Upon claiming to be the rightful heir of the Iron Throne after the death of his older brother, Robert Baratheon, Stannis Baratheon realized he lacked the manpower needed to take King's Landing, the capitol of Westeros. With the help of Melisandre, a Red Priestess from Asshai, Stannis had his sole remaining brother assassinated in order to secure the loyalty of many of the lords sworn to him.

However, Stannis failed to win the allegiance of House Tyrell, whose sole daughter had been Renly's recently married wife and now widow. House Tyrell and their sworn vassals withdrew their large army from the field and returned to Highgarden, their seat of power.

Nevertheless, having also secured an alliance with the sell-sail captain Salladhor Saan, Stannis was confident of his victory if he stormed King's Landing and the kingdom would be his. On the advice of his loyal vassal and future Hand of the King, Davos Seaworth, he decided to not take Melisandre with him to King's Landing, concerned that the victory would be credited to her and not himself.

This would later prove to be his downfall.

With King's Landing in danger, Tyrion Lannister, the infamous dwarf drunk, made preparations to withstand the incoming siege. However, most of their manpower had been drawn north to fight the Starks in the Riverlands, which left the city walls severely undermanned. His sister Cersei planned to level the field through the use of wildfire, a dangerous and highly destructive substance that she had created in secret that Tyrion would later use for the battle.

With Robb Stark's forces poised to attack in the west, Lord Tywin Lannister was unwilling to leave his defensive position at Harrenhal, because he feared being attacked from the rear. However, Robb launched an invasion of the Westerlands instead, which drew close to Casterly Rock, the Lannister's seat of power, Tywin finally decided to move his army.

At the same time, Littlefinger Petyr Baelish negotiated a fresh alliance between House Lannister and House Tyrell to marry the still unsoiled Margaery Tyrell to King Joffery.

The fleet loyal to Stannis, commanded by Ser Davos, swept into Blackwater Bay and approached the city. The original plan was to destroy the royal fleet and land troops under the city walls. However, the royal fleet proved to be absent because Tyrion has commanded it to leave the area, rather than be sunk. With the waters cleared, Tyrion ordered a single crewless ship filled with wildfire potion and sent it to leak the substance directly into the bay.

At Tyrion's signal when Stannis' ships were close enough, Commander Bronn of the City Watch of King's Landing ignited the wildfire with a flaming arrow, which resulted in a tremendous explosion that obliterated the leading elements of Stannis' fleet, including the flagship. Ser Davos and dozens of crewmen were flung overboard into the bay and the unleashed wildfire killed his son Matthos.

*

I almost felt reality shift as I was travelling and a small rift opened up for me to slip through. It felt like I moved through taffy before I suddenly appeared on the deck of an old fashioned ship.

*BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM! WHAAA-BOOOOM!*

I was suddenly consumed in bright green magical fire as the ship below me exploded. I normally wouldn't have a problem with that, except the fire completely ignored my resistances and my Firebending. It was also burning through my clothing and eating away at my skin.

I tried casting counter-curses and finite incantatem at the stuff, only for the magic to twist in upon itself and then it snuffed itself out. I landed in ice cold water and the green fire reduced in intensity. It didn't quite go out, so I tried patting it and pulled off my clothing. I couldn't store them, because they were partially fused to my body and didn't count as separate items anymore.

I vanished what I could and then realized the fire wasn't going out right away because it was feeding on the inherent magic of the things I wore. I closed my eyes and decided to try apparition. I relied on my own magic abilities and not the magic from the Harry Potter universe. This proved to be the smartest thing I could have done, because both I and about thirty feet of the water around me disappeared from the bottom of the bay and reappeared right beside the edge of the water.

I splashed down on the rocks and mud and cried out in pain from the impact. I didn't wait to feel better, though. I rolled around in that mud and snuffed out the remaining magical fire that had hurt me significantly.

It had been a very long time since I had felt this kind of pain and it was almost welcome, because it made me realize that despite everything that I had gone through and the powers I had gathered, I was still just as human as I had been back when I was a simple farm boy in Kansas.

I carefully crawled over to the stone retaining wall that was nearby and leaned against it. Once I was propped up comfortably, I took out a bacta needle from inventory. Unlike how it normally looked, it was a dull greyish blue instead of a vibrant sky blue. I knew just by the color that it would only be about 25% as effective as it should have been.

I sighed and looked down at my mud-covered body with pieces burned off. If I used enough of it, I could be up and mobile in a week, perhaps two. I activated my Prismatic Regeneration and used a bit of water to wash off a spot on my thigh and then injected myself with the needle. I felt it sluggishly move through my leg and quickly injected myself with a dozen more needles all over my legs and chest.

I stored the needles and looked out over the bay where dozens of ships had been engulfed in the bright green flames. To my surprise, dozens of ships slipped between the flaming wrecks and came towards the shore. Thankfully, I was well off to the side and away from where the fight was going to happen.

So, I sat there and watched while hundreds of desperate men that wore crappy armor and wielded swords and shields, came ashore on small boats or swam, and they assaulted a large set of wooden doors. They were even succeeding, despite there being twenty or so men on the wall above them that held them off with dropped rocks, arrows, and even lantern oil poured on them.

The counter-offensive that a very short man led, actually managed to almost completely stop the assault on the doors. They were woefully outnumbered and still fought as hard as any man I had ever seen. The short man had even made several kills before a blow to the face by one of his own men had felled him. There was just one problem that I now had, besides being severely hurt.

I had no clue who I was supposed to help.

I tried to take a deep breath and winced as a sharp pain came from my back. That's probably a rock. I thought and tried to reach out for the Force. Another sharp pain hit me, only in my brain this time, and I gasped and dropped my head into my hands.

I had touched on the life force of the planet only briefly and... it felt broken. It wasn't damaged or worn away, like on some of the other worlds I had been on. It was cracked, like something very bad had happened a long time ago and something evil had snapped it. I would have to get by on the basics while on this world, because I seriously doubted that I could use any kind of technology.

As a test, I tried to create a generic security device and the damn thing popped like a firecracker. I quickly dissolved it and thought about taking out one of the enchanted items I had used in the Shield Hero universe, then decided against it. I was in no condition to survive another magical explosion if it happened. Then again, my ability would kick in and send me off to the next reality.

I opened my eyes and leaned back against the stone retaining wall and sighed. I had never before retreated without first finding out what was going on or what world I was in. I just hoped it wasn't something I hadn't heard of before. If it was, my indecision about who to help in this battle would probably haunt me for a long time, because I was witnessing a slaughter and was unable to do anything about it.

After some time, an overwhelming army appeared and quickly drove off the invaders, whom retreated and dragged away a tall angry man that kept cursing that he had been so close. The muddy beach was quickly swarmed as the army went to each downed soldier and ensured the enemies were dead and any of those loyal were picked up and carried through the large doors.

A two man search party eventually came far enough along the retaining wall to notice me propped up against the stone and covered in drying mud. They each drew a sword and approached me with murder in their eyes.

“I'm a fisherman!” I said and that gave them pause. “ My little boat was caught up in the wake of all those big ships passing by. Whatever the hell that green flame was, made my boat explode from underneath me and burned me before it threw me into the water.”

One of them looked like he didn't believe me.

“Please...” I said and moved some of the mud on my chest to show that it was bare skin. “No armor... no weapons or shield...” I chuckled and wiggled my toes. “No footwear! That fire took everything.”

That had both men looking unsure.

“I don't even know where I am.” I admitted and let out an exaggerated sigh. “I lost my maps of the coast and the directions to follow to get back home.”

“I'm sure that once you find a maester, they can tell you how to get home.”

I chuckled. “Excuse me, Maester. Can you tell me how to get to Gwenneth Cove from here? Where's that you ask? I don't know. I'm sure if you tell me all the unfamiliar names from the mainland, it will point me in the right direction.”

That put sad looks on their faces.

“I got so turned around in whatever happened that I don't know which way is north for me to sail against. I don't know how far I need to go from here and I don't know if I'll ever find home again. I mean, can I even find a decent boat to borrow or buy after working for a while?”

One of them turned and waved a hand. Two partially mud-covered young men, that carried two poles with a cloth between them, came over and gave me sympathetic looks.

“I know it's going to hurt.” I said and dragged myself a little away from the wall and nodded at the ground. They put the makeshift stretcher down and I rolled onto it. I cried out in pain and rolled back onto my side. “I think there's a rock or something stuck in my back.”

“Don't pull it out!” One of the scouts exclaimed. “He could bleed out before you get him off the beach.”

The two young men carefully picked me up and then walked at an identical gait to carry me across the mud towards the large doors. The looks from the soldiers ranged from apathetic to sympathetic when they saw me. I didn't say anything to anyone and let them bring me to a cleared out building that was packed full of other wounded.

As luck would have it, I was placed on my side on the cot next to the very short man that had most of his nose removed and a nasty slice diagonally across his face. The young woman tending to the wounded took one look at me and called for a bucket. I was splashed and quickly rinsed off enough that she hissed at my mangling burn wounds and ran off as she screamed for a maester.

I smiled at my next door neighbour and gave him a smile. “Aren't you a sight for sore eyes?”

The very short man gave me a surprised look and then he barked a laugh. “You're no better.”

“Ah, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” I said and reached back to lightly touch what I thought was a rock. It was actually a large piece of wierwood, whatever that was, and the image in my head didn't have any descriptions past 'piece of ancient wood' and 'occasionally revered'. That's helpful. I thought, sarcastically.

“Most beholders are idiots.” The short man said and gave me a once over. “You're naked.”

“I prefer the term nude, kind sir. It's artsy. Naked makes it sound debauched.” I responded.

He looked surprised for a moment, then loudly laughed. “Ow ow ow.” He muttered and put a hand over his face and hissed in pain.

“I apologize for that.” I said and reached over to touch his shoulder. “My name's John.”

I gained the image for 'The Imp' and read the description. A disgraceful and hated son of a noble lord, he relied on his brain to get him through life, because his short stature limited any other pursuit besides drinking and women.

“Tyrion, and there's no need to apologize.” The short man said and let his face go. “I'm just glad that whores only care about the money they make and not who they make it with.”

I gave him a wide-eyed look, since he seemed okay with joking around. “You must be filthy rich!”

Tyrion looked surprised before he laughed and laughed as he held both hands over his stinging face. “BWA-HA-HA-HA! OW! OW! FUCK! HA-HA-HA-HA!”

I took the opportunity to give him several bacta injections while he was distracted. I was definitely regretting not being able to recreate my lab here, because I wanted to adjust the formula to be more effective.

“Please quiet down.” A stern man wearing a burlap robe said as he and the young woman came back over to us. “You are disrupting the healing aura of the ward.”

“I apologize, maester.” I said and tapped the piece of wood my hand was touching. “I think this pierced my sarcastic aorta and I'm having difficulty keeping a civil tongue in my head.”

“You are making that up.” The man said as Tyrion successfully managed to muffle his laughter.

“I am.” I said and looked at the young woman. “My lady, if you hate the sight of blood, may I ask you turn around? This won't be pretty.”

The young woman blushed deeply. “I-I-I'm n-not a l-lady.” She stuttered.

“Surprisingly, all of the good one say that.” I commented. “Do you have some clean cloths, perhaps boiled in water? You'll need to staunch the flow of blood. I think the wood is buried quite deep.”

“Y-yes, I... just a moment.” She said and ran off.

“Well done.” The maester said and gripped the piece of wood. “She was too nervous about this.”

“That's understandable.” I said and the man yanked out the piece of wood. I didn't cry out, even though he hadn't been gentle with it, and I heard the wood clatter to the floor.

“You're a tough one.” Tyrion said as the young woman ran back over and the maester shoved a boiling hot cloth into the wound.

I chuckled. “Says the man that led a desperately outnumbered counter-offensive against an invasion force.”

“You saw that?” Tyrion asked and the maester wrapped a strip of cloth around my waist and tied it tightly.

“I had a front row seat.” I said and then explained what had happened as I stuck to my 'lone fisherman caught in a war fleet' story. “I didn't know if I was supposed to cheer or jeer, though.”

Tyrion chuckled. “Neither did I and I was right there in the thick of it.”

“At least you survived. You're the hero of... where the hell are we, anyway?” I asked and he laughed.

“Blackwater Bay.” Tyrion said. “The city is King's Landing and it's the capitol of Westeros.”

“Is Westeros a country or the name of the world?” I asked and Tyrion, the maester, and the young woman made startled sounds.

“Westeros is the continent that houses the Seven Kingdoms of the Realm.” The maester said and the look he gave me was searching and accusatory.

“I told you I wasn't from around here.” I repeated.

“Yes, you did. It's just that having such blatant proof is unsettling.” The maester said.

“How do you think I feel with no idea what's going on?” I asked and he didn't answer.

“Perhaps you will feel better if you covered your balls?” Tyrion asked with a smirk and then hissed because it pulled on his wound.

“Ha! If the young hero wills it, it must be done.” I said and looked at the young woman. “May I impose upon you once more, my lady?”

The young woman blushed again. “I will try to hunt up some clothing for you.”

I reached over and plucked a gold coin from Tyrion's pocket and handed it to her. “Buy the cheapest you can find and keep the rest.”

“Hey!” Tyrion slapped my shoulder on one of my many wounds and I hissed.

“Relax, I'll pay you back.” I said and nodded at the young woman. “Off you go.”

“Y-yes, my lord.” She said and looked quite happy before she ran off.

“And how exactly will you pay me back if you have nothing?” Tyrion asked.

“I have nothing right now. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?” I asked back.

“Burn poultices and severe itching as your wounds heal.” The maester said and gave me a look and then looked at Tyrion.

“You will be compensated appropriately if you succeed.” Tyrion said. “A Lannister always pays their debts.”

The maester smiled and nodded. “I'll be back with the things you will both require.”

I watched the man go and then reached down under the cot to pick up the piece of weirwood. It had white bark and was shockingly in the shape of a dagger, except the handle was a bundle of small twisted branches that must have been a stabilizer to hold it steady when I fell on it.

“You're still alive after having that shoved in your back?” Tyrion asked. “Who are you?”

I wasn't sure giving out my real name was a good idea. John was a common enough first name wherever I went and that was fine. My last name, though... Hansen might be a bit too odd to survive scrutiny in a medieval society.

“What do people call themselves when they have no family name to claim?” I asked and tucked the weirwood piece under my pillow and stored it when it was out of sight. At least my inventory still worked properly.

Tyrion looked thoughtful for a moment. “No family name?” He asked and I shook my head. “When a child is unclaimed by a family, they are considered bastards, both male and female. With no family, they call the children after the land where they were born. Flowers in the Reach, Hill in the Westerlands, Stone in the Vale, Storm in the Stormlands, Rivers in the Riverlands, Waters in the Crownlands, Pyke in the Iron Islands, Snow in the North, and Sand in Dorne.”

“I thought there were only seven kingdoms?” I asked.

“There are a lot more bastards than seven kingdoms can contain.” Tyrion joked and laughed with a hiss.

“Waters sounds good, considering how I got here.” I said and then smiled. “I doubt anyone would want John Magical Green Fire hanging around.”

“It's called wildfire.” Tyrion said and then whispered. “And I was the one that set it up.”

“John Wildfire.” I said and snorted. “No, that would get me lynched anywhere I went. Waters it is.”

“Save calling yourself wildfire for battles.” Tyrion said and laid back down on his cot. “By the gods, I need a bottle of wine or six.”

“You should have asked the young woman before she ran off with your money.” I said with a laugh.

“You're such a Bastard.” Tyrion joked and laughed, too.

We both hissed appropriately from the pain and it was totally worth it.

By the time the young woman came back, the maester had packed all of my burn wounds and divots with poultices and had also trussed me up like a mummy. I could barely move and she carefully helped me put on the underwear. I swore it was made of burlap, because it itched like crazy.

“You can leave off the rest and put it under my cot. The bandages need to be changed tomorrow and there's no point in dressing me if you have to undress me again in the morning.” I said.

“Of course, my lord.” She said and knelt to put the clothing under the bed.

I started to squirm and she gave me a concerned look. “I'm becoming quite itchy down there.” I said and she blushed. “If you would be so kind, could you give me a hand? I need relief and the maester bound my hands to stop me from scratching at the poultices.”

She gave me a deep blush and then looked at my underwear. “Of... of course, my lord. I will do my best.”

“Thank you.” I said and watched as she eased her hands inside my underwear. That was a bit more than I thought necessary, then she moved my underwear down and slipped me right into her mouth. I sprang right up for her and she used her hands to stroke me as she bobbed her head up and down. I was a bit surprised at her boldness, especially when I felt her tongue probe me a few times and I throbbed for her.

She worked me over pretty good and then she stopped when I blew my load. Unlike how I expected, she didn't move away or tried to let it dribble out to make a mess. She sucked it all down and then licked me off before she sat back with a shocked look on her face. It was probably because I ate well and the taste was a surprise for her.

“I am definitely not getting my money's worth at the brothels.” Tyrion commented and I smacked him on the shoulder. He just laughed.

The young woman blushed deeply and ducked her head as she tucked me back inside the underwear.

“My lady.” I said in a stern voice and she jerked slightly and looked at me. “I must know your name.”

“It's Maeve, my lord. Maeve Rivers.” Maeve said, which meant she was a bastard from the Riverlands.

“John Waters.” I said and her eyes widened, because the name said I was from the Crownlands. “Are you beholden to anyone?” I asked. “Promised? Betrothed? Owned?”

Maeve shook her head and I gave her my best and most endearing smile, which made her blush even more than swallowing my seed did.

“I must warn you that I have a tendency to fall I love with a woman that cares for me when I'm hurt.” I said and her eyes widened again. “I'll need someone to attend me for the next week or so.”

“I... I am only here for the emergency tonight, as are several others. I need to return to the inn and resume my serving duties there.” Maeve said and then quickly explained. “The matron took me in and taught me everything she knows. I won't abandon her, even if a handsome lord wants to sweep me off my feet.”

My smile didn't lessen as I nodded my head. “You are as honorable as you are diligent.” I said and she ducked her head. “Can you arrange for me to stay at the inn? Perhaps we can figure out how to combine your sworn duty while also attending to me.”

“Of... of course, my lord. I'll do so as soon as I return to the inn.” Maeve said and stood. “I need to check on the others that have also been burned.”

“Please do not perform the same duty on them.” I said and she blushed. “I'm not admonishing you for it, my lady. Now that I've had it, I am jealous and I do not want another man to experience such joy from you.”

Maeve blushed even harder. “I've never... that was... I'm not sure why I did that.”

“Then I thank you from the bottom of my heart for allowing me to be the first.” I said and held up a bandaged hand for her to take. “I look forward to being under your exclusive care, my lady.”

Maeve nodded and let my hand go before she walked away.

“You do realize you've told her you're related to royalty and she's going to expect to live in a fort, if not a whole castle.” Tyrion said.

“Would a castle tower suffice?” I asked and he laughed. “I'm sure there's land I can acquire from somewhere.”

“Just for amusing me, I'll put in a horrible word with the maester of lands.”

“A horrible word?” I asked.

“If it comes from me, it's never considered a good word.” Tyrion said with a grin. “Ow! Dammit.”

“Don't worry about your face. Once I'm up and mobile again, I'll get to work and will try to come up with something to help you.”

“Are you a healer?” Tyrion asked.

“Something like that.” I said. I wasn't sure how much of my medical knowledge could be applied to the locals. On the other hand, I had centuries of potions, elixirs, medications, and treatments that should go over extremely well in a medieval society. Figuring out how potent they were in this magically altered world would just take time and experimentation.

“I'll try to get you some good land near the capital, then.” Tyrion said. “I doubt I will be travelling anywhere for a while.”

“Same here.” I said and looked down at myself. “Then again, I could easily be strapped to a horse.”

“I hope you mean to a saddle, because if you mean behind it, I am going to pretend I don't know you.” Tyrion said.

“Am I supposed to feel insulted if my manhood is stiff enough to plow a field?” I asked him

Tyrion laughed, hissed in pain, and smacked my shoulder again. “Stop making me laugh, you fuck!”

I hissed in pain as well and laughed. “I'm sorry, little hero.”

The two of us quieted down and took several deep breaths as the situation finally hit us.

“I'm really glad I'm still alive.” Tyrion said in a whisper.

“Me, too. Who would I mooch off of if you had died?” I asked and he chuckled. “I'm joking, my friend. I'll have more money than even you will know what to do with in a couple of weeks.”

“Oh? And how do you propose to accomplish that?” Tyrion asked.

“Food production.” I said and he looked surprised. “All armies need food. Some will steal it and some will pay for it. Either way, I'll have lots of customers.”

“Are you actually insane?” Tyrion asked.

“Possibly. It depends on what lands you can swindle for me.”

Tyrion barked a laugh. “You actually trust me to get you something suitable?”

“I trust that you can find me land. It doesn't have to be suitable, though. I can make it that way fairly quickly.”

“I thought you were a fisherman?” Tyrion asked.

“I'm a lot of things.” I said and let out a long sigh. “At the moment, I'm pretty tired.”

“As am I.” Tyrion said and yawned. “Wake me when the maester comes back to apply new poultices.”

“I'm pretty sure my screaming will be sufficient for that.” I joked and he laughed. “Goodnight, little hero.”

“Goodnight, you Bastard.” Tyrion joked right back.

*

The next day, I discovered that the inn was a surprisingly nice place. The innkeeper was an older woman that was harsh and demanding, until I told her to dig several gold coins out from my pockets. She made a disparaging comment about me wanting her to grope me, which she happily did before she took out several gold coins.

“Take him up to the top floor and get him settled in the far room.” She told Maeve and the two young men carrying me. The men gave the tall set of stairs a look and then looked at me.

“Maeve will grope me to get a coin for each for you.” I said and Maeve blushed.

The two men nodded several times before they carefully carried me up the stairs. I was deposited on a fairly soft bed and Maeve did as I asked as she dug into my front pocket and took out two gold coins for the young men.

When they were gone, I nodded to her. She looked unsure until I whispered that my pockets were endless and that she could dig in there as much as she wanted and that she would find gold coins every time. She gave me a disbelieving look for several seconds, then she put a hand back into my pocket. Her fingers grazed against my erection again and she blushed before she found a gold coin and pulled it out.

“Keep going.” I prompted her and she looked unsure once more before she gained a resolved look on her face and dug her hand into my pocket again.

She kept looking at my face as she pulled more gold coins out of my pocket and eventually her hand spent more time rubbing me than looking for gold. I whispered that I was close to messing up my pants and she quickly opened them up to relieve the pressure. She caught it with her hand and stared at the large pool that had gathered in her palm.

“Thank you, my lady.” I said.

