The Rise of Valyria - House Belaegon

The two ventured into the darkness of the passageway, unable to see anything as they progressed. After roughly fifteen minutes of walking with their hands guiding the way, Sezayi, who was leading, tripped over a raised surface and fell forward. As he fell, the dagger slipped from his grip and flew ahead. Hearing the noise of Sezayi's fall, Taylan asked anxiously, "Vaegon, are you okay? What happened? Why did you fall?"

While searching for the fallen dagger with his hands, Sezayi replied to Taylan:

"Vaelar, I'm fine, but I lost the dagger. There's something like a step here. Maybe it's a staircase. But first, I need to find the dagger. Just wait a moment, and be careful not to fall like I did."

Reassured by Sezayi's words, Taylan calmed down and tried to look around for the dagger. However, he soon gave up, as the passageway was only one and a half meters wide, and the complete absence of light made it impossible to see even a few steps ahead. How could he possibly spot a fallen, decaying dagger in such darkness? While Taylan pondered these thoughts, Sezayi exclaimed with relief and excitement,

"Vaelar, I found the dagger! Now we can see what lies at the end of this passage. Let's get out of this darkness."

Taylan agreed with Sezayi. So, when Sezayi finished speaking and started moving, Taylan followed closely. The two walked through the dark passageway for another twenty minutes before arriving at a corridor.

The corridor was nothing like the dark passage they had just traversed. Openings at the top of the walls allowed light to filter in, and in this well-lit corridor, the two saw a door. The door appeared to be made of a metal they didn't recognize. Apart from the intricate carvings, it was entirely blood-red in color. The door stood two meters tall and one meter wide, adorned with engravings of blacksmiths forging iron, warriors wielding one-handed swords and shields in battle, and humans riding dragons.

The two gazed at the door, then briefly exchanged glances. Sezayi, clutching the decayed dagger, took the lead, while Taylan, carrying Arda on his back, stayed behind. Taylan was weary from carrying Arda but didn't want to waste time resting as he was eager to leave this place. Sezayi noticed his fatigue but said nothing, believing Taylan deserved it.

Cautiously, Sezayi approached the door, with Taylan following closely. Upon reaching it, Sezayi braced himself and kicked the door with all his strength, anticipating it might be locked. However, the door wasn't locked. Sezayi's kick sent it slamming into the wall behind with a loud metallic crash.

As the door swung open, the pair looked into the space beyond. They froze in shock at what they saw. Piles of gold, silver, and copper coins lay heaped on the floor. The walls were lined with swords, while stands beneath them held short bows alongside large quivers of arrows. Yet the most striking feature was directly opposite the door: on a stone pedestal rested 100 crimson-colored crystal vials, each about 50 ml, along with 20 leather pouches.

Cautious of a potential trap, the duo moved slowly towards the healing potions.

When they reached the potions, Sezayi picked one up while Taylan, keeping a safe distance of three meters, stood guard in case something went wrong. Seeing no immediate danger, Taylan gently laid Arda on the ground.

Relieved that nothing had happened, Sezayi exhaled and returned to Taylan. He uncorked the vial and carefully poured some of the liquid into Arda's mouth. After using half the potion, Arda began to stir. Sezayi quickly withdrew the vial from his mouth. He drank half of the remaining potion and then handed the rest to Taylan, saying,

"Vaelar, take this and drink it. It will heal the wound on your brow."

Taylan hesitated. "But why, Vaegon? Our potions are limited, and you're asking me to waste this on such a minor injury. I understand why you drank it; you cut your hand with that decaying dagger and might get sick. But it's just a cut on my brow; I don't need it," he said.

In response, Sezayi insisted, "Drink the potion, Vaelar. What's left in this vial won't make much difference to us anyway. Besides, let me tell you something: after drinking it, I realized I wasn't hungry or thirsty anymore. This potion treats hunger and thirst as issues to be healed."

Taylan, startled, drank the potion. "How is this possible?" he asked. "If we manage to make enough of this potion, could it heal everything in our bodies? Could it even stop aging and make us immortal?"

Sezayi pondered for a moment before replying, "I don't know, Vaelar. I doubt the Crimson Flame would be so generous to us. But one thing I do know is this: everything new will one day grow old, and every living being will eventually die. Look around you; even the creators of this magnificent structure succumbed to time. How can we, who are not even half of what they were, dare to dream of immortality?"

Taylan was about to continue talking when he heard a voice, "Vaelar, damn your work! As if we crashed that car off the cliff for fun, and now you're blaming us." Turning to where the voice came from, he saw that Arda was awake. Neither of them had expected the potion to work this quickly. It hadn't even been a minute, yet Arda was already conscious. Of course, this could have been due to them pouring half the bottle or Arda being close to waking up anyway. But that didn't matter now. Since Arda was awake, and they had the supplies they needed, all that was left was to find their dragons. If their assumptions were correct, they'd return to where they came from—where the statues were—and pass through the gateway there. Then, they'd retrieve their dragons and leave this ruined, dangerous city.

Arda, after glancing at the two dazed figures, looked around and froze in place. The room he was in was not the one he remembered passing out in. This room was filled with piles of gold, silver, and copper, with weapons mounted on the walls. He didn't pay much attention to the weapons but was captivated by the valuable metals.

"Guys, I don't know where you brought me, but I like it here. Are all these gold, silver, and copper ours?" he asked.

Sezayi and Taylan exchanged glances before Sezayi began explaining to Arda everything that had happened since he passed out and how they ended up here.

When Sezayi finished, Arda said,"Wait, did you just say dog-sized mutant rats? I hate rats!"

