7 Trials Of Necromancy

King's Landing, 283 AC.

Once Lyanna and Eddard returned to King's Landing, they kept their word and attempted to convince Robert not to continue the war. He agreed, only because Lyanna Stark had been returned to him. She was the reason he had raised his banners in the first place... and so, they were just as easily lowered once she returned. Jon Arryn, the new Hand of the King, also advised that invading Dorne would be difficult and bring forth many consequences. After all, not even King Aegon I Targaryen, the Conqueror, could make Dorne bend with the mighty dragon Balerion. So King Robert was willing to tolerate Aerion Targaryen's existence in Dorne. The other Targaryens, however, were to be killed or exiled from Westeros.

"One dragon spawn in the Seven Kingdoms will be enough."

Robert Baratheon declared.

Jon Arryn agreed to that. House Martell would not test their luck against this statement unless they wished to continue the war... which was highly unlikely. Instead of invading Dorne with men, they would plot from the shadows and hopefully assassinate the prince to remove the largest threat to Robert's claim. If not... then he's stuck in a desert with no support except for the Kingdom of Dorne, one of seven kingdoms.

Upon Lyanna Stark's return, Tywin Lannister had taken a loss of great magnitude. The prospect of marrying his beautiful daughter to the new King and creating an alliance with the ruling House had been thrown away to the wind like a piece of paper. Now, he had to consider other... less worthy candidates. The thought of plotting Lyanna's death did cross his mind but it would be highly suspicious of him. Along with that, it would be even more difficult and failure may lead to him being exposed. To put it simply, Tywin would rather not risk inciting Robert's fury as it would lead to certain death.

The greatest candidate was Edmure Tully, the heir to Hoster Tully and the future Lord Paramount of the Trident. Not quite as great as the Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, but it was certainly a good alliance nonetheless. It would bring House Lannister closer to House Tully, which is closely tied with House Stark, Arryn and Baratheon. Tywin had lost slightly, but he was not willing to lose out completely. He made the marriage happen, much to Cersei Lannister's disapproval. Her expectations were that of the glimmering Rhaegar Targaryen (before he married Elia, that is) and the powerful Robert (before Lyanna Stark returned)... unfortunately, much to her disappointment, her reality was Edmure Tully.

King Robert I Baratheon married Lyanna Stark in 283 AC, right after he had been crowned. Eddard Stark returned to Winterfell following that and brought in his 'bastard'. The appearance of this bastard did worsen his relationship with his wife, Catelyn Tully. Not only that, but it was the only stain on his honour which made it worse. Eddard Stark kept the mother a secret from everyone and was quite fierce about it. No one asked him after that... they could only wonder.

Peace returned to the Seven Kingdoms, albeit under a Usurper. The loyalists truly believed that there would be a day when House Targaryen would rise again and that King Robert's reign would not last. The power of loyalist Houses, however, was wisely decreased by taking away some of their lands and giving them to those who fought for the Rebellion. This act only made their devotion to House Targaryen stronger... although they were weaker.

The Greyjoy Rebellion broke out as Balon Grejoy fought for the independence of the Iron Islands and the return of the 'Old Way'. He thought that Robert Baratheon, as a usurper, might not have the strong support of other lords as a Targaryen King would. Along with that, Balon Greyjoy believed that he could defeat Robert Baratheon at sea.

He was mistaken.

Robert Baratheon crushed the Rebellion with the support of multiple prominent houses, forcing Balon Greyjoy to bend the knee to him. Balon Greyjoy had lost two of his eldest sons in battle and the other, Theon Grejoy, was given to House Stark as a ward. To be more precise, Theon Greyjoy was made into a hostage that they would keep in Winterfell to prevent another rebellion from the Iron Islands.

Peace returned to the Realm once more. A more permanent peace, some would say. No one could question Robert Baratheon's iron hold on the Seven Kingdoms anymore except for... maybe a single prince. Unfortunately, Prince Aerion Targaryen did not have the manpower to press his claim and question Robert Baratheon's legitimacy.

Meanwhile, in Dorne.

Aerion Targaryen was not concerned with building an army yet. Instead, he focused on growing himself into a worthy King and increasing the strength of his magic. The years passed swiftly...