Maeve gave me a look before she put her hand to her mouth and licked it all up. When it was gone, she gathered up the sixteen gold coins she had found and looked lost about what to do with it all.

“There's a sack in my other pocket.” I said and she gave me an incredulous look. “A money sack, not my ball sack.”

Maeve huffed and reached into my pocket and pulled out a nice-sized sack. She put the gold into it and once again looked lost about what to do with it.

“The string is long enough to go around your neck.” I suggested. “No one should see it unless you reveal it in public.”

Maeve pulled the string taut and then made a loop with it and hung it over her neck to let the sack rest between her breasts.

“I hope that's enough for the week of care that I require.” I said and she nodded. “Then I can't wait to see you again for supper, my lady.”

“I'm still no lady.” Maeve protested.

“You will be.” I said with a smile.

Maeve blushed and left to perform her duties for the day and I was left alone with nothing to do except trying to create various things to see what was viable and what wasn't. The thing was, I was still in no condition to survive if anything exploded and I would probably take part or all of the inn with me, not to mention any innocent people that were staying here.

I sighed, because with no normal magic and no Force to manipulate things, I wouldn't even be able to open or read a book. That meant a very long week of convalescence for me, because there was only one window and it was too high for me to look out through.

*

Tyrion couldn't figure out why his face and nose had stopped hurting two days later. When he had looked in the mirror and checked under the bandage to see if his face was rotting off, he was surprised that the scar was thinner than it had been the last time he had checked it.

He shrugged and applied the bandage again and returned to his desk to look over the plans to house and feed the two armies that had come to his rescue at the last moment. The House Lannister cavalry and the House Tyrell's infantry. The kingdom was quickly running out of money because of the war and he wasn't sure if he would be able to cover the costs for more than a month. The food imports alone were going to wreck his budget.

That thought brought his mind to the man he had met in the wounded tent, John Waters. He hadn't had the heart to tell him it was the dead and dying tent, with only one real expectation when you were brought there. Burning your body after you died. He had made Tyrion laugh and that was worth the gold he had paid the maester for the extra poultices, even if they would be wasted on dead men.

Then the next day, they were both declared fit enough to leave.

Tyrion had thanked the old gods and the new and bid his new friend a fond farewell, fully expecting to never meet the man ever again. Now he was sure that if he didn't find the man somewhere to set up his farming business, preferably very close to the city and under a kingdom exclusive contract, it wouldn't matter how much food was produced because the kingdom's coffers would be empty.

He couldn't contact John right then, because he said he needed the week to recover, which would be a sight to see, considering the man was burnt in multiple places and had pieces and even chunks of skin and flesh missing. Even looking like he did, John had somehow charmed that attendant into sucking him off, right there in front of him.

That alone had impressed Tyrion. The man's confidence had bolstered his own bleak outlook into acceptance that whatever happened, happened. That they were alive after their horrific wounds was a testament to either stubbornness or fate wanting to kick them both in the balls for daring to not die.

Tyrion laughed at that thought. He had always acted that way in front of his father and if fate was going to keep dealing him a horrible hand of cards to play with... by the gods, he was going to bluff his way through the game and come out on top.

One of the first things they needed to do was clean up the harbour, because they needed that trade route cleared as soon as possible. He would have to delay paying the alchemists for the wildfire and hire as many smaller ships and crews as possible to get them to haul the wrecked ships out of the way. They didn't have to be completely removed, just pushed off to the side.

“If I allow them salvage rights, I could defer some of the costs and also earn some loyalty from them for not claiming the shipwrecks for the kingdom. Yes, that should work.” Tyrion said and started writing out the proposal to present to the small council meeting that he was never invited to and always showed up to anyway. He always loved seeing the looks of disgust on his father's and sister's faces.

*

I sucked in a very sharp breath on the eighth day of my stay at the inn and energy flowed through me. My prismatic regeneration had finally completed and I felt normal once more. Even my Chi energy had recovered and that had been a surprise for me to learn had been depleted as well.

If my body was damaged like it was by magical fire that somehow chewed up anything magical it touched, including my body, my Chi didn't flow and I couldn't fly around or enhance my body to let it heal faster. I had discovered the problem when I had tried to create a Senzu Bean and the thing had withered on my tongue when I tried to chew it. It had no Chi network to work with, apparently.

I waited for Maeve to bring me breakfast, or locally it was known as breaking my fast, before I asked her to help me remove my mummy bandages. She always laughed when I described them like that, even though she didn't really know what I meant by mummy.

As she slowly unwrapped each binding and used a wet cloth and a basin to wash off the poultices, her eyes kept getting wider and wider. When I was devoid of all my bandages and had been washed clean by her diligent hands, her mouth hung open in shock and I stood up to let her get the best view.

Without saying a word, I helped her stand as well, then I gently caressed her face before I kissed her. She didn't react at first, probably because she was still in shock, then she shook slightly and wrapped her arms around my neck as she kissed me like her life depended on it.

We were soon both naked and on the bed. I washed her just as diligently as she had taken care of me and her face was completely red when I was done. I gave her another passionate kiss and then went down on her. She soon screamed my name in ecstasy and begged for me to take her maidenhood. I did and she loved every second of it.

The older woman that owned the inn rushed into the room with an old rusted sword and found us wrapped up in each other's arms. “I thought the bastard was killing you.” She said with a sigh.

“Don't sound so disappointed.” I joked and she gave me a pointed look. “I'm sorry for taking her away from her job as I thanked her for taking care of me.”

The older woman sighed again. “It's fine. We only have two other customers and I took care of them already.”

“Wonderful!” I said and hopped out of bed and bent over to pretend to dig through my pants to pull out a handful of gold coins.

“It really was.” Maeve said with a dreamy voice.

I chuckled and handed the coins to the innkeeper. “I hope you won't mind me staying here until I can find a place to live.”

The older woman huffed and shoved the coins down her shirt. “As long as you don't keep Maeve from doing her job.”

“I promise I won't distract her while I'm here.” I said and quickly dressed. “I'll be heading out in a few minutes to scout around and get the lay of the land.”

“You better hold your breath when you're near the lower levels of the city.” The innkeeper said. “They don't use buckets of water to rinse the sewer troughs enough.”

“Sewer... troughs.” I said with trepidation and she laughed.

“You really are a rich noble's bastard.” She said and waved at Maeve. “Get dressed and help me start preparing lunch. The crowd will be gathering soon.”

Maeve nodded and sat up. She let out a little squeak of pain and reached down to touch herself, which caused another squeak.

“Allow me.” I said and knelt as I took out a pain relief potion from my pocket. It was a little murky and that was okay. If it had been a different color, I would have tossed it. “Drink this.”

Maeve didn't hesitate and downed it. “Bleh! What was that?”

“Pain relief potion.” I said and both Maeve and the innkeeper gasped. “Try touching yourself again.”

Maeve did so and gasped again. “It's not sore anymore!”

“Are you a member of the Alchemist's Guild?” The innkeeper asked.

“Not here, no.” I said and stood to help Maeve get dressed. “Maeve told you how I arrived here.”

The innkeeper looked pensive. “You better keep that potion to yourself, then. If they knew someone that wasn't a member was brewing in their city...”

“I understand.” I said and she nodded. I turned to Maeve and gave her a kiss. “I'll see you tonight.”

Maeve gave me a warm smile and left the room with the innkeeper.

I vanished the fluids and mess before I made the bed. I was glad that a lot of the spells I knew had equivalents in my own powers from the lands I controlled and from constant use. I wasn't sure why normal magic wasn't working on this world and had to attribute it to when I felt out for the Force. The world's energy was cracked and the rules had been altered here. For what purpose, I didn't know.

I sat down on the bed and thought back to the other world that magic was prevalent on, in the Shield Hero universe, and tried to call out the shield that was embedded inside my forearm. It didn't raise up or give me access to Ost. I could tell that she was still in stasis, which was a huge relief. She was quite sensitive to the changes in magic and I was sure this world would hurt her if she manifested.

All right, I need to go find somewhere to test a few things. I thought and left my room and went downstairs. I waved to the two women in the kitchen and stepped outside. I felt a slight spike of pain in my head as a land called 'Old Lady Inn' appeared in my head. It didn't generate any magic, which was weird. What it did do was grant me the benefits of a good night's sleep without actually sleeping and a free breakfast every time I used it.

That made me blink, because my powers had long ago let me use lands multiple times in succession, because of all of the other lands I had that would either regenerate the land's magic or negate the effects of having to wait to use it again. This one felt different. I didn't use it, though. I would wait to test it later, assuming I didn't gain anything else that would give me an instant benefit.

I walked down the street and didn't gain anything until I neared a storefront that sold tanned hides. I gained a copy of the business and it granted me free animal skins if I provided appropriate animals. That was quite different from my normal lands, considering they didn't generate magic. I passed a butcher's shop and it linked with the tannery and now I could get free processed animal meat when an appropriate animal was provided.

They also generated money when combined, assuming I didn't keep the products that were produced. I didn't plan on that, so as soon as I found some land to convert, I would have two sources of income. Either that, or I could sell animals to the two businesses I had just passed. In any case, I continued on my walkabout and shuffled off the weird lands into their own section in my mind.

*

Tyrion walked down the street with a purpose. He had paid a street rat a silver coin to keep an eye on the inn that his new friend stayed in and that rat had informed him that John was out and walking around under his own power. He wasn't crippled, despite having so much damage to his arms and legs. Podrick followed along and the sellsword named Bronn guarded them both.

“You know he's probably long gone by now.” Bronn said with a hand on his sword hilt.

“John wouldn't do that. He owes me a gold.” Tyrion said as an explanation.

Bronn laughed. “What was it you said? He had nothing? How was he going to pay you back?”

“Farming.” Tyrion said. “I need that food and...”

“You're insane.” Bronn said. “Even if he somehow fixes that swampy mess you call a field, it'll take months or years to get it producing enough food for your needs.”

Tyrion knew that intellectually. He knew that well. The thing was, he also knew that he somehow believed that John's boasts were not boasts. That he had treated Tyrion like a person, and not like a waste of space, had nothing to do with it.

“Spread out. He should be around here somewhere.” Tyrion said.

“Who are you looking for?” A voice asked from behind them.

“AH!” Podrick yelped and jumped away.

Bronn pulled his sword out and swung it around in one smooth motion to attack the threat he hadn't detected. He somehow missed and suddenly had his own sword pressed to his throat.

Tyrion had recognized the voice and turned around normally as he smiled at his new friend. “You.”

John glanced at Bronn.

“Sellsword guard named Bronn. I pay him enough to guard me, even when it's not necessary.”

John chuckled and flipped the sword around to hand it back to Bronn. “I knew you were filthy rich.”

“I'm still a gold short, you bastard.” Tyrion joked.

“Is that a height joke? I thought you were above such things.” John said with a grin and they both laughed.

“This is Podrick, or Pod to his friends.” Tyrion said.

John nodded to both men. “It's nice to meet you both.”

“You look remarkably well, considering you looked well cooked the last time I saw you.” Tyrion said.

“Healthy living and a pretty woman waiting on you hand and foot can do wonders.” John said and took out a gold coin to flip to Tyrion, who easily caught it. “I've already scouted out a few businesses around here. Is there any chance there's a city map or something? Wandering around and hoping I find something else is getting tedious.”

“Of course. I have access to several maps of the city, the region, the kingdoms, and the continent.” Tyrion said and John raised his eyebrows at him. “Yes, I'm trying to bribe you.”

John laughed. “Is that why you were looking for me?”

“I've found you some prime land...” Tyrion started and Bronn barked a laugh. “...that needs some work. When can you get started fixing it?”

“As soon as I get there.” John said. “I assume that's the first map you'll give me?”

Tyrion nodded and pulled out a piece of parchment. “It's several miles outside the city and if it had been in better condition, would be worth a fortune to whoever owned it.”

John looked at the map and nodded. “Which is you, I take it.”

“As of yesterday morning. I'm willing to sign half of it over as soon as you can produce some foodstuffs.” Tyrion offered.

“Depending on the size of the area, I could get various crops to grow pretty quickly. If it's dry, corn and wheat. If it's wet, rice would be best. If it's moderate, perhaps potatoes and carrots. If there are different kinds of lands nearby, I'll do a rotating schedule to keep the land fertile and not deplete it of nutrients from a single crop.”

Tyrion, Pod, and Bronn stared at him.

John laughed. “I'm sorry. I grew up on a farm and made it the best producing land in the country. I fed thousands of people every day before I left home.”

“Thousands a day.” Tyrion whispered.

“I had a lot of land and lots of workers back then.” John said and handed the map back. “Do you have anyone to take me there or am I going by myself?”

“Pod can take you there. You'll need to stop at the stables and pick up a couple of horses.” Tyrion offered and Pod nodded. “It's not that far and you should be safe if you stick to the King's Road.”

“You don't have to worry about me being safe.” John said and nodded to Pod. “Let's get those horses.”

“Yes, my lord.” Pod said and led John away.

Tyrion and Bronn stood there in the street and watched them walk away.

“You actually like him.” Bronn said with an odd tone of voice.

Tyrion barked a laugh. “I'm not going to suck his cock, if that's what you're implying.”

Bronn smiled at him. “You are at a good height for it.”

Tyrion laughed and smacked his arm. “We need to get back to the keep. I've got some planning to do and perhaps a few schemes to twist around on my sister.”

“Always fun times.” Bronn said and the pair walked off.

*

“This place is a dump.” I joked and Pod nodded without laughing. “Do you feel like giving me a hand gathering up some stones for a retaining wall? I pay well.”

Pod looked at the massive swampland and back at my face. “You're serious?”

I barked a laugh. “No, I'm going to buy a shovel and dig out a nice reservoir to drain all this water into. Once it's drained, I can make ponds and lakes to feed into the water table and keep the whole thing irrigated without having to rely on rain or digging wells.”

“That... that's brilliant.” Pod said with awe on his face.

I chuckled. “I've been farming for a long time, Pod. With this much land and water to work with, I'll have my first rice crop ready in about 30 days, assuming we have that many warm days in a row.”

“It's always warm here.” Pod said.

“Great.” I said. “Tell Tyrion this 450 acre swamp is soon going to produce 40 bags of rice per acre and they weigh 150 pounds each.”

Pod stared at me. “That's 18,000 bags of rice!”

I nodded. “You're a smart man. Make sure he knows to arrange appropriate transport for it.”

Pod nodded and turned his horse around. “I'll tell him right away!”

Before I could tell him I was going back to the city, he took off at the horse's best speed. I laughed and hopped off the horse. As soon as my feet touched the ground, I felt a sharp pain in my head. Once again, I gained a weird land. It wasn't quite a swamp and it wasn't quite stable.

It was actually the site of an old battle that caused a lot of damage to the land and it had eventually flooded and became what it now was. A 450 acre dangerous water hazard.

I took several deep breaths and let them out. This would be my first land conversion on this weird world and I was sure that it was going to work, because I was establishing my own magic handhold upon the planet. I was also sure that it was going to hurt like hell, considering the broken nature of the world's magic.

I secured the horse so that if I screamed, it wouldn't run away, then I knelt in the muck and put my hands down in it. Since the entire 450 acres counted as a single land in my head, this was going to be my largest single conversion since the Shield Hero universe. I chose a rice paddy farm and then let my magic do its thing.

“AHHHHHHH!” I screamed as something like a clawed and twisted ghost-like hand raked through my brain. I wasn't sure what it meant that it could physically harm me, being incorporeal like it was. I ignored it as best as I could and my power flowed out and out into the swamp.

Once it was completely covered and I had suffered dozens of mental attacks, the entire land seemed to snap into place and switched immediately into what I wanted. The thing inside my head screamed as it lost one of its fingers and withdrew. I mentally cast a diagnostic spell on myself and I wasn't surprised that I was very close to suffering severe mental exhaustion.

I didn't have a lot of time before I would fall unconscious, so I stood and stumbled towards the horse. “You're going to hate me.” I said to it and took the reins as I climbed on, then I cast apparate on it and myself as I chose the spot just outside the city gate. The loud crack startled the horse and I barely held on as the horse took off. We went through the gate at a fast run and people shouted at me. I didn't bother telling them it was scared.

The horse made it back to the stable and I slid off and stood beside the building. One of the stable boys took the horse and pet it and cooed at it as he walked away with it. I felt my mind fog over a little and didn't dare try to apparate again.

I held a gold coin out to the closest stable boy. “Get me to the Old Lady's Inn and... I'll give you another... when I wake up.”

The boy looked surprised at my offer and my eyes closed for a moment. When they opened again, the boy and the coin were gone. I had his image in my head, so I would find him again if he stole from me. I dropped to the ground as unconsciousness took me.

*

I opened my eyes and I was back in my room. I had no idea how long I was out and I had no idea how to tell, which made me laugh and I shook my head. My room door opened and there was a relieved looking Maeve and the young boy from the stable.

“Thanks for not robbing me.” I said and took out another coin to toss to him.

The boy caught the coin before he ducked his head and looked embarrassed, then he ran.

“He did try.” Maeve said and walked over to me. “You're lucky he doesn't know the secret.”

I chuckled and took her hand. “How long?”

“Three days.” Maeve said. “You must be hungry.”

“I could eat.” I said and sat up. “Tyrion didn't happen to send over a map for me, did he?”

Maeve nodded. “I have it in my room.”

“Thank you.” I said and gave her a kiss. “I'm sorry if I worried you.”

“I'm sorry that I didn't try to stop you from going out the first day you were feeling better.” Maeve said with a sigh.

I pulled her down onto my lap and into a hug. “If a harbour full of magical exploding green wildfire couldn't get rid of me, a bout of mental exhaustion never had a chance.”

“Is that what happened?” Maeve asked and I nodded.

“I felt it happening and rushed home to you.”

Maeve blinked her eyes several times. “To me?”

“I had to deliver the horse first or the city's guard would have come for my head.” I said and it was her turn to nod. “I paid the boy to bring me to you.”

“You were lucky that you weren't wearing more expensive clothing or had a money pouch.”

I gave her a big smile. “That's why I asked you to buy the cheapest clothing you could. No one pays any attention to a pauper in the streets.”

“And you're no pauper.” Maeve said.

“Not even close.” I said and then smiled. “I wonder if I could find some miners after Tyrion signs over half of the land? I'm sure there's gold out there to be found.”

“Only half of 450 acres? You'll become a minor Steward if you're lucky and the king recognizes you.”

“No, thanks. I like anonymity and getting anyone's attention will only cause trouble.” I said and then kissed her again. “Now I have to go back out there to make us a nice castle tower to live in.”

Maeve caught her breath and stared at me.

“Is that not enough?” I asked and she didn't react. “Perhaps I'll make more and join them together.”

“You... John, I...” Maeve sighed. “Don't make me choose.”

I understood her problem and nodded. “I don't expect you to abandon the woman that took you in and I've only just started courting you. There will be gifts and dates when you're available and hidden kisses and meetings when you're not.”

“J-John!” Maeve gasped and blushed.

“Don't worry. I'm staying around for a while as I figure things out, so you're going to have to break my fast with me every day.”

Maeve nodded and gave me a kiss. “It's just before noon. I'll be back with a bowl of stew for you.”

I handed her a gold coin. “Thank you.”

“How many of these do you have?” Maeve asked as she put it into her money pouch.

“All of them.” I said with a smirk.

Maeve blinked her eyes at me several times. “Are you joking?”

With the amount of mana I had access to, which hadn't been hampered, I could probably fill the city from the ground to the top of the castle with gold coins and still have thousands of lands to spend.

“I've already set up the land to start producing rice. In under a month, I'll have 18,000 bags of it to sell. A month after that, 18,000 more. A month after that...”

Maeve stopped breathing and her mouth dropped open before she fainted.

I chuckled and lightly slapped her cheek to wake her. “Food, remember?”

“Y-yes, food. I'll be right back.” Maeve said and stood, gave me a look full of wonder, then she kissed me and strode from the room.

I waited until she returned with the food and she left again before I did something I probably shouldn't have. I used my powers and created 'The Imp'. I felt a stab of pain in my head as a perfect copy of Tyrion appeared. By perfect, I meant that he didn't have any wounds on his face and he looked immaculate and well dressed.

“Tell me everything that's been going on before I arrived here.” I ordered.

The Imp started his speech with a wicked smile on his face. “First off, my sister is the biggest and meanest bitch in the seven kingdoms...”

*

Tyrion had dismissed Podrick's claim as an exaggeration. He believed that some rice could be grown so quickly, since it really was quite warm near King's Landing, despite the maesters declaring it to be autumn. Since each season was years long, food production would be good for several years yet.

Producing 18,000 bags at 150 pounds each in only a month? That was ridiculous. Tyrion only weighed 110 pounds, so the bags would be bigger and heavier than him. In fact, he could probably fit inside a bag himself and still have room for another 40 pounds of rice.

Considering that each pound of rice was 4 servings for a normal meal, a single 150 pound bag would feed 600 people. A reasonable 1,000 bags would feed 600,000 people a single serving. Eaten 3 times a day, that's 200,000 people. Divided by 30 days a month, that's about 6,600 people.

So, 1,000 bags of 150 pounds of rice will feed 6,600 people for a month. If, by some miracle, John actually produced 18,000 bags a month, he could feed 120,000 people for a month. That's well and good, except there were nearly half a million people living in the city.

John would need four and a half times as much land to produce enough rice to feed the citizens, not counting the landed armies that take priority over the normal people. Then again, who actually eats three full meals a day? If you dropped it to two, then 180,000 people could be fed twice a day.

I need to get him more land somehow. Tyrion thought and went over to the cabinet with the farmlands listed in the same area. He dug out the yields and his mind immediately realized that they produced barely a quarter of John's ridiculous total. He wasn't sure why he was using that as a measuring stick, though.

Tyrion hadn't gotten confirmation about it and shouldn't be planning for it; and yet, he was. He knew if he showed up in three weeks at the swamp without the proper transport to handle that many bags, he would be scrambling to arrange it and to get the rice distributed.

If each cart could take 100 bags at 150 pounds each, for a total of 15,000 pounds, that's 180 carts in a single trip or 180 trips by a single cart. He could probably hire 30 carts and set them in a caravan to handle the work and then they would go back and forth 6 times each to handle it all.

Tyrion nodded and started to work out the logistics, the distribution, and who had priority. He also had to work out who he would get to cook it all and hoped they did it properly, because even one burned batch would throw off his calculations.

I'll need to compensate for a 25% loss from idiots. Tyrion thought and his writing implement sped across the parchment.

*

I spent the three remaining weeks of the month with The Imp and learned about what had been going on in the world. It was shocking. A mad king, a justified kingslayer, the open rebellion to seat a new king, and the seven kingdoms degenerating over the last two decades of Robert Baratheon's rule and defaulting to their own practically independent rulers.

