We Bleed Silver(GOT/ASOIAF Fanfic)

"My lord Larys, what do your spies report?" Tyland Lannister, clad in golden and red armor, rode in front of his men, a small but well-equipped company of 20 knights. Behind them, in the wake of the collapsed walls of Duskendale, was a contingent of well-armored Westermen cavalry, who had swiftly cut down Lord Gunthor Darklyn's city guards.

Larys was bound to his horse, swaying unsteadily in the saddle. His legs were secured in place, as his malformed, "crooked" leg made it impossible for him to ride properly. Tyland, concerned that leaving him in King's Landing might cause issues, had brought him along with the help of Lord Jasper. Jasper's own cavalry was well-equipped but had failed to outrun Tyland's Westermen.

"My spies report that Rhaenyra's Syrax is flying south," Larys said, "I have no eyes in the borders, but I can confirm no reports of dragons moving northward." The master of spies had faster channels than even ravens, though he never shared where his information came from. "Prince Daemon and Corlys Velaryon have left Harrenhal. They are assembling a defense along the Red Fork with Petyr Piper, Tristan Vypren, and Forest Frey. Nothing is stopping them, but nothing is stopping my men from sending word. The Darrys, Butterwels, and Roote are besieging the king's supporters. There have been no sightings of Prince Draezell or Jacaerys's dragons crossing the Neck southward."

Larys continued, "Vermithor is hard to keep hidden over long distances, just as Vhagar would be easily spotted without the cover of night or clouds."

"That means our strategy is sound," Aemond said. "Ser Criston, organize the troops. We depart for Rook's Rest immediately."

"Yes," the Hand of the King replied with a nod. Although his army wasn't large—only about 900 men from King's Landing, an additional 1,000 from Rosby and Stokeworth gathered using dragons, and over 1,700 surrendered troops from Duskendale—it was more than enough to capture a small fortress with the help of the two dragons.

As Criston and his army marched swiftly towards Rook's Rest, to the south, two dragons were returning north to Dragonstone. The yellow dragon and the silver giant flew in tandem, gliding over vast forests that rapidly passed beneath them. At that moment, Rhaenyra suddenly noticed something. Valar saw Syrax dive sharply toward the ground and, without hesitation, followed suit.

Ser Davos Connington and Desmond Caron were tasked with protecting Lady Cassandra Baratheon and the dowry for Aemond. With 6,000 men from Storm's End, most of whom were farmers, hired riders, mercenaries, and troops provided by supporting lords of King Aegon, there were only 200 knights among them. It was rare for Storm's End to fight such a meager war.

"Lord Borros refuses to take sides," Desmond Caron sighed. His family was now caught in a dilemma. As an enclave of the Stormlands, House Caron's castle at Nightsong was completely surrounded by the Reach and the Marches After King Aegon II's coronation, Draezell had given them the Prince's Pass and constructed Long Sky Castle on the site of Old Telling. There, Lynn Valtaken, bearing the sigil of a dragon-headed griffin, had stationed his forces on the edge of Nightsong's borders, not yet moving but encamping. Lord Royce Caron understood this was a direct challenge, forcing him to make a choice. Unlike House Tarly, House Caron had no such familial ties with House Vaelarys. While the Tarlys had the advantage of a blood bond and lordship, House Caron's ties to the Baratheons were far stronger, and this situation left Desmond with no escape, especially since Cassandra Baratheon, the young lady he was escorting, was his niece.

"What's that in the sky?" Ser Davos Connington suddenly pointed upward, and Desmond couldn't help but look up.

"A dragon! Run!" Desmond immediately spurred his horse, not forgetting to yank his niece from the carriage and toss her onto his mount.

"What's happening, uncle?" Cassandra asked, startled.

"Don't speak, just run," Desmond Caron ignored his niece's confusion, threw off his cloak, and bolted toward the nearby forest. The Caron knights paused for a moment before swiftly following their young master into the woods.

