The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Chapter 7: Consumption

Dragons possess two innate gifts: combat and gluttony.

Sheep Stealer, along with Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion, had perfectly mastered the art of gluttony.

The meticulously roasted whole sheep was so delicious that even the most discerning Arianne Martell, Princess of Dorne, was conquered by its flavor at first bite.

The spices and snow salt used in the most exquisite royal delicacies could not surpass the standards of the whole roasted sheep prepared by the Mountain.

To win over Sheep Stealer, the Mountain had put in a considerable effort, importing the highest-grade edible spices from the distant East. Even ordinary nobles were not so fortunate as to enjoy such luxuries, but Sheep Stealer did. And snow salt was the finest salt in the world, far superior to the crude sea salt and rock salt.

And of course, the rewards for the Mountain's efforts were extremely generous.

Having captured Sheep Stealer's appetite, the Mountain gained considerable experience in dragon handling. He repeated his trick, using Sheep Stealer to bring Daenerys's three small dragons to Sheep Stealer's territory through a display of force and draconic communication, all without incident, and completely conquer them with the delicious roasted whole sheep.

A total of eleven plump roasted sheep, which were barely enough for Sheep Stealer's meager meal, suddenly became insufficient with the addition of three gluttonous little ones.

The Mountain's ranch had plenty of sheep, and since it was a carefully prepared feast, he should have roasted a few more.

Of course, the Mountain had roasted more sheep, but he had his own plans and arrangements.

Letting the three little dragons eat until they were only half-full would make them crave the deliciousness even more.

The eleven roasted sheep were quickly devoured by the four dragons.

Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion, who had never tasted anything so delicious, were clearly not satisfied.

The most delicious food their mother Daenerys gave them was beast meat preserved with sea salt. It lacked the finest and most expensive spices, the curing of snow salt, and the meticulous roasting by a dedicated chef. The three dragons would simply roast the meat with their own dragonflame and swallow it. Before eating the roasted sheep here, the three little dragons had always thought that their mother's cured meat was the best delicacy.

After eating the roasted sheep here, the three dragons realized what true deliciousness was. Their appetites were whetted; they wanted to eat more, they wanted to eat their fill.

Sheep Stealer was also feeling itchy in his heart.

He was very dissatisfied that there wasn't enough food.

Sheep Stealer looked up at the cave where the Mountain and the others were hiding, which was concealed by thorns and bushes, with a small forest behind it.

In the pasture, the flock of sheep had already prostrated themselves in the distant corner of the grass. No sheep dared to make a sound; they buried their heads under each other's bodies, perhaps praying in their hearts: 'Don't see me, don't see me, don't see me...'

Kyu!

Sheep Stealer let out a soft dragon's cry!

Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion all looked up at the place Sheep Stealer was staring at.

Dragons have keen eyesight; they spotted a person's head in the grass.

The Mountain revealed his head.

The Mountain was also looking at the three little dragons.

He couldn't withstand dragonflame, so he was very careful. If he saw the three little dragons about to fly over and breathe fire at him, he could simply duck underground to save his life.

Dragons couldn't chase into the earth, and dragonflame couldn't turn the entire land into liquid. He only needed to avoid the sudden first strike, and Sheep Stealer could handle the rest.

Hiding underground was the most effective way to deal with a dragon's attack.

The Mountain wasn't worried that Sheep Stealer couldn't defeat the three dragons; he was worried that a dragonflame would suddenly erupt.

There was no need for him to be finished off before Sheep Stealer could stop these three little fellows.

Although Daenerys's three dragons were small, the Mountain had great respect and vigilance for them. He wasn't willing to be careless at all.

After all, they were magical creatures, intelligent higher beasts, and the black dragon Drogon had a bad temper and strong aggressiveness.

The Mountain showed his head outside, and the three little dragons tilted their heads to look at him, without any unusual movements.

"Quiet!" the Mountain shouted.

He spoke the dragon-command language—the Dragon Command.

Like Daenerys, the Mountain was also proficient in dragon commands. Sheep Stealer's master, Randa, had left behind complete dragon commands, all in the strangely pronounced High Valyrian language.

Drogon's dragon eyes clearly flashed with golden light. This guy was very suspicious and sensitive, but thankfully, he didn't lash out.

Sheep Stealer was here. While the three dragons were looking at the stranger Mountain, they were also looking at Sheep Stealer.