Robert's death by accident, and you could believe that as much as the moon was made of cheese, set everyone off into thinking they were the rightful heirs to the throne. They apparently had no clue how monarchies worked and each one had their own ideas of who was worthy to sit on the Iron Throne.

Robb Stark was declared the King in the North and started a war with anyone supporting the Lannisters, because the king had killed his father, the previous Hand of the King, Lord Eddard Stark. A lot of people supported him at first and then his campaign seemed to stall and the entire situation changed when he met the bulk of the Lannister House army and had to retreat. It was just too bad that his seat of power in the north, Winterfell, had been sacked and burned to the ground.

That had happened just before Stannis Baratheon's failed sacking of King's Landing, which I had witnessed, so my non-interference actually helped ensure the people in power stayed that way. I wasn't sure how I felt about that, considering who those people actually were. I was soon reminded as to why.

The Imp took particular pleasure in telling me the king was Tyrion's brother's child and not an heir to the throne at all, which made the both of us laugh, because the whole fight to dethrone Joffrey was a sham. His brother Jaime was off on some personal quest he believed he needed to complete, despite the ongoing war and being who he was.

He also took pleasure in telling me all of the backroom deals and things Tyrion had to do, or knew about, just to keep the kingdom solvent. He never questioned why they were borrowing so heavily from the Iron Bank, because his own family owned the gold mines of the kingdom.

It only took a day for one of my River assassins to infiltrate the mines and she discovered that they were barren. Whatever gold that had been there was now completely mined out and the miners had been slaughtered to keep them quiet. It had been passed off as an accidental mine collapse and no one questioned it.

The Imp was stunned to hear that the richest family in the seven kingdoms was just as poor as a commoner, except they had no real appreciable skills to earn themselves more gold to stay alive. If they lost their political power, they would become nothing beyond a family that everyone despised.

With less than two weeks left before the rice would be produced, three of the farmers from the nearby fields approached me with contracts to lease their lands. I brought them and their families to the single castle tower I had made, gave them delicious meals to placate them, and read through the contracts.

Tyrion's hand was in all of them and I discussed things with each of them as we ate. They were multi-generational farming families and they were failing to meet the many demands placed upon them by the king, especially the land taxes. The occasional raids by bandits weren't as bad as the Lannister soldiers showing up randomly and taking whatever they wanted.

Only one of the farmers was well read enough to understand that he was essentially signing over his lands to me and he would become a vassal of my House, even if I was a bastard. He said he didn't care about who I was, as long as I could save his livelihood and keep his family from being slaughtered and his lands given to people that would ruin it.

Needless to say, I changed the different clauses in each contract and we negotiated for nearly a full day before I managed to convince them that I wasn't stealing their lands. I was placing them and their families under my protection.

Only one woman didn't believe me and she was the wife of the wheat farmer that owned the largest piece of the surrounding lands. “I know that as soon as we sign this, you're going to kill us all and take everything anyway.”

I started laughing and everyone at the table looked surprised. “My dear lady, I could have killed you all the moment I was in the area. In fact, like you said, I could kill you right now and not one single person, besides your families, would care.”

She looked at me defiantly. “Then why don't you?”

“I hate wasting so much potential.” I said and everyone looked surprised. “People as a whole, never realize that it's them that have the real power in a society. You see, without you and your family making food to feed everyone, especially the rich and lazy, they would die. No food, no clothes, no weapons, and no horses. If even one part of the power chain decided they were no longer going to contribute, you could topple any ruler.”

They were stunned by my words.

“So, it's in my best interests to cultivate the best relationship I can with the people that have the real power, wouldn't you say?” I asked her and she nodded. “Before you sign those contracts, I should reimburse you for all the unnecessary taxes you've paid and also pay a proper price for the foodstuffs you've produced and were taken without proper payment.”

They stayed stunned as I left the room and I created three sacks of gold coins, three sacks of silver coins, and three large sacks of bronze coins. I went back into the room and they stared at me as I placed one of each money bag in front of the wives of the farmers, since I knew they were the money handlers in their families.

No one moved for about ten seconds, then all of the bags were opened and everyone yelled and cheered, declared they were rich, and signed the contracts without protest.

“I expect you to hire enough workers to work all of your lands, because I'll be coming by to fix them all.” I said and they nodded. “You three families are going to become the cornerstone of our food production empire.”

“We'll send in the paperwork immediately to the Maester's Council for changing our family name to Waters.” One of the farmers said.

“You don't have to do that.” I said and placed a hand on his shoulder. “You can keep your family names and remain under my banner, just like the larger families with bannermen. You will count as branches of my own family.”

“You have an actual banner?” A young woman asked.

I nodded and left the room again to create a large black banner with water at the bottom and a ball of green wildfire above it. I made several of them and went back into the meeting room.

“I'll send word to the capital and have them inform everyone that you are my vassals. If anyone shows up at your farms, point to this and tell them to come see me. If they still try to steal from you... from us... I will hunt them down and kill them.”

“What if they're Lannisters?” The woman who objected before asked.

“Politely tell them that if they want the city to starve and for Lord Lannister to be angry at them, then they can help themselves to the food and I'll kill them later.” I said and looked at each of them. “I am now your liege lord. If anyone transgresses against you, I will hunt them down and kill them. No one takes liberties with my people without their permission.”

The young woman that asked about the banner blushed and turned her head away.

I walked over to her and knelt beside her chair. “Who was it? Do you know their name?” I asked her and used a mental spell to check.

“He... he said he was... a cousin to the king.” She whispered as tears came to her eyes. “He said he would... get rid of me... if I ever told anyone. Then his friend...”

I pulled her into a hug and she started crying. “Don't worry, Raina. They're dead. They don't know it yet; but, they are not long for this world. I promise you.”

She clung to me and the other women and girls soon joined in on the hug.

“Their heads will be mounted on my battlement by the end of the week.” I said and felt her nod.

“If he really is a cousin of the king...”

“It doesn't matter.” I said and eased Raina out of the hug and passed her to her mother. “If the king himself ordered it, I will kill him and mount his head on a pike as well.”

Everyone stared at me. Some with a little fear and some with awe.

“You are my people now. Whoever has wronged you, has wrong me.” I said and stood. “I will station guards in key spots and if anything happens, they will act in my stead and inform me immediately.”

The farmers nodded and the women looked pleased. They eventually left with their money, a copy of the contracts, and the banner to hang from their houses.

I waited until they were out of sight before I created something that I really shouldn't have. The Dementor appeared and it immediately shivered and its eyes that used to be empty holes, now had a glowing blue pupil.

“I can see you're already influenced by this world.” I said and it nodded. “Will you still listen to my commands?”

It nodded again and turned its head to look off into the distance.

“That's north.” I said and it nodded. “Something is drawing you there?”

It nodded again and turned to look at me.

“I have several people that need to be hunted down and made to relive their worst crimes. You can have their souls, too.”

The Dementor smiled and nodded as he held a hand out to me.

“You want me to save your image?” I asked and it nodded again. “Is this your decision or the influence you feel?”

It wagged its hand from side to side.

“That's not a good thing.” I said with a sigh. “I've neglected touching other things, just because I didn't want them corrupting me or my powers. I've had something try to claw its way into my head when I changed the land here for my own use and I don't want to infect myself with whatever you've been corrupted with, not without knowing if it's the same entity that tried to hurt me.”

The Dementor let its hand drop.

“I'll keep experimenting and I'll try to compare what the other lands are going to be like after I convert them. If the feelings are different, I'll consider accepting your request to be saved.” I said and it nodded. I brought forth the images and names of the soldiers that had forced Raina to have sex with them. “You have my permission to make them suffer as much as possible before you claim them.”

The Dementor smiled as the images entered its head and it faded away into almost nothing before it flew away at a speed that would have been shocking if I wasn't capable of flying faster myself.

With that out of the way, I started my walkabout across my new lands and inspected them. Surprisingly, they were sectioned off like normal lands and I wouldn't be converting a huge chuck and possibly knocking myself out again. With the much smaller risk, I chose to convert the first fields into their best versions, namely from once a year harvest wheat to four times a year harvest wheat.

I was surprised when I wasn't attacked or felt a sharp pain in my head. When I looked back, the land was connected to the one I had already converted. I nodded in understanding. I wasn't making a new place and it didn't hurt. I was converting and expanding an already existing area. I would have to be very careful to always do so.

None of the lands I gained were magic producing, though. Not even my own converted ones. It was almost like the world itself wasn't allowing it or was absorbing that ability for itself. I wasn't stupid enough to try touching the Force again to check, even though it sucked that I couldn't use the Force to touch a bunch of lands at once to convert them. Doing it by hand always took a long time.

Oh, well. Nothing to do but to do it. I thought and walked on.

*

Tyrion was shocked when he rode in the front cart and saw a massive castle wall where a swamp was supposed to be. He was also surprised that thirty bows and arrows were pointed at him from the battlement. The five armored heads mounted on pikes were a bit concerning as well, because they wore Lannister helmets.

“Ho, the castle!” Tyrion said and waved as the thirty carts came to a stop on the King's Road.

“Little hero!” John's voice shouted and his head peered over the edge of the castle wall. “You don't write, you don't visit. I thought you might have forgotten all about me.”

Tyrion shook his head. “I've been too busy trying to get everything organized after that idiot Robb Stark got himself and most of his bannermen killed at the Twins.”

“Ha! Truly?” John asked and waved at the men to stand down. “Open the doors! We've got carts to load and friends to greet and feed.”

“There better be wine, too!” Tyrion shouted.

John waved again before he disappeared.

“The gods know I really need it.” Tyrion whispered as the large doors opened with the sounds of grinding metal. He was surprised, because he thought they were made of wood.

“Welcome, welcome.” John said and jumped up into the cart. “The storage warehouse is at the back of the compound.”

The cart driver nodded and led the carts to the right place. There were a hundred men and women there and the first cart was half loaded by the time Tyrion had climbed down from beside the driver.

“What are you feeding your people?” Tyrion asked as he stared at each man and woman carried one of the 150 pound bags each.

“Enriched foods that give boosts to strength and vitality.” John said and led the short man over to the castle entrance.

“How did you build all of this in only a month?” Tyrion asked.

“A month?” John asked with a sly grin. “We built this in three days.”

“THREE DAYS?!?” Tyrion yelled and John laughed.

“I have about twelve hundred people working for me now.” John said and Tyrion stared at him. “After those other farmers came to me and we signed the contracts a week and a half ago, word spread like wildfire.”

“Ugh, no puns until after the first bottle of wine.” Tyrion groaned and John chuckled.

“Once the locals all realized I meant my word and kept it, they flocked to me and begged to sign up under my banner.”

“I saw that hanging above those massive metal doors.” Tyrion said and remembered to ask about them. “How do they work?”

“A simple crank and gear system.” John said and led him into a large dining room that had piles and piles of various food dishes scattered all over the tables. “You're just in time for the first lunch break.”

“First lunch?” Tyrion asked, confused. “You can tell me about the gear thing later.”

John chuckled and sat down at a random table. “There are way too many people working the fields for everyone to eat at once, so they take turns.”

The large doors at the end of the room opened and a pile of people entered. They all looked happy and healthy, which was something Tyrion hadn't seen on any peasant's face since he had come to King's Landing. They had all been miserable and on the verge of starvation.

He partook of both food and drink, both of which were far beyond anything he had ever tasted before, and he watched as the first round of peasants ate their fill, chatted, and left without causing a fuss. It had been a first for his eyes to see, because there was always some kind of incident when lowborns were involved. The best part? Not one of them noticed him or paid any attention to him.

“You look troubled, my friend.” John said and clapped him on the shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

Tyrion took a deep breath and sighed. “I think our deal may be in jeopardy.”

“How so?” John asked and let his shoulder go.

“After the king claimed full responsibility for breaking Stannis Baratheon's army, he's changed all of our family's plans. He pushed his promised bride Sansa Stark aside and accepted Margaery Tyrell as his betrothed.”

“That sounds good for Sansa.” John said.

“Only because she's moved from a potential bed partner to become an official hostage to keep the people of the North in check, now that Robb, his mother, and their two brothers are dead. Their half-brother Jon Snow is at the wall and Arya is missing and presumed dead.”

“Not to mention Winterfell is little more than ash on the ground.” John added.

“Yes, there is that.” Tyrion said.

“That's not what's bothering you, though.” John observed.

“No. I've been replaced by my father, Tywin. Joffery named him the Hand of the King.”

John looked thoughtful for a moment. “The contract we signed. Was it with you, House Lannister, or the Hand of the King?”

Tyrion took out the contract and unrolled it. “As my last act in office, I signed over all rights to this land in perpetuity to John Waters.”

John took it with a huge smile. “What was your second to last act?”

“I pissed all over the Hand's desk, in the drawers, and all over the floor.” Tyrion said with a grin and they both laughed.

A dozen young women carrying trays of food came in and replaced anything that needed to be replaced and left. Another pile of people entered through the large doors and the scene of the previous meal repeated nearly identically.

“What do you do with the wasted food?” Tyrion asked.

“Nothing's wasted, my friend. It goes to the pigs and they make rich manure for the fields. When they reach an appropriate age, they are slaughtered and the meat harvested. Meals are created with them and then fed to the people, who then eat it and go back to work spreading fertilizer. It goes on and on, so forth and so forth.” John said. “Not to mention the cows, bulls, chickens, goats, and every other meat animal that can be grown, used, and harvested.”

Tyrion stared at the man he thought he knew. “H-how... just how?”

“I could say the promise of good money... except it's a lot more than that. People have been miserable for far too long to stand for it anymore. Once I proved that I actually provided a bright light in the looming darkness of their lives, like I said before, they begged to be allowed to join under my banner of protection.”

That reminded Tyrion of the display out front. “And the heads on pikes?”

“A special place for rapists that forced girls to let them steal their maidenhood, either by force or by coercion.” John said. “Threatening their families if they don't comply is the same as holding a sword to their throat and forcing them.”

“There are five heads there.” Tyrion said.

“Two from the same soldier squad and once each of their commanders.” John said and saw Tyrion's surprise. “Yes, I investigated and they ordered the farms sacked and the women raped. I stopped the last two in time and slaughtered the soldiers. I only put the responsible heads on the pikes now. The rest are burned in the fire pit.”

Tyrion was too stunned by that to respond.

“If you're worried about retaliation, don't be. I left parchment papers explaining their desertion and the reason. It was even in their own handwriting.”

Tyrion's mind worked overtime with that information. He had thought his new friend was a miracle worker, especially with all of the proof in front of his eyes. He never expected him to be completely ruthless. He was supposed to be a fisherman and a farmer!

John saw the look on his friend's face and laughed. “I warned you that I was many things, my friend.” He said and stood. “I hope you brought enough promissory notes from the new Hand for all of the food we are sending him.”

Tyrion took a breath and let it out. “I may have neglected to inform him that I had solved the city's food problem or that the contract we negotiated in good faith would be nullified if I wasn't there to receive it.”

John gave him a questioning look. “What is he going to say when you fill the warehouse just inside the west gate of the city with food he never expected to see or have?”

“I plan on being there to see the look on his face, of course.” Tyrion said. “He asked for a meeting later today and I planned on surprising him with it then.”

John made a snort sound and then laughed. “All right, little hero. You're off the hook for the first month's payment, since the contract wasn't technically fulfilled while you were still the Hand.”

Tyrion's mouth dropped open.

“Come on. I'll show you what we're actually doing at the far end of the old swamp and you can laugh your ass off that your father wasn't smart enough to keep the original sharing contract.”

Tyrion had no idea what John meant for the entire time it took to ride in a cart to the far end of the 450 acre plot of land. When they came to a stop and he saw what John meant, he actually fell out of the cart laughing as hard as he had ever laughed in his life.

Right there in front of him was a partially uncovered chunk of gold the size of a large house. It was barely curved, which meant the thing was absolutely enormous and most of it was still underground.

Tyrion passed out from his hysterical laughter with a huge smile on his face.

*

Tywin absolutely hated his little imp of a son and even tried to claim he was a bastard at first, to no avail. Tyrion's birth had killed Tywin's wife and the love of his life, so the resentment had been there right from the first. When he saw the baby was deformed and didn't develop like a normal child, the hate grew, because his wife had died for nothing.

On the other hand, Tywin respected the imp's mind. Tyrion had made being the Hand look easy as he juggled all of the various responsibilities the job entailed, while he took care of the kingdom on behalf of the sadistic idiot that was the king, whom didn't have a clue how to run a realm of seven kingdoms.

At least we now physically controlled nearly all of the Seven Kingdoms, the only exceptions being the Iron Islands, parts of the North controlled by the ironborn, and the strongholds of Storm's End, Dragonstone, and Riverrun. Tywin thought as he waited for his hated son to show up in his office.

Tyrion was late, like always when he was called for. He did that on purpose, so they wouldn't expect him to jump every time they called for him. He had stopped looking for their approval years ago. He opened the door and saw his father with a pensive look on his face.

The Vale and Dorne remained neutral in the conflict, which was a huge benefit for us. I even rewarded Roose Bolton and Walder Frey for their betrayal of the Starks and for wiping out most of the North's army. Naming them Warden of the North and Lord Paramount of the Trident was trivial, as long as they remained loyal. Tywin thought and managed to not openly glare at his son. He didn't succeed.

“You wish to talk to me, father?” Tyrion asked and went to the side table to pour out a goblet of wine.

“I poisoned that.” Tywin said without inflection.

Tyrion laughed and took a deep drink. “You would have killed me years ago if it was that easy to get rid of me.”

Tywin reluctantly nodded. “Since the king has decided to cement the truce between the Tyrell and Lannister families, I've decided to force Cersei's engagement to Loras Tyrell and have chosen you to marry the Stark girl.”

Tyrion paused with the wine halfway to his lips and let out a sigh. “Who else are you selling off?”

“Don't give me that attitude.” Tywin said and sat back on his chair. “Your niece was sent off months ago to Dorne to marry a third prince, or whatever he is, to secure an alliance with their family. I've instructed Petyr Baelish to marry Lysa Arryn of the Vale and Joffery will be wed to the Tyrell girl by the end of the month.”

Tyrion walked over to a chair and climbed up onto it and sat down. He took another drink of wine. “How exactly are you going to pay for the wedding, which I assume is going to be lavish and overpriced?”

Tywin grimaced slightly.

“Another draft from the Iron Bank?” Tyrion asked and paused. “No, you're having the Tyrell Family pay for it.” He corrected and his father nodded. “What about the starving people in the city?”

“They've been getting by until now. A bit more time in that state won't make much difference in the end.” Tywin said.

Tyrion almost spit his wine out onto the floor and caught it in time. He swallowed and looked at his father. “Did you just joke about people dying while the wedding guests eat at a feast?”

Tywin didn't respond to that. “Your ceremony will be a quiet one, just like Baelish's will be to Lady Arryn in two weeks.”

Tyrion put his empty goblet onto the desk. “I suppose I have no say in this.”

“No.” Tywin said. “You will do your duty as your lord commands.”

Tyrion looked at his father with barely concealed hatred. “Every time you ask me to do something, you always say it like that. Not once have you said, as your father, I need you to do this for the family.”

“You are just arguing semantics.” Tywin said.

“Yes, I am.” Tyrion said and hopped off of the chair and walked over towards the door. “You see, it's the little things in life that mean the most.”

Tywin barely managed to not roll his eyes. “Fishing for compliments now?”

Tyrion shook his head. “I know they would be empty words from you and barely disguised insults. They always are.” He said and opened the door. “I do have a question, however.”

“You may ask.” Tywin said. “I may refuse to answer.”

“If I somehow managed to procure an entire warehouse full of food, stacked from the floor to the rafters, would you pay me for it or would you just order me to hand it over?” Tyrion asked.

“Did you acquire it as the Hand or as yourself?” Tywin asked.

“Does it matter?” Tyrion asked back.

“No. I would order that you hand it over. We need that food and the people will love us for providing it.”

Tyrion gave him one last look and shook his head. “I can understand stiffing overcharging businesses. I can understand not paying farmers more than a fair wage. I cannot understand you not fulfilling the Lannister Oath with a member of your own family, even as hated as I am.”

“Hated?” Tywin asked. “That is too light of a word for what I feel every time I look at your small and malformed body and constantly hear of your debauchery at every godsdamned whorehouse in the city.” His father said in a derisive tone. “I despise you.”

Tyrion wasn't phased by this admission, even if it did sting to hear it so blatantly. He had overheard his father dozens of times over the years as he expressed his opinion. “I know, father.” He said with a bland voice and couldn't resist one last shot. “It should be a huge balm to your heart that it was you that created me.”

Tywin's face turned red with anger. “Get out and don't come back!”

“As you command, Lord Lannister.” Tyrion said and smiled. He would spread that order through the castle in the quickest way possible... by telling the closest handmaiden. He would need to gather Shae and perhaps his potential wife Lady Sansa before he left the city for good. A quick stop by the city's archives would also not be unwelcome. He always did enjoy reading.

*

An unexpected riot in the streets a day later caused chaos throughout the entire city. No one in charge knew what was going on until one of the King's Guard managed to fight his way through the screaming and violent crowd to get to the source.

It was a warehouse stocked full of food.

Meats of all cuts, thousands of bags of vegetables, thousands more of rice, even more of wheat and grains, and even whole corn and dried corn kernels. People fought hard to get as much as they could carry and then had to fight to get away with what they had. The smell of blood and excrement was strong, which meant there was more than one dead body nearby already.

The brave guard turned around and tried to get away, only to receive a punch to the face and a kick to the balls. The scrawny man responsible yelled something about the king hoarding the food and not telling the people about it, then he was tackled by another man and they fought over the handful of carrots the other carried.

The guardsman hobbled away as fast as he could. He needed to alert his fellows and something had to be done about it.

*

Tywin Lannister slapped a hand over his face in frustration the next morning as the report of the 'food warehouse slaughter' came back to him. He had ordered the King's Guard to pacify the crowd and they had taken that order and decided that pacified meant 'dead if they fought back'.

Nearly 300 civilians and 50 guards were now dead and more than half of that food was ruined from being torn open and spilled on the ground where all the blood was. That wasn't even the worst of it. It was that word had spread that the kingdom had more than enough food for everyone in the city and they had kept it locked up and didn't share it, because it was for the royal wedding.

That was a blatant lie, because Tywin hadn't known about the food... and then he let out a growl when he remembered the imp's visit and how he had asked what Tywin would do with a warehouse full of food. It was the first time that the older man regretted speaking his mind and not giving platitudes.

Because he had been honest and said he was going to confiscate it without compensation, his idiot of a son saw no reason to hand over the food he wasn't going to be paid for. Tywin never thought he would be stupid enough to cause a riot and just give the food away to the people that didn't know how to distribute it properly.

