The vast skies of Essos stretched endlessly before him, filled with scents and sounds he had never known. The land below was a tapestry of wild forests, rocky cliffs, and distant fires that flickered like distant stars. The wind rushed past his scales, fierce and free, and for a moment, he let himself feel something close to peace. Here, far from Dragonstone and the watchful eyes of men, he was his own master.
Yet deep inside, beneath the armor of scales and fire, a fragile part of him still beat with the memories of a boy Jake. That small, human heart fluttered with feelings he hadn't expected to feel again: loneliness, fear, and a desperate yearning for something more than survival.
——
As twilight bled into night, he settled near a narrow mountain pass, the pines and rocks offering shelter. His eyes closed, and gentle smoke drifted from his nostrils, but the quiet shattered when he heard voices low, rough, angry. His eyes snapped open. Men. Hunters.
He watched silently as a ragged group moved through the shadows, crude weapons in hand. Their voices were filled with a cruel sort of greed, speaking of a young dragon they wanted to kill. They saw him as a monster, a beast to be slain. And yet, as he looked down at them, Jake felt a pang deep within a sharp twist of sorrow and confusion. These humans feared him, hunted him, but he remembered what it was like to be afraid, to be small and powerless.
For a moment, the boy's heart urged him to turn away, to hide, to run. But the dragon's instincts roared louder.
A careless step cracked a twig beneath a boot, breaking the fragile balance. His eyes flared with fierce light. A growl rumbled from deep in his chest a warning. But the men pressed on.
Then the fire burst forth a sudden, blazing wall of flame that roared through the clearing, swallowing the nearest man before he could react. The screams tore through the night as the others scattered, thrown into chaos by the dragon's fury.
The heat of the flames tasted both terrible and intoxicating on his tongue. Watching the men flee, something inside Jake fractured.
The power to burn and kill was overwhelming, but so was the weight of taking a life. The boy inside recoiled, his chest tightening with grief and guilt.
He lowered his head, smoke curling softly from his nostrils, as the forest grew still once more. The world was silent except for the crackle of burning wood and the faint echo of screams. The fire had protected him, yes but at what cost?
His heart ached with a strange mixture of triumph and loss. Freedom was a cruel gift, demanding sacrifices he was not yet sure he was ready to make. The dragon within was rising, fierce and wild but the boy inside was fading, pushed back by flames that would never fully cool.
With a slow, heavy breath, he stretched his massive wings and lifted into the starry sky. The wind was cold and sharp, but it carried a promise he was not just a creature of fire and fury. He was becoming something new, shaped by both his human past and the fierce power now coursing through him.
He was wild. He was free. But he was no longer just Jake.
——-
This is a turning point for Jake he's becoming more dragon than person. This was his first human kill btw.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter