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Chapter 57 - The Kraken
🕑 Added 2025-11-01 19:40:15 +0000 UTCIron Islands
After three weeks, the Iron Islands were finally in sight. With their fleet and manpower reduced to a shadow of their full strength, the reavers had already lost this war, and any resistance would be pure mummery so they could claim to have fought to the end.
That was the plan, at least.
“I have never seen a storm like that before.” His voyages had taken Davos through several storms, but this one was definitely out of the norm. Gathered over Pyke, there was a single, swirling dark cloud, climbing to the stars as if it was a gate leading to a realm outside human reach.
The closer they were to the islands, the fiercer the winds became, and the air itself was growing more and more unsettling.
“My lord, what are your orders?” Davos knew something was wrong and took refuge in the fact that their lord was with them.
“Keep the fleet back; I’ll go first. I don’t know what the fuck the Ironborn are doing, but it won’t stop me.” Robert shouted to be heard, pushing his dragons further, lying flat to protect himself from the winds.
This was Euron’s doing; he knew it in his heart but not his purpose.
Due to his advantage of flying, Robert saw the Ironborn fleet, barely a hundred ships in total perhaps, sailing out to die.
Or they had a plan.
—
The storm became fiercer, lightning striking the sea and the islands, and it was only his instincts that saved Obelisk from getting swatted like a fly by the tentacle that just came out of the water.
Shit.
“Turn back, turn back now!” He screamed to the fleet, who were already trying to do so before Robert ordered it, but that was when things got worse.
Whatever Euron had summoned, it was gigantic, far greater in size than any dragon recorded, and it was creating a maelstrom between two enemy fleets.
An abyss of teeth and tentacles quickly pulled down the surface of the water, and ships, both Asgardian and Ironborn, were being drawn in it, the sails and oars barely slowing them down.
“Ignis.” Robert screamed, wondering if it would even do anything to the creature, and his dragons unleashed a twin inferno on the maelstrom.
—
Aboard the Pioneer
“Get this ship out of here, you bastards, or we are all going to die.” Sandor swore at the sailors, who were barely able to do their jobs as the ship was drawn into the mouth of a watery hell.
Curse the Ironborn for whatever abomination they had summoned. The rear half of the fleet had managed to turn back, but at least forty ships were caught, and not all of them were as resilient as the Pioneer.
The Ironborn fleet did not fare any better, as the creature did not seem to distinguish friend from foe.
Their only hope of survival, Lord Robert’s dragons, lit up the darkening skies with dragonfire, but Davos didn’t know if they could do anything to this monster while it was in water.
“Maelstrom is slowing down.” A sailor screamed out.
“Then we can…” Davos moved his lips to order the sailor but bit his tongue when a giant, slimy tentacle surged out of the water, slamming down on two ships at once that disappeared beneath its immense size, and splashing water to Pioneer, which almost threw Davos off the ship.
“Seven save us.” All over the maelstrom, more tentacles came out, smashing both Ironborn and Asgardian ships to splinters, and one headed straight for the Pioneer.
Davos thought this was the end of him, but he was never more grateful for heat prickling his skin than he was now, as both dragons had turned their flames, far stronger than what any other dragon in history could boast to have, to the tentacles, burning through them as the smell of burnt fish wafted through the air.
It must have hurt the creature, because the maelstrom died out like a flickering candlelight, slowly, then gone at once.
Davos quickly ordered the remaining ships to turn back with all haste, but their ordeal was not over yet.
The sea rose as if the invisible hand of the gods was lifting it. When the water fell away, what remained was a creature of nightmares. A rectangular maw large enough to swallow twenty dragons the size of Obelisk at once, it had two massive horns growing out, with two red glowing eyes under each horn.
It roared, tentacles lashing out wildly, breaking the air and unintentionally pushing the Asgardian ships away, though the crews felt their ears pop.
Rather than chase either fleet, it had a different target in mind, one that had just caused it great agony.
This was Lord Robert’s fight now, because gods forgive him, Davos knew there was nothing anyone could do to help.
—
Obelisk and Slifer beat their wings with all the might their bodies had, swerving wildly to dodge the tentacles that tried to kill them.
