Winter came sooner that year than it was expected. No master or scholar could predict the abrupt change of scenery between the seasons. It was said that the coming snow would last 10 years, but no one actually believed it.
Many things have been prophesized before but not as many have come to their true meaning.
As the cold drew in closer and closer toward the Southern pastures of the Northern border, all farmers and cultivators were asked by their ruler, to bring wheat and crops inside the city’s walls. During winter everyone around the area would have to do the same. The army had to be fed, and being inside the great castle’s walls, everyone got sheltered from the coming storm.
What nobody had expected was for the foretold prophecy to come true.
As Kol sat inside his chambers, reading some letters which came in the morning, he couldn’t stop but think about the uprising which he so much fought to prevent.
Two great cities from across the Narrow Sea sought to overthrow the Northern rule over them, threatening to not deliver what was asked of them. Being the Lord Northern Kingdom, Kol didn’t quite take this easily. He did not want to retaliate with force at first, but he agreed in the end to his Hand and commander’s advice, Aeden Black.
Aeden was a smart man, but also someone nobody dared to trifle with. Not for his harsh tongue, nor his strong posture. He did not sport any of those. Despite the fact that he was one of the greatest looking men in the North, he was feared for his lack of emotion and because he was quick at taking harsh decisions. Some which up until now, brought no good for his enemies. He was born in the South, close to the great city of Eventerr. One of the biggest capitals of magic in the lands of Alion. He wasn’t born keen for spell casting like others might have thought, but he learned to master and control something that not many had done before. Aeden had a special gift: to manipulate primordial energy lay lines, flowing all over the world found in the depths of the planet itself. By tapping into these energetic ley lines, which the scholars called “aetherns”, Aeden could deploy unimaginable devastating spells which no other spell caster could even dream of. One of such spells was used once, when Kol happened to be a on a diplomatic ball at the capital of Alion. Hired assassins were sent to murder the Queen Regent of the city, Agnes Deveraux, but with Kol’s sharp senses and Aeden’s powers, they worked together to stop them and save Agnes.
Saving the Queen Regent, and killing every single assassin sent to target her, Aeden was granted access to the Citadel, but he kindly refused. Kol was more than impressed by the young sorcerer’s skills and capabilities, but he couldn’t recruit Aeden back then. Later that year though, thanks to a good friend of his, the presently known Lord Commander of the Watcher’s Fortress, Hale Greywatch; they were able to recruit Aeden, who unexpectedly didn’t turn down Kol’s offer.
Born into a family of Eventerr scholars, Aeden took the name of the Black family along with him, when he joined Kol up in the Northern Kingdom, refusing to forget his roots.
Almost 5 years have passed since then, and Aeden and Kol grew closer and closer, at first as just friends, but as time went on, Kol named Aeden his Hand, which granted him power over Skyhold itself and its people.
*
The chamber’s door opened swiftly as Aeden stormed in, forgetting to even knock.
“I am not going to sit by and let the White Guard go on their own Kol.”
Kol put down his quill, as he turned to face an anxious young man now looking out on the windows.
“Don’t you think they will be able to handle the Masters by themselves?”
“I am not worried about the Masters,” Aeden added not turning to face his Lord. “I am more worried about what their treacherous minds could bear fruit. They know our army is coming for them. Don’t you think they might have had time to prepare for this?”
“Take Drah’kar,” Kol told him as he stopped in front of the window.
Aeden turned to face him surprised.
“Take Drah’kar? You want to raze the cities?”
“No,” Kol answered in a cold manner. “I want to burn the Masters, but I don’t want their people to suffer. That’s why you’re taking Drah’kar. Go with the Whites, clear the cities of any traitors or mercenaries paid by them, and find them. Once you do, force them to bend the knee or burn them alive.”
“Drah’kar won’t be necessary for that. And by the time I will be gone, you shall have enough time to figure out the news which came in from the Fortress this morning.” Aeden added handing Kol the sealed parchment.
“What kind of Lord am I if I let you go alone, without a proper defense at your back.”
“A smart one,” Aeden replied as he made his way toward the door.
*
The lands to the East were mostly populated by rich Masters and their glorious cities. But even if they reveled in their magnificence their true rulers paled in comparison with others. The Masters were nothing more than cruel rich lords, who used the power of currency to buy and trade slaves or use them as entertainment, forcing them to fight in the Pits, and die for their laughter. No citizen inside their cities was free, and if one would try to escape without their knowledge, they would be decapitated once caught, without pardon.
As Aeden stepped through the large moss covered way-gate, he found himself standing atop a large cliff; at his feet, Kol’s White Guard, standing by to attack the first city, which was shining right in front of them, a good couple miles away.
