Which means, the voting is closed!
Jaron is going to take the shortcut back to the Burned Man's headquarters
Ah, I have missed this. M… morey vacation was nice though, very relaxing, but it also feels good to be home again. As for this part, it was fun to write, especially since I know the things to come. Consequences, eh? Good news are, there is going to be another Jaron part in this chapter. Bad news are, I'm looking forward for it. But first, let me write about all the other characters whom we haven't seen in a while. Garthon, Raenna, Drent, Marak, they are all going to have some stuff left to do in this chapter.
Talking about Garthon, he is going to be the sole PoV of the next part. Unfortunately, I haven't managed to finish this part while I was away. The reason behind this wasn't a lack of time, but rather the result of me forgetting the charger of my laptop at home. I managed to write roughly two pages before the battery died, so th… [view original content]
Which means, the voting is closed!
Jaron is going to take the shortcut back to the Burned Man's headquarters
Ah, I have missed this. M… morey vacation was nice though, very relaxing, but it also feels good to be home again. As for this part, it was fun to write, especially since I know the things to come. Consequences, eh? Good news are, there is going to be another Jaron part in this chapter. Bad news are, I'm looking forward for it. But first, let me write about all the other characters whom we haven't seen in a while. Garthon, Raenna, Drent, Marak, they are all going to have some stuff left to do in this chapter.
Talking about Garthon, he is going to be the sole PoV of the next part. Unfortunately, I haven't managed to finish this part while I was away. The reason behind this wasn't a lack of time, but rather the result of me forgetting the charger of my laptop at home. I managed to write roughly two pages before the battery died, so th… [view original content]
Which means, the voting is closed!
Jaron is going to take the shortcut back to the Burned Man's headquarters
Ah, I have missed this. M… morey vacation was nice though, very relaxing, but it also feels good to be home again. As for this part, it was fun to write, especially since I know the things to come. Consequences, eh? Good news are, there is going to be another Jaron part in this chapter. Bad news are, I'm looking forward for it. But first, let me write about all the other characters whom we haven't seen in a while. Garthon, Raenna, Drent, Marak, they are all going to have some stuff left to do in this chapter.
Talking about Garthon, he is going to be the sole PoV of the next part. Unfortunately, I haven't managed to finish this part while I was away. The reason behind this wasn't a lack of time, but rather the result of me forgetting the charger of my laptop at home. I managed to write roughly two pages before the battery died, so th… [view original content]
His cheek was thumping in pain, but his heart was thumping even more severely in his chest, as he walked trough the narrow hallway that led to Kyra Greyjoy's chamber. He was no fool. Of course he had a rough idea why she would call him to her chamber. Despite the pain it caused him, a sly grin formed on his face.
There have been hints, he thought, but it still came surprising. Sure, there was the way she seemed to look at him. The way she always seemed to smile when he was around. Though they did call her the 'Laughing Kraken' for a reason...
Perhaps it had just been Garthon's imagination. Perhaps he just saw what he wanted to see. And there was no doubt what he wanted to see. There was her beauty, her raven hair, her silken skin, her deep blue eyes. But even more importantly, she was the last person in this entire castle that seemed to care for him. Amongst the darkness that was Harrenhal, Kyra was a light, a friend, perhaps even... There was only one way to find out. “Kyra, you there?”, he asked with a firm voice, as he knocked on the door.
All of his expectations were shattered when the door got opened. He expected many things, but not this. The person in the doorframe was not Kyra. In fact, it wasn't a woman at all. It was a man, a very young one, a lot taller than Garthon but skinny at the same time. Dark-blonde hair fell behind his ears, down on his shoulders. He looked more than a bit nervous, as if he had just been caught doing something embarrassing. “Uh... no”, he said unnecessarily. “My name is Hjalgar”
The name sounded familiar, although Garthon had to think about it for a moment. Then it hit him. “Hjalgar Holgarsson!”, he exclaimed, as he recognized not the man, but his name. Torvin had mentioned him and his contribution to their plan.
“Garthon”, he introduced himself and unlike him, Hjalgar only needed a second to recognize this name. “Torvin's younger brother”, he said and even though a hint of nervousness remained in his eyes, a friendly smile appeared on his face, as he extended a long arm to shake Garthon's hand. Then, both men had the same thought. “Why are you here?”, they asked, almost in unison.
“Uh... well... I...”, Hjalgar stuttered. “Captain Greyjoy saved my life last week. She found me, hid me from the king's men. Today she invited me to her chambers” He paused and his face started to turn a shade of scarlet embarrassment. “I... actually don't know why I'm here”, he finally answered the question. “I mean, I thought I'd knew, but now...” He looked up, his eyes met Garthon's. “Do you think, she could mean to...”
“Garthon!”, a familiar voice called. As Garthon followed Kyra's voice, his face lit up, only for a moment. Pain lit up as well and he forced himself not to smile, not even to smirk as he watched her walking down the corridor. There was the disconcerting presence of yet another man, who was walking next to her, which worsened his mood almost as much as the pain.
The man was wearing armour, which, while jagged, was fine craftsmanship. The thick coat that was draped around his shoulders was the finest fur. His face showed his advanced age, but his light-brown hair, while thinning, showed no sign of grey. Garthon let out a sigh as he recognized him and now his confusion was complete.
“Kyra, I...”, he greeted her, before his confusion got the better of him. He narrowed his eyes and lowered his head. “Captain Vessels?”, he asked. Simon Vessels gave him a nod. “Breaker”, he growled with a sneer. “Or is it Captain Breaker, now that your traitor brother is rotting in a cell?”
Garthon ignored the provocation and instead gave Kyra a confused look. She glanced past him and gave Hjalgar a radiant smile. “I see you already met”, she deduced. The men exchanged a look, before Garthon cleared his throat. “Uh... what exactly are they doing here?”, he asked. Momentarily, Kyra's smile faded. “What do you think they are doing here?”, she asked. “I invited all of you and I'm glad you came. We should go inside, while we're waiting for Damon”
“Your brother?”, Garthon exclaimed, now fully lost. Just a couple of minutes ago, he had plenty of ideas about what would expect him in Kyra's room. None of these included Hjalgar Holgarsson and Simon Vessels. The presence of the latter was especially confusing, as he and Kyra were known to openly despise each other.
“Aye, Damon”, Kyra answered. “Lord Captain of the Iron Fleet, the Ghost of Pyke and my brother” Her stare fell upon the scar on his cheek and she sighed, before a smile, smaller, but reassuring and completely genuine, formed on her face. “The Maester did good work”, she told him softly. “It's going to heal nicely. Right now it looks gruesome, but I've seen worse. You're still easy on the eyes, you know that?”
Garthon opened his mouth in surprise, but it was Simon who answered. “Under any other circumstance, I'd say 'Get a room'”, he snarled with a vicious grin. “But that is sort of impossible right now, so could we just proceed?”
Kyra rolled her eyes, as she stepped past Hjalgar. “You're an ass, Simon”, she said and it was more a statement than a genuine insult. Vessels even seemed to take pride in it, as he gave her a nod. “And you're a tart, Captain Greyjoy”, he countered calmly, which caused her to narrow her eyes. Moments later, a smile formed on her face. “Over here, Damon”, she said and entered her room.
Simon's mouth opened widely, but he managed to keep control over his facial expression, as he glanced over his shoulder. At the other end of the hallway, Damon Greyjoy slowly walked out of the shadow and for a short moment, the darkness seemed to follow him, before getting eclipsed by the look in his eyes. It was impossible to tell how long he had been standing there.
Both, Garthon and Simon crossed their arms and bowed slightly in front of the Lord Captain, to which he answered with a nod of his head. “Captain Vessels”, he said frostily. “And Garthon. I'm glad we finally get to meet in private” A cold hand grabbed Garthon by the shoulder, as Damon entered the room together with him, followed by Simon, who closed the door.
Kyra's room was smaller than expected, especially considering her position. The bed looked larger, as Garthon wistfully noticed, and there was an additional chair near the table, but other than that, it was unremarkable. Kyra herself sat down on the soft mattress, while Hjalgar stood in the middle of the room, looking way over his head, visibly unsure if he should grab one of the two chairs, or just lean against a wall. He decided for neither, as he awkwardly crossed his arms, looking from the beautiful captain to her equally good-looking, but disturbingly dangerous brother.
Without hesitating, Damon sat down on the chair that stood the closest to his sister, while Simon stopped approaching the second one. Instead, the old captain leant against the wall as far away as possible from both Greyjoys. Without saying a word, the Lord Captain drew a stiletto, a fine, thin knife of myrish craftsmanship, and started to pick some dirt from underneath his fingernails. He threw a look at Garthon that compelled him to sit down on the empty chair.
“Finally”, Damon said, looking around the room. Even though a table was separating them, Garthon felt way too close to him, especially since he wasn't out of reach of his knife. “My... friends”, he continued, hesitating to say the latter word, before his mouth formed a dark smile that fitted well to the look in his eyes. “And my sweet sister”
“Get to the point, Damon”, Kyra urged him. She was the only one who was not afraid at all to be that close to him. Hjalgar looked close to a panic, while Simon scratched his forearm in nervousness. Garthon concentrated on the pain in his cheek, to ignore the rising fear.
“You're here tonight because Harren Hoare is still alive and you all want to change this”, Damon continued and his sudden bluntness caught Garthon off guard. Whereas his usual charm and his diplomatic skill was like a dagger underneath a silken sheet, his unexpectedly direct words hit the room like a storm.
His dagger spun around, heavily hitting the wooden table and the loud noise was enough to draw everyone's attention. It was unnecessary. Garthon knew that it was impossible to ignore Damon Greyjoy in a room as small as this. It was like ignoring a hungry and vicious mountain lion.
Garthon knew about Hjalgar's involvement in this. Even though the young man was clearly too intimidated to speak, Torvin had praised his loyalty. He had suspected Kyra to stand against the king, but hearing it directly filled him with relief. This left Vessels and the Lord Captain himself.
As if he had read his thoughts, Simon spoke up, noticing the curious looks from both, Garthon and Hjalgar. “He sentenced my son to death”, he growled. Garthon raised an eyebrow. “Rell?”, he asked and the captain gave him a nod. “Of course, he'd never outright call it a death sentence”, he specified and looked at Damon.
“I believe he called it a raid”, the Lord Captain corrected him, not without smugness. “Though the target is suicidal. A small town in the western Reach, stronger than most and in the midst of our war against the lion of Lannister” He shook his head. “He's sending a couple hundred men to their likely death, men we could need somewhere else”
“So, you stand against the king?”, Garthon wanted to know. Simon gave him a disgruntled nod. “Aye. I won't allow anyone to kill my son”, he growled. Kyra raised an eyebrow and swift as a cat, she was sitting straight on her bed. “Didn't stop you from killing the other five yourself”, she remarked casually, and Simon narrowed his eyes. “You mean the bastards my wife dared to call my own?”, he growled.
A single look from Damon was enough to end the brewing fight, though the open animosity between Kyra and Simon remained. Hjalgar looked to the ground, obviously far too intimidated to speak up. The Lord Captain gave him a look that was less sharp than his usual ones. “Hjalgar”, he said and the young man looked up. “Are you still loyal to Torvin and the cause?”
Without hesitating, and with determination, Hjalgar gave him a nod. “Always”, he answered. Damon smiled like a pleased shark, before he looked at Garthon. “That would be settled”, he remarked. “Now...” Garthon already knew what he would ask. The mere suggestion that it had to be asked was enough to make him forget the pain in his newly stitched cheek and the reasonable fear he had when being in the presence of this man.
“I am”, he said harshly. “Don't you even dare to suggest that I couldn't be loyal to my brother” Both Greyjoys raised their eyebrows and exchanged a short look. Then, Damon gave him a look. “Very well”, he answered. “It appears Kyra has been right about you” And then, with a sound that caused Garthon to breath out in relief, he moved the stiletto back behind his belt.