Sheep Stealer had taught them a lesson in the sky about how to be a dragon, which they remembered well. In the face of absolute behemoths, Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion knew from experience that this big guy could tear them to pieces if he wanted to.

But the big guy hadn't torn them to pieces; instead, he had invited them to his territory through constant friendly dragon roars and allowed them to eat delicacies they had never tasted before.

Inviting them to eat was the most friendly gesture a dragon could make.

Dragons were also magical creatures with an extreme sense of territory. Even among their own kind, they wouldn't tolerate another dragon entering their territory. As the saying goes, a mountain cannot accommodate two tigers, unless one is male and the other is female.

Sheep Stealer was a female dragon, while Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion were male dragons.

Females naturally had an attraction to males. Although the three little dragons were still slightly small.

And although the fastest-growing black dragon Drogon was the same age as his brothers, he already had a considerable sense of sensitivity to females.

Among the three brothers, there was always one who developed the fastest!

Sheep Stealer and the Mountain had already reached a tacit understanding. He once again let out a low dragon roar to the Mountain, asking him for food.

Sheep Stealer's urging was one thing, but the Mountain's caution was another.

He knew that Sheep Stealer would never breathe dragonflame at him, but he couldn't be 100% sure about the other three little fellows.

However, what reassured the Mountain was that the three little dragons weren't wild dragons; they had been raised by humans from a young age and had lived with humans since childhood. Compared to wild dragons, domestic dragons wouldn't breathe dragonflame at people for no reason, unless they felt threatened, unless they were in a bad mood, or unless the unlucky person had inadvertently violated a dragon's taboo.

Since the Mountain had long planned to breed dragons, he had naturally investigated and gained a deep understanding of the nature of Daenerys's three little dragons.

Tyrion and Daenerys had informants investigating the Mountain, and of course, the Mountain also had his own little birds constantly investigating Tyrion and Daenerys, including these three little dragons. This was the most basic preparation before taking action against these three little dragons.

The Mountain knew one major taboo when interacting with the three little dragons—a path to death: don't turn your back on these three little fellows.

Saying that these three dragons were little fellows was only in comparison to the behemoth Sheep Stealer.

As long as you turned your back on these three dragons, they would unreasonably think you were provoking them, and they would breathe dragonflame at you.

Different dragons have different strange taboos.

*

In fact, Sheep Stealer, who was never full, wanted to eat his fill even more urgently than Drogon and the other guests. He was very gluttonous and had a huge appetite.

The Mountain slowly stood up, holding a roasted sheep that had been roasted long ago and emitted an enticing aroma.

Since he had invited the three little dragons to come here to eat roasted whole sheep, the Mountain naturally wouldn't be stingy.

Of course, he had prepared enough sheep—whole sheep that had been carefully marinated and roasted.

To go through a process of wariness, unfamiliarity, approach, closeness, and acceptance with the three little dragons, the best way, of course, was to personally feed them food.

"Eat! Drogon!" the Mountain said in the dragon language.

He stood at the cave entrance, not moving a step.

Drogon suddenly raised his head, stretching out his long neck, his eyes flashing as he stared at the Mountain.

A stranger was going to give him food, and the Mountain had even called his name.

The Mountain raised the sheep to Drogon, but didn't throw it. The distance was too far, and even with the Mountain's strength, he couldn't throw the sheep to Drogon's claws.

Normally, Drogon would have pounced over, breathing dragonflame to engulf the sheep, perhaps accidentally injuring the Mountain as well, and then swallow the sheep.

But Drogon didn't move. He didn't even make a soft sound of agreement.

There was a behemoth senior next to him breathing dragon breath, the sound of the breath was very loud, just like a person snorting, in fact, this was Sheep Stealer warning Drogon not to attack the Mountain.

Drogon didn't attack, but he didn't make a dragon roar accepting the stranger's food.

He was very wary. He was naturally wary of strangers. The Mountain had appeared suddenly.

However, no matter how wary Drogon was, he wasn't a wild dragon.

And Sheep Stealer was a true wild dragon by birth. Before being conquered by his master Randa, he had killed more people than the other five wild dragons on Dragonstone combined.

The wildness of Sheep Stealer at the age of four was several times that of Drogon.

The consciousness of killing humans was completely different between wild dragons and domestic dragons.

Without getting a response from Drogon, the Mountain didn't move his feet or throw the food.

