Harrenhal is a colossal castle built by 'Harren the Black' before the War of Conquest. To this day, it remains the most formidable war fortress in the Seven Kingdoms.
Harrenhal has five incredibly massive towers and equally thick walls.
These towering walls were built to be unbelievably thick, and the rooms in the castle were tall and spacious enough to house giants of legend.
However, after Aegon the Conqueror, riding Balerion the Dread, cleansed the area with dragonfire...
Most of Harrenhal is now a scorched, melted, and scarred black ruin, with only a small portion still habitable.
But even this small portion is more spacious than most noble family strongholds.
Clop, clop, clop!
Daemon, with a worried frown, rode a black warhorse, pacing back and forth in front of his army camp, which was stationed outside Harrenhal's attack range.
Without Caraxes, the Blood Worm, he couldn't think of a way to breach this magnificent fortress.
Putting everything else aside, just Harrenhal's walls were as towering as steep cliffs. From the ground, the large ballistas mounted on the wall tops looked as small as insects.
As the attacking force, they couldn't possibly build siege ladders that long.
In Daemon's eyes, Harrenhal was like a wooden splinter stuck in flesh – not causing much harm, but incredibly annoying.
A frontal assault? Impossible to take!
If they ignored the castle and headed straight for King's Landing, they would be harassed from the rear and their supply lines cut.
"Huh? What is that?"
"Dragons! Everyone, attention! Two dragons are flying in from the south!"
"Scatter! Everyone scatter!"
Daemon suddenly heard the commotion coming from the tents behind him and immediately turned his head to look south.
He saw two black dots the size of peanuts in the distant sky, constantly growing larger at a speed visible to the naked eye.
South of Harrenhal is King's Landing.
Given that they were flying in at this time, there was a high probability that they were Green Party dragons coming to relieve Harrenhal.
Without any hesitation, Daemon immediately rode back into the camp and loudly issued orders for withdrawal and dispersal.
He rode through the encampment of over three thousand four hundred Frey Family and House Blackwood infantry, heading straight for the camp of the four thousand The Vale cavalry.
After hastily gathering all The Vale cavalry and having them mount their horses, Daemon was about to order his main cavalry force to disperse and flee in all directions to increase their survival rate.
But at that moment, he suddenly realized that the two rapidly approaching dragons were diving straight towards Harrenhal.
This sudden change not only stunned Daemon's side but also caught the Harrenhal defenders on the walls, who were watching the spectacle, off guard.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Harrenhal defenders, reacting quickly, hastily adjusted the angles of their large ballistas.
They continuously fired at the enemy dragon at the forefront, which was over sixty meters long and had scales so dark green they appeared almost black.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Unexpectedly, this dark green dragon did not dodge or evade at all, enduring the thick, long ballista bolts and diving straight down.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
A large stream of black-brown dragonfire spewed from the dark green dragon's mouth, covering nearly ten meters of Harrenhal's left wall in a fan-shaped attack.
Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!
The Harrenhal defenders, large ballistas, longswords, long spears, and even the rocks hit by the black-brown dragonfire quickly melted like candles.
At first glance, the scene didn't look like it was being burned by dragonfire, but rather as if it had been doused with some kind of super sulfuric acid.
With just one low-altitude dive, this dark green dragon's terrifying dragonfire completely enveloped the left side of Harrenhal's wall.
The black-brown dragonfire burned slowly, as if it would never be extinguished.
Whoosh, whoosh!
After the large ballistas on the left wall were destroyed by the dark green dragon, another larger silver-grey dragon in the sky flew directly into Harrenhal.
Whoosh!
The silver-grey dragon spewed a stream of grey dragonfire, which exploded within Harrenhal.
The wide-ranging splash effect of this grey dragonfire directly ignited nearly half of Harrenhal.
Ah!!!
