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Vhagar sang a song of lament, of mourning and regret as she followed Caraxes. His human was holding the ashes of her dear rider Laena. The dragon had failed the human in life, and was determined to do her right in death. Her human needed to be returned to her hatching place, where prey was plenty and the wind good for flying. Her spirit would be happy to roam there. Even after seeing her task done, Vhagar guarded the hatching grounds for a time.
She continued her ballad - her Laena, sweet, brave and bold as can be. The one who found her, accepted her and ensured a place for Vhagar. A flock to hunt, fly and explore with. Though it was originally the pair, it became four, then six and was almost seven. But it was all for naught. The old dragon honored the attempt as she had all her other riders. She sang to the humans and other dragons of her Laena.
She entered a cycle of mourning and resting on the dunes of her Laena’s hatching place.
Vhagar awoke at a touch to the ropes tied to her neck. She sniffed at the trembling human hatchling. Had he come for her, once, as her Laena had all those moon sheds ago? Heard her sorrowful song and came to bless her with joy? Anger burned in her throat. Who was he to dare such a thing? How could he ever compare?
He told her to calm, to serve, his body shaking as his voice was filled with hope and fear in equal measure. She let the anger drown in his fear. She scented him again. That fear was not of death. Underneath it she tasted a lingering bitterness. Vhagar decided to give the tiny thing a chance. He would need to pass her test. See if he was worthy. Prove his heart was kin to hers.
They took to the skies, his shrieking filling her ears over the wind. She let the tentative bond seep into her - reaching through to his heart. A great anguish lied within. The anguish of one without a flock who so desperately craved it. Something that pushed him to act in the face of his fear. That made him brave and bold. Yes, this boy would be hers. His courage would lead them to a new flock. She roared as his herald, gliding above the human stone dens, announcing their bonding.
Let all know Vhagar would defend her hatchling to the death!
She returned him to the shore near the stone den, watching him leave after he pet her snout. He would come back for her when the sun awoke to fly across its territory once more. Vhagar closed her eyes, nestling into a soft patch of sandy grass. She sprawled, relaxed in a way only a mighty predator could be.
A great pain lanced through her and she roared to the moon, a searing bite in her eye. She rubbed her face into the grassy dune - it was not her, it was her hatchling. Fury consumed her chest, her throat, her mouth. Who had dared to harm what was hers? Vhagar launched to her feet, glide-jumping towards the stone den her hatchling went into. The attackers would pay. Let them learn the meaning of wrath!
She sniffed near the stone for her hatchling’s scent, trying to find where he had gone. She growled in frustration as she studied the structure and the humans with their pitiful fire freezing in her shadow. He was somewhere inside where she could not follow. She had seen the humans crumble in their stone dens from the might of flame and claw. If she began to tear it apart, her own hatchling would be at risk.
His fear was bleeding through the bond, the pain dulled but aching. She twisted her neck to look into the clear, shiny bits of stone that let her see into the den. Where was he within? His blood was near an entrance she had no hope to fit inside. Why had he gone where she could not follow? All other riders had done so - all had fallen to the human dens. She rumbled with displeasure. How could she protect something so fragile, so helpless and weak without her if he was inside a den too small for her?
Vhagar paced the structure, circling, searching for a way to retrieve her hatchling from stony death.
His fear, nipping at their heels, soared into a distressed crescendo of betrayal and shock. A storm of dread overtook them both and she wailed in dismay. She began to roar in earnest, flames scorching the outside of the castle wall lightly. Vhagar could not tear the human den apart but she could injure and wound it, forcing it to cough out her hatchling. She would not allow death to win again!
It relinquished her hatchling with screams from its inhabitants after she bashed her tail into its hide with hate. He ran to her side and she lowered her head to get a better look at him in the darkness. One side of his miniscule face was an ugly, glaring red, even in the dark. Only one of his purple eyes reflected in her green. She had looked at dead humans whose heads had been damaged by rock and human claw. His wound looked too close to the dead soldiers from old. The stone den was vulnerable now - fire glowed in her throat. He told her to be calm, to serve.
