With No Way Out
"Row! Boys get us to shore" Corlys shouted as he stood on the row boat making his way to the shore and edge of the city, he looked over the side of the boat shuddering at the fact that he was so close to the water that was capable of boiling a man alive, while he had encountered seas that could chill a man to the bone he had never encountered one that could melt his skin off.
Luckily they had anchored close to shore so it was a short journey by boat. Men got out running quickly out of the shallow water and pulled the boat on shore by the rope at the front, Corlys then jumped off and landed in the greyish sand. He felt truly awed, here he was standing in the home
Of the dragon lords, his ancestors.
He walked forward, he couldn't afford to daydream he had to find his grandson and drag him back to Westeros "Men set up a temporary camp, forage for any supplies that we can use, but be careful we have no idea what we might find here" he commanded. While his men went off in different directions he waited until both of his ships were abandoned, while it pained him to leave the ships vulnerable they were even more dangerous if people were on them. With his crew still occupying them they were targets but without any people on board they were lumps of wood floating in the water, and he desperately hoped any creatures would be able to tell the difference, otherwise they'd be trapped here.
Once the last crew member had left the ship Corlys himself decided to start exploring and with six other members of his crew he entered the ancient Valyrian city, Even he had to admit excitement ram through his blood with every step he took. As a child, he had dreams of sailing here but those were quickly beaten out of him by his father and for good reason, since he was here now he could feel his childhood dreams reawakening.
"Shout if you find anything!" He told his men as he walked into a building, The door was on the floor and looked to be a black sort of wood, he wasn't sure if that was its natural colour or if the doom had charred it so. Inside the building was a large room with various small rooms attached each one small with a small bed and mattress, the beds were too small to be for adults and they had chains attached to the frame.
'These must've been slave quarters... but for children?' He speculated as he walked into one of the rooms, though he doubted his theory when he saw scratches on the floor as if a child had been dragged out. He checked every single room and found it to be the same, however in one of them he found a small book that stuck out in the mattress, he struggled to open it at first as if it were stuck together by something. When he managed to open it he understood why, whoever wrote this did not have access to ink so they used their blood.
*We were taken from the mines and told we would be doing something great for the Freehold, All my friends have gone and they never came back. I will miss my family but at least I will join my friends soon*
Valar
Corlys couldn't help but sigh, it was easy to forget the evils that the Valyrians practised at the height of their power, Sometimes he thought perhaps it was for the best that the doom came for them. He flipped through the other pages but the blood was sneered or had degraded too much to be able to read so he put the book down on the bed and left the room. He approached another room which looked to be a Solar, Inside was a mess, books and different objects were thrown about the floor, and on the table was a book filled with high-quality parchment, in fact, he had never seen parchment so fine before.
*
Gaemon - Failure
Visegor - Failure
Vaegal - Failure
Rhaenessa - Failure
Alanya - Failure
Baemor - Failure
Haelera - Failure
....
*
And this is how it went for you pages and pages, In almost the entire book there was a name and in every case, there was the word failure written down next to it, however, that was until he got to the last page.
*
Daerys - Failure
Vinar - Failure
Taemond - Failure
Valar - Success
*
'Poor children...' he thought to himself as he closed the book, After becoming a father his weakness for children had increased and so he hoped that at least Valar had managed to find some measure of happiness after whatever the Dragon Lords had done to him.
"My Lord!" Corlys heard one of his men shout, he put the book down and walked out of the old slave building and onto the streets of the city, he saw his men gathered and they were looking at something that should be impossible. In the middle of the road was a group of three people who were walking aimlessly "What in seven hells" Corlys said to himself.
One of his men worked up the courage and decided to approach the men in question, he walked cautiously towards them though they never reacted when he approached still just wondering around aimlessly "Hail stranger! What brings you to such a desolate place" the crewman said with slight humour in his voice. Corlys could see their eyes, they were dead and lifeless not aware of what was going on, but that changed. All of a sudden it was as if their eyes awoke and their stare pierced through the crewman and everyone else there.
Without making so much as a sound they rushed towards the crewman, Their run was clumsy and they almost fell at multiple points, it was as if they were being controlled by a piece of string. "Wait stop!" The crewman shouts as he backs up but he's too late and one of the strangers grabs his arm "AHHHHHH" the crewman screams as his arm burns under his grip while also being broken by the immense strength behind it. Another of the strangers grips his jaw while he screams and it's immediately dislocated.
