The Death of War

Chapter 21

We get to see what happened to Joffrey. Someone from the book makes an appearance and a very quick exit. I hope you guys like it. 🥰

Aemond cursed his brother's stupidity and followed after him. They had both been scouting the edge of the Riverlands and his brother had decided to go farther. He wanted to check part of Blackwater Bay and Crackclaw Point peninsula to make sure the blacks were not close. Of course, his brother had decided to do this the same day Daemon had been passing by with his daughter and Joffrey behind him and his brother had immediately given chase. As soon as Joffrey flew away from Daemon, while the man yelled at him, Aemond realized things had gone from bad to worse. Aegon was too much of a coward to go after Daemon, knowing that their uncle could kill him in his sleep, so he went after Joffrey.

Aemond cursed again when a dragon fire almost burnt Joffrey's head off, his dragon saving the boy at the last minute and he ordered Vhagar to fly higher. Vhagar flew until she was directly on top of the boy and his dragon. Aegon knew better than to allow Sunfyre to attack Vhagar, his dragon would kill the smaller one in a matter of seconds. Aegon laughed and directed his dragon under Joffrey. Aemond knew he did not have much time and forced Vhagar to fly a bit lower and to the left, making Joffrey move out of his way.

Aegon gave chase and he felt the need to stab his brother. Aemond urged Vhagar to give chase and found Aegon flying over trees, having lost sight of Joffrey and his dragon. He flew in the opposite direction and had Vhagar land close to the River. Joffrey had been smart, using the trees to hide, knowing that Vhagar and Sunfyre were not small enough to chase after him there. It reminded him of another situation where a boy had used a rock formation to hide from a larger dragon. Aemond shook his head and chased those thoughts away, this time it would end differently, he would make sure Joffrey survived this.

He followed the fresh footprints and noticed he couldn't see any belonging to Joffrey's dragon. The boy must have snatched him away somewhere to make sure he did not get her hurt or killed. Aemond made his way around the trees and noticed Joffrey standing close to the tree line. The boy was close to an opening and could be seen from the sky. Aemond heard Sunfyre and ran towards Joffrey wrapping one hand around his waist, trapping his hands against his side, and slapping his other hand over his mouth. He pulled him back, farther into the trees.

"Shhhh!" The boy stilled and Aemond turned him around so Joffrey would be able to see him. "Shut up before you get the both of us killed."

Joffrey's eyes widened and Aemond gave him a meaningful look until the boy nodded. He removed his hand carefully making sure Joffrey would not start screaming and took a step back.

"Now, I want you to follow me and stay right behind me." Joffrey frowned and Aemond gave him an annoyed look. "What? You want to stay here and die?"

"Why are you helping me?" Joffrey looked like someone had hit him over the head. "You hate us, you killed Luke."

"Yes, I am aware of what I did, I do not need you to recount it." They did not have time for this. "Look, my brother is trying to kill you and unless you want to be burned to a crisp or eaten you will stay quiet and follow me." Joffrey still looked unsure and Aemond let out a sigh. "I am sorry about the way I treated you and your brothers, but I am trying to save you now."

Joffrey looked so shocked it appeared like he can close to falling on his ass, but after a few seconds, he nodded. Aemond turned around and started walking towards the opposite end close to the river. That part of the river was also covered by trees and they moved along it, moving away from where they had last seen Aegon and Sunfyre. They had been walking for less than ten minutes when there was a thundering sound coming from behind them and Aemond looked back. His heart stopped and he saw Joffrey pale in fear when they realized Aegon had grown impatient and was setting that part of the forest on fire. Sunfyre's wings could be heard getting closer as an inferno of flames sped towards them.