A Tale of Blood and Monsters Ch. 7

Year 278 AC

Essos – Valyria

As much as I may have wanted to take the entirety of my remaining Blessed and march on Volantis immediately after learning what had happened, such an action was neither intelligent nor altogether feasible to my long term goals. Especially after I got the full story from the survivors and found out that the last thing they saw as they fled from Volantis into the night were large walls of fire rising in a circular fashion around the city.

So fine, it sounded like Volantis would sit tight for us to eventually take care of. In the meantime, the Valyrian Peninsula was already beginning to transform. The air was clearing up and the perpetual red sky was dispersing. The Doom of Valyria had taken its toll, but with an army of immortal monsters who never tired, the restoration of the once glorious empire was going at a much faster pace than it would have with normal humans.

Of course, the normal humans started showing up a few months in as well, as I'd sent couriers to both Slaver's Bay and the Summer Isles immediately after we'd dealt with the fire zombies and settled in. Thousands trickled in from Slaver's Bay before the fleet of Swan Ships from the Summer Isles appeared on the southern shore of the peninsula.

I was there to greet those ships, a wide smile on my face as they docked in the harbor I'd prioritized rebuilding above all else. Before they were even fully anchored a blur jumped off of the prow of the lead ship, landing lightly on the docks before leaping forward to fly into my arms, Chatana's own arms and legs wrapping around my body as I let out a laugh, her lips finding mine and claiming them a moment later.

Returning the needy kiss is more instinct than anything else and in fact quite the pleasure. Neither of us have a need for air, so there's no eventual pulling apart to catch our breath. Instead we get deeper into it as Chatana runs her hands over my back and rubs her crotch against mine suggestively. I grin into her mouth even as our tongues continue to wrestle, flashing us over to a nearby crate, where I spin her around and bend her over. She catches herself with her hands, looking back at me with half-lidded eyes and her tongue trailing over her lips in a clear invitation.

I respond by grabbing her pants and tearing them down the middle and straight off her dark skinned perfectly sculpted body. She lets out a moan even as my hands grope her naked ass. Wasting no more time, I pull my hard cock out of its tight confines and line up, a moment later plunging into her from behind as she lets out a cry of pleasure.

Around us, things continue as usual with ships offloading both people and supplies. As I plowed my Ravia from behind, Summer Islanders passed us by without anything more than an appreciative glance, even as the crate under us began to break under the force I was putting into my pounding, Chatana's fingers clawing large gouges in the wood as well as she howled happily.

My Blessed didn't make much note of our frenzied fucking either, much more used to sex of all sorts by this point. After all, a majority of my female Blessed were bed slaves from Yunkai that my Unsullied had chosen for themselves during the sack. Eventually the crate beneath us broke entirely, but I just grabbed Chatana by her shoulders and held her up as I continued to thrust into her.

A bit later I felt my release approaching, and moments before my release, Chatana blurred out from under me to kneel at my feet, her mouth open and tongue out as her hands replaced her hot cunt and she proceeded to take my cum all over her face and in her mouth. Once I was done she used her fingers to collect all she could and lick it up right before me, smiling up at me coyly.

I just grin back down at her, taking her chin in my hand, "My darling Ravia, how I have missed you."

She flushes in pleasure, "As I missed you Master. I was ecstatic when you called for me."

Running a hand through her hair possessively, my grin softens into an affectionate smile, "I have need of you, my Ravia. Valyria is ours and it's time to bring back the glory that originally made it the envy of the world. You're going to help me with that."

Chatana looks up at me with worshipful eyes and presses her head into my petting hand, "Of course. Anything, master."

Chuckling, I pull her to her feet and we walk together into the coastal town I've had constructed, Chatana not caring one bit about her exposed lower half.

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Year 278 AC

Essos – Volantis

Chatana and Quhuru are who I leave in charge of Valyria's restoration as everything settles. Meanwhile, with things finally secure, I turn my eyes to Volantis and with thousands of my Blessed at my back, I set out to fulfill the silent promise I'd made when the servants of the Red God first dared to cross me and hurt what was mine.

