Chapter 127 – Listen to the Dragon's Roar
Three dragons soared above the Stepstones, carefree and wild, their shadows skimming the sea.
Rhaegar Targaryen gazed down at the reefs, sea-stacks, and twisting channels of the Stepstones. Even battered by storms and poor in soil, the islands straddled the Narrow Sea's shipping lanes, a perfect place to levy tolls.
To choke the throat of the world—that was the Stepstones, gatekeeper of the seas between two continents.
The dazzling Silver Dragon led the way, wings flashing and pupils molten gold, a river of silver and gold in the sky. Purple and black flanked him like twin flames—this was a dance of dragons.
Balerion the Purple shone like burnished copper in claw, crest, and belly-scales, even his eyes glowing violet.
Balerion the Black bore onyx scales, blood-red eyes, and jagged horns and dorsal blades.
Armored in splendor, brimming with life—the last three dragons in the world.
Rhaegar climbed higher and higher upon the back of the Silver Emperor. The three wyrmlings loved to compete with one another, sometimes snapping playfully, tumbling from the sky before parting just above the waves and rising again. Their scuffles were merely exercise; no real harm done.
Dragons love to strike from above. Climbing between enemy and sun, they fold their wings and dive with a shriek—a deadly maneuver for smaller dragons whose softer scales and weaker flames force them close to their prey. Yet the closer they come, the greater the risk. Many young dragons had died from flying too low and being swarmed.
"Fly!"
"Scatter!"
"Split!"
A tight knot of scales or three streaking shadows—either way the dragons could strike hard or harry their foes at will.
At Rhaegar's command each hatchling acted independently. Hatched by kindling and bound through the Blood and Fire Chain, they were sharper, faster, and deadlier than ordinary dragons—living engines of war.
Yet without the Valyrian Dragonlords' deepest arts—control of motion and stillness, binding spells, and the legendary dragon horn—something still felt incomplete.
Those secrets might only be found across the Narrow Sea.
Since learning the trick of Water Magic, the dragons had discovered a new game.
Rhaegar would raise small water walls and twisting spouts from the sea, and the wyrmlings would beat their wings and breathe flame, turning water into clouds of steam—a miniature echo of Old Valyria's destruction of the Rhoynar.
Rhaegar opened his system panel. The Blood of the Water had brought subtle changes.
[Rhaegar Targaryen]
[Status: Last of the Dragons, Blood of Fire (High-Upper Rank), Blood of the Water (Low Rank)]
No great transformation—only a low-tier Blood of the Water. Perhaps he would need to travel to the Rhoyne itself to strengthen it.
His Blood of Fire had reached a minor bottleneck. Above the High tier lay further levels, but for now Water Magic offered another path forward.
[Titles: Prince of House Targaryen, Supervisor of Bloodstone Customs, Provisional Guardian of the Narrow Sea and the Stepstones]
[Aliases: Born of Summerhall, Lucky Rhaegar, Silver Prince, Dragon Prince, the Victor, Spearbreaker Rhaegar, the Unburnt, Father of Dragons, Butcher of Maidenpool, Silver Dragon Prince, Silver Dragon Knight, Tyrant of the Narrow Sea, Ship-Burner, Wall-Builder]
Titles were formal honors; aliases came from rumor, praise, or fear. They were far freer—and far more numerous.
[Qualities: Dragon-King Potential, Dance of Water and Fire (a dual high mage of water and fire, a never-before-seen feat born of two legendary bloodlines), Sword Heart and Zither Mind, Waking Dragon, Dragon Dreamer]
The Dance of Water and Fire had appeared only after he gained Water Magic.
Perhaps he was the only Dragonlord in history to wield both Valyrian Fire Magic and Rhoynar Water Magic, carrying the blood of both dragons and the Rhoynar.
[Charisma: Child of Destiny (peerless Silver Prince, prodigy, victorious general, Silver Dragon Knight, Friend of Dragons)]
Layer upon layer of charisma had fused together, forming Child of Destiny—an almost mystical accumulation of reputation and presence.
[Achievements: Fate Changer, Player of the Game of Thrones, Commander, Lucky One, Explorer, Weapon Master, Precise Strike]
These achievements would have been extraordinary for an ordinary man—yet beside his magical feats they seemed almost mundane.
[Magical Achievements: Kindling Devourer (Fountain of Youth, Nameless River God Kindling, Golden Three-Headed Eagle Kindling, Dawn Kindling), Rune Combiner, Dragon Pact, Blood and Fire Chain, Dragonrider, Dragon Dreamer, Fire Sight]
No major changes here.
Still the two greatest powers remained Kindling and Runes, both strengthening his bloodline the more he absorbed.
[Collection: Rhaegar Targaryen's Dragon-King Ring, Heart-of-Fire Dragon Nest, Fire Sight Stone, the Iron Throne's Cursed Fire, Harrenhal's Cursed Eye]
Even curses counted as collectibles.
Infamy was still fame—merely darker.
His mood lifted.
The detour to Dorne had been worth it. Though gentler than flame, Water Magic possessed endless uses upon the open sea.
Rhaegar let out a long cry.
The dragons answered, their roars rolling across the sky like thunder.
His three wyrmlings never seemed to stop growing, though the pace would inevitably slow. Dragons grew fastest in their first decades, then more gradually thereafter.
Soon the dragons descended toward Bloodstone, still bustling with activity below.
An earthen rampart now circled the island—steep on the outside, sloping gently inward. The crude wooden palisades had been trimmed and raised atop the embankment, forming a towering defensive line.
The rocky hill at the island's center had been transformed into a castle.
Pirate tunnels and cellars—once carved into the stone—had been cleaned and reinforced, now serving the soldiers of the Iron Throne.
Rhaegar named the stronghold Dragonroar Castle.
When the dragon roars, the world trembles.
From the sky he surveyed the growing fortress.
This time the Iron Throne possessed two advantages that earlier conquerors of the Stepstones had never enjoyed.
First, a unified Dorne now secured the rear.
Second, the Kingdom of the Three Daughters remained divided, with Tyrosh caught in the middle of its rivals.
The Stepstones would serve as an outpost.
Dorne and the Stormlands would provide support.
Together they formed the three heads of the dragon.
Strike the head, and the tail strikes back.
Strike the tail, and the head answers.
A cold pride swelled in Rhaegar's chest.
Once Bloodstone's great fortress was fully completed, the Stepstones would become a nightmare for any enemy fleet for generations to come.
Reinforcements could roar forth from Dorne and the Stormlands, while fleets sailed out from nearby Tyrosh.
Any invader would find every step contested.
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