The Last Storm

After taking the Vale, Aerion commanded the royal fleet back to Blackwater Bay while leading an army of eight thousand he had been given from the Vale. All of it was cavalry and knights, reaching the seat of King Harren Hoare sooner than one would expect. Aegon's host of eight thousand was doubled with Aerion's arrival. Aegon's army seemed to carry a lot of riverlord banners, including House Tully who rose in rebellion against House Hoare. After all, Harrenhal had been built upon the woes of the Riverlands.

The main reason for the swift march was to witness Harrenhal at its best... and perhaps give it a better fate than the one Aegon had provided in history.

Visenya Targaryen was the first to speak with Aegon after which Aerion was invited into the camp.

"My wife has told me much about you," Aegon stated, observing Aerion with more interest before... and speaking with a tone of respect. "Your leadership, sword skill, magic... diplomatic ability. If you can make Visenya sing your praises, you must be quite a man. So, where did you learn all of these skills?"

'She did?'

"Does it matter?" Aerion shrugged. "You know what... I'll tell you when we're good friends. The answer would do more than surprise you, I think."

"A mystery for another day." Aegon smiled a little, stepping forward and placing his hands against a map of the Seven Kingdoms. "Given your contributions to my conquest, I only see it fitting that you continue to lead an army of your own. Although... your character remains a mystery to me. What reward do you seek?"

"Harrenhal, that colossal beauty of a castle." Aerion replied, keeping his hands on his belt in a casual manner. "I want her... unmolested."

"Harren is a stubborn old man," Aegon admitted, straightening up and grabbing a cup of wine to drink. "He refuses to yield his castle and take up the position of Lord of the Iron Islands. Those walls are strong, thick and as high as the sky. It is impregnable... using conventional methods. I intend to burn him and the rest of his line with my dragon. That will damage the castle, if you would not mind."

"Ten good men of mine and I'll impregnate the beauty in a single night." Aerion confidently smiled. "By dawn, Harren and all his sons will be hanging by the gates to welcome their new King."

"Only ten?" Aegon raised an eyebrow.

"I was being considerate, in truth." Aerion grinned in turn. "I alone would be enough."

~

Geared up in his armour, Aerion used the World Sovereign's Boots to leap higher before propelling himself with Aeromancy. Then, when he reached a suitable height, he gracefully glided down. His entrance was met with shock and then defiance as the guards struck him. Aerion scattered them within moments, beginning his road to Kingspyre Tower.

He was impeded by many, using various tricks for his own amusement. Wishing to experience new ways of fighting, he relied on the weapons in his surroundings. Swords, spears, bows, shields... even furniture such as chairs did not escape his hand. Several hundred men had fallen to him before an hour had even passed...

'Killing this many without relying on magic...' Aerion took a deep breath in an attempt to calm his breathing. 'All too tiresome.'

He decided he got enough bodily training for the day, raising his hand and breaking open the clouded sky. Five thousand emerald souls emerged from every corner of Harrenhal and began to wreak havoc upon the living. They proved to be nigh unkillable, slaughtering the garrison and leaving the path to Kingspyre clear for their Lord.

Aerion took the stairs up the longest tower of Harrenhal where Harren the Black and his sons were said to have taken refuge.

...

"Please, spare me and my sons... I will do anything you wish! Wealth, land, gold, women... you would have a King's favour! Simply allow me to return to the Iron Isles and be lord as King Aegon had intended..."

Harren Hoare, the 'King of the Isles and the Rivers', bent down as the room was occupied by dozens of terrifying emerald souls. They grinned at the King, almost laughing at him.

"If you had surrendered when he asked you to, that was the intent. Did you surrender? I recall you boasting the height of your walls." Aerion corrected, shrugging his shoulders. "Frankly, a crude brute like you who impoverished both of his kingdoms to build a castle... has no use except for being a glorified tax collector."

"I..."

"Perhaps you will one day serve me in that way." Aerion chuckled. "Gather all of them by the gates. As promised, they will be left hanging."

~

By dawn, Aegon Targaryen came to a welcome surprise. Harrenhal's many gates were open... and Harren Hoare was hanging alongside his sons by the gate. He strode forward, eventually reaching the first hall in which Aerion invited him to feast in.

"What do you think of my fine work?" Aerion delighted himself in some fine wine, awaiting Aegon's answer.

"It seems that I have a fourth dragon in my service," Aegon remarked. "Smaller... yet just as deadly and more practical. As promised, you will have Harrenhal, its surrounding lands and incomes."

"Ah... there's just one problem. House Tully will be the rulers of the Riverlands, won't they? And Harrenhal is part of the Riverlands. I, for one, refuse to bow my head to lesser men. You understand my sentiment, surely."

"So you wish for the Riverlands?"

