Chapter 198

The black flames instantly devoured the person before him, consuming his unfinished words as well.

Zhuo Geng had no intention of stopping there, continuing to unleash dragon flames without restraint.

In moments, the flames blanketed the black stone house, turning the once-black stones red-hot like copper.

Oh...

It raised its head and roared toward the highest palace in the city.

It spread its wings, pushed off with powerful hind legs, and leapt into the air.

Dan Ni Li Si felt proud of this mighty power.

As she flew off, the black house collapsed with a roar; the fire was choked by the rising dust, then erupted with even greater fury, spreading relentlessly to both sides.

She heard the crackling of flames behind her. She knew the dragon's fire had licked the ancient oak growing beside the black house, hungrily devouring it.

Afterward came the wind and the terrified shouts and cries of passersby, incessant to her ears, yet she found herself utterly indifferent.

This is the enemy's city! Every bit of its prosperity fuels the enemy!

Oh...

The dragon swooped low over the wide avenue, kicking up clouds of dust, overturning stalls and baskets along the way, shattering all pottery and ceramics, driving a herd of camels into a frantic gallop down the street...

The screams and terror came not only from women and children; the ridiculous men in long robes fell in the streets and were trampled by the stampeding animals, wailing in anguish.

What a ridiculous city, even its interior is no better," she thought.

Zhuo Geng caught up, swooping low over the running camels, then rose straight up.

Oh...

She glanced down; the camels turned around and ran back the way they came.

When she heard the soldiers' command, Zhuo Geng was already standing atop the highest hall of the Hall of a Thousand Seats.

The Kuiersi royalty ruled over all of Kuiersi from here, and also received visitors' homage.

The Kuiersi royal family rules over all of Kuiersi here, and also receives audiences here.

She remembered that she had once entered the palace's main gate from the stairs ahead, bribing Ma Suo Si Ma La Ruo Wen, Wen De Luo Ka Er Di Si, and the elegant Ai Geng Ai Mo Xian with gold, just to obtain the royal family's blue silk slippers, so she could come here to audience with the royal family.

A childish queen. Look, what need does a true dragon have to offer tribute?

You are the ones who should be receiving tribute!

Last time I brought Lei Ge, letting it perch on my shoulder, I weakly begged you, and you called me a foolish and mad child; this time?

She felt no need to continue courting those crying fools here. In her war against the slave masters, this city had taken the opposing side; she saw the Astapor warships moored in Slave Bay, and the ridiculous camel cavalry on the battlefield……

"Fire!" she whispered the word.

Ancient buildings and precious artifacts, hundreds or thousands of years old, caught fire and burned at her command.

Outside the palace, the guards' shouts rang out, but she didn't understand them.

In the chaos they flung open the palace gates, pushed into the entrance, and in the firelight they were certain that what lay before them was a dragon.

They held weapons in their hands, yet cowardly dared not throw them at her and her dragon.

"I am Daenerys of House Targaryen, Mother of Dragons, Queen of Meereen; tell your masters, this is my second gift to them!"

The palace burned fiercely in the great fire.

The city was so fragile, she could hardly believe it.

She heard terrified shouts and even screams, feeling this was the price of their stupidity: they were the first in the world to know she was the Mother of Dragons, yet amid the world's turmoil they still chose to oppose her, all for the so‑called 'gear'.

Dragons can destroy gears; they should realize she is also called the Breaker of Chains.

The huge dragon leapt down from the platform, the guards fled in panic. The dragon surged forward, then rose into the air.

She still had other gifts to give.

People would gather in the Fountain Square to watch the burning palace, and she also needed to hide there from the missiles hurled by the organized soldiers.

The dragon surged forward, flying over the palace gates again; beneath its mighty claws, glass, agate, and various figures carved from precious gems shattered, while the palace behind it burned in the raging fire.

Daenerys could not imagine what, if anything, would remain of the palace after such a fire.

Better that nothing remain!

"Roar..." the dragon flew off again. A few strangers' cries drifted past her ears, but she had no mind to respond.

The people in Fountain Square looked toward her; when the dragon beneath her drew near enough, the crowd began to scatter. On the square, she seemed to be surrounded by the people.

"Roar..." the dragon cleared the square's din for her; in that moment it seemed the world had grown silent.

Then came endless muffled weeping and children's wails. People stared at her as if she were a monster, keeping their distance from her and her dragon. They might have seen dragons before, but they had surely never seen one so huge.

"Citizens and slaves of Astapor!" she shouted in Valyrian, "I am the Breaker of Chains, Mother of Dragons, Queen of Meereen; I have already unleashed a storm of slave liberation across the eastern continent. If you wish to join me, today is your chance—kill the slave masters beside you… I will aid you, but all this freedom and dignity must be won by yourselves."

Slave masters of Astapor, this is my third gift to you. May this gift keep you sleepless through the night.

Soldiers stepped from the street corners; to avoid being surrounded, she mounted the dragon once more and flew away.

