"Crack… crack…"
The people on the deck stared in horror as the nearby sea was sealed by a layer of ghastly white ice that spread at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The ice spread across the water like oil, "crackling" as it quickly extended outward.
Apart from the rotten yellow fangs that had been split in two and vanished beneath the surface, the three sailors struggling toward the shore were caught in the ice. Their bodies trembled violently, their faces turned pale with frost clinging to them, and the white breath from their mouths grew weaker and weaker.
"Help… help us…" The cries of the three sailors were no louder than a newborn kitten's mewl.
"What the hell is that?" the big crab muttered in terror.
"Hmph, defeated foes, and yet they dare flaunt their strength on my territory!"
Dany gave a cold snort, raised her right hand, and drew upon the magic crystal hundreds of meters away with her spirit. A vast surge of fire elements was pulled forth, gathering in the delicate white palm of her hand.
"Wha—"
The deep yellow fireball in her palm spun faster and faster, swelling with every turn until the eye could no longer follow its speed. The larger it grew, the more those standing around Dany backed away in alarm.
In an instant, the queen held what looked like a blazing disc the size of a tabletop.
She casually hurled it at the ice.
There was no explosion, no thunder, no sound at all. It was as if she had tossed a phantom.
Yet the ghastly ice began to melt like wax under fire, quickly dissolving into water.
The ice was formed by gathered ice elements, much like "concentrated flame" in fire sorcery. Dany controlled it precisely, causing the fire elements to annihilate the ice elements, rather than simply burning cold ice with heat.
This was a solution at its very root.
The massive energy released by the annihilation of ice and fire was then deliberately guided into the magic crystal under Dany's control. After all, a crystal capable of drawing upon the earthfire within ten kilometers could just as easily channel the violent energy surging a few hundred meters away.
"Hissss…"
The ice melted like cheese, its remaining heat absorbed into the sea. The water grew hotter, and in the blink of an eye, white steam rose from the surface.
Near a magic nexus, a Valyrian grand sorceress truly had no equal.
"It's hot! It's so hot!" The three unfortunate sailors, just freed from the ice, immediately fell into near-boiling seawater.
Within moments their entire bodies flushed red, like shrimp steamed alive.
Fortunately, the Dragon Queen's focus was not on them, or they truly would have been cooked.
"Seven above, the sea has been boiled by fire magic…"
"Burning the heavens and boiling the sea!"
Old Crab, Boremund, and the others looked at the Dragon Queen with awe.
"Blub-blub—splash!"
Ten meters behind the stern, the water suddenly erupted like an ancient turtle rolling in a well, sending up great steaming waves.
"What is that?"
Dany's expression remained calm. With her hands clasped behind her back, she stood proudly at the prow and commanded, "Cast the nets!"
"Splash—" The guards on the small boat immediately threw down their nets.
Layer after layer sank, and though icy sword-light slashed through the mesh, the Dragon Queen had already locked onto her target. The fire sorcery flowed toward it in an endless torrent.
The monster in the sea did not have the magical strength that Dany possessed even back during her time at the Wall. Since then, she had mastered the Green Seer's meditation, begun to comprehend the Song of Wind, multiplied her power tenfold after the Battle of Meereen, and now stood bolstered by the magic nexus itself.
How could this creature possibly contend with her?
Gradually, its ice magic was exhausted, and with a brittle crack, the icy sword in its hand dissolved into pale-blue water.
Spent and powerless to resist, the monster was entangled by the tightening net as Dany withdrew her flames.
The small boat drew near the Laurel Wind, passing the rope at the end of the net to the guards on deck.
"What is that?" Kuhuru muttered blankly.
When the net was hauled from the sea, everyone saw at last the monster that had churned the waters: it looked much like a man, with the size of an adult male. Its features were obscured, its body encrusted with oysters, clams, scallops, and razor clams, as if clad in armor made of seashells.
Its exposed skin was scant, a sickly blue-white.
"Is this… a sea monster?" Old Crab asked uncertainly.
"It looks more like the water-ghosts in the nursemaids' tales, the ones who drag children under when they play in the sea," Koja said, his dark face gone pale.
"You've all wanted to see a White Walker, haven't you? Well, here it is," Dany said strangely.
"A White Walker?!" Everyone was stunned.
"Aren't they supposed to be beyond the Wall?" Old Crab asked in confusion.
"I'd like to know why this one came to Dragonstone as well."
The creature was not heavy. Two tall guards lifted it onto the deck and dropped it at the queen's feet.
"When you catch a White Walker, the best thing to do is strike with dragonglass at its vital points and kill it at once. If you want it alive, you do as I do."
Dany drew her sword, Clear Sky, and slashed swiftly in every direction.
"Shaaa!" The White Walker shrieked like blades scraping glass as its limbs were severed.
Before their horrified eyes, its arms and legs melted away on the deck, trickling into rivulets of icy blue water.
"Seven above… it truly is a White Walker!" Boremund stammered.
Dany crouched, tugged away the torn net covering it, and frowned as she examined the dense layer of shells, suspicion in her eyes.
Curious, Kuhuru asked, "If White Walkers are so fearsome, why would seashells cling to it?"
"I'm not certain. Perhaps they conceal something."
Shaking her head, Dany fetched a porcelain plate from a nearby table and, like pulling leeches, pried the shells from its face and neck.