Now I and my army stand before the outskirts of Volantis, only a dozen yards or so from the roaring wall of flames. I stare into the blaze unflinchingly even as my Blessed work through a dozen different methods to try and put out part of the magical flame wall. None worked, but then I hadn't expected any of them to in the first place.

No, I knew what I had to do. The Voice was very clear about that these days. The whispers, they'd begun back in Valyria when I'd dealt with the Doom of Valyria so decisively and opened up myself as a conduit to the version of me I'd been passing off as the Almighty One in this world. Only, it had been even before that had it not? After all, I hadn't even known I could be a conduit until that moment at Valyria's gates. That must have been when the whispers started.

Speaking of the "Almighty One" I couldn't help but believe that I had truly given him agency in this world. He was no longer an observer, and I was no longer just his entertainment. I had inadvertently drawn him into this game of Gods and Kings, of Blood and Fire… I didn't know what that meant yet, but as I'd mentioned before, I knew what to do here.

My thoughts are interrupted by one of the Blessed approaching me cautiously, "Messenger… everything we've tried has failed. The flames seem to be impenetrable."

I smile grimly at that, "Yes, it would seem the only way to bring it down would be from the inside. It is a trap."

That gets a confused blink, "M-messenger? I do not understand, it has badly burned and nearly incinerated those of us who have gotten too close. How can it be a trap, if no one can spring it?"

Instead of giving a verbal response, I walk towards the blazing flames. A hush falls over the Blessed around me as I make my way past those closer to the fires. Until now, I had stayed back and I was forced to admit to myself at least that it was perhaps just a bit because of a fear of what the magical fire could do to me. I could no longer ignore the whispers turned shouts in the back of my mind though.

The path forward was clear, and as I stepped right up to the flames themselves, my clothes immediately started smoking as sparks struck them, but my skin remained unharmed, not even turning slightly red next to the unbelievable heat. After a long moment, I plunge my arm straight into the flames much to the shock of my followers. When I withdraw that same arm to show not an inch of damage done to it, I'm sure that I cement my place with my followers even further through sheer awe experienced by seeing the act.

Turning back to my Blessed, I find wide eyes and mouths open agape at what I've just done. I just smile and raise my voice so that every last one hears me over the crackles of the flames behind me, "I will enter and destroy the source of these infernal blazes. When the flames die out, you will follow and Volantis will fall. Kill every mortal robed in red, do what you will with those not. Either way, Volantis will drown in blood this evening. The First Daughter dies on this day."

The young hybrid that'd approached me before rushes to the front of his fellows at this point, calling out, "B-but M-messenger! Please! You said it was a trap yourself! You should not go alone!"

My smile takes a sinister edge to it as I reply, my eyes on the boy, but my words reaching every set of ears around me, "Do not fear my child. When you know a trap is a trap, it ceases being one. Instead, it becomes a challenge. I've always been good with crushing challenges."

I clear my throat and call out one final statement before plunging into the flames behind me, "The Almighty One sends me forward! I can no more deny the path he lays before now than I could when I was first sent to guide you out of the darkness!"

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As I come out of the other side of the flame wall, only four thousand years of using my incredible speed to react instead of just to act like my peers keeps my head on my shoulders as I duck under the swing of a Valyrian Steel Sword lit with flame. My own sword, made of the same magical metal, clears its sheathe and removes the legs of the fool who sought to behead me in one smooth motion, after which I straighten up to stare at the other red robed swordsmen waiting for me even as my own clothes finish turning to ash and falling off my now naked body.

Around twenty to thirty men stand before me, every single one armed with a flaming Valyrian Steel weapon I can only assume they took off the first group of Blessed I'd sent to Volantis. Given the amount of Valyrian Steel I'd sent with them, there were probably hundreds of monks armed with the metal in the city that sat before me.

