𝘦𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 - jacaerys velaryon

five

When Rhaenyra made the decision to leave King's Landing for Dragonstone, Evaelysse was brought along too. She soon found out that it was because Daemon had placed her in Rhaenyra's care when she first arrived in King's Landing.

Evaelysse remembered little of Dragonstone, however it seemed like her dragon was fully at home here. He had been released from the Dragonpit with Syrax, Seasmoke, Vermax and Arrax, and upon arrival, he flew across the Dragonmont and straight back to his lair.

Dragonstone was dark and gloomy for the most part, but Evaelysse felt more at home here than she had done in King's Landing. It reminded her of her father, and of Laena.

Evaelysse was given her own chambers, that overlooked the bay, which gave her the perfect view of everyone coming and going from the island. She oftentimes saw the dragons playing in the water, or her cousin riding Syrax. It filled her with a sense of longing, as she had waited years to ride her own dragon and still she had not.

Although Daemon had told her she wasn't allowed to ride her dragon without him around, Evaelysse hadn't often listened to him.

A couple of days after they arrived, Evaelysse, Jace and Luke all ventured down the other side of the Dragonmont, looking for their dragons. Jace and Luke hadn't yet ridden Vermax and Arrax, yet that was only because their dragons were smaller and younger, and had never bore the weight of a human before. Vermithor was different; he had been the mount of King Jaehaerys, and Evaelysse felt as though it was her right to ride Vermithor.

Vermax was a beautiful dragon with olive green scales and a red spine, not too different from Vhagar's colouring. He was a larger dragon than Arrax was, but still smaller than dragons such as Syrax or Caraxes. Arrax was pearly white, also had a red spine, and had his nose buried in the charcoaled remains of a sheep.

As the boys approached their dragons, Evaelysse wandered further down the Dragonmont to where Vermithor was sitting. He curled his lips back from his teeth when he saw her, as though her was trying to grin at her. Evaelysse smiled at him, patting the bronze scales by his wing.

It can't be that difficult, Evaelysse thought, as Vermithor snuffled his snout against her chest. As if he knew what she was thinking, he lowered himself down and pulled his wing back, allowing her a clear path to his saddle.

"You would allow me?" Evaelysse whispered. Vermithor just laid his head down, huffing slightly.

Evaelysse took a deep breath, and hooked her foot against one of his scales, pushing her body up to his wing. She grabbed onto one of the ropes that held his saddle in place, and pulled herself over the edge of his wing. She shakily stood up, and when Vermithor made no attempt to get rid of her, she approached his saddle.

The saddle was much too big for her, and she found she struggled to hold onto the sticks at the front that were used for steering, but she managed.

"Naejot, Vermithor." Evaelysse called out. The dragon lifted his head, and then the rest of his body. Evaelysse felt awkward sat in the too-large saddle, but still felt a rush of exhilaration as Vermithor began taking steps forward. Evaelysse had ridden both Caraxes and Vhagar before, but never without either her father or Laena behind her, and doing it alone was both terrifying and exciting at the same time.

"Sōvēs." Evaelysse commanded, and the huge dragon let out a loud roar. He then brought his wings up, Evaelysse was jolted forwards by the movement. Vermithor took a few more steps, before beating his wings hard, and taking off.

The exhilaration that Evaelysse had felt earlier was nothing compared to now. The wind whipped through her hair, wrapping its fingers through her braids, trying to untangle them. Vermithor roared again, and Evaelysse laughed out loud from pure shock and excitement.