The signs of the dragon's hunting were evident across the lands, like spreading corruption. Charred and blackened were the trees, and most of the bushes, leaves, and undergrowth were burnt or reduced to ash. Jaehaerys stood on a cliff overlooking the sea, the dead forest around him. On the shore, Neryalax crouched over a beached whale, tearing at its grey flesh, his flames dancing across the sand. I will not join him, Jaehaerys told himself. I am not yet so hungry.

The boy's belly had been empty for the past few days. He had survived on some late autumn fruit, most of it spoiled, and some wild onions he had found growing near a stream by Neryalax's lair. It's not enough to sustain me. I need more.

Looking down at his hands, Jaehaerys drew them into fists. Blood trickled between the blisters and cuts on his palms; the boy wiped his hands on his shirt and looked away. He knew he could not hold a sword. The closest tree was still burning. Neryalax couldn't help himself. He tried to catch a hog, and when it fled deeper into the forest, he covered everything in his fury. The air tasted of smoke and salt.

Returning to the stream, which flowed over the cliff as a waterfall, Jaehaerys took his fill of the cool water. He had an unnatural thirst. His stomach was in knots; his hands were shaking slightly. I cannot hold a sword, he knew. I cannot hunt or kill. I'm useless. The dragon's flames had touched him, and the purple-eyed prince had learned firsthand that fire could, indeed, kill a dragon. But I saw her, he swore. Beyond the flames. She did not burn. She was floating. I saw her.

He had tried to get the dragon to turn around, but dragons were not like horses. They are not simple mounts, easily swayed by a rider's desires. Ser William had taught Jaehaerys how to ride, how to completely control a horse, but that had been nothing like how it was to ride a dragon. Neryalax was prideful and predatory. He was always looking for animals to hunt, for fights to wage. He had already roasted a pirate ship with his indomitable flames, just for fun as far as Jaehaerys could tell. The boy had screamed at the dragon and tried using his hands to steer Neryalax back to land, but it had been no use. He goes where he wants to. Dragons are more cats than dogs, to that end.

Sliding down the cliff-face, Jaehaerys made his way across the beach towards the feasting dragon. Out in the iron, churning sea, beyond a veil of foam and fog, the ship they had attacked still burned, like a lonely, lost candle. Jaehaerys' belly rumbled. It was growing hotter, more humid. It's not even midday, he reflected. This will be a scorched day.

Around the dragon and the whale, the sand was burnt to glass. He could smell blood and decay, and his stomach groaned loudly. The dragon did not look up as Jae hobbled over to him. The boy gave the red hole that Neryalax had his snout in a look, but had to turn away. I will not eat that.

"Neryalax," the boy whispered. "Neryalax…" He reached for his mount, running his hand down the beast's scales. They were hard as rock, black and spiked. Jaehaerys saw a little silver in them, iridescent as nacre. The heat radiating out from the dragon's body was like a fire, and the boy could not keep his hand on the dragon too long without feeling his blisters screaming at him. "We have to go back… please," he said softly, taking his hand back. "My sister… Rhaena… she's a dragon just like us. We need to find her. I can't let anything happen to her. I'm supposed to protect her."

The dragon grunted and pulled himself out of the whale. Dripping with dark blood, his snout fumed and smoked and sniffed at Jae. The dragon growled, and his growl turned into a roar, and his wings were spread like a blossoming dragon's breath. Into the sky he went, blanketing the ground in shade, screeching like the wind.

"Wait… come back…!" Jaehaerys pleaded meekly, his voice breaking. He raised his arm after the dragon, but Neryalax was streaking off like an arrow in flight. On he flew, towards the misty, humid sky, silver in the light of morning. "Come back…" Jaehaerys pleaded again, this time so quietly that not even the waves could hear him.

Blood dribbled out of the whale like a flowing stream, and Jaehaerys felt a clawing at the inside of his throat. A knight does not forsake the needy. I will find you, sister, he promised. And Neryalax will learn to obey me.

That was easier said than done.

