Chapter 119: The Anti-Dragon Queen Alliance Attacks

Flap, flap...

If dragons could sweat, Black would be drenched right now. His wings curved into a massive arc mid-air, straining to keep himself from sinking.

Dany clung tightly to his slender neck with both arms, her legs barely keeping balance on his shifting back. The fear of having no foothold only made her squeeze his neck even harder.

Hiss—gasp!

Black exhaled two thick white streams of air through his nostrils, as if roaring at Dany: I can't breathe!

"Hey, you! You're bigger than my silver mare and even heavier, so why can't you carry me as easily as she does?" Dany glanced down at the ground below—the Great Pyramid was no bigger than a bowl now. They must be at least 1,000 meters high.

Yes, Dany could finally ride a dragon.

Well, "ride" wasn't quite the right word. She had to lie flat on Black's back, evenly distributing her weight. If too much pressure concentrated near his neck, he wouldn't be able to support it.

And only Black was big enough to carry her this way. White and Green weren't unwilling to let her ride them, but they simply weren't as large as Black—there wasn't enough room for her.

Over the past six months, Black had been growing rapidly, thanks to absorbing the spiritual essence of the Undying Ones. From head to tail, he was now 10 meters long. Excluding his elongated neck and tail, his back alone stretched over two meters, giving Dany just enough space to lie flat.

In contrast, White and Green were only about two-thirds of Black's size, making their size difference evident.

Actually, two months ago, Dany had already realized she could ride a dragon by testing their load-bearing capacity.

During these past six months, Meereen, Yunkai, and New Ghis had formed the "Anti-Dragon Queen Alliance," which Dany simply called the Ghis Alliance.

The Ghiscari spread outrageous rumors about her, claiming she was a wicked sorceress who "ate ten babies every morning and slept with ten strong men every night." They also frequently sent fast ships to the docks and coastal outposts to hurl incendiary projectiles—either clay pots filled with oil or tar-soaked rags wrapped into flammable bundles.

At first, Dany had Black conduct night raids on enemy sails. But the enemy quickly adapted, secretly stationing hundreds of crossbowmen below deck. Whenever Black spewed fire, they would open small hatches and unleash a rain of arrows.

That time, Black was shot into a pincushion—no exaggeration. Dany counted at least 70 arrows embedded in him afterward.

He plummeted from the sky. Even in her dragon-consciousness state, Dany was terrified.

Fortunately, they were close to the shoreline. Black barely managed to glide into the friendly camp, though his thin wing membranes were torn like tattered cloth. His belly scales had been pierced, and steaming blood gushed from the wounds.

Luckily, the enemy's iron arrowheads were short—only four centimeters long. And dragon blood was extremely hot, burning off the wooden shafts behind the iron tips, which also began to soften from the heat.

Since the arrowheads were too short to penetrate Black's abdominal muscles fully, they didn't reach his organs. The injuries looked gruesome but were only flesh wounds.

Had this been Westeros, things might have been different. The Seven Kingdoms had long studied dragon-slaying tactics, while the New Ghiscari had never fought dragons before—only the ancient Ghiscari Empire had done so.

If the enemy had used specialized dragon-slaying crossbows, Black might have had a 30% chance of escaping unscathed, a 50% chance of being seriously wounded, and a 20% chance of dying on the spot. These giant crossbows were cumbersome and couldn't be mass-produced; a ship could only carry a limited number. Their bolts were few, and in the dark, they might miss—but if they hit, even a single shot could cause severe injury.

After that battle, Dany changed her tactics. If dive attacks were too risky, then high-altitude bombing would be the way to go!

Barristan told her that dragon-slaying crossbow bolts were made of solid steel and weighed more than an Unsullied spear. Their maximum range was about 200 meters.

So, if Black maintained an altitude of 500 meters, he could rain destruction upon enemy ships without risk.

Black was the first to master the "bomber" technique. White and Green struggled with it; during training, they kept diving straight down to unleash fire from their mouths instead.

Since the Dragon Horn incident, White and Green had become much more obedient to Dany. They generally listened to her commands, and even when she whipped them, they rarely retaliated (by breathing fire at her).

However, unless she entered dragon-consciousness mode, it was hard to make them fully understand her intentions.

Then Jorah suggested a training method: shooting them with blunted arrows. This would train them to dodge while reinforcing the idea of aerial attacks.

At first, it seemed like a good idea. But when they actually tried it, it was a disaster. An Unsullied soldier ended up burned.

The dragons tolerated injuries from their "mother," but anyone else daring to harm them? Instant fury. They immediately retaliated with dragonfire.

If Dany hadn't been there to stop them, that soldier would have been honorably—no, tragically—incinerated.

Eventually, Dany set up rows of crossbows triggered by a single string, releasing dozens of arrows at once. She personally trained the dragons.

And it worked. The two became noticeably smarter, gradually mastering high-altitude bombardment techniques.

Dragons had exceptionally sharp eyesight, which made their accuracy high. With three dragons taking turns bombing, each attack could drop at least several dozen pounds of oil-soaked cloth bundles. If a package hit, it would almost certainly destroy a ship.

Their method was simple: first, they dropped fuel-soaked bundles. Then, they swiftly dove down to ignite them with dragonfire.

By comparing the weight of the packages the dragons carried with her own weight, Dany finally determined when she could safely ride them.