This exchange made him bolder than before. “There's one thing I don't understand”, he said. “Why are you against the king?” Damon's smile could have frozen the hells, which delivered a nasty blow against Garthon's confidence. “The question here is, why should I have any loyalty to this man?”, he asked in a spine-chilling tone. “He banished me for ten years and all I did was protecting my sister from this imbecile thirdborn”
“So... you want to bring the king down?”, Garthon asked and Damon shook his head. “I want to bring his entire house down”, he revealed. “Harren and all of his sons. Perhaps even his brother up at the wall, if I feel like it” He leant forwards and suddenly, he smirked. “I will leave nothing but ashes when I'm done here”
“I'm all in for that”, Simon interjected harshly. “If it saves my son, I'd see this whole kingdom burn. But, how the fuck do you want to do this? You got one Iron Fleet captain and the brother of another, some weakling and... your sister, to take down a monster like Harren”
“Monster?”, Damon asked. “I wouldn't be so quick with the name-calling, Simon. But out of interest, how do you think can a monster be killed?” Simon narrowed his eyes, before opening his mouth again. “Slain by... a hero?”, he asked.
“We already tried this, didn't we?”, Damon asked. “Tully was our hero, or Torvin perhaps. We know how it ended” As he said this, Kyra leant up and watched him with curiosity. “During my banishment, I had a lot of time to think about this question”, he continued and something in his eyes changed. For one brief second, he appeared like a madman, a soft-spoken, wickedly dangerous madman. “One interesting idea, perhaps the only one that has any chance to succeed, is to summon a bigger monster and to hope that some of us will be left after their fight”
“And I suspect, you already know this bigger monster?”, Simon asked, clearly unconvinced and sceptical. Damon gave him a nod. “Exactly”, he said in a whisper. “He will bring shadows and ashes. Glowing embers. A black dread” His smile got wider. “Fire and Blood”
While Kyra and Simon exchanged a rare, non-hostile look with each other, one of deep concern, Hjalgar and Garthon clearly had no idea what the Lord Captain was talking about. Before either of them could ask, Damon already continued to speak.
“For now, I have gathered you here because you can assist in the things to come. But for that, I need you to be someone you aren't”, he explained. “Loyal citizens. Good little soldiers. Submissive until I decide otherwise” His dark eyes met Garthon's. “This is especially important to you. You failed, because the king suspected you. If we want to get a second chance at getting rid of Harren, I need you to keep your head down and to do anything he says to his utmost satisfaction”
Just as he said this, a loud knock at the door caused everyone to look towards it. Damon put a hand onto the hilt of his stiletto, before glancing at Kyra. She only shrugged. “No idea”, she whispered. The Lord Captain's terrifying glare hit Hjalgar, who clenched his fists in discomfort. Without saying a word, the young man moved to the door, opening it only a gap. Immediately, it was fully pushed open by someone on the other side, nearly pushing Hjalgar to the ground as well. In the doorframe, his glare just as terrifying as Damon's, stood Harmund Hoare.
The prince was wearing a fine, black vest made out of hardened leather, and a brown fur coat around his shoulders. Grimly, he was glaring at Damon, who was reciprocating the look. It reminded Garthon of predators who were about to fight.
“Prince Harmund!”, Damon greeted him warmly, in a deceptively cheerful tone. “What brings you here?” Harmund glanced into the room and laid his eyes upon Kyra, long enough to make Garthon feel uncomfortable. “Lord Captain”, he finally said, calmly but without any warmth. “My brother told me that I could find Breaker here” His glare hit Garthon like a hammer. “My father has gathered the lords”, he explained and this time, the hint of anger flashed up in his voice. “They desperately await your testimony, traitor”
“You're an errant boy now, princeling?”, Kyra asked with open disdain. Harmund let out a growling noise, which almost sounded like an insult, before he stepped into the room. The very same moment, Damon raised from his chair. “What is the meaning of this meeting?”, Harmund asked. “I see you, your whore of a sister, Captain Vessels and a known traitor” Hjalgar let out a relieved sigh as he realized that he was being ignored.
“In the light of the recent events, I decided to give Captain Breaker a lecture in loyalty. Captain Vessels and Kyra agreed to help me”, Damon explained calmly. Harmund shook his head. “Whatever”, he said as he grabbed Garthon by the shoulder. “The traitor is coming with me now. Father does not like to wait”
Garthon knew that he had no choice in this, but he still glanced at the others. While Hjalgar tried to remain invisible, Simon had a sneer on his face. Kyra was giving him a reassuring, hopeful look. Finally, Damon didn't showed any emotion at all, but he nodded at Garthon. “Remember what I told you”, he said tonelessly. “Be a good little soldier”
“He's many things, Greyjoy”, Harmund said as he harshly pushed Garthon out of the room. “A traitor. A dirty fucking coward. Brother of a man even less” He turned around towards the Lord Captain and Garthon used the opportunity to shot him a glare full of hatred. “But a good little soldier? Good fucking joke” He closed the door and finally shifted his full attention on Garthon. “That way”, he growled and pointed down the hallway.
Garthon walked down the way Harmund told him, feeling the prince's vicious glare in his back the entire time. Neither of them said a word, but the unspoken hatred was worse than silence. Garthon tried his best to just walk, without paying too much attention to his surroundings and to the man behind him. Suddenly, being close to the Lord Captain felt a lot less horrifying. Damon Greyjoy was equal parts brilliant and unpredictable, but at least he was on his side, sort of. And then there was his sister...
Just as Garthon thought it couldn't get any worse, he turned around a corner into a small room. It was entirely empty, save for one person, who leant against a wall, half-cloaked in shadows. Still, Garthon saw the ragged black beard and the dark eyes, together with the twisted grin on his face and that was enough to recognize him. What was even worse was the thing he held in his hand. Harndon Hoare definitely wasn't the kind of person that should be in the possession of a knife.
He immediately spun around, only to be greeted by Harmund's closed fist, which heavily hit his face. Even before he hit the ground, he realized what was happening. He let out a groan of pain, as his cheek hit the ground, which caused Harndon to chuckle.
“Do I get to kill him, brother?”, he asked with his high-pitched, unstable voice. Garthon glanced at Harmund, who shook his head. “Drop the knife, Donny”, he snarled. “We're not going to kill him” This seemed to displease Harndon, who hesitated. “He hurt Lanny”, he insisted.
“Aye”, Harmund answered. “And for that, we're going to hurt him badly. But we still need him alive, so drop the knife before you get carried away” He narrowed his midnight eyes. “Drop it now, or I'm going to do the thing again”
Harndon widely opened his eyes, which gave him an even more insane look, as he dropped the knife as if he had burned himself. A pleased sneer formed on Harmund's face as he leant down to Garthon, who slowly tried to stagger back onto his feet. “But he is right. You hurt my brother, more than I ever did”, he explained. “And father leaves you with nothing but this tiny scar... Not acceptable”
His hands moved to his cloak and quickly removed it, which revealed his strongly muscled arms. “So, here's what's going to happen. Me and Donny, we're going to fuck you up”, he continued. “We're going to beat you until you curse the day you were born. We're going to beat you until you wish that you could just crawl back into your mother's barren cunt” His sneer turned into a smile that was as unhinged as his brother's. “And if you're going to fight back, we're going to hurt you more”
“Yes! We fuck you up!”, Harndon exclaimed and started to chuckle. Like his brother, he was tall and strong. One of them would be a dangerous opponent, but both? As Garthon staggered back to his feet, he considered his options. He could follow the prince's wish of course, take the beatingin the hopes that it would be less severe. Or he could fight back. His eyes darted across the room. There, in front of Harndon, lay the knife the thirdborn had just dropped. If he'd get it, it could give him an advantage...
[Fight back][Fight back and grab the knife][Don't fight back]
Garthon
His cheek was thumping in pain, but his heart was thumping even more severely in his chest, as he walked trough the narrow hallwa… morey that led to Kyra Greyjoy's chamber. He was no fool. Of course he had a rough idea why she would call him to her chamber. Despite the pain it caused him, a sly grin formed on his face.
There have been hints, he thought, but it still came surprising. Sure, there was the way she seemed to look at him. The way she always seemed to smile when he was around. Though they did call her the 'Laughing Kraken' for a reason...
Perhaps it had just been Garthon's imagination. Perhaps he just saw what he wanted to see. And there was no doubt what he wanted to see. There was her beauty, her raven hair, her silken skin, her deep blue eyes. But even more importantly, she was the last person in this entire castle that seemed to care for him. Amongst the darkness that was Harrenhal, Kyra was a light, a friend, perhaps… [view original content]
I haven't played it yet, although I would like to once I have played a couple of other games on my list. I have heard enough good things to be interested. Michonne is also one of my favourite characters in the comics, so I'm definitely going to give it a try, perhaps during the next Steam Sale.
Garthon
His cheek was thumping in pain, but his heart was thumping even more severely in his chest, as he walked trough the narrow hallwa… morey that led to Kyra Greyjoy's chamber. He was no fool. Of course he had a rough idea why she would call him to her chamber. Despite the pain it caused him, a sly grin formed on his face.
There have been hints, he thought, but it still came surprising. Sure, there was the way she seemed to look at him. The way she always seemed to smile when he was around. Though they did call her the 'Laughing Kraken' for a reason...
Perhaps it had just been Garthon's imagination. Perhaps he just saw what he wanted to see. And there was no doubt what he wanted to see. There was her beauty, her raven hair, her silken skin, her deep blue eyes. But even more importantly, she was the last person in this entire castle that seemed to care for him. Amongst the darkness that was Harrenhal, Kyra was a light, a friend, perhaps… [view original content]
Garthon
His cheek was thumping in pain, but his heart was thumping even more severely in his chest, as he walked trough the narrow hallwa… morey that led to Kyra Greyjoy's chamber. He was no fool. Of course he had a rough idea why she would call him to her chamber. Despite the pain it caused him, a sly grin formed on his face.
There have been hints, he thought, but it still came surprising. Sure, there was the way she seemed to look at him. The way she always seemed to smile when he was around. Though they did call her the 'Laughing Kraken' for a reason...
Perhaps it had just been Garthon's imagination. Perhaps he just saw what he wanted to see. And there was no doubt what he wanted to see. There was her beauty, her raven hair, her silken skin, her deep blue eyes. But even more importantly, she was the last person in this entire castle that seemed to care for him. Amongst the darkness that was Harrenhal, Kyra was a light, a friend, perhaps… [view original content]
Garthon
His cheek was thumping in pain, but his heart was thumping even more severely in his chest, as he walked trough the narrow hallwa… morey that led to Kyra Greyjoy's chamber. He was no fool. Of course he had a rough idea why she would call him to her chamber. Despite the pain it caused him, a sly grin formed on his face.
There have been hints, he thought, but it still came surprising. Sure, there was the way she seemed to look at him. The way she always seemed to smile when he was around. Though they did call her the 'Laughing Kraken' for a reason...
Perhaps it had just been Garthon's imagination. Perhaps he just saw what he wanted to see. And there was no doubt what he wanted to see. There was her beauty, her raven hair, her silken skin, her deep blue eyes. But even more importantly, she was the last person in this entire castle that seemed to care for him. Amongst the darkness that was Harrenhal, Kyra was a light, a friend, perhaps… [view original content]
Garthon
His cheek was thumping in pain, but his heart was thumping even more severely in his chest, as he walked trough the narrow hallwa… morey that led to Kyra Greyjoy's chamber. He was no fool. Of course he had a rough idea why she would call him to her chamber. Despite the pain it caused him, a sly grin formed on his face.
There have been hints, he thought, but it still came surprising. Sure, there was the way she seemed to look at him. The way she always seemed to smile when he was around. Though they did call her the 'Laughing Kraken' for a reason...
Perhaps it had just been Garthon's imagination. Perhaps he just saw what he wanted to see. And there was no doubt what he wanted to see. There was her beauty, her raven hair, her silken skin, her deep blue eyes. But even more importantly, she was the last person in this entire castle that seemed to care for him. Amongst the darkness that was Harrenhal, Kyra was a light, a friend, perhaps… [view original content]
[Don't fight back] I feel if we fight back it will only cause things to get bloodier than it already is. My play it safe mindset is kicking in for this situation... even though I'm not sure if this will just end up backfiring severely and get more people killed than ever :X
Garthon
His cheek was thumping in pain, but his heart was thumping even more severely in his chest, as he walked trough the narrow hallwa… morey that led to Kyra Greyjoy's chamber. He was no fool. Of course he had a rough idea why she would call him to her chamber. Despite the pain it caused him, a sly grin formed on his face.
