Game of Thrones: Viserys the Three-Headed Dragon

"How is that possible? You saw the Targaryen banner on the banks of Highgarden?"

"Yeah, the Shield Island ships and several merchant ships that were put back intercepted them on the river. We couldn't go deeper, so we had to turn back."

When he went deep into the Mander River and planned to plunder along the river, while continuing to lure the Tyrell family to summon the Redwin fleet, the ironborn captain brought back the intelligence from Highgarden.

The Ironmen who had just sacked the Shield Islands, including Iron Captain Victarion, felt extremely shocked.

Victarion asked, "Did you see a dragon?"

The captain came back and said, "No."

None of the Ironborn have ever seen a dragon, but rumors and Euron's words confirm that Viserys Targaryen did have a powerful dragon. Euron the Crow's Eye claimed that he had fought three Targaryen dragons head-on on the Summer Sea in southern Valyria and escaped unscathed.

The Crow's Eye called this incident a legend along with his visit to Asshai and Valyria.

Victarion was obviously shocked by the Targaryen army's appearance in Highgarden, but the Returner didn't see the dragon, only the Targaryen banner, which put his heart back a little.

He led his army to sack the Shield Islands, but the Targaryen army did not stop him in Highgarden, indicating that the opponent's ships were insufficient and the dragons may not be there.

"The wizard of Crow's Eye must know the movements of the Targaryen army, but he still sends you to the Shield Islands, and wants us to go deep into the Reach to plunder." Lame Ralph said to Victarion, "I I told you, my lord. Crow's Eye is a stranger, and he is afraid of you and the Iron Fleet, so he has driven you to this coast and sent you to attack the shields of the South. He intends for us to face the Targaryens for him. Hiding in the dark with the sea monster."

"Words are like the wind," Victarion answered him. "You want me to make war with the Crow's Eye? Brother against brother, ironborn against ironborn? Didn't we succeed in occupying the islands of the Shield Archipelago? The shields of Highgarden have been destroyed. We are torn apart, and now the Mander is open to us. Even if the Targaryen army comes, they have no ships to stop us. We have won the battle in the Shield Islands!"

Rodrik Harlaw, the leader of Harlaw Island, replied: "Spoils of war, do you mean these stones? The four islands combined are not as big as Harlaw Island. What have we won? All living prisoners, women and children, and those who are not dead." The men were taken away by the Crow's Eye half-bloods, and we won the stones, the trees, the broken towns, the hostility of the Tyrells and the hostility of the Targaryens."

Rodrik is a rare scholar among the Ironborn. He reads books all the time, so he is known as Rodrik the Reader.

"Sweeney" Newt disagreed: "Roses and dragons? The sea is the territory of sea monsters? We shattered the shields of the south and reoccupied the castles and villages that once belonged to the Ironborn thousands of years ago." On the battlefield, we can have " With the title "Barber", you can roughly imagine this person's performance in battle.

Victarion looked at Newt, Victarion's best man, but he seemed to be deceived by Euron's promise. Euron promised to promote the people with the highest merit in this battle to the rank of leaders, and to entrust the four islands of the Shield Islands to those who performed meritorious services. "Barber" Newt ranked among the best in this battle. Although Newt was a subordinate of Victarion, he still had illusions about the land and the position of leader.

Even Victarion himself felt that this victory was worthy of being promoted to lord, and Euron should let him have an island.

But Victarion remembered his own warning: Euron's gift must contain poison.

And this is not the position of sea stone.

"Yes," replied the reader, "we have shattered the shield of the south, and will soon face the sword of the south and the dragon of the Targaryen. Barber, you will know then that roses have thorns, and dragons It will bring blood and fire.”

Lord Dunstan Drum, the leader of Old Wyk Island, nicknamed "Bone Hand", nodded and placed one hand on the hilt of the family sword Red Rain Sword: "The wisdom of the Ironborn is not to send themselves to the Dragon Flame." Down."

Speaking of which, the Valyrian steel heirloom sword named "Red Rain" of the Zhuogu family was said to have been obtained by the "cunning" Hilma Zhuogu thousands of years ago from a full-scale warrior with her own wisdom and a wooden stick. Won from the hands of an armed knight. The Zhuogu family is considered an important family in the Iron Islands, and their fiefdom is on Old Wyk Island, which is considered the most sacred island by the iron people.

Hearing what the scholar and the bone hand said, Victarion's desire to fight was inflamed: "Let them all come. Let the roses come, let the dragons come, what Euron can do, I can too And it can be better. In the sea, the sea monster is supreme."

"Don't worry, Commander," the scholar said with a helpless expression on his face, "They will come - that is exactly what His Majesty the King intended, otherwise why would he specifically let us let go of the castle's messenger crows and a dozen longships? Woolen cloth?"

"You have read too many books, and you still look like an Ironborn." The barber smiled. "Scholar, you are almost as good as the people from the Green Land."

The scholar turned his head away and ignored the barber's words.

Bonehand couldn't help but said: "Commander, of course I believe you can do better. But you lack one thing. There is a sea monster in Crow's Eye, but you don't."

Victarion's face darkened with anger, and his heart felt as if a big stone was instantly blocked.

Victarion was thinking that his faith and devotion to the Drowned God was as strong as anyone's, but where was his sea monster?

The Drowned God may have protected him from falling into the sea and drowning while wearing heavy armor while he was sailing on the sea. But why didn't God give him a sea monster? Do we really want to listen to Crow's Eye and go to the depths of the Sunset Sea?