She huffed, a great cloud of smoke engulfing him. He coughed and she snorted to clear it away. Vhagar glared at the den. Even if this one did not take him into its wretched stomach again - who was to say another one wouldn’t? He had his own hatching grounds, surely a human den was established there. There was one in hers. Even Balerion had sung to her of great human lairs at his home island. Yet he had failed at his task to take his distressed hatchling to a place where she would be safe and happy.
She would not fail her boy ever again, as she had this night. She would not fail him as she had all her other riders. Visenya, old and haggard, where she could not comfort her. Baelon, stomach aching, in a tower where she could not aid him. Laena, injured in the den, away from her protection. This was her last rider. Her scales were falling off, her wings heavy, her muscles withering and familiar fire consuming her from the inside out. She would not fail her final human.
Vhagar knew a place she could take her hatchling. Her old flock with Laena had gone there, once. A great sea of grass - lush with prey and empty of human dens. Death could not claim him in those dark, constricting depths as it had all her other humans if there were no stone dens to begin with. Vhagar would always be at his side. He would be protected in her mighty wings - safety, food, comfort and love were all things she could provide. She crouched, twisting to the side to present the saddle to her boy.
He was confused but climbed aboard. He strapped the chains to himself this time, secure and ready. Vhagar began to trot, then sprint, lifting her wings as they took off into the sky. They left the island and its humans behind. He clung to her saddle, exhausted and tired. Sleep, she whispered. His mind was still whirring in distress, in pain. Wondering where they were going. Sleep, she sang. She would shepherd him to greener pastures, to a safe land of plentiful prey where they would be their own flock. His mind slipped into the waters of dreams as she navigated the stars.
Her boy largely slept as she flew over oceans and islands, confused and often tugging at her reins to go back. She barely felt the pulls. She ignored his cries to serve. She was serving him, couldn’t he see? Vhagar knew better than a hatchling did. The lands he came from held no safety or proper flock for him. This territory will be better, she promised him with a chirp.
They flew and hunted together for a shed of the moon. She licked at his face regularly, ensuring his wound did not fester and grow. It was delicate work - often she simply engulfed him entirely by mistake. Vhagar was always gentle. She would never give him a reason to fear her, to fear she would eat him.
While his injury healed his heart did not. The betrayal had stabbed deep, too deep for Vhagar to reach. He did not sing with his throat - but she recognized a sorrowful song when she felt it. Despite her being everything he would ever need, he was still lonely. He whispered to her of his old flock - of his nest mates, his egg mother, his sire and his kin. I want to go back, he murmured into her face one night, sooty from their meal. But Vhagar refused. Underneath his sorrow and desire to return was anger and pain. It simmered, low and soft, yet it was there all the same.
No, she growled at him. Going back to his old flock would rot his brave, courageous heart. Betrayal, anger and shame would devour him to leave a husk of a brave and bold boy behind. She looked towards his missing eye. They are no good for you, she hissed.
They are all I know, he pleaded.
You know me, she stated. You know the stars, the sun and moon, the scent of prey, the wind and a fire within.
But what of books and beds? What of knights and ladies? What of mothers and sisters? He protested, teary.
She roared and her wings flared up. They all turn to ash beneath my flames!
He wept at her side, curling up as if he wished to return to the confines of his egg. She put a wing over him to protect him from the cold wind. Vhagar refused to be moved by his begging. When he began to explore less when they were on the ground, she paid it no mind. When he drank less, she worried. When he refused prey for three sun patrols, Vhagar was forced to concede and bowed her head in acceptance.
She would take him back to humans - but not to the ones who had wounded him.
Vhagar took to the skies with her hatchling, following the scent of horse and man. It did not take long to find their quarry; they screamed in fright and attempted to run off. Vhagar hissed and herded them to the old bones of stone dens she had seen before. When they entered she crashed to the ground, using her tail and neck to trap the herd inside.
Her boy shouted at them till eventually the horses frightfully danced in place, ceasing their running. He climbed down her neck to her head as he attempted to talk to one of the men who came forward on a large black steed. Their human clicks and squeals were too different to understand the other. It all largely sounded the same to Vhagar but she could feel her hatchlings frustration. He told her to fly, to follow the herd.
