Artys Royce shook his head. "The man protecting the Lady didn't tell me what His Highness needed." The Count of Runestone pondered for a moment. Dragonzel wouldn't send someone to the Vale without a reason, unless he had another purpose, but no one knew what he wanted to do.
"No matter what Prince Dragonzel wants to do," Joffrey Arryn understood this point and sighed, "we can't stop him. He saved Lady Jane and my lives, preserving the Arryn family's bloodline. For this alone, no matter what demands Prince Dragonzel makes in the future, we must accept them."
The heir to the Eyrie looked at his rival's head with complex emotions, remaining silent for a long, long time.
The peaceful, uneventful days always passed quickly. Dragonzel would still occasionally fly with Lingor or Aegon to castles and manors in his territory, or other parts of the Realm, for surprise inspections. Valarr, in addition to caring for his daughter and Madam, would regularly patrol the sea routes with the Silver Fleet on his dragon. Among the three brothers, only Ray's life had changed slightly due to Rhaenyra's return. Ray would take Rhaenyra flying on his dragon and visit the Dragonpit and Dragon Nest Tower more frequently.
Dawn did not grow as quickly as other dragons. Even now, it was not as large as Viserys's Igaras or Sarafasas. However, Dawn hatched earlier, so it was sent to the Dragonpit very early. Of course, Igaras was overly robust, making it appear larger than Dawn from any angle, and even larger than Sarafasas at first glance. Of course, what Aegon and Viserys did not notice was that Sarafasas, Shadow Nightmare, Star Song, and Zhuohuo all grew very quickly, at least faster than the dragons hatched by the Targaryen family. However, a more likely reason was that Aegon's Stormcloud and Viserys's Igaras also grew faster in Dragon Nest City, leading both Targaryens to overlook this point.
"Viserys, is this the Dragonpit?" Lara Rogare curiously looked at the deep pit in front of her. Viserys hugged Igaras's thick neck and whispered a few words before quickly coming over to answer his fiancée's question: "Yes, but I apologize, it's a rule set by Dragonzel. Only members of the Varezes family and members of the royal family who house their dragons in the Dragonpit can enter the Dragonpit, so Miss Lara, you'll have to wait for us here."
Lara nodded, very sensibly just glancing into the depths of the Dragonpit before voluntarily retreating behind Madam Leila. Dragonzel, seeing that Lara clearly understood her place, withdrew his gaze from her. "Viserys, we're sending Igaras and Sarafasas into the Dragonpit today. You know what to do next, don't you?"
Viserys nodded. He was well aware of the Varezes family's Dragonpit rules. Wild dragons were no concern, as Vermithor would suppress them, but dragons that had already formed a bond had to be cared for daily by their dragon knight to strengthen the connection between the dragon and the knight.
"That's good." Dragonzel nodded, looking at Igaras, who was not leaning on his knight but still clinging to Sarafasas. He smiled wryly and said in High Valyrian, "Igaras, Sarafasas, come here." The two young dragons froze, both looking at Dragonzel, who had given the command. But when the two young dragons saw Dragonzel's deep purple eyes, they obediently slowly crawled to Dragonzel's side. In front of the silver-haired prince was the abyss of the Dragonpit.
"Go down," Dragonzel said calmly.
Igaras roared a few times at Sarafasas. Viserys could understand the young dragon's meaning. A dragon's roar, combined with its mental link to its knight, could convey simple meanings, but not anything too complex.
For example, Igaras's roar now meant:
"Sapphire, etc. enter first. There are terrifying kin."
After roaring, Igaras resolutely slid down. Sarafasas, like a sapphire, seemed to sigh, covering its face with its dragon wings, then immediately spread its wide wings and jumped down.
"Dragonzel, aren't we going to follow them down?" Viserys asked with some concern.
Dragonzel smiled and shook his head. "There's no need for us to go down." He closed his eyes, informing his old friend Vermithor below that new dragons had arrived and to come and greet them. "The dragons in the Dragonpit will welcome them." Dragonzel smiled and stroked Viserys's head. "Don't think that the relationship between Igaras and Sarafasas is special. In this age of dwindling dragons, every dragon is a precious treasure, especially a dragon species with a unique appearance like Igaras, which holds even more special significance. Our ancestors lost too much knowledge during the Doom."
