"Mmmmh… Urrggg…" Moans and murmurs were the first thing Augusta heard as she felt the warmth of the sun on her skin.
She tried to open her eyes, but closed them immediately because of the brightness, she raised her arm over her eyes to cover them to adjust to the light.
She finally got up, despite the pain in her muscles and head, only to see a disconcerting sight.
"Echoes? But how?" she asked herself, very surprised.
Around her and each of her companions were the echoes they had stored in their terminals, small dragons of different elements, some Kerasaurs, Griffexs, which she was grateful for, as it would give them a way to move and explore.
She didn't know how it happened, but she was grateful for it, then she felt a tap on her shoulder.
"mmmh? Oh? Good boy, help me a moment" her Griffex had touched her, she stroked him for a moment before using him for support to get up.
"Do you feel…more…solid?" she asked herself, then she began to caress and touch him, his muscles were firmer, his plumage looked more alive, and if she was honest with herself, more "real".
The echoes were nothing more than a set of reverberations linked together to become useful in combat, although in Septimont they were treated as companions, they remained what they were.
"Really, what happened?" She then looked at her surroundings and focused on her senses.
'Does the air feel cleaner? It's not much, but it makes a difference. It seems desolate, but it's not a desert, so we should find water or some wild animals to eat, mmm? Are those ruins? At least we know there have been people around here, and… I don't feel the etheric sea', despite her situation, she focused on what was most important at the moment, but frowned when she realized the last thing.
After a few moments his compatriots began to get up, some disoriented, undoubtedly in pain, but all alive.
"Your Excellency," Augusta heard, it was Avidius, who had finished orienting himself, although his gaze still seemed a little lost, 'something is worrying him' she realized, 'but given what we went through, I don't blame him'.
"Avidius" she greeted him, after snapping out of her thoughts.
"It seems we survived" he told her, "although… it seems we have been sent far away…" He had also realized, the whole environment felt different.
'I feel different', he thought, as he felt his body and his power. Something had changed him. The emptiness he had felt was being filled with something he hadn't realized he had been missing.
"Yes…" she replied, closing her eyes, the memory before falling unconscious appeared in her mind, 'strange stars', she thought with a frown adorning her face.
"Perhaps further than we might wish" she told him, making him look at her in surprise.
"How…how far, Your Excellency?" he asked worriedly.
"Haa…, I hope I'm wrong… but when we arrived the stars didn't seem familiar to me…" she told him frankly, there was no point in beating around the bush.
They would all have to be united in the days to come. There was nothing positive in keeping something so important, 'although perhaps it could hurt some of them', she thought with regret.
"That is…" Avidius was surprised, understanding what could have happened, but he quickly straightened up, regaining his composure, "We are Septimontians, Your Excellency, we will be prepared for anything" he said while standing firm with his right fist over his heart.
Augusta looked at him in momentary surprise, before smiling proudly, 'he's matured quickly' she thought.
"Yes… you're right, we've faced worse things than simply being in foreign lands" she told him, "let's get organized first, let's see what supplies we have, how our weapons are, and what echoes we have, if possible, also see if we can communicate with someone" she ordered.
"Yes, Your Excellency" replied Avidius, turning to a veteran gladiator, Claudius, to help him organize them all.
Free City of Volantis, Temple of R'hllor, private chamber of the high priestess.
Kinvara POV.
'What's been going on these past few weeks?' I thought as I walked back to my quarters. I had been receiving reports from various sources, merchants, free people, and some slaves, that rocks had appeared out of nowhere and were destroying some businesses or hurting some people.
But that wasn't what I was worried about, it was some information…something directly linked to my faith.
If I was honest with myself, I was skeptical, since the prophecy of Azor Ahai had been revealed. Several of the priests and certain individuals had been exploiting it for their own benefit, and the truth is that nothing had come out of them.
"Only smoke, no fire…" To be honest, sometimes I didn't even believe my priests who had visions. I believed in my god with all my soul, but I couldn't believe in my mind without a doubt in what some priests saw.
