(Third Person POV)
Aerion stepped forth, panting heavily as Sunfyre let out a roar, "Aegon!" He shouted, "Enough of this farce!"
Aegon looked at him, "You look terrible, Aerion." He said with a chuckle
"Look who's talking." Aerion said
"The Mighty, Aerion Targaryen..." Aegon said as his face hardened, "How many men did you cut down just to get here? And where is your dragon?"
"I've lost count of the men I've killed." Aerion said, "Ever since I found out my boys were killed, I stopped counting. Aegon, let's end this right now!"
"And how do you expect us to do that, eh?" Aegon asked, "You have no dragon, we cannot end this in a final dragon battle. I am confident that my Sunfyre would've won."
Aerion panted and pointed his blade at him, "A challenge you to a Trial by Combat.."
Aegon smiled, "Ah, so you've come to grasp at your honor so desperately?" He said, "Look at you, so full of yourself. What honor do you have left when you've done nothing but kill your own kin!!"
"Aerion, you're bleeding too much!" Rhaenyra said as she took a step
Sunfyre snarled at her, stopping her in her tracks as she looked up.
"Today is the day you die, Aerion Targaryen." Aegon said, "You and your Bitch Queen. I'll give you the favor and spare your boy. I, at the very least, will uphold the vow we made."
Aerion looked down, "I....." He said, "I didn't kill them, Aegon....I didn't order their deaths!! It was all a ploy.....It was....."
Aerion stopped himself as he looked up, a knot inside his throat prevented him from speaking further.
"Then who?!" Aegon shouted, "Who was it?!"
"It was Daemon...." Aerion said, "But Daemon is no more...."
"Is that so?" Aegon said, "What became of him?"
Aerion shook his head and looked at Rhaenyra, not wanting to say out loud. Rhaenyra didn't need him to say it, she understood.
"No..." She said softly, "Aerion you....."
"Kinslayer, through and through...." Aegon said as he spat on the ground, "And you dare come and challenge me to a Trial by combat? You know what, fine! I'll accept! You're your own champion, are you not? Well, take a guess in who I'll choose as mine, Aerion!!!"
Sunfyre took a step forward and let out a vicious roar as he glared at Aerion, battle scars visible on his neck and belly. Aerion was unfazed by this, merely looked at the dragon before him.
"Hm..." He said as he panted
"Have you rested, Aerion?" Aegon asked, "I reckon you haven't. You are at your limit. There is no happy ending for you, you will forever accursed.....You will not rest, not even on the other side!!"
"Aegon!" Rhaenyra pleaded, "Enough, you've made your point! Stop th-"
"Shut up!!" Aegon shouted with a glare, "I'm not done here!!!"
Aerion looked at Rhaenyra and gave her a slight smile, "It's okay." He said softly as he looked at his son, Aegon, "Everything is going to be okay."
Sunfyre snarled at Rhaenyra, snapping his maw at her and Aegon, The Younger. Rhaenyra grabbed her son and stepped back, cautious of the dragon. Sunfyre then turned around and slowly crawled towards Aerion, towering over him.
"Hm...." Aerion said as he breathed deeply, "You've grown, haven't you, Sunfyre?"
"Bathe him in flames, Sunfyre!" Aegon commanded
It was this moment, right here, that the story of Aerion's death was based on. In the coming years, many versions of Aerion's death were spread throughout the realm, but the official one was that he died in dragonfire. After Aegon II Targaryen retook the city, with the aid of a mysterious force, he was challenged to a Trial by Combat by Aerion Targaryen in which the Usurper King accepted, commanding his dragon to be his champion. And the story says that Sunfyre unleashed his flames to bathe Aerion Targaryen, melting his armor into his flesh and killing him. Afterward, Rhaenyra was killed in front of Aegon, The Younger, who would be named King not too long after.
But that is not what happened.
Sunfyre opened his maw to unleash his flames, but Aerion had already jumped forwards and under his neck, rolling hard as the flames were unleashed.
"Agh!" Aerion yelled in pain as he immediately stood up and slashed Lamentation up at Sunfyre's neck, cutting through the scales, only slightly
The Golden Dragon stopped his flames and snapped his maw at Aerion, who dodged to the side and countered with a thrust from Lady Rhea, piercing the dragon in the snout slightly. Sunfyre immediately jerked back, blood being drawn as he let out a pained shriek.
