"Aw~~~" The gray shadow clamped in the giant raven's beak writhed like an earthworm held in a bird's mouth, hopping and struggling with all its might.
Gray-red flames sprayed from the raven's beak, and the soul of the Pale Moon Maiden of Chu let out a piercing wail. "Targaryen, your word is as solid as a mountain. You promised you would let me go."
"Yes, Targaryen's word is as solid as a mountain. You answered my question, so of course I will spare your life.
But while the death penalty may be waived, punishment cannot be avoided. I will burn away half of your divine soul as punishment for this offense," Dany said righteously.
"Aw~~~ Half is too much. Dragon Queen, have mercy. I cultivated myself bitterly for thousands of years to reach this point. Have mercy!" the Pale Moon Maiden of Chu pleaded.
Dany remained unmoved. Earlier, she had detonated herself together with twenty-six fire ravens, and it was not as if there were no aftereffects at all.
The immortality of a green seer's divine soul was indeed a bug-like trait, but self-detonation did not only shatter the soul. The elemental body of the fire sprites also exploded along with it, which was why the power had been so terrifying.
After reforming, the fire ravens were each like overclocked, fused dragons: their soul power was exhausted, and their spirit and physical strength had withered and declined.
If they did not take the opportunity to replenish themselves, judging by the normal rate of recovery, it would take several months.
How could she afford to waste several months?
After quite a while, the gray shadow hung limply from the beak, so faint it was nearly transparent. The soul fluctuations of the Pale Moon Maiden of Chu had weakened to the extreme.
"Caw, caw, caw!" The giant raven's eyes shone brilliantly as it spread its wings and cried loudly.
The demi-god's spiritual essence went to the fire ravens, while the divine aspect of death went to Big Black.
"All right, you are free." The giant raven returned that wisp of gray shadow back into the corpse floating on the sea's surface.
"After you go back, tell the esteemed demon gods that I truly have no hostility toward them.
The Black Goat of Qohor deeply involved itself in the allied forces' campaign against Slaver's Bay, causing me heavy losses. Of course I had to take revenge on it.
But the personal grudge between it and me has nothing to do with the other demon gods. Please remember to explain that for me," Dany said sincerely.
"Mmm," the Pale Moon Maiden of Chu responded weakly, uncertain whether she truly believed her or not.
"Also, make it clear to all demon gods who bear hostility toward me that I have no intention of provoking them, but I am not afraid of anyone, mortal or god.
I dared to challenge both Valyria's ancestral god, Sheep Egg, and the Lord of Light, R'hllor, at the same time. Would I really fear that little trouble from them?
Or do they think themselves superior to R'hllor?
Before making a move against me, they should think carefully and not do something foolish that they will regret.
Just like today, just like you. Do you regret it?" Dany's voice turned cold.
"I regret it. I regret it deeply," the Pale Moon Maiden of Chu answered honestly.
If there had been some medicine for regret to take, she would at most have sent over a single thought. Facing the Dragon Queen with her true body was far too dangerous.
Regret, however, did not mean the absence of hostility.
Given the chance, she would still take advantage of others' misfortune and strike while the iron was hot, but she would never again be willing to serve as the main damage dealer.
After all, half of a divine soul's power was gone.
How could she not hate that?
"Actually, it is not too late to regret it now," Dany said softly.
"What do you mean?" the Pale Moon Maiden of Chu sensed something hidden in her words.
"What do you think of my credibility?" Dany asked.
The Pale Moon Maiden of Chu did not know how to answer.
She had not yet regained complete freedom. Who knew whether Dany might change her mind at the last moment?
"Targaryen, your word is as solid as a mountain. As expected, the reputation is well deserved."
This was not flattery, but a hope that truly came from her heart.
"In that case, how about we make an agreement? From now on, you will no longer act hostile toward me, and I, in turn, will never take action against you.
That way, the so-called prophecy will naturally be broken.
Moreover, we can benefit each other. You help me, and I help you."
"How would I help you?" the Pale Moon Maiden of Chu asked in confusion.
"I am not foolish enough to think that by having you pass on a few threats, those demon gods will eliminate their hostility toward me.
So I need to kill a chicken to warn the monkeys, or kill a monkey to frighten the chickens. Help me keep an eye on them. Whoever hates me the most, whoever is plotting against me, you can inform me.
When I take them out, you will receive half of their divine aspect. What do you think?"
To be honest, the Pale Moon Maiden of Chu was genuinely tempted.
Earlier, when she said she was merely on nodding terms with R'hllor, she was not lying.
The gods of the Free Cities knew of one another, but truly communicated very little.
Many times, they would even fight fiercely over the争夺 of followers.
The reason they had been able to maintain an overall "harmonious coexistence" for thousands of years was more due to a dynamic balance between strength and利益.
"If this were discovered by other gods, I would surely become the target of all," she said worriedly.
"It does not matter. I will provide you with protection. If you encounter enemies, you can flee to Westeros or Slaver's Bay to seek asylum."
"All right. I will keep an eye out," the Pale Moon Maiden of Chu replied perfunctorily.
One can run away from the monk, but can one really abandon the temple? Was she never going back to the sea again?
"Oh, right. Pass a message to those demon gods as well. 'Anti-Evil God Alliance' sounds terrible. Why not change it to 'Justice League,' or 'Avengers Alliance'?" Before letting the Pale Moon Maiden of Chu leave, Dany made one last suggestion.
Winterfell, the Dragon Queen's chambers.
"Caw, caw, caw." A succession of red-eyed giant black ravens flew out from Dany's violet eyes, circled the room once, then with a series of popping sounds transformed into two-foot-tall dragonfly-winged sprites.
