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Chapter 15 - Chapter 15

Valyria — Inner Capital District, Three Months Before the Doom

The capital of the Valyrian Freehold was a city of contradictions—beauty and terror, magic and madness. White marble towers pierced the clouds, their tips gilded in gold and dragonbone. Bridges carved from volcanic glass spanned rivers of molten fire, and beneath them, marketplaces thrived with trade in exotic beasts, blood spells, and enchanted relics. Slaves from a hundred cultures toiled under the shadow of dragons circling the sky like hungry gods.

Kaelarys moved through the city dressed in fine black robes, marked subtly with his family crest—Maegaron's three-headed serpent—though few noticed. He walked not like a noble, but like a shadow that chose to be seen. Behind him, Lyanna followed in a crimson silk cloak, hood up, face veiled. They were accompanied by Varyn and two silent slave-sentries with enchanted collars—loyal to death, immune to pain.

Their destination: the Hall of Magisters.

A circular monument at the center of the capital, it was older than most cities, older than any single family. Here, the dragonlords debated policies, traded secrets, and wielded their shared dominance like a sword over the world. Each of the forty noble houses had a seat—forty thrones carved from obsidian and rimmed in dragonfire enchantments. But Kaelarys did not come to debate.

He came to listen. And to choose his next target.

The council chamber was alive with arrogance.

House Rhaezan bickered with House Velghar over trade routes to Leng. House Vael and House Qoherys exchanged veiled threats over a magical vault recently unearthed in the Smoking Wastes. Kaelarys took a quiet seat on the outer ring, watching, listening, learning. He saw allies. He saw fools. He saw prey.

System Notice: Observation Mode EnabledSkill: Schemer's Sight (Rank I)

+10% Insight when listening to political discourse

Reveal: Hidden Intents (Low-Level Nobles)

Active Tags Detected: Greed, Lust, Fear, Arrogance

One particular argument caught his attention.

House Morghon—whose coastal holdings Kaelarys had already raided in secret—was accusing House Xhoan of sabotage. Neither realized the true culprit stood in the room, calmly sipping spiced wine.

"How interesting," Lyanna murmured beside him. "You've thrown a wolf among dragons, and now they tear at each other's throats."

"Let them bleed," Kaelarys said softly. "Each drop of suspicion makes it easier for us to vanish when the Doom comes."

He leaned in closer as House Baelar's emissary mentioned a recent expedition to the far ruins of Valysar. A temple was found—half-sunken in obsidian, guarded by strange wards that repelled even dragonfire. They believed it was the resting place of a lost dragonseed vault—a store of magically-enhanced dragon eggs that had failed to hatch centuries ago.

Kaelarys's eyes narrowed.

New Side Quest Available: Vault of the Black Flame

Objective: Retrieve dormant dragon eggs from the sunken Valysar vault

Reward: +2 Dragon Eggs, Ancient Blood Magic Codex, +1200 EXP

Risk: High – Vault is warded by unstable magical entities

Time-Limit: 3 Weeks

He dismissed the notification, hiding his smirk behind his goblet.

The Doom was coming—but until then, he would take everything Valyria had to offer. Every egg. Every artifact. Every secret.

Later that evening, Kaelarys returned to the Maegaron estate's subterranean sanctum. Azhakan awaited him, standing before a great obsidian basin filled with churning, glowing liquid—dragon blood diluted with sacred herbs and rare elixirs. This was the Binding Pool.

"The eggs stir," Azhakan said, his voice thick with tension. "The ritual nears its peak."

"How much longer?"

"A fortnight. Perhaps less. Once the moons align, we perform the Rite. The dragons will be born—and bound. To you."

Kaelarys looked to the three eggs. One shimmered red, another dark green, and the third pulsed with silver fire.

"Have the slaves completed the last circle?"

"They finished it at dawn."

"Good. Begin the wards. I leave for Valysar at midnight."

Three Days Later – Ruins of Valysar

The ancient city lay smothered beneath black ash, crumbling towers emerging like jagged bones from the volcanic rock. Kaelarys rode at the head of his expedition—thirty slaves, five battle-trained mercenaries, Lyanna, and Varyn. The Nightkiss had delivered them inland by river, its stealth enchantments intact.

Storm clouds rolled overhead, flashing purple.

"Something is wrong here," Lyanna said, peering at the horizon. "This place reeks of sorcery."

"Good," Kaelarys replied. "That means it hasn't been plundered yet."

They reached the sunken vault as lightning forked across the sky. The temple loomed—half-buried in cooled magma, warded with runes that flickered like dying stars.

Kaelarys stepped forward, activating Soulflame Sight.

Runes flared bright. Traps shimmered into view. Spectral guardians formed—wraiths made of shadow, faces frozen in silent screams.

"Break the seals," Kaelarys ordered. "We take the eggs. Burn the rest."

The battle was short, brutal.

Wraiths lunged. Mercenaries fell. Lyanna fought like a storm, daggers laced with fire venom. Varyn chanted burning wards. Kaelarys cleaved the central spirit in two, Draezhar drinking its essence like wine.

They reached the inner sanctum.

Two eggs—larger than the first three—lay on a pedestal surrounded by a ring of preserved bones. Their shells pulsed with faded but potent magic. Behind them, a codex floated in a stasis field, written in blood-infused crystal.

Quest Complete: Vault of the Black FlameRewards Gained: +2 Dragon Eggs (5 Total), Codex of Eldritch Bonding, +1200 EXPLevel Up: 10 → 11Skill Gained: Ritual Mastery (Rank I)Trait Gained: Flameborn – Increases affinity with fire-based magic and creatures

As they exited the vault, Kaelarys looked back once. The storm passed behind them like a curtain falling.

Five eggs. A blade born of soul and fire. An army in shadows. A fleet cloaked in silence. And now, a new codex of magic to unlock even deeper rituals.

The Doom will come, he thought. But I will not fall with Valyria.

He gripped Draezhar tighter.

I will rise from its ashes.

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