They followed them for many sun patrols, Vhagar a constant shadow. Eventually a sprawling human colony was seen, two large rock horses at the front. She hissed and shook her head, more stone dens! Vhagar began to turn around but her boy protested, pleading with her to land in front of the horses. She grumbled and groaned but did as he asked.
The earth rumbled as she landed, sniffing the fake horses and getting a better look at the dens. It seemed most were made of the dead grass around them, but the ones at the center were stone. She huffed and reluctantly let her hatchling get down. When he tried to go past the horses with the men they had followed she hissed at him. Vhagar put her head down to block his way.
You will stay where I can see you.
I need to go inside, they can help me, he pleaded.
They can help you here! She snapped.
He rubbed his face and went back to her side. She raised her head to watch over the comings and goings of the humans, eyeing a small flock who approached her boy. Vhagar bared her teeth in warning. Her boy talked to them for a time. The sun went to its den and still they talked. Vhagar closed her eyes but kept her ears and bond open. She was not as energetic as she was in her youth. Sleep called to her often, its low song so loving and tempting.
But she stubbornly refused the wonderful embrace to better protect her boy. Her hatchling told her he wished to stay here. Vhagar growled at him, presenting the saddle. He growled back, pitiful and weak compared to hers. The audacity! Could he not see her bulk compared to his tiny frame? Her teeth swords and his pebbles? The boldness he regained stilled her and she listened as he pleaded his case to her.
I will always stay with you, but please, I need to learn from them, his eyes were watery.
Everything you need to know I can teach, she huffed.
I need to learn how to protect myself, how to get home.
I shall protect you, always - and this is now our home, her swishing tail flattened the grasses.
I want my own claws. He squared his shoulders. There was her brave boy.
Mine do not suffice?
Yours are long and sharp. They are for big prey - I need to feed myself one day, on little prey. I need my own claws.
Vhagar was displeased but could see his point. He did not eat much, but he ate near constantly whereas she ate every few moon sheds. Learning how to properly feed him was a challenge she had struggled to conquer. Being able to fend for himself would let her have longer, deeper sleep. Her eyelids were heavy. With a click of her tongue she relented, but she would still be in control of their tiny flock. It was time for rest and he went aboard her saddle to sleep, as they had done for many nights now.
The human with the large steed, large for humans that is, was training her boy to wield their special claws and their unique not-fire. They had left the city after a moon shed to follow the leader of the human flock. Vhagar scouted ahead at her hatchlings urging - groups of prey he selected they would herd back to the human flock. Sometimes the prey was ungulates, other times it would be other human flocks atop horses. Few joined the flock. Most had items taken from them and sent on their way, defeated in battles that never took place.
When they did not chase prey or roam the grasslands, Vhagar watched her boy grow stronger. He shot from a curved stick, play-fought with the human leader, moved boulders and practiced being sneaky. For many moon sheds a new cycle of behavior was established. They would leave the human colony and chase down prey, then her boy would train into the night. After a few hunts they would return to the two horses rearing up in the air. For a clawful of sun patrols they would stay - and her boy would trade some of the human items given to him by the human flock leader. He was fond of decorating her saddle and its ropes with shiny things.
Vhagar watched her hatchling grow into an adult. He became tall and broad - compared to other humans. He wore her shed scales sewn into horse hide, his choice of claws carved from a small horn of hers that had been knocked out in a poor landing; he put green paint on his body to mimic her own highlights. His curved stick, a bow he had told her, was long and could spit a dart that would travel nearly as long as her fire went. She purred, content, when Aemond brought back kills and won his fights more often than naught.
Her boy, on nights that brought chill winds where the moon was full, would think of his old flock. Of course, her love had chased away the need for the ones who had hurt him. Yet longing curled about the edges of their shared vision - he desired, in some ways, to go back. But it was always a brief desire that was quickly forgotten. Her boy had the human leader, and a few others whose company he seemed to enjoy. He had his chosen flock now.
One day he told her of a city of chains, of evil and malice, a golden harpy atop its gates. That he and the greater flock wished to take the city - to cast down the harpy, to reforge the chains, to let its people rejoice in freedom. To appease his gods. Would he help her, lend her flames to his cause? Fly into a barrage of scorpion bolts for him? Could Vhagar come to a real battlefield once more for Aemond? She considered… Yes, she would do it. She rose up and let out a roar, following her rider’s chosen flock of men and beasts until they reached a pale, gleaming city.