There have been hints, he thought, but it still came surprising. Sure, there was the way she seemed to look at him. The way she always seemed to smile when he was around. Though they did call her the 'Laughing Kraken' for a reason...
Perhaps it had just been Garthon's imagination. Perhaps he just saw what he wanted to see. And there was no doubt what he wanted to see. There was her beauty, her raven hair, her silken skin, her deep blue eyes. But even more importantly, she was the last person in this entire castle that seemed to care for him. Amongst the darkness that was Harrenhal, Kyra was a light, a friend, perhaps… [view original content]
Garthon
His cheek was thumping in pain, but his heart was thumping even more severely in his chest, as he walked trough the narrow hallwa… morey that led to Kyra Greyjoy's chamber. He was no fool. Of course he had a rough idea why she would call him to her chamber. Despite the pain it caused him, a sly grin formed on his face.
There have been hints, he thought, but it still came surprising. Sure, there was the way she seemed to look at him. The way she always seemed to smile when he was around. Though they did call her the 'Laughing Kraken' for a reason...
Perhaps it had just been Garthon's imagination. Perhaps he just saw what he wanted to see. And there was no doubt what he wanted to see. There was her beauty, her raven hair, her silken skin, her deep blue eyes. But even more importantly, she was the last person in this entire castle that seemed to care for him. Amongst the darkness that was Harrenhal, Kyra was a light, a friend, perhaps… [view original content]
Garthon
His cheek was thumping in pain, but his heart was thumping even more severely in his chest, as he walked trough the narrow hallwa… morey that led to Kyra Greyjoy's chamber. He was no fool. Of course he had a rough idea why she would call him to her chamber. Despite the pain it caused him, a sly grin formed on his face.
There have been hints, he thought, but it still came surprising. Sure, there was the way she seemed to look at him. The way she always seemed to smile when he was around. Though they did call her the 'Laughing Kraken' for a reason...
Perhaps it had just been Garthon's imagination. Perhaps he just saw what he wanted to see. And there was no doubt what he wanted to see. There was her beauty, her raven hair, her silken skin, her deep blue eyes. But even more importantly, she was the last person in this entire castle that seemed to care for him. Amongst the darkness that was Harrenhal, Kyra was a light, a friend, perhaps… [view original content]
Garthon
His cheek was thumping in pain, but his heart was thumping even more severely in his chest, as he walked trough the narrow hallwa… morey that led to Kyra Greyjoy's chamber. He was no fool. Of course he had a rough idea why she would call him to her chamber. Despite the pain it caused him, a sly grin formed on his face.
There have been hints, he thought, but it still came surprising. Sure, there was the way she seemed to look at him. The way she always seemed to smile when he was around. Though they did call her the 'Laughing Kraken' for a reason...
Perhaps it had just been Garthon's imagination. Perhaps he just saw what he wanted to see. And there was no doubt what he wanted to see. There was her beauty, her raven hair, her silken skin, her deep blue eyes. But even more importantly, she was the last person in this entire castle that seemed to care for him. Amongst the darkness that was Harrenhal, Kyra was a light, a friend, perhaps… [view original content]
Although I don't really trust a single person from that meeting, except for Kyra, because she's awesome.
That is exactly what Garthon is thinking as well. He's definitely too smart to trust Damon and he dislikes Simon too much to trust him either. However, he is more willing to trust Hjalgar, since Torvin is willing to vow for him. And, of course, he is trusting Kyra.
My reaction when Hjalgar opened the door was literally "You've gotta be fucking kidding". You dashed my hopes Liquid!
It's always my pleasure to be of service However, there are still chapters, acts and even whole books left. Nothing happened between them now and Kyra is definitely not that easy, although this part was meant to show that at least Garthon harbours some feelings for her.
I imagine from here on out there are going to be some pretty tough choices as Garthon, because we gotta submit, but we won't want to for some reason.
Oh yes, I can safely confirm that Garthon is going to have some of the hardest choices in the entire Book 1, as well as some of the most important ones. The end of his storyline in this chapter will include a twist of great importance, which I hope no one sees coming.
I think I'm really gonna like Garthon's story, it's gotten really intriguing, and he's one of my favourite characters.
This is good, glad you like it! I guess you're going to be happy to hear that Garthon is going to likely have two more full parts in this chapter, which are going to happen in short succession. I made a couple of pacing mistakes, since I underestimated how much stuff I want him to do in this chapter, so now I have to put a relatively large amount of stuff into a chapter that is almost over. In retrospect I should have written his parts at a more steady pace, comparable to how I handled Jaron's storyline in this chapter. On the positive side, this means that out of all the PoV's, Garthon will have the most to do in this final quarter of the chapter. Anyway, glad you like him and his story, hopefully it stays that way!
[Don't fight back] Gotta be submissive. Although I don't really trust a single person from that meeting, except for Kyra, because she's awes… moreome.
My reaction when Hjalgar opened the door was literally "You've gotta be fucking kidding". You dashed my hopes Liquid!
I imagine from here on out there are going to be some pretty tough choices as Garthon, because we gotta submit, but we won't want to for some reason.
I think I'm really gonna like Garthon's story, it's gotten really intriguing, and he's one of my favourite characters.
Garthon
His cheek was thumping in pain, but his heart was thumping even more severely in his chest, as he walked trough the narrow hallwa… morey that led to Kyra Greyjoy's chamber. He was no fool. Of course he had a rough idea why she would call him to her chamber. Despite the pain it caused him, a sly grin formed on his face.
There have been hints, he thought, but it still came surprising. Sure, there was the way she seemed to look at him. The way she always seemed to smile when he was around. Though they did call her the 'Laughing Kraken' for a reason...
Perhaps it had just been Garthon's imagination. Perhaps he just saw what he wanted to see. And there was no doubt what he wanted to see. There was her beauty, her raven hair, her silken skin, her deep blue eyes. But even more importantly, she was the last person in this entire castle that seemed to care for him. Amongst the darkness that was Harrenhal, Kyra was a light, a friend, perhaps… [view original content]
Garthon
His cheek was thumping in pain, but his heart was thumping even more severely in his chest, as he walked trough the narrow hallwa… morey that led to Kyra Greyjoy's chamber. He was no fool. Of course he had a rough idea why she would call him to her chamber. Despite the pain it caused him, a sly grin formed on his face.
There have been hints, he thought, but it still came surprising. Sure, there was the way she seemed to look at him. The way she always seemed to smile when he was around. Though they did call her the 'Laughing Kraken' for a reason...
Perhaps it had just been Garthon's imagination. Perhaps he just saw what he wanted to see. And there was no doubt what he wanted to see. There was her beauty, her raven hair, her silken skin, her deep blue eyes. But even more importantly, she was the last person in this entire castle that seemed to care for him. Amongst the darkness that was Harrenhal, Kyra was a light, a friend, perhaps… [view original content]
Garthon
His cheek was thumping in pain, but his heart was thumping even more severely in his chest, as he walked trough the narrow hallwa… morey that led to Kyra Greyjoy's chamber. He was no fool. Of course he had a rough idea why she would call him to her chamber. Despite the pain it caused him, a sly grin formed on his face.
There have been hints, he thought, but it still came surprising. Sure, there was the way she seemed to look at him. The way she always seemed to smile when he was around. Though they did call her the 'Laughing Kraken' for a reason...
Perhaps it had just been Garthon's imagination. Perhaps he just saw what he wanted to see. And there was no doubt what he wanted to see. There was her beauty, her raven hair, her silken skin, her deep blue eyes. But even more importantly, she was the last person in this entire castle that seemed to care for him. Amongst the darkness that was Harrenhal, Kyra was a light, a friend, perhaps… [view original content]
Garthon
His cheek was thumping in pain, but his heart was thumping even more severely in his chest, as he walked trough the narrow hallwa… morey that led to Kyra Greyjoy's chamber. He was no fool. Of course he had a rough idea why she would call him to her chamber. Despite the pain it caused him, a sly grin formed on his face.
There have been hints, he thought, but it still came surprising. Sure, there was the way she seemed to look at him. The way she always seemed to smile when he was around. Though they did call her the 'Laughing Kraken' for a reason...
Perhaps it had just been Garthon's imagination. Perhaps he just saw what he wanted to see. And there was no doubt what he wanted to see. There was her beauty, her raven hair, her silken skin, her deep blue eyes. But even more importantly, she was the last person in this entire castle that seemed to care for him. Amongst the darkness that was Harrenhal, Kyra was a light, a friend, perhaps… [view original content]
Garthon
His cheek was thumping in pain, but his heart was thumping even more severely in his chest, as he walked trough the narrow hallwa… morey that led to Kyra Greyjoy's chamber. He was no fool. Of course he had a rough idea why she would call him to her chamber. Despite the pain it caused him, a sly grin formed on his face.
There have been hints, he thought, but it still came surprising. Sure, there was the way she seemed to look at him. The way she always seemed to smile when he was around. Though they did call her the 'Laughing Kraken' for a reason...
Perhaps it had just been Garthon's imagination. Perhaps he just saw what he wanted to see. And there was no doubt what he wanted to see. There was her beauty, her raven hair, her silken skin, her deep blue eyes. But even more importantly, she was the last person in this entire castle that seemed to care for him. Amongst the darkness that was Harrenhal, Kyra was a light, a friend, perhaps… [view original content]
It surprises me that this option won by such a big margin, even though it is possibly the most rational choice. On paper, this now means that Garthon is going to get a savage beating from two people whose most redeeming character trait is literally that they are both violent and unstable psychopaths. In turn, fighting back has the potential to make it even worse, so yeah... this was clearly a choice without good options, even though one of them will lead to an outcome slightly less bad.
I try my very best to put the next part out today. It is going to be a Raenna part, who also has quite some stuff left to do in the final parts of this chapter. The last time we saw her, she and Terroma infiltrated a house that contained an entrance to the labyrinth below the Hightower, while their unlikely ally Samuel Harrington provided some back-up. They cleaned the house from Butterfly's men, only to find out that Samuel Puffer, who had previously infiltrated it, has been heavily (but not mortally) wounded in the fight. Since Samuel was unable to continue their mission, Terroma sent him back with a heavy heart. Harrington continued to lead Raenna and Terroma down, through a tunnel and into the labyrinth, where they were soon presented with two options. Terroma insisted on finishing their mission as quickly as possible and wanted to save Kersea's sister first. Meanwhile, Harrington wanted to do his own mission first, which would lead him to the archive of the city guard. Both men were determined to finish their mission first, especially since neither trusts the other to continue their uneasy partnership once one goal is fulfilled. Ultimately, they left the decision up to Raenna, since they were unable to find a compromise by themself. Since she trusts him by now, Raenna decided in favour of Harrington.
The claustrophobic darkness underneath the city, – it couldn't be underneath the Hightower yet, could it? - was bad in itself, but for Raenna it felt twice as horrible. The mask she was wearing limited her field of view, further strengthening the feeling of being trapped between these narrow, black walls.
She clenched her fists as Harrington led them through yet another corridor. The darkness, the limited space, it reminded her badly of her early childhood, it brought up memories she'd rather not relive. There were few things Raenna actually feared, but being trapped somewhere was among them. She wasn't close to a panic and she knew that she was able to keep it together, but deep down, she had an uneasy, anxious feeling nonetheless.
“How far?”, she asked with a pressed voice. Terroma knew how she felt in places like these and gave her a look that was both, worried and reassuring. Harrington noticed her tone as well and raised an eyebrow. “Is everything alright?”, he asked.
She shook her head. “I hate this place”, she revealed. Harrington seemed to understand this, as he nodded in agreement. “There's plenty to hate here”, he answered. “The people, mainly. Though my current company is not the problem” She shook her head and if she wouldn't have felt so anxious at the moment, she would have smirked at his last remark. “It's not only that”, she answered. “A couple of bad memories from my childhood”
“I see”, Harrington said, his tone getting softer. “Dark memories are not worth talking about. Don't mention them” He hesitated and pressed his lips together, before he continued. “Though, out of interest, are there any good ones? Memories from your childhood I mean”
“A few”, Raenna answered and looked at Terroma. “You haven't answered my question though. How far is it to the archive?” Harrington opened his mouth, but before he was able to answer, he put a finger onto his lips.
