Baelon sauntered about their solar deep within the Great Pyramid, their bedchambers lying even further within the massive structure.
Nevertheless, a harsh, agitated buzzing soon caught his attention. Turning, he found a locust trapped within an intricate copper cage.
A cage no doubt forged from what his n had mined in the vast copper mines that lay dormant around reen.
Truly, Baelon was appalled at the slaver's stupidity. Natural resources were set around them, and yet they instead focused on putting people in chains.
Regardless, in the cage, the locust was a large specin. Its segnted body is a dull burnished gold, wings beating frantically against the bars.
Its many legs clung desperately to the tal, while its faceted eyes reflected the lamplight in fractured glimrs.
"Well, looks like soone's most recent journey has borne so fruit." Baelon crouched before it, tilting his head as he regarded the little thing. "What in the Seven makes her so interested in you lot. Tsk!"
For any soul inclined to claim Baelon felt jealous of Helaena's attention for the things, he would have been the first to denounce them outright.
It was clear he was rely…curious.
That was all.
Curious.
Rolling his eyes, Baelon rose and passed through the solar into their bedchambers, where he soon found himself leaning against the balcony's carved stone railing.
He gazed below where ereen sprawled beneath him, the city's many-coloured bricks catching the dying light of the sun.
Smoke curled lazily from hearths and forges, carrying the scents of spice, salt, and the sea from Slaver's Bay beyond.
Whilst the streets pulsed with life. A life that was once long absent in reen.
When they had first taken the city, it was all but a corpse. Starving slaves and refugees. An economy that had been stripped to its bones. A people who had been ripped of all hope.
Thankfully, with so effort from him and Helaena, the city had regained its vibrancy following the war.
They eased food shortages and focused on each city's strengths when they had conquered it.
Astapor held true to its first business, where skilled workers were trained and introduced to a variety of clients.
Yunkai was used as a rcenary hub, where businesses could hire n to guard them on journeys or ships to transport goods.
For reen, Baelon exploited its vast copper mines that had once lain untapped, using them in conjunction with Elyria's thriving artisans to develop even more exquisite artefacts.
Admiring the fruits of his achievents, Baelon could not help but smile.
Freedn and rchants mingling, Unsullied patrols marching in solemn silence and forr slaves that now walked with a smile on their faces.
Beyond the city's walls, the waters of the bay darkened to deep indigo, ships bobbing gently as their lanterns flickered to life like fallen stars upon the waves.
From this height, ereen seed almost peaceful.
Tolos, Elyria, New Ghis, Slaver's Bay, even the Isle of Cedars…
He had truly carved out a small kingdom for himself.
A quiet sense of pride washed over him as he closed his eyes, allowing the warm breeze to brush against his face.
Even dragons were not invincible; their dreams all but scread that, but with this kingdom, Baelon was certain that no one was foolish enough to challenge him outright.
Still, it had been scarcely a year since the conquest had ended, much of that ti spent not in battle, but in the far more tedious work. Stabilising their realm.
Astapor had been easy. Most of the Good Masters there had seen their wealth eroded long before his arrival, and wealth was power in these cities.
Even its population had thinned, tens of thousands of slaves had fled the city of bloody bricks following the riots.
Yunkai and ereen, however, had proven far more stubborn. Even in defeat, certain stubborn elents lingered. Festering in the gutters where even light disdained to touch.
Alas, he was not able to imdiately rout them.
Even the Blood Oath had been useless. These people despised him too deeply. The mont the ritual concluded, they would have died regardless, their oaths already broken by their hatred alone.
Thankfully, after today, most of that resistance will be no more.
Before long, the soft patter of footsteps sounded behind him. He did not open his eyes; he knew all too well who approached.
As expected, a pair of dainty arms slipped around his waist, warmth blooming instantly against his back, burning enough to render his fire resistance entirely worthless.
"Are you satisfied, putting yourself in danger like that?" Helaena whispered, her voice muffled as she pressed her face against him.
"Co now," Baelon said as he opened his eyes, though his usually confident voice faltered as he spoke. "We both know full well it is impossible for them to harm …surely?"
"Oh?" Helaena released her hold on him and stepped to his side, resting her hands against the balcony's stone as she gazed out over the city below. "Then why did you choose to act while I was away?" She asked mildly. "If there was truly no danger, why the haste?"
Baelon's eyes flicked to her, catching the way the evening wind teased loose strands of her silver-gold hair before he looked away,
"Well…" He hesitated, searching for an answer he knew would not co. "I'm sorry. I thought I could see it done without troubling you." He exhaled slowly. "We have remained here for far too long. The war in the West is beginning to settle; we need to bring our realm firmly under our grasp before it does. Otherwise, their attention would turn eastward."
