[AELOR’S POV]
My daily session with the maester had finally finished after reviewing a mountain of reading materials and complex studies.
I have no problem studying at all.
However, ever since my mother had received the first report detailing my intellect, she had made absolutely sure that I devour every single subject that our resident maester could possibly teach me.
She focused especially heavily on the intricate details of statesmanship.
She desperately does not want me to become an incompetent lord in the future, which is a fate I certainly have no plan on suffering.
“What should I do now?” I asked myself out loud.
“I am completely free for the rest of the day, and I do not want to continue training my swordsmanship yet. It would be entirely boring and would get old immediately.”
I started walking slowly through the quiet halls of Harrenhal, looking for a distraction.
As I walked past a stone wall that featured a large window, I looked outside and saw Ancalagon.
She was resting comfortably on the muddy shore of the Gods Eye lake.
I watched her drink the fresh water, and through our bond, I felt the deep satisfaction she experienced with every single gulp she took.
‘Should I try to ride Ancalagon right now?’ I began to think to myself.
‘I know perfectly well that my mother and King Jaehaerys have a strict agreement.
The very moment I become a true dragonrider, I must travel to the capital and become a royal page under the crown.
I already have a great relationship with my cousins Aemon and Baelon due to their yearly visits, so I truly do not see what the harm is in becoming a ward of the crown early.
I have already placed permanent magical fields throughout Harrenhal and all of its holdings, so I do not have to worry about anything changing or decaying while I am living in the capital.’
The more I thought about the prospect, the more I managed to convince myself to finally fly Ancalagon.
I was also incredibly excited about the thrill of actually flying upon her back, rather than just possessing her mind to fly through skinchanging.
Seemingly feeling my sudden decision through our mental connection, I saw Ancalagon look up directly at the window that I was using to watch her.
She excitedly splashed her massive snout into the lake water and immediately began to fly in my direction.
‘No, go wait for me down in the training yard,’ I ordered her mentally.
We possessed a flawless telepathic link that could never be erased or blocked by anyone.
I began to descend the stone stairs toward the yard at a much faster pace.
I was buzzing with excitement at the premise of flying with my own physical body.
I clearly remembered the specific aerial maneuvers that I had made Ancalagon practice over the years.
I did that specifically to make her get entirely used to flying exactly like Toothless from the movies of my past life.
I want to be known in history as the greatest dragonrider of all time, perhaps placing second only to Donkey from Shrek.
After a brief moment of running, I finally arrived at the training yard.
I saw Ancalagon waiting for me.
She had already positioned her body low to the ground to allow me to easily climb up onto her scaled back.
I began to climb the rough back of Ancalagon.
I quickly checked the perimeter and saw that there was absolutely no one around watching us.
I swiftly positioned myself sitting right behind her neck.
I sat exactly similar to how Daenerys would fly with Drogon on the television screen, completely without any kind of saddle or safety harness holding me down.
“Just fly very gently at first. I do not have a proper seat yet. If my mother learned that I flew without a seat, both you and I would be severely grounded for the rest of our natural lives,” I warned Ancalagon.
She simply let out a highly annoyed hiss toward me.
Through our bond, she bluntly told me that she knew what to do already, and that I should be the one making sure to be careful.
After checking my grip to see if there was anything wrong, and confirming that I was secure, I issued the ancient command.
t was the specific word that I had learned from my mother herself, which also happened to be the exact same command that I had watched and read about extensively in my previous life.
“Soves!” I commanded towards Ancalagon.
My command was accompanied by Ancalagon letting out a deafening roar.
She then jumped forcefully from the dirt as we took off straight toward the open sky, officially beginning my very first flight as a true dragonrider.
“Woooooooooo!” I yelled in pure adrenaline.
I felt Ancalagon rapidly gaining speed and altitude.
I felt exactly like a fighter jet pilot breaking through the clouds.
I was controlling Ancalagon entirely with my mind, and we quickly gained height and surpassed the lower cloud coverage.
After that initial burst, Ancalagon leveled out and began to glide smoothly.
I looked around me and felt extremely cold due to being situated much higher up in the atmosphere.
The pristine clouds and the vast scenery that I was seeing were immensely satisfying.
It is one thing to see the world through the eyes of Ancalagon and my ravens, but it is an entirely different thrill to experience the rushing wind myself.
