Dragon Hunt

OOC = Rhaegar needs to make the next move before Daenya can act because he controls the men fighting Vandaras

Rhaegar's men did not know Daenya's identity, nor of her rank as a princess. The fine quality of her armor should have alerted them to the likelihood of her being of high birth, but perhaps with the intensity of the fighting the great dragon, their nerves were frayed to breaking point already. Daenya tried to dodge around the pair of pikemen when it was clear they would not let her pass, but the larger of the two moved swiftly to block her.

"Stop, girl," the man snarled, and when she ignored him he swung the butt of his pike at her, striking Daenya in the cheek; hard not enough to cause injury or even draw blood, but there would be a bruise tomorrow and she was sent stumbling to the ground. When she fell, clutching her cheek, however, she noticed that the ground was littered with the weapons of dead and wounded men, and a fine longsword with falcons and sapphires on the pommel was wedged in between two rocks about two meters from where she lay.

Rhaegar charged into the fray once again, striking at Vandaras' bleeding underbelly when the dragon reared upward to avoid the blades of his comrades. The dragon was clearly slowed by bloodless, and every man present bore burns on his feet from the dragon's molten blood splashing over their boots; freshly drawn, it was hot enough to eat away the leather, but they fought onward jabbing at the creature's eyes and throat. His blade pierced the dragon's scales once again, drawing a fresh spray of blood that caused him to jump backward to avoid it. He stepped out of the men melee for a moment, turning just in time to see the guardsman strike Princess Daenya in the face with his spear-shaft.

The dragon roared, and let loose a blast of fire, but it was clearly running out of energy, as the flame was significantly weaker than it had been. One man's arm was set alight, but he and two comrades fell back and beat it out before charging back into the fray once more. Ser Olyvar Sand, who had seen his father's arm near bitten off by the Dragon, had been leading the Skyreach men in the fallen Lord Fowler's place; he howled with rage, jabbing at Vandaras with a long spear made of ash, with a blade shaped like a large leaf, sharpened to a razor's edge. The blade was slightly warped and dulled by the dragon's burning blood, as were all their weapons, but Ser Olyvar spun and danced out of the way of Vandaras fire and jaws when they came for him, jabbing and withdrawing.

One of the Skyreach men slipped in beside the dragon, hacking at it's wing; something cracked and the dragon stumbled forward, unable to maintain its balance for a moment, and the beast's great head hit the ground as it struggled to push itself back onto all fours. This was the opportunity the Dornish had been waiting for, however, and they fell on it with renewed vigor. Vandaras' roars threatened to shake the mountainside apart, and a massive blast of flame incinerated three men who had all charged forward at once, but even that could not save the massive striped dragon. Ser Olyvar Sand, known as the Bastard of Skyreach, stabbed his fallen father's spear forward, piercing the dragon's one good eye and driving the head deep into the creature's brain.

The shrieks of the dragon's death throes were even more terrible than the noises it had made during battle; the men stumbled away involuntarily, hands clapped over their ears in pain, and four were crushed by the Vandaras' wild movements as it jerked and writhed. It seemed like an eternity, until finally the great striped beast groaned and, with a final shudder, collapsed in an unmoving heap. The scene was utterly silent for a moment, before the Dornishmen broke into wild cheers, screaming their defiance and their joy at being alive.

[Vandaras is killed by Rhaegar's Dornishmen]

When Daenya picked up the sword, one of the guards laughed scornfully in her face, and it proved to be a grievous mistake. Her first cut took him across his left arm, biting deeply through his charred armor and exposing the bone in his forearm, and in the same motion she spun and plunged the blade deeply into the second man's midsection. He moved aside at the last moment, and while he was still pierced by the steel blade, it cut a chunk out of his side rather than outright impaling him to death.

Both men went reeling backward, grunting and bleeding, but their cries of surprise at this tiny female whirlwind alerted the rest of the men who looked over just in time to see Daenya strike again. She hamstrung the first man, the one who'd laughed at her, with a vicious backhand, and slashed wildly at the second guard who was retreating in the wake of his comrade's death. She didn't manage to cut him across the chest as she intended, but on the downward arc of her strike she cut nasty line down his thigh, and the man fell to the ground trying to staunch the blood.

