Chapter 222: King of the Iron Islands
When Asha Greyjoy found her uncle Aeron"The Damphair " Greyjoy, he was seen drowning a boy on the seashore.
The drowned boy's faith was not strong enough as he struggled desperately in the water, but his head was firmly held down by Aeron .
"Be brave!" Aeron shouted. "We come from the sea, and we will return to the sea! Open your mouth and drink the blessings of the gods. Let the sea water fill your lungs. The dead will not die, but will rise again!"
However, the drowned boy was still struggling; this was his instinct to survive.
Asha also comes to help Aeron .
Finally, the boy stopped struggling, and no more bubbles came out of his mouth.
Only then did Aeron and his niece Asha dragged the boy's body back to the beach.
They then began to pray while Aeron straddled the boy's body, squeezing his chest hard, and leaning over to give him the kiss of life from time to time.
Kiss after kiss until the boy started breathing again, coughing, and vomiting.
"Another reborn person! This is proof of the Drowned God's favor!" Aeron declared loudly.
He put a gray, blue, and green robe on the drowned boy, handed over a driftwood stick, and said, "From now on, you belong to the sea and to the Drowned God. He will protect you and you can cut through the waves without fear !"
There was still fear in the young man's eyes, but more of it was fanaticism and piety.
He raised his driftwood stick high and shouted, "What Is Dead May Never Die!"
The ceremony ended, and Aeron sent the young man away .
He turned around , looked at his niece and asked:
"Are you here to be drowned?"
Asha shook her head quickly. "I have already been drowned."
"There is no limit to the number of times you can be drowned. Every death is a return to the embrace of the Drowned God, an opportunity. And when you return from His water palace, you will be stronger and more pious,"
Aeron's eyes flashed with eagerness. "How about it? Do you want to do it again? The drowning ceremony I presided over has never failed."
Indeed, other priests of the Drowned God would have failed, but not Aeron the Damphair.
However, Asha still refused to take risks. Every time she recalled the scene when she was drowned, she would still feel piercing fear.
No matter how devout a believer in the Drowned God is, it is difficult for him to have the courage to do it again.
That's why "Three Drowned Man" Tarle became a legend.
Asha changed the subject: "I'm here to tell you that my father called everyone to gather in the Grey King's Hall."
Aeron frowned, seeming to understand something.
Ten years ago, his eldest brother Balon Greyjoy was crowned King of the Iron Islands in the Grey King's Hall.
But unfortunately, the Iron Throne soon sent troops to attack, completely suppressing King Balon's ambitions, killing his two sons, and taking the last son away as a Stark family hostage.
"Are you going to do it again?" There was undisguised doubt in Aeron's tone.
"Don't worry, uncle. The Iron Throne can't take care of us this time,"
Asha comforted with a smile. "There are already two kings in the Green Land, and they have to decide who's the king."
"Perhaps by then, we will have grabbed enough money and food, and occupied enough castles. Let's go, Uncle. If you have anything to say, you can tell my father directly. I have to notify other people.
Goodbye."
After saying that, she ran away quickly, for fear that her uncle would drown her again.
Aeron sighed with some disappointment and got on the longship alone.
When he arrived at Old Wake Island, he saw countless longships lined up on the beach, stretching to the limit of his vision.
Balon Greyjoy's battleship, the "Ocean Troll," stood proudly among them, like a king.
Parked next to it was the Iron Fleet flagship, the "Invincible Ironbred."
Aeron saw his brother Victarion Greyjoy beside the battleship.
Victarion is the third eldest Greyjoy of this generation.
He is tall and mighty. wearing a sea monster iron helmet on his head, wearing heavy armor, and holding a huge ax.
He seems ready to fight at any time.
"Brother," Aeron stepped forward to say hello, "What Is Dead May Never Die."
"It will rise again, even more violently," Victarion took off his helmet and knelt on the beach with one knee.
Aeron took out the water bag from his arms and poured the salt water over Victarion's head.
After the two prayed, they walked side by side to the shore.
The terrain gradually rose and became steeper.
On the mountain, forty-four huge stone ribs protrude from the ground, like huge white tree trunks.
Seeing them, the two brothers couldn't help but feel their hearts beat faster.
These are the remains of the legendary Naga.
Naga is the world's first sea dragon and the most terrifying creature born in the sea. It feeds on sea monsters and sea beasts, and even swallows entire islands when it is angry.
