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Viserys stared at the dead worm on the ground. The creature was disturbingly unique.
A twisted, slimy, unspeakable crimson worm.
A worm with a face, a snake with hands. Long-bodied and fast.
Its eyes were small, but its mouth was grotesquely large.
Fire spewed from its throat, just like a dragon.
But the creature's eyesight was poor; living underground, it relied entirely on sensing heat.
Viserys recalled the account from Fire and Blood: Princess Aerea Targaryen, burning with fever until she burst, had been placed in a tub of ice before she died. Creatures like this had erupted from her body.
Some were as small as a pinky finger, but the largest were at least as long as a man's arm.
Rather than just firewyrms, these might be called "Face-Worms"—perhaps a mutated product of blood magic experiments.
After all, firewyrms were a broad category with many subspecies.
The bloodmages of Valyria were infamous for fusing the flesh of men and beasts to create monstrous, abominable chimeras.
Viserys felt the dense fire essence radiating from the surroundings. This place was incredibly dangerous.
Fortunately, having activated both Pyromancer and Hydromancer classes gave him the power to traverse this hellscape.
[ "Fate-Reverser" Viserys Targaryen, you have slain the Face-Worm, creation of blood and fire mages, and landed on the ruins of Valyria. Strength ↑, Speed ↑, Agility ↑, Spirit ↑. ]
Viserys saw all his attributes rise, especially Spirit, which was rare.
Bloodline and spirit were the foundations of elemental manipulation.
On these ruins, Viserys carefully absorbed motes of fire essence. Killing the Face-Worms also yielded essence.
Many ruined structures seemed to sit atop geysers of fire essence, becoming nests for the Face-Worms, which carried abundant fire within them.
The expedition team advanced along the path Viserys chose. Occasionally, they passed rivers flowing with acid or even magma.
Fire essence. An unprecedented holy land of fire.
Viserys felt the fire elements surging around him, responding to his call with jubilation.
He searched for items bearing writing or magical fluctuations. In archaeology, artifacts with inscriptions or magic held the highest value.
"Listen to me. Keep the ice close. Do not stray," Viserys commanded.
They carried blocks of mystic ice, harvested from the shivering seas, whose cold repelled the Face-Worms. However, the ice was melting fast.
"Form up!" Viserys ordered.
As the ice melted, their body heat became more apparent to the worms.
The dragonglass and sulfur-strewn ruins suddenly trembled. The slippery bodies of the Face-Worms allowed them to move easily through the debris.
Worms with human faces, four-legged lizard-snakes.
Their mouths opened and closed like dragons, revealing bright red fire in their throats, though they didn't spew it immediately.
Viserys saw the blood-red flames. It was too disturbing.
"Are they trying to burrow into us?" A horrifying thought struck him. The Face-Worms sought to enter human bodies to feed on heat.
The Unsullied wielded short spears and shields, hurling javelins with disciplined precision, then reloading crossbows.
Aggo and Jalaka fought without pause, their greatsword and longbow covering their comrades.
Seven-foot-tall Aggo had donned a visor. These worms were terrifying.
Even a tank like him felt fear when facing monsters instead of men.
The first volley of spears and bolts was effective. Blades pierced the worms, leaving carcasses on the black ground and ruins.
But sensing the heat, the worms didn't stop.
Their power was great, but their intelligence was low.
Several larger Face-Worms slithered forward. Losing patience, they opened their grotesque mouths and spewed blood-red fire.
"Fighting retreat," Viserys ordered.
Viserys stood at the front. His silver armor flowed with light, runes and symbols blazing, automatically blocking the flames. The cool aura of the armor isolated the heat.
As a Pyromancer, Viserys turned the fire against them.
He opened his hand. The jubilant fire elements gathered before his palm, condensing into five blood-red fire arrows that shot back toward the worms.
Fire met fire. The Face-Worms weren't completely immune to fire, especially when it hit with the kinetic force of a real arrow.
These were smaller worms, like hatchling dragons; they could be hurt.
Their blood spattered the ground, hot as lava.
Viserys wasn't a grand wizard summoning fire from nothing; the abundance of fire essence here made it easy to gather.
If needed, he still had his Water Affinity.
Aggo's eyes widened, but he reasoned that a Dragonlord having magic in his ancestral home was normal.
Viserys became the edge of the razor. He waved his hand, and the worms' own fire arrows turned back on them.
The small worms twitched and rolled until they died.
Spears, iron shields, and crossbows joined the fray. The Unsullied swept their spears, clearing the dead.
Cold, sharp bolts struck the worms in their faces—the most effective kill shot.
The larger worms writhed, realizing something was wrong, but they too were pierced by Viserys's fire arrows.
Aggo's greatsword hacked through their bodies, severing them in segments. The smaller worms had softer skin.
Mature Face-Worms had tough hides, but they were slower.
Lava-like blood hissed as it hit the ground, creating scalding steam.
A drop of this dragon-blood on the face would disfigure or blind a man.
Viserys and his team slaughtered their way forward, seeking a safer path.
The blood-fire of the worms sputtered like torches. Fortunately, they didn't summon a massive swarm, or the team would have been in grave danger.
Viserys stopped studying the worms and headed for a different ruin hill.
He sensed the fire essence there was more stable, safer than the chaotic areas.
Their path still cost them an Unsullied. Despite his defense, several small Face-Worms slipped through a gap in his armor.
The Unsullied's skin turned red and congested, as if boiled in oil.
His body withered yet swelled, skin bulging and retracting as living things moved inside him.
"King Viserys, thank you for our freedom, for letting us live as warriors. Kill me quickly. And please... kill the Masters," the Unsullied begged, throwing his gem necklace away.
"I promise you, I will kill the Masters of Slaver's Bay," Viserys vowed.
The Unsullied's flesh darkened until it burst. His skin looked like roasted pork crackling.
Smoke spiraled from his nose and mouth.
His eyeballs burst from the heat, running down his cheeks like boiled eggs.
Face-Worms burrowed out of his flesh, only to be killed instantly by the team.
"What in the Seven Hells are these things?" Aggo asked.
"Face-Worms, a variant of firewyrms. But essentially firewyrms," Viserys said.
Legends said firewyrms infested the Fourteen Flames long before dragons came. Their young were the size of a child's arm, but they could grow immense and hated humans.
They should have stayed in the volcanic mines, but after the Doom, the entire city was a mine.
Viserys climbed the ruin hill. At least no more worms appeared.
He saw the ruins of fallen towers, dry ponds, acid streams, and magma rivers.
"What is that?"
"A living dead man," Viserys took a deep breath.
Through the black mist, Viserys saw a figure in rotting red armor wandering alone.
A blond, blue-eyed knight wearing a high dragon-horned helm, eyes blank, pacing endlessly.
His face bore the marks of wind and rain, wounds unhealed, making him look hideous.
Embedded in his forehead was a large red gem, still glowing under the gloomy red sky.
On his half-naked torso, flame-patterned tattoos shimmered, like those of a red priest.
Viserys knew such tattoos often held magic.
Looking at this undead knight, he was reminded of the wights created by ice magic.
It seemed that at the extremes of both Fire and Ice magic, zombies existed.
"Could this be one of Aurion's men?" Viserys wondered.
Aurion, the self-proclaimed Emperor of Valyria, had marched back into the ruins with thirty thousand men and a dragon after the Doom. They were never seen again. Perhaps this was part of his lost army, turned into undead guardians.