The Conqueror's Brother

Chapter 2

The Cannibal was not used to making such long journeys. A great dragon he was, second oldest when compared to Balerion and growing every day. But he had spent all his life on Dragonstone, ate from the hatcheries and the seas. He had not flown too far from his lair, nor had he flown long distances for an extended period of time. So naturally, Maelor made multiple stops on his way to Valyria.

His first stop was at Myr, one of the free cities of western Essos on the east shore of the Sea of Myrth. Maelor landed Cannibal outside the walls of Myr, where the guards on duty panicked at the sight of him. When the conclave had come to confront Maelor about his intentions, the young Targaryen had assured them that he was just passing and was just resting his dragons and refreshing himself. The conclave was uneasy but let him rest up. Maelor couldn't blame them. Myr was one of the free cities, once part of The Old Ghis Empire and then colonized by Old Valyria. Seeing a dragon that large and a dragonrider with the blood of Valyria would not be comforting. Maybe it was why they had also been more than just diligent in hosting him. Maelor left the same night. The followers of R'hllor had surprisingly wanted the honour of feeding Cannibal. Maelor was unsure but Cannibal seemed to not mind it, so the Targaryen gave them his consent.

His next stop was at Volantis another one of the free cities. His reception here was of little to note. The older districts were protected by The Black Walls, inside of which were a large labyrinth of palaces, courtyards, towers, temples, cloisters, bridges, and cellars. The Walls were made of fused dragonstone built by the Valyrian Freehold about two hundred feet high. The people here welcomed him happily, awing at the sight of Cannibal who seemed to shy away from all the attention he got. He was not being hostile to the people, which was good. Maelor was hosted inside The Black Walls in what was called Old Volantis, Cannibal being rested in the giant courtyards that once were used to hold dragons no doubt. There were many of them, Maelor could see before he landed. But only a few were left as such. The rest were reduced in size to build over them. He was the guest of honour at the feast there and left the next day feeling better than before. He was a little surprised for sure, not expecting such welcomes by the people whose ancestors were surely enslaved by his ancestors at some point in the past. But he had seen enough people that looked like him t understand that the enslaved did not live behind the walls.

Valyria was once ruled by its dragonlords, led by two score rival houses that contested for power. But that was not all that made Valyria what it was. The Old Valyrians freely practised the dark arts and delved deep into the earth for secrets, creating unnatural chimaeras by twisting the flesh of beasts and men. It was a city of wonderment and the once capital of the Valyrian Freehold. But all of that was in ruin now. The once flourishing land was now a husk of its former glory. The topless towers that once could hold dragons were nothing more than crumbling structures now. From where he flew, Maelor saw little. Under him, Cannibal seemed to grow restless as well. He wanted to land somewhere and rest his wings. But everywhere they flew to, the ground was too unstable to make a landing.

"Land there" he spoke to Cannibal, tugging at Cannibal's horn and motioning to the open yard a few paces from them. Cannibal got the message and landed where Maelor wanted him to. His feet sank to the ground and he quickly pulled them out in a panic. Cannibal snorted and Maelor looked at his bonded dragon with a scowl. Then he looked at his feet with a frown. It was ash that his feet had sunk into. The ground was covered in ash and a pungent smell tackled his sense of smell after. It was odd, it had been a century since the Doom had fallen. What was still rotting here?

The yard they had landed in seemed to belong to some manse-like building, whose walls had come down and the walls that bordered it had also come down to merge the streets outside with the yard before it all was covered in ash. Cannibal seemed to settle in without any issues, already on his haunches and preparing to nap. Maelor rolled his eyes playfully at the dragon before walking into the broken-down manse. He found rotted furniture, decayed pictures and a few skeletons as well. But what caught his attention was the Valyrian Steel jewellery. There were necklaces, rings and even a tiara. He went out to grab one of the sacks he bought from Volantis and froze. Right before him stood a man, except he was not a man, not entirely. The lower half of his body was that of a goat, shaggy fur and all. The upper body was a man's but the face was a distorted one, melted in a way that only one eye remained, but that too visible only just a bit. Maelor froze at the sight and Cannibal's roar snapped him out of it. His dragon was restless, forcefully nudging Maelor to get on his back. The dragonrider did not need to be told twice. He scampered onto Cannibal's back and the dragon took flight immediately. The thing stood his ground and just watched, its lone eye following the dragon as it flew by.

