Author's Note: Here's a new fanfic that's been developing in my head for a while and needed to be let out. This does not take place in the same continuity as Sword and Claw and Fourth-Born's Conquest (speaking of which, I do plan to finish FBC eventually). It's still an AU, but one that's closer to canon MGE.
Note that I use italics in this fanfic for emphasised text or characters' thoughts, while bold and underline are used either for text in a language the POV character doesn't understand, or for someone talking in a mix of languages. You'll see the latter two quite often in earlier chapters.
Standing atop one of the walls of Meereen, Barristan Selmy felt aches throughout his body. Even so, he did not rest—could not rest.
"How fare the efforts to contain the fires?" Barristan asked.
This question was addressed to a young man with smooth brown skin and an expressionless face. He wore leather armour and a spiked helm, and carried a spear in his right hand. He was quite different from the knights Barristan had known for most of his life. At the same time, he was no less honourable than the best of those knights.
"Poorly," Grey Worm replied in a grim tone. "We have evacuated those living near the fires. But the fires, the original ones, burn too hot and too large for us to extinguish. It is all we can do to extinguish the smaller fires that start on nearby buildings."
About what I expected, Barristan thought. He looked out at the scenery of Meereen—normally a beautiful city, but several trickles of smoke were now rising up from amongst the buildings. "Have any of your men been injured?"
"Twelve have been burned," Grey Worm replied. "None mortally."
"They need time to rest and recover," Barristan said. "I'm aware that you Unsullied do not feel pain, but you are still mortal."
Grey Worm nodded. "This one will pass on that order. But this one must also advise that this will make it harder to contain the fires and also perform our other duties, such as tracking down the Windblown."
Barristan sighed. That damnable sellsword company had much of the responsibility for the chaos now afflicting Meereen. It was through their actions that the two dragons had broken free from captivity, allowing them to now terrorise the city.
On a whim, Barristan turned his head towards the pyramid of Yherizan. The black-bricked structure, as tall and as wide as a typical Westerosi castle, had once been home to a noble Meereenese house. After the events of yesterday, it was now the lair of the dragon Rhaegal, its former inhabitants dead or forced to flee. A green-scaled form was visible at its apex, though it was currently in a dormant state.
There was another pyramid, Barristan knew, where a second dragon had made its lair. This one wasn't visible from his current position.
Dragons. The glory of House Targaryen… yet also its terror. They burn and kill and devour as they please, fearing no man or other beast. Targaryens have been able to control them to an extent… but the last survivor of House Targaryen is no longer here.
Barristan recalled that moment thirteen days ago. A ferocious dragon, covered in black scales and exhaling bright orange flames, had descended on Daznak's Pit. Barristan's queen, Daenerys Targaryen, had hurried onto the arena to try and tame the beast.
He should have stopped her, should not have let her get anywhere near that carnage. But he'd been too late, and now…
Just where did Drogon carry Her Grace to? He would not have killed her, surely not… but every day, every hour she is gone, Meereen slides further into chaos.
I am a knight. My duty is to serve, not to lead. Even if some now call me the Queen's Hand… a Hand of a monarch must be capable of ruling in their stead. I lack the training and experience for such a heavy duty.
Barristan looked at the fires in Meereen again, then looked upwards. Thick white clouds filled the sky, as had been the case for several days. And perhaps it was simply his imagination, but the clouds appeared darker than before.
"At the very least, we need not continue our efforts forever," Barristan said. "When the rain finally arrives, the fire shall leave us."
Though rain would bring problems of its own. Meereen had been an overcrowded city even before the release of the dragons. Now, thanks to the destruction wrought by the dragons, many had lost their homes. Without shelter, those poor souls would suffer from the cold and the wet, making them vulnerable to disease.
And our problems are not limited to within the city…
Barristan looked out and down at the immense army that lay outside Meereen's walls. There was a veritable sea of tents and armed men, men who'd come from half of Essos to destroy what Her Grace had been trying to build in Meereen.