One hit, and Robert knew they were dead.
Fortunately, it was obviously difficult for the kraken—at least he assumed it was a kraken—to move its tentacles outside the water.
It gave them just enough time to be out of the range, and the dragons illuminated the sky once again, burning the tentacles.
Seeing that it could not reach them, the kraken dived again, and Robert could see the massive shape swim to the Ironborn fleet, to the island of Pyke.
Apparently, Euron did not have any control over the creature, because it started attacking the Ironborn ships.
It would have been so easy to let this thing destroy the fucking squids for him—and poetic too—but the kraken’s next meal would be Asgard’s fleet, and after that, it would terrorize the seas, provided it did not go back to whatever hellhole it crawled out of in the first place.
Not something to be left to chance.
While it was snacking on the Ironborn fleet, Robert ordered his dragons to let loose, targeting the tentacles since the head was beneath the water.
Turns out, the kraken was smarter than Robert gave it credit for, because it rose out of the water and began to wrap its tentacles around the ships, throwing them at the dragons as massive projectiles, sending wood and Ironborn flying through the air.
One of them even came close enough for Robert to hear his pleas for help.
Dodging the ships would have been easier if they did not throw several at once, but even through the whipping wind, the damn rain, and the deafening thunder, his dragons were the masters of the skies.
Angry at its lack of success, the kraken must have finally made the connection between Robert and his fleet, because it dove once again, this time heading in the opposite direction.
“Son of a bitch.”
Robert had no choice but to lower the altitude of his dragons to keep the kraken interested in him and not in the defenseless fleet.
The flames drew its attention, and the dragons were once again dodging tentacles.
It became a deadly game, where if the dragons were flying low enough for the kraken to attack, it would rise out of the water but dive down again if it couldn’t catch the dragons.
It would either take down the dragons, who in all honesty looked like ants compared to it, or the remains of his fleet.
Robert grinned.
This was going to be fun.
—
Aboard the Pioneer
Davos was watching the battle between the dragons and the Ironborn monster. It did not seem to be in their favor.
And now the creature of the depths was growing bigger each time it left the protection of the sea to attack the dragons.
The damn thing was coming at the fleet, and they could not move any faster.
“By the seven.” Davos muttered, terrified as he fell on his knees.
Sandor pulled the captain of the fleet to his feet, demanding answers. “What? What the fuck happened?”
“He jumped.”
Letting Davos go, Sandor had one word in his mind.
“Shit.”
—
Seeing their father jump, the dragons at first tried to stop him, but once ordered not to, they decided to make the creature pay.
From their chests, lines the color of fresh blood began to spread, covering their entire body like a twisted spider web, and two blue lances, lightning made light, struck the sea.
The sound was so loud and great, it felt as if the sky was being torn apart, and the air was pushed away due to the power of it. A rolling plume of steam rose to the air near instantaneously, and columns of water shot up to the sky.
Seconds after the dragons struck the sea, everything as far as their eyes could see was covered in mist.
—
Through the mist, they could see shadows and hear groans of the creature. Long, thin shadows sought something in the sky, only to meet more fire.
The fleet sailed away, trying to make it out of the scalding mist, all the while praying that their lord would succeed.
Davos and Sandor kept it secret that Lord Robert had jumped into the beast’s maw. The wait was almost as bad as the prospect of the creature catching up.
—
Asgard
“Grandmother, you should not have come.” Stannis helped Rhaelle get down from Ormund, and her response was to pinch his cheek.
“I am not about to ask you for permission, my boy.”
Stannis huffed. “I did not mean that. You are still healing.”
“The doctor said that taking walks helps me heal faster.” Rhaelle held out her arm for her grandson to escort her inside, and the young man did so, giving up any pretense of complaining.
“Do as you wish.”
“Now that you are done, take me to see the giants.” She demanded, much to her grandson’s annoyance.
“You came all the way here for that?”
“Aye, and to see how the city is doing after the Ironborn. The stormlords are complaining to your father about Robert’s refusal to wait.” That was one of the reasons why she had left Storm’s End in her condition.
“So? My brother will do as he wishes; there is nothing they can do.” Robert’s unamenable deeds were not something he approved of, but Stannis did not make noise about it either.
