The Mountain of Ice and Fire

“Viserys, get down!” Arianne Martell cried out.

Whoosh!

The sound of wind rose sharply beside her, and the bronze dragon Rhaegal had already descended. In a graceful arc, he passed over Jon and went below him. Just as Jon was about to land on Rhaegal's back, Rhaegal turned his body to the side, and Jon fell past him.

Jon shouted, “Rhaegal!”

Rhaegal flicked his tail, gently circling and tossing Jon's body, pushing him high into the sky.

Gendry watched dumbfounded, breaking out in a cold sweat.

Jon let out a joyful cheer of pure enjoyment.

As Jon fell again, Rhaegal came beneath him, gently nudging him with his head, as if playing with a human doll, pushing Jon forward again.

Jon flew forward like a stone bullet.

But his speed, of course, could not compare to that of a dragon.

Rhaegal slightly twisted his body and caught up with Jon, who fell right onto Rhaegal's neck.

A dragon had two long parts, one was its neck, and the other was its tail.

Rhaegal raised his long neck, and Jon slid down to his back.

Rhaegal and Jon's dangerous movements in the sky looked like a well-rehearsed performance.

If Rhaegal was compared to a clown, then Jon was the performance ball tossed up and down in the clown's hand. No matter how dangerous the movements were, the ball always landed accurately in the clown's hand at the critical moment.

And the so-called danger was just to stimulate the audience. Neither performer worried about any mistakes or dangers.

The mental connection between Jon and Rhaegal had reached a point of complete fusion.

Perhaps the harsh environment of the North had instead accelerated the fusion of the bond between the man and the dragon. In the extreme cold, Jon Targaryen thought most about how to make Rhaegal happy, how to get him moving, and how to get him to eat more.

When Jon safely rejoined Arianne, riding alongside her once more, Duke Gendry Baratheon could no longer remain calm.

He had said earlier that if Jon dared to jump, he would dare to jump. Now, looking down, he regretted his rash words. Jon could fly up and down in the air with Rhaegal as if playing, but he clearly could not.

“Lord Gendry, come over, I'll catch you,” Jon said. “Viserys needs to fly a long distance. Carrying two people will only make him fly slower, and the distance from His Majesty's dragon will only increase.”

Ahead, the Sheepstealer did not wait for the two behind him. The faster the Sheepstealer could fly, the faster the Mountain let him fly.

He wanted to get to Qarth's city as soon as possible.

The sooner Maester Tobho Mott and the Great Sage arrived in Qarth, the sooner the war would end.

The Mountain wasn't worried that the Undying Pyat Pree could see all this, nor was he worried that Pyat Pree knew anything about the past or future. The Pyat Pree and the Qartheen warriors did not dare to open the gates to fight. The dragon and the Dothraki cavalry would slaughter them. But if they actively attacked the city, the situation would change. Even if the dragon burned down the city walls, they would still have to face hundreds of dragon-killing crossbows deployed in the city.

Soldiers would die on the battlefield, but if a dragon was sacrificed, the price would be too high, too high for the Mountain to pay.

Behind the Mountain, the Great Sage looked back and saw the two smaller dragons slowly approaching.

Compared to the Sheepstealer, Rhaegal and Viserys, who were twice the size of an elephant, were still small dragons.

Viserys and Rhaegal were brothers, one a burly and strong general, the other an elegant and handsome scholar. As the two dragons approached each other, Gendry stood up from Viserys's back, spread his arms, and jumped towards Rhaegal.

The parallel Rhaegal tilted his wings slightly, and Gendry landed on Rhaegal's sloping wings with a loud cry. The wings flapped, Rhaegal regained his balance, and Gendry realized he had steadied himself. Rhaegal banked to the side, high on the right and low on the left, and Gendry slid towards Jon, who caught him.

For Rhaegal, the impact of a person's weight on him was like an insignificant rabbit jumping on an elephant's back.

In the sky, Gendry went from the back of the white dragon Viserys to the back of Rhaegal.

“Are you alright, my lord?” Jon asked Gendry behind him.

Gendry calmed down, his heart still pounding wildly, breathing rapidly, his whole body hot, not good at all: “…I’m fine…fine…very fine…”

With this delay, the Sheepstealer flew even further, leaving only a shadow the size of a hawk.

*

Three days later, the dragon Sheepstealer appeared in the skies over Qarth.

Accompanying the Sheepstealer was the black dragon Drogon.

