The Chronicles of Valyria, Book 1 Resurrection Chapter 10, a game of thrones fanfic

The Chronicles of Valyria,

Book 1 Resurrection

Chapter 10

Rhaegar looked behind him expecting to only see Lyanna, but instead they saw a girl standing in the doorway. She was roughly the same age as Silvana and Lissena, had an overall skinny appearance and pitch black hair that hung to halfway down her neck, and looked very nervous while stealing glances left and right into the hallway.

Rhaegar put his daughter back on the ground before he turned around and approached the girl who curtsied and said, "G… good day Y… Your Grace, my name is Yara Greyjoy, and I ha… have come to warn you for my bro… brothers, they are planning to AHHHHH!"

Her sentence was cut short when a throwing axe lodged itself in her lower back, just under her ribcage

Yara fell down without saying another word and they could hear footsteps running off in the hallway. Aurora sprinted out the door, in hot pursuit of the would-be assassin, while Gabrielle kneeled besides Yara and started to inspect the wound.

Aurora ran out the door and could just see a hooded and cloaked figure disappearing around a corner. Her armored boots echoed throughout the halls of the holdfast as she ran after the unknown person.

The pursuit lasted for nearly five minutes, until the figure passed a ballroom and Aurora had a clear line of sight. While running she drew one of the long daggers on her right hip and threw it towards the figure in front of her and she hit true.

The dagger lodged itself in the upper leg of the figure and she heard the voice of a man cry out. "ARRHG." Before the man slammed to the ground.

Aurora hurried on and dragged the hood from the man's face, revealing Maron Greyjoy. "You have some nerve, trying to kill your own sister." Aurora snarled at the man.

"That little whore is not my sister, little freak that she is." Came the hissing reply. In answer Aurora kicked him in the head and was dragging him back to where she had left Rhaegar and the others, when three Gold cloaks came running into the ballroom with Ser Oswell Whent in front of them.

Aurora greeted the men curtly and said, "Ser Oswell, spread the word to find Rodrik Greyjoy and bring him to the black cells. Alive if possible, but not necessarily, just make sure he doesn't leave this city."

Ser Oswell nodded and ran back out of the room, with the gold cloaks behind him.

It took Aurora only two minutes to return to the others, as she used several shortcuts Maron hadn't known about. When she arrived back at the room, Gabrielle was hovering over the still body of Yara, who had been placed face-down on a couch so that Gabrielle could inspect her wound.

Dropping the unconscious body of Maron unceremoniously on the floor, Aurora kneeled down next to her wife and asked softly, "How is she?"

"She'll make it," Gabrielle said with a grin, "we are dealing with a very smart girl here." Yara's dress had been removed, and her back was bare, so Gabrielle could stitch up the 3-inch-long gash on her lower back.

Gabrielle motioned with her hand towards the dress, which had been discarded on the floor and when Aurora picked it up, she immediately knew what Gabrielle had meant. The dress weighed more than 20 pounds, which was caused by the shirt of mail that had been sewn between the two layers of wool that formed the bodice of her dress.

"The mail stopped the axe head from penetrating more than an inch, which is very fortunate because only half an inch deeper, and it would have hit her stomach." Gabrielle's words caused Aurora to manage a small grin as she thought of the girl's ingenuity.

When Gabrielle was done stitching up the wound, she cleaned Yara's back with a wet cloth before washing her hands in a bowl with warm water which had been brought by one of the Ladies-in-waiting.

"Who is it?" Gabrielle asked a little casually and Aurora revealed Maron's face.

"But, but, that's her own brother." Lyanna exclaimed, "how could he try to kill her, but more importantly, why would he try to kill her."

Aurora shrugged before she said, "Let's ask him shall we," and she kicked him viciously in the side, causing him to wake abruptly with a cry of pain. He rolled onto his back, but couldn't get up as Aurora placed her foot on his chest, keeping him pinned down.

