Chapter 15: Dragonston

Chapter Text

Aerion bit down on his pork sausage as he stared at the overweight man opposite, years as the castellan had made Ser Robert Quince slow and docile, and the prince was disgusted that such a man could ever have been considered a knight.

"I trust that everything is to your liking, my prince?" Ser Robert asked, looking nervously over to his young wife, she was slender and pretty, though looked as if the knight had been stealing from her plate.

"The cooks have prepared this beautifully, this is exactly what I needed." Aerion replied, travelling on Gaelithox's back made him tired and filled with hunger.

"I must say, my prince, I never would have expected someone so young to tame a formidable beast such as the Cannibal." Robert responded "You must tell us how you accomplished such a feat."

"It was a small feat at best." the prince shrugged, "I had found him before he set upon a village, he was burning my fleet until I managed to calm him."

Aerion gazed around the chamber, they were in the hall known as the Stone Drum, a massive tower which laid at the heart of Dragonstone, serving as its' central keep, it was there one would find the throne chambers and the family apartments.

The hall itself was carved into the shape of the huge dragon lying on its belly, with heavy red doors set in its mouth, and those entering travelled beneath the gateway teeth and through the dragon's maw.

"Hah!" the man exclaimed, banging his hand against the table "I should attempt to claim a beast myself, I would be a feared dragon rider."

"Husband." His wife said, "Please lower your tone in the presence of the prince."

"Quiet woman!" he growled at her.

"You could never be a dragonrider." Aerion interrupted, "You know nothing of the dragon's blood."

"Is that so?" the man replied.

"Aye, I would be surprised if you could even mount a horse, given you are a fat oaf." Aerion responded plainly, his face and posture revealed no emotion, as he placed his cutlery on the table.

"It was a simple-minded jest, my prince, nothing more." the man nervously said "I meant no disrespect."

Aerion looked over to his wife and gave her a warm smile "I apologise for your husband's behaviour towards you, my lady, I am sure he will be more respectful from now on." Aerion looked in Robert's direction, giving him a menacing look "Isn't that right, Ser?"

"That is most right, my prince." Ser Robert answered, placing a hand over his wife's "Sorry, my love."

Aerion tugged at a piece of bread, looking down at his plate as the wife smiled back at him and he ran his thumb across his lips "I shall retire for the night." he said, rising from his chair.

"You do not wish to await your father, my prince?" His words sent shivers down Aerion's spine as he gave Ser Robert a glare.

"Daemon is here?" Aerion replied "I had not seen Caraxes when I first landed."

"He prefers to rest upon the Dragonmont, much like your own mount." his father's voice echoed through the hall as he passed through the dragon's maw.

"Father…" Aerion clenched his fist.

Ser Robert Quince and his wife rose from their chairs and bowed before his father as he walked over towards the table, grabbing a goblet and filling it with some wine from the jug.

"What are you both still doing in my presence?" he asked them "Move!" 

Aerion hadn't seen any move so fast in his life, they scurried out of the Great Hall like sewer rats, and Aerion was left in the chamber with a man he had despised.

"Pathetic excuse for a castellan…" Daemon mumbled, though not faint enough for Aerion not to hear.

"Much like you being a pathetic father." Aerion scorned, his father took a sip of his wine and looked in his direction with a wide grin on his face.

"Come and share a drink with me then." he gestured to sit, taking the place where Ser Robert once sat. "It has been a long time since we had a chance to speak, father to son."

"We've had a considerable amount of time to talk, father, and yet you were nowhere to be seen, I am surprised you recognise me as your son." Aerion hissed "Here I thought you disowned me and left me to be raised by sheep."

"Is that what you have been led to believe?" he asked "Would I gift a dragon egg to one that I did not think was of my blood."

"Have you confused me with the babe you were supposed to have with some whore, father?" Aerion chuckled "I had never received such an egg, I had to claim my birthright."

"So she never did place it in your cradle." he scoffed.

"Why are you here, father?" Aerion asked, tapping his fingers upon the table.

"There is no particular reason, not that I have to answer you, boy, speaking of which, I should really be asking you that question, don't you think? I am quite surprised you know of this place."

"Every Targaryen knows about this place." Aerion replied "And it is not as if I came here by choice, I was brought here by Gaelithox."

"Ahh yes, that ferocious dragon in the courtyard, I must say I am proud of you, son, you've tamed a beast with a reputation for being untamable."

"I don't need you to be proud of me." Aerion spat.

"Well I am, nonetheless." Daemon smirked "My son the dragon rider, I feared you had too much of the Bronze Bitch in you to ever pull it off."

"Watch your tongue as you speak about my mother, father." Aerion slammed his hand against the table "Must you insist on insulting her even after death? You are now free to marry who you wish, despite her giving you the one thing you had always wanted, a son."

