If you want to support me, check out my patréon at https://www.patréon.com/athassprkr
I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions on them, so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.
[---]
123 AC, King's Landing
To her surprise, the solid, almost indestructible wall rippled like a liquid before slowly moving to show a door that led to a passageway behind it. Lord Harry smirked as he looked inside, "Well. Isn't that interesting?"
Helaena Targaryen was never particularly curious about her family's history, preferring to be more concerned with its future, which in her dreams, was looking dire indeed. She had once been helpless to stop it, but now, with the Potters' help, she had learned to defy it and shape it to her desires, though it was more difficult than she expected, and sometimes, she was not quite so successful. However, since she had started travelling with the Potters, she had learned to appreciate the past, seeing its impact on the future.
The young princess did not know why she had liked exploring the secret passages in the Red Keep so much. She knew that it was beyond its utility at sneaking around the Keep and arranging the pieces of the great game to her liking, in the hopes of finally stopping the brewing storm that threatened to swallow her family.
Sure, it helped her exercise her divination, trying to find a way out of the maze-like passages, evading the endless and deadly traps. Still, it was also a fascination with the idea that someone almost a century prior had built this place, that it held remnants of him.
Maegor the Cruel was a fascinating man, to say the least. Oh, he was a horrible man, but Helaena could objectively say that he was as intelligent as he was cruel. Every time she walked inside the hidden tunnels, she felt an echo of him, one of paranoia and fear that prompted him to build the secret passages in the first place.
It was everywhere, except for a single place, where she faintly felt a steely resolve, a will of iron that would never bend, that would never stop from fulfilling its purpose. It was a stark contrast to Maegor's passion, and she had followed it to this strange wall, which brimmed with… something, likely magic, and yet whose past nor future, she could not glimpse.
She had spent weeks trying to research this place in the Red Keep's library, trying to see who, other than Maegor, had been responsible for the fortress's secret passages, or the reasons for them, bar the cruel king's paranoia. Helaena had found something, that is not to say that she did not have guesses of her own.
There were moments when the young princess felt proud, like she had after confronting Tyland Lannister with Brightroar. However, it was humbling when Lord Harry had, in seconds, opened the passage forward with just a flick of his hand. It was a mystery that had plagued her for weeks, and yet, he realised what this wall was so quickly.
Of course, he used magic to do it, but that did not mean that Helaena felt awed by the ease with which he had achieved this. A few times, she wished that she could have been like him. Alas, her foray in Old Valyria had all but removed that temptation from her. She had seen the results of misusing magic and the cost it bore on its users.
Back to the issue at hand, the passage had melted away, and now, she stared at an endless corridor lit with emerald flames that moved despite the lack of wind. The walls were seemingly made of a similar black stone, and Lord Harry hummed as he looked at the torches, "Alchemical fire. Surprisingly stable too."
He approached one of the torches, and its glow increased, "And also very reactive to magic, seemingly feeding on it."
"Is it Wildfire?" Helaena couldn't help but ask.
"I never really interacted with the substance, but even if the flames are similar, I heard that it's supposed to be far more volatile than this. Maybe it's some kind of variation that actively feeds on magic without spreading. I suppose it would be brighter when the concentration of ambient magic is higher."
Lord Harry's statement rang true, as the torches seemed to be brighter the further they walked into the corridor. In the meantime, Helaena was ready for any sort of trap to be unleashed; after all, it seemed like something that would happen given her experience with the Potters. She had taken out her dagger, the one that the Potters had given her and that she still did not know how to use properly, without some severe use of her divination.
To her surprise and slight embarrassment, nothing happened. It was not long until they found themselves at the end of the corridor, which was completely overwhelmed by a small green light. A part of Helaena was giddy at the discovery, but another part was too busy wincing as the light around them, and even the lanterns, glowed so bright that it felt like she was staring at multiple green suns every time she opened her eyes.
Helaena felt a gentle hand squeeze her own and put something on them. She heard Lord Harry's voice say, "Put these on."
The young princess quickly felt them and realised that it was an object akin to Lord Harry's strange far-eyes that he always wore. Trusting her teacher, she put them on and gasped as the glow stopped being blinded, as the world suddenly gained a darker tint, which made things a lot easier to see.
