The bonfire burned fiercely, illuminating everyone's face red.
The aroma of alcohol and roasted meat mixed in the cold night wind. Bolin's brother named Will was waving his arms with a flushed face, spittle flying, constantly arguing with everyone.
"I really saw it! A dragon!"
A burst of laughter erupted around him. Someone spat ale all over the ground; someone slapped their own belly.
Another brother of Bolin slapped his thigh, laughing so hard he couldn't catch his breath: "Will, can you still drink? You've already bragged to this extent. I think you are really drunk."
"It's true!" Will jumped up in anxiety, his face even redder. "I didn't lie to you!"
"I really saw a dragon!!!"
More and more people gathered, and more laughter occurred around.
"What kind of dragon?" Solomon didn't laugh. He spoke softly, putting down the silver wine cup in his hand heavily. The bottom of the cup collided with the rough ground, making a soft sound.
This was really weird because just now he saw a vision in the flame again—a huge snake-like eye staring at him.
That voice wasn't loud, but like a stone thrown into a noisy pond, the laughter and noise stopped abruptly.
Everyone's eyes converged.
"What kind of dragon?" Solomon spoke again. His voice was calm but carried a weight that could not be ignored.
Will swallowed saliva in big gulps. When Solomon spoke the first time, he doubted himself, wondering if Lord Solomon was really calling him. When he spoke the second time, he was sure the Lord was really asking him.
The camp instantly quieted down, leaving only the crackling sound of burning firewood. After all, Lord Solomon had spoken.
Seeing Solomon asking personally, Will's drunkenness seemed to subside by thirty percent. He straightened his back excitedly:
"It... it... it was all stone! Motionless!!!"
He gestured hard, trying to make his description more convincing.
"A body of stone! Like a huge mountain! It coiled in a huge cave! Motionless!"
He paused and swallowed.
"At first I also thought it was a mountain rock shaped like a dragon, but..."
Will's volume lowered, carrying a trembling tone of lingering fear.
"Although its body was stone!! Its eyes were moving!!!"
"Narrow eyes!! Like a cat!! Or like a snake!! Flashing light in the dark!! Wherever I went!! It looked there!!"
"That's why I said it's a dragon! Not a dragon-shaped rock!!!"
To prove what he said wasn't false, he puffed out his chest, carrying a pride of surviving a disaster.
"I even... I even touched it!"
This sentence again caused a suppressed commotion. The crowd held back laughter, only because Lord Solomon was here, it wasn't good to make noise.
"That stone! Felt ice-cold to the touch! No different from the rocks in the cave! If not for those eyes! I absolutely wouldn't believe it was alive!"
These words plunged the people present into a strange silence.
They looked at Solomon, then at the swearing Will. The ridicule on their faces had long solidified into held-back laughter.
The Lord acts maturely, but he is a teenager after all. Teenagers are always interested in such legendary stories and legendary creatures.
Bolin and his brothers looked at each other, not understanding why Lord Solomon would ask about a drunkard's drunken words, nor figuring out the situation.
Solomon didn't ask further. He picked up the wine cup, took a sip, gently shaking the liquid inside, unknown what he was thinking.
This small interlude passed quickly. The noise of the crowd rose again, only there was a trace of inexplicable meaning in the atmosphere.
Solomon's thoughts had drifted far away, thousands of thoughts in his mind.
In Westeros, known missing dragons were few, and only one was related to the Vale.
If the giant dragon in the drunkard's mouth referred to Sheepstealer, if that dragon lived till today, its age would probably be even older than the Black Dread Balerion. How is that possible?
Moreover, the power of magic had receded. The world recognized that dragons of the old world were long extinct until Daenerys hatched three new ones in the fire.
Solomon frowned slightly. Could it really be a drunkard's nonsense?
He looked up at Will who was still arguing with his companions. The young man was flushed, flustered and exasperated, speaking with certainty, not looking like he was simply bragging.
Stone quality, sleeping, motionless... only eyeballs moving.
In the stories of the East in his memory, there were indeed such stories. Stone cast body, soul not scattering, sleeping like mountains, waking once in a hundred years, life eternally frozen in the prison of rock.
Could it be like those stories, frozen as a magical creation of the old era because of the receding magical tide...
But what's with the moving eyes?
And what does this have to do with me? Solomon frowned tightly. Why show the vision to me?
He had no Targaryen blood, didn't understand magic, didn't believe in the Lord of Light, and didn't have a Dragonbinder horn in his hand.
Bolin noticed Solomon's long silence and tightly knitted brows, falling into a brainstorming session, a somewhat bewitched state.
Bolin's heart tightened, afraid this young lord fell into some kind of madness. He hurriedly leaned close, voice very low:
"My Lord, drunkard's words shouldn't be taken seriously."
Solomon moved his gaze from the flame, turning to Bolin: "When did he see it?"
"About... a few months ago." Bolin recalled. "At that time we were still in the wildling controlled area, always cautious not to be discovered."
"Only he had this incident because he numbed himself with drinking."
"But after sobering up, he kept claiming he saw flames shooting to the sky."
"In the flames he saw his family waving to him, that's why he went there."
"But we didn't light any fire at that time."
"Be specific." Solomon's voice carried no emotion.
Bolin frowned and thought, then turned to ask the brother beside him.
A moment later, he gave an answer: "Almost two months ago, when the weather just started to turn cold."
Solomon's fingers holding the wine cup tightened suddenly.
Two months ago, exactly the day he piled those wildling heads into a mountain and lit a big fire to burn them, causing a vision.
Seeing Solomon's suddenly changed face, Bolin also suddenly remembered something:
"In the legends of the wildlings, a special cave was indeed mentioned. They... they call that place Dragon Body Mountain."
He hurriedly added:
"Maybe it really is just a giant rock shaped like a dragon. Besides, this kid Will has never seen a real dragon. How does he know what a dragon looks like?"
"Correct." Solomon spat out this word slowly, eyes lighting up. This generation of Westerosi people hadn't seen dragons. Whether it's drunken nonsense, one question will tell.
Solomon tilted his head toward Bolin:
"Bring him over there."
70+ chapters are available now and daily updates! @patreon.com/AgentTwilight