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Caspian Darkwood
Essos, Vaes Yeraan
57 AC
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"Give her appropriate clothing, and guide her to the terrace dining room... bring food, preferably mashed potatoes or light foods," when I snapped out of my daze, I organized a quick but necessary response, giving orders to Valery and two servants (formerly slaves) to prepare the table.
Valka placed her hand under my chin and made me look at her, "What's wrong? You are acting strangely." I looked at her contemplatively. Until now, I had been confident in facing any danger because of having access to a Minecraft menu. That... gift, provided me with power and protection in unimaginable ways, levels that, as far as I knew, nothing or no one in the known world could match.
That was my key, my path to the greatness I would need to fulfill my purpose here and live freely afterward. But the idea that there might be others who also had access to that bothered me more than I thought.
"You mentioned people called 'players' a few minutes ago. I want to know what you meant by that," she frowned, perhaps thinking I hadn't told her the whole truth, but she still answered: "They were people... almost wanderers, men or women with many powers, powers very similar to yours. It was rumored that they were vessels through which Notch descended to earth."
Notch, the game creator? "Who was Notch? The God of your world?"
"Yes, Notch, the protective God of the world. He created everything, and it was He who freed us from the dark age brought by Herobrine." Holy mother of the pastry chef, things were getting crazier and crazier. Now it turns out Herobrine and Notch also existed.
"I don't know much, since that happened more than two thousand years ago, but Micaela must know. Of all the witches who have arrived, she is the oldest; she must know the whole story, as she lived through it."
Micaela, huh. I needed to have that conversation with her as soon as possible. Because now, with the matter of Aerea and Balerion, the need to have something, or someone, with power equal to or greater than their dragons was more necessary.
And while I had the Wither in mind, the truth is that even I was afraid to summon one of those creatures and cause a catastrophe, because only God knew all the damage it could do before I could contain or kill it.
And that's where I thought of the Ender Dragon. What better way to fight fire with fire? And the truth is, I didn't know how powerful or large an adult Ender Dragon would be, especially one like the one in the End, but I was sure that if I could make it serve me, I would win hundreds of battles before they even began.
But for that, I had to speak with Micaela first, as I was not going to enter the End dimension without knowing everything about it. The last thing I wanted was to open the door to beings like the ones Valka had named, or even beings like Herobrine or Notch.
"Tell Micaela that I need to speak with her," I said aloud. Although it might seem like I was talking to myself, I knew there were always two or four witches invisibly with me, so I knew one of them would deliver my order.
Within minutes, the servants brought food on large trays, from the mashed potatoes I requested, to rabbit stew, smoked or stewed salmon, accompanied by milk, jugs of fresh water, or orange or watermelon juice, in addition to fresh fruits and salad.
It was a pleasant sight to see. It was in views like these that I understood that the Dothraki, or at least my Khalasar, was advancing, slowly but surely, and that was evident even in the food they ate daily and how their diet had begun to change, and how they adopted the knowledge of the villagers as their own.
I took an apple and started peeling it, not before telling a female servant that I would do it when she offered to, and that she should instead serve Valka food.
It was then that I noticed Aerea approaching. The witches had dressed her in a long-sleeved layered dress, colored red, and although it looked good, I felt it wasn't appropriate, especially after recovering from a state of near death, and she looked tired.
"Khal," the girl greeted, and although she tried to hide it, I saw how she looked at the food with desire. Not willing to punish her further, I invited her to sit down. "Khal Darkwood, that is my name, and yours, young woman?" A blush showed on her face. "I'm sorry, my name is Aerea Targaryen."
One of the servants pulled out one of the unoccupied seats to the left of the table, diagonally across from Valka, which she gladly took. "Eat, but you must do so slowly, and try not to ingest too much. You have certainly been eating poorly, and if you ingest too much in a short time, your stomach will reject it," I instructed her, watching as the servant who had helped her with the chair served her small portions of everything on the table.
I noticed Valka watching her closely, and occasionally her brow furrowed. She had realized something, but I couldn't ask her now, not with Aerea present.
For a few minutes, we were silent, with only the sound of Aerea's cutlery clanking. "Sorry, I was hungry, and the food tasted like glory," Aerea spoke after washing down the last bite with water.
I smiled. At least she was in good spirits; that was better than having her buried five meters underground right now. "I'm glad to know you have an appetite; the cooks have been experimenting with new dishes," I commented. "What is this white stuff? It's delicious."
"It's mashed potatoes. It's made by adding a sauce made from sunflower oil, eggs, and other spices. I see you liked it," I replied, noticing that she was already on her third plate of the mash. "You should stop; let your stomach get used to receiving substantial food first, or you'll end up vomiting."
The face she made when I told her that was so funny that I almost couldn't contain my laughter. "Since you've eaten, may I know what happened to you? You and your dragon arrived very wounded in my city." I might know the general story, but it was better to hear it directly from her.
I noticed it wasn't easy for her to talk about it, but she must have thought about some things upon seeing the Dothraki guards nearby, because she answered: "I was in Valyria for a few years; my dragon took me there after I claimed him. The experience was not the most pleasant, shall we say."
No, of course not. She had worms squirming in her flesh; it was clear the experience hadn't been pleasant. "My... witches treated you when you arrived. There were... worms in your body. The count went up to 357. Had it not been for them, I don't think there would be any known medicine in the world that could have treated you."
Her face, which at first showed confusion and a hint of fear when I mentioned the witches, changed to gratitude and relaxation when I mentioned the situation she arrived in and how she was now out of danger.
"Thank you, truly thank you very much. I owe you a huge debt." Her gratitude sounded sincere, and well, it should be if you found out they had saved your life. "And my dragon? Balerion?" She was taking a long time to ask about him.
"He is safe, although he is still wounded, very wounded, I must stress. Like you, he arrived with many injuries, but due to his nature, he couldn't be treated, but now that you are better, that could change."
Her face lit up when she heard that. "I would love to," she said, almost in a shout, "please." She added at the end, noticing how Valka was looking at her. "Bring my horse, and bring one for her too," I ordered, rising from my seat, an action that Valka copied, and Aerea also stood up; it seemed court etiquette had been taught well to her.
Together, we began to walk through the fortress corridors to the central courtyard, where some Dothraki were already waiting for us with our horses.
I got on my horse, and Aerea and Valka did the same. Together, we began to ride towards the dome where I had Balerion confined. "Is he there?" Aerea asked in surprise, noticing the large dome from a distance. "Yes, I was unsure of your survival, so I had to keep your dragon contained."
"But... how long was I asleep?" Pure surprise could not disappear from her face, even after trying to control her actions. "Almost six hours." I told her.
"Six hours?! But how could you build something like this in so little time? Or was it already there? But if so, they couldn't have made Balerion move," oh, I understood her. Well, I understood her surprise. If I'm not mistaken, the Dragonpit took years to build, and the fact that she noticed the speed with which this dome was constructed, she would undoubtedly be surprised. "I built it. The dome was not here before your arrival."
She looked at me, and I did my best not to laugh; her surprise was visible in every feature; she practically looked like an anime character. She wanted to ask, but I stopped her. There would be time for answers. "We have arrived."