I do not own the world of ice and fire
So, I messed up the last chapter, the garrison held by Volantis at Myr is only 20,000 strong. A mistap of a finger and carelessness had ruined it, sorry.
By the way sorry for the late publish.
Myr, a day after Draeden had taken Tyrosh.
Once, it was one of the greatest of the free cities, home to Thousands that near millions. A city that has a thousand opportunity to make riches, lives and love.
But now...
Myr's walls are damaged, large holes and spacious gaps litter the former fortification. The fires that once ravaged Myr had died down after days of burning.
What the fires left behind are sad and tragic ruins, ashes of people still litter in the buildings, be it slaves or free people.
Although the fires has died down, the rapings, pillaging and 'celebrations' did not.
All 20,000 of the Volantene soldiers are still drunk over their false sense of victory after tearing a city apart, or it may just be the ale.
Most of the city is in ruins, while the remaining cowers in fear. The northern part of the city 'mostly' remains untouched, so the presence of the soldiers are lesser there.
Volantene soldiers patrol the streets, but it is more like hunting for any prey that dares to wander out in the city.
Those who still remain dare not to go out to look for food as they fear the Volantene soldiers, but this had made them hungry as they have finished their foodstocks.
In the city centre were a horrifying sight, thousands of heads that were the victims of this massacre were put on spikes and spears to remind the inhabitants to not do anything.
Yet, the buildings and barracks the Volantene soldiers have taken shelter in is a more horrific sight...
Girls of all kinds and ages were forced to be kept in those buildings like a dog, these poor girls were to be used as 'bed slaves' to pleasure the soldiers...
And a Maester of the Citadel was forced to witness all of these atrocities.
Maester Guydan was just simply touring Essos to gather knowledge for the Citadel, yes he knew that there is a war brewing, but he didn't expect that Grohan Ragan would react so fast.
And now he is a 'guest' to the Volantene host, despite being in captive the Volantene still gave him a few duties.
He must tend to the injured Volantene soldiers that got hurt during bar fights or internal disputes.
But occasionally, he will secretly smuggle medicine and teach healing methods to those poor girls, enslaved by the Volantenes.
And that is what he is doing today. Today Guydan had smuggled Nettles to prevent infection, Dreamwine to reduce the pain and moontea as well. This building is located in the south of the city, where most of the city is destroyed.
Guydan approached a barred window of a building that kept the girls, he nervously looked around to make sure there are no patrols nearby, but there are usually non as the Volantene soldiers are either drunk or getting drunk.
Guydan passes the medicines through the window to the girls which accepted the medicines.
Guydan winces as he sees the wounds and bruises on the girl's faces.
Guydan lowers his voice and asks in High Valyrian"Are these enough girls"?
A girl then answers grimly "Unfortunately no, our last stock was finished by a girl that can't take it anymore, she overdosed the dreamwine".
Guydan winces as he hears the news, but he still encourages them "Be hopeful now girls, help is coming"!
The girl scoffed and rebuked "Help, like anyone would risk themselves to help us"!
Just when Maester Guydan wants to protest, two drunken guards walked past and noticed Maester Guydan.
The two guards walked towards Guydan, it was too late when Guydan realised two guards were approaching him, they immediately grabbed from behind, and one of the guards ask "Ah, isn't it the healer, do you fancy this girl? All you need to do is ask, we'll share"!
Guydan struggles against his captives on instinct, but as he struggled a few bottles of medicine dropped from his robe.
Guydan's face paled as he watch the guard picked the bottle up.
But strangely, Guydan can hear faint thundering horse hooves charging towards them.
The guard pick up the bottle and questions Guydan "Are you smuggling supplies to them"?
Guydan refuses to answer the guard, which only enraged the guard.
The guard backhanded Guydan on his face with a gauntlet hand, the impact was so strong, Guydan spit some blood on the ground.
The girls in looked in horror through the window.
The guard pulls out his curved blade, and lifts it, intent to split Guydan into two.
Maestet Guydan closed his eyes to accept his fate.
But the blade never came, instead it was a loud and painful grunt mixed with thundering horse hooves, and some blood splattered om his face.
Guydan opened his eyes to see what is happening, and he is every suprised at what he is seeing.
Many, many heavily cladded warriors mounted on horseback were charging against the direction of the Volantene garrison.
Guydan can see that there are bow and arrows on some horses, some horses carry javelin, the horses are heavily armoured as well, some of the riders carry lances, some carry spears and every rider additionally carries a sword on their hips.
Guydan knew that only one type of cavalry in the known world is so heavily equipped.
