Disclaimer – If you recognise it then it belongs to GRRM

Chapter 3

"Keep pushing forward men, kill these sons of whores, fight for the true king of Westeros!" Aegor roared.

The men growled their approval and continued to attack the phalanx wall of Maekar and his men. They were holding firm but Aegor was sure they could not keep his force at bay forever. Once Aegor had won the right he could bring his forces to meet the vanguard of Daemon, who had already obliterated Daeron's vanguard, led by Lord Arryn. He looked across the battlefield and could see Daemon duelling a Kingsguard. Judging by the sparks flying from both swords as they fought, Aegor guessed it was Gwayne Corbray as he was the only Kingsguard to wield a Valyrian steel sword.

Aegor continued to press forward against the shields of Maekar's men. He had his men rotating in their attacks, allowing each time for brief recovery and giving opportunity for longer run ups to charge at the enemy in an effort to break their line. Aegor was included in the rotation, he would have it no other way. Currently he was wielding his longhandle battleaxe and he crashed it with the force of a mammoth against the bronze shield in front of him. The man stumbled backwards, leaving the safety of his shield and Aegor took the opportunity to cleave the man in two. However before he could step into the gap, another shield appeared to complete the wall.

"My nephew has got his men very well organised." He thought to himself in quiet admiration. He had already instructed his men not to kill Maekar if he yielded. Aegor had always gotten on well with him and he had no desire to kill a fellow Targaryen who was clearly an excellent battle commander and whose only fault was supporting the wrong king.

Aegor rotated out of the attack and quickly grabbed a squire.

"I need you to go to the left of the field and bring back a report on the progress of Robb Reyne and his men against my nephew Baelor.' He panted, slowly catching his breath following the fury of his attacks.

"As you command Bittersteel." replied the squire, a young man in his twenties, who immediately sprinted off.

Since that night in the Red Keep, Aegor had used the name Bittersteel in public, though he told no-one of its origin. Some thought he was trying to match Bloodraven though jealously, but Aegor knew that was false. He used Bittersteel because he wanted Bloodraven to know he heard him speak and that it did not bother him what he thought of him. He would turn the insult and heartbreak of that night into his name and make it his strength.

Aegor had not seen Bloodraven on the battlefield but scouts had reported sighting him in the camp of King Daeron prior to battle. He hoped their paths would cross. Word had reached Daemon of Bloodraven's insistence in the small council of destroying Daemon and his followers by any means necessary. He had pushed for war rather than negotiation and therefore Daemon commanded he be shown no mercy on the battlefield. Aegor had prayed to the Seven it would be him to kill Bloodraven for the honour of his King but also for himself.

Aegor quickly rotated back into the main force and continued to attack. After 30 solid minutes of fighting he moved out again to survey the situation. He was concerned that this was becoming a stalemate as his men were not progressing as he had hoped, though Maekar was not making any ground forward either. The casualties on Aegor's side were getting higher though – using spears and longswords between the gaps in the shield wall his men were getting picked off with precision strikes – whilst no-one seemed to be getting slain on his Nephew's side.

Aegor removed his helmet and quickly drank water provided to him before re-adorning his helmet. He didn't want to be picked off by an archer like what happened to Fireball on the eve of battle. His untimely death meant that Robb Reyne was promoted to lead the left flank and this worried Aegor. Whilst Robb was a great swordmen, his ability to command others in the heat of battle was untested and he was up against Baelor Targaryen who was an intelligent and cunning leader. Aegor scouted around for the squire he sent to bring word of how the battle on the left was progressing but he could not see him. Bodies littered the field and the grass had changed colour from a bright green to a dark red. It almost looked like Dornish sand had been poured over the field but of course the colour was entirely due to bloodshed.

Aegor noticed that the sparks had stopped coming from Daemon's position. He feared the worst until he saw Daemon standing over the prone Kingsguard, his white cloak and armour covered in dark red blood. He was gesturing his twin sons to bring his personal banner across to his position. However Daemon was not moving forward as expected and appeared to be comforting the Kingsguard.

"Just slit his throat and move forward." Aegor said to no-one in particular. The momentum of the battle was in their favour, entirely down to the quick progression of Daemon's vanguard, and this needed to be continued before the tide turned against them.

Then he saw Bloodraven. He was climbing a small rock face with his personal guard just behind Maekar's forces. There was no mistaking him – his white hair flowed over his black armour and his personal sigil – a white dragon breathing red fire – was clear to see on the breastplate. Dark Sister was sheathed on his back as was a weirwood bow with a quiver full of arrows. They all climbed at a furious pace and soon reach the flat ridge at the top of the rocks.