Corlys and his crew were helpless to watch as the stranger opened his mouth unnaturally wide and out of it came a human face attached to a wormlike body, Its skinny arms grabbed onto the crewman's mouth and it pulled itself into his mouth. The crewman collapsed onto the floor and he started to shake violently before he stilled "RUN!!!!!" Corlys shouted to his men as he drew his sword out and they all turned around running down the black stone path with the creatures following them.
Corly's breath is ragged as he runs, not anywhere in the world had he seen something as dark and twisted as what he had just witnessed. He had seen dark blood rituals in Asshai and water sacrifices in the Thousand Isles, but that human face on the wormlike body would haunt his dreams for years to come.
He ran as fast as he could with his men behind him, The strange creatures in the shape of men were clumsy runners so they managed to stay ahead of them, however, they didn't look to be tiring at all which concerned Corlys greatly. As they made it back onto the beach the sight that greeted him was dire, Other members of the had all been running from the city as well and a battle was taking place on the beach, one that they were not doing too well in.
He saw his crew held down by the strange people and then they would vomit those strange creatures into their mouths, he saw the crew had tried to use the rowboats to get back to the ship but a creature managed to get on them and they were all killed. Only around twenty of his crew remained and they were all fighting for their lives, They had to duck and dodge the strangers as if they managed to grip them then it was over.
"Fall Back! To the city! We will lose them in the city!" He shouted to his men and they immediately followed his command not wanting to suffer the fate of their crew mates.
They all ran back into the city that many believed to be their tomb.
———————————————————
Rhaenyra sat in the painted room, Life had not been kind to the young woman for the past few months, she missed her son greatly. In truth all those years ago when she decided to move her family from Kings Landing to Dragonstone it was because she wanted to be closer to her son, while she loved all of her children immensely the connection she shared with her firstborn was like none other.
Not only had she been affected by the departure of her son but a great fire had occurred at Harrenhall, and her good friend Harwin and his father Lyonel Strong had both died in the fire. It was at this time she felt she needed the comfort of her firstborn as he had always been there when she went through difficult times, Despite his age he had a maturity that her other children did not and so she felt comfortable confiding her problems to him.
*Knock*
*Knock*
Rhaenyra sits up and straightens her gown "Enter" she calls out, The door opens and Maester Geradys walks inside the painted table room, the sound of his chain rattling on his grey robes.
"I'm sorry to disturb you My Lady, but a letter arrived from Kings Landing and so I thought you'd wish to see it immediately" He explained.
"Think nothing of it, I was just lost in my thoughts. Thank you for bringing the letter Geradys" Rhaenyra said with a smile as she took the letter from him. Geradys bowed and walked out of the room, shutting the door and leaving Rhaenyra alone once more.
Rhaenyra just looked at the letter and signed 'Good news never arrives from Kings Landing' she thought to herself, and it was true any news from that place never failed to frustrate or stress her out. However she knew she couldn't ignore it and so she opened the letter, she was surprised at how short it was and was surprised most of all at who the sender was.
*To my dearest sister, I know we do not know each other well nor do we have any kind of familial relationship. However, we do share something in common beyond who our father is, our love for Jace. This is why I write to you as I know my words here will be mocked and laughed at, You are the only person who may believe me though even that is not certain. Jace went on a voyage with his Grandfather and he then took his dragon to Valyria but he did so without knowing the horror of what is truly there. Jace is smart and resourceful but I fear it may not be enough and that he will die in that evil place, or perhaps suffer a fate worse than death*
Helaena Targaryen
Rhaenyra felt a multitude of different emotions all at once, confusion, fear, doubt and anger, She couldn't decide which to focus on but eventually fear won out. She started to breathe heavily and her hands shook as she thought about her firstborn in Valyria all alone with all manner of dangers and evil 'How could I have been so stupid, I know Jace better than anyone, why did I not expect this' she berated herself as she stood up and immediately left the painted table room.
She quickly went down the hallway and left the keep walking into the courtyard where Laenor was sparing and having fun with her other sons Lucerys and Joffery "Laenor!" She shouted at him getting his attention, he frowned when he saw how hysteric she was and he gave Lucerys his sword before directing him towards the master-at-arms. He walked towards Rhaenyra who stood at the entrance to the courtyard fighting hard to remain composed "Rhaenyra has something occurred? What is wrong?" He asked as he put his hand behind her back and directed her back into the keep.
She wiped her eyes and said nothing, all she did was hand him the letter she had received from Kings Landing. He quickly read through the letter his frown only intensifying as he did "It must be a ploy" he said handing the letter back to her
"It isn't, If there is one person in this world I would trust with my son it is Helaena, they grew up together and would've been married had the queen not interceded" Rhaenyra replied bluntly.
