Daeron set his uncle down on the steps that led up to the pool. The man was exhausted from hauling an injured Daeron up so many steps, he did this all while injuring himself "Rest Uncle, we have a long trip back to get some sleep, I will keep you safe," Daeron said with a smile.
Viserys looked up at his nephew and saw the warmth his smile exuded and nodded before laying down on the steps and immediately passing out. Daeron couldn't help but chuckle at his abrupt he fell asleep despite how uncomfortable the floor must've been; Daeron looked around the room and decided to explore it, first he walked to the doors and closed them again before forming ice at their seams so it would lock. 'That should at least give me warning if they come back,' he thought to himself.
Daeron walked across the room to the door that led out to a balcony. His body felt strange to say the least, even on his best day he had never felt as light and strong as he did now; his senses felt like they had increased tenfold and it felt like he had a constant source of power threatening to explode out of him. He opened the door and walked out onto the balcony and was able to see the entirety of the city as well as miles of land in every direction, but what he found most impressive was the smoking sea, it seemed that it wasn't called that for no reason. The smoke coming from the sea gave it an inky black colour that looked unnatural.
After taking in the sights Daeron removed his tunic and looked down at a body that was devoid of all the scars he had taken in his life. Even when he removed the bandages the wounds caused by the Faceless man were gone, it was as if he had a new body. Daeron clenched his fist before slamming it into the balcony wall; the stone held but it shook terribly. When Daeron looked at his bloody fist he saw that his blood was different, it was red but had a slight silver colouration moving through it, the blood on his hand reversed back into his body and the wounds closed up.
Daeron realised that Nissa wasn't exaggerating, he was like a god if he compared himself to everyone else. "Do you feel different..." A voice echoed out from behind him.
Daeorn turned and smiled as the ethereal beauty Adara approached him, floating slightly off the ground like a phantom. "I do feel different, it's as if my entire life I've been trying to walk with no legs, trying to see without eyes," Daeron explained as best as he could.
"I wish I could sympathise but I have always been me," Adara said as she floated around Daeron wrapping her body against him and placing her head on his shoulder.
"So I am the same as you and Nissa now?" Daeron asked and Adara chuckled.
"We are as similar as two stars in the sky," she whispered into his ear. The coldness that Adara once exuded was no longer present; Daeron could feel the iciness of her skin but it felt refreshing and pleasurable.
"The stars in the sky look the same," Daeron whispered as he closed his eyes leaning his head back against Adara.
"Two flames may look the same when seen from far away, but when looked at closely you'll see how they dance in their own unique way," Adara said as her tongue snaked out of her mouth licking the side of Daeron's neck.
"So we are the same, but not?" Daeron said with a little bit of confusion.
Adara hummed thoughtfully for a moment "We are all unique, but do you think your uncle in there will be able to see how?" She asked.
Daeron finally understood what she was trying to say. They were unique entities different in most aspects, but it didn't matter as others would see them as the same. To the small folk, a dragon is no different from another dragon, but a dragon rider would know the difference. It was quite an offensive statement to make, but Daeron could understand her point of view.
She essentially stated that most people were just specs of dust and that they were so far below them in terms of power that they'd never understand the differences between them. "Is this what you wanted when you first awakened my magic?" Daeron asked as he turned away from her grasp.
Adara shrugged "I have been alone since I came into existence, I am no longer alone now that you are here," she replied.
"Will I live forever?" Daeron asked as he looked out to the city once more.
"No one lives forever Daeron, eventually we all must meet our end," Adara said as she closed the distance between them pressing her lips against his. Adara for the first time in her existence felt something other than the cold she had grown used to; Daeron emitted a heat that managed to make its way inside of her and make her feel things she had never felt before and it made her push herself even closer towards him as she greedily tried to take in as much as this nee feeling as she could.
Her breathing was ragged when she detached her lips from Daerons, despite how hot it was her breath still fogged up the air. "Enough, I must look around and see if there's anything here worth taking," Daeron said sternly. Adara looked at him like a predator would its prey, but she knew she could no longer take advantage like she could before, she could sense a deep well of power inside of him and it scared her as much as it aroused her.
"Very well Daeron... but this isn't over," she said with a grin on her face as she turned into fog and disappeared.
