Game of Thrones: Rise of the Supreme Dragon Queen

The black dragon had grown larger than a police dog, weighing at least 40 kilograms, and required two large, plump sheep for his daily meals. Dany had no choice but to craft a large bamboo basket for him, resembling the round-framed baskets used in rural areas for cutting pigweed. However, it wasn't as deep; otherwise, it would have been difficult for him to get in and out, not to mention how cramped and uncomfortable it would make him.

The black dragon perched with his two legs and half his body inside the basket, his wide wings draped outside, almost completely covering it.

His long neck rubbed against Dany's shoulders, alternating between left and right, as his body adjusted freely within the basket.

"Your Grace, this is as far as I can take you," Pyat Pree said as they reached a fork in the path, stopping in front of an oval-shaped wooden door embedded in a wall carved with a human face. The door itself served as the gaping mouth of the sculpture.

Dany couldn't help but feel like prey being offered as a sacrifice to the maw of this grotesque creature.

It seemed that warlocks had a particular fondness for keeping dwarfs. Standing before the round-mouthed door was a dwarf dressed in luxurious robes of violet and blue, holding a silver tray with delicate pink hands. On the tray sat a slender crystal goblet filled with a thick blue liquid.

Dany had never imagined such a miniature person existed. Standing barely 20 centimeters tall—even wearing flat-soled sandals—he didn't even reach her knees.

Dwarfs with such small statures rarely had attractive appearances. His palm-sized face was wrinkled and scrunched up like a dumpling pinched with creases. In stark contrast to his tiny features, his nose was remarkably high, as if his insecurity about his height was compensated by its prominence.

"Present the Fountain of Wisdom to the Mother of Dragons," Pyat Pree instructed.

The dwarf quickly shuffled forward, stopping in front of Dany with the tray held high above his head.

Bending down, Dany used two fingers to pick up the crystal goblet. She held it up to the light, examining it. "This is the Water of Shadows?"

"Drink," Pyat Pree nodded, gesturing invitingly with his hand.

"Will it turn my lips blue?" she hesitated.

"This cup will merely grant you the warlock's perspective. You will hear the truths of the world and witness ancient wisdom," Pyat Pree spoke softly, his expression radiating a pride he could barely conceal.

Dany raised the goblet to her lips and tentatively licked the liquid.

She was immediately overwhelmed with nausea.

It was as if she had bitten into rotting pork fat drenched in feces. Every disgusting taste she had ever experienced in her life erupted on her tongue simultaneously. The revulsion nearly caused her to faint.

But in the next moment, the blue liquid seemed to come alive, slithering down her throat and spreading throughout her chest like tiny tendrils. Her heart felt as though it were wrapped in flames, a fiery warmth so intense that it verged on euphoric.

If every time I burned myself it felt this good, wouldn't that be wonderful? she thought.

Suddenly, all traces of the sickening taste vanished, replaced by an explosion of flavors—like the first time she had ever tasted cotton candy, candied hawthorn, or fried chicken.

For a brief, glorious moment, every delightful taste she had ever savored came alive in her mouth.

She was entranced, desperate to hold onto the sensation. But before she knew it, the goblet was empty.

Smacking her lips, Dany found herself hesitating. She wanted to ask the dwarf for another glass, but a part of her feared she had just consumed some magical, otherworldly drug—and she was particularly apprehensive about ending up with unsightly blue lips.

Swiftly, Pyat Pree took the empty goblet from her hand and said, "Listen carefully. What I'm about to say determines whether you can leave the House of the Undying safely."

"Yes," Dany quickly pushed aside her lingering thoughts and focused intently.

"This door allows entry but no exit. Unless you meet the Undying Ones, even if you turn back, you won't find your way out."

"I understand."

"Once inside, you will encounter a room with four doors: the one you enter through and three others. Always choose the first door to your right. Every time. If you find a staircase, always go up. Never go down, and never choose any door other than the first one on the right."

"A staircase? This building looks quite low," Dany remarked, puzzled.

Pyat Pree spoke with solemnity: "You'll understand once you're inside. Remember my words: the House of the Undying is a one-way path—your way in is your way out.

Always move upward. Always choose the first door to your right.

Other doors may open on their own, and you'll witness strange sights. But do not let them disturb your thoughts.

Some of these visions will be beautiful, some will reflect your deepest desires, and others will embody your greatest fears. But unless it's the first door on the right, do not enter."

"Can I at least look at them?" Dany asked.

"As long as you don't step inside the rooms, you may do as you wish," Pyat Pree sighed, his expression complex. "The images you see and the voices you hear may be from the past, or they may come from a future yet to unfold—or they may never happen at all. In that moment, the river of time surrounding you will be disturbed."

"I understand. Always move upward, always take the first door on the right," Dany said with a firm nod. "Anything else?"

"When you finally reach the chamber of the Undying Ones, remain patient. Do not grow anxious. Their perception of time is not the same as ours. Simply listen closely and commit every word to memory," Pyat Pree advised one last time.

"I will," Dany promised. "I will show the great Undying Ones the utmost respect."

"Then, go ahead," he said.

