The Mountain of Ice and Fire

An irresistible force slammed into Davos Seaworth's back, sending the child flying from his horse like a tossed scarecrow. He soared through the air before crashing down from the speeding warhorse.

Thump, thump, thump!

The powerful arrows from Julie's short crossbow pierced a burly figure, who grunted and fell to the ground. It was Rhys, the captain of the Black Guard.

In that critical moment, he sacrificed his life to save eleven-year-old Davos Seaworth.

Davos Seaworth screamed in mid-air, unfortunately heading straight for a giant rock. He fell headfirst, and with a loud crash, his helmet slammed against the rock, sending sparks flying. The scream abruptly stopped, as if severed by an incredibly sharp blade, clean and swift. The small body thumped onto the stone surface, seemingly lifeless, then bounced off and rolled into the grass, silent and still.

"Enemy attack! Defense!" the Black Guard elites shouted.

In the middle of the road ahead, a slender figure stood in the way. She dropped her short crossbow and drew a longsword.

A cavalryman took a small round shield from his back, held it up, kicked his warhorse, and charged at the figure.

From the bushes and shrubs on both sides of the road, behind large and small rocks, figures slowly rose—one, two, three… Silent figures, steady breaths, unhurried and composed movements… a stark contrast to the bewildered, screaming enemy cavalry circling in confusion…

Whoosh!

An arrow shot from the right, hitting the cavalryman's neck as he focused intently on Julie.

To allow for flexible movement, the neck guard was not thick.

At such close range, the short crossbow's arrows easily pierced armor.

The arrow entered from the right side of his neck!

The cavalryman seemed to be struck by an invisible but solid giant hammer, violently thrown to the left. Shield and sword flew from his grasp into the air.

The warhorse neighed in terror, rearing up.

Hitting a person's neck on a galloping warhorse was not easy. Although it was a sneak attack, and the enemy was only focused on Julie in front, the accuracy of this shot required thousands of training sessions to develop the feel for hitting the target while in motion!

Thump, thump, thump, thump! Thump, thump, thump, thump!

The sound of dense short arrows piercing the cavalrymen's bodies echoed continuously.

The cavalrymen's screams sharply pierced the night sky as the dark figures fell from their horses. Some cavalrymen shouted and charged forward, but whether forward, left, or right, there were enemies behind them, making effective defense impossible.

A cavalry company of a hundred men, surrounded and subjected to the dense fire of a hundred short crossbows, saw its soldiers fall one after another.

Julie's company of a hundred veteran soldiers pushed their accuracy and ruthlessness to the extreme.

Warhorses without riders ran wildly in all directions. When some brothers tried to capture the horses, Julie sternly stopped them.

"Kill all the enemies first!" Julie shouted!

Blackened Julie's heart had no room for mercy.

From the moment she was rescued from the mountain by the Mountain, Julie considered herself dead. Every day she lived, every enemy she killed, was a bonus!

This was an extremely unfair battle!

Repeating short crossbows ambushed cavalrymen with longswords from all sides!

The entire elite cavalry company of a hundred men, trapped in the encirclement and traveling on the uneven path along the river, fell.

The stench of blood filled the air, and the screams of pain and agony never ceased.

Not far away, iron chains blocked the river, and the rolling debris, wrecked warships, and other wreckage swept downriver accumulated, forming a pontoon bridge connecting the two banks.

On several half-destroyed warships, soldiers were still shouting and wailing. Several broken ships, engulfed in green flames, crashed into the pontoon bridge, and the sounds of cracking and banging echoed on the river.

Boom!

A loud explosion.

A lucky ship, a lone survivor with intact oars—unscathed by the wildfire ships—escaped the green flames. The lucky ship, fleeing at top speed, violently collided with the 'pontoon bridge' with a deafening crash. Splintered wood debris, the size of arms, flew everywhere with specks of green fire. The tremendous impact caused the iron chains to groan, and the winch in the stone tower creaked, clearly audible to Julie Clegane's group in the darkness.

Julie turned to look at the river. Another lucky ship, blessed by the Seven Gods, was rapidly escaping along the shoreline channel. The soldiers on board saw the impassable 'pontoon bridge.' The warship, with the wind and current at its back, moved like a flying arrow. The sailors below deck couldn't see the pontoon bridge on the surface. They continued to row desperately. The captain let out a desperate scream: "Hard to starboard!"

However, no matter how it turned, the warship's fate was sealed. The warship violently crashed into the pontoon bridge, causing a deafening roar. The iron chains shook on the river surface, rattling loudly. The winch in the stone tower made a painful creaking sound, cracking and snapping. The warship made a huge sound as it broke apart. The stern lifted out of the water, and the bow sank, plunging underwater. Yet, the warship still couldn't fly over the iron chain pontoon bridge.

