Vaes Zaldri - A Day of Peace
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The morning sun rose over Vaes Zaldri with the quiet promise of an ordinary day.
In the market district, a Dragonborn merchant named Voros adjusted the display of enchanted jewelry he'd spent the past month crafting. His bronze scales caught the light as he worked, and the horns that had grown since his conversion gave him an appearance that would have terrified him in his former life as a slave. Now, he owned his own shop, employed three apprentices, and had developed a reputation for jewelry that held enchantments better than anything else in the city.
"Another shipment from Vaes Drakarys came in last night," his wife Mira said, emerging from the back room with a crate of raw gemstones. Her own scales were a deep emerald—poison affinity, which made her uniquely suited for working with certain toxic materials that enhanced magical properties. "Some of these are exceptional quality. The traders said they're from the Summer Islands."
Voros examined one of the gems with a practiced eye, turning it in his clawed fingers. "The purple ones will work well for mental protection enchantments. There's been more demand for those since the council announced that psychic threats exist—the Three-Eyed Raven incident has made people nervous about their minds being vulnerable."
"Can you blame them? The idea that something could just reach into your head and change who you are..." Mira shuddered, her scales rippling with the movement. "I'm grateful every day that Lady Angelus protects us from things like that."
"Speaking of which, did you hear? She's planning to create more siege beasts. Something about defensive units this time, rather than the assault types we already have."
"Where did you hear that?"
"Talvos was drinking at the Scaled Flask last night—you know how he gets after a few cups of fermented mare's milk. He's one of the handlers for the Z-Rexes, and apparently they've been clearing space in the breeding grounds for something much larger than what we've seen before."
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Vaes Zaldrizes - The Forge District
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The heat of the forge was nothing to Talya.
The Dragonborn smith worked with her bare hands plunged into molten metal, shaping a blade inside it. Her fire-element scales gave her complete immunity to temperatures that would have vaporized flesh, and she used that advantage to work metals in ways that traditional smithing couldn't match.
"You're going to burn through your gloves again," her assistant Keth observed, watching from a safe distance. The young Draconian had partial fire resistance, but not enough to match his mentor's casual disregard for extreme heat.
"Gloves are for people who aren't literally made of fire." Talya pulled the blade from the crucible, examining its edge with critical attention. The Chaos-Forged Steel gleamed with inner crimson light, the signature of Lady Angelus's greatest creation. "Hand me the rune-etching tools. This one's going to Champion Jhogo's personal guard—it needs to be perfect."
Keth retrieved the delicate instruments from their case, careful not to touch the enchanted tips. "I heard the Champion took down three bandits single-handedly last week. Some fools from Volantis who thought they could raid our supply caravans."
"Single-handedly is generous. Sho'keth did most of the work—that drake of his has gotten vicious since they bonded. Jhogo just finished off whatever survived the initial charge." Talya began etching the runes that would give the blade its unique properties, her movements precise despite the speed at which she worked. "These blades are designed to grow with their wielders. In a few years, if that guard survives enough battles, this sword might develop abilities we can't even predict."
"Is that safe?"
"Define safe. It's powerful, which is what matters. Lady Angelus designed the enchantments herself, and I trust her judgment more than I trust most things in this world."
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Vaes Drakarys - The Harbor
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Captain Maros stood at the helm of the Crimson Tide, watching his crew prepare for departure.
The ship had been one of the first to undergo the Wyrmborne modifications—reinforced hull, enchanted sails that could catch wind that didn't exist, and weapons systems that made traditional naval combat obsolete. His crew was a mix of Draconians and human auxiliaries, all of them volunteers who had chosen to serve the Wyrmborne cause.
"Course is set for the Summer Islands run," his first mate reported, a Draconian woman whose blue scales marked her water affinity. "Should be smooth sailing if the weather holds."
"And if it doesn't hold?"
"Then we make our own weather." She smiled, revealing teeth that were slightly sharper than they had been before her conversion. "The ship's water mages have been practicing. They can calm a storm or summon one, depending on what we need."
