Part 1: the dance of the dragons
A Record of the Events of the Dance of the Dragons after the Death of Prince Daemon
Recorded by Maester Cerran of the Citadel, based on accounts from court maesters, lords, and eyewitnesses.
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1. The Void Left by Daemon and the Rise of the Ice Queen
The death of Prince Daemon Targaryen, occurring under supernatural circumstances at the hands of King Theon Stark, created a leadership vacuum among the Blacks. The Greens, led by Otto Hightower, attempted to capitalize on this moment of weakness, spreading propaganda that the rival faction was crumbling. However, they gravely underestimated the resilience of Rhaenyra Targaryen and, crucially, the power of the alliance she had forged with the North.
Queen Gael Targaryen, wife of Theon Stark, emerged from her husband's shadow to become the new sword of the Blacks. Her dragon, Silverwing, once a creature of modest size, had grown to rival the ancient Vhagar in size and wingspan. Unlike Aemond's dragon, however, Silverwing was a force in its prime, unaffected by the sluggishness of age, its silver scales gleaming with a cold, threatening light.
While wavering lords from the Riverlands and the Crownlands, fearful of the Greens' growing power or skeptical of the Blacks' survival, defected to Aegon II's side, the numerical advantage mattered little. The war would not be decided solely by ambitious lords, but by a primordial force brought from the North: the Black Guard, silent, hooded warriors in dark steel armor with shimmering runes, and the four-meter-tall giants, who carried axes capable of shattering castle gates. These "shadows with axes," as they were nicknamed by terrified Green soldiers, became the terror of the battlefields, decimating enemy lines with brutal efficiency.
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2. The Battle at the Pits of the Graces: Carnage in the Skies
The first major dragon clash of the war occurred at the Pits of the Graces. The Greens, seeking a decisive blow, sent Aegon II astride Sunfyre and Aemond on Vhagar. To face them, the Blacks had the experienced Rhaenys Targaryen on Meleys, the "Red Queen." The battle was already fierce when the skies were torn by a new roar—Gael and Silverwing joined the fray, shifting the balance of power.
The confrontation was an epic carnage. Rhaenys, with the fierce courage that defined her, charged at Sunfyre, inflicting serious wounds on the golden dragon with her claws and flames. However, she was caught off guard by a lateral attack from Vhagar. The ancient dragon, despite its slowness, still possessed devastating power. Meleys was struck down, and the "Queen Who Never Was" perished alongside her loyal companion, a catastrophic loss for the Blacks.
Yet, the price of victory for the Greens was exorbitant. Gael and Silverwing, free to confront Vhagar, engaged Aemond and his mount in a hallucinatory duel. Silverwing, more agile, delivered deep blows to Vhagar's wing membranes, while Sunfyre, already seriously wounded, could barely stay aloft. When the dust settled, Sunfyre had a wing nearly torn off and Vhagar bled profusely from multiple wounds. Both were incapacitated for combat for many months. With Dreamfyre of Helaena being the only Green dragon fit to fight, and the queen not being a warrior, the Greens' draconic advantage evaporated.
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3. The Capture of King's Landing and the Shadow of Betrayal
Taking advantage of Vhagar and Sunfyre's incapacity, Rhaenyra moved swiftly. She gathered the "Dragonseeds"—Targaryen bastards with the ability to tame the remaining dragons. Addam Velaryon claimed Seasmoke, Nettles won over the wild Sheepstealer with patience and sheep, and the dangerous Hugh Hammer became the rider of the massive Vermithor.
With this new generation of dragonriders and supported by the overwhelming force of the giants and the Black Guard, the Black armies besieged King's Landing. The city, without its greatest winged defenders, fell quickly. Rhaenyra Targaryen sat, finally, on the Iron Throne, crowning herself queen. Aegon II, still recovering from his wounds, fled the capital with the help of Larys Strong the Clubfoot, disappearing into the shadows of the continent. The war seemed won.
This victory, however, was poisoned by betrayal. Hugh Hammer, ambitious and volatile, defected to the Greens, taking with him the power of Vermithor. This act ignited Rhaenyra's latent paranoia, who, driven mad by distrust, ordered the death of Nettles and the capture of Addam Velaryon. Both survived but were injured and disillusioned, costing Rhaenyra two of her most valuable dragonriders. The advantage that seemed absolute dissipated like smoke.
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4. The Disappearance and the Revolt: The Price of Rumors
Amid the chaos, a mysterious event shook the foundations of the realm: Queen Helaena and her children disappeared from their chambers in the Red Keep during the Black occupation. No bodies were found, no satisfactory explanation was given. The Greens, masters of information warfare, sowed the narrative that Rhaenyra, the "child murderer," had killed them to eliminate any challenge to her son's throne.
