ASOIAF: Lord of Nature

(Erlend Mudd, Firmridge)

"Finally made a move, have you now…" Erlend murmured.

His imprints had finally sent word of the news he had been waiting for since the rebellion ended. These bastards were too cautious for his liking.

The irony of such a thought did not escape him.

Instantaneously casting a silent disillusionment charm upon himself, Erlend's figure disappeared with a near-silent pop.

…

With a sudden pop, the King's figure appeared seemingly out of nowhere, his body naturally taking on the exact color and texture of the environment around him.

A human chameleon as a certain bespectacled wizard put it.

Erlend, unbothered by the changes, watched intently as he awaited for his prey to appear. His expression was set with a look of anticipation.

The scouts had proven to be good enough bait, and if not, then the changes he'd made to the Night's Watch should at least force the fucker to send something other than crows this time around.

Not long after, as expected, a small figure finally made its appearance.

Its nut-brown skin stood out in the starkly frigid white snow. If one looked close enough they could make out three fingers and a thumb, each fettered with sharp black claws.

Slitted golden green eyes warily looked around for fear of meeting an unexpected predator. Its large ears are particularly sensitive to the noise around it.

No voice came out of it, its movements were unnaturally silent.

Still, Erlend made no move as he observed one of his ancestor's most despised foes. 

Blood for blood, blade for blade.

There was no shortage of disputes between the First Men and the so-called Children of the Forest. Humanity was despicable and some might say hypocritical species that could never be denied… Yet they did not inspire a natural and ever-growing hatred in him like the foolish demon before he did.

To play with the laws of nature as they had done, if one were attuned to the world as he was, they would be able to sense just how much the world itself rejected their existence.

Immortality was one thing, there was no shortage of immortals running around in the shadows in practically every universe, yet few had offended their world as these little demons had.

Its slight, quick, graceful movements did not betray the insidious nature that lay behind its petite demeanor.

Oh, how he longed to cut through it and wipe its wretched race for what they have brought upon this world. For the chaos and disastrous fate that would fall upon this world and so many others. 

Yet, everything had a place and time, their end would come… Just not now.

Following the being silently, Erlend watched as it spied upon the camps set up either by his Banners or the free folk that called this frigid environment their home, watching them, assessing their worth.

Like a merchant gauging wares and how much value an item would bring it. For better or worse, they were what stood between them and the monster they were responsible for inadvertently creating.

Meat shields that would all be necessary in keeping their most dangerous foe away or feeding it.

Just like that, hours passed with Erlend watching the little tree demon spy on the forces that were situated near the hidden cavern that the children called their home.

From camps, formed in tandem by the joint efforts of Banner Squadrons and the Watch, to free folk settlements, some abandoned, others rife with activity.

The rotting bastard corpse tree had finally had enough of his men encroaching upon his territory and had sent out the little demons to find out if he could make use of them and the rest of the people beyond the wall.

Unfortunately, that was exactly what Erlend wanted.

It would be troublesome if he had to fight his way to get ahold of one of these beings, so it would be better to just trap one.

Once he had seen enough, jets of fiery red light flew out of his hand, crossing the distance between the two supernatural beings.

Faster than it could react, the demon was rendered unconscious immediately, unable to counter the strange light that had appeared out of nowhere.

Its last expression before making contact was of confusion and horror.

Erlend did not choose to savor his momentary victory, instead appearing immediately in front of the small figure and casting several charms to ensure the creature was truly powerless.

Transforming the being into a fairly large pearl, before placing it into a specially created box.

Once confident everything was secure, he calmly secured the box as they both disappeared from the area with a near-silent pop.

His hunt had proven fruitful.

…

(Malora Hightower)

"Have you found anything interesting about our newest guest?" Erlend asked his most eccentric lover, at least that's what she regarded herself as.

What other noble lady would be interested in dissecting the body of another being?

"Nothing of value at the moment, but it shouldn't take long," Malora responded absently, her focus strictly on the creature of legend in front of her.

She was cutting through its body, trying to find the difference between it and the human body. Her father had allowed her to dissect through the bodies of prisoners before and what she found contrasted greatly with this one.

She had no idea how her lover had gotten ahold of a child of the forest, nor did she care. The sheer value of research material such a creature provided was almost guaranteed to surpass everything her family had accumulated about these beings throughout their thousands of years of history.

While there were records of interactions between her kin and these creatures, the information recorded was pitifully small, hardly all that useful, considering they likely only presented themselves in ways they wanted humans to view them.

These lot had always regarded themselves as above humanity.

Sevens, some northerners made it worse by foolishly worshiping the ground they walked on, forgetting or choosing to ignore the number of problems these beings caused for their ancestors.

