NOVEL NEXT Chapter 5: Chapter 4 - The Dragon and Rider (I)
"His flesh may be made of fire and his blood as hot as magma, he may be of a completely different race than mine, but we are undeniably brothers. Brothers bonded until the day I die, or if the Gods so choose, something I pray every night will not happen, his death." - Aenar Targaryen, reflecting on his bond with his dragon.
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The next day, Eddard Stark and his bannermen went to war again. Thirty-five thousand seasoned men and a few women from Bear Island. All already baptized in the fire and steel of war. Another fifteen thousand would join along the way, making a total of fifty thousand men and women, and the army would march to the battlefield.
Westeros was experiencing its first war since the rebellion that led to the destruction of House Targaryen.
Knowing that Catelyn would act as regent and rule all of Winterfell in Lord Stark's absence, Jon decided to spare the life of his uncle's wife and, after saying goodbye to Robb, left for Woofswood with a dagger and some food and water supplies.
His departure attracted no attention except from Robb himself, but knowing what his mother might do to Jon, he remained silent even when questioned by his mother. Even though other people knew of Jon's departure, they didn't care; they all had their own lives to tend to instead of worrying about the life of a bastard.
Woofswood was a large forest, its huge oaks looking ancient and strangely twisted. It wasn't just oaks that inhabited the forest. Sentinels, soldier pines, and hawthorn, beech, ash, chestnut, ironwood, fir, and many tall pines. Weirwoods were occasionally found singly or in pairs.
In addition to the trees, there were wolves, bears, wild boars, deer, elk, fish, foxes, rabbits, tree cats, black squirrels, and emperor spiders.
In short, it was not a forest friendly to humans, let alone a small, fragile six-year-old boy, the favorite prey of many of the predators that lived in this forest.
Jon knew this, and so his every move consisted of using his Prescience as much as he could at the moment, avoiding predators like wolves and bears for the most part.
However, the ability couldn't be used 24 hours a day, which put the six-year-old through some very dangerous times when he found himself facing a particularly hungry giant brown bear.
If he hadn't been much more agile than the bear and hadn't managed to escape after circling the trees and squeezing into small, narrow spaces, he would probably have had to fight a bear at the age of six, not an easy task with only a dagger.
A distance that should have taken half a day stretched into five long days. And at the end of the fifth day, Jon finally came to a relatively open clearing in front of a huge stone wall, the entrance to a cave.
Tired, dirty, and hungry, Jon sat down on the green grass and looked at the cave entrance, seeing no movement from it, he focused his gaze on the stone wall, where there were claw marks that no normal animal could ever make.
They were huge marks, almost the size of a relatively tall person; if anyone had seen them, they would probably have been frightened, wondering what gigantic monster had made those marks in the hard stone. Curiously, there were other claw marks on the stone, but of a different size, almost as if to show the gradual growth of the beast.
Observing the marks for a while, Jon concluded that his favorite winged reptile had grown again since the last time he had seen it, about a year and a few months ago.
Noticing the twilight shadows on the surrounding pines, Jon knew that another night was quickly approaching. Without wasting any time, he began gathering dry twigs and stones to build a fire.
Normally, he wouldn't dare build a fire in the middle of the forest, but since he was in the territory of a predator of the highest rank in the world's food chain, he knew that many large animals would never come close to where he was.
After some effort to light a spark with two stones, Jon found himself warming himself in front of the orange flames of the campfire, warding off the terrible and deadly cold of the north. He reached into his pack, pulled out a dead squirrel, and without hesitation and his knife, began to clean the squirrel, apparently his meal for the night.
If it was difficult to survive in the forest during the day, the level increased dramatically at night.
While waiting for the squirrel to be ready for the fire, Jon noticed that the darkness had already consumed everything around him. He could barely see a meter in front of him. Wolf howls could be heard deep in the forest. The whole forest seemed to be waking up, and so did its predators.
Jon was not intimidated by the sounds of the predators, he had already spent seven days in the forest before, something that made his uncle dig up almost every stone in Woofswood looking for him. This time, though dangerous, was even easier as his powers matured.
A tantalizing, juicy smell hung in the air as hunger ravaged the empty space in Jon's stomach. Suddenly, the sound of footsteps from the cave entrance caught the six-year-old's attention.
The footsteps were heavy and came with a sound that resembled something dragging, trills and guttural roars that reached Jon, causing his lips to lift in a very happy smile.
After all, it had been so long since they had met, he was very happy right now.
As the footsteps came dangerously close, Jon felt the temperature around him rise as what he assumed to be sulfur and smoke hung in the air along with the breeze.
A pungent and even unpleasant smell to most people, but to him it was a comforting scent that represented the greatest power in the world today.
Suddenly, out of the darkness that engulfed the forest, a huge draconic face emerged, its crimson scales partially illuminated by the flickering orange light of the campfire.
Anyone else would probably have a heart attack when they saw a huge head the size of a meter appear next to them.
But no Jon, he wasn't at all surprised or frightened by the huge head appearing next to him, he looked at the dragon with a smile that showed his impeccable white teeth.
"(I see you're all right, you greedy dragon.)" Jon spoke in High Valyrian, the legitimate High Valyrian, not the bastardized versions of the Nine Free Cities. The language was so beautiful that to other people's ears what he said was no different than singing.
The dragon gave a seemingly dissatisfied trill at his words and rested its huge head on the ground next to its rider. The red eyes, like hot coals, stared at Jon with an unyielding but strangely calm gaze.
"(It's good to see you too, Caraxes.)" Jon said, stroking the warm scales of the draconic face with a smile on his lips. He couldn't have been happier to be beside him right now.
For 144 years, the world didn't know it, but in the year 283, after Aegon's conquest, dragons came back to life. She was born from an egg mysteriously laid in a cave in Woofswood on the same day Jon was born.
After she was born, Jon, who was still a baby, saw the dragon being born through prescience, even though they were thousands of miles apart. Without knowing each other personally, they formed a bond that ignored distance.
Looking away from Caraxes, Jon picked up the squirrel that looked ready to eat, and instead of starting to eat it, he cut it in half with his knife.
He kept one half and the other half went into Caraxes' mouth, which did not fill the gaps in the crimson beast's teeth, but it was not hunger that mattered at that moment, but companionship and the act of sharing the same food.
Something that has been used since ancient times to establish friendly relationships and to show one's character and nobility in front of others. After all, even a cruel man doesn't refuse food after a long walk.
Taking a bite of the roasted squirrel, Jon looked at his companion and commented, spitting out a few small bones. "(Even if you only fly at night, there are still many reports of a crimson beast flying through the skies.)"
Caraxes let out a high-pitched trill and turned his face away, making Jon roll his eyes at the dragon's stubbornness.
Jon knew very well that Caraxes hated hiding, the dragon wanted to be free and untamed as he should be, and he hated being separated from him even more.
"I know you don't like to hide, but it is of utmost importance to me that you grow up in silence. I ask you to wait six years, and we will bring the flames of war back to this continent." Still speaking in High Valyrian, Jon stroked the dragon's crimson scales and spoke in a persuasive tone; he was not Caraxes' master, their status was equal.
Though reluctant, the dragon responded by poking Jon's small body with its head, almost causing the six-year-old to trip and fall.
Jon just laughed and continued to eat, enjoying the presence of someone he considered a friend and brother.
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