For some reason, Lord Harry was snickering when he looked at her, and he gave her an amused look at her pout. She quickly resigned herself and asked, "Could you have used a spell to stop the light?"
The sorcerer nodded, "I could have, but I wouldn't have had the privilege of seeing a Targaryen wearing sunglasses indoors."
At his reply, Lady Daphne elbowed him to his side, which was followed by her teacher exaggerating the pain he felt at the action. As for Helaena, while her pout intensified at being the butt of Lord Harry's joke, it was quickly replaced by an expression of pure embarrassment towards what she could see in front of her.
Because, other than this blinding light, there was only a short pillar, with a fire flying above it, like a hearth, with a wall behind it. The fire was green, like the rest of the torches, but that was all there was.
While she was trying to contain the mortification she felt at bringing the Potters to what was essentially an empty corridor, Lord Harry walked towards it, and hummed, "Interesting… Very interesting… the heightened glow of the fire indicates an increase in the concentration of magic. Which means…"
He gently hovered his hand a few inches from the wall, and the wall's surface moved on its own, as if sensing his approach. Nothing changed much, but the appearance of the giant symbol of House Targaryen, a three-headed dragon, with the familiar words written beneath in High Valyrian: 'Fire and Blood'.
Could it truly be that simple?
Helaena did not know why she felt the instinct to do it, but she took out her dagger, whose glow was not diminished despite the strange light-dimming contraption that she wore and cut her palm. Drops of her blood gently dropped onto the hearth, whose fire ate it hungrily. And the fourteenth's drop, the fire turned crimson, and the walls split open, moving like a gigantic gate.
However, on the other side was not a secret entrance, but what seemed to be a vault, with strange mechanisms that moved like gears, until it settled and stopped with a thud, showing that it had been unlocked.
Lord Harry gave her an impressed smile as they all made their way towards the vault, only for the man to snap his finger for a moment. Suddenly, the blinding lights dimmed enough that Helaena removed the strange light-dimming far-eye that she wore, blinking slightly as her eyes adjusted to the new lighting.
She almost growled at the sorcerer, but she did not want to give him the satisfaction, especially given his smug grin. Lady Daphne was the one who almost scolded him, "Stop being childish, Harry."
The infuriating man's smile widened, but his expression quickly turned into a focused one as he analysed the vault before them, "Valyrian Stone… But the way it's used… The entire fortress is built around this vault. Oh, I get it now. The ley lines… This is the only place where I can feel a natural intersection of three ley lines, which happens to be precisely underneath this vault, reinforcing it enough that it could survive almost anything."
Helaena furrowed her eyebrows at the sorcerer's words, "But why?"
"Look at the mechanisms carefully," Lord Harry advised, "Tell me. What do you see?"
The young girl looked carefully at it, and it took a few seconds to realise what it was, "Those are letters! But they don't make any sense."
She recognised certain High Valyrian letters, though slightly different, but the way that they were arranged made them look nonsensical. She gave Harry a look, and he gave her a gentle smile, "I'd be surprised if you could, because they're not meant to make sense. I don't know if it's some sort of defence mechanism to avoid understanding the purpose of the vault, but it's brilliant in its stupidity."
Lady Daphne elbowed her husband once more, and she looked very interested in the vault as well. Did she not know how it worked either? That was new.
Lord Harry rolled his eyes, "The Valyrian Stone is being enhanced by the magic, but every item can eventually be saturated with magic, after which, it either breaks or stops absorbing the magic. As you know, the best idea that is generally adopted is to essentially make it power a potentially endless spell, like a form of spatial expansion, a personal favourite of mine, whose energy could be reversed if it needs to be used. This is something of a similar workaround, making the stone carve random letters into itself, which store magic as if they were each a small runic matrix, without activation. It's very volatile since the vault itself is becoming more unstable the more carving it creates to contain the magic."
Helaena barely understood half of what that meant, but Lady Daphne's eyes widened. "Why would anyone do that? This thing could level out most of the city."
"I think it was the standard practice for the materials that make up these vaults, a safeguard added to the stone. If you think about it, this vault has been here for over a century absorbing the magic of three ley lines."
