Daenerys didn't know that while she was flying her dragon and spewing fire for just half an hour to ignite the funeral pyre, the Stag Party had quietly reached a tacit understanding and prepared a series of countermeasures against her.
But she didn't need to know. Without the Three-Eyed Crow interfering with her thoughts, she planned to leave the Wall the next morning. As for tonight...
"Do you know why I was riding my dragon and breathing fire for half an hour?"
Blackfyre had landed once again atop the Wall, and Daenerys brought Whitewing down into the open space between the crowd and the flames.
Before anyone, eyes full of awe, could respond, Daenerys raised her voice and continued on her own, "Without a doubt, I was showing off my strength.
Because I need to intimidate certain people. They're hiding in dark corners, staring at me and my dragons with envy, jealousy, and hatred. Whispering like rats, scheming vile plans that cannot see the light of day."
The expressions of the onlookers shifted. The Night's Watch, Barristan, and some of the quicker-witted wildlings all turned simultaneously to glance at the approaching members of the Stag Party.
Stannis' square-jawed face seemed to elongate into that of a mule, the muscles along his jaw tightening, his teeth grinding audibly. The Red Woman looked uncertain and suspicious—one moment wondering if the dragon-queen with magic had foreseen their scheme, the next confused by her seemingly impulsive provocation. Was she flipping the table?
Among the knights and lords of the Stag Party, some looked sullen, some shot furious glares at the Dragon Queen, others had resolute expressions with their right hands unconsciously gripping the hilts of their swords on their left hips. Some, staring at the dragon's snout from which faint sparks still flared, felt a chill in their hearts.
Daenerys seemed oblivious, continuing to curse loudly, "Those people violate human decency, have lost all sense of morality, disrupted order, trampled tradition, and have no sense of honor—"
"That's enough," Stannis could bear it no longer and shouted.
"We are not even afraid of death. Do you think a dragon's fire will intimidate us?"
"Eh?" Daenerys paused in surprise, then asked innocently, "What are you talking about? When did I ever threaten you?"
She pointed toward the shadowy forest behind her and said, aggrieved, "I was trying to scare the wildlings in the woods. Lighting the funeral pyre drew a bunch of 'rats, snakes, and insects.'
Right now, a horde of shameless bastards are lurking in the trees, peeping at us.
I was flying and breathing fire to let them witness the might of a true dragon, to feel fear under a dragon's presence, so they wouldn't dare plot against the heroes guarding the Wall.
Hmm, did you hear about the two Night's Watch brothers who got beheaded this afternoon? Why did you take it personally?"
"Uhhrrgh—" It was as if Stannis' soul had been struck and crushed by a speeding wagon. His strong body trembled violently a few times, his mule-like face contorting into a round, embarrassed one, his expression shifting through every possible color.
The anxious and worried expressions of the Night's Watch and Barristan froze, cracked, then twisted awkwardly.
"You're not... feeling guilty by any chance, are you? Really plotting something unjust and immoral behind the scenes?" Daenerys asked with a strange look.
"We..." Stannis clenched his jaw, forcing out one word, "Go!"
He turned sharply and strode toward the gate. The rest of the Stag Party's soldiers shot glares at the Dragon Queen on her dragon's back, then turned and followed him.
Barristan stepped up to Whitewing's side and whispered, "Your Grace, you shouldn't provoke Stannis like that. If pushed too far, he really might commit an unjust act."
"You think if I don't provoke him, he won't act against me?" Daenerys sneered, her gaze fixed on the armored knights of the departing Stag Party. "When I was burning the corpses, I sensed a tangible malice—coming from Stannis."
With the addition of her second soul ring, Daenerys' danger perception in her dragon-spirit state had reached a new level—almost akin to the Stark direwolves' ability to sense hostility from enemies.
Previously, her dragon-spirit could only sense danger—direct threats to Daenerys' life.
