80

Chapter 80: Interlude: Daena IVNotes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

"Freedom. That's the thing, ainnit? You have it, until you don't."

-Iron King Theon Drumm, the Surprisingly Successful

112 AC, House of the Undying,

Okay, how the fuck are you flying?" Daena demanded, nocking an arrow and aiming it at the crow, right at that admittedly awesome-looking mask. "Flight magic is one of those ridiculously power-intensive things that people just simply can't do."

The crow paused, and laughed. A strange voice. Instead of one, it was many. A chorus of people, both male and female, young and old, all speaking as one.

"It is impossible, until it isn't. Where there's a will, there's a way. Some madman out there will defy all the odds, and do it. And then… It no longer is impossible. Merely improbable" The three-eyed crow declared.

There was a long beat of silence.

"Did you seriously just quote Rhaenyra?" The archer incredulously asked. "What, you too dumb to come up with cool lines by yourself?"

The three-eyed crow responded by hurling what felt like an entire grimoires' worth of curses, which was an admission in every way that mattered. A storm of writhing magic burst out of their fingers. So much sorcery that it felt like there was more magic than gas in the air around them.

"Lord of light, protect us!" Melisandre yelped, raising a hand and throwing up a bubble of light around the five of them as a desperate defence.

Spells fell like rain, bouncing off the bubble like stones off a wall. Curses flew in all sorts of trajectories around them, bringing with them an entire fusillade of exotic effects. Floortiles turned to tar, turned into bone, or outright sliced through by scintillating red-hot beams. A stray curse struck a pillar, causing it to compress on itself like a vortex, another pillar had it's entire outer layer shredded straight off and the Mother's head was diced into a thousand perfect cubes of marble.

"Did you have to taunt her?" Ezraa demanded, as one particularly nasty curse deflected off of their bubble and careened into an altar, instantly evaporating it completely, stone and all.

The silver knight rode through the storm like a arrow in flight, horse collapsing into a pool of flowing darkness that he used to skate atop the ground, weaving between spiralling curses with unerring ease. Tendrils of shadow burst out of the pool, scooping up the corpses of Naerys and the black knight before carrying the three of them to the back of the room, out of the line of fire.

The steel titan was far less encumbered, simply wading through the rain of sorcery as through it weren't there, the whirling storm of curses breaking upon it like a wave against a rock.

It brought it's greatsword down on the bubble, ten feet of solid steel descending with the force of an avalanche behind it. The bubble flickered from the impact, and Melisandre fell to her knees, coughing out blood.

Without asking for permission, Ezraa snatched a handful of dragonglass arrows out of Daena's quiver and stabbed them into the shielding bubble, amplifying the spell just as the steel titan slammed two massive metal fists down onto the bubble.

Daena nocked a holy arrow and fired it, magical arrow sailing straight through the the bubble and the whirling storm of sorcery battering away at it like they weren't there. The crow was forced to dodge the arrow, ending their sorcerous onslaught. Three more holy arrows left her bow, but the crow deployed a shield of their own, halting them all cold.

Clearly, like Naerys, this mage had designed their shielding spells to close that neat little loophole of letting nonenchanted but magical nonetheless arrows from slipping through.

Still, with the magic storm ended, the five of them were no longer trapped underneath the bubble.

Gapeth swung Nightfall, swinging the Valyrian steel sword with all his might. The blade scored a long scratch on the white steel, but the damage was superficial. Meanwhile, Daena struck out, concentrating magic into her fists. A strengthening spell powerful enough to shatter steel plate like it was thin ice, but against the titan, she barely scuffed the metal armour.

The titan brought it's sword diagonally down, Daena leaping above and out of the way and Gapeth ducking underneath. It swept past them, scoring a massive gash into the floor. Generating a shielding spell under her feet, the eldest Dragonseed kicked off of it, slamming both fists into the Kingsguard's head.

The beast raised a steel clad fist to crush her, but Daena ducked behind the head, clinging onto the cloak streaming off of it's shoulders, the monster striking it's own face with a resounding clang.

It swung a massive foot to kick Gapeth, but tall, dark and dangerous dodged between it's legs, stabbing up into the groin, only for sparks to fall.

"Damn, even the balls are armoured?" The scarred pirate complained, before ducking under a backhand swipe. He threw Nightfall at Jaehaerys, whom hacked at an ankle with the sword, but barely scratched the metal.

Just then, the three-eyed crow raised their arms, and sorcery surged. A massive ball of spiralling darkness formed above their head, swelling ever larger with every heartbeat. Enough concentrated magic to level an entire city block. 

"Stop her!" Daena yelled, vaulting straight off of the monster's massive shoulders and firing an entire volley of cold iron arrows at the crow while in midair. The horseman charged, mount spooling out from the puddle of shadow it had collapsed into, like an ice sculpture melting in reverse. The shadow horse reformed beneath the legs of the silver knight, and he cantered into the line of fire.

He swept his sword, concussive force ringing out and knocking half of the arrows out of the sky. The remainder he ranked on his shield, cold iron arrowheads thudding uselessly on the painted hardwood.

Melisandre and Ezraa both struck out with sorcery, but the steel giant slammed a fist onto the ground. The tremor causing both mages to lose their footing. Their spells went wild.

Undaunted, Melisandre waved her hands, yelling out a shrill prayer in the Asshai'i tongue, will rippling out she hijacked the spells they fired and made them twist around and back towards the crow.

The horseman wheeled around and charged once more, his strange shadow-horse immediately leaping up far higher than any normal horse could. Light keened out of his sword as he cleaved straight through Ezraa's curse, the light burning the rot all away like it was kindling. His horse's feet landed on a pillar, before it somehow kicked off the stone, turning around in midair.

He flicked a wrist, and the light on his sword shot out like a javelin, piercing Melisandre's fireball and nailing it to a wall before it could strike the crow. Both spells detonated a heartbeat later, as the silver knight's mount landed back on the ground.

"Not gonna lie, that was badass." Daena confessed, before firing an arrow at the man's eyes. The horseman cleaved through the arrow, then backswung to cut down the second arrow hidden in the curve of the first, then raised his shield to block the third arrow hidden behind the second.

There was a great scraping sound as the Crone rose up, the Maiden helping the one-legged statue balance. It charged the horseman, and the horseman charged back.

Shielding spells spiralled around his sword, extending it into a lance made completely out of solid panes of light. The weapon pierced the torso of the Crone, sinking deep into the stone as though it was mere clay. There was a beat, and the man's horse dissolved into motes of magic which he promptly channelled into his lance, causing it to swell before bursting in a great explosion that blasted most of the statue's torso apart.

