The First Flame
298 AC
It was larger than a war galley. And it was sleeping in the middle of his path.
He continued hearing the rumble of its deep chest. "Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr." It was like the crackling and rolling of thunder in his ears as it softly inhaled and exhaled, sleeping soundly like a tired babe after a long day of activity.
So this was the killing ground. This was the end that Euron Greyjoy had in store for Starag Mormont. To die a bloody and horrifying death in dragonfire.
Mormont could see no other way but to go down into the stone pit and attempt to sneak his way around the sleeping dragon. He had no other choice. Facing the dragon in combat would be suicidal.
Had anyone dared to face a dragon head-on before? Mormont supposed there had been a few during the Dance of Dragons, but the stories refused to come to mind then. He doubted he was as well equipped, what with his Valyrian Steel blade, a steel dagger, and the box of matches that were now in his pocket.
Mormont knew his only chance was to sneak by it. Otherwise, he'd be incinerated the moment it decided to wake up. He began making his way down the steps when… when…
A pellet of water had fallen down from the bleak red sky, all the way down into the dark pit of the volcano, and onto Mormont's nose. Rainwater. He gently wiped the drop away and made another step forward.
Two more drops of water had fallen on top of his frizzled black curls. Mormont glanced up at the sky. Thick black clouds now gathered over the top of the volcano, blotting out the red night curtain of Valyria. Thunder began to roll and rumble high above him! Blast! He'd need to get out soon before it woke the dragon!
Nimbly, carefully, Mormont stepped onto the smooth black stone. It had been folded and hardened, and was soft and cold underneath his burned feet. He felt his whole body tense with fear. The flayed skin on his back crawled with anticipation as he stared wide-eyed at the damn beast. Gods, it was as large as a fucking field! It was nothing like the gargantuan skull he'd seen in the streets of Valyria, but Mormont remembered the size of Balerion's skull inside the Red Keep. No, this beast had to have been almost as large as the Black Dread, if not bigger!
Mormont checked his distance. He was barely even a sixth of the way across the massive colosseum. He'd have to be faster. As he quickened his pace, the rain had also begun to get heavier. More and more droplets of water fell from the sky. He glanced up and saw forks of lightning begin to mold into the clouds.
Don't focus on the sleeping dragon only thirty feet away from you. Just focus on crossing the distance, and getting to the exit. One step at a time. He began counting his steps to engage his rational mind, in order to wipe away the fear that struck him like a hard spear. One, two. One, two. One, two.
The skies above had defied him, had refused his quiet pleas. Lightning crackled and boomed. CRACK! He kept moving forward, ignoring the heavy rain that now drenched his skin, and the overbearing sound of water splashing hard against the smooth black rock.
Inside the arena, the air and sky had darkened significantly, draining it of light. Were it not for the regular flashes of blue lightning, Mormont would've never seen the midnight black scales of the dragon.
Almost out of nowhere, one of the largest obsidian spikes jutting up towards the black sky had shattered as a massive bolt of lightning forked down and pierced it! KABOOM! Shards of dragonglass rained all over the arena. Mormont had shielded his eye, and quickened his pace.
Mormont was nearly halfway across when he'd glanced up from his methodical course. He turned his head to the left and froze.
The Dragon's left eye had been staring wide at him. A narrow, serpentine pupil of emerald green had locked onto him. It was passive, incurious, almost indifferent for a moment. The large scaly body hadn't moved an inch. It must've woken up from the lightning blast!
Mormont felt the fear punch right into his gut. His grip on Longclaw tightened, for whatever it was worth. Could he dare to take another step?
Slowly, sluggishly, the leathery black wings had jolted to life. The nerves within the tough hide had fluttered and moved as its arms unfolded. Water had slid off the impenetrable iron scales, and the green serpent's eye had blinked once, and narrowed into a hard, dangerous slit.
He didn't have time to utter another four-letter word. Mormont had already begun moving on his feet towards the nearest obsidian spike that would cover him totally. Meanwhile, he saw the massive mouth open wide, and the lungs begin to turn a dark orange.
Mormont slammed his back against the dragonglass wall, and in front of him, the whole world had been set on fire. A great inferno of dark red and black flames poured out all around him. The heat blast against his skin was hotter than the damn tunnel!
