AN: Inspiration just hit me. I am writing this before I even finish the last chapter.
Hopefully you all like or at least tolerate this change of pace.
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The sky was on fire.
No, that was just the dragons in the sky.
It was night, but the dragons lit the sky up enough that if one did not look up, they would assume it was day. The heat from the dragon flame could be felt on the ground. To me, whose summer included snow, it felt like an intrinsic wrong to be this hot.
If one were above the dragons, they would see stars. Stars that were outnumbered by the dragons below.
Only, not all the dragons looked the same. Some had four legs and wings, others had their front legs attached to wings, or front legs resemble arms. Some did not have any legs, only looking like snakes with wings. One that caught attention appeared to be covered in red leaves. Or rather, made of the plants.
One dragon was cut down by a surprise attack. But it's rider's arm glowed a bright red, and suddenly the dragon glowed and was now covered in metal, and it rejoined the fight.
Eventually, thirteen dragons-including the one now covered in metal- broke through the chaos and plummeted down to the mountain below. Suddenly a barrier came to life, halting them. But six riders raised their arms as one did before, and another dragon came into being, this one large enough shield from sight the dragons still in combat and cast a shadow on the ground that would return the night to those below.
Or it would have, if it itself were not made of red light.
The other seven-whose arms did not glow, had golden lines shoot out from each of them, until they met at a point and became one. Then the one line shot itself at the barrier, piercing it enough for the large light dragon to plunge its claw in and rip the barrier open.
Some dragons saw all this occur, and rushed to intercept the thirteen. Instead, the dragons whom had stayed behind to continue the fight rushed between the thirteen and their attackers, as if to hold them off.
Their path now unimpeded, the thirteen flew down and approached a mountain. But the mountain was strange, it was hollow when viewed from above, and some red liquid was shooting upwards, as if trying to get out. From above, thirteen other such mountains were visible. But they were all calm.
Suddenly, darkness shot out from the rim of the hole the dragon's barely avoided it. Another blast of darkness shot out.
One by one, the dragons would approach the ground near the mountain, and the rider would jump off. The dragon would then fly back up while another went downward. Soon, all thirteen riders had reached the ground, and were running up the mountain while the dragons acted as a diversion.
The riders moved at inhuman speeds. Enemies appeared as they ran up. Two who had swords. They charged forward, only for one rider to break from the rest and engage them.
His hands were empty, but he muttered something and opened his hands up and two blades suddenly appeared in his hands.
They were Valyrian Steel, but while one was black, the other was white.
The black one had a triangle of white on its flat sides, while the white had a triangle of black. On the end of both of these swords, was a circle, half white and half black, but not actually divided down the middle. In the white half, there was a black circle. A white circle was also in the black half. They were also shaped differently than any other sword I had ever seen or read about. Even his allies and enemies' blades were more similar than what he held.
With quick efficiency, the rider parried one swordsman with the black blade and fatally sliced his foes face with the white one. The second swordsman ran at him from behind only for him to turn around and match his blade with the white one. Suddenly, the white blade shattered after countering the strike. The swordsman stepped back in shock, only for the rider-who had expected the breaking-to kill him with a blow from the black sword to his head. The black blade also shattered, but the rider had slain both men before the other riders had reached them. They continued to run.
Eventually, they reached a point and a rider yelled. Everyone stopped and stared at her. She walked forward, and then put her hand right below her neck. On closer inspection, she was wearing some golden necklace, though her hand obscured most of it.
She walked forward a few steps, then jumped. She then landed on one foot and jumped again, though this time to the right. Eventually she stopped jumping in a weird pattern and yelled again at her fellow riders. One by one, they copied her jumping, until they all reached the end. Afterwards, one of them threw some rocks back at where they jumped, only for the entire ground the collapse and reveal multiple pit traps. Had they not made the jumps they did, they would have fallen in.
They continued onwards. After noticing the necklace, I realized that six other riders also had golden objects. One rider had a golden eyeball. He seemed to be aware of me, but did not say anything. The woman with the necklace also glanced at me from time to time, but was also silent. The other six all had red tattoos that would glow from time to time.
Eventually, they had reached the top. There, several men and women stood at the rim, muttering words like the rider had to summon his twin swords.
"Rytsas mirre! " One man said as he approached the thirteen. He had the air of a leader.
"Obūljarion Gaemon!" The rider who used swords said. He appeared to be the leader of the thirteen. From his neck, hung on a cord of Valyrian Steel as a necklace, was a golden Pyramid. I only knew that from sketches of the great pyramids of Meereen. On it, and all seven gold items, was a strange eye.
"Skoro syt? Arlie tegun naejot udrāzma iksis va." Gaemon said in response. While the thirteen looked like they were ready for battle, Gaemon spoke like he was addressing young children who had been naughty.
