The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Chapter 74: The Key Terrain of the Magic Mountain

Great Wyk Island, Stone Mountain.

Stone Mountain is the private territory of the Goodbrother family.

At the foot of Stone Mountain, a magnificent stone castle was built - Hammerhorn.

The castle has sharp iron battlements, like the spikes of a warhammer. The city walls are clumsy and strong, and the giant stones used to build the city were mined from the cliffs of Stone Mountain behind the city.

Beneath the giant stone walls, countless caves and ancient mine pits are densely packed, like the black mouths of magical monsters waiting to devour life in the cold, faint light of the night.

On the city wall, bonfires were burning, and several soldiers were chatting and drinking around the bonfire. Listening to the content of their conversation, they were talking about the great battle between the Magic Mountain Allied Forces of the North and the Others, each of them talking vividly, as if they had witnessed everything with their own eyes.

In the sky, three huge black shadows flew over the castle like black clouds. In the interior of this island, there was no sound of waves at all. The night wind could not bring the smell of the sea.

Stone Mountain is the beginning of a mountain range that stretches for hundreds of miles.

In the distant mountains, there was a faint clanging sound, the sound of iron hitting, which traveled far in the silence of the night.

Lord Goodbrother's people were working in the mines, day and night.

Most of the nobles on the Iron Islands live off the sea. But the Goodbrother family never relies on the sea, their income all comes from iron ore. In Stone Mountain, in the dark stone caves beneath the surface, many miners never witnessed the vast sea from birth to death.

The life of the miners is miserable. In order to ensure a continuous supply of iron ore, the Goodbrother family often disguises themselves as pirates and goes to sea to capture people from the villages of the Green Lands. The men are thrown into the mines to be miners, and the women become salt wives for the ironborn.

The living resources on the Iron Islands are scarce, and people cannot support themselves by the land on the islands, so every household of the ironborn has taken up the piracy business. Although the folk customs of the ironborn are as fierce as savages and their civilization is extremely low, the ironborn have a natural and mysterious sense of superiority. They believe that only the local women on the Iron Islands are worthy of being the wives of the ironborn. As for the women outside, whether they are nobles or commoners, they are only worthy of being salt wives of the ironborn.

The ironborn of the Iron Islands can only have one wife, whom they call a rock wife; but they can have countless salt wives, as long as you can snatch them, no matter how many women, you can take them as salt wives.

*

Daenerys Targaryen slowly lowered her dragon, and the three dragons hovered in the low air above Hammerhorn. The soldiers on the city wall and the people in the castle were still the same. The women and lords of the noble family had already rested, and no one realized that their fate was about to change.

"Who is the acting castellan of Hammerhorn?" Daenerys' voice suddenly sounded in the air, her clear voice was very loud, full of the meaning of a sharp blade.

On the city wall, the several soldiers who were drinking, laughing, and chatting around the bonfire stopped talking together. They looked up in horror and saw that under the blue starry sky, there were three giant birds arranged in a triangle in the sky. On the back of the leading large bird, there was a figure.

"All the people of the Goodbrother family, all the people of Hammerhorn, I am Daenerys Targaryen. I was born in a storm unprecedented on Dragonstone in the Crownlands. I am the princess of the late King Aerys Targaryen, the heir to the Iron Throne of the Red Keep. In order to escape the pursuit of the usurper Robert Baratheon, in 284 AC, I crossed the sea from Westeros to Braavos, a Free City, under the protection of the Kingsguard."

"More than ten years later, I became the Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, the Queen of Meereen, the Unburnt, the Mother of Dragons, the Breaker of Chains, the Liberator of Slaves; I am also the Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men on the continent of Westeros, the Protector of the Realm of the Seven Kingdoms. Today, I have come with my three dragons and my naval commander Asha Greyjoy to conquer the Iron Islands. Who is the acting castellan of the Goodbrother family? I order you to immediately open the city gates, lead all the people of the city to submit to me, and make Asha Greyjoy the Queen of the Iron Islands. Otherwise, Hammerhorn will be burned to ashes."

Chirp!

After the Queen finished her long titles and story, the black dragon let out a dragon roar that penetrated people's souls! The dragon roar was a clear and melodious metallic sound, with a sharp and solemn aura.

Inside the castle, the ponies in the stables began to neigh in fright and tremble.

The Iron Islands do not have tall war horses, only small ponies. Moreover, on small islands such as Blacktyde and Old Wyk, there are not even ponies.

On the city wall, the soldiers surrounding the bonfire looked up at the sky, no one spoke, as if turned to wood.

In the sky, the evil aura of the three dragons came overwhelmingly.

