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SLW Chapter 31 : To the ShadowLands.
🕑 Added 2025-02-19 00:01:26 +0000 UTCThe room felt heavy, and tense as Aeron’s shadow army loomed behind him, their glowing eyes burning like embers in the dimly lit hall. Their presence alone sent a clear message this was no ordinary man. He had come with power, power beyond anything Daenerys had ever seen, and he was offering her something. Not as equals, but as partners in conquest.
“I’ll have more soon enough,” Aeron continued, his voice steady, unshaken. “That petty war in Westeros is nothing. You’ve spent time in Essos...you know there is magic here, different kinds of sorceries, old and powerful. You could say I’m one of them. Except…” He met her gaze, his golden eyes gleaming with a quiet certainty. “I’m the strongest.”
Daenerys studied him carefully, her mind racing. He spoke with such confidence, such unwavering belief in his own power, that for a moment, she wondered if he truly could take the Seven Kingdoms alone. Still, she was not so easily swayed.
“If you claim you can take the Iron Throne alone,” she said, tilting her head slightly, “why did you come here for me?”
Aeron's lips curled into a faint smirk, as if he had anticipated the question. “Because i know you very well Daenerys Targaryen,” he said. “I know you seek revenge. I know you want the Iron Throne more than anyone. Which is why I offer you an alliance, with a certain time limit, i will not offer it again.”
He took a step closer, shadows curling at his feet like living smoke. “You are a Targaryen. Be by my side. If they see you as their queen, they won’t dare to act against me. And i won’t have to rule a kingdom of undead and corpses, I’ll be the blood and fire But I…” He paused, letting his words sink in. “I will be the Monarch.”
A sharp scoff broke the silence.
“Ridiculous.” Jorah Mormont’s voice was laced with disdain. He stepped forward, his face twisted in disbelief. “You speak of sorcery as if it’s enough to claim a throne. Magic does not make a king. It’s men, loyalty, strategy...”
Aeron raised a hand slightly, and the shadows behind him shifted all towards Jorah. A cold wind swept through the chamber, and for the first time, Jorah truly saw them...silent figures of death, countless in number, standing unnervingly still locking eyes with him. A pit formed in his stomach. This wasn’t just some trick, some cheap illusion. This was real.
Jorah swallowed hard, his hand unconsciously tightening around the hilt of his sword.
Daenerys opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, Aeron cut her off.
“I have quite a number of soldiers scattered across the realms,” he said, his voice cool and controlled. “The only place where I have no real power…” His eyes flickered, a hint of something deeper, something darker in them. “Is Essos.”
A quiet hum of unease filled the air.
“And that,” Aeron continued, turning slightly, “is why I’m heading to the Shadow Lands.”
Silence fell over the room. Even Daenerys blinked in surprise. The Shadow Lands...where no sane man dared to tread, a place of whispers and horrors, of demons and forgotten legends. Few ever ventured there, and even fewer returned. And it’s the place where her dragon eggs were brought from.
He turned to his men, his expression unreadable. “Alone.”
Raya stiffened, her brows furrowing. “You can’t be serious...i thought that was a jest.”
Aeron simply smiled.
“You might think I’m being ridiculous,” he said, glancing at Daenerys one last time, “but I will return.” His eyes gleamed, a storm brewing behind them. “And when I do, I will come back with a power greater than any of you could ever imagine.”
A shiver ran through the room. Even the Unsullied, disciplined and fearless, seemed unsettled.
Aeron’s voice was calm, yet it carried an undeniable weight. He spoke not as a peasant pleading for an alliance but as a man offering a deal he knew would be considered, whether now or later.
“Think about my offer.” His golden eyes flickered in the dim torchlight. “I know you need strength and power, and soon you’ll conquer these pathetic city-states. Yunkai. Meereen.” His lips curved into a faint smirk. “And all it would take is three baby dragons and a small army of cockless men.”
Aeron narrowed his eyes. “I can do it myself.”
Then he let out a short laugh, amused by her clear looks of defiance, but before he could respond, he caught the faintest shift in movement...Jorah Mormont.
The old knight lunged, his expression fierce, his instincts honed through years of battle. But before he could even swing, Aeron was gone.
No… not gone.
A blur of darkness. A gust of wind.
And in the blink of an eye, Aeron reappeared behind him.
The next thing Jorah felt was a force slamming into his ribs. A punch. Devastatingly fast, impossibly strong. His breath was driven from his lungs as he crashed to the ground, coughing.
Gasps echoed through the hall. The Unsullied tensed, gripping their spears, while Grey Worm shifted slightly, ready to act if needed. Missandei’s eyes widened in shock. Even Daenerys froze for a moment, taken aback.
Aeron barely spared Jorah a glance. “Don’t be stupid, Mormont,” he said simply, his voice neither mocking nor cruel, just… factual. “She’ll need you. For now.”
Jorah gritted his teeth, pushing himself onto one knee, but he made no move to attack again. There was no point.
Aeron turned back to Daenerys, his movements fluid and unhurried. He placed one hand over his chest and gave a small, mocking bow. “Muñnykeā zaldrīzoti.”
Mother of Dragons.
His Valyrian was flawless. Smooth. Almost too natural for someone not born to the language.
Daenerys said nothing, only watching him, trying to gauge the man before her.
Aeron straightened. “Take care of my men,” he said. “I’ll soon return for that response from you.”
Raya, standing a few steps behind, opened her mouth to speak...to argue...but Aeron cut her off before she could even start.
“It’s not up for debate,” he said without looking at her. “I’ll take some supplies and go alone.”
There was no room for negotiation. No room for anyone to follow.
As he turned away, his thoughts were his own.
‘I initially wanted the dragons… but they’re still too damn small.’
“Aeron.”
Daenerys’s voice was firm, but there was an edge to it, something restrained beneath her usual fire. She didn’t move, didn’t take a step forward, only stood at the head of the hall, her violet eyes locked onto his own.
For the first time in a long while, she hesitated.
A man who moved like a shadow. A man who commanded them. His power was undeniable. And though pride burned hot in her chest, though she wanted to demand that he stay, she knew better.
She knew what a reckless decision could cost.
So she stayed silent.
Aeron, without turning, smirked as if he could hear the battle raging in her mind. And then, with the slightest flick of his fingers, his shadow stirred. A fragment of darkness peeled away from his form, slipping unseen beneath the torches’ glow. A shadow soldier. Silent. Invisible to all but him, was assigned to her.
Aeron stepped out of the hall, boots echoing against the stone floor as the great doors swung open before him. Outside, the warm night air of Astapor greeted him, the city bathed in flickering lantern light. The scent of salt and spice lingered, carried by the breeze from the harbor.
‘Technically…’ he mused to himself as he descended the palace steps, ‘Essos is safer than Westeros, so those who came with me are well off to stay with Dany.’
No great lords with their petty ambitions. No whispers in the dark plotting behind his back. Just slavers and occasional assassins and weird people here and there.
****
The gates of Astapor were left behind. The red-bricked city grew smaller in the distance, fading into the vast, open sands. The stars above stretched endlessly, a canvas of celestial fire.
Aeron sat atop Garm’s massive back, the beast’s fur ruffling against the wind as they soared across the dunes, heading eastward. Towards Qarth. Towards the Shadowlands beyond.
Then, a pulse. A sudden shift.
A notification.
[Unknown forces seek your death. They will soon cross your path.]
Aeron’s violet eyes narrowed. The wind howled against him, but for the first time that night, it felt… different..
Like something was watching. Like something was waiting for him ahead.
He smirked. "About time."