On Drogon's back was the dragonrider Daenerys Targaryen.

She rode the dragon into the sky to find the Mountain and Arianne.

After all, His Majesty had suddenly left for so many days without any news. Although Daenerys was not worried about the safety of the Mountain and Arianne, she couldn't figure out what was going on or where the Mountain and Arianne had gone. So she rode the dragon into the sky and looked west.

The Mountain and Arianne were unlikely to go east. Qarth had not yet been captured, and going east was meaningless.

Although Daenerys didn't know if her judgment was right or wrong, or if she could find the Mountain and Arianne, she couldn't sit still just staying in the military camp and waiting.

So, in the sky near Slaver's Bay, the black dragon Drogon encountered the dragon Sheepstealer.

Daenerys did not see the white dragon Viserys in front of or behind the dragon.

Only one dragon was flying in the sky.

But there were two more people on the dragon's back.

One was Tobho Mott, the most famous weapons master in King's Landing, and the other was the Great Sage, who had regained his fire magic abilities.

The Great Sage, the highest elder in the Alchemists' Guild, in charge of the Alchemists' Guild. A very remarkable figure, in a sense, the Great Sage was a great magician in another sense, even a semi-prophet.

The black dragon and the Sheepstealer both let out dragon roars. The dragon roars resounded through the sky, causing the birds and beasts in the sky and on the earth to flee.

“Your Majesty, you returned to King's Landing?” Daenerys was very surprised. She never dreamed that the Mountain would fly from Qarth to King's Landing, and then fly back in just a few days.

The two dragons flew side by side, and Daenerys and the Mountain were not far apart in the sky.

“We are going to build two cannons outside the city of Qarth,” the Mountain said, stating his plan.

Seeing the arrival of the weapons master and the Great Sage, Daenerys had already guessed the Mountain's plan.

She was still surprised by the Mountain's plan.

“Your Majesty, we have dragons. If we attack by surprise, the walls of Qarth cannot stop us,” Daenerys believed that with three dragons, the walls of Qarth would not be an obstacle. If they attacked at night, the walls would be breached in an instant.

“The Sheepstealer can destroy the walls in a very short time, and we can also attack Qarth, but I don’t want Qarth to become a ruin, because it is our city, its prosperity, wealth, architecture, civilization, everything belongs to us. If we forcefully attack and fight, we are actually foolishly destroying our own things; second, if we forcefully attack with dragons, our dragons may die under the dragon-killing crossbows after entering the city, maybe one, maybe two, maybe three, and the dragon riders will also be injured or killed. This is a huge price, the risk is too high.”

Daenerys looked at the Mountain, feeling a strange sensation in her heart.

She was convinced by the Mountain.

In her heart, she felt even more admiration and affection for the Mountain.

Once, years ago, when Daenerys had not yet met the Mountain, the Mountain was infamous, brutal and ferocious, and killing people was as easy as child's play to him.

That was the Mountain in the rumors, like a devil!

Now, the real Mountain that Daenerys knew was of course completely different from the Mountain that Varys, Littlefinger, and others had repeatedly described to her.

“Your Majesty, don’t you want to know the results of my negotiations with the Qartheen?” Daenerys couldn’t help but ask.

“The negotiations will not have good results. Qarth will definitely not hand over the Undying Pyat Pree,” the Mountain said with certainty.

“They did not agree to hand over Pyat Pree, but they did not give up negotiations because of this.”

“I know, even with the dragon-killing crossbows, they have lost their sense of security. Our dragons can attack at any time and anywhere. As long as we block the port of Qarth in the sea and burn all their warships and merchant ships, they will panic.”

“Why doesn’t Your Majesty do that?”

“If we can take Qarth at a very small price, the warships and merchant ships in the port will also become ours. Burning thousands of warships and merchant ships is like setting fire to our own ships, which may not be a good idea.”

Daenerys smiled slightly.

The Mountain's tall and mighty body looked even more majestic in her eyes.

*

In the royal palace of Qarth.

Next to the Hall of a Thousand Seats, there was a small circular conference hall.

The King, the Thirteen, the Tourmaline Brotherhood, the Ancient Guild of Spicers, and the Sorrowful Men were all here.

The atmosphere was oppressive and heavy.

Everyone's eyes exchanged, as if they had reached a consensus.

