If you want to support check out my patréon at spatréon/athassprkr
I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.
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123 AC, Skagos
"Like I told you, our next expedition. Welco, Rhaena, to Skagos," the man answered casually. "Oh!" she simply said. It took a few monts for the answer to truly sink in: "I'M IN SKAGOS?"
Rhaena knew very little of Skagos. She barely even recognised the na when Lord Harry ntioned it, only being interested when Rhaena realised that there were unicorns there. It was a rocky, inhospitable island in the North, so of it was even further north than the wall, and it was inhabited by savages who were no better than wildlings.
That was the extent of her knowledge. The Septa and the Maester had extensively tested her knowledge of nobility in the Seven Kingdoms, even the houses in Dorne, but she couldn't rember ever learning of any lords in Skagos.
But, of course, that wasn't the first thing that went through Rhaena's head. Other than the unbearable cold, which made her shiver despite Lord Harry's furs, there was sothing that simply didn't make sense: "How are we in Skagos? We were just on Dragonstone."
"We used a portal," the sorcerer replied.
She didn't know what this word was, and it was Lady Daphne who elaborated, "Imagine a doorway, one that instead of taking you from one room to the next, it uses magic to take you to another place completely."
"I've gotten very good at it over the years," her husband bragged, "I think I made my first portal when I was a few years older than you. I was so proud of myself then. Now I can do it without anyone even noticing. I like making it when people blink their eyes. It's always nice to see the shock on their faces."
"That's very nice, dear," the golden-haired woman replied with a dry tone.
Lord Harry, the sorcerer who had scared off a dragon and summoned lightning from the sky, pouted, "You don't have to say it like that."
Lady Daphne didn't reply and just sniffed the air, with a small smile on her face. Rhaena couldn't help but smile at the interaction as well. There was no doubt in her mind that the Potters adored one another. She wanted that, one day, to have soone she could be so free with, to have soone she could share jokes with like they did.
She still didn't understand how Lord Harry used magic as a door to the other side of the continent, but she knew very little about magic. But even as young as she was, she knew how powerful such magic could be used in war. He could move a small army inside a castle, making their powerful walls useless. He could use it to move behind an enemy army and take it by surprise. These were only the basic uses she could co up with in seconds. Her father would likely have hundreds of tactics for their use in battle. This showed her how powerful a single man could be, and she thanked the gods that the Potters had no interest in conquest. If Aegon Targaryen could conquer Westeros with an army and three dragons, the Potters could do it by themselves, and likely be done in a few days.
Rhaena shook her head, deciding not to think of conquest or wars, and instead took a proper look at her surroundings for the first ti. She had to admit that Skagos looked like a miserable place to live. The land was jagged and wild, with slopes that looked like they had never known a proper road, just thin deer trails and wind-worn paths cutting through the frost. The trees were all ancient, black-barked and heavy with snow, clustered like silent watchers over the valley.
She could understand why people rarely bothered with this island, despite its size.
And yet, Lord Harry said that there might be another giant dragon egg there. It didn't make sense. The dragon egg in Dragonstone was extrely hot, enough to lt stone, and the Dragonmont seed to have more life in it.
"I don't think there's a Dragon Egg here," she said, voicing her concerns.
"You might be right," Lord Harry replied, "But there is sothing."
He was looking at sothing, and Rhaena followed his gaze, only to find herself staring at a familiar black rock, "Dragonglass."
She must have said it out loud because the sorcerer humd approvingly, "That's correct. There's a significant amount of Dragonglass here, not as much as Dragonstone, but enough to raise a few eyebrows. That ans that there was likely a volcano here, one that beca dormant. And given the fact that Daphne tracked a nexus of Weirwood trees to this island. That makes it interesting to explore, huh? Who knows, there might be so other Valyrian relics here. Or more importantly, there might be sothing far older."
Rhaena shivered at that, and Lady Daphne spoke up, "The island is large enough that searching it will be unfeasible. I'll try to use the network Weirwood trees to narrow down the position of the nexus."
With that said, the Golden-haired woman waved her arm, and a small crimson seed appeared in her hand. Given its faint glow, Rhaena assud that it was magical in nature. She knelt down and planted it, before making a cut on her hand, letting a few drops of blood drip on the seed.
A very small Weirwood tree sprang from the ground, and there was a burst of… sothing. Rhaena didn't know what, but she felt sothing prickling her skin for a few seconds, before the tree turned to dust and disappeared with the wind.
Lady Daphne stared at it for a few monts before speaking up. "The nexus is a few miles north. There are wards there, so I couldn't pinpoint it exactly."