The iron chains locked the river's mouth. The last few survivors, blessed by the hand of fate from the Seven Gods and not destroyed by wildfire, were also wrecked on the pontoon bridge. Many warship wrecks, engulfed in green flames, burned fiercely here. Green fire snakes danced everywhere on the pontoon bridge that spanned the river.

On the shore, Julie calmly said, "Finish them off!"

The brothers slung their short crossbows on their backs, and swords were drawn with a clang. They finished off the wounded soldiers lying on the ground one by one.

The pleas for mercy seemed very weak and powerless amidst the thumping sounds of stabbing.

Julie came to the bushes where Davos Seaworth had fallen. She saw the motionless small body. A torch was lit, and from the figure, she realized that the first warrior who charged at her was just a child. Julie took off the child's helmet. Half of his face was covered in blood, but it couldn't hide the childishness on his face. She took off her iron gauntlet and checked for breath. He was still breathing.

The brothers finished their work and gathered around, looking at the child lying on the ground: half of his face covered in blood, half of his face still childish.

"Look at his sigil, a black ship with an onion sail on a gray background. This is the child of the Onion Knight, Davos Seaworth," one brother said.

"That Davos is a formidable character. More than ten years ago, during the War of the Usurper, he sailed a small boat alone through the layers of blockade in Shipbreaker Bay, delivering a full load of onions to Stannis."

"Davos is a pirate."

"No, he's a smuggler. Stannis punished his smuggling by cutting off the first joint of four fingers on his left hand, except for his thumb. At the same time, to reward him for saving his life with onions, he knighted him."

"I bet this kid is the son of Ser Davos Seaworth. That guy has many sons, seven or eight."

The brothers looked at the child's sigil and discussed.

"He's not dead yet," Julie said.

A brother next to her walked over, raised his longsword, and was about to stab the child's face.

Clang!

Julie's longsword blocked the stab, and she shouted, "Wake him up!"

"Yes, my lady."

Splash! A bucket of cold river water was splashed on Davos Seaworth's face. The child coughed and woke up, opening his eyes to the swaying dark figures in front of him.

He couldn't figure out the current situation at all.

At the same time, under the iron chains in the Blackwater Rush, on the other side of the river, his father, Davos Seaworth, decided to release the iron chains, hugging a wooden plank and drifting down, hoping the gods would bless him and help him drift past the Water Gate, so he could be saved.

Outside the Water Gate, there were forty warships of his pirate friend Salladhor Saan's fleet. With forty warships, he could make a comeback.

He was proficient in swimming and knew the water conditions of the Water Gate like the back of his hand, but relying on a wooden plank to swim across the turbulent Water Gate was a one-in-ten chance of survival.

But he decided to take the risk.

He chose a wooden plank, pulled it out, threw it out, and then jumped on it.

His figure sank and floated on the turbulent water surface a few times, then disappeared!

On the south bank, Davos was pulled up and finally understood that they had been completely annihilated, and he was a prisoner.

Before him was a young girl as sharp as a longsword, with no emotion in her eyes, like a piece of cold ice.

"Go back and tell Stannis, my name is Julie Clegane, the Mountain Clegane is my father, and I'll be waiting for him here."

Davos rode away a long distance, still not believing that he had escaped the woman's control. The coldness in her eyes was something he would never forget.

*

Stannis received Davos's report without anger or rage. He ordered a three-pronged attack, three companies of a hundred men each. One detoured to the east side of the stone tower to cut off the enemy's escape route, one went through the forest, and one went along the small road, making sure to annihilate Julie Clegane's company of a hundred men. By the time his three companies arrived at the stone tower, besides the neatly arranged corpses of his Black Guard, Julie Clegane and her group were long gone.

The stone tower, winch, iron chains, pontoon bridge, wildfire, wreckage; countless warship remains, corpses filling the river channel, and wounded soldiers lying on wooden planks in the water, moaning faintly, presented a terrifying scene of hell on earth.

Although wildfire was evil, the water flowed rapidly, and the turbulent waves surged, the fire was quickly dying down.

Stannis ordered, "Count Sebastien Errol, return to the military camp and order the soldiers to slowly lower all the rafts."

The king was surrounded by courtiers, all looking at each other, puzzled.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Count Sebastien Errol ran back to the army's camp with his guards.

Count Sebastien Errol was one of the major nobles of the Stormlands. His sigil was a yellow haystack on an orange background. His castle was called Haystack Hall.

"Lord Hand, issue an order, cavalry and infantry, line up here, ready to cross the river."

The Hand was hesitant and doubtful: "Your Majesty, how do we cross the river?"

"The pontoon bridge!" Stannis said coldly. He looked at the courtiers surrounding him. He could see that these guys were all worried about his safety, but he was very dissatisfied with their lack of fighting spirit.

"In half an hour, when the army is lined up and the green fire is extinguished, I will be the first to cross the pontoon bridge!" Stannis pointed to the very dangerous pontoon bridge, blocked by iron chains and piled up with warship wreckage.

The courtiers were shocked and tried to dissuade him.