"But how could she know of such things, would Jace do something so dangerous?" Laenor asked.
Rhaenyra nodded "He is young, at that age comes the foolish belief that one is invincible"
"What do you wish to do?" Laenor asked
Rhaenyra thought for a moment before deciding to send a letter to Pentos, she hoped that Perhaps her uncle and sister-in-law could shed some light on the situation before she did anything too drastic.
———————————————————
*Huff*
*Huff*
*Huff*
Jace ran through the streets of the city after encountering one of those infected corpses, Their charred skin and dead eyes made his skin crawl and he could scarcely look back lest his fear get the better of him. He knew what he had to do but the thought of doing it made him sick, he had trained with the sword for years and knew how to kill a man but he was hesitant to do so. He berated himself for being so cowardly and not doing what he needed to do 'Just grip the sword and do it!' He shouted to himself as he withdrew Starfire its brought and ethereal glow illuminating the area.
He turned around on his feet, his heart beat heavily as he witnessed the unnatural movement of the corpse as it rushed towards him. With every step that the creature moved towards him Jace's heart beat faster and faster and sweat poured down his neck, The temptation to run was almost overwhelming but he stood his ground.
As the creature lunged at Jace he pushed off his left foot to the side while swinging his sword in the same direction, the creature had its head cut off as the rest of its body fell to the floor behind Jace. Had Jace not been wielding Starfire which was composed of a sharp and lightweight material then there would be no way his young body would be able to pull off such a manoeuvre.
Jace breathed a sigh of relief as he felt his sword tear through flesh, though when he looked at his sword, there was reddish brown sludge covering the part that had sliced through the creature's neck, a hot steam emanated from the liquid 'Is that blood' Jace thought to himself as he looked at the sword.
Though he was brought out of his thoughts as he heard shuffling behind him, his heart almost beat from his chest when he saw the headless body stand up 'By the Seven!' He thought to himself, in the exposed neck of the man's body saw those wormlike creatures wriggling around and moving, it was enough to make him sick.
He had no idea what to do, When you removed a person's head they should die, but this man did not, the only thing he could think to do was run. He rushed down the streets of the city, Luckily it seemed that the corpse did not know where Jace was as it wandered around aimlessly.
'I need to make my way to Daella, I don't know if I'll last another night alone' he thought to himself, he needed to get to Vermax, apart from the abomination dragon he was the strongest creature here, at least that's what Jace hoped.
———————————————————-
Daella was still curled on her side, her tears had long since dried up and so she just lay there and waited for death, Around her were the charred corpses of the people who had tried to attack her and Vermax the previous night. The smell of their burnt flesh still filled her nose, she could even taste it and more than once it had made her retch, Behind her Vermax was still lying down on his side trying to recover from the injuries it had obtained from the other dragon.
'I wish Jace was still here...' she thought to herself as she gripped her hands around the beautiful necklace that had been given to her by Jace, Without him, she did not know what to do, she wasn't brave, she was a coward. She knew what her mother had planned for her for years and yet she did nothing, it was Jace who saved her from that fate. She sat up on her knees and stood up, She was a bit shaky but she managed to hold herself up.
"I'm sorry you had to look after someone as useless as me Jace..." she said solemnly, she hated herself for being so weak and so cowardly.
She had to do something, she couldn't just sit here and wait to die, That's not what Jace would want. But what she wanted most of all was to find Jace's body, if she was to die then she wanted it to be with him, but first, she needed to convince someone to help her "I hope I can at least join you in the beyond"
She limped to the front of the dragon and stood in front of its maw, Her body trembled and her legs almost gave way when Vermax opened his eyes and lifted his head. While she was not usually afraid of Vermax that was only in the presence of Jace, she had not forgotten or he had tried to shake her off while they escaped from the dragon. So she did not know how he would react to her plea.
"Vermax... p-please let me mount you," she said in a trembling voice as she stood in front of him.
Vermax stared at the small Targaryen girl before turning away and placing his head back down completely ignoring her. Daella felt her frustration overcome her fear as she saw the dragon ignore her and put his head back down on the ground.
"Vermax kesā rȳbagon naejot nyke! (Vermax you will listen to me!)" she shouted at the dragon. The dragon lifted its head softly growling at the girl who's legs shook more than they ever had.
