บท 12: Sacrifice
Jace felt like he had been running for an entire week; every time he walked through a corridor or tried to escape from the Red Keep Valar would be waiting for him —he had lost count of the number of times he had nearly been caught. Helaena was no longer here to help him, so he was completely on his own as he tried to make it towards the dragon pit.
Jace sat down in one of the many rooms in Kings Landing with his head in his hands; it seemed that in this place he didn't need to sleep, but he still felt exhausted. His whole body was sweating and he couldn't help but jump at every shadow —Valar would strike as soon he started to get comfortable and recover.
"Hahahahahahahaha."
Jace found himself laughing as he considered the situation he found himself in. It was all his fault, he had brought them all here and caused so much pain and suffering all to feed his thirst for adventure, and now look where he was —about to lose his body to some horror from years past. "I'm sorry muna..." he whispered to himself as tears started to stream down his face. Jace might've been mature for a boy of ten name days but he was still a boy and the stress of the situation he found himself in was continually building up —until now when the dam broke and he couldn't bear to be here anymore.
The week of constant fear and horror, not being able to sleep or do anything else but run from a creature that would kill him as soon as it touched him. Valar also had a certain degree of control over this place; it was like Jace was in a constantly shifting maze that he couldn't escape.
He sat on the ground as he considered letting himself die; he was so tired, and deep down he needed to be punished for the people that he had killed. "I am sorry Helaena I am not strong enough to make it..." he whispered. His ears twitched as he started to hear loud thudding coming down the hallway; Valar had found him and it would only be a few minutes now before the pain would end —mayhaps the guilt would fade too.
Jace pushed himself up to his feet, despite this place not being real his body still felt sore and tired. But as he started stepping toward the door intent on letting Valar have him; he found himself hesitant to open it.
*You are in pain Jace, I can feel such pain coming from you*
*Come out Jace, your suffering need not last much longer*
Jace shuffled closer to the door, his mind filled with thoughts of resting and ending the pain he was in. But again he hesitated; his hand had stopped as it reached for the handle of the door. His thoughts were flooded with that of Daella and his Grandfather Corlys; he knew they were still out there on their own and would likely die soon if he didn't escape. While Daella could bond with Vermax she didn't have the will or the skill necessary to ride him so it is likely he would leave.
"I won't leave them behind... even if I have to suffer and die at your hands I'll do so after I've saved them!" Jace whispered resolutely.
He was tired, scared and overwhelmed in so many ways but he'd keep going —he'd ignore the the voices in his head telling him otherwise.
*COME OUT NOW!!!*
"You won't have me until my dying breath!" He shouted back through the door.
The door exploded inwards flinging Jace backwards across the room as Valar started to pour inside and take shape from the mass of worms that made up his body. Jace quickly stood up and went running out of the door to the balcony but quickly found it had disappeared —the door now had become a wall.
*It is over child, you are mine...*
Jace pressed himself flat against the wall as he tried to come up with a plan of escape, but with Valar blocking the only exit it truly looked like it was over. As he waited for the end an idea formed in his brain 'If Valar can change things in this place then why can't I? Helaena told me that this was my mind,' he thought to himself. However Jace had no idea where to start when it came to changing the environment; luckily for him his mind answered his call when he thought of only one thing —escape.
A moment before Valar was about to touch Jace the floor beneath Jace opened up and he was swallowed through the ground.
*NO!*
Jace heard Valar shout as he slid through the dark tunnel that had opened up under his feet; the slide took him through multiple twists and turns before it spat him out in what he recognised was the throne room. Jace looked up and saw that he was at the door of the iron throne —its jagged swords sticking out and shining in the orange light.
Helaena had told him that in his mind places were symbolic; if the dragon pit represented freedom to him then the Iron Throne represented power —and that is what he desperately needed right now. Jace smiled as he realised his mind was trying to protect him by bringing him to the safest place in the Red Keep.
*BANG*
The doors to the throne room started to bang as Valar tried to break them open. Jace crawled up the steps of the frown before taking his seat; at the same time the doors burst open and an enraged Valar came through screeching.
