HAPPY TUESDAY!
Okay, I'm gonna be honest, yesterday I went to right this chapter and wrote ONE SENTENCE and went 'yeah... no, I got nothing.' My muse just wasn't there. Apparently, the only time I'm inspired is when I'm at work... trying to work lol. On the bright side, I freaking LOVE this chapter. As this story is DEFINITELY going to be longer than 50 chapters lmao. I had other things I wanted to happen in this chapter that didn't make sense to try to fit in now so it'll happen next chapter, but shits getting really good. I hope these chapters are worth the wait!
Kattra lit the fireplace in her room, threw a couple of herbs and a potion into the fire and then waited. Before them, the fire crackled and danced. Lyaella and Ned stood close behind her, skeptically watching Kattra as she stared into the flame. After a few minutes, Kattra turned around and sighed, "He won't show me anything."
"He won't or you won't?" Lyaella rebutted, the oldest Targaryen looking very disapproving with how quick Kattra seemed to give up.
Kattra rolled her eyes, "I'm not a true priestess, yet, I don't have control over what he does and doesn't show me."
Ned looked between the two mad girls and tried to calm down the fire brewing between his sister and his friend, "Alright, let's just think," Ned put his hands on Kattra's shoulders so he knew she was paying attention to him, "What did he show you the first time?"
Kattra glanced at Lyaella then looked back to Ned, "A Great Shadow, flying threw the snow and as he's flying the snow melts and winter becomes summer. Once summer arrives, the shadow flies down to the ground and reveals its true self. You think it's a great beast but as it lands the shadow shrinks and it revealed that it's only a little dragon, black as night."
The two other children thought for a moment about what Kattra told them, trying to put together what it all meant. After a few minutes, Lyaella gasps, "Father calls Valyria Little Dragon," Lyaella grabbed Kattra by the wrist and yanked her towards the door, "You need to tell them what you saw!"
"I can'!" Kattra yelled as she tried to pull away from Lyaella's grip. Lyaella turns back to see Kattra frowning, "They'll be mad at me."
Lyaella's brows furrowed, turning away as she continues to pull Kattra away, "You should've thought of that before you abandoned my sister."
Full of fear, the youngest Targaryen races through the ruins of her namesake as the number of strange stone men who chased her multiplied. Valyria was quick and could fit into small places, making escaping these strangers just a bit easier. Still, she's only just a scared child and Valyria accidentally runs into a dead end. As she backs into the stone wall, the stone men catch up to her, surrounding her and making it impossible to leave. With nowhere left to go, Valyria stood her ground, picking up a thick branch from the ground and holding it up to defend herself. Even though she is only six, Valyria stands brave and chooses not to cower before death. She was too much of her fathers' daughter in that sense.
The stone men inched closer as Valyria held the branch closer and screamed, but the battle cry she bellowed out was not her own. The screech that was heard above her voice was much louder and scarier, scary enough to make the stone men back away from the girl. All heads turned to the sky as a shadow formed above them, and Valyria smiled when she saw who was above her. From the sky came Drogon, who landed on the rubble behind the girl and lowered his head closer until it was aligned with her. The stone men backed away more, some of them running away at the sight of the massive dragon. Those who didn't run rushed to attack the dragon, but Drogon let out a fiery blast that burned the men to a crisp.
Once they were alone, Valyria walked forward and away from Drogon's head so she could get a better look at him; dropping the branch as she did so. For a split moment; as Valyria turned around to look at Drogon, who she saw was not the dragon birthed by her mother but someone entirely different. He looked bigger, which Valyria didn't think was possible, and his eyes seemed unfamiliar. The vision of the other dragon didn't last long, and after a few blinks, it was gone.
Valyria rushed back to Drogon and wrapped her arms around his face the best she could, nuzzling into him, "Thank you for coming back for me." She could feel the heat of his body as she held him, the warm exhale for air through his nose and he breathed in and out, "You need to take me home, big brother." Drogon exhaled harder, as if he was snorting at her, and lifted his head out of Valyria's arms, "Drogon! Drogon I need to go home!"
