In the Mountains the Sound of the Horn

Catelyn arrived on a sunny afternoon on the outskirts of Gulltown Harbor, the galley with the white sails and blue Wyce Mountain embroidery was called Bravery Ice and its figurehead was a young maiden made of pure iron riding a silver stallion. bronze, commanded by Captain Annalys Wyron, a lady of House Wyron, a branch of the Wyce of Sunhall, where her castle was in the city called Arnehild in Tentown, at the only gate that connected Arnehild to the next city: Dayah. The castle is called Arsonist's Gate and has never been conquered.

Captain Annalys was already a grown woman, thirty-five years old, her hair was dyed pure white as snow, and her son, Jorah, surnamed Ryswell, was her first mate and was nineteen and also had white hair, both of them had white hair. grayish green eyes.

Annalys's story was very strange for the women of the seven kingdoms: she was born to marry and have children, and she had three. The first was called Jarson Ryswell followed by Jorah and lastly the girl Catryn, who had married a merchant from Pentos and next to the girl's dowry, there was a Pentoshi galley that Catelyn spent the last few days sailing. The daughter presented her mother with gifts and Annalys left the silks for a tunic and a waistcoat, the sea and her galley that made a hundred trips between White Harbor and the Free Cities. It had been two years since Annalys captained the Bravery Ice. The lady of Moat Cailin did not understand Annalys' decision, who simply abandoned a good life in the largest city in that part of the Known World to feel the most tormenting heat of the sun and the most invasive of cold on the deck of a galley. She would understand young Jorah, Robb had a desire to see the world and spent many days in Seagard, saying he visited the Mallisters in search of a better connection between the north and the Riverlands and always returned with the smell of the sea and his skin burnt by the sun. But she would never trade her life being served by powerful lords and greedy merchants.

Young Jorah remembered his Robb, when he saw Lady Catelyn Stark, lady of Ned Stark and Moat Cailin, the woman who through marriage overthrew a three-hundred-year-old dynasty founded by dragons that breathed fire capable of melting stone, arrived in front of him with a leap, from the top of two huge crates loaded with warm fabrics from Pentos. He bowed to her and kissed her hand politely, then ordered the sailors to carry their trunks to the cleanest and warmest quarters, where the representatives of the Free Cities beyond the Narrow Sea slept when the presence of one was required.

"Would you like a refreshing drink, my lady?", was the first of his many questions, he began by valuing comfort and then moved on to questions involving Ned, Moat Cailin and Winterfell. Catelyn liked that boy, she thought he was similar to Bran and Arya, asking a hundred questions and always finding more to question. Ser Rodrik at first didn't really enjoy his conversations with Jorah, but as time went by and the more the knight's sickness punished him, it was Jorah who gave him sweet fruits to ease the bitterness of his tongue and helped him shave. even in the rocking of the galley in the furious sea winds. Now he had him as a friend and they even began to exchange blows with him and the young man showed himself to be skilled, because even in the tightness of the upper deck, he fought as if he were in an open field. The knights of White Harbor, fourteen in total, already knew Jorah and some even beat him, but there was no honor in their victories, even if Jor himself, so called by everyone, used trickery and the rocking of the galley to win. That crew reminded her of home, before Arya was sent to Wyman Manderly's merman court, Sansa married Jon, and Robb donned mail to fight the wildlings. Before Bran fell from that tower, even though he had climbed all twenty towers of the Moat.

"In distant lands, Lady Stark?"

Annalys asked, wearing the same gray tunic but now with a tight top and a flared hat in her hair. Jorah said that his mother was once attacked by pirates, the captain wanted to rape her and sell her to the brothels of Lys, but his crew defeated him and the pirate captain was slowly burned on a beach on the western coast of Essos and only his little charred hat remained. Annalys took it as her lucky hat and during sailing she never took it off.

"Meditating, Captain Wyron, just meditating"

Catelyn replied. Calling her captain, as she realized she didn't like being called lady. She was sitting in a chair with a padded seat and in front of her was a table with a smooth, oiled surface where she had broken her fast earlier.

