The Mountain of Ice and Fire

The Mountain ordered the gathering of the frightened and scattered 'pigs, oxen, cows, chickens, and ducks' and other livestock, herding them together to be taken back to Harrenhal. The godswood inside Harrenhal alone covered dozens of acres, and the stables and livestock pens were astonishingly large, enough to accommodate thousands of livestock. The cows among them could provide fresh milk.

Amory Lorch rode up on horseback, laughing, "Lord Tywin, you're late."

"Didn't see Thoros?" The Mountain said. His voice boomed, imposing even without anger.

"That fellow is so scared he doesn't dare stay in Westeros anymore. He's fleeing back to Myr," Amory laughed.

"That fellow would never flee to Myr," The Mountain said coldly.

"Oh!" Amory's eyes darted. "Since General says so, then I'll go and catch Thoros."

"Thoros isn't Beric Dondarrion. You can't threaten him with villagers."

"Is that so? We'll have to try it to find out."

The Mountain stared at the smiling Amory. "Ser, stop slaughtering villages."

"Oh? Why? All the villagers who dare to harbor Thoros deserve to die."

"Villagers can provide us with wheat, milk, beer, and rice. They can also repair bridges and roads for us, and serve as cannon fodder when the war is intense. Remember, when we control a place, only living people are useful to us," The Mountain said.

"Lord Tywin seems different from before," Amory Lorch looked at The Mountain with a strange expression.

"Fool, your slaughtering of villages today will cause Thoros's forces to grow rapidly. The people of the Riverlands will stand with Thoros, and many young people will join him to oppose us. If the conflict intensifies further, villagers will inform Thoros of our future military actions."

"Lord Tywin means to say that we, the Westerlands army that can defeat the Riverlands armies, can't deal with a Thoros and must bow down to commoners?"

The Mountain's eyes turned cold. "Amory, either you garrison at the Crossroads Inn, or you obey my orders and stop slaughtering villages."

"Lord Tywin Lannister ordered us to burn, loot, and kill the people of the Gods Eye who are useless to us," Amory said coldly as well.

"I haven't burned a single village east of the Gods Eye."

"No wonder I haven't seen smoke rising from the east. Lord Tywin, why are you disobeying Lord Lannister's orders?"

The Mountain said proudly, "Not burning villages and crops is beneficial to us. In another month, when the crops are ripe, I will send Clegane soldiers to harvest them. Military rations are often more useful than armor and swords."

"But you have disobeyed Lord Lannister's orders. Military rations are the responsibility of the quartermaster, not something we need to worry about."

"Is that so!" The Mountain reached out and lifted Amory from his horse, holding him in the air as if he were grasping a half-grown child. "I say, you listen, and you do it. Understand?"

"Understand!" Cold sweat broke out on Amory's back. He saw the killing intent in The Mountain's eyes. The Mountain had murderous intent towards him. If he dared to answer that he didn't understand, The Mountain would kill him without hesitation.

The Mountain put Amory back on his mount. Amory's face was pale, and his lips were purple.

In that instant, he had gone through a cycle from life to death, and from death to life.

Amory had murderous intent towards The Mountain when Jory Cassel killed Lady Hornwood. Only by killing The Mountain could he dare to deal with Jory. However, just now, The Mountain was an insurmountable mountain in front of him, and he was a small rabbit at the foot of the mountain, with no power to resist.

With a single disagreement, The Mountain dared to kill him.

And yet, he couldn't do anything to The Mountain!

"Elyn, re-hang Lord Beric on the big tree at the village entrance."

Elyn, Anguy, and Ser Gwayne Haigh exchanged glances.

Ser Gwayne Haigh said, "Lord Tywin, I have some acquaintance with Lord Beric. Could you give me the opportunity to bury Lord Beric?"

"Please let us cremate Lord Beric, Lord Tywin," Anguy said. When he won the archery championship, Beric Dondarrion had also approached Anguy, hoping Anguy would become his squire. Anguy and Beric were both from the Dornish Marches, one a lord, the other a commoner.

"Lord Tywin, although I only had a nodding acquaintance with Lord Beric when we served under the Iron Throne, I admire his integrity and selflessness. Please allow us to cremate him."

"Hang him up and stop talking nonsense," The Mountain said in a deep voice.

Elyn, Anguy, and Gwayne were all silent.

Beric's body was on Elyn's horse.

The scribe Mark came over, picked up Beric's body, and with the help of two soldiers, re-hung Lord Beric on the big tree at the village entrance.

"No one is allowed to desecrate Lord Beric's body," The Mountain added inexplicably.

All the generals and soldiers agreed.

The Mountain's eyes turned to Amory, and Amory quickly agreed, "Yes, Lord Tywin."

"The mission is complete. Return!" The Mountain ordered.

*

The southern hillside of the village was covered with large trees: ironwoods, sentinel trees, oaks, and more unnamed trees gathered into a dense primeval forest. In the fork of a large tree, Thoros sat, watching three people re-hang Beric's body on the big tree at the village entrance.

He breathed a sigh of relief. He had been worried that the raging fire would burn Beric.

The sound of a branch breaking came from the side. A person nimbly slid down the tree. Looking at the figure, it was Beric Dondarrion's squire, Edric Dayne.

The boy climbed down the tree, mounted his horse, and headed towards the burning village.

Under the tree, several knights and free riders immediately mounted their horses and closely followed Edric Dayne.

Thoros climbed down the tree. Under the tree, there were more than twenty brothers, several of whom were wearing coarse cloth shoes and wielding wood axes as weapons. They were several villagers who had escaped the village massacre. Early this morning, they had sensed something was wrong and discussed escaping the village, joining Thoros, and as a result, avoided Amory's poisonous hands.

"We need to find a safe place. We can't avenge Lord Beric right now," Thoros said.

"Lord, I know how to take care of horses," a villager said.

"What do you want to do?"

"I want to go to Harrenhal to take care of horses for The Mountain. The Mountain has many cavalry, thousands of horses. He needs grooms to take care of the horses." The boy speaking had a dark complexion and his eyes were full of the flames of revenge.

"If you fail..."

"Failure is just death. I'm not afraid!" the boy said. "My parents, brothers, and sisters were all killed by Amory. I want to take revenge."

"Even if Amory is asleep, it will be difficult for you to succeed. I won't allow you to go," Thoros said decisively.

"I won't take action, Lord, but you need someone on your side in The Mountain's army." The boy's voice revealed calmness and determination.

Thoros was a little surprised by the calmness and rationality of this rural boy. Perhaps the tragic death of the entire village had rapidly matured the boy's mind, causing him to take a detached view of life and death in his grief, but at the same time, he had a deep-seated hatred.

"What is your name?"

"Lord, call me Little Horse."

"Alright, Little Horse, you go to Harrenhal and become a groom for The Mountain's cavalry."

"As you command, Lord."

*

Beric Dondarrion's body was brought back by Edric Dayne. The twelve-year-old boy didn't shed a single tear. He placed Beric in the stream, washed his body clean, and dressed him in Beric's favorite training tights.

Thoros said, "We'll go deep into the forest. Everyone be careful and try not to leave any traces, so that The Mountain's scouts don't see us."

Everyone agreed and headed into the depths of the forest together.

In the primeval forest, tents and huts could be set up, and there was no worry about prey or water.

"Edric, do you want to revive Lord Beric?"

Edric suddenly raised his head and looked at Thoros.

"Give me Lord Beric. I'd like to try."