Chapter 231: Discovering

  The earth getting further and further away.

  The wind in his ears became stronger and stronger, and the branches were like arms grabbing Samwell.

  He closed his eyes, still being led by Cleopatra into a sea of green.

  Poof -

  among the countless green leaves splashing up, Samwell had already rushed out of the forest on his white dragon and saw the blue sky that he had not seen for a long time.

  The sun hung high in the eastern sky, huge and bright, and the endless tree crowns were like the undulating sea surface, retreating rapidly under his feet.

  Samwell opened his arms to embrace the whistling wind, and couldn't help laughing heartily.

  Cleopatra felt her master's mood and neighed with excitement.

  This is his first time riding his dragon, and also his first time flying into the sky in this world.

  It feels really good.

  Samwell hugged the white dragon's slender neck tightly, trying to control it to fly according to his own will.

  It wasn't easy, as Cleopatra could only understand a few commands, and Samwell repeatedly failed when he tried to give directions by poking the white dragon's head.

  Then he tried to convey his will by changing the centre of gravity of his body or touching the white dragon's flank with his feet. With constant attempts and adjustments, the tacit understanding between one person and one dragon gradually increased.

  Samwell also finally experienced the joy of riding a dragon.

  But before he could fully enjoy this kind of fun, Cleopatra didn't have much strength anymore and started to flutter her wings and start to descend.

  Poof -

  the two of them rushed into the forest again.

  A large group of wild horses appeared below. When they saw the white dragon, they instinctively turned around and ran away.

  But the dark shadow falling from the sky still shrouded them. A wild horse was so frightened that it lost its front hooves and rolled to the ground.

  The next second, the dragon flames devoured the poor animal.

  Cleopatra also landed next to the cooked horse carcass.

  Samwell jumped off the white dragon's back, rubbing his legs.

  The weeds on the ground were still burning, and the air was filled with the smell of thick smoke and burnt horse hair.

Fortunately, he and the dragon were immune to smoke and fire, so they started to enjoy lunch.

  Samwell tore off several pieces of smoking meat from the horse's carcass with his bare hands and bit into them.

  After filling his stomach and regaining some strength, Samwell mounted the white dragon again and was about to return to find the Reach army.

  But just then, he heard the faint sound of horse hooves coming from the north.

  Samwell controlled the white dragon to fly over and saw that the forest in front of him was suddenly torn open with a narrow blue gap.

  Wendwater River?

  Samwell was not familiar with the geography of this area, but he also knew that the longest and largest river in the Kingswood was the Wendwater River, which flowed into Blackwater Bay from south to north.

  At this time, there were two cavalrymen drinking their horses by the river.

  Samwell didn't pay attention at first, thinking it was a Sentinel Rider from the Stormlands, but when he saw the opponent's red-on-gold lion banner, he realized that it was actually a member of the Lannister family.

  The Lannister family actually sent troops to support the Stormlands?

  Samwell was immediately alert.

  But then, he felt that he was worrying too much.

  Now that the main army of the Lannister family is confronting the Northern Alliance led by Duke Eddard Stark, how can it be possible to divide its troops and go south to support the Stormlands?

  Even if they come, it will probably be a small force.

  So, he didn't pay attention and just directed Cleopatra to dive over.

  The sound of wind stirred up by the white dragon's huge wings attracted the attention of the two cavalrymen.

  When they saw the situation in the sky clearly, they were so frightened that they frantically mounted their horses and fled.

  Samwell chased with Cleopatra leisurely in the air without letting the white dragon breathe fire as if he was deliberately teasing the prey, or maybe he wanted to see where the two of them could take him...

  The two poor Western Cavalrymen were sweating profusely at this moment.

The terrifying flying beasts that followed them in the sky made them highly nervous.

They also tried to take out their bows and arrows to fight back, but the white dragon was three to four hundred feet away from the ground. Even if the arrows hit, It was already weak, and coupled with the strong dragon scale protection, it was impossible to break through the defence.

  In desperation, the two cavalrymen could only flee.

  But after running desperately, their horses stopped and began to foam from the mouth.

  Finally, with a loud roar from the white dragon, the two exhausted horses fell to the ground and threw away the cavalry on their backs.

  Samwell controlled the white dragon to land.

  "Are you from King's Landing?" To reduce the burden on the white dragon, Samwell deliberately did not bring heavy weapons, so he pulled out the short knife at his waist and walked slowly towards the two Western Cavalry.

  The two Westlanders did not answer, but almost simultaneously drew their swords and rushed towards Samwell.

  Samwell was not afraid at all, he just saw the right moment, suddenly accelerated, and almost ran into the arms of a Western Cavalry.

The short knife in his hand accurately stabbed the gap between the opponent's breastplate and armplate and chopped off his right arm.

  The shrill screams stirred up the flying birds.

  Another Western Cavalryman was startled by the howl of his companion, but before he could react, his sword flew away, and then a huge force came from behind, smashing him into the mud.

  Samwell calmly disarmed the two men and began to press for information.

