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HOTD: The Rogue's Son-SI Ch.63
🕑 Added 2025-04-17 18:34:24 +0000 UTCChapter 63
RHAENYRA TARGARYEN
Word about the dragons being gone from the Dragonpit had spread like fire. Whispers and murmurs broke out all over the castle as everyone tried to make a story of their own.
Some claimed that they had vanished just as the Black Dread had years ago, taking with it the young Aerea Targaryen, whose death remained a mystery to this day. Others blamed Bravos, and the Triarchy, believing it that they had broken them free to reduce the Crown’s powers.
There were as many tales as people around this whole affair, and none of them knew the truth—none except her.
So, she was not surprised when she was suddenly called to the Council Chambers, where her father sat beside his Hand with a grave and hardened expression on his face.
“Rhaenyra, tell me, do you know where the dragons are?” he asked, his tone soft yet concerned as she nodded truthfully.
“I do,” and a sense of relief washed over him as he asked.
“Where are they?”
“They are with Aegon,” and he must have expected that.
“But how? Who will ride them? He has no authority to pass them on as trinkets. I am the King, and doing something so rash can destroy the....”
“Aegon is not going to pass them out like trinkets. No, he is not going to give them to anyone at all,” he would never do such a thing. One of his biggest complaints was how House Velaryon had been given this privilege for no reason at all.
Aegon believed that the Dragons should remain only within the Royal line, and believed that allowing House Velaryon to keep them had been one of Jaehaerys’s biggest mistakes. And if he would not trust their kin with such a gift, he would hardly pass them out like trinkets.
“Then where are the dragons, Princess?” asked the Hand, and the answer should have been obvious to them.
“They are with Aegon. He plans to use them to burn the entire Triarchy to the ground,” and their eyes widened at her declaration, even though such a thing should not really have come as a surprise.
“What!” her father gasped in surprise as she pulled out a chair and plopped down on the opposite end of the table.
“The Triarchy tried to kill our son. They killed Jeyne, a High Lord who everyone knew was very dear to both Aegon and I. They will get no mercy from me or him,” and so they would learn the true meaning of their house words. Learn what happens when you anger a dragon.
“But Princess, no dragon rider has ever been able to ride more than a single dragon. Why would Prince Aegon have need of all the other dragons,” he asked, and that was what she had thought as well.
Yet Aegon was not just a Targaryen. The Blood of the First Men ran through his veins as well. Blood that granted him abilities and powers that went beyond a Targaryens powers.
“Aegon is not a simple Targaryen. He never has been,” and both her father and his Hand glanced at one another, surprised by her words.
“What do you mean?” her father asked.
“I mean that he is not a simple person, that he has powers that go beyond the norm even for a Dragonlord, and though he has not divulged the details to me, I can assure you that Aegon will be the one riding those dragons. No one else. He will ride them, and using them he will burn the entire the Triarchy to the ground,” and even that was not punishment enough for them.
“And what of Braavos?” her father asked, much to the surprise of his Hand, as he looked her in the eye.
And she had asked Aegon the same question, and his answer.
“Braavos were the hidden hand behind the attack. They were the mind, yet there should be no mistake that the Triarchy had similar intentions. They simply failed where, Bravos succeeded,” and their current alliance with Bravos made making a move against them rather difficult.
“What? Bravos was behind the assassination,” the Hand gasped, as she nodded.
“Yes, Aegon and his men were able to learn about the Triarchy’s attempt before heand and subdued the assasins sent by them, yet they were blindsided by Bravos who had hired separate men to do this deed,” and Lyonel Strong was a smart man, she could see his mind racing, as he rubbed his chin.
“But why would Bravos do such a thing? They have been our allies for years, why would they suddenly turn against us?” and she wondered just how much of it was true.
Had Bravos really been an ally to the Iron Throne for all these years, or had they been playing them all for fools, as they tried to keep the realm destabilised lest it become a rival to their power?
“We do not know, but Aegon believed that it was because of power and influence,” she passed on his theory, as the Master of Laws nodded, quickly connecting the dots.
