Daenerys 1

286AC

She held the candle in front of her face, the light flickering back forth just a little bit in the muggy evening breeze. It was boring staying inside the cart all the time, but Mother told her to never stray from it while they were on the Demon road.

She hadn't seen any demons on it, only lots of men an women in chains, marching back and forth in great caravans. Sometimes Grandmother would stop and talk to the men from the caravans and lead them in the faith of the Red God, but mostly they left them alone.

Mother said the men from the caravans would snatch her away to be sold at the flesh markets if she strayed from the cart without supervision. Even her brother, the wretch, was allowed to sleep inside the cart while they traveled the road. It irked her that he was allowed the privilege, for he smelled greatly of mule-dung and dirt, and she had to share a blanket with him, but that was selfish, and mother said that the Red God disliked selfishness, so she quieted her tongue.

Instead, to distract herself while mother and grandmother spoke with others, she took a candle and brought it close to her eyes, staring into the flames with the silent prayers on her lips that her mother had taught her.

The flames flickered and burned, and it felt as if all the other light in the tent began to disappear at least to her senses, as she was drawn into the red world of the flame.

She found herself lying beneath a great tree, though everything was cast in a fiery hue. She was looking up to the sky, and amongst the branches of the tree, crows squabbled, cawing at each other and hiding to their branches. She felt a boiling breath at her shoulder and turned to see that it was the head of a long sinuous dragon, a creature of deep purple and black, that seemed to flicker in the fire, its horns were black and fiendish, and its eyes a burning red. It coiled about her shoulders like a snake constricting its prey.

Her eyes turned back to the tree, as one of the crows flew to a branch, and tore out the heart of one of its fellows with its beak, swallowing it down. The other crows recoiled in fear, all save one small and dark, which chased it from the tree, dueling it in the air, but it was smaller and weaker than the murderer, but the murderer did not remain triumph for long, as a hawk descended from the heavens, crushing its body between his talons. The predator glared down at her for just a moment, it's sharp eyes matching her own, and the dragon beside her growled, snorting fire from its nostrils.

The hawk flew into the clouds above and dropped the murderer down towards her, but with a swift bite, the dragon ate it, the crows above all recoiled once more, fleeing the tree and abandoning it. Leaving their nests unprotected.

A noise started to sound in the vision, a sort of harsh and heavy breathing, that seemed to break the vision apart as it all fell back into fire and nothingness.

She felt an odd sensation, pulling her back from the fire, and after a moment where her head felt very odd, she found herself back in the cart, her legs feeling a little strained, and her hands clamped in a death grip around the candlestick.

The noise which had broken her vision was her brother across from her, snoring loudly, and at the sound, she felt anger flash through her veins. Here she had been having her first true vision, her first gift, and connection to the Red God, and her worthless brother had to go and ruin it.

Enraged, she brought the candle into his face, and he awoke with a great shriek as his flesh was burned, his cheek scarred by the fire.

She realized her mistake too late, her brother awoke in a fury, and even with his emaciated form he was so much bigger and older than her, his eyes were as wide as saucers, and burning with anger as his hands closed around her throat tiny throat, pinning her to the wood of the cart with an inarticulate growl of anger and bitterness.

He looked mad and half-feral, and it hurt, it hurt so much that she couldn't think anymore. She tried to scream, to call for her mother, but she couldn't breathe and-and-and…

When Daenerys awoke, it was in the arms of her mother held against her bosom. "Oh… dear dear girl…" her mother said, stroking her hair gently in her hand. Her neck still hurt, but it wasn't the overwhelming, unthinking pain it had been before, and her mother's touch soothed her, promised safety and warmth. "Don't worry… Don't worry… he won't hurt you anymore. You won't even have to see him again, not for a long time."

She wanted to ask what her mother meant, but the woman only pressed a finger to her lips.

"Hush now… don't talk, your Grandmother has taken him away, she will be gone for a while, but we will continue on to the east, until we can find a boat to take us across the sea, all the way to Asshai, you want to see Asshai don't you?"

Daenerys nodded, Grandmother had spoken of Asshai of the wonders to be seen there, and of the greatest temple of R'hllor.

"Good, good." Her mother said, playing with her hair. "Rest now, little dragon. Sleep until morning."

And so, sleep she did.