House of The Dragon-A God Amongst Men-Chapter 221: Error

(Third Person POV)

[The Dark Shade]

Armed soldiers pushed through members of Olyver's guard, cutting them down with their flaming swords as they kept chanting loudly. As Olyver's men fought back and cut some down, some of them knelt down and prayed hard, chanting loudly and causing them to rise again and keep fighting.

The more and more they fought, the more blood was shed and the deeper they got into the Dark Shade, which emanated a dark mist.

Olyver was stumped at how they got close that quickly, having his men fight back and partaking in the battle himself, using his enhanced warging to have familiars attack the attackers.

As he cut some down with his daggers, he looked over to some massive armed men with flaming claymores, "Where did they come from?!" He said with a scowl, "They're coming back to life????"

He noticed that specific individuals were crouching down and chanting loudly, causing the fallen to rise from the dead. He immediately deduced that whatever they were, they were using powerful magic to revive their freshly dead.

"Tch..." he said, "Target the ones that pray! Keep them from the fallen, they must have a quick window they must activate their spells to revive them!"

His men charged right at the attackers as his familiars flanked around, keeping them at bay. There was no less than 70 men, clashing fiercely within the Shade.

"How did they find this place?" Olyver said, "It appears they are aware of its secret! How?!"

He dodged several attacks and countered by slashing his attackers' throats. He had some of his animals lunge at several, ripping them to shreds as he pressed on forwards,

He then sensed several more waves of enemies coming from the far left, "Curses.... " He said, "More of them...."

Olyver looked around, trying to think of a way to push them all away without compromising anything within the Shade. Anxiety began to fill his body, knowing well that he was entrusted with the location. Anything that were to happen to the Dark Shade, it would compromise the power of everything the Trinity and the Duskguard rely on.

He could not let anything happen to it.

"Keep them away from the inner region!" Olyver shouted, "If we let them compromise it, we are all dead! Drakken will have our heads and we will not be promised paradise!!"

This alone was enough to rile up his men, causing them to fight even more fiercely as they tried to push their enemies away.

Olyver was unaware of this, but the enemies were members of the Red Cult, who had given Drakken a warning not too long ago. They had said that their Lord of Light is aware of his blasphemy and that they would do something about it. The difference between the Red Cult and the Faith is that they acted in secrecy, patiently moving men all over the Realm for the right time to strike.

The Red Priestess who made a deal with Jaehaerys orchestrated the entire thing, having sacrificial members of the Cult to receive the power of the Chosen Flame. Their entire plan is to target the source of great magical power that they somehow located and destroy it with the power they created spontaneously.

It is unknown how exactly they intend to use the Chosen Flame, but they require to get to a perfect location to use it.

But that would be difficult.

Since it was not just Olyver who was guarding the Shade.

Olyver cut down a Red Cultist as he heard the sound of a loud roar.

He looked up, "It's here!"

From the shadows, flashes of red flew out as a massive figure burst through the trees. Then, in a flash, several cultists were struck by powerful red lightning as the Guardian rushed past several of them, swiping its claw and killing them in a single blow.

The Guardian then skidded to the side and snarled at the incoming wave of Cultists, roaring loudly as it prepared to pounce once again.

The Cultists charged at it with no fear, swinging their flaming swords at them but the Guardian slammed its front right claws on the ground, firing off waves of red lightning; the fireflies spreading out rapidly and detonating swiftly.

The power of the lightning was enough to scorch any of them with ease and killing them within seconds. The Guardian ran around the Shade, ripping heads off their bodies with swift motions as he avoided the Trees of the Shade, trying not to damage anything.

"Work with the Guardian!" Olyver exclaimed, "It will fend them off!!"

"We cannot let them get further inside!"

**************

"Daranne!!" Saera shouted as she ran behind Daranne through the Shade, "What are you doing?!"

Daranne ran barefoot, holding the skirt of her dress up as she made her way past some trees. She said nothing, her expression was a desperate one, sweat trailing down her face.

"Daranne!" Saera called out, "Wait!!"

"I...." Daranne said as she reached an opening of the Shade, "I was called....."

She then came before a massive, thick tree, which oddly resembled a Weirwood Tree. Daranne felt the power emanating from the tree, seeing several faces carved out of the trunk of the tree. She looked up to see that the leaves were blood red, fading in and out of sight.

Saera reached her, "You...." She said as she panted, "We were told not to leave the fucking Tower!! What are you doing?!"

Daranne panted and looked at the Tree, "The Foundation...." She said softly, "It....this is it...."

"What?" Saera said, "What are you talking about?"

Daranne closed her eyes and heard the faint voice speaking in her mind;

"The Shade.....protect it....." 

"The power of the Shade...." Daranne said softly, "It is calling to me....Our Lord has mentioned this to me once....His Calamity.....it.....speaks to him sometimes."

