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•𝑴𝒂𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑴𝒖𝒏𝒌𝒖𝒏'𝒔 𝑨𝒄𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇
𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝑨𝒃𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝑮𝒐𝒅𝒔 𝑬𝒚𝒆•

_𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝟐𝟐𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒
𝟓𝑡ℎ 𝑚𝑜𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝟏𝟑𝟎 𝐴𝐶

•꧂༅𖢻༄꧁•

On the 14th day of the Rouge Prince's vigil, a shadow swept over the castle, blacker than any passing cloud. All the birds in the Godswood took to the air in fright, and a hot wind whipped the fallen leaves across
the yard.

Vhagar had come at last, and on her back rode the one-eyed Prince Aemond Targaryen, clad in nightblack armor chased with gold.

He had not come alone. Alys Rivers flew with him, her long hair streaming black behind her, her belly swollen with child.

Prince Aemond circled twice about the towers of Harrenhal, then brought Vhagar down in the outer ward, with Caraxes a hundred yards away.

The dragons glared balefully at each other, and Caraxes spread his wings and hissed, flames
dancing across his teeth.

The prince helped his woman down from Vhagar's back, then turned to face his uncle.

"Nuncle, I hear you have been seeking us."

"Only you," Daemon replied. "Who told you where to find me?"

"My lady," Aemond answered. "She saw you in a storm cloud, in a mountain pool at dusk, in the fire we lit to cook our suppers. She sees much and more, my Alys. You were a fool to come alone."

"Were I not alone, you would not have come,"
said Daemon.

"Yet you are, and here I am. You have lived too long, Nuncle."

"On that much we agree," Daemon replied.

Then the old prince bade Caraxes bend his neck,
and climbed stiffly onto his back, whilst the young prince kissed his woman and vaulted lightly onto Vhagar, taking care to fasten the four short chains between belt and saddle. Daemon left his own
chains dangling.

Caraxes hissed again, filling the air with flames, and Vhagar answered with a roar. As one the two
dragons leapt into the sky.

Prince Daemon took Caraxes up swiftly, lashing him with a steel-tipped whip until they disappeared into a bank of clouds. Vhagar, older and much the larger, was also slower, made ponderous by her very size, and ascended more gradually, in ever widening circles that took her and her rider out over
the waters of the Gods Eye.

The hour was late, the sun was close to setting, and
the lake was calm, its surface glimmering like a
sheet of beaten copper.

Up and up she soared, searching for Caraxes as Alys Rivers watched from atop Kingspyre Tower in Harrenhal below.

The attack came sudden as a thunderbolt.

Caraxes dove down upon Vhagar with a piercing shriek that was heard a dozen miles away, cloaked by the glare of the setting sun on Prince Aemond's blind side. The Blood Wyrm slammed into the older
dragon with terrible force.

Their roars echoed across the Gods Eye as the two grappled and tore at one another, dark against a blood-red sky. So bright did their flames burn that fisher-folk below feared the clouds themselves
had caught fire.

Locked together, the dragons tumbled
toward the lake.

The Blood Wyrm's jaws closed about Vhagar's neck, his black teeth sinking deep into the flesh of the larger dragon. Even as Vhagar's claws raked his belly open and Vhagar's own teeth ripped away a wing, Caraxes bit deeper, worrying at the wound as the lake rushed up below them with terrible speed.

And is was then, the tales tell us, that Prince Daemon Targaryen swung a leg over his saddle and leapt from one dragon to the other. In his hand was Dark Sister, the sword of Queen Visenya.

As Aemond One-Eye looked up in terror, fumbling with the chains that bound him to his saddle, Daemon ripped off his nephew's helm and drove the sword down into his blind eye, so hard the point came out the back of the young prince's throat. Half a heartbeat later, the dragons struck the lake, sending up a gout of water that was said to have been as tall
as Kingspyre tower.

Neither man nor dragon could have survived such an impact, the fisherfolk who saw it said. Nor did they.

Caraxes lived long enough to crawl back onto the land. Gutted, with one wing torn from his body and the waters of the lake smoking about him, the Blood Wyrm found the strength to drag himself onto the lakeshore, expiring beneath the walls of Harrenhal.

Vhagar's carcass plunged to the lake floor, the hot blood from the gaping wound in her neck bringing the water to a boil over her last resting place.