And then Raenna heard it as well. Heavy footsteps came closer to their position. Terroma and Harrington exchanged a glance and the sellsword gave the master assassin a nod. Raenna saw how Terroma relaxed. On Harrington's sign, they stopped walking, just as a man in heavy armour walked around a corner.
He was an ugly man, with brown hair and eyes of the same colour. Even in the dim light that Terroma's torch spent, she saw that he was very pale. He had a round, puffy face, with sunken, sullen eyes being the centrepiece. A small stubble beard was kept on his face and even though he had a few wrinkles on his face, Raenna was sure that he couldn't be much older than her. His right cheek was further disfigured by a deep scar, which had also claimed the majority of his right ear.
As soon as he spotted them, he put his left hand, clad in a fine leather glove, onto the hilt of his sword. A pained expression flashed across his face and he instead finished the movement using solely his right hand. Raenna immediately noticed that something was wrong with the left one, specifically with the fingers. The glove almost seemed... empty.
“Jaylon?”, Harrington asked in surprise and the man calmed down. “Samuel, you son of a bitch”, he answered with a voice that was as ugly as the rest of him. Neither man was smiling and neither seemed happy about seeing the other. “I... have heard you are dead”, Harrington stuttered. For once, he lost his usual calm demeanour and looked genuinely baffled.
The ugly man shook his head and a joyless smile appeared on his face. “Not quite”, he answered. “You see, I haven't been around for a week. Things... happened. Bad things. Long story short, I made a mistake. I betrayed Butterfly”
The baffled look on Harrington's face soon switched from curiosity to confusion. “You're awfully alive for that”, he growled and Raenna noticed the bitter streak that appeared on the ugly man's face. “Who are your friends?”, he asked quickly.
“They accompany me on a mission”, Harrington answered. “And I wouldn't call them friends. The masked one does not even speak” Jaylon gave him a nod and his intense, bitter stare fell upon Raenna. His gaze moved downwards, uncomfortably slow.
“I see...”, he mumbled and turned back towards Harrington. “Samuel, do you know where I've been last week?”, he asked suddenly. The sellsword shook his head and Jaylon let out a sigh. “The lower cells”, he explained. “You see, I made a mistake. I betrayed Butterfly and he caught me”
“You already mentioned that”, Harrington answered. “But I don't understand why you are still alive” Jaylon's smile faded. “He forgave me”, he answered. “He forgave me after I told him everything I know, after I begged him to accept my apology, after I begged him for another opportunity to be loyal” His right hand grabbed the glove of the left one. “He did not leave it for the Sphynx, oh no. He did it himself. You see, I've been down there for five days and each day, he took one”
With these words, he removed the glove and for once, Raenna was glad for the mask that concealed her face. The fingers on the left hand were missing, all of them. The hand was crudely stitched and looked otherwise mutilated as well, as if someone partially skinned and burned it. Raenna had seen a lot of horrible things in her life, but that only made it worse. She knew exactly how painful this kind of torture was.
Harrington obviously knew it as well. His face was completely emotionless, a little bit too emotionless. “I'm sorry”, he said calmly. Jaylon shook his head. “I brought it up to myself, you know. She asked me to leave with her and I refused. Thought I had something good here”, he sighed and let out a dry chuckle. “You see, for a very short time before he caught me, I considered defecting. It's amazing how a little pain can change your outlook on life. I see things clearer now. And for this, he rewarded me”
Awkwardly and clearly in a lot of pain, he shoved the glove back above the remains of his left hand. Samuel finally averted his gaze and the look on his face showed that he had more compassion than Raenna previously thought.
Jaylon continued to look at her, before he shook his head. “All I'm saying is, be careful what you do, Samuel”, he warned him. “You don't want to end down there, trust me. Perhaps you think you can imagine it, but trust me, it's a lot worse”
He turned around, to continue his walk, as Harrington called him again. “Jaylon, wait”, he hissed. “Where... where are you going now?” Jaylon's smile widened, just as Raenna's pity for him faded. There was something dark about him, something that did not deserve compassion.
“Butterfly received some interesting new information”, he answered with glee. “One of the cripples boys, a very important one, fell into our hands. Took the Sphynx roughly a minute to make him sing. Now we're going to end this” As he continued, a perverse joy was visible in his eyes. “You won't believe it, but the Burned Man's bold little whore has been right under Butterfly's nose the entire evening”
“So, you're going to kill her?”, Harrington asked in a tone that was completely unimpressed. Jaylon shook his head. “Only if Butterfly is merciful”, he answered and his voice turned into a vicious growl as he raised his mutilated left hand. “I'm going to make her pay for this”, he snarled.
Harrington gave him a nod. “I wish you the best of luck”, he mumbled, as both men exchanged a nod. And with this gesture, they parted ways. Jaylon continued going down the way they just came from, while Harrington paused for a moment. He shook his head, before he turned away from him.
“Who was that?”, Raenna asked, once she was sure that they were out of earshot. Harrington sighed. “An acquaintance”, he answered. “Jaylon went missing a week ago. I thought he was dead. Seeing him like this...” He hesitated, before he turned into another corridor. “Perhaps it would have been more merciful”
He turned around another corner and pointed down the hallway. “We're almost there now”, he explained. “The archive shouldn't be guarded. Regular visitors are stopped at the checkpoints in the upper areas of the labyrinth. No one ever prepared for someone entering through the tunnels below”
Indeed, they soon stopped in front of a large, wooden door. Harrington moved the doorknob, but stopped as soon as he realized that it was locked. “Here's what I need you for”, he said, as he looked at Terroma. “Can you open this?”
“Without a doubt”, the assassin answered, as he pulled out his lockpick. Raenna could only admire his speed and skill while picking the lock and just a few seconds later, the door swung open.
Behind it, a large room was located, crammed with large, dusty bookshelves, which in turn were filled with loads of tomes. Terroma's torch was barely bright enough to illuminate the far edges of the room, which left them in a gloomy twilight. While Samuel looked unimpressed, Terroma let out a whistle. “That one's pretty big”, he remarked. “What are you looking for?”
Harrington started to shake his head, but stopped the movement right in its tracks. “Help would be welcome”, he admitted, before he closed the door behind them. “In here, the city guard keeps documents which contain lists of every man or woman that is ever worked for them. I'm looking for a list as new as possible”
“Whom are you looking for in particular?”, Raenna asked, but Harrington did not answer. Instead, he glanced at her in an odd way. “You can put the mask off now”, he advised her. “It's unlikely that anyone is going to disturb us here and honestly, you're wasted on that blasted thing”
“Thank you”, Raenna said and took a moment to regain her composure before she removed the mask. She hadn't noticed how warm it has gotten underneath it, but as soon as she removed it, she felt the cold air of the labyrinth. It was dusty and moldy, but it felt refreshing nonetheless. “I wonder how they actually manage to fight underneath these things”
“Doesn't seem to bother the Cats too much”, Harrington explained. “Though they mostly use it to spread fear” He smirked at her as she glanced at the wooden mask. “It works”, he admitted. “They are creepy as fuck”
“Are you scared of the bad kitty?”, Raenna mocked him, even though she fully understood what he was referring to. The mask was indeed creepy and she was glad of the opportunity to remove it, if only for a moment.
Harrington chuckled and gave her a nod. “And I'm not afraid to admit it”, he answered. “Even you're scary when you wear it” Raenna reciprocated his smirk. “Trust me, I can be scary without the mask as well”, she remarked. “You should be very, very afraid”
“I'm frozen in terror”, Harrington answered, but before he could say anything else, Terroma cut him off. “Found it”, he simply said, though she noticed the hint of sharpness in his voice. Harrington looked up, his playful smirk immediately gone. “Good”, he remarked, as he laid his eyes on a book that seemed less dusty than the rest.
“It contains a list of payment for every member of the city guard that has been working here in the last month”, Terroma explained as he put it onto a nearby table. “Thank you”, Harrington answered, as he approached the table. “That should be new enough. I probably don't need long, then we can free your little girl”
As he opened the book and started to read in it, Terroma walked next to Raenna. Neither of them said a word, although he raised an eyebrow. “What?”, she finally asked sharply. “I could ask you the same thing”, he answered calmly, but sternly.
“Bastard”, Harrington growled and both looked at him. “This fucking bastard...” He shut the book and as he turned around, his face was like the mask Raenna had just been wearing. Emotionless and terrifying at the same time. She noticed that his hands were shivering, even though his voice gave nothing of it away. “He betrayed me... I can't believe that he actually did it”, he hissed.
“What are you talking about?”, Raenna asked and Harrington sighed. “Mullendore!”, he answered. “Butterfly! Whatever the hell you want to call him!” He took another glance at the book, while Terroma understood what he just said. “Maron Mullendore is Butterfly?”, he asked. “That... Seven Hells, it actually makes sense”
“Let's go, now!”, Harrington ordered. “I need to get to the lower cells, as far away from the surface as possible, or else I'm going to do something very stupid” His hand grabbed the hilt of his sword, slightly removing it from the scabbard and he did not seem to notice it. With these words, he rushed out of the door, leaving Raenna with barely enough time to put her mask back on, before she and Terroma had to hurry to catch up to him.
“Harrington”, she hissed. “Samuel, don't ignore me now!” Finally, he slowed down and she saw that he was barely able to control himself. “What have you found out?”, she asked softly. A pained expression flashed over Harrington's face and he finally removed the hand from the hilt. “Remember what you told me earlier?”, he asked. “About others making your choices? Happens that I can emphasize very much with this. In my case it was my brother who made me how I am today”
“Your brother?”, Raenna asked and Harrington gave her a nod. “Ryder”, he explained. “My older brother. I also had a younger one, Cedrick, and an older sister, Anna” At first, he seemed to hesitate, but once he fully started to speak, the words flew out of his mouth. She heard anger, bitterness and sadness in his tone.
“Ryder was the oldest, my favourite sibling and the one that had always been better than me”, Harrington revealed and moved a hand to his belt. Instead of his sword, he drew a dagger and presented it to her. “It was his. He gave it to me when I was ten years old, my first weapon”, he explained. “Two years later, he murdered my entire family”
The bluntness with which he said these words caught Raenna off guard. She stopped and so did he. “My father, my mother, Anna and Cedrick, this fucking animal slaughtered them all”, he growled. “I was out in the woods around my home and when I returned, I only saw him leaving the house, their blood on his sword”
To her surprise, Raenna noticed that he was holding back tears. It was the last she had expected from this man and to calm him down, she put a hand onto his back. He blinked. “Your life was defined by the will to survive. Mine was defined by the anger I felt this day, as I saw the slaughtered corpses of my family, the anger I still feel when I think about the man responsible”, he explained. “Nothing else mattered. I did a lot of things I'm not proud of, everything if it just brought me closer to Ryder and closer to my revenge”
“I... gods, I'm sorry”, Raenna said wholeheartedly. “Is that how you've ended up with Butterfly?” He gave her a nod. “It took me years to track Ryder down to Oldtown. But the city is large, the largest in Westeros and perhaps the entire world”, he answered. “I knew I had to make some powerful friends if I wanted to have any chance of ever finding him. Butterfly sounded like a good choice at the time and I worked for him not for money, but for information. I worked loyally for years, I was his best man and now...” He paused and his mask cracked, revealing pure anger underneath. “Now I have to find out that he knew all along where my brother was. He made him a captain of his own city guard, right under my nose!”
Raenna wanted to say something, but decided against it. She felt his anger and pain. It was Terroma who asked the question she would have liked to ask herself. “What are you going to do now?”, he asked.
Harrington looked up. For a moment, he gazed at Raenna, before his attention shifted towards Terroma. “First, I'm going to lead you to the lower cells. We're going to free the girl and any other poor bastard that's down there. Anyone who tries to stop us is going to die”, he explained and Terroma gave him a nod. “Then... I don't know. I track my brother down and take my revenge. As for Butterfly... I'm going to hurt him. I'm going to make him pay” His voice got louder for a moment. “I'm going to fucking kill him!”
