The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Dragonstone Sea.

In the darkness of night, visibility on the sea was low.

The Mountain and Arianne Martell lowered their altitude and soon saw the dark shadow of Dragonstone in the distance.

Viserys, the White Dragon, flew almost skimming the water.

Sheepstealer, due to his enormous size, maintained a higher altitude.

“I see a banner floating on the water, Mountain,” Arianne called out.

“The Red Kraken and Ice Sword banner?” the Mountain asked.

His banner, with the addition of silk and feathers, was very light and would not sink in water.

“Yes.”

The Mountain patted Sheepstealer, signaling him to fly lower, and he saw his banner and a lot of broken wood and debris floating on the water.

The two dragons were flying very fast, almost skimming the surface, but neither the Mountain nor Arianne saw any corpses.

Corpses would sink, and if they were wearing armor, they would have no chance of floating.

“But we have a thousand warships,” Arianne still refused to believe the Mountain's earlier assessment. The Mountain had told her that, with the Prophet and two dragons, Daenerys and Bran had likely commandeered the Kingdom's fleet and crossed the Narrow Sea.

If that were the case, Daenerys would have left Dragonstone yesterday at noon, judging by the time.

The Mountain patted Sheepstealer's head, and Sheepstealer rose higher, heading towards Dragonstone.

Closer now, there were lights flickering on Dragonstone.

“There are still people on the island,” Arianne's voice was filled with surprise.

“Those are the people Bran deliberately left behind,” the Mountain said calmly.

“Why?”

“A message. He wants to leave me a message.” The Mountain's tone remained even, as if he had figured everything out and seen through all the fog.

“What message?” Arianne asked persistently.

“A message to stop our pursuit.”

“How do you know?”

“Because Bran doesn't want to die.”

“One message from him will stop us from killing him?” Arianne Martell sneered.

“I don't know, we'll only know when we get to the island,” the Mountain said in a deep voice.

He had already regarded Bran Stark as his greatest opponent and enemy.

If there was even the slightest chance, he would kill Bran without hesitation.

The two dragons arrived above Dragonstone.

Most of the island was dark. On the docks of the harbor, a bonfire burned, like a guiding light, but there was no one there. Not far from the dock, a large ship was moored. There were no lights on the ship, and it was as dark as a monster crouching on the water.

Along the long, dark coastline, there were twinkling lights, the small fishing villages on the island. Dragonstone Castle was now a ruin, and outside the huge ruins, there were several tents. In the open space between the tents, a large fire burned, and more than a dozen people sat around the fire, the firelight casting long shadows on the tents. Some shadows passed through the open space between the tents and stretched far into the night.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew over these people, and they looked up in surprise, then saw a staggering dark shadow in the sky. A soft dragon's roar sounded, and Viserys, the White Dragon, appeared from another direction, slowly landing outside the tents.

“Prince Arianne!” people stood up, shouting, both surprised and delighted.

High in the sky, Sheepstealer slowly descended, landing in the distance, the ground seemed to tremble slightly, and a gust of wind rose, weakening into a gentle breeze as it approached the tents.

The Mountain landed further away, afraid that the flapping of Sheepstealer's wings would stir up the bonfire and burn the tents that were close to the fire.

“Lord Hand.” People ran to greet the Mountain.

The Mountain strode over, and behind him, Sheepstealer was like a giant monster in the night, his dragon eyes reflecting golden-red crystal light, making people look at him in awe.

The Mountain heard Littlefinger's voice and saw Jon Connington's tall, slightly hunched figure, as well as several court scholars running towards him.

“Lord Hand,” Littlefinger called out.

“Don't come over,” the Mountain said in a deep voice.

He charged like a runaway horse, kicking up gravel and dust, appearing like a giant in the glow of the flames. Sheepstealer followed behind the Mountain, the dull sound of each step echoing far into the night, as if the heartbeat of the night was sounding somewhere.

“I clearly saw you poisoned,” the Mountain said. He said this to Littlefinger.

“Bran Stark woke me up. He can bring anyone back to life that he wants to.”

“Where's the Imp?”

“The Imp was taken away by Bran. Bran knows that he swore allegiance to you. Daenerys no longer trusts him either.”

The group crowded around the Mountain in front of the bonfire.

