Aenar found himself standing in the middle of a grassy field. Not too far he could see a village and sheep grazing nearby.
"Keep watching" the voice of the Archon made Aenar turn, but he did not find him behind him. He did not find him anywhere close.
A horn sounded and Aenar's attention snapped back to the village. In the distance, Aenar could see a banner waving in the air. The banner depicted a terrifying monster of a woman, dirty and wild, with unkempt hair and feathers. The top half was humanoid with wings while the lower part was that of a bird.
Suddenly Aenar found himself walking in the middle of a large herd of people and sheep. All of them had silver or white hair and purple eyes of various shades. He knew who these people were, like his blood resonated with theirs.
They were the early Valyrians, before the Dragons, simple sheep herders.
The scene changed again and the herd of People passed through a valley and into lusher grounds. They built a life here, established their village and slowly grew in numbers.
The scene changed again and Aenar found himself on top of a mountain. A man was kneeling on the ground. The Targaryen boy approached him and found that the man was cradling an object that looked to be made from Dragonglass. There was writing on it that glowed an ominous gold, in a language Aenar did not recognize.
The man twitched and stood. He turned his head slowly and it felt like the man was staring into his soul.
The scene changed once more and now the man was addressing the rest of the people of the village, the black slab held high over his head.
"Skorkydoso bōsa ēva se ghiscari mazverdagon ziry kesīr tolī? skorkydoso bōsa ēva se rest hen īlva issi enslaved kesīr hae se people lī bastards captured?! eman isse ñuha ondos mirros bona kessa tepagon īlva se power naejot vīlībagon arlī. Iā Jaes sleeps isse bisa dōron! se ēza agreed naejot lend īlva ondor naejot pryjagon īlva qrinuntyssy se gūrogon se vys ondoso force!" [1]
The man roared with a Valyrian accent much thicker than Aenar's or even his parents'.
The people stared at the man unsure, murmuring amongst themselves. They were not confident of it Aenar could tell. But that quickly changed when the slab of stone glowed an ominous black and gold. The sky darkened, the earth shook and unholy sounds could be heard coming from the distance. The people panicked, but none of them moved. None of them could move. Something was approaching them from the distance, a spec in the sky. Slowly It grew bigger and Aenar recognized the shape. But even he grew fearful when he realized that the shape was growing beyond the size of what he was used to with these creatures. He'd seen large creatures of this species up close. But this… he never saw something this big or this ferocious before.
"Ivestragon nyke. ñuha brothers se sisters" [2] said the man as the dragon descended and positioned itself behind him. It had to be ten times the size of Balerion! "Qilōni hen ao wishes naejot vīlībagon lēda nyke against se people qilōni stole everything hen īlva?!" [3] the man and the beast roared in unison.
There was a strange gleam in the eyes of the people and soon one after the other they all stepped forward. More dragons began to descend from the heavens, each one more monstrous than the other.
The air shifted in the region. The grass shrivelled away, the earth cracked and lava began to pool below as the men and women climbed their dragons and took to the skies. The mountains shook before their heads burst and steam began to fill the skies.
The scene changed again and Aenar stood in the middle of a war. Dragons descended on the Ghiscari army, burning them all without mercy, relishing in the sounds of their screams. Again and again, the scene changed and the dragons destroyed everything in their path, taking survivors for slaves, and looting all the riches of their enemies.
They practised dark magic below the now flaming mountains, performing acts that had Aenar's stomach twist terribly.
The slaves dug and dug, extracting iron from the deepest parts of the flaming mountains and spells were used to make weapons and other trinkets from that iron, the breath of dragons aiding them in their pursuit.
And then Aenar found himself in the middle of a large hall, the slab right before him.
"Se Targārien chit ūndan se mōris hen īlva kesīr" [4] said one of the fourteen that circularly sat around him.
"Skoros hen ziry? īlis nākostōbā se cowards. Pōnta couldn't handle zȳha ondor se sīr pōnta fled lēda excuses. Addemmagon zirȳ daor heed" [5] said another man.
"Sīr. iksi drējī doing bisa pār? [6] asked another.
"Īlva ancestors merely touched bona run se īlis given zaldrīzoti se spells! imagine skoros tolie wonders ziry holds. Iksi doing bisa, se iksi doing ziry sir" [7] said another and the room murmured their agreement.
Aenar wanted to stop them, tell them to not do it. There was something ominous about that slab of stone, something vile and dark.
