"Through the haze of confusion, she remembered looking for her brother. They were separated when the wyverns first launched their assault.
She was finally knocked to the ground, head dizzy. It was then, in that slow moment as she was being plumbled into the ground by the creature, in the dirt, that she saw a common beast lying upon her mother, her arms stretched for something distant; agony and desperation clung to her frozen, dead lips of her once beautiful face. The elder woman had tripped over her guts and entrails, covering its body in viscera, completing the wyvern's job of separating the body into two.
"Argh", she shouted in a groan as she cried in despair and grief for all that she lost until she could no longer shed any more tears. That night, under the cloudy moonlit sky, the creature's shouts pierced through her ears, leaving behind a dull ringing that caused her rage to build.
"Why?" She thought.
"Why does this keep happening to us?"
My home, my father, and now my mother, her pain felt never-ending, and her blood boiled ever so hot.
"What have I done?"
She demanded from the old Gods as the wind blew upon her skin, the branches on the trees seemed to lean towards the west, as she grew even hotter than before, as the steam prickled off her in waves.
It's your fault, she wailed. The pound of her fists against the creature's tough scales made no difference, no matter how much she clawed at it with her nails, bit it, trying by any means to hurt it. The creature only retaliated by slicing her right eye with its sharp claws, still indifferent to her poor attempt. The gash on her face bled, the blood rushed through her in ways of an unexplainable magnitude".
And a surge of power took its place once its claws sank deep into her eye. Something deep down and foreign took over; it felt as though she could feel every blood vessel in the creature's body, and all she had to do was bend it to her will.
"So she did". That was the only thing she could visualize of her last moments with her mother as the ship set sail, the waves crashing against the hull, reminding her of the recounting tales of her birth. But the stench in the air was still apparent.
"The goats had been dead the longest. There seemed to be thousands of them, black with flies, their bodies scattered across the mountains.
"The flies circled her mother, their wings buzzing, a low thrum at the edge of hearing that filled Vhaera with dread. The sun was high, and pitiless heat shimmered in waves off the stony outcrops of low hills".
Her mother's body lay in the fields as the wyverns devoured her remains from last night. Their screeching could still be heard. Her brother clung to his pet as he cried for both of them. Vhaera's eye was still stinging.
I still do not understand what happened, but they found me later this morning, covered in the creature's remains. They said my eye is no longer of any use to me, but at least I still have it. Though it is colorless, like the blind men and the elderly, this scar gave me strength. For the Gods truly have abandoned us, but they left a few gifts behind, and I intend to use it.
"This will be the last time we shed tears, brother". The ship rocked back and forth as it left the mainland. The fourteen flames were still as bright as ever, even though the wyverns lurked in the sky; they seemed to have found another target as they swooped down. Another set of shouts could be heard.
Vhaera did not look away this time. Her one good eye spotted some figures who were descending down the cliffs.
"Wait", they shouted, and Vhaera repeated their cries to the captain. The anchor made a terrible sound as it hit the seabed. Two of the ship's crewmates entered the small boat that resides on the left side of the vessel. She watched them row towards the very shores they came from, naked and afraid.
Once on board, she realized these were the very people that the ghiscari had kidnapped; out of the thirty Valyrian slaves, only four survived.
The screams they heard before were of the other ten slaves. Now, only the boy and his mother, along with one of the prophets among them, and a sixteen-year-old girl remained.
The captain has been generous enough to give them the very clothes on their backs in exchange for fresh water and safe passage to Asshai. Vhaera watched her remaining people of her village succumb to fear as smoke lingered in the air. As she heard the cries of wailing children, she began her speech.
They're leaving their homeland because of the mating season; the animals had their fill, so this voyage is all they have left. A place that is for the monsters is no longer safe. No one has ever left Valyria for the sea, so it's no shocker that she turned to face them. Her brother stood closer as he held her pinkie ever so tightly as the grass from the cliffs moved ever so gently.
"We have endured enough. Last night, I came upon another one of our gifts. Just as the Velaryons dream of the sea, I dream of fire and blood. The elder was right. The answer we seek is right here as she notioned to her right eye. So we must practice in order to become hunters, and they become the hunted", Vhaera said as she pointed to the east.
"These events have not happened for no reason". They did not understand, but the memories of the wyverns were still fresh in their minds.
The elder woman nodded in agreement as they huddled together. She and the other wives tell them the stories of Asshai, for this will be their home for the next four years. They needed power and knowledge for this journey, so everyone who was battered and bruised came closer to hear their wisdom.