Game of Thrones: Knight’s Honor

Lynd and Nymeria had been in Blackhaven for three days. Much like in Summerhall, their stay was leisurely. Aside from exploring the surroundings, they spent most of their time in their room.

It wasn't due to boredom but rather the abnormalities affecting both Glory and the dragon egg, which dampened their enthusiasm for further exploration.

Back in Summerhall, Lynd had attempted to preserve the dragon egg using the Banished Knight's method. The process itself was fairly simple—it involved channeling transformed Magic into the eggs through a special dragon rune.

Under normal circumstances, the rune used for preservation would take some time to absorb ambient magic before it became usable. But recent events had proven to be an exception.

Glory had consumed a vast amount of energy from vengeful spirits, and much of that transformed energy had been infused into Lynd's body. The nourishing power generated by the Dragon Communion Ritual had already fully integrated into him with the aid of the previous energy, making the new influx somewhat excessive.

Though this excess energy posed no harm, its accumulation left him uncomfortable—like the persistent sensation of a foreign object shifting inside one's ear. It wasn't painful, but it was enough to be an irritant.

To alleviate this, Lynd attempted to channel the surplus energy into the Dragon Runes.

After experimenting with various runes, he discovered that only two could absorb the energy: the Dragon Runes on the Dragonglass Necklace and the one maintaining the dragon egg. The rest either ignored or outright rejected the energy.

Since the dragon egg required maintenance, he directed all of the excess energy into its rune.

Initially, the egg remained unchanged. In Lynd's specialized vision, he could see the infused energy merging seamlessly with the egg's innate magic, without any signs of rejection.

That held true until the following day at noon. After returning from an outing with Nymeria in the outskirts of Blackhaven, he performed his routine infusion of rune magic into the egg—only this time, something unexpected happened. The once-exquisite, blood-red, scaly shell suddenly began to show signs of petrification.

It started as a few isolated spots, but as the rune's magic continued to flow into the egg, the petrified areas expanded.

Lynd, preoccupied with controlling the magic's flow, failed to notice the transformation at first.

By the time Nymeria sensed something was wrong, the pattern of pitted stone had already spread across the entire shell.

Once fully petrified, the egg was almost unrecognizable. Its once-refined, intricate appearance was gone, replaced by something that resembled a crude imitation.

Yet, despite its stone-like exterior, Lynd could see that the magic within the egg hadn't diminished. On the contrary, it had grown even more potent. Unlike before, when its magic radiated outward like light, it had now withdrawn inward, condensing into a blood-red energy mass marked with blue patterns—patterns that mirrored the scales once covering its shell.

Nymeria was worried that something had gone wrong with the egg, while Lynd recalled a phrase from his previous life: A divine object conceals itself.

With her concerns lingering, the two of them remained in their room in Blackhaven for the next few days, carefully observing whether the dragon egg would undergo any further changes.

However, for reasons unknown, coincidentally, at the same time the dragon egg was undergoing abnormal changes, Glory also experienced some unusual events.

After consuming the energy of the vengeful spirit, Glory temporarily lost the ability to change the color of its fur, remaining white for a full day before recovering. After that, no further abnormalities occurred. Through their spirit bond, Lynd became aware of Glory's condition and confirmed that aside from feeling a bit full, it had suffered no adverse effects.

That was, until the day the dragon egg changed. On that day, Glory became extremely lethargic, sleeping for most of the day. As it slept, the color of its fur shifted in sync with its breathing.

If it were merely sleeping after a large meal, with its fur changing color at random, it wouldn't have been cause for concern. But what Lynd truly regarded as abnormal was that, along with the shifting fur colors, an additional halo of light had begun to appear around Glory's body.

In fact, this aura had been present for some time. It first appeared when Glory's fur turned pure white, giving it a sacred appearance. However, it had previously only been visible at night and seemed to have no special effects. Now, however, the aura had changed. It was clearly visible even in daylight, and it was no longer just white—when Glory's fur turned black, a black aura appeared alongside it.

More importantly, these halos carried distinct abilities. The white aura seemed to have healing properties. When Nymeria stroked Glory's fur while it was asleep, she noticed that the old training injuries on her palms were slowly healing within the glow. The black aura, on the other hand, appeared to drain vitality. When she placed her hand within it, a numbness spread through her palm, and the surface of her skin began to show faint signs of aging and decay.

It was clear that the immense energy from the vengeful spirits had caused another mutation in Glory's body. This time, however, the mutation did not cause physical growth but instead granted it extraordinary abilities. Whether this was because the vengeful spirit energy in Summerhall was different from others, or if each instance of devouring such energy triggered a unique mutation, remained unknown.

While Lynd and Nymeria were tending to Glory and the dragon egg, the people of Blackhaven were preoccupied with their own matters. They spent their days debating the advantages and disadvantages of the defensive alliance while awaiting a response from Storm's End.

Among the Blackhaven dignitaries, discussions about the alliance were brief. The Boneway Fortress and Watchtower, where Lynd planned to station troops, technically belonged to Blackhaven. However, Blackhaven had long sought to relinquish control over these fortifications. Now that Lynd was taking responsibility for them, they were more than willing to let him have them.

Furthermore, the other support treaties in the covenant were not one-sided obligations for Blackhaven. Lynd was also bound to provide reciprocal aid, and there was no imbalance in the agreement. The only clause that caused some contention among the nobles was the exemption of Lynd's caravans from all taxes and tolls when passing through the Boneway. This provision also extended to Blackhaven's caravans traveling through the section of the Boneway within Summerhall's territory.

Since the majority of the Boneway lay within Blackhaven's borders, with only a small portion falling under Summerhall, Blackhaven's nobles felt this arrangement put them at a disadvantage. They wished to negotiate an amendment, but Lynd refused to meet with them, leaving Jon to handle the discussions and make his stance clear. He believed that even if the Blackhaven nobles were displeased, they would ultimately agree to the terms.

