"This 'Nine Lives' ability does not seem to respawn me where I died; instead, it returns me to where I was three shichen—that is, six hours—ago," Mufasa thought to himself.
He immediately stood up and explained the situation to the wildling leaders, including the location of the cave and the dragon.
"At the highest peak of The Mountains of the Moon, there is a cave. It may house the last dragon in the world," Mufasa said.
Mufasa thought that perhaps its body was too large to come out; otherwise, it surely would have emerged to kill Mufasa and eat his flesh.
"The highest peak? Do you mean Looking to Heaven Capital?" a wildling asked.
"You know it?" Mufasa asked.
"That place is very strange. Sometimes, terrifying roars come from it. Furthermore, despite being the highest peak, there is no snow there. Logically, the higher the place, the colder it should be, but the temperature there is actually very high."
"Our Painted Dogs Tribe used to be like the Burned Men Tribe; we would seek out a Fire Sorceress to bless us. We would usually bring food to see her, get scorched by flames, and return with honor."
"However, according to the last person who was scorched by dragonflame, that dragon is too big, and its body seems to be stuck in the cave, unable to come out," the Painted Dogs wildling said.
"So that is it. It really is stuck in the cave and cannot get out. Now I have a way to deal with it," Mufasa thought to himself.
He looked at the Vale wildlings and said.
"Warriors of the Vale! The moment of glory has arrived. There is a dragon in Looking to Heaven Capital. As long as we kill it, I guarantee I will help you build five stone castles for you to live in. From then on, you will not need to go raiding anymore; you can just farm in peace," Mufasa said.
"But the mountain path there is too steep. I am afraid we cannot all go up, and even if we do, we have no way to kill the dragon," One-Eyed Dragon said.
"There is a way!" Mufasa said. He still had a large amount of mengan drug left, and using it on a dragon would not be a waste.
Mufasa planned to have the wildling tribe sacrifice two people, make them drink wine laced with mengan drug, and send them into the cave to be eaten by the dragon. Once the dragon fell asleep, Mufasa would lead the others in to slay it.
When Mufasa arrived at Looking to Heaven Capital with the wildlings, a roar came from the cave, filled with a strong sense of warning.
"Roar! Roar! Roar!"
The dragon inside seemed to be saying, "Do not you come over here! I will eat you! Are you not afraid of dragonflame?"
"Mufasa, what should we do?" the One-Eyed Dragon wildling asked.
"Go in and slay the dragon! This glory is a once-in-a-century opportunity, just like Serwyn of the Mirror Shield," Mufasa said.
He began distributing valyrian steel swords; each of the ten wildlings received one, and the largest wildling even received a shield forged from valyrian steel.
"Glory to the first men. Come, everyone, drink the wine before we go in to slay the dragon!"
Mufasa brought over the wine laced with mengan drug. The wildlings were not very bright; seeing that Mufasa had actually given each of them a valyrian steel sword and one of them a shield forged from valyrian steel, they were impressed.
They all thought of the story of Serwyn of the Mirror Shield, who polished his shield until it was as bright as a mirror, reflecting the dragon's flames back to burn the dragon itself to death.
The wildlings were full of confidence, believing that they would be the one to slay the dragon. Some even planned that after killing the dragon, if there were too many companions, they would kill them all, leaving only themselves to enjoy the glory of the dragon slayer.
After drinking the wine, the alcohol went to their heads, and the ten wildlings rushed into the cave.
Sheep Stealer was trapped in the cave and could not get out, much like the dragons slaughtered by the mob in the Dragonpit in King's Landing. Not to mention, the terrain inside the cave was even more cramped.
Mufasa listened to the commotion inside from the outside. Soon, he heard dragon roars, followed by the screams of battle and the sound of weapons striking. Finally, there was the sound of chewing, as if bones were being crushed and swallowed.
Mufasa waited for three shichen. Seeing that no one had come out, he wanted to send other wildlings in to take a look.
But the wildlings shook their heads one by one, indicating that they dared not go in.
Mufasa had no choice but to call for his private soldiers, the Unsullied, and had them enter the cave holding torches.
Half a shichen later, they came out carrying ten valyrian steel swords and one shield, the wooden hilts and handles of which had all been burned to ash.
"Lord Mufasa, the dragon seems to be asleep! Moreover, it looks extremely old; perhaps it will not live much longer," one of the Unsullied said.
"Everyone stand back. Heraka, come in with me."
Mufasa led Heraka into the cave. Using the Fireball spell, he clearly saw the dragon's face; it certainly did not look as good as Balerion.
The dragon's face looked like a trampled mass of rotting flesh, its gray-green scales curling and oozing pus. Its left compound eye was as turbid as stagnant water, and a piece of broken rock was embedded in its right eye socket. Its collapsed nose bridge exhaled the stench of carrion, twisted fangs dripped with yellow-green saliva, and half-digested bones hung from the corners of its mouth.
Fat white maggots crawled within the wrinkled skin, wriggling and poking their heads out as it breathed. Every groove was soaked in disgusting, fishy slime, and one glance was enough to feel one's soul being gnawed by filth.
"It seems it really is a dying old dragon. Let me end its suffering."
Mufasa picked up the valyrian steel spear, Ghost-Slayer, and thrust it directly into the dragon's eye, piercing straight into its brain.
Sheep Stealer was killed in its sleep.
Mufasa let Heraka eat all the edible meat on its body, and then he walked out.
"The dragon is dead. Go in, dismember it completely, and bring it out," Mufasa said.
The Unsullied obeyed and entered the cave. A day and a night passed before they brought out almost the entire dragon corpse, including the dragon bones, dragon scales, dragon head, dragon claws, and dragon wings.
The rotting meat was fought over by incoming vultures, and jackals also arrived to get a share. Shadowcats, wild wolves, mountain eagles, falcons, peregrine falcons, and foxes all smelled the scent and arrived.
"I did not expect there to be so many wild animals in the Vale!" Mufasa said.
He originally thought that since the Vale's territory was small and the Mountain Clans here did not rely on raiding for a living, there would not be many wild animals here.
"We wildlings also know that resources in The Mountains of the Moon are scarce, so we only raid the villages under the rule of the Vale lords," One-Eyed Dragon said.
"You really are a strange one!" Mufasa said.
Mufasa distributed a portion of the dragon bones to the people of the Mountain Clans, while he kept most of the dragon scales, dragon claws, and the dragon wings, which had a few holes in them, for himself.
"Let's go. Next, we are going to The Eyrie! Huh? Where is my Heraka?" Mufasa looked around but did not see Heraka.
"My Lord, Heraka is asleep at the foot of the mountain!" an Unsullied walked over and said.
"It did not get a stomachache, did it?" Mufasa said, feeling a bit worried.
When he arrived at the foot of the mountain and took a look, Heraka was breathing evenly; it seemed to be simply asleep.
"Send a squad of Unsullied to guard it here! Do not let other animals or wildlings harm it. Now I am going to The Eyrie. When I return, I will come to see it again," Mufasa said.
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