House of The Dragon:The Rise of the Emperor of the Seven Kingdoms

Chapter 126: Chapter 125 – The Festival of Flames and Ashes (III)

A farmer who belonged to the fief of House Erenford, a vassal house of House Frey, looked at the flames rising into the sky with an expression full of horror and fear. The scythe in his hand slipped as he ran back to his home.

He wasn’t the only one; everyone who could see the fire ran without looking back. Even though the commoners had received no formal education, none of them were stupid. They understood something very serious was happening and no one wanted to be nearby in case things got out of control.

When gods fight, mortals suffer. That saying was particularly true in this world.

However, these people had a chance to flee; the same couldn’t be said for the members of House Frey and all their servants and vassals inside the castle.

Addam Frey watched panic take hold with a grim expression. However, the people no longer listened to him. Faced with the fear of being cooked alive, his authority had simply vanished.

Just as Addam was about to shout to calm things down, he saw a cold glint at the corner of his eye and, before he knew it, felt a sharp pain in his ribs. Looking down, he saw a knife plunged into his back.

Looking at his wife, whose hands were stained with blood, Addam collapsed weakly into his chair, only looking at his young wife with an expression full of resentment. This woman, whom he had despised, had dared to stab him at this moment.

“If I hand your head over to Prince Maekar, I can get out with Forrest.” Grace Haigh, daughter of Lord Haigh, a house that was a vassal of House Frey, spoke in a cold tone. Having said that, she grabbed a nearby sword and tried to cut off Addam’s head.

However, the first blow obviously didn’t have enough force, only making a deep cut in his neck, but causing Addam even more pain.

Faced with such a critical situation, adrenaline and the willpower to protect her son made the girl’s strength far greater than usual; she even managed to sever a man’s head.

However, she soon discovered, to her despair, that she couldn’t get out of the castle. Feeling the air growing thinner and more suffocating, she showed a desperate expression.

Looking at her son, not far away, who seemed to be suffering, Grace showed a sorrowful look but walked over to her son with the sword still dripping with the blood of her own husband, her son’s father.

No one cared about what was happening to Lord Frey; everyone just scattered throughout the castle to find a safe spot or to flee.

Some even ran out of the castle, trying to reach the bridge and jump into the Green Fork, but the platinum flames were already burning the entire surface of the castle. When these people opened the gates, the flames advanced extremely fast, feeding on any wood or cloth.

These men didn’t even have the chance to scream in agony before being engulfed by the platinum flames.

Flying over the castle, Bahamut poured flames onto it. The moisture in the stones quickly dried under the flames, and the stone rapidly took on an iridescent red and orange coloring.

The castle, which looked more like a huge tower, began to soften and gradually tilted to the right. It looked like a melting candle, except instead of a candle, it was an enormous castle.

The stones used in the Twins certainly couldn’t be as strong as the black stones used in Harrenhal’s construction.

Bahamut seemed quite excited about what was happening; he poured flames from time to time, keeping the temperature of the stone extremely high. He seemed to hear the screams of the people inside the castle and grew even more excited.

Maekar also heard the screams; there was no way not to hear them. The people inside the castle seemed utterly horrified and were agonizing like pigs after castration. Faced with the screams of pain, agony, curses, and pleas, the prince remained cold and indifferent.

These people didn’t even know why they were dying or even knew anything about the assassination, but Maekar didn’t care in the slightest. Wasn’t his son innocent too? Even so, they had still taken his life while he was still in his own mother’s womb.

Suddenly, Maekar felt Bahamut change direction and advance toward the partially melted castle. This made his expression change, but it was already too late to stop it. The dragon landed on the castle, still hot, but suffered no damage.

His enormous claws dug into the molten rock as his neck coiled around the building. Bahamut found a hole large enough to fit his head through and pushed his head inside it.

The people inside the castle, who were suffering from the extreme heat, showed an expression of pure horror upon seeing the dragon’s enormous head appear before them. However, they had no time to think about what was happening.

They saw the dragon open his jaws, and platinum fire appeared in their field of vision. The fire came down from the sky like divine punishment. It advanced against the people and filled the entire space like a wave of heat. They didn’t even have time before being reduced to ashes as the fire raged fiercely through the corridors before losing strength.

The dragon pulled his head out of the hole and took flight. Maekar, who had watched the whole scene, couldn’t help but let out a laugh. He could imagine the horror of the people seeing a giant dragon’s head appear above them. That was a scene worthy of nightmares.

Suddenly, Maekar saw an army approaching. By the crests on the banners, these were the armies of House Charlton, House Erenford, and House Haigh.

Bahamut also noticed the army and turned his body in midair, making Maekar hang upside down for a few moments before righting himself again. Now, the dragon was looking directly at the approaching army.

Just as Maekar was about to order another Dracarys, he saw the white flag waving in the wind and realized the army hadn’t come to protect House Frey. The prince found these lords quite clever.

Pulling the reins to stop the dragon from simply burning the army, Maekar made Bahamut land not far from the army. One of the reasons he didn’t burn these vassals of House Frey was because he needed to find the witch who had killed his son.

There was nothing better for finding a person than the people who lived in that place.

“Lords Charlton, Erenford, and Haigh, you have orders.” Maekar didn’t even bother listening to what these men had to say and spoke in a cold tone. “You are to search for the witch known throughout the Green Fork. Whoever brings her to me alive will be rewarded with a fief and a noble title.”

Lords Charlton, Erenford, and Haigh looked at each other and saw the strange expression on one another’s faces. However, looking at the Twins still burning in flames, they didn’t dare even ask why the prince had burned one of the most important castles on the continent.

As for asking about House Frey, about House Frey’s situation, they didn’t need to ask; the burning Twins already made House Frey’s fate clear.

Only Lord Haigh showed a trace of sadness in his expression, but he didn’t dare show any dissatisfaction or anger. His half sister, Grace Haigh, was Lord Frey’s youngest wife. Her fate could be imagined upon seeing the platinum flames burning House Frey’s ancestral castle.

“Let’s spread out; the witch isn’t welcome in the towns and villages, so she must be traveling through the forest paths. Let’s surround the forest.” Lord Charlton quickly came up with a plan and spoke in a calm tone. Lords Erenford and Haigh didn’t object to the plan and nodded.

Maekar looked at them with a calm look and appreciated how quickly these lords accepted the situation.

Looking at the burning castle, Maekar’s anger didn’t subside; the true masterminds behind his son’s assassination were still alive, but fire and blood would still reach them.

In the second-to-last month of the year 100 after the Conquest, Prince Maekar, riding the dragon Bahamut, the Pale Death, burned the castle of the Twins and everyone inside it. At the same time, on that same day, the castle of House Bracken was also destroyed, and every member of House Bracken was killed by the flames of the dragon Dreamfyre.

The Festival of Flames and Ashes, as this day came to be known, was the spark that ignited the most terrible civil war Westeros had ever seen.

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Read my other books:

House of The Dragon:The Rise of the Emperor of the Seven Kingdoms

Game Of Thrones: The God-Emperor of Planetos

Percy Jackson: Godwyn the Golden.

Game Of Thrones: The King’s Court Wizard