On the night of the third day after Aegon Targaryen’s birth, an incident occurred.
The sleeping Aegon was awakened by a slight cracking sound.
Moonlight spilled into the room through high windows, and the night-watch maid was dozing in the corner.
In the cradle, the bright gold dragon egg was trembling slightly.
Cracks.
Fine, spider-web-like cracks spread from the top of the eggshell.
Aegon held his breath—
Insofar as his infant lungs could manage it.
He reached out, his small hand pressing against the shell.
The warmth had turned to a searing heat, and the sense of connection surged like a tide, nearly overwhelming his consciousness.
[Bonding Progress: 98%…
99%…]
Immediately after, the system’s voice suddenly rang out again, still cold but carrying a certain urgency.
[High-concentration dragon blood carrier detected…]
[Primordial magical fluctuations detected…
Activation conditions met…]
A larger crack split the eggshell, and a golden light shone through from the inside.
Heat permeated the room.
The dozing maid shifted uneasily but did not wake.
Aegon felt his own heartbeat synchronizing with the heartbeat inside the dragon egg.
Thump, thump, thump.
Slow and powerful, yet every pulse widened the cracks further.
His consciousness extended along the connection, touching the life about to be born—
Not a simple beast, but something ancient, wise, and burning, an existence from the epic myths of his past life.
[Bloodline System Unlocked.
(Pending Activation)]
[Host: Aegon Targaryen]
[Age: 3 Days]
[Bloodline Purity: 24% (Targaryen Orthodox) / 34% (System Boost, Atavistic Bloodline Activation in Progress)]
[Bonded Dragon: Unnamed (Hatching)]
[System Functions Unlocked: Basic Status Perception, Dragon Resonance (Beginner), Bloodline Evolution (Inactive)]
As the flow of information flooded his mind, Aegon struggled to understand these concepts.
The system was crude, far from the omnipotent system he had imagined that could exchange divine artifacts or issue quests.
It seemed focused on ‘Bloodline’ and ‘Dragons,’ more like a supportive existence, and it appeared not to be fully unlocked yet.
But it was enough.
The eggshell shattered completely.
First to emerge was a golden claw, tiny and covered in pale gold scales, with tips as black as obsidian.
Then came the second claw, tearing the opening wide.
A small head poked out—
Eyes tightly shut, mouth open to reveal tiny, pearl-white teeth.
It was soaking wet, its scales shimmering with an interwoven luster of dull gold and blood-red in the moonlight.
Wings were pressed tightly against its back like two translucent membranes.
It was only the size of a kitten, yet it radiated an undeniable presence.
The hatchling pawed at the broken eggshell and scrambled out unsteadily.
It instinctively turned toward the heat source—Aegon.
Golden eyes opened then, meeting the infant’s purple eyes.
In an instant, the connection was complete.
Aegon felt his consciousness overlap with another.
Hunger, curiosity, dependence, and a certain ancient pride belonging to the dragon race.
The hatchling let out a faint hiss and stumbled toward Aegon, eventually curling up beside him, its wet body pressed against the infant’s swaddling clothes.
Warmth.
A familiar, blood-linked warmth.
The night-watch maid woke up just then.
She rubbed her eyes, looked at the cradle, and let out a short scream.
“Seven Hells!
A dragon!
The Prince’s dragon egg has hatched!”
Her cry alerted the entirety of Maegors Holdfast.
Footsteps approached from all directions, and the light of torches flooded the room.
The guards were the first to rush in, swords half-drawn, and then they froze—
In the cradle, beside the newborn little prince, a hatchling dragon was raising its head, watching the intruders warily.
King Viserys, having heard the news, practically ran inside, his nightgown in disarray.
When he saw the scene in the cradle, the expression on his face turned from shock to ecstasy.
“A dragon!”
He blurted out, then laughed, “It’s a hatchling!
A golden hatchling, these shimmering gold scales…
it truly is like a radiant dawn—”
“My son, my son Aegon, only three days after his birth, has hatched the dragon egg in his cradle!”
Rhaenyra followed her father in, wearing her nightgown, her silver hair loose.
When she saw the hatchling, her expression was complex and hard to read—
Surprise, a hint of jealousy, and deep concern.
Her own dragon, Syrax, had only hatched once she was old enough to be conscious of it, yet Aegon’s dragon had hatched just three days after his birth.
Otto and Alicent arrived soon after.
The former’s gray eyes glinted as he calculated the political significance of this event;
The latter covered her mouth, her eyes full of tears, though whether from joy or fear was unknown.
The hatchling—Sunfyre—ignored all the commotion in the room.
It simply pressed close to Aegon, letting out a contented purr from its throat.
Flames flickered faintly with its breath, and its golden scales gradually dried, shimmering under the torchlight.
Aegon reached out his small hand and placed it on Sunfyre’s head.
The hatchling nuzzled his palm docilely.
The connection solidified.
The unlocked system interface became clear in his consciousness, displaying a simple status.
Bloodline, Dragons, Evolution—these would be his weapons, his shield, and his reliance for survival in this cruel world.
The sky outside began to turn white.
In the year 107 AC, the future master of the Iron Throne, Aegon II Targaryen, saw his companion dragon enter the world on the third day of his life.
The countdown to the Dance of the Dragons was set in motion by the tender hiss of a hatchling.
In a dimension invisible to all, the system’s cold text quietly updated:
[Main Quest Triggered: End the Dance of the Dragons]
[Quest Description: Survive the upcoming civil war and ensure the continuation of the House Targaryen bloodline]
[Current Progress: 0%]
[Warning: Quest failure will result in host death and permanent system shutdown]
Aegon closed his eyes, feeling the heartbeat of the hatchling beside him.
Failure meant death; that was fair.
But since he was here, since he had the system, and since Sunfyre had hatched early—
Then this dance would have to be performed differently.
Morning light shone into the room, falling upon the sleeping infant and hatchling in the cradle.
Their shadows intertwined on the stone wall like an ancient prophecy, or an unwritten future.
The night is long and full of terrors.
But at least for this moment, the dragon and the prince slept peacefully together.