"What can you do on this vessel if you don't meditate?"

"I met a monk from Yiti once, he was bald and had black and red marks on his head, like warts. He gave me two little chubby golden monks, asked us to take him to Asshai. I already had my hat with me and it was a damn trip. All the way he meditated, sitting near the bow and with nothing to cover him from the sun, he meditated as if he were a stone, still and silent. Even when a storm almost ripped him off the ground, throwing him to the ground. the sea"

Annalys laughed. She pointed with her right index finger to where the bow was and Catelyn only looked at the figure, the iron statue. The hair, duly sculpted to match damp locks, fell across the face, from the forehead to the cheeks, on the entire face only one of the eyes was visible and in this one an emerald was encrusted.

"When we arrived, he stabbed himself in the chest with a small cheese knife, he stole it from the kitchen, I asked why and said that even with so much gold, he didn't find happiness and no one in my crew asked about his past"

"What a dark story, do you think I'm going to stab myself in Eyrie when I finally see my estranged sister?"

Catelyn said.

"No, Lady Stark. I think that a mother with grown children and a younger one so fragile, should not be left alone, not with deep thoughts. The most wicked hide close to our most fragile person. It was the monk who said me that"

Annalys replied, earning teary eyes from Catelyn.

"You don't understand how I feel. She lives in this galley with an adorable, obedient son, goes from White Harbor to the Jade Sea while her responsibilities await her at Arsonist's Gate. Her husband is content with her disobedience as a woman and shamelessly tells me how allowed the death of a man, not helping him as any good person would do"

Her words cut like blades. But Annalys smiled, took out a bottle of wine and two small glass glasses, all the size of a man's thumb, and placed them on the table. The sea was calm so she poured herself a glass and offered the other to Catelyn.

"Jor is adorable, you can be sure"

She took a sip of wine, draining half of the glass.

"But obedient?"

She laughed.

"Do you know how hard it was to get Duzhe, my galley master, to convince the boy not to court you?"

Catelyn was surprised, then her perspective on Jorah changed completely, many gifts and compliments coming from the boy now made sense to her, she felt annoyed and wanted to slap Jor's gray head a few times. Even if he was taller and stronger.

"And it's from Frostport to Astapor, I went to the Jade Sea only once. And my husband, Coryn, doesn't worry so much about me and my responsibility was fulfilled by marrying all my children, even Jor, who has a wife, daughter of rich merchants from Tentown and Duzhe didn't die, look at him there"

She pointed to a short man, with long, straight black hair reaching down to his waist, but on his forehead there were two marks, on the left a red one and on the right a black one, they looked like warts. He was wearing a loose, comfortable cotton tunic, his chest was open, and Catelyn noticed a deep knife scar on him.

"Do you know why I told you all that, Lady Stark?"

"No, captain"

Catelyn said. She looked shaken and confused. She took the glass of wine and drank all the liquid, feeling her throat burn and then the cold refreshment take over her body, his senses opened up.

"That's why I came to sea when my children grew up. Jor came to me later. When he realized that his blood cried out for adventure and that his life as that old merchant's son-in-law was... Boring. That's why of the First Men's creation of migratory caravans and the Andal ambition to conquer new lands"

Annalys laughed and filled both glasses again.

"I'm also a worried mother. Every now and then I visit my daughter in Pentos and Duzhe acts more like her father, which Coryn never wanted to be. My candles are my weapons that protect Jarson, Jorah and my Catryn"

"I'm not a good navigator, captain, if that's what you want me to be. I think it's simpler to hold a banquet for the king in the middle of winter than to command a crew."

Catelyn said, smiling and her cheeks red.

"But there is Moat Cailin"

Annalys retorted.

"What will happen to Robb and then to some northern warrior who proves himself competent to have the respect of those men at arms?"

She answered.

