When Rhaegor heard his father ask that question, he quickly straightened his back. He knew that the topic Dragonzel was about to discuss with him was important, and he had to listen carefully.
If he wasn't mistaken, this concerned the future of the Varezes family.
"Rhaegor, what I'm going to tell you is the history and future as I understand it," Dragonzel said, putting an arm around his son's shoulder and leading him to Vhagar's skull. "Not what you read in books, but what I've seen with my own eyes."
"You must remember what I tell you, my child," Dragonzel switched to High Valyrian. He glanced at Rhaegor, who seemed to be reaching for paper and pen: "Don't write it down; remember it in your mind."
"Yes," Rhaegor pursed his lips and stood still, obediently waiting by his father's side for Dragonzel to speak.
"What I'm going to tell you next is the history and future I saw in prophecies, combined with your grandfather's research and what I've witnessed," Dragonzel placed his hand on Vhagar's skull and slowly began to recount things Rhaegor had never heard before.
"When my father was young, he became famous throughout the Black Wall of Volantis for his strange behavior. No one knew why he was so peculiar. Despite the family having kept slaves for so many years, he insisted on creating 'contract workers,' which led to the family being besieged by all the Black Wall nobles. No one knew why he was so persistent in organizing the family's workers, miners, and farmers to try new things. It was these actions that caused the Varezes family's wealth to shrink significantly during his youth."
Dragonzel chuckled as he recounted his father's past: "But when the things he eventually experimented with truly made the Varezes family rise, everyone dared only to curse him quietly. No one dared to speak nonsense in front of the family again. After gaining enough power and wealth, Father began his research into our bloodline. He would often say strange things back then, like 'I wish I had seen the song of ice and fire or Game of Thrones.' But this didn't stop him from indulging in experiments with magic and blood, and he did achieve some success."
Rhaegor curiously looked at his father, then at Vhagar's skull, continuing to listen silently as Dragonzel recounted these stories that he wouldn't normally read in classes or books.
"The Varezes family's bloodline originates from Ancient Valyria. Our direct ancestor was one of the original fourteen who participated in dragon taming, 'Varezes the Smith.' Legend has it that they brought the eternal, inextinguishable fire from the depths of the volcanoes and forged an ancient covenant with the dragons circling the peninsula. From then on, the Shepherds of Valyria became the masters of the dragons, and a great 'Empire' rose on what was once the edge of civilization."
He sighed, then continued: "But Father didn't think it was like that. He believed that the ancestors of the Valyrian people engaged in unspeakable horrors with the dragons, and thus dragon blood flows within us. That's why, even if we aren't dragon knights, we can still approach dragons, unless they are hungry. Father believed that the Valyrian Dragon Lords used sorcery in the deep pits of Hogo Sos to make men, women, and beasts copulate, not just for pleasure, but also to continue ancient experiments; they wanted more."
"But what my father didn't know was that all of this was not just the history of the mundane world; there was also the impetus of this world behind it. Now I will tell you another perspective of history that I saw through means unknowable to mortals. Of course, it's not necessarily true, just one perspective."
"In a distant and unknowable age, our world was born. At that time, the oceans ebbed and flowed from desiccation, and the land rose from within them. The first life was born with them—forests, seabeds, and lakes and rivers. Intelligent life and this world played the first symphony. As this world gradually stabilized, what we mortals call 'Gods' also appeared. They might have been the leaders of various races, passed down through generations, deifying themselves, or perhaps some unique creatures. But above them was the great will of this world: the ardent, the bright, the shadowed, the burning, and the silent, the dark, the dead, the cold. They symbolized flourishing life and eternal stillness, symbolizing the world's birth and its wrath. The Old Gods believed by the First Men are them, the light lord R'hllor prevalent in the East Continent is them, and even the unspeakable alien Gods of legend are them."
"Father, I remember Maester Visari discussing this," Rhaegor recalled what he had read: "Although the Lord of Light's red god faith is generally considered a dualistic religion, some also believe that the red god and the cold god were originally one, though the latter is fiercely opposed by the Red-robed Monks."
