Chapter 114 - Dragonstone Island (III)
🕑 Added 2025-02-14 01:02:53 +0000 UTC“Dragonstone is mine.” Daenerys Targaryen, looking at the Sardaukar filling all the corridors of Dragonstone.
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Nine-year-old Shireen Baratheon was reading a book in her room. The girl had the features of her father and mother, her father's square, protruding chin and her mother's large ears. She wasn't pretty, but her blue eyes were particularly innocent and beautiful. She wore a brown dress while resting the book on her thighs.
The left side of her face and a large part of her neck was cracked and gray. It was a terrible disease called Grayscale, a disease that can leave the flesh stiff and dead, and the skin cracked and scaly, stained black and gray and stone-like to the touch.
As Shireen continued to read, she heard a strange sound, it sounded like a long, distant guttural sound accompanied by the sound of flapping wings.
Curious about the sound, she put the book aside and made her way to the balcony of her room. Her curiosity turned to a morbid pallor when she saw the black and red creature flying in the sky.
On the horizon, twenty ships with black sails bearing the coat of arms of House Targaryen were approaching Dragon Stone.
Shireen didn't even need to inform them that they were under attack, as the bell began to ring loudly and reverberating, all the guards were mobilized in an instant.
Riding Balerion, Daenerys couldn't help but stare at House Targaryen's ancestral castle with a look of fascination. The whole structure looked like a dragon made of black stone, erected under a lonely hill with ancient magic from Ancient Valyria.
She was determined to bring the Dragon Stone back to her Family before the reconquest began. Suddenly, Daenerys noticed the guards under the castle walls, all holding spears and pointing Scorpions in her direction.
Daenerys smiled at the sight of those weapons used to kill dragons. Although they only worked on young dragons like Balerion, her own dragon was wearing armor, protecting the sensitive and vital parts of the dragon.
As Aenar had taught her, she would gain altitude and then fly downwards at great speed, raining fire down from the sky on her enemies, then go up again, repeating the process until there were no enemies left alive.
That's what Daenerys did.
Balerion descended from the sky at great speed, like a black meteor crossing the heavens.
Daenerys felt her hair flutter violently against the wind as the dragon plunged towards the ground. She narrowed her eyes, narrowing her vision to see more clearly and when she was close to the castle walls, she ordered.
“Dracarys.”
At Daenerys' command, Balerion roared and spat black and red flames at the guards on the walls. The Mother of Dragons had targeted the Scorpions, destroying the most dangerous weapons first.
Screams were heard as men ran with their bodies engulfed in the dragon's flames, some rolling on the ground in an attempt to stop the fire while others fell from the walls and died soon after.
Daenerys didn't show much emotion at the scene before her and regained altitude before repeating the same process as before, destroying all the guards on the walls.
In a medieval world, having a dragon meant that a castle was no longer a war fortress, but a stationary target ready to be shot down at any moment.
No matter how many giant arrows the Scorpions fired, the chance of hitting a target flying through the air extremely fast was as slim as a sniper trying to hit a moving target's head. An almost impossible mission even for the most experienced snipers.
By the time the Scorpions' arrows shot out, Balerion was already tens or hundreds of meters away, how could something like that hit a dragon?
In the end, after half an hour, there were no more men on the walls and House Targaryen's fleet had already docked at the port of Dragonstone.
Curiously, there was no attack from the locals who were descendants of Valyria, with blonde or platinum hair, blue or lilac eyes.
Daenerys made Balerion land not far from the small village on Dragonstone where the Sardaukar were disembarking. She looked at Aenar's private army with a curious eye. Although it wasn't the first time she had seen them, their curious appearance still aroused her curiosity.
The Sardaukar wore long white and gold robes, and you could see nothing but their eyes beneath their golden helmets. They were silent and possessed an aura capable of frightening any normal adult.
“Surround the castle, I will demand the surrender of Dragonstone or I will burn everyone inside the castle without any hesitation.” Daenerys ordered as she looked at the army called the Golden Horde by the people of Essos.
That was a lie, Balerion still didn't have as much power as Balerion the Black Dread, but the people inside Dragonstone didn't know that fact. After all, a dragon hadn't appeared in Westeros for hundreds of years, what people knew about dragons came from exaggerated stories and tales spread among the commoners.
Looking at the army before her, as far as Daenerys knew, half of the Sardaukar were Unsullied who had been given to Aenar by an important nobleman from Slaver's Bay, a nobleman she didn't care to remember the name of, as she hated anyone with slaves.
These Unsullied became the Sardaukar and eventually became human again. Although they had lost certain skills with discipline and the ability to kill a baby without any hesitation, they made up for it with indomitable determination and a sense of loyalty to Aenar.
Inside Dragonstone, Selyse Baratheon, née Florent, was sitting on a black throne in the shape of a dragon. Shireen could be seen on her lap, the woman was protecting her daughter even at this moment.
“Axell, how are we dealing with the invasion?” Selyse asked with a worried tone, the woman was visibly pale. She had personally seen guards being burned alive and their screams still seemed to ring in her mind.
“We have twenty men left and the other side has about a thousand men and two hundred men.” Axell Florente, Chaplain of Dragonstone, serving his nephew, Stannis Baratheon, replied with an equally pale expression. Nobody wanted to die, and Axell was no different.
If possible, he wanted to guard the castle until reinforcements arrived from King's Landing, but this was no ordinary invasion, the other side had a dragon and could storm the castle at any time. The only reason they weren't dead was because the enemy wanted them to surrender.
“They're asking us to surrender or we'll burn in dragon fire.” Axell spoke with a tense tone, but continued speaking. “Queen Daenerys I of House Targaryen has said that as long as Dragonstone opens its gates for her arrival, she will not harm anyone, not even Lady Selyse or her cousin, Lady Shireen.”
Selyse didn't answer and asked something, looking straight into Axell's eyes. “Is there any chance of us winning?”
Axell hesitated, but answered. “There's a small chance, but they're minimal. We can take Queen Daenerys hostage and buy time, but that's almost impossible with a dragon and an army that will follow her when the gates open.”
Closing her eyes tightly, Selyse hugged her daughter tighter and let out a sigh. Dragonstone wasn't as important as Shireen...
“Open the gates, we surrender.” Opening her eyes, Selyse spoke with a weary tone. She knew she would be considered a traitor when the news reached King's Landing, but she didn't care. At least she and her daughter would be safe. The queen calling Shireen cousin showed that she recognized the blood bond between them.
And the fate of the murderer of relatives was cruel.
Shireen had a curious look in her eyes, knowing that it was her cousin who was the dragon rider made her eyes sparkle. In her eyes, she had a chance to see the dragon up close and even win a dragon for herself. The innocent girl didn't know that this was impossible.
But as Shireen had thought, she did have a chance of bonding with a dragon, although the chances were almost nil given the four-generation lineage separating her from Rhaelle Targaryen, grandmother of Robert, Stannis and Renly.
With Selyse's decision, the gates of Dragonstone were opened and the Sardaukar advanced, protecting Daenerys in their midst. Balerion flew above them all, looking at anyone with a particularly fierce gaze.
“Welcome to Dragonstone, Queen Daenerys.” Selyse greeted Daenerys with an unpleasant expression. After all, no matter how kind Daenerys had been to preserve her and her daughter's lives, it didn't change the fact that no one would want their castle invaded by anyone.
“Lady Baratheon, I hope you're in good health.” Daenerys greeted Selyse back with a kind and warm gaze, as if they had been friends for a long time.
Comments
Joegan
thats what i was thinking too
Jarod lane
Nice!
Vrati
You mean that after became Sadaukar, the unsullied grew back their parts?
