章節 12: Chapter 12

Caspian was having a strange dream.

He was floating along and half of him was cold and the other half warm. He had a strange feeling that he was floating in water for the bottom half of him was wet. He could feel something heavy on his back but for whatever reason, it wasn't dragging him down.

There was something warm upon his face and when he opened his eyes, he could tell that it was the glare from the sun shining down upon him. This sun was unlike any other that he had seen before though. It was pure white, like an egg and the light it gave off was of a strange type of heat.

He felt dry and wrung out and his mouth was full of salt like he hadn't had a drink of water in an infinitely long time. He blinked and licked his lips together in an effort to bring some sort of moisture to them, but it was without success.

Where am I? he wondered. What is this place and how did I come to be here?

It was then that he realized he was lying on something solid and that the sword on his back that had somehow managed to remain with him despite the shipwreck, was latched onto something. He frowned and tried to sit up but found that the sword that was strapped to his back was attached to something hard and wouldn't allow him to move. His frown deepened and he raised a hand to his head, brushing the long dark hair out of his face.

The last thing Caspian remembered was the shipwreck and being thrown from the deck of the ship with the force of a hurricane. He had landed in the water with a crash and managed to grab onto the boards from the wreckage of the ship.

He blinked and searched back even further, looking for reason in all that had happened and trying to recall where he was.

It was then that he remembered the ancient creature with its sun like white eyes and rows of swords like teeth staring up at him out of the water and the abject panic he had felt when he realized that this was the moment of death.

He would wear no crown.

He would sit no throne.

He would have no vengeance.

That last thought was perhaps the most bitter to swallow.

He would never avenge his brother who had been taken from him before his time and have the satisfaction of seeing his mother's head on a spike in King's Landing. She had stolen his throne from him and now she had stolen his brother too.

He recalled his uncle Tyrion retelling something to him when he was a small boy about there being no justice in the world.

"If you want justice my nephew," the small man had said. "It is something you will have to obtain yourself. For no one else will."

Those had become words to live by for Caspian who had done what he did to free Lord Stark and his daughters not only because it had been the right thing to do but because he hoped it would have prevented a war with the north. Now he realized that by the foolish actions of Stark and his mother herself, a war had started anyway. And it was a war that he would not be participating in.

Am I dead? He wondered more times than he could count. Is this the afterlife or some sort of purgatory? And then all of a sudden….something beneath him moved.

Caspian flinched and flailed without success, trying to turn himself over. There was a powerful slicing through the waves ahead of him, like something was moving towards him, something powerful and fierce…..and dangerous.

But no matter how many times he tried to turn himself, it was as if he had been turned into a turtle knocked on its shell.

And then…..something blocked out the sun.

Caspian craned his neck back as far as he could so he could see behind him and see what new devilry had befallen him this time.

When his eyes finally focused, he froze where he lay.

Looming over him was the head of an enormous monster.

It was all greens and vermilions with a long serpent's neck which seemed as high as the mast of any ship. His opened its jaws with a snap and Caspian could see yards of swords like teeth as long as his arm.

The monster had the same bright white eyes he had seen before…..eyes used for staring through the dark depths of the ocean.

For a moment he looked behind him and saw yards of tail moving up through the water and for a moment, pondered how large the monster was. The beast let out a curious roar that had a metallic sort of sound as the sound one would hear when one rubbed two swords together.

Caspian cursed.

"I am not going to die like this," he muttered to himself and reached behind him for the sword that he knew was still on his back.

With a herculean effort he somehow managed to pull it free.

But when he looked up again, he could see the monster's jaws looming over him, a mere inch from his face and knew that this was the end.

But just as he prepared himself to draw back his arm for the strongest and only blow he could give…..there was a thunderous crash, almost as if the monster's tale was slapping the water, breaking Caspian's focus.

And then all of a sudden there was a flash of light…..a searing pain…..

Caspian flew up with a gasp, his heart pounding a mile a minute. He was soaking wet and for a moment he looked around in a panic, searching for the sea monster who he was sure was ready to devour him at any given moment.

Instead he found himself faced with miles of open water, not a cloud in the sky and the bright sun beating down on his head. The sky was as azure as the Jade Sea but this was not good news for Caspian who instantly felt hot from it with a sharp pain in his head.

He looked down and saw with surprise the raft he had managed to grasp hold of. It wasn't very sturdy or well put together but it had held together for gods knew how long and he knew he had it to thank for saving his life. The prince pressed a hand to his head and looked around…..wondering where on earth he was and how far the storm had taken him from the shipwreck.

How long have I been unconscious? He thought to himself in a panic. And where the bloody hell am I?

There was nothing around for miles and Caspian wondered how far out to sea the storm had taken him. He also didn't know how long the storm had driven his ship south before it had broken apart in the storm either so he could be as far south as Dorne or even farther for all he knew.

The thought nearly caused an overwhelming wave of panic to rise up in him as he had no idea of what he was going to do. After a moment however, he forced himself to get back his control and took several deep breaths until he was once again calm and rationale had returned.

