Chapter 101 : Shadow Killer

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"After the Proud Wind ran aground before me, I swore I would never believe in the gods again. I couldn't worship gods cruel enough to kill my parents. But to be honest, Davos... the Lord of Light has made me doubt myself, just a little."

"She said the boy would kill Renly. He denied it, of course, but everyone believes it. Renly is my brother—he always will be. Our relationship wasn't good, but blood is still blood. I didn't want him to die."

"But I don't blame the boy. He only did what he was meant to do. I gave him both Summerhall and the Green Valley and made him a marquis. That's what he earned. I won't treat those who serve me unfairly, not like Robert did."

"Melisandre said she saw me standing in King's Landing. She saw Joffrey's death. I need your help with something, Davos. You're a smuggler—use the old tricks. Sail your ship where no one sees."

He looked over at Melisandre, who was sitting quietly in the boat. She had been following him aboard the Black Bertha these past days. They moved much faster than the main fleet, but they had to enter King's Landing under cover of night. A small boat with black sails drifted silently across the waters of Blackwater Bay.

Davos thought to himself—he was a smuggler once more. He had lived that life for many years, up until he met Stannis.

Without realizing it, he had now been a knight for sixteen years. But whether it was the great lords like Velaryon and Celtigar or the knights serving under them, they all still looked down on him.

Stannis had once mocked them, saying he had to make Davos an earl just to show those arrogant lords a lesson. To prove that even one marquis could anger them enough.

"My lady, do you know what wildfire is?" Davos finally broke the long silence.

The red woman looked at him with wide eyes. Wrapped in her red robes, Melisandre sat curled against the wind. A cold breeze swept across the bay, mixed with a light drizzle, but her expression remained unreadable.

"A small trick of sorcerers. That green flame is a traitor to the light."

"Someone told me it's a fire that can burn even on water."

"The Lord of Light is the true master of flame. No one else can command fire but R'hllor. Your heart is troubled, Ser. And where there is confusion, there is always darkness."

"Smugglers live in the dark, my lady. That's how we stay hidden. The night is our cover. Tonight, I'm not a knight—I'm a smuggler again. And you are my onions and pickled fish."

"The night blinds us, Ser Davos. It hides more than just ships. It blinds men, keeps them lost." Melisandre's gaze was steady and sharp.

"I don't want to argue about the darkness, my lady. We should go ashore."

The boat drifted silently under the riverbank.

They had reached the base of the Red Keep. Above them loomed a steep rock face.

"The cliff's too high. This is as far as we can go," Davos said. "Without chisels or iron hooks, we won't be climbing much farther."

"This is far enough, Ser. The castle is young, like its master. Neither its walls nor its power can stop the shadow." She stepped toward the cliff.

She raised her red robes. There was nothing beneath them. Her belly was swollen, round and straining, covered with dark red veins.

Davos had always known she was pregnant. She had followed Stannis everywhere—even shared his bed. But he still didn't understand why the king had sent him to bring a pregnant woman to King's Landing.

"Gods have mercy," he whispered. She wasn't going to give birth inside the castle. There were no midwives, no maesters.

Then he saw it—her red eyes glowing. No... it wasn't just her eyes. Her entire body was glowing.

She squatted low, her breathing slow and shallow, her low hum filled with pain.

"Gods, what am I supposed to do?" Davos thought in horror. Was he really going to stand by while a woman gave birth right in front of him?

Blood spilled between her legs, and her cries tore through the air. The sound was full of agony and madness. And it filled Davos with fear he couldn't explain.

What happened next made Davos panic even more.

He saw a child, wearing a crown, crawling out of her body. Davos couldn't make out the face—it was a shadow, blurred and dark—but when it stood, he recognized it instantly.

It was Stannis.

The crowned shadow had the same build, the same face, even the same crown as his king.

Davos had only a moment to look before the thing climbed up the cliff with terrifying speed.

It felt like a nightmare. She had given birth to a shadow—one that looked exactly like Stannis. Davos could almost guess what that shadow was going to do.

After the shadow left her, Melisandre collapsed onto the sand. Her voice was hoarse as she said, "Please, Ser Davos, help me back to the boat."

Davos could barely move. The woman in front of him filled him with fear. This was a power he had never known—strange and terrifying, just like when she had killed old Maester Cressen.

He stepped toward her, but then Melisandre suddenly screamed. A blood-chilling cry, the kind Davos had only heard from men losing hands and feet in battle.

Her body shook violently, spasms wracking her limbs. Her eyes were wild and unfocused. She cried out spells, shouted in tongues he didn't understand. Then, all at once, her back arched and she fell still.

Davos dragged her to the boat. Only then did he notice the gem on her chest—it was glowing.

He wrapped her again in her red robe. The gem continued to shine, pulsing with some unnatural light. He turned the small black-sailed boat away from the shore.

The sea breeze brushed his face. He usually liked the sea wind. But now, it couldn't calm the storm inside him. He couldn't stop thinking about what he had just witnessed.

She was no onion or pickled fish. She was a sorceress from Asshai. Now Davos understood why people feared her.

Yes, wizards and witches—they always had strange and frightening powers, the kind that made your skin crawl.

The high cliff that should have been impossible to climb had been like flat ground to that shadow. Davos had watched it go up without hesitation.

He rowed and rowed until he reached the man sent to meet him. Even when he was back aboard the Black Betha, the memory haunted him.

The Black Betha rejoined the fleet that had been following behind. The fleet was under the command of Ser Imry Florent. He was the king's brother-in-law, but Davos thought him far less capable than Ser Cortnay Penrose.

The king hadn't seen Ser Cortnay since the council before the battle. He had ordered him to remain at Storm's End.

King's Landing was now in sight. Ser Imry Florent gave the order for the fleet to form ten battle lines and sail toward the mouth of the Blackwater.