The Mountain of Ice and Fire

If Bran Stark were really returning to Winterfell, Meera Reed wouldn't be pushing his wheelchair for hundreds of miles; that pace would be too slow. Even if the White Walker army moved slowly, they would still catch up to him. If Bran were truly going back to Winterfell, he wouldn't have Meera Reed pushing him along the Kingsroad at such a slow speed. He would only travel through the wolfswood to conceal his movements.

This was a very obvious flaw!

However, the White Walker squad had already been completely wiped out by Jon Snow's ambush, and although the surviving ice spider was a magical creature with some intelligence, it was ultimately no match for the minds of humans. It hadn't yet evolved to the point of thinking like a human.

Meera Reed pushed Bran's wheelchair, while Varamyr rode on the snow bear, accompanied by three direwolves and a shadow lynx. As soon as they left the city, they were discovered by the ice spider lurking in the snow.

The ice spider's strength lay in its ability to lurk in the snow and ice, its speed, and its eight legs as sharp as swords. It could climb mountains and cross hills with ease. Even steep, towering peaks were no problem for the ice spider. The most solid and dangerous walls were like flat ground to it. The three ice spiders were a secret weapon the Night King had prepared for the siege and final battle, but the Three-Eyed Raven, observing the Night King's every move from the Fist of the First Men, angered the Night King and drew his attention. He finally didn't hesitate to reveal the secret weapon of the ice spiders, sending his most powerful White Walker warriors and one ice spider to kill Bran Stark.

After all eleven of the most battle-hardened White Walker warriors were shot down by Jon Snow, the threat to Bran was reduced to just one ice spider.

In the sky, the dragon flew among the clouds.

The clouds weren't high; in the northern weather, in a world of wind and snow, the clouds were low, completely different from the blue skies and white clouds of the south.

As soon as the ice spider appeared from the snow, Sheepstealer saw it.

Dragons were the highest magical creatures, the supreme beings among magical creatures. Nothing could be more powerful than them. Even the ice spider, king of the Land of Always Winter, couldn't compare to the dragon's combat power. Compared to a dragon, the ice spider was more like a small ant.

The dragon's eyesight was astonishing. Even when the ice spider revealed its tracks and hid beneath the snow, the dragon could still clearly identify its location. The Mountain, on the dragon's back, looked down at the ice spider, which kept hiding in the snow and jumping out again. The ice spider was following Bran's group on a parallel route to the Kingsroad.

"Attack!" The Mountain issued the dragon-riding command.

The road ahead would pass through the wolfswood, for about a hundred miles. Entering the wolfswood would give the ice spider an even greater advantage, while the primeval forest would be an obstacle for the dragon. Sheepstealer's size was simply too large; the dense forest would hinder his smooth attacks.

The dragon burst out of the clouds, instantly approaching the ground. The pressure was overwhelming, and the ice spider had already disappeared. Its translucent body and agile hiding made the ice spider seem like a fish in the sea in the snowy and icy environment.

The dragon flew low, and the Mountain drew his ice sword. On the ground, the snow bear, direwolves, shadow lynx, and Varamyr were all unaware of the ice spider's tracking. Snow bears and direwolves were very sensitive to magical creatures and could give warnings from a distance.

However, the ice spider was silent and stealthy. By the time the snow bear could give a warning, it was often already past the safe distance, because the ice spider's speed was simply too fast.

The dragon roared, full of threat and killing intent. Bran's team was fearful, and the snow bear, direwolves, and shadow lynx were already prostrate, afraid to move, while the snow eagle in the sky had already flown down and landed on Varamyr's shoulder.

The dragon's might caused the bear, wolves, lynx, and eagle to lose their fighting spirit, cowering in fear.

In the snow, which showed no trace of anything, a squeaking sound suddenly rang out. Attacked by the dragon's roar, the ice spider burst out of its hiding place, squeaking and fleeing in panic. Faced with the dragon's majesty, the ice spider, like the direwolves and other beasts, had no will to fight.

The ice spider was as fast as lightning, but the dragon's flying speed was also extremely fast.

Varamyr, Bran, Meera, and the others were all dumbfounded as they watched a dragon flying low to the ground chasing after a strange and terrifying ice spider on the ice field. The ice spider looked extremely fast, while the dragon looked too slow.

This was an illusion, a visual illusion caused by the huge difference in size—in fact, the dragon's flying speed was also extremely fast, even faster than the unicorn, the king of land speed.

The dragon easily caught up with the ice spider, and the dragon's claws swept across the ground, sending the ice spider and a large amount of snow into the air.

