"That's it?" Jaben stared blankly at Deltos, who was lying nearby digesting his dessert. He reached up and touched the hollow spot on his forehead, wondering if he was dreaming.
He had expected Lynd to perform so important ritual, using extrely complex thods and running repeated tests—ten tis, maybe even dozens—to resolve the danger within him. But he never imagined it would be so simple. That strange dragon had rely co over and sniffed him, and the threat vanished. He hadn't felt anything during the process, only a slight sense of relief afterward.
Compared to Jaben, Quillor saw things more clearly as an observer. He had seen Deltos lean over Jaben’s head and release a small jet of black light from his mouth. It looked like the kind of magic a dark warlock or Shadowbinder might use. The light covered the dent on Jaben's forehead, then pulled out the dark magic embedded there and devoured it.
He had examined that black light on Jaben’s forehead closely before and knew exactly how dangerous it was. It was no exaggeration to say that if the magic inside that black glow had ever been released—especially amplified by Asshai’s unique environnt—nothing within ten ters would have survived.
This was the main reason why, even in his current frail state, Jaben could remain in Asshai unhard. Neither his old enemies had co for revenge, nor had so dark warlock captured him for experintation, hoping to uncover his spellcasting secrets.
"Check yourself and see if there are any remaining issues." After confirming with Deltos through a spiritual link, Lynd said to Jaben, "The hidden danger caused by the backlash of dark warlock magic in your body should be gone. You can use dark magic again now—but I don’t recomnd it. The Asshai curse still exists. The more you use magic, the deeper the curse sinks in. The best solution is to leave Asshai. Once you’re out, the curse will no longer affect you."
Though he could already feel the changes in his body and had touched the dent on his forehead, his naturally suspicious nature wouldn’t let him take Lynd’s words at face value. He used his own thods to examine his body thoroughly.
While Jaben checked himself, Lynd turned to Quillor and asked, "I ca to Asshai this ti for Euron Greyjoy. From what I know, he should already be here. Can you help track him down?"
"Euron Greyjoy?" Quillor thought for a mont and said, "I’ve heard of him. Supposedly a powerful pirate. Can you describe what he looks like?"
Lynd nodded and gave a general description of Euron’s appearance and his ship.
"Ah, I’ve seen him," Quillor said imdiately as Lynd finished. "A few days ago, he showed up at the docks. After that, he was in the city looking for a guide to the Shadow Lands. Word is, he wanted to go to the City of the Dead—Stygai."
Lynd quickly asked, "Did he find a guide?"
"He did," Quillor replied. "He found the Shadowbinder master Quemor, and they set off two days ago. If they’ve been moving quickly, they should already be near the end of the Ash River."
"They’ve already left?" Lynd frowned. "Find a guide in Asshai right away. I’m going to Stygai too."
Quillor looked troubled. "My lord, that may be difficult. From what I know, the only person in all of Asshai who can enter the far reaches of the Ash River is Quemor. The others can’t get past the river’s front section..."
"Who says Quemor is the only one who can go that far?" Before Quillor could finish, Jaben—having completed his examination—cut in. "I’ve been to the far end of the Ash River myself. I even made it into Stygai, though I didn’t go deep because the monsters there were too dangerous. Lord Lynd, I can be your guide. I’ll make sure you get through the Ash River safely."
"That’s true—Jaben really is the best guide," Quillor agreed with a nod, though he added with concern, "But your body can barely support you standing. Will you be able to keep up on the journey? The road along the Ash River is no easy path."
Jaben froze for a mont, and a look of difficulty crossed his face. While the backlash of dark warlock magic had been resolved, the physical mutations it caused remained. His body still struggled to move normally—it would take a long period of rehabilitation to recover.
Lynd replied calmly, “You don’t need to worry about walking—Deltos can carry you through the air. What you should be concerned about is safety.” He paused, glanced at Jaben, and continued, “If we’re lucky, we might intercept them on the way. Then there won’t be any issue. But if we’re not, and we fail to catch up, we’ll have to enter Stygai. In that case, you may have to stay outside the city. Deltos will also remain outside, but it can fly into the air at any mont to assist . You, however, will be left waiting alone. And if Stygai is truly as dangerous as the rumors say, you…”
Jaben replied with unwavering confidence, “Please don’t worry. While I may not be at my peak anymore, I can still take care of myself outside Stygai without much trouble.”
“In that case, we move now. If we’re fast, we might catch up with Euron on the way. Otherwise, we’ll have no choice but to enter Stygai.” Lynd didn’t try to dissuade Jaben any further. He turned, stepped onto Deltos’s wing, and climbed back into the saddle. Then he signaled for Jaben to hold still as Deltos reached out and carefully grabbed him.
Although Jaben had the body of a giant, he weighed little more than an average person, which made him physically fragile. Deltos had to be especially careful not to harm him while carrying him.
Once Deltos had secured Jaben, Lynd suddenly rembered sothing. He pulled a gemstone necklace from his pocket and tossed it to Quillor.
“This is a new trinket from Maloxin and the others. It helps mages cast more smoothly and reduces their reliance on casting diums. Might be useful for you.”
Quillor caught the necklace quickly and examined it. He couldn’t imdiately identify its effects, but he was still deeply grateful for Lynd’s gift. If Lynd had still been standing before him, he would have dropped to his knees and kissed the top of his foot in reverence.
At Lynd’s command, Deltos spread his wings and broke into a short run before lifting off into the air. This ti, however, he didn’t ascend to the skies, but flew low, skimming the rooftops of Asshai and heading toward the docks outside the city walls.
Soon, Lynd spotted Euron’s ship moored at the pier. Without hesitation, he ordered Deltos to swoop down and, in full view of everyone, unleashed a blast of dragonfire that set the vessel ablaze—burning both the ship and the walking corpses inside it.