I'm not going to get anywhere by panicking, he thought fiercely to himself. So get a hold of yourself. Things probably are not as bad as you think they are.

His only indication of the direction he had gone in was the heat. It was becoming unbearable and he took this to mean that the storm had driven him south. He must have been closer to Essos than he was to Westeros as it was never this hot in the west.

Bugger it, he thought to himself, a phrase he had heard his father use a myriad of times. I sure have gotten myself into a fix. Now the only question is…..how do I get myself out?

Caspian had no idea how far he was from land and the only way he was going to find out was if he found some way to transport himself there. Looking down at the raft beneath him and the poor way the pieces of wood were put together, he noticed one on the end that looked rather looser than the rest. He seized hold of it, and with an effort, pulled it free.

Caspian found the raft was wide enough that he could kneel on top of it and use the piece of wood as a paddle to steer himself. It wasn't much but it was a far better method than using his arms or swimming until he was able to find land.

The thought of that was almost comical and he wanted to laugh from it.

Instead, Caspian seized hold of the long piece of wood and lowered it into the water, slowly pushing himself and the raft along. He had no idea where he was going….but he knew he had to get out of the open sea. That monster he had seen might have been just a dream….but Caspian wasn't fool enough to believe that there weren't other monster's out here in the open sea.

And right now he was certain he looked like a tasty morsel for the hungry ones.

The days passed at sea, seemingly to morph into one endless blur and Caspian could gradually feel himself becoming weaker and weaker. He knew if he didn't find land soon and fresh water he was going to die.

He had no idea how long he had been lost at sea but it felt like weeks. The only thing he had to hold on to was the hate and the vengeance that was driving him and forcing him to bring the makeshift paddle he had made down into the water with strong strokes no matter how weak he felt.

Hate poured like poison through his blood until he thought it would consume him. Caspian thought as long as he quoted his list who he loathed with every fibre of his being than it would keep him going no matter how weak he felt.

And so he would mutter the names of the people he wanted to do away with every stroke of the paddle.

"Mother."

"Joffrey."

"Meryn Trant."

The last name was a bit odd, but Caspian had hated that final member of the Kingsguard since he had seen him eyeing Myrcella not long ago with a lustful look in his eyes.

Truthfully his list was rather short given that he was still young and had not had enough time to learn what it was to truly hate, but he had a feeling if he lived long enough he was going to know what that meant.

I am almost six and ten and already I have enough hate in me to wreak havoc on an entire city, he thought as he paddled, a bitter smile on his lips.

He could feel the muscles in his back straining and was glad he had managed to take off the sword that had been strapped to his back. Caspian glanced at it, lying beside him on the only dry part of the raft. It seemed to gleam in the sunshine like a promise of what was to come, but the former prince had no idea of what oath it seemed to be giving him.

He knew that that was sword he wanted to use to take the heads off of his mother and brother and mount on spikes. But he knew he was never going to be able to get back to Westeros unless he first found land and somehow procured himself a ship.

And even the chances of that happening were very slim.

For one thing he had no money, nothing but the clothes on his back as well as an ancestral sword that he didn't intend to part with like he didn't intend to part with his own arm.

That meant he would have to steal.

That was a daunting prospect in and of itself but Caspian was pragmatic enough to know that it was his only option. He knew the streets of King's Landing very well having walked them many times, but the streets of whatever city he landed in would be a different story.

Caspian also had no idea how far the storm had pushed their ship south before it had gotten into a wreck and sank, but judging by how hot it was, he wouldn't be surprised if he had floated past Lys while he was still unconscious.

It seemed bewildering that he had traveled so far while he had been passed out but he had also been having dreams of a great sea monster carrying him through the ocean, so at this point the former prince was willing to believe almost anything. He hadn't believed his mother was capable of murdering a child, but time had proven how wrong he was about that.

I have a feeling that there is a great many things that I am willing to believe now. The world is not what I thought it was and it's a far bitterer place than I had ever known. The only way to survive is to be bitterer than it. This thought drove him as he urged his small and unorthodox craft through the water with as much force as he could manage.

The sun beat down on his head making him sweat and the glare of it on the water was enough to give him a headache, but Caspian had no intention of stopping.

It was either keep going or die.

And that wasn't something he was willing to accept.

He occupied his mind with wondering what his two uncles would think now about what had happened. No doubt word of the storm and the shipwreck had reached those in Westeros by now and his uncle's would think him dead. The thought made him angry but there was nothing he could do about it right now.

If his uncles knew about it, then no doubt would Lady Margaery and the rest of the Tyrells who might have withdrawn their support for the Baratheons as they could no longer provide their daughter with a son who would sit on the throne.

He had no idea who would make a claim for the throne now and just thinking about the power struggle back in Westeros was enough to make his head ache.

One thing at a time Caspian….find land….find fresh water.....find food. Then you can worry about whether or not the power struggle in Westeros is continuing. By now Caspian was so hungry and thirsty he was finding it hard to concentrate.

A growl slipped from between his clenched teeth and he shook his head, trying to get himself to focus, though it was proving difficult. He continued putting the paddle through the water and urging his small craft forward, hate once more driving him.

