Chapter 16.3- The Seadragon's Roar

I watched it as it made the journey, nursed in the waves. I knew the force I’d put on the boat had more than died out by this point but the boat only slowed down a bit, still carried by the waves as it made the journey down to Corlys’ ship. It sailed like the seasnake sailed for most of his life. This was his final journey. His final voyage. His tenth and his last. I watched the boat as it crossed the sea to the ship even as I backed out of the sea and made my way back to land.

I felt hands wrap around me as I was on dry land again— Laena’s. Another pair of arms came over the both of us, enclosing us in a hug from behind. It was Mother. I could smell the freshness of her perfume even with so little wind out. It took close to an hour for the boat to drift to the ship. We all watched it progress in silence just as the tradition demanded, and the second we could conform contact, Vaemond was handing me a bow and a quiver of arrows. There was something behind his eyes, and I knew I would have to deal with whatever offense my father had caused with his words in his last minutes, true as they were. He was probably more willing to tell the truth since he was not going to have to live with any of the consequences of his candor.

I took hold of the weapons and stared down the targets. We’d done a lot of archery practice back in the stormlands— it was my favorite bit of martial training— mostly because Manfred cared little for to and for a brief period, I could ge a reprieve from his sarcasm, his cutting remarks, his ‘Manfred-ing’.

Taking a breath, a good deep inhale, I drew the how. The ship had been doused in so much accelerant that if I was able to get this flaming arrow on any part of it, then the entire thing would begin to burn. The connection between both vessels meant the boat would begin burning soon after the ship started to burn. ‘Ok, no pressure, you’e got this.’

I aimed straight for the tallest of the masts and waited for my moment. For the wind to still, for the word to hold its breath, and when it did, I exhaled at the same time I fired. I missed the tallest mast by a large margin But like expected and hoped, the arrow struck the decking front of the mast’s base. The fire took a second before spreading from the arrow onto the wood, and then the ship began to burn in a matter of seconds, the fire spreading so quickly that it was almost unreal. When the boat caught the fire as well, I released a breath I had not realised I’d been holding even as mother’s grip around us tightened.

“I am so proud of both of you” Mother whispered in our ears.