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The cold morning air blew past Jace’s face as it had done so many times before. Every time he took to the skies on Vermax, he couldn’t help but breathe in the air of freedom. Soaring high above the clouds, and looking down at the distant ground below him was something that could never be replicated. It was always with his family; he would find himself flying alongside. His brothers, his mother, his stepfather and grandmother. Whenever he took to dragon back, Jace felt the weight of the world evaporate off his shoulders entirely.
But right now was not one of those times.
Because beside him flew Seasmoke, not mounted by his father, but by his half-brother and most loyal fighter, Addam Velaryon.
Below them was the green-seized town of Tumbleton.
And within Tumbleton slept three traitorous turncloaks, and their dragons. Daeron, his uncle and his beautiful yet fierce dragon Tessarion. Ulf, the drunken fool and the mount he does not and will never deserve, Silverwing. And the worst of them all, the man who tried to proclaim himself king and turned his back on his mother alongside Ulf, Hugh and the monstrous Vermithor. The now largest dragon alive.
During the Battle of the Gullet, Jace had led the charge against the Triarchy in a desperate attempt to save his baby brother Viserys. His youngest brother, who was lost at sea. He still held out hope that he somehow survived. But he couldn’t focus on that right now, not with a war to win.
After the fall of Kingslanding, Jacaerys had taken Vermax and flown to the Riverlands to crush the green armies gathered there. He witnessed Criston Cole’s pathetic death and the crushing of the Lannister forces. All the while receiving reports on the situation surrounding his mother and the rest of the war.
Alongside Hugh and Ulf, Jace had flown to Tumbleton to crush the Hightower host and bring his uncle to heel or bring his mother his head. However, the very men he had given power and dragons to turned on him when the two worthless bastards thought themselves mightier than the crown. He and Vermax had barely escaped with their lives.
Hearing about the horrors of Tumbleton, Jace could only listen and watch on in horror. Merely weeks later, Daemon and Aemond, along with their dragons, were gone as well. Vhagar was gone; the only true challenge to the Blacks were the traitors that rested in Tumbleton. Soon, Jace and Addam reunited after his brother fled the capital, and although Jace wanted to return to Kingslanding as soon as possible, their priority was eliminating the last remnants of the Greens' forces.
Together, as brothers and dragon riders, the two flew all around the Riverlands, to castle after castle and were able to raise an army of 4,000 men. After only a matter of days, they were ready.
Before they launched their assault, Jace and Addam shared a drink, both brothers knowing that dawn could eventually bring their end. It felt good, this small moment of repreive before the absolute horror that was the battle to come.
They had to act fast. The greens possessed superior numbers in every regard, with both men and dragons alike. Vermithor and Silverwing were the true problem. If it were just Tessarion, they wouldn’t need to do this, but they had no choice. No chance could be taken against the two largest dragons alive.
Jace hated the idea of it, but he proposed the sneak attack. Kill the riders and the dragons before they can awaken.
The men all knew it was a suicide play, at least the ones that went after Vermithor and Silverwing. With Tessarion, they had a chance to succeed. They would emerge from the forest and attack on all sides. The men would attack the tents of the green soldiers after Jace and Addam had burned every last one of them, to kill any survivors. They weren’t taking prisoners today.
Every last green had to die. Jace was done showing any form of restraint. All of them were going to either lose their lives to the sword or Vermax’s flames. Either way, this was going to be a massacre like no other.
Soon enough, as the sun was just veering up on the horizon. Jace could see it. Tumbleton. And camped just outside of the walls of the town were hundreds of Hightower soldier tents. In the distance, even further back, he could see the two giant sleeping forms of Vermithor and Silverwing.
If Jace died today, at least he would be able to see Luke and Vis again. But, he was determined to fight. He wasn’t going to let himself die this day, not so long as he could help it.
As Vermax readied to begin the attack, Jace turned to Addam and the two locked eyes from their dragons. A silent acknowledgement passed between them. They were doing this. And they had each other's backs.
Jace gripped the reins of Vermax’s saddle tighter than before and leaned forward, readying his body for what was about to happen.
Both Vermax and Seasmoke flapped their giant wings one more time before dropping out of the sky and diving down right towards the enemy encampments.
