Ra thanked Robert in his heart for the decision to extend Balon Greyjoy's sentence for seven full days.
That generous delay would give the Custodian ample time to properly explore the hidden mysteries of the restless sea.
He sneaked out of Castle Pyke with practiced ease, using the darkness of the overcast night as his veil, and soon found himself standing alone at the rocky shore of the island.
The vast, turbulent ocean rippled endlessly before his armored boots.
He reached his gloved hand down to his leather belt and took out a small velvet pouch. Opening it carefully, he fetched a delicate glass object from inside.
The object was perfectly molded into the exact shape of the T shaped gap in his golden helmet. It fit seamlessly into the metal slot the moment he extended it to his face.
He cast one final look back at the looming fortress before walking steadily forward and plunging his massive frame directly into the freezing ocean ahead.
Glowing magical runes shimmered brightly on the glass visor he had attached to his helmet.
The enchantment allowed him to breathe underwater just as easily as if he were walking on dry land, and his vision remained as crystal clear as it would be on a bright summer morning.
He walked heavily beneath the crushing weight of the sea while his dark black cloak moved in slow, graceful waves behind him.
Half an hour passed with him simply walking the ocean floor and quietly observing the strange, creatures of the sea.
Eventually, he paused and stood perfectly still at an unassuming point in the ocean. He looked around the watery expanse before extending his right hand.
A small black bead floated out of the gloom, stopping right in front of him before resting gently on his armored palm.
The scattered beads he had thrown into the ocean earlier that day were the combined creations of himself and Elia.
They were meticulously designed to sense hidden magical and dimensional energies lingering within the ocean currents.
As more and more of the dark beads started floating up to him and depositing themselves onto his waiting palm, a wealth of sensory information flooded directly into his mind.
He quickly discovered that both types of those rare energies were heavily present in the dark waters surrounding him.
He chose to explore the dimensional energy first. His cloak fluttered wildly behind him as his boots left the seabed, and he began floating suspended in the water.
He leaned forward, propelling himself smoothly in the direction he wanted to go.
His swimming speed increased with every passing second, his golden armor cutting effortlessly through the dense water until he finally paused in a very specific, isolated area of the ocean.
He opened his palm, releasing the gathered beads. They immediately started floating in a tight formation in front of him.
He then sent out a strong magical pulse, causing a little circular area of empty space right in front of him to visually distort and warp.
Ra planted a heavy hand firmly over his chest plate. A moment later, the symbol of a sword intertwined by two snakes shimmered to life in a deep red glow.
The enchanted beads floating in front of him gravitated toward the strange distortion in space, forming a perfect circle around the anomaly as the invisible lock of the hidden dimension was slowly deciphered.
It was not long before a swirling, dark vortex ripped open in the water directly in front of Ra, completely ready to take him to the mysteries waiting behind the veil.
He leaned forward, paused for a fraction of a second in front of the open portal, and took a deep breath before plunging himself completely into the abyss.
He exited the swirling portal with a smooth tactical roll on the hard ground. He stood up abruptly, his heavy halberd already gripped firmly in his hands, fully prepared to defend himself against any lurking hostiles.
However, he found only a dead, ruined city sprawling out in front of him. The structures were made entirely of an inky, oily black stone with absolutely no sign of life anywhere in sight.
The Custodian did not relax his tight grip on his weapon, choosing to move cautiously forward with his guard held high.
The glowing symbol on his chest suddenly burned an even brighter red, forcing him to pause right before a familiar voice echoed loudly inside his mind.
'Pause, my son.'
He heard his father's clear voice inside his head and immediately did exactly as he was told.
The glowing symbol on his chest was the official crest of the family that ruled Nightshade, and it was enchanted to connect him directly to his father if ever Ra sensed he was meddling with powers he could not overcome alone.
It took but a single moment before his father teleported directly to his location in his human form. Luxarion stood there, his molten gold eyes looking upon his eldest son with deep affection.
"I tell you to go explore the world for some time, and you somehow stumble straight into the forgotten domain of a god," Luxarion said with a warm chuckle and a fond shake of his head.
