53

----

112 AC

Stepstones - Bloodstone

Craghas Drahar

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"This is what we have been preparing for, this is what our brothers in arms died for. We stop them here and kick them off our islands back into the sea to drown beneath the waves. We will litter the beach with their corpses and down there mighty beasts from the sky. This beach is fortified for our final stand with everything we will need to defeat our enemy." I try to ignite the spirit of the men who stand around me as we prepare for the final fight we have been readying for.

Myrish crossbowmen scattered on the rocks and Scorpions placed everywhere we could fit one with a crew for each. Barricades on the beach and men holding them with caves at their back to retreat into as they avoid dragon fire. Enough food and fresh water to survive for months and arrows and bolts stacked as high as a house.

"We kill them all and keep the shipping lanes, after that, we will take every last gold and woman that passes through to repay for our losses." The grave looks turn into steel as they prepare themselves for a better future once we win here.

Stay ready and keep your eyes on the skies as much as the horizon, we need horns blown the moment a dragon is spotted." We will kill the beast and pull the corpse off its back if they died from the fall, if not living is better as we serve as much pain onto the rider as his beast has my men.

I turn to head back into the cave to await the battles beginning, no scouts have returned as their ships likely sank or got captured. But we know they have all the islands except Bloodstone, the final fight begins here before we pull out a victory or die trying. I won't yield the islands we claimed with blood and held with even more blood, the shipping lanes belong to the Triarchy. Even if Lys falls it matters not so long as Myr and Tyrosh stand, we still have a chance to keep what we fought for.

----

Horns wake me from my dreams of the cave filling with water and my lungs filling along with them.

I rush up the path well traveled before I make it outside and see a wall of green flames covering the shore where the barricades were. I hear the distant shouting of men and the sound of a dragon's roar splits the air as a brown beast swops low. Its flames cover a part of the cliffs that had Scorpions and a lot of men but not a sound escapes the cliff.

"Hit those damn things!" I shout as I run over to a Scorpion resting by the cave entrance and I point up at a smaller dragon with grey scales and pink wings.

The iron bolt flies toward the beast but misses as the dragon dives to the ground and spews flames from its mouth onto the beach. I even see it snatch a man up with its back legs and sling him into the air as it flaps its wings to rise. Screams grow louder as men rush around fighting for their lives as the enemy's forces arrive.

I look up to the ridge wondering why the crossbowmen are not letting their bolts fill our enemies but am stunned by what I see. Men with odd-colored long bows letting their own arrows fly into the backs of my men. I spot a Martell sun and spear on the shoulder of one and realize we have been flanked.

"They are above us!" I shout before moving out of the way as arrows rain down, I turn to see some of the arrows even stuck into the rocks.

What kind of bows are they using?!

How did they get passed the flames that damn dragon just cut off the waters with?

I draw my blade as men rush up the paths to the caves with their armor covered in blood and their spears just as bloody. I stand with thirty others as we back into the cave keeping it choked off and not letting them approach as a few men use crossbows to keep them at bay.

We are stuck like rats in a hole as they sit at the mouth and prevent anyone from fleeing.

"We have to hold our position and wait for someone on the other side to regain ground. They can't come in without being filled with bolts and we can't get out without getting speared. We hold our ground and wait for reinforcements to take them from behind!" If they want to waste their time holding us in they certainly can, gives the rest of the men some relief to recover and kill as many as they can.

----

I don't know how long it has been but three men have tried to run out and got speared to death with their bodies rolling back into the cave. I can not even hear the sounds of those damn beasts burning anything anymore, not even the beat of their wings. It's oddly silent and it unnerves me, I refuse to believe they took us like cheap whore so quickly.

"What is that noise?" I hear someone ask and I close my eyes to listen.

I hear nothing other than some distant voices shouting and the sounds of waves hitting the beach.

Wait, how am I hearing the waves from this far away?

----

112 AC

Stepstones

Daeron Nymeros Martell

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Bathing the defenses they have set up on the beach with flames I almost chuckle at how they thought they would do anything against us. Wood and some stone tossed together for some makeshift walls are almost laughable versus a dragon. I expect they wanted to take shots at the dragons while they were distracted clearing the beach. But I went for the beach and the other two went for the antiair making my path clear of any spear-sized bolts whizzing by.