He knew that the leader of the three little dragons was Drogon.

Although Sheep Stealer had led Drogon and the others to come, the Mountain wasn't sure how high the prestige of this new leader had reached.

If dragons truly submitted, they would completely obey their new leader.

Of course, this also took time!

Sheep Stealer let out a soft roar for the third time, this time aimed at Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion. As the dragon's roar drifted across the hillside, Sheep Stealer's dragon claw gently reached out and nudged Drogon's body. The Drogon, who was more robust than a behemoth, was flipped over like a kitten. He quickly stood up and roared at Sheep Stealer.

"Drogon, quiet, eat," the Mountain called out in a louder voice.

Increasing the volume was also a gradual way to increase familiarity with the dragons.

This time, one dragon responded: Viserion!

The white dragon Viserion!

He tilted his head to look at the Mountain and the sheep in his hand, and gave a response asking for food. He just wanted to have more roasted sheep to tear apart and swallow.

In front of Sheep Stealer, Drogon, and Rhaegal, Viserion, whose combat power was completely crushed, was a well-behaved good boy.

Viserion's response made the Mountain realize that his plan to please Drogon first was actually wrong!

In fact, when Drogon was difficult to deal with, the best way, of course, was to win over the weakest dragon first: Viserion!

"Viserion, quiet, eat," the Mountain called out to Viserion with enthusiasm.

Sure enough, Viserion immediately responded: Kyu Kyu Kyu! He kept chirping, walking back and forth on the grass, his long neck swaying, his ferocious dragon head constantly signaling to the Mountain. This was a signal to urge the Mountain to throw out the roasted sheep.

The Mountain stood completely on the ground, striding forward. Using the force of inertia, he threw the sheep in his hand towards Viserion.

Whoosh!

The roasted sheep drew a high arc in the air, falling towards Viserion... Viserion flapped his wings gently, flying close to the ground, stretching out his long neck, and accurately caught the roasted sheep. He landed on the ground, pressed the plump roasted sheep with his dragon claws, and his dragon mouth tore into it...

The Mountain retreated to the cave entrance. From the cave entrance, another roasted sheep was handed out. The Mountain took one, then took the second. He stood up, holding two roasted sheep in his hands: "Drogon, Rhaegal, quiet, eat," the Mountain shouted in dragon language.

Rhaegal let out a low roar and lunged towards the Mountain. The Mountain felt a cold sweat break out on his back. Although Sheep Stealer was acting as a 'bodyguard,' the risk still existed...

"Whoosh!" The Mountain threw the sheep in his hand out with all his strength. He didn't want to get too close to Rhaegal.

The three dragons were wary of the Mountain, and the Mountain was even more wary of the three dragons.

Rhaegal stretched out his long neck and caught the fat sheep in the air. He flew behind Sheep Stealer with the sheep in his mouth and began to feast.

The Mountain looked at the black dragon. The black dragon's dragon eyes flickered with brilliance. After a while, Drogon finally let out a soft roar as a response.

So, the Mountain threw the roasted sheep in his hand... After Drogon caught the food, the Mountain called Drogon's name again to strengthen the impression.

"Mountain, let me come out and feed them with you," Arianne Martell, who was in charge of handing out the sheep, said in the cave.

"No. That Drogon is too suspicious."

"Isn't Sheep Stealer by his side?"

"What if a fireball erupts and Sheep Stealer doesn't have time to stop it? These guys are dragons," the Mountain said in a low voice. He gestured for Arianne to remain calm. In critical moments, any unusual sound would make Drogon even more suspicious.

Arianne Martell stopped talking. She really wanted to feed the dragons herself.

However, cold sweat broke out on both of the Mountain's hands and back.

Despite Sheep Stealer's presence, the situation still made him feel nervous and full of adventurous excitement.

The Mountain dared to do this, insisting on personally feeding the sheep to entertain the dragon guests, risking a certain amount of life danger. His greatest reliance was: first, Sheep Stealer would protect him; second, Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion were domestic dragons, not wild dragons. They had lived and grown up with people since childhood. As long as they weren't threatened and didn't violate their taboos, they were generally relatively safe.

*

The Mountain took the two roasted sheep that Arianne and the shepherds passed out of the cave, and shouted, "Sheep Stealer, eat!" Then, the two plump roasted whole sheep flew into the air...

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