"Father. It is very good to see you," Ra replied, ignoring the gold dragon's teasing words and greeting him with genuine warmth.
He then tilted his helmeted head as he looked out at the unsettling city stretching before them. "Is this really the domain of a god?" he asked.
He got a solemn nod from Luxarion in response.
"A dead one, it would seem," the gold dragon answered quietly.
Suddenly, Ra and Luxarion's forms shimmered into golden light. The very next instant, they found themselves transported much deeper into the ruined city, looking down at a truly awe inducing sight.
Resting heavily in the center of the ruins was a massive being with a shimmering, dark form that looked as if its very body was constructed out of pure chaos.
Its horrifying face resembled a monstrous Kraken, complete with three unblinking eyes on each side of its head.
Its leathery wings were similar to those of an ancient dragon, and its hands and feet were easily big enough to climb completely over tall mountains.
However, Ra's complete attention was firmly fixed on the massive, fatal wound located on the creature's side.
The horrific wound seemed to have violently torn a huge chunk of flesh right out of the dead god's body.
The deep, jagged punctures looked as though they had been made by impossibly large, cone shaped teeth, and the massive gashes still slowly oozed with thick black blood.
"You see, my son, I have carefully observed some of the native gods in this world over the past millennium, and I have formed a theory that not all of them actually originated in this specific world," Luxarion started to explain.
He used his innate power to help himself and Ra slowly float down toward the massive corpse. "And this particular thing right here is completely foreign compared to even them," he added softly.
He then waved his hand gracefully, causing golden magic circles of diagnostic spells to shimmer into existence all over the dead being's gigantic body.
"Could you have defeated it, if it were still alive?" Ra asked curiously, gesturing with his halberd toward the dead god resting in front of them.
His father took a long moment to genuinely think about the question. Luxarion tilted his head in calculation as the complex magic circles shimmered brighter before finally fading away completely as their diagnostic work was finished.
"No," was Luxarion's blunt, honest assessment based entirely on the magical diagnosis he had just performed on the dead god.
"Then should we not be incredibly worried about the unknown being that actually managed to kill this thing?" Ra asked suddenly, his head whipping quickly to the side to look directly at his father.
"I will look into the matter," the Father of the Custodians agreed solemnly before turning his golden eyes back to his first son.
"Though, I do not wish for you to worry yourself about that right now. I want you to focus your attention on protecting my good daughter and my beloved grandchildren," he added with a meaningfully raised eyebrow.
Luxarion was already devising complex ways in his vast mind to better keep an eye on the hidden gods of the world, though he truly did not wish for Ra to be too worried.
He wanted his son to focus entirely on his own family.
Ra thought about the command for a brief moment before giving a sharp, obedient nod. As much as he hated to admit it, the Custodian knew there was absolutely nothing he could actively achieve by worrying about a mysterious being that powerful.
"Go on, my son. Join back up with your mortal friends. I will take care of this mess," Luxarion said smoothly.
He waved his hand one final time, and Ra instantly found himself standing right back on the rocky shore of the salty sea.
The very first light of the early morning sun made his golden armor shimmer brightly. He walked steadily back up to the conquered castle, only to be met with extremely surprised northern soldiers the moment he returned to the main gates.
"Go fetch Lord Stark immediately. Tell him Ser Ra has finally returned," one of the guards shouted loudly to another before running frantically over to the towering Custodian.
"Where exactly were you, ser? We have been searching all over the island for you," the soldier asked Ra in a pure panic.
The golden giant tilted his head in genuine confusion. He thought it had only been a single night, and no one should have even noticed him missing in that short amount of time.
Ra was just about to ask a question of his own when the tired voice of Ned Stark interrupted his thoughts.
"Where in the world were you for the past two days? You could have at least told me before leaving," Ned said with a heavy sigh.
Luckily, the Lord of Winterfell was already walking nearby, and the panicked soldier did not have to go very far to find him.
"Oh," Ra muttered quietly to himself, slowly realizing that the flow of time inside that chaotic dimension must have been vastly different than in the mortal world.