The Mountain of Ice and Fire

On the eastern bank of the Trident River crossing, military tents stretched for miles, various flags fluttered, and military supplies were piled up into small hills. The cavalry was elite, the infantry was strong, and the shouts of men and the neighing of horses converged into a river of sound, vying with the ceaseless flow of the Green Fork River. At night, the campfires were like stars in the sky, dense and numerous, stretching for miles, illuminating the night sky above the Green Fork River.

In front of the central army tent, a tall stag-lion banner stood erect, the royal banner of Tommen Baratheon I. Beside the royal banner stood a red-smoke-beast ice-sword banner, the banner of Gregor Clegane, Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Expeditionary Army.

To the right of the royal banner and the commander's banner, in the first position, was a blue-eagle-crescent banner—a sky-blue background with a sky-blue eagle soaring above a white moon. This was the banner of House Arryn from the Vale. Although the Eyrie had been destroyed, apart from the Arryn family branch in Gulltown, there was another, closer branch of the Arryn family in the flower-filled plains of the Vale, a weak branch descended from the bloodline of Jon Arryn's sister, with basically no power or prestige.

However, as the only remaining close bloodline of the Arryn family, after the Mountain burned the Eyrie, this branch suddenly became the only legitimate heir to the Arryn family. In terms of bloodline tradition, this branch was even above the Arryn family branch in Gulltown.

Even though this branch family on the Vale plains only sent twenty-three soldiers and one knight, it was still qualified to fly the blue-eagle-crescent banner.

In the first position on the left was a pebble-rune banner—a pile of pebbles between two rows of runes on an orange background. This was the banner of House Royce of Runestone.

Before the Mountain's night raid, Runestone of House Royce was the most powerful family in the Vale, the head of the eight great houses. After Bronze Yohn and his sons were all killed, Yohn's only daughter, Ysilla Royce, inherited Runestone in order of succession and married Ser Landon Gargalen, the Mountain's adopted son. Ysilla herself also recognized the Mountain as her adoptive father.

This time, House Royce sent a thousand elite troops.

Having fought the Mountain and suffered a crushing defeat, House Royce had gathered a thousand elite troops again, which was all the family's capital. Ysilla Royce herself did not go on the expedition; she sent Ser Damon Shett of Gull Tower, Lord Royce Corbray of Coldwater Burn, and Lord Uther Tollett, Lord of Grey Glen—a knight and two lords—to lead this thousand-strong elite force of House Royce to respond to the Mountain's call to march north.

The heraldic pattern on the second banner on the right was a black broken wheel on a green background. This was the banner of House Waynwood, one of the eight great houses of the Vale. Lady Anya Waynwood, who controlled House Waynwood, like Countess Ysilla, did not personally go on the expedition; the leader of the army was her eldest son and heir, Ser Morton Waynwood. Ser Donnel Waynwood, Anya's second son, was stationed at the Bloody Gate, and her youngest son, Willis Waynwood, remained at Ironoaks.

House Waynwood sent a legion of two thousand men, including fifteen hundred elite troops and five hundred ordinary soldiers. Lady Anya, who had been told some prophetic secrets by the Mountain, was the first great noble in the Vale to proactively send a hundred-man team to follow the Mountain.

When the Mountain left the Vale and returned to the Westerlands after the end of the last Mountain's Conquest War, Lady Anya sent family knights and soldiers to follow the Mountain's side. This released a bold and special signal: to be close to the Mountain.

Lady Anya was also the first to mobilize her family's soldiers and generals to prepare to follow the Mountain into battle as soon as she learned that the Mountain had tamed a dragon. She was a very shrewd lady and the first noble in the Vale to proactively embrace the Mountain's thigh.

The pattern on the second banner on the left was three flying ravens on a white background, each clutching a blood-red heart in its claws. This was the banner of House Corbray of Heart's Home. Since the family's most powerful swordsman, also the most powerful swordsman in the Vale, Lyn Corbray, was ambushed and assassinated in Ironoaks at night by an unknown person, the family's patriarch, Lyonel Corbray, was not sad; he only cared about the whereabouts of the family's ancestral Valyrian steel sword, Lady Forlorn. Unfortunately, the sword had been missing, no one had seen it again, and no one had sold it at a high price on the black market. The Valyrian sword Lady Forlorn mysteriously disappeared from then on, and there was no more news of it.

This time, the head of House Corbray, Earl Lyonel Corbray himself, personally led the army, leading a thousand of the family's best soldiers to join the army. Heart's Home was left to his third brother, Lucas Corbray, to manage. To prevent accidents, Earl Lyn had already designated Lucas Corbray as his heir.