Unlike the dark-brown dragonfire of the dark green dragon, which caused instant melting upon contact, the Harrenhal defenders ignited by the grey dragonfire could at least let out screams of agony.
Whoosh, whoosh!
After also igniting the right side of Harrenhal's wall, the dark green dragon flew straight towards the tallest tower in Harrenhal.
The original name of this tall tower is no longer known.
Because Harren the Black's family was burned alive here by Balerion the Dread, it was called the King's Incinerator.
At the top of the King's Incinerator, which was charred on the outside, there was a lord's chamber about the size of a small castle hall.
Simon Strong, the acting Lord of Harrenhal, was fiercely arguing with Humphrey Bracken, Earl of Stone Hedge, over whether to surrender.
The elderly Ser Simon wanted to surrender the moment he saw the dragons, while Earl Humphrey believed they should hold out to the end.
Whoosh, whoosh!
The heavy sound of dragon wings tearing through the air came from outside the room, interrupting their argument.
Earl Humphrey and the other man immediately ran to the spacious window and looked down towards where the sound of dragon wings was coming from.
They immediately saw the dark green dragon hovering in the middle of the King's Incinerator, and the young dragonrider clinging tightly to the dragon's spines on its body.
Jacaerys, feeling the gaze from above, looked up at Earl Humphrey and the other man. He smiled slightly and then roared loudly: "Dracarys!"
Whoosh!
Black-brown dragonfire once again spewed from Womax's massive maw.
But its form was completely different from before; the black-brown dragonfire had transformed from a fan-shaped area attack into a highly concentrated single-target beam of fire.
Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!
The black-brown beam of fire, with a diameter of no more than one meter, melted the sturdy outer wall on the far right of the King's Incinerator's middle section in an extremely short time.
Then, with unstoppable force, it melted various pieces of furniture and the bodies of unfortunate souls within the tower before piercing straight through the corresponding wall on the other side.
Hiss, hiss, hiss!
Receiving his master's telepathic command, Womax maintained the posture of continuously spewing dragonfire, slowly flying from the right side of the King's Incinerator's middle section towards the lower left area.
The black-brown beam of fire that had melted through the King's Incinerator naturally moved with Womax's flight path.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Crash!
The upper half of the King's Incinerator's tower body began to make a huge groaning sound under the strain when Womax had moved halfway.
Whether outside or inside, large amounts of wall fragments began to fall continuously.
Crack, crack!
When Womax flew to the lower left area of the middle section and stopped spewing the dragonfire beam, the upper half of the King's Incinerator's tower body began to shift and slide towards the lower left.
Rumble!
Bang!!!
The upper half of the King's Incinerator's tower body slid faster and faster, and a large amount of debris, guards, and servants fell from inside the tower, plummeting towards the ground.
Accompanied by a massive roar that echoed throughout Harrenhal,
The upper half of the tower body, like a mountain peak, crashed heavily to the ground, stirring up a mushroom cloud of dust like a nuclear explosion.
The remaining half of the King's Incinerator, from the upper right to the lower left, had walls that were charred but the cut was smooth, as if it had been cut in half by an incredibly large sword of flame.
Indeed, only in actual combat can the effect of dragonfire be truly seen!
Looking at Womax's masterpiece, Jacaerys nodded with great satisfaction.
Testing the power of Womax's transformed black-brown dragonfire using the trees in the Kingswood before simply couldn't reveal its true might.
Today's battle was a small test of strength.
With the terrifying power of the black-brown dragonfire now, even Vhagar, who had lived for nearly one hundred and eighty years, would not be able to withstand it.
As the King's Incinerator was cut in half by Womax, the remaining Harrenhal defenders completely lost the will to resist.
When they voluntarily opened the city gates and surrendered, Jacaerys recalled Silverwing, who had been spewing dragonfire and had ignited about half of Harrenhal.
Soon after, Daemon led the The Vale cavalry charge into Harrenhal.
Jacaerys and Daemon, reunited after a long separation, first exchanged pleasantries.
