Ice and Fire: Reign of the Dragon.

Chapter 399 Fleeting

The water at the mouth of the River Lorne was stained a rusty colour.

The flagship of the Braavos Purple Fleet, the Titan's Daughter, was the first to crash into the array of Volantis warships. The bronze ram on the bow tore the side of the enemy ship, and wood chips flew. The sailors on the deck immediately threw out iron hooks, and the barbed chains bit the side of the other ship. The two ships pressed tightly against each other with harsh groans.

"put!"

The Purple Fleet fired a volley of crossbows, and iron arrows as thick as arms whizzed out, nailing the archers on the opposite deck to the mast. The Volantenes fought back even harder—their triremes were equipped with improved Myr trebuchets, and the burning asphalt bombs cut through the morning mist and hit the poop of the Titan's Daughter, instantly igniting a sky-high flame.

Aegor - or rather, someone in Aegor's skin - stood on the forecastle of the Braavos warship, his fingers gently stroking the rapier hidden at his waist. His eyes were as gray as dead water, reflecting the burning sea. The heat waves lifted his gray-brown cloak. A stray arrow grazed his cheek, but he didn't even blink.

The Tyrosh fleet came from the south, their sails painted with colorful patterns so bright that they were blinding in the sun. Their tactics were more cunning, with light ships nimbly weaving between the gaps in the battlefield, and sailors using long poles to carry fishing nets to entangle the oars of the Volantis warships.

A Volantis warship was stuck in place, becoming a sitting duck. The Tyroshi laughed and fired arrows, the arrowheads soaked in fish oil, igniting as soon as they hit the sails. The ignited sailors screamed and jumped into the sea, but the throats were cut by the lurking Braavosi divers the moment they entered the water. These killers wearing copper respirators specialized in harvesting drowning people underwater. They were Braavosi's unique assassins, and it was said that some of them were apprentices of the House of Black and White, honing their killing skills through the blood and fire brought by war.

The fighting on land was even more brutal.

The first charge was led by the Black Goat Riders of Qohor, warriors clad in bronze scale mail and with serrated blades strapped to their mounts' horns. They drove like wedges into the Tiger Cloaks' phalanx, their scimitars slashing against the round shields of the Volantenes, sending sparks of lightning.

"For the Black Goat!" the leader shouted, and the next second he was pierced through the chest by a Tiger Robe infantryman's spear. His body was still hanging on the spear tip, but his horse still rushed forward, and its horns cut the necks of two enemy soldiers.

Norvos's long-handled axe infantry followed closely behind. These bald strong men wore heavy armor made of iron plates, and swung their two-handed axes in deadly arcs. When the head of a centurion of the Tiger Robe Army flew into the air, his face was still frozen with astonishment.

Following closely behind were large groups of infantry from Lys and Myr, as well as mercenaries dressed in colorful uniforms.

At noon, the sun suddenly disappeared.

The soldiers on the battlefield looked up in confusion and saw the clouds being torn apart by five huge shadows. The first thing that came was the roar of Centrolos - the sound was like a thousand rusty knives scraping on glass.

The Volantis ballista hastily adjusted his angle, but it was too late.

The butterfly-wing-shaped tail hammer of Centros swept across the city wall, and three crossbows and their operators were smashed into a pulp. Dark green dragon flames poured into the arrow tower, and the stones exploded under the high temperature, and the defenders curled up and fell like roasted shrimps.

“Dragon! The dragon is coming!”

Panic spread like a plague. The Tiger Robe Army's formation began to collapse, some dropped their weapons and knelt down to pray, and more turned and fled.

Sendroth was the first to swoop down. As the dark green dragon with a butterfly-shaped tail club swept across the battlefield, the hurricane it created directly overturned three infantry phalanxes. Dan Vareses' laughter mixed with the dragon's roar. He loosened the reins and let the dragon spin its body. The tail club swept across like a battering ram, and more than 20 soldiers flew out like rag dolls. A spearman who had managed to escape thrust his weapon into the dragon's belly, but despairingly found that the spear tip broke after a series of sparks rubbed against the scales. In this way, Sendroth turned the rear of the Tiger Robe Army into a miserable hell.

Only when he was tired did Centros finally spit out the first dragon flame. The emerald-colored flame was like a whip from the gods, turning the entire team of 100 into burning charcoal statues.

The morning light swept across the battlefield gracefully, and the silver wings were almost transparent in the sun, cut into messy pieces by the dorsal fin. Lady Daenerys did not even look down at the slaughter brought by her companions, she just gently pulled the reins, and the dragon flames poured accurately into the fleeing officers.

Then, the mistress of Dragon's Nest City set her sights on the Black Wall, which she had never visited, and the Tiger Party nobles who commanded on the Black Wall that was large enough to accommodate cavalry - the real decision makers hiding behind the Black Wall.

The dragon flame swept across the huge black wall, and the high wall made of black stone became even thicker under the dragon flame, but the people were not. More than 40 Tiger Party nobles who were commanding the battle instantly turned into human candles, and their robes inlaid with gems burned particularly brightly, which was particularly pleasing.

Sayael's attack was the most frightening. The carmine dragon flew low over the battlefield, spewing not fire but rolling carmine poisonous fog and sticky flames of the same color. The poisonous smoke flowed through the gaps in the Tiger Robe Army's formation and penetrated into the gaps in the visors as if it had life. Soldiers who inhaled the poisonous fog scratched their throats and fell down. Their nails dug blood grooves on their necks, but they could not stop the dissolution of their lungs.

With beads of blood on its silky white mane, Vasoliar is an elegant beast that hunts down deserters. Its fire is not as violent as other dragons, but as precise as a nobleman's staff - each breath burns off the legs of a fleeing soldier, leaving them crawling and wailing in the dirt.

The city walls are nothing in front of the dragon.

When the Golden King landed in the square in front of the Parliament Palace, the surviving defenders finally collapsed. The golden dragon did not breathe fire, but crushed the bronze tiger statue that symbolized the Tiger Party with its claws, and the molten metal dripped between its claws like melted gold tears.

Aegor watched as the last Tiger Party standard-bearer was engulfed by the dragon's flames. The young man held the flag tightly and refused to let go. The screams coming from the flames sounded like the wailing of some animal.

"That's a dragon," the Braavosi officer said dryly. "We should be thankful that the dragonlords have no interest in rebuilding Valyria and are on our side."

Iger smiled and nodded.

As the sun set, five great dragons circled over Volantis, silently announcing the Tigers' fleeting glory.

On the battlefield inside and outside the black wall, thousands of tiger robe soldiers turned into charred corpses of various shapes. Some were like obsidian statues, maintaining a charging posture; some melted into asphalt-like flesh; the "luckiest" ones looked like they were just sleeping. If you ignore the pus and blood flowing from their seven orifices, the hideous faces, and the necks covered with scratches.

Centrolos landed on the roof of the Senate, causing the ancient building to creak. Dan jumped down by stepping on the dragon's neck. To be honest, even though he had traveled to many hidden places on the continent, this was his first time visiting the Senate of Volantis - even though the Varese family had once been a frequent visitor to the Senate.

"Tell the Braavosi," he told the allied messengers, "that now is the time to clean up the mess."

In the distant sea, the Purple Fleet's warships finally lowered their landing craft. And in the shadows, unnoticed, a man in the skin of Iger quietly disappeared into the burning streets.

(End of this chapter)