaks every five to six hours.

"Bequeath your power upon the horse." Erebus added after we reached the Kingsroad in an hour's time and made a left.

"It— It won't hurt him?" I stammered slightly.

"Your power responds to your will." Erebus chided gently. "Much like when the sons of Sparda shared their powers with you, so too can you share with the horse."

"Speaking of..." I pulled on the reins and patted his neck to make him stop, before leading him to the side and tying him to a nearby tree. "We should name this guy."

I gave the horse a carrot, and sat next to him, digging into a loaf of bread. I had bought twenty and thrown a preservation charm on them, before shrinking them to the size of a pea.

I learned that Balthazar could draw from the nutrients in my body when we were both merged. I knew not the hows and whys, and more importantly, I didn't even care.

"So... what should we call you?" I smiled as I looked at the horse in question, who was munching on the carrot. He looked at me for a moment, and snorted.

He had come quite cheaply, I thought. The owner had been all to glad to get rid of him, seeing as he refused to be controlled by any rider. He was a majestic black stallion, powerfully muscled and with hair so soft that made you underestimate his strength.

His appearance reminded me of myself, to be honest. Wild, but soft at the same time.

He had calmed down as soon as I got to him and showed him the respect I would show to a hippogriff. To my surprise, he bowed back. A few minutes later, the owner of the stables had looked on in absolute confusion as I easily fed him a few carrots.

He told me it was the first time anyone got close to him, like that.

So I bought the guy, and here we were, having a late night dinner.

"Hmm... Phantom?" I started. "No, hm... I need something wild for you, something in keeping with the strongest creatures in the world."

"There was a Demonic Horse in the Temen Ni Gru called Geryon."Erebus offered. "He was also a black stallion, but his mane and tail were pure blue flames."

"Geryon." I repeated the name, rolling around in my mouth a few times, before turning to the horse in question. "Geryon. Hm. You like it?"

The horse stopped his chewing to stare at me for a few seconds, before nodding once.

I knew wizards could make the animals around them behave with more intelligence, but this was ridiculous! Or, maybe the horse himself was intelligent? I didn't know.

He was here, he understood me, and that was good enough for me.

"All right, then." I smiled and untied the horse from his tree. He didn't run away. "Your name is now Geryon the Blacksteed." I patted him on the neck and gave him another carrot.

A few minutes later, we were back on the road, still trotting at a leisurely pace.

"Here goes nothing."