"Lady Stark, as a mother, knows very well that our children are never ready and that there will be no order in the early years of adulthood. You see Jor, he is my first mate but because he is my son and I do not wish to see him working too much. But I'm honest when I say that sometimes I see myself sailing, it would even be worth it to make him walk on the plank!"

The women laughed loudly and talked a lot more in the sunny afternoon.

Violet with shades of orange was the sky when Catelyn arrived in Gulltown, the Bravery Ice docked smoothly and the rowers as one, raised their navigation instruments and she descended the ramp, stepping onto dry land after a long week. Men of House Grafton, five knights and twelve men-at-arms presented themselves before Lady Stark, the knights wore steel scales and the men-at-arms had mail covering them from head to toe. The sound of horses' hoofbeats caught her attention and Catelyn saw a man with dirty blond hair, wearing a beautiful white cotton tunic with a gray leather vest over it, approached her and got off the horse with a comforting smile. .

"Lady Stark"

He greeted her and kissed Catelyn's right hand.

"Lord Wyman notified us of your arrival, we prepared warm rooms, water for hygiene and any other possible demand"

"I thank you for your hospitality, Lord Grafton"

Catelyn replied. Ser Rodrik stood beside her, he looked thinner and more exhausted from the rocking of the galley, the fourteen knights also got out, the order was given that they would obey Lady Catelyn and Ser Rodrik, and only them until the return journey.

"Any messages from my sister?"

"Call me Gerold, Lady Stark"

He said with a muffled laugh.

"Our Lady Arryn sent an order: bring them to Eyrie immediately upon arrival. But night falls and the roads to the mountains are dangerous. Gods, we know very well how ferocious those animals are at night."

Gerold's voice froze when he mentioned the animals.

Catelyn knew well that he wasn't just referring to animals like mountain wolves, shadowcats, and foxes. The men of the mountains are millennial enemies of the houses that rule the Valley, since the arrival of the Andals from Essos, The Cavemen's, this is how they call themselves since their rebellion against the house Arryn and those who knelt before her, they find themselves in constant state of war against the Valemen. A thousand years ago, during the northern wars against the Vale, the Cavemen's joined the Stark house and the first Cavelord, called King Ubben I Holte, known as Highlord, united the Cavemen's and sacked Gulltown and took it for his control in which was known as, The Rape of Gull. It was not until ten years after Ubben died during one of dozens of wars among the Valemen that they returned to their caves and the Ubben Highlord bloodline endures to the present day. Even the Targaryen kings did not prove powerful enough to eliminate the Cavemen, who opposed the dragons and survived their flames. There are reports that Horan XI Holte, king of the Cavemen's, had died of old age and that his funeral pyre was seen near Runestone, home of his mother, a Royce woman captured by the Cavemen's. His son, Ardagon, called Foxblood Ardagon or now King Ardagon VII rules over ten thousand Cavemen's in the mountains of the moon. Even King Robert and Jon Arryn could not oppose the Cavelord's and their strength grows more and more since the death of the dragons.

"I understand, Lord Gerold, I too feel exhausted from the journey and a comfortable bed is my only wish."

Catelyn said gently and they walked to a carriage that arrived shortly after Gerold and there they were taken to Grafton Castle.

Gulltown was the only town in the Vale of Arryn and the one that keeps all the houses supplied in winter where the mountain passes are inaccessible. Thanks to the frequent trade between Frostport, Lannisport, King's Landing and White Harbor. Gulltown found itself in a period of prosperity seen only when the seven kingdoms were separated and the Frostlords of Sunhall dominated the western waters. Its outer walls were made of pure marble, coming from Tarth, and merchants from Essos and Lannisport left with carts full of scented candles and barley and entered with fabrics, wine, cheese, jewelry, oriental spices, perfumes and various goods from different corners. As she passed through the gates, Catelyn saw the streets gracefully decorated with black stone mosaics, damp from a passing rain, and knights lining the streets with their armor decorated with various sigils. She saw many a flaming tower of Grafton, bells of belmore, the ravens of Corbray, and the runes of Royce wandering among many others along the causeways and on horseback with caravans. The inns, brothels and taverns were buzzing with the arrival of dusk.