The 'their' Baelon had ntioned referred to the warring Free Cities. Whilst their battles had cald, each one licking their wounds, Baelon did not wish for them to turn their attention to him.
Helaena rely humd in response. Whether it was agreent or disapproval, Baelon could not tell. Her face remained fixed in that distant, dreamlike calm she so often wore, as unreadable as prophecy itself.
"I…had them hanged." She said at last.
Baelon paused, the aning of her words taking a mont to settle before mory stirred, those who had conspired against his life.
"Of course," he replied at once. "I trust you. If you believe it to be reasonable, then you have only my full support." A breath he had not realised he was holding slipped free.
It seed, then, that she was not harbouring resentnt over his earlier recklessness.
That relief, however, was short-lived.
"Alas, dear brother," Helaena said softly as she turned toward him, a glimr of mischief igniting behind her eyes. "I am still sorely wounded by you taking matters into your own hands."
"And…?" Baelon winced as she took his arm, as she guided him away from the balcony.
Before he could protest, the doors to the balcony slid shut behind them, extinguishing the last of the fading light.
Thump.
Understanding dawned a heartbeat too late as he was cast backwards onto the bed.
A few moons prior, when they both had reached 5 and 10 years of age, they had undergone a simple wedding ritual back in Tolos.
Thus, he was by no ans ignorant of what was to co.
"Is this truly punishnt?" Baelon's eyes widened.
If this was her idea of retribution, he could scarcely complain.
rcifully, he never found the chance to voice such scandalous thoughts, for her lips claid his in one fell swoop.
And so, beneath the dusk-laden sky of ereen, deep within the Great Pyramid, a most ferocious battle was waged.
***
"Fancy eting you here."
Baelon's eyes shifted from the graceful figure before him and swept across the land beyond. Even within a dream, he knew this place.
He could taste it in the air. The sll of mud, piss and shit…
It truly was the Riverlands.
Sarcasm aside, Baelon focused more on the rolling hills that sagged beneath a grumpy sky.
Patches of mist clung low to the ground, weaving between ancient oaks and half-flooded clearings. It was fertile, yes. Lush, in its own way.
But it was also sodden. Mud upon mud, and more mud besides.
He had flown over these woods many a ti at his father's command.
Still, the scenery did little to ease the awkwardness settling in his chest.
"Why do you still seem so shy?" Helaena tilted her head, silver hair slipping over one shoulder. "You bedded . That was all. We have done so many a ti before."
"Doesn't make it less odd," Baelon muttered, rolling his eyes. "One mont we're tumbling in the sheets, the next we're neat and clean, wandering through dreams as if nothing happened."
A soft giggle escaped her whilst Baelon rolled his eyes.
"Say," he murmured, glancing toward the tree line, "what could this dream be about?"
Almost in response to his own words, birds in the distance took flight all at once, a flurry of wings bursting upward in frantic alarm.
Then ca the sound.
It was faint at first, a distant sound at that, carried on damp air.
But Baelon was certain that was the sound of n shouting. Steel clashing.
A battle perhaps?
Baelon closed his eyes, straining to listen.
A roar tore across the sky.
His eyes snapped open.
Helaena was already staring upward, her expression heavy.
Another roar answered the first.
Dragons.
Imdiately, wings erged from the break in the clouds as a familiar crimson figure burst into sight.
leys, the Red Queen, cut through the sky in a blaze of scarlet, flas licking from her maw as she wheeled above the treetops.
A bitter taste crept onto Baelon's tongue as he watched the crowned beast dance past him overhead in blinding speed.
In one dream, this beautiful beast was rely a head without a body.
Here, she breathed yet.
Unfortunately, Baelon had a sneaking suspicion that this dream would reveal how leys had ended up paraded through King's Landing.
He huffed a faint laugh. "So be it. Let them tear each other apart. As long as it does not trouble us."
All this dream would do is enlighten him to how depraved the coming war would be; it had little to do with him.
"What are you waiting for?" Helaena sighed, tugging him forward in pursuit of leys. "This dream might yet hold sothing worthwhile. No need to waste it in your brooding."
"Of course, O' mighty sage Helaena. Let your light of wisdom shine down upon this most humble soul." Baelon smirked as he ambled forward, and he felt his heart relax.
Thankfully, they still had each other.
A sudden tug nearly sent him stumbling. He glanced at her, but Helaena's face was serene, unreadable. Wisely, he kept his tongue.
