Harrenhal is located on the northern shore of the God's Eye. In the middle of the lake lies the island of Thousand Faces, with a diameter of 40 kilometers, and on it stands the only Weirwood Forest on the continent of Westeros.
As Renly flew on his dragon to the center of the lake, he saw from a distance the figure of Odahviing lying on a lakeside beach of Thousand Faces.
Peytvahaaz landed next to Odahviing. As Renly dismounted from the dragon, Wright appeared at the edge of the Weirwood Forest.
"Renly, over here!" Wright called out before disappearing into the forest.
Renly quickly ran a few steps to catch up, walking alongside Wright. "What could be so important that it had to be discussed in this godforsaken place?"
Actually, there were plenty of birds here. As they walked through the forest, the white tree trunks were stained with blood-red tears, and red leaves slowly drifted to the ground. Wright caught one of the leaves in his hand.
"Do you remember the Green Men who guard this island? It was their leader who sent the leaf to find me."
Renly raised an eyebrow. "Weren't the Green Men said to never interact with the outside world? Last time we came here, we didn't meet anyone. Do they even have a leader?"
Wright shrugged. "If it weren't for the leaf, I wouldn't have known."
As they continued walking, they soon arrived at a small village at the center of the island.
There were only a dozen or so small mudbrick huts. In the center of the village was a small grassy square, and every hut was surrounded by a Weirwood tree with a thick canopy that shielded them from both wind and rain. When Wright and Renly flew overhead, they hadn't noticed the houses.
The current leader of the Green Men was a tall woman with wavy black hair, wearing clothes made of animal pelts. She looked similar to the people from the North and spoke fluent Common Tongue.
"Your Majesty, Lord Wright, you may call me Raya."
"This is a bit different than I expected," Renly whispered to Wright before addressing Raya. "Hello, Raya."
Raya led them into one of the huts. Despite its humble exterior, the inside was fully furnished, with a bear-skin rug on the floor. Long-forgotten Leaf sat on the rug, sipping from a cup of water.
There were no chairs in the room, so Wright and Renly sat cross-legged on the rug. Raya took a wooden ladle, poured hot water from a pot into a cup, and handed it to the two men before sitting down cross-legged opposite them.
Both Wright and Renly were skilled in alchemy and wore anti-poison necklaces. Using a small ice spell, they quickly cooled the water before drinking it.
"Hot cocoa? Never thought I'd be drinking this here!" Renly said, surprised after taking a sip.
Wright smacked his lips, recognizing the faint taste of rose in the cocoa. "The Weirwood Trees are priceless, and many poachers come here. The Green Men do interact with the outside world more than you'd think."
Raya smiled as she looked at Wright and Renly. "The Green Men are a sacred organization formed under the witness of the Old Gods, a pact made between the First Men and the Children of the Forest to guard this island. The first members were the greatest warriors of each family. We are not like those savages from the Mountains of the Moon!"
Renly set his cup down. "There's very little recorded about your people."
Raya's face grew colder, and she wasn't good at hiding her emotions. "When the Andals came, the First Men were driven to the North. If it weren't for the God's Eye surrounding us, the trees here would have long since been cut down."
Renly's expression darkened with anger. As a king for many years, no one dared show him disrespect, not even a crude savage like her. He glared at Raya. "If I recall correctly, the royal tax ledgers have never once listed Thousand Faces Island!"
Wright quickly gestured with his eyes for Renly to calm down. "That's all ancient history. We should focus on the present and look toward the future. The White Walkers are marching south. If the army of the Seven Kingdoms can't stop them, Thousand Faces Island will be wiped off the map too."
Raya's simple mind was quickly swayed by Wright's words. She looked at him. "Quite the opposite! The White Walkers will not chop down a single Weirwood tree. Instead, they will send an army to protect them!"
Wright turned to Leaf. "I've read some ancient Valyrian texts. They say the White Walkers were created by magic from the Children of the Forest, the first and most powerful of them under the Weirwood Trees. Is that true?"
Leaf nodded and rubbed the petals of the crown on her head. "As long as a Weirwood tree exists, even if the Night King's body is destroyed, his soul will attach itself to the nearest Weirwood tree, waiting for another White Walker to resurrect. He will never die."
Wright pressed further. "Don't the Children of the Forest have a way of dealing with them?"
Leaf shook her head. "We don't know."
Wright's tone became earnest. "Since the White Walkers were created by magic, there must be a way to reverse the process and destroy them! Teach me the magic to create a White Walker. Trust in my mastery of magic."
Leaf took a sip of the hot cocoa, then looked up at Wright. "There is no more. It has been lost in the wars with the First Men. The magic to create White Walkers disappeared long ago."
Sitting aside, Renly pondered for a moment: "What if I order all the weirwood trees on the continent to be cut down? Then the Night King's soul would have nowhere to go, right?"