Rhaenys and the twins had been taken to a different room by the Ladies-in-waiting who had looked after them before, and the remaining people in the room, all came to stand over him. "You have a few things to explain young man," Rhaegar said sternly before asking, "Why in the seven hells did you try to kill your own sister?"

"That little whore is not my sister," Maron roared again, "stupid little bitch is nothing but a sneaking traitor."

"A traitor of what?"

"Piss off blondie, I'll never tell you that."

Aurora took that as a challenge and asked with a dark smirk on her face, "You wanna bet about that, cause I promise you, I'll have you singing in ten minutes."

Maron's only reply was to spit on the black steel of her shin guard and Aurora drove her foot into Maron's chest, resulting in several 'SNAP's' as a few of his ribs cracked under the pressure.

Maron cried in pain and Aurora said, "Please, scream all you want, no one is coming for you."

Over the next five minutes, Aurora broke 11 ribs, both his legs, 7 fingers and tore off two more, removed several of his toes and finally carved a large picture of a dead kraken on his chest.

After roughly 8 minutes, Maron gave up his struggle and was ready to talk.

"Now, I ask again," began Rhaegar, "why did you try to kill your own sister?"

"Because she was going to rat us out to you. Our grandfather has sent us here to kill you, so he could use the chaos afterwards to conquer the North, now that the Starks and most of the other Northmen have marched south."

"Who else were involved in this?"

"My grandfather, my father, and my uncles Euron and Aeron, my uncle Victarion refused to participate and threatened to warn you, so he was imprisoned at Pyke, along with our little brother Theon."

At that moment there came a knock on the door and Ser Barristan entered, followed by two gold cloaks who carried a limp body between them.

"Your Grace," Ser Barristan began, "We caught Rodrik Greyjoy as he attempted to sneak out of the Red Keep. But we were unable to take him alive. He killed two gold cloaks before I opened his chest."

Indeed, the corpse on the ground had been opened from stomach to collarbone and some of his guts were threatening to spill out.

Rhaegar nodded and turned back to Aurora and Gabrielle, "Deliver their heads to Pyke and bring back Victarion and Theon Greyjoy alive, kill every other Greyjoy you find. Do whatever it takes, to bring the Iron Islands back under the Crown."

Aurora nodded grimly and Gabrielle followed her example while adding, "We'll say goodbye to the girls and leave immediately afterwards. We'll be back sometime tomorrow." They each took the body of one of the Greyjoy brothers, Aurora took Maron's after snapping his neck, and carried them out of the room.

They dropped them in a room next to the one where the children were brought, and said goodbye to the twins before taking the bodies to the black cells. There they removed their heads and put them in a sailcloth bag, which Aurora slung over her shoulder. They left the bodies in a large fireplace, which had been built for that purpose, judging by the various charred bones that were already in it.

In quick order they took two horses from the stables and rode to the Dragonpit in haste, where Gabrielle changed and flew off in the waning light of the early evening.

The journey to Pyke took them roughly an hour-and-a-half, and it was still light when they arrived. Deciding to scout around for a while and wait for the darkness before landing, they flew over the many islands that formed the domain of the Ironborn.

What they saw proved what Maron had said, it looked like the Ironborn were preparing for war. Every dock and harbor they saw was filled with longships and everywhere men and women alike were gathering and training. Forges were spitting black smoke into the late evening and carts laden with weapons, armor and supplies were moving toward the harbors.

So far Gabrielle had flown high enough to not be spotted by anyone on the ground but she asked with a hint of amusement in her voice, "You wanne go and scare the shit out of them?"

Aurora grinned in reply and answered, "You know me to well my love."

With a mighty roar, Gabrielle started a dive and aimed straight for the city of Lordsport on the island of Pyke. Only a few hundred feet above the large town, she spread her wings and flew off towards the castle of Pyke. Cries of fear and surprise could be heard coming from all over the town and the castle.

