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By the ti Jimmy ca riding back on Horus, the army on the ground was already in full collapse.
This ti it wasn't just one dragon. It was all three, plus Horus. The destruction was far greater than before, when only Rhaegal had been in the fight.
Daenerys watched Horus with a complicated look in her eyes.
Under normal circumstances, she could only safely bring one dragon into battle, the one she personally rode.
As for Drogon and Viserion, she usually couldn't risk unleashing them freely.
It was a little embarrassing, really. Daenerys had three dragons, but she could only fully control the one beneath her.
Once the other two got caught up in the bloodlust, they stopped caring who was ally and who was enemy.
This ti, Horus had gone toe-to-toe with all three of them by himself and scared them into line. There were still bloody claw marks across Drogon's and Viserion's backs from where Horus had raked them.
Of course, no one could climb onto a dragon's back in the middle of battle anyway, so a few claw wounds were hardly a serious problem.
And because of that, all three dragons had joined the attack together.
With a roar, Rhaegal dove toward a cluster of Lannister soldiers huddled beneath raised shields.
Then—
A heavy bolt shot through the air and slamd into Rhaegal's side.
The dragon cried out in pain, wings beating desperately as he fell hard to the ground.
Horus answered with a blast of fire, incinerating the scorpion that had fired it.
Jimmy pointed down.
"Go. Burn every one of those siege bolts."
Then he jumped from Horus's back.
Daenerys leapt from Rhaegal as well, reaching for the massive bolt lodged in his flesh. Above them, Drogon and Viserion circled restlessly, roaring in agitation.
At that mont, not far away, Jai ca charging straight at Daenerys with a spear in hand.
Rhaegal turned his head toward him and unleashed dragonfire.
…
Jimmy hit the ground running.
With his horse-cleaver in hand, he cut through anything in his path and charged straight toward Rhaegal.
The wounded dragon was already in a savage mood. Seeing Jimmy rushing at him, he opened his jaws and blasted him with fire.
"Rhaegal, no!" Daenerys shouted.
But could that fire actually hurt Jimmy?
Not even close.
Even now, with his damaged fla constitution, it barely mattered. And even without it, Smaug's dragonfire hadn't killed him back then, so Rhaegal had no chance.
"Shut it."
Jimmy ran straight through the flas and smashed his fist into Rhaegal's snout.
The huge dragon yelped so pitifully it almost sounded like a kicked hound. Tears stread from his eyes.
Daenerys was stunned.
He had run through dragonfire and punched Rhaegal in the face.
Was he unburnt too?
"You ungrateful bastard," Jimmy snapped, pulling off his helt. "I ca to help you, and you roast for it?"
Every hair on his head and face was gone. His eyebrows had been burned clean off.
He moved to Rhaegal's side, grabbed the giant bolt, and first hacked off the barbed head with his blade. Then he pulled the shaft free and removed the broken tip separately.
Working with practiced ease, he stitched the wound shut with gut thread, then pressed a bandage soaked in Blood Orchid extract against the injury and sealed it in place with dical tape.
These scales aren't even close to Smaug's, Jimmy thought with open disdain as he patted the dragon a couple of tis.
Then he turned to Daenerys.
"Your Grace, maybe switch dragons for now. Rhaegal doesn't look like he'll be carrying anyone again anyti soon."
"Alright," Daenerys said faintly.
She still looked dazed, unable to get past the image of Jimmy charging through dragonfire like it was nothing.
Jimmy shot Rhaegal one last hard glare, pulled his helt back on, and turned to head up the slope.
…
When he reached Tyrion, he clapped him on the shoulder.
"Relax, Jai's alive. I kept an eye on him."
He shook his head.
"Still, the man's a fool. Charging a dragon with nothing but a spear. Brave, I'll give him that."
Nearby, one of the Dothraki khals was staring intently at Mag and Wangwang in their armor. n that massive should have inspired fear, but instead they only seed to excite him.
Under Jimmy's watch, Mag and Wangwang ignored the challenge. Otherwise, those looks alone would have gotten a man driven straight into the ground.
"Hey. You there. Stop staring at my guards like that."
Jimmy decided it was ti to remind them that not everyone in Westeros was soft.
The khal barked sothing back.
Jimmy did not understand a word of it. Varys, standing nearby, translated.
"The Dothraki believe that any man who wears armor is a coward."
The mont Jimmy heard that, he started stripping off his armor and handed it to Jon.
"Spider, tell him that even holding a piece of iron would be unfair to him."
For reasons known only to himself, Varys actually translated it.
The two n stepped forward.
Several Dothraki erupted into cheers.
Without the armor, Jimmy looked almost ridiculous. Bare to the waist, wearing little more than trousers.
The khal spun his curved blade and even made a show of letting Jimmy strike first.
Jimmy only lifted his little finger and crooked it at him.
That was enough.
The man's eyes went red with fury and he rushed forward with a howl.
…
By the ti Daenerys ca over after the battle on the far side had ended, Jimmy had already dropped more than twenty Dothraki.
It did not matter how skilled they were, whether mounted or fighting on foot. Jimmy put every one of them down with a single punch.
They had no answer for him at all.
"Khal."
"Khal. Khal. Khal."
The chant spread among them.
Jimmy raised a hand.
"I am not your khal. She is."
He pointed toward Daenerys.
"I'm just a man from Westeros who happens to wear armor."
Then he looked back at them.
"Follow her, and when you die, you'll return to the stars."
Having made his point, Jimmy put his armor back on. He had no interest in strutting around half-naked.
…
"Your Grace, once I return, I'll send our fleet to support you. And I hope you'll co north before long."
Jimmy stood aboard the ship, calling out to Daenerys from the deck.
"I don't think it will be long before we et again," Daenerys replied.
Her gaze was complicated.
She had taken Jimmy's immunity to dragonfire as a sign of Targaryen blood.
And honestly, it was hard to bla her. In all of Westeros, there were virtually no people who could walk through fla unhard. Daenerys was one.
Now there was Jimmy too.
It was difficult not to think there had to be so connection.
…
Jimmy gave Tyrion a pat on the shoulder.
"Don't sulk. As Hand in the North, you can at least make sure Casterly Rock stays in Lannister hands."
He glanced off toward the sea.
"With what your sister's done, how is she any different from the Mad King. She blew up the Great Sept and lashes out at anyone and everyone out of sheer spite."
"If she ends up ruling the Seven Kingdoms, how many people do you think will still be alive by the end of it."
Tyrion let out a long breath.
"Knowing sothing is one thing. Accepting it is another."
He lowered his eyes.
"After this war with the White Walkers is over, I think I'll step down as Hand."
"Fair enough," Jimmy said. "That's your choice."
…
When they returned to Winterfell, they brought back news that was neither good nor bad.
Theon and Asha's fleet numbered fewer than two hundred ships, but since they now stood with Daenerys, Queen of Three Dragons, that alone changed everything. As long as she was aboard, it would hardly matter how many enemies their ships t. The dragons could burn any fleet they faced.
As for whether the Greyjoys might break away again and try to carve out a kingdom of their own, that seed unlikely.
Once n had seen dragons with their own eyes, they tended to lose any appetite for rebellion until they found a way to deal with them.
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