The Mountain of Ice and Fire

In the blue sky, Arya basked in the warm southern wind. When they set off from the Mountains of the Moon, it was still late at night, and the wind in the sky was as cold as a knife. Fortunately, the dragon Sheep Thief came with its own warmth; it was a mobile furnace.

The further south they went, the more the temperature rose. After midday, Arya and the Mountain both felt the joy of the blue sky and the warmth of the wind blowing against their faces.

The warmest place in the southwesternmost part of Westeros is Oldtown.

Oldtown is the largest and oldest city in Westeros. It was built by the First Men as early as six thousand years ago when the Andals invaded the Vale. Oldtown is located in the southwest corner of the Reach and is part of the territory under the jurisdiction of House Tyrell of Highgarden.

The Honeywine River, which originates in Brightwater Keep, irrigates most of the farmland in Oldtown. The Honeywine River finally flows into Whispering Sound. At the river's estuary, an ancient and great city rises from the ground, which is the largest port city in Westeros—Oldtown. Its commercial prosperity and urban scale are the best in the Seven Kingdoms, surpassing King's Landing and its Blackwater harbor, Lannisport in the Westerlands, Gulltown in the Vale, and White Harbor in the North.

If you travel south from King's Landing, along the famous Roseroad, through the territory of House Tyrell and the city of Highgarden, the starting point of the Roseroad is King's Landing, and the end point is Oldtown.

In the glow of the setting sun, Arya, riding on the dragon's back, saw a bright light above the clouds, the raging fire was like a huge torch in the hands of a god.

Arya and the Mountain were both seeing the raging fire above the clouds for the first time. It was a lighthouse that had guided people at sea and illuminated the direction since ancient times. The fire burns day and night and has been burning for thousands of years.

That is the tallest lighthouse in the world!—also the most famous building in Oldtown: the Hightower.

The Hightower, one of the nine wonders of the world. Its height exceeds the Wall. The top of the tower is located above the clouds all year round. It is the tallest building in the world and the family castle of House Hightower. The base of the tower is two hundred feet high.

The Hightower is both a castle and a lighthouse.

This miraculous artificial tower is located on Battle Isle in Oldtown. With it as the center, countless ancient castles and bluestone streets have been built on both sides of the Honeywine River.

The top of the tower is above the clouds, and the sunlight covers the outside of the tower with a layer of bright gold. Below the clouds, the huge and majestic tower body is like the body of a golden spear.

"The Hightower!" Arya was shocked.

The height of the Wall is already a human miracle, but the Hightower is much higher than the Wall. It is rumored that standing on the top of the tower, you can see the silver line of the Wall in the North.

The Mountain sat behind Arya, the dragon's wings spread out like two accompanying golden-red lands, giving people a sense of security. Even though it was Arya's first time riding a dragon, she didn't feel any discomfort. She felt it was even more stable than riding on the back of a warhorse.

"Who built the Hightower is a matter of great controversy in the long-term research of the scholars in Oldtown, and there is no conclusion," the Mountain said, "Judging from the fact that the base of the Hightower is a square labyrinth made of rough black stone of unknown origin, the rough black stone is extremely similar to the dragon road that built the Valyrian Freehold and the black wall that built Volantis. Research has proved that they are the same type of black stone. This is the early Valyrian origin theory."

"Later, a scholar named Corlyon put forward another hypothesis, believing that the maze-like base was related to the maze builders of Lorath. And Scholar Shilren, who was born in the Iron Islands, proposed in his work 'Strange Stones' that the Hightower and the Seastone Chair are very similar, speculating that they were both created by the Deep Ones. In modern times, Scholar Jerrick concluded after research that Oldtown was a port that traded with trade fleets from Valyria, the Old Ghis Empire, and the Summer Isles very early on, and the specific time can be traced back to the initial era when the First Men came to Westeros. This research has once again enriched the Valyrian origin theory."

"So who built such an amazing tower?" Arya asked.

"There is a saying that has something to do with you," the Mountain said with a smile.

"With me?"

"Yes. The Hightower was not built all at once. The original tower was just a wooden fortress and lighthouse fifty feet high. It was finally transformed into its current appearance after five constructions. The builder of the two-hundred-foot-high tower base, after repeated research by the scholars, is now unanimously recognized as having been designed and built by Brandon Stark the 'Builder', but some people say it was designed and built by his son, another Brandon Stark. Whether it's Brandon the Builder or his son, they are both Starks."