The city tried to resist her, but they had grown lax - dragons had not roamed the sky in the area for many generations. Their bolts were made for younglings whose hide was thin, hers was akin to a dozen shields laid atop the other. Her fire burst their gate into a dozen large pieces, melting the top of the walls where archers fired at the horse humans. Aemond roared alongside her, their bloodlust singing as one. His flock poured into the city and slew the ones who had caused many inside pain. She hovered over the human colony, smoke billowing in the sky and outwards from her mighty wing flaps. They supported the charge on the city from above.
When all was said and done, the sun was nearly finished with its patrol and the pair had landed near the bay. Aemond pulled out bolts and arrows that had lodged in between her scales and skin. She shuffled at times, feeling little pin pricks of pain. Soon it was over and a group of humans approached them. Half were of the horse flock, the other half of the city they sieged. They talked with her rider long past the time she fell asleep under the stars.
When Vhagar awoke Aemond was still with her, but tents had been set up around her bulk and the city. Humans milled about, pulling at the rubble and a pile of shackles was growing ever higher. So too was a collection of humans in sparkling, colorful clothes that were held at human claw point. She watched the proceedings, her rider continuing to chatter. Diplomacy, he told her. Vhagar thought back to the last time she took down a human colony - yes, this part always happened. It would continue for a few sun patrols, then they would move to conquer another.
She largely slept during this time, only waking when Aemond brought her a herd of goats to feast on. A gift, he said, from the freed city. The next time she awoke a crowd had gathered about her, Aemond telling her to rise to her feet. He shouted from atop her head to the flock and the humans in bright clothes were brought forth. They were stripped of their shiny false scales until they were bare in the hot sun. He gave her the command as he sat in her saddle. With relish Vhagar burned and devoured the fat humans. Satisfaction twisted through both of them.
Fire and Blood! Chanted the crowd, roaring in unison with Vhagar and Aemond.
Vhagar and Aemond annihilated other cities that chained their inhabitants, stripping and devouring the fat slave masters who had not feared dragons for hundreds of years. Their chosen flock grew in size, warriors from the cities following them to gain glory and slay their former masters. They had a few close calls - a spray of bolts into the membrane of her wings, a rain of arrows down on Aemond his shield had barely deflected (one got into his leg). Yet they were victorious all the same, their territory many miles long with a shimmering bay to feed off of. Dragon Bay, Aemond told her one day.
Her brave and bold boy had shed his past and was living freely at her side. There were still nights he spent awake, broody and sullen. But he assured her it was not from his old flock; he was thinking about what he was building together with her and his allies. Aemond now had a variety of humans that gave him good company. There was the human herd leader, the one that rode the black stallion. There were those about his age, who enjoyed play-fighting together. Humans they had rescued had taken to her boy and followed him. Finally, the human colony leaders who obeyed his commands she sometimes saw.
One day, as they rested on the bay near a colony after visiting the leaders, her keen eyes spotted something in the distance. She normally would have dismissed it as a bird and fall back asleep - but this creature was too large. She inhaled deeply, raising her head as the winds blew to her. Dragon, she snarled. Aemond chained himself to her saddle and together they flew to confront the intruder inside their territory. Vhagar roared and the city did as well with the clanging of hundreds of bells.
Her wing flaps were bolts of thunder, racing towards the challenger as quick as lightning. Nay, it was no challenger but a mere hatchling struggling to flap its wings in the gusts she was creating. It was a nimble creature, more agile and faster than she. Vhagar hissed in frustration as it continued to barely dodge her dives and sweeps. Its rider was screaming something at her, at her own rider, a desperate plea in its tone. A pitiful attempt at mercy.
But Aemond tugged at her reins, commanded her to cease attacking. Force it to the ground! He commanded. She clicked with reluctance, eying the silver youngling. Using her bulk and the gusts of her wings she managed to force the other dragon to land - otherwise it would go tumbling and potentially crash into the ground. She followed after it, hundreds of feet away, her bulk slamming into the sand as she twisted to round on the intruder. It may not be a real threat to her but it certainly was to her rider.
