6 Apex Predator 2/2
Author's note: Hi guys!
I managed to make it a Monday chapter! You can thank the Old or Valyrian Gods for that. The 7 are useless.
Anyway. This became a 3.9k word chapter, so I managed to hit a total of 20k in a week. I don't ever think I have been this productive in my life haha. That's like a quarter of Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief!
Also, a huge thank you for more than 1.4k collections in 7 days. Absolute madness!
I decided to add a little something something in the end to thank you guys for that!
Enjoy!
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Wolfswood, Clearing - 287 AC
POV | Robb Stark
He had never seen a human die before. He knew that he would have to see it soon, since he was from The North. 'Ours is the Olde Way.'
He just did not expect it to happen right now. When Harrold was shot through the eye, he could not help but yelp in fright. There was just something disconcerting in seeing someone you just had fun with, die.
He froze. He was not proud of it, but he did not know what to do. His father and mother had not prepared him for this. Even Jon had not prepared him for this, and he prepared him for almost everything.
The next arrows hit, and Robb felt for the first time, how truly small he was. The group of wildlings was outnumbering them heavily, and the only outcome he could imagine right now, was a wildling cooking and eating him above the bonfire.
At least that was the case until he heard the disgusting words of what seemed to be their leader. He looked to Jon for any sort of sign or advice when he saw him move into the shadows behind their guards.
He felt slightly confused, because he knew Jon to be courageous, and hiding behind their guards did not seem like what he would have expected him to do. He only understood his plan, when he saw him grab and throw his black knives almost faster than he could track.
Robb looked on in shock as four of the wildlings seemed like they had grown horns all of a sudden. He did not even manage to blink before the two last archers joined them in death.
Robb had no idea of how to feel at the moment. His brother had just killed twice as many of their numbers as the wildlings had killed of theirs.
His friendly and protective brother seemingly had a side to him that he had never seen before. 'Decisive, skilled, and ruthless.' He could hear Jon's words as clear as the first time.
"A true Stark is like a Direwolf. When someone threatens the pack, you kill them. Man, woman or even a fucking squid. Look at the history of your family Robb. Do you think the Stark family ruled The North for 8000 years, despite fighting the Red Kings, by being merciful or honourable? No. Decisive, skilled, and ruthless. That's what you have to be. That's what wins wars and secures your family."
'Is this what he meant when he said that I need to be a True Stark?'
He watched as his brother unsheathed his sword, walked up besides their guards, as their father had done earlier, and challenged the wildlings with a sword of fire, as if he just walked out the Age of Heroes.
Jon was the smallest of those fighting… 'But why does it look like he is the greatest among them?'
Robb looked around him fast. 'I need to do something. I'm not a maiden waiting to be saved. I'm the smallest here, so I can't fight them head on.'
He remembered Jon using the shadows to hide before he threw his knives and decided to use the same strategy to go grab his bow and his horse. He was pretty sure that his loyal courser could beat a wildling or two.
Robb was afraid, but then again. 'You cannot be courageous If you do not fear what you are up against.'
Robb knew that he wanted to be courageous.
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POV | Eddard Stark
Eddard Stark was shocked. They were still quite close to Winterfell, and for a group of Wildlings to escape the detection of The Wall and Last Hearth would mean that there is a traitor in The Night's Watch who has given them the directions to slip through The Long Lake undetected.
He looked upon their group with grim determination and realized that they might just die here. It was not what he expected, but if Robb and Jon survived, then he figured it would be a price, he was willing to pay.
'If we could just kill the five archers, then we might actually stand a chance. If we can't then I will at least kill the leader for even daring going for my sons in my presence.'
He did not even notice it happening before the first four dropped followed by another two. Jon had been that smart about it.
The realization of his failures hit him hard. 'I failed to protect him. He is so young, yet he is already tainted by the killing of men.' He looked at Jon as his sword was put into the bonfire and it started blazing. The look of hatred sent shivers down his spine.
'Please, Ned.' 7 years later, and Lyanna's voice still haunted him daily.
He looked back and saw his heir starting to back away using the shadows, and it calmed him severely. 'My smart boy, I won't have to worry now. With my son smart enough to back off, and Lyanna's boy right beside me, I can control the outcome. They will not fall here. Not as long as I live. I promised you that, Lyanna. You might not like the way I went about it, but I will protect my boys with my last breath.'
The wrathful voice of Jon sounded, and what might be his final battle commenced.
His ancestral Valyrian Steel Great Sword, Ice, glimmered in front of him, and Eddard's blood cooled down to the frightening calm his enemies feared him for. Not all wolves needed to be wild like Brandon. Some were cold, cunning, and ruthless when what they cared most about was threatened.
