Chapter 34: Act III: Chapter 15

Hello everyone,

Follow me on instagram at wtmcdonaldauthor! If you are feeling generous, and wish to donate to my writing career, you can find me at (P) (A) (T) (R) (E) (O) (N) under the same name for early access to chapters of The Ladder!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

On a normal day, sailing into the port of Tyrosh would have been a beautiful sight.

I stood on the Bow of my ship, staring straight ahead at our destination. The sun was in the sky but it was nowhere near its peak. Even still, it gave me a complete vision over the Port of Tyrosh. I imagined ships by the hundreds coming and leaving daily. Fishermen making a living, and even thriving in the waters outside of the city. Traders, bringing foreign wares and goods to the people. It was no wonder that it rivaled Myr in power, because of its strategic position.

Unfortunately, there were no ships coming in and out of the Port today, besides my own. The waters in front of me were practically on fire. It had been hours since Ben and I took flight on our dragons before decimating the city and their ships. Their fleet, which was close to 50 strong, was strewn into hundreds of pieces throughout the waters. Most of them had sunk into the depths of the ocean, but there was still plenty of driftwood for us to sail through.

The soft sound of wood hitting wood could be heard from the ship I was on. Similar sounds from the rest of my fleet carried across the water to my ears. My eyes caught the sight of half a ship still floating, with the flag of Tyrosh painted on its burning sails. There were no less than ten other examples of that exact thing on these waters.

The walls of the city weren't much better. Once upon a time, the walls would have been impressive. The fires that still burned on top of them and the soot that plastered the walls didn't inspire confidence in their strength. But what did, when one compared it to dragon fire?

A roar shook my bones and I saw my dragon dive on the walls spraying more dragon fire, where the defenders of the city continued to send troops to try and stop us from establishing a beachhead by raining arrows on us.

They do not care for their citizens.

My first ship touched the beach and soon my men had boots on the ground. Just as I had ordered, they fell into formation and marched towards the walls but took a defensive position. They were to protect the rest of the men in case the Second Sons decided to open the gates and charge them before the rest of us could arrive.

My second and third ships touched the beach next. On and on, until my own ship felt the turbulence of the sand beneath us. I leapt off of the bow in full plate, and my knees didn't even strain when I landed on the beach beneath me.

I drew my sword and ran to the front of my 5000 men.

Ben POV:

Nothing can stop us.

Anogar's scales gleamed from the sun above us. They were scarlet red, just like the blood we would make run by midday.

I looked down to see Petyr arriving at the head of half our army. I knew that was all we needed to take the city. Petyr could cripple the enemy forces with that alone, despite the numerical disadvantage. But I would make his job easy on him by cutting the head of the snake off before the battle ever really began.

None will dare oppose us after today.

Horns in the distance caused me to glance in that direction. The 'surprise' fleet with scorpions mounted on their bows had arrived, and were giving the city's defenders the signal to make a move. Coincidentally, that was my signal as well.

Dive. I commanded, and the dragon beneath me obeyed. The second pair of flapping wings alerted me that the white scaled beauty was following. I smiled, as the city gates got closer and closer.

Davos POV:

Tyrosh was once a beautiful city, and one that I would have gladly retired to. In fact, it and Lys were my favorite places to visit as a young sailor. Never would I have imagined that I would lead the fleet to take the city for a Myrish King. Although calling Petyr that would be a disservice to the young man.

Soon he would rule three of the free cities and the Disputed Lands. Only Volantis would oppose him, and with the power of the three sisters, two dragons, and Petyr's genius, I'm not sure they could be considered his equal.

One thing that he had taught me, was how powerful simplicity could be. Before he had arrived in Myr, there were magistars that all had agendas and differing views. Petyr had eliminated them quickly, along with the complex tax system that they had employed on their people. I had thought it was foolish, but the simple tax plan increased the taxes the city had received.

I did not understand how it was possible.

On top of that, he freed the slaves and in a single night tripled the population he had access to. Once again, I thought it foolish. The city would revolt and burn, and that it did. But somehow, Petyr beheaded the damn priest that instigated all of it within the day.

All of these actions simplified the city, and though he kept an extensive record of everything, it was simple.

I have begun to approach my own life and position, in the same mindset. That was what led to me standing on my ship, staring out into the waters where the enemy ships were coming. It had been a hard thing, but my sailors had managed to maneuver our ships to intercept them from decimating most of our ships. I knew I would lose ships, in fact I was encouraged to by Petyr to do so in order to buy him and Ben time to succeed in their mission.