As the flas consud Euron’s ship, Lynd’s gaze was drawn to another vessel moored at the edge of the dock—an old and decrepit boat. By all rights, it should have been scrapped or dismantled long ago, but the people of Asshai had preserved it. They had even erected protective barriers around it, showing a clear reverence for the ship.
“The Sun Chaser.” As he looked upon the weather-beaten vessel, a na surfaced in Lynd’s mind. This worn-out ship, so out of place among the others, had to be the Sun Chaser ntioned in Corlys Velaryon’s writings—the one said to belong to the fad navigator Elissa Farman. It might even be the only ship in the world to have completed a circumnavigation of the globe.
After a brief mont of awe at the legendary vessel, Lynd directed Deltos to follow the Ash River, which cut through the city, toward the Shadow Lands.
To those living in Asshai, the Ash River was like a loathed companion they could never escape. Though it carried the city’s rare supply of fresh water, few—aside from the truly mad—would dare to drink from it or eat its fish.
By day, the river appeared pitch black; at night, it shimred with a faint green phosphorescence. Necromancers, fire sorcerers, Shadowbinders, and other practitioners believed that the Ash River held a mysterious fla—said to originate from the seventh level of hell, the infernal fire that could unlock the secrets of death.
It wasn’t uncommon to see these spellcasters gathering on the riverbanks late at night, using their arcane arts to study the ghostly glow emanating from the water.
But what had puzzled Asshai’s mages for generations seed simple to Lynd. As Deltos flew overhead, he had already identified the source of the strange glow: it was nothing more than a special kind of algae. That sa algae was also responsible for the mutations in the river’s creatures. What’s more, it was a magical lifeform—Lynd had sensed faint magical energy pulsing from it.
Because of this—and because magic itself was growing increasingly active across the world—Lynd knew Asshai would beco especially important. Once he was done with Euron, he planned to return to Sumrhall and push for the Miracle Guild to expand eastward across Essos, until Asshai was included in its trade routes.
He would then establish an organization here, centered around Quillor’s Temple of the God of Magic, sothing akin to the Black Cavern—allowing Sumrhall’s influence to seep into this ancient city and gradually bring its spellcasters under control.
In addition, the continent of Ulthos, which lay across the sea from Asshai, was another candidate for future migration once the extre cold began to push southward—so groundwork needed to be laid in advance.
As these thoughts about claiming and utilizing Asshai filled Lynd’s mind, Deltos had already left the city behind, flying along the Ash River into the mountain ranges of the Shadow Lands.
The mountains of the Shadow Lands rose like jagged spires, sheer and towering, with almost no slopes—only steep cliffs layered one after another, stretching endlessly northward like a series of impenetrable barriers.
Within these mountains lay countless fissures, splitting the range into fragnted sections. Deep in the gorges beneath these shattered cliffs, streams and rivulets flowed, converging to form the River of Ash.
Following Jaben’s guidance, Deltos dove into one of the narrow cliffside cracks, weaving its way into the heart of the Shadow Lands.
But Deltos’s massive form and the dragon's aura radiating from his body startled the creatures clinging to the cliffs. Piercing shrieks echoed across the canyon as they were roused into flight, fleeing swiftly out of the ravine.
At first, these creatures still resembled sothing familiar—bats, hawks, falcons—but as they flew deeper into the region Jaben referred to as the outer edge of the Shadow Heart, the beings they encountered beca increasingly grotesque.
Enormous bats with wingspans of ten ters and bodies covered in horny scales flitted back and forth across the gorge. Jellyfish-like things floated in the air, their bodies studded with mouths, dangling tentacles into the River of Ash to snatch up fish and shrimp. Strange centipede-like creatures with worm-like bodies clung to the stone walls, plunging their heads into crevices to drag out whatever dwelled within and devour it whole.
The cliffs on either side were riddled with countless caves, each sheltering monsters beyond description. It felt as if every twisted and mutated creature in the world had made its way here.
Deltos tore through the air, using bolts of lightning to obliterate the giant bats in his path. As he pressed on, Lynd shouted northward to Jaben, who was clutched in his claws, “I’ve heard there are demons and dragons living in the Shadow Lands—is that true?”
“Demons dwell in the Shadow Heart, near Stygai. I suspect they were once the original inhabitants of Stygai, twisted by so force when the city fell,” Jaben called back. “There are dragons too—but they aren’t true dragons. Just massive pterosaurs, really.”
Almost as soon as Jaben finished speaking, a massive beast burst from a cave along the cliffside, rushing straight at Deltos with terrifying speed. Its jaws opened wide, aiming to sink its teeth into Deltos’s neck.
But Deltos was faster.
A crackling bolt of lightning flashed through the air, striking the monster mid-lunge. The creature shrieked in pain, its body convulsing as it plunged from the sky. In one swift glide, Deltos snatched its head in his talons and crushed it instantly, then flung the corpse into his waiting jaws and bathed it in dragonfire, reducing it to a flaming husk that fell to the banks of the River of Ash below.
The blaze from the burning monster lit up the dark canyon, casting flickering light across the stone walls. The sudden flare sent the gorge into chaos. Swarms of insect-like creatures scattered in all directions, diving into the shadows to hide. Only when the flas finally died down did they creep back out to feast on the roasted remains.
As they moved deeper into the Shadow Heart, the attacks beca relentless. The creatures here seed to lash out at any intruder, driven by a viciousness that even the oppressive aura of a dragon couldn’t suppress. They ca in waves, like a swarm of angry flies, attacking again and again.
To fend them off, Deltos didn’t hesitate to expend his magic. Lightning surged across his body, forming a high-voltage web of energy that served both as a shield and a trap—warning off would-be attackers and frying those who ca too close to charred remains.
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