Burn Together ❖ Daemon Targaryen

PROLOGUE

It was said that Targaryens were closer to gods than to men because their blood ran thick with the blood of dragons, and those Targaryens that bonded closest to dragons were said to have the thickest blood.

Rhaellanne Targaryen, had been born on the night of a full moon, an hour after her elder sister Rhaenyra, and were the only two children of King Viserys Targaryen I. 

Like all other Targaryens, Rhaellanne had been born with a dragon's egg in her cradle, but unlike her twin sister's, her egg had not hatched. Her father, King Viserys Targaryen I, and mother, Aemma Targaryen, had expected their youngest child to be sad or cry or angry, but all Rhaellanne had done was sit at her window in silence night after night

The Maesters grew worried for the young girl's condition, but no matter how many tests they performed there was nothing wrong with Rhaellanne, only apparently that she had no dragon.

Rhaellanne had been offered to claim one of the unclaimed dragons from their dragon pit, but the girl had refused, adamantly saying any dragon she rode would be one who chose her, not one being caged up and forced to bond.

But when the girl turned 6, on a night like any other, she was sitting beside her open window staring into the black night outside and from the distance she could hear a loud growl of a dragon. Rhaellanne immediately knew it was not a dragon that was normally around, having been familiar with every dragon in history, and it excited her deeply.

She grabbed a black cloak from her cupboard and swung it around her shoulders before tucking it over her head, covering her silver-white hair, and rushing to the tapestry at the back of her room, which she pushed aside and found a door behind. Rhaellanne had spent many nights exploring her castle's hidden passages to be able to leave without her father's permission and by now it was second nature to her.

So after a few minutes of the dark twists and turns of the passages she emerged outside of the Red Keep, standing on the grass fields surrounding King's Landing, and she stood still again. The growl of the unfamiliar dragon was coming from over the hill behind and Rhaellanne took off in the pursuit of it, her heart pounding with adrenaline.

When the small girl emerged at the crest of the hill, she froze with fear. The dragon she could hear was standing not far from her now, and she could hardly make out its night black scales against the dark sky, and could only really see its piercing red eyes, and Rhaellanne froze with fear.

The Cannibal was its nickname across the city because of the many stories told of this dragon's ravenous appetite, terrifying gaze, and threatening size. He was one of the oldest and biggest dragon's alive, behind only Vhagar, and compared to a six year old girl, he seemed like the largest creature alive

This dragon's reputation was not wrong either, for it's most known feat was being the dragon who killed other dragons, wild or not, alive or dead. When Balerion the Dread grew old and died, a lot of his flesh was quickly eaten by Cannibal. 

The Cannibal locked eyes with Rhaellanne and the young girl was terrified for her life, knowing it was too late to run or hide now. The Cannibal raised one of his feet and Rhaellanne was worried he was going to step on her, but he simply started to walk towards her, the ground shaking with each step he took

As he came closer and closer, Rhaellanne swallowed down her nerves and spoke "Māzigon [Come]". The Cannibal seemed to freeze in place and narrowed its large eyes at her, as if trying to understand who she was and what she wanted. Keeping a brave face on, Rhaellanne nervously raised a shaking arm upwards and outstretched it towards the huge beast"Māzigon"

A low growl came from the dragon and he took another step forward until the hard scales of his nose were brushing Rhaellane's hand, and she was sure that her heart was about to stop working out of fear. But what The Cannibal did next shocked her as he just rested his nose against her open hand and let out a purr-like sound.

Then he crouched lower, outstretching a wing to the ground and Rhaellanne beamed, before running around his side and hurrying to climb onto his wing and The Cannibal manoeuvred his wing upwards, to slide her onto his back. And once the young girl was safely holding onto his thick scales, The Cannibal pushed up into the air with one powerful push of his wings.

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King Viserys Targaryen I had been the one to tell his twin daughters about the harrowing stories of The Cannibal's appetite and his feasting on innocent people and animals he came across. He had seen The Cannibal once while on the back of Balerion, and despite Balerion having been larger, the blood dripping from The Cannibal's large teeth had made him infinitely more terrifying

He knew his children were rather young to have learned such dark things, and it was not a very lady-like discussion to have with them, but his twins had been obsessed with dragons since they were born. During their lessons with the Maesters, it was all they seemed to care about, which annoyed their mother endlessly, but Viserys was amused by it so when their lessons were over and he had taken them to bed, he told them these tales.

On a morning like any other, King Viserys had been sitting atop his throne, the Iron Throne, when he heard one of his Kingsguard knights roar "Cannibal!",

Quickly, the King sprinted from his seat, heart beginning to pound in his chest, and headed  towards the main marble staircase leading upstairs, where he found Rhaenyra running downstairs.

"The Cannibal has been sighted," he sighed "Where is your sister?"

"I do not know," replied Rhaenyra "She is not in her room or taking her classes"

Viserys paled with fear because he knew that if Rhaellanne was not sleeping or in lessons, she was always outside. A black shadow rushed past the castle, and panic began to ensue inside, and Viserys, followed by Rhaenyra, ran towards the castle doors in the hope of finding Rhaellanne nearby.

Suddenly then, to everyone's shock and horror, The Cannibal landed in the courtyard of the Red Keep and the knights and guards around bared their swords and weapons as the large beast roared. What no one expected then though, was for this vicious, cruel, beast to crouch down and extend a wing, and then for a six year old Rhaellanne to slide down his wing with a beam on her face.

And up on the second story balcony, overlooking the front courtyard stood Prince Daemon Targaryen, younger brother of the King, at 22 years of age. He grinned down at his niece, pride written all over his face, and she smiled back up at him.

And from that day forth, Rhaellanne and The Cannibal were inseperable.