Chapter 16.
Tyrion had not told Sandor the full extent of how the city was going to be defended. He felt deeply guilty for this, knowing Sandor's history and for the respect he had formed towards Clegane, but it couldn't be helped. He made sure that Bronn knew to stay close to him, just in case. He didn't know how this would end, he prayed to whatever Gods there were that the defenses they had put into place would be enough to sway the battle in their favor.
As darkness settled in, the fleet of Stannis Baratheon appeared and so The Game began. The pieces moved and the battle raged. Sandor and Bronn lead out the first attack and then Tyrion gave the signal once most of the Baratheon fleet was in the Blackwater. In an instant there was a massive explosion of jade green fire, consuming ships and men alike. It burned on the water and grew until it seemed to be alive. It was a deadly beauty!
Sandor had been out three different times, sortie after sortie. He killed without thought. He fought with his great sword in his right hand and a bastard sword in his left. He swung them easily and with deadly accuracy, the bodies piled around him as he stepped, slashed and danced, consumed by the blood lust that comes only from battle. He smelled the blood and gore, felt it running down his face as it began to rain. He raged, swore, laughed, killed, and then he felt it. He saw it. The explosion and then the green fire; pyromancer piss! He stared at it, watched as ships were consumed and blasted apart. He watched as men were running about, on fire, trying to get away, trying to put it out but all it did was burn. He couldn't move, he couldn't think. He couldn't breathe. His only coherent thought is "FUCK FUCK FUCK! FIRE! I CAN'T BE HERE!" But he couldn't move as he watched a man running at him, totally engulfed in flames. He couldn't even back away, his last thought was, " I'm sorry, Shalene." Then the flaming man was falling, as if in slow motion, right at Sandor's feet. He looked up and saw Bronn holding his bow, looking at him. Some slight bit of sanity found itself and he barely nodded at Bronn before he turned and stumbled back into the Keep. He was shaking, trying to pull the threads of his sanity together, trying to have a coherent thought when he saw Tyrion. With his face and body covered in soot, blood and gore, he looked at Tyrion and roared," Fuck you, Imp! Fire! Fucking fire! They're burning! Why didn't you warn me?! I can't...I fucking can't..."
Tyrion saw the look on The Hound's face when he stalked back into the Keep. When Sandor started yelling, he heard the fear in his voice, saw it in his eyes; Tyrion was going to lose him if he hadn't already. He knew of Clegane's fear of fire but he had sorely underestimated how deeply it was ingrained in his being. He had to figure out how to get through the blood lust and fear, to get to the man. He said the only thing he could, the thing he knew to be the truth, in hopes it would reach him," Clegane! Listen to me! Hear me now! You have to back out! Stannis is at the Mud Gate! They have a ram and they have almost broken through!" Sandor starts to back away from him, shaking his head, the look of a trapped animal in his eyes. Tyrion yells," Hound! Ilyn Payne is in Cercei's solar with all the women! He is there with Sansa and with Shalene and Shae! If Stannis gets through that gate, Ilyn Payne has orders to slaughter every woman in that room! Cercei gave the order herself! When she gets word, she will leave that room, bar the door and Payne will murder all those inside so that Stannis cannot have any hostages! Do you hear me?! If you have any love for Sansa or Shalene, get back out there and kill that bloody bastard!" Tyrion sees something shift in Sandor's eyes, he watches him take one more step back and he shakes his head as if to clear it of some lost thought. He then sees The Hound again! Sandor looks around and sees Bronn and barks the order to form up to what's left of his men and they head to the Mud Gate. That's the last Tyrion sees of Sandor and Bronn.