The Might of House Belaerys

Chapter 1: A Dragon Awakens.

High Valyrian – italics.

Bastard Valyrian – bold.

Common tongue – Normal.

Dothraki – Underlined.

The First thing he felt was pain, his whole body was sore, it felt ten times worse than when his father started his sword training. His arms felt like sacks of potatoes, heavy and useless, he could barely lift them and his legs hurt all the way from his toes to his hips.

He was also incredibly uncomfortable, his back was stiff and his neck tight. Using his fingers to touch the place he was laying on, he could tell he wasn't on a bed, probably a stone floor since he couldn't feel any dirt or sand.

He could only groan as he used all his strength to sit up and rub the sides of his head. He tried opening his eyes but the smoke around him made that hard. It wasn't much, not enough to make him cough but enough to make his eyes water.

When his eyes finally adjusted to the smoke he recognized where he was. It was the safe room his father had constructed last year when one of the family dragons had gone on a rampage and almost burned down their home.

"The question is why am I here?" Aerion though as he looked around the room, it was built with a mixture of stone and steel, the many runes inscribed in the metal made the room almost indestructible. From what he knew only the fire from an ancient Dragon could do any type of damage to it.

After a few more minutes of resting he finally got the strength to stand up and walked towards the entrance of the room. Finding the rune to open the door was a bit hard since the runes were faded.

"This is wrong, father had them redone a few weeks ago, but these look old and faded." thought Aerion as he bit down on his thumb to draw a bit of blood, he pressed his bloody finger to the rune on the wall the wall in front of him started rumbling.

When he finally got the door open he wanted nothing more than to close it up again and go back an lay down on the floor.

What he saw shocked him to his core.

When the door opened he could only see two things...fire and smoke. The sky overhead was red and full of black ominous clouds.

"What happened to my home.?" As he stepped out of the room he saw the rubble all around him from what used to be his family's Keep. The stones that made up the grand castle were no longer standing, they were shattered, burned and in some cases melted.

"What happened? How...i don't understand!" Aerion said out loud as he almost tripped on a loose piece of burned wood that was laying on the ground.

The Keep looked like it had been burned to the ground, something which he knew was highly improbable since his father had their family Dragonriders patrol the perimeters constantly to prevent attacks.

On the side of what used to be a sitting room he glanced a huge burned boulder. He ran over to it and climbed it so see if he could catch a glimpse of...something, anything that could explain what had happened to his home. When he finally managed to clime the boulder he instantly wished he hadn't.

Their Castle had been built on the shadow of one of the Fourteen Flames, right next to a medium size mountain that they had hollowed out to use as a vault. His family, one of much prestige and power in the Freehold, had the Castle built to overlook the whole city.

He used to love going up to the watchtower and just watch the whole city for hours on end, that and watching all the mighty dragons flying over it.

But now, on top of the boulder he saw none of the usual splendor and beauty he associated with his home. Now all he could see was ruins bathed in fire, smoke and ash. The once great Valyrian Freehold was nothing more than a burned down husk of its former self.

The mighty Towers where the Dragonlords came together to discuss politics were smashed and burned. The many Castles and buildings along the Fourteen Flames where in states much like his own, burned beyond recognition.

The thing that worried him the most was that none of the destruction looked recent. The fires he could see weren't burning anything new, and the smoke wasn't coming from anyplace that was burning it just hung in the air clouding much from his view.

"How long was I in there?" the last he could remember before waking up was his mother, Allyria, coming to get him in his chambers and dragging him down to the safe room. She had looked so panicked, her staff was shaking so violently he thought the emerald at its top would break off and fall to the floor.

He remembered his mother shoving him inside the room before slamming her staff into his head while she chanted desperately...magic!

His mother, one of Valyria's best Mage's, must have used a spell to put him in some type of either magical sleep or even stasis. The question was why?

Why did she go to such extremes? had Valyria been attacked? If so who had the power to do so? Who could stand against the power of their dragons and win...who?

Then he remembered the Vault, it was another place, just like the safe room, that was almost impregnable. If someone else from his family had survived they would surely had gone there.

