章 2212: 7
Chapter Text
The Captured Princess
Daenerys was marched through the streets of Valyria with her hands bound tightly in front of her, she looked up at the sky and saw that nightfall was nearly upon them. Streaks of purple were mixing with orange as the sun crept lower and lower on the horizon. Her captor walked in front of her and his strange group of men walked behind her. They walked in a tense silence. She was curious about her captor, no man had ever sailed into the doom of Valyria and lived to tell the tale. Yet, here he was, walking freely and casually. He had his hands in his pockets and was whistling a cheerful tune. He was clearly a pirate of some sort, but what kind of pirate would be crazy enough to sail into the doom of Valyria. He turned towards her and flashed her a charming smile.
"I am sure you have many questions for me. I am Captain Euron Greyjoy, Son of Quellon Greyjoy, brother to Balon, Victarion and Aeron. My family are the rulers of the Iron Isles. You've probably heard of me as the man who destroyed the Lannister fleet whilst it lay at anchor, my brother Victarion was the one who led the Iron fleet, but it was I who came up with the plan. Victarion has always been a follower, never a leader. His incompetence was proven when he lost to Stannis Baratheon in a naval battle near Fair Isle,"
"An Ironborn commander was defeated by a greenlander at sea, it was the height of shame for my House and my people" he continued and he spat on the floor in disgust.
"After the Greyjoy Rebellion failed, I was banished by my brother, Balon," he said darkly, "Since then, I have travelled across the world collecting riches & power. My ship, the Silence has travelled as far as Asshai and Qarth. My ship is feared in ports all around the world, from as far as Ibben all the way to Asshai,"
"I don't believe you," she said quietly. He looked at her in surprise before laughing.
"So, the beautiful princess finally speaks? I thought you had screamed yourself hoarse," he said with a smirk "If you don't believe me, you can speak to the warlocks among my crew to verify my claims. I would ask you to speak with my crew as well but I'm afraid they can't give you any answers as I had their tongues removed. Its something I do, that's why my ship is called 'the Silence '", he said with an evil grin.
"But, you'll have to be speak with the warlocks quickly as I'm almost ready to add them to my silent crew. You see, they have been failing me as of late. I asked them to perform one simple task for me, just one simple task. They had to hatch a dragon egg for me. I had one you see, but the warlocks could not hatch it despite the fact that they are the greatest & most skilled warlocks gathered from across the world. I hate to say it, but I threw the egg into the ocean in my frustration. As for the head warlock, he was not so lucky," and he smiled wickedly at her as he said this.
"Luckily, now I've found three more dragon eggs and I have you to thank for that as well," Daenerys cursed herself. She had handed this man three of the most valuable things in the world, through her carelessness.
"I heard your brother's screaming. The fool was standing in the middle of the road waiting for you to return. I quickly took him captive and brought him to my ship. It didn't take long for me to get him to spill his secrets, he screamed nearly as loudly as you did. I had half a mind to cut his tongue out and put him to work on my ship but I did not want to upset you," he paused for a second making eye contact with her.
"I find that it is much more enjoyable when the woman is willing," he said in a husky voice.
Daenerys shuddered, as she felt her skin crawl.
"My warlocks tell me that the place where I found you was a temple of the gods. When Valyria was consumed by the doom, nearly all the palaces, towns and houses were completely destroyed but somehow, that temple has managed to stay intact. When I first came across it, I was astounded, how could this one building have survived when everything else around it had been reduced to ash and rubble that still smoulders to this day? I entered the temple with my crew ns spent days with my warlocks learning about each of your gods. Your people were incredible, some of the things that I have learned would blow the minds of Westerosi maesters away," as he spoke she realized that he was completely in awe of this place.
"There was one that intrigued me more than the rest, the God of knowledge. They are depicted as two dragons who together form one god. I learned about their pool of knowledge which threatened to consume those that were unworthy, and of course, the secret door to their hidden library. I spent weeks trying to open that door. My warlocks tried every spell they knew but it would not open. Eventually, one of them was smart enough to realize that the door was sealed with blood magic, thus only the the blood of Valyrians would be able to unlock it. I cursed my luck & was about to leave but then I ran into your brother, who told me that you were here too. We spent hours searching for you, I was starting to wonder if you had fallen into one of the lava pits but then I heard your screams & fortune smiled upon me. Think about, what were the chances that I would run into the last targaryens, just when I needed their blood! The gods are smiling upon me. " he said, holding his arms up as if in thanks
As he continued his story, she kept looking around for any method to escape but she realized she would not get far, her hands were tied, and she was flanked by his men. She also concluded that he seemed depraved enough to enjoy the chase if she did manage to get away.
