The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Obsidian arrowheads were sharper than steel, but had a drawback: they were fragile.

Anguy fired an arrow, missed, and the arrowhead shattered upon hitting the ground.

The ice spider had already clung to the wall, its agility akin to a prophet, able to foresee the arrow's arrival.

The ice spider was fast, and Anguy was fast too; he fired one arrow, and another was already nocked.

Jory Cassel had suggested Anguy use a short crossbow, which could fire in rapid succession, eliminating the need to retrieve arrows after each shot. No matter how fast Anguy was at retrieving arrows, he couldn't match the speed of a repeating crossbow. After Anguy fired an arrow, retrieving, nocking, and shooting took time, no matter how quickly he did it.

But Anguy was confident in his archery skills, boasting top-notch speed, and didn't heed Jory's advice. Jory and her guards used short crossbows, but Anguy refused to abandon his longbow.

*

With a squeak, the ice spider reached the ceiling again, but this time, Anguy held his arrow, unreleased.

"Anguy, finish it quickly, don't let the ice spider escape. If it gets outside, it will slaughter the archers on the walls. That would be a terrible disaster," Bran Stark said in a low voice.

"Brothers, three on the roof, nine on nearby roofs, three guarding the main door, and the rest in a fan formation outside the main keep. Guard the three windows and the main door," Anguy commanded.

Footsteps immediately echoed as the twenty-four archers swiftly departed.

Three men went to the roof of the main keep, taking the three most advantageous positions; nine went to the roofs on the three sides of the main keep, their arrows aimed at the second-floor windows. Three guarded the main door, and another nine archers, with bows drawn, formed a fan around the main keep on the ground.

To get out, the ice spider could only go through the main door or the windows. The main keep had only one main door, three windows, and no windows on the back. From the ground to the roof, eighteen arrows were aimed at the windows on the three sides.

Inside the main keep of Winterfell, the situation was extremely disadvantageous for the ice spider. The thick stone walls of Winterfell also made it impossible for the ice spider to break through.

Anguy stood in front of Bran, drawing his bow, the arrow following the ice spider's movements. The main hall on the second floor was large, but for the ice spider to kill Bran, it needed to pass through the doorway, and Anguy was standing right there. The ice spider could use its speed and leg blades to kill Anguy, but if it attacked Anguy, Anguy's arrow would surely hit it.

Just one arrow, and the ice spider would explode into a cloud of ice shards.

The ice spider darted back and forth quickly, and Anguy's arrow finally shot out. The ice spider avoided it like a prophet and immediately launched an attack, pouncing on Anguy, but miraculously, another arrow appeared on Anguy's bowstring, as if the previous arrow had never been fired.

If the ice spider didn't retreat and attacked rapidly, it could kill Anguy immediately; but in a head-on attack, Anguy's arrow could also hit its pony-sized body. Anguy was waiting for the ice spider to crash into him.

Man and spider perishing together!

Anguy Clegane stood motionless, waiting for the ice spider to attack at close range, but the ice spider's caution exceeded that of humans. It went from the ceiling to the wall, from the wall to the ground, never stopping. Anguy's arrow didn't have a sure chance of hitting the rapidly moving ice spider, and the ice spider was also wary of getting close to kill Anguy and Bran.

"Anguy, if you don't kill it, the ice spider will definitely break through the window," Bran Stark said indifferently.

This was the second time Bran had reminded Anguy!

As soon as he spoke, Anguy moved. He took a big step into the room, and the arrow in his hand shot out. The obsidian arrow howled towards the ice spider. The ice spider fell from the ceiling, and Anguy's second arrow followed, chasing the falling ice spider. A shadow flashed, seemingly passing through the ice spider, but it was just the ice spider's afterimage. Anguy nocked a third arrow, not aiming or looking, and shot it towards the ground. There was a bang, and the arrow above hit the ceiling, the arrowhead shattering; clink, the second arrow hit the wall, the arrowhead shattering; snap, a crisp sound, the third arrow hit the ground, the arrowhead shattering.

The ice spider landed and bounced up, jumping onto the windowsill. More than a dozen arrows shot in from several directions at once, instantly sealing off its escape route.

The ice spider squeaked loudly and jumped back into the room. Several arrows broke through the window and hit the wall one by one, the arrowheads shattering.

Anguy stood still, firing arrows in rapid succession, chasing the ice spider with one arrow after another, until he reached out and found his full quiver empty.

The bowstring sounded, the ice spider moved like lightning on the wall, but no arrow shot at it. Anguy Clegane had emptied his quiver. He roared and threw the longbow in his hand at the ice spider. The ice spider deftly dodged, and a flash of light pounced on Anguy like an arrow...

