𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐒 - 𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒊𝒂𝒇.

chapter one.

( FOURTEEN FIRES )
⟵ ◊ ⟶
chapter 1: love lost.

"THE Wroth of Winter," Vaella Paethorys could remember her brother Maegon saying years ago, when they'd spent time in the top of the tower of their keep. Always expressing sweet nothings and talking of their dreams. Maegon had always taken much pride in their house and it's words and was always the first to prove their power and worth. It would be such ambition that would bring him to his demise.

"Do you remember what that means?"

The longer she dwelled on the bitter-sweet memory, the more painful it was to recall.

"I suppose I do," she had replied playfully as she looked up at the glowing glass that made up the roof of the tower. Beautifully crafted craftsmanship that mirrored much of the capitals architecture.

They were young then, merely in their early teens yet the love that their father had intended for them to have had long begun to blossom into something deep and true. Even now, she wished dearly to return to that day when everything was just as it should be, to the time that Maegon was alive and well.

"It means our house stands unchallenged. For who would challenge us, the Paethorys? We are the dragons of winter, touched by the Shivering Sea in the north."

She could still remember the way he had smiled at her that day so many moons ago, his lilac eyes seemingly looking into her soul the way lovers do. She used to marvel at the thought of him, at how regal and valiant he was to her and how their love would be perfect once they were wed. They were supposed live alongside each other, appreciate life together, fly together.

From the young ages of two-and-ten, when their dragons had finally reached appropriate ages to carry riders, Maegon and Vaella could be found in the skies together more often than not. Maegon had been such a talented rider, always sure in his actions.

Until the fateful accident.

Maegon, with his deadly ambition and strive to honor their family, didn't turn down the opportunity to obtain glory for their house in the biggest race of the year. Maegon had known the dangers that might take him but participated anyway. The dangerous Spring Solstice race took his life in an aerial battle between dragons. The heir of House Gythmari hunted him from the beginning, she'd been told. And took him down without mercy.

Yet, as Vaella now watched his still figure be engulfed in brilliant blue dragon fire, the memories of her brother still swirled in her mind as if she weren't standing vigil at his funeral.

She could no longer feel joy at the thought of him and their love for one another as she used to. Instead, her sad gaze focused on the stream of roaring flames escaping the jaws of her father's colossal blue dragon, Gidrad, who stood near the pyre. The beast unleashed its fiery plumes that roared and seared the pyre that had been constructed for Maegon.

The embalmers that prepared him were instructed to make his body appear sleeping and peaceful, but Vaella could only imagine the mangled corpse that had plummeted from the heights of the sky and met the earth in the most unholy of ways.

The young woman's eyes followed the stream of blazing flames to the beast's massive head, where she looked with a saddened expression as the intense heat flared against her pale skin. She thought of Maegon's copper dragon, Kevlir, who perished gruesomely alongside him. The only saving grace that neither of them would be without the other.

Gidrad's plumes of flames finally extinguished as his jaws closed, giant head turning toward his rider as if to receive instruction.

Reluctantly, Vaella looked back to the pyre where the azure fire danced wildly, like a spirit. Maegon's form had all but incinerated in the searing flames, into nothingness. Vaella felt a twinge of heartbreak the longer she looked. She wanted to wail, weep, and let out the anguish of losing her lover. The reality of it all reminded her that nothing could be helped, and what was done was done. A charred scent wafted toward her, where she forced the sleeve of her dress to cover her lips and nose.