When she was found some years later, after the end of the Dance of the Dragons, Prince Aemond's armored bones remained chained to her saddle, with Dark Sister thrust hilt-deep through his eye socket.

That Prince Daemon died as well we cannot doubt. His remains were never found, but there are queer currents in that lake, and hungry fish as well. The singers tell us that the old prince survived the fall and afterward made his way to the girl Nettles, to spend the remainder of his days at her side.

Such stories make for charming songs, but
poor history. Even Mushroom gives the tale
no credence, nor shall we.

•꧂༅𖢻༄꧁•

𝐃𝐀𝐄𝐑𝐘𝐒 𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐀𝐑𝐘𝐄𝐍:   { Although, the prince committed terrible atrocities, it must have been glorious to ride a conqueror's dragon. Visenya's Vhagar no less! }

𝐒𝐄𝐑 𝐁𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐍 𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐌𝐘:   { That it must have been, my young Princess. }

•꧂༅𖢻༄꧁•

     All he remembers was falling into the lake reflecting the blood-stained sky. The salt water rushing down his throat and conjoining with the blood drowning his burning lungs.

   Before darkness overcame him as another eye closed.

   . . . Then, whispers amidst the black abyss, voices. A wide circlet of orange-and-yellow fire enveloped him, and visions began to dance within the flames.

   The once cold waters trickling around his bare feet began to emit a layer of steam from the sheer heat of the blazing fire.

" The Stallion Who Mounts the World "

" The Stallion is the Khal of Khals promised in ancient prophecy, child. He will unite the Dothraki into a single Khalasar and ride to the ends of the earth "

" As swift as the wind he rides, and behind him, his Khalasar covers the earth. Men without number. With arakhs shinning in their hands like blades of razor grass. Fierce as a storm this prince will be "

   A battle within the flames, a winged shadow bathing golden lions in his mighty fire as men on horses trampled them into the dirt.

" His enemies will tremble before him, and their wives will weep tears of blood and rend their flesh in grief "

   A dragon roars.

" The bells in his hair will sing his coming, and the milk men in the stone tents will fear his name "

   A woman with the molten silver hair he became so accustomed to seeing within the mirror stood before him, blood dripping down her chin and arms. The woman was consuming a stallion's heart.

" The Prince is riding, and he shall be the
Stallion Who Mounts the World "

" The Stallion is the Khal of Khals
promised in ancient prophecy "

   Another dragon roars.

" In ancient books of Asshai, it is written that there will come a day after a long summer when the stars bleed and the cold breath of darkness falls heavy on the world. In this dread hour, a warrior shall draw from the fire a burning sword. And that sword shall be Lightbringer, 'the Red Sword of Heroes', and he who clasps it shall be Azor Ahai come again. The darkness shall flee before him "

   The silver woman raised the harpy's fingers
in the air... and then she flung the scourge aside. "Freedom!" She sang out. "Dracarys! Dracarys! Dracarys!"

   "Dracarys!" The men in black leather shouted back the sweetest word he'd ever heard.

" ... the language misled us... "

   The voice, so faint it was almost a whisper.

" She is he who must stand against the Other... the one whose coming was prophesied thousands of years ago. The red comet was her herald. She is the Prince That Was Promised, and if she fails, the world fails
with her "

   "Woman?" She chuckled. "Is that meant to insult me? I would return the slap, if I took you for a man." She met his stare, delicately bouncing the babe on her knee. "I am Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, the Unburnt, Mother of Dragons, Khaleesi to Drogo's riders, and Queen of the Seven Kingdoms."

   On her shoulder, a pale dragon flapped wings the colour of cream, stirring the air.

   Behind the flames burning brightly and intensely, the darkness above shimmers with stars and amidst their depths, a red comet shone crimson red.

" A herald of their coming "

" When the red star bleeds
and the darkness gathers... "

   He saw a smoky pyre between the flames, underneath the comet.

" Azor Ahai shall be born again amidst smoke and salt to wake dragons out of stone... "

   He heard a crack, the sound of shattering stone. And something came crashing down, bouncing and rolling, to land at his feet; a chunk of curved rock, green and veined with bronze, broken and smoldering.

And there came a second crack, loud and sharp as thunder, and the smoke stirred and whirled around him and the pyre shifted, the logs exploding as the
fire touched their secret hearts.