Caspian willingly let it take him over as hate was the only thing fueling him right now. If he didn't have hate….than he truly would have nothing.

What seemed like a few hours later, the most beautiful sight he had ever seen greeted Caspian's eyes. On the horizon, he could see the rocky crags of land rising to meet him and he laughed in delight and relief.

Urging the craft faster, he propelled himself through the water until the water began to change color and became much calmer. It was now clear and a blue green color and so translucent he could see schools of fish darting through the water beneath his raft.

Caspian felt weak with hunger and right now even raw fish sounded delicious. He continued paddling until a gentle current took hold of the craft and began propelling forward until he was in much shallower water. Curiously, the second prince brought a hand to his mouth and scooped up some water before tasting it.

To his astonishment, it was fresh water and his laughed in delight again before scooping up delicious cold handfuls and swallowing him mouthful after mouthful.

It was beautiful, and in that moment Caspian became more convinced that he was going to survive this ship wreck. Immediately he felt life giving energy coming back to his body and his head ache diminished exponentially.

He put his paddle down and continued drinking, putting his face right in the water so that he could drink more fully. After a few minutes, he had slaked his thirst completely and sat back on the raft feeling somewhat replete.

His makeshift craft was drifting even closer to the strange rocky coastline that appeared to be occupied by several stone caves whose mouths opened into the water itself where several hundred large rocks were scattered and sitting up right in the water so the tops of them poked out.

Caspian carefully guided his raft between the rocks towards the closest cave and was rewarded for his efforts when the bottom of the raft ran aground on the rocky shore line.

Slowly he put the paddle down and got unsteadily off of the raft and pulled it as far as he could onto the shoreline so the water wouldn't pull it back.

Then and only then did he turn and look around.

He had no idea where he was and the rocky cave lined coastline offered no answers as to his geographical location.

It was extremely hot so he had a feeling he was somewhere along the coastline of Essos but that was all he was sure of. He didn't know how far back this cave went for, or any of the others for that matter, but he had no intention of going exploring until he had some sort of light to guide him. And that wouldn't happen until he could make some sort of fire.

The back of the cave was utter blackness, making Caspian grimace uncomfortably. He didn't know what sort of animals might live in this cave and if he did end up sitting on one's doorstep, he didn't want to be first on the menu.

I have no idea of where I am or what sort of animals live in this part of the world so I would think that extra caution is extremely prudent and necessary.

The water came up into the mouth of the caves along the edge of the sea and there were so many of them that Caspian lost count. The water was clear and blue and he was glad that finding hydration would no longer be a problem.

But food might be.

He could see schools of fish darting in and amongst the rocks in the clear water and his stomach growled loudly upon seeing them.

The former prince looked around and saw large amounts of driftwood that had floated up into the cave lying to the far side of the cave on his left.

Gods know how long that's been there, he thought to himself. But that's good for me, I can start a fire at least if I can catch a fish to cook over the flames.

Caspian had never caught a fish in his life but he did understand the basic premise. He would need some kind of spear in order to skewer the creatures and he would need to be very fast in order to catch one.

I have a feeling if I intend to survive here until some other ship comes along, than I am going to have to prove me mettle, Caspian thought grimly to himself. It's either that or die. I have too much to live for to die yet.

So he rolled up the sleeves of his soaking wet tunic and breeches before stripping off what was left of his doublet and laying it to one side. His picked the sword he had dubbed as StormBreaker and laid it onto one of the rocks while he strode towards the driftwood and began looking through the pile for a piece that he shave down with StormBreaker to make an adequate sort of spear.

It took him a while as many of the pieces were large and brittle and he wondered how much driftwood had washed up on this shore in the centuries past.

These caves wherever they are have probably been unoccupied for centuries, he thought to himself. I wonder if there were any ships that ran aground on these rocks decades before I came here.

Finally however, Caspian came upon a smaller piece of driftwood that he dragged back over to the rock where StormBreaker was lying and was able to sort of bend it in half before jumping up and down on wood to try and break it in half.

It took him a while but after about five minutes he was rewarded with a splintering sound as the wood broke in half.

Caspian grinned at his success before he picked up the half that had broken off and sat down on the edge of the rock before unsheathing StormBreaker and scraping off the pieces of wood into a shaft that he might use to catch a fish.

Having never carved with wood before, it took him some time to figure out an adequate method of shaving the wood and he cut himself a few times which led to cursing before he got into a rhythm.

He immediately began cutting at the wood in a downward motion so the white that was under what was left of the bark could be seen. It soft in places from being continuously drenched in water and then dried in the sun so he had to be careful that he didn't break it.

It was a painstaking process that annoyed him at times but he knew he had to do it if he wanted to find food for himself. Since he now had water in him he was surer of his chances of survival, but that didn't mean he wanted to wait for too much longer before he was able to fill his stomach.

The average human being can go for about forty days without food but with how long he had been unconscious Caspian couldn't be sure how much time he had. It already felt like he hadn't eaten for weeks with the way his stomach was cramping and complaining.