"Was there a tournament, Lord Gerold?"

Catelyn asked with obvious confusion.

"Ohh no, no Lady Catelyn. We are respectful and we are still mourning Lord Jon, these men are here after the Wyce galleys are sailing straight for the capital and these merchants take advantage of their absence, the houses of the Vale buy everything that is fine cheaper, but there was a commotion in King's Landing and you probably already know about Duskendale?"

Gerold said with regret but a hint of excitement grew at the end of the sentence.

"But of course, there is no lord in the seven kingdoms who doesn't know about Prince Joffrey's hunger for gold..."

She responded with a sad smile, still regretful and upset that Sansa did not marry the crown prince, who would greatly benefit her house, from the Starks of Moat Cailin to the Tullys of Riverrun, but Brandon's children took all the prestige of the union. with the royal family.

"...However, what happened in King's Landing?"

"I thought you already knew, lady"

Gerold frowned. Clearly confused by Catelyn's ignorance.

"He came from White Harbor, Lord Manderly himself sent me the letter..."

"... Don't make me worry, Lord Grafton, you know well that my husband is the king's new hand, what happened in that place?"

She interrupted him with her blue eyes looking at him intensely. Lord Grafton nodded and answered her.

"A few days ago, there was a commotion in the king's court. The prince's fiancée, Lady Dyana, his niece..."

He gestured to her and Catelyn nodded.

"... She discovered that more than forty merchants were leading a scheme to embezzle gold from the king's coffers, the girl felt furious and with the men of the Wolf Horde, she led the king's justice over those men and with her hands cut them off. his throat, all forty of them, and made them an example for any greedy person who doesn't pay the crown's taxes and steals from it, which is his right."

Catelyn looked scared and her eyes widened. She expected something from Dyana, a drunken night and hunting in Kingswood but her acting as the king's executor was too much even for Ned who loved her as he loved Lyanna. He always told her that Arya and Dyana inherited the wolf blood from the Starks and that their deceased brothers also had it, unlike him and Benjen.

"The lord hand decided to place her under house arrest, that's when the prince warned that he would return from a business trip to Duskendale, with concrete proof of the innocence of Dyana's act and that only by her order, she executed the men"

"When will the trial take place?"

She questioned.

"In a few days, Lady Stark, even the tournament was postponed so that the trial could take place properly"

He replied. Catelyn snorted heavily, afraid of what Ned would do to Dyana and how Jon and the North would react to his decision. The Wyces are a problem, she never trusted a house that was as powerful as hers, that she could unite a part of the kingdom and take Winterfell and Moat Cailin. Even though the Northmen are known for not breaking oaths, she knows that all it takes is an order from the Stark of Winterfell for swords to be drawn and blood to flow through the Riverlands to the capital.

"I understand Wyman Manderly's omission, Lord Gerold, as I know well that this is news to be concerned about"

They passed through the castle moat and arrived on the other side, now it is night, everyone in the entourage sighed calmly as they were protected by the inner walls. They accepted the offer of bread and salt, Lady Catelyn and Ser Rodrik plus the leader of those assigned to protect her, Ser Dextar Molgon, a tall man with brownish blond hair, a thick beard on his chin that rose to a thin connection between his sideburns and her eyes are a deep, piercing shade of honey, yellowed like gold in the sunlight. He wore beautiful silver gray plate armor with a green background banner and two clashing bloody swords, this was his personal sigil and on his helmet were sharp blades protruding from the ear guards with a trident on the crest. Wyman Manderly himself appointed him leader of the retinue's guard, Catelyn was afraid of Dextar's eyes but Ser Rodrik had called him one: A Fearsome Man of Honor. Catelyn saw no honor in him, only someone who hates losing: A Fearsome Proud Man.