He needed to keep an eye on the gargantuan beast. He heard its massive claws clamber closer and closer in his direction, no doubt curious about the fresh scent of blood and manflesh. No doubt wondering why the food was still alive!
As soon as the flames died down, Mormont glanced out from behind the cracked dragonglass cover. The dragon was approaching from his left. He'd need to go right. Perhaps he could hide underneath the cover of the storm and make it to the exit!
The rain and thunder blared into his ears and the cavernous colosseum of black volcanic rock. But Mormont barely heard it. He kept his grip tight on Longclaw and ducked out from the right side of the obsidian shard. He made his way around it quietly, his heavy footsteps being covered by the rain.
Once he made it to the other side of the shard, he nearly fell over as the great left wing of the beast had sailed perhaps ten feet above him, briefly giving him a reprieve from the droplets and pellets that fell from the sky. Then he realized. The Dragon still thought he was behind the shard!
Mormont didn't waste any more time. He weaved his way underneath the black shadowed wing and had crept over to the next jutting shard of dragonglass in the arena. He took cover on the opposite side while he watched the long tail of the beast drag by. Mormont clutched to his sword tighter when he saw his original position instantly erupt into a tornado of crimson-black flames. He could feel the sharp dive of disappointment in the creature. Its prey had slipped away.
Lightning had licked the sky above, illuminating the rest of the colossal arena he'd found himself in. Once more, the emerald green eyes had locked sharply onto him. The game of cat and mouse had started once again.
Starag Mormont tore and tore at his mind. How in the Seven Hells would he get out of this one? He glanced to the opposite side of the arena where the exit was. It was almost a whole other world away! If he ran for it, he'd soon become a pile of ashes.
The lightning! Starag had remembered what happened in the mines with the Firewyrms. He looked to the dull blue markings on his arms. Could he possibly-
THUNK! The sound of a massive claw stabbing deep into the stone had broken him out of his mad thoughts. Mormont glanced around the corner just in time to see the head of the damn beast. He jumped away when he saw just how close those emerald eyes had slipped towards him. They were damn near inches away!
He dove back around the way he came when the next blast of fire had screamed out from behind him. The arena had lit up with blood-red flames at his back. Mormont stumbled to his feet and wrapped around the shard, barely getting cover as the slender, scaled neck had shot out another blast in his direction.
Mormont screamed as the skin on his left arm had singed and burned, even from behind the cover of the sturdy dragonglass wall, the heat of the black-red flames had scorched his flesh badly. But he knew if he stayed any longer, he'd be dead.
To his immediate right, the lower half of the gargantuan bat-like body had started to climb backwards. Mormont no longer thought rationally like a man, he was an animal now. Hot rage boiled underneath the lightning blue eye, and he saw his chance. He ran towards the body, underneath the black steel torso, and raised Longclaw upwards.
Mormont was more than surprised when his arms began to steam. He slid underneath the dragon, feeling Longclaw move smoothly through the iron scales. He didn't even know if the Valyrian Steel blade had injured the beast, or if it had simply glinted off its armor.
He somersaulted out from underneath the beast's torso. As soon as he got back on his feet, he nearly dropped his sword as an incredibly high-pitched, ear piercing roar had rung his ears like a bell. Mormont didn't stop to turn around and look, he simply made his way to the nearest obsidian shard and jumped behind it.
More torrents of crimson and black fire had shot out in his direction. His instincts had been right. He quickly glanced down at his steaming arms and knew what had happened.
Blood. Fresh, but not his own, had stained his arms and upper body. His eye shot down to see Longclaw. The smoky black blade had given a dark red hugh! He'd injured the beast!
Mormont knew the dragon would not let him get another chance like that again. That had likely been too close for comfort.
He was right. The ringing in his ears had died down, and Mormont felt a great gust of wind press him against the dragonglass shard. Then suddenly, the whole world had turned upside down and his feet had left the ground.
He flew off the stone floor and about fifteen feet into the air. During his flight, he'd seen the heavy, beating wings of the great serpent lift up and down. It was too big, too powerful for a lowly ant such as himself to contend with. This was its kingdom, and he was but a peasant come for alms. The black leathery wings beat the air like a hurricane!