"Sunfyre!" Aegon shouted, "He's but a man!! Kill him!!!"
Sunfyre tried to slam his wing on Aerion, but he had jumped away, rolling hard yet again and immediately stood back up, readying a stance. Sunfyre let out a roar as his maw began to glow brightly, about to breathe more flames.
It is incredibly foolish for a man to try to fight against a Dragon. They are ferocious creatures that have the physical strength to crush any human with ease, their flame breath is too hot that it reduces anything to ashes. Any men who've attempted to fight a dragon, even one that is Sunfyre's size, perhaps smaller, have died a fool's death.
But Aerion Targaryen is no ordinary man; he had already had his own fair of tussles against a certain black dragon. Whether it be the gods blessing him, keeping him from death, or it was his own skill, it mattered not. Aerion did not plan to die at the hands of a dragon.
And Aerion's Fate was never to die to a Dragon.
Sunfyre fired a quick burst of flames, which Aerion had anticipated and jumped to the side, landing on his feet. Sunfyre, an intelligent beast, foresaw this and immediately lunged at Aerion, opening his maw at him.
Aerion couldn't avoid the full-brunt of this, stepping to the side and feeling his left arm being ripped off by Sunfyre's maw.
"A-Aghh!!" He shouted in pain
"AERION!!" Rhaenyra shouted as she hugged Aegon, The Younger, covering his eyes with her forearm as she watched in horror
Lamentation dropped to the ground as Sunfyre spat out Aerion's arm, his valyrian-steel gauntlet and plating unfazed by the bite.
Aerion collapsed to his knee as he dropped Lady Rhea and clutched his wound, blood pouring out onto the ground as he panted heavily.
"It's over." Aegon, The Older said, a grim look on his face, "Surrender, Aerion. Even a man like you cannot defeat a Dragon. Any wrong move and it means death. And you....you've reached your limit long ago, your movement is sluggish, far more than mine."
Sunfyre snarled at Aerion, awaiting another command as he stood before him.
Aerion panted as he looked at the blood pouring from his arm, thinking back on all the blood he'd shed over the course of this war. To him, this was not that much blood, considering he filled the streets of Tumbleton with rivers of blood, belonging to those that opposed Rhaenyra. And it was that drive, that ambition, that fueled Aerion. To fight for her, the woman that he loved.
If he just gave up there and then, he was never worthy of what he had, he was not worthy of her, of his children.
He closed his eye as he took a deep breath, "Over?" He said, "You stupid, stupid, cousin of mine....do you even know me?" It's not over until I fucking say it is...."
He reached for Lady Rhea and grabbed it, clenching its handle tightly.
"Mother...." He thought to himself, "Please....forgive me....for failing you, your memory....but grant me the strength to protect the woman I love, the woman I'm willing to die for!"
"Devour him, Sunfyre!!" Aegon shouted
Sunfyre snarled and lunged his head at Aerion, who rolled away as the dragon bit the air where he was. Aerion immediately got up to his feet and thrust Lady Rhea into Sunfyre's eye, piercing it completely as boiling blood sprayed all over the place and Aerion, who grunted in pain due to the heat of the blood.
"A-Aghhh!!!!!!" Aerion said as he pushed his entire weight into the blade, pushing it all the way down to the dragon's skull, "DIEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!"
In a final spurt of strength, Aerion plunged Lady Rhea into Sunfyre's skull as the dragon let out a pained shriek that resounded through the air, the entire city able to hear it. Aegon, The Older stood there, shocked at this, his own dragon being felled by a single blade.
Sunfyre collapsed to the ground as he let out a final whimper, his body going limp.
Aerion stumbled back, "Ahh..." He said as he let go of Lady Rhea, which was still plunged inside Sunfyre, "I...."
He turned around and limped towards Rhaenyra and Aegon, the Younger, who stood there in shock.
"A-Aerion..." Rhaenyra said
Aegon, The Usurper, was too shocked to even react; he stood there, leaning on his cane as he saw the unmoving body of Sunfyre, the handle of Lady Rhea being the only thing visible, protruding from Sunfyre's bleeding eye, the bronze dragon engraved on the pommel was covered with blood.
