Summer Islands 285 AC (Eveningshade Castle)

Viserys ducked as a sword whistled past his head and he rolled away from his assistant and quickly stood up just in time to deflect a sword strike that almost nicked his left hand. He put a little more space between his opponent and himself to create a little bit of breathing room. Even with super-strength, it was an uphill battle to even scratch someone like Arthur Dayne who was for all intents and purposes the best swordsman in the known world. Even now the guy was only using his single sword and has not even deigned to use two swords against Viserys as was his primary style.

"Do keep your focus in the fight, my prince." Arthur Dayne chided as he went for a quick jab that Viserys deflected albeit a line of red appeared on his left leg.

"Oh, I was just thinking about what Priestess Shanya said about you last day." Viserys smirked as his ploy worked looking at the flustered Sword of Morning.

Not wasting any time Viserys surged forward raining quick jabs and swings keeping Ser Arthur at bay. The only advantage Viserys had was his speed and strength but his strength was a double-edged sword. Seeing as Ser Arthur was wielding Dawn and Viserys was wielding a sword made of castle forged steel the normal steel was prone to crack when exerted more power in the swings. So Viserys had to keep his strength in check which was something that he struggled with.

They continued their dance of steel in the courtyard of the castle and it was attracting a lot of audiences. But the two warriors paid no attention to this detail as they were immersed in their dance.

Arthur forced Viserys to take several steps back as the Knight suddenly went on the offensive. Arthur quickly switched sword hands and that left Viserys confused. Arthur quickly used the opportunity to trip the prince and lock their blades together and a quick pull saw the blade of the prince flying away. Viserys had a sword near his throat and he lay on the ground blinking foolishly at what happened.

Enthusiastic cheering from the crowd snapped Viserys out of his stupor and took the offered hand by his loyal kingsguard to stand up.

"You changed sword hands. I didn't know that could be done amidst a fight." Viserys observed with a frown

"Now you know it is possible. It's all about balancing your body and maintaining your concentration in the fight. Everything else will just flow naturally." Arthur advised and patted on his young charge's shoulder

"Enjoy your small victories, Ser Arthur. Once I get my hands on a Valyrian Steel blade you will be eating dirt from there onwards." Viserys huffed as he dusted off all the sand and dirt and from his body

"Small victories? I don't think a victory over the prince of Seven Kingdoms is a small victory by any means." Arthur laughed at the scowl on his squire's face

"Only you would boast about a victory over nine-year-old children, Ser." Viserys mocked the knight even as Arthur laughed it off

"Sometimes I forget you are a nine-year-old as I have never seen you act like one." Arthur said but he never realised how that struck a chord in Viserys who sweated bullets and quickly thought up an excuse.

"I can hardly act like a nine-year-old, Ser Arthur. You should know that the task that lies before me is not an easy one."

"I know, but we are here for you and you will not be alone when the time comes. You will have allies in the war and when your dragon enters the field the seven kingdoms will kneel." Arthur encouraged the moody lad. Sometimes Arthur could see too much of Rhaegar in Prince Viserys and he didn't think that it was a good thing necessarily with how everything turned up.

"I know. I will just go check up on Balerion and see how he is doing. Maybe he is having a better day than me." Viserys joked and he whistled as loud as he could. A few seconds later a black horse trotted into the courtyard from the stables.

Viserys immediately climbed over the horse and took the reigns. With a final wave to his loyal Kingsguard, he rode away heading straight for the mountain.

Arthur watched the prince ride away with a sigh. He could see that there was something bothering the prince but no matter how he approached the prince refused to share what was troubling him.

"Should we go after him, Arthur?" Oswell Whent asked as he stood beside his fellow white cloak

"Nah…let him be. I have to say that this is the only place in the known world where a prince or those of noble birth could ride without an escort." Arthur said breathing in the smell of pine trees and smiled happily because he was far away from the madhouse that was Westeros.

The Knight never realised that this was the exact same thought that was going through Viserys's mind.

XXXX VISERYS TARGARYEN XXXX

The only time that I could be truly free and never be worried about anything at all was when I was with my loyal friend Snips who was my horse and Balerion who was a dragon. In the last two years of my stay in the Summer Islands, I had inevitably fallen in love with this land. Frankly, who wouldn't? This place was like a Caribbean vacation spot with a lot of sun and beaches. Here no one had any grudges against me and no one was planning to kill me as well. The only problem with that thought was that sooner or later this little hiding spot was going to be discovered and this place will be crawling with assassins. My general motto for living in a medieval world was 'always plan for the worst'. But the worst thing that could happen was not my death but the death of my little sister Daenerys.