'The Valyrian Cataphracts' thought Guydan. Many of the Maesters in the Citadel believe that the Cataphracts are over equipped, and the reason they dress so much steel is to intimidate their opponents.
But Guydan believed that the reason the Cataphracts dress so much steel is to prepare themselves for any situation.
And his theory was proved true. Guydan had the privilege to witness the legendary Cataphracts in action.
The best weapon of Cavalry is their charging in nature, but without much space and speed, Cavalry are rendered useless.
But the Cataphracts are different. Guydan can see in a distance that before the charging riders are in charging range, some Cataphracts are circling the enemy and let loose their arrows and javelins on the enemy to buy their charging comrades some time.
Many Volantene soldiers were punctured by the arrows since they didn't even have the time to pick up their shields, some of them weren't even able to hold their shields long due to how drunk they are.
Before the charge could even come, almost half of the Volantene soldiers in the area was dead.
And then the charge came.
It is like watching a large boulder crushing an egg.
The charge was deadly and dangerous. Horse hooves shattered the Volantene group's bones on the impact, the lances and speard puncture through the enemy's flesh, cutting important veins and arteries.
As the Cataphracts pulled out and regrouped, it left a mangled mess of flesh, blood and bone that was once a small Volantene group.
Many more of these minor battles are fought all around the south of Myr. And the battle in the north of the city is only beginning...
On top of the Sea Dragon, stands the Lord of the Stepstones. Draeden Draeterys stands imperiously on the deck, with his right hand resting on the hilt of his sword.
The harbour of Myr on the western side of the city is already taken by his admiral, Jaeron Saraenor.
A green flag on the south attracted Draeden's attention, Draeden looked over to it and realised that the battle in the south has won and they have taken it.
Draeden then looked to the row of temples of different religions that is along the seafront, and is also glad to see a green flag.
Before they started the battle, Draeden had given a series of signals, yellow means in battle, green means won the battle and red means lost the battle.
Draeden then looked to the final point, the north.
Draeden had sent the Unsullied to take the north of the city, since the Volantene presence is largely in the south, Draeden believes there won't be much challenge there.
And then he saw the yellow signal flag on the north, Draeden took in a large breath and continued to observe the battle.
The North of Myr
Black Snake thrusts his spear against a Volantene Soldiers with great precision. With a cry of pain, the Volantene fell onto the ground.
The Unsullied were all lockstepped into an impenetrable shieldwall. The greatest weapon in their arsenal.
Black Snake's new mas-, lord Draeden had planned this assault with great care and planning. Draeden had first sent scouts to find out the condition of the city.
After he learned that the southern side of the city is much more in ruins, and more ideal for cavalry to manoeuvre, he sent half of the Cataphracts to charge the forces there.
Other than that, Draeden had learned that most of the northern part of the city still remains untouched, so he sent the Unsullied and his foot soldiers that can manouevre the tighter streets with great ease.
And the armies form the south and north are all striking towards the centre of the city, like a hammer and an anvil.
Black Snake is very impressed with his lord's strategic prowess. Although he is quite wobbly on the hastened sail from Tyrosh within a day, he is still quite upbeated from the battle.
Black Snake can see many Volantene Soldiers try to run, while some even tried to fight back, but all are in vain as they are all eliminated by his comrades.
He wonders how the battle in the south is going. Although this is a great plan, the plan won't work if one side of the flank is routed.
Near The Centre of the city is the mad dog, Lyorro. He is desperately trying to fight his way out of this.
But he realises it is useless, so he decides to do what dogs do best when they are defeated. Run.
Lyorro grabs a nearby horse and flings himself on top of the horse. Many of his men beg him to stop and save them. But Lyorro just kicks them off and ran.
The screams and fires of battle rage all around Lyorro as he makes his escape, after some time, Lyorro could see the walls, he made haste for a gap in the wall but before he could reach the walls, a warrior clad in armour on a horse charges at him with a mace ferociously. Lyorro barely managed to dodge the mace in time and was still surprisingly still on his horse.
But he quickly recovered and pulled out his curved sword to face his opponent.
Lyorro found the warrior to have his face covered by his helmet, he is a mountain of a man with broad soldiers.
Lyorro scoffs "And what scum dares to face me? The Desolator, Lyorro"!
The warrior takes off his helmet, and it reveals the features of a Valyrian. It is the commander of the Stepstones, Taelan Rexagon. But Lyorro doesn't know yet.
Taelan calmly says "You face the Grand Commander of the Stepstones, dog"!
Lyorro growls "How dare you"!
But Taelan cuts in "I dare too, dog"!
