Dance Between The Dragon And Stallion

"For the life of the blood of my blood, I will honour you with the gift of death! I, Drogo, will see your body burn and turn to ash..."

Aerion was unfazed by Khal Drogo's attempt to weaken his resolve.

"A Dragon does not burn, Khal Drogo."

"Dragons bleed and die." Khal Drogo replied. "If you do not burn, worms will crawl through your corpse, birds will feast on your remains... the rain will fall on your rotting skin until nothing of you but bones!"

Aerion smiled. "And if you die, Khal Drogo, you will become my slave. You will live only to follow my commands... bound by chains you cannot break for years upon years. Death will not release you from the world... no, you will be chained to it until the day I die."

Aerion's sword burst with fire. "Tell me, Drogo, which fate is worse?"

"His sword burns with fire!" A mounted dothraki shouted his words of shock.

He remains firm, as expected.

Aerion smiled.

No further words were spoken as Khal Drogo frowned before striking first with his arakh. Aerion blocked the well-aimed strike and attempted to push the Khal back with his strength. Unfortunately, he came to realise that the Khal was considerable stronger than him.

Khal Drogo was the one to push him back a step with his superior strength. Aerion took a step to the side following that, withdrawing from his position before Drogo could strike again. Drogo turned to him and looked surprised by his sudden burst of speed. Aerion used this moment to slash towards Drogo.

Drogo deflected his strike and swiftly moved his arakh to Aerion's face...

Slash.

Drops of blood fell from his face.

Aerion almost managed to escape the arakh's blade, coming out of the attack with a minor cut on his cheek which led to some loss of blood. Since Khal Drogo did not wear much armour, to begin with, he had a greater advantage when it came to speed. Aerion was physically faster... but it did not translate as well with the armour weighing him down.

However, despite the speed advantage, Khal Drogo's lack of armour meant that one good slash could result in a severe wound.

As he began to bleed and feel the tension of battle, his fury and bloodlust only rose.

"Bastard..."

Aerion clashed his longsword against Drogo's arakh once more.

~

"Who do you think is going to win, our prince or the horse lord?" Oswell wondered as he looked at his fellow Kingsguard, all of whom stood atop the walls. Beside them stood the three members of royalty as well.

"It matters not who wins as the result will be all the same," Jaime replied with great confidence. "At the end of the day, no man can defy the power of magic."

"Would his pride allow him to use it in a duel?" Jocelyn replied.

"Certainly." Jaime smiled. "Reclaiming the Iron Throne is more important to him than honour."

Oswell laughed. "Unless your tendencies during duels rubbed on him, that is. Eddard Stark could have taken your life that day when you rejected my assistance."

"I did not need your petty assistance to defeat him, as proven by my victory."

"There was still that terrible, terrible... oh so terrible possibility where you fell to his blade."

"Hmph." Jaime paid no further heed to Oswell. "Princess Jocelyn... I wonder, what would you think if Aerion were to die today? Knowing that he is your father's greatest enemy and the person who took you captive, would you find pleasure in his fall? His death may also lead to you regaining your freedom..."

"Was that an appropriate question, Ser Jaime?" Ser Arthur replied.

"I believe it was," Viserys stated. "But I doubt she will reply to it honestly."

"Why... are you two against her? She did nothing... wrong."

Daenerys came to Jocelyn's defence which made Viserys grit his teeth in disapproval.

"You forget that she is the Usurper's daughter, Daenerys. That is reason enough to distrust her, especially under these circumstances. Do you truly believe that she wants to be here? Given the opportunity, she will kill Aerion in his sleep and run back to her father. That is the truth..."

"You believe that you can speak for everyone... don't you?" Daenerys replied.

"Am I wrong in my judgment?" Viserys smiled as he repeated the question. "Daenerys, tell me... am I wrong?"

"Yes.. you are."

As Daenerys became timid once more, Jocelyn spoke in her own defence.

"I... would never wish death on Aerion. Despite his faults, he was kind to me... even when he did not have to be. He took me captive to prevent my father from throwing away more lives but, even when he took away my freedom... he showed me so many things. I saw a new world... one that I thought that I'd never see..."

"That is precisely what the usurper's daughter would say." Viserys countered. "You want us to believe that you stand beside my nephew whilst you plot behind his back. What's next? Are you going to tell us that you've fallen for him? Hahahaha!"

Viserys laughed.

"Plot against him? How could I manage that..."

Under Viserys' cold wave of words, Jocelyn started to cry a little.

"Oh, my. The poor deerling has been exposed and so, she must cry to hide the truth." Viserys chuckled as he grabbed Jocelyn by her hair.

"You belong in the dungeons, accompanied only by thieves and other outlaws. That is your place-"

Stannis grabbed Viserys' hand as his cold emerald eyes looked down on him.

Twist.

Stannis moved Viserys' hand away from Jocelyn and twisted it before letting go. Viserys fell backwards in pain.

"You... dare?" Viserys spoke out after his groan of pain. "I am... a dragon!"

"There is only one dragon." Stannis coldly spoke. "In his absence, it seems that the snake within you emerges."

"Argh..." Viserys came to his senses after some thought as he looked upon the terrifying Stannis and the other Soul Knights who were looking at him.

"I'm leaving for my manse."

Viserys stood up and left the scene due to the sheer amount of embarrassment he felt, most of which was provided by Stannis.

"Eh, who's going to guard him?" The archer wondered.

