Personally I'd say Lucas, he takes the moral codes of the knighthood a little more seriously than Jaron. Then forgetting the knights for a moment there is Ellena - probably the most innocent character of the story, at least from the PoVs.
Personally I'd say Lucas, he takes the moral codes of the knighthood a little more seriously than Jaron. Then forgetting the knights for a moment there is Ellena - probably the most innocent character of the story, at least from the PoVs.
The Ellena choice was important to determine the relationship between Ellena and Samuel, which, depending on your later choices, might end up playing an important role in a future storyline. The Lucas choice on the other hand... well, keep in mind that Lucas is scared shitless, physically and mentally close to his breaking point and definitely not a very skilled liar. Mullendore on the other hand is a master manipulator and perhaps the most ruthless character in the whole story. This man will stop at nothing to achieve his goals. Do what you want with that info. You'll see the consequences of your choice in the next part.
The next part is, as already announced, mostly a Samantha part and a very long one on top. However, the beginning is a short Lucas part. I hoped to finish the part yesterday, but sadly, it got longer and longer while writing and I decided to give it the length of two full parts. A lot of stuff is going to happen: Character development, plot development, and as always, the slight possibility of shocking and unexpected death. Sadly, the length of the part means that I am not 100% sure if I will be able to finish it today.
The Voting is closed!
Ellena will shake Samuel's hand and forgive him
Lucas will try to lie to Mullendore
The Ellena choice was imp… moreortant to determine the relationship between Ellena and Samuel, which, depending on your later choices, might end up playing an important role in a future storyline. The Lucas choice on the other hand... well, keep in mind that Lucas is scared shitless, physically and mentally close to his breaking point and definitely not a very skilled liar. Mullendore on the other hand is a master manipulator and perhaps the most ruthless character in the whole story. This man will stop at nothing to achieve his goals. Do what you want with that info. You'll see the consequences of your choice in the next part.
The next part is, as already announced, mostly a Samantha part and a very long one on top. However, the beginning is a short Lucas part. I hoped to finish the part yesterday, but sadly, it got longer and long… [view original content]
The Voting is closed!
Ellena will shake Samuel's hand and forgive him
Lucas will try to lie to Mullendore
The Ellena choice was imp… moreortant to determine the relationship between Ellena and Samuel, which, depending on your later choices, might end up playing an important role in a future storyline. The Lucas choice on the other hand... well, keep in mind that Lucas is scared shitless, physically and mentally close to his breaking point and definitely not a very skilled liar. Mullendore on the other hand is a master manipulator and perhaps the most ruthless character in the whole story. This man will stop at nothing to achieve his goals. Do what you want with that info. You'll see the consequences of your choice in the next part.
The next part is, as already announced, mostly a Samantha part and a very long one on top. However, the beginning is a short Lucas part. I hoped to finish the part yesterday, but sadly, it got longer and long… [view original content]
That's a very interesting question and I am not sure if there can be a definite answer. I think, the mentioned characters are definitely strong contenders. Well, except Jaron. While I like Jaron and while he is a lot more decent than the typical Westerosi, he is certainly not the most moral or merciful character in the story. Ellena probably wins when it comes to innocence, while Lucas is the most honourable character and comes close to meet the standards of a true knight in my opinion. While he had little chance to show it so far, Arthur is also a very moral and merciful character and personally, I would also include Richard in this list.
Okay, I'm afraid I got bad news. First of all, if I seem pissed off right now, it's because I am. Second, I am not sure if the part will be out today, mostly because of a new, unexpected and, honestly, pretty fucking frustrating problem that I currently have to deal with. It's about the character submissions. I'm afraid, for some goddamn reason, the file in which these responses get saved, is broken. I don't know why this happened, I only know that it worked just fine about 2 hours ago. Then, I left to get something to eat and when I return, I realize the submission sheet has crashed. I tried to reload it and I get this error message:
And this error message comes every time I try to load the response sheet from every possible link. You can imagine, this is pretty frustrating for me. Luckily, I am not unprepared, as I have regularly saved the character submissions. Sadly, the last time I did this was in early June. As a result, the last 100 character submissions are currently inaccessible. Now, even that is not that bad, as, for some strange goddamn reason I am still able to view the response analytics. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's hard to explain, but it contains everything that ever got submitted for Forum of Thrones, although the responses are not in order and I also suspect them to not be 100% complete. This means, it is very hard to see, for example, which appearance belongs to which backstory or personality. I hope I will manage to write about these characters, because some of the characters that got submitted since June are planned to appear in the next chapter. I have also contacted fucking Google in the hopes that they will be able to restore the broken file, hopefully without deleting all the responses. In the meantime, I will try to access the file, as that is my main priority at the moment. As soon as I manage to do that, or, as soon as I give up, I will continue writing the part. It looks like another all-nighter for me and I will try my best to finish the part, as I am quite happy with what I have written so far, but restoring the submissions has top priority at the moment and I think that should be understandable.
On another note, it appears that the file that contains Act 1 of the story is currently broken as well, but I don't even get an error message for that. Could you do me a favour and check all the links in the main post, aside from the imgur gallery, to see if you have trouble accessing any of it? Thanks in advance.
Okay, I'm afraid I got bad news. First of all, if I seem pissed off right now, it's because I am. Second, I am not sure if the part will be … moreout today, mostly because of a new, unexpected and, honestly, pretty fucking frustrating problem that I currently have to deal with. It's about the character submissions. I'm afraid, for some goddamn reason, the file in which these responses get saved, is broken. I don't know why this happened, I only know that it worked just fine about 2 hours ago. Then, I left to get something to eat and when I return, I realize the submission sheet has crashed. I tried to reload it and I get this error message:
http://i.imgur.com/NcT37eH.png
And this error message comes every time I try to load the response sheet from every possible link. You can imagine, this is pretty frustrating for me. Luckily, I am not unprepared, as I have regularly saved the character submissions. Sadly, the last time I did this was in ear… [view original content]
Thanks a lot! Apparently, for some strange reason, the links containing the story itself works for me as well again, even if I had to reload the Act 1 document for several times. Sadly, the response sheet is still inacessible. However, I was able to download the missing responses, which not only fixed my problem with the newer characters, it also proved that, regardless of what Google tries to tell me, the document and the responses still exist. That means, I am positive that I will be able to fix this problem.
Okay, I'm afraid I got bad news. First of all, if I seem pissed off right now, it's because I am. Second, I am not sure if the part will be … moreout today, mostly because of a new, unexpected and, honestly, pretty fucking frustrating problem that I currently have to deal with. It's about the character submissions. I'm afraid, for some goddamn reason, the file in which these responses get saved, is broken. I don't know why this happened, I only know that it worked just fine about 2 hours ago. Then, I left to get something to eat and when I return, I realize the submission sheet has crashed. I tried to reload it and I get this error message:
http://i.imgur.com/NcT37eH.png
And this error message comes every time I try to load the response sheet from every possible link. You can imagine, this is pretty frustrating for me. Luckily, I am not unprepared, as I have regularly saved the character submissions. Sadly, the last time I did this was in ear… [view original content]
Okay, I'm afraid I got bad news. First of all, if I seem pissed off right now, it's because I am. Second, I am not sure if the part will be … moreout today, mostly because of a new, unexpected and, honestly, pretty fucking frustrating problem that I currently have to deal with. It's about the character submissions. I'm afraid, for some goddamn reason, the file in which these responses get saved, is broken. I don't know why this happened, I only know that it worked just fine about 2 hours ago. Then, I left to get something to eat and when I return, I realize the submission sheet has crashed. I tried to reload it and I get this error message:
http://i.imgur.com/NcT37eH.png
And this error message comes every time I try to load the response sheet from every possible link. You can imagine, this is pretty frustrating for me. Luckily, I am not unprepared, as I have regularly saved the character submissions. Sadly, the last time I did this was in ear… [view original content]
Okay, very good news everyone! The response sheet just got restored, a lot faster than I expected. It was indeed broken, but a kind google technician just contacted me to inform me that everything should be restored by now. Indeed, there is not a single response missing and I'm amazed how fast google responded to my problem! The first thing I did was downloading the sheet twice, to make sure that such a thing never happens again. That means, I can now fully focus on writing the part again and I still hope to finish it later today, even if it means staying awake for longer than I originally planned. Should I fail this goal, the part will definitely be out early tomorrow.
Also, let's give a big round of applause to the awesome mod who immediately removed a troll post in here. While I regret that I missed an opportunity for a snarky response to the troll, I am nonetheless very thankful to the mod who immediately took care of this.
So, awesome google technician and awesome mod, thanks a lot for turning a somewhat shitty day into a day that ended up a lot less shitty than it started!
Okay, very good news everyone! The response sheet just got restored, a lot faster than I expected. It was indeed broken, but a kind google t… moreechnician just contacted me to inform me that everything should be restored by now. Indeed, there is not a single response missing and I'm amazed how fast google responded to my problem! The first thing I did was downloading the sheet twice, to make sure that such a thing never happens again. That means, I can now fully focus on writing the part again and I still hope to finish it later today, even if it means staying awake for longer than I originally planned. Should I fail this goal, the part will definitely be out early tomorrow.
Also, let's give a big round of applause to the awesome mod who immediately removed a troll post in here. While I regret that I missed an opportunity for a snarky response to the troll, I am nonetheless very thankful to the mod who immediately took care of this.
So, awes… [view original content]
Ah, it looks like I misunderstood that part of the guidelines. I thought it was okay as long as I refrain from naming the involved person, but of course I removed the line in question. I assume it's better now? Anyway, thanks again InGen, you're great
“We told him to run!”, Lucas yelled and Mullendore raised the knife a tiny bit, now pointing at the knight's temple. “He is hiding in an empty warehouse at the docks” Mullendore let out a sigh. “Good answer, boy”, he complimented him. “Sadly, yet another lie” He pressed the knife into the skin of Lucas' temple and the knight started to scream. “And lies deserve punishment, don't you agree?”, Mullendore chuckled as he slowly started to cut from the temple, down to Lucas' right eye.
The moment the knife touched the eye, Lucas nearly lost consciousness. He clenched his teeth together, almost biting through his tongue in the process, but ultimately, he screamed, violently shaking in an attempt of pushing the knife away from him. Mullendore still cut down, from the now ruined eye, over Lucas' cheek, down to his chin. “Should have just told me the truth, boy”, Mullendore growled. “Because you can't take much more, I see it. You're about to break. By the way, you don't need this, do you?”
With these words, he grabbed Lucas right ear and despite the horrible agony he was in, Lucas tried to throw weak punches with both hands at Mullendore's arm, to no avail. In a swift, but nonetheless painful movement, the knife cleanly severed the ear. Lucas barely noticed it, a thumping, dizzying pain slowly forced him to drift into unconsciousness.
“Want to sleep, huh?”, Mullendore growled, while looking at the freshly severed ear. “Well, NOT YET!” The knife moved to Lucas' left temple and immediately, panic forced him to stay awake. “No...”, he mumbled weakly as the knife started to cut, slowly, but steadily approaching his eye. “No... NO! NO!”, Lucas screamed. “CITADEL!” He closed his remaining eye, out of fear and out of shame as tears formed in it. “Citadel. Archmaester of Magic”, he mumbled weakly as his vision started to fade. “Please, no more...”
He barely noticed Mullendore chuckling with sudden joy. “Now, that's something new. Wasn't that hard, was it?”, he growled as he raised the knife again, sparing Lucas' remaining eye. “We'll check that. I hope for you that you told me the truth this time, or else I'm going to take your other eye as well, cripple” There was something else, but Lucas wasn't able to notice it anymore. For him, there was only darkness.
Samantha
“We're going to wait”, Samantha decided and slightly rolled with her eyes. “I don't want to shout our presence through the whole Citadel and I definitely don't want to anger someone who studied magic by picking his lock” A sheepish grin formed on her face as she took a step away from the door. “That's not how I want to die”
“Then how do you?”, Jaylon asked. “Want to die, I mean” Samantha raised an eyebrow, but it was Sasha who answered. “Was that a threat?”, she snarled and Jaylon quickly shook his head. “A question”, he answered. “An attempt to start a conversation” Sasha sighed. “A shitty attempt”, she mumbled and this time, Jaylon slightly grinned. “Well, we have a conversation, haven't we?” As Sasha let out an annoyed groan, Samantha couldn't help but chuckle.