Sweat cut rivers through the dirt that coated Jaehaerys' body like armor. His hands were trembling now, as if he had the shaking sickness. Mother guide me, he thought in delirium, bring me safely home. Brooding colored birds perched on branches bare of fruit, singing for him as if he was a king. In front of the boy, a snake slithered. His head felt heavy.

Reaching down for the snake, the boy wondered if it was foot long. When he touched it was when he realized it was a monstrosity - maybe the length of three men, thick as a tree. The beast hissed and slithered off into the bushes, cracking dead leaves as it went. Why did I do that? He felt lightheaded.

The rising humidity congested in Jae's lungs, making it harder to breathe. All he could smell was mud and ivy. The half-burnt jungle provided only sporadic shade for Jaehaerys. There was a painted lizard standing in the middle of the beast trail on its hind legs, chewing on a fat sapphire-shelled bug. The boy's stomach squirmed, and he lunged for the puny predator.

The little thing dropped to all fours and scurried off into the underbrush. Its head looked like Neryalax's. At once, the tears came to Jae. The dragon has three heads… it must, it must. Dropping to his knees, Jaehaerys cried into the mud for what seemed like a green eternity. It's not fair, he thought. It was never fair.

After some time, feeling confused and empty, red-eyed and delirious, the prince tried to stand. That was when he noticed a corpse hanging from the tree in front of him.

A trail of dried blood had leaked from a wound in his side and run down his hairy leg. The pirate wore what looked like old rags, a thick black beard, and a sword scar upon his chest. Any jewelry or weapons he might have carried were gone. He has a familiar face, Jaehaerys decided. Mayhaps I remember this one from Mudtown. He hung in the middle of the trail, his face purple and contorted in a final death scream. Clothed in flies, the copper-skinned pirate had small bite marks perforating his body. The jungle has been gnawing at him for a while. Walking over to the man, cautiously, Jaehaerys drew his knife. The steel bit into the flesh easily, and Jaehaerys found it still warm to the touch, if only just.

The bit he'd cut off was drenched in blood and smelled of dirt and sweat. Jaehaerys eyed it, fat stinging flies buzzing impatiently around him. He let the flesh fall from his grasp. I am not yet so hungry.

"You call yourself a knight?" the dead man said, his lips never moving. His voice came low, and thick with wine. Father. "Pathetic. I've seen seen men with more honor in Flea Bottom!" It was so hot, so stuffy, Jae was finding it hard to breathe. "You made your choice. Aye, you did," the corpse continued, anger rising in his voice. "The dragon, not your sister."

"I'm sorry, father."

"Sorry?!" The Targaryen man growled. "You are sorry, I'll give you that. Broken, more like it."

"I tried, father… please, I thought the dragon would…"

"Dragons only destroy," Prince Aegon countered. Now, even the pirate's blood-pooled face was morphing into the man who Jaehaerys hadn't seen in more than a year, since the pox had taken him. "Fire… cleansing flames… there is no life in a dragon, only death," the corpse's eyes seemed to shine with pale flames. "Your sister could have given you an heir, you hapless runt."

"I'll find her," Jaehaerys resolved. He gripped Windsong with his burnt hands and let out a cry of pain, feeling the pain spike up his forearms.

"Fool," breathed the corpse. "You already made your choice. You dare call yourself a knight?!"

The wind blew through the trees, and the dead pirate swayed back and forth. His father's face faded, and the spell was broken. Jaehaerys tasted salt and ran.

"Rhaena?!" he called, but no answer came. I'm sorry sister. I shouldn't have forsaken you. I want you back. I need you here with me. He called for her again, and again, and would have called for her a third time, only he noticed there were people ahead of him.

The trail thickened and came to a clearing in the jungle. The stream broadened into a proper river here, snaking around rocks and dark sands and disappearing into the deeper forest. Where the water met the shore, four pirates stood. Twice as many were bleeding dead on the ground. One against three.