Luckily for me, I had very valuable information from Petyr as to my enemy. Only half of the ships had actual scorpions on them. Coincidentally, the enemy had based their plan off of us not knowing that information. The ones without scorpions had skeleton crews on them. Fodder for the ships outfitted with their scorpions and men. My men had orders to completely ignore the skeleton crews, and put all priority on the scorpion ships.

I smirked as I had the perfect plan for those ships. Petyr only had himself to blame for my battle plan.

I decided to keep it simple.

Petyr POV:

The dragon fire did exactly what I knew it would. Although it was the first time that I was so close to the destruction that it caused. And I was still thirty yards away from the gates. The heat from the fire washed over me, and I knew it was uncomfortable for the men behind me. Had I not been immune to fire, because of the game, then I would be singing a different tune.

I cannot describe the luxury I had at that moment. It was nearly impossible to take well fortified cities. And I could easily classify Tyrosh as a well fortified city. Very few attackers had ever been able to just stand outside of the walls without arrows and bolts raining down on their forces.

Most of the time, the enemy commander was forced to starve out the city, especially if it had inferior supplies. I always tried to avoid this type of seige if I could. It ate away at the supplies and gold no matter if you had them to spare or not. I could never swallow that when I had the balls to pull some of the things that I had.

Gulltown's infiltration was the first time that I tried something risky; Kings Landing was the same idea just ramped up to one thousand. Of course, I did have knowledge that I shouldn't have, leading to me knowing about the wildfyre. It was a fairly simple plan once one took that into consideration.

So as I stood in front of the enemy gates watching them explode, with 5000 soldiers at my back, I thought it was surprisingly… easy.

When the fire, smoke, and dust faded all that was left was a burning hole in the wall where the gate used to stand. On the other side, I saw enemy soldiers standing in a loose formation. It was too loose for my liking and I would have never allowed them on the battlefield if it was my men.

I raised a horn that was on my waist, and blew into it in a short and simple command. Ever since my time as the commander of the Stormcloak soldiers, I loved the idea of universal commands for the entire army. It took out the middleman of sending soldiers with orders to the front lines. Just like the Stormlanders that I once commanded, the soldiers behind me marched forward quickly. They parted like a river around me and fell back into formation. It was as if I was a stone standing in the center of the river of men.

Once there were sufficient rows in front of me, I followed them. I was close enough to yell out orders, but far enough to be able to avoid the front lines. We made it just inside the walls before our enemy had enough.

"AAAAHHHHH!"

The enemy soldiers charged, and immediately I knew that we would crush this force. From my position, I could not see how many there were, but I knew my men would decimate them with our shield wall. Ben and the dragons had specifically only blown one single hole in the wall, to make a sort of funnel at the front wall. It was a simple way for us to counteract the enemy's superior numbers.

I raised my horn to my lips and blew two quick orders. The men in front of me stopped marching and planted their feet. They had spears held out in front of their square shields prepared to end lives. The line covered the entirety of the hole in the wall.

Before the enemy soldiers arrived, I blew three quick orders through my horn again. It was all a part of our battle plan. The men in front of me didn't even move, they knew the orders weren't for them. I didn't need to look behind me to know that the orders were being completed, and I didn't have the time to because the first wave of attackers hit our shield line.

Our first row buckled slightly, but the second row had their shields against their backs supporting them, while the third row copied the second row. There was a tense minute where I was worried the shield wall would fall.

"Hold!" I commanded, and I could literally see the muscles in my soldiers bodies tense in preparation.

I did not let them down with my next command. "PUSH!" I yelled.

It was a beautiful thing to see. It started from the third row, as they shoved their comrades forward slightly. From that movement, it was like a wave of force moved through our soldiers. The second row transferred that momentum to the first row, and they took advantage of it by shoving the enemy away five feet.

"THRUST!" I called out.

The entire first row's spears lashed out. Everywhere I looked, an enemy soldier fell and died.

My army took three steps forward, and stopped. Like clockwork, the enemy soldiers charged into the shields again. Once again, the first three rows supported each other and the wall held.

"PUSH!"

Once again, there was a wave of force that caused the enemy soldiers to be pushed back.

"THRUST!"

Another wave of death and then three steps forward.

