The Lost Stark

Meanwhile pt 2

~Daenerys
Looking over the edge of the cliffs, Im blown away by the beauty of the land. Ryker did say that she loved coming out here because the lush green mountainsides and the chill, crisp air remind her of the foothills outside of Winterfell. I let out a sigh, wishing she was here. If she were, she would know where Drogon had taken me. I let out an involuntary scoff; if Ryker were here, the Sons of the Harpy wouldn't have the nerve to do what they did.
"We have to go home," I say as I walk over to him. My heart stutters as I turn around to look at Drogon, lying in a pile of charred bones, attending to his wounds. "Oh, my poor sweet thing. Does it hurt?" I ask, just as Ryker would have done. For some reason, she has always had a special connection to all three of my children. Sometimes, I would find myself a bit jealous. Then I'm reminded that she is the reason why they are tame enough to roam freely, and that jealousy swiftly turns into pride.
"We have to go home," I tell him, snapping out of my thoughts. Bending down, I make sure to make eye contact as my wife had told me to do. "Drogon, can you take me back to Meereen?" Reaching out my hand, I rub his snout, and my heart warms at the small chuffs he lets out as he leans into my touch. "How far did you carry me?" I ask him, looking back at the greenery and the distant waters.
When it seems he's tired of my small pets, he turns his head to the claw on his wing and starts to clean off the blood. "Drogon, we need to return. My people need me," I urge him. Getting frustrated with his lack of response, I pull myself up and onto his back. Just as I'm about to turn around and take my spot, he shifts his body, making me fall on my face further down his back. He lets out a noise of displeasure and moves again, trying to kick me off. Struggling, I lean up until I can straddle his spine in the flat spot between his wings. I move my body to turn around at the same time he takes his chance and turns, knocking me off his back entirely and covering me with his wing before laying down completely.
Taking a deep breath, I let out my own huff and crawl out, covered in more dirt and grime than I was previously. Once I am able to make it to my feet, I walk around his body towards his head, trying to swallow the panic building inside of me. "Well, there's no food," I say more to myself this time, but still direct it at him. "At the very least, you could hunt us some supper. I see Ryker has taught you to do that well enough," I say with sass, gesturing to the charred bones. Giving up on the idea of him helping me more than he already has, I look over the cliffs once more.
Thinking that I might have more luck catching fish than hunting a wild animal, I make my way down the mountainside towards the river leading into the bay. Climbing down the cliffs, another wave of sadness hits me as I think about how Ryker would have told me to stay with Drogon while she went to get us food and water. Now that I'm doing this alone, I realize how much she has shown me, not only in her words but in her acts of kindness, how much she really loves me and how lost I am without her. We both thought that with her going to Westeros, it would give her an opportunity to see what kind of ruler she would be, but what we didn't know was how good of a leader she already is. The way she commands a room just by walking into it drives me to the brink of madness with need but also gives me the strength to make decisive choices for my people. Knowing that she has and always will have my back fills my heart with resolve and gives me hope that together we can retake my family's throne and give the people of Westeros a better quality of life.
Just as I'm walking through a flatter part of the cliff, an ominous feeling creeps up the back of my neck. I stop my movements and open my ears to listen, just as my wife had taught me to do. It only takes a second before I hear the soft neigh of a horse, then the hoofbeats. For some reason, they sound off. They do not sound like the horses from Meereen; they sound lighter. The lack of clinking armor makes my heart drop as I look behind me in the direction of the first neigh, but the sounds of a horse galloping closer pull my attention back forward.
A cold sweat covers my skin as I watch a lone Dothraki rider approach, holding a spear. He soon comes to a stop, and my heart races as he sits and stares, not saying a word. My breath quickens just as three more riders come up over the hill, wielding slightly curved blades high in the air. Not thinking, I bring my hands together and slip off the ring Ryker had bought me from the merchants of Volantis when she spent a day by the docks. Hoping that I will get it back one day, I slip it off and drop it into the grass where I stand, knowing what the Dothraki do to people who are not of their Khalasar.
Hearing more horses, I turn around and see a small number of more horses come up and over the hill I had just crossed. My heart thunders as I feel the walls of panic start to close in, as the three groups stay at a distance, watching me. As if on cue, the ground beneath my feet trembles, and the sound of my frantic heart is replaced with the rhythm of what sounds like a thousand horses. I look to my left as the first screamer calls over and freeze when thousands more horses, ridden by thousands of Dothraki, head straight for me.