8: Chapter 8 The Bones of the Ancient Black Dragon

The fissure extended from beneath Daenerys Targaryen's feet deep into the mountain range. The dragon glass began to chime. It wasn't shattering. It was resonating.

Then, the dragon glass layer in the deepest part of the mountain exploded.

A spine rose up.

It was larger than any dragon bone. Larger than anything Drogon had ever seen. The spine alone was longer than his entire body.

Dragon glass was wrapped around the spine, pulsing like blood vessels.

"Ding! Ancient Black Dragon King remains detected! Bloodline purity: Ancestral grade! Triggering hidden quest [Bloodline Inheritance]!"

"Quest objective: Merge with the Ancient Black Dragon King remains. Reward: Activate bloodline talent tree. Cost: ???"

Drogon stared at those question marks.

The system wouldn't tell him the cost.

It wasn't that it wouldn't tell him. It was that the cost was too great, and the system dared not say it in advance.

"Drogon," Daenerys Targaryen called out from behind him, "what is that?"

"An ancestor."

Drogon spread his wings. The wound on his left wing hadn't fully healed, but he didn't care.

"I'm going to have a word with the ancestor."

Daenerys Targaryen grabbed his tail. Her fingers were still thin, but her grip was rock solid.

"You are not allowed to go."

"Mom—"

"I said no!"

She pulled him back and pressed him against her chest. Drogon could feel her heart beating like a drum. This woman hadn't been afraid just a moment ago. Now, she was. She wasn't afraid of the dragon glass. She wasn't afraid of the dragon bone. She was afraid that if he went in, he wouldn't come back out.

Drogon didn't struggle.

He rested his head on Daenerys Targaryen's shoulder.

"Then I'll just go to the side and absorb a little. Just a little. I won't fly far."

Daenerys Targaryen didn't speak. Her hand didn't loosen.

Then she asked a question Drogon hadn't expected.

"That dragon bone. It's speaking. Can you hear it?"

Drogon froze.

The dragon language resonance of the dragon glass mountain couldn't be heard by humans.

But Daenerys Targaryen had heard it.

Her Targaryen bloodline was even thicker than he had imagined.

"What is it saying?"

Daenerys Targaryen frowned. "It's not words. It's—" She paused, "It's hunger. It's crying out of hunger. To me."

She looked down at Drogon. "Just like me. Hungry for a very, very long time."

Drogon stared at her. Stared into her eyes. The violet-gold hue hadn't faded. Not only had it not faded, it had grown even more intense.

"System, scan Daenerys Targaryen's current status."

"Target bloodline awakening level: 17%. Estimated upper limit: 84%. Dragon blood affinity: S-rank. Recommendation: This individual is the optimal candidate for a Dragon Rider."

Drogon cursed silently in his mind.

In the original work, Daenerys Targaryen's bloodline wasn't this strong.

Was it the influence of the dragon glass mountain? Or was it—was it his influence?

A black dragon who had transmigrated, the soul of a dragon stuffed into a dragon egg, hatched, calling a human mother. His very existence was changing the rules. Including the rules governing Daenerys Targaryen.

"Mom."

"Hmm."

"Do you want to ride a dragon?"

Daenerys Targaryen was stunned for a moment. Then she smiled. Her lips cracked, seeping blood.

"I can barely ride a horse anymore."

"Not now." Drogon looked at her, "I mean in the future. After I grow up."

Daenerys Targaryen didn't speak. She picked Drogon up and held him before her eyes.

"You are my child. Not a mount."

"Can't it be both?"

Daenerys Targaryen laughed until tears streamed down. She tucked Drogon back into her embrace, stood up, and brushed the dragon glass shards off her dress.

"Let's deal with the matter at hand first. That sand worm—it's still blocking the mountain pass."

It wasn't just one sand worm.

There were seven.

They were all blocking the only exit of the mountain range, seven moving dunes lined up under the moonlight. The largest one—the one that had chased them for seven days—stopped right in the middle, half its body exposed above the ground.

This was the first time Drogon saw it in its entirety.

Mouths within mouths. The outer layer of its mouth split open like a flower bud, and the inner layer was filled with teeth. Not just one row. It was spiral-shaped. Several layers deep.

When that thing opened its mouth, what poured out of its throat wasn't air. It was a corrosive acid mist.

"Khaleesi!" Araddo rode over, his scimitar pointing at the mountain pass, "We can't get out! It's completely blocked!"

Daenerys Targaryen didn't panic. She set Drogon on the ground and drew the dead man's scimitar from her waist.

She wasn't going to hack at the sand worms.

She was going to hack at people.

"Ko Araddo. You said that the Dothraki only recognize strength."

Araddo's expression changed.

"Now, the strength is right there." Daenerys Targaryen pointed at the mountain pass, "Seven sand worms. Between you and me, who is going?"

Araddo gripped his blade but said nothing.

"If you don't dare to go, then shut up."

Daenerys Targaryen plunged the blade into the ground and turned to face the entire Khalasar:

"You are not following me. You are following him." She pointed at Drogon, "You have seen him hunt. You have seen the meat he dragged back. Now there are seven blocking the pass. I give you a choice—stay here and die with me, or go out alive with him."

Dead silence.

Then, the first to kneel was Araddo.

He wasn't kneeling to Daenerys Targaryen. He was kneeling to Drogon.

"The Hunter." He called out the title. Not the name. "Lead us out."