A month later, ravens brought the grim news of King's Landing's fall. Tywin Lannister, Warden of the West, arrived at King's Landing with his army under the pretense of aiding the King. After tricking the city gates open, twenty thousand Westerlands soldiers poured into the city like a tide, engaging in widespread slaughter.
Deep within The Red Keep, Kingsguard Jaime Lannister's longsword pierced "The Mad King" Aerys from behind. This white-cloaked knight thus bore the infamous title of "Kingslayer."
Princess Elia Martell and Prince Aegon also did not escape their fate; they were killed by the Westerlands rebels during their escape. When the unrest subsided, their bodies were wrapped in Lannister banners by Duke Tywin and presented to Robert Baratheon.
When the grim news reached Dragonstone, Queen Rhaella was by the window, sewing clothes for the child she was about to bear. After the Maester reported the tragedy of King's Landing in a low voice, the silver needle in her hand suddenly fell to the ground, making a crisp sound on the flagstones.
"Aerys... Elia... Little Aegon..." She repeated these names over and over, her eyes gradually losing focus, her body swaying involuntarily. Viserys quickly stepped forward to support his mother, feeling her slender frame tremble slightly.
Fortunately, three-year-old Rhaenys didn't quite understand the meaning of death. But the solemn faces of everyone made her feel a little timid. Ashara gently pulled the little girl into her embrace, and Rhaenys immediately buried her face in Ashara's clothes, her small hands tightly clutching the soft fabric.
The entire hall was enveloped in a suffocating silence, broken only by the sound of waves crashing against the shore outside the window.
"We must prepare early," Viserys turned, his voice surprisingly calm. "Robert's fleet will soon come to Dragonstone."
Arthur gripped the hilt of "Dawn": "We can hold the high ground; Dragonstone's castle is easy to defend and difficult to attack."
"We can't hold it," Viserys interrupted him. "Our numbers are too few, and we don't have complete logistical supplies. Staying on an isolated island would only be waiting for death."
Arthur gazed at Viserys, secretly astonished. The calmness and foresight displayed by this child, not yet eight years old, made him momentarily see a shadow of Rhaegar from back then—the same wisdom, the same insight.
Just as they were arguing, Ser Alliser Thorne strode into the hall: "Your Highness, a fleet has been spotted outside the harbor!"
Everyone rushed to the castle's highest tower. On the gloomy sea horizon, hundreds of warships were breaking through the hazy mist, heading towards Dragonstone.
"It's the Dragonstone fleet," Jonothor Darry recognized the flagship's design. "They were deployed to blockade the ports of The Vale and The North before the war."
Soon, everyone also saw the fleet's banners, which were indeed the three-headed dragon banners. Perhaps they had received news of the royal army's defeat and were rushing back.
"Don't take it lightly," Viserys's gaze swept across the sea, deep in thought. "If Robert truly wants to wipe us out, he might very well forge banners to deceive us."
Viserys turned to Jonothor Darry: "Ser Jon, you are most familiar with Dragonstone. I trouble you to take a squad of soldiers to confirm if they are truly our fleet."
Ser Jon immediately accepted the order and quickly departed with a few soldiers.
He then looked at Arthur Dayne: "Ser Arthur, please order the garrison to prepare their defenses, just in case."
Arthur gave Viserys a deep look, then bowed solemnly and turned to deploy the defenses.
Viserys gazed at the distant fleet, pondering. According to the original timeline, the Dragonstone garrison only rebelled after the fleet was destroyed by the storm on the day Daenerys was born and after the Queen's death. However, with the current uncertain situation, it was always better to be cautious for his own life.
After a while, Ser Jon entered the castle with a middle-aged knight.
"Your Highness, this is the commander of the Dragonstone fleet, Ser Willem Darry."
Viserys paused slightly when he heard the name. So this was the person in the original story who escorted Viserys and his sister into exile in Essos. He had always thought it was the older Jonothor Darry; he could only blame the two for belonging to the same Darry family.