“Dracarys Vermax.” Jace hissed. His anger and hatred pooled out into those two words, and Vermax resonated perfectly with that anger. He opened his mouth, and a torrent of green flames surged from his jaws, raining down upon the greens. Seasmoke did the same alongside him, silver grey coloured flames bathed the greens in fire and death.
Jace looked over and saw the Black army approaching the town from all sides. It was working. They could do this.
Vermax and Seasmoke repeated the dive nearly a dozen more times, until Jace heard the familiar roar of the Bronze Fury echo out across the battlefield. He looked over once more and saw Vermithor burning everything in sight, consumed by rage in a manner Jace had never seen before. They couldn’t kill him. He knew this was going to happen, and now likely hundreds of men were going to burn because of it.
He looked to the side and saw that Silverwing had started to fly away from the battle. Both Hugh and Ulf had to be dead. That was one problem taken care of. But now, they had to deal with a wild, insanely pissed-off Vermithor.
Jace heard a familiar cry and looked over to also see Tessarion ascend from the green encampment, and luckily, she was riderless as well. Meaning all three of the traitors were dead. But that was just the easy part.
He and Addam shared one last look before guiding their dragons in opposite directions. Seasmoke flew towards Tessarion, and the two chased each other high up into the sky, while Vermax barrelled towards Vermithor, who was starting to take to the air and continue to burn the now retreating men who were sent to kill him.
The two flew high up into the sky, right above the clouds, and in the distance, Jace could see Seasmoke and Tessarion fighting, or, well, more like dancing. It was beautiful. Likely the last beautiful thing he would ever get to see in this world.
Jace’s eyes hardened, his grip tightened even more on Vermax’s saddle, and he felt any doubt left in his mind completely fade away. They had to do this. If he died, so be it.
“Angōs Vermax,” Jace said, and Vermax’s speed somehow increased before diving down right towards the Bronze Fury.
The Bronze Fury vs The Ill-Tempered.
Grandfather vs Grandson.
Vermithor vs Vermax.
Vermax, although having been a bit bigger than Tessarion at the start of the war, thanks to being on the front lines and free to hunt and fly as he pleased, had grown to a much larger size than before the war and much closer to Seasmoke's size. Despite the overwhelming size difference. Vermax wasn’t afraid, and neither was Jace. They didn’t care about the monster before them. Both dragon and rider were now of the same mind.
Is this what Daemon felt like with Caraxes? Jace asked himself for a moment, but he didn’t get time to answer it.
As Vermithor had just scooped up a soldier who was trying to flee on horseback into his mouth and started to ascend higher into the sky, Vermax came shooting down from above and landed his legs right behind Vermithor's head. He dug his claws in and, using the momentum from his dive, Vermax swung his body around, down towards the ground, refusing to let go of his grandfather and pulling Vermithor down with him. As they fell together, Vermax moved his clawed feet to dig into either side of Vermithor's head.
The Bronze Fury roared in rage and tried to crush Vermax between his giant, gaping maw, but he couldn’t quite reach him. The instant before they hit the ground, Vermax angled his body so that Jace wouldn’t be crushed by the fall, and Jace clung onto his dragon as tight as he could. Vermax kept both him and Jace relatively unharmed from the fall, while Vermithor smashed his head into the ground and landed on his side, only for a moment, though, because he instantly flapped his wings and moved his body upright, and now towered over Vermax.
Vermithor roared in fury down at Vermax, and Vermax roared right back, not willing to stop now. Vermax barely dodged in time to avoid Vermithor chomping right through him.
Vermax blasted a torrent of flames right at Vermithor’s eyes, blinding him for only a moment, giving him enough of a chance to slip just quick enough out of the way before they both would have been crushed by the Bronze Fury. One of Vermithors talons were hooked onto Vermax's body for a moment, but Vermax powered through the pain and broke free from the Bronze Furys claw, the mark left a deep gash on his hind leg, but that didnt stop the Ill-Tempered.
Vermax tried to claw at Vermithors giant wing, but Vermithor moved out of the way before his attack could land. There was no use in fighting a beast this much bigger while being so close to the ground.
He immediately began flying high up into the sky, and the giant behemoth fell right for the bait. Vermax couldn’t bring him down, but if they could just start a free fall, the Bronze Fury couldn’t stop, not even he could survive that impact. Vhagar sure as hell didn’t.
Before Jace and Vermax could properly get away, a shadow would briefly loom over them both and Vermax would be violently yanked down. Vermithor had one of his talons hooked onto Vermax again.
