Ice and Fire: Reign of the Dragon.

Chapter 402 The Children Are Growing Up
The children are growing up.

Dragon's Nest City, Dragon's Lair.

Jonniel stood in the shadows at the edge of the dragon's lair, holding a piece of raw beef in his palm.

This is his mission during this period. Igor is training him to interact with dragons in preparation for dragon taming in the future - and of course, it is also for the boys and girls in the family to get rid of their brown hair as soon as possible.

The dragon he was aiming at was called "Sun-Drinker", a dragon egg from the Burning Fire, a young black dragon with a huge disc-shaped horn crown, one of the two dragon eggs hatched 23 years ago. It was also a large species that grew faster.

The young dragon was entrenched in the depths of the cave, its golden vertical pupils flickering in the darkness like two burning coins. Its breathing was heavy and slow, and every breath was filled with the burning heat of sulfur, making Jonniel's skin slightly hot. He didn't dare to move, and even swallowed carefully. Igor said that dragons can hear the sound of their heartbeats accelerating.

It's been three days.

On the first day, Riwei just stared at him from a distance, with a low warning rolling in his throat, like thunder brewing in the clouds. Jonniel's arms were shaking with pain, but Igor would not let him put them down.

"Dragons don't trust impatient people." My uncle's voice came from behind me. "They can smell fear, and they can smell greed."

The next day, Sunbow began to pace, his black claws scraping against the rocks, sparks flying. Jonniel's palms were wrinkled by the blood of the flesh, but he clenched his teeth and did not move.

Now, it's the third day.

Ribi finally moved.

It slowly approached, and the sound of its scales rubbing against the ground was like the sound of armor dragging on the sand. Jonniel could see the bronze lightning-like lines on the side of its neck, which were said to indicate that its paternal bloodline was likely to be Vermithor - who knew?
The black dragon's breath sprayed on his hand, so hot that it almost burned his skin. Jonniel's fingers trembled slightly, but Igor's voice echoed in his mind:
“Don’t back down, even if it burns you.”

Riwei lowered his head, sniffed the piece of meat, and then.
He shook his head violently and knocked it away.

The meat hit the stone wall, splashing scarlet. Jonniel's heartbeat stopped, but Riwei did not attack him. Instead, he tilted his head, as if waiting for something.

"Change." Igor's voice came from the shadows.

Jonnell took a deep breath and pulled out another piece of meat from the leather bag at his waist - roast beef sprinkled with spices and cooked to perfection.

Ri Lie's pupils suddenly contracted.

It slowly approached, its nose almost touching Jonniel's hand. The dragon devoured the well-cooked beef in the blink of an eye.

Joniel didn't even have time to react.

"It recognizes this." Igor walked up to him, with a hint of laughter in his voice, "This kid likes well-cooked beef, and he likes these spices even more."

Ribi groaned, and suddenly bumped Jonnell's chest lightly with the top of his head - the force was not strong, but enough to make him stagger back two steps.

Igor raised the corner of his mouth slightly: "It's laughing at you for standing too stiffly."

Jonniel's grey eyes lit up; he had finally gained the dragon's recognition.

This was his first step towards becoming a dragon rider.

While Jonniel was training in the Dragon's Lair.

A thief crept into the kitchen.

When Maggie tiptoed into the kitchen, the cook and the kitchen boy were not there. Only a tabby cat was squatting on the bakery, watching the little thief, who now had dyed brown hair, rummaging through the drawers.

"Damn..." Maggie muttered, her finger cut by the wax seal of the honey jar. She sucked off the blood drop, continued to pry open the jar, scooped out the sticky golden honey with a wooden spoon, and mixed it with crushed nuts and dried berries. This is Joniel's favorite combination - she had laughed at her brother countless times for being "like a greedy Yankee", but now, she knows better than anyone how much sugar is needed after intense training.

When I had packed half of my luggage, I suddenly heard a light cough behind me.

Maggie froze and turned slowly.

The old cook, Martha, stood at the door with her arms folded, her wrinkles filled with the fatigue of having seen through everything for decades.

"Miss," Martha said slowly, "if you steal my top-grade winter honey again, I will tell Master Igor and Master Basilon that you diluted his wine with water last month." Maggie's face flushed: "That, that's to prevent them from drinking too much!"

