Year 108 A.C.
POV: Denovan
Two weeks later, in Scalebay.
Two enormous galleons cut through the waters, gradually slowing down as the freezing climate welcomed everyone aboard.
Upon seeing the small vessels coming our way, a smile spread across my face.
"Home, sweet home," I said, turning to the men behind me.
"Nothing like the cold of the North, am I right, boys?"
"I got used to this cold a long time ago, boss. The heat of those islands is much worse than our most intense cold."
"Let's get ready to unload the weapons and the goods, they're arriving here," I told the men.
The ships couldn't dock at the port; our port lacked the necessary infrastructure for galleons, unlike the drakkars that we could beach and later tow back into the sea.
We had to leave them anchored here and use smaller boats to reach the coast, but since I had warned Melika, she had already sent men with our fishing boats to help transport the items.
Before I could enter the ship's hold to start organizing things, I saw Fenrir jumping into the water and heading toward the shore.
Well, he missed the opportunity, but come to think of it, it was wrong of me to take him to sea; I never imagined that, leaving Skagos, we would head toward the Stepstones.
But anyway, everything was fine. Seeing Fenrir reminded me that my birds had also returned; they had already summoned all the wildling clans with whom I had made an agreement or subjugated.
I missed them. As I thought of this, I was surprised by a black falcon that quickly landed on my shoulder and began to snuggle into my neck.
"It's been so long, Horus, feels like years..." I said, petting him. As long as I can remember, he's been with me, and it was truly strange to be without him, even with Heimdall playing his part so well.
A few moments later, Nyx also arrived, accompanied by the raven brothers, Huginn and Muninn.
I turned my gaze back to the beach and could see a large black steed next to two large tigers on the sand.
Orochi was already there on the beach with Fenrir; the wolf rubbed against the others, greeting them.
There I also saw a red wolf and my sister, and beside her, Melika was there too. Looking at her, I couldn't help but sigh.
"Women are truly complicated."
I've seen the minds of various animals, and they are infinitely easier to understand than that of a woman.
I raised my hand to greet them, and they both waved back.
I turned my back and headed to the ship's hold to finish unloading, so we could finally rest.
The next day.
"Are you really sure about this?" Melika's voice sounded behind me.
"It's a theory I've been studying for a while..."
"A theory? I'm going to draw a rune on your skin that, aside from not working, could hurt you?"
"The part about not working might be true, but it won't harm me. I planned everything meticulously."
Sigh. "And what exactly does it do?" Melika said, dipping the bone needle into the runic ink beside her.
"This is a rune that would eliminate the main weakness of our current runes. It's what I call a directional rune; it works like a compass."
"And what is a compass?" she asked, interrupting me.
"Forget it. Imagine it like this: this rune contains four others, and like all common runes, they have passive effects, but their efficiency is quite low. Normally, they operate at one-third the strength of a normal rune. But here is the difference: the directional rune can contain four others, and those four can already be inscribed on my body. The directional rune works in combination; each combination of four runes forms a directional rune. You can't engrave identical runes, just like nowadays, where you can only engrave one focus rune. But with this, we can engrave multiple focus runes across different directional runes, as long as the combinations are different. We can engrave several directional runes that, in one of the four slots, contain the same rune. They won't massively increase power like an individual rune does, but when combined with several others, the effects compensate."
"That is... very smart. Very smart indeed."
"And that's not the best part. They operate normally at one-third capacity, but if the user needs strength, it directs itself to the strength rune, and instead of a third, it reaches full capacity. Obviously, the other runes won't have an effect... but think about it: what if it's vitality, and the individual is dying? Several vitality runes at full capacity could even close a large wound, maybe even regrow a severed hand."
"Denovan, if this works, one man will be worth five... no, ten, fifteen. They will be unstoppable."
"Then hurry, I want to test the combinations. Let's make one and see if it works."
The directional runes were more laborious to draw, and the materials needed to have a high magical value. I was using the blood of Heimdall, Fenrir, and Orochi; if it weren't so, it wouldn't work.
A few hours later...
I was sitting cross-legged with my eyes closed. I made a fist and began clenching it tighter and tighter—beyond the immense strength of my bonds, which increased my physical might to that of a gorilla or even slightly more—I felt my strength increasing little by little. If I weren't so sensitive, I wouldn't have felt the gradual increase in strength. The directional rune was working, guiding itself to what I needed. It was a small amount, but it increased my strength even further.
For me, the effects of a single directional rune didn't increase my physical strength by much, but there were several runes that could help me, such as focus and vitality.
For my warriors, these runes would be a blessing, increasing exponentially with each directional rune added, especially in high-risk situations and when at a disadvantage.
I opened my eyes and looked at Melika, who was watching me expectantly.
"It worked. It worked very well," I said, approaching her.
She answered me with a gentle smile, a smile she rarely showed.
I got closer, and before I could touch her face, she pulled away.
"I told you we wouldn't do this anymore."
"You know that with the runes, especially these, if for some reason you have something preventing you from having children, that can be fixed, right? So what's the excuse?"
"I don't mind if you don't want anything else, but I hate lies."
She looked me in the eyes and said:
"You've already told me your various plans, Denovan. The most important one would be to integrate into the Seven Kingdoms... Do you think I'm a fool? You may have gigantic power, but we will always be seen as wildlings. The Seven Kingdoms will demand a monogamous marriage, as is their custom, in exchange for some agreement that would bring you great benefits, and that would be a small and insignificant cost."
