"Bwooo!"
The long, low blast of a horn echoed throughout King's Landing.
Stannis's army moved!
Soldiers raised their shields and pushed massive siege towers and battering rams toward the sturdy walls of King's Landing, launching their fiercest assault!
"For the king!"
"For the Lord of Light!"
Their thunderous battle cries seemed to make even the clouds tremble!
Atop the walls.
The High Sparrow stood at the highest point, his ragged hemp robe snapping in the wind.
He watched the enemy swarm toward them like ants, without a trace of fear on his face.
"Brothers and sisters!"
He raised his wooden staff!
"The hour that will test our faith has come!"
"The Seven are watching us from above!"
"Do not fear! Death is not the end, but the beginning of glory!"
"Defend this holy city with your flesh and blood!"
"Fight for the gods!"
"Fight for the gods!"
The tens of thousands of armed civilians on the walls answered with equally fanatical cries!
They hurled huge stones, burning barrels, and even tables, chairs, and stools from their homes down at the attackers!
One of Stannis's heavily armored soldiers had just mounted a ladder and climbed barely two rungs.
A cauldron of scalding oil poured down from above, drenching him in searing heat!
"Aaargh!"
With an agonized scream, he fell from the ladder like a blazing torch, knocking several comrades beneath him to the ground.
An arrow fired from below pierced the chest of a Warrior's Son.
Yet in the final instant before he fell, he used every last ounce of strength to push the huge stone in his arms over the wall.
The stone hurtled down and smashed a ladder to pieces!
"Madmen! They're all madmen!"
A soldier's scalp prickled as he watched the bloody carnage before him.
He had never