2 The Ruins of Stygai and A Game Beginning (Prologue II)
~~~(POV: Raenon Targaryen)~~~
~~~(Current Age: 12 Years)~~~
~~~(Location: The Shadow Lands, Essos)~~~
~~~(Date: 296 AC)~~~
Following the riverbank, the last 6 days haven't been the easiest. Having to stop and hunt for food every day made it even harder. The Black Sword... The Fate Breaker... It's come in handy far more than I would've thought.
At the simple desire for it to appear, it does. Bursting forth in red light and black smoke from my right palm. I've never seen another sword before, so I don't know how to describe this one.
I've learned that it has the ability to channel my Red Fire and make it more powerful. However, wielding a sword has shown me that I need to learn how to fight with it. I've been using every chance I can against the monsters and beasts that attack me.
And I'm slowly getting the hang of it.
But beyond that point, The Black Egg I've been carrying with me has slowly been getting warmer as the days go by. It's a subtle change, but I can feel it. Whatever is inside, I feel a connection with it. One that I've never felt in my life before.
My eyes are taken off The Black Egg, and I look ahead of the riverbank for the 100th time this trip. My bare body has taken a harsh beating from the weather, but those thoughts are ripped from my mind.
For what I see are tall and broken stone structures. I start running now that I'm within view of something. As I reach what I assume is The City of Night, all that greets me is empty ruins.
But this is a sign. Monsters and beasts couldn't build something like this. They're not capable. Meaning something other than monsters and beasts made this place.
Others like me.
Humans.
As I walk down a path in the ruins of this place, I see that some of the buildings are better intact. I enter one, and I look around. There isn't much left, but I eventually find a wooden container.
I open it, and there are things I've never seen before. I lift the one on top out first, and it's soft. It has one large hole at the bottom and three smaller holes at the top. I shove my head through the bottom, and I eventually get whatever this is on.
It covers my chest, stomach, back, and arms. I take the rest of the things out of the box and start to put them on me too. It takes a couple of tries, but I eventually get everything on me. My feet are now wrapped in nice padding too.
All of a sudden, a word enters my mind. It's to describe what I have on my body.
They're clothes. That's what they're called.
I don't know why I just know things. It's always been that way. I take another look at the wooden container, and the word for it enters my head. This is called a box.
"The Whispering Voice didn't lie... There are others like me. Other humans... At least, there were at one point..."
All I know about myself is my name. I don't know more than that. No matter how much I want to. Knowing more about myself doesn't work the same way as when I want to know other things.
Knowing that the things I wear are called clothes, and what I got them out of is called a box. It just happens with no explanation. But when I want to know more about myself, I get nothing.
I take a seat on the edge of the canal running through the ruined city. The same river that's called The Ash River. Since it's led me to The City of Night, this is what the river is called. According to The Whispering Voice.
"Since there is nothing here, I guess I'm supposed to keep following The Ash River. But now I know there are lands and a world beyond what I've come to know."
Looks like I'll be following The Ash River to wherever it leads next.
~~~(POV: Daenerys Targaryen)~~~
~~~(Current Age: 12 Years)~~~
~~~(Location: Free City of Volantis, Essos)~~~
~~~(Date: 296 AC)~~~
Viserys has been gone for days at a time lately... He doesn't tell me what he's been up to, and I'm starting to worry about him. He's grown distant and has a look in his eyes whenever he returns. He doesn't talk to me anymore... Not really...
Volantis has been our home for the last couple of years. But the way Viserys is acting, we'll probably have to move again. I don't know where and I don't know when.
Most of my time is occupied learning High Valyrian, the mother tongue of our house. It hasn't been easy, but I'm starting to get the hang of it. I've asked Viserys many times about our family, but he doesn't tell me much.
Only that our father was slain and a Usurper sits on The Iron Throne. He's only talked about our mother a few times, and he's never spent much time doing so. It's like he doesn't even care anymore... About our family...
We have another sibling... My fraternal twin brother... Raenon Targaryen... But we were separated at birth. Viserys and I left for Essos, and Raenon went somewhere west. Viserys doesn't know where.
I've never known my twin brother... I wonder what he's like... If he's still alive...
~~~(POV: Raenon Targaryen)~~~
~~~(Current Age: 12 Years)~~~
~~~(Location: Following The Ash River, Essos)~~~
~~~(Date: 296 AC)~~~
"RAAHHH!!"
Fate Breaker easily cuts through the monster attacking me. The Red Fire that I use channels through the sword and kills my foe quickly. I take a seat on a log and suck in some deep breaths. I look at The Black Egg and see it's perfectly safe where I placed it.
The monster should've gone for an ambush. It might've stood a chance. But so many years living in that place makes it hard for predators to sneak up on me.
My clothes have kept me warm, and The Black Egg has started to heat up at an alarming rate these last 2 weeks. I've never had a big problem with the cold, but it's nice to have something to wear and something to hold that's warm.
My weapon disappears into my right palm at my desire for it to do so, and I walk over and pick up The Black Egg. Whatever is growing inside, it won't be long until it's born.
"I suppose it's time I kept on moving."
The Ash River has led me to places that don't look anything like where I grew up, and The Whispering Voice wasn't deceiving me or trying to trick me. It's told the truth. Which has started to make me wonder what destiny it's talking about.
Maybe one day, I'll find out.
~~~(POV: Robert Baratheon)~~~
~~~(Current Age: 34 Years)~~~
~~~(Location: Kings Landing, The Red Keep, Westeros)~~~
~~~(Date: 296 AC)~~~
Cersei has been bothering me about Joffrey for some time now. Saying that I need to spend more time with the boy, and impart what I know to him. But I don't have time for that. Tywin has been up to something, but I don't know what.
All of a sudden, a knock on my door takes me from my thoughts. And I'm informed that Varys is here, wishing to speak with me. As my Master of Whispers, I should talk to him at least once in a while.
After giving permission to let him in, the eunuch walks in and looks as he always does.
"Your Grace, it's good to see you."
Varys is a man that loves to dance around words and topics. I'm not one of those, and I rather dislike The Spider. Always scheming something. You can never fully trust a schemer.
"Get to the point, Varys. I'm in no mood for a roundabout discussion."
He has the same knowing grin that he always does. One thing I respect about Varys is he doesn't care how he's talked to. But if he were a nobleman, that'd be entirely different. But he's just a eunuch.
"My little birds have been chipping, Your Grace. In Essos."
Now that gains my attention. That's where two of the three Targaryen children went. Little dragons. Raenon Targaryen is likely dead. Varys doesn't know what happened to the baby after leaving Dragonstone.
"Viserys Targaryen has been trying to find supporters for his claim to The Iron Throne. No one has given him the time of day, but he's trying to find allies."
This isn't good. The last thing I need or want is another Targaryen in Westeros. Let alone ruling it.
"I want you to send word to the best assassins you know, Varys. I want both Viserys and Daenerys Targaryen dead."
He raises an eyebrow at how commanding I sound, and I must hold my rage in at such a look. He bows his head lightly and leaves me to the solitude of my chambers.
"I need to send a Raven to Ned."
Eddard Stark is someone I can trust in this Game of Thrones. I don't want to speak to anyone about this before I speak with him.
