Pain!
Burning pain!
A searing pain, like a blade scraping against bone!
Beads of sweat the size of peas formed on Daenerys's forehead, and she nearly cried out, instinctively wanting to snatch her hand away.
But she suppressed that primal impulse, her palm continuously clenching and unclenching around the elusive flame. Her motor nerves and muscles remained unharmed, and her slender, pale fingers didn't char like roasted chicken feet, dripping with grease.
She had succeeded.
She had successfully inherited her predecessor's gift—The Unburnt.
"Fire is power," Daenerys murmured, enduring the searing pain.
Now she could continue with her plan.
The original Daenerys had always known she had a high tolerance for heat, but she had never dared to burn herself with fire—the dragon egg incident had been an act of desperation, with no other choice. Although her body resisted the flames, she still felt the same searing pain as anyone else.
"I am not afraid of pain," the current Dany told herself.
She buried her hand in the glowing red embers, as if roasting a sweet potato, muttering "I am not afraid of pain" over and over, hoping to hypnotize herself like counting sheep.
Sweat soaked her hair, dripping onto the pillow and blanket.
After dozing fitfully for half the night, she licked her parched lips, withdrew her 'char-grilled jade hand,' and nudged Eli, who lay sprawled on the bed like a dead pig. The blanket had been spread on the floor near the campfire, and Eli, too hot, had unconsciously rolled away from the flames.
"Khaleesi?" Eli, though deeply asleep, woke quickly—a promising quality for a handmaiden.
"Bring me some water," Dany croaked.
"To the river?" Eli hesitated.
Dany paused, then realized. Dothraki rarely stored water and seldom drank it raw. Tea was unheard of. "Never mind. Bring me two bags of mare's milk instead."
The Dothraki rarely drank water. Nomadic as they were, they lacked fixed, safe water sources, and drinking raw water was a life-threatening gamble. When possible, they preferred to quench their thirst with milk and fermented mare's milk.
In medieval Europe, before tea was known, nobles often used low-alcohol wine to quench their thirst, as raw water was contaminated with bacteria.
For the Dothraki, mare's milk was no more precious than safe, raw water.
(Author's note: In Western countries, supermarket milk is often cheaper than bottled water.)
After guzzling nearly a liter of the pungent mare's milk, Daenerys felt reborn, utterly refreshed.
"Eli, add a few more bundles of firewood," Dany said, lying on her pillow and pointing to the pile in the corner.
"Khaleesi, your hair is soaked with sweat. Isn't it too hot?" Eli hesitated.
"It's fine. Sweating feels good," she waved her hand.
Watching the flames begin to lick at the tower of firewood, Dany felt a surge of generosity. She gave Eli a blanket, telling her to find a more comfortable place to make her bed.
Once Eli was fast asleep, Dany stretched out on the wool blanket, propping her slender, pale feet directly against the pile of wood.
At first, the flames hissed against her skin, but she soon drifted off to sleep in a daze.
In her dream, Daenerys found herself in a strange place. Four pillars of fire stood around her, and the world was an ocean of flames. She wandered through it, experiencing both pain and exhilaration. After an unknown length of time, a black shadow loomed over the sky above her.
When she looked up, she was stunned.
A massive dragon with scales like obsidian glared down at her, its eyes like pools of molten lava. Its form was colossal: a mountain-like head, eyes the size of swimming pools, and wings so vast they blotted out the sun.
Unlike her predecessor, who passively accepted the Dragon Dream, this Dany felt an unsettling unease about the dragon eggs. More mature and purpose-driven, she placed the eggs against her skin and continuously roasted herself with flames. This served two goals: tempering her resistance to fire and, more importantly, achieving soul resonance with the dragons.
She wanted to be—she *had* to be—the Dragon Mother!
In this godforsaken world, survival without dragons was nearly impossible.
After a brief moment of shock, she threw her arms open in an embrace, shamelessly shouting, "Are you the Black Dragon? I'm your mother! Remember me, contact me daily, and tell me all the benefits I don't know about! Oh, and where are your siblings? The White Dragon and the Green Dragon?"
*Boom—*
The Black Dragon opened its cavernous maw, and a torrent of blood-red flames, laced with thick black smoke, erupted, completely engulfing Dany below. She felt her skin char and blacken, necrotic flesh peeling away in chunks as the blood in her veins boiled and evaporated. Yet, unlike the agony of burning herself with firewood, there was no pain, only a sense of purification and tempering.