“If I was not originally from a world that had airplanes, I could easily understand exactly why the ancient Valyrian dragonriders truly thought themselves to be closer to gods than mortal men. This kind of raw euphoria is nothing to be scoffed at. I can finally understand exactly where the immense pride of Daemon Targaryen came from,” I said out loud.
Ancalagon just continued to glide peacefully through the freezing air.
I then sent a sharp mental command toward Ancalagon to start preparing for her absolute fastest speed.
I firmly grabbed hold of the thick bone spikes growing along her back.
I lowered my chest and positioned myself perfectly flat against her scales.
It was a stance remarkably similar to how professional motorcycle racers would tuck their bodies to greatly lessen the air resistance.
I knew the heavy wind could easily knock me right off the back of my dragon.
Even though I knew I would not technically die from the impact due to my magical durability, the massive fall would still hurt terribly, unless Ancalagon managed to dive and catch me safely in the air.
As I completed the full tuck, I sent the final signal to Ancalagon that I was completely ready.
She gradually started to increase the powerful flap of her massive wings.
We gained incredible speed second by second until we were flying at a pace of nearly one hundred and thirty miles per hour.
I then leaned my body weight heavily into a sharp corner.
Ancalagon instantly turned toward the exact direction that I leaned.
I thoroughly enjoyed flying for the very first time, while also firmly deciding that this would absolutely be the very last time that I would ever fly without a proper safety harness strapped to my legs.
[AELOR’S POV]
After more than two hours of continuous flying around, I made absolutely sure that we did not leave the territory of Harrenhal.
I took careful note of exactly how agile and fast Ancalagon really is in the open air.
Eventually, I decided to come back.
Through my passive telepathy, I learned that my mother was currently entering the final checking phase of the architectural plans for the Harrenhal and Harrentown renovations.
I knew that at her current pace, she would finish her work in about an hour and immediately demand my presence in her solar.
I commanded Ancalagon to fly fast once again to return to our territory.
After a while, I saw the shimmering lake of the Gods Eye approaching.
I ordered Ancalagon to begin her descent, but as we were coming down, she suddenly turned her massive body toward the large island situated right in the middle of the Gods Eye.
I knew this isolated place to be the Isle of Faces.
It was a location that I had deliberately avoided trying to spy on, even with my animal familiars, because I did not want the residents to get the wrong idea regarding my intentions.
“No, Ancalagon, turn back to Harrenhal,” I said out loud.
My verbal command was to no avail, and she still continued to fly directly toward the Isle of Faces.
I suddenly felt a strange magical connection in the air.
It was not violently trying to control Ancalagon, but rather appealing directly to her primal wants.
This gentle lure allowed the unknown magic to briefly override my own mental connection with her.
Even though I possessed the strength to easily shatter this foreign influence, I was incredibly curious as to why someone would try to lure my dragon to the Isle of Faces.
That thought led me to immediately remember the Green Men.
“I cannot believe that the Green Men completely slipped my mind. Perhaps they wanted to meet me due to the potent magic of my Essence. I technically revived the entire root connection of the weirwood trees, and I even managed to fully restore the dead Heart Tree in our own Godswood. I will just use this unexpected opportunity to learn more about my First Men heritage, perhaps in exchange for a favor from me,” I said to myself.
Right as I finished that thought, Ancalagon landed heavily upon an open patch of land right on the Isle of Faces.
She then began to lower her scaly back, allowing me to easily climb down to the grass.
The very first view that greeted my eyes was a man with real horns growing from his head and dark green skin.
As I looked around, I noticed others emerging from the trees.
I estimated their total numbers to be close to fifty individuals.
I also noticed that some of them did not actually possess the dark green skin and true horns.
Instead, those men were only wearing wooden helmets decorated with antlers and heavy cloaks dyed dark green.
“Greetings, child of the earthsingers and the dragonlords. Welcome to our humble abode, you who are the bringer of life and peace among all the realm,” the leader with the genuine horns and green skin began to say.
Strangely, his spoken words did not sound like the Common Tongue or any other kind of human language I had ever heard, but I could understand his meaning with absolute clarity.
“Greetings to you as well, Green Men,” I answered smoothly.
I spoke back to them using that exact same ancient language, a magical tongue that I did not even know I possessed the ability to speak until this very moment.