Brandon Stark the Builder was the outstanding architect who built the Wall.

"Mountain, are you sure?" Arya heard for the first time that the construction of the Hightower was related to the Stark family.

"According to current research, everyone has a relatively consistent view that the base was built by Brandon Stark, and the point of contention is only whether it was Brandon the Builder or his son Brandon."

Arya's face showed a bright smile, and her mood became strangely better. Brandon the Builder was a great lord of the Stark family. Since he could build the Wall, he naturally had the ability to build the base of this amazing tower. The most important part of the Hightower, which is more than eight hundred feet high, is the two-hundred-foot-high base.

"Mountain, I want to visit the Hightower."

"That's what I want too!" the Mountain said, "The Hightower is one of the nine wonders of the world. I can't accept coming to Oldtown without visiting the Hightower."

"How do we get in?" Arya was eager to try. The Mountain's words always suited her.

"Go straight in, enter from the top of the tower."

"Okay!"

The Mountain patted Sheepstealer's head: "Sheepstealer, reduce altitude, go to the top of the Hightower."

*

"God, what did I see?" Scholar Moryon stood at the window at the top of the tower, dumbfounded.

A golden-red dragon was gliding in the sky above the top of the tower. Behind the figure of a woman on the dragon's back was a burly steel giant.

Scholar Moryon dropped the book in his hand to the ground.

It was the first time in his life that he had seen a real dragon.

Chirp!

Suddenly, a dragon roar resounded throughout the world, alarming everyone in the Hightower.

The dragon's roar was loud and piercing, penetrating this space-time from top to bottom.

Lady Melisandre wanted the Mountain and Arya to enter Oldtown in a low-key manner, sneaking into the village under the cover of night, no shooting.

But the Mountain deliberately let Sheepstealer let out a dragon roar.

The dragon came to Oldtown with an invincible attitude.

The Hightower has experienced countless wars. No matter what the war, no one has been able to attack the maze-like fortress base that is two hundred feet high. But three hundred years ago, Aegon Targaryen came riding a dragon, and the head of House Hightower surrendered without any resistance, kneeling down and surrendering with his sword. This world-famous Hightower was thus preserved.

Black boulders can withstand swords and manpower attacks, but they cannot withstand dragon fire.

Hundreds of windows in the Hightower revealed heads, and bright eyes looked towards the sky. The dragon's roar was still reverberating inside the tower, and the echo lasted for a long time.

People were shocked, stunned, and speechless!

Time seemed to stand still at that moment.

"Lord Leyton Hightower, why don't you come out to greet your king?" the Mountain shouted. He had a natural loud voice, like a giant thunderbolt. The dragon carried the Mountain and Arya around the tower, and the windows of the tower, the soldiers on the top of the tower, the guards at the bottom of the tower, and the pedestrians on the street all looked up and followed the shadow of the dragon's flight.

A tall man with a bald head, a long beard reaching his chest, and thick brown messy hair stood in front of the large window on the top floor of the tower, looking at the dragon in the sky with a shocked expression. He was not far from the dragon. The dragon flew around and quickly disappeared to the other side of the tower, but quickly flew out from the other side.

This guy wearing a black robe, with his hair shaved, barefoot, burly, and with a beard so thick that his mouth could not be seen at all, was Leyton Hightower, the lord of the Hightower, known as the 'Old Man of Oldtown'. In 281 AC, after Leyton Hightower was defeated by Barristan Selmy the Bold at the Tourney at Harrenhal, he returned to the Hightower and never stepped out of the Hightower again. That was a false spring. In that competition, Arya Stark's aunt and Rhaegar Targaryen fell in love at first sight, triggering the Usurper's War in 283 AC.

In 298 AC, King Robert died after being killed by a wild boar due to drinking too much. The War of the Five Kings began. Lord Leyton Hightower supported Renly Baratheon I's claim to the throne. He sent the Oldtown garrison and his sons to participate in the war, but he himself still did not step out of the Hightower.

He was wearing a wizard-like black cloth robe, and the book he was holding was also a book of spells about mysticism. Earl Leyton, who was obsessed with witchcraft research, was a complete 'otaku'. However, the arrival of the Mountain and the dragon disrupted the peaceful life of this 'old otaku'.

When the Mountain shouted his name again, Earl Leyton responded: "Your Majesty, your subject Leyton Hightower welcomes your Majesty's presence."