“At a high age, in my bed, surrounded by people I love”, she answered and her group gave her a surprised look. “What is it? That's how I'd like to die”, she continued, before she looked at Davith. “And you?”
The man shrugged, before leaning against the wall. “Sounds fine for me”, he answered. “But I always liked to die fighting. Don't think old age would suit me” He smirked at her in a rather irritating way. “Never thought you'd be the old-age kind of person”, he grinned and Samantha answered with a warm smile. “I'm full of surprises”, she said and chuckled slightly.
“I just hope I die without pain”, Jaylon mumbled and Sasha shot him a short glare. “Do you see anyone who cares?”, she asked. Now it was up to Jaylon to look at her in an irritated manner. “Could you please tell me what your fucking problem is, Sasha?”, he asked. “I can understand if Samantha is angry at me, or Davith. But you?”
“I told you before, people like you disgust me”, Sasha spat. “You only followed orders? Just ordinary sellsword work? That's what you tell yourself, so that you can sleep at night, don't you? What your boss did to the people in this city...” She cut herself off and Samantha noticed that Sasha was almost at a loss of words. “And yet you try to talk to us as if nothing ever happened. How much lower can you sink? Just shut up for once... you... self-righteous prick!”
Jaylon did not answer. He took a step back, leaning against the wall, his head hung low. “You think I wanted things to come that far? When I grew up I always wanted to be a knight. Or even better, a lord”, he said and for a moment, a childish joy appeared in his eyes, followed by the hint of a smile. “With a real castle and servants. Where no one has to suffer from hunger, not even the peasants”
Samantha pressed her lips together and took a step closer towards Jaylon. “So... at which point did the boy with big dreams like that turn into an asshole henchman of a monster? Your mother never loved you?”, she asked, still not feeling too much compassion for him.
Jaylon shot her a shot glare, before his gaze softened a bit. “My mother loved me a lot”, he answered. “It was my father. A Stark soldier, crippled in a fight against the Ironborn. Afterwards, he was a wreck, an abusive drunkard and a fucking wreck. Only good thing he ever did to me was teaching me how to fight” He paused for a moment and Samantha saw the hint of tears forming in his sullen eyes. “He gave me a choice, either to join the Stark army, or to take the black, so I ran away”, he mumbled. “When I left him, it was the best day of my life and the worst, for I had to leave my mother behind as well” He looked up and glared as Samantha. “What was I supposed to do? Starving to death? No, I used the only skill I was ever taught and worked my ass off to survive, to achieve something in this world. If that makes me the... the asshole henchman of a monster in your eyes, then that's a price I'm willing to pay”
He and Samantha looked at each other for a moment, before Davith interrupted them. “Boo Hoo”, he said and Samantha remembered what Jaylon said earlier. “Spare us your sob stories, will ya” Jaylon narrowed his eyes, before letting out a sigh. “I guess I deserved that one”, he mumbled, while Samantha looked at Davith. “That was not very empathetic”, she said, even if she fully agreed with him. Davith shrugged. “It was the truth”, he answered. “And you deserve a lot more, Jaylon Gordus!” His voice gained sharpness, but to his credit, he still leant against the wall, instead of storming at the other man. “So, that's your excuse, huh? Your daddy hit you? Mine's fucking dead and so is Sam's whole family! You see any of us being insufferable bastards?”
“Guys...”, Sasha said slowly, but Samantha didn't even pay attention to her. All that mattered now was to prevent a fight to break out. Jaylon nearly jumped at Davith as he came a step closer, clearly livid with anger. “Never. Call me. A bastard!”, he shouted. “I know what Butterfly did and I don't deny that I helped him. But how can I prove that I want to change if you don't even give me a chance?”
“Guys...”, Sasha repeated, this time with more urgency in her words. Davith and Jaylon didn't bother with looking at her. “Not now, Sasha”, Davith growled. “I don't give you a chance, Jaylon, because some people don't deserve chances. There's no excuse for working with Butterfly”
“Oh, because what you do is so much better, Davith Lanser!”, Jaylon yelled. “These guardsmen you killed? Yes, they worked for Butterfly, but they also had families! How does that make you any better than me? I don't ask for forgiveness, I only want a chance to prove myself!”
“GUYS!”, Sasha yelled at the top of her lungs and this time, everyone looked at her. “We got a problem”, she mumbled and pointed down the hallway. “Oh fuck...”, Jaylon mumbled. As Samantha followed her stare, she saw a man, standing at the other end of the hallway. At least, she was pretty sure that he was a man, judging from his muscular physique. He was tall, wearing fine dark clothes and a black, hooded tunic. A slightly curved sword was dangling at his belt and a number of throwing knives was strapped to his chest. Most importantly, his face was hidden behind a white and golden mask that showed a stylized cat. “Please, don't interrupt your delightful discussion just because of me”, the man said with a deep, melodic voice, before he took a mocking bow. “Greetings. I am the Tom”
Samantha saw how Davith and Sasha immediately drew their weapons, while Jaylon let out a curse. “Fuck”, he mumbled. “Fucking fuck. We're dead. We're all dead!” While he said this, he tried to hide behind Samantha, a pathetic attempt, especially as he was at least half a head taller. The Tom only had to look past her, before he let out a slight whistle. “Now that's a surprise. Hello, Jaylon”, he hissed. “Haven't expected you to be here”
Jaylon gulped audibly, before he started to speak with a shaking voice. “Listen, Tom... I had no choice in this. I was forced to come here, against my will!”, he stuttered and Davith let out a disgusted noise. “Damn coward...”, he mumbled, even though Samantha noticed that he seemed slightly afraid of this man as well. The Tom shook his head. “I don't think I can believe you, Jaylon. Perhaps Butterfly and the Sphynx will find out the truth”
He took another step closer and this time, Sasha pointed her arakh at him, while Davith held a small throwing knife between his fingers, glaring at the masked man. “Stay back!”, Samantha shouted. “It's three against one. If you start a fight, we will kill you” She wanted to say more, in the attempt to intimidate him, but was cut off by his mocking laugh. “My dear, why exactly do you think I came alone?” He let out a short whistle, as if he was calling a dog and Jaylon let out a fearful wail.
Instead of a dog, the tallest man Samantha had ever seen walked around the corner. It had to be a giant, or at the very least, a half-giant, with arms as thick as tree trunks and shoulders at least twice, perhaps even thrice as broad as hers. In one of his massive hands he was wearing a blade, almost as tall as Samantha herself was. He was clad in white clothes and as with the Tom, she wasn't able to see his face, as it was hidden behind a white cat mask, stained with dark red blood. The only thing she saw was his pale skin, his white hair and his red eyes. “May I introduce my companion”, the Tom said. “This is the Moggy. Moggy, say hello”
“Who can I kill?”, the huge man said with a gravely voice, even if he seemed to have some problems in saying the words. The Tom shook his head. “That remains to be seen”, he answered, just as Samantha gave Davith a slight nudge with her elbow. “Davith, see if you can pick that lock. We need to get inside”, she whispered, realizing that the only way out of the hallway was blocked by the giant.
Even if she knew she wasn't loud, the Tom immediately looked at her. “Davith?”, he asked. “Davith Lanser?” He started to chuckle. “That is a coincidence. Butterfly wants to talk to you, Davith. You killed some of his men, as I have heard. You've been a nuisance” Even if it was hard to tell with the mask, Samantha had the feeling he was looking at her. “You and your friend here have nothing to do with this. I have no problem with killing you, but if possible, I'd like to prevent a fight in the Citadel. You can leave, but Jaylon, Davith and the boy belong to us now”
“Davith...”, Samantha hissed, as the man tried to open the door with his lockpick. “I have a better idea”, Sasha snarled. “You leave now, or we will cut you to pieces. You get neither Davith nor Dairon and not even Jaylon”
The Tom looked at the Moggy and let out a sigh. “Moggy”, he said and the giant looked back at him. “Kill the Dothraki whore and Davith. Leave the pretty one and Jaylon alive”, he ordered and the Moggy gave him a slow nod. “Davith...”, Samantha hissed again. The man looked over his shoulder, at her and she saw fear in his eyes as he jumped up, starting to bang on the door. “Archmaster!”, he yelled. “Archmaester, open the door!”
For a moment, Samantha thought she would hear a faint “Go away” from inside of the room, but before she could react, a loud scream caused her attention to return to the Moggy. The giant raised his sword, pointing it at Sasha, as he let out a loud warcry. Then, he started to charge at them.
“Archmaester!”, Davith screamed again, now in open panic, as Jaylon bumped into him, in the attempt of going backwards. “Please, open the door!”, Jaylon added as he joined in on the door-banging. Samantha and Sasha slowly walked backwards, as the giant ran down the long hallway, straight into their direction.
The creaking sound of the massive door behind them getting opened was the sweetest thing Samantha had heard in a long time. She looked over her shoulder, to see a man in his late fifties at least, with thin grey hair, a short beard and pasty, pale skin. He was wearing a simple, brown robe and around his neck, a chain consisting entirely of Valyrian Steel. The look in his bright blue eyes was furious as he glared at the group in front of him. Behind him, Samantha saw a room, filled with shelves full with books. In the middle of the room, a crude-looking thing stood on the ground, not taller than her forearm, looking almost like a candle that consisted entirely of dark glass. And behind the candle-thing stood Dairon. Samantha remembered the boy from his stay at the Hammered Harp Inn several weeks ago. A lanky, pale boy with red hair and too many freckles, always a sheepish look on his face. His blue eyes widened as he looked at Samantha, apparently recognizing her.
“What's the meaning of...”, the Archmaester attempted to say, as Jaylon already pushed him to the ground in the attempt of running into the chamber. Davith quickly followed, then came Samantha, who turned around to see that Sasha had hesitated a moment too long.
The look in Sasha's eyes told Samantha that she realized that the Moggy at full speed was too fast for her to reach the Archmaester's chamber. Instead of trying it, Sasha jumped to the side, barely avoiding the Moggy's massive blade in the process, while using her arakh and the Moggy's own speed to painfully slice across the giant's upper leg.
Almost immediately, the Moggy went on his knees, still towering every man Samantha ever met, while his warcry turned into a painful groan. Sasha raised her arakh in the attempt of targeting the unprotected back of the Moggy's neck, but the huge man was faster than expected. The moment Sasha's blade came close to his neck, he raised his sword and managed to deflect the attack. Instead, the arakh grazed his shoulder.
Quickly and remarkably graceful, Sasha tried to strike again, but this time, the Moggy managed to grabbed the long hilt of her sword, while he got back on his feet. Effortlessly, he twitched the arakh from her hands, while trying to impale her with his greatsword. To evade the attack, Sasha had to let go of her sword, as she jumped behind him, deeper into the hallway.
“Sam, we need to close the door!”, Davith urged her and she realized that she blocked the doorway. “Fuck off, we're not leaving her!”, she hissed. “Sasha! Get in here!” The woman threw her a helpless glance, as she was trapped between the enraged Moggy and the Tom, who stood at the other end of the hallway. The giant was now holding his greatsword with his right hand, while simultaneously holdings Sasha's arakh with his left. His wounded shoulder didn't even slow him down as he struck at her with both weapons at the same time. Sasha dodged the greatsword and did a roll sideways to evade her arakh, past the Moggy again and closer to the door.
Before the Moggy managed to strike again with his greatsword, Sasha managed to pull a small dagger from her belt. As soon as the giant man raised his sword, she leaped towards him and embedded the knife into his closed fist. The Moggy jumped back and let out a pained howl, dropping his greatsword in the process.
Immediately, Sasha turned away from him and darted towards the Archmaester's room, the enraged giant close behind her. “Bloody hell”, Davith mumbled, before he took a step out of the door, in his hand a small throwing knife. He threw it, above Sasha's head, hitting the Moggy in the chest, which wasn't even enough to slow him down. Immediately, Davith pulled out a second knife, throwing it at the Moggy's wounded shoulder and again, the giant barely seemed to notice it. “Are you fucking kidding me?”, Davith cursed, as Sasha ran past him and into the room. In the last moment, he turned around himself and ran into the room, just in time for Samantha and Jaylon to close the massive door.