While it was true that she was not really my sister in some weird spiritual sense but biologically she is my sister. There was a small part of me that argued that she was not my sister but a large part disagreed with that thought. Besides I didn't really have the heart to abandon a toddler to the tender mercy of lords of Westeros or God forbid some slave trader. This left me with only one choice, invade Westeros and kill all those who oppose House Targaryen just as I promised my dearly departed royal mother.

Even with that decision made, there were other problems. The only people truly loyal to a Targaryen restoration was my kingsguard knights, See Willem Darry and House Velaryon. I was not including Dorne in this group because I knew that they didn't care one whiff about who's arse sat on the Iron Throne. The only thing Dorne wanted was revenge. Anyone that can deliver upon this revenge against the Lannisters and Baratheons had Dorne's support and this makes them an unpredictable variable. I have no idea if there is an Aegon and whether that guy is a Blackfyre. Hypothetically if this Aegon somehow manages to convince the Martells that he is the son of Elia Martell then Dorne will become my enemy.

It was under this troubling circumstances that he finally decided on a course of action. I am not going to build an army out of people from Summer Islands. It would be at the height of ungratefulness to drag the peaceful natives of this land into a war that they have no business in. Instead I was going to use my considerable skills to generate revenue that can be used to buy trained arms to my cause.

With this path in my mind I started a series of careful investments in several local businesses and lightly intervened in my own land with the limited capital that I had.

Trade in Summer Isles has always remained exclusively between the different principalities. The only outside contact the islands had was with Dorne. This was not because of any enforced policy of the ruling Princes. This happened because of two problems. One was the Ironborn that always preyed upon merchant ships sailing for Westerlands and Reach. The second factor was the pirates of Stepstones had a very keen reputation for taking vessels from the Summer Islands sailing for Essos.

Anyway, I had some time to come up with a solution to that but first I had to ensure there were enough products to start trade. There were several trade items that could ensure a quick and high enough profit. Chief among them were spices, vegetables, fruits, silk, glass and liquor. Slave trade was also highly profitable in Essos but I had no intention of travelling in that road to hell. Thankfully for me there were a lot of other opportunities to be had.

It was by chance that I came across a merchant that traded in Green Chilli. I had brought a handful of the products and decided to farm it as a small experiment. I had some experience in farming the Green Chilli in my home. After drying it for a few days under the sun I extracted the seeds from it and started a small farm. From there it had slowly expanded and now there was a steady supply that could be sold in other nearby villages for a good price. This was just the start and the real cash cow presented itself before me in the form of pig farm and silk.

Pork was the favourite dish in Summer Islands. Engaging in that business always ensured a good profit margin. It was also a vital necessity to feed Balerion even though my draconic friend preferred to hunt his own food deep inside the woods. The silk business was coming along nicely enough but without a large buyer expanding the present facilities would be a foolish venture. This was why I was slowly increasing the size of my fleet and training some men to defend the ships just in case. Ser Darry was seeing to the training of the men as he was the master of arms of the Red Keep. There was an abundance of good archers but in close quarters Summer Islanders are hopelessly weak.

For now, my plans were moving in a sedate pace and the finances were not strained. At the moment that was a top priority until a proper merchant fleet was established. I could have enlisted some more local help to speed up the process but I was careful in picking the crew so as to plug any information leaks as much as possible. The spider had a wide web of spies across Westeros and it would be stupid of me to underestimate the guy.

My troublesome thoughts were cut-off as I heard the district roar of Balerion which made Snips to come to a halt. A large shadow passed over us and I saw Balerion slowly glide down from the sky and land on a rocky cliff. I could already feel the bond between us strengthen as his fellow spotted eyes zeroed in on my position. Snips neighed uncomfortably as his instincts flared under the gaze of Balerion and I rubbed his neck trying to comfort the loyal horse.

"There…there Snips. You are alright. Don't mind Balerion, he is an attention seeker that's all." I whispered in his ear and slowly he calmed down and I climbed down from his back and tied him to a tree.

"I will be right back Snips. For the time being, enjoy those leaves." I said pointing at some nearby plants but the cheeky horse was looking at me like I was a lunatic. I shook my head at the strange intelligence of most of the creatures here and began to carefully navigate around the large rocks that littered the ground to where Balerion was perched on.

