LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 5: 5
----
111 AC
Dragonstone
Daeron Nymeros Martell
----
An ear-shattering roar behind me lets me know the ice did little to nothing as I sprint for the cave exit. The ground around me shakes with the thumping of its body slamming into the walls as it claws its way after me. A giant black dragon with hooked horns and glowing green eyes that was laying on a pile of dragon bones. I shiver knowing the answer to who this is, the one I didn't expect to find.
Cannibal.
The heat from dragon fire feels like it will burn me alive as it blasts into a wall more than thirty feet behind me. The cave lights up in a terrifying green as the flames exit the black dragon's mouth. I regret not investing in a bigger water container as I start to see light ahead and sprint at full speed.
The clawing of the beast against the rock with its growling that sounds like grinding steel is a song that promises death. I don't plan on going out like this, Today is not the day I die.
I see the exit ahead and don't slow down in the slightest as I move at the peak of what my shimmer-enhanced body can manage. The drop-off ahead not concerning me in the slightest as I sprint straight off it and tuck my body in to make it a smaller target. A snap of mighty jaws behind me as I start descending to the ground sends a shiver up my spine.
A pained roar as the dragon barrels off the cliff after me and I look up to see its wings spread wide covering the sky. I once more gaze into the green eyes of the dragon and see them promising death.
I hit the stone ground and wince as I recognize a horrible sprain but stand to my feet and hurry to the ocean. I spot the waves in the distance but a shadow covers my body as it blocks the moon from above. I turn as suddenly as I can and sprint for another edge and jump off it hoping to surprise the dragon.
Not every day you see a person leaping from cliffs to escape you, is it Cannibal?
I roll as I hit the ground and avoid hurting myself worse than I already did, looking over my shoulder I spot the dragon. Its wings spread wide banking left to come back around toward me, its eyes seem to have kept up with me as I once more spot the green orbs reflecting the moonlight.
My eyes widen and I look toward the moon and cringe seeing it's not a full moon so I am not packing as strong of a punch as I could have. I shake off the thought as I can't change the moon cycle and instead make my way toward the beach at full speed. Roaring the dragon dives toward me and I can't help but wonder if I happened to break its favorite bone or something.
""WHY ARE YOU CHASING ME?!"" I curse my luck that Cannibal seems to hold a grudge and I leap from another edge as green flames light up the night behind me.
I wonder if anyone on Dragonstone has noticed what's going on yet.
I grunt hitting the ground much harder than the other two times but quickly recover as I hear waves hitting the shore before me. The jump was a calculated risk, I think I might have broken my left ankle but I won't need it once I get into the water.
""You are fucked now!"" His scales might be as strong as Valyrian steel and he might be able to fly but I doubt he can swim with me pulling him down.
A roar once more splits the silent night as I dive into the water and immediately jet out to sea with my arms swinging. I get some distance between us before stopping and swimming to the surface. I take a deep breath and freeze a platform to stand on to better combat my opponent. My body fills with a strange glee and I shudder as I step onto the ice awaiting my foe.
""Where are you?"" I whip my head around scanning the star-covered sky looking for his massive body.
Spotting him to my right I propel my platform like a surfboard toward him while planning how to 'down' the dragon. It seems he also spots me as his mouth glows green before his flames shoot toward me cutting through the waves. The water boils and turns into steam as his fire scythes its way straight toward me. With a quick flick of my hands and the ice board is pushed out of the way and the fire passes by before stopping.
I smile up at the big dragon as I start enlarging the platform for safety, if I want to send the beast into the waves I need to stay above water. One mistake and I will be ash on the waves lost to the world but I can't stop the excitement flowing through me. Shimmer pushing my body and mind to the limit and giving me the 'pick me up' I need to face an actual fire-breathing dragon.
A plan starts to form in my mind as his momentum carries him through the air away from me and he slowly lowers his wing to bank around. He will try to burn me once more but this time I will be ready, or the water will be. I start bending a massive hand of water with tons of 'fingers' to grab the dragon before pulling it into the sea.
No one has mounted the cannibal and no one ever will if canon plays out, but this is not canon and I will break this stubborn dragon eater. He will bend and become my partner or he will drown under the waves and I will go try to claim Silverwing. Either way, I need to leave tonight and I won't do so without a dragon.
I look toward the land as I finish preparing my trap and wait for the dragon to turn his fat ass around. Torches on the beach already scrambling around like ants swarming food, they don't even know what's happening.
