Trials Of The Heart

3rd Moon of 300 AC, 'Asshai by the Shadow'.

Aerion, Jocelyn and Bellona had all descended from Vermithor not too far from the city known as Asshai. It was cold and dark as the rest of the Shadow Lands were. Even the lights from its people weren't all that bright. As the three explored the city's vast trading sector, Aerion would inform Jocelyn of the strange quirks of the city's people.

"Why is everyone here masked or veiled?" Jocelyn wondered, having observed that every last person had hidden their face. Their vivid appearances had led to many glances... but no one had done anything about it.

"These people like their privacy," Aerion replied, turning to Jocelyn. "Have you seen a child in this city yet?"

"Now that you mention it... no, we haven't."

"This place is full of sorcerers, pyromancers, bloodmages, shadowbinders, worshippers of strange gods such as the Black Goat... in short, no practice in this city is forbidden, no matter how wicked it may be." Aerion stated indifferently, before smiling a little. "You know what they do to children here?"

"... Blood sacrifices?"

"Possibly." Aerion nodded, his eyes glowing with a tone of confidence. "You'll be safe next to me, however."

"I love the air of this city," Bellona spoke, chuckling. "It should be conquered now that you're here, no?"

"We're just visiting for the moment. At a later time, perhaps." Aerion replied.

Bellona glanced at Jocelyn, smiling. "I see."

"You see what?" Jocelyn Baratheon raised an eyebrow.

"The dragon hides his claws," Bellona replied, not directly stating the truth. "Anyways... young princess, is there anything you like here? I'll spoil you for today."

"Really... anything?" Jocelyn's blue eyes shined.

"Yes, you can have anything here." Bellona chuckled warmly. "Your betrothed is a very greedy man who only cares for himself, clearly, so I'll do this duty for him."

'Who told you to spoil my ward??'

Aerion's eyebrows twitched for a moment. "Jocelyn, you can get anything you want and I'll pay for it myself!"

"If you say so..." Jocelyn grinned, her walk turning into a stride as she moved from stall to stall, observing all of the goods that were on sale. She brought some dresses, a golden mask and all of the dragonglass in store... which would've more than erased all of Aerion's pocket money. Fortunately, all he had to perform was a few smiles and winks, haggling every price down to zero. In the case of men, he did a little blood possession and got his way.

Also, he didn't know the Asshai language so Bellona, who had the memories of Melisandre, proved to be a rather useful translator.

"You're rather cheap for the richest man in the known world." Jocelyn Baratheon remarked.

"If a rich man lucratively spends all of his wealth, then he will not be quite so rich for long." Aerion Targaryen replied, his violent eyes looking at the masked people of Asshai in an indifferent light.

"I don't know how to feel about robbing them like that, in truth... can't you give something back?"

"Give what back? These possessions are yours."

"Asshai is a port where people have to rely on food and freshwater from traders to survive because their own waters and animals are deformed. So... why not give them your blessing? They would all be grateful, I'm sure. Aaand you get to improve on your light magic at the same time. It's a win for both sides!"

"Isn't she so sweet?" Bellona remarked, chuckling.

"Fine, I'll do that."

~

After spending the night in Asshai, Aerion took flight directly to Stygai. Although, he ended up enjoying this flight a little too much and flaunted Vermithor's manoeuvrability to the extreme.

"You are not going... upside down... are you?" Jocelyn Baratheon, for once, showed some fear.

"We are." Aerion nodded with a dangerous grin, willing Vermithor to soar higher into the sky and perform a wheelie. As it began to fly backwards, Jocelyn's embrace around Aerion's chest tightened followed by a scream as they both fell into the sky.

"I'm going to diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiie!"

Aerion chuckled in a carefree manner, having plenty of experience with such manoeuvres. He caught the panicked Jocelyn in mid-air and held her between his arms... exhibiting inhuman aerial control.

Woooosh.

Just as the wheelie came full-circle, Aerion lightly descended onto Vermithor with the wind guiding him.

"See? It's good fun." Aerion laughed at Jocelyn's expression. "You'll... get used to it, eventually. You should never try it on your own, however. Eh... did you fill your breeches?"

"I... hate you."

"It seems that you need a change of clothes, princess."

They descended onto the ground and Aerion let Jocelyn change away from his sight, although Bellona was there so he wasn't too worried. After she was finished changing, her confident demeanour returned and so they continued the flight to Stygai.

"Do that upside-down trick again!"

"... Didn't you piss yourself last time?" Aerion chuckled, shaking his head.

"I won't the second time, hmph."

"Right... let's see if that's the case!"

...