Daemon just chuckled, taking another sip from his goblet "As you wish, let us leave the past where it belongs, you are a grown man now, and from what I have heard, a fearsome warrior, adding a dragon to your arsenal will only make you more feared."

"A dragon is no weapon, father, even you know that." he bit his lip "Gaelithox is much more than that…even now I can feel him call to me, and it's anger towards the dragon keepers"

"The bond between the rider and dragon has been a mystery for as long as we've been able to tame them." Daemon explained "Even I do not pretend to comprehend it, Caraxes and I share a similar bond, and some are much deeper than others."

Aerion had waited for this day in what seemed like forever, a genuine conversation with his father, though never had expected it to be about dragons.

"What do you mean some bonds are deeper than others?" Aerion asked.

"Well, some bonds go so deep that they can hear your thoughts." Daemon shrugged "they can act on your command without you uttering a single word." he finished his remaining drops of wine.

"Be up before dawn." Daemon said.

"Why?"

"I'd like to see you on dragonback, tomorrow is when we fly." he answered "Not before we spar though, I wish to see your skills for myself, perhaps it is time I teach you something."

"You never did answer my question at the wedding." Aerion said, pouring wine into his goblet and taking a sip.

"What question would that be, hm?" Daemon responded.

"Did you kill my mother?" 

"You would think so little of me as to kill the mother of my son?" Daemon questioned, rising from his chair "don't be so foolish, I won't pretend to be saddened by her death, but even I have my limits."

"You expect me to believe you?" Aerion scoffed

"Whether you believe me or not, that is your choice." Daemon shrugged "What could you do about it?"

"Perhaps I could kill you." he placed his hand on the hilt of his blade "prove to everyone you are not the warrior you have everyone believing you are."

The response only made Daemon laugh harder before he turned to leave. "Right, sure you will, hah, get some rest, it will be a long day tomorrow."

"I need to be heading back to Runestone." Aerion explained.

"This is not up for discussion, I am sure whoever you left behind is more than competent to handle the petty disputes between smallfolk." he walked off before Aerion could answer, and he pulled his head back, looking at the ceiling and taking a deep breath.

Aerion finished up in the main hall, and made his way to bedchambers within the sea dragon tower, crossing through a gallery that gave him a great view of the narrow sea.

His chambers were a particularly large room with everything one might expect, a fireplace in which embers burned bright and heated the room, a desk, and a viewing balcony looking over the courtyard in which he could see Gaelithox resting.

He was tossing and turning throughout the night, as he could hear Gaelithox's cries from the courtyard, though he eventually found sleep once it had stopped.

At that moment he woke up once again as if no time had passed, and he laid upon a field, reminding him of the dream he had back in Kings' Landing.

As he looked around the field, it was at that moment he realised he was actually dreaming, looking down at his arms, he was covered in a thick blood, no cuts being found as if it did not belong to him.

Bodies littered the grassland as he walked down the blood river, seeing as to where it might lead, the coat of arms of each of the great houses also covered the ground near to each of the bodies.

He reached the end, and the Iron Throne was surrounded by a field of fire that looked similar to the lands outside King's Landing, he could hear the clashing of steel, and the screaming from women and children alike.

The screeching of a dozen dragons came next, though nothing was happening around him until a silhouette once again appeared on the throne with a crown upon their head.

"Traitor!"

"Kinslayer!"

"A man with no honour!"

"Bastards!"

Voices echoed into his mind, and he turned and was standing within the walls of the red keep, in the great hall itself, two groups on either side took their places, with swords drawn at each other though their faces were unknown.

He went to place his hand upon one of them, but it went through it as if it was smoke, trailing along his fingers.

There was not much that he could remember from his dream in King's Landing, the details faded into memory overtime, however he could not forget the dragon that scorched his flesh and bone, and how real it felt.

He awaited for the dragon's arrival, though it never appeared, and instead he turned back towards the throne and fell on his arse as the bronze dragon looked to him menacingly from behind.

Surrounding him once more were scorched fields, and as the dragon was going to burn him alive once more, there was a loud screech, another dragon with its scaled as black as coal, and menacing green eyes, resembling that of Gaelithox.

They collided with each other, and Aerion heard someone call out to him in the back of his head, he closed his eyes, and reopened them, panting heavily, covered in sweat, and sat leaning against Gaelithox in the courtyard of Dragonstone.

"Aerion!" he snapped back to reality and saw Daemon standing over him "You look as if you have seen a ghost."

He looked down to notice only his smallclothes were on "I..uhh..I fell asleep in my chambers.." he was confused as to how he ended up in the courtyard "Did you move me?"

To have the same dream twice felt as if it was his subconscious was attempting to tell him of a danger coming, much like Daenys once dreamed of the doom that fell upon Valyria, had he been gifted with the same ability she had?

