[AELOR’S POV]
As I had just spoken in a completely unfamiliar language, the utter confusion regarding this magical phenomenon was highly visible upon my young face.
I had not yet mastered the vital skill of completely hiding my true thoughts at this current age.
Noticing the deep confusion etched upon my expression, the horned leader who had spoken earlier stepped forward to explain.
“Do not be confused, Life Giver. The very moment you first arrived upon this sacred soil, you had already been divinely blessed to speak the ancient song of the earthsingers. This gift was given to ensure that you could communicate with us without any problems,” the leader said.
I accepted his magical explanation without any further questions.
I had long ago learned to let go of mortal logic in this mystical place.
The only truly important thing for me was determining if this guardian was telling the absolute truth.
From what my passive telepathy could tell me, he was either an exceptionally great liar or he was being completely honest.
“Perhaps you know exactly who I am already, but I will introduce myself formally. My name is Aelor Towers, the rightful heir to the territory of Harrenhal and all of its sworn vassals. This vast domain includes the Gods Eye, and by extension, the Isle of Faces. If you take any offense to my sudden presence here today, I will leave immediately. I do not intend to disturb the profound peace you have built for yourselves,” I said.
I genuinely did not like the idea of disturbing the ancient peace that these isolated guardians had maintained for thousands of years.
“My name is Haestryr, and you absolutely do not have to worry about disturbing our peace, Life Giver. We are the ones who owe you a deep apology for attempting to exert control over your bonded beast. We know perfectly well exactly how sacred a dragon bond truly is. However, we did not have any other options. We could not even appear within your dreams using our traditional methods,” Haestryr explained.
“Why do you keep calling me that title? Life Giver? What exactly does that mean?” I asked him.
I acted as if I did not have any idea what Haestryr was talking about, deliberately choosing to play the fool just to test his reaction.
“We both know perfectly well that you have a very clear idea of what we are talking about, Life Giver. Your mere presence on this island is already actively undoing thousands of years of magical damage that we could never even begin to heal on our own,” Haestryr said with absolute confidence.
“Well, I was just trying to test you,” I admitted.
I immediately dropped my clueless facade in front of Haestryr and the rest of the gathered guardians.
Right at that moment, another guardian slowly appeared from the shadows behind Haestryr.
He was carrying a wooden plate that contained fresh bread and coarse salt.
I was highly confident that they would never dare to break the sacred laws of guest right.
They were far more extreme believers in the Old Gods than House Frey or any of the other noble houses that had been deeply tainted by years of southern ignorance.
I took a piece of the bread, dipped it firmly into the salt, and ate it.
I tasted the food and noted that it was extremely delicious.
The rich flavor prompted me to take another piece of bread and dip it again as I walked closely behind Haestryr.
He was actively leading me toward a massive tree house located near the clearing where I had just landed.
Haestryr and I were the only ones who entered the wooden structure.
I noticed that the other guardians had started walking away toward various other dwellings hidden among the ancient branches.
Through my telepathy, I could feel the presence of many more members of their ancient order who had not attended my initial welcoming in the clearing.
“Please take a seat, Life Giver,” Haestryr offered as he sat down upon a thick rug made out of brown bear hide.
I also took a seat, noting that the soft hide I sat upon came from a massive winter wolf.
“Might I ask you to be completely direct with me? I really want to be back at the castle before my mother notices that I am missing. I do not want her to worry about my safety,” I said to Haestryr.
I truly wanted this meeting to conclude quickly so I could return home.
When Haestryr heard what I said, he smiled softly.
“There is absolutely nothing that I want from you, Life Giver, that you have not already freely given to us. I simply wanted to meet you in person to state our deep appreciation for exactly what you have done for these ancient lands. We have personally seen how the long dead Heart Tree within your forest was miraculously reborn. We watched it start to reproduce and grow once more, along with all the pale weirwood trees on this very island. We have something to offer you as a token of our eternal appreciation. It is a simple gift for the continued life that you have restored to these lands, and we hope that you will continue to do so,” Haestryr explained.
