Winterfell Falls

Sandor crouched low and quickly approached two patrolling soldiers. When the two soldiers spotted him, they only saw a flash of cold light before their consciousness rapidly faded.

Seeing the gruesome bloodstains on the two soldiers' faces, resembling gaping, scarlet mouths, Sandor knew they were beyond dead.

He turned and waved to the bushes not far behind him. Haken appeared with several tribal warriors, pulling a small cart with three gagged cripples on it.

These two men were the male sorcerers discovered aboard the Silence, one of whom was Pyat Pree.

However, both of their mouths were gagged, so they could only make muffled sounds.

Surrounded by several fully armed soldiers, Jon also appeared. Upon seeing Jon, Pyat Pree was visibly excited.

"My lord, I didn't mean to lie to you. I just wanted to live. I promise I never intended to harm you. I promise!" Pyat Pree's Common Tongue had never been so fluent.

After Jon met him that day, Pyat Pree felt uneasy, but Jon remained unmoved and instead spoke in Valyrian: "The promise of a wizard, a house built of bones."

He intends to use the blood of these male witches for a sacrifice.

Everyone was surprised to hear Jon Snow speak Valyrian, including the wizards like Pyat Pree and Sandor standing nearby.

They clearly remembered that Jon shouldn't know Valyrian, so how could he have learned it in just two months?

Sandor, as Jon's bodyguard, didn't recall Jon having studied any foreign languages.

"My lord, I truly had no intention of harming you!" Seeing Jon switch to Valyrian, Pyat Pree automatically switched as well.

Do you know Daenerys?

"What?"

"Let me tell you a secret, we're actually family, and now I'm going to seek justice for my family."

"Family?!" Pyat Pree suddenly felt his brain wasn't quite working, but the next second, Jon ordered his men to gag him.

"If I didn't go through all this trouble, I'm afraid I would have misused this Sacrificial Magic." Jon thought to himself, looking at the two male wizards who had been gagged and re-tied. At the same time, he secretly resolved that this was the first and last time he would use Sacrificial Magic.

This isn't about whether someone is a saint or not. If you limit your sacrifices to enemies and adversaries, then it becomes a different concept, and concepts can be expanded.

In the future, he will not only not know how to use it himself, but he will also restrict others from using it.

Jon came to the hillside next to the sea cliff and looked down. He saw a large number of longships and sailboats neatly moored in a sheltered bay.

When Jon's fleet was halfway there, he used his Raven to discover the Iron Islands Fleet. He handed the fleet over to Brynden and, with Sandor and some guards, headed overland to this nameless bay.

He knew Euron must have some quick way to finish the battle, and if he went directly to support Winterfell, he might not make it in time. Even if he did, Euron might escape. So he sent a message through the Raven to have the fleet move to another location to meet him.

Jon wanted a decisive battle, a battle that would wipe out one-fifth of the Iron Islands' soldiers in one fell swoop!

These Iron Islands soldiers, or pirates, were sent by Balon, and their elite status and ferocity need no further explanation. If they could all be killed, it would be a huge blow to the Iron Islands.

Jon's Sacrificial Magic will freeze the bay! That means freezing all their ships! When Euron returns to the bay, he'll have no choice but to fight him head-on.

The Iron Islands people may indeed be excellent at naval warfare, but without ships they can only fight on foot, and foot combat is their weakness.

Furthermore, given their superior weaponry, the enemy's only option to avoid being surrounded by Robb's forces was to fight to the death and reclaim their ships.

This was Jon's entire plan.

So, just as Euron had performed Sacrificial Magic near Winterfell, Jon began his Sacrificial Magic here.

He personally took action, slitting the throats of the two sorcerers with a short sword while chanting incantations under the watchful eyes of Sandor Haken and others.

"Sir, what are you doing?" Haken asked, his face looking rather grim.

Actually, Jon didn't initially plan to take him along; he only brought him along because the guy got seasick.

Sandor, of course, had no idea what Jon was doing or what Jon had just said; he only knew that these were not things he should worry about.

Soon, those following Jon felt the withered grass beneath their feet swaying rapidly, and the surrounding temperature dropped quickly.

The wind grew stronger and stronger, forcing everyone to bend over to resist it, while the ships in the bay began to sway rapidly.

The Iron Islands sailors who remained on the ships also clearly sensed that something was wrong.