Barristan did not fear those men. Though their numbers were measurable in tens of thousands, numbers alone would not be enough for them to get past Meereen's high walls, not with those walls being guarded by the stalwart forces of the Unsullied.
Though the trebuchets are a pressing issue, Barristan thought, looking at the six massive wooden structures. Should they bombard the city, which is already reeling from the effects of dragonfire and a lost queen…
"Is there any sign of hostility from those outside?" Barristan asked.
"None of the Unsullied manning these walls have seen it," Grey Worm replied. His eyes turned towards the enemy camp as well. "They would have reported any such signs immediately."
Barristan drummed his fingers against the stone of the battlements. "Perhaps our enemies, too, are unnerved by the release of the dragons. That gives us some respite… but it will not last forever. Before they work up the courage to attack, we must…"
A few moments passed without Barristan finishing that sentence. He strained his mind to the limit, trying to find the best solution to the quagmire that they were all in. Yet all of the possible solutions had flaws.
Lead a sortie from Meereen? The besiegers might be caught off guard, but Barristan's forces would lose the crucial advantage of the walls. They would likely be surrounded and crushed.
Threaten the besiegers with dragons if they did not leave? It would be a fearsome threat, to be sure, but neither Barristan nor anyone else could control the dragons.
Wait in Meereen until Queen Daenerys returned? It was the least risky option, but Barristan did not know how long Meereen could last with two unchained dragons within its walls in addition to the army without.
Barristan had gone over all of these options repeatedly yesterday as well as this morning. Even now, he could not settle on one.
"Ser Barristan," Grey Worm said. "Do you have further need of this one?"
Barristan sighed. "No, Grey Worm. I won't have you listen to an old man's ramblings any longer. You may leave."
Grey Worm nodded and began walking away, heading for the staircase that led down from the wall into the city. But before he'd taken more than five steps, there was a commotion—the shouts and screams of the dying, and of those witnessing death.
Barristan looked out from the wall towards the source of the screams. Mere seconds later, Grey Worm was there as well, spear clutched tightly in hand.
"Have they decided to attack?" Grey Worm asked. "Then this one will go into the city, bring those fighting the fires up here—"
"No…" Barristan murmured. "That doesn't seem to be the case. Rather, it seems that…"
Grey Worm narrowed his eyes in confusion, a rare display of emotion from the Unsullied. "They… are the ones being attacked?"
Barristan had seen plenty of violence in his decades-long time as a knight. He'd seen men be killed with swords, axes, morning stars, spears, daggers, arrows, fire, rocks, sticks, even bare fists. Yet he was still unsure of what was happening outside the walls.
Focus. Remember the lessons I learned as a squire. Focus on those things I can see clearly and comprehend.
Barristan saw thousands of men running around chaotically. Some carried weapons, others were panicking so much that they hadn't bothered to pick their weapons up, or perhaps had dropped them. There were women as well—the camp followers that all armies inevitably had.
He saw tents burning, and at the same time heard the familiar screams of people dying one of the most horrible of deaths. Notably, it was mainly the largest tents that were burning, and the fires were scattered all around the camp.
He saw five of the six trebuchets, siege weapons that had been built to threaten Meereen, toppled to the ground and burning. Under the nearest of the trebuchets, he saw a few limbs and heads sticking out—unfortunate souls who'd happened to be nearby when it fell.
And he saw a blur of motion, almost like a bird flitting through the air. But no bird would be flying so close to the ground during this chaos.
As Barristan watched, the blur passed by one of the large tents—one of the commander's tents, he now realised. That tent erupted in yellow-orange flames.
"Something is flying… and starting fires," Barristan said, half in disbelief.
"Similar to a dragon," Grey Worm added. "But this is certainly no dragon. There are only three in the world, none of them so small or so agile."
Indeed, the blur of motion was changing direction frequently and abruptly, causing Barristan to lose track of it several times. Each time, he could detect it again simply by looking for the newest fire.
What could it possibly be? If not a dragon, then… some other work of magic? No normal man or beast could do such things.