The White Guard was formed from enchanters and battle mages alike. No soldier would best them in close or long-range combat. They were all wearing the same white straps around their bodies, their armor and clothing assorted with black magical runes, gowning at the edge of their capes.
“Commander.” One of the White captains greeted Aeden.
“Isaac. Report.”
“We’ve sent two of the shadow birds to scout the area, milord. We’ve spotted sentry guards and possible spell casters in the watch towers. We aren’t sure what type of spell casters though.”
“Alright. What about their southern tunnels?” Aeden asked Isaac as they were heading toward the encampment at the bottom of the cliffs.
“They are blocked, milord. By trying to clear them, we would draw too much attention to ourselves, and if you allow me, milord. I know you too well to even consider a siege without the element of surprise.”
Aeden laughed shortly.
“Are our cloaking wards in place?”
“Yes.”
“Good, head back to your squad. I want a full debrief in 1 hour. We strike at nightfall.”
Heading for his tent, Aeden found himself starring in the distance. The great city of Valheen, taken over by some mindless savages. Blinded by their simple notions of greed and desire.
The mages of Eventerr would have been disgusted by such people, and he wasn’t so much different.
But before he would order a siege against the city, he had other plans.
As he entered the tent, he closed the shutter behind him, so no one would see inside. He looked around, carefully inspecting the interior, and began casting the spell he had in mind even before his arrival.
A series of runes appeared all around him on the ground, writing themselves in white glowing color as he continued focusing on the ritual. Shortly after, the runes gained power and unified between them, creating a simple passage, a portal.
He had no intention of talking with the Masters. Since this wasn’t the first time they tried to overstep their boundaries. A diplomatic way of solving this issue was out of the question, and he had no time to waste.
The way-gates were brilliant things, but they had just so much energy to transport a large mass at once. They would have to wait an entire week for the gates to regenerate and draw enough power from the ley lines below to be used again. And traveling over the sea would have taken them almost double the time, so that option wasn’t viable either.
Aeden did not intend to wait.
As soon as he was ready with his spell, he tapped the ground, his body starting to dematerialize. Shortly after, he became an ethereal form, a body without physical form, unseen for the naked eye. He was now hovering above the encampment, a couple hundred feet in the air. He could see everything, nobody else could, and he also knew where he had to materialize again in order to start his quest.
Regaining his form, he stepped foot in the large merchant quarter of Valheen, covering his face with his mantle’s cloak. With a simple snap of his fingers, he changed his gown’s colors, adopting a brown and yellow assorted clothing thus rendering him almost invisible through the large crowd of chattering people.
Passing by a few taverns and some merchants, he found himself standing just a few feet away from two mercenaries roaming the area. They were armed, but none of them seemed to pay attention to their surroundings.
As he got closer, he could hear them chatter, but nothing they were saying was of any importance to him.
Nonetheless, he decided interrogating one of them wouldn’t hurt.
As he took a step further, he walked by the first one, touching his shoulder swiftly, forcing him to glance over; just enough time for him to strike.
Aeden snatched the other one, covering his mouth with his gloved hand. Stepping into the shadows he snapped his neck, and let him collapse, the mercenary disappearing completely as he touched the ground. Like he had been devoured by shadows.
By the time the one distracted realized something was wrong, he managed to turn around and find himself facing a masked stranger. Intending to draw his weapon, he found himself unable to move, the shadows which enveloped his partner, now tangling under his feet.
“Let’s have a chat,” Aeden spoke in a whispering voice as he snatched the mercenary disappearing in a blink of an eye.
The mercenary opened his eyes, finding himself on the cold ground inside an empty room, somewhere in the city.
“If you’re smart, I wouldn’t try to scream or do anything reckless,” Aeden told him as he turned from the door, taking a few steps toward the mercenary laying at his feet. He took his hooded cloak down, revealing his face, without fear for his enemies to remember him.
“Akshi rakish?” The mercenary asked in his native language.
“Oh. I am afraid I do not speak the Eastern language, at least not the common tongue.” Aeden told him as he took a step closer crouching down in front of the man.
“Filthy mage, you’ll die before you get to leave this room.” The man finally spoke in the Western tongue.
Aeden sighed.
“I am afraid I am not a mage, and I am more than sure I won’t die. But one of us is going to if he decides not to speak.”
“Janal makku!” He shouted rapidly touching his knee, where he thought his blade was still hidden, only to find himself standing up, still searching for his weapon.
“Searching for this?” Aeden asked him as he revealed the dagger. “Shiny, but worthless…” He spoke, rapidly reaching his hand out toward the man, using a binding spell to lock him in place. “Where are your masters hiding?”
“Go to hell…” The mercenary said.
“I am going to ask one last time. Where are your masters?”
“Kill me. I won’t tell you anything!”
Aeden cocked his head to the side, twisting his fist closed; the mercenary’s neck snapped like a twig, as he fell to the ground, breathless.
