Chapter Text
Aeryixia sighed, feeling the wind rushing around her body. The warmth from Alvixius’s scales spread through her back.
She could feel the movement of her wings, each gray flap, the movement of strong muscles.
She opened her eyes to see the white clouds above and around her as they glided through them.
A trill cut through the air and a smile made its way onto her face, it was Aeron and his dragon Rhylis.
Rhylis was smaller than Alvixius but not by much, maybe a few feet. He was a gray that was reminiscent of the steel they made. His underbelly was dark red along with his horns, which jutted out along his jaw. He had two larger horns at the base of his head and neck. His eyes were a burning fire color that looked like lava.
“Aeron!”
She called to him as Rhylis broke through the clouds and began to fly next to her.
Alvixius let out a trill of her own, brushing her wing against Rhylis’s.
They flew together in comfortable silence for a while before Aeron spoke, “Have your parents decided who you’re going to marry yet?”
“No,” she said, sitting up to look at him,
“Have yours?”
He grimaced slightly, “They’re considering Thylaea.”
She raised an eyebrow, “The blood amber daughter?”
He nodded, one hand sweeping his white-blonde hair out of his face, “Yeah, crazy right?”
She nodded, “Her brothers a few teeth short of a full dragon's jaw isn’t he?”
He snorted, “A few? More like missing half but yeah, that’s him. Crazy bastard.”
“He really is, I hope she isn’t like that.”
He shrugged, “I’ve only met her once but she seemed nice, but dreamy and clueless, but nice.”
It was silent again for a few moments before Aeron spoke again, “I guess we better head back.”
She sent him a grin, “Race you to Draka’s Tower!”
Alvixius flared her wings and beat them hard, turning her body shapely as Aeron shouted a protest before souring Rhylis after them.
She laughed as they raced each other, the sound of wing ears filled the air.
In the distance she could see the sparkling black buildings of Valyria.
Draka’s Tower was one of the tallest and largest in all of Valyria, made for dragons to land on and take off from. It was her family's greatest pride, being her descendants.
Alvixius landed with a heavy thump, just barely beating Rhylis.
“Fuck!” She heard Aeron swear and she laughed, dismounting Alvixius who had lowered herself to the ground to make it easier.
“Thank you Alvi, I’ll see you later.”
Alvixius chittered to her, turning her head to stare at someone behind her.
“Aeryixia, I hope your flight was pleasant.”
She smiled, turning to see her bastard great-uncle, Aerixiv. As the bastard brother of her grandfather, he had been permitted to care for the family dragons after taking a blood oath and swearing to never take one of his own.
Bastards, while not scorned as she heard they were in Westeros, were not fully integrated into their families.
They were raised to be Keepers, people who would fly, feed, and watch dragons of all ages, polish, heat, and take care of the eggs, as well as saddle the dragons of the families. They took the blood oaths after a bastard tried to steal a dead family member's dragon some thousand years ago and the oaths had been mandatory ever since. They weren’t all bastards either, some were disabled, physically or mentally.
Her family didn’t have that many bastards, only five she knew of.
Her great-uncle Aerixiv, her great aunt Arvorae, her aunt Lyriae, uncle Typhox, and her half-brother Aerlin.
“It was, has Syvixi been behaving?” Her nephew’s dragon was notoriously boisterous and didn’t listen or behave for anyone but him.
He laughed, “She’s behaving as much as she ever does with me.”
Aeryixia laughed as Aerixiv went over and rubbed Alvixius’s snout, making her putt happily at the attention (not that she never gave her any, she just likes attention all the time).
“Your fathers inside waiting for you.” He said, smiling at her.
“Bye Aeron, I’ll see you tomorrow!”
Aeron bid her goodbye as Rhylis kept off the platform, flying over the city towards his family's tower.
All forty families lived in towers, some were bigger than others and more elaborate and decorated than the lesser families.