*YOU ARE MINE*
Jace felt fear invade his mind once more as Valar's suffocating presence threatened to engulf him "No! I will not let you win, in here I am the King and YOU ARE NOT WELCOME!!!" He shouted his voice booming out across the room. Valar screeched as he was dragged by an unseen force out of the throne room where the doors were quickly closed.
*BANG*
*BANG*
*BANG*
While Valar had been banished from the Throne room Jace was not able to banish him entirely; Jace watched as Valar's body engulfed the entire room from the outside blacking out all the windows and leaving him in darkness.
*I've waited hundreds of years, I can't wait for you to leave that room*
Jace breathed a sigh of relief, while his words were ominous they confirmed that he couldn't get inside the throne room and for now he was at least safe. 'But what do I do now?' He asked himself, while Valar couldn't get him in this room he wouldn't be able to make it to the dragonpit and escape either. 'At least I have some time to think,' he thought as he made his way back down the steps of the Iron Throne —something that was a bit of a challenge considering he no longer had any light.
"Okay, what to do now..."
(Two weeks later)
Jace had resorted to bashing his head against the wall as he slowly lost his mind. He had been able to alter the room slightly and create some candles which allowed him to escape the darkness but he couldn't solve the issue of escaping, and so he had sat here for two weeks with nothing but his thoughts.
(Four weeks later)
One thing he was able to do was conjure his sword Starfyre; the only thing he had done for the last few weeks was practice swinging it around though eventually that got boring. But if he wanted to stop himself from going insane all he could do was practice and try to come up with a plan to get out of here. He had resorted to carving his plans on the floor with his sword —which had started to take up most of the floor.
(Two months later)
Jace lay on the floor with his arms sprawled out as he tried shutting his eyes hoping to sleep, but in this place, he never could. He looked over to the shining blue gem in the pommel of his sword; he wanted to go and grab it but he had no motivation to, and yet the next time he looked over the sword was in his hand.
With raised eyebrows he immediately sat up, this was the most interesting thing that's happened in the two months he'd been trapped in the throne room. "How did I do that..." he wondered to himself as he stood up with his sword in his hand. "Is it because I wanted it in my hand?" He asked himself as he traced his fingers over the gem.
New possibilities started racing through his mind "Could it be that simple?" He asked himself once more before he closed his eyes; he imagined himself no longer being in the throne room and instead imagined the inside of the dragon pit where he had often been when he was first training Vermax. As he opened his eyes he found that he was no longer in the throne room but at the entrance of the dragonpit.
"..."
"Hahahahaha."
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA."
Jace almost fell to the floor laughing; all the suffering that he had been through these past few months, and the solution to escape was so simple. Though he was snapped out of his laughing when he heard a loud roar come from the Red Keep; what seemed like millions of worms exploded throughout the Red Keep and started flowing towards the dragonpit through the streets of Kings Landing.
Jace quickly ran into the dragonpit, his heart started beating faster and faster as he heard the screeching of Valar behind him. "Vermax!" He shouted as he saw his dragon lying in the middle of the pit; the dragon raised its head at Jace's voice and started moving towards him. Jace was almost there when he looked back and almost stumbled and fell, as Valar was right behind him. Jace jumped and wrapped his arms around Vermax's neck; both of them disappeared making Valar scream in anger as the world started collapsing around him inadvertently forcing him out of Jace's mind.
———————————————————-
Jace gasped as he sat up, his lips felt dry and his breathing hurt "Jace!" He heard a voice that sounded like Daella say as she rushed over towards him.
Jace was still breathing heavily as he tried to adjust to being back in the real world; he was still getting used to the old sensations that came with having a body —since he had spent over two months in his mind. Daella rushed towards him kneeling on the ground and taking his head onto her thighs "Jace you're awake! Are you okay!" She asked hysterically.
"H-How l-long..." Jace asked, though his voice was hoarse and quiet.
"You've been unconscious for a little over two weeks," she replied as she caressed his face.
Jace looked around but couldn't see Corlys and worry once again filled his heart. "W-Where's G-Grandfather," he croaked out through a dry throat.
Daella who was still hysterical started to cry "He's gone... he said he would try and kill the dragon but that was hours ago, I don't know if he is still alive," she explained to him.
