40 Chapter 39: Lions and Dragons P2

The cold embrace of night blanketed the land like a dark veil. The silence of the night smothered the land and forced it into a peaceful slumber. As far as Daven was concerned, only the gentle sound of the stream of Blackwater Rush prevailed. The secret bridge across the river was too small for their supplies to get across. This left them in a bit of a pickle. Despite having the advantage of substantial food stores owing to the support of the Reach, the Lannister army under his command was cut off from some major supplies.

Horses required food as did his men. He could only carry so much on horseback as the bridge was too narrow for supply carts to cross. Unfortunately, this little detail forced him to leave his supplies under the care of Tyrells. The lack of supplies was going to be a problem if they linger longer. But, he won't commit his armies without getting proper word about the enemy camp on this side of the bridge. The last thing he wanted was to waste men against defences around the enemy camp. He won't underestimate the foreigners like Lord Tarly and lose the war before it even began. He'd approach the enemy under the assumption that they were formidable and they'd pose a challenge to his army and tactics.

'Why is this taking so long?' Daven thought, as he began pacing impatiently outside his tent.

Becoming impatient with waiting for the scouts, Daven decided to seek out the men charged for restoring a damaged barge they found nearby. If the barge could be restored before daylight then he might find some use for it.

"Finch!" he called for the captain of his guards.

"My lord."

"Stay in my tent. The moment the scouts return I want to be informed."

"Of course, my lord."

Leaving his tent, Daven found the men near the banks of the Blackwater fast at work. Walking towards the river he noted the current was quite strong in the river.

'Good. Once the barge is finished the strong current can transport the barge through the Blackwater and sow chaos inside the enemy camp.' Daven thought.

The fires lit near the river made it possible for Daven to observe the progress so far.

"Speed it up. The faster you finish the faster you can rest. We have a war to fight." Daven ordered, gaining the attention of the men.

Some of his distant cousins overseeing the repairs looked uneasily amongst themselves. Seeing this Daven looked exasperatedly at the night sky lamenting the lack of skill and experience among his knights and squires.

'If father was here, I'd have been whipping the men to work faster.' he thought, cursing the fact that he was surrounded by clueless greenboys.

"Gregory, come here." he called for one of his distant cousins from House Lannett.

There was a whistling sound and then Gregory Lannett let out a grunt before falling to the ground with a thud. Daven blinked a few times confused by what he saw. As more whistling sounds reached his ears he realized what was going on.

"Enemy arrows! Take cover." Daven shouted, diving for the ground as arrows whistled past his head.

Unlike him, his men were not so lucky. Quite a lot of them fell in the first volley of arrows. Screams of men filled the air turning the peaceful night into one of horror. Daven crawled through the mud towards a stack of shields piled up near the fire. He could hear distinct thuds of arrows finding their marks. He cursed himself for not wearing even chainmail. The days of forced marching had suffocated him causing him to do away with the armour or even chainmail. Managing to crawl all the way he brandished the shield and proceeded to make his way to the tent. That turned out to be a bad idea as the next volley of arrows was alight with fire. It didn't take long for many of the tents in the camp to catch fire. The fire along with the constant volley of arrows sowed chaos into the camp.

In the distance, he could hear the thundering of hooves. It felt as if the sky was thundering, a precursor to the storm that was about to hit them.

"My lord."

Daven let out a sigh of relief as he saw Captain Finch closing in on his position.

"Ser Finch. The worst is yet to come. We need to make a defensive perimeter." Daven shouted over the chaos around them.

"Aye, my lord."

Together, the two of them managed to whip the men into defensive lines where they could hear the charging enemy. However, to Daven's surprise, the first attack came not from the enemy cavalry. More and more flaming arrows fell around their camp and the enemy released tangled tumbleweeds dipped in oil into the camp. The tumbleweeds rolling down from the higher ground caught fire from the arrows and smashed into their camp from north and south.

Daven managed to find a horse which he promptly mounted with a sword in hand. But, the camp was alight with fire everywhere. Men were screaming as many of them burned alive. Some were resting after the long journey through the Reach and they didn't even have a chance to escape. They were being burned in their sleep. Everywhere he looked, Daven could only see fire and death.

"My lord, we are being surrounded. We have to retreat." Ser Finch yelled.

Daven heard Ser Finch but his mind was swept up in the chaos unfolding before his eyes. He could not come to a decision as his mind went blank. He stayed there atop his horse watching the enemy wreak havoc inside the camp. The defensive lines his men made were breached as the enemy cavalry smashed through seemingly without any effort. In the light of the blaze engulfing his camp, Daven saw the banners of House Tyrell and Targaryen.

"I am betrayed." Daven muttered helplessly, his sword hanging loosely in his hand.

"My lord. My lord, give the order to retreat."

Daven heard Ser Finch shout but he was in another state of mind to respond. He felt as if his legs were turning to jelly and his arms were robbed of their strength. The sword in his hand slipped stabbing into the ground beside his horse. He stayed unmoving even as he distantly heard Ser Finch shouting for the men to retreat before riding away.

He didn't how long he stood there but he was knocked off his horse at some point. When his senses returned to him Daven found himself tied to a post inside an unfamiliar tent.

"Ser Garlan. The Lannister is awake."

Daven blinked the black spots in his vision away and squinted his eyes to get a better sense of his present situation. The frowning face of Ser Garlan came to his line of sight making Daven look at the Tyrell knight with a betrayed look.

