A peregrine falcon is soaring above King Street, preparing to swoop on a rabbit to feed its three chicks, which hatched a month ago and are waiting to be fed.
But soon, the peregrine falcon discovered that a large group of "uninvited guests" had appeared in its usual wide hunting ground. The area was now full of humans, making it impossible for the peregrine falcon to hunt, so it flapped its wings and glided toward the lake.
Rows of simple military tents filled the open space on both sides of the King's Road. The soldiers and wildling warriors who had been converted by the system were now cooking. Wisps of smoke rose from between the tents, and from a distance, it looked as if they were on fire.
Brinden was leading the Valyrian Empire's army of more than 8,000 people, stationed on the coast of the Long Lake in the North. His original goal was to attack the Dreadfort. Brinden's goal was to fight from the Dreadfort all the way to White Harbor, and take the two most fertile plains in the North.
But Marco had a different plan. He told Brynden that Winterfell was more important geographically, and that the King's Road was on this line. It was better to support the Crown Town, and the troop delivery and supply transportation were more convenient.
So after the last of the Hearth Home was taken, Brynden led his army along the Blackwater toward the Kingsroad, hacking at the thornbushes and trees that lined the river in an attempt to cut a new path.
Marko was planning to build a road from Last Hearth to the Kingsroad, and the conquest of the North would give Brynden's army the chance to build the road first.
In the future, Marco will connect all the roads and castles in the entire North to enhance his rule and control. The ancient feudal rule system on the Westeros continent, which is similar to the Middle Ages of the Blue Star, is too backward. For a ruler, it is simply a way to take disaster.
From the War of the Usurper to the current War of the Five Kings, the main reason for this series of wars was the weakness of the monarch and the strength of the ministers. Marco did not want to learn from the Dragon Emperor Yin Geng I, who was busy suppressing rebels all his life, and was directly tired to death in the end.
Marco must now lay the foundation for his future rule, otherwise it will seriously affect his rule in the later period, or even hold him back. The avenue connecting all regions and castles is the foundation of his rule.
And Marco also has engineering behemoths specially used for road and bridge construction, mammoths! This kind of behemoth, the mammoth, can be compared with many heavy machinery on the Blue Star. Whether it is transportation and lifting, or road opening and plowing, it can be perfectly competent.
The mammoths of Skagos in particular, made smarter and stronger by magic, played a key role in the construction of Hardhome and the Griffin's Roost.
Moreover, the five mammoths played a crucial role in this expedition. They were like watchtowers, and the skinchangers and soldiers could see far away with the help of the elephant saddles.
At this time, the temporary camp welcomed a group of new guests. The eight members of the Stark family who had escaped were slowly walking toward the central military tent under the "escort" of more than 20 imperial soldiers. The wildling spearwife Osha looked at her fellow tribesmen who were equipped with uniform heraldic shields and felt as if she was dreaming.
"Maester Luwin, am I dreaming? Why do I feel like I'm seeing a bunch of fake free folk, not... them..."
Osha held Rickon and asked Maester Luwin in a low voice. Not only her, but also Maester Luwin on the side looked at these wildlings with a confused face, feeling that their three views had been subverted. These people were completely unlike the "free people" in the legend.
But soon they saw an even more amazing scene, as a short "little girl" rode a huge "white cat" past them.
Maester Luwin, who had noticed something, looked at Osha beside him with an inquiring gaze, only to find that Osha was already standing there in a daze, muttering to herself:
"Impossible..."
"How many guests? Please come this way! Our Prime Minister is waiting for you!"
The voice of the Sea Eagle suddenly came from behind, causing the few people who were somewhat stunned to come back to their senses.
When the curtain was pulled back, Bran and his party saw Brynden at the writing desk, and when he saw his true face, Ser Rodrik Cassel said in surprise:
"You... you're Brynden of Skagos... you..."
"Silence! Before you stands Lord Brynden Bloodraven, Hand of the King of the Valyrian Empire. Show some respect, Northerners!"
Roderick was cut off by one of Brynden's guards.
"Okay, okay! Roll! Roderick is my friend, it's nothing, don't be so concerned!"
Brynden said to the guard beside him, then he invited Bran and his party to sit down and explained the whole story to them.
At the same time, Brynden also carefully told Bran and the others about the origin of the Valyrian Empire, and also revealed very vaguely that Marco had already subdued the tribes outside the Great Wall.
Brynden did not explicitly state that he wanted the Starks to surrender, but instead invited them to continue their stay in the camp.
Just as Bran and the others were about to leave, the little crystal dragon and the little green dragon rushed in from behind the door curtain. The two of them were tearing at a lamb. The little crystal dragon was purely for fun, because it only ate obsidian and crystal. After feeling the breath of strangers, they all roared in a low voice.
Brindin first stopped the little green dragon's behavior, and then threw a piece of obsidian crystal to the little crystal dragon, which made the two guys stop roaring.
While the Starks were being blown about by the wind, a pair of eyes was watching the endless rows of makeshift military tents from the forest on the other side of Long Lake.
Lemon Whiteface was a Bloodhand scout of the Bolton family. He and six companions were ordered to scout the enemy's movements and troop deployments along the Long Lake line. He had heard rumors of griffins and magic, so he and several companions had been very cautious. The leader also held a Myrish eye (monocular telescope) in his hand.
Just after Lemon finished counting the number of cooking smoke, he was about to get up and leave, but he found that there was a burst of noise from the forest on his right, so he quickly pulled out the long sword hanging from his waist.
Immediately after, a forest wolf more than half a meter tall appeared in front of Lemon, and his tense nerves relaxed a little. Then he quietly took out a handful of herbs from his waist and quickly crushed them.