Jumping down from the boulder he took off running around the rubble of stones and wood, idly taking notice that anything that had survived the initial destruction were now burned or smoked damaged. From what remained of the Hall it looked like it had been sacked, many things missing.

It took some time and effort to reach the Vault since the hall that led into the mountain, and by extension the Vault, was partially blocked. Thankfully fallen stones weren't much of a problem for him.

His mother had taught him much in the ways of sorcery, so using the spell that liquified the stones, which was usually used to build things instead of opening walkways, it took him less then half an hour to reached the massive valyrian steel door that protected his family's treasures.

What he found there shook him worse than seeing the burned down city. What he found forced rivers of tears to flow from his eyes as a deep sorrow settle in his chest and made it hurt with each and every beat of his heart.

He found his mother there.

Or actually he found her bones, it looked like a piece of stone had fallen on her head causing her death. To think a piece of rock had been the cause of his mother's downfall. Such a powerful woman brought down by such an insignificant thing. That made him weep all the more.

She was laying naught but five feet from the Vault door. Five feet from safety.

Her body was nothing more then old smoke-stained bones but he recognized her because of her clothing and the staff laying next to her. The clothing was shredded and worn from all the years laying there but the staff, aside from the coating of dust, looked just as perfect as the day it had been forged.

It was made of valyrian steel, with runes and jewels running up and down its length and it was made to act as a Foci, a magical focus used by many of the wizards and Mages in the Freehold. At its head a massive emerald was placed, its use was to collect magic and unleashed it at its holders command.

He himself used a ring, on his right index finger, with a amethyst as a focus to use his sorcery. It had been a gift from his mother on his last name-day. The last gift she would ever give him.

"Mother." he said as he dropped to his knees and grabbed her skeleton by the hand. He couldn't believe she was gone, she was always so strong and untouchable. One of the earliest memories he had of her was as she donned her armor and mounted her she-dragon, Seafyre, as she prepared to travel to one of the outpost of the Valyrian Freehold to put down a small rebellion.

Even his father, a mighty Dragonlord himself, couldn't compare to the strength and power his mother wielded. And now here she was lying dead for who knows how long. All of it felt like a bad dream he couldn't wake from.

He stayed next to her body for over an hour, praying and blessing her remains, before he used a nearby piece of cloth to wrap her bones and staff. After he got done exploring the Vault he would find some place to bury her. Someplace deserving of the woman that was his mother.

"I wonder if I'll find the body of father inside." thought the young man as he used a sharp stone to cut his palm open. It was necessary since the Vault would only open for one baring the blood of his family.

"Open" he commanded and with a hiss and a release of smoke the door swung inward to allow him access. When he stepped inside he almost jumped in shock from what was lying in the middle of the Vault.

His mother's dragon, Seafyre, was frozen next to the entrance. It almost looked like she was guarding the Vault.

He walked up to the massive beast and placed a hand on his snout and, like he thought, it was warm to the touch. A stasis spell, much like the one he suspected had been used on him had been placed on the dragon.

Even now, frozen in place and covered in a thick layer of dust, the dragon was magnificent to behold, named for the bright gold color of her scales. She was beautiful, so much so that as a child he had refused the multiple dragon eggs his father had offered him because he wanted his dragon to be born from one of her eggs, unfortunately for him Seafyre hadn't found a mate by the time he was put in stasis.

At over forty years in age, a babe compared to other dragons in the Freehold, she was quite big. Half as big as that fool Aenar's dragon, Balerion.

Now that was a mighty dragon indeed, colored as black as night and as big as a small mountain, watching the dragon fly over the city was a treat. To bad it had been hatched to a fool such as Aenar Targaryen.

He could remember trying to hold back a scoff at the uppity fool's rant that his family should be granted more power just because one their dragons had grown humongous in such a short time.

The damn family had only five grown dragons to their name and but a handful of eggs and they thought that just because they owned a freak of nature they deserved the world.

"Even a mighty beast can be brought down with enough numbers." that was what his father had told Aenar during one of the assemblies of the Dragonlords. And numbers his family had, with over five dozen grown dragons and over a hundred dragon eggs his family was one of the top tiers in the Freehold.