"Three withering ley lines, since it was after the Doom, and the Wall needed most of the magic to hold off the Others. The intensity of the torches shows that whoever built this never anticipated this level of ambient magic. This will not last for long, a few decades at best, before it becomes too unstable and takes the city with it."
The sorcerer hummed thoughtfully, "Or maybe, they did. Maybe they even planned on it."
Helaena did not know what the sorcerer finally opened the vault door and stared at what she saw inside. Given the time of this vault's construction and her blood unlocking the vault, she had an inkling as to who had constructed it.
Her suspicions were proven to be correct when the first thing she saw was familiar armour. Aegon the Conqueror had commissioned many artists to draw certain moments in his great conquests alongside his wives in their armour, the same armour that she saw being almost displayed there.
Around there were also the crowns of every kingdom that Aegon had conquered, as well as small trinkets that likely came from there. In the centre were small items, a few Valyrian Steel daggers, jewellery, and glass candles, as well as ornamented weapons made of Dragonglass.
However, displayed accurately was a pillar, with a few pieces of parchment on it, as well as a beautiful necklace. It was halfway made with Valyrian Steel, and the same faintly glowing metal that her dagger was made of, which was forged to look like her house's symbol, that of a three-headed dragon.
When she first opened the piece of paper, she gasped as she looked at a drawing of a distant figure surrounded by flames, with three dragon hatchlings around it. Above it is a bleeding star, much like the one that had appeared after the corruption of Valyria had been purged.
The moment she touched it, it almost felt like she was there. She could almost feel the flames, the intensity of the scene, the figure gained its colour, showing Valyrian features, and the dragons looked almost as if they were moving.
She immediately let go of it, and the world returned to normal.
That… That was not normal. It was similar to her dreams, but they had never felt so vivid or so forced.
Helaena looked at the second piece of parchment, hoping that it would give a further explanation, one whose signature gave her pause, for it was Visenya Targaryen, wife of the Conqueror, Mother of Maegor, who seemingly had signed it.
O' Prince Who Was Promised,
I often thought your ancestor, my husband, Aegon, was foolish for trusting his dreams so, especially with his darkness so far into the distance. I confess that I argued for creating this place, of sending our family's greatest treasures, all that remained of Valyria, to this empty land whose magicks withered with every moment. I enchanted it as he had asked, out of love for him and my sister, but I did not understand, not until this day, when I have lost both.
We had agreed long ago that my branch of the family would be the enforcers of Aegon's dream, the steel gauntlet that would protect Rhaenys's line. My dear Aegon had not been happy with the idea of siring a child with me, and looking at what he had said now, I confess that he was correct. Did he foresee my Maegor's actions, I wonder?
I had raised him to be a warrior, to protect our House from the barbarians that Aegon had wished us to govern over, to take control whenever the ruler was unsuitable, when a great threat needed to be handled, but in my haste, I did not teach him to give that control back. Perhaps I did not think that I needed to. Aenys was a poor ruler indeed, enough that Maegor was required to deal with the dissenters to our reign, but the death of Aenys's child showed me that my son has lost his way. However, it is my greatest shame that I do not have the strength of will to stop my child, but perhaps I have it for Aegon's last request of me.
He foresaw his prince cursed with foreign powers and bid me help, and so I crafted this pendant, reforging Aegon's wedding gifts to me, a Valyrian Steel dagger, and a medallion that he had found from Daenys the Dreamer's cache. May it help you stave off the horrors of the night and darkness.
I will likely not live for long, not after this final act, and I hope that Aegon will forgive me when we meet in Balerion's halls.
I do truly hope that you exist, O' Prince, for my sake and that of my brother's soul, though I wish the torches were never bright enough to guide you to this place, for it means that you shall soon face the darkness that even my husband feared beyond all else.
May the gods of our ancestors grant you the strength in the wars to come.
Farewell and good luck,
Visenya Targaryen
History often portrayed Visenya as a horrible, ruthless woman, a half-witch whose ambitions pushed her son to drench the Seven Kingdoms in a great war. Yet as Helaena lowered the parchment, she felt none of that. Instead, she felt a weight of grief, a woman standing alone, fulfilling the wishes of her dead husband.
