Valyrian Candle

The rocking of the ship when sailing was very familiar to him since in his short seven years of life the prince spent several months sailing from one place to another. His first trip by boat was from Sunspear to King's Landing, that first trip made him fall in love with the sea and since then he has always looked for new opportunities to sail.

During his three years in Oldtown he spent a lot of time sailing on the sea around the city, or on the two rivers near the city. Sailing on a barge on a river is very different from sailing across the open sea but an experience that Doran thoroughly enjoyed.

Alone in his cabin, with the door closed, Doran sat in a chair with his Valyrian candle in hand. The prince had heard many rumors about the capabilities of the candle. There are those who say that with them the Dragonlords could communicate with each other thousands of kilometers away, others said that they could read the minds of men with them, others said that they served to see the future or the past,... Rumors are many and varied.

Since the runes engraved on the candle are Valyrian, the prince cannot guess its purpose. The Valyrian runic system seems strange to him, the runes seem rather hieroglyphic.

`I will have to investigate the Hieroglyphics of this world, there is little knowledge left of the Dragon Empire but all civilizations have something in common: they either invented their writing systems or copied them from someone else. If the Valyrians copied the hieroglyphs of another civilization, I may find information about that civilization and with it I may be able to decipher these hieroglyphics.`

After the eruption of the fourteen volcanoes on the peninsula most of the Dragonlords perished along with their beloved Motherland. The peninsula was completely destroyed and from its remains several islands were born, the islands are hidden in the sinister and dangerous Seasmoke, a sea that has been boiling for almost four centuries and is covered with fumes dangerous to men.

But not all the noble Valyrians died in the volcanic eruption, some of them managed to escape or were in one of their colonies. The old Harpy Empire, seeing the precarious situation of their nemesis, wasted no time in gathering all their troops and marching towards them. The massacre resulted in the extinction of almost every remaining Dragonlord House east of the Narrow Sea, with one exception; One Dragonlord survived the massacre and took refuge on Volantis only to die trying to reclaim the doomed land years later.

The Ghiscari, and other nations, systematically destroyed any book or parchment containing any information about the doomed empire, fearful that some survivor of the Dragonlord Houses would use that knowledge to recreate the Freehold. After a few decades, once their fear calmed down, they regretted their rash decision because the Valyrians were not only the most powerful empire in the world but also the most scientifically advanced.

Since then any bit of Valyrian information was treasured more than gold or silver, Dorna Martell told her grandson that at an auction in Norvos a book on medicine of Valyrian origin was sold for 150,000 golden coins. The buyer was a nobleman from Qarth and he kept the book in a vault in his mansion, something that Doran thinks to be a waste. The prince thinks that knowledge should be shared, especially medical knowledge that could save the lives of millions of people.

That's why after finishing translating the books he found in the hidden room, the prince plans to find a way to explain how he found those books and make them public.

`Hermione would be very proud of me,` thinks the prince with a wistful smile.

"ōños" The candle shone with enough intensity to burn the prince's retinas, luckily he was already expecting something like that after the last attempt to activate the candle so he had already closed his eyes as a precaution.

He concentrated on reducing the glow and after a few moments he was able to open his eyes, the candle glowing like a light bulb. The light was whitish but the runes/hieroglyphics glowed red.

Remembering another of the supposed functions of the candle, he approached one of the windows of his cabin, he opened it and in the distance he could see the Hightower tower. Doran mustered all his willpower and forced it into the candle wanting to see the city up close.

At first nothing happened so the prince increased the flow of mana even more and suddenly thousands of images filled his mind, fluttering like a fast-forward slideshow.

Doran clutched his head with his free hand, trying to calm the migraine that suddenly appeared. Concentrating through pain the prince used his mastery of the Mental Arts to order the images, but for every image he managed to order the candle showed him five more making it impossible for the prince to calm the chaotic storm in his mind.

"I AM DORAN NYMEROS MARTELL!" The prince gritted his teeth furiously, his voice had a steely edge. "YOU WON'T DENY MY WILL!"

His will proved more powerful than that of the candle and like a freshly tamed wild animal the candle calmed down and the flow of images slowed to a calmer pace. Now Doran could see every image and the migraine vanished.

"Phew" The prince sighs tiredly.

Focusing on Oldtown the wizard saw the city as if he were using high powered binoculars, binoculars that allow you to move around as if you were in the city itself.

"This reminds me of that nifty Muggle invention Teddy showed me. What was it called? Godle maps?"

Doran used his will to navigate through the city as if he were there and not a hundred miles away on a ship. After a while he had to cut the connection panting.

"I used too much mana."

Tired but satisfied with his progress, the prince threw himself on his bed. Before long he fell asleep holding the candle against his chest.

The prince's sleep was anything but peaceful. At first Doran found himself on a beautiful beach with snow-white sand, the sea so clear that he could see right through it. Doran turned around and saw in the distance a great mountain range, and from its top he saw thick black clouds rising.

"Smoke," the prince realized. "Those aren't mountains, they're volcanoes!"

Suddenly the earth began to tremble and as if by magic the prince found himself floating in the air a hundred meters above the beach. Doran saw how in a blink the landscape changed, the sky filled with ash, smoke and fire so hot that the heat could kill even a dragon. The prince felt his body covered in sweat and soon an unbearable burning suffocated him.

At the same time that the Fourteen Flames threw molten rocks left and right the land split and the sea vanished.

Doran saw how a wave of several hundred meters approached him at great speed, at the same time that the water crashed against him, the prince opened his eyes.

***

Note: So I changed my keyboard and mouse for ergonomic ones. It's supposed to help reduce tiredness, but is hard getting used to it. I write slower, and it's weird, my hands are not used to the shape. Does anyone know how long it will take to get used to ergonomic stuff?