The Targaryen’s were a minor house several leagues behind her own. Even though houses fell and rose all the time, it had a lot to do with the amount of dragons in a family. There was also the politics of it all but that wasn’t her forte just yet. There was a chance the Targaryens would rise in power but it was quite unlikely to happen within the century.
It usually took a century for any real change in the rankings to happen but it wasn’t unheard of.
She walked down the spiraling stairs, the end of the stairs all ended with an elaborately carved dragon head.
The rail was covered in dragon scale design, the small groves were smooth but the lines that made the scales were obvious. The end of the rail too ended with a dragon head but this one was breathing fire.
The archons, the elected leaders, were who the towers actually belonged to, as proverbial heads of the families. They resided in the huge meeting house when they held court over decisions and where the elections took place. Their families, like her, lived in the buildings connected to the tower.
Each city had its own Archons, except for the Free Cities which governed themselves.
Her uncle was one such archon of Valyria, though the original name was Vaylira and some people still called it that as to not confuse it with the island they were on.
It was rather strange, the name of the large city and the peninsula had the same name but no one cared enough to change it, they just called the city something similar.
“Aeryixia!” Her fathers deep voice called to her and she grinned, picking up her pace to greet him.
“Hey dad!” She gave him a hug.
He put his hands on her shoulders, “How was your ride?”
“It was great, as always. Alvixius and I raced Rhylis and Aeron today, I won.”
He laughed and squeezed her shoulder, “That’s my girl, show that Targaryen who’s boss.”
She knew he was joking but the undercurrent of disdain for the Targaryen’s shown through.
She smiled but rolled her eyes, “Oh Aeron’s not that bad, he’s not his father.”
Aeron’s father had tried to raise his houses power but had only succeeded in knocking them down several ranks, rendering them nearly at the bottom. Her father had always complained about his not so thinly veiled insults against them and had disliked the Targaryen’s ever since.
“Well I suppose not.” Her father grumbled, squeezing her shoulder again before walking off, beckoning for her to follow him.
She never got tired of walking through the tower and the building it connected to. Sure it was a pain to walk all those stairs but it was beautiful. They walked down all the flights and through the library, into a long hallway that would lead to the dining area.
The long hallway was littered with dragon carvings, the rafters above were stone with dragon heads carved on the end against the ceiling.
Their eyes were made of emeralds, rubies, and sapphires, alternating between them.
The torches under the rafters were held by stone carved into dragon claws while the ones freestanding on the wall were intricately carved from the stone block into a pocket where the flame resided. A dragon wrapped around it, the head over the top with its wings on each side, clawed feet curling around the base with the tail down below.
The tower had thirteen levels total, fourteen counting the landing pad. Eight were above ground while there were five below ground.
The top and next level consisted of the bastard quarters and the next, the biggest level, was where the baby hatchling dragons would stay along with the dragons who wouldn’t be able to defend themselves.
Dragons weren’t the most familial, the parents cared for their young and would defend them but those of a different bloodline tended to try and eat each other.
The level under the baby dragons was mainly used for storage and the one under that was the armory. The next 2 levels were used for the Archons quarters. The last ground level was the solar/study. It also was the level, along with the second level, that connects to the main building where the rest of the family stayed. The first underground level was the ritual room, and the other four levels were full of the old dragon and human bones of their ancestors.
This room was connected with the palace’s library where they had just walked through.
Her fathers solar was messy, scrolls and books lay scattered across his dark wooden desk, the feet carved into dragon claws with small dragons facing each other lined the desk sides.
A bookshelf lined with books stood in the right corner with another on the left. The desk was in the center in front of a window which overlooked the city.
She could see faint shapes of dragons flying around the city, their calls faint but distinct.
“I wish to discuss you marriage, I found some candidates and would like for you to meet them.”
She pulled her eyes away from the window to look at her father, the familiar pale purple eyes that matched her own looking at her with seriousness.
“Who are they?”
“Kavor Vlorin, Vlatoaer Vykae, and Avraxio Yvlaer”
She nodded, as a Delaryen, and a descent of Draka, they had an important bloodline and her father wouldn’t hand her to just anyone.