"But the silver blood wine diluted with water will not only have a worse flavor, but also produce a spicy taste that is difficult to eliminate."

Martha said with a smile, but turned around and took out a small bag of powder sealed with beeswax from the depths of the cupboard: "Add this to relieve muscle soreness."

Maggie's eyes widened: "How do you know?"

"I have served your mother, Lady Daenerys." Martha patted the powder on her palm. "She secretly delivered medicine to Lord Igor in the same way. Of course, most of Lord Igor's injuries were caused by Lady Daenerys."

Pretending not to hear anything, Maggie ran down the corridor, holding the bulging bag tightly in her arms. She bumped into a servant who was wiping his armor at a corner. Honey oozed out of the bag and stuck to her sleeves. The sweet smell mixed with the spiciness of the healing powder was like some kind of clumsy protective spell.

The stone walls of the Sword Tower were hung with all kinds of swords, and the candlelight cast flickering shadows on the blades. Aslan's breath condensed into white mist in the cold air, and his arms trembled from the continuous swinging of the sword, but his purple eyes were surprisingly bright.

"Come again." He gritted his teeth, adjusted his posture, and pointed the tip of the sword directly at the old coach's throat.

The old instructor of Dragon's Nest sneered. The training sword in his hand turned like a living thing, and with one blow, it knocked Aslan's weapon away. The sound of metal hitting stone echoed in the tower, like a mocking bell.

"Dragon riders don't need to be masters of swordsmanship." The old coach bent down to pick up the sword and handed it back to the panting boy. "This is a serious mistake. Prince Longzel and Prince Ringol are both masters of swordsmanship. Igor's swordsmanship is unrivaled in the Seven Kingdoms. When you are not on the back of a dragon, the steel in your hands and your mind are your only weapons."

Aslan's knuckles turned white from gripping his sword so tightly. He remembered his father Rhaegon's words: "Dragons are not everything."

"I will become like my grandfather," he whispered, raising his sword once more.

The old master did not answer, but suddenly changed his tactics, and the blade of his sword attacked Aslan's side like a venomous snake. The boy blocked hastily and stumbled back, but this time his sword did not fall out of his hand.

In the firelight, the two men stood face to face in silence. Sweat dripped from Aslan's chin, leaving dark marks on the stone floor.

This time the hair dye is very strong - at least it can't be washed out by sweat.

"Improvement." The old coach finally snorted and sheathed his sword. "Bring protective gear tomorrow. Real sword training."

Aslan's eyes lit up.

Lusiris went to the Dragon's Lair to train at night. This was his training time.

Moon Dance's lair is located high up on the east side of the dragon's lair. It once belonged to it - now it has returned to the hands of this dragon that has experienced the frost of Sothoryos. Targaryen did not ask for the dragon that once belonged to Queen Benella - at least now, in a sense, Moon Dance has become Targaryen's reward to Vareses. Lucerys carried a basket full of apples and stepped on the sharp stones barefoot, and his soles had already been worn out with thick calluses.

"Don't whip me with your tail today," he muttered, throwing an apple into the air.

Yuewu's vertical pupils stared at the spinning fruit, and suddenly it spread its wings and swung its dragon tail, and the apple was accurately knocked back to the open space in the center of the dragon's cave. The dragon stared at the boy's brown head with some confusion, and seemed to come over and smell it with some disbelief, and then an expression of disgust seemed to climb up the dragon's huge head.

Lusiris laughed: "Do you hate vegetarian food so much? You don't eat carrots or apples?"

The dragon exhaled a breath of sulfur, as if mocking him.

The boy didn't care, he sat cross-legged on the edge of the dragon's nest, and ate the apple. The juice flowed down his wrist, and Yuewu's pupils shrank slightly with the drop of amber liquid.

"Do you know why I hate carrots?" Lusilis suddenly said, "Because when I was six years old, my father lied to me and told me that they were dried dragon dung."

A low hum rolled out of Yuewu's throat, like a laugh.

When Luthris stood up and prepared to leave, an apple core suddenly rolled to his feet, pushed by the dragon with its nose.

"I'll bring you some pears tomorrow." Lusiris patted his butt and tapped the dragon's nose.

Yuewu nodded.

(End of this chapter)