Chapter 2: The Dead Rise Again
You only have power over people so long as you don't take everything away from them. But when you've robbed a man of everything, he's no longer in your power – he's free again.
- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
The darkness would have been overwhelming if not for the light which shone faintly in the cheeks of Daenerys' young dragons. They were not breathing fire as they usually would, but instead allowed a glimmer of flame to burn just behind their jaws. The tunnel was so dark that even the faint glow seemed bright enough for Daenerys as she crept through the catacombs of the keep. After climbing down from the cliffs with the aid of her dragons, it hadn't taken long to find the entrance to the sea cave. Dragonstone was so far removed from the rest of Westeros that the proud Stannis had not even bothered to guard all of the entrances into his borrowed domain. Beyond the cave, vast tunnels extended beneath the fortress as the passage led directly into Dragonstone. The Targaryens were well known for their resourcefulness, determination and of course their strong dislike of having their backs against the wall. As such, they had built their strongholds upon vast undergrounds, constructing passages which only their own blood could successfully navigate.
Daenerys could hear the faint sounds of tinkering and hammering overhead and she gauged her position as somewhere beneath the blacksmith. One day, she thought to herself, one day I shall bring back the smithing of Valyrian steel. The book of Daenys Targaryen will yield the forgotten secrets of how the precious metal was forged. Through fire and power. She smiled at the idea as she pushed on and the blacksmithing sounds faded into the darkness.
Daenerys was relying on the sketches she had seen of Dragonstone as a child since she had never actually laid eyes on the fortress herself. Even at an early age however, the sketches of the castle had always reminded her of The Great Wall in the North. It was tall for a fortress and although its stone base was met with water instead of snow, it still looked like the edge of the world just like the Wall. Viserys had once told her that the only way for an outsider to conquer Dragonstone was to first conquer the ocean around it. Dragonstone was perched perilously close to the jagged sea cliffs and yet somehow the great stone construct remained standing. It should have been reclaimed by the sea hundreds of years ago but still it endured, acting as an eternal reminder of the dragons that had once lived in its towers.
A soft growl from Viseryion had Daenerys freezing in her tracks as she strained to listen in the darkness. Her dragons paused as well, huffing for a moment before the fire in their cheeks extinguished completely, leaving Daenerys blind in the catacombs. She held her breath, not daring to move and listened intently. She found herself subconsciously reaching for the dagger which she had tied hastily to her sash when she left Yunkai, feeling the comforting weight in her hand. Despite Viseryion's growl, the only sound that could be heard was the faint wind which echoed down the tunnel from the distant sea cave entrance. Daenerys let out a small sigh of relief and relaxed her shoulders.
A bright flame suddenly sprung out of the blackness, illuminated in the hand of a tall woman as Daenerys leapt back in shock. A roar signalled Drogon's fury and flames erupted from his jaws, shooting in the direction of the woman. She reacted quickly, holding her arm out, palm extended so that the fire did not reach her body. Daenerys watched in amazement as the woman guided the flames around her body so that Drogon's scorching breath did not burn her in the slightest. Daenerys' largest dragon snapped his jaws shut with an indignant snarl and growled at the woman instead. The woman lowered her arm ever so slowly, still producing the flaming embers in her hand though not as brightly. Daenerys' eyes widened as the tall woman regarded her curiously and Daenerys also took the chance to run her gaze down the woman's figure. She was dressed entirely in a blood red gown and her hair which fell loose over her shoulders was also unmistakeably red. A red woman with control over the fire. Daenerys put two and two together rather quickly, seizing the dagger from her belt and holding it in front of her defensively. Her powers of heat were of little use against a woman who could control the flames as well as herself, perhaps even better. But Daenerys still had one advantage that the Red Woman did not. Daenerys could not be harmed by fire but she was willing to bet this woman could and that's why she would not let her dragon's flames reach her skin. And more importantly, the woman could still be hurt with a blade.
The Red Woman stared at the Mother of Dragons with evident interest but she did not appear afraid even as Daenerys gripped the blade tighter. "Daenerys Targaryen," the woman acknowledged and to her great astonishment, the woman dipped into a low curtsy although she kept her gaze trained on Daenerys. Straightening, the woman took a step forward and Daenerys responded by narrowing her eyes and pointing the dagger threateningly. The woman's eyes flashed to the weapon briefly before a coy smile curved her lips.
"There was a time where you may have needed that against me," the woman said as her face turned serious once more. "But it is not now, Mother of Dragons. Now, time is running out."