Anguy had no arrows or bow, empty-handed, the best time to kill him.

Pfft!

With a muffled sound, a short black arrow was stuck in one of the ice spider's blue compound eyes. In Anguy's hand, a short crossbow appeared.

Anguy, who had always been proud and refused to use a short crossbow, finally took out the short crossbow that had been prepared on his lower back. Shooting with a short crossbow didn't require drawing, retrieving, or nocking arrows, only a light pull of the trigger. Anguy believed that with his archery skills, using a short crossbow for close combat would tarnish his honor... He believed that even with a longbow, shooting one arrow at a time, he could kill the ice spider... Anguy was too confident in his archery skills...

Bran Stark had urged Anguy twice to take out the short crossbow and attack, to speed up his shooting.

With the short crossbow, Bran Stark believed that the ice spider would have been shot dead by Anguy long ago!

Obsidian arrows, the bane of ice spiders!

The ice spider let out a heart-wrenching squeak, like a person's dying scream—

In the blink of an eye, the short crossbow in Anguy's hand continuously pulled out black shadows, pfft, pfft, pfft, hitting the ice spider's four compound eyes in a row.

With the short crossbow, Anguy's divine arrow speed was as fast as a meteor.

The ice spider fell to the ground, staggered, and in a shrill squeak, several leg blades slashed fiercely at Anguy...

Anguy took a big step back, reaching the door. In the sharp sound of the air being torn apart, the door frame and the wall were hit by several of the ice spider's leg blades, wood chips and stone fragments flying...

"Get out!" Anguy shouted.

Bran's servant had already picked up the wheelchair and ran upstairs, the servant with long arms and legs, great strength, and good coordination, crossing most of the stairs in two or three steps... Anguy instantly emptied the arrows in the short crossbow, and the short crossbow in his hand flew out, smashing into the door. With a light sound, the short crossbow was cut in half, and a leg blade stretched out, chopping down on Anguy's head... Anguy didn't have time to retreat and dodge. The ice spider's speed was like an arrow. Anguy fell backward, barely avoiding the leg blade's attack to his head, chest, and abdomen. With a light sound, the ice spider's leg blade sliced through his right leg, as if a sharp knife was cutting through a piece of cheese. Anguy's leg was completely severed from below the knee, and blood flowed like a stream from the severed leg...

The ice spider's head probed out of the door frame, and a leg blade was raised again. Anguy stared at the ice spider, the ice spider's four hit compound eyes leaking blue liquid, dripping from the corners of its mouth...

Crack!

A crisp sound, like the sound of an eggshell being crushed, was the first sound of the ice spider's body beginning to shatter...

Crack, crack, crack!

A series of sounds rang out densely...

The ice spider's raised leg blade slashed down at Anguy...

Bang!

With a loud bang, the ice spider shattered into ice shards, and the leg blade shattered into powder inches in front of Anguy's face, sprinkling Anguy's face with coolness...

*

Early morning, Storm's End. Training grounds.

The Mountain stood on the high platform of the training grounds. The dragon Sheepstealer flew over the city, the huge shadow passing over the heads of the generals and soldiers again and again.

Beside the Mountain stood the commander-in-chief of the royalist allied forces, Balon Swann. Balon Swann wore white robes and white armor. Years ago, he had followed the Mountain to fight Stannis's army at the Blackwater Rush. It was a hearty and satisfying victory. Now, that special feeling of triumph had returned to Balon Swann's heart...

Dorne's Queen Arianne Martell stood to the Mountain's left. She was now the Mountain's public paramour. The Mountain took her with him whether it was day or night, or she followed the Mountain. The two were always inseparable.

In addition, Brienne Tarth, Ser Gerold Dayne, Willas Tyrell, and Ser Garlan Tyrell were also on the platform...

The Mountain was calling out names, holding a thick roster in his hands.

This was the roster of the Golden Company's generals and knights.

"Ser Harys Haigh," the Mountain shouted.

A knight with dark skin stepped out of the ranks, his weapons two short-handled axes with spikes.

"Harys, where are you from?" the Mountain asked.

"My lord, I am from the Summer Isles."

"Exile? Fugitive? Or wandering mercenary?"

"Lord Mountain, I am a wandering mercenary. I joined the Golden Company three years ago in the Disputed Lands."

"Harys, do you wish to return to the Summer Isles, or stay and become a general?"

"Lord Mountain, I am willing to follow you and your dragon in battle, to make a name for myself."

"You don't want to return to the Summer Isles?"

"Since the day I left, I have never intended to return to the Summer Isles."