It was dark enough for Gabrielle to safely land without being spotted from the castle and she landed a thousand feet away from the castle between a few cliffs. Quickly changing back in human form, Gabrielle helped Aurora to put away the saddle, and together they walked calmly toward the castle.

It was completely dark by the time they reached the walls and deciding to first secure Victarion and Theon, they used their daggers to climb the rough stones that formed the walls of Pyke.

Aurora was the first to reach the top and she carefully peaked over the battlements looking for any patrolling guards. The nearest one was a dozen feet away, with his back turned towards her and she softly climbed onto the wall.

She approached the man from behind and clapping her left hand over his mouth, she dragged him into the nearest tower to get him out of sight. As soon as she had him in the tower, Gabrielle appeared behind her with a second guard she had overtaken from the other side of the tower.

They put the men down besides each other against the wall, and each put a dagger to their throats. The men looked at them with clear fright in their eyes until Aurora growled, "Where are Victarion and Theon Greyjoy?"

One of them pissed himself before passing out, while the other's eyes went wide at the intimidating metallic voice and he stuttered, "T… t… top of the Bl… Bloody K… K… Keep."

"And which one would that be?" asked Gabrielle.

"S… second."

"Thank you," Gabrielle replied coldly before she slammed her right fist into his head, knocking him out cold. They bound and gagged both men before hiding them in a dark corner under a stair.

They crept their way onto the courtyard between the curtain wall and the gatehouse, and noticed that their stunt from before might not have been the best idea, as it looked like the entire garrison had been put on high alert. Dozens of men could be seen patrolling the battlements of the gatehouse and the keeps beyond.

Dozens if not hundreds of torches bathed the entire area in dim light and they had to perform a series of impressive acrobatics to stay undetected. They made their way into the interior of the gatehouse but were forced to take out a trio of guards who spotted them as they were about to cross the bridge to the first keep. The men were dumped in to sea with their throats cut open and they crept on.

All in all, they had to kill or incapacitate 16 Ironborn before they made it to the location the first guard had told them about.

They came to the top of a stairwell, and found two doors, both locked and with 2 armed guards standing before each of them.

They both drew two knifes from their boots and after standing up and aiming carefully, they threw them and the four men dropped to the ground, each with a knife protruding from their unprotected necks.

They quickly made their way over to the doors and while Gabrielle looked into the one on the right and saw a sleeping boy under a thick blanket, Aurora looked into the left one and came helmet to face with a large and powerful looking man.

"Who are you?" growled the man as he looked suspiciously at the helmet, which was all he could see between the bars in the door of his cell.

The only reply he received was a metallic, "Are you Victarion Greyjoy?"

The man nodded and Aurora took her axe from the holster on her back. "Step back," Aurora said before she hefted her axe and slammed it down on the lock keeping it closed. The lock shattered and the sound was followed by a second 'CLANG' as Gabrielle broke open the other door.

"Are you ready to become the new Lord of the Iron Islands?"

Aurora's question seemed to surprise Victarion, but he nodded none-the-less and said, "I am. But who are you and who sent you here?"

"We are here," Gabrielle said after she stood next to Aurora, "Because your nephew's blew their mission and tried to kill your niece when she tried to warn the king about your family's plans. We interrogated Maron, and he told us that you were held prisoner because you refused to cooperate with this plan, so the King send us here to make you the new Lord Reaper of Pyke."

Victarion nodded again and asked, "But how were you planning on doing that, there are nearly 400 Ironborn in this castle, and you are just two men."

They ignored his presumption of their gender and instead Aurora said, "You'll see, now I suggest you arm yourself, get something from those men outside, and then wake your nephew, we will take care of the rest."

Victarion did as she said and to their approval, they saw him dressing himself in the same style as they did themselves, full heavy armor. He was soon dressed in mail on boiled leather, topped by full plate which he scavenged together from the four corpses. Afterwards he strapped a sword to his waist before picking up two, hand-axes and sticking them into his belt.

