"The environment you live in shapes who you will be in the future. Great men and women are born in difficult times." Robb Stark, Duke of Caladan and Protector of the Sirius Solar System.
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Aenar looked at the bodies before him. Only the word "monstrous" could be associated with the corpses lying on the ground. They looked like deformed animals, with human parts joined together and extremely horrendous tumors.
Just seeing one of these monsters would make you sick to your stomach and wonder how such a monstrosity could exist. However, Aenar knew that this was just another weapon of the gods against the human race.
The Long Night was not enough; man-eating monsters were born to make the situation even bleaker. But, if Aenar thinks this will stop humans, the gods are deeply mistaken.
The human race could be criticized for many things, but resilience and terrible adaptability were the foundation of humans, surpassing all races in the universe. No matter how bleak the situation humanity was in, the hope for a better life would never be extinguished.
However, at this moment, Aenar knew that most humans couldn't even fight these monsters. The continent of Essos might be relatively stable, because of the countless red priests and priestesses, but Westeros was completely different.
Besides the Children of the Forest and a few noble houses that had some magical heritage, the rest were completely defenseless against such monsters. Even all the strong men in a village couldn't kill one of the monsters.
King's Landing should be relatively peaceful with the Tyrell House army, but this was not a long-term solution. Aenar had to step into the city to give orders to the entire Continent.
He no longer hesitated; he would take the entire Targaryen House to King's Landing along with the dragons. As for the current army, they marched to the kingdom's capital under the command of Titus and Sigismund. Sanguinius will remain in the North for any eventuality, and Leda will go to King's Landing.
"Aenar." Hearing his name called, Aenar looked to the side and saw Robb walking towards him with a calm expression, but he saw a trace of uneasiness behind the calm gaze. He wasn't surprised by this; anyone would be scared to see the monsters lying on the ground.
"Robb, I will return to King's Landing to control the kingdom. I can no longer stay in Winterfell." Aenar directly stated his plans; he really couldn't stay in Winterfell anymore; he had to return as soon as possible.
Robb nodded; he was already busy dealing with matters in the North; his cousin had an even greater responsibility: controlling all Seven Kingdoms in the midst of a Long Night.
"Arya will probably want to say goodbye; she's always eager to walk with you again." Robb said with a smile, or at least, what he wanted to show. No one would smile with genuine happiness next to countless monster corpses.
Aenar nodded; it wasn't once or twice that he noticed Arya peeking at him from behind a pillar or behind a door; the girl wanted to talk to him, but he was extremely busy; there was no way he could meet Arya at that moment.
"I will." He said. He looked at Robb and spoke with a warm tone. "Now that Eddard has joined the Night's Watch, you must study, train, and be a good father and husband to your wife."
Although the Night's Watch practically ceased to exist without purpose, the old order was still standing. Countless people did not want to leave their posts and remained in the order. Perhaps it was the last generation of the Night's Watch, but as long as these veterans were alive, they would sustain the Order to the last man.
Robb rolled his eyes hearing Aenar's elder tone; anyone who didn't know their age would think Aenar was an old man giving advice to his grandson. "I'm not a child, and you don't need to say anything!" He said with an irritated tone, making Aenar let out a low laugh.
"I forgot that Lord Robb is the Lord of Winterfell and Protector of the North." Aenar said with a false tone of admiration, making Robb roll his eyes a second time, but there was a smile on his lips.
This kind of interaction reminded Robb of when they were just simple, innocent children. However, they had different identities at this moment. One was the King of the Seven Kingdoms, and the other was the Lord of Winterfell.
Turning his attention back to the monsters, Aenar spoke with a calm tone. "These monsters will attack daily; remember to use obsidian weapons; they can hurt these monsters."
Although the effect of obsidian was not as great as on Wights and White Walkers, it was still effective against these evil monsters. After all, fire or anything related to fire was the most effective method to combat the filth of anything evil.