"Where have you been Balerion?" I asked as I rubbed the nose of the giant lizard with wings

The red dragon answered that by breathing out hot air at me and purring like a cat. From the smell of the air, I could immediately guess that he was hunting for his breakfast and succeeded in the task. At least one good thing with the arrival of Balerion was that there was now a shortage of Lions, Tigers and Foxes in the forests. I don't know whether it was the dragon's instinct to dominate but he loved hunting all the apex predators in the forests. The people were grateful for that as that ensured fewer attacks from predators. Because of my own bond with Balerion, I was able to redirect his instincts to leave all humans from his breakfast menu. In fact, he has never shown himself in the open in human settlements and that has kept his presence here manageable.

"Let's go for a ride shall we." I said in High Valyrian which was the only language that Balerion responded to outside of my bond with him which was more like an empathetic connection. I climbed over his body careful to not get stabbed to death by an ocean of spikes that were on my draconic friend.

Balerion wasted no time and jumped off the cliff with a screech. His huge wings unravelled and made us glide through the air smoothly. Balerion took a sharp turn and banked sharply and I could feel the lift force acting letting Balerion climb higher and we disappeared among the clouds. Under the cover of white clouds, we steadily travelled further west for some time until the green coloured land was replaced by the blue ocean.

After I was sure that we had put considerable distance between us from the mainland I nudged Balerion to fly low so he could glide just above the ocean. If there was one thing that I truly enjoyed in this world was this feeling when the wind rushed in as Balerion glided just touching the sea. The salty tint of the air never bothered me rather it brought a smile to my face even as my eyes watered from the wind that was rushing in.

Balerion loved these little trips that we took to the deep seas as this was the chance that he plucked some unlucky dolphins, sea lions and fish. Ever since my draconian friend had grown large enough to support me on his back we have been having these little trips. It was also a training exercise for myself to practise some manoeuvres. Without any access to Dragonstone's archives, I had to learn everything about dragons via trial error method. I am not complaining as so far I have been enjoying these little trips.

Balerion quickly increased his speed and plucked a shark right out of the ocean using his talons. I didn't get a full view but from the looks of it the shark was a big one and Balerion was going to enjoy roasted seafood soon. That means we were going to our secret spot in the Western Seas, the Illusion Island.

That name was coined by myself since the island was never named by anyone. There was no point in naming it as there was zero human presence there. It is a small island that had a huge presence of coconut trees and some squirrels. The entire island is in the form of a curved dagger with a lot of white sand. It was the place where Balerion stopped in to enjoy his weekly seafood.

We flew for a few more minutes further away and finally, I saw the outlines of the island. But my eyes could pick out a big black object on the Island's shore. As we came closer I could see that it was a ship and that confused. Usually, Summer Island ships never go around the Illusion Island as that was a long route. I couldn't make out the banners of the ship nonetheless I urged Balerion to land but a little far away from the ship not to alarm the sailors.

XXXX

Alexander Straighthorn was the fleet admiral Kingdom of Verdun. Queen Siesmeria Brightsong had entrusted the Royal Fleet to find the lands beyond the Sunrise sea. Being the good brother of the queen afforded him certain privileges and decisions of the royal court. After the death of his brother, he had a strained relationship with the Queen but that doesn't mean that he didn't care about his little nieces. This was why when he got word that the prophecy of emperor Votreaegon has started to unravel the Queen has sanctioned an expedition to the east he immediately began preparations. He knew that the northern territories of Verdun were under constant attacks by the Black Knights and it was only a matter of time before the real war started again. He didn't want to see the last remaining legacies of his brother get snuffed out from the world.

With this in mind, he began to chart courses for the expedition to find lands that are said to be in the east. It was not an easy thing to arrange seeing as there were no maps, no information about the sea or wind further east. It took them a better part of two years but no luck had shined upon them. But that was not the case when he personally decided to lead an expedition on a new course. It took him two weeks to finally find land and his crew was overjoyed to finally find a piece of land. That joy quickly died down when they realised that the land they found was an abandoned island in the middle of nowhere.

The good news was that they could now refill their water supply from a pond which had surprisingly the sweetest water that he had ever tasted. The bad news was that the expedition was a complete failure again even if they found an uninhabited island. All was not lost as he had at least managed to find land this far east and the next expedition can continue to be based on this island and go further east.

"Admiral! We found something." One of his aides shouted excitedly as he ran towards him

"What is it, Hector?" Alexander asked

"Admiral we have found several crushed bones not far away from the ship. But as we searched a little further there was this small wooden cabin. It was most certainly created by men and it had the signs of recent activity." Hector informed his boss excitedly

"How did you come to that conclusion?" Alexander asked as he realised the implications as this was the first solid lead they had so far in the last two years of expedition

"There are footprints Admiral, human footprints!" Hector said with obvious relief as this expedition had turned out to be a small success

"Lead me to this cabin you speak of. Send the men across the island for any inhabitants but tell them to be not hostile." Alexander ordered and his loyal aide led the admiral to the wooden cabin. Just as the aide informed him he found the human footprints. That wasn't all, he also found what looked like some writings etched on the wooden walls in a language he couldn't understand.