Barristan's eyes roamed over the camp and spotted an unusual group of corpses. There were plenty of corpses lying around now, to be sure, often those unlucky enough to fall over and then be trampled by others. This group of corpses stood out for the manner in which they'd died.
Twenty, perhaps closer to thirty men, all cut in half at the waist? Even with a Valyrian steel blade, that wouldn't be an easy feat!
And… what is that object?
In the middle of the bisected corpses was a glistening dome. By comparison to the corpses nearby, it was as tall as the average man and roughly twice that in width. At first glance, it looked like some immense gemstone shining in the sun, yet on closer inspection Barristan noticed that the earth around it was darkened, suggesting moisture.
Ice? Ice should not form here—even the coldest of nights in Meereen is too warm for it, and it is day at the moment. But…
Barristan had no more time to analyse the situation. He heard the sound of flapping wings coming from behind him, and he whirled around.
"GRRRAAAAAAOOOOGGHHHHH!"
Two dragons had taken flight from their lairs. One was green-scaled with black claws and fangs, and bronze eyes. The other had cream scales and golden eyes and horns. Their wings dwarfed those of any bird, being more comparable in size to ships' sails.
Now there were shouts and screams from within Meereen's walls, from those who'd already seen the beasts' fury firsthand.
"…Your orders, Ser Barristan?" Grey Worm asked quietly.
"I have none," Barristan replied. "We can do nothing to affect their course now, barring… absurd actions such as shooting arrows at them. The fire has already been lit. All we can do is to watch how it burns."
Rhaegal and Viserion flew overhead, not even looking down at Barristan, Grey Worm or the others below. Their eyes were focused solely on what lay outside the walls.
Dragons are drawn to noise, and to blood. Just as Drogon was drawn to the fighting in the pit…
In a way, this was fortunate. The dragons' wrath would be turned on the army that had been threatening Meereen. Many would be killed, while the survivors would have little taste for further war against the dragon queen's city.
But at the same time, Barristan didn't know who—or what—was driving the enemy army into a panic. If they were an ally of some sort to Meereen, then they would now face the wrath of the dragons—something that was inevitably fatal for any being short of another dragon. Sometimes it was fatal even then.
I must act… but what could I possibly accomplish? Even if I was still in my prime, rather than a weakened elder, my sword would be useless in that chaos out there.
Barristan clenched his gauntleted fists.
Still, I must act. I have known these dragons since they were small enough to be carried by their mother. If I go out there, perhaps they will recognise me, perhaps they will listen…
A memory floated to the top of Barristan's mind: a prince whose courage had outweighed his caution, a prince who even now was slowly dying from the burns on every inch of his body. Seeing the fate of Quentyn Martell had made even a veteran like Barristan feel sick to his stomach.
He hesitated. It was shameful for one known as "the Bold", yet he remained rooted to the spot for a few moments.
The dragons neared their target, which slowed down to a stop in mid-air. This allowed Barristan to finally observe it clearly.
"A… woman with wings?" Barristan gasped.
No, not just wings. The woman had paired structures on her head that looked like decorations at first, but were actually a pair of black, curving horns. Her ears were longer than a human's and distinctly pointed. Her hair was pale blue, similar to what many Tyroshi achieved with dyes, and tied into a long braid. She wore a long-sleeved white shirt and blue trousers similar to a man's. Finally, her right hand held an eerie-looking sword whose blade and hilt were both deep purple.
Rhaegal and Viserion roared in challenge. The woman opened and closed her mouth—obviously saying something, though Barristan couldn't make it out at this distance.
"FLEE!" Barristan shouted out of chivalrous instinct.
He was too late. The two dragons let loose two jets of flame. Both jets were bright yellow, and both were large enough to engulf a house.
No! Not another—and just a day after Prince Quentyn was—!
But then Barristan saw another incomprehensible sight. The flames scattered into sparks, revealing the woman still in the air. Not only was she not burned to cinders, she was surrounded by glistening white particles, as if she and she alone was in the midst of a snowstorm.
The dragons began flying in circles around her. They were quite obviously confused, having never encountered a non-dragon that could survive their fire before. Barristan also suspected they were confused at seeing a human-like creature flying like them.
