February, 300 AC

The plaza was long and narrow, surrounded by merchants' stalls. One hawked olives and lemons; another offered roses and sweet wines; a third boasted wonders of gold and silver. There were more stalls in the distance, their wares blurred by thin clouds of dust.

An enormous puppeteer's stage rested upon a platform in the center of the plaze, its sides emblazoned with bright flames. A thin red veil hung before the stage, turning the painted backdrop crimson. Behind a curtain a bald puppeteer tugged and twisted, smiling as the black dragon danced upon his strings. Yet there was no one watching the show, none but a crimson griffin, his eyes fixed upon the dragon, never seeing the puppeteer. With a burst of flame, yellow and orange and red, it was gone.

He looked down upon an immense walled city, built between the shores of a turquoise bay and the mouth of a brown river. Great war galleys rolled in the waters of the bay, their decks paced by captains in the yellow tunics of Yunkai and the copper tusked helms of Qarth. The slaves below were chained to their oars, naked but for linen breechclouts. One slave collapsed at his oar, his body streaked with sweat, blood dripping from his nose. The masters were flinging his body overboard when a kraken rose from the deeps, pulling the ships to splinters with its many arms. The kraken had only one eye, blue and terrible, and the dreamer

cried out in fear as he looked away.

The vision twisted. A great host was encamped about the city, a thousand banners flapping in the wind, ten thousand cookfires smoking in the desert sun. In the pavilions of the mighty slaves waited upon nobles draped in silk and jewels, pouring wine, offering platters of dainties. Bed slaves danced and swayed, their smiles never reaching their eyes. Row after row of plain tents baked in the sun, filth lining the alleys as soldiers relieved themselves in the open. For every two soldiers standing tall and proud, a third staggered and swayed, his lips cracked, his hips and buttocks clenched to avoid fouling himself.

Within the city walls chaos reigned. Men in brass masks and dark hoods slipped through the crowds, cudgels in their hands. Amongst stepped pyramids half-naked slaves carried silk palanquins, while eunuchs in spiked caps watched unhappily. A shadow crept up behind one of the eunuchs, slitting his throat before dipping dark fingers in the blood. A bronze harpy hid her face behind robes green as grass, her eyes smiling as the blood flowed through the streets.

Atop the tallest pyramid, the princess awaited, untouched by the chaos down below.

Her hair was a sheet of molten silver that almost brushed her shoulders; three silver bells tinkled in the braid tucked behind her ear. Her violet eyes searched the sky, hope fading as the shadows fell. She was turning to leave when a screech broke the silence.

The dragon's wings beat at the air, his scales shining black as night in the last ray of the setting sun. The princess placed a hand to her heart, her lips parted as if to greet a lover with a kiss. With a cry the dragon alighted on the pyramid, bowing his great head. The silver princess laughed, embracing the beast's snout as he twined his coils around her.

A second cry pierced the air. In the distance a red dragon snarled, his scales lusterless beneath the looming storm clouds. He was slimmer than the black dragon; younger; duller, his claws wrapped tight around a bundle of sticks. The black dragon curled possessively around his bride as she clung to him, afraid. Then, suddenly, fire raged in her violet eyes as she screamed a challenge at the red dragon hovering above.

The red dragon roared in answer, releasing the burden he carried. Spears, the dreamer thought at first. No; olive branches. Dragon and princess cried out together in dismay as the branches rained down, raising angry welts upon scales and flesh. Olives bounced at their feet, bruising against the many-colored bricks of the pyramid.

The red dragon landed awkwardly, dismayed by the chaos below. The princess braced herself, waiting for the jaws to spit flame. Instead, one claw pierced a perfect olive, offering it to the princess. The black dragon snarled in warning, tightening his coils. The princess kissed the black dragon's snout, a tentative hand reaching for the olive-

Young Griff awoke with a yell. His chest was soaked with sweat, the air of the cabin so close and stifling he could not breathe.

"Lad? Is aught amiss?" A hand wrenched open the door to the cabin, a sqaure of dawn light amongst the darkness. The morning breeze swept through the cabin, filling his lungs with fresh air. The bunk creaked as his father sat down, ice-blue eyes filled with worry.

"Daenaerys is in danger," Young Griff breathed. The time has come; dragon dreams tell no lies. "We must reach her before the pretender does."

His father inhaled sharply, one hand gripping Young Griff's arm tight.

"As you say... Aegon."


cackles in confusing visions* I look forward to seeing your wild guesses about this short yet dense intentionally chaotic mess of a chapter :D

NOTES

1) Figuring out enough of Dany's timeline/plot to do the above was a pain in the ass. Jesus fucking Christ.

2) It's also super confusing because Tywin dies several months later here than in canon, Tyrion is long dead, and Olyvar/Aegon's survival prompts Young Griff to have this dragon dream.

3) Part IV is heavily outlined for Olyvar and Sansa. I've got a good idea of where I'm going with Gilly, Arya, Jon, Theon, Cersei, and Jaime. I'm still figuring out the Dany and Essos stuff, plus the ironborn stuff, plus various travel times and timelines. Part IV will cover AFFC and ADWD plus much more.

4) Yeah, I'm going to make the 5 year gap work if it kills me only it won't be a gap, it's just that Part IV is going to cover a lot of time. As in, roughly 5 years of time. The kids need time to grow up, goddammit!

5) I know most of the endgame for Part V, but not all of it. To a certain extent the characters lead me as I figure out what they're thinking and where that leads them.

6) Some lovely person made a tvtropes page for The Weirwood Queen; it's super fun for me to see what people add :)