Jon cursed as he sped towards Astapor, summoning a dragon rider was undoubtedly his greatest skill.
Who could face him?
A dragon.
With a knight who knew how to handle it perfectly.
The problem was.
One, the dragon must be fed.
And those creatures really did eat.
Two, even though it obeys its knight, the knight has to be constantly in control, or it would eat his men just like his enemies. Summons are loyal to the user, which meant that the knight was loyal, the dragon was not.
And three, Jon noted that he could only summon one, he didn't have the skill or level to summon more than one, which meant that if an attack came, he could only attack one attacker at a time.
If attacked from different sides, he had to finish one side before attacking the other.
The information he obtained in Yunkai said that Astapor had Balistas, something Daenerys did not know, her dragons were not used to being attacked, so they had no experience in countermeasures.
Fortunately, Daenerys only took Drogo with her, so Viserion and Rhaegal were safe in Meeren.
The dragon's speed was immense, it would only take a couple of hours to get from one city to the other.
"I hope I get there on time," he said.
XXXXXXXXXX
Daenerys was heading at full speed, she would destroy the gate of Astapor, then the Unsullied could destroy the enemies.
Her goal was to have as few civilian casualties as possible. She knew that not everything could be achieved, people die in wars.
The girl looked at the door from Drogo.
"Let's finish this" she whispered.
It was surprising to her when a spear as long as a horse passed near her.
Drogo was also surprised.
It was the first time he had been attacked with something like that.
They usually used arrows, which barely pierced the armor that they had as skin.
The dragon looked back to where it came from.
The walls had Balistas, a kind of giant crossbow, they were the size of siege engines and they fired arrows the size of spears.
The dragon could not avoid being hit in the wing by one of them, he let out a cry of pain and fell, unable to maintain flight.
"DROGO!" Daenerys shouted.
The fall was hard, and the girl fell to the sand, she was unharmed, the dragon withstood the fall but was in pain.
Daenerys was confused, and dizzy.
' Balistas? ' she thought.
She had heard of the weapons by which Queen Rhaenys, wife of Aegon the Conqueror, had fallen in Dorne.
She looked back and saw a dozen mercenaries coming on horses.
"Get her! " Daenerys heard.
Metal nets were thrown at Drogo.
Daenerys watched in horror as dozens of men on horses held the nets, preventing the dragon from moving.
"Do not fear boys, here is the reward, today we will tend to the queen of the dragons! " said a mercenary approaching Daenerys with lust in his eyes.
The woman took a few steps back, but the mercenary laughed and got closer to her, until a spear came out of nowhere and hit him in the neck.
The man fell, Daenerys looked confused and turned back.
A group was coming towards her, three young women, along with four other young men and one adult man.
The women were one, thin, blue-eyed, blonde-haired, carrying daggers in each hand. Another was thin and slender, with straight black hair in a long braid, and had a whip in her hand. The last woman was long-legged, with close-set eyes and straight brown hair. She was unarmed, but Daenerys believed she was the one who threw the spear.
The three youngest were a short, stocky boy with blue eyes and dark brown hair. He carried a spear in his hand. Another was a man with light brown hair and green eyes. He was wearing armor and a sword. The third young man had blue eyes and blond hair and was also carrying a sword. The last young man was six feet tall, broad-shouldered, had a huge belly, and was bald. He also carried a sword.
Finally, the older man who came with them looked a bit wild, he had a grin from ear to ear, as if he was enjoying a good kill.
He was handsome, with thin eyebrows, black eyes, and an aquiline nose. His hair was black, with streaks of silver.
The man smiled.
"We must go, or they will kill us," he said to Daenerys.
She looked at him.
"We are not enemies," he clarified.
Daenerys looked at Drogo being dragged by the horses.
"We'll come back for him as soon as we join your men" the man informed.
Daenerys nodded.
"I am Prince Oberyn Martell, my daughters, Obara, Nymeria, and Tyene," the man told her.
[T/N: Fucking snake.]
Daenerys looked at him, she had heard of the red serpent of Dorne.
"My nephew Quentyn, with his squires, Ser Cletus Yronwood, Ser Gerris Drinkwater, Ser Willam Wells, and Ser Archibald Yronwood, I present the Red Snake of Dorne. "
XXXXXXXXXXX
"You understand what I want," Tywin said to his guest, who was dressed in a gray robe like a priest.
"We don't kill kings," he said.
"They are not kings, Ned Stark is a noble like any other, the Tullys are nobles like any other," he said.
The man looked at him and nodded.
