Chapter Summaries

Douglas estimated that rebuilding the ruins would take five years, but Redd ordered him to aim for three. Douglas accepted the deadline while keeping letters describing worsening shortages and unrest in the city-states from Redd.

• Douglas assessed the island’s defenses, ruins, and supply needs, then estimated that completing the main structures would take five years.
• Redd told Douglas to aim to finish the reconstruction within three years, easing some of Douglas’s concern about the deadline.
• Douglas recalled that years of requisitions had strained the Trade Federation’s warehouses and the city-states’ ability to provide supplies.
• Douglas considered Theora’s warning about grain shortages and Marcus’s report of protests, a ration dispute, and laborers fleeing a mine.
• Douglas kept the letters’ more alarming details from Redd and reported only supply and transfer problems in neutral terms.

Douglas surveyed Valyria’s ruins and found that many foundations and underground waterways could be reused, giving reconstruction a head start. As the cursed power receded, hidden altars collapsed and a sealed fissure began opening beneath the mines, while the Half-orc laborers turned toward its approaching sound.

• Douglas organized craftsmen to survey the ruins and record which structures and underground pipes could be reused.
• Douglas showed Redd the survey report and explained that the preserved foundations could save construction time and materials.
• The cursed power faded from Valyria as the clouds thinned, plants began to sprout, and the sulfurous smell weakened.
• The runes on the underground altars dimmed and vanished, causing the altars to crack and collapse.
• The weakening seals allowed a fissure of darkness to open and spread upward through the mine tunnels.
• The Half-orc laborers stopped working and turned toward the sound rising from the fissure.

The Balrog, a flame dragon, and Sauron emerged through the rift into an underground mine. Sauron judged the site suitable for a workshop and foundry, and said they would face only a human on the island with a demon dragon and his subordinates.

• The Balrog emerged from the rift, causing the half-orcs to retreat instinctively.
• The flame dragon squeezed through the passage, then obeyed the Balrog's whip and slipped into the magma.
• Sauron emerged and surveyed the underground space, the half-orcs, the dragon, and the Balrog.
• Sauron said the abandoned mines could support a large workshop and that the underground veins and magma suited their casting needs.
• The Balrog asked whether an ancient being would intervene, and Sauron said it would not because they had already crossed over.

Sauron sent Earth Serpents and Half-orcs through underground tunnels to attack Redd’s seaside camp and supplies while Valyria was being rebuilt. Redd spotted the attack’s distress signal and flew back on King Ghidorah, arriving as the camp lay in ruins.

• Sauron watched Half-orcs move supplies and weapons through a passage beneath Valyria while reconstruction continued aboveground.
• Redd surveyed the recovering ruins as signs of the land’s decay receding appeared, unaware that a new threat was forming underground.
• Sauron decided to target Redd’s provisions and Demon Dragons rather than fight them directly, and ordered Earth Serpents to tunnel toward the seaside camp with Half-orc legions following.
• Redd saw the camp’s distress signal and rode King Ghidorah back from Valyria at close to the speed of sound.
• Redd descended over the camp and saw that its perimeter walls had been destroyed and the camp divided into disconnected sections.

Redd ordered King Ghidorah to destroy the Half-orcs’ mobile ballista platforms after surveying the devastation and the Demon Dragons’ losses. King Ghidorah swept the battlefield with Gravity Beams, while Sauron and the Balrog watched from the camp wall.

• Redd surveyed the burning camp, saw the fallen Demon Dragons, and ordered King Ghidorah to tear apart the enemy.
• King Ghidorah fired Gravity Beams at the Trolls, destroying them and melting their ballistae.
• King Ghidorah swept over the Half-orc ranks with his beams, killing large numbers and disrupting their attack.
• The fleeing Trolls trampled Half-orc overseers as the mobile ballista crews were wiped out.
• Sauron and the Balrog watched King Ghidorah from a half-collapsed section of the camp wall.

Sauron and the Balrog retreated through an underground passage as King Ghidorah and Ehm destroyed the Half-orc forces. The wounded fire dragon was left outside the passage, where Redd approached it as it lay dying.