The third crack was as loud and sharp as the breaking of the world.

Within the flames, underneath the bleeding star, the silver woman, Daenerys Stormborn, bare body covered in ash and soot, rose to her feet from a great fire with three baby dragons and a newborn babe suckling at her breast.

The flames circling around him burned brighter as salt water flooded his ankles and beside him stood the isle he'd never seen with his eye yet would recognize instantly as Dragonstone.

The isle of dragons and the last dragonlords is hit by a terrible storm, ripping gargoyles from stone walls and smashing a fleet to kindling.

" The bleeding star has come and gone. And Dragonstone is the place of smoke and salt "

" ... is Azor Ahai reborn "

"But the ships that bring me home must bare different names."

"What names would you prefer?"

"Vhagar, Meraxes, and Balerion. Paint the names on their hulls in golden letters three feet high, Arstan. I want every man who sees them to know the dragons are returned."

" ... don't want to wake the dragon... "

Daenerys stood before him again, and black wings unfurled behind her.

" ... wake the dragon... "

"The fire is mine. I am Daenerys Stormborn, Daughter of Dragons, Bride of Dragons, Mother of Dragons!" The woman shouted.

" Only death can pay for life "

A cold breath whispered in his ear, and shivers racked through his body no matter the burning flames encircling him.

Now within the flames before him, a young Daenerys Stormborn held a pillow to a man's face.

" King's blood and his untainted fire,
a dragon shall be born "

" ... Ahai thrust the smoking sword through her living heart. It is said that her cry of anguish left a crack across the face of the moon, but her blood and soul, strength and courage, all went into the steel... "

A dragon roars once again, so full of pain he fell to his knees. The cry so melancholy, he felt his heart could not bare it.

" Lightbringer, 'the Red Sword of Heroes' "

The unknown voice was heard, neither male nor female, neither child nor adult, but all the prince saw were the flames, glowing whiter and hotter.

Thousands of visions passed through the blazing inferno, so many events danced through the flames. The prince grew dizzy, his nose beginning to bleed profoundly.

" Once there were two moons in the sky... "

A young woman's soft voice spoke, and deep in the fire he saw the Stormborn once more, holding a babe to her hip as dragons flew above them.

" A thousand, thousand dragons poured forth,
and drank the fire of the sun "

" Azor Ahai shall be born again amidst smoke and salt to wake dragons out of stone "

" ... fire made flesh... "

Blood poured from his nose, trickling down his neck unto his bare chest, eye flooded with so many visions amidst the flames.

" No one ever looked for a girl "

" Dragons are neither male nor female "

" The language misled us all for thousands of years "

" Daenerys is the one "

A whisper he barely heard.

" Born amidst smoke and salt "

He saw a babe being cut from her mother's womb as a great storm howled beyond stone walls.

" ... dragons prove it "

Three dragons trill, floating toward the Dragonstome keep, circling the castle of stone and smoke.

" The dragon must have three heads "

" ... the song of ice and fire... "

As the flames burned brighter and the visions spun faster, fourteen tall figures came forth from the fire and stood before the kneeled prince.

"Thousands of years ago we knew, and have been waiting all this time. We sent the comet to show her the way... now we will send you."

The prince could withstand the inferno no longer, too many visions flooded his mind as the flames burned a brilliant white, eye rolling back as he fell to the slick, steaming floor.

And darkness overcame him once again.

. . . Then, a soothing voice spoke through rippling waves.

𝐙𝐲𝐡𝐲𝐬 𝐨𝐧̃𝐨𝐬 𝐣𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐤𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐞𝐤𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐩𝐢, 𝐬𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨 𝐣𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐧

𝐙𝐲𝐡𝐲𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐳𝐲𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐞𝐤𝐬𝐢𝐨 𝐎𝐧̃𝐨 𝐣𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐢, 𝐬𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐡𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐲𝐬 𝐪𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐬𝐨𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐤𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐧

𝐇𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨, 𝐨𝐧̃𝐨𝐬. 𝐇𝐞𝐧 𝐧̃𝐮𝐪𝐢𝐫, 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐳𝐲𝐬. 𝐇𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐭, 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐧

With a gasping breath, Aemond Targaryen opens his eye.

__________꧂༅𖢻༄꧁__________
( 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑔𝑟𝑟𝑚'𝑠 𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 )