He kept a constant watch on the volcanoes that flickered in and out of view on the sea, glowing red like the eyes of demons,
and on the jagged black reefs that protruded above the water, trailing wisps of white smoke.
Whenever he spotted a volcano in the distance, Redd refused to go near it, even if that meant taking a long detour.
His harrowing encounters with several earlier eruptions had already instilled in him an almost instinctive fear of this subterranean fury.
He dared not gamble again. If some volcano refused to play by the rules and caught him off guard with a "massive eruption" as he flew over its crater,
his current strength would give him absolutely no chance of withstanding it. He would be reduced to a wisp of ash in an instant.
At the same time, to conserve as much as possible of the three dragons' already limited stamina (especially Ehm's and Aegon's, whose wing wounds still ached),
Redd ordered them to first climb as high as they could, then ride the rising air currents and glide forward.
This was undoubtedly the least strenuous approach, and it also allowed the three dragons to recover better.
Yet the conditions above the Smoking Sea at night were appalling.
Besides the dense water vapor filling the air, there was black smoke constantly spewing from the volcanoes below, roiling like storm clouds,
and more frightening still was the thick layer of volcanic ash suspended in the air.
These fine, hard particles filled the air, along with all manner of pungent, poisonous gases...
Even breathing became extraordinarily difficult. Every breath felt like inhaling blades and poison.
To reduce his intake of these harmful substances, Redd had long since covered his mouth and nose tightly with a reasonably clean cloth,
but even so, each breath still felt hot and painful, as though something were scorching his lungs.
His three dragons, by contrast, seemed remarkably at ease.
Their enormous bodies glided steadily through the air. They seemed utterly oblivious to the harsh conditions around them, let alone troubled by any discomfort.
Occasionally, they even bumped heads with one another and gave low hums, as though communicating,
their relaxed ease standing in stark contrast to Redd's tightly strung nerves.
This vast physiological difference also made Redd recognize more clearly that a considerable gap still remained between him and these powerful creatures.
Redd rode on Ehm's broad back as the cold night wind howled past, carrying the acrid smell of volcanic ash.
His body rose and fell slightly with the dragon's gliding motion, but his eyes remained fixed like a hawk's on the sea below, utterly swallowed by darkness.
Though the night was ink-black and unfathomable, with even the faintest starlight blocked by the thick layer of volcanic ash and nothing visible, he remained highly alert.
Above this perilous Smoking Sea, even the slightest lapse could prove fatal.
The bizarre experience in the Valyria Ruins remained vivid in his mind, and he dared not let his guard down again,
not until he was well clear of this cursed stretch of sea. Until then, his nerves had to remain taut at every moment.
Far below, meanwhile, along the coastline where the Valyria Ruins met the Smoking Sea,
a demonic eye formed from roiling black mist and radiating an ominous glow quietly emerged within the impenetrable darkness.
It hovered silently, its hollow gaze facing the direction in which Redd and the others had just flown, and slowly uttered two words in a dry, emotionless voice: "They escaped."
The words seemed to carry some kind of will as they echoed through the empty darkness, yet also seemed to be a report to some unseen presence.
Sure enough, after a brief silence, a low, indistinct voice answered from the deathly darkness, sounding like countless insects gnawing on rotten flesh:
"I cannot interfere excessively with the workings of this world. The power I can wield is limited."
The light gathered within the demonic eye seemed to flicker. With a trace of barely perceptible displeasure, it spoke again, its tone taking on a hint of menace for the first time:
"I told you so that you would spare no cost and do everything in your power to keep them here!
"That descendant of House Targaryen and that three-headed demonic dragon are both very special!
"Once they grow stronger, do you not know who will be the first to seek revenge on you? Aren't you afraid?"
The presence in the darkness fell silent for a moment, but this time its reply came exceptionally quickly, filled with cold resolve: "I don't want to end up like you."
As the words fell, an invisible force pressed down on the demonic eye. It suddenly erupted in a burst of blinding black light and struggled for a moment,
then swiftly contracted and dissipated, as though it had never appeared.
Deathly silence returned to the surroundings. Only the sound of waves striking the reefs remained, seeming all the more lonely and unsettling in that eerie atmosphere.
Naturally, Redd knew nothing of any of this. He remained wholly focused on watching for unknown dangers ahead.
He was completely absorbed in his cautious flight strategy, utterly unaware of the deeper, more dangerous threat that might lie behind him.
Though the waters of the Smoking Sea still churned and reeked of sulfur, they did not seem any more dangerous than before.
Deep beneath the sea, a terrifying energy far surpassing the power of the earlier volcanic eruptions was gathering furiously,
like a sleeping behemoth slowly awakening, preparing a devastating strike.
Enormous energy fluctuations traveled through the water, making the waters beneath the surface boil even more violently,
but all of this was concealed by the heavy darkness of night and their altitude of several hundred meters.
Redd on the dragon's back and the three dragons were like tiny black specks, utterly incapable of detecting the impending catastrophe beneath the sea.
They continued to follow Redd's instructions, gliding leisurely along and avoiding the conspicuous volcanoes.
Riding on the back of the Black Dragon Ehm, Redd watched the waters below with misplaced confidence, promptly directing the three dragons to detour whenever he spotted a volcano jutting up.
He even felt somewhat pleased with his own vigilance, believing that this would guarantee their safety without fail.
Yet in the very instant that he relaxed his vigilance, disaster struck without warning.
There came a "BOOOOM!!!"
A deafening crash suddenly erupted, as though from the ends of the world! The sea gave no warning,
and the immense energy, accumulated to its limit, tore straight through the calm-or rather, relatively calm-surface.
Not one, but three columns of molten fire, each as thick as a giant tower and blazing with searing white light, shot skyward from beneath the sea at once, like claws reaching out of hell!
Their eruption points placed Redd and the three dragons' current flight path squarely in the center of their encirclement!
Vast quantities of lava were hurled a thousand meters into the sky by that terrifying force,
then, like the sky itself torn to shreds, became countless burning meteors, forming a rain of lava that covered an area dozens of kilometers across and came crashing furiously down!
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