He gritted his teeth and continued slicing at the wood, watching in satisfaction as it came to a point and he could see a spear beginning to emerge.

Not much longer and I will have made an adequate looking spear, he thought to himself with grim contentment.

There weren't any plants around the rocky shoreline that he might eat for the time being and even if there were, Caspian wasn't foolish or hungry enough to attempt eating one. He didn't know if any would be poisonous and the last thing he wanted was for his last meal to choke him to death.

So he continued on the process of making his spear. The only good thing was that the sun was shining and rapidly beginning to dry him because of the heat.

I don't think I'll need a fire very often because it's so hot here, the former prince thought to himself. But it's good to know that I'll have that option should it even become cold in the evenings.

After another fifteen minutes, Caspian was elated to see a razor sharp point on the tip of his makeshift spear and now knew he had an adequate weapon with which to catch fish.

I'll need to make a fire and cook the fish before I eat it otherwise there will have been no point in doing this. I'll just make myself sick with eating raw fish.

The idea of eating fish he had caught and cooked himself wasn't really appealing but he didn't have much of a choice here. There was no cook to make his food as he had grown up having his entire life or servants to clean up after him.

Caspian had been the most practical of the royal children but he was also not someone who was used to living on such meagre means and the thought galled him at first. But again, it's rather amusing to see what headspace a person gets themselves into when its either live meagrely or die.

And so Caspian gritted his teeth, picked up his makeshift spear and rolled up the legs of his breeches before heading towards the water. He stripped off his wet tunic and laid it to rest on the rocks so it could dry before gripping his spear in his hand and stepping calmly into the shallows. Catching a fish proved to be even more difficult than making a spear however because the former depended solely on him.

The fish didn't come anywhere near him at first because he was an unknown and Caspian could feel himself rapidly becoming frustrated. The sun was beating down on him and he was starving which he was sure wasn't helping with the fish acclimatizing to his presence. After what seemed like an hour, it suddenly dawned on him that he wasn't going to catch a fish if he continued splashing around in the water like an idiot and scaring them off.

So Caspian forced himself to stand still and calm himself until the fish could become used to him. This took around another hour or so of Caspian standing in the hot sun, knee deep in the shallows, waiting for the fish to become used to him and swim closer.

Finally they did and the prince seized his chance. He knew he had to quick in order to catch one of the small creatures as his hunger was now becoming unbearable. He was also becoming dangerously impatient and that sort of mindset wouldn't work with this process which required extreme constancy.

A small school of fish had swam up to his legs, obviously a little curious or Caspian thought they must have become acclimatized to his presence.

It would be a while before all other manner of sea life became accustomed to him either but right now all he needed was fish.

It was then that Caspian seized his chance.

Gritting his teeth, he drove his spear downward into the water with a splash. When he brought it up again, there was no fish on the other end which a caused a stream of curses to pour from his mouth.

It was only when the water cleared and he looked down again that he saw to his astonishment that one of the fish had gotten itself stuck in between two rocks in the shallows.

As fast as he could, Caspian jabbed down with his spear again and somehow managed to get his spear through the tail of the fish, causing a small cloud of blood to rise into the water.

Caspian slowly brought the spear out of the water, looking on in surprised astonishment at the small fish that was flopping about on the end of his spear. It was a tiny thing, no bigger than his hands, but he didn't care. It was food and right now that was all he wanted.

Unable to believe his luck, Caspian thought for one minute that the gods were smiling on him before he took the fish back to the cave and bashed a rock into its head to kill it.

After that he pulled the fish off the spear and laid it out on one of the rocks to dry before he took two of the pieces of driftwood that he had not used and attempted to rub them together to start a fire.

As he had never had to start a fire by hand before Caspian had no idea how it worked. All he knew was that the friction between the two pieces of wood was bound to start a spark at some point.

He needed a fire as there was no other way he was going to be able to cook his fish and he had no intention of eating it raw. It seemed survival was a lot of work as despite his rather frugal tendencies back at court, Caspian had never had to work to survive before. He would appreciate it later in life as a rather humbling experience but at the moment while he was trying to start that fire, all he felt was frustrated.

After several tries he put the wood down, feeling enormously frustrated.

This is harder than I thought, he mused to himself. I didn't know trying to start a fire or catch a fish was going to be so damn difficult.

He glanced at the dead fish sitting beside him and recalled some semblance of pride that by sheer dumb luck he had managed to catch it himself. Caspian brought his knees up to his chest and rest his arms across them as he contemplated the best way to start a fire.

If someone had told him only a month ago that he would have been in a shipwreck and paddling through the ocean on a makeshift raft where he would land on a coastline full of caves and be having to catch his own fish and cook them over a fire he would have thought them as mad as Aerys Targaryen.

But now here he was.

The gods certainly do have a sense of humor, the prince thought with a bitter smile to himself. They seem to love their stupid little jokes. I was once the son of a king and the grandson of one of the most powerful men alive. I trained with the most fearsome and skilled knights in the kingdom and learned and studied from the best minds. And now I am the only survivor of a shipwreck hiding in gods know where.