To Samantha's surprise, the door held, even though the Moggy's massive body slammed against it. The giant let out an enraged howl as he started to bash at the door. “Come on, we need to barricade it!”, Jaylon shouted, immediately running towards the closest shelf, only to be stopped by the surprisingly agile Archmaester. “Not this one!”, he yelled, pointing at another shelf. “If you have to, take that. This one contains valuable...” Before he could continue, Jaylon cut him off. “Do I look like I care?”, he asked, but he indeed ran to the shelf the Archmaster pointed at. Together with Davith's help, he managed to carry it towards the door, where the two men tried their best to barricade it despite the constant blows the Moggy threw at it.
Samantha looked around, at the visibly confused Archmaester, the scared-looking Dairon and at Sasha, who was breathing heavily, standing in the middle of the room with widely opened eyes. “Are you alright?”, Samantha asked and put a hand on her shoulder. Sasha gave her a slow nod, her gaze focussed at the door. “He took my sword”, she mumbled. “That bastard still has my sword”
“He nearly killed you as well”, Samantha answered and gave her a smile. “That was close. Glad you made it” Sasha only shook her head. “We're not safe yet”, she stated, pointing at the door, before she glared at the Archmaester. “You there! How long will this door keep him out?”, she asked. The Archmaester glared back at her and slightly shrugged. “Maybe fifteen minutes. That door was designed to as resilient as possible”, he answered. “But could anyone here please explain to me what this is about?”
Sasha gave Samantha a short nod and glanced at Dairon. “I take care of the Archmaester. You talk to the boy”, she said, before she walked closer to the old man. Samantha let out a sigh and looked at Dairon, who still seemed to be intimidated and overwhelmed by the situation. The boy looked back at her and she forced herself to smile at him.
“I remember you!”, he exclaimed. “Your name is Samantha, right?” She gave him a nod and took two steps towards him. “Good to meet you again, Dairon”, she greeted him. “Glad to see you're okay, even if the circumstances could be better” Her smile had little effect on the boy, who slowly shook his head. “This is because of me, right? And because of the last will”, he mumbled. “These people are after me and I endangered Lucas and Leonard and...” He looked up, as he realized something and Samantha had to force herself to uphold her smile. “And Lunett...”, Dairon mumbled. “She stayed behind when the men came for me. She tried to barricade the door, just like your friends do right now, tried to give me time. It's my fault” He bit his lip with regret and looked her in the eyes. “What happened to my friends?”, he asked.
Samantha gulped as she thought about what she could tell him now. The boy was on the verge of a breakdown and she didn't want to make his situation any worse. “First of all”, she said sharply and raised a finger. “Never again say that this is your fault. The ones who are at fault are those masked monsters out there and the man they are working for. You did nothing wrong, nothing bad and you shouldn't think that way” She let out a sigh. “Trust me, once you start blaming yourself for something that's not your fault, there's no way back from it”
“As for your friends, it's complicated, but let me assure you, they are not dead” It was a lie, of course, and she felt bad for it, but the hint of a hopeful smile on Dairon's face was enough to justify it. “Why exactly are you here, Samantha?”, he asked, sounding slightly more optimistic than before.
“Lunett's father is worried sick for her”, she explained and her smile faded. “There has been an attack on his tavern. John and the others are alright, but Cass got killed. You remember the redhead?” Dairon gave her a sad nod and she continued. “I came for Lunett. I stayed to bring you and the rest of your friends out of this town again”
“But why?”, Dairon asked again. “All of this just for Lunett? For Lucas and Leonard? For me?” Samantha gave him a nod, followed by a grim smirk. “Sometimes, you just have to do the right thing”, she answered. “I couldn't live with myself if I'd leave any of you behind in this city”
This seemed to please Dairon. The boy gave her a short smile, that faded quickly again. “But... These people could kill you! Aren't you afraid? How do you manage to stay calm?”, he asked. This time, Samantha shook her head and raised her slightly shivering hand. “I am not calm”, she answered. “I am afraid. I don't want to die in this shitpile of a city, but I don't allow my fear to prevent me from doing what's right. Sometimes, you just have to be brave”
Dairon let out a sigh. “I don't know if I can”, he answered softly. “When the men arrived at the inn, when Lunett told me to run... I have never been that afraid in my life. Not even when Maester Eaton died” He looked up, straight in her eyes and pressed his lips together. “I don't want to die”
The desperation in his eyes caused Samantha to lean forwards and to hug him. She noticed how tensed up he was, how much he shivered, even though he calmed down as he lay in her arms. “And you won't”, she promised and rested her hands on his shoulders, looking him sternly in the eyes. “I won't allow it. These men out there? If they want to get you, they have to go through me first”
She looked at her group. Sasha, still talking to Archmaester Wulvren, arguing, explaining the situation. Davith and Jaylon, holding the door against the Moggy. “And through them”, she answered and pointed at Sasha. “You see her? That's Sasha. I couldn't have done that without her help” Sasha looked up for a moment and gave her the hint of a smile.
“The handsome one at the door is Davith”, Samantha continued and Davith looked over his shoulder. “I heard that”, he smirked, which caused her to sigh. “And he heard that. Great...”, she chuckled. “The other one is Jaylon. He did a lot of mistakes and this is his chance to set things right” Now, she looked back at Dairon. “We will get you out of here”
“And perhaps I can help with this”, a new voice proclaimed. As Samantha looked up, she saw that Sasha and the Archmaester had finished their talk and were now looking at her. The old man took a step forwards and gave her a strong handshake. “Wulvren Fossoway, Archmaester of Magic, at your service”, he introduced himself. “Samantha Ducard”, Samantha answered. “Pleasure to meet you, Archmaester, despite the circumstances”
“I admit, your presence here is disturbing for my work. I have been attempting to perform a highly interesting ritual involving this”, Wulvren continued and pointed at the glassy thing that stood in the middle of the room. “This is a Valyrian glass candle, a gift from Lord Daemion Targaryen. If we manage to ignite it, we should be able to...” He cut himself off and gave her an apologizing smile. “Excuse my rambling. Right now, we have more important things to do”
“So, how exactly will you be able to help?”, Sasha asked and for a moment, Samantha saw excitement in her eyes. “Will you throw a fireball at this giant? Or will you strangle him with his own shadow?” Wulvren gave her an irritated frown and vehemently shook his head. “Young woman, I am afraid you have a wrong idea about what kind of magic I perform here. I'm not the kind of mage that throws fireballs or turns an enemies shadow against them. I research real magic”
“Oh...”, Sasha remarked in obvious disappointment. “In Volantis I once saw a man who could vanish in shadows, only to appear at a completely different location. He was able to form shapes out of shadows and he even caused them to move on their own”
“Shadowbinders”, Wulvren growled. “Incompetent fumblers. They meddle with powers they don't understand. No, young lady, I firmly believe that understanding something as powerful as magic should come first, before people try to...” He paused for a moment and gestured with his hands. “Throw fireballs or cause earthquakes with their hands. Besides, even in the old days, very few were able of such great feats of magic. Ever since the Doom came upon Valyria, only a selected few are still able to use magic at all. I can assure you, whatever you saw in Volantis was little more than a phony”
“So... no fireballs?”, Sasha asked again and let out a sigh. “Can you do anything at all to defeat this monster in front of your door?” A triumphant smile appeared on Wulvren's wrinkled face and he gave her a quick nod. “There is one certain type of magic that can be used by everyone who is trained in it, even now, long after the Doom”, he explained, before looking at one of the bookshelves. “I only need a moment and I can show you!” With these words, he sprinted to the shelf, starting to look through the books.
“I swear, if he starts to talk about the magic of friendship and love, I throw him out of the window...”, Sasha growled and despite the situation, Samantha had to chuckle at this. “Don't be so negative”, she grinned. “I'm sure he talks about...”
“Pyromancy!”, the Archmaester cut her off, presenting a large, black book. “Yeah, Pyromancy. That's what I wanted to say”, Samantha mumbled. “Uh, what is Pyromancy?” Wulvren came closer again, a fascinated look in his eyes. “It's not quite the same as throwing a fireball, but it comes close”, he explained. “I will show it to you. And more importantly, I will show it to the men who try to break into my chamber!”
A cracking noise was heard from the door, and both, Davith and Jaylon let out a surprised scream as the door started to splinter. “A little help here!”, Davith yelled and Sasha immediately darted towards them, assisting them in holding the door against the giant at the other side of it. “That won't suffice!”, Jaylon yelled. “We can't hold him out much longer!”
“I'm on it!”, Samantha answered, as she attempted to run towards them, but Archmaester Wulvren's thin, but surprisingly strong hand grabbed her shoulder, holding her in position. “No, Samantha, I need your help here”, he said sternly and something in his voice immediately caused her to stop. “Then I'll help you!”, Dairon exclaimed as he ran towards the door in her stead.
“So... isn't he your apprentice?”, Samantha asked, as she watched Dairon, Davith, Jaylon and Sasha who tried to hold the door against the Moggy. Wulvren gave her a nod as he turned around to one of the shelves, taking out a bottle that contained a light red liquid and a second one, that only contained black powder. “He is”, Wulvren answered. “Sadly, I doubt he can throw a torch”
“And why should he do that? Do you plan to douse the Moggy in oil?”, Samantha asked and Wulvren shook his head in an irritated way. “You'll see”, he answered ominously. “I need you to take the torch over there. On my signal, you throw it”
With these words, he started to fill the powder into the bottle with the liquid, while a wicked grin appeared on his face. “They called me a fool for forging and alchemy link. They called me a fool for studying magic. Oh, I'd love to see their faces now”, he chuckled, before the grin on his face vanished. He looked at the door, while Samantha grabbed the torch from the nearest wall. “Now, jump back and let him in! We only have one try!”
While Dairon and Jaylon immediately jumped back, Davith gave him a confused look. “Are you out of your...?”, he tried to say, before Sasha grabbed him and jumped to the ground with him. The door was torn open, revealing the massive body of the Moggy. He was breathing heavily, grabbing his own sword with the right hand and Sasha's large arakh with his left. Without saying a word, he slowly stepped into the room, his red eyes glared at Wulvren and Samantha. The Archmaester raised the bottle and with surprising accuracy, threw it at the Moggy, managing to hit his chest. “Now!”, he shouted. And Samantha threw the torch.
She expected many things. Or better, she expected nothing at all. But the flash of lighting, followed by the deafening noise sent her to the ground in terror. As she opened her eyes again, she noticed that the Moggy lay on the ground as well, even if he was still breathing. His tunic was torn to shreds and he was bleeding badly, but the fact that he was still alive was remarkable. Davith and Dairon lay on the ground next to him, slowly looking up, while Sasha and Jaylon were already back on their knees, looking at the Archmaester in amazement. Wulvren was the only one who still stood, a triumphant smile on his face. “That, my friends, is pyromancy!”, he exclaimed.
Before he was able to say anything else, Davith jumped up and grabbed the nearest weapon, Sasha's arakh. He raised it above his head, trying to kill the Moggy while he was down and wounded. Again, the giant's speed came as a surprise, as the Moggy managed to take his own sword and parried the strike, while slowly getting back on his feet. “This... hurt!”, he huffed slowly. “I'm going to kill you!”
Despite his wounds, the Moggy attacked Davith and even though his attack was parried, the force of his blow was strong enough to send his opponent back on the ground. He raised his sword and Samantha tried to run towards him, even if the explosion still caused her legs to be slightly shaky. She knew, she wouldn't be fast enough...
“You won't hurt anyone else!”, the voice of Dairon sounded, as he jumped at the giant in an attempt of tackling it to the ground. Of course, he failed, but he at least managed to throw a punch at the Moggy's wounded chest. The giant let out an agonizing scream and eased the grip on his sword. Instead of dropping it though, he tried to hit Dairon, succeeding in grazing his chest.
The following seconds seemed almost unreal for Samantha. In shock, she saw blood spilling from Dairon's chest. Just as the boy went to the ground, she was there, preventing him from falling. She held Dairon, as they both softly sunk to the ground. The Moggy growled at her and raised his sword. And then, she saw it. The giant was... smoking. Not his body, but the remains of his tunic. Only a few seconds later, the smoke turned to flames, as he let out an agonizing scream.