"Seven fucks" Maelor swore and Cannibal roared. What even was that? How did it get there? Was this one of the horrors the dragonlords of old had created, a chimaera? If so then how is it still alive, after all this time? Maelor's mind was racing but he didn't have the time to collect all those thoughts, for in the next second he heard a familiar flapping of wings. Both he and Cannibal watched as a giant figure approached them faster than either of them was used to. The thing collided against them and Maelor had to do everything to hold on. Cannibal flapped his wings wildly to steady himself. Once the dragon was steady, he rose once more and Maelor got a better look at what had collided against them.

It was a dragon, but not one at the same time. Like the thing on the ground the dragon had melted skin all over its body, bones visible and wings torn so badly that Maelor couldn't believe it was even able to fly. Its eyes were completely black. No, its eyes weren't black, it had no eyes. Hollow sockets stared at him, jaws hung loose and something like black sludge seeped from its mouth.

The thing gave a shrill shriek and charged again. This time Cannibal was ready, weaving out of the way and flying away from it. The thing gave them chase, and it was fast. But unlike last time, Maelor had Cannibal make sharp turns at the right moment to dodge it. The momentum of it made it hard for the thing to turn and chase again. Maelor did not waste time on attacking the thing, nor did Cannibal have the will to attack. Both of them were too spooked to even consider that. After a moment of this cat and mouse game, the thing finally stopped, flapping its great torn wings to keep itself in the air. Maelor frowned at it watching it closely as it just stayed there, drooling the black ooze.

"Dracarys," the Targaryen said in a thick Valyrian accent. Cannibal's jaws opened and it let loose a stream of acid green and coal black flames. The thing was completely engulfed by it and soon it fell to the earth burning. Maelor watched it silently, waiting for it to do something, but it never rose again. The mass was now burning on the ground. Maelor frowned, clutching onto Cannibal's horns. It had stopped following them, even when they were so close. But why? Maelor looked at the burning mass before he noticed something.

"Cannibal we're going back in," he told his partner. The dragon gave him a look and Maelor met his gaze. The beast looked back forward and with a roar flew all the way back to that Manse. The thing from back then was still there, but it was not alone. More creatures had sprouted there, each one was more nightmarish than the other.

"Dracarys" Maelor commanded and Cannibal let loose another streak of green and black. The things shrieked as they burned. Maelor and Cannibal did not stop to see what had happened to them, they kept flying as Cannibal let loose its flames on the ground below it. Similar flapping noises were heard, the numbers being more than one. These weren't as fast as the previous one, but they were bigger in size. And each one was spewing forth flames that were pitch black. Maelor and Cannibal weaved through the streams, flying away from the incoming group of dragons. The flames they let loose singed Cannibal's wings and Maelor felt its heat a little too close one too many times. The things seemed to collect their flames and spewed them forward in the form of one combined large streak. The stream was right behind Maelor and Cannibal and it almost touched them, until it seemed to hit some invisible barrier and died. These dragons stopped as well and Maelor gave a triumphant grin.

"Valyria is your home. You're bound to it, outside it you are nothing" he declared and the dragons seemed to snarl in reply as if they understood what the man had said. He had a theory and it was right! Whatever had caused the Doom, had killed these dragons and all that lived in Valyria back then. They were all bound to Valyria now, forever stalking these lands but never being able to leave. Like ghosts haunting their homes. It was a little sad if he thought about it.

"Allow me to free you from your curses," Maelor said kindly, before instructing Cannibal to let loose another stream of green and black. The dragons all burned without struggle and fell to the ash-covered earth. Maelor urged his dragon forward and Cannibal flew in confidently, understanding what his rider had in mind previously. Maelor and Cannibal dropped down on a few more manses, Maelor collecting Valyrian Steel jewellery from inside in the extra bags he brought from Volantis, and Cannibal spewing flames if any of those creatures got too close before calling his rider back and taking to the sky again. No more dragons came, but the creatures came tenfold. Maelor and Cannibal were safe from them as long as they were in the skies.

They continued to do that, collecting jewellery, and weapons and burning the creatures until Maelor felt a tug. Cannibal also stopped and the both of them looked to the tallest tower with a blue glass dome at the top. A moment of unease passed before Maelor tugged Cannibal to move. The two continued to raid the houses, ignoring the tug they felt towards the tower.