The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Woooooooooo!

Outside the Wall, a long, low horn suddenly sounded.

The soldiers on the Titan stopped their movements simultaneously, stood up, and everyone looked up at the top of their heads.

One horn blast, brothers returning!

The sound of the horn faintly came from the haunted forest outside the Wall, it was the horn blown by the patrolling scouts.

Something happened! Otherwise, the horn should have sounded on the wall. Sounding on the wall would notify the brothers below to open the tunnel door and let the returning brothers in.

But the horn sound came from the sky above the wall and the surface of Seal Bay.

Because of the distance, the horn sound was not strong, but the horn sound coming from the direction of the wind and snow could be heard.

Gavin Westerling looked at the serious expressions of Edd and others, and felt a little uneasy.

Everyone seemed to be waiting... what were they waiting for...

Woooooooooo!

Another horn sounded.

Two horn blasts, wildlings attacking.

The faces of the Night's Watch brothers changed slightly.

They knew it couldn't be a wildling attack.

Most of the wildlings had already joined the Wall Allied Forces led by Edd Stark, and a small number of wildling warriors were scattered everywhere, and no one knew where they were.

It was impossible for a small wildling army to attack Eastwatch-by-the-Sea. They didn't have enough troops and couldn't break through here by climbing the Ice Wall.

Moreover, if the wildlings were to raid Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, they would either choose to bypass the Wall by sea; if they didn't have a boat to bypass the Wall, they would choose to climb the Ice Wall at night, not during the day.

It was probably not the wildlings. The main force of the wildlings and the giants had already come to the Wall. They had become allies stationed at the Wall. So, who would come to provoke Eastwatch-by-the-Sea?

Everyone stood still, looking nervous, still waiting... waiting for the final answer... although that answer was already obvious... but what if it wasn't...

Gavin Westerling and his soldiers were surprised and uncertain. The low, penetrating, and distant horn sound echoed in their ears. What happened to the Northmen and the Night's Watch? As soon as the horn sounded, everyone stood still like ice sculptures...

Woooooooooooo!

Three horn blasts, White Walkers attacking!

Gavin Westerling noticed that the tense expressions of Edd and others relaxed instead. It was confirmed that the White Walkers were attacking, and the scouts patrolling in the haunted forest had discovered the attacking White Walkers.

Cotter Pyke drew his longsword with a clang: "Lord Edd, the White Walkers are attacking."

"Commander Cotter, the dragonglass on this ship is their nemesis." Edd Stark calmed down, "Cotter, you lead fifty rangers, each with a dragonglass dagger, out of the Wall to check the situation, meet the returning brothers, and find out how many White Walkers are coming? How far away are they from us?"

"Yes, Lord Edd." Cotter Pyke said, "Bird, Fatty, Seafish, lead the brothers, two warships, take the waterway."

The three guards responded, and with an order, the rangers lined up to receive the dragonglass daggers, and then left the cabin.

In the loud shouts of the messenger, on the two warships, the sailors were ready, and the drumbeat for departure was lightly sounded.

The Hound picked up two obsidian daggers from the basket, hung one on his sword belt and inserted one into his boot: "Lord Edd, I'm going too."

"Be careful, don't get entangled in battle." Edd patted the Hound's shoulder, "This time it's mainly to scout the situation."

The Hound seemed not to have heard, and strode out of the cabin.

At the Wall, the Hound was a 'free' man, who would not listen to anyone's arrangements, as long as it was fighting White Walkers, he would be the first to go. Even if Edd Stark wanted him to stay, he would not listen. Duke Edd and any other officer could not restrain the Hound by orders.

After the Hound came to the Wall, he was a person who could not be measured by common sense. Except for fighting White Walkers, he was not liked in other aspects. But having the one thing of fighting White Walkers was enough, the Night's Watch and the Wall Allied Forces accommodated the eccentric Hound.

Every time he fought White Walkers, the Hound seemed to be deliberately giving his life to the White Walkers. His madness and bloodlust were unmatched, as if there was a fiery flame in his heart that needed to be cooled by killing White Walkers.

