Lost Artefacts | A Game of Thrones fic

Samaya, Obara and the rest of the group were rushing through the narrow corridors of the labyrinth, as they went the pathways got increasingly more narrow. This caused the heat from the torches they carried to become almost suffocating; it was as if the very walls themselves shunned the light and would only accept a state of darkness. Despite breathing raggedly they went on, though Qyburn with his advanced age struggled more than most and if he wasn't at the head of the column there was no doubt that he would've been left behind at that moment.

"Can...we...take a break," Qyburn breathed out raggedly as he leaned against the wall of the labyrinth. While the others prepared themselves to decline straight away, they were beaten by Samaya. "Of course, it looks like we are safe for the moment, we should take the opportunity to rest, lest we get caught in a right exhausted," she said sternly as if daring anyone to go against her. Obara was the first to relent followed by Daario.

Qyburn smiled gratefully at Samaya before allowing himself to fall against the wall to the floor. He was well into his sixth decade in this world and he wasn't very energetic when he was younger as well; in truth, Qyburn never considered he'd ever be in such a situation and wondered if this was what Jon faced on a regular basis. He had of course heard of his reputation and had even read some of the books Jon had written about certain ancient civilisations, though the archmaesters refused to keep copies in the citadel.

"We can't afford to rest! These torches won't last forever and if they extinguish while we are in here we may never find our way back out," Daario said impatiently as he constantly looked around the different tunnels for enemies.

"Perhaps, but it would be pointless to exhaust ourselves while running around aimlessly, as far as you know we could be only a few turns away from where we started, or we could have gone in a circle this entire time," Samaya stated bluntly.

"This man might be our only way of navigating the maze, I place his importance above yours," she continued as she glared at Daario, daring him to make a move against her.

Qyburn chuckled at Samaya's words "It gladdens me that you place such faith in my abilities, but I'm afraid to say it is misplaced, even if I was able to make sense of the translations, I'm not sure it would help," he admitted.

"So why are we keeping you around old man..." Daario said venomously as he brandished his Arakh.

"I could say the same to you, I'd feel much better if I snapped your neck and left your body on the ground," Samaya said stepping in front of Qyburn. Daario wasn't an idiot, he had seen Samaya use the same unnatural strength that Jon did, and while he couldn't explain where it came from he knew that it would tip the scales in her favour if they were to fight.

"Enough!" Obara said finally losing her temper.

"We are lost in a labyrinth full of enemies and you two act like children, if you wish to leave them go, none of us will stop you," Obara said as she stared intensely at Daario who was the first to blink and look away.

"So what do YOU suggest we do," Daario said mockingly as he folded his arms.

Obara ignored him back to Qyburn "We need a plan, and you are the best among us to form one," she said bluntly.

Qyburn looked troubled at her words but nodded his head regardless. He pushed himself against the wall and stood up —with Samaya's assistance. "If I'm correct, and there's a good chance I'm not, we could be getting closer to the centre of the maze," Qyburn suggested.

"What makes you think that?" Samaya asked as she listened with rapt attention, she always valued the knowledge of people more intelligent than herself.

"The entrance to the labyrinth was almost a hundred men across, but it has become increasingly narrow as we go onwards, I can only theorise that this means we are getting closer, but I can't be sure, if we stick to the pathways that are smaller than the rest then perhaps we will get out somewhere," He suggested.

Obara breathed out before nodding, the pain from her cut was still causing her problems, but she pushed it down for now. "That is as good a plan as any, let us go," Obara said as she pushed off the wall and urged the others onwards. They continued to travel down the narrow corridors that had shrunk to merely ten men across; the heat was almost stifling and the air felt stagnant, but they pushed on trying to get through the tunnels into some open air.

*SCRAPE*

All four of them looked down the tunnel that they were walking through trying to locate the source of the sound, but even Samaya who had the best vision by far couldn't pierce the empty darkness that lay before them. However, moments later a spark ignited and a person was illuminated; Obara instantly recognised the man as Edric Storm, his burnt body and flaming sword confirmed this.

"J...O.....N," he gurgled out as he limped towards them, his whole body was in a constant state of agony. What kept him going was burning hatred for Jon Snow and fear of what his sister might do should he fail to keep up. Since he was slower than the rest of them his sister had left him behind, but it seemed that was to work in his favour as now he had found his companions and he would roast them alive and bring their heads back to Jon.

"Rid yourself from my sight before I tear you apart!" Samaya growled out as she held a spear she had taken from an Ibbenese corpse.