Burning brightly, the Moggy staggered backwards, slowly at first, then quickly, as he ran back through the corridor, howling in pain, trying to get off his burning clothes. Samantha had no doubt that he would survive, but for now, he chose to retreat. Out of narrowed, tear-stained eyes, Samantha saw the Tom glaring at her, before he turned around as well, not running, but merely walking after his fleeing henchman.
And then, the realization of what just happened hit her like the kick of a horse. Dairon was wounded! She was holding him, he was bleeding, shivering, wailing in pain. Her own hands that rested on his chest were already stained with his blood. “Fuck...”, she mumbled. “Dairon! Dairon, do you hear me?”
He gave her a weak nod. “It hurts...”, he mumbled. And then, Sasha was there, kneeling next to her, as she carefully inspected the wound. Samantha had no doubt that Dairon failed to notice her slight head-shaking. Samantha only had to look at the wound for a moment to realize that not even the Archmaester of Healing could help the boy now.
“Dairon, I need you to stay awake!”, she exclaimed with shaky voice. “Concentrate on my voice. Everything is going to be fine. We can help you...” The thin voice of Dairon managed to cut her off. “Liar...”, he mumbled. “You were right... sometimes you just have to be brave” He looked at Davith, who slowly stumbled back onto his feet and a proud smile appeared on his face. “I saved his life...”
“You did”, Samantha agreed. “And you will survive, you hear me. It looks good, honestly” She knew, it was a weak lie, but she had to say something, mostly to calm herself. “The others...”, Dairon mumbled. “Where are they? Lucas, Leonard... Lunett”
Samantha closed her eyes, trying her best to hold back her tears. “Lunett is fine”, she lied and forced herself to smile brightly. At least that was something she was good at. The look in Dairon's eyes made it clear that he believed her. “We managed to save her. She's fine. Lucas and Leonard are a bit wounded, but we saved them as well. They are all fine”
“That's... good to hear...”, Dairon mumbled. He moved one of his bloodstained hands towards his pocket. “You take it...”, he said softly, before he started to cough and with terror, Samantha saw that he was coughing blood. “Hurts... so much...”, the boy mumbled weakly. “Don't want to die here...” His body grew limp, even if Samantha still needed another moment to realize that she was looking into the eyes of a dead man. And then, finally, she failed at holding back her tears.
Almost in a trance, she raised from the ground, looking at the shocked faces of Sasha, Davith, Jaylon and Archmaester Wulvren. She looked down at the thin body, slightly shaking her head as she reached down into his pocket, pulling out a document, the seal of House Raylan on top. “Shit...”, she heard Jaylon mumbling. “Listen I am...”
Her glare cut him off. “No”, she said. “I don't want to hear it. He is dead, we are alive. There's nothing left to say” She closed her eyes, as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She did not resist as Sasha pulled her into a loose hug. As she rested her head on the other woman's shoulder, she finally realized how tired she was and how much she needed this right now, as brief as it was.
“How were they able to find us here?”, Davith mumbled and Samantha already knew the answer before Jaylon confirmed her assumption. “Lucas”, he answered. “We have to hurry, or else he's just another corpse”
Samantha shot him another glare, as she separated from Sasha. To her surprise, she noticed that the other woman looked just as distraught as she felt herself. “Then we will hurry”, she decided weakly. “Somehow. We need a plan, we need anything, we need...” Her gaze fell on Dairon's dead body and she cut herself off again. “I failed them... Lunett, Dairon...”
“You saved Leonard”, Sasha remarked and Samantha shook her head. “Who knows what will happen to him?”, she mumbled and her gaze hardened. “No... even if I have to tear the whole Hightower to the ground, we will get him out of there!”
To her surprise, Jaylon was the first to give her an enthusiastic nod. “You can count on me!”, he proclaimed and Davith gave him a glare. “And on me, always”, he added. Sasha said nothing at first, she only gave her a reassuring nod, followed by a sigh. “One day, you'll be the death of me”, she mumbled. “But I'll be damned if I'm going to leave you now”
“Perhaps I can help as well”, Wulvren interjected and Samantha gave him a surprised look. The Archmaester seemed collected, considering that his apprentice just bled out on his own floor, but a look into his eyes revealed a deep sadness and an understanding for Samantha's current situation that needed no words. “You want to leave this city, right? I know, the city gates are not an option and neither are the docks... but I know the right people, people who know ways out of this city... As soon as you have saved your knight, approach me again and I will be able to help you”
Samantha gave him a thankful nod. “They could return...”, she remarked, but Wulvren only shook his head. “If they do... well, I have something special for them”, he answered grimly, before smiling at them, surprisingly friendly. “You can count on my help. For Dairon” He looked at the body and closed his eyes for a moment. “Leave now. I will take care of this, trust me”
They walked back to Davith's house in complete silence. Samantha was in no mood to talk. She hated, dreaded this mood. She was close to loose control again. She was so close to getting her revenge on the man that killed her family. And Lunett, and Dairon and maybe even Lucas... So close, yet so far
Davith's house was closer to the Citadel than she remembered. She barely paid attention to the way back, to the mouldy hallway that lead to Davith's rooms, to the hollow faces of Sasha, Jaylon and Davith. She only started to pay attention to her surroundings again as she entered Davith's living room and saw Leonard leaning against the wall.
“You're back!”, he exclaimed with a smirk. “Where's Dairon?” Before anyone could answer, Davith walked towards him in surprise. “Leonard... you should be asleep by now. How can you even stand?” The knight let out a short chuckle. “Your neighbour was here. She gave me something against the pain! I can walk, do you see? It barely hurts! I can even fight” His grin faded as he realized that Dairon wasn't with them. “Now, where's...”, he stuttered and Samantha shook her head. “I'm sorry”, she mumbled.
“Fuck!”, Leonard exclaimed and slammed his fist against the wall, a distraught expression on it. “No! This... No!” The hint of tears formed on his face, even if he was remarkably and admirably calm. “First Lunett, now Dairon...”, he hissed and glared at Samantha. “You plan on leaving Lucas to die as well?”
“Okay, that is...”, Sasha started to say, but Samantha cut her off. “No”, she answered decidedly. “What do you want, Leonard? Yes, I failed to save Lunett, I failed to save Dairon, but what the hell do you want now?” The angry glare on Leonard's face vanished as he let out a sigh. “Helping you”, he answered. “Lucas was my friend as well. And I failed to save Lunett and Dairon as well. I can...” Davith cut him off with a handwave. “That's out of question. You shouldn't even walk! Right now, you have no pain, but who guarantees that it will stay that way? Perhaps you're making it only worse”, he said
“I don't care!”, Leonard spat. “I can walk and more importantly, I can fight. I can help you! Even if you have to use me to trick the guard to let you inside, I am sure there is something I can do” Davith crossed his arms and shook his head. “You can rest. You can heal. But going with us is too dangerous” He looked at Samantha, slightly upset. “Sam, please tell me you're not considering that”
“Well... I know I'm the last person you want to hear right now”, Jaylon remarked. “But he is a damn fine fighter. He fought against Samuel Harrington and survived. And he can obviously stand. Fuck, give him his armour and he will be worth ten guardsmen” Both, he and Davith looked at her, while Leonard nervously clenched his fists. “Of course, the decision is yours. You want to take the risk of taking him with you? Or do you want to take the risk of leaving him here?”
[Allow Leonard to help][Don't allow Leonard to help]
Samantha gulped as she thought about what she could tell him now. The boy was on the verge of a breakdown and she didn't want to make his si… moretuation any worse. “First of all”, she said sharply and raised a finger. “Never again say that this is your fault. The ones who are at fault are those masked monsters out there and the man they are working for. You did nothing wrong, nothing bad and you shouldn't think that way” She let out a sigh. “Trust me, once you start blaming yourself for something that's not your fault, there's no way back from it”
“As for your friends, it's complicated, but let me assure you, they are not dead” It was a lie, of course, and she felt bad for it, but the hint of a hopeful smile on Dairon's face was enough to justify it. “Why exactly are you here, Samantha?”, he asked, sounding slightly more optimistic than before.
“Lunett's father is worried sick for her”, she explained and her smile faded. “There has been an a… [view original content]
I'm glad to hear that! It's always a great feeling when I manage to write a character the way his creator imagined him. I had plenty of fun with Wulvren and there's a lot more planned for him in the future
Samantha gulped as she thought about what she could tell him now. The boy was on the verge of a breakdown and she didn't want to make his si… moretuation any worse. “First of all”, she said sharply and raised a finger. “Never again say that this is your fault. The ones who are at fault are those masked monsters out there and the man they are working for. You did nothing wrong, nothing bad and you shouldn't think that way” She let out a sigh. “Trust me, once you start blaming yourself for something that's not your fault, there's no way back from it”
“As for your friends, it's complicated, but let me assure you, they are not dead” It was a lie, of course, and she felt bad for it, but the hint of a hopeful smile on Dairon's face was enough to justify it. “Why exactly are you here, Samantha?”, he asked, sounding slightly more optimistic than before.
“Lunett's father is worried sick for her”, she explained and her smile faded. “There has been an a… [view original content]
Samantha gulped as she thought about what she could tell him now. The boy was on the verge of a breakdown and she didn't want to make his si… moretuation any worse. “First of all”, she said sharply and raised a finger. “Never again say that this is your fault. The ones who are at fault are those masked monsters out there and the man they are working for. You did nothing wrong, nothing bad and you shouldn't think that way” She let out a sigh. “Trust me, once you start blaming yourself for something that's not your fault, there's no way back from it”
“As for your friends, it's complicated, but let me assure you, they are not dead” It was a lie, of course, and she felt bad for it, but the hint of a hopeful smile on Dairon's face was enough to justify it. “Why exactly are you here, Samantha?”, he asked, sounding slightly more optimistic than before.
“Lunett's father is worried sick for her”, she explained and her smile faded. “There has been an a… [view original content]
Samantha gulped as she thought about what she could tell him now. The boy was on the verge of a breakdown and she didn't want to make his si… moretuation any worse. “First of all”, she said sharply and raised a finger. “Never again say that this is your fault. The ones who are at fault are those masked monsters out there and the man they are working for. You did nothing wrong, nothing bad and you shouldn't think that way” She let out a sigh. “Trust me, once you start blaming yourself for something that's not your fault, there's no way back from it”
“As for your friends, it's complicated, but let me assure you, they are not dead” It was a lie, of course, and she felt bad for it, but the hint of a hopeful smile on Dairon's face was enough to justify it. “Why exactly are you here, Samantha?”, he asked, sounding slightly more optimistic than before.
“Lunett's father is worried sick for her”, she explained and her smile faded. “There has been an a… [view original content]
Samantha gulped as she thought about what she could tell him now. The boy was on the verge of a breakdown and she didn't want to make his si… moretuation any worse. “First of all”, she said sharply and raised a finger. “Never again say that this is your fault. The ones who are at fault are those masked monsters out there and the man they are working for. You did nothing wrong, nothing bad and you shouldn't think that way” She let out a sigh. “Trust me, once you start blaming yourself for something that's not your fault, there's no way back from it”
“As for your friends, it's complicated, but let me assure you, they are not dead” It was a lie, of course, and she felt bad for it, but the hint of a hopeful smile on Dairon's face was enough to justify it. “Why exactly are you here, Samantha?”, he asked, sounding slightly more optimistic than before.
“Lunett's father is worried sick for her”, she explained and her smile faded. “There has been an a… [view original content]
Samantha gulped as she thought about what she could tell him now. The boy was on the verge of a breakdown and she didn't want to make his si… moretuation any worse. “First of all”, she said sharply and raised a finger. “Never again say that this is your fault. The ones who are at fault are those masked monsters out there and the man they are working for. You did nothing wrong, nothing bad and you shouldn't think that way” She let out a sigh. “Trust me, once you start blaming yourself for something that's not your fault, there's no way back from it”
“As for your friends, it's complicated, but let me assure you, they are not dead” It was a lie, of course, and she felt bad for it, but the hint of a hopeful smile on Dairon's face was enough to justify it. “Why exactly are you here, Samantha?”, he asked, sounding slightly more optimistic than before.
