13 Fear cuts deeper than swords

Corlys looked at the pot with a mixture of concern and hope. It had never been tested as to whether wildfire would hurt a dragon; they were creatures of fire made flesh, in his heart he knew that it could work but he'd need to somehow get the pot in the creature's mouth. The Doom proved that even dragons can burn, but Corlys did not have the power of a fire mountain to call to his command, just this small pot of green liquid —old enough that a single spark would ignite it.

Corlys never imagined he'd find himself in a situation where he'd be trying to entice a dragon to eat him. That was the problem he found himself trying to figure out; nothing was stopping the Dragon from releasing a gout of fire and incinerating him, he would somehow have to entice the dragon to land or at the very least shoot it out of the sky. Corlys found himself laughing to himself "Even after a life full of adventure I never expected the last act of my life would be fighting an ancient dragon in the land of my ancestors."

After securing the wildfire to a pouch on his belt he moved carefully across the ship to the bow where a small ballista was located. It wouldn't take much to remove it from the ship, but he would need to take both if his plan was going to work. With his wife being a dragon rider he was familiar with the beasts and knew that while its scales were stronger than steel the membrane of its wing was vulnerable, and a crash from a great height could damage the wings beyond repair.

The problem with Corlys plan is that the dragon in question was of gargantuan proportions. The dragon was by far the largest he'd ever seen, perhaps twice the size of Balerion just before he died; he didn't think he would be able to cause enough damage to the membrane to be able to ground the dragon. "I have to do something, Vermax would be a useful companion to have right now," he said to himself as he packed the Ballistas in the rowing boat. After gathering a few more supplies Corlys jumped back into the boat and started rowing to shore thankful that he hadn't been discovered by the dragon yet.

*ROAR*

Corlys felt fear rise inside him as he heard the sound of what could only be a dragon. He started rowing faster to the shore, but his body was not what it used to be and his muscle ached as he rowed to shore and pulled the boat onto the dark sand. Corlys looked up as he felt the beat of wings blowing wind down on him; his fear was alleviated when instead of the massive abomination he expected to see it was the much smaller Vermax that landed on the sand. He saw Jace almost fall off his dragon as he ran towards him "Grandfather!" He shouted as he tripped on the sand. His body still hadn't recovered from behind unconscious for so long, so much strenuous activity was exhausting.

"Jace!" Corlys said as the first positive feelings he'd felt in a while started to surface. He rushed towards his grandson and helped him stand up "Are you well boy?" He said as he let him lean on him, though it seemed that Jace wasn't listening as he looked up at his Grandfather in a panic.

"Grandfather you can't go through with this stupid plan, I won't let you kill yourself, it's my fault you're here in the first place," Jace said desperately as he tried to stop his grandfather from sacrificing himself.

"Jace calm yourself!" Corlys said sternly trying to snap him out of his panic.

Jace breathed heavily but his grandfather's stern words managed to snap him out of his panic. "Jace I'm going to speak and you are going to listen," He said sternly as he looked at his grandson.

"You will go back and get Daella, you will wait for me to distract the dragon and you will leave this place and never return," Corlys said in an authoritative tone.

Corlys could see Jace's objection written all over his face, but before he could speak he grabbed him roughly by the face "Listen to me, boy! Think of everyone that is waiting for you back home, if you stay here you will die and you will never see any of them again, Helaena, Rhaenyra, Daemon, Laena. You will also be condemning Daella to death, so you will listen to me boy and you will leave this place once I have the Dragon's attention," Corlys commanded.

Jace felt tears pouring down his face as he listened to his grandfather's words. The guilt of everything that had happened weighed on him so heavily that he thought he might collapse, but he didn't know how to save everyone; his grandfather was right they couldn't leave while the Dragon still roamed the skies, there was no choice but for his Grandfather to stay behind.

Wiping his eyes he looked up at his grandfather "How are you going to distract him..." he said in a tone full of emotion.

Corlys patted the pouch on his belt "Wildfire if I can get it inside the beast then there's a possibility it might kill it, though there is no guarantee," he explained.

Jace nodded his head and then hugged his grandfather tightly as it would be the last time he'd ever see him. "Do not be sad for me Jace, I've lived a life full of adventure and I've loved a woman who gave her love in return, I have children and grandchildren, there is nothing more a man could ask for before he must depart this life," he said as he patted the young boy on his back.

