Gryff

"Dammit Harry, we can't stay here!" Jon shouted at his captain in the cellars of the Red Keep, surrounded by dozens of dragon skulls. The only light in the darkness came from two torches they had each brought. "If we can't go back to Essos, we should join the fight in the North! No matter who the victor is, we'll lose if we stay here."

"We are providing the North with the dragonglass and we gave them Jaime Lannister and the egg. As long as we remain in the city, the Targaryens won't use their dragons against us. Their love for the people is too great to risk so much innocent death. And even if they do, they'll find the city riddled with a hundreds of scorpions to shoot them out of the sky." Harry was forever adamant on remaining loyal to Cersei. He was not going to let the Golden Company break its largest contract.

But for Jon it wasn't about the gold anymore, or his loyalty to the Targaryens, it was just about surviving. "And what if Cersei decides to blow up the city? Are we to die in it with every other beggar and highborn shit?"

"We're mercenaries, we're paid to fight and die." Nothing was ever simpler than that.

"Agh!" Jon wanted to punch him as hard as he could, or anything for that matter, but he controlled himself to contain his rage. He felt like he was the only one with common sense. It wasn't even just the Wildfire that was going to kill them now, but also starvation, riots, and sickness. The food stores only have two days of food left in them, and once there was no more food the citizens would begin to kill each other for whatever they could get to eat, and once dead bodies begin to pile up in the streets the rooting flesh will give birth to disease and plagues.

"You doubt we can win?" There was no question of doubt, it was an undeniable truth. Aegon the Conqueor had nowhere near the numbers the King and Queen had and won.

"If we continue to just sit here and do nothing, then we won't even be alive when they get here! Once we're out of food, then what? We eat dirt? We all might as well be as Mad as the Queen is!"

"I'm surprised to hear this coming from a man who fought for the Mad King before his exile."

"I fought for Rhaegar, not Aerys. I would never fight for Aerys, and I won't fight for a woman who's feasting on wine while her people hunger."

"My old friend, do you really think the Queen would let us all starve?"

"She's willing to burn us alive, so I yes I do."

"Tell me, where does the most food for the winter come from?"

"The Reach of course." There was also the Riverlands, but they only gave out half of what the Reach was able to.

"And where are the armies to protect their grain now?"

It then hit Jon in a wave. Cersei was going to let the armies go all along. Now that there was no one to protect the food or the people, it wouldn't be hard or take very long. The only lives that would be lost were the innocent ones. "It doesn't matter, even without their dragons and if they lost half of their forces, they'll outnumber us four to one."

"Not for long. The Westerlands won't continue to serve under the Targaryens and Dorne is planning on staying out of the war after the fight with the dead."

"Well wonderful, now it will only be three to one."

"We'll have the elephants. They're just as tall as their giants but far more dangerous. The Dothraki and their horses won't stand a chance against them. And we'll have some reinforcements."

"Reinforcements? What do mean?"

"Do you really think Euron Greyjoy tucked tale and ran away? He's bringing with him a fleet of pirates to destroy the Ironfleet at sea. He only lost to his nephew on land, but he is the storm of the ocean."

"That doesn't change at all that he lost the support of the Ironborn. It will be nine hundred ships against… three hundred, at the most? Euron may be a better captain, but he can't defeat the Ironfleet. If the Targaryens don't use their dragons to attack the city, they'll attack his fleet of pirates and sink them as fast as they did at Pyke."

"Enough," Harry grabbed Jon by his collar and pulled him close, "I would have us all return home if I could. I would kill the Queen myself if she dared to use the Wildfire while we're in its path of death. I would stop at nothing to avenge my men." Harry was an honorable man and never turned on any of his employers, but if Cersei allowed his men to die by her hand, then the contract between them would be broken and he would have nothing stopping him from killing her. "I will not become a turncloak to my contractor. I would let the whole world call me coward if it meant saving you, but I will not stoop to her level and kill those I have sworn to ally with." Harry let go of Jon's collar and placed his fingers on a pin with three skulls that was over Jon's breast. He felt it lightly before yanking it off and tossing it away. It disappeared into the darkness and the only thing left of it was a small ringing it made when it landed in the dirt somewhere. "If you want to fight with the dragons so much, then so be it. But if I see you in the days after tomorrow, I'll kill you." Harry grabbed onto a torch that was lodged in the ground and left Jon in the cellar of the Red Keep with the dragon skulls.