Surely enough, Jocelyn Baratheon got used to his way of flying and enjoyed the excitement that came from it. Within an hour or two since leaving Asshai, they had reached the corpse city in all its gloomy beauty. Aerion had Vermithor land before the city's grand entrance, wishing to explore the place himself.

The city laid on the contaminated Ash River which glowed green in the night, adding more to Stygai's mysterious and dark nature. There were dozens of ravens and many more corpses around the river, some of a bygone age... leaving only skeletons. Currently, Aerion hadn't quite yet seen anything oppose him but he was on his guard nonetheless.

"You're shaking a little," Aerion observed, chuckling. "Scared?"

"A little..."

"Overcoming one's fear is what makes a person brave," Aerion replied, drawing Ambition. "Stay close to me."

"Mhm..."

Just as they crossed into the city's ruined gate, the moon began to glow a green colour. Without any warning, the trial of Stygai had begun. Aerion, feeling something pulling him elsewhere, instantly turned to Jocelyn Baratheon and vanished before he could do anything.

The next thing he saw was a clouded sky, covered with dozens of wyverns and countless more floating ships armed with ballistae.

He was falling... but his fall was caught by a three-headed black dragon, his very own.

~

Jocelyn's POV.

Within an instant, both Aerion and Bellona had vanished before her eyes. Her next blink welcomed her to a dark, wet, cold and stinking dungeon with ten cells. She was in one of the closest cells to the exit while corpses rested in the other nine...

'Where in Seven Hells am I? Is this... my trial?'

She observed her surroundings with a frown. Fortunately, her cell was unlocked but so were the others. Naturally, she was sceptical about the corpses rising up as she left her cell. She was correct... the moment she stepped out, all nine of them rose simultaneously and let out a strange croak.

She sprinted for the exit, climbing its half a dozen steps as fast as she could, but the door was clearly locked. Looking down at the rapidly approaching corpses, she calmed her breathing and channelled Geomancy to create a massive rock and forced it to roll down... crushing all nine corpses.

Her rapid breathing slowed down as she realised what she had just done.

'I'll have to rely on my own strength to get out...'

She broke apart the locked door with another rock, moving it forwards and into a glamorous hallway.

*Crush*

Before she knew it, the rock had rolled over a soldier who happened to be unfortunate enough to be patrolling the hallway. His flesh and blood splattered all over the wall...

'That wasn't a corpse... I... killed someone.'

She stepped forward, in a daze... but her daze was interrupted by the sound of plate armour clanging. Turning to her left, she saw three men with glowing red eyes draw their swords. They marched forwards, almost lifelessly.

'If someone ever means to take your life, you should never be afraid to take their lives first.' Bellona's voice ringed inside of her mind.

"I didn't mean to..."

"Slay." The guards chanted together, only several steps away from Jocelyn. They raised their swords, preparing to strike.

At that very moment, the dragon woke.

~

'Dragonrider Challenge: Don't use magic.'

'Reward: Dragons eggs.'

Seeing that, Aerion felt like crying.

While the wyverns flew towards Vermithor, the floating ships fired off their ballistae... aiming for Aerion's three-headed dragon.

'Father... have faith in me. Together, we will burn every last one of these impertinent jackals!'

Aerion's eyes widened as he swore that he could've heard a voice speak to him. But no one was talking... then he looked down, realising that he had read Vermithor's thoughts.

"Vermithor..."

Vermithor danced in the air, dodging the wave of bolts from the floating ships and letting out three breaths of flame at once as retaliation... burning half a dozen ships. After that display, Aerion focused and willed Vermithor to move at his command. They became one almost immediately.

Woooosh.

Vermithor's black wings created a massive gust of wind as it soared higher into the sky and away from the floating ships, meeting several wyverns in the sky. The lesser wyverns could not breathe fire and so, a majority were scorched by Vermithor's scarlet flames without accomplishing anything notable.

One, however, managed to dodge the wave of flames and soared straight towards Vermithor, attempting to take a bite of its left head. It did manage to take a bite... but its doom came soon after as the middle and right heads of Vermithor both viciously tore at the wyvern, tearing the animal apart in half.

'There's more...'

Aerion made Vermithor soar even higher into the sky, looking down on the approaching wyverns.

'Burn them all.'

Vermithor's scarlet breath turned emerald as it unleashed yet another three-way wave of flame... this one far more destructive than the last. The number of wyverns that were burned alive was no small number. There were still a few left but all of them eventually fell to Vermithor's raging flames.

