Another crack. Jaehaerys let the staff slip through his hands as he killed another man. He had lost count of how many he had killed. The men around him had formed a circle, allies and enemies alike. Although Jaehaerys had not killed any allies, he did not want to take any chances.
"I surrender!" shouted a man in front of the prince. The IronBorn were already leaving.
Such was his bad luck. That day, the prince was not listening to pleas. His staff swung in a horizontal arc and struck the man's chin, causing his jaw to fly off.
Jaehaerys frowned; the Ironborn had stopped approaching him. Every step he took made them retreat.
Whip!
An arrow grazed the prince's ear, who barely had time to move. His senses were what got him out of the way. The archer was quickly shot down. He wasn't the first to try to take advantage of that.
'Have I always been able to dodge arrows?' the prince wondered.
Since the day he resurrected the dragons and marked his own body with runes, he had changed. He did not become physically stronger, but he did become more aware of his surroundings. His senses, once incredible, became supernatural.
Crack!
Jaehaerys broke another arrow in midair with his staff.
He had grown tired of spilling blood, but his body kept moving. He wanted to kill every man with Iron Island blood.
"We surrender! We surrender!" shouted the Ironborn.
The whole field came to a halt. The islanders began to throw down their weapons. They were close to the sea, but the ships had begun to set sail, all except one. Jaehaerys walked over to where the men were tying up the Ironborn. They had surrounded them in a vast circle.
"We will send him to the dungeon," said a knight on horseback, his armor impeccable, who had just arrived.
"To the dungeon?" said Jaehaerys. "When did I regain my hearing?" he asked into the air. No one answered him.
"Who—Oh, my prince!" the knight said enthusiastically. "Allow me to take care of this now," he said kindly. Jaehaerys didn't give a damn.
"How many innocent people died today because the fucking islanders wanted to raid these shores?" asked the prince.
The men around him gripped their weapons in anger.
"I understand, my prince, but—" the knight continued.
"Kill them all," the prince whispered. His voice was low, but everyone heard it.
"They surrendered," said the knight, horrified.
"And the villagers they killed didn't? The women they raped and kidnapped today didn't surrender? Did they wanted to fight!?" the prince shouted at the man. He had pardoned that group of bandits, deciding to send them to the wall. Where were they now?
"I am a knight of House Tyrell, my lords are kind. If an enemy has surrendered, the right thing to do is—"
Crack!
Jaehaerys smashed an Ironborn's skull.
"And a knight is going to give orders to a prince?" Jaehaerys asked, watching the Ironborn piss themselves.
"I don't mean to—"
"You don't mean to fight. You just arrived at the last moment. Did it take you that long to put on that impeccable armor?" Jaehaerys asked. "Or did you order it to be polished?"
"I was... fighting elsewhere." The Knight said, ashamed.
"In bed, perhaps? Biting pillows?" asked the prince. "Not a drop of blood or dirt. What right do you have to come here and give orders?"
Crack!
Another skull. The Ironborn began to try to flee. The men obeyed the prince's orders. The unarmed islanders could not resist, crushing each other in a desperate attempt to get out alive.
Jaehaerys watched the chaos with indifference. He frowned as he walked toward the shore, noticing a group of men following him. They were not knights; many were peasants. He saw tears streaming down the cheeks of some of them. They were not warriors; they were men seeking revenge.
When Jaehaerys got close enough to the ship, he could see something strange as a figurehead, a female body. She had no arms or legs, and blood ran from her mouth. Blonde hair. Her face was contorted.
"A Lannister?" thought the prince.
He walked closer, stepping onto the wooden dock, and came to a stop right next to the enormous ship. The salt filled his mouth, and he could see the woman's face clearly.
"It's Cersei Martell," said one of the men accompanying him.
"So she fell into the hands of the Ironborn?" asked another, wearily.
None of the men said anything that implied joy. Even though the woman was hated, it was too grotesque a sight to rejoice over. Not even Jaehaerys found satisfaction.