That had been a over a decade ago, before Aenar, showing just how idiotic and childish he was, had taken all his dragons and his family and moved to the Western Outpost of Dragonstone all because of a dream his daughter had. Cowards, the lot of them, Aenar and the lords of House Velaryon and Celtigar.

"Speaking of eggs." behind Seafyre was wall long cage that held over fifty dragon eggs all in a variety of different colors. He knew that the eggs were actually stored with the dragons in the Sky Towers(1) next to their Castle so his mother must have had them moved in here when she put Seafyre in stasis. But that brought up a question.

"Did mother know what was about to happen."

He moved over to the eggs and to his relief they were also in stasis, making hatching them much more easier. While he knew the ritual to hatch fossilized dragon eggs it was a pain in the ass having to do it.

"These just need some fire from a grown dragon, no human sacrifice needed ." though Aerion in relief as he stayed a few more seconds marveling over the many patterns and colors on the eggs.

He moved over to see what else was in vault, to see if his mother had stored anything else inside it.

She had.

It looked like his mother had also had the Armory and parts of the library moved in, along with three big crates that held clothes, his mother's, his father's and his. "She must have planned to hide here with father."

There were also stands, over a dozen, with many sets of valyrian steel Armor and even more valyrian steel weapons. Everything from Greatswords and Greataxes to a massive valyrian Steel Warhammer his great uncle used to wield while riding his black dragon Shurikan.

The rest of the Vault held the usual stuff, his family's vast riches. All around him and Seafyre were mountain piles of gold and silver coins and many, many chests full of all types of precious stones. A few piles over he could also see the massive leather and metal saddles that were used by the Dragonriders.

But he didn't see anyone else. It took a few hours, since the vault was in essence as big as the mountain it was carved into but to his disappointment he didn't see anyone else.

He desperately looked around to see if he could find any of his family in the Vault, his father or any of his many cousins but to his grief he found nothing but a quick and short letter in his mothers handwriting.

To my beautiful son.

If you're reading this letter it means that neither I nor your father made it out alive.

As I write this you're laying frozen by my magic inside your father's safe room, I can only hope that the power in the room is enough to keep the fire out and you save.

The reason I'm doing this is that one of the Dragonlords has sparked a revolt in his quest to rule Valyria and the Freehold. I hope that I'm just overreacting but the feeling in my gut tell me otherwise. Your father has called in his soldiers and all the dragons aside from Seafyre and they have flown to go help the other Dragonlords fight the rebels.

Something Daenys once said to me years ago is now sending a chill up and down my spine, she once told me of a Doom that was to come to Valyria, a Doom in where the Freehold would collapse and where most of the dragons would perish. Something I could not allow to happen.

Because of that I'm having all the servants move as many of the eggs as they can from the Sky Tower down to the Vault. Seafyre is already down there under the same spell I put you in. If the spell protecting you works and your reading this letter she now belongs to you my sweetling, take good care of her and she will do the same to you.

I have also tasked the servants with moving the armory into the Vault. Right besides Seafyre in a stand there is a brand new set of plate armor I had commissioned for your next name-day, I had hope to be able to give them to you in person but alas it looks like my wish might not come true.

There was a smudge of ash in the letter and the words that followed looked to be scribbled down in a hurry, his mother elegant script having turned into shaky letters he could hardly read.

I have no idea what just happened my sweet but the sky has suddenly turned red and I can hear and feel the volcanoes of the Fourteen Flames erupting all around us. I opened a piece of the wall towards the outside and I can see fire raining down from the heavens and burning the city, the rivers of lava that cut through the city are overflowing and burning people alive.

I can hear the wails and screams of the Dragons as they fall from the sky. I have a sinking feeling your father isn't coming home.

Most of the slaves have fled for their lives taking anything of value from the Castle, thankfully the Vault is spelled to keep any that are not our kin out, so the important things are save from looters and pillagers.

The rumbling seems to have stop for now and even though a great beast of a dragon slammed into the mountain that holds our Vault the spells and runes did their job and it was barely felt in here. I think that I'll take the chance and move you from the safe room to here. The runes are better and with Seafyre here the magics are stronger.

