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

Chapter 107: Chapter 106 – Loyalty (IV)

In the darkness of night, about six ships, two from House Sunglass, three from House Rosby and one from House Stokeworth, were preparing to sail. The sailors of the three houses did everything with as little noise as possible.

Lord Alyn Stokeworth, Lord Jon Rosby, and Lord Guncer Sunglass could be seen watching everything with calm, cold gazes. The raven had already been sent to King’s Landing; they now just had to reach the capital and seek refuge with the king.

Guncer looked up and saw that gray clouds were already covering the sky; a light drizzle fell from the sky, leaving the surroundings even colder. Outside the ships, the completely dark sea looked like an enormous monster capable of swallowing everything.

“This rain will interfere with the raven,” Guncer commented, looking at the rain while furrowing his brow. However, being used to the unstable weather of the Narrow Sea, he was not surprised that it had started to rain.

“With this wind, we can arrive much faster than usual.” Alyn also commented, but there was a smile on his lips. The rain was good for speeding up the journey because of the strong winds, not to mention it was great for cover.

“Are you sure about going now? What if the rain turns into a storm?” Jon was the only one of the three who was worried about the rain above them. Although he had never seen a very strong storm, he did not want to learn how strong such storms could be.

Jon himself knew he was somewhat unlucky and feared the Seven would make an example of him for future generations. He definitely did not want to be remembered in history for helping future generations learn that sailing in storms was dangerous.

“We have no choice,” Guncer said in a calm tone. “Maester Ollyr will notice a raven is missing and will notify the bastard.”

Looking at Jon and Alyn, Guncer asked calmly. “Who do you think he’ll suspect?”

Jon and Alyn stayed quiet and, finally, nodded their heads. As Guncer had said, there was no turning back. Especially after seeing Lord Duram’s death hours earlier. They knew Maekar would not hesitate to kill them to increase his control and prestige over the fleet.

“My Lord, we are ready to depart.” Suddenly, one of the sailors approached and spoke in an exhausted tone. His shirt was stuck to his skin with sweat and rainwater.

Guncer nodded his head and spoke in a calm tone. “Hoist the sails, we’re heading to King’s Landing.”

The sailor ran to the other sailors and began spreading the news. The same happened on the other ships. Moments later, the sails of the six ships unfurled and were soon blown forward, propelling the ships onward.

Soon, the six ships cut through the waves of the sea and advanced into the absolute darkness. The ships disappeared moments later, as if swallowed by the darkness.

At the entrance of the cave, beneath the castle, a pair of golden eyes opened in the darkness; the pair of draconic eyes sharpened like those of an eagle, and the enormous body rose from the ground. Thunder flashed across the sky at that moment, illuminating the platinum scales with golden touches at the edges.

Maekar, sitting in the saddle, looked at the sea of darkness before him and spoke in High Valyrian. “Sovegon, Bahamut.”

Bahamut moved forward and simply began a free fall toward the sea below. Maekar narrowed his eyes at the high speed and felt a great backward pull. The dragon had opened his wings and quickly gained altitude.

Elsewhere. Six ships could be seen sailing through the stormy waters. Lights had been lit on the bows and sterns of the ships so they would not collide with each other because of the darkness. They seemed extremely fragile amid the waves constantly crashing into the ships.

“MY LORD, THE STORM IS GROWING STRONGER. I RECOMMEND TURNING BACK TO DRAGONSTONE AND SAILING ONCE THE STORM PASSES!” The ship’s captain shouted to Guncer, who stood beside him.

Guncer shook his head and, not minding his soaked clothes, shouted back. “KEEP GOING; THE STORM WILL DIE DOWN OVER TIME!”

Obviously, Guncer could not turn back at that moment; returning to Dragonstone was suicide, and like anyone with even a shred of self-respect, he did not want to die. So, only one option remained for him, to reach King’s Landing.

Curiously, similar conversations were taking place on the other ships. However, the orders the captains had received were clear in advance.

These poor men, without knowing it, had a gigantic monster flying above them.

Bahamut glided through the air while moving his body with agility; he seemed cautious and looked at his surroundings with a cold, murderous gaze. This seemed exactly like the same day he had been attacked by Cannibal.

Having already taken part in a few naval battles and even against another dragon, Bahamut was much more alert and experienced now, ready for any battle. However, he also kept his gaze on the twelve small lights below him. Those were his targets this time.

Maekar also looked at the twelve lights moving in the absolute darkness of the night. The rain struck his face hard, causing pain, but he showed none of that pain. He merely stared at the ships with a cold gaze.

Feeling the dragon somewhat agitated beneath him, Maekar could not help but speak in a calm, reassuring tone. “Lykiri, Bahamut.”

(Note: Calm, Bahamut.)

The dragon, understanding, let out a guttural sound and relaxed a bit more, but only a bit. Maekar, feeling this, smiled and looked ahead. Feeling that they were already far enough from Dragonstone, he spoke in a cold tone.

“Dracarys, Bahamut.”

The dragon heard the permission to attack and began descending toward the targets; without the light of the moon, the dragon’s platinum figure was completely obscured by the darkness.

On one of the boats, Guncer, who felt the waves grow calmer, let out a sigh of relief but then raised his head with a confused expression.

He would have sworn he had heard the sound of something flapping wings. But he was in the middle of a storm, and it was impossible to hear a wingbeat large enough to even rise above the sound of the waves and the rain.

Wait, something flapping wings?

Guncer’s face went pale; he could not help but shout out loud. “PUT OUT THE LIGHTS!!!”

However, he was in the middle of a storm; how could the sailors have heard his shout?

Suddenly, before Guncer’s terrified eyes, platinum flames descended from the skies and swallowed his ship. The entire ship turned into a candle, illuminating the surroundings.

Guncer watched the sailors being reduced to ashes, without even a chance to scream or beg for mercy. Even in the rain, he could feel the scorching heat of the platinum flames. It was frightening to think such flames could exist in this world.

The Head of House Sunglass ran toward the bow and quickly put out the torchlight covered by glass. Then, he ran toward the stern and put out that torchlight as well.

Seeing darkness take over his surroundings, Guncer had never felt so safe for being in such darkness. Looking to the side, he watched the House Sunglass ship vanish from the world because of the dragon’s flames.

“How dare he!?” Guncer murmured in a tone still full of shock and disbelief. He could not believe Maekar had dared attack him in less than a day. It seemed he had even expected them to betray him.

Guncer watched the other four ships being destroyed and everyone on them reduced to ashes, his expression full of terror and fear. The air was cold, but he felt as though he were inside a cave of ice.

The only thing that could bring him warmth was knowing he had been fast enough to put out his ship’s lights; otherwise, he would have shared the same fate as the other five warships.

Hearing the sound of wingbeats above him again, Guncer covered his mouth and kept himself from even breathing too loudly.

However,

Suddenly.

A light flashed across the sky, followed by the sound of thunder.

The ship appeared on the sea for a mere instant, but that instant made Guncer’s face turn pale. Especially seeing the gigantic dragon before him.

His last sight in this world was the platinum flames. Guncer did not even have a chance to scream before his body was reduced to ashes.

In the saddle, atop Bahamut, Maekar looked at the burning ship and murmured in a particularly sarcastic tone.

“Loyalty.”

——–

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