Lyorro then continues with a sneer "I am the champion of the legacy of Valyria! Seeing as you are a Valyrian, You are bound to join me or you are a traitor to your kin, surrender, and you shall see mercy"!
Taelan scoffs and says "There is only one TRUE legacy of Valyria, dog. And it is not Volantis"!
Lyorro sneers and says "Ha! You will face retribution then, but if you were to let me escape, I may spare you in the future"!
Taelan Grips his double-handed mace harder and replies "I will not, you will meet your end here, Dog of Horonno"!
Lyorro growls like a mad dog he is, and gallops his horse to charge at Taelan.
Taelan Rexagon put on his helmet again and galloped braced his horse to meet the charge.
Two sets of hooves thunder against the ground while the battle rages around them.
Lyorro raises his curved blade before they clash, hoping to vertically split Taelan into two.
As the two horses are near, with a loud and feral war cry, Lyorro cuts his blade down along with the momentum of the speed created by his charging horse.
Taelan manages to direct his horse right, avoiding the dog's attack.
Lyorro growls in frustration, he turns his horse once again to face his opponent with a horizontal slash.
Taelan was ready for the attack and blocked the attack with his mace.
After blocking the attack, Taelan returned an attack with a backhanded swing.
The gigantic and deadly mace rang in the air, for a moment, Lyorro thought he would die here, his head smashed into a puddle of blood and bones and flesh.
But Lyorro's instinct kicked in and lay down to dodge the backhand swing delivered by Taelan.
Taelan's eyes widened at the agility and flexibility of his opponent.
And with a blink of an eye, Lyorro was back up and raising his sword, ready to stab Taelan like a fork on steak.
Taelan wanted to raise his mace to deflect the attack, but realised that his two handed mace was too heavy and big to manoeuvre on horseback.
On instinct, Taelan raised his left arm to block the attack, Lyorro's eyes widened as his attack was blocked by his adversary's arm.
The tip of the blade was deflected by Taelan's armoured forearm, realising his thrust has failed, Lyorro pulls his arm back for another attack.
Taelan, knew this fight wouldn't benefit him if they continued on horseback as his weapon was far too large to be able to wield effectively on horseback, while his opponent's curved blade, was perfect on horseback.
But he himself without a horse will be dangerous.
Taelan knew he had to get them both on foot, so he barreled himself into Lyorro, while Lyorro was readying for another powerful attack, opened himself too wide for Taelan to knock him off his horse.
Lyorro grunted as the impact was made. Lyorro thought that the impact was just like getting charged by a horse.
Both of them fell onto the ground with a loud thud with the both of them still gripping their weapons tightly, for the two of them knew, whoever loses their weapon first will die in this duel.
It took some time for them to recover from the fall, but they managed to get on their feet at the same time.
With his two feet steadied on the ground, Taelan launches his deadly attacks with haste, wishing to quickly end the battle.
Taelan raised his two handed mace and vertically smashed the weapon on his adversary.
Lyorro managed to raise his sword to block the attack, but was horrified that his sword and arm were falling rapidly on him as the impact was too strong.
Lyorro managed to flexibly turn his body leftward to avoid the attack.
But without giving any warning, Taelan once again attacked with a horizontal swing at Lyorro.
The swift and flexible Lyorro managed to duck under the attack and close his space with Taelan.
Taelan was horrified when he saw Lyorro swinging his sword at Taelan's head. At that moment, Taelan thought he would die right there and then, with regrets of not seeing his children grow, and not seeing his liege to win this war as The True Legacy Of Valyria.
But lucky for him, Taelan's helmet managed to deflect the sword.
Lyorro's smile dropped, and Taelan smashed the butt of his mace to Lyorro's stomach. Lyorro, was knocked off of his feet at the impact.
Before he could even recover, Taelan raised his mace vertically and swung the monstrous weapon into The mad dog of Volantis' face.
Lyorro watched in horror as the hammer falls.
With a loud and sickening crack, Lyorro could feel the pain when his skull caved in.
And if Lyorro survived the first strike, he did not survive the second.
Taelan once again smashed his deadly and heavy weapon into Lyorro's face, and he was sure that the force caved the bones into Lyorro's fleshy brain as Taelan heard something squishy that was definitely not just the eyes.
But Taelan did not stop his attacks until he was very sure that the mad dog died.
And by then, his liege had boarded the city and Lyorro's head smashed like a hammered pudding.
Draeden walked through the streets of Myr, or what is left of it.
His men had managed to not rape and loot, as per his army's discipline. A few higher ranking commanders beneath Taelan followed Draeden through the streets, while reporting the results of the battle.