Vermax screamed out in rage and tried to manouver himself so that he could twist free from the greater dragons grasp, but Vermithor wouldn't let go. The two began to fall towards the ground and Vermithor attempted to bathe Vermax and Jace in fire.
Jace pressed his body as flatly as he could against Vermax’s back as Vermithor’s fire nearly incinerated him, and it was solely thanks to Vermax blocking the fire that Jace even breathed another moment.
The two dragons fell towards the ground, with Vermax desperately flapping his wings to keep just out of Vermithor's reach. With his claw locked onto Vermax the two were spiralling out of the sky together.
Vermax didnt care about the monumental size difference, he unleashed as much dragon fire as possible against the older dragon while also using his spare claw to tear into as much of Vermithor's flesh as possible.
Vermithor went in to finish the job, and once again Vermax pushed forward with all his strength, breaking free from the larger dragons grasp. This left an even deeper and severe gash across Vermax's body, but Jace felt Vermax quite frankly didn't give a single care. He was devoted to bringing Vermithor down, and didn't care what wounds the Bronze Fury inflicted in the process.
The instance they broke free, Vermax flew as fast as his body would allow him, to get as high as possible. The momentum from the fall had sent Vermithor back down to the ground, but it wasn't enough. And now with the injury Vermax gained from their clash, he flew slower than he normally could.
For a moment, it sounded like Vermithor was getting closer again, but then, as they crashed through the thick clouds, for a moment, it seemed like he had vanished.
Tessarion and Seasmoke weren’t nearby either, and Jace thought he may have already died on dragon back without even knowing.
But then, from the corner of his eye, he saw the gaping jaws of Vermithor emerge from a giant cluster of clouds out of literal nowhere. Neither Jace nor Vermax had the time to react. He wasn’t dead now, but he was about to be.
The gods intended to take a Velaryon that day, but it certainly wasn’t Jace.
Seasmoke came shooting out from the side, intercepting Vermithor’s jaws, latching onto his neck and causing the two dragons to begin to free-fall.
Vermax immediately dove after them, and Jace watched as Seasmoke was overpowered. Vermithor was able to grab onto him with one of his claws and pull him off his neck. However, before he could finish the job, Tessarion would also come flying in from the side and tear a giant hole right through Vermithor's wing. Vermax wanted to have a piece of him and dove right in, taking Seasmoke’s spot on Vermithor’s neck and digging his jaw into the dragon's flesh as much as he could. His legs dug as deep as they could into Vermithors flesh.
Vermithor roared in agony. He tried to shake them off, to fly away, but the increasing number of holes in his wing that Tessarion tore open prevented him from doing that. He couldn’t escape; gravity had him.
However, Jace could only watch as Vermithor, in a blaze of fury, reached down, took Seasmoke’s neck in his jaws and ripped his head off. Jace looked over and saw that Vermithor had also latched onto Tessaryon with his other hind leg, intending to bring them all down with him. Vermax wasn’t going to let go, and a part of Jace almost didn’t want to. He wanted to die here. But Addam’s voice cut through all of it.
“JACE! GET OUT OF HERE NOW! SAVE YOURSELF!!!”
The ground was now rapidly approaching.
“NOT WITHOUT YOU!”
It was getting closer.
“I'M SORRY, BROTHER, BUT THIS IS WHERE MY STORY ENDS!”
Getting closer.
“NO! I’M NOT LEAVING YOU!”
Closer.
“LIVE BROTHER! LIVE TO SEE OUR QUEEN RULE VICTORIOUS! LET THE REALM KNOW I DIED FOR THE DRAGON QUEEN!”
Vermax pulled away just before Vermithor, Seasmoke and Tessarion crashed to the ground together. The entire town trembled from the impact. The shockwave from the fall blasted out across the surrounding area, trees were blown over and men were sent soaring through the air.
“ADDAM!!!!!!!!” Jace cried out as the bodies of the three dragons were engulfed in an explosion of flames.
The world seemed to stand still as the three dragons fell to the ground, and despite having known this battle would have potentially led to the end of their lives, it was still something Jace never wanted to happen.
He had lost another brother.
Another brother he couldn’t save.
Jace and Vermax descended from above and burned as many of the Hightower forces that remained. If Jace had to guess, at minimum, a few thousand of their men were now burned alive or slaughtered. That wasn't enough.