"But this isn't just about our temple…" I murmured, and that was the point of my concern, in several of our temples where the most talented users of their lord's magic had seen and heard what was shown to them in the flames.
I hadn't believed them at the time, but when more and more letters began to arrive from different temples throughout the free cities, skepticism gave way to a small flame of hope.
"Perhaps…just perhaps…it is finally time to be useful to my lord" I said as I entered my chambers, where the altar of the one true god, R'hllor, was, as well as my things, my bed, my wardrobe, a desk. Now filled with scrolls and letters that had reached him, not only from our temples, but also information from other sources.
"To think that the visions of those Braavosians would be of any use" The letter had arrived in the morning, which was strange because the journey from Braavos to Volantis was at least two moons long, if there were no problems. But since the flying rocks and the visions had begun, only a moon and a couple of days had passed. Whatever it was, he had rushed to bring it.
"Let's see what the moon singers say…" I said as I sat down by the desk and began to read the letter.
'My Lady Kinvara,
I am writing this letter quickly so that the information reaches you as quickly as possible. You told me that our Lord's gifts come in many forms, and that the one the Moonsingers possessed was quite powerful. So, I've been attending their meetings, trying to understand some of their secrets. It turns out that at my meeting tonight, several of the singers were performing a dance under the glass dome when the moonlight changed. It was like nothing I'd ever seen before. The light was like pure silver, I assure you. Then, those who received the light suddenly stopped and began to sing, my lady. It was otherworldly. I have no other way to express it. Their voices were, I don't know how to put it, heavenly perhaps. And the sound that came out of nowhere, I… I don't know… what happened, my lady. It truly was something… almost divine. May my Lord forgive me for thinking such a sacrilege.
But that wasn't the most surprising thing. Everything they sang was as if they were reciting a prophecy, my lady. A fight against darkness and the path the person would take. It was… I'd better leave its meaning to you. I'm just a witness to, perhaps, a prophecy.
On the other page, the lyrics to what they sang will be written. I wrote down everything important. I hope it helps my lady, because it has left its mark on me, and I believe dark times are approaching. But… there is hope.
A faithful servant of our one true god'.
"This…" I was surprised, I expected more of the same, maybe a few more phrases, some physical description or something like that, but…a whole song, a prophecy…
"Let's see what it says first…then I'll make a decision" I wouldn't despise a prophecy, no matter where it came from. I had lived long enough to know that the gifts of magic appeared in all forms and places.
I put the first page aside and started reading, it was…more than I could have ever expected.
'Sun shall arise to scatter the unending night
Shall blood still speak, prophecy gave rites
I led the fall with burning light
I bled for faith through endless fight
I heard the voice that none could bind
I chose to break their God's design
Eclipse still hangs, we march in silence
Swore light shall lead, we stand unbowed
Eclipse still hangs, we march in silence
Swore light shall lead, we stand unbowed
Brace the storm, ride the flame
Shine for light calls, burn as fate falls
Steel shall split the dark, we ride with roar and flame
Strike without fear, we fight with a blaze
Rise for crown sways, burn as oath stays
Fire shall mark the praise, we ride with roar and flame
Strike without fear, we fight with blaze
Dawn carves my name in grace
Eclipse still hangs, we march in silence
Swore light shall lead, we stand unbowed
Hey, echoes roar
Don't fear the black-eyed crow
Don't blink at foe, don't let cold grow
It is all I know
Shine for light calls, burn as fate falls
Steel shall split the dark, we ride with roar and flame
Strike without fear, we fight with a blaze
Rise for crown sways, burn as oath stays
Fire shall mark the praise, we ride with roar and flame
Strike without fear, we fight with blaze
Dawn carves my name in grace.
Know this, my lady. I did my best to write down everything I heard as quickly as possible, although during all this, more voices were heard in the room, male ones. I don't know what that meant, but what I wrote was what was most clear.
I hope my actions help you.
Yours, a servant of the Lord of Light, R'hllor.'