"You opened the door to the secret library, containing the deepest darkest secrets and magic of the Valyrian freehold. Perhaps, one of these books even contains the secrets of forging Valyrian steel, or how to hatch your dragon eggs," he said with a malicious smile. She bit the inside of her mouth to stop herself from smiling, she had ripped that page out of the book. That secret would be lost forever. The blood of a slave and then a human sacrifice, she remembered.
As they continued to walk, she noticed the mist was growing thick again, she realized that they must be close to his ship. She was proven right as they turned a corner and his ship loomed up ahead of them. The ship had a dark red hull with black sails. The figurehead was a naked woman. The ship looked ominous in the water, Daenerys couldn't shake the feeling that if she got on this boat, she would never get off.
Euron seemed to sense her unease, he then grabbed her around the waist and lifted her the rest of the way onto the ship. Once she was on the ship, she heard someone moaning below deck, she turned towards Euron who was smiling wickedly.
"Come, let us go see him,"
He led her below deck into a dark damp room where she found her brother naked and chained. The chains holding his arms were high on the wall and as a result his arms were strained. He couldn't even lift his head and she heard him faintly muttering. She quickly crossed over to him and noticed the bruises, burns and cuts all over his body, she looked at the floor and noticed that it was wet, he must have pissed himself in fear. Euron had cut off his nipples and had even burned parts of his skin. She was horrified, she had only left Viserys a few hours ago but in that time Euron had found him and completely broken him. She gently put her hands on his face and lifted his head up so he could look at her,
"Brother, Viserys, it's me, can you hear me?"
Viserys did not seem to know she was here. All he did was mutter strange words, she looked at his lips and found that they were tainted blue.
"What did you do to him?" she asked angrily as she turned to face Euron. "What is he saying?"
"Oh, he is hallucinating," Euron replied in a bored voice as he checked his nails for dirt "They all do after their first taste of shade of the evening,"
She turned to look at her brother. His eyes were closed and he continued to mutter. She leaned in closer to hear the words. He kept saying 'Euron is my God' and 'I only live because he allows me to' She leaned back and stared at him in horror, he kept repeating those words. She let his head drop and she heard the chains creak and groan. On the floor, she noticed an old knife. Its blade was covered in dry blood and she nearly missed it in the darkness. Before she could move towards it, Euron crossed over to her and yanked her up by the elbow.
"Come my sweet princess, it is time that I take you to bed," and he flashed her an evil smile
Daenerys kicked, screamed and bit as he picked her up carried her to his cabin. He threw her inside and locked the door, he leaned against it and folded his arms.
"This would be better for both of us if you didn't fight,"
Daenerys stood across from him on the opposite side of the room with her arms folded tightly. She desperately searched for a weapon and her eyes spotted a knife on his bedside table and picked it up and held it the way Jon told her to.
"Go on, take the knife. Try and kill me," he said in a mocking voice. "Here, I'll even make it easy for you," and he threw his own weapons across the floor towards her and knelt with his arms outstretched. The knife trembled in her hand and he started to laugh,
"I know you, you're not a killer, you're just a pretty little princess, good for warming my bed at night on these long ocean voyages. One day, I will thank my brother for banishing me, otherwise I would never have had the chance to fuck the last Targaryen," and with that he stood up and started to walk slowly towards her.
"Stop," she said quietly. He did not stop, he continued his slow walk forwards. I am Daenerys Stormborn, Princess of Dragonstone, blood and seed of Aegon the Conqueror. I will not be raped by this peasant. I. Will. Not.
"Stop," she commanded. She had been struck with an idea.
"Oh, a feisty little princess, I like that,"
"Be quiet. I have read the books that you have taken. One of the pages is missing, a page that will be of great interest to you. If you touch me, I will never tell you what is on that page,"
Euron rolled his eyes. "The only thing that you could possibly offer me, is your pretty little cunt," and he started to walk towards her again, unbuttoning his shirt as he moved.
"I told you to stop," she said fiercely. "If you do not touch me, I will hatch those dragon eggs for you," at this he stopped and looked at her curiously.
"I don't believe you," he said eyeing her suspiciously.
"Go and ask your warlocks, I can show you the book from which I pulled out the page. What do you have to lose? If I am wrong, then you can come back and rape me, but if I am right, you gain three dragons,"
He slowly nodded and gestured for her to leave the cabin. Before she reached the door, he put a hand around her throat and whispered into her ear,
"This better not be a trick,"
She had to once again bite the inside of her mouth to keep herself from smiling.
