The Mountain of Ice and Fire

“Fetch me some salted meat,” Daenerys said.

Grey Worm, Hero, and Daario all scrambled down the spiral staircase to fetch the salted meat for their queen.

The salted meat was made of various animal meats, the food Daenerys had used to feed her three dragons since they were young.

When the dragons were small, Daenerys would personally cook the salted meat and feed it to them. Now, the three dragons could breathe dragonfire and instantly cook the meat before devouring it.

Daario brought a large basin of salted meat. Now, the black dragon had grown large enough for Daenerys to ride. Its size was comparable to an elephant, but its weight was not as heavy. Dragons were composed of long necks, long tails, and short bodies. The wingspan of the black dragon was even larger than its body.

Daenerys grabbed a piece of salted meat. It was huge for a human, but it seemed small to the three dragons now.

Daenerys held up the salted meat and swayed it from side to side, so her three children could see it.

The white dragon Viserion, the bronze-green dragon Rhaegal, and the black dragon Drogon all saw it and flew towards Daenerys. This was a game Daenerys had played with them since they were young. Whoever snatched the meat got it. Every time, the black dragon was always the first to eat its fill.

The three dragons had grown from children into adolescents. Adolescent dragons had enormous appetites, which could not be satisfied by Daenerys' simple few basins of salted meat. However, feeding them salted meat was a way to maintain the bond between mother and children, a tacit understanding between them, and a beautiful memory of their growth.

Daenerys threw the salted meat with force.

The black dragon breathed black and red flames, instantly enveloping the salted meat. By the time the meat fell, it already emitted a burnt smell. The white dragon stretched its neck, like a white serpent, and darted to snatch the cooked meat.

The salted meat personally prepared by their mother always tasted the best, something unforgettable for the three children.

Clap!

The bronze-green dragon Rhaegal knocked away the white dragon's long neck. The black dragon extended its claws, grabbed the salted meat, and tossed it into its mouth.

The wind from the three dragons' flapping wings billowed the sails.

The black dragon's wings lightly brushed the mast, and the mast creaked as if it would break at any moment.

The black dragon was growing bigger, and its black tail was getting longer. It was changing every day.

“Drogon!” Daenerys called out, “Come down.” She spoke in High Valyrian.

The black dragon did not come down, circling repeatedly. Its black, jewel-like eyes gleamed, and its black scales reflected the sunlight, like black crystals.

The white and green dragons flew lower, making soft calls, circling around the ship. They looked at the basin of salted meat at their mother's feet, their calls expressing everything.

So, Daenerys threw out the second piece of salted meat. This time, she threw it into the sea. The white dragon's red-gold flames and the bronze-green dragon's orange flames simultaneously enveloped the salted meat. The moment the meat fell into the sea, the white dragon's long neck came into play, biting the salted meat first, then pulling up and swallowing it into its belly, followed by a victorious cry.

The bronze-green dragon Rhaegal flew towards Daenerys. So, this time, Daenerys threw out two pieces of salted meat, both instantly cooked by the orange dragonfire, then falling one by one into Rhaegal's mouth.

Whoosh!

The black dragon flew down, and everyone quickly lowered their heads. The huge wings were like a black cloud, and people dodged one after another, making a large open space. The black dragon Drogon landed beside his mother. It opened its mouth, and people could see the shining in its throat, as if a ball of fire was burning fiercely in its throat and radiating light.

“Drogon, no!” Daenerys said.

Drogon had grown up. If it breathed dragonfire, it would not only cook a basin of salted meat, but also set the ship on fire.

The handmaidens Liji and Jiqi, supporting Missandei, all paled and quickly retreated to the spiral staircase. Being too close to the salted meat basin meant that they would be cooked along with it by the dragonfire.

Daenerys reached out to soothe Drogon's head, her hand stroking between its two horns, which the black dragon enjoyed. This was a gesture that its mother liked to do when it was very young, and it was very familiar.

The black dragon made a soft cry, while on the other side, the Imp Tyrion, the fearless Barristan, Daario, Grey Worm, Hero, the Tattered Prince, Varys, and others all showed fear on their faces and avoided approaching the black dragon.

The black dragon's tail, claws, and head were all deadly weapons, not just the fire from the dragonfire shining in its neck.

Daenerys reached out, grabbed a piece of salted meat, and threw it over her head. The black dragon breathed black-red dragonfire, instantly charring the salted meat. It stretched its neck and swallowed the meat in one bite.