Until the Grey King killed it with his own hands, the Drowned God turned its bones into fossils so that future generations of ironmen would always remember the Grey King's achievements.
Naga's ribs became the beams and pillars of the Grey King's hall, and his mouth became the Grey King's throne.
Nine broad steps lead to the top of the stone mountain, and their brother, the current patriarch of the Greyjoy family - "The Brave" Balon, stood there, next to the throne of the Grey King, the Sea Stone Seat.
Aeron and Victarion stepped forward and saluted their brother: "What Is Dead May Never Die."
"It will rise again, even more powerfully," Balon nodded in return.
"Brother, have you made your decision?" Aeron's tone was filled with worry.
"It's time, brother! Let us take back everything we have lost!" Victarion is always a fanatical supporter of his brother.
"Yes. The time has come."
Balon's eyes were firm, and he spoke the Greyjoy family's motto, "We Do Not Sow.
How can the Ironborn be like the sheep of the Green Land? Farming and fishing ? , the blood of killing flows in our bodies. We are born plunderers. We will re-pursue the glorious 'ancient road' and bring fear and destruction to the continent of Westeros!"
Victarion was so excited by his brother's words that he let out strange screams.
Aeron asked calmly: "Then where is the target of our plunder? There are two kings in the Green Land now. We'd better not offend both of them."
"Northern Territory," Balon said. It seemed that he had a plan.
"Northern Territory?" Aeron frowned again when he heard this. "Brother, but Theon is still working as a hostage in the Stark family."
Balon responded coldly: "Aeron, what will you do if someone force you to kneel down?"
Aeron understood: "I will let my knee be crushed, and I will chop off his head with a knife!"
"That's right!" Balon said in a cold tone, "Eddard Stark thought that by using this as a threat, he could make us his slaves. But I would rather lose all my sons than chop off his head!"
"Cut off the heads of the Northerners!" Victarion shouted, holding his ax high.
Balon nodded slightly and said to his brother: "It's time to send the call."
Aeron walked down the hill and began to beat the driftwood stick.
More and more ironborn joined in, and the beating sound began to become uniform and breathtaking.
Boom boom boom boom boom –
Victarion blew his horn from the top of the mountain.
Wuwuwuwuwu--
The ironmen left the longship, left the beach, left the bonfire, and gathered in the Grey King's Hall.
Among them were captains, helmsmen, oarsmen, shipbuilders, warriors with axes, fishermen with fishing nets, slave workers, salt women's , knights, singers, and maesters who had been assimilated by the green land. The crowd surged in, like a colony of ants returning to their nest, like hundreds of crows following the smell of blood, about to start a gluttonous feast on the corpse of a man named Westeros.
They were so densely packed that they covered the sky and the sun.
Aeron "Damphair" raised his hands, letting the hammering and horns fall silent.
Everyone stopped talking, and there was only the roar of the waves in the world.
"We come from the sea, and we will eventually return to the sea!"
Aeron's voice echoed among Naga's remains. "The great Drowned God has issued a call! And my brother has answered the call! He is the brave Balon, and he is the god-blessed Balon, he is the Balon who has dedicated everything to restoring the ancient ways! Cheer and use your cheers to welcome the birth of the new King of the Iron Islands!"
"Balon! Balon! Balon!"
The crowd cheered enthusiastically, echoing the sound of waves, resounding over the island.
Wearing a cloak embroidered with a golden sea monster emblem, Balon Greyjoy came to the Seastone Seat and accepted the driftwood crown placed on his head by his brother Aeron.
"Ten years ago, we tried to restore the ancient road, but the Iron Throne killed our ambitions and forced us to work like slaves!"
Balon's voice suppressed the shouts from the bottom of the mountain. "But our pursuit of the ancient road will never stop! Today we rise again, and we will take back everything we lost with our own hands! What Is dead may never die, and they will rise again with greater force!"
"What Is dead may never die!"
"What Is dead may never die!"
"What Is dead may never die!"
The ironborn's cheers were like thunder that shook the Naga Hills.
The fanatical air current swept up, as if the power of the storm god drove away the dark clouds in the sky.
Under the eyes of everyone, Balon Greyjoy finally sat on the Seastone Seat again.
At this moment, the sea seemed to feel the birth of a new king, and the turbulent tide started and swept eastward.
They will bring the anger and cruelty that has been suppressed in the Iron Islands for ten years, sweep through the green lands, destroy the Seven Septs, uproot the Weirwood flowing with blood, flood the strong castles, and bring death and destruction.
[END]