“They feared that if we were to get a foothold across the Narrow Sea, it would bolster our influence, making us a legitimate threat to their power,” and that was the gist of it.
Bravos had expected that with their combined assault on the Stepstones, they would be able to conquer at least half of the islands, keeping the power balanced. Yet Aegon had surprised as his forces had blitzed through the isles, conquering them at a pace which Bravos could not match, hence leaving the final tally to land heavily in their favor.
This must have also pushed them to take this drastic action, for with a strong hold over more than half of the Stepstone Isles, along with the disputed lands across the Sea, the Iron Throne’s power and influence would have become too much for Bravos.
“And so, they struck back, hiding behind the cover of the Triarchy. But Aegon believes that attacking Bravos directly would be too troubling,” at least for some time.
“He has simply refused their offer of arbitration and alliance, and will conquer the Disputed Lands all by himself,” and that was why he had taken all the dragons.
“But make no mistake. The Triarchy will get no mercy from Aegon. Their attack may have been felled, but their intentions were the same, and Aegon has long run out of mercy,” and her gaze lowered as he added with a whisper.
“And they have just killed perhaps the only person in this world who could have saved them all. But she is gone now, and they will all burn for it....”
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AEGON TARGARYEN
In all these years, Aegon had tried to do the right thing. But in the end, he had been betrayed at every step by every person around him. Though it may not seem so, even in war, he tried to offer his enemies mercy, but it just so happened that his enemies took his offer of mercy as weakness and tried to exploit it, hence forcing his hand.
He was not fond of merciless slaughter. The truth was that he abhorred it.
He loathed wars, hated murder, yet he was a realist and would never shy away from their necessity.
Yet today, he found all his inhibitions gone, with his rage taking over for the first time in his life, he found himself seeking bloodshed. Slaughter. Death.
As the Sun set, torches lit up as he walked out of his tent to look at the massive wall surrounding Tyrosh, littered with hundreds of scorpions and trebuchets.
His men stood ready and in formation, yet he had an inkling that they would have little to no need for them as Harwin stepped forward.
“My lord, will you not be riding on your dragon?” he asked, and he wore a thick black armor, with golden edges, and held a giant shield in his hands, one that could crush a man with its sheer weight.
“No, I will be standing here. Order the me to be ready, soon the city doors will open and the Tyroshi army will be forced to come out,” and Harwin frowned at his words, for they went against the very tenant of a siege.
“But why, my Prince?” he asked, as Aegon cracked his neck and took a deep breath.
“Because no man, no matter how brave would ever want to be burned alive,” and if his words affected him, he did not show as his special unit formed a circle around him, and raised their shields so that no stray arrow or scorpion bolt would hit him, as he did the most impossible warging of his life.
And warging into a dragon was much different than warging into a simple animal like a bird, or a squirrel. Because when one warged into an animal, they opened the gates to their conscience, and though these simpler beings had little in the form of a conscience, a dragon was no simple being.
It took a toll on you, and he was about to warg into not just one but four dragons at once.
Silverwing, Vermithor, Ceraxes, and Dreamfyre.
And it took him a second to connect his mind with Silverwing, his dragon acted on its command as it took to the skies from behind him, and the others followed suit, as the dark clouds up in the sky gave them cover.
He could feel his brain getting torn apart, as he warged into one dragon after another. Their combined conscience taking a toll on him, as they encircled the entire city hidden in the clouds.
His hand flicked, and Silverwing roared, alerting the Tyroshi men who began to hustle along the walls, as Silverwing tore through the clouds and descended upon the most heavily armed section of the wall.
“Take aim!” he heard the men shout as they turned their scorpions towards his dragon, their visions shared, just like their conscience, as Silverwing descended towards the walls like a bullet, and before they could fire a single bolt, Aegon screamed.
“DRACARYS!” and his command carried on as his dragon opened its mouth, spewing a torrent of fire so thick that he could smell the flesh burning off of their bones as Silverwing took to the skies once more.