"What?" Saera asked, "What are you?"

Daranne patted her mark, which was fading, "Our Marks...." She said softly, "They connect us to Lord Drakken....and the Dark Shade....it is the product of the aspect of the Trinity; Thanatos. Those who die....shall pass to the Dark Shade....created by powerful Blood Sorcery and sacrifice.....a catalyst of Death...."

"You're not making any sense...." Saera said with a frown, "What is a Thanatos?"

"The Dragon of Death..." Daranne said, "Is he speaking to me? Ser Jon says that he often hears the voice of Sol'Tyr...is this Lord Drakken's power speaking to me.....?"

"I don't get you.... " Saera said as she looked at the tree, "What are you....? What is that tree?"

"The Foundation of the Dark Shade...." Daranne said, "It is in danger. If it is compromised, the Dark Shade might collapse...and the power of the Trinity will fade...is this what they're after? But why? How?"

"Whatever the case, we need to leave. Now." Saera said

"No." Daranne said, "I was called. I need to be here....to prevent the Foundation from breaking...."

Saera then heard footsteps behind them, "What?!"

She saw as several men came into view, one of them was larger than the rest, his entire skin glowing as his sword was flaming.

Daranne turned to see this, "Who....?"

"There is no need for flashy battles..." The Man said with a thick Essosi accent, "Our Lord wins every battle. Your God is a false one....an abomination..."

Saera scowled, "Begone, you!!' She spat, "You are in the presence of-"

"We don't care for either of you." The Man said, "Step aside. Our Target is that Tree."

"What?" Daranne narrowed her eyes, "H-How do you know of this? It is a tightly guarded secret!"

"The Lord of Light knows all." The Man said, his voice distorted as smoke began to emit from his body, "Ends....they come abruptly....and despair follows.....The Lord of Light shines the way through the darkness, your Dragon God brings..."

"You....!" Saera said

Without warning, the men lunged and pushed the two of them out of the way, causing them to fall to the ground as the large man walked past them. He simply looked at the tree as he got closer, more and more smoke surrounding his body.

Daranne felt her head throbbing as the voice got louder.

"DON'T LET IT GET CLOSE" 

Daranne got to her knees and pushed one of the men off her, "No!" She shouted, "GUARDIAN!!!"

As she ran towards the Man, who was right at the Tree, there were loud thuds that got closer, a loud growling being heard.

Saera stood up, "What is..." She said, "Daranne, what are you doing?!"

The Man raised his sword and pointed it at his chest, "For the Lord of Light." He said, "The Chosen Flame will erupt and destroy the evil within this Tree..."

Daranne reached the Man, going to push him as the Guardian swooped in out of nowhere, biting towards the man as Daranne had her hands on his arm.

The Man impaled himself with his sword as his entire body began to glow brightly.

Saera widened her eyes, "DARANNE!!!"

Then, everyone else was flung away as a massive explosion erupted violently, shaking the entire ground. Flames raged and covered the entire tree and the surrounding area, bits and pieces of The Guardian fell from the sky as his pained whimpering were heard.

Saera hit the ground hard and rolled over, "Aghh...." She said, her entire head throbbing, "W-What...."

"What happened?"

**************************

[South of The God's Eye]

Drakken stood in front of a massive pile of corpses, waving his hand at Vermithor, sending the dragon flying away and hitting the ground.

He parried Jaehaerys's blade as the King was immediately kicked away, "Loss after loss..." He said, "And you never learn!"

Jaehaerys hit the ground and groaned in pain, "This..." He said, "I did not want this, Drakken!! You know this is the last thing I want!!!"

Drakken cracked his neck and walked past him, "I don't care." He said, "I'll let you live. For now. There is many things I intend to do to you....but this one..."

He pointed his sword at Barth, who was pinned down beneath three soldiers who were dead. His entire face was covered in blood. The Hand looked around to see the bloody battlefield, completely baffled at the fact that a single individual was capable of doing this.

"You...." Barth managed, "You cannot.....you are no god..."

"You are the main one behind the Faith's movement." Drakken said, "If I mount your head on a pike, that will sure to get the entire Houses to rally in the name of the Faith. I will make you a Martyr, but I don't give a shit. So every single one of you gathers together so I can take them down completely!!!"

"Do it!!" Barth bellowed, "I will gladly die for my gods!!"

"Oh you will die!!" Drakken said as black swirling energy began to appear on his back, "But not before I inflict pain on you like no other!! I will make sure that-"

He stopped himself as he widened his eyes in surprise.

He then looked up to the sky behind them, as if he was looking at something far away.

"No." His voice was soft

Suddenly, Black Wings sprouted from his back as a powerful shockwave erupted from his spot. In a swift motion, his wings flapped and he launched himself into the sky, flying away at tremendous speed.

Jaehaerys saw this as he got to his knees, "W-What happened?" He said, "What...."

"He left..."