Sansa's telepath had sent out the message that it was indeed Jon Snow on Drogon. Brienne took the message with a smile because they were said to be following the tracks to Brandon's Rest and would be near when the Zonians reached them. Then Hassan came with word that the Zonians had arrived just the other side of the stream. The westerosi archers were keeping them at bay, but they wouldn't hold long. A direct charge by the Zonian shock troops was going to be dicey at best, but the charge and the clash did come to pass.
Jon and Qotho were flying low to follow the 'tracks'. Qotho said over his shoulder, "Jon, your sister is a beautiful but scary woman. I would hate to be on her bad side." Jon nodded solemnly, saying, "She has been through much and seen the worst side of bad men. She is Warden of the North, in all but name a queen." Drogon screeched as they passed over another train stop at a small village or town. The tree-kin in view waved and shouted greetings as they went by. "Did you see how strange those people looked?" Qotho asked.
"The world has changed much, Qotho, we may see much stranger before all this is done," Jon responded and went silent. As they flew north west, a small military camp came into view, and the sounds of battle rose high enough for them to hear. Jon flew Drogon towards the sound. Below was a clash of several thousand,westerosi knights and woodsmen on one side and what looked like giants on the other. "Look how huge those men are," Qotho shouted. "Let's see how they burn," Jon countered. Jon spotted Brienne of Tarth battling one of the giants at the edge of a creekbed.
Drogon let out a roar at the sound of battle. Everyone on the field looked up, Zonian and Westerosi alike. The Zonian were stunned at the sight of a dragon. The westerosi cheered. Jon shouted down to Brienne, "Clear the field!" Brienne took the head of the giant that was no longer looking at her and shouted for her men to fall back. As they all moved back, she waved and shouted, "Good hunting, Jon!" The Zonians were still looking up as Jon wheeled Drogon around and dove him down in a line with these enemy troops. As they closed, he said, "Dracarys," and the fire gushed from Drogon's mouth.
Dragon fire isn't anything like a warm campfire on a cold night; it is more of a living thing. It erupts as a stream that incinerates everything it touches, then spreads like fire around the central column. The shields, axes, and armor of the Zonian's evaporated under dragon fire. Their bodies became dust in front of a strong wind. More than 500 of the Zonian troops perished in one pass, and their archers in the treelines turned to run—a few shot arrows at the passing beast before turning to run. Qotho acquitted himself well, firing arrows with his bow as they went by. Drogons' next pass caught a great many of the fleeing Zonians. The westerosi troops cheered at the destruction, and many who were too close were singed badly. Fess raised his hand, and the dam was broken, and a small wall of water pushed the dust and less burnt bodies south towards the spiders. In later years, a small cottage industry sprang up, fishing melted steel from that creek.
The few Zonians that made it back to the main column were shell-shocked, but they told the story of the dragon's attack. The two mages with the main column sent word back to their base camp to be aware of a possible 'dragon' attack with spewing fire. They were only a day or two removed from the first stages of the assault on Deepwoods Motte, but this new wrinkle gave them some pause. The commander gave the orders to break up the long lines of troops and to stagger their deployment. Long and Hao wondered aloud how a dragon would like lightning and chuckled to themselves. The two of them barked orders at the minions around them to hurry their assault.
Drogon flew north-west along the tracks, and the Bay of Ice came into view. Qotho pointed out a huge tower standing on a mountain top, and Jon just shook his head, knowing nothing about it. Then the dark walls of Brandon's Rest came into view, with its wharf and ships lined up. Jon was amazed by what he was seeing; the changes in his home in just 3-4 years were astounding. They landed near a gate, and a crowd came out to meet them. The news of Drogon's defeat of the sizeable Zonian force had been relayed already, and the crowd was cheering them. Jon shouted for them to stay back, and they complied. As he and Qotho dismounted, he could see Arya and a young man come out through the gate. The crowd parted for them.
When Jon was far enough away from Drogon, Arya ran and jumped into his arms. "You didn't go into banishment north of the wall?" she said when the hugs were done. Jon smiled and said, "No, Arya, I saw Drogon fly east with Daenerys in his claws, so I followed him to Essos. My dragon is tired and hungry. Can we feed him?" Arya nodded and asked someone to get two beef carcasses and place them on a hill not too far from Drogon. "No one should come near the dragon people; he is a wild beast and doubly dangerous!" Arya added.