"I'll Pay the same as three castles would be worth, I hope they die before the next moon" the man clarified.
"No," he told him.
Tywin looked at him.
"Excuse me?" he asked.
"They will not die when you want, but when the god of many faces says so" the man clarified.
Tywin looked at him.
"I usually get what I want," he clarified.
"You are just a lord, if you are not satisfied, you can find other assassins" the priest explained to him.
The Lannister lord looked at him for a few seconds, but finally nodded.
"Let them die as soon as possible," he said.
The priest nodded and Tywin watched him go.
Not many could stand his gaze.
"If you want something to work, hire the best," he said.
He looked out the window of his office.
"A Lannister always pays his debts," he whispered.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Arya walked through the passages of Riverrun, she had visited Sansa while in Winterfell, her mother was organizing and helping to Bran and Rickon.
Her father had called her and she came to his office.
"Father," she said.
"Come in," he said.
She looked at Ned Stark who looked tired.
"You should rest," she told him.
[T/N: God, I so wanna watch Doctor Who in the background right now but I know I won't complete this if I do.]
Ned smiled and Arya closed the door.
"I have something I need you to do," he told her.
She smiled.
"A mission," she said.
Ned raised an eyebrow.
"What do you know about the Tyrells?" he asked.
The girl shrugged.
"Enemies have attacked us, a family of the domain, nobles, is that not so?" she said.
Ned sighed.
"I was expecting a little more, yes. Lords of the domain, Margaery, his daughter, is married to King Tommen, she is the temporary queen" he clarified.
"You want to attack the Tyrells?" she asked.
Ned shook his head.
"Of course not, they may be helping the Lannisters, but they are not enemies, not yet at least... Olenna Tyrell negotiated with me a few weeks ago" he said.
Arya frowned.
She didn't like politics.
For her, it was simpler.
Allies or enemies.
You help your allies.
You eliminate your enemies.
" Margaery has been kidnapped by the Faith of the Seven, she is in King's Landing, our negotiation was that Robb would marry Margaery, he would take her as his second wife, in exchange for the Tyrells' support against the Lannisters, of course, we must first rescue Margaery " he clarified.
" Second wife? Does Robb know? Does that seem like something he can accept? Do you want me to teleport in and rescue the girl? " she asked.
Ned shook his head.
"No, he doesn't know, but he'll have to accept it even if he doesn't like it. No, it's too risky to be alone in Kings Landing, but I want you to prepare yourself, you're the only one who can escape immediately, and it will be a test for you, for your self-control, remember that saving an ally is much better than killing an enemy" he clarified.
Arya sighed.
"How will I get in if you don't want me to teleport?" she asked.
Ned turned back and a man was there.
Arya looked at him. He was a small man with brown hair and eyes and a short beard sprinkled with gray strands.
"Let me introduce you to Ser Davos Seaworth who was Stannis' Hand before he fell. Ser Davos is willing to help us, on the condition that we save Stannis' daughter from the attacks of the Ironborn and Euron Greyjoy" Ned said.
Arya looked at him, he didn't look strong at all.
"And how are you going to help me?" she asked.
The man smiled.
"Before I was a hand, I was a smuggler, miss. I can get you into King's Landing, " he explained.
Arya smiled.
"Great " she whispered.
Ned rolled his eyes.
"Wait, how are you going to rescue Shireen Baratheon?" Arya asked.
"The men are already preparing and Bran will join us soon," he told her.
"Why can Bran attack a castle and I have to infiltrate it?" she reproached him.
Ned raised an eyebrow.
Arya lowered her head.
"Very well, I understand," she whispered as if she were a child being scolded by her father, although Davos believed that the situation was exactly like that.
XXXXXXXXXXX
Jon looked at Daenerys' camp as he descended with the dragon from the skies.
Grey Worm watched the dragon carefully.
"My men are a few days away, Daenerys?" he asked.
The man pointed to a tent.
Jon turned to the rider onto the dragon.
"Go escort the men, if possible avoid being seen" he ordered.
The Dragon Rider nodded.
Jon headed to the tent and the Unsullied guarding the door moved aside and let him in.
The boy saw Daenerys sitting in a large chair, while a group of people were with her, Jon knew they were from Westeros.
' From Dorne,' he thought, seeing their clothes, and that they resembled Ashara in physique.
"Your Majesty, you're here. There were some problems" she said.
"Balistas?" he asked.
She nodded and looked at him curiously.
"What happened to Yunaki?" she asked.
"It's taken," he said.