Arda's outburst caught the two off guard, but Sezayi quickly replied,

"Darion, don't you think we have bigger problems than mutant rats? Like, for instance, Vaelar knocking you unconscious or us being born into a ruined city?"

To this, Arda responded,"Vaegon, I agree, it's important that Vaelar knocked me out. But wait, you're saying he carried me all the way here while I was unconscious? I guess I should thank him because I'd freeze up if I saw a rat as big as the ones you described."

Arda continued,"Anyway, what's done is done. As they say, 'No use crying over spilled milk.' Let's talk about this later. For now, aren't the materials we need here? Let's check them out."

Sezayi and Taylan nodded in agreement. Sezayi stood up and helped Arda to his feet. Once all three were standing, they headed to the stone stand nearby to inspect the healing potions and magical expansion bags.

Looking at the potion bottles, Arda remarked,"Guys, don't you think these are too small?"

Meanwhile, Taylan, inspecting the bags, added,"Vaegon, these bags are just regular-sized. Why didn't you ask for storage rings instead? They'd be easier to carry and conceal."

Sezayi glanced at the two, who were closely examining the blood-red potion bottles and ordinary-looking leather bags.

"Vaelar, I picked these bags thinking we might steal dragon eggs from the Targaryens if we ever went to Dragonstone. How was I supposed to know the Red Flame would configure them so that no living thing could be stored inside? And Darion, why would he give us such a powerful potion in large quantities? By the way, speaking of potions, has anyone seen the recipe?"

At Sezayi's question, both shook their heads without even looking up. Sezayi sighed in frustration before turning to examine the swords on the wall.

There were many swords on display, all made of Valyrian steel. Sezayi instinctively held his breath. While people in Westeros would kill each other for a single Valyrian steel sword, there were 15 swords here. Each had a name engraved beneath it.

Sezayi approached a single-handed sword with a blood-red hilt, one meter in length. Below it was written, "Deathbringer – House Vaelaros." After reading the inscription, he took the sword from the wall and made a few practice swings in the air. Though inexperienced, holding a sword made him feel more secure. After returning the sword to its place, he noticed the bows Arda had requested below the swords. Picking one up, he tried to pull the string. Despite using all his strength, he could barely draw it.

Frustrated, Sezayi asked Arda,"Darion, why did you want these bows? I can't even draw one properly."

Arda replied,"Vaegon, remember how I was studying history in our world? During one lecture, my professor mentioned mounted archery among the Turks, which caught my attention. After class, I did some research online and learned that these bows had a range of 400 to 650 meters. I figured they'd be advantageous in naval battles. They could be used on land, but they're not very effective against knight armor. Still, their range would be a huge advantage in sea combat—as long as we can actually use them."

Arda was about to continue when Taylan, who had been inspecting the bags, interrupted,

"I found it! I really found it! The recipe for the healing potion!"

Hearing this, Sezayi and Arda told Taylan to read it aloud. Taylan began:

"For 100 ml of healing potion: 20 liters of basilisk blood, 5 liters of dragon blood, 2 kg of powdered snake skin, 300 grams of powdered dragon bone, 1 kg of powdered manticore shell, 1 liter of manticore venom, and 40 kg of water. Start by lighting a fire under an empty cauldron and pouring in the basilisk blood while stirring. Add the ingredients in the listed order and let it simmer for eight days. On the evening of the eighth day, at the moment when night and day are balanced, remove the potion. If not removed at this exact time, the potion will become useless as the ingredients will lose their properties and it will be no different from regular water. Please note, this potion is not a cure-all. It cannot regenerate lost limbs and excessive use may result in toxin buildup, causing poisoning."

After hearing the list, Sezayi remarked,

"I guess the potion makers took the saying, 'The dose makes the poison,' a bit too literally. Even individually, the materials are deadly, and now we're combining them? And it's still toxic if overused! I knew the Red Flame wouldn't make this easy for us."

The trio felt uneasy after hearing the recipe. However, they quickly returned to their tasks, knowing they didn't want to stay in this cursed place any longer. This was no time to complain—it was time to work. They resumed their efforts, now packing the items into bags. The Red Flame seemed to have shown them some mercy, as out of 20 bags, 10 had a 10-cubic-meter capacity, 6 had 20 cubic meters, 1 had 40 cubic meters, and 3 had 80 cubic meters.

They stored the arrows—each 80 cm long and 2 cm thick—in one bag, along with the bows and any remaining space. However, they kept three bows and three quivers, each holding 40 arrows, with them.

As for the swords, Sezayi took the "Deathbringer" he had previously admired. Taylan chose a single-handed, one-meter-long sword with a blue hilt labeled "Blue Shadow – Thrax." Arda, on the other hand, picked a one-handed axe with the inscription "Doomstar – Nymeros."

Once all valuable items were packed and their weapons selected, Arda looked at the darkening sky and asked,

"So, what's next? Do we go get our dragons, or do we stay here for another night?"

Taylan replied,"Of course we're getting our dragons. Let's grab them and leave this cursed place as soon as possible."

But Sezayi countered,"Guys, we all felt hungry when we woke up, right? We can manage our hunger, but our dragons won't. What if they're starving when they wake up and attack us in their frenzy? I think we should stay here. While we're at it, we can hunt those mutant rats if there are more of them. That way, we'll have something to feed the dragons to calm their hunger."

Sezayi's reasoning made sense to the other two. They decided to stay the night in the ruined mansion and go on a mutant rat hunt. With Sezayi leading, Arda in the middle, and Taylan at the back, they began descending the tower. Once they reached the garden's massive gates and stepped outside, the hunt began.