He roared to his men to taunt his enemies into attacking himself instead of Jon.
""Winter is Coming!"" They roared with him.
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POV - Aegon Targaryen
As soon as the clash started, Aegon knew exactly what he needed to do. He had practiced his dancing for years, and it was engraved into his very being with sword and spear. He might not have the exact reach of a rapier, but he had the lightness of a short sword in a body that could decimate an untrained adult male from the 21st century.
He was that strong right now, and he was that fast. Not to mention his ungodly endurance that allowed him to go on when others fell because of lactic acid. He was as nimble as a cat, and that could be deadly against the large hulking figures of the wildlings who obviously favoured heavy weapons like stone axes, hammers, and maces.
He was not going to go for the immediate kills. He was frankly not tall enough to go for the head, and their opponents were decently protected by fur, bones, bronze, and iron on their torsos. No, Aegon would have to be smart about it, which is why he lit his sword on fire as a deterrent.
All men fear fire. It is instinct.
He was going to be the distraction and cause as much pain and fear as possible to give the others a better chance. He had his uncle right by his left side, and he decided to offer up the two first to him.
He did a lightning quick Roll-Fall that caught two wildlings by surprise as they went for his head with their heavy weapons. Aegon put his entire body behind his swing as his sword went effortlessly through the shin of the man on the right and straight into the buttocks of the man on the left.
""Arrrgh!"" They cried in pain, before the Stark Lord swung Ice in an arc that lobbed of both of their heads at once. Eddard used the movement to gain momentum before he cut through a third's weapon and face as the wildling tried to catch him of guard.
Meanwhile Aegon located the fourth who was going to hit Eddard from the back. This one had apparently been successful in killing the guard who stood beside Ned, and he was using this opportunity to hit the arguably most dangerous among the Stark entourage.
'I won't let you!'
"Freya, scratch and distract! Don't let him hit you!"
He sprinted the short distance, and with a lightning quick thrust that had been practiced thousands of times. He managed to gut the wildling because Freya's initial attack had removed his left eye. The eye had now become the wildling's blind spot and Aegon could use it to move in and attack. He managed to gut him before the hammer wielder could gain enough power in his swing to permanently damage his uncle, though Aegon did not know that.
"NO!" he shouted in panic.
The hammer hit home, and Eddard winced when his left shoulder was almost dislocated due to the blunt trauma. Lord Stark had tried worse in his life, and he did not let that amount of pain distract him. Aegon did though.
His wrathful mind state almost vanished in worry, until he felt Freya use his shoulder to jump, and he turned quickly in the same direction only to see Freya scratching another's eye out.
He did not move fast enough however, because before he could dodge, something heavy hit him in the ribs with enough force to lift his light frame more than a foot of the ground. The pain burned through his entire body, as he screamed out his anger and hurt. Freya was thrown off the wildling with force, but her agile body managed to turn in the air, and she hit a tree with her legs first. Unharmed.
Aegon did not get to breathe in his relief before the wildling was upon him with murder in his eyes. He was kicked once more, and this time he powered though the pain enough to get up on his knees.
He barely looked up at his enemy before the hammer came swinging down towards his head. Aegon knew that he could not move away fast enough, so he decided on countering and sacrificing his shoulder instead.
Aegon threw his flaming sword as hard as he could, and it managed to cut through the scrotum of his opponent just as he shifted his body slightly and the hammer was about to hit his shoulder hard. Ten inches before it hit him, something fast and grey slammed into the arm of the wildling and changed the trajectory of the swing enough to save Aegon's shoulder.
He did not go unscathed though. A scream of pain sounded from Aegon as the hammer hit the lower part of his left arm and broke the bone in two.
His adrenaline was still pumping harder than he had ever experienced! "I will not DIE!" He roared to hype himself up again. He needed to stand as quickly as possible. 'If I stop, I die. Not today. I'm not done yet!' His anger, adrenaline, and determination powered him through.
He stood up and realized he had been moved at least 15 yards away from the fight.
He looked at the downed wildling in front of him, before he kicked him and muttered:
"You got what you fucking deserve."
He tried to pull his sword out of the wildling, but it had unfortunately stopped blazing, and the impure steel shattered as soon as he swung it once.
Aegon cursed under his breath. He had a broken arm and he had possibly bent or broken ribs in his left side as well. Freya bumped into his legs, he smiled down at her to thank her, until he realized she was pointing up towards his last weapon, which was now hovering two meters above him.
He smiled as Hugin, and Munin dropped the spear they were called to bring.
"Thank you!"
He scouted the battlefield again, he had way better reach now, but his speed and balance had been reduced drastically by his last opponent.
