Wildfire Returns

Drink-!

Tywin was jolted awake from his sleep. He gasped and sat up in bed, his back soaked with cold sweat. He touched the corner of his eye and found it wet.

"Kevan-- "

The scene of the ambush in King's Landing that day was haunting him, like a terrifying flame from hell, a nightmare that devoured his soul.

Sitting on the bed, Tywin was still unable to let go of the scene from that day. Seeing that it was still dark outside, he tried to slowly fall asleep, but he couldn't fall asleep no matter what he did after lying down.

Hearing the noise from inside the room, the servant outside knocked on the door and asked softly, "Sir?"

"Come in."

With a soft footstep, a maid dressed in plain white entered, carrying a cup of warm tea.

As the sound of tea being poured began, Tywin suddenly felt the urge to urinate, but he was able to hold it in.

"Open the curtains."

"Yes, sir."

The maid walked to the window, pulled back the curtain, and was about to close it with a ribbon when she was stunned by the sight outside.

"Sir, sir, sir, outside, outside----"

Noticing the maid's unusual behavior, Tywin was about to reprimand her when he noticed a faint green glow emanating from her face, as if awakening a nightmare within Tywin.

He hurried to the window and, through the wide window, saw a long, green flame suddenly appear on the sea not far from the rocky hills of Casterly Rock.

Tywin took out his binoculars and looked closely. It wasn't anything strange; it was over a hundred warships ablaze with Wildfire.

Tywin felt a chill run down his spine upon seeing the Wildfire. He was well aware that Redwyne Fleet had passed by at sea, Casterly Rock's elevation itself could serve as a lighthouse.

However, he didn't know why the fleet was lighting Wildfire a dozen or so miles from Casterly Rock.

Just then, there was a knock on the door; it was Damon.

"Sir, the Redwyne Fleet."

"I know." Tywin tried to keep his tone as calm as possible. "What did the maester say?"

The scholar is consulting relevant texts, but he believes it might be witchcraft.

"Witchcraft?"

If it were anyone else, Tywin would probably think they were faking it, but he knew that the one eyeing Casterly Rock at this moment was Jon King's Landing, who had seized Casterly Rock's Landing and was about to ambush Kevan. Therefore, he only felt a large hand gripping his chest.

After returning to Casterly Rock, Tywin finally had time to consider the actions of all parties involved.

There's no need to recount Jon's mutiny at Harrenhal. Whenever he thinks about it, he admires Jon's decisiveness and ruthless foresight.

Besides Jon, who appeared out of nowhere, there were other incidents such as Renly's assassination, Stannis's capture of Storm's End, and Melisandre's almost sudden appearance by his side.

Stannis's actions were going too smoothly, forcing him to consider the possibility of witchcraft.

Right under his nose, the Redwyne Fleet was staging this strange ceremony, making it hard for him not to suspect it was witchcraft.

Tywin stared at the terrifying, even nauseating, ribbon of light, his teeth clenched, but he was helpless, for he had no idea what Jon was planning.

At this moment, Tywin suddenly remembered Adam, whom he had recently sent to Jon's camp to humiliate Jon, so he ordered his men to summon him.

It was nearly dawn, and with the enemy at the gates, few could sleep soundly. Especially when soldiers who got up in the night observed strange phenomena at sea, the news spread like wildfire, and more and more soldiers took notice of the situation at sea.

Adam was no exception; he observed the soldiers discussing it animatedly.

"They set fire to the ship? Why would they do that?"

"Could he be casting some kind of magic? I heard that Stannis betrayed the Faith of the Seven the Lord of Light."

"I don't know----"

The soldiers didn't know, Adam certainly didn't know either, but the only thing he knew was that he absolutely couldn't let this sense of fear and unease spread throughout the army.

Soon, Adam arrived before Tywin and recounted his meeting with Jon.

"He really says he knows how to stop the rain from falling from the sky? This, how is that possible!" muttered the maester of Casterly Rock.

Damion and Damon also exclaimed that it was impossible.

Adam, observing the others' reactions, spoke up, "My lord, I think Jon might just be bluffing. If it really were some kind of witchcraft, why didn't Stannis have the witches extinguish the Wildfire when his fleet was on fire?"

Adam's words brought a sense of clarity to everyone.

Yes, if lighting Wildfire could perform some kind of magic, then Stannis's fleet wouldn't have been burned to a crisp.

These words made everyone feel much more relaxed.

Seeing Tywin nod approvingly, Adam continued, "My lord, on my way here I noticed the soldiers are very uneasy about that bastard's actions. Perhaps we should now reassure them; maintaining morale is the most important thing."

