────────────

────────────

SIXTEEN;
『 HEAD OF THE DRAGON 』

────────────

ㅤ THE HEADS OF OUR MEN ON THE GROUND BEGIN TO TURN AS THEY FOLLOW THE DRAGONS IN THE SKY. The cold air of the surrounding frost does not seem to effect me. My blood seems to boil beneath my skin. It does not take much for a Targaryen to turn to rage. My family has come to threaten me and my place. I turn to Aegon and Aemond and give them new direction.

      "Go to the dragon pit. Now." I snap. Aegon does not think twice about my request. He turns and begins in that direction with two knights behind him. Aemond stares blankly at me.

      "You think I'm going to let you go down there alone?" He asks, tilting his head. No, he won't.

      "No," I reply evenly. "But I am going to anyways. The dragons will be landing near the cliffs. Everyone will need to catch their breath after the journey. This will be my only chance to speak with my mother before she cooks all of our soldiers." My words come out rather hasty. I'm eager to try and take control of the situation before it comes completely out of control.

He still does not seem to like the idea. "If you go, they'll be more threatened." I see the shift in his expression that tells me I'm starting to somewhat make sense. His hand travels to the hilt of his sword. He wraps his fingers around it and his jaw clenches.

"They won't hurt me. I'm too valuable. And, if they do, you'll know who did it. You'll be able to have a trial." I try to give him more piece of mind. His eye glances over me. I don't have much time. They won't be landed for very long. If I'm going to go to the cliffs to try and work through things, I need to go now.

I hug him tightly and plant a kiss on his cheek. I take one last glimpse at his face, at the purple gem in his eye socket. I begin walking through the tower, towards the stairwell.

"I love you." I don't see him, but his voice echoes down the stairwell. For a split second my lips part to reveal a smile. Though, when I hear the screams of the men just on the other side of the wall, my smile fades quickly.

The walk to the cliffs isn't a long one. They hang just over the other beach. I'm going in the opposite way of the battle, which brings me some relief. My boots leave footsteps in the snow. The further I get from the fighting and the chaos, the colder it seems to get. Aemond is sort of like a traveling furnace, he always has this warmth, but now it's so far away. The shivering only seems to get worse the closer I get to the cliffs. I'm growing closer to the sea by the second. I've hidden a blade inside my boot, and of course I have the sword on my belt, made of Valyrian steel. The hilt is silver with red gems. It's a true beauty. I named mine Moonshine and Aemond named his Sunray. You see, our blades were made in the same batch, which means they must have similar names. His looks much like mine, but there are red and green gems on his hilt.

Through the thick smog, I see the first wing of a dragon. There are five dragons on these cliffs. I don't know how all five would manage to fit, but somehow I guess they've made it work. The first dragon my eyes make out is Caraxes, the black and red beast. It seems as though my father has already dismounted from his back. I will have to go closer if I am to see any of the other dragons. The next dragon I see as I walk is Vermax, the smallest dragon, who would he ridden by Jacaerys. I do not see my brother anywhere, or anyone else for that matter.

Suddenly there's a hand on my arm and I'm being pushed aside. A hand is placed over my mouth as I try and squirm out of the grip. Suddenly, Jacaerys' head snaps to look at me. His eyes are large and uncertain. I stop squirming and close my mouth, careful not to utter a word. We're near the leg of the sitting Caraxes. I hear voices near his tail, but within a few moments they seem to disappear into the fog.

His hands come off of me. "What in the seven hells are you doing here?" He asks, though it's more of an alarmed confusion.

"I've come to see if mother and father will back away their forces, before they cook my men on the battlefield and I cook theirs." I explain. His lips are a dark tint of purple from having flown over here, over the sea, in such cold weather. He must be freezing.

"Alerhya, they won't. They're here to dethrone you, not to make some sort of agreement. Mother doesn't want the throne. She needs it. She is crossing the bridge of insanity." His voice is pleading. The days of boyhood has long passed him.

      "Come with me, to the Keep. You will be safe there. You won't be on the wrong side of this battle anymore." I say to him. He seems reluctant, based on the way his body shifts, but based on the terrified look plastered across he face, he does not want to be fighting with my parents any longer.

      He nods and I take his hand. Both of our hands are gloved, but even through the thick material I can feel the coolness of his skin. I rub his hand in between both of mine to try and warm him up. I then place my hands on his cheeks to try and bring back the warmth to his face. His skin is pale and his cheeks are deeply rosy from the cold.

      I don't hear the movement behind me.