The juvenile shrunk away from her, ducking its head in submission and warbling in an attempt at peace. Its rider had dismounted and was shouting something at her. No, not at her, it was in the human squeals and was for Aemond. She huffed at the pair. Who were they to deliberately enter her marked territory then cry for a truce? Vhagar bared her teeth in anger. Be calm, Aemond whispered, petting her neck. She huffed and reluctantly let the bloodlust recede. He unchained himself and began to step down to her head - she lowered it so he could talk to the other dragon rider.
They spoke back and forth, her bond with Aemond roiling with emotions. Anger, pain and betrayal had nearly made Vhagar bite the other dragons head off in a rage, however the fiery emotions were banked with grief, sadness and bitterness. She crooned imploringly at him. Why must he torment himself so? Why chitter another moment longer with this runt? They could be done with this horrific exchange in a heartbeat. Yet her stubborn human stayed in place at war with his own soul.
Eventually the two humans returned to their respective dragons. She let out a hiss to the runt as a warning, don’t get any ideas. The only reason he lived was because Aemond had persuaded her not to attack. He whined and she took off, taking her rider back to his chosen flock. There was still a battle inside his mind, though she hated to admit it, he would need the other humans to aid her in winning it. When they landed the flock was waiting for him and swarmed, chattering and yelling in concern. Vhagar shook her head with a huff.
Aemond stayed up long after Vhagar entered an uneasy rest. The next morning he was at peace with himself. She sniffed him. Anxiety and fear still lingered but it was fading. She chirped inquisitively while he ate his first meal of the day, what will we do with the whelp?
We are going to help him, he said as he chewed.
Her tail thumped the ground, why?
My mother and sister may die if we don’t .
They are nothing but pain bringers! Her claws dug great furrows in the sand.
No. Those ones loved me the best they could. But they did not have your great talons or wide wings, he pointed out amicably.
Vhagar shook her head in disdain, did they not have claws?
They couldn’t use them then, his song of mourning was back.
They are weak, she hissed.
Then we must protect them, her brave boy said, injured again. Please, Vhagar. Help me help them. Lend me your might. She considered it. She had a nagging feeling that they would always haunt him. But perhaps this would lessen the hurt - lessen the number of nights he thought of them with his heart in two. With great reluctance she agreed after he assured her - I will be avenged for the night you could not protect me.
The next day the runt and his boy had returned, in front of the flock and her. She let out smoke from her nostrils as a warning. The flock, the boy and Aemond talked for a time. Then the boy was laid down and after a time she smelled blood. She nearly growled but realized it was not from her rider - it was from the other boy, whose dragon strangely did not react. They began to wrap the boy in linens as they had done her rider the night they had claimed each other. She looked at Aemond. Was this, truly, the one who had injured him? Or part of the fight? He refused to tell her but she could feel his satisfaction. Justice had been granted at last.
After this they flew over the cities, flying side by side with the boy and the runt. They gathered the wooden dens, ships they were called, filled with humans with their long-claws and dark false skin. Finally they escorted the fleet around the edge of the sea and land, passing by ports and weaving through islands she had once flown with an injured hatchling. Vhagar relished in hunting the large sea creatures that inhabited these parts again. But they continued their journey and began to siege the cities she felled long ago with her dearest Visenya.
All the fights were brief, as they had been when Balerion and Meraxes flew alongside her as their own flock. This time, she had the runt, and they did not go as far north as they once had. Aemond and she spent many moon sheds conquering once more. Yet this time, he was not filled with satisfaction and victory. This time he was resigned and full of dread. Was he worried about defeat? She chirped at him, reassuring him of her might despite death nipping her tail. He told her defeat was not his grief - it was the slaying of his own people. Vhagar snorted and that was the end of it.
At long last the fighting came to an end and she was back in the human colony her Visenya had dwelled in long ago. She and Aemond watched as the humans gathered for a crown to be laid on a head and many rejoices were given. She roared as one with the other dragons at her riders command. After a grand feast and the moon coming out for its patrol, Aemond returned to her saddle and whispered to her. Soon, he said. Soon we will be home again. She crooned happily. And we will have a bigger flock to fly with. She closed her eyes, content at last.