This pontoon bridge was full of dangers, and there were still several places burning with green fire.

"Your Majesty, please give me the honor of being the first to cross the river," a knight jumped off his horse, knelt down, and requested.

Robin Byrchbury, Earl of the Arbor. The family's coat of arms on his chest was a green bursting pod on a white background, bordered by three circles of beans. This was a very loyal and brave fellow, fearless and utterly devoted, with no fear.

"I will be the first to cross the river! You follow me!" Stannis said coldly. He was an unpersuadable black stone, a black iron ingot.

The courtiers were greatly alarmed.

Earl Robin Byrchbury took off his helmet and kowtowed heavily, blood splattering. Stannis finally relented: "Alright, Robin, I allow you to be the first to cross the pontoon bridge. Shield bearers in front, advance in formation. You must be careful of the archers on the other side."

If there were archers defending this stone tower, then there must also be guards defending the stone tower on the opposite bank.

*

Outside the King's Gate training grounds, on the riverside avenue, the patrol captain, Sweetmouth Ralph, saw something floating on the water.

Whoosh!

A fire arrow shot into the river, illuminating a small area of the water.

It was a raft.

Sweetmouth Ralph was stunned.

A raft?

An empty raft floated downstream. What did this mean?

"Shoot arrows, let me see it more clearly," Sweetmouth Ralph ordered.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Dozens of fire arrows shot into the river.

The soldiers and Officer Ralph looked on in surprise and doubt: raft after raft filled the surface of the Blackwater Rush, but there was no one on the rafts, not a single person.

Stannis's soldiers just threw the woven rafts into the water like this? Abandoned them?

Were they not planning to cross the river?

"Someone, report to the Mountain that the enemy has released a river full of empty rafts."

"Yes, sir!"

*

On the city wall, above the Iron Gate, the Hand and His Majesty the King, along with the Mountain, stood together. They stood together at the highest point of the city wall, surrounded by bright torches, so that the soldiers defending the city could see the King, the Hand, and the Mountain at all directions.

The King, the Hand, the Guardian of King's Landing, and the soldiers were together.

Joffrey was already yawning repeatedly. He really wanted to go back to sleep, but seeing the Mountain's unfriendly expression, he forced himself not to leave.

The Imp, on the other hand, was full of energy, his eyes full of vigilance. The enemy's naval fleet was destroyed, but the army would definitely find a way to cross the river. He understood Stannis; this man's character was terrifying, his will as firm as steel. In the Seven Kingdoms, it would be difficult to find another equally tough character.

Lord Tywin was not afraid of Renly, but afraid of Stannis. Similarly, the Mountain was not afraid of Renly, but afraid of Stannis sitting on the Iron Throne. And the Tyrell family liked Renly and were willing to be loyal to him. As soon as Renly died, the Tyrell army immediately withdrew, refusing to be loyal to Stannis.

In the Seven Kingdoms, many nobles feared Stannis. Once he sat on the Iron Throne, it would be the end of many people. Including Littlefinger and the missing Varys. The deceased Grand Maester Pycelle and many indiscreet courtiers were all wary of this man.

All the captains and soldiers of the Royal Navy fleet were Stannis's men, old subordinates. During the reign of the late King Robert, Stannis was the Master of Ships, in charge of the Royal Navy and all maritime defenses, but almost none of his captains or soldiers liked or were close to him.

His personality made him difficult for subordinates to approach. He was severe with punishments for mistakes, but due to the empty treasury and difficulties with military pay, rewards were unheard of.

This caused the Royal Navy's soldiers to harbor resentment towards Stannis!

Tyrion mentally weighed Stannis's strengths and weaknesses when a hurried footstep approached. Sweetmouth Ralph's messenger ran up and said, "Lord Mountain, the enemy has suddenly released rafts, filling the river, but the rafts are empty."

"Understood!" The Mountain said blandly.

The dispirited Joffrey perked up. "Mountain, what does my uncle mean by this? Has he finally realized he's failed? Is he giving up on crossing the river?"

"Your Majesty, the wildfire material on the river is almost burned out. Isolated patches of green fire pose no further danger in the raging river. Hundreds of rafts floating downstream will use the iron chain spanning the river to build a pontoon bridge that can be crossed on horseback."

"Lord Mountain, then we must brace ourselves for a night battle!" Tyrion said.

"Yes, a night battle!"

Joffrey laughed, looking at the Mountain and Tyrion as if they were two idiots. "Why not have the soldiers cut the iron chain?" His tone was full of sarcasm. "Cut the chain when the enemy is halfway across. Those people, along with the wreckage and rafts, will be swept into the reefs and whirlpools below the Water Gate and ground to pieces."

*

ps: There will be another update today.

Thank you to [O flash O], [That Raincoat of Mist], [Riding a Donkey Reading a Book], [Jin Xiao Yanei], [Sleepy Hamburger] for their support and rewards.