"Aōha ñuhoso jemagon mērī naejot vējes." The one with the golden eye said
"Pirta Alastor." Gaemon said, his face enraged. "Skoros ivestragon ao Charlie?" he asked, looking towards the rider who had the metal dragon.
Said rider had a tattoo on his arm that he wore openly. On it, a dragon claw seemed to grip something. My guess was a heart.
Despite having the same hair and eyes as everyone else, it appeared that he had dyed the tips of his hair red, or the blood from battle just made it look that way.
"Kesā pryjagon īlva." He responded.
Gaemon sighed. "Skoros nūmāzma ao Murtagh? Kiryu? Ryuko? Sorka? Martha?
"Kesā pryjagon īlva." They all repeated in unison.
Gaemon looked at the five who had been silent. "Kessa ao sagon ñuha raqiros? Tave? Xion? Lelouch? Rachel? Hana?" he asked. His voice holding a bit of hope.
"Dōrī." They all said.
Gaemon kept talking, quicker and quicker. The others countered every point he made. I had little knowledge of Valyrian, having just started to learn it in depth, but I made out some phrases.
...Thirteen of the fourteen...Gates to another world….Too dangerous ...Future seen ...Disaster…You changed ever since that slave saved you Eragon...Open the fourteenth ...gifts from the gods.
The last phrase was emphasized by Gaemon pointing to the golden items seven had, and at the tattoos the others had. In the end, Gaemon failed to sway any of his foes.
"Sīr sagon ziry." Gaemon muttered. "Morghūljagon Eragon!"
He drew his own blade and tried to rush them. His allies from the rim stopped muttering and rushed to join him.
The battle was quick but undecided. A few moments after the one known as Eragon cut off Gaemon's ear when he was too slow dodging, the mountain shook, Suddenly, the other thirteen mountains glowed the same as this one, and all let out some red liquid.
Gaemon laughed. "Ao qringaomatan!" He said before Eragon killed him by beheading him.
The other sorcerers had also fallen, either to the red liquid or the thirteen.
The thirteen turned to each other, and spoke quickly about what to do.
Eragon ended the talk with "Kosti mīsagon se vys rȳ qubāje lo daor Valyria."
Two of them had been injured. Rachel, and Alastor I think. After talking, they all whistled. Their dragons came down and all but those two climbed up. Each left in the direction of a different mountain.
"I didn't expect this."
I heard a voice say. Actually being able to know what was said was so shocking, I turned and looked at the one who had spoken.
"I thought so. The bearers of the necklace each have visions of their successors. My predecessor was in her eighties when she foresaw me the day before I was born. But her predecessor saw her as his first vision." Rachel said as she walked up to me, It seemed her injury was healing as the necklace glowed.
She was the youngest of all of them, appearing to be no older than 16. Her hair was also covered in blood, turning the silver blond strands into a dark red.
"Strange, you don't have the look of dragon's blood, and this tongue is not Valyrian. You must be a mongrel, raised by your non-valyrian family. Ha! And they thought it was scandalous when I was chosen since I was from a merchant family. No doubt they objected even more to you. At least my blood was pure dragon. I suppose you being here means that we win. Watch and learn child. Let your future teacher show you how it is done."
Her injuries healed, she climbed her dragon and continued on to another mountain.
"She always did have an arrogance since she joined."
I turned around and looked at Alastor, whose injuries were also healing. When he looked at me, I felt strange, as though he was looking into my very soul.
He sighed. "So that it huh? The Doom of Valyria. As good a name as any I suppose. Rachel has a sense that she is more special than the rest of us due to her humble origins. She fell in line for the most part, but at times she would act like she should have been the leader. The Necklace of Meraxes that she holds stopped letting her see past this day. She took your appearance to mean that we win and you will replace her. But my Eye of Balerion is different. I can actually see a person's thoughts and memories. You being here means I get a better view of the future than she could."
He looked straight at my eyes. "I always wanted to be a storyteller. But then the Eye chose me as it and the marks chose the others. If I am to die today, I might as well fulfill that dream. I see little is known of Valyria in your time. Let me fill in the gaps."
I found myself sitting on the ground, looking up to him, a sad smile on his face.
"The fourteen volcanoes around here are called the fourteen flames. Thousands of years ago, when we were just shepherds, seven of them shot forth these golden items, and another six burned the arms of six people. There was no pattern to it. It seemed it was all random. But then, then dragon's we had spent our lives hiding from, started to appear more often. And they obeyed when one of the people with a mark or item commanded them to stop. Eventually, the thirteen people managed to control the dragons, and made it so any could learn to do so without the items or mark.
"Now as the freehold expanded, we feared losing the items. The marks were safe, when someone with a mark died-either by battle, murder, or just age-the moment they died, a child would burn their arm in the same pattern as the mark of the dead. It could be a governor's brother, or a street urchin. We had an issue of parents faking the mark by burning their kids to gain prestige.