That was the last thing written on the letter. Now he knew why his mother had died, she had abandoned the safety of the Vault to go and get him and that's when she had been hit by the rock.

He wanted to scream and shout and smash his fist on the stone walls that made up the place. His family was all dead. His mother's letter had said his father had call for all the dragons to fly into battle so that meant his cousins had gone with him to fight. With his mother dead he was the last of House Belaerys.

Or was he?

The Valyrian city of Oros. If it was still standing then its governor was one of his cousins. Meekar, if he remembers correctly, was name governor recently. He had flown there in the back of his Dragon Witherwings and had not only taken a small contingency of family members but also a recently laid clutch of Dragon Eggs, hell his father had even allowed him to start a cadet branch of their family. House Belaerys of Oros.

Maybe there was some hope left.

Moving as fast as he could he changed his clothes, changing from his sleeping wear to a pair of leather pants and a light grey doublet, that was worn underneath the new plate armor his mother had had made for him.

It was a suit of plate armor colored the same as Seafyre's scales with their House crest on the chest area, a circling dragon biting its own tail. The helm, was in the barbute style with a T shaped face hole, molded perfectly to his head and had two dragon wings sprouting from the sides, at the waist hung a leather skirt, as black as night, with small golden accents, attached to the skirt was a new sword belt made from fine leather, it came with a strap for his scabbard plus two small ones for daggers and two hangings straps for his dragon horn. The gauntlets had their family's symbol and at the back was a dark red cape, also with the family symbol.

The armor was also encrusted with many small rubies making the color of the plates shine. It was a perfect replica of his father's armor just a different color.

He also knew to be prepare, just in case Oros had also been destroyed. So with that in mind he took four empty chests and filled them to the brim, one with clothes, the other with hundreds of silver and gold coins, and the third with many different precious stones he could trade with.

In the last chest he put three of the dragon eggs, he was aware that if Oros was no more that he would need the might and power of more than just Seafyre, so he picked three of the fifty or so eggs to take with him, one was black with dark purple swirls around it, one silver with flecks of gold, which reminded him of his own hair and the last was completely gold in color, it was actually quite mesmerizing, it looked like beaten gold in the shape of an egg.

In the same chest he put three of his families Dragon horns and three whips. All spelled to allowed the wielder to control the dragons more easily. The horns would summon any dragon in the immediate vicinity to the user and the whips were to command the Dragon during flight.

He strapped the four chests to the saddle of Seafyre before he walked to one of the many Valyrian steel weapons in the room.

Towards his sword.

It had been the last gift his older brother, Aelyx, had given him before he died. It was one of his most treasure possessions.

It was a a valyrian steel bastard sword, his brother had named Valongar, Little Brother. Its sheath was made of cherry-wood and was decorated with many small rubies. The blade itself was pristine, having the trademark black and grey coloring of Valyrian steel and its hilt was also made from cherry-wood wrapped in horse leather with a big polished ruby gem as a pummel.

Aside from that he took a set of valyrian steel daggers that had belonged to his grandfather. They were his favorite daggers since they had the red sheen only reforge Valyrian steel had. His grandfather had them made from the short-sword of one of his enemies after he defeated them in battle. He strapped his own Dragon Horn to his side, hanging by two leather strap just below his daggers.

When he finished strapping on all his armor, minus he helm, he walked up to the front of the still spelled Seafyre and placed both his hands on her head.

There were no words needed to use magic, just intent and the right foci to weave that intent into reality. As the ring on his right hand started glowing he started to see the stasis spell on Seafyre begin to dissipate.

First the layers of dust on the dragon vanished into nothingness, the her whole body began to shimmer and ripple and finally with one massive inhale the dragon opened its massive maw and took a big gulp of air.

He had to take a step back as the dragon breathed out releasing a wave of heated air, he felt like he was standing at the mouth of one of the volcanoes the air was so hot. The mighty dragon opened its eyes and stared at him intently, it took the beast a few seconds but in the end it recognized him.

