Building an Empire in Game of Thrones (REWORKED VERSION)-Chapter 75: Rescue, Retribution & Rebellion

Having learned where Jaehaerys was located, Maximus took Nyxara and a hundred wyvern riders and headed towards Qarth to bring the boy back to Heaven's Reach. In no way was he going to let Jaehaerys be used against him, and now that he knew those Warlocks of Qarth had him, he was not letting something like this go.

He flew all the way from Heaven's Reach to Astapor in a day where he rested the Wyverns for another day before departing again. From there, he flew straight to Qarth, flying over the Red Waste. Hela, Merlin, and Lilith flew beside him, each riding on top of their own wyverns. The skies above the desert burned red with the light of the setting sun, and below them, the city of Qarth could be seen behind its massive triple walls. Without Hesitation, he ordered the attack to begin.

The moment they breached the outer skies of Qarth, the warlocks reacted. A wave of energy surged upward from the towers of the Warlocks' Guild. One of the lead wyverns was hit, but the dwarven crafted armor that it had around its body, had absorbed the magic attack.

"They were expecting us," Lilith said.

"They won't be expecting this," Hela muttered, then dropped low, her wyvern turning hard as she raised her hand. From her fingertips she released her necrotic magic, green-black fire that exploded upon impact with the outer wall. The stone shattered and tumbled as it was hit.

Below, the defenders of Qarth scrambled to react, armored spearmen, warlocks, even a tamed Firewyrm slithered through the cracked courtyards of the city.

Merlin flew higher, summoning a storm above the central tower of the Thirteen. The clouds formed fast, and moments later, a bolt of blue-white lightning struck the tower, collapsing part of its roof in an explosion.

Maximus gave another order. "Target the Warlocks and Leave the Thirteen in ruin."

Dozens of wyverns descended, flames pouring from their mouths. Entire buildings caught fire as the riders focused their assault on the Warlocks' guild halls. The screams of panic-filled Qarth as civilians scattered and smoke filled the sky.

The warlocks counterattacked, attempting to summon illusions to twist the minds of the wyvern riders. However, these riders' minds were protected and the warlocks were not powerful enough to get in their heads while Maximus was there.

Hela jumped off of her Wyvern and started fighting the Firewyrm on the ground, while Merlin supported her, making sure the ground soldiers didn't get in her way.

Maximus landed directly in front of the guild alongside a few Asgardians and Lilith. Standing in front of him, there were 12 Warlocks ready to defend their city.

The Asgardians were about to charge in and kill the warlocks, but Maximus put his hand up, halting them. He gazed at the Warlocks, causing them to take a defensive stance and prep their defensive magic.

"Tell me where the boy named Jaehaerys, and I will leave, and you get to keep your lives. Refuse and lose your life, simple as that," Maximus said, his voice echoing unnaturally through the scorched plaza. The warlocks didn't move.

One of them, a tall man with blue eyes, stepped forward. "The boy is no longer yours to command, Emperor. He has chosen his own path. He belongs to Qarth now... to Xhono Rhaqaris."

Maximus didn't respond. He simply extended his hand, giving the signal for the Asgardians to kill the Warlocks standing in front of them. The Warlocks, unaware of how strong the Asgardians were, were quickly overpowered. They tried to put up a fight, but the Asgardians were just faster and much stronger than they were.

Their magic proved useless, especially when they couldn't even fight back against the overwhelming power of the Asgardians.

Soon, the dozen defenders lay dead or dying, the courtyard littered with their broken bodies. Maximus walked past them, entering the central tower. Inside the tower's lower levels, he found a black stone chamber lined with obsidian metal, suppressing magic within its walls.

In the center stood Xhono Rhaqaris, clad in his robes, a smirk on his lips. And beside him, Jaehaerys who stood with his arms crossed. His once-boyish expression was now filled with bitterness. His solver-blonde hair was tied back, and he was wearing Qartheen armor.

"Emperor," Jaehaerys said mockingly. "Come to bring me home?"

Maximus narrowed his eyes. "Yes, I am. If not for me, you would have never lived this long in the first place."

"I never asked to be part of your Empire," Jaehaerys snapped. "I was born a Targaryen! And yet I was nothing in your court, overshadowed, dismissed, and discarded. My brother was the one shining while everybody else ignored me. You all saw me as lesser!"

"No one saw you as lesser. You were impatient. You let your own bitterness blind you. You let this man," he pointed to Xhono, "poison your mind."

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Xhono chuckled. "He came willingly, Emperor. I merely gave him what you couldn't, respect, Power, and a future."

"You gave him lies," Maximus replied. "And I've heard enough of this nonsense."

In an instant Xhono felt a tight grip around his neck causing him to instinctively defend himself. He brought his hand up to launch a magic attack towards Maximus's face, but his arms wouldn't move. Starting to panic, he turned towards Jaehaerys, hoping to use the boy to free himself.

But two of the Asgardians had already jumped on Jaehaerys, binding his arms.

Maximus used his free hand and shoved it through Xhono's body, grabbing his beating heart and crushing it. Xhono's body collapsed on the floor while Maximus used his Soul Reaping ability to consume his life force.

Turning around, he motioned towards the Asgardian's to follow him. Outside, Hela had just finished her fight with the Firewyrm and had used her necrotic powers to revive it under her command.

Now that Hela had been to Qarth, she could now create a portal to and from the city. So, instead of flying all the way back, she opened a portal, allowing all of the Wyverns to return to Heaven's Reach in an instant. Jaehaerys was thrown into a cell where his mother Rhaella visited him. She came to try and talk some sense into him.

———

In Kings Landing, the day of Ned Stark's execution had arrived. He was dragged from his cell towards Great Sept of Baelor where he was to be executed. However, the person that they had dragged out was not Ned Stark, it was a person who he was replaced with who was made to look like him with magic.

The actual Ned Stark was snuck out of his cell the previous day and escorted to a safehouse, near the harbor of the city. It was there that he was united with his daughters, Sansa and Arya.

Meanwhile, in the Great Sept of Baelor, the execution had gone on as planned. Cersei had failed to control Joffrey who had ordered Ned Stark's execution in front of the masses.

A few days later, the news had already spread across the continent. Robb Stark, who had already secured an alliance with House Tully wasn't devastated by the news. During his march, his mother revealed a few things to him, including the Shadowhand agents who told him everything.

This was needed in order for Robb to focus on the war at hand and not be sidetracked by other things. So, he proceeded with his campaign against the Lannisters.

In the meantime, Ned and his daughters were to remain hidden in King's Landing until they had a chance to escape and return to the North.

Across the sea at Dragonstone, Stannis Baratheon declared himself King as his brother's true heir. He began to gather support from the Stormlords, with only a few answering his call.

Renly Baratheon had secured support from Highgarden through a marriage with Margaery and was declared King. The reports kept pilling up on Maximus's desk as he read each one of them.

He already knew what was supposed to happen, but because of his interference, he wanted to see things that had changed. One of the major things that he noticed was the fact that Stannis couldn't gather enough soldiers as the sellswords that he got from Essos in the original timeline, were few in number compared to the last.

So, he had to rely on Lords who joined him to provide the manpower for him.

Since he didn't affect the Reach that much, he wasn't surprised to see the marriage between Margaery and Renly. He wondered if they would actually be able to march on King's Landing or if Stannis would murder his brother.

Or the third option which was his direct involvement in the war. He had already secured Dorne, so it was only a matter of time until he got more involved in the affairs of the Continent.