Game of Thrones: Viserys the Three-Headed Dragon.

Chapter 98 Show of Blood and Fire
If you weren't actually there, not to mention Daenerys, even Viserys would find it hard to imagine that there would be such a huge magma lava cave inside Dragon Mountain.

Unbolting the iron gate and pushing it open, Viserys and Daenerys were immediately struck by the enormity of their surroundings.

They were in a huge lava cave, and the ground they were standing on was hot and hard sedimentary molten rock, with signs of having been specially leveled.

They stepped on it barefoot and it produced a hissing sound of hot air, which was the evaporation of sweat. The air had a pungent smell and their throats felt like they were on fire when they breathed.

Viserys pulled up his trouser legs and Daenerys lifted up her skirts to prevent their clothes from touching the hot stones and catching fire.

Here, looking up, it is pitch black and you can't see the dome.

A few feet away on the right is a huge ravine, which emits a red light and gushes hot air. At the other end of the ravine, a rugged stone wall rises from the ground and extends upward to a very far distance.

To the left, you can see a huge ravine about ten feet away. Under the ravine is the dark ground, and a forked lava river is flowing quietly on the dark ground. Further away is a stone wall that rises from the ground, just like the one on the right, extending upward to an invisible end.

The dark red light from the lava river and the torches in their hands were the only sources of light in this huge lava cave.

Looking back, they could see that the stone corridor door they had come from was shaped like a dragon's tail. After coming out of the corridor, they would find that the stone corridor was like a long worm, crawling along the mountain wall in a huge cave towards the distance, until it passed a huge bend and its head could no longer be seen.

They first turned left, walked to the edge of the huge stone platform, and tried to look back. However, the curve of the corridor was larger than expected, and the other end of the corridor could not be seen from here.

Daenerys couldn't help but ask, "Was this once a dragon's lair?"

Viserys answered her, "Legend has it that Balerion the Black Death was more than two hundred meters long. If a dragon of that size made his lair in the Dragon Mountain, then this huge lava cave would be just the right size, or even more than enough."

Daenerys was surprised: "Rice?"

Viserys added: "It's just a few dozen feet. I told you, after I awakened, I turned into a dragon. Sometimes a lot of wonderful knowledge popped up in my memory. Warlocks in different eras have different units of measurement. Meter is a unit of length in ancient alchemy." Viserys was greatly shocked by this.

Daenerys didn't dwell on Viserys' explanation, she just said in shock, "This place is too big! Even a Balerion of several dozen feet wouldn't be able to fit into such a large cave."

"Giant dragons don't like cramped places, so the nests they choose must be larger than their bodies. Otherwise, how do you think they can turn around in the nests?"

As they spoke, they all turned their gazes to the obviously unusual building in front of the platform.

Daenerys couldn't help but turn her attention there. "Brother, I am sure that I feel something in the direction of that building. The feeling is very strong. Do you think it might be the tomb of the Targaryen ancestors?"

"There is only this possibility. Before Aegon's conquest, the Targaryen ancestors migrated here to rule. They did not believe in the Seven Gods and were very likely to follow the Valyrian tradition and build their family tombs inside the volcano." Viserys expressed his guess. "This tomb was most likely built after the Targaryen ancestors migrated here, including this stone corridor. As for the two bedrooms with fireplaces in the throne room of the main castle, I guess they were built by Aegon the Conqueror or his prince, because he conquered the six kingdoms, built the capital of King's Landing, and converted to the Seven Gods. After him, the Targaryen kings no longer needed to use the tomb on Dragonstone. So he sealed it up. Or perhaps there are secrets hidden here that cannot be easily revealed to others."

Daenerys thought Viserys's guess was very reasonable: "What kind of secret?"

Viserys slung the boots that had been tied to his and Daenerys's together on his back. He held the torch in one hand and took her hand with his free hand. "Let's go and see."

This action could be considered as some weird thoughts of Viserys. After all, the place ahead might be the tomb of the Targaryen ancestors. He took Daenerys, with whom he was engaged, along. As a Targaryen descendant who had been switched, he would feel more confident to visit other people's ancestral tombs.

They continued forward along the huge stone platform, and the eerie-looking black stone building gradually revealed its full appearance. The main body of the building was a huge garden building, guarded by four towers on the east, south, west and north. The tops of the towers and the main garden building were carved with dragon knights riding giant dragons with wings spread. There were many gargoyles of various shapes along the walls of the building.

As Viserys had expected, this was indeed a tomb.

The flickering light of the torches shone on the black stone building that was emitting a fiery breath. The black stone building was in the shape of a huge mausoleum with closed walls on all four sides, except for a huge black stone archway with gargoyle statues on both sides.

The archway was closed.

There is a tall and burly god carved on the door. He has human hands, one holding a skull and the other holding a flame, and his head is that of a dragon.

According to some scholars of the Citadel, the dragonlords of Valyria believe that all faiths are equally false, and despise clergy and temples, considering them primitive relics. However, in order to appease the lower classes and slaves, and let them imagine a better life after death, Valyria encourages theism. For the same reason, the Freehold promotes religious tolerance to keep the faithful divided and prevent them from uniting under monotheism and rebelling.

