Gray, barren land. The skeletons of trees. A gray river, sluggish water thick as mud, with huge gray fish lying dead on the wrinkled surface. Monstrous creatures shrieking in the sky.

Queen Daenerys Targaryen wandered the cold plain, completely alone. She could see the ruins of a city in the distance, but every ravaged building, every fallen tower, every brick and stone, was covered in a thick gray shroud. How had Dany gotten here? Where were her dragons? Where were her friends? She didn't know. She only knew she had to keep walking.

Pain pierced her head, doubling her over. A voice hissed viciously in her mind. "I am too strong for you, dragon girl. You cannot win."

Some instinct made Dany look back over her shoulder. To her horror, she saw a wall of fire advancing toward her! She started running from the flames, as fast as she could, but suddenly they appeared in front of her as well! Soon, she found herself trapped at the center of a steadily contracting ring of fire.

"I am the blood of the dragon!" she proclaimed defiantly. "Fire cannot kill a dragon."

But even as she said this, she felt the flames beginning to sear her skin. She tried to scream, but no sound would escape her lips. Just as the fire was about to consume her…

She sat upright in bed, panting.

Dany looked around. She was safe in her bedroom in the Red Keep, in the city of King's Landing. Sunlight was pouring in through the window. It had all been a dream… yet Dany couldn't shake the feeling that it was somehow real.

Her husband, Brian Griffin, who was a talking direwolf, stood beside the bed, looking concerned. "Dany, are you okay? You were moaning and thrashing around in your sleep. Did you have that dream again?"

"Don't call me Dany," Daenerys reminded him. "But yes, I had the dream. Just like I have every night for the last month."

Brian was familiar with the details of the dream, as Dany had described it to him many times over. "You don't think you're dreaming about old Valyria, do you? That place is supposed to be all ruined and covered with ash too, according to the stories I've heard."

"I wouldn't know," said Dany. "I've never been to Valyria. In fact, since the Doom, no one has ever come back alive from there."

"I don't really know much about Valyria, either," Brian admitted. "It's Stewie who's the expert on history and stuff."

"Sometimes it feels more like a memory than a dream," Dany said. "But I know that's silly, because I've never been to a place like that in my life."

Brian tried to cheer her up. "Well, what are we worrying about, really? Things are going great! You're finally queen of Westeros, just like you wanted your whole life. Bill's gone, the White Walkers are gone, there's no more wars."

"And we have each other," Dany put in.

"There ya go," said Brian. "What more could you want?"

Dany leaned forward and planted a kiss on his lips. "Come on. Let's go have breakfast. We don't want to be late for the meeting today."

"Yeah, today's the day Lois is coming back from Riverrun," Brian agreed. "We can't miss that."

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A few hours later, Queen Dany and King Brian were in the throne room, along with the rest of their royal council: Dany's Hand, Tyrion Lannister. Stewie Griffin, Master of Whispers. Ser Meg Griffin, Commander of the Queensguard. Ser Bronn, Master of Coin. Davos Seaworth, Master of Ships. And Steve Smith, the Grand Maester.

Meg eyed Dany with concern. "Did you sleep okay last night? Or did you- you know…"

"I had that same nightmare again," Dany answered from atop her Iron Throne. "But it's not the business of this council to discuss my dreams. We have a country to run."

A trumpet sounded. A herald stepped into the room. "Presenting Lady Lois Griffin!" he announced.

Lois Griffin, Meg and Stewie's mother, walked in, escorted by two more of Dany's knights, Ser Hayley Smith and Ser Jeff Fisher. Normally, Lois stayed in King's Landing with her children, but sometimes she would take a trip to Riverrun, the castle where her brother Patrick lived. She had just returned from one such visit.

"Welcome back, Lady Griffin," Tyrion Lannister said. "I trust you had an enjoyable journey?"

Lois answered him politely… but not warmly. She had small love for Tyrion, for reasons too complicated to explain here. "It was enjoyable enough. But I've got some bad news for everyone."

Meg was concerned. "Did something happen to Uncle Patrick? Or to Pam, or Baby Crystal?" (Pam and Crystal were the wife and daughter of Meg's brother Chris Griffin, who had died in HOUSE GRIFFIN PART 1.)

Lois shook her head. "No, our family's doin' fine. But the Riverlands themselves aren't."

"Well, what's wrong?" Dany demanded.

"Yeah, quit beatin' around the bush," Bronn said insolently. "Tell us!"

"Well, none of the crops the rivermen planted have been growin' very well," Lois said. "The grapevines are sickly an' the potatoes are rottin' in the ground. Hunting is poor too, an' there are hardly any fish in the river."

Brian's face was grave. "That war sure wreaked a lot of devastation."

"I don't think it's just the war," Stewie said. "Don't you remember that letter we got last week from Princess Arianne Martell? She said they've been having trouble growing food in Dorne too, and Dorne was hardly touched by the war at all."

"That's true," said Dany. "North, south, east, or west, it's the same story. Nothing thrives in Westeros except weeds and thorns. It's as if the entire land is poisoned!"