Jon took a few steps back until was leaning on a large skull behind him. He sank to the ground and sat in the light, surrounded by nothing but shadows and skulls. He turned his head to gaze at the one he sat against, the sheer presence of it reminded him of Rhaegar in battle. He was unstoppable, but a peaceful hearted man, his friend, and a man who died against another's rage. Jon became filled with determination to not disgrace himself to the memory of his friend. He would fight for his son and sister, and he would die for them.


In the evening alleys of Flea Bottom, Jon had hidden himself and some of the other men where hopefully no little birds would hear their whispers. Those gathered with him were only a few group of five, but all served with him in the Usurper's Rebellion. They carried no torches with them, only the light of the moon and the white of the snows in the city guided their way.

"There's not much we can do," Jon told them, "but we can still do something, if not anything. But the sure thing is, we're going north to fight with the rightful King and Queen." All of the men with him nodded, confirming their loyalty was in the same place.

Will Cole, a man with a ginger beard to match his long hair and one missing eye, sat over a wooden crate while considering their options. "All together, there's about two hundred of us remaining from the Rebellion. It will hardly be anything, but we can slip out of the city unnoticed and head North with anyone looking our way."

Rolly Duckfield, one of the younger of the men present, shook his head to the idea. "I think only Jon and a handful of others should head north. The rest of us should stay here and try to clear out the Wildifre. He's the only one Harry knows to be leaving so we'll be safe from any suspicion."

"In a city such as this," Jon said, "with over a million people, two hundred is too many who don't belong to be spotted by those damn little birds. They'll know something is happening and who knows if there are sentries below the city. We can only leave ten men behind."

"Only ten?" Rolly quietly exclaimed. "It would take years for ten men to get all of the Wildfire out from under the city."

"There's one inevitable thing we may have to accept. No matter what happens, the stores of Wildfire will be ignited." Everyone present in the alley looked grim when they heard the truth of that. "We can't save the whole city, but maybe the bits that matter." Everyone looked up to Jon with small sparks of hope in their eyes. "This city is nothing more than a jewel that crushes the weak that are forced under it. The King and Queen won't care about the jewel more than the people." Jon turned his gaze to Rolly. "You'll remain here with nine others and work as best you can to clear out the areas that belong to the people, not the powerful. Do not grow a single worry for the Red Keep. That place is nothing to them compared to the lives of their people." Rolly nodded at him, knowing his task. "The rest of us will gather the rest of exiles and leave the city, but we won't be going north just yet."

"What do you mean?" Lorimuss Mudd asked. "Where else is there to go?"

"Dorne. We'll steal some of the elephants and bring them with us to battle against the dead."

"Smart move, weaken Cersei by strengthening the Targaryens."

"But I want you and Cole to go with an escort of four others to the North as messengers to the King and Queen, informing them of our allegiance and warning them of Euron Greyjoy."

"It shall be done." Lorimuss nodded with Cole.

"Franklyn, Humphrey, you two will join me south to retrieve the elephants." The two of them nodded at the idea. "We don't have much time. I want us out of the city before dawn, otherwise we'll have to wait for the cover of darkness tomorrow and who knows if we'll last that long after now."

They all dispersed from the alley and into the night of the city, set out to fulfill their duties given by Jon. But they were unaware that no matter where they were, no whisper was safe.

The night blue of the skies was starting to brighten ever so little by the time all were gathered. While the bulk of the men were at the stables preparing the horses, Jon and those he met with along with several other men gathered under the roof. Leaving the city would be easy since The Golden Company was tasked with assisting in hunting for livestock. They all gathered around the light of a lantern and viewed a map of Westeros.

"The elephants are all located at Hellgate Hall. We'll take one hundred of them and head for Starfall. Lorimuss, Cole," The two of them met Jon's gaze, "the Dornish armies were ferried by the Ironborn. When you get to Winterfell, you need to tell them to send ships to Starfall to ferry us to Torrhen's Square. We can't bring them by land with the Reach about to be plundered by the rest of the company." They both nodded to him, understanding their duties. "The rest of us will leave the city in packs of twenty. Ride hard, and stay cautious. The snows are still light so if all goes well, we should get there in about four days' time." Jon rolled up the map and slid it in his belt. "Let's get moving."