"For you maybe," Daenerys responded as her eyes sparkled in warning. She stepped toward Drogon and the dragon nuzzled her shoulder protectively. Viseryion and Rhaegal bared their teeth savagely at the Red Woman, moving into a protective stance in front of their Mother. "I wonder how your magic would fair against the claws and teeth of my dragons." Drogon gave an answering hiss, opening his jaws in appreciation.
The Red Woman truly was fearless even as her own demise stared her in the face. "Not very well," the woman said calmly, noting the size of Drogon's incisors. "But you stand to gain nothing by my death. I can help you."
"I disagree," Daenerys challenged, ignoring the small part of her that acknowledged the truth in the woman's words. Why did the woman not simply attack? "No one can know I am here."
"But I knew you would be here," the woman continued. "I foresaw it some time ago. Although I must admit, I envisaged you coming here in a very different manner. Regardless, this moment was always destined to come to pass. It was the last vision I had before the apparitions in the flames disappeared. Surely even you can see the merit of this?"
"Perhaps you foresaw your own doom," Daenerys suggested dangerously, still not lowering her dagger. The Red Woman smiled and her hand moved to her dress. The movement caught Daenerys off guard and she stepped back in case the woman produced a weapon. But the woman instead retrieved a large, packed leather bound book from within her robes. Its pages were aged and frayed and the green colour of the leather was definitely fading, but miraculously the journal had withstood the vestiges of time and was otherwise undamaged. A Valyrian steel lock completed its cover and since the woman produced no key, Daenerys could only assume it had not been opened in some time. Daenerys gasped as she recognised the book immediately. It was the journal of Daenys Targaryen.
"You could only have one purpose in coming here willingly and without an army to escort you," the woman determined, holding the book out toward Daenerys. She waited for Daenerys to take the journal but she remained frozen in place, unsure of the Red Woman's motives.
"Why?" she demanded. Everything she had heard about the Red Woman didn't add up to the woman who stood in front of her now. "You serve the Red God. I despise everything about your hateful Lord of Light, from the unshakable devotion of his followers to the burning of innocent people at the stake. Why would you help me?"
"I serve the realm," the Red Woman corrected, although it seemed to take some effort on her part to admit this. "My faith in the Lord of Light has always been in the interests of Westeros, regardless of what others may think of my motives. However the Lord of Light no longer serves the realm. Perhaps he never did. He will see this world burn. I will not condemn us all to torment and ruin. Not even for the Lord of Light."
"So this is a question of faith?" Daenerys said coldly. "You expect me to believe that?"
The woman raised a calculative eyebrow. "Believe what you will, but it is not a question. The Lord of Light is the only being with enough power to end this world. And he will. The war is coming and it will not be a battle of Kings that sweeps this Earth. It will be fire reigning down upon a savaged wasteland of blood and death. He will meet the Great Other in a final confrontation and the war of fire and ice will begin. That is what awaits us."
The Great Other? Something tugged in the corner of Daenerys' mind, something that told her the Great Other was more important than she knew, but she tried to ignore it as she stared at the Red Woman defiantly.
"You knew this when you joined the order of the Red Priesthood," Daenerys accused. "This version of how the world will end is nothing new. I give no credence to it. No one can possibly know how the world will fall, not even your Red God."
"Then you are a fool," the Red Woman snapped harshly. "You've seen proof of his powers yet you would still deny them? This has been set down since this world breathed its first breath."
"All I've seen so far," Daenerys said bitterly. "Is a group of deluded individuals dressed all in red garb, following a God they are convinced is the right one. Do you know how many gods there are? How many religions?" Daenerys did not give the woman a chance to respond as she ploughed ahead. "I could care less which god is the true God. This is my realm. It belongs to the people and the gods have no right to it."
"Did you ever think the Lord of Light might have killed all the other gods?" the Red Woman stated bluntly and Daenerys blinked. The woman's calm demeanour faltered a bit as she continued. "I admit, I did not consider it myself for a long time but it is the only explanation that makes sense. The Doom is always remembered as the cataclysmic event that ended the dragons. I believe it may have been the first battle of the gods."
Daenerys could see this woman was fully invested in what she believed and though some of it unfortunately made sense, it also meant that everything that had happened was preordained by some cosmic power. Daenerys was firm of the mind that their destiny was in their own hands and she would fight for it every step of the way. "No," Daenerys denied. "If this was set down from the beginning then your Red God has already won. There wouldn't be any point in fighting anymore."
