The Mountain of Ice and Fire

In the pale blue night sky, a dark shadow appeared.

The shadow seemed silent because it was flying very high.

Slowly, the night shadow began to descend, its wings stirring up a great wind.

There were stars in the sky, as well as a bright moon.

Below was the ever-restless sea.

The dark shadow slowly revealed its outline – it was a dragon.

A black dragon.

The black dragon's scales emitted a jade-like glimmer.

Upon the dragon's back sat a beautiful woman with a stern expression.

She was Daenerys Targaryen.

After receiving the raven from Lord Horbert Redwyne in the evening, Daenerys was still in the Red Waste.

The Dothraki riders were not slow, but when the company entered the uninhabited Red Waste, their speed had to be reduced.

The navy's speed, however, remained constant, and the sea route was shorter.

Daenerys read the letter, first releasing a raven to report the ambush of the navy to the Mountain, then ordering the Dothraki riders to camp on the spot and send scouts to investigate in all directions to see if there were any ambushes on land.

Not far from the Dothraki horde was an abandoned ancient city.

A scouting party entered the ancient city and, after confirming there were no ambushes, Daenerys ordered all the Dothraki riders to enter the city. Then, she rode her dragon to support Lord Redwyne's naval battle.

But the naval battle was already over.

The dragon descended to a height of several dozen yards, and all that could be seen on the sea surface were countless broken planks, flags, corpses, cloaks… as far as the eye could see, there was no end to it.

Countless remnants of ships still floated on the water.

In the distance, scattered flames were still burning on the surface of the water.

Behind them, in the direction of Qarth, white mist rose from the sea.

Daenerys Targaryen patted the black dragon's head and spoke in High Valyrian: "Search!"

This was a dragon-riding command.

The black dragon skimmed over the water, flying south.

After a short while, the black dragon flew out of this sea area.

There were no more broken planks or floating battle flags; there were no traces of battle on the sea surface.

This was the end of the north-south waters of the naval battle.

Daenerys did not find a single living person.

There were still quite a few wrecked ships floating on the water, and many corpses floating in the water along the way.

Daenerys issued an order, and the black dragon turned, still skimming over the water, like a huge seabird.

This time, circling around the periphery of the battlefield, they finally found a few surviving Qartheen naval warriors on several planks. They had drifted far from the battle area on the planks.

Daenerys did not kill them.

On such a night, in the sea, they could not survive, for one reason: cold!

The seawater was bone-chillingly cold!

Daenerys circled around, still not finding any living people from her own side. She flew once more from east to west, and besides seeing the banners of the Summer Isles, the Royal Navy flag, the Redwyne family banner, and some corpses of soldiers dressed in Westerosi attire, there were no living people.

In the vast sea, Lord Redwyne and the Prince of the Summer Isles were likely already dead.

Daenerys was no stranger to Qarth.

She had experienced living and being humiliated in Qarth.

She also knew the power of Qarth. One of the Thirteen was wealthy enough to own about a hundred ships, which could be fitted with rams in wartime to become warships.

In Westeros, the traditional strength of the Royal Navy fleet was only thirty warships. By the time of the Mountain, with the strength of the entire kingdom, the number of warships barely exceeded two thousand.

But in Qarth, one of the Thirteen, one of the Spice Guilds, had a combined total of two thousand warships. In addition, there were the Tourmaline Brotherhood, the royal family, and the warships belonging to the city of Qarth.

The Thirteen, the Ancient Spice Guild, the Tourmaline Brotherhood, the royal family – their warships were all privately owned, belonging to private armed forces. The warships protecting Qarth were the city's defense force and city navy, funded by everyone.

The warships led by Lord Redwyne numbered only a hundred. However, these hundred warships possessed twelve artillery warships, a powerful weapon the Qartheen had never seen before.

The dragon flew over the battlefield and headed west.

If there were any warships that broke through the encirclement, the only direction they could go was west. The west was the road home to seek help.

The navy was ambushed, what about the Volantene legion that had infiltrated the city?

Daenerys gave a soft shout, and the dragon turned back, flying towards Qarth.

If there were still warships that escaped, heading west, they could safely reach Slaver's Bay.

Slaver's Bay was Daenerys's territory and a supply base for the naval warriors.