The Mountain had already seen this bald, bearded old man. His image and temperament looked like either a sour scholar or a mysterious wizard. The Mountain did not know Earl Leyton. The two had never met. Earl Leyton had only received the Mountain's royal decree, which was a raven informing him that the Mountain had ascended the Iron Throne. He had heard of the Mountain's notoriety. As for King Mountain, Earl Leyton felt awkward just thinking about it.

But the Mountain, who was driving the dragon and flying around the top of the tower like a giant, shocked Earl Leyton so much that he could hardly breathe. The Mountain's armor and giant sword, his mighty demeanor, were like a god.

The top of the Hightower looks as small as a needle tip from below, but in fact the space above is very large. The dragon fell on the top of the tower, and the lighthouse flame that burned day and night seemed to be sensed, and it burned more fiercely with a whoosh. The flame soared, and the tip of the flame swayed, as if dancing.

Even hundreds of nautical miles away at sea, in the mist, the sailors on the ship could see the light of this lighthouse.

The dragon folded its wings, and the Mountain and Arya jumped to the ground. The top of the tower was like a large bluestone courtyard. When the dragon fell, it almost squeezed the top of the tower out of space. Earl Leyton led Scholar Moryon, four family knights, his eldest daughter Molora Hightower, and his fourth wife Rhea Florent to the top of the tower to greet the Mountain.

Arya shouted like singing: "Please welcome Gregor Clegane, Duke of Dragonstone, Protector of the Realm, Commander-in-Chief of the Military Affairs of the Seven Kingdoms, Dragon Rider, King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men."

Everyone knelt down on one knee to welcome His Majesty the King, whom they had heard of but never seen before. Leyton Hightower's voice trembled slightly: "Your subject Leyton Hightower leads his wife, eldest daughter, scholar, and family knights to welcome His Majesty the King and welcome His Majesty the King to the Hightower. This is the Hightower family's highest honor."

The Mountain raised his right hand slightly, and Arya shouted: "His Majesty the King orders you to rise."

So, led by Leyton Hightower, everyone stood up in turn. In front of the dragon's huge body, everyone's faces looked very bad. Fear was clearly written in their eyes and on the corners of their mouths, and could not be concealed.

"Earl Leyton, I need your help with a small matter, and then we will go to your restaurant for a drink."

"Please give your orders, Your Majesty," Earl Leyton said in fear and trepidation. The fastest time this ancient family submitted to surrender was when Aegon brought the dragon. The Hightower was not easy to build. If the base was really built by Brandon Stark the Builder, then it would have an ancient history of eight thousand years, just like Winterfell. Once destroyed by the dragon, it would be a huge pain that the Hightower family could not bear.

"There is an old tavern by the Honeywine River that is six hundred years old, the Quill and Tankard. Do you know about it?"

"I know, Your Majesty."

"Oh, tell me about it."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Leyton Hightower was also tall and burly, but he had no aura in front of the Mountain. He was just a pale-faced, respectful, and frightened teenager. "The Quill and Tankard is on a small island in the Honeywine River. I used to be a regular at the Quill and Tankard when I was young. It is a tall wooden house that leans southward and has a terrace with torches. For six hundred years, the Quill and Tankard has never closed. Back then, when Maester Aemon Targaryen was still a young apprentice, he often went to that hotel. At that time, when Ser Duncan the Tall, the captain of the Kingsguard, came to visit Aemon, they also liked to drink at the Quill and Tankard. The archmaesters of the Citadel, the maester's assistants, apprentices, the doctors from across the Narrow Sea, and the passing travelers and captains all like to have a drink at the Quill and Tankard. Arbor wine is famous throughout the Narrow Sea, and it is the best wine in Westeros, but in the Quill and Tankard, there is a strong cider that is not available outside, and it is the most famous among the guests. Every guest who goes to the Quill and Tankard must have a drink."

"You're right, Earl Leyton, so, do you know who the owner of the Quill and Tankard is now?"

Earl Leyton's face suddenly became embarrassed. He had not left the Hightower for more than ten years. He and his family, scholars, and knights were also very surprised and did not understand what His Majesty the King meant by suddenly mentioning the Quill and Tankard.

"Your Majesty, the current owner of the Quill and Tankard is Emma," Family Knight Dylan Hightower said, placing his right fist on his left chest and bowing to the Mountain.

"Yes, Emma, she has a daughter named Rohanne, who is a waitress at the Quill and Tankard. She is just 15 years old and her buds are blooming. Her mother Emma is asking for a golden dragon for her maiden night, have you heard of this?"