“Kill whom?”, a new voice asked from around the corner. Raenna froze, as she saw men walking around it, at least half a dozen. Even more movement from behind made her turn around, only to see that three men were approaching them from the direction they came from.
The man who talked was a lanky, skinny man with very short, brown hair. He was young and plain looking, with a loud scar that crossed his crooked nose. “Good day, Fang”, he greeted Harrington. “We were just looking for you. Jaylon approached us, told us you need help with something”
Under other circumstances, Raenna had no doubt that Harrington would have kept his cool. Right now however, he was visibly shaking and still holding back tears. “Jaylon...”, he mumbled. “Should have guessed that much”
“Who are your friends?”, the man asked. “I haven't seen them around before” He glanced at Terroma, before he intensely looked at Raenna. His eyes met hers, before he moved his gaze downwards. He walked around Harrington and towards her. “Who are you?”, he asked. Raenna did not answer, even as he came dangerously close to her.
“He does not speak”, Harrington clarified and the man shook his head. The took a deep breath, while Raenna was still contemplating on wether or not she should just kill him. “I see”, he said, as Raenna glared at him. He even smirked, as his hand moved towards his belt, where his knife was located. “Take off your mask”, he ordered her.
Instead of her mask, Raenna's hand reached for her dagger, only for his own hand to stop her. “Look who just made a terrible mistake. Jaylon was right. What a pretty little kitty you got there, Fang”, he growled and with a metallic sound, he unsheathed his knife. “Take the mask off, bitch. Let us see that pretty face of yours, n-” He did not manage to finish his sentence, as Harrington drew his sword and in the same movement cleanly and unceremoniously decapitated him.
The grip around Raenna's hand faded and she was finally able to draw her dagger. Terroma did the same. So did the men that had surrounded them. Harrington glanced at her, before he turned around to the largest group of opponents, not even bothering with looking at the man he just killed. “You have one chance to keep your lives”, he growled. “Don't stand in my way”
They stood in his way. In fact, they did more than that, as all of them started to approach them. “Kill them!”, one of the men yelled and then they all attacked. Next to her, Terroma mumbled something, before he rushed towards the three men in their back. He tackled the first to the ground before the man was fully ready, embedding his dagger deeply in the man's eyesocket, before he rose from the ground, to dodge an attack from one of his two remaining opponents.
Meanwhile, Harrington's opponents were more numerous, but did not attack all at once. Two of them rushed in first, while the other three momentarily hesitated. Harrington swung his sword, the blade finding its way into one man's throat, before he parried a strike from his second opponent. His sword spun around and cut deeply into the man's stomach, causing him to drop to the ground, just in time for Harrington to parry the attack from a third opponent. Now that the rest of the men was engaged in a fight with him, he had to struggle just to parry their attacks.
Raenna glanced at her dagger, before removing her mask with her free hand. Breathing freely again, she glanced around. Terroma, behind her, had two opponents, both of whom used the superior range of their swords to keep him at bay. Meanwhile, Harrington in front of her fought at very close range against three of them, who used their superior number to besiege him.
Raenna
The claustrophobic darkness underneath the city, – it couldn't be underneath the Hightower yet, could it? - was bad in itself, but… more for Raenna it felt twice as horrible. The mask she was wearing limited her field of view, further strengthening the feeling of being trapped between these narrow, black walls.
She clenched her fists as Harrington led them through yet another corridor. The darkness, the limited space, it reminded her badly of her early childhood, it brought up memories she'd rather not relive. There were few things Raenna actually feared, but being trapped somewhere was among them. She wasn't close to a panic and she knew that she was able to keep it together, but deep down, she had an uneasy, anxious feeling nonetheless.
“How far?”, she asked with a pressed voice. Terroma knew how she felt in places like these and gave her a look that was both, worried and reassuring. Harrington noticed her tone as well and raised … [view original content]
[Help Harrington] Argh! I love him too much, sorry Terroma. Plus Raenna and Samuel bonded so quickly.
I love Raenna and Samuel's banter so much. And Terroma sees their blossoming relationship too. Though he's more concerned about it clearly. I couldn't hold back a smile when she called him by his first name. You bet your ass I ship it!
Raenna
The claustrophobic darkness underneath the city, – it couldn't be underneath the Hightower yet, could it? - was bad in itself, but… more for Raenna it felt twice as horrible. The mask she was wearing limited her field of view, further strengthening the feeling of being trapped between these narrow, black walls.
She clenched her fists as Harrington led them through yet another corridor. The darkness, the limited space, it reminded her badly of her early childhood, it brought up memories she'd rather not relive. There were few things Raenna actually feared, but being trapped somewhere was among them. She wasn't close to a panic and she knew that she was able to keep it together, but deep down, she had an uneasy, anxious feeling nonetheless.
“How far?”, she asked with a pressed voice. Terroma knew how she felt in places like these and gave her a look that was both, worried and reassuring. Harrington noticed her tone as well and raised … [view original content]
Raenna
The claustrophobic darkness underneath the city, – it couldn't be underneath the Hightower yet, could it? - was bad in itself, but… more for Raenna it felt twice as horrible. The mask she was wearing limited her field of view, further strengthening the feeling of being trapped between these narrow, black walls.
She clenched her fists as Harrington led them through yet another corridor. The darkness, the limited space, it reminded her badly of her early childhood, it brought up memories she'd rather not relive. There were few things Raenna actually feared, but being trapped somewhere was among them. She wasn't close to a panic and she knew that she was able to keep it together, but deep down, she had an uneasy, anxious feeling nonetheless.
“How far?”, she asked with a pressed voice. Terroma knew how she felt in places like these and gave her a look that was both, worried and reassuring. Harrington noticed her tone as well and raised … [view original content]
Raenna
The claustrophobic darkness underneath the city, – it couldn't be underneath the Hightower yet, could it? - was bad in itself, but… more for Raenna it felt twice as horrible. The mask she was wearing limited her field of view, further strengthening the feeling of being trapped between these narrow, black walls.
She clenched her fists as Harrington led them through yet another corridor. The darkness, the limited space, it reminded her badly of her early childhood, it brought up memories she'd rather not relive. There were few things Raenna actually feared, but being trapped somewhere was among them. She wasn't close to a panic and she knew that she was able to keep it together, but deep down, she had an uneasy, anxious feeling nonetheless.
“How far?”, she asked with a pressed voice. Terroma knew how she felt in places like these and gave her a look that was both, worried and reassuring. Harrington noticed her tone as well and raised … [view original content]
No, sorry, unfortunately not. I was thinking about releasing a special April Fool's part at first, featuring a couple of joke characters I received (Including the legendary Ser Jar-Jar of Binks), as well as a couple of other possible plans, but I made nothing with them, because it would have taken me way too long and I wasn't sure if the resulting part would have been worth reading. But I am 100% sure that the story is still going to be around next April 1st, so perhaps next year I'm able to gather the courage to actually write something like this down.
Raenna
The claustrophobic darkness underneath the city, – it couldn't be underneath the Hightower yet, could it? - was bad in itself, but… more for Raenna it felt twice as horrible. The mask she was wearing limited her field of view, further strengthening the feeling of being trapped between these narrow, black walls.
She clenched her fists as Harrington led them through yet another corridor. The darkness, the limited space, it reminded her badly of her early childhood, it brought up memories she'd rather not relive. There were few things Raenna actually feared, but being trapped somewhere was among them. She wasn't close to a panic and she knew that she was able to keep it together, but deep down, she had an uneasy, anxious feeling nonetheless.
“How far?”, she asked with a pressed voice. Terroma knew how she felt in places like these and gave her a look that was both, worried and reassuring. Harrington noticed her tone as well and raised … [view original content]
[Help Terroma] I think that the master assasin need more help,Samuel can handle three enemies if they use this same type of sword while the master assasin will probably suffer some wounds during a fight against people who has a type of sworld that give an advantage.
Raenna
The claustrophobic darkness underneath the city, – it couldn't be underneath the Hightower yet, could it? - was bad in itself, but… more for Raenna it felt twice as horrible. The mask she was wearing limited her field of view, further strengthening the feeling of being trapped between these narrow, black walls.
She clenched her fists as Harrington led them through yet another corridor. The darkness, the limited space, it reminded her badly of her early childhood, it brought up memories she'd rather not relive. There were few things Raenna actually feared, but being trapped somewhere was among them. She wasn't close to a panic and she knew that she was able to keep it together, but deep down, she had an uneasy, anxious feeling nonetheless.
“How far?”, she asked with a pressed voice. Terroma knew how she felt in places like these and gave her a look that was both, worried and reassuring. Harrington noticed her tone as well and raised … [view original content]
Comments
Hey there, Schwarnold.
I'm so close to catching up with the story. I probably won't make it before the next voting, but I'm currently on Page 97. Damn, I love this story.
WELCOME BACK
Welcome back Liquid.
Garthon
His cheek was thumping in pain, but his heart was thumping even more severely in his chest, as he walked trough the narrow hallway that led to Kyra Greyjoy's chamber. He was no fool. Of course he had a rough idea why she would call him to her chamber. Despite the pain it caused him, a sly grin formed on his face.
There have been hints, he thought, but it still came surprising. Sure, there was the way she seemed to look at him. The way she always seemed to smile when he was around. Though they did call her the 'Laughing Kraken' for a reason...
Perhaps it had just been Garthon's imagination. Perhaps he just saw what he wanted to see. And there was no doubt what he wanted to see. There was her beauty, her raven hair, her silken skin, her deep blue eyes. But even more importantly, she was the last person in this entire castle that seemed to care for him. Amongst the darkness that was Harrenhal, Kyra was a light, a friend, perhaps even... There was only one way to find out. “Kyra, you there?”, he asked with a firm voice, as he knocked on the door.
All of his expectations were shattered when the door got opened. He expected many things, but not this. The person in the doorframe was not Kyra. In fact, it wasn't a woman at all. It was a man, a very young one, a lot taller than Garthon but skinny at the same time. Dark-blonde hair fell behind his ears, down on his shoulders. He looked more than a bit nervous, as if he had just been caught doing something embarrassing. “Uh... no”, he said unnecessarily. “My name is Hjalgar”
The name sounded familiar, although Garthon had to think about it for a moment. Then it hit him. “Hjalgar Holgarsson!”, he exclaimed, as he recognized not the man, but his name. Torvin had mentioned him and his contribution to their plan.
“Garthon”, he introduced himself and unlike him, Hjalgar only needed a second to recognize this name. “Torvin's younger brother”, he said and even though a hint of nervousness remained in his eyes, a friendly smile appeared on his face, as he extended a long arm to shake Garthon's hand. Then, both men had the same thought. “Why are you here?”, they asked, almost in unison.
“Uh... well... I...”, Hjalgar stuttered. “Captain Greyjoy saved my life last week. She found me, hid me from the king's men. Today she invited me to her chambers” He paused and his face started to turn a shade of scarlet embarrassment. “I... actually don't know why I'm here”, he finally answered the question. “I mean, I thought I'd knew, but now...” He looked up, his eyes met Garthon's. “Do you think, she could mean to...”
“Garthon!”, a familiar voice called. As Garthon followed Kyra's voice, his face lit up, only for a moment. Pain lit up as well and he forced himself not to smile, not even to smirk as he watched her walking down the corridor. There was the disconcerting presence of yet another man, who was walking next to her, which worsened his mood almost as much as the pain.
The man was wearing armour, which, while jagged, was fine craftsmanship. The thick coat that was draped around his shoulders was the finest fur. His face showed his advanced age, but his light-brown hair, while thinning, showed no sign of grey. Garthon let out a sigh as he recognized him and now his confusion was complete.
“Kyra, I...”, he greeted her, before his confusion got the better of him. He narrowed his eyes and lowered his head. “Captain Vessels?”, he asked. Simon Vessels gave him a nod. “Breaker”, he growled with a sneer. “Or is it Captain Breaker, now that your traitor brother is rotting in a cell?”
Garthon ignored the provocation and instead gave Kyra a confused look. She glanced past him and gave Hjalgar a radiant smile. “I see you already met”, she deduced. The men exchanged a look, before Garthon cleared his throat. “Uh... what exactly are they doing here?”, he asked. Momentarily, Kyra's smile faded. “What do you think they are doing here?”, she asked. “I invited all of you and I'm glad you came. We should go inside, while we're waiting for Damon”
“Your brother?”, Garthon exclaimed, now fully lost. Just a couple of minutes ago, he had plenty of ideas about what would expect him in Kyra's room. None of these included Hjalgar Holgarsson and Simon Vessels. The presence of the latter was especially confusing, as he and Kyra were known to openly despise each other.