Indeed, whether it was the Varezes family, whose heritage was relatively complete, or the Targaryen family, whose heritage was strangely broken, there were significant gaps in their knowledge of dragons. Although the Varezes family preserved methods for establishing Dragonpit order and magical techniques for hatching dragon eggs, they had lost knowledge regarding dragon gender and reproduction. Ray's main focus after reacquiring dragons was to research this knowledge.
The close relationship between Vermithor and Silverwing was one area of research, and the interaction between Igaras and Sarafasas was also an important area of research. After all, no one knew why Igaras and Sarafasas exhibited behaviors similar to human courtship.
*Dragonpit.*
In the eyes of the young dragons, the Dragonpit was like a dark labyrinth, vast and oppressive. Besides being unusually spacious, it was not as bright and warm as the dragon-rearing greenhouses in Dragon Nest Tower, but it did have a comfortable feeling.
Igaras cautiously shielded Sarafasas behind him, carefully choosing a direction and slowly crawling forward. The sturdy young dragon moved its body inch by inch. Sarafasas did not completely rely on Igaras's physical defense; it also raised its head, its long "dragon whiskers" slowly floating up, as if these two slender tentacles could sense something.
Igaras slowly crawled. Before it had crawled a few steps, a muffled roar shook the entire Dragonpit. Igaras immediately spread its heavy wings, perfectly shielding Sarafasas behind it. It didn't understand the meaning of the kin's roar just now. But the young dragon knew that whatever it meant, the owner of this sound was someone it couldn't defeat. Igaras cautiously looked around but found no other kin, only a strong scent of kin coming from its nose.
Igaras could only continue crawling slowly with Sarafasas.
What it didn't notice was that from a cave above, a massive dark green dragon head slowly retracted. Inside that cave, Vermax, Shadow Nightmare, and Stormcloud huddled together, secretly taking turns watching Igaras and Sarafasas, who seemed to be embarking on a grand adventure.
"Sapphire, beautiful crystal, sturdy fool."
Vermax roared softly, and Shadow Nightmare and Stormcloud simultaneously let out low, unintelligible roars.
"Front. Singing. And tentacles teach not bronze." Shadow Nightmare roared a few times, then growled lowly at Stormcloud. Stormcloud understood Shadow Nightmare's meaning, nudging Shadow Nightmare's skin, which was harder than Valyrian steel, with its sharp single horn, then turned and crawled towards a passage.
"Roar!"
A sharp sound suddenly came, and a grey shadow suddenly swept over the heads of the two young dragons. Igaras immediately twisted its thick head, and a jet of topaz-colored dragon flame erupted like a long sword, just grazing the dragon shadow, which was larger than both of them combined. The dragon flame landed on the stone wall, actually leaving a mark on the solid black stone.
Zhuohuo, with its large, watery eyes, was actually very reluctant to play the role of intimidating the young dragons that had just entered the Dragonpit. But other dragons weren't suitable. Dawn wasn't much bigger than these two "new dragons"; in fact, in terms of size, it was even a bit smaller than the two young dragons. Dawn was not at all belligerent; after recently laying a clutch of dragon eggs, it wasn't even willing to fly out for a stroll, unlike itself, which, despite laying five more dragon eggs intermittently during this period, was still keen on flying and hunting. And Star Song and Stormcloud were too large, posing a huge threat to such recently hatched young dragons. Only Zhuohuo was more suitable.
Zhuohuo roared at Igaras, dodging another jet of its dragon flame. It could feel that this young dragon's flame, for some reason, was even hotter than its own, posing some threat to them. It could only spray a jet of dragon flame, forcing the two young dragons to scatter in fear. However, it was met by Sarafasas's blue flames. Of course, Sarafasas's dragon flame was not as special as Igaras's and was easily dispersed by a slap from Zhuohuo's tentacles.
"Young. Nest obey bronze or die."
Igaras roared, attempting to take flight, but was instantly entangled by Zhuohuo's dangling tentacles around its wings and neck. These tentacles climbed all over Igaras's body in a peculiarly strange manner, instantly lifting the young dragon.