Only then did Ser Davos Connington realize what was happening. "Take down the golden dragon banner, everyone retreat to the woods!" Before he could finish, a burst of yellow dragonfire descended from the sky, incinerating both Davos and Aegon's golden dragon banner to ash. The searing flames rained down like a waterfall, engulfing the long line of soldiers. Many didn't have time to react before they were consumed by the fire. Syrax, after unleashing her first wave of flames, turned and aimed at the stragglers still attempting to flee into the woods.

The army had already collapsed when Syrax unleashed the first dragonfire. Soldiers scrambled to strip off their armor and anything that hindered their flight. Their terror was palpable, even to Valar, who hovered above them. But Rhaenyra merely ordered Syrax to unleash another wave of fire. The entire road became filled with screams, and even the surrounding forests ignited in flames. Thick smoke billowed into the air, visible even from Storm's End.

When Borros saw the rising smoke to the north, he collapsed weakly onto his Stormlord's throne. "I never thought I'd be brought down by a woman," he muttered bitterly. His wife, Elenna Caron, approached him cautiously.

"Sir"

"Shut up! It's all your fault!" Borros slapped his wife, knocking her to the ground. "If you hadn't spoiled Maris, she never would have spoken those words. Now look, my daughter is gone, the strong bastard has died, and that harlot from Dragonstone must hate me. If I hadn't hesitated to raise Aegon's banner, she and Valar would have burned Storm's End by now."

Elenna clutched her stomach in pain, and only then did Borros realize something was wrong. He hurried to help her up. "Maester, where's the maester?"

Queen Rhaenyra likely never imagined how her retaliation in the Stormlands would unfold.

---

Dragonstone.

The queen's small council was absent of the queen herself, with Prince Joffrey and Baela Targaryen sitting in for her. Though just 11, Joffrey sat upright, his posture serious, while around the table were the members of the queen's inner circle: Hand of the Queen Lord Corlys Velaryon, Lord Treasurer Bartimos Celtigar, Princess Rhaenys, Sir Alfred Broome, the loyal but portly Robert Cans, and the queen's three Kingsguard knights. Maester Gerardys was also present.

"A request for aid from Lord Simon Stauton," Maester Gerardys placed a letter on the map table at the position of Rook's Rest. "Just now, an army of around 1,000 men appeared outside Rook's Rest, with more troops arriving constantly. The castle has only 200 defenders, and if we don't come to Lord Stauton's aid, his fortress will fall today."

"Should we wait for Her Majesty's return?" Lord Bartimos suggested. "Her Majesty could likely bring a dragon from Dragon's Nest, and with our three dragons, no matter how the usurpers position themselves, we can easily deal with them."

"Normally, Her Majesty should have returned by now," Sir Alfred Broome stood up and said. "But she still hasn't come back, and we can't even see Syrax in the sky."

"Alfred, sit down," Sir Robert Cans interrupted his complaints. "It's improper for us to criticize the queen like this."

"We need to rescue Rook's Rest," Lord Corlys Velaryon said after studying the map for a while. "If the queen fails to aid her vassals, her supporters will start to doubt her abilities."

"Then I'll go," Princess Rhaenys stood up, and only then did everyone notice she had already donned her leather armor, prepared as soon as she received the news. "Meleys has the fastest speed among the dragons. She's old enough and large enough to face any dragon the greens send."

"Grandmother, I'll go too," Prince Joffrey also stood up. "We don't know how many dragons the usurpers have, so I'll go as well."

"Prince, you cannot go," Lord Corlys said patiently. "Tymor is too young. If you go, your grandmother will be distracted trying to protect you." Lord Corlys sighed inwardly. The delay in Rhaenyra's return had already cost too much time.

"Be good, little Joffrey," Rhaenys gently patted her grandson's head. "I will return victorious." With that, she immediately walked toward the door.

"Be careful, my lady." "Don't worry," Rhaenys replied. "Even if it's a trap, I'll drag their dragons to hell with me." The old princess thought to herself. From her youth, she had dreamed of fighting on dragonback, but the world had been at peace for so long that even Meleys, a battle-hardened dragon, had few opportunities to fight. Rhaenys dreams of a Visenya-style reign had long since faded. But today, those dreams were reigniting, burning brightly.

