The Chronicles of Valyria,
Book 1 Resurrection
Chapter 11
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.
Gabrielle pushed out a speed burst in fear for the twins and their new friends and when they were closer, they could see large smoke clouds were coming from the harbor, all the docks and many of the vessels moored on it were nothing more than burned shells, while further in the bay, a poultry few dozen heavily damaged ships were all that remained of the Royal Fleet.
Smaller smoke clouds were rising from the Red Keep, large parts of which were blackened by fire or were still burning.
When Gabrielle landed, the entire keep shook with the force of the impact, and when Aurora and her other passengers had dismounted, she changed back to human form, ignoring the cries of surprise and shock in favor of worrying about their daughters.
Together they stormed into the keep, using their powers to put out the many fires that were still burning all around them until they reached the throne room. They saw a scene that reminded them of the sack, corpses lay everywhere, most were of servants and nobles, judging by their clothing, but a few dozen gold cloaks lay between them as well as nearly fifty men in unknown heavy bronze armor and armed with heavy spears and short swords.
Before the Iron Throne they could see a quartet of familiar silver blond hair, and Aurora yelled through the otherwise silent room, "SILVANA, LISSENA."
Two of the silver haired people jumped up and came running towards them, both with tears running over their faces as they crashed into Aurora and Gabrielle and cried, "MOM!"
The twins were enveloped in a tight group hug until Rhaegar and Lyanna reached them. Lyanna was unharmed, but Rhaegar was shirtless and his chest was marred by a dozen deep cuts and he carried a large sword which was dripping with blood and which they recognized as Brightroar.
Aurora turned to Rhaegar and asked softly, "What happened here?"
"We were attacked," Rhaegar stated the obvious but elaborated as he saw the looks that Aurora and Gabrielle were throwing at him. "Last night around midnight the city was woken by a chorus of roars. They sounded remarkably like you two, so everyone thought you had returned. When we went outside, we saw at least a dozen of them, dragons."
At their disbelieving looks Rhaegar added, "Not as big as you two, it'd say about a third in size, but all had riders and that was not all. Dozens of ships had landed beneath the walls of the keep and hundreds of soldiers were using grappling hooks to climb the walls. They took us entirely by surprise."
Aurora softly released her arms from around Silvana's shoulder, who was still clinging tightly to her middle, and pulled off her right gauntlet before holding her bare hand out to Rhaegar. "Show me."
Rhaegar took a deep breath before he grasped her hand and instantly Aurora saw what he had seen the night before.
He and Lyanna had just retired to their rooms when they heard a loud roar come from the direction of Blackwater Bay and they quickly rushed to the nearest window, wondering why Aurora and Gabrielle had returned so soon.
When Rhaegar opened the window, both he and Lyanna gasped in shock. A dozen large beasts were flying over the harbor, burning every ship moored there. At the same time sounds of clashing metal and cries of pain were heard in the courtyard below them.
The door to their chambers was opened in a hurry and Rhaella came running in, followed by the twins. To Rhaegar's surprise, his mother was holding a large Valyrian steel greatsword. Without explanation, Rhaella pressed the sword in his hands and told him, "Defend your people, let them see you fighting for them."
Without a question, Rhaegar accepted the sword, and ran out of the room, after giving Lyanna a desperate kiss.
In the hall he was joined by Ser Barristan and Ser Gerold, who had been guarding his door, and on the way towards the gates, they were joined by the Sers, Oswell, Arthur and Jonothor. Prince Lewyn had been given leave to stay with his family during their stay so he had been in a different part of the keep
When they reached the throne room they were met by dozens upon dozens of people, nobles, servants and soldiers. "EVERYONE WHO CAN HOLD A SWORD, COME WITH ME." Rhaegar yelled through the room and all of the soldiers, along with a few of the nobles rushed to follow their new king.