Jace felt his tears start to steam down his face as he tried to push himself up. He struggled a bit and had to have the help of Daella to get up "Jace you shouldn't be standing yet, you've been really sick!" She said with worry as she did her best to hold him up.
Jace with the help of Daella walked over to the edge of the tower they were in, he looked out as he tried to spot the abomination dragon that had terrorised the skies since he had arrived in Valyria. Jace didn't know if his grandfather was alive but he would go and look for him regardless; he had brought him here and he would take him back home if it was the last thing he did.
"Vermax!" Jace shouted as he turned around and woke up his companion.
"Jace you can't go! You just came back! Please!" She said with tears in her eyes.
"I can't leave him! He's here because of me, you're all here because of me!" Jace said as he stumbled towards Vermax. Though as he walked towards his companion he saw a large device that looked like a ballista, but it was thinner and longer and it seemed to be made to attach to a saddle. "What is that?" Jace asked as he didn't remember seeing this device before he had fallen unconscious.
Daella who was still worried about Jace wiped her eyes "I-I-I d-don't know, Corlys found it in one of the other rooms and spent a while fixing it," she replied.
Jace walked towards the strange ballista and started to inspect it. It seemed that the bolt was on a metal cable that could be shot hundreds of feet; he looked lower and saw the ballista was made to be strapped to something 'It must be made for a dragon!' He thought to himself as he grabbed the ballista —that was barely bigger than he was— and started dragging it towards Vermax who shook his head awake.
"Jace what are you doing!" Daella asked as she saw him trying to drag the ballista on top of Vermax. "This must've been a weapon that Corlys was going to try and use to kill the dragon, but he had no way to use it," Jace explained as he started straining to lift it. Vermax could see that Jace was struggling so he moved his forward wing under Jace and helped lift him up onto his back with the ballista.
Jaden then started to try and figure out how to attach it to the saddle that was already on Vermax so that he could go outside and stop his grandfather from doing something stupid.
———————————————————-
Corlys Velaryon travelled through the streets of the destroyed Valyrian city with a weapon in his hand and one purpose in his heart. He had to kill the dragon that was stopping them from leaving; In order to do so he would most likely have to give his life —and even that might not be enough.
Corlys had travelled further and to more places than any man alive and seen things that had chilled him to the bone, and yet the idea of fighting this abomination almost caused his legs to still —his heart had never beat so fast before. Jace was sick and dying, and Daella was not suited to this harsh land; he could only hope that people had come to look for them otherwise he did not see any hope for them.
But even if they did come they would be met with the flames of the dragon and if not that then the nightmarish creatures that infested the city. He continued through the city and was able to avoid the infected corpses that still roamed looking for victims, and he eventually reached the coast where he had left the rowing boat.
On his ship was something that he might be able to use to get rid of the dragon or at least injury or enough that it wouldn't be able to take flight again. He quickly pushed the rowing boat into the bubbling water and jumped in; he wiped the sweat off his brow as he felt the heat from the sea start to envelop him. He wasn't as young as he used to be so he struggled a bit when rowing back to the ship —also because of weeks of starvation and dehydration.
Once he got to the ship that was still anchored he climbed back on and went into his cabin. He opened the chest he had under his bed and saw a jar on the side of his head inside it; he kept this substance for emergencies —in case a group of pirates managed to board their ship. He would rather the ship burn than be given to them and so he kept a jar of a substance called wild fire.
It had been created by alchemists in the far east of Essos in their attempt to replicate the power of a dragon, and seeing their results firsthand hand he had to admit they did well. Very few people in Westeros even knew about this substance let alone have ever seen it before; rumours suggest that when Aegon the Conqueror came to Westeros he stopped the alchemists guild from ever making any more of it as he didn't want any other Houses to share in their power over fire.
Closing the chest Corlys put the jar on the table carefully "Now it is time to set the trap..." he said to himself.
(AN: I hate this chapter it's rushed and not interesting ugh, but I'm getting close to the end of this arc which is good, then we will be going back to some canon events though I'll try and make them a bit different so they can be at least a little interesting. Anyway hope you enjoyed the chapter but I doubt it.)
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