Tywin sighed and moved the report to the side after he marked that he had read it. It was then he saw a small stack of papers that hadn't been there on his desk last night. He pulled the papers close and started to read them. When he was halfway through the top page, his blood pressure threatened to turn his face completely red and his eyes almost popped out of his head.

It was a detailed explanation of food distribution to dozens of kitchens and businesses across the entire city, proper cooking techniques to gain the most yield from each item, and with an allowable 25% reduction from waste and mistakes from idiots. It was a masterful plan, one that he himself wouldn't have gone into so much depths with, and it galled him that his despised son had written it weeks ago.

When he reached the last page, Tywin couldn't stop himself as he dropped his head into his hands and groaned with mental pain. It was a cancelled contract between Waters Food Production for failure of payment for the initial delivery. The terms had been extremely reasonable and even favored the buyer if they provided the manner of pick-up and delivery for the goods.

The older man lifted his head and swatted at the pile of pages to scatter them across the floor. He would have to send his son out to try and negotiate with them to get that contract back or negotiate a new one. He would probably have to accept an increase in the costs, especially if they wanted compensation for the first delivery. That was acceptable in his eyes, because he would have demanded that and more.

Tywin wrote out another draft from the Iron Bank and he knew that he was sinking the kingdom more into debt with each stroke of ink. He had no choice, however. The Tyrells wouldn't be completely onboard until they were married into the royal family and then they would share in the costs of running the kingdom.

He sent a house boy to gather up his son for the important mission, advised the boy to look in the closest brothels first, and he looked down at the papers on the floor. They would be quite useful when food started entering the city again. He called for another house boy and had him gather them up to place back on the corner of the desk.

When noon came around and his son hadn't shown up, Tywin was quite angry again. He sent several orders to the King's Guard and to the City Watch to hunt the little man down and to drag him back to the Red Keep. By suppertime, Tywin knew he had a severe problem, because of an order that he had previously given.

Tyrion Lannister, also known as The Imp, The Halfman, The Little Lion, The Demon Monkey, The Dwarf of Casterly Rock, and The Bloody Hand for his role in the Blackwater, was nowhere to be found.

*

Maeve finally convinced the older woman that ran the inn to take a day off. The riots the last few days had helped convince her, too. They needed to spend a day away from all the fuss and they shut the inn down that night. Maeve spent the night with her fantastic lover and the next morning, she, the innkeeper, and John rode out of the city to go to what he called his little plot of land.

The sight of what was actually there, shocked both women. It was a fortress. It also had dozens of guards, twice that in archers on top of the walls, and a large black banner with water and green fire on it.

“I hadn't planned on something this big when I started.” John admitted. “Once I had a dozen families sign on without even asking me if I was going to rob them of their land, I needed a much larger place to meet with them all.”

Neither woman said anything as everyone they passed on the King's Road waved to John, bowed, blew kisses, and one of the women even fainted. Maeve gave him a pointed look and he laughed under his breath and pat her knee.

“I saved her from being dragged away by soldiers.” John said. “The number of heads on the battlement are growing as quickly as people are moving in.”

“Moving in?” Maeve asked, surprised.

John nodded. “Workers of all kinds need spaces to work on their jobs. Most have apprentices and they need living spaces. Some bring their whole families and moved into the various houses that I've had to make for them.”

The cart they were on approached the large main doors.

“It's becoming a city inside and I thought I would only have a small village.” John said and waved to the guards.

The large metal doors opened and Maeve and the innkeeper gasped.

“Thankfully, I've had no trouble providing amenities for everyone.” John said.

“What's that word mean?” The innkeeper asked before Maeve could.

“Indoor toilets, running water, baths, and showers.” John said with a smile.

“Indoor toilets!” The older woman exclaimed. “The stink must be terrible!”

“Don't worry, it's all handled and whisked away before any smell can build up.” John said and drove down the paved street.

“What is this black stuff we're driving on?” Maeve asked.

“It's called pavement. A mixture of crushed rock, tar, sand, and a few binding agents.” John explained and they stared at him. “I had to improvise some of the ingredients until it worked.”

“But, why?” The innkeeper asked.

“Just because everyone else is happy to live with just the basics, that doesn't mean I have to, too.” John said with a laugh and brought the cart to a stop at the stables that were three times the size of any that Maeve and the innkeeper had ever seen.

“Welcome back, my lord!” A stable boy said happily and held a hand out for the reins.

Maeve recognized him as the one that had brought John to the inn after he had collapsed.

“Thank you, Hagar.” John said and handed the reins over. “How's your mother?”

“She's still whining that you're already taken.” Hagar said with a roll of his eyes.

John laughed and handed him a handful of gold coins. “After you feed and brush the horse, go buy her some flowers from the market and apologize for me again.”

“Yes, my lord!” Hagar said happily and unhooked the horse as John helped Maeve and the innkeeper out of the cart, then he led the horse into the stable.

“You have a market here?” The innkeeper asked.

“You would be surprised the businesses that will pop up when everyone's happy and some of them want to try doing what they like and not what they have to do in order to eat.” John said and held elbows out to both women. They accepted them and he led them down another street towards the castle.

“How have you done so much so quickly?” Maeve asked.

“Many hands make short work.” John said and nodded at the well armored guards and they opened the castle doors. “Once you have over a thousand happy people working together for the same goal, things get done practically instantly.”

“Over a thousand? Really?” The innkeeper asked.

John chuckled and brought them into the main sitting area of the castle. “That was last week. It's almost ten times that now.”

“WHAT?!?” Both women yelled.

John sat them down on some comfortable furniture and brought a chair over to sit in front of them. “Every day the word spreads about what I've built... am building here. Like I told Tyrion, people have had such a bleak outlook for so long that any bright spot would make them jump at it. Since I'm building something that can perpetuate on its own with barely any intervention on my part, has people coming here in droves.”

“What do you do about the beggars and thieves?” The innkeeper asked.

“The beggars are checked if they are robbers or killers or both. If they are killers, they are quietly removed and disposed of. Thieves get one chance. If they don't change their ways, they are asked to leave. If they return, they are treated like the killers.”

“What about the actual beggars?” Maeve asked, a little afraid of the answer.

“There are no beggars.” John said with a smile. “If someone shows up asking for money, we ask why. If they say anything that can be provided, we give it to them and they go away. If they return, we ask what they did with what we gave them. If they say they sold it or gambled it away, they are refused entry and treated like thieves if they return again.”

“That's a little harsh.” The innkeeper said.

“A lot of people come looking for a free handout. That's all they get is one. If they want to work and be happy, rather than wallow in their old lives, we welcome them inside and they become different people and actually contribute to society. If they want what everyone else has just because they are greedy and think they deserve it without working for it, then we don't want those people around.”

Maeve understood that. She had worked hard when the innkeeper had taken her in, because she wanted to be useful and wanted to keep busy. She grew to like her job and it was great for a long time. However, after meeting John, she had felt less and less satisfied with the lifestyle.

The innkeeper saw her face and sighed. “You want to stay here.”

Maeve let out a sigh, too. “I'm sorry. With how things in the city are changing...”

“I understand.” The older lady said. “I may have to shut down the family business if I can't find someone else to help.”

“I may have a solution to that.” John said with a smile.

“No one really travels through a castle's keep. Having an inn here would be a waste.” The innkeeper said.

“I agree. Having one inside the keep's walls would be futile.” John said and put a hand on her knee. “So, what about having an inn on the other side of the road from the main doors?”

“Wh-what?” She asked with wide eyes.

“You'll be so busy that you won't have to worry about finances or riots.” John said. “By the time you go back to the city and pack up your things, I'll have an exact copy of your inn made across the road.”

Both women stared at him.

“I told you. Many hands make fast work.”

“How can you make it the same?” The older lady asked.

John pretended to take several pieces of parchment from inside his tunic. On them were the building plans for a building similar to the inn. “I was researching on how to fix your old building.”

The innkeeper took the papers and looked them over. “You want to build new instead.”

“It's much easier and you can sell your old one for a premium, considering where it is in the city.” John said and that perked the older woman up considerably. “It will all be profit, too. Since you will have my future lady working there, I'll provide for all of your needs and any supplies you require.”

“John? Don't you want me here?” Maeve asked, her face unsure.

John moved his hand to her knee. “Of course I do. The problem is you need a transition. If you just moved in here without any direction, you'll become very unhappy very quickly. Instead, you can slowly ween yourself from the lifestyle you've grown accustomed to and can change it into whatever else you want to do instead.”

Maeve didn't know what to say to that. What did she want to do if she wasn't going to take care of customers at the inn? What could she do? She had no real education and no real inclination as to what else she could be good at.

“I think I need someone to train me to be a lady.” Maeve eventually said.

John nodded. “I'll send word to everyone. If no one here can do the job, we'll hire out. Whatever you want to learn, you can learn it.”

Maeve smiled and nodded.

“Let me show you both around and you can get a good idea of what's going on.” John said.

Both women nodded and joined him on a tour of the castle, the grounds, and all of the businesses and stalls in what was becoming a fairly large city. It was shocking to see how clean everything was. The streets, the buildings, the people, and even the horses and carts. It was all immaculate and there wasn't any stench!

They thoroughly enjoyed their tour and then another cart was prepared with a driver and several guards. They loaded up and Maeve and the innkeeper went back to the city to start packing up.

*

I sat at my private dinner table and around me was an array of people. Two River assassins, two Lannister Bannermen, two Tyrell Bannermen, The Imp, The Spider, Lady Stark, a nameless poor teenager, and at the far end, the one Dementor that I had created.

“Report.” I said and pointed to The Spider, who was a magical copy of Varys, the kingdom's spymaster.

“My little birds have all confirmed what The Imp has stated. Petyr Baelish married Lyssa Arryn, giving control of the Vale and their army to the Lannisters. It is well known she has been unhinged since her husband's death and her son is little more than mentally a child, despite being a teenager.” The Spider said. “The Twins are run by the Freys and Riverrun is under Edmire Tully's control, both betrayers of the Starks and loyal to the Lannisters.”

“Anything else?” I asked.

“My counterpart has been keeping an eye on the deposed Valerian princess in the free cities.” The Spider said. “If rumors are to be believed, she now has an army of Unsullied and freed slaves that number about ten thousand or so. They are also marching towards Mereen, the last slaver city for her to conquer. The three horse-sized dragons with her are granting her much respect from the locals as well.”

I took a deep breath and let it out. “Is there any chance to convince her to remain there and be queen?”

The Spider looked thoughtful and then shook his head. “With the events already relayed to you about what she has been through, all to get the chance to return to Westeros to claim the throne, there is little to no chance that she will remain in exile for more than a few years.”

The Imp nodded. “I agree. She will either have ships built or she will commandeer them. She will sail for here as soon as she consolidates her power and rule over the people that follow her willingly.”

None of us at the table missed that implication. I had always stated that people would jump at the chance to not be sad after feeling despair for so long.

I pointed to a River assassin.

“Tywin Lannister is livid that his son escaped after causing the kingdom so much strife.” She said with a smile. “His sister is incensed that she has to marry a gay man to appease the Tyrells.”

“Margaery Tyrell is still untouched as well, despite the length of her marriage to Renly Baratheon.” One of the Tyrell Bannermen added.

“Ha!” The Imp barked. “I knew Loras and Renly were much too friendly at the tournament last year!”

“The Tyrells are desperate to have a family member in the line of succession and will hitch their wagon to any family that seem to be the one that is going to control the throne.” The other Tyrell Bannerman said.

I nodded. “That would explain why Margaery is so freely willing to marry a sadistic bastard to achieve that, even knowing he isn't really the king.”

It had been quite the revelation to hear from Lady Stark, Sansa's magical copy, about what Joffery was really like. The Imp had some ideas as to the boy's character; but, Lady Stark's information had clarified exactly how rotten the young man was.

“The Lannister family's power is splintering.” One of the Lannister Bannermen said. “Despite being in control of nearly all seven kingdoms, their political power is all but gone.”

“They need this wedding to go of without a hitch.” One of the Tyrell Bannermen said. “Sharing power with the Tyrells is better than losing it all.”

“The bash is going to be enormously lavish and wasteful.” The poor teenager interjected. “The people riot nearly every day because the food warehouse that Tyrion opened up for the people, remains locked and guarded.”

“How are your efforts smuggling in food?” I asked.

“The tunnels you've created have been a godsend.” He said and chuckled. “My pecker is actually getting sore from all the offers of women thanking me for getting them food.”

“You don't have to accept every single offer of sex.” Lady Stark commented.

The Imp grinned at the poor teenager and they both spoke at the same time. “YES, WE DO!” They yelled together and then laughed.

It lightened the mood in the room considerably.

I pointed to the other River assassin. “Any news about Stannis and what's happening on Dragonstone?”

“Stannis is being manipulated and coerced by the Red Priestess, Melisandre. He's broken his wedding vows of faithfulness with her and the Queen is so blinded by her devotion that she helped sacrifice her brother and two others to appease their fire deity.”

“Damn, that's degenerating fast.” I said and thought about the situation as I looked at everyone's faces. “Anyone have a guess as to what's going to happen next?”

“The North is extremely weak and unprotected with most of their defenders dead.” The Imp said. “If it was me, I would raid the countryside, install my own people at each of the bannermen's lands, and place myself in the seat of power at Winterfell. I could then declare myself the King of the North because there would be no one left alive to oppose me.”

Everyone turned to look at Lady Stark, who sighed and nodded.

“It is a viable plan if you have the guts to pull it off.” Lady Stark said. “Will Stannis do it, though?”

“Roose Bolton was declared the Warden in the North by the king.” One of the Lannister Bannermen said. “If he was smart, he would ride there and take over as soon as possible.”

I shook my head. “He doesn't have the men to do it. He can probably take and hold Winterfell, since it's little but ash right now and the people fled.” I said and sent a sympathetic look to Lady Stark, who winced. “He can't hold the North by himself. I have to agree with the Imp. Stannis is going to make a play for the North, declare himself a king once more, and then continue his campaign against the Iron Throne.”

“What are you planning to do?” The Imp asked.

“The only thing I can do.” I said and stood. “I'm going to take over the North.”

Complete silence fell and everyone stared at me, especially Lady Stark.

“Don't worry. I'm not invading with an army. That's just stupid. I'm going to do exactly what I did here and let the people themselves take over with me as the steward.”

“How long will it take you this time?” The Spider asked.

“Now that I know what my limits are and what can and can't be done...” I looked at Lady Stark. “...with some help as to what it looked like before, I'll have Winterfell rebuilt by next week.”

“Of course, good ser.” Lady Stark said and nodded regally. “My mind is yours to plunder.”

I chuckled at her wording. “We will be travelling quickly to arrive as soon as possible, say two days. I don't dare try to apparate somewhere I haven't seen before, so each jump will be line of sight.”

“I will brace accordingly, my lord.” Lady Stark said.

“Excellent.” I said and looked at everyone's faces again. “Is there anything else?”

One of the Lannister Bannermen raised a hand. “I'm not sure if you want to inform anyone about this.”

I took note of his wording. “We can decide after hearing it.”

“Jaime Lannister has returned to King's Landing...” The man started to say and The Imp cheered. “...without his right hand, emaciated, and beaten.”

“NO!” The Imp yelled and I put a hand on his shoulder to calm him.

“He was escorted by Lady Brienne of Tarth, who protected him during his travels.”

“John.” The Imp gave me a pleading look. “You know what he means to me. To Tyrion.”

I smiled and nodded. “I'll retrieve him and start treating him before I leave with Lady Stark.”

The Imp nodded and let out a relieved sigh. “Thank you.”

“It's no problem, my friend. No problem at all.” I said and looked at everyone, then focused on the Dementor. “I have a special task for you, if you're up for it.”

The Dementor nodded its head.

I pointed to the River assassin assigned to Stannis Baratheon and Dragonstone. “I need the Red Priestess removed. If she isn't there to goad Stannis into attacking the North, we can stop the deaths of thousands before they are needlessly lost.”

“It will be done.” She said and nodded at the Dementor. “What of Stannis himself?”

“If you can get him alone after the Red Priestess is dealt with, remove him as well.” I said and looked at the Dementor. “I wish you luck in consuming the powerful fire priestess.”

The Dementor waved a hand over the meeting table and it was instantly covered in ice.

“Ha!” I barked the laugh. “Excellent. Enjoy yourself.”

The Dementor nodded and the meeting broke up as everyone left to return to their assignments.

*

Two weeks later, I received word that Joffery had been assassinated by his own allies and that his newly married wife was still untouched and was promised to Joffery's younger brother Tommen. She was to marry him and become queen next month. That was three marriages in as many months and she was still a virgin? What was that young woman cursed with to burn through husbands like that?

I shook that thought from my head and was glad that I never met her. I dreaded the thought of having that kind of luck with the women I married. I might swear off relationships completely if things like that kept happening to me.

Winterfell had been completely rebuilt and the locals that had fled, slowly returned and resumed their lives as if nothing had happened. Of course, they all knew that I had made the rounds to the Boltons, Tully's, and the Freys, to toss all of those responsible for the betrayal of the North, into Azkaban. I had thought about killing them publicly, then shrugged. Removed was removed.

Lady Stark also informed me that Jon Snow had taken the Black and was a member of the Night's Watch, whose job was to man The Wall and protect the realm from the threats from the far north, mainly the Wildlings. I had no interest in going there to visit him, considering his sworn oaths would prevent him from returning to Winterfell and accepting the Stark Lordship anyway.

“My Lord.” Lady Stark said during dinner one night. “We need to clear the North of the Ironborn. They have killed our countrymen and continue to raid and take what they want.”

I looked over at her and she smiled. “How long have you been stirring up the courage to ask?”

“Ever since we arrived here.” Lady Stark said.

“You didn't have to wait that long.” I said and took a drink of wine.

“We've been too busy rebuilding the North's seat of power.” Lady Stark said. “Now that we have a good population again and the farms are producing more than enough food for our needs...”

“I'm glad that you're so security conscious.” I said and she gave me a questioning look. “I would have waited until something happened with them before I removed them.”

Lady Stark nodded. “Perhaps after you take care of the invaders, you should pick up Maeve?”

I shook my head. “She's needed where she is. I visit her when she has time to spare.” I said and then chuckled. “Both she and the old lady are working twice as hard as they ever did in the city, with all of the traffic passing by the Freehold. I've already expanded it twice and they still fill their rooms practically every night.”

“You really shouldn't let the Lady work in an inn. The men passing through... well... she is quite the beauty.” Tyrion said and downed his goblet of wine. “Even I've propositioned her and I was only slightly drunk.”

“Of course you did.” Jaime Lannister said with a shake of his head. He reached for his own goblet and the blue fluid-filled cylinder around his forearm knocked it over. “Dammit.”

Tyrion laughed and used a cloth to wipe it up and handed him another goblet. “Try to be more careful, brother! You only have another three weeks and you'll have that off.”

“I still can't believe it's growing back.” Jaime said and stared at the forming bones inside the fluid.

“You should have had it back already.” I said with a sigh. “This world's twisted magic has messed up so may things that I can't do what I should be able to do anywhere near as quickly as I am supposed to.”

“That reminds me.” Lady Stark said, as if she had practised the line several times. “We need to finish bringing our people here, including Sansa and Jon.”

I sighed and nodded. Lady Stark had been created to rule the North in Sansa's stead until she was old enough to do it herself, or cared to. Then again, having a man in place, even if he was a bastard, would make the people less restless about not having a male Stark on the throne.

“I'll also look for Arya as I hunt down and discard the Ironborn.” I promised.

The beautiful smile on Lady Stark's face actually gave me an erection, which was quite the surprise. I had to stand to adjust myself and there were blushes from the women, a few claps from the men, and a rude comment about me not being dead below the waist. That was from Tyrion, of course.

“You're lucky your brain is so useful or I'd lob you over the keep's walls, you horny little bastard.” I joked and everyone laughed.

“Why do you think I study so much? HA HA!” Tyrion laughed as well.

I walked around the table and clapped him on the shoulder to show everyone we were good friends and walked over to Lady Stark. She motioned for me to get close, so I leaned down to let her whisper in my ear.

“Thank you for listening to my concerns, My Lord Waters.” Lady Stark said out loud as her hand gently rested upon my erection, out of sight of everyone except her and myself, then she whispered. “I am quite disappointed that you have already chosen a candidate to be a wife.”

To my second surprise that day, I actually felt a little disappointed. I turned my head just enough for her to hear my words and whispered back. “I share in that feeling, Lady Stark.”

The surprised look on her face was matched only by her increased grip upon my member. She quickly schooled her face and nodded as her hand let me go.

I puckered my lips and gave her cheek a kiss before I stood. “I will leave immediately to perform your assigned duties, Queen Regent.”

“Please send word on your progress as quickly as you can.” Lady Stark said.

“Of course.” I said and bowed to her. “My ravens will always find you.”

Lady Stark blushed slightly and nodded regally. She knew what it meant for someone as powerful as myself to defer to her publicly. I was submitting to her authority and she was very pleased by that.

I left the dining area to loud muttering and thought about what I could use as a mount. I was sure that a more modern vehicle would be ruined because of the electronics it contained, so no Hummer creation for me. I thought about my options until I reached the courtyard and then I barked a loud laugh. The people near me looked over to see what was going on and I waved to them.

They waved back and I went across the grounds to my workshop. It had been successfully expanded and was stable, thanks to the carved rune anchors in the corners that continuously fed local magic into it. It was an ingenious manipulation to help fix some of the inherent flaws in my own magic use. It was just too bad that it couldn't be adapted for use everywhere.

I took several deep breaths and spent a lot of magic to create something that brought back a lot of nostalgia for me. The engine for the Hogwarts Express. It ran on steam, so there were no electronics or anything that the local environment would damage.

It would take some work to alter the enchantments for usage and I would have to change out the rail wheels for solid rubber tires... and then I had another brilliant idea. Tank tracks. I would convert the large steam engine into the world's first mobile tank and I would shock everyone with it.

I just had to decide what kind of weapons I would mount on the thing.

*

The Ironborn never stood a chance. The shock and awe they felt when a giant metal monstrosity with ten ship cannons mounted on top, had them surrendering or running back to their ships to escape. They didn't make it. They also couldn't warn their fellows in other towns and keeps about the thing that had decimated them.

The newly minted tank drove at a ridiculous speed for the massive weight it had. The countrymen of the North cheered as the flag of Winterfell flew above the thing and it removed the thieves and murderers from their lands. The feelings of hope and of good things to come filled the people, which was exactly what Lady Stark had intended.