Grinning, I raise my own blade and salute those before me, "I feel I should apologize. I am slightly out of practice with the sword. It has been a century or so since I last picked one up. When we fight, my strikes will likely not be instantly lethal. You will all die slowly and in considerable pain."

"I say this, because I will only offer you mercy once. Set down your weapons and kneel before me and I will spare you that pain."

No one takes me up on my offer, but I do notice a certain interesting fact. Roughly half of the men are still entirely calm. These men have their eyes focused not on my face, but on my hands, my sword, and my feet. The other half are the ones who have been angered by my words, drawn to stare into my eyes with clear defiance. My grin morphs into something far more sinister as I speak lowly to my audience before they can finally make a move.

"Turn to your left and kill the man you find there."

Instant chaos as my mass compulsion takes half of the swordsmen and turns them on their fellows in a bloody slaughter. I don't sit back, sliding into the fighting and cutting down man after man without care for those I'd compelled. At the end of it, I'd made good on my promise, every Servant of R'hllor lay in the sand writhing in pain from the eventually fatal blow I'd dealt them.

Staring up at the normal walls of Volantis, locked up quite tightly of course, I spread my arms wide and call out, "Is this all you have for me?! Is this it?!"

My speed gets me out of range of the burning boulder they fire at my previous location with surprising accuracy. I raise an eyebrow as the fiery orange boulder shifts. The second eyebrow goes up as the boulder uncurls and slowly rises to its full height.

"Bullshit."

Before me stands something startlingly similar to a past memory from before even my rebirth into this current body. A memory of a game I played for hundreds of hours over the course of several years in a time when I was a largely worthless waste of space. There's no mistaking this though. While it's not the usual fel green color, there is an Infernal from World of Warcraft standing in front of me.

"What the actual fuck?"

I don't get to sound bewildered any longer than that though, as the Infernal cries out angrily and begins stomping towards me. Sneering in response, I slide behind it easily and shove my blade between its rock-like legs before using those same rock-like legs to propel myself up, dragging the magically treated steel up through molten rock and cutting the Infernal in half vertically.

As I come out the top of its head, it lets out another cry, this one much weaker, and then crumbles into inanimate rock. Not exactly much of a challenge despite my initial surprise at its appearance. Of course, that's when more flaming boulders fall from the sky and begin to hit the ground around me. I suppose they sought to tire me, or wear me out, or even just weaken and wound me before I could reach their inner most havens.

But I've never been one to play to another's tempo. Once again my speed plays a part in allowing me to change the rules of the deadly game the whole of Volantis is trying to play with me. As I dash away from the raining boulders and begin to scale the walls of Volantis too fast for any of the defenders waiting atop those walls to react, I am only peripherally aware that the infernals I'm leaving behind are moving through the flame walls towards my Blessed in the absence of any other living creatures to kill.

I am less than concerned, if any of my Blessed fall to the fiery rock creatures, they did not deserve immortality anyways. No, my attention is focused solely on the path ahead as I dash deeper into the city towards the Temple of the Lord of Light. It is a large monolith, more than likely the biggest structure in Volantis outside the Black Wall, and I know that it is where I will find what I seek.

As I approach the temple plaza, I find myself stopping at its entrance to take in the sight before me. This certainly explains the lack of resistance I've faced in the rest of the city, as a few hundred Red Priests stand before me. As one, they pull free their stolen Valyrian Steel swords and with a single spark, light their blades ablaze.

"Is this it? The sum total of your resistance? I suppose I shouldn't have expected much more from slaves."

A dark skinned man carrying a flaming staff instead of a sword snarls from the front of the crowd facing me. Raising his staff into the air, I'm treated to a delightful sight as in response hundreds of archers appear on the roofs and from the windows of the buildings surrounding the plaza. One archer gets over excited and lets loose early. I catch the arrow with my free hand and break the shaft, letting it drop to the ground as I stare at the clear leader of these enemy forces.