Now with maybe fifty men at his back, Rhaegar reached the gates and in the courtyard they were met by a true battle. He saw Eddard Stark, swinging his massive greatsword Ice, Hoster Tully and Jon Arryn were fighting back to back with Brynden Tully and Galbart Glover. In the distance he saw the Greatjon with his personal guard, who were fighting with their large two-handed swords and carving a bloody path towards Eddard Stark.
The enemy they were fighting was unfamiliar to Rhaegar. They all wore the same heavy bronze cuirasses, with greaves and vambraces of the same material. All of them wore thick linen clothing beneath it and they carried large round shields and a variety of steel weapons. He saw maces, axes and swords, but most carried simple spears which they used with great efficiency.
Without a warning, Rhaegar crashed into the back of a large group of enemies and hacked two to pieces before the others could react. With his Kingsguard besides him, Rhaegar fought his way through the courtyard, linking up with the many groups of his own people, until they formed a single united front that pushed the still unknown enemy back and cornered them against a wall.
"WE NEED PRISONERS." Rhaegar yelled at the top of his lungs, "KEEP A FEW OF THEM ALIVE."
At that moment a large explosion was heard and a crater was blown in the side of the hill beneath them, opening the black cells to the night air and when he ran to a gate, he could see three familiar blondes running towards one of the dragons that had landed to pick them up.
As soon as the Lannisters were on board, the beast flew off and once they were well over the waters of Blackwater Bay, a horn was sounded and the other beasts also flew off, while those of the attackers who could, fled back to their boats."
Suddenly cries of pain and panic could be heard from within the Red Keep and Rhaegar quickly hurried inside, with the rest of the men behind him.
When they reached the throne room they saw more than two score of the bronze armored enemies fighting with a few dozen gold cloaks while many of the servants and nobles lay slain on the floor.
The ensuing battle was brutal, as the unknown enemies fought ferociously knowing they had nowhere to go, and so they wanted to make as many casualties as they could before they were slain themselves.
When Aurora came out of the memory, she asked Rhaegar, "How long ago did they flee?"
"A few hours before dawn, on dragon back you can probably catch up to those who fled by ship."
Aurora nodded but Gabrielle asked, "Who was lost Rhaegar?" she had seen the pain in his eyes.
Rhaegar sniffed once before he said, "A few dozen lords, amongst them, Hoster Tully and Ser Jonothor."
Aurora extended her hand to him and said, "Then let's go avenge them."
Rhaegar nodded and they hurried outside, where the saddle Gabrielle had worn still lay.
With Rhaegar's help, Aurora quickly saddled Gabrielle, they no longer cared if anyone saw them, as the secret was out anyway when dozens had seen them land and witnessed as Gabrielle changed from dragon to human.
When the saddle was secure, Rhaegar climbed on with Ser Barristan and Ser Oswell behind him. They all strapped themselves in and when they were secured, Aurora changed as well and the two dragons flew up in the sky and out towards the mouth of Blackwater Bay.
It took them a few hours to find the small fleet of the attackers. Eleven of the great beasts were flying above the ships, but even with their great eyesight, they didn't see the three Lannisters anywhere, so they assumed that the twelfth beast had flown off with its passengers, while the others stayed behind to cover their fleet.
The ships numbered 34 in total, all sleek black ships, built for speed with shallow hulls and great sails, each of the sails bore the image of a harpy with two crossed thunderbolts in it claws.
"GHISCARI," they could hear Rhaegar yell but at that moment the enemy had spotted them.
The beasts came flying towards them and now in clear daylight, Rhaegar saw that they were not dragons at all. The beasts had the rough shape of a dragon but that was all. Instead of four legs, they had only two, and they had no scales but a thick leathery hide. Their wings were relatively longer and shallower than those of Aurora and Gabrielle and they all had some weird contraption of tubes and bladders running from their backs to their mouths.
One of the beasts roared and a blast of fire came from the endings of the tubes, which were next to the joint of its jaws.
"Wyverns." Rhaegar hissed, but it was all he could say, as suddenly Gabrielle flapped her wings forward and turned around, as Aurora flew straight towards the wyverns. Gabrielle turned again but started to circle around the approaching wyverns and approached the ships that were fleeing desperately.
