(One month later)
Daemon stood in the forest with his eyes closed and a wooden sword in his grip. He breathed heavily as sweat poured down his face suddenly he twitched and he turned to his left swiping and deflecting a stone that had been thrown at him out of the air. He then turned in the opposite direction hitting at another one.
This went on for 20 minutes before Daemon collapsed to the floor his aura dissipating. From the forest Barristan and Lysa came to him as they were the one responsible for throwing the stones.
What he was doing as a training exercise for an advanced aura technique 'Scout' which combined two basic techniques. 'Enhance' to extend your aura beyond your body and 'Shroud to give it shape. By doing this a person gets a sense of the surrounding area and if trained to a high degree can use it to dodge or deflect oncoming attacks. Though the downside was it was more tiring than 'Enhance' to maintain.
Lysa ran to Daemons side and wiped his brow with a cloth she had brought and handed him a water skin. Daemon looked at her gratefully before taking a gulp.
"That was good lad, you can keep practicing that on your own time, I think you're sufficient enough at it for now 10 metres for 20 minutes is impressive" Barristan states.
"Now the tournament will be starting next month so for this last month I'll be teaching you the last advanced techniques for Aura. 'Fortify' is a prolonged state of 'Enhance', almost all aura users will know this technique but few can use it for prolonged periods as they neglect to focus on training" Barristan explains.
Daemon nods his head and stands up and flares his aura using 'Enhance' he then uses 'Shroud to keep it closer to his body thickening the aura present.
'Barristan wasn't joking when he said this would be harder to maintain' Daemon thought to himself.
Barristan nods his head "Good now we'll move to the last part 'Flow' which is the application of 'Focus' but when using 'Fortify', if you've faced an aura user before and you saw their aura shift where you aimed to hit them, that is 'Flow'" Daemon nods his head as he does remember Big Pete doing something similar.
"It can also be used to attack" Barristan explained as he activated his own 'Fortify' before using 'Flow' to distribute his aura to his fist while leaving his body with minimal protection.
"While 'Fortify' could defend from hits such as these, it's always best to distribute your aura to the place where they are going to connect cancelling out the hit" he continues.
Daemon does the same, controlling his aura has almost become second nature to him so using this advanced ability was rather easy, what he needed most was to practice maintaining it something Barristan knew. To say Barristan was shocked at the ease of which Daemon learned his aura he was amazed, though he was slightly worried.
"Daemon I've taught you what I can to help you with the tournament, all you need to do now is reinforce those and I'm sure you'll do just fine" Barristan stated.
Daemon nodded, but then Barristan narrowed his eyes at him "I know what you're doing Daemon... I won't stop you but I want to remind you that creating aura abilities is not something easily to do. Some people go their entire lives without one, so be careful especially with your vows"
Daemon felt himself freeze when Barristan mentioned his secret training but was glad he wouldn't stop him as he was close "I promise I'll be fine, thank you for teaching me this much" Daemon states getting a nod from the man.
Barristan then heads back to Riverrun leaving Daemon and Lysa alone, they had gotten close in the past month, to the point where he had asked her to help with his training and she eagerly agreed.
Daemon lay on the ground relaxing his aching muscles, he looked up and saw Lysa with a cute pout on her face "What's wrong?" He asked
"Aura ability? You never told me you were working on something dangerous all alone" she emphasises the alone part.
Daemon winced a bit "In truth I wanted to keep it as a surprise for the tournament, that's if I can finish it before it starts, but I'm close"
Lysa nods in understanding "Well, you can't practice it without me there anymore" she says lifting her head regally.
Daemon laughs "Is that what my Lady Tully wishes?"
"Indeed it is" she says with a small smile.
Daemon gets up and pats her head "Very well, now I am going to wash, coming?" He asked getting a nod from her.