She was so taken with her thoughts that she hadn't noticed Lord Harry grab the necklace that Visenya had made herself, while muttering, "What an elegant spell… Using the dragon sculptures in the vault to charge the materials, which was cleverly used as something resembling a blessing."
Helaena looked up and saw which figurines Lord Harry meant, for they were fourteen small sculptures of different dragons made of Dragonglass. She recognised them all, the so-called gods of Valyria. After all, she had met one of them. It had been one of the most horrible experiences in her life, and not one that she would forget easily.
The statuettes felt like them and released a faint crimson glow. "What are they?"
Lady Daphne answered with a thoughtful look, "Pieces of… something left near the energies of an Elder Dragon, enough to make an imprint, that's sealed by Dragonglass. The vaults act as an amplifier of sorts, storing the energies of the ley lines while adding the Elder Dragons' energies within them. Still, it would have taken decades to make each statue, and even then, it would be a spark, an echo, at best, which wouldn't achieve much."
Her husband smiled, "I have an inkling as to what material could have been absorbent enough to make it in a few years."
Helaena looked at her dagger, still glowing in her hand, and understood what he meant, for she had heard him and his wife often claim that the metal was strangely accepting of magic. Perhaps the magicks of giant dragons would work with it as well?
Before she noticed, Lord Harry had taken the necklace and gently gave it to her to wear. Helaena immediately felt a gentle and comforting warmth grow inside her, and she gave him a questioning look. She swore that she could see the sorcerer's eyes twinkle when he answered her unspoken question, "I have a feeling you're going to need it soon. Now, let's go. I think we've stayed here for long enough."
"What of the vault?"
"Don't worry about it too much. In fact, I just had a nifty little idea, which would make things a lot easier for us."
For some reason, Helaena didn't feel particularly reassured by the response, but she accepted the man's lead. They wouldn't have even gotten here without his help, and he hadn't really taken anything aside from giving her Visenya's necklace.
Helaena quickly guided them out of the tunnels, the secret passages closing in behind them. It wouldn't do for someone to accidentally find her family's vault, would it?
When they finally left and returned to the Red Keep's Godswood, she couldn't help but ask, "You could have gotten us into the vault a lot quicker, couldn't you?"
Both Potters gave her a proud smile, "We could have. Yes. But by doing so, we would have robbed you of the chance at exploring your own legacy. Far be it from us to get in the way of a voyage of self-discovery."
For some reason, Helaena felt her cheeks warm in her chest, but whatever reply she had immediately disappeared as a beam of darkness rose from the middle of the Red Keep and into the sky, spreading into the shape of a gigantic dome.
She turned towards Lord Harry, who, at best, had a faintly interested look on his face, "Huh, it's finally starting. They certainly took their time."
"Who?" Helaena asked with a demanding tone.
"The Shadowbinders in Asshai's delegation."
"Aren't you going to do something about it?" the young princess asked, flabbergasted by the dismissal of the threat.
"They're only a small fragment of a much larger conflict that we have been dragged into," the sorcerer answered, "But don't worry, I asked a wolf for help with this particular issue. He should be here very soon."
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In the distance, a young man walked with a white Direwolf beside him, staring at the dome of darkness forming around King's Landing. He turned towards the owl that was almost giving him a demanding look, and released an exasperated huff, "Well, Harry did say that it wasn't going to be boring."
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AN: Phew, that chapter really got away from me, and there are things I'm not really sure of. A part of me wanted to make this into an arc of some sort, discovering the vaults and stuff, but I decided to keep it simple, since I thought it wouldn't be the pacing.
The vault itself will be important in the future, so keep an eye on it. I also thought that this would be an opportunity to show Helaena take some initiative when it came to her adventures with the Potters, while adding some lore to the Conqueror and Visenya's motivations and actions, which had been geared towards the Long Night.
As for the Shadowbinder's attack, it's a lot more convoluted than it looks, and I'm using it to try out something new that I'm pretty excited to show you. As usual, please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions.
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If you want to support me, check out my patréon at https://www.patréon.com/athassprkr
I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions on them, so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.
Thank you guys for your support in these hard times.