If no warships escaped, and the entire army was wiped out, there was no point in continuing to search.

Daenerys decided to fly into the city of Qarth; she needed to know if the Volantene legion had also been completely annihilated.

If so, then the Dothraki riders would become an isolated army without inside support or naval support.

Perhaps Qarth had already designed a plan to deal with the Dothraki.

Without inside support and naval aid, the Dothraki riders would not be able to break through Qarth's triple walls.

Qarth's city walls were higher and thicker than the last. All were built of marble, and the third wall could not be breached by human force. Stone bullets would bounce back when they hit the wall.

Qarth's triple walls were one of the world's nine man-made wonders, alongside the Wall, the Hightower, and the Long Bridge of Volantis.

If she had to attack, Daenerys knew that relying on the black dragon alone would be very difficult. There was the terrible Order of the Warlocks and the House of the Undying in the city. The warlocks inside possessed the power of dark magic.

Single-handedly engaging in battle might not be feasible, but Daenerys believed she could ensure her safe retreat by riding the dragon to scout the city.

Daenerys rode the dragon towards the giant city of Qarth, and after a while, she saw the massive black silhouette of the city in the night.

That was the famous Eastern giant city of Qarth.

Legend had it that the wealth in the city of Qarth could not be compared even if the wealth of the Westeros continent plus the nine Free Cities was combined.

A dragon's roar, like the cracking of gold and shattering of jade, awakened the city of Qarth.

A black dragon suddenly appeared in the sky above the city of Qarth.

Daenerys did not come stealthily; she came openly.

Since the other side already knew about this military operation, the tactics of sneak attacks, setting fires in the city, and a land and sea pincer attack from the north and south had completely failed and were no longer useful, so she would do it her way.

*

At the same time, in the city of Pentos.

In the room of the Master of Whisperers, Bernie, Bernie suddenly stopped speaking as he and his wife, Zeligerda, were joking before going to bed. He put a finger to his lips, signaling Zeligerda not to move. He slowly drew the short knife from his waist, fully alert, and slowly bent down.

Zeligerda was as tall as an ox, so she had the nickname 'Bull'. She stood still, not knowing what was happening.

But her husband's nervous expression made her hold her breath.

Slowly, a small, colorful monster the size of a child's fist crawled in from under the door. It paused slightly at the door, raised its head, and its tail stood upside down like a golden hook, as if it were distinguishing the direction to move forward. This pause was only for a moment, and then the little monster crawled towards Zeligerda and Bernie at an extremely fast speed. In its rapid movement, it made an extremely slight hissing sound. It was unknown whether the sound came from its mouthparts or its tail.

It was this sound that alerted Bernie in advance.

Bernie was a ventriloquism genius, able to imitate all kinds of sounds, whether flying in the sky, crawling on the ground, or walking on two legs. Once he heard a sound, he could imitate it vividly.

The ability to imitate the essence of various sounds also benefited from another talent he had: keen hearing, unmatched by ordinary people. Even extremely small sounds that others could not hear or would not notice, Bernie could hear and be very sensitive to.

No one in the world could match Bernie in the variety of strange sounds he had heard, and he believed he had heard every sound in the world, but the sudden hissing sound outside the door tonight was one he had never heard before.

This sound inexplicably gave Bernie a chill in his heart.

He sensed danger.

So, he drew his short knife and prepared himself.

His wife, Zeligerda the Bull, although she was Queen Jane's personal guard general and even taller than ordinary male generals and knights, was seized by fear when she saw this monster she had never seen before. She wanted to escape, but found that she could not move her feet at all. She wanted to shout, but her mouth opened and no sound came out.

Even when facing swords and the most terrible enemies, Zeligerda never feared.

But a small monster completely frightened her.

The little monster rushed towards Zeligerda, its mouthparts open, its tail like a hook, and with a hissing sound, it suddenly bit Zeligerda's foot, while its tail turned upside down and stabbed Zeligerda's calf.

Clang!

With a soft sound, a sharp short knife fell from the sky and pierced its body.

With a bang, Zeligerda fell backward.

She fainted in that instant.

Bernie raised the short knife, the monster was pierced on the tip of the knife, but it did not die, it gesticulated wildly, hissed loudly, twisted its head and wagged its tail, struggling desperately.

