The Provenance || Jon Snow | Game of Thrones

9.08

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She feels rather helpless as they dodge another slab of stone that falls from the ceiling above, a perpetual threat to their endeavors and possibly more dangerous than Daenerys herself given how unexpected the collapsing of the Keep has become. Pulling Jon up from where she threw them to the ground, they continue on in a mad dash towards Sandor Clegane. And while she had been the one to grab him, Gabrielle leans heavily into Jon, the man looking over to see the sapping energy within her eyes and the diminishing ice over her skin—now just adorning her hands. At first, the adrenaline of serving a cause—to save the innocents—had armed her with more than enough energy to take on Drogon and Daenerys themselves—but Jon knows controlling the blizzard outside has never been her strength and that it spends more of her energy than just about anything else. Jon wishes he could pull her back and convince her that this is a lost cause—of running around the castle for the past hour in pursuit of the Hound—but he knows she must at least have the closure of knowing what happened to the man.

Moving from the throne room and into the lower halls, Gabrielle is at a muddled lost as to where the brothers could be quarreling...but she knows in her heart that they are getting closer. And while the destruction of the Red Keep around them had wracked her ears every which way, she is still present and astute enough to differentiate that from a metallic clanging as they enter a stairwell leading downwards. Knowing that there are few with such a cause to fight in the pits of hell—which this is—Gabrielle sprints down the stairs in mighty leaps only to come across the image of the Mountain attempting to crush the skull of his brother.

Overcome with anger at what Sandor may not forgive her for—saving his life— Gabrielle's hand instantly rises and pulls with it an ice spear from thin yet icy air, as she chucks it at the monstrous beast of a resurrected man, like a cannon as it barrels straight into the Mountain's chest. Effectively, the blow shoves the man back from Sandor who stumbles down the stairs, partially blinded—but the Mountain proves to be more monster than man. Gazing madly about, Gregor Clegane catches the fierce expression of Gabrielle Stark, stepping and charging towards her before she throws another spear...and then another, the man only slowing at each impalement of his chest.

What a brute, but before she can try one to the head, they hear a foreign voice shout from below. Her head spins wildly around to Oberyn Martell standing at the base of the stairs and Jaime Lannister leaning into the barrister nearby. And at the Mountain's look—ensuring the man sees Oberyn, his killer—the Dornish Prince throws the spear straight in between the eyes of the beast, Gregor Clegane stumbling and then falling back, into the wall and over the edge to the flames below.

They pause as Gabrielle herself leans into the remaining wall, catching what remains of her energy before shoving it back into the center of her chest to fester in preparation for their escape. Beside her, Sandor spits blood on the flames below before wiping madly at the blood pooled around his eyes. But reassuring he can still see and thus looking at Gabrielle, he barks madly at her, "I fucking had it."

"You would've killed yourself," she promptly responds, knowing better.

"That was the point," the man growls in admission, but Gabrielle just scoffs at him—knowing him mad for thinking she'd allow that. Stepping forward with poor intention, as if to strangle Silver Tongue, the Hound tips and stumbles away before landing in Jon's arm. He shoves the embrace away, "Get away! I have it."

"No, you don't," Jon insists before forcefully propping the man against his shoulder and moving back down the stairs—prompting the remainder to do the same.