The Hand of the King
The Lord of Winterfell missed his home. He missed his wife, he missed Robb, Bran and Rickon and he missed Jon. He had been in Kings Landing for several weeks now, and he was still not comfortable in this city. He missed the peace and quiet of the godswood, there was no heart tree in the capital and it felt as if his gods had no power here.
He had received a few ravens from Catelyn, she informed him that all was well in the north. Robb was ruling well in his stead, he had settled a few minor disputes between the Lords, nothing too difficult. He had also sent a small amount of supplies north to help the Night's watch which had requested aid from the Starks.
In the weeks following the end of Hand's Tourney, the capital had gradually calmed down. The lords and knights had slowly started to leave to return to their homes and he was finally able to walk around the Red Keep without being spotted and pulled over to chat every other minute. Of all the great lords, only Lord Tywin remained in the capital. Ned acknowledged that as long as his daughter was Queen and the crown was heavily indebted to House Lannister, Lord Tywin would always be welcome in the capital.
Now, that the capital was quieter, he could begin his investigation into the death of Jon Arryn, and the best place to start, was with the Grand Maester. He walked through the castle towards his chambers. Along the way, he passed Lord Baelish in the halls who was smiling even more smugly than usual.
"Lord Stark," Baelish said with his cocksure smile.
"Lord Baelish, I trust that you are well," he replied
"I am my lord, thank you for asking." The tourney had brought a lot of coin into the capital and the crowns coffers. He had probably made a substantial profit from his brothels. Ned had no desire to get drawn into another verbal spar with him,
"If you don't mind, I have business to attend to, the Hand of the King is a busy position," and with that he continued to walk towards Pycelle's chambers. Once he was outside, he knocked twice and entered.
"Ah Lord Hand," the old man stammered. Pycelle quickly crossed the room towards him "Please take a seat. How can I help you my Lord?"
"I would like you to tell me everything that you can about the death of Jon Arryn,"
"Of course, my Lord," Pycelle poured himself a cup of wine and slowly sat down opposite Ned. "Jon Arryn died from a stomach illness it seems,"
"A stomach illness?" he asked in disbelief. Jon Arryn was old, but compared to other men of his age, he was particularly robust.
"Yes, my Lord, a stomach illness. I must confess it was most unusual. Jon Arryn was very rarely ill during his time in Kings Landing. One night he was fine, moving like a man half of his age and then the next morning he was bed ridden, unable to leave because of the pain he experienced."
Ned was troubled, "Are you sure that it was a stomach illness, perhaps I should speak to the maester who treated him,"
"Maester Colemon, Jon Arryn's personal maester saw to him at first, but I was there for him in the end. The Hand of the King deserved the best possible treatment you see," Pycelle replied.
Ned sat quietly as he processed this information. Suddenly, he was struck with a thought,
"Grand maester, have you considered the possibility that he was poisoned. That would explain his sudden illness and his quick death,"
The Grand Maester pondered this for a few moments before shaking his head.
"No, I examined the body after he died, the body showed no signs of poison," Ned stayed quiet, unconvinced. Over the years he had learned that sometimes, silence brought more answers than questions and he was proven right yet again.
"Come Lord Hand, I will show you all the common poisons," he stood and led him into a room. Judging from the smell this would be where the Grand Maester worked.
"This is where I keep my poisons. I have samples of all the known poisons in the world stored here," he reached up and pulled a bottle from the shelf. "This is essence of Nightshade, my lord. One drop will calm your nerves, three drops will put you in a deep sleep. Ten drops, even diluted in a cup of wine, is fatal. This leaves a trace so obvious that even a maester in training would be able to spot it,"
He put the bottle away and pulled down another one. "This is powdered Greycap. It is made from plants and toadstools, it is slow to act but leaves a trace," and he put that bottle away
"This is the Strangler, a rare and extremely deadly poison. Perhaps, one of the fastest acting poisons known to man,"
"So could this have been used to kill Jon Arryn?" Ned asked quickly.
"No. Whilst the Strangler is extremely quick and virtually impossible to treat, it is painfully obvious. The poison works by causing the victims throat swell and close shut, this causes them to suffocate. Blood also leaks out of the eyes, nose and mouth. If someone discreetly poisoned Jon Arryn, I can assure you, that it was not with the strangler," he finished with a flourish.