Ser Willem, standing before him, still had the salty tang of the sea on his armor, and his cloak was half-damp from the seawater, yet his eyes shone with resolute light.
"Ser Darry, it is truly gratifying to see your fleet return safely."
Ser Willem knelt on one knee, his voice resonant: "Your Highness, the Dragonstone fleet awaits your command."
Viserys pondered for a moment, "Ser Willem, normally I would allow you to rest. But the situation is critical right now, so I ask you to divide the fleet into three parts, taking turns on watch, to firmly blockade the waters around Dragonstone. At the same time, you must closely monitor the movements of the Stormlands fleet and the Lannister fleet, and also pay attention to the undecided fleets of the Arbor and the Iron Islands."
"As you command, Your Highness." With that, Willem turned and left to command the fleet.
I need to find an opportunity to go to Dragonmont.
The next morning, Viserys found Arthur Dayne in the reception hall.
"Ser Arthur, I ask you to accompany me to Dragonmont today."
"Why go to Dragonmont now?" Arthur frowned, a little puzzled. "It's safer to stay in the castle given the current situation."
"No, last night I had a dream. The prophecy in the dream guided me to Dragonmont; there is something of mine there, and it concerns the future of the Targaryen Family."
Viserys continued to mislead him, "You must have heard that some members of the Targaryen Family occasionally awaken a talent called 'Dreamwalker.' Our ancestors, back then, relied on the guidance of prophetic dreams to escape the Doom of Valyria. The Targaryen Family is in a difficult situation now, and I believe this is guidance from our ancestors."
In reality, his true purpose was just to retrieve "Blackfyre" and the two dragon eggs he had discovered shortly after arriving at Dragonstone. On his very first night on Dragonstone, he had already thoroughly searched the island using his Green Sight. The result was the discovery of two dragon egg fluctuations, both on Dragonmont.
After all, this was once a dragon-rearing ground for the Targaryen Family, and there used to be many wild dragons, so it was perfectly normal for there to be two undiscovered dragon eggs.
Because Arthur had recently felt that Viserys was somewhat unusual, he chose to trust him this once, taking dozens of guards with Viserys to Dragonmont.
Viserys led the group deep into a mountain cave, then pretended to find "Blackfyre," which he had hidden beforehand, in a concealed rock crevice. This valyrian steel sword gleamed with a dull luster.
"This is..." Arthur gasped.
Viserys feigned surprise, examining the sword blade: "Could it be the family's lost 'Blackfyre'?"
Arthur was truly shocked this time. It seemed Viserys really did possess some extraordinary talent, and a hint of respect entered his gaze as he looked at Viserys.
"The guidance of fate has not yet ended," Viserys said, leading the group deeper into the volcano. The deeper they went, the stronger the smell of sulfur, and the air became scorching. "It's too hot here, Your Highness, we should be careful of danger," Arthur said, wiping sweat from his forehead.
Viserys, however, was unmoved and continued forward. Turning a bend, a small pool of magma appeared before them, dark red lava flowing slowly in the pit, emitting suffocating heat waves. But Viserys felt no heat; from beginning to end, he only felt warmth.
"Your Highness!" Arthur rushed forward to stop him, but Viserys had already stretched out his hands and unhesitatingly plunged them into the scorching magma.
To everyone's horror, Viserys calmly retrieved two dragon eggs from the magma. The eggshells shimmered with a strange luster in the glow of the magma: one was deep red like blood, its surface rough, with crimson and dark gray spiral patterns tightly intertwined, creating a strong color contrast. The other had a bronze base color, covered with smoky, scorched-like dark green patches and patterns.
"True Dragons' blood fears no fire," Viserys stated calmly, his hands completely unharmed.
Arthur knelt on one knee, and the accompanying soldiers also knelt. At this moment, they felt as if ancient legends were being re-enacted before their eyes.
This was a True Dragon.
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