WILOW-Ch.308: Noble High Dragons
Lonely Hills, Bolton Lands
POV of Domeric Bolton
"It's growing fast," Barbrey Dustin commented as Domeric fed a piece of roasted deer to Kilgharrah, who had grown to the size of a dog, excluding the tail and wings.
He petted Kilgharrah's head, and the dragon purred in contentment before it lay down on his leg to take a nap.
"He does." He said, "That is a good thing, considering what we're about to face."
A loud screech distracted his attention, and he saw a 10-meter-long wyvern fly above the canopy of trees surrounding them.
Kilgharrah kept his eyes on the wyvern until it flew away before giving a huff and lying down on his lap once again like a particularly lazy dog.
"How many of those things are flying out there right now?" his aunt asked. She had a bit of an accident when she first saw a wyvern.
She had gained a great dislike for them since then.
"4." He replied, "Controlling a wyvern is very difficult. And only 4 of my Skinchangers have succeeded so far. Briar also managed to gain control of a Basilisk. It has become surprisingly lazy under her care."
"What will you do with the rest?" his aunt asked.
He shrugged. "I'll keep about ten wyverns and ensure that they reproduce and multiply for any Skinchanger who might want to test his luck. And I'm thinking of keeping a few for myself. As for the rest, they'll be good ingredients for potions and magical ink. Their meat would also be good for Kilgharrah's growth and health."
Domeric had already formed a Skinchanger bond with Kilgharrah and was genuinely glad he hadn't formed a Skinchanger bond with another wyvern or animal before.
As he'd suspected, forming a Skinchanger bond with Kilgharrah had drained a significant amount of his mental strength. Domeric would be lucky if he could comfortably bond with the dragons he expected to hatch from the other two Dragon Eggs soon.
But the Skinchanger bond he formed with Kilgharrah was definitely worth it. Just like his bond with Hedwig, Domeric could connect with Kilgharrah at any time, even when he was far away, and share his consciousness with him.
This meant Domeric would be a better Dragonrider than any before him.
Moreover, Kilgharrah was no ordinary Dragon. Not only did Kilgharrah have four legs and three horns, but he was also, according to Kilgharrah, a Wise Dragon.
Yes, Kilgharrah himself had told Domeric this during the Skinchanger bond.
Apparently, Kilgharrah's species was a Wise Dragon, and only one Wise Dragon could exist in the world. If a second appeared, the two would have to fight until only one survived.
Wise Dragons could not only communicate with humans, both mentally and physically, but also inherited the knowledge passed down from their ancient ancestors, evolving into one of the wisest creatures in existence with time. They can even reduce their body size after the age of 3.
Kilgharrah was still young and could speak to Domeric only while they connected with the Skinchanger bond. And it would take a long time for him to become a truly Wise one.
And according to Kilgharrah, there were two other noble high dragon species besides himself.
One of these species, like him, could communicate with humans both mentally and physically, but lacked the wisdom inherited from its ancestors and had two horns instead of three, with still four legs.
Apparently, this species ruled multiple Dragon Nests. For now, Domeric named this species the Dragon King.
The other noble dragon species could communicate with humans only mentally and could rule only a single Dragon Nest. They also had four legs and two horns.
Domeric named this species Alpha Dragons for the time being.
According to Kilgharrah, other types of dragons only had two legs and were therefore considered low-ranking dragons, and their duty was to serve the High Dragons.
Based on Kilgharrah's words, Domeric concluded that he would likely obtain Dragon Kings from eggs that consumed six dragon eggs and Alpha Dragons from eggs that consumed five dragon eggs.
This meant that when the two dragon eggs he was currently feeding with magic and absorbing the essence of the other six eggs hatched, Domeric would have two Dragon Kings.
His aunt remained silent for a moment before speaking, awakening Domeric from his reverie. "You know, you won't be able to hide wyverns for very long. Sooner or later, someone will see them flying in the air and mistake them for dragons. And then the rumors will start."
"Very few people live in these hills," Domeric said. And that was true.
The land in Lonely Hills was barren and not fit for farming. It was only suitable for hunting, timber gathering, and grazing the farm animals.
"Even if these people do see the wyverns, no one would really believe their rumors. And by the time someone does… it would be too late." He said.
"Are you not afraid of what King Robert might do if he found out about your dragon?" his aunt asked, her hand trembling as she put it on Kilgharrah's head. When it didn't react, she started petting its head, and it purred in response.
"Not really." He replied, "I've already gained all the power that I needed."
"Have you?" she raised an eyebrow, "Or are you just being arrogant and overconfident like your usual self?"
"Very funny." He deadpanned, "But no. I'm not being overconfident this time. With the wyverns, we finally have air superiority over everyone else."
"Not much of a superiority when they can't breathe fire and will go down under an arrow barrage." She said, "These are wyverns, Domeric, not dragons. What are you going to do, throw rocks from them at the enemy?"
"Something similar." He said and pointed at the bottomless pouch he had given her as a gift.
"You can fill the bottomless pouch with thousands of rocks and continue to throw them at an army. Thrown from sufficient heights, the rocks would crush anyone under their weight. If the wyvern riders continued to do so, then sooner or later the army's morale would break, and they would make a run for it."
His aunt thought about words and nodded, "I can see where you're coming from. Anything kept inside a bottomless pouch becomes weightless, so that you can fill one of these with thousands of rocks, and wyverns won't have any problem carrying it." She said, "But they're still not as effective as dragons."
"Perhaps. But what if you change the rocks with mudballs filled with wildfire?"
His aunt looked horrified at the suggestion, then closed her mouth and considered the implications of what he had just said.
"That would… that would practically make you the Aegon Targaryen of this generation." She said before her own words registered to herself, and she gaped in shock.
"You can… practically defeat a few armies and become the King of the Seven Kingdoms at this point. And with your Valyrian looks, I doubt many would protest your rule either."
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.309: Letter from Bloodraven
Ch.310: Very Important Envoy
Ch.311: To Go or Not to Go