Maros nodded, satisfied. In his former life, he'd been a merchant captain scraping by on the edges of legitimate trade—sometimes crossing into piracy when times got lean. Now he commanded one of the finest vessels in the known world, with a crew that could handle threats that would have destroyed any ship he'd sailed before.
"Captain!" One of the lookouts called from the crow's nest. "Signal from the harbor master. Lady Angelus is requesting all available ships maintain position near the port today. Something about 'creation exercises' requiring clear waters."
"Creation exercises?" The first mate raised an eyebrow. "More siege beasts?"
"Probably. The Z-Rexes were created in the breeding grounds inland, but if she's making something that needs water..." Maros trailed off, considering the possibilities. "Tell the crew to secure everything and prepare for spectating. If Lady Angelus is creating something new, I want to see it."
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The Creation of the Earthshakers
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The breeding grounds had been expanded significantly since the creation of the Z-Rexes.
Angelus stood at the center of a massive ritual circle, her crimson form dwarfing the handlers and mages who had assembled to assist. The materials had been gathered over weeks: bones from ancient creatures, magical essences harvested from monster kills, her own blood and scales, and something new—samples of living rock taken from deep beneath the earth.
"<
She began the process with the Ceratopsians.
The ritual drew upon the same principles as the dinosaur transformations, but the template was different—not predators but prey animals, creatures that had evolved to survive through defense rather than offense. Angelus channeled her power into the forming flesh, shaping bodies that would be massive and heavily armored.
CRACK! RUMBLE!
The first eggs began to take shape, each one the size of a small building. The shells were thick and reinforced, containing creatures that would emerge already partially grown and ready for training.
"<
The eggs pulsed with inner light as the creatures within them developed at an accelerated rate. Angelus could feel their minds forming—not the near-sapient cunning of the Z-Rexes, but something calmer, more patient, better suited to defensive roles.
"<
CRACK!
The first egg split open, and a creature emerged that made even the experienced handlers step back in awe.
It was massive—nearly as large as a Z-Rex but built entirely differently. Its body was low and wide, designed for stability rather than speed. The head was protected by an enormous frill that swept backward like a shield, and three horns jutted forward from its skull—two long ones above the eyes and a shorter one on the nose. Its scales were a deep grey with blue undertones, and they overlapped in patterns that suggested layers of armor.
GRRRMMM...
The creature's vocalization was deep and resonant, more vibration than sound. It turned its massive head toward Angelus, and something that might have been recognition flickered in its eyes.
"<
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The Sauropod Creation
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The second creation required more space.
Angelus had chosen a valley outside the city for this ritual, one where the emerging creatures would have room to reach their full size without demolishing any infrastructure. The handlers followed at a respectful distance, and Daenerys had come to observe, her new Chaos-Forged armor gleaming in the afternoon light.
"<
The template she used was for the largest land animals that had ever existed in her first life: the sauropods, those long-necked giants that had dominated the Mesozoic Era for over a hundred million years. She enhanced them with draconic features—armored scales, elemental breath weapons, and the intelligence to coordinate with riders and handlers.
RUMBLE! CRACK! RUMBLE!
The eggs that formed were even larger than the Ceratopsian ones—buildings rather than boulders, containing creatures that would dwarf anything else in the Wyrmborne arsenal except the dragons themselves.
The first one hatched after three days of development.
CRASH!
The shell exploded outward as the creature within forced its way free, and what emerged made Aegis look small. It was enormous—its body was the size of a small keep, supported on legs like pillars of living stone. Its neck stretched upward until its head was higher than most towers, and its tail swept behind it in a counterbalance that could demolish buildings with a casual swing.
GROOOOOOOONNNN...
The sound it made was less a vocalization than a geological event—the grinding of tectonic plates, the settling of mountains. Its scales were the brown-green of ancient forests, and ridges of bone ran along its spine that were clearly designed to support structures.
"<
Daenerys stared up at the creature with something approaching reverence. "It's... magnificent. How many of these can we create?"
"As many as we need, given sufficient time and resources. But for now, I'm thinking three Shield Beasts and two Titan Carriers—enough to supplement our existing forces without overextending our ability to train and control them."
