The days grew shorter on the road as Daeron and his party travelled down the Demon road. Daeron looked up to the sky and saw that the sun appeared less and less; he looked at his companions and saw the sweat soaking their clothes and staining their brows, as they travelled closer and closer to Valyria it became hotter and hotter. Even the ground started to heat up, Daeron placed his hand on the ground and felt the warmth enter his palm, to him it felt pleasant, but he knew that for the rest of his companions, this might not be true —Though he noticed Viserys and Daenerys could handle the heat better than most.
"I believe we should give the horses a break and wash them down again," Arthur said as he dismounted his horse. The horses suffered the most in the stifling heat and they had to constantly be cooled down with wet cloths or they'd overheat and collapse. Daeron looked at the horses, if they continued down this road then it wouldn't be long before they died and the wheelhouses would become useless. "Yes, I think that might be best..." Daeron replied as he grabbed a barrel of water off the cart and dunked a wet cloth in before he started to wipe down his horse.
"We must be getting close, the days are short and getting hotter, I hope now we are in the worst of it," Arthur said to Daeron as he cooled his horse down.
"I never took you to be such an optimist Arthur... we both know that it will only get worse from here," Daeron replied with a grim expression on his face.
Arthur looked at Daeron with a frown "I recognise that expression, if you are about to do something foolish then please refrain, while the gods have blessed you with more luck than any man it will not last forever," he said with exasperation.
Daeron snorted "Or perhaps I am the unluckiest man being put in these situations, to begin with." Daeron then sighed and dropped the cloth onto the cart. Arthur finished wiping down his horse and started to unstrap his armour, placing it on the ground he started to wipe the sweat off his body. "No a single drop of sweat on you, how I envy you," Arthur said with a shake of his head.
Daeron looked at Arthur with a serious expression "Need I even say what must happen next."
"I'll come with you, we can send the rest of the back to a safe distance," Arthur said resolutely.
"No you won't, we both know you've been struggling just as much as the others," Daeron said bluntly.
"I have experienced worse, I will be fine," Arthur said in an attempt to convince Daeron, but the younger man shook his head.
"This is my journey, Arthur, I always intended to journey on my own at some point, it's just happening sooner than I planned," Daeron said placing his hand on Arthur's shoulder.
Arthur knew that Daeron was right, but he couldn't accept letting him go alone —the Kingsguard in him found it was wrong. "If I cannot join you then you'll take Viserys, he has been able to handle this heat almost as well as you," Arthur suggested, though it was more like a command than a suggestion.
Daeron shook his head "Viserys cannot protect himself nor me from the dangers we might face on this journey."
"His technique with the sword has grown since he started training, you should not discount him, very few swordsmen have the will and dedication he has," Arthur replied.
"You speak truly, but I won't endanger him like this," Daeron said resolutely.
"It is either him or me, but one of us will be joining you," Arthur said, giving Daeron an ultimatum.
Daeron frowned at Arthur, he didn't want to risk either of their lives but in the end, the choice was easy to make. "I will ask Viserys, if he declines them I will not force him and you will not come in his place," he said pointing his finger at Arthur.
Arthur nodded "Those terms are acceptable, though even if the risk of death is great, Viserys will join you."
Daeron sighed as he knew Arthur was right, Viserys would risk everything for the family. "I don't want you to tell the others that I am leaving, we will slip away tonight," Daeron instructed.
Arthur nodded in agreement, he knew the girls would have a problem with being left behind despite the risks. "Be careful Daeron, none who have ever entered Valyria after the doom has ever returned," he said with concern in his voice.
Daemon smiled "Then I shall be the first," he said jokingly, but he could see his jokes did little to alleviate Arthur's fears.
Daeron stopped smiling and put his hand on Arthur's shoulder once again "My destiny is not to die here Arthur, I believe I am meant for greater things," he said reassuringly.
"How can you be sure?" Arthur asked.
"Destiny has guided us longer than any of us can imagine, us finding Rhaenys in Sothoryos of all places, how else but destiny could such things occur," Daeron explained.