"No... I have another idea in mind. Why not add Harrenhal to the territories directly under the rule of House Targaryen? It is the mightiest castle in the Seven Kingdoms and not too far from the Aegonfort." Aerion advised.

"A done matter, then." Aegon nodded. "Is that all you wish for?"

"The journey is most of the pleasure for me."

~

Jocelyn Baratheon's POV.

'Gods, where did I even find myself.'

Jocelyn Baratheon thought as she scoured a deep green forest and followed the sound of a riverstream. Before she reached it, however, she observed that several men had hidden behind trees and bushes.

"What are you lot hiding from?" Jocelyn asked, more than loud enough for them to hear. "If you're going to hide, do it properly. I can hear and smell your stinking breath from a bloody mile away."

Her inquiry led to them showing themselves, six armed men in total. Axes, swords and spears… but none of them looked castle-forged.

'What is this band of pretentious outlaws?'

"... Aha, you're quite a big young lady." One of them remarked, smiling and showing half his yellow teeth. The other half had fallen out, unfortunately. "A tall and beautiful girl like you ought to be wearing pretty dresses, hahaha."

"She faces herself a warrior with that armour, aye? Why don't we see how much she struggles…"

"Your fault for coming alone... hehehe."

'You could find prettier folk than this lot in Flea Bottom.'

"You'd find better luck with the trees," Jocelyn replied, shaking her head. "Now where is this forest located?"

"I don't believe you understand your situation, girl... there's six of us and one of you."

"I don't think you understand yours. Since you've got the biggest mouth, I'd assume you're the leader of this sorry bunch."

Jocelyn opened her palm and chain lightning erupted from each of her fingertips, each chain going after one of the men. Within seconds, they died from the shock.

"Wha... what in Seven Hells... you witch! What did you do!?"

"Lessened the number of rats scuttering around."

Jocelyn stepped forward, her ocean blue eyes shining with a merciless tone. With every step she took forward, the outlaw took two back before turning around and running off in desperation. With a wave of her hand, however, she erected a stone wall which the outlaw banged his head into and fell.

"You're not going 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 until you tell me what I need to know."

"Ahaha..." The outlaw touched his wounded head, struggling to stand up. He observed the stone wall and did not dare make eye contact with the eerily terrifying girl. "So... so... what do you want?"

"What is this forest called... where is it located... which lord rules of this land and where is the closest village, town and city?"

"It's... the Kingswood of the Stormlands. Err... the closest village is o'er there." The outlaw pointed south. "A poor bunch... but they got good water and food. If you go further, you would see Bronzegate. That's the biggest town around."

'The useless idiot didn't even answer all my questions.'

"Hmm." Jocelyn stroked her chin. "You've been somewhat useful, rat."

"Will you... let me go?"

"Yes."

The outlaw smiled with hope... but his smile dropped as three more walls emerged, trapping him from all sides.

"To... hell."

"No... what is this??"

"If I let you live, you'd only run back and hurt other people who can't protect themselves. I won't allow that."

The outlaw clutched at his chest, only to realise that several stone spikes had emerged from the walls and pierced his body. Jocelyn Baratheon turned around and walked off to the outlaw's friends, leaving the outlaw to die. She observed their corpses and found some water skins which she gladly looted off their person.

...

The village that the outlaw pointed out was small with several of the homes broken and razed. The number of smallfolk around wasn't all too impressive, fifty at best. The men had a strange defeated look on their faces... in truth, almost every villager looked rather grim. They had a nice well at the centre which Jocelyn was grateful for as she was running low on water. As for food, there was plenty of game to hunt which she was proficient at.

While she was minding her own business and filling her water skins, a young man came up to her.

"You're not from around here."

"What about it?" Jocelyn frowned slightly, facing the villager.

"You have to pay to use the well if you don't live here. Being a woman and wearing armour does not mean you get it for free."

"What's next, I have to pay for breathing the air too?" Jocelyn scoffed, laughing a little. "And did you say the same to the men who looted your village? I hardly doubt they had to pay for anything."

"They were outlaws, you're not. You're just a young woman in armour and no weapons."

"How often do you get attacked? As rude as you are, I might consider helping your fellow smallfolk."

"How are you going to help?"

"I am a warrior," Jocelyn replied.

"A warrior?" The man laughed. "Mayhaps you like to pretend to be one. You'd do better laying with them."

She punched him so hard he lost a couple of teeth, stepped back several times and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"My betrothed would send you a league into the sky for making such a vulgar jest. Halfway down that distance, I bet you would have already pissed yourself to death." Jocelyn shook her head. "I won't waste my time here."

"..." The villager felt his face in silence and mumbled to himself. "She hit like a mountain..."

'It's like all men think about is fucking...'

As she made some distance from the village, a distant sound of screaming made her stop. She turned around and looked up, seeing more smoke rise than she remembered. For a moment she contemplated ignoring the matter... but she couldn't.