If she wasn't so busy exploring the secrets of this hidden race, she would've already jumped her lover for his thoughtful gift.

"I take it you already rummaged through its mind?"

"Naturally, the most important information I gathered is that Bloodraven is too deeply set in his ways to be convinced to follow me. Not that is an issue, at the least he'll be useful in keeping the Night King preoccupied while he attempts to get a foothold in the realm."

"What a fool, allowing his resentment and hatred to rule him." Malora shook her head at the old fool's stubbornness.

She had foreseen many futures, each distinct in their own way. Some where the old Raven was convinced to join their cause, in those possibilities, he was far happier than he'd ever be should he continue on his current path.

Even that detestable path where he took control of the poor child had ended poorly for him. King of Ruin, that was all he would ever be remembered for.

Not that such a future could occur anymore, Erlend's presence within Westeros had changed far too much.

"He had intended to arrange your death. Your ability was far too dangerous to his liking." Erlend added, to most his words would come off as casual, yet Malora had been with him long enough to detect the anger behind his words.

She couldn't help smiling slightly at him, happy at the anger he showed on her behalf, "Why do you think Father had never shown any interest in marrying me off to some highborn cunt. He knew no place safer than the Hightower. Well, that's before I joined you anyway." She admitted frankly.

"Regardless, I won't stand for someone targeting my family. Bloodraven will pay for his audacity!"

Wanting to distract him from any particularly destructive thoughts at the moment, "Did the Night King react to your sudden appearance beyond the wall?" She asked.

"Nothing… No movement whatsoever, the Ice bastard seems to have gone dormant since Euron's death. It helps that the charms and various runic symbols on my clothes keep me hidden from his gaze."

"Perhaps he had a hand in Euron's change, the squid had been Bloodraven's best candidate after all, even more so than the Stark child that could have been born."

"Who knows, the child in front of you knew very little about Bloodravens true plans regarding his 'successor', just the ones he needed their help in." So just a grunt then, it was still a magical being at least, that gave it some value.

"You should get going, the ceremony tomorrow is far too important to leave to chance, love." She advised Erlend. "Also make sure to write down everything of note you might have gotten ahold of from its head, knowing their ways could help deal with them later," Malora added.

Erlend nodded to her, agreeing with her thoughts on the matter. Knowing how your enemy thinks and their goals makes it far easier to predict their next move.

While she could peer into potential paths the future might take, not many could be relied upon, as just knowing them made them far more liable to be changed. Hence, why she never let them get to her.

Oddly enough, Erlend was immune to her reading, she assumed this was the reason Bloodraven was so passive when it came to dealing with her lover. The old relic was far too heavily reliant on his abilities as the three-eyed crow, that it left him blindsided when he encountered such a massive block.

Thankfully her father had wisely chosen to throw his loyalty behind her beloved, it saved her family so many problems, though she wasn't looking forward to when her sister finally became proactive.

She knew the bitch was eyeing her beloved.

For his part, Erlend was unaware of her thoughts, more concerned with the upcoming event. It would be troublesome if something went wrong, tomorrow would be crucial to the realm's future development.

Bloodraven and his little tree gremlins weren't a true threat, not as long as Erlend avoided doing anything stupid. No reason to give his enemy the wood needed to fan the flames of rebellion.

Tomorrow should help minimize the possibility of such a crisis.

Giving Malora an affectionate kiss on the cheek, he made his way out of their shared workshop.

While Malora uncovered the secrets hidden within the legendary creature's body.

…

(Jeyne Durrandon)

"Do be still my Lord, it's not even time yet." Jeyne admonished her husband, as she helped him put in his tunic.

To the surprise of just about everyone, her husband had decided to drink excessively, clearly worried about the much-anticipated event.

Unlike previous Royal Tourneys where the guests would be expected to leave shortly after the last feast, the King had 'encouraged' his vassals to remain for a few more days. 

Something that had most people on the edge.

She says 'encouraged', but everyone knew better than to simply leave. No… whatever this event was, it spelled trouble. The issue was, no one knew what kind of trouble it would be.

Just thinking about it made her want to go deep in her cups. At least her family was better off than most, her husband was loyal and their son a close friend to the Crown Prince, making them somewhat safe from whatever plan the King had in mind.

The same could not be said about the Lannisters, Seven Knows what those prideful lot had done. Cersei was now a ward of the crown, despite already being of age.

Foolish, that's what she considered the self-proclaimed lioness, practically handing herself to the King as a valuable hostage that could be weaponized against her family at any time.

