The Stepstones II

(Third Person POV)

Aerion went for another sweep, watching as Vermithor's flames incinerated the Triarchy ships with ease. The Bronze Fury quickly did this, opening fire as he rapidly flew around, leaving many ships in ruin by the second. 

The Triarchy ships were not prepared for an assault and in their panicked response, they broke formation which allowed the Velaryon Fleet to advance and push through them, causing heavy casualties for the Triarchy within minutes. 

"That's enough for the Triarchy...." Aerion said as his cloak fluttered in the wind, "We go for the dornish..."

"We prepare for a long day, Old Boy!!" He said in High Valyrian as they ascended to the clouds, "Get ready!" 

As Vermithor roared in the air, the sight of the Bronze Fury terrifying everyone, Aerion merely looked over to the west, seeing as the Dornish fleet had advanced through, at least the ones he did not hit. As Aerion intended, they had advanced through in an attempt to join the Triarchy fleet and aid them. 

What made the Dornish so confident in their advance to aid their allied fleet of ships against a dragon and the Velaryon Fleet? Well, the answer is simple; Scorpion Ballistae. Every few ships was armed with these dangerous anti-dragon weapons that could potentially take down such beasts with a single shot. Now, considering that they were rarely used against dragons, the Scorpions were used against ships and were devastatingly powerful. 

Aerion watched as a massive projectile missed them by several dozens of meters, "Shit." He said as he steered Vermithor upwards and to the clouds, "Not this bullshit." 

"Vezot!" 

The dornish ships that went to aid the Triarchy were perplexed as they saw the massive dragon disappear into the clouds. 

On one of them, a Dornish captain looked at his men, "What the fuck are you doing?!" He yelled, "Open fire!!!" 

"We don't have a sight!!" they responded

"Signal the ships to shoot all of the scorpions into the air!" He commanded, "We cannot let that fuckers destroy any of our ships! The Princes are in Bloodstone, dammit! If that beast razes the land, that's all of our heads!!!" 

They then heard Vermithor's loud roar as they looked up and saw the massive dragon diving downwards towards them. 

"Fire the Scorpions!!!" the captain commanded

As the ships took aim and opened fire, Aerion squinted his eyes through the slits in his helm and gripped his saddle's handles. 

"Pales, Vermithos!!!" 

Vermithor roared and with the accuracy of a hawk, the massive dragon was able to easily dodge through several scorpion projectiles that were fired at them. Was this the blessing of the gods? Avoiding such dangerous attacks like nothing? Or was this the result of the inability to aim straight? 

Aerion liked it to be the latter. 

"Dracarys!!!" 

As Vermithor reached the vicinity above the ships, he extended his wings and glided, opening his maw and spitting a massive stream of flames in which destroyed around six ships with ease in the first sweep. 

Aerion then steered Vermithor to avoid a volley of Scorpion bolts, dipping down almost touching the water for the bolts to miss above them. He then steered the Bronze Fury upwards in a swift motion as the dragon breathed flames into the ships, destroying more in a quick motion. 

Vermithor then ascended to the sky, high above the sea, and circled around as Aerion looked down and scanned for any other signs of danger. He was aware that not all of the Dornish ships would carry Scorpions and hoped he had taken most of them out. 

He looked back to the west, seeing a good chunk of the fleet had gone to the mainland, to aid the ground forces. 

"Hm." He said as he looked over to the north and saw that many Velaryon ships had broken through the Triarchy barrier, "Good.....I think they can handle it from here." 

Aerion steered Vermithor towards bloodstone and had him dip down, to open fire against any other Dornish ships he could take out, to make his Velaryon allies' lives easier.

On the Bloodstone coast, Corlys's ship had docked and many of the soldiers were unloading to join the defense of their encampments. Vaemond took control of the other reinforcements that had just arrived and took them to the east, to fend off against the Triarchy forces as Corlys took to the Dornish defense. 

"Go on, my men!" Corlys said as he carried his polearm and donned his armor, "We are steps away from victory! The Bronze Fury and Aerion the Mighty have arrived to our aid! We do not die today!!!" 

With a Rally Cry, Corlys led more of his troops to take to the defense, which was already being overrun by dornish warriors. The clash of steel and flesh was a gruesome one; many men collapsed and died within seconds as both parties were fighting viciously. 

Away from the carnage and atop a hill, two men stood surrounded by soldiers. They were watching the battle as they had a small table next to them filled with wine cups. A large banner containing the Martell Sigil was planted next to them. 

"Tch!" One of them said with a scowl, "What are we to do now? Our ships are burning, Brother!!" 

The other shook his head as he placed his hand on his chin, "This is quite the predicament." He said, "Who would have thought things would lead to this? Mayhaps joining forces with the Triarchy was a mistake...." 

This was Qoren Martell and his younger brother Doren. Doren held a spear in his arm as he wore leather armor, having nothing but battle scars on his face. Qoren, however, had a simple shortsword strapped on his side. 

"You think so???" Doren said, "All of our fleet will be eradicated if we keep this up, we should think smartly about this. We have never recovered from Nymeria's burning, we do not have the resources or ships to spare against a Dragon! Retreat, brother! I shall take the Sea Snake's head!" 

"Hm." Qoren said, "I don't know if retreat will be possible." 

Suddenly, they heard screams behind them in the distance. Doren turned to see the ships in the distance that were closing into Bloodstone was already destroyed, saved for a few. They saw as Vermithor closed in on the forces that were near them on the hill, opening his mouth and breathing fire. 

"Curses!!" Doren said with a vicious scowl, "Now our men burn!! Take my brother to safety!! Now!!!" 

They heard the screams and smelled the burnt flesh of their men as they saw Vermithor circle around, making his way toward the forces that attacked the Velaryon encampment. 