      Jacaerys' hands spin me around before I even have a chance to blink. My hands fall from his face as he releases me. I stumble back, confused. Then my eyes travel to a white-haired man with the face of my father. My eyes flash to the blade in the back of my brother. It sticks out all the way through his chest. The sword is ripped from his body and blood comes spewing through his armor. He falls to the ground, slowly. He goes to his knees first, then his hands try and cover the wound. He then falls face first into the snow. My moth seems to hang open as I watch this unfold. Daemon's eyes stare at the body. His sword was meant to stab into my back, not my brothers. My own father was going to kill me. Now my brother is dead.

      The world seems to slow. My fathers eyes travel from the body of my brother to me. Red blood drips from the tip of his sword.

      "You..." I mutter. My words do not seem my own. I do not feel as though I am speaking. None of this feels real. I wish for none of this to be real.

      Suddenly his body is moving toward me. My vision has blurred from the tears in my eyes. The tip of the metal threatens to strike straight for my heart. I shuffle to the side to dodge it, but his foot knocks me to the ground. I lie flat on my back. The clouds are so thick that the sun is hidden far away. He stands over me with his blade touching the snow next to my head.

"You have always been so much like your mother. So ambitious, so noble," when he speaks his breath turns to a cloud in front of his lips. "I have always wanted to be a King, you know this. Rhaenyra was always meant to be the Queen. You know this, too." I've never hated someone's voice so much in my life. I've never hated my father so much in my life. I always looked up to him, as someone I wished to be. I also hoped I'd be able to have as much spirit as him.

"The last thing my brother ever told me was that the Iron Throne seems to be cruelest to those youngest. I do not want you to be treated cruelly, my darling." His words are more poisonous than a snakes.

Suddenly my eyes watch as the point of his sword comes barreling down. Without thinking to grab my sword to defend myself, I grab the blade with both of my hands. The skin on my hands immediately splits. The harder I grip the more pain there is. I cry out as the blood begins to drip down onto my face. It is the most agonizing pain I've ever felt. I push the sword away with my hands and roll. My mind is already foggy from the blood dripping from my palms. I stagger to my feet and grab my sword. I could never win a sword fight against my father, I'm no fool. He's tried to kill me twice now, I can't let there be a third time.

His sword clashes with mine with the most blistering sound my eyes have ever heard. Each of us throw as much power as we can into our swings. The blood dropping from my hands trickles down the hilt of my sword all the way to the blade, dotting the ground beneath me. My father has already managed to stuff his sword into my brother, I won't let that be my fate too.

My father is tall and muscular. I'm somewhat tall and slim. I'm faster than him in the way that he's stronger than me. I shove my blade into my belt so that I'm running with empty hands and take off in the direction of the dragon pit. He won't follow me there alone. He won't follow me there because he knows that there are multiple dragons there waiting to turn him to ashes.

I do not even turn my head until my lungs begin to burn. Although the fog is thick, I cannot see him, nor any footsteps aside from my own. I slow down only slightly. I curl my fingers into fists to try and keep the blood from spilling. My lips go try and so does my throat the more that I run. The closer I get to the dragon pit, the more I seem to slow. Finally, I can make out the outline of the furthest corner. I've never been happier to be some place before. My boots take their first steps onto the stone. Only then do I stop running. I stand and toss my head up to the sky with my mouth wide open, taking in as much air as I possibly can.

My eyes snap open as I feel hands on mine. It's Aemond. He's examining the cuts on my hands. I try and shake him off, but he's not moving at all. His eye is dead set on me. I know how worried he must have been while I was away, and now he must be even more terrified for me.

"My brother is dead." I cry out quietly. His expression softens and he pulls me into a hug. I don't hug him back. I don't want to stain his hair or his outfit with the blood pouring out of my hands. I back away in a few moments and wipe my eyes with my wrist. He shouts down into the dragon pit for Ser Harwin and he comes running up.

He examines my hands then rips off some of the fabric from the tunic underneath his armor. He tied them as bandages around the cuts on both of my hands. I admire his ability to think quickly. He's never hesitant. I bite the inside of my cheek when he tightens the cloth.

"Ser Harwin," I say in a whisper. He stops aiding me and drops his hands to his side. "My father attempted to kill me while I was at the cliffs. Jacaerys was in front of me and twisted me around, taking the damage himself," I explain. "He's dead." My words seem to cut the air.

He looks at me, then to Aemond, unblinking. Immediately I can see the light fade from his eyes. His eyes travel down to the dragon pit, where Lucerys is petting the snout of Arrax, his dragon. Lucerys will crumble when he hears the news about his brother. The only reason I told Ser Harwin is because I know that he can handle it. He's a man, he's seen wars. Though, I know that nothing can compare to the death of a child.

Ser Harwin begins down the steps to the dragon pit. His head is tipped. Helaena and Aegon approach, seemingly ready for me to tell them the plan.