“Lunett's father is worried sick for her”, she explained and her smile faded. “There has been an a… [view original content]
Samantha gulped as she thought about what she could tell him now. The boy was on the verge of a breakdown and she didn't want to make his si… moretuation any worse. “First of all”, she said sharply and raised a finger. “Never again say that this is your fault. The ones who are at fault are those masked monsters out there and the man they are working for. You did nothing wrong, nothing bad and you shouldn't think that way” She let out a sigh. “Trust me, once you start blaming yourself for something that's not your fault, there's no way back from it”
“As for your friends, it's complicated, but let me assure you, they are not dead” It was a lie, of course, and she felt bad for it, but the hint of a hopeful smile on Dairon's face was enough to justify it. “Why exactly are you here, Samantha?”, he asked, sounding slightly more optimistic than before.
“Lunett's father is worried sick for her”, she explained and her smile faded. “There has been an a… [view original content]
Samantha gulped as she thought about what she could tell him now. The boy was on the verge of a breakdown and she didn't want to make his si… moretuation any worse. “First of all”, she said sharply and raised a finger. “Never again say that this is your fault. The ones who are at fault are those masked monsters out there and the man they are working for. You did nothing wrong, nothing bad and you shouldn't think that way” She let out a sigh. “Trust me, once you start blaming yourself for something that's not your fault, there's no way back from it”
“As for your friends, it's complicated, but let me assure you, they are not dead” It was a lie, of course, and she felt bad for it, but the hint of a hopeful smile on Dairon's face was enough to justify it. “Why exactly are you here, Samantha?”, he asked, sounding slightly more optimistic than before.
“Lunett's father is worried sick for her”, she explained and her smile faded. “There has been an a… [view original content]
Samantha gulped as she thought about what she could tell him now. The boy was on the verge of a breakdown and she didn't want to make his si… moretuation any worse. “First of all”, she said sharply and raised a finger. “Never again say that this is your fault. The ones who are at fault are those masked monsters out there and the man they are working for. You did nothing wrong, nothing bad and you shouldn't think that way” She let out a sigh. “Trust me, once you start blaming yourself for something that's not your fault, there's no way back from it”
“As for your friends, it's complicated, but let me assure you, they are not dead” It was a lie, of course, and she felt bad for it, but the hint of a hopeful smile on Dairon's face was enough to justify it. “Why exactly are you here, Samantha?”, he asked, sounding slightly more optimistic than before.
“Lunett's father is worried sick for her”, she explained and her smile faded. “There has been an a… [view original content]
Samantha gulped as she thought about what she could tell him now. The boy was on the verge of a breakdown and she didn't want to make his si… moretuation any worse. “First of all”, she said sharply and raised a finger. “Never again say that this is your fault. The ones who are at fault are those masked monsters out there and the man they are working for. You did nothing wrong, nothing bad and you shouldn't think that way” She let out a sigh. “Trust me, once you start blaming yourself for something that's not your fault, there's no way back from it”
“As for your friends, it's complicated, but let me assure you, they are not dead” It was a lie, of course, and she felt bad for it, but the hint of a hopeful smile on Dairon's face was enough to justify it. “Why exactly are you here, Samantha?”, he asked, sounding slightly more optimistic than before.
“Lunett's father is worried sick for her”, she explained and her smile faded. “There has been an a… [view original content]
Well I pretty much saw Lucas getting screwed, but seriously fuck Mullendore he's too OP.
[Don't allow Leonard to help] We need all the help we can get, I understand that. However, just think about what will happen to a weakened Leonard if he goes up against Samuel or The Tom or even Mullendore. If he goes one-on-one with any of them without any interference, then he is probably dead without question. So let Leonard recover a bit to be able to use him at his full strength.
Samantha gulped as she thought about what she could tell him now. The boy was on the verge of a breakdown and she didn't want to make his si… moretuation any worse. “First of all”, she said sharply and raised a finger. “Never again say that this is your fault. The ones who are at fault are those masked monsters out there and the man they are working for. You did nothing wrong, nothing bad and you shouldn't think that way” She let out a sigh. “Trust me, once you start blaming yourself for something that's not your fault, there's no way back from it”
“As for your friends, it's complicated, but let me assure you, they are not dead” It was a lie, of course, and she felt bad for it, but the hint of a hopeful smile on Dairon's face was enough to justify it. “Why exactly are you here, Samantha?”, he asked, sounding slightly more optimistic than before.
“Lunett's father is worried sick for her”, she explained and her smile faded. “There has been an a… [view original content]
Samantha gulped as she thought about what she could tell him now. The boy was on the verge of a breakdown and she didn't want to make his si… moretuation any worse. “First of all”, she said sharply and raised a finger. “Never again say that this is your fault. The ones who are at fault are those masked monsters out there and the man they are working for. You did nothing wrong, nothing bad and you shouldn't think that way” She let out a sigh. “Trust me, once you start blaming yourself for something that's not your fault, there's no way back from it”
“As for your friends, it's complicated, but let me assure you, they are not dead” It was a lie, of course, and she felt bad for it, but the hint of a hopeful smile on Dairon's face was enough to justify it. “Why exactly are you here, Samantha?”, he asked, sounding slightly more optimistic than before.
“Lunett's father is worried sick for her”, she explained and her smile faded. “There has been an a… [view original content]
Damn, Dairon is dead and Lucas lost an eye and an ear.... Fucked up. Oh well, Wulvren is a badass and he is on our side now, there is something positive.
[Allow Leonard to help] I can almost feel this being another mistake, but all the help is needed.
Samantha gulped as she thought about what she could tell him now. The boy was on the verge of a breakdown and she didn't want to make his si… moretuation any worse. “First of all”, she said sharply and raised a finger. “Never again say that this is your fault. The ones who are at fault are those masked monsters out there and the man they are working for. You did nothing wrong, nothing bad and you shouldn't think that way” She let out a sigh. “Trust me, once you start blaming yourself for something that's not your fault, there's no way back from it”
“As for your friends, it's complicated, but let me assure you, they are not dead” It was a lie, of course, and she felt bad for it, but the hint of a hopeful smile on Dairon's face was enough to justify it. “Why exactly are you here, Samantha?”, he asked, sounding slightly more optimistic than before.
“Lunett's father is worried sick for her”, she explained and her smile faded. “There has been an a… [view original content]
Well yeah there is only 5 in Samantha's group, but Burned Man's gang is also against these fuckers - even if they don't yet know the truth about Mullendore.
Comments
I would say Jaron but he let Harpy torture "Butterfly"
Personally I'd say Lucas, he takes the moral codes of the knighthood a little more seriously than Jaron. Then forgetting the knights for a moment there is Ellena - probably the most innocent character of the story, at least from the PoVs.
Well Lucas if he survives definetly won't be the same as old Lucas, but I agree with Ellena.
I think Arthur seems good but he just lacks experience.
It's gotta be Ellena with Lucas as a close second.
The Voting is closed!
Ellena will shake Samuel's hand and forgive him
Lucas will try to lie to Mullendore
The Ellena choice was important to determine the relationship between Ellena and Samuel, which, depending on your later choices, might end up playing an important role in a future storyline. The Lucas choice on the other hand... well, keep in mind that Lucas is scared shitless, physically and mentally close to his breaking point and definitely not a very skilled liar. Mullendore on the other hand is a master manipulator and perhaps the most ruthless character in the whole story. This man will stop at nothing to achieve his goals. Do what you want with that info. You'll see the consequences of your choice in the next part.
The next part is, as already announced, mostly a Samantha part and a very long one on top. However, the beginning is a short Lucas part. I hoped to finish the part yesterday, but sadly, it got longer and longer while writing and I decided to give it the length of two full parts. A lot of stuff is going to happen: Character development, plot development, and as always, the slight possibility of shocking and unexpected death. Sadly, the length of the part means that I am not 100% sure if I will be able to finish it today.
Hmmm the only people I could see dying are Lucas or perhaps Jaylon, if Mullendore finds out about the citadel.
And one question can Mullendore actually achieve his goals because he has some crazy goals.
Is this the last Samantha part?
That's a very interesting question and I am not sure if there can be a definite answer. I think, the mentioned characters are definitely strong contenders. Well, except Jaron. While I like Jaron and while he is a lot more decent than the typical Westerosi, he is certainly not the most moral or merciful character in the story. Ellena probably wins when it comes to innocence, while Lucas is the most honourable character and comes close to meet the standards of a true knight in my opinion. While he had little chance to show it so far, Arthur is also a very moral and merciful character and personally, I would also include Richard in this list.
You have to wait and see
If I answer this question less vague, I'm afraid I would give away Samantha's status at the end of this part.
Well I guess if you told me I would know that something bad would happen which I'm assuming bad things will happen, Anyway I hope Davith will be okay.
Okay, I'm afraid I got bad news. First of all, if I seem pissed off right now, it's because I am. Second, I am not sure if the part will be out today, mostly because of a new, unexpected and, honestly, pretty fucking frustrating problem that I currently have to deal with. It's about the character submissions. I'm afraid, for some goddamn reason, the file in which these responses get saved, is broken. I don't know why this happened, I only know that it worked just fine about 2 hours ago. Then, I left to get something to eat and when I return, I realize the submission sheet has crashed. I tried to reload it and I get this error message:
http://i.imgur.com/NcT37eH.png
And this error message comes every time I try to load the response sheet from every possible link. You can imagine, this is pretty frustrating for me. Luckily, I am not unprepared, as I have regularly saved the character submissions. Sadly, the last time I did this was in early June. As a result, the last 100 character submissions are currently inaccessible. Now, even that is not that bad, as, for some strange goddamn reason I am still able to view the response analytics. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's hard to explain, but it contains everything that ever got submitted for Forum of Thrones, although the responses are not in order and I also suspect them to not be 100% complete. This means, it is very hard to see, for example, which appearance belongs to which backstory or personality. I hope I will manage to write about these characters, because some of the characters that got submitted since June are planned to appear in the next chapter. I have also contacted fucking Google in the hopes that they will be able to restore the broken file, hopefully without deleting all the responses. In the meantime, I will try to access the file, as that is my main priority at the moment. As soon as I manage to do that, or, as soon as I give up, I will continue writing the part. It looks like another all-nighter for me and I will try my best to finish the part, as I am quite happy with what I have written so far, but restoring the submissions has top priority at the moment and I think that should be understandable.
On another note, it appears that the file that contains Act 1 of the story is currently broken as well, but I don't even get an error message for that. Could you do me a favour and check all the links in the main post, aside from the imgur gallery, to see if you have trouble accessing any of it? Thanks in advance.
I checked them all they seem to work fine for me, but good luck with fixing the problem.
Thanks a lot! Apparently, for some strange reason, the links containing the story itself works for me as well again, even if I had to reload the Act 1 document for several times. Sadly, the response sheet is still inacessible. However, I was able to download the missing responses, which not only fixed my problem with the newer characters, it also proved that, regardless of what Google tries to tell me, the document and the responses still exist. That means, I am positive that I will be able to fix this problem.
Don't worry, you're not the only one. I think Google Drive is undergoing maintenance, since I also had (and still have) some problems.
It may be a silly suggestion (since I am no technician), but I suggest reloading the page after a minute or two. It worked for a file of mine.
Damn, that really sucks! I hope that it works out and Google doesn't screw you over.
[removed]
Okay this proves that you are nothing but a troll
Okay, very good news everyone! The response sheet just got restored, a lot faster than I expected. It was indeed broken, but a kind google technician just contacted me to inform me that everything should be restored by now. Indeed, there is not a single response missing and I'm amazed how fast google responded to my problem! The first thing I did was downloading the sheet twice, to make sure that such a thing never happens again. That means, I can now fully focus on writing the part again and I still hope to finish it later today, even if it means staying awake for longer than I originally planned. Should I fail this goal, the part will definitely be out early tomorrow.
Also, let's give a big round of applause to the awesome mod who immediately removed a troll post in here. While I regret that I missed an opportunity for a snarky response to the troll, I am nonetheless very thankful to the mod who immediately took care of this.
So, awesome google technician and awesome mod, thanks a lot for turning a somewhat shitty day into a day that ended up a lot less shitty than it started!
Hey, pssshh Liquid. Maybe that awesome mod would also like you to remember forum guideline 4.4.