"Do you have a bow?" asked the prince. They handed him one, made of old wood, probably from some hunter. They gave him an arrow as well.
The prince aimed, praying his marksmanship would work from that distance. He drew the string, careful not to break the bow as he had done before, took aim, and shot. The arrow pierced Cersei's chest.
A storm suddenly broke out. It was as if, by killing Cersei, the gods had decided to punish the earth.
"Ahhh, so soon?" he heard a male voice say. "I was hoping she would live a little longer," he continued.
Jaehaerys was not surprised to see the man. He had read the name of the ship some time ago.
Silence.
It was the ship sailed by Euron Greyjoy.
"Are you coming down? Or do I have to come up?" asked Jaehaerys.
"Oh, you look angry. Did my nephew do something wrong?" asked Euron. "Or did you fail to kill everyone you wanted? Who's alive? The Lion? The Dragon?" he asked as he climbed down a rope.
"The IronBorn are alive. I couldn't kill them all. For now," said Jaehaerys, glancing at the man. "You, go," he said to the men behind him as he handed them the bow. They didn't react. Jaehaerys looked at them out of the corner of his eye; they were all frozen as they stared at Euron Greyjoy. "Get out of here!" he shouted at them.
They finally reacted and ran toward the shore.
Euron was a middle-aged man. He was tall and handsome, with a touch of malice. He had a black patch over his left eye. His lips were unnaturally blue. His armor gleamed; it was black, composed of scales, with a shining red-gold hue, and arcane symbols engraved in the steel. In one hand, he held a black helmet, while an axe hung from his waist.
"I live... and I will live. Above lords, princes, kings," he said as he put on his helmet and walked towards Jaehaerys. The prince looked at the axe now in his hand. It was dark and had patterns like Damascus steel in his previous life. "Even above gods," the man lunged at Jaehaerys.
"You will not live above me, I assure you," said the prince as he dodged his attack.
If his weapon were made of Valyrian steel, one touch would be enough to harm the prince; he could tear his bones out if he touched them. Jaehaerys struck him in the back, and the man staggered forward.
"How's your daughter, Jae?" the man asked casually, using that nickname as if they were friends. Euron Valyrian armor took Jaehaerys' attacks with ease. "And that redhead you were fucking, did they die? Did you change the path again?" Euron asked.
The man was strange. Even in the books, he was one of the most sadistic and insane characters. A man mixed with the supernatural and the divine. He was terror made human.
"Change path?" Jaehaerys' mind was not that clear at the time. Every mention to her daughter send his mind in other direction.
"Yes, the path, that path that only you and I know how to break," the man said with a smile. "After all, there's a reason I wanted to meet you," he confessed. "I don't like your existence."
"Did it overshadow yours?" Jaehaerys sneered. The wood beneath his feet was slippery; he had to be careful on every step.
"You are the only man who can become like me," Euron said.
"A fucking lunatic? I know several," Jaehaerys said mockingly. "Like that blond idiot who accompanied Cersei."
"Yes, yes, I remember him. He sold his mother in exchange for a free pass to Essos," Euron recalled. "But the mundane doesn't matter. What matters is what I want from you," Euron said.
"I just want to kill you, man. I'm not in the mood to talk," said the prince.
"But a few hours ago you talked to the king, just before you killed him," Euron said with a smile. "You want to know how I know?"
"Magic. What other fucking explanation? One of the blue-lipped guys on your ship helped you. Or when you visited Valyria. I don't care, your skull will crack as easily as other men's," said the prince as he lunged at him. His staff struck the man's armor as Jaehaerys dodged the axe. He sought to attack him under the chin, so that his helmet would fly off, and once his head was exposed, his skull would be broken.
"You don't even care how to bring your daughter back to life?"
"No," Jaehaerys replied sincerely.
"Because you already know it. We both... know and have seen things that transcend this world," Euron boasted. "That's why there can't be two like us. I'll kill you and take everything special about you from your corpse," his voice became more serious. Jaehaerys felt the sea stir, as if it recognized Euron's words.
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Note: Euron is fucking hard to write.