The ancient and glorious city of Yunkai. Made of Yellow sandstone and standing for thousands of years, its weathered walls and eroded stones were a testament to its ancient and noble history. It was one of the few cities of the Old Ghis empire that still stood today. The golden harpy atop the golden pyramid of Qaggaz was a shining beacon of its history and strength, visible from miles away.
However, now this ancient city was under siege by a host of 10,000 Unsullied and many more starving former slaves that had followed their savior into the wilderness. The night before, their queen had commanded them into battle and the victory was overwhelming. the Stormcrows of Daario Naharis had ambushed the slave army of Yunkai while the Unsullied attacked in the dead of night. The victory was swift and the Slave soldiers and Second Sons were broken and captured.
The sun had now risen on a field of battle, lightening the blood at the city gates and the scattered spears and broken armors, along with the feast of flesh for the vultures and crows.
Basking in the glory of her first victory, Dany had the camp moved within sight of the city wall.There she set up camp and waited for the Yunkish to fulfill the terms of their surrender; setting free every slave in the city with as much gold, food and weapons they could carry.
Behind her was her army, along with those captured slaves and mercenaries that had pledged to her cause and had been formed up into a meatier Stormcrows with nearly 3000 men instead of the original 500.
As the sun rose higher and higher and so did her Impatience, "Why are they not opening the gates?"
"They know we cannot breach the walls, we have no siege weapons." Jorah reminded her. Even though they had defeated the Yunkish army, the walls still held strong, lined with archers and slingers.
"If you wish to take the city, we will have to spend more time here. A siege can take months, Khaleesi. " he informed her, careful as not to mention how he thought of this whole endeavor as a foolish waste of time, 'She already hates me enough for that.'
"I do not have months but I will not leave when there are 200,000 slaves in Yunkai, I can't." Her eyes held both disappointment at Jorah and fury at the Yunkish.
He sulked at her words. 'I should never have taken her to Astapor… she hates me for it' he sighed internally, 'she is no longer a child, she is a queen and she acts more like a queen with every day that passes…' he stole reluctant glances at her. He could still see the image of the young innocent girl that he had first met, getting wed to a barbarian. But now she had grown confident, 'and more beautiful' he thought.
He looked beside her, there was the old knight Ser barriston. Jorah still didn't fully trust him not to mention that he was in constant fear that the man might give away his deepest secret. Even though Ser Barriston had denied knowledge of the spy in Essos, he could never be sure.
Next to the old knight was the newest addition, Dario Naharis, the man that had slaughtered his own brother-at-arms and brought Khaleesi their heads. It was foolish to trust that man, he had told her that but that had only worsened their relationship. In the end, there was nothing he could do but remain quiet.
"Heheh, perhaps I will show you tonight my lord." a brown headed girl laughed merrily as she sat on her knees and fed someone grapes and fruits. The two chatted away happily as if they were on a vacation. The girl was Doreah, the handmaiden of Khaleesi that had now entered the service of the man who saved her from death in the Red Waste.
The man sat upon an ornate chair with gems encrusted on it and portraits of flowers and birds were engraved in gold. The man himself had a thick head of bright red hair, it was unlike anything Jorah had ever seen. Today he had worn robes of the same blood red with gold treadings. There were gold and silver bracelets on his wrists, gem encrusted rings on each of his fingers and a seven pronged gold and ruby crown on his head.
Jorah frowned as he saw the crown, the only other person that wore a crown here was Dany; a crown in the shape of a three headed dragon. It vexed him to see the man but he couldn't say anything after all he had seen his display of powers.
He had seen the Magus heal the sick everyday and for a time he thought he knew the Magus's limits, he was wrong. Then he had seen the Magus strike a warlock 30 paces away with stones made of green light and he thought that he had figured out the man's limits, he was wrong again. Then he saw him knock away a 20 foot statue with a wave of his hand in Astapor, this time he stopped believing that it was the limit of the Magus's powers.
Remembering that scene still made him shiver, 'No man should have that power.' he thought but the man before did have that power and that made him very uncomfortable. In the end, he had advised Khaleesi to not seek the Magus lightly, "Any man with that power would not help lightly." he warned her, fearing that the price of his aid was one they could not pay. Ser Barriston had seconded this. Seeing both her advisors agree on something, she agreed and didn't seek the Magus's advice or aid since they left Astapor.