"You betrayed me and your King. Why? Why would you fight against the detriment of your own sister who is the Queen?" asked Daven.

"Ah, I see. Your golden twins didn't tell you everything, did they? Cersei has my father and sister imprisoned. There has been no word of Loras but if the rumours are true then he died in the fire. House Lannister shall reap what they have sown." said Ser Garlan, before turning to take his leave.

"Wait!" Daven called, stopping Ser Garlan in his tracks. "What happened to my men? Did anyone escape?"

"They tried. I'm afraid the Dragon Queen's Unsullied troops boxed them in. While they are foreign savages, I have not seen such excellent disciplined foot soldiers. Your men stood no chance." said Ser Garlan before taking his leave.

Daven stared after Garlan Tyrell who left him in the tent all alone. Hanging his head low he felt as if the world was against him. The weight of the defeat and the shame he brought to his house was also weighing on his mind. If only Cersei had informed him of the Tyrells being taken hostage he could have kept a keen eye on the Reach lords. Therefore, he cursed Cersei and her plots for this defeat. But most of all, he blamed his indecision to sound the retreat that cost his men their lives.

XXXXXXXX

"The bells are ringing."

"Congratulations, Varys. You have a working pair of ears." Tyrion said, keeping his eyes on the encampments along the city walls.

He could see the City Watch and whatever Lannister soldiers his sister could cobble together along the walls.

'Poor sods.' he thought, looking at the men on the wall. Turning away from his enemies he turned the Myrish glasses on the army of his Queen.

The rising sun cast its golden rays on the Queen's army. Almost all the Narrow Sea lords were present at the front and centre of the army with their sturdy horses. The flanks were being guarded by the impenetrable shields and sharp spears of the Unsullied. The Crownland lords on the other hand were charged with another task. They were in charge of the siege engines. A long line of siege engines was assembled beside the Queen's army facing the city wall near the Iron Gate. This was the same case outside Dragon Gate. The only difference was that the Queen was present outside the Dragon Gate with her dragons. No doubt, his sister's men were shiting themselves seeing two dragons and a large army outside the Dragon gate.

"My lord, I think it's time." said Varys looking pointedly at the city.

Tyrion nodded. He hoped Ser Barristan would be as effective in distracting the enemy at the Dragon Gate. The Queen's dragons should have drawn more of the enemy catapults and archers to the Dragon Gate. Just as they planned.

Tyrion looked at Ser Jorah and nodded.

The bear knight nodded and rode straight for the siege engines. At an unseen signal, the catapults armed themselves with boulders and as one they released them against the walls of the city. The city walls braved the first volley thanks to the thick walls. The trebuchets manned by the enemy were not idle. They were aiming for the catapults as well as the siege towers but they were behind a safe range. However, the Lannister army was split along the main gates of the city trying in vain to protect his father's legacy.

Ser Jorah maintained the assault using catapults keeping the volleys concentrated on a portion of the wall. Varys was quite useful in identifying one of the weakest portions along the wall. For hours, the assault continued until Tyrion watched the Unsullied move the siege towers towards the wall. The siege towers were filled to the brim with archers, crossbowmen and spearmen.

Tyrion gave the signal for the catapults to move in and increase their range. The boulders were no longer concentrating on bringing down the wall. Instead, the catapults were now aiming at the ramparts along the wall. More specifically, they were now taking down the enemy siege engines which were already very low in numbers.

"We'll have to thank Cersei for the poor defences of the city. While the wildfire surely took many an innocent life it has also sapped the city's armoury and resources. The rest of their siege engines are deployed along the other gates." Varys commented.

"I'll keep in mind to thank my sister." said Tyrion, making Varys titter in the background.

An hour-long battle later, Tyrion smiled as he saw the siege towers manage to reach the wall. The gangplank was dropped by the first siege tower and Unsullied troops began to pour into the ramparts of the wall backed by crossbowmen and archers. The Lannister men and the City Watch were no match before the ferocious charge of the Unsullied. It didn't take long for the walls of King's Landing to become wet with the blood of the city's defenders.

'If only you had surrendered the city Cersei.' Tyrion thought, a pinch of sympathy for the fools who were dying because his sister was lusting for power.

The Unsullied made quick work of the Lannister men and the City Watch but they could not gain access to the gate. Tyrion was keeping his eyes on the wall and he noticed the Unsullied were not even attempting to go for the Iron Gate.

'There must be more troops waiting on the other side of the wall if the Unsullied are not attacking the gate.' he theorized.

Tyrion sent a messenger to the Unsullied to have their troops focus on other parts of the wall. After that, he ordered the bombardment of the wall once again. It took almost six more volleys of boulders to bring a portion of the wall down.

A portion of the wall came crashing down with a deafening sound. When the dust settled he could see the city through the breach in the wall.

"I believe you have achieved something marvellous my friend. You are the first person in history to breach the walls of King's Landing through a siege." said Varys.

But, Tyrion was not satisfied with anything of such sort. He no longer wanted fame or glory added to his name. All he wanted was to tear down everything his wretched father built. He wanted Tywin's legacy to burn to ashes. It should be as if Tywin Lannister never existed in this world.

"Give the order. We shall take the city in the name of the Queen." Tyrion ordered. His mismatched eyes glinted with malice as he watched the Queen's army moving towards the breach in the wall. It'll only be a matter of time before he enters the city. He wanted to make sure he greet his family properly befitting their station.