Saga of Astral Mysteries (LOTMxASOIAF)

Several Days Later, Demon Road

The Demon Road took its name from the sheer number of Monsters and Extraordinary Creatures that tended to appear around the road as it was built directly underneath the Painted Mountains, and it also led through several monster-infested forests.

Traveling on the Demon Road was dangerous if one didn't have protection, especially during the night. One could never be cautious enough on the Demon Road as the dangers were on every corner, especially when one was passing underneath the Painted Mountains and through the Darkmant Forest. 

While the Valyrian Freehold had their Legions patrol parts of the Demon Road and the crossroads that were connecting the Demon Road with the Dragon Road to the core of the Freehold, the Valyrain Peninsula, nobody could really predict when the monsters would attack. 

And the soldiers couldn't be everywhere.

Many areas were unprotected, but fortunately for the group traveling to the Volantis, the encounter with the bandits they had a few days ago was the sole action that they had seen, much to Valkorion's dismay.

He would prefer more ambushes from the bandits because they were easy kills, and some may even have bounties on their heads. However, that happened only with the more famous outlaws, not the small fries like the ones that attacked their wagon carriage.

It didn't really take long for the visage of the Volantis to appear in the distance.

The First Daughter, as it was often called by its inhabitants, because it was the first city that was built by the Valyrian Freehold when the Valyrians started their expansion of the Valyrian Peninsula several thousand years ago. 

Located at the mouth of the Rhoyne on the Summer Sea, it is the oldest and the proudest of the City-States within not only the Valyrian Freehold but even the rest of the Western Essos, as there was no bigger city from the edges of west to the Bone Mountains to the east.

Volantis was located east of the Disputed Lands, which is a specific region between the City States of Lys, Myr, and Tyrosh. The region was once connected to Westeros by the Arm of Dorne, but the Breaking shattered the land bridge and left behind the Stepstones in the narrow sea.

The region is one of the richest and most fertile areas of the Western Essos and due to that, all three City States that were in the vicinity put their claims on the region, and thus it came to be known as Disputed Lands for the past several centuries.

Because the Valyrian Freehold gave its City States rather a high degree of autonomy and many were not under the direct oversight of the Lords Freeholders, they were managing their things themselves.

This often resulted in skirmishes and conflicts between them, like the one between Lys, Myr, and Tyrosh, which often escalated into open conflicts and battles. The duel between powerful Beyonders that repressed each city were rather common, and they were even monthly occurrences.

Volantis sprawls across one of the four mouths of the Rhoyne, where the river flows into the Summer Sea. To the north is the river Volaena. The cities Volon Therys, Valysar, and Selhorys are located directly northeast of the city, and are ruled by Volantis.

The city also controls the Rhoyne as far as the tributary river Selhoru and holds sway over the Orange Shore, west of the city. Within the Volanits, a large part of the Valyrian Legions were stationed as the city was the main holder of the vast territories to the west of the Freehold.

Nominally speaking, the city was under the direct management of the Triarchy from the Dragonlord Families because it was too precious and important to be left in the hands of anyone else.

"I must admit that it is splendid view..."

Valkorion muttered as he saw the city for the first time in his life, and he had to admit that it was majestic and huge. Cartharys was a small backwater village compared to the metropolis before them, as the city was home to hundreds of thousands that lived within.

Perhaps the number of people calling this place home crossed over a million.

"Yes, it is... the second largest city and metropolis west of the Bone Mountains. Only the grand cities of the Golden Empire of Yi Ti and underground Forge Cities of the dwarven kingdoms are eclipsing the beauty and wonders of the Volanitis in its full glory."

Melisandre woke him out of his stupor because he was already beginning to look like a country bumpkin that never left his village.

She had already visited the city several times during her life, something that was surprising to Valkorion, as he had already started suspecting that she was older than she seemed to be or that she was one of the covert operatives of the Red Temple tasked with spying on their enemies.

Still, he rather went with the second explanation because she was only a Low Sequence Beyyonder, so there wasn't any increase in the lifespan from the Beyonder Rank; yet, in this mysterious world, there were many methods of prolonging one's lifespan if one knew where to look for them and lacked morals to carry them out.

"We need to get into the line for the checkpoint. Volantis is taking the security of the city rather seriously, so prepare your identification papers."

The coachman, Stanyor, stated as he controlled the Iron-Headed Bulls to get into the line where the other carriages and vehicles were waiting for the check-up to pass the control.

As one of the foremost defensive fortifications of the Freehold, the security was especially strict in the Volantis, and they were rather serious about it. As they went to get into the line, Valkorion noticed around fifty Valyrian Legionaries clad in pristine armors, walking around and patrolling the perimeters.

For sure, they were also under the watch of at least a few Mid Sequence Beyonders in case something went wrong. He also noticed that there were also many of the flying monsters and some of Extraordinary Creatures in the sky; most probably, they were controlled by the Beoynders or were tamed by the Legion to patrol from the sky.

Volantis spread across the mouth of the Rhoyne and across the hills and marshes on both sides of the river. The older districts of the city lied on the eastern banks, while the newer districts are located on the west. These two halves were connected by the Long Bridge.

Right now, they were in front of the Outer Walls, which was the entrance to the city itself, and they needed to pass through the check-up.

For that, Valkorion was already prepared because even though he could use his own identification, as he was still listed as Valyrian, he used the permit that was given to him by Camille Ferros. 

She gave it to him some time ago, and with it, he could basically enter even the Black Walls of Volantis and the core of the city, which was his final goal. It was easier than to use his own ID as the Ferros Clan was more powerful than even some of the lesser Dragonlord Families within the Freehold.

Sometimes, it was indeed true that money equaled power.

In terms of the Clan Ferros, it applied almost absolutely.