The moment Daniella saw the enormous charcoal-black dragon pursuing the three younger dragons through the skies above Dragonstone, she immediately understood the situation.
Glutton.
The savage wild dragon that had haunted Dragonstone for generations.
Looking at the three fleeing dragons ahead of him, Daniella suddenly recalled certain fragments from the histories of the Dance of the Dragons.
Grey Ghost was indeed recorded in history, but the other two younger dragons had never appeared in any official records afterward.
Now it seemed the reason was obvious.
They had most likely been devoured by Glutton long before the Dance even began.
“Dreamfyre, attack!”
Daniella gave the command without hesitation.
Glutton was an ancient dragon native to Dragonstone, rumored by some to be even older than Balerion the Black Dread himself.
Although his size had only recently surpassed one hundred meters and remained somewhat smaller than Vermithor, he was still an exceptionally dangerous beast.
More importantly, he was wild.
Savage.
Cunning.
And extremely experienced in battle.
However, Dreamfyre had already grown to nearly seventy meters after years of rapid development around the new volcanic island.
Furthermore, dragons ridden by true dragonriders possessed combat strength far greater than wild dragons fighting alone.
The instant Dreamfyre received Daniella’s command, the great blue dragon accelerated violently through the skies toward Glutton.
“ROOOAAARRR!”
Dreamfyre’s roar echoed across the sea like rolling thunder.
Among all the dragons of House Targaryen, her roar possessed perhaps the greatest majesty and pressure.
Glutton, who had finally cornered the three young dragons after a long pursuit, instantly became furious seeing Dreamfyre interfere.
The massive black dragon twisted his neck sharply and unleashed a savage hiss toward Dreamfyre.
“HISSSS!
GRAAAAH!”
“Dragonflame!”
The moment Glutton entered range, Daniella immediately ordered Dreamfyre to attack.
A torrent of deep blue dragonfire exploded from Dreamfyre’s jaws and engulfed Glutton entirely.
However, Daniella did not relax for even a moment.
Immediately after unleashing the attack, she ordered Dreamfyre to rapidly gain altitude while carefully observing the flames below.
As expected.
Using the cover of smoke and dragonfire, Glutton suddenly lunged upward with his enormous jaws open wide, attempting to ambush Dreamfyre directly from beneath.
Fortunately, Dreamfyre had already ascended in advance.
Glutton’s sneak attack narrowly missed.
Without hesitation, Daniella immediately ordered another burst of dragonfire downward to obscure Glutton’s vision again before sharply circling behind him.
“Dreamfyre, stay silent.”
“Jump onto his back and attack from behind.”
Taking advantage of Glutton’s temporary disorientation, she folded her wings slightly and lunged toward the older dragon’s back.
Yet Glutton truly deserved his reputation as one of Dragonstone’s oldest and most dangerous dragons.
Just as Dreamfyre prepared to seize him, the ancient black dragon suddenly twisted his body with astonishing speed.
One enormous claw slashed viciously toward Dreamfyre while Glutton simultaneously began climbing higher into the air, clearly attempting to tear open the vulnerable oil sacs within Dreamfyre’s chest.
“Dragonflame!”
At such close range, Dreamfyre’s blast struck Glutton directly across the face and chest.
The impact caused the massive dragon to lose balance briefly as sparks erupted across portions of his wings.
But in the next instant, Daniella saw a sickly green dragonfire begin gathering inside Glutton’s throat.
“Pull back!”
Dreamfyre immediately retreated upward.
The disgusting green flames erupted past them only moments later.
Unlike Dreamfyre’s clean dragonfire, Glutton’s flames appeared thick, sticky, and almost liquid-like, splattering through the air in burning streams.
Even Daniella felt a chill run down her spine.
“This old monster’s combat instincts are terrifying.”
Despite her confidence in both her dragonriding abilities and battle tactics, Glutton still managed to repeatedly seize opportunities during the battle.
Over the years, Daniella and Dreamfyre had hunted countless sea monsters, slaughtered pirates throughout the Narrow Sea, and burned hundreds of ships.
Yet even now, they still struggled to gain a true advantage over Glutton.
Fortunately, during the chaos of battle, the three younger dragons had already vanished into the surrounding clouds and escaped danger temporarily.
That alone made the fight worthwhile.
Daniella immediately changed tactics.
Rather than recklessly engaging Glutton at close range again, she ordered Dreamfyre to maintain distance while avoiding heavily clouded regions that might conceal another ambush.