What made Jace land was the desperate screams of Tessarion. The fierce blue queen had survived the fall.
She was stumbling, barely able to fly. Her wings were horrifically burned, and she was screaming in agony each time she tried to move.
Tessarion saw Vermax and cried out for him specifically. Vermax dove down to meet her, and once Jace had hopped off his back, he slowly walked towards her, and she stumbled towards him before collapsing against him. The two weren’t mates, but they were siblings. Laid from the same clutch sixteen years ago. Despite having fought on the enemy side, Vermax was willing to offer her comfort in her darkest hour.
Her agonising cries ceased as the two leaned against each other. Jace watched the display, completely numbed to the world. All he felt was a searing pain all over his left arm.
“MY PRINCE!”
Jace turned and saw Benjicot Blackwood running towards him with other Rivermen. They met his gaze before looking down horrified at his arm, and when Jace looked where they were, he understood why. His arm was painfully burned, likely from Vermithor’s fire, and he had been too caught up in the battle to notice. Heat doesn’t bother him, not like false Targaryens. He burned, but any other man would have suffered third degree burns or worse. Like the Usurper. But Jace was not as fragile as that drunk.
“My prince, your arm-”
“Benjicot.” Jace said, his voice cold and almost detached.
“Y- yes, my prince?”
“Your bow. And three arrows, please.” Jace held out his hand and waited. It took a moment before the young Blackwood handed over his bow and three arrows.
Despite the burn across his arm, he powered through the pain as he drew the bow back with the three arrows locked and ready. Vermax met Jace’s gaze, and Jace met his. The two stared at each other for a long moment before Vermax huffed and pulled back. Tessarion opened her eyes and looked right at Jace. It wasn’t the fiery gaze of a dangerous beast, but the look of an animal broken beyond repair who just wanted the pain to end. Jace swallowed the bile that built in his throat as he felt tears slowly fall down his cheek.
“Ēdrugon, Tessarion.” (Sleep, Tessarion)
All three arrows landed right in her eye.
She struggled for a moment before collapsing to the ground, motionless. Dead.
As Jace mounted Vermax and flew over to the remains of Vermithor and Seasmoke, he climbed over the steaming hot corpses, brushing off and not caring about any burns he may suffer. Until he found Seasmoke’s saddle.
Until he found the body, his brother strapped into it.
All that remained of the Blacks most loyal fighter was a charred corpse.
Jace couldn’t find any more strength in himself to remove the body from its place, and the noble Black prince collapsed to his knees and pressed his forehead against the remains of Adam's corpse. He wasn’t going to sob and cry himself silly while the battle wasn’t fully done. But he had to mourn his brother.
This time at least, he had a body to say goodbye to.
Jace was joined in his grief by Silverwing, who returned to Tumbleton while Jace was still silently crying over Addam. He looked up and saw her carefully nudge at Vermithor’s limp head. He could see it in her eyes and hear it in her cries. The agony of grief.
She moved to nudge his wing three times before the reality set in. Her mate was dead. Both Silverwing and Vermax let out roars of absolute pain. He had told her to flee. He told her to run, to fly away to make sure she was safe, and now she returned to her one true mate, dead and gone.
Jace slowly stood from the dragon corpse pile and walked over to Silverwing. He eyes landed on him, and she slowly approached him. While his mother had been the one to bring out Vermithor during the sowing of the seeds, Jace had brought out Silverwing, so he was familiar with her.
He reached out his head, gently and carefully, towards her. Seemingly sensing his own grief, she pressed her head slowly against his open palm, and Jace got close enough to lean his head against hers, and she let him.
Pressed up against the widowed dragon, Jace felt everything he had just done crash into him,
In one battle alone, a third brother was dead because of him. Seasmoke, the last true remnant of his father, was dead. He killed Tessarion, Vermax’s own sibling. He likely killed his own uncle and took away Silverwing’s mate.
He had done his duty.
He had fought until he could no longer. Destroyed the greatest threat to his mother's reign, and he felt no true satisfaction in it. Just a cold emptiness settled in his chest.
Silverwing, despite her own pain, somehow resonated with Jace and whatever was happening in the pit of his suffering, reinvigorated Jace with a hunger for fire he had never felt before. He didn’t want to stop. He had already done too much.
He had to make sure this wretched world wouldn't take anything else from him.
By the Gods, it has already taken too much.