ebookslot Chapter 9 Thinking of
Chapter 9 Thinking of
The reeds swallowed up Will and Shadowflame's figures, also isolating them from the frozen horror and bewilderment behind them.
Will walked quite a distance and, after confirming that no one was following him, stopped at a shallow bay surrounded by several huge rocks.
He put Shadowflame down, and Little Dragon immediately shook off the few dry leaves clinging to its body. Then it pounced on a small fish that was startled and darting away in the shallow water. Its movements were swift and precise, and it quickly carried its prey back to Will's feet, where it devoured it with relish, as if the warning breath and the tense standoff that had just occurred were merely insignificant interludes.
Will sat down with his back against a rock smoothed by the water, his heart still pounding irregularly in his chest.
It wasn't fear, but rather surprise and a subtle, indescribable flutter in my heart.
The Targaryen siblings.
The future Daenerys Targaryen, and the "Beggar King" who died in madness.
To meet at this time, in this place, and in this way is truly unexpected.
Shadowflame...
The reaction just now was also quite unusual.
It seemed to have a strange, non-hostile interest in the silver-haired girl, Daenerys.
Will shook his head, temporarily suppressing these chaotic thoughts.
Now is not the time to delve into it.
What he needs to consider is what consequences this unexpected encounter will bring.
Viserys was terrified and probably wouldn't dare to chase after us anytime soon, but given his personality, would he hold a grudge or leak the information?
Daenerys... the way she looked at Shadowflame...
Contract Dragon: Shadowflame.
Status: Growing larva.
Satiety level: 78% (while eating).
Body length: approximately 0.56 meters.
Weight: Approximately 4.3 kg.
Growth stage: Hatchling stage.
Abilities: Basic Flame Breath (Hatchling level, power and control increased), Weak Dragon Might (enhanced), Scale Armor Defense, Sharp Claws and Fangs, Hatchling Wings (initial deployment).
Intimacy level: 46/100.
The intimacy level has increased a little more.
Shadowflame nudged the half-eaten fish tail towards Will with his nose, his dark gold vertical pupils looking at him as if urging him to eat some too.
Will picked up the half of the fish tail; it was cold and slippery.
He ate slowly, but his gaze involuntarily drifted towards the reed beds.
……
Meanwhile, on the clearing by the swamp, the deathly silence was finally broken.
Viserys felt as if all the bones in his body had been removed, collapsing limply into the mud, panting heavily. His pale purple eyes stared blankly in the direction where Will and Shadowflame had disappeared, his face still pale with shock.
His arrogance and rage deflated like a punctured balloon, leaving only the most primal fear and the weakness of surviving a catastrophe.
"Dragon..." he repeated the word as if in a dream, his voice dry and trembling, "It's a dragon... He has a dragon... a living dragon..."
Daenerys slowly stood up from the ground, mud dripping down her tattered skirt.
She ignored her disheveled appearance and clutched tightly the hairpin she had found again, now filthy.
The purple eyes still gazed into the depths of the reeds, but the confusion within them gradually faded, replaced by a light that grew brighter and more intense.
That wasn't just shock or fear.
That is……
hope.
It was like suddenly glimpsing a ray of scorching, burning light in the long, endless dark winter.
"He saved me," Daenerys said softly, her voice trembling slightly from the shock and excitement, yet carrying an unprecedented firmness. "He saved me from you... with dragonfire."
She turned to Viserys, her gaze piercing her blood brother and nominal king with unprecedented clarity and sharpness: "He is not an enemy, Viserys. He has a dragon!"
"So what?!" Viserys seemed to be burned by those words, jerking his head up and growling in a low, menacing voice, but his eyes flickered, his confidence completely gone. "Who knows what kind of monster it is! Maybe it's just... just some kind of dragon-like lizard! A trick played by the wizards of Braavos!"
"You saw the flames!" Daenerys pressed on, her purple eyes shining brightly. "You felt them! It was real dragonfire! And... and it looked..."
She paused for a moment, as if trying to recall Will's face.
The boy was thin and dirty, his features almost indistinguishable, but his eyes...
And the strange aura he exuded when he held the dragon...
"He might... he might have Valyrian blood," Viserys murmured, the thought making him even more confused and uneasy. "Perhaps he's some unknown bastard descendant who found a dragon egg somewhere..."
