"It won't be long before they'll need calves or foals," Daenerys said, watching the scene before her. The dragons stirred the air like a storm. The three wild goats from the Stormlands had been released, then hunted down with terrifying precision. The dragons brought Fire and Blood.
"They will, once they've grown large enough for us to ride." Gendry held Daenerys's hand firmly.
A dragon could eat several times its own body weight in a single day. Whether dragons were simply meant to eat this much, or whether the magical tide had strengthened them too greatly, they were growing at astonishing speed.
Still, Gendry thought that in the green lands, dragons would mostly feed on cattle, sheep, horses, pigs, and the like. On the battlefield, they would occasionally burn men and eat them too. If they went north, there would be larger beasts, such as mammoths and Direwolves. In the sea, there were great fish, even Kraken, and those might make even larger meals.
"We need to spend time with them," Gendry told Daenerys. Dragons had to be trained early. It was normal for young dragons to fight, but they could not be allowed to lash out at will. Just like hounds, if they were not properly handled, they would bite people, or in this case, burn them. "Dragons are still dragons. Their wildness is hard to tame. If we leave them to themselves, the three of them will become utterly unruly."
"Mm. They're like our children," Daenerys said with a nod. These dragons had been born from Fire and Blood, just like their children.
Gendry knew a great deal about dragons. Sometimes Daenerys felt he was the one who seemed more like a Dragonlord.
"Balerion," Gendry called.
Every dragon possessed high intelligence. They could understand when someone called their name.
The black dragon had already caught the familiar scent. He abandoned the dead sheep's carcass and immediately flew happily to the black-haired Gendry's side. Balerion let out a thunderous dragon cry. A dragon's roar could send a hundred lions fleeing for their lives, let alone horses and sheep. The goats that had not yet been released scrambled madly inside their cages, terrified out of their wits.
The black dragon was now the size of a foal, though of course he was lighter than an ordinary foal of the same size. A dragon's body was built differently from common animals.
Balerion planted one foot on Gendry's head and the other on his shoulder, then curled his tail around Gendry's arm. He was like a mass of black-red flame, carrying the faint stink of sulfur and smoke. A dragon's scales were almost too hot to touch, like armor left under the blazing sun. A dragon's flesh and blood were made of Fire and Blood.
Balerion noticed the Firebinder ring on Gendry's hand. The ring was like a warm source of flame, and Balerion could not help circling near it for a short while.
"All right, good lad." Gendry touched Balerion's body and rubbed his distinctive red horn. "Go eat."
The green dragon Vhagar and the white dragon Viserion also flew over. Both were smaller than Balerion.
Only after the black dragon left did they come near. The two dragons circled Daenerys and Gendry joyfully. A dragon's sex was difficult to tell, but Gendry was certain the black dragon was male. The green dragon might be female, while the white dragon was harder to say. There was no way to tell by appearance alone. One could only see whether they laid eggs.
"You need to behave too. Don't be fooled so easily." Gendry stroked the white dragon's head. Viserion looked at Gendry with eyes like two pools of molten gold, studying the familiar face of his master. The white dragon had a kind of clear, innocent foolishness about him.
Viserion was special among the three dragons. The black dragon was bonded to Gendry, and the green dragon was bonded to Daenerys. The white dragon followed them as well and was deeply attached to both of them.
But the white dragon's will was weaker, and he was also the weakest of the three. If someone with dragon blood appeared, such as Brown Ben, he would likely take a liking to them. Let alone the "Dragonbinder" horn that might appear in the future. Gendry felt the white dragon was the one most likely to be lured away. He planned to train the white dragon the same way he trained his servants. Group attacks were always effective. When dragon battles came, Viserion could hide and strike from ambush, which would be safer.
Gendry felt that this small problem was not difficult to solve. Compared to Dragonbinder, he now possessed the corresponding Firebinder. If, in the future, he obtained binding spells and a dragon horn as well, then with the power of a Pyromancer, breaking Dragonbinder's control would not be impossible.