'I wonder if I can do that now,' he thought to himself before walking back inside the tower. There were a large amount of bookshelves that surrounded the room and Daeron was very much interested in going through the ancient wisdom of the Valyrians. With a smile on his face, he approached the first bookshelf and removed one of the books; the first thing he noticed was that this book was not in Valyrian, it was not anything he'd ever seen before, and yet he could understand it.
*The Book of Light*
Daeron couldn't help but chuckle at the title, it sounded as if the book was a religious text. He opened the book and realised almost immediately he was wrong, it was a book of chants, but they were set in a familiar way, similar to the way that spells are formed. 'What kind of spell would it be? Fire?' He wondered to himself, well there was one way he could find out.
"Heldæ màdon brique sættur neeg," Daeron said out loudly and he felt something strange inside of him. He had always been able to differentiate his ice magic and his fire magic but now it seemed as if he could go deeper. He could feel his warging abilities, he could also feel a vast power over water, but when he moved over to his fire magic he felt something else. He felt light with no heat, pure starlight separated from his fire. 'This must be what the book refers to, pure light with no heat,' he thought to himself as he continued. The power emerged from his body and took the form of a bluish-white light in his palm that illuminated the room, Daeron could only think of how beautiful it looked.
"This book is going to prove rather useful," Daeron said with a smile on his face.
———————————————————-
Robb was exhausted as he sat down next to a river somewhere in the Reach. He didn't think he was being followed anymore but it didn't stop him from moving constantly and only getting a few hours of rest every night, but he eventually slowed down if only to give his horse some well-deserved rest. Robb had never been down to the Reach before he had marched his army through it so he was understandably a little lost. He knew he couldn't ask any passing Lord for help as technically he was in open rebellion against the King.
He had commanded all of his Lords to fall back towards Ashford should their army be routed. He believed he was heading in the right direction after all it would be directly North of the Princes pass. He had hoped that his men would be able to take the small castle and not have to enter into a prolonged siege. He shook those thoughts out of his mind, stood up and moved away from the river bank back to his horse that was currently eating. Robb stroked the horse's mane with a smile before taking a deep breath and reaching out to the horse with his mind and touching the animal's own.
It was getting increasingly easier to do this but the issue he was having now was managing to do it while staying awake. From the horse's vision he could see his body go limp and fall to the ground 'I should've sat down first,' he thought to himself. Now that he was in the horse's body he could feel everything it felt, including its exhaustion. Robb could feel that the horse could travel for longer however and so he left the horse's mind and mounted it. Hopefully, they would reach a town or an inn before dark as he wasn't looking forward to spending another night out in the dark.
Travelling across a bridge and over the river Robb kept to the path and travelled at a moderate speed. He wished that he had not wasted so much time in Dorne as he might've been able to track down his army a lot easier; Robb gazed to the ground but saw no useful tracks, an army of that size would've been easy to follow a few days after they passed through, even a few weeks wouldn't be much of a challenge, but months after where it had rained and the soil had softened and hardening repeatedly, it would be almost impossible —or at least beyond his skill level.
Continuing down the trail Robb came to a large hill, once he reached the top of the hill he could see out in the distance a castle with a town attached "Ashford!" He said with excitement. This excitement only increased when he saw the multitude of tents that were in a field on the other side of the river that the castle sat on. He was truly glad that a large number of his men had managed to escape the Lannister ambush and make it to relative safety.
The smile dropped from Robb's face as he knew that this was only the easy part —escaping and rallying his army. The true test would be what he did next now that he had his army. He continued down the road and straight through the town which seemed to be bustling with people despite their occupation.
He rode straight up to the gates of the keep where he was stopped by a guard. Robb dismounted his horse and approached, the guard's eyes widened as he immediately recognised his Lord "My Lord! They said you were dead," he said in equal parts happiness and confusion.
"Tales of my death have been greatly exaggerated, open the gates," he commanded and the guard immediately shouted the orders and soon the gate was open and Robb was leading his horse through.
"Who has been in charge after my disappearance," Robb asked the guard who walked with him.
"There was a vote My Lord, between Lord Karstark and Lord Bolton," The guard replied.
"Lord Karstark won, so Lord Bolton took his and his banner men's troops back north, Lord Karstark wanted to get revenge for you so we've been gathering supplies to burn the Reach and go straight to Casterly Rock," he explained.
Robb frowned, that wasn't a good plan at all, but it was one he expected from Lord Karstark based on what he knew about him. "Take me to the Great Hall immediately and summon all the other Lords from whether they might be," Robb commanded as he made his way into the keep.
...
