The ruins of Valyria, the site where the Dragonlord Aurion's army met its doom.
Viserys watched the three-headed monster bird circling in the sky, its cries shrill and piercing.
The Blood Faction and Fire Faction of the Dragonlord Council and Court had long been destroyed, but the pets left behind by the Blood Faction still terrorized the ruins of Valyria.
Viserys roughly understood the difference between the two factions. Both were versed in blood and fire magic.
However, the Fire Faction focused on breaking personal limits and enhancing the power of fire magic, while the Blood Faction favored blood magic and delighted in creating grotesque magical pets.
House Targaryen, possessing only the metaphysical talent of "Dreamers," had never touched the core of this high magic.
Ignored by both factions, they were considered lower-tier Dragonlords.
The monster bird's feathers were a striking dark blood-red, as if dipped in a pool of gore.
This creature clearly feared no Face-Worms; soaring high, it was immune to their ambush.
Birds naturally preyed on worms, and as long as the three-headed bird didn't land, it avoided the worms' corrosive touch.
Blue eagles, white eagles... this was Viserys's first time seeing a blood-red bird.
A blood-eagle body with white heads.
The heads of the lion, eagle, and unicorn were all white. White lions existed in the Dothraki Sea, and white unicorns were common enough in legend.
The lion and unicorn heads had been forcibly grafted onto the body of a giant blood eagle, growing out grotesquely.
The torso was enormous, inflated several times over by some power, likely necessary to support three heads.
It looked more like a galloping horse with giant wings than a bird of prey.
Embedded in the forehead of each head was a large, teardrop-shaped dark red gem. Three smaller dark red gems lined each cheek.
A string of blood-red gems even ran down its throat.
Its three pairs of eyes burned like molten lava, filled with a bizarre viciousness, locked onto the humans below.
The three-headed monster was excited by the discovery of moving life; it saw humans who were not fire wights as prey.
"Scatter! Stay alert!" Viserys commanded.
"Form up! Protect the King!" Aggo and Jalaka shouted.
Crossbows and goldenheart bows launched the first volley, mixed with javelins.
The monster bird dived toward them, ignoring the projectiles, twisting its body with astonishing speed.
It spewed fire, the blood-drop gems on its body glowing with an eerie light.
The spinning flames were dark red, smelling of vomit, blood, and sulfur—not as bright or pure as true dragonfire.
This wasn't dragonfire, but a product of blood magic modification.
Still, transforming a bird into a lively, fire-breathing monster demonstrated potent blood magic.
"Scatter! Move!" Viserys ordered his men to separate.
"Move!"
The three heads spewed blood-fire in three directions, rolling waves of heat washing over the ground.
An Unsullied, slightly out of position, raised his shield and backed away, but wasn't fast enough. The flames engulfed him.
The fire crowned him; his head seemed to swell before turning to black ash.
Aggo watched, scalp tingling with horror.
Seeing its prey killed, the three-headed bird shrieked in delight.
"The Blood Faction Dragonlords deserve a thousand cuts," Viserys thought, gritting his teeth as he watched another man die.
Ordinary genetic modification was impossible; this required blood magic.
Reproductive isolation was hard to break. Ligers, offspring of tigers and lions, were often short-lived and sterile, and they were at least both big cats.
Forcing a lion, an eagle, and a unicorn together was madness.
And this was just a minor experiment for the Blood Faction; they spliced humans and animals too.
"Split up! Teams of three! Run in curves, not straight lines!" Viserys commanded again. The team split into different arrowheads to confuse the bird and divide its attacks.
But the effect was limited. The bird was fast, and it seemed to recognize Viserys in his brilliant silver armor as the greatest threat—and the one richest in magical energy.
Seeing the bird pursuing him relentlessly, Viserys opened his palm. Fire arrows shot toward the monster like lightning.
This was Valyria, teeming with violent fire essence—a Pyromancer's playground.
While the three fire arrows flew, others added their own bolts and spears to the attack.
Viserys remained calm. The bird played with fire; so did he.
The bird dodged swiftly, retaliating with fierce blasts of blood-fire.
Viserys dodged nimbly. His silver armor shone brighter, runes and ancient glyphs blazing.
Running in curves worked better.
The bird was enraged, provoked by the attacks.
It ignored the others, fixating solely on Viserys.
It flew lower, almost skimming the ground to attack him. The occasional hit was neutralized by the silver armor.
Viserys could smell the indelible scent of blood on the bird. The time was ripe.
"Die!" Viserys turned sharply in his run. The three fire arrows in his palm merged into one, aiming for the ruby in the center of the middle head.
Caught off guard, the bird took the hit.
The golden-red fire arrow roared like golden lightning. Viserys had closed the distance intentionally to ensure maximum impact.
The arrow flew perfectly, tearing through the air like silk.
Bang!
Just before impact, the eagle head jerked aside. The arrow missed the gem but exploded one of the bird's blood-red eyes.