As long as she could force Glutton away and prevent him from devouring those younger dragons, continuing the fight further was unnecessary.
Of course, this also meant the giant great white shark she had spent so much effort catching earlier was likely lost.
The battle between Dreamfyre and Glutton took place frighteningly close to Dragonstone itself, so the entire island quickly noticed the dragons clashing overhead.
Inside the Fire Kiss Garden, Prince Daemon had originally been enjoying himself completely naked when he suddenly heard the thunderous roars echoing across the island.
The prince immediately cursed, hastily pulled on his clothes, and sprinted toward Caraxes, who rested upon the seaside cliffs nearby.
At that moment, Blood Wyrm Caraxes was already shrieking excitedly toward the distant battle in the skies.
Meanwhile, although King Jaehaerys had already grown old and frail, the moment he learned that Daniella was fighting Glutton atop Dreamfyre, the old king immediately became restless.
Without hesitation, he hurried toward the Dragonmont to summon Vermithor.
Princess Rhaenys reacted even faster.
By the time Daemon rushed out of the Fire Kiss Garden and Jaehaerys reached the Dragonmont, Meleys the Red Queen had already taken flight.
At the same time, Syrax happened to be resting within Aegon’s Garden.
Rhaenyra secretly climbed onto her dragon as well and hurried into the skies behind Meleys.
As she watched Daniella battling Glutton in the distance while Rhaenyra stubbornly followed behind despite her fear, Princess Rhaenys revealed a deeply satisfied smile.
“This…”
She quietly murmured to herself,
“This is exactly how princesses of House Targaryen should be.”
Meleys truly deserved her reputation as the fastest dragon alive.
Within mere minutes, the Red Queen had already crossed the distance separating Dragonstone from the battlefield.
Rhaenys gave the command fearlessly.
Although Meleys measured only around sixty meters compared to Glutton’s immense size, the Red Queen possessed extraordinary aggression and battle instincts.
With a metallic shriek, she immediately joined the battle.
Facing Dreamfyre alone, Glutton still managed to maintain slight superiority through experience and cunning.
But once Meleys entered the fight, the balance shifted instantly.
Daniella immediately seized the opportunity.
Dreamfyre lunged forward and slashed several enormous wounds across Glutton’s chest using her claws.
The ancient black dragon roared furiously in pain.
Watching Dreamfyre and Daniella coordinate their attacks so smoothly, Princess Rhaenys became increasingly impressed.
“To possess such dragonriding skill at only eighteen years old…”
“It is truly rare.”
At this moment, Rhaenyra finally arrived riding Syrax.
Unfortunately, the moment she saw four dragons clashing violently in the skies, all the courage she had gathered earlier immediately evaporated.
Neither she nor Syrax dared approach the battlefield directly.
Instead, they could only hover nervously at a distance watching the fight unfold.
Soon afterward, two additional dragon roars echoed across the skies.
Vermithor and Caraxes had finally arrived carrying King Jaehaerys and Prince Daemon respectively.
The moment Glutton realized more dragons were joining the battle, he immediately unleashed a massive burst of green dragonfire to force Dreamfyre and Meleys backward.
Then, without hesitation, the ancient dragon turned and fled rapidly toward his lair within the volcanic regions of Dragonstone.
Princess Rhaenys immediately pursued him atop Meleys to ensure the wild dragon truly retreated completely.
Jaehaerys and Daemon also followed behind Glutton until they personally witnessed the massive black dragon disappear back into his volcanic cave.
Only then did they finally return toward Dragonstone.
Meanwhile, Daniella suddenly remembered something extremely important.
The giant great white shark.
She immediately guided Dreamfyre back toward the place where the prey had fallen into the sea earlier.
Fortunately, the carcass had not yet sunk completely.
Dreamfyre quickly located the floating shark, seized it with her claws, and triumphantly carried it back toward Dragonstone.
When Rhaenyra saw this scene, the guilt and fear she felt over her own hesitation during the battle instantly transformed into irritation and anger.
She rode Syrax directly toward Dreamfyre and shouted loudly across the skies,
“Daniella!”
“You caused such chaos first thing in the morning, and now you still care about catching sharks?!”
“I think you are completely hopeless!”
Daniella merely pointed casually toward her ear before spreading her hands helplessly.
Then she pointed toward her own mouth and gestured for Rhaenyra to stop talking.
Clearly, the wind and distance made hearing difficult while flying.
But Rhaenyra instantly understood exactly what Daniella meant anyway.
Shut up.
The young princess became so angry that her face nearly turned red on the spot.