The horseman landed on his feet, and was promptly set upon by Gapeth and Jaehaerys. The three immediately beginning a deadly dance of steel and wits.

Behind them all, the Kingsguard fought the Maiden, both monstrous titans striking out with blows that packed enough force to topple buildings. The Maiden managed to knock the greatsword out of the beast's hands, but the steel-clad monster was grappling the giant statue with it's bare hands, slowly but surely pummelling it into pieces.

With both possessed currently occupied, Daena unleashed arrow after arrow at the crow, attempting to halt her magic. But the crow was slippery, dodging this way and that, flying out of the way of her arrows with contemptuous ease. And what few that did connect deflected off of the shield they were sustaining around themselves. Even homing arrows were useless, for they parried and struck them out of the sky using their twisted staff.

"Lord of Light, we thank you for the sun that warms us. We thank you for the stars that watch us. We thank you for our hearths and for our torches, that keep the savage dark at bay." Melisandre prayed, voice clear as a bell.

Fire bloomed behind them. A great inferno enveloped both the beast and the ruined remnants of the Maiden, but despite the marble turning molten and melting, the steel titan seemed unaffected, striding forwards irreverently. But the fire was a cover, a distraction, for the brightest flames always cast the darkest shadows.

So focused on the flames the titan was that it didn't notice the shadows that snaked across it's right wrist.

The beast loomed great over the Red Priestess, raising it's sword over it's head, and that was when Melisandre struck, immediately anchoring the rope of shadow which trailed off from the monster's right wrist. But it was not to to a pillar or the floor which the mage anchored the tendril. Instead, she made the inviolable, unbreakable shadow warp around the Kingsguard's left ankle.

The steel titan's sword arm came down even as it's left leg was taking a step forward. Two massive forces, both trying to go in different directions, but with a taut and inviolable cable between them. Unstoppable force meeting immovable object.

Neither force won, both the leg and the arm halting in mid move. The sword didn't fall. The foot didn't descend. There was a beat of sudden overbalance, as the monster tried and failed to balance it's massive weight on a single leg. And down the steel giant went, toppling down like a falling tree. It struck the ground with the force of an avalanche, knocking everyone off of their feet.

Some were less affected than others, though. Jaehaerys regained his footing rather quickly, and promptly swung Nightfall at the silver knight's head. Alas, the horseman recovered even quicker than Daena's boyfriend, having moved to brace his body even before the beast began to fall. The silver knight easily parried the Valyrian steel sword with his own, a flick of the wrist causing Nightfall to fly out of Jaehaerys' hands.

The silver knight moved to ram his sword though Jaehaerys' throat, Daena's boyfriend desperately summoning Nightfall telekinetically back to his hand even as Daena desperately nocked and fired an arrow. He would have succeeded too, but where magic and archery failed, three hundred pounds of muscle and violence did not.

Swearing up a storm, the Gapeth Eelskin rammed his shoulder into the silver knight, tackling the smaller man off of his feet and knocking him to the ground. The scarred pirate lunged at the fallen man, from his other side, wielding the upper half of his battleaxe like a tomahawk. He rained blow after blow down, like a man chopping logs for firewood, but the horseman merely turtled up behind his shield, letting the painted hardwood tank the blows.

Behind them all, Melisandre wove additional shadow tendrils around the felled titans remaining limbs and neck, connecting them all together. Satisfied, she then snapped her fingers, and the shadows immediately began contracting. The beast's arms slammed together, it's feet as well, body bending as it was hogtied by ever-contracting cables.

Just then, Daena felt a great pressure descend onto them. She looked up, to see the crow unleashing the mother of all curses. A great whirling ball of darkness, enough concentrated sorcery to obliterate them and everything within a three-block radius down to their individual atoms. The crow brought their hand down.

Only to immediately throw it back up. Raising their hand so quickly that they might have gotten whiplash in their shoulder.

The black hole flew into the sky, shuddering through the air. The curse went through the roof and into the sky-that-was-not-a-sky. The ball of darkness struck the field of ashes, hanging over them all, and impacted the scorched ground.

Reality broke.

The entire field of ashes was shredded instantly, a great keening sound screaming out as earth and sky shattered indiscriminately like a glass bauble, with all the fragments of that world being sucked straight into the heart of the vortex. Until all that was left above them all was a wound in reality, the stars and blackness of the world-between-worlds exposed like a curtain had been raised.

There was a beat, and then the vortex burst. Dust and colour filling the void with a great bass rumble that shattered every window in the Starry Sept and brought everyone to their knees.

"What?" Daena eloquently asked, as the crow suddenly crashed onto the ground, spasming this way and that.

They grasped at their head, screaming. But the chorus was no longer in unison, like half of the voices were fighting the other half. Magic sparked out of their fingers, whirling this way and that, occasionally forming spells that were promptly hijacked by their own will and sent wild.

The crow's three eyes—once all uniform cobalt blue from possession—were rapidly changing colour. Now they were grey, now pink, now red, now green, strands of blue fighting within their eyes against the other colours. Atop the crow's shoulders, the blue ghost was wrestling with what looked like another two ghosts, one shining grey, the other pink. All three of them wrestling for the reins of control over the body. The Undying One was the strongest of the three spirits, and alone could likely overwhelm any other individual soul, but the other two were working in concert to wrestle it down.

The body's original soul? And a helper? Did they intervene to prevent us from being annihilated by that black hole? The eldest Dragonseed wondered before deciding that it didn't matter. The mage was currently incapacitated, and let it not be said that Daena Fyre was one to miss opportunity.

While the mage fought the Undying One for control of their own body, the eldest Dragonseed nocked a holy arrow and fired it straight at the crow's right eye. The crow parried the arrow with their staff, the Undying One brute forcing the movement, but that cost them, dearly. The other two souls inside took that opportunity to wrestle down the blue ghost, which began to scream as it glowed violently.

A storm of rampant sorcery burst out from the crow, wind spiralling around them as the ground cracked and the air cackled with ozone.

"N0w, d@enA!" The crow shouted in a garbled voice, throwing aside their staff and leaving themselves wide open to attack.

Acknowledging them, Daena drew her spear and shaped shielding spells, dashing through the storm like an arrow in flight. The steel speartip of her short spear was a bare inch away from the crow's third eye when it turned aside by the falcon knight. Ramming his shield into her chest, concussive force rippled through the air, throwing the eldest Dragonseed back and away from the struggling crow.

"You shall not pass!" The silver knight proclaimed, swinging his sword through the air, and a great shielding spell burst into existence.

A massive wall of solid fire rose up along the line he'd traced into the air. Stretching from floor to ceiling, it sealed off the back half of the grand cathedral, shielding behind it the three-eyed-crow, the corpses of the two slain possessed, and the archway to the Undying Ones.

