As magical creatures, every drop of fluid, every strand of muscle, every bone, and even every cluster of nerves in a dragon's body was naturally permeated with faint, semi-free magic. Unfortunately, due to their lack of intelligence, they could not actively use this magic as sorcerers or mages did.
And that meant, aside from maintaining high body temperature and vigorous vitality, and slightly increasing their resistance to magic.
Most of the magic within a dragon's body is a wasted resource.
~ A certain "Dragon Herder" who lived in Valyria thousands of years ago.
This great figure, who held multiple identities such as Dragonrider, dragon scholar, and dragon field administrator, reached this conclusion after long-term research and, following this conclusion, naturally invented a method to "recycle" these wasted resources: the Dragonriding Technique.
Using the impure but vast amount of magic within the dragon's body as energy, the Dragonrider and their dragon were linked together by magic, sharing to a certain extent the emotions, physiological states, and thoughts of both rider and mount.
The invention of this spell not only simplified the act of riding dragons from an "unbelievable miracle" into a "highly challenging but reproducible task," but more importantly, it realized a grand military concept that the rulers of Valyria had long held: overcoming the solitary and aggressive nature of these brutal behemoths, and gathering multiple adult dragons together to carry out a task jointly.
It was the advent of the Dragonriding Technique that gave birth to the Forty Dragonlord families of Valyria, made it possible to defeat the once vast and arrogant Harpy Empire, Ghiscar, and left behind the epic legend of deploying three hundred giant dragons in a single battle to annihilate the Rhoynar civilization.
A thousand years passed, and the great being who created the spell had long since passed away, but his ingenious concept survived because it was recorded in the Dragonriding Technique Tome. It returned to the hands of the last Targaryen Dragonlord with Daenerys's visit to Asshai, and ultimately allowed the fortunate Aegor to benefit, saving him countless dangerous dragonriding practices and letting him directly enjoy the most advanced technological assistance of the Valyrian Freehold.
Aegor did not learn that this Dragonriding Technique was a "ritual," not a "sense of ritual," but a "magic ritual," until he stood before Rhaegal again, after listening to Daenerys relay the spell to the Red Priestess Kinvara and instruct her on the precautions.
Unexpectedly, yet reasonably, this spell had a strong flavor of blood magic. First, a magic circle was drawn on the dragon's head with magic paint, and magic power was poured in to activate it... Then Aegor was asked to provide a small amount of blood to be dripped into it. There were no dazzling spell effects. In a wisp of faint green smoke, the blood he dripped onto the dragon's scales and the paint forming the magic circle pattern were simultaneously evaporated, or perhaps absorbed, and then a mass of information that was neither overly complex nor intense suddenly slipped into his mind.
...
The comfort of being in the pleasant warm breeze of early spring, the satisfaction of being full, rested, and well-fed, a faint attachment to "Mother" Daenerys, a trace of weary vigilance toward another slightly larger black kin not far away that it was familiar with... and awe and submission toward the person in black standing before its head, or more accurately, toward the powerful aura emanating from Aegor.
Aegor immediately realized that this was Rhaegal, the perspective and thoughts of Rhaegal, who was about to become his mount. With a slight focus, he felt as if he could even taste the metallic tang of cattle and sheep blood in Rhaegal's mouth.
According to Daenerys's description, he could now also use this simple mental link to convey commands to Rhaegal that were within its scope of understanding.
No wonder Dragonriders were so powerful.
Aegor felt a sense of awe in his heart.
This "Dragonriding Technique" should actually be called "Man-Dragon Unity," because with its existence, theoretically, a Dragonrider could be safer than even the most skilled pilot. After all, when a pilot boarded a plane, the plane would not tell him how it was feeling that day, what condition it was in, or whether there were any malfunctions. And this "controlled by thought" man-dragon interaction was far more subtle and advanced than any other method of control.
The only drawback was probably.
Aegor shook his head, learning with regret from Daenerys that this spell link, unless a separate ritual was held to break it, would last until either the person or the dragon died. While it was greatly helpful for dragonriding, would it truly not cause the recipient to suffer from a split mind?
Could this spell have played a role in Daenerys becoming the Mad Queen in the original storyline?
So far, the spell's interference with his thoughts was not yet obvious. Aegor told Rhaegal in his mind to lie still and not move around, then climbed onto its back. With the help of the soldiers, he secured a saddle and cushion onto the dragon's spinal plates, settled himself, fastened the "seatbelt," and prepared to begin the first formal flight of his life.
Its verdigris-colored wings spread wide, flapping and making a dull sound like canvas striking the air. Rhaegal's two legs also pushed off the ground at the same time, and with a strong force that made Aegor dizzy... no, it should be called a force pushing him into the seat, the grassy Reach plain was suddenly left far below.
Aegor saw the faces of countless onlookers craning their necks to watch his test flight, and saw Daenerys, clad in white, also mount Drogon's back.
The two dragons left the ground one after another and flew into the air, heading toward Highgarden not far away. They skimmed over the city walls at a vertical distance of less than a hundred meters, causing the flags to flutter, and then began to circle the castle's ring wall.
This was a very dangerous altitude. Not to mention dragon-hunting ballistae, even ordinary longbows could reach them. But the two Dragonriders were not worried, because the castle had been taken over by the Western Expeditionary Army, and the anti-air weapons originally placed on the city walls had been completely dismantled, replaced by soldiers filling the tops of the walls and towers, cheering enthusiastically at them.
Rhaegal roared, and Drogon answered with a deeper bellow. After chasing and circling each other like lovers at a harvest dance for two rounds, the two dragons increased the strength of their wingbeats and climbed higher. The majestic, towering castle of Highgarden quickly became a white target made of three concentric circles beneath them. Around this white circle were team after team of small black dots moving in every direction like ants. Aegor knew those were messengers and negotiation teams, responsible for conveying the news of House Tyrell's surrender throughout the Reach and, on behalf of Daenerys, "inviting" the lords to stay briefly in King's Landing.
Among these countless teams heading in every direction, several were composed entirely of cavalry, responsible for pursuing the remnants of the Golden Company and the Highgarden Guard who had fled south, persuading them to surrender, and bringing them back before Daenerys. And among them, there was one team personally selected by Aegor, tasked with a sinister mission that even Daenerys was completely unaware of, one that could affect all of Westeros.
(To be continued.)