[The Qarth arc has extended a bit longer than I had expected. The plan had been to carry this arc while simultaneously dealing with developments in other parts of the world. My health had dropped down in between this arc (when I had been writing this couple of weeks back as per my p@treon schedule) and there were things which I could not do. The arc will be over in two more chapters and the story will move forwards from there on. And while this arc would end, it would not be without any use. I will not give any spoilers but all those chapters would not prove to be a waste.]
[Also, the visibility of my book has dropped drastically. So, please donate some extra power stones.]
The entire hall had fallen into pin drop silence as Pyat Pree finished his narration. Every member of the council and the merchants trembled. Their backs were drenched in cold sweat as a feeling of dread had begun consuming them.
The teleportation trick Pyat Pree had demonstrated and the declaration that followed about him wiping their entire bloodline had left them utterly convinced there was no escape from death. All they could do was exchange helpless glances with one another, praying for some kind of miracle. There was just the little flicker of hope that they could survive.
"Mister Pyat Pree," Jon's calm voice cut across the suffocating tension in the hall. "I understand every other logic behind your arguments."
"But I do not get one thing. Why me?" he questioned, turning toward Xaro.
"I do not understand. In fact, considering that I brought you a method to grow even richer, should you not have considered me your ally? Even if you became the king, the coins from my business would have only helped you."
"It does not make any sense," he added further with a questioning glance towards Xaro.
Xaro laughed in response. It was an obnoxious sort of laugh, and Jon raised his eyebrows in confusion wondering if he had asked a funny question.
"Aeloros," Xaro said between his chuckles, "you are not to be killed. Only your friend, this lady will be killed."
Jon's eyes narrowed as he waited for Xaro to say more.
"You will be left alive," Xaro continued. "It is just that you will not be yourself."
"The warlocks of the House of the Undying will turn you into a puppet who will only follow their orders," he added. "A puppet who will have no brain and no consciousness of his own and would only listen to what we say and do exactly that."
"And what would you achieve from this?" Jon asked, his eyes turning really curious.
"It will provide us access to Lord Aeos," Pyat Pree answered, stepping into the conversation. "The last time we were at the peak of our powers, we did not attempt to widen our influence or expand our power base. We remained content in power being limited in this city of Qarth. But this time we will make no such mistake. We will let the world know of our power. That we are back. Lord Aeos will be our first step."
"With his armies, combined with our powers, we will march across Essos and capture every city," Pyat Pree declared.
"How will I lead you to Lord Aeos?" Jon asked, confused. "I do not believe I am close to him."
"But you are close to someone important in his reign, and that is enough," Pyat Pree drawled. "You will merely be the pawn who will lead us to the real king."
Jon opened his mouth to say more, but Pyat Pree cut him off.
"Enough questions and answers have already happened," he said. "We have already wasted a lot of time. We have many more people to kill."
With that, Pyat Pree and the other warlocks spread their arms horizontally and joined hands. Who knew what trickery they used, but metallike spikes erupted from their joined hands. Each spike aimed for the neck of every person in the room, including Melisandre, every neck except Jon's.
Jon's eyes narrowed. He knew he could not delay this any longer. He had to move now, immediately. And since he did not fully know what the warlocks were capable of, he could not afford time. He needed to end them in one move.
His eyes flicked to Melisandre; they exchanged a quick glance. Now was not the time to keep their capabilities hidden. They had to act.
Melisandre gave a firm nod as Jon mumbled slowly, "One move."
His words echoed clearly through the hall, and everyone including the council members and the warlocks looked at him in confusion, wondering what he meant. No one understood what he was trying to say or he had gone mad by what was happening.
The next moment, before anyone could make sense of his words or react, Jon and Melisandre spun simultaneously from their seats as they stood up.
They raised their palms, and before the shocked, disbelieving eyes of everyone present, coils of fire burst forth, tangled in the shape of conical chains. The pointed ends of the chains drilled straight through the necks of the nearest warlocks and continued to drive forward toward the next targets. An arc of fire formed around the hall as the fire pierced through the neck of one warlock after another.
Jon struck the warlocks on their left, while Melisandre struck those on their right.
In mere moments, all eight warlocks collapsed to the ground with a thud. Each bore a blazing hole seared clean through their necks, flesh charred and blood burned away. A stunned silence followed, as no one had the ability to react to what had just happened.
Almost everyone had shrunk in their seats in horror after what they had witnessed.
"Lord Xaro," Jon's chuckle snapped the attention of everyone present in the council hall. "I believe all your ambitions have just flowed down the drain."
"You…" Xaro stammered with his fingers pointed towards Jon. "Who are you? And what did you do just now? And what sorcery is this?"
"Oh!" Jon chuckled again. "It seems that only you and your allies are allowed to use sorcery."
Jon approached Xaro and he shrank even more in his seat.
"Do not come near me," he almost cried in pleading.
"Xaro," Jon said, his voice cold and firm. "I will ask you a few questions and you will tell me everything. The more cooperative you are, the less painful your death would be."
"Now," he continued. "How many warlocks are still present in the House of Undying?"
Xaro did not speak for the first few moments.
"You think you can defeat him?" he asked after a few moments of silence. "You think that just because you killed these warlocks by treachery, you can kill them all?"
"Who are you talking about?" Jon asked with squinted eyes. "The chief of the Warlocks?"
"Yes," Xaro mumbled. "You have no idea how powerful he is… he will squash you like a bug."
Xaro opened his mouth to say something more but a flicker of flame erupted from Jon's finger piercing Xaro's head. A gaping hole appeared on his forehead as Xaro slumped in his chair dead.
"Only mumbling useless information," Jon mumbled to himself.
He looked towards everyone present in the hall and it looked as if his mere gaze was enough to force them on their knees. Their eyes were pleading as they looked at Jon.
"Not a single word about what has happened in this hall or what will happen in the House of Undying should come out," Jon's voice echoed in the hall. "The second chance you have got, enjoy it well."
Jon did not say anything more as immediately marched away from the hall with Melisandre closely following behind. His destination, House of Undying.
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