It began before dawn.
A sound like no other swept across Dragonstone. Deep, thunderous, and ancient — a roar that did not belong to any dragon stabled within the keep. It echoed over the high black cliffs, stirred the waves below, and sent birds scattering from the scorched crags.
Vezdaryon had called.
And the Cannibal, old as the mountain itself, had answered.
Dragonstone
Jacaerys Velaryon stood at the ramparts, dressed in nothing but a linen tunic, his hands curled around the cold stone. His breath misted in the cool morning air, but he barely noticed.
"He's done it," he whispered. "He's challenging it."
His younger brother Lucerys joined him, lips parted, eyes wide. "The Shadow…"
They had only ever seen Vezdaryon from afar massive, dark-winged, always silent. He never allowed them near, never showed interest in men or children. But now, he had roared. Now, he had chosen.
The boys exchanged a glance.
"Do you think he'll win?" Lucerys asked.
"I don't know," Jace replied honestly. "But I hope he does."
In the great hall, tension swirled like smoke.
Rhaenyra Targaryen sat upright, her face pale but composed. Her sons' excitement had reached her ears before the roars had faded.
"The Cannibal has never been challenged," she murmured. "Not once in all his years."
Laenor, standing by the hearth, stared out the window, his jaw tense. He had seen the Cannibal once as a boy, curled atop the bones of dragons long dead, eyes like wildfire. Untouchable. Wild.
He turned toward Rhaenyra. "It'll tear him apart… or he'll prove he's something more."
"Sheer size means little," Ser Harwin Strong offered, but his voice was low, uncertain. "Even the largest beast bleeds."
young Joffrey sitting nearby, watched with a mix of awe and dread. Dragons were a part of their blood but never like this. Not with stakes like this.
"Do we prepare?" Rhaenyra asked. "If one of them dies… there may not be peace among the others."
King's Landing
The roars were faint across the waters, but the ravens flew fast.
Within the Red Keep, the Small Council convened at once.
Alicent Hightower, now Queen, stood by the window, her green dress trailing behind her like a river of silk.
"They say the Shadow has challenged the Cannibal," she said quietly, folding her hands. "And that it was heard all the way from Driftmark to Claw Isle."
Otto Hightower, the Hand, pursed his lips. "Two wild dragons loose upon each other is no cause for celebration."
Lyonel Strong added grimly, "But it may answer our greatest question which is stronger."
At the other end of the table, Viserys sat slumped and tired, half-swallowed by his robes. But even in sickness, his eyes sparked at the mention.
"The black one?" he rasped. "He returned… larger than Vermithor, they said…"
"He's grown still," Alicent said, almost sharply. "And no rider dares claim him."
"Perhaps that is a mercy," Lyonel replied. "His kind does not serve. He chooses, or he burns."
Aemond, listening behind a stone pillar outside the council door, clenched his fists. He had not forgotten his dream his ambition. The Shadow was power beyond measure. And power ought to be claimed.
Back on Dragonstone
The Keepers of the Dragonpit watched the skies.
Both dragons were far from the keep itself hidden among the volcanic spires on the far side of the island but the earth trembled. Stones cracked. Winds shifted with each titanic wingbeat.
The island had not felt like this since the days of Balerion.
Old men whispered beneath their breath, hands gripping prayer beads. Some said it was the end of times. Others said it was a beginning.
In the courtyard, Jacaerys stood again at the edge of the wall. Behind him, squires and pages whispered.
"He has no rider," one said. "And yet he challenges the wildest of us."
"He's not one of ours," another muttered. "He never was."
"But he came back."
They watched, all of them, toward the smoke rising over the far ridge, where fire flashed once brief, bright and then silence.
Somewhere out there, the two dragons circled, war in their blood, and the skies waiting to be torn.
And as the sun climbed, still no one dared go to see them.
They only listened,
To the roar that came again.
And this time, it was closer.
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Hope you enjoyed the chapter