Game of Thrones: Viserys the Three-Headed Dragon

Desmond Redwyne was on the foredeck, watching the rough sea and the turbulent waves.

The Star of the Sea moved forward with the waves, and the fickle sea breeze blew the half-raised sails.

The two attack ships, the Gilbert and the Garth, were on both sides, with no more than twenty yards between the ships.

Desmond gave orders with a serious face: "Retract the sails, lower the masts. Rowers, take your positions."

The rumbling drums crossed the sea, and the horns sounded, passing from ship to ship. The messenger ran down the cabin. The crew hurried to their posts and pushed away the soldiers standing on the ship - every time at this moment, they always seemed to be in the way.

Desmond looked at the sky, which was covered with dark clouds and strong winds, making him feel uneasy.

Desmond was not sure if he was doing the right thing. The Earl of the Arbor and his two sons were not there, and even Lady Mina Tyrell had gone to King's Landing with Paxter. Only Desmond, the acting castellan, and Desmera Redwyne, the youngest daughter of Lord Redwyne, are in charge of the Arbor.

Desmond was already troubled by King Targaryen's first letter asking the southern lords to swear an oath. The second letter, which was harsh and required the Redwyne fleet to go to the Shield Islands, made the decision of the acting castellan even more difficult.

And it is unknown when the letter to King's Landing will come back.

After discussing with the maesters and other knights in the clan, Desmond decided to accept King Targaryen's order and set off for the Shield Islands because the rumors and power of Targaryen's dragons are greater than those in King's Landing.

Lord Paxter is the Minister of the Sea and the Commander of the Navy appointed by King's Landing, but now Desmond is obeying the orders of King Targaryen.

And this knight knows that the most important thing to show when surrendering is sincerity. So he brought out most of the Redwyne fleet, and now only a small fleet is left to defend the Redwyne family on the Arbor.

He looked at the sky covered with dark clouds, knowing that the fleet was about to face a storm, and he couldn't help but worry more about the future.

The trumpet sounded again, coming from the rear of the fleet.

It was an early warning.

Desmond felt a panic in his heart.

Now it was a marching formation. The fleet was organized into ten battle lines, each consisting of twenty warships.

Desmond was a cautious commander, and his understanding of ships, sails and oars and coasts was outstanding in the Seven Kingdoms. He was unsure of the enemy's situation, so he arranged several fast ships to carefully inspect and spy on the enemy in front, rather than rushing forward rashly; at the end of the team, there was also a small warship responsible for sweeping and patrolling to guard the rear.

The ramming ships were concentrated in the front and middle of the fleet, and the ships following closely were loaded with a large number of archers and spearmen, and the supply ships were concentrated in the rear of the fleet. The fleet was not prepared to fight the enemy, and if the enemy came from behind, the consequences would be disastrous.

Desmond looked back. In the far south, the most sturdy ramming ships of the fleet were moving slowly as usual. Although two hundred oars were rowing together, the heavy hulls still made them seem slow. He heard the soldiers shouting to each other across the sea. Since setting off from Qingting Island, the soldiers have been bored in the cabin, doing nothing. Desmond was not sure whether they were as confused and uneasy as he was, or whether they were already eager to fight.

Woo woo woo——

Boom bang bang——

"In the sky!"

"Dragon!"

"Giant dragon!"

Amid the sound of the wind and the chaotic sound of horns and drums, Desmond could hear the soldiers shouting.

Desmond looked up at the sky, but saw a huge beast looming in the thick dark clouds. Its huge body was like a mountain and a god.

Hiss——Even though Desmond had experienced hundreds of battles in his life, he couldn't help but take a breath of cold air when he saw this.

Above the clouds, the huge beast was terrifying, and its huge wingspan occupied half of the sky, which was shocking and inexplicable. The fleet was obviously in chaos for a while.

The beast's wings did not flap much, but it glided like an eagle, gradually sliding forward from the rear of the fleet. Desmond could see a sense of leisure and elegance from such a huge body.

The beast slowly moved forward along the fleet's route in the clouds. Desmond watched the beast fly over the head of the Ocean Star from the rear of the fleet without blinking, and then watched the giant continue to move forward and fly to the front of the fleet.

"Flag!" At this time, Desmond reacted and shouted loudly, "Flag! Blow the ship's horn, no attack, no attack!"

The soldiers on the deck of the ship reacted, and Sir Desmond's servants and messengers quickly passed the order and blew the ship's horn at the same time.

The whistling horn sounded, and it was passed from ship to ship.

Soon, someone took out a huge black-bottomed red dragon flag from the cabin, and Desmond and his men unfurled the flag on the deck.