"Could it be that the master really possesses magic?" Haken, recalling the previous rumors about Jon controlling the rain, suddenly considered this possibility. However, it seemed to be the only possibility, given that the truth was right before their eyes.

Jon killed two people and then summoned a storm. This was something they couldn't possibly understand. And anything incomprehensible, let alone the relatively uncultured Mountain Clans, would be categorized as witchcraft and magic by the entire Westeros.

They'll only think that Jon brought them here because he trusts them; nothing else matters.

Not long after, Sandor, Haken, and the other tribal warriors felt the wind lessen and the temperature drop, while the fleet below was caught in a storm.

The cold, icy rain pounded on the sea, and the sailors shouted and hid, none daring to show their faces.

After all, in this era, catching a cold was almost as serious as being wounded on the battlefield, especially since they were in a place like the Iron Islands, where once injured or sick, they would be quickly abandoned.

The localized freezing rain lasted all day, and by evening, a somewhat tired Jon sent out Raven to scout.

The bay was frozen over! Longboats and sailboats alike were completely encased in thick ice!

Ships in the Iron Islands are frozen in thick ice; they won't be able to leave until the ice melts in more than ten days.

Jon took this opportunity to send a message to Brynden using Raven, ordering him to bring his fleet to intercept them.

Meanwhile, in Winterfell...

Winterfell was left almost completely undefended after being ravaged by the blizzard.

Six or seven thousand Iron Islands pirates, using ladders, poured into Winterfell in less than fifteen minutes.

The surrounding Winter Town were naturally not spared, as pirates from all directions embarked on a plundering spree.

Euron stood atop the walls of Winterfell, overlooking the entire castle.

By this time, he had already sent out Raven to search for any trace of the Stark.

When Luwin heard that enemy troops were attacking the city, he immediately ordered Catelyn and her family to leave through the secret passage, while he led the soldiers who were still able to fight to desperately resist.

Standing atop the tower, Luwin looked down at the soldiers' uniforms and recognized them instantly.

This was something he found hard to understand, especially after seeing the House Greyjoy's black sea monster flag.

They were fighting side by side in the Westerlands just a year ago, so why did they suddenly turn against each other?

Moreover, although there was no concrete evidence, Luwin knew that the terrible blizzard that night must have been related to this army!

"Fire arrows! Fire arrows!"

Luwin roared as he commanded the remaining defenders, hoping they could hold out for as long as possible.

Many of them couldn't even hold their swords properly, so how could they possibly defend the tower? Looking at the weak arrows, Luwin knew that today was the day he and the Stranger would leave together.

Not long after, the tower fell; it was Sawane Botley who had captured it.

Capturing the tower didn't give him much of a sense of accomplishment, not only because the person in charge was just an old man, but more importantly because the tower was filled with soldiers suffering from frostbite.

He was still completely immersed in the shock created by Euron's magic.

Of course, there's another point: he personally killed Victarion!

Shavin knew that from this day forward, he could only insist that Victarion had died in the siege and that he was completely in cahoots with Euron.

There is no other way out.

He approached Luwin and asked about the Stark ' whereabouts, but Luwin remained silent.

Bang!

Frustrated, Scharnhorst lashed out at Luwin's face with his sword sheath, knocking out several of the old scholar's already loose teeth.

"I'll ask one last time, where did those Stark go!"

"No, no! I have nothing to say!" Luwin stared into Potter's eyes, his own eyes blazing with fury.

"Old man! Bah!" Realizing that Luwin was unyielding, Shavin was about to draw his sword, but Euron stopped him.

"Wait, he still has a use."

Wolfswood.

Luwin's academic robes were torn off, forcing him to expose his upper body, his pale, loose skin to the cold air.

He was tied to the carriage, while the Iron Islands soldiers around him shouted, "Lady Catelyn! Come out! We mean no harm!"

Slap!

The whip lashed out at the old scholar Luwin, leaving a clear pink welt on his ribs.

"Come out quickly, Mrs. Catelyn, Mrs. Jeyne, we mean no harm."

"Come visit the Iron Islands with us!"

Snap -

Luwin realized they were trying to force Catelyn and the others to appear by using him, so he gritted his teeth and kept from making a sound.

Meanwhile, Catelyn and Jeyne each carried a child, followed by Arya, Sansa, and Rickon.

Bran was carried on Hodor's back, with Myrcella following behind.

In addition, fewer than ten guards, led by Qiaoka, were responsible for clearing the way and protecting them.

Because they left through a secret passage, there were no carriages or warhorses.