She was shirtless, her breasts small and perky. Still, they flopped around every time she moved. Jae felt a warm rush in his smallclothes. The female warrior held a throwing axe in either hand and wore an iron helm. Her three opponents were all men: two gripped spears, and the third had a bastard sword drawn between his hands. I wonder which side is Xhorre, and which is Mudtown.

The sun was in Jaehaerys' eyes as he stepped out of the forest and into the clearing. They were still a far ways off, too preoccupied to notice him. He didn't know he was moving forward. He couldn't sit still. The man with the sword charged at the axe-wielding woman, and she parried his blows effortlessly. Kicking him aside, into the river, she stepped up, knocking the spears away. Both of those men went down under a flurry of iron. Their blood was left to stain the black sands.

Spinning around, the woman returned to the man with the bastard sword. She's wonderful, Jae thought in a daze. Her breasts bounced up and down, down and up, as she fought the man. There was blood on her, running down her arms. Not her own, though.

The woman pushed the man back against the water's edge. Her blows were so savage, like how one would beat a drum. The man could do little more than parry. One of her axes went flying after a particularly hard blow. The woman let out a scream and grabbed her foe by the shoulder with her free hand. Her remaining axe slashed across his eyes, splitting them like ripped curtains. The man yelled shrilly, falling to his knees. Shaking the blood off her axe, the female pirate raised her weapon, preparing to slice his throat. That was when the man thrust his sword wildly, in a last gasp attempt. The iron punched its way through the woman's chest, coming out red and dripping from her back. The man fell back into the river and was carried off by the current. The woman fell over, coughing up blood. Screaming, she pulled the sword out of her and tried to stand. When she couldn't, Jae saw her collapse in a puddle of blood.

He did not run forward, did not try to help her. He knew he couldn't. Once she stopped moving, Jaehaerys walked over to her. The rushing water seemed to sing as it passed by rocks. there was the woman, dead, her blood still running hot. Around her, the other dead pirates lay covered in squatting spiders and tiny basilisks, tearing at the sweet meat ferociously.

"You're beautiful," he told her a moment later. "I need you. Please," he said, reaching down for her breast. He squeezed her, and his stomach rumbled. The Targaryen prince didn't know whether he wanted to fuck her or eat her. His own blood was running hot. It's been so long, he thought. I've never been inside a woman before. He didn't know if he would ever get that chance again. If we don't find Rhaena… and yet, at the same time, the empty feeling in his stomach screamed at him too. She didn't look tasty, but he knew he could eat her. She's fresh, at least.

"You have a sister," the dead woman seemed to say. Her lips never moved, her eyes never locked with his. But he heard his mother's voice, saw her face in the dead pirate.

"I had a sister," he repeated, his voice coming softly. "I do not know if she lives."

"You abandoned her, Jae," the voice was not angry, but sad. A shiver spread across the boy's body. The wind rustled through the dead leaves. "You alone are responsible."

"I j-just wanted to protect everyone…" the boy said, trying to hold back the tears. "I didn't think we could get home without the dragon…"

"Get home?" his mother laughed. "Are you as naïve as your brother?"

"No, mother."

"Fire or blood," the corpse seemed to say. "A choice must be made."

"I don't want to," Jae said unwillingly. "Please… don't make me choose."

"You already have," the dead woman said, and he thought he saw her lips curl in a smile. "My little dreaming dragon," she said sweetly, "I should have known."

He hung his head and saw the woman again, half-naked and very much dead. I want her, he knew. Not as much as Rhaena, but Rhaena's gone. It was a stark notion, one he didn't want to believe. That doesn't mean she can't be found. That thought made Jae remember his brother - and all of the useless things he had tried to do to keep Daeron alive. Sighing, he returned his gaze to the woman. He could taste the bile in the back of his throat. The boy knew what he had to do.

The fog that hung over the river, thin as gossamer, dissipated by midday, and the sun came out to venture through a empty blue sky. That was when the dragon returned.

Neryalax skidded into the sand, nearly sinking himself in the river. Coming to a stop, the dragon faced down Jaehaerys and seemed to scowl at him. The boy had long since left the corpses and was drinking from the river upstream. He's mad about something, Jae guessed. Wiping his mouth, he approached the dragon.

