Drkest
patreon
HOTD: The Rogue's Son-SI Ch.56
🕑 Added 2025-02-27 10:47:31 +0000 UTCChapter 56
AEGON TARGARYEN
The Stepstones had always been infested with pirates. The small isles provided the best opportunity and environment for the pirates and their ilk to use shrewd tactics to harass any and every vessel in the Sea and escape into the caves when the merchants retaliated.
Pirates had harassed ships, using these tactics for years. The only difference Cragas Drahar had made was that he had united these usually fractionated groups of men under a single banner. His banner. This herculean task was made possible by the constant support the man received from his backers in Myr and Tyrosh.
Killing Drahar was not an extremely difficult task. However, conquering the Stepstones was a whole different matter.
These small isles were the graveyard of a thousand sailors and a dozen empires, all of whom had failed to tame these isles over the past five hundred years. Even the mighty Sea Snake, the man who had conquered the Nine Seas, had failed in this herculean task.
Yet he would succeed, for Aegon had realized the true enemy.
And it was not pirates, Drahar, or even the Triarchy. No, his true enemy in the Stepstones were these wretched caves. These tunnels provided the perfect hiding place for the pirates to attack and harass enemy soldiers.
The tunnel network was quite expansive, and even with maps, these dark caves were littered with traps and hidden pathways that made them enter these holes nothing less than suicide for those unfamiliar with them.
And so, the plan was simple. You either had to draw out the enemy and make sure that they never entered them once again, or you could trap and kill them inside.
And the best tool to accomplish both of these tasks was Wildfyre. He had been a bit surprised to learn that the weapon in question had existed since the times of Maegor itself. So, over the years, through his support, the Guild had improved upon the original formula, resulting in the formation of a most rudimentary form of grenades.
And after much planning and experimenting, Aegon felt rather elated as he saw them work as intended.
Wildfyre was far more potent than any other fire. Dragon fire could compete with its heat, yet the act of spewing massive torrents of fire one after another tired them much, while on the other hand, the green flames of Wildfyre burned and burned until the liquid was entirely gone.
His strategy had been simple: to cover each and every entrance and exit for the caves with wildfire, forcing Drahar’s men out into the open. For once they were in the open, they were but pieces of meat for a dragon.
And as he flew in the air over the mountains, Silverwing burned hundreds, if not thousands, as the entrances to the caves remained blocked by the raging green flames of Wildfyre.
“AGHHHH!” “NOOOO!”
“MERCY!” “MERCY!”
Screams and shouts filled the air, which was now thick with the smell of burning flesh, as Silverwing tore through his men, who had nowhere to hide now.
Many tried to douse out the green flames with water, yet it only expanded the fires. Others tried to traverse through them, yet the fires ate through their flesh in but seconds as devastation and destruction filled the air.
Aegon simply sat there on his dragon, watching it all unfold as he looked straight ahead at the leader of these pirates, the very man who had brought down a dragon—Cragas Drahar.
His face was covered by half a mask, and the scars and crusting from his affliction of Greyscale still showed as their eyes met before Aegon smirked and pulled on the reins of his dragon.
Aegon could feel his frustrations and rage as his men all burnt around him, unable to escape into their handy tunnels. The bright green flames blocked their entrances, leaving them all at his mercy.
And Aegon had long run out of mercy.
“Soves,” and his dragon pushed into the skies once more as the pirates all screamed and wailed. Some tried to run, while others nocked their arrows and made to fire them at him as Aegon took to the skies and began at one edge of the rocky mountains as Silverwing opened its maw.
“DRACARYS!”
BOOOOM!
And the fire came, and men burnt to a husk infront of his gaze, yet he did not stop even as they fired barrage after barrage of arrows at him, yet they did nothing but bounce off of the armor that covered his dragon’s skin, and so he burned and burned them.
And in that moment, they were all reminded of how Aegon Targaryen had conquered the seven Kingdoms, for men were helpless infront of the might of a dragon, and the battle continued for an hour as Aegon continued to torch the mountains with his dragon.