It was a little petulant, but he couldn't help feeling sorry for himself a bit. Ever since his father had died, things had just gone downhill.

A war had been waged, he had left King's Landing, his brother had died on the orders of his mother and the trip that should have put him on the throne had ended in shipwreck leaving him stranded in a cave on the other side of the world with no hope of getting back.

It seems that the gods have some sort of bitter irony, he thought to himself. Or perhaps they simply like to toy with us mortals in every aspect as if it some sort of cruel game for them.

In the back of his mind, he knew this really wasn't the time to be having a philosophical debate with himself on the merits of the gods, as he still needed to start a fire. Caspian cursed quietly to himself before he reached over and picked up the pieces of wood he had dropped before furiously rubbing them together again.

He decided to ignore his frustration at the painstaking time it was taking when his stomach was growling so loudly he was sure a wild animal would have been able to hear it and instead focused on what might be going on in Westeros right now.

No doubt the assault on the capital would have been halted and a search for him would have been raised. He would be surprised if he hadn't been declared dead by now. He had fallen unconscious while the storm had still been raging and he had no idea how long it had carried on for as it carried him south.

He did recall the captain suggesting to one of the crew men that perhaps it would be a better idea to dock in Lys and wait out the storm before attempting to resume their journey north again. But then the tempest had become even wilder, pushing them even further south and the plan to try for Lys had been scrapped.

The gods only know how long I've been lost at sea, he thought grimly to himself as he forced the wood to rub together. Everyone must think I am dead by now.

If he had been declared dead, than the next person in line for the throne would be his uncle Stannis as he was older than Renly. But Caspian was unsure if Stannis had any desire to be a king and he didn't really want to waste time trying to figure it out.

I need to focus on surviving and somehow acquire enough money to earn a passage out of here and get back to Westeros before the place erupts into civil war.

Although war was already being waged.

Just then there was a sharp pain his hand and he cursed only to look down and see that his effort had been rewarded with a small flame sparking on the wood. Caspian gave a whoop of delight and quickly began placing small pieces of wood in a pyramid sort of formation so that the flame would jump to the other pieces of wood.

After this, he removed StormBreaker's sheath and began to go about removing the scales from the fish.

It was a rather disgusting task as the smell of the dead fish assaulted him and he was forced to breathe through his nose in order to complete it.

After the fish was devoid of scales, Caspian removed its head and tail before taking the meat of it apart and skewering it on a stick over the flames.

Now all he had to do was wait for the meat to blacken and he would have himself a meal. The first one he had ever made for himself. Looking at the makeshift fire, Caspian felt an odd sort of pleasure at what he had managed to accomplish.

Perhaps I am not as helpless as I thought. The gods know Joffrey wouldn't be able to last twenty four hours out here.

He thought of his half-brother and grimaced. No doubt the nauseating little prick had learned about what his uncles had been planning and that they had wanted to put him on the throne.

Knowing Joffrey that will be enough for him to put up notices all over Westeros denouncing us as traitors and calling for our heads. He's too much of a coward to come out and meet us in pitched battle.

It was tough talk for someone who was marooned in a cave on the other side of the world, but Caspian had to do something to make himself feel better about his circumstances. And making fun of Joffrey in the past had always brought a smile to his face.

While he was waiting for the meat to cook, Caspian picked up a small sharp stone lying on the floor of the cave and strode to the opposite wall where he scratched out a line in the cave wall.

My first day of being marooned, he thought wryly to himself with a smile. Let's hope there aren't too many more of them.

The light was slowly beginning to die and Caspian turned back to the fire and noted with satisfaction that the meat was sufficiently blackened enough to eat. No doubt it would taste like nothing he had had in the keep, but right now he didn't care about taste. He just wanted to fill his stomach. Carefully, Caspian removed the piece of wood from the fire and pulled the meat from the wood before sniffing at it.

It smelled burned, but he would have expected that and was just glad it was no longer raw. His stomach growled at the smell of food and with that he couldn't wait any longer. Caspian sunk his teeth into the meat and tore it away before chewing deeply. It was not the most delicious fish to be eaten but at the moment it was filling his belly and he didn't care how odd it tasted.

He must have eaten fast for within minutes, the entire fish minus the bones, the head and a bit of the tail was gone. He was still hungry, but it was nowhere near as bad as it had been before. Caspian eyed the bones for a minute before he decided that they might help him in catching another fish.

Bits of the tail he might be able to use for bait and he was bound to have better luck using some sort of line to do it rather than with a spear. It had been only by sheer dumb luck that he had managed to corner that small one earlier. Sheer dumb luck didn't come around very often and he was going to have to use all of his wits to the full if he wanted to survive in this place.

At the moment though, Caspian could feel his eyes drooping and he hadn't realized how tired he was from the events of the day. Catching his own food, building a fire and not to mention being out in the sun all day had been exhausting.

By now his clothes had dried and with nightfall, the air became a little cooler. Caspian put his shirt back on and used his doublet to cover him. It wasn't much but it would have to do. The fire took the edge of the cold off and Caspian placed StormBreaker down next to him before curling up next to the fire.