• Sauron reassessed King Ghidorah's power and told the Balrog he needed the fire dragon.
• The Balrog signaled the fire dragon to withdraw, but Ehm wounded its right wing as it broke away.
• Sauron and the Balrog entered the narrow underground passage while the fire dragon landed near its entrance and could not follow.
• Ehm scorched the passage entrance with dragonfire, preventing anyone outside from pursuing Sauron and the Balrog.
• King Ghidorah finished sweeping the camp, and Redd inspected the passage before walking toward the injured fire dragon.
• The fire dragon stopped moving as the light in its eyes faded.

After the Half-orc attack, Redd inspected the camp’s casualties and damage, then ordered repairs and a search for other underground exits. The survivors began organizing the cleanup and rebuilding as the night gave way to morning.

• King Ghidorah tore apart the dead fire dragon, then refrained from firing his Gravity Beam into the narrow passage.
• Redd confirmed that most of the Half-orcs had been wiped out or driven underground and inspected the camp’s damage.
• Douglas reported that fourteen Demon Dragons had fallen, and Redd ordered their bodies cremated while preserving usable scales and bones.
• Redd surveyed the damaged walls, harbor, ships, and supplies as Douglas estimated the repairs needed.
• Redd ordered the harbor and walls repaired, usable supplies stored, and the passage searched for larger exits that could accommodate giant creatures.

Douglas and the search teams repaired the camp while mapping fissures and tunnels used by the retreating Half-orcs. Redd confirmed that the underground passages led toward a deep-pit mining area with active magma, but ordered the teams not to venture farther underground yet.

• Douglas reported three circular areas of subsidence and a heat-scorched fissure behind a ridge, and Redd chose to prioritize repairs over pursuing the Half-orcs underground.
• Douglas oversaw repairs to the harbor, walls, and supply stores while the search teams traced the Half-orcs’ retreat through passages linking the surface fissures to the mine tunnels.
• Redd inspected the fissure with King Ghidorah and Ehm, then instructed the search teams to keep marking the route without going deeper.
• Redd compared the underground route map with the recorded altar sites and mine entrances, confirming that the main passages connected to a deep-pit mining area surrounded by volcanic rock and active magma.

Redd studied the surface and underground maps to locate the Half-orcs’ territory, weighing the need to destroy the altars against the danger of entering the volcanic passages. At dawn, he decided to lead an expedition underground with King Ghidorah while Douglas and the Demon Dragon Legion remained on the surface.

• Redd annotated the passage map and planned to clear the underground creatures and destroy the altars to prevent more forces from entering through the network.
• Redd identified the unexplored area where Half-orcs had ambushed the exploration team as their likely core territory and the site of many altars.
• Redd considered the loss of his surface advantages and the risk of volcanic eruptions and collapsing passages, while noting that King Ghidorah was still a subadult and too costly to advance.
• After spending the night studying the maps and weighing the risks, Redd ordered Douglas to assemble a hundred elite soldiers with three days of supplies, fire oil, and lighting equipment.
• Redd announced that he would lead the underground expedition with King Ghidorah, while Douglas stayed in camp and Ehm and the Demon Dragon Legion remained on standby.

Redd led the soldiers and King Ghidorah into the Great Rift Valley, following the magma river toward the old mine. After finding signs of recent human activity, Redd noticed a pair of golden, slit-pupiled eyes watching him from a crevice.

• Redd led the party down the narrowing passage while King Ghidorah crawled behind them, absorbing heat from the air.
• The party reached an underground magma river, where poisonous gases made some soldiers cough and weep.
• Redd consulted the map at a fork and took the left passage toward the old mine.
• Redd noticed fresh tracks, wall scratches, and discarded mining tools that suggested people had recently used the passage.
• Redd sensed someone watching him and spotted golden eyes inside a dark crevice.

Redd and his soldiers followed signs of wolf activity through the mine passage, with Redd concluding that Half-orcs were nearby. After about an hour, they entered a broad underground hall littered with ancient human bones.