They were alive, clinging tightly, even making sharp popping sounds as they came free.
When at last the creature's face was fully revealed, Dany studied it for a long while, then sighed.
"I already felt something familiar in its magical aura. Now that I see its face clearly, it truly is the same White Walker I captured beyond the Wall."
The White Walkers all had gaunt faces and skin pale as moonlight, yet their facial structures and the carvings on their cheeks and foreheads were clearly different.
"Why is the White Walker you captured lying on my ship's rudder?" Ku Hulu asked, both terrified and bewildered.
"Where are the Night's Watch? Did only Samwell come?" Dany frowned.
"There's also a wandering crow named Dareon, at the castle," Bronn said.
Dany stood, took the towel handed to her by Koja Mo, dried her hands, and said, "Then let's return to the castle and bring the White Walker along."
"Your Grace, I'll help carry it," said a sailor with a forked blue beard.
The first mate Goyi declared, "I'll do it. I want to see how the queen will deal with the White Walker. Don't any of you fight me for it."
Seeing the sailors' eager eyes fixed on the creature, Dany smiled and said, "Since we captured a White Walker today, everyone deserves credit. If you have time, you're welcome to join the banquet at Dragonstone Castle."
"Yes, and the sailor who sacrificed himself will be rewarded with five gold dragons for his family. The other three brave men each get one," she added, remembering the unlucky sailor who had died so miserably.
"Long live the Queen!" the sailors shouted in excitement.
Dragonstone, Stone Drum Tower, Hall.
"When we rushed over, the ship was already breaking apart in flames. We thought that even if the White Walker wasn't killed, it must have been burned to nothing."
Dareon's voice was gentle, magnetic, and concise as he recounted what had happened that day.
This handsome blond youth had once been an apprentice singer, but after being caught in an affair with the daughter of Lord Rowan, he was sent to the Night's Watch.
To be precise, it was the count's daughter who had sought him out.
"No one expected it to survive, hiding on the rudder of the Laurel Wind."
The wandering crow stared at the limbless White Walker, his expression filled with doubt.
"Damn it, you never said we'd be escorting a White Walker to Oldtown!"
Ku Hulu's dark face turned ashen, his voice trembling with shock and anger.
If they had carried the White Walker all the way to the Summer Isles, to High Tree Town, right to his own doorstep—If it had crept onto the deck in the middle of the night, into the captain's cabin—A shiver ran down his spine, and cold sweat poured from him.
"The White Walker went missing with all that commotion, and you knew nothing about it?" Dany asked, puzzled.
"Braavos truly was in an uproar. Countless soldiers in purple cloaks scoured the streets, searching every home. But they said they were looking for the kidnapped bastard son of the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch. And they also said—"
At that point, Ku Hulu stopped short.
"They said the bastard was born of Jon Snow and Queen Mother Cersei."
The black captain wiped the sweat from his brow, terrified. Damn it, I almost let it slip. If anyone dares spread a rumor that the bastard belongs to the Dragon Queen…With her fire magic that can boil the sea itself—are you afraid or not?Well, Ku Hulu was absolutely terrified.
"Uh—"
Dany knew nothing of the rumor linking her to a bastard. She was merely astonished at the wild imagination of the Braavosi.
Bronn frowned. "So it seems the White Walker hidden in the chest didn't die. It sank into the sea and clung to the hull of the Laurel Wind. Strange… do White Walkers not need to breathe?"
"White Walkers are not men. Of course they don't need to breathe," said Old Crab.
"This is no coincidence." Dany's eyes flashed as she asked Ku Hulu, "How far is the Laurel Wind from the Night's Watch berth?"
Ku Hulu's face changed again, stricken with fear. "We all docked at the Ragpicker's Quay, but my ship was in the commercial district, while the Night's Watch ship was in the civilian area. Between them lay hundreds of ships, at least a kilometer apart."
"Damn it, the White Walker came after me on purpose? Why me?" the black man cried in disbelief.
"Maybe not you." Dany frowned.
It must be connected to the Night's Watch.
Then came the real question: why follow the Night's Watch? What did the White Walker want?
"You. What do you want?" Dany crouched before the creature, meeting its icy blue glowing eyes.
She spoke in the ancient tongue.
At the Wall, she had studied the language under Morona, later borrowing a bronze ancient-tongue book from the Hardfoot hill tribes.
The runes of the greenseers were related to the ancient tongue, and after more than half a year, she had managed to learn some simple expressions.
The White Walker's eyes were cold and lifeless, like a frozen spring, without a flicker of emotion.
"I wonder if the Whip of Solitude can deal with you," Dany muttered, then asked again in the ancient tongue: "The seashells on your body—are they used to conceal your aura? Who are you hiding from?"
"Sam?"
No response.
"Hiding from someone near Sam? Or something?"
Still no response.
"Hiding from me?"
"Hiding from a sea monster? A god?"
Dany's heart skipped as the White Walker's eye twitched ever so slightly.
She had guessed correctly.
The White Walker feared being detected by a god of the sea.
"The Drowned God?" Dany's face grew solemn.
The White Walker closed its eyes.
Alas, the great calamity is coming. Monsters and demons of every kind are stirring again.
Dany rose and returned to her throne, sighing inwardly.
"Your Grace, Samwell of the Night's Watch has returned," a guard came to report.
(End of chapter)
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