Aegor wondered what he was doing. Bloodraven did not have the number of men to attack Aegor's men with any real impact. He was also too far from Aegor, Daemon or any other commander to be able to kill them with an arrow. "What is he up to?" Aegor thought.

On the ridge no man moved apart from Bloodraven who drew an arrow. He quickly took aim at Daemon's banner and fired. Aegor saw one of the twins fall, an arrow piercing his chest.

Aegor gave out an audible gasp of shock. He did not understand this action. "Why would he kill his boy?' he thought racking his brains, "What possible rea-"

It hit Aegor like a warhammer to the chest. He knew what was going to happen and it did right before his eyes.

Seeing his son fall, Daemon ran over to his corpse, ignoring the position of Bloodraven. Before he had time to even touch the body, Bloodraven and his guards unleashed a volley of arrows that crashed down on Daemon that sent him sprawling to the floor. A further volley hit the men that surrounded Daemon, including the other twin who had grabbed Blackfyre from his father's hand but now fell in the grass, grasping at his throat before he stopped moving altogether.

Aegor unleashed a primal roar, something akin to a direwolf. He had to get to Daemon and make sure he wasn't dead. Everything was lost if he was dead. That meant getting past Maekar. He picked up his axe and turned to face his men who were not currently fighting. His strategy was now pointless. "EVERYONE CHARGE!" He shouted at his men before running towards the shield wall and jumping shoulder first into it, knocking his way through. He did not know if he was being followed or if his men had fled but he swung his battleaxe wildly and cut through the men opposing him. He had one thought in mind and that was to get to Daemon.

He cut through the men, many who were unprepared for their shield wall to be breeched so suddenly after such a long period of steady battle. Dismembered body parts and blood flew around Aegor, like the spray of sea against a rock, but he kept pressing forwards. He did not think about the fighting, his only thoughts were to get to Daemon. Once he got to him, he could revive him and they could carry on and win this battle.

Eventually Aegor burst through Maekar's men and he ran onwards to where Daemon had fallen. As he approached he ripped off his helmet and slid on his knees to his King's prone body. It had been pierced by numerous arrows, including three in the chest, one in each arm and one through his left eye that came out the back of his skull. He was long dead.

Aegor knelt by the greatest warrior he had ever known. He was his brother and his King. He died because loved his family and did not want to leave his son's body on the battlefield. Aegor closed his remaining eye, the most beautiful purple colour, and brushed his hair off his face. He took a long look at his brother, a true Targaryen, and knew then he would never meet anyone as honourable and brilliant as him again so long as he lived.

Others who had breached Maekar's line converged on Aegor. Once they saw Daemon was dead the fire went out of many of their eyes. Aegor knew then the battle was over. Word would spread and without their leader the army would not continue to fight. Men would begin to yield and plead for mercy or to take the Black. Without Daemon it was all ruined. He wanted to weep.

But he was not done fighting yet. He saw Bloodraven descending the ridge and a madness went over him. He picked up his axe and charged across to his position.

"BLOODRAVEN!" Aegor screamed as he charged towards him, fire in his eyes. Bloodraven turned to look at him and drew Dark Sister just in time to block a blow aimed at his exposed head.

"Damn you Bloodraven,"Aegor raged whilst he swung repeated strikes at his half brother, "you are a kinslayer and you are damned."

A member of Bloodraven's guard went to fire an arrow at Aegor but a sharp look from Bloodraven stopped him. Aegor continued to attack in wild fury, yet his axe only found the edge of Dark Sister. Bloodraven's face remained focused in a cold concentration as they fought. Aegor repeatedly cursed and shouted at him -

"You have no soul."

"You are no Targaryen."

"Your whore mother burns in hell."

"Coward."

"Freak."

But Bloodraven responded to none of his taunts. His face only displayed an almost serene content look and he was as silent as ever. This only further enraged Aegor who now wielded his battleaxe in a single hand, the rage allowing him to draw further strength from his exhausted body. He swung wild blows that crashed into the Valyrian steel of Dark Sister and reverberated around the battlefield. Bloodraven retaliated with quick thrusts when he could but Aegor managed to avoid them with swift turns of his waist.

The brothers duelled for what seemed an age, each matching blow for blow, strike for strike. The calm precision of Bloodraven was contrasted and deadlocked with the wild fury of Bittersteel. They seemed to be alone on the battlefield, other soldiers from both sides moving around their position and allowing them the room to fight. Both Bittersteel and Bloodraven were clearly identifiable without their helmets, it would have been easy to kill either man with an arrow, but the other soldiers seemed to know this was a personal battle that could not be decided by a third party.