"If you want to get to them, you're gonna have to go through me." The silver knight declared, levelling his blade at the five of them.

"Fine by us!" Gapeth grinned, charging the man with a loud battlecry.

Gapeth, Jaehaerys and Daena dashed in, weapons in hand as they moved to slay the falcon knight, but he stomped his foot, unleashing a wave of concussive magic like an explosion, blasting all three of them away from him. The silver knight smoothly leapt into the air, simultaneously recalled the magic he'd unleashed. Like rivers refilling a lake, the magic came back to the falcon knight, reforming his shadow horse under him.

Once more mounted, the horseman rode towards Melisandre. Daena immediately leapt to her feet, drawing her bow in one smooth movement and shooting a series of bloodforged arrows at him, but the horse collapsed beneath his feet, reforming instantly into a horse-headed snake far lower to the ground. The arrows went wide, flying over his head harmlessly. He decapitated Melisandre in a single swing of his sword, only for the Red Priestess' body to dissolve, revealing itself a glamour.

Undeterred, the horseman rode for the fallen titan. The snake beneath his feet grew four great grasshopper-like legs, leaping into the air over the steel giant. Valyrian steel burning with light, the falcon knight slashed downwards, but Melisandre's shadow tendrils were made of sterner stuff, and took the blow without snapping.

In midair, the snake bent it's body, swallowing it's own tail to form a great circle as the four legs folded themselves up. A heartbeat later, and both head and tail faded away, leaving behind only a perfect circle with no hint of where it begun or ended as scales shaped themselves into teeth, almost like a saw blade. The silver knight slung himself down, until he stood within the great circle, which began spinning.

"Oh fuck." Ezraa cussed as the shadow-creature charged straight at them like a massive wheel, leaving a scarred trench in the ground behind it as it bore down upon them all.

With a yelp of fear, Daena's band scattered to avoid being run over and shredded by that whirling sawblade of shadows. Dust and chips of stone flew into the slipstream behind the vehicle, as the sawteeth bit into the ground. The insect legs unfolded once more, kicking off of the ground, and allowing the blade-wheel to pivot around in a hairpin turn.

And with an unearthly sound that was halfway between a wail and a screech, the silver knight charged them once more.

Throwing herself to the side to avoid being run over, Daena fired another volley of arrows at the horseman, accurately aiming despite his rapid movement. Alas, the rider was dexterous, agilely moving his shield about to block the arrows that would have struck him even as he cut down any arrow that would have struck his mount, a burning blade of magic shining out of the hilt of his sword, extending it's reach threefold.

Waiting until the silver knight's eyes were blocked by his shield, Ezraa unleashed a cloud of rot at the man, but without even looking the horseman brought his sword down, splitting the cloud into two burning dissolving halves. As expected.

Taking advantage of her companion's attack, Daena fired the stealthiest and least noticeable arrow she had right down the split. An arrowhead made from the tooth of a lizard-lion, paired with a shaft of mistletoe and the fletching of a common jay. Crafted at the hands of a Crannogmen woods witch from the Neck. She only had three of them, but now was not the time to be stingy.

The stealthy arrow flew between the burning rot and above the sword, aiming right for the silver knight's eyes. But somehow, the horseman dodged the attack. Casually moving his head to the side and letting it fly past him harmlessly.

His shield then came up to block the second, more noticeable arrow that Daena had fired down the gap.

An illusion broke, revealing Melisandre behind the rider. She snapped her fingers, and the blade-wheel promptly began collapsing into dust, much like how she'd previously disintegrated the slender men of before.

The silver knight immediately dissipated his dying mount. Reshaping all the darkness before it could fade. It flowed in the air, like an explosion in reverse, shaping into five smaller spinning pinwheel blades which he shot back at them. Like giant version of the shuriken Ulthosi assassins were known to use.

Daena shot the shuriken in midair with dragonglass arrows, and all five of them destabilised and exploded.

Now that he was no longer speeding around the cathedral too fast to catch, Jaehaerys and Gapeth lunged in, not letting him get the chance to prepare another attack. Steel met steel as the three warriors began duelling. 

Daena fired an arrow at the knight, but he blocked it with his shield. Behind him, Jaehaerys lunged with Nightfall, but the rider easily dodged the blow without even looking, sword sweeping out in a strike that cleaved a large gash into Junior's brigandine. A quarter of an inch further, and Jaehaerys' guys would be spilling out.

With a roar, Gapeth lunged at the silver knight's back. Unfortunately, the horseman easily sidestepped the blow, pivoting around the scarred pirate.

He then spun on his heel, swiftly cutting out of the air the bloodforged arrow Daena had shot at the knight's head, before immediately raising his shield to tank the second stealth arrow she'd hidden right behind the first.

The silver knight was almost as good as the hundred-eyed knight, but it wasn't omnidirectional vision he wielded. Daena's stealth arrows were useless against this guy, while she was reasonably confident that they'd work on the black knight. He could dodge but not block or parry blows he didn't see coming, and he didn't have that same precision of movement as the first. Making it unlikely that he was using the same precognition or super-senses trick.

"Danger sense." Daena realised, speaking as her hands ran over the fletchings of her remaining arrows. She didn't have a lot left, having been spending her precious and limited magic arrows like a spendthrift. "That's your gimmick. That's why you can see my stealth arrows coming, why none of our attacks seem to do any lasting damage."

"And what are you going to do about that?" The silver knight challenged, swinging his sword and unleashing a cutting force at the two men whom tried to sneak up on him while he was distracted. Both Jaehaerys and Gapeth fell to their knees, clutching great bloody wounds on their chests.

"This!" The eldest Dragonseed declared, firing her last homing arrows at the man, but these were aimed slightly to the sides of him, and would spiral around him, cutting off his movement.

Undeterred, the silver knight sighed almost disappointedly and threw a stream of incandescent flame in front of him, burning away all the arrows before they could even approach him.

A bloodforged arrow pieced straight through the flame, but shattered against his shield, as did the second stealth arrow that the Dragonseed had hidden behind it.

"Did you seriously expect that to work?" The horseman asked, as Jaehaerys and Gapeth got to their feet behind him, courtesy of Ezraa.

"Nope, but it was a great distraction." Daena grinned as Melisandre flicked her wrist.

"Eh?" The falcon knight barely had time to say that before an unseen shadow thickened around his ankle, and with a great swing, threw him right out of the destroyed ceiling of the Starry Sept and into the void beyond.

A non-lethal attack, hidden beneath a series of lethal strikes. The man's danger sense was so focused on the arrows that it did not register the creeping shadows, which were relatively harmless. Daena was pretty sure the silver knight was still alive and out there, but it'd be a while before he navigated his way back to their plane of reality.