After that, Vermithor descended back down and dodged the flying bolts... most of them. One had struck its left wing and made the dragon lose balance. However, Vermithor recovered swiftly and endured the pain. Vermithor's eyes glowed as it roared, its flames setting alight all who dared harm the proud dragon.

"Vermithor, are you alright?"

'This is nothing...'

Aerion became far more careful in his flight, willing Vermithor to perform blitz attacks on the flying navy before retreating out of the range of the ballistae. Flames lit up the sky again and again as the fury of the three-headed dragon and its rider took form. Eventually, the long-fought battle had ended but not without its consequences...

Aerion willed an injured Vermithor to descend onto the ground, where a field of grass lay... and a small army of men. These men proved to be hostile, leading to Aerion using Vermithor to set them all alight. After that... there was a moment of peace as Aerion did his best to help Vermithor remove the bolts that had pierced its skin.

'If only I was a better rider...' Aerion frowned as he tried to comfort his dragon. "It's going to be alright... when the trial is over, I'll use my light magic to heal you. You just have to endure it for now."

"ROAAAR!"

A dragon roar resounded across the earth... and it was not Vermithor's. Aerion stood up and looked into the sky, seeing a golden dragon descend onto the ground, only thirty or so meters away from Vermithor.

'What now...'

A silver-haired man descended from the dragon, wearing white shining armour and a white shining sword. Everything about him was shining... especially the ruby three-headed dragon engraved onto the chest of his armour. When the figure neared and his face was more visible, Aerion's frown deepened. His frown deepened even further when he heard the man speak.

"I am Prince and Ser Aerion of House Targaryen, son of the gallant Rhaegar Targaryen and kind Elia Martell, virtuous Protector of the people, Saviour of the helpless and greatest Knight in all of the world! As I see it, you are a fire that burns with evil and darkness... a fire that I will extinguish for the good of the people! I will also avenge those who have fallen because of your heartless actions by doing this!"

'There is no way in Seven Hells that thing is me.'

"I challenge you to a duel to the death, one on one! I wish to purge this world of your evil personally!" The shining knight Aerion demanded, stabbing his sword into the ground. "Will you cower from me, evildoer!? Or do you have some sense of honour?"

"... You sound so tiresome." Aerion drew Ambition and walked forwards confidently. "Very well, I will entertain you with a duel."

"At the very least, your death will be one of honour. That is all that I'll be able to give you!"

~

"*Pant*... *pant*..."

Jocelyn Baratheon had exerted her magic vitality completely through the use of Geomancy. She had used it in a myriad of ways, forming projectiles ranging from spears to hammers, stone barriers to block off incoming soldiers, rocks to crush approaching soldiers...

The number of men she had slaughtered all across the interior of the palace was not small... but now, she was at her limits. With little magic vitality left, she had sealed herself in what resembled a throneroom. The doors were all covered in durable stone, meaning that no ordinary man could breach the hall.

SLAM.

The throneroom shook as something powerful struck the main stone barrier, leading to Jocelyn standing up.

'If they break through... it'll all be over...' Jocelyn Baratheon's expression turned to fear. 'I have no magic vitality left to reinforce the barrier and I'm certainly no warrior...'

'Was all that struggle for nothing...?'

SLAM.

Cracks started to appear on the stone barrier as it began to break apart. In a steady rhythm, the stone barrier began to shake again and again as something behind it continued to strike. With each blow, Jocelyn thought of someone dear to her. Her mother, her little brother Orys, the more irritating older brother Artos... and her father, too.

But the person she cherished most appeared before her last. Behind his silver radiance, she felt so safe... but his image was not real.

'I'm sorry. I thought that I could be strong... I thought that I could reach you... but how could a weak girl like me ever accomplish that? I was in over my head and now I'll pay the price...'

She cried, feeling her helpless situation overcome her. Just as the stone barrier was bound to break, she heard his heavenly, moving voice.

"Jocelyn… you are far too precious to me to throw your life away."

Jocelyn Baratheon's blue eyes widened for a moment as she found the strength to wipe away her tears. He was not there... but she felt like he was. He was there, wishing for her victory. She stood up straight, watching as the stone barrier finally crumbled.

Her necklace moved with the wind and she couldn't help but observe it. Suddenly, the sky that she could not see grew grey and rumbled with rage.

'You gave me wings... the wings of freedom. The wings of a dragon.' Jocelyn Baratheon gripped the winged stag tightly in her right hand, a few more tears falling from her cheek.

'If I die in this place, it will be with the pride of one too.'

~

Aerion stood still, his black armour deeply contrasting the shining white armour of the faker. The shining clone dashed forwards at a rapid pace, surprising Aerion who barely deflected the clone's first slash.