"No! No! No!" Leaf put down her cup and waved her hands hurriedly: "One of the reasons we called you here is to discuss and ask you not to cut down the weirwood trees."
After a round of conversation, it was confirmed that the White Walkers originated from the Children of the Forest, and cutting down weirwood trees was prohibited. Now, not only Renly, but Wright also clenched his fists.
"Then quickly tell us a way to eliminate the White Walkers! With the current garrison at Harrenhal, we definitely can't hold off the White Walker army. We will retreat south next week to fully defend King's Landing."
As soon as Wright finished speaking, Renly realized that this wasn't a real strategic arrangement. If the human army retreated to King's Landing, the White Walkers would take the opportunity to occupy the Isle of Faces. Wright must be trying to fish for information from them.
Seeing Wright and Renly getting angry, Raya and Leaf were not flustered. They exchanged a glance, and then Raya spoke:
"The Three-Eyed Raven said he saw that two years from now, spring would come, the farms outside Harrenhal would have a bountiful harvest, and the pastures in the North would be full of cattle and sheep."
Hearing some good news, Renly's mood improved a bit: "It seems we will win the war, and we will ultimately defeat the undead army. It's just that we don't know who will still be alive two years from now."
"Also," Raya looked at Wright with a surprised expression: "The Three-Eyed Raven said he couldn't see you in his prophecy."
"Not just the current Three-Eyed Raven, but the previous one couldn't see me either. If you don't believe me, ask Leaf." As soon as Wright finished speaking, Leaf nodded repeatedly.
"Wright's body is very strange. I even gave him a bowl of weirwood seed porridge. When humans drink it, it should enhance their magical power and awaken their talents, but Wright's magic didn't change at all. Instead, he immediately learned a new spell."
"Leaf also gave me some, and my magic power more than doubled, but I didn't awaken any talents or learn any spells." Remembering this, Renly no longer wanted to cut down the weirwood trees. Weirwood seeds are good stuff and must be left for future generations.
Leaf looked at Renly and smiled. She had wanted to see what would happen to Renly after he drank the porridge, but nothing happened. Renly had benefited from Wright's advantage since childhood, possessing top-tier talents in all five elements, but lacking a dragon soul. Drinking the porridge only increased his magic power.
Raya was not a mage and didn't quite understand what had just been said. She leaned over to look at Wright: "The Three-Eyed Raven also said that he could see Sauron before, but now he can't see his future."
"Sauron?!" Wright stood up: "How old was Sauron when the Three-Eyed Raven couldn't see him anymore? Did Sauron die in the war? Or did he die later?"
Raya recalled what Bran had said at the time, pointing to the left foot of the bearskin rug: "The Three-Eyed Raven was sitting right here, closing his eyes to prophesy, when he suddenly opened them and said Sauron had disappeared from his sight."
"Didn't Sauron return to Tyrosh?" Renly was also puzzled. Wright had received a letter from Tyrosh confirming that Sauron was in Tyrosh at that time.
"If he died in the city, I would know. Sauron always rode the black dragon Shulvokun when he went out. If he died, it means the dragon also died. Such a huge dragon, if something happened, everyone would be talking about it. There's no news, so it means he didn't die." Wright kept analyzing, his mind getting more and more confused as he thought about his son's situation.
Then Raya spoke again: "The Three-Eyed Raven said the war will be won, and the weirwood trees on the Isle of Faces will remain. Lord Wright, Your Majesty, you will surely find a way to defeat the White Walkers."
At this point, Raya stopped. No one in the room spoke. Leaf was never talkative, Wright was still lost in thought, and after waiting for a while, Renly asked Raya: "Is that it? Anything else?"
Raya spread her hands: "That's all. The Three-Eyed Raven only said these things. The rest was just to make sure we called you here."
"Couldn't he just tell us the method directly?!" Renly angrily stood up and walked out of the room.
Leaf waved her hand in front of Wright's eyes: "Wright, Renly has left."
"Oh." Wright collected his thoughts and got up to leave as well.
This trip had its gains; they learned that the war would be won. But there were also regrets—Sauron was in trouble. And there were doubts—whether he would cut down this sacred grove in the future, or if coming here meant he wouldn't cut it down. Which theory about time was correct?
The two dragons were in the northern part of the island. Wright quickly caught up with the angry Renly in the weirwood forest.
"See, the Three-Eyed Raven has offended another person."
A faint smile appeared on Renly's angry face: "Now I understand why you dislike the Three-Eyed Raven."
Wright looked around and saw no one. Even with a silence spell, this wasn't a good place to talk. The faces carved into the weirwood trees, weeping blood, were unsettling: "Let's talk in the air."