Mormont crashed back into the ground, feeling the air leave his lungs as he landed on his scarred back. Longclaw had clattered out of his hands and landed somewhere nearby, he didn't know where for sure.
His chest heaved again and again as the adrenaline kicked in. He summoned the last of his strength as he got to his knees and then to his feet. He saw the lungs of the damn thing heat up again, and made for cover. He dove forward onto the ground back behind another shard of obsidian.
The whole world turned dark orange, even the sky above him. The fresh dragonblood on his arms had soon been cleaned off by the rain, and once the heat had died down, he'd gotten up from his hovel and made for more cover.
How could he summon the lightning? It had come to him with the Firewyrms! Why not now? Was there some kind of trigger? Some kind of-
The titanic head had suddenly popped out from behind the shard! Mormont made to scatter his feet upon the black stone, but this time the serpent was faster. He was swept off his feet and pinned to the ground as the great black dragon climbed over him, those glaring emerald green eyes had lit up with cruel delight. He'd finally been caught, and now he was going to be incinerated.
The spear-like claw had hovered up above him. No! This was worse! Much worse! Slowly it had descended down over his chest. Mormont held out his arms to stop it, his burned and calloused hands struggling pointlessly against the sharp edge. He didn't care if he cut his hands, as long as he could stop it. As long as he could get out.
Mormont knew this was it. This was the end! Even as his muscles cried and shook in agony, he knew that the strength of this gargantuan beast was too powerful. So powerful that it could afford to be cruel and grant him a slow, painful death of carving out his own heart!
The black point was barely grazing his chest as if the fucking dragon could measure the minute distance between them, the inches before it finally pierced his skin and muscles like a sheet of paper and gutted him into a thick bloody paste.
Mormont screamed terribly when the point of its claw had slowly broken the skin. His legs thrashed wildly as he howled and howled his lungs out. His roar of agony had been so loud that it could be heard over the heavy rain and thunder! The emerald eyes had lit up with pleasure and a primal hunger to make him suffer even more. Ever so gently, the claw had pressed forward an extra inch, making Mormont bellow out a great primal shout.
His arms were beginning to fail! Not that they made much of a difference against the damn beast's might alone. The feeling had begun to leave his muscles, just as it had left the rest of his body.
The pain, the fear, and the agony soon churned and boiled into rage. Anger, heat, and pure burning fury. Mormont glared up into the cruel green serpentine eyes. Not today, Mormont! You tell death and this dragon to fuck right off! You don't die today! Your people need you! So does your family! You won't die! Not now! Not today!
He didn't even notice how the angular blue markings on his arm and chest had begun to hum softly and emit a bright glow in the dark theater. Lightning and thunder crackled and boomed more frequently, again and again, and again. BOOM! KABAM! CRRRACK!
CRRRRACKBOOOM! An enormous bolt of lightning had slammed into the dragon's back. Suddenly the claw had left his chest, and now he was free from its grasp.
Mormont watched wide-eyed as the great black dragon heaved and rolled on the volcanic stone floor, its titanic body convulsing violently with sparks and dancing electric forks. It had fallen back onto one of the jagged obsidian spikes, and Mormont felt a surge of hope well within him as the dragonglass tore right through the great bat-like wing and came out the other side a bloody mess!
On the dragon's back, there were deep electric burns and a huge black spot from where the thunder had crashed into it. Slowly, painfully, the massive serpent had tried to haul itself upwards, but had only fallen back down once again.
Kill it! Kill it now while it's injured! Now! Now! The primal voice had shouted at him. Mormont looked wildly around the colosseum. Quickly, he found what he was looking for. The white bear's head pommel glared at him even in the heavy rain. He still hadn't noticed the glowing blue marks on his arm. And he didn't care. It was time to pay back this cruel and terrible beast a hundredfold.
He picked up Longclaw and strode towards it, far more energized than he'd been before. Instinct had taken over. He pointed the end of his sword at the toppled serpent. Lightning crackled and sharpened along his arm and it shot out from the end of the smoky black blade and at the dragon's chest. KRRAABOOM!
Mormont heard the dragon let loose another deafening roar, but he didn't care. All he heard now was thunder and lightning.
He was a few feet away now, he raised his burned left arm. Another bolt of biting thunder leeched out and electrocuted the titanic beast. "RRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Its scream was terrible and the scaled arms and wings had shaken and racked with more spasms.
