Chapter 35: Chapter 15: Dragon Dreams (Aegon, Nyel, Matarys)

Sixth Moon, 8013

Pirate Fortress of Sunstone, the Narrow Sea

Aegon sat atop the back of Balerion, a cool breeze hitting his face as he surveyed the force arrayed in front of him.

The Lyseni pirate had nearly 40 galleys in front of the rocky Island of Sunstone, fully manned, the tips of steel spears glinting in the sun and even visible from Dragonback.

The force sailing against them was much smaller, the Targaryen fleet only numbering 16 galleys, their black and red banners fluttering in the wind. Aegon had not yet appointed a master of ships so Corlys Velaryon led the small fleet with some 1600 men from Dragonstone, a task he was more than capable of due to his Velaryon heritage.

The King's conquest of the Seven Kingdoms had ended, but Aegon still had ambitions for further expansion, but he quickly found such a thing was easier said than done. In order to expand, he needed his master of laws Edmyn Tully to fabricate a claim on any land he wished to take, convincing his vassals of the worthiness of the campaign, it had taken many years but at long last Edmyn had fabricated a claim on the island of Sunstone.

The Stepstones were a collection of 9 islands in the Narrow Sea, separating the coast of the Stormlands and Dorne from Essos. The islands were not controlled by any of the free cities however and sheltered independent pirate lords who preyed on shipping across the Narrow Sea.

Aegon had long eyed the islands as a place of potential expansion, not only would the conquest of an island give Westeros a foothold in the narrow sea, but he also had to think of the future. His son Vaemond would hold Dragonstone upon his 16th nameday, but it would not be long before his second son Matarys was of age. He had not seen his son in many years, but he hoped that the time spent under Nestor Royces tutelage had toughened the boy up. One island was no fit inheritance for his second son but it was a start, in time perhaps he could set up his son as Lord Paramount of the Stepstones.

Before he could do any of that however, the pirates first needed to be destroyed. The lysene pirate lord Mero was not alone, when news had reached the Stepstones that the Dragonlord planned to attack, they had formed a coalition, with over 4000 pirates assembled to defend Sunstone with more on the way.

The King had taken Balerion high into the sky, where he doubted even the Pirates could see him, the plan was that the Pirates would see the small targaryen fleet which they outnumbered over two to one and leave the shelter of their rocky coves to open sea.

The pirates did just that, with the King hearing the faint sound of trumpets signaling the pirate fleet forward to attack the Targaryens.

Aegon planned to use a similar tactic as he had in the courtyard of Yronwood, diving straight down with the sun at his back, obscuring the defender's vision.

He waited until the ships were directly under him and urged Balerion downwards, the sounds of fighting evident below as the pirates and the men of Dragonstone began boarding one another.

Aegon spotted his first target and hurtled downwards. Balerions wing encased the ship in shadow, causing the unfortunate sailors on the boat to look up in horror as the black dread descended upon them, bathing the wooden ship in flames. Pirates screamed in pain as they shared in the flames, many jumping into the narrow sea in a futile attempt to put out the flames.

The pirates of the Stepstones were many things, but brave was not one of them. Immediately after seeing Balerion appear from the sky, the ships began to flee in all directions, some back to Sunstone and others fleeing to other nearby hideouts.

Aegon took two more ships before turning his attention to the island, leaving the wooden carcasses to slowly sink into the narrow sea, their crew along with them. The surviving Targaryen ships followed Aegon towards shore, though their work for the day was done.

The King flew towards the keep of sunstone, a small squat keep of stone with wooden towers, he had sworn to never again subject the castles of his people to Dragonfire after the tragedy of Yronwood,however this pledge did not apply to Pirates, the castle was largely deserted when Aegon bathed it in flame, killing the few that did oppose him and burning much of the keep. He was aware it was rather unnecessary and it would take years to repair, making for a poor inheritance for Matarys but he needed to teach the pirates a lesson and there were other islands he could gift his son.