"Yes, you're right." Tywin looked at Damion and said, "Have the kitchen prepare extra meat today, and distribute some wine to the soldiers as a celebration for our victory over Jon."

"Yes, sir."

At this point, nothing was more effective than letting the soldiers see and feel the composure of their superiors.

Tywin also instructed Adam not to tell anyone that Jon had said he could stop the rain.

After all, even the soldiers of Casterly Rock were mostly illiterate, and it would be terrible if they believed it.

Despite making a series of arrangements, Tywin was still uneasy. A person's reputation is not to be underestimated, and Tywin did not believe that Jon had brought in what was arguably the largest fleet in the Seven Kingdoms just to scare him.

But in any case, it's about to rain. As long as Casterly Rock can catch the rain as usual, then we can conclude that Jon is just playing tricks.

Soon, they noticed that as time passed, the clouds on the distant horizon grew thicker and thicker, a somber gray that resembled a thick layer of lead.

This is a sign that rain is coming; the thicker the clouds, the heavier the rain.

In Casterly Rock, the servants responsible for fetching water had already placed wooden buckets in the open air, the densely packed buckets resembling a honeycomb.

The water cellars used for storing water were also opened, and at this time, the water cellars in Casterly Rock still had two-thirds of their water storage capacity remaining.

Based on their past experience, the two-thirds of the water would last for about twenty days, but just one rainstorm would fill the cistern.

Tywin stepped onto the terrace, his face more grave than ever as he gazed at the approaching dark clouds and the line of warships still ablaze with Wildfire.

Joanna, please help me, don't let our home be taken away.

Tywin prayed silently to his deceased wife, hoping that Joanna, who had already joined the Seven, could give him some strength.

How can the dead help the living?

Even if Joanna could hear Tywin's prayers, don't the people of Riverlands believe in the Seven?

Didn't they just stand by and watch Tywin's army destroy houses and farmland, and wantonly burn, kill, rape, and plunder?

At this moment, Paxter was aboard his flagship, his eyes wide as he inspected the fleet's ships.

The blinding green light made his eyes water, but he didn't seem to care. After all, a Wildfire could destroy the entire ship if not handled properly.

Before they lit the fire, they even placed a layer of damp soil under the brazier to prevent it from burning.

But an accident still happened.

Suddenly, Paxter saw that the fire on one of the ships seemed to be getting out of control; green smoke and flames climbed up the masts and danced wildly on the deck, and the ship quickly became a giant inferno.

As expected, what I feared most came to pass; despite his utmost caution, one of the ships still caught fire.

"The Blue Sapphire! My ship!" Paxter's face turned grim.

Paxter has loved ships since he was a child. His fleet has nearly two hundred ships, but he can name every single one of them and the captain in charge.

But the Wildfire devoured everything too quickly; in the blink of an eye, the entire ship was engulfed. The dazzling green light and billowing smoke seemed like some kind of farcical performance.

Paxter could only imagine that if the Lannister soldiers saw this scene, they would probably laugh their heads off.

"That foolish bastard! Does he really think he can stop the clouds in the sky like this!" said Hobber, Paxter's eldest son.

"He's just an illegitimate child, what abilities could he possibly have?" His twin brother, Horas, agreed.

The two men didn't truly look down on Jon; rather, they also admired Margaery.

"I thought that with Renly and Joffrey gone, they might be able to fill in," but then a bastard who appeared out of nowhere snatched them away.

If it were a respectable Stark like Robb, they might have tolerated it, but they couldn't tolerate Jon, this bastard who appeared out of nowhere.

Although many people in the Seven Kingdoms knew of Jon Snow's existence before Jon rose to prominence, at that time he was known as Eddard's "flaw" or "shortcoming."

"Sir, look!" Just as the two were complaining, a sailor suddenly spoke up to remind the heartbroken Paxter.

Paxter looked up and saw that the thick, dark clouds overhead were unusually dense, like ink dripping into a clear pond. The clouds were gathering and expanding rapidly above them, threatening to fall at any moment.

His second son, Horas, was also amazed by the thick, dark clouds overhead, and even foolishly reached out to touch them.

Where there are clouds, there will be rain; this is common sense that even a child knows.

"Could it be that Jon really can stop the rain?" Looking at the thick clouds overhead, Paxter couldn't help but believe that Jon might actually be able to do something miraculous.

At this time, Wildfire were still burning on hundreds of ships, and the air upwind of the Wildfire was heated and distorted, forming a strange pillar.

The bizarre pillars and the massive plumes of smoke suddenly reminded Paxter of the Smoking Sea near the ruins of Doom of Valyria.

It seems to rain quite often there; Jon's method might actually work!