Contrary what some of the lesser Houses though, he knew good and well that the dragons they used for their mounts were damn intelligent. The recognition on the dragons eyes as it stared at him was proof enough.

"Its just you and me girl...mother is gone." he said and the sadness that was reflecting in Seafyre's eyes told him much, they had both lost their mother. They were all each other had left. Brother and sister. Rider and Dragon.

He leaned his head on the dragons muzzle and with another puff of air he felt the connection between he and Seafyre establish. Since he was learned in the art of magic and sorcery he didn't need the whip to control his dragon during flight. He just needed a strong will and a few words.

He walked back towards the table where he had laid his mother, he couldn't see her anymore, her body and staff were completely wrapped. He picked her up and walked towards Seafyre's side, the dragon let loose a long anguish screech when he caught a whiff their mother's skeleton.

"I know girl. We'll find someplace nice to bury her." he said as he secured her to Seafyre's saddle. He couldn't keep himself from wondering what fate had befallen his father. Seafyre nudged him with her snout as a way to cheer him up. Even in his grief he couldn't keep a small smile from his face.

"Come with me and together we shall face the unknown." he told her as he walked to the side of the Vault, to the side exit his mother must have used to get Seafyre in to it.

The small quakes and trembles he felt behind him told him Seafyre following him.

"Open." as he gave the command and touched the rune the wall, it segmented into itself and made a massive opening, thankfully the spells on the vault kept any of the smoke and fire from entering.

With the massive doors open he had told hold back a grimace when he again was made to see the destruction that had befallen his beloved Freehold.

Also what his mother had written was proven true, on the side of the entrance the blackened skeleton of a massive dragon could be seen, it was almost as big as the mountain itself. Shaking his head to clear any tumultuous thoughts, he turned back and grabbing hold of Seafyre's saddle he jumped up into the dragon's back.

"Fly girl, take to the skies." Seafyre walked out of the Vault and with a mighty flap of her massive golden wings the great she-dragon launched into the air over the ruined city.

It had been hundreds of years but again a dragon flew over the skies of Valyria.

As he and Seafyre rose in the air the wall that gave way into his family's vault closed behind him, keeping the rest of his riches safe. Safe until he came back for them.

He was sure the vaults of some of the other Dragonlords must have survived and he even knew the location of a few but right now he had everything he needed for his trip and his anxiousness to see if any of his family had survived demanded his immediate attention.

Now that he was hundreds of feet over the once magnificent city he could really appreciated the destruction of it. None of the castles or towers remained standing, almost everything was laid to waste, from the sky he could spot the burned skeletons of some of the bigger dragons in the Freehold, rivers of lave flowed from where streets used to be. Everything was completely and utterly gone.

The grief was almost overwhelming as he looked over the remains of his home.

"Lets go girl, forward to Oros." he commanded as he sat back in his saddle and tried his hardest to not look back. Seafyre climbed even higher into the air trying to escape the massive clouds of smoke that hung over Valyria.

The higher the went the less smoky it got, the second they passed the clouds the sky was no longer red, just dark, the whole peninsula had turned dark from all the smoke coming not only from the ground but also from the volcanoes that surrounded it.

Once they got into the sufficient height Seafyre really took off, making her way north towards the coast.

Hours Later; Smoking Sea.

After hours of hard riding they came upon a coast he KNEW wasn't suppose to be there. Apparently whatever happened in his home was so big that a part of it had been flooded into a brand new sea. He made Seafyre descend a bit and from the heat and the bubbles he could see coming from the water he was sure that the sea was boiling hot. The thing that worried him enough to make Seafyre climb back up was that from time to time he could see tentacles breaking through the water surface and whip in his direction.

"Krakens...these waters must be infested with them."he knew Seafyre was strong enough to take on a Kraken but in these waters getting pulled underneath was a death sentence. As he climbed back up towards the clouds he could see many partially sunken ships that littered the waters, he could also see that some of the towers had survived the calamity and if needed he could use one as a resting place. Thankfully Seafyre was easily gliding along.

It took hours to finally reach Oros... and he was sorely disappointed, what once was described as second only in majesty to the city of Valyria was now nothing but a shadow of its former self. The city was in ruins, broken and tarnished from its former glory.