The waves lift and lower the platform like bait sitting out at sea as the dragon roars a challenge. His body is much closer to the water this time around and he is gliding right into my trap. His closed mouth slowly opens and his green flames spill out the side before it opens all the way. My eyes sting as I look into the flames and as they get closer I have to use all my concentration to both avoid the flames and lift the trap.
The board cuts through the waves as I avoid certain death but some of it gets hit and melts, my ankle shoots pain up my leg and I almost trip. I only barely manage to recover as Cannibal passes the trap and lift it and grab his back half. 'Gripping' His lower half including his tail I start pulling more water to help 'pull' him down.
His wings franticly flap as he realizes he is trapped, he swings his head around launching green flames in every direction in a panic. His desperate roar as his tail is pulled under the waves fills me with satisfaction. This dragon tried to kill me and now I am pulling him into 'my' domain where I decide the rules.
His wings hit the water and he thrashes his body as the water slowly covers more of him, his torso almost encased. The wings are the last thing other than his neck and head that I fight to cover, forcing all my willpower to cover and pulling him like a Kraken from the depths. His wings can no longer hold him and he collapses into the waves fighting to keep his head above the water.
I 'let him go' and swing my arms fast to launch my board toward him, as I approach I take a deep breath and start freezing the water around him. His fighting slowly stops as I freeze both his wings and part of his neck. Now I have to make an actual effort on my own to keep his head above water, if I don't he will start sinking.
""Big bad king of the night sky, never thought you would get pulled down like this did you?"" I slide the board above his back in between his shoulder and hop off.
Standing in the middle of his shoulder blades I grip a spike and hold on, with one hand I slowly push him through the water. His tail aids me in the process as it swings side to side I force his massive body through the water toward the beach.
The moon is not exceptionally bright tonight but there is enough starlight helping it to light up the black dragon beneath me. It also seems the torch carriers on the beach can see us because the torches are scrambling like rats as we get closer. I can only shake my head at what kind of story these men will be telling by the time the sun rises.
I ignore the men and focus on getting a good position on the dragon's back, I don't expect him to just easily give up once caught. But for some sick reason, I feel more excited thinking about our battle continuing while I ride on his back.
God, I need help.
----
111 AC
Kingslanding
Viserys Targaryen
----
I set down the message from Dragonstone and put my head in my hands, this is bad.
"Your Grace?" Otto Hightower speaks up from the side of the small council table.
I look up at the others around the table and tighten my hand into a fist, I stop when I realize I am getting ahead of myself. This does not mean something will happen immediately, first, we need to find out what actually happened.
"It would seem something happened on Dragonstone, during the night Cannibal according to eyewitnesses seeing his green flames and dark form got 'attacked'. The report says he was attacking something on the water he chased it out to sea and then the water 'pulled him in'. It finishes by saying he washed up on shore and thrashed around before flying off." Daemon sits up and leans forward with a serious look and I have not even gotten to the ending of the note.
"Pulled him in?" Lord Strong asks in confusion.
I look around after nodding and see incredulous looks, both Daemon and Corlys Velaryon being the only ones to seem bothered.
"Is cannibal not a 'pest' anyway, your grace? If he crashed into the sea and almost died wouldn't that be a good thing?" Otto speaks up with an odd tone to his voice.
"It would not be horrible if Cannibal died, he does kill young dragons but the problem is the rest of the letter." I look toward Daemon once more, he will be eager to leave and look into himself once he hears the rest. "After thrashing around on the beach and flying away they say they found huge chunks of ice on the beach where he was. They also claim to have heard someone yelling in 'joy' as the Cannibal flew away." The room remains silent as everyone processes what they just heard.
"You think someone was riding the Cannibal?" Corlys asks with concern evident in his voice.
Cannibal is massive and eats other dragons, an unknown person riding him is a very big problem. I am about to speak up when a chair slides against the floor making a loud noise and I sigh seeing Daemon standing up.
"I will look into this myself brother, don't worry." I wave my hands around slowly.
"And abandon your duties as Master of coin?" He grins and turns away.
"I was bored of them anyway, Lord Beesbury can have the job back." He walks right out the door with his impatience and concern obvious to me but the others at the table only see his disrespect by leaving without my leave.
I shake my head and prepare myself to summon Lord Beesbury as Daemon is right, I will try to have Daemon take the duty of Commander of the City watch next to see if it's a better fit. I just hope he doesn't find something concerning on Dragonstone when he arrives there.