The Mountain of Ice and Fire

The Purification by Fire

Joyce, One-Eyed Themy, Landon Gahl, Podrick Payne, Com Warner, and other soldiers busily carried the banners of Others and wights out of the marching tents. They were all surprised and delighted, everyone excited.

Lord Mountain succeeded in dragon riding, mounting the dragon's back. The soldiers' bodies were heated, their eyes full of radiance.

Melisandre watched Mountain flying on the dragon, the flames reflected in her pupils. Burning embers fell beside her, many rolling off her, yet her large red robe remained undamaged.

Mountain didn't need the 'kneel' command. He relied on his arm strength to flip onto the dragon's back, and 'persuaded' the sheep stealer with the ancestral axe and ancestral dragon knight's robe, unbelievably flying on the dragon. If he wasn't Azor Ahai reborn, then who could be?

The dragon is fire, and the North is ice. The meeting of ice and fire is destined for the extinction of ice. The Lightbringer has a mission. Melisandre firmly believed: This time, fire will ultimately defeat ice, and the Red God will once again defeat the Cold God.

Melisandre's beautiful eyes followed the flight path of Mountain and the sheep stealer, her mind filled with thoughts...

Last night, in the flames, Melisandre saw the Night's Watch headquarters at Castle Black fall. Jon Snow, Eddard Stark, and Davos Seaworth led their forces to retreat to the largest and oldest castle on the Wall—the Nightfort. The wights led by the Others outnumbered the Wall's allied forces by dozens of times, but the Wall's allied forces attacked the wights with fire, and the wights burned fiercely like wildfire. Obsidian arrows and swords were used to attack the Others, making the Others' advance after capturing Eastwatch-by-the-Sea extremely difficult.

Fire is the bane of wights, and obsidian is the bane of Others.

Thanks to Mountain's obsidian mines and weapons, the Night King suffered heavy losses time and time again after easily taking Eastwatch-by-the-Sea. However, the situation for the Wall's allied forces became more difficult day by day. Many soldiers died in battle, and their strength was reduced by two-thirds. Only eleven of the hundred giants remained, the rest all dead.

The people of Mole's Town, the first village outside Castle Black, had all evacuated. Within the Gift, all the people, including the free folk north of the Wall, were rapidly retreating into the Last Hearth, the stronghold of House Umber. The entire force of the North did not head north, but south. They followed the orders of Robb Stark, King in the North, and gathered in Winterfell, the capital of the North, building fortifications day and night, arranging rows upon rows of antlers around Winterfell, digging deep trenches, and filling the trenches with black wildfire... Winterfell was the last fortress of the Northmen. They concentrated all their strength in this one place. Robb Stark, King in the North, ordered all warriors not to retreat any further...

The North was in peril, in urgent need of support, but Melisandre's heart was no longer as worried as before. She looked at Mountain and the dragon in the sky, filled with confidence in Mountain.

The Night King had exhausted his forces, while on the human side, the real army had not yet set out...

Besides the North, Melisandre also saw Essos in the flames, saw the Dothraki Sea. She was very familiar with the Dothraki Sea, having lived on that land for decades. She was a priestess of the Red God, developing believers and spreading the Red God's faith on the grasslands. But all past experiences were no longer important to Melisandre. The most important thing was that she saw three dragons in the flames, three small dragons, three small dragons that, combined, were not even half the size of the sheep stealer...

Three three-year-old dragons, whose master was Daenerys Targaryen.

Dragons, more dragons! Three in total. Three dragons flew in the sky above the grasslands, and below them was a cavalry of dozens of people. They sped like lightning, galloping across the grasslands, outside the sacred city of Vaes Dothrak, by the shores of the Womb Lake... They were rushing towards the sacred city...

When Lord Mountain came down from the sky, Melisandre decided to tell him about the three small dragons. Mountain was undoubtedly Azor Ahai reborn, and everything in the flames had to be told to him frankly... Stannis Baratheon of Dragonstone, whom she had firmly pledged allegiance to in the past, was a false king, while Mountain was the true Lightbringer...

*

Vaes Dothrak, the sacred city. The only place on the grasslands where everyone lives in peace. Anyone entering the sacred city must not carry swords. Everyone in the sacred city is brothers and sisters. Even mortal enemies will abandon all hostility, grievances, and feuds in the sacred city, sitting down to drink and laugh like family. After the Dothraki celebration ends, everyone leaves the sacred city, draws their swords, and fights to the death.