Eventually the duel ended. Aegor swung a horizontal blow but Bloodraven stepped inside the axe blade and cut the long shaft in two, sending the blade flying out of sight and only leaving Aegor holding a small handle. With Aegor now weaponless, Bloodraven landed a punch on his jaw, leaving Aegor seeing black dots, and followed up with a sweeping kick that took his legs out from under him and knocked him on his back. Aegor landed heavy and let out a large groan. The exhaustion finally set in and, even as his vision slowly returned, Aegor was too tired to carry on. His armour suddenly weighed heavy and his legs felt like stone. His warrior instincts were screaming at him to scramble up and find a weapon to defend himself but his energy was spent and he couldn't. He lay there staring at the clouds in the sky and waited for the blade on his neck, which Bloodraven duly provided.

"Up"

Aegor laughed a tired laugh. "So now you can speak." Aegor managed to sit himself up to look at Bloodraven, whose blade followed his neck to the seated position.

"I've always been able to speak but you know that don't you Bittersteel?" he replied, releasing a wry smile at the mention of his nickname.

Aegor smiled back "Of course I did brother and many thanks for providing me with my name."

Bloodraven stopped his brief smile and looked sternly at Aegor. "Any last words?"

Aegor stared into those blood red eyes and knew this would be the only time they would speak. He knew then what he needed to ask him. "Could things have been different between us brother or was it always destined to end with one of us killing the other? I know I've far from blameless in this feud between us and the circumstances of our respective Mother's families definitely did not help this situation, but could we have ever been family?"

For the first time since Aegor had known him Bloodraven seemed unnerved. A sadness washed over his face and his gaze faltered. Aegor could feel the sword against his neck start to quiver slightly. For once Bloodraven's silence did not feel intimidating, it felt full of regret.

He lowered Dark Sister from Aegor's neck and spoke "Brother I am-"

Aegor had gotten the opening he needed. Using the last of his strength he kicked Bloodraven's legs savagely as he began to speak so he fell to the floor. In a swift movement he grabbed a morningstar, discarded on the floor, and swung it at Bloodraven's head. He just managed to avoid the full impact of Aegor's attack by turning his head but one of the spikes caught Bloodraven across his eye. He cried out in pain and put his hand to his face, only to feel the blood pouring out of the socket where his eye had been before. Aegor dropped the Morningstar and pulled himself to his feet slowly until he was stood over Bloodraven. He still held Dark Sister so Aegor stood on the blade with one foot and placed his other on the chest of Bloodraven.

It took Aegor a few seconds to catch his breath before he spoke, the exhaustion flowing through all his body. "You are a kinslaying fool Bloodraven. We could have never been family, Daemon was my family and you killed him. You killed the true king of Westeros and you did it in the most craven way possible. You are going to suffer in all the seven hells and I am going to send you there." He moved his foot to Bloodraven's neck and began to press down hard. His hand moved from his face to grab the ankle of Aegor, finally allowing him to see the hole where his brother's eye used to sit. Bloodraven struggled and thrashed his legs wildly but Aegor was unmoved and continued to choke the life out of him.

Suddenly a loud roar came from behind Aegor. It was so unexpected that Aegor released his foot from Bloodraven's neck and turned to see the cause. He saw that the remains of his right appeared to be getting routed by Dornish Spearmen. Black Byren Flowers ran towards Aegor and grabbed him. "We must flee Bittersteel. Baelor Breakspear has broken the left and is at our rear. The battle is lost."

Aegor shook his head "We cannot retreat. The battle can still be won. If we combine the remains of the vanguard with what is left of the right and left we can fight back."

Bryen Flowers grabbed Aegor and started to drag him away. He was too tired from his battle with Bloodraven to resist. Bryen spoke quickly "There is no-one left. The left are all dead, the vanguard fled when Daemon fell and your right is being crushed as we speak. We must flee, anything else would be certain death." Aegor went to protest but Bryen continued "We need to gather up Daemon's remaining sons and make for the free cities. They'll be executed, even though they are children, so you must go protect them and keep them safe. You are the only family they have left. Plus you can give the eldest this."

Bryen pulled out Blackfyre and handed it to Aegor. It was stained with the blood of all those Daemon had slain today but it still looked as sharp as ever. Bryen looked at the sword and smiled "As long as we have this in our possession the Blackfyre rebellion will never die."

Aegor sheathed it and continued to retreat with Bryen. He turned briefly to look upon where he left Bloodraven. He could see he was being helped to his feet and he stared furiously at Aegor's position. Aegor cursed that he didn't have the strength to quickly finish him when he had the chance but he smiled at the memory of removing the kinslayer's eye. Remembering Daemon's corpse he thought "An eye for an eye." That night as he crossed the narrow sea on a small fishing boat he prayed to the Seven that he would have the chance one day to face Bloodraven again, to be the one to kill him and send his soul to be judged by the Father. However he knew in his heart that it was unlikely he would see his brother again.