The Mountain of Ice and Fire

The wealthy merchant Abraham, from the East, was reveling in pleasure in a private room on the third floor.

The room was large, with carpets on the floor, tapestries on the walls, and a domed relief on the ceiling.

Everywhere was a riot of color.

The bed was large enough for five or six people to lie on.

The blankets were smooth, all silk, filled with the finest down.

Two girls were accompanying Abraham, and all three held wine glasses.

A little tabby cat appeared on the windowsill.

The tabby cat was very cute, meowing at the three as if to say hello.

One of the girls was overjoyed, jumped out of bed, hugged the tabby cat, kissed its fur affectionately, and combed its tail with her hand. The cat's tail stood up higher and higher.

The other girl giggled non-stop.

Abraham looked content, gently swirling the wine glass in his hand, the red wine in the glass looking like blood.

The tabby cat slipped out of the girl's arms and jumped onto the bed.

Abraham brought the wine glass to the cat's face and said in Common Tongue, "Here, have a sip."

The tabby cat regretfully looked at the red wine in the glass, reached out a paw, and gently pushed the glass away. Its obedient action made the three laugh. Abraham also fell in love with this cute kitty, leaned over, and wanted to touch his face to the kitten's nose.

He had seen both girls make this gesture to please the kitten.

As he closed his eyes and approached the kitten, about to give it a 'peck', a sudden gust of wind arose, and with a whoosh, the kitten's claws left several terrible scratches on his face.

The scratches were deep, almost tearing off half of Abraham's face.

Abraham screamed.

The two girls also screamed in fright.

The kitten, having succeeded in its attack, jumped to the ground with a whoosh, leaped onto the windowsill, meowed, and jumped out of the window.

Abraham's hand pressed on the wound, blood flowing from between his fingers. He rushed to the window and saw the kitten standing on the roof of the next floor, meowing at him again, as if showing off its victory.

A round, colorful brocade box appeared in Abraham's hand. With a whoosh, a small colored ball shot out, hitting the kitten. But as soon as the kitten saw him take out the small colored box, it turned and ran. By the time the small colored box hit the roof, the kitten had jumped off the roof and disappeared into the night.

The small colored box opened automatically, and a colorful scorpion-tailed beast jumped out.

The fist-sized scorpion-tailed beast hissed softly and crawled quickly along the roof, soon disappearing.

The two girls were still in shock and hurried to check on the patron's injuries.

Hearing the screams, the door was opened, and the courtyard's mercenaries and the female owner came in together, everyone surprised, surrounding the patron who was covering half of his bloody face, asking what had happened.

The patron was from the East and had an Eastern accent. But he spoke the Common Tongue very well and had no difficulty communicating with people.

Pentos City engaged in maritime trade, and year after year there were captains, wealthy merchants, and nobles from all over the world.

"A cat?" The female owner asked in disbelief.

"Yes, a little tabby cat, very cute. I even hugged it, kissed its cheek, and combed its tail so that it stood up," one of the girls said, her voice still filled with lingering fear and nervousness.

"Patron, I'll go get the Doctor right away," the female owner immediately stated.

In Westeros, those who could treat illnesses were called doctors, but truly professional doctors were rare, and maesters were responsible for treating illnesses. Oldtown maesters included all kinds of talents, including treating people. But in Essos, those with culture and the ability to treat illnesses were not called maesters, but doctors.

"No need, I know how to treat bites," the patron, Abraham, said. "Please leave, I need to apply medicine."

The female owner and the courtyard's mercenaries agreed. Everyone comforted the patron and prepared to leave. Suddenly, Abraham felt a tightness in his lower calf, and a tearing pain like a sharp cone pierced into his calf. Abraham kicked back violently, and with a boom, the bed board was kicked over by his foot. A dog ran out from the other side of the bed and ran away.

This bite tore Abraham's pants, and the canine teeth opened several small holes in his calf, black blood flowing out. Abraham screamed, reached for the long sword hanging on the wall, pushed away the female owner, and was about to chase the dog, but was blocked by the mercenary.

"Patron, please sit down, we'll call the Doctor for you right away," the mercenary said calmly. The mercenary was a large man, very burly, with sharp eyes and blue eyes.

"Get out of the way, I'm going to kill it," Abraham said, enraged.

The female owner looked stunned.

The dog was raised by her to guard the house, and would not bite without her order. What was going on today? The dog suddenly sneaked in and attacked the patron? This had never happened before.

In a short time, the patron's face was scratched by a little tabby cat, the wound was very deep, and his calf was bitten by her dog, the bite being several deep blood holes, the black blood flowing out shocking.