In addition to the arrival of the eight great houses of the Vale, there were also more than a hundred legions from all the small and medium-sized nobles of the Vale.

More than a hundred great nobles, medium nobles, and small nobles of the Vale gathered a Vale legion of nearly thirty thousand people. These families were not short of true warriors and capable generals. It is necessary to mention House Templeton of Ninestars—the manpower sent by this family was only five hundred, but these were remarkable five hundred, each of whom was an absolutely brave and skilled cavalryman.

House Templeton was a knightly family with strong strength.

There were also families with a mix of cavalry and infantry in the army, as well as professional spearmen and sword-shield soldiers.

After the Mountain burned the Eyrie, he returned directly to King's Landing and did not ride a dragon over the castles of the Vale nobles. The news of the Eyrie's destruction and collapse spread faster than the wind, reaching every corner of the Vale within an hour, and also reaching Gulltown and the Riverlands outside the Vale.

On the same day that Lady Lysa Tully and Duke Robert Arryn were executed by the Mountain, all the nobles in the Vale began to gather their forces at the fastest speed without receiving orders from the Mountain, and began marching three days later. Everyone arrived at the crossing of the Trident River at a rapid march and camped, waiting for the Mountain to come from King's Landing to receive them.

With the collapse of the Eyrie, which symbolized the highest authority in the Vale, and the Mountain's burning of Duke Robert and Lady Lysa Tully to ashes, the Vale people showed a rare consistency for the first time. The nobles who had conflicts with each other put aside their prejudices and coordinated their marching plans. The soldiers' usually well-trained military qualities were fully reflected in the rapid march. The small nobles also acted vigorously, responding to the Mountain's orders, leading their troops out of the Vale, and camping at the crossing of the Trident River. Although there was no leader, the order was neat. The various arms and families camped in separate areas. Soldiers and knights inevitably clashed and rubbed, but they could all negotiate and deal with them amicably. The military supplies piled up like mountains, with wagons and ox carts one after another, but tens of thousands of people were not chaotic at all.

In fact, the Vale people were more close to the Starks of the North. In addition to the Arryn family being close relatives of the Stark family, the Royce family, the Templeton family, the Redfort family, the Lynderly family, etc. all had such and such relatives with the Stark family of the North. Some blood relations were still very close. When the civil war broke out in 298 Aegon's Conquest, many Vale nobles wanted to send troops to help the Starks fight the Lannisters of the Westerlands. Among them, the Royce family was the head of the pro-war faction, but in the end, the Vale did not send a single soldier, because of the firm opposition of Lady Lysa Tully.

The pro-war faction had been living a very aggrieved life under the leadership of Lysa Tully.

*

Chirp!

A metallic sound that resounded through the heavens seemed to penetrate everything. The rushing sound of the Trident River and the noise of tens of thousands of people were all suppressed. At that moment, the sound of the river seemed to disappear, and tens of thousands of people were silent together, and the warhorses were terrified. And the soldiers looked up, and in the air, they saw a golden-red cloud flying over like a big bird. The Mountain was riding Sheepstealer. He arrived at the eastern bank of the Trident River crossing before Littlefinger and Melisandre.

Looking down from the sky, on the eastern bank of the Green Fork River, densely packed, there was a row of military tents, stretching for miles. Thousands of wagons and ox carts formed a long black dragon. In front of the central army tent, the flags of the Vale nobles were clustered together, surrounding the royal banner and the Clegane banner. Dozens of colorful flags fluttered in the wind... with loud snaps...

The Mountain's face was cold, but he was very pleased in his heart. The effect of burning the Eyrie was significant, which finally completely relieved his uneasy heart. Doesn't this fully illustrate that Lysa Tully had no prestige or real respect in the hearts of the Vale nobles?!

However, the Mountain believed that more of the reason was the catalytic effect of the dragon's power. Of course, his cruelty in exterminating the entire population of the Eyrie was also indispensable.

Whether you are beautiful jade or crude stone, good or bad, all are burned and killed!

Massacre the city!

Lysa Tully's life of relying on danger and arrogance and not recognizing her relatives finally came to a perfect end.

In front of the central army tent stood almost all the generals of the Vale nobles. This central army tent was usually empty and uninhabited, only maids took care of it here. When the noble generals had something to communicate and communicate, they came here to hold meetings. They actually built this huge central army tent for Lord Mountain.

Sheepstealer reduced its altitude, and its huge wings fanned up a whirlwind. Those familiar with Sheepstealer would find that the dragon's scales were brighter than before. This was related to the dragon returning to the sky and releasing its combat nature, and Sheepstealer's magical vitality was officially revived. And Sheepstealer, whose revived power and combat talent, his scales were also rapidly becoming smoother and the color was becoming brighter.

