Summer, 292 AC
On the backs of their Dragons, Nefaerion, Silvexis, and Rhaelyx, Azaerys, Arthur, and Viserys flew over the clouds. The two Targaryens kept their eyes closed as they shared the sight with their Dragons, able to see the sea under them clearly and even the fish that swam in it.
The Dragonsight was truly marvellous. No man could see things the way Dragons could. Even at night, they could see as clearly as day. Not even clouds could hinder their senses, and leagues of distance felt like they were right in front of the thing they were focusing on.
However, it was only something that could be achieved if you were magical. It had come easily to Azaerys and Daenerys. The two did not require any effort at all, just a simple Spell in Ancient Valyrian, but Viserys truly had to work hard to finally share this magical bond with his dragon.
Rhaenys and Aegon had still not mastered it, Ashara and Rhaemon had almost grasped it, but Allyria and Arthur were nowhere close to learning it. They had been trying their best, but the piercing headaches that they suffered from after the attempts really made them wish that they were rather dead.
However, they realised how important it was to possess this bond. Dragonsight was essential to take their Dragons into battles. Otherwise, the Beast and its Rider were both at risk.
Azaerys was confident that if they continued practising magic and their bond with their dragons grew stronger, they would one day be able to grasp it, but that day was not going to come anytime soon.
Finally, after hours of searching, the two Targaryens saw the six large carracks, which had white sails on them, sailing several leagues away from the eastern shores of Ulthos.
Under Azaerys' signal, Viserys turned around to make sure there were no other ships in the region, and when he joined the left flank again, the three Dragons descended from the sky and slowed down as they flew in front of the ships, playfully cutting the water with their claws as they glided over it.
On the ships, the people were relieved that they were on course and that Azaerys, Viserys, and Arthur had finally joined them after a full moon.
Even though they had taken detours as Azaerys had ordered, they still got stuck in several storms on the way here, and had their King come a day later, their desperation would have killed them from inside.
These waters were not safe at all.
Oberyn Martell, Arianne, Nymeria, and Ser Oswell Whent were on the main Vessel, and all of them regretted coming on this voyage. The rest of the five ships were being commanded by the other Knights of the Targaryen House.
There were a total of five hundred men on these six ships, and since the Dragons were involved, only the servants of the House of Targaryen were partaking in this quest.
They could not afford to let people they did not trust set eyes on these creatures lest they risk their enemies learning about their existence. Now was not the time to scare them to their deaths.
After leading the ships for a while, the Dragons again took to the skies but stayed low enough for people to see them and follow their direction.
Finally, everyone on the ships rejoiced when they saw land in front of them, and the Young King guided them to the mouth of a river, next to beautiful sand beaches.
Arthur signalled to them to anchor their ships before he chased after Azaerys and Viserys who had gone ahead to scout the land.
The Captains guided the ships to the beach Arthur pointed to, and dropped the anchors a few hundred feet away, where the water was deep enough.
Boats were lowered, and batch by batch, the people gathered on the land.
Some simply sprawled on the sand, thanking their Gods for helping them survive those storms, and after a rest of a couple of hours, the servants started unloading their goods, horses, and donkeys that they had brought with them.
By nightfall, camps were set, and Azaerys, Viserys, and Arthur returned as well.
The Dragons simply flew away again after dropping them off, and it was clear that they wanted to go on a hunt.
Later at night, when everyone had settled, rested, and eaten some food, the Knights and the Guard Captains entered Azaerys' tent for the meeting.
Oberyn was immediately impressed when he found the Young King working on drawing a map of the area, which was quite detailed.
Viserys and Arthur kept looking from over his shoulders, and they double-checked the marked places from their memory.
Once Azaerys was finished drawing the map, he stood up, and let them all take a good look at it.
"We are here..." Viserys informed the group as he placed a red bead on the location, and then his finger slowly traced up the river, where a black cross was marked. "There's is a ruined city here, and two leagues away from it is a town, right on the edge of the vast grasslands. It is the Town of Lions, one of the Ancient Ulthosi Warrior Tribes, the Kharziks."
"The forest is full of wild animals, including wolves, leopards, and apes, who are fairly big. The apes are taller than me. The grasslands have herds of wild horses, tall and sturdy, who are quite fast. Here, we saw a herd of wild buffaloes and a herd of deer in this region. There is a pack of Lions here. No settlements of people inside or at the edge of the forest... This land is only inhibited by the natives here, so, we have to refrain from eating anything exotic. Stick to the fruits and fish in the river..."
The meeting started, and Azaerys silently left the tent without being noticed by anyone.
He stared at the forest behind their campsite, sensing dozens of eyes on him, the dragons, and his people. Even though these eyes belonged to birds, he knew that the ones watching them were not just animals.
With a smile on his face, he slowly walked to the woods and entered the darkness.
The owls curiously looked at him, showing intelligence that animals lacked, and when he met their eyes, they tensed up, sensing the crisis.
"I bring you gifts, the finest of wines and silk. If you like my gifts, I am willing to trade more with you, but if you refuse to treat me as a guest, I will rain upon you Fire and Blood," said Azaerys in a language long lost in the rest of the world, and as if to make his point clear, Nefaerion loudly roared and breathed flames up into the sky.
The owls who witnessed the scene immediately flapped their wings and flew away.
"Found you," he said as he caught the consciousness of one of the Wargs, making him lose his control over the bird. If he wanted, he could have harmed him, but he let him go.
When Azaerys walked back to the beach, the people were already out of the tents, alarmed at Nefaerion's sudden outburst, and when they saw him approach from the trees, Viserys rushed up to him.
"What happened?"
