the two-headed dragon (a. targaryen)

CHAPTER V

DROWNING.

Vaera was drowning.

It didn't make sense - she was a good swimmer. Her father practically dropped her in the Blackwater as soon as she could walk. Swimming was second nature to her; as easy as breathing.

So why was she drowning?

She parted her lips to take a gasp of air, but water flooded her lungs, salt burning through her body. She clawed at her neck and kicked her legs frantically, but the soaked fabric of her cloak only served to weigh her down, drawing her further into the icy depths.

She looked up and saw the moon, rippled by the surface of the water. Tears welled in her eyes, but they stung with the seafoam. Would this be the last thing she saw before she died? She wept for the people she would not get to say goodbye to. Mother, Father, Jace, Luke, Joffrey, Aemond.

A long, high-pitched cry pierced her ears, making her turn her head below her, facing the dark fate that awaited her. What she was met with, however, was a pair of serpentine eyes - a glowing violet, much like her mother's. They held a piercing gaze that seemed to look through Vaera's soul, inside and out. Somehow, though, Vaera did not feel intimidated by the gaze - part of her felt as if she were looking into the eyes of a dear, old friend.

The beast opened her great maw, and Vaera's eyes widened at the rows of deadly sharp teeth lining her deep blue snout. An orange ball of fire began to grow in the back of her throat, but she did not maim Vaera. Instead, the underwater dragon let out another cry that the girl recognized immediately.

It's you, thought Vaera, you've been the one calling to me this whole time.

The dragon closed her mouth and cooed, as if to say, yes, child. You finally answered.

The burning in Vaera's lungs became imperceptible as she took in the sheer beauty of the creature before her. Her midnight blue scales shimmered in the moonlight. A set of light blue, membrane-like fins lined her back and tail, which swished slowly through the water to keep her idle. She was large - bigger than The Bronze Fury, Vaera reckoned.

The dragon grumbled, and Vaera felt it shake her entire being. The water around her thrummed with energy. Up the dragon swam, bringing Vaera to her back. I claim you, she was saying. Do you choose me?

Vaera took a firm hold of a fin, a resounding yes.

The beast waited until Vaera was secure, and then with her tail, she propelled herself out of the water. Vaera began to cough violently as soon as she breached the surface, sea water spurting from her lips. Once her eyes adjusted to the night, she realized exactly what was happening: she was in the Blackwater Bay, floating on the back of a sea dragon. A sea dragon that she had claimed. One that claimed her in return.

She panted, and with a strong yet hoarse voice, commanded to her new mount, "Sōves." Fly.

The dragon needed no further instruction. She spread her wings, each one twice as big as her body. Water sprayed around them as she took to the sky. Vaera let out a shriek of thrill and delight, and her dragon roared back in kind as they climbed further and further in the sky. Dragonstone became smaller, until the Great Hall looked like the belly of a mere hatchling.

Because she was a wild dragon, Vaera had no saddle to secure her, so she held on to the dragon's fins for dear life as she dipped and swerved through the air. The dragon moved gracefully between the clouds, almost as if she were swimming. The air was thin, and chilled Vaera to the bone as her clothes were still wet, but she cared little of it. She was riding a dragon. Her own dragon.