He entered his nephew's room and woke him by shaking his shoulder. "Wake up Theon, you have to get dressed, we are leaving."

The boy yawned before looking at who woke him and muttered, "Uncle Victarion, how come you're free, did father release you?"

"No Theon, we are escaping, your sister has sent us help but hurry."

Theon quickly got out of bed and dressed himself in a simple tunic and breaches of rough grey wool. The boy quickly followed his uncle into the hall, where he stopped at the sight of Aurora and Gabrielle dragging the bodies of the guards they had killed into the other cell.

"Uncle, who… who are they?" Theon asked with hesitation and a little fear in his voice.

"I have no idea, but they are helping us so I don't really care." His uncle's answer seamed to reassure him a little and Theon quickly followed Victarion as he made his way down the stairs, after Aurora and Gabrielle who had already descended.

About halfway down, they could hear the clang of metal coming from below them and Victarion hurried down the stairs, with Theon on his heels.

They were just in time to see Aurora slam her spiked left fist into the face of an Ironborn, caving his head in and sending pieces of brain and bone in all directions, while shortly after cutting a second Ironborn in half with her massive battle axe which she wielded one-handed.

Further down the hallway Gabrielle was taking on three Ironborn who had each wielded a crossbow, but were in the process of drawing their swords. Before they could however, they were disemboweled by a horizontal swipe of Gabrielle's axe.

"They probably heard this struggle, so we better hurry. What is the fastest way to the great hall?"

At Gabrielle's question, Victarion took the lead and took them through a secret stair which ended just besides the bridge that led to the Great Keep, and they hurried across.

Making their way through the Great Keep, they stopped before the Great Hall and Aurora and Gabrielle turned towards Victarion and Theon. Gabrielle spoke, "You and Theon had better find a safe spot. I'm not sure what'll happen once we 'introduce' ourselves, but I'm pretty sure it'll be violent."

Victarion nodded and after he drew the two axes from his belt, he ushered Theon into a small side room, before barring the door behind them.

Aurora and Gabrielle turned back to the great doors, and Aurora kicked them open violently.

The loud noise coming from the great hall stopped immediately, and the roughly 50 men in the hall all looked at them. At the other end of the hall they saw the Seastone chair, in which sat a graying man who was still tall and his broad shoulders were encased in steel mail. This had to be Quellon Greyjoy.

On simple chairs at his feet sat three men, who they guessed were his sons, Balon, Euron and Aeron. On several long tables sat a little over two score men, all dressed for war with heavy mail or plate steel. Apparently a feast was being held, as the tables were laden with food and serving maids were spread around the hall, carrying large pitchers with ale and wine.

"WHO ARE YOU, AND HOW DARE YOU ENTER HERE UNINVITED!" The man on the Seastone chair roared through the silent hall.

Aurora and Gabrielle walked calmly into the hall and Gabrielle said, "We have been sent by the King, we have come to bring you his answer to your proposal which was presented by your grandsons."

At this the man sat back down and said in a calmer tone, "Well in that case, I bid you welcome on Pyke. I am Quellon Greyjoy, Lord of the Iron Islands. What answer does the king give?"

Aurora spoke next and asked, "May we approach?"

Quellon nodded in permission and Aurora and Gabrielle walked between the middle two tables until they stood before the four Greyjoy's and Aurora took the sailcloth bag from her shoulder. She pulled the two severed heads from the bag and threw them at Balon's feet.

"They failed," Aurora said calmly to the silent hall, until Quellon jumped up and yelled,

"KILL THEM!"

All of the men jumped up from their seats at the tables and came charging towards Aurora and Gabrielle who had both drawn their battle axes and now stood back to back in front of the Seastone chair.

Aurora faced the hall while Gabrielle kept an eye on the Greyjoy's. The first to jump up was Balon, who promptly received the back spike of Gabrielle's axe in his chest, instantly killing the heir to the Iron Islands. Gabrielle drew the axe back and tore his chest open before bringing it down on Aeron's head, splitting it in two.