The Red Queen roared as she took flight from Dragonmount, heading toward Rook's Rest, only a few hours away from Dragonstone.

Meanwhile, Queen Rhaenyra was still chasing down retreating Baratheon soldiers. Valar couldn't leave, couldn't stay; he could only follow the queen to protect her.

---

Rook's Rest.

Simon Stauton watched grimly as the soldiers surrounded the castle. In the front row were men from House Darklyn, followed by soldiers from Houses Rosby and Stokeworth, with men from King's Landing hiding in the woods behind them. With a sigh, he commanded his archers and crossbowmen to fire volleys of arrows, killing wave after wave of infantry approaching the castle.

But the enemy outnumbered the defenders by several times. Despite the constant hail of arrows, they pushed siege weapons closer to the walls.

"Dragon!" The defenders of Crow's Rest suddenly shouted, pointing to the sky. Simon quickly turned to see a massive crimson dragon, its spiked form darting through the sky. The dragon's fiery breath poured down onto the soldiers besieging the castle, scattering them in panic as they fled toward the woods to escape the Red Queen's flames.

Princess Rhaenys sighed and tightened the straps of her saddle. The roars of two dragons echoed simultaneously from the woods.

The moment she arrived, she and Meleys both sensed something was wrong. It seemed they had been waiting for her.

No matter, let them come.

Sunfyre charged out of the woods first, young and fast, easily outpacing the slower, older dragon behind. In the blink of an eye, it had closed the gap and was nearly face-to-face with Meleys.

"Dracarys! Sunfyre!"

Sunfyre unleashed a blast of dragonfire at Meleys, but the Red Queen swiftly dodged, and Princess Rhaenys cried out excitedly, "Come on, old girl, attack!"

Meleys roared and lunged at Sunfyre, the crimson giant dragon tore through the flames with no slowing down. In one swift move, Meleys sank her teeth into Sunfyre's wing before it could dodge. Sunfyre cried out in pain, its claws flailing in a panic, but Meleys didn't relent. Her massive claws shredded through Sunfyre's belly with terrifying precision.

"Let go of Sunfyre! Let go! Sunfyre, dragonfire, dragonfire!"

Sunfyre, writhing in agony, tried to unleash dragonfire, but its disoriented head couldn't aim at the Red Queen. Eventually, desperate, Sunfyre bit down on Meleys' spiked neck.

"Good job, Aegon, hold her down!" Aemond finally arrived, guiding the slow-moving Vhagar. The massive old dragon swooped from above, aiming to bite Meleys, who immediately released Sunfyre's wing, attempting to avoid Vhagar's strike. But Sunfyre immediately latched onto Meleys' spike, dragging it down toward the ground.

"Meleys, focus on attacking Sunfyre!" Princess Rhaenys shouted as she saw Vhagar descend, realizing that Meleys, now distracted, would struggle to escape.

At least take one down.

"No, no, what are you doing?" Aegon gasped in horror as Meleys twisted her neck, severing the spike Sunfyre had clamped onto, and sank her teeth into Sunfyre's neck. Aegon could clearly see Meleys' dragon fangs sinking deep into the young dragon's throat. In an instant, golden scales shattered, and scalding dragon blood spilled out.

At the same time, Vhagar descended and seized Meleys neck. Vhagar's massive claws ripped through the crimson dragon's body with terrifying strength.

The three dragons tumbled from the sky, and Simon Stauton's eyes widened as he watched Vhagar tear Meleys' head off. He also saw Sunfyre's head, along with blood and flesh, ripped away by Vhagar's immense strength.

By the time Meleys was still desperately clinging to Sunfyre's head, it was too late.

The three dragons crashed to the ground, and flames erupted. Thick smoke quickly filled the air, and fire rapidly spread through the forest where the dragons had fallen. Even the walls of Rook's Rest were shaken and partially destroyed.

As the smoke began to clear, all that remained was the fire, shooting up from the woods into the sky.