He then proceeded to list all the other common and rare poisons that he had in his inventory, Blindeye, Basilisk venom, Demon's dance, Manticore venom, Wolfsbane, the list went on.
"These are all the known poisons?" he asked as Pycelle finished his list. The Grand Maester nodded in confirmation.
"Thank you Grand Maester, you have been most helpful," he said as he turned to leave.
"Oh my mistake, Lord Hand, there is one more that I forgot to show you," Ned turned to look at him and saw that he had pulled a keychain from beneath his clothes and had crossed over to a locked cupboard. He opened the cupboard and pulled out a tiny vial.
"This is a poison known as the Tears of Lys, an extremely rare and very expensive poison, which is why it is kept under lock and key at all times. Only, I have the key to this cupboard," Pycelle spoke in a serious and cautious voice.
"Tell me about the poison," he asked curiously.
"Tears of Lys is a quick, odourless and it affects the bowels of the victim," Pycelle answered.
"So, it would appear as a stomach bug?" Ned asked suspiciously.
"Yes, I suppose the symptoms would be similar," Pycelle said after a pause.
"Did you not consider this as a possibility? Did you not tell the King?" he asked in disbelief
"No, no, no," the old man stammered quickly, "Tears of Lys is an extremely rare and expensive poison. It would be nearly impossible for someone to obtain it, let alone to slip it to Jon Arryn. The former Hand was attended to by his trusted servants only & they had been in his service for years."
Ned nodded slowly and thanked him for this information. He walked back through the Red Keep towards his chamber in the Tower of the Hand. He was nearly certain that Jon Arryn had been poisoned, he had been struck down too suddenly to convince him of anything else. The bigger question is who would want to poison him and why and how they managed to do it.
As he neared the Tower of the Hand, he saw Lord Varys standing, seemingly in wait for him.
"Lord Stark," Varys greeted him with a smile.
"Lord Varys," he said tiredly "To what do I owe this pleasure,"
"I would like to speak to you," Varys answered with a smile and then nodded towards the entrance of the tower, "Perhaps, somewhere more private would be best,"
Ned nodded and led him into the tower. They entered the solar, he offered wine to his guest but the Spider declined. Ned then poured himself a cup of wine and sat behind the desk. He gestured for Varys to speak,
"My little birds have been singing a curious tune, one that I am sure you would like to hear," Varys said sweetly
Ned had a bored look on his face. He had no desire to play these games.
"They involve the former Hand of the King," and when he said that, Ned felt a curious look begin to form on his face. Varys must have noticed because he continued eagerly,
"My little birds are saying that he was poisoned," and Ned felt vindicated.
"By who? Was it tears of Lys?" he asked quickly and Varys smiled.
"I believe so. The poison itself is clear and as sweet as water. I begged Lord Arryn to use a taster, in this very room I begged him, but he would not hear of it. He said only a lesser man would use a food taster," Varys explained in sickly sweet voice.
"Do you know who it was? Do you know who poisoned him?" Ned asked impatiently.
Varys shook his head "I am afraid not my Lord, but I could investigate the matter if you would like," the spider offered.
"No," Ned said firmly, "We will work together," and Lord Varys smiled when he said this. Ned did not trust him but at the moment their interests were aligned. But he would need to keep an eye on him, just in case Varys was luring him into a trap.
The Dragon Reborn
Jon walked through the secret library looking at the books that were on display. The books were old and their pages were brittle, Jon couldn't even read Valyrian, so he just left them alone for Dany to read. She would call him over if she found anything interesting. He looked around the room and he was again amazed by the architecture. The room had four pillars made of black dragonstone in each corner. Jon walked over to one of them and decided to take a closer look. As he got closer, he realized that the pillar was not black, it was made of a strange material that seemed to absorb the light and distort it. Jon was sure that in complete darkness, the pillars would take on a different colour.
He walked around the room, along its walls were tables with various rocks and gemstones sitting on them. They must have been exhibits that were meant to go along with the books on the table, he supposed, and so he decided to take a closer look. The first rock he saw was red and shiny. He immediately thought that it was a ruby of sorts. He picked it up and held it in the light, as he moved it around he noticed that the rock was no longer red and shiny, it had become yellow and translucent. He moved it back and forth and was amazed at the transformation.
"Dany, do any of those books mention rocks changing colour?" he asked curiously. She looked up at him and then at the rock. She quickly flicked back a few pages through the book and read out a passage to him. Apparently the Valyrians used this rock in their potions to help them change their appearances. Some rocks were said to be able to help awaken and focus the magic that flowed through Valyrian blood.
