Chapter 145 – Reckless

[301 AC – Winterfell]

Listening to Sansa's words, Jaehaerys didn't hesitate to once again spread his senses beyond his natural limits via his magic.

Spying on the situation in the Lord's quarters, a sense of urgency welled up in his heart, as he could feel Talisa Stark's life force fading quickly, while another unfamiliar and very weak but pure life force also drew his attention.

Detaching himself from Sansa, after grabbing her hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze, the young dragonrider stepped forward with the intention to enter the bedchamber, though Maege Mormont blocked his way with a determined expression.

"Forgive me, but under the orders of the Maester we cannot let you enter, Lord Targaryen.", she stated calmly, while the rest of the guards stepped up to both his sides and behind her, reinforcing her words with their action.

Frowning deeply while a dark look appeared in his eyes, Jaehaerys didn't plan to argue with them, as he knew that the young priestess currently dying from complications of her child's birth simply didn't have much time left.

Directly drawing on his magic, the young dragonrider exploded with the full force of his aura, his crystal eyes turning draconic and burning with a golden colour, as the guards faltered under the enormous pressure he exuded.

Half of them fainted directly while the rest collapsed in retreat with only the Lady of Bear Island and her daughter barely hanging on, as they stared at him with great fear and gritted teeth.

Focusing the pressure of his magical strength on the both of them and letting his bloodlust and anger leak into his aura, Jaehaerys looked on coldly as they collapsed to their knees, forced to face the polished stone floor without a chance to resist.

"No matter her other titles, Talisa Stark is a priestess of the Red Temple. Try and stop me again from saving her and you will die in great pain.", the young dragonrider voiced out icily with murder in his eyes, before refocusing on the important matter at hand.

Pushing open the door to the bedchamber, Jaehaerys stepped into the room without hesitation, his eyes taking in the whole room for an instant before his gaze fell on the large bed where the Queen lay.

Talisa's normally healthy tan was nowhere to be seen, as her skin had taken on a sickly pale colour. She wore nothing but a long light-blue, linen undershirt, that was bunched up over her waist and clung to her body, its colour darkened due to the heavy perspiration.

The bedding below her waist was soaked with blood and the young dragonrider could see the towels wrapped around the young priestess' lower body to stop the blood from leaving her form, but it was hardly effective in preserving the young Queen's life.

"What are you doing here?! This isn't a place for you to just barge in, Jon!", Maester Luwin called out in anger from the bedside, his hands slickened with blood and a somewhat helpless look in his eyes, as he called out to the young man who he had taught about the stars, so many years ago.

Jaehaerys though didn't react to his reprisal, nor did he even register it, as his gaze was wholly focused on the dying young mother, who seemed to have caught on to his presence and stared back at him weakly.

He could feel her overwhelming despair and longing, as Talisa struggled to fight for every breath her weakened body took in, not wanting to leave her child as soon as it had been born.

A sharp pain appeared in Jaehaerys' heart as he stood there for a moment, unable to move as he realized the familiarity of this situation.

'Did she die like this? Struggling at death's door with all her might to stay with me, but eventually succumbing and dying before she could even hold me?'

Thoughts and questions about his own mother's death emerged in his mind, paralyzing him for a moment, before he managed to shake them off, as defiance bloomed in his heart.

Step by step, he approached the bedside, shaking off the Maester's attempt to take hold of him with ease.

Feeling the last embers of vitality extinguishing one by one, while Talisa lay there motionless, death only a few moments away, Jaehaerys took hold of her cold and slender hand as he called upon his magic.

The young dragonrider knew that he would not be able to save her with healing magic, as he had never really studied this branch and only had superficial knowledge about it.

Most of his magical capabilities were of destructive nature and only useful in combat, with only a few abilities that he used for reconnaissance or communication. But there was another type of magic that he possessed due to his identity as a dragonrider.

It was the ability to manipulate life force, even though he could only really do so with his own and had limited access to Lyra's. It was his dragon's life force that healed his injuries in most cases, made possible due to the bond they shared, which was also the reason he had never bothered to learn any real healing magic.

Now, Jaehaerys planned to share his own life force with Talisa, keeping her alive until Thoros and the other priests arrived and managed to heal her.

The young dragonrider knew that he was taking an incredible risk and would most likely even damage his own vitality by doing so, it may even lead to his death. But he couldn't allow the young priestess to die, he simply couldn't.

His spirit burning with defiance, Jaehaerys took hold of his own life force using his magic, and after taking a deep breath, he started to force it out of his body into the priestess' dying form through their connected hands.

And as soon as he did so, pure agony exploded in his mind, every cell of his body screaming in anguish, his body resisting his attempts on pure instinct alone, causing him to directly collapse to his knees. The young dragonrider, who had seemed so invincible before, lost the strength to even raise his head, as pain wreaked havoc on his body.

Sansa, who had followed him into the bedchamber, cried out in fear and worry as she saw Jaehaerys suddenly fall to his knees and hurried to his side.

The still somewhat shaken mother-daughter pair of House Mormont and Bran, who had been quiet the entire time while great worry had occupied his every thought, had also stepped into the bedchamber, though they could only stand to the side with helplessness and despair colouring their expressions.

His limbs trembling and his senses in disarray, Jaehaerys couldn't answer Sansa's worried outcries, as the part of him that still functioned, despite the terrible pain weakening him, was wholly focused on pushing more and more of his life force into the still dying Northern Queen.

He realized that what he was doing was reckless and unreasonable, and much more dangerous than he had thought it would be, but he couldn't stop. At this point, it wasn't even about saving Talisa anymore but about saving his own mother, which was impossible of course as she had already died.

Still, it was his unwillingness to accept the past that made him persevere and try to defy fate, even though he could already feel the icy grip of death slowly but surely tighten its hold on his own soul.

…

Rushing into the castle and crossing through corridor after corridor with two priests and several Fiery Hand warriors accompanying him, the High Priest ignored the guard's words of protest, as he called out to the young dragonrider under his command again and again with his magic, but received no answer.

Urgency and a feeling of great danger rose in his chest, as he sped up to where he knew the chambers of the Lord were located. His own talent in sensing the life force of others was rather limited and so he needed to be very close to his target. His talents clearly lay in combat, after all.

Still, when he finally reached the bedroom, where he knew the young Queen was giving birth, and saw the opened door with a few servants and guards gathering in front of it, he didn't hesitate to push away the crowd via his magic and step inside.

The moment he did so, his gaze snapped to the bedside, as finally, his magic told him the reason for the unknown fear that suddenly gripped his heart.

Jaehaerys lay half-collapsed on the bed, his hand still holding tightly onto the young priestess's hand, while the Northern princess tried to call out to him in great worry and despair, shouting for the nearby old Maester to do something.

Thoros, finally close enough, could sense the severely damaged life force of the young dragonrider flowing into the dying young mother, bringing him closer to death with every passing moment.

Wide-eyed, the High Priest voiced out quietly in shock: "What have you done, Jaehaerys … "