Chapter 241: Bracken’s End |
Time passed slowly, inching toward dusk.
On the hillside, Rhaegar lay on the soft grass, hands behind his head, staring up at the sky. Beside him, the Cannibal rested with forepaws on the ground, neck stretched, eyes closed. Both master and dragon were relaxed.
As the evening breeze tousled his hair, Rhaegar shook his head slightly, his eyes gleaming with anticipation. He watched the flaming clouds and the setting sun, waiting for it to disappear completely. This would mark the end of Bracken's last moments of peace and fear.
Then, he would ride the Cannibal and replicate Aegon the Conqueror's fiery destruction of Harrenhal. No castle, no matter how impregnable, could withstand dragonfire.
At the base of the hill, the armies stood ready. Syrax and Dreamfire lay prostrate, vigilantly watching the Cannibal. The dragon exuded a dense and terrifying aura, flames building within its chest.
"Sister, the sun is setting," Helaena said, her wide eyes fixed on the horizon.
Rhaenyra held her small hand, also gazing at the sunset. Rhaegar's declaration had spread throughout the army: Bracken's end would come at sunset.
Getting no response, Helaena shook her sister's hand and furrowed her brow. "Brother is not happy. We must help him."
Rhaenyra looked at her in surprise, taken aback by her sensitivity. After a moment of thought, she said seriously, "Rhaegar can handle it himself."
...
Stone Hedge
In the forest of the sacred trees, green fire blazed, accompanied by the faint screams of agony and the sound of burning flesh. Outside the forest, Tru trembled with fear and looked around nervously before sneaking back into the castle.
Inside the castle walls, chaos reigned. Soldiers frantically carried buckets of wildfire into the fortifications. One commander shouted, "Tell the civilians to sift the sand! The moving wildfire needs a bed of sand!"
Wildfire, an extremely unstable explosive, was stored in sealed wooden barrels lined with fine sand to prevent shaking and accidental explosions. Tru moved with small, furtive steps, his eyes darting around as he kept his hands hidden in his sleeves, wringing them anxiously.
Commanders and soldiers noticed the bear-like former maester. One commander asked with a sullen expression, "What are you doing here? You should be in the cellar making wildfire."
"No, the Lord told me to come," Tru stammered, lying.
The commander looked at him skeptically. "Why did the Lord call you for?"
"I am the maker of Wildfire. I'm here to help you move it efficiently," Tru replied, his voice shaking. "All you need to move it is sand, and there's no difference between coarse and fine sand," he added, lying down again.
Coarse sand, mixed with stones and dirt, did nothing to minimize the shaking. But the commanders and soldiers, ignorant of the intricacies of alchemy, accepted his explanation without question. They were soldiers, not alchemists, and they followed orders without thinking.
The commander pretended to think before agreeing. "Okay, let's use coarse sand. Have the civilians bring more."
Tru, his heart pounding, tiptoed away from the castle. He entered a hidden attic and found a secret compartment.
Click!
The compartment opened and a letter appeared. Tru read it:
"The Bracken House has been forced by a witch to turn their backs on their own beliefs and will be punished."
"I'm leaving. There's a secret passage in the stables..."
This letter, left by the old Citadel maester, had warned of impending disaster and provided an escape route. Tru quickly crumpled the letter into a ball, stuffed it into his mouth, and swallowed it.
He, too, was preparing to flee.
...
Sunset.
The sky turned golden as the sun set, casting a final red glow over the horizon.
On the hillside, the Cannibal shook and spread its massive wings like a black curtain against the sky. Its neck stretched forward and its green pupils flashed with a fierce glow.
"It's time," Rhaegar murmured, pushing himself up from the grass and stretching his tired neck.
"Roar..." The Cannibal let out a low growl, prostrating itself for its rider. It was eager to unleash its fury on the city below.
"Good fellow, you are my companion for life," Rhaegar said, stroking the Cannibal's pitch-black scales with a smile as pure as a child's.
It was hard to imagine what the Targaryens would be without their dragons.
He climbed the soft ladder to the saddle and took a deep breath before yelling, "Cannibal, fly!"
"Roar..." The Cannibal roared again, lifting its wings and soaring high into the sky.
...
The sun had completely set. The moon was hidden, and the stars were scarce, shrouding Stone Hedge in darkness.
"Keep your eyes open and be on the lookout for any enemies sneaking up on you!" barked the commander dressed as a knight, patrolling the battlements and scolding the soldiers.
The soldiers fell silent and patrolled their surroundings with torches. However, the darkness made it difficult to see beyond a limited area.
A taller soldier whispered to his companion, "Do you think the dragon will burn the lord?"
