Rhaegar quickly held his breath as a torrent of searing heat washed over his body.
"Roar..." The black dragon stared at him with dilated pupils, as if inspecting a tiny insect. Rhaegar's heart pounded, his body growing hotter and hotter, as if being boiled alive.
The black dragon, though not massive, was young. In Rhaegar's estimation, it was no larger than Sunfyre, still on the cusp of adulthood. Yet, its impact on him was more intense than anything he had ever felt, reminiscent of his first encounter with Cannibal.
"Stop, Balerion!" Daenys rolled on the grass, calling out in panic. Rhaegar's heart skipped a beat. He had already guessed the dragon's identity from its appearance. The confirmation came when Daenys called out the name of the black dragon.
"The Black Dread, right before my eyes," Rhaegar thought, his brain buzzing as he gazed up in awe.
"Roar..." The black dragon turned its head sideways, staring at the human cub with a suspicious glint in its eyes. It stretched its neck, nostrils twitching as it tried to discern the scent.
"Balerion," Rhaegar asked, his heart pounding, "are you okay?" In his mind, Balerion had always been a legendary figure, living on through tales even after its death.
"Snort, snort..." The black dragon, proud and arrogant, raised its head in confusion and snorted heavily. Rhaegar, standing below, was hit with a foul, fishy stench. The dragon's pupils narrowed before it turned away, lazily lying down on the grass, showing no interest in dealing with the human cub.
"Gaemon, come with me." Daenys struggled to her feet and dragged her brother away without further ado. Rhaegar's head spun, and his body steamed like a furnace.
It was hot, unbearably hot. Daenys seemed oblivious to the fact that even his hand felt like a hot coal, completely out of the ordinary. Rhaegar's vision blurred as he realized his body was overheating. He had not felt the concept of "heat" for a long time.
"What's going on?" Rhaegar muttered, sensing something was wrong. He turned his head back, curious about the situation.
The black dragon lay on the ground, its dragon tongue gently licking its wings, its long, thick tail swaying back and forth. As the tail swung, it revealed a five-foot-long scratch on its belly armor, with dragon blood dripping and burning the green grass.
"He's hurt," Rhaegar noted, his consciousness gradually becoming clouded.
"Croak." A toad croaked in his ear as he slowly closed his eyes.
...
"How is he?"
"It's not serious. The dragon's blood is just overactive from the shock."
"..."
The room was empty, with murals carved into the black Dragonstone walls. Rhaegar opened his eyes again, taking in a scene of Valyrian Lamb Men being attacked by a dragon.
"You're awake." A voice came from beside him, and a small hand helped him sit up. Rhaegar turned his head and saw Daenys spooning some soup into a bowl. "You're sick. Drink some."
"No..." It was useless to refuse, and the porcelain spoon was brought to his lips. Rhaegar was slightly taken aback, his body stiffening uncontrollably. Daenys continued to feed him, repeating, "Drink, drink." Despite his desire to refuse, his body obediently drank the medicine.
"What's going on?" His body felt numb, and his eyes were the only part that could move. Rhaegar was confused, feeling an unusual effect on his body.
"Croak." The toad croaked in a daze, hopping to the edge of the pillow. Rhaegar was momentarily dazed, some memories in his mind triggered, and he asked cautiously, "Did you bring me here?"
"Croak." The toad stared at him with lifeless dead fish eyes, croaking lifelessly. Its expression made one question if it had any intelligence.
"What are you, a puppet created by the Asshai sorcerers?" Rhaegar glared at it before asking, "Where am I?"
"This is home," Daenys replied, tidying up the medicine bowl before silently getting up. Only then did Rhaegar realize he could move his body.
Bang! The door closed, leaving him alone with the toad in the room.
Rhaegar did a backflip, grabbed the toad, and demanded, "Where am I?"
"Croak." The toad, almost squashed, still didn't move.
"The seven levels of hell!" Rhaegar slapped his forehead and sighed. "A toad, no way to communicate." He knew he was in trouble.
He got off the bed and groped his way along the Dragonstone murals. "Huh?" Rhaegar was slightly surprised. He didn't feel any cool or warm touch. In fact, he couldn't feel anything at all.
Rhaegar's eyes flashed, and he stuck a finger in his mouth.
Ka!
The skin of his finger was bitten, and a trickle of blood flowed. Rhaegar blinked but felt no pain.
"This is not the real world," he realized instantly. Rhaegar rubbed his face vigorously but still felt no sensation. He laughed helplessly, "It's fake, it's all fake."
He remembered the Asshai sorcerer who had attacked him, though he had killed the sorcerer first. Before dying, the sorcerer had cast a curse on him.
Rhaegar tried to remember and wondered, "Nightmare, is this a dream?" A dream that transcends time and space, a dream that goes back to the past. This had happened once before—when Laena had a difficult birth, he had accidentally entered a dream that wasn't his and witnessed his mother's death in childbirth.
"But this isn't a nightmare," Rhaegar said, looking at his childlike body. "The death of the caster has an effect on the curse?"
If he were the caster, he would have cast a spell to send people into an endless nightmare. But Rhaegar himself was not afraid of nightmares. He was used to them and had the ability to disrupt the dream.
Unable to understand, he summoned the explorer system panel.
Rhaegar Targaryen
Talent: Dreamer (Gold)
Bloodline: Dragonborn (+59%)
Runes: Bronze (Green), Serpent (Blue)
Blood Sorcery: Binding Spells (Blue), Reflections of the Moon...