"Though it is a comfort as well, if I believe in destiny then it is certain that I will see my family again," he continued.
"I might not believe in destiny as much, but I've long since known that I can believe in you," Arthur said with a smile.
"Then know that I shall be back soon, take the others and get to a safe distance if I am not back in a moon then go back to Volantis and set sail to Astapor," Daeron instructed to which Arthur nodded.
———————————————————-
"Are you well Uncle?" Daeron asked as they walked down the demon road, the heat was getting worse, it was getting to the point where both men could see the heat rising from the ground. The further they travelled down the road the more cracked and deformed the road became; there would've been no way they could've traversed this road with the wheelhouses and carts —though the horses would've died at this point due to the heat.
Viserys wiped a puddle of sweat from his brow on the sleeve of his shirt "I am fine Nephew... though I may need to throw this tunic away when we are finished on this quest," he said as he breathed heavily.
Daeron looked up to the sky and saw only darkness. Little sunlight broke through the thick clouds that lay above them; Daeron was not even sure what time of day it was, they simply walked until they became exhausted and rested only to repeat the same over and over again.
Even Daeron felt sweat form across his brow as the stifling heat started to increase —something he had thought impossible considering his condition. "We must be getting close, I can not imagine it getting much hotter than this," Daeron said as he looked ahead at the ruined road.
"I find it difficult to believe you even know where we are nephew," Viserys said as he took a large sip from his water skin, he recoiled slightly at the warm taste but continued to drink as his throat was dry from the heat.
"Drink sparingly Uncle, we do not know when we will be able to replenish our supply," Daeron cautioned. Viserys breathed heavily as he moved the water skin away from his lips, but nodded nonetheless at his nephew's advice.
"We must be in the Lands of the Long Summer, this road should end at Oros or whatever is left of the place," Daeron said as they continued to walk down the road. Both men couldn't help but feel slight concern as they got closer to their destination; they were both witnesses to the trees that were plentiful before withering and dying until it was nothing but rock —it was as if they were walking into hell itself. Both of them walked until Visery's feet started to ache and his legs grew wobbly; Daeron saw his uncle struggle to keep walking and put his hand on his shoulder. "We will rest here, we arrive at our destination soon and it will do us no good if we are exhausted," Daeron said to which Viserys nodded gratefully.
In truth, Daeron didn't feel exhaustion like he used to. He imagined that he could've walked without taking a break or resting, but for his uncle's sake, he didn't try and test this theory. Daeron and Viserys walked off the road to try and find softer and perhaps cooler ground to rest on.
As they walked they found themselves approaching some ruins "A Farmstead perhaps?" His uncle suggested as they got closer.
"Perhaps... be cautious nonetheless, we have no idea what may have infested these lands in the last 400 years," Daeron said as he unsheathed his blade. Visitors did the same as they approached the ruined buildings; while they were both nervous at what they might find, their worries were soon alleviated when they saw nothing. At least that was until Viserys turned a corner at one of the buildings and fell to the ground yelling in fear.
Daeron rushed over to his uncle who he saw was on his backside holding his sword up in front of him. "Uncle! What's wrong!" He asked as he ran towards him. However, when he looked in his uncle's direction he saw what was standing in front of him was a statue made of a blackish-grey stone.
"I apologise Daeron, I was caught off guard and thought it might've been a person," Viserys said as he took a deep breath and stood up with the help of Daeron.
Daeron looked at the statue with interest "It is a peculiar place to position a statue," he said as he saw it huddled against the wall.
"It is no mere statue nephew, when the fourteen flames erupted, they say it covered the land in a layer of hot ash covering people's bodies and killing them, time eventually turned them to stone," Viserys explained as he knocked his knuckle against the stone man.
"I see..." Daeron said as he started to look around more, as he did he saw more and more of these statues who seemed to be frozen in time. Daeron found it quite sad that such a great civilisation had been reduced to this, but considering what he had read about the Valyrian freehold it could be said that this was the fate they deserved.