The four Kingsguard looked at each other, none of them being very interested in the task.

"Fuck it, I'll protect him." Ser Robb shrugged and descended the steps, catching up to the rather swift-paced Viserys.

"He's certainly qualified to do so."

The archer muttered as Ser Robb's figure drifted away into the distance of Pentos. Daenerys wiped away Jocelyn's tears and comforted her. Meanwhile, Jaime felt a wave of guilt overcome him as it was his question that sparked the conversation in the beginning, even though it was not his intent to go so far. He only wanted to know where Jocelyn's loyalties laid... and, after all of that, he was convinced.

"This is what occurs in the prince's absence... as Viserys seems to only show his best side in front of him while hiding the far uglier side for the rest."

Ser Barristan remarked.

"Viserys both fears and loves Aerion... that is why he doesn't act that way in front of him," Daenerys stated, looking at the intense duel between Aerion and Khal Drogo.

"In the end, Aerion is the one who holds us all together."

This was not just the case when it came to the royals themselves, but it was also the case with everything else. The occupied Free Cities, Kingsguard, the hopes of the loyalists, the Mad King's navy, undead, his army... all of them stood united because of him.

"Forgive me, princess Jocelyn," Jaime stated. "I-"

"It's fine... I know that you care about Aerion's wellbeing greatly. And so does Viserys... maybe I just don't belong..."

"No, it's not that." Daenerys smiled. "Viserys was acting out of hand and nothing more. Jocelyn, you can not blame his actions on yourself."

She nodded slightly, though her eyes focused on Aerion's figure. The duel had yet to turn its tides as both warriors seemed to be equally matched.

You must live... whether through sword or magic... you have to win.

Jocelyn made a silent prayer to the Warrior.

~

Clang... clang... clang... clang!

Aerion and Drogo exchanged several blows within mere moments, displaying their great speed for all to see. The dothraki started to grow more anxious as the duel went on since Aerion seemed to be adapting to Drogo's rather unpredictable style of combat. He had sustained some attacks, though most of the damage had gone to his armour. Aerion himself only had a few minor wounds while Drogo remained mostly untouched.

Still, Drogo seemed to be losing his breath while Aerion continued onwards at his own pace. Aerion was pushing the duel forwards... which did not bode well for the Khal.

I have to increase my pace... until he can no longer keep up.

Aerion drew his dagger and proceeded to strike with both weapons. As Drogo blocked his longsword, he aimed to strike Drogo's leg with his dagger. Khal Drogo moved his leg out of the way and withdrew his arakh from the clash.

Aerion then threw his dagger towards the retreating Drogo before charging him. The dagger struck his stomach, which began to bleed, while Aerion slashed towards Drogo with his longsword.

Drogo deflected Aerion's slash and struck his neck...

Aerion swiftly recovered and pierced Drogo's chest...

The two had exchanged blows.

Aerion withdrew his sword before he was kicked back a metre by Drogo.

The cut on his neck was indeed worrying, but not quite as worrying as the stab wound Drogo had sustained from his longsword.

"Hahahahahaha..."

A mad laugh erupted from Drogo as the bloodlust in his eyes only grew. He dropped his arakh to the ground, removed Aerion's dagger from his chest and drew two of his own daggers. After clenching both daggers tightly, the muscles on his body tightened and the veins present became more visible.

"TODAY, I, DROGO, WILL RIDE INTO THE STARS OR KILL YOU, THE GREATEST WARRIOR WHO HAS EVER CHALLENGED ME!"

Aerion felt a chill go down his spine... though, it was a good kind of chill.

I have never felt like this before...

Despite the way Khal Drogo used to look down on him before, Aerion could not help but acknowledge his merits as a warrior. In fact, as strange as it seemed, both of them had grown mutual respect through a battle to the death.

Aerion tightly held his longsword with both of his hands as the intensity and thrill of the battle neared its climax. This... this was where the tables would turn once and for all. The next couple of exchanges would decide the victor. Since both of them realised this, there was nothing else to do but fight the best that they could with what strength of theirs remained.

Khal Drogo roared, charging towards Aerion with both daggers in hand.

Clang... clang... clang, clang, clang... slash!!!

Aerion blocked the ruthless barrage of daggers as best as he could, but he was slower than the berserk Khal Drogo as Drogo managed to get his first stab in. Although Aerion's longsword had the range advantage, Drogo was able to close the distance with ease and use his superior striking speed.

And so, Drogo cut a slash across Aerion's left eye.

However, Aerion countered by stabbing his chest once more.

Then Drogo stabbed both of his armpits where the plate armour wasn't present. He withdrew Aerion's longsword from his chest with his left hand before bending down and driving his right dagger into Aerion's knee.

Aerion fell onto the ground in pain as Drogo pounced on top of him.

Damn it...

Aerion's sword burst with flames as he stabbed Drogo's already severely wounded chest again with what remained of his strength. Drogo's chest started to burn but the berserk man didn't let up... not yet.

Drogo roared one last time... before slashing at Aerion's neck with his right dagger.

However, the wind blew the dagger away along with Drogo's hopes of killing Aerion.

"Dra... gon..."

Soon, the light in Drogo's dark eyes faded as Aerion forced him to turn to the side with his remaining strength.

He looked into the beautiful and heavenly blue sky as the blood from his left eye continued to fall. A smile of triumph emerged on his face when he proudly announced his victory.

"I... win..."