"Kostilus gūrogon nyke naejot Jace, nyke beg ao! (Please take me to Jace, I beg you!) she continued as tears threatened to escape her eyes. Her mother had always told her dragons were fiercely intelligent creatures so she hoped that her words had been understood by the beast.
Whether it be with or without Vermax she would go and look for Jace.
———————————————————-
The sun had started to set and Jace was no closer to the place where he believed Daella to be, his heart had started to race as he knew as soon as darkness fell the people beneath the earth would rise and this time he didn't think he would be lucky enough to escape them.
He searched for a place that might be safe for the night but he had no clue where to start, most of the buildings had no doors and massive holes in their side. He was also reluctant to go into the large buildings or towers as he believed that the pale people hid inside there as well as in the ground.
The sun was setting fast and he could only grip his sword tightly and clench his teeth, he would have to hold himself up in one of the small buildings barricaded the entrance and hope they didn't make it inside. He ran to the most intact building he could see and walked inside it was large by conventional standards as it was over five levels but it still fell short of the massive towers that were littered throughout the city, like most of the buildings the door was torn off its hinges and on the floor. The contents of the building made Jace chuckle, he had managed to walk into what looked like a barracks. Many swords were strewn around the floor as well as pieces of armour, In the back, he could see various racks that contained weapons that had not yet fallen, however, he was more focused on anything he could use to block off the entrances.
He dragged a large desk that was in the centre of the room towards the front entrance and with a bit of effort he tipped it over blocking it, though he would need to get something else as it only blocked the door from halfway up. For the next hour, Jace grabbed everything he could and blocked the various entrances to the barracks, By the end of it he was breathing heavily and had to sit on the floor with his back towards the wall, his stomach rumbled with hunger and his lips were dry. It had been a while since he had eaten and drank anything at all, he hoped he wouldn't die of dehydration before he reached Daella but he did admit that it might be a much more pleasant death than being torn to pieces.
He felt himself start to drift off, his body was still full of aches and pains, and he was exhausted and had no energy, he knew how dangerous it was to fall asleep in such a place but he found that he couldn't help himself. What saved him however was the sound of shouting, his heart started beating and he shot up from the floor and immediately ran to a gap in the makeshift barricade that he had created.
"Did we lose them!"
"I think so!"
"Men take a break!"
Jace recognised the last voice, his eyes widened as he looked and saw his grandfather leading a number of his crew through the city 'What are they doing here!' He thought to himself, as he desperately started to move parts of the barricade away from the door. It filled him with love to see that his grandfather had come for him but it was overshadowed by the guilt he felt at leading them to this place because of his selfish desires.
"Grandfather!" He shouted as he removed the top half of the barricade, the heavy wood falling to the floor with a loud banging sound.
Corlys immediately started looking around when he heard the voice of his Grandson "Jace!" He shouted as he could not discern where he heard the voice from.
"Grandfather! Over here" he shouted and Corlys finally turned in the right direction and saw his Grandson, relief filled his heart at seeing his Grandson alive but he had to wonder what happened to Daella and his dragon. He ran over to the boy who stood inside a building that had been blocked off, the last light of the sun shone down on them as he and the crew approached the building "Jace you're here where-"
"Grandfather we do not have time to talk, We all need to get inside of here and barricade the entrance again, if we don't then we will all die" Jace explains as clearly as possible.
"Jace have no fear we managed to lose those strange worm creatures, they will not bother us now" Corlys explained.
Jace shook his head "Please listen to me! They are not the only danger here, you must listen to me!" He said in a panicked voice as they were losing light fast.
Corlys knew his grandson well and had never seen him so panicked before, he trusted that he had a reason for this "Very well, Men! Inside now and barricade the entrances as best you can" he commanded, They all did so without question, while many of them were not happy to see Jace they knew that the situation they were in now was too dangerous to consider going against their captain.
Jace backed up and allowed them all to climb over the overturned desk, Once they were all inside they started to improve on the shoddy barricades he had thrown up, every second felt like a minute as he saw the son falling over the horizon and darkness stretching over the land, he withdrew his sword from its sheath and people looked at it in awe, from its blade to the gem that was embedded into its pommel everything about the sword was majestic and beautiful. Corlys himself was awed by the treasure though before he could ask about it a loud screeching pierced his ears. Darkness had engulfed the city, and the crewmen who stayed at the windows saw men start to climb from holes in the ground, their pale skin and sharp teeth made them shudder.
"They're here"
(AN: So Jace meets up with granddaddy and they're both now going to have to survive the night in their makeshift fort, next chapter will be za battle or the slaughter)
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