"I didn't know that was possible, people changing their appearances and magical powers," he said quietly. But then remembered the stories of wargs and greenseers, he concluded that it was possible that the Valyrians had magical abilities of their own.
"Neither did I, it must have been a rare skill, Viserys never mentioned it to me,"
She then went back to her book and he continued to look at the rocks. He picked them up and moved them around to see if they did anything special. Most didn't, Dany said that they were all used for complicated potions or rituals. The last gemstone on display was a beautiful sky-blue rock. Was it a sapphire? Jon was not sure, he had heard about them in his lessons, but he had never seen one in his life. What he did know, was that this was a beautiful gemstone, he wondered if there were any left like this in the world. If there were he would get some for Dany, perhaps in a necklace, or a ring.
He put his hands on the gemstone to lift it to show to her but as he touched it he cut himself on the edge of the rock. As his blood poured onto the blue gemstone he felt a sharp pain from where he cut his hand. The pain was white hot and it travelled quickly down his arm, into his shoulder and around his body. All he could do was sink to the floor and scream in pain.
The pain consumed his body, blocking his thoughts and eating away at his mind. The pain had robbed him of his senses and he felt adrift inside his own body.
He felt as if he had been picked up, and then a feeling of weightlessness took over. Gradually, the pain began to recede and he slowly opened his eyes, blinking away the tears that had formed from squeezing them so tightly shut.
He looked around and saw that he was floating above what could only be Valyria, except all the mist was gone and the land was in one piece. This must have been what it looked like before the doom, he thought. Suddenly, he was standing inside a foreign room. In this room, there was a man with valyrian features seated behind a desk and he appeared to be working. The door to the room opened and a young girl with similar features ran in.
"Daenys, what is it?" the man asked
"Father, I had a dream, a dragon dream, we need to leave, I saw destruction come to these lands. We need to leave," she said in a panicked tone.
Her father looked at the little girl, a look of worry clouding his features and slowly nodded,
"Very well, we will take our family, our dragons and possessions and we will head for Dragonstone," and then the room vanished. He was floating through a mist until he saw the dragon. It was the same green dragon that had been in his dreams before. It was waiting for him, he realized, he quickly moved towards the dragon and climbed on its back.
The dragon flew high into the sky. Higher and higher into the clouds, soon they were above the clouds and yet they still climbed higher. The sun became brighter and brighter until the light was blinding and then his mind was flooded with visions.
He saw an old man with Stark features . The man was piling blocks of ice one on top of the other. Higher and higher the ice was stacked until it was hundreds of feet tall. The man used giants and mammoths to help him complete this construction. His control over them seemed otherworldly & Jon realized that this man was a warg.
He saw an old King of winter leading his forces . He marched his armies to the coast, where he defeated invaders, executing them and placed their heads along the bows of his ships. It was Theon Stark, the Hungry Wolf.
He saw a Valyrian woman placing a crown of rubies on a man's head & proclaiming him King of Westeros. It was Aegon the Conqueror & his sister wife Queen Visenya and this was the start of his conquest.
He flew high over the Godseye. He watched as Aegon the Conqueror burned a black walled castle. He watched as the stone turned orange, red then white hot as the dragonfire consumed it , killing everyone inside the castle .
Then his dragon took off again and he was flying again. Now, he was at the trident. Where he watched as a Stark king walked forward and knelt before Aegon. Jon closed his eyes and when he opened them, the man was kneeling before him, the Stark king began to look up towards him, but before he could see the details of his face the vision changed again.
Jon watched as a big broad chested man fought several men , he was impossibly strong. He followed the man as he began to execute those that had peacefully surrender to him, including women and children. He followed the man into the throne room of the red keep where Jon watched as he died upon the Iron throne. It was Maegor the Cruel, his dragon gave a sound of disgust.
He turned towards the Gods eye, where he saw two dragons having a mid-air battle. The sun was setting and the sky was streaked with dragonflame. He watched horrified as one dragon bit into the neck of the other and both started to fall towards the ground. One rider jumped across to the other's dragon and drove his sword into the eye of the other rider . The riders along with the dragons crashed into the lake, sending up a plume of water hundreds of feet into the air. This was the famed battle during the Dance of Dragons.
He returned to the throne room and he watched as a fat Targaryen King knighted his son. Presenting him with a Valyrian Steel blade. It was Blackfyre, and this was Aegon the Unworthy. His dragon quickly turned away in disappointment.