• Redd killed a wolf hiding in a crevice with a thrown sword and found dried mud on its paws.
• Vyx searched nearby crevices and found fresh wolf fur and tracks matching the dead animal.
• Redd ordered the exhausted soldiers to continue, and Vyx led them onward behind Redd and King Ghidorah.
• The group followed increasingly clear signs of frequent passage and artificial markings as the tunnel widened.
• Redd found long-decayed human bones scattered across the underground hall, with the fragments growing denser farther ahead.

Redd and his group passed an ancient altar surrounded by the remains of hundreds of shackled victims, then continued deeper underground. They discovered a large Half-orc war fortress under construction, revealing that the enemy’s underground operation was far larger than Redd had realized.

• Redd identified the bone-and-stone mound as an altar, while Vyx recognized the shackles on the remains as those once used on enslaved miners.
• Redd ordered the soldiers to avoid the bones, rest, and ration their torches and lamp oil before leading them farther into the passage.
• Redd and the group emerged into a vast underground plaza reinforced with pillars and surrounded by fortified walls.
• Redd saw numerous Half-orcs repairing the defenses and realized they were expanding a substantial underground military stronghold.
• King Ghidorah squeezed through the plaza entrance behind Redd, shifting his body sideways to get through.

Redd entered the underground plaza with King Ghidorah and faced the Half-orcs’ fortified wall. After Sauron sent a messenger to request talks, Redd agreed to meet him, partly because he wanted to learn more about the One Ring.

• King Ghidorah emerged into the plaza, and the Half-orcs halted their work and aimed their defenses at him.
• Redd noticed the Half-orcs were afraid of King Ghidorah despite preparing their ballistae and other weapons.
• A Half-orc riding a Direwolf rode out and told Redd that his master wanted to talk.
• Redd recognized the master as Sauron and considered whether he could kill him and take the One Ring.
• Redd agreed to meet Sauron, who designated an open space in the center of the plaza as their meeting place.

Redd met Sauron at a distance of fifty paces while King Ghidorah remained near the passage, and the two began negotiating over their conflict. Sauron offered a Ring of Power as compensation, but Redd demanded every Ring, including the one Sauron wore, and Sauron said his own Ring could not be wielded by anyone else.

• Redd and Sauron stopped fifty paces apart while King Ghidorah waited near the passage entrance.
• Sauron warned Redd not to have his Demon Dragon attack, and Redd denied that he planned to break off negotiations.
• Sauron proposed peaceful coexistence, but Redd reminded him that Sauron's subordinates had killed his people and dragons.
• Sauron offered a Ring of Power to compensate Redd, and Redd demanded all the Rings, including Sauron's One Ring.
• Sauron refused to give up the Ring on his hand, saying it had been made for him and Redd could not wield its power.

Redd rejected Sauron’s offer and ordered King Ghidorah to attack, badly wounding Sauron and destroying the underground fortress. Sauron escaped with the Balrog into a deeper passage while Redd chose not to pursue and prepared to destroy the altars.

• Sauron offered to forge a Ring of Power for Redd and promised to hand over other Rings later, but Redd rejected his promises and called out his tricks.
• Redd sent King Ghidorah to attack Sauron, and a Gravity Beam destroyed one of Sauron’s thighs as he tried to escape using his Ring’s invisibility.
• The Balrog carried the wounded Sauron away through a passage behind the wall while King Ghidorah blasted the fortress’s defenses and drove the Half-orcs into a rout.
• Redd decided not to pursue Sauron into the deeper passage and prepared to have the altars destroyed once the remaining resistance was cleared.
• King Ghidorah wiped out the last Half-orc resistance, leaving the square filled with ruined fortifications, craters, and scorched ground.

Redd returned to the surface after destroying the Half-orcs’ underground fortress, gathering supplies, and confirming that the Balrog’s cave-in had blocked the route deeper underground. With the immediate threat reduced, he began planning the next stage of operations while leaving the sealed passage unexplored for now.