"Neryalax," the boy said calmly. "You're back. Are you ready to take me to my sister?" The dragon snorted and turned his face to a nearby corpse. In one gulp, he devoured the man. "Neryalax!" Jaehaerys' voice came harsher this time. "We are going to find my sister. You are going to take me back to her." The restless dragon ate another corpse. This time, Jaehaerys did not watch. If Rhaena's still alive, I will find her… but is she? Doubt crept into his mind. It had been several days since he had last seen her. He didn't know exactly how long it had been; the days had all blurred into one, like a fire moving through snow. I cannot give up, he resolved. I will not. Until I see her corpse with mine own eyes, she is not dead.

Neryalax turned his attention once again from the boy; Jaehaerys wouldn't have it anymore. I'm a knight. I'm a dragonrider. I cannot sit back and let Neryalax rule me. I am his master. Jaehaerys strode up to the dragon. For a moment, Neryalax's opened mouth was no more than a few inches from Jae, as he searched for more dead pirates to eat. He could have killed me there, but he didn't. He's not going to hurt me. Knowing that made Jae a little fearless, and a little more reckless. He climbed up the dragon's wing to get on his back. Though Neryalax had spikes across his entire body, there was a small smooth patch on the nape of his neck where Jae could sit. He grasped onto two bigger spikes further up the dragon's neck and secured himself firmly in place. His hands were blistering and humming with pain, but he did his best to ignore that. I'm not weak, father. I'm not.

"Fly!" Jaehaerys commanded, kicking hard.

At first, Neryalax shrugged him off and continued to eat, but when Jae kicked him again and screamed his order a second time, the dragon seemed to hear him. Though he protested by slinging a shot of fire from his mouth at a nearby tree, he nevertheless listened to Jae. From the clearing near the river, they came into the air. Above the trees they sailed, where the blaring heat of the empty day awaited them. Jaehaerys didn't care. In truth, he'd forgotten the pain in his hands too. Is there anything in the world as good as flying? He could spend the rest of his life up here.

The wind blew against his head and face. It was a weird feeling, since he was bald as a tit. He wished the dragon's flames hadn't burnt away his hair. I look like ridiculous… like an egg, I'd wager, Prince Jaehaerys reflected.

West they flew, back towards the pirate camp they had burned. The last place I saw her, Jae thought. But if she's alive, would she still be there? He did not think so.

There was another beast in the air, flying in circles above the trees. At first it was a dark speck, and then it grew larger and bonier. Its scales looked as blue as the sea in the light of day. A wyvern, Jaehaerys knew. Neryalax felt it too. Jae could almost feel the beast's heartbeat quicken when he saw the wyvern. Neryalax began flying faster and changed his trajectory to face this new foe. He'll eat it, Jae knew. I hope he knows I'm on his back. He remembered the first time he had seen Neryalax fight wyverns. The day I killed my first man. The way the creatures had spun through the air, as vicious as a pack of wolves, gave Jaehaerys pause. It's a long way to the ground.

They came upon the wyvern twelve heartbeats later. Neryalax went right for its throat. Jaehaerys shouted, trying to keep the dragon from flipping over or spinning about. Neryalax seemed to heed his call and remained upright. "Dracarys!" Jaehaerys screamed carelessly, trying his best to remember his High Valyrian. She was always better at that than me. Neryalax's jaws were locked against the wyvern's. The two were roaring at one another; the wyvern had a higher voice, and for some reason, that gave Jaehaerys some small measure of comfort. Their claws ripped into one another, sometimes scratching uselessly against scales, sometimes reaching the vulnerable strips of meat between them. Searing golden drops fell from Neryalax, while the wyvern weeped a red torrent. Their quarry was smaller than Neryalax, though not by much.

They flew away from each other, and when the two winged beasts came 'round again, the wyvern went to lock jaws with the dragon. Neryalax pulled up, hovering in place, disciplined and hungry. He bathed the wyvern in dragonflame so hot that the wyvern's wings caught on fire. It wheezed and screamed and burned, and Jaehaerys found the smell of it all to be most appetizing.