One unexpected development was a week ago they started using the pond at the same time as by the time they went to use it, they found that there wasn't enough time to do them separately. Lysa thought she'd die of embarrassment at first but eventually she got use to it, they stood back to back so they didn't see each other, but sometimes Lysa would sneak a look when he got out as he always did it first.
Daemon however found the whole thing a bit frustrating, Lysa despite what she thought of herself was incredibly beautiful and Daemon always found himself erect when they bathed together which was rather embarrassing, he was glad that they did not face each other, otherwise he'd probably blush more than Lysa did.
Daemon and Lysa made their way to the pond, Daemon looked away until he heard Lysa strip her clothes and enter, Daemon took his own clothes off before getting into the pond. The feeling of the crystal clear water on his skin seeped into his muscles and made him feel euphoric. He leaned his back against Lysa's as they relaxed in the pool.
Lysa wasn't very tall standing at just over 5ft so she could lean her head onto Daemons upper back which she tended to do "My father has been talking about writing to the Lannister's to secure a marriage between me and Tywin's son"
Daemon raised an eyebrow in surprise "I hear he's a once in a generation talent with a sword and aura, they say he'll be the next Arthur Dayne or King Aerys"
Lysa hums lowly at his words "I think my father is a bit mad if he believes the Lannister's will accept that betrothal"
Daemon smiled and bumped himself back into her "They'd be foolish not to" he says making her smile.
"At least I know my father won't marry me off to the Freys or the like" she says with relief in her voice.
"How would you know that?" He replies
"The Riverlands are weak, compared to other kingdoms so he'll arrange a marriage purely for power" she explains.
Daemon however is confused "The Riverlands have the second most fertile fields in Westeros and can field up to 40,000 men, I wouldn't consider it weak"
Lysa shakes her head "We have the weakest Aura users and the fewest, even in a battle that size aura users are what determine the tide"
"We have my father my uncle, but apart from them we have no true talents in the Riverlands, so my father is making matches that'll grant more power as well as hopefully talented grandchildren, which is why my sister is being betrothed to Brandon" she explains.
Daemon hums "You forgot to include yourself on that list, you're quite talented in aura"
Lysa giggles a bit as she turns a bit leaning her cheek on his back, she then turns and hugs Daemon pressing her small breasts into his back. Daemon could feel her hard nipples pushing into his back and he now found himself painfully hard.
"Lysa? What's wrong?" He asks with a slight tremble in his voice that he coughs out.
"Nothing... I'm just glad I met you, it's been very lonely till now" She says softly.
Daemon is glad she opened up to him, he take a risk and turns around, they are now both facing each other, their naked bodies exposed. Lysa blushes but doesn't cover herself or turn away, Daemon moves his face closer and kisses her lightly on the lips. His hands move around her back sinking into her soft skin as he presses her slender form into his broad chest.
Lysa melted into him, she had never felt as alive as she did now, being touched by Daemon sent shivers down her spine and when he kissed her it made her stomach flutter and her heart beat fast. Though when she felt Daemons hard length poke into her stomach she thought she'd pass out.
Daemon disconnects from the kiss "I knew I'd regret it if I didn't do that before you get married" he says while cupping her face.
Lysa rubbed her face in his hands and smiled "We have a month for you to make the most of it"
———————————————————-
(Two weeks later)
Lyanna was punching a big boulder she had found in the forest outside of Riverrun, something she did almost on a daily basis. The reason being that if it wasn't this rock it would be Edmure Tully's face, or Catelyn's embroidery set. She had spent most of the time with the Tully children only getting a few moments to either train or meet with Daemon.
Though he was very busy as well since he was training for the tournament, she couldn't wait until he beat that poncy little fish in the ring, she'll be cheering the whole time. She missed what had come to be her best friend a lot which is why she came out to find him training, when she heard him talking and laughing. She used 'Suppression' so she could jump out and scare him.
However what she discovered was Daemon in the pool with Lysa Tully, they were both in each others arms and as they passionately kissed and fondled each other.