• Redd ordered King Ghidorah to stop firing, then sent Vyx and the hundred-man unit to clear the square and collect usable supplies.
• Redd found that the Balrog had sealed the retreat route with a cave-in, then ordered his force to withdraw to the surface.
• Douglas reported that camp repairs were progressing and that no new threats had appeared on the surface.
• Redd had the recovered supplies stored and sent Vyx and the soldiers to rest before returning to his tent to plan the next operations.
• Redd judged that clearing the cave-in risked a larger collapse and decided not to enter the other world, prioritizing the rebuilding of Valyria City.

Redd decided to build an underground Dragonpit near the river of lava and station Ehm there to guard the sealed passage to the other world. Douglas warned that the project would strain the Free Cities’ finances, but Redd ordered both proposed construction routes built at once and directed him to use Dragonmont’s reserves.

• On his way back to camp, Redd decided Ehm was the only suitable Demon Dragon to guard the underground passage permanently.
• Redd summoned Douglas and ordered him to build an underground Dragonpit near the river of lava for Ehm.
• Douglas studied the route map and outlined two construction plans: reinforce the great fissure or reopen the old mine shafts.
• Redd ordered both plans carried out simultaneously as backups for each other.
• Douglas warned that the Free Cities could not afford the project and urged Redd to postpone it.
• Redd told Douglas to use Dragonmont’s funds, but Douglas objected that the reserves were needed for the fleet, troops, and emergencies.

Redd oversaw Valyria City's reconstruction while Douglas secured supplies and funds by requisitioning Valyrian steel and raiding the Dothraki with Demon Dragons. News from Westeros reported that Rhaenyra's position on the Small Council was steadily weakening.

• Redd ordered Douglas to raise taxes and threatened to kill anyone who rebelled, so Douglas promised to find another way.
• Redd mapped the geothermal channels beneath Valyria and ordered the Free Cities' Valyrian steel reserves used to forge replacement spikes.
• Ships brought supplies and enslaved workers from Volantis to the Valyrian Peninsula, where crews continued rebuilding the city.
• Douglas asked to use more than a dozen Demon Dragons to raid the Dothraki, and Redd approved the plan.
• The Demon Dragons crushed Dothraki resistance, and the Free Cities captured their people, took their horses, and seized their pastures.
• Redd read a report that Rhaenyra's standing on the Small Council was steadily weakening.

Redd learned that Rhaenyra had secured House Velaryon’s support while Laena Velaryon traveled alone by dragon toward the Free Cities, and he planned how to receive her without provoking King’s Landing. Meanwhile, King Ghidorah began flying toward the Fourteen Flames to absorb their energy.

• Viserys gradually reclaimed influence over the Small Council as Alicent and Ser Otto helped weaken Rhaenyra’s position.
• Redd read that Laena had left Driftmark alone on her dragon after Rhaenyra won House Velaryon’s support.
• Redd considered how Laena’s survival could alter the future balance of power and instructed Mysaria to track her journey and alert him if she reached Volantis.
• Redd reviewed the progress of Valyria City’s reconstruction and the Underground Dragonpit as labor shortages and underground threats eased.
• King Ghidorah began absorbing energy from the Fourteen Flames and flew toward the volcanic peaks while Redd let it choose its own approach.

King Ghidorah absorbed geothermal energy from the Fourteen Flames and, at Redd’s direction, reshaped their volcanic activity to protect Valyria City. The Fire Peaks remained active but became a natural barrier around a calmer, more fertile city basin.

• King Ghidorah rested at the craters of the Fourteen Flames, absorbing geothermal heat and radiation as his scales darkened and his Gravity Beam grew stronger.
• Redd considered the effects of the volcanic energy and instructed King Ghidorah to modify the Fourteen Flames without greatly affecting the area around Valyria City.
• King Ghidorah surveyed the fourteen Fire Peaks, then redirected energy, lava, and volcanic activity through deeper underground channels.
• The volcanoes released less ash and poisonous gas, while the land around Valyria City became more fertile and its air grew clearer.
• The Fourteen Flames and thunderstorms formed a formidable barrier around the peaceful ruins of Valyria City, with King Ghidorah and the Demon Dragon Legion guarding against aerial attacks.