"This…this is…" a feeling of hope and joy filled me, this was what I had been looking for in the letters that came to me, but they had only been pieces of a message from my lord, I saw it clearly now.
I looked through the other letters that had come to me, 'there it is', I said to myself, finding the exact phrase in one of Lys's letters, 'Steel shall split the dark, we ride with roar and flame.' 'It's exactly the same… my god had been telling me this, but I hadn't realized'. Guilt suddenly filled me.
I looked up from the cards to my god's altar, took a deep breath as I approached, and lit more candles. I had to apologize for not seeing the signs.
"Oh, my god, lord of light and shadow, forgive this flawed mortal for not seeing your divine message, if it is your mercy, please guide me to find your chosen champion, our Azor Ahai, for the night is dark and full of terrors".
I finished my prayer, then took a knife from the altar and cut the palm of my hand, brought my hand to the brazier so that my blood would fall into it and waited, while I watched the brazier lit with higher flames.
"Lead me from the darkness, O my Lord. Fill my heart with fire, so I may walk your shining path. R'hllor, you are the light in my eyes, the fire in my heart, the heat in my loins. Yours is the sun that warms my days, yours the stars that guard us in the dark of night" recite our prayer, my supplication, for his guidance, and I was not left unanswered.
My vision changed, something that happened every time my lord wanted to show me something, I saw the emblems that represented families, I felt it, the different cities, some broken, others like the harpy of Mereen, kneeling before a crown that represented the sun, the horses being slaughtered by a giant sword that was made of smaller swords. The spears were raised with cries of victory, 'Ephor! Ephor! Ephor!' the spears shouted with the sound of warriors marching, then came the person I longed to glimpse, it was... something else.
I couldn't see her face, the sun was shining too brightly behind her throne which 'she' was facing, her red hair shone gold at the ends with small twinkling stars, her sun-shaped crown on her forehead, a greatsword almost the size of 'her', made up of smaller swords, and her eyes, her eyes, were something I had never seen, they seemed red with whitish edges at the pupils, but those edges changed to a gold mixed with a deep purple, they didn't look like the eyes of a person, they were more like… the eyes of a dragon.
'She' looked at me emotionlessly, as if I didn't even matter, she made me feel small, as if I shouldn't even be in her presence.
'That is the look of a ruler' I thought.
Then my vision changed. Now my soul could only tremble. The stories didn't do it justice.
The horrors of the Great Other were worse. They were greater than they said, they seemed stronger. And it wasn't just the cold and death my lord showed me.
It was also the darkness, a black sea that corrupted every being, transforming them, deforming them, consuming them. And in the center, a black being with arms like blades and a crown whose sharp edge was still visible despite the darkness.
"The great other?" I thought fearfully.
So I found myself back in my room, breathing rapidly trying to calm down, my hands were shaking and a cold sweat was running down my back.
"My lord, please show me how we can face him" I knelt again in front of the altar, looking at the brazier with need, "Oh, my lord, please enlighten this servant to find a path to victory".
I prayed to my god, but the embers did not move, hopelessness began to fill me, and small tears began to run down my face.
"No… my lord gave me the answer already…" Even with tears on my face, I realized, 'she' was the key, the prophecy, I had to find her, and guide her on the path of my lord.
"I will find her, my lord, I swear to lead your chosen champion to victory" I wiped my face with my hands on my robes and stood up and headed to the desk.
"I need to review these cards carefully. I already have the prophecy of the moonsingers. Now I can see if there's anything in the others that could lead me to 'her,'" I said to myself as I began searching for parallels and information.
Then it hit me like a bolt of lightning, I opened my eyes in realization: what I had seen of 'her'.
"The kneeling harpy, the slaughtered horses, and the soldiers' spears, that's her path. Now I know how to find her".
"I just have to keep an eye out for any news of battles in the free cities" I thought confidently.
It was only a matter of time before I found her and prepared her for the approaching darkness.
"for the night is dark and full of terrors".