The fight had only taken half a minute, but the rest of the Dornishmen, despite being tired and burned form their battle with the dragon, had formed up around the man who had led them through their fight. Cries of "murderer", "assassin", and "protect the Prince!" rang out from the group. Five men separated off and stepped forward between Daenya and their lord, while the others gathered protectively around him.

[Daenya kills Goon #1]
[Daenya fatally wounds Goon #2]

Daenya and Rhaegar should post their next actions.

Elyas woke, and initially believed he was still alight, for there was an intense burning pain all over his body. As he widened his swelling eyelids, he perceived the corpse of the dragon, laying in a pool of the mixed blood of man and beast.

Gods have mercy. Rhaegar succeeded.

Elyas tried to pull himself to his feet, discerning raised voices outside his narrow field of vision, but was unable to rise on his own. The realization of his failure in itself toppled him, and drove him back into the ground his weak body was unable to ascend from.

I have failed them all. Mother, Mya... forgive me. I could not avenge you. No matter how hard I train, how strenuously I devote myself to the cause, it will never be enough. No man can stand against a dragon. I must purge myself of weakness if ever I am to have justice for the murder of a mother, a sister, and now a father, and a friend. I must become more...I must be better than this if I am ever to repay the Targaryens for their reaving.

Elyas began to drag himself slowly toward where Aurane had sacrificed himself, moaning slightly as the raw red flesh of his palms scraped across hard stone and sand. There was so much blood around him...so much Dornish blood. All spilt for a dragon. A tear rolled across the raw inflamed flesh of Elyas' cheek as he dragged himself toward what remained of his fallen friend.

One of the men hurried down to Lord Yronwood.

Meanwhile, a man knelt beside Elyas. "Keep still," he ordered. He ripped off his headdress, tore off a strip and doused it in water from his flask, which he used to soothe Elyas' burns.

Ser Olyvar, beside Rhaegar, eyed the newcomer with surprise. "It seems Dorne is a favoured destination for House Targaryen," he said. The bloody spear was still grasped in his hand as he fitted the pieces together in his mind. "How strange. How is she related to you?"

"Prince Rhaegar is our lord's grandson. We followed him at Lord Jonos' bidding," one man said.

Another cried "Ser Rhaegar is a great hero! He fought like the Warrior himself. Only Ser Olyvar did better."

"Rhaegar the Dragonslayer!"

"Rhaegar! Rhaegar! Rhaegar the Dragonslayer!" The cry was taken up by Rhaegar's ragged band of warriors as they crowded around him.

After a short time, one of Lord Osmund's men came trudging back up the trail, slightly breathless, moving to Rhaegar's side. "They are guardsmen from Sunspear, my lord Prince," he said. "The Dragonprincess was a… guest, in Sunspear, but she bribed and murdered a guard and fled the city; they were sent to pursue her by Princess Sarella herself, with orders to return her to the Spear Throne!"

Elyas remained fairly still, although looked up to determine what was going on when he heard Rhaegar give orders to arrest another dragon in Sarella's name. His fingers absently felt around in the ashes of the burned men he was laying in.

Rhaegar saw their hesitation.

"Had she reached her dragon.." he said, pointing to where Vanderas lay dead. "...she would have killed us all without compunction." He pointed to where the two Dornish guards lay dead or dying. "That would be your fate too."

Rhaegar pointed at Daenya. "Arrest her. If she resists, you have my authority to kill her."

The men exchanged glances.. More attempted to surround her. "Prince Rhaegar is Lord Yronwood's own blood," one man said. "He's as much Dornishman as he is a dragon. And he killed the beast. We're not going to kill you, just take you prisoner."

More men circled Daenya and moved in closer.

"Then lower your blade, Princess," Lord Osmund replied. "Whether you force these men to beat you into submission, or kill you, you are being returned to a Sunspear as our liege commands. When your brother returns to Westeros for his coronation, he will certainly pay your ransom and you can go home." He did not have to add how laughable the notion was that they defy Princess Sarella's orders by letting her go.

The man who had spoken before looked uncertainly at Daenya. "i cannot harm a a girl, my lady. It's against my vows as a knight. I will not fight you."

Another of the men said "Might be the girl is right. Dorne should stay out of the wars of the dragons."

But one of the others said ""I'm an Yronwood man. Lord Jonos supports Prince Rhaegar's claim to the throne."

Other men shouted that Skyreach and Kingsgrave supported Rhaegar too.