Wright had grown used to the deep, resonant voice of Odahviing. Its large, booming voice, coupled with its massive size, caused nearby windows and doors to vibrate whenever it spoke.
But the three sharp, piercing roars just now came from three different dragons—Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion—finally making their appearance. However, they were not yet visible, likely still preparing behind some hill.
Standing on the corpse of the elephant, Wright raised his hand and cast an explosive fireball toward the direction of Meereen. Then, he continued charging toward another war elephant.
The fireball soared over the battlefield, past the city walls, and exploded above Meereen. Magic was precious, and Wright would never waste his spells. This was a signal.
On the Great Pyramid's terrace, a group of soldiers rushed forward, dragging Daenerys away. Her four handmaidens were also bound and escorted into the dungeon.
"What are you doing?" Daenerys struggled helplessly. Two soldiers held her, one on each side, as they quickly ran her down to the first floor of the pyramid. A carriage was already waiting there.
The carriage had been stripped of its compartment, leaving only a flatbed with a cross standing on it. Several soldiers stretched Daenerys' arms and shackled her to the cross, then chained her waist and feet.
"What are you doing? Are you trying to humiliate me?" No matter how Daenerys asked, no one responded.
This was a mission Wright had set. As long as the dragons did not appear, Daenerys would be left to watch the entire war unfold. Once the dragons showed up, Wright's signal would reach the city, and Daenerys would be bound to the carriage.
If the dragons didn't appear on the battlefield soon, Wright would fire a second fireball as a signal. The carriage would then circle the streets of Meereen, with Daenerys on the cross to attract the dragons. If the dragons still didn't show, a third fireball would signal the carriage to leave the city, heading along the city walls.
Such a task, possibly involving giant dragons and traversing enemy lines, required a skilled driver. Meereen's most famous gladiators, Water Buffalo and White Skeleton, were at the driver's seat, bowing in respect to Daenerys. Both had decided to follow Wright to Tyros after the war.
Outside the northern gates, Wright was slaying enemies. Officers from the east and south saw the strange phenomena in the northern sky, where northern forces had drawn the fire of magic users. They immediately increased the scale of their siege operations, launching large-scale attempts to storm the city. The battle in Meereen intensified, smoke filling the air.
Behind the battlefield, in the logistics base of the Golden Company, a dozen self-proclaimed sorcerers users stood atop a mountain, watching the fiery meteors and Wright's bulldozer-like tactics in silence. After exchanging a few glances, they mounted their horses and rode off toward Volantis.
"Sorceres, where are you going?" shouted the Golden Company's Spymaster, Lysono Maar.
"We are going to prepare for battle," the Sorceres replied without turning around as they sped away.
Lysono Maar's face flushed with anger. "These sorcerers took our money and are now breaking their contract and fleeing! Archers! Shoot them down!"
The fleeing sorcerers fired back with a few fireballs or ice spikes, but they were quickly shot to pieces by hundreds of archers. Surrender was not an option; the Golden Company did not accept surrender at this point.
Aegon Targaryen arrived on horseback, observing the dead mages, and after learning the situation, his face also darkened with anger.
Members of the Golden Company were unchaining the dragons' leg irons. Aegon dismounted and walked over to his green dragon, Rhaegal, stroking the dragon's head, which was even larger than a horse's.
A soldier opened a wooden chest and handed Aegon the clothes Daenerys had worn previously. Aegon held the clothes up to Rhaegal's snout, then walked over to Daenerys' black and white dragons, letting them sniff the clothes.
"Go around Wright, enter Meereen, find Daenerys, and rescue her!" Dragons were smarter than dogs, but Aegon wasn't sure if Rhaegal understood.
"Targaryens tame dragons like this?" Euron approached, hands in his pockets. "Sending out the dragons is just sending them to their deaths."
"It's not like the reinforcements you promised ever arrived! If we wait any longer, Daenerys will be in danger!" Aegon tucked the clothes away and glared at Euron. If Daenerys died, the strongest black dragon, Drogon, would be left without a rider, significantly reducing their battle strength.