His Majesty the King coughed softly and said, “We cannot send the Undying Master Pyat Pree to Daenerys. During this negotiation, we did not even see the guy called the Mountain. What are your opinions and suggestions on the following developments?”

“Perhaps we can persuade Master Pyat Pree to leave Qarth temporarily and go east,” said the Sorrowful Man.

“But what if the Mountain insists on Pyat Pree?” said Nastro Rhaymondi, one of the Thirteen.

“The Mountain is a Westerosi, he has never seen Master Pyat Pree,” said the chairman of the Ancient Guild of Spicers softly. He was wearing gorgeous clothes and spoke softly.

These words suddenly awakened everyone.

“Your Majesty, find a prisoner in the death row, let the Undying slightly disguise him, and he can be turned into the appearance of Master Pyat Pree, and then we hand this person over to the Mountain, and Qarth can escape this disaster,” said Janni Ledesma, one of the Thirteen.

Janni's words were echoed by the Thirteen.

The commander of the Tourmaline Brotherhood sneered.

Everyone looked at the Tourmaline Brotherhood together.

Among the major forces in Qarth, the Tourmaline Brotherhood firmly advocated war. The Thirteen firmly advocated peace, led by Haji Moar, who had a friendship with Daenerys. Haji Moar believed that Qarth could not withstand the attack of three dragons. Even if the dragons feared the dragon-killing crossbows, as long as the three dragons locked down Qarth's sea route in the sea, Qarth would no longer be able to develop, and the nobles and royals in the city could only live off their savings.

The commander of the Tourmaline Brotherhood said, “Your Majesty, lords, since we are holding a meeting to discuss how to deal with the enemy, and the topic of discussion is also related to Master Pyat Pree, why didn’t we invite Master Pyat Pree to attend the meeting together?”

Everyone looked at each other in dismay.

Was the Tourmaline commander deliberately provoking trouble?

Everyone was discussing whether to hand over Master Pyat Pree in exchange for Qarth's peace. Whether to hand over the person or refuse, some of the words in the discussion would probably hurt the dignity and honor of Master Pyat Pree himself. For the sake of prudence, everyone agreed not to invite Master Pyat Pree to participate in this meeting.

The King coughed softly again, “Commander of the Tourmaline, lords, no one is willing to hand over Master Pyat Pree to the enemy. We are discussing countermeasures. Not inviting Master Pyat Pree himself is to avoid misunderstandings and embarrassment between Master Pyat Pree and us.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

The Tourmaline commander sneered again, “Your Majesty, Master Pyat Pree knows everything. He probably knew about the meeting we didn’t invite him to today in advance.”

Haji Moar, the head of the Thirteen, said slowly, “Commander, since Master Pyat Pree can know about this meeting even if he doesn’t come, doesn’t that just avoid his own face-to-face embarrassment? I will ask everyone a question, if three dragons block our port and burn all the warships and merchant ships, what will we eat? Will we all starve to death within the triple walls?”

Everyone was silent for a while.

“We cannot defeat the dragons, I think everyone will understand this. I represent the opinions of the thirteen of us, as long as there is peace, there will be no war. Because as long as we really fight, in the end, we will definitely lose. Who can defeat three giant dragons in the sea? Who can stop the new type of crossbow that has never been seen before?”

The Qartheen called the Mountain Royal Navy warship's cannons a new type of crossbow.

Although Earl Redwyne's naval fleet was completely destroyed and buried in the sea, more than one hundred warships destroyed more than six hundred of the other side's warships. The new type of crossbow was indestructible, but it was a pity that the other side chose to self-destruct when they were surrounded and unable to escape. The Qartheen navy failed to seize a new type of crossbow.

Haji Moar's words made everyone silent with grim expressions.

"If the Demon Mountain can build one new type of crossbow artillery, he can build a second. He has already unified the Nine Free Cities, the Dothraki Sea, and Slaver's Bay. Even if he doesn't use the military strength of Westeros, simply gathering the warships of the Nine Free Cities would far exceed our naval power." Haji Mor's gaze slowly swept over everyone. "War is certain defeat, only a matter of time. Peace is the only way out. If the Demon Mountain insists on Grandmaster Buli, we will find someone who looks extremely similar to Grandmaster Buli to replace him. If the Turquoise Brotherhood insists on fighting, then send the fake Grandmaster Buli. After gaining the Demon Mountain's trust, assassinate the Demon Mountain and Daenerys together at the peace talks banquet. I have given this strategy a name—seeking peace is seeking war."