**The Rise of House Redwyne: A Bannerlord's Conquest**
**Volume III: The Long Night's Vintage**
**Chapter 22: The Battle of the God's Eye**
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### **The Dead Come on Silent Waves**
The mist rolled across the God's Eye like a burial shroud, thick and suffocating, swallowing the distant cries of ravens. The surface of the lake, usually black as ink, had frozen in jagged sheets, the ice groaning under the weight of countless dead.
Aemon Redwyne stood at the edge of the weirwood grove, his breath fogging in the unnatural cold. His scouts had reported movement in the mist—**shapes dragging themselves from the lake, their bones sheathed in rime, their eyes burning blue.**
**"Loose!"** he roared.
A volley of **dragonglass-tipped arrows** hissed through the air, punching into the advancing wights. Some shattered like glass. Others kept coming.
Then—**the ice split.**
A massive form erupted from the depths, water cascading off its skeletal wings. **Viserion, the undead dragon**, now a creature of frost and malice, let out a shriek that turned men's blood to ice.
**[Battle Phase 1: The Frozen Vanguard]**
- **Wights** surged forward, clawing over their own fallen.
- **Undead Viserion** strafed the Redwyne lines, freezing men solid with its breath.
- **Aemon's counter:** Grapefire barrels rolled downhill, igniting the frozen earth in **green-and-gold infernos.**
The flames roared, **melting wights into black sludge**, but the dragon banked high, circling for another pass.
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### **The Charge of the Drowned Dead**
From the lake's edge, **pale hands clawed onto land.** The corpses of Ironborn, their beards stiff with ice, their drowned god's seaweed still clinging to rusted mail, rose with weapons in hand.
Victarion Greyjoy, his remaining arm gripping a **charred kraken-pommeled axe**, bellowed: **"You drowned once! Drown again!"**
His reavers met the dead in a clash of **splintering shields and screaming steel.**
**[Battle Phase 2: Melee at the Shore]**
- **Drowned Wights** fought with eerie skill, their movements jerky but precise.
- **Greyjoy's counter:** Ironborn threw **salt-soaked nets**, tangling the dead before hacking them apart.
- **Aemon's gambit:** Scorpions fired **dragonglass harpoons** into Viserion's wings, grounding the beast momentarily.
Then—**a horn sounded from the mist.**
**Low. Mournful. Hungry.**
The Night King had arrived.
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### **The Night King's Gambit**
He strode forward, his armor of **black ice** drinking in the firelight. Where his feet touched, the ground **froze instantly**, vines withering to dust.
His gaze locked onto Aemon.
**"Scorpions! Now!"**
Three **Dragonbane bolts** lanced through the air—
—and **shattered** against an unseen barrier of cold.
The Night King raised a hand.
From the lake, **a dozen more skeletal figures emerged—not wights, but White Walkers**, their crystalline blades humming with killing frost.
**[Battle Phase 3: The Breaking Point]**
- **White Walkers advanced**, shattering steel with a touch.
- **Shireen's gambit:** She hurled a **cask of wildfire-infused Arbor Gold** at their feet. The explosion sent one Walker screeching into embers.
- **Jon Targaryen and Rhaegal dove from the clouds**, bathing the Walkers in dragonflame—**but the Night King caught the flames in his palm and snuffed them out.**
Aemon's forces **wavered.**
Then—**a new sound.**
**Hooves. Thousands of them.**
From the southern treeline, **a host of mounted knights in Baratheon yellow and Tyrell green** charged into the fray, their lances wrapped in **grapevine fire.**
**Stannis Baratheon** led them, his sword **Lightbringer** glowing like a captured sunrise.
**"FOR THE REACH!"**
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### **The Turning Tide**
The Night King **hesitated.**
Aemon seized the moment. **"All scorpions—fire at the dragon!"**
Six bolts **hammered into Viserion's chest.** The beast **writhed—**
—and then **Shireen was there**, driving a **dragonglass dagger** into its remaining eye.
The undead dragon **screamed—**
—and **shattered** into a thousand icy shards.
The Night King **turned his gaze on her.**
Aemon **moved without thought.**
He **tackled Shireen aside** as the White Walker's blade **grazed his arm—**
—and his flesh **froze instantly**, black tendrils of frost crawling toward his heart.
**[Climactic Choice]**
1. **Retreat and live to fight another day.**
2. **Sacrifice himself to strike at the Night King.**
3. **Unleash the last cask of wildfire—and risk everything.**
Aemon **gritted his teeth, grabbed the dagger from Shireen's belt—**
—and **plunged it into the frozen ground.**
The **earth shook.**
From beneath the God's Eye, **ancient roots—black as dragonglass, twisted as grapevines—exploded upward**, impaling White Walkers like insects on thorns.
The Night King **staggered back—**
—and for the first time, **something like fear flickered in his blue eyes.**
Then the mist **swallowed him whole.**
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### **Aftermath: A Pyrrhic Vintage**
The battlefield was a **graveyard of fire and ice.**
- **Viserion's bones** lay scattered like broken ship masts.
- **Half the Redwyne forces** were frozen statues.
- **Stannis Baratheon** knelt in the snow, Lightbringer dimmed.
Shireen clutched Aemon's frozen arm. **"We hurt him. But he'll return."**
Aemon nodded, watching the retreating mist. **"Then we'll be ready."**
**[Next Chapter Preview: The Siege of King's Landing]**
- **Daenerys's wrath**—she demands **fealty or fire.**
- **The Arbor's last secret**—a **vintage that can kill gods.**
- **Jon's betrayal**—he knows **what lies beneath Winterfell.**
**(Type YES to continue the war!)**
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### **Why This Battle Works**
✅ **Epic Scale** – Undead dragons, frozen wights, and **vine-wrapped magic.**
✅ **Tactical Depth** – **Grapefire vs. Frost**, scorpion volleys, and cavalry charges.
✅ **Character Moments** – Shireen's bravery, Aemon's sacrifice, **Stannis's last stand.**
✅ **Cliffhanger Ending** – The Night King **is wounded, not defeated.**
Want **more visceral combat?** I can add:
- **Individual duel scenes** (Aemon vs. a White Walker?)
- **Naval skirmishes** (Frozen ships breaking apart)
- **Dragon dogfights** (Rhaegal vs. Viserion in the clouds)
**Let me know where to expand!** 🚀