Lord John Waters' ravens kept her informed as he stopped at each homestead, village, and town and he helped them recover and converted their lands into usable farmland. If she hadn't been enamoured of him already, his diligence in making sure to help the people of the North would have driven her to love him anyway.

The raven sent from the Vale was both a shock and a relief. The relief was because Petyr Baelish, or as he was better known as Littlefinger, had been replaced and would work towards the betterment of the people and not necessarily the reunification of the seven kingdoms under the Iron Throne. That had been done before and it didn't work for long before infighting and conflict caused the realms to fracture.

It might finally be time to let the individual realms become their own independent countries once more, as it had been thousands of years ago. That was assuming the other realms would agree to it, since there was no guarantee that they would.

The shock contained in the note was that The Hound had been spotted at the Vale not long ago and he had a boyish-looking girl with him. Lady Stark hoped beyond hope that John would succeed in tracking the man down, because she suspected the girl with him was Arya Stark, Sansa's younger sister. If she could be recovered and then Jon Snow was retrieved from the wall, the remaining Starks could create a full ruling family in the North, just as it should be.

Lady Stark was reluctant to give up her position of power, though. She knew that Sansa would feel the same if given the same amount of power, so she didn't feel bad about deciding to seduce Jon Snow as soon as the man entered Winterfell. She wanted her Queen Regent title to change into Queen of the North.

Her thoughts about how Sansa had treated Jon previously were pushed aside, because she wasn't Sansa. Sansa followed her mother Caitlin's example and treated John as if he was a bastard and didn't deserve to be a part of her family. They had even treated Theon Greyjoy better and he was a hostage used to keep the Ironborn in line.

Yes, I will impose upon Jon immediately that I may resemble Sansa in looks only. My personality is different and my attitude is also much different than hers. Lady Stark thought. As she did so, she dug deep into Sansa's childhood memories before she knew any better and she found genuine feelings of love for the rough and tumble boy. Yes, I can build upon that.

Lady Stark would never admit that her heart wilted at the thought of not saving herself for the man she actually loved, John Hansen. She couldn't weaken herself politically like that and her heart withered even more at the thought of ignoring the man for her own personal gain.

*

I drove the Hogwarts Express Tank Engine to the large docks at the main seaport where the Ironborn had docked two of their largest ships. It had taken a week to follow The Hound's trail as I cleaned up the Ironborn invaders and I wasn't surprised to find the man half dead and recovering with a band of rebels.

His story pissed me off, because it meant Arya had a huge lead on me and I still needed to fight the criminals. It had taken me another two weeks to follow Arya's sparse trail to this port and it was quite frustrating to realize she might have already left on a ship.

I didn't bother trying to talk to the Ironborn on the docks and fired all ten of my cannons at both ships. They disintegrated into splinters and all of the people onboard were killed instantly. The group of Ironborn stared at their destroyed rides home and suddenly dropped their swords and daggers as they knelt and surrendered. One more cannon shot ended them.

I exited my tank and everyone stared at me as I walked over to the dock steward. “I don't suppose you can tell me if a waif of a girl or boy tried to book passage on one of the ships here?”

The shocked man just stared at me, so I used several mind spells and dug through his recent memories. Arya had been there two days ago and booked passage on a ship heading to the continent of Essos and possibly the city of Braavos. I didn't curse at the girl's bravery at risking her life to escape certain death, even though I wanted to.

I found the ship's route and actually cursed in my head, because it would be like looking for a needle inside a pile of needles. The trip could take three to five days, depending on a good headwind, which meant with a great headwind and luck, she could already be off the ship and disappeared into the population by now.

I sighed and walked back over to my tank and thought about going after her anyway, even if she was already in hiding there. I touched the tank and stored it, to the shock of everyone around me. I created a raven and added a message about losing Arya's trail on a ship going to Essos and sent it to Lady Stark.

She could make the decision if I should go after Arya while I occupied myself with destroying the Ironborn on their own islands. I knew it was going to be overkill and I was sure that they fully expected it, considering their philosophy of raiding and owning what you earned.

That meant I was about to earn the Iron Islands.

I just hoped that Mauve would forgive me for what had to happen because of it. She didn't share their philosophy and what I had to do to claim my winnings might upset her. I sighed and sent another message raven, this one to her, and I gathered my Chi and let it empower me. It had taken me a long time to get it to work right and it felt good to finally feel some of my denied strength fill me.

As I floated up into the air, the locals were once again shocked. I waved to them and turned to face where the Iron Islands were on the map I had memorized. I flew off in that direction at a reasonable speed and ignored the shouts from the people on the docks.

Revealing my resurfacing abilities was a gamble that I thought was worth the risk, because if people thought I was unassailable, then I would become unassailable to them, even if it wasn't true.

*

Lady Stark stared at the note from John and she felt very conflicted. On one hand, she desperately wanted Sansa to have her wayward sister back as soon as possible. On the other hand, she had a country to run and deciding to send the most powerful being on the planet after her on a possible fool's errand, would make her weak in the eyes of the people that looked up to her.

Her decision made, she wrote a reply to deny the wasted time and he should hurry to add the Iron Islands to the North's territories. They could use the skilled workers and in exchange would provide them with food and supplies to stop them from continuing their terrible raiding campaign against those around them.

*

Maeve stared at the note in her hand and couldn't believe it. She never thought that John's campaign to help the people would involve him conquering the Ironborn and then claiming the people that lived there by right of conquest. The stipulation that he must take at least one woman to claim, either as a wife or mistress, had her feeling angry about the whole thing.

She wasn't stupid, though. She wouldn't give him an ultimatum, because she knew that if she did, he would choose what would benefit the most people. Unfortunately, the wording of her response had expressly given him the ultimatum she didn't want him to have. She talked to the old lady that ran the inn about the situation and the old woman informed her of the truth.

John's return message of regret for her decision arrived two days later. It let Maeve know that she really had screwed up. It was a misunderstanding and she tried to correct it, only to find out she was much too late. She had already been replaced.

*

I was actually surprised at how... extremely willing... the Iron Islands women were when someone proved their strength and took over. When I killed their leader, it made the people both angry and happy, because I had promised that his body would be given back to the sea, where it belonged.

Out of the three dozen women that had volunteered to become my wench, all but three of them were already married. One was only fourteen, one was practically an old crone, and the last was about forty years old. According to their own laws and religion, I wasn't allowed to wait and choose later. That meant the young woman was out of the running and she cried pretty hard over that.

The crone was practically decrepit and everyone seriously doubted she would survive the coupling. She cried pretty hard over that and how unfair it was, because she hadn't had a good bedding in decades. Thankfully, I did not mention that if things had been fair, I could have regenerated her body to make her twenty again.

The last woman gave me a searching look as she started at my feet and went up to my face. “Ya look acceptable.”

“Wow. Thank you.” I said, sarcastically.

She smirked at me and started to pull off her tunic. “I hope yer prepared fer this.”

My eyes widened as everyone moved apart and then someone tossed a bedroll into the middle of the street. I didn't even bother asking if they were serious about expecting me to claim her in front of them. When she yanked down the top of her dress and revealed slightly saggy breasts, several of the men hollered in appreciation. Apparently, her breasts were firmer than a lot of the others of similar age.

I took off my leather trenchcoat and let it drop to the ground. Several of the women let out hollers and clapped in a rhythm to get me to strip. I didn't unbutton my shirt and just gripped the front with my hands and pulled. The cloth tore and nearly all of the women screamed for more.

The woman who won the right to be claimed admired my chest. “Maybe I won't be disappointed.”

I did the same move to my pants and the yells and hollers echoed off the buildings and throughout the crowd. I dropped the ruined clothes to the ground and waited for her to drop her dress. When she did, I stood there and let my imagination get me aroused. Everyone fell silent as I grew hard and the chosen woman let out a sound that I couldn't place. It was almost the sound that a hungry animal would make.

That thought turned out to be prophetic, because she growled and then tackled me to the ground. The fight was on and I was sure she was just putting up a token resistance, since she had already agreed to complete the rite of ownership. She didn't have to do it quietly, though.

By the time she finally gave in and presented herself to me, we were both fairly bruised and had several bleeding cuts. She was quite happy that I hadn't lost my erection and her very loud moan as I slammed into her from behind made nearly every other woman moan in response. The only two exceptions were the crone and the young woman, who cried and lamented that it wasn't them getting pounded so well.

I debated with myself if I wanted to just have a quick ending and would take the woman back to the leader's house. My eyes roamed around the crowd several times and both the men and the women had hungry looks on their faces and I assumed that they were waiting for me to finish.

I didn't want to feel guilty about not satisfying my new wench for our first time, so I stepped up my game and changed positions. She looked surprised when I turned her around and picked her up to settle her just above my manhood.

“I hope you're ready for this.” I said and she smirked.

“Bring it, ya bastard.” She said and then kissed me hard.

I pulled her down and shoved myself up into her and she screamed into my mouth. She kept kissing me and I kept doing her in front of everyone. I also remained standing. That surprised everyone, especially my wench, because I got her off several times before I finished myself. Her satisfied and lingering moan had a bunch of the men excited and they adjusted themselves.

That got the attention of their own women, who were also turned on, and my wench and I were quickly left alone. Even the crone and the young woman had left some time ago.

I attempted to let my wench go and she held on, so I gave her a questioning look and she whispered something about not having her land legs back yet. I had to laugh at that and shifted her to my left arm and held her tenderly as I picked up our clothes and carried her to the leader's house. It was more like a large rock outcropping with barely any wood or anything, except for the roof.

“No wonder he wanted to claim parts of the North. I wouldn't want to live here, either.” I said.

“You won his place and his people! You can't reject it!” My wench hissed at me.

I laughed again and walked right back out of the hovel. “I'm still going to live here, I'm just not going to be living inside of that depressing hole.”

“No? Then what the hell are you going to do? Live in the sky above it?” My wench spat.

“What a great idea!” I said and knelt down to touch the ground. I chose to convert the patch of land that the old leader's home was on into something that wasn't plentiful on the Iron Islands. It caused them to raid the nearby lands for it, actually. A forest.

My wench stopped breathing as the leader's home and the surrounding area seemed to dissolve and then sprouts appeared. Then more. Then they grew thick and rose up and up. Her mouth dropped open as trees grew to forty feet in height right in front of her eyes. She clung to me tightly as I went to the closest tree and kicked it. The force tore it from the dirt and it crashed to the ground.

My wench stared at it like it was going to grow fangs and would bite her. I chuckled and cleared out a good-sized section and dragged the felled trees into the road and then I created The Rookery in the available space. She let out a startled scream and looked way up to the top of the castle turret and promptly fainted.

I carried her inside and took her up to the top floor bedroom and tucked her into bed. I cleaned up in the bathroom and dressed in another copy of my old Firefly outfit. I had some work to do to make the Iron Islands both comfortably livable and self-sustaining.

A day after my conquest, I received Maeve's message that it had been a misunderstanding. She hadn't meant what she said and I sighed with disappointment, because she must have realized I would complete the rite anyway, despite her opinion of me if I went through with it. My plan to get myself out of the requirements of leadership hadn't even started and she was already trying to manipulate me into taking her back.

Once again, I sent her my regrets that she was much too late to change her mind about things and I apologized that she didn't understand that I wasn't trying to replace her. Not that it mattered now, anyway. I had learned a long time ago to not waste my time with someone that wasn't going to trust me or support my decisions.

Over the next two weeks, I worked hard to change things in the Iron Islands to make them self-sustainable and to make the people enjoy their lives without having to resort to raiding all the time. A life could be lived in this medieval setting with almost no outside influences, as long as you had some appropriate resources available.

I made them available and the Ironborn were both surprised and reluctant to accept anything that they hadn't earned for themselves. I had laughed at them and told them I wasn't doing it for them. I was making my people as strong as possible and they had better work their asses off to maintain MY lands and MY standards, or they were going to regret it.

That attitude was one they easily understood and they did as I ordered. That they benefited immensely because of their own work eventually settled in their minds as the way things were going to be from now on. My wench was very happy and enthusiastic every night that we were together, too.

Once I had the people in the right mindset to keep working for their own benefit, I had a trip up north to take and a visit to The Wall to complete. There was a Stark son that I needed to retrieve for the good of the North. So, I set my escape plan into motion over the next week and everyone stared as I secretly created a magical copy of their old leader and had him reborn from the sea.

Balon Greyjoy had been boosted, thanks to a vial of Miracle drug from the Arrowverse, and he 'easily' defeated me in hand-to-hand combat and tossed me into the sea. He claimed my wench immediately and I floated in the water to watch things and made sure the ruse worked. It did, for the most part. Most of the Ironborn cheered for their returned leader and welcomed him with open arms.

Only three people were not happy. The crone, the young woman, and my wench. The look of sadness on my wench's face was unmistakable, because she wasn't happy about me being replaced or having to become the returned leader's woman. Her wench title had changed to wife with Greyjoy's declaration of making her a legitimate woman and her eyes went right to my half-submerged form.

I placed a hand to my mouth and blew her a kiss, which showed her that I cared about her. A single tear dropped from her eyes and she nodded acceptance. That was how things worked for their people. I let myself sink under the surface of the water and disappeared from sight before I swam away at my best speed.

*

John Snow was caught between a rock and a hard place. His vows to the Night's Watch and his promise to Ygrette of the Wildlings. She had been the first and only woman he had ever laid with and his own honor had set into his mind that she and he were married, in accordance with both his upbringing and the Wildling's belief that he had claimed her and she was his. That she had already had sex twice with other men didn't deter his thinking at all.

The problem he now had was that he must betray one or the other and he didn't know what to choose. It wasn't until just before the raid on Castle Black at The Wall that his decision was made as the Wildlings he infiltrated had wanted to raid a village of North people. He couldn't abide by that and tried to convince Tormund, the group's leader, into not wasting time and to go right to Castle Black.

That started an argument among all of the free folk in the gathering and Ygrette was quiet as she stared at the man that had promised her that he would always be there for her. When it appeared that his opinion was going to be ignored and the Wildlings were going to attack the village, he turned to her and opened his mouth to say something. Whether it was to beg her to help or to apologize, didn't matter.

A small ball of yellow energy slammed into the ground in the middle of the group and exploded. The blast sent most of them flying from the impact and they landed in various states of injury. The groans of pain were loud because everyone was hurt from whatever that thing had been.

“I'm glad that still works.” A man's voice said and Ygrette looked up into the sky to see a handsome man floating there. His long leather coat distracted her for a moment as it billowed out behind him. She had never seen an animal skin that large before and she wondered where it had come from. The pain from her broken ankle was temporarily forgotten, as was him floating above them.

“A... attack.” Tormund ordered and sat up with a groan. One of his arms was bent the wrong way and he grunted as he used his other arm to bend it back.

“That's what I'm stopping.” The man said and lowered down to stand beside Tormund. “I was on my way to Castle Black and saw you, then heard your argument.” He walked over to Jon Snow and knelt. “I aimed to mostly miss you, since you were the only voice of reason.”

Jon held a hand up for the other man to take. “I was losing.”

“I know.” The man said and grasped the hand. “I'm John Waters and...” He froze for a moment and then let out a loud laugh. “I don't know if I'm the lucky one or you are.”

“I don't understand.” Jon said and stood as he shook the man's hand. “I'm Jon Snow.”

John let his hand go and clapped him on the shoulder. “I came here to The Wall specifically for you.”

“What? Why?” Jon asked, confused.

“I'll explain later.” John said. “Can you tell me what's going on here?”

Jon nodded and did so. He wasn't sure why he thought it would be a bad idea to lie to the man before him and didn't fight that impression as he told him everything.

Ygrette's blood ran cold as she heard about Jon's mission and her face heated as she learned about his opinion of her and his devotion to her. She didn't know what to think about his conflict between both sets of vows he believed he had taken. His own honor code was tearing him apart. Over her.

“I understand.” John said and let his shoulder go. “You feel emotionally closer to the Wildlings because of their way of life and they freely accepted you after you proved yourself. It's just too bad your own family hadn't given you as much trust as your Crow mentor and the Wildlings have.”

“Wh-what? That's not what I said!” Jon exclaimed.

John chuckled and pointed to Ygrette. “There's the proof right there, Jon. That woman loves you as much as you love her. She is just as conflicted about your honor code as you are, because she hadn't realized you didn't give up on your beliefs to be with her and the Wildlings.”

Jon's face flushed red at the implications of that. “B-but, I... I...”

“It's all right now. I'll handle this.” John said and turned to look at the Wildlings that hadn't tried to stand up as he and Jon talked. “I just spent three weeks making the Ironborn self-sufficient and less conflict driven. I gave them the means and resources to take care of themselves and they almost immediately stopped raiding the nearby communities.”

“How did you do that?” Tormund asked.

“I made them farmlands and forests mostly.” John said. “I also repaired and updated their living areas and fixed their fishing vessels.”

“You did all of that in only three weeks?” One of the men asked with a laugh. “What else are you going to tell us? That Valeria has risen from the ashes of history?”

That made nearly the whole raiding party laugh.

John knew that they wouldn't believe him without proof, so he looked around for a good spot and nodded. He walked fifty feet away and knelt on one knee as he put a hand on the ground.

“There's a severe lack of fresh water nearby, so I think I'll change that.” John said and looked thoughtful for several seconds before he smiled. “Weasley's Swimming Hole.”

To all of their shock, the rocky land in front of them seemed to dissolve into the ground and then it slowly morphed and sunk down, as if something was pushing on the ground to form it, then it filled with water as a small dock appeared and a little shack formed near it.

“This really brings back some great memories.” John said and stood. “Is anyone up for a swim?”

“Are you crazy?” Tormund asked and finally climbed to his feet. His broken arm hung at his side. “We've got a village to plunder.”

John didn't say anything about that and looked at the other wildlings. “Does anyone else want to join him in the village?”

About three quarters of the Wildlings verbally agreed. A glowing purple sword appeared in John's hand instantly and it was across Tormund's neck in the next instant. The man's mouth moved and no sound came out, then his head flopped off and his body collapsed to the ground. There was no blood, because the sword had somehow cauterized the wounds.

Ten seconds later, all of the Wildlings that had wanted to go through with the raid on the nearby village were dead in the same manner.

“Does anyone else want to go raiding?” John asked and sheathed the sword into a scabbard that hadn't been there on his hip a moment ago.

“NO!” The remaining Wildlings shouted.

“Good.” John said and grabbed Jon's arm and led him over to Ygrette. “Hold her hand as I deal with her ankle.”

Jon knelt and complied. Ygrette stared at John and the odd thing that had just appeared in his hand.

“It's all right. A maester would kill to get his hands on this stuff.” John said and injected a bacta needle into her ankle. “It should be fine in a few hours.”

Ygrette didn't speak as she watched the man go to each of the living Wildlings and did whatever he did to them as well. “Jon, what's happening?”

“I don't know.” Jon said and he changed his kneeling position into a sitting one before he put an arm around her to hug her close.

“Water doesn't just appear out of nothing like that.” Ygrette whispered.

“No, it doesn't.” Jon whispered back.

The both of them sat there and watched as each Wildling was treated and told to relax and let the healing take hold. None of the Wildlings knew what to think about the whole situation.

*

I sat on the dock of the converted Weasley's Swimming Hole and waited for the Wildlings to finish healing. I was tempted to just kill them all and decided that wouldn't help me deal with the massive army that was composed of over ten thousand Wildlings. They had giants, too. Actual giants. They also had cannibals that did not want to change their diet, even with plenty of real food around.

I had been surprised to pull that from Tormund's completely unprotected and simple mind before he was stupid enough to piss me off by saying he still wanted to attack the nearby village, even after how I had arrived and damaged them for exactly that reason. Unfortunately, he didn't know where the cannibals were, so I would have to wait until the Wildling army arrived before I dealt with them.

I thought I heard some stomach grumblings from a few of the Wildlings, so I stood and walked over to a bare area beside the water. Every single one of them turned their heads to watch me, even Jon and his woman. I chuckled as I pulled out a blanket from under my trenchcoat and waved it around before I pretended to cover the view of the water.

I created the same grilling and barbecue setup I had used in the Shield Hero universe to cook food for the caravan, since it was strictly non-technological there as well. I pulled the blanket out of the way and they all let out startled sounds at the sight. I did it again beside the setup and they stared as I made several tables and a pile of raw food to be cooked.

“If anyone here can cook, I'll need a hand peeling vegetables and...” I started to say and three women stood up. “I'll give you a hand after I start cooking the meat and show you what to do.”

“All we need is room to work and a sharp knife.” One of them said.

I nodded and waved my hand over one of the tables and cutting boards, several different knives of various sizes, and multiple bowls appeared. “If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.”

They walked over to the table and one of them made an appreciative sound as she picked up a huge chef's knife.

“Before you ask, yes, you can keep them.” I said and she gave me a happy look. I started up the grills and I was a little surprised that the enchantments still worked, even if they were severely muted. I poured some Chi into them and they powered right back up, since Chi was energy and the enchantments converted energy to fire for cooking.

The fires lit and I tossed a dozen large steaks onto them and created a bottle of sauce to coat the meat. The smells soon filled the area and everyone's stomachs started rumbling in protest. I had to hold in my laugh as they all moved closer to the grill, almost against their will.

“Who wants it only quickly cooked and mostly bloody?” I asked and several men raised their hands. I flipped that many over and coated them with sauce. “They'll be ready in a few minutes.”

The three women quickly had the vegetables peeled and rinsed them in the swimming hole. I told them to chop them up and put them into each pot that I made for them. A big one for the potatoes, a smaller one for the carrots and turnips, and the smallest for the string beans and peas.

I cheated a bit and created plates that already had the vegetables prepped and added the barely cooked steaks to them. I brought them over to the several Wildlings that wanted the meat early and they ignored the utensils as they dug their hands into the food and shoved it into their mouths.

“Take it easy, gentlemen. No one's going to steal it from you here.” I said and they ignored me. I shrugged and went back to the grill. The pots were quickly filled and I increased the temperature to boil them as fast as possible. I really should have just created the food for everyone, except I was stuck on making it the long way and having it taste delicious because of my excellent skills.

The meat was eventually ready and I had mashed the potatoes and added butter and a bit of milk to make them tasty and creamy. I drained the vegetables and sprinkled brown sugar over them as I plated up the food for everyone and served them at the tables.

Needless to say, everyone ate just like the first few men did. They ignored the utensils and shoved the delicious food into their mouths. It would have been funny to see if I didn't suspect that they had probably never had decent food before.

I made sure to give more to those that wanted it and I waited until they all ate their fill. I served ale to the men and wine to the women, which shocked the women, because wine was a rich person's drink. They didn't reject the delicious alcohol, though. They weren't stupid.