Running back to the village, she discovered that a larger band of outlaws were having their way with the villagers. Some men were slaughtered while others simply stepped to the side and did nothing. Meanwhile, women were dragged out of their houses to satisfy the needs of the outlaws.

"Why don't you pick on someone who's properly armed!?" Jocelyn roared, attracting the attention of many.

Jocelyn Baratheon sprinted into action, erupting stone spikes to impale most of the nearby outlaws and using her stone warhammer to crush the rest. She went on to scour the rest of the village, ensuring that all of them were dead. Not a single one managed to run away.

Amusingly enough, the same person who had mocked her was saved when she smashed her warhammer into an outlaw's head.

The young villager took several quick breaths. "You... I owe my life to you. I'm so sorry for making a mockery of you. If I had known..."

"... You've learned your lesson," Jocelyn replied, turning to face the crowd of the villagers who remained. "Do you smallfolk want to stand up for yourselves? Do you want to fight.. or do you wish to roll over whenever someone armed decides to have their way? I can give you all the spears, swords, shields and armour you may ever need. But... the will to fight, that is something you must find within yourselves!"

"So tell me... do you wish to stand for yourselves or bend to the will of common brigands!?"

"I want to fight!"

"Aye, me too."

More and more began to step up, giving Jocelyn reason to stay.

'Strange... Aerion had long since cleared the Kingswood of any outlaws. Under his reign, they barely even exist as he loves hunting them down. How could they be so prominent?'

~

She ended up training all of the men to be decently proficient at using spears and shields while some others were given the chance to learn sword skill. Her stone weapons proved to be sharp, light yet durable. As for teaching... despite being a girl, her commanding presence made many keen learners. They had seen what she was capable of first hand, after all.

After three weeks, Jocelyn Baratheon decided they were all ready if another group of outlaws decided they found an easy village to loot. While staying at the village, she asked many questions and got a good idea of the surrounding lands. She heard of Argilac Durrandon, the Storm King, and his beautiful daughter from the smallfolk. That... and the landing of the dragons.

She contemplated between visiting the Aegonfort, Harrenhal or Storm's End. She decided to go to which one was closest; Storm's End. That was where House Baratheon would be formed when Orys conquered it with Rhaenys' support, after all. She didn't want to miss the chance... and it may eventually lead to Aerion as she knew that he would want to mingle with the Targaryens.

...

On the road, Jocelyn witnessed a dragon flying high in the skies. She kept walking onwards, making her way to the Bronzegate. However... her walk was eventually interrupted as the rider atop the dragon took note of her. Intrigued, the dragonrider descended.

She was beautiful with silver-gold hair that was kept loose and long, purple eyes and a slender body. Her smile was full of life and her eyes shined with a curious light.

"What's a beautiful young woman like you doing walking on her own?"

"Just... travelling. Wait, I need to know if you've seen someone."

"Hmm?" Rhaenys tilted her head.

"He's very tall with long silver hair and beautiful purple eyes. He's great with the sword and loves being the centre of attention. Uhh... his name is Aerion, too. Have you seen him around? He's very hard to miss, actually."

"Oh, he was at the Aegonfort. I quite liked him at court... but Visenya made him join the royal fleet instead of my personal guard. She's rude like that, always taking sweet things away from me. Anyway, what is he to you?"

"My... betrothed." Jocelyn Baratheon replied, looking up at Rhaenys and making eye contact. "Could you take me to him? He would be in your debt and trust me, that's no small matter."

"Hmm... how about you accompany the army and reunite with him after? It may take a long time but you should understand that we are in the middle of a conquest."

"I guess... that's fine." Jocelyn nodded.

~

After being guided to Orys' host, Jocelyn Baratheon joined it and marched along. Over time, she proved herself to be a capable warrior by sparring with the men and beating them. Her showings of strength and skill earned the respect of the men and even Orys himself.

Since Harrenhal wasn't burned by Aegon, Argilac Durrandon felt comfortable in the formidable walls of Storm's End and kept a large garrison in there. As a result, Orys Baratheon was forced to march there and besiege it.

Rhaenys parleyed from atop Meraxes, threatening to burn Storm's End but was spurned by a stubborn King Argilac. Before she mounted her dragon again, however, it was Jocelyn Baratheon who came to speak with her.

"I am capable of swiftly breaking the gate and killing a few hundred of the garrison... however, I would only do so on one condition; that you would let me join you and ride Meraxes when you intend to reunite with your siblings."

"You truly wish to see your betrothed..." Rhaenys remarked. "But how do you intend to break that sturdy gate swiftly?"

"How my beloved took Harrenhal." Jocelyn smiled. "Magic. You know, he's not the only one with it."