Whereas direwolves—whether Robb's Grey Wind or Jon's Ghost—could clearly "smell" traitors.
—Before the Red Wedding and Jon's assassination, Grey Wind and Ghost had long been warning their masters, snarling and attacking the traitors. But the brothers, each with their own stubborn streak, believed their wolves had gone mad and locked them up. The result? Both ended up dead.
Even Arya's Nymeria could sense people's hostility.
And Rickon's Shaggydog too, actually.
But before the second soul ring appeared, dragons weren't as keen as wolves. Not even the three could detect malice before it turned into a direct threat to Daenerys.
It's unclear whether it was the greenseer meditation technique that somehow strengthened the dragons, or if the technique sharpened Daenerys' own beast-like instincts—or perhaps both.
In any case, when Stannis and his followers were plotting against her, she clearly sensed their malice—a frustrating emotion, easy to overlook or misinterpret.
Whitewing strutted past the White Knight, wings braced on the ground like a lion's paws, mighty and dignified. The crowd parted like a river splitting around a rock.
Daenerys stood firmly on the dragon's back. From all directions, wildlings and Night's Watch stared up at her. Under the dim red glow of torches, thousands of eyes sparkled like stars—some confused, some awestruck.
"I need a suicide squad, around a hundred men," she shouted toward those star-like eyes.
"For what? Gonna clash head-on with those armored knights of the Red God? Count me in. I've been itching to go at them," Ygritte's blue eyes glinted with excitement.
"Whoa!" The Night's Watch men visibly changed color, their gazes darkening with heavy emotions.
"Don't be ridiculous!" Daenerys dropped her smile and scolded the red-haired woman, "Targaryens keep their word. I, Daenerys, have never broken a promise.
From the moment I arrived at the Wall, I cast aside personal grudges, thinking only of protecting the Seven Kingdoms and the world from the White Walkers.
Even when others glare at me, point their blades behind my back, offer honeyed words hiding poisoned daggers... I do not waver. I remember my mission and press forward with determination."
Ygritte's round face was full of bewilderment. Combined with her flat nose and gaping mouth full of crooked white teeth, she looked rather foolish.
"Sigh... This is the poise and burden of a true monarch. You, a wildling spearwife, just wouldn't understand." Daenerys shook her head and looked up at the full moon, her face filled with melancholy and the loneliness of being misunderstood.
"Your Grace..." Barristan, Aemon, and the others looked at her with emotion—respectful and sorrowful.
"Long live Queen Daenerys!" Ser Elrysa, one of the key members of the Dragon Faction who always carried his own rations, raised his hand and shouted.
"Long live Queen Daenerys!" Four or five Night's Watch brothers echoed loudly.
(These were all "old loyalists of the Dragon House," recently gathering around Ser Elrysa—colloquially known as "remnants of the former regime.")
It wasn't easy at all!
Dany flew from Oldtown to the Wall on her dragon, nearly crossing the entire continent of Westeros from south to north, only to find a few elderly loyalists at the Wall who could barely lift their swords.
"Don't be so flashy. Don't disrupt the 'United Front Against the Wights,'" Dany said, pressing her hands down to calm them. She waited until the old men stopped panting before continuing, "I need a suicide squad. Bring chains, ropes, nets—tools like that. You'll infiltrate deep into the Haunted Forest and find the corpses of wildlings that no one has dealt with."
"There's no need to bring the corpses back or burn them on-site. Our goal this time is to capture White Walkers."
"Lock the corpses' legs with chains and tie the other end to a tree trunk."
"The White Walkers have been circling the wildling camps and seem to love resurrecting the dead. We'll let them do it."
"Tie up the corpses at night, and by morning we'll harvest hundreds of wights—won't that be beautiful?
Of course, wights are useless—they tend to rot into sludge after being taken south of the Wall. But we also have nets, traps, snares—any and all hunting tools will do."
