Blood Upon The Snow ||| Cregan Stark

six

"Seven fucking hells..."

Laenor Velaryon arrived on the eastern side of the Dragonmont with Dragonkeepers in tow. When they'd heard the roaring, they thought Jacaera had gotten herself into terrible trouble.

Instead, what they arrived to find was Jacaera climbing the side of a wild dragon. Completely alive and well. She'd claimed and tamed the Cannibal. A wild dragon feared by the smallfolk and other dragons.

"Jacaera Velaryon—!" Laenor called, terrified that his daughter was going to get herself killed. But he should have known better.

Cannibal whipped his head around, almost sending Jacaera off of his side. He bared his teeth at the intruders as they took a few steps back.

"Calm, Cannibal. Obey." Jacaera finally gave him an actual command, her heart racing as she was almost thrown off of the dragon. She needed him to listen to her and not kill the others who'd happened upon them.

He did listen. Cannibal didn't bathe them all in flames. But he growled at them as Jacaera continued up his side and onto his back.

It was difficult to find a comfortable spot between his spikes and scales. But Jacaera got herself there and looked for something to hold. Anything she could. She grabbed tightly onto him.

"Please, Jacaera. You've proven your point. Get down before you hurt yourself," Laenor yelled, trying to keep her alive and safe.

Jacaera couldn't listen to him. Not when she'd waited her entire life to have her own dragon. Jacaera had finally done what she'd been desperate to do. She wouldn't concede then, just before the fun part. The part the songs talked about.

Riding a dragon.

She shook her head, enough that Laenor could see it. He knew it was a stretch to ask her to come down from the dragon. She was Rhaenyra's daughter. The girl that flew to that very island to stop her uncle against the advice of everyone else.

Despite his pleas, Jacaera tightened her grip on Cannibal. She knew the command for dragons to fly. Hopefully, he knew it.

"Cannibal, fly."

He understood her perfectly well. Cannibal roared as loud as he could. The dragon shook himself off, stood from where he'd leaned down, and began to move.

All Laenor could do was watch and pray as Cannibal ran forward with his daughter on his back. No saddle, no way to control him. Jacaera held onto his spikes as the dragon began to lift off of the ground.

It was quite a bit harder to stay on the dragon than Jacaera thought. His body was practically vertical as he flapped his wings and pulled Jacaera into the air. Her legs squeezed together and her knuckles were white with how hard she was fighting to stay on Cannibal's back.

The dragon wanted to play with her. Test her resolve. Jacaera couldn't enjoy being up in the air, high above the castle. Because as soon as they got there, Cannibal nose-dived back towards land.

Jacaera screamed then. The wind rushed all around her, imminent death becoming closer with each second they soared toward solid ground. She frantically pulled back on Cannibal, yelling "Up!" at him.