Danyla summoned Dreamfyre and had the Great Dragon carry the youths from Skagos and the two Children of the Forest to the site she had chosen for her castle.
It was a small, low, dormant volcano, no more than a thousand meters high, with a summit covering only four or five square kilometers.
By now, the hilltop had been leveled considerably. Every day, hundreds of people worked there without pause, quarrying stone and transporting it to the stoneworks to be made into dragonstone.
Danyla chose an elevated spot with relatively lush vegetation and had Dreamfyre land.
"The ground here is fairly level, with deep soil and thick vegetation, and there's a hot-spring river nearby. I'd like to build a garden here someday. Would it be all right to plant the weirwood seed here?"
Danyla put the question to Herb.
Herb surveyed the surroundings and agreed that the spot was suitable.
"Weirwoods are exceptionally hardy. Of course it can grow here."
As she spoke, Herb took the obsidian dagger from her belt, dug a small hole in the ground, and carefully planted the weirwood seed.
After packing the soil around it, Herb and Watcher cut their palms and dripped their blood onto the tender weirwood sprout, once again chanting softly.
As they chanted, the Children of the Forest's blood rapidly seeped into the weirwood sprout.
At the sight, Danyla inexplicably felt a fierce heat flare between her brows, followed by an uncontrollable impulse.
She took Watcher's obsidian dagger, cut her own palm, and dripped her blood onto the sprout as well.
In response to the Children of the Forest's chanting, a spell in High Valyria appeared in Danyla's mind. Before she knew it, she was chanting softly along with them.
By the time they finished chanting, the weirwood sprout had absorbed