A/n: Rhaella's image have been added to the auxiliary.
Rhaella felt the final remnants of her strength desert her the moment she crossed the threshold of the teleportation circle.
Her vision blurred as the world tilted, but the falling sensation was brief. Skoll's powerful arms caught her before she could hit the stone floor, his grip firm and grounding.
He lifted her with ease and settled her onto the soft back of Hati. She felt the massive wolf move, carrying her away to a destination she could not see.
Darkness soon claimed her senses. She drifted in a hazy void where only the faint, distant echoes of voices reached her ears.
She heard Skoll speaking with a man he referred to as his father, their conversation revolving around the curse that had nearly claimed her life.
Their words eventually faded into a profound silence, and she sensed that she was alone in the room, save for one presence.
She felt Hati rest his heavy head upon her chest, although not fully as to not burden her.
The warmth of the wolf seeped through her, acting as a silent tether that assured her she was not being abandoned to the dark.
The peaceful quiet did not last. Suddenly, Rhaella found herself standing in a place that felt warm and familiar to her.
The air was thick with the biting, unmistakable stench of sulfur.
Looking around, she saw a landscape of flowing fire.
Molten red sludge moved like slow, thick blood across the ground, and a low, guttural growl vibrated through the air. It was the sound of a beast that was wounded yet still incredibly dangerous.
She tried to speak, to ask where she was, but the words died in her throat as she looked up. A colossal figure loomed before her, casting a shadow that felt heavy enough to crush her.
It was a dragon of staggering proportions, possessing four powerful legs and two massive wings.
Its scales were as dark as polished obsidian, and its eyes were fixed upon her with a look of pure, unadulterated hatred.
She realized with a jolt of terror that the creatures her ancestors had used to conquer the Seven Kingdoms were mere lizards compared to the sheer, primordial power of the being before her.
The beast did not move to attack. Instead, it let out another pained, ragged growl that shook the ground. Rhaella stood her ground, though her hand moved instinctively to her heart as she took a few cautious steps backward.
"Is he hurt?" She wondered to herself out loud.
"You could certainly say that," a new voice answered from beside her.
She turned to find a man standing there, his presence radiating a calm, golden light. This was Luxarion, the father of Skoll. He gestured toward the trapped dragon with a casual wave of his hand.
"This being was the cause of your suffering," the man stated.
Rhaella felt a sharp impulse to retort that the true cause of her suffering had been the dead Mad King, but the thought of Aerys only brought a wave of cold disgust.
She hugged her shoulders as if to shield herself from the memory of that man's cruelty.
Luxarion watched her with an apologetic expression, appearing as though he had read the flicker of her thoughts in that instant.
"Forgive me. I spoke without knowledge," Luxarion said.
"I- uh... how did it cause me suffering?" she asked, her curiosity finally overcoming her hesitation.
Luxarion began to speak, recounting a tale of ancient curses, malevolent demons, and the entity known as Doom.
The story changed her entire understanding of the world. She realized that while men were capable of great evil, there were darker, more ancient forces that viewed her very soul as their right to be claimed.
Luxarion stepped closer and gestured once more toward the struggling demon dragon.
"Now, I am here for your opinion," Luxarion said. "The curse he placed on you forms a connection between you two, a strong one at that."
He raised his hand when she began to interject, signaling for her to listen.
"A connection that can be used to give all his power to you," Luxarion concluded.
The weight of the suggestion hung in the air. Rhaella considered the prospect of gaining the power of, in her eyes, a god-like entity.
This was the being that had attempted to rob her of her future and had claimed a right to her soul before she was even dead.
Hatred flared in her violet eyes, a cold fire that quickly transformed into a righteous fury when she thought of the two years she had missed her little girl grow.
The same years her little son had spent his time worrying for her.
"Doom, he calls himself, does he not?" she asked.
Luxarion answered with a single, approving nod. Rhaella looked at the dragon and felt a grim sense of satisfaction at his current state of helplessness.
"What shall I now be called when his doom itself rests on my decision?" she asked.
"A mother?" Luxarion suggested with a chuckle.
He looked at her with an impressed glint in his eyes, though Rhaella was too focused on the dragon to notice the shift in his demeanor. She turned back to the man with the eyes like molten gold.
"Will I become like him?" she asked.
"What you will become is what you will choose to become," Luxarion answered.
He formed a warm sphere of golden energy on his hand before passing it over to her.
"Choose wisely," he said, before vanishing from the dimension.
"Divinity... Give... me," Doom croaked.
The dragon's voice was broken and ragged as it stared at the golden orb now cradled in Rhaella's arms.
The silver-haired woman marveled at the sensation of holding raw, unrefined divinity, as she knew it now from Doom's words.
As she held it, a flood of information regarding the nature of the universe and the structure of divine power began to permeate her mind.
The gift was willingly given, and it was ready to be shaped. Rhaella looked directly into the eyes of the dragon and saw the despair reflecting back at her.
"I accept your Death," she said.
She turned her gaze to the golden sphere and took a deep breath.
"Hence, I now accept my rebirth," she added.
The orb erupted with a brilliant glow that illuminated the dark corners of the sulfurous dimension.
She felt the raw, primal power of the demon known as Doom flowing into her, but it was filtered and tempered by the golden energy Luxarion had provided.
She began to visualize her new self, imagining a form that reflected her will and her resilience. Her physical essence began to evolve, shifting far beyond the limitations of a mortal woman.
Back in the real world, Skoll stood by the bed where Rhaella's physical body lay. Luxarion stood beside him, his expression calm.
"I can sense a great amount of magic awakening in her body," Skoll muttered.
He watched as the room began to vibrate with the sheer pressure of the energy emerging from her form.
Complex runes carved into the frame of the bed began to glow with a fierce light. They acted as a conduit, absorbing the excess energy and funneling it back into Rhaella to fuel the rapid metamorphosis.
Pulse after pulse of magic rippled through the air as her gaunt, sunken features began to fill out. Her skin regained its healthy luster.
Her silver hair grew longer and more vibrant, shimmering like liquid moonlight.
Her violet eyes finally fluttered open, glowing with an inner light as her body was lifted from the mattress by an unseen force. She hovered a few feet above the bed, bathed in the residue of the transformation.
With a sudden, sharp sound, a pair of magnificent red wings sprouted from her back. Elegant horns emerged from her forehead, curving slightly as they took shape.
She eventually drifted back down until her feet touched the floor. She looked down at her hands and her new, semi-spiritual form, feeling the colossal reserves of magic that now resided within herself.
She now had the magical reserves of Doom and she had chosen to have an ability to turn into the form of a red dragon. A form she thought she would explore later.
Rhaella saw Skoll watching her with a look of worry just as she was thinking of her abilities.
She approached him and reached out to touch his face with motherly warmth. Because she was now taller than before, she no longer had to reach high to meet his gaze.
"I am still me," she assured him as her horns and wings faded away.
"I am glad. And I am happy that you now have the power to choose your own destiny," Skoll said softly as his worry faded.