~

The night was dark with an ominous fog overlooking Storm's End. The banners of House Durrandon floated majestically atop the walls of the mighty castle under the heavy rain. Thousands of armed men manned the walls, prepared to defend it with all their strength.

Crack...

Then lightning struck, setting the banners alight.

One person stepped forward from Orys' camp, warhammer in hand. A girl... but yet she resembled more of a woman given her tall and strong figure. Confused by the act, the archers on top of the wall didn't believe that she would amount to anything.

More lightning fell from the sky, gathering around her warhammer as she raised it. Within only a second, the entire garrison manning the front walls was incinerated by a hundred smaller lightning strokes. Then... she lowered her warhammer and pointed it towards the gate.

BOOOM.

It was blasted open, burning and throwing all those who were too close to it.

"THE GATE IS OPEN! CHARGE ONWARDS AND TAKE THE CASTLE!"

Orys ordered, leading the charge himself.

...

The two forces clashed at the entrance of Storm's End with Argilac's forces struggling to keep the Targaryen army outside. Jocelyn Baratheon and Orys took the lead, both carving a way forward for the rest of the men.

Although weakened, Argilac Durrandon's garrison was still greater in number than the aggressors.

Argilac, seeing Orys at the vanguard, decided to confront him in single combat and put a swift end to the battle. Orys was of the same mind. They clashed for what seemed a century under the rain and storm, each taking a wound... but Argilac eventually fell to the much younger and vigorous Orys.

Meanwhile, Jocelyn sparsely used Geomancy, Electromancy and her own strength to turn the tides and rout the rest of the stormlanders. She sustained some wounds in her effort, however.

Before long, the stormlanders all surrendered and Storm's End fell under Targaryen occupation. In the aftermath, Argella Durrandon was brought before Orys naked and chained but he covered her in his cloak and treated her chivalrously. There, he would find his future wife.

~

As promised, Rhaenys took Jocelyn Baratheon with her atop Meraxes as she flew to the Stoney Sept where her brother and older sister gathered. Rhaenys was surprised by how open her dragon was to the rather mysterious girl, wondering if she could ride a dragon too. Once they reached the town, Rhaenys led Jocelyn to the main camp.

"Big brother~!" Rhaenys almost jumped into Aegon's arms and kissed him. They shared a loving moment while Visenya glanced to the side where Jocelyn stood.

"My beloved... how was Storm's End?" Aegon fixed her hair and smiled softly.

"It was not all that difficult to conquer... Orys fought bravely on the battlefield and led the attack against the Storm King. But, actually... it was that girl who contributed the most." Rhaenys pointed at Jocelyn who shrugged. "She swung around her warhammer like this and called upon lightning! With it, she smashed the gate open and turned hundreds to ash on her own."

"Oh...?"

"So you were out taking Storm's End, huh?" Aerion smiled as he looked upon Jocelyn. Most of his worries dissipated when he saw her.

"Mhm... and, as Queen Rhaenys says, I contributed greatly." Jocelyn seemed to look up with pride. "They call me Storm Goddess now."

"Did you make up that silly title?" Aerion chuckled, walking towards her.

"No, I earned it." Jocelyn crossed her arms. "And is that how you welcome your beautiful betrothed? You'd think that..."

"Did you... sustain any wounds?" Aerion interrupted.

"A few... but they're just bruises and scratches. Nothing much."

"Stop putting on a front. I know you're hurt." Aerion touched her hand and covered her body with his blessing, removing her from any lingering wounds and the pain that came with it. Afterwards, he kissed her on the forehead "... I miss you, my storm princess."

"I would have preferred a kiss on the lips... but... I miss you too."

"There will be a better time for that," Aerion replied with a smile, turning to Rhaenys Targaryen. "Thank you for bringing this willful girl to me. Only the Gods know what she'd end up doing if you hadn't. If you ever need something from me, do tell and I'll try to fulfil your wish to the best of my ability."

"I will." Rhaenys nodded, smiling as she leaned against Aegon. "Brother... she should be awarded for her contributions, don't you think?"

Aegon nodded and turned to Jocelyn. "Agreed."

"... I don't need anything, in truth. I only fought so that I could ride Meraxes here and reunite with Aerion."

"It's good that you returned sooner rather than later, sister." Visenya interrupted, placing her hands against the table where a map of the surrounding lands laid. "We can discuss the battleplans right away. The kings of the Rock and Reach have both joined hands, forming an army of over fifty thousand-"

"Speaking of war already?" Aegon replied. "Rhaenys just returned, she-"

"There will be time for a proper reunion after the battle. Their armies are not intent on waiting for us to sing a song, feast and dance before drawing their swords, are they?"

"Very well... I shall state them myself, in that case." Aegon made eye contact with Visenya who reluctantly stepped back.

"Hmph."

Aerion and Jocelyn silently looked at each other, exchanging thoughts through their facial expressions.