Vermithor circled through the sky with a loud roar, with Silverwing and Dreamfyre following in his wake, their shadows gliding across the plain.
From high above, Baelon leaned forward in his saddle, narrowing his violet eyes as the broken shape of the city stretched beneath him.
To him, it seemed less a city and more a crown of shattered stone…like an uneven ring of rubble jutting from the earth like jagged teeth.
Whole blocks had collapsed into indistinguishable heaps, and only a few structures at the city's heart rose high enough to even pretend at being buildings.
Everything else was ruined.
Yet something in the centre caught Baelon's eye…something massive.
Even half-buried and long since collapsed, the structure's enormous footprint dwarfed everything around it.
Broken walls sprawled outward in a ring so wide he could scarcely follow it end to end.
A spark lit behind his eyes.
"Vermithor, tegot (land)!" He called.
The Bronze Fury folded his wings and began a steep descent, the wind shrieking around them.
Silverwing and Dreamfyre tucked close, spiralling down to the barren ground just outside the ruined walls.
The moment Vermithor landed, Baelon swung a leg over and jumped lightly to the soil. Dust puffed around his boots.
He reached up at once, running a firm hand along the dragon's warm snout. Vermithor rumbled, as a deep, contented vibration shivered through Baelon's palm.
"Umbās(Wait)," Baelon murmured.
The dragon blinked once in response as it settled down.
Baelon turned and jogged toward Dreamfyre just as Helaena slid forward on the saddle, preparing to dismount.
He caught her by the waist, steadying her as she slid down into his arms.
Her fingers latched onto his arm the instant her feet touched the ground, pulling him a step closer as she stared past him at the ruins.
Her eyes gleamed with wonder.
From here, the devastation was only more visible.
The main gate lay in a mangled heap; its twin towers had collapsed inward, forming piles of stone that spilt into the road.
Bushes sprouted from between the fallen blocks. The outer wall itself was pocked with gaps large enough to march entire riders through.
Still, excitement radiated from her grip, trembling with anticipation.
"This…" Helaena whispered. "This will be where we call home from now, right, Baelon?"
"Of course." He squeezed her hand and gently led her forward. "Don't mind what you see now. I chose this place for a reason. There are water sources everywhere, one river that flows all the way to the Bay of Tusks, another that feeds into the Sarne, and a lake not far to the south."
His voice gained strength as he spoke, fuelled by his certainty. "With water, with the materials we can salvage, and the herds roaming the Dothraki Sea, we will live here without trouble."
He looked over the rubble and saw not just for what it was, but for what it could be. These were the bones of a future home.
Helaena's smile widened. "Then let's go!"
They stepped beneath the crumbling gateway together, hand in hand, as two pairs of violet eyes opened themselves to the ghost of a long-dead city.
The road beyond was no true road anymore, only a path choked with fractured stones and thick moss.
Weeds sprouted in every gap, some reaching as high as Baelon's knee.
As they ventured deeper, Baelon recognised the truth he had seen from above.
Houses leaned at impossible angles, roofs caved in, and walls split apart by centuries of rain and wind.
The Dothraki had surely dealt the initial blow, yet the slow grinding of time was the true destroyer here.
Shattered fountains slumped in courtyards. Water seeped from some, pooling in stagnant puddles that carried the stink of disuse.
Trees had forced their way through homes, roots tearing up foundations to reach the light. Vines draped over broken doorways like tattered curtains, claiming every spared stone.
Bird nests perched in the branches and hanging ruins, though most had been abandoned the moment three dragons arrived roaring overhead.
Baelon swept his gaze across the destruction, not discouraged but entranced. He could almost see the city as it had been, the proud days when caravans from Valyria and Ghiscari travelled through these streets.
When scholars walked beneath carved arches, carrying scrolls to the grand library that had once held the collected knowledge of entire peoples.
A soft sigh escaped him as he recalled the library. It was the city's treasure. And his purpose.
His steps quickened.
'There it is.'
Baelon stopped at the base of an enormous ruin, the remains of the colossal structure he had seen from the sky.
The pale stone walls, once bright as polished bone, had faded into a weathered grey. Cracks ran across them like veins.
Entire sections had collapsed, burying intricate roof tiles beneath piles of rubble.
Still, despite its ruin, it commanded the city.
"What is that?" Helaena's soft voice came beside him, drawn toward the structure.
Awe coloured her every syllable.
"This city once went by the name Sallosh, though the Dothraki now call it Vaes Athjikhari," Baelon said, gesturing with his free hand. "It was one of the city-states the Sarnori founded along the Great River Sarne. But this place carried a title none of the others possessed."
His gaze lingered on the fallen colossus, reverence lingering in his tone.
"The City of Scholars."
Helaena blinked at him, then at the ruin again. "Scholars? So that is a library? Surely that alone wouldn't make you this excited." She paused, her eyes narrowing, a teasing bite slipping into her voice. "After all, you spent all those years in the Citadel."
"Yes." He gave a small nod, choosing to ignore her thinly veiled jab. "Normally, it wouldn't. Especially since most of the knowledge here would have been destroyed when the Dothraki sacked the city." His eyes glinted. "But do you remember what I told you earlier? The Sarnori lived side by side with many ancient nations, one of which included…"
"The Valyrian Freehold?"
Her head snapped toward him, expression shifting instantly. The awe she'd felt moments ago morphed into something else. A mixture of hope, hunger and even fervour.
Baelon couldn't blame her. Their progress in pyromancy had all but halted. Years of study and practice had yielded only incremental gains.
And he suspected the Sarnori had been tempted by this exact knowledge.
Valyrian magic was priceless, yes…but was also nearly unusable to outsiders.
Without dragon blood, most of their writings would appear nonsensical or deliberately misleading.
Thus, the Valyrians could trade scraps safely, scraps meaningless to most, but not to him and Helaena.
And if the Sarnori had ever managed to steal anything more…
Well, there was only one city in their entire kingdom capable of attempting to decipher such secrets.
Sallosh.
The City of Scholars.
"Then do we enter now?" Helaena asked, excitement flooding her voice.
Baelon responded by tapping a knuckle lightly against her forehead.
"Ow! Baelon!"
"Be steady, sister." He nodded toward the massive ruin. "Look at the size of it. That thing would put the Red Keep to shame. Digging through its rubble isn't something we can do in a day. It will take months."
He lifted his gaze, surveying the landscape around them. The shattered houses. The vines. The ruined fountains. The endless debris.
"Our most immediate concern is shelter. We can't sleep between our dragons forever."
"And then?" Helaena pressed, inching closer,
"Then we survey the city properly," Baelon continued. "Check for areas we can clear. Inspect the water sources. With all these rivers and the lake to the south, I'd be shocked if there weren't aqueducts beneath the streets."
He pointed toward the broken fountains they had passed. "After all, if they still leak, some part of the system must be intact."
"And then…?" she repeated, her voice hopeful.
"Then we work with those aqueducts. Reroute water through smaller channels across the city. Use it for cleaning, drinking, cooking, and eventually irrigation. With some soil preparation, we could grow crops here."
Helaena bit back a mournful sigh. "And then…?"
He paused just long enough for her to fidget.
"…Then," Baelon said, suppressing a smile, "we can explore the library."
Her entire face lit up, a childlike excitement in her gaze,
Thus, within the corpse of Sallosh, the two siblings continued their conversation as they walked deeper into a future uncertain, fragile, and entirely their own.