Daenerys patted the black dragon's neck and kept throwing salted meat. The black dragon ate three pieces in a row, and the salted meat in the basin was running out. It gently cried, exhaled, and rubbed its head gently on its mother's arm.

“Take me to the grasslands, Drogon, let us conquer the Dothraki, conquer those khals in the midst of war.” Daenerys said softly, her face full of love and her tone cautious.

The first time Daenerys rode the black dragon, she almost fell from its back. The black dragon was disobedient. Ever since it disappeared for several days and did not return, it had become less obedient.

Daenerys later realized that it was not that Drogon had become disobedient, but that she could only discuss things with it properly, but could not order it.

The first time riding the black dragon Drogon, Daenerys wanted to return, but Drogon did not seem to have this intention. Under her command, Drogon flew higher and farther and flew in the opposite direction.

Daenerys carried a whip because she had just come down from horseback and then tentatively rode on the back of the black dragon for the first time. To prevent the black dragon from being disobedient, she thought she might need a horse-training whip.

Daenerys nervously rode onto the dragon's back, but when the black dragon carried her flying into the sky, she found herself so intoxicated that she would rather die immediately. After flying around to her heart's content, she tried to get Drogon to turn according to her wishes, fly higher or lower, but Drogon was indifferent to her mother's orders.

Daenerys remembered when she first learned to ride a horse, if she wanted the horse to go to the left, she would whip the horse's right flank, and the horse would run to the left. So, she applied the knowledge she learned from training horses to training dragons.

Daenerys whipped the black dragon's right side, hoping it would fly to the left, but the black dragon swerved to the right and stretched out its mouth to grab her horse whip. While forcefully snatching her mother's whip, it almost caused Daenerys to fall off its back. Daenerys broke out in a cold sweat and quickly let go. The whip was snatched away by Drogon, flung away, and then burned to ashes by a mouthful of dragonfire.

Then Drogon suddenly climbed higher, and Daenerys had to grab its horns tightly to avoid falling. She once thought that the black dragon would kill her, but it was just the black dragon sulking at its mother.

Later, Daenerys finally understood that she could not train dragons in the same way as training horses.

When she whipped her silver mare's right flank, the mare would run to the left because the horse's first instinct was to stay away from danger. But when her whip landed on Drogon's right side, it turned to the right because the dragon's nature was to attack.

Later, she discovered that it did not seem to matter where she whipped it. Most of the time, Drogon would carry her according to its own wishes. If it was unwilling, neither whips nor soft words could make Drogon turn.

Finally, Daenerys understood another truth: whips could not cause physical harm to Drogon. Its scales were harder than bull horns and harder than rocks, but it would cause serious harm to Drogon's 'heart'.

From then on, Daenerys threw away the whip and no longer used it to force Drogon to submit.

The dragon riders of ancient Valyria relied on powerful spells and magic horns to control their mounts. But Daenerys had nothing. She had no powerful dragon spells, nor magic dragon horns. She only had two weapons to train Drogon: one was the High Valyrian language; the other weapon was her mother's heart.

The sudden arrival of the weirdo Magharo changed Daenerys' plan. She decided to ride a dragon north to conquer the khals of the Dothraki. Her Sun-and-Stars Drogo was the most powerful khal on the grasslands, once possessing a hundred thousand khalasars. Drogo had also promised her to lead his sons to ride wooden horses across the Narrow Sea and offer the Iron Throne to her. Now her Sun-and-Stars had passed away, and the Iron Throne was still there, that was her home. Drogo failed to give her the Iron Throne, so she would take it herself.

“Drogon!” She stroked the dragon's head and whispered, Drogon was her husband Drogo's name. She seemed to be touching Drogo's forehead, whispering to her beloved husband, “Let us fly to the Dothraki sacred mountain together, conquer the khals, and unify the grasslands, okay.”

The black dragon exhaled warm breath, squatted down, and leaned against Daenerys. It enjoyed its mother's stroking and whispering. This stroking and whispering had accompanied the black dragon from a palm-sized body to its current elephant-like size.

Riding the black dragon, she could reach anywhere she wanted at will, including crossing the Narrow Sea, without having to take a boat at all. She could go through the sky. But her subordinates couldn't, her prime minister, the Clean Men, generals, blood riders, maids, and soldiers couldn't.

The black dragon could carry her far. The white dragon and the bronze-green dragon were still slightly smaller, but it was time to recognize the dragon riders.

Tyrion walked over slowly, and stopped immediately when the black dragon turned its head to stare at him: "Your Majesty, do not go to the grasslands alone, it is too dangerous. If you encounter any difficulties, we are all at sea..."