It appears that on this day, Bronze was superior to Gold.
Aerion slipped on some blood and collapsed to his knee, "A-Ah...." He said as he clutched his bleeding arm, "Shit...."
Rhaenyra and her son ran up to him, "Aerion!!!" she exclaimed
"R-Rhaenyra..." Aerion looked up to her as she crouched down and hugged him, "I'm sorry....."
"Nonono, shut up!" She cried, tears flowing down her cheeks, "My love....Oh, Aerion..."
Aerion looked at her, who patted his cheeks, covered in blood, "I...." He said, "I've sinned, Rhaenyra....."
"Shut up...." Rhaenyra managed
"I'm sorry, it's my fault....our boys....." tears flowed from Aerion's eye and down his blood-soaked cheek, "T-They're...."
"No, it's not your fault." Rhaenyra sobbed, "V-Visenya.....our girls are safe.....she's in the North.....Rhea is with your family...our boys.....I....I don't know if Viserys is okay...."
Aerion looked at his son, who had a shocked look on his face, "My boy...." He said as he reached for him and stopped before touching him, his entire hand covered in blood, "I love you....."
The young boy did not know what to say or how to react, he was in complete shock. The sight of his father, missing an arm and covered in blood was not something any boy would want to experience.
Rhaenyra pulled him for a kiss, both their lips connecting as she hugged him tightly. This took him by surprise, unsure if he even deserved this. Rhaenyra didn't care, however, she had not seen her beloved ever since he flew out to war. She had wanted to do this for the entire time, worried sick about her husband.
Rhaenyra pulled away, most of her face smeared in Aerion's blood, and smiled, tears in her eyes, "I love you, Aerion...." She said, "I love you....I cannot imagine a world without you....sitting on the Iron Throne without you by my side is not worth it, my love. I don't care about my Father's choice...or Aegon's Dream....I want you.....I don't want anything else...."
"My love...." Aerion said weakly, "If that was the case, we should've left...and lived our lives peacefully.....but.....it came to this.....it is inevitable...Aegon's Dream...It's Truth..."
"I know...." Rhaenyra sobbed, "I know.....I'm sorry for everything.....it's my fault that you....for everything, Aerion! I'm so sorry!!"
"No..." Aerion said, "It's not your fault...."
Rhaenyra then pulled out a piece of black cloth, which was ripped off from a dress she'd had, not the red one she currently wore.
"T-This is the one from your favorite dress, my love..." Rhaenyra said with a chuckle, placing it on his hand, "You remember? Your favorite dress?"
Aerion smiled, "I do...." He said, "You are the most beautiful woman in the world and even more when you wear that one...."
Suddenly, to Aegon, The Older's surprise, Sunfyre's body jerked upwards as the dragon let out a weak rumble.
The Usurper had been stepping towards his dragon's body when the Golden Dragon suddenly woke up from his presumed death and weakly stood up, his maw opened and glowing weakly.
"H-He's alive?!" Aerion said with shock
"Momma!" Aegon, the Younger cried
Rhaenyra pushed him away, "Get back!" She exclaimed as he pushed Aerion away, causing him to collapse face-first
"R-Rhaenyra, don't!" Aerion yelled as he forced himself onto his arm
Sunfyre unleashed flames where Rhaenyra stood, a quick and weak burst, but enough to set the Queen ablaze completely.
"N-NOOO!!!" Aerion shouted as his eye widened in pure shock, "RHAENYRA!!!!"
"Momma!!" Aegon, The Younger cried out as he sat there, his eyes widened in shock
Rhaenyra slowly turned, her entire body aflame, only the outline of her body was visible through the flames.
"I....love.....you...." Her voice was faintly heard as she collapsed to the ground
As the flames burnt the flesh and cloth, Sunfyre let out a dying rumble before collapsing yet again, this time, the light leaving his unwounded eye.
Aegon, The Older, was in complete shock. He had not foreseen this.
"I...." He said as he limped towards Sunfyre, "Sunfyre?"
The Dragon was dead.
Aerion collapsed to the ground, tears flowing down his cheek as he wept, "N-No....." He sobbed, "Rhaenyra..."
"No....."