A Wonderful Feast

With Aerion's growing force terrorising the lands surrounding Valyria, the vast power of the dragonlords faded day by day. He faced vast hordes of dragons, all of whom found themselves in his service during or after battle. All obstacles in his path were decisively crushed as he continued to grow in strength with every battle. In the end, there was nothing that even the great Valyrian Freehold could do to oppose him.

Unintentionally, he had become the Doom of Valyria... before the Doom had even occurred.

Now, only one objective remained to complete the trial; the taking of Valyria itself. By this point, all of the dragonlords with some spine were already dead. Those that remained did not have the will to defy him any longer... at least not directly. As a result, the gates to paradise were opened to the vast force of undead who entered under Aerion's lead.

"This is the city that they call paradise? It is a city made out of black stone with the sights of fire mountains... there's nothing beautiful to look at. I dare say that it is hideous." Viserys remarked.

Aerion chuckled. "Well, you're not wrong. It is quite grim yet... I do feel strangely attracted to it."

"For someone who loves to wear glistening and luxurious clothing, it is, indeed, strange for you to be interested."

"Who doesn't like luxurious clothing?" Aerion countered. "Anyway, it would be unwise to trust the remaining dragonlords so easily. We must remain vigilant within Valyria... until their loyalty is truly secured. Afterwards, the trial should end."

"And if it doesn't?" Jaime inquired. "What if we are stuck here, in the past?"

"Well then... wouldn't that be a terrible thing? If there truly was no way of returning, we would just have to resign to our fate and assert Targaryen rule within Westeros a few generations early. I would marry a pretty ancestor of mine and..."

"Let's just hope that doesn't happen." Aerion laughed.

"I'm not too fond of staying, either." Viserys agreed. "There are still many rebels to humble in the present. If we are bound to this place, then all of your efforts would have been for nought, my nephew."

"Daenerys might be able to hold onto what I left behind... if the Soul Knights remain, that is. Lord Stannis is a brilliant admiral and my Empire possesses the mightiest navy within the Known World with nigh-invincible warriors who can only be slain by magic or valyrian steel - a rare commodity nowadays. They might have a few more weakness that I am unaware of, however..."

"You think too much." Viserys remarked.

"That's not a bad thing, my dear uncle."

"Pardon me, my lords." A group of guards approached them. "The remaining head dragonlords wish to welcome you into Valyria with a brilliant feast. It is our duty to lead you to them upon arrival."

"Very well."

A feast, huh...

Aerion left behind his lesser undead, proceeding with only his vast group of Soul Knights for protection. The meeting place was quite the walk away due to the sheer size of the city itself. Truly, the high valyrians loved their space. They all lived in luxury with a majority of their servants being slaves from earlier conquests. To Aerion, it was clear that the valyrians had grown decadent. They had everything they could ever need... leading to the feeling of content... leading to a lack of ambition. This led to weakness.

'The Valyrian Freehold could have been so much greater.'

Aerion thought.

If the dragonlords had the ambition to expand even further and didn't cling to one place, then the Doom wouldn't have been so severe. Of course, that didn't happen.

After reaching the chosen palace, Aerion and his followers walked through a few corridors that led to a grand hall. The guards opened the massive pitch-black doors and allowed them to pass. Beyond, there was a single table with around a dozen people seated. Around the table stood quite the number of servants, all of excellent quality.

One side of the table was reserved entirely for his party, that side being the one facing the entrance.

"Ah, the indomitable one is here at last!"

Although the dragonlord's voice was quite welcoming, Aerion could see the daggers in his eyes. In truth, he had observed that each and every one of them harboured great anger and hatred towards him within a few seconds. He was deserving of this reaction... even Aerion would admit to that.

"Come, have a drink as we discuss our surrender." The dragonlord gestured towards the empty chair facing him.

Aerion chuckled. He could see that this was a trap several leagues away... whether by food, drink or other means, the dragonlords would attempt to make their final act of defiance here. At least, a decent majority of them would.

