Aegon found himself once more amidst a fiery void, as in his last That Very Dream, yet this time he distinctly sensed an alien presence. Someone very, very large, immeasurably great and surpassing any human, even a Valyrian, watched the Prince unblinkingly from the depths of the roaring flame. The longer Aegon peered into the multicolored wall of fire, the clearer the outlines of several pairs of eyes with vertical dragon pupils emerged through it. Barely sketched by black tongues of flame, they were simultaneously alive and unnatural. Scarce had the Prince pondered this contradiction when a thunderous voice rang out, speaking in all the languages of the world at once; it seemed three separate voices merged into one, speaking at times simultaneously, but each in its own manner:
"Long have you journeyed hither. We awaited you."
"Me?" asked Aegon again. "Who... are you? Where am I?"
"There is no one else..."
"And what think you?"
"Where it is needful."
"We are those whom they called gods before."
"And call no longer. They hear us not, and we scarce hear them."
"We were called gods, now they say of us that we are dead, but are gods mortal?"
"I think not," the Prince dared to insert a word. "You do not look dead."
"The dead do not speak."
"Why... To what end did you... do this to me?"
"You are the first in many years to hear us."
"You are the first in whole centuries who not only hears us but speaks with us."
"Why?"
"Because you live for two."
"Because you owe us."
"For two? Owe?" Aegon was confused. "Listen, I prayed for mercy for my dragon, he is ill, in that, of course, lies my fault, but I wished him to recover..."
"And we heard the plea."
"The bronze dragon shall be healed."
"Th-thank you. And... what do you require for this?"
"Nothing."
"For this, nothing."
"This is a trifle. The life of a dragon is more precious than the life of a man."
"Your father made a sacrifice. A weighty, terrible sacrifice."
"For a price must be paid for all things."
"He gave a dragon egg for your life. The life of a dragon is more precious than the life of a man. Therefore you owe us."
"I... I do not understand..."
"A lie. You understand."
"Brave woman, difficult birth, quiet child, glorious child."
"The brave woman died, the weak child, the sick child should have died too, but died not. Twice died not."
"Weak child—difficult birth. Weak child—high stairs."
"In you is the life of a dragon. He would have flown beautifully, freely, high, but your father gave his life to you, and since then you live for him. Therefore you speak with us."
"But you owe us nonetheless."
"Aye, I understood! And what do you want of me? My soul? To turn me into your slave?"
"Your soul is of no use to us."
"True devotion is unknown to slaves; slaves fear punishment, fear power, but it befits not a dragon to fear us. You have more right to call yourself a dragon than anyone else, for you live a dragon's life. Fear not."
"True devotion is impossible without understanding. We shall explain."
"I am listening," said Aegon, though it did not seem he had a choice.
"Your ancestors called us Balerion..."
"Vhagar."
"Meraxes. They worshipped us and honored us, offered praises and prayers."
"It was flattering."
"They prayed us to grant them love, knowledge, victory, power. We gave them this, brought them together with our children—the dragons. It was a glorious union, a fruitful union that led both sides to the peak of their might."
"However, long before them was the Enemy. Our eternal Enemy, who hates us and everything created by us. We wage war with him—terrible, irreconcilable, invisible to you for countless years already. Sometimes we manage to gain the upper hand over him."
"The Enemy seeks to seize the whole world, enslave every essence, every living being. Even us. We do not desire to be slaves."
"The Enemy seeks to turn the whole world into a desert of darkness and cold and reign over this desert, being the only source of light. But this light is just as evil and cold as he himself."
"He had already begun his march, a grave chill covered almost a whole continent. That time we managed to defeat him, turn his army of ice warriors, dead warriors, to flight. We triumphed."
"But many centuries later he managed to draw too close to us, secretly penetrate where our defense was weak, and we could not strengthen it."
"Else we would have lost the bond with our children."
"The Enemy proved too close to us and could strike his devastating blow at any moment. Therefore we struck first."
