Game of Thrones: Viserys the Three-Headed Dragon.

Chapter 151: Defeated in One Battle
Evening of the fifth day.

Stannis's scouts, marching along the edge of the Kingswood, spotted a dragon appearing in the sky.

The scouts on horseback on the grasslands ran into the dense forest like crazy when they saw the giant dragon. The various hundred-man teams that were deployed in the marching formation on the periphery were even more panicked and rode around in a panic, and the marching formation became chaotic.

Stannis had estimated the current strength of Dragonstone based on intelligence from various places. Viserys' army had a maximum of 4500 to people, and only a small number of cavalry composed of free riders, so he divided his marching column into groups. The -man team was divided into ten military formations, and each military formation was divided into smaller parts.

The vanguard and rear troops are the most loyal queen's party and king's party, and Stannis is in charge of the center army himself.

But even so, no matter how reasonable the marching formation is, it seems small and weak compared to the dragon.

The giant dragon in the sky did not even launch an attack. It just flew very high, covering the sky with its huge wings, from the sky where the royal forest and the grassland meet, from the vanguard of Stannis's marching formation, all the way to the back.

Stannis made detailed arrangements, but chaos still occurred in the team.

Some of the cavalrymen marching along the edge did not have time to hide in the Imperial Forest and ran like crazy in the opposite direction on the grassland. Some fled deep into the Imperial Forest and left the army, becoming deserters.

This time the dragon didn't even launch an attack, it just seemed to be doing reconnaissance.

After nightfall, the dragon returned along the same route, and Stannis issued the order to station his troops. However, it was difficult to gather the troops that had been in chaos due to the dragon's appearance, and some soldiers had already wavered. Many deserters had already disappeared.

It was also the first time that the king actually saw a dragon, but he strictly demanded that the marching troops restrain their troops and capture deserters.

That night, only one deserter was captured and burned at the stake.

Stannis stood beside the fire, his face grim, as the deserter was consumed by the flames.

After that, Stannis returned to his central camp. Although Stannis had a heart that would never compromise, he was a little confused at this moment. He stared at the fire, gnashing his teeth and asked the red priest of R'hllor: "Why don't you attack it?"

The red priestess responded calmly: "Too far, Your Majesty. I need it closer. The gift of the Red God must be guaranteed to kill with one strike."

Stannis gritted his teeth and said, "What if it doesn't come closer?"

"It won't," Melisandre said softly, "Your Majesty, the distance of a dragon's fire breath is never far, even less than the range of a giant crossbow."

"No?" Stannis looked as if he wanted to strangle her. "I choose to believe you, lady. But fire is full of traps. How much of what you saw in the sacred fire was real?"

"Ants cannot understand the words of great men," said Melisandre, "and all men are but ants before God. I have sometimes mistaken warnings for prophecies, and prophecies for warnings, but the fault lies with the interpreter, not the gods. But of one thing I know for sure, your fate does not end here. Your fate is in winter, in the north!"

"Fate?" The king snorted. "If you can't defeat it," he said this almost resentfully, "our fate will end here."

No one could sleep that night.

The dragon seemed like a dark cloud covering everyone's soul.

Early the next morning.

More deserters were caught by staunch Queen's party members who always believed in the Red Priest. These people tried to escape at night, but were discovered by the patrol guards Stannis deliberately left outside.

These people became sacrifices for a new day.

If R'hllor really has divine power to help, then Stannis has already made enough sacrifices to him along the way.

The march was reorganized that day, and Stannis insisted on continuing northward. He began to place the steadfast cavalry of the queen's party outside the woods. Their leaders were all extremely fanatical believers in the Red God. They believed in Lady Melisandre's magic and were willing to serve as bait, hoping that their fanaticism would allow them to hold out for a while longer when facing the dragon.

"R'hllor will protect us!"

Before they set out as an outlying force, Lady Melisandre led them in a blessing before the sacrifice, and then these fanatical believers set out on horseback.

