The golden cavalry rode through the woods, golden banners streaming in the wind. The horses pressed forward bravely, hooves clattering.
Banners blotted out the sun, armor shone brilliantly, and a forest of Longspears and steel armor moved swiftly onward.
The knights of the Storm were young, strong, bold, and confident.
Most wore black or silver-plated armor, with golden robes over their shoulders.
Gendry led a company of light cavalry and the black dragon Balerion out from Dragonstone. They landed at Sharp Point, then rode straight for Storm's End.
Ser Guyard Morrigen and Ser Rolland Storm served as the company's royal standard-bearers, carrying Gendry's golden quartered banner, where the stag and dragon seemed to roar against the sky.
Gendry rode a coal-black steed that matched his black hair. On horseback, he looked tall, vigorous, and graceful, as if he and his mount had become a centaur.
Gendry wore black scale plate armor, with a golden robe fluttering from his shoulders, flashing like sunlight.
At his sword belt hung the famed blade Orphan-Maker, along with two daggers. A huge shield also hung from his horse, bearing the quartered arms.
"Long live the Storm!"
Hunters in the Kingswood cheered for the King's company as well. They were glad to see the Ironborn defeated.
Moreover, the King had granted the hunters the privilege of killing several deer and had given them some clothing, a rare act of good rule.
The overland road to Storm's End was faster, especially with autumn storms frequent at sea.
Gendry breathed in the fresh air, the smell of grass and trees, of earth, of dampness.
Though only Cape Wrath and the Red Mountains separated them, the Stormlands and Dorne seemed like two extremes. Storms had always rarely struck Dorne.
One had abundant rain, the other parched land for a thousand miles. Some died of drought, some of flood.
Some septons believed this was caused by the first Storm King, Durran Godsgrief, who stole away the daughter of the Sea God and the Goddess of the Wind, and so earned their eternal enmity.
Some maesters preferred an explanation of wind and moisture, believing that the great storms formed over the Summer Sea gathered more and more humidity as they traveled north, until they crashed fiercely into Cape Wrath.
"Your Grace, Storm's End is ahead," said Ser Justin Massey, somewhat plump, who had once been King Robert's squire.
Later, like the King, he had grown swollen and given himself to wine and women. Still, he was quite amusing.
Across fields dampened by fine rain, rocky rugged hills, and dense forests, no one could miss Storm's End standing beneath the vast sky, so enormous that it completely covered the great sea behind it.
"Only stone can stand against storm." Gendry looked at the distant towering fist of wrath, the pale gray fortress.
"Storm's End is one of the strongest castles in the Seven Kingdoms," Gendry thought, the legendary siege-enduring king among the castles of Westeros.
History recorded that during the Andal invasion, the Andals had surrounded or stormed mighty Storm's End seven times, and failed seven times. It was like the will of the gods, and so the Andals ceased their attacks on Storm's End.
The most recent time was when Great Lord Mace Tyrell led the army of The Reach to besiege it for a full year, only to fail in the end.
Another reason Storm's End was often besieged was that its territory was narrow and long, with little strategic depth. Together with its relatively small population, this led naturally to a turtle-shell defense.
But what Gendry most hoped to obtain was Storm's End's runes.
To deal with Crow's Eye, Gendry had to find the third rune within Storm's End.
"Roar."
A small black dot appeared in the sky, then slowly began to grow larger.
The black dragon Balerion circled in the sky, then wheeled above Gendry's head.
"What a wonder." The farther he rode, the more Gendry felt the vast immensity of Storm's End.
Storm's End's outer wall was a hundred feet high, and its thickness was just as astonishing. The great stones fit together with exquisite precision, rounded into one seamless whole, curved and smooth, without angles or gaps, impervious to wind and rain.
Storm's End stood on the towering cliffs of Durran's Point, looking south across the raging waters and treacherous reefs of Shipbreaker Bay, facing Cape Wrath across the sea.
West of Storm's End, beyond the wide waters, lay Tarth, the Sapphire Isle.
The gates of Storm's End opened to the arrivals, and beneath the castle, a neat group of knights in black armor appeared, advancing slowly.
"Storm's End is at your command, Your Grace." Ser Cortnay Penrose dismounted and knelt. He was the High Steward of the Stormlands and the temporary castellan of Storm's End, now serving directly under the King on the Iron Throne.
Lord Elwood Meadows served as his deputy, while Maester Jurne served as healer and counselor.
Besides these stewards of the Stormlands, several lords of the Marches and Cape Wrath had already been waiting here.
Gendry helped Ser Cortnay up. "You have worked hard, Ser."
