Chapitre 39: Chapter 39
From a third-person perspective
At the resurrection site
The cultist, now revived, remained silent upon hearing his god's words. The Black Goat continued:
"I have also given the other Horns the same gift, and I hope that you can indeed retrieve the woman."
The cultist nodded and witnessed as his god left him with these last words:
"Finish as soon as possible."
The spatial rift that appeared with the arrival of the Black Goat then closed, as if the world itself quickly healed the wound created by the deity.
"I hope we can indeed finish this task quickly," thought the man.
Unexpectedly, his thoughts were answered:
"Well... I hope so too," responded one of the Horns.
"Heh... We should be glad for the power, or rather the gift, we've been granted," another voice chimed in.
"Shall we start carrying out our task?" suggested another distinct voice.
"Agreed, we need to kill that whelp and his group, and also bring the woman to the main temple," agreed the revived one.
Having reached a consensus, the Horns began to execute their mission.
Meanwhile, in a different plane of existence
The Black Goat, sitting on his throne, contemplated how little time remained until his arrival in the material plane.
"Just a little more and my plan will be executed... Even the Child of Destiny won't be able to stop me!" the anthropomorphic entity thought.
"Ha ha ha... Soon... My vessel will soon appear!" the creature couldn't contain its excitement.
However, the moment of triumph was abruptly cut short when the Black Goat sensed the presence of another powerful entity.
"What are you doing here, damn Horse?!" the Goat growled, glaring at the creature before him.
The entity resembled a constellation in the shape of a horse brought into three-dimensional form.
"And you're still the same old Goat... Did you really think your actions would go unnoticed?" the entity replied with a cold tone that seemed thirsty for blood.
"Should you be the one to talk, 'Great Stallion'?" the Goat retorted sharply.
Indeed, the entity facing the Black Goat was the deity of the Dothraki, the Great Stallion.
"Aren't you busy with something similar? What did you call your vessel? 'The Stallion Who Mounts the World'?"
"The Stallion Who Mounts the World" is a messianic figure in an ancient prophecy popular among the Dothraki, the great "khal of khals" who will unite the Dothraki into a single khalasar and lead them to the ends of the earth, and all people of the world will bow to him.
"I'm not here to justify myself to you... I came to tell you that my followers will attack your city... And you should be prepared for that. There will be no bribing them off," the divine Dothraki figure stated, then vanished.
The Black Goat, upon hearing this, was filled with even greater dissatisfaction, as the followers of the Great Stallion could indeed pose problems for his plans.
The Dothraki are a nomadic people of Essos, known as the "horse lords." They are united in a khalasar, a roaming tribe where even children, women, and the elderly can ride, so pregnant women, very young children, infirm elders, and eunuchs are carried in carts during migrations and raids.
In the warm climate of Essos, the Dothraki do not require elaborate housing; leaders live in light tents, while the rest of the khalasar makes do with shelters or awnings made of woven grass for rain protection. A thousand years ago, before the Doom of Valyria, to build a home, a Dothraki would have dug a pit and constructed a woven grass roof over it.
During horseback campaigns, the Dothraki loot and burn all the settlements they can capture; all who resist are killed, while other inhabitants are captured as slaves and either joined to the khalasar or sold in the Slave Bay.
Many war trophies are brought to Vaes Dothrak, the only city of the Dothraki and a sacred place where carrying weapons and shedding blood is punishable by death. However, most nations of Essos are not averse to maintaining peaceful relations with the Dothraki, including visiting the great market in Vaes Dothrak. Here, the dosh khaleen, a council of shaman-widows of deceased khals, permanently resides.
And this band of murderers and rapists is preparing to attack the main headquarters of the followers of the Black Goat.
The Black Goat, having received information about the impending attack from the Great Stallion, was so furious that he nearly destroyed everything in his throne room.
"If only I could give my followers more power! AAAAH!"
CRASH
After breaking part of his throne, the Black Goat could only sit and wait to see what would ultimately happen.
"I hope... they don't mess it up."
Meanwhile, in Qohor
The patrolling guard expected nothing unusual that day, as the arrival of the Dothraki was supposed to be five days away, and he wasn't supposed to be on duty in this part of the city that day... At least, that was supposed to be the case.
"Dothraki!" one of the guards shouted.
"What are you talking about?" asked another guard, who was playing cards with his mates.
"Weren't they supposed to come in about five days?"
The guard who had shouted was now trembling like a leaf.
"It's not a normal khalasar arrival! There are far more of them... gulp... I think they're preparing to raid."
"So what? Did we buy the Unsullied for nothing?" the commander of the group scoffed disdainfully.
"But..."
"Don't worry. Those eunuchs can handle the barbarians," another guard interjected, cutting off his colleague.
"Damn it! Why on earth did these savages decide to attack today?!" thought one of the followers of the Black Goat.
"What's happening outside?" asked this follower, who was also one of the commanders of the city guard.
"The Unsullied are still holding the line," replied the person delivering this grim news.
"And negotiating a ransom with these barbarians?"
The rather young man hesitated before saying, "They beheaded the one who suggested it," he concluded with a furrowed brow.
