Hey everyone, Merry Christmas and my present to you all is the newest chapter of The War of Blood and Fire. Also as a later present I promise that everyone of my story will be updated before New Years.

114 AC

The sound of steel meeting rang out in the open field. Merek dodged his opponents strike and retaliated with one of his own, only for it to be blocked and met with a punch in the face sending him to the ground. Merek looked up and saw the practice sword pointed at his throat.

"Do you know what mistake you made this time?" Grom asked?

"I let you punch me in the face?" Merek asked sarcastically as he got back up.

"And why didn't you stop me?"

"Because, I didn't see it coming."

"Exactly, you didn't see it coming." Grom said. "You still expect everyone to fight fair, they will not." Grom was a grizzled old sellsword in his late forties with brown hair that has begun to grey. He's been training Merek since he came to the village 6 years ago. He claimed to have retired after an injury on his last job, the limp he had supported this. Though, considering the bruises he had, Merek was skeptical.

"Oren," Grom called out. "Training is over he's all yours." Merek turned and saw one of the only farmers in the village, Oren. Their village was relatively small, only having between 100 to 200 people. With such a small population the village only needed two farmers, Oren and another farmer named Sam. Most villages this small would have been raided by bandits at this point, however their village was in close proximity to Dragonstone. No bandit was foolish enough to risk incurring the wrath of Rhaenyra.

Oren had no family which meant no one was round to help him with the farm. Merek was usually working for him when he wasn't helping Asa with patients or training with Grom.

"I need you to watch the sheep while I am selling the cows." Oren told him when they arrived at his farm. Because of it's small size the village had its own internal economy, Oren would sell some of his older cows to the butcher, and each month the butcher would go to one of the bigger towns and sell the meat and split the profit with Oren. "It should only take an hour keep them close today some of the fishermen have been saying they saw the Cannibal near here." That caught Merek by surprise.

The Cannibal one of the few wild dragons in Westeros, out of all the wild dragons the Cannibal was the largest and most infamous. The creature earned its name by feasting off the corpses of dead dragons and gorging himself on newborn hatchlings and eggs.

"Shouldn't I keep the sheep inside if that monster is nearby?" Merek asked.

"I'd agree with you but the ewe are in heat and I want to keep them away from the rams until I'm ready for more lambs." Merek nodded and got to work. Keeping the rams away from the ewe was a little difficult but thankfully their were less rams then their were ewes and he had Oren's sheepdog Ollie with him.

Merek was currently sitting on a large rock in the middle of the field watching the ewes graze. After the ewe were done he would let the rams out to graze next. Merek gave Ollie an affectionate scratch behind the ears and got up to get the ewes back in the pen. Before the first ewe could enter the pen a shrill cry rang out from the forest, it was a sound Merek instantly knew belonged to a wounded animal. Hearing the sound the sheep began to panic, Merek quickly moved to calm them down, animals seemed to like him a great deal so this was easy. After calming the sheep down Merek let the rams out to feed until Oren returned.

When Oren returned he informed Merek that everyone was to stay in their homes tonight until whatever made that sound either left or died. Merek nodded and left.

How hard can it be to find one wounded animal. Merek had been in this forest for half an hour and still found nothing. It's probably dead by now, either succumbing to whatever injury it had or killed by something else. When he was about to give up he saw it, a huge cluster of trees broken as if someone snapped them in two. Merek followed the trail of broken trees until he came upon something. At first Merek assumed it was a boulder until it started to move. Merek quickly ducked down behind a fallen tree and peeked out just enough to get a good look at the creature.

It was as big enough for a mule to run down his gullet, coal black and had baleful green eyes. Merek instantly knew that this must be the Cannibal. The dragon stood up on his hind legs and spread its wings in an attempt to fly only to let out a pained growl and furl its wings back in and Merek saw why. On its right wing were three deep slashes. Merek watched the dragon for a few more seconds as it laid back down.

Merek quickly drew on what Asa had taught him and assessed that if left untreated the wound would get infected and the dragon would die. Knowing that Merek made a decision on what he would need to do.

That night Merek snuck down to where Asa kept his potions and medicine and took what he needed. Asa is gonna kill me if he finds out. Merek thought as he dawned his cloak making sure to close the door an quietly as possible. He then made his way to the house of Soran the fishermen and his family. Merek snuck around the back into the storage hut and grabbed a basket full of fish.

Merek followed the path he took earlier that day to where the Cannibal would be. As Merek drew closer he heard a deep growl and saw the Cannibal looking directly at him, baring his fangs. Merek quickly threw the bag of fish at the dragon's feet. The Cannibal gave Merek a suspicious look before diving into his meal. And now the hard part.

As the dragon was eating Merek snuck behind it making his way to the injured wing. Merek quickly uncorked the healing balm and spread it across the wound and then wrapped it in a bandage. Merek was so engrossed in his work that he didn't notice that the Cannibal had stopped eating until he looked up and saw a pair of green eyes.

The two just stared at each other, until finally the Cannibal turned its head and curled up to rest. Making sure to keep his right wing unfurled. Merek slowly backed away and left. That went better than I expected. Merek thought as he made his way home wondering what to do next.

XXX

His wing hurt less, whatever the little one put on it seemed to be working. The dragon bared his teeth just remembering what caused the injury. It's great red cousin. He wondered if the little one would come again. Hopefully, next time he would bring more fish. And with that Merek awoke.

XXX

Merek finished his work as quickly as he could and entered the forest with two baskets of fish, not stolen ones he caught in the harbor. This time when Merek walked into the clearing the Cannibal was waiting for him not with teeth bared but with a look of curiosity in his eyes. For something now told him that the dragon was male.

Merek poured out the baskets of fish and watched the dragon eat. "So does this mean you trust me now?" The dragon didn't answer, all he did was continue eating. Merek sat down on a nearby boulder, pulled out a book and began to read. Once the Cannibal finished he trudged over to Merek and laid down beside him.

Almost unconsciously, Merek put his hand atop the dragon's head and began to stroke it. The dragon then began to let out a deep rumble clearly happy about this. "I'm going to need to think of a better name for you than the Cannibal."

Merek is the first recorded dragon rider to not be of Valyrian descent. Merek would later become one of the most accomplished dragonriders of his generation.~ Archmaester Gyldayn.

Nipplegunz: Thank you

Guest 1: Maybe, but I like it and just helps obscure his identity even more.

Guest 2: What I'm gonna do is *bleep, bleep, bleep* and that's how I'll go.

And that ends the third chapter of the War of Blood and Fire. Merek now has a dragon, let me know what you think of that. Be on the look out for updates on my other stories. Until then follow, favorite, and review.