The vision changed again and this time he was flying above a ruined castle. He flew lower through the destroyed roof and saw a man and a woman laying with each other. The man had silver hair and was playing a harp for the woman's enjoyment. It was his mother and father he knew and a wave of happiness rushed though him.
He was back in the throne room of the red keep. He saw a man on the throne with long silver hair and even longer nails. The man kept cutting himself on the throne. He watched as the King burned a man alive inside his armour, laughing wickedly as he did so. This was his grandfather, the Mad King . His dragon roared its disproval.
His dragon took him north again, back to the trident. He watched a man clad in black armour duelled another man wearing a helm with antlers using a Warhammer. He watched as his father duelled the usurper. He tried to urge his dragon forward to help his father but he was powerless, all he could do was watch. He felt his rage building inside of him. The usurper was strong, he realized . He watched as the usurper struck down his father causing his father's body to fall into the river. His dragon roared in anger.
The vision changed once again, he saw his grandfather commanding men in alchemist's robes to burn the city. He saw a handsome knight with golden hair dressed in white armour slay the alchemists & then drive his sword through his grandfather's back. His dragon observed silently, nodding in understanding.
His dragon took him higher and this time he was flying over a desert landscape with a solitary tower, in the background he spotted red mountains. He watched as seven men moved towards the tower with their swords drawn, they were greeted by three knights clad in white armour . He watched as they battled. The three men were clearly more skilful than the seven. He studied their techniques and he knew they were ingrained in his mind . This was the Tower of Joy, he realized. He watched the fabled Sword of the Morning disarm Lord Stark only to be stabbed from behind by a wounded crannogman.
He looked east across the narrow sea and he saw a platinum haired boy and a little platinum haired girl. He watched horrified as the boy dragged the girl by her hair and pinched and pulled at her skin.
He watched as Lord Stark dragged the direwolf outside into the darkness and then cut its throat . Jon felt angry and his dragon roared it's disproval at this act.
In his anger he turned his dragon north. He flew over Winterfell and looked down onto the castle courtyard. He saw Robb Stark on the executioners block, waiting for the axe to fall. He saw Sansa in a white wedding dress, being dragged into the Godswood to be wed. His dragon roared in anger and he saw them all look up towards the skies in his direction.
He flew further north beyond the wall. He flew further and further north, until he saw blue eyed corpses slowly rising from graves, he flew further over the corpses until he saw the heart of winter and then he quickly looked away
The visions started to come faster and faster then,
He saw a little boy with dark hair running and as the boy got closer, he saw his purple eyes. He watched as the boy chased a little girl with silver hair, he watched as they ran towards their mother, a woman he knew well. He saw Robb sitting at the high table where the Lord of Winterfell should sit. He saw Arya, practicing her sword fighting. He saw Lord Stark sitting in a strange solar, working with a bald headed man that could not be trusted. He was on the trident again, with the usurper below him and his dragon.
Finally he saw Daenerys. She was in a room with a strange man walking towards her. He immediately knew that she was in danger again. He felt his anger return and this time his dragon could not control it
He awoke with a start. He grabbed the edges of the pool and pulled himself out. As he climbed out, he watched as the strange liquid drained off his body, he was completely unharmed by the liquid it seemed. He looked down at his hands and they were untouched. He seemed to be physically fine, but his mind was different.
His head was bursting with all the information he had just received. He felt as if the information was sinking through every pore in his body, entering every tissue and every cell. He had seen his ancestors, Stark and Targaryen, both had been as ruthless and as bloodthirsty as the other, he concluded. There was more to this information he knew, but at the moment he did not know how much it had affected him.
He thought back to that vision of Daenerys and the strange man and he knew that she needed him. He could not save her when Viserys took her, but he was determined to save her now. She would not slip from his grasp again, she would not be harmed. He ran to the statue for the god of war and ripped the sword fixed at the base of the statue with ease. He was amazed by his own strength. It was a Valyrian steel longsword with a dragonbone handle, he knew that it would do the job he required. He exited the temple and thundered down the stairs. He turned left and ran, he instinctively knew that this was the right direction. As he ran, he noticed the weather had started to change. The winds were moving with him, it seemed. He ran on and on without feeling the need to stop. It felt like he was gliding along the path. Ghost appeared running behind him from among the ruins, he had sensed that Jon needed him.
He navigated the streets with ease, it was as if he had lived here his entire life. He quickly realized they were heading towards the beach, he saw the sails of a ship and began to slow down. He knew that this is where she was. He crouched behind a broken wall and observed the ship. He saw several men moving about the deck on the ship, they were dragging something or someone from below deck onto the shore.