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Training the Earthshakers
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Three Weeks Later
The training of the new siege beasts proved both challenging and rewarding.
The Shield Beasts—Aegis, Bastion, and Rampart—were surprisingly cooperative. Their defensive instincts made them naturally inclined to protect, and once they understood that the Wyrmborne were allies rather than threats, they took to their roles with enthusiasm. They learned to form walls on command, to interlock their frills into continuous barriers, and to channel defensive magic through their horns when mages provided the power.
THOOM. THOOM. THOOM.
The sound of their footsteps became a familiar rhythm in the training grounds, a steady cadence that promised safety rather than destruction. Handlers developed techniques for directing them in battle, and architects began designing the reinforced platforms that would eventually be mounted on the Titan Carriers.
The Titan Carriers—Colossus and Leviathan—were more challenging simply due to their size. Moving creatures that large required careful coordination, and the construction of their battle platforms was an engineering project that would take months to complete. But they were patient creatures, content to graze on the massive quantities of vegetation they required and allow workers to climb over their backs with measuring tools and building materials.
"The platforms will include archer positions for fifty soldiers each," the chief architect reported during a Crimson Council meeting. "Plus space for two ballistae and a command post. We can also install magical communication equipment to coordinate with ground forces."
"How long until they're ready for deployment?" Drogo asked.
"The basic platforms should be functional within two months. Full combat readiness with all systems installed and tested... four months, perhaps five."
---
The Hunt Begins
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Angelus felt the threshold approaching.
The sensation had been building for weeks—a pressure in her soul, a sense that she was approaching a boundary that needed to be crossed. Her Level 3 form had served her well, but she could feel the potential for something greater waiting just beyond her reach.
She needed a catalyst. Something powerful enough to push her over the edge.
"I'm going hunting," she told Daenerys one evening, as they lay together on the cliff overlooking the harbor. "There's something out there—something strong enough to give me what I need to evolve. I can feel it pulling at me, calling me toward the sea."
Daenerys's expression showed concern, but also understanding. "How long will you be gone?"
"I don't know. However long it takes to find what I'm looking for and kill it."
"Should I come with you?"
"No." Angelus's voice was gentle but firm. "This is something I need to do alone. The creature I'm hunting... whatever it is, it's dangerous. Dangerous enough that even I might struggle against it. I won't risk you in that fight."
Daenerys was quiet for a moment, processing this. Finally, she nodded. "Come back to me. Come back to all of us."
"Always."
---
The Search
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Angelus flew west, following an instinct that she couldn't quite explain.
The pull had been growing stronger the closer she got to the open ocean—something out there, something ancient and powerful, calling to the predator within her. She passed over the Stepstones, those scattered islands where pirates made their homes, and continued into the deeper waters beyond.
As she flew, she thought about what she was seeking—not just the catalyst for this evolution, but what she wanted to become.
Her mind drifted to memories of her first life, to the games she had played in the quiet hours between deployments. Monster Hunter had been one of her favorites—a series that understood the thrill of facing creatures that could kill you, of learning their patterns and weaknesses and ultimately triumphing through skill and preparation.
And one creature had stood above all others in her estimation: Safi'jiiva.
The Red Dragon. The "perfect" lifeform that had evolved beyond the need for prey, that could absorb energy directly from the environment and reshape its own biology to counter any threat. A creature of such overwhelming power that it had nearly destroyed the ecosystem of its world simply by existing.
That, she thought, is what I want to become. A being of absolute biological perfection, capable of absorbing energy from everything around me, of adapting to any threat, of being the apex predator in every possible sense.
But that was the goal for her fifth and final evolution. Her fourth form needed to lay the groundwork—developing the western dragon body type that Safi'jiiva possessed, beginning to develop the energy manipulation abilities that would define her ultimate form.
She would become something magnificent.
But first, she needed to find something worth killing.
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Day Three - The Storm
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She found it on the third day.
