"Daenys, could you stop pinching me?" Aegon said in a hushed voice.
Daenys turned and gave him a playful glare, blushing slightly as she thought, But you're the one who's been rubbing against me nonstop.
Dreamshade soared through the sky at incredible speed.
It streaked like a flash of shadowlight, cutting through the clouds above. Beneath them, twisting canyons, like a sprawling maze, blurred past in a rush.
During the flight, Aegon noticed many dragonriders making their way on foot. He also saw a few Dragon Knights in the sky, but their dragons were far slower than Dreamshade. To put it plainly, if those dragons were like lumbering dump trucks, then Dreamshade was a roaring supercar.
At that moment, Daenys, seated on Dreamshade's back, struggled against the whipping wind to pull out a map of the Dragonpit. She carefully compared the landmarks marked on the map to the terrain below.
After checking several times, she gently patted Dreamshade's back and shouted, "Slow down, Dreamshade. We're almost there."
In response, Dreamshade let out a loud, clear cry—"Lreehh!"
It stopped beating its wings so forcefully, stretching out its body to glide forward, riding the momentum of its earlier flight.
Up ahead lay the Blazing Breath Ridge.
One of Blazing Breath Ridge's subsidiary peaks was an active volcano. On the side of the peak, a magma-formed chasm carved into the mountainside radiated intense heat, its surroundings bathed in molten glow. Because of the extreme temperature, this place had been named the Abyss of Flames.
The Abyss stood out prominently, making it easy to locate.
They circled beneath Blazing Breath Ridge for a while before eventually flying above the Abyss of Flames. Even while still in the air, Aegon could clearly feel the waves of hot air rising steadily from below.
Dreamshade hardly needed to flap its wings to stay aloft—it easily glided on the rising thermal currents.
Before long, they located the Dragonpit of the Mother of Dragons.
Rather than being hidden inside a cave, the Mother of Dragons' lair lay exposed atop a stretch of black rock.
Surrounding the lair was a slowly moving stream of lava. The scorching flow emitted intense heat that could make one's blood run cold.
A black-and-red dragon of imposing stature sprawled across the nest. Its massive coiled body stretched over fifty meters, appearing from a distance like a towering red hill.
Its skull was rugged and sharply contoured, with bold, defined lines. The hard bone structure was overlaid with tightly packed keratinous scales. Above its eye sockets, jagged spines jutted out like blades, giving it a vicious, menacing appearance.
The dragon seemed to be at rest, though small sparks occasionally puffed from its nostrils.
If Dreamshade was like a slender young maiden, then the Mother of Dragons was a hulking interstellar warrior in full armor—complete opposites in both size and form.
At that moment, Dreamshade appeared slightly unsettled. It turned its head and looked back at Daenys, clearly aware of the powerful aura radiating from the massive dragon below.
"Should we go down now?" Daenys asked Aegon.
"Wait. Let Dreamshade mask its presence first. Let's scout the area a bit more—I want to see if anything's off," Aegon replied as he activated his chip's infrared vision.
He couldn't afford to be careless. The information about this dragon's location had come from a formerly hostile house—there was always the risk of a hidden trap.
Daenys tugged on the reins and guided Dreamshade to slowly circle around the Dragonpit below.
But the heat in the area was so intense that the infrared imaging was distorted. Even after making a full circuit, they found nothing of value.
After thinking for a moment, Aegon made up his mind.
"Let's go down," he said to Daenys.
They descended to a spot about two hundred meters outside the Mother of Dragons' lair. The terrain here was a steep slope—perfect for a quick retreat. If Aegon jumped down from the hill, he could try to draw the dragon's attention, giving Dreamshade a chance to intervene.
The sound of Dreamshade landing startled the red dragon in the nest. Its huge eyes snapped open and locked onto Dreamshade, but it didn't move.
"Good. It's not completely mad," Aegon said quietly. "If it had attacked the moment we landed, we would've had to abandon the mission."
He stood up, gripped the rope ladder firmly, and added, "If I'm in danger, have Dreamshade grab me and get out fast. Judging by this dragon's size, it doesn't look particularly agile."