The clone left no opening for Aerion to counterattack, continuously striking him. His blows were so precise, so skilled, so swift and so strong that Aerion found himself constantly on the defensive. It was like facing the perfect knight...

The longer they duelled, the deeper Aerion's frown grew.

'This knight... is he what I once wished of becoming? The shining, honourable, dragon knight...'

"You fight well!" The shining knight made a heroic smile, acting all confident. "However... the holy Warrior guides my blade, so you're bound to fall at my hand eventually!"

Upon coming to this realisation, Aerion couldn't help but laugh to himself.

"... May I ask a question, holy warrior?" Aerion withdrew, knowing that the shining knight wouldn't capitalise on the opportunity.

"Why... yes, I will honour your last words!"

"Hehe..." Aerion chuckled, shaking his head before turning more serious. "If the world turned against you, if every last person alive abhorred your existence and rallied to slaughter you... but you had the strength to fight back against them. What would you do?"

"I would rather die than go against the world, in that case. One must be true evil for all of the world to turn against them... no?"

"I see... but the world isn't quite so simple as good and evil, is it?" Aerion replied, the runes on Ambition glowing even without magic coursing through them.

"Then what would you do, evildoer?"

"What would I do?" Aerion replied, his violet eyes burning with a raging fire. "My sword would sing the chaotic symphony of death as I slaughter every last jester who dares to hinder me!!"

"This..."

CLANG.

The next time the two clashed, Aerion's Ambition smashed straight through the clone's sword. The faker tried to dodge the following strikes without his sword but Aerion was relentless... catching him lacking soon enough. He drew Instinct, throwing it perfectly towards the faker's neck and slowing him down considerably.

The clone stood still and with honour when he realised what was to come, embracing death as Aerion impaled his heart.

In their final moments, the two shared an embrace.

"I can never be you..."

Aerion let the clone down onto the ground, withdrawing his sword from the knight's heart.

"Indeed, the man that I've become is far from virtuous. Far from what I wanted to grow up to be when I had those sweet dreams eighteen years ago..."

"But you know, there are times when you have to be the greater evil to overcome evil... and perhaps that is what I am now. The so-called greatest evil that conquers all, whether it is 'good' or 'evil'."

Aerion stepped away from the shining knight, sheathing his sword.

And so, the trial had ended. The world had burned and changed to the ruined city of Stygai.

~

"House Baratheon's two ancestors... I've told you of Orys... but Argella Durrandon descended from an equally special line as House Targaryen, if not moreso. There is a reason why the Kings of House Durrandon were named Storm Kings, you know."

"Durran Godsgrief, House Durrandon's great ancestor, had won the love of Elenei, the daughter of the sea god and the goddess of the wind. Their forbidden union between mortal and goddess had brought upon great storms onto Durrandon's lands but he endured under his beloved's protection, rebuilding his castle over and over, greater each time... until his seventh castle, Storm's End, could finally endure the hammering rage of the gods."

"The Age of Heroes... it was truly a fascinating time, don't you think? In my youth, I used myself drown in those type of stories and believed each of them to be true no matter how bizzare. Who knows? Maybe they were true... maybe there will be a day when you will awaken your inner storm, Jocelyn."

...

She recalled one of Aerion's stories as dozens of soldiers stormed into the throne room, their weapons drawn. The ram they had used to break through had been pulled back, revealing even more men. Jocelyn Baratheon descended from the steps of the throne, her blue eyes now glowing gold with determination. The sky rumbled once again as thunder struck the earth.

She felt empowered by the storm, forming a stone warhammer from her newfound strength.

'I won't cry helplessly anymore... I won't run away... I'll face my opposition directly, as a dragon would!!'

She raised her warhammer as golden lightning began to light up around it... she saw it flash before her eyes again, the raging golden dragon.

'Even if I fall... they will all hear my roar!'

She slammed her warhammer down, creating a booming roar that could be heard all across the world.

Vigorous lightning exploded across the entire throneroom, leading to the roof being struck with the most thunderous boom of all. The roof collapsed upon the soldiers, crushing every last one of them. Meanwhile, at the final last moment, Jocelyn guarded herself with a sphere of stone.

...

"Is it... over?" Jocelyn muttered as she regained her consciousness, seeing a blurry silver light.

"Yes, it is." Aerion smiled, holding her in his embrace. "I want you to know that you've never made me more proud, Jocelyn..."

"I thought... I'd never... see you again."

Jocelyn fell deeper into his chest, her eyes shutting unwillingly. Even if the sky fell... she know that he would shield her. That comfort alone allowed Jocelyn to finally rest.