Lyanna's heart hurt at the sight, she didn't think she had liked Daemon in such a way but at the sight of him kissing another woman it all came rushing forth. She loved him, they had spent so much time together and yet she didn't realise it. Moments where she'd fall asleep on top of him after training or when they'd relax in the same bed together made sense now, she couldn't imagine doing that with any of the other boys she knew.
So Lyanna did what she did best and vented her frustration on a helpless boulder almost smashing it to pieces with her flared aura. She felt a bit better but couldn't help but wipe the few tears that left her face, but she slapped her face and resolved herself. She was a Stark and a wolf never gives up on their prey.
When she got back to Riverrun the first thing she did was try and find Lysa, something that was a lot harder than she thought it would be. It took the third time walking around the courtyard to discover she was sitting on a bench near the stables. A place she had passed multiple times.
She walks up to her "Lysa! We need to speak" she says startling the slightly older girl.
Lysa nods her head quickly and follows Lyanna to behind the stable, Lyanna looks at the auburn haired girl with a glare "I saw you with Daemon" she simply says eliciting panic from Lysa.
"I-I-It's n-not w-what you think we-" Lysa tries to explain but is cut off by Lyanna.
"Save it... I already saw you kissing in the pond" Lyanna states though the last words come out a little more aggressively than she meant.
Lysa finds herself speechless, she's not very good at talking to people in general, but Lyanna was the complete opposite of her and very outgoing so she found it hard to talk to her.
"I'm not angry at you... mostly myself for waiting so long to do something, Daemon is a good person so if he's friends with you then it means you must be as well" Lyanna says to her making Lysa relax a bit.
"But I want you to know... I'm not giving up!" She says shocking Lysa.
It wasn't often a love rival would come straight to your face and declare their intentions, she found it so ridiculous and remarkable that she couldn't help but laugh, she had to cover her mouth because she was laughing so much.
Lyanna stood there with a pissed off look on her face as she watched Lyanna laugh "I'm sorry it's just I've never heard of a love rival declaring themselves so openly" she says with a small giggle.
Lyanna had to smile a bit "I suppose it was a little ridiculous, I'm quite often accused of being hot headed" she stated as she sat down on a cart with a sigh.
"I apologise if I intimidated you a bit, I didn't mean it to come off so badly, I just saw you two together and it made me realise how I felt" She explained getting a pang of sympathy from Lysa.
Lysa hopped up on the cart next to her "If it's okay we could talk about it, I don't really have any other real friends apart from Daemon. If he's friends with you then it must mean you're nice"
Lyanna smiled at her "I would very much like that, anything to get me away from your brother" she said much to Lysa's amusement.
———————————————————-
(Two weeks later)
It was the day of the tournament, in the past few days knights and nobles from the Riverlands and beyond had come to attend mostly on honour of the queen. Rhaella had found this tour of the south to be a blessing as it allowed her time away from her husband.
She was sat on the upper dais with the Tully family, the Stark family and a young Viserys in her arms, Barristan Selmy and Jonothor Darry stood behind her ever vigilant in guarding the Queen. Rhaella used to love tournaments when she was younger but these days she found them to lack excitement, nobles and knights would always win, a sad truth of the world is that the romanticising of knights and lords and people who fight for what it right and prevail are just stories. She discovered that when her brother burned her second child alive. Shaena had barely made it due to being sickly but she pulled through. However she had black hair which led her husband to believe she had cuckholded him, which she hadn't. It was most likely due to their grandmother having black hair but he didn't listen.
While Rhaella was helpless when he grabbed her baby out of her arms threw it to the floor and set it alight, she still dreams of the sounds her baby made, after she stopped screaming her husband raped her to 'set things right'. Rhaella was never the same after that.
"I heard the boy you've been training will enter the melee, do you think he'll do well?" Rhaella asked while looking at Barristan.