He stares back, any hesitation or fear at my casual display hidden very well. He brings his staff down and slams the butt of the iron pole into the ground. Every archer lets loose now and a thousand arrows fly towards me from nearly every direction. Except for the one in front of me, where a sea of flaming swords awaits me. So, I move forward as I always have, never hesitating, never looking back.

Slaves of R'hllor die at my hand. Servants of the Lord of Light fall to the ground screaming in pain as I relieve them of hands and feet, arms and legs. Valyrian Steel swords fall to the ground and the flames running along their length gutter out as man after man falls before my immortality, before my monstrous speed and strength.

Even more fall to the archers trying to shoot me, showing just how little trained these fools truly are. These are not warriors. These are not soldiers. These are monks and priests and they are ill prepared for a war with me. When more than half of the swordsmen are dead, I flash over to the steps leading up to the temple entrance. Waiting only a moment for the archers to reorient, I speak out.

"Stop."

A thousand men freeze up as my compulsion takes effect. A slow smile spreads across my face. After all, while every swordsman I'd just cut down had the discipline to avoid my eyes, somehow having the knowledge of that particular ability of mine, the archers who were trying to kill me could not avoid looking at me down the sights of their bow. They clearly did not expect me to have the range to take hold of all of them. Just one of their many mistakes.

"Take your arrows and swallow them arrowhead first."

As a thousand people take what's left in their quivers and begin to feed the sharp ends down their throats, killing themselves, I flick the blood from the end of my blade and look down at what's left of their melee forces. A handful or two of the hundreds that they started with are left by now. Most of the survivors are looking entirely demoralized, their flaming blades hanging from lax grips.

I don't even have to use compulsion when I call out, "Kneel." And watch red robed men fall to their knees before me. The only one who does not is the man with the iron staff, the one who'd been commanding them. He snarls at seeing his fellows submit, tightening his grip on his weapon and stepping towards me clearly prepared to continue fighting.

The fighting is over though, I've already decided that. Blurring forward, I tear the pole from his hands and punch him squarely in the throat, sending him to the ground choking. He can't concentrate anymore, so when I kneel before him and lock eyes with his, he's not able to move his wide eyes away, "You will stop resisting me. You will feel no more pain."

Both commands take effect and he visibly calms down as his eyes blank out a bit and he just kneels there waiting for more orders. I just smile, "Lead me to the source of your magical flame walls my new friend."

He rises slowly and leads me into the temple. The priests in the temple have clearly been watching the battle, because as we walk along long hallways, we see not a single soul. They are all hiding from me, amusingly enough. My newest thrall leads me to a large circular room, in which several priests are chanting and a man is in the process of sacrificing a young child atop an altar in the center.

The man, who I can only assume is the High Priest Benerro breaks off from his work when he sees me, eyes widening as he stands. His gaze flickers to the Red Priest I've enthralled, and I catch a small bit of dismay cross his face before he turns his full attention onto me, "So. We have failed."

Smile ever present on my face, I spread my arms wide, still entirely naked, but I don't think any of the priests I was about to go about murdering really cared about that at this point, "Yes, you have."

Benerro begins to raise his arms, "Then I suppose th- urk."

My sword plunges into the man's throat and I lean in close to murmur as he dies, "No, sorry. No last minute kamikaze attacks please. They ruin my mood."

High Priest Benerro, Flame of Truth, Light of Wisdom, and First Slave of R'hllor dies not with a whisper or with a bang, but with a choked gurgle before falling atop the corpse of the child he'd been desecrating. The chant breaks with his death, as a dozen Red Priests cry out in anguish and fear and rise to run. None escape the room.

As the last priest falls to the ground dead, I stop for a moment and close my eyes, taking in and releasing a slow breath as I listen to the sounds of a city being massacred around me. As expected, my Blessed have dealt with the infernals and are now in the city proper. I can hear the cries of mortals as they die to the last, their faith broken. Turning around, I open my eyes to see my thrall from the plaza still standing there, waiting for my next orders. His face though tells exactly how the man under my compulsion feels at this point.