Meanwhile Aurora was dispatching one Ironborn after the other, as their steel swords and axes, though they were of excellent quality, were no match against the heavy Dragonforged battle axe. Swords broke and axe-shafts splintered under the godlike strength with which Aurora wielded her weapon.

Euron was the next Greyjoy to die, when he tried to flee and Gabrielle hit him in the back with a dagger. He dropped dead with the blade buried in his spine. Quellon looked with wide-eyes as his sons had been killed without any apparent effort and below the lords of the Iron islands were being slaughtered one after the other.

When the last of the lords, a fat man with a large scar across his forehead, died as Aurora tore away half his face with the butt of her axe, Quellon stood up and said softly, "Who are you?"

Aurora and Gabrielle shared a look, though even they couldn't see the other's face through their helmet, before they revealed their faces.

When Lord Quellon saw that they were women he muttered, "Impossible," before standing up from his throne and drawing the two swords he carried on his hips.

With unspoken consent, Gabrielle retreated and Aurora stepped forward to face the Lord Reaper of Pyke, her axe handed to Gabrielle and her two hand-and-a-half swords spinning around in her hands. "Let's dance Motherfucker," she mocked as the aging lord lunged at her with his swords spread out.

The Lord of the Iron Islands had nothing to lose anymore, and that showed itself in the way he fought, reckless and with a fury few living men could match, yet with great skill and ferocious determination.

Aurora had to admit that he proved to be a worthy opponent despite his age, he was still strong and a much better fighter than Robert Baratheon who, like she did herself, relied more upon his great strength. Quellon's swords swung here and there and more than once, Aurora was forced to dive when one of his swords lunged past her defenses and nearly hit her in the unprotected head.

"Impressive," Aurora said with a little respect clearly noticeable in her voice. "You are by far the best opponent I have faced in the last century or so. Don't take this too hard, you fought honorably." And with those words, Aurora's left sword slipped past Quellon's defenses and took him in the gut, going straight through his stomach and out of his back.

Quellon's face went grey and blood started to spill from his open mouth while he muttered, "What is dead may never die." His eyes closed themselves and his face took on a look that showed peace with his fate, while his swords slipped from his hands and landed on the stone floor with two clangs.

Aurora lowered the body to the floor before removing her sword from the late lord's gut. "He was good," she muttered and she and Gabrielle stood side-by-side looking down on the fallen lord, until a sound from the entrance drew their attention.

"Drowned God take me," Victarion's voice broke the deathly silence that had fallen in the great hall as he and Theon looked wide-eyed at the slaughter that Aurora and Gabrielle had committed.

Theon slipped past his uncle and ran towards the front while yelling, "FATHER."

Aurora and Gabrielle felt a little guilty, when the young boy knelt down besides the blood drenched corpse of a father who would now never see him grow up.

"Father, father, father, wake up," the boy sobbed until Victarion came running and took him in his arms.

"Shsst lad, it's going to be all right. Your father is with the Drowned God now. He, your grandfather, your uncles and your brothers have been called to him. And now they feast in his watery halls, served by the most beautiful mermaids."

"Then I want to go to them." Theon sobbed into his uncle's shoulder.

"Don't say such things lad, when your time comes you'll see them again, but that is many years from now. Now you have a big sister to protect, so you'll have to be strong for her, can you do that?"

Theon nodded while sniffing away a few tears and Victarion gave him a soft smile before he said, "That's a good lad, now, come on we have other things to do, let's get you to your mother."

Theon nodded again while drying his tears on his sleeve and Victarion accompanied him out of the hall after saying, "I'll be back in a few minutes, his mother should be on the floor above this one. If you were serious about making me Lord of the Iron Islands, then you should gather the heads of everyone you have slain here, we'll need them to convince the Kingsmoot."