A few arrows hit its armor forcing him to wince in pain, as Aegon began the attack in full.
“NOW!” and at his command the other three dragons descended down as well, much to the surprise and agony of the Tyroshi men who could not believe their eyes.
“DRAGONS!” “DRAGONS!” they screamed as chaos broke out on the walls, and though they may have prepared well for one dragon, they could doo nothing against the might of four.
“DRACARYS!” he screamed even as he felt blood drip down his nose, as all four of the might beasts opened their mouths and the entire Tyroshi Wall went up in flames.
“AGHHHHHH!” “NOOOO!” “FORM UP! FORM UP!” he could heard the screams.
He could smell them burn. Their flesh. Their blood.
He could nearly taste them, as Vermithor swallowed half a dozen men with its mouth, while Ceraxes used its tail to kill a dozen men. The toll was too much, yet he persisted, and he did not stop.
“DRACARYS!” and with minutes, all the Scorpions and the trebuchets they had built up to face him were decimated, as Silverwing flew towards him, as the three other dragons all began to burn the city.
The dragon landed infront of him, just as he saw the massive gates of the city move as screams and explosions filled the air.
THUD!
“ROARRRR!” Silverwing roared as it landed on the ground, as blood dripped down its face.
Aegon slowly walked towards his dragon and made to mount it as Harwin stepped forward.
“Those outside the city, I leave to you, Harwin,” he whispered as he mounted his dragon. The gates to Tyrosh opened, and their men raged forth in a desperate attempt to save their lives.
“Spare no one,” and with that, Silverwing flapped its wings and took to the skies once more, roaring with rage as it headed towards the largest and biggest manse of the city.
BOOOM!
It broke through the dome as it landed in its middle, just where the three Leaders of the Triarchy all sat, their faces pale and aghast as Silverwing landed in front of them.
“ROARRR!” his dragon roared, biting out and killing their guards as they all backed away as Aegon looked down at them, impassively maintaining his composure even as his head felt as if it would be torn apart any second.
“MERCY!” WE BEG YOU!” “ YOU CAN HAVE THE CITY! THE GOLD! YOU CAN HAVE IT ALL!” they begged, falling to their knees, as they pleaded with him.
“SPARE US! SPARE OUR LIVES!” and he sat there in the saddle unmoved by their pleas, as he spoke calmly.
“I told you, didn’t I?” he began as Silverwing opened its maw, revealing its teeth, and they all backed away in fear.
“You will not live to see tomorrow,” and with that, Silverwing coiled back its mouth as Aegon gave the coldest command.
“DRACARYS!”
“NOOOO!” “NOOOOOO!”
.
.
.
The battle of Tyrosh took only one night, and the once bustling city was burnt to a husk in but one night as Aegon Targaryen descended upon it with his four dragons.
It is said that so many people were burnt that it took years until the air was cleared of the stench of burnt flesh.
In Maester Mellos’s records, he narrates Harwin Strong, a commander who had fought in many battles.
The man says that in one night the entire city became unrecognisable, and as he walked through the streets he saw nothing but char, as men, women, buildings, all of it was burnt in the rage of the Prince, who himself sat on the mountain of ruin where once stood the largest mase of the city.
Now, reduced to a charred hubble.
Such was the destruction that even the mighty Breakbones found his heart still at the devastation, yet as he walked towards the Prince sitting under the shadow of four mighty dragons, he stopped as the Prince raised his head and looked him in the eye.
His gaze was cold and still as if unaffected by the massacre around him, as he mouthed the words that changed the fate of this world forever.
“Onto the next two it is.....”
(Excerpt from the ‘Era of the Bloody Prince’ writings of Archmaester Mellos)
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Comments
Radiant Tiefling
Thank you for the update. I couldn’t help but remember a particular scene from the Legend of Vox Machina as I read the chapter.
FallenMetalGod
Thank you. Aegon is official in history books and will be remembered for a long time. The question is, will he rebuild everything to rise those up? Will he leave it as a message? A great job as always, and I can't wait to see what happens next.