Despite how much was on his mind, he was asleep within minutes.

The thing about sleeping out of doors is that you wake up so dreadfully early. And when you wake, you have to get up because the ground is so hard that you're terribly uncomfortable.

This what Caspian discovered on his first full day in the cave. The light of the sky was just turning from grey to pink when his eyes somehow opened. He growled out a curse and slapped the hard ground before rolling over and attempting to go back to sleep, but after a while he realized it was futile.

With a groan, Caspian rolled over and sat up before rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand.

"It figures that even my sleep would be disturbed," he muttered to himself before getting to his feet and stretching to work out all the kinks in his back and legs and arms from sleeping for so long on the ground. His stomach growled again to remind him that it had been several hours since he had eaten and he cursed again.

The next hour or so was spent trying to catch a fish for breakfast. Only this time Caspian stuck one of the small pieces of fish meat onto one of the fish bones that was left over from the night before and tied one of the longer fish bones to a the spear he had used to catch the fish.

He doubted that using fish meat to catch fish was ideal bait, but at the moment, it was all he had and he had to go with it. This actually proved to be a far better method for catching fish than the spear had been as the fish didn't have to become acclimatized to his presence first.

Within about fifteen minutes, he felt a tug on the line and yanked the makeshift line in to see to his astonishment that he had secured not one, but two fish. He wasted no time in bashing them over the head with a rock and continuing the same process he had carried out the night before. Once he had eaten his fill, the former prince decided it was high time that he explore the cave and the back of it.

And so he picked up one of the still burning logs and StormBreaker as well before slowly making his way towards the back of the cave. The light from the flame on his makeshift torch made shadows dance along the walls as the light of day grew farther and farther away.

The walls of the cave were oddly damp and he had no idea where the moisture was coming from since the walls on the cave near the entrance were mostly dry. The air was damp as well and he wondered where it was all coming from since it should have been the opposite way around. The ground beneath his feet was hard and rocky, but seeing as how he had no shoes anymore, he would have to make due.

The rocks were sharp and hard and he grimaced and cursed several times when his feet connected with a jagged stone. I'm going to have to find some way to make coverings for my feet before they become all torn and bloody on the rocks of this damnable cave.

Caspian continued walking, slowly moving the torch back and forth so he could see everything on the walls and side of the cave. So far there was nothing, but the rock walls themselves were narrowing, forcing him to walk directly in the middle of the path.

How far back does this place go? He wondered to himself.

The air began steadily damper as if there was an opening up ahead that was blowing wind towards him.

Is there another cave back here? He wondered to himself.

Caspian walked along slower now as he didn't want to run head long into a bad situation and then be forced to defend himself.

It was then that he felt a sharp cool breeze blowing at him and it brought him up short.

"Who's there?" he called out.

Caspian felt a little ridiculous doing it, but he had a feeling that whatever was up ahead would bear extreme caution. As he had expected, there was no answer, but the cool breaths of wind continued, brushing his dark hair that had grown longer off of his neck.

After a moment, Caspian decided that it couldn't be a large animal as the breath of a creature of that size would be hot and rancid.

This was cool and almost refreshing, a bit like an ocean breeze.

His curiosity was nigh on insatiable at this point and Caspian knew he had to keep going else the mystery of this place would drive him insane with wondering. He continued putting one foot in front of the other and looking around carefully and cautiously. StormBreaker was still drawn and gripped in his right hand and the torch with his left and he walked slowly forward.

The path became even narrower to the point where Caspian had to walk sideways in order to keep going.

What is this place?

The breaths of wind grew stronger at this point and the flame from his torch guttered and almost went out. Caspian paused and watched as the flame once more resumed burning before he breathed a sigh of relief and continued walking.

I need to be more careful, he thought to himself. If this flame goes out, then I'm in trouble.

But his curiosity was too great about what might be in the cave to decide to turn back now. It might have been his Baratheon blood or rather Durrandon blood in him. As with a mystery this great on his hands it wasn't something he would be able to let go of.

Calmly, the prince kept walking, forcing his hand on the torch to remain steady despite his increasing unease. By now the light from the mouth of the cave had long since vanished and the only illumination was from his torch. Otherwise Caspian was in total darkness. He continued putting one foot in front of the other and walking slowly onward.

The breeze that blew his dark hair off of his shoulders continued and seemed to be growing stronger with each passing minute.

And then all of a sudden, he saw it.

A dim light up ahead.

What is seven hells?

He quickened his pace towards it, now having to be very careful that he didn't brush too much up against the rocks and cause the flame from the torch to gutter again. Within a few minutes the light ahead of him had grown slightly brighter and he could see it was coming from a thin crack in the back of the cave wall.

There must be an opening in the back of the cave that's connected to the outside to let in the sea breeze, he thought as he hurried along. I can smell the ocean after all.

Upon approaching the thin crack in the cave wall that with an effort he would be able to squeeze through, Caspian peeked through and felt his jaw slacken when he saw what was behind it. He was staring into what appeared to be an ancient cavern that was at least a hundred feet long and a hundred feet high.