They broke into a jog. The shouts soon grew louder. Less distant. Steel rang against steel in a chaotic rhythm. Beneath it all lay a heavier sound, the wet thud of bodies eting earth.
Next, a foul stench reached them.
Ash.
Burnt flesh.
Iron.
When they burst from the forest, the world opened into carnage.
n clashed in a sprawling field of churned mud and trampled grass. Banners sagged, half-burned, their sigils sared beyond recognition.
Knights in dented plate swung longswords with desperate fury, while levies in mismatched mail shoved forward with spears that splintered on impact.
Shields cracked. Helts split. A mace ca down with a sickening crunch, and a man vanished beneath boots before he could even scream.
Blood ran freely, bright at first before darkening as it mixed with the mud that drank it greedily.
And looming ahead, jagged against the smoke-choked sky, stood Harrenhal.
Its blackened towers clawed upward like so spiteful beast. lted stone bent and twisted where dragonfire had once kissed it.
Even from a distance, it felt oppressive...watchful even. As if the castle itself rembered every scream ever uttered in its shadow.
But this was no ordinary battle.
A vast shadow rolled across the field.
Above the chaos, another dragon arrived, imnse, easily rivalling the size of the current Vermithor.
Her wings were broad and scarred, her flesh sagging with age, yet no less terrible for it.
As she descended, fire followed.
She…was Vhagar.
This ancient behemoth stord the battlefield, culling the n holding black and red banners.
Lines of n vanished in torrents of fire. Armour glowed red before lting into the flesh it encased. Screams rose and were swallowed in seconds.
Baelon sighed faintly. Even during the conquest of Tolos or the riot of Astapor, his dragons had seldom been used so…intimately. They shattered gates. Burned supply lines. Broke formations.
They were usually tactical heavyweights.
Here, Vhagar hunted n as one might thin cattle.
"They gathered here as though their numbers mattered," Helaena murmured. "A sha. Dragons don't count."
"A prophecy?" Baelon arched a brow.
She shook her head. "An observation."
He shrugged. For dragonriders, the n below were seldom the deciding factor. War between dragons and n was not a question of if victory ca, but when.
Their conversation died as a streak of red tore across the sky.
She ca like a falling star.
leys.
Wherever she passed, fla poured from her jaws in sweeping arcs, turning clusters of soldiers into pillars of ash.
n who monts before had fought bravely now fled in blind terror as her shadow passed overhead. Screams and weeping were all that remained in her ashy trail.
leys did not slow as she closed upon Vhagar. Instead, she climbed higher, banking sharply before diving with startling speed.
Unfortunately for the grandmother of Targaryen dragons, she turned a fraction too late.
leys struck.
Her claws sank deep into Vhagar's flank, rending through scale and flesh without rcy. Dark blood burst forth, smoking as it t the cooler air.
Where those heavy drops landed, they hissed and spat, searing through armour and skin alike.
Unfortunate souls who looked up at the wrong mont found themselves branded or worse, their screams cut short as dragon's blood burned into them.
Vhagar roared, the sound shaking banners from their poles. Her massive jaws snapped backwards, teeth clashing shut where leys had been a heartbeat prior.
Too slow.
The Red Queen twisted away with serpentine grace.
CRASH!
Vhagar's imnse form slamd into the earth, the impact sending a tremor through the battlefield. n lost their footing as dust and shattered stone erupted outward in a choking wave.
Yet the ancient she-dragon did not remain grounded for long. With a furious bellow, she heaved herself upright, shaking soil and corpses from her scales before launching skyward once more.
What followed could only be described as a dance of Fire and Blood.
Flesh against flesh.
Fla against fla.
leys darted in swift passes, slashing and retreating before Vhagar could fully turn.
The older dragon answered with sweeping bites and crushing charges, her sheer mass forcing leys to yield space lest she be pinned and mauled.
Speed against size.
Fury against experience.
For long monts, neither gained a clear advantage.
Alas, their battle did not last before another roar burst through as a second crimson figure streaked through the smoke.
His elongated neck twisted as he descended like so bloodied spear.
Caraxes.
The Blood Wyrm had entered the fray.
Its snake-like neck writhed as it plunged from the smoke-choked sky, coils twisting with unnatural grace before snapping tight around Vhagar's throat.
Caraxes clung to Vhagar like a crimson parasite, his elongated body binding and constricting.
His jaws snapped near her face, teeth scraping against scales older than most kingdoms. Baelon could almost hear his uncle's unhinged laughter carried upon the wind.
Seizing the opening, leys surged forward once more. She slamd into Vhagar's wounded flank, claws sinking deep into torn flesh as more of that dark, smoking blood erupted into the air.
Baelon winced.