Finally, after a tense wait.

The dragon's body completely emerged from the clouds, slowly lowered its body, and covered the top of the Ocean Star.

The huge dragon in the sky slowly descended to block the view, and the sky seemed to have suddenly turned dark. Desmond felt weak in his legs and quickly leaned on the deck with his sword for support.

The dragon's body gradually became parallel to the Ocean Star, and a clear voice came from the direction of the dragon: "Which one is Sir Desmond Redwyne?"

Desmond swallowed his saliva and answered solemnly: "Desmond from the Redwyne family greets you, Your Majesty!"

"Yes, Sir Desmond, you did a good job." A voice came from the dragon, "Here is a new military order, and the next voyage will follow the order."

As he said, a box fell from the sky and landed accurately in front of Sir Desmond on the deck.

Before Desmond had time to look, the shadows on the deck gradually dissipated. Seeing that the dragon had gradually risen into the air, he hurriedly shouted: "I will not let your majesty down!" When he finished shouting, the dragon had disappeared again in the thick dark clouds.

"Hu"

The people on the ship seemed to exhale a long breath. What's more, several soldiers fainted on the deck, and some were scared to pee their pants.

But the confusion in Desmond's heart had completely dissipated, replaced by a complex emotion of fear and confidence.

Sir Desmond patted his shaking hands, rubbed them again, and then opened the box. Inside was a scroll of paper with the seal of King Targaryen. After unsealing the seal, he saw the information on it.

Desmond was horrified for a moment. The king's letter gave a precise area, warning the fleet that it would be attacked by storms and the Iron Islands fleet there, and asked the fleet to be prepared without worrying about the storm. The king asked that when the two sides engage in battle, the fleet should take advantage of the storm to chase as many enemy ships as possible while the east wind is still blowing, in order to expand the results of the battle.

The order in the letter is not difficult to understand, but the most incredible thing is the east wind. Sir Desmond was puzzled. Will there be an east wind in autumn?

——

Viserys watched the Redwyne fleet gradually go away, and looked back to the south. The Hightower fleet in Oldtown was slowly gathering and had not yet sailed out of Whispering Bay. Even if he sent half of the fleet, Viserys would think he was working hard.

But obviously, Hightower had other ideas. Although the reply to Viserys did not say when the fleet would set off, compared with the efficiency of the Redwyne fleet, the Hightower fleet was obviously delaying time.

For ordinary nobles, such behavior would be at most annoying and disgusting. Just like the "late Frey" who was always the last to arrive at the call of the Tully family in the river, this is a habitual way for the nobles to protect themselves.

However, most of Viserys's trip to the south this time was to go to Hightower, and these clever or ulterior motives made Viserys remember them. Viserys didn't care, he was just worried about not having an excuse to go to Oldtown to ask for punishment.

Viserys didn't forget to take care of Redwyne who expressed his sincerity. The main force of the Redwyne fleet went out, and only a few small fleets were left to defend the Arbor. If the Iron Fleet's target was the Arbor, then they were obviously not enough to defend.

So after a brief contact with the fleet, Viserys set off directly to the Arbor.

There was no feeling of ritual magic being amplified near the Arbor, but Viserys was still worried that the Arbor would be plundered. After all, the tiger had been lured away from the mountain, and it would be abnormal if no one went into the mountain to plunder.

The Arbor was one of the richest areas in Westeros, and it was very attractive to the Ironmen who were used to "paying iron money". Even if it is not the main force of the Iron Fleet, if you think about it from another perspective, Euron is very likely to send a decoy to attract attention.

The port town of the Arbor, Rhian Port, is located on the island, built on a deep-water bay naturally formed in the north of the Arbor. Although this port is not as large as the Oldtown Port, it is also a large port that ranks among the second-tier ports in the world. Rhian Port and the small ports on several surrounding islands form a port circle.

The Arbor is famous for the best wine in Westeros, and it is also famous for its shipbuilding industry. There are several shipyards built here.

According to records, before Aegon's conquest, Aegon Targaryen, the Lord of Dragonstone, had been a guest and falconer on the Arbor. Later, Aegon I, who became king, also visited the Arbor many times during the royal parade.

And the old king Jaehaerys I, who likes to parade, also visited the Arbor many times on Vermithor and tasted the wine on the island.

During the time when Aerea Targaryen and Balerion the Black Death disappeared, Princess Rhaena rode her dragon Dreamfire throughout the Seven Kingdoms to search for her daughter Aerea, and also visited the Arbor.

In a sense, this place is the end of the world in Westeros.

Viserys had always been spying from high altitude before, and today was the first time he appeared.

