Chapter 122 - One Day

(Third Person POV)

[That Same Day]

Approaching Tumbleton from the river, Ormund Hightower's army were in shock at the sight of the smoke and flames from the distance. As they had marched their forces, they had ran into several large groups of scattered Stormlanders that retreated from the massacre that was Tumbleton. 

When some of Lord Hightower's men questioned them, they all said the same thing: Aerion Targaryen had descended for them. It was as clear as it could get, the fact that hundreds, no, nearly a thousand soldiers had run away, it meant that victory was not on the side of the Baratheon army.

Aerion Targaryen had won the Battle of Tumbleton. 

Ormund Hightower, at the lead of his army, looked in front of him, the town in the far distance. He had nothing but a bad feeling about this entire thing. There was no signs of a dragon nearby, no roaring, no cracking of flapping wings. It was all too quiet, save for the shouts of retreating Stormlanders that were composing themselves still. 

He looked up and behind him, "Get over there and see what's the deal!" He said, "Prince Daeron!" 

Suddenly, the Hightower forces flinched as they heard the flapping of Tessarion's wings as the Blue Queen flew above them. 

"Right!" Daeron said as he was mounted on his dragon

Tessarion let out a roar as they quickly flew towards the town. In a matter of a minute, Daeron had swiftly traversed the skies, seeing the men that had retreated, scattering around in the ground like ants. After a few minutes, he managed to reach Tumbleton and was sure as shocked to see the sight of flames and corpses on the town's street. 

"W-What...." Daeron said with widened eyes as Tessarion circled in the sky, "What happened here?" 

The town was covered in corpses and blood, staining the street with dark red. The surrounding of the town, on the camp, was replaced by smoke and flames that were slowly dying down.

Daeron steered Tessarion to swoop down and land on the ground, at the very edge of a safe spot at the camps. The Blue Queen landed and let out a roar, shaking her head as she looked around, sniffing the air and flinching hard due to the overwhelming stench of flames and burnt flesh. 

The Young Prince dismounted his dragon and landed on the ground, walking around and feeling the heat of the flames in the distance. 

"This..." He said as he approached what looked like a corpse on the ground, a skeleton covered in ashes, "So this is what happens when a dragon flies to war....." 

He looked around, seeing the result of Aerion Targaryen going to battle. He was once told by his Uncle Gwayne that Aerion was as vicious as he was gentle and honorable and that when it came to battle, there was nobody superior. Daeron was surprised that someone like his cousin was capable of something like this and every time that he had seen Aerion, there was nothing but smiles and kind words. 

"Aerion..." Daeron said, "What have you done....." 

*********

[Stony Sept, Not Too Long Later]

In the Lannister Camp outside the town, Lord Jason was sitting on a table that was set up outside, he had a vast assortment of food plated in front of him as he ate and drank wine. 

"How goes our battles in the Riverlands?" He asked one of his commanders

"Well, the Tully forces are putting up a good fight but we haven't put a dent in Daemon's host." one of his knights said, "Brief skirmishes here and there. With Cole's Host and Vhagar, we can take the real fight to Daemon and the Riverlords, taking Harrenhal and conquering the region." 

Jason took a bite off a piece of chicken, "Good." he said, "Once the Hightower and Baratheon armies converge, they'll set off to take the Reach and keep a safe barrier between the Black Loyalists and the capital. Victory is assured, men. We won't need to take the fight to the sea, leaving the Velaryons quite fucking useless." 

"Right." the knight said

"And Vhagar's feed?" Jason said, "I asked for Prince Aemond to come join us, even made sure that we had swine, sheep, and cattle to join us for his dragon. Why hasn't he responded?" 

"It's the Lord Hand, My Lord." the knight said, "He wishes for Vhagar to remain in the capital, in fear of Vermithor." 

"Vermithor, bah!" Jason said, "What good is that old cunt against Vhagar? And that idiot, Aerion, he's nothing to be worried about. All those stories are mere exaggeration." 

"Yes." the Knight said, "But there is a possi-" 

"DRAGON!!!" a single shout was enough to cause every Lannister soldier to drop everything and look up in alarm 

Jason looked up to see a winged figure in the sky, rapidly approaching, the glint of Bronze Scales shining off. 

"IT'S VERMITHOR!!!" a soldier shouted

"Fuck!" Jason Lannister said as he stood up, "P-Prepare the Scorpions!" 

Jason looked up to see Vermithor swooping down in a swift motion and unleashing a stream of flames that swept all throughout the Lannister camp, explosions following. There were screams of burning soldiers as the entire camp was being attacked by a single dragon. 

Atop Vermithor, Aerion looked down, his entire armor stained red as his cloak flowed in the wind, covered in dried blood. 

"Dracarys, Vermithos" 

Vermithor circled around the camp and unleashed more flames, burning everything in his path. His flames were more potent and condensed than what he used in Tumbleton, completely obliterating massive portions of the camp like nothing. 

"Fucking hells, how is he here!!" Jason Lannister shouted as Vermithor roared loudly, "How did nobody notice a fucking dragon in the sky!!!" 

Vermithor flew in a massive circle, spewing flames around the camp, creating a massive barrier of flames that kept Jason Lannister and a good majority of his forces trapped. While the barrier spanned a hundred meters across in diameter, the heat of the flames was felt in the bones of every Lannister soldier inside, including Jason Lannister. 

Aerion noticed that at the far end of the camp, there were corrals of livestock, "Perfect." He said, "The Old Grouch will definitely need that, being pushed too hard to traverse the land so quickly." 

Aerion then steered Vermithor down to land in between the barrier of flames, he had already spotted Lord Jason who was scurrying about with his knights. The Bronze Fury landed before them, crushing any unfortunate soldiers that were in front of Jason and his other knights. Vermithor snapped at several as he lowered himself, ripping them apart with his maw as he slammed his right wing at a group, crushing them hard. 

Jason stumbled down and fell on his ass, "Curses!" he exclaimed as he saw Aerion dismount

"It's Aerion Targaryen!!" a knight shouted

"No shit!!" Jason exclaimed

Aerion landed on the ground and was holding something in his left hand, "Lord Jason Lannister." he said as he calmly approached, "What a bad day you're going to have." 

Aerion flung what he had in his hand at Jason's feet and the Lannister Lord widened his eye to see a head roll in front of him. 

"W-What?" Jason said as he looked at the face of the head, "No way....." 

it was Borros Baratheon's head, Jason was looking at the Storm Lord's decapitated head. A horrid sight shook Jason to his core. It wasn't because a head was in front of him, much less a lord's head. This meant that wherever Lord Borros was, down south, Aerion had taken the fight to his army and had won, killing Borros in the process. 

This was a terrifying thought for someone who was sure the War was going their way.

Jason's knights drew their swords as they stood in front of their Lord defensively, "Y-You won't get our lord, Aerion Targaryen!!!" 

"Huh, how about that." Aerion said as he drew Lady Rhea, "Well....this is good....." 

"You'll make this a bit enjoyable."