The great dragon looked to the sky, and by the look of his stance seemed to be getting ready to take off. Not wanting to be left alone, Valyria climbed the debris and tried to climb on his back. Unfortunately, Valyria was too small and weak to make such a climb. Drogon stretched out his wings, and for a moment Valyria panicked in fear of being left behind. Before he took completely off, Drogon bent his head down and carefully he picked Valyria up by her dress put her on his back and took flight. She held on tight as Drogon flew through the air, her heart racing with excitement as she watched the ground beneath her shrink momentarily.
However, they weren't in the sky long.
Drogon took her to the other side of the ruins and landed on top of some nearby debris. Valyria carefully dismounted the dragon and took in her surroundings. After a minute or two, she realized she was back where she began when she first woke up in Old Valyria. Confused, Valyria turned around to yell at the dragon, "Drogon, I said take me home!" Valyria started to walk towards the dragon; who huffed and turned away, stopping the young girl in her tracks. Valyria growled in frustration, stopping her feet, "This isn't home, there is nothing here for me!" Drogon turned back and huffed again, really confusing Valyria this time. She stared at him then turned back to the ruins around her, "Or is there?"
In front of the people of Snowhome and the royal family themselves, Kattra retold her vision as well as how she purposely let Valyria wander into the forest alone. The look on Jon and Daenerys' face was devastating as the rest of the people argued and discussed the vision on their own. They thought on it for a while until Daenerys finally came to her own conclusion.
"A Great Shadow, who flies between winter and summer," Daenerys put her hands on her face and sighed, "The shadow… it's Drogon, it has to be. And flying between winter and summer must mean traveling from Westeros… and off to the lands of the East."
"I don't understand, you're telling us that Drogon came here to kidnap Valyria and took her East?" Jon looked at Kattra with confusion, still trying to unravel the Lord of Light's riddle in his head, "Last time Drogon was here was almost a decade ago, why would he come here just for our daughter?"
"I don't think she was kidnapped, My King," Kattra answered with an anxious expression clear on her face, playing with her fingers as she explained herself, "We all know Valyria is… different."
"Are you saying," Daenerys sat forward in her seat, looking between Jon and Kattra, "That Valyria...she warged into Drogon, and flew herself to Essos?"
Jon scoffed at the idea as sighed into his own hands, trying to imagine their six-year-old daughter flying across the Narrow Sea on the back of Drogon. The Freefolk erupted into more arguments as they discussed this new revelation. Kattra took a step forward and clasped her hands in front of her; speaking loud so that everyone in the room had her attention, "I know it sounds impossible, Your Grace, but your family thrives on impossibilities. Both of you have looked death in the eyes and returned, had a family when it was once deemed unlikely for you to do so, and ruled a Kingdom once thought too wild and broken to unite. So maybe it's very possible that your daughter did just that."
Daenerys and Jon looked at each other, defeated looks on their faces, and the rest of the room seemed to silence as they thought over the scenario the young priestess presented them. At this point, with Valyria gone more than a day, they had no other choice but to believe in the fact that Kattra being right was a very big possibility. All the whispered stop as Daenerys rose from her throne, looking at her men as she spoke, "We have looked all over the Freelands for Valyria with absolutely no sign that she is here. At this point, there's nothing left to do but consider our only option… that Kattra is right." The crowd gasped and bickered but, silence as Daenerys spoke again, "I will sail East to Volantis to meet with Kinvara, if she is East then I'm certain the red priestess will be able to find our daughter."
The Freefolk continued their bickering as Jon jumped from his own throne, "You aren't going East, my blood, you are still a wanted woman! Any assassin would kill you for the right amount of gold, and one look of your silver hair will make you easy to recognize," Daenerys looked his way as Jon grabbed her hand, "I will go to Volantis to look for Valyria."
"Jon, you are their King." Daenerys argued, "You have to stay here."
"And you are their Queen," Jon smiled with a reply as he squeezed her hand tight, "You can rule without me, and it'll go find Valyria. I won't be gone for too long."
"I'll rule in your sted!" Lyaella jumped up from her seat in the crowd, silencing everyone with her words.
Daenerys chuckled as she looked to her daughter, "My love, your just a child."
"I'm the future Queen Beyond the Wall," Lyaella walked closer to her parents as she talked, "I learned a lot about ruling while I was staying with Aunt Sansa, and I know a lot about these people from you. I can rule while you're both gone," Lyaella smiled; her movements making her look very royal and elegant, "Give me this chance."