The men gathered around all went to gather their squads and prepare them to leave, save Rolly who would see everyone off. Jon stood next to him and watched as men swiftly left out of the city, without a second look from the Gold Cloaks. "If you live through the war," Rolly said, "what do you plan to do?"

Jon had always wondered what he would do when he returned to Westeros. But when he did, everything changed when he learned that Rhaegar had a trueborn son who would rise up to be King. "I think I'll go home first. I miss my family and want to see them again." The last of the men were getting ready and Jon was the one to lead them south. He faced Rolly and gave him a brotherly embrace. "I wish you good fortunes in the wars to come."

"And to you." They let go of each other and Jon mounted his horse. He led his men past the giant doors and they were soon closed behind them. And thus began their journey out of the hell that took a city as its form and to its gates in Dorne.


The choice of using Hellgate to house the elephants was the only choice the Golden Company had. The castle was long abandoned and empty, streams of water that led to the river were not far from it and plants grew all along the banks to provide feed for the beasts, and it was south enough that on days that it snowed it would all melt before nightfall. The only concern that the men stationed there had was the smell of the Brimstone River that was carried ten miles to the castle. The waters of it stank like bad eggs and would cause the mightiest of men to be trapped on a privy for days if the drank them.

Jon had once heard a story of a merchant that was traveling to the coast on night by following a road on the side of the river. His wagon broke down and some of his goods fell into the water. He lit a torch to look for his things in the river, but a bit of the oil of the torch dripped into the water. When the flame touched the surface, the water exploded and there was nothing left expect for a broken-down wagon filled with charcoal and other minerals of earth.

Hellgate Hall was once a great fortress that was the seat for the Kings of Brimstone, but now it was an eroding mountain of rubble. The castle was carved out of a small mountain that rose from the valley and a tower out of a peak of rock next to it. The bridge that connected the two had collapsed long ago and the contents inside remained untouched. The tower served as a treasury for the castle and rumors about an armored coat of dragon scales was said to be inside, but no one cared enough to try and find out or restore the castle.

Hills of dirt and sand obscured the castle constantly as Jon and his small army grew closer to claiming what support they could for the Targaryens. Jon even planned on recruiting the last of their supporters that were at Hellgate Hall. It wouldn't be much considering only five hundred men were stationed there and only twenty would be likely to join. But every little bit would help.

The pungent odor of the Brimstone slowed the pace of the horses and the men. The smell made one want to breath deeper, as if trying to find any clean air through the stink. And despite absolutely no clouds or snow that day, the temperature was chilly and it was going to get colder as the sun was beginning to rest on the mountains in the horizon. The heat of its light burned cold that day and the sky was a red that some took as an omen of evil. It wasn't an unbelievable thing since Cersei was the one on the Iron Throne.

The Targaryen loyalists halted as they came within a mile of the castle. As they scanned through the camp just outside of the walls, Jon took notice to an importance detail as did everyone else. Franklyn Flowers rode his horse next to Jon's. "Where're the elephants?"

"I don't know." There wasn't a single one in sight. The path of their tracks could be seen around the castle and led behind the mountain of the castle. There were campfires and lights within the castle indicating that the Golden Company was still there. "Take Humphrey and all but ten of the men around the mountain and follow the tracks. If anyone asks what we're doing here, say that we've been sent to inspect the condition of the herd before they travel."

Franklyn nodded and rode over to Humphry, relaying what Jon told him. The two of them resumed the gallop towards the castle with the majority of those that followed, but steered to the tracks.

Jon took his group and went straight for the castle, but he couldn't shake the feeling he had in his heart that something was amiss.

As they got closer to the castle, a small host of men could be seen forming at the camp, most likely to greet them. Jon forgot all about the stank in the air as the rode up to the men and halted.

"Greetings," the man at the head of the group said, "we weren't expecting anyone today." He had a smug look his face that made Jon irritated to see.

"Captain Strickland wants the elephants to be checked. They'll be heading to King's Landing soon, but the Captain wants to see how well they'll fair on the lands with snow."

"Why didn't you send a raven?"

