The Vale is a vast plain naturally formed amidst the surrounding mountains, with rivers, forests, and farmland scattered throughout. Denys Arryn and his party were in a hurry, and Ashara had no mind to appreciate the scenery.
Denys Arryn rode his horse with a worried expression. The information shared by Blackfish Brynden Tully had already highlighted the severity of the situation. Not long after leaving King's Landing, many of the Vale's families that had supported him had switched sides, now backing Lysa Tully's bastard son!
Unable to receive any letters on the road, they needed to reach the Gate of the Moon as quickly as possible to find out what was truly happening, and then send messages to the various lords of the Vale and King's Landing.
At the foot of Giant's Lance, they could already see the snow-white Eyrie towering on a distant mountain peak. The Bloody Gate guarded the fertile Vale, and Gate of the Moon Castle stood as the only path from the Vale into Eyrie. Built on a plain, Gate of the Moon Castle was even larger than Eyrie, and the Arryn family members typically spent their winters here.
When they arrived at the Gate of the Moon Castle, they saw that the flag above the fortress had been changed to one featuring a white shield with three spearheads.
"It's House Moore! These bastards! They're the real usurpers!" a knight yelled.
Gate of the Moon Castle, much like Dragonstone, had been the seat of each generation's heir to the Vale. After the Mad King murdered the previous heir, Jon Arryn had appointed Denys Arryn as the guardian of Gate of the Moon, a position that remained unchanged even after his son was born. This gave Denys the confidence to return first.
Denys Arryn stopped the knight. "Don't be hasty. The Moore family has always been loyal to the Arryns. Ser Mandon Moore is a member of the Kingsguard, and they may have received orders from the king to garrison here. I'll go up and ask."
He dismounted and, with two knights following, crossed the moat that surrounded the castle. The wide terrain around the castle narrowed, leaving only a narrow path leading to the gates. The knights took their shields and stayed close to him.
"Thank you!" Denys nodded.
"Be careful of hidden arrows! There are plenty of people who want your life right now," one of the knights warned.
"I am Denys Arryn, rightful heir to the Vale and guardian of Gate of the Moon. Guard, open the gates!" Denys called out.
The soldiers on the walls were stirred upon hearing this, and soon, one of the Moore knights they didn't recognize appeared on the ramparts.
"Denys Arryn! I am here under the king's orders to guard this place. You cannot enter Eyrie, but you may enter Gate of the Moon and wait for the king's just verdict."
"We don't know him, we can't go in!" some of the knights said.
"You can't be sure if he's telling the truth. Once you go in, you won't be able to come out," one of the knights warned.
Denys hesitated. He was the rightful heir, but Lysa Tully and her bastard son had caused such chaos that his own family couldn't even let him return.
"Do you need help?" Ashara Dayne, who had followed them, asked.
"No," Denys replied, "If he truly has the king's orders, and we force our way in, the crime will be far worse. It could escalate to an irreparable situation."
"Harrold!" Denys called out.
A young man with golden hair and a muscular build ran up. "Uncle, what do you need?"
"Go to Ironoaks with a few men. Find Lady Anya Waynwood and explain everything to her in detail."
The Waynwood family, now led by Lady Anya Waynwood, had always been loyal supporters of the Arryn. Lady Anya had not traveled to King's Landing due to her age, and her son, her heir, had represented their family at the tournament. She was Denys's wife's family, and also Harrold's foster mother. The Waynwoods would surely stand with him.
"Alright, is there anything else that needs to be done?" Harrold Hardyng also realized the situation had become complicated. Leaving now might cause further delays, so he asked again.
Denys Arryn thought for a moment, then helplessly said, "Have Lady Anya Waynwood prepare to muster the army."
"Understood!"
"You five, come with me to Ironoaks!"
Harrold Hardyng quickly turned around, gathering five knights as they rushed toward Ironoaks Castle, on the eastern side of the Vale of Arryn.
Ashara Dayne raised her hand, pointing at the white castle on the peak of Giant's Lance Mountain. "Should we just wait here? My task is to escort you to Eyrie, and as soon as you ask, I'll climb the walls and open the gates for you."
Denys Arryn gave a wry smile. "Thank you very much, but let me think of another way."
This was the first time he had faced such a situation. He was surrounded by knights—loyal and skilled in battle—but finding a solution was proving difficult.
No one from the foot of the mountain could enter, and people were already dying inside Eyrie.
In the days before Robert called the Vale's bannermen to a council, countless ravens had flown from King's Landing to the Vale.
There were many knightly families left behind in Eyrie. House Hersy had received a letter from some noble urging them to amend the Arryn family's genealogy in the library, and the Ruthermont family had received a similar letter, requesting they also amend the family tree.