For a fleeting mont, he mourned, not only for the beast being torn apart before him, but for his younger brother who rode her.
"Vhagar ought not fall here. Surely?" Baelon tilted his head slightly, eyes fixed upon the brutal struggle above.
"It seems so…" Helaena murmured, lancholy threading her voice. She shook her head faintly. "Why bring dragons into the wars of n?"
"Why indeed."
His mind drifted to the smoking ruins of Valyria. To the long treks through broken stone and half-sunken towers. Oros. Tyria. Draconys and beyond. Cities swallowed by ash and ti.
Only when one walked those dead streets did the truth beco clear.
Dragons were no re weapons.
They were history made flesh. A reminder of an age when the world was wider and stranger still. A reminder of what n of old once commanded and what they destroyed.
If dragons vanished, so too would the last living breath of Valyria.
However, Baelon's musings were cut short as Helaena's grip tightened suddenly.
As he focused his gaze upward, he almost could not help but let out a string of foul curses.
The situation above had undergone a wild change.
There were no longer three dragons in the sky.
There were five.
A radiant shape streaked from the clouds, scales flashing molten gold even through the smoke.
Beside it, a sleek blue form cut a colder arc across the battlefield.
Sunfyre.
Tessarion.
Their nas surfaced in Baelon's mind at once.
The tide shifted almost instantly.
Sunfyre slamd into leys from above, golden claws raking across her already wounded side as he cheered with the energy of a newborn pup.
Tessarion followed with a precise torrent of fla that engulfed the Red Queen's back. Yet, the Red Queen twisted, using its wings to block the flas that threatened to devour her rider.
Unfortunately, protecting Rhaenys cost leys her wings, as Tessarion ripped into them without rcy.
Caraxes released Vhagar as it rushed in to intercept, twisting mid-air to lash out at the newcors.
His jaws clamped onto Sunfyre's shoulder, and the golden dragon recoiled with a bitter screech.
Tessarion wheeled sharply, fire forcing Caraxes to disengage lest Daemon be burned by fla.
The sky fractured into chaos as the bloodied Vhagar climbed once more in hot pursuit of her foe.
leys attempted to rise higher, to regain advantage through speed, but her injured wing betrayed her as her ascent faltered.
She dipped and fell…just enough for Vhagar to strike.
Vhagar crashed into her with overwhelming force, jaws closing around leys' neck. leys clawed desperately at Vhagar's face, ripping free scales, drawing yet more blood.
Caraxes tore at Sunfyre and Tessarion alike, driving them back in a frenzy of slashing bites and snapping coils.
He tried to break free, tried to reach her, but the golden and blue dragons harried him relentlessly, claw and fla forcing him to defend rather than advance.
No amount of skill could allow Daemon to best his two foes in the short term. And, for that, it cost him. It cost…Rhaenys.
leys scread. Again and again she scread. Baelon and Helaena could not help but close their eyes as they saw this.
They may have experienced war, but this just felt wrong on an even deeper level.
Alas, Baelon knew he could not avoid this. He cracked open his eyes as leys' screams died down.
Then—
There was a sickening crunch.
With a violent wrench of her massive head, Vhagar tore.
The Red Queen's body fell one way.
Her head, severed and still crowned in crimson fla, tumbled from the sky.
It struck the ground before Baelon and Helaena with a thunderous crash, spraying mud and blood outward in a grisly storm.
Silence fell around them.
They stared.
leys' great eyes, that once blazed with grace and wrath, flickered faintly. The fire within them dimd with each passing mont.
Then slowly…they stilled.
Their light had faded.
Her lids slid shut as the last breath of heat left her.
From the ragged stump of her neck, blood poured in endless rivulets, snaking through the churned battlefield.
It smoked as it spread, grey tendrils rising where it licked the cold mud. The earth hissed beneath it.
Above, Caraxes let out a scream that was more grief than fury. He broke away at last, battered and bleeding, but it was too late save leys. Far, far too late.
Vhagar circled once, triumphant and terrible, while Sunfyre and Tessarion flanked her like loyal hounds.
On the ground, n who had paused in stunned awe slowly returned to their slaughter.
Steel rang once more. Shields splintered. War resud its rhythm as though a goddess had not just fallen from the sky.
Yet those beneath the black and red banners fought with dulled spirit. Their strikes lacked conviction. Their eyes flicked skyward as if expecting further ruin.
Baelon exhaled softly.
What once would have filled him with dread now left only bitterness.
He looked toward the distant silhouette of Harrenhal, then upward to the circling dragons.
"To what end," he murmured, voice low, "will they go for that ugly old chair?"
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