Ashe studied the writings on the wall he heard a great commotion from outside the cabin. One of his men rushed inside the cabin breathlessly and said,

"Over the sky (pant) (pant) Dragon!"

That was all Alexander needed to rush outside as fast as he could. Sure enough, he could make out a flying beast in the sky but he has always seen the colourful drawings of dragons in castle Sunfall. Even the dragon throne of Sunfall where the queens of Verdun sat upon for generations had the likeness of a dragon etched on it.

"There is no mistake that is a fire dragon…"Alexander trailed off as he watched with an open mouth as the dragon blasted through the air close to his ship and slowly began to turn around. His men huddled close to the open beach to watch the mesmerising sight of the dragon as it landed a little far away from the ship nearby some rocks. The dragon let out a screech that made the men jump and the beast lowered its neck close to the ground.

It was then Alexander his crew saw that there was a rider on the dragon who by the looks of it was a boy of 13 or 15 years of age. The rider climbed down from the red coloured dragon hesitantly walked towards them. Alexander his men observed the ethereal perfection of the rider and was immediately reminded of the description of emperor Votreaegon. The rider had the famed silver hair which was shining under the sun.

Alexander decided to greet the dragon rider by himself he walked forward and met the rider halfway. He could not help but notice the people eyes of the rider that was shining like a crystal. Truly this rider is in some way related to the emperor.

"Greetings dragon rider. I am Alexander Straighthorn, admiral of Royal Fleet of Kingdom of Verdun." Alexander greeted the rider with a bow. But he could see the rider didn't understand a word he was saying which complicated matters entirely.

"I am Viserys Targaryen, rider of Balerion." Viserys greeted back in the common tongue which flew over the head of Alexander who understood only the name of his new acquaintance. The Valyrian name gave him an idea immediately.

"Kostagon ao ȳzaldrīzes valyrīha ēngos (Can you speak Valyrian tongue)?" Alexander tried the famed dragon speech that was only used for prayers in the Temple of Light. He had some knowledge of the noble tongue as he and his late brother had some lessons from their mother when they were young.

"Nyke Viserys hen Lentrot Targārio, hen Valyrio Uēpo ānogār iksan, Prince hen Westeros, kipagīros hen zaldrīzes Balerion. (I am Viserys of House Targaryen, of the blood of Old Valyria, Prince of Westeros, rider of the dragon Balerion.)" Viserys responded as he involuntarily let out a sigh of relief that proper communication was possible. Both of them were not looking forward to rely on sign languages thankfully that was avoided.

"Ilon issi beri naejot rhaenagon ao Prince Viserys.(We are honoured to meet you Prince Viserys.)" Alexander smiled as he bowed once again happy that this expedition has succeeded at last. Now all that was left was to know more about the Prince and convince him to travel to Verdun to take the fight against the Black Knights.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Some basic information about Verdun;

KINGDOM OF VERDUN

Location- South-West of Summer Isles

Capital- Sunfall city

Royal palace- Castle Dawnshine

-Ruled by Queen Seismeria Brightsong Paris Straighthorn(dead).

-Two daughters Princess Artemesia Brightsong and Princess Laureline Brightsong

-Alexander Straighthorn, admiral of Royal Fleet (brother of the late king and uncle of Artemesia and Laureline

-Religion based on a singular God. Vedunians worship the Sun as God of light, life and peace. They inherited this belief from their ancestors.

-Opposing faction warring against Verdun is the order of Black Nights. They are an ancient order formed under the leadership of Trition Nightshadow for the sole purpose of destroying the house of Brightsong. They are the followers of the Moon-god who is the god of death, Darkness and damnation.

xxxxx

This chapter was a spur of the moment thing I don't know how well it will be received by others. So tell me, please. I was of the opinion to start posting in this story after I completed another one of my stories but plans changed. I am suffering from a serious writer's block I decided to throw something up in a short time. There was a two-year time skip which just made Viserys 9 years old and Daenerys 2 years old. As for my Valyrian language is a mess I think. I hope I was correct in the English-Valyrian translation. It has also come to my attention that some retards decided to trash talk in reviews. I request if they really want to engage in an 'enlightening productive' conversation with me then they are free to PM me.