Location: A Lhazareen Village - The Raid
The Dothraki raid was brutal. Smoke choked the air as the riders sacked the peaceful village of the Lamb Men to fund their ships to Westeros.
Ren rode through the carnage, indifferent. Beside him, his harem (dressed in Dothraki leathers now, blending in) watched with hardened eyes.
"This is barbaric," Shizuka whimpered, looking away from a pile of bodies.
"It's financing," Ren said coldly. "But it ends today."
He saw Khal Drogo in the center of the village, fighting another Khal (Mago) who had challenged him.
Drogo took a hit—a deep slice to the chest—before ripping Mago's tongue out through his throat.
Daenerys rushed to him. "My sun and stars! You are hurt!"
"Tis a scratch, moon of my life," Drogo grunted, bleeding heavily.
Ren watched from his horse. The wound. The beginning of the end.
"Saeko," Ren whispered. "Watch the witch."
He pointed to a woman tending to the wounded sheep people. Mirri Maz Duur.
"She's the key," Ren said. "She's going to kill the Khal and the child. And I'm going to let her."
Two days later. Drogo fell from his horse.
The Khalasar stopped. A Khal who cannot ride cannot rule. Panic set in.
Inside the royal tent, Drogo was delirious with fever. The poultice Mirri Maz Duur had made was festering, just as she intended.
"Save him!" Daenerys begged the godswife. "You must know a way! Blood magic!"
"There is a price," Mirri Maz Duur warned, her eyes dark. "Only death can pay for life."
"Do it!" Daenerys cried, desperate.
Ren stood in the corner of the tent, arms crossed. He knew exactly what the price was.
The baby, Ren thought. The Stallion Who Mounts the World. He has to die so Daenerys can rise.
"Everyone out!" Mirri commanded. "Bring his horse."
They slit the horse's throat over Drogo's body. The tent filled with shadows.
Daenerys gasped, clutching her belly. "The baby... he's coming!"
"No!" Jorah Mormont shouted. "Khaleesi!"
The Dothraki bloodriders drew their arakhs. "The witch kills him! We must stop her!"
They charged the tent.
"Stop them!" Daenerys screamed before collapsing in pain.
Ser Jorah drew his sword. But there were three bloodriders. Qotho, Cohollo, and Haggo.
"Ren!" Jorah shouted, parrying a blow. "Help us!"
Ren stepped forward.
"Saeko. Maggie. Clear the tent."
Saeko drew the Murasame.
HUMMM.
Qotho swung his arakh at Jorah. Saeko intercepted. Her blade sliced through the Dothraki steel like it was parchment, continuing through Qotho's neck.
Maggie fired her pistol (silenced) twice.
Thwip. Thwip.
Cohollo and Haggo dropped, bullets in their hearts.
"Nobody enters," Ren commanded. He looked at Jorah, who was holding the unconscious Daenerys.
"Take her to my wagon," Ren ordered. "My medic (Shizuka) will handle the birth."
"But the witch..." Jorah looked at the tent where shadows danced.
"The witch is doing her job," Ren said darkly. "Let her finish."
Inside Ren's luxury wagon (which was essentially a portal to the Pocket Dimension med-bay), Shizuka worked frantically.
"The baby..." Shizuka looked at Ren, tears in her eyes. "Ren, it's... it's not human. It's covered in scales. It has wings."
Ren looked at the stillborn monstrosity. The dragon DNA had overwhelmed the human DNA due to the blood magic.
"It was never going to live, Shizuka," Ren said softly, covering the body with a cloth. "It was the price for the dragons."
Ren looked at Daenerys, who was sleeping fitfully on the clean medical bed.
She was no longer a mother. She was no longer a wife (effectively). She was a blank slate.
"Burn the body," Ren ordered. "Clean her up. When she wakes, she starts a new life."
Daenerys woke two days later.
She found Drogo outside the tent. He was alive, breathing, but his mind was gone. He stared at the sun, unblinking. A vegetable.
"My son?" Daenerys asked, her voice hollow.
"Dead," Mirri Maz Duur said, tied up nearby. "Monstrous. Twisted. I told you the price."
Daenerys didn't cry. The tears had burned away.
She walked over to Drogo. She touched his face. Nothing.
"You knew," Daenerys said, turning to Ren.
Ren stood nearby, dressed in black.
"I knew magic has a cost," Ren said. "You tried to cheat death, Daenerys. This is the result."
"He is gone," she whispered.
"Then let him go," Ren said.
That night, Daenerys smothered Khal Drogo with a pillow. It was an act of mercy.
The Dothraki Khalasar shattered. Thousands rode away, following new Khals. Only the weak, the old, and the fiercely loyal remained.
And Ren.
The Pyre
They built the pyre in the open desert.
Drogo's body lay on top. The dragon eggs—black, green, gold—were placed around his head.
Mirri Maz Duur was tied to the stake.
"I will not scream," the witch spat.
"You will," Ren said. "But not for me."
Ren walked up to Daenerys. She held a torch. She looked small against the vast night sky.
"Are you ready?" Ren asked.
"I have nothing left," Daenerys said. "Only fire."
"Fire is enough," Ren said. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Walk into it, Daenerys. Trust your blood."
She lit the pyre.
The flames roared. Mirri Maz Duur screamed as the fire took her. The wood cracked and popped.
Daenerys stepped toward the inferno.
"Khaleesi, no!" Jorah shouted.
Ren held Jorah back with a telekinetic grip. "Watch."
Daenerys walked into the flames. The fire swallowed her.
Morning came. The fire had died down to ash.
Jorah and the remaining Dothraki wept, thinking their Queen was dead.
Ren stood calmly, eating an apple.
"She's awake," Ren said.
He walked into the smoking circle of ash.
Daenerys sat naked, covered in soot. But her skin was unblemished.
Clinging to her body were three dragons.
Drogon (Black) screamed on her shoulder. Rhaegal (Green) curled around her arm. Viserion (Gold) suckled at her breast.
The Dothraki fell to their knees. "Blood of my Blood!"
Ser Jorah knelt.
Daenerys stood up. She looked at Ren.
Ren didn't kneel.
He walked up to her. He took off his black cloak and draped it over her shoulders, covering her nakedness not out of shame, but out of possession.
"The Mother of Dragons," Ren said, smiling.
Daenerys looked at him. The bond with Drogo was ash. The baby was gone. She was reborn.
And the only man standing with her, the only one who didn't fear the fire, was Ren.
"I am alone," Daenerys whispered, touching the black cloak.
"No," Ren said, lifting her chin. "You have dragons. And you have me."
[System Notification]
[Quest Completed: The Birth of Dragons.]
[Destiny Altered: Daenerys is free of attachments.]
[Reward: 1x Dragon Bond (Choose one Dragon to imprint on).]
[Reward: 10,000 System Points.]
Ren looked at the black dragon, Drogon. The largest. The most aggressive.
Ren's eyes glowed gold
Drogon looked back at Ren and hissed. But it wasn't aggression. It was recognition.
Alpha.
"System," Ren thought. "Bond with Drogon."
[Bond Established. Drogon accepts you as a secondary rider/Alpha.]
Ren smirked.
"Time to go home, Daenerys. Westeros is waiting."