And so an hour later as his dragon finally landed on the ground once more, the once grey mountains had been charred a thick black with hints of red and brown because of blood and flesh, as his dragon touched the ground.
The once mighty enemy host of a few thousand had all been reduced to but a dozen men, all of whom were on their knees as a raging circle of fire encircled them.
“MERCY!” “MERCY!”
The men screamed on their knees, begging him to spare them, yet one of them stood defiant till the end. Drahar did not kneel, as he stared directly at him, as Aegon chose to slide down from his saddle.
THUNK!
And the ground was slippery from dead flesh and blood, and the stone burned so hot that he could feel its heat even from his soles, as he stepped forward and stood infront of Drahar.
“Do you know who I am?” Aegon asked as Drahar’s eyes narrowed.
“You are simply a coward,” he taunted as he spat to the side.
“Killing a man while flying on that beast,” he raged, pointing towards Silverwing, which growled at the insult as he continued.
“You are nothing. Nothing,” and Aegon smirked as he removed his helmet.
“My name is Aegon Targaryen, son of Daemon Targaryen. The very Prince, whose sword you now hold in your hands,” and that was the ancestral blade of House Targaryen, Black sister.
His father’s blade.
“I see, so you have come to avenge him,” he taunted, and Aegon shook his head.
“No,” Aegon shook his head, much to his surprise.
“I just came here to see the so-called mighty Prince of Pirates, and I must say I am quite disappointed. You are no Prince, you are but a simple pest,” and he chuckled as he turned away from him, as Silverwing came forward.
“Silverwing!” he ordered as Drahar screamed from behind.
“We will eat you! You may kill me, but these islands will eat you and your dragon ali....”
“DRACARYS!” he ordered, and the roar came first and then the screams, as Silverwing burnt the last of these pirates as Aegon slid down the mountain, towards the Velaryon men which stood there, stilled in awe and fear at his sight.
They were thin, weak, and haggard, and suddenly, they all parted ways as the Lord of the Tides, the famous Sea Snake, stepped forward and came to stand infront of him.
“How is Prince Laenor?” he questioned. The man did not answer, and it was Vaemond who answered first.
“The Prince has taken an arrow, but he will live,” and Aegon nodded as he looked the Sea Snake in the eye.
“Your hubris nearly killed your son and your men, Lord Corlys,” he scoffed as Silverwing stepped behind him, casting its massive shadow over the men as the Sea Snake finally opened his mouth.
“Why are you here?” he asked in a raspy voice.
“Because for all your faults, Lady Rhaenys is kin, and so are Prince Laenor and Lady Laena. She came to Kingsladning to seek the Crown’s aide, and it is in the nature of House Targaryen to help its allies, even more so when they are kin,” he finished as he plunged his sword into the ground and put his hand and stood tall.
“House Velaryon’s war is over,” and at his words, relief washed over the Velaryon men as Aegon continued.
“This is now the Crown’s war,” and the Lord of the Tides.
“What war? Drahar is dead,” he added as Aegon scoffed.
“And whoever said that our war was against Drahar....”
0000
RHAENYS TARGARYEN
A week had passed since Prince Aegon had departed from the capital, and the Crown had declared war upon the Triarchy, yet news about the war had been scarce.
Even now, she hungered for any news about her son and husband as she stayed in the Red Keep waiting for any word, yet none came.
The city itself had changed quite a lot in just three short years, and the unfamiliarity of it all made her feel a bit odd, as she saw the new cobbled streets, filled with new buildings, and shops and stores.
Kingsladning had changed much in these short three years, and she knew that one person was to blame.
Aegon and the young son of Daemon still remain a puzzle to her.
“The city has truly changed,” Laena added as she walked up, to stand beside her on the balcony.
“It has been only three years, but I can hardly recognize the streets and the buildings,” and that was not the least of it. The city as a whole had changed, with new people. guilds, and buildings.
The Seven Kingdoms were changing, and at the center of it all lay one person, Aegon Targaryen. And it was as if the Jaehaerys’s legacy had found its successor.
