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112 AC
Lys
Daeron Nymeros Martell
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Looking over my map after letting Gaelithox rest for a few hours I sit back down into the saddle and fold the map up to stuff back into the bag. I have six to eight hours more of escorting the fleet of a third of our force to Lys to take them out of the war. I have spotted not a single ship around Lys that wears the Triarchy sails. I spotted a few ships sailing North East toward the Disputed lands, likely innocent civilians going to follow the coast back toward the East... or ships carting supplies to and from Lys.
It is hard to tell when they have just plain sail's and I would hate to be that guy and burn down a ship that is unarmed and carrying people who just came to Lys to enjoy some good sex. But to be honest, I don't think I have the luxury of choice at this point, it's do or don't and I am already here and the men are on the way.
It is time to burn some shit and earn people fear when they hear of my actions, something that will keep many from doing something stupid. I will still have to worry about the silent rats skulking about, but that is a problem for another day.
""Fly, let's go check on our ships."" For now, I will check on the men and escort them for another few hours from the sky.
The next sails I see that are not Martell or Velaryons are getting burned to cinders.
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112 AC
Stepstones - Torturer's Deep
Lewyn Nymeros Martell
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I honestly feel a bit lonely coming to scout out this island on my own, even with Tyraxes rumbling beneath me letting me know I am not alone, I still feel lonely.
Laenor stayed back to defend Grey Gallows as they further fortify and await word from Daeron or myself. I have only seen a few camps which had a handful of men who I sent to the flames, I am not even sure if they were with the Triarchy. Either way, Torturer's Deep seems abandoned and it gives more credit to the idea they are amassing for one big attack. I am not even sure if they stand a better chance doing so, the dragons make grouping up suicide and yet it is their only hope versus the numbers of me we brought as well.
I am sure it is better than spreading thin like a blanket over the islands, if they did that with the poor fortifications they have then they would all die to our spearmen. So they are caught between needing to worry about the superior number and also the dragons raining fire down on them. I am sure Tyrosh is shitting themselves with us making a move on the Stepstone.
The little Island of Tyrosh is practically a part of the Stepstones and would only take an hour or so to sail to from Bloodstone. Lys has Daeron coming to send them a personal message to fuck off, only Myr is far enough away to avoid a visit directly to their homes. Though it would not be a bad idea after smashing the Triarchy and two of the three daughters to go ahead and visit Myr in person.
From what my Father told me I will be holding Bloodstone as my seat in the future and I am quite excited about it. I will have plenty of reason to build a massive fleet 'to defend the shipping lanes' and I can use a portion of it for profits in trading. I can be the middle man for all trade coming from Essos and the Far East if I set myself up strong enough. I will claim some of the Disputed lands for resources, wood, food, and even people for my population as the numbers would swell better on the mainland than on the island.
Bloodstone will be my 'seat' and I will make it damn near unraidable, but my efforts will focus on the shipping lanes and Disputed lanes. I will be able to rack in the gold and likely make a city to rival the Free cities we are currently fighting if I do it well enough. The resources of the Disputed lands are rich and a fair toll in the lanes is nothing to turn your nose up at.
I almost feel like I am the one profiting the most, Daeron gets Sunspear and all the rest of the problems of Dorne. To be fair he did get the pretty Princess who will be a Queen so I think he would not be up for trading spots any time soon with how buried his nose is in his new wife. He has turned from my serious older brother who can also joke around into a mooning fool staring off into the distance as if he will suddenly spot what it is his heart yearns for.
I can not help but laugh at the thought of it.
But spotting smoke rising on the shore ahead of me kills my good mood and I pull the reins to guide Tyraxes toward them. Time for thoughts is over, I need to check this out and see if there are some people left here like the other camps. Getting closer I notice it's just a small campfire and I see men panicking and running in four different directions. I shake my head as Tyraxes spots them himself and lets out a mighty roar as he gets closer.
""Same as the rest, burn these, and let's circle around and check for more."" I feel the heat from his flames as not even a moment later he spews fire hot enough to melt the rock as it hits it.
He burns the one who ran toward the cliffs and keeps his flames going as he closes in and hits the one who went for the sea. He snaps his jaw shut as he stops in the air flapping his wings looking for the other two. I look around to try and help him spot them but I lost them when I closed my eyes from the heat.
"Circle around let's see if we ca-AHH!" I pull my arm close to my chest and grip tightly on the saddle handles as Tyraxes jerks in the air screeching in pain along with me.
