Chapter Five

"I'll fight by my right, and for my kind,"

-Smaug II

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"I hate this place, chills me to the bones," Ratz whispered despite the fact that there's no reason that he should be whispering.

"I agree with you man. What in the world possessed the captain anyhow to volunteer that we be the ones to look over this place? The very air gives me the creeps," replied his friend on the same hushing tone pulling over the oar as the medium-sized ship skimmed over the calm waters….too calm in fact in their experience.

Everyone on their crew despite not voicing their protests like the two of them also felt the same. The Ruins of Old Valyria is eerie even at the best of times but right now the old stones and towers looming over the thick fog of the ones powerful Empire is downright terrifying like looming sentinels looking down on you and giving anyone breathing the feeling of being warned to stay away.

Even the Captain, Jones despite not voicing his concern like the rest of the men of the Seabreeze is already starting to regret his decision on ever agreeing on this venture. He had been a regular merchant ship docked at Pentos when he was approached by one of the Magisters and paid a rather hefty fee that could set him for life literally as long as he agreed on doing reconnaissance on this part of the known world and report back if he sighted anyone on this isles bearing the color of silver hair. Jones is knowledgeable enough to understand that asking questions even more other than his mission objective is a big no-no especially since the amount of gold he received is enough to make him understand that there is something more here than dishing out some information and this goes somewhere all the way to the top that would be bad for his health if he backtracked or failed.

Right now however the gold pouch that contained his fee weighed heavily on his belt as his ship sailed over these unknown waters. Every sense of his body is telling him to go back the way he came as fast as he could and only the threat of failure made him stay his course. This part of the world had been abandoned for so long that no one knows what unknown horror called this place their home.

Shaking his head to get rid of the fanciful thoughts, Jones focused instead of keeping an eye on the waters and the shores. Stone Men might be in and about. Those crazies lived on this place and despite the sizeable guard he had on his ships, it's better to be prepared than be caught off guard.

The sudden sound of some rocks falling nearly made Jones and the entirety of his crew jump out of their skin as they turned to the direction of the source, somewhere up high in a panic. Nobody dared breathe as the only sound everyone could hear is the sound of the ship skimming over the waters.

A minute passed, then another, everyone waited in baited breathe for something, anything to happen… only for the silence to continue on. Letting out a sigh of relief that he didn't know he even held, Jones looked at his first-mate ready to bark out orders to keep the ship going on the small river they are in when the mists broke from the sky making him piss in fear as a massive and terrifying dragon glinting with its golden scales on the sky appeared roaring and heading straight for him and his ship.

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Elia watched in terrified silence as the boat which looked very small from the height of the tower that she and her family now called their home burned as the massive golden figure flew over it spouting out pure flames and bouts of magic with words that she didn't understand from its mouth sending blasts of different jets of light that either exploded on contact with whatever it hit or sending man levitating for a few seconds before falling down once more.

The battle (or massacre) barely lasted a minute before the ship is reduced to nothing more than flotsam and jetsam floating on the waters. In her heart she knows that none of the crew would survive. The river is filled with sirens that looked like the most beautiful of women are in fact carnivores that would eat anything that has meat on it. The only reason that they didn't attack the boat the moment it touched their waters is the fear of the larger predator hovering over the skies above the ship.

Not saying anything as the golden dragon that had been their host for the past thirteen years landed back on the opening of the tower, Elia only watched as the sixteen year old figure of her daughter climbed down with a smile and laughing as she walked to the front of the golden dragon, patting the side of its head fondly and the dragon only thrummed in contentment as it waltzed back with Rhaenys walking alongside it to the caverns where the dragon kept the screaming Dothraki or anything it managed to bring during its hunts.

How different he had changed, normally the big overgrown lizard for the past eleven years acted more like an annoying prince, sneaking in when she and Ashara get together at nights and scaring the living daylights out of them as it disturbed their lovemaking. Sure she understood that the massive beast is dangerous but the way it interacted with her children, not showing even an ounce of danger at them as they grew up with it watching over them put him in Elia's good books despite her feeling insulted every time it made fun of her by sniffing her crotch.

Now that happy-go-lucky attitude it had are slowly turning serious and Elia herself would admit that it worried her. The once silent river down below them is now being visited every now and then by ships who didn't appear until last year. It didn't help that the first ship that dared visit the forsaken land ever since they arrived here is that bearing the sigil of the House of the Usurper. Elia nearly hyperventilated in fear as she saw it the first time fearing the danger for her barely grown up children and she didn't relax until the golden dragon swooped down from its perch and turned the large ship to floating sticks on the water.