Ah, it looks like I misunderstood that part of the guidelines. I thought it was okay as long as I refrain from naming the involved person, but of course I removed the line in question. I assume it's better now? Anyway, thanks again InGen, you're great
Lucas
“We told him to run!”, Lucas yelled and Mullendore raised the knife a tiny bit, now pointing at the knight's temple. “He is hiding in an empty warehouse at the docks” Mullendore let out a sigh. “Good answer, boy”, he complimented him. “Sadly, yet another lie” He pressed the knife into the skin of Lucas' temple and the knight started to scream. “And lies deserve punishment, don't you agree?”, Mullendore chuckled as he slowly started to cut from the temple, down to Lucas' right eye.
The moment the knife touched the eye, Lucas nearly lost consciousness. He clenched his teeth together, almost biting through his tongue in the process, but ultimately, he screamed, violently shaking in an attempt of pushing the knife away from him. Mullendore still cut down, from the now ruined eye, over Lucas' cheek, down to his chin. “Should have just told me the truth, boy”, Mullendore growled. “Because you can't take much more, I see it. You're about to break. By the way, you don't need this, do you?”
With these words, he grabbed Lucas right ear and despite the horrible agony he was in, Lucas tried to throw weak punches with both hands at Mullendore's arm, to no avail. In a swift, but nonetheless painful movement, the knife cleanly severed the ear. Lucas barely noticed it, a thumping, dizzying pain slowly forced him to drift into unconsciousness.
“Want to sleep, huh?”, Mullendore growled, while looking at the freshly severed ear. “Well, NOT YET!” The knife moved to Lucas' left temple and immediately, panic forced him to stay awake. “No...”, he mumbled weakly as the knife started to cut, slowly, but steadily approaching his eye. “No... NO! NO!”, Lucas screamed. “CITADEL!” He closed his remaining eye, out of fear and out of shame as tears formed in it. “Citadel. Archmaester of Magic”, he mumbled weakly as his vision started to fade. “Please, no more...”
He barely noticed Mullendore chuckling with sudden joy. “Now, that's something new. Wasn't that hard, was it?”, he growled as he raised the knife again, sparing Lucas' remaining eye. “We'll check that. I hope for you that you told me the truth this time, or else I'm going to take your other eye as well, cripple” There was something else, but Lucas wasn't able to notice it anymore. For him, there was only darkness.
Samantha
“We're going to wait”, Samantha decided and slightly rolled with her eyes. “I don't want to shout our presence through the whole Citadel and I definitely don't want to anger someone who studied magic by picking his lock” A sheepish grin formed on her face as she took a step away from the door. “That's not how I want to die”
“Then how do you?”, Jaylon asked. “Want to die, I mean” Samantha raised an eyebrow, but it was Sasha who answered. “Was that a threat?”, she snarled and Jaylon quickly shook his head. “A question”, he answered. “An attempt to start a conversation” Sasha sighed. “A shitty attempt”, she mumbled and this time, Jaylon slightly grinned. “Well, we have a conversation, haven't we?” As Sasha let out an annoyed groan, Samantha couldn't help but chuckle.
“At a high age, in my bed, surrounded by people I love”, she answered and her group gave her a surprised look. “What is it? That's how I'd like to die”, she continued, before she looked at Davith. “And you?”
The man shrugged, before leaning against the wall. “Sounds fine for me”, he answered. “But I always liked to die fighting. Don't think old age would suit me” He smirked at her in a rather irritating way. “Never thought you'd be the old-age kind of person”, he grinned and Samantha answered with a warm smile. “I'm full of surprises”, she said and chuckled slightly.
“I just hope I die without pain”, Jaylon mumbled and Sasha shot him a short glare. “Do you see anyone who cares?”, she asked. Now it was up to Jaylon to look at her in an irritated manner. “Could you please tell me what your fucking problem is, Sasha?”, he asked. “I can understand if Samantha is angry at me, or Davith. But you?”
“I told you before, people like you disgust me”, Sasha spat. “You only followed orders? Just ordinary sellsword work? That's what you tell yourself, so that you can sleep at night, don't you? What your boss did to the people in this city...” She cut herself off and Samantha noticed that Sasha was almost at a loss of words. “And yet you try to talk to us as if nothing ever happened. How much lower can you sink? Just shut up for once... you... self-righteous prick!”
Jaylon did not answer. He took a step back, leaning against the wall, his head hung low. “You think I wanted things to come that far? When I grew up I always wanted to be a knight. Or even better, a lord”, he said and for a moment, a childish joy appeared in his eyes, followed by the hint of a smile. “With a real castle and servants. Where no one has to suffer from hunger, not even the peasants”
Samantha pressed her lips together and took a step closer towards Jaylon. “So... at which point did the boy with big dreams like that turn into an asshole henchman of a monster? Your mother never loved you?”, she asked, still not feeling too much compassion for him.
Jaylon shot her a shot glare, before his gaze softened a bit. “My mother loved me a lot”, he answered. “It was my father. A Stark soldier, crippled in a fight against the Ironborn. Afterwards, he was a wreck, an abusive drunkard and a fucking wreck. Only good thing he ever did to me was teaching me how to fight” He paused for a moment and Samantha saw the hint of tears forming in his sullen eyes. “He gave me a choice, either to join the Stark army, or to take the black, so I ran away”, he mumbled. “When I left him, it was the best day of my life and the worst, for I had to leave my mother behind as well” He looked up and glared as Samantha. “What was I supposed to do? Starving to death? No, I used the only skill I was ever taught and worked my ass off to survive, to achieve something in this world. If that makes me the... the asshole henchman of a monster in your eyes, then that's a price I'm willing to pay”
He and Samantha looked at each other for a moment, before Davith interrupted them. “Boo Hoo”, he said and Samantha remembered what Jaylon said earlier. “Spare us your sob stories, will ya” Jaylon narrowed his eyes, before letting out a sigh. “I guess I deserved that one”, he mumbled, while Samantha looked at Davith. “That was not very empathetic”, she said, even if she fully agreed with him. Davith shrugged. “It was the truth”, he answered. “And you deserve a lot more, Jaylon Gordus!” His voice gained sharpness, but to his credit, he still leant against the wall, instead of storming at the other man. “So, that's your excuse, huh? Your daddy hit you? Mine's fucking dead and so is Sam's whole family! You see any of us being insufferable bastards?”
“Guys...”, Sasha said slowly, but Samantha didn't even pay attention to her. All that mattered now was to prevent a fight to break out. Jaylon nearly jumped at Davith as he came a step closer, clearly livid with anger. “Never. Call me. A bastard!”, he shouted. “I know what Butterfly did and I don't deny that I helped him. But how can I prove that I want to change if you don't even give me a chance?”
“Guys...”, Sasha repeated, this time with more urgency in her words. Davith and Jaylon didn't bother with looking at her. “Not now, Sasha”, Davith growled. “I don't give you a chance, Jaylon, because some people don't deserve chances. There's no excuse for working with Butterfly”
“Oh, because what you do is so much better, Davith Lanser!”, Jaylon yelled. “These guardsmen you killed? Yes, they worked for Butterfly, but they also had families! How does that make you any better than me? I don't ask for forgiveness, I only want a chance to prove myself!”
“GUYS!”, Sasha yelled at the top of her lungs and this time, everyone looked at her. “We got a problem”, she mumbled and pointed down the hallway. “Oh fuck...”, Jaylon mumbled. As Samantha followed her stare, she saw a man, standing at the other end of the hallway. At least, she was pretty sure that he was a man, judging from his muscular physique. He was tall, wearing fine dark clothes and a black, hooded tunic. A slightly curved sword was dangling at his belt and a number of throwing knives was strapped to his chest. Most importantly, his face was hidden behind a white and golden mask that showed a stylized cat. “Please, don't interrupt your delightful discussion just because of me”, the man said with a deep, melodic voice, before he took a mocking bow. “Greetings. I am the Tom”
Samantha saw how Davith and Sasha immediately drew their weapons, while Jaylon let out a curse. “Fuck”, he mumbled. “Fucking fuck. We're dead. We're all dead!” While he said this, he tried to hide behind Samantha, a pathetic attempt, especially as he was at least half a head taller. The Tom only had to look past her, before he let out a slight whistle. “Now that's a surprise. Hello, Jaylon”, he hissed. “Haven't expected you to be here”
Jaylon gulped audibly, before he started to speak with a shaking voice. “Listen, Tom... I had no choice in this. I was forced to come here, against my will!”, he stuttered and Davith let out a disgusted noise. “Damn coward...”, he mumbled, even though Samantha noticed that he seemed slightly afraid of this man as well. The Tom shook his head. “I don't think I can believe you, Jaylon. Perhaps Butterfly and the Sphynx will find out the truth”
He took another step closer and this time, Sasha pointed her arakh at him, while Davith held a small throwing knife between his fingers, glaring at the masked man. “Stay back!”, Samantha shouted. “It's three against one. If you start a fight, we will kill you” She wanted to say more, in the attempt to intimidate him, but was cut off by his mocking laugh. “My dear, why exactly do you think I came alone?” He let out a short whistle, as if he was calling a dog and Jaylon let out a fearful wail.
Instead of a dog, the tallest man Samantha had ever seen walked around the corner. It had to be a giant, or at the very least, a half-giant, with arms as thick as tree trunks and shoulders at least twice, perhaps even thrice as broad as hers. In one of his massive hands he was wearing a blade, almost as tall as Samantha herself was. He was clad in white clothes and as with the Tom, she wasn't able to see his face, as it was hidden behind a white cat mask, stained with dark red blood. The only thing she saw was his pale skin, his white hair and his red eyes. “May I introduce my companion”, the Tom said. “This is the Moggy. Moggy, say hello”
“Who can I kill?”, the huge man said with a gravely voice, even if he seemed to have some problems in saying the words. The Tom shook his head. “That remains to be seen”, he answered, just as Samantha gave Davith a slight nudge with her elbow. “Davith, see if you can pick that lock. We need to get inside”, she whispered, realizing that the only way out of the hallway was blocked by the giant.
Even if she knew she wasn't loud, the Tom immediately looked at her. “Davith?”, he asked. “Davith Lanser?” He started to chuckle. “That is a coincidence. Butterfly wants to talk to you, Davith. You killed some of his men, as I have heard. You've been a nuisance” Even if it was hard to tell with the mask, Samantha had the feeling he was looking at her. “You and your friend here have nothing to do with this. I have no problem with killing you, but if possible, I'd like to prevent a fight in the Citadel. You can leave, but Jaylon, Davith and the boy belong to us now”
“Davith...”, Samantha hissed, as the man tried to open the door with his lockpick. “I have a better idea”, Sasha snarled. “You leave now, or we will cut you to pieces. You get neither Davith nor Dairon and not even Jaylon”
The Tom looked at the Moggy and let out a sigh. “Moggy”, he said and the giant looked back at him. “Kill the Dothraki whore and Davith. Leave the pretty one and Jaylon alive”, he ordered and the Moggy gave him a slow nod. “Davith...”, Samantha hissed again. The man looked over his shoulder, at her and she saw fear in his eyes as he jumped up, starting to bang on the door. “Archmaster!”, he yelled. “Archmaester, open the door!”
For a moment, Samantha thought she would hear a faint “Go away” from inside of the room, but before she could react, a loud scream caused her attention to return to the Moggy. The giant raised his sword, pointing it at Sasha, as he let out a loud warcry. Then, he started to charge at them.
“Archmaester!”, Davith screamed again, now in open panic, as Jaylon bumped into him, in the attempt of going backwards. “Please, open the door!”, Jaylon added as he joined in on the door-banging. Samantha and Sasha slowly walked backwards, as the giant ran down the long hallway, straight into their direction.
The creaking sound of the massive door behind them getting opened was the sweetest thing Samantha had heard in a long time. She looked over her shoulder, to see a man in his late fifties at least, with thin grey hair, a short beard and pasty, pale skin. He was wearing a simple, brown robe and around his neck, a chain consisting entirely of Valyrian Steel. The look in his bright blue eyes was furious as he glared at the group in front of him. Behind him, Samantha saw a room, filled with shelves full with books. In the middle of the room, a crude-looking thing stood on the ground, not taller than her forearm, looking almost like a candle that consisted entirely of dark glass. And behind the candle-thing stood Dairon. Samantha remembered the boy from his stay at the Hammered Harp Inn several weeks ago. A lanky, pale boy with red hair and too many freckles, always a sheepish look on his face. His blue eyes widened as he looked at Samantha, apparently recognizing her.
