Not finished yet? Aegor frowned slightly, feeling helpless.
A good story should end at the right time. In Lady R'hllor's tale about the doomsday catastrophe, the truth behind the eruption of the Fourteen Flames seemed like the perfect conclusion. No matter how dramatic or thrilling the plot, if it drags on too long, it becomes cloying, like a dish overspiced. "Obviously, you won that battle in the end. Otherwise, humans wouldn't be the masters of the world today, and you wouldn't be standing here talking to me. Forgive my bluntness, but the process isn't important."
"The first part is correct, but the second part is not. In this battle, the process is precisely the most important part." R'hllor wasn't offended by Aegor's impatience. Instead, she continued in a calm tone. "When I began researching and refining blood magic as a trump card to use against Daenerys, aside from considering its maximum power, there was another important factor. My demigod bloodline gave me tremendous vitality and regenerative ability. Though I've rarely suffered serious injuries to test it, I understand my own body well enough to be certain of one thing. As long as I'm not killed instantly, no matter the injury or missing limb, I can consume magic and time to heal and regrow. Self-harm that would be unthinkable to mortals is a perfectly acceptable cost for me. That is what allowed me to list my own flesh and body as part of the casting materials without hesitation."
"My offspring were all exhausted in the first casting. But you probably also realized, in terms of bloodline purity and magical potency, I, the progenitor who has lived countless ages, am undoubtedly the greatest source. With no other flesh and blood to draw on, it became my turn."
That's twisted. I like it... No. Aegor shook off the thought. If she had such miraculous self-healing, why didn't she use her own body first instead of sacrificing those innocent descendants who were only watching? Wouldn't she have preserved a force of Dragonriders who could now stand against the final threat? Then perhaps the burden of facing the White Walkers wouldn't fall on a ragtag band of mortals.
He resisted the urge to complain. This kind of divine battle was far beyond his understanding. When it came to things he didn't comprehend, silence was the safest path. Perhaps to an existence like R'hllor, no number of lower-level helpers could compare to keeping her own body in peak condition for a fight at her level.
...
"As an expert in invading other realms, that great demon had clearly encountered the 'interrupted midway through crossing' scenario before. It was prepared. Even after losing a third of its body, it quickly stabilized its wounds with magic and halted the loss of energy. Then, without hesitation, it charged at me, aiming to eliminate its greatest threat before taking the time to recover or reopen the rift."
"Though I had immense power, I lacked true combat experience. Despite the endless years I'd lived, this world never offered any worthy opponents to hone my skills against. The demon, on the other hand, was the exact opposite. It had destroyed countless worlds. Even though its strength was suppressed to match this world's limits the moment it entered, and even though it was gravely injured and missing half its power, it still overwhelmed me from the first strike. Its ferocity, decisiveness, energy manipulation, and mastery of combat techniques left me completely outmatched."
R'hllor paused briefly, glancing around as if sensing the dream beginning to destabilize. "We don't have much time left, so I'll skip the details and go straight to the conclusion and key points. The situation was this. Despite the vast knowledge and skills I had accumulated over the ages, they were mostly useless in the face of this demon's raw strength. Tricks and small spells couldn't compete. After barely surviving two energy blasts and sustaining injuries, I adjusted my mindset and stopped hesitating. I began treating the demon as if it were my most terrifying imagined enemy... my father's sister."
"I bit my tongue, cut my skin, and used my own blood to cast spells. The immense power of my half-dragon, half-demigod bloodline gave me an immediate edge in the battle... but the demon's resilience and magical resistance were formidable. Using small amounts of blood only gained me a temporary advantage. It was nowhere near enough to end the fight. And my blood isn't infinite." R'hllor lifted one of her fair, delicate hands and made a simple gesture. "So the battle entered the second phase. I put aside all hesitation and sacrificed my own body for even more devastating spells."
"Though I didn't have wings, I was used to flight magic, so I didn't need my legs for mobility." She lowered her hand and pointed at her toes and knees. "First went the feet and legs. Blood, muscle, bone, and every usable part."
As soon as she finished speaking, the goddess's legs, faintly visible beneath her long dress, vanished into points of light along with the hem of her skirt. In the blink of an eye, she was left with only half a body, startling the unprepared Aegor.
"Then came the hands and arms. Gestures enhance spellcasting but aren't essential." Without hesitation, she raised her arms. The moment her sentence ended, both arms vanished. In seconds, she had gone from a stunningly beautiful woman to a crippled half-torso that could scare a man into impotence. "A steep price brings a greater return. The four devastating strikes I unleashed using the four limbs pushed that demon to the brink of death. But it only made the creature more frenzied, and the intensity of the battle rose instead of fell. I could not regrow limbs or fully recover in a few days. Meanwhile, the demon could reopen the rift in mere hours. That meant wounding it wasn't enough. I had to destroy it completely. I couldn't turn and flee, even though I had the ability to escape."
"For the first time, I cursed the fact that I didn't have wings or a tail. I could have had more body parts to sacrifice." R'hllor sighed. "But resentment couldn't change anything. So next I offered up my hair, skin, intestines, and several non-essential bones and organs. I worked through them in order of least to most important to sustaining life..."