“Thank you for uncooperating.” He told him, finally opening the door, as he put the cloak back over his head disappearing into the crowd.
The masters were all gathered in the great temple at the highest point in the city. Which offered a very good striking point for the White Guard and their mages.
While the enchanters battled their way inside from the main gates, the mages would have had enough time to assault the upper keep, and secure the area. But in order to do that, Aeden had one more thing to do.
As he made his way toward the Eastern side of the city, he carefully laid a wild angorian seed in a dark corner. He turned toward the Western side, passing through different quarters and markets on his way there. Once he arrived, he found a good enough place to plant the second seed, and as he did, he turned his gaze toward the sky recasting the teleportation spell.
*
Nightfall came and the dark had already set its roots over the land. As the White Guard was getting ready for the upcoming siege, Aeden replayed his strategy in his head, making sure he hadn’t missed anything important.
“Milord.” Captain Isaac said as he bowed at the entrance of the tent. “We’re ready.”
“Meet you outside captain,” Aeden told him as he arranged his coat around his neck.
The White Guard were standing ready, a few hundred men and women, equipped with magical weapons and guarding runes. Their spell casters standing at the very top of the cliffs, awaiting their orders.
Aeden stopped in front of the large crowd.
“The Masters of Valheen are hiding in plain sight in the largest temple on the mountain. Inside the great city’s walls. We are to lay siege, but no civilian should be harmed intentionally. We will not burn, nor destroy their homes. We are going to go in by force, but we’re only going to kill those who oppose us or those who represent a threat. Once the capitol is reached, you are not to engage anyone inside. Stand guard, and do not let anyone pass. I want the enchanter’s armada to strike the gates. You will have two siege golems waiting for you once you reach the entrance. They will bring down the gates. My spell casters will take the upper ground, and assault the upper keep. Target the sentries in the watch towers, but do not use incendiary spells.”
Everyone nodded in silence.
“If no one has any questions, remember we’re here because your Lord, ordered us to take this city, and liberate it from its filth which the Masters represent. For the Lord Velaryon!”
“For Lord Velaryon!” The mass shouted.
“Captain. Begin the siege.”
And as Aeden spoke his words, a few mages in the enchanter’s ranks started opening portals toward the city, letting the large mass pass through, making their way toward the entrance, taking everyone by surprise.
By the time the alarm was sounded, the enchanters were already amassing at the gates, while the rest of the spell casters were already heading for the upper ground, starting to bombard the watch towers with energy missiles and lighting strikes.
“Secure the city,” Aeden told Isaac ordering the captain to leave his side and join the assault.
“Animate. . .” Aeden said in a whispering voice, his words giving life to the angorian seeds inside the city, turning them into two massive rock golems. He ordered them to assault the main gates, thus creating a safe entrance for his enchanters. As the city realized what was happening, a huge mass of both mercenaries and spell casters started appearing from all over the city, both along the walls and inside the capitol.
“Bring down the spell casters, they are your main target!” Aeden shouted to the two golems, forcing the magical creatures to turn their attention toward them. As they started running through the mass of people, they managed to stomp a couple mercenaries, while they stood there hoping they’d have a chance at stopping the two massive beings.
“You fool, you’re not to take this city!” One of the mages shouted as she started animating a large mass of gravel into hundreds of lifeless soldiers.
She shouldn’t have that much power. Aeden thought as he saw the large mass rising from the ground.
“Make way!” He shouted toward his enchanters starting to run along with them, his target being the woman in front of him.
The mass grew so fast, that it somehow managed to overrun the two golems, rendering them completely unable to move as they started fighting against the mindless horde of soldiers.
“We cannot reach her milord!” One of the enchanters spoke.
“Tell your squad to move out from her midst!”
“Yes, milord!”
As Aeden stopped a couple tens of feet distance from the animating spell caster, he found himself staring at a large mass of mindless creatures clinging to the golems, while the others were just fighting with the rest of the enchanters at the mage’s will.
“Alright, that’s enough.” He said out loud, tapping into a ley line which happened to be flowing just under the city. “I did not come here to be stopped by you.”
“You shall die before you even try to flinch!” She shouted toward Aeden, refocusing her army toward him and his fewer remaining enchanters, while the others were busy fighting elsewhere.
Seeing the large mass heading for him, he had no choice. He had to destroy the golems along with the animated soldiers and their conjuring master, or he would have risked for them to reach him and his enchanters.
“Annora ga’laar!” Aeden shouted in the ancient tongue as he raised his hands toward the dark sky. Feeling the ley line energy flowing through his body, he felt his spell, which had been forbidden for a long time, being amplified ten-fold.
“Impossible…” The mage said as she heard Aeden say the words.
