Chapter 13: The Dragon's Dominion
Myr, the Jewel of the Disputed Lands, now lay firmly within Vaelyx Targaryen's grasp, a bloodied but priceless gem in his rapidly forming crown. The initial chaos of conquest gave way to a chillingly efficient consolidation of power. Vaelyx, drawing upon the ruthless administrative acumen of Voldemort's memories and the inherent authority of a Dragon Lord, wasted no time in remaking Myr in his image.
Lingering pockets of Myrish noble resistance were identified by Lyra's ever-vigilant scouts and crushed with theatrical brutality. Several prominent Magisters who had attempted to orchestrate a rebellion from their hidden cellars found themselves the centerpiece of a grim spectacle in the city's grand plaza: Vorlag and Ignis, under Vaelyx's precise command, reduced them and their co-conspirators to ash before the terrified Myrish populace. The message was unequivocal: obedience or annihilation. Daily flights of his five publicly known dragons – Vorlag, Ignis, Tempest, Argentus, and Aurumel – became a fixture in the skies above Myr, a constant, terrifying reminder of who now ruled.
Kaelen, as Governor, proved surprisingly adept at translating Vaelyx's cold directives into functional administration. He was a soldier, not a statesman, but his grim determination and unwavering loyalty to Vaelyx ensured that orders were followed. Myrish artisans – glassblowers, weavers, lens grinders, and crucially, smiths – were organized into tightly controlled guilds, their production redirected towards Vaelyx's war machine. He set them a monumental task: attempt to replicate Valyrian steel, providing them with samples he had recovered and Valyrian scrolls detailing metallurgical principles. While true Valyrian steel required dragon fire and sorcery they did not yet possess on an industrial scale, their efforts yielded a superior quality of steel, stronger and lighter than common castle-forged work, which began to equip his elite Serpent's Scale veterans.
The former slave soldiers of Myr, renowned for their discipline with crossbows, were reformed into new legions, their loyalty secured not by chains, but by oaths sworn under the fiery gaze of Vaelyx's dragons, and the promise of status and reward within his new order. These Myrish Legions, drilled relentlessly by Serpent's Scale sergeants, provided Vaelyx with a disciplined infantry core to complement his Dothraki cavalry. Malakai, summoned from Pentos under heavy escort (and bringing with him a significant portion of Vaelyx's accumulated Pentoshi wealth), was installed as Myr's new Treasurer, his sharp mind quickly untangling the city's finances and redirecting its trade to fill Vaelyx's coffers.
The ripples of Myr's fall spread across Essos like a tremor. Envoys soon arrived. Lys, the city of poisons and pleasures, sent a delegation laden with silks, wines, and exquisitely beautiful courtesans, offering tribute and an alliance of "mutual benefit." Vaelyx accepted their tribute, saw through their thinly veiled offers of seduction and assassination (Lyra identified three attempts on his life within the first week, all dealt with silently and lethally), and sent them back with a chilling counter-offer: double the tribute, and provide him with their best spies, or Myr's fate would soon be Lys's.
Tyrosh, the city of flamboyant mercenaries and exotic dyes, sent a gruffer delegation, proposing a military alliance against their mutual rival, Volantis. Vaelyx entertained their offer, seeing Tyrosh as a useful, if unruly, attack dog, but committed to nothing, preferring to keep his options open. Volantis itself, the Old Blood of Valyria, remained ominously silent, though Lyra's agents reported frantic military preparations and heated debates between the Tiger and Elephant factions within its black walls. Qarth and the Slaver Cities of Astapor, Yunkai, and Meereen sent lavish gifts and groveling promises of fealty, terrified that the Dragon Khal would turn his attention and his fire-breathing beasts upon their lucrative slave trade.
Magister Illyrio Mopatis of Pentos also made contact, his letters a mixture of fawning congratulations and subtle attempts to reassert himself as a key partner. Vaelyx responded with cool courtesy, accepting Illyrio's "gifts" but making it clear that their relationship had fundamentally changed. Illyrio was now a useful, but ultimately subservient, agent in Vaelyx's growing network, not an equal.
Within the secure, magically expanded confines of his suitcase – now often housed in a heavily warded, subterranean complex he'd had constructed beneath the former Magisters' palace in Myr – Vaelyx focused on the continued development of his seven dragons. They were growing at a prodigious rate, their power becoming more refined.
Astra and Veridian, his two secret weapons, received specialized attention. Astra, the snow-white dragon with sapphire eyes, possessed an almost regal aura. Her unique ability, Vaelyx discovered, was not direct elemental force, but a form of pure, concentrated energy manipulation. She could project blasts of concussive force that could shatter stone without flame, create shimmering shields of sapphire light that deflected magical attacks, and her mere presence seemed to amplify Vaelyx's own magical control, a calming, focusing counterpoint to the wilder energies of her siblings. He envisioned her as his royal standard, a symbol of his power, and a devastating force against magically adept foes.