"It looks safe enough, come let us rest, I'll take the first watch," Daeron said to his uncle as they took refuge in one of the ruined buildings.
There was no need to make a fire as the already sweltering heat did enough to keep them warm. Viserys even struggled to sleep in such heat but eventually, he managed to drift off as Daeron kept watch. Daeron sat with his back leaned against the wall as he looked at his wounds that still had yet to heal —or even scab over.
Hours went by and Daeron still stayed awake not even feeling the slightest call to sleep. He flipped a coin through his fingers to pass the time, he could've woken up his uncle but he decided to let him rest some more, they were getting close and it was possible they might not get another chance to rest.
Another hour passed and to Daeron's surprise, he found himself starting to get sleepy. He decided to stand up to wake himself up a bit, but as he did he fell straight on his face and drifted off to sleep.
...
Daeron's eyes opened and he was in a familiar-looking forest, though admittedly it seemed much more devoid of life than it had before. He started walking towards the campfire at the centre of the forest; Daeron smiled as he saw Nissa sitting in front of the campfire. However, the smile quickly disappeared from his face as he saw how pale and tired she looked.
"Nissa, are you okay?" Daeron asked with concern as he sat next to her.
Nissa smiled at Daeron and put a hand on his arm "I am fine, I am sorry for bringing you here but there are things you must know before you enter the city," Nissa replied.
Daeron wasn't fully convinced as he could see the large black bags surrounding her eyes, but he let it go as she hadn't lied to him yet "What is it you need to tell me?" He asked.
Nissa took a deep breath before rubbing her eyes "The place you seek, it will be in the tallest tower of the city, despite the doom it should still be intact, the Valyrians believed the pool of rebirth would make them closer to gods if it was placed at great heights," She said.
Daeron nodded "What will happen to me once I use the pool?" He asked, while he knew his fire magic would be awakened and balance out the magic inside him, he didn't know how it would affect him other than that.
"You will become the closest thing to a god since the days of the Great Empire," Nissa told him as she cupped his face.
"A god!? That's ridiculous," Daeron said almost laughing out loud.
"An awakened fire sorcerer from Valyria could rival a dragon in the sheer amount of destruction they can cause, but the brightest candles burn twice as fast, these sorcerers would condemn themselves to death in their pursuit of power," she explained.
"But you who have awakened both ice and fire, you are balanced, just as the prophecy foretold," she continued.
Daeron still found this hard to believe, she was surely exaggerating the amount of power he'd soon have. "Can you tell me about the horrors that I might find in Valyria?" He asked.
Nissa didn't reply and instead looked into the flames for a moment. Her eyes began to glow for a moment before dulling. "It is... difficult to view Valyria Daeron, even now the place is steeped in magic. The only advice I can give you is that not everything is as it seems and even if you find yourself alone you are not..."
"Now you must wake up, you will not be safe until you bathe in the pool," she said before Daeron could ask her any questions. Nissa leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on Daeron's brow.
...
"Daeron! Wake up!"
Daeron gasped as he opened his eyes and looked up at his uncle who was shaking him awake. "Uncle? What's wrong? Did something happen?" He asked as he wiped his eyes.
Viserys breathed out a sigh of relief before shaking his head "I couldn't stir you from your slumber and it concerned me, I'm not sure what the time is but perhaps we should start to move again," he stated.
Daeron stood up and nodded as he followed Viserys out of the ruined building. The sky was still dark but there was a small amount of light that still peaked through; Daeron didn't even know how they'd navigate if they were engulfed in pure darkness like he was in Sothoryos.
He looked out into the distance wondering how much further they needed to go. When he turned back around he saw his Uncle starting at one of the stone statues "Is everything okay uncle?" Daeron asked. Viserys stood there for a moment longer just staring before turning round to face Daeron.
"I'm fine nephew, must've been my imagination."
(AN: I hate long drawn out journeys so we are speed Jon getting his powers back, I don't see any reason to postpone it anymore. Then we will go on to the second part which will involve conquering and conspiracy. Hope you enjoyed the chapter.)
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