House of The Dragon:The Rise of the Emperor of the Seven Kingdoms

In Bahamut’s saddle, Maekar looked at the merchant ships with a calm, deep gaze. On board those ships were fathers, brothers, and cousins. Most of them were innocent, hardworking men who only wanted to put bread on the table each day.

What he was about to do was destroy the main pillar supporting these families, and, as a result, destroy them.

All these innocent deaths, for what? For his own ambition? For the Iron Throne? These people knew nothing and had probably never imagined they would be caught up, however indifferently, in a war between two continents.

However, would Maekar hesitate? The answer was a firm "no." As someone who sought the throne, he knew better than anyone that cruelty was a trait of a king. Not feeling pity for the soldiers and the damage caused by war was essential to keeping a calm, cold mind.

As he thought this, Maekar saw that Bahamut was already flying over the merchant ships; he could hear the sailors’ shouts of shock and cries of alarm. They were calm and had merely been startled by the sight of the gigantic dragon.

After all, they were in Braavosi territory; attacking merchant ships was an act of war.

Unfortunately, they had no way of knowing that war was already at their door, and, because of profit, the free cities had not announced the news. No one was foolish enough to go to sea if they knew dragons might appear in the sky and burn the ships.

People had only one life and generally valued it a great deal.

As he passed over a merchant ship, Maekar’s cloak fluttered gently in the salty sea wind, and he spoke in a calm tone.

"Dracarys."

Bahamut, who had been waiting for the order, did not hesitate to open his mouth, and platinum flames streaked with golden wisps of smoke poured out. The flames, which could melt stone, engulfed the merchant ship. In the next moment, there was not even a single scream.

Every man the flames touched was reduced to ashes in the blink of an eye. Absolutely nothing remained, including the ship, which was rapidly disappearing.

The platinum dragon glided smoothly and climbed in altitude, heading toward the next merchant ship. A terrifying silence hung in the air before screams could be heard from every direction.

"RAISE THE SAILS!!!"

"HURRY!!!

"THE DRAGON IS COMING!!!"

Maekar watched with a steady gaze as the dragon burned ship after ship. Without a scorpion mounted, there was no possibility whatsoever of a normal ship doing any harm to a dragon. They could only try to flee, but speed was a dragon’s trait, especially in the air.

Bahamut twisted his body in the air, lowered his neck, and opened his enormous jaws; flames poured out fiercely and fell upon the merchant ship.

"HELP!!!"

"DON’T KILL ME!!!"

"MERCY, PRINCE!!!"

Seeing yet another ship vanish along with all the men aboard it, horror and fear began to spread. The men, knowing full well they could never escape, begged for their lives.

However, the only answer to their pleas was platinum flames touched with gold, which turned them to ash.

"YOU MONSTER!!!"

"BRAAVOS WILL AVENGE US!!!"

"NO!!!!"

Seeing that pleading did not work, anger took the place of fear, and they began to scream curses, but once again, flames were the only words Maekar answered with.

Maekar watched all of this with a calm, even cold feeling; however, his slightly trembling hands showed that he was not as calm as he appeared. Killing one man is different from killing hundreds.

If you are a normal human being, you will feel the weight of those hundreds of victims. Maekar was a normal human being and felt empathy; of course he was somewhat shaken by what he had just done. Perhaps, if they had been pirates or some other scum, he would not have felt much, but, when they were innocent people, he felt the weight of their deaths.

"Show no mercy to your enemies; being kind to them is being cruel to yourself." Maekar murmured as he watched dozens of ships sinking into the sea. Killing these people was a regrettable thing, but he knew his enemy would show him no pity in turn.

"Bahamut, let us patrol the area for more targets," Maekar said as he scanned the surroundings, making the enormous platinum dragon fly on across the Braavosian Coastland.

Bahamut was thrilled; he roared and glided over the wind currents, propelling himself forward. It seemed today was his birthday, for he had never been happier. Unlike Maekar, he felt nothing but pleasure in spitting fire upon his enemies.

Maekar shook his head and smiled at seeing the dragon as happy as a child who had just received a toy. He looked out at the sea before him and knew he had to send the message to everyone that there was a naval blockade on these waters; only fear and terror could keep sailors from putting out to sea.

Only in that way would Maekar truly manage to stop Braavos from making money. Once that happened, he wanted to see how the Sealord would resolve this enormous problem. Would he end the war, or would he grow even more determined to keep waging it?

Honestly, Maekar felt this would only make Braavos’s internal conflicts explode all at once. After all, Westeros might be on the brink of civil war, but Braavos was not much better off. The Sealord was unpopular and had been caught with slaves in his mansion; his enemies would certainly not leave him in peace.

Just as Bahamut was about to climb higher, the dragon’s eyes caught two dark specks on the sea and sharpened his gaze. With a hawk’s eyesight, he spotted two ships and bared his teeth, as if smiling, a cruel smile.

Twisting his body, Bahamut surged toward the two ships he had spotted from afar. Maekar noticed the dragon’s change of course but did not stop him.

Once Bahamut had drawn close enough, Maekar saw that it was a merchant ship being attacked by a pirate ship. However, it was the crest embroidered on the merchant ship’s sail that caught his attention, a merman holding a trident.

It was House Manderly of White Harbor, one of the greatest ports in Westeros.

"Only the ship with the black sails, Bahamut," Maekar said to the dragon in High Valyrian.

The pirate ship, having already spotted the dragon’s approach, did not hesitate to break off the attack and flee desperately. As pirates, they knew their enemies needed no reason; simply being pirates was reason enough for them to be wiped from the earth.

Bahamut did not answer and quickly dropped his altitude. He glided sideways through the air and flew alongside the ship. Maekar could even see the faces of the pirates, full of panic and horror. Suddenly, an arrow flew toward Maekar, striking the saddle, mere centimeters from his leg.

Maekar turned his head and looked at the man holding a crossbow aimed at him. The prince smiled gently and patted the dragon’s neck. The pirate showed an ugly grin before jumping off the boat without any hesitation.

Flames poured from Bahamut’s mouth, engulfing the entire ship and every pirate aboard it together.

The captain, who had fallen into the freezing waters of the Shivering Sea, watched in silence as the wooden ship vanished at an unbelievable speed. A ship over twenty meters long had disappeared in less than a minute.

This left him terrified. This was not something humans were capable of, at least not in his mind’s understanding.

Suddenly, an enormous shadow covered the pirate captain. He looked up and showed a desperate expression. Bahamut could be seen hovering above the sea in the same spot, staring coldly down at him.

"Dracarys."

The captain, being a pirate from Lys, vaguely recognized those words; it meant something like fire, though in the Bastard Valyrian of Lys it would have been completely different. However, he soon learned, in the hardest way possible, the meaning of those words.

Flames poured from the dragon’s mouth and covered an area thirty meters wide.

"Let’s go." Stroking the dragon’s neck, Maekar spoke in a cold tone.

He would draw even closer to Braavos.

That day, Braavos received news of the destruction of twenty-two merchant ships, ten belonging to Braavos itself and the rest to the other free cities and merchants.

The war is now known to the common people of Essos and Westeros alike.

At the same time, the names of Maekar, the Slayer, and Bahamut, the Pale Death, appeared before the eyes of the world for the first time.

-------------

Read the advanced Chapters on my Patreon!

/GOTSW

Read my other books:

House of The Dragon:The Rise of the Emperor of the Seven Kingdoms

Game Of Thrones: The God-Emperor of Planetos

Percy Jackson: Godwyn the Golden.

Game Of Thrones: The King’s Court Wizard