The storm had appeared from nowhere—a wall of black clouds that stretched from horizon to horizon, crackling with lightning that lit the darkness in strobing flashes. But this wasn't a natural storm. Angelus could feel the power emanating from its center, the presence of something vast and ancient lurking beneath the waves.
CRACK! BOOM!
Lightning struck the water in sheets, illuminating something massive moving in the depths below. Tentacles—enormous, each one thicker than her body, covered in scales that pulsed with bioluminescent light.
KRAKOOOOM!
A bolt of lightning arced toward her, and Angelus twisted aside barely in time. The energy crackled past her with enough force to have seriously injured her, and she felt her scales tingle with residual charge.
This isn't natural lightning, she realized. It's being controlled.
The creature rose.
It emerged from the waves like a nightmare given form—a body the size of a small island, with tentacles that stretched for hundreds of meters in every direction. Its hide was covered in scales that glowed with inner light, and its eyes—dozens of them, scattered across its body—fixed on Angelus with ancient, terrible intelligence.
SKREEEEEEEEEE!
The sound it made was beyond anything she had heard before—a shriek that seemed to bypass her ears entirely and resonate directly in her skull. Lightning crackled between its tentacles, forming a web of energy that it could launch at will.
Angelus recognized what she was facing.
A Kraken. But not just any Kraken—an enhanced one, something is empowering it. Whatever it is, it's connected to a divine power source.
Through her perception, she could feel the threads of energy connecting the creature to something deep and vast and impossibly ancient, sleeping in the darkness beneath the ocean floor. The Drowned God. And this creature was its servant, its avatar, its Apostle.
Perfect, Angelus thought, her golden eyes narrowing with predatory anticipation. This is exactly what I was looking for!
---
Day Three Through Day Ten - The Battle
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The fight that followed was the hardest of her existence since arriving in this world.
The Kraken—she named it Tempest in her mind, for the storms it could summon—was not just powerful but clever. It used the ocean against her, summoning waves that crashed against her when she flew too low and lightning that struck from every direction when she flew too high. Its tentacles could stretch farther than seemed possible, and each one was strong enough to grapple even her massive form.
CRACK! BOOM! CRASH!
Day after day, night after night, they fought.
Angelus's fire breath could burn the creature's tentacles, but they regenerated faster than she could destroy them. Her claws could tear through its scales, but the wounds closed within minutes. The Kraken's lightning could hurt her—actually hurt her—and its tentacles threatened to drag her beneath the waves where her fire would be useless.
The ocean around them boiled and froze and shattered in turns. Islands were destroyed by the shockwaves of their collisions. Ships that strayed too close were obliterated without either combatant even noticing their presence.
On the fifth day, a tentacle caught her wing.
CRACK!
Bone snapped as the Kraken's grip tightened, and Angelus roared in pain as she plummeted toward the water. She twisted at the last moment, breathing fire directly into the tentacle's flesh, and it released her just before she hit the surface—but the damage was done. Her wing would need time to heal, and time was something the Kraken wasn't giving her.
SKREEEEEEEEEE!
The creature pressed its advantage, lightning crackling in coordinated bursts that forced Angelus to weave through a storm of electrical death. She was wounded, exhausted, fighting against something that seemed tireless in comparison.
But she was also learning.
The Kraken's power came from its connection to the Drowned God—she could see the threads of energy flowing into it from somewhere deep below. If she could sever those threads, even temporarily, the creature would be vulnerable.
On the seventh day, she made her move.
Instead of retreating from the lightning, she flew directly into it—using her own elemental resistance to absorb what she could and letting the rest ground through her body into the sea below. The pain was excruciating, but it brought her close enough to see the threads clearly.
FWOOOOOOSH!
Her fire breath wasn't aimed at the Kraken itself, but at the connection between it and its divine patron. The flames burned not just physically but metaphysically, scorching the spiritual link that fed the creature its power.
SKREEEEEEE—
The Kraken's shriek took on a new note—surprise, perhaps even fear. Its lightning flickered, its regeneration slowed, and for the first time since the battle began, Angelus saw an opening.
She didn't hesitate.
