~~~Matias, Twelfth Moon, 277 AC~~~
~~~King's Wood, Crownlands~~~
My life had changed from one moment to the next, one day; I was a simple city guard, subjected to being on watch for more than twelve hours a day, to then receive a few silver deer, perhaps that was why so many of us depend on extortion in King's Landing, including me in it.
And how could we not? To maintain our armor, to pay the squire his expenses, a few simple silver deer were not enough, and with the scarcity of food resulting from the Reach affair, plus the war with the Iron Islands, the situation became more complicated.
So much so, that I was even forced to do dirty business for some lords, even for some members of the Faith, damn them all, none of them were spared, if they were not rapists, they were thieves.
"Matias, help me with this," Ricardo, my partner in this job, called me, urging me to help him light a fire, when I said my life had changed, I meant this, two moons ago, a very powerful Xandarian man offered me work, along with several knights of the city guard, apparently the man was the leader in charge of the newly built Bank of Xandar in King's Landing.
The man was amazing, he paid us three gold dragons every week, this being more than we could get in over five moons. Not only that, but the treatment we were given working as guards at the bank was far better than what we were even subjected to working at the Red Keep.
Best of all, we didn't have to obey orders from the Dothraki or whoever else was in the Bank, we only listened to the direct orders of Minister Charles, how he asked us to call him. Which often caused fights between the Xandarians and us.
But now, at least we were out of that place, or at least for the moment, the task we had been given was to protect the convoy of carts and carriages heading to Stormlands, where some ships were waiting.
As for the contents of the carriages and wagons, we were not told, and for a grandiose payment of ten gold coins, I did not deign to ask either, the less we knew, the better, for me, it was more important to get paid.
Once the campfire was ready, the men and I sat around it, the weather was cold, a clear indication that winter was coming, but now, with plenty of gold in my possession, winter no longer worried me.
The eight men and I sat on logs around the campfire, while another placed some rabbits on the fire, it was the most we could hunt, otherwise, we would have gone hungry, no deer, pigs or even a bird, for the Royal Forest where the King hunted, he didn't have much prey. Even the forest sounded silent.
In addition to the nine of us knights sitting around the campfire, there were three more men, only unlike us, they were not wearing armor, but simple robes with hoods and long sleeves, apparently they were the men in charge of delivering the carriages and wagons when we arrived at Stormlands, but the strange thing was that none of them had spoken a word since we left King's Landing I had never seen them wake up.
The sounds of the dogs were the only thing that chilled the forest's silence, along with the crackling of the fire, which gave me goosebumps. "What do you think of the Xandarian king? It is said that he controls a dragon." Faustos, that man with the big mouth and no manners, took one of the rabbits from the still raw fire and took a bite, blood dripping from its mouth, which made me grimace.
"He's just someone who has risen to the top using gossip and lies, dragons don't exist, he might as well have is a Sothoryos cavern wyvern and pass it off as a dragon," Camilo answered without delay, and I couldn't help but agree with him, the last dragon died years ago, and if one existed, it was already under the control of the Targaryen, those inbreds wouldn't let that beast that made them kings be under someone else's power.
"Woof, bow wow, ruff!" Suddenly, our conversation was halted as our dogs barked loudly, though as I looked in their direction, they were not lying where they had been before.
"What beautiful beasts," a soft voice, but of a strange tone to the ear, caused us to turn in their direction, and there, among a tree, was a woman, a very beautiful woman, with extremely long black hair, black eyes and diaphanous skin, dressed in a simple but light dress.
"As I was telling you, what beautiful creatures, I didn't know that men so... Expendable could win the loyalty of such beautiful animals. Didn't you, children?" The woman said to us, as she said the last sentence to the dogs... Our dogs, dogs of war that would not accept contact with unknown people.
"Is my lady lost?" I asked, worrying about the woman's possible treatment if these men thought they could have a good time with her. "Oh, no, I'm not lost, although I think you are."
"Excuse me?" I questioned, not wanting to see how she might be treated by those men who hadn't had contact with a woman in days. "Yes, you, you know, the great Khal is an honest, upright and respectable man, I was not here for you, but for those four men back there... But I will not let you sully my master's name."
Hearing that, I couldn't help but grip the pommel of my sword, while she was a woman, I couldn't trust her, years of fighting the savages of the mountains had taught me not to trust anyone, even as simple and harmless as she might seem.
"We don't want any trouble with you, my lady, we are just doing a job, if you like, you can accompany us to the nearest town, being alone in the forest is not recommended," I said, still wanting to keep her safe.
She smiled, and it was the sweetest smile I could have seen, "thank you my good man, but I have to decline", she said softly, and Faustos got tired, and shouted, making my ear squeal, "you will do as we tell you, or you will not come out unscathed".
Contrary to how I thought she would react, she laughed, "hahaha! No, on the contrary, here what you will find... Will be Death!" Without warning, her face, once unique and perfect, broke in a thousand ways, as if she had put on a mask made of volcanic ash, but broken, with cracks all over her face, while her voice... By the Seven, sounded from beyond the grave.
But I didn't have time to be still, because the dogs, our dogs, barked and pounced on my companions, "Witch!" I don't know who shouted that, but I couldn't disagree with it.
The broken bones of my companions began to be heard being bitten by the dogs, while the... Witch, walked softly around the place, as if it belonged to her, Thiago, a young knight, drew his sword and ran towards the witch, but the... thing, simply grabbed him with its left hand by the neck and lifted him several centimeters off the ground, then with its right hand, made a hole in his head and pulled out what I guessed was his brain.
"You have no right whatsoever to take possession of what is my master's!" The words came out in unbridled fury, and as he cornered me against a log, I watched as my companions were slaughtered.
Faustos tried to run, but the witch took what looked like a whip hanging from her waist, and as she touched it, it glowed a thousand colors, illuminating the dark forest, "fuus", it all happened so fast, the witch controlled the glowing whip, and the thing obeyed her as if it had a life of its own, so much so that it seemed to extend forward, as if floating, reaching where Faustos had managed to run and cutting off his head.
The reality took me by surprise, I didn't know what this woman was, or if she was a woman in the first place, but in just two minutes, she murdered all of my companions.
Remembering the other four men, I raised my head slightly to ask for their help, but the sight that greeted me was one of absolute terror, for there they were, the four men fighting what looked like shadows that blended in with the darkness of the forest.
"Oh boy, you're a good boy, rest," those words were the last I heard, since when I wanted to turn around, there was the... Witch in front of me, and then nothing. My sight went dark, as I felt my body falling, as I thought what evil I had done to end up like this.
______________________________________
Visit my Patreon to read more, or check out my second story set in Marvel.
Link: [email protected]/Dreamer392