"Vhagar! Viserion! You two go eat as well," Gendry said, letting the white dragon on his arm take flight. Daenerys also stroked the green dragon affectionately.
All the dragons rose happily into the air, smoke rising from their nostrils. Balerion had already begun enjoying his meal where he stood. The air was filled with thick smoke and the smell of scorched wool. Balerion swallowed the charred meat in great bites, his teeth like gleaming black daggers as they cut through the mutton.
All three dragons were feeding. After they finished one sheep, more goats were released. But these wild goats, cowed by the dragons' presence, were much weaker now and had no strength left to resist or run. The courtyard air was thick with the stench of roasted wool and sulfur, the foul smell dragons brought with them.
Daenerys ran among the dragons, watching these joyful children. Before long, soaring through the blue sky would no longer be a fantasy. She would be able to follow Gendry into every great war.
"Has Maester Marwyn, the one you mentioned, still not come?" Gendry asked Qyburn.
The old Maester Qyburn wore a simple gray robe and answered with certainty. "He will come, Prince. In the Citadel, only a handful of men are so deeply learned in magic and the path of the future. And those who know this path tread on thin ice within the Citadel. The maesters despise magic, because the Citadel wants to build a world without dragons or magic. Oddities like Marwyn and myself are not welcome, nor are we trusted. Marwyn even calls the other maesters 'gray sheep.'"
"The Red Comet shines, and the dragons are quietly returning. Do they still mean to pretend not to see?"
"Perhaps they have already noticed. If the Citadel is weak for now, they will endure and keep a low profile. Only those devoted to the path of science control the Citadel's core. They are stubborn and cowardly, but they hold the greatest amount of knowledge. They will wait until the Dragonlord is vulnerable," Qyburn replied. "I suspect that beyond the knowledge we usually know of, there is a hidden library inside the Citadel. The knowledge within cannot be accessed by those they do not trust. There have been Targaryen maesters before, and many strange maesters have dabbled in magic. But they were never allowed to truly enter that circle. They were assigned to idle corners and isolated under all sorts of excuses."
"Then I'll have to play with them for a while." Gendry thought for a moment. Maesters understood herbs, so naturally they also understood poisons. Maesters wrote books and letters, so naturally they could play with words. After all, many lords of Westeros were rough men who only cared for swords and blades.
If so, perhaps only swords and fire would let him see the true face beneath the Citadel's refined exterior. Whoever wanted to harm his dragons would pay with their life.
"And there is Crow's Eye, whom you mentioned to me before," Qyburn continued. "Two years ago, Euron was exiled by his elder brother, King Balon, for sleeping with the salt-wife of his younger brother Victarion. Balon ordered that Euron was not to return to the Iron Islands unless Balon himself died. He also has his own ship, Silence, but few know his whereabouts. It is as if he vanished."
"Perhaps he is simply too vicious," Gendry said. "Where Crow's Eye passes, he leaves almost no survivors. It's possible that, like the red priests, he sacrifices flesh and blood in exchange for favorable winds and smooth seas. His ship may have sailed even farther, from Ibben to Asshai, which is why no one knows his trail."
Qyburn nodded. "I will continue investigating it."
"Have you found the dragons in stone on Dragonstone?" Gendry asked Maester Qyburn.
"No." Qyburn shook his head lightly. "There are thousands upon thousands of gargoyles, and dragon imagery is everywhere. Rooms, stairs, furniture, windows, chimneys, privies. Dragons are everywhere. But stone, after all, has no life. My guess is that even if such a possibility exists, a stone dragon would be a stone beast awakened through blood and life sacrifice. But stone monsters are dead things. They cannot contend with true dragons."
"Dragons in stone. When the Long Night comes and the stars bleed, Azor Ahai shall be reborn amid smoke and salt, and wake dragons from stone." Gendry chewed over these legends and theories.
