The force of the shock had separated the two dragons, allowing both to take flight again. This time, once more, though, Winter had managed to find its way back to the clouds without Daenerys being able to track it. The only thing it left behind was a trail of dark blood and blue scales, scattered on the field.
...
She dared to turn around, and felt her stomach turn.
Right behind her, almost where she could reach, were bite marks. Later on, close to Drogon's tail, the scars were deeper, and a trail of blood formed from the left side, where several spines were missing, with others bent at unnatural angles.
Drogon hissed in pain, making Daenerys nervous. It was obvious that he couldn't climb higher without being impaired, and, as such, she decided to take advantage of a break in the weather to go back and circle Rhaegal.
Ever vigilant, she stood guard against Winter's next attack, but nothing came.
Did it go to burn my armies? No, she'd see it from here, and nothing was close to burning. As a matter of fact, several brave men had started coming out of their hiding places and approached the fallen dragon.
Daenerys ordered Drogon to land beside the wounded beast, and, as she did so, could observe the damage that had been done to her child.
The Black Dread Reborn had taken a beating. In addition to the damage to its back and tail half its wings were shredded, and it had large claw marks on its belly, with a deep scar trailing black blood onto the marshes.
Daenerys gasped, but continued moving quickly towards Rhaegal, who was, thankfully, still moving, though it had not taken to the skies again.
She felt her heart sink once more.
Could it be? No, she couldn't have lost him, either.
Daenerys hurried to Rhaegal's side, desperately trying to find Aegon.
He wasn't near Rhaegal's head, which was in an awful state. The dragon's head was split in the middle, blood dripping in a large pool which slowly ran down the small hill it had crashed upon. Its breathing was slow, and Daenerys could see that the green-colored dragon had lost many teeth, some missing, some just cut to pieces.
Its body was in no better shape. If Drogon was scarred, Rhaegal was ripped to shreds. She could not tell if its scales were red with blood, or if there was a gaping wound there. All along its back, she could see the devastating effect of Winter's bite, which had quite literally taken out large chunks of the dragon.
As for its wings, well…both of them had been badly damaged. Its right wing was severed in two places, while the left was missing much of its flesh and some bone. It was under this wing that she found Aegon, lying on the ground.
"Aegon!" she cried out, rushing towards him.
Rhaegal moved its wing slightly, to help her get a grip of him.
Aegon was lying against Rhaegal, his face completely drenched in blood, holding his right arm with his left.
Daenerys quickly put some of her cloth over him to try and stem the bleeding, but above all desperately tried to see if it was alive.
"I'm sorry…" Aegon finally muttered, his eyes flicking at her, "Mother…I'm sorry…"
"Shhhh, Aegon…" Daenerys grabbed him with her cold hands, wiping away the blood that just kept coming. "Stay with me, Aegon, don't go to sleep, do you hear me?"
Daenerys looked around, and saw that there were riders approaching. In the distance, she could see the banners they were holding were those of House Martell.
She frowned. Have the Dornish turned on me? Did Prince Quentyn betray me and side with Prince Daeron after all?
She couldn't let these thoughts haunt her, though. Aegon needed help, and it seemed no one else was coming.
"Iōragon ilagon!" she shouted at Drogon, before moving back towards Aegon.
"Mother…" Aegon continued to whimper. "Mother…"
"It's me, Aegon, it's Dany, please…" she begged him, tears in her eyes, "I'm sorry, Aegon, you were right. I shouldn't have been foolish, please, don't go…"
Aegon's purple eyes stared blankly at her, almost trying to find out who she was.
"Rhaenys?" Aegon asked. "They'll come back for you too…"
"Not Rhaenys. Daenerys." She cupped his cheek, gently. "It's Dany, your Dany…"
"Dany?" Aegon's gaze wandered. "It hurts…"
"I know it does, Aegon, help is coming." Daenerys did her best to shield him against the cold winds that had started to sweep the grassy fields. "Please, be strong, for me…"
"Is Rhaenys here too?" Aegon asked. "I miss her…"
Daenerys did not understand what was happening. Aegon's mind was faltering, that was for sure, and she wondered how long it would be this way.
"I love you, Aegon, please…" she begged once more. "I'll follow your advice. I'll make peace with my nephew, but please, stay with me…"
"Daeron…" Aegon smiled. "My little brother."
"Yes, yes, your little brother, I promise I'll make peace with him, but stay with me!" Daenerys cried out.
It was then that she heard the horses come quickly besides her. Raising her head, she noticed a knight without a helm, with unmistakeable blonde hair.
Ned.
He looked at her with a pained expression whilst unhorsing, and moved towards Aegon.
Daenerys grabbed his arm before he began to touch him.
"If you harm him…"
"Dany, he needs a maester, and he needs one now," Ned warned without a second thought. "He needs to go back to camp or he'll die within the hour."
"How?" she asked.
"I'll take him on my saddle."
"No!" she cried out. "I'm not letting you take him."
"Dany, if I do not bring him to camp now, he will die. You have to trust me, or take him yourself at this instant," Ned replied with a plain expression on his face.
She looked at the state of Rhaegal, and that of Drogon. She could well put Aegon on Drogon's back and fly to camp, but that would mean leaving the entire army defenceless…
"Fine." Daenerys nodded, as she helped Aegon into Ned's arms. "But if anything happens to him."
"I am a knight, Dany," Ned replied. "I bear no ill will towards Aegon. He is my King, just as you are my Queen."
With that, Ned attached Aegon to his saddle, trying to stem the bleeding from his head and chest with some cloth he had on him. Once he was firmly attached, Ned himself got ahorse, and, accompanied by his escort, kicked his horse forwards at a gallop towards the camp.
Daenerys, for her part, stayed with Rhaegal.
Her child was still suffering, and it was a mother's duty to stand by her children as they suffered. She had lost one already, she would not lose another.
She pressed her hand on Rhaegal's scales, trying to soothe the dragon, as she had Aegon. Soon, Rhaegal drifted into some sort of slumber, breathing easily, but closing its eyes, under Drogon's watchful gaze.
All the while, Daenerys looked at the skies, which had cleared from grey to reveal the sun for the first time in what felt like moons.
She scoured it, trying to spot Winter's silhouette from as far as possible and get Drogon ready for a final clash.
But try as she might, there was nothing in the sky but a few scattered raindrops. The skies were completely empty, but that thought was scarier than the alternative, for now one question resonated in her head: where had Winter gone?
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