The white haired man smiled "I do your grace, he shows great promise"
Rhaella smiles, she had seen the young man a few times around Riverrun, he seemed to go out of his way to help the servants with any difficult tasks, she'd also saw him climbing the tower of where she was staying a few times though she kept that to herself. When she first saw him she thought she was looking at a younger Rhaegar, while Valyrian features aren't uncommon in the Crownlands this boy looked like she could be a Targaryen.
Rhaella is snapped out of her thoughts by a trumpet announcing the first of the melee matches which would then be followed by the joust. And luckily for her she would get to see the boy first as he was facing off against Edwyn Frey
———————————————————-
Daemon focused on Edwyn Frey, his opponent for the melee tournament. As they stood in the grand stage, the excitement of the crowd buzzing around them, Daemon couldn't help but notice Edwyn's peculiar appearance—a pale, slender man with a constipated expression and a thin smile that made him look more like a schemer than a warrior.
The announcer introduced them to the eager spectators, and the anticipation in the air grew palpable. Daemon could feel the energy building up, both from the crowd and within himself. He flared his aura, and it illuminated the stage with a radiant brightness, overshadowing Edwyn's dimmer aura though his was a bit larger.
The moment the fight was called, they faced off against each other, their auras shrouding them in an ethereal glow. The rules allowed no weapons other than conjured ones, so they relied solely on their aura abilities and physical prowess.
As they circled each other, Daemon's focus was unwavering. He had trained diligently with Barristan Selmy, honing his aura abilities, and he was determined to showcase his skills in this tournament.
The tension in the air was palpable, and the spectators leaned forward, eagerly awaiting the first move. Both fighters were cautious, assessing each other's strengths and weaknesses. Daemon's aura flared brightly, indicating the raw power he possessed, while Edwyn's aura seemed more subdued.
With a burst of energy, Edwyn made the first move, lunging towards Daemon with unexpected speed. Despite his slender appearance, Edwyn's agility caught Daemon off guard. He swiftly sidestepped the attack, dodging Edwyn's attempt to catch him off balance.
Daemon threw his own punch at Edwyn and was surprised that he managed to hit him so easily, Edwyn flew a few feet back with a scowl on his face. It was as if he wasn't used to actually being hit before, but that couldn't be the case, surely other Aura users train together.
As Edwyn continued to throw clumsy punches and kicks, Daemon couldn't help but notice his opponent's lack of martial talent. Even if he wasn't using his aura, Daemon was confident that he could easily avoid Edwyn's uncoordinated attacks.
With each awkward movement, Edwyn's desperation became more apparent. His thin smile wavered as Daemon effortlessly evaded his strikes. It was evident to everyone watching that Edwyn was outmatched and ill-prepared for the melee tournament.
"It seems you're more challenging of an opponent than I believed bastard, very well I shall show you a larger portion of my power" he says Arrogantly.
"Now behold! 'Ripple'" he announces loudly in order to impress those watching. Though Daemon sighs at the spectacle as most of the audience can not see aura.
As Edwyn activated his special aura ability, 'Ripple,' Daemon found himself caught off guard. Ripples of aura emanated from Edwyn's feet, increasing his speed and agility, allowing him to close the distance between them with astonishing swiftness.
Before Daemon could react, Edwyn unleashed the second aspect of his ability, emitting ripples from his hands. The aura ripples caused Daemon's body to vibrate, disrupting his balance and making him stumble. It was a disorienting sensation, and Daemon struggled to maintain his footing.
As he tried to regain his composure, Edwyn seized the opportunity. With newfound speed and precision, he landed multiple punches on Daemon, exploiting his momentary vulnerability. Daemon gritted his teeth, trying to steady himself, but Edwyn's ability proved to be quite effective.
Daemon managed to respond with a light punch of his own, but the attack lacked the force he intended due to the impact of Edwyn's aura ripples. Edwyn then landed a kick on Daemon launching him a few feet away.