“Aye, Damon”, Kyra answered. “Lord Captain of the Iron Fleet, the Ghost of Pyke and my brother” Her stare fell upon the scar on his cheek and she sighed, before a smile, smaller, but reassuring and completely genuine, formed on her face. “The Maester did good work”, she told him softly. “It's going to heal nicely. Right now it looks gruesome, but I've seen worse. You're still easy on the eyes, you know that?”
Garthon opened his mouth in surprise, but it was Simon who answered. “Under any other circumstance, I'd say 'Get a room'”, he snarled with a vicious grin. “But that is sort of impossible right now, so could we just proceed?”
Kyra rolled her eyes, as she stepped past Hjalgar. “You're an ass, Simon”, she said and it was more a statement than a genuine insult. Vessels even seemed to take pride in it, as he gave her a nod. “And you're a tart, Captain Greyjoy”, he countered calmly, which caused her to narrow her eyes. Moments later, a smile formed on her face. “Over here, Damon”, she said and entered her room.
Simon's mouth opened widely, but he managed to keep control over his facial expression, as he glanced over his shoulder. At the other end of the hallway, Damon Greyjoy slowly walked out of the shadow and for a short moment, the darkness seemed to follow him, before getting eclipsed by the look in his eyes. It was impossible to tell how long he had been standing there.
Both, Garthon and Simon crossed their arms and bowed slightly in front of the Lord Captain, to which he answered with a nod of his head. “Captain Vessels”, he said frostily. “And Garthon. I'm glad we finally get to meet in private” A cold hand grabbed Garthon by the shoulder, as Damon entered the room together with him, followed by Simon, who closed the door.
Kyra's room was smaller than expected, especially considering her position. The bed looked larger, as Garthon wistfully noticed, and there was an additional chair near the table, but other than that, it was unremarkable. Kyra herself sat down on the soft mattress, while Hjalgar stood in the middle of the room, looking way over his head, visibly unsure if he should grab one of the two chairs, or just lean against a wall. He decided for neither, as he awkwardly crossed his arms, looking from the beautiful captain to her equally good-looking, but disturbingly dangerous brother.
Without hesitating, Damon sat down on the chair that stood the closest to his sister, while Simon stopped approaching the second one. Instead, the old captain leant against the wall as far away as possible from both Greyjoys. Without saying a word, the Lord Captain drew a stiletto, a fine, thin knife of myrish craftsmanship, and started to pick some dirt from underneath his fingernails. He threw a look at Garthon that compelled him to sit down on the empty chair.
“Finally”, Damon said, looking around the room. Even though a table was separating them, Garthon felt way too close to him, especially since he wasn't out of reach of his knife. “My... friends”, he continued, hesitating to say the latter word, before his mouth formed a dark smile that fitted well to the look in his eyes. “And my sweet sister”
“Get to the point, Damon”, Kyra urged him. She was the only one who was not afraid at all to be that close to him. Hjalgar looked close to a panic, while Simon scratched his forearm in nervousness. Garthon concentrated on the pain in his cheek, to ignore the rising fear.
“You're here tonight because Harren Hoare is still alive and you all want to change this”, Damon continued and his sudden bluntness caught Garthon off guard. Whereas his usual charm and his diplomatic skill was like a dagger underneath a silken sheet, his unexpectedly direct words hit the room like a storm.
His dagger spun around, heavily hitting the wooden table and the loud noise was enough to draw everyone's attention. It was unnecessary. Garthon knew that it was impossible to ignore Damon Greyjoy in a room as small as this. It was like ignoring a hungry and vicious mountain lion.
Garthon knew about Hjalgar's involvement in this. Even though the young man was clearly too intimidated to speak, Torvin had praised his loyalty. He had suspected Kyra to stand against the king, but hearing it directly filled him with relief. This left Vessels and the Lord Captain himself.
As if he had read his thoughts, Simon spoke up, noticing the curious looks from both, Garthon and Hjalgar. “He sentenced my son to death”, he growled. Garthon raised an eyebrow. “Rell?”, he asked and the captain gave him a nod. “Of course, he'd never outright call it a death sentence”, he specified and looked at Damon.
“I believe he called it a raid”, the Lord Captain corrected him, not without smugness. “Though the target is suicidal. A small town in the western Reach, stronger than most and in the midst of our war against the lion of Lannister” He shook his head. “He's sending a couple hundred men to their likely death, men we could need somewhere else”
“So, you stand against the king?”, Garthon wanted to know. Simon gave him a disgruntled nod. “Aye. I won't allow anyone to kill my son”, he growled. Kyra raised an eyebrow and swift as a cat, she was sitting straight on her bed. “Didn't stop you from killing the other five yourself”, she remarked casually, and Simon narrowed his eyes. “You mean the bastards my wife dared to call my own?”, he growled.
A single look from Damon was enough to end the brewing fight, though the open animosity between Kyra and Simon remained. Hjalgar looked to the ground, obviously far too intimidated to speak up. The Lord Captain gave him a look that was less sharp than his usual ones. “Hjalgar”, he said and the young man looked up. “Are you still loyal to Torvin and the cause?”
Without hesitating, and with determination, Hjalgar gave him a nod. “Always”, he answered. Damon smiled like a pleased shark, before he looked at Garthon. “That would be settled”, he remarked. “Now...” Garthon already knew what he would ask. The mere suggestion that it had to be asked was enough to make him forget the pain in his newly stitched cheek and the reasonable fear he had when being in the presence of this man.
“I am”, he said harshly. “Don't you even dare to suggest that I couldn't be loyal to my brother” Both Greyjoys raised their eyebrows and exchanged a short look. Then, Damon gave him a look. “Very well”, he answered. “It appears Kyra has been right about you” And then, with a sound that caused Garthon to breath out in relief, he moved the stiletto back behind his belt.
This exchange made him bolder than before. “There's one thing I don't understand”, he said. “Why are you against the king?” Damon's smile could have frozen the hells, which delivered a nasty blow against Garthon's confidence. “The question here is, why should I have any loyalty to this man?”, he asked in a spine-chilling tone. “He banished me for ten years and all I did was protecting my sister from this imbecile thirdborn”
“So... you want to bring the king down?”, Garthon asked and Damon shook his head. “I want to bring his entire house down”, he revealed. “Harren and all of his sons. Perhaps even his brother up at the wall, if I feel like it” He leant forwards and suddenly, he smirked. “I will leave nothing but ashes when I'm done here”
“I'm all in for that”, Simon interjected harshly. “If it saves my son, I'd see this whole kingdom burn. But, how the fuck do you want to do this? You got one Iron Fleet captain and the brother of another, some weakling and... your sister, to take down a monster like Harren”
“Monster?”, Damon asked. “I wouldn't be so quick with the name-calling, Simon. But out of interest, how do you think can a monster be killed?” Simon narrowed his eyes, before opening his mouth again. “Slain by... a hero?”, he asked.
“We already tried this, didn't we?”, Damon asked. “Tully was our hero, or Torvin perhaps. We know how it ended” As he said this, Kyra leant up and watched him with curiosity. “During my banishment, I had a lot of time to think about this question”, he continued and something in his eyes changed. For one brief second, he appeared like a madman, a soft-spoken, wickedly dangerous madman. “One interesting idea, perhaps the only one that has any chance to succeed, is to summon a bigger monster and to hope that some of us will be left after their fight”
“And I suspect, you already know this bigger monster?”, Simon asked, clearly unconvinced and sceptical. Damon gave him a nod. “Exactly”, he said in a whisper. “He will bring shadows and ashes. Glowing embers. A black dread” His smile got wider. “Fire and Blood”
While Kyra and Simon exchanged a rare, non-hostile look with each other, one of deep concern, Hjalgar and Garthon clearly had no idea what the Lord Captain was talking about. Before either of them could ask, Damon already continued to speak.
“For now, I have gathered you here because you can assist in the things to come. But for that, I need you to be someone you aren't”, he explained. “Loyal citizens. Good little soldiers. Submissive until I decide otherwise” His dark eyes met Garthon's. “This is especially important to you. You failed, because the king suspected you. If we want to get a second chance at getting rid of Harren, I need you to keep your head down and to do anything he says to his utmost satisfaction”
Just as he said this, a loud knock at the door caused everyone to look towards it. Damon put a hand onto the hilt of his stiletto, before glancing at Kyra. She only shrugged. “No idea”, she whispered. The Lord Captain's terrifying glare hit Hjalgar, who clenched his fists in discomfort. Without saying a word, the young man moved to the door, opening it only a gap. Immediately, it was fully pushed open by someone on the other side, nearly pushing Hjalgar to the ground as well. In the doorframe, his glare just as terrifying as Damon's, stood Harmund Hoare.
The prince was wearing a fine, black vest made out of hardened leather, and a brown fur coat around his shoulders. Grimly, he was glaring at Damon, who was reciprocating the look. It reminded Garthon of predators who were about to fight.
“Prince Harmund!”, Damon greeted him warmly, in a deceptively cheerful tone. “What brings you here?” Harmund glanced into the room and laid his eyes upon Kyra, long enough to make Garthon feel uncomfortable. “Lord Captain”, he finally said, calmly but without any warmth. “My brother told me that I could find Breaker here” His glare hit Garthon like a hammer. “My father has gathered the lords”, he explained and this time, the hint of anger flashed up in his voice. “They desperately await your testimony, traitor”
“You're an errant boy now, princeling?”, Kyra asked with open disdain. Harmund let out a growling noise, which almost sounded like an insult, before he stepped into the room. The very same moment, Damon raised from his chair. “What is the meaning of this meeting?”, Harmund asked. “I see you, your whore of a sister, Captain Vessels and a known traitor” Hjalgar let out a relieved sigh as he realized that he was being ignored.
“In the light of the recent events, I decided to give Captain Breaker a lecture in loyalty. Captain Vessels and Kyra agreed to help me”, Damon explained calmly. Harmund shook his head. “Whatever”, he said as he grabbed Garthon by the shoulder. “The traitor is coming with me now. Father does not like to wait”
Garthon knew that he had no choice in this, but he still glanced at the others. While Hjalgar tried to remain invisible, Simon had a sneer on his face. Kyra was giving him a reassuring, hopeful look. Finally, Damon didn't showed any emotion at all, but he nodded at Garthon. “Remember what I told you”, he said tonelessly. “Be a good little soldier”
“He's many things, Greyjoy”, Harmund said as he harshly pushed Garthon out of the room. “A traitor. A dirty fucking coward. Brother of a man even less” He turned around towards the Lord Captain and Garthon used the opportunity to shot him a glare full of hatred. “But a good little soldier? Good fucking joke” He closed the door and finally shifted his full attention on Garthon. “That way”, he growled and pointed down the hallway.
Garthon walked down the way Harmund told him, feeling the prince's vicious glare in his back the entire time. Neither of them said a word, but the unspoken hatred was worse than silence. Garthon tried his best to just walk, without paying too much attention to his surroundings and to the man behind him. Suddenly, being close to the Lord Captain felt a lot less horrifying. Damon Greyjoy was equal parts brilliant and unpredictable, but at least he was on his side, sort of. And then there was his sister...
Just as Garthon thought it couldn't get any worse, he turned around a corner into a small room. It was entirely empty, save for one person, who leant against a wall, half-cloaked in shadows. Still, Garthon saw the ragged black beard and the dark eyes, together with the twisted grin on his face and that was enough to recognize him. What was even worse was the thing he held in his hand. Harndon Hoare definitely wasn't the kind of person that should be in the possession of a knife.
He immediately spun around, only to be greeted by Harmund's closed fist, which heavily hit his face. Even before he hit the ground, he realized what was happening. He let out a groan of pain, as his cheek hit the ground, which caused Harndon to chuckle.
“Do I get to kill him, brother?”, he asked with his high-pitched, unstable voice. Garthon glanced at Harmund, who shook his head. “Drop the knife, Donny”, he snarled. “We're not going to kill him” This seemed to displease Harndon, who hesitated. “He hurt Lanny”, he insisted.