Veridian, the jade and bronze enigma, proved to be the most intelligent and magically attuned of the clutch. His pale green fire could indeed bypass many conventional wards, and he was developing an uncanny ability for stealth, his scales shifting color to blend with his surroundings. More astonishingly, Vaelyx found that through Veridian, he could gain faint, empathic impressions from other living creatures, a draconic form of Legilimency, making Veridian an unparalleled scout and spy.
The other five dragons honed their combat roles. Vorlag and Ignis were his primary shock troops, their devastating fire capable of melting fortresses. Tempest was master of the sky and sea, his roars and wind manipulation capable of disrupting enemy formations and sinking fleets. Argentus became his mobile artillery, his lightning strikes precise and deadly. Aurumel, with its protective golden light and illusion-casting, provided invaluable support, shielding his forces and sowing confusion among the enemy.
Vaelyx established a vast, hidden dragon roost in the hills overlooking Myr, a series of interconnected caves expanded and warded by his magic, allowing his dragons more freedom than the suitcase when he was in residence. The sight of five colossal dragons taking to the skies from these hidden lairs became a potent tool of intimidation.
Myr's extensive port facilities also brought a constant flow of news from across the Narrow Sea. Vaelyx's agents, often disguised as merchants or sailors, began to cultivate contacts, feeding him information about Westeros. King Aerys's madness, it was whispered, was deepening. His paranoia grew daily, his fascination with wildfire becoming an obsession. Prince Rhaegar, though popular and skilled, seemed burdened by prophecy and his father's erratic behavior. Lord Tywin Lannister, still Hand of the King, governed with cold efficiency but faced increasing frustration with Aerys's instability. The realm was growing restless. Vaelyx listened to these reports with cold satisfaction. The seeds of his return were being sown by his brother's own hand. He tasked Lyra with establishing a more permanent, covert intelligence network reaching into King's Landing itself.
His burgeoning dominion, however, did not go unchallenged. A desperate coalition, secretly funded by nervous Tyroshi and Lysene Magisters and led by a band of Myrish exiles loyal to the old regime, launched a surprise attack. They hired the Gallant Men, a sellsword company known for their heavy cavalry, and amassed a fleet of pirate vessels, hoping to retake Myr while the Dragon Khal was supposedly still consolidating his rule.
The attack came on a stormy night, the coalition fleet attempting a naval assault on Myr's harbor while their land forces, spearheaded by the Gallant Men, charged the city's western gate.
Vaelyx was ready.
Tempest, reveling in the storm, met the pirate fleet head-on. The dragon's roars merged with the thunder, his colossal wingbeats whipping the sea into a frenzy. Ships were smashed against the breakwaters, their crews swept into the churning water. Argentus, a bolt of living lightning, darted through the storm clouds, his electrical blasts incinerating masts and boiling the sea around the enemy vessels. The naval assault was a disaster before it even reached the harbor mouth.
At the western gate, the Gallant Men, renowned for their unbreakable charge, found themselves facing Kaelen's newly formed Myrish Legions. These were not the easily broken slave soldiers of old, but men fighting for a new master, under the terrifying gaze of dragons. As the Gallant Men's heavy horse thundered forward, Aurumel swept low, bathing the Myrish defenders in its protective golden light, arrows and javelins deflecting harmlessly. Then, as the attackers neared the walls, Veridian, previously unseen, materialized from the storm-wracked sky like a silent jade ghost, his eerie green fire engulfing the Gallant Men's siege towers, the flames clinging to the wood and spreading with unnatural speed, bypassing the water-soaked defenses.
The final, devastating blow came when Vaelyx himself appeared on the battlements, flanked by Astra. The snow-white dragon, her sapphire eyes blazing, unleashed a focused blast of pure, colorless energy that struck the charging formation of the Gallant Men's commander like a thunderbolt, vaporizing him and his immediate retinue, leaving a smoking crater where they had stood. The charge faltered, then broke into a panicked rout as Vorlag and Ignis, with roars that echoed Vaelyx's triumph, descended to pursue and annihilate the fleeing remnants.
The defeat of the coalition was absolute, a brutal testament to Vaelyx's consolidated power. The involvement of Astra and Veridian, though brief and witnessed by few outside his own forces, added another layer of terrifying mystery to his capabilities. What other horrors did the Dragon Lord hold in reserve?
Standing on the blood-slicked walls of Myr, the storm receding to reveal a sky stained with the smoke of burning ships and pyres, Vaelyx Targaryen felt a surge of cold, absolute power. Myr was his. Its army was loyal, its resources were his to command. His dragons, now seven terrifying flames, were instruments of his will. Essos was a vast chessboard, and he was just beginning to deploy his pieces. His gaze shifted eastward, towards Tyrosh and Lys, then further still, to the ancient, brooding city of Volantis. They would learn, as Myr had learned, the meaning of the Dragon's Dominion. And beyond them, across the sea, Westeros waited, blissfully unaware of the storm gathering in the east.