Rhaegar looked on in awe as he saw Aurora clash with the wyverns. They were fairly evenly matched as a whole, but once Aurora closed with one of them, it was over for that one. The wyverns had the advantage of numbers and speed. Aurora had size, strength and firepower.
The first wyvern to get in her reach was grabbed by the neck with her great jaws and with a sickening crunch, the jaws closed, killing the beast instantly and letting its rider fall down with the corpse, for thousands of feet.
The others tried blasting her with fire, but unlike real dragons, the wyverns were equipped with some sort of fire throwing device. The regular fire they spit out didn't even tickle her, but when Aurora opened her jaws and spewed forth a great column of blood red fire, it caught four of them and the devices on their backs exploded. Great chunks of their bodies were ripped off by the explosions and the blasts caught another one which was hit by a piece of bronze pipe, which hit it in the side and apparently reached its heart as it fell out of the sky, unmoving.
By now the others were fleeing but Gabrielle cut them off. With Rhaegar and the other two clinging to the saddle, Gabrielle dropped down from above and caught the first two, one by the leg in her jaws and the other by its neck and chest with her two front claws. She tore the one in her claws to pieces, before bringing her head down and grabbed the other, by its neck with her jaws while she held its torso with her claws. With a jerk of her neck she tore the neck off of the beast, ripping half its spine out with it.
The remaining three were now caught between Aurora and Gabrielle, who were quickly approaching them. Aurora caught another one with a great blast of fire, while Gabrielle torched a second. The last one they trapped between them and Aurora tore off one of its wings before cauterizing the stump with fire while Gabrielle held the beast between her claws. One around its head, two around its body and the fourth plucked the rider out of the saddle.
Aurora fled down towards the ships and in a single pass, she torched the lot of them, letting the fire claim everyone on them and sinking them one by one.
As Aurora came flying back to them, Gabrielle dropped the wyvern she was carrying, but held onto the rider. Aurora dived down and caught the wyvern between her might claws, carrying it all the way back to the Red Keep.
On the flight the wyvern tried to escape from Aurora's clutches, but her claws were too strong and when it tried to bathe her in flames, Aurora put a choke hold around its throat until it died from lack of oxygen.
As they approached the Red Keep, it was early in the evening and when Aurora dropped the great carcass in the courtyard, she changed back to her human form and took the captured rider as Gabrielle released him.
As soon as she handed the rider to Ser Barristan and Ser Oswell, Aurora removed the saddle from Gabriele with the help of Rhaegar and Gabrielle likewise turned back to her human form.
They tried to talk to the man, but he didn't understand them and they didn't understand him, so finally Aurora placed her bare hands on the man's head and dove into his memories.
When she had gained everything that was useful, she snapped the man's neck and turned to Rhaegar, "We have a serious problem."
Rhaegar's only response was to nod and motion for Aurora and Gabrielle to follow him. He asked a passing guard, "Where are the Lords, Eddard Stark, Jon Arryn and Doran and Oberyn Martell?"
The guard thought for a moment until he said, "The Lords Stark and Arryn were in the throne room when last I saw them, but Prince Doran was injured in the fighting so he and Prince Oberyn are most likely in the Sept where the maesters are tending the wounded."
"Please inform the Lords Stark and Arryn that I want to talk to them in the Sept as soon as possible, also find Ser Gerold, my mother and my wife, and tell them to meet us there." The man bowed and hurried off to follow his orders, while Rhaegar led his party to the Sept.
When they arrived at the Sept they saw dozens of nobles and commoners alike being treated equally by the maesters. It had been an order from Rhaella who they found running the make shift hospital with the twins helping her.
Silvana and Lissena were running around the room bringing bandages and medicines to the maesters as they requested them, while Rhaella used her own limited skills to help where she could.
They found Oberyn and Lewyn next to a bed on which lay Doran. The Lord of Dorne was unconscious and he didn't look well. Gabrielle quickly kneeled down next to the bed on which Doran had been placed with his chest against the mattress. She folded back the blanket that covered him and saw a large bandage covering the bottom of his back.