The Mountain was slightly surprised to see Podrick Payne, but his expression remained cold, and no one could see the small hint of joy revealed in his heart. He was like an ancient, silent mountain, unmoved by favor or disgrace, unsmiling, without joy or sorrow.

The Mountain surveyed the dozen or so people. Apart from Jon Connington, they were just ordinary soldiers and a few accompanying scholars.

The Mountain did not see any of his generals: Elleryn, Joyce, One-Eye Teemo… the three great clan chiefs of Claw Isle, the twenty-one tribal leaders of the Mountains of the Moon, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Royal Navy, Wagner Galare, and dozens of captains skilled in naval warfare, the Governor of the Iron Islands, Lord Gylbert Farwynd, and his vassals, generals, and knights, and the commander of the Arbor fleet, Ser Horas Redwyne, known as 'Dribblet', and his dozens of generals and knights, were all absent.

Not a single one of the main generals of the thousand warships was here.

“Where are our people?”

“Half of the warships were burned by Daenerys's two dragons, and the remaining half, under the coercion of Daenerys's fleet and two dragons, are crossing the Narrow Sea,” Littlefinger said.

Arianne Martell's large eyes shone like stars. Looking at the Mountain, she felt nothing but admiration and amazement.

The Mountain's prediction had come true.

“Lord Petyr, even if we only have half of our warships left, Daenerys's fleet and dragons shouldn't be able to coerce us, right?”

“Prince Arianne, in the open sea, Bran has ambushed at least five hundred warships, commanded by Asha Greyjoy.”

“Asha doesn't have more than a hundred warships in the Iron Islands,” the Mountain said calmly.

“But the warships she brought won't be less than five hundred, Lord Hand,” Littlefinger said.

“Did you see the patterns on the banners of Asha's warships?” the Mountain asked.

“Lord Hand, I recognize those banners,” Jon Connington, who had been silent, said. “Those banners indicate that the fleet that came is not from city-states or island kingdoms, but pirates, all from the Stepstones.”

*

The Mountain's mind raced. The Stepstones were the pirate dens where pirates from all over the world gathered. He had not expected that Asha would have time to conquer some of the pirates of the Stepstones. Without careful pre-planning, that would be absolutely impossible. Perhaps, most likely—Bran Stark's prophetic abilities had planned this conquest in advance.

The famous Free City of Tyrosh was located at the easternmost end of the Stepstones, and the westernmost islands of the Stepstones were close to the Martell family's Dornish waters. The Stepstones were a series of islands scattered in the Narrow Sea from east to west, with large and small islands like the piers of a broken bridge connecting two continents. The water conditions in its waters were complex and changeable, and the seabed was full of reefs, with thousands of large and small islands.

Legend has it that the continents of Westeros and Essos were originally connected ten thousand years ago. When the people of Essos attacked the First Men and the Children of the Forest through this 'bridge' connecting the two continents, the mages among the First Men and the prophets among the Children of the Forest launched water magic, forcibly breaking the 'bridge' connecting the two continents, which formed the Stepstones.

Ten thousand years ago, it was a magical era in which mages and prophets controlled the world.

And decades ago—the Mountain's former master—Tywin Lannister became famous throughout the country at the age of eighteen, participating in the Kingdom's campaign in the Stepstones. The entire Kingdom went out in force to fight the pirates of the Stepstones who threatened the Kingdom's maritime trade. In the long years of fighting against the pirates, the Kingdom gave birth to many famous generals. Tywin Lannister and Brynden Tully of House Tully were trained and became famous in the Kingdom during the war against the 'Nine Penny Kings' of the Stepstones.

It was also in the war against the pirates of the Stepstones that Littlefinger's father saved Lord Hoster Tully, the head of House Tully. Lord Hoster Tully was grateful and adopted Littlefinger as his foster son. And this boy grew up with the two daughters of House Tully, one being Catelyn Tully, who married Lord Eddard Stark, and the other being Lysa Tully, who married Lord Jon Arryn. And Lysa Tully fell madly in love with Littlefinger from the time she was a young girl… She gave her first night to Littlefinger, and Littlefinger began a lifelong unforgettable love affair, which also led to the chaos and dark bloodshed in this world…

The pirates of the Stepstones were severely attacked by Westeros with the strength of the entire country for many years, and finally severely打击the arrogant arrogance of the pirates of the Stepstones. The war with the Nine Penny Kings finally ended with the victory of the Westeros dynasty. Since then, the pirates of the Stepstones have been more regulated in the maritime trade of Westeros. Within the acceptable range of Westeros, the Kingdom also defaulted to the continued existence of the pirates of the Stepstones. This is a delicate balance… Daenerys's fierce general Daario was born into a pirate family in the Stepstones…

A Greensight prophet plus two dragons, plus the fierce pirate fleet of the Stepstones, made the coercion of the Mountain's fleet a real possibility.