A vicious smile made its way onto Edric's face as the sword started to grow increasingly hotter and brighter. The stench of burning flesh assaulted the group's nose; Edric was burning his flesh but didn't seem to even notice or cry out in pain. Raising his sword the group only had a moment to dive out of the way as a torrent of flames rushed through the tunnel almost roasting them where they stood. Daario acted first and removed a dagger from his belt and tossed it in an attempt to end the fight before it could truly begin.

Edric even as injured as he was managed to bring his sword up deftly and hit the dagger out of the air. The sword in his hand glowed a deep orange and the flames that surrounded it were already reigniting before they could even get to their feet. Samaya helped up Qyburn and urged them behind the group; with such a frail man with them it would be risky to fight, but they didn't have much of a choice.

Samaya scowled before throwing her spear at an incredible speed using her monstrous strength. Even Edric was surprised at the speed of the spear coming towards him; it forced him to use the next gout of foam defensively as he easily turned the spear into ash. Obara took advantage of this and rushed towards Edric thrusting her spear out towards his head.

He smacked the shaft of her spear away before he pressed the attack and tried to finish what he started earlier. Every swing was followed by a gout of flame that almost got Obara 'We are at a disadvantage inside this place,' she thought to herself as she continued to dance around his attacks. Samaya tried to come up on the left but was scared away by a wave of fire that managed to hit him though she covered herself with her arms —she was still slammed against the wall by the force of it.

The only person who did nothing was Daario who stood and stared as this man in front of him wielded otherworldly powers as if they were nothing. A deep feeling of resentment and envy started to build up in Daario, mostly because he knew that Jon's power must've come from an artefact such as this.

In such a confined space the girls found themselves at a severe disadvantage, especially when Edric tossed around intensely hot flames as easily as just swinging his sword. He couldn't talk after his run-in with Jon but what he could do was make noises, noises offensive to the ear, noises that sounded wrong.

Samaya began to get frustrated as Edric used the confined corridor to keep her from getting a hold of him. Obara tried to use her long reach granted by her spear but Edric was easily able to brush the spear away. Eventually, Obara's spear snapped as the red-hot steel weakened it enough, now both women were defenceless and Edric had now decided to go on the attack.

He started by thrusting his sword forward and sending a gout of flame to Obara, but Samaya grabbed the Dornish woman and pulled her back to the ground. Edric was so overcome with glee about finally turning these two women to ashes that he let his guard down, and it wasn't until it was too late he saw Daario run in from the side and swing at him with his Arakh.

Edric was a fine swordsman and even as injured as he was he managed to deflect the blow and then counterattack. But as he swung his sword he heard a pop and then felt a sharp pain in his leg; Daario he kicked his kneecap with all his strength, breaking it like a twig and making Edric collapse to the ground. 

Edric couldn't scream only a disgusting gurgling sound made its way from his throat. Daario looked down on him with a smile plastered on his face; he greedily looked at the sword that he would soon be taking possession of and brought his Arakh down on the bastard. Edric tried to block it but Daario flipped it around at the last second which resulted in the pointed part of the Arakh going straight through his eye. The sound he made for even louder but Daario didn't stop and using his forearm pressed down on the blade forcing it even deeper.

Edric quickly went limp as the light died from his eye. With a wide smile on his face, Daario plucked the sword from Edric's hand and felt a rush of warmth enter his body; the sword began to light up and Daario couldn't help but laugh. How could he have not realised such fantastical things exist in this world; he had believed that artefacts were just a way to get some quick coin, but he was wrong. This was power, and now that he had a taste of it he knew he wanted more, a lot more.

"Mayhaps I should hold onto that blade..." Samaya said with a stern expression as she took a step towards Daario.

Daario smirked at her and turned to face her "No my lady, I think I'll be hanging into this fine... artefact, but you are welcome to gaze upon it," he said as his smile was illuminated by the sword's glow.

Obara frowned and stepped up to support Samaya who had clenched fists "If there's one person here who should not have that sword it is you, I'd even trust the corpse with it over you," Obara said as she looked at him with disgust in her face.

"Perhaps we can discuss this at a later date, we should keep moving, we have no time to be arguing amongst ourselves," Qyburn tried to reason as he placed himself between the three of them. However, Samaya didn't trust Daario one bit and she wouldn't let him have such a powerful weapon just to turn around and betray them later.

"Stay behind us Maester, we do not wish for you to be hurt," Samaya said, her gaze not leaving Daario, though she did reach forward and move him out of the way. The tension in the air was thick as Daario stared at both women with a cocky smile on his face, while the two women both readied themselves to rush towards Daario and take him down. Samaya would rip his damn head off as soon as she got her hands around him.