Then, he used some mysterious and far-fetched excuses to brush off Daemon's questions about Womax's sudden growth spurt and the control of Silverwing.
Daemon naturally didn't believe most of what he said, but now was not the time to investigate this.
After all, the stronger Jacaerys was, the more beneficial it was for the Blacks.
After dealing with this matter, Jacaerys began to speak about the purpose of his trip.
"Father, the dragonpit on Dragonstone has been emptied by Aemond.
All the adult dragons, hatchlings, and dragon eggs are in the dragonpit in King's Landing.
Perhaps Aemond thinks doing this will strengthen his power, but in my opinion, he is burying a huge hidden danger for himself.
I have already discussed it with Grandmother Rhaenys. She will attack the Steel Gate with my Conqueror Fleet and the Valyrian Fleet.
My ground forces will attack the River Gate, and you will lead your troops to attack the Dragon Gate.
While the three gates are being attacked simultaneously, I will take Womax and Silverwing to raid the dragonpit from the sky and release all the dragons, including Caraxes.
By then, facing both internal and external threats, Aemond is bound to make mistakes."
After Womax completed her cocoon transformation, Jacaerys rode her back to Dragonstone to install a new dragon saddle.
The result was, of course, a wasted trip.
After learning from Rhaenys that Daemon was attacking Harrenhal, he immediately rushed to assist in the siege and serve as a battlefield liaison.
In fact, Harrenhal had sent a request for aid to King's Landing two days earlier.
But Aemond, who had lost confidence after being defeated by Jacaerys, feared it was a trap set by the Blacks, so he cautiously chose to hold King's Landing.
This is also why the Harrenhal defenders initially, like Daemon and the others, believed Womax and Silverwing were Green Party dragons.
"Hmm, a very clever battle plan."
Daemon listened and first nodded in praise, then hesitated slightly before continuing,
"But... but Aegon is still in Aemond's hands."
"Father, please rest assured.
I captured Criston Cole in the battle at Wendewater, and he should be very important to Aemond.
Before attacking King's Landing, I will exchange him for Aegon.
Of course, if Aemond refuses to exchange prisoners...
Then after raiding the dragonpit, I will immediately go to the Red Keep and rescue Aegon!"
Upon hearing this, Daemon immediately understood that Jacaerys would do his utmost to rescue Aegon.
Give up attacking King's Landing for Aegon?
Rhaenyra might make such a choice, but Jacaerys and Daemon would not.
"Alright, Father. We plan to attack King's Landing in seven days.
At that time, Lucerys will ride Arrax and act as a messenger!"
"Good. Be careful when you raid the dragonpit alone.
Also, if you really can't rescue Aegon..."
Daemon did not finish his last sentence, but the meaning within it was already clear.
Jacaerys's lips curved into a smile upon hearing this, and he confidently replied, "He will be rescued!"
...
King's Landing, the Throne Room of the Red Keep.
Aemond, wearing the Conqueror's crown, sat slumped on the armrest of the Iron Throne with his right leg propped up, completely without regard for his image.
Below the steps of the Iron Throne, an Archbishop of the Church of the Seven, wearing a silver-threaded robe and a crystal crown, was speaking eloquently.
"Your Majesty, from now on, gather all the commoners in King's Landing to pray towards the Starry Sept in Oldtown, to gather the power of faith.
Believe that during the battle, the Warrior among the Seven Gods will grant our soldiers the courage to defeat the enemy.
And the Stranger will grant the enemy soldiers eternal peace."
"Courage? Peace? Don't talk to me about these illusory things.
All I want to know now is how to break the enemy's invincibility and the magic that charms dragons!
Or rather, does the Church of the Seven not understand these things at all, and have you been deceiving the entire Seven Kingdoms with lies all along?"
Aemond frowned upon hearing this and began to loudly question the Archbishop.
