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SLW Chapter 65 : Beneath The Lake
🕑 Added 2025-04-28 21:33:49 +0000 UTCAbove the cursed, crumbling ruins of Harrenhal, two titanic shadows wheeled through the heavy skies.
The Cannibal black as the void itself beat his monstrous wings with slow, thunderous strokes, while Drogon soared beside him, crimson and black fire made flesh.
Aeron sat firm atop the Cannibal’s broad back, his violet eyes scanning the lands below, his cloak snapping in the roaring winds.
Daenerys rode Drogon with the easy grace of a born dragonrider, her silver hair streaming behind her like a banner.
Below them, there was nothing.
No banners flapping. No armies marching.
Just the battered remains of a dead castle and the endless mist rolling in from the God's Eye and the isle of faces.
"It's strange," Daenerys called over the howl of the wind, her voice wary. "There is nothing here, no villages stirring. No men at arms gathering. Not even broken men or thieves. Only those poor fools you burned at Harrenhal."
Aeron's mouth twisted into a small, grim smile.
"Harrenhal is cursed," she said again, softer this time. "They say the stone itself screams at night. That it remembers the fire that melted it."
The Cannibal rumbled deep in his chest, a low growl vibrating beneath Aeron's legs.
Drogon hissed in response, uneasy.
Aeron’s voice cut through the wind, calm and cold:
"Tywin Lannister doesn’t believe in curses, or magic for that matter."
He glanced down at the blackened ruin below.
"Which is why he sent men here to die. He only believes in power. And he needs to be reminded there are forces beyond his grasp."
Daenerys flew closer, Drogon’s huge wings stirring the mist into ghostly shapes.
She narrowed her eyes as they circled over the Isle of Faces, the island rising in the center of the lake, shrouded in ancient trees and fog.
"Why are we circling the Isle of Faces?" she asked, suspicion growing in her voice.
Aeron didn’t immediately answer.
His gaze was fixed ahead, his hand tightening around Drakaryzor’s hilt on his back.
Finally, he spoke, his tone quiet, but burdened:
"I told you... fly to Riverrun ahead of me. I have something I need to find here."
There was something in his voice not fear exactly, but a deep, simmering unease.
Daenerys frowned, feeling Drogon’s agitation under her.
"Care to tell me why?" she pressed, steering Drogon closer to his side.
Aeron turned slightly toward her, his glowing violet eyes catching the dim sunlight like twin shards of amethyst.
"Just go," he said simply, a command, but not a harsh one.
But Daenerys Stormborn was not so easily ordered around.
Her mouth set in a stubborn line.
"Do you think I am weak?"
The Cannibal snarled again, sensing his rider’s tension.
Below them, the waters of the God's Eye shivered as if something vast stirred beneath the lake’s surface.
Aeron exhaled slowly, voice almost pained:
"No, Daenerys. You are not weak."
He looked down at the lake, at the island thick with ancient magic, and his voice dropped lower.
"But this... this isn't something you can fight."
For a heartbeat, silence hung between them.
Only the sound of the wings cutting the mist and the distant cry of some lonely bird.
Daenerys studied him for a long moment.
She saw the seriousness, the burden, and rarest of all a flicker of worry in Aeron's usually cold, unshakable demeanor.
Finally, she gave a small nod, guiding Drogon downward toward a safe landing at the water's edge.
As she descended, Aeron remained hovering above the mist, his cloak billowing.
Then
A sharp chime rang through his mind.
[Apostle Detected Nearby]
His eyes snapped wide, and the Cannibal reared back mid-air, wings thundering.
The waters of the God's Eye rippled violently.
Dark shapes moved beneath the surface, huge and ancient, as if something old and forgotten was awakening.
The Cannibal growled, deep and thunderous, his hackles raised. His black wings spread wide, shielding Aeron like a dark god of death.
Aeron stood in the stirrups, his hand materializing Drakaryzor in a swirl of black flame.
Daenerys, half-turned from where she had just dismounted Drogon, watched in stunned awe as Aeron's shadow loomed over the mist, his greatsword burning with an eerie fire.
Whatever had been sleeping beneath the Isle of Faces it was coming out now. And the waters of the God's Eye exploded.
A geyser of black, roiling water shot into the sky, and from it rose a nightmare
a beast born from sailors' worst legends.
