Pre-Chapter A/N:Another chapter on time? Guess my lock-in is going pretty well. If you haven't already, I recommend turning on notifications for my stuff so you can see when new stuff drops right as it drops. Next four chapters on my patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga)— same username as here and link in bio. Had my birthday yesterday and got another year older (boo), so there's a discount on patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga) for the next week for anyone interested in that (yay)
It took the better part of an hour for things to be put in place to allow them make their boarding. A ramp was tossed over from their ship, allowing seven of them to make their way onto our ship. They had countered by asking for seven and I had seen no reason to oppose one more dead man coming aboard. And so they did. The first man wore a breastplate and helmet that did little to hide his obviously Valyrian features. He was followed by a woman in a red silk dress so sheer that I wondered how she was dealing with the sea breeze.
Around her wrists were massive silver bracelets with rubies on each. A red priestess. I instantly marked her as the most dangerous of the lot. She would be the first to die, I decided. Behind her was another man. This one wore no armour at all, allowing his silver hair to fly about in the wind, and then bringing up the rear were four men in full armour armed to the teeth. Guards. A table had been prepared and I sat on one end of it, Vaemond stood right behind me. The rest of the crew waited behind us.
A single seat was placed at the other end of the table. It said I was only interested in speaking to whoever was in charge and no one else. This wouldn't be an argument between multiple voices. I just wanted to hear one. The group, displaying surprising unity for Volantenes, folded to the side and allowed the Priestess to take the seat.
"Laenor Velaryon," she said, near breathless in her excitement.
"That is Lord Laenor Velaryon to you. You stand in the presence of the Lord-Protector of the Stepstones, the Lord of the Tides, the Master of Driftmark," Vaemond barked from behind me. I near laughed at the situation. These people had us surrounded, outgunned, and outmanned, and yet Uncle was going to insist on the use of a title that had no bearing here. It was normal for people in unfamiliar situations to cling to what they could. It turned out that for my uncle, that was a title that meant nothing in our present situation.
"Lord Velaryon then. R'hllor showed me your success in the flames and yet I doubted. I did not think it was possible," she said.
"Your god showed that I would succeed in Valyria and the next step was to plan an ambush for me right outside?" I asked incredulously.
"A servant of the Great Other like yourself must be put to rest before you can cause even more harm, no?" she asked with a smirk. Oh?
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"R'hllor showed us your rise in the flames. He showed us what you would do in the Stepstones even as you were a mere boy suckling on your mother's teats. And he told us he would deliver you into our hands in time. And now he has done so," she said.
"Delivered me into your hands?" I asked, eyebrow quirked.
"This is your surrender, no? The people who travel with you have no business in your deeds. We will take you to Volantis with us as well as your cargo, and we will spare what remains of your crew," she said. I scoffed at the threat.
"We came to discuss something reasonable, did we not? I can give your lot half the gold you have as well as a Valyrian steel blade for your greatest Magister," I offered.
"You do not understand. R'hllor tells us you do this unknowingly but still you do serve the Great Other. Your actions prevent the Red God's great plan from coming to fruition and you must be removed from the table. That is your only choice, Lord Laenor Velaryon," she said, offering me a smile that did everything but reach her eyes.
"Surely you did not think I was going to agree with this?" I asked, trying to be the voice of reason here. They came to negotiate. There had to be something else they wanted. Igneel was close, but I had to buy him another fifteen minutes at the very least.
"I hoped you would see reason, Laenor Velaryon. But I did come prepared for other means. Your lover carries a child now," she said. I froze at that. What lover? Surely it couldn't be Laena. We'd never been that stupid. It took a second for me to realise that she was not facing me as she spoke. The words were directed at Vaemond.
"I know you love it and love her, even as you just have found out about it. Will you die here for your brother's child and allow your child to grow up without a father?" she asked, digging her hooks deeper into Vaemond's psyche.
"Shut up, witch," he hissed. Good man.
"Maybe you will. What about you, Bottas?" she said, turning to one of the sailors.
"Your mother will breathe her last in a month. She has fought it her best. The gold you went to acquire to secure the services of a healer for her will be useless if you don't make it back in time. Deliver Laenor Vel—"
"Get out," I roared.
"Leave my ship, witch. Right this instant," I said, rising to my feet and drawing my blade. The smoky Valyrian steel shone in the light of the midday sun. I played up my rage even as my mind raced. If she had levers like that with most of my men, it had been a mistake to let her begin to speak. They already didn't like me. The chance that they could turn on me had probably never been higher.