With this question, drops of cold sweat immediately appeared on the Archbishop's forehead.
After all, in this magical world of dragons and magic, the Church of the Seven is actually the most scientifically-minded religion.
There was nothing he could do, so the Archbishop could only steel himself and reply, "Your Majesty, you only need to pray sincerely to the Seven Gods for seven days and seven nights.
Then you will receive the power from the Seven Gods to break any evil magic!"
"Is that so? I will find an opportunity to try it.
If it's false, you will definitely scream miserably for seven days and seven nights.
Get out!"
Aemond replied with suspicion and waved his hand, dismissing the somewhat dejected Archbishop.
"Your Majesty, besides the Archbishop of the Seven Gods, I have also found many strange people in King's Landing.
They all claim to possess magical abilities and can help you deal with the enemy."
After the Archbishop of the Church of the Seven left, Larys, standing to the side with a cane, immediately spoke up to report.
"Is that so? Then let them come up one by one!"
Aemond's interest was piqued upon hearing this, and he adjusted his sitting posture before replying.
Then, the strange people mentioned by Larys appeared one after another.
There were those who performed by spitting fire from their mouths, those who could bend their bodies to an incredible degree, and those who were mysterious and used crystal balls to tell fortunes.
Aemond was very satisfied with these juggling performances, so he rewarded them with a visit to the dragonpit to see Vhagar's belly.
However, among this group of 'strange people', three individuals with incredible magical abilities did appear.
While the two foreigners were indeed powerful, the one who truly attracted Aemond was a man from the North holding a bone-white human face wood carving.
Because the moment he came up, he guaranteed with his life that he could restore Queen Helaena to normal.
Aemond already had an extraordinary affection for Helaena, not to mention that he desperately needed Dreamfyre's combat power right now.
He immediately took this man from the North to the Queen's chambers in Maegor's Holdfast.
Since Aemond's coronation in the dragonpit, Alicent had been accompanying Helaena and her twins every day.
Upon seeing Aemond and the man from the North holding the strange wood carving, she immediately frowned and questioned, "Aemond, who have you brought?"
"Mother, he can cure Helaena's illness!"
Hearing Aemond's words, Alicent immediately shielded Helaena behind her and replied, "Helaena is not ill and does not need treatment."
Aemond didn't care about Alicent's opinion at all. He turned to ask the man from the North, "How will you treat her?"
"Just have Queen Helaena touch this wood carving!"
"Ah!!!"
As the man from the North spoke and extended the human face wood carving in his hand forward, Helaena, behind Alicent, suddenly covered her head with both hands and screamed.
Wail, wail~~
The twins playing in the room were directly scared to tears by their mother's screams, and the Queen's chambers suddenly became incredibly noisy.
Alicent immediately tried to comfort them, but it was completely useless.
"Mother, please step aside. As long as it can restore Helaena to normal, I am willing to try anything!"
Seeing Helaena in this state, Aemond immediately said to Alicent with a look of concern.
"Before you came, Helaena was perfectly normal.
Get out, get out!"
Upon hearing this, Alicent immediately spoke with a face full of anger, scolding him.
Seeing this, Aemond secretly gritted his teeth and immediately decided to cut through the knot quickly.
He pushed his mother aside, stepped forward, forcibly dragged Helaena to the man from the North, and pressed her right hand onto the human face wood carving.
The moment she touched the human face wood carving, Helaena's eyes were covered by a grey-white film, and her screaming stopped abruptly.
After a few breaths, the grey-white in her eyes suddenly dispersed, and her gaze became clear again.
Aemond, who had been staring intently at Helaena, suddenly felt at that moment that she was like an old person who had seen through the vicissitudes of life.
Helaena spoke expressionlessly, "Jacaerys Velaryon is a demon that does not belong to this world.
His future is incredibly chaotic, and I cannot see through it.
But in seven days, he will attack the dragonpit in King's Landing with two dragons!"