"Wargs. They have found us and know that we have come to their land. There's no need to discuss any plans. We will head out tomorrow to the Town of Lions," he told him. "Tell everyone to get some rest and not worry about anything. We need to catch up on our sleep so that we can cover the distance by tomorrow evening."
"Yes," The Prince nodded to his words and went to speak to everyone, letting them know what the orders were.
Though some felt uncomfortable in this foreign land, which they knew near to nothing about, they still listened to what their King had commanded and went to their tents or back on the ships to get some sleep.
Almost everyone was tired, and sleep came to them very easily.
Arianne was waiting for him inside their tent and pouted a little when he did not do what she hoped he would do. He just hugged her after getting under the sheets and fell asleep by her side.
She smiled as she inhaled his scent, and coupled with his warmth, which always made her feel comfortably safe, sleep whispered in her ears and all the tiredness from the journey crept in. Within minutes, she was fast asleep, and it was then that Azaerys opened his eyes and smiled before planting a kiss on her head.
Right before dawn, he sensed the eyes that were looking at them the entire night close, and the birds went flying away to search for food and to get some sleep.
Once they were ready for the day, Azaerys ordered four hundred and fifty of his men to board the ships and to lead them a league away from the shore.
Only fifty people accompanied them on the journey because they had only brought fifty horses with them. There were also twenty donkeys, who were carrying the silk and wine that Azaerys had brought as gifts.
Since they needed to store some fresh water as well, the group travelled upstream by the river, staying at the edge of the forest.
In the skies, only Viserys stayed on his dragon, and he was keeping an eye on everything.
Azaerys, who was on top of his horse with his eyes closed, was sharing the Dragonsight with Nefaerion, who was hidden in the cloud, even though he was not riding her right now.
Only Arthur, who was ahead of him, leading the group, knew what he was doing, and he was not the one to speak about the secrets of his King.
They stopped a few times in the forest, first to gather some fruits which they were familiar with, second to fill their leather bags with fresh water when they came across a rapid, and finally, they took a break when they reached the ruined city in the afternoon.
Oberyn, Nymeria, and Arianne were quite tempted to go and explore the place, but they stayed with the group, choosing not to take any risks.
However, they noticed that despite the sun in the sky and a few clouds, the weather was just slightly warm, comfortable, and breezy. If summers were like this in this part of the world, no one would ever mind living here.
Moments after they resumed their journey, the statues of the strange creatures at the ruined gates, resembling the gryphons a lot, caught everyone's attention.
These creatures were almost like gryphons, except that their hind body was that of a horse instead of a lion.
"What are these?" Asked his wife as she urged her horse next to him.
"Hippogriffs. Less magical than Griffins, and easier to tame as well. The only advantage they have over the Griffins is their stamina and that they can run faster on the ground. Hippogriffs can also fly slightly faster than Griifins, but they lack the strength and agility in comparison. In a battle between a Hippogriff and a Griffin, the latter is almost always guaranteed to win, unless the former manages to escape," he informed them. "They also don't possess any magical abilities other than fast healing and unreal endurance, and they grow up to be slightly larger than horses but smaller than Griffins. Their wings are not silent either, and whereas Griffins love to make their nests in the mountains, Hippogriffs prefer to stay closer to the ground."
"They exist here?" Arianne looked at him in surprise.
"Yes. There are a lot of them in Ulthos and Sothoryos. The Kingdoms here on Ulthos, which are all located on the western side of the continent, have Hippogriffs in their forces."
"There are Kingdoms here?" Oberyn looked at him in surprise.
"Yes. Ulthos is bigger than Westeros, but smaller than Sothoryos. The First Men, as you call them, settled in Sothoryos as well as Ulthos. They all worship the Old Gods, the Ancient Gods. As for the natives, who were here way before them, such as these Warrior Tribes, they worship the Sky God, Zefaerys, and the Land Goddess, Vaerra."
"Aren't Zefaerys and Vaerra Valyrian Gods?"
"They are," said Azaerys, "but these people don't worship any other Valyrian God, and they are not Valyrians. However, their blood holds some magic, and almost everyone is born a Warg. They call themselves Beast Masters, and take pride in how they can tame the beasts and control them."
"Can they Warg into dragons as well?" Oberyn curiously asked, and the Young King laughed at the question.
"If a Warg cherishes their life, they would never dare to warg into a Dragon. They can not control these Magical Beasts, and their souls would be set on fire if they tried to force it, especially on a Dragon who is bonded to its Rider."
"That's good." The Dorish Prince sighed in relief, almost as if he had been scared, and everyone around him chuckled at his reaction.
"How have these Warrior Tribes managed to survive if there are Kingdoms here?"
"Those people do not dare to fight with the natives anymore. They are not magical, and their Hippogriffs end up being controlled by the Kharziks. Coming to this part of the Ulthos from the West is not easy either. The distance is too far, and the terrain is treacherous. There is also a mountain range that can not be traversed without losses," he informed them and then turned to look towards the right, across the river that separated the land.
The forest on the other side was gloomy, and thick, and even looking at it made people uncomfortable. And then there were those ridiculously tall trees.
"And on that side live creatures that neither these natives nor those Kingdoms dare to mess with."
"What creatures?"
"Half-men half-apes, who stand nine to ten feet tall. They are resistant to Wargs, possessing unreal strength and speed, and they love eating the flesh of men and animals. They even eat their own kind. They are the reason why people who come to explore this land from that side never return."
Arianne's face went pale in fear, and she quickly urged her horse to get on Azaerys' left side so that she would not be seen by anyone if they were in those woods.
"They only come out on hunts at night and sleep during the day in their caves," Hearing his words, they all relaxed a lot, but the fear still lingered in the back of their minds.