Though enveloped in fire, the wyvern would not give up. It sprung forward and rammed into Neryalax. Jaehaerys slipped and his blisters burst open. Sticky blood ran down Neryalax's spikes as the boy lost his grip. He slid down the dragon's backside until, digging his fingers into a scaled crevice, he stopped suddenly. Pain throbbed in his hands, especially in the broken one. Gritting his teeth, Jae tried to forget the pain, but it was hard. His feet dangling over the side of the dragon, the Targaryen prince felt lightheaded again. Fear will not take me, he assured himself, but when he looked down at the far-distant ground, the boy let out a groan and felt his hands shaking again. I'm going to fall.

Neryalax had the wyvern's neck in his mouth, and though it struggled and clawed at him, it could not prevent the dragon from biting down as hard as he could. Jae heard the bones crack even from his precarious position, and then the wyvern fell from the sky, splitting and felling the trees it landed on. In the air, Neryalax let out a bellow of victory, shooting fire into the sweltering sky. Jaehaerys' grip was loosening again, and the pain in his hands was growing to unbearable levels. He began seeing spots and felt numbness spread across his body.

"To the ground!" Jae shouted at his dragon. "Down, down, down!"

Neryalax was happy enough to oblige his master. He wants to eat that wyvern anyways, the boy knew. Would he have let me fall had he not been hungry?

They landed with little grace; Neryalax crawled over to the wyvern's corpse, cooking it with his life's fire. Jaehaerys stood, a hand on his shoulder, gasping and shaking. I nearly fell. I have to be more careful. No more hunting wyverns.

Yet as he stood there watching his dragon feast, Jaehaerys could not stay the hunger inside him any longer. The trees around were burning, but he didn't care. He ran next to his dragon and slashed at the fleshy parts of their defeated prey with his knife. Out the flesh came, smoking and bloody, and he didn't care. Jaehaerys tore at the wyvern like an animal. Dropping his knife, he took his mouth to the wound he had cut, sucking at the stringy flesh and blood waiting for him inside. There is no heat in a wyvern, he thought. Not like a dragon.

The meat was fresh and full of iron, and it was the best thing Jaehaerys had ever tasted. Sitting up, he wiped the blood from his mouth and stared at the trees around them, burning. I'm sorry, sister. I'm not a true knight.

"Fire and blood," came his mother's voice, carried by the wind, thin as a summer cloud.

"You dare call yourself a knight?!" His father's voice burst forth from the smoke, full of anger and ash.

The one voice that did not come to him was Ser William's, but Jaehaerys did not need help remembering his sworn shield. He remembered the feeling of the sword touching his shoulders, remembered what Ser William had told him with his dying breaths. Protect them. Bring everyone else home.

I failed, Ser. Everyone died except me. I tried, but I couldn't save any of them, not even my sister.

The trees crackled and burned and collapsed inwards, the orange-hot flames turning to dust and embers.

I'm never going home, he realized. I'm going to be stuck out here until I die. He expected to feel grief, to feel hopelessness crush his chest. But he felt nothing, except his hunger. I'm a dragon, the prince told himself. This is what I was always meant to do.

Jaehaerys Targaryen leaned in and returned to his feasting, his mount at his side.

The stars were out, though the sun had not set yet. In the distance, the sky was the color of a blood orange. It was blacker here, further away. The wind blew against Jaehaerys' bald head, causing him to shiver. He sat mounted on Neryalax, their bellies full.

High above the rust-tinted clouds they journeyed. The world was so magnificently bleak up there. I'm never going back. I'll be the next Jaenara Belaerys. I'll travel the world and see everything worth seeing. Somehow that didn't depress the boy so much anymore. Every now and then, a colorful bird could be seen flying in the distance, and Neryalax would let out a little whimper, but Jaehaerys dominated his mount with kicks and firm words, making sure the dragon didn't lose sight of their goal. He will learn to stay his desires. He's already getting better.