"Surprise inspection. Captain Strickland Strickland wanted to make sure the care of the elephants wasn't being neglected and it seems that he may have been right since there's not a single one in sight."

The man scoffed at Jon. "We haven't neglected anything. The herd is kept on the side of the mountain that gets the most sun. We've already had a dozen of them succumb to sickness."

"Fair enough. Where's Commander Balaq?"

"He's in the castle, we'll take you to him." Jon eyed the man for a moment before nodding to his men. They dismounted their horses and let the other men of the Golden company take the reigns. They followed the leader into the encampment and passed many men who sat outside their tents and around their fires, being merry and playfully fighting one another as if boasting of battles the fought. Jon even saw some men reenacting a merciless kill in a mocking manner.

"You all seem in high spirits tonight." Jon said.

"With the Dornish armies gone, we can finally get out of this egg smelling desert and go back to killing. But we got a taste of that already a couple of days ago with a few fools who thought they stood a chance against us."

"Well no wonder. We haven't had a single battle since we got here. Maybe you should've been the ones to send a raven so we could've joined you." The leader chuckled a bit as they entered into through the gates of Hellgate Hall. Inside, the men weren't as joyful as the men outside. They looked more serious and battle hardened. "What's with them?"

"There's fools were they ones who missed the battle." They were approached a small group of men who were cleaning their battle axes. Jon took notice of a clothe at the side of a man who was sitting down. It was stained red with blood.

'If they missed the battle, why would they have blood stained rags?' One of the men who was definitely an Essosi stood up and collided with Jon. "Watch it." Jon advised. The man turned to face Jon and looked as if Jon was his mortal enemy. He just scoffed at him and brushed the wrinkles out of his shirt. In that instant, Jon could see a part of a tattoo the man had. Two crossed axes behind the head of a feline of some kind. Before he resumed walking, Jon took another look at the man and remembered that there was another Essosi sellsword company that had a banner like that that. 'Two crossed axes behind the head of a cat. The Company of the Cat.' Jon looked around at all the other men inside the castle and realized some of them wore the armor of the Golden Company, but there was battle damage and it was recent. He halted with his men and crept his hand over the hilt of his sword. "What did you say your name was again?"

The leader of the escort turned and saw what Jon was doing a merely smiled at him. "I never did." He grinned at them before whistling to the area around them. All of the men surrounding the area got up and brandish their weapons.

"Ambush!" Jon drew his scimitar and his men drew their swords with him. The leader of the escort took a few steps back and Essosi axe wielder take his place. He raised his axe and stepped forward to land a swing on Jon. But having faced this kind of opponent before, Jon stepped forward and stooped the swing of the axe before swinging his scimitar up and slashed it into the man's face. Behind him, Jon saved one of his men from another axe and killed the attack by decapitating him. But before Jon could prepare himself for his next opponent, something was knocked hard on the back of his head and the next thing he realized what blacking out.

It didn't take long for him to regain consciousness and wake up. His vision was dazed, but he could tell that he was being dragged along the ground. He was soon dropped and slowly pushed himself up to look around. He was on the other side of the mountain, facing it and the leader of his escort. "I have a message from your captain. two hundred and seventy men is nothing compared to thirty thousand." He waved his hand to what was behind Jon, gesturing him to look.

Jon got to his feet and turned around, all hope leaving him when he saw the bodies of all the loyalists before him, decapitating and bloodied. Beyond the bodies was a whole army of men and horses. He could make out banners with sigils of more than twelve different mercenary companies. The Stormcrows, Windblown, Lang Lances, Iron Shields, almost every company there was in Essos was now in Westeros.

Jon feel to his knees in despair as the leader walked infront of him, inspecting his scimitar. "A golden griffon? I prefer golden women." He tossed it aside and drew an arakh from his side as placed the edge of the blade on Jon's neck. Jon closed his eyes as the leader raised the sword up, preparing to sswing it down.

"Fire and Blood." The last words Jon said before the song of steel cutting through wind met him at his neck.


Duhn Duhn DUUUUHN! Leave a review! I know there may be much discontent in regards to content in the books not aligning with some things that will be coming up, but just remember that this is a fanfiction and the show is different from the books. Next chapter will be one that I think will be smashing!