Chapter 358: Female Dragon

Crack—

The clear sound of a dragon egg breaking echoed.

Viserys's gaze immediately fell on the first egg to hatch.

It was a red egg, like a blazing flame, its surface even adorned with a layer of scales.

Rhaenys and Daenerys also turned their attention to it, their hearts slightly lifted.

Although Daenerys had once hatched dragons, she had been asleep at the time, acting in her dreams. This was the first time any of them had seen what a dragon looked like as it hatched.

The red egg continued to shake violently, the cracks on its surface becoming more and more dense, covering the entire egg.

Crack—

Then, with a crisp sound, a small head covered in red scales was the first to emerge.

With its big watery eyes, it greedily breathed in the outside air. It seemed like it had been suffocating inside for a long time.

"So cute!"

The two girls on the scene saw the adorable appearance of the baby dragon and their eyes sparkled with stars.

"Squeak—"

The red baby dragon that had just emerged from the eggshell struggled in the eggshell, seemingly wanting to break out completely, while making a sharp squeak, like a large mouse. This left Viserys slightly taken aback.

"Do baby dragons sound so unpleasant?"

He turned his head to ask Daenerys, but the silver-haired girl wasn't very clear herself. She then looked at Rhaenys, as she had been asleep at the time.

Rhaenys hesitated slightly, then shook her head.

She remembered that when Balerion, Rhaegal, and Viserion first hatched, they let out the roar of dragons.

"Could this not be a dragon?"

"That's impossible."

However, everyone present was seeing a baby dragon hatch for the first time and didn't understand all the circumstances. They could only continue to watch patiently.

They then saw the first baby dragon to hatch struggling in the eggshell, seemingly having its neck stuck by the shell.

Viserys's brow relaxed slightly, and he reached out to help it.

However, at this moment, a deep roar from Balerion came from above his head.

"Roar—"

The sand was stirred up, and a huge shadow that blocked the sky and sun covered the ground.

The two giant dragons sat in a row behind the three people, stretching their long necks and coldly observing the hatching of the dragon eggs.

Balerion conveyed a strong will in Viserys's mind to stop him from doing so.

The shell of a dragon egg is extremely hard. The hatching of a dragon is the first test given by the gods to this creature that defies the heavens.

Understanding Balerion's meaning, Viserys stopped his hand. He then saw the baby dragon that had hatched first, struggling hard to twist its body, bursting out with a strong will, and finally squeezed a larger hole in the eggshell.

Then it opened its mouth and bit down hard on the eggshell.

Crack—

The hard dragon eggshell seemed to suddenly become vulnerable under this little guy's 'sharp teeth', being bitten off a large piece, then chewed up and swallowed.

"So, they eat their eggshells."

At this time, Rhaenys, who was watching from the side, exclaimed softly.

She kept her voice very low, fearing to disturb this red baby dragon who was the first to hatch.

When Balerion and his two brothers hatched, Rhaenys had ordered the entire main castle to be cleaned up after the fire, but they never found the remains of the dragon eggshells in the ruins.

She thought at the time that someone had secretly picked them up, but didn't take it too seriously, after all, it was just a shell.

But now it seems that the first step of a dragon hatching is to eat all of its own shell.

The red dragon that hatched first greedily gnawed at its own shell, as if it was some kind of delicacy.

During this process, its scales seemed to become more and more shiny, reflecting the light of metal, and from the soft appearance when it first hatched, it suddenly became erect.

"It seems that the shell of a dragon egg is the best supplement for a baby dragon, and it seems to contain magical power."

Viserys calmly observed the changes in the red dragon, noticing that its body was slender, its bones delicate, but its eyes were slightly fierce.

"Could this little one be a female dragon?"

A thought suddenly moved in the young silver-haired man's heart.

He had once worried about the future reproduction of the three brothers. Balerion, Rhaegal, and Viserion were all males, so they were strong and competitive, with a strong desire to fight.

But as strong as they were, three male dragons couldn't produce dragon babies, couldn't reproduce and continue their species. After all, they were now the last three dragons in the world.

Viserys didn't want the dragon species to become extinct again in the future. Therefore, for the continuation of this race, finding a female dragon was a must for him.

However, there are three mainstream conjectures in the world about the reproduction of dragons.

The first conjecture believes that dragons have no gender distinction. 'The Blessed King' Jaehaerys I's Hand of the King, Septon Barth, held this view, believing that 'the gender of a dragon may be as changeable as dragon flame'.

The second conjecture is that dragons may show a certain gender at certain stages due to special reasons, but it may not be fixed for life.

The third is that dragons, like other species, are divided into males and females.

And Viserys got clear information from Balerion that he is a male dragon, and so are his two brothers.

However, Viserys didn't see any obvious male reproductive organs on Balerion, and Balerion couldn't speak, he could only convey simple emotions and couldn't explain clearly.

But one thing is certain, if the dragon species wants to continue, the existence of female dragons is still needed.

Viserys once had a bold guess that dragons are very likely to reproduce asexually. Without fertilization, female dragons can produce dragon eggs on their own, and male dragons are mainly responsible for fighting with enemies and defending their homes.

The Targaryen family's records left on Dragonstone did not prove this, but only explained that dragons indeed have the behavior of hatching eggs.

If there are female dragons in the family, regardless of whether it is her egg, she will be willing to hatch it, without the need for members of the Targaryen family to hatch the eggs themselves.

Dragons can lay at least five eggs at a time.

The five dragon eggs that Viserys got from the Valyrian ruins are very likely to be a brood laid by a female dragon. They have a common mother.

While the little red dragon was gnawing at its shell in the fire, another golden dragon egg next to it also began to shake.

Crack—

A crack appeared in the eggshell.