"They are one, and they are not one," Dragonzel wasn't entirely sure about these things, but he was certain that whether it was the red god or the cold god, or the Old Gods, the thousand-faced god—any deity that had shown miracles—they were essentially the chords and echoes of this world playing different movements of its song. "I saw dragons born from the shadowed lands; they are the 'creations' of the 'red god,' carrying the song of fire. I saw humanoid beings with blue eyes, or 'Others,' 'demons,' born in darkness and ice; they are the 'messengers' of the 'cold god,' playing the song of ice." Dragonzel stroked his son's hair and sighed: "When ice and fire alternate, especially when 'ice' dominates this world, the Long Night and eternal winter will come, and we will face the end. The ancient intelligent races discovered this, and so the first Emperor of the Dawn Empire appeared in this world. During the era ruled by the Dawn Empire, the ancients, troubled by the song of ice and fire, sought various methods. Legend says that the Shepherds of Valyria had the Amethyst Empress's blood flowing in their veins. She tried to resist the eternal night of 'ice' by mastering the symbol of 'fire' and maintaining a fragile balance within it, but she failed. Her brother, the Bloodstone Emperor, sought the power of 'alien Gods' from beyond the heavens to resolve the song of ice and fire once and for all."
"Father, I remember the Bloodstone Emperor also failed," Rhaegor said. "He murdered the Amethyst Empress, founded the Star-Aligned Cult, and performed extensive blood sacrifices, hoping to summon 'alien Gods' from beyond the heavens. But he failed, and the Long Night still descended upon this world. The demons of the Night Lion broke through the Five Forts, destroying the Dawn Empire, until the 'Azor Ahai' figures across the world sacrificed their loved ones and drew forth Lightbringer, and only then did light return to the world."
"Yes," Dragonzel sighed. As he aged, his memories of what he saw in the flames not only didn't fade but became clearer, even revealing many details he hadn't seen back then, such as the eyes that opened in the sky eventually falling in fire and ice, light and darkness, shadow and death, and how those who proclaimed themselves 'Gods' wailed and struggled in the Long Night.
"After the Long Night, civilization rebuilt. The Ghiscari Empire, the Golden Empire, the Rhoynar cities, the Tall Men's nations, and our ancestors' Valyrian Freehold were established one after another. The fear of the Long Night still lingered in people's memories, but they no longer remembered why it came. The Valyrian people, who controlled dragons, should have become the musicians playing the song of mortals between ice and fire, but our ancestors committed the sin of arrogance; they arrogantly pursued more power, and so they collapsed."
"Valyria's pursuit of 'fire' ultimately ignited the Fourteen Flames, and we lost almost everything. Child, I don't know if the Targaryen family knows that prophecy. The people of Asshai believe that before the next Long Night descends, Azor Ahai will be reborn in a land of smoke and salt, accompanied by a bleeding star, and his song will be the song of ice and fire. And his coming will either be to save mortals from the Long Night, weaving a new song of mortals, just like the heroes who ended the Long Night. Or he will become an accomplice to ice and fire, ushering in the Long Night, and ultimately plunging this world into eternal stillness, just like the Bloodstone Emperor. Do you understand now why I'm telling you all this, my son?"
Rhaegor was intelligent; he quickly connected it to his own family: "So… Father, are we the chosen family?"
Dragonzel nodded: "Although I don't know what this world truly thinks, it's clear that It enjoys seeing the unfolding and changes of the song of ice and fire, as well as humanity's efforts to save itself. So It will both bring the Long Night and grant us blessings. Rhaegor, the Varezes family has received these, and must also bear the responsibility. You must firmly remember these words and pass them down until the day the Long Night arrives. Senseless conflicts between dragons will ultimately harm us and even the entire world. Remember, always remember this."
Dragonzel said seriously: "The Varezes family tolerates no division, no waste. Only by standing united can we fulfill our duty."
Rhaegor nodded solemnly.
He firmly remembered his father's words. Even if he didn't possess his father's unknowable powers, he still had his pride and reliance. He believed he could live up to his father's expectations.
He definitely could.
[**I am remaming the son to Rhaegor**]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you like the story please give it some power stones and reviews. And if you want to read 40+ advance chapters or just want to support me please join my patreon at [email protected]/Translatingfanfics