Next were the headquarters of the Brotherhood of Bells and the Ancient Spice Guild; there she bestowed her fourth and fifth gifts, then mounted the dragon, flew into the harbor, and at Astapor's private dock delivered the sixth.

When she returned to the headquarters of the Thirteen to prepare the seventh gift, a clear voice sounded in her ear.

"Queen of Meereen, Princess of Dragonstone, orphan of House Targaryen—what is real, what is illusion?"

An androgynous voice interrupted her command to Zhuo Geng.

"Jingle jingle..." a piercing bell rang out from the bustling city.

"Whoosh..." the wind whistled in her ears.

She felt she could not open her eyes, she felt danger, and so clung tightly to Zhuo Geng.

"Chirp chirp..."

She did not know what that sound was; a sense of fear welled up from within.

Had a warlock appeared? The thought arose and then drifted away.

"Whoosh..." the wind sounded in her ears; she felt as if she had plunged into an ice cave, her whole body freezing, and she could not help but clutch the dragon tightly, greedily drawing warmth from its body.

It was too cold.

She opened her eyes, discovering she was riding on a giant dragon. Heavy snow drifted, whitening the ground and the forest before her. From the gloomy thicket came strange, eerie sounds.

She kept her eyes open, wanting to "wake up", but was powerless.

"What is real, what is fantasy?" the voice sounded again.

"Hiss..." like the sound of a poisonous snake came from within the woods.

In an instant, rotting monsters wearing tattered clothes and wielding rusted sabers surged toward her like a tide from the forest...

She was nearly frightened to the point of suffocation by the sight.

Zombies!

"Fire!" she shouted, clinging to the black dragon, "Fire!"

The dragon raised its head, making a motion to breathe fire, but the ideal raging fire that should spread like wildfire could not be exhaled; a torch‑like weak flame made her hair stand on end in fright...

"Fire!" she shouted.

When the zombies were about to reach her, she felt she could already smell their unbearable stench and icy cold, and Zhuo Geng finally spewed fire.

The zombies were burned in the blaze. Yet, more and more zombies kept coming...

"Fire, fire, fire..." she shouted incessantly, turning the dragon's fire‑breathing direction and yelling at the zombies surging from all sides.

The flames were fierce, the cold pierced to the bone.

Fire could kill the zombies, but the freezing air and unbelievable heavy snow prevented the fire from catching.

She could only order Zhuo Geng to futilely spew fire at the swarming zombies.

When the zombies approached the black dragon, and the dragon felt the zombies' "nibbles" and let out a pained angry roar, she finally recalled another word: "fly".

"Fly!"

The dragon shook its wings, throwing off the approaching zombies, but the snow was too deep, past Zhuo Geng's shins; it could not get a running start, could not take off, and could only vainly roar angrily.

"Fly," "fire," she kept shouting repeatedly, feeling as helpless as Zhuo Geng.

Monsters in the forest kept surging toward her, plus other monsters—ice‑cold spiders, snakes that slithered across the snow like... snakes.

"You can't scare me!" she shouted angrily.

This time she saw clearly that all the zombies had blue eyes and blue lips.

"You can't scare me, sorcerer!" the sorcerer was dueling her in an illusion; if in reality...

"Fire." She wanted to feel the dragon's warmth through her embrace, and calmly commanded, "Fly."

Before she could speak, she felt a sharp pain in her shoulder.

She looked at her shoulder, but saw nothing.

She was wounded in reality!

Could a little sorcerer from Quelsis keep her? She didn't believe it.

"Lei Ge!" she cried; Er, Lei Ge descended from the heavens, almost as large as the black dragon, flying in mid‑air and spewing fire at the monsters lunging at her. The monsters burned in the fire.

The snow continued, and the cold continued.

"Weisailong!" she shouted. This time nothing appeared.

It had been stolen by someone else! She resented it.

"Howl..." a deafening sound came from a distant place, penetrating the forest and the heavy snow.

"Ang..." Zhuo Geng responded in kind, its voice likewise seeming to come from afar.

The snow slowly melted, the zombies and monsters kept vanishing, and the forest gradually lost its color.

Pain! She glanced at her left shoulder; a feathered arrow had almost pierced her arm, blood flowing along her arm and dripping onto Zhuo Geng's body, producing a faint smoke and burnt smell.

Fire and broken limbs were everywhere. Just now was certainly not merely an illusion; Zhuo Geng had also been wreaking destruction on the surroundings.

A spear was also thrust into the base of Zhuo Geng's wing, and countless arrows had struck elsewhere; however, the arrowheads that had penetrated began to catch fire, affecting it not at all—except for that strange spear.

It was injured. She endured the pain, hooked her foot, and pulled out the red‑hot spear tip from Zhuo Geng's body.

Strange markings.

"Howl..." she heard that sound again.

She almost wanted to cry.

"Weisailong!" she whispered.

She saw Weisailong with another boy riding on it, breathing fire at the surrounding soldiers. Its flames were golden, bright and striking.

"Fly!" she said to the boy, "Let's fly together, leave this place!"