Glutton is a very famous wild dragon, recorded by the renowned Maester Guldane in his book, "The True History of the Dance of the Dragons."
According to records, over a hundred years ago, Glutton was already almost as large as Balerion, making it arguably the largest wild dragon.
Many aspiring Dragonriders with Targaryen blood had tried to tame Glutton, but they all ended up as withered bones in its lair.
Moreover, Glutton not only ate humans but also attacked and devoured other dragons of its kind, and its attack power was extremely strong; ordinary dragons were no match for it.
Such a powerful wild dragon suddenly disappeared during the Dance of the Dragons war; no one knew where it ultimately went, nor whether it was dead or alive.
Although Lynd was only guessing at the moment, based on the growth patterns of dragons, a dragon would need at least several hundred years to grow to the enormous size of the current sea dragon, and during this period, the only wild dragon that could fit the age criteria seemed to be Glutton.
As for the other, Sheepstealer, even if it lived until now, it could at most grow to a size similar to Balerion, still far from the sea dragon's current immense size.
While Lynd observed the sea dragon and speculated about its origin, the sea dragon, relieved from the pain in its head, joyfully thrashed its body in place.
Although it was a bit carried away, its neck and tail movements were quite large when it moved, but it still paid attention to Lynd, avoiding his location, and the already muddy grass turned completely into a quagmire.
After releasing its joyful emotions, the sea dragon seemed to remember something and suddenly turned to approach Lynd, lowering its head towards him again.
Lynd sensed that the sea dragon wanted him to ride on its head.
Lynd naturally would not refuse the offer; he leaped up, controlling the wind power of the Dragon Rune, allowing himself to fly to the sea dragon's head.
He saw that at the junction of the sea dragon's neck and body, there was a slightly concave bone joint that formed a seat, with the spinal bone spurs on both sides acting like supports and handles, securing the person sitting on it, preventing them from sliding off due to movement.
After Lynd sat down, he conveyed the message that he was ready to the sea dragon through a method similar to communicating with Glory.
Upon receiving the mental message, the sea dragon turned its body, quickly crawled to the lakeside, leaped into the lake, and submerged itself towards the bottom of the water.
When the sea dragon reached the lakeside, Lynd immediately guessed what it intended to do, so he instantly used the Ice Dragon Rune to form a simple diving bell around his body.
As the sea dragon submerged, they reached the bottom of the lake, where they found a cave large enough for the sea dragon to pass through freely, with a winding passage leading deep into the mountains.
The sea dragon entered the passage and swam for about ten minutes; the passage was continuously descending, and after turning a somewhat narrow bend, they arrived in a vertical shaft-like mountain grotto.
Immediately after, the sea dragon quickly ascended to the surface of the water, crawling into the dark cave above the grotto.
Although it was pitch black all around, through his special vision, Lynd could still discern that this was a huge underground cave. The cave floor was covered with all sorts of bones: human bones, animal bones, and he even saw dragon bones. Besides bones, all he could see were dragon feces, clearly indicating this was likely the sea dragon's private latrine.
Because of the damp environment, all the dragon feces had fermented, and a large amount of swamp gas filled the surroundings, making it impossible for a normal person to breathe.
However, this caused no discomfort to the sea dragon. It quickly led Lynd through this cave, then submerged again into another vertical shaft waterway, passing through a not-very-long channel, and arriving at the bottom of a mountain gorge.
Looking up from the bottom of this gorge, one could see the sky, but the cliffs on both sides of the gorge were extremely high, at least a thousand meters, preventing sunlight from reaching the bottom. The entire bottom of the gorge was covered with moss and similar plants, but here, Lynd found the fresh air he needed.
Lynd immediately opened the ice diving bell, replaced the turbid air inside, and then used the Ice Dragon Rune to create several additional diving bells around him, in case another situation requiring prolonged diving occurred.
Only this time he seemed to have guessed wrong; this mountain stream was very long, and the sea dragon traveled quickly for several hours without reaching its end.