She cut open the bandages and muttered soft curses as she inspected the handiwork of a maester. Turning to Oberyn she said, "Right now your brother will be paralyzed for the rest of his life, do as I say, and he might retain his ability to walk though he will never be the man he was."
Oberyn shot up and asked quickly, "What do you need?"
Gabrielle looked around and said, "A lot of milk of the poppy, clean bandages and hot water."
As Oberyn ran off Gabrielle turned to the others and said, "I will be of more use here, you should go and make plans, I'll stay in contact through Aurora."
The others nodded, though only Aurora and Rhaegar knew what she was talking about, and they made their way to the side of the Sept, where they waited for Eddard, Jon and Lyanna.
Soon Oberyn joined them after Gabrielle had sent him away, and shortly after they were joined by Eddard and Jon. Lyanna and Ser Gerold were the last to arrive and when they had Rhaegar led them to a secluded room where no one could overhear them.
Rhaegar turned to Aurora as soon as the door was closed and asked, "Okay what is the problem you spoke about."
Aurora led out a deep sigh before she began. "The man we captured was actually the leader of the army that attacked us. His name was Zordaq and he was the youngest brother of the emperor of New Ghis.
They came for Tywin Lannister and his children. Apparently Tywin secretly made contact with the empire of New Ghis, after the mad king refused to allow a marriage between Cersei and you, Rhaegar. Tywin was promised a marriage between Cersei and the emperor, and safe haven, if he took command of the Ghiscari armies and led them during their conquest of Essos.
The wyverns we slew were the only ones they had, it was an experimental weapon to be used during their conquest, but since we slew them all save one, that plan will be severely delayed until they can capture and train new wyverns.
The only good news I have pulled from his mind is that the Ghiscari are far from ready to wage a war on us. They have the men to carry out an invasion, but they lack proper weaponry and tactics to have a chance of success should they invade. This is where Tywin Lannister comes in, as despite his many faults, the man is a brilliant strategist and could really pose a threat should he gain control of the Ghiscari armies."
They let this sink in until Rhaegar asked Aurora, "What can we do? We don't have the manpower to invade them either. We can't risk open war with Essos, and we can't let him do as he wants either."
Now Aurora managed a small smile and replied, "I think I have a solution for that. I kind of went overboard on the Iron Islands and called them all to war for an expedition to first conquer the Stepstones, and then to travel on to the ruins of Valyria. If we can find the Forges of Valyria, we'll have everything we need to make our own Valyrian Steel.
With that steel we can build ourselves an army no one can stand against, not even Tywin Lannister. All I need from you is your permission to call for volunteers to hunt down Tywin in any way I deem necessary.
However, if we are to be successful I will have to do things you are not going to like. First off all, I'll need to go to Astapor and buy every single unsullied I can find. We cannot risk them falling into the hands of New Ghis. I'll free them and employ them as free men, but I need to get control of them before the Ghiscari can.
Furthermore, I'll have to do some 'creative business' with the sellsword companies, including the Golden Company, if I can offer them a royal pardon, I expect they'll willingly join me."
Rhaegar looked at her with an ashen face and he asked softly, "You want me to give you permission to deal with some of our oldest enemies and to give them a royal pardon to boot. The Golden Company has fought against my family for over seventy years."
"Don't be so appalled Rhaegar," Rhaella scolded her son, "I am the one who told her about the Golden Company and the Unsullied. I happen to trust Aurora and Gabrielle, and I believe they know what they are doing and that it is truly necessary if we are to be successful."
Rhaegar slowly shook his head until Lyanna put her hands on his face and forced him to look her in the eyes. "In your heart you know the answer my love, listen to it."
Rhaegar's face softened a little and when he finally looked up from his wife's eyes, he turned to Aurora and said, "Do what you have to do, but don't tell me about it. I do not want to know what horrors you'll be unleashing, but I ask that you hold in mind that whatever you do, will reflect on me and on all of the Seven Kingdoms."