"Deliver him into my hands and—" I slammed my palm into the table, getting in her face.
"Another word from you, witch, and I remove that lying tongue from that pretty head of yours," I snarled.
"You dare threaten the voice of the Red God?" the one in armour shouted, drawing his own blade. Five minutes more, I judged. This was the right thing to do. By surrounding and boarding us, they had made escape impossible, but they had also made it so their ships could not attack. Not if this Red Priestess who clearly ran this operation was still onboard. The decision was an easy one to make.
"Fuck the Red God," I said, spitting on the deck to make the insult all the clearer. The man must have been the closest thing Volantis had to nobility considering his appearance. He belonged to one of those houses that pretended at nobility while being nothing but upjumped merchants with illusions of being worth more than they truly were. Despite that though, he was as easy to enrage as the average sailor. He raced around the table to reach me and his blade came for my neck. I leaned backwards, avoiding the slash.
"He has broken parlay. Kill all of them but the witch," I ordered as I slapped his next slash away with one of mine. For the first time I wielded a true Valyrian steel bastard sword in battle and it made all the difference.
It felt like a feather in my grip, while still somehow avoiding being uncomfortably light. It just moved where I needed it to be. I had been a great swordsman even before getting this blade, but I could feel myself begin to knock on a whole different level of capability. I felt like I could fight the world with this blade in my hand.
I twisted past his next thrust and then locked his arm with mine as I shoved the blade past his breastplate and into his heart. The angle had been perfect, and the force I had put into the attack otherworldly, but without the sword I would have stood no chance of defeating well-made armour so easily. I drew out my blade with a squelch. My men had revealed their crossbows and held the guards that came with the Priestess at bow-point.
"Fire," I barked. I could see the rage in Vaemond's face. I would deal with whatever qualms he had about essentially breaking parlay later. Now was not the time for such concerns. The men died quickly. Their bodies slumping to the ground. All that remained was the Red Priestess and the man that stood behind her. Her eyes were fixed on the body of the man I had just killed. Tears seemed to be welling up behind them.
"Did your god show you this?" I asked her, drawing her from her shocked stupor.
"My ships will sink you," she said.
I scoffed. I had her measure whether she knew it or not.
"They will do nothing while you still live and while you remain here. Men, do remove that ramp," I ordered and two of the sailors marched forwards, hacking apart the wood of the ramp while the men on the other side watched listlessly. They were like headless chickens. This woman and the men she had come with were the ones who held the authority in that fleet.
"That is not my fleet," she said.
"It is not. It belongs to the man I just killed. But you are his lover, are you not. Their commander lays dead and his lover is aboard my ship. You must have spoken to at least a few of the Captains about the treasure you were sure to gain from capturing my fleet, did you not?" I asked, seeing the answer on her face.
"Greedy men will not sink the ship while that treasure is here. No. They will desire to board, but then they must decide who does it first. The first man to attempt a boarding will most likely die. But those who come after him might succeed. While they lay paralysed with the decision, my victory will solidify itself," I said.
"There is no way out of here for—" she began before looking up at me and then beginning to laugh hysterically.
"The Dragon is coming, is it not?" she asked.
I just smiled.
"Oh R'hllor, none is greater than you," she said, lifting her hands up.
"Are you trying to cast some spell?" I asked, pointing my blade at her.
"I was only blessed with the gift of prophecy. R'hllor showed me the fleet consumed by fire. I assumed it a metaphor for the greed that had taken over the men once we passed the gold you tossed overboard. They salivated at the thought of the treasure. Who would have known that R'hllor chose to speak without metaphors for once?" she asked with a smirk.
"You seem awfully confident," I said.
"R'hllor has shown me my death. It will not be here I die," she said.
"Oh? So how are you going to escape this?" I asked, genuinely curious. She looked to be in checkmate, but this would not be the first time I thought myself victorious at a game only to find out that my opponent had a last-ditch resource I hadn't foreseen.
"Why would I need to? You will not kill me. Because you are a smart man. You see the value in a priestess who sees the future," she said.
"You literally just led your men to an ambush," I deadpanned.
"My visions were correct. My interpretation, mistaken. You think you are wiser than I am. You think that you will correctly interpret my visions," she said. I didn't dignify her accusation with a response because it was actually true.
"And I will just believe that you went from wanting to kill me to wanting to serve me?"
