Before departure

The stone chamber was silent except for Marisius's heavy breathing.

"Do you remember exactly where it was? The reef where you saw the little dragon?" Viserys asked.

Marisius shook his head blankly. "No. Directions were all wrong in there, and the sun wasn't where it should have been. But I remember a feeling. When I got close to that place, the singing in my head grew especially loud."

The answer was vague, but Viserys could try it himself when the time came.

"Do you need him as a guide?" Naharis asked beside him, his tone conflicted. "As you can see, he's barely functional, and extremely dangerous. You can't trust everything he says."

"I need the fragments of memory in his head." Viserys turned to face Naharis. "As for the documents and expedition reports you promised, I want them now. I also need a specially modified ship, with thin lead sheets covering the hull. The bigger, the better. And experienced sailors and a captain. My soldiers will need to guard against danger. As for weapons, prepare plenty of fire pots and tung oil, along with some small war hammers."

Naharis's eyes flickered. "Lead sheets? If you want stronger defenses, iron would be better."

"Radiation." Viserys uttered a word that did not belong to this world, though in Valyrian it sounded something like "the poison of penetrating light."

Based on Marisius's account and his knowledge from his previous life, he suspected that the ruins of Valyria might contain more than magically induced heat and poisonous gas. There could also be intense physical radiation or some form of energy contamination that affected creatures' minds and triggered genetic mutations. Lead could block certain kinds of radiation to some extent. Although lead in this world might not have the same effect, it was better than nothing. The fire pots and weapons were meant to deal with any Stone Men or other mutated creatures they might encounter. After all, swords would probably do limited damage to such things.

Naharis clearly had not fully understood, but he caught the caution and deliberate purpose in Viserys's words. "Covering the hull with lead sheets will be expensive, and it will affect the ship's speed to some degree."

"Speed isn't an issue. As for the cost..." Viserys's tone was calm. "If I return alive with something to show for it, you'll get what you want. If I don't return..." He glanced at Marisius. "Consider it a failed investment."

Naharis pondered for a moment, weighing the gains and losses, before finally nodding. "Very well. The documents and reports will be delivered to your ship tonight. The modifications will take time. I'll put my best craftsmen on it and have them work day and night, but they'll still need around twenty days at least. However, the best time for this expedition to Valyria is a month from now. We should have enough time."

The agreement was settled. Viserys took one last look at Marisius, who lay curled in the corner, bound in Valyrian steel chains. Deep within the man's consciousness, those memories of Valyria were like spring water in a contaminated area. Only by tasting it could one know whether it was "poisoned."

"Leave him here for now. We'll take him with us when we set out," Viserys told Naharis.

After leaving the gloomy secret chamber and returning to the residence, Viserys politely declined Naharis's invitation to dinner and headed straight back to the docks.

The next twenty days were a flurry of preparations.

Naharis proved highly efficient. That very night, two inconspicuous men boarded the ship carrying several sealed copper tubes filled with transcribed ancient documents and expedition reports. Viserys shut himself in his cabin and spent five full days cross-checking them against the information Alliser had previously gathered, sorting through everything.

Most of the documents were incomplete fragments written in ancient High Valyrian, with many obscure and difficult words. They covered long-lost magic and the geography of Valyria. Yet through his understanding as someone from another world and the original owner's solid grounding in Valyrian, Viserys managed to piece together some valuable information.

For example, the Valyrian Peninsula had not been destroyed evenly. The eruption of the Fourteen Flames had devastated only the central region. The outlying areas, especially certain coastal islands and fjords, might have suffered relatively little damage because of their terrain or other unknown factors. Thus, there was a very slim chance that some coastal castles or places of worship belonging to House Targaryen had survived.

The expedition reports were bloody chronicles of failure, one after another. The dangers they had encountered in Valyria were varied. Beyond the usual poisonous gas, extreme heat, and frenzied sea creatures, there were many more inexplicable phenomena: compasses spinning wildly, entire crews hallucinating and slaughtering one another, ships catching fire or springing leaks for no reason, and people rapidly falling ill or losing their minds after approaching certain areas.

The few parties that had brought back physical objects mostly described shattered building remains, metal fragments whose purpose could not be identified, and those unsettling "glowing stones."

Taken together, the information suggested that approaching by sea and landing on an outlying island might be relatively safe. The Kiss of Astapor, which Marisius had mentioned at the southern end of the Bleeding Peninsula, was faintly marked on several ancient nautical charts. It appeared to be a fjord reaching deep into the peninsula, flanked by towering black cliffs. Legend held that it had once been the private harbor of Satheryn, a dragonlord family skilled in Blood Magic and Contract Magic. If the little black dragon Marisius had described truly existed, such an extreme environment might instead have become a refuge for some mutated creature or magical creation.

Meanwhile, the ship modifications were underway. Naharis brought in a medium-sized sailing ship with a sturdy hull and a deep draft. The craftsmen hammered blocks of lead into thin sheets, cut them to size, and nailed them in layers to the outside of the hull, especially below the waterline. The work consumed enormous amounts of lead and labor, while adding considerable weight to the ship, inevitably reducing its speed. Some of the structures on deck were reinforced with lead sheets as well. To withstand possible extreme heat, layers of asbestos insulation were fitted to critical areas. Viserys had obtained it from goods traded along the upper Rhoyne, where the mineral could be found.

During the wait, Viserys continued honing his swordsmanship and mental power. He also kept trying to use his Skinchanger abilities to communicate with nearby seabirds and fish, sending them to explore toward Valyria. But as soon as they approached the Smoking Sea, the connection grew unstable, and only chaotic, fragmented images came back. Upon reaching Valyria, the connection broke entirely.

Meanwhile, undercurrents stirred within Volantis as well. The open and covert struggles between the Elephant Party and the Tiger Party seemed to be escalating. Patrols increased in the dock district, and occasional rumors circulated about "mercenaries gathering" and "Dothraki movements."

Naharis Malo secretly met with Viserys once more, reminding him of the precise time the passage would open and urging them to finish their preparations. He also hinted at his concern that certain people within the Tiger Party and the Elephant Party might "cause trouble," suggesting that Viserys should set out a little early to avoid unexpected complications.

On the twenty-fifth day, the modified ship lay quietly at its private dock. Its lead-gray hull made it look even stranger than it was, like a giant metal beast. Naharis had named it the Shadow Hunter, a name laden with meaning.