Without armor, Dany weighed 90 pounds. Black could carry a 200-pound package while flying at high altitude. That was when she dared to attempt riding him.

White and Green, however, could only lift 130 pounds.

Hiss—gasp!

After circling the fields outside the city, covering roughly 150 kilometers, Black began feeling the exhaustion of "fuel depletion." Dany had no choice but to direct him back to the Great Pyramid.

"Flap, flap—thud!"

The massive black dragon landed heavily on the grassy field, its powerful wings stirring the nearby fruit trees, making their branches and leaves rustle noisily.

Dany leaped gracefully, jumping down from over two meters high off the dragon's back.

For the past six months, she had been training in swordsmanship under Barristan Selmy. Her strength and agility had improved significantly, and the old knight even praised her for having a talent comparable to Rhaegar.

Dany wasn't flattered by this in the slightest. Rhaegar's reputation far exceeded his actual prowess.

Legend claimed that only Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning, could rival his martial skills. Yet in his first real battle, Rhaegar was crushed by Robert Baratheon—a mighty warhammer to the chest, a tragic and gruesome death.

"Your Grace, urgent news from Yunkai," Jorah Mormont greeted her with a solemn expression as she landed.

Jorah's attire had changed once again. His once smoky-black Valyrian steel armor now bore an exquisite white enamel crest on the chest. Heavy pure white cloaks hung from his shoulders, adorned with silver threads and clasps that gleamed under the sun, elevating his entire presence.

Any Westerosi noble seeing him would immediately exclaim, "Kingsguard!"

After Barristan publicly revealed his identity, Dany appointed him as the Lord Commander of her Queensguard. Jorah had no objections—Barristan's qualifications and legendary status were beyond dispute.

Dany even held a modest yet solemn swearing-in ceremony for the old knight on the third tier of the pyramid steps, with tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians as witnesses.

An official proclamation followed, informing everyone of the appointment.

Once Barristan became Lord Commander, he followed tradition and cloaked Jorah Mormont in white.

Thus, the great bear officially became a White Knight, his name recorded in the White Book.

In addition to the white cloak, Jorah bore white-scaled armor. Reluctant to part with his old armor, he commissioned city smiths to inlay a snowflake-patterned white enamel on his chest.

"Strong Belwas" also desired to be part of the Queensguard but refused to wear the white-scaled armor or cloak, claiming it would hinder his swordsmanship.

The rotund eunuch followed a more agile, nimble fighting style.

With Barristan joining Dany's inner circle, he assumed the role of military commander.

This wasn't due to distrust in Jorah but rather Barristan's superior experience and strategic acumen.

Jorah had commanded at most a thousand men, while Barristan had led grand armies with experience in large-scale warfare.

Thirty-five years ago, during the War of the Ninepenny Kings, Barristan served as the supreme commander of a force exceeding 100,000, including infantry, cavalry, archers, and even naval units.

Jorah now acted as deputy commander and chief of intelligence.

After all, he had experience as a spy, making him well-suited for the role.

Varys's spy network extended to Vaes Dothrak, Lhazar, and Qarth. Dany couldn't afford to neglect intelligence warfare in this new era.

When a group of merchants was stranded in Astapor for over a month due to their sails being burned by dragons, Dany seized the opportunity. As they left with compensation, she discreetly embedded new agents among them.

She didn't expect them to be as skilled as 007 or Ethan Hunt; their task was simply to gather common knowledge in Yunkai and Meereen.

Ravens, too, were marvels in this world. Despite the 500-kilometer distance between Yunkai and Astapor, a raven could complete a round trip in just two days and one night.

Dany took a damp cloth from Irri to wipe the sweat and dust from her face and arms as Jorah reported gravely:

"Yunkai has mobilized 30,000 slave soldiers, 3,000 Yellow Silk Cloaks, 5,000 mercenaries, and countless camp followers. They set out this morning, marching toward Astapor.

Ten Wise Masters and Great Masters claim the title of Supreme Commander, but the true leader is Grazdan mo Eraz, who styles himself the War God of Yunkai."

The Ghiscari city-states' guards traditionally wore yellow silk cloaks adorned with small, reflective bronze discs, earning them the nicknames "Yellow Silk Cloaks" or "Bronze Shields."

"Another Grazdan, bringing thirty thousand slave soldiers. Are they here to gift me more followers?" Dany chuckled while drying her hair.

Jorah's expression turned odd. "Your Grace, I fear you misunderstand. Your reputation in Yunkai isn't favorable. Your acts of freeing slaves, distributing land, and building a society of free people are largely unknown.

To most slaves, you're just a treacherous, mad woman who happened to conquer Astapor."

"That's outrageous! You defied the slavers for their sake!" her Dothraki handmaiden exclaimed angrily.

Dany shook her head, disappointed rather than angry. "Under controlled propaganda, what can common folk do?"

She pondered aloud, "The army is mostly slaves and mercenaries, with few true Ghiscari. Is this the legacy of the Old Ghiscari Empire?

Even if the lower slaves are kept in the dark, how could the masters not see the threat I pose to their system? Are there no wise men among them who understand the impact of my reforms?"

Jorah offered a wry smile. "If they didn't see you as a threat, they wouldn't send an army against Astapor. But Yunkai and Meereen are slave cities—their combined free militias wouldn't exceed 5,000 without the slave soldiers."

(End of Chapter)

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