The annual Dothraki gathering had arrived, and the sacred city was filled with people. Merchants from all over the world also gathered here. Doing business in the sacred city during these two months would bring great wealth. Many owners also came here to open brothels. During these two months, the women's lives would be booming. Wines from all over the world were transported here, and merchants of all ethnicities gathered here, forming a brief, lively market.

Most of the Dothraki warriors had returned, and the city was filled with warhorses, soldiers, women, and wine.

The Dothraki seers lived on a hill called the Holy Mountain. The seers were called Dosh Khaleen, a noble organization composed of old women, each Dosh Khaleen being the widow of a deceased Khal.

Daenerys Targaryen, surrounded by more than a dozen Khals including Poggio, Dryden, Balon, Godwin, Ebbert, and Motley, walked into the Dosh Khaleen sanctuary.

It was a circular black building, with a black domed ceiling, black floors, and black walls. In the center of the sanctuary, braziers burned fiercely around the walls. The sanctuary hall was brightly lit, and the temperature was much higher than outside.

The Dosh Khaleen stood in rows, all wearing black robes, their faces gloomy, silent as stone, resembling a group of resentful women whose lives were filled with suspicion, selfishness, hatred, and misfortune.

In Daenerys' eyes, each Dosh Khaleen was filled with ominousness. Daenerys could not see kindness, love, wisdom, justice, or light in their eyes. Daenerys only saw meanness, hostility, suspicion, darkness, and resentment.

What kind of old women were these?

Daenerys found it strange that when she came with Drogo, she had regarded such a group of old women as divine beings worthy of reverence. But this time, as Drogo's widow, the way these Dosh Khaleen looked at her had completely changed, and the entire hall felt completely different.

The leading old woman had a pale face, bloodless lips, sparse eyebrows, sunken eye sockets, and prominent cheekbones. "Daenerys, you have violated the will of the Horse God. After Drogo's death, you should have returned here immediately, but you did not. Three years have passed, and now I see you are full of the cruel戾氣of the outside world. I see disrespect for the Horse God in your eyes. I see your licentiousness and disloyalty to Drogo. You need to be baptized and purified. I hope the water in the Womb Lake and the horse blood can wash away your sins and darkness, and drive away the demons in your body, bringing you light."

"Your sins are heavy, Daenerys." Another young Dosh Khaleen with a mean face said, "You have entered the Dosh Khaleen sanctuary with a body full of darkness. You have defiled the sanctity of the Dosh Khaleen, making the air here unclean."

"Debra," Daenerys called the young Dosh Khaleen by her name from the secular world. "Your husband, Khal Mosi, was killed by my Sun-and-Stars, Drogo. The warriors and people of your husband's tribe have submitted to my Sun-and-Stars, Drogo. I know you are full of hatred for me. Hatred has blinded your eyes, causing you to fall into hell. Your heart is dark and without light," Daenerys said coldly. Her expression was the scabbard, and her words were the unsheathed sharp knife, hitting Debra's heart.

Debra's mean face was deeply twisted, making her look full of resentment. "Daenerys, you unclean and unholy one, you have a man named Daario following you. Do you think we Dosh Khaleen don't know? After your Khal dies, you only belong to the Dosh Khaleen and can no longer belong to any man. You are a lowly, dishonored, dirty woman. You must accept the cleansing of blood and the purification of fire."

"Yes." Another Dosh Khaleen stood behind the others, revealing only half of her face. A single eye stared at Daenerys, like the eye of a cold, cruel beast. "The man who has been following you comes from a foreign land. He is not even a Dothraki."

"I am a queen," Daenerys said proudly. "Daario is my subordinate. He is loyal to me, loves me, and is willing to die for me. I did not come to this place willingly. I was forced here by Poggio. When Daario could not rescue me from Poggio's army, he followed me, never abandoning me."

"Dare you say you have not been intimate with that foreign man?" The leading old woman said grimly.

"He is my lover," Daenerys' voice echoed through the Dosh Khaleen sanctuary.

"A demon has possessed her body. Let her immediately accept the purification of fire." Several old women shouted, their voices filled with surprised panic.