His companion rolled his eyes in disgust. "Before the dragon burns the lord, it will burn the likes of us first."
Fools, worrying about others.
Suddenly, the sound of flapping wings filled the air, causing the torches to flicker in the cool wind.
"Be alert! The dragon is coming!" the officer shouted, drawing his longsword.
The soldiers tensed, held their weapons tightly, and stood back to back, staring into the darkness.
But the sound seemed to come from nowhere, and the dragon was nowhere to be seen.
A drop of cold sweat trickled down one soldier's cheek as his body shook. He swallowed nervously. The waiting was agonizing.
"Listen, the sound's gone," one soldier said in surprise.
The others pricked up their ears, realizing that the sound was indeed gone.
"Maybe the dragon flew over the wall and ignored us," a soldier muttered hopefully.
The soldiers began to relax, thinking that this was a reasonable assumption.
Suddenly, a sharp teenage voice shouted, "Dracarys!!!"
The temperature in the air immediately rose.
"Roar..."
A muffled dragon roar echoed, followed by ghostly green dragonfire descending upon the battlements.
Boom...
The dragonfire engulfed the soldiers, turning the night sky an eerie green.
A large, blurry figure appeared in the night sky.
Above the Stone Hedge, the Cannibal's dark form slowly circled, spewing eerie green Dragonfire like mist and water.
"Ah!......"
"Release the wildfire, the dragon is attacking..."
"It's too late, run!"
On the wall, the Bracken soldiers screamed and wailed, writhing in the dragonfire.
Rhaegar, clad in black robes, rode on the dragon's back and surveyed the devastation below.
His lips moved slightly as he murmured, "Burn them all."
His words were cold and distant.
"Roar..."
The Cannibal roared, flapping its wings and circling the city walls, unleashing Dragonfire repeatedly.
Outside the city, three miles away.
Samwell and Robb watched and waited patiently. A green fire blazed brightly, growing steadily.
Samwell's eyes lit up as he shouted, "Charge! Surround Stone Hedge!"
"Charge!"
The soldiers rushed toward the Stone Hedge. Their mission was clear: block the gates and let no Bracken escape.
...
Stone Hedge Castle.
The outer walls of the city were engulfed in flames, the soldiers' defenses useless as they were consumed by the dragonfire.
A short distance away, Amos watched in shock. The giant black dragon roamed the night sky, its dragonfire sweeping the city walls as effortlessly as a maid washing dishes.
Amos snapped out of his stupor and shouted angrily, "Bring out the wildfire and aim it at the dragon!"
He had anticipated that the soldiers in the outer city would not be able to stop the dragon. The flames were hidden, waiting for this moment.
The soldiers obeyed his command, carefully pulling out the wildfire and placing it on the stone-throwing carts.
"Release!"
With that command, a dozen stone-throwers fired in unison, aiming at the dragon in the night sky.
Boom Boom Boom...
The distance was too great; the wildfire missed and crashed into the outer city wall. The wildfire seemed to merge with the dragonfire, indistinguishable.
This caught Rhaegar's attention. With the help of the spreading fire, he saw the stone throwers positioned above and below the city. His eyes narrowed with understanding.
"Cannibal, attack the inner city!"
"Roar..."
The Cannibal stopped its Dragonfire attack, raised its wings, and flew toward the inner city, spewing fire at the stone throwers.
The speed of the dragonfire was far greater than the soldiers' attempts to start a wildfire. The intense heat caused the wildfire to detonate before it could even reach its target.
The next second...
A rumble...
Buckets of wildfire exploded, echoing through Stone Hedge City. Green flames shot into the sky.
"Ah! The wildfire exploded..."
"It's hot... Run away..."
The wildfire spread even more fiercely than the Cannibal's Dragonfire. In an instant, the walls of city were surrounded by blazing wildfire.
Rhaegar raised an eyebrow at the unexpected benefit. Amos had indeed been foolish to think he could use wildfire against a dragon. Wildfire, an unstable alchemical product, was no match for a dragon that controlled the skies.
The heat of the wildfire was unbearable, and the soldiers burned alive, screaming and writhing in agony.
After pondering for a moment, Rhaegar gave the order, "Cannibal, fly to the castle!
The sticky nature of the wildfire meant that once the city was surrounded, the people inside would never escape unscathed. He was going to the Bracken House castle to fulfill his promise.
Today the Bracken House bloodline would be over!
Cannibal flapped its wings, its pupils flashing with disgust at the wildfire, and flew away.
The dragon found the foul, putrid odor of the wildfire nauseating, a poor imitation of its own Dragonfire.