283 AC, Dorne, the Tower of Joy.
Amid the weeds and churned earth lay the bodies of Arthur Dayne, the “Sword of the Morning,” and two other Kingsguard.
With the battle over, Eddard Stark and Howland Reed dragged their wounded bodies toward the entrance of the tower.
Both men were covered in wounds, but there was no time to tend to them.
At some point, Lyanna’s screams from inside the tower had stopped.
Dread gripping his heart, Eddard rushed inside and raced up the narrow stone stairs as quickly as he could, all the way to the top.
The moment he pushed open the door, the overpowering stench of blood struck him.
Lyanna lay motionless on the bed before him.
His once lively, spirited younger sister was now terribly weak.
Her sweat-soaked black hair clung to her pale forehead, and she looked like a flower on the verge of withering.
The sight made Eddard’s heart sink.
He had seen too many dying men on the battlefield.
He knew what a person looked like when their life was nearing its end.
Eddard Stark could scarcely believe what he was seeing.
Fighting down the fear and dread rising within him, he walked slowly toward the bed.
Lyanna heard his footsteps and gradually opened her eyes.
When she realized it was her brother, tears slipped from the corners of her eyes.
“Ned…”
“You came…”
Her voice was so faint he could barely hear it.
Eddard hurried forward and knelt beside the bed, gently taking his sister’s hand.
“Lyanna…”
His voice would not stop trembling.
“I’ll take you home.”
Lyanna gave a faint shake of her head.
Each breath came harder than the last, and she could already feel death closing in.
With great effort, she drew her gaze away from Eddard and looked to one side.
A maidservant stood there, holding a swaddled infant.
When she saw Lyanna looking at her, she hesitated before timidly stepping forward and offering the child to Eddard.
“Lord Stark.”
Eddard carefully released his sister’s hand, rose to his feet, and looked down at the child in the maidservant’s arms.
It was a newborn, its skin still flushed and its eyes tightly shut.
Eddard reached out and took the child, then gently laid him beside his sister.
Lyanna gazed at her child as tears silently rolled down her pale cheeks.
Trembling, she tried to reach out and touch the baby’s face, but her hand had barely risen halfway before it fell limply back down.
All she could do was look at her child, her eyes filled with reluctance to let him go.
Eddard took his sister’s hand and placed it beside the baby’s face.
Lyanna’s fingers gently stroked the infant’s small cheek.
“Ned… promise me… no matter what happens, protect them.”
“Them?”
Eddard froze for a moment.
He looked down at the infant on the bed, then glanced around the room, but saw no second child.
Just then, a sharp cracking sound came from the fireplace.
Eddard jolted, his hand immediately going to the hilt of the sword at his waist.
Crack.
He rose at once and turned warily toward the fireplace.
The once-feeble flames suddenly began to leap violently.
Sparks burst from between the logs as the fire grew brighter and brighter.
It looked as though something was struggling deep within the flames.
Crack!
Another sharp snap rang out.
The logs were knocked apart, sending sparks scattering across the hearth.
Then a massive, milky-white egg slowly emerged from the flames.
Fine cracks covered its shell, which gleamed faintly in the firelight.
Eddard slowly drew his longsword and pointed its tip toward the enormous egg.
He stared at the strange sight before him, his grip tightening around the hilt.
The next moment, the shell shattered completely.
A slender white creature struggled its way out of the ashes.
Its body was soaking wet, its scales glimmering faintly in the firelight.
It stood on only two hind legs.
After taking a few steps, its feet slipped beneath it and it nearly toppled over.
The little creature shook its head, barely managed to steady itself, then raised its head.
“Hiss!”
A piercing cry echoed through the room.
At the sound, the Dornish maidservant and wet nurse instantly went pale.
They stared in terror at the white creature crawling from the flames, then screamed and fled for the door.
Howland Reed glanced at the creature on the floor.
His expression darkened, and he immediately went after them.
Several brief screams soon came from outside.
Then everything fell silent.
Eddard paid no attention to what was happening beyond the door.
His gaze remained fixed on the small creature before him.
White scales.
A long, slender neck.
Two wings that had not yet fully unfurled.
And eyes like amethysts.
He stared at it, stunned.
A dragon.
That name, forgotten by the world for far too long, surfaced once more in his mind.
As a boy, he had heard his father tell stories of the Targaryens.
Aegon the Conqueror had crossed the Narrow Sea astride a dragon.
The shadows of three dragons had fallen across the Seven Kingdoms, and castles and armies had been reduced to ash by Dragonfire.
Those were tales from history books, not something real.
At least, that was what he had always believed.
But then what was this creature before him, freshly hatched from an egg?
Had dragons not been extinct for more than a hundred years?
Eddard slowly tightened his grip on his sword, wondering whether he should kill the newborn dragon.
But when he remembered Lyanna’s words, he held back.
Countless tales and rumors about dragons and the Targaryens flashed through his mind.
A dragon had appeared here.
If word of this ever spread, what would the lords who had once bowed before Dragonfire choose to do?
What would Robert do?
Would the Seven Kingdoms be plunged into war once more?
Thought after thought raced through Eddard’s mind, and his expression grew darker with each one.
The young dragon, meanwhile, simply watched him in silence.
After a moment, it seemed to lose interest.
It slowly turned its head and looked toward the bed.
Eddard followed its gaze.
A newborn infant lay there.
The young dragon seemed to sense something.
It tilted its head, then began making its way toward the bed on unsteady legs.
Eddard watched it closely.
Remembering Lyanna’s words, he made no move to stop it.
He wanted to see what the young dragon intended to do.
Just then, the infant on the bed slowly opened his eyes.
A pair of gray eyes quietly watched the approaching dragon.
The young dragon stopped as well.
The infant and dragon simply stared at one another.
Eddard’s hand remained wrapped around his sword hilt.
At the first sign of aggression from the dragon, he would strike.
But the young dragon did not attack.
It paced back and forth beside the bed several times, then tried to jump up.
The first attempt failed.
On the second, it managed to scramble onto the bed.
The young dragon cautiously approached the infant, lowered its head, and gently touched its warm snout to the baby’s tiny hand.
The tension slowly left Eddard’s arm.
He looked at the infant on the bed, then at the young dragon beside him.
Only then did he truly understand what Lyanna had meant by “them.”
Not only the child.
The young dragon that had been born alongside him as well.
Lyanna watched them, and at last a faint smile appeared on her pale face.
Tears slowly slipped from the corners of her eyes.
“Ned…”
Her voice was barely audible.
“His name… Jaehaerys Targaryen.”
Eddard stiffened.
He had already suspected the truth, yet hearing that name spoken aloud by his sister still left a heavy tightness in his chest.
Rhaegar’s Bloodline.
The last heir of the Targaryens.
Eddard looked down at the infant who had only just opened his eyes and remained silent for a long while.
“Protect him…”
Lyanna’s voice grew weaker.
“Don’t let anyone know…”
Eddard tightened his grip on her hand and spoke softly.
“I swear on my life, I will protect him.”
Lyanna cast one final, lingering look at the infant and the white young dragon.
Then her fingers slowly loosened and slipped from Eddard’s grasp.
“Lyanna?”
Eddard called softly.
There was no answer.
He called her name again, but the woman on the bed did not respond.
The fire in the hearth continued to burn, occasionally giving a soft crackle.
The white young dragon curled up beside the infant, quietly keeping watch over its companion.