She felt her body grow strong and solid, as if reborn.
At the same time, inexplicable information flooded her mind, concerning the Mother of Dragons' innate abilities. There were roughly three key points:
1. **The Unburnt**: Ordinary flames might cause varying degrees of burning pain, but fire was the Mother of Dragons' companion. It would not harm her body.
2. **Dragon Hatching**: By infusing dragon eggs with both flame and spirit essence, she could hatch young dragons from fossilized eggs that retained their soul's core, from dead dragon eggs, and even from healthy dragon eggs.
3. **Dragon Dream**: The Mother of Dragons and her dragons were two halves of a whole. Their souls could merge seamlessly, and during unconsciousness (like sleep), she could resonate with her dragons on a soul level. (Author's Note: This is a ps)
"Only now have I become the complete Daenerys Targaryen," she murmured, her voice thick with emotion, before drifting into a dazed sleep.
The next morning, she was jolted awake by Eli's panicked cry.
"Khaleesi! Khaleesi! Are you alright? It's all my fault—I slept too soundly last night and didn't hear you calling for help... *wail*..."
The horse girl burst into tears at the sight of Daenerys' legs buried in the charcoal embers.
"Uh..." Dany blinked dazedly for a moment before fully waking. She quickly lifted her legs and presented them to the young woman.
Her fair, tender skin, though blackened by the soot of the fire, remained soft, bouncy, and plump.
"What happened?" Eli asked in horror.
"I am Daenerys Targaryen, born of the storm, with the blood of a True Dragon," Dany replied with a serious expression.
"But your brother..." Eli pouted, referring to Viserys, the 'True Dragon' who had been burned to death by molten gold.
"You'll understand one day. Now, help me change my clothes."
___
(Author's Note: I couldn't fit this into the main text. Since this is a public chapter and free, I won't create a separate post. If the story enters the paid section, I won't include author's notes in the main text. Thank you for your understanding.
Regarding Dany's Mother of Dragons abilities, they aren't overly exaggerated. They are primarily based on the compilation and speculation from the original A Song of Ice and Fire novels. The dragon-hatching skill, however, is partly my personal conjecture.
As for The Unburnt, let's not even mention it. Dany spent a whole night in the fire without a scratch. During the Meereenese turmoil, she was even splashed in the face by Drogon's dragonflame, which only resulted in a minor blister.
Dragonflame is far more potent than wildfire!
According to Martin's settings: In the pyromancer's tongue, earthfire, dragonflame, and skyfire (the sun) are superior to wildfire.
As for dragon-hatching, I'll explain it when Dany hatches dragons in the book. Finally, there's the Dragon Dream.
Similar to the Stark family's Wolf Dream, Daenerys's Dragon Dream has manifested many times. However, she remains ignorant and passively accepts it. Though the Dragon Dream has aided her numerous times, she has never actively tried to develop this skill.
According to Bran's awakening process as the Green Prophet, Warg, Wolf Spirit, and Wolf Dream are all abilities that can be independently developed and gradually mastered.
Indeed, both Bran and Jon can use Wolf Dream to probe the conditions of their siblings across vast distances. Jon's Wolf Spirit talent even makes the Sixskins Varamyr wary. The pity is that he neither develops it nor takes it seriously, even deliberately suppressing his instincts.
How powerful is the Sixskins Varamyr?
He can possess a human while near death.
Yes, possession. He's utterly badass.
Jon's talent surpasses Varamyr's.
Aside from Bran, Jon and Arya Stark, who awakened their Wolf Spirits, have never actively developed their skills, just like Daenerys. This is partly because no one taught them. Bran was lucky to have encountered two such teachers, Qyburn and the Green Prophet, in succession.
By the way, Rickon Stark, being young, fearless, and perhaps having a more innocent child's mind, seems to have been constantly trying to merge with his direwolf. His Wolf Spirit and Wolf Dream skills are actually more mature and powerful than those of his older siblings.
In summary, though the struggling author has given Daenerys a cheat, making her undoubtedly stronger than in the original story, her power remains rooted in the lore. She won't be unreasonably elevated, nor will she surpass the limits of the world's power system.