The others were a little uneasy and numb. They watched the fanatics set off, looked at the altar anxiously, and then gritted their teeth and continued to march northward numbly under the king's orders.

When the retreat route was blocked by the king, the numb soldiers could only hope, like these fanatics, that the red-robed woman in the team and their own military train could get closer to the forest.

The dragon did not appear throughout the morning.

It was not until the afternoon that the scouts spotted the giant dragon appearing in the sky again and sent a warning signal to the team.

Today, the outer marching formation was composed of fanatical believers of the Red God. Compared to the panic of yesterday, they did not rush around on horseback in panic. Some people were shooting into the sky, but it was just a futile attempt.

To a certain moment.

The dragons swooped down upon Stannis's march.

"It's coming!"

I don't know who uttered the first cry of surprise, but the marching formations both outside and in the woods began to disperse according to the expected formation.

"Damn! It's so big!"

"Oh my god! It's as big as a mountain!"

Tear!

As the giant dragon flapped its wings and accelerated its dive, a huge shadow that blocked out the sun descended from the sky.

When Stannis saw the dragon swooping down, his eyes searched frantically for the red priests hiding in the ranks, but the dragon continued to fly without a hitch.

Tear!

It was moving so fast that the whole sky seemed to be filled with the loud sound of the dragon's wings flapping.

All Stannis could see was a huge shadow flying quickly over the top of the forest with a terrible roar, and a strong wind followed the roar and enveloped his entire army.

The cavalry's horses were frightened and Herodius kept neighing.

Even the king's horse was no exception and began to run wildly and uncontrollably. His servants wanted to help him control the horse, but were thrown off by the frightened horse.

The king's frightened horse dashed hither and thither among the ranks until it collided with another horse, and Stannis was thrown from his horse, narrowly avoiding a hit on the head as he was flung into the crowd.

The howling wind came down from the sky, making the entire forest rustle, and countless trees were blown to and fro in the strong wind.

Stannis heard the soldiers screaming and shouting.

But then a whistling wind blew dead branches and leaves into Stannis' face, bringing with it gravel and sand from nowhere. The wind was so strong that it drowned out the neighing and wailing of the horses and men.

The dragon didn't even breathe fire, it just flew at great speed over the heads of Stannis's army, which thought they were safe hiding in the dense forest.

“Help!” “Save me!”

"Dragon!"

Gradually, he could hear the sound of terrified screams.

"His Majesty!"

Stannis was knocked unconscious by the fall, his eyes dazed, and he stared blankly at the servants who were rushing towards him.

"Your Majesty?" Stannis's squire, Bain Farring, his face covered in mud and his helmet askew, helped him up. Seeing that he did not respond, his face was full of concern and confusion.

He heard a horse neighing somewhere to his left, a poor sound full of fear.

Even the proudest king felt despair at this moment.

The dragon didn't even breathe fire!

Stannis closed his eyes in despair.

He had every reason to be frustrated. He had spent a long time preparing to organize this army and had made up his mind to challenge the Targaryen dragon. However, after just one encounter, the dragon only flew over his head on his marching route, and his army's morale was about to collapse.

After a long time, the wind died down, leaving only the neighing and howling of horses and men. He heard himself asking, "Where is the Lady Melisandre?"

Stannis's march stretched for miles. After encountering the dragon yesterday, in order to prevent a large number of deserters, the marching formation today was a little tighter, but there was still a full two miles of queue. Melisandre hid in the place she thought was appropriate during the day, and dozens of steadfast riders of the queen's party guarded her on both sides.

But when the dragon attacked just now, nothing unexpected happened and the dragon showed no signs of injury.

Now the wind seemed to have died down.

Did she attack?
Did her attack succeed?

The constant neighing and wailing of the horses was disturbing and annoying.

Tear.

The sound of dragon wings flapping once again rang out in the forest above Stannis.