This rumor, fueled by the hunger and fear of the population of King's Landing, became the spark for a revolt. An enraged mob, a horde of smallfolk, artisans, and wretches, stormed the Dragonpit. In the ensuing carnage, the dragons Shrykos, Morghul, Tyraxes, and Rhaenyra's own Syrax were killed in a frenzy of violence. Only Dreamfyre managed to escape, freeing itself in a whirlwind of fury that caused the Dragonpit to collapse, burying hundreds of attackers and dead dragons. With no dragons in the capital and the city burning against her, Rhaenyra was forced to flee back to Dragonstone, her rule in King's Landing ending in ruin and blood.
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5. The Second Battle of Tumbleton: The Twilight of the Gods
The climax of the war shifted to the Riverlands, where the Second Battle of Tumbleton witnessed the bloodiest dragon confrontation of the entire Dance. Addam Velaryon, seeking to prove his loyalty to Rhaenyra even after her distrust, mounted Seasmoke against the traitor Hugh Hammer on Vermithor and Daeron in Tessarion. It was a duel of titans that ended with the death of Adam and Daeron and the fall of their dragons.
It was then that the skies witnessed the final duel. Aemond Targaryen, riding a partially healed but still scarred Vhagar, faced Gael on Silverwing. Aemond, driven by blind hatred, charged the Ice Queen. What followed was a death dance of fire and ice. Silverwing, using its superior agility, avoided the jets of flame from the ancient dragon and, in a final decisive dive, closed its jaws around Vhagar's long neck. With a roar that echoed for leagues, Visenya's mount fell from the sky, crushing Aemond and a vast expanse of land under its colossal body.
While the fire gods dueled above, the Green ground forces were annihilated by the combined assault of the giants and the Black Guard. The Green army was decimated. In the confusion following the battle, with the dead dragons still smoldering on the field, Hugh Hammer, the traitor who survived the dragon combat, was captured. Under Queen Gael's authority, Hugh was executed by the sword, a cleaner end than the betrayal he had committed.
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6. The End of the Dance: A Throne of Ashes
The realm was exhausted. Rhaenyra, in a final act of desperation, was betrayed and killed in an ambush at Dragonstone. Aegon II, in turn, managed to retake King's Landing in a bloodbath orchestrated by Borros Baratheon, but his body, marked by wounds and burns, could not bear the burden of victory. He died, poisoned by those who considered him dead weight.
When Gael's forces, now the most powerful of Black team on the continent, marched on the capital, they found the gates open. There was no one left to contest her. With all adult claimants dead, Aegon III, the young son of Rhaenyra and Daemon, was crowned king, formally ending the Dance of the Dragons.
The Blacks' victory, if it could be called that, was bitter. House Targaryen was on the verge of extinction, most of its dragons dead, and the realm, ravaged. For the King in the North, Theon Stark, who had watched everything from his hiding place in the south, the intervention proved exactly what he had predicted: a bloody folly for an "idiot's throne." As Westeros tried to rebuild on a sea of ashes, the North waited, and the price for its participation in this dance would still be collected. Winter, after all, always comes.
PART 2: THE ICE KING'S PLAN
Under the starry sky of King's Landing, Theon Stark watched from above. The night wind blew softly over his dark robes, while below him the final echoes of young Aegon III's coronation faded away. His eyes, as cold as the lands he ruled, scanned the walls where his men maintained watch. The city was finally beginning to calm after the long years of war, but Theon knew true peace was yet to come.
With an almost imperceptible movement, the King in the North vanished from the skies and reappeared in a lonely clearing in the Kingswood. The silvery moonlight bathed the area, revealing the figures waiting there. Helaena Targaryen kept her children close, her eyes still marked by the horrors she had witnessed. Slightly apart, Nettles remained alert beside Sheepstealer, while Dreamfyre rested beneath the ancient trees.
"Theon," Helaena whispered when she saw him materialize from the shadows.
"I've kept my word," his voice echoed softly in the night clearing. "The North offers you refuge."
Helaena lowered her gaze, her hands trembling slightly. "After everything... there is still kindness in this world."
Theon approached, his presence imposing yet not threatening. "Cregan Stark awaits you at Moat Cailin. It's the safest place for you now." His eyes scanned the group before adding: "While I settle final matters here in the south, I suggest you think of names and words for your new houses."
The silence that followed was broken by Helaena's shaken sigh. "Houses? For us? But... why?"
Nettles, who had observed everything in silence, studied Theon with renewed interest. In her practical mind, she immediately understood what many wouldn't see - the King in the North wasn't just offering shelter, he was building a new lineage of dragon lords under his protection. And who was she, a bastard who had tamed a wild dragon, to question the man who had faced the Conqueror himself?
"My line will never forget this moment," declared Nettles, her firm voice echoing in the clearing. "We will keep in our memory the hand that offered us a home when all others turned their backs."
As the group departed toward the North, Theon remained in the clearing for a moment, feeling the weight of his decisions. Then, with another thought, he transported himself to the depths of the Dragonmont.