Gavin Westerling originally wanted to have a chance to catch up with the Hound, after all, both sides were Westermen, and the Hound's brother, the Mountain, was still the earl's son-in-law. In that sense, the Hound was also a junior of Earl Gavin. But from the time Earl Gavin arrived, the Hound had not said a word to Earl Gavin, and even the eye contact between the two sides was very rare.

The Hound was very indifferent and never mentioned a word about the Mountain. He came to the Wall precisely because he could not accept himself.

The only thing the Hound had wanted to do in his life since he was sensible was to kill the Mountain. When he found that he could no longer kill the Mountain, he hated himself so much that he could not accept himself. After losing the goal of his life, the Hound came to the Wall. Every time he fought White Walkers, he was seeking death, but the Seven Gods favored him, and after each battle, he would retreat with blood all over his body, and that blood was the blood splashed out by the warriors around him in the battle.

Cotter Pyke saw the Hound jump onto his warship, and he and the warriors all felt a natural relaxation in their hearts, as if they had a bottom in their hearts for doing something they were not sure about.

With the Hound's help, everyone had a bit more of a winning mentality. This was a very subtle psychology, which relaxed everyone's tense mood all at once. When fighting White Walkers, even the most experienced rangers would be tense to the point of fear, but the Hound was an exception. He seemed to be really not afraid of White Walkers.

The Hound had become a recognized warrior in everyone's hearts because of his multiple brave battles and his unbelievable lack of injuries. With him, it seemed that luck would come.

Cotter stretched out his hand to the Hound, but the Hound did not shake hands with Cotter, but sat down. Cotter smiled, he untied the wine bag from his waist and threw it over, the Hound reached out to catch it, unscrewed the cork, and Cotter smiled slightly.

No matter how eccentric the Hound was, he could not refuse wine!

On the warship, the rangers chatted and laughed easily, but they were not idle in their hands, but were putting obsidian arrowheads on the arrow shafts. Time was tight. The Titan had not been in port for long before the patrolling brothers issued a warning. They put on as many obsidian arrowheads as they could.

Gavin Westerling looked out from the window of the Titan's cabin. Two narrow warships sailed out of the port and headed north against the wind. Although it was against the wind, the sailors were very experienced and the speed of the ship was not slow. This also showed that Cotter's fleet, who came from the Iron Islands and had been a pirate, was well-trained.

"The White Walkers are coming?" Gavin asked Edd.

"Yes, the Night's Watch brothers patrolling outside discovered that the White Walkers were coming this way. One horn blast means brothers returning; two horn blasts means wildlings attacking; three horn blasts means White Walkers attacking. The current situation is unknown, so we cannot rashly open the tunnel door. We will detour from the waterway. In the forest ahead, there is a wildling fishing village, and they are very familiar with Commander Cotter's brothers. Everyone usually gives them salt and ironware in exchange for some sea fish and information. If the White Walkers come, those fishing villages will also be in danger."

"Can we accept the wildlings evacuating to the Wall?"

"Commander Cotter once asked those fishermen, but they were unwilling to come. In their eyes, we are the terrible wildlings." Edd said, "They are afraid of being killed by us southerners if they come over. The free folk outside the Wall call everyone inside the Wall southerners."

The sound of footsteps was loud and chaotic. Edd's guards, all the Night's Watch brothers, Gavin's hundred guards, Davos's ten or so followers, and all the workers and sailors on the ship, hundreds of people worked together to move the dragonglass off the ship in full swing. On the deck, the captain was shouting and commanding loudly in half-baked Westerosi Common Tongue. This Braavosi man wished he could set sail immediately when he heard that the White Walkers were coming.

*

"Hound, are you really not afraid of death?" Cotter leaned on the Hound and walked down, laughing.

The Hound frowned slightly. He was not familiar with Cotter, and he felt disgusted by Cotter's familiarity with him. But Cotter's wine bag touched his wine bag, so he endured it. After taking a big gulp of wine, the Hound breathed out: "Cotter, who is not afraid of death? I just don't want to live."