Grinning wickedly, I wave a hand, "You have something to say, don't you? Go ahead, let it out."

He looks at me, defeat, grief, and the smallest spark of defiance warring in his eyes, "End it then monster. We failed to stop you here Valyrian. Kill me."

I stare for a moment, considering if it's really worth correcting him before deciding that no, it really isn't. Instead, I just shake my head and chuckle, "It's true, you have failed… but I'm not done with you yet Priest. I have something more special planned for you. For now, follow me and be a good little slave."

He can do nothing but curse quietly and obey my commands.

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In the aftermath of the Battle for Volantis, I take stock. The city is destroyed, much of it already wrecked in the violent revolution that the Red Priests perpetrated against the Volantis Triarchs. The invasion of my people didn't leave the city any better off either, as they fulfilled my command and the streets ran red with the blood of the city's people.

Most of the population had been slaves who had turned to the Red God because Benerro declared all as equal before the Lord of Light. They learned quickly that while their new equality had allowed them to triumph over their old masters, all it did in the face of my Blessed was make them all equally killable. Volantis was left a smoldering wreck, covered in the blood of its people.

As we prepared to make our departure back to Valyria, I was interrupted from my preparations by one of my Blessed, who approached and said they'd found something in the city that had to be brought to my attention. I was led to a tent in which I found a handful of children, dirtied up but all dressed in rich and expensive clothing, even if much of it was in tatters. Many of them had empty dull eyes and were just sitting on the floor listless, but when I entered, the eldest got to his feet and moved over to us.

"You are the one? The Messenger?"

I raise an eyebrow, curiosity filling every fiber of my being, "Yes, I am the Messenger. And you are?"

He straightens up at that, "I am the third son of Triarch Malaquo Maegyr. Or, I suppose I am now the only son. I wish to thank you on behalf of all of us for delivering us from the Red God's followers."

I look around the room pointedly, eyebrow still raised, "All of you?"

Nodding, he explains further, "Before you is all that remains of the noble houses of Volantis. All of us can trace our blood back to old Valyria, our lines unbroken. We are your descendants."

Blinking slowly to hide the faint surprise at his statement, I speak casually even as I pry for more information, "Are you now?"

The young boy is eager to make a good impression as he nods again, this time more emphatically, "The High Priest called you the Doom of Valyria. Your followers told my father that you are eternal and bestowed the gift of immortality upon those who proved themselves worthy. This means, you are of old Valyria yes? You have been waiting and biding your time until now, and now you rise again from the ashes to bring back the glory of old."

The teenage boy looks so sure of his theory and so pleased with himself that I can't help chuckling and saying, "You're quite the clever young man aren't you?"

He puffs out his chest and preens at my attention, but when I snap my fingers and Moqorro, my red priest thrall, shuffles into the tent, the boy quails immediately, eyes going wide at the sight of him like I suspected he would. Before he can freak out, I raise a hand and give him an assuring smile, "Do not worry. This slave is under my control. I just have a question for him."

Turning to Moqorro, I gesture at the children behind me, "Tell me slave, what did Benerro want with these children? When I killed him, he was in the process of dismembering one wasn't he? How did they play in to the fire walls around the city?"

The Red Priest's tone is dull and dead and his eyes are glassy as he answers in monotone, "The Lord of Light showed the First Flame a way to protect Volantis from your predations. It required the Blood of Royalty, which ran through the veins of every noble in Volantis."

I stare at him for a long moment before a slow smile spreads across my face. Turning to the noble boy standing there quietly, I step forward and take his shoulders in my hands, "It would seem that we are indeed kin. You and your fellows will return with us to Valyria, where there is a place waiting for you. Volantis will never rise again, but your families do not end here."

He just stares back at me, before nodding jerkily, either not even thinking to refuse, or knowing better than to try. Patting him on the shoulder I can't help a chuckle that escapes my mouth as I release him and turn to leave the tent. With a Red Priest thrall and a supply of King's Blood, there was quite a bit of powerful blood magic I could accomplish.

How fun.

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