"Dragonflame!" The Mountain shouted in High Valyrian.

Sheepstealer's neck immediately lit up, his huge mouth opened, and a small sun surged out of his throat, emitting rays of golden light.

Bang!

With a loud noise, the dragonflame fireball hit the ice spider tumbling in the air, enveloping the spider, and a sharp squeaking sound rang out. The adult dragon's dragonflame could melt stone and iron, but it couldn't melt the ice spider in a very short time.

With a squealing scream, the ice spider fell from the sky, smashing into the ground and stirring up flying snow. Its translucent ice crystal body turned red, like a giant cooked shrimp. Its own color didn't change; its surface was covered with a layer of Sheepstealer's dragonflame, as if it had fallen into a bottle of red fuel.

Squeak! Squeak!

The magical creature from the Land of Always Winter bounced forward on the ground, like a cripple with broken legs.

It's still not dead after all that?!

The Mountain was amazed. He said in a deep voice, issuing a dragon command that Sheepstealer had never obeyed before: "Go low."

Dragonflame severely injured the ice spider, but it didn't kill it. It was still struggling to escape, and although it was limping every three steps and falling every five, it was still struggling hard. Sheepstealer still didn't go low, but he understood the Mountain's intention, and he flew in front of the ice spider.

The Mountain jumped off the dragon's back and rushed towards the staggering ice spider, kicking up ice and snow. The ice sword slashed horizontally, and with a flash of cold light and a loud crash, it hit the ice spider, which still had some dragonflame burning on its body.

Valyrian steel swords were imbued with magical power, and like obsidian weapons, they were the bane of White Walkers.

The ice sword cut off two of the ice spider's leg blades.

With a loud squeak, the ice spider fell, its body began to crack, and the Mountain quickly retreated and jumped away. With a bang, the ice spider exploded into a pile of ice shards, and the faint sparks of dragonflame fell on the snow, extinguishing one by one. Small black spots the size of fists were burned into the snow.

In the distance, Varamyr overcame the natural fear of dragons brought to him by the snow bear, direwolves, eagle, and lynx, and he commanded the beasts to come together, kicking up snow along the way.

Meera Reed and the soldiers of the guard team watched in shock.

It was the first time they had seen a dragon fight, and the first time they had seen an ice spider that could withstand dragonflame and still try to escape.

The dragon and the ice spider, the Mountain's sword strike, all brought them shock!

*

Thick clouds hung low, and in the clouds, the golden-red dragon flew. Below the clouds, the black mass of wights stretched out as far as the eye could see. The Mountain on the dragon's back didn't have eyesight as sharp as Sheepstealer's, but fighting alongside Sheepstealer had brought him a rapid improvement in eyesight and an increase in his imposing manner.

Sheepstealer, because he had returned to the sky, returned to battle, and received the most abundant food, had slightly increased in size, or rather, it wasn't an increase, but a return to his original size. His scales had also become more lustrous, and the color of the flames had become brighter and purer.

Dragons belonged to the sky, not dragon lairs. He was born to fight, not to live in seclusion. Sheepstealer met the Mountain and gained a new life, and the Mountain gained even more tangible and intangible things from Sheepstealer's power.

The tacit understanding between the man and the dragon was also rapidly increasing. The relationship between a dragon and a dragon rider was nothing more than this.

The seemingly endless wight army below the clouds excited Sheepstealer, but the Mountain didn't let him 'fly low'. The Mountain warned him that the White Walkers were dangerous, and the Night King was even more dangerous, so they had to first determine the Night King's location. The Mountain wanted Sheepstealer to maintain a sufficient altitude, because a sufficient altitude was absolute safety.

The Mountain wanted both himself and the dragon to be absolutely safe. This was a provocation battle, not a final battle.

The dragon flew in the clouds, and the Mountain rode on the dragon's back, feeling the wight army rapidly retreating behind him.

"Fly low!" The Mountain issued the dragon-riding command.

According to Melisandre and Bran Stark's predictions, the Night King was at the back of the army. But the Mountain had a small thought in his mind: what if that was actually the Night King's substitute?

The Mountain took Melisandre's divine revelation with a grain of salt. He believed that the Night King was definitely not a simple, reckless person.

White Walkers had wisdom, and the Night King had intelligence just like humans.

Why couldn't the Night King that Melisandre saw in the flames be a substitute for the Night King? Just like Bran used a fake body to replace his real self.