Rinse and repeat. We completed another two more pushes before I looked behind me. My archers were on top of the walls, and although we were pushing into the city, we had only made it twenty feet maybe. They could still decimate the enemy ranks.

I raised my sword in my hand, and waited for the shield wall to be impacted by the enemy soldiers again. After a moment, I knew we were about to do some serious damage to the enemy numbers.

"PUSH!"

"THRUST!"

I dropped my sword. "FIRE!"

The enemy numbers thinned by the hundreds, everytime I gave that order. Once again, my men advanced a couple feet.

A roar hit my ears, and I knew that Ben had infiltrated the Archon's Palace.

Davos POV:

I smiled as the first Scorpion bolt hit the ship coming straight for it, but they hadn't aimed low enough. It pierced the hull, but not enough to do any real damage to the ship. The water it would take on would be rare because of its location near the deck.

They were so worried about the skies, they didn't allow for proper movement of the Scorpion.

I watched the men on that ship load the next bolt quickly. Once again, they fired and hit the ship, but it was for naught. Two of my own ships impacted each hull of the enemy ship with their bows, and the enemy ship buckled. I smiled as I realized why Petyr had been creating Ironborn vessels at all of his dockyards. They were designed to ram enemy vessels and cause maximum damage while surviving the ordeal.

The enemy was realizing my plan while understanding that the dragons weren't coming. I watched as the skeleton crews passed my fleet, unnoticed and confused as to what to do. They could barely turn their vessel and react to my ships movements, let alone do anything to commandeer my ships, which all had full crew with trained soldiers on them.

In fact, the first ship I saw be smashed was currently being slaughtered by our superior soldiers. We outnumbered them and were better outfitted, it wasn't much of a fight to be totally honest.

I carefully watched as the crews without the scorpions and soldiers continued on to the beach. Another thing that Petyr told me to allow. There was a small amount of soldiers that would apprehend the ships if they made it to the beach. If the sailors were smart, they would take the ship, and sail for Lys, or Myr, or one of the Stepstones.

It was relatively cheap to have new sails and flags made. Become a captain, make a life for themselves. It would be the smart thing to do, but I did not expect them to be smart. Very few Sailors were, after all. Two more of my ships broke off to intercept the next ship with a scorpion on it.

I watched intently and waited for my opponent to adapt to my strategy.

Ben POV:

Anogar's breath decimated the enemy ranks.

He let go of the four soldiers in his claws and continued to hover in the air, blowing fire in the direction of the enemy soldiers. There weren't many of them, maybe 20 in total outside of the walled Palace. All of them were shitting themselves at the sight of the two dragons dropping off soldiers.

Eventually, Anogar touched down and I hopped off of his saddle. My sword was in my hands and I moved forward with the eight total soldiers in my command.

9 men and two dragons versus an elite guard? I know who I would bet on.

Anogar and Weirña took to the skies again while we began heading up the stone stairs that led to the Palace gates. The men that weren't currently burning to death ran down to meet us with raised swords. Unfortunately they didn't engage us at the same time.

I ran through the first man to meet us, and used his body to intercept his comrades' slash. The soldier to my left ended his life with a spear through the neck. The rest of our attacker suffered similar fates at the hands of the men near me. Only one of them had a flesh wound on their arm. It would need to be looked at, but they could still fight.

Each of them knew their life was worth this mission, as did I. We made it through the front gates and were engaged by more men. One of my soldiers overextended himself and was cut down by a very large man with hair that was dyed red.

The way he moved with his sword told me of his experience, so I moved to engage him before he could engage my other men. I needed to preserve my numbers. He stabbed straight at my chest plate, and I dodged the strike by moving to my left. I swung up with my sword, aiming for his open armpit.

He twisted, causing me to miss, and used his momentum to send another swipe towards my neck. I ducked and my sword cut through his knee, rendering it useless.

As he fell to the ground, I rose and with another swipe, I opened his neck. He was skilled, but not nearly good enough for me. I had seen more war than most knights twice my age. The only person I failed to beat consistently was Petyr, a fact I was reluctant to admit to.

When I looked around after my brief fight, there were more soldiers heading towards our position. We cut our way through them, headed into the Palace proper, where I knew the Archon would be.

Davos POV:

I reached down, and helped pull the man out of the water and onto the ship. He was heavy in his armor, and somehow he was a strong enough swimmer to not drown immediately. Perhaps the driftwood had helped him stay afloat.