“What's the meaning of...”, the Archmaester attempted to say, as Jaylon already pushed him to the ground in the attempt of running into the chamber. Davith quickly followed, then came Samantha, who turned around to see that Sasha had hesitated a moment too long.
The look in Sasha's eyes told Samantha that she realized that the Moggy at full speed was too fast for her to reach the Archmaester's chamber. Instead of trying it, Sasha jumped to the side, barely avoiding the Moggy's massive blade in the process, while using her arakh and the Moggy's own speed to painfully slice across the giant's upper leg.
Almost immediately, the Moggy went on his knees, still towering every man Samantha ever met, while his warcry turned into a painful groan. Sasha raised her arakh in the attempt of targeting the unprotected back of the Moggy's neck, but the huge man was faster than expected. The moment Sasha's blade came close to his neck, he raised his sword and managed to deflect the attack. Instead, the arakh grazed his shoulder.
Quickly and remarkably graceful, Sasha tried to strike again, but this time, the Moggy managed to grabbed the long hilt of her sword, while he got back on his feet. Effortlessly, he twitched the arakh from her hands, while trying to impale her with his greatsword. To evade the attack, Sasha had to let go of her sword, as she jumped behind him, deeper into the hallway.
“Sam, we need to close the door!”, Davith urged her and she realized that she blocked the doorway. “Fuck off, we're not leaving her!”, she hissed. “Sasha! Get in here!” The woman threw her a helpless glance, as she was trapped between the enraged Moggy and the Tom, who stood at the other end of the hallway. The giant was now holding his greatsword with his right hand, while simultaneously holdings Sasha's arakh with his left. His wounded shoulder didn't even slow him down as he struck at her with both weapons at the same time. Sasha dodged the greatsword and did a roll sideways to evade her arakh, past the Moggy again and closer to the door.
Before the Moggy managed to strike again with his greatsword, Sasha managed to pull a small dagger from her belt. As soon as the giant man raised his sword, she leaped towards him and embedded the knife into his closed fist. The Moggy jumped back and let out a pained howl, dropping his greatsword in the process.
Immediately, Sasha turned away from him and darted towards the Archmaester's room, the enraged giant close behind her. “Bloody hell”, Davith mumbled, before he took a step out of the door, in his hand a small throwing knife. He threw it, above Sasha's head, hitting the Moggy in the chest, which wasn't even enough to slow him down. Immediately, Davith pulled out a second knife, throwing it at the Moggy's wounded shoulder and again, the giant barely seemed to notice it. “Are you fucking kidding me?”, Davith cursed, as Sasha ran past him and into the room. In the last moment, he turned around himself and ran into the room, just in time for Samantha and Jaylon to close the massive door.
To Samantha's surprise, the door held, even though the Moggy's massive body slammed against it. The giant let out an enraged howl as he started to bash at the door. “Come on, we need to barricade it!”, Jaylon shouted, immediately running towards the closest shelf, only to be stopped by the surprisingly agile Archmaester. “Not this one!”, he yelled, pointing at another shelf. “If you have to, take that. This one contains valuable...” Before he could continue, Jaylon cut him off. “Do I look like I care?”, he asked, but he indeed ran to the shelf the Archmaster pointed at. Together with Davith's help, he managed to carry it towards the door, where the two men tried their best to barricade it despite the constant blows the Moggy threw at it.
Samantha looked around, at the visibly confused Archmaester, the scared-looking Dairon and at Sasha, who was breathing heavily, standing in the middle of the room with widely opened eyes. “Are you alright?”, Samantha asked and put a hand on her shoulder. Sasha gave her a slow nod, her gaze focussed at the door. “He took my sword”, she mumbled. “That bastard still has my sword”
“He nearly killed you as well”, Samantha answered and gave her a smile. “That was close. Glad you made it” Sasha only shook her head. “We're not safe yet”, she stated, pointing at the door, before she glared at the Archmaester. “You there! How long will this door keep him out?”, she asked. The Archmaester glared back at her and slightly shrugged. “Maybe fifteen minutes. That door was designed to as resilient as possible”, he answered. “But could anyone here please explain to me what this is about?”
Sasha gave Samantha a short nod and glanced at Dairon. “I take care of the Archmaester. You talk to the boy”, she said, before she walked closer to the old man. Samantha let out a sigh and looked at Dairon, who still seemed to be intimidated and overwhelmed by the situation. The boy looked back at her and she forced herself to smile at him.
“I remember you!”, he exclaimed. “Your name is Samantha, right?” She gave him a nod and took two steps towards him. “Good to meet you again, Dairon”, she greeted him. “Glad to see you're okay, even if the circumstances could be better” Her smile had little effect on the boy, who slowly shook his head. “This is because of me, right? And because of the last will”, he mumbled. “These people are after me and I endangered Lucas and Leonard and...” He looked up, as he realized something and Samantha had to force herself to uphold her smile. “And Lunett...”, Dairon mumbled. “She stayed behind when the men came for me. She tried to barricade the door, just like your friends do right now, tried to give me time. It's my fault” He bit his lip with regret and looked her in the eyes. “What happened to my friends?”, he asked.
Samantha gulped as she thought about what she could tell him now. The boy was on the verge of a breakdown and she didn't want to make his situation any worse. “First of all”, she said sharply and raised a finger. “Never again say that this is your fault. The ones who are at fault are those masked monsters out there and the man they are working for. You did nothing wrong, nothing bad and you shouldn't think that way” She let out a sigh. “Trust me, once you start blaming yourself for something that's not your fault, there's no way back from it”
“As for your friends, it's complicated, but let me assure you, they are not dead” It was a lie, of course, and she felt bad for it, but the hint of a hopeful smile on Dairon's face was enough to justify it. “Why exactly are you here, Samantha?”, he asked, sounding slightly more optimistic than before.
“Lunett's father is worried sick for her”, she explained and her smile faded. “There has been an attack on his tavern. John and the others are alright, but Cass got killed. You remember the redhead?” Dairon gave her a sad nod and she continued. “I came for Lunett. I stayed to bring you and the rest of your friends out of this town again”
“But why?”, Dairon asked again. “All of this just for Lunett? For Lucas and Leonard? For me?” Samantha gave him a nod, followed by a grim smirk. “Sometimes, you just have to do the right thing”, she answered. “I couldn't live with myself if I'd leave any of you behind in this city”
This seemed to please Dairon. The boy gave her a short smile, that faded quickly again. “But... These people could kill you! Aren't you afraid? How do you manage to stay calm?”, he asked. This time, Samantha shook her head and raised her slightly shivering hand. “I am not calm”, she answered. “I am afraid. I don't want to die in this shitpile of a city, but I don't allow my fear to prevent me from doing what's right. Sometimes, you just have to be brave”
Dairon let out a sigh. “I don't know if I can”, he answered softly. “When the men arrived at the inn, when Lunett told me to run... I have never been that afraid in my life. Not even when Maester Eaton died” He looked up, straight in her eyes and pressed his lips together. “I don't want to die”
The desperation in his eyes caused Samantha to lean forwards and to hug him. She noticed how tensed up he was, how much he shivered, even though he calmed down as he lay in her arms. “And you won't”, she promised and rested her hands on his shoulders, looking him sternly in the eyes. “I won't allow it. These men out there? If they want to get you, they have to go through me first”
She looked at her group. Sasha, still talking to Archmaester Wulvren, arguing, explaining the situation. Davith and Jaylon, holding the door against the Moggy. “And through them”, she answered and pointed at Sasha. “You see her? That's Sasha. I couldn't have done that without her help” Sasha looked up for a moment and gave her the hint of a smile.
“The handsome one at the door is Davith”, Samantha continued and Davith looked over his shoulder. “I heard that”, he smirked, which caused her to sigh. “And he heard that. Great...”, she chuckled. “The other one is Jaylon. He did a lot of mistakes and this is his chance to set things right” Now, she looked back at Dairon. “We will get you out of here”
“And perhaps I can help with this”, a new voice proclaimed. As Samantha looked up, she saw that Sasha and the Archmaester had finished their talk and were now looking at her. The old man took a step forwards and gave her a strong handshake. “Wulvren Fossoway, Archmaester of Magic, at your service”, he introduced himself. “Samantha Ducard”, Samantha answered. “Pleasure to meet you, Archmaester, despite the circumstances”
“I admit, your presence here is disturbing for my work. I have been attempting to perform a highly interesting ritual involving this”, Wulvren continued and pointed at the glassy thing that stood in the middle of the room. “This is a Valyrian glass candle, a gift from Lord Daemion Targaryen. If we manage to ignite it, we should be able to...” He cut himself off and gave her an apologizing smile. “Excuse my rambling. Right now, we have more important things to do”
“So, how exactly will you be able to help?”, Sasha asked and for a moment, Samantha saw excitement in her eyes. “Will you throw a fireball at this giant? Or will you strangle him with his own shadow?” Wulvren gave her an irritated frown and vehemently shook his head. “Young woman, I am afraid you have a wrong idea about what kind of magic I perform here. I'm not the kind of mage that throws fireballs or turns an enemies shadow against them. I research real magic”
“Oh...”, Sasha remarked in obvious disappointment. “In Volantis I once saw a man who could vanish in shadows, only to appear at a completely different location. He was able to form shapes out of shadows and he even caused them to move on their own”
“Shadowbinders”, Wulvren growled. “Incompetent fumblers. They meddle with powers they don't understand. No, young lady, I firmly believe that understanding something as powerful as magic should come first, before people try to...” He paused for a moment and gestured with his hands. “Throw fireballs or cause earthquakes with their hands. Besides, even in the old days, very few were able of such great feats of magic. Ever since the Doom came upon Valyria, only a selected few are still able to use magic at all. I can assure you, whatever you saw in Volantis was little more than a phony”
“So... no fireballs?”, Sasha asked again and let out a sigh. “Can you do anything at all to defeat this monster in front of your door?” A triumphant smile appeared on Wulvren's wrinkled face and he gave her a quick nod. “There is one certain type of magic that can be used by everyone who is trained in it, even now, long after the Doom”, he explained, before looking at one of the bookshelves. “I only need a moment and I can show you!” With these words, he sprinted to the shelf, starting to look through the books.
“I swear, if he starts to talk about the magic of friendship and love, I throw him out of the window...”, Sasha growled and despite the situation, Samantha had to chuckle at this. “Don't be so negative”, she grinned. “I'm sure he talks about...”
“Pyromancy!”, the Archmaester cut her off, presenting a large, black book. “Yeah, Pyromancy. That's what I wanted to say”, Samantha mumbled. “Uh, what is Pyromancy?” Wulvren came closer again, a fascinated look in his eyes. “It's not quite the same as throwing a fireball, but it comes close”, he explained. “I will show it to you. And more importantly, I will show it to the men who try to break into my chamber!”
A cracking noise was heard from the door, and both, Davith and Jaylon let out a surprised scream as the door started to splinter. “A little help here!”, Davith yelled and Sasha immediately darted towards them, assisting them in holding the door against the giant at the other side of it. “That won't suffice!”, Jaylon yelled. “We can't hold him out much longer!”
“I'm on it!”, Samantha answered, as she attempted to run towards them, but Archmaester Wulvren's thin, but surprisingly strong hand grabbed her shoulder, holding her in position. “No, Samantha, I need your help here”, he said sternly and something in his voice immediately caused her to stop. “Then I'll help you!”, Dairon exclaimed as he ran towards the door in her stead.
“So... isn't he your apprentice?”, Samantha asked, as she watched Dairon, Davith, Jaylon and Sasha who tried to hold the door against the Moggy. Wulvren gave her a nod as he turned around to one of the shelves, taking out a bottle that contained a light red liquid and a second one, that only contained black powder. “He is”, Wulvren answered. “Sadly, I doubt he can throw a torch”
“And why should he do that? Do you plan to douse the Moggy in oil?”, Samantha asked and Wulvren shook his head in an irritated way. “You'll see”, he answered ominously. “I need you to take the torch over there. On my signal, you throw it”
With these words, he started to fill the powder into the bottle with the liquid, while a wicked grin appeared on his face. “They called me a fool for forging and alchemy link. They called me a fool for studying magic. Oh, I'd love to see their faces now”, he chuckled, before the grin on his face vanished. He looked at the door, while Samantha grabbed the torch from the nearest wall. “Now, jump back and let him in! We only have one try!”
