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GOT : Chapter 174
🕑 Added 2025-01-07 09:00:05 +0000 UTC"No!" She cried out. "Ilagon! Ilagon!"
Drogon shrieked and rushed downwards, rushing after Viserion's falling body.
There was a chance Drogon could capture him in his claws, there must've been.
...
Falling through the skies, her vision became wet once more. She tried to control Drogon, to manage to keep some distance between her and the surely approaching ground, but to no avail.
When the ground finally came into view, it came at tremendous speed, and it was not the ground, it was water.
The Mander stood there, impassive to the tragedy above, and in an instant, her vision became wet again.
A giant splash resounded, and she barely managed to utter to Drogon, her voice half-choking on water: "Hepnon!"
Drogon levelled off, his wings parallel to the river, slowly urging his large body upwards. She felt a jolt, and heard another splash, but Drogon had managed to recover. His tail splashed on the water, as he slowly gained altitude once more.
She urged Drogon back, to see if Viserion had taken the shock, but the next vision filled her with a sense of absolute horror.
The waters of the Mander were red with blood, and there was no trace of Viserion but a few cream-colored scales on the surface, sinking slowly.
"No!" Daenerys cried out, tears welling up in her eyes.
Drogon roared loudly, which was matched by an even greater roar, coming from the heavens.
There, forcing some clouds down with it, stood the silhouette of the giant dragon.
Winter did not dwarf Drogon by any means, but, with its blue scales, it shadowed the grey skies in a manner that made it look much larger than it was.
It came to a halt in front of her, its wings extended and belly in full view, and unleashed another roar.
One of victory.
Paralyzed, Daenerys did not know what to do. The taste of water mixed with blood, dirt, and tears made so that not a single word came out of her mouth. Instead, she could only look on, as the two dragons stared each other down.
And then, behind Winter, a blink of green.
Rhaegal.
The green dragon came out of the clouds as silent as a hunter's arrow, and aimed directly for Winter.
Yellow-Red flames spouted from his mouth, and, suddenly, Daenerys felt reinvigorated.
"Dohaeragon zirȳla!" she ordered Drogon.
Her child's death would not go unpunished.
Drogon climbed up to face the blue dragon, but itself had now understood that it was being attacked from two directions, and clumsily rose up, though a large beam of fire landed on its side and tail.
Rhaegal was swift, though, and buried its claws in its left wing, tearing out a chunk as if it were made of paper, before disappearing in the clouds once more.
Daenerys found herself in an advantageous position now, firmly behind Winter.
Drogon fired a large plume of flames, but Winter was more agile than she thought, and dodged it by swerving to the side, trying to lose its pursuer. Luckily for Daenerys, Drogon was more agile, and managed to stay put right behind him, not letting Winter even a chance of eyeing her position.
Suddenly, though, the large dragon extended its wings upwards, in front of her, creating a whirlwind which shook Drogon, as well as slowed down the larger dragon.
Realizing what Winter was doing, she ordered Drogon to push through, with no fear.
Drogon's claws dug into the blue dragon's side, clawing into its scales, releasing some of them, and punching into others, which had already been damaged by Rhaegal's fire. Oily black liquid came out, and another deafening roar made her ears ring.
When she regained her senses, Winter was no longer in her line of sight.
Immediately, Daenerys urged Drogon upwards, then back towards the fight.
Rhaegal had taken over, as she saw the green dragon come down from above, diving towards the large shadow underneath, which had trouble climbing.
Daenerys' eyes lit up as she saw him.
It would all end there, in a moment.
But as Rhaegal straightened up, all it did was release another plume of flames on its wings and sides. It did not even attempt to jet some flames towards the head.
It then hit Daenerys.
He does not want to kinslay.
"Aegon, end it!" she cried out, knowing full well no one would hear her, her words carried out by the wind and reduced to nothing.
Instead, Rhaegal passed in front of Winter, and into its line of sight.
In the blink of an eye, Winter dove down towards him, releasing its own plume of blue-grey flames, which hit Rhaegal right in the middle.
Daenerys urged Drogon down, trying to keep up with the falling dragons. Winter was firmly behind Rhaegal now, claws extended, coming from above in a deafening shriek.
With horror, she watched as Winter tore into Rhaegal's left wing, the green-colored dragon shrieking in pain. Its claws dug into scale and flesh, allowing Winter's mouth to head towards Rhaegal's neck…
"AEGON!" Daenerys cried out at the top of her lungs, urging Drogon to plunge faster, through Winter's black smoke.
To her surprise, though, Winter just looked into Rhaegal's terrified eyes, and then let the dragon go, turning its attention back to Dany.
