Chapter 6: Magic and Sickness
(Location: Sothoryos)
(Time: Nightfall, 295 AC)
(Jon POV)
I could hear the sounds from the dark drawing ever closer to the place of refuge we found as I keep scraping my knife against the flint in order to start a fire.
"Come on! Come on!" I shout as I start to dread what may happen if anything manages to get into this cave, I feel my body get heated as the panic sets in I can hear footsteps from outside the cave, I hear roars and sounds that made the creature I faced earlier seem like a kitten.
*I Told You The Light Would Die*
I froze in place as I slowly looked up but there was nothing or no one there 'I'm losing myself, I just need to get the torch lit' I think to myself resolutely.
*No we are just already inside*
I hear from behind me and then all of a sudden I'm grabbed and being dragged towards the mouth of the cave by what feels like the scruff of my neck.
"Fuck, Shit, Fuck, Cunt" I curse as I struggle in vain to get myself untangled from whatever has grabbed me but every time I put my hand where I feel the arm to be it passes straight through as if I was grabbed by the wind.
With desperation filling me I feel the familiar warmth rise up inside myself, I feel as if I'm about to explode.
"GET OFF ME" I shout as loud as I can, all of a sudden flames burst from my body and spread around me.
*Screech*
Luckily whatever just happened managed to lit the torch that was at my feet and I scramble to put the torch back in its holder next to these runes.
I sigh in relief and sink down the wall to sit down and steady my breathing 'I came so close to dying again, or maybe something worse, that Rhoynar in his journal never said they would kill him just that he'd be taken' I think to myself as I look to the skeleton that was sitting just across from myself.
Suddenly realisation struck as I remembered I wasn't alone here 'Sansa!' I think as I get up to rush to her side.
She looks pale and is sweating profusely 'What is wrong with her what could she have done that I didn't? We were together the whole time apart from in the forest' I ponder to myself while putting the back of my hand on her forehead.
I go to the crates and take a look at the contents to see if I can find anything that may help, I grab a bottle of water and rub the dust off of it.
I'm amazed as I see tiny lights dancing in the water, I would've dropped the bottle in shock if I wasn't so mesmerised by the swirling vortex of small lights within.
'This is sealed so it should be safe, but I have never seen a liquid like this in my life' I think frustratedly to myself.
I suddenly get and idea as I grab the journal I was reading earlier flipping back to earlier pages in order to find any reference to the cargo.
'Here is is!' I think excitedly to myself as I look at the journal entry.
*I don't believe we would've lasted this long if not for the water gifted to us by Nymeria. It's supposedly from the river Rhoyne where the old city of Ar Noy dwells, after the Valyrians slaughtered our people with dragon fire the soldiers and civilians who couldn't escape were drove back to the bank of the river where they're said to have all been killed and their souls are now infused with the water.
Before coming to Sothoryos I would've laughed at the thought of anything like that being true, but now I am not sure, what I do know is that it increases a persons inherent Magic as long as they have an affinity for water, if they don't then…*
The rest of the writing was scribbled out and illegible, I then through the book down in frustration.
'I have to risk it if I don't then she might as well be dead' I think to myself as I approach Sansa with the bottle in hand and kneel down beside her, with a rag I found I wipe her head to clear the sweat.
'I need to take the dress off it will only make her worse' I think as I turn her on her side to undo the knots on the back of her dress.
Having taken her out of her dress and leaving her in her underclothes I grab a think sheet that was covering one of the crates and put it over her lower body.
I continue wiping the sweat away and after I finish I lift her body up and try to put the bottle inside her mouth but with her unconscious it wasn't easy.
Deciding on another route I put the water into my mouth and then put our lips together and let the cool liquid drip down her throat. I do this several more times until I decide that should be enough.
As I get up I get a horrible cramp in my stomach and I immediately fall back down and start convulsing and that's the last thing I remember before being engulfed in darkness.