"Our forces are largely unharmed, thanks to the drunk and unready Volantene forces, but unfortunately there are still a few deaths and heavy injuries". reported a commander.
Draeden nodded and replied "Send the healers to look after the injured, and send the bodies of the deceased back to their homes..., and send them my apologies. Even though it won't bring the dead back, I will compensate them". Draeden had a somber voice regarding the dead and their family.
'Valar Morghulis' Said one of the commanders, and everyone including Draeden echoed it sadly. The Valyrian word that is Valar Morghulis means all men must die.
But another voice replied 'Valar Dohaeris' Draeden and his commanders looked towards the voice and saw the Grand Commander of the Stepstones, Taelan Rexagon, dragging the body of a disfigured body by the leg.
Draeden walked towards Taelan and pulled him into a hug "I am very glad that you survived my friend"! declared Draeden.
Taelan smiled and replied "I am glad as well my lord, I am also sure my wife and children are glad as well".
Draeden laughed and then his attention was taken by the body.
The face is a messed up flesh and the skull is flatter than a flat bread.
Taelan then answers "The remains of the mad dog, Lyorro".
Draeden smiled and clasped his hand on Taelan's shoulders "Good work, commander. After this war house Rexagon will be greatly rewarded"!
Taelan nodded, kneeled and thanked his liege. Jaeron Saraenor heard what Draeden said and shot a nasty look at Taelan.
Then Draeden looked around at the city, a great sadness overtook him. Before the doom, Myr was one of the greatest cities built by Valyria, rich with trade and culture, even his family has a few businesses in the city. But now...
The city was in ruins, it will take great efforts to rebuild this city, coins to be specific. In which during war is a rare and precious resource.
But a set of horse hooves took Draeden's attention.
A rider approached Draeden and yelled, "My lord!"
While the rider dismounted his horse, Draeden nodded and said "You may speak".
The rider then said "My lord, we have found a large number of gold coins in a chamber at a building that served as the command center"!
Draeden's eyes widen and ask "Whose do they belong to"?
The rider then answers "They have a crown on one side and death's head on the other"!
Taelan Rexagon was the one to answer "Volantene Honours my lord".
Draeden then asked, "How many"?
The rider then answered "Many, but we haven't counted the specific numbers".
Draeden nodded and said "Find the best mathematicians in Myr, have them count how many, oh and have guards to watch over the process".
The rider nodded and said "It will be done my lord"!
While the rider galloped away, Draeden then remembered something important "What of the casualty of the Volantene numbers"?
One of the commanders stood up and spoke "My Lord, out of the 20,000 Volantene men, only 8,000 of them survived".
Draeden winced at the numbers. Eight Thousand prisoners will be a heck of a prison camp.
But the commander continues "About 2 thousand among of the 8 thousand managed to escape, but like in our plans, I have sent the Cataphracts to hunt them and chase them towards north instead of east where Volantis lies."
Draeden nodded and said "Good work, commander".
"But still, send our best riders to scout in the disputed lands, I want them to find the Stormland host". Continued Draeden.
Taelan then asks "What do you plan to do with the Storm King my lord"?
Draeden then answers "I will ask if they would like to join us, or... be destroyed".
Taelan nodded.
Draeden continued "There are limited water sources in the disputed lands, they will need to follow the watering holes if they want most of them to survive, that means it will make the march extremely slow for the Strom host. Since we are only north of the middle Disputed lands, I wish to rest the army and manage the city first".
The other commanders nodded in agreement.
In the next chapter, we will see the reactions of other players in the game at Draeden's victories.
So about the inhabitants of The Stepstones that didn't know the story of Draeden. Stepstones know about house Draeterys. But they did not know about Draeden as little is written about him. All they know is that there is a Draeterys Promised one.
So about Dragon to castle sieges, I am starting to have a plan on that, but unfortunately you guys won't be seeing any of it... yet. Draeden needs to prove his worth in this war, or else his people will only think he won because of his dragons, not because of his prowess.
So about the brother of Rhaegar's story I can't tell you about the plot yet cause I dont wanna spoil it. But rest assured, I have invested more time and interest into this story. In fact I may even skip the dance fic just for this. Just maybe
Thank you Moran, the pointers are well needed, I do feel Rohanndra is rushed as well, I will learn from this, but she will play an important part in the future.
Draeden will keep the dragons out of sight for now, because he wants to make the dragons a mystery because mysteries will cause fear and hesitant. He will reveal them in the future to assert his position as the Legacy Of Valyria.
Thank you all for your support, and I hope this fic lives up to your expectations. Until next time, my honoured lords and ladies.