He reached over and took a long wooden box resting near where they were sitting.
He gently handed the heavy container directly to me.
When I opened the lid, I saw a magnificent greatsword resting inside.
The blade was extremely similar to how the legendary sword Dawn of House Dayne is described in the histories.
I carefully lifted it by the hilt.
I immediately saw that the grip was made from carved dragonbone.
“This is so incredibly beautiful,” I breathed.
I could not help but admire the flawless craftsmanship of the entire weapon.
I gently touched the flat of the blade.
Even with just a very light touch, the finger that grazed the metal was cut immediately.
It bled a few drops of blood before instantly regenerating and closing up completely due to the automatic healing of my Essence.
“The metal of this sword is forged from melted dragonsteel completely mixed with the sacred ashes of the weirwood trees. Those magical elements combined under great heat to become that extremely pure white color. Meanwhile, the hilt is made from the dark dragonbone that we managed to recover from the skeletal remains of the silver dragon that tragically died in these waters decades ago,” Haestryr revealed.
I immediately knew he was speaking of Quicksilver, the mount of Aegon the Uncrowned, who was brutally killed by the Black Dread right above the Gods Eye.
“We forged this blade on your very first name day as a physical tribute for your magical gift. And now, you, the rightful owner of this greatsword, have finally arrived to claim it,” Haestryr finished.
I still could not fully believe the extraordinary quality of the weapon that I was holding in my hands.
To learn that such a priceless artifact was being given to me simply as a free gift was something that I still struggled to accept.
I looked up toward Haestryr with profound gratitude.
In response to his incredible generosity, I focused my mind and began to cast a permanent magical field directly onto the Isle of Faces.
This time, I deliberately shaped the magic so that the environmental benefits would perfectly mirror the passive healing aura I naturally emit.
I ensured that absolutely no curse, plague, or dark magic would ever take root here.
This meant that even if the entire realm was eventually plunged into the eternal winter of the Long Night, this island would remain completely unaffected and perfectly warm.
I made sure to expand this exact same protective ward to cover the entire castle of Harrenhal as well.
“Thank you once again, Life Giver. I do not know exactly what you just did, but I can vividly feel the potent effects it has already brought to the air. I firmly believe that our numbers will continue to grow rapidly over the following years. We will easily surpass even the golden age of our pinnacle strength. If you ever have questions, or if you want to learn much more about your own magical abilities, please feel free to visit us again. I would gladly instruct you myself if you choose to accept my teaching,” Haestryr offered warmly.
He closed his eyes and breathed deeply.
He could easily feel the profound changes that I had just enacted.
He could hear the renewed song of the earth vibrating through their lands, resonating through the lake and all the way back to the stone castle.
He had absolutely no doubt that the Gods Eye would soon return completely to its glorious original state, long before the ambient magic ever began to thin in the mortal realm.
“I will certainly take you up on that generous offer. Please forgive me, but I really need to go back home right now. I will absolutely visit you again very soon. Perhaps you could test me then and see if I truly have the potential to become a greenseer,” I said as I stood up from the wolf hide.
Haestryr looked at me with a very strange expression.
“Does this immense magic not prove that you are a greenseer already? You possess absolute power over the raw nature of life itself. Your magic is even more potent than the magic of the Children of the Forest,” Haestryr pointed out.
I just looked down at him and smiled knowingly.
Despite completely trusting Haestryr and his ancient order, I did not want to reveal the true description of my Essence and its otherworldly origins.
“We will see each other again, Haestryr. Take good care of yourself. Perhaps when I return, you will have deep knowledge about other ancient magics that I could trade my own favors for,” I said as I prepared to leave the tree house.
My passive telepathy had just urgently warned me that my mother had finally noticed my prolonged absence from the castle.
She had already been actively trying to find me, loudly demanding that Rysio and Jory search the entire courtyard for her missing son.
[THIRD PERSON POV]
Aelor stepped out of the wooden structure and back into the sunlight.
He saw that the gathered Green Men had formed a wide circle once again.