Every now and then, a ship would appear and the process would repeat with the golden dragon sinking them or turning them to ash. Elia herself is worried that there might come a time when the dragon might be out hunting and they left defenseless on the tower when a ship might appear and drop people that would scout the area. The tower that they lived in isn't exactly hidden.

Keeping her thoughts in order, Elia only watched with sad eyes Rhaenys lying at the top of the dragon's head somewhere between its horns chatting amicably to it as it munched a Dothraki arm, the bones cracking on every bite. At its belly sitting at its side is Aegon, now at thirteen years old sharing the dragon's warmth as he wrote on his book another masterpiece that he must have written. Her children are safe and that's all because of this creature whom she slightly disliked.

Steeling her nerves and ignoring the half-eaten arm that the dragon spat away looking half-nibbled and filled with spit, Elia strode towards them to enjoy their companionship.

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Rhaenys giggled as she laid her slender frame over the snoring body of her huge friend and enjoying the warmth that tingled over her body from his warm massive warm one. She'd never told anyone but every time she is near Balerion ever since she was small, her blood sang and she loved every second of it. No words she could find to explain what she felt; the closest she could get so far was as if he was part of her and she was part of him. Also unlike what she knew her mother thinks, she isn't dumb, not in the slightest. She knew of the dangers that her family name brought her and she also knew that the sighting of ships so near on Balerion's lair signifies that this place sooner or later would be discovered. As strong as Balerion is, he could not watch over all of them all the time. She must learn how to fight like her mother.

Making sure that Balerion and Aegon atop his head is asleep, Rhaenys pulled the golden knife she nicked from Balerion's hoard of treasures as she walked at the edge of the dragon's lair the night sky illuminating her black hair and accentuating her beauty in its most regal form as she prepared some poses of knife-fighting. She never noticed the large amber eye that opened the moment she turned her back.

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"Legilemens," for a dragon whose mouth is as big as a battering ram, the small whisper of words is barely inaudible except for the sharpest ears.

Balerion, or at least that's what Rhaenys-dragon-blood named him, grinned as he watched past memories of his human part siphon from his brain and straight to the mind's back of Rhaenys doing her practice with her metal thingy. At least this memory part of his previous life is useful other than the spells that he can breathe out and annoy him.

On his previous life as the Boy-Who-Lived (Yuck! Disgusting Title even for two-legs), he had inate knowledge about the metal thingys that all two-legs seemed to love wielding and poking each other so much with. Normally he won't even bother with the effort on sharing his memories as a two-leg (uggh!)to anyone. He is the apex predator, his thoughts are too precious and unconceivable for any of the prey. Rhaenys however is a special case and the dragon-blood within her is too precious to ignore. If wielding metal sticks help her be safe and feel much comfortable, he had no qualms on sharing some of his memories to her though she wouldn't know it since it would only trigger in her sub consciousness.

Faking a yawn as he moved his head in a much better angle to watch the child that is now slowly growing to maturity, he smiled within himself. Despite the two two-legs-with dragon-blood not being dragons themselves, he still managed to take care of them and keep them safe. He may not be their parent, but there is something just satisfying with the thought of successfully raising whelps into full maturity. His instinct is screaming at him that he had done a good job and let off with a parting thought that sooner or later these whelps would soon fly off with their own wings and there is nothing he could do stop it. There's also the fact that some two-legs would soon come to take his Rhaenys away from him, ohoho not for this dragon. If they ever plan to take part of the life of the two-legs-in-dragons-blood that he raised, they're going to do the ritual that all dragons do and the challenger must fight the ones who raised their whelps before claiming them as their mates.

Oh he planned to fight fair and square. Dragons might be powerful creatures but they treat duels with other dragons with honor and fight fairly. Already he's almost done with his project that he started ever since Rhaenys and her family came to his life. A plan that will make him able to walk side by side with the whelps he raised.

Yawning, he is just ready to doze off, bored watching Rhaenys do some complicated moves with her knife and body when his nose twitched. His entire massive frame suddenly rose waking Aegon up on his head and Elia on his tail, it even stopped Rhaenys as they watched the massive dragon drag its massive frame over the entrance of its lair sniffing once more to double-check before making a feral grin.

Another ship to burn and two-legs to hunt.

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AN: Next chapter would be more interesting, promise. Hihi sorry for the long update. Things have been hectic at school and our research teacher is not appearing to help us for our research so we have no idea what to do. Anyway that's my reason. Next chapter would finally include some Targaryens on it based on canon.

NO! There would be no tonguing Elia on this fic. That's so weird. But I might be tempted on writing a one-shot about that. hihihihi