[Happy New Year. May this year bring peace and happiness to you and your loved ones.]
Chapter 285: Performing the Dragonlord Ritual
Underground Base, Bolton Lands
POV of Domeric Bolton
Two weeks later.
Domeric sat on the ground and finished drawing the last runic array in the large runic matrix that was the size of half a football field and the largest ritual circle he had ever drawn.
He had been working on this ritual circle for the past two weeks, and he had postponed everything else to complete it as quickly as possible.
These postponed tasks included connecting with the Heart Tree to receive the powers granted by Lady Terra's blessing and acquiring the orbs awaiting purchase in the System Store.
Accepting the powers granted by Lady Terra's blessing would not only grant Domeric new powers but also likely strengthen him magically.
Usually, this would be a good thing, but he didn't want his body to be in a magically unstable state before this ritual he was preparing for. And waiting for his body to stabilize again would waste his time.
And buying the orbs from the System Store now would create a lot of work for Domeric to plan and manage.
Domeric didn't want his focus to shift from the ritual he was preparing to anything else right now. Tywin Lannister's attack plan after the White Walkers' reappearance had shown Domeric that Westeros was becoming an increasingly dangerous place for him.
Although Domeric was confident in the strength of his own lands, it was inevitable that he would suffer some losses after such wars. And Domeric didn't want others to take advantage of this situation and turn against him.
Therefore, he needed to possess a power that no one would want to oppose.
He wiped the sweat from his brow and cast a few magical spells to make sure that the array was drawn perfectly. It won't do to make an amateur mistake now after he had come so far.
The result was positive. He rose from the ground and carefully stepped out of the circle, making sure not to damage any of the runes.
"Is it finally done?" Ygritte asked him from where she was outside the ritual circle, reading a book about the dragons.
Once he came out of the circle, he plopped down on the ground and groaned in discomfort.
"Yes. It is done. Though I'll have to double-check it to make sure that nothing went wrong." If he found that he fucked up the ritual circle that took him a whole month to draw, then he would really lose it.
Ygritte put down the book and walked up to him before sitting on his back. Then she helped him remove his shirt and started massaging his back.
"Ahh… That's it." He said in bliss, and Ygritte pinched his back, "Oww…"
She bent down to his ears, pressing her bosom to his back, and whispered, "The next time you want a girl to massage you, bring someone else." She bit his ear, and he flinched once again. "I'm not your servant."
"Yeah. Sorry about that. But you are one of the four people who know about this place. And I would rather have you for company than either Varko, Raksa, or Walton. Not that there's anything wrong with them. But…"
"I get it." She said, "And I'm not angry at you. Not really. I'm just…"
"Frustrated?"
"Yeah. Sorry for taking it out on you."
"It's okay." He said. He was starting to feel bad for bringing her here. But it was either that or him spending the last 2 weeks all alone. And he was already bored enough from this monotonous task as it was.
They spend the next few minutes in blissful silence, with Ygritte massaging his back and him enjoying it.
Then Ygritte asked, "It's finished then."
"Yes."
"When will you perform the ritual?" she asked.
"There's really no point in waiting." He said, "I'll start as soon as I've double checked the circle."
"And when will you do that?" she asked.
"Now." He replied and rose from the ground, taking her off with him as she was still on his back.
She yelped and jumped away from his back, landing on the ground with more grace than he himself would ever show.
He ignored the light glare she was giving him, raised his wand, and cast the required spell.
An hour later.
He floated the last ingredient into the air from a distance and slowly put it inside the stabilizing part of the ritual circle.
A moonstone to take the excess energy generated by the ritual if his body failed to take in all of it.
For all the ritual circle took him a whole month to make, only 3% of the runes were the real ritual; the rest were stabilizing agents to make sure that he wouldn't turn into a half-dragon monstrosity.
Similarly, of the hundreds of ingredients put inside the ritual circle, only the three dragon eggs were the real force behind the ritual.
"Are you done?" Ygritte asked, and he nodded.
"Leave the room now." He said, "I have never performed a ritual of this magnitude. Ever. I don't know how it'll affect the surroundings, so it's better if you're not nearby."
"Will you be alright?" she asked, her eyebrows scrunched up in worry.
"I will." He replied. Hopefully.
The ritual was so complicated, large, and expensive that he did not get the chance to try it on other test subjects. After all, it took three living dragon eggs to run the ritual and a whole month to draw the runes.
This was also the main reason why he had created so many stabilizing circles inside it in the first place.
He wasn't about to go into unknown territory without proper protection.
Even then, there was a slight chance that something would go horribly wrong and he might turn into some kind of mutant.
He hoped it wouldn't come to pass as he led Ygritte out of the room and closed the door.
He had already given her a portkey so that if something went wrong, she would be able to escape this place.
He started the runes on the door to protect the walls and ceiling from the large amount of energy this ritual would generate. Just another of the many safety measures he had created for this ritual.
Once he was sure that everything was as it should be, he removed his clothes and any other equipment, carefully stepped into the middle of the circle, and lay down on the ground.
Once that was done, he looked at the ritual circle he had taken such a long time to draw.
He thought of Ygritte and how much he loved her.
He thought of his aunt and how she had been the mother for him that he never had.
He thought of his sworn shields, his subordinates, and his people.
He thought about why he was taking this risk in the first place, to protect his loved ones and those he cared about in the best possible way.
Then he used wandless magic and cut open his palm.
A few drops of blood were dropped in the middle of a small hole he had created. Once the hole was filled, the runes around it started to glow.
Then, in sequence, the runes around them started to glow as well, and the magical energy in the air skyrocketed as the first ingredients, a dozen branches of Heart Tree, burned out, and he started to feel the discomfort in his body.
He quickly healed his finger and laid his hands on the floor.
The room became brighter and brighter as the other runes started to glow on after another, the energy in the air rising and stabilizing with each moment, before the runes around the three dragon eggs finally glowed.
And an unbearable pain filled his body.
Domeric screamed, and then everything went blank.
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LAST DAY!
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.286: Something Went Wrong with the Ritual
Ch.287: New Look - Dragonlord Appearance
Ch.288: Enchanted Valyrian Armor and Staff