king's landing, the crownlands
— THE CITY SEEMED TO BE HOLDING ITS BREATH. From sellswords to children to rats, every creature seemed to know somehow that the final confrontation between queens was coming, and they waited in utter silence that did nothing to ease the lengthening shadows of tension echoing off of every surface.
Jon stood before the armies of Northmen, Dothraki and Unsullied with his eyes trained on the gates of the city, waiting.
Between them and the gates stood the Golden Company. Cersei's sellswords.
What little remained of Euron's fleet were the first to take notice of the shift in the air, as if it was suddenly crackling with static electricity rather than just hanging there, limp and silent.
The faint sound of wingbeats reached their ears, but no roars, and no visible sign of the dragons anywhere. Euron frowned in wariness and confusion as he paced the deck, looking around across the water.
But as the wingbeats drew nearer, something finally seemed to dawn on him. Horror painted across his features, he turned his eyes up to the sun, and the small black dot in the centre of it that grew larger with each passing second. A wrathful shadow descending upon him. Suddenly, the shadow split in two.
Euron's reaction was too late. As he screamed at his men to fire their scorpions at will, fire was already raining down upon them. A couple of bolts narrowly missed Drogon and Rhaegal, but the dragons didn't even appear spooked. With the slim number of ships remaining, it didn't take long for Euron's to be the only ship remaining.
"CAPTAIN!" One of his men hollered in terror. "STARBOARD, STARBOARD!!!"
He whirled around with wide eyes, but the green dragon was already upon them.
Nymeria's eyes fixated on the captain, and she didn't need to utter a word for Rhaegal to understand. His claws reached out, deadly and inescapable, and wrapped tightly around a screaming Euron before flying away again.
As Rhaegal swept out of the line of fire, Drogon swooped in with perfect timing, his flames devouring the final ship.
Euron continued on screaming as Rhaegal flew higher, until finally the dragon's claws squeezed hard enough to crush bones, choking the last of the sound from the deranged captain's lungs. Then they dropped him into the sea, never to be seen again.
There were more scorpions all along the walls of King's Landing, but Nymeria and Daenerys were more than ready for them this time. Every desire and emotion became solidified into one burning focus.
Win.
Gripping tightly to dragon spikes, they manoeuvred around each and every bolt before closing in on the walls and blasting the scorpions to smithereens.
The soldiers atop the walls screamed as they burned, and those who still remained in the city below cried out in horror, but the two queens wouldn't lay a hand on them. They pressed forward, targeting instead their true enemy.
From outside the city walls, the waiting armies listened to the destruction that became louder as it drew closer. The crumbling and burning of wood and stone, the thunder-like beating of wings, the sharp and angry roars of the dragons. And then the gate was blown apart right before their eyes.
The heat of the sun disappeared for a brief moment as Drogon's enormous shadow was cast over the armies, and as he shrieked, passing by overhead, Jon drew his sword and the armies charged into the city.
Their job was to head off the Lannister force, eliminating any chance of escape. Once that happened, their only choice would be to surrender. Cersei had never expected the dragons to attack so close to the city, and they had used her underestimation to their advantage to destroy the most powerful components of the false queen's brigade.
When the Dothraki and Unsullied and Northmen reached the Lannister troops, the men in red and gold looked small. They looked afraid. They looked so utterly unprepared. They had to know by now that Cersei had condemned them to this victoryless fate.
Nearby, Drogon landed on a high tower with a fearsome roar. Heeding their queen's position, the Dothraki and the Unsullied waited, the air thick with silence. Overhead, though, Rhaegal remained in flight, making his way over the city with a screech.
Jon frowned in concern and confusion, watching as Nymeria and her mount made their way closer and closer to the Red Keep. What was she doing?
"He will try to stop me," Nymeria sighed resignedly, eyes flitting over the battle plans, but not really seeing them.
"I don't know..." Daenerys looked worried. "He's commanding the Northmen. Perhaps he should know. Even if you think he'll disagree."
"That's exactly why I need his focus to be on himself and his men," Nymeria spoke firmly. "If he's worrying about me, he might slip up, and I can't risk him like that. Or anyone else. This plan stays between you, me and her."
Daenerys hesitated only another moment before nodding. "Very well. If you're sure."
People in the Keep's courtyard below screamed in terror as Rhaegal descended towards them, stirring up a great deal of dust with his powerful wingbeats. By the time they reached the ground, the smallfolk had cleared a wide circle around them where the dragon could land without hurting anyone. The panic all around as people couldn't escape the sealed gates seemed to set him on edge slightly, though, and he let out a low growl, tail lashing.
"Lykiri, Rhaegal," Nymeria urged. She slid to the ground, patting his neck affectionately. "Lykiri."
She glanced around, the dust still somewhat blocking her vision, but there didn't seem to be any Lannisters daring to approach. She swung her new spear off her back and pointed the tip skywards.
"Soves!"
Rhaegal didn't look pleased at the idea of leaving his rider alone deep in enemy territory, but her confidence seemed to reassure him slightly, and with another rumbling growl, he spread his wings, and took back to the skies.
Through the dust, Nymeria moved up the steps to the gate of the castle itself, standing above the people, who began to creep forward with equal amounts of nervousness and curiosity now that the dragon was gone.
Nymeria drew a long breath. "People of King's Landing!"
More of them drew nearer, more confidently too, listening.
"I know you don't know me. You may have heard stories about me. I imagine most of them were told to you by Cersei Lannister. I'm sure she has told you so many lies about The Queen in the North and Queen Daenerys Stormborn that if I tried to deny them all, I wouldn't know where to start. But we are not your enemies! Your enemy is behind these doors!" She pointed her spear at the gates to her back. "She didn't bring you here to protect you. She brought you here to shield herself. So that we might destroy you if we hoped to get to her! I won't keep you here like she has. Anyone who wishes to leave is free to do so. But if you follow me through those doors, we can stop her together."
"And where is the Dragon Queen??" Someone yelled from the crowd. "Why doesn't she stand before us??"
"Queen Daenerys holds her army of Unsullied and Dothraki in the city to keep you from the grasp of the Lannisters," Nymeria replied. "But this castle is not theirs to take. They cannot bring justice to this false queen when the injustice has been done unto you!"
"The Mountain is in there!" Someone else protested. "That monster could kill us all!"
"I will protect you."
Whispers threaded through the crowd at her words, some shocked, some dubious and some hopeful.
"I will protect all of you! With my own body and soul if I must! But walk by my side and show her that she cannot frighten you!"
Several people shouted and jeered in agreement.
"Help me put an end to this, and you will never have to live in fear of your rulers again!"
The cries grew louder. They grew bolder.
"Never again will they lie in luxury and comfort while you die in the shadows of your own city!!"
The agreement of the crowd as she finished speaking built to a roar, determined and angry and righteous. And when Nymeria turned, slamming the end of her spear through the gate's lock and mutilating it with a single twist, they were already rushing forward behind her to slam the large doors open.