---
The Nuke
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Angelus had only used this ability once before—at the end of her time as the Seal in her original world, when her freedom had meant the death of everything she had protected for so long.
The power built within her like a star being born, energy compressing and intensifying until her entire body glowed with inner light. Her chest expanded, her throat widened, and the fire that gathered there was no ordinary flame—it was the concentrated fury of ten thousand years of existence, compressed into a single devastating attack.
FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
The breath weapon that erupted from her jaws was less fire than it was annihilation made manifest. It struck the Kraken with the force of a small sun, and everything within a mile radius simply ceased to exist. The water vaporized instantly, leaving a crater in the ocean that took minutes to refill. The Kraken's body—vast and terrible and seemingly immortal—was reduced to charred meat and blackened scales in the span of a heartbeat.
The storm died.
The lightning ceased.
And silence fell over the devastated battlefield.
Angelus hung in the air for a long moment, her body trembling with exhaustion. She didn't have the energy for a victory roar—didn't have the energy for much of anything except staying airborne. Her wing was still damaged, her scales were scorched from lightning strikes, and every muscle in her body ached from the sustained combat.
But she had won.
She let herself descend toward the nearest shore—a small island that had somehow survived the battle—and landed heavily on the rocky beach. The Kraken's corpse floated nearby, massive even in death, and Angelus dragged herself through the shallows to reach it.
Then she began to eat.
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The Evolution
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The power hit her like a tidal wave.
As she consumed the Kraken's flesh, she could feel its energy being absorbed into her own—not just physical sustenance, but magical power, divine essence, the accumulated strength of a creature that had been ancient when the first humans built their first cities. It filled the empty spaces within her, pushed against the boundaries of her current form, demanded release.
The evolution began.
CRACK! RUMBLE! CRACK!
Her body convulsed as the transformation took hold, bones shifting and reshaping, muscles tearing and reforming, scales falling away and regrowing in new patterns. The process was agonizing—far more intense than her previous evolutions—but she had been expecting this. She had been preparing for this.
She focused her will on the changes, guiding them rather than simply accepting whatever her body chose to become. She wanted a western dragon form—the body type that Safi'jiiva had possessed, with four powerful legs and massive wings, a long neck and longer tail, a body built for both ground combat and aerial dominance.
She wanted the beginning of energy absorption—the ability to draw power from her environment, to feed on the life force of the world itself rather than just physical prey.
She wanted bio-energy manipulation—the capacity to channel and redirect the power she absorbed, to enhance her abilities and heal her wounds and eventually reshape her very biology.
The evolution answered her demands.
Her body grew larger—significantly larger than before, her mass nearly doubling as new muscle and bone formed to support a different structure. Her legs thickened and repositioned, shifting from the wyvern-style configuration she had possessed to something closer to a true dragon—four powerful limbs that could support her weight on the ground while leaving her wings free for flight.
Her chest developed new internal structures—organs that could absorb and store energy from her environment, process it, channel it through her body. She could feel them activating even as they formed, drawing in ambient magical energy from the devastated battlefield around her.
Her scales deepened in color, the crimson becoming darker and richer, and between them, lines of golden-orange light appeared—the visible sign of the energy flowing through her new systems. Her chest and throat glowed from within, the fire that had always burned in her heart now visible through translucent scales that served as windows into her power.
Her horns grew and multiplied, sweeping backward from her skull in an elaborate crown that proclaimed her status as something beyond ordinary dragons. Her claws lengthened and hardened, becoming weapons capable of tearing through almost any defense.
And finally, the evolution completed.
GROOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!
The roar that erupted from her new throat was the loudest sound she had ever made—a declaration of power that echoed across miles of ocean, rattled the bones of creatures far from the battlefield, and announced to the world that something had changed.
Something had been born.
---
Unknown Cave within Old Valyria - The Cannibal's Lair
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In a cave deep within the volcanic island, something ancient stirred.
The Cannibal had slept for decades, conserving his strength and waiting for... something. He wasn't sure what. Perhaps an opportunity, perhaps a worthy opponent, perhaps simply the right moment to remind the world that he still existed.
