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Chapter 32 - Evolve
🕑 Added 2025-06-03 20:53:36 +0000 UTCValyria
Robert watched with an open mouth as his dragons tore the chest of the now dead Archdemon apart and began to eat its heart, his warnings falling on deaf ears.
They pulled back once down, wobbling around as if drunk, before coming to the empty square, falling down, groaning in discomfort, and going to sleep.
Robert rushed to check their condition. The dragons were breathing, but they did not respond to any of his attempts, sleeping as if dead to the world.
“Fucking wonderful.” He muttered, kicking a pebble away in frustration. He was stuck in a dead city with his dragons in a coma after eating something they shouldn’t have. And if something happened to them, such as going crazy because of eating a demon's heart, Robert would have to kill them or die trying.
He needed shelter and had to make a list of what food and water he had and, in the meantime, make a map of everything of value.
—
Two days later, Robert watched the dragons with his jaw down again, not because they were awake but because of the stubs that were growing in their forward lower chest and at their back, just behind their wings.
They were growing two more legs and wings, he realized. That must be the reason they ate the heart of the demon, to basically evolve.
“You overgrown Pokemons.” He huffed with amusement, continuing to explore Valyria.
He was one person on a whole island city, so mapping all of it would take months by himself, so Robert only chose to explore locations he thought would yield the greatest value.
He had already found a vault filled with gold and was sure there would be many riches to explore.
One good thing that came out of the whole situation was he didn’t see any more of those zombies. Since the Archdemon was dead, he assumed they died too, which meant his exploration was unhindered.
Robert was actually really happy with the situation, because it felt mystifying to explore the ruins of an ancient civilization in a fantasy world.
Now, if only he could find out how they made Valyrian steel in the first place, that would be the cherry on top.
—
Five days after the dragons went into a coma, Robert could see that the new limbs and wings were growing really fast; they were already half the size, and not to mention, the dragons seemed to be growing in size as well.
He still didn’t find Nightblood after the demon tore it out of its eye and threw it away, but he found an armory full of Valyrian steel weapons and armor, so it was fine.
The diary he had taken from the underground hideout was really interesting, to say the least. The Valyrian in question wanted to end the slavery because of his personal beliefs, but he was shunned, mocked, insulted, and eventually driven mad because of it. His writing got more unhinged as the diary progressed, and eventually, Baenor Bealerys decided that Valyria must be destroyed for all they have done.
Elia was going to find the diary just as interesting; he was sure of it.
One other thing he was interested in besides gold and Valyrian steel was the books. They had a main library that contained a lot of books on various subjects, at least from the couple of Valyrian words he picked up. Not to mention, the residences of the nobles of Valyria had their own libraries, which he was sure contained even rarer books.
Say what you will about them, Valyrians knew the value of knowledge and kept their libraries well protected enough that most were still intact. If he was fortunate, there would be manuscripts amongst those books, describing how Valyrian steel was made.
—
By the seventh day, the new limbs and wings of his dragons had grown fully, and they each gained a couple of feet to their size, and their scales became shiny enough he could see his own reflection.
They still were asleep, though he was sure it wouldn’t be for much longer.
He was rationing his food supplies because fishing and hunting were out of the question, since the only living beings on Valyria and the surrounding waters were himself and the dragons.
Speaking of dragons, he found several eggs, or rather, remains of several eggs, as they were broken, most likely eaten by the now dead parasites. So, hopefully, his last egg would be a female; otherwise, there would be no more dragon eggs.
—
On the morning of the eighth day, Robert woke up with a yawn, stretching to get rid of the stiffness in his shoulders. He was camping close to the dragons in case something happened and usually checked their condition first thing in the morning.
The dragons were finally awake, and Robert couldn’t help the belly-aching laugh. They were trying to walk around on all four legs, but it turns out, growing new limbs didn’t mean that the dragons knew how to use them, and they were stumbling around like toddlers who were taking their first steps.
Obelisk tried to coordinate all four of his legs, only to stumble and fall on his belly, while Ra took a slower approach, getting a feel of his new limbs before taking full steps.
Slifer seemed to prefer flying over walking and was awkwardly flapping his new pair of wings and slowly took off without the need for a starting run.
He missed the beat, of course, and fell down ceremoniously.
Robert kept laughing at the dragons, who snarled at their father before continuing their efforts.
—
On the tenth day, the dragons began to get used to their limbs.
The first thing they did was go out and hunt, since they last ate ten days ago. The increase in speed was very noticeable, and Robert couldn’t wait for the opportunity to take to the skies.
They went hunting and returned in a couple of hours, even bringing a massive buck to Robert. Good thing too, because he ate his last rations already and cut one of the legs and slowly roasted it over the fire while petting the massive lizards, who were fighting for attention.
Three days later, he sent Slifer back to Asgard with a letter for Tyrion and Davos to gather as many ships as they could and head to Valyria.