The huge beast flapped its wings and swam among the trees as if patrolling. A loud voice came from the dragon into the woods: "Stannis, if you still rely on Melisandre, then I tell you, she can't help you.

Listen up, everyone. I will wait for you at the mouth of the Wend River. There, I will prepare two paths for you. Those who walk on the left will surrender voluntarily. Those who walk on the right will hold their weapons tightly. I will wait for you there to challenge me. If you want to die, I will grant you the right to die with your sword in your hand. Stannis, I will wait for you to come over. "

After saying this, the giant dragon flapped its wings and flew into the sky, disappearing in a short while.

It was unknown how long it took before Melisandre was escorted by her guards to the vicinity of Stannis.

The body of the red priestess was still trembling uncontrollably, black blood was smoking and flowing down her thighs, her skin was covered with wrinkles as if burned by flames, and flame lines were drawn on her skin.

Stannis' voice was full of fatigue. "You have failed."

King Stannis drew his sword silently. Lightbringer, the men called it. But it was only a mortal object that glowed.

Stannis does not believe in the gods. Not in the Seven, and not in R'hllor.

"My lady, it is over," Stannis snorted, tossing the sword back to Melisandre.

After that, he didn't say another word.

At night, the troops who regrouped had pale and deathly looks on their faces. Silence spread in the hastily built tents, and the feeling of failure spread from the king and the soldiers.

It is hard to say whether some deserters did not flee and returned to the tent because they heard what the people on the dragon said.

But even so, the troops suffered no casualties, and after gathering together, the total number of people counted in each battalion was only more than 3,000.

Many people have lost their will to fight. When the giant dragon roared past, they ran away and lost hope of fighting.

"Let us go to the mouth of the Wend River and fight to the death," Humphry Clifton insisted. "If death is inevitable, let us die with swords in our hands."

The king would not see anyone in his tent, not even the red-robed woman.

Now only the knights leading each army were discussing their next itinerary in the temporary camp.

The issue at issue was march and die, stay and die, retreat and die.

Or surrender.

"You may die as you please, Humphry," said Justin Massey. "For my part, I would rather live to see another spring."

"You want to surrender, coward. I knew you Narrow Sea lords can't be trusted!"

"Some may call us cowards, but the fact is that we cannot defeat the dragon," Peasebury responded, "and you have the choice, Humphrey."

"We can charge the Targaryen dragons at the mouth of the Wender. And die."

"We can do nothing here and wait for the dragon to strike again. And then die."

"We can retrace ourselves, to Hayhall, Storm's End, or our respective lands. And die."

"Then die, die, die." Sir Justin rolled his eyes. "Gods, have mercy on us, can't we just not die?"

"Gods? You have forgotten who you are. Have you lost your faith in the Red God, R'hllor?"

"I have lost much more than my faith. If you ask me, here is my answer. Your Majesty would be pleased to see us pledge allegiance to Lady Shireen."

"To Lady Shireen? Justin, ever since we rode out from Storm's End, you have been preaching defeat at every step. Which makes me wonder, whose side are you, the lords of the Narrow Sea, on?"

A blush crept up Justin's neck. "I won't stay here and be insulted."

As if he was humiliated, he walked out of the tent in a huff. The nobles and knights who also came from the Narrow Sea immediately followed him into the night outside.

There was no doubt that many had made their choice, even though there hadn't been a proper battle since leaving Storm's End.

The rest of the people could only look at each other in confusion. This expedition was inexplicable, and the collapse was also inexplicable, so much so that when they thought back, they couldn't figure out why they left Wind's Rest Castle.
Could it be that it was just to allow Miss Shireen to take over Storm's End?
I was stuck on this chapter for a long time, and I was not satisfied with several versions I wrote, which even affected the normal update of the saved draft. In the end, I chose to end it this way. I quickly sent Stannis to the Great Wall according to the outline plan and ended the plot here.

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(End of this chapter)