"May the old and new gods bless you, Your Grace. Smash those bastards," Lord Elwood Meadows said. News of the Ironborn rampage had brought outrage, especially since The Reach and the Ironborn had a blood feud as well. He was a young man, only twenty.
Grassy Vale was the seat of House Meadows of The Reach. It lay beside the Blueburn, but near the Stormlands.
Balerion roared above Storm's End, and the dragon's cry made the horses tremble.
Lord Meadows looked upon the dragon in awe. The last time a dragon had raged at Storm's End had been at the beginning of the Dance of the Dragons, when old Vhagar killed the young dragon and his kin, Prince Lucerys. From then on, the world called one-eyed Aemond a kinslayer.
Gendry entered Storm's End, the ancient famed castle of House Baratheon, and further back, House Durrandon.
Storm's End's outer wall was a wonder of tremendous thickness, forty feet at its narrowest and eighty feet on the seaward side. The wall was made of inner and outer layers of huge stones, packed between with sand and broken rock.
"It's a dragon."
"It's a dragon!"
The soldiers patrolling Storm's End's heavy outer wall gripped their spears tightly and looked fearfully at the dragon in the sky, its roar sending shivers through them.
Storm's End had only one gigantic drum tower, with no windows on the seaward side. That one tower held the castle's granary, barracks, feast hall, and noble residences.
Gendry entered the round hall of Storm's End. Upon the dais stood the ancient throne of the Storm Kings.
The top of the throne was still decorated with a stag, two branching golden antlers spreading outward.
Golden banners also hung on either side of the throne. One bore the ancient emblem of the Storm Kings, a crowned black stag leaping on gold. The other bore Gendry's quartered arms on gold.
The black dragon Balerion landed first in the castle courtyard, and his roar seemed able to shake the ancient fortress.
"So this is a dragon," Lord Meadows said. Though the black dragon lay coiled in the courtyard, the scent of blood and fire could not be forgotten.
The round hall of Storm's End was filled with laughter, the scent of ale, roast meat, and baked bread.
At Storm's End, Gendry first treated the lords of the Stormlands with courtesy. Feasts, a small tournament, and a hunt, all gestures meant to bring them closer.
The Stormlands did not have many people, but they were fierce and good fighters.
King Robert and Ser Barristan, for example. Or Fletcher Dick, and now Anguy.
The lords of Cape Wrath, the lords of the Marches, and the lords of the Kingswood raised their cups together.
Even if they had once been Renly's lords, they had been Robert's men first, and Baratheon men.
"May the old and new gods bless King Gendry, and bless the Storm," Ser Penrose said.
"Drink. May this fortune go on without end."
"Without end." Ser Justin also raised his horn cup.
The cups struck together with a clear ring, followed by laughter and merriment.
Men's friendship came from joy, wine, and valor. This too was a talent for inspiring loyalty, even in enemies.
Just like King Robert. After Summerhall, Robert captured Lord Grandison and Lord Cafferen alive, but he did not burn them. Instead, he drank and feasted with them.
King Robert hung their banners in the hall as trophies: Cafferen's white stag banner stained with blood, and Grandison's sleeping lion banner.
In the end, both yielded to the King's charm.
...
Storm's End, this mighty fortress, had stood by the sea for thousands of years. Balerion circled in the air, then descended again. After finishing his hunt over the nearby sea, he returned to the courtyard of Storm's End.
The stars in the night were like scattered points. Gendry was in an ancient chamber, the lord's chamber of Storm's End.
Though Balerion could land at Storm's End, using magic within Storm's End seemed to meet some kind of obstruction.
The dragon seemed to greatly dislike breathing fire at Storm's End, just as Silverwing of the Good Queen had refused to pass beyond The Wall.
Gendry felt that suppression as well. Even the fire element in the brazier seemed frozen in place, blocked by an invisible net.
"Is there truly a magical net here?" Gendry thought. Legend said the castle was filled with magic. He simply did not know whether that magic came from the Children of the Forest, or from the young boy who would one day become Brandon the Builder.
"Bloodline. The ancient bloodline of Durran is the key to opening Storm's End."
"Rune: Bronze Shield."
"Rune: Chain."
"Rune: Stubborn Stone."
Gendry's blood and fire slowly condensed. If he did not possess the Blood of the Storm, he would not have been able to summon flame inside Storm's End at all.
Even if he could summon it, it would only be a little, a tiny spark.
But fortunately, the third rune of Storm's End appeared.
The rune was a round, pale gray stone, seamless and whole.
It was the same color as Storm's End, with all kinds of ancient runes carved upon it.
Though the light of magic was bright, stone was the oldest and firmest existence.
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