The pungent smell of blood and the screeching sounds of battle rung around Daenerys' ears as she and her men pushed through the rock. Reginald had begged and pleaded for a long time for Dany to spare the Lannister family the expense of rebuilding the castle, completely throwing out her plans to fly in and root out the traitor's root and stem.
So, despite her anxiety, Nymeria Martell delayed the attack in favor of hitting them as hard as they could. Daenerys flew overhead the night before, to confirm all the specifics that Reginald had given them—the softest points to hit the castle from the ground, the hardpoints for a siege, and how many men were holding the castle.
So here they were now, after all the planning and the delaying. Pushing through the barely defensible gates, against half hearted second sons forces and the brutally loyal ironborn men. But Daenerys only cared about one thing, and she was going to single-mindedly reach it. Around her Obara, Nymeria, Grey Worm and her personal guard were pushing forward to reach the main castle where the defense was toughest.
-oOoOo-
Theon hit the sandy beach running, praying to the drowned god that the element of surprise was on their side. Or well, so it started before hand until their small detachment began to realize that no one was coming to stop them. The sounds of an already ongoing battle covered up the sounds of the bells in the docks, from the few watchmen that were still doing their meager job.
Jon began running behind Theon, both gunning for the nearest staircase that could take them to the dungeon where they could tell the fighting was thickest. The darkened steps of the castle greeted them, and Theon could hear the echo of voices, swords and screams, a tough battle was happening in the dungeons and little could push him forward as much as the thought of his sister being down there.
-oOoOo-
"Wait, Obara" Nymeria grasped Dany's arm before she could get too far ahead of them. Her sister turned around to look at her, keeping her attention on the very loud surroundings "Can you hear that?"
"Want to be more specific, Nym?"
Nymeria put her finger to her lips, and then pointed towards the only other set of steps coming from above. They found that the lower the level in the dungeons, the higher value prisoners they found. It also happened that the lower they got, the tougher the fight, until they reached the lowest level of the dungeons. In cells and hallways that could rival the black cells in the red keep, they couldn't find a single soldier. It was quiet, unnerving, and unbelievably suspicious.
The loud clinging of the metal on metal coming from the staircase began drawing closer. Up the steps they could start to see the outlines of men, illuminated by torches. The older sand snake pointed towards the walls that framed the entrance to the dungeons. Whoever those men were, they were making too much noise to assume anyone would be waiting for them downstairs.
-oOoOo-
"This is too easy" Jon uttered, looking over his shoulder constantly, the sounds of orders and screams coming from overhead, worried that they were about to get ambushed at any moment.
"There's too many of Daenerys' forces. I'm sure she's flying overhead keeping them in check" Theon shined the torch in to the last floor of the dungeons, the smell of dampness and blood more overwhelming here than up above.
Their small crew of men with Theon up front and Jon bringing up the rear emerged from the dampened floor. It was unnerving, how quiet it could get, considering they were in the middle of a battle.
"We should start heading forward and…"
"Drop your swords"
Jon flinched as the tip of a sword, or a speer, was laid on the back of his neck. Here, in the darkened dungeons of Casterly Rock, deep beneath the earth, hardly seemed a good place for a son of the North to die.
Just ahead, as his eyes adjusted to the dark, he could see Tormund's hand grasping his sword harder, and the outlines of people moving to surround him and his men. The thudding of leather boots on the rocky ground, overtaking the sound of hard breaths.
"I said. Drop your swords" the steel behind him dug a bit deeper into his neck, more insistently. Not enough to draw blood, but enough to create tension. Soon, Jon started wishing that he carried weapons that were better for close quarters than long claw.
"There's nothing here for you. The battle is lost, just surrender"
"Theon?"
The small crew following Theon unclenched at the familiar sound of a female voice. Behind Jon, whoever was holding the sword lowered it in favor of lighting a torch.
When their eyes finally came to, Theon found himself holding tightly to a small silver-headed woman, surrounded by a small crew of unsullied. Tormund nudged Jon, mockingly looking at Theon wrapped around the Dragon Queen.
"Your Grace" Dany scoffed, making Theon laugh softly "I thought you'd be up in the air"
"I have to find her, and I can't do that from up there"
Theon smiled, taking the queen's hand to reassure her as best he could. The closer they got to where they believed Euron would hold Yara, the more dread built up. It was easier to think that maybe she was still with Euron, maybe gone, instead of somewhere in the dungeons and dead.
"Your Grace" Jon stepped forward, carefully keeping his hand away from his sword, feeling the unsullied gaze on them "I'm Jon Snow, son of Eddard Stark"
In any other time, Dany would've met Jon's introduction with stoicism. Right now, in this anxious moment, all Daenerys knew was that the scowling northerner helped Theon get there—racing against time and odds to free Theon's sister, her wife.
"I wish we had met in better circumstances, Jon Snow"
"You and me both, your Grace" The stoic Jon Snow allowed his smile to try and reassure her "Let's find this pirate queen"
The group quickly decided on the fastest way to cover the cells around them. Had they taken a moment to realize, they might have noticed that it was all eerily easy, almost like Euron left them a game: keys hanging by each door, letting them be greeted by rolls of hay left on the floor like people sleeping. And the more doors to empty rooms they opened, the more anxious Dany became.
"Daenerys" the young queen stepped out of the cell she was checking trying to steel herself for bad news. "This is for you"
Outside the furthest door in the dungeons, with more locks and keys than any of the others, was a parchment.
"My dear Niece-In-Law, I hope you like my late wedding present. I apologize for not greeting you with it, but there are places to conquer and people to murder
-Your uncle-in-law and rightful king of the Iron Islands, Euron Greyjoy"
Grey Worm tapped the door with the back of his spear, surprised that it simply swung open with a soft creak of dampened wood. Without waiting from him to clear the room, Daenerys barreled in torch in hand to illuminate the dampened cell.
On the floor, kneeling and bloodied was Yara.
"Yara!" Daenerys dropped to the ground in front of her wife. She cupped Yara's head between her hands softly, lifting her to the light. Her eye was raw and bloodied, and a side of her face was caked in blood, hair and her matted hair. Dany could tell it all probably came from the ear Yara seemed to be missing. "Yara" her voice cracked into a whisper, tears threatening to spill over.
"We really need to stop meeting like this my love" the soft grasp came from the kneeling figure, a pained smirk on her face.
Grey Worm and the unsullied surrounded Yara and Daenerys to let them have a moment in private. The already small and cramped cell became more cramped when Nymeria and Obara realized that in the small cell there was another door. This one though, was wide open. They were looking at the body of Daario Naharis, nailed to the wall, eyes staring into nothingness. On his chest they had nailed a parchment that said
"To my niece and her wife, I gift you a traitor"
Hello y'all! Wow it's been a long time.
Honestly I kinda lost the shine for the story, even though I liked where it was going. Who would've thought that the shaky last season of the show would lead me to finishing this!
In case any of you don't know, I am republishing the original Sail Away story on ao3. Fire and Iron will follow, and then Ice and Blood for the last part of this weirdly dope trilogy I'm building. I hope it's not half as disappointing as the writing for what's left of game of thrones!
As always, I welcome the comments and the screeching! Follow me on Tumblr if you wanna yell at me about how long this takes me to begin with on TheIronDragonRants.
I'll catch you guys in the next one!