“I have Drogon, I am fluent in the Dothraki language, I am Drogo's wife, I am the Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea.” Daenerys was determined.

Leading hundreds of thousands of Dothraki cavalry across the Narrow Sea to seize the Iron Throne was not only her wish, but also the oath shouted by her deceased husband Drogo when he drew his scimitar.

At the foot of the Dothraki sacred mountain, next to the sacred lake, assassins sent by Robert attempted to kill Daenerys and the child in her womb with poisoned wine. This angered Drogo, who had no intention of crossing the sea. He knelt facing the sacred mountain and drew his scimitar by the waters of the sacred lake, vowing to cross the sea. At that time, his blood riders and kos responded to Drogo's roar with their swords. Remembering the scene that day gave Daenerys confidence: as long as they became a powerful khal on the grasslands, the soldiers would be willing to follow their khal to ride wooden horses across the sea.

Magharo the priest was not wrong on this point.

“Your Majesty, please allow me to land and follow you on horseback.” Daario knelt, drew his scimitar, and held it high above his head with both hands.

*

Daario was her Cleaner.

Although Jorah Mormont also deeply loved Daenerys, Daenerys did not have the passion of a Cleaner for the Great Bear, only the blood connection of relatives, the warmth and kindness of family.

But the Great Bear still forcibly embraced and deeply kissed her on a stormy night.

That night's kiss was sudden, "Oh," she only had time to say this one word before being hugged tightly by him, and two pairs of lips pressed together.

He exuded the smell of sweat, salt, and leather all over his body. He pressed her tightly against himself, and the iron buckle of his short coat embedded into her bare breasts.

He grabbed her shoulder with one hand and slid the other hand down her spine to her lower back...

A long kiss, I don't know how long. After the end, Jorah released her, and she quickly took a step back. "You...you shouldn't..."

“I shouldn’t have waited so long,” he said, “I should have kissed you in Qarth, in the City of Bones, in the Red Waste, I should have kissed you every day and every night. You are so beautiful and gentle, born to be kissed.” His eyes looked at her breasts.

“...You are overstepping! I am your queen.”

“You are my queen,” he said, “and the bravest, sweetest, and most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my life. Daenerys—”

“Your Majesty!”

“Your Majesty,” he conceded, “Remember the phrase, ‘The dragon has three heads’? You have always been puzzled. Well, let me tell you: there used to be three giant dragons, Balerion, Meraxes, and Vhagar, ridden by Aegon, Rhaenys, and Visenya, respectively. The Targaryen family's emblem is a three-headed dragon—actually, three dragons, three dragon riders. You are now the dragon rider of the black dragon, but the white dragon and the bronze-green dragon do not yet have dragon riders.”

“I think so too,” Dany said, “but my brothers are all dead.”

“You have no brothers, but you can have husbands. Let me tell you clearly, Daenerys, in this world, no one can compare to half of my sincerity to you. Let me be the dragon rider of the white dragon, Daenerys.”

Daenerys originally intended to let Jorah Mormont be her white dragon's dragon rider to compensate for his deep affection for her. When she let Daario enter her room, she saw the pain in the Great Bear's eyes.

She had...deep pity for this!

*

“Your Majesty, please let the blood riders and khalasar follow.”

Aggo, Jhoggo, and Rakharo knelt together, begging.

Daenerys shook her head slightly, shaking the Great Bear out of her mind. The Great Bear was three times her age.

“Daario, aren’t you afraid of falling from the bronze-green dragon?” Daenerys asked.

Jorah was determined to be the White Dragon Rider!

Drogon wrapped his neck around and gently nibbled at her hand. Drogon's teeth were very sharp, but when close to his mother, he never broke her skin.

“It is my honor to die for Your Majesty, whether in battle or by falling to my death,” Daario said.

He was handsome and charming, mature and handsome, with skin as smooth as water, and his clothes were as gorgeous as a royal lady.

Daenerys swung onto the back of the black dragon: "Daario, I will guide the green dragon down for you to ride. If the green dragon accepts you, you'll have a day to practice. If the gods will you to be a dragon rider, then you shall join me in conquering the Dothraki."

Daario was overjoyed, standing up with a flourish, a radiant smile blooming on his face, his entire being radiating a glorious light.

*

Dragons are the most proud of magical creatures, only ever acknowledging one person as their rider. Once they accept a master, they will never change for the rest of their lives. Will the green dragon Rhaegal accept Daario as its dragon rider?