Even so, the Mountain still could not use the 'bow down' dragon-riding command to control Sheepstealer. The 'bow down' dragon language only belonged to Sheepstealer's master: the castor dragon knight. Bow down is the meaning of submission, the humility of recognizing the master, but Sheepstealer was not submissive to the Mountain, nor was he humble. The dragon is the dragon, he did not recognize the Mountain as the master, he was only a comrade-in-arms with the Mountain.

But in the eyes of outsiders, the dragon was the Mountain's mount, and the Mountain was the dragon's master. This gave the Mountain the greatest halo, making everyone revere him wherever he went.

The dragon landed, and the frightened warhorses that could break free had already broken free and fled. Those that could not break free all 'bowed down', lying on the ground, their eyes revealing humility and fear.

The Mountain grabbed the dragon's horns and jumped off the dragon's back. His heavy body 'smashed' on the ground, making a loud bang.

There was no way, the dragon that would not 'bow down' was a small mountain. Fortunately, the Mountain's arm strength and martial arts were not bad, and he grabbed the dragon's horns to go up and down the dragon's back, creating an unprecedented way to go up and down the dragon's back.

The dragon was close at hand, and the threat of death made people breathless. The Vale soldiers were all awe-inspiring, fearful, and excited.

More than ten earls, dozens of barons, and hundreds of knights of the Vale lined up to welcome the Mountain. They had no discomfort with the Mountain's act of jumping off the dragon's horns. On the contrary, they believed that the Mountain's 'uninhibited' action of jumping off the dragon's back perfectly matched the Mountain's mighty temperament and cruel character.

The fearsome dragon was right next to the Mountain, and the dragon flame's pupils were dazzling golden-red, like two huge rare gems. The dragon's scales reflected golden-red light, and the exhaled breath made the noble generals clearly feel the heat rolling.

The Mountain's gaze swept across, majestic as a god, and the pairs of eyes of the Vale generals could not help but reveal awe.

The Mountain saw a thin young man wearing the Arryn family emblem. This guy whose name he didn't know was a close bloodline branch of the Arryn family. Strictly speaking, this guy had the right to inherit the Vale. He dared to follow the army north, was he not afraid that the Mountain would kill him?

The Mountain knew that he had a bad reputation, and it was estimated that this heir to the Arryn family was forced to follow him in the war, because if this collateral branch refused to come, he was even more afraid that the Mountain would go to exterminate the family.

The Mountain killed people, and he didn't need any reason at all. The name of the Mountain was already the biggest reason. Now that he killed the nobles in his jurisdiction in the name of Guardian of the East, he would not have any scruples.

*

In the team of over a hundred noble generals, the Mountain saw Earl Shett of Gulltown, Earl Corbray of Heart's Home, Earl Redfort of Redfort... In addition, there were Earl Tollett, Earl Waynwood... As for the generals under the banner of Ironoaks and Runestone, the family head of House Royce of the Gates of the Moon, etc... For the Mountain, they were already old familiar faces.

The Mountain's gaze swept across these Vale nobles. Among them were his secret allies. He knew that he had the overall situation in his hands. He saw the humility of the noble generals towards him, and he saw the awe in everyone's eyes towards him.

The Mountain strode towards the Vale nobles... Surrounded by the nobles, he was too much taller than everyone else, like a crane standing among chickens. The Mountain walked into the central army tent.

Outside, in the distant onlookers of the generals and soldiers, Sheepstealer suddenly took off, his body and hundred-meter-long wings spread out, stirring up the airflow, forming a gust of wind. He swept over the heads of the terrified people, and the soldiers felt that the dragon claws close at hand seemed to fall on their heads in the next moment. In the horrified eyes of the soldiers, Sheepstealer, who was flying at low altitude, suddenly rose, and he quickly flew into the Mountains of the Moon.

The crossing of the Trident River was just outside the Mountains of the Moon. The left side of the army camp was the Green Fork River, and the right side was the Mountains of the Moon. There was a forest and a shoal between the mountains and the river, and a Kingsroad separated the forest and the shoal.

Sheepstealer flew into the vast Mountains of the Moon on his own. It was possible that he was going to forage for food, or it was possible that he was going back to see his nest.

The Mountain sat down in the central army tent and convened the first military conference of the Vale Legion.

Although his guard cavalry had taken the first step, they had only just arrived at the crossing of the Trident River.

*

ps: There is one more update today, this is to make up for yesterday, sorry.