"I'm sorry Grandfather, I'm sorry I brought us all to this place, I killed your whole crew for my own selfish desires," Jace cried out as he hugged his grandfather tightly. Corlys gave his grandson a rare smile as he rubbed his hand through his hair.

"I can rest knowing that you are what follows." He then pushed Jace back, his stern expression returning to his face. "Go now, we don't know when the dragon could return," he said sternly ushering Jace over to Vermax.

Jace climbed onto Vermax solemnly before turning around and looking at his Grandfather. "You once told me that a man is responsible for his actions and that a King is thrice as responsible, did you mean that?" Jace asked.

Corlys was confused by the line of questioning but nodded regardless "A man's actions can affect those around him but a kings can affect everyone, those words have held true since before the Targaryens ever set foot on Westeros."

"Then I'm Sorry for my actions, but I'll make it right..." Jace said with a resolute expression on his face.

Corlys was once again taken back, seeing such resolve on a boy only ten name days old was not something someone sees every day. "Sōvegon, Vermax! (Fly, Vermax!)" Jace commanded and Vermax pushed off the ground with his powerful legs flying up into the sky. Corlys frowned as he looked at Vermax take off with its rider, his hands drifted back down to his belt as he prepared himself for what he had to do only for a pit to form in his stomach. He looked down to double check and it was true; The pouch of wildfire was gone, and there was only one person who could've taken it.

"Jace!!!!" Corlys shouted with fear in his eyes as he stood helpless watching his grandson fly off to fight a creature that would no doubt kill him.

...

'I'm sorry Grandfather,' Jace thought as he heard Corlys panicked scream drift across the air. Vermax flapped his powerful wings higher and higher until both rider and dragon were soaring across the sky; Jace looked up to the dark clouds that were a common occurrence in Valyria and he felt a shiver run down his spine. He didn't know how he knew this, but he knew that the dragon was in the mass of dark clouds awaiting prey, why it hadn't attacked yet, Jace didn't know, but he wouldn't discount any good fortune on his side.

"Vermax, I am fortunate that I had a companion like you with me the moment I was born, thank you," Jace said solemnly as he placed his head against the dragon's scales. Jace didn't feel scared anymore, he had been so scared since he had come here, but knowing you're going to die is a quite liberating feeling.

"Are you ready?" He said to his companion.

*ROAR*

Vermax flapped his wings as they flew up into the dark clouds. Once they were inside it became a lot tougher to see, but Jace had an instinctual feeling as to where the abomination was, it was like a small thread connected them. If he concentrated harder then he could feel dozens upon dozens of more threads with the biggest one leading over to the large mountain outside of the city.

Jace held onto Vermax tightly as he watched bolts of lightning dance between the clouds. Vermax kept beating his swings but was disturbed by the environment, the young dragon could sense the presence of a much larger threat and yet it still roared in challenge. Jace felt his unease grow as he looked off into the distant cloud, his stomach began to tighten and he felt like he might throw up; his eyes then widened as he saw a colossal shadow illuminated by a bolt of lightning.

"Vermax Bē! (Vermax Up!)" Jace shouted as his dragon flapped his wings harder just in time for Jace to see the snarling expression of the abomination dragon. The abomination drew his head up and snapped at Vermax who had just barely avoided it; the dragon roared as its quarry had managed to get away from it and with a powerful beat of its wings it began to follow Jace up further into the sky. Jace looked back at the humongous dragon and couldn't help but laugh, it was big enough that Vermax could be its rider which was a ridiculous thought.

"Vermax Adere! (Vermax Faster!)" Jace commanded and his companion beat his wings even harder, but it couldn't compare with the colossal wing span of the ancient dragon beneath him. Jace's eyes widened as he saw the Dragon open its maw and light begin to emanate from its throat; Jace pulled back on Vermax roughly while he flew vertically, and the dragon allowed himself to fall backwards —in a manoeuvre, they'd practised dozens of times against cannibal. Vermax had flipped over and was now in a dive straight behind the dragon. Jace was nearly blinded by the light of the intense dragon fire that shot from the creature's mouth.