"Or cursed," said a quavering voice. Everyone turned to look over at Grand Maester Steve.

"What mummer's foolishness are you talking, Steve?" Tyrion snapped. "Crop failures are nothing new in Westeros. We were half starved all through the War of the Five Kings, but we hardly noticed it then. It is only after a battle, when you are safe, that you have time to fret about the sting of a small wound or the tightness of your boots."

"Hey, don't knock Steve," said Brian. "When he has something to say, it's always worth listening too. Go on, Steve."

Hesitantly, Steve continued. "The early volumes of Westerosi history are full of tales of giant harvests, prizewinning melons, hauls of fish so heavy that the nets of the fishermen tore," he said. "I'm talking about the really old days, back when Aegon the Conqueror was alive."

Tyrion stroked his chin in thought. "Come to think of it, you're right."

"So, when did things change?" Davos asked. "And why?"

Steve looked anxiously around the room, from one face to another. "I don't know," he finally said. "I guess it just sorta happened. Little by little. But sometimes I think…"

"Yes?" Dany leaned forward. "What is it, Steve? Speak up, you're among friends."

Steve wet his lips. "It's just… it's just that the land's decline seems to've followed the decline of the Targaryen dragons. The last of the original dragons died around 150 AC and seems like the land's been going downhill ever since."

Dany frowned. "All right, say that's true. But the dragons are back in Westeros now. I brought them back. Shouldn't that have set the trouble right, whatever it is?"

Steve frowned too. "Yeah, I don't know. Just a crazy idea that popped into my head."

All of a sudden, Stewie's eyes rolled back in his head and he toppled out of the wheelchair he was sitting in, onto the floor.

"Stewie!" Lois cried.

"He must be having another one of his visions," Brian said.

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Ever since he had taken a journey beyond the Wall that had once stood at the northern border, Stewie had never been the same. He had returned with psychic powers that allowed him to see into the past, present, and future. Because of this, he was known as the "three-eyed raven."

Now, Stewie was seeing a vision of a secret room deep beneath the Red Keep. It was the lair of Bill Cipher, a demon that had once tried to take over Westeros. Bill resembled a yellow triangle, with a single eye at the center. In this vision, he was floating in the air, talking to a man named Glen Quagmire. Stewie narrowed his eyes. He had never met Quagmire in person, but he had often seen him in visions. He knew Quagmire had caused a lot of trouble for his family.

"It has happened, my lord," Quagmire was saying to Bill. "That idiot Robert has made me his master of coin."

Bill chuckled nastily. "Everything is going just as we planned!"

"It's only a matter of time until we become the rulers of Westeros," said Quagmire. "All right!"

"Yeah," said Bill. "But there's still one thing that could spoil our plans. King Aerys's infant daughter, Daenerys, is still alive. A knight named William Darry smuggled her out of Westeros and took her across the Narrow Sea. If she should ever return, she could wreck everything!"

"Yeah, I already heard about that," said Quagmire. "Isn't there a brother, too? Viserys?"

Bill laughed. "We don't need to worry about him. I've seen his destiny, and let's just say he won't figure into our fates too much!"

"Okay, well, what do you wanna do about this princess?"

"Right now, there's nothing we can do," said Bill. "Sadly, the scope of my powers is limited to Westeros at the moment, and I can't get at her. But, if there should come a time when Daenerys Targaryen returns to these shores, I think we still have a 50 percent chance of beating her. But just in case we don't…"

"Yes?" said Quagmire.

"I have a backup plan," Bill said. "Even if Daenerys manages to defeat us, we'll still have the pleasure of knowing that she defied us only to watch the land sicken and the people die. I've placed a curse upon the land that'll come into effect if I'm ever… destroyed."

"What kind of curse?"

"I have buried four creations of mine at the four corners of Westeros. I call them the Four Sisters."

A horny expression appeared on Quagmire's face. "Four sisters? Are they hot?"

Bill laughed again. "No, Quagmire. They're not actually people. I suppose you could call 'em... machines of a sort. If anythin' ever happens to me, they'll start to work their magic. The Four Sisters will make all the plants in Westeros stop growing, and then everyone will starve to death! And I've marked the locations of the Sisters on a map, and hidden it in a place where it couldn't be safer. Right under my eye."

"But what if Daenerys finds the map?" Quagmire asked. "Then she could seek out the Sisters an' destroy them!"

"Let her try it," Bill sneered. "She'll just die quickly instead of slowly."

"Don't you at least think you should tell me where the map is?" said Quagmire.

"No," said Bill. "It wouldn't be wise for me to say any more than I've told you already."

"Why not?"

"Because there's someone listening in on our conversation," Bill said.

Quagmire looked around the room. "I don't see anyone."

"Oh, he's not here now," said Bill. "Someone will be listening to our conversation in the future. Someone named Stewie Griffin." At these words, Bill shifted his gaze so he was staring right at Stewie!

Before Stewie had time to think, the vision dissolved and he found himself back in the throne room, lying on the floor.