(Morning)
As my eyes open I can feel the morning light hit inside the cave.
I rub my eyes before getting up off the floor not before realising that the torch was extinguished, I look around to check on Sansa and notice she's fine though her fever hasn't broken yet.
'If the light went out how are we still alive' I wonder to myself as I go to the mouth of the cave and step out into the fresh air.
Slapping my cheeks I start to think about what happened yesterday and why I reacted so badly from even just having the water in my mouth, though I do feel a lot better.
'And what in seven hells was that eruption of flames that came from me yesterday, did I really do that' I thought to myself while looking over the forest from the cave entrance.
'I always thought magic, giants, children of the forest and white walkers were all just fairy tales old Nan would tell us' I look at my hand trying to imagine a ball of fire erupting from it but when nothing happens I sigh and go back inside the cave.
I sit down next to Sansa who still looks as bad as she was last night, thankfully she's still breathing.
I use the rag next to the bedroll to wipe her sweat off again and then use another one and soak it in water and place it on her head.
'She should at least be improving not getting worse' i think to myself with frustration 'I'm no Maester but from all the punishments father made spend with Maester Lewin I should be able to help break her fever' I think resolutely.
'Unless!' I think in a panic as I slowly roll Sansa over onto her side and look at her backside, a small clump of red spots could be seen with a large rash in the area.
My heart sinks as I recognise these symptoms, hell most of the common folk would recognise this.
"Bloody Flux" I say in a quiet voice, despair setting in as I look at what is a sign of the usually deadly disease.
'The River!' I suddenly realised how she must of gotten sick as she drank from the river as soon as we left the forest without even boiling the water.
"Shit this isn't good" I say to myself as I set Sansa back onto her back and start pacing back and forth "Think! Think! What can I do, what did father say was the treatment for it during the rebellion" I say out loud trying to calm myself.
"Raspberry leaves and ginger, What else!" I shout while banging my firsts on my head.
"Lemon that's it!" I think to myself and then rush towards the knapsack and open it, the cake is all but mush at this point but it doesn't matter. I grab an old bowl lying around on the floor and a flat rock and start crushing the lemon cakes into an even finer paste.
I relight the torch and place it on the floor while heating a bottle of the water, once that's done I mix the paste with hot water and leave it to cool down a bit as I sit down next to her.
I feed her the mixture the same way I did the water until it's all gone. I hope I don't pass out this time and to my own surprise I don't.
'This won't be enough' I think to myself 'I need to go find something better, i doubt there was even much lemon left in those cakes' I get up and grab the torch and place it back on the wall.
I go back towards Sansa and kneel down "I'll be back soon I just need to find something to make you feel better" I say and then kiss her on the head, she stirs slightly which I take as a good sign.
I walk to the entrance but before leaving I grab the skeletons scabbard that had a sword attached to it and look back to Sansa then I leave to climb to the top of the hill.
(an hour later)
I managed to make it to the top of the hill so now I can scout out the area and hopefully find something that'll help Sansa.
I can see the beach and where we both washed up from up here as well as the dark forest that stretched for miles following the river 'if we hadn't of gotten lucky and found an exit through the side we might've spent weeks going through it to reach the end' I think to myself in relief 'Or what's more likely we would both be dead'. I can also see what looks like a city in the very far distance 'at least that could mean people live here'
On one side of the river was the dark forest and the hill that we were currently on but on the other side was another forest however this one was much less densely packed as the trees were huge they would've almost blocked my line of sight if the hill we weren't on wasn't so massive.
'I guess I'll have to go into that forests I can't see anywhere else, though how I'll get across the river is another question' I think to myself while covering my eyes so I can see a bit better.
I continue looking when I discover a place in the river where the gap is a lot smaller 'it's about time my luck takes a change' I think while smiling to myself
I start to head down the hill in the direction of the gap in the river as it'll be a lot quicker than going the way I came.