I left them there to relax and to finish healing as I walked away. No one asked me where I was going, not even Jon Snow. As soon as I was out of sight, I took my Hogwarts Train Tank out and created a passenger car. I replaced the rail wheels with free-rolling tank treads and hopped inside the engine. I drove the thing at a normal pace and the Wildlings stared at it with open mouths.

I leaned out of the window and waved to them as I came to a stop. “We're heading to Castle Black.” I said as I hopped out and their stares didn't change at all. I stored the grill setup and the tables and motioned to the passenger car. They took the hint and went right over to the thing.

No one was surprised that Ygrette was the first to board to check it out, since she was a Wildling scout, and she shouted that it was the biggest rich person's carriage that she had ever seen. All of the Wildlings piled in to see it for themselves before they spread out and claimed some of the compartments.

I had to cover my laugh with a cough as Ygrette dragged Jon into the first compartment and slammed the door shut. Her growls and moans soon followed and I left them to it. I went to the engine room and drove us over to the village called Mole's Town. The people there stared at the tank like the Wildlings had and I told them about the Weasley's Swimming Hole and that it was full of fresh water.

Half of the people took off running for it and the other half asked me how it was possible. I responded that I did it and would convert their farms to grow better food as proof. The village elder was brought over to me and he pointed out where their meagre farms were. I warned him that they wouldn't be meagre anymore and invited him to ride with us.

He accepted and I drove the tank over to the first farm. I only had to step off and put my hand on the ground to convert the land into a potato field. The man fainted and I put him back on the tank and drove to the next field and the next and made them into corn and wheat. They might only get one good harvest past this first one, since the weather was starting to turn cold.

I changed a practically bare field into an orchard just as the man woke up. He let out a startled sound and then fainted again. I laughed and brought him back to the village and told the other people there about what I did. They were grateful that the old man hadn't died and I handed him over.

With that done, I sent a raven to Lady Stark and drove at the tank's best speed down the main road towards Castle Black.

*

Jon Snow couldn't believe what was going on around him. He was still with his woman, he was still technically a Wildling, and he was on his way to Castle Black to confront the Night's Watch about Mance Rayder and the Wildling Army that was about to storm The Wall.

Ygrette made a happy sound and wiggled in his arms. They had just coupled and he had surprised himself by not feeling conflicted about it. He had sworn an oath and his honor demanded he atone for breaking it. The problem was, he knew that if given the same choice again, he would choose the same thing.

Jon's experiences beyond The Wall meant a lot to him... Ygrette meant a lot to him... and he wouldn't give that up. He knew that wasn't going to be what the Commander of the Night's Watch was going to like hearing from him, considering he had taken the oath of his own free will and wasn't a conscript that had been forced to take it or be killed.

The gigantic carriage rocked as they rode over something. Jon sat up a little to look out the window and saw a man's head fly past. The brief glimpse told him the man was dishevelled and mangy, so he was probably a bandit or something trying to stop the carriage.

“What... was it?” Ygrette asked and kissed his neck.

“It doesn't matter.” Jon said and slunk back down and held her close. Her thin body held a surprising amount of warmth and he wanted to experience it again.

Ygrette made a pleased sound and adjusted herself before she moaned and Jon slipped back inside of her. “You... are a... beast.” She whispered and lifted her head to kiss him. “I love it.”

Jon smiled and grabbed her hips to help her along. Ygrette gained a frantic look and then her mouth was on his and they kissed passionately.

*

“Archers! Nock and draw arrows! Prepare to fire!” Alliser Thorne commanded and a squad of Night's Watch did as ordered.

The metal thing covered in cannons crawled towards them and didn't slow down.

“FIRE!” Thorne ordered and the arrows were loosed and were aimed true... and they all broke on the metal front.

“What do we do?” Someone asked, almost panicked.

“We gather the men together and draw swords.” Thorne said. “I'll be damned if I'll let anything take Castle Black from us!”

The men agreed and they went to the armory to load up on swords and spare armor pieces that barely fit. No one would admit that it was going to be a slaughter. Unfortunately, they knew it was going to be theirs when they attacked and provoked whatever the thing was.

The men gathered behind Thorne at the main keep's doors and he gave the signal. The doors opened and the men didn't have a chance to fight as the metal thing came right in and they all had to dive aside or be crushed. It stopped right where they had previously stood and everyone in the Night's Watch were surprised when an oddly dressed man stepped out of the thing.

“You know, firing on someone without provocation is really rude.” He said and then proceeded to punch each of them in the face before he gathered them up and sat them in the middle of the main courtyard. “My name is John Waters and I'm here to reclaim Jon Snow.”

Most of the men in the Night's Watch laughed.

The man took out an official looking paper and tossed it at Alliser Thorne. “This releases him from his illegal oaths to the Night's Watch. He has a prior commitment to protect another realm and it supersedes any subsequent decisions the idiot has made in his life.”

That made them all shut up.

Alliser Thorne read the thing before he tossed it into the snow and stomped on it. “That thing isn't worth the parchment it's written on!”

The man slapped Thorne across the face and made him step back. He bent down and picked up the document and shook the snow and slush off of it, only for it to look completely fine.

“You have obviously not realized how expensive the parchment is, you moron.” The man said and rolled the scroll back up and put it inside his long coat. “This was only a courtesy call anyway. I have already rescued Jon from the Wildlings and I came here because their army is coming. I plan on going out to talk to them and...”

“YOU WILL DO NO SUCH THING!” Thorne yelled and spittle flew from his mouth. “I am in command here and...”

A glowing purple sword appeared in the man's hand and then Alliser Thorne's head was on the ground a second later.

“Unrepentant criminals shouldn't be given command of anything.” The man said and the sword was put back in its scabbard. “Wanton slaughter should not be the goal of the Night's Watch.”

“Well said, young man.” Maester Aemon said and Sam Tarly helped the old man down the stairs from the Maester's tower. “Our sacred duty is to protect, not to kill.”

The man nodded and walked over to shake the old man's hand.

“S-sir, he's blind.” Sam said.

Maester Aemon chuckled. “I haven't had anyone try to shake my hand in a long time.” He said and held his hand out. The man took it and both let out a short gasp.

“I am terribly sorry for not paying you the proper respect, your highness.” The man said.

Maester Aemon huffed. “You are in no position to tell me who needs to pay who respect.”

The man chuckled. “I suppose that's fair.” He said. “Would you like to join me in greeting the invading Wildlings as I give them their scouting and raiding party back?”

The men of the Night's Watch let out surprised sounds at his words.

Maester Aemon thought about it for a minute. “You know, no one ever lets me go anywhere.”

“Sir, you're old and blind.” Sam said. “It's more like it's not safe to let you go anywhere, let alone beyond The Wall.”

“Lord Waters doesn't seem to have a problem taking me along.” Maester Aemon said.

“I would be happy to have you.” Lord Waters said. “If you would come this way? I can get you aboard and we can head out.”

“You're not going to wait for them to come to us?” Maester Aemon asked.

“There's no need for us to waste that much time, Maester Aemon.” Lord Waters said and nodded at Sam. “You're welcome to come along, Mr. Tarly.”

Sam shook his head several times. “N-no, I... I've already...”

“He claims he saw a White Walker and slayed it.” Someone said, derisively.

Lord Waters stiffened slightly before he took Sam's hand to shake it. A moment later, he smiled. “I believe you, Sam. Can you show me what you used to destroy the thing?”

“Of... of course.” Sam said and practically ran away.

“Maester Aemon, this way please.” Lord Waters said and led the old man to the metal thing and took him inside. No one tried to stop them.

Sam jogged back to them and his breathing was heavy as stepped close to the door of the metal thing and held up a cloth-wrapped bundle to the man. “It's called Dragonglass. I found this at the Fist of the First Men.”

Lord Waters took it and opened the bundle to see a dagger inside. He touched it and closed his eyes for several minutes. When he opened his eyes, they almost burned with intensity. He wrapped the bundle up and handed it back.

“I see now. Thank you, Mr. Tarly.” Lord Waters said. “You wouldn't happen to know where I could find more of it? Small blades are not going to be very useful.”

“Dragonglass or obsidian can be found on Dragonstone, an island in the bay near King's Landing.” Maester Aemon said. “There's a mine below the surface at the back inside a cove.”

Lord Waters nodded. “Of course it's where Stannis Baratheon lived.”

“Lived and not lives, my lord?” Maester Aemon asked.

“I had him and the Red Woman assassinated.” Lord Waters said and the old man and Sam gasped. “It was the quickest way to save as many people as I could from dying needlessly.”

“You may have angered powers beyond comprehension.” Maester Aemon cautioned him.

Lord Waters chuckled. “Not if I had them sacrificed to the Fire God for failing him so many times.”

Both men looked shocked at the news.

“I don't have to be a follower to respect other people's religions and traditions.” Lord Waters said. “Sam, if you'll excuse me, we have a date with a Wildling army to attend.”

Sam stepped back and looked at the large metal thing. “I don't know how you're going to get that thing over The Wall.”

“Over?” Lord Waters asked and stepped inside. “I'm going through the barricaded tunnel this castle guards.”

“Oh.” Sam said. “Good luck.”

“Luck around here is a fickle thing.” Lord Waters said. “If you ask or beg for it, there's always a price to be paid. Good or bad, it will be the luck you asked for.”

Maester Aemon nodded and Sam watched as the huge thing partially turned and then it drove forward towards the space between two buildings. It just barely fit and then it was gone. There was a sound of crashing wood and then the sound of an avalanche.

I guess they won't be coming back. Sam thought and walked back to the Maester Tower. He was still assigned there, even if Maester Aemon wasn't in residence.

*

I felt a little bad that I had wrecked the nice reinforced door. It wasn't that big of a deal, considering how easy it was to destroy it, which meant the Wildlings would have had their giants wreck it easily. The tons of ice and snow I dropped on the thing secured it better than any piece of wood could, anyway.

“I haven't had this much fun in years.” Maester Aemon said.

I barked a laugh and injected his blind eyes with bacta fluid. “You're just happy to not be breathing the same air as rapists and murderers.”

“I would never say such a thing, my lord.” Maester Aemon said and smiled widely.

I laughed and patted the old man on the shoulder. “It shouldn't take us long to reach the main Wildling camp. With so many of them, I doubt they would try to approach the wall in the daytime.”

“They would be easy pickings for archers.” Maester Aemon agreed.

“I really shouldn't use the road, either. I'm sure it has to be trapped.” I added.

“That would be a smart way to stop any approaching soldiers.” Maester Aemon said.

“It's what I would do if given enough time.” I said and looked out through the conductor's window. “Shall we surprise them by ignoring the traps?”

Maester Aemon chuckled. “Please enjoy yourself. This horseless contraption is quite the wonder.”

“It really is.” I said and increased the speed. Even if the Wildlings dug up the road and made a horse trap, the steam engine was huge and the tracks would make crossing it as easy as crossing open ground.

Two hours later, we approached a wide open area that had several large smoke pillars that floated up into the air. I thought about slowing down and decided I didn't have to. I wasn't going to stop driving until I was in the middle of the Wildling camp where I suspect Mance Rayder would be. Good leaders had people gather around them and not only behind them.

The shouts of surprise from the Wildlings as the tank drove over two pit traps, through three snares, and eight thrown spike traps, was exactly the shock and awe I needed to inspire in them. Thankfully, there was a clear path through the encampment to the center square and the large makeshift tent hovel. I didn't have to run anything or anyone over. Not yet, anyway.

I came to a stop right next to the large bonfire there and left a shocked and no longer blind Maester Aemon in the conductor's spot to stare out at the thousands and thousands of Wildlings. I shut the door behind me and it locked as I stepped out onto the ground. Dozens of swords, knives, and arrows were pointed at me as they all yelled at me. I ignored them and walked over to what had to be the main meeting place.

A large man at the entrance started to step in front of me and drew his sword. He snarled something unintelligible and swung his weapon at me. I backhanded him across the face. The snap of his neck was loud, even with everyone yelling, and his sword dropped to the ground before his body did. The shouts and yells stopped. I stepped inside the large tent and five men were inside.

The bearded man across the fairly nice table gave me a pointed look. “What do you want?”

I smiled at him. “I expected you to say killing a man with a single blow was impressive.”

“The giants and Theen do it all the time.” The man said.

I nodded and took another step.

One of the four men stepped forward and put a hand on my shoulder to stop me. “That's far enough.”

I gained the image of King Beyond The Wall from him and I gave him a pointed look. “I came here to talk. Are you really going to tell me that I can't sit at the table?”

“You just killed one of my men and you want to talk?” The fake Mance Rayder asked.

“I could have killed thousands of them before coming in here.” I said with a shrug.

“I doubt that.” The man said with a huff. “I won't trade words with a liar and a killer.”

“All right.” I said and stepped back, which made the real Mance relax. “I'll return in an hour.”

“My opinion won't change.” The man at the table said.

I ignored him and walked out of the tent. No one said anything and I looked down to see the body had already been stripped clean and a new guard was there. I nodded to the man and walked over to my tank. No one tried to stop me and I backed the thing up just enough to clear the large bonfire and slowly drove around it. Everyone yelled and ran out of the way as I did and I drove right back out the way I had come.

“I assume the peace talks have stalled.” Maester Aemon said and his now working eyes caught mine.

“He apparently wants proof that I'll kill even more of his men before he will talk to me.” I said with a sigh.

“You could have just refused and forced him.” Maester Aemon said.

“If only that worked. Ever.” I said and pat the old man's arm. “I can drop you off before I turn around and give Mance the proof he is going to hate getting.”

“No, I am here as a representative of Castle Black and the Night's Watch. I will see my duties through.”

I nodded and slowed down well outside the Wildling's camp. I created a copy of Mance outside and King stepped into the conductor's compartment.

“You'll want to concentrate fire in the far west camp. The Theen are there and they are cannibals. They are also the best fighters with the best armor and weapons.” King said.

“Probably because they are always well fed.” I said, sadly.

“The next target should be the Giant encampment and their mammoth mounts.” King said and gave me a great rundown of exactly what I needed to do to cripple the Wildling Army.

I listened intensely and nodded along as I also made plans to sneak back in under an invisibility cloak to get a few images and copies of things, like the great mounts, large weapons, and various people. I mean, who wouldn't want a mated pair of Giants?

*

*WHAA-BOOOOOOM!* *WHAA-BOOOOOOM!* *WHAA-BOOOOOOM!*

“ARRGH!” Countless targeted Wildlings yelled and screamed as they died. Cannon balls rained down from the sky with exacting precision and removed a lot of the effective fighting force by breaking limbs, hands, and feet.

Balls of bright yellow energy slammed into tents, carts, and stashes of weapons. The explosions were loud, jarring, and shocked the Wildlings unlike anything they had ever seen before. Everyone panicked, even the Giants, because their small band were all that was left of their mountain tribe. The leader groaned with sadness as his mate perished under the onslaught and he took out his sword and impaled himself to join her. His will to fight had been lost.

Mance stood outside his command tent and stared at the chaos and death all around him. He had tried to test the man that approached him and his resolve to talk... and it had backfired spectacularly.

The people he had painstakingly gathered over months and convinced to follow him to The Wall, because that was the only way to save them from their imminent death at the hands of the White Walkers, were dying because of his arrogance.

Mance had secretly believed his own hype about being the King Beyond The Wall and that he was above whoever that man had been. His metal carriage was an oddity, sure. It wasn't going to help him against an army of over ten thousand Wildlings. Or so he thought. Those cannons were not for display and unloaded barrage after barrage, without having to be reloaded, and tore his entire camp apart.

The man felt the weight of his mistake weigh upon him as his people fled. Or tried to. They were all caught in some kind of ropes and nets, like wild animals in snares. That thought gave him the revelation that would change his opinion of the other man completely. He only viewed them as the Wildlings they were and not as proper men.

As suddenly as it had started, it was over. Mance stood there with his guard and watched as that same damnable metal carriage drove across the carnage it had created and came to a stop beside the crater that used to be the main bonfire to heat the camp.

The man stepped out and looked right at him and not at the fake Mance that was used as a front. “The hour is up. Do you want to talk now?”

Mance glanced around before he succumbed to despair about the ruin he had brought upon his chosen people. He dropped to a knee and ducked his head. “I surrender.”

*

Once the Wildlings had been corralled and their supposed king surrendered, I learned about a place called Hardhome. It was easily defensible and could be cut off from the mainland with a similar wall to what Bran the Builder had made to block the far North from the rest of Westeros.

It took me two whole days to get over the splitting headache that touching The Wall directly had given me. I had gained the full image, though. There was just the massive problem of the thing's inherent magic failing and weakening the barrier that stopped the zombie horde and their intent to kill all life on the planet.

It took me another week of constantly casting the repair spell and I sacrificed thousands of my saved lands to bring The Wall back to the same way it had been after it had first been constructed. I had been stupid and touched it again afterwards and gained the new image... and spend five days with another splitting headache because of it.

Apparently, there were about twenty keeps and castles built as defenses all along the inside of the wall and dozens upon dozens of buildings on top of the wall to let the people fight anyone trying to assault the wall. It was one of the first compound images I had ever encountered and it was both intriguing and extremely expensive to create.

Goddamn this world and it's broken magic. I cursed in my head and sacrificed another thousand lands to create a Second Wall across the isthmus near the edge of the Haunted Forest and completely cut off Storrid's Point from being reached by land.

The new Wall ended up only being a third of the length of the original Wall, so I only created three castles to go with it. One on each end and one in the middle. I put a dozen buildings and outcroppings along the top as well, since they might be needed for defense.

Needless to say, the Wildlings that I had captured were stunned to see me working like I was, making things out of nothing, and didn't question me at all when the giant ice wall had appeared. It was so tall that low flying clouds bumped into the thing, just like the original.

When I was done making the defenses, I converted all of the available land around into viable farms for cold-resistant vegetables and added in a couple forests for needed wood. Like the other lands I had converted, they would get the first harvest for free and the second would be chancy. Once the cold and frost set in, there was nothing that could be done with them.

I had tried to create an environmental dome and the thing exploded like a pimple being squeezed. So, I went to work making an old fashioned greenhouse. A huge one, in fact. Once I had it set up and filled it, I gained the image for it and went to each and every ruined home to replace the houses and gave each of them their own greenhouses filled with food. The Wildlings didn't say anything to me as I told them how to take care of the plants and crops.

“I'll make sure everything is taken care of.” Jon said and Ygrette hugged his side.

I gave him a pointed look and he set his jaw firmly. I had to smile at that and nodded. “Then I'll leave you in charge of Refuge.” I said and handed him several documents. “Congratulations.”

Jon accepted the things and he caught his breath when he saw the pardon from his vows to the Night's Watch. He handed it to Ygrette and she laughed and hugged him. The next document was a land ownership deed for all of the lands behind Second Wall. The last was an order that made him a Lord in his own right, because of all the land he owned and the people that lived there.

“John, I... I don't know what to say.” Jon whispered.

“Don't make the same mistakes that Mance did.” I said and Jon nodded. He knew to not let perceived power go to his head. “Then it's time for Maester Aemon and I to leave.”

The old man shook his head. “I think I am needed more here.”

“You found a cute Wildling to settle down with, didn't you?” I asked and gave him a pointed look.

The old man laughed. “Maesters are forbidden from...”

I handed him another document that was nearly identical to Jon's. “This settlement needs leadership and guidance, not restrictive practises and secrecy. Teach them and give them a chance to live as well as they can.”

Maester Aemon rolled up the document and nodded. He took off his necklace and put it in his pocket. “I don't suppose you could retrieve my things from Castle Black, could you?”

“Of course. I need to go all the way back to Dragonstone anyway to try and find a better piece of Dragonglass.”

“You will also need a blacksmith to refine it for you and perhaps shape it and apply a proper handle.” Aemon said.

“That's all right. I'm a blacksmith.”

“Of course you are.” Aemon said with a laugh. “Do try to hurry back. I am eager to get started.”

I walked over to a good spot and created The Rookery castle tower for him. “I hope you enjoy your new accommodations.”

“I will never get used to you doing that.” Aemon said. “Thank you, my friend.”

I nodded and walked over to the Hogwarts steam engine tank. I stored it and the passenger car before I floated up into the air. “Don't forget to have anyone with boating and fishing experience to start training on the boats I left at the new dock.”

Jon and Aemon waved as I flew up into the air. Ygrette didn't even look at me as she whispered to Jon that they needed to start repopulating her people and they needed to practice as much as possible. I laughed at the shocked look on Jon's face and then it changed to a happy one.

*

Lady Stark stared at Lord Stark Targaryen, whom stood at the door to the meeting room, and she didn't know what to do. His entire countenance was completely different than the memories that Sansa had of the young man named Jon Snow. The House Stark bannermen she had called to join in the meeting had no problems deferring to him, however.

“My dearest Lady Stark.” Lord Stark Targaryen said and gave her a formal bow before he walked across the room. He took her hand and kissed the back of it as if they had always been on good terms.

Lady Stark blushed, despite her resolve to stay professional. Her remembered treatment of him was a heavy weight for her to bear. He must have suspected something, because he stepped close and kept hold of her hand as he looked into her eyes.

“We are no longer those people, Lady Stark. We have both grown past childish grudges and I have always held you in high regard.” Lord Stark Targaryen whispered.

“M-my Lord.” Lady Stark whispered back and stared into his eyes. “You honor me with your forgiveness.”

Lord Stark Targaryen smiled warmly and put his arms around her. “Perhaps you could see fit to allow me to properly court you, My Lady.”

“M-m-my L-Lord?” Lady Stark asked, her voice shaky. His well muscled arms felt powerful as they held her firmly and tenderly.

“The North needs proper leadership. It needs a strong family. It needs to have a proper line of succession.” Lord Stark Targaryen announced and a hush fell over the room.

Lady Stark blushed once more, because even though she had resolved to seduce the man when he returned to Winterfell, him being so forward and accepting of her had not been part of her planning.

“My Lord, I... I believe that we can... come to an accord.” Lady Stark responded.

Lord Stark Targaryen gave her a huge smile and then kissed her deeply. The bannermen in the meeting room cheered.

Once more, there would be a powerful Lord Stark in Winterfell to lead their people.

*

It took me a week to figure out how to forge obsidian into something that wouldn't shatter after the first swing. The enchantments I knew from the Shield Hero universe didn't quite work properly. I had discovered that when I had created a copy of the sword Iris used. Instead of the bright blue flames it should have had, they were almost a sickly purple. It still cauterized the wounds; but, it could not generate or control Fire in any form.

That meant a lot of experimentation and a bit of cheating on my part. It took some doing to figure out how to combine the obsidian into a normal steel blade that was being forged at the same time. The broken magic of this world stopped me from completely combining them with my abilities, so I had to settle for only a partial meld and leaving the blade with an almost powdered coating of little shards.