Their relief was short-lived however, as magic descended in a brilliant flare, radiant light banishing away all shadow in the room.

The five of them turned around in disbelief, as the wall of fire guttered out, revealing the three-eyed crow. Ghosts hovered over their shoulders. But where before there was only one blue ghost, now there were a half a dozen. All six of them working in concert to suppress the two troublesome souls.

That was bad news. Worse news was the fact that Naerys and the hundred-eyed knight were back on their feet, alive and hale once more despite having been corpses five minutes ago. In fact, it was Naerys whom had summoned the light, staff held high with the crystal star atop it shining like a sun.

But the worst news was heralded by a great scraping of steel on steel, as the monstrous Kingsguard rose to it's feet, slowly and inexorably lumbering towards their little band. Freed by Naerys.

"Oh come on! Even I can't resurrect someone, much less two people!" Ezraa complained, throwing her hands up in the air in exasperation. "Can you guys be any more bullshit?"

Naerys raised an elegant eyebrow and brought her staff back onto the ground with a resounding clang. Reality rippled, and another world snapped into place above them, replacing the void. A world of endless skies, filled with islands floating in complete defiance of gravity.

The silver knight descended like a falling star from the world hanging above them, elegantly landing on his feet behind the fivesome.

"You just had to jinx us, didn't you?" Daena muttered, as the five of them stood back-to-back, surrounded on all sides by enemies. "Well, this is a problem."

"We can't take all of them." Jaehaerys grimly accessed. "One or two or three, mayhaps, but not all at once."

"Bah, it's been a good run." Gapeth grunted. "You lot aren't bad people to die alongside in battle."

"I go without regrets." Ezraa agreed. "I've felt more alive this past month than my entire life. It was worth it."

"We fight together, and shall face our judgement together." Melisandre declared. "We shall not go gently into the night!"

There was a roar of approval, as the five of them braced for the end, ready to meet it sword in hand. But to their surprise, the five possessed surrounding them slowly lowered their weapons. Swords returned to scabbards as spells faded and guttered out.

"Surrender." The horseman called out. "You are outmatched against us five. Kneel, and you shall be spared."

"The Undying Ones offer mercy." Naerys added, voice reverberating with power, such that her words weren't so much heard as felt. "They do not seek this strife."

"This conflict is but a misunderstanding." The hundred-eyed knight spoke. "Even now, our arms are outstretched in peace."

"We seek peace." The monstrous beast gravelled, revealing that it was a woman underneath all that steel. "Join us, and we shall grant you anything and everything you desire."

"This House is our playground." The crow spoke "We can fulfil your every desire."/

/"Food."

The Starry Sept vanished, replaced by the great hall of the Red Keep, filled with a feast of food from all the lands./

/"Wine."

Now they all stood in a cool cellar beneath the earth, rows upon rows of barrels stretching for hundreds of feet. Each and every one a marked vintage from the Arbor./

/"Gold."

The cellar became a vault, overflowing with gold, silver, jewels and all sorts of other priceless wealth. All neatly arranged in beautiful rows, with the Iron Bank's insignia stamped onto the marble floor upon which they stood./

/"Women."

The warm sun of Lys descended onto them now, as countless scantily-clad beautiful women roamed around, smiling and flirting./

/"Anything you want, it is yours."

Daena and her companions returned to the Starry Sept, as the five possessed surrounded them.

"Kneel, and have your every desire fulfilled." The five possessed spoke in unison, voice echoing and rippling through the air. "Or continue your meaningless resistance, and you shall face an agonising death.

"What say you?" Naerys asked, offering a hand out.

They were tempted, Daena could tell. Gapeth and Ezraa most of all, but even Jaehaerys and Melisandre seemed somewhat rattled. It would have been so easy, to let everything go. To surrender and live out the rest of their lives in mindless hedonism and luxury, and yet Daena stood unaffected, unmoved by their gifts.

"You are not tempted." The Kingsguard beast confusedly said, and somehow the eldest Dragonseed could tell that she was frowning. "Why not?"

"Because that is who I am." She replied, glaring up at the Undying Ones. "Even if your gifts weren't poisoned, I would not have partaken of them, for they are anathema to myself.

"My name is Daena Fyre." Daena declared, thumping her fist against her chest. "I am an explorer. An adventurer! It would have been easy for me to just stay in the Fyrepit, pampered and protected, but that was not what I wanted. The wanderlust is in my soul itself, and I could never deny it.

"So what of the path is long, arduous or fraught with danger?" The eldest Dragonseed asked, turning to face every member of her team. "It's not a proper adventure without any one of them."

She turned to face the Undying Ones once more, and stared straight-backed and unbent at the immortal liches.

"My desire is adventure, for the sake of adventure. And if I may die today, I shall depart this earth content, for I have been fulfilling the life I always wanted. Your temptations are cheap, and shall never sway me."

There was a ripple through the room at that. Almost a physical thing. All around Daena, backs straightened and steel returned to spines.

"My desire is my lady's; To explore strange new lands, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before."

"Hear hear! A pirate's life for me! Death or glory, no other options!"

"The Lord of Light provides me with all the sustenance I need, and my desires are to serve him. Your vanities are not just insulting, but tacky."

"I am never going back to New Ghis! There's a whole world out there, and I am going to see it all!"

There was a long moment of silence, broken only when the three-eyed crow sighed.

"If temptation shall not sway you, then mayhaps truth shall." The bird of carrion declared.

Not giving it the opportunity to cast, the eldest Dragonseed detonated all the magic in her legs, instantly dashing forwards so hard that the tiles under her feet shattered. She crossed thirty feet in under a second, speartip coming up to skewer the crow.

"Imperio. Daena, halt." The mage ordered, and the eldest Dragonseed suddenly froze in place.

It felt like she'd turned into stone. Daena couldn't move, now matter how much she fought it. Not her limbs, not her tongue or mouth. Nothing. Her body had turned against her, holding her in place in sheer defiance of her will. She was trapped, like a fly in amber. She couldn't even breathe, her chest unable to rise or fall, inhale or exhale. Only her eyes remained free, moving this way and that in alarm. And there was just this feeling. This horrible burning and constricting feeling around her neck, like someone had collared and leashed her like a dog.

Fear bloomed like a poisonous flower in her heart, as all of Daena's agency was stripped away from her with three words, her own magic turning against her and imprisoning her in her own body.

The four other members of Daena's band moved to free her, but were halted by the other four possessed.

"Your Prince does good work." The Undying Ones laughed as one, a horrible and ghastly rasp. "There is more power in blood spilled willingly than unwillingly, and you signed this pact—this leash—of your own free will."