The roar woke him.
His eyes opened—dark and ancient and filled with centuries of cunning. He listened as the sound faded, analyzed it with the instincts of a apex predator who had never met his equal.
Interesting, he thought. A new powerful being has arrived.
He considered rising, seeking out the source of that roar, testing whether it posed a threat or an opportunity. But the effort seemed excessive for a mere curiosity. The roar was distant—far to the south and east, somewhere beyond his usual territory.
Perhaps later.
The Cannibal closed his eyes and returned to sleep.
---
Testing the New Form
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Angelus spent two days on the island, recovering from the evolution and testing her new capabilities.
The body felt strange at first—the western dragon configuration was fundamentally different from what she had possessed before, and she had to relearn how to walk, how to fly, how to fight. But the adjustments came quickly, her mind adapting to the new form with ease.
The energy absorption was the most significant change.
She could feel the world around her now in ways she never had before—the life energy in plants and animals, the magical currents that flowed through the earth and sea and air, the residual power left behind by her battle with the Kraken. And she could draw on it, pulling that energy into herself, storing it in the organs that had developed during her evolution.
FWOOOOSH!
Her fire breath was stronger now—not just hotter, but more versatile. She could channel the absorbed energy through it, creating flames that burned with different properties depending on what she had consumed. The Kraken's lightning essence gave her fire an electrical edge that it hadn't possessed before.
The bio-energy manipulation was still developing, but she could already feel its potential. Given time, she would be able to redirect absorbed energy to heal wounds, enhance specific abilities, even temporarily boost her power beyond its normal limits.
And this was just the foundation. Her fifth evolution—the true ascension to Safi'jiiva's perfection—would unlock even greater capabilities.
For now, though, it was time to go home.
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The Return
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Vaes Zaldri came into view as the sun set over the Dothraki Sea.
Angelus had timed her return for maximum dramatic effect—she wanted her people to see her new form in the golden light of dusk, when the glow from her chest and the deep crimson of her scales would be most impressive. The reaction did not disappoint.
Guards on the walls saw her first, and for a moment, their training failed them. Weapons were raised, alarms were sounded, and the entire city began preparing to defend against what appeared to be an unknown dragon approaching their capital.
Then someone recognized her.
"It's Lady Angelus!" The cry went up, spreading through the city like wildfire. "Lady Angelus has returned!"
She landed in the central plaza—the space had been designed for her, but her new form was larger, and the ground cracked under her weight. Citizens who had gathered to see what the commotion was about stared up at her with expressions that mixed awe, fear, and reverent wonder.
Daenerys was there within minutes, having pushed through the crowd with anxious urgency. Her white scales and dark armor contrasted sharply with Angelus's new crimson magnificence.
"You..." Daenerys's voice trailed off as she took in the changes. "You're different. Very different."
"<>" Angelus replied, her mental voice resonating with new depth and power. "<
The Crimson Council arrived in waves—Drogo and Jhogo, Jorah and Daario, the various commanders and administrators who formed the empire's leadership. They gathered at a respectful distance, staring at the creature that had been their leader and was now something even more impressive.
"You look like a god," Drogo said finally, his deep voice carrying genuine reverence.
"Better than a god." Angelus stretched her new wings, enjoying the sensation of muscles that hadn't existed a week ago. "<
The three wyverns landed nearby—Balerion, Mikhail, and Enoch, each of them studying Angelus's new form with their own particular expressions.
"<
"<
"<
"<
"And what is that?" Daenerys asked.
Angelus's golden eyes found her partner's, and something passed between them that needed no words.
"<
The assembled Wyrmborne were silent, processing this revelation. Then, slowly, they began to kneel—first the guards, then the citizens, then the council members themselves, until only Daenerys and the wyverns remained standing.
"All hail Lady Angelus," someone called. "The Red Dragon. The Apex Predator. The Crimson God."
The title spread through the crowd like a wave, voices joining in a chant that echoed through the city and beyond.
"Crimson God! Crimson God! Crimson God!"
Angelus let them worship.
She had earned it.
---
End of Chapter Fifteen