Euron clapped his hands, and several attendants carried a wooden chest over. Euron drew a curved dagger and pried open the chest. Inside was a curved black horn, about the length of a grown man.
"The Hellhorn! I found this in the ruins of Valyria. I've named it the Dragonbinder!" Euron lightly tapped the horn with his curved dagger, and it emitted a crisp sound. It was made of Valyrian steel.
"The horn used by dragonlords to control dragons?" Aegon approached and ran his hand over the horn. The high Valyrian inscription on it read: "Blood for fire, fire for blood."
Euron spread his arms. "Blow the horn! The most powerful being from the land of shadows will appear in Meereen!"
Valyrian steel was very light. Aegon picked up the horn, examining it, and was about to blow into it when Ser Ronald Connington stepped forward, saying, "Aegon, be careful! Why is Euron having you blow this horn, instead of doing it himself, if it's such a powerful item?"
At these words, everyone from the Golden Company turned their gaze to Euron.
Euron shrugged, grinning helplessly. "It's here, there's no need for me to take it."
Aegon hesitated.
"I'll do it!" Ronald Connington declared.
He thought that by helping Aegon blow the horn, he could show his loyalty. More importantly, if the horn truly controlled dragons, he would become a dragonrider himself.
Suppressing his excitement, Ronald Connington took the horn from Aegon's hands.
Aegon nodded, and the surrounding people immediately stepped back to give him space.
Ronald took a deep breath and blew hard into the mouth of the horn.
Whoooo—
The inscriptions on the horn glowed a fiery red, and it emitted a blinding white light. The enormous sound drowned out all other noises, echoing through the valley, across the battlefield, and even reaching Meereen.
"Ah!"
Everyone around the Golden Company cried out in pain, some even collapsing and convulsing. Euron staggered back a few steps, sitting on a wooden crate, clutching his chest. He looked up at Aegon, but the only one who didn't react was Aegon, who stood still.
"Ronald, what's wrong?" Aegon rushed over to support him when he saw Ronald fall.
The dragonhorn had fallen to the ground, still emitting green smoke from its mouth. Ronald raised his hand, his mouth covered in blood blisters. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but Aegon saw that his lips were charred. Ronald turned his head to look at his son one last time, then his muscles relaxed, and he breathed no more.
If Wright had been here, he would have advised against touching magical items without sufficient magic! The phrase "blood for fire, fire for blood" meant that magic and life could be exchanged. Using magical items without magic left one to sacrifice their life. This was a basic Alteration magic—Balance Magic—that anyone at King's Landing's Mage School could learn, even without innate transformation talent.
As for the dragonhorn, it wasn't about controlling dragons. Its only function was to call the dragon corresponding to the horn's sound. The connection between dragons and humans was based on bloodlines, and once a dragon recognized someone, a magical bond was formed. Growing up with a dragon was the same as having that bond. No magical item could control dragons, not even a Valyrian one. If the Valyrian dragonlords were foolish, they still wouldn't have made something like this for outsiders to control dragons.
According to the sleazy man's account, the dragonlords of Valyria lived in vast cities, and the hundreds or even thousands of dragons were kept in the outskirts. When it was time to ride, they wouldn't travel to the outskirts themselves, as that would be beneath their status. The previous generations would use dragon roars to call the dragons. Eventually, dragon roars were lost, and the later generations created the dragonhorn, which, when blown, would summon the dragon to land in the city and pick them up. Wright referred to it as a big dog whistle. The escaping slaves didn't understand, thinking the horn controlled the dragons.
"Euron! You're trying to harm me!" Aegon roared.
Euron ignored him, staring at the southern sea. "Look, isn't it coming?"
Aegon turned to look, and in the sky toward the sea, a small dot appeared. Behind it trailed black smoke, resembling a black meteor soaring through the air.