Catelyn was given a room next to the main tower of the castle, where Lord Gerold Grafton's family resided. There was an empty closet, a dresser with a mirror, and a bed lined with feathers and comfortable silk sheets with wool pillows. The only window in the place had a view of Gulltown, more precisely a square next to the castle, with a troupe of mummers performing a play: Portogeada Ice.

Garvy Wyce's battle against Rhaegar Targaryen at the Trident.

The mummer dressed as Lord Garvy dyed his originally black hair pale yellow, with some gaps at the roots and entire strands without the dye. Catelyn let out a light snort of laughter, for the last time she saw Lord Garvy, she had the same pale hair and irritated scowl as the mummer. He had stepped into a puddle of excrement outside the Pit and his pants had to be changed, the smell was terrible. Meanwhile the gallant Rhaegar, who enchanted women when he trotted with his white stallion with a black mane, became a withered man with a flat nose and his silky platinum blond strands turned into a tangle of dry, brittle strands. In the play, Lord Garvy rode an old ox while Rhaegar rode his dark pig, named Balerion the Blackfart. The smallfolk's laughter set fire to the serene air of that room, Catelyn removed her corset and breathed comfortably, throwing her red hair back and putting on a cotton nightgown. She decided to watch the mummer's play.

Garvy mounted on the brown-haired ox, brandished his white-dyed wooden halberd and attacked Rhaegar who dodged and fell open-chested in the courtyard.

"Curse you!"

Rhaegar roared.

"You angered the dragon, Garvy Wicy!"

And Rhaegar charged at him with a guttural roar, only to fall from the black pig as it lay on the ground. His white hair was stained by the damp earth.

"Blackfart has had enough of your stupidity! Last of the Lizard's"

Garvy replied, the audience laughed and Garvy and his ox passed across the entire stage with a slow and heavy run.

"It's for the saffron! Honey! Beer! And wine that the Mad King stole from me!"

And Garvy struck Rhaegar with the wooden halberd, tearing his clothes and exposing the final trick: Smelly pig intestines fell from a bag strapped to his belly. The last of the Lizard's fell to the ground, onto the pig intestines and died.

Catelyn smiled slightly as she recalled Garvy's speech. Saffron, honey, wine and beer. If Aerys Targaryen did not block Lord Garvy's sea routes, trying to gather support in the north and destabilize the rebellion, Lord Wyce would make a maximum of eight thousand men from Tentown available. But it was the sea blockade and the deaths of Rickard, Brandon, and Lyanna's abduction that brought war to the Tentowners. An armada of twenty thousand warriors, clad in Arnehild's steel, put an end to Robert's war.

"Very well! Old Garvy! Now dead, the Lizard King will bring me no grief!"

Said a fat girl, dressed in an old, shabby doublet, carrying a rusty hammer and on her head a wooden crown twisted to form stag horns, but the striking feature of her appearance is a huge pile of thick black hair on her face. It seemed to be attached to the face, she even oiled the hair and combed it carefully. This woman plays Robert Baratheon in the play, Catelyn was surprised because even Robert's belly and breasts were bigger. The play continued until the characters of Balon Greyjoy and the Ironborn jumped to announce their rebellion and a new war began, with Ned Stark appearing, this Ned was short and had a full beard, coarse speech, an irritating accent and his Ice was big and heavy. It wasn't Valyrian steel and that wasn't his Ned.

She expected to sleep for a few minutes before having supper with the Graftons but the soft tapping of Dextar's hands on the wooden bedroom door woke her up.

"My lady, Lord Grafton requests your presence in the great hall."

He said with his cold voice. He was there on guard, he wouldn't leave unless a letter from Ned, Jon or Wyman said he was released from duty. Catelyn was surprised at first, thinking he could be a spy for Lord Wyman or Jon, but he never said a single word to her, never questioned her or analyzed any of her conversations with Jorah and Annalys. He stayed close but not to watch, just to protect.

"Say I'll come in a few minutes"

She replied and Dextar said to the messenger next to him.