It was a message to the whole Realm, if the King wanted, he could put a baby in the stupid woman's belly at any time and hand the Royal Family a claim to the Westerlands. What made it worse, was that the stupid girl was likely to do it voluntarily too.

In a time where former bastards made up a sizable amount of the ruling nobility and had unprecedented power, not seen since the time of the first Blackfyre, it wasn't that far-fetched.

Not that the Tyrells were any better, what with both the daughter and sister of the current Head being hostages in the capital.

The Martells might be the best stationed out of the three Great Houses, whose loyalty was questionable. She couldn't understand Doran's thought process, Rhaenys was his niece, the future queen, and his sister was a lover to the king, yet he was still not satisfied…

Did Dorne's ambition know no bounds? Had the mess with Rhaeger and his mad father taught him nothing?

Breaking her from her thoughts, "I don't like it, Erlend never does anything on a whim." Her husband spoke with gritted teeth, wary of what was to come.

"We can only hope he won't go too hard on us." Jeyne sighed.

"Did the Queen or one of the others say anything that might indicate his next course of action?" Stannis queried, hopeful that there might be a clue they missed.

"Nothing much, just that it would affirm stability in the realm and open up our eyes." Her tone was uncertain, she couldn't think of anything else the King needed to do, had he not already proven the Crown's might?

The slaughter of the ironmen and their noble houses had practically made any thought of rebellion die out, not even the children were spared, which spoke volumes of just how far the King was willing to go, something no one wanted to experience again.

"As long as it's not too excessive, we can deal with it. There's no reason for Erlend to jeopardize his rule, now that it's secure."

"Perhaps, only time will tell if the Mudds would be any better than their predecessors."

"Yes… Time…"

…

(Kevan Lannister)

"Calm yourself, brother… You throwing our stuff does nothing but cost us gold..." Chastised Kevan, getting annoyed with his brother's costly tantrum.

"You think I don't know that." Gerion snapped right back, for once his habitual smirk was absent from his face.

Nearby, their nephew stewed in fury as he came to terms with his sister's actions.

Had Cersei chosen to do this while they were still at the Rock, they might have been able to prevent it from occurring in the first place. Alas, life just didn't work like that. All they could do was pick up the pieces and try to avoid inciting the King any further.

"You think he knows about me scuttling about?" He asked, not expecting an answer from any of his kin.

As expected, the silence in the chambers was almost suffocating, the only smidgen of good news was that Genna was currently doing her best to minimize the aftermath of the King's announcement. 

Yet, he didn't expect it to amount to much.

Already tension was brewing among their Vassals, who saw this as an opportunity to further weaken the Lannister's wavering hold over the Westerlands. That spiteful Redwyne hag was also subtly fanning the flames, wanting nothing more than to surpass them.

No wonder his late brother despised her, he was beginning to see Tywin's aversion to the bitch. Good thing the old Lion had the sense to leave some letters warning them of the Hag.

Tywin had made an incredibly risky gamble, with his actions to betray the Mad King. It had backfired on him, yet as always their brother was prepared for such a situation.

Only a fool would make a plan so bold as he had done, without contingencies. Genna had been part of these contingencies, hence why their family wasn't overthrown by their resentful Vassals during the chaotic period.

Letters were also left for Tyrion, Jaime, and even Cersei, to ensure they would at least be aware of the hidden dangers. Unfortunately for them, Cersei had ended up becoming the biggest liability to the pride.

Practically giving Erlend the keys to the Rock. Tywin must be rolling in his grave at the moment.

"He knows," Tyrion said to no one in particular, punchering the lingering silence.

"He has a hell of a spymaster, that's for sure," Gerion added in an attempt to humor the situation, though the worry was apparent in his eyes.

"Regardless, we can't be passive about this. We must make a move, and the sooner, the better. House Lannister cannot appear to be weak!" Kevan said heatedly, trying to raise their spirits.

"What would you have us do brother? Rebel? Not likely." Gerion responded sarcastically.

"No… That would just be inviting disaster. As long as we can get back to the Rock safely, we can try and do something about this situation more discreetly. Our enemies dare not act so boldly, especially in front of the King." Tyrion interjected before an argument could start.

"That's if the King isn't directing them himself… Here's hoping we don't all drop dead on the way back," Gerion said, somehow Kevan felt that his brother's words might be just a bit prophetic.

"As long as we don't give the King a reason to attack us, then I doubt there is anyone here who dares break his peace," Tyrion said.

"We can only hope." Kevan sighed if only Tywin was still alive. No one would dare do anything against them had he been present.

Then again, this Erlend was of a different breed, perhaps they might have been worse off had they had to deal with Tywin's pride.

'Oh... How they mighty have fallen!'