The Next Day.
Daeron rose early, gathered his men, and headed straight for the Dragonmont.
"Prince, are you sure about this?"
Barristan, serving as his personal guard, couldn't help but try to dissuade him.
The Dragonmont wasn't like other places.
The temperature deep inside was extremely high. Except for Targaryens and those with strong dragon blood, outsiders couldn't withstand it.
If anything happened to the Prince while he was alone, the King would definitely have Barristan's head.
He might even take his anger out on Crown Prince Rhaegar.
"Ser, I brought you here to keep the others on the island in check, not to lecture me."
Daeron stopped and looked at him seriously. "I won't hide it from you. I already possess two dragon eggs."
"I suspect there are more eggs in the Dragonmont, and perhaps even treasures that can help them hatch."
"All I need from you is your support."
Hearing this, Barristan stood frozen, wondering if he was hallucinating.
Two dragon eggs? Treasures to help them hatch?
He thought the Prince was exploring the Dragonmont to find the black shadow suspected to be a wild dragon?
Ser Jon and Davos remained calm.
They had known the Prince's plans for a while. After failing to persuade him earlier, they didn't intend to stop him now.
Both men prided themselves on knowing Daeron well and were aware that the Prince held secrets.
"Since no one has objections, let's move!"
Daeron glanced at each of them.
No one argued, and the journey went smoothly.
Deep within the Dragonmont.
Through the mouth of a natural cavern, the interior glowed red, as if illuminated by magma.
Daeron took a deep breath and plunged in headfirst.
"Prince..."
Barristan reached out a hand, then let it drop helplessly.
In the sweltering heat, all he could do was wait and pray for the Prince's safety.
---
"Rocks, rocks, and more rocks."
Daeron entered the underground cavern and found the view surprisingly open. The internal space was larger than he had imagined.
But apart from rocks everywhere, there was nothing else.
Oh, wait.
Through cracks in the dry ground, he could see the blackened surface of oxidizing magma, glowing as it flowed and tore apart.
"Dragonmont is like this? The magma levels of the mines and the Volcano Dungeon must be deadly hot."
Daeron gritted his teeth, suffering from the intense heat.
Any sweat that seeped from his skin evaporated instantly into steam.
But heaven rewards the diligent.
Finally, he spotted something among the rubble.
Daeron rushed forward.
A petrified incubation nest, shaped like dried dragon dung, was hidden in a corner. The black, fossilized shell had cracked open long ago, but the marks weren't from tools.
"It broke naturally. Something crawled out from inside."
Daeron crouched down and gently chipped away with his hoe.
The black shell couldn't withstand the touch and crumbled into dust, revealing the treasure inside that no one had excavated yet.
A clutch of dragon eggs!
Five eggs of varying colors, their shells dusty and dull, crowded together in the ash of the dried thermostatic fluid.
"There really are dragon eggs!"
Daeron felt like he was dreaming. He couldn't believe his eyes.
Before he could celebrate, he immediately checked the condition of the eggs.
"One, two, three... five... six..."
Daeron counted carefully, his brow furrowing.
He found six indentations left by eggs in the ash, but there were only five eggs present. One was missing.
"How could this be?"
As he examined them, Daeron's frown deepened.
Of the five eggs, only one deep green egg retained a trace of vitality.
Of the other four, one was cracked from external pressure, and three had completely lost their vitality, their shells turning to stone.
Fossils.
He took what he could get.
Daeron put the deep green egg into his inventory and stuffed the others into his satchel.
At the same time, he pondered the missing egg and the cracked one.
"Could it be that one egg actually hatched naturally and crushed another one while breaking out?"
Daeron was skeptical.
The Red Comet had arrived early, and magic was rising.
But even his two eggs needed special means to hatch.
How could a wild egg hatch on its own first?
Still uneasy, Daeron searched the area again.
"A few purple-red ores..."
"A root system of fungi that's been gnawed on..."
In the empty underground cavern, Daeron found two familiar volcanic specialties.
He suspected the purple-red ores were Cinder Shards from the Volcano Dungeon.
And the fungi roots were likely Magma Caps.
A specialty of volcanic environments, rich in extremely high vitality.
"Who ate the Magma Caps?"
Daeron thought of the wild dragon rumors.
Suddenly, he spotted an oval shell fragment in a corner.
He picked it up quickly.
It was a piece of dragon eggshell, pitch black, its original color indistinguishable. It smelled of a nauseating, fishy stench.
Daeron paused, a specific creature coming to mind.
Scrape, scrape!
While he was thinking, an inconspicuous rock behind him came to life. It shook off the dust to reveal an iron-grey shell, opened a pair of scarlet eyes, and quietly shifted its position.
"Hmm?"
Daeron's senses were sharp.
But he didn't look behind him. instead, he suddenly stared at a patch of cracked ground formed by dried magma.
Unnoticed until now.
A pair of amber eyes, filled with tyrannical cruelty, had quietly opened and fixed their gaze on Daeron and his satchel.
---
"The Prince has been gone for a while. Should we go down and check?"
Barristan couldn't help but worry.
Ser Jon was anxious too, but remembering the Prince's orders, he said with difficulty, "Let's wait a bit longer..."
BOOM—!!
Before he could finish, a jet of searing fire erupted from the underground cavern.
"No!"
Barristan was shocked.
The ground trembled slightly, and debris rained down from above.
Without hesitation, he drew his sword and charged in.
"Barristan the Bold" wouldn't have his title if he knew fear.
Ser Jon's face went pale, but he was no slower than Barristan, rushing into the cavern alongside him.
At this point, the heat didn't matter.
---
"Damn bug!"
Daeron rolled awkwardly, crashing into a pile of rocks to dodge a fatal blow.
It was a Firewyrm!
In that brief glimpse, Daeron saw the monster's true face.
A red Firewyrm, six meters long and as thick as a barrel.
It had been hiding in the dried magma mud. When it saw Daeron taking the eggs, it opened its mouth and spewed a stream of fire.
Hissss-ROAR!
The Firewyrm reared its head and roared, but the sound was a piercing hiss.
Seeing the human dodge, it rolled its bloated body out of the dried mud, crushing rocks as it moved.
Such a bizarre way of moving.
Daeron had intended to run, but seeing this, he stopped.
Wait, that's not a Firewyrm.
Firewyrms, also known as "dragons' maggots," were fire-breathing monsters from the depths of the Fourteen Flames in Valyria.
Dragonstone had never had that species.
Daeron put some distance between them, watching the crawling monster chase him, and realized something.
This "Firewyrm" was more like a naturally malformed dragon.
Family history had records of similar creatures.
Laena Velaryon, daughter of Baela Targaryen and Alyn Velaryon, had a dragon egg hatch in her cradle.
But what came out was a blind, wingless, malformed monster filled with murderous rage.
As soon as it hatched, it bit off a chunk of the infant Laena's arm.
Alyn Velaryon drew his sword and killed it in fury.
"Are you a malformed dragon too?"
Daeron pondered.
This "Firewyrm" looked too much like the descriptions.
It had a dragon's head and body, but no wings or legs.
It had eyes and sharp teeth, but no scales on its body—just hideous flesh, blackened and scarred by magma burns.
It lived a life of agony.