"No." Daemon said, confused just as much as Aerion was, "Get dressed, and meet me in the training yard." He shook his head, extending his hand out to assist him to his feet, to which Aerion accepted.

Daemon let go of his hand and took one last look of amazement at Gaelithox before turning to leave, chuckling as he disappeared.

Aerion turned his head back to Gaelithox who had been equipped with a large saddle and a rope ladder hanging down the left side of his body.

"If only you could speak to me, I may learn how I ended up here." Aerion said, patting Gaelithox before heading back up to his chambers to get ready, his mind racing with questions.

"My prince." Ser Robert Quince's wife had said, passing him as he travelled back to his chambers, her eyes glancing downwards at his body "I want to thank you for your involvement last night."

"Speak nothing of it; he was being disrespectful to you." he replied, halting and clasping his hands behind his back "How did he manage to marry such a young beauty such as yourself?" he smirked.

"He had beaten my father in a duel, and his payment just so happened to have been me." she replied, her head down to the ground, saddened.

"I am sorry to hear that, my lady." he ran his thumb across his lips "what is your name?"

"Jayde."

"Well it is an honour to finally speak with you, Jayde." he smiled, grabbing her hand and kissing at her knuckles.

"The honour is mine, my prince." she blushed.

"If he is ever disrespectful to you again, send a raven to Runestone and I will deal with him personally, for a woman should be treated with the utmost respect."

"He is not always like that, only when he is drunk, my prince." she smiled "His duties as castellan take up much of his time to waste it on me."

"Well, if you will excuse me, it is about time I ready myself." he looked down, and then back up at her with a grin.

"Good day to you, my prince." she bowed.

He arrived back in his chambers, and his covers were scattered across the floor as if they had been thrown, in which he picked them up and threw them back upon his bed, redressing into the clothing he had worn the day before.

Aerion grabbed the Valyrian sword wrapped in furs and headed down to the courtyard to meet with Daemon.

"Well look who finally decided to show his face." Daemon chuckled "I was thinking you fell into the sea, or that you in fact did not tame that dragon and the thing ate you."

"Always the fool, father." Aerion smirked, "Perhaps you should become the crown's court jester." he knelt down and placed the furs on the floor, unwrapping them.

"And replace Mushroom? No I couldn't do that, what would the poor fool do with his life." Daemon grinned, and Aerion grabbed hold of the golden hilt that belonged to the Valyrian blade, raising it up from the ground and pointing it infront of him, inspecting the blade.

"Where did you get that piece of our history, hm?" Daemon asked with much curiosity.

Aerion twirled it in his hand, smiling at his father "Defeat me in this duel, and I may tell you, father." he replied arrogantly "Or are you now afraid that I have a blade to match Dark Sister?"

"It is good to see that you have my arrogance, boy, know that in this case, it will be your undoing." Daemon said, unsheathing his own blade from his belt.

They circled one another for what seemed like an eternity, Aerion attempted to find a weakness in his father's defence that he could exploit, but this proved more difficult, his form was exceptional.

Daemon was the first to strike, lunging forward and striking towards Aerion's torso, to which he swiftly blocked the attack, using speed to clash their swords together, the loud clangs could be heard throughout the castle.

Aerion then stepped back as Daemon almost sliced his neck open, laughing as he takes deep breaths "I believe you may be getting slower in your old age, father."

The danger of being sliced in half with one wrong move made Aerion feel more alive, the fast pace of his heart was as if it was going to burst out of his chest.

"Slow? Maybe it should be you who is the court jester, I have never been slow." Daemon yelled, going for another strike, to which Aerion quickly moved around his attack, being quick on his feet had its advantages.

He could tell that his faint chuckle after each attack was annoying his father beyond belief and driving him mad.

"I see that what I heard must have been true." Daemon nodded "though you have much to learn, otherwise you never would have fallen in that duel." he clicked his tongue "to embarrass yourself in front of the most important men in the realm."

Aerion knew what his father was attempting, trying to feel his head with doubt at an attempt to distract him.

"You knew about that?" he questioned, circling his father once more, his eyes solely focused on Dark Sister, awaiting any attack that he may attempt.

"You may not want to believe this, Aerion, but I ensured I knew exactly what you have been up to for quite some time." Daemon said "since I would never get the answers I wanted from your mother."

Aerion looked at him with confusion, and it was then that Daemon made another strike, aiming for his lower left leg, and Aerion managed to block the attack but fell to the ground.

"Did I strike some confusion within you, boy?" Daemon laughed.

"What do you mean you have been keeping an eye on me?" Aerion rose from the ground, rubbing his shoulder, which was smacked hard against the ground "Since when?"

"Since always." Daemon revealed "You are my son, and therefore it is my duty to keep an eye on you, and make sure you do not do anything stupid, like running away with a tavern wench."

Aerion shook his head, looking at his father with an enormous rage building up inside him.