However, Igaras's weight truly exceeded Zhuohuo's expectations; it almost couldn't lift it at first. Igaras, seeing that it couldn't take flight, instantly panicked. The topaz-colored dragon flame attempted to scorch the tentacles binding it, but those agile tentacles dodged away. Igaras tried to bite the tentacles wrapped around its neck. Unfortunately, its neck was too short to reach.
Zhuohuo looked left and right, ultimately not spewing its gray dragon flame. It scratched Igaras with its sharp claws, which were like eagle talons, but it didn't even scratch it? However, it did make Igaras let out a painful hiss.
Seeing Igaras being bound and carried away by Zhuohuo, Sarafasas frantically circled several times. The sapphire-like young dragon seemed to have decided something. It knew its dragon flame couldn't harm Zhuohuo, but it still resolutely flew up and bit one of the tentacles binding Igaras.
It couldn't bite through.
But Sarafasas surprisingly never let go.
Zhuohuo roared a few times, flying up with the two young dragons. Igaras looked at Sarafasas, who was struggling to bite the tentacles, with gratitude, and surprisingly struggled even more violently.
It wasn't until it saw Sarafasas, somewhat fearfully, give up biting the tentacles and bravely fly in front of Zhuohuo, stopping it from continuing to carry Igaras, that Igaras realized where they had flown.
Vermithor lay in the enormous cave above. Its head alone was larger than these two young dragons, who had only recently hatched. The old dragon stared fiercely at the two young dragons, and Igaras glanced at Sarafasas, struggled for a moment, but still couldn't break free, yet it glared back fiercely.
Silverwing, also enormous in the eyes of the young dragons, poked its head out of the cave above Vermithor, calmly observing the two young dragons.
Then Star Song, Stormcloud, and Dawn slowly crawled out. Shadow Nightmare and Vermax also poked their heads out from a cave on the other side. Dawn looked left and right with some fear, hissing a few times.
"Young. Obey bronze meat. Resist death."
Then it retreated back into its newly built nest.
Each dragon was larger than the two young dragons. Zhuohuo released its tentacles, and Igaras rolled a few times on the ground, then got up and stood in front of Sarafasas, looking at the dragons before them, Vermithor's majesty, and the meat barrels carried by two old Silver Guards.
Sarafasas's two dragon whiskers gently brushed Igaras's head. The sapphire-colored young dragon let out a soft growl. Then it lay down, lowering its head.
"Obey. Crystal safe."
Igaras cautiously surveyed the group of dragons, then slowly mimicked Sarafasas's actions, spreading its wings and lowering its head. However, before lowering its head, the young dragon glared at Zhuohuo.
But Zhuohuo's protruding, almost half-face-sized, watery eyes were simply too prominent. Igaras couldn't tell what Zhuohuo, who was constantly staring with wide eyes, meant. It could only watch as it gracefully flew back to Star Song's side, growling a few sharp and unpleasant roars at Star Song.
And Star Song's response was so melodious that the surrounding dragons relaxed a bit.
Seeing the two young dragons express submission, Vermithor didn't hesitate. It let out a gentle growl, gentle for a dragon. After receiving Vermithor's permission, the two elderly Silver Guards poured the meat barrels onto the ground, allowing the two young dragons to cautiously crawl over. Seeing no movement from the surrounding dragons, they confidently began tearing at the cooked meat.
Vermithor turned to Star Song, who was nearby, and growled a few times.
"Black night sky's song, crystal sapphire. Food responsibility."
Star Song lowered its head and roared at the two young dragons below with a melodious voice. The meaning of this roar was simple: "Follow me."
The two young dragons devoured the cooked meat in front of them at light speed, then exchanged glances. Sarafasas didn't mind, spreading its wings and flying towards where Star Song was. Igaras, still somewhat unconvinced, glared at Zhuohuo next to Star Song, then followed Sarafasas.
Vermithor contentedly retreated into its cave to continue sleeping.
Feeling the message relayed by his old friend, Dragonzel nodded. "We can go back now. Igaras and the others have successfully integrated into the Dragonpit."
Viserys, while calculating when he would visit his dragon each day, followed Dragonzel up the stairs.
King's Landing, Red Keep.
Daemon clutched his stomach, looking at the sighing Archmaester Munkun, and suddenly laughed.
"Grand Maester, please tell me the truth, how much time do I have left?"
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