If it worked, there's no need to complain.
“Except bother Steffon.” Rhaelle grumbled to herself, and soon enough Stannis took her to where the leader of the giants was situated.
“This is Mag the Mighty, the strongest and most respected among the giants. He acts as their speaker.” Stannis took it on himself to introduce the giant, who leaned down to look at the strange woman.
Stannis would have been unnerved to have the giant so close to his face, but his grandmother did not seem to mind. “She is Rhaelle Baratheon, mine and Robert’s grandmother.”
“Another dragon rider? I am Leaf; I speak for the children.” The Child of the Forest was respectful, both due to the familial ties and the new dragon outside.
“Fascinating that I would see the day our kind would walk among each other." Rhaelle was truly living in an age where the world was changing too fast.
“Your grandchild is convincing.”
“That he is.”
The giant spoke, and Rhaelle noticed how foreign it sounded, while Leaf interpreted the words. “Mag the Mighty says you are strong in spirit.”
“Hah. Oh, Rhaegar must be losing his mind over this.” She chuckled. That prophecy-obsessed fool of a king must have been shaken deeply by all that his grandson had done beyond the Wall.
“What of the White Walker?” It wouldn’t do, not seeing that creature after coming all the way here.
“She is kept in a cage, deep beneath Valhalla. Please don’t tell me you wish to see her.” Stannis pleaded, knowing she would definitely do that.
Rhaelle just patted her grandson on the arm, trying not to smile.
—
After walking down and down, they finally arrived in the area allocated to Marwyn for his studies on the White Walker.
“Lord Stannis, you honor me with your presence.” Marwyn greeted them, putting down his book and quill.
“Away with the pleasantries, mage; my grandmother wishes to see the White Walker.” Stannis did not like how Robert had let the man go unpunished after his brazen crime and made it known to the Archmaester.
“Of course, of course, this way.” Marwyn didn’t let the hostility bother him.
He had more important things to do.
Rhaelle shuddered, feeling cold even though they were deep underground. “Her mere presence severely cools the air and smothers flames, so we need to keep the heart well kindled all the time.” Marwyn gestured to the men constantly feeding the flames.
There were several fur coats in the entrance, and Stannis took one for himself, handing another to Rhaelle.
“What happened to her leg?” The creature, bound to the cage as it was, had one leg missing.
“Robert’s work smashed it to a pulp, and it had to be cut.” Most people would find less fatal ways of entertainment, but not his brother.
“Dragonrider.” Her voice was like the cold that cut through the skin, and her hatred was palpable.
“I can smell it. You carry his accursed blood.”
Rhaelle smiled. This creature of myth and legend, said to bend the ice to her will and raise the dead, prophesied to bring an end to all life, was rendered powerless like a newborn. “Accursed? Because he broke you like a twig?”
That silenced the White Walker, and she closed her eyes.
“We try to discover what other weaknesses the Others have. The results have been promising so far.” This was the kind of scholarly work Marwyn had been searching for all his life, and he had found it far from the Citadel.
“I shall leave you to your work then; the cold is making my knees ache.” Rhaelle had seen enough.
—
“Lady Rhaelle.” Delena curtsied to the elder of House Baratheon, who waved her away.
“Either call me Grandmother or just Rhaelle. We are family now, and I won’t have it when we are alone.” There was only Stannis, his wife, and her in the room right now, and she preferred to keep all the courtly manners when not alone.
Delena agreed, knowing better than to argue against her. “As you wish, grandmother.”
“I did not want to ask with Marwyn present, but is he truly a sorcerer?”
Having a sorcerer would not be the weirdest thing in Asgard.
“Robert says he lit up a Valyrian glass candle, but the maesters did not let him do more. If he can actually do it, we might be able to see how the fleet is doing.” All the Seven’s teachings about sorcery forgot to mention how convenient it would be to speak and see things over such long distances.
Stannis would once again not make a noise about it.
“He certainly collects the most interesting of people.” Rhaelle chuckled.
The dwarf of Casterly Rock, a smuggler turned knight, brother of the man he killed in a trial by combat, a man called the Mage, the giants, and the Children of the Forest.
What else was next? She could not wait to see.