When they reached the dragons, Wright still felt uneasy: "Don't ride Peytvahaaz yet. Come onto Odahviing's head; it can block the Three-Eyed Raven's perception."
Peytvahaaz was smaller in size. Renly, who had already used magic to climb onto the dragon's back and was adjusting the saddle, immediately jumped onto Odahviing's wing upon hearing Wright's words.
The two dragons began to fly around the God's Eye, with Peytvahaaz flying alongside Odahviing. Wright and Renly stood on Odahviing's head, each holding onto one of its horns.
Wright: "The Three-Eyed Raven has prophesied victory in the war through the futures of others, which means the Night King will definitely die, and his soul will be completely destroyed."
Renly: "And then? Our magic can destroy the souls of ordinary people, but it's useless against the White Walkers."
Wright could absorb souls, but only those of dragons. He could also release dragon souls to tear apart enemies, as he had done with Durnehviir. However, the souls of the White Walkers were too unique, and despite studying them for a long time, Wright still hadn't figured them out. They belonged to an entirely different magical system.
"What do you think of the Three-Eyed Raven?" Wright changed the subject, not continuing with the topic of souls.
Renly: "The Three-Eyed Raven? A powerful prophetic mage, the inheritor of the Old Gods' will, the spiritual pillar of the First Men, and the spiritual leader of Skinchangers."
Wright: "Renly, if the war ends and peace comes, would you feel at ease knowing that a Three-Eyed Raven, who can spy on kings, nobles, and commoners, and invade people's privacy, exists?"
A hint of killing intent flashed in Renly's eyes. Seeing this, Wright quickly added:
"Even you and I can't guarantee that we won't make mistakes in our lives, let alone our descendants. If House Baratheon ever produces a 'mediocre king', rebels will immediately think of seeking out the Three-Eyed Raven.
History has shown that most kings are of average ability, with only a few being either incompetent or exceptional.
If a prodigal son were to emerge in the future, rebels aided by the Three-Eyed Raven could easily overthrow the Baratheon dynasty, leaving no chance for our family to install a more capable ruler."
"Let me think about it." Renly began to analyze the feasibility of this idea in his mind.
He was no longer the child who unconditionally followed Wright's every word. As an adult, the two of them discussed matters and made decisions based on who had the more convincing argument.
"Renly, House Baratheon is the true ruler of this continent! We are both at the peak of our power now, but when we grow old and die, the Three-Eyed Raven will continue to exist. In the future, will the Skinchangers mages and the descendants of the First Men listen to the Baratheons or the Three-Eyed Raven?"
Wright added fuel to the fire:
"Even if we lose this war, we can retreat to my lands. I have vast wastelands that can support refugees, and you will still be king. But the Three-Eyed Raven—he is the one who could truly overthrow the Baratheon dynasty! Not now, but in the future! While we still have the strength, we must do something for our descendants."
"Wright, what you're saying is very likely to happen." Renly finally understood.
Wright: "I've thought of a way to deal with both the Three-Eyed Raven and the Night King. Your dragon isn't strong enough yet, and the Three-Eyed Raven can still spy on your future, so I can't tell you the full plan. Let's do this first, then this. Just follow my lead."
---
The war in the Riverlands continued. The humans employed hit-and-run tactics, launching constant harassing attacks that inflicted heavy losses on the White Walkers.
The White Walkers had the help of clever vampires, but most of these vampires were once wildlings or commoners from the North. While they could provide some human intelligence, their lack of knowledge became apparent in the unpredictable battlefield. They only knew how to fight head-on and chase aimlessly.
When the White Walker army reached Harroway's Town and learned that the human king and the largest human force were stationed at Harrenhal, the Night King decided to launch an attack there.
The White Walkers' strategy was simple: attack. As the White Walker army concentrated in one area, the humans' harassing tactics gradually became less effective.
Upon entering Harrenhal through its two massive gates, one would find the enormous Great Hall of the Hundred Hearths, surrounded by over thirty heating fireplaces, capable of accommodating an entire army.
However, the number of troops gathered at Harrenhal this time was overwhelming. The Reach alone had sent 100,000 men. Robb, the commander of the allied forces, called a war council, inviting only the nobles and junior officers, who filled half of the hall.
Wright sat upright in a high-backed chair, while Renly gestured for the scribe to strike the bronze bell.
*Dong~~~*
As soon as the meeting began, Robb immediately confronted Willas Tyrell: "The Reach's army is filled with too many unqualified men. We must dismiss those farmers!"
The Reach, with its fertile land and eternal spring, had been a prosperous region for thousands of years. Indeed, they had sent 100,000 men, all equipped with plate armor and weapons. But in terms of quality, Robb had been inspecting the camps outside the city and found that most soldiers wielded swords with the same motions they used for hoeing fields.