He let his emotions get the best of him, and he paid the price immediately.
He could not afford to lose his composure again. He would die if he did. He had absolutely no doubt about it.
Only two from their side were still standing.
Of the 16 who were left of their opponents he had helped kill four. He had also seen his uncle dispatch one alone, which left eleven against the three who had survived the first clash.
They had not done particularly well seeing that only Jory Cassel and Eddard were still alive, and Jory's left leg was limping heavily, whilst the wildlings still had 6 left.
Aegon circled around to hit them from the back, and this time he kept his spear in its regular state. He could not afford letting the fire burn through the hardened wood before they managed to kill the rest of their enemies.
He ran swiftly by the downed leader and pulled out his throwing knife from his forehead and put his spear in between his teeth since his left hand had been rendered useless for now. He moved closer at a rapid pace and threw the knife towards one who was about to cut Jory down. He hit him in between the neck and the chin, and he fell as if his strings got cut off.
As Aegon killed one, Eddard managed to strike another down, before he had to dodge slightly and move in to protect Jory again. Within a second Aegon was dancing a swift dance of death with one of the four opponents left. Leaving Jory and Eddard against three.
Unfortunately for Aegon, the one who decided to fight him was his worst possible match-up. He was most likely the swiftest in their group, and he also happened to be the one who had managed to kill a guard and wound Jory Cassels leg.
He was a spearman who had a longer spear than Aegon, he stood at 6'2 feet which gave him a great advantage in size, and seeing his spear was almost as long as he was tall, he had a reach of 8'5 feet compared to Aegon's reach 6 feet. The major issue though, was that Aegon already had the disadvantages in reach and strength, but his strength and technique were further reduced by his immobile left hand.
He could not stabilize and strengthen his thrusts. He was losing, rapidly. 'I need a different approach. Think Aegon, think!'
He looked left and right as he retreated without luck because of his unrelenting opponent.
"Ya looking scared, boy. It is your time to die."
'I'm an idiot! Fuck.'
"Hugin! Peck! Munin! Harass! Freya! Help them!"
The wildling looked at him with a weirded out, look. He had no clue of who the boy was talking to, before a black mass of feathers and beak hit him in the face, it hurt, but he was a wildling. It did not take his eyes, so he could ignore the pain.
He backhanded Hugin and sent him sprawling in pain. Aegon grit his teeth in anger, but at least it gave him a respite to get his footwork back on track.
Before Munin could harass him, he ducked under it, and bashed it with the backend of his spear. Seeing the wildling adapting so fast, Aegon called Freya off. He could not bear to see her hurt, and she had even worse chances with the surprise having worn off and the swiftness of the spear user. She was a cat, and seeing how fast his opponent was, Aegon realized that she was not his opponent, even as a distraction.
Whether it was the right or wrong move, Aegon would not know. What he did know, was that Jory had collapsed and Eddard was on his last opponent, and he looked frantic to dispatch him, so he could save Aegon.
'He does care…' was the thought that empowered Aegon briefly.
Aegon looked at his livid opponent, and realized he would die, if he did not gamble. 'My reach, speed, strength, technique, and weapon are all inferior. I need something else. It's all out or die it seems, or I can try to hold him off until my uncle gets here.' By the howl of pain, he just heard, it seemed unlikely.
'Fuck. I can't run. I can't hide. My tricks have been used… Should I gi- NO! I am not going down without a damn fight.'
Just as his opponent moved closer, Aegon made a mad dash and put all his power into a final thrust. "Aaaaargh!" He screamed with the last of his strength.
He missed.
Red hot pain was all he felt as his opponent hit him in the face with the backend of his weapon, before he whirled the spear in his hands as a master of his weapon and cut through Aegon's furs and skin in a diagonal slash from his shoulder to his right hip bone.
Aegon screamed in pain, as his death was imminent. He looked left, and locked eyes with Freya as he apologised through their bond. Her heartbroken expression and feelings of loss hurt him more than the pain inflicted upon him by the wildling.
"Die you little cur!" snarled the wildling, as he raised his spear for a final thrust. Aegon did everything he could to move in time, but he was too slow. He did not even get to lament his pending doom before an arrow flew swiftly through the air and struck his would-be killer in the throat.
Aegon looked on in shock, pride, and happiness as his cousin rode into the clearing on his swift courser with a bow in hand.
Robb gave him a swift nod, before he continued charging towards the wildling, who through his sheer size and unnatural agility, had managed to put the extremely tired Ned Stark on the backfoot despite his incredible advantage in weapon quality.
Whilst the wildling might be large, he was no match for a charging 600 lbs, 272 kg, horse. He was sent flying into the bonfire, where his furs and hair caught fire immediately. He could not move his damaged body out before he started convulsing in pain and screamed in terror.