(One river crossing hour later)
'At least those creatures from the river seem to be asleep during the day or maybe they're hiding, I hope they're asleep' I think to myself as I walk through the massive forest.
I can't help but be amazed as I look up and see the huge fauna and trees bigger than the highest towers in Winterfell. And the different insects and birds here are truly otherworldly, the birds of different colours and sounds I can't help but shout.
"WOOOOOO" I shout loudly while cupping my hands around my mouth I hear an echo as I do it that makes me laugh a bit.
As I start to keep walking I hear "WOOOOOO" which almost makes me relieve myself, with a hand on my newly acquired sword I turn around only to see a bird sitting on a branch.
It is pure white with a curved beak and large white headdress. It looks straight at me and does it again
"WOOOOOO" the bird says in a loud voice and I have to once again be amazed that the voice is so similar to mine.
I relax and take my hand off of my sword and keep walking, I'm not having much luck finding anything though the trees are so tall I'm not sure if I could even make out a fruit at the top of them.
After a while I come towards this grove of the tall trees and in the middle the trees bend together forming an arch making something akin to a massive doorway.
"This place just keeps getting stranger and stranger" I think to myself as I walk through the arch.
Inside the grove is a treasure trove of fruits and vegetables in a huge space. I see fruits that I recognise and some that I've never seen before.
'Lemons!' I think to myself as I spot the familiar yellow objects hanging off of a large ground of trees
With relief I start packing some into the knapsack that I brought with me as well as well as grabbing the other fruits I recognised such as apples and plums, though I didn't find any ginger I hope this will be enough to help Sansa.
My pack is full and I lift it onto my back as I get up and start to head towards the exits of the grove when suddenly.
*ROARRRRRR*
The sound stops me dead in my tracks as I hear the sound of what can only be a massive creature. The earth seems to be shaking more and more violently.
'Fuck it's coming this way' I think to myself as I sprint back towards the lemon tree and hide behind it.
Looking towards the entrance of the grove I finally see the creature that made the noise as large hairy black arms grabbed the top of the arched trees and swung itself into the grove, landing on its feet and putting its knuckles on the floor in front of it.
This creature had to be at least 60 feet tall and it was covered in black fur apart from its chest which was bare, it's head was flat and it protruded backward a bit.
I was starting to think I might've been safer if I'd just gone diving into the river.
The giant humanlike creature grabbed an apple tree straight out of the ground and put it in his mouth skinning the whole thing leaving only a spear like stick in its hands.
'This must be its feeding ground, but it doesn't make sense how are so many different fruits in one place' I think to myself.
As the massive black haired creature keeps eating I'm praying to all the old gods and the new that it doesn't suddenly wish to have something sour.
But luckily for me the monster seemed to have finished and started heading for the exit to the grove.
'That was close' I think to myself as I come out from behind the tree.
"For a minute there I thought I was so fucked" I say with a slight chuckle in my voice.
"I thought I was so fucked" I hear myself say this again and immediately look back at the source.
It's those blasted birds that I saw earlier except now there are a whole flock of them in the group of trees I was hiding in.
'Wait a minute, if they copy me doesn't that mean they would copy' before I can finish my thought.
"For a minute there"
"I thought I was so fucked"
"So fucked"
"So fucked"
"So fucked"
I cover my ears as I hear the hundred or so birds repeat what I'd just say but then I suddenly realise that the hairy black creature still hasn't left the grove yet and I turn around.
Only to find him staring right at me as I moved out from the cover of the trees.
'Shit'
(AN: hope you guys like the new chapter not much happens in this chapter but I'm just setting things up and introducing a new terror. I know he might seem like King Kong and you're right he basically is but with less intelligence so no sign language I'm afraid. Tbh i only really introduced it since In the world book there are said to be apes that can slay a mammoth with a single punch so just me trying to introduce more creatures that have at least been referenced. Anyway let me know what ya think)
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