Hammerhorn is a huge castle built of giant stones, exceptionally strong. Even with catapults, it is impossible to collapse this strong city wall. Under the city wall, the dense new and old mine caves are natural barriers, making it impossible for the legions to march and deploy troops to attack the city smoothly. Hammerhorn, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack, has only one hundred soldiers and two knights guarding the city.

The knights and the hundred-man soldiers came out of the barracks, they held weapons in their hands, and looked at the three huge black shadows in the sky in silence. Scouts rushed to the inner city and knocked on the gate of the main fort. The acting castellan, Jorah Goodbrother, was Goodbrother's brother, old and frail, with dim eyes. After hearing the report, he tremblingly came to the top floor of the castle and saw the three dragons in the sky.

"Dragonflame!" Daenerys Targaryen issued the dragon-riding order.

The long necks of the three dragons lit up at the same time. The black dragon Drogon breathed black and red flames; Rhaegal's whole body was bronze-green, and the bright orange flames had a faint green edge; the white dragon Viserion breathed golden-red flames.

The three dragon flames drew out long tails of flames, illuminating the night sky and also illuminating the shocked faces of all the people in the city.

"Submit, or die!" Daenerys Targaryen shouted in the sky. She saw an old man surrounded by sword-wielding guards on the roof of the main fort. Daenerys gave a light shout, and the black dragon Drogon flew down. The bronze dragon and the white dragon immediately swooped down to the left and right, guarding the sides.

The city is very large, and the castles and towers are very high. The eyesight of the dragons and Daenerys are exceptionally sharp. No soldiers attempted to draw their bows and shoot the dragons and Daenerys. The warriors had no will to fight.

Daenerys suddenly drove the three dragons, making people unwilling to believe that this was true in shock. The people of the entire city lost their opinions in the firelight of the dragonflame.

The three dragons, the size of elephants, terrified people. The ferocious dragon heads, the long necks and tails, and the crystal scales could not be resisted by Hammerhorn, which had only a hundred soldiers.

Although Jorah Goodbrother was old and not far from death, he obviously did not want to be burned to death by dragonflame. When the three dragons flew towards the main fort, he immediately knelt down and shouted surrender in a trembling voice.

*

Three days later, all the nobles and knights on the six major islands - Great Wyk Island, which is rich in iron ore, Old Wyk Island, which has the Seastone Chair, Blacktyde Island, which has nothing, Saltcliffe Island, which produces rough and unbearable mineral salt, Harlaw Island, which has slightly better land, the largest population, and tames ponies, and Pyke Island, Asha's territory - gathered together on Old Wyk Island.

Daenerys Targaryen descended from the sky riding three dragons. It was the first time she had seen the Grey King's Hall. She was amazed by the size of the sea dragon killed by the Grey King. The bones of this sea dragon could actually be used to build a huge council hall. In the council hall, there was only one seat: the Seastone Chair cast from the bones of the sea dragon.

Most of the nobles from the various islands were acting castellans. During the time of Euron Crow's Eye, the families of the Iron Islands were at the peak of their military strength. The ironborn who were loyal to and followed Crow's Eye to attack the Westerlands were almost completely wiped out, which severely damaged the living strength of the Iron Islands.

After Goodbrother was appointed as governor, the nobles on the major islands elected a new generation of clan heads and gathered the remnants of the defeated soldiers, so that the Iron Islands recovered some vitality. However, the time for recuperation was not long, and the generals of the Iron Islands were taken to King's Landing by Goodbrother, leaving the old, weak, sick, and disabled at home, which made Asha's kingsmoot seem bleak.

However, Asha's own three hundred and sixty ironborn and Daenerys, plus the three dragons, added a lot of atmosphere to this deserted scene.

A black longship arrived last. The bow of the ship was full of monks in gray robes. The ship sailed into the port. The monks got off the ship with wooden sticks in their hands, and in the center, they surrounded a tall priest.

The soldiers, knights, people, boatmen, etc. on the shore saw the priest appear and knelt down on one knee. Some prostrated on the ground, reaching out to grab the priest's sleeves, and some kissed the back of the priest's hand or the corner of his sleeves.

Asha Greyjoy and Daenerys heard the unusual noise outside in the Sea King's Hall. A messenger ran in and reported: "Your Majesty, Priest Aeron is here."

Asha Greyjoy, standing next to Daenerys, was overjoyed and grinned, revealing her thick lips. "Your Majesty, Aeron is my uncle, the most respected priest of the Iron Islands. It is the best gift from the Drowned God to me that he presides over my kingsmoot."

Soon, a priest who was thin and tall, with a hooked nose, black eyes, and fierce eyes, walked into the Sea King's Hall. The nobles and knights standing on both sides of the Sea King's Hall nodded and saluted the priest.