"We'll set traps around the corpses and wait for the White Walkers to come and resurrect them. Hehehe…"
At this point, even Dany couldn't help but burst into proud laughter.
This was also her final mission at the Wall.
To come to the Wall and not encounter White Walkers? That wouldn't be worthy of a true warrior.
There would certainly be danger, but as the Dragon Queen rode atop her dragon, she left the truly dangerous tasks to the suicide squad.
*Latest novel release at Six-9 Book Bar!*
She had made up her mind: once the plan succeeded and they caught a batch of White Walkers the next morning—wights or not—she would leave Westeros.
Her duty would be fulfilled.
The Night's Watch and wildlings listened, stunned, jaws nearly dropping to the ground.
"B-Brilliant!" Ser Alliser was the first to recover, loudly praising her.
"Well said! Ser Alliser is truly brave—he'll be the first to join the suicide squad," Dany also praised loudly.
Ser Alliser's raised thumb froze in midair, and his smile curdled on his face like sour milk.
My Queen, did I offend you somehow to deserve this?
Tell me! I'll listen! I'll change!
Dany ignored the pitiful loyalist and looked around the crowd, declaring with conviction, "This suicide squad was formed by me. Naturally, my White Knight and I are part of it too."
"Your Grace, your plan is excellent. Count me in," Jon immediately raised his hand.
Ygritte glanced at Jon and shouted, "I'm coming too! I'm coming too!"
"I'm in!"
"Count me as well!"
With Dany taking the lead, volunteers swarmed in—four or five hundred in moments, including Night's Watch members, wildling spearwives, and raiders.
"Quartermaster, take a team to the warehouse and prepare chains, ropes, bear traps, dragonglass weapons—everything we need," Dany ordered Pomegranate.
Suddenly remembering the issue of signals, she asked, "Do you have fireworks?"
"Those expensive magical items made by fire mages?" Pomegranate shook his head with a bitter smile. "We barely have enough food—how could we afford such luxuries?"
"Then prepare a hundred bronze gongs."
"Though I wonder if the noise might scare the White Walkers off…" Dany thought to herself with a strange expression.
With hundreds of people working together, progress was swift.
In less than half an hour, twenty packhorses loaded with chains, oil barrels, traps, and other supplies were led to the pyre by Pomegranate and other Night's Watch brothers.
Meanwhile, Ser Melisandre and Ser Barristan had each selected fifty rangers and fifty wildlings from among the volunteers.
The one hundred-member suicide squad was then divided into twenty small teams—five per team, each with a leader and one horse.
Beside the pyre, the Night's Watch set up a makeshift wooden table—three stakes nailed to the ground, a door panel placed on top.
A map of the Haunted Forest, drawn by the Night's Watch, was spread across the table. Dany stood at the front, assigning tasks to the gathered suicide squad members.
"We'll enter the forest from here," she drew a line on the map. "The giants escaped into the forest from this direction. Stannis pursued them for about three to four kilometers—there are bound to be giant corpses nearby."
"We can ignore the wildling corpses for now, but the giant remains must be destroyed immediately."
"Then we move along this path—yes, when Stannis ambushed the wildling camp this morning, I saw most of the free folk fleeing this way."
"This was originally a game trail," Ygritte added.
"I know," Dany nodded. "White Walkers love tracking migrating wildling groups. This direction has the highest chance of encountering wights."
"What if we run into wildlings?" Jon asked, concerned.
"That's why we need a vanguard," Dany smiled and tapped her chest plate. "Ser Barristan, Ser Alliser, Ygritte, and I will take the front—like the tip of an arrow. The other nineteen teams will form a diamond formation and follow behind."
"Of course, the teams in the rear may also encounter wildlings. But each team has free folk members—they can negotiate. And my two dragons will be circling in the sky, ready to assist at any time if anything goes wrong."
(End of Chapter)
Want to read the chapters in Advance? Join my Patreon
https://patreon.com/Glimmer09