Lord Harry nodded, and in the blink of an eye, their surroundings changed, and Rhaena found herself looking at a small black mountain. It was smaller than the Dragonmont, but it looked oddly similar.
"A dormant Volcano," Lord Harry explained, "that makes sense."
Still, Rhaena couldn't help but have a few questions of her own, "How did Lady Daphne do that?"
"Her family is known for their connection to nature. It's called druidism, a very powerful and very diverse form of magic, which Daphne has learned to make her own. What she did was montarily tap into the network of Weirwood trees that spread all over this continent."
"Network of Weirwood trees?" the young girl asked, feeling confused. "What is that?"
"Ah yes," Lord Harry replied, looking slightly embarrassed, "Daphne and I have studied the trees during our ti in Westeros. I must admit that its design is quite ingenious. Imagine each Weirwood tree as a string in a large tapestry. Every tree is connected to the rest, as it gains power, and they do so when people die near them. You must understand that people have sothing called life force, essentially, the most ti they can stay alive. It is a tangible thing that could be taken to extend one's lifespan, at the cost of another. Yet, people rarely ever die when it runs out, but because of disease, battle, or accidents. The remaining life force is often spread through the surroundings, and the trees absorb a fraction of this, and over ti, with enough power, Weirwood trees grow to connect with one another in a fundantal way."
"But that's horrible," Rhaena protested.
"Not quite. The Weirwoods take only what cannot be used, and even then, in exchange, the mories of the deceased, their thoughts and dreams, are also absorbed as the tree, a form of immortality, in a way. That collection of consciousness, of the will and dreams of all who had fallen in Westeros for thousands of years, slowly beca what is known as the Old Gods. I admit that it's a very odd form of existence, powerful but not quite alive. I wouldn't exactly call them gods, who are ascended beings of power; they don't have a unified will, no need for worship, just general blessings and curses, depending on certain actions, and even then, their intervention is quite rare."
The Old Gods were real?
Rhaena had never truly entertained the idea of gods. Her father, her mother, and even her stepmother were not devout. There were stories of Targaryens being closer to gods than n, but she knew that this was a lie. Her family was never particularly devout, or even faithful, for that matter. Her father often said that Faith was a shackle, sothing to bind the smallfolk into obedience, and yet, Lord Harry spoke of the gods as if they were a fact of life, instead of beings of great power.
"Have you t any gods?" she couldn't help but ask.
For the first ti, Lord Harry froze slightly and gave her a serious look, "Yes. Rember, Rhaena, gods are inhuman, illogical, and very rarely benevolent. Never seek out gods, child; that road will only lead to misery."
Before she could even fully digest his words, he perked up, "Ah, where was I? Ah, yes, Daphne was brilliantly able to mimic the Weirwood tree's properties into a seed, but since we don't have years and are not willing to sacrifice thousands of peoples to connect a single one in the network, she figured out a way to create a small pulse of magic that briefly connects a tree to the network, but the power is too much and often destroys the tree. It's not useful for the long term, but it is a very good way to tap into the network of trees. It's what allowed her to find the nexus of trees on this island and trace it to the cave before us."
Rhaena looked around and saw that they had arrived in front of a cave, where veins of Dragonglass seed to reflect the moonlight with every movent. Lord Harry waved his hand and released a ball of Light that illuminated the passage, revealing paintings on the cave walls that were similar to the ones found on Dragonstone.
There were similar symbols, spirals which she had seen there, mixed with depictions of small creatures, fighting alongside n against beings of ice. She shivered at the anger of the blue eyes that felt like they were staring at her.
Lady Daphne's voice broke her from her small trance. "Look at that."
She turned to see where the older woman was looking, only to freeze as she saw another painting, this ti, spreading across the entire length of the cave. It was a serpent, as white as snow, depicted to be larger than mountains, with teeth of ice and blue, almost glowing eyes.
Rhaena couldn't help the shiver that went down her spine. Lord Harry, on the other hand, humd, "Very interesting. It seems like the Long Night was more eventful than I expected."
Her incredulity at his response made her want to say sothing, anything, but her responses were cut short with a chill that spread through the entire cave. Lord Harry calmly told her, "Stay behind , Rhaena."
She had rarely seen the sorcerer be so serious, or be as demanding, and so, she followed his instructions to the letter. They walked forward in the cave and continued down through a tunnel near the end.
Just as Rhaena was about to relax, a blur of movent appeared in front of her, and there was a loud screech. The young girl barely blinked as she saw a tree sohow grow from stone around her and impale a giant white spider with legs that looked like ice. Solarys perked up from her shoulder and breathed out a thin trail of white flas that sohow turned the creature to ash in re seconds.
