Chapter 6 Chapter 5 Davos

He stared at the sail that was getting bigger and bigger for a long time, not knowing whether he wanted to die or live. Waiting to die is easy.Just crawl back into the cave and let the boats go by, death will come soon.The high fever persisted for many days, almost evaporating him, the yellow poisonous water rolled in his stomach and intestines, and the trembling in the disturbed sleep never stopped.Every morning he grew weaker.Soon I won't be tormented anymore, he told himself. Even if the high fever did not take his life, he would die of thirst.There is no fresh water here, only occasional rainfall, which pools in the crevices of the rocks.Three days ago (or was it four? Lying on this rock, it's impossible to tell the day from day to day) his little pool was dry, dry as an old bone, and boundless and rippling all around The gray and green ocean was too much for him to bear.Drinking seawater meant the end, and he knew it very well, but he couldn't bear it at the time, and his throat burned like fire.It was a sudden rainstorm that saved him, and he was so weak that he could only lie in the rain, eyes closed, mouth open, and let the raindrops beat on his chapped lips and swollen tongue.At any rate, a little strength followed, and the pools, ditches, and crevasses on the rocky reef were momentarily filled with life.

But that was three (or four?) days ago, and now the water is gone.Some evaporated, and the rest he sucked up, and to-morrow he had to suck up the mud, and the wet, cold stones he dug from the bottom of the pit. Taking a step back, even if there is no high fever and thirst, hunger will still be fatal.Where he stood was but a protruding waste rock in the vast Blackwater Inlet.When the tide falls, there will be tiny crabs clinging to the rocky beach - he was also washed here after the battle.He smashes them against the rocks, sucking the flesh from the claws and guts from the shell.The crabs always pinched his hand sorely.

When the tide came up, the rocky beach would disappear, and Davos would have to scramble up to the rocks to avoid being washed into the bay again.At high tide, the top of the rock is fifteen feet above sea level, but the waves in the bay are too high to keep you dry, not even in a hole (seriously, a hole is just a hole in the rock) big hole).Nothing grows on the reef but moss, and the gulls don't come here.From time to time some young birds would perch on the spire, and Davos kept trying to catch them, but whenever he got close they would fly away.He threw stones, but he was too weak to use his strength, and even if he hit the target, he could only make the seabirds scream at him angrily, and then flapped their wings and flew away.

From his refuge, other rocks could be seen, some of which seemed to be higher than his own.Among other things, he believed that the nearest patch was at least forty feet above sea level, though the eye could be wrong.Even more alluring was the fact that there was always a flock of seagulls circling there, and Davos fancied swimming to rob their nests.But the sea is cold, the tide is changeable and violent, and I have no strength.Such a move is no different from drinking sea water, and it will also be fatal. Years of sea life made him understand that autumn in the Narrow Sea is always wet and rainy.The daytime is not too sad because the sun is getting weaker, but the night is getting colder and colder.From time to time the sea wind blew across the bay, bringing up white waves that drenched Davos and made him shiver.Under the alternating attack of high fever and cold, he soon began to have a persistent and painful cough.

The cave was his only shelter, but it was not enough.Drift logs and charred wreckage washed up on the rocky beach now and then at low tide, but they failed to strike a spark.Once, in desperation, he tried rubbing two pieces of driftwood, but the wood was so rotten that his efforts only returned a few large blisters.Clothes hadn't dried, and a shoe had been lost in the bay before arriving. Thirsty, hungry, exposed, the three guys, who accompany him through every hour of every day, eventually become his friends.Hopefully, before long, one of his friends will take pity on him and save him from his endless torment.Maybe he should just go straight into the sea and try to swim north, for he knew the coast was somewhere in the north, but he couldn't see it.It's too far away and you're too weak to swim, but that's okay.Davos was a sailor when he urinated, and he wished to die at sea.The underwater gods are waiting for me, he told himself, and it's time for me to meet them.

But at this time, the sail appeared in the distance. At first it was just a speck on the horizon, but now it is getting bigger and bigger.There should be no boats here.He knew the location of the rocky reef, a jutting point in a series of undersea mountains in Blackwater Bay called Mermaid Reef.The tallest of these rose a hundred feet above the sea, and there were a dozen other small pinnacles thirty to sixty feet high, which the sailors called "the spear of the Mermaid King."Every pinnacle here is well documented, and sailors warn each other of the wider reefs lurking beneath the water, which, in short, are well avoided by any sane captain.

Davos looked at the bulging sail with pale, red eyes, trying to hear the sound of the sea wind blowing the canvas.She was heading straight for me, and unless she changed course immediately, she would soon be close enough to hear my cry from this little refuge.I live.If I want to live.In this regard, he was not sure. How should I live?He thought, as tears blurred his vision.By gods, how am I supposed to live?My children are dead, Dale and Allard, Malik and Mathos, maybe even Devan... how can a father have the face to live after losing so many strong children?How should I live?I am an empty shell, a dead crab with nothing inside.Why did they come to save me, don't they understand?