He kept drawing the map and highlighting the important locations, and boy, did they have a lot of gold. The Valyrians didn’t need to spend much, not when they had slaves, so they only used gold for transactions between the noble houses.
Provided he spends wisely, Asgard would not need any loans or investments.
—
Two days after he had sent the shiny, crimson dragon to Asgard, he received a letter, as well as supplies on the back of Slifer.
“My Lord,
It fills us with relief to know you are well and victorious. We will immediately buy as many ships as we can and set sail for Valyria.
On less cheerful notes, your grandmother, Lady Rhaelle, has learned of your trip to Valyria and is wroth with you. She has graciously agreed to protect the city in your absence, but I would expect a rather severe scolding.
With relief, Tyrion.”
—
Robert was lying on a chair near the shore, enjoying some wine, when he saw a ship in the distance approaching the island. It was too far away to say whose flag it sailed, but he had three dragons, so nothing to worry about.
The wine bottle was emptied slowly while the ship approached, and he could see the vessel was flying a flag with a tiger emblem, meaning Volantis.
Since his dragons did nothing, the ship felt it was safe enough to approach and docked near the shore, and a dozen people in shiny plate armor came down the gangplank, headed by whom Robert assumed was the captain.
“Dragonlord, I assume the disappearance of the Smoking Sea and Valyria’s current situation are owed to you?” His accent was thick, and his disdain wasn’t hidden well, so Robert didn’t even get up from his chair.
“Duh.”
“I see. I am Aumax of the noble house Staegon of Volantis.” The pompous captain introduced himself, watching Robert with a calculating gaze.
“And I am someone whose rest you are interrupting, so get to the point.” Killing an archdemon was hard work after all, and Robert deserved his rest.
“I simply wish to explore Valyria.” Robert looked at the noble blankly for a couple of seconds before chuckling.
“Oh, wow. No. I didn’t kill a fifteen-foot demon just to let someone else lay claim to my turf. Get back on your ship and go away.” The demon's remark caught them off guard, and the guards looked uncomfortable, fidgeting in their spots.
“Please, I have no intention of staking any claims.”
“Yeah, I don’t know you, and I don’t trust you, so no.” Robert refused, but the Volantine noble wasn’t done and kept trying to convince him with various offers, insisting he had no intention of trying to claim anything.
He had enough after his final offer, which included sex slaves, so Robert snapped his fingers. The dragons rose from their nap and turned to the Volantine noble, snarling, not with the playfulness they reserved for their father, but with aggression they had learned from him.
He wasn’t going to allow anyone, let alone a slaver, to go and explore the city he had fought for and claimed.
Aumax didn’t stick around after that, too afraid to go against his dragons.
—
Volantis was the strongest of the Free Cities, only rivaled by Braavos, and was the closest to Valyria.
Which was why barely a week and a half after he had sent that captain away, hundreds of ships were sailing towards Valyria with intent to claim it from Robert.
Dressed in his Valyrian steel armor and armed with Nightblood—he finally found the sword stuck on top of a building—Robert rode Obelisk to battle. He would send them to the bottom of the sea without allowing any to land on the island.
He approached the ships to get a good count of how many there were, but it was a mistake, as the bastards had brought scorpions, and he inadvertently entered their range.
They were smaller than the ones he remembered watching Jaime Lannister use, but they had brought a lot, no doubt prepared long ago in case he chose to fight with Braavos against Volantis.
Of the dozen or so scorpion bolts fired, only three made it to him and Obelisk, and to the surprise of all parties involved, they harmlessly pinged off the sky-blue dragon’s new, shiny scales.
It seems his dragons gained more than just limbs and size.
“You guys are fucked now!” He screamed at the top of his lungs and ordered his dragons to dive.
Volantis' fleet was subjected to a three-pronged attack, and with their main weapons all but useless now, they stood no chance.
Leadership, a massive vessel with three hundred oars, was the first to feel Obelisks' fury. A dark, red fire cone, larger than any his dragon had exhaled so far, consumed the ship and the several vessels around it, turning the men aboard to ashes in seconds and sending a small portion of the fleet to the bottom of the sea.
The other two prongs of the attack yielded the same results.
Arrows and scorpion bolts harmlessly impacted the dragons, incapable of stopping their deadly advance.
Groups of ships burned at the same time; sailors died in droves; some jumped off the ships to hide under the water, but the heat of the flames flash-boiled the water, giving them a slower but no less agonizing death.
At a pace they wouldn’t have been capable of before, three dragons burnt an entire fleet to the last ship.
In the year 287 AC, Volantis gambled on numbers against Robert Baratheon and lost, weakening the city-state more than any war in recent history.
—
Robert watched as the last ship sank and only hoped there were no slaves in the fleet, though that was just wishful thinking.
He hoped they would at least find peace in the afterlife, if one existed in this world.
Comments
Sefa Baah
Thanks for the chapter.😁 Please tell he will find some way to claim Valaria...