Jon and Daenerys looked at each other, waiting for the other to reply. Jon chuckled at Daenerys, a smirk on his face, "It's your choice. I'm going either way."
Daenerys sighed, turning to her right to look at Grey Worm, "Torgo Nudho," She called for him as she spoke in High Valyrian, "If Princess Lyaella is to rule in our absence, you must stay behind and protect her with your life as you have mine. Is that alright?"
"Of course, Issa Dāria," Grey Worm replied in the same tongue as he bowed.
Jon turned to Tormund who stood to his left, "You need to stay, and watch over my children."
"Fuck no," Tormund scoffed, "And let you do all the stupid stuff alone? Not a chance," The took men smirked as Tormund put his hand on Jon's shoulder, "Where you go, I go. Who else is gonna make sure you don't kill yourself doing more dumb shit?"
"Lord Davos," Jon called out for the older man who stood not far from them.
Davos stepped closer to his King and smiled, "Don't worry, My King, I'll make sure the Princess makes all the right choices in your stead."
Daenerys and Jon looked at each other and smiled, then back to the rest of the Freefolk, "That settles it then," Daenerys told their people, "Princess Lyaella will rule in our absence while we sail East to find Princess Valyria."
Lyaella smiled and the Freefolk cheered, banging on the tables as they did so, "I won't let you down, Mum, I promise."
"There's nothing here Drogon!" Valyria huffed as she dropped to her knees; hot and exhausted. She had been searching the area for over an hour trying to find whatever it was Drogon had brought her back for. The young princess laid on her back as she tried to catch her breath, the hot concrete not bothering her skin as much as it might for a normal person. As she laid there trying to breathe, Valyria looked to her left and saw another momentary vision. In front of her she watched as the ruins turned back into a home, and through the doorway rushed an older woman with curly platinum hair with a basket of something, covered with a cloth. The woman rushed into the home, and moments later it was destroyed by a terrible quake of the ground, bringing the building in on itself.
The vision ended and became rubble again as Valyria rushed to her feet. She ran over to the ruins of the home and started to dig once more threw the debris until she found a trap door in the ground. As best as the little princess could, she moved all the rubble until she could open the trap door and discovered stairs leading to a basement. Valyria turned her head back to Drogon and smiled, "How did you know?" She turned away and her face scrunched up, "How did I know?"
Knowing the dragon wouldn't reply, Valyria made her way down the broken steps into the hidden basement of the Old Valyrian home. Almost everything was in ruins, the walls crumbling in on itself and what every furniture that was once kept down there destroyed. Valyria barely had light down in the basement, so she didn't immediately notice that she was stepping on something until she heard a snap. She looked down and picked up whatever it was that laid beneath her feet and held it out to the sun that was shining down from the trap door. The moment she noticed was it was, Valyria dropped it.
Bones.
The roomed was littered in them bones of those long dead. Turned into stone, a testament to the long lost civilization of Old Valyria. Most seemed human, but after digging around Valyria found one that was a touch unsettling. After holding it up to the light, she discovered that the skull once belonged to a baby dragon. It broke her heart, but the princess continued on. As she continued to rummage around through the old home she came across a skeleton fallen against the wall, and in its hands a basket with a cloth over it. Valyria carefully removed the skeleton's hand from the basket and brought it back with her out into the light, taking notice of the weight of whatever was inside.
"Alright, big brother," Valyria spoke to the large dragon as she placed the heavy basket on the floor, "Let us see what it is you brought me here to fi-" Valyria lifted the cloth and her words came to a halt as she marveled at the contents of the basket. With a look of awe and shaky hands, Valyria reached out and took out one of the three objects sitting in the basket and held it in the air. Never in her entire life did Valyria think she'd see something so beautiful as it was deadly, but here it was and it was very real, "It's… there-" She couldn't believe her eyes, and the overwhelming feeling it gave her was enough to make her tear up, "Dragon eggs." Valyria looked back into the basket where the other two eggs sat; all three of the eggs very different colors. The youngest Targaryen couldn't help but laugh at her discovery.
Valyria had found dragon eggs, and now all she wanted to do was hatch them.