"Wanting? No. But this must be the will of R'hllor. He makes it clear that you are an unknowing tool of the Great Other. I thought his intention was for me to remove you from the board entirely, but now it is clear that he wants me to guide you to be better," she said.
I scoffed but said nothing in reply. The ship captains seemed to be conferring with each other using flag movements. From in between them there was little we could tell about what the conversation truly was, but the subject matter was self-evident.
They were deciding what to do next now that their Commander lay dead at my feet and the Priestess that had commanded this whole thing sat on my ship, practically imprisoned. I took advantage of their hesitation, guiding Igneel more specifically. He was only a matter of minutes away. I knew they would do something drastic once he was finally spotted, but I knew for sure that once he was visible, there was going to be no hope for them.
"Shall we attack?" Vaemond whispered to me.
"They don't sink us now because they want the treasure in our hold. If we start attacking them now, they will forget that and sink us in a matter of minutes. No treasure is worth their lives," I said. He nodded.
"Igneel?"
"Coming," I said. I could tell he was at least somewhat skeptical but he would trust and wait for now. I said my dragon was coming and he was going to believe me until he could not any more.
They seemed to reach some sort of consensus and then the first arrow flew. It missed by some margin. Only one of the ships was close enough to us for them to aim with assurance but we had our crossbows pointed at them if they tried.
Another of the ships began to turn, making their intention to ram us clear. I guess they'd decided not to bother trying to keep the ship then. How unfortunate.
I felt for my bond with Igneel, and fed it that little flame that I could feel in my centre now. My own magic woken from my trials in Valyria, I gave him. He had shared his liberally with me for some time now. It was only fair to return the favour. His roar made my bones shake as he appeared as a speck in the horizon. A quickly growing speck.
"Dragon!" one of the Volantenes screamed, and the chaos that ensued was a thing to behold. Under my directions, Igneel did not hold back one whit as he made his first pass. His fire burned a brilliant blue as he unleashed it on the ships farthest from us. He carved through them like they were nothing. Because in truth they were. What was a man to a dragon?
He unleashed his power and every time his fire came close to torching our own ship, I killed the flame with an exertion of will. The Red Priestess, far from upset at the demise of her men, seemed excited. She rose in prayer to that god of hers, chanting in thick bastard Valyrian so quickly that I struggled to make out what she was saying beyond the broad strokes of praise for her Red God.
Igneel killed them all. Some were desperate. The ship closest to us had a few men try to jump over to this one and escape the wrath that my dragon unleashed upon their peers. They died all the same. Whether it was from dragon fire, or from crossbow bolts, or from falling into the deep uncaring sea, they all died, and I watched it with a wide smile on my face. They had brought this upon themselves. Their greed and their foolishness had caused this. When Igneel had burnt the very last of them, I felt a blast of affection from him before he shot back into the skies where he had come from. He would not head back to Driftmark though.
He flew in slow circles around our ship, clearly planning to escort us for the rest of the journey. I would be grateful for his presence.
"To see the glory of a Dragon, the children of R'hllor, fire made flesh. What a glo—" Her voice stopped with a gurgle as I put my sword through her throat.
"Toss the bodies overboard," I said as I drew out the blade while she gasped for air that would never come on the ground. Maybe in a different life, I would have taken her up on her offer. Not now though. There was no room for stupid risks in my life. There was no space for me to make decisions I would have to fight my family into supporting.
Since I had come up on to the deck already, I began to join the men in the day to day of sailing a ship. It was not like there was much better I could be doing with my time, and doing nothing just gave space for my mind to wander to thoughts I did not want to consider. Like the absence at my back when I moved through the ship. The familiar armoured figure I used to be able to spot from the corner of my eyes was gone now. Would never return. And even a body to return to his family I did not have. A family I knew little of beyond the very bare minimum.
Now that he was gone I realised just how many things about him I had taken for granted. How little attention I had paid him and his interests. His life. I had never truly seen him as human, had I? Only a tool to carry out my will.
And now he was gone. The ship cut through the water as we made good time on our straight path to Bloodstone. No one hassled us and when we got closer to the Stepstones, we began to spot patrols from the Velaryon fleet. They hailed us and we returned the greetings while pushing on ahead. We had neither the time nor the inclination to linger.
A/N: And so we get the conclusion to the Valyria arc. A very mixed bag. Many losses, few gains, but a lot learned. Next four chapters up on patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga) (same username as here and link in bio), support me there and read them early. Discount on patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga) so do check that out.