They came below the clouds at a river - the Zamoyos it must have been, for it was so wide. In the distance, beyond the murkiness of the jungle and the dying light, a city of dark stones stood tall. Yeen, Jae thought at first, though he soon understood that guess was folly. No, the buildings are too high, and there are lights coming out of some of the towers.

"Steady," Jae said, and they came to a hovering stop, just outside the city. Below, the green-brown waters of the Zamoyos gushed pleasantly. Xhorre, Jaehaerys knew. The other pirate town. They defeated Mudtown, he knew, but they would have butchered or taken all of the slaves there. He thought of Sweetgums and the others, and a spike of hatred exploded inside his chest. And they're the ones who attacked Ser William and the others. Nearly everyone is dead because of these bastards. They must be brought to justice. "This city should not be here," the boy said as coldly as he could. "It is an evil place." There will be much fire and blood this night.

A thought came to Jaehaerys, of the slaves and innocent people in Xhorre - surely there were many - but he could not let his thoughts cloud his judgment. Dragonfire destroys, and it cannot be fully controlled. This is the best I can do. Besides, if everyone dies, I'll destroy the slave trade in the area, and future slaves won't have to live and suffer here. It was not a very knightly thought, but then again, Jae didn't think he was very knightly to begin with. I am not the kind of knight Ser William was, but I am still a knight… Ser Jaehaerys, he thought, and a smile came to his face. I like the sound of that.

The dragon carried Jaehaerys to Xhorre, soundless as a shadow on the wind. The fury inside Jaehaerys was like a flame itself, growing as the sun sunk beneath the horizon. They're all sleeping, I bet. They don't know what's going to happen to them… He thought of Ser Edric and Ser Merrik, the sellswords and Targaryen household guards, and Ser William, all of whom had risked their lives for Jaehaerys and his siblings. Many of them had perished at the hands of Xhorre pirates, including Ser William.

For that, they will not see the dawn.

"Alright!" Jaehaerys shouted. "I want to hear these bastards scream. Burn them all, Neryalax. Dracarys!" he said again. At that moment, something changed in Neryalax. Before he had been calm, but no longer. Now, flames boiled around his opened mouth, and he shot forward in an anxious panic. As if he were hunting.

It's been a thousand years since this place has felt the fury of dragons. This time, they will not forget it. Jaehaerys' mind turned to his sister again, and he thought, I know you're gone, sister. But once we're done here, we'll try to find you… if you're still out there. Dragons do not abandon their own. Jaehaerys tasted blood and knew that his nose was bleeding again. As it will continue to, until it kills me. Shaking his head forward, he felt the blood ooze down his mouth and chin and onto Neryalax's scales, and he didn't care.

For then, the night's wind was upon Jaehaerys, and he felt alive for the first time in a long time. The weight and anguish he had borne seemed to vanish as Neryalax blew his first blast of dragonfire at the nearest tower. And when Jaehaerys saw the stones melt, heard screams coming from inside, and saw his dragon hovering there, the most noble and invincible steed in the world, he couldn't help but laugh madly.

Jae thought of his own dragon egg, lying at the bottom of the Summer Sea. He thought of sweet Daeron, lost in Yeen, of his uncles, mayhaps still in King's Landing or returned to Casterly Rock or dead. He thought of Maester Orwyle and his wise words, of Esgred and her wiser ones, and of Ellyn Hightower, the girl he had been meant to marry. Jae wondered if she was beautiful, if she was already promised to someone new. I'm sorry, he thought. You were going to marry a dragon. He thought of Balerion the Black Dread, Sunfyre the Golden, and all the other mighty dragons his house had commanded in their long history. He thought of all the people he'd known, and all those he would never see again. They'll think I'm dead, another boy lost at sea. But I'm not. I have a dragon. I am a dragon. Well, I'm not Aegon the Conqueror or Jaenara Belaerys. I'm just me: Ser Jaehaerys of House Targaryen - the dreaming dragon, my mother and sister called me. And I'm going to destroy this city.

And so he did.