"Woohoo!"
Aemond cheered, waving his small hands as the wind howled around them. Aegon chuckled and reached over to tighten his brother's saddle straps.
"Easy there," he warned. "Don't get too excited. You'll have your own dragon soon enough, I promise."
Aemond's joy dimmed, worry creeping into his voice. "But what if… what if I can't tame the one you mentioned?"
"Silverwing," Aegon said. "She's gentle, almost motherly. She's never turned her fire on a Targaryen. Even if you can't claim her, it only means your true dragon is waiting for you elsewhere. Every rider has one."
Aemond pressed his lips together and nodded, though the unease lingered in his eyes. The brothers fell quiet then, save for the rush of the wind and the deep, rhythmic beating of Sunfyre's golden wings.
But then came a low, guttural hiss.
Sunfyre's body shuddered beneath them. The dragon's eyes darted about, pupils narrowing to slits as a nervous growl rumbled in its throat.
"What's wrong?" Aegon muttered, frowning. Sunfyre was barely eleven years old, yet already more than twenty-two meters from nose to tail twice the size of most dragons its age. Nothing in the skies of Westeros should have frightened him.
Unless...
The light dimmed.
A shadow swept across them, vast and all-consuming.
Aegon's stomach dropped. "Seven hells," he breathed, glancing upward. "Don't tell me-"
He didn't finish. Above the clouds loomed a monstrous silhouette, wings blotting out the sun.
"Hold tight!" he barked, even as Aemond went pale, clutching the saddle with trembling hands. The boy buried his face against Aegon's back.
Sunfyre roared and dived. The wind screamed past their ears as the golden dragon folded its wings, plummeting toward the sea.
Then came the answering roar, deeper, older and filled with hunger.
Out of the clouds burst a nightmare of wings and fire: a dragon black as night, eyes burning a sickly green.
"The Cannibal," Aegon spat. "Of all the cursed luck-!"
He'd read of it, the oldest and most savage of all the wild dragons of Dragonstone. It had fed on hatchlings and eggs for a century, earning its name by devouring its own kin.
Sunfyre twisted violently, wings snapping open just above the waves, leaving streaks of white spray behind them.
"Steady, boy. Easy now," Aegon murmured, feeling the dragon's muscles tremble beneath his palms. "Stay with me. Fly smart."
The Cannibal shrieked above them, plunging into pursuit.
Black and gold danced across the sky in a deadly chase.
Aegon realized at once what the beast was doing.
The Cannibal didn't rush; it shadowed them, its movements calculated, patient. It wanted Sunfyre exhausted, wings heavy, fire spent, before it struck.
"Clever bastard," Aegon muttered. "All right then… let's see who tires first."
He slowed Sunfyre's pace deliberately, letting the gap close, only for the black dragon to surge forward with a burst of speed. Aegon instantly urged Sunfyre upward, pulling away, then dropped back into a glide to conserve strength.
The pattern repeated again and again, advance, retreat, recover. Each time, Sunfyre matched its hunter move for move.
Eventually, the Cannibal faltered. This prey was not behaving as expected. It didn't panic or did any foolish flight. Only steady, controlled maneuvering.
The old wyrm snorted, disappointed. Too much effort for too little reward. There were softer meals to be found, hatchlings, eggs, perhaps even a stray she-dragon on Dragonstone's slopes.
With a final roar, the black dragon banked upward, climbing toward the clouds.
Aegon dared to breathe again, only for the heavens themselves to split open.
A shriek, sharp and furious, cut through the air. The clouds above them exploded in blue flame as another dragon descended, scales the color of moonlight, fire burning pale azure.
"Dreamfyre!" Aegon gasped. His blood ran cold.
"That's Sister's dragon!" Aemond cried, eyes shining. "She's come to save us!"
Before Aegon could reply, the two elder dragons collided.
Fire met fire, blue against green, and the sky itself seemed to burn. The shockwave rocked Sunfyre midair, nearly unseating the brothers. Dreamfyre's claws raked across the Cannibal's belly, leaving smoking trails, but the older beast twisted and spat flame in answer.
"Seven hells," Aegon cursed. "She'll get herself killed!"
"Let's help her!" Aemond cried.
Aegon tightened his brother's straps, pulling them both low in the saddle. His eyes narrowed, and he reached out with his mind. Sunfyre… now.
The bond flared to life. Dragon and rider became one.
Sunfyre roared and banked upward in a spiral, golden scales glinting in the sunlight as they rose toward the melee.
Two hundred meters closed in a heartbeat.
With a sudden burst of speed, Sunfyre struck from the flank, jaws snapping onto the Cannibal's neck. The younger dragon's teeth sank deep, blood spraying into the wind. Sunfyre's talons locked into the beast's flanks, driving home the attack.
The Cannibal bellowed in rage and pain, thrashing wildly. Dreamfyre recoiled just in time to avoid a torrent of green fire. Aegon felt the heat lick his armor even from afar.
"Let go!" he commanded through gritted teeth.
Sunfyre released, diving out of range as emerald flame seared the air above them. The black wyrm wheeled about, smoke pouring from its jaws, but it hesitated. It had survived centuries by cunning, not courage. And now, two dragons stood against it, both blooded and burning with fury.
With a low, guttural snarl, the Cannibal broke off.
It glared once at its foes, eyes like twin emerald lanterns, then turned and vanished into the cloudbanks, its roar fading into the distance.
Aegon exhaled shakily. "Gods be good…"
Dreamfyre circled above, wings laboring, smoke curling from the edges of her scales. Both she and Sunfyre bore bleeding wounds, though none seemed mortal.
"Had it chosen to fight to the death," Aegon murmured, "we might not have left the sky alive."
Below them, the sea glittered red with sunlight and dragonfire.
And for the first time, young Aemond Targaryen understood that to ride a dragon was not merely to fly... it was to dance upon death itself.
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A/N - If you're enjoying the start of this story, there are already 16 advance chapters waiting for you on my Patreon, and the first two are free! ⚓
Things are just starting to get interesting, so if you're curious about what's coming next, hop over and take a peek
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