"Truly troublesome..."
"Is that all?"
The subordinate of the city guard's commander thought for a moment before responding, "They also added that anyone who tries to negotiate or bribe them will receive the same treatment."
"Damn it!" cursed the commander of the guards.
His assistant simply nodded silently. He then watched as his boss, picking up a pipe, tried to figure out what to do next.
"We need to inform the Horns about this; we can't let these savages disrupt the arrival of our world."
"Send messengers to Astapor for a new batch of the Unsullied."
Astapor, or the Red City, is one of the slave-trading cities alongside Meereen and Yunkai. A descendant of the ancient Ghiscari Empire, it is symbolized by the Ghiscari harpy with a heavy chain in its talons.
Its main industry is slavery in all its forms, but it is primarily known for its warrior slaves, the Unsullied, who are renowned throughout Westeros and Essos for their martial prowess, obedience, loyalty, and discipline.
Astapor is the only place where true Unsullied are bred and sold. The city also trades in other slaves: captives sold to Astapor by Dothraki or pirates, those bred within the city, etc.
The primary population of Astapor consists of slaves and their master-slave traders, who consider themselves descendants of the Ghiscari.
The city itself is located in the Bay of Slavers. The River Worm flows through the center of Astapor, where the islands of the freemen and various entertainment venues are located.
All its streets are laid with the same red bricks that pave the central plaza, known as the Plaza of Punishment. From these bricks are also built the stepped pyramids, deep fighting pits with amphitheater seating, sulfur fountains, gloomy wine cellars, and ancient city walls. Everywhere, the old brick decays and crumbles. At every gust of wind, red dust blows through the drainage ditches. The predominant color of Astapor is red.
The city is governed by the Good Masters, most of whom claim heritage all the way back to the Ghiscari Empire.
The wealthiest and most influential families of the city, whose main source of income is the training and selling of the Unsullied, live in pyramids and wear tokars.
The status of a corporate representative is indicated by the color of the fringe on his tokar, which can be silver, gold, and adorned with pearls.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, better safe than sorry. We can't afford to save money today."
"It shall be done." Having said that, the commander's assistant left.
The commander himself left some time later to relay the news to his brothers.
Several hours later
One of the Horns of the Black Goat was in quite a cheerful mood at the moment, not only had he received a gift from his god but also had the chance to witness the arrival of the deity into the material plane.
Unfortunately, this good mood was interrupted when one of his subordinates, who held the position of the city guard commander, came to see him.
"My brother, I bring very unpleasant news... We are being attacked by the Dothraki."
"What?" The Horn of the Black Goat was unprepared for this information, and hundreds of thoughts raced through his mind.
Quickly regaining his composure, he asked more seriously, "Tell me what happened, and do not omit even the smallest detail."
After hearing what had happened beyond the city's limits, how the horse-riding barbarians had presented themselves, and what his subordinate had done, he commented.
"Your initiative deserves punishment, but in light of recent events, I can't say I could have come up with anything better. Did you find out which khal is leading this khalasar?"
"Unfortunately, no. And I don't think we can negotiate with this khalasar. They were adamant about pillaging the city."
"It's likely that those who came before them were already killed..." the city guard commander thought silently.
"Do you also think the previous ones were killed?" asked the high-ranking Black Goat cult member.
Receiving only a nod, the Horn grimly smiled and said, "Isn't this barbarian trying to emulate Khal Temmo?"
It's worth mentioning that the Unsullied earned great renown from the battle against the Dothraki outside the walls of Qohor, which took place about 100 years before A.C.
At that time, following the Doom of Valyria, the Dothraki began to pose a threat to the cities of Essos for the first time. Khal Temmo marched on the Free City of Qohor with a khalasar of 50,000, including 20,000 warriors, half of whom had earned the right to wear bells in their braids.
Knowing of the Dothraki's approach, the Qohorik tried to fortify the city and gather an army, including hiring mercenary companies like the Bright Banners and the Second Sons. They also purchased three thousand Unsullied from Astapor, who were not yet considered a serious military force. The Unsullied arrived at the city just as the Qohorik cavalry had been defeated, and the mercenaries fled from the battlefield; thus, there was no one left to defend Qohor.
The next morning, when the Dothraki prepared to storm Qohor, they found a dense formation of Unsullied in front of the gates. According to Dothraki custom, cavalry is supposed to trample infantry, and the Dothraki simply charged. The Unsullied closed ranks, lowered their spears, and held their ground.
Temmo repeated the futile attempt to trample the infantry formation 18 times and thrice used archers against the Unsullied, bombarding the enemy with a hail of arrows, but the Unsullied raised their shields above their heads, forming something akin to a tortoise.
Ultimately, the Dothraki conceded defeat: although only 600 of the three thousand Unsullied survived, more than 12,000 Dothraki perished, including Khal Temmo himself, his sons, and bloodriders.
In acknowledgment of their defeat, the new khal, Temmo's successor, ordered his warriors to cut off their braids and throw them at the feet of the Unsullied. Since then, the city guard of Qohor has been exclusively composed of Unsullied, and they carry braids of human hair on the shafts of their spears.
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