The woman nodded in surprise, the Dornishmen looked on in surprise as their information said that the attack had started a couple of days ago.
' It took him two days to take a city, ' Quentyn thought.
' So this is the king of Valyria... Rhaenys's husband ' thought the red serpent of Dorne.
"These knights are Prince Oberyn Martell, his daughters, Obara, Nymeria, and Tyene Arena, his nephew Prince Quentyn Martell, along with his knights, Ser Cletus Yronwood, Ser Gerris Drinkwater, Ser Willam Wells and Ser Archibald Yronwood" introduced the queen of Meeren.
"Jon Snow, king of Volantis and Valyria" he introduced himself.
Oberyn smiled.
' No big introductions and straight to the point...I like it ' he thought.
The others seemed to appreciate that too, the queen of Meeren introduced herself as Daenerys, she who does not burn, breaker of chains, mother of dragons, and queen of the Dragon cities.
She had so many titles that it took her a long time to introduce herself.
Oberyn watched as the boy furtively noticed Tyene.
"The Martells, I assume information has leaked, if they are here," he said.
The red snake nodded.
"I doubt the Lannisters have the information, but my brother has friends all over Essos" he clarified.
' So he knows about Rae and Aegon, ' He thought.
"I assume you're here to meet your niece, then?" Jon said.
"It is true, then," Oberyn whispered.
"Yes, two poor children were killed alongside Elia Martell, but they were not her children, they were replaced by the Spider and Ashara Dayne," he said.
Oberyn sighed.
"We could have helped," he admitted.
"You'll have to consult with Ashara, as soon as my men arrive, I'll send them to Valyria so you can meet" the boy promised.
He turned to Daenerys.
"Situation?" he asked.
"Drogo fell, he lives or at least I think so," she said.
"I see, the harpy leaders are in Astapor, that's why there was so much defense, do not fear, a small dragon can be worth as much as a castle, one like Drogo, could be worth a fortune, perhaps even several cities, the masters will not kill it if they can make a profit from it" he said.
Daenerys nodded.
"And that dragon you came with?" she asked.
Jon snorted.
"Well, I'm the king of Valyria, if I didn't have dragons, my title wouldn't be famous" he clarified.
Daenerys smiled.
"Of course," she said.
"Well, if everything is clear, I would like to help, but there is no alliance yet, your majesty," Oberyn admitted.
Daenerys nodded.
"Of course, you have saved my life, and you will be rewarded, I promise, prince," she said.
Oberyn nodded but didn't seem interested in rewards.
"Then I will wait for the ships, I would like to see my nephews as soon as possible," he said.
"Rae is in Valyria, but unfortunately you won't be able to see Aegon," Jon said.
The prince blinked.
"Did something happen?" he asked a little worried.
"The worst thing that could happen to a prince, he fell in love and went to help his father-in-law, to impress him," Jon said.
The Prince of Dorne blinked before bursting into laughter.
"You can't expect anything less from a Martell," he told him.
The prince was retreating when he turned to the king of Valyria.
"Our information indicates that Bravos and Pentos are leading the Gold Company towards Volantis," he informed him.
Jon watched him leave.
' The defenses should be able to stop any attack from Pentos, but Bravos and their ships could cause problems,' Jon thought.
He sighed wearily.
' Ramon should be able to handle the ships without any problems,' he thought again.
Daenerys approached and hugged him.
"I'm sure everything will be fine," she said.
Jon nodded and kissed his fiancée.
"Let's finish quickly, as soon as my men arrive we will have a direct attack," he said.
"Will the dragon rider help? Can you summon more?" she asked.
Jon shook his head.
Daenerys and he talked a lot during their stay in Meeren.
They mostly just talked in bed, but she knew most of his secrets, including the game.
She had witnessed his summons during his conquest of Meeren, her curiosity was great, but she could not get good answers until they were engaged and Jon opened up to her.
That and the girl could get what she wanted after a dose of good sex.
"Drogo will be fine, but we won't be using the dragon knight at all, I can only summon one, and the mana that the summoning consumes is enormous, maybe when I level up," he said.
She nodded.
Having the power of the game was one of the girl's dreams.
She knew Rhaenys got it after the wedding.
And since she found out, she was really curious, it was a way to defend herself without having her dragons or guards watching.
The girl received another kiss before relaxing her body in her fiancé's arms.
" We will come for you Drogo " the queen promised.
[T/N: This chapter has been re-edited, and it's actually better than what Patreon received back in October… two years ago. Its quality now matches the latest chapters on Patreon.
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