"The Enemy approached too close to us, and we had to defend ourselves. It was a terrible battle which none of mortals is capable of imagining. Only weakened echoes of that battle reached you, but they too shook your world to its foundations."
"Was that the Doom?" exhaled Aegon in shock, completely forgetting reverence.
"Aye. You call this the Doom of Valyria."
"Defending ourselves, we destroyed our home in this world."
"We pity our children. All our children. But their lot is still lighter than that which would threaten them, should the Enemy prove stronger than us."
"Then the Enemy fled again, but he was not defeated."
"And we are locked here."
"We can still overcome him, ere he restores strength and regains former might, but we are locked here."
"Locked? Can anything limit gods?"
"We communed with our children—all our children—in their home, in the sanctuaries they erected for us. The Doom destroyed our children and our sanctuaries, and we remained by the ruins alone."
"Your ancestors, your family, fled upon our counsel, but the Doom shook their faith in us. They accused us of cruelty, weakness, malice; they did not erect temples in their lands so we could speak with them. We saw them but were powerless."
"We tried to speak with them, called them through dreams, explained the danger of the Enemy. But we were not understood."
"We sent a man with your name, who saddled a dragon with my name, a dream of the war of Ice and Fire, of the danger of the Enemy lurking too close, but he had not time to finish what was started."
"But Aegon Targaryen conquered Westeros, created the Seven Kingdoms, welded them together," his namesake stood on the ancestor's side. "This is a great deed."
"Aye, but human life is shorter than a dragon's. He had not time for everything, and we did not account for this."
"We tried to speak with his sons, but one heard us not, and the second tried to deceive us. We punished him."
"There was also a girl, an offended girl, a girl forgotten by all, who heard us and came to us."
"But the girl was too weak and endured not the curses remaining in our old lands."
"They harm us not, but people are weak..."
"The dragon with my name barely survived himself."
"The only thing we could do for her was send her home to die."
"And after, I accepted her death."
"We waited, but could not find anyone capable of hearing us."
"But then your father gave a dragon egg for your life. Therefore you speak with us."
The gods mercifully gave Aegon time to realize what he heard.
"And what do you want of me?"
"We want you to help us."
"That I fight together with you?" dared to suggest the human.
"We hide ourselves behind this veil because your human reason will not endure our aspect and will turn to dust. You are powerless before us, powerless before the Enemy too!"
"Leave us to wage this war. But there is that with which you have the strength to cope."
"While we wage struggle with the Enemy where you cannot comprehend, we need you to help our children—the dragons. They are our mirror, in them we draw strength."
"Now they are vulnerable as never before, there are few of them. If the Enemy finds a way to exterminate them, then..."
"This will mean the days of your family are numbered."
"This will mean the days of your country are numbered."
"This will mean the days of your world are numbered."
"Save the dragons. Aha. Anything else?"
"Is that little for you?"
"What must I do? Arrange matings? Incubate eggs?"
"You have everything needed for this. Dragon blood flows in you, you live a dragon life. You will understand what needs to be done."
"We shall give knowledge you always desired. You will become a true dragonlord."
"This is a fair price."
"And I shall give my soul for this? My life?"
"Your life already belongs to us, since you live for the dragon. Without a soul you will become like those wretched creatures enslaved by the Enemy. Hand me your death."
"And I shall become immortal?"
"Nay."
"Then what is the sense in giving my death now? It will go to you anyway."
"True. We recognize your right to dispose of your own death. If so, then keep it for yourself."
"Do you agree?"
"Will you help us?"
"Will you stand on our side?"
"What does 'be on your side' mean? How can I promise what I do not know?"
"For you, our side is the side of dragons. Their lives are more precious than human. Always be on their side. Remember the Enemy lurks in the ice and do not bend the knee before him."
Aegon was not sure the heart still beat in his chest, was not sure he still had a body, that he could still swallow nervously, but, evidently, phantom sensations cannot be rid of in the otherworld either. Overcoming himself, he tried to say as confidently as possible:
"I agree. I shall help you. I shall be on your side."
"You will help us."
"And we will help you."
"So be it!"