“They have a new guild, one that is made up of Healers,” Laena added, and the words broke her heart as she looked towards her daughter, who bit her lips as she cradled her belly.
“Do you think they might have a sol....” and it pained her to see her daughter like this.
“Oh, I am so sorry, my dear,” she said as she reached for her hand and held it tight, as she tried to give her strength, for unknown to the realm the reason she did not let Laena fly to her father’s aide was not because she had doubts about her daughter’s abilities.
No, Laena was a better flyer than her, and Vhagar was a ferocious beast, yet even then, a dragon did not make one infallible, as she had learned herself when an arrow to the abdomen had nearly robbed her of her precious daughter.
Laena had lived, yet the attack had ripped her of her ability to bear children, according to the Maester, her daughter would never know the joy of holding a baby of her own.
“The Princess,” Laena began as she turned to face her.
“She told me that the guild is entirely focused on the art of Healing and has made great advancements over the years. She says that they are even better than the Maesters in many cases,” and that was a surprise to her.
And that much praise, but the Maesters had held a monopoly on the art of healing for years, and so she doubted if the Guild was truly as advanced and better as Rhaenyra said.
Unless.
“And who supports this guild?” For all the guilds needed some patronage to work, her own lord husband supported the Spicers guild that controlled the trade of spices and linens from the East. Yet those days were long gone, and these men had long abandoned the markets of High Tide.
“The Crown does,” Laena answered.
“It was another one of Prince Aegon’s initiativess, much like the Alchemist’s guild,” and she knew of that one.
“Mother, can I ask a heal...” but before Laena could finish, suddenly the roar of a dragon cut through the air, as they both turned to face the skies once more, as her eyes landed on a dragon approaching the city.
One she found rather familiar.
“Is that...” she began, yet it was Laena who finished her words.
“Sea Smoke,” and her heart skipped a beat at the mention of that name, and her feet began to move on their own as she rushed out of the yard as the dragon flew towards the Yard of the Red Keep.
Laena followed after her as Rhaenys put one foot infront of another, in both worry and joy at the sight of her son’s dragon, until she came upon the yard to see the mighty beast descend with a thud.
The once beautiful dragon now had many scars on its skin, along with a massive wound on its shoulder where the wing opened up, and yet she cared not as she saw that the beast carried two people on its back.
“My lady, please wait. The dragon is quite agitated...” yet she ignored the words of the Dragon keepers as she ran towards her son, who had jumped down from the dragon.
“Laenor!” she gasped as she wrapped her arms around her son, who had now outgrown her in height, and she could feel just how thin and frail he had become, and yet he was alive.
He was alive and it was all that mattered to her.
“You are fine, you are alive,” she whispered as she held his face, as Laenor gave her a small nod.
“Yes,” and then her eyes moved to her lord husband, Corlys, whose face was grim and tired, and sunken, and as she walked upto him, their eyes met.
And there was silence as they both simply stared at each other.
“You bent the knee,” he opened his mouth, for he must know that there was only one way the Crown would come to their aid.
“I did what I needed to do to save your life,” she retorted, and she saw his lips thin before he suddenly walked past her without saying anything else until she turned towards her son once more.
“What happened?”
“Cragas Drahar is dead,” and the whole clearing stilled at those words as her eyes widened.
“Aegon Targaryen burned him himself and slaughtered all his men. The war in the Stepstones is all but over....”
.
.
.
And just as Aegon’s war began in full, Rhaenyra Targaryen’s own battle began in the Red Keep as well, as her water broke and the Princess went into her labors.
0000
Comments
BaldRhaegar
Happy ending Rhaenyra dies Aegon and Laena fall in love and she can't have children so there would be no Dance
FallenMetalGod
Thank you. It looks like Aegon got revenge on the King and got the sword back. It's time to continue the war and ensure that the Iron Throne reigns supreme. I feel bad for Laena; the new baby is on the way. Great job, as always, and I can't wait to see how things will continue to go for Aegon and how his reputation will grow beyond what people can do.
Riley Gluntz
I am guessing that he is going to keep dark sister as his main sword
Radiant Tiefling
Thank you for the chapter.