      "How good is everyone with a bow and arrow?" I ask the group of three. They exchange looks with one another.

     "I'm a good shot." Helena says. Both of her brothers agree that they're good shots as well a few moments later. I sigh and scan the abyss behind their figures, as if it'll help me think. There is one plan that I have in mind, but it's extremely dangerous and very difficult to do. We'll have to shoot bow and arrows on dragon back directed for other people on dragon back. You'll have to be an amazing shot in range and in moving targets.

      I explain the plan to them and what the best way for it to be constructed is. We'll have to line up outside in a place where they'll be flying in and do our best to hit the riders off. It will not be my intention to kill anyone, just harm them. Also, no dragons are to be harmed. At least, I hope so. I don't know how good they are even if they claim to be. It's a stretch of a plan, but it also gives us better chances. Less men will die, less resources will be wasted, and we'll be targeting the individuals who want us dead.

      "But why on dragon back? Why not just stand up in a tower or something?" Aegon asks, snapping me from my thoughts.

     "If we miss, we'll be able to fly after them." I reply. He shrugs and nods, as if deciding that it makes sense. My eyes travel down to the dragon pit. See Harwin stands behind Lucerys, who is still soaking his dragon in attention. It seems as though he hadn't yet been able to tell his sun what happened. I have been barely been able to process what happened. There is little time to mourn when you're making a plan that could mean the difference between life and death.

      "There are bows and some arrows in the weaponry of the dragon pit. Let's go get them, get on our dragons, then leave. We don't want to miss them flying in." My words come out quick.

All four of us descend the steps then enter the weaponry. It's a small one, used mostly my the dragon keepers. There is armors, spears which they use to prod at the dragons, and bows and arrows. Sometimes they load the bows with tranquil darts in order to put dragons to sleep. Though the dragon pit had been free of dragon keepers since I've started my reign- it was the first of my tasks to get rid of them- I find myself thanking them silently. I had forgotten all about the tranquil darts. I take and handful in my palm and hand them out. Two per person. I hand everyone a bow, too. There are only sixteen arrows, therefore each person only gets four.

"What are these?" Aegon asks, examining the tranquil darts.

"Tranquil darts. They can put a dragon to sleep, if you hit them in the right place. The neck or the chest. Usually it takes only one, but if the dragon is large, two." Helaena says quietly. I've known her always to be fascinated by animals and anything to do with them. It does not shock me that she knows about tranquil darts, but it does surprise me how much she knows about them.

We all strap our bows over our shoulders then find room for the arrows and tranquils. I manage to fit the tranquil darts into my boot, then insert the arrows between my dragon riding gear and the leather strap on my back. It's sturdy enough. The four of us emerge back into the heart of the dragon pit. See Harwin examines us one by one then realizes what we're off to do. Lucerys turns toward us and looks at me with a frown.

"I thought I was going to go." He says with a desperate tone. I shake my head and place a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm afraid there is only enough supply for four of us," I say back to him. "I'm sure Arrax would much rather take a nap then head towards a battle, anyways." I smile. He shrugs and wanders off to Ser Harwin, who's been standing idly at the edge.

The four of us enter the cave where the dragons have been resting. They're allowed to roam freely, though I presume they've been able to hear the fighting and feel the tension, so they have fleed into the safety of the cave. I find Ghaelar in the corner closest to the entryway. He's resting, but not asleep. His eyes open wider when he takes in my scent. I approach him and place a hand on his snout. His nostrils flare as he sniffs me, making sense of my emotions. I don't even need to say anything to make him get up. He rides, slowly, pulling his enormous body up. His black scales seem to rise like a mountain above me. His eyes, an icy blue, look at me for direction, though I do not yet have any to give. I rest my forehead on the tip of his nose and stroke his scales with my hand. He leans into my touch.

I've never been less excited to hop on his back before, knowing where we're headed and why. I walk around to his side and mount. He leans towards me to make things easier. I grab what would be the reins, on a horse, but since Ghaelar is a dragon, they're ropes. The ropes make it easier for him to respond to commands. I tuck my feet into the openings of the mount and adjust myself on his body. I look around to see that everyone else has gotten on the back of their dragons, already. I fasten the bow over my shoulder to ensure it will not fall off, and begin to lead the line out of the cave. The four sets of steps seem to shake the ground.

We emerge back into the light, what little remains of it. I stop when I teach the edge of the dragon pit, and turn to the line. Everyone has somehow managed to fit their dragons inside. From here, Lucerys and Ser Harwin seem so small. My brother waves with an unknowing smile. I see so much of Jacaerys in him. It pains me to turn away and lead us into the sky.

We take to the sky like a flock of birds.

────────────