Aurora and Gabrielle nodded calmly before Aurora received her axe back from Gabrielle and the duo began their grim task.

When they were about done, wondering if they should also take the ruined mass of bone and brains of the man whose skull Aurora had destroyed, when a soft cry was heard and a body fell down in front of the doors of the hall.

Aurora and Gabrielle sprinted out the doors towards the weakly moving body and they saw it was a woman. They were just in time to hear her mutter her last words. "I'll not live in a land where that man becomes king, he betrayed us all by joining that white haired bastard from the south."

A mere two minutes later, Victarion came running towards them with behind him a young woman who held Theon in her arms. When he stopped before them, Gabrielle asked, "What happened?"

"She jumped," was Victarion's explanation. When Gabrielle looked at him with one raised eyebrow, he explained, "When I told her that Balon, Rodrik and Maron were dead, and that I would join the King, she began yelling about me being a traitor and jumped from a balcony."

"Great," both Aurora and Gabrielle muttered at the same time. Now they had another concern, who would raise Theon and Yara now that both their parents were dead.

They used the rest of the night to prepare for Victarion's attempt to win the crown. They kept the massacre silent by executing everyone who refused to bow to Victarion and accept him as their new Lord.

At daybreak, Victarion ordered the Ironborn to ring the great bell in the gatehouse, a signal for all the lords and captains to gather. It took more than two hours for all the captains to assemble, their number being well over 700, one for each ship in the massive Iron Fleet.

They gathered before the walls of Pyke, and when all were present, Victarion stepped from under the gates and ascended a dais that had been placed there. He was once again dressed in his own armor, leather backed mail covered by heavy plate steel with a golden kraken emblazoned on the chest, and in his hand he held his great battle axe, which was nearly as large as those wielded by Aurora and Gabrielle.

"MEN OF THE IRON ISLANDS, HEAR MY WORDS." When he had their attention he continued on a normal, but still clearly audible tone, "You all know me, I am Victarion Greyjoy, third son of Quellon Greyjoy and Lord Captain of the Iron Fleet.

What you may not know is that for the last four months, I have been held prisoner by my father and my brothers. I was a prisoner because I openly refused to aid them in this foolhardy plan of theirs to conquer The North. I'll tell you now as I told them.

We can never again take back the lands we lost when the Targaryans drove us from the mainland. We do not have the men and we do not have the weapons to do so. We are too few compared to them. Right now, the royal army is over 120,000 men strong, we don't stand a chance.

They refused to listen and instead send Rodrik and Maron Greyjoy to try to assassinate the King. Last night, the King sent his answer." At those words both Aurora and Gabrielle stepped out from under the gate and joined Victarion on the dais. Both wore their helmets, and they each carried an 8-foot spear. On the spears were placed, one above the other, the heads of Quellon, Balon, Euron, Aeron, Rodrik, and Maron.

They stabbed the spears in the ground so they were clearly visible for all to see, while behind them a dozen Ironborn came carrying other spears with the heads of the lords that had been slain in the night. They placed the spears in a half circle around the dais before retreating back into the gatehouse.

"In the name of King Rhaegar, First of his Name, King of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm, I, Victarion Greyjoy, hereby claim the Seastone chair. Like Urron Redhand did thousands of years ago, I pay with the Iron Price."

A loud rumor burst out at Victarion's words until Aurora stepped forward and removed her helmet. It was silent in moments, none of the Ironborn had ever beholden someone like her and they were instantly enthralled by what she said.

"My name is Aurora, I am one of the champions of King Rhaegar, and unlike the king, I kind of like your way of life. Here is my proposal for all of you. The Iron Islands are barren, not much grows here and the land cannot feed you all. The Old Way saw to your needs in the past, and why shouldn't it continue to do so… we just need to find the right target."