They laughed once more.

"Imperio. Daena, kill your companions." The Undying Ones ordered, and Daena obeyed.

A cold iron arrow left Daena's bow before she even registered what was going on. It would have taken Ezraa in the head had Jaehaerys not jumped in the way, wincing as the arrow deflected off of his armour.

"Daena, what the fuck?!" The man yelled.

"I don't know!" Daena wailed, as she unleashed arrow after arrow at her boyfriend. "My body is moving by itself!"

Jaehaerys was boosting his reflexes with magic, which was the only reason why he could dodge or parry Daena's arrows, but that would not last. Soon, an arrow tore through his foot, nailing her boyfriend to the ground, and another two struck his sword, Nightfall spinning out of his hands.

Slowly, inexorably, Daena reached into her quiver, and drew a bloodforged arrow. An arrow of vengeance. Made to slay it's quarry in a swift and deadly manner. Any wound it scored would be an entire magnitude more deadly. Cuts would fester, wounds would be fatal. It would tear through light armour like it wasn't there, and do a decent job of punching through medium or even heavy armour. Against it, Jaehaerys might as well have been naked.

But before she could loose the arrow and kill her boyfriend, three hundred pounds of angry pirate barrelled straight into her.

Gapeth Eelskin slammed Daena onto the ground, hard. He jumped atop her, wrestling her bow out of her hands. The Dragonseed immediately stabbed him in the side with the bloodforged arrow, piercing through the scales instantly. He grimaced, but his hands slammed down atop her wrists, preventing her from using her hands.

"Dodge!" Daena half wept, half yelped, as her foot shot up, kicking the tall Ironborn man in the groin with a strength-enhanced kick.

The scarred pirate winced and tears pooled in the corner of his eyes. He wasn't an idiot, and was properly wearing a cup to protect his family jewels, but with magic at her back, Daena could shatter even steel like glass. Even as profuse apologies tumbled out of her lips, Daena's foot moved beneath the stunned man's sternum before kicking out and throwing him eight feet into the air and off of her.

The Dragonseed then immediately rolled back to her feet, snatching her bow back up in the process. Another bloodforged arrow was nocked, but Ezraa hit Daena with a spell that froze her in place, paralysing her muscles and preventing her from moving. She moved to break free, summoning more magic from her jewels, but Melisandre laid a hand onto her shoulder and the spells guttered out as the superior mage hijacked them all.

"What possessed you to sign such a binding contract?" The Red Priestess demanded, nostrils flaring in anger as her voice came out in a furious hiss. "Willingly, no less?!"

"What?" Daena asked, even as her body tried it's utmost to break free of them.

"You don't remember." Melisandre frowned in sudden realisation. "Someone wiped your memories after the binding."

"Huh?"

"Melisandre, what's wrong with Daena?" Jaehaerys concernedly asked, still wincing slightly in pain even though Ezraa had healed his foot.

"Someone's stuck a binding contract onto her." The Red Priestess grimly declared. "One powerful enough to strip her of her free will at but a word."

"Rhaenyra." Ezraa snarled. "She did this. Fucking hypocritical slaver bitch. Freeing slaves yet clapping chains onto her kinsmen."

Daena felt like her stomach had fallen into a pit, ever sinking and ever falling. Rhae? Would Rhae really have done something like this? To so thoroughly strip Daena of all her free will and agency? To so thoroughly trample and violate her dignity and sanctity?

It didn't make sense, at all, that her beloved cousin would do something so unfathomably cruel. But then… whom else had the sorcerous talent to do such a deed? Melisandre was the only other that came to mind.

Or Daenys. Daena realised, blood going cold. Rhae's foremost loyalist. 

"Can you free her?" Jaehaerys asked, snapping the Dragonseed out of her spiral downwards.

"Yes, but I need consent first." Melisandre leadingly said.

"Do it!" Daena ordered. "I consent."

The Red Priestess immediately began chanting in an ululating Asshai'i tongue. Daena gasped as she felt her limbs return to her control, freed from whatever vile binding held sway over them. She felt that burning sensation around her neck, that collar which chained her, that leash that bound her, weaken.

She could feel it in her bones, rising up like the sun. The most glorious and most beautiful thing that she'd ever see or feel in her life. Freedom. There it was, just right round the cor—

The feeling of freedom suddenly vanished, quick and sudden like a candle extinguished, as shackles came back down in a swift and almost desperate manner, binding her once more. Crashing ungainly back down to earth, Daena gasped and opened her mouth to demand why the process hadn't been completed, only to see Melisandre muttering cusses under her breath.

"You couldn't free me?" Daena glumly asked, somehow already knowing the answer.

"I could not." Melisandre whispered, hands trembling. "Not without killing you."

The Red Priestess looked Daena right in the eyes, ashen-faced and fearful.

"There is a second binding, hidden underneath the first." She gravely said. "And it's one and only activation condition is the removal of the first, triggering instant death."

If there was any doubt about whom had laid the bindings onto Daena, that immediately vanished after that little revelation. A second binding, a failsafe which would instantly kill anyone whom broke free of the first, no questions asked. A life in servitude, or a death in freedom. Seven Hells below and everburning, but there was only one individual whom was that relentlessly and thoroughly paranoid.

Rhaenyra Targaryen.

That revelation was like a knife stab, one that continued to twist, constantly tormenting Daena's soul.

Laughter filled the Starry Sept as the Undying Ones contemplated the five of them.

"You see?" The bird of carrion cackled. "Your cousin has leashed you like an unruly dog. So much for family!"

"Like she was ever going to let you and your dragon traipse across the world without a way to call you to heel!" The black knight agreed.

"Death or servitude, no other options!" The silver knight hooted.

"Your every freedom an allowance. Your every move done at your Prince's tolerance." The Kingsguard rumbled. "She owns you, body and soul, and any liberty you had a mere bauble to keep you compliant."

Oh seven gods, but that was true. Rhaenyra had always been upfront among the family that her method of rule was based on the idea that people wouldn't complain too much about losing a few freedoms and liberties if they were kept spectacularly comfortable. How arrogant it seemed now, to think that that only applied to the smallfolk.

"Still in disbelief?" Naerys grinned, bringing down her staff once more. "Here's evidence!"/

/The Starry Sept vanished, replaced by Rhaenyra's office in the Red Keep.

The door opened, as Bell let a most familiar girl enter the room.

Daena was younger in this vision. A girl of 12 or 13. She walked into the room, Bell closing the door behind her, and faced three girls. Rhaenyra, Laena and Daenys, all three of them standing behind Rhae's desk.

"Rhae? What did you need me for?" Daena's younger self asked, sitting down in front of the Crown Prince.