However, judging by the appearance of seabirds flying from the sky above the gorge, they should have traveled from the central area of the Godgrace Mountains to the vicinity of the God's Grace Cape coastline.
Not long after, an underground lake about the size of the restricted area lake appeared before them. The sea dragon immediately dove in, continuing its journey through the underwater passage at the bottom of the lake. After traveling for less than ten minutes, a huge exit came into view, and the sunlight penetrating the seawater could vaguely be seen shimmering at the entrance.
Once the sea dragon emerged from the cave, it spread its damaged wings, flapping the seawater like fins. Its slender body straightened into a line, and it glided through the ocean at an extremely high speed.
Soon, it discovered a school of fish ahead. Then, it opened its massive mouth, and a ball of green flame shot out, incinerating the seawater in the area where the fish were, instantly turning the cold water into hot water. At the same time, shockwaves formed by the dragonfire spread outwards, directly stunning to death the fish that weren't burned by the scalding water.
Large numbers of fish floated to the surface. The sea dragon swam over and feasted, and while enjoying its meal, it also submerged itself among a cluster of dead fish, allowing Lynd to grab a few dead fish to eat as well.
Although these fish were half-raw, Lynd felt an unbearable hunger at this moment, as if he hadn't eaten for more than ten days. He didn't care about the taste and began to eat the fish raw, one after another.
Although the fish had a fishy smell, the flesh was quite good, and there was no problem eating it raw. After eating several arm-sized fish, Lynd finally felt full.
At this point, he began to look around to ascertain his location.
Soon, he recognized the area as the waters near God's Grace Cape from several distinctive cliffs in the distance, not far from where he had previously fought the sea dragon.
Lynd thought that his disappearance would surely cause quite a stir, and the Miracle Fleet would likely send ships to search for him. So, he decided to go there to see if he could encounter any search ships and learn about the situation.
After making his decision, Lynd commanded the sea dragon using the same method he used to direct Glory.
The sea dragon did not resist Lynd's command; instead, it was very willing to obey. Upon receiving the order, it stopped eating and swam rapidly in the directed direction.
On the sea surface near God's Grace Cape, a dozen longships were anchored. Sailors continuously dove into the seabed, searching for something. Judging by the flags on the ships, these vessels belonged to the pirate fleet of Bale Blackteas, the Sea Hound, under the Three Sea Monster Alliance. Those sailors diving into the deep sea were, without exception, his best.
At this time, Bale Blackteas stood expressionless at the bow of his flagship, watching his men work. Ever since he took over from Asha Greyjoy, the Sea Hag, he had spent almost every day at the bow, watching his men dive and search until the day ended.
However, the fruitless results made his expression increasingly grim. The crew on his ship, the Nightwalker, were also affected by his mood; even the sailor who loved telling dirty jokes the most had shut his mouth, avoiding bad luck.
Life in the Stepstones had stripped Bale Blackteas of the last trace of boyishness on his face. He now possessed the pirate demeanor characteristic of his Ironborn ancestors, and his long-term leadership of the fleet in battle had given him a leader's aura. Even if he were to return to Blacktyde now to succeed as Lord, he would undoubtedly be a qualified Lord of the Iron Islands.
However, unlike his typical Ironborn appearance and demeanor, the seven-pointed star emblem hanging around his neck indicated that his inner self was entirely different from his outward appearance.
Bale's first mate leaned in and suggested, "Boss, we've been searching here for half a month and found nothing. Why don't we try searching somewhere else before Dagmer Cleftjaw's Deep Ones arrive for the handover? Maybe we'll find something."
Bale Blackteas did not immediately make a decision. After a moment of silence, he turned and asked a somewhat abrupt question, "Do you think the Earl is still alive?"
The first mate was stunned, unsure how to answer for a moment, and stood blankly in place.
Just as rumors outside claimed, Linde Terra had been missing for two months with the sea dragon, making it highly probable that he was dead. But the problem was that the person they were discussing was the Chosen of the Seven, the Godsworn who had killed Others and reclaimed giants Beyond the Wall. Such a powerful person naturally could not be judged by normal standards.