Mormont jumped up onto the scaled leg and ran up towards the heaving and shuttering torso. He ignored the small sharp spikes of the chest as they dug into his bleeding feet. The chest was rising slowly, and the long neck had crept upwards. the emerald eyes were back, glaring weakly at him! Now! Before it casts you into the fire!
Mormont raised his blade high up, seeing the shimmering white and blue bolts of lightning cast down and charge into Longclaw's smoky black blade. KABAM! Then he leaped forward into the air above where the beast's heart was. The massive mouth had opened, its throat turning a dark orange!
Mormont felt the heat brush against his skin as he sunk Longclaw up to the hilt into the chest of the great black dragon. Then the hot air had stopped, and a great cry had emitted from the beast's mouth!
It thrashed and thrashed upon the jagged obsidian shard to no avail, having been impaled not only by the dragonglass but also by the Valyrian Steel blade in Mormont's hands. He held onto the grip as the beast rumbled and crashed violently.
Then it had all suddenly stopped. Mormont looked up. Slowly, almost reverently, the emerald green eyes had rolled to the back of the head and the great long serpentine neck had elongated and slammed back into the ground. BOOM!
The dragon was dead.
Starag Mormont stood heaving his lungs out atop the gargantuan corpse. By the Old Gods themselves… He'd done it… He'd actually slain a dragon…
He tried to laugh but soon found that his throat was too sore. That, and he'd not had anything to drink except saltwater in the years that he'd been down in the mines.
The tension had left his cold body. The adrenaline had worn off. Now, it felt as if his arms weighed a hundred tons of stone. His breathing was labored, and fresh blood still leaked from the new wound on his chest.
It took great effort to pull Longclaw from the still center of the dragon's massive torso. More effort than he could exert. The moment he pulled Longclaw free from the gigantic corpse, his legs had turned to jelly, and he toppled over down the inside of the dragon's right wing and slid onto the ground. He was dead tired. No, he was barely even alive.
Slowly, inch by inch, the body had crawled towards the elegant stone archway at the other end of the colosseum. In one hand it had held tight to the Valyrian Steel sword, and the other was calloused, gripping onto the smooth volcanic stone and dragging itself forward. Again, and again, and again.
How many years, decades, centuries had passed once he was halfway across the pit? How long had it been since he'd killed the terrible beast behind him?
Mormont felt his head hurl like a leaky wineskin as the ground shook once again, this time much more violently than before. No… It couldn't be… He glanced over his shoulder.
The dragon was still dead. Mormont couldn't even feel the relief anymore. His nerves had died long ago. But why was the cavern shaking? Why was the stone from the walls crumbling? Why was his vision tunneling in? It seemed now as if he was further away from the exit than before.
That was when he realized it. Slowly, half-alive, Mormont glanced down at the ground just inches away from his face. He was moving! His elbows dragged backward against the black rock. He looked down at his right leg and blinked the rainwater out of his eye.
There was something thick and slimy wrapped around his ankle. He saw the oval-shaped head of a large tentacle and the twenty or so buds that were stuck onto his sweat-stained skin. He could barely feel it.
With what little strength he had left, Mormont tried clawing himself towards the retreating doorway. He was getting further and further away! Towards the great black abyss that opened up into the darkest depths of the volcano!
His vision had begun to quake, and Mormont felt his muscles fail completely, the fingernails being torn from the ends of the digits as he was brought faster towards the darkness. Behind him, inside of him, he heard a voice speak to him.
"The child of my enemy has come. A worthy sacrifice, gifted to me by my own son." His whole gaze had shaken as if he were at the center of an earthquake. "Battered and broken, burned and scarred. Your death was supposed to come. And yet... Perhaps a part of you remains..."
He tried weakly to cut at the tentacle with Longclaw, but his arms were unresponsive. He'd expended himself too much, and now there was nothing left. Nothing left to fight the last enemy that was pulling him towards his grave. "I shall talk, and you will listen."
His feet had gone over the smooth volcanic edge. Mormont tried desperately to cling to the ground, but his strength had finally bottomed out.
His bloody fingers slipped from the surface, and slowly, he fell away from the black roaring thunderclouds and into the dark abyss below.