Compared with the dark clouds in the sea where the Redwyne fleet was located before, the sky here on the Arbor was clear and the air was clear. The port was very lively, with ships carrying wine and raisins sailing out of the Arbor, and bringing in specialties, spices and gems from all over the world.

Viserys observed the defense of the Arbor from high altitude after the fleet left.

The dock where the fleet was located before was empty, with only a small fleet patrolling along the periphery of the bay, and the commercial port was still filled with hundreds of merchant ships coming and going.

Viserys noticed that the patrol fleet's main defense was in the east of the island. The fleet patrolled the Stone Crab Reef, Pig Island, and Mermaid Palace in the eastern waters outside the Qingting Island. These outer islands and reefs all had beacon towers. Once an enemy attack was discovered, the beacon would be lit immediately to warn.

They obviously did not consider the possibility that the enemy attack would come from the west of Qingting Island. There were almost no ships patrolling that area, only one beacon.

Viserys' shadow appeared in the sky and was quickly discovered by the people on the island.

And soon, he saw the black-bottomed red dragon flag raised on the castle where the blue-bottomed purple grape flag was originally hung. It seemed that they were also worried that the Targaryen dragon would launch an attack.

Viserys no longer covered up and landed directly.

As he gradually fell, the people in the town only felt that the shadow above their heads was getting bigger and bigger. Viserys had no intention of intimidating the residents of the town, so he flew directly over the castle of the Port of Rian on Qingting Island.

The person who came out to greet the castle grounds was the youngest daughter of the Redwin family. Accompanied by the bachelor, she waved the flag to the giant dragon in the school grounds cautiously: "Your Majesty, welcome to Qing Pavilion Island. On behalf of the Redwin family, I would like to express my sincere wishes to you." Your regards. Oh, I am Desmera of the Redwine family. The fleet has headed to the Shield Islands as per your order."

Viserys saw the panic of everyone in the castle, and he only replied calmly: "I have seen your sincerity. I am here to warn you that the Redwin fleet is out, and this place is likely to be attacked by the enemy. Since you are... Representative of the Redwin family, please make arrangements as soon as possible to temporarily close the port and gather the fleet for port defense. The current strength of Qingting Island is not enough to prevent enemy attacks, and it is meaningless to continue patrolling like this."

"Ah, this"

"Despite the arrangement, a little loss of business is better than the sacking of the town." Viserys ordered, "Remember, any ship that has entered the port must be prohibited from leaving the port."

Viserys discovered that Euron seemed to know the movements of the Redwyne fleet. It was very likely that Euron had arranged for spies to establish contact in some way on the Arbor. Because less than two days after the Redwyne fleet set off, Viserys felt Euron's magical ritual at sea.

It was out of this consideration that Viserys had not shown up for the past two days. But spy in secret.

But as of today, the Redwin fleet is less than half a day away from the scheduled battlefield. Even if Euron's spies use the fastest seabird communication, it is too late to notify the fleet ambushing in the scheduled battlefield.

And the Arbor may not be Viserys's bait.

The Sunset Sea is so vast that if you want to find a fleet that has hidden its whereabouts, you don’t know how long, how far, and how far you have to fly, and how much of the sea area you have to explore to find it. If it's cloudy or stormy at sea, the search will be endless.

Rather than searching aimlessly at sea, it would be better to wait for the Ironborn ships to gather together and approach.

Viserys hoped that more Ironborn ships would come to the Arbor to plunder, and it would be better if they were all packed into the harbor. As a magician who launched attacks from the air, Viserys wished that the enemy fleets would be as concentrated as possible.

Like earlier today, when Viserys was observing the Redwyne fleet, he thought about how much effort it would take if he launched an attack on the dense marching array of two hundred ships of the Redwyne fleet.

The hypothetical result is that a giant fireball attack can only kill one to three areas at most. When the fleet reacts and disperses, it may have to be replaced by ordinary fireballs to name them one by one. Once the ship starts running around, the attack efficiency of ordinary fireballs may not be imagined. If it hits so fast, it is very likely that hundreds of fireballs will be consumed in the end to destroy a fleet of more than 200 ships at sea.

The consumption of hundreds of fireballs may drain Viserys' accumulated fire magic.

So thinking from another angle, the power of ritual magic like "Song of the Storm" is sometimes very useful. This power can leverage the natural power of the world for its own use.

Just a little magic power combined with the ritual can trigger a storm and form artificial convection. If it is guided, the power of thunder can be guided by magic in the convection.

The only drawback is that large-scale magic that mobilizes the power of nature often cannot distinguish between friend and foe, and you will still have to rely on specific magic to carry out precise strikes.