The Red Woman's gaze softened and it was an odd expression to see on her harsh face. She glanced down at the book in her hands once more before holding it out to Daenerys again. "Maybe when you've read this, you'll change your mind," the Red Woman said softly. "This war I speak of was never envisioned by the gods. It was predicted by your ancestor, Daenys Targaryen."
The words fell on Daenerys like a cold stone pillar and she shivered involuntarily. "Daenys believed that the war between the Great Other and the Lord of Light would bring about the end of the world," the Red Woman continued hastily, now that she could see she had Daenerys' attention. "She wrote it in her journal so that her family would never forget. But when the Doom destroyed Old Valyria, the book was lost. It was found some years later by a group of starved priests who took the journal into their possession."
"Daenys believed in the Red God?" Daenerys echoed in horror.
"She believed in what she foresaw," the Red Woman confirmed. "And so she wrote it down. Translations of her visions filtered down through the temples over the years until a new brotherhood was born."
"No," Daenerys whispered. "No, Daenys would never have founded the Red religion."
"Not intentionally," The Red Woman admitted. "But you must understand her visions were so accurate, and at times quite frequent, that many perceived her to be a Seer of the gods. Her foresight saved your family from the Doom, Daenerys. As the last blood mortals with a connection to the dragons, the Targaryens were inevitably able to conquer Westeros."
"I know my history," Daenerys snapped, unintentionally lashing out.
The Red Woman tilted her head apologetically. "I entreat your pardon. I did not mean to question your knowledge of your ancestors. I'm sure you are aware that Daenys' visions were only ever intended for her family which is why she sealed the contents within this journal." She held up the book for emphasis. "It has never been opened. Not since Daenys first closed it before the Doom."
Daenerys looked at her suspicious dragons who awaited her command and then back at the book in that the woman held in her hands. "How can the Red Brotherhood have supported a religion based on a book that has not been opened in centuries?"
The Red Woman looked away and Daenerys detected a vague hint of uncertainty. "As I have said, loose translations were transcribed throughout the years. But it is also well known within our factions that a servant to the Targaryens was left behind during the conquering of Westeros. He even remained here at Dragonstone as a Ward after the formation of the Seven Kingdoms. When word reached his ears of the journal that the old priests had discovered in the ruins of Valyria, he offered to translate some of the visions which he himself had witnessed years before. It is understood however that he decided to respect the Targaryen's wishes that the journal never be opened except by their blood. Even though the journal remained closed, he was able to transcribe a decent number of the visions that Daenys had had over the years since he had been witness to most of them. He also translated the words on the cover of the journal, including the words of your house. Fire and Blood."
"And I suppose the Red Brotherhood kept the journal sealed all these years out of the goodness of their hearts?" Daenerys quipped doubtfully.
The Red Woman allowed a flicker of a smirk to ghost across her lips. "Some have tried," she confessed. "But the lock is of Valyrian steel. Nigh impenetrable. And it would be impossible to open the book by other means without compromising the pages and contents."
Daenerys felt a tad smug at these words, feeling quite proud of her ancestors for their attempts to protect their family secrets. "You said there have been other translations over the years," Daenerys voiced curiously. "These scripts talk of the final battle with the Red God?"
"The Lord of Light," the Red Woman corrected. "But yes, essentially it tells of the final confrontation which will cover the world in fire and ice."
"And this Great Other?" Daenerys prompted, dreading the answer. "What of him?"
The Red Woman's lips pulled back into a thin line and Daenerys could see she was uncomfortable with this line of inquiry. "Very little is known of the Great Other," the Red Woman said as her knuckles turned white against the journal she clutched. "He is known to us only as the god of Death and his coldness and cruelty brought about the existence of the White Walkers. His true form is that of a frozen demon, a being of ice and death."
Loki. Daenerys could not help the unbidden thought that entered her mind as she thought of Loki's other form, the one that turned his skin blue and his eyes red.
"How can you be certain that the Great Other is evil?" Daenerys argued, feeling her womb flutter with discomfort. She resisted putting a comforting hand against the young life within.
The Red Woman narrowed her eyes. "What else could he be?"
"You stood by your Red God for years," Daenerys insisted. "You call him the Lord of Light because he commands fire and because you thought he would protect you against the Long Night. But you were wrong. In the end, what makes fire any more noble than ice?"
"I am not convinced either side would be of benefit to us," the Red Woman determined. "The Lord of Light has deceived his followers for a long time so that he could meet his rival in battle. You should know that they want this to happen, Mother of Dragons. Neither God cares what will happen to the mortal world once this is all over."