"The bronze bitch probably wouldn't have kept an eye on you."

Without a single word, Aerion began a barrage of strikes towards his father, each with more anger behind it than the last, with the intent to harm, though Daemon parried each of them with ease, and they opened up a weakness in Aerion's defence.

Daemon smacked the blade out of his hand with Dark Sister, holding the tip at his throat "Do not let anger take control, let that be the lesson I teach you."

"You've been watching over me..but refused to even give me the time of day!" Aerion yelled, pushing himself away from the blade "I needed you, and you were never there." a flurry of emotions was swarming out of him at once, after having been built up over years of abandonment.

"I need you to calm down, Aerion." Daemon said, sheathing his sword "you need to learn to control you emotions or they will consume you, just as they have already."

"You lost control in King's Landing." Daemon continued "You lost control at Runestone, all because of your emotions."

Aerion threw his blade onto the ground, falling down as he leaned against the wall, breathing heavily.

"Let us leave this conflict in the past, hm?" Daemon knelt down beside him "I know you hate me, and you can continue to do so, if you use it to your advantage."

"You are right, father.." he agreed, muttering under his breath, though enough for Daemon to hear him.

Daemon stood back up on his feet, and walked over to Aerion's blade, taking it into his hands "Now, considering I won this duel, where did you find this?" 

Aerion rose as well, taking in one final deep breath, and moving over to Daemon "In a library underneath the dragonmont." he admitted "That is my reason for being here, it had been sealed for what seemed like hundreds of years."

Daemon trailed his hand along the steel, studying it with complete focus, gently running his hand across the design of the hilt.

"I assume you are not going to tell me where this hidden library is located? For you do not trust me." Aerion simply shook his head to that.

"It looks familiar from the tomes and scrolls I have read of our histories." Daemon revealed.

"What have you read about it?"

"That it is very old." Daemon looked to him "there was a family that lived here before the Targaryen's had made their home, this is said to have been one of their blades though we found no existence of it."

"Did the sword have a name?" Aerion asked, grabbing the blade back from Daemon and studying it himself.

"It has been a long time since I last read about it - you should name it yourself." he replied "It is yours now - by right." Aerion placed it back into its' sheath.

"I shall name it Goldfyre, for it has a hilt of gold, and bears resemblance to Blackfyre." he wrapped it back into its furs.

"You do not wish to carry it around on your belt?" Daemon asked.

"As much as it felt like it belonged in my hands, I am not ready to wield such a sword." Aerion admitted "This belongs in the hands of a great warrior, and until I have become that, it shall remain in these furs."

"Well said." Daemon responded, turning his heel "I will meet you in the skies, let me finally see how you are on dragon back, and see if you were truly made to fly."

Aerion smirked as Daemon walked away, looking down at the wrapped furs before heading back to the central courtyard where Gaelithox rested.

When he reached the central courtyard, a single Dragon keeper was tending to Gaelithox, preparing a few sheep for it to eat, Aerion walked up to the man "I trust Gaelithox took well to your brothers?"

The dragon keeper bowed his head as Aerion approached "Nothing we have not dealt with before, your grace." 

Aerion soon chuckled as he trailed his hand along Gaelithox's side, patting it heavily, the dragon keeper grabbed out a dragon-shaped whip and held it out to him "For when he does not listen to your command, my prince."

"Go to your brothers, I will have need of some of you at Runestone. " Aerion commanded, grabbing hold of the whip, the Dragon keeper nodded his head before bowing once more and taking his leave

He made his way up Gaelithox on the roped ladder, and as he reached the top he adjusted himself in the saddle, there were chains to keep him from falling from the dragon, and rope that went towards its neck to help give the dragon directions.

He let out a grumble and Aerion smiled "Not used to having this on you? well I promise not to use this." he said, lifting up the whip.

Aerion heard a loud corrupted screech from above, and as he looked, he saw his fathers' mount, Caraxes the Blood Wyrm, it was the most unique out of all the dragons, with a slender body and a long neck, he patted Gaelithox once more

"Sōvēs!, Gaelithox, Sōvēs!"

Gaelithox lifted up into the sky and made its way towards Caraxes, who was much smaller than him, though its slender body made Caraxes formidable and swift.

He peered across the skies at Daemon, who was looking back at him, his hands free from the saddle and spread out, even at the distance between them.

Aerion could see the smirk on Daemon's face, and then Caraxes picked up the speed and Gaelithox followed after them both, though due to its size, it was much slower.

They journeyed across the small uninhabitable islands that scattered between Dragonstone, and its' neighbour, Driftmark, Daemon was taking them further and further away from Dragonstone.

Driftmark shortly came into view and he wondered why Daemon had been taking them here, he had never viewed eyes on their castle, High Tide, in person only reading about its' wonder, and it certainly was a seat worthy of the richest house in the realm.