"Singapore." Rhaenyra said.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Nothing. Now, Daena, I'm in the middle of testing a new spell, and I'd like you to help me out in it."

"Sure!" The twelve-year-old cheerfully agreed. "What do you need?"

"Just prick your thumb please, and use your blood to write your full name on these two parchments." Rhaenyra smiled, sliding across a pair of blank parchments. "Uh, this one first."

Nodding, Daena's younger self obediently pricked her finger with a needle, and dipped the blood onto a quill, happily signing the two documents in the order declared.

There was a shiver of magic in the room, and the parchments both spontaneously combusted, burning themselves immediately. A magic circle immediately coiled itself around Daena's neck, glyphs shining brightly on her skin as it settled in.

"Rhae?!" The twelve-year-old yelped, clutching at her neck. "What's happening?"

"Imperio. Daena, freeze." The Crown Prince ordered, and Daena froze.

"It's working." Laena noted, poking at Daena's cheeks experimentally.

"Hmm, best to double-confirm." Daenys mused. "Imperio. Daena, confess all your secrets."

And that was exactly what Daena's younger self did, mouth and voice moving independently of her will, and revealing all of her deepest darkest secrets to the three of them.

The eldest Dragonseed screamed, desperately begging her younger self to stop, but it was as though she stood behind an impenetrable window, unable to speak or communicate in any meaningful manner.

"Everything looks in order." Daenys clinically assessed. "Should we test the second stage?"

"What?" Daena half-wept, half-asked.

"No. No need to torture your sister any longer." Rhaenyra declined. "I have trust in your work, Daenys."

"What have you done to me?" Daena demanded, attempting to rise to her feet but was forced to sit back down by an idle order from Daenys.

The Heir to the Iron Throne turned to face Daena once more.

"Imperio. Daena, you will not remember anything that happened in this conversation from and including the word 'Singapore'." The Dragonqueen ordered, without even the slightest speck of mercy or empathy. "Instead, you will remember this conversation as small talk regarding a proposed expedition to the lands beyond the Sunset Sea as soon as this sentence ends."

There was a ripple, and Daena blinked. All anguish and horror vanishing from her face, replaced with interest and eagerness.

"Of course, I will be more than willing to explore the lands west of our shores." Daena grinned, blissfully happy and cheerful. "When should I set out?"

"Not so quick, sport." Laena chuckled. "We were just seeing if you were interested today. We'll call you back when we've firmed up more details."

"Fiiinnnneee." Daena's younger self pouted sulkily.

"Now do me a favour and call Bell in, please." Rhae smiled. "Then go find Shaeterys and send him here. I need to discuss some stuff with him."

"Sure thing!" Daena smiled, all but skipping out of the room as the three other girls yelled thanks at her back.

Bell came in a moment later, and as soon as the door slammed shut Rhaenyra slipped another pair of parchments in front of her.

"Singapore." The Crown Prince smiled. "Now then, Bell, please sign these two documents with your blood. Uh, this one first, please."/

/And they were all back in the Starry Sept.

Daena was on her knees. She didn't remember falling to the ground, but she couldn't even muster the effort to rise to her feet.

Seven hells, but that was the single most vile and sickening thing she had ever seen. Daena had no illusions on what sort of person Rhaenyra was, but for all her cruelty and unending lust for power, Rhaenyra was loyal and kind to her family. The Dragonseeds in particular.

Viserys was distant, and Prince Daemon dead, so in many ways, Rhaenyra was the closest thing most of Daena's siblings had to a father figure. Rhaenyra was the one whom set expectations and doled out responsibilities. She disciplined them when they erred, and supported them in doing the right things. She protected and housed them, while teaching them how to stand up for themselves.

It was to the point where even Daena herself would admit that she considered Rhaenyra equal parts a father, a second mother, a big sister and a good friend. Helped by the fact that the Crown Prince was mature and wise behind her years.

And to see said father figure so casually strip away the free will of a kinsman made her sick to the stomach.

Daena was loyal to Rhaenyra. Maybe to the degree of Daenys or Bell, but she would lay down her life in the Dragonqueen's name, slay all her rivals and fly to the ends of the world and beyond for her. She'd do all those and more, unhesitatingly and fearlessly, and all Rhaenyra had to do was ask.

And the Dragonqueen had returned such loyalty by clapping her in irons while smiling.

"Ah." The crow mused. They wore a mask, so Daena could not distinguish their features, but the eldest Dragonseed somehow knew the crow was smiling. Smugness wafting through the air to such an extent that it was nearly a physical thing. "Now you see, the depravity of your Prince."

"They might be lying." Gapeth said in a the most delicate tone Daena had ever heard out of the scarred pirate's mouth. "You have no idea if they're telling the truth."

"No." Daena morosely denied. "I remember that conversation. I was nearly 13 at the time, and so excited at the idea that I might be flying west to discover new lands. I danced through the halls of the Red Keep for the rest of the day. How was I to know that I'd just been enslaved?"

"It almost makes sense, in a horrible, twisted manner." Ezraa muttered, sympathetically placing a hand on Daena's shoulder. "My grandmother made sure to never let me out of her gaze. You ride a dragon. I'm honestly not that surprised that Rhaenyra slapped a leash onto you before letting you claim a flying weapon of mass destruction."

"And so I am to smile and serve?" Daena snapped. "To be her perfect little dragon rider, flying to and fro doing her bidding? Just because something makes logical sense, does not mean it is right."

"What has happened to you is an unjust tragedy." Melisandre agreed, without even the slightest hint of religious fervour in her voice. "I was once a slave too. But you should not let it stop you. Where there is a will, there is a way. Freedom will come to you, sooner or later."

"Will it though?" The black knight mocked. "We've seen the bindings she's laid onto you. The leash she holds. Your Prince cannot remove it even if she wanted to."

"We offer you freedom." The silver knight declared, outstretching a hand towards them. "We can break you free of your shackles, all you have to do is ask."

"They're lying." Jaehaerys firmly said, taking Daena by the shoulders and shaking her firmly. "Don't listen to them. If even Melisandre can't break you free, then none of them can."

"I… I…" Daena was hyperventilating now, breaths coming out in ever shorter sequence as she felt her world come crumbling down all around her. Nothing made any sense now. Rhaenyra and Daenys were evil, the Undying Ones were offering freedom.

She heard her companions speak, and the Undying Ones talk as well, but none of the words reached her ears. It was like she was at the bottom of a deep dark well, and all the sounds that reached her were garbled, muted.

Suddenly, a sharp pain lanced up her face.