Once I had one completed, I used up a hundred lands and copied it that many times. I took out the dagger I had copied from Sam and a crossbow bolt. I did the same half-combining trick and made a bolt that glittered black in the sunlight. It didn't take me long to adapt a wooden crossbow to fit the slightly altered ammunition and I made a hundred of them as well.

I was now appropriately armed and I was tempted to cover some armor with Dragonglass shards, too. It barely took me an hour to do so and then I added retractable blades to my boots. You never knew when something like that might come in handy.

With my work done, I sent off a couple of ravens and stored the forge setups and materials. I also took a few tons of mined Dragonglass to hand off to Winterfell, the Night's Watch, and to the Freefolk in Refuge. If they didn't have forges, I would give them those as well. I couldn't be everywhere at once, so the more weapons available for others to fight the White Walkers, the better.

I used my Chi and flew out of the cove on the back of the island called Dragonstone and poured on the speed. I needed to get back to The Wall as soon as possible and then I had to scout the far north. If the tales the Wildlings told during mealtimes were true, then an army of the dead was already on its way.

*

The Three Eyed Raven was so focused on claiming the body of the new host and giving it a vision quest to open it up to being possessed, that it missed the vision it would have had about how much the world was about to change. It was all because of one person and it wasn't going to be him.

*

The blacksmiths at Winterfell accepted the shipment of dragonglass and stared at the technique that had been written out for them to combine it with steel. The reforged blades gained the benefits of both things and had none of their weaknesses.

The members of the Night's Watch were also stunned at both the amount of Dragonglass and extra weapons given to them. Thankfully, two of them were blacksmiths and started barking orders for wood and for hands to help them get started. They had a lot of work to do.

Unlike the other two groups, the Wildlings threw a party. Free weapons and an easy way to defend themselves? They got drunk, had a lot of sex, and slept. When they woke, they were the first group to produce proper weapons and handed them out to anyone that wanted to either fight or to protect what was theirs... which was all of them.

*

I flew over Second Wall and set off towards the direction I had been told to go. It shouldn't be too difficult to find a horde of undead, even in what could be described as a frozen wasteland. I kept an eye out for anything unnatural and flew on.

The first patrol I saw had a White Walker and ten wights that were the animated corpses of the dead. I came to a stop well above the group and aimed with my altered crossbow. I shot as quickly as I could and emptied the six shot cartridge, reloaded, and shot it dry. All of them were on the ground and didn't move.

What surprised me was that the White Walker, the most dangerous one of the group, had shattered like glass when the crossbow bolt entered its eye. I didn't even question how that was possible and flew down to examine the other bodies. They didn't have anything on them and they were ice cold already, not that I expected it to be any different. What would the dead need money for anyway?

I used my feet to kick them into the nearest snowbank and flew back up into the air. I was sure I was close to where I needed to be and I just had to find the main force.

Two hours and six patrols later, I found the main force. I did a quick mental count of a select size, gauged the density of bodies, and the overall size of the mass of the undead army. Using a bit of math, I extrapolated the number. I whistled in my head at the result, because doing it out loud would have alerted them to my presence.

There were about 100,000 undead, give or take 20,000. It was a huge mass of wights. In fact, it must have been thousands of years of buried bodies that were now walking around. That took some serious magic and I regretted not being able to fully use my own. It was at that moment that I realized exactly why. This was why.

There was so much evil magic gathered here that it overpowered almost anything else that could be brought against it. The Force was broken because there wasn't enough life to generate it. As each person died, it was corrupted and evil filled it before it rose to walk among the living once more. Every death gave it more power.

I flew back some ways and landed to try and come up with some way to deal with them. Making another Wall could slow them down, if only to stop their progress long enough to climb it. It would cost me another huge amount of sacrificed lands, though. I didn't debate it for long, because the undead army was implacable. It continued on and on, never resting and never stopping.

I sighed and prepared to weaken myself and my limited casting ability once more. I would have to rely on my Dragon Ball Z attacks when they came to the Wall, because I would need at least a few hours to stop my head from spinning, even with a dozen headache potions from the Harry Potter universe.

That thought made me stop and reconsider destroying another good portion of my lands for a Wall that wouldn't really work. Perhaps if I created ten dragons... no, a hundred dragons. If I was going to waste the lands anyway, I might as well go all out.

My hasty decision made, I flew another distance away, barely 50 miles, and started to work converting lands for a physical defense. I didn't make just any lands, though. Oh, no. No, no, no. I wanted to go all out and I was going to go all out. I sacrificed a hundred lands and made the specialty land that was a massive volcano named Mount Doom from the Lord of the Rings. The huge blast of heat from the thing melted a quarter mile of snow and ice around it almost instantly.

Perfect! I thought with amusement. The enormous cost was worth it, because the thing was three miles across and 3,000 feet high to the plateau. The cone that was already simmering was another 1,500 feet above that, so it was about three quarters of a mile high.

I chuckled at the sight and flew to the edge of the thing and touched the next land to do it again. I kept going past that and back to the other side to give myself an even coverage and also made them into an arc. I had a reason for that, too. I stopped when I reached 20 of them and that was 60 miles of nearly erupting volcanoes.

I was covered in sweat, I felt a little weak, and my hands shook slightly. I let my Chi calm my body's overuse of forcing my magic to work overtime in this environment and took several calming draughts. It was worth exhausting myself, though. I had just enough time to retreat behind and above the middle volcano, because I saw the beginnings of the undead army as it approached my hastily prepared position.

The ice and snow around the volcanoes had melted for about three miles out by this point and I wasn't surprised that the dead didn't hesitate as they crossed from the frozen tundra onto soaked muddy earth that probably hadn't seen the sun in thousands of years. They didn't call these lands the Lands of Always Winter for no reason.

“Let's see how you like a little heat.” I said and carefully aimed towards the closest Mount Doom. “Ko... senko... HA!” I shouted, just because I wanted them to hear me and try to rush me.

The energy blast was only half the size it should have been. That didn't matter, because it hit and destroyed the front part of the upper cone that was towards the undead army.

*KA-BOOOM!*

A huge plume of lava blew out and the insides of the volcano churned and erupted. I quickly flew to the next volcano and did it again. It erupted in a similar manner, probably because of all the cold air above them tying to rush in. I went to each volcano and blasted it to set it off.

Only a couple of minutes had past by the time I had done the last one and the first few volcanoes were pouring their insides out through the breaches, expanded them forcefully, and they added more and more lava to their flows.

It worked perfectly.

The undead didn't stop, or try to run, or did anything except walk forward. Thousands were gone in seconds. Ten thousand were gone after a minute. Nearly a third of the army was ash by the time the first group of White Walkers stepped forward and started casting ice spells.

It worked for several minutes on the closest lava flows and the undead army seemed to pause. That was a huge mistake on their part. Instead of retreating like they should have, they tried to freeze even more of the lava, not realizing that they were only freezing the surface. It was still completely molten underneath, since the lava and fires of Mount Doom were practically magical.

I sat at the back of the central volcano and watched as the low rumbling started. The lava behind the frozen parts built and built, like a dam, and it was going to fracture and break. It had to. All 20 volcanoes were still spewing out their contents and were constantly feeding it and building more and more pressure.

“Bye bye, assholes!” I shouted and decided to give the lava a hand. Ten small energy blasts, pretty much the last of my energy reserves, impacted right on the cusp of the ice dam.

*CRRRACK!*

I actually winced as the wall disintegrated and lava was seemingly shot out like a fire hose and sprayed all over the undead army and most of the White Walkers that had gathered together. The eerie thing was that there was almost no other sounds except for the lava as it poured out through the breach and consumed everything.

I was too far away to shoot my crossbow at them, so I just sat there and waited for the rest of the army to be dissolved away into ash and covered with lava. When there was barely a quarter of the army left, the remaining White Walkers finally got it into their head that they couldn't stop a force of nature.

The remaining army turned around and started walking away. Little did they realize that lava could travel much faster than a person could walk. The small group of White Walkers on their undead horses were already out of the lava's range when they turned back to see the last of their army drop to the ground and disappear.

There was a bunch of odd sounds out of them as they talked and one of them raised his hands and I felt a wave of dark magic flow out of him and over the lava. After a moment, whatever he was casting, I assumed was Resurrect Dead or Reanimate Dead, fizzled out. When lava ate something, nothing was left behind.

The White Walker lowered his hands and grasped a long ice lance from the side pouch from his undead mount. I knew a challenge when I saw one, so I gave him the finger. I wasn't stupid enough to fight him on his terms. That was just asking for trouble.

He saw I wasn't going to come after him and he threw the ice lance into the lava that had started to pool in the middle of right where his army had been. A hundred foot wide ice shelf formed and froze a good portion of the lava. Funnily enough, the flowing lava under it made it like a floating shelf. It only lasted a few minutes and the inherent heat all around it melted it and it hissed as it disappeared.

I waved to him. “Come back when you gather another army, okay? I can't wait to see if you can overcome this obstacle!”

The White Walker frowned at me, made a wave motion to the others, and the undead horses turned as one and they rode away.

I waited for a good hour before I decided that my dragon plan wasn't needed and that they weren't going to come back. I had also regained most of my energy and my magic. I put a hand on the volcano I sat on and repaired it. The damage that had set it off was fixed and the lava stopped flowing. It stayed simmering and that was fine. I did the same to the other volcanoes and then made a nice barrier around the twenty mile wide lava pool in the middle of the arc of volcanoes and let it settle.

I was very tempted to go after them and deal with them personally, except I knew that if I tried that, especially with my magic so crippled and theirs so powerful, I would essentially be killing myself for no reason. No, it was better for me to wait, prepare everything that I could, and make sure that those in the know were also as prepared as possible.

With luck, it would be another thousand years or so before they could gather up enough dead bodies to try and attack again. The people would be ready for them long before then. I would make sure of that.

*

“Lord Waters.” The Spider said as soon as I entered my keep that looked like Hogwarts Castle.

“Oh, wonderful. More great news.” I joked and the bald man smiled. He had become a lot more jovial after getting his manly bits back. In fact, The Brothel was getting just as much business from him as they were from the Imp, and that was saying something.

“I am afraid that my little birds have told me something dire.” The Spider said and followed me into the Great Hall.

“JOHN!” Everyone cheered and raised their mugs of ale and glasses of wine to me.

I grabbed an ale from a nearby table and raised it as well, drank it down, and smashed the mug on the floor. Everyone cheered.

“I can't do much more than replace Cersei, as I've already offered.” I informed The Spider and walked up to the head table and sat down.

Two very pretty serving women brought over a selection of food for me and I didn't miss that both of them bent far over to give me a great view of their perky breasts.

“Thank you, ladies.” I said and accepted both of their platters.

They looked surprised for a moment, exchanged looks, giggled, and ran off.

“Exchanging the Queen Mother could help.” The Spider said. “However, my concern is for something that has been brewing on the other side of the world in the Free Cities.”

“Daenerys Targaryen.” I said and he nodded. “I assume she's commissioned or stolen enough ships for her Dothraki?”

“Worse, my lord. She has already set sail with them, a large portion of her freed slaves, and her army of Unsullied. They will be here within a week.”

I waved for him to sit and I started eating. I could have made my own food; but, eating with my people in the evenings was an important thing for a lord to do and I couldn't disappoint them.

I had been back from the Far North for a month and I had been very pleased with the Freefolk. The Wildlings had already taken my weapon upgrades and adapted them to catapults and made hundreds of giant spiked balls to be dropped from the top of Second Wall. They had even added curved ramps at the bottom, so the damn things worked like bowling balls.

I had laughed so hard at the simple adaptation that they thought I was going insane. I didn't correct them and rewarded them with thousands of gold bars, coins, jewels, and as much construction materials as they could fit into their storage spaces. Even Jon Snow, now Lord Jon Freeman, balked at everything I willingly handed to them for nothing.

I explained I would be stealing their idea and repeating it for The Wall, so I had to compensate them. Jon and his people accepted it, still called me crazy, and kicked me out. I really liked those people.

“Should I give them a choice or just handle them?” I asked and took a drink of ale.

“Do you mean turn them around or remove them entirely?” The Spider asked.

“I'll leave that choice up to you.” I said and he looked surprised. “You've expressed that you are loyal to the rightful rulers, the Targaryens. Daenerys might be a woman; but, she is the last Targaryen female.”

The Spider fell silent and I waved for him to help himself to the platters of food in front of me. It took him ten minutes of eating quietly before he sighed. “What was that phrase you said when dealing with the White Walkers?”

“I was between a rock and a hard place. Whatever I decided, there would be consequences.”

The Spider huffed. “You changed the entire landscape of the Lands of Always Winter.”

“Only 180 square miles of it.” I said with a smirk and he laughed.

“Very well. I have made my decision.” The Spider said. “We already have a new Lord Targaryen at Winterfell and his wife Lady Stark is already pregnant. I will ensure his leadership that is already in place over his aunt's that could possibly come to pass only if everything works out for her.”

I understood what he meant. “I will offer to let her live and leave. If she doesn't, I'll dispose of her and ask her replacement the same question.”

The Spider sighed. “She won't have a replacement.”

“No, she won't.” I said, my own voice sad. We both knew that Daenerys would refuse.

I finished eating and left the dining area and went back to my room. When I opened the door, I wasn't surprised to see the two serving women were in my large bed. They were also naked and gave me shy smiles. I did not miss their slightly smeared lipstick or that their hair was a little messier than it had been during supper.

I knew what they had been up to and shut my door. I gave them a bit of a show as I stripped off for them and their faces were red and full of anticipation as my underwear dropped to the floor.

“My Lord.” One of them said as she licked her lips and stared at my chest while the other woman put a hand down between her legs.

Perhaps going to meet the invasion can wait for a few hours. I thought and walked over to the bed. I suddenly had two mouths on my erection and I could tell they were both inexperienced and also eager to please. Maybe I'll go tomorrow instead.

The two of them giggled as I tackled them onto the bed. Soon their moans filled the hallways.

*

“SHIP AHOY!” The freed slave in the small crow's nest yelled.

That startled everyone, because no one should have known they were sailing to Westeros, let alone be able to tell from where they had left and what route they took to meet them. A few of the ship's crew thought they were assuming a lot to think that they wouldn't meet any ship on their journey and it might not be there for them. The leaders thought differently.

“I need information.” Daenerys said, calmly.

“Pull the sails to catch the wind! Order the other ships to slow!” The ship master shouted. “Crow's Nest! Report!”

“Sir! The ship... it's... it's huge! Three masts with giant square sails that look tattered! If I didn't know better, it looks like one of your frigging ships!”

The ship master paled. “No, it... I never thought...”

“What is it?” The older man advising Daenerys asked.

“He means a Frigate. It's a warship that I designed years ago. It's fast, strong, and capable.”

“We need details, man!” The adviser spat.

“It's at least 200 feet long from bow to stern. Longer if it kept the stern cabins. It has a single gun deck and can hold 30 to 50 cannons. Crew of 80 to 120. It could also be heavily reinforced and have a ramming bow sprit made of metal.”

“Good lord.” Missandei whispered.

“It could wreck a good portion of the fleet before we could hope to sink it.” The ship master said.

Daenerys frowned. “What should we do?”

“Hope they are friendly.” The ship master responded. “Even an inexperienced crew could do untold damage to our ships that are barely half its size and smaller.”

Daenerys looked up as one of her dragons soared overhead and roared. Everyone saw the almost hungry look on her face.

“My queen, I should advise you to...” Missandei.

“I can not have a single ship endanger us.” Daenerys said. “Friend or foe, they are slowing us down and we cannot afford to delay our landing.”

“My queen, perhaps caution is wise.” The old man advised her.

Daenerys gave him a concerned look. “If we wait and they attack, what shall we do to reach land with damaged ships?”

The old man sighed. “A preemptive strike would be preferable to potential defeat.”

Daenerys nodded and whistled. “Drogon!” She yelled up at the circling dragons and pointed at the large ship she could now see with her own eyes. “Dracarys!”

The large black dragon roared its approval and spun around, almost on the spot, then flapped its massive wings and zoomed towards the lone ship in the distance. Surprisingly, there was an oddly muffled roar that lightly echoed around her and then his brothers, Rhaegon and Viserion, quickly followed as well.

Daenerys and her advisors saw the large plume of fire that she had commanded her dragon to deliver as it lit up the afternoon sky... and then another plume met it. Instead of seeing a large burst of fire as the supposed enemy ship burned, she instead saw her largest and most powerful dragon stop attacking and then he disappeared behind the large ship's sails as he landed.

“We may have miscalculated the strength of this new opponent.” The old man said and his own shock doubled as he saw the other two dragons circle the ship and not attack.

“What do we do now, my queen?” Missandei asked in a whisper.

Daenerys had no idea how to answer that.

“ALL STOP!” The ship master yelled. “Tell the other ships to heave to!”

“What are you doing?” Daenerys asked, anger filling her face.

The ship master gave her an apologetic look. “I'm saving your people.”

“How dare you presume...” Daenerys started to say.

“It is well known that only you can control your dragons and they are barely restrained as it is.” The old man said. “If whoever is over there has captured them, or worse, convinced them to help him instead...”

The ship master nodded. “Our ships have no defense against an attacking dragon, the same as your enemies in Westeros. Even one of them can devastate us to the point we will all drown in wrecked ships or starve with wrecked sails and no way to move.”

Daenerys kept the frown on her face as her entire fleet switched sail configurations to bring them to a stop. She couldn't even argue against the decision and she really wanted to. It was irrational and she knew that, and she didn't care. This was her army and it was her decision to make. No one else. She silently fumed and stood there, her gaze locked on the enemy ship, and wondered what to do.

*

I stood there at the back of the repaired Ghost Ship from the Shield Hero universe, well out of the way, as a huge black dragon named Drogon fought against the Hungarian Horntail. Well, I thought it was a fight until the male bit the back of the Horntail's neck and held her steady as a gigantic red protrusion slid out of him.

I guess it was technically a fight. I thought in surprise as he mounted her.

It was a little shocking for me to feel a little turned on by the Horntail's growls and howls as Drogon had his way with her. He wasn't being gentle at all and she apparently had no problems with that. I chuckled and put Albus Dumbledore's glasses back on and looked up at the two smaller dragons flying around the ship.

Just by comparing the sizes, I was sure they would match one or more of the other dragons I had a copy off. So, I created a huge floating wooden platform behind the ship. It was well out of sight of the Targaryen fleet and I created a Chinese Fireball dragon. The one named Viserion let out a startled roar and then he dove and blew fire at the female dragon. She matched it easily and then he tackled her.

I now knew what it meant when they did that. They were flirting. I chuckled again and moved the platform back to let them work things out and created another platform with a Welsh Green on it. Nothing happened, so I thanked her for trying and dissolved her. I didn't think the land loss was a waste, not for trying to gain the loyalty of enemy dragons that I knew wanted to fight.

I created a Swedish Short-Snout and the other dragon, Rhaegon, repeated the same courting ritual. Surprisingly, the Short-Snout proved that she was the stronger of the two and Rhaegon put on a good fight. He nearly overpowered her by tricking her into overreaching with her last attack and pounced on her. Apparently, that was good enough for her and she turned around as she allowed him to mount her.

I had to hold in my laughter at what I could swear was a happy look on Rhaegon's face. I quickly tied off both platforms to stop them from drifting away and decided it was time to go and visit a probably very angry woman. I had inadvertently stolen her dragons from her, after all.

Who knew that mating could be a great way to avert a fight to the death?

*

“DINGY AHOY!” The freed slave from the crow's nest called out.

That got everyone's attention and they all watched as a small boat seemed to be rushing towards them. The splashes in the water to either side let them know that someone or something was actually rowing the thing, despite how fast it was moving. It shouldn't have been possible to go that fast.

“Guards!” Missandei called and Greyworm and a squad of Unsullied took up positions around Daenerys and her advisers. They remained on the front deck of the ship as the small boat approached. Almost as one, they kept the small boat in sight as it came close, swerved, and went alongside their command boat.

“He is unarmed and unarmored.” One of the Unsullied commented.

“He is either an idiot or doesn't need them.” The old man advised them as the little boat moved close to the ship and the fairly handsome man tossed up a rope to the deckhand.

“Tell your ship master that I request permission to come aboard!” A very pleasant and strong male voice called out. “I have business to discuss with your queen.”

Everyone looked at Daenerys and she wanted to refuse. She knew she couldn't, not with her entire fleet at risk and her dragons conspicuously absent. She needed to know what happened to them, so she nodded.

The ship master went to the side of the ship where the deckhand tied off the rope. “Permission granted. Do you need a rope ladder to...”

Everyone stared when the quite strong man pulled himself up the rope as if he weighed nothing. He stood on the deck of the command ship and looked around with odd little glass things on his face. He smiled as he took them off and tucked them inside his long leather overcoat.

They all watched as he held his hands up in a clear sign that he was unarmed and then took off the coat in a smooth motion, turned around in a circle to show he wasn't hiding any weapons, and took out a gold coin.

The man tossed the coin to the closest deckhand. “Take care of my coat for me and I'll give you another when I'm leaving.”

The freed slave nodded his head several times and accepted the coat, almost with reverence.

The man pointed to the raised forward deck of the ship and looked at Greyworm. “An escort would be appreciated. If not, then just not attacking me when I approach your queen will be sufficient.”

Greyworm looked to Daenerys and she nodded slightly. Two hand signals had two of the Unsullied walk over to the man to stand on either side of him with their weapons poised and ready.

“Thank you.” The man said and walked at a slow pace, as if he knew his guards needed to march, and he went over to the deck and walked up the short set of stairs.

All eyes followed him as he approached Daenerys and more than a few tensed when he came within five feet of her and stopped. Without waiting for Missandei to introduce the queen, the man was the one that spoke.

“Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, the First of Her Name, The Unburnt, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Queen of Meereen, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Protector of the Realm, Lady Regent of the Seven Kingdoms, Breaker of Chains, and Mother of Dragons.” The man said in a formal voice as he took her hand briefly and kissed the knuckles.

Unlike all of the other times the title had been spouted dozens of times a day, sometimes just to annoy the people that were begging for an audience with the queen, everyone within earshot felt the weight of his words. The titles actually felt important. They felt like their worth was as great as the accomplishments themselves. They hadn't felt like that in a very long time.

“My name is John Waters...” The man started again and then paused for some reason.

A few people immediately felt like he was insulting her by not being worthy enough to speak to her. The old man almost scowled. Missandei caught her breath and quickly schooled her features. Daenerys had a slight frown on her face.