In the Great Hall Lord Karstark and Greatjon Umber were arguing, they had been arguing for months as while both men wanted to get revenge for their fallen liege lord they did not agree on the direction that each of them wanted to take. Karstark believed that Tywin was the man ultimately responsible for the death of Robb as while Robert may have dealt the blow, Tywin turned the tide of battle and saved the King's life while he was wounded.
Greatjon blamed Robert Baratheon and so he wanted to burn the entirety of the storm lands and lay siege to Storms End before moving to King's landing. "Your idea is foolish!!! It seems the gods may have blessed you with size but in return, they relieved you of your mind!!!" Karstark shouted as he slammed his cup down on the table and stood up.
Greatjon Umber scowled before standing up with such force that the chair he was sitting on flew back into the wall. "You would have the killer of our Liege Lord run free and offer no repercussions, COWARD!!!" He boomed out as he pointed a large finger at Rickard.
"CALL ME COWARD!!!" Rickard shouted back as he prepared to brawl with Greatjon.
*SLAM*
The doors to the Great Hall were slammed open which interrupted the two of them. Both of them turned and looked on in shock as Robb Stark, a man they thought was dead walked in with a guard at his back. Rickard and Greatjon thought they might be seeing things, as did everyone else in the room, but as Robb got closer to the upper dais it was plain to see that this was all real. "By the Gods, how is this possible," Greatjon uttered out as he looked at Rob with shock.
Robb smiled as he approached the two men "I had expected a warmer welcome than this, some might think you were glad to be rid of me," he said in a joking manner. Greatjon was the first to recover as he let out a booming laugh before flipping the table he was eating at out of the way and enveloping his Lord in a big hug that almost killed Robb a second time.
"My Lord, how is this possible, we all saw you get struck by Robert Baratheon," Rickard asked as he looked at his Lord in awe. It was at this moment that the other lords of the north started to file in and all of them were as equally shocked as Lord Karstark. For months they had assumed that Robb Stark was dead, that he had died in battle and yet there he stood.
Robb detached himself from the giant Umber and lifted up his tunic. The dent to his chest was clear to see and some even winced at the sight of it "I was struck by Robert Baratheon, but it seems that it did not kill me and I was picked up by corpse collectors and taken to Skyreach where I was treated," Robb explained loudly for everyone in the room to hear.
"Then we owe Lord Fowler a debt of gratitude!" the Greatjon boomed out.
A frown appeared on Robb's face and he shook his head "Lord Fowler is in league with this Dark Cult that planned to sacrifice me to whatever gods they worship, I barely escaped with my life," he stated.
"Then we will burn Skyreach to the ground!!!" Greatjon shouted, with other lords cheering in support.
"My Lords there are other things to worry about, we need to refocus on the war at hand!" Robb shouted, getting their attention again.
"We are going to raze the reach to the ground and attack the Westerlands while their army is on the other side of Westeros!" Rickard said confidently as he believed it to be the best course of action.
Robb turned to him "No Lord Karstark, the war won't end by us attacking the Westerlands and we won't earn any friends by razing the reach, they sell food to almost all the seven kingdoms."
"Then what will we do Lord Stark," he said a little bitterly.
"We will attack Highgarden," he said loudly for everyone to hear.
———————————————————-
"Are you sure you don't need me to carry more uncle?" Daeron asked as they walked down the streets of Oros with treasure that would be considered priceless outside of Valyria. Daeron had found a cart made of a sturdy wood he didn't recognise, and he had filled it to the brim with what he had taken from the tower. The rest they carried on their bodies in saddlebags they had acquired from a ruined stable.
As they walked a group of stone men ran ferociously towards them, but Daeron did not even regard them and waved his hand sending a torrent of flames against them melting the rock into Magma. He knew he had to gain control of his magic soon as he couldn't afford to go around turning men into piles of ash every time he used it. Though at least his ice was more manageable.
"Do you believe it's real?" Viserys asked as he tried not to be disturbed by his nephew melting stone with his flames.
"I do, I find it hard to believe it would be written down in such a place if it were not at least partially true," Daeron said.
"Will you journey to take it?" Viserys asked.
Daeron shook his head "Not now, I have more important things to do on this side of Essos, The Maidens Crown can wait."
(AN: So I thought it would be nice to ask you guys what you want Daemon to find in Valyria apart from the magic books. Also you guys want any pairings for Robb? I hope you enjoyed the chapter.)
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