Daemon however couldn't help but smile, something which managed to infuriate Edwyn. Edwyn's frustration grew with each passing moment as he failed to land a single hit on Daemon, despite his belief that he should be faster. He threw punch after punch, screaming in anger as nothing connected. Daemon's nimble movements and swift dodges left Edwyn baffled and infuriated.
Determined to break through Daemon's defenses, Edwyn attempted to increase his speed even further. He charged at Daemon with renewed vigor, hoping to catch him off guard. But it was all in vain as Daemon effortlessly sidestepped Edwyn's wild assault, leaving him stumbling and unbalanced.
The crowd watched in amazement as Daemon's agility and quick reflexes proved superior. Edwyn struggled to comprehend how Daemon was evading him with such ease, feeling his confidence wane with each missed strike.
Daemon's smirk remained intact as he continued to outmaneuver Edwyn. He seized a brief opening, retaliating with a well-timed punch that struck Edwyn squarely in the face. The impact sent Edwyn reeling, momentarily stunned by the unexpected blow.
In the stands Barristan chuckled slightly catching Rhaella's attention "Do you know something Barristan?" She was curious as to how Daemon was doing so well against the young Frey as he clearly had more experience with aura.
"Use 'Focus' on your eyes your grace" Barristan stated, she did so with the surrounding nobles also doing the same. From what they could see there was a tether made of aura attaching Daemons aura to the Frey boy.
Barristan had managed to understand the ability somewhat 'He's using his aura to read his opponent's movements, he's using his opponents aura against him as it surrounds his body and will pick up every twitch of a muscle and movement. To develop this in a month in nothing short of monstrous' Barristan thought to himself.
Daemon's nimble footwork and precise movements allowed him to effortlessly dodge and weave under Edwyn's desperate attacks. With each dodge, he retaliated with quick and well-timed counters, landing strikes that slowly wore down his opponent.
As the fight wore on, Edwyn's aura ability, 'Ripple,' began to wane, leaving him gasping for breath and unable to maintain the increased speed that had once been his advantage. Daemon's aura flared brightly as he kept a firm grasp on his abilities, staying focused and composed.
Closing in on the battered and bruised Edwyn, Daemon saw an opportunity to end the fight. He knew he had the upper hand and didn't want to prolong the bout any longer. With determination in his eyes, he focused his aura, using the technique of 'Flow' to channel it into his fist.
Daemon's punch landed with force, connecting solidly with Edwyn's jaw. The impact was powerful enough to knock him out cold, and he fell to the ground, unconscious and defeated.
Unknown to everyone there the second aspect of his ability activated as soon as he had won the fight. There was a reason he had prolonged the fight as long as he did, It was to get the most out of his ability 'Spoils of War' by using the 'Aura Tether' he absorbs his opponents aura, the amount of aura he absorbs what his opponent had used in the fight.
The downside of this ability is the gamble worked both ways, if he had lost his Aura would've went into Edwyn. And while he can use 'Aura Tether' on multiple people he can only activate 'Spoils of War' on one person. Daemon thought it worth the risk as he would do whatever he could to win and this was a vow to himself to never lose.
Daemon felt the rush of aura enter his body, it was euphoric he could sense that his aura was now higher than Edwyns, but he kept that tightly wrapped up as to not expose his ability.
Daemon left the stage and headed to meet Barristan and hope he had advice to give regarding his next fight, as it would be against a fully fledged knight.
(AN: woooo second chapter done. Anyway important stuff to talk about, Summer holidays are here so works getting busy as shit. So sadly I'm going to be pushing my release schedule to once a week for lost in sothroyos and bi weekly for the rest apart from this new one which I'll write until it has enough story for someone to enjoy. But yeah I'll be doing this until I can backlog enough chapters. Until then all backlogged chapters will be on my supporters page only have Lost in Sothoryos there atm but I'll be filling it soon enough. But I'll still be posting everything, I'll just be busy a lot of the time this summer so can't write as much.
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