The way it bit was also very special. The female owner's dog attacked people, and once it bit, it wouldn't let go, it had to tear off a piece of flesh. But this time, after biting down, it didn't drag and tear, but deeply embedded itself in the muscle and then let go and ran away.

The female owner looked at the bed board that had been kicked over by the patron's kick. If the dog hadn't retracted its mouth in time, being hit by this kick would have certainly resulted in serious injuries. There was no doubt that this patron from the East was a warrior.

The two girls who had been accompanying the patron were wide-eyed and dazed, completely not understanding why such a tragic and strange thing had suddenly happened. The patron didn't turn his head back, kicked backward, and the solid bed was kicked down, the wood splintering, the strength of which also shocked the girls.

Abraham was stopped by the mercenary, did not forcibly go out, sheathed his sword, opened the rattan box, took out the ointment, and facing the mirror, first treated the scratches on his face, and then treated the canine tooth holes on his calf.

Applying ointment to the wound made his brow twist, and cold sweat rolled out of his forehead and the tip of his nose.

"Meow!" The tabby cat appeared on the windowsill again, its cat claws holding a scorpion-tailed beast. The shell of the scorpion-tailed beast had been crushed, the scorpion tail had been broken, and the body looked as if it had been stepped on.

Abraham's face turned pale. He stared at the tabby cat, and before he could make any move, the tabby cat raised its paw and threw the broken scorpion-tailed beast in, scaring the landlady and the two girls to scream together.

The mercenary also widened his eyes, drew his sword, shook the long sword, and the tip of the sword pierced the scorpion-tailed beast: "What is this thing?"

"Kill that cat," Abraham said. "It was this cat that scratched my face, kill the cat quickly."

The mercenary strode forward, his long sword stabbing straight. The tabby cat meowed and jumped out of the window, landing on the roof of the next floor.

"Landlady, this place is too strange, I want to leave. The room fee doesn't need to be refunded," Abraham opened the rattan box and slapped out ten gold coins. "I need the four best swordsman mercenaries to protect me to the port, where my ship is."

"Okay, arrange it for the patron immediately," the female owner's previously panicked expression disappeared, replaced by a well-trained smile.

Four mercenaries arrived, Abraham asked the girls and the female owner and others all to go out, closed the door, closed the window, and then took out ten gold coins from the rattan box: "Whoever is willing to pretend to be me to the port, these ten gold coins are his." The four mercenaries all expressed their willingness to pretend to be him. Finally, Abraham chose a mercenary, gave him ten gold coins, and dressed him up as himself. Then, he put on the mercenary's armor and dressed up as a mercenary.

A group of five people walked out of the hotel. Outside the hotel, the landlady prepared a carriage for the five people.

The fake Abraham got into the car, and the four mercenaries rode horses, following the carriage before, after, left, and right.

A group of people headed towards the port on the street late at night.

Around the corner, the leading mercenary suddenly reined in his warhorse.

Only to see on the street ahead, densely packed, stood countless dogs.

It was possible that all the stray dogs in the city were concentrated here.

The dogs bared their teeth and made threatening growls.

The warhorse was startled, stood up, and almost threw the mercenary off the horse.

The leading dog was very tall, with thick fur that almost covered its green eyes. It was a mastiff that could fight lions and wolves, very fierce.

A raven flew down from the sky and landed on the mastiff's head: "Eastern guest stay, mercenaries get out." The raven's voice was crisp like a woman's voice, very clear on the dark street.

Birds can speak human language?

In Pentos, mynahs, parrots, ravens, and white spirit birds can all speak human language.

And across the Narrow Sea in Westeros, some spiritual ravens can also speak human language, and white ravens can even talk to people. But on the continent of Essos, people rarely use ravens to transmit information. Ravens are birds of prey that the maesters of Westeros have found through years of experimentation to transmit information. In the sky, ravens only fear one bird of prey, and that is the eagle.

These strange birds that can speak human language are all pets kept by great nobles.

But the situation tonight was really too strange.

All the stray dogs in the city may be here, dozens or hundreds of them, and the king who commands this group of dogs is an extremely fierce mastiff. And on the top of the mastiff's head stood a black raven that could speak human language.

The mastiff made a threatening growl. Dozens or hundreds of stray dogs growled together.

This sound was very frightening.

Once a mastiff makes a threatening growl, the next step is a violent attack. Mastiffs are fierce and violent, and extremely impatient. But tonight's mastiff was holding its breath.

The leading mercenary turned his horse's head and left.

The mercenaries on both sides of the carriage also followed and rode away.

The mercenary at the rear chose to flee even faster.

