"Sift through the bodies carefully and burn them evenly with fire," Rhaegar ordered, his expression neutral as he flicked the blood from his sword.
The mercenaries moved quickly, stripping the Shadowbinders of their masks and black robes with practiced efficiency.
"My lord, there are so many dragon eggs here!" Robert exclaimed, excitedly sifting through the pile of dragon droppings.
Rhaegar picked up a grayish dragon egg and examined it, sighing, "These are dead eggs,petrified."
He tapped the egg, noting the dull, muffled sound instead of the crisp ring of a viable dragon egg. Robert's enthusiasm waned as he continued to unearth five fossilized dragon eggs, each one lifeless.
Rhaegar compared them to the dragon eggs on Dragonstone Island, confirming that this relic was indeed one of the Belaerys' dragon lairs. As he pondered its significance, Robert suddenly shouted, "My Lord, there's a vacancy here! A dragon egg is missing from the dragon droppings!"
Rhaegar's heart tightened. "What's going on?"
Robert examined the aged dragon droppings and counted six craters where eggs should have been. "One, two... There's one missing," he said.
Rhaegar's mind raced. "The Shadowbinders must have accomplices."
"My lord, we found a flower!" a mercenary reported hesitantly.
"Search more carefully for lurking dragon eggs," Rhaegar ordered, storing the five petrified dragon eggs in his space bracelet before turning to the mercenaries.
Dragons were the cornerstone of House Targaryen's power, and even petrified dragon eggs were too valuable to leave behind.
As he approached the pile of Shadowbinder corpses, the mercenaries formed a circle and began burning the bodies with their torches. One squad leader held up a strange blue, wilted flower.
The flower had seven petals, purple stamens, and a soft stem wrapped in dark leaves. "Orchid?" Rhaegar mused, recognizing the plant.
The squad leader hesitated. "If I'm not mistaken, it should be the Soul Restoring Orchid, which can fetch a high price in Volantis."
Rhaegar's eyes brightened slightly at the news. Carefully taking the Soul Restoring Orchid, he smiled. "Well done. This many flowers will bring you wealth."
He lowered his head and sniffed the nearly withered orchid. Its light, refreshing scent was invigorating, reminiscent of the scented powder of Daella.
Hearing the mention of money, the junior captain eagerly pulled a piece of parchment from the Shadowbinders' black robes and said excitedly, "My Lord, would you look at this and see if it is useful?"
"You are resourceful," Rhaegar praised, taking the yellowed parchment and examining it for a few moments.
"My Lord, what do you think?" the junior captain asked expectantly.
Rhaegar read the small, intricate characters on the parchment twice and frowned. "It's neither Common Tongue nor Valyrian. I can't make it out."
He was familiar with several widespread scripts, but the complex symbols on the parchment were unfamiliar.
Robert stepped forward, scratching his head. "My lord, this looks like the ancient language of Yi Ti."
"You recognize it?" Rhaegar asked, surprised at the old sailor's knowledge.
"No, no, I don't even recognize native Valyrian," Robert admitted sheepishly. "But one of my former captains was from Yi Ti, and I saw similar symbols on his ship."
"Never mind. We'll find someone to translate it when we get out," Rhaegar decided, putting the Soul Restoring Orchid and the parchment away.
The Soul Restoring Orchid was a precious treasure that could nourish depleted spiritual energy, making it valuable to him and his family.
After personally burning the bodies of the Shadowbinders, Rhaegar ordered his men to search the cave again. Finding nothing more, they prepared to leave.
As they walked along the dimly lit, dark river, Robert asked, "Sir, where shall we go next?"
Having dealt with the immediate threat of the Shadowbinders and found the dragon eggs, Robert was still reeling from the experience.
. Rhaegar listened to the rushing water and thought rationally. "The caves at the end of the lower river have already been explored. Let's follow the dark river upstream."
He suspected that there were other accomplices in the ruins besides the dead Shadowbinders. Besides, he was here to uncover the lost legacies of the Belaerys family, and a few fossilized dragon eggs weren't worth the risks they'd taken.
As they made their way upstream, they passed by the tunnels that led in and out of the ruins, continuing to explore the dimly lit underground. The elevation increased, making the current more turbulent. After about an hour, the gray rock beneath their feet disappeared, replaced by broken stone slabs.
The firelight illuminated a crushed and deformed open space with cracked slabs on all four walls. The sudden change caught everyone's attention and alarmed them.