Catelyn wore silk, fine and comfortable as warm water in the cold of the north, the red dyed in the fabric brightened her fiery curls and the blue of her eyes reflected the moonlight, when the clouds finally moved out of the way. She left the room with grace, Ser Dextar remained motionless and Cat turned to go to the great hall, continuing the path that led to that corridor, passing through a steel door protected by two men at arms and then down the stairs that led to the north courtyard of the castle. She saw many men in Grafton's service and some who accompanied her to the castle, these men joined her and Dextar, who entered the hall gates and the herald announced their arrival. It wasn't a banquet, but there was Lord Gerold, his family consisting of his wife and children, then the Steward of the castle and what appeared to be Lord Gerold's other relatives. Catelyn was led to the high table, placed on a raised stage at the far end of the hall, and up to it, she saw Valemen's and foreigners dining with the Grafton house. She imagined that with the diversion of traders from the north, that Grafton would strengthen Gulltown's ties with those men and nothing better than a supper to show favor towards them, however, she was there and negotiating with Lord Stark's aunt in the premises was not it was a smart move. But it would show that their fear of Stark influence in Gulltown was mutual. Cat did not like being used, but until the end of the banquet, she showed complete dominance over the subject at the table and any Valemen merchant or not, could not interrupt her. They wouldn't be crazy enough to offend those with powerful relatives.

Gulltown's early morning was rainy and muddy but at dawn only the blue sky shone for everyone.

Catelyn's entourage was ready at dawn and all it took was an order from her for them to leave and they did so at the seventh hour of the day. Lord Grafton gave them horses, fast and strong-shod, to trot through the narrow passes of the Moon Mountains. Catelyn wore trousers for riding and a boiled leather jerkin with mail sewn onto it, she felt uncomfortable but the Cavemen's attacks increased and those men would pay with their lives if something happened. The northwest gate was her exit from Gulltown and only the green expanse of the Vale covered her view. Some farms with men and women stood out in the tangle of trees and fields covered in grasses and woods, many were close to harvest but the closer they were to the mountains, the more there would be good fields for plowing, they were empty and houses were burned. high up in the hills they also became normal.

"It is the result of the Ardagon war, my lady"

Ser Dextar said. Catelyn had not imagined that the honorable Valemen's would go through such an ordeal, she said a prayer and continued riding but fearful of encountering something or someone on the way.

It was the fifth day of the journey, the farms were swallowed by the green of the tall grass and the mountains of the moon, so far away now towered over her like the Old God's of the First Men's. But she knew that above them the Seven dictated the order of everything in the world. They went up a dirt road that went up to a steep hill and went down again, passing between two large rocks. On the eighth day, they found a beautiful lake where they rested and lit a fire to spend the night there. Ser Rodrik and Ser Dextar remained at his side, their swords propped at their sides, as they watched the other knights prepare a stew of dried meat and vegetables. The smell spread along the edge of the lake but a bitter leaf had been thrown into the broth and the good smell turned sour.

"Won't it spoil?"

Rodrik asked.

"Not with that sheet"

Dextar replied with immobile cheeks and a hoarse voice, he did not express himself with vivacity.

"It is used by Cavemen to ward off beasts, they mix it with incense and distribute it around camps and cave entrances. Even shadowcats don't dare to come close"

"I don't remember seeing anything like that when we were shopping in Gulltown, Ser Dextar"

Catelyn said, with suspicion and narrowed eyes.

"Where did you buy such a leaf capable of frightening wild beasts and acquire knowledge of the practices of my sister's enemies?"

"It's from White Harbor, Lady Stark."

He said, his face still serious.

"The Cavemen's are no different from me and Ser Rodrik, who are of the pure blood of the First Men's. He may not know, my subordinates neither but I know that we know that there are clandestine negotiations between the Sistermen's and Cavemen's"

"For now"

Catelyn responded and Ser Dextar nodded silently.

They ate their stew with soft bread from the bakers of Grafton and only a few men were given the privilege of falling asleep on that freezing night in the Vale.