"Lady R'hllor, please stop using your powers!" Aegor shouted the moment her skin vanished and she became a blood-red skeleton. He covered his eyes and turned away, afraid he might develop a phobia of women. "Just tell me. No need to demonstrate. I can imagine it!"
"Weren't you the one chasing me earlier?" Her tone turned playful, as if enjoying the chance to get revenge for his earlier offense. But she didn't linger. "As you wish. Open your eyes. I didn't want to scare you awake either. Now you should understand just how intense that battle was. In a word, the demon was a monster. To defeat such a being, I had to fight like a greater monster. Blood magic, growing more potent with every cast, fell relentlessly upon its injured, sluggish form. Eventually, its body and soul were completely obliterated. By then, I had become an unrecognizable abomination, drenched in blood. My life was barely hanging on. I didn't bother with the remaining lesser demons. I forced myself to flee to a hidden place and began to recover."
"My demigod bloodline did grant me incredible regenerative power and longevity. Ideally, I estimated that within a few days, I could escape that fragile state and look human again. A few months more, and I could fully regrow all lost parts, including limbs. My new body wouldn't be as saturated with power at first, but the weakness would be temporary. I had time to wait." She had indeed returned to her original form, but Aegor no longer stared at her. "However, the situation wasn't ideal. The demon's last dying strike inflicted unexpected damage. The foul, strange energy it wielded contaminated my broken body. It seeped into my blood and remaining magic, seriously hampering my recovery. If I tried to use magic to purge it, my body couldn't heal. If I let it go, the evil force would start to corrode my soul, attempting to enslave and control me."
Fel energy, or something like it? Aegor finally understood why she had gone into such detail about the battle. This part could not be skipped. After a brief moment of calculation, he realized how much time had passed since the Doom.
"More than four hundred years? And you're still not healed?"
"For over four centuries, I have been fighting this contamination while also trying to recover. Now I've only just reached the point where my life is no longer in immediate danger. But because that foul power clings like maggots on a bone, fully regaining my strength is still a long way off. And during this time, I must remain alert and divert some focus to deter restless enemies." R'hllor let out a deep sigh. "Do you really think the Night's Watch, led by you, successfully repelled a full invasion from the cold god?"
"Huh? I don't understand." This time, Aegor was genuinely confused.
"Compared to its last real attempt, when it tried to retake the world after my mother's death thousands of years ago, this so-called invasion by the White Walkers was nothing more than a test. The White Walkers, leading a few wights past the Wall and causing some chaos in The Gift, were then eliminated by you and the Queen. Everything ended so neatly. Do you really think the cold god is that weak?"
"Does it have other tricks?" Aegor's eyes sharpened. He was already preparing for a southern campaign. If he sent half the Night's Watch beyond the Wall and led an army south, and something monstrous attacked, The Gift would be lost for good.
"It does, but it doesn't dare to use them. This White Walkers attack wasn't the start of its real invasion, but only a probe." R'hllor's expression turned serious as she spoke faster. "The battle between me and that demon created such a massive disturbance that even the blind could sense it. The cold god didn't take advantage of my weakness then not just because it was caught off guard. More importantly, any of the terrifying spells I used, the ones that sacrificed my children and myself, could easily have killed it outright if they struck. Afraid of being drawn into the fight or being destroyed by accident, it stayed hidden in its lair. But after I vanished for four hundred years to recover, the fear it had for me gradually faded. Now it's testing the waters through this minor war, trying to confirm if I'm still alive."
"You managed to eliminate the White Walkers without any supernatural resistance. Not because the Wall blocked the cold god's power, but because I came here. It sensed me and withdrew its forces, retreating to its lair to avoid my attention," R'hllor said, spreading her hands. "I used to be so arrogant that I wouldn't spare time to deal with it. But now, after suffering thousands of years of damage and weakness, it has become the greatest threat I face."
"It could defeat and kill me right now and reclaim this world. It just doesn't know it yet," she warned seriously. "If the Night's Watch simply repels the White Walkers and takes no further steps, it will remain unsure... and still fear my former power. But if someone attempts to enter the Land of Always Winter to destroy it, what do you think it will believe?"
...
"It will believe that you are preparing to annihilate it and have come to finish the job." After a moment of silence, Aegor finally understood. R'hllor's story, while seemingly far off-topic, had never actually drifted from its core message. "And if this advance force is destroyed by the cold god, and it braces for a final attack that never comes, it will realize... that you are no longer capable of doing anything."
"Exactly. So know when to stop. Recklessness won't show bravery. It will only expose weakness, and not only get you killed but drag me down with you." R'hllor lowered her hands, no longer speaking with the rapid rhythm of before. "Go on, ask your last question. If you still have doubts about my story, now is the time."
The story was logically sound. As Aegor listened, he tried to poke holes in it. But even if it were fabricated, as a mortal, he lacked the knowledge and experience to prove it.
It was either the truth or a masterfully crafted tale meant to persuade someone as skeptical as him. But unable to shake off one last lingering doubt, he thought for a moment, then decided on an indirect way to test her claims and maybe squeeze out one more reward.
"There's only one question left, Lady R'hllor. As your chosen Prophet, who saved you a great deal of trouble by suppressing rebellion during the White Walkers invasion... are my rewards truly limited to one warning and one story?"
(To be continued.)