Bale did not get an answer from the first mate, nor did he press further. Instead, he ordered, "Tell them to get back on the ships. We'll search somewhere else."
Upon hearing the command, the first mate immediately relayed the order. Sailors on all the ships quickly returned aboard, preparing to change their search location.
Just as everyone was preparing in an orderly fashion, the lookout, who was standing on the mast observing the surroundings, suddenly pointed to the distant sea with a pale face and shouted loudly, "Dragon! Dragon!"
Everyone froze upon hearing this, then quickly realized what it meant, and their faces turned exceptionally pale.
Bale Blackteas's face also became very grim, because the appearance of the sea dragon meant that something had happened to Lynd, which was an unacceptable matter for him.
It was important to know that in these past years, Lynd had become his spiritual guide. He believed that Lynd would surely lead them to defeat the Others in the Long Night and save humanity, and such a savior dying in the mouth of a sea dragon was something he could not accept under any circumstances.
However, he quickly broke free from the negative emotions within him, drew the longsword at his waist, and said to the first mate, "Sound the duel horn! Even if we die, we must leave an indelible mark on that monster."
Hearing Bale's decisive command, the first mate also recovered from his panic. Without thinking much, he directly took off the horn from his waist and blew the duel signal.
All the sailors on the ships heard the duel horn and recovered from their fear of the sea dragon. One by one, they picked up their spears and stood by the ship's rail. The archers also took out their best iron-tipped arrows, nocked them, ready to draw their bows and fire at any moment.
However, just as all the sailors were standing by in full readiness, waiting for the sea dragon to appear and engage in battle, the lookout who had first spotted the sea dragon suddenly shouted again, "It's gone! It submerged into the water and disappeared!"
Everyone immediately stretched their heads over the ship's rail, trying to see what was happening in the water, but all they saw was darkness.
Just then, a giant wave surged from beneath the sea, instantly tossing all the surrounding ships back and forth, and the people on board were also thrown into disarray by the sudden rocking.
However, they were, after all, people who had made their living at sea for years. They quickly adapted to the rocking ships and regained their footing, which allowed them to divert their attention to check the situation.
However, when they clearly saw the culprit behind this wave, a look of panic couldn't help but appear on each of their faces. The courage that had been generated by the duel horn quickly dissipated, and even Bale Blackteas was no exception.
They saw a hideous dragon head, as large as a three-masted sailing ship, emerge in the middle of their fleet. Its towering neck held its head high, and its enormous dragon eyes glowed menacingly, watching all the ships as if looking down on ants.
This was only the part floating on the water; everyone knew that the submerged portion of this sea dragon was likely enormous. Facing such a colossal monster, everyone was certain that not only could they not defeat it, but even leaving a wound on the monster would probably be very difficult.
However, just as everyone was sinking into despair, the sea dragon suddenly spoke.
It said, "Bale! Why are you here?"
Everyone froze, and without prior agreement, they all looked towards Bale Blackteas on the Nightwalker.
And Bale was also stunned at this moment, because he could hear that the voice was clearly Lynd's voice, so he tentatively asked, "Lord Linde, is that you?"
"Of course, it's me." Lynd's voice came again from the dragon's neck, and then the sea dragon slowly descended until its body was level with the surrounding ships.
It was then that everyone realized Lynd, who had been missing for two months, was sitting at the junction of the sea dragon's neck and body.
Everyone immediately understood the situation, and everyone's emotions instantly soared from despair to ecstasy. Some sailors, weakened from long hours of diving, even fainted from the extreme emotional fluctuation, while the rest let out cheers, their faces filled with the joy of surviving a disaster.
Lynd ignored the cheers around him, using the mental connection to command the sea dragon to cruise around and not go far.
Afterward, he stood up and leaped from the dragon's body. A strong gust of wind suddenly appeared around him, pushing him onto the Nightwalker, where he landed steadily on the deck.
"How long have I been missing?" Lynd asked very directly.
"You have been missing for over two months." Bale quickly replied.
Lynd frowned, then went straight to the point, asking, "Tell me about the situation in the territory since I disappeared."
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