Bernie was horrified!

He had never seen such a ferocious and terrible monster.

Judging by its appearance, it was extremely similar to a certain poisonous creature that Bernie had heard of: a manticore!

*

Knock knock knock!

There was a knock on the door.

The Mountain and Queen Jane had not been asleep long, and the Mountain immediately woke up: "Who is it?"

"Melisandre!"

The Mountain got out of bed, and Jane had already opened her eyes.

The Mountain, bare-chested, walked over and opened the door. Melisandre, Bernie Clegane, and Zeligerda were standing at the door.

"Come in!" The Mountain said. He turned around and took a robe to put on, covering his frightening muscles.

Jane also sat up from the bed, gathered her long hair, and took a cushion to put on her waist to lean on.

"What's the matter?" The Mountain stood barefoot in the middle of the room, like a mountain peak.

Melisandre did not answer, but took out a brocade box, opened it, and inside was a manticore.

The manticore was already dead, its back shell had been pierced, showing stabbing marks from short knives and swords.

"A manticore?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, a manticore."

"The Warlocks have come to Pentos!" Jane suddenly lifted the quilt, got out of bed barefoot, walked over quickly, took the manticore out of the brocade box, "This is a highly venomous insect; the Warlocks of Qarth like to raise them to kill people."

"Manticores will not appear in Pentos unless the Warlocks have come," Melisandre said coldly. The ruby on her throat glowed slightly, illuminating her face with a beautiful, bewitching, rosy charm.

"Who killed this manticore?" The Mountain asked hoarsely.

To be honest, he felt a little tense in his heart. He knew that Jane and Lady Daltry had given him medicinal liquid that could resist poison, but he was not entirely sure whether it could resist the poison of this manticore.

"Your Majesty, I killed it," Bernie said.

"How did you kill it?"

"My wife and I were about to go to bed when I heard a strange hissing sound outside the bedroom door, the sound was very faint..." Zeligerda the Bull nervously interjected: "Your Majesty, I was also in the room, but I didn't hear any unusual sound at all. If Bernie hadn't heard it, the two of us would have been killed by this poisonous insect tonight."

Zeligerda was breathing rapidly, her face flushed, still in tension and fear.

The shape and colorful colors of this insect revealed evil everywhere.

"The Warlocks have come to Pentos; their target should be me, why would it be Bernie and Zeligerda?" The Mountain said coldly.

"Your Majesty, if they had chosen to attack you first, perhaps I would have seen the prophecy in the flames," Melisandre said.

"Your Majesty, the Warlocks want to kill your councilors first, and then deal with you," Jane suddenly realized, and said.

"Send orders down to send guards to protect every lord in the palace," The Mountain shouted.

"Your Majesty, I have already arranged it. The Kingsguard and the Royal Guard have already gone to issue orders and strengthen the guards everywhere. Tonight, the Tattered Prince is personally guarding the palace. I have also notified every lord in the palace to be careful and asked them to close their bedroom doors and windows tightly, without any gaps. Once we get through tonight, I will be able to deploy tomorrow. If it weren't for Lord Bernie living on the outermost part of the palace and having an extremely amazing talent for hearing, perhaps many of our councilors and generals in the palace would have died tonight."

As the Master of Whisperers, Bernie receives reports from secret 'personnel' from all over the world at all times. These mysterious visitors usually seek to see him late at night, masked and veiled, mysterious and secretive, hiding, so Bernie's room is arranged on the outermost part of the palace, convenient for him to meet and arrange some unsavory people and things.

"Your Majesty, our military operation to attack Qarth has been leaked," Melisandre said.

"I have spies around me?" The Mountain frowned.

"I'm afraid it's not spies, but there is the House of the Undying in the city of Qarth. The Undying Warlock-King Pyat Pree, his predictive abilities will not be worse than Brynden Rivers, the Three-Eyed Raven. The Undying Warlocks of Qarth are equivalent to the Green Seers on the continent of Westeros. I know that Pyat Pree can see the past, present, and future. However, he generally does not participate in Qarth's external operations. The Undying Warlocks, like the maesters of the Citadel, have a long tradition of maintaining neutrality in struggles over royal power, politics, military affairs, trade, and territory."