~

More than 10 years after the journey to Sunspear.

294 AC, The Dornish Desert.

Aerion had grown into a most handsome young man. His violet eyes were among his greater features as they glowed with a lustre that was hard to resist. The pure silver hair that did not even have a slight tone of gold had almost grown to his shoulders, where he decided to keep it. He was quite the bit taller than the average man already, being an inch over 6 feet. He grew to be absurdly strong, fast, durable and charismatic with the combination of his brilliant genetics and magic as well.

In the mind, he focused on becoming a great negotiator, a leader in battle and skilful magician. He did learn how to manage money and deal with plots but those were secondary to him. He could only focus on so many aspects at one time, after all.

He stood in the Dornish Desert, alone and focused on sharpening his magic. It was the ideal place to practice due to the harsh environment and lack of people. Not that he was afraid of exposing his magic to everyone, as it was already common knowledge, it was because he did not wish to accidentally harm anyone.

After using up his magic vitality of 14, he scanned the surroundings before returning to a ruined castle he had discovered earlier for some rest. Most of it seemed to have been melted years and years ago. Aerion suspected that it was one of the settlements that King Aegon I Targaryen burned with his dragon during the Dragon's Wroth. It lasted a whole two years... all in the rage of his younger sister-wife's death.

To think that not even the Conqueror could make Dorne bend...

Although Aerion was certainly proud of Dornish blood and Martell heritage, he still considered himself a Targaryen. The blood of the dragon clearly ran through his veins, after all. His skin was slightly more olive than pale... but, other than that, he had silver hair and the violet eyes of a dragon.

As the sunset came, Aerion prepared himself for a short nap. He was never truly at ease, keeping his sword and dagger close just in case something does happen. Once the sun truly set, a full moon appeared. It started to twist into an emerald tone as time passed...

The ruined castle started to shake, easily awakening Aerion from his slumber. He rubbed his eyes and looked around.

"What in Seven Hells..."

The castle completely transformed, right before his eyes!

"Welcome, little dragon. I am pleased to announce that you have arrived at this ruined castle at an opportune time."

It was a castle with black walls and no light except for the few and scarce torches scattered around. The ruined castle of old was no more. He could not hear any sound except for the thunderous voice who called him 'little dragon' ten years ago.

"How so?"

Aerion replied, wondering if the voice would give an answer or dissipate like before.

"This ruined castle was prepared for your arrival years ago. It would only appear in its true self in the presence of someone with my blessing during the full moon... as you should know, both conditions have been met tonight!"

"You have the choice of facing my challenge head-on and fighting for a grand award worthy of your effort... or, if you fear death, you can back away like a coward and leave with less power than before." He chuckled. "So, what will it be?"

"What will I be fighting, precisely?"

The voice disappeared again. In its absence, Aerion started to hear footsteps. They were strange footsteps... followed by the cracking of bones. In the distant corridor, he could see a pair of glowing emerald eyes coming ever closer.

Aerion stood still, observing the strange being from afar. Then it came close to a torch and revealed its truly disturbing figure. He was half man and half skeleton...

Some of my magic vitality has recovered but it's not worth using on something so slow.

Aerion was fazed by the being's appearance, but only slightly. There were very few things he feared and a walking dead man was not one of them. He drew his sword and placed it against the nearest torch. By channelling his Pyromancy and control over fire, he willed the sword to form a coat of flame. This flame, however, did not burn the sword itself as Aerion did not wish to look for another.

This process was effortless due to Aerion's constant practice over the years.

Aerion slowly walked to the green-eyed wight. Then, once he was close enough, the wight exploded with speed and grew in terms of aggressiveness. Aerion stepped to the side, dodging the wight's charge, and slashed directly at its neck. Following that, he wight screamed from pain and grabbed him.

The wight attempted to take a bite of flesh but he kicked it away with shocking strength. Then he stabbed the wight in the chest before it could charge again. Aerion stepped back and watch the dead man burn away from the flames.

Then he turned and saw another pair of emerald eyes in the other direction. He grasped his flaming sword's hilt, preparing to face another.

This grand award should be worth my time.