Daenerys saw that this respected priest was barefoot, his eyes were as bright as knives, he was wearing a dirty, soaked coarse linen robe, his hair was very long and scattered on his shoulders, and his beard was also very long, as if it had not been trimmed for ten years. What surprised Daenerys even more was that the priest's hair and beard were covered with seaweed.

The priest was followed by dozens of monks holding wooden sticks. The monks all had fierce faces. Daenerys felt that these monks did not look like monks. They looked more like bandits who robbed people on the road.

High Priest Aeron Greyjoy disappeared after Crow's Eye won the kingsmoot. No one knew where he had gone. When the news of Asha Greyjoy's return spread throughout the Iron Islands, he magically reappeared and brought a large group of disciples.

After Balon's death, Euron proposed the 'kingsmoot' as high priest. His original intention was to support Victarion to sit on the Seastone Chair, but Crow's Eye came prepared. After giving a speech, he poured piles of gold coins and jewels on the ground for the nobles who submitted to him to take away. Therefore, the nobles of the Iron Islands turned to support Crow's Eye.

Euron's plan completely failed, and theocracy was defeated by the golden dragon.

Before the kingsmoot, Euron asked Asha Greyjoy to give up the election and support Victarion, but was resolutely rejected by Asha.

Aeron did not approve of a woman sitting on the Seastone Chair! But between Goodbrother and Asha, he chose to support Asha!

Aeron strode to Daenerys and stared at Daenerys with burning eyes: "Your Majesty, what is dead may never die, but rises again, harder and stronger. Please allow me to perform the Drowned God's baptism for Your Majesty."

Daenerys looked at the priest who was like an iron spear and said coldly with no expression: "Priest, I am the Mother of Dragons, the Unburnt, the Ruler of the Seven Kingdoms and the Protector of the Realm. You can perform the baptism for Asha."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

*

At the beginning of the second month of 301 AC, Asha Greyjoy, with the help of Daenerys, easily regained control of the Iron Islands and, in the presence of the nobles of the entire island, sat on the Seastone Chair and became the Queen of the Iron Islands. Then, just outside the Grey King's Hall, Asha, as the Queen of the Iron Islands, led the people of the Iron Islands to kneel down to Daenerys and swear allegiance. The news quickly spread throughout the Seven Kingdoms, and the Seven Kingdoms were shaken!

The news reached King's Landing, and the soldiers of the Iron Islands fleet in the royal port of King's Landing were immediately panicked. The families of the soldiers of the fleet were all in the hands of Asha Greyjoy. The soldiers of the two hundred or so warships had no intention of defending the Blackwater Rush port. They wanted to return to the Iron Islands and recapture their territories and families.

However, Asha had the help of Daenerys' three dragons. It was not easy to rely on warships to recapture the Iron Islands and rescue their families from Pyke in Pyke Island.

The morale of the Iron Islands fleet also affected the entire Royal Navy fleet. An ominous atmosphere spread from the navy to the garrison legion and the defending allied forces, seriously shaking the morale of the entire army.

*

In the Red Keep of King's Landing, Queen Mother Cersei, King Tommen, Queen Margaery Tyrell, Prime Minister Mace, Allied Commander-in-Chief Ser Barristan Selmy of the Kingsguard, Garrison Commander Bronn, Minister of Justice Jeyne Westerling, Master of Whisperers Beric Dondarrion, Naval Commander Aurane Waters, Grand Maester Qyburn... The important officials of the court gathered in the Small Council chamber of the Iron Throne to hold an emergency response meeting.

Prime Minister Mace Tyrell took the lead and said: "Lady Jeyne, how many dragon-hunting ballistae have been built by weapons master Tobho Mott? Can they deal with Daenerys' three dragons?"

"In my humble opinion, it is enough to deal with Daenerys' three dragons," Jeyne said. Her eyes slowly swept over everyone, and finally fell on the face of Queen Mother Cersei.

Queen Mother Cersei was expressionless: "We need the Minister of War, the Mountain, to come back and command the allied forces to defeat Daenerys Targaryen. I am worried about those three dragons now."

"We already have enough dragon-hunting ballistae, Your Majesty," Prime Minister Mace said.

"I am still not at ease. Grand Maester, please release the ravens and immediately send for the Mountain to enter King's Landing."

"Your Majesty, the Mountain is accompanying his dragon in the Mountains of the Moon. I am afraid the ravens will not be able to deliver the letter."

"First send it to the Bloody Gate in the Vale, and then let the knights of the Bloody Gate send the letter into the Mountains of the Moon."

"As you command, Your Majesty!"

*

Ten days later, Queen Mother Cersei received a reply from the Mountain. The letter was very short: Your Majesty, grant me the Westerlands, and I will gather the legions of the North, the Riverlands, the Vale, the Westerlands, the Crownlands, and Dorne to eliminate Daenerys Targaryen.