"But you cannot be certain," Daenerys challenged. "Perhaps it was the Great Other who was always destined to protect us against the Red God."
The Red Woman stared at her doubtfully. "If that was true, then what use would he have for the White Walkers? Why raise the dead to maim and kill mortals if he was destined to protect them?"
Daenerys could not argue with this logic however she refused to believe that Loki would have anything to do with the White Walkers. So why is it that they have returned so soon after Loki's arrival? A betraying voice nagged in the back of her mind and Daenerys pushed it away with all the force she could muster. No, she thought savagely. Loki is good. He wouldn't do anything like this.
"Neither God intends to help us," the Red Woman said with certainty, oblivious to Daenerys' internal struggles. "The White Walkers are an abomination of the Great Other. They are his servants in the eternal night and the fact that they have risen again means that the final battle is upon us."
"Risen again?" Daenerys demanded, ignoring her doubts for the time being. "What do you mean?"
The Red Woman abruptly brandished flames in the air, making Daenerys step back in alarm but all that appeared was a fiery script, charred at first but the parchment quickly reformed itself in the flames. The paper then fell into the Red Woman's outstretched hand, completely untouched and with no indication that it had been burned at all. "A letter from the Wall," the Red Woman uttered, holding it up so that Daenerys could read the untidy scrawl written across the page. "The White Walkers have been sighted in the North. The dead march against the living and the Long Night will begin again."
Daenerys stepped back, feeling her dread creep through gut like an icy blade. "The White Walkers have really returned?" she whispered in horror, her childhood stories of terror flickering through her memory. "If they have risen again then..." She trailed off, thinking of the soldiers who would undoubtedly be slaughtered as they tried to defend the Wall. Their frozen corpses would not even get the chance to rot before they were claimed by the darkness and they would rise against the comrades they had once fought beside. To be killed by a White Walker was a fate worse than death for even as your lifeblood ebbed away, your carcass would live on, killing and maiming in your place.
Everyone knew the horrors of the White Walkers but they had not been seen for thousands of years. Many believed, or hoped maybe, that the Walkers were a myth told by the First Men to frighten their children and prevent them from wondering off into the Long Night. But the warnings were told in every culture, in every religion and it was quite possibly the only tale that all mortals could agree upon. The coming of the White Walkers meant certain death.
"I see now you are taking my words seriously, Mother of Dragons," the Red Woman said in a scornful tone. "I warned you that you would need my help."
Daenerys stood taller and with one look to her dragons, they crawled forward and hissed menacingly. The Red Woman took a tentative step back, enough for Daenerys to see that she had finally broken through her smug demeanour. The Red Woman was afraid.
"Let me be quite clear," Daenerys told her firmly. "I do not trust you in the slightest. You may claim to serve the realm but you and I both know the truth. You're in this to save your own skin. I know your abhorrent God has abandoned you. Why else would you suddenly turn on your faith?" Daenerys could see her words were having an effect on the Red Woman and she continued mercilessly. "You have never hesitated before to serve him. I have heard talk in Slaver's Bay of your despicable deeds. The Red God commanded you to burn people, innocent people, at the stake and you never once questioned the immorality of those acts. There is only one reason why you would turn against your precious Lord of Light now."
The Red Woman opened her mouth to argue but a warning growl from Rhaegal immediately halted her words. "Because you are a woman scorned," Daenerys said resolutely. "Nothing more. Serving the realm means serving the people and you have no idea what it means to serve anyone but yourself or your Red God. Daenys warned me about you my dreams. If you think I am going to take your word over the advice of my ancestors, than you are sorely mistaken."
Daenerys held her hand out for the book. "The only thing I want from you now is my ancestor's journal," she finished firmly. "You can keep your life for what it's worth. I have a feeling you won't be much of a threat to either side now."
The Red Woman gazed at Daenerys in mutual respect and hatred. It was quite extraordinary really that the Mother of Dragons had so easily been able to read her when so few had any clear idea of her motives. It was true that she did want to keep her own life and that the Lord of Light had spurned her devotion to him, but still she stood to gain nothing if the White Walkers returned. She would perish as surely as any mortal and she was certain now that the Lord of Light would not mourn her death.
"I can still be of use to you," she tried again, holding the journal out as requested. Daenerys snatched the book from her hands, holding it carefully in her palm as her eyes took in the solid lock.
"We're done," Daenerys finished coldly, before turning from the Red Woman to leave. Her dragons growled as a warning not to follow and the Red Woman panicked as she saw her last chance to stop the war walking away from her.