The relief of surviving. The surprise of being saved by his brother in all but blood. The insane death of the last wildling and the pain he felt when the adrenaline died out, made Aegon laugh out loud in pain and disbelief.
"We survived." He whispered.
He could feel the slash across his torso healing. It felt like thousands of bugs were crawling underneath his skin, and he cursed that he could not have wished for instant regeneration. 'At least I am alive. Haahr. I will probably need a week for it to close up entirely.'
Aegon did not even realize that his laughing had turned into a silent sobbing before Freya snuggled up close and started licking his salty tears away. He sought out their bond and he felt an immeasurable relief from her.
She moved up to his torso, and he winced in pain as she pulled his clothing apart and started licking him up and down the wound. 'Cat's can speed up the recovery time by licking wounds. Gods she is so smart. With my own healing factor, any germs I would receive will be negated, and the rest is history.'
Aegon warged into her, but allowed her to keep control, whilst he just hugged her consciousness with all the affection and love he could.
He felt himself relaxing, and shortly after, his mind returned to his own body, and he fell asleep for all of five minutes before he was woken up by a loud sound that echoed throughout the woods.
The first howl was followed by a second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth.
"Give me a fucking break."
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Unknown location - 287 AC
POV | Unknown
For five years, her dreams had been the same. A dark silhouette sitting with his back towards her. She knew it was a boy. Or she felt it was, would be more accurate to say.
The negative emotions were surrounding him like a large cyclone of darkness.
She tried to move towards him. To see who he was, why he was feeling so bad, and because her dream seemed to mean more than an ordinary dream.
It was only two years ago that she found out it was special though. She had to ask Ser Eric, before she knew that others did not have dreams like her.
The dreams changed slowly but surely during the last two years. Little strands of light seemed to flow against the cyclone, and it almost looked like a battle of good against evil.
Tonight, was different.
The whole area was a mess. The boy, now she was sure, was fighting a losing battle. Scars of red and screams of pain reverberated throughout, and she shook in terror.
Her dreams had never been violent before.
Then, all of a sudden, it all stopped, and the boy flopped to the ground.
She tried to move towards him. He needed her help!
'It works! I can move closer this time!' A small smile of happiness and worry was on her cute face, as she finally moved towards his side.
He was a bit taller than her, and he seemed a lot stronger too, even though she had trained a lot with Ser Eric and her sisters.
'What could even hurt him?' she thought in wonder and slight fear.
Even though he looked hurt, he seemed like the kind of prince that was talked about in stories.
He was even prettier than Ser Eric, and all the older Ladies seemed to like him a lot. 'It's a little weird that he never returns their affection. At least that is what father says.'
She brushed his hair slightly to the side before she moved her hand in front of his mouth to feel if he was breathing. 'Thank Gods, he is still alive!' She beamed a happy smile, until she realized how hurt he was.
She rushed to rip off some of the extra layers of silk on her dress and started to bandage his torso with it. It was tough work. 'How can he be so heavy?' She looked at his muscled torso and blushed slightly. 'That is probably the reason.'
Just as she was about to tie the knot on the bandage, a calloused hand grabbed hers, and her head whipped to the side, where she met a hauntingly beautiful but slightly familiar set of amethyst eyes.
She opened her eyes in shock, as she whipped her head around, only to find out that she was alone in her room. Her heart was racing, and she started sobbing as she felt a huge sense of loss. She knew she had just lost something, but she could not understand why.
"Who are you?" she asked the empty room.
The answer was silence, and the little girl continued crying until she fell into an uneasy sleep for the rest of the night.
If one looked closely, they would notice a slight bruise on her wrist.
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Author's note: Sooooo? Any thoughts on that? :)
Aegon's kill count has reached 8, where the two 'direct' kills can be credited to Freya. Pretty decent, but he got a giant wake-up call as well. The two he fought one vs. one would have killed him, if Freya and Robb did not save his ass. So he will have to become stronger and smarter.
Robb managed to snag two kills as well by being smart. I am starting to love him as much as I did in the third season... Should he die in the next chapter?
Ned is a warrior. He managed to kill wildlings with a big ass Great Sword despite only having one arm to swing it with. He also might not be as big an asshole as Aegon had made him out to be. Could a damaged, traumatized orphan, who is scorned by his new aunt and slightly ignored by his uncle, be misunderstanding things because of his jaded world-view? Any thoughts?
And mystery girl wuuuuuu. Who could she be? Any ideas? Did the author introduce an OC, create an AU scenario or is he using a book character? I am not really going to confirm or deny any of your ideas here, but feel free to speculate.
See ya soon!
*Author out*