Daena was jolted back to reality, clutching her stinging cheek as she sprawled on the floor. She sat up and stared, disbelieving at what happened, for a moment. Her boyfriend stood in front of her, hand outstretched.

"You slapped me!" Daena accused incredulously.

"Yes, and I will do it again." Jaehaerys Junior declared, kneeling down such that he was level with her. "Milady, Daena. Don't worry about Rhaenyra. Don't worry about the bindings. Don't even worry about the Undying Ones. Just focus on Caraxes. Remember that without you, your dragon would be enslaved or worse, for eternity in this world between worlds."

Caraxes. Her mount, her faithful partner. Her wings and her fire. So absorbed in her own problems, she'd forgotten that he was in trouble as well.

Slowly, uncertainly, Daena rose back to her feet. Trembling and unsteady like a baby deer taking it's first steps. Her hands shook, cold sweat ran down her back, her breaths were rapid and unsteady, her vision swimming. But still she rose to her feet, and nocked an arrow before firing it. The arrow went wild, and the bow clattered out of her hands a heartbeat later, for they were too weak and shaky to aim or fire properly.

Daena drew her spear, squaring her shoulders. The effort was like lifting a great tree trunk. Her grip was weak, and it felt like her every muscle burning with exertion, but she managed to level the weapon at the crow once more.

She opened her mouth to speak, to say something defiant or uplifting, but found that though she moved her lips, no words left her throat. Still, the message must have gotten through, for the Undying Ones all sighed as one.

"Ah well. It would have been easier if you'd surrendered." Naerys muttered. "No matter, a corpse will suffice."

At that, swords left scabbards and sorcery flared as all five Undying Ones prepared to slay them all.

"This was your last mistake." The black knight declared in a voice that ringing with finality.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Melisandre smiled, stepping to Daena's side. "For you've made one grave mistake." 

"And pray tell, what might that be?" The three-eyed-crow mocked, and Daena winced as Melisandre's fingers tightened around her shoulder.

"Tormenting my friend." The Red Priestess snarled, eyes blazing red. "Avada Kadava. Everyone except Daena."

At her words, red runes flared around Daena's neck, the leash activated. But so did the magic circles of the leash appear, around the necks of all five possessed.

A heartbeat later, all five of those circles broke, shattering immediately. There was a heartbeat of horror, before a second magic circle blazed around their necks. Lighting up like a bonfire in the night sky.

And as one, all five possessed died. The Kingsguard took death standing, but a heartbeat later toppled to the ground like a puppet with it's strings cut. The black knight dashed forwards defiantly only to collapse halfway, sprawling down onto the floor. The silver knight fell to his knees, clutching his heart. The crow screamed and turned to flee, but died grasping around their neck.

Finally Naerys. Daena's younger sister wailed an unearthly scream as she grasped her neck as though choking, the light leaving her eyes as she fell down and died.

And then, just as sudden as it had begun, the leashes faded, magic circles returning back to dormancy and leaving behind nothing but corpses.

"What… the actual… fuck." Gapeth goggled, staring around at the five slain possessed.

"I undid their leashes." Melisandre explained. "I'd gotten a good look at the bindings while trying to free Daena, and managed to find the trigger phrases for the commands."

Oh gods. Daena didn't realise she'd moved until she stood beside the black knight's corpse, flipping him onto his back.

"Daena. Don't." Jaehaerys said, trying to pull her away.

"No." The eldest Dragonseed denied, shaking her boyfriend off. "I must see the truth."

She reached down, and undid the straps of the dragon-wing helmet, removing it off the hundred-eyed knight's head.

Daemon.

The silver knight was next, winged helm leaving his head and exposing his face.

Shaeterys.

The wards on the titanic Kingsguard's armour had faded, so it was a surprisingly simple matter to pry apart the breastplate, revealing the person deep within, piloting the golem-armour.

Bell.

The crow's mask came off.

Daenys.

All five of the apparitions had been her siblings. They were decades older, adults now instead of children, but there was no mistaking them for whom they were. All five had been bound and shackled by Rhaenyra's unyielding leash, and had died because of it. 

Seven Gods and Hells, but if even such devout loyalists such as Bell and Shaeterys hadn't been spared leashing by Rhaenyra, then… Fuck. It was all of them. Every single Dragonseed had been mercilessly leashed and shackled by the Dragonqueen.

Even Daenys hadn't been spared. Daenys. She whom had and always would be Rhaenyra's most faithful servant. Her accomplice in this scheme, and the only person other than Rhaenyra herself whom had been entrusted the authority to pull on the leash.

In some ways, this revelation was an even greater betrayal than any other before it. The realisation that Rhaenyra didn't trust any one of them, not even fanatically loyal Daenys.

Daena could have forgiven many things. She could have forgiven Rhaenyra for leashing siblings like Shaera or Aerion—maybe even Daemon— for they were the type where keeping an insurance policy on them was just the sensible thing to do. She could forgive Rhaenyra for shackling any sibling whom willingly consented to the process. Seven Hells, Daena wouldn't even hold too much of a grudge if Rhaenyra had bound every single one of them to a lesser degree.

Imposing terms and conditions at oathpoint was a reasonable precaution when dealing with dragonriders. Daena could make her peace with that. But to outright be able to compel their obedience, and be able to kill them with but a word? That was an entirely different beast.

One was prudence, and the other was just plain viciousness.

"There will be a reckoning for this." Daena swore, clenching her fists so hard her palms bled. "Someday, I swear, Rhaenyra will pay for this offence."

"Yes, but not today." Jaehaerys quietly said.

"But not today." The eldest Dragonseed agreed, rising to her feet and picking up her bow. She had immortal liches to kill.

As one, the five of them stepped through the threshold/

/ and Daena alone stepped forwards into a grand chamber, none of her companions with her.

Caraxes, her dragon, slumbered in a big heap in the center of the room. Though calling it a room seemed inaccurate, for it was one part chamber, one part cavern, with some walls of bare rock, and others of stone bricks held together by mortar.

And there they sat. Twelve shaded and ghastly figures, all sitting at a long stone table in the back of the room. They were withered and shrivelled husks of men, more magic and shadow than flesh. They entire bodies were a blue so dark it was almost black, with even the whites of their eyes and their fingernails being blue as well.

None of them breathed, and none moved, but there was a great blue heart hanging above them all. And with every heartbeat, the world resonated with pulsating magic.

All twelve of the liches suddenly turned as one towards Daena, and the Dragonseed screamed as a great pressure descended onto her, forcing her down onto her knees.

"You refuse our offer, even after we revealed the truth of your Prince." The twelve of them thundered, voice reverberating through the air, and shaking her bones, more felt than heard. "But if her crimes against you and your siblings shall not move you, then mayhaps, these will!"