But the Valyrians actually worship many different gods, including Balerion, Meraxes, and Vhagar.

Viserys guessed that the image on the door should be Balerion, the "god of death", after whom Aegon the Conqueror's dragon was named.

On the right side of the archway, there is a piece of polished obsidian inlaid behind a huge black stone slab.

On the obsidian is an inscription in Valyrian: "The resting place of the lords of Dragonstone of House Targaryen."

Viserys placed his torch at the foot of the gargoyle sculpture at the door, then put one hand on the huge arch of the tomb and tried to push. The door did not respond, so he let go of Daenerys with his other hand and put both hands on the door to try and push.

"Boom!"

When the force reached a certain level, a huge rumbling sound came from the ground, as if this stone door was connected to various vital points of the huge cave in the mountain. Some strange sounds were heard, and even the mountain shook under Viserys' push.

Daenerys almost fell down in this sudden earthquake. She managed to stand firm and exclaimed: "Brother, be careful!"

Viserys quickly retracted his strength and withdrew his hands. The rumbling sound stopped and the earth-shaking terror gradually subsided.

The noise just now made Viserys terrified. His slight push actually triggered the terrifying power in the mountain through the arch mechanism.

Pushing the door like this is definitely not the correct way to open it.

Viserys didn't know that with his push just now, the entire Dragonstone Island could feel that the mountain was becoming restless, and a crater on the top of the mountain was even emitting bursts of gray-white smoke, as if it was about to move at any time.

But it wasn't as if nothing was discovered during this push just now: "Did you hear it just now, Dany? The sound of chains."

Just now, Viserys heard the sound of huge iron chains under the platform as the mountain shook.

"Here, I'll take a look." As he spoke, Viserys hung the boots on Daenerys and began to undress.

Daenerys knew what he was going to do, and quickly put out the torch in her hand to take the clothes. She was used to it. She just reached out to take the clothes he handed over as usual.

Viserys stripped naked in front of the tomb gate and immediately transformed into a giant dragon three or four meters in size: "Wait for me here." As he said that, he ran, flapped his wings and took off, flying to the bottom of the huge platform to take a look.

With the help of the light emitted by the magma at the bottom of the ravine and the firelight of his own head in the middle, Viserys soon discovered that under the huge stone platform, there were several iron chains so thick that they required several people to hug together extending from the cracks in the stone, extending all the way to the nearby stone wall. Not only that, there was also a thick iron chain hanging on the stone wall extending to the far distance.

At regular intervals, there were huge black horn-shaped hooks on the stone wall, supporting the thick chains hanging down.

Under the platform were rivers of magma and red-hot lava. Viserys could hardly imagine what kind of power the Targaryen family had used hundreds of years ago to build such an exquisite mausoleum mechanism here.

Since he was already here, he might as well fly around the giant stone platform where the tomb was located. It was a pity that he could not find a direct way in through a gap in the iron chains under the stone platform.

But judging from the number of chains, the location of the boulders on which the chains are located, and the height of these boulder platforms, this tomb is just as written on the obsidian at the entrance. This is not the tomb of a certain person, but the family tomb of the Targaryen.

Theoretically, if there are more dead people to be buried in this mausoleum, this only door must be opened.

Viserys circled below and flew back.

Daenerys quickly stepped forward and asked, "How is it?"

Viserys was in no hurry to change back. He only said, "This is the only way into the tomb. Look for it again. There must be some obvious clue. Otherwise, how can the descendants of Targaryen enter to pay homage to them? Go to the four towers and have a look."

The four towers outside the mausoleum are not particularly large. They seem to be mausoleum guard towers used to decorate the mausoleum. They are about ten feet away from the mausoleum, almost at the edge of the four corners of the stone platform.

The tower is about three meters high, with a square base and a length and width of about seven feet. The tower is tall and thin, with a dragon knight statue on the top. The tower is open, and there is no coffin inside. Each tower has a giant dragon knight statue guarding the main mausoleum. The dragons carved inside and on the top of the same tower are consistent, but different towers have different dragons and dragon knights.

Below the statues in each tower was a black slab inlaid with polished obsidian, the same as the one beside the tomb door. There was no dragon or knight's name on it, only the words "show blood and fire" written in Valyrian.

"Show blood and fire?" Daenerys understood. "Show dragons?"

How to display the dragon?

Viserys understood. "Dracarys!"

He gathered flames in his mouth and spewed them at the dragon rider statue in the tower.

When I was reading the book, I read that the Red Woman was suspected to lead Stannis through the secret passage of the castle into Dragonstone, which caused Dragonstone to shake many times. At that time, I guessed that there was a mausoleum in the mountain, because only in this way can we explain where the Targaryen ancestors of Dragonstone and their dragons were buried. They did not believe in the Seven Gods, so it was impossible for them to be simply buried in the ordinary cemetery of Dragonstone. So in my fan fiction, I designed the place where the secret passage of Dragonstone led to as a mausoleum.

According to legend, the Targaryen ancestors brought five dragons with them when they migrated to Dragonstone in accordance with Daenerys' prophecy. Before the outbreak of the War of Conquest, Balerion the Black Death was the only one of the five dragons that survived. In theory, there were five 100-meter-long dragons on Dragonstone at the same time.



(End of this chapter)