  At first, the Westlanders refused to answer, but when Samwell began to cut his fingers, the two heroes who would rather die than surrender became honest.

  However, the information he received made Samwell frown.

  The Lannister family actually sent troops to help the Stormlands, and there were many troops, nearly 60,000 in total.

  Where did they get so many soldiers?

  Samwell's first reaction was that the two prisoners were deceiving him, so he cut off a few more fingers.

  Those Westerlaners cried and explained that it turned out that Kevan Lannister had temporarily recruited 50,000 new soldiers from King's Landing.

They were not trained, seriously lacked weapons and equipment, and their combat effectiveness was extremely low.

Coupled with the five thousand troops gathered by the royal nobles, this seemingly huge army was formed.

  Only then did Samwell felt a little more reasonable.

  But he would definitely not believe the prisoners' words easily, and he was not in a hurry to go back and join the army. So, he rode the white dragon and headed north along the Wendwater River.

  He wanted to confirm with his own eyes how many troops the Lannister family had sent.

  ——————————

  On the King's Road, Kevan Lannister stopped his horse and took a few sips of water.

  "Is the Wendwater River ahead?"

  "Yes, sir. After crossing the river, Bronzegate City is not far away."

  "It's not far, but at this marching speed, I'm afraid it will take several days." Kevan looked back at the chaotic march and frowned.

  Although he didn't have high expectations for this temporarily recruited army, only now did he discover how difficult it is for such an army to travel a long distance.

  If we were to replace him with a commander who didn't have much experience or prestige, I'm afraid half of the 50,000 recruits would be lost when walking from King's Landing to Bronzegate City.

  Kevan had tried his best to maintain this army along the way, and finally, the situation was still within an acceptable range, but what he was most worried about was another thing.

  "Where are the Reach army now?"

  "Almost to Felwood City."

  "So fast!" Kevan was horrified, "Didn't the Stormlanders boast that they would make the Kingswood the tomb of the Reach soldiers? How come they people almost there ?"

  "A lot of Stormland light cavalry have been dispatched, but according to them, the commander of this Reach army is Randyll Tarly, and he has a good way of dealing with harassment, so they have not been able to delay the speed of the Reach army. However, the goal of the Reach army should be Felwood City, so we still have plenty of time."

  Kevan was not comforted. His biggest worry was that he would encounter the Reach army halfway. This force came from King's Landing.

The conscripted "army" is simply vulnerable in the wild.

  "Tell Earl Fell that no matter what, he must should drag the Reach army under Felwood City for at least a week." "

  "Yes, sir."

  The Squire left in response.

  Kevan urged his horse and continued to move forward for a while, then he saw the sparkling Wendwater River.

  Just when he was about to reorganize his army and arrange to cross the river, he suddenly heard the knight beside him exclaim:

"Dragon!"

  "Dragon?" Kevan was stunned for a moment and looked up in surprise.

  The next second, his pupils shrank like needlepoints.

  "Crossbowmen, shoot, shoot!" Kevan shouted.

  But after shouting, Kevan realized his stupidity.

  Where did the crossbowmen come from in this "army" behind him?

  This is not a powerful army of the Western Region, but a belly-crushing army.

  There were some crossbowmen in the five thousand army of the royal nobles, but they were all assigned by him to maintain military discipline. However, the crossbowmen did not form a large scale and could not have any suppressive effect at all.

  "Escape into the forest! Escape into the forest!" Kevan decisively issued a new order.

  The soldiers finally woke up from the shock and quickly rushed into the woods on both sides.

  Kevan also led his frightened horse and hid under a tall cypress tree.

  "It's Caesar from Eagle Island!" the knight beside him said in a tone of fear mixed with resentment.

  Kevan didn't speak, he just stared at the man and the dragon hovering in the sky, his mood was extremely bad.

  Fortunately, the white dragon was just hovering in the air and did not swoop down to attack. It must have been worried about an ambush below, and the army hiding in the forest was indeed difficult to hunt.

This young dragon did not have the ability to burn down the forest.

  "Wasn't that dragon just hatched a few months ago? Why has it grown so big?" Someone else asked.

  "You've never raised a dragon, how do you know how fast it grows?"

  "Idiot, don't you know how to read a book even if you haven't raised a dragon before? The dragons of the Targaryen family usually take about ten years to grow before they can be ridden."

  " Is it the book by Maester Basho? That guy is a liar in my opinion!"

  ...

  "Shut up!" Kevan, who was in a bad mood, shouted impatiently.

  He summoned his followers and said in a hurried tone:

  "Immediately send people to Felwood City, Bronzegate City, and Haystack Hall to tell them that the Reach has discovered my army. If they don't want this support army to be defeated halfway, they must do whatever it takes to hold off the Reach army for at least five days!"

  "Yes, my lord."

  After the Squire left, Kevan looked up gloomily and saw the white dragon passing over, and finally heading south.

  It soon disappeared, leaving only the echoing roar of the dragon and the faint smell of sulfur.

   [END]