Vermithor Felt Defeated:
The dance came to an end as Vermitor roared into the sky (Seasmoke Asoiaf)
The bronze dragon with large brown wings was almost a hundred years old and was as large as the two young dragons combined.
Being riderless, he could not tell friend from foe, so he charged at everyone, spitting flames left and right and turning fierce on anyone who dared to throw a spear in his direction.
One knight tried to run from him, but Vermitor grabbed him with his claws as his horse galloped away.
Lords Piper and Deddings, seated together on a low hill, blazed with their armor-bearers, minions, and sworn shields as the Bronze Fury caught sight of them.
A moment later, Sea Smoke was upon him.
Haha – anyone the dragon ‘spots’ is instantly consumed by flames – this bronze beast has no prejudice, not anymore.
The combination of sensing the death of its rider and the attack of two knights wounding its flank means utter destruction.
Danger with Dragons:
This is the danger with dragons in battle – when the rider dies, the dragon forms a third army on itself and can no longer be controlled.
Perhaps things in ASOIAF won’t be as easy and epic as many readers hope when it comes to dragons.
They are far from the “perfect weapon”.
Of the four dragons in the field that day, only Sea Spirit had a rider.
Ser Adam Velarion had come to prove his loyalty by destroying the two traitors and their dragons, and here was one of them attacking the men who had joined him for this battle.
He must have felt obliged to protect them, though he knew in his heart that his Seasmoke Asoiaf was no match for the older dragon.
Or maybe the adrenaline of war makes one seem invincible.
Adam seems like a great guy though, and maybe it’s a sense of duty. The larger the army he can bring back to Reinyra, especially after killing the three green dragons and completing their march north, the more likely she is to accept him back into her good graces.
In the meantime, however, she flees from King’s Landing into exile, unbeknownst to the Bastard of Valerian.
Seasmoke Asoiaf attacks Vermithor but Tessarion soon helps him :
This was not a dance, but a battle of life and death.
Vermithor hovered twenty meters above the battle when Sea Smoke attacked him from above and knocked him screaming into the mud.
Men and boys fled in terror or were crushed as the two dragons rolled and tore at each other. Tails snapped and wings flapped in the air, but the two beasts were so entangled that neither could break free.
Benjicot Blackwood watched the battle from his horse, which stood fifty yards away. Vermitor’s size and weight were too much for Seasmoke Asoiaf, Lord Blackwood said many years later, and he would surely have torn the silver-gray dragon to pieces… had not Tessarion fallen from the sky at that very moment to join the fray.
Ah, the legendary Benjicot Blackwood.
At the end of the dance, he’ll be a hero, as he was in his previous efforts to feed the fish.
Who knows what the heart of the dragon is? Is it only the thirst for blood that has led the Blue Queen to attack?
Has the dragon lady come to help one of the fighters? And if so, which one?
Some say the bond between dragon and rider is so deep that the beast shares the love and hate of its master. But who is an ally and who is a foe?
Can a dragon without a rider tell a friend from a foe?
Technically, both dragons are enemies now, as Hugh has faced Daeron and Sismoke has just finished his dance with Tarion.
If their previous battle was more of a mating ritual, that would explain Tesarion’s actions here – she’s protecting Sea Breath, who she knows is her promised lover.
Or maybe Tesarion still thought she was fighting on Vermitor’s side in the battle, as they had originally done.
We’ll never know the answers to those questions.
All we know from history is that three dragons fought amidst the mud, blood, and smoke of Second Tumbleton.
^ GRRM leaves some of the more intricate details of the relationship between the dragon riders and the “will” of the dragons unanswered – and will likely remain up in the air after ASOIAF ends, leaving the reader to interpret them based on the actions of the dragons themselves.
Seasmoke was first to die when Vermithor locked his teeth into his neck and ripped his head off.
Well, that was quick.
RIP, Seasmoke.
It’s thought that Addam died during this time as well.
Afterward, the bronze dragon tried to take flight with his prize still in his jaws, but his tattered wings could not lift his weight. After a moment he collapsed and died.
Dragons really aren’t the smartest creatures — should have stayed on the ground and rested, and fought Tessarion there, instead of trying to regain higher ground in the air.
Especially since the younger she-dragon was much quicker in the air, even before the dozens of giant wounds in Vermithor’s side.
Tessarion, the Blue Queen, lasted until sunset. Thrice she tried to regain the sky, and thrice failed.
By late afternoon she seemed to be in pain, so Lord Blackwood summoned his best archer, a longbowman known as Billy Burley, who took up a position a hundred yards away (beyond the range of the dying dragon’s fires) and sent three shafts into her eye as she lay helpless on the ground.
A good way to put down dragons that are on the ground and flailing — especially in a battle where you should have a whole fleet of archers who can launch arrows, knowing just one has to hit the target.