*

“Lord Petyr, what is Bran's message to me?” the Mountain asked calmly.

“Lord Hand, as long as you pursue Bran and Daenerys, they will kill Elleryn, Joyce, One-Eye Teemo, Wagner Galare, Ser Redwyne, Governor Gylbert… and hundreds of generals, captains, and hundreds of knights.”

“When the dragons burned our five hundred warships, how many of our soldiers did they kill?” Arianne asked.

“They didn't kill our soldiers. Bran and Daenerys used the two dragons as a threat to drive our soldiers onto the other five hundred warships, and then burned the vacated five hundred ships.” Littlefinger looked at Arianne, his eyes becoming strange. “Prince Arianne, Bran has two more female guards by his side, Dornish women, Oberyn Martell's two bastard daughters, one named Tyene Sand and one named Alynne Sand.”

The third oldest, Tyene Sand, is extremely dangerous, despite her sweet appearance with blonde hair and blue eyes. Her knowledge of poisons is comparable to that of her father, Oberyn, and smearing weapons with the venom of poisonous snakes is her most common method. The fourth oldest, Sarella Sand, whose mother is a merchant ship captain from the Summer Isles, is 20 years old and resourceful, the calmest and most intelligent of the eight sisters. After the eldest and second oldest of the eight sisters were killed by Lady Jeynei's army, the two most powerful Sand Snakes were the third and fourth oldest.

Arianne Martell could not accept the betrayal of her two closest sisters, and she said decisively, “Absolutely impossible!”

“Absolutely true, Prince, I guarantee it with my life,” Littlefinger said softly.

“Ellaria Sand hates me to the bone,” the Mountain reminded Arianne softly.

Ellaria Sand, Oberyn Martell's paramour, whose relationship with Oberyn was no different from that of a formal couple.

“Mountain, after you burned Highgarden, my army and Dorne were handed over to Ellaria Sand to manage on my behalf,” Arianne Martell said.

“Prince, perhaps you should ride a dragon back to Dorne to take a look,” Littlefinger showed a faint, playful smile.

Since the Mountain brought Arianne by his side, Arianne Martell had never returned to Dorne. Within King's Landing, there was only a small Dornish legion. Most of the army, under the leadership of Ellaria, went south and returned to Dorne.

“I will go back and take a look,” Arianne Martell's tone became very cold, as if the temperature had dropped in the air.

The Mountain was silent. He knew that the Three-Eyed Raven could sneak into people's dreams and use the name of God to bewitch those he wanted to bewitch. The Mountain killed Oberyn Martell, which was a thorn in Ellaria's heart, and once someone provoked her, this thorn would grow into a terrible briar patch.

Bran Stark truly deserved to be a generation of Greensight prophet, he even thought of drawing in the power of Ellaria.

“Lord Hand, by Bran's side, Lord Bolton, the missing nobleman from the North, and his bastard son Ramsay Bolton have also suddenly appeared. Ramsay's bastard status has been legitimized by Lord Bolton, and he has become Lord Bolton's heir.”

Ramsay Bolton—Littlefinger, known for his cruelty!

The Mountain grunted softly!

It seemed that in private, using the Three-Eyed Raven's ability to transmit messages and the magical power of entering dreams, Bran Stark had gathered all the people he could gather.

Arianne Martell said, “Lord Hand, we can catch up with Bran Stark and Daenerys by riding dragons.”

"Prime Minister, Bran asked me to relay a message. He said that as soon as the Mountain commands the dragon to pursue, he will know immediately. Every half hour, he will kill a general and his guards, starting with Naval Minister Wagner Gal, then Governor Gubler of the Iron Islands. However, as long as there is no pursuit, he will release the first batch of hostages—five generals and five hundred soldiers—upon reaching his destination. Then, every month, he will release another batch of generals and soldiers until all the generals and soldiers are released."

"Destination?"

"Yes, I don't know which city-state he's going to."

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