132: Chapter 132 Takeoff Before Dawn

Drogon's tail gently wrapped around her ankle behind her.

The ice spikes at the tip of his tail were carefully tucked away, leaving only scales pressed against her calf.

He sat cross-legged on the floor by her bed—his usual spot since returning from King's Landing.

Leaning against the edge of the bed, his slit pupils shimmered in the darkness with a mix of dark gold and silver-grey.

Daenerys did not lie down.

She leaned sideways against the headboard, reaching out to count his scales one by one, starting from the first scale at the base of his left wing.

Her touch was very light, her lips moving silently with every scale she counted.

This was a habit that had started from the day he hatched—back when he was a hatchling curled in her arms, and she was the woman sitting on the funeral pyre shielding him from the night wind.

Later, he grew larger than her bedchamber, but every time she counted his scales, his tail would still unconsciously wrap a little tighter around her ankle.

Her fingertips stopped on a newly grown scale at the base of his left wing.

That scale was slightly thinner than the others, its edges still retaining a faint ice-blue luster—it had regrown after being pierced by an ice spear on the walls of Meereen. Every time she counted to this spot, she would pause for a beat. This time was no exception.

"This one is still thin. When the war is over, let it be tempered in the dragonglass vein again."

"You say that every time. Counting from Meereen to Dragonstone. From Dragonstone to King's Landing. And from King's Landing back to Dragonstone."

"Because you never go to temper it."

Her fingers continued counting backward.

When she reached the scale on his left chest that had been pierced by the phantom tail-blade, she pressed it very gently.

The scale was completely intact, without even a scratch. But when she pressed it, a very slight phantom pain was transmitted through the Blood-Oath Resonance—not his pain.

It was her own perception from the other side of the blood bond, of the moment he was stabbed during the trial.

"Here—you were stabbed in the trial."

"It missed. It didn't pierce my heart. I deflected her tail-blade by half an inch."

"I know. White Mane told me. She said you didn't even blink when you broke her three moves."

Her fingers moved away from that scale and continued counting. When she finished counting the last tail scale, her finger flicked the ice spike at the tip of his tail. The ice spike let out a tiny, crisp sound.

"Tomorrow you go to King's Landing. I'll stay on Dragonstone. When the war is over in four days, you come back, and I'll count them again. Not a single scale can be missing."

"If one is missing, you can lock me up."

"Alright."

She didn't sleep, and neither did he. Leaning against the headboard, she held the tip of his tail in her palm. The coldness of the ice spike traveled through her palm to her fingertips, and then through her fingertips to the mate mark on her chest.

Outside the window, the red glow of the crater slowly flickered, painting the ceiling of the bedchamber in alternating ripples of dark red and dark gold.

Before dawn. Dragonstone.

The highest point of the crater.

Drogon crouched at the top of the crater in his dragon form.

His dark gold slit pupils stared northwest in the faint morning light—toward King's Landing.

When his thirty-four-meter wingspan was fully unfurled, the wing membranes caught the first rays of dawn. The dense network of blood vessels on the membranes showed translucent dark gold patterns in the light.

Behind him, Rhaegal and Viserion crouched side by side on the Dragon-Roost Platform.

They were not yet fully grown, but their shoulder height was already close to Drogon's size before his Bloodline Breakthrough. Rhaegal's bronze-green scales gleamed with a metallic luster in the morning light, while Viserion's cream-white scales were dyed a pale gold.

The two young dragons' slit pupils stared at their elder brother simultaneously, low rumbles coming from their throats.

At the bottom of the crater, White Mane had already lined up the Dothraki Cavalry on the training grounds.

Mounted on a black warhorse, her silver-white braids whipped in the morning breeze, and she pressed her palm against the old scabbard of the dragon-kiss sword at her waist. Her amber eyes pierced through the morning mist, staring at the massive dark gold dragon silhouette at the top of the crater.

On the castle tower, Daenerys stood before the window. A black silk scarf was tied around her left wrist—White Mane had tied it back onto her wrist this morning. Her right hand held the purple flame stone ring, which shimmered with a deep purple in the morning light.

She did not go down to see him off. She just stood by the window and sent him a message through the Blood-Oath Resonance. It wasn't words, but a heartbeat rhythm—exactly the same as her heartbeat every time she counted his scales.

Drogon cast one last glance back at Dragonstone, saving that heartbeat rhythm to the very top of his System panel. Then, he flapped his wings. The gale whipped up by his dragon wings tore the steam from the crater into shreds, and the sand on the black sand beach was swept dozens of feet into the air.

He plunged into the clouds, flying at full speed toward King's Landing. Behind him, the volcano of Dragonstone spewed a plume of dark red lava, reflecting on the sea like Dragon Breath.

A System pop-up appeared, with white and gold words interwoven.

"Final countdown for the Mad Blood Plan—four days until The Senate's Enforcement Squad arrives in the skies above King's Landing.

Three days until Cersei's mercenary fleet is expected to set sail for a surprise attack on Dragonstone. The host will infiltrate King's Landing alone in complete human form until the fifth day, during which the following must be completed:

1. Provoke a clash between the Enforcement Squad and the Gold Cloaks inside King's Landing;

2. Sneak into the Red Keep amidst the chaos after the clash to find and retrieve the Crown of Aegon I;

3. Ensure that after the mutual attrition between the Enforcement Squad and the Gold Cloaks, the Space-Time Dragon Captain is weakened to a level where the host can harvest them alone. On the Dragonstone front—White Mane and Daenerys will simultaneously defend against Cersei's mercenary fleet. Two-front war, synchronized activation. Good luck."

"Better to wish for enough gold coins than good luck. Let's go."