Thinking back to the time when the fleet marched into the Blackwater River with a strong lineup, the flaming red heart of the King of Light fluttered above the fleet.Davos and his Black Bess were in second rank, flanked by Dale's Sea Sprite and Allard's Lady Maria.His third son Malik is the oars officer of the Fury, in the middle of the first battle line, and Mathos is the first mate on his father's ship.Under the high walls of the Red Castle, Stannis Baratheon's warships clashed with the "toys" of the imp king Joffrey. In an instant, the river was covered with crossbow arrows, and the steel rams continuously smashed the ship. Oars and wooden hulls.

Then some giant beasts started roaring, and there were green flames all around-this is wildfire, alchemist shit, green fire demon.The Black Beth was thrown out of the water in a jiffy, with Massos standing beside his father.Davos fell into the river, flapping and struggling desperately, the rapids surrounding him and forcing him to whirl and swirl.Upriver, fireworks rip the sky, sending columns of fire fifty feet high.The Black Beth, the Fury, and a dozen other ships were burning at the same time, and people covered in flames jumped into the water, but never floated again.The Sea Spirit and the Lady Maria were nowhere to be found, and must have sunk, shattered, or disappeared in the wildfire, and there was no way to find the sons, and the current carried him straight to the mouth of the river.Ahead lay the great chains of the Lannisters, and from north to south, the mouth of the river was nothing but burning wildfires and ships of war.He nearly stopped breathing at the sight, but the horrific sounds kept pouring into his ears: the crackling of flames, the hiss of evaporating water, the screams of dying soldiers, and the tide that carried him to The slap in the face of that terrible heat in hell.

All he has to do is stand by, and in a few moments he is reunited with his children, sleeping in the cool green mud at the bottom of the bay, with the little fish nibbling at his face. But for some reason, he took a deep breath, dived into the water, and plunged towards the bottom of the river.The only hope was to get under the chains, the burning warships, and the wildfires that drifted across the water, and swim desperately to the safety of the bay beyond.Davos was a good swimmer, and he had worn no armor that day, the only round helm he was wearing had been lost in the overboard.As he walked through the green curtain of water, he saw countless people struggling and groping, their heavy armor and chain mail slowly dragging them into the bottom.Davos swam past them, kicking his body away with every ounce of strength in his legs, following the direction of the tide.Sea water quickly poured into his eyes.He swam deeper and deeper, deeper and deeper, and with each blow, it became increasingly difficult to hold his breath.I remember seeing the bottom of the river, soft and dim through the air bubbles from my mouth.What hit the leg, a rock?a fish?A drowned soldier?he does not know.