"That wouldn't be..."
"If I were with you, I would have two options: the first would be to become your lover, which, to be honest, wouldn't bother me much, and the other would be you denying that marriage pact."
"Many lords would look for any excuse to break an agreement with us, anything..."
Before Melika could say anything else, I pulled her close and gave her an intense and passionate kiss. A few moments later, a flushed and angry Melika pushed me away and said:
"Don't think you're going to make me change my mind, Beast King. I know very well what you are capable of. I know you would indulge many of my whims if I were your woman, and you would probably refuse highly favorable agreements for Scalebay just for my sake," she said, even more irritated.
"And I won't let that happen. And I am already old, I'm 36 and you're just a brat. You have to find someone your own age and..."
This time, she was the one making me even more irritated. With a quick movement, I sealed her lips, invaded her mouth with mine, and left her breathless.
"Stop this, Melika. You're not like this, you're completely out of your mind. You are a witch, seductive, fierce, you take what you want. You are my queen in this land. They, our people, see you like that. Why care about things that haven't even happened yet? You care too much. When the time comes, we will decide. For now, according to the old wildling custom, you are my woman, and so it will be." Her eyes stared at me with a pure and burning passion. Before I could say anything else, the Melika that I truly knew spoke up.
Groan. "Fuck me, make me yours. There hasn't been a night since you left that I haven't missed you." Her eyes showed longing and extreme desire.
I grabbed her by the waist, she jumped on top of me, and we started kissing. My hands slid beneath her clothes, finding her soft buttocks. Her hands moved up my abdomen, and with every passing second, it felt as if we were getting lighter, our clothes falling from us.
And when I saw her on my bed, naked, her body marked with various runes and animal drawings, her white and unblemished skin, her bicolored eyes looking at me with thirst, it was all intoxicating.
"Don't make me wait any longer."
She said nothing more and didn't need to. I approached her and quickly kissed her on the lips, then slowly trailed down her body—first to her neck, then her lips, then her breasts, and headed toward the valley. The valley had a sparse thicket, trimmed just right, which awakened in me an even greater desire to take her, and so I did.
Two hours later.
Melika was lying on top of me, and I lightly stroked her back as she slept deeply.
She was beautiful, and I liked her a lot. Love, maybe. I didn't know if it was really love; defining love was something complicated.
To say you love someone, that you would give everything for that person—was that love? I don't know, it was a complicated thing.
All I know is that even though I had many things to do, I had no desire to get out of bed, nor to push her away from me. So I yielded to my desires once more and closed my eyes, waiting for tomorrow to come.
The next day.
Not everything could be delayed indefinitely. As soon as I woke up early the next day, I reluctantly began distributing the steel weapons to the warriors who would stay and those who would accompany us back to the Stepstones.
The weapons were distributed according to martial dexterity, and I also began summoning the warriors who would go with me.
The ships would be packed with warriors. We had come in the ships with the absolute minimum number of people needed to sail, and we would return with the maximum number possible.
I wanted to stay a while to reforge my axe, but that wouldn't be possible; I needed to head back as quickly as possible. Besides, even if it takes a few years, I believe I will find some Valyrian steel weapon in the Stepstones.
It's impossible that those vagabond pirates don't have a single Valyrian steel sword, spear, or axe.
I had some projects with Valyrian steel, and even if I didn't find a large weapon, I hoped to find a dagger, a knife, or even necklaces and earrings. What I want is to test the runes. Will it be possible to inscribe runes on Valyrian steel? I tried many times on steel, bronze, and various metals, but there was no effect whatsoever. Only bone and wood had some effect, but they weren't persistent; they needed to be fed with magical blood every few hours. Maybe I needed to create a rune that stored magic, but that would be laborious.
That's why I felt the need to meet the Royces at Runestone. Maybe if I deal with the wildlings there, I'll learn something about the runes, or perhaps strike a trade agreement.
In the end, I needed influence, lots of gold dragons, and above all, capable people.
And that was also what motivated me in these battles in the Stepstones. Another thing was to check on Viserys's supplies; we were in urgent need of the shipment he had requested.
The number of wildlings is too large, and we are already going through a crisis. So, while we head to the Stepstones, Huginn will fly to the Red Keep to press the King. We haven't delivered results yet, but well, food comes first. I would certainly fulfill what I promised.
The men were already boarding the galleons, and beside me on the boat was Sig.
"Sister, the former slaves know some things that are very useful for our people. Leave some interested folks with them to learn."
"Don't worry, you've said that a few times already... and it really is exhausting staying here taking care of things. Is that why father was always so grumpy?"
"When are you going to stay around here?"
I give an amused smile at her teasing and say, "It will take some time, sister. There are many things to resolve in the Stepstones. Seven years at the most, maybe sooner, and I'll stay here. I'm just as eager as you are to live here permanently."
Sigh. "Have a safe trip, Novan," Sigrid said with a tired voice.
"Thank you, sister. Don't forget to send some men to Skagos to see how things are going over there, it's important."
Before she could answer, I started boarding the ship. Let's hope the return trip is faster.
We would pass by the island of thieves' ports and then to Slaver's Bay. It was going to be a long journey.
As soon as the ship began to move forward, I looked at one of my men and said:
"There are some runes I developed with Melika, they are very good by the way. Tell the men who were already with us before that I will inscribe one of their choosing on them."
The warrior turned his back, and I said:
"A reward for their efforts."