"R'Nhor is alive," she cried out and her words had the intended effect on Daenerys as she took in a sharp breath.
"You're lying," Daenerys hissed as she rounded on the woman.
"I'm not," the Red Woman said truthfully. "He is here at Dragonstone. He has come at the bidding of the Lord of Light. To do his will."
"And you tell me this now?" Daenerys said angrily.
"I had every intention of telling you," The Red Woman protested. "But you are rather quick to judge, Mother of Dragons."
"Why?" Daenerys demanded. "What purpose does the Red God have for a dead man?"
"He is the vessel," the Red Woman admitted grudgingly. "He will carry the Lord of Light's godly essence and harbour it in his own flesh and blood form. I initially believed it to be Stannis for that is what my visions showed me. I have since discovered that R'Nhor is the true vessel. Stannis was used as a decoy to keep your enemies distracted."
"You believed Stannis Baratheon, the shunned, older brother of the man who claimed my family's throne, was the vessel of a God?" Daenerys echoed in disbelief. Out loud it was hard to deny the absurdity of the statement but the Red Woman looked entirely serious.
"Stannis has more power than even he knows he is capable of," the Red Woman defended. "In hindsight he would have been a good vessel if the Lord of Light had pure intentions. As it is, R'Nhor is exactly what he needs. I promise that I had no idea, Daenerys-"
"Stop calling me by my name," Daenerys snapped at last, feeling her fury get the better of her. "You have no right to address me so informally and you will gain no power over me by doing so."
The Red Woman blinked, astonished the Mother of Dragons knew the power of a name and she immediately recanted. "Would it help if you knew my name as well?" she asked respectfully.
Daenerys' eyes flashed in spite. "You may tell it to me but I stand by what I said. You will not address me by my name. Ever."
"Very well, Mother of Dragons," the Red Woman conceded. "If it will help gain your favour, you may know my name. I am called Melisandre."
Daenerys had no intention of referring to her as Melisandre but she was glad that the Red Woman would henceforth refrain from addressing her by her own name. Names were composed of power and personal feelings, just as Loki had told her, and she did not wish to share either with this woman.
"If R'Nhor is indeed the vessel," Daenerys questioned as she thought over the woman's words. "Then the Red God intends to become flesh?"
Melisandre nodded once. "It is the only way for him to achieve his goals. He must meet the Great Other in battle in corporeal form. There is no other way."
"Then he can be killed," Daenerys determined, feeling her hope lifting.
"Yes," Melisandre confirmed. "As can the Great Other. If they do not kill each other first that is."
"What happens if the final battle begins?" Daenerys asked, not really wanting to know the answer.
"If the Lord of Light meets the Great Other in battle, they will lay siege to the world in their attempts to destroy each other. The prophecy goes however that the Gods chose a hero who would act as a shield against death, a warrior who would wield a weapon called Lightbringer. The warrior was chosen to defend the mortals against the siege of the White Walkers." Melisandre closed her eyes then and began to recite, as though from a text:
"When the red star bleeds and the darkness gathers, Azor Ahai shall be born again amidst smoke and salt to wake dragons out of stone."
Daenerys froze, feeling her own breath escape her as she heard the prophecy which to effect had awoken her dragons. With fire and blood, she had hatched her three children and within days she had glimpsed the red comet in the sky. More than one person had been certain the red comet was a sign of the Gods. Was it possible?
"And this Azor Ahai..." Daenerys murmured in dismay. "This warrior was male, I assume?"
"Yes," Melisandre answered. "A warrior reborn to fight against the Others. The White Walkers."
Daenerys breathed a small sigh of relief, not wanting to be named as the reincarnated warrior directly opposed to the Great Other, in case the prophecy should be referring to Loki after all.
Melisandre's next words however left Daenerys feeling uncertain once more. "Azor Ahai is to wield the weapon Lightbringer when the final battle commences. Many versions of the prophecy determine that Lightbringer is a sword which Azor Ahai forged by killing his wife and imbuing the steel of the sword with her soul."
Daenerys glared at Melisandre in outrage, horrified at the idea that this man should be thought of as any sort of hero. "But," Melisandre continued as she noted Daenerys' fury. "The more popular belief among the Red Brotherhood is that Lightbringer is a three headed dragon which Azor Ahai rides against the Others, burning them away and returning them to the corpses they once were."
"There has never been a three headed dragon," Daenerys said uncertainly.
Melisandre shrugged. "It is the words of the prophecy, transcribed by priests over hundreds of years and as you can see there are many interpretations and contradictions. The only certain prophecy lies in that book." Melisandre gestured to the journal in Daenerys' hands.