Robb nodded; fortunately, he had many obsidian weapons, so he wouldn't be short for a long time, but he still had to find some volcano in the North to see if there was any mine like Dragonstone.
Giving Robb a light pat on the shoulder, Aenar left and spoke his words. "Your son will be important; send him to me when he's twelve."
Robb was surprised for a moment hearing those words, but he didn't refuse. It was very normal for the children of Noble Houses to be raised for a time by other Noble Houses. Eddard was raised by Jon Arryn, as was Robert Baratheon.
After all, it was very beneficial to build relationships and strengthen ties with such a great symbol of trust. Robb certainly wouldn't refuse; he would even be happy, as it meant that Aenar cared a lot about House Stark.
In this world troubled by the gods, many would probably kill for this kind of opportunity. Any fool could see that only by following Aenar could they survive at this moment.
Looking at the monsters on the ground, Robb's blue eyes showed a look of concern, which he quickly hastened to hide. He had to remain calm all the time to give the impression that everything was under control.
However, he remembered the meeting all the nobles had before Aenar. The orders to concentrate the population in large cities had to be completed as soon as possible, but such a thing would take years, perhaps decades.
But, with the protection of Aenar and his Astartes, such a thing could be done more slowly. Which made everyone sigh with relief. It's not easy to build houses on a large scale and expand the city.
Looking up, Robb looked at the Black Sun still in the sky and sighed. He had already forgotten what day it was. Perhaps he wouldn't even know when the year would complete again.
Sighing, he watched as the Red Legion soldiers set fire to the monsters.
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When Aenar was about to enter the room to get some sleep, he saw a human head looking at him like a ghost and smiled. It was Arya; the girl was looking at him with her eyes, looking at him expectantly.
"Jon- Aenar!" Waving his hand, calling the girl, Aenar saw Arya quickly come to his side and greeted him with a cheerful look. Even with the whole situation, she still seemed optimistic, which was a child's characteristic.
Aenar laughed hearing and caressed her hair; he looked at her and spoke with a gentle tone. "I heard from Robb that you want to talk to me."
"Yes!" Arya spoke with a loud and excited tone. "I want to follow you; you'll probably fight all kinds of monsters; I want to participate!"
Aenar couldn't help but twist his lips abnormally. Regardless of Arya being a girl, who would want to fight monsters? Out of a thousand people, perhaps five could risk their lives to fight monsters.
Looking at Arya, who was staring at him with an expectant look, he didn't immediately deny it. At this moment, where the world was in chaos, he didn't mind using men and women.
Everyone could help; he definitely wouldn't leave half of Westeros's population idle just because these women had a vagina between their legs. That was completely stupid.
"I agree." When Aenar said this, Arya practically jumped for joy. Her eyes shone so brightly that it seemed she was imagining herself fighting hundreds of monsters.
"However." Aenar was cruel and extinguished Arya's hopes. He looked at the girl and spoke with a calm tone. "I'm not desperate enough to use children as soldiers."
"Instead of you dying at the hands of a monster, you must train hard, and when you are old enough, you can come find me, and I will arrange for you to join one of my legions."
The smile on Arya's face hardened with Aenar's words; she looked at him with wide eyes, showing extreme cuteness. A deadly weapon she discovered could make even her father, an extremely calm man, smile and accept all her demands.
However, her expression was frustrated to see the amused look in Aenar's eyes, unimpressed. The weapon she most relied on to get what she wanted did not have the effect she expected!
"I'm going to rest, Arya." Without waiting for the girl's answer, Aenar simply closed the door cruelly.
Arya clenched her teeth and walked down the corridor; she intended to find Robb and make him accept her proposal.
However, on that same day, Arya was cruelly locked in one of the castle towers by Robb and was only allowed to leave when she abandoned such a suicidal idea and faced the reality before her.
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Read my other books:
Game Of Thrones: The God-Emperor of Planetos (400,000 words written).
Percy Jackson: Godwyn the Golden