Daenys reached out and gently cupped Aegon's cheek.
"Be careful. Please."
Aegon slowly climbed down the rope ladder to the ground and began walking toward the Mother of Dragons.
When he was still about a hundred meters away, the dragon's mouth curled open slightly, and a low, rumbling growl filled with menace came from its throat.
"Roar!~~"
Aegon listened to the roar and couldn't help breaking into a cold sweat.
This dragon was even more alert than Balerion, and far more hostile toward strangers. It truly lived up to its reputation as the most dangerous of the untamed dragons.
He immediately stopped in his tracks and spoke softly in High Valyrian to soothe it. "Easy now, big one. Look what I brought for you."
Aegon slowly raised his hand, revealing a blood orchid, and gently waved it in front of the Mother of Dragons.
Her attention was instantly drawn to the magical plant in Aegon's hand. She stepped out of the lair, her massive feet landing in the magma beyond the nest as if she couldn't feel the heat at all. Aegon took note, thinking to himself that the outer layer of her horned armor must be unbelievably thick.
Everything seemed to be going exactly as Aegon had planned.
This nearly king-level adult red dragon was gradually approaching him under the lure of the blood orchid. Soon, he would be able to climb onto her back and establish a spiritual link.
But then—everything went wrong.
Just as the Mother of Dragons approached, closing the distance to about thirty meters...
Suddenly, a sharp twang of a bowstring shattered the fragile peace.
From a hidden alcove along the cliffside, an arrow shot out, screaming through the air toward the slightly open mouth of the Mother of Dragons.
Thud~ A dull impact rang out as the arrow struck the soft inner wall of her mouth.
"Roar!~"
A deafening roar tore through the air.
The dragon thrashed her truck-sized head wildly, stuck out her enormous tongue, and rolled the arrow out. Her slit-pupiled eyes turned blood-red as she glared furiously at Aegon.
Aegon turned in stunned fury toward the cliff wall. There, behind a cluster of rocks, two Dragonkeepers stood. They were spinning their longbows in their hands with smug, mocking smiles, waving as if greeting him.
"Shit!!" Aegon cursed aloud.
A tremendous vibration surged through the ground like a crashing wave. The Mother of Dragons charged forward like an out-of-control jumbo jet, bearing down on Aegon with unstoppable force. Faced with such a colossal beast, a human had almost no way to escape. The overwhelming pressure felt like a mountain was toppling toward him, filling him with despair.
At that moment, dragon taming was the last thing on Aegon's mind. Only one thought remained: survive!
He dashed toward the nearby slope and, using every ounce of strength, hurled the blood orchid down the hill.
Then he turned and sprinted in the opposite direction with all his might.
The dragon saw what he did. Though she hesitated for a moment, her desire for the blood orchid ultimately won out. Without pause, she thrust her head toward the bottom of the slope. As she turned sideways, her thick, muscular tail swung like a giant battering ram, sweeping toward Aegon with terrifying force.
Without thinking, Aegon dove flat onto the ground.
The massive tail whooshed past him, missing by only a few feet. The gust it stirred up sent rocks and dust flying, pelting his back like a hailstorm, each strike stinging with pain.
Barely surviving the near-death blow, Aegon wasted no time. He scrambled to his feet, using both hands and feet.
By then, the dragon, carried forward by the momentum of her charge, had slid down the hillside. Only her long tail remained swinging above the slope.
At that critical moment, Dreamshade's sharp cry rang out.
"Lreehh!"
Under Daenys' command, Dreamshade dove like lightning into the low airspace, her talons stretched wide. With precise timing, she scooped Aegon up. He felt himself suddenly go weightless, then found himself clutched tightly in her claws. With a powerful beat of her wings, Dreamshade soared into the sky, pulling him out of danger in an instant.
"Roar!" The Mother of Dragons had just swallowed the blood orchid when she realized her "snack" had been stolen by another dragon. Furious, she let out an earth-shaking roar aimed at Dreamshade.
She staggered to her feet at the base of the hill, then began a clumsy charge, like an enormous goose, flapping her colossal wings with great effort. Each flap kicked up a storm of dust and debris, sending it swirling in all directions.