John Hansen smiled at their reactions. “John Waters, Chosen Lord of the Reformed People in the Crownlands, Duke of the Holdfast of Hogwarts Castle, Converter of Lands for Commoners, Accomplished Healer, Feeder of Millions, Liberator of the Freefolk, Slayer of White Walkers, Annihilator of Wights, Creator of Second Wall and Lava Falls, Installer of Hidden Kings and Queens, and Father of Dragons.”

Everyone froze still. Not a single person moved or breathed. Even the water seemed to still.

“I believe your sons are currently claiming my daughters and doing their best to give them a nice clutch of eggs.” John said and that made them all start breathing.

Daenerys stared at the man and it couldn't be true. There was no way that he could be who he claimed he was. The last three eggs had been hers and she had hatched them in the funeral pyre of her dead husband.

John must have suspected that she doubted him. “Shall we proceed to my ship? I'm sure they should be done copulating by now.”

Daenerys shook her head at him, even though she did want to see his dragons. The thought made her pause, because a moment ago she doubted he had them and now she wanted to see them.

“You are delaying my conquest and reclamation of my rightful place.” Daenerys said.

“You mean as an advisor to the One True King?” John asked and looked confused.

“EXCUSE me?” Daenerys asked and her anger rose.

“Oh? Didn't you know?” John asked. “Aegon Stark Targaryen The Second will be born and will inherit the throne in the North and the Iron Throne.”

“You LIE!” Daenerys spat.

John chuckled. “I have no reason to lie, Regent Targaryen. Your brother Rhaegar married and bedded Lyanna Stark and begat a son, Aegon. He was hidden as his uncle Eddard's bastard son and renamed Jon Snow to protect him from retribution because of the hatred for your father, King Aerys. Lord Stark Targaryen is now wed to Lady Stark of Winterfell and their son will get everything.”

The shock spread over everyone and they all realized that the title she had was Regent of the Seven Kingdoms and not Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. All of her words, her promises, her hopes and desires, were all hollow. She couldn't liberate a land that didn't need to be liberated.

Daenerys looked stricken. “N-no, I... I am the one. I am supposed to inherit the throne.”

“I'm sorry that you're wrong, Regent Targaryen. Your oldest brother was the direct line of succession. His son is next and his son after that. Next would be your older brother, Viserys, and his children. Then it would be you and your children.”

Everyone just stared at him in shock.

Daenerys grew angry again. “Rhaegar's dead and his wife, Elia Martell, had two children that were slaughtered! Viserys is dead and has no children! I am next in line!”

John gave her a searching look. “What about your children? You didn't mention any.”

Missandei sucked in a sharp breath and John gave her a searching look.

“Ah, I see. You lost him with your husband, the Khal.” John said and sighed. “I'm sorry once more, Regent. I didn't mean to bring up the pain of loss that...”

“It doesn't matter if I can't have children!” Daenerys spat. “I WILL BE QUEEN!”

A ripple of surprise went out over everyone.

“You're barren?” John asked, surprised. “But, you're so young and...” He stopped and looked deep into her eyes for several seconds, then he sighed. “Of course there has to be a prophecy.”

“How do you know that?!?” Daenerys shouted.

“I can read your mind.” John admitted and everyone looked shocked and afraid. “I don't do it all the time. I don't need all of that extra stuff in my head.”

No one was reassured by that at all.

“I came here to confront you and to tell you that there's nothing for you in Westeros.” John said. “Go back to Mereen and the Free Cities. Resume your rule over them and enjoy your life.”

Daenerys glared at him and John sighed.

“Daenerys, you're young, you're beautiful, and you can have any man that you want.” John whispered. “Your life was great before coming here, wasn't it?”

Daenerys didn't comment while Missandei shrugged slightly.

“The people of Westeros are starting to see what it's like to have a proper ruler, just like the freed slaves of Slaver's Bay. Please, go back there and give them all the life they deserve and not the life you're trying to force them to accept.”

Daenerys kept glaring at him. “You cannot dictate to me. I am...”

“Anyone that has to verbally claim that they are the ruler, doesn't deserve to be a ruler.” John said as he cut her off. “You earned your place where you were. You deserve to enjoy what you built there. You need to make the best life for yourself that you can...”

“I am trying to!” Daenerys interrupted right back. “I will rule all of the seven kingdoms and...”

“No, actually. You won't.” John said and his jovial appearance changed to become serious. “The people here do not need to be freed from their freedom.”

“That's not what I was...”

“You are going to impose your own views and restrictions on people that did not ask for it, do not want it, and will never bow to it.” John said.

“And you haven't?!?” Daenerys spat.

John took a deep breath and let it out. “Unlike what you want to do in Westeros, I showed a few people what life would be like if they realized that they didn't have to stay within the confines of a strict ruling class. I showed them what having real power meant.”

“You are using a heavy hand to convince them that...”

“No.” John shook his head. “The only real power that anyone can have, is choice.”

Daenerys changed her glare to a smile. “Then I choose to...”

“I'm sorry that you chose to not listen.” John said as a sword appeared in his hand.

Missandei gasped as the glowing purple sword bisected the head of Daenerys Targaryen. The sword then sliced across the woman's neck and the two halves of her queen's head fell to the deck of the ship without even a speck of blood spilled. She stared in shock as the queen's heart was sliced into and the blade came out of the body's back while it still stood.

Not one single person moved in retaliation.

John turned to Missandei. “Unlike what she has been like lately, you actually care about the soldiers and people under her rule. Since I didn't let Daenerys answer, I leave the question to you. Shall I kill everyone or send them back to Mereen?”

Missandei's eyes went right to Greyworm.

“I told you I am an accomplished healer.” John said. “I can give him back what was sacrificed.”

Missandei gasped once more and Greyworm looked shocked.

“I need an answer.” John said.

“Yes.” Missandei said. “Please. Spare us.”

The old man huffed. “You can't give up on the queen's dream just because...URK!”

His head rolled off of his neck and then his body dropped to the deck and rested beside his old queen.

“I will replenish your food stores and help you all turn around.” John offered. “I'll also go with you and will change the lands for appropriate crops and buildings that you will need to take care of so many people.”

Missandei nodded.

John gave her a smile and nodded to Greyworm. “You'll be able to make her a happy woman before the month is done.”

Greyworm looked down at his queen's body. “I swore to follow her and protect her until my death.”

“I'm very happy to hear that, because you couldn't protect her from herself. Her death means that you and your compatriots are truly free.” John said and clapped him on the shoulder. “Take your men and protect that which is important now, your lives and the people you've grown to care about.”

Greyworm looked over at Missandei and saw her nod. “I... will try.”

John gave his shoulder a squeeze and let it go. “That's all anyone can ask of a person, Greyworm.”

The Chosen Leader of the Unsullied nodded and watched as the man made both bodies disappear. He didn't ask what happened, because he knew to never ask a stupid question of anyone that was so powerful.

“Ship master! When I finish loading the ships with food, turn them around and lead them back home.” John said and walked down to the main deck of the ship and opened the main hold.

“How will I know when you are done?” The ship master asked, instead of asking him where he was going to get all that food.

“I will tell you.” The Queen of Mereen stated from behind them.

Everyone let out startled shouts, because they had been solely focused on the powerful stranger and didn't see the magical copy of Daenerys appear where her body had been.

“MY QUEEN!” Missandei and Greyworm yelled and dropped to their knees. Tears of relief and awe came to their eyes.

The Queen of Mereen gave them warm smiles. “I believe my father... I mean Lord Waters... has the right of it. We must return to ensure the lands and people we freed will remain so.”

John was completely ignored as he filled the hold with crates of vegetables and meats, untied his boat, and leapt over the side. He was at the next boat only a minute later and did the same rope climbing trick and filled the hold with crates of food. He also informed the crew of the upcoming retreat order to return home.

The looks of gratitude John received made him feel that his choice to let them live, instead of wiping them all out like he thought he would have to, was the right one. They were subjects at the queen's mercy, so they went where she went, because that was easier than trying to forge a path on their own.

As luck would have it, the Dothraki would become even more devoted to their resurrected Khaleesi. Their clan would quickly become one of the largest and strongest in the entire region and all others would eventually come under her authority.

Missandei became pregnant the very night that Greyworm's little Greyworm grew back. They were both very happy about that. John was named godfather and he accepted it, graciously.

*

A month later, the female dragons were quite pregnant and I had to leave the Free Cities. I needed to get the dragons to the Lava Falls in the Lands of Always Winter and they would set up their own nests somewhere within the quarter ring of volcanoes. There were tons of caves and crevices for them to use or they could make their own spaces.

That meant I would need to set up twenty or so animal farms to breed and grow different meat animals to feed them. Cows, pigs, sheep, and goats. They would need supporting farms as well for feed and for the people created to tend to them.

That meant a small central village needed to be built nearby. I would have to instruct the dragons about the whole thing, that it was all for them, and to ask them politely to leave the people alone. Without them, the dragons and their children would not have enough food to live for long. If there was one thing that dragons understood, it was survival.

Of course, since there was going to be a huge resurgence of dragons, a lot of them related, I had to head off the chance of interbreeding and them dying off again. So, I seeded several sets of the Tri-wizard task dragon eggs among the new eggs and mixed them into the new clutches. I also added two female Welsh Greens and added their own clutches of eggs as well.

To my surprise, Drogon, Rhaegar, and Viserion gave me reluctant huffs as I did it. They made sure to sniff the new eggs and then huffed once more, giving me approval. Of course, I thanked them for allowing their children to have more of a choice when they were of age to have children of their own.

Drogon let out a little bit of dragonfire and gently smacked me in the head with his wingtip.

I tumbled head over heels several times before I came to a stop and stared up at him. “Hey, I'm only human! I'm allowed to say stupid things!”

More bits of fire came from the other dragons, along with several grumbles and growls.

“It's not funny!” I shouted and they repeated the grumbles and growls. I sighed exaggeratedly and stood, wiped myself off, and waved to them. I floated up into the air and created a herd of cows around them and a couple of pigs. The mooing and squealing animals were immediately pounced on and I flew away. My parting gift had been readily accepted.

I flew all the way back to near King's Landing, where my Holdfast was located, and landed on the Astronomy Tower's roof of Hogwarts castle. I had first thought it was a waste to create it and take up one of the farms, then even more people agreed to give me their lands and practically demanded that I needed a 'seat' for my future family.

I was a little put off about that, until I learned that the two serving women I had bedded before going on my quest to save Westeros from Daenerys, were both pregnant. To my surprise, I was told by them that marrying both of them was against the law, so I was to marry the older of the two. The younger one would become my mistress and our child would become a bastard.

When I laughed at it, they were confused and asked me why it was funny. I told them that any bastard born in the Crownlands would have the last name of Waters. It took them a moment to get it. I was Lord Waters and my legitimate child would be named Waters, while my bastard would also be named Waters.

Both women looked very happy at having both children be legitimate through a technicality and dragged me to bed again. I agreed that it was better to make sure they really were pregnant. After making sure that all the Unsullied that chose to have their parts regrown, they had gained children practically immediately and married. With confirmation of both pregnancies, I would be doing the exact same thing.

The marriage was a huge affair and everyone attended, even a bunch of the major family members from the capital city, including House Baratheon and House Tyrell. Then again, I did replace Cersei with Queen Mother a while ago and she was overprotective and immediately stopped all of Cersei's schemes to kill all of her enemies.

Queen Mother devoted herself to the newly crowned King Tommen and his wife Margaery, and ensured their happiness and prosperity by paying off the kingdom's massive loans to the Iron Bank. I helped with that, of course. I couldn't let the future Aegon II inherit a bankrupted country, could I?

I was also allowed to make a magical replacement for Tywin Lannister and Lord Lannister was now the Hand of the King. No one noticed.

I replaced the High Septon and all of his religious order as well. The Sparrow was also found, interrogated, and removed. My special Dementor had been quite busy and Azkaban gained a lot of prisoners. The Sparrow's associates were also removed and the fanatics were soon wiped out and the citizenry were once more responsible for their own moral integrity.

The government should not interfere with the common people's relationships. If people wanted to live in what other people considered sin, that was their choice. Plus, I was living in a lot of sin myself. The question was, is it considered adultery if both women knew of the other and also shared the same bed with me? We weren't going behind the other's back and weren't cheating, so it was a grey area. Grey was good, according to both women.

Maeve cried during the entire wedding ceremony, because I had married a woman she had never met and she was devastated. Imp just happened to be there and comforted her, which meant they ended up in bed together that night. No one was surprised by it and Maeve looked devastated once more the day she found out she was pregnant, because there was no chance it was mine.

They were married in a quick and quiet ceremony and Imp took over running the very successful inn from the old lady. The relief on her face was pronounced as she retired and thanked the little bastard for trying everything he could to make Maeve happy, even though she was still hung up on me.

I felt bad about how things had turned out between Maeve and myself; but, I was also happy they had at least found comfort in each other. I gave them a million gold coins as a wedding present, everything a baby and child would ever need growing up, and I created a mansion behind the inn.

The old lady moved in with them and absolutely loved that the hired mansion staff took care of her every whim, just like she used to do for her inn customers. All things considered, it mostly worked out for everyone involved.

Things settled down after that. There was no real conflict or incidents, not even when the Three Eyed Raven in the body of Bran Stark reappeared near The Wall. The Night's Watch sent for me immediately and held Bran and his companions at Castle Black.

As soon as I stepped into the room, Bran yelled and then screamed. He covered his eyes just in time as his eyeballs burst and blood started flowing from his eye sockets.

“I suspected that would happen if we ever met.” I said and sat down across the table.

“How... why...” Bran whispered.

“Time is only immutable if you believe it is. When things happen a certain way, did they always happen that way?” I asked him and he didn't answer. “You see, I've done a lot of things in my lifetime. Nearly all of it was changing things from how I knew it was supposed to happen.”

“You... fixed... things as you...” Bran started to say and then screamed. “ARGGHH!”

“Yeah, you really shouldn't try to look at my past to see how I came to be here.”

“Why?” Bran asked. “Why does it hurt?”

“Honestly? I think it's my inherent powers and someone screwing me over. If anyone tries to figure out what's going on with me, it never ends well for them.” I said and then laughed. “Including myself.”

“You... died... died died dieddieddied.” Bran's voice trailed off into a soft whisper. A moment later, his hands dropped to his sides and his head tilted to the side as some drool escaped from his mouth.

“I warned you to not look.” I said and stood as I tossed the comatose being into Azkaban.

I could almost feel how happy the Dementors were. It took me only a moment to understand. They now had access to thousands of years of happy memories using a seer's powers. Since the idiot had tried to look through my travels, he had all of those memories of mine and of everyone else inside those memories, shoved into his head.

I left the room and none of the men in the Night's Watch asked what happened. They had heard the screams. They didn't even wonder where the body went.

Bran's companions looked at a loss about what to do next, so I asked them if they wanted to live free behind The Wall or live free behind Second Wall. They chose Second Wall after hearing about what it was like. They loved it there.

Arya Stark finally returned to Westeros as a Faceless Man and went to each person on her list to kill, only to find they were either all dead or protected magical clones. Disheartened, she went home to Winterfell and met up with her very happy sister Sansa, whom had met and married a poor nameless boy that had become rich from smuggling food in King's Landing.

“Do you have a brother?” Arya asked and both the boy and Sansa laughed.

Jaime Lannister was released from his Kingsguard vows and he married Brienne of Tarth, now Lady Lannister. The formed their own Guardsmen Regiment in the North and it became both honorable and proper to have a family member in it or married to one.

Anyone that brought up vows of celibacy for the guards to keep them honest, were told to either shut up or leave. Guards needed a reason besides pride to fight and protect their people.

*

Time moved on and things became peaceful. A year passed, then another.

A decade later, a raven arrived from King Jon Freeman of the Freefolk and I apparated to the top of Second Wall.

“John!” Jon exclaimed and hugged me.

I hugged him back and then tugged on his short beard. “Ygrette still won't let you grow it out?”

Jon laughed. “I'm not stupid, John! Either she's happy or I'm miserable.”

I laughed, too. “You've learned the best lesson any husband can ever learn, my friend.” I said and looked out over the frosty trees of the Haunted Forest. “What's going on?”

“Our forward scouts that you let stay at the Dragon Freehold have reported seeing a White Walker.”

I sighed and nodded. “I knew they wouldn't wait long before coming back.”

“Are you really going to face them alone?” Jon asked. “We have a great army here and...”

“You need them, just like the Night's Watch has changed from criminals being punished to a prestige post like it was when it was first built.” I said.

“I can't believe you got that change past the other Lords of the Crownlands.”

I grinned at him. “They thought they were voting for more taxation on the commoners.”

“HA HA! You tricky bastard!” Jon said and laughed.

“I haven't heard from Hogsmeade, so your scouts must have been pretty far out.”

“We're ranging at least a hundred miles now. Those expanded packs are wonderful things you've made.” Jon said.

“It took me five years of experiments and explosions to make them successfully.”

“You must have enjoyed that a lot.” Jon said and I chuckled.

“Success is it's own reward.” I joked and then sighed. “I've already said goodbye to my wives.”

Jon put a hand on my shoulder. “Do you really think...”

“I can feel the evil creeping back. I need to face it before it builds strength again.”

“What about the dragons?”

“No, I won't send an innocent creature...”

“Innocent?” Jon interrupted me.

“They have as much right to live how they want to live as we do.” I winked at him. “They also know what it means to cross the humans taking care of them and their growing race.”

“You already gave them new lands to live.” Jon guessed.

I nodded. “Having all your eggs in the same basket is a mistake.”

Jon gave my shoulder a squeeze. “Good luck, John.”

“Thanks, Jon.” I said and he took his hand off of my shoulder. “Kiss Ygrette and Janna goodbye for me, will you?”

Jon nodded. “We are all going to miss you.”

“I know.” I said and concentrated on Hogsmeade. “Goodbye, my friend.”

“Goodbye, old friend.” Jon said.

I apparated using the spell once more and no one in the village reacted. I went to the small scouting station and they gave me the details of where the scouts saw the creature. I thanked them and stepped out, let my Chi build, and flew up into the air and headed in the right direction at my best speed.

It didn't take me long to find the traces near where they spotted the White Walker and followed them. A short time later, I found a group of four hundred White Walkers and about ten thousand wights. They were barely bones, which meant they had to dig deep and use a lot of magic to animate the things.

We were very far away from any lava and volcanoes and I couldn't just drop down into the middle of them and hope they left me alone long enough to convert the land into one. Since they weren't marching anywhere and seemed to be milling around, luring them into a trap wasn't going to work, either.

The hard way it is. I thought and created ten dragons, all Hungarian Horntails, and I charged a Kamehameha Wave. I unleashed both and watched as the undead bodies blew up and then the dragons dove into them and dragon flames tore through them as the dragons stomped on them.

It looked like it was going to be a massacre, right up until the White Walkers raised their arms and all of the mashed and mangled bodies shambled up and stood. The dragons were quickly overwhelmed and I dissolved them before they could die and be added to the undead horde.

“Let's see how you like a Spirit Bomb.” I said and held my hands up. A small ball of energy a foot wide appeared above my hands and it grew brightly for several seconds as it gathered energy... then it stopped and stayed a foot wide.

I thought about what was wrong with the thing that was supposed to be the biggest attack in Goku's arsenal. I was about to curse the world's broken magic again when I realized the Spirit Bomb relied on the living things around and they had to willingly give up their energy to help me attack. I couldn't connect to the Force and there was nothing living anywhere in the frozen wasteland.

I let the pitiful gathered energy go and it fizzled out. I thought about creating a wand and trying to cast Fiendfyre, then thought about what that kind of spell would do to supposedly frozen dead bodies that were practically all bones and barely any flesh. Assuming the spell worked as intended. With my luck, the spell would empower the dead instead of destroying them, because there was so much evil magic nearby.

I took out my heavily modified crossbow and shot the thing dry ten times before the White Walkers huddled up the wights around them and blocked my sight as they ducked and the wights were the only things I could see. The Dragonglass crossbow bolts did nothing against the wights.

“Kosenko-HA!” I shouted and then repeated it ten times, twenty times, and thirty times. I sighed when the dead were blown apart and then seemed to suck together and reform. “Undead regeneration. Wonderful.”

As I hovered there, a giant ice spear flew out from a spot that wasn't where the White Walkers were huddled up. I had just enough time to move out of the way of it and another sliced into my upper arm. It had shattered on my armor and then frozen it and shredded it as several shards embedded into my skin.

“NO!” I yelled and felt the ice spell spread and saw my arm as it started to turn blue. I took out Iris' modified sword and sliced my arm off just below the shoulder. The arm dropped through the air and I cast the apparate spell on it. I sent it into the Lava Falls and hoped the center of a volcano would destroy it before the ice finished converting it.

Two more ice spears were thrown at me from different locations and I couldn't remain airborne and not be skewered, considering how easily it broke my armor and went through it to actually hit me. So, I dropped down into the mass of undead and started swinging the sword. Heads, arms, legs, and torsos were bisected or cut off as I worked my way through the wights to where the White Walkers supposedly were.

I wasn't surprised that only a token few were still there. I dispatched them and shrugged off the undead's weak grip and slow lumbering walk. I struggled to fight the wights off as I also tried to put on Albus' glasses. I got them on and started hunting the White Walkers. My Chi blasts weren't doing much, just pushing the bodies around, and slicing them up just made them faster with the loss of weight.

I made a good attempt at removing the White Walker threat and it seemed to be working, right up until the undead Giant stood up and hefted a club that was thicker than my body and was mostly just a broken tree.

I dodged the first hit, since the Giant was huge and slow, then realized my mistake too late. I had dodged out of the way and right into a pile of undead. Twenty sets of hands grabbed onto me before I could react. The undead Giant let out a grunt as it swung the tree like a baseball bat.

He smashed fifty of the wights near me and the club slammed into me and the wights holding me. I felt nearly all of my bones shatter as my armor was destroyed and I was flung through the air with thirty or so undead bodies.

We tumbled through the air and I couldn't even scream as I landed on frozen rocks that were half-buried in snow. The bodies landed on me and around me and everything became eerily quiet.

The horde of undead seemed to appear around me and they parted as the White Walkers walked towards me. I could see the hatred on their faces change to satisfaction, especially on the one in the front. He also seemed to have a little crown on his head.

“At least... I'll get to... see you die.” I whispered to him and took out an expanded bag from inventory.

You see, I wasn't going to give up any advantage I discovered. Since I knew if the bags were not made perfectly, they would explode and all of the shrunken things inside would blow out in all directions.

This one was filled with Dragonglass swords, daggars, and shards.

I filled myself with Chi and pulsed a bit of magic into the bag to make the enchantment fail. I had just enough time to see the shock on his face as the bag exploded and we were both shredded with Dragonglass before The Night King and his fellows shattered and I disappeared in the magical backlash.