This time, they were bowing deeply toward the ancient treehouse where he had just stayed.
Aelor simply nodded his head in quiet respect and started walking forward to where Ancalagon was patiently waiting for him in the clearing.
He had already formulated a clever plan in his mind to explain the sudden appearance of his new greatsword, a priceless artifact he had not let out of his firm grip since Haestryr handed it to him.
Aelor climbed onto the scaly back of Ancalagon and mentally commanded her to fly very close to the surface of the lake.
When they were hovering near the muddy shore of Harrenhal, Aelor bravely jumped from her back into the shallow waters.
When he finally resurfaced from the cold water, Aelor was soaking wet from his head to his toes.
However, he now had a highly plausible explanation for exactly where he had found the magnificent white sword.
That was exactly how the events played out.
When Aelor finally walked back into the training yard, dripping wet and dragging the heavy blade, his mother was already waiting there.
Princess Rhaena stood alongside Jory Cassel and Rysio Relfo.
They were just beginning to mobilize the castle guards to start searching the entire territory for the missing young lord.
When Rysio noticed Aelor quietly sneaking through the stone archway, the old swordsman immediately smirked.
“Ah, there is our missing young lord,” Rysio announced loudly.
The sharp attention of Princess Rhaena and Jory immediately snapped toward where the Braavosi fighter was pointing.
They saw the young boy attempting to quietly sneak inside the castle walls.
“Where exactly have you been?” Rhaena demanded.
She approached her son with a hurried, anxious glare.
Meanwhile, the experienced eyes of both Rysio and Jory immediately locked onto the massive sword resting securely in the hands of Aelor.
Both veteran warriors could easily tell that it was definitely not a weapon of normal quality.
“I was just playing with Ancalagon earlier. I was mostly following her by foot while she walked along the shore. Then, I suddenly noticed a bright shining light coming from the bottom of the lake. I dove into the water to retrieve this sword, because it looked very shiny and beautiful, which it truly is,” Aelor lied.
He attempted to act as innocent and childish as possible to sell the story.
Rysio immediately began to chuckle.
He knew Aelor very well by now.
This highly uncharacteristic, childish behavior was easily seen through by the veteran fighter.
He knew for an absolute fact that Aelor was hiding something important.
It seemed that his mother also noticed this blatant deception right away.
“Tell me the absolute truth,” Princess Rhaena warned.
She reached out and firmly pinched his ear, a strict motherly punishment which made Aelor wince in pain and immediately start to confess.
“I mounted Ancalagon without a proper saddle and flew high over the Gods Eye! I jumped into the water when I saw the shining sword!” Aelor hurriedly blurted out.
He was hurting from the tight pinch on his ear, and he quickly offered this partial truth to successfully hide his secret meeting with the Green Men.
High above the yard, Ancalagon actually opened her massive jaws in pure shock at how easily her fearless rider folded in front of his angry mother.
Princess Rhaena absolutely burst with maternal anger upon hearing that he flew a dragon without safety gear.
She immediately ordered Jory to take the dangerous white sword away and securely lift Aelor up to her private chambers for a severe scolding.
“This greatsword will only be given back to you when you finally prove to be responsible enough to wield it,” Princess Rhaena declared strictly.
Jory lifted the complaining Aelor over his broad shoulder.
Aelor tried to argue his case, but he was swiftly silenced by a fierce glare from Rhaena.
Seeing her rider captured, Ancalagon just flew away toward the high towers, falsely thinking she was completely safe from the maternal wrath.
However, she was quickly met by Dreamfyre.
The older dragon immediately began to harshly scold Ancalagon with loud, rumbling growls.
Just as Aelor and Rhaena shared a deep bond of parent and child, Dreamfyre and Ancalagon shared a very similar dynamic.
The fierce anger that Rhaena felt toward Aelor seemed to translate perfectly from Dreamfyre to Ancalagon.
Ultimately, both of the rebellious toddlers ended up being thoroughly scolded by their protective mothers on the very same afternoon.