Enchanted dragonstone

As the chanting in High Ancient Valyrian rang out, Danyla felt as though all the blood in her body was coming to a boil.

The sensation brought Danyla indescribable comfort. She felt as though her body had become as light as a cloud and as warm as flame.

Gradually, she unconsciously began chanting along. The lilting cadences of High Ancient Valyrian flowed from Danyla's lips.

She felt a searing energy awaken within her and begin circulating rapidly before surging straight into her mind.

Countless fragmented images of Old Valyria flooded Danyla's memory all at once, making her head ache with pressure.

"Ah!"

The overwhelming flood of fragmented memories jolted Danyla awake from her dream.

When she woke, Danyla discovered that the torch she had planted beside her had burned out.

"It looks like a lot of time has passed. How did I just fall asleep like that?"

Because Dreamfyre's cave was so dark, Danyla had placed plenty of torches where she kept the dragon eggs.

That way, whenever she came to collect rubies and check on the dragon eggs, she would have something to light her way.

A torch burned for at least two or three hours, yet the one before her had not even a trace of warmth left. Clearly, a long time had passed.

Danyla fumbled for her firelighter again and lit another torch. By its faint light, she discovered that the five dragon eggs before her seemed even more radiant.

Stroking the two dragon eggs from Old Valyria, Danyla knew that this dragon dream must have had something to do with them.

"Now that you've established a dragon dream connection with me, I hope you'll hatch soon!"

"Dragons descended from those left behind by Old Valyria must surely be even stronger!"

When Danyla emerged from Dreamfyre's lair, dawn was just beginning to break.

Fortunately, before leaving, Danyla had already told her subordinates to inform Viserys and the others that she was returning to King's Landing to fetch the dragon eggs. They must have assumed she had stayed in King's Landing rather than returning.

Myracis

By the time Danyla rode Dreamfyre to the Fighting Arena, everyone was already hard at work.

It just went to show that generous benefits and good pay could always bring out people's greatest enthusiasm for work.

Unlike the daily wages customary in Westeros, Danyla had suggested that Samwell and the others pay according to the amount of work completed. Anyone who exceeded the required workload each day would receive an extra reward.

As a result, construction of the Fighting Arena Hall on New Dragonstone Island was far more efficient than elsewhere.

Moreover, they were using dragonstone, a light yet sturdy building material, so the Fighting Arena Hall was going up several times faster than comparable structures elsewhere.

That also meant they consumed a great deal of dragonstone every day, so Danyla came here almost every other day to help the craftsmen forge more of it.

The reason Danyla had been so eager to visit the dragonstone forging site today was to test what the magical chant she had learned in her dragon dream actually did.

She rode Dreamfyre up to the molds already filled with the ingredients for forging dragonstone. Just as in her dragon dream, Danyla positioned herself on Dreamfyre's back, pressed both hands against it, and began chanting softly in High Valyrian.

"Essence of stone, Flame of the Earth's Core, might of the gods, Bloodline Power! Bring forth an undying creation!"

As Danyla continued chanting, she felt as though she were slowly becoming one with Dreamfyre.

Moreover, Danyla felt as though some wondrous power between heaven and earth had suddenly poured into her and Dreamfyre.

"Dragonfire!"

Danyla somehow sensed that the moment had come, and involuntarily commanded Dreamfyre to breathe dragonfire.

Dreamfyre first threw back her head and let out a long roar, then blasted the dragonstone ingredients with a stream of searing blue-violet dragonfire.

The dragonstone ingredients-a mixture of crushed stone, clay, dragon dung, livestock bones, and blood-instantly melted into a pool of liquid.

Even the stone molds the masons had painstakingly shaped were beginning to soften.

Had Danyla not made Dreamfyre stop her dragonfire in time, all those stone molds would have been ruined.

Danyla had never expected that chanting this spell could also raise the temperature of Dreamfyre's dragonfire.

What a pleasant surprise!

Moreover, Danyla could now clearly sense Dreamfyre's delight and her pride in her blue-violet dragonfire, which instantly reinvigorated the somewhat tired Danyla.

Although she had been able to share a mental connection with Dreamfyre and Myracis before, that had meant the dragons could sense Danyla's emotions and intentions.

And while she had also been able to sense changes in Dreamfyre's mood, they had never been as distinct and clear as they were today.

Do you think you're the most beautiful of all the dragons?

Danyla deliberately sent that thought to Dreamfyre.

Dreamfyre beneath her actually raised her head proudly, gave a piercing roar, and beat her enormous wings with evident satisfaction.

Of course!

Danyla could sense that meaning with remarkable precision. This mental perception went far beyond verbal communication; it was purely a resonance and exchange of thoughts.

And so the woman and dragon stayed where they were, playing at communicating through thought. The results astonished Danyla. She had never expected Dreamfyre's comprehension and communication skills to truly rival those of an adult human.

That settled it: dragons were highly intelligent magical creatures!

Before long, the newly forged dragonstone below had slowly cooled and solidified. But instead of its usual jet-black color, this batch was close to Dreamfyre's coloring, though a much deeper indigo.

Its surface was no longer as rough as blackstone, either. It even gleamed like a gemstone.

This inevitably reminded Danyla of the towering buildings she had seen in her dragon dream, built from similar stones in all manner of colors.

They were so much prettier than solid black dragonstone!

It seemed the dragonstone-forging method her ancestors had mastered had been the lowest grade in Old Valyria!

It was the same color as the stones they used to pave their roads!

The masons gathered around also lit up with joy. After all, this indigo stone was far more beautiful than the pitch-black kind.

Buildings constructed from this gemstone-like indigo dragonstone would be the first of their kind in Westeros!

These craftsmen already possessed a deep pride in their craft. What they sought in their profession was simply to leave their names in human history.

And this gemstone-like indigo dragonstone undoubtedly gave them a chance to be remembered for generations.

After all, even the rough black dragonstone was a legendary creation that no one in Westeros could replicate.

Let alone the gemstone-like indigo dragonstone before them!

Meleys

And so these masons suddenly became even more ambitious. An ordinary Fighting Arena could no longer satisfy their boundless enthusiasm.

They hurried off at a stumbling run to find Samwell and discuss revisions to the Fighting Arena's design.