The woman still appeared to be talking. However, she now had a much grimmer look on her face, and her sword was held up in a warning position.
The tense situation only lasted for a few seconds. Then Rhaegal, who was behind the winged woman, charged forward like a hawk seeking prey. Viserion, who was in front of her, breathed another jet of flame.
And then a dazzling light filled Barristan's vision, as if he'd suddenly glanced at the sun. He shut his eyes reflexively.
What in the world—!?
Hearing the shrieks of the dragons, Barristan immediately reopened his eyes. His vision was still filled with colourful spots due to the recent light. It took perhaps ten seconds before he could see clearly again, during which heard loud crashing sounds.
Now, Barristan saw both Rhaegal and Viserion on the ground. Both were in shallow craters. They were snarling and snapping vigorously, showing they weren't badly injured.
The strange woman was standing in front of the dragons, showing not the slightest hint of fear. She raised a hand and the dragons slowed down in their movements.
"A maegi?" Grey Worm said. "It's unclear what she's doing, but we must stop her."
That was the closest thing to urgency Barristan had ever heard in an Unsullied's voice. He nodded and began rushing for the stairs, along with Grey Worm.
They reached the stairs, hurtled down over a hundred steps as fast as their feet could move, and then began heading for the nearest gate in the wall.
When they reached the gate, Barristan saw Unsullied standing in front of it… and he heard the banging on the gates from outside.
One of the Unsullied turned and reported, "Some of the besiegers have fled here and are begging to be let in. What should be done about them?"
They fear what's out there so much that they seek refuge from us? Barristan wondered. From their enemy?
"How many are outside the gate?" Grey Worm asked. He was already holding his spear at the ready.
"Perhaps eight or nine," another Unsullied replied.
"…We must open the gate to leave ourselves," Barristan said, coming to a decision. "Two of you unbar it. The rest should take up position on either side, ready to fight if need be. I shall do the talking."
The Unsullied began doing as instructed. Barristan drew his sword—a fine weapon that he'd received from his queen, and a symbol of his oaths as Queensguard.
Then the gates were pushed open from the other side. Desperate men rushed past—it wasn't quite accurate to call them soldiers, for these men, like many others today, had discarded their weapons. Their appearances and armour were quite varied, showing that they were a motley group united only in their fear.
The men screamed in three or four different tongues. Barristan understood "Help!" from a couple of them. The rest were in languages he did not know, though the context made their meaning just as obvious.
"Surrender!" Barristan commanded in High Valyrian. "Or you will die where you stand!"
The soldiers dropped to the ground without protest and began pleading. From one of them, Barristan understood "Do what you want… kill us, whip us… just don't make us go out there again! That… That demon is…"
Barristan frowned. He turned towards Grey Worm. "That word he just spoke… demon… I do not recognise it."
"It refers to a… evil creature of magic," Grey Worm explained. "That would perhaps fit the woman we saw out there."
Barristan shook his head. Magic might be increasingly common in the world—the rebirth of dragons being one example—but he'd never expected to encounter such a creature in person.
"Search them for daggers or any other weapons they may still have," Grey Worm said to the other Unsullied. "Then tie their hands and put them in some empty building for now, with two standing watch over them."
The soldiers were disarmed and restrained. Meanwhile, more Unsullied rushed in from the surrounding streets, along with Mother's Men and Brazen Beasts—two other groups who served Queen Daenerys.
"What's happening!?" asked one Mother's Man. "Has the queen returned!?"
"They say our enemies are running!" said a Brazen Beast wearing the mask of a bull. "Wait—some of 'em are over there!"
Barristan raised a hand to call for calm. "These men are now our prisoners! We will keep them alive for now!" When he saw disappointment in the faces of many, he added, "Our current plan is to go out from this gate and investigate what is happening! Should we encounter more foes, you may unleash your frustrations upon them! Now, who will march with me!?"
The assembled force lifted their weapons and roared their assent.