The darkness of the secret chamber was broken only by the glow of two eyes green like ancestral bonfires. Cannibal moved slowly, his scales black as obsidian reflecting the faint light. The air vibrated with the heat of the ancient dragon's breath.
"Cannibal," Theon spoke, his voice resonating against the stone walls. "I come to offer you what no Targaryen ever dared - a home where you will be lord of the skies, not a tool of war. In the winds of the North, you will rule as your nature demands."
The great dragon emitted a low roar that Theon understood in its essence. "King of Winter... your blood is not like the other two-leggers. You smell of ancient magic, of earth and ice."
"So you accept my offer?"
Cannibal inclined his colossal head, a gesture of respect between creatures of similar power. "I will take my winged brothers to your frozen lands."
Shortly after, in the deep recesses of the Wolfswood, Theon supervised the final touches of his creation. The Children of the Forest had worked their ancestral magic, shaping a mountain with passages that breathed the earth's heat. From the ground emanated the comforting warmth of a dormant volcano, perfect for its new inhabitants.
The first sign of their arrival was the sound of wings cutting through the Northern skies. Silverwing led the formation - Cannibal flew to her right, Dreamfyre to her left, followed by Sheepstealer and little Morning, who would carry Lady Rhaena's loyalty.
Gael approached her husband, her steps silent on the snow. "It is done," she whispered, her kiss as soft as the winter breeze.
Theon turned to Cannibal. "This mountain will be your domain. Here, your children will be born free."
A chorus of roars approved his words as the dragons explored their new domains. Theon watched Helaena and Nettles, now the matriarchs of the first houses of dragon lords in the North, and felt a rare satisfaction. The Targaryens' arrogance had cost them the right to rule these magnificent creatures, while his vision secured for the North a future that no southern kingdom could even comprehend.
As he led the group toward Winterfell, Theon allowed himself to imagine the moment when southern spies would finally bring this news to their masters. The North had not merely survived the Dance of the Dragons - it had emerged as Westeros's true power, with dragons that now called the frozen lands home.
EPILOGUE: THE PRICE OF DRAGON BLOOD
One year after the end of the Dance of the Dragons
The Small Council chamber in King's Landing was stifling, the air thick with the scent of lost power. The assembled southern lords looked like ghosts of their former splendor, their faces marked by a defeat they dared not voice aloud.
"They've stolen from us!" Lord Baratheon slammed his fist on the table, making the goblets tremble. "Not just Helaena and her children, but now even the remaining dragons! Dreamfyre, Sheepstealer... even the damned Nettles and her bastard brood!"
The murmur of agreement was cut off by the entrance of King Aegon III. The young sovereign, barely ten years old, carried the shadow of trauma in his eyes - having seen Sunfyre devour his mother had left deep scars. His hand trembled slightly as he held the scroll.
"A response has arrived from the North," the King announced, his voice still childlike, yet laden with a weight beyond his years.
Grand Maester Orwyle broke the ice seal - literally, the wax was made of ice that did not melt - and read aloud the message that would make history:
"To King Aegon III of the Six Kingdoms,
Dragons are not slaves. Your ancestors forgot this truth. They are creatures of magic and fire, sovereigns of the skies by ancestral right, not beasts to be chained in dark pits.
Honoring my word that this would be the last time I solved others' problems, I keep the border closed to the south. However, in memory of the friendship I had with the Old King, I grant this: any of Targaryen blood may come North once - and only once - to attempt to bond with a dragon. Upon my prior notice and under my conditions.
Those who desire a dragon, let them seek it where they have chosen to be free.
Theon Stark, King in the Winter"
The silence that followed was more eloquent than any protest. Lord Velaryon was the first to understand the implications.
"He hasn't just taken the remaining dragons from us," whispered the Lord of the Tides. "He now controls the future of dragons. Any Targaryen who wants a dragon needs his permission."
The young King Aegon looked toward the window, facing north. In the eyes of the boy who had seen his mother devoured by a dragon, there was a bitter understanding - the price for the Targaryen power had been paid in blood, and the collector now ruled in the domains of winter.
The southern lords finally understood: the Dance of the Dragons had not ended - it had merely changed venues, and would now be danced under the rules of the Ice King.
So, what did you think of the chapter? At first, I just thought about the dragons living up north, but reading about the dance, I saw the part about blood and cheese, and I thought about saving her. And we ended up with this. Helaena and her children will start a family of dragonriders, and perhaps one of Cregan's children, the other family of dragonriders from the north. It seems the tables have turned, hasn't it? Now, I need ideas for the mottos of both houses. I was thinking of something like the motto of one ending the other showing their union, where marriages will be mainly between these houses and between them and the Starks. For the coat of arms, I think I'll go with something simple. For Helaena, it will be a blue dragon on a black field, and for Nettles, it will be a brown dragon on a red hood, but I welcome suggestions. So, that's it, until the next chapter.