The Mountain looked at Harys Haigh. This fellow looked fierce, with a scar on his face, one of which ran diagonally across his eye, a white mark dividing his eyebrow and lower eyelid in two. Even his black pupils had a faint white mark. He guessed that this fellow had probably committed a major crime in the Summer Isles and dared not return.

"Become my guard," the Mountain said casually.

He liked to take fierce men as guards the most, not afraid of their disloyalty, but afraid of their lack of courage and low martial arts skills.

Harys Haigh knelt on one knee, raised his spiked short-handled axes high, and swore allegiance to the Mountain. Then he stood up and stopped in front of a row of knights. This row of knights were all Golden Company warriors who had sworn to follow the Mountain and his dragon.

The knights on the other side were those who wished to return to their homelands. Those who still had family bloodlines, some were more willing to return to their families.

Of the hundred people called out so far, only a few volunteered to join the Kings Landing City Watch and swear allegiance to the royal family. These people stood where the royal banner was planted. The largest number were still under the Clegane banner, where many fierce men with unkind faces and various costumes stood.

A scout arrived on horseback. Before the horse stopped, the soldier had jumped off the horse and knelt under the high platform: "My lord, urgent letter from the Red Keep."

The Mountain shouted: "Bring it up."

The scout ran up the high platform and handed the letter to the Mountain.

The Mountain took the letter, the wax seal bearing the seashell emblem of House Westerling. This was a letter from his wife, Jeyne Westerling.

The Mountain opened the letter, glanced at it, and finished reading it. The letter was simple, with only a few words: White Walkers attacking Winterfell, military situation urgent.

A simple sentence, without suggesting that the Mountain return to the North immediately, nor giving a later prediction of the war, just simply telling the Mountain a fact.

Because of the dragons, ravens dared not enter Storm's End. The royalist allied forces legions were all camped outside the city, and the accompanying court maesters all lived in the military camps outside the city. Raven letters were all sent into the city quickly by scouts from outside the city.

The Mountain handed the letter to Arianne Martell and said in a deep voice: "Generals, soldiers, the White Walker army is attacking Winterfell in the North day and night. Winterfell may fall at any time. I must immediately ride the dragon back to the North. Please let commander-in-chief Balon Swann, Duke Willas Tyrell, and General Brienne Tarth jointly preside over the overall situation here. Any knights and soldiers from the Golden Company who wholeheartedly want to return to their ancestral lands on the Westeros continent, General Balon can call their names and they can return freely. Those with fiefs before, write down the situation and hand it over to commander-in-chief Balon Swann. Queen Cersei and Prime Minister Mace will definitely give everyone a reasonable arrangement."

The generals and soldiers listened to the Mountain's words, all silent, and tens of thousands of eyes stared at the Mountain.

The White Walker attack in the North, this news, in the past few days, the generals and soldiers inside and outside Storm's End, had already known and deeply believed.

The life and death of the human race, and the decisive battle at Winterfell, had a very important relationship.

After the Mountain finished speaking, he didn't say a word of nonsense. He was originally going to finish dealing with the Golden Company's affairs and fly to the Red Keep in Kings Landing to explain the love affair between him and Arianne to Lady Jeyne. Now, this embarrassing matter could be saved.

The Mountain roared at Sheepstealer in the low sky in High Valyrian: "Crouch!"

Sheepstealer would not really fly down and crouch, but this was the Mountain's variant language for flying with him. Hearing the Mountain's voice full of fighting spirit, Sheepstealer was invigorated, and a dragon roar that could tear gold and shatter jade expressed the dragon's joy and high fighting spirit.

Dragons, their nature and talent is fighting!

Sheepstealer flew down to the training grounds. The Mountain picked up Arianne Martell and threw her onto the dragon's back, causing Arianne to exclaim. She had to grab one of the dragon's horns to steady herself. Sheepstealer also let out a low dissatisfied dragon roar, its head lowered, its dragon mouth opening ferociously at the Mountain, revealing a mouth full of fangs and dense barbs on its tongue...

"Fly. Fight. Urgent. Urgent. Urgent. Eat, eat, eat," the Mountain shouted sternly in the dragon-riding command. He had no time to explain to the dragon why he was bringing another person.

Eating was the Mountain's promise to Sheepstealer that afterward, he would give him absolutely enough delicious food.

Arianne Martell, before she was pregnant, the Mountain would not let her leave him. To control Dorne, he needed to control Arianne Martell. To control Dorne from rebelling, he needed Arianne Martell to give birth to a Clegane heir. Dorne heirs had one advantage, regardless of gender, only seniority mattered.

A moment later, the dragon Sheepstealer took off with the two of them... Inside and outside the city, tens of thousands of soldiers looked up at the sky together, until the dragon disappeared into the sky, they still looked up in unison...