The scene changed once more, this time Aenar was standing before the Weirdwood Tree, watching as the Valyrians muttered some spell that Visenya might recognize. The writing on the slab glowed brighter and brighter before dying altogether. There was silence as the Valyrians stared at the thing before murmuring broke out. But before anyone could speak, the slab cracked. Golden light poured out from the crack that slowly spread all across the dark sab. The stone gave away and the golden light was replaced with something darker, a mix of red and black. It swirled violently and the Valyrians began to panic. They chanted another spell, the stones floating to contain the swirling tide of black and red. But the things pulsated and sent everything and everyone flying back. An ominous laughter echoed through the halls before the swirling mass of black and red erupted.
Aenar found himself standing before the husk of a Weirwood Tree. It was hollow from the inside as if something had carved its innards out. There were no leaves on its branches and its hide had turned pitch black. He looked away and jumped in surprise.
He was standing in ruin.
The skies were an ugly shade of red, covered with dark clouds that flashed red bolts of lightning. Everything around him had been eradicated, flatlands with lots of stone and Dragonglass strewn all around and covered in a layer of thin mist. Nowhere was the city he walked into moments ago, and nowhere did he see the people he'd passed by.
Something shifted in the mist, silhouettes that sent shivers down Aenar's spine. There were more of those creatures here, even more grotesque and ferocious. Creatures shrieked and Aenar looked up to see draconic forms of those creatures in the skies, flesh rotten and melting, black sludge falling from their mouths.
"Do not worry, they will not attack unless I tell them to."
Aenar jumped, turning around sharply to find a shadow before the Weirwood Tree. It was the silhouette of a man, but there was nobody in sight for it to cast that shadow.
"What are you?" the boy asked, his voice sharpening.
"I am… was… I was a son, a brother, and a friend. But I was better than my brother in everything, yet my father still preferred him over me. I never said anything about it until… Well, I challenged my father's decision and in defence of his favourite son he smote me, destroyed my physical body and sealed me within that slab you saw."
Aenar's hands clenched into fists beside him. Try as he might, he couldn't help but feel sympathy for the… whatever it was. How could he not when he was in a similar boat?
"Challenging your father was foolish, knowing well he favoured your brother."
Absolute silence descended in the surroundings.
Only to be broken when the thing laughed.
"What would you have done in my stead?" the thing asked.
"Enjoyed my freedom. If my father would not acknowledge my worth, I'd simply move on and do something for myself instead of relying on him to give me my worth."
Again there was silence.
"You gave the Valyrians their powers, didn't you" Aenar asked.
"I did" the shadow answered.
"Why?"
"I was bored."
Aenar could have sworn the thing shrugged.
"So when you were done with them you destroyed them all?" the boy asked, outrage clear in his voice.
"It was not my intention to kill them all" the shadow defended itself. "I knew if the Valyrians relied on me for a long time, I would be able to sap away at their life energy and build enough power to free myself one day. But they got greedy, brought Spellmancers from the capital of the Golden Empire and undid my seal. Little did they or I knew that my father had done something more than just sealing me. It was because of that. All this destruction happened because of my father. I almost died as well, if not for the many bones that I siphoned the magic off of, I would have been."
Aenar felt his stomach churn.
"Why does he hate you so much?"
"I would tell you if I knew. But I do not so I shall not."
A moment of silence passed between them.
"Why haven't you escaped this place?"
"I can't. I'm sealed in these lands."
The boy sighed.
"You are much better company compared to the last valyrian who'd come to reclaim Valyria. He tried to slay me."
The shadow must be talking about Aurion. Aenar did not need to ask what happened to him.
"I am not here to reclaim Valyria" Aenar clarified.
"Then why are you here?" the shade questioned.
"I got on the Cannibal because it wanted me to and it just flew me here."
The shade was silent.
"You will find Valyrian Steel in the ruins of this city. You may take them all. Do whatever you wish with them. My creatures will help you with them."
The shade vanished before Aenar could ask him why. The boy turned to the creatures and shivered. The creature that was as tall as a four-year-old made Aenar feel sad.
Translations:
1. How long until the Ghiscari make it here too? How long until the rest of us are enslaved here like the people those bastards captured?! I have in my hands something that will give us the power to fight back. A god sleeps in this stone! And he has agreed to lend us powers to destroy our enemies and take the world by force!"
2. Tell me... my brothers and sisters
3. Who of you wishes to fight with me against the people who stole everything from us?!
4. The Targaryen chit saw the end of us here
5. What of it? They were weak and cowards. They couldn't handle its powers and so they fled with excuses. Pay them no heed.
6. So... we are truly doing this then?
7. Our ancestors merely touched that thing and they were given dragons and spells! Imagine what other wonders it holds. We are doing this, and we are doing it now.