"Don't want to live?" Cotter chuckled, "Hound, Mole's Town still has good girls, don't think too much. No matter what's on your mind, go to Mole's Town, one silver coin can get you two good girls."

*

Mole's Town was in the direction of Castle Black, and was an underground village in the Night's Watch territory. There was a women's house inside, which was Cotter and the brothers' favorite place to go.

The Hound was obviously not interested in women. He gulped down wine, not afraid that drinking too much wine would leave him without strength when he encountered White Walkers. In fact, most of the battles were with ghouls without intelligence and life. There were very few White Walkers. They had their own intelligence and language, and they used ghouls to fight for them. The White Walkers were like the generals in the human army. They used thin swords made of ice, and the higher-level White Walkers used spears made of ice. The spears and swords were exceptionally hard and sharp.

The White Walkers' thin ice swords and ordinary swords would create gaps after a few blocks and collisions. Ordinary swords would be broken if they were cut and collided with thin ice swords with great force.

In the army, only Jon Snow's Valyrian steel sword 'Longclaw' could block the White Walkers' thin ice sword. After many collisions, cracks would appear in the thin ice sword.

*

"Hound, you're not even interested in women?" Cotter looked between the Hound's legs.

The Hound gulped down wine, as if he didn't notice Cotter's teasing.

"Hound, if I am honored this time, burn me." Cotter's wine bag bumped into the Hound's wine bag again, which made the Hound feel that Cotter had become much more pleasing to the eye. He liked people who drank wine, and even more liked people who directly poured wine from the wine bag.

"If I die, light me up." The Hound said. He wiped the wine stains on his beard with his sleeve.

Asking comrades to burn themselves after dying in battle was what every warrior had to tell the brothers around him before the battle. If they died in battle and were not burned, they would turn into ghouls and fight under the drive of the White Walkers.

The Hound's beard and hair were messy, and his face had turned into the unique stiff red of the Northmen. After being at the Wall for a long time, the Hound had adapted to the extreme cold here.

The two warships crossed the Wall and came to the other side of the Wall.

The warship moved forward, one docked, and let down two brothers to meet the brothers who blew the horn, and the rest of the brothers remained on the ship and continued to move forward.

There was a small wildling fishing village not far ahead.

Every time the warship came over, it would basically dock at the small fishing village. The free folk fishermen in the fishing village were very familiar with Cotter and them. Regardless of adults and children, they were close to the Night's Watch, and the Night's Watch often gave the villagers ironware and salt, as well as cloth.

Approaching the fishing village, caw, caw, caw, the ravens flew and bumped in the cage, which did not attract the attention of the rangers, but the Hound noticed it. Commander Cotter would bring two ravens with him every time he went out, which was one of the benefits of having a maester.

The Hound leaned against the ship's side and stood up. The narrow warship was not big, and its shape was like a fish. If it was downwind, the speed of such a warship would be surprisingly fast. If there was a battle, the interweaving and detours would also be surprisingly flexible. This was the warship designed by Cotter. His pirate career and Iron Islands origins made him build the Night's Watch's only fleet very practically.

"What's wrong?" Cotter leaned against the side and smiled.

The Hound did not speak, but looked at the place where the raven's voice came from.

"Don't worry, ravens, like us, are guys who like to fight by nature. They can't be quiet for a while, I know them."

The Hound turned his gaze and looked at the fishing village. The fishing village looked very quiet in the heavy snow. Apart from the whistling sound of the wind blowing through the trees, there was no other sound.

"The village is too quiet."

"Heavy snow, of course the village is quiet."

"Get up and take a look."

Cotter stood up, his body a little shaky, the alcohol was rising, and his face was also turning red: "Same as usual. - Brothers, go in."

The two warships slid in silently and silently docked at the small pier.

Because of the Hound's words, the rangers' hands were on the hilts of their swords, and everyone stared at everything on the shore.

Cotter jumped ashore first: "Nickle!"

Nickle was the leader-like figure of the fishing village. This fishing village was not big, but it was not small here either. There were only thirteen families in total.

There was no response. The road in the entire fishing village was covered with snow, and there was not a single footprint.