As he ordered Seafyre to fly lower to the ground he could see that while ruined the city was still somewhat inhabited. Unfortunately not by people of Valyria, from what he could see, none of the disheveled and dirty people that now occupied the city had the traits that so distinguished their people. Not a speck of gold/silver to be seen.

He gave a soft sad sigh before he commanded Seafyre to turned towards some nearby mountains to rest for the night.

As they landed he found a small out of the way cave where he could stay the night. As he made himself busy starting a fire, Seafyre flew off to hunt for its food. While it would be easier to use his magic to start the fire his father had always made it a point to teach him that magic was to be respected not squandered doing thing he could easily do with his own two hands.

Just as he finished gathering the stones so he could start a small camp fire, Seafyre landed in the opening of the cave, in her claws she had two dead aurochs.

She dropped one right next to him and the other she started using her own fire to cook it. It still grossed him out watching the way dragons ate. Cooking the creature till it was nothing more than a piece of charred meat before swallowing it whole.

"Enjoy it girl." said Aerion as he pulled out one of his daggers and started cutting up chunks of meat from the carcass. When he had enough he stepped back and made his way towards the campfire, he wasn't a cook in any way shape of form but he knew enough to make a passable meal.

"I have my piece girl, take it." the second he gave his consent the she-dragon fell upon the carcass. As he watched the dragon enjoy her second meal he couldn't help but finger the horn that swung from his side.

"We might be alone girl." thought Aerion as he watched the fire cook the strips of meat.

Weeks Later.

He and Seafyre had spend weeks traveling all over Essos, from the City or Bravos to the savage Vaes Dotrak, and while he found some people with some valyrian blood, mainly in the pleasure houses of Lys, their dragon blood had been so diluted that not even an ounce of the magic necessary to be a Dragonrider could be felt from them.

"How is this possible!? The mighty Valyrian Freehold reduced to this." though Aerion as he finally reached the cave where he had left Seafyre, they were on the island city of Lys, he had just left their premier Pleasure House that boasted about having girls descended from Valyrian nobility but aside from the purple eyes and silver/gold hair he couldn't feel an inkling of magic from them...no change they could control any of the dragons from the eggs he had brought with him.

"What would you do if you were in my place mother." he couldn't help but ask.

During his many travels over Essos he had found a nice place to put his mother bones to rest, it was underneath a massive oak tree in the heart of what used to be Andalos, the tree was in a hill that overlooked a massive valley, flowers could be seen for miles around.

It was beautiful, and with the help of Seafyre he had made a nice burial place for her. On top of the grave he had stabbed his mothers staff but not before casting a spell with it, the spell would use the remaining magic stored in the staff to keep his mothers grave from being disturbed, the second he stepped foot outside the spells range it would disappear from his sight. "Rest in Peace Allyria of House Belaerys, know that you will not be forgotten."

"I have no other choice." thought Aerion as he jumped into Seafyre's saddle and commanded her into the sky. With a few flaps of the beast's mighty wings she took flight and in seconds they were miles away from the island.

"Lets go girl, to the Island of Dragonstone...lets hope at least Aenar's children survived the Doom." That had been on the few things he had managed to learn, the outsiders called what happened to his people The Doom of Valyria. The had no idea what had caused it, just that in a few short hours the mightiest Empire in the world had fallen. The only thing that had survived were a few books and scrolls and the thousand of Valyrian Steel weapons that were all over Westeros and Essos.

The trip to Dragonstone was long, but thankfully Seafyre was used to long trips, his mother and her having had to travel all over the Freehold.

It took hours till he finally spotted the Island, but in the end he found the tiring trip worth it, for the second he came into view of the massive Valyrian-style Castle he saw a sight that brought untold amounts of joy to his heart. A sight he was beginning to doubt would see again.

There, flying in the sky over the Castle, were three massive dragons, two of them smaller than Seafyre, and the third a dragon he hadn't seen in a very long time, Balerion, the massive dragon still as black as night was bathing the Castle in its shadow as it flew over it.