Her words were clearly well received as cheers and applause could be heard in the early morning wind. "If you accept Victarion as your new Lord, and then follow me and my wife," at this she motioned towards Gabrielle who went to stand besides her and also removed her helmet. "We will lead you to conquer the Stepstones, and then on to the ruins of Old Valyria. From there, all of Essos is within our reach and as they say, 'The Gold comes from the East'.

Follow us, and we will ensure that those who stay behind will receive food and supplies from the crown in exchange for the support on our expedition.

It was quit for a few seconds until Victarion stepped forward and spoke loudly, "I accept," before grasping his battle axe in his right hand and raising it into the sky before yelling, "WHAT IS DEAD MAY NEVER DIE."

In an instant, every man and women who stood before them drew their weapons, be they swords, axes, maces, or daggers, struck them into the sky and yelled as one,

"WHAT IS DEAD MAY NEVER DIE."

As the crowd kept chanting, Victarion turned to Aurora and Gabrielle and said, "And now you have your army, use it wisely."

Aurora gave him a grin and muttered, "Oh don't worry about that, we will. But now that this is dealt with, we need to get you and Theon to King's Landing, the king was rather insistent that we bring you back with us. Is there anyone still alive that has both the trust of the Ironborn, and has your trust to do as you command?"

Victarion thought for a few minutes, counting men on his fingers but discarding most on account of them being recently deceased, until he nodded and said loudly to the gathered captains, who were waiting silently for orders. "DAGMER CLEFTJAW."

From amongst the midst of the crowd, a man who looked to be in his early forties stepped forward. He had graying hair that hung till his shoulders and a middle sized beard framed his jaw. The most distinctive feature he had, which was no doubt the source of his nickname, was a large scar that went from his left cheek, across his mouth and ended on his chin.

The man kneeled and said, "My Lord."

Victarion nodded to the man and motioned for him to rise before saying, "Dagmer Cleftjaw, you are the most experienced raider I know, you are a fearsome warrior and above all, the men trust your judgment. So I hereby give you temporary command of the Iron Fleet. Gather all those who wish to join the ladies on this adventure, and have them sail to the mouth of the Greenblood. There they shall await you, and from there on, you will answer to them."

Dagmer bowed again and said, "By your will, my Lord." He turned around and went to see to his orders.

Not long after the crowd dispersed as many went back to their ships to sail home and talk with their families. This would be an adventure none of the Ironborn had ever undertaken, and it would require much preparation to reach a favorable outcome.

Victarion went back to the keep while Aurora and Gabrielle went away to send word to King's Landing and to 'saddle their dragons'.

Half an hour later, Aurora was once again seated on Gabrielle's back as she descended on the great castle of Pyke. Unlike the previous day, this time she landed before the gatehouse where Victarion and Theon were waiting for them, along with a young woman who Victarion had chosen to care for his nephew.

Theon and the girl, whose name they learned was Gwendolyn, or Gwen for short, both looked up in awe at the massive dragon that stood before them, while Victarion stood shell-shocked. Aurora and Gabrielle had told him about the dragons, but he had not expected it possible that they were this big.

When the rope was lowered from the saddle, Victarion was the first to climb on, followed by Theon and finally by Gwen. Aurora helped them to strap in, while she told Victarion, "Gabrielle has already left for King's Landing to inform the king of our success here."

The newly named Lord of the Iron Islands just nodded, fearful of the beast he was currently seated upon. Aurora noticed his fear and said with a smile, "Don't worry, you are currently seated on the safest seat in the entire world, she'll never drop you."

Being only slightly reassured by these words, Victarion gripped the handles next to him on the saddle when Gabrielle launched herself into the air. Behind him Theon, and to a lesser extend Gwen, were both cheering when the adrenaline coursed through their bodies.

The journey to the capital took them only about an hour, much faster than their journey to Pyke thanks to the fact that Gabrielle now had the wind in her back, instead of against her. However, for the second time, when they saw the city in the distance, thick black smoke clouds were rising from the city.