"Nickle!" Cotter shouted, this time raising his voice. As long as there was someone in the entire fishing village, they would definitely be able to hear it.

The sound was transmitted into the forest, and the echoes faintly came back - Nickle - Nickle - but still no one responded.

Everyone went ashore, but the Hound stood at the bow of the ship. He paid attention to the few fishing boats next to him. The fishing boats were covered with snow, whether it was the awning or the bow, it was thick snow. It seemed that no one had been on the boat for a while, which was not very normal.

The Hound drew his longsword and jumped onto a fishing boat next to him.

Cotter and others watched the Hound so carefully, like a cautious cat, and they laughed.

The Hound tentatively and slowly walked into the fishing boat. Cotter made a gesture on the shore, and everyone drew their weapons, divided into three groups, and entered the fishing village. They decided to check the situation door by door.

Suddenly, the crisp sound of swords clashing came from the fishing boat, accompanied by a loud roar from the Hound. Everyone turned around together and saw the fishing boat shaking violently, and the clanging sound of fighting continued to come.

"Fatty, go support the Hound." Cotter shouted.

Although Fatty was fat, he was extremely agile. He quickly ran towards the fishing boat and jumped onto the bow of the boat.

Suddenly, the snow in the fishing village moved, and ghouls stood up from under the snow, holding various weapons such as knives, guns, and spears.

At the edge of the forest, a White Walker riding a dead horse, long spear in hand, coldly watched the party. He emitted a sharp, piercing note, and more wights crawled out of the snow. Inside the houses, the dead free folk, adults and children alike, all rose, their azure eyes wide, their faces black, clutching fish spears and other weapons...

On the fishing boats, wights appeared one after another. The brothers guarding the boats drew their longswords and stood at the bow, shouting...

"Retreat!" Carter commanded. "Quickly, quickly, back to the boats!"

The wights lunged at the Night's Watch brothers... They weren't particularly fast, but they were relentless, feeling no fear or pain!

The Hound jumped out of the hold, rushed to the bow, and leaped onto the warship. "Torches! Quickly, quickly, light the torches!"

A wight chased him out of the hold, its arm severed by the Hound's longsword, its leg pierced, its ribs bearing a deep gash from the blade, revealing the white bone. Yet it still moved, brandishing the broken half of its rusty sword in its left hand, pursuing the Hound. Reaching the bow, it leaped accurately into the sea...

This wight, hacked by the Hound's sword, was none other than the fishing village's leader, Nickol!

Fat Head, coming to the Hound's aid, turned and jumped onto the warship.

Nickol floundered in the water, still chasing the Hound...

"Light the torches!" the Hound roared, unscrewing his wine skin and taking a large gulp.

Each wight was a human-shaped candle, or perhaps made of wildfire; a single spark could set them ablaze, turning them to ash.

Wights fear fire, and obsidian is the bane of White Walkers.

The White Walker commanding the ambush at the forest's edge seemed to know that everyone in this party had obsidian weapons. He remained motionless on his dead horse, not joining the wights' attack.

Normally, the White Walker would attack behind the wight army. But this time, he merely watched from afar.

If they could shoot this White Walker, the entire wight army would be paralyzed. Hundreds of wights would collapse, their fighting strength vanished.

The two warships were anchored between several fishing boats. Wights jumped from the fishing boats, but their leaps were clumsy. Most fell into the water, but that didn't stop them from advancing towards the warships.

The torch was lit. The Hound took it, opened his mouth, and spat a stream of fire, hitting Nickol as he climbed onto the ship's side. With a whoosh, Nickol burst into flames. The Hound kicked Nickol in the head, sending him back into the sea.

Nickol landed in the water, still burning, as if he were coated in a pyromancer's wildfire. The brothers followed suit, waving torches at the wights. Some brothers took the opportunity to spit out wine, turning the wights into human candles.

On the shore, Carter and his brothers fought a retreating action. On the snow, the blood of several brothers bloomed like plum blossoms.

The Hound, holding the torch, jumped ashore! He ran, raising his wine skin, but it was empty!

The Hound tossed aside the wine skin, longsword in his right hand, torch in his left...