Jon saw the long silver hair and he nearly burst out from behind his cover. But then he realized that it was Viserys and he remained where he was. As Viserys was dragged forward, Jon noticed that whoever had captured him had tortured him badly. His neck was sagging, and his body was battered and bruised, he was clearly unconscious. He realized that this man likely had Daenerys as well. He wanted to jump out from behind the wall but a voice inside his head kept telling him to watch and to observe.
He watched as the men tied Viserys up and placed wood around him. Then another group of men in brightly coloured robes appeared, they reached into a bag and put three objects on the floor surrounding him. He recognized the objects as Dany's dragon eggs. He watched, as she walked forward onto the deck and then off the ship and he saw her captor follow closely behind. Was she going to hatch the eggs for him? It certainly looked like it. Jon knew that he needed to get to her now before she did this. She must have been waiting for him to arrive, she must have been hoping that he would save her.
However, the voice kept telling Jon to wait. He looked around for Ghost and he saw that his wolf had silently moved elsewhere, perhaps to take up a better position. Several more of the captor's crew stood on the deck of the ship, looking down at the scene in front of them. He watched as they walked forward towards Viserys. She spoke to the strange man. The conversation was tense, she was evidently trying very hard to convince him of something. It seemed that she was successful because the man pulled out a knife and offered it to her. He held it there, challenging her to take it.
Before she could move, he laughed and withdrew the knife. He quickly twisted it around and used it to cut his own hand. He then took the knife and smeared his blood all over the dragon eggs.
Jon suddenly understood her plan. It was brilliant, he admitted. She did not need him at all, she would have been fine on her own.
Suddenly, the man turned and struck her, and this is when Jon moved forward.
He vaulted over the broken wall and ran the final few metres towards them. Daenerys opened her mouth in shock and her captor spun around to face him. The man looked horrified.
Before Jon could reach them, three of his men had stepped in front of him, wielding axes. They stepped forward to meet him, he sensed Ghost somewhere to his left and so he moved to attack the man on the right, leaving the man in the middle for last. Jon reached the man on the right, blocked his upward swing and rolled in the same motion slicing open his stomach. Jon had never practiced this move before, and for a moment, he wondered where he had learned it.
He did not think on it for too long as felt the man in the middle appear behind him. Jon moved quickly and automatically as he twisted his entire body out of the way of the man's downward strike. Then, he heard a thud and knew that Ghost had killed him.
He looked towards Daenerys and saw that she had somehow managed to wrestle a knife away from one of the men and she was now fighting them. He felt a rush of pride as she used one of the moves he had taught her. She didn't see the man sneak up behind her. He quickly rushed over to her to help her.
"Dany!" he roared and she quickly turned around and dodged the strike. He quickly drove his sword into the back of the man's head. He quickly cut through the other men that she was fighting, killing two men in a matter of seconds. He looked around and found that her captor was nowhere to be seen.
"Where did he go?" he asked as he quickly spun around.
"He went back to the ship," Dany said but when she looked at him, she had a questioning and wary look on her face. Jon did not have time to dwell on it, together they quickly ran up onto the deck of the ship. They saw the man standing in front of a group of warlocks and crew members. He looked at the man, he had a patch covering one eye and he wore what Jon could only guess was a full set of Valyrian steel armour.
There were about five men in total, not including the leader.
"Who are you?" he asked
"Jon Snow," he said and he heard Daenerys gasp next to him. He didn't have time to wonder why,
"Euron Greyjoy, the Crow's Eye," and he gave a mock bow.
"Theon's uncle," Jon had heard grim stories about Euron Greyjoy. He quickly looked at Dany to check if she was unharmed, when his eyes met hers, she quickly looked away fearfully.
Jon raised his sword and stepped protectively in front of her.
Euron raised one eyebrow in surprise before laughing.
"You are outnumbered, you cannot win," Jon watched as more men poured out from the depths of the ship, now there were at least thirty of them, forming a circle around them
"I'll offer you a choice, hand the girl back to me, and I will let you live, you can work on the oars, perhaps I will let you clean our sheets when we are finished. Or if you wish, you could fight, die and then I take the girl,"
Jon's fingers flexed as he gripped the sword tighter and he crouched into a fighting stance.
Euron smirked before saying "Go," and the men slowly moved forward to attack. Jon tried to feel for Ghost but he could not find him, he could feel Dany behind him and he realized that he would need to manoeuvre them in a direction that would enable her to escape.