By the end of it 7 pirate galleys lay at the bottom of the narrow sea, along with over 600 men, a further 100 pirates burnt in the castle. The victory had not been bloodless however, the pirates had managed to sink 4 of the 16 Targaryen ships, though luckily Corlys and his Kingsguard were unharmed, though the same could not be said for near 400 Dragonstone men, who had been killed, heavily wounded, or went missing under the waves.

Nonetheless, Sunstone had fallen, and King Aegon had his foothold in the narrow sea, securing an important strategic position.

First Moon, 8014

Nyels Chambers, The Aegonfort

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Stinging droplets of rain assaulted Nyels eyes, like shards of ice, she tried to cover her eyes but it was useless, the rain was unending.

She rubbed her eyes, holding her hands above her head and winning her some respite but even with the rain clear from her eyes she could barely see, the air was pitch black.

All around her the air shrieked a ghostly howl. She heard voices , shouts and yells but could not hear the words  over the wind. The voices seemed close yet far away at the same time, echoing wordless cries.

Suddenly she was in the air and saw nothing but dark below, a lion, fat with a matted yellow mane stood, mouth agape, descending into the darkness, the stench of death filling Nyels nose and mouth.

She heard it before she saw it, an unhuman roar as a massive black shape hurtled down into the dark, towards her, eyes red as flames.

Dread She thought, the words entering her mind unbidden, as the dark shape approached fast, wind and rain clamoring on its side, she could scare stand the sound anymore and put her hands over her ears, crying for it to stop.

Nyel awoke in a cold sweat, frantically looking around her bedchamber, but there was no dark shape or howling winds….just the silence of the night.

Matarys Chamber, The Eyrie

The sound was the first thing he noticed, sharp and rhythmic like metal on a whetstone, softly at first then louder, till the sound filled his mind clamoring like a beating drum.

He saw the glimmer of a sword in the distance slowly fading until it was no more.

Matarys fumbled through the darkness unable to see anything, the world around him rocking, his balance unsteady.

Shards of wood flew about him, cutting his arms and legs, stumbling as he made his way forward in the oily black of night.

He heard and felt it before he saw it, a great burst of wind and the heavy crack of wings, a roar filling the air, a dark shape in the air, but no matter how hard he looked he could not see it.

Suddenly out of the corner of his eye he saw a flash of white, smooth as snow and pale as the moon, rolling away from him

It was his Dragon Egg, disappearing into the darkness, a moon in a sea of black.

He chased after it and suddenly he was falling, a crescent moon in the sky growing farther and farther away.

He looked up and saw with terror the huge dark shape was following him down into the darkness, dark red eyes fixed on him, he screamed but no words came out and he felt the air leaving his body, his lungs close to bursting.

He saw his egg and with the last of his strength reached towards it, but the moment he touched it long cracks appeared, slowly overtaking its smooth surface until a deafening crash destroyed it.

Matarys woke up with a shout……and was greeted with the sight of a dragon on his chest, eyes of blue ice staring into his, the remains of the dragon egg scattered at his bedside.

It was small, only about the size of his old cat Ser Whiskers, but it was white as fresh fallen snow, its scales thin as ringmail. He had seen his parents' dragons as well as the bronze dragon of his aunt Rhaenys, but this dragon was the most majestic thing he had ever seen, cat sized or no.

His heart still pounding from his dream, he reached out a chubby hand towards the dragon.

Moondancer He thought, the image of the moon in his dream burned into his mind, the Dragon recoiled at his touch however and flew to the other end of the room, hissing.

Matarys supposed he should be happy, his dragon egg had hatched, he had even seen it in his dreams, but he had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that the hatching of his dragon had not explained what he had seen, no matter how hard he tried to put the dream from his mind he could not escape the images, the moon fading into black, the dark shape, the sound of a sword being sharpened, Matarys did not know what to make of it, but he was sure it was nothing good.

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