Moments later, Barristan emerged from the gate with sixty men at his back. He would have liked to wait for more to arrive, but time was of the essence.
They approached the area where the two dragons had crash-landed. Their footsteps slowed until they came to a confused stop.
There were no longer two dragons here. The craters where the dragons had crashed were still conspicuously here. However, there were now two nude women lying face-down, women who were quite clearly not human.
One had green wings in place of arms, green-scaled legs that ended in sharp claws, a long green tail extending from her lower back, and hair that resembled strands of polished bronze. She lay in the crater where Rhaegal had been. The other also had wings and tail, but her scales were cream-coloured and her hair golden-blonde. She lay near the crater where Viserion had been.
Green and bronze… cream and gold… it can't be…
That wasn't the only strangeness here. The blue-haired demon was still here, but she too was lying on the ground, seemingly unconscious. She was lying on her back, allowing Barristan to see the strange purple heart tattooed on her right cheek, as well as a thin reddish scar running across her nose and left cheek. Her purple sword lay on the ground nearby. And huddled around her were three other beings that were clearly not human.
Two resembled the blue-haired demon, with the same horns, pointed ears, wings and spaded tail. One of them had blue hair as well, and wore a sleeveless grey dress with a skirt ending just above her knees. The other had curly blonde hair with a streak of blue in it, wings with transparent membranes like an insect's, and her clothing exposed so much of her skin that Barristan avoided looking at her for long. Interestingly, neither of them wore anything on their bare feet.
That is not limited to them… Barristan glanced at the feet of the unconscious demon, which were covered in black socks. Were they indoors, and forced to go outside with little warning?
Then there was the third strange creature, which had no resemblance to the others—in fact, it didn't appear human in any way. If Barristan had to describe it, it was a human-sized flower bud "standing" on roots that grew out from its base. Yet this hadn't always been the case; immediately after leaving Meereen, Barristan had glimpsed a green womanly figure within the flower bud. That figure had quickly been concealed by the flower's petals and sepals closing up around her.
All three of the conscious demons were obviously nervous. The two with horns and wings looked at Barristan's group with fearful expressions, like rabbits who'd caught the notice of a pack of wolves. Even the giant flower bud was trembling and—seemingly—hiding behind the other two.
A stunned silence reigned for several long moments. Eventually, Barristan sheathed his sword and stepped forward.
"…My apologies if we have frightened you," Barristan said in his native Common Tongue, purely as an experiment. When that was met with a lack of comprehension, he repeated it in High Valyrian.
"Oh, um… thank you," the blonde-haired demon replied. She looked from Barristan to his soldiers and then back. "We… erm… we came here… last night? …We, ah, not know this language very… good?"
"That is quite alright," Barristan said. He looked around at the surroundings: in the distance were a few groups of soldiers still fleeing, while behind him were numerous soldiers on Meereen's outer wall, staring in disbelief. "I'm sure you're not comfortable being out in the open like this. I would like to ask you to come into the city with us. I swear on my honour as a knight that no harm will come to you."
Barristan had never expected to be offering assurances to demons—albeit he still wasn't certain what they were. And his assurances were also ineffective since the demons, judging from their bewildered looks, didn't understand part of what he just said.
Then he noticed movement in the bottom edge of his vision. He looked down to see the very first demon stirring.
"Mom!" "Mother!" "Auntie Mary!"
Barristan did not understand the demons' language, but their meaning was clear enough from the way they gathered around the first demon and their expressions of relief.
"Ser Barristan," Grey Worm whispered, the question implied by his tone.
"Lower your weapons, all of you," Barristan replied.
That command came not a moment too soon. Soon after the first demon finished opening her eyes, she looked towards Barristan's group. There was a blur of motion and then she was standing again, sword in hand.
"We do not mean harm to any of you," Barristan said, doing his best to keep a level tone. "We only seek answers."
The sword-wielding demon had the kind of wary expression that Barristan had seen many times; it was the expression of one who'd experienced the horrors of war first-hand, leaving them ever-conscious of any potential threat afterwards. Her wariness was tempered by the way her limbs trembled with fatigue.