"Everyone that's enough!" A voice rang out from behind them. The stern commanding voice made them all turn to see a man with blonde hair and amber eyes; the look on his face wasn't one of anger but of disappointment.

"Don't you see how the Labyrinth is playing with your mind," he said sternly as he approached them.

"We cannot afford to fight amongst ourselves when we have enemies out there more than willing to kill us," he said as he put his arm on Samaya and Obara who both looked down disappointed in themselves.

"Daario, you are better than this, don't you remember when we saved the Myrish village from the Dothraki together," He said as he walked through Samaya and Obara.

"I do... I'm sorry Donnell, I let the power go to my head," Daario said as he pointed the sword down.

"And you! Samaya don't you remember when I helped train you to take your position as First Mother," Donnell said as he turned around.

"I do... I'm sorry my friend, I did not mean for things to go so far," Samaya said in a low voice.

"Obara, do not forget how I saved Tyene from certain death against Robert Baratheon," Donnell said with a smile as he placed his hands on her shoulder.

"I know, I am sorry Lord Donnell," Obara said with a sad look on her face.

"It is alright my friends, you do not trust each other, but trust in me and trust that I trust each of you!" He said loudly and with a wide smile on his handsome face.

They all eagerly nodded as they hoped to make up for their disappointment in such an important friend. They all felt so embarrassed as they fought each other and ran around raggedly all as Donnell watched.

"This labyrinth will play with your mind... IS playing with your mind, we need to find our way to the centre, only then will we have the freedom we desire," Donnell told them as he walked passed Obara and Samaya.

"But Maester Donnell, is it not more prudent to find a way out through another exist perhaps?" Qyburn asked.

Donnell placed his hand on Qyburn's shoulder, "Have I ever steered you wrong my friend, don't you remember all we've been through, I joined you in exile after we discovered an effective way to reanimate a corpse," Donnell said as he pat him on the shoulder.

"Of course not my friend, it was a mere suggestion," Qyburn said with a smile.

"You've always had plenty of those," Donnell said with a smile on his face.

"None of you need not fear, I have translated the text upon the wall and know the way to the centre, the centre will grant us freedom, will you follow me," Donnell asked in a loud clear voice.

"Yes!" They all shouted and they all followed as Donnell led them all down the tunnel towards 'Freedom'.

———————————————————-

Jon continued to walk the corridors of the labyrinth as easily as if he were taking a stroll through King Landing. The voices that were merely whispers before started to become louder until they started to sound as if a person was directly in front of him. He could hear the voice clearly and yet it spoke in a language that was completely foreign to his ears; Jon knew three known root languages of the world and yet this guttural language was completely foreign. It shared no common words with anything he'd ever heard before and it sent a shiver down his spine with every word that was uttered.

Ever since his third eye had been opened and his Greenseer abilities awakened he's had trouble controlling this new sense. It's as if his mind can move out of his body and follow certain trails that seem to exist in the world; it was a shame he had to spurn Bloodraven so soon as getting some help in controlling this would've assisted him greatly. At the moment he could only follow his instincts and trust that his ability would guide him towards his friends.

His ears twitched as he heard the sounds of footsteps approaching him. His fists clenched and he readied himself to kill the cultists that he knew were approaching him; even without his vision he could see them all as clear as day, but strangely enough, they did not reach for any weapons, nor did they seem to acknowledge his existence at all. Jon moved out of the way and let them pass unobstructed, if they caused him no issues then he would do the same.

"Dreamer..."

Jon heard the words from them like an echo in the wind, he did not know if any of them opened their mouths, but their words were heard clearly. They spoke with reverence and respect as they passed by him as if he was a Lord and they were the small folk. Jon couldn't help but think bout how strange this place was, it was like a different world, or perhaps he saw the world in a different way now.

Shaking these thoughts out of his mind Jon pressed on and continued travelling through the labyrinth. The smallest tinges of excitement ran through his body as a cool breeze hit his skin, he was close to an opening in the maze. Walking faster he continued through the twists and turns until he saw a dim light at the end of a corridor, sprinting now he headed straight down the corridor out in what he expected to be freedom. He didn't notice that the foul language that had been repeating itself in the air had been getting louder the closer he got to it.

Emerging out of the corridor he found himself greeted with the cries of battle. In the centre of this open area, there was a large wooden fortification that was ruined but still functional. Lorathi men and what looked like sellswords defended themselves from Ibbenese men who aggressively attacked the fort killing anyone that was in reach.

"Seven hells!"

(AN: Been a while since I did this story, it's a pretty complicated one to write or maybe I'm just not a talented writer. sometimes it's a struggle and I find that what I write is boring. Anyway I hope you enjoyed the chapter.)

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