His voice trailed off as he spoke, because the very idea pointed to a possibility he could not accept—if it was a real dragon, and the boy was able to hatch and ride it, what would that mean?
True dragon blood? Purer and more powerful than Viserys Targaryen's?
“He has a dragon, Viserys,” Daenerys repeated, her tone resolute. “A living, breathing dragon! In this day and age! What does that mean? You know better than I do!”
She stepped forward, ignoring the mud trailing behind her skirt, and looked directly into Viserys's evasive eyes: "We have been searching for strength, for support, for hope to return home. The governor's promises were empty, and the nobles of the other city-states treated us as a joke and a bargaining chip. But now, hope is there!"
She pointed to the reeds, "He's right there! A brother who possesses a true dragon."
She spoke the last two words very softly, yet they carried a strange weight and an indescribable longing.
"Brother...?" Viserys jumped up as if stung by a bee, almost slipping again. "What brother?! What brother?! I'm your only brother! The last male heir of House Targaryen! The Iron Throne is legitimate..."
"A legitimate monarch needs power to claim the title!" Daenerys interrupted him more vehemently than ever before, her face flushed with emotion. "You yourself said that true dragons are not afraid of fire! But he... he possesses a real dragon! He might be... he might be our brother, some unknown, exiled Targaryen! Otherwise, how do you explain his possession and control of a dragon?"
This logic flowed perfectly smoothly through Daenerys's burning mind at that moment.
Dragons nowadays are only close to those of Targaryen blood.
The boy possessed a dragon, so he must have Targaryen blood.
He appeared near Braavos, perhaps also an exile.
He doesn't look very old, but he might be older than Viserys?
At least, he was more like a person with power than Viserys.
"We must find him!" Daenerys's voice became urgent, even pleading. "Viserys, this is our only chance! A chance a thousand times, a thousand times more real than the feast of Illyrio, a chance a chance made by those Dothraki barbarians! He will lead us home! Back to Westeros! To reclaim the Iron Throne!"
Viserys opened his mouth, wanting to refute, to rebuke his sister's wild ideas, and to defend his crumbling dignity and status.
But when he thought of the scorching dragon flames from just now, and those cold, dark gold vertical pupils, all his words got stuck in his throat.
Fear, and a deeper jealousy and frustration that he himself was unwilling to acknowledge, gnawed at his heart.
in case……
What if Dani is telling the truth?
If that dirty little beggar really was some Targaryen who had wandered far from home, or even...
Is his bloodline more recognized by the dragon than his?
The thought sent a chill down his spine.
But the burning light in Daenerys's eyes, and the vision of "going home" and "reclaiming the Iron Throne" she described, tempted him like a venomous snake.
He craved power, recognition, and that cold iron chair so much.
For this reason, he was willing to sell his sister to the Dothraki king and endure any humiliation.
So...
Temporarily acknowledge a possible "brother" and borrow his dragon power...
It doesn't seem like it's entirely out of the question?
if only……
As long as it is Viserys Targaryen who ultimately sits on the Iron Throne.
His eyes shifted, and finally, a glint of calculation, fear, and greed replaced pure terror.
"Find..." he began, his voice dry and hoarse, "How can we find him? He's disappeared. And... he might not even want to talk to us."
"He will heed it." Daenerys' tone was unusually certain. She looked down at the stained hairpin in her hand, then looked up at the reeds, her purple eyes seeming to burn with stars. "Because we are his family. The only remaining family with the blood of true dragons flowing through our veins. And..."
Her voice lowered, tinged with a shyness and determination that she herself wasn't entirely clear about, "He saved me."
This realization, like a pebble thrown into a lake, created ripples that could never be calmed.
In that most helpless and fearful moment, he appeared like a legendary hero riding a dragon, using flames to drive away the bullies and returning his mother's last possessions to her.
He was so small and thin, yet he was holding a dragon. His eyes... seemed calm, without pity or demands; he was simply doing what he believed was right.
This is in stark contrast to Viserys's long-standing harshness, irritability, and his use of her as a bargaining chip to gain access to the army.
A strange, burning emotion, a mixture of gratitude, admiration, curiosity, and some deeper attraction, sprouted and quickly took root in her fourteen years of a life filled with wandering, unease, and neglect.
She didn't know what it was, she just felt that she wanted to see him again, get closer to him, understand him, and follow him.