Several other old women turned and knelt before an idol with a human head and a horse's body, the Horse God worshipped by the Dothraki. On the grasslands, the Horse God is supreme.

"Please forgive Daenerys' ruthless blasphemy of the Dosh Khaleen's sanctity. Please forgive our mistakes, Horse God." A Dosh Khaleen with a face full of wrinkles shouted hoarsely, her face filled with terror. "Someone, take Daenerys to the black prison."

"No one dares to detain me," Daenerys said coldly. "What are you afraid of, old women? I have never harmed any Dothraki. The Dothraki on the grasslands are all my close brothers and sisters, unless they want to harm me."

Several Dosh Khaleen rushed up, reaching out to grab Daenerys, intending to twist her arms and押进to the sanctuary's black prison.

"Let go, don't touch me, you ugly women." Daenerys pushed the people away with force, and one of the old women was pushed to the ground.

The Khals stood aside, watching the Dosh Khaleen get physical. Each Dosh Khaleen here was a seer they revered, not someone they dared to touch casually.

"Daenerys, don't get physical. Dosh Khaleen, don't get physical either." Motley stood between Daenerys and the other Dosh Khaleen, separating them. "This is a sanctuary, a place of prayer and baptism, a place to reveal the Horse God's oracle. Daenerys, you must accept the Dosh Khaleen's decision."

Motley was the Khal who released Rakharo. He had promised Rakharo that if Daenerys' dragons returned, he would be loyal to the queen.

"Motley, arrest Daenerys. She dared to push a Dosh Khaleen to the ground in the sanctuary. She has committed the crime of disrespect." The leading old woman stood straight, her face as cold as ice.

"She must accept judgment, accept the cleansing of blood, and the purification of fire," another old woman sang loudly.

A group of old women echoed. Their eyes were full of disgust and hostility towards Daenerys.

"Poggio, I need your bloodriders to kill a horse outside the sacred city and bring horse blood; and your bloodriders to bring water from the Womb Lake," the leading old woman announced loudly.

"Yes, Dosh Khaleen."

Poggio strode out of the black sanctuary.

"Motley, I want your bloodriders to build an altar out of wood in the square outside the sanctuary. Daenerys must accept the purification of fire."

Motley glanced at Daenerys. "As you command, Dosh Khaleen." He also strode out.

Daenerys said, "Dosh Khaleen High Priestess, in the name of the Horse God, may I ask you a question?"

The Dosh Khaleen all glared at Daenerys, as if facing a terrifying female demon.

"Daenerys, what do you want to say? Any rebellious words spoken by the demon through your mouth are blasphemy against the Horse God. I hope you will speak after being baptized with horse blood. Horse blood and water from the Womb Lake will drive away the demons in your body, and fire will purify the evil in your soul."

"The purification of fire, you are actually preparing to burn me to death," Daenerys said coldly.

"Heavens, don't let her say demonic words again. We can't let her continue to defile our doctrines and the sanctity of the Horse God here," another old woman screamed as if struck by an arrow.

"I can accept the purification of fire, but what about you? Since fire can purify dirty souls and drive away human evil, then which of you dares to come with me to be purified by fire?" Daenerys' eyes were like swords, staring at each Dosh Khaleen, finally landing on the face of the leading old woman. "High Priestess, come on. Since fire is purification, let's accept purification together and see whose soul is more holy and whose body is more pure."

"There are rumors that she is unburnt," a Khal whispered to the Dosh Khaleen beside him.

"Mother of Dragons, the Unburnt." Another Khal also whispered to the two Dosh Khaleen beside him, "But whether she is truly unburnt, no one knows."

"Those rumors are lies, evil arts to bewitch people." The Dosh Khaleen were convinced of this.

The Khals were actually half-believing and half-doubting whether Daenerys was unburnt or the Mother of Dragons. There were too many rumors about Daenerys, and naturally there were many lies among them.

The Khals realized that the Dosh Khaleen believed that Daenerys' rumors were not credible, so the rumors were a means for demons to deliberately bewitch people!

*

"Daenerys, we are all holy ones. Every Dosh Khaleen is a child of the Horse God. We have all been baptized with horse blood, and our souls have been purified by fire."

"Which of you has been purified in the flames?" Daenerys sneered. "Who is truly pure? Let us all ascend the altar today, before the eyes of the Khals, the warriors, and the people of the city, and let the flames give us its answer."