The bird shrieked in agony, its body convulsing and rolling in the air.
The fire arrow shattered the eye and blasted into the skull.
Scalding blood and brain matter sprayed out, sizzling on the ground.
The bird writhed and roared, spewing blood-fire aimlessly in its rage.
Viserys took a deep breath. He had to finish this quickly before it summoned friends.
Seizing the opportunity, Viserys launched another fire arrow, aiming for the other eye of the middle head.
This arrow struck true, blinding the eagle head completely. The eye sockets were now just bloody pits.
The bird thrashed, flying high then low, nearly crashing into the ground before pulling up.
It searched for Viserys in a fury, spewing fire and more fire.
Jalaka's goldenheart bow sang, sending an arrow into the lion head's left eye. The shaft stuck deep in the socket.
The bird screamed ceaselessly, hot blood raining down.
It circled, staring at Viserys with its remaining eyes.
Spinning, it dove, spewing fire and extending its talons.
"Die, beast." Viserys sensed the bird's flight and balance were failing. This was the final kill.
Aggo and the others reformed their formation; the Unsullied counterattacked.
As the bird dove, Viserys charged sideways to meet it.
He fired another fire arrow, bursting the unicorn head's right eye.
The bird's roar was filled with venom and helplessness. With its vision crippled, its perfect flight faltered. Only two eyes remained.
Viserys's men closed in, raining arrows and spears.
Panicked and dodging, the bird wobbled and crashed like a fish out of water—a blood eagle falling.
The massive body slammed into the ground, kicking up a ripple of dust. Blood flowed freely.
The monster was a horror to behold. Every face had bloody holes; blood sprayed everywhere.
The middle head was blind; the side heads each had one eye left.
All three heads opened their mouths, spewing blood-fire in a last desperate resistance, scorching rocks and dragonglass around them.
Logic was gone; only rage remained.
For a bird, losing eyes and crashing meant death.
Crippled and tangled, the three heads shrieked chaotically.
The blind bird's fire spray was wild, trying to level everything around it in a storm of angry flames.
Viserys ignored the flames reaching him. His silver armor repelled the heat, and True Dragon absorbed the fire.
A layer of intense, purple-gold flame condensed on the blade's edge.
Viserys closed in. True Dragon rose and fell.
Eagle, unicorn, lion.
He severed all three heads. A bloody slaughterhouse scene.
The bird's flesh was tough, requiring the supreme sharpness of Valyrian steel and magic to cut.
The body twitched a few times, then lost all movement and life.
The violent monster could do no more evil.
Viserys took out his Valyrian steel dagger and began digging out the rubies from the heads and body. Blood-rubies were incredibly valuable.
He examined the bird's structure. It was a precision instrument.
Rubies embedded in the face and throat gathered fire and blood magic, purifying the blood of the three heads to prevent rejection.
Enhanced by magic, the throat and body could spew fire.
Though this fire required absorbing essence to recharge and was less potent and dangerous than dragonfire, a flock of these birds would still be devastating.
Perhaps their foul temper and high cost prevented mass production.
These three-headed monsters were individual experiments, sterile mutants.
The bird had consumed many blood-rubies. Even among Blood Faction experiments, it was likely high-end.
Just the heads—unicorn, white lion, giant eagle—would have been worth a fortune in the Free Cities. A waste of divine gifts.
Viserys ordered his men to butcher the bird and see what could be taken.
The leather wings were hard as iron, reinforced.
"Take some feathers," Viserys ordered.
"At once, Your Grace!"
The bird was still a bird; the Face-Worms might fear its scent.
Searching further, Viserys found a blood-red rose gold disc on the bird's neck. He yanked it off.
"Subject: Three-Headed Blood Eagle (Avian).
Code: 009
Origin: Laboratory of Gogossos
Danger Level: Extreme"
Viserys understood. It came from Gogossos.
Gogossos, a city on the Isle of Tears in the Basilisk Isles, was infamous during the Ghiscari and Valyrian eras. The Freehold sent its worst criminals there.
It was said that in the dungeons of Gogossos, torturers practiced the vilest blood magic, mating beasts with slave women to birth twisted half-human monsters.
On the back of the disc was another inscription: "Great Creation of House Dacarys, Leader of the Blood Faction of the Supreme and Mighty Dragonlord Council."
Viserys was speechless. The Blood Faction was rotten to the core.
This genetically modified blood eagle wasn't their first product, nor their last.
Who knew how many Blood Faction monsters remained in Valyria?
It was said they loved splicing humans and beasts. There might be leftover test subjects in their labs.
For the Blood Faction, slaves were cheap; raw materials for a three-headed bird were likely scarcer.
Viserys considered burning the carcass.
But suddenly, the wind rose in the sky, carrying the scent of sulfur and fire.
Viserys, his senses sharpest of all, looked up. A mass of flowing light was flying toward him.
Flowing fire, flowing gold, flowing red... and the smell of magical silt.
Viserys held his breath. Could it be?