"The Bronze Fury." Qoren said as he crossed his arms, "Will there be songs about this? About my idiotic hubris?" 

Doren pulled his brother by his arm, "I said....get to safety, Qoren!" He exclaimed, "Now!! I will take the fight to them." 

"Do not be an idiot, Doren!!" Qoren scowled, "What will you do against that Dragon and his rider? Aerion Targaryen is a powerful foe!" 

"He has not fought me!" Doren said

In the distance, they saw Vermithor swept through the Dornish forces, setting them ablaze in the sand. 

"Do not be a fool, Brother." Qoren said as the Bronze Fury flew towards the hill

Their men were already shooting arrows at the dragon but for some reason they missed, the dragon simply moving away from their projectiles. Vermithor swept by the hill where they stood and opened fire, burning the right side with ease and taking them down to the ground, removing the archers from the equation. 

"Brother!!" Doren yelled as he got up from the ground, "Are you alright?!" 

Qoren was pulled up by some of his men, "I am fine!" 

They watched as Vermithor circled back around as dornish soldiers swarmed around the hill, in a hopeless effort to protect their Princes. 

The Bronze Fury then landed hard at the base of the Hill, opening his maw and burning any Dornish that was near it, save for those up the hill. 

Qoren narrowed his eyes, "W-What?" He said as he saw this

He watched as Aerion Targaryen, clad in black and bronze armor, jumped down from his saddle, landing on the ground and immediately drawing his two swords as he marched up the hill. 

As one of the dornish soldiers, who had a shield and sword, attacked him, Aerion simply parried his blade with his right sword and in a swift motion, brought down his left sword and cut straight down the left side of the soldier's body, blood splattering everywhere as the body collapsed instantly. 

Aerion looked up as he saw a crowd of Dornishmen between him and his target. One would say that this was a foolish strategy by the Targaryen Knight, as he could simply fly to the top of the hill and burn the Princes down with ease. 

But where was the fun in that? The glory of that? To Aerion, a young dragon, that would be too easy. To display his skill, he would cut through all the men, having Vermithor defend him from behind as he made his way to the Princes. 

And should they retreat, he would simply pursue them atop his dragon, there was no escape....not from him. 

Aerion raised Lady Rhea and pointed it at the Princes who looked down, "Do not go anywhere." He said,

"I'll be right up there.

********************************************

[King's Landing]

"A-A....A Tourney?" Lord Tyland said as he sat in the council table, "Your Grace....you want to throw a Tourney?" 

King Viserys sat in his table as he wheezed slightly, Queen Allicent sitting next to him with a worried look. 

"Yes, that's what I said." He said as he looked at Tyland, "What's the issue?" 

"I don't think we could afford a Tourney, Your Grace." Otto said, "The amount of coin that would take...the preparations.....the time put into this..." 

"I know how a Tourney works, Otto." Viserys said as he looked at him, "I still want to throw one. My Granddaughter was just born. I wish to meet her and have the Realm appreciate her!" 

"That's all well and all, my love." Allicent said, "But think about how the other children would feel, especially Rhaenyra's....to throw a Tourney for a newborn babe would show clear signs of favoritism." 

"I disagree, My Queen. With that remark." Lord Beesbury said, "But truthfully, I do agree on the fact that we may not afford a Tourney of the caliber His Grace usually throws. Jousting and Melee, that is..." 

"What can we afford, then?" Viserys asked

"Well..." Lord Beesbury said as he flipped through his ledger, "If I am being honest.....I would say that a Melee might be more appropriate...all things considered. If we were to host a last-minute Tourney. It would cut out any other costs....horses.....shields.....extra squires and whatnot. Besides, a simple Melee would be simple and only the best of the best knights will be able to attend, if we do preliminaries first....that will not be quite the cost." 

"Okay." Viserys said with a smile, "A melee. Start preparing the Arena then. Send for Rhaenyra and her children." 

Allicent looked at him, "Husband...." 

"What?" He frowned, "I have thrown Tourneys for all my children. Do not act like I don't care for them. When Aegon was 2, we had that Royal Hunt, remember? When Helaena was born, we threw a Jousting Tourney, as we did the same with Aemond. And just a few years ago, we had a tourney for Daeron's name day over in Oldtown, don't forget that. As for my grandsons, they all that priviledge of having their own events. Jace's Royal Hunt when he was born, Luke's Feast. I've held back with them at your request." 

"Yes. But-" Alicent started

"Not anymore. My Grandaughter deserves the most." Viserys cut her off, "And start now, I want to see her as soon as possible." 

"You throw a tourney for the child while the father is off to war." Alicent said

"Aerion...." Viserys said, "Ah...well....Otto send a message down to the Stepstones, a Royal Command. Aerion Targaryen is to retreat from the conflict and will return to Dragonstone at once. There, are you happy?" 

Viserys then tapped his cane down and stood up, giving everyone a smile as he slowly walked away. Everyone watched as he was escorted by Ser Harold out the room. 

"He seems to be in good spirits." Lord Jasper said

"Agreed." Lord Tyland said

"Well, let us pray that he stays that way." Orwyle said, "Lord Hand, is there anything else?" 

Otto shook his head, "No." He said, "That is all." 

They all then stood up as and walked away as Alicent stood sitting there. 

Otto saw this and looked at her, "What is it?" He asked as the others left

Alicent shook her head, "I don't know..." She said, "Something tells me there is ruin to be met when it comes to Aerion." 

"Do not worry." Otto said, "Aerion has subverted our expectations of him. I thought of him as ambitionless and easily controlled. But to think that Viserys giving him to Rhaenyra would shape him to be a much sharper blade than he was meant to be." 

"That blade was meant to be for us....for the Realm." Alicent said

"I agree." Otto said, 

"But what can we do about it?"