Ever since Danyla and Sheepstealer had fought Cannibal together, she had arranged for several roasted livestock to be delivered near Sheepstealer's cave every few days for her to eat.
Unfortunately, most of those animals went to waste, becoming free meals for the wild beasts and birds of prey in the mountains.
Though Dragonstone was covered in rocks, plenty of birds of prey that fed on sea fish lived there. The mountains also harbored coyotes, foxes, and other wild animals.
Especially over the past few years, with Danyla feeding the Great Dragons every day, the wild dragons that had once preyed on those beasts and birds no longer cared for their meager scraps of meat, so their numbers had grown considerably.
Sheepstealer had once enjoyed poaching the shepherds' sheep on several nearby islands, and she had been spotted many times on Driftmark and along the Wendwater.
But over these past few years, with Danyla constantly feeding the Great Dragons on Dragonmont, she had hardly poached at all. Danyla had never expected her to fall back into her old habits now.
Danyla kept feeling that something must have happened to Sheepstealer. Otherwise, she would never have suddenly behaved so strangely.
After sensing Danyla's summons, Dreamfyre soon arrived at her side, followed by Myracis, Grey Ghost, and the other young dragons.
Danyla mounted Dreamfyre and hurried toward the Breeding Ewe Farm.
By the time Danyla reached the scene, Samwell and several officials from White Sheep Town had already arrived.
The shepherds had moved the surviving breeding ewes into another spare sheepfold.
No one had been killed or injured in this Great Dragon attack, which was at least a blessing amid the misfortune.
Rhaenyra sat listlessly on her Great Dragon Syrax's back, looking at the sheepfold Sheepstealer had wrecked.
Syrax, however, stared straight at the charred sheep, clearly eager to eat.
That was the difference between tamed Great Dragons and wild ones. With their own Dragon Warriors beside them, even the fiercest, most ill-tempered Great Dragons would behave themselves.
The main structure of the sheepfold was built entirely from black dragonstone, so although Sheepstealer had torn open the roof and burned more than half the sheep inside to death, the building itself had not suffered much damage.
Seeing Myracis and the young dragons drooling over the charred sheep, Danyla guessed why Sheepstealer had attacked this sheepfold.
The breeding ewes housed here were all superior stock that Danyla had carefully selected, and colored soil and specially formulated feed had been mixed into their fodder.
After more than a month, their bodies had taken on a faint trace of magic. No wonder they had attracted Sheepstealer.
Although Sheepstealer had wiped out nearly half of the breeding ewes she had painstakingly raised in a single attack, Danyla felt more excitement than heartache.
Her method had indeed worked. Combining the colored soil with specially formulated feed not only greatly improved the livestock's quality, but also imbued their flesh and blood with a faint trace of magic.
Such livestock would greatly benefit Great Dragons that ate them, and she believed that people who ate them regularly would surely grow stronger and healthier as well.
Even so, Danyla had no intention of letting Sheepstealer run wild on her lands.
"Rhaenyra, let's go teach Sheepstealer a lesson! Otherwise, who knows how many more of my pastures will suffer!"
Rhaenyra had already been terribly envious that Danyla had experienced several Great Dragon battles, so she immediately agreed in excitement.
"Yes, yes!"
"With your Dreamfyre and my Syrax working together, Sheepstealer won't stand a chance against us."
"Let's go!"
Danyla then pointed at the charred sheep and smiled.
"No hurry, little sister. Let the Great Dragons eat these charred sheep first."
"Eat!"
Both gave their Great Dragons the command to eat almost simultaneously. With Dreamfyre present, however, none of the other Great Dragons dared approach first except Myracis.
After Dreamfyre had devoured five sheep, Danyla made her step back. By then, the bold Myracis had nearly eaten half of one.
Syrax approached and let out an angry roar at Myracis, trying to drive the little dragon away.
Though Myracis was small, her temper was anything but. She blasted a mouthful of dragonfire straight at Syrax, then grabbed the half-eaten sheep and swiftly fled.
Enraged, Syrax was about to retaliate, but Rhaenyra restrained her in time.
"Syrax, calm down, calm down!"
Her elder sister soon soothed Syrax, who began devouring the fat sheep before her.
As Syrax settled down, Little Balerion and the other two young dragons, who had been poised to act, relaxed as well.
Danyla had no doubt that if Syrax attacked Myracis, Little Balerion and the others would join forces against her.
Although they were only half Syrax's size, the three young dragons working together would be more than she could handle.
Dreamfyre
But clearly, neither Syrax nor Rhaenyra had noticed the movements of those three unassuming young dragons.
When only three sheep remained, Rhaenyra stopped Syrax from eating any more. After all, they ought to leave one for each of the three little ones.
Once the Great Dragons had finished eating, Danyla and her sworn sister rode their Great Dragons toward Sheepstealer's cave.
Sheepstealer
Sheepstealer's cave lay on the far side of Dragonmont. Its entrance was too small for a dragon of Dreamfyre's size to crawl through, while Syrax and the three young dragons were just small enough.
Great Dragons were, in fact, highly territorial. Last time, Cannibal had come too close to Sheepstealer's cave entrance, making her feel threatened and intruded upon.
Cannibal must also have bullied her often, or Sheepstealer would never have attacked him so readily.
Sheepstealer detected the Great Dragons as soon as they arrived this time, too. From inside her cave, she roared angrily toward the entrance, hoping to frighten off the intruding Great Dragons.
That trick was usually quite effective against wild dragons, because the cave's echoes greatly amplified a Great Dragon's roar. It could easily give a wild dragon the impression that the Great Dragon living inside was much stronger than it actually was.
But against Great Dragons guided by Dragon Warriors, the trick had little power to intimidate.
"Danyla, your Dreamfyre can't get into this cave, so let me ride Syrax inside and force her out."
"Just guard the entrance. Then we can attack her from both sides and chain her up like Cannibal, so she stops causing trouble for us everywhere!"
With that, she urged Syrax to crawl into Sheepstealer's cave. At Danyla's signal, Little Balerion and the other two young dragons followed them inside.
Myracis
A dance of dragons
(Four bonus chapters if the tips pass fifty; how about five if they pass a hundred?! Hehe.)
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