Visions flooded the eldest Dragonseeds mind, images flashing through her mind too fast too see. Alongside the flickering scenes, there was a sound that Daena couldn't quite make out, seemingly repeating every so often.

"**** **** ***!"

The flickering images slowed, and Daena saw before her a great city of stone, sprawling out across a hundred islands in a great lagoon.

Braavos, but the Bastard Daughter was not as Daena remembered it. The Titan was gone, with it's shattered ruins clogging up the ocean.

The streets were filled with what Daena assumed were people, but upon closer examination turned out to be corpses. Thousands upon thousands of them. Blue-eyed undead that prowled the streets, dead men and women of all ages and builds—hale and healthy, bent with age or too young to walk—killing everything living that they saw.

"*u** **e* a**!"

The next was nothing but barren land. An island, with a great crater scarring it. The crater's topsoil was glass, and bore the shattered and broken remnants of a settlement. Most unnerving were the patterns of black scored into the glass. They spread out from the center of the crater, like some labyrinthine spiderweb, snaking out like ink in water.

"Bu** t*e* a**!"

Ruin upon ruin, Daena saw, sweat trickling down as she witnessed each one.

Pentos shattered and flattened.

"Bu** t*e* a*l!"

Myr little more than crumbling ruins.

"Bu** the* a*l!"

Tyrosh drowned by the sea.

"Bu*n the* a*l!"

Lys, covered in snow and frost, even the sea frozen over.

"Bu*n the* all!"

Norvos buried beneath rock.

"Bu*n them all!"

Qohor a smoking ruin.

"Burn them all!"

Volantis swarming with hordes of undead shambling about in great clouds of mist.

"BURN THEM ALL!" Rhaenyra's voice thundered, reverberating through Daena's mind.

"Behold the evil of King Rhaenyra I Targaryen." The Undying Ones proclaimed, and the world twisted around them all./

/ Daena opened eyes she didn't remember closing, looking up into an unfamiliar sky. There was no sky, just the endless void between worlds.

She moved to get back to her feet, but her hand scuffed the stone beneath her, feeling out markings in the stone.

The eldest Dragonseed looked down, and saw the words carved into the tile.

Queen Aemma Arryn

82-105AC

It was a tombstone. And not the only one. Daena rose to her feet in horror, seeing the grave markers spread out beneath her feet.

Prince Baelon Targaryen

105-105AC

Prince Daemon Targaryen

81-104AC

There were more, hundreds more. Thousands. Hundreds of thousands. Millions. A great field of headstones placed side-by-side like tiles, stretching as far as the eye could see.

A graveyard so massive it boggled the mind, beyond any human comprehension.

Daena's eyes roved over them, reading their names. Royalty, highborn, knights, soldiers, sellswords, conscripts, merchants, sailors, and a thousand and one other things. Men and women, young and old, some of them babies less than a year old.

Rhaenyra had killed or would kill them all.

And above them all, looming tall above this great world of graves, stood the Iron Throne, swollen to new heights. Where Aegon had the Iron Throne built out of a thousand swords, Rhaenyra's one was forged from a hundred thousand blades. A colossal ziggurat of bent and twisted steel, rising up taller than the Hightower./

/ "This is what will happen, should Rhaenyra take the Iron Throne." The Undying Ones declared, as they all reappeared within their inner sanctum.

Daena was gasping, on her knees, vomiting out bile and blood onto the stone floor as she contemplated the scene she'd just seen. How could anyone perform so much mass murder? It it… to say it boggled the mind was an understatement, for what words could even encapsulate even a thousandth of the sheer horror that she'd just witnessed?

"Only we can prevent this from coming to pass." The Undying Ones proclaimed, and there was a ripple in the world. A great dragon horn appeared in front of Daena.

This one was larger than any other dragon horn Daena had ever seen. Where the ones used by House Targaryen and the Warlocks back at Volantis were small enough to carry and blow with one hand, this one was a giant beast.

Six feet long, the horn must have been carved from a dragon even larger than the Black Dread itself. It was banded with red gold and Valyrian steel, with the bone itself polished to a mirror sheen. But the images of those reflected by it's polished finish was twisted somehow, hellish and draconic. Her eyes roved up and down the horn, reading the glyphs inscribed onto it.

"I am Dragonbinder. No mortal man shall sound me and live. Blood for fire, fire for blood." Daena read out loud, shivering at the words.

"You are no man." The Undying Ones hissed. "Blow the horn, and surrender your dragon. With it by our side, we shall both free you from your shackles and save this world from Rhaenyra's tyranny."

Daena walked up to the horn, and ran her hand over it. It was warm to the touch, as though it were a living thing, still emanating body heat. She found the banded blowhole, and gingerly fingered it.

Even dormant, she could feel the power slumbering within this horn. More powerful than every other one she'd seen before combined. As much a giant among men as Balerion was among House Targaeryen's dragons.

It would have been easy—almost tempting—to just surrender here and now. To just lay down and rest. Give up everything and leave it all to the Undying Ones to take care off.

"But not today." Daena muttered to herself, then blew the horn. There was a great sound through the room. An unearthly wail, like the clarion call of hell. The eldest Dragonseed felt incandescent fire ripple through her veins, her bones shaking as blazing warmth rising up from her core as her magic sung in response to that of the horn.

For one moment, it felt like world had frozen, like time itself had bent the knee, and was awaiting her decision. A hundred thousand possibilities flew through Daena's mind, as the horn felt out her intentions, able to make any one of her commands come true.

"Wake." Daena commanded, and Caraxes obeyed.

Her dragon's eyes immediately snapped open, breaking free of the enchanted sleep the Undying Ones had bound him in. He brought his head up, serpentine neck rising up like a breaching whale. Until his head and neck loomed over Daena, staring down the Undying Ones at their table.

"Dracarys."

———

They found her sitting by the ashes, leaning on Dragonbinder in sullen silence.

The House had changed now. Where it had once been dark and foreboding, now it was bright and there was a lightness in the air. With the purging of the parasites which had infested the place, feeding off of it's power, the House had revealed it's true form.

A world-between-worlds. A gate between all the possible worlds in the cosmos. A mind bogglingly massive number which surpassed the number of atoms in the universe.

It all lay at her feet, so much to explore that there even a billion lifetimes' worth of adventure wouldn't have been enough to see it all.

Daena saw none of that as her companions found her, waiting for them inside the heart of the House.

"What now, Milady?" Jaehaerys asked.

"Now?" Daena repeated, rising to her feet. "We go after Rhaenyra."

Notes:

Whew, I've been meaning to write this chapter for a very long time. It took a lot out of me, and I would be very happy to hear all your thoughts on it.