The Kraken was enormous, its slimy black tentacles thick as ancient oaks, writhing and slapping the surface with waves that could drown armies. Its massive body, scaled and armored like a fortress, heaved above the lake, its many eyes glistening like wet onyx, soulless and hungry. Jagged teeth, each as long as a man’s sword, gnashed the air as it bellowed a soundless roar the cry of something ancient and profane.
Daenerys stumbled back, wide-eyed, instinctively drawing closer to Drogon, who growled deep in his throat, wings flexing wide and ready for battle.
"What is that thing?!" she screamed towards aeron
Aeron didn’t answer her at first. His gaze was locked on the creature, and more precisely on the figure standing atop it.
A man clad in black scaled armor, crowned with a twisted driftwood crown. His eye patch gleamed, and his one good eye burned with madness.
Salt crusted his beard, and in one hand, he held a wicked-looking axe carved with strange, writhing symbols.
Euron Greyjoy.
Aeron’s expression darkened. His hand tightened around Drakaryzor, the burning greatsword flaring brighter in his grasp.
"You're the Apostle?" Aeron called out across the misty waters, his voice a blade of steel.
Euron threw his head back and laughed a sound wild and cruel that echoed over the lake.
The Kraken beneath him thrashed the waters again, sending sheets of spray and waves toward the Isle of Faces.
"Apostle?" Euron sneered. "No, no, little shadow. I am the chosen! The Drowned God speaks through me! And today, he wants your head on a pike!"
He leaned forward, one foot braced on the Kraken's slimy hide, and pointed his axe at Aeron.
"Ready to die, cunt of shadows?"
At that moment, a familiar chime sounded sharply in Aeron's mind
[Apostle Quest: Defeat Euron Greyjoy, Apostle of the Drowned God.]
Aeron’s violet eyes narrowed dangerously.
Without looking at Daenerys, he spoke, his voice high and commanding:
"Stay back, Dany. As far as you can."
Daenerys hesitated, torn, but the seriousness in Aeron's voice something almost protective made her nod grimly. She pulled Drogon and rose higher into the mist, giving Aeron the space he needed.
The Cannibal sensed his rider’s fury.
The great black dragon snapped its jaws and bellowed a deafening roar, wings flaring like massive sails.
Aeron stood high in his stirrups, Drakaryzor blazing in his hand, his black cloak streaming behind him like a banner of war.
He leaned forward slightly, his voice cutting through the storm like a dagger "Dracarys."
The Cannibal answered without hesitation.
The beast reared back its massive head, throat glowing deep with molten black fire and then unleashed it all at once.
A river of black flame, thicker and more violent than anything Drogon can ever hope to breathe, erupted from the Cannibal’s maw, racing across the misty sky in a tidal wave of destruction.
The Kraken shrieked a horrid, gurgling bellow as the fire slammed into it, sizzling and hissing as water turned instantly to steam. Its thick tentacles flailed madly, some igniting under the unnatural fire.
Euron, impossibly, stood firm, raising his axe and roaring in defiance even as the world burned around him.
Daenerys, watching from above with wide eyes, felt a chill run through her even through the heat.
She had seen fire, Targaryen fire, destroy armies.
But what Aeron Grim unleashed now was not mere fire.
It was judgment. Once again. And it slammed into the Kraken with the force of a cataclysm.
For a moment, the monster seemed like it disappeared entirely beneath the roaring inferno, the surface of the God's Eye thrashing and churning like a sea boiling alive.
Even Drogon, growled with a note of caution in his voice a rare thing from a dragon who feared little.
Aeron sat atop the Cannibal, his blade still burning in his hand, his violet eyes hard and focused.
He exhaled slowly.
It should have been enough.
And yet
From the blackened waters, something moved.
The lake hissed and frothed violently, and then Aeron saw it to his disbelief,
the Water Kraken began to regenerate
Scorched tentacles grew back grotesquely, the beast’s armor-like hide knitting itself together with sickening speed.
Chunks of its body that had been blasted away by the Cannibal’s fire simply reformed from the surrounding water, as if the God's Eye itself fed its regeneration.
Euron stood atop the beast, laughing a cruel, mocking sound that carried over the steaming lake.
Aeron’s eyes widened slightly, He muttered under his breath, his voice almost amused despite the danger "Not that easy, huh...?"
The Cannibal beneath him shifted restlessly, growling deep, sensing the unnatural power binding the creature together.
Aeron smiled darkly the thrill of battle awakening in his blood once more.
He called out toward Euron, voice cold as the grave "At least you’re stronger than the last one."