He quickly climbs toward the sky and I caution a look at my forearm and I can see a small bolt going through it between the bones. I can already feel the tingle that does not belong to just the pain of a bolt.
"Fucking poison..." I bite my lip as Tyraxes makes it over the clouds and levels out, his rumble now loud enough to shake me in the saddle. ""Stop shaking me to death!"" I keep myself calm as this is not the first time I have been poisoned, nor will it be the last.
I am lucky it did not hit my head or chest, my armor is quality but this thing tore right through it. I suppose that is what should be expected from the best crossbows in the world and the men who are best at using them.
I wiggle in the saddle as I take one of my belts off and use it to wrap around my arm to stop the blood flow as best as I can for when I pull the damn thing out. Having tied it off as good as it will get for now I break the top half of the arrow and yank the bottom half out of my arm leaving a nasty wound in its place.
"Fuck." I grit my teeth and press my forearm against my thigh as I fish out a bottle of pink liquid from the saddle bag.
Pulling the top off and spitting it into the air to fall somewhere in the sea I spill some on the wound not caring as much about my brother's warnings. The pain instantly fades and I feel the muscle in my arm spasm and tighten making the belt pop and fall slack. I down the rest and toss the empty glass as my heart starts hammering in my chest like a drum.
The pain is long gone and the surprise from the attack hitting me is replaced by a burning rage. I check the wound through the hole and see purple flesh pulsing and wonder only for a moment if I might have fucked up using too much. Daeron did say it was a very bad idea to use too much, but to be honest I don't give a shit and I want to just burn that fucker alive.
""Down!"" Tyraxes seems equally as angry as his roar is louder than I have ever heard it as he dives straight down toward where I was just hit at.
I can feel my heart beating all through my body from my toes to my ears, I can feel my anger burning along with the beat of the drum in my chest. I know without a doubt I am about to kill that man and it brings me joy at the thought. This stuff Daeron makes is dangerous and I can see why he only gave me some for emergencies, next time I won't use so much. But for now, I just want to enjoy finding the fucker who put a bolt in my arm.
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112 AC
Lys
Daeron Nymeros Martell
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The fleet is an hour or so from making it to Lys itself and so I am now confident to leave them on their own. I made a large circle around and made damn sure they were not sailing directly into a defensive fleet. If they get attacked it will be from behind but no one will come from behind unless they are coming from Dorne or the Sunset Sea, if that happens they can just sail forward and run into Lys where I am. I circle the Free city that I have heard about many times in my life, the joys of Lys the Lovely.
Well, today she won't be so lovely as I circle above and count the number of Scorpions and ballista. They have them lining the high walls with their hired sell swords lining the walls as well. One quick pass down the middle and I could have it all burning to ash, but it seems so wasteful and if I burned the walls they would be raided by someone else in the near future.
So I plan to limit the damage while disarming them against Gaelithox by taking out all the anti-air they have. The problem is Gaelithox is not one to hold back and can get a bit wild when he is spewing his wildfire-colored flames. But I can only trust in my partner and worst case I burn too much and Lys will be trampled in the near future by slavers or pirates.
I mean even the common folk of Lys are of the old blood of Valyria, they have dragon lord features and are beautiful. I am sure some pirate lords who have been holding a grudge against the Stepstone occupied would love to hear their walls fell. It would be a field day to run through stealing away the beautiful women and taking the men's gold and lives. But I am not here to ruin the Dragon Lords of old's perfect little paradise island.
I am here to claim it.
The more I think about it the more I like the idea regardless of all the problems that will rise up because of my actions. We will already be heightening our naval power to defend the shipping lanes and hold them long-term. Why not take the Island paradise not too far away that will make me a shit ton of gold so long as manage it properly. It will also put me one step closer to the ultimate goal I have had since I was a knee-high boy.
Retaking the Mother Rhoyne and all the old marble cities wasting away on her banks. I can practically taste it at this point, the cities my Father passed to me in story just as his Father did as a boy to him. Stories from Nymeria herself about her home, the blood of the Mother River flows through me and I see no reason why not to claim her for myself. The reason we left was Dragons and I am sitting on one myself, dragons will not scare us off the shores when I press claim over the Mother River. No, what will try and push me away will be the Free Cites who dominate Essos along with the Dothraki.
I will start here and now, although I doubt it would be Lys who would take a problem with the Rhoynar claiming the river once more... Lys just happens to be the best first step.
""Dive!"" Gaelithox lets out a mighty roar as his head drops down and I feel my guts rise in my body as I got weightless.