Rhaena imdiately scread in fright, only for no sound seed to leave her throat. She gave Lord Harry a panicked look, and he spoke up, "I thought it would be better not to alert the other spiders. You can talk now."
Rhaena trembled, "What was that?"
"Ice spiders, I believe. There were reports of them during the Long Night, but I didn't think they were still alive. Very curious creature, to say the least."
"It almost killed !" Rhaena exclaid.
Lord Harry knelt down slowly, "My dear, I want you to rember a single thing. Life is dangerous, but I can guarantee you that if you stay with us and don't do sothing reckless like run away, you will be safe, alright. We would never endanger you."
She gave him a doubtful look, and he grinned, "Believe . It would take sothing far more dangerous than an elental spider to make nervous. Hell, even your dragon was able to kill it. If I had to guess, it's a fundantal weakness in its creation, a creature of Night and Ice, against the Sun and Flas."
Rhaena relaxed slightly and noticed that her bracelet was glowing slightly. "What's happening to my bracelet?"
"Nothing much. I added a few extra enchantnts after you were attacked by the Cannibal. I didn't want to risk you being attacked again because of the bracelet, so I made it so you would be hard to see or notice whenever you are in danger."
Rhaena felt slightly embarrassed as she realised that it was likely that her ability to escape her guards had to do with the bracelet rather than any skill of her own. Still, she gave the man a small smile, "Thank you."
The man ruffled her hair, at her own annoyance, before speaking up, "Onwards we go."
They all moved forward into the tunnel, the ball of light guiding them forward. Similarly to the Dragonmont, they soon found themselves at the end of the tunnel, staring at a large hollow cave. As they ca closer to the cave, Rhaena found herself shivering from the cold, and she could feel Solarys' discomfort as well.
With a proper look, she realised that it wasn't nearly as large as the one on Dragonstone, and unlike the previous cavern, there was no molten stone, but a field of ice. At the bottom was also a large dragon egg, surrounded by a nest of Weirwood trees as well, but the trees had lost their crimson leaves and looked paler than she expected. The egg was also far smaller than the one in Dragonstone; it looked as large as a small hovel at most. It was still extrely large, but it didn't co close.
There was also a certain feeling she felt when she looked at the egg, sothing fundantal, that she knew without being able to explain.
The egg felt dead.
The walk down to the cave was in silence. No one dared say anything, and Lord Harry didn't casually explain what they were seeing. He looked curious, of course, but there was so caution there, as if he expected to be attacked at any mont.
As they arrived at the frozen ice beneath, Rhaena realised that so humanoid people were standing around the trees. They looked frozen as well. No, they looked like they were made of ice, with blue, hateful eyes, and blades of ice in their hands. Rhaena shivered and spoke up, "The Others!"
Her voice echoed in the cavern loudly, and Lord Harry replied, "That they are. Petrified, if I'm not mistaken, with so very powerful magic."
Rhaena followed his gaze as they moved closer to the pale, leafless Weirwoods. Their trunks were split and scarred, faces barely etched into the bark, as if whoever carved them had stopped halfway through. They were clustered tightly around the dragon egg, as though guarding it or mourning it.
She didn't know why, but the closer they ca, the more sothing in her gut twisted. It was a soft pressure, like being watched, not by sothing malicious, but sothing ancient, sothing that had been waiting too long.
Then, without warning, the air shifted.
A soft whistling cut through the stillness, and Lord Harry's hand rose a mont before the Dragonglass knife reached them. It froze mid-air, spinning slowly, before he flicked his fingers and redirected it harmlessly to the side, embedding it into a wall of frost with a dull thud.
From behind the withered trees, a small figure stepped out. Barely taller than Rhaena's waist, it was not human; its limbs were too slender, its ears too long, and its eyes… ancient. Gold and green swirled in them, sharp and cautious, narrowed on Lord Harry as two more knives of obsidian appeared in her hands.
She was ready to fight. But then she stopped.
She stared at Lord Harry with wide, trembling eyes, and her lips parted as if the words had been torn from her.
"What… are you?" she whispered, voice cracking like old leaves underfoot.
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AN: I told you that I had sothing special in mind for Skagos. I hope that you all like it, and see slightly where I'm going with this story. As usual, I don't mind rewriting this depending on your feedback, so please let know what you think and if you have any suggestions.
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If you want to support check out my patréon at spatréon/athassprkr
I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.
Thank you guys for your support in these hard tis.
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