A Dance Of Scales And Shadows | Aemond Targaryen x OC

Part 34 - The Act Of Breathing Underwater

Aika's heart didn't have time to react before a bone-rattling crash occurred. She clung desperately to the dragon's body as the lake water enveloped them.

Once the shock passed, Aika quickly freed herself from the saddle and tried to open her eyes. With blurry vision, she saw Vhagar's silhouette, luckily not too far, and dived deeper toward it.

She used the nets on the dragon to locate the saddle and felt Aemond still chained to it. He wasn't moving at all, which nearly sent Aika into a panic, but there was no time for that.

Feeling like she would run out of air at any second, Aika unclasped the chains and hugged Aemond's body, trying to lift him to the surface. Was she making any progress, or were they sinking deeper? She wasn't sure. The water pressure felt suffocating now, but she swam upward one last time. Water flooded her nose, her body gave up, and she closed her eyes...

Suddenly, a long forgotten memory found her, of Aemond reading her a poem when they were little... It went something like: "Life is the minutes you want, minus one... Time always ends a second before you are ready."

Aika wanted a minute more with Aemond, she thought lastly as she hugged him harder in the water. Then she felt a surface beneath her, and within a second, they broke through the water and she took a deep breath.

The dragon brought them to the shore and Aika managed to lay Aemond on the ground. She silently put her head on his chest, and there she heard it: his heartbeat. Aika started doing chest compressions on him and breathed air into his lungs, just like she heard the maesters of the Citadel explaining.

Once Aemond started coughing she stopped, tears filling her eyes.

"Aika," he said silently, opening his eyes.

"Does it hurt anywhere? Tell me," she said, her hands hurriedly moving to inspect him.

"I think I just drank some lake water..." His eyes smiled as he moved his hand to stop Aika's.

Grunting and with Aika's help, Aemond sat up, leaning against a rock for support. Aika sat besides, still looking out for any wounds. Not long far from them the only remaining dragon rested, within smoke around it from all the dry grass that was burning.

"You cut your hair," he said suddenly.

"That's not important now," she said, voice still trembling, "I got so scared... I thought I lost you!"

Aemond pulled her trembling form into his embrace, the pain he had been feeling forgotten in that moment.

"Let's get away from here," he said to Aika, then looked at the black dragon...

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AN: I fear we are nearing the end of this story! The final chapter is up!