Ser Dextar Molgon is not privileged. He refuses to sleep in those lands. Ever since they left the green expanses of the Valley and entered the mountains, he felt the itch, that merciless itch in the corner of his ear, like an ant scratching his skin with its claws. They were being followed and he could feel the impatient eyes of their pursuers. He couldn't sleep and his watch subordinates, Ronard and Gobb, had more broth than usual and wouldn't sleep for a long time. He had to be patient, it was his patience that made him a knight in the service of Wyman Manderly, it was his sword and his father's daggers that gave him the title of Dextar Icesteel, the sharpest blade in the merman's trident. The threat of a few wildlings will not be enough to take away the sharpness of his blade and these pursuers will not be enough to make him tired, their steps are heavy and the blades, the mail and the heavy breaths give away their positions like the roar of a bear in the night.

He was standing, next to a rock, probably fallen from the top of the mountains, which ended his long descent there, he only had in his hands the blade and the dagger with a red handle and a round pommel made of white gold. The helmet placed over his face had a mask of empty, dark expression.

"Get ready"

He said and walked with heavy steps in front of Catelyn, who had not woken up due to the tiredness of riding for days through mountainous, cold and steep terrain. The knights listened attentively to her words and those who were still sleeping were awakened by their colleagues. There were fourteen of them including old Rodrik, who was not awakened, everyone exchanged their plates for lighter jerseys and leather gambeson's. Ovulated ironwood shields and helmets with the merman's trident on the crest remained with them. The blades sang the opening melody as they were drawn from the sheath and even Rodrik and Catelyn awoke after the fourteen sounded in the night. The men of the mountains of the moon roared and in what was a great roar, another ten followed to become twenty and again twenty more. Dextar smiled, it was an ambush, they knew that there was Catelyn Stark from Winterfell, not just any lady from some part of the seven kingdoms that they didn't know about. Dextar's thoughts seemed to die when not just forty but what would have been a hundred blades drawn simultaneously created the atrocious roar of a thirsty beast. A horn sounded. The mountain descended upon them.

"Run to the horses!"

A stone ripped through the air and Dexter's blade shattered it, it was destined for Ser Rodrik.

"Do not stop!"

Once again, however, one of the knights roared in pain as he hit a rock in the chest. They had arrows, they had archers, he saw them running in the dim light lit by the moon, but they didn't shoot, they need Lady Stark alive. Catelyn ran to the horses beside the lake and mounted one of them in a hurry, the showers of stones punishing them like the lashes of an overseer.

"Knights! Form wall!"

Dextar ordered and the orderly knights in the midst of chaos protected themselves by creating a wall of shields around themselves. Protected, he analyzed better and saw that the attacks were coming from the highest part of a hill covered with oaks and tall grass, with the stones falling from within the dense foliage of the branches.

"To the southwest!"

The knights shaped the moving parade into the ordered direction and the stones continued.

"Back off! To the horses!"

The footsteps retreated and the horses rested on the lakeshore but the tall grass shook and the cloak it formed parted to reveal three, five, ten, twenty and many more Cavemen wielding swords, axes, hammers and maces of pure iron. with dark mesh tinkling with each heavy step like the walk of a bull.

"Kill them, spare the stallions, bring me the red woman"

Said the strongest of them all, he was tall and dark, wearing steel plates and a longsword, which looked ordinary when used by his heavy hands.

The Cavemen threw themselves at the knights but they remained retreating and with their defenses raised. The first warrior delivered a fierce ax blow, defended and counterattacked with sword thrusts piercing his armpits, thighs and Dextar's sword tearing his throat. His partners retreated, frightened by the quick death of their fastest warrior but a roar resounded among them and another just as fast came with his spear and met the same end as the first.

"Turn around, take your horses"

Said the leader again.

"Increase your pace!"

Dextar ordered and the knights continued to retreat, there were at least twenty steps to go and they would arrive, they needed to run to the Eyrie and pray for reinforcements.

But like a candle extinguished in the breath of his lips, so was Dextar's hope when the arrows shattered the right eye of one of his knights.