There were cracks in the cave ceiling that had let in the light which was causing the illumination that he had seen earlier. There was water on the cave floor and the rocks that appeared as if they had fallen from the walls and the ceiling were scattered haphazardly in the water all around.

But that wasn't what drew his attention the most.

It was the enormous shape that was resting on its side in the middle of the cave.

In complete astonishment, Caspian squeezed through the crack in the cave wall into the cavern itself and strode forward on unsteady legs to see whether or not his eyes were playing tricks on him.

They weren't.

There in the middle of the cave was the enormous skeleton of a dragon.

That's not possible.

But he wasn't being deceived and as he walked closer, his bare feet splashing in the puddles of water and on the uneven ground itself, Caspian realized that he was staring at a relic of the Valyrians that must have died centuries ago from the Doom.

I think I know where I am now, he thought to himself in awe.

The skeleton was enormous and Caspian wondered for a moment if it was larger than that of Balerion the Black Dread.

He had heard stories of Aegon's monstrous creature and had secretly visited the cellars. With teeth's about same height as that of adult, the skeleton of the Black Dread has loomed over the young prince. It was said that in its prime Balerion could swallow two men all together.

Before the Targaryen kings had fallen at his father's hand the skulls of their dragons had been present in the throne room for gods knew how long as a symbol to all of the nobles that enemies of the dragon kings were not tolerated and would be dealt with in fire and blood. He knew his father would have wanted to get rid of everything and anything pertaining to the Targaryens who had taken his betrothed from him but he sometimes wondered how quick Robert had been to dismiss his Targaryen roots.

Caspian did have Targaryen blood in him from his great grandmother and he had always been more interested in his dragon roots as opposed to his storm roots. His ancestor Orys Baratheon had been the bastard half-brother of Aegon Targaryen and as much as his father might have disliked it, the Targaryens and the Baratheons were inextricably linked since the dragon lords had come to Westeros. It also was speculated that Robert blood ties to Targaryens has what made his claim to Iron Throne legitimate.

I don't think that my late father would appreciate the irony though, he thought wryly to himself as he looked over the monstrous skeletal shape.

No, now that he was looking at it, Caspian thought this dragon must certainly be bigger than Balerion. His wings which were now crumbling from his body and in the water must have been enormous and Caspian had only to look at his head which was the size of at least seven horses to see that.

What must it have been like to ride one of these beasts into battle? He thought to himself. Or to ride one at all for that matter?

The dead dragon's claws were about the length of Caspian himself and his long tail went to the very back of the cavern. Caspian calmly put down StormBreaker on one of the rocks that was dry and began to explore the cavern a little more.

The light from the cavern ceiling was letting in some illumination and the points of light were shining down on the water and the rocks of the cavern like stars.

The former prince shifted to the right of the cavern and it was there that he made his first discovery. His bare foot stepped on something that jingled and moved as if it were alive.

Caspian let out an oath and jumped back before tripping on one of the rocks and landing flat on his back in the water.

Somehow he had managed to hold onto the torch.

Cursing the pain he slowly got to his feet and rubbed his back where he had smacked it against the rocks before going over to see what it was that his foot had struck.

He was further astonished to see something shiny lying in the water that was about ankle deep. Reaching his hand down cautiously, Caspian scooped up a handful of the shiny object and brought them to his face.

"What in seven hells?" he whispered to himself.

He was holding a handful of gold coins that looked as if they had been there for centuries as they were no currency he had ever seen and on account of the wear and tear on them. There was a peculiar script engraved on them and he couldn't read it as it must have been in some other variant of High Valyrian that Even Maesters never knew of.

He spoke High Valyrian and even knew a few words and phrases of the dialect spoken in Free cities. But was by no means fluent in all of them although one day he did hope to be.

It was almost ludicrous that a handful of golden coins was lying about in the cave for centuries or however long this cave had been here.

These will prove useful if I should somehow find a way out of here, Caspian thought as put his torch on a dry rock and began scooping up handfuls of the coins. There was only a small pile but that didn't matter. One coin was better than none.

Once he had filled the pockets of his somewhat ratty looking breeches, he took up the torch again and began looking around once more. There had to be other things that had been left in behind in this cave for him to use.

The discovery of the skeleton was shocking enough and he was now feeling his old insatiable curiosity coming back whenever he had made a discovery in one of the books at home in King's Landing.

I wonder what else is in here.

He continued walking slowly through the shallows using the torch to light his way and look around once more.

Caspian had left StormBreaker on the rocks by the cavern entrance but he knew he wouldn't have need of the sword now. He was more certain than ever that he was completely and utterly alone.

Exploring the entirety of the cavern took around another hour and he made his next big discovery. A dagger of valyrian steel with dragonbone handle was lying in a leather sheath. Even after sevens know how much time, the blade was sharp and rustless. It was similar to the dagger he saw on Robert during Joffery's name day tourney.

Caspian was exalted.

He knew the chances had been slim but the dagger in itself was a bounty worth a castle and few. Though he was disappointed to find lack of any other item nearby to escape from this situation. He knew the chances of finding something like enough wood to make a boat were slim but he had hoped even though he didn't have the tools to make such a craft.