"Vermax Angogon! (Vermax Bite!)" Jace commanded with a smile on his face as Vermax extended his wings to slow his dive and as they passed the dragon slammed into the creature's colossal body causing it to roar.

"Dracarys!!!"

Vermax unleashes a torrent of flame on the creature's head though how effective it was Jace didn't know. Vermax gouged, bit, shot flames and scraped with his claws against the creature's neck. The colossal dragon stopped moving and allowed himself to fall; Jace had to hang on tightly as he hadn't connected himself to the saddle. The only thing that was stopping him from plummeting to his death was the strength in his arms —that still had yet to recover.

The ancient dragon started to five and as it did it spun which had the effect of flinging Vermax and Jace off its body and tumbling through the sky. Jace found himself thrown clear off Vermax as he started to plummet through the sky "VERMAX!!!!" Jace screamed as he exited the clouds and saw the ground coming up beneath him, but worse than that he saw the dragon regain its bearings. As Jace was considering whether this might be the end Vermax flew in underneath him in a dive and Jace managed to regain his seat back in the saddle.

Vermax stretched his wings and flew up to stop their descent. Jace looked forward to see that the abomination was stopping its descent as well but at a much slower pace due to its immense size; Jace knew that he wouldn't have another chance and spurred Vermax onwards towards the massive creature. As Vermax flew towards the abomination, Jace stood up on the saddle before grabbing a hold of the Ballista that he had mounted upon the saddle. The weapon of war was compact, but Jace could see that a lot of it was composed of Valyrian steel, though unfortunately, the bolts themselves were not, though they were still larger than Jace was stall.

There was one bolt that seemed to be connected to a long chain. Jace planned to shoot it into the dragon where we would slide over using his sword, this would give him the best opportunity to get the wildfire into the dragon's mouth and end the creature. As Vermax got close Jace aimed the ballista, the abomination was still reeling and slowing itself. Jace shot the ballista and watched the long bolt fire with great force towards the dragon.

*Ting*

Jace cursed in a way that would've made his mother cuff the side of his head as he watched the bolt fall harmlessly to the side not being able to penetrate the Dragons thick hide. Jace immediately began winding the chain back in, but he had to urge Vermax to fly as the ancient dragon had stopped his descent and started to gain height and go after Jace once again. It let out an earth-shaking roar as it released another torrent of flames, one that Vermax was only able to avoid because it manoeuvred behind one of the large towers in the city.

Vermax flew lower to the ground trying to maintain some sort of advantage over the dragon while Jace wrung the bolt back in. 'What the hells do I do now!' He thought to himself as he tried to think of a plan. He thought maybe to attach the the pot to the end of the bolt but immediately discounted it, he knew how volatile wildfire was and the pot could easily break before it ever entered the dragon's maw, but in the end, he may not have a choice.

That was until Jace's gaze drifted down to the ballista again —more importantly the chain. Drawing his sword out of his sheath he slashed a majority of the chain off only keeping a small amount. He could barely hold onto Vermax as he did this as the dragon was weaving between buildings keeping ahead of the abomination but only by a small margin. Jace turned and took control of Vermax forcing the dragon up and into the eye line of the large creature. Jace turned around and felt his body shiver as the large dragon looked at him with enraged eyes.

Jace saw the dragon try to breathe another torrent of fire, but he was already wrapping around one of the towers and then slowed Vermax down so that he was side by side with the dragon, but with a moderate amount of distance to them. Jace once again went onto the ballista before hesitating, what he was about to do was incredibly stupid and it gave him pause. He took a deep breath as he thought about Daella and his grandfather, about his mother and Helaena. Steadying his breath he aimed the ballista and fired, but just before he did he wrapped his arm around the shortened chain and was abruptly launched with the bolt through the air. "AHHHHHH!!!" Jace shouted in pain and fear, the force of the bolt being launched had managed to rip his shoulder out of its socket, at the apex of his height his hand abruptly let go of the chain and so with his good hand he drew his sword.

Jace felt the air leave his body as he slammed into the hard scales of the ancient dragon. He tumbled down the dragon's body roughly, he felt his heart sink and prayed that the container that held the wildfire hadn't smashed during his impact. Yelling out he stabbed Starfyre into the abomination which managed to easily pierce the scales, the dragon roared when Jace pierced its hide with his sword. 'I can't believe that worked...' he thought to himself as he tried to regain his breath, though his left arm did hang limply against his body which could make one wonder whether the plan did work well.