“Aye”, Harmund answered. “And for that, we're going to hurt him badly. But we still need him alive, so drop the knife before you get carried away” He narrowed his midnight eyes. “Drop it now, or I'm going to do the thing again”
Harndon widely opened his eyes, which gave him an even more insane look, as he dropped the knife as if he had burned himself. A pleased sneer formed on Harmund's face as he leant down to Garthon, who slowly tried to stagger back onto his feet. “But he is right. You hurt my brother, more than I ever did”, he explained. “And father leaves you with nothing but this tiny scar... Not acceptable”
His hands moved to his cloak and quickly removed it, which revealed his strongly muscled arms. “So, here's what's going to happen. Me and Donny, we're going to fuck you up”, he continued. “We're going to beat you until you curse the day you were born. We're going to beat you until you wish that you could just crawl back into your mother's barren cunt” His sneer turned into a smile that was as unhinged as his brother's. “And if you're going to fight back, we're going to hurt you more”
“Yes! We fuck you up!”, Harndon exclaimed and started to chuckle. Like his brother, he was tall and strong. One of them would be a dangerous opponent, but both? As Garthon staggered back to his feet, he considered his options. He could follow the prince's wish of course, take the beatingin the hopes that it would be less severe. Or he could fight back. His eyes darted across the room. There, in front of Harndon, lay the knife the thirdborn had just dropped. If he'd get it, it could give him an advantage...
[Fight back] [Fight back and grab the knife] [Don't fight back]
[Don't fight back] Nah, we're fine. Everything is good, everything is fine.
Hey Liquid, not sure if you played it yet, but what do you thinking of the Walking Dead: Michonne?
I haven't played it yet, although I would like to once I have played a couple of other games on my list. I have heard enough good things to be interested. Michonne is also one of my favourite characters in the comics, so I'm definitely going to give it a try, perhaps during the next Steam Sale.
(Fight back)
[Don't fight back] Ah... damn it. Fuck Harmund.
[Don't fight back]
Well, uh, I kinda missed a lot while I was gone... But now, I'm back. And now, I'm caught up again. So... Yeah. I'm back!
[Don't fight back] Gotta be submissive. Although I don't really trust a single person from that meeting, except for Kyra, because she's awesome.
My reaction when Hjalgar opened the door was literally "You've gotta be fucking kidding". You dashed my hopes Liquid!
I imagine from here on out there are going to be some pretty tough choices as Garthon, because we gotta submit, but we won't want to for some reason.
I think I'm really gonna like Garthon's story, it's gotten really intriguing, and he's one of my favourite characters.
Garthon's POV never disappoints...
[Don't fight back] I feel if we fight back it will only cause things to get bloodier than it already is. My play it safe mindset is kicking in for this situation... even though I'm not sure if this will just end up backfiring severely and get more people killed than ever :X
[Don't fight back]
I thought we were going to get some bump'n'grind with Kyra. So disappointing
[Don't fight back]
Beginning of the Part totally made my day. Thanks!
I didn't notice this comment in my feed heh.
Well, learning Russian, playing Crusader Kings II, catching up to Liquid's magnificent story and such.
You're Pole?
Yeah, just noticed that you have this information in your profile. Good to see that there is another Polish reader besides me. :-)
[Fight back and grab the knife]
That is exactly what Garthon is thinking as well. He's definitely too smart to trust Damon and he dislikes Simon too much to trust him either. However, he is more willing to trust Hjalgar, since Torvin is willing to vow for him. And, of course, he is trusting Kyra.
It's always my pleasure to be of service
However, there are still chapters, acts and even whole books left. Nothing happened between them now and Kyra is definitely not that easy, although this part was meant to show that at least Garthon harbours some feelings for her.
Oh yes, I can safely confirm that Garthon is going to have some of the hardest choices in the entire Book 1, as well as some of the most important ones. The end of his storyline in this chapter will include a twist of great importance, which I hope no one sees coming.
This is good, glad you like it! I guess you're going to be happy to hear that Garthon is going to likely have two more full parts in this chapter, which are going to happen in short succession. I made a couple of pacing mistakes, since I underestimated how much stuff I want him to do in this chapter, so now I have to put a relatively large amount of stuff into a chapter that is almost over. In retrospect I should have written his parts at a more steady pace, comparable to how I handled Jaron's storyline in this chapter. On the positive side, this means that out of all the PoV's, Garthon will have the most to do in this final quarter of the chapter. Anyway, glad you like him and his story, hopefully it stays that way!
[Don't fight back]
PS:I really like this Pov and expecially the beginning part
[Don't fight back] We are being "good little soldiers", we just need to wait and play our role and it will come..."Vengeance. Justice. Fire and blood"
[Don't fight back]
[Don't Fight back] make love not war
[Don't fight back] It feels good to be back!
Oh, I had no idea you were from Poland too, Mathea.
Good to know
Good to know indeed!
Miłego dnia, Karol :-)
[Fight back]
The Voting is closed!
Garthon won't fight back
It surprises me that this option won by such a big margin, even though it is possibly the most rational choice. On paper, this now means that Garthon is going to get a savage beating from two people whose most redeeming character trait is literally that they are both violent and unstable psychopaths. In turn, fighting back has the potential to make it even worse, so yeah... this was clearly a choice without good options, even though one of them will lead to an outcome slightly less bad.
I try my very best to put the next part out today. It is going to be a Raenna part, who also has quite some stuff left to do in the final parts of this chapter. The last time we saw her, she and Terroma infiltrated a house that contained an entrance to the labyrinth below the Hightower, while their unlikely ally Samuel Harrington provided some back-up. They cleaned the house from Butterfly's men, only to find out that Samuel Puffer, who had previously infiltrated it, has been heavily (but not mortally) wounded in the fight. Since Samuel was unable to continue their mission, Terroma sent him back with a heavy heart. Harrington continued to lead Raenna and Terroma down, through a tunnel and into the labyrinth, where they were soon presented with two options. Terroma insisted on finishing their mission as quickly as possible and wanted to save Kersea's sister first. Meanwhile, Harrington wanted to do his own mission first, which would lead him to the archive of the city guard. Both men were determined to finish their mission first, especially since neither trusts the other to continue their uneasy partnership once one goal is fulfilled. Ultimately, they left the decision up to Raenna, since they were unable to find a compromise by themself. Since she trusts him by now, Raenna decided in favour of Harrington.
Raenna
The claustrophobic darkness underneath the city, – it couldn't be underneath the Hightower yet, could it? - was bad in itself, but for Raenna it felt twice as horrible. The mask she was wearing limited her field of view, further strengthening the feeling of being trapped between these narrow, black walls.
She clenched her fists as Harrington led them through yet another corridor. The darkness, the limited space, it reminded her badly of her early childhood, it brought up memories she'd rather not relive. There were few things Raenna actually feared, but being trapped somewhere was among them. She wasn't close to a panic and she knew that she was able to keep it together, but deep down, she had an uneasy, anxious feeling nonetheless.
“How far?”, she asked with a pressed voice. Terroma knew how she felt in places like these and gave her a look that was both, worried and reassuring. Harrington noticed her tone as well and raised an eyebrow. “Is everything alright?”, he asked.
She shook her head. “I hate this place”, she revealed. Harrington seemed to understand this, as he nodded in agreement. “There's plenty to hate here”, he answered. “The people, mainly. Though my current company is not the problem” She shook her head and if she wouldn't have felt so anxious at the moment, she would have smirked at his last remark. “It's not only that”, she answered. “A couple of bad memories from my childhood”
“I see”, Harrington said, his tone getting softer. “Dark memories are not worth talking about. Don't mention them” He hesitated and pressed his lips together, before he continued. “Though, out of interest, are there any good ones? Memories from your childhood I mean”
“A few”, Raenna answered and looked at Terroma. “You haven't answered my question though. How far is it to the archive?” Harrington opened his mouth, but before he was able to answer, he put a finger onto his lips.
And then Raenna heard it as well. Heavy footsteps came closer to their position. Terroma and Harrington exchanged a glance and the sellsword gave the master assassin a nod. Raenna saw how Terroma relaxed. On Harrington's sign, they stopped walking, just as a man in heavy armour walked around a corner.
He was an ugly man, with brown hair and eyes of the same colour. Even in the dim light that Terroma's torch spent, she saw that he was very pale. He had a round, puffy face, with sunken, sullen eyes being the centrepiece. A small stubble beard was kept on his face and even though he had a few wrinkles on his face, Raenna was sure that he couldn't be much older than her. His right cheek was further disfigured by a deep scar, which had also claimed the majority of his right ear.
As soon as he spotted them, he put his left hand, clad in a fine leather glove, onto the hilt of his sword. A pained expression flashed across his face and he instead finished the movement using solely his right hand. Raenna immediately noticed that something was wrong with the left one, specifically with the fingers. The glove almost seemed... empty.
“Jaylon?”, Harrington asked in surprise and the man calmed down. “Samuel, you son of a bitch”, he answered with a voice that was as ugly as the rest of him. Neither man was smiling and neither seemed happy about seeing the other. “I... have heard you are dead”, Harrington stuttered. For once, he lost his usual calm demeanour and looked genuinely baffled.
The ugly man shook his head and a joyless smile appeared on his face. “Not quite”, he answered. “You see, I haven't been around for a week. Things... happened. Bad things. Long story short, I made a mistake. I betrayed Butterfly”
The baffled look on Harrington's face soon switched from curiosity to confusion. “You're awfully alive for that”, he growled and Raenna noticed the bitter streak that appeared on the ugly man's face. “Who are your friends?”, he asked quickly.
“They accompany me on a mission”, Harrington answered. “And I wouldn't call them friends. The masked one does not even speak” Jaylon gave him a nod and his intense, bitter stare fell upon Raenna. His gaze moved downwards, uncomfortably slow.
“I see...”, he mumbled and turned back towards Harrington. “Samuel, do you know where I've been last week?”, he asked suddenly. The sellsword shook his head and Jaylon let out a sigh. “The lower cells”, he explained. “You see, I made a mistake. I betrayed Butterfly and he caught me”
“You already mentioned that”, Harrington answered. “But I don't understand why you are still alive” Jaylon's smile faded. “He forgave me”, he answered. “He forgave me after I told him everything I know, after I begged him to accept my apology, after I begged him for another opportunity to be loyal” His right hand grabbed the glove of the left one. “He did not leave it for the Sphynx, oh no. He did it himself. You see, I've been down there for five days and each day, he took one”
With these words, he removed the glove and for once, Raenna was glad for the mask that concealed her face. The fingers on the left hand were missing, all of them. The hand was crudely stitched and looked otherwise mutilated as well, as if someone partially skinned and burned it. Raenna had seen a lot of horrible things in her life, but that only made it worse. She knew exactly how painful this kind of torture was.
Harrington obviously knew it as well. His face was completely emotionless, a little bit too emotionless. “I'm sorry”, he said calmly. Jaylon shook his head. “I brought it up to myself, you know. She asked me to leave with her and I refused. Thought I had something good here”, he sighed and let out a dry chuckle. “You see, for a very short time before he caught me, I considered defecting. It's amazing how a little pain can change your outlook on life. I see things clearer now. And for this, he rewarded me”
Awkwardly and clearly in a lot of pain, he shoved the glove back above the remains of his left hand. Samuel finally averted his gaze and the look on his face showed that he had more compassion than Raenna previously thought.
Jaylon continued to look at her, before he shook his head. “All I'm saying is, be careful what you do, Samuel”, he warned him. “You don't want to end down there, trust me. Perhaps you think you can imagine it, but trust me, it's a lot worse”
He turned around, to continue his walk, as Harrington called him again. “Jaylon, wait”, he hissed. “Where... where are you going now?” Jaylon's smile widened, just as Raenna's pity for him faded. There was something dark about him, something that did not deserve compassion.