He needs air, but dare not float.Have you crossed the chain link?Is it in the bay?If you float up to touch a boat, you will be suffocated; if you are in a floating wildfire, your lungs will be burned to ashes with your first breath.He twisted in the water and looked up, seeing nothing but dark green shadows, and he moved so violently that suddenly he couldn't tell where the river was going.Panic seized him.He slapped desperately, brushing his hands across the bottom of the river, creating lumps of sludge that completely obscured his vision.His chest tightened and he scratched, kicked, shoved, and turned, his lungs screaming for air.Kick, kick, lost in the dark water, kick, kick, kick until I can't kick anymore.He shouted, and the sea came rushing in and tasted like salt, and Davos Seaworth knew he was going to drown. When he regained consciousness, the sun had risen, and he was lying on a beachhead below an exposed rock, surrounded by an empty bay, with a broken mast, a charred canvas, and a swollen corpse beside him.When the tide came, the masts and sails and corpses were gone, leaving Davos alone on the rocks of the Merfolk's Spear. After a long career as a smuggler, Davos knew the seas around King's Landing better than any home he had ever owned, and he knew that his sanctuary was just a dot on the chart, and this dot was just right. It's a place that honest sailors should avoid, not approach... He himself has been to Mermaid Reef a few times, just to avoid detection.One day, when my body is found on this rock, they may name it after me, he thought, "Onion Rock", and this will be my epitaph.He wants nothing more.Fathers protect their children, the monks taught, but he, Davos, led his children into the fire.Dale could no longer conceive his wife the child they had been praying for; and Allard, who had lovers in Oldtown, in King's Landing, in Braavos, would soon be crying; Not even fulfilling his dream of becoming a captain and owning his own ship; and Malik could never be a knight again. They are all dead, how should I live?Countless valiant knights, great lords, men better than me, men nobler than me, died one after another, only I... Climb into the cave, Davos, climb in, curl up, and the ship will leave, No one will bother you again.Sleep on rocks, let seagulls carve out eyeballs, let crabs eat flesh and blood, you have eaten them, you owe them love.Hide, smuggler, hide, keep quiet, and die. The sail is almost in sight.After a while, the ship will leave peacefully, and he will die peacefully. His hand stretched to his throat, fumbling for the small leather pouch that he had been wearing around his neck, which contained the four knuckles that his king had cut off on the day he made him a knight.my lucky charm.The short fingers patted and groped on the chest, but found nothing.The bag was gone, along with the phalanx inside.Stannis never understood why he kept those bones. "Remind me of my king's justice," he whispered through cracked lips.Now even they are gone, the fire has taken my lucky charms like my children.In the dream, the fire on the river never goes out, the devil with a whip dances on the water, and the living people burn under the whip and turn into coke. "Mother, have mercy," Davos prayed, "help me, sweet Mother, save us all. My lucky charm is lost, and my children are dead." He wailed uncontrollably Crying, the salty tears formed streams on the cheeks. "Fire takes everything away...fire..." Maybe it was just a sea breeze blowing over the rocks, maybe it was just a wave lapping on the beach, but in that split second Davos Seaworth heard her answer. "It was you who brought the flames," she whispered, her voice weak and melancholic as if listening to the tide through a shell, "you were the one who burned us... burned us... burned us." "She did it!" cried Davos. "Mother, please don't abandon us. She did it, the red woman, Melisandre, it was she!" She seemed to be there: a heart She has a red face, red eyes, and long hair of copper. She wears a long red dress made of silk and satin, and she walks like a flame moving.She came from Asshai in the east, and on Dragonstone, she captured Selyse and the queen's nobles with foreign gods, and then captured the heart of King Stannis Baratheon.The King went so far that he took the Flaming Heart as his banner, and served R'hllor, Lord of Light, Heart of Flame, Lord of Shadow and Fire.At Melisandre's urging, he dragged out all the statues of the Seven from the sept on Dragonstone, and burned them at the gates of the city; later he burned the godswood of Storm's End, and even the huge tree with the majestic face. The white weirwood was not spared the same fate. "She did it," Davos repeated, feeling doubly weak for words.She did it, but you were an accomplice, Onion Knight.You were the one who drove her into Storm's End that dark night, and unleashed the Children of Shadow.You are not innocent, how could you be innocent?You rode and sailed under her banner, and you watched the Seven burn on Dragonstone and did nothing.The Just Father, the Merciful Mother, the Wise Crone, the Blacksmith and the Stranger, the Maiden and the Warrior, were all offered to the cruel god, and you just stood still and shut your mouth.Even if she killed Maester Cressen, even after witnessing such atrocities, you still did nothing. The sail was just a hundred yards away, speeding across the bay.Soon, it will pass by here and gradually disappear. Ser Davos began to climb. He tugged at himself with trembling hands, his mind clouded with fever.Twice his crippled fingers slipped on the wet rock, and he nearly fell, trying to hold on with all his strength.Falling would kill him, but he had to live.To live at least a little longer, there are missions that must be fulfilled. The top was narrow and as fragile as he was, and he couldn't stand safely at all, so he crouched on it, flailing his bony arms. "Ship," he called into the wind, "ship, here! Here!" From above, he could see her more clearly; the thin painted striped hull, the bronze figurehead, the billowing sails.There were names on the hull, but Davos could not read. "Boat," he yelled again, "help me, save me!!!!!!" A sailor on the forecastle spotted him and pointed.He saw the rest of the crew rushing to the side of the ship, staring at him dumbfounded.The sails were lowered, the oars furled, and she began to steer towards his refuge.The boat was too large to approach, so at a distance of thirty yards she launched a skiff.Davos lay prone on the rocks, watching the skiff approach.Four were paddling, and a fifth stood at the bow. "You," said the other party when the boat was within a few feet of the rock, "this man on the rock. Who are you?" A smuggler so successful, Davos thought, a fool so loyal to his king that he forgets his gods.His throat was terribly dry, and he didn't know how to pronounce words, so when he said them, he felt strange even to himself. "I am a survivor of the Battle of the Blackwater. I am... a captain, a... a knight, and I am a knight." "Well, sir," said the other, "that king you serve?" The boat probably belonged to Joffrey, and he realized suddenly that if he said the wrong thing, he would be abandoned and left here to fate.No, no, she has a painted hull.This is the ship of the Lysians, the ship of Salador Sann, the ship sent by the Mother!Our Lady of Mercy, who has entrusted me with a mission.Stannis is alive, he understands, my king is alive, I have other children, and I have a devoted and loving wife.How can I forget?Our Lady is truly merciful. "Stannis," he roared back at the Lysians, "by gods, I serve King Stannis." "Ah," said the man in the boat, "so do we."