'Why not play their game for a while...'

"We would rather you put that greatsword away." One dragonlord remarked before he sat down.

"Oh, this? It shouldn't cause much of an issue." Aerion withdrew it from its back-sheath and stabbed it into the ground.

"If I wanted to kill you, you would already be dead. It is as simple as that."

"... Well, would you prefer something to fill your stomach or?"

"I'll be fine with some wine." Aerion sat down and looked at his empty cup. "Well?"

"Of course, of course. We've prepared a most excellent jar of wine for this feast, worthy of the greatest of guests! A wine that only dragonlords may drink! You, fill the indomitable one's chalice."

"Should we join you?" Jaime inquired.

"Yes, you may. It would be quite dull to sit on my own... but I shall be the first to drink."

With that, his Kingsguard, Viserys and a select few Soul Knights sat down. Aerion's cup was filled to a relatively perfect amount, with enough space to be satisfactory while not spilling easily. He moved it back and forth, slowly, and observed the wine. It looked perfectly normal, of course.

"Your cups were already filled beforehand... how am I to trust that this is not an attempt on my life?" Aerion feigned concern and some fear.

"Ah, we would gladly have one of our servants prove it to you. Of course, we wouldn't dare to stretch our luck against a being so invincible."

"Is that so?" Aerion chuckled. "You would have a servant drink the wine worthy of a dragonlord?"

"Ahahaha..." The dragonlord laughed nervously. "With the permission of their master, a servant can do many things, no? Well, one of us would certainly be willing to drink the very same wine if that is what you wish. Even I could if you wish."

"Go ahead, I'll provide you with my grand chalice." Aerion's wind sent a chalice forward and landed it softly in front of the dragonlord.

"The most important factor regarding negotiation is trust, indomitable one." The dragonlord smiled as he raised the cup. "I hope that you will trust us after this act."

"I am not one to trust people so swiftly." Aerion shook his head while the dragonlord drank the wine. "It is better to be careful than dead, in the end."

"I understand your point of view." The dragonlord, after drinking a decent amount of the wine, nodded. "But we, the mighty dragonlords, would not stoop so low to kill using deceitful methods such as poison."

Aerion was indifferent regarding the dragonlord's statement.

"Desperation can make people forget their values."

Aerion had his own jar of wine brought into the hall from which he would use to fill his cup. The dragonlords prepared quite a number of entertaining events from dances to songs to even duels within the grand hall. Despite his caution, Aerion did find the feast quite enjoyable. As Aerion was immersed watching one of the dancers, the dragonlord who had drunk from his old chalice left the hall to do his business.

Aerion, glancing to the side, had a small drop of blood from the tome follow the dragonlord.

...

Immediately after entering the courtyard, the dragonlord took out an antidote from his pocket and swallowed it.

"Ahh..."

Then he went to take a piss... though he didn't know that it would be his last.

~

The drop of blood returned to the tome of Hematomancy after the dragonlord sat back down.

"It is as you foresaw, master."

'It would have been quite amusing if I was wrong.'

Aerion decided to enjoy the grand feast until its end, although he carefully avoided consuming anything the entire time. This irritated the dragonlords to a great extent, although a majority of them hid their frustration well. After half an hour of entertainment, Aerion decided it was time to begin their negotiations.

"Now, we should start the negotiations."

"No... no, you should enjoy yourself some more. Perh-"

"No, my friend. We will start now."

Aerion withdrew his greatsword from the ground and swiftly flipped the table over. The guards within the main hall raised their blades but the Kingsguard dealt with them. Meanwhile, the disorientated dragonlords managed to withdrew their hidden daggers before Aerion could kill them all.

"You will die here, demon!"

Aerion heard dragons leap into the air but his own dragons and Soul Knights were ready waiting for such an attack.

"Foolish dragonlords."

Aerion released several fireblasts, one for each of the dragonlords as he swiftly left the hall to end this last act of defiance.

~