Dany nodded and stepped forward. She found herself in a gray stone hall, square in shape and roughly 40 square meters. On each of the four walls was a doorway.

Recalling Pyat Pree's instructions, she knew she had to take the door to her right. However, her curiosity about the House of the Undying held her back for a moment. She stood in the center of the hall, peering into the other three doorways.

She was disappointed.

Each of them was pitch black, revealing nothing.

Shrugging off her disappointment, she turned to the right-hand door and pushed it open. She stepped into another stone chamber identical to the first.

The process repeated.

By the time she entered the third identical stone chamber, Dany began to doubt herself. Have I wandered into a labyrinth? she wondered.

Still, her resolve remained firm. She opened the fourth door on the right.

This time, things were different.

The chamber she entered was an oval-shaped wooden room. The wooden walls were visibly pitted with wormholes, and instead of four, there were six doors.

Following Pyat Pree's instructions, Dany opened the first door on the right. This time, she didn't step into another room but a dimly lit corridor.

The ceiling was high, and the right-hand wall was lined with torches emitting wisps of black smoke. She extended her hand into the orange-red flames and felt the searing pain of real fire.

"These are real torches, not an illusion," she murmured to herself.

A sudden screech from the black dragon perched on her shoulder startled her, pulling her out of her thoughts. She pressed onward.

The long corridor was covered in a moldy carpet, its gold-threaded patterns glinting faintly under the torchlight. The once-luxurious fabric now lay in tatters, as though whispering to Dany of time's relentless decay—it had once been magnificent, but now it was ruined.

"How strange," Dany mused as she walked dozens of meters, her eyes scanning the walls. "All the doors are on the left."

Still, she wasn't worried. Even though there were no doors on the right-hand wall, the last door on the left side of the corridor would technically be the first door on the right if she reached the end of the hallway.

She kept moving.

"Bang! Thud! Rippp—"

The carpet beneath Dany's feet absorbed her footsteps, but strange noises occasionally emanated from behind the wooden doors on the left. She heard sounds of wood being struck, the frantic scratching of rats, faint human voices, and the melody of musical instruments.

But when a series of moans—unmistakably of passion—came from one of the nearby doors, Dany could no longer hold back her curiosity.

"As long as I don't enter, I can do whatever I want," she reassured herself.

Then, with a loud "bang," she stepped back two paces, ready to flee, while Blackfyre's tail smashed the wooden door into rotting splinters.

No terrifying monster burst out. Instead, a warm, soft yellow light spilled out onto the gray-green carpet.

"Well done, Blackfyre!" Dany praised without hesitation.

If there were curses, Blackfyre could take them—he was a dragon, inherently resistant to magic.

Blackfyre hissed affectionately, rubbing his neck against hers.

Dany patted his large head and peeked into the room.

What she saw was a restricted scene.

A tall, voluptuous blonde woman lay sprawled on the ground, completely bare, with a seven-pointed star banner draped over her face. Four small figures were crawling over her.

These figures were as diminutive as the dwarf who had presented her with the Shade of the Evening earlier: short stature, pinkish hands, and long, pointed noses that made them look like lecherous rodents.

The four dwarves were so engrossed in their vile act that they didn't notice Dany at all.

"What kind of madness is this?" Dany muttered in bewilderment, utterly unembarrassed.

Tilting her head, she studied the scene for any meaningful "details," but she found nothing of value.

"Blackfyre, dragon vision!"

In an instant, Dany shifted into Blackfyre's perspective. The woman's form suddenly plummeted into an abyss, and Dany felt herself falling endlessly alongside her without any anchor to cling to.

Then, a brilliant light surged from the depths.

Dany realized she was now hovering above an unfamiliar continent. It was elongated in shape, and though she could clearly make out its features from above, she also saw its entirety.

Sounds of battle rose from the land below—shouts, cries, the clash of swords, and triumphant laughter all reached her ears.

Suddenly, a memory sparked in her mind.

Back in White Cloud City, she had stood atop a tower by the gates with Jorah, discussing "Jorah's Story."

To help her understand, Jorah had used stones to sketch a rough map of Westeros on the balcony: Bear Island, the North, Ironman's Bay, Lannisport, Oldtown, Dorne, King's Landing, and Braavos across the Narrow Sea.

"This is Westeros!" Dany exclaimed. The strange land below matched Jorah's rough drawing perfectly.

Gradually, she began to grasp the meaning of what she had just seen. "The woman represents Westeros. The seven-pointed star on her face symbolizes the Faith of the Seven. The Faith is being disregarded while those four grotesque figures wreak havoc on the Seven Kingdoms."

"Who do those four dwarves represent?" she wondered. Her knowledge of the Seven Kingdoms was mostly from television, but her real-life experiences had taught her to take the show's storyline as reference, not gospel.

"Never mind. I'll ask Jorah later."

Dany snapped out of her connection with Blackfyre's vision, and the room returned to its earlier obscene tableau.

"Bang!"

Realizing that the scenes in these rooms held symbolic meanings, Dany's curiosity about the House of the Undying intensified. She walked a bit further, and Blackfyre opened another door.

"Shit!" she yelped, startled by what she saw inside.

(Chapter End)

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