She, though, had no intention of being caught off-guard.
Using her higher position, she maneuvered Drogon behind Winter, but, with the dive and the water in her eyes, had trouble seeing where she was sending Drogon's flames.
Despite this, she cried out: "Dracarys!"
Large, red-and-black flames spouted from Drogon and landed all across Winter's belly and wings, the large dragon having apparently completely turned left, only leaving its underside facing her.
Soon enough, she lost the blue dragon, it having managed to blend itself with its surroundings once more.
In the skies, there seemed to be a lull. The clouds had parted slightly, to reveal many small openings.
The ground was more visible too, with the green fields and hills dotted along the Mander now being somewhat visible from high above.
Daenerys urged Drogon upwards, the black-scaled dragon roaring as it flapped its wings, waiting for another challenge.
A smaller roar met him. There, in front of her, was Rhaegal. The poor little dragon had been battered. Some of its scales had been sheared off, and there were holes in its wings, but it held.
Another rumble followed.
This time, though, Daenerys did not let herself be confused. Seeing the large approaching mass in the clouds directly in front of her, she immediately turned Drogon towards the left, its wings flapping desperately in an effort to avoid the oncoming storm.
It was the right call.
A wave of heat hit her right side, though it did no harm to her.
Drogon moved away, into the thinning clouds, avoiding a greatly unfavorable challenge. There, she tried to find Rhaegal, its green-colored wings being lost against the similar coloring of the ground below. Her eyes searched above, but only found the first rays of the sun shining onto her.
There, though, after what seemed like an eternity of searching, she finally found the small dragon, the hole in its wing prohibiting it from gaining altitude.
Behind him, like a shark waiting to stalk its prey, was Winter, which had managed to maneuver itself right above it.
Watching the scene from even higher, Daenerys felt her heart skip a beat. She urged Drogon downwards, his wings folding to gain speed to catch up to the two slower-moving dragons.
Drogon came down on Winter like a hawk, though it had to start spreading its wings, losing speed and altitude, and making Daenerys' eyes teary from the winds battering her.
It seemed that Winter had sensed her presence, since it tried to hide its large wings from her, always moving from one side to the other, preserving it from Drogon's claws and teeth.
Daenerys still kept an eye out for Rhaegal, hoping that she'd made enough time for him to escape back into the clouds.
It was only when she saw Winter fire another jet of flames that she managed to get a glimpse at Aegon's mount, turning right through the smoke released by the blue dragon.
Then, as swiftly as Rhaegal itself had turned, Winter flew down to meet it. Its claws dug into Rhaegal's back, and this time, its jaws clamped tight around its neck.
Powerless, Daenerys could only watch as blood began to spurt from Rhaegal's shoulder, who shrieked in pain.
Not letting herself be overwhelmed, she forced Drogon towards the ground, consequences be damned.
"Dracarys!"
The black-scaled dragon released another plume of smoke, and rammed Winter at full force.
Surprised, the dragon let go of its prey, a deafening roar filling the skies, all three beasts tumbling in different directions as if they were leaves cut off a tree.
But they had lost too much altitude.
Rhaegal managed to level off slightly, only for a massive crash to be heard.
Looking down, she saw that a massive mound of dirt had risen from the earth and into the sky, Rhaegal's body clearly visible.
Daenerys wanted to cry once again, but this time, her tears of sorrow were replaced by tears of rage.
She cried out with fury, matched by Drogon's roar, and immediately sought Winter's form.
This time, blue against green, it could not use the clouds as cover. Drogon rammed into the larger dragon once more, its claws digging into the beast's side, it's jaws desperately trying to find something to latch onto.
Claws digging into the flesh of its opponent, Drogon ripped off its scales, scattering them to the ground below.
Winter roared in pain, trying to shake off its opponent, but Drogon's teeth found their way into the dragon's tail, though the fight was not over by any means.
Winter's muscles tensed, the larger dragon trying to shake off Drogon by any means necessary…until it also found something to latch on to.
Daenerys watched in shock as the blue dragon's teeth sunk into Drogon's back, tearing away at its black scales as a knife would through butter.
Drogon was forced to let go, now fighting for his own survival. Both dragons struggled, but neither managed to keep themselves in flight, and, suddenly, Daenerys saw the ground approach.
Both dragons hit it hard, but, thankfully, on their side. Daenerys did not see much, trying to clear her vision of the dirt, while desperately clinging to Drogon's spines.
The force of the shock had separated the two dragons, allowing both to take flight again. This time, once more, though, Winter had managed to find its way back to the clouds without Daenerys being able to track it. The only thing it left behind was a trail of dark blood and blue scales, scattered on the field.