Jace could feel the abomination dragon get agitated as it started to move erratically, no longer focusing on Vermax. Jace, using his sword as a crutch stood up on the back of the dragon. Its back was so large that it didn't even take much effort to remain upright; Jace started to make his way up the dragon's back but as he did cracks in the scales started to open and monstrous wormlike creatures started to crawl out. Jace started to run as fast as he could —which wasn't fast at all— but he fell to the ground as he avoided the lunge of one of the creatures. He rolled back down the dragon only stopping himself by stabbing Starfyre into the dragon's hide once again; strangely the dragon roared in pain again as he stabbed Starfyre into its body which Jace found confusing. This wound would be like a prick of a dagger on his skin, so he didn't understand why it agonised the dragon.

Jace watched as thousands of creatures started pouring out of the cracks of the dragon's hide and towards him. In his desperate attempt to stand he managed to cut himself on his sword, he watched as the blood poured from his hand to the light blue blade, and once it soaked in the sword began to grow brighter and brighter, so much so that it nearly blinded Jace.

Jace held it in front of him and the creatures in front of him screeched as the piercing light penetrated the horde. These worms were creatures of darkness that burrowed inside to protect themselves from the light; Jace could only look on in awe as what he saw could only be described as pure starlight. As the creatures were scared back Jace heard a roar and looked up to see Vermax fly overhead unleashing a large gust of fire across the dragon's back. While the fire wouldn't hurt the creature the force displaced them and managed to create an opening for Jace.

Jace took it and desperately tried to run, though his atrophied body made it hard. He ran, jumped and moved across the creature's back as his sword warded off the creatures that made to infect him. Jace was getting closer to the head of the dragon and in his relief, he let his guard down, which was why he fell to the ground when something grabbed his leg.

Yelling in fear and kicking with all his might, he turned around and saw the visage of a man in Valyrian steel armour. Though calling him a man would be generous as he was little more than a burnt corpse; his upper half exposed to the elements while his lower half was sealed and seemed to have fused with the dragon.

*You think you can escape me!*

*I won't let you leave!*

*You are mine to take!*

*Accept your fate!*

"No!" Jace yelled as he whipped his sword in a sideways arc decapitating the fragile corpse. He then yanked his foot from its grip and began rushing to the front of the dragon, he saw Vermax continuously attacking the dragon, using his superior manoeuvrability to avoid its attacks. The dragon roared as Jace stabbed Starfyre into his neck, using it like a climbing pick to brace itself against the incline. Jace lamented the loss of his arm as it hung limply by its side, it would make this a lot more difficult.

Through sheer determination, blessings from the gods and whatever luck have had he managed to get to the head of the dragon. He just now needed to figure out how to get to the dragon's maw; Jace looked down at the city to discover that they had long since left it. The abomination seemed to ignore Vermax as it made its way to the mountain. 'That can't be good,' Jace thought to himself as he brought up the container of wildfire from his belt as he knelt against the dragon's skull. 'I need my arm back!' He thought to himself as he knew this manoeuvre would be impossible without it.

Standing up on shaky legs he thought back to his lessons with the maester and how he had seen his Uncle Daemon be treated for the same injury he was experiencing. The Maester pulled his arm and seemed to shove it backwards; unfortunately, he didn't have anyone to do that so he would have to do something else. Looking at one of the dragon's large horns he grits his teeth before running right at it. "AHHHHHHHH!" Jace cried out in pain as he felt his arm pop and snap into place.

It was extremely painful but he managed to get use of his left arm again. Getting a proper hold of the wildfire container he seriously doubted that it would be able to kill the dragon even if placed in its mouth. 'They breathe fire, surely that would be the most resistant place,' he thought to himself.

Jace had one other idea, if this didn't work then he would have nothing else. With the sword in one hand and the pot in the other Jace carefully walked to the edge of the dragon's skull. Taking a deep breath he jumped, as he jumped he spun around and with his sword, in a reversed grip he stabbed into the hide slowing his descent until he stopped just above the creature's massive eye. Jace cut his hand on the sword making it grow brighter and blinding the dragon in that eye; grabbing onto a jagged piece of its hide he pulled his sword out before thrusting it straight into the dragon's eye.