They both looked up at the sky, and at that very moment, it literally split open, starting to glow in a black-blue color. Soon after, a loud piercing sound echoed through the entire area, as huge lightning strikes started showering down upon the mass of animated beings, the first one to be hit being the mage herself.
She got hit directly and blown away, but as she hit the ground, somehow she didn’t die.
“Kill…kill, them all…,” she said with her final words before being engulfed by the smoke’s the lightning showers created. And as Aeden heard her voice, a loud banging echo was heard throughout the entire city.
“What the…,” he said out loud, as the spell he was casting until now suddenly interrupted. Everyone stopped fighting as they heard the loud echo. It was coming from somewhere in the depths, and it brought tremors along with it.
Suddenly the sky darkened, and the Moon disappeared almost in an instant, and the weather got abruptly windy.
As soon as Aeden saw the signs, and heard the loud echoing bang, he kind of realized what was coming, but by the time he signaled his men to retreat, it was already too late.
“Everyone! GET OUT! RETREAT!” He shouted toward his enchanters as they all saw large masses of darkness enveloping the city’s walls, making their way across them into the city.
“What’s happening?!” One of the White Guard’s asked in a panicked voice.
“Embers, Ganora! They must have summoned them from below, run!“ Aeden shouted at the woman as he saw them all retreating through the gates, but as they started fleeing the way they had come, the magical living bombs were already there, and most of them didn’t get to make it.
“Milord! They’re at the gates! We have nowhere to go!”
“Milord! We have to do something!” The others shouted. And at that very moment… one by one, they started to explode, murdering everyone in their wake, laying devastation to both the city and the ones inside its walls.
“White Guard to me!” Aeden shouted at them as they all started gathering behind him. “Enchanters use your aether shields, repel them! Order the mages to target the moving masses!” He shouted toward the ones still alive on the walls. But his words didn’t reach them.
As the explosions intensified all over the city, a literal apocalypse began for everyone caught inside the walls. Fires and explosions everywhere they looked. And as they got closer and closer, they could see the heat released by their devastation.
“We have nowhere to go…” One of the enchanters spoke.
Aeden wanted to help them, but teleporting a mass outside of a burning city would have risked all their lives, not only his. His spell would have required concentration for their numbers and at the same time a large amount of power for the spell not to backfire. As they turned toward the exit, they were met with a horde of running embers coming right at them.
“Hold it!” One of the captain’s said as he shouted at his men. They all got into defensive stances, trying to hold off the fiery devastation with their magical shields, but once the first hit, came the second and the third, and soon after a couple dozen followed. In the end, their shields gave in, and the explosions blasted them into pieces, leaving a large gap in their defenses, and the ones remaining out in the open.
“They…they destroyed their own city;” Aeden spoke as he watched without any initiative to move. “In order to not let it fall into someone else’s hands…”
The Southern tunnels. They were blocked. I should’ve seen the reason why. I SHOULD HAVE… He told himself. All these dormant magical constructs, awaiting their signal to rain hell over the city… and I couldn’t see it coming…
“Lord Commander!”
“Milord!”
“Lord Black!!”
Aeden heard their shouting, but he just couldn’t move. His mind was in shock and so was his body. He made a fatal mistake by leading the army right into the city, without thinking. He said it himself that the Masters were tricky people, and that their minds would bear fruit to plans no one would have even considered.
But knowing the Masters and their mindless, yet cruel and harsh decisions, he should have known they’d do anything to protect their own skin, before letting the cities fall into someone else’s hands…
It was over.
Soon the magical embers reached the last line of defense and as they did, his remaining enchanters started falling one by one, decimated by the fiery explosions, leaving Aeden defenseless, standing in the middle of an ashen field.
Wide eyes open, standing still, he sighed slowly waiting for his inevitable death. He could have escaped or destroyed the ones running toward him, but his fatal mistake cost the North an entire army. The Lord of the North’s army. One fatal flaw, in yet a simple plan. He didn’t want to leave. He was ready to embrace his fate.
The embers closed on him and were ready to release their fatal deaths upon the last standing man but suddenly they stopped; an echoing and powerful roar forcing them to lose their target and refocus.
From the skies above, in the middle of the smoke clouds, Aeden saw two enormous wings swiftly flying overhead disappearing in the clouds.
He looked up one last time; the very next moment, a raging roar echoed throughout the land once more and a huge mass of cold-fire followed. Literally erasing every living animated creature around Aeden.
As the large dragon revealed itself from the middle of the clouds, it released another wave of destructive energy, cleansing the middle of the remaining city of any remaining living embers.
It shortly after roared one last time before slowly flapping its huge wings, landing behind Aeden.
“Drah’kar…” Aeden spelled the dragon’s name as he turned around facing the graveyard in his wake.
ns 15.158.61.51da2