The Vykae family were a lower tier but rich family while the Yvlaer were one of the top seven, however, they had nearly 7 sons and 4 daughters. The Vlorin’s, however, had only one son. It would ensure her future children would inherit whereas her children with Avraxio wouldn’t inherit much.
“Kavor, I’d like to meet Kavor.”
Her father smiled, “A good choice, Aery, I shall write to Kavlon and tell him the news. I think Alvixius will like his dragon Lyvrixis.”
—-
She didn’t meet Kavor for nearly a moon.
She had waited for him at the top of Draka’s Tower, the run warming the stone beneath her as Alvixius sunbathed beside her.
Her eyes were drawn to her saddle, her great-uncle having redid it for her 15th name day.
It was a sleek black and made from Valaryian steel. Small silver spikes lined the front before forking around the handle and lining the entire edge of the saddle. It was layered in a way, the back having two sharp endings.
It was a masterpiece and she’d have to thank her great-uncle for it when she saw him again.
A shriek rang through the air, a large pale green dragon flying towards her, navy blue accents standing out starkly against the pale green.
The dragon landed heavily, startling Alvixius who whipped around to glare at the offending dragon.
The dragon’s eyes were similar to that of a burning fire, traces of amber flecked in the intelligent eyes.
“Hello, you must be Aeryixia.”
A smooth voice said from atop the dragon and she turned her eyes to look at whom she presumed to be Kavor.
He was handsome, she’d give him that, his hair was more silver than most and his eyes so dark a purple they looked almost black. His face was all the right proportions with a sweet smile and full lips.
She smiled, “And you must be Kavor.”
He nodded with a grin but she noticed the nervous glint in his eyes.
‘Good,’ she thought, ‘I’m not the only one who’s nervous.’
“Well, I suppose we better get on with it then.” He said, his eyes flicking towards Alvixius who was sniffing his dragon.
Lyvrixis sniffed her back, his eyes blinking in curiosity. They were both right to be curious of her dragon, she’d never seen a dragon quote like hers either.
Four frill lines that ended where the saddle began which started back up as three lines along her lower back, shortly where the saddle ended. The frills were on top and on each side of her tail, creating a much larger looking tail that was actually there. Her face was covered in horns, two pairs jutting out from the back of her head with another paid at the end of her jaw. Smaller horns ran along her jaw, head, and the ridge between her nose and eyes, much like a person's nose line. The horns along her cheeks reminded her of a cat's check fluff and a small line of hooked spikes ran along the bottom of her neck which faded into the jutting scales along her chest.
All in all, Alvixius was a striking dragon.
Lyvrixis had a smaller frame but huge wings, seemingly made for speed. His neck had 7 lines of spikes, three on the side and one on the top. Three pairs of horns lined her head with several rows lining her tail, which ended in one large spike. There were no horns on his face but the wings had small spikes jutting out.
The spikes and horns were all a stark white which stood out against the baby blue and pale green scales.
As she mounted Alvixius she couldn’t help but get worried. Though rare, riders have fallen from their dragons before and perished during the Twirl, the courting process. It also wasn’t unheard of for dragons to accidentally crash if they didn’t pull up in time.
They would fly high into the sky before diving, their dragons locking claws. They needed to pull up about the same time in order to even be considered compatible.
Should they pass, they themselves would go on to court for a while and then marry, the Twirl was more for the dragons then themselves though many thought it enjoyable.
She was not one of these people.
Alvixius kept of the platform, flaring her wings, soaring over the city with Lyvrixis soon flying beside her.
There was a special cliff, often called Tsvago’s Cliff, on honor of the ancient dragonlord who created the tradition.
She’d been there once before, to witness her older twin brother’s Twirl. It was a small cliff with large rocks jutting out over the land, creating a platform to leap off of.
The city soon tapered off and the rocky landscape soon took over, the cliff off in the distance.
It was a comfortable silence, both of them were nervous as they flew.