*Squelch*

Jace was nearly pushed off as a large amount of liquid burst forth soaking him. It was only by stabbing his sword into its hide that he was able to remain in its eye socket; Jace cut the membrane apart like butter as the Dragon roared and shook its head, but Vermax who sensed his master's danger once again landed on the creature's neck and began attacking viciously. Taking the opening Jace broke the wildfire container in the creature's eye socket letting the liquid fill the space.

Jace unlatched his sword and bravely jumped off "Vermax!!!" He screamed as he tried to summon his companion to catch him. The dragon pushed off the abomination's neck as Jace fell; once again his companion managed to stop him from falling to his death. Jace grabbed onto Vermax's neck like a lifeline, but quickly got back in his saddle where he flew back up to the abomination. Looking at the creature that had caused him such pain and terror ever since he arrived in Valyria, he only had one word to say to it.

"Dracarys!"

Vermax shot a plume of fire at the dragon's head, where they met with the wildfire that Jace as planted there.

*BOOM*

In a flash of green light, the liquid exploded and caused the dragon to scream in pain. Jace looked after covering his eyes to see the dragon's skull was massively deformed and was losing altitude; he looked on in pleasure as the screeching creature crashed into the side of the mountain —its body breaking across the sharp rocks.

After a minute the dragon's cries died down and there was only the sound of the wind rushing by his ears. "Hahahahahahhah!" Jace started to laugh manically as tears started flooding his face, his body couldn't stop shaking as he was flooded with happiness, disbelief, joy and relief at being alive. Such intense emotions ran through him that he didn't know how he should feel, but the fact he'd be able to see his family again was what ran predominately through his mind.

*RUMBLE*

Jace stopped laughing as the sound of the earth-shaking drew his attention. Jace looked down below to the mountain that he was circling and the relief that he felt soon started to fade away as the rumbling of the mountain kept on getting louder and louder.

*I SAID YOU WOULD NOT ESCAPE!!!"

*BOOM*

Jace's heart thumped in his chest as he heard the foul voice in the air. Then the mountain seemingly erupted, and Jace had to direct Vermax higher to avoid the molten rocks that had been launched up by the power of the eruption.

*SCREECH*

Jace looked down and saw a large dark grey creature with no arms or legs emerge from the opening at the top of the mountain; the creature itself was colossal, it made the dragon he had just faced look like a young dragon. Jace's breath hitched as he saw its maw open and a large mouth full of razor-sharp teeth that encircled the entirety of its mouth was revealed.

"Firewyrm..." Jace said to himself as he looked at the colossal creature that was large enough to be able to nearly reach Vermax who was flying high already. While the creature had no limbs, it had a vast amount of small tentacle-like appendages that ran down its body like hair.

*You are my freedom, you will never leave here*

Jace looked to where the voice echoed and after narrowing his eyes he saw an inhuman creature fused to the top of the Firewyrm. Jace immediately turned Vermax around and attempted to leave but tentacles shot from the Firewyrm which forced Vermax to engage in evasive actions that ended up bringing him close to the Firewyrm.

*SCREECH*

Molten rocks and magma shot out of the Firewyrm maw and towards Vermax. Jace could do nothing but avoid the rocks and liquid that started to barely avoid him and his dragon. His fists tightened against his saddle as his frustration grew, he had come so close to leaving, so close to going home, but now he was going to die.

'At least Corlys and Daella have a chance now...' he thought to himself as he began to accept his fate.

*ROAR*

*ROAR*

Jace who was about to lay in his saddle and await his fate was snapped out of it by the sounds of two roars coming away from the mountain. He whipped his head around and his eyes widened, a colossal green dragon joined by a smaller red one broke through the clouds and released two massive torrents of fire the heat of which managed to burn through the tentacles and give Jace some breathing room. Jace couldn't help the smile that appeared on his face.

Vhagar and Caraxes were here.

(AN: Wooo we are close boys, next chapter is the last of the arc before we go back into more canonish stuff. I feel like this arc has been good for maturing Jace. But it's time to end it and it'll end with three dragons fighting a Queen Firewyrm. I hope you enjoyed the chapter.)

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