While Dairon and Jaylon immediately jumped back, Davith gave him a confused look. “Are you out of your...?”, he tried to say, before Sasha grabbed him and jumped to the ground with him. The door was torn open, revealing the massive body of the Moggy. He was breathing heavily, grabbing his own sword with the right hand and Sasha's large arakh with his left. Without saying a word, he slowly stepped into the room, his red eyes glared at Wulvren and Samantha. The Archmaester raised the bottle and with surprising accuracy, threw it at the Moggy, managing to hit his chest. “Now!”, he shouted. And Samantha threw the torch.
She expected many things. Or better, she expected nothing at all. But the flash of lighting, followed by the deafening noise sent her to the ground in terror. As she opened her eyes again, she noticed that the Moggy lay on the ground as well, even if he was still breathing. His tunic was torn to shreds and he was bleeding badly, but the fact that he was still alive was remarkable. Davith and Dairon lay on the ground next to him, slowly looking up, while Sasha and Jaylon were already back on their knees, looking at the Archmaester in amazement. Wulvren was the only one who still stood, a triumphant smile on his face. “That, my friends, is pyromancy!”, he exclaimed.
Before he was able to say anything else, Davith jumped up and grabbed the nearest weapon, Sasha's arakh. He raised it above his head, trying to kill the Moggy while he was down and wounded. Again, the giant's speed came as a surprise, as the Moggy managed to take his own sword and parried the strike, while slowly getting back on his feet. “This... hurt!”, he huffed slowly. “I'm going to kill you!”
Despite his wounds, the Moggy attacked Davith and even though his attack was parried, the force of his blow was strong enough to send his opponent back on the ground. He raised his sword and Samantha tried to run towards him, even if the explosion still caused her legs to be slightly shaky. She knew, she wouldn't be fast enough...
“You won't hurt anyone else!”, the voice of Dairon sounded, as he jumped at the giant in an attempt of tackling it to the ground. Of course, he failed, but he at least managed to throw a punch at the Moggy's wounded chest. The giant let out an agonizing scream and eased the grip on his sword. Instead of dropping it though, he tried to hit Dairon, succeeding in grazing his chest.
The following seconds seemed almost unreal for Samantha. In shock, she saw blood spilling from Dairon's chest. Just as the boy went to the ground, she was there, preventing him from falling. She held Dairon, as they both softly sunk to the ground. The Moggy growled at her and raised his sword. And then, she saw it. The giant was... smoking. Not his body, but the remains of his tunic. Only a few seconds later, the smoke turned to flames, as he let out an agonizing scream.
Burning brightly, the Moggy staggered backwards, slowly at first, then quickly, as he ran back through the corridor, howling in pain, trying to get off his burning clothes. Samantha had no doubt that he would survive, but for now, he chose to retreat. Out of narrowed, tear-stained eyes, Samantha saw the Tom glaring at her, before he turned around as well, not running, but merely walking after his fleeing henchman.
And then, the realization of what just happened hit her like the kick of a horse. Dairon was wounded! She was holding him, he was bleeding, shivering, wailing in pain. Her own hands that rested on his chest were already stained with his blood. “Fuck...”, she mumbled. “Dairon! Dairon, do you hear me?”
He gave her a weak nod. “It hurts...”, he mumbled. And then, Sasha was there, kneeling next to her, as she carefully inspected the wound. Samantha had no doubt that Dairon failed to notice her slight head-shaking. Samantha only had to look at the wound for a moment to realize that not even the Archmaester of Healing could help the boy now.
“Dairon, I need you to stay awake!”, she exclaimed with shaky voice. “Concentrate on my voice. Everything is going to be fine. We can help you...” The thin voice of Dairon managed to cut her off. “Liar...”, he mumbled. “You were right... sometimes you just have to be brave” He looked at Davith, who slowly stumbled back onto his feet and a proud smile appeared on his face. “I saved his life...”
“You did”, Samantha agreed. “And you will survive, you hear me. It looks good, honestly” She knew, it was a weak lie, but she had to say something, mostly to calm herself. “The others...”, Dairon mumbled. “Where are they? Lucas, Leonard... Lunett”
Samantha closed her eyes, trying her best to hold back her tears. “Lunett is fine”, she lied and forced herself to smile brightly. At least that was something she was good at. The look in Dairon's eyes made it clear that he believed her. “We managed to save her. She's fine. Lucas and Leonard are a bit wounded, but we saved them as well. They are all fine”
“That's... good to hear...”, Dairon mumbled. He moved one of his bloodstained hands towards his pocket. “You take it...”, he said softly, before he started to cough and with terror, Samantha saw that he was coughing blood. “Hurts... so much...”, the boy mumbled weakly. “Don't want to die here...” His body grew limp, even if Samantha still needed another moment to realize that she was looking into the eyes of a dead man. And then, finally, she failed at holding back her tears.
Almost in a trance, she raised from the ground, looking at the shocked faces of Sasha, Davith, Jaylon and Archmaester Wulvren. She looked down at the thin body, slightly shaking her head as she reached down into his pocket, pulling out a document, the seal of House Raylan on top. “Shit...”, she heard Jaylon mumbling. “Listen I am...”
Her glare cut him off. “No”, she said. “I don't want to hear it. He is dead, we are alive. There's nothing left to say” She closed her eyes, as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She did not resist as Sasha pulled her into a loose hug. As she rested her head on the other woman's shoulder, she finally realized how tired she was and how much she needed this right now, as brief as it was.
“How were they able to find us here?”, Davith mumbled and Samantha already knew the answer before Jaylon confirmed her assumption. “Lucas”, he answered. “We have to hurry, or else he's just another corpse”
Samantha shot him another glare, as she separated from Sasha. To her surprise, she noticed that the other woman looked just as distraught as she felt herself. “Then we will hurry”, she decided weakly. “Somehow. We need a plan, we need anything, we need...” Her gaze fell on Dairon's dead body and she cut herself off again. “I failed them... Lunett, Dairon...”
“You saved Leonard”, Sasha remarked and Samantha shook her head. “Who knows what will happen to him?”, she mumbled and her gaze hardened. “No... even if I have to tear the whole Hightower to the ground, we will get him out of there!”
To her surprise, Jaylon was the first to give her an enthusiastic nod. “You can count on me!”, he proclaimed and Davith gave him a glare. “And on me, always”, he added. Sasha said nothing at first, she only gave her a reassuring nod, followed by a sigh. “One day, you'll be the death of me”, she mumbled. “But I'll be damned if I'm going to leave you now”
“Perhaps I can help as well”, Wulvren interjected and Samantha gave him a surprised look. The Archmaester seemed collected, considering that his apprentice just bled out on his own floor, but a look into his eyes revealed a deep sadness and an understanding for Samantha's current situation that needed no words. “You want to leave this city, right? I know, the city gates are not an option and neither are the docks... but I know the right people, people who know ways out of this city... As soon as you have saved your knight, approach me again and I will be able to help you”
Samantha gave him a thankful nod. “They could return...”, she remarked, but Wulvren only shook his head. “If they do... well, I have something special for them”, he answered grimly, before smiling at them, surprisingly friendly. “You can count on my help. For Dairon” He looked at the body and closed his eyes for a moment. “Leave now. I will take care of this, trust me”
They walked back to Davith's house in complete silence. Samantha was in no mood to talk. She hated, dreaded this mood. She was close to loose control again. She was so close to getting her revenge on the man that killed her family. And Lunett, and Dairon and maybe even Lucas... So close, yet so far
Davith's house was closer to the Citadel than she remembered. She barely paid attention to the way back, to the mouldy hallway that lead to Davith's rooms, to the hollow faces of Sasha, Jaylon and Davith. She only started to pay attention to her surroundings again as she entered Davith's living room and saw Leonard leaning against the wall.
“You're back!”, he exclaimed with a smirk. “Where's Dairon?” Before anyone could answer, Davith walked towards him in surprise. “Leonard... you should be asleep by now. How can you even stand?” The knight let out a short chuckle. “Your neighbour was here. She gave me something against the pain! I can walk, do you see? It barely hurts! I can even fight” His grin faded as he realized that Dairon wasn't with them. “Now, where's...”, he stuttered and Samantha shook her head. “I'm sorry”, she mumbled.
“Fuck!”, Leonard exclaimed and slammed his fist against the wall, a distraught expression on it. “No! This... No!” The hint of tears formed on his face, even if he was remarkably and admirably calm. “First Lunett, now Dairon...”, he hissed and glared at Samantha. “You plan on leaving Lucas to die as well?”
“Okay, that is...”, Sasha started to say, but Samantha cut her off. “No”, she answered decidedly. “What do you want, Leonard? Yes, I failed to save Lunett, I failed to save Dairon, but what the hell do you want now?” The angry glare on Leonard's face vanished as he let out a sigh. “Helping you”, he answered. “Lucas was my friend as well. And I failed to save Lunett and Dairon as well. I can...” Davith cut him off with a handwave. “That's out of question. You shouldn't even walk! Right now, you have no pain, but who guarantees that it will stay that way? Perhaps you're making it only worse”, he said
“I don't care!”, Leonard spat. “I can walk and more importantly, I can fight. I can help you! Even if you have to use me to trick the guard to let you inside, I am sure there is something I can do” Davith crossed his arms and shook his head. “You can rest. You can heal. But going with us is too dangerous” He looked at Samantha, slightly upset. “Sam, please tell me you're not considering that”
“Well... I know I'm the last person you want to hear right now”, Jaylon remarked. “But he is a damn fine fighter. He fought against Samuel Harrington and survived. And he can obviously stand. Fuck, give him his armour and he will be worth ten guardsmen” Both, he and Davith looked at her, while Leonard nervously clenched his fists. “Of course, the decision is yours. You want to take the risk of taking him with you? Or do you want to take the risk of leaving him here?”
[Allow Leonard to help] [Don't allow Leonard to help]
[Allow Leonard to help]
Wulvren is just like I imagined him!
I'm glad to hear that! It's always a great feeling when I manage to write a character the way his creator imagined him. I had plenty of fun with Wulvren and there's a lot more planned for him in the future
[Don't allow Leonard to help] I cannot allow any harm to come to Leonard. I mean Lunett, and Lucas, and Darion...
This perfectly describes me, besides the she, cause I'm not a woman.
God that son of a bitch Moggy. I...I will not forget.
[Allow Leonard to help]
[Don't allow Leonard to help] To dangerous
Jesus that was intense. Poor Dairon.
[Allow Leonard to help] That was crazy what is this moggy made of?
Seriously fuck Mullendore he gets all the best fighters, How rich is this guy?
[Allow Leonard to help] I don't know what we plan to do there's only 5 of us and Mullendore seems to have alot more men.
Loved Davith in this part.
[Allow Leonard to help]
[Don't allow Leonard to help] Better keep him safe.
The Lucas part is going to give me nightmares. Loosing an eye like this is probably my worst fear ever.
(Allow Leonard to help)
[Allow Leonard to help]
That was so sad.
Well I pretty much saw Lucas getting screwed, but seriously fuck Mullendore he's too OP.
[Don't allow Leonard to help] We need all the help we can get, I understand that. However, just think about what will happen to a weakened Leonard if he goes up against Samuel or The Tom or even Mullendore. If he goes one-on-one with any of them without any interference, then he is probably dead without question. So let Leonard recover a bit to be able to use him at his full strength.
[Allow Leonard to help]
Seems like it, They blew him up and he walked it of.
Damn, Dairon is dead and Lucas lost an eye and an ear.... Fucked up. Oh well, Wulvren is a badass and he is on our side now, there is something positive.
[Allow Leonard to help] I can almost feel this being another mistake, but all the help is needed.
Well yeah there is only 5 in Samantha's group, but Burned Man's gang is also against these fuckers - even if they don't yet know the truth about Mullendore.