After spewing two bursts of dragonfire, Drogon saw Rhaegal and Viserion had already flown to his rear. He soared across the courtyard toward the numerous Qarthians outside the gate, continuing to unleash dragonfire as he flew.
The Qarthians outside watched their comrades scream as they turned into charred corpses. Most of the warriors lost their courage, but a few at the back of the formation rashly hurled spears at Drogon. Their panicked throws were wildly inaccurate and easily dodged.
Though the spears caused no harm, they ignited Drogon's fury. Reborn as a dragon, he despised nothing more than spears.
Abandoning the warrior beneath him, Drogon flapped his wings and swiftly glided above the spear-throwing warrior, engulfing him in a massive blast of dragonfire. He watched the man writhe in agony before turning his attention to the others.
The Dothraki inside the courtyard quickly reacted to Drogon's fiery assault. After Rhaegal and Viserion incinerated a few more Qarthians, they charged out of the courtyard to slaughter the panicked, fleeing Qarthians.
The fifty-odd Qarthians were swiftly annihilated, burned and hacked to death.
The screams and flames drew a large crowd of Qarthians to witness the scene. Their eyes widened in horror, mouths agape, as they stared at the terrifying spectacle of three dragons roasting humans alive.
Drogon, having already incinerated dozens of people, was now fully unleashed in his hidden fury. Gazing at the Qarthians surrounding him, he seemed to sense the despair and helplessness Daenerys had felt when she was constantly belittled and ostracized upon her arrival.
"Hiss!" A furious roar, laced with black smoke and sparks, shot toward the Qarthian crowd.
"Hiss!"
"Hiss!"
Two more ferocious hisses followed. The Qarthians, seeing the three dragons as ravenous children ready to devour them, abandoned all pretense of watching the spectacle and scattered in terror, fearing they would be mistaken for allies of the invaders.
Drogon scanned the fleeing crowd from above, finding no suspicious figures, before slowly descending to the ground.
The surviving Dothraki watched with worshipful eyes as the three dragons landed. Only then did they begin to retrieve their weapons and shields and drag away the charred corpses.
"Ah!" A woman's scream suddenly rang out. Drogon turned to see Viserion standing on a scorched body, baring his teeth at the woman who was trying to drag it away.
Flames seethed in the dragon's narrow throat, ready to erupt at any moment. No wonder the Dothraki woman, though not frail, had been terrified.
Seeing the woman retreat, Viserion snorted and lowered his head to rummage through the charred corpse beneath his foot.
Drogon felt deeply uncomfortable watching Viserion about to eat a human corpse. Viserion had even nearly spewed flames at the women, reminding Drogon of the three-year-old girl burned to death by one of the three dragons in the past.
Flying beside Viserion, Drogon pinned his paw, which was clawing at the charred corpse, while letting out a series of growls.
Rhaegal, who had been about to imitate Viserion and eat the corpse, stopped when he saw Viserion being restrained and heard the meaning in Drogon's growls.
Viserion, frustrated at being denied the tender meal within reach, jerked his paw back and bared his teeth at Drogon in defiance.
Seeing his younger brother, whom he had just disciplined the day before, dare to bare his teeth at him, Drogon, still fueled by the frenzy of having just slaughtered dozens, slammed Viserion's golden head down onto the charred corpse with a single claw.
Viserion stretched his neck in frustration, bracing his wings against the ground and scrabbling desperately with his claws to rise, but Drogon's immense strength and his own long neck rendered him powerless.
After struggling futilely for a moment and aggravating his wounds from the previous day's beating, Viserion finally remembered the painful lesson from yesterday. He ceased struggling and let out a whimper that sounded almost like a plea for mercy.
That's more like it. Hearing Viserion back down, Drogon slowly loosened his claws, then casually glanced at Rhaegal, who was making subtle movements nearby. Terrified, she quickly withdrew her claws from the charred corpse.
"Not stupid at all! You know how to read the room." Drogon was quite pleased with Rhaegal's performance as a young female dragon.
Seeing that both dragons were completely subdued, Drogon swept his gaze across the astonished crowd, then found the little maid Ji Qi. He nodded at her, and she stared at him with wide, confused eyes, her mouth agape.
Drogon was speechless. *How can humans be less intelligent than dragons?* He turned to look at Rhaegal and the dejected Viserion, and Ji Qi immediately understood his meaning—she was to roast meat for them.
Though Drogon could tame the two dragons, he couldn't suppress their primal desires. Food was still necessary, and as for the other desire... They were too young to understand anything.
With the roasted meat, the two dragons immediately began devouring it. Having just earned merit, Ji Qi made sure they didn't fight over the food this time.
In a short while, they were full and satisfied. Rhaegal and Viserion lay sprawled out like pampered lords, basking in the sun, showing no sign of having just been oppressed by Drogon.
In stark contrast to their contentment, Doreah, bound to a pillar opposite, looked utterly miserable. Her hair was disheveled, her body covered in bruises, and she had been beaten by nearly every Dothraki man present. She waited in despair for Daenerys's final judgment.
"Drogon! Rhaegal! Vis..." Daenerys rushed through the collapsed courtyard gate, calling out the young dragons' names in panic.
The three dragons, who had been basking in the sun, turned their heads in unison toward Daenerys, whose face was streaked with tears.
"Are you... alright?" Daenerys hadn't even finished calling Viserion's name when she saw the three dragons lying in awkward positions in the courtyard.
*Did they fight and burn down the courtyard gate? Did they even burn people?* she wondered. As she pondered this, she spotted Doreah tied to the pillar.
"Ji Qi, what happened?" She sensed something was amiss.
"Khaleesi, a group of people broke in earlier. If it weren't for Drogon and the others, we might all have been killed..." Ji Qi recounted, still shaken.
The more Daenerys listened, the more her heart pounded. She walked over and threw her arms around Drogon's neck, planting a fierce kiss on his face, which was covered in fine, intricate scales.
"Thank goodness for you, Drogon."
The people she'd left behind at the manor would have been no match for the fifty-odd Qarthian warriors. The outcome would have been death for them and the theft of her dragons. She hadn't expected Drogon and the others to have become so formidable.
Just a bunch of small fry. Drogon dismissed the threat with a shrug.
"Hiss..."
Seeing Daenerys showering Drogon with kisses and hugs, Rhaegal let out a displeased whine from the side, and Viserion pressed himself against her side, vying for attention.
These two little drakes haven't learned much skill, but they've mastered the art of vying for affection! Drogon was exasperated with them.
Hearing Drogon's grumbling, Daenerys smiled. She couldn't show favoritism, so she hugged both Rhaegal and Viserion, kissing each one.
After soothing the two young dragons, Daenerys's expression hardened. She approached Doreah, the maid who had taught her the ways of the bedchamber, and slapped her twice, once on each cheek.
"You've been with me from Pentos to the Dothraki Sea, and through the Red Waste. Why have you betrayed me now?"