The Iron Islands.
The main castle, council hall.
Balon sat in the high seat. Asha and Victarion stood behind him, one on each side.
Across the long table stood a man with an eyepatch over his left eye, Euron Greyjoy, the Crow's Eye. His lips were tinged blue, clearly the result of years spent drinking shade-of-the-evening.
At this moment, Euron wore a half-smile as he stared at the three of them.
Yet none of them paid attention to his expression. All three pairs of eyes were fixed on the dragon horn resting on the long table.
The horn was nearly two meters long, its surface patterned with bands of red gold and Valyrian black steel.
Now and then, light from the window struck it, sending up a dizzying sheen of dark luster.
Balon's eyes burned with desire.
He could not help rising from his seat and walking to the table, reaching out to trace the strange ancient runes carved into the horn.
In an instant, a sensation like the smooth, delicate skin of a young woman's thigh crept up his fingers.
Balon stared deeply at the horn. In its glossy surface, he could even see his own twisted reflection.
"This is the dragon horn?"
He withdrew his hand and suddenly turned to scrutinize the brother he had exiled years ago.
Back then, Euron had slept with Victarion's salt wife.
Even though Victarion himself did not care about the woman, Balon had seized the excuse to banish this brother who was even more unhinged than himself.
Up to this day,
if he did not need the power of dragons to challenge the Iron Throne, Euron would never have been allowed to return.
The returned Euron seemed to have changed greatly. He no longer appeared as wild and unfathomable as before. Instead, he looked calm and restrained.
Yet Balon sensed, faintly, that Euron was like a massive cask of wildfire.
The calm was only a disguise. Once ignited, his madness would burn everyone to ash.
Euron's right eye gleamed as he met Balon's gaze.
"Yes. This is the dragon horn I brought back from the ruins of Valyria after countless hardships, the Binder."
"The Binder?" Balon's eyes flickered. "And how is it used?"
Euron answered honestly, "Simply blow it, and you can control and command dragons."
Asha could not help asking, "That's all?"
Euron glanced at his niece. "Yes. That simple."
But suspicion flashed through Balon's eyes.
He knew his brother too well. He was certain it could not be so simple.
Sure enough,
Euron added with a strange smile, "But blowing it requires paying a certain price."
"A price?" Victarion stared hard at Euron. "What price?"
The corner of Euron's mouth curved in an inscrutable arc. "The life of the one who blows it."
The moment the words fell, all three stiffened.
"Lose your life?"
Balon lowered his gaze, anger lurking beneath it. "Euron, are you asking me to die?"
Victarion's eyes, moments ago drunk on the horn, snapped fully awake.
Asha's expression changed as well. She scoffed, "If blowing it costs your life, then even if it can control dragons, what use is it to us?"
"Uncle Euron, can we die and then come back to command dragons?"
She let out two mocking laughs.
But her mockery reminded Balon of something.
Euron was definitely hiding more.
Balon fixed his eyes on him, his voice sinking. "Euron, if you keep speaking in riddles, I will cut out your tongue and feed it to the fish."
Euron shrugged as if helpless. "My brother, you are still as cold and ruthless as ever."
Balon snorted. "Because I know you."
"Euron, your tricks won't fool me."
Euron smiled and neither agreed nor denied it.
He walked to the other side of the long table and said softly, "Balon, do you know what I have done in the years you exiled me? I sailed the Silence across the entire world."
"From Ib to Asshai, I trod nearly every inch of the mysterious lands.
Until, in the ruins of Valyria, I heard the voice of a god."
"A god?" Asha curled her lip in disdain. "You betrayed the Drowned God long ago. Why would he care about you?"
Euron gave a strange smile and did not argue. He continued instead. "In the ruins of Valyria, guided by that voice, I undertook the god's trial."
His voice grew more and more fervent.
"I passed the trial and earned the god's favor, receiving a great mission!
Under the god's guidance, I obtained this horn, and by the god's prophecy, I found the last remaining lair of dragons."
"So…"
Euron's right eye shone with an unfathomable light as his fervor peaked.
"Only I, the one favored by the god, can blow the horn without harm. Anyone else who blows it will pay with their life."
"If you do not believe me, you are free to test it on anyone you like."
His words stunned everyone present.
"Divine guidance? A mission?"
Balon felt doubt stir within him. His eyes narrowed as he examined Euron again, weighing how much of this he could believe.
Victarion, looking at the fanatic gleam on Euron's face, felt a chill creep through him.
'A god? What did he truly encounter in the ruins of Valyria?'
Compared to Balon and Victarion's doubts, the young Asha did not believe Euron's nonsense at all.
"Father," she said, "have someone blow it and we'll know if it's true."
Balon suppressed his unease, thought it over carefully, and then nodded.
"Victarion, bring a servant."
Victarion nodded, left the hall, and soon returned with a mixed-blood servant who had been sweeping outside.
He led the servant into the hall and pointed at the horn. "Go over there and blow it."
The servant trembled.
He glanced at Balon. Seeing no sign of refusal, he hurried forward.
Balon and Asha stepped back to give him space.
Euron smiled faintly and also retreated a few steps.
The servant stared at the massive horn on the table, swallowed hard, pressed his mouth to its opening, and blew with all his strength.
The next instant, the horn unleashed a thunderous sound, like thousands of souls screaming at once.
Those who heard it felt as though their bones were burning, as scorching heat roasted flesh from the inside out.
The sound passed through the windows and spread outside.
From the main castle to the Bloody Keep and across all of Pyke, everyone who heard it lifted their heads toward its source.
"Gods!"
The sound shook the heart so deeply that devout believers fell to their knees and prayed.
As voices rose in prayer, all of Pyke sank into a frenzy.
Chaos reigned outside, and the council hall was no different.
When the horn's blast finally ceased, a thin wisp of smoke curled slowly from its mouth.
The servant's lips were covered in blood and blisters.
Even the tattoos on his chest were bleeding. His body stood rigid for a few shuddering moments before he collapsed to the ground, lifeless.
Asha stared in horror. "Gods…"
Balon's eyes darkened as he stared at the servant's corpse. His doubts faded, replaced by a deep sense of wariness.
'If only Euron can use this horn, what use is it to me?'
'If only Euron can control dragons, then I would rather die than help him capture one.'
His gaze fell back on the horn, and a feeling of frustration rose within him.
Until Euron's voice reached his ears once more.
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