When the cliff was clearly visible they began to ascend, beginning to slowly fly at an angle so they would fly in a circle around an invincible point together.
She closed her eyes, once the Twirl was over it was relatively smooth sailing. Courting wasn’t hard and her father wouldn’t hear of her being harmed in any way, so she knew she was lucky in that regard.
She looked at Kavor who nodded and she titled back, Alvixius turning over and diving down, tucking her wings in to go faster.
She glanced to the side to see Lyvrixis right next to her and their dragons locked talons, their instincts taking cost.
They spiraled down, spinning together faster and faster until everything looked like a blur. The wind whipped around her harshly, she felt like it would slam her out of the saddle any moment.
Up! Her mind screamed, wanting to pull up but she wouldn’t dare, not yet.
But it’s all she wanted to do, her mind screaming that she couldn’t see. She’d done this nice a thousand times but she’d always been able to see the ground and now she couldn’t and neither could Kavor.
She didn’t even know if their dragons could see, how would they ever pull up in time.
She gripped the saddle hard and slowly inched her head toward, eye ssquinting to see the ground.
The ground.
It looked like a green blob that she was hurting towards, Alvixius’s head providing her with a straight look down, the frills blocking the side view.
She winced as the wind smashed into her face, eyes burning at the sensation.
She ducked her head back down against the saddle, the cool metal against the top half of her face while the bottom touched smooth leather.
She closed her eyes and prayed to the 14 Flames that this would turn out alright.
Seconds later she felt her body be slammed against the saddle as Alvixius leveled out, speeding along the ground.
She gasped as her lungs felt like they could finally expand again and she laughed.
It was over, they’d done it!
She turned back to look at Lyvrixis who was turning back their way and she clicked her for Alvixius to do the same.
Lyvrixis flipped around and settled beside them, his wing brushing Alvixius’s.
“Well, that was certainly something.”
“Yeah, it certainly was.”
They shared a relieved smile, although the Twirl was perhaps the biggest and important of all the courting steps, it was the most dreaded one.
Alvixius let out a triumphant roar, feeling her own triumph at completing the dreaded ritual and Lyvrixis let out one of his own, wings beating as he soared higher into the air.
Aeryixia smiled, she knew a challenge when she saw one.
She urged Alvixius forward who was all too eager to take on the challenge, racing past Lyvrixis who screeched in excitement, hearing Kavor’s scream of surprise then shout of excitement.
As they raced over the landscape she could see the slaves in the distance, making their way towards the mines no doubt.
She urged Alvixius to go faster, seeing Lyvrixis shape out of the corner of her eye.
They reached the city and began weaving around buildings as was common for the smaller dragons (who could fit) to do. It was actually a game she’d played as a child with her friends and brother, who could go the fastest and furthest without hitting a building.
Hitting a building was rare but costly so hitting one was a major do not.
Alvixius tucked her wings as she flew under a particularly short bridge, hearing Lyvrixis screech in surprise, no doubt a little too big to go over it.
Her world lurched sideways as Alvixius sped through two buildings, her frills grazing the building behind her.
“A little close there, Alvi.” She said though there was no scolding, Alvixius knew her size better than she did, she knew where she could and couldn’t fit through.
Lyvrixis might have been able to fit through there, she didn’t know, it was tight but it might have been doable.
She could see her family's home and she smiled, flattening herself against the saddle even more.
Alvixius poured in the speed, her wings tucking as she weaved through buildings and over bridges.
She felt her body being pulled downward as Alvixius almost completely straight up, her knuckles white with how hard she was gripping the saddle.
She laughed, she’d never get tired of this, there truly was nothing like riding a dragon.
Alvixius leveled out and landed on the platform, letting out a victorious trill when Lyvrixis landed a moment later.
“Damn your dragons fast, those were some maneuvers!”
Kavor exclaimed, his face beaming and Aeryixia beamed back, perhaps she would actually enjoy this marriage after all or at least she’d make the best of it.