As expected, the following day, they informed Storm's End of the defensive alliance via raven. It was evident that the moment they sent the message, they had already resolved to sign the treaty. The debates over the past two days had merely been an attempt to extract further benefits before finalizing the agreement.

However, as time passed, their focus shifted away from the alliance itself and toward Storm's End. While there was no real conflict in Lynd, a Reach noble, signing a regional defense pact that only concerned the Marches—meaning it could not be considered a betrayal of the Stormlands—Beric Dondarrion and his advisors still sought reassurance from Storm's End to avoid any potential complications.

Yet, despite having sent their letter several days prior, they had received no response. Suspicion began to grow. Could it be that Storm's End opposed their alliance with Lynd?

On the last day of their stay, a raven from Storm's End finally returned with a letter—but its contents left them all feeling a bit puzzled.

The letter made no mention of Lynd or the alliance. Instead, it conveyed only two points: first, that after the Lannisport Tournament, Renly Baratheon, Lord of Storm's End, had gone to visit Highgarden and would be staying there for a while; and second, that the Stormlands and The Reach had long been friends and would continue to be so in the future.

Though the letter's contents confused the people of Blackhaven, some were able to discern subtle hints. They speculated that Storm's End was implying a strong bond between the Lord of Storm's End and Highgarden, suggesting that the offensive and defensive alliance would proceed without issue.

For this reason, on the final day in Lynd, Beric Dondarrion led the castle's advisers to formally sign the alliance. Once the signed original copy of the pact was safely stored, Lynd made his position clear—after concluding his territorial inspection, he would personally lead an army into the region to clear out all bandits and wildling tribes from the eastern side of the Red Mountains. At that time, Blackhaven would also need to send forces to cooperate.

Beric welcomed the plan and stated that he would personally lead his men to join Lynd's anti-bandit campaign.

Meanwhile, as Lynd prepared to leave, Glory's condition had not improved. A cargo wagon had to be arranged for him, as he spent the entire day sleeping. Blackhaven also sent a hundred men to accompany Lynd's group, ensuring additional protection.

So far, Lynd's tenure as a Lord had gone remarkably smoothly. Many tasks that were originally planned for after the formal relocation of his territory had already been accomplished ahead of schedule. It would not be an exaggeration to say that it felt as if he were blessed by the gods.

However, whether the rest of the journey would continue as smoothly remained uncertain. Stonehelm and Crow's Nest could be set aside for now, but from the information Lothor had gathered before departure, there were signs that Wyl might pose some trouble.

Even while Lynd and Nymeria were waiting in Blackhaven to sign the Alliance of Defense and Attack Pact, they had already dispatched Lothor and his men to investigate the situation in Wyl.

Just as they were packing up and leaving Blackhaven to continue their journey, Lothor's men returned, bringing urgent news to Lynd, who had just passed Blackhaven's gates. They reported the situation on the north bank of the Wyl River and the estuary.

The day before, Wyl had sent a large number of men across the Wyl River into Lynd's territory. They had recalled the citizens of Wyl who had settled in the occupied lands and destroyed any villages that were still intact. Additionally, they had attempted to use seawater to flood the reclaimed land.

It was clear that Wyl intended to return the occupied territory to Lynd, but not in one piece. Not only had they razed the settlements, but they had also shown no mercy to the people.

Though Lynd was displeased with Wyl's actions, he could say nothing—after all, the people belonged to Wyl. However, he had no intention of allowing Lord Wyland of Wyl to reclaim the villages and cultivated land in such a manner.

Without hesitation, he ordered Lothor and Dacey to lead all the knights and cavalry to reinforce Lothor's men, preventing Wyl from further destruction—even if it meant going to war. However, they were not to interfere with the expulsion of the people. Instead, they could provide the displaced villagers with weapons to defend themselves against Wyl's soldiers if they wished to resist.

With his knights dispatched, Lynd and Nymeria remained under the protection of Blackhaven's soldiers.

Upon hearing this news, Beric Dondarrion immediately dispatched another twenty knights and a hundred men to reinforce Lynd and Nymeria's escort.

Though Beric did not believe Lynd needed to worry about being ambushed given his strength, he still needed to demonstrate his commitment as an ally. The alliance treaty stipulated that aid must be provided if an ally's territory came under attack. Wyl's actions were undoubtedly an act of aggression, making it Beric's duty to send reinforcements.

Furthermore, he instructed his knights to convey a message—if necessary, he would personally lead Blackhaven's garrison to support Lynd.

Nymeria, upon hearing the knight's report, raised an eyebrow in surprise. "His Maester and Steward didn't try to stop him?"

The knight gave an awkward smile but remained silent.

It was clear that Beric Dondarrion must have been advised against such action by his Maester and Steward—but he had chosen to act regardless.

"Our allies this time aren't bad," Nymeria noted, catching the subtle implications in the knight's expression. She turned to Lynd.

Lynd nodded in agreement. Beric Dondarrion was one of the few lords who still upheld the spirit of chivalry in what would soon become a chaotic time. Especially considering that, in the end, he had given his life for Catelyn Tully—a sacrifice that few others would have made.

Of course, what had driven him to that end was not merely his sense of chivalric honor, but the torment of dying and being resurrected over and over again, which had left him on the brink of collapse. Even so, his actions remained admirable.

As these thoughts crossed Lynd's mind, he glanced back in the direction of Blackhaven and muttered, "I hope this alliance can change his future."

Nymeria, standing nearby, caught his words but did not understand. "What future?" she asked.

Lynd only smiled in response, offering no explanation, and ordered the group to continue moving forward.