Aurora nodded once and turned to Eddard and Jon, "Please spread the word amongst the armies that I'll take any volunteer who wants to help me hunt down Tywin Lannister. They must be brave men who understand the risks and who go willingly. Tell them it is likely that more than a few will not come home, but they'll be fighting to finally bring a lasting peace to this world."
The two lords nodded in acceptance while Aurora turned to Rhaegar, "Please spread the word amongst the people of the city. I'll be needing craftsmen and a lot of them, mainly blacksmiths, carpenters, shipwrights and fletchers, but also miners, masons, farmers and fishermen. Everyone who could be useful in building a new city, as that is what we'll be doing when we reach the ruins of Valyria."
Rhaegar also nodded in acceptance and Oberyn was the next to speak up. "I did not understand most of what you are planning, but I know this. The man who ordered the murder of my sister is once again free and now he has very powerful allies, so I will join you personally in your quest to hunt him down. All I ask is that you give Tywin to me should we capture him. I want that monster to feel true pain before he dies.
My sister was very well loved in Dorne. I believe many will volunteer to accompany you, I think it is safe to say that I can bring you 5,000 Dornish spears and the ships to carry them."
Aurora looked Oberyn straight in the eye and she could see an iron determination behind his black eyes and she nodded, "It would be a privilege to fight besides you Prince Oberyn, I am sure there is much we could learn from each other, if you can keep your hands off of my wife."
That last sentence drew a chuckle from the others and Oberyn blushed a little but they were soon brought back to the seriousness of the situation by Rhaella. "Good, now when that is taken care of, I have a further point that came to my mind when I thought about our conversation at Dragonstone."
The queen turned to Eddard and asked, "Lord Stark, do you know how many wildlings there are north of the Wall?"
Eddard was surprised by the question but after giving it some thought, he shook his head and replied, "I am not sure Your Grace. But at the very least many tens-of-thousands, perhaps even several hundred-thousand."
Rhaella nodded before asking, "How many men could live in The North, and how many are actually living there?"
Despite his obvious confusion as to the point of these questions Eddard responded, "I do not know the exact number of people who live in The North, but there are fast tracks of land that are uninhabited, but which could support hundreds-of-thousands."
Apparently this was exactly what Rhaella wanted to hear and she replied, "That is very good. Now I have a question for all of you. When the Long night comes, and the white walkers attack the Wall with their armies of undead, do you want them to have an additional hundreds-of-thousands of soldiers."
Now the point was driven home in all their minds, but it was not easily accepted.
Eddard said, "I do not think that the Northern lords will like this Your Grace, we have been fighting the wildlings for thousands of years and then to suddenly ask them to accept them into their lands…."
"Eddard is right," Jon added, "But if what the Queen says is true, and the Long Night is indeed returning, then we don't have a choice. The wildlings are very numerous, and I would rather have them on our side of the wall fighting for us, than on the other side fighting against us. I think the greatest difficulty will be to get them to accept the necessity of their migration to south of the Wall. They have lived in freedom for thousands of years, and on our side they will be forced to adjust themselves to our way of live."
Each of the lords gave their opinion but most agreed with Jon, the Northern lords wouldn't like it, but it would be far better to have the wildlings on their side of the Wall.
The rest of the afternoon was spent with discussing the specifics of Aurora and Gabrielle's expedition, and they agreed that Eddard would contact the Lord Commander of the Nights Watch and have him send out envoys to all the known tribes of the wildlings.
When their discussions were done, they returned to the Sept and found it turned into a well run hospital, under the direction of Gabrielle, who had been more than a little irritated at some of the maesters' more ridiculous healing methods and now the wounded were treated properly and many had a much bigger chance of survival now that they received proper care.
Gabrielle joined them on their way out, after giving the maesters some last instructions and reprimands. The twins likewise joined them and Silvana went to walk next to Aurora, from whom she received an arm around her shoulders that pressed her against her mother, while Lissena received a similar treatment from Gabrielle.