The Ruthermont's acted first, but since modifying the books was a delicate task, they had hired craftsmen who were still on the way—at least a week away—so they had simply taken the genealogy home. When the Hersy's arrived at the library, they found the books missing, and after asking the assistant scholar, they were told the Ruthermont's had taken them. They immediately went to confront them.
The two parties had the same goal, but they both knew this was treason against the Arryn, a fact that couldn't be revealed. When the two groups met in the camp, they didn't hesitate and quickly fought.
By the end of the day, more than a dozen bodies, stripped of their armor and disfigured, were thrown off the cliffs of Eyrie.
To ascend from the lowest part of the Vale to its highest point, one had to pass through four military fortresses: Gate of the Moon, Stone, Snow, and Sky. Finally, a winch was required to reach Eyrie, but some people didn't need this.
ANG~~~~
A massive roar from a beast echoed through the peaks of Giant's Lance, the sound reverberating through the valley, growing louder and more guttural.
Whether at Gate of the Moon, Stone, Snow, Sky, or Eyrie itself, everyone who heard the roar rushed out to look toward the sky. A red and white dragon circled above Eyrie, its enormous body like a castle in the sky, its vast wings seeming to cover the entire castle.
A small figure jumped from the dragon's head, gliding into Eyrie.
"Lord Wright Baratheon!"
At the foot of the mountain, Denys Arryn shaded his eyes with his hand, watching the figure enter Eyrie before the dragon flew toward the Mountains of the Moon.
Ashara Dayne said, "My master must have come because of your situation in the Vale!"
"Exactly!"
Denys Arryn quickly ran to the base of Gate of the Moon Castle and shouted:
"Did you see that? Acting hand Lord Wright Baratheon himself has come to handle the matter. Let us in quickly!"
The soldiers atop Gate of the Moon Castle had all gathered to watch the dragon. Now that it had flown off, they were still excitedly discussing what they had witnessed.
After the Battle of the Tyrosh, the story of Wrigh and the red-and-white dragon spread across both continents of the East and West. Even if one couldn't clearly see who it was from afar, as long as the red-and-white dragon was present, only Wright Baratheon could be the one to climb onto it.
Upon hearing Denys Arryn's call, the knights of the Knights Moore wasted no time in issuing an order:
"Open the gates!"
---
How many men on Westeros can truly be called kings? There are three.
One is King Robert of King's Landing, another is the exiled Mance Rayder, mockingly known as the King-Beyond-the-Wall, and the last is the Night King, leader of the Others. However, the Others do not speak the same language as humans.
Outside the Wall in the far north, heavy snow was falling. The only dark rock visible was surrounded by an endless white expanse. The Night King stood atop a tall rocky platform.
His body was encased in a layer of translucent magical ice crystals, the biting cold winds blowing against him, sweeping away the surrounding snow but also blowing away the last few strands of his white hair.
The Night King stood there, gazing upward at a forty-five-degree angle, lost in thought. He had maintained this posture for half a year without moving.
Perhaps undead creatures no longer fear death, able to survive without food or water for an extended period. Or perhaps it was the harsh cold, but their thinking took an unusually long time.
The resurgence of magic had strengthened the Others. The Night King, as their leader, was filled with an immense amount of magic. So much so that his hair had completely fallen out, and the spikes growing from his skull were longer and more crown-like.
Since Wright killed six of the Others years ago, the Night King had led his kin to retreat farther north.
The Night King couldn't understand. The Others were simply born this way, following their instincts to collect the corpses of those who died beneath the northern snows. They would be resurrected and used as labor. This generation of Others hadn't stolen or plundered from humans.
The Others could not reproduce on their own. The children were brought to them by humans, and the Night King had never ordered his followers to kill a human. If killing was involved, it was the humans outside the Wall who killed each other daily, and the Others had to help clean up the bodies.
Had their generation of Others ever stolen human children? No! Had they ever plundered humans? No! Had they ever killed humans? No!
Why did those humans kill the Others on sight? Just because they were strong, they could do whatever they wanted? Or was it because the Others looked different from humans that they were discriminated against?
When their kin met the human mages, they instinctively avoided them, but that damned human still tortured and killed their kin! A few brothers avenged their kin—was that wrong? And they were killed by that human! They truly feared his strength, but did that mean they would always hide?
Finally, the Night King understood. Only those with power had a voice! He would never submit to that mage! He would never bow to fate!
Moving his long-immobile body, the Night King slowly turned. The ice that had frozen his body began to crack, the magical ice breaking off into pieces. The ice shards that flew off grew more shattered.
The fragments were blown away by the wind, scattering through the air like a shimmering cloak dozens of meters long, with sunlight making a beautiful rainbow in its wake. The Night King raised his cold ice spear with his right hand, roaring loudly:
"Gā bā zi bēng bā lā bù!" (My fate is mine to control!)