Wyl

Vomysor carefully finished carving the main tower, then circled it once before landing contentedly in the Dragonpit it had blasted out. Unlike a castle, this place did not require meticulous construction; it only needed to be blasted open to become habitable.

Lonzell surveyed the Dragonpit with satisfaction. It was spacious and filled with intense, scorching magical elements. More importantly, it was directly connected to the sluggish magical elements within the Red Mountains. To put it simply, it was like a naturally formed active volcano. Though the scorching magical elements were not abundant, they were stable and inexhaustible.

In any case, Silverwing had already built nests for herself and Vomysor deep within the Dragonpit, along with a smaller nest. If the remaining four dragon eggs had not still been hard as stone, Lonzell suspected Silverwing might even have sent Valar the thought of bringing the eggs over. Of course, there was no proof of Silverwing's sex, nor whether dragons had the habit of hatching offspring.

"Brother, I heard quite a few nobles from the Borderlands and the Stormlands have come to the camp lately to freeload. Shouldn't we do something about them?"

"As long as they don't commit crimes, there's no need to care about them." Lonzell accepted the tools for cleaning dragon scales from one of the guards stationed in the Dragonpit and began brushing the dust from Vomysor's scales. Unlike the Targaryen dragonkeepers, these guards were not only hereditary retainers who had served the Valaerys family for generations, but had also taken Blood Magic-infused medicine year after year since Lonzell's birth. Their loyalty and fighting ability were guaranteed, and dragons tamed by members of the Valaerys family would ignore their presence. Their quarters had been established in the depths of the Dragonpit, where it connected to the castle. Simple stone houses had already been built there.

Vomysor rumbled comfortably and lowered its head even further, making it easier for its companion to clean more places. It was simply too large; without outside help, there were not many places Lonzell could reach.

Valar was also cleaning Silverwing's scales. He had never quite understood all the twists and turns behind these matters, but he knew he could not go wrong by following his more mature brother.

"They can't reach our true core anyway. Valar, pass me the tongs."

Valar threw the tongs toward Lonzell with all his strength. Lonzell weighed them in his hand, then forcefully pulled out a stone embedded in Vomysor's scales.

"Understood." Valar sighed. "It's just a shame Rey stole my bed, Brother. Can your bed fit one more person? Or could you have Count Edric add another bed?" The boy covered his face shyly. "Or have Qoren patrol near my room at night. I don't want to wake up and find someone beside me."

"I'll discuss it with the count." Lonzell smiled helplessly. "As a dragonrider, you need to get used to this. You'd better check your door and under your bed a few extra times." He understood those maids' intentions perfectly. "The family bloodline is precious. The gods have placed their bets on it, so we must be cautious."

"Ah." Valar climbed down from Silverwing's back with a mournful sigh. Silverwing seemed quite understanding as she turned her head and gently rubbed against Valar's upper body.

"Brother, look. Silverwing is much more considerate than those girls."

Lonzell gave a wry shake of his head. This sort of thing would only become more frequent in the future. Even after they had their own castle, they could not guarantee they would never visit other castles or go to King's Landing. Still, things would indeed improve greatly once King's Landing was completed.

"Endure it for now. In three months at most, the main structure of King's Landing will be finished." Lonzell scrubbed Vomysor's enormous scales with force. "Things will be much better then. Until that time, I'll have the Faceless Men keep an eye on your room, if the count refuses to add another bed to mine."

The gloom on Valar's face instantly vanished beneath sunshine.

The southern side of the Red Mountains.

Dorne, Wyl.

This ancient castle on the shores of the Sea of Dorne had been captured many times throughout history by resurgent Borderlands armies, and had also been scorched repeatedly by the Conqueror's dragonfire. Yet more often, armies had marched from here to ravage the Borderlands, returning with vast wealth and countless captives.

Count Uller Vail stared grimly at several charred chunks of corpses, as well as the harbor that had already become ruins. The Valaerys fleet had hurled vast quantities of combustibles onto the shore. If Wyl had been any closer to the coast, the trebuchets' stones might even have smashed down its walls directly.

"Two dragons, is that it?" Uller looked at his household knight and let out a long breath.

"Yes, my lord. They are the dragons of Jaehaerys the Conciliator and the Good Queen." The household knight answered with some fear. The Dornish still respected Jaehaerys and Alysanne greatly. During the reign of that wise king, the Seven Kingdoms as a whole had maintained peace and prosperity, and Dorne had also enjoyed the benefits of peace.

"This has become troublesome. Has there been a reply to the letter sent to Prince Qoren?"

The maester shook his head. "His Highness has not replied yet," he said. "Based on the prince's usual habits, he will most likely advise you to apologize to those two dragonriders."

"They killed more than a thousand of our men." Uller seized the maester by his chain. "Write to Sunspear now, immediately. Urge the prince to send troops to protect us at once if he does not want to see another Dornish war. Also, write to that bastard in the Red Mountains. Tell him the Vail family is willing to support his cause, as long as he continues raiding the eastern Borderlands."

"Yes, yes, my lord, please calm down." The maester hurriedly adjusted his chain to keep from being strangled to death. "My lord, should we write to any other lords?"

"Write to the Uller family. Tell them there's something interesting in the north. Write to Hellholt and tell them that if they don't want retaliation from dragonriders, they should reply at once."

Uller suddenly held back his words as though he had swallowed something foul-smelling. Only after a long struggle did he force the remaining words out through clenched teeth.

"Write to Yronwood. Tell Count Yronwood that I am willing to apologize for my previous offense. For the sake of having once fought side by side, give your brother a hand."

"No." Uller suddenly shook his head. "Prepare the horses. I'll go to Sunspear myself. The castle can be abandoned at any time. The tunnels are ready, yes?"

"Rest assured, my lord. They were prepared long ago." The maester nodded.

"Good. If you see dragons, do not resist. Leave through the tunnels immediately." Uller gritted his teeth. "Sooner or later, I'll make those damned silver-haired bastards pay the price."

He hurried down from the wall, leaving behind only the sighing maester and the silent household knight.

"Prepare the tunnels." The household knight sighed.

"It isn't the first time, anyway. Perhaps we can fool the Dragonlord once again this time."

Second update check-in. The pace will slow down somewhat at the start of the second volume. The author will present everyone with richer plotlines and details, along with more war and strategy scenes.