It took her more than thirty meters of running before she finally managed to lift off the ground.
Dangling upside down from Dreamshade's claws, Aegon watched her awkward ascent and silently estimated: if it weren't for the hot, buoyant air in the Flaming Abyss, she would have needed an even longer run-up to take off.
By the time the Mother of Dragons managed to climb higher into the sky, Dreamshade had already carried Aegon well beyond the bounds of the Abyss. The difference in their flight speeds was staggering.
"Roar! Roar!"
She could only watch helplessly as Dreamshade vanished into the distance, roaring furiously in frustration. Even after Dreamshade's silhouette had long disappeared into the horizon, the Mother of Dragons hovered in the sky, unwilling to give up, before finally turning back toward her nest in bitter resignation.
...
Dreamshade soared over a small river.
She gently released Aegon into the water before descending slowly to land by the riverbank.
Daenys slid down from Dreamshade's wing and rushed to the river's edge, her face full of panic.
"Aegon! Are you alright?" she shouted.
There was no response from the water.
Daenys, desperate, was just about to jump in when suddenly, a hand shot up and grabbed her ankle.
"Ah!"
With a splash, Daenys fell straight into the river.
Fortunately, the river wasn't deep—its waters barely reached Aegon's waist.
Annoyed, Daenys gave Aegon a thump on the chest, frowning as she scolded him. "Still fooling around at a time like this? Honestly!"
Aegon gave an awkward chuckle, then let out a sigh.
He had come so close to succeeding. If not for that damn Dragonkeeper, whose arrow had struck the Mother of Dragons and sent her into a frenzy, everything would've gone according to plan. Thankfully, he'd reacted quickly and thrown the blood orchid in time, or he might not have made it out alive.
The two of them climbed up the riverbank, soaked from head to toe.
"Guess you've given up now, haven't you," Daenys said, peeling off her drenched clothes and hanging them over Dreamshade's horns to dry.
"No way. If that Dragonkeeper hadn't interfered, I definitely would've succeeded," Aegon replied, shaking his head. As he spoke, he slowly opened his hand—another blood orchid appeared in his palm.
Daenys gave him a sideways glance, surprised by the sudden appearance of yet another magical plant, and couldn't help asking, "Just how many of those magic plants do you have?"
Aegon smiled but didn't answer.
"It's pointless to try again," Daenys said, not hiding her skepticism. "Those Dragonkeepers are watching the place. The moment you try to tame her again, they'll just shoot another arrow and ruin it."
She stepped over to help him take off his wet clothes. "House Aurélion might've used this trick to mess with plenty of dragonriders."
"Then we take care of the Dragonkeepers first."
The daytime heat was too intense, so Aegon decided to wait until nightfall to search using the chip's infrared vision. After all, human body heat still differed subtly from the earth's geothermal emissions. Now that they had a rough idea of where the Dragonkeepers were hiding, it should be possible to find and eliminate them.
"Tonight, we hunt the Dragonkeepers. I'll gather the people."
"Alright."
...
Night fell.
The two mounted Dreamshade once again and sped toward the Abyss of Flames.
But before they could begin their search along the cliffs for the hidden Dragonkeepers, a howl from the Mother of Dragons in her nest drew their attention.
Concealed by the night, Dreamshade's camouflage scales worked to their fullest, allowing them to quietly approach the airspace above the dragon's nest.
Below them, the massive body of the Mother of Dragons was writhing violently. Her dark red scales, as hard as iron, clashed and scraped against each other, producing a sharp, spine-tingling rasp. The once fire-bright glow in her eyes had vanished—now replaced by a wild, vacant madness. Her pupils contracted and dilated repeatedly, as if possessed by something demonic.
Her roars had lost their commanding strength. What now echoed through the night was a helpless, tormented wail that chilled the blood.
Her claws tore furiously at the ground, carving deep trenches into the rock as shards flew in all directions. It was as if an invisible force had gripped her very soul and was ripping it apart. Her thick tail lashed out in panic, smashing everything in its path.
"What the hell is going on?" Aegon muttered.
Daenys watched the dragon's bizarre behavior and guessed, "Maybe she ate something bad?"