When they had made their way to the throne room Rhaegar sighed, "This was supposed to be a joyous day, but it seems that fate does not agree with us."
"Fuck fate," Aurora growled. "She does not decide what we do. One of the most important things about being human is to have free will, which is also why we abhor slavery, and I'll be damned if we let today's activities be overshadowed by what happened in the dark of night."
"I agree," said Rhaella. "We should continue with the coronation, but we'll keep the festivities to a minimum. It will be good for morale to have a new and strong leader on the throne."
Rhaegar accepted his mother's council and so a few hours later, the remaining nobles, guild leaders, foreign ambassadors and other important people were gathered in the hastily cleaned throne room.
The ceremony was rather sober, no garlands or banners decorated the great hall, nor was there any form of boot-licking or the like. On the dais, Rhaella sat on the Iron Throne, while Rhaegar and Lyanna stood on the right, and Aurora and Gabrielle stood on the left.
Rhaegar wore his elegantly decorated armor, and Lyanna wore a dress of pure white silk, decorated with pearls in beautiful motifs and over it a thick grey wolf cloak to underline her heritage as a Stark of Winterfell.
Before the coronation, Rhaella had told Rhaegar and Lyanna about what they had found in the treasury at Dragonstone, and both had picked a crown that they liked. Rhaegar chose one made of Valyrian steel, with seven clear rubies set around it. Lyanna had picked a relatively simple tiara, also of Valyrian steel, with a single large brilliantly cut diamond set at the front.
Now that the time had come, Rhaella rose from the Iron Throne and knelt before Aurora and Gabrielle. While Gabrielle carefully took the simple band of unadorned gold from Rhaella's head, Aurora said, "For 21 years, you have served this realm to the utmost extent of your abilities, but now the time has come for you to step down and to let others take upon them the responsibility of ruling the Seven Kingdoms."
When Aurora said, "Rise Rhaella, Princess of Dragonstone," Rhaella stood up and stepped aside before joining the Lords of the Great Houses who stood on the other side of where Aurora and Gabrielle had stood. The only Lords Paramount who were still in position were, Eddard Stark, Jon Arryn, Stannis Baratheon and Victarion Greyjoy.
The others were all acting Lords or temporary wardens, Paxter Redwyne, Randyll Tarly, Brynden Tully (who was named acting Lord of the Riverlands until his nephew Edmure came of age), and Oberyn Martell (who stood in his brother's stead as Doran was still asleep under the influence of the milk of the poppy Gabrielle had given him).
When Rhaella had taken her new position, Aurora spoke, "Who now claims the Iron Throne?"
Rhaegar stepped forward and said, "I, Rhaegar, of the House Targaryan, Crown Prince of the realm and only surviving heir of the late King Aerys and Queen Rhaella of House Targaryan."
Aurora nodded and then turning to the assembled mass she asked, "Does anyone have valid reason to object to this claim?" She waited for a minute before she continued and said.
"Then kneel, Rhaegar, of the House Targaryan." Rhaegar did as she said and after Gabrielle took the crown Rhaegar had chosen from a cushion that was held by Rhaenys and handed it to her wife, Aurora placed the crown on Rhaegar's head and said,
"Then by the grace of The Old Gods and the New, I herby crown you, Rhaegar Targaryan, First of Your Name, King of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm."
When Aurora let go of the crown, Rhaegar stood up and seated himself on the Iron Throne. When he sat Aurora once again spoke to the entire throne room and said, "Long may he reign."
"LONG MAY HE REIGN." The entire hall echoed her words.
Next Rhaegar rose again and spoke, "As my Queen, I choose my wife, Lady Lyanna, of the House Stark." Lyanna went to stand next to her husband and knelt. Aurora took the tiara Lyanna had chosen from the cushion where it had lain next to Rhaegar's crown and handed it to the King, who then placed it gently on the head of his Queen.
When Lyanna rose, Rhaegar took her hand and helped her to sit down on the throne. As she sat down, her dress split open, as was intentional, and the whole hall could clearly see the evidence that a new heir was already on the way.