And the one remaining in the carriage was also a mercenary. The coachman was already shaking with fear, and the horse pulling the cart, without waiting for the coachman's order, turned its head and galloped away.

In the sky, an eagle was circling, coldly staring at one of the mercenaries.

That mercenary rode his horse towards the East Gate.

The eagle stared at him in the night sky, flying slowly.

On the ground, hundreds of stray dogs, led by the mastiff, chased down the street like a cavalry.

The raven on top of the mastiff's head flew up, leading the way. The raven was faster, and in a short while it caught up with the fleeing mercenary.

"Regretful Guest, you still think you can escape!" The raven flew over the mercenary's head, maintaining a distance of several meters, and said.

The guy dressed as a mercenary was Abraham, of course Abraham wasn't his real name, he was the Regretful Guest.

The Regretful Guest looked up at the raven above his head and drew his long sword with a clang.

"If you want to kill me, it's best to use a bow and arrow." The raven spoke fluent Common Tongue, and apart from the difference in voice, everything else was completely consistent with human speech.

The sound of hooves clip-clopped, and the Regretful Guest secretly took out a round little brocade box with his left hand.

"Scorpion-tailed beast? It can't hurt me in the air. Scorpion-tailed beasts are highly poisonous, but they can't fly."

"Who are you?"

"Deformed man, Varamyr."

"Varamyr, let me go, I'll give you a hundred gold."

"A thousand gold is useless, I am here on the order of His Majesty the King to take you to the palace."

"What if I don't go?"

"You will go!"

Swish!

The Regretful Guest threw out the little brocade box.

The raven didn't avoid it, but instead welcomed it, swooping up diagonally, drawing an arc, and grabbing the brocade box with both claws, so that the brocade box could not be opened, and the scorpion-tailed beast inside could not come out.

Another black shadow descended from the sky, straight, like a gust of wind, swooping down, and grabbing the horse's buttocks with both claws. It was the eagle that had been following and circling in the sky. The eagle's claws were as sharp as knives, and the horse's buttocks were immediately bloody.

The Regretful Guest was an assassin, but every time he dealt with people, he had never fought against ravens that could speak human language, fierce eagles, cute kittens, and all kinds of dogs.

The horse was startled and galloped forward, out of control. The Regretful Guest felt the threat and thrust his long sword backward. But the eagle had already risen and flew away, as if it had calculated that he would counterattack.

After the sneak attack, the eagle was like a person.

In fact, it was a bird of prey completely controlled by someone.

Whoosh!

The raven suddenly swept past in front of the horse, startling the horse, and it turned into a side alley and ran in. In front of the alley was a north-south street, an eagle flew at low altitude, making threatening howls, blocking the front. The horse turned again, avoiding the bird of prey, and turned to the north.

Further to the north, there was a famous building: the Prince's Palace.

Countless wild dogs, led by the mastiff, chased after them like black shadows, barking, forcing the horse to fly faster forward, not daring to stop.

In the sky, eagles and ravens drove and threatened the horse, and on the ground, hundreds of stray dogs, led by the mastiff, madly chased the horse.

The Regretful Guest on horseback had never experienced such a scene. He was an assassin, but not a wizard, nor a deformed man. The assassination skills and the ability to drive scorpion-tailed beasts that he had learned had never been used to deal with a group of dogs and flying eagles and ravens.

And the raven, flying in the sky above his head, still chatted and talked to him from time to time. The bird of prey, the eagle, silently flew alongside at low altitude. Without bows and arrows, he could not attack the eagle, nor could he hurt the cunning raven.

Looking back, countless dogs were howling and chasing relentlessly. His swordsmanship was very good, but he could not dismount and fight hundreds of crazy stray dogs.

"Regretful Guest, there are many people like me around His Majesty the King. My little tricks of driving beasts and playing with eagles are nothing compared to the abilities of the other courtiers and generals of His Majesty."

The Regretful Guest looked up at the increasingly close and magnificent palace, he decided to walk in with dignity, rather than enter in a state of being torn and seriously injured by a group of dogs: "Warrior, withdraw the dogs, I'll go into the palace with you."

"Then get off the horse."

The Regretful Guest pulled the reins, forcibly reining in the horse.

He jumped off the horse, which galloped away like the wind.

The Regretful Wanderer turned back and, sure enough, the pack of mad dogs, numbering who knew how many, had stopped as if they were well-trained soldiers. The mastiff at the head stared at him, sending a chill down his spine.

The Raven said, "Regretful Wanderer, first empty all the small brocade boxes you're carrying into your coat, tie it in a tight knot, and throw it on the ground. Someone will come to take care of it. Then, walk forward."