"That's why you need me to open it," Daenerys realised.
Melisandre gazed up at the ceiling of the tunnel as though trying to see the stars. "Now you see why I have come to you," she said in a hushed voice. "It is the only way to know for sure and I suspect it is the only way we will ever win this war against the Gods. We have to read the prophecy that was first predicted by Daenys Targaryen all those years ago."
Daenerys took a deep breath, knowing this was what she had come for but still unable to believe the person who had come to her as an unlikely ally.
She held up a warning finger. "Betray me," Daenerys said, her eyes intent and focused, "And my dragons shall burn you until not even your ashes remain."
Melisandre smiled, impressed with the strength of the woman before her and she tilted her head in acknowledgement. "If I betray you, there will be nothing left of this world but ash," she told Daenerys firmly.
Daenerys nodded as she looked at the journal in her hands. "Only my blood will unlock it," she echoed thoughtfully. "I guess we will have to see how literal this really is." She looked at Melisandre quickly. "Do you have a copy of the transcribed prophecy here at Dragonstone?"
Melisandre cocked her head in acknowledgement. "Retrieve it," Daenerys commanded. "We may need to compare it to the journal to see what parts have been mistranslated over the years."
"There is a room not far from these tunnels," Melisandre suggested. "R'Nhor is unaware of it because it was intended as a means of escape only for Stannis if an army was to storm this place. It has a draft but it has the necessary light as well as the books we will be needing."
"Lead the way," Daenerys offered.
Melisandre turned to lead Daenerys down the tunnel but paused momentarily. "There is something else you should know," she said, turning back to Daenerys with a dark expression. "The Lord of Light has plans for you, as I'm sure you're aware."
Daenerys scoffed. "His plans for me fell through, don't worry. I have already hatched my other dragon."
Melisandre looked to the dragons behind Daenerys, possibly wondering where the younger dragon was, before she returned her gaze to the young Queen. "I'm afraid that was merely the tip of his schemes. If R'Nhor had succeeded in his plans when he captured you, you might be in a very different place right now."
"I don't understand," Daenerys voiced uncertainly.
"He didn't just want command of your youngest dragon," Melisandre warned darkly. "He wanted command of all your dragons as well as your allegiance. You are the last Targaryen heir, the last mortal with a blood connection to the beasts. For him to gain control of them, to use them in battle against his nemesis, there would need to be a new heir. His heir."
Daenerys could feel the bile threatening to rise in her chest as the full weight of what Melisandre was implying began to sink in. "You mean he wanted me to..." Daenerys couldn't utter the last words, feeling sick to her stomach.
"Yes," Melisandre spoke quietly. "As far as I know, his plans have not changed. He still intends for you to carry his progeny if he gets a hold of you." Daenerys swallowed in revulsion, her hands going around her womb protectively. "All I'm saying," Melisandre said gently. "Is you may come to wish you were dead if R'Nhor finds you again. Once we are through here, you need to get as far away as you can. Do you understand?"
Daenerys nodded as her stomach churned, disgusted by the idea that someone would wish to use her in this way and yet relieved that at present there was nothing the Red God could do. She already carried Loki's child and she was certain that Great Other or not, Loki would never allow for her or his child to be harmed. Satisfied that Daenerys had heeded her warning, Melisandre turned to lead her back down the corridor. "Remember," Melisandre cautioned as they traipsed back along the tunnel with Daenerys' dragons in tow, guarding against potential threats. "A man who seeks power is dangerous. A God who seeks power is something else entirely."
"And what about a Mother protecting her young?" Daenerys quipped much to the amusement of Melisandre. "What do they say about that?" Melisandre, of course, did not suspect that Daenerys was not only referring to her dragons but also the fragile life growing within her.
Besides, Daenerys thought with a hopeful smile, the Red God is already too late. Loki is the father of my child and he is the only God who will have a say in their destiny.
...
Hey guys! I am so so sorry this took so long but it was awfully hard to try and fit all of the prophecy stuff into this story in a way that makes sense! I hope it is not too confusing for you and I hope this chapter wasn't too boring. There will be more action in the next chapter, I promise. For now, see if you guys can guess as to how Loki fits into all of this. Is he the Great Other or is it something else? And what about Daenerys? Is she Azor Ahai or is it her child? Hehe I know I'm mean for playing with you all but I can't help it. And if you have any questions, please feel free to ask and I will try to answer them in the next chapter without giving too much away.