"How does it feel?" Dany asked.
"It hurt so much when we exploded."
"Yeah, it hurt like hell. I never want to explode again."
"Even after re-forming our bodies, it still felt almost like dying."
The little sprites had pale faces and terrified eyes as they chattered about the dreadful experience of self-detonation.
"What about now?" Dany asked again. "Have you recovered?"
"Very well, just as good as before."
"What was that thing? I want it again."
"You mean the rain that fell on our heads? I want it too. It was icy and cool, so comfortable."
The little sprites excitedly began discussing the spiritual rain again.
"That was soul healing magic. You're not sick now, so your heads don't need any more watering."
"Wow, so many little sprites!" It was already morning. Jiqi and Yili came to attend to the Dragon Queen's washing and breakfast. The moment they entered, they saw a room full of fire sprites fluttering their wings and were completely stunned.
"So beautiful, so cute. Our garden is going to be so lively from now on!" Jiqi's almond-shaped eyes widened as she looked left and right, brimming with excitement.
Yili tilted her head and thought for a moment before saying, "If they all turned into fireballs, maybe we wouldn't be afraid of the cold in winter anymore."
"The numbers are still a bit small," Dany said thoughtfully. "If there were thousands or tens of thousands of fire sprites, maybe they could form a fake sun."
While they were talking, Grey Worm came to report, "Your Majesty, Duke Stark is looking for you. It seems to be related to Karhold."
Although Jon seemed anxious, Dany still took a bath, changed her underclothes, and put her armor back on before going downstairs.
By then, Stannis was already sitting at the long rectangular table by the fireplace, his face ashen.
Jon's expression was also grim. Only Melisandre looked calm, as if it had nothing to do with her.
"Sigorn has rebelled and killed Ser Richard," Jon said bluntly.
Seeing that the Dragon Queen's expression did not change, he thought she did not believe him and added, "My raven companion went to Karhold half a day ago and personally witnessed Sigorn beheading Ser Richard with a sword."
After last night's fierce confrontation with R'hllor over the soul of the pockmarked knight, Dany was hardly surprised to hear Jon's words.
She did not intend to explain, only asked curiously, "How do you plan to handle this?"
At the long table that now served for both meetings and meals, only Jon's and Stannis's people were present. Unlike last night, all the northern lords had not been summoned.
The matter of Sigorn killing an envoy and rebelling had far-reaching consequences, and Jon had also grown wary of his own bannermen.
"Sigorn not only killed Richard but cut off his head and hung it together with the body on the flagpole of the gate watchtower. He is provoking us!" Flames of fury burned in Jon's gray eyes.
"Now you must take action," Stannis turned to Dany and said gravely. "If such behavior goes unpunished, the resolve of the northern nobles to fight the Others to the death will be largely lost."
"I'm not suitable for this," Dany still wanted to refuse.
"At a time like this, you're still afraid to shoulder responsibility?" Stannis clenched his jaw and snapped angrily.
"I'm not afraid of responsibility. Otherwise, why would I swear to free all the slaves in the world? The pressure of confronting allied armies was no less than Karhold and the North. The main thing is, I don't want to get my hands smeared with filth," Dany said honestly.
"Smeared with filth?" Jon's dog-like face twisted into an expression as if he were about to take a dump.
"Anyone with normal intelligence knows that Karhold should be punished now. But if I really razed Karhold, the way your men would look at me and treat me would change. Yet I couldn't deal with them like enemies and roast them to death with a single blast of dragonfire. Instead, I'd still have to keep risking my life to protect their homeland. That feels like having your hands covered in filth but being unable to wash them," Dany said.
Hearing this, Jon's shaggy dog-like face looked as if the filth was about to come out.
"Then what was my previous conduct?" Stannis demanded with a contorted expression.
"You are the king of the King in the North. Raising your own children, dirty hands and all, is only natural."
"How about this," Jon thought for a moment and made a suggestion. "I'll summon all the northern nobles. Then King Stannis will preside over the meeting, everyone will vote on how to punish Karhold, and finally Queen Daenerys will carry out the decision?"
"It still feels like I've become your hired muscle," Dany was not very satisfied.
"If I had dragons, I wouldn't waste words with you at all," Stannis grew even more displeased with her evasiveness.
"Too bad you don't."
No matter what they thought privately, the northern lords could not openly oppose punishing Karhold.
This was a matter of principle.
But they also firmly opposed Stannis's proposal and Dany's hoped-for outcome of "burning the city to the ground and leaving nothing behind."
In less than four hours, Big Black revisited familiar territory, arriving above Karhold Castle.
Without any unnecessary talk, he dove down from the dim sky, following the line of the walls and washing every watchtower with dark red dragonfire.
"Ah, run! The demon dragon is burning the city!"
"The Mother of Demon Dragons has come to punish Karhold!"
"Your Majesty Daenerys, mercy, mercy!"
It was already close to noon. On the walls, in the courtyards, and even in the town, residents and guards were busy.
For the first time in their lives, they witnessed the legendary "dragon burning a city" unfolding before their eyes. One by one, they wailed in terror, screaming and begging for mercy.
Of course, some also shouted curses and took up bows, arrows, and spears to fight back.
Yes, throwing spears and pitchforks at a dragon.
The cold, gleaming arrowheads and spear points sparked briefly against Big Black's belly armor before bouncing off. Then Big Black tilted his head, and the aftershock of dragonfire melted the "dragon-slayers" into greasy sludge.
Only after leaving a blazing ring of fire and the twisted, charred remains writhing in agony around the castle did Big Black circle low and unhurriedly, burning the main fortress of Karhold.
(End of chapter)
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