"And the Prince That Was Promised is born amid salt and smoke, beneath a bleeding star." Azor Ahai and the Prince That Was Promised were two legends, slightly different but broadly alike. These prophecies had misled generation after generation.
The Silver Prince Rhaegar Targaryen had been poisoned by the prophecy of the Prince That Was Promised. A woods witch who came to court with Jenny of Oldstones told Rhaegar's grandfather Jaehaerys II that the Prince That Was Promised would come from the line of Aerys and Rhaella. Because of that, he arranged their marriage, and Rhaegar was born. The smoke came from the great fire of Summerhall, and the salt came from the tears shed for the dead. Some believed Rhaegar was the Prince That Was Promised. Perhaps Rhaegar himself believed it too. He had once read ancient scrolls and afterward vowed to become a warrior. Later, however, Rhaegar came to believe that the savior was his son Aegon.
Melisandre's theory was also flawed. The Stannis she followed was certainly wrong. If the place of smoke and salt referred to the scene of injury, then the original "Child of Ice and Fire," Jon Snow, would be reborn there and wake dragons from stone. In that case, the dragons in stone would not be on Dragonstone, but near The Wall. Yet the red priestess believed she had not been too far off, because the appearance of the "undecided one" had made the prophecy vague and distorted. The Storm's power was too strong and had interfered with the fate of the future.
"Legends like this are told across more than half the known world. The Long Night is endless, and a hero appears to end it. According to the legends of Asshai and the followers of the Red God, Azor Ahai possessed a burning sword, Lightbringer. There is a similar legend in the North of Westeros, but there it is the Last Hero," Qyburn said quietly.
"The red priests in Volantis cheer for you, saying the Storm was born amid smoke and salt and will reshape the world in the future. You are Azor Ahai reborn, who will defeat the darkness and bring an endless long summer. Even death itself will bow before you, and those who bleed and sacrifice themselves for your cause shall be reborn. Meanwhile, the Lord Governor of Volantis who opposed you had cast himself into darkness and was a servant of the Long Night."
"The Red Temple's propaganda is a double-edged sword. It can help me, and it can harm me. As for the power of prophecy, it can add to my sanctity." Gendry spoke cautiously. That was precisely why he had hurriedly left the other red priest, Moqorro, in King's Landing. The red priestesses would keep watch over this colleague, while Volantis currently felt somewhat beyond reach.
"It will prove useful eventually. R'hllor has great influence on the eastern continent. If the Red Temple cheers for you, then Pentos and Volantis will tremble," Qyburn said. "And after the crushing defeat at the Blackwater Rush, the people's hearts have been shaken. The whole world is in turmoil."
"In any case, the Red Comet is very likely the bleeding sword, so the dragons in stone may also appear," Gendry told Qyburn. "Aside from Oldtown and the Iron Islands, we must also consider The Wall." If king's blood or some other sacrifice could summon dragons, then those were all places Gendry was watching carefully.
Gendry had dragons, but there were at least several kinds of strange creatures in the world that could stand against dragons: stone dragons, ice dragons, Kraken, and the evil things in the ruins of Valyria. Strictly speaking, Direwolves were also supernatural creatures, only somewhat too weak.
Celestial signs corresponded to the appearance of dragons. It was only natural that enemies would seek to steal dragons. After all, dragons were what they lacked, not dragon blood. Distant descendants of dragon blood still existed.
Or perhaps they would seek other creatures to oppose dragons, such as that terrifying Kraken connected to Crow's Eye. One black eye and ten long arms, racing across a sea of blood.
"As you command, Prince." Qyburn nodded. Wherever the threat might be, they would discover it, guard against it, and then destroy it.
"I don't need a savior. I am the savior." Gendry watched the dragons dance. The race for power, the race to be the savior, the race to be the Dragonlord. There should never have been any other competitors in the first place.