However, the victory of looting the Shield Islands has satisfied some ironborn captains. They undoubtedly hope to continue looting the Reach instead of chasing unknown so-called "sea monsters" to the ends of the earth.

Victarion knew very well that in this case, even though he had been the commander of the Iron Fleet for many years, he would have to make the leaders and captains of the fleet abandon the portal opened in the river bend and instead go to an unknown destination. It is not an easy task to find the "sea monster" lair deep in the Sunset Sea.

unless

Victarion thought of a possibility.

With Crow's Eye's sinisterness and cunning, his wizard may have known all this and deliberately sent Victarion's iron fleet here just to let him see clearly the power of the "dragon".

"Brother, open your eyes."

Victarion drove away and suddenly remembered what Euron said to him in private that day.

Open your horizons

Victarion shuddered. Is Euron planning to open the "eyes" of all Ironborn captains?

He fancied he saw Euron's smiling eyes twinkling with mockery.

With this thought, Victarion found that he couldn't get rid of it. He asked: "Where is Crow's Eye now? Did he really go to Redwyne Strait?"

Leader Rodrik the Reader replied: "At least that's what His Majesty the King claimed when he separated from us. Commander, what did you think of?"

Victarion stood up: "Harlaw, you have read many books. Did the book say whether there is a sea monster nest at the end of the world in the Sunset Sea?"

The scholar gave a strange answer: "The idea of ​​a sea monster's lair is rare. However, there are many records about sea monsters. You don't need to go to the end of the world. It is said that there are often sea monsters in the waters of the Summer Sea in the south of Dorne and the waters in the north of the Sunset Sea. Haunted. It is said that sea monsters in the deep sea are often attracted by blood and appear on the surface."

"In the 2nd year of the Conquest Calendar, after Aegon the Conqueror burned the last King of the Iron Islands and the Riverlands, Harron Blackheart. The Iron Islands had been plunged into civil strife for more than a year, with several kings fighting against each other. It is said that this civil strife caused the island to The waters between were filled with corpses, and hundreds of sea monsters emerged from the sea, attracted by the blood.”

"In the same year, Aegon the Conqueror invaded the Iron Islands and invaded Old Wyk Island. According to records, the priest-king Rhodes on the island who claimed to be the 'Son of the Drowned God' tried to summon sea monsters in the deep sea to drag Aegon's fleet into In the abyss of the sea. However, Rhodes did not summon any sea monsters. After feeling that the situation was decided, Rhodes told everyone that he was going to discuss countermeasures with his 'father', the Drowned God. Stuffed with stones, he walked into the sea, and thousands of people followed him. But everyone knows that the direct consequences of the suicidal behavior led by Rhodes were in the next few years. , bloated corpses wash up on the shores of the Iron Islands from time to time."

The scholar Pang Zhengbo quoted a story and finally concluded: "But one thing can be guessed, based on the records of many sea monster sightings. If there are a lot of corpses and blood on the sea surface, and if there is really a sea monster's lair somewhere on the seabed, then it is very possible. These sea monsters are attracted to the blood and float to the surface.”

Victarion's eyes widened: "So, blood can summon sea monsters?"

"It should be like this," at this point, the reader has already vaguely guessed something, "Commander, His Majesty the King asked his wizards and bastard men to come over and load the ship with the 'gift' for the Drowned God. What is the destination? Where?"

Listening to this, Count "Bonehand" Dunstan Drum and several ironborn captains and Counts who were discussing the matter also realized a certain possibility.

Victarion sensed the uneasy atmosphere in the hall and replied: "The depths of the Sunset Sea."

Cripple Ralph, a die-hard supporter of Victarion's quest for the Seastone, cried out: "This is ridiculous, the Mander River is right in front of you, and there is nothing in the Sunset Sea. Everyone knows , Gudeng Castle is the last land in the endless gray ocean. To the west of Gudeng, there is only the endless sea water extending to the infinite distance. There are only nests of seals and sea lions, and there are no sea monsters. "

But the scholar frowned: "It is recorded in a book written by Dr. Gal'dan of the Academy that during the reign of Jaehaerys Targaryen I, Alyssa Farman of the Farman family stole three items from Dragonstone. A dragon egg was exchanged for gold in Braavos, and the gold was used to build his own Sunstrider. In Conquest Calendar 5, Farman set off from Old Town, and Eustace and Norman of the Hightower family took Mariti respectively. The Miss Silk and the Autumn Moon accompanied her as she sailed westward."

"On this westward journey, only Eustace Hightower's Lady Marlys returned to Oldtown in the 59th year of the Conquest Calendar. Eustace brought back many rumors of sea monsters in the Sunset Sea. He said that in During a big storm, lightning destroyed the mast of the Autumn Moon, and some crew members screamed that they saw a sea monster's arm rising from the sea. Sir Eustace then saw the waves sink the Autumn Moon, but Miss Meredith. The crew of the ship claimed that a sea monster had dragged the ship into the sea. Later, because of the fear of encountering more sea monsters, Ser Eustace returned to Westeros and Alyssa was asked by the crew. Despite Eustace's objections, they continued westward on the Sunstrider, and no one saw them again."

Lame Ralph looked at him fiercely: "What do you want to say?"

The scholar blinked reluctantly: "I want to say that if someone told me that there was a sea monster's lair deep in the Sunset Sea, I might believe it was true."