I then circled around and bent the water with the waves to slowly put out the dragon fire and pull what didn't go out into the sea to submerge it down beneath the water. Suffocating dragon fire is one of the best ways I have found to put it out quickly, and the ocean is a good source of water for the job. it also helps that as I pulled in the waves to crash against the burning defenses that I was speeding up the oar boats.

Men stormed the beach as my Dragons Teeth revealed themselves behind the enemies and took their position upon the cliffs. Raining arrows into the defender's backs and preventing many from retreating into the caves. The beach is red with blood and the rocks are getting their fair share of the enemy's red paint smearing upon them.

But the real magic starts when they are all in their caves like cornered little rats waiting to be slaughtered.

Like liquid death slowly rising from the beach and avoiding where the vast majority of my men are standing I pull the ocean. Sitting on Gaelithox as I do this cements it in my mind our bond is stronger than I ever gave it credit for as the water comes with ease. I noticed it a while back but my bending is stronger since I defeated him and laid my claim upon him. Now as I raise the ocean in the first very public show of 'water magic' I realize our bond fuels me and likely him in return.

I wonder how the Valyrians made something like this, it's spiritual almost.

"Stand back!" I shout and other men stationed around on high spots shout my words as well to make sure they are heard.

One by one the caves scattered on the cliffs slowly fill as the water rises like a slug and inches into the caves with life-like movements. Corpses are pulled with the water and blood stains it as the ocean I am calling upon with my bending heads to drown my enemies. I am sure it will be an eerie sight for the poor fools trapped in the caves. I don't doubt even some of my men will tell horror stories of 'Prince Daeron dancing like a fool on a dragon's back and the ocean rose to drown the Triarchy'.

The whole having to move part of bending has always bothered me, even if I can make do with small movements for some things. But to bend this much of the ocean... I look like a tribal dancer and it's only the fifth time I have ever tried to move this much. One of the others was taming my dragon and the rest were private shows on the beach alone.

Gaelithox climbs on the cliffs like a bat as I keep the water moving and he acts as a perfect partner in crime keeping me close and in sight of what I am doing. Large pockets of air explode out of the caves as they are fully submerged and all kinds of debris is shot. I even think I saw a man shot out like a missile onto the beach, a scream soon follows as an arrow pierces the man.

I will need to reward my Dragons Teeth well for all the spec ops like crawling around on the cliffs they did to steal the spots they took. Like assassins, they snuck behind enemy lines and killed their archers just to replace them. I could not be happier with their results and it makes me long for more bows to arm more men for the unit to grow.

But for now, I need to drown a few more caves.

----

"What was that?" I hear Corlys ask, he has likely noticed the ships moving much quicker than they should with his experience but he never knew who to ask and probably chalked it up to the god's favor.

But seeing the ocean rise is entirely different than your ships moving quicker than they should as I force them along every now and then.

"Blessing of Mother Rhoyne." I reply simply and the man's eyes go wide and his brows join together on his forehead.

"A blessing?" I nod at his exasperated tone and we both look toward the caves as water still runs out of a few in small streams. "A blessing." He mutters dryly almost making me chuckle if not for the fear lingering in his eyes.

"Don't worry Lord Corlys, I won't steal the title 'Lord of tides' just because I control the tides with my gift." I smile disarmingly at the man as he looks back at me with a complicated look and decides it's not worth further questions as of now with a defeated sigh.

I mean he will be my sibling's Good Father once they marry his kids, I don't want the man to fear me so I would rather joke about my powers. I am sure word will spread like a bad forest fire and before I even get back to Kingslanding to see my wife the whole city will know I am magic. Ignore the giant dragon as that can kind of be explained, moving water with magic is entirely different and people will see me as some kind of warlock.

Probably a good thing in the long run as people will fear me and my 'magic' but it is a double-edged sword. People will start to think I used magic on the King to get him to name his daughter, my wife, as his heir. It won't be an immediate thing but I can bet everything I own that one day that whisper will be circulating the Kingdoms. Especially if the King bangs a young hottie and gets a son off her, my magic will bite our team's ass at that point.

But to be honest, I don't really care as I can just beat in line anyone who steps out of line. Rhaenyra will be Queen and our kids will be King 'and' Queen after her. If someone has a problem with it they can get burnt and the problem will solve itself after a few charred corpses.