"Back to the items. The ones holding them mainly stayed in the central Valyria. We almost never went to the colonies or farther unless there was an emergency. As such, we mainly remain hidden to our enemies. One of my predecessors used the Eye at peace talks with Ghis, only to instead find out what their plans were and plan the perfect counter strategy."
I was completely enwrapped by the tale Alastor was telling. The Doom of Valyria and what was lost before it. Straight from the mouth of someone who lived through it. 'But perished all the same.' I realized.
"When one of the item wielders died or was approaching it, all the people in the freehold born since the last time a new wielder was chosen would be brought together, and each item would have a different test. You have to solve the puzzle, keep the scale balanced, unlock a door, you get the idea.
"Anyway, Gaemon, the guy we just killed here? He was Eragon's cousin, and above him in the family succession. But when Eragon solved the puzzle after Gaemon could not, he was replaced as heir. Each family at one point or another has had at least one person have an item or mark, and it's always been seen as the gods choosing the most worthy to rule. If a family refuses to turn over an item after the wielder dies...Well one item does not compare to six.
"So, Gaemon becomes obsessed with trying to get his 'rightful place' back. He settles on this volcano. The Fourteenth. The one that did not give anything. He was always an adept sorcerer. He and his compatriots study this place and claim there is some door or gate that can not be seen. He looked at the others, and they seem to also have these gates, but are sealed more tightly than this one. He claimed that if he could open this gate, we could either get another item, or another mark. At first, everyone was all for it. Gaemon became beloved. But then his research changed. He claimed that instead of a singular object, that an entire world was behind the gate. Some like him thought it was a new land to expand the freehold. Others thought it was the realm of the gods. Then Rachel had her vision of Valyria being destroyed. Destroyed by monsters or demons or something. So here we are now. Our allies are facing off against those who want to open the gate, while we tried to stop it. But by unlocking this one, it shocked the others open as well. Hopefully our items and marks can close it.
"And that is where you come in."
He once again looks straight at me.
"You come from a future. A future where we manage to close the Flames but destroy Valyria in the process. Valyria is doomed. Either only it is destroyed, or everything including Valyria is destroyed. Maybe that is what will happen, or maybe me seeing these memories will be enough for me to change the future. I do not know, but we must close the gates before something comes through."
He sighed, A calm acceptance clear on his face. He looked at me like a grandfather to a young child. Which considering our ages is an apt comparison.
"Wish us luck Wolf boy."
His Eye glowed and I found myself being pulled into the air. Slowly at first, but eventually picking up speed. Valyria was just about to disappear from my sight when I saw something resembling an arm appear out of one of the volcanoes, the others had been closed, but not before unleashing the red liquid all over the freehold. All the remaining dragons ceased combat and went to attack the arm.
I did not see the end of it.
I then awoke back in my bed.
I found myself silently crying at the memory of all those deaths.
I fell asleep when I was too tired to cry.
When I awoke, I had forgotten it all.
VALYRIAN FREEHOLD-THE 14TH FLAME-400 YEARS AGO
BRAN
AN: I wrote this whole thing in 8 hours. And 5 of those hours was a break.
Don't expect more first person chapters. I just thought it worked better here.
Valyrian provided by /EnglishtoValyrianTranslator
The names of the Thirteen were chosen based on the group they were in.
The Signers were all named after characters with a connection to dragons.
Charlie Weasley- Works with dragons in Harry Potter
Murtagh- Dragon rider in Inheritance Cycle- the first fantasy series I read as a kid
Kazuma Kiryu- The Dragon of Dojima in the Yakuza series.
Ryuko- the #9 Hero in My Hero Academia-can turn into a dragon
Sorka Hanrahan- A character from Dragonriders of Pern. I never read it myself, but it is apparently where the idea of riding dragons got popular.
Martha- Saint Martha- specifically from the Fate series.
The Millenium items are people who are similar to their items or had something similar
Alastor- Mad Eye Moody from Harry Potter with the Millenium Eye.
Xion - From KIngdom Hearts series gets The Millenium Key.
Tave- A member of the Je'daii-which represents a balance in the force from the Legends continuity of Star wars. He holds the Millennium Scales.
Rachel- Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus gets the Millennium Necklace.
Hana-Kiba's sister in Naruto. The family has the ability to track by scent, the Millennium Ring that can track anything the user desires.
Lelouch- the hero who brainwashes in canon gets the item that can brainwash-the Millennium Rod.
Finally- Eragon, the hero of the Inheritance cycle, is the leader with the Millenium Puzzle. Named after the first dragon rider, it seemed like a good fit for the one who tried to save the world.
He also uses Kanshou and Bakuya, modeled after Fate/Stay Night. Valyrians were said to be able to use magic, so I thought I would have him do Archer's magic to show it.
In the end, the names are nothing more than shout-outs. I have no plans to add to these characters at the moment, and they died centuries ago.
Next chapter: we head back to KL to show the aftermath of the last chapter.