Behind Jafaar was a small crowd of freemen that had followed their queen from Astapor but the way they looked at Jafaar, it was as if it were the Magus that had freed them and not Khaleesi. 'I suppose that is what happens when men see miracles.' he wouldn't be surprised if someone told him that they had started to worship the Magus as a god. 'He might as well be.' he thought, gods did not hear prayers while the Magus answered them. Better a god they see then a god they don't.
When the sun reached high in the sky, Jafaar finally tore away from the sweet muttering with Doreah and spoke up, "Send a messenger. Tell the wise masters that I will come knock on their door when the sun hangs low."
"You think they will listen to you?" Dany asked him as he nibbled on another grape in Doreah's fingers.
"The whole city will listen." Jafaar smiled. The smile that made him uncomfortable and if the subsequent exchange of glances with Ser Barriston was anything to go by, he was not alone.
The message was sent and the reply came quickly along with the returning messenger; The Wise Masters had proclaimed that Jafara was a traitor of the city and not welcomed as he had dishonored the name of his nobel family.
Jafaar merely laughed at the reply.
Jorah didn't know what the Magus was planning but his gut told him that it was not something normal as the same scene of Astapor kept playing in his mind.
Hours passed and the sun was now hanging low on the horizon, just above where the sky and land met. The Magus finally stood up and stretched, one of the dothraki came up with his horse but the man denied the offer. 'Does he plan to walk there?' Jorah pondered. It was true that they were close to the city but the walk would still take at least 10 or 20 minutes.
"Well then, I'll go and persuade the wise master to accept your terms by tomorrow. Is that well?" he asked Khaleesi who nodded, "That is well, but how will you convince them when they have forbidden your entry?" Her question was a curiosity shared by many.
The grin of Jafaar's face made him even more uneasy, "Oh, like I said… I will knock."
A gentle gust of wind swept through them, the Magus's red locks fluttering mindlessly in the air as he steadily rose from the ground.
"Aieeeee!" a scream somewhere behind him gave voice to his feelings.
"H-h-he is walking on air?" Jorah stuttered as he saw the magus slowly rise and backaway while facing him. After gaining some distance, he turned away from them and with a *whoosh* Jafaar shot high into the sky.
"By the gods!" He heard the old Ser Barriston along with a dozen other indiscernible sounds of surprise and denial.
Every man woman and child gazed up into the sky and watched the red dot getting smaller and smaller until it was swallowed by a passing cloud.
"Doreah!" he heard his queen address the maid, "Did you know!?" she didn't need to complete her question for it to make sense.
"I didn't!" swore the girl, "He once told me that he could walk on air as I walk on earth but I thought it a boast Khaleesi, as men do!" the girl explained, shivering and wide eyed.
"But he is no man." Dany spoke as her eyes searched the clouds in the sky, "he is a Magus."
Her words hung heavy as the people present finally understood the weight of these words, "No wonder he held such distaste for warlocks and meagi… This is real magic, not some cheap trick." Jorah's words drew silent agreement.
*whoom*
They heard the thunderous sound behind them and all turned at once to see a distant red dot getting bigger and bigger until *whoosh* a gust of wind and sand tore through them and straight towards the distant city. It approached at a speed faster then any horse or dragon, faster than anything they had ever seen and *DHOOM!*
The bronze and wooden gates shook and splintered as cracks spread through the city walls, the hinges of the gate creaking and cracking, trying to absorb the damage. The impact thundered in the ears of the archers and slingers on the wall as a cloud of dirt obscured the gate.
*Whoosh*
A figure flew up from the cloud of dirt and rose up meet the masters and merchants that had come upon the wall to watch the view of invaders. Jorah could see the people on the wall stumble and flee at the sight of their offender. From a distance, they look like ants.
Then the red Magus turned and flew towards them, bringing with him a gust of air that rushed past them as he came to a stop, standing midair above them. Jorah's hand instinctively went to his sword but he held himself together enough not to draw it. From The stir he felt behind him, he supposed he was not the only one who felt this way.
"I believe I have persuaded them appropriately. I told them that if they deny your request I will knock again tomorrow… And this time I will knock harder." Jafaar landed as soft as feather and started to walk back to his tent, the entire army, and the freemen behind them, opened up a path of fear and reverence before the Magus, some of the freemen following to their knees and chanting "Magus! Magus! MAGUS!"