“Butterfly received some interesting new information”, he answered with glee. “One of the cripples boys, a very important one, fell into our hands. Took the Sphynx roughly a minute to make him sing. Now we're going to end this” As he continued, a perverse joy was visible in his eyes. “You won't believe it, but the Burned Man's bold little whore has been right under Butterfly's nose the entire evening”
“So, you're going to kill her?”, Harrington asked in a tone that was completely unimpressed. Jaylon shook his head. “Only if Butterfly is merciful”, he answered and his voice turned into a vicious growl as he raised his mutilated left hand. “I'm going to make her pay for this”, he snarled.
Harrington gave him a nod. “I wish you the best of luck”, he mumbled, as both men exchanged a nod. And with this gesture, they parted ways. Jaylon continued going down the way they just came from, while Harrington paused for a moment. He shook his head, before he turned away from him.
“Who was that?”, Raenna asked, once she was sure that they were out of earshot. Harrington sighed. “An acquaintance”, he answered. “Jaylon went missing a week ago. I thought he was dead. Seeing him like this...” He hesitated, before he turned into another corridor. “Perhaps it would have been more merciful”
He turned around another corner and pointed down the hallway. “We're almost there now”, he explained. “The archive shouldn't be guarded. Regular visitors are stopped at the checkpoints in the upper areas of the labyrinth. No one ever prepared for someone entering through the tunnels below”
Indeed, they soon stopped in front of a large, wooden door. Harrington moved the doorknob, but stopped as soon as he realized that it was locked. “Here's what I need you for”, he said, as he looked at Terroma. “Can you open this?”
“Without a doubt”, the assassin answered, as he pulled out his lockpick. Raenna could only admire his speed and skill while picking the lock and just a few seconds later, the door swung open.
Behind it, a large room was located, crammed with large, dusty bookshelves, which in turn were filled with loads of tomes. Terroma's torch was barely bright enough to illuminate the far edges of the room, which left them in a gloomy twilight. While Samuel looked unimpressed, Terroma let out a whistle. “That one's pretty big”, he remarked. “What are you looking for?”
Harrington started to shake his head, but stopped the movement right in its tracks. “Help would be welcome”, he admitted, before he closed the door behind them. “In here, the city guard keeps documents which contain lists of every man or woman that is ever worked for them. I'm looking for a list as new as possible”
“Whom are you looking for in particular?”, Raenna asked, but Harrington did not answer. Instead, he glanced at her in an odd way. “You can put the mask off now”, he advised her. “It's unlikely that anyone is going to disturb us here and honestly, you're wasted on that blasted thing”
“Thank you”, Raenna said and took a moment to regain her composure before she removed the mask. She hadn't noticed how warm it has gotten underneath it, but as soon as she removed it, she felt the cold air of the labyrinth. It was dusty and moldy, but it felt refreshing nonetheless. “I wonder how they actually manage to fight underneath these things”
“Doesn't seem to bother the Cats too much”, Harrington explained. “Though they mostly use it to spread fear” He smirked at her as she glanced at the wooden mask. “It works”, he admitted. “They are creepy as fuck”
“Are you scared of the bad kitty?”, Raenna mocked him, even though she fully understood what he was referring to. The mask was indeed creepy and she was glad of the opportunity to remove it, if only for a moment.
Harrington chuckled and gave her a nod. “And I'm not afraid to admit it”, he answered. “Even you're scary when you wear it” Raenna reciprocated his smirk. “Trust me, I can be scary without the mask as well”, she remarked. “You should be very, very afraid”
“I'm frozen in terror”, Harrington answered, but before he could say anything else, Terroma cut him off. “Found it”, he simply said, though she noticed the hint of sharpness in his voice. Harrington looked up, his playful smirk immediately gone. “Good”, he remarked, as he laid his eyes on a book that seemed less dusty than the rest.
“It contains a list of payment for every member of the city guard that has been working here in the last month”, Terroma explained as he put it onto a nearby table. “Thank you”, Harrington answered, as he approached the table. “That should be new enough. I probably don't need long, then we can free your little girl”
As he opened the book and started to read in it, Terroma walked next to Raenna. Neither of them said a word, although he raised an eyebrow. “What?”, she finally asked sharply. “I could ask you the same thing”, he answered calmly, but sternly.
“Bastard”, Harrington growled and both looked at him. “This fucking bastard...” He shut the book and as he turned around, his face was like the mask Raenna had just been wearing. Emotionless and terrifying at the same time. She noticed that his hands were shivering, even though his voice gave nothing of it away. “He betrayed me... I can't believe that he actually did it”, he hissed.
“What are you talking about?”, Raenna asked and Harrington sighed. “Mullendore!”, he answered. “Butterfly! Whatever the hell you want to call him!” He took another glance at the book, while Terroma understood what he just said. “Maron Mullendore is Butterfly?”, he asked. “That... Seven Hells, it actually makes sense”
“Let's go, now!”, Harrington ordered. “I need to get to the lower cells, as far away from the surface as possible, or else I'm going to do something very stupid” His hand grabbed the hilt of his sword, slightly removing it from the scabbard and he did not seem to notice it. With these words, he rushed out of the door, leaving Raenna with barely enough time to put her mask back on, before she and Terroma had to hurry to catch up to him.
“Harrington”, she hissed. “Samuel, don't ignore me now!” Finally, he slowed down and she saw that he was barely able to control himself. “What have you found out?”, she asked softly. A pained expression flashed over Harrington's face and he finally removed the hand from the hilt. “Remember what you told me earlier?”, he asked. “About others making your choices? Happens that I can emphasize very much with this. In my case it was my brother who made me how I am today”
“Your brother?”, Raenna asked and Harrington gave her a nod. “Ryder”, he explained. “My older brother. I also had a younger one, Cedrick, and an older sister, Anna” At first, he seemed to hesitate, but once he fully started to speak, the words flew out of his mouth. She heard anger, bitterness and sadness in his tone.
“Ryder was the oldest, my favourite sibling and the one that had always been better than me”, Harrington revealed and moved a hand to his belt. Instead of his sword, he drew a dagger and presented it to her. “It was his. He gave it to me when I was ten years old, my first weapon”, he explained. “Two years later, he murdered my entire family”
The bluntness with which he said these words caught Raenna off guard. She stopped and so did he. “My father, my mother, Anna and Cedrick, this fucking animal slaughtered them all”, he growled. “I was out in the woods around my home and when I returned, I only saw him leaving the house, their blood on his sword”
To her surprise, Raenna noticed that he was holding back tears. It was the last she had expected from this man and to calm him down, she put a hand onto his back. He blinked. “Your life was defined by the will to survive. Mine was defined by the anger I felt this day, as I saw the slaughtered corpses of my family, the anger I still feel when I think about the man responsible”, he explained. “Nothing else mattered. I did a lot of things I'm not proud of, everything if it just brought me closer to Ryder and closer to my revenge”
“I... gods, I'm sorry”, Raenna said wholeheartedly. “Is that how you've ended up with Butterfly?” He gave her a nod. “It took me years to track Ryder down to Oldtown. But the city is large, the largest in Westeros and perhaps the entire world”, he answered. “I knew I had to make some powerful friends if I wanted to have any chance of ever finding him. Butterfly sounded like a good choice at the time and I worked for him not for money, but for information. I worked loyally for years, I was his best man and now...” He paused and his mask cracked, revealing pure anger underneath. “Now I have to find out that he knew all along where my brother was. He made him a captain of his own city guard, right under my nose!”
Raenna wanted to say something, but decided against it. She felt his anger and pain. It was Terroma who asked the question she would have liked to ask herself. “What are you going to do now?”, he asked.
Harrington looked up. For a moment, he gazed at Raenna, before his attention shifted towards Terroma. “First, I'm going to lead you to the lower cells. We're going to free the girl and any other poor bastard that's down there. Anyone who tries to stop us is going to die”, he explained and Terroma gave him a nod. “Then... I don't know. I track my brother down and take my revenge. As for Butterfly... I'm going to hurt him. I'm going to make him pay” His voice got louder for a moment. “I'm going to fucking kill him!”
“Kill whom?”, a new voice asked from around the corner. Raenna froze, as she saw men walking around it, at least half a dozen. Even more movement from behind made her turn around, only to see that three men were approaching them from the direction they came from.
The man who talked was a lanky, skinny man with very short, brown hair. He was young and plain looking, with a loud scar that crossed his crooked nose. “Good day, Fang”, he greeted Harrington. “We were just looking for you. Jaylon approached us, told us you need help with something”
Under other circumstances, Raenna had no doubt that Harrington would have kept his cool. Right now however, he was visibly shaking and still holding back tears. “Jaylon...”, he mumbled. “Should have guessed that much”
“Who are your friends?”, the man asked. “I haven't seen them around before” He glanced at Terroma, before he intensely looked at Raenna. His eyes met hers, before he moved his gaze downwards. He walked around Harrington and towards her. “Who are you?”, he asked. Raenna did not answer, even as he came dangerously close to her.
“He does not speak”, Harrington clarified and the man shook his head. The took a deep breath, while Raenna was still contemplating on wether or not she should just kill him. “I see”, he said, as Raenna glared at him. He even smirked, as his hand moved towards his belt, where his knife was located. “Take off your mask”, he ordered her.
Instead of her mask, Raenna's hand reached for her dagger, only for his own hand to stop her. “Look who just made a terrible mistake. Jaylon was right. What a pretty little kitty you got there, Fang”, he growled and with a metallic sound, he unsheathed his knife. “Take the mask off, bitch. Let us see that pretty face of yours, n-” He did not manage to finish his sentence, as Harrington drew his sword and in the same movement cleanly and unceremoniously decapitated him.
The grip around Raenna's hand faded and she was finally able to draw her dagger. Terroma did the same. So did the men that had surrounded them. Harrington glanced at her, before he turned around to the largest group of opponents, not even bothering with looking at the man he just killed. “You have one chance to keep your lives”, he growled. “Don't stand in my way”
They stood in his way. In fact, they did more than that, as all of them started to approach them. “Kill them!”, one of the men yelled and then they all attacked. Next to her, Terroma mumbled something, before he rushed towards the three men in their back. He tackled the first to the ground before the man was fully ready, embedding his dagger deeply in the man's eyesocket, before he rose from the ground, to dodge an attack from one of his two remaining opponents.
Meanwhile, Harrington's opponents were more numerous, but did not attack all at once. Two of them rushed in first, while the other three momentarily hesitated. Harrington swung his sword, the blade finding its way into one man's throat, before he parried a strike from his second opponent. His sword spun around and cut deeply into the man's stomach, causing him to drop to the ground, just in time for Harrington to parry the attack from a third opponent. Now that the rest of the men was engaged in a fight with him, he had to struggle just to parry their attacks.
Raenna glanced at her dagger, before removing her mask with her free hand. Breathing freely again, she glanced around. Terroma, behind her, had two opponents, both of whom used the superior range of their swords to keep him at bay. Meanwhile, Harrington in front of her fought at very close range against three of them, who used their superior number to besiege him.
[Help Harrington] [Help Terroma]
[Help Harrington] Harrington's cool.
[Help Harrington] Argh! I love him too much, sorry Terroma. Plus Raenna and Samuel bonded so quickly.
I love Raenna and Samuel's banter so much. And Terroma sees their blossoming relationship too. Though he's more concerned about it clearly. I couldn't hold back a smile when she called him by his first name. You bet your ass I ship it!
[Help Harrington] Terroma seems better able to defend himself.
[Help Terroma]
I refuse to help Harrington.
Gonna do any April Fool's things Liquid?
No, sorry, unfortunately not. I was thinking about releasing a special April Fool's part at first, featuring a couple of joke characters I received (Including the legendary Ser Jar-Jar of Binks), as well as a couple of other possible plans, but I made nothing with them, because it would have taken me way too long and I wasn't sure if the resulting part would have been worth reading. But I am 100% sure that the story is still going to be around next April 1st, so perhaps next year I'm able to gather the courage to actually write something like this down.
Why?
I will never forgive him for being a prick to dear Leonard.
[Help Harrington]
I don't recall what he did.
Seriously?XD You forget that Samule give an huge help to his ex employer during the ending of the fourth chapter?XD
[Help Terroma] I think that the master assasin need more help,Samuel can handle three enemies if they use this same type of sword while the master assasin will probably suffer some wounds during a fight against people who has a type of sworld that give an advantage.
PS:Ehi! Jaylon is alive!Hurray!Let's kill him!:D