Rhaegar's mind raced as he surveyed the area. "Downstream is the pit of the Dragon Nest. Upstream should be the main body of it."
Considering the structure of the Dragonpit and the Dragon's Nest, he hypothesized that this Dragonpit was similar before it was destroyed. From the pile of rocks outside, he estimated it was about the same size as the Dragonpit in King's Landing.
"This Dragonpit likely belonged to the Belaerys family," Rhaegar thought, his eyes narrowing as he scanned the area. "It's unlikely that something important would be hidden in an unimportant part of the Dragonpit."
He knew that if there were significant treasures or legacies of the Belaerys family, they would be found in the heart of the Dragonpit.
Plop-
The sound of splashing water broke the silence, stirring the dark current.
Rhaegar's eyes darted to the source and he whispered urgently, "Stay alert!"
A mad roar echoed through the cave as a figure leapt from the dark river and splashed toward the shore.
"It's the Stone man! Prepare to attack!" Rhaegar shouted as he recognized the hideous silhouette.
Splash, splash, splash...
More sounds of falling water followed, indicating the presence of numerous Stone men emerging from unknown underwater caverns and swarming over the ruins.
These creatures, with no apparent weaknesses, crawled beast-like on hands and knees, their fierce eyes fixed on the living as they pounced with teeth and claws.
"Squad one, move up to block! Rotate back!" the squad leader ordered, trying to keep order as the mercenaries formed up.
Ten men formed a line along the riverbank, their curved swords slashing fiercely to keep the Stone men from coming ashore and to ensure that the main group could retreat.
"Grab what you can and go! Don't get bogged down!" Rhaegar urged, leading the mercenaries upstream.
No one wanted a protracted battle with the unintelligent, contagious stone men.
The stone-paved tunnel narrowed, evidence of the room's tragic collapse under pressure.
Moments later, two dark holes appeared ahead.
"My Lord, which way?" the commander asked, panic in his voice.
Rhaegar's eyes widened and his breath quickened as he stared at the two cave entrances.
Behind them, dozens of Stone men pursued relentlessly, roaring and clawing at the mercenaries holding the line, tearing senselessly.
"Which entrance?" Rhaegar muttered, knowing he had to decide quickly.
Based on the layout of dragon caves, the two paths likely led to different parts of the upper cave, perhaps to the chaotic pile of rocks outside the ruins. Each path could represent a different area of the Dragonpit—maybe a dragon's lair or a long-buried exit.
His eyes settled on the right entrance near the dark river, noting a large, gaping hole that appeared to have been smashed open. The edges of the gap were scorched black, as if by fire.
"This way!" Rhaegar decided.
Rhaegar pointed to the hole on the right and charged forward, torch in hand. He had a theory about the scorched blackness around the edges of the rift.
It wasn't caused by dragon flames or molten lava, but by the friction of dragon scales scraping the rock as they fled. The scales of adult dragons were as hard as iron, capable of generating high temperatures under violent impact.
Rhaegar had seen the claw marks of an adult dragon before, and he believed that this gaping hole was its work as well.
During the Doom, the dragon, trapped in the Dragonpit, fought to escape, driven by sheer survival instinct. The route it took likely led to the usual exit used for flight.
Whether the exit still existed or not didn't matter to Rhaegar. He wanted to follow the dragon's path, hoping it would lead to an opportunity.
"Quickly! Block the entrance!" he ordered.
The group hurried through the hole on the right and the commander ordered the remaining mercenaries to block the entrance with rubble, ignoring the screams and growls from outside.
"Let us in!" "Roar!"
As the rubble piled up, muffling the sounds of battle, Rhaegar glanced back, but did not stop. The mercenaries blocking the stone men were already infected with grayscale. It was better they died quickly now than slowly from the disease.
"Keep moving! The cave isn't that deep!" Rhaegar urged, touching the damp stone slabs.
Soon the narrow passage opened into a massive cave filled with debris.
Water trickled from cracks in the rocks above, flowing into a deep spring that joined the dark river. Ignoring the strange landscape, Rhaegar's eyes were drawn to a chaotic pile of rocks that formed a small mountain.
Beneath the rubble and dirt lay the bleached bones of a massive creature - curved dragon horns, sharp claws, broken wings.
Rhaegar gasped, lost in thought. "The dragon of House Belaerys!"
(Word count: 1,566)