He closed his eyes and muttered a strange prayer under his breath. The words were written at the base of one of the statues in the temple. When in Valyria, why not pray to the Valyrian gods? After he said the prayer, he felt a gust of air quickly whip across the deck of the ship and an earth shattering roar emanating from around him. Then, he heard a sharp intake of breath and the sound of the deck creaking.
He opened his eyes and stepped forward. To his surprise, everyone had sunk to their knees in front of him. He searched for the source of the roar but there was nothing around. Euron screamed at his men to fight, but only a few moved. One man charged towards Jon with his axe but Jon quickly blocked him. Jon was surprised by his own strength because the block shattered the steel axe head into pieces. Now armed only with the wooden handle, the man opened his mouth to scream but no sound came, Jon looked down his throat and he understood why, these men had no tongues.
The man staggered back towards the other members of the crew and he too fell to his knees in front of them. Euron gave out a grunt of frustration and stepped forward, brandishing his own Valyrian steel blade.
"I'll show you what a real god looks like!" he shouted as he lunged forward. Jon quickly took a step back to avoid his strike. Unfazed, Euron launched another strike, this time Jon was forced to bring up his own sword to meet it. The clash of Valyrian steel on Valyrian steel was something he had never heard before, it was loud a clear ringing sound that echoed for a long time after the strike. Jon quickly pulled his sword away and made sure that Dany was still behind him.
They went back and forth, Jon knew that he could easily beat him, but he did not want to take a risk and leave Dany exposed, he had to use his own body to shield her. He also realized that any strike to Euron's body would be useless due to the armour, he had to aim for his exposed areas.
Suddenly, an idea came to him and he remembered that he had seen the Kingsguard use this move in one of his visions. He aimed a feint at Euron's head, causing him to raise his hands up to block it, then Jon quickly lowered his blade and cut him on his exposed hand, causing him to howl in pain. Jon knew the cut wasn't deep, but it was enough to distract him for a few seconds.
Sensing this was his opportunity. Jon quickly brought his sword around to aim for the bulging vein in his neck. As he brought his sword down he heard a loud scream.
"Dany!" Jon instinctively turned towards the noise. It was Viserys, he had regained consciousness and was struggling to free himself from the ropes that had bound him.
Jon heard the faint whistling of a sword cutting through air and with impossible speed he barely lifted his sword to block Euron's strike. As Jon had been off balance, the strike knocked him to his knees. He knew that Euron would be looking to finish him off but suddenly, Euron dropped to the floor in front of him, clutching a knife that had been driven into his neck. He looked up to see Dany standing over him
"I am the killing type," she said to Euron as he fell to his knees desperately clutching the knife in his neck. She looked at Jon before quickly walking away. Jon quickly looked around and understood that with Euron out of the way, the rest of his men would not fight them. Many in fact, had remained on their knees. He guessed that something had happened to Dany and he was determined to find out what it was
"Dany," he called, "What happened? Are you all right?" he ran to catch up with her and pulled her around by her waist. He noticed that she still did not look at him.
"I'm fine Jon," she said quietly. He knew she was lying to him. He feared the worst.
"Dany, please, you can tell me anything. Did he hurt you?" he asked softly, hoping, praying that she would say no.
"It's not me, Jon, he did nothing to me, it's you Jon," and with that she finally looked at him. Jon was deeply disturbed by the look she had on her face. It was like she did not know who he was.
"Is it my face? Did I get cut? Am I bleeding?" he didn't remember much when he was fighting, so he thought that he had been cut and she was worried. He quickly ran his hands over his face and found nothing unusual. Perhaps his hair was different.
"Jon, it is your face but…" and she couldn't finish her sentence. Instead she grabbed him by the hand and led him down to the water. She gently pulled him down to his knees
"Here, look into the water. Look at your face,"
Jon did as she said and he was shocked by what he saw.
His hair was now straight and platinum blond and his eyes had turned purple. What happened to him? He kept staring into the water trying to wrap his mind around his changed appearance. He needed to find out what exactly happened to him inside that pool.
Notes:
Thanks to GOT88 for the help provided with this story
The Next Chapter is "The blood of Valyria" you'll like that one. It'll be up sometime after new year, most likely the 1st or 2nd of Jan. So this is my early Christmas present to you all
This chapter was pretty fun to write, some of the visions are clues to how this story will end, but not all of them. Some of them might be there to mislead you...
As always let me know what you think of this chapter.
Have a good Christmas
Sleep
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