Lemon didn't know if the wolf had any companions, so just in case, he had already rubbed off the "wolf-repelling grass," a magical alchemical plant from Myr, which was said to be grown from potions. The smell after it was crushed had a very strong stimulating effect on beasts with sensitive noses.
This thing was only recently sent to the Bolton family. Many scouts said it was effective. Sure enough, the smell like strong wine made the forest wolf very dislike it, and gradually retreated.
"Aowu..."
Just as Lemon was about to get up and leave, the timber wolf suddenly howled. As an experienced hunter, Lemon knew that the wolf was calling its companions, so he quickly got up and ran toward the gathering point where his companions were, while running he smeared wolf-repelling grass on his body.
After running for a while, Lemon found that the wolf did not follow, and it was close to the gathering point, so he gradually slowed down, but soon he found the abnormality.
A strong smell of blood came from the front, followed by screams and neighs. Lemon held his breath, revealed the crossbow on his left hand, and then tightened the long sword in his right hand, quietly moving toward the outer edge of the forest.
Just at this moment, a neighing of war horses suddenly sounded, and a black shadow suddenly jumped out of the forest. Then Lemon saw one of his companions riding out on a horse covered in blood.
"Lemon.. run.. ah.."
Before the companion could finish speaking, a white shadow pounced on him from the horse, and the warhorse almost fell to the ground with a stumble. However, the warhorse, which was in a panic, still ran toward Lemon, and then Lemon took the opportunity to grab the reins and jumped onto the horse's back.
Lemon had been hunched over all the way, afraid of suffering the same fate as his companions. He didn't know what it was, but he knew he had to get out of here quickly, or he would suffer a terrible fate.
Seeing the light outside the forest getting closer and closer, Lemon felt that hope was waving to him. Although the warhorse was still a little frightened, Lemon knew that as long as he left this dangerous area, the warhorse would slowly calm down.
The warhorse suddenly rushed out of the forest. At this moment, Lemon felt as if his soul had been sublimated. The sunlight shining on his body was so comfortable.
"唳.."
Just as an eagle's cry came, a sharp pain came from Lemon's head, and then he lost all consciousness.
Winterfell, East Gate
The Bolton men were on the walls, keeping a wary watch. Of late, ravens and rumors had been flying up the kingsroad, some saying that dragons were fishing in Long Lake, others that the wildlings and giants had come south and would eat every man, woman, and child in the north.
But many veterans who had experienced the Battle of Griffin's Roost knew that the terrible guy who could use magic had already led his troops south. Although many soldiers were gagged at that time, the rumor that the enemy of the Bolton family could use magic had been circulating among the soldiers.
At that time, Roose Bolton had already decided to kill the 400-odd soldiers, but he gave up the idea after being persuaded by Dommerick Bolton. The population of the North was small, and killing so many people at once would definitely affect the rule and reputation of the Bolton family.
These rumors had only subsided after Roose Bolton had secured the support of Braavos and Dommerick had awakened his magic. Dommerick had always known how dangerous Marco was, but Roose Bolton and some of the knights in the family had not taken his advice to heart at all.
Soon some patrolling soldiers noticed the anomaly. They saw countless black shadows flying closer and closer in the eastern sky. When the black spots approached, everyone saw that they were all griffins.
"Winter..."
The alarm bells of Winterfell were ringing, and soldiers were pouring from the arrow slits in the walls, many of them carrying huge crossbows half as tall as a man.
Just as the soldiers were winding up the winch and preparing to attack, corpses were thrown down from the sky. The soldiers looked at the broken corpses and felt a little scared.
However, soon, at the request of the generals, the soldiers launched an attack on the griffins in the sky, and the dense arrows quickly shot at the 10 griffins led by Swan.
"唳.."
At Swan's command, the griffons quickly climbed, dodging the wave of arrows. However, two griffons were unable to dodge in time and were shot in the butt by the arrows.
The two griffins that had been injured wanted to attack, but they were stopped by Swan in time. It knew the power of the crossbow and did not want its companions to fall. After a cry, Swan led its companions away from Winterfell.
"These are the scouts we sent out to check on the enemy troops. Go and report to the Duke!"
An officer ordered the soldiers around him. When the Bolton family's drill sergeant, Cabo, counted the number of soldiers that nite, he found that none of the soldiers he had sent out had returned to Winterfell.
This also cast a shadow over the hearts of the soldiers defending the city. The unknown fear is the most frightening. In order to prevent the enemy from sneaking into the castle, Roose Bolton ordered all the gates to be closed in advance, and the young and middle-aged people in the surrounding villages were recruited into Winterfell.
Three days later, an army appeared on the Kingsroad, and the warning bells of Winterfell's bell tower rang again, and countless soldiers of the allied forces belonging to the Bolton family rushed to the city wall.
As the Imperial army approached, the allied soldiers of the Bolton family also saw the griffins, giants and mammoths in the team, as well as the two young dragons soaring in the sky.
When they saw these terrible creatures, everyone felt a little scared. Many people unconsciously looked at the several catapults placed in the castle. It seemed that only these things could give them a little comfort.
Brynden set up camp on the edge of the Wolfswood, on a wide plain where his men could even see the figures moving on the walls of Winterfell. He set them to assembling the trebuchets, three heavy siege engines that had been brought along specifically for Winterfell.
This Winterfell is not the brittle city in the TV series that was easily knocked open by the giant Wun Wun. This Winterfell has two thick and towering city walls, and the four drawbridges over the moat are the only way to enter the castle.
The reason why the Bolton family was able to easily capture Winterfell was also because they took advantage of the lack of defensive strength and the traitors in Winterfell. The original purpose of Brynden was to let Sea Eagle and others wait for the opportunity to move, but with the sudden change of the situation, they could only rescue the two brothers Bran.
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