Relics: Blood and Fire, Dream Vision, Pure Water...
Comment: "You realize your situation, don't you? Your bloodline has increased."
Rhaegar looked at the "Bloodline" column, noticing a "+" in front of the number. This meant his bloodline was slowly being purified, waiting for the number to jump. Rhaegar thought for a moment and remembered the situation before he fainted. He had encountered an injured Balerion, and his body had been abnormally hot.
"Is this a dream?" Rhaegar pinched the tender flesh on his arm."I've felt it clearly before, but why have I forgotten about it?"
It was precisely the clear five senses that made him lose himself in his dreams. After falling into a coma, he had experienced a loophole.
"Croak." The toad croaked once, its green eyes empty as death. Rhaegar repeatedly looked at the culprit, and his gaze fell on the panel's "Relics" section. He muttered, "Is this the Dreamscape effect?"
The ability to trigger the dream vision by daring to think and act.
Hum...
A loud buzzing sound filled his ears, as if a hammer had been smashed on his head. Rhaegar rolled his eyes and fell backward limp.
Plop.
He fell back onto the bed, landing at the feet of the toad.
"Croak." The toad croaked softly, completely calm.
...
"Uh..."
After an unknown amount of time, the dizziness returned to Rhaegar's brain.
"Gaemon, don't lie on the table," a voice lectured him through the noise in his ears.
Rhaegar looked up and tried to respond, but only managed a muted cry.
"Ho ho..." The sound barely passed through his vocal tract, and he suddenly came to his senses, covering his mouth with his hands. His teeth clenched his tongue, but he still felt no pain.
Rhaegar's heart tightened as he tried to speak again. The words were on the tip of his tongue, but they turned into another muted cry.
"I'm mute," Rhaegar realized, his eyes widening in alarm.
"Gaemon, sit up straight."
Daenys, looking haggard, removed her brother's hand from his mouth. Rhaegar didn't resist and immediately looked around. The sky was filled with mist, obscuring a peak that reached into the clouds. The siblings were at the foot of the mountain, on barren land covered in stones.
Rhaegar kept a sharp eye out, turning to look around. There were people all around him, wearing clothes made of linen or wool, and with various hairstyles. But one thing was the same for all of them, young and old, men and women: they were all Valyrian, with silver hair and purple eyes. At a glance, there were at least a few hundred of them.
A Valyrian group of this size was rare, even in Volantis. However, Rhaegar was surprised to find that he couldn't see the faces of these people. It was as if a fog obscured their faces, and all he could see was the white skin of their necks.
Rhaegar turned around and saw a tall man with silver hair and dark skin up close. He thought to himself, "Could this man be a Velaryon?" The combination of black skin and white hair made them the only ones of this type of Valyrian descent.
Suddenly, a solemn prayer was heard in the distance:
"Hen lantoti anogar, Va syndroti vãedroma (Blood of two, Joined as one)."
"Mēro perzot gihoti, Elēdroma iärza sir (Ghostly flame and song of shadows)."
The vow was recited in High Valyrian with perfect diction. Rhaegar followed the sound and saw a man and a woman in ancient dress performing the ceremony. Both had silver hair and shawls, leaning close to each other and touching foreheads. A red-robed wizard stood on a rock, waving a scepter and reciting the words.
"They are members of the House of Belaerys and Aurion," Daenys whispered unemotionally, her head lowered. "Cousins. You and I will do the same in the future."
Rhaegar tilted his head and saw Daenys's cheeks clearly. She was pretty, pale, and looked frail, just as she appeared in the books.
"Would you like to eat something?" Daenys' eyes were calm and unperturbed as she took a fresh red grape from her bosom.
Rhaegar hesitated slightly before accepting the offer. When he put it in his mouth, it was neither warm nor sweet. Rhaegar was stunned and swallowed it, finding it tasteless.
This time, he had not only lost the ability to speak but also his sense of taste and smell. His eyes wandered, and he leaned in to smell Daenys. There was no trace of the fragrance he remembered from before. Even in a crowd, he couldn't detect any scents.
Rhaegar lowered his head in silence, thinking, "With all five senses gone, does the dream still exist?" Had he escaped from a dream, or had his consciousness sunk into nothingness?
As he pondered, Daenys lifted her eyes and suddenly said, "Gaemon, you didn't like sweet things before." Rhaegar's heart skipped a beat, and he looked up innocently. Daenys looked away, whispering as if confiding in someone, "I was dreaming."
Rhaegar's lips moved, wanting to say that he was too.
"Hen jeny mazilarion, Qēlossa ozundesi (A future promised in glass, The stars stand witness.)" "Syndroro oño jēdo, Ry kivia mazvestraksi (The vow spoken through time, Of darkness and light)," the red-robed wizard read the last words aloud.
Dong dong dong...
The next moment, drums sounded around them, the beats as dense as rain. Rhaegar suddenly looked back and saw the crowd dispersing in an intriguing manner.
"Woo-hoo-hoo..." A melodious horn sounded, like lightning in the night, shattering all illusions and confusion. Rhaegar's vision darkened, and his body once again lost control.
"Woo-woo-woo..." The horn continued, and upon listening closely, it was a complex tone, almost like a song.
"Listen carefully, don't think about it," Daenys said, her eyes vacant, as if she were a ghost.
(Word count: 1,955)