Ah well, at least I have a valyrian dagger and some sort of currency to use should I ever manage to find a way to get out of here.

He decided to look one more time at the skeleton of the dragon before he left the cavern and went back to the mouth of the cave to see if he could procure something to eat for himself.

Even in death it certainly was an impressive spectacle.

A remnant of old Valyria that had somehow survived the centuries since the doom and been preserved in this very cave.

It is a fascinating discovery, Caspian thought to himself as he examined one of the dragon's claws.

One of its talons was as long as his forearm and for a moment Caspian wondered if some its bones could be used to reinforce the raft he had left out on the mouth of the cave.

There may come I a time when I have no other choice but to leave this place and this skeleton may be my only option in helping me escape.

Some of the bones like its ribs would be too hard to lift as they were far too heavy and the entrance to the cavern was rather small. He glanced back down at the claws and talons of the dragons before he decided to call it a day.

But when he walked past the left foreleg and claw of the dragon itself, something caught his attention and he blinked. There was another sparking in the water under the dragon's left foreleg and for a moment Caspian wondered if it could perhaps be more coins that had been left behind.

His curiosity getting the better of him, he used his body and his left arm to somehow push the foreleg of the dragon to one side so that he could get a better look at whatever it was underneath.

It was still heavy and took several tries to actually get it to move a fraction of an inch. By the time he had succeeded in getting the bones to move he was sweaty and tired and panting slightly.

But the moment he got a look at what was under the foreleg of the dragon and sparking in the water, his fatigue left him immediately.

The torch slipped from his fingers and landed with a splash in the water, the flame guttering and going out with a hiss but the former prince barely noticed. There was still dim light in the cave from the openings in the rock ceiling high above his head which allowed him to still make out in glaring detail just what his discovery was.

That's not possible, he thought to himself in shock and awe. They've all gone extinct. There aren't any more of them left in the world.

But the four eggs glistening beneath the water were proving him wrong each time he blinked at them.

How long have these been here?!

He wasn't sure if he wanted to know the answer but it was somewhat obvious how they had gotten here in the first place. The dead dragon skeleton that he had spent nearly an hour examining had obviously been the mother of these four eggs and had died guarding them from some sort of disaster.

With shaking hands, Caspian knelt down in the water and slowly reached out his hands toward one of the eggs. The four of them varied in color and the one he picked up was pearl white. The others were blue, red and purple. The edges of the eggs were beveled and ridged as he ran his fingers over them.

He knew the eggs themselves were thick and a dragon could perhaps survive centuries in one of them. He nearly dropped white one in shock, cause it felt warm to him. Like near a hearth or hot sand of Dorne.

His thoughts were a tangled mess as he picked up each of the four eggs to examine them carefully. Each felt warm to him. They were as beautiful as gems and he wondered what sort of price these might fetch in the world now.

The idea of selling one of them was somehow abhorrent to him but Caspian doubted they would ever hatch. Even if they felt warm, he could not be a certain of anything from them.

Rumor had it that only fire and blood could awaken a dragon from its shells and he only had one of those elements right now and he had dropped it in the water in his shock. But one thing was for certain however, Caspian knew he couldn't leave these eggs behind. It would be absurd to do such a thing.

And so after he had gathered up the four eggs in his arms, he walked somewhat unsteadily back to the mouth of the cavern and carefully set the eggs down before rolling them through the crack and then squeezing himself through as well.

Caspian's mind was whirling with insane thoughts as he walked back to the mouth of the cave with the eggs in his arms and StormBreaker tucked through his arm.

Never in a million years did he think that he would be able to come to have such a find, especially not after having been shipwrecked and marooned in a cave on the edge of the sea.

Again, the irony of the gods comes into play, he thought to himself with a wry smile. I'm marooned in a cave on the edge of the world and I find four bloody dragon eggs. Bugger it but the gods have a strange sense of humor.

As soon as he got back to the mouth of the cave he piled the dragon eggs in the corner near the fire which by now had gone out. It was getting close to midday and the sun was becoming quite hot so Caspian stripped off his tunic which was still drying and tied the eggs up in it before putting on his doublet over his chest which laid his arms bare.

He was feeling so energized from his discovery that he wanted to go out and explore the other caves and see what he might find in them. Reason however told him that he should see about getting something to eat first before he went out and played explorer.

This led to him sitting down again and sticking a piece of leftover meat from the fish from the morning onto one of the bones and tying it onto the seaweed before dropping it into the shallows along the edge of the cave.

And for the first time since Edric had died, the former prince allowed himself to smile. He glanced at the dragon eggs lying to the side of the cave and his grin widened. He had no idea if they would ever hatch but they seemed to be a sign of things to come for him. Things were beginning to look up.

If no ship ever came by onto which he could buy passage, he would need to look around for any more driftwood and perhaps see if there was some way he could go about making a boat for himself.

But there was time for that later.

For right now he would savour the minor success he had had and search for ways to escape from this place later. And for the first time since he had been ship wrecked, hate and vengeance were not the only thing on his mind.