And wights could never be the Night King's substitute. The number of White Walkers wasn't large; they were living people who had been refined into magical creatures through secret methods, which was why they possessed intelligence. Jon Snow's annihilation of the eleven-man wight squad was a huge blow to the White Walkers, whose numbers were only in the dozens.

The wights on the ground didn't react in any unusual way. They had no formation, walking forward densely, covering the entire snowfield.

After a while, the Mountain and Sheepstealer saw the White Walker team on the ground. The White Walker team was a cavalry force, and they were moving forward slowly in a line. The tall, strong guy in the middle was likely the Night King. He held a long spear and rode on a rotten horse, moving forward slowly.

The Mountain didn't see any ice spiders accompanying the Night King.

According to Bran Stark, the Night King had a total of three ice spiders. After one was killed by the Mountain and Sheepstealer together, that meant there were two left.

Suddenly, the tall, burly White Walker in the center raised his head and looked at the sky.

Instantly, the Mountain felt a chill like a sharp needle piercing his heart, causing his body to tremble for no reason. The flying dragon also paused slightly.

"The Night King!" The Mountain said, "That guy is the Night King."

The dragon Sheepstealer's discomfort was only momentary. He immediately returned to normal, letting out a earth-shattering dragon roar, full of fighting spirit. This was a provocation and a declaration of war. Then, the dragon swooped down towards the Night King, his wings stirring up wind and clouds, and the Mountain's mouth and nose were instantly filled with wind.

"No, fly higher." The Mountain shouted, "Don't fight...don't attack..." The Mountain's dragon-riding commands were issued non-stop, but Sheepstealer shot down even faster, aiming at the Night King.

The Night King stopped moving, looking up coldly at the enemy swooping down from the sky. As soon as he stopped, all the White Walker cavalry stopped together, and all the wight army also stopped. This stop was just like a well-trained Mountain legion.

"Kyu——!" Sheepstealer let out another challenging roar!

This roar shook the earth. There was slight chaos in the White Walker cavalry team, and there was chaos in the wight army. Some beast wights jumped up and knocked down other wights.

The Night King stood still, but the rotten horse under him still retreated slightly.

Clang!

The Mountain drew out the ice greatsword and slammed it backwards on Sheepstealer's dragon horns. With a loud clang, the dragon horns seemed to make a cracking sound, and the speed of Sheepstealer's dive slowed down.

"Attack." The Mountain pointed his long sword backwards. His dragon-riding command roared out violently, like thunder rumbling, also resounding through the low altitude.

Sheepstealer roared, changing his straight flight into an arc glide, circling over the Night King's head, pulling up and flying away. When he was an arrow's distance away, he swooped down, his dragon mouth opened, and dragonflame swept down like a golden-red pillar.

The world was originally gray, but it was illuminated by this dragonflame light, and the brilliant light formed a dazzling light curtain. Wherever the dragonflame went, the wights turned into human-shaped candles, burning fiercely.

"Go forward, dragonflame." The Mountain pointed his greatsword forward.

Sheepstealer was like an ox plowing the land, the wight army was the earth, and the dragonflame was the plow. Under the attack of the dragonflame, the wights had no power to fight back. The originally solemn wight army became chaotic, and the dragonflame divided the black mass of wights into two.

On the vast and boundless ice field, a burning giant fire ditch appeared, and only human-shaped candles were burning fiercely.

The Night King and the White Walker cavalry were at the back of the army. The speed of the rotten horse couldn't compare to the dragon's flight. Blocking them were all wights. To cross tens of thousands of wights to attack the dragon and the Mountain, unless the Night King could also fly.

But the Night King couldn't fly.

The Mountain commanded Sheepstealer to burn the wight army wantonly, going back and forth, and the flames poured down like torrents. Wherever he went, the fire was raging, and only human-shaped candles illuminated this ice field, like stars in the summer night sky.

When the Night King led his White Walker cavalry to catch up, the Mountain let out a roar, and Sheepstealer immediately pulled up. A black spear shot up from below, carrying a whistling sound. Sheepstealer flapped his wings, and his huge body nimbly flew in an arc, and the flying spear was thrown far away.

By the time the Night King's second spear shot up again, Sheepstealer had already flown into the clouds, and the spear fell with exhausted force, too far away from the Mountain and the dragon.

Sheepstealer and the Mountain finally left the Night King with a melodious and pleasant dragon roar, and a field of running, jumping, and roaring burning candles.

Dragonflame ravaged the wights, and the Mountain won the first battle!

Thanks to [Chau534]'s reward, thank you, Happy New Year!