"…Who are you?" she asked. While she sounded more fluent than the other demon, it was still clear that High Valyrian wasn't her first language.
"I am Barristan Selmy," Barristan replied. "I am a knight who serves Queen Daenerys Targaryen," he gestured towards the city behind him, "ruler of this city of Meereen. The others with me are soldiers under the same queen."
The sword-wielding demon didn't shift her eyes from Barristan. "I heard that this Queen Daenerys had died."
"A rumour," Barristan said firmly. "She flew away from this city on the back of a dragon two weeks prior." He opted not to mention that Daenerys' level of control over Drogon was unknown.
Now the sword-wielding demon did look away, glancing very briefly at the two strange, scaled women lying nearby. "I suppose you want answers on what I did to them…"
The second blue-haired demon, the one in the grey dress, spoke for the first time. "M-Mother, just before you woke up, he… it sounded like he wanted us to come with him. Into the city, it sounded like."
"Do you want us to join you in the city?" the sword-wielding demon asked. "If so, can you guarantee our safety there?"
Despite scattering a massive army and seemingly defeating two dragons, she fears for safety? Barristan thought. Are the others less capable than her, as shown by their behaviour? Is she concerned because of her own fatigue currently? Out loud, he said, "I swear that you will all be safe in Meereen, on my honour as a knight and my oath to my queen… though I suppose these things mean little to you."
The sword-wielding demon looked around at Barristan's soldiers, some of whom flinched under her gaze. She eventually let out a sigh.
"It seems that is the best option… Then we will go in with you, and I will explain to you what I did."
Relaxing slightly, the demon lowered her strange purple sword and it disappeared into thin air, eliciting several gasps from Barristan's troops.
More sorcery… has the sword simply stopped being visible, or is it truly no longer present? If the latter, where has it gone to? Questions a simple knight was never trained to answer…
It appeared the demons weren't hostile. There was still one more issue to solve, however.
"We must bring the… dragons in as well, but we can hardly leave them as they are," Barristan said to his men. "Fetch some large, blanket-sized pieces of fabric from the collapsed tents."
A few soldiers ran off and, after doing some cutting with their weapons, returned with the requested fabric. They kept sneaking glances at the naked dragons still, so Barristan cleared his throat as a warning.
Then Barristan directed some of the Unsullied to wrap the dragons in the fabric and to begin carrying them, with two Unsullied per dragon.
Even now, I can scarcely believe what has happened… How am I to explain this to Her Grace when she returns?
Keeping these thoughts to himself, Barristan turned towards the demons again. Three of them—including the giant flower bud—still looked nervous. The fourth still looked wary.
Superficially, they seem to be the same age—those whose bodies are visible, at least. But that one… her demeanour suggests someone far older, someone who's spent quite a few years having to kill or be killed…
"My apologies for the delay," Barristan said. "Now, please follow me… ah. May I ask how you to wish to be addressed?"
"Now that you mention it, I have yet to introduce myself," the first demon said. "My name is Wilmarina Noscim."
Neither part of that name was recognisable to Barristan. If he had to assign an origin to it, the name sounded vaguely Westerosi, but he'd never heard of any House Noscrim.
Why did I think of her being from a noble house? She is clearly not human… and yet something in her demeanour is reminiscent of the ladies of the royal court.
Of course, none of those ladies could wield a sword or work magics capable of defeating dragons.
Then Wilmarina gestured towards one of the demons that resembled her, the one with blonde hair. "And these are my daughters, Amelia," then she gestured at the other demon to resemble her, the one with blue hair, "Elise," and finally the giant flower bud, "and Colette."
Barristan was left with even more questions. He decided to keep those to himself as well.
"Then please follow me…"
Barristan's group returned to Meereen, now accompanied by four strange demons and two altered dragons.
AN: As you may have figured out now, this is a next-generation fanfic where the Fallen Maidens now have children (Fallen Mothers?). You may have also figured out some of the ways this is an AU.
The next chapter will explain how MGE characters have ended up in the ASoIaF world.