I was losing ships quickly now that the enemy had realized my plan. Whoever was commanding the fleet was competent and an experienced sailor. He had quickly started using the ships without soldiers on them as his own battering rams. I had already lost seven ships since the battle began. To be fair I had taken seven of their own scorpion ships, and at least ten of their undermanned ships, but I couldn't keep it up.

"Hurry up Ben, you bastard!"

Petyr POV:

"Retreat!"

I heard the enemy shouting those words over and over again. Soon, the enemy lines began to obey. I was well passed 100 yards into the city, and all behind me bodies lined the road leading to my position. We had carved at least a thousand enemy soldiers on our way, with minimal casualties on our side.

We had a foothold into the city, but it wasn't over yet. Ben still had to succeed in his mission for us to win this city without massive casualties.

Although, I had a plan if he did fail. I raised my horn to my lips and blew a long, low pitched command. They immediately began marching down the road where the enemy was retreating.

"Let's go Ben!"

Ben POV:

The wall to my left caved in because of Anogar's massive bulk forcing his way through it. The 20 men next to the wall were dead or close to it within the next few minutes because of his jaws, claws, and tail.

I had no more of my men next to me. The Archon had many more guards than we had expected and they were killed along the way.

I deflected a sword swing, and moved past the man as three more of his comrades rushed me. I moved to my left and dragged my blade up the left man's ribs before turning and deflecting another blade with the gauntlet on my left forearm. My sword blocked another sword strike, and I lashed out with my foot and broke the attacker to my right's knee. He fell, and I dove forward as another attacker was poised to pierce me through my back.

My back hit the ground, and another soldier was on top of me poised to slash my neck. I didn't even have time for panic to set in but I could tell I wouldn't get my sword up fast enough.

I have failed.

A white scaled tail swept over my prone form, and hit five bodies with enough force to kill all of them on impact. Weirña roared at her enemies and burned another ten men to ash with her fire.

I leapt off of the ground and took stock of my surroundings. I could see a huddle of soldiers circled around a figure that I had seen earlier. The Archon was being escorted out of the palace by four more of his guards. I set my feet and sprinted towards them.

More soldiers made to intercept me, but I deflected their blows and continued sprinting, leaving them for the dragons.

It took me another two minutes to catch sight of the guards and the Archon. By the time I had, we were back in front of the palace gates and there was a horse waiting on the Archon so that he could flee.

Two of the guards saw me and turned to stop me. I slowed to a stop as I realized I wouldn't be able to make it to the horse in time to stop the Archon. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the first soldier of mine that died upon arriving in the palace. Right beside his body was a spear.

The Archon put his right foot in the saddle of the horse and began to lift himself up.

I didn't even hesitate to reach down and grab the spear before standing and throwing the weapon with all my might. The Archon whipped his arms, and the reins of the horse followed. The horse immediately began to run away when the spear pierced it's torso right behind its front legs.

I knew it was a killing shot, and turned to my newest enemies.

They were skilled and they attacked in tandem. I was put on the defensive quickly. I deflected, dodged, deflected, and dodged. They left me no openings for the first 3 engagements. Just like most of my opponents, they did not focus on their footing and I was quick to remind them of the importance.

It was the fourth engagement that one of them left their leg in a vulnerable position. I took advantage of it ruthlessly and left him without one appendage. The next man's throat was cut quickly.

That just left two more men. I met both of them in the eye. They were terrified, I could tell. They looked between me and the man on the ground, pinned underneath a horse behind them. He was screaming in pain, and I knew his leg was most likely crushed. I could take my time with these two then.

The two soldiers looked back towards me, and then towards each other.

And then they ran away, abandoning the Archon of the city to his fate. I frowned at their cowardice and tilted my head as they ran away. A part of me was tempted to pursue them, before I thought better of it. I needed to finish my objective.

A roar behind me rattled my bones, and caused me to jump in fright.

The reasoning for the men running away had been standing right behind me. Anogar's head was lifted high in the air, and was bellowing out his victory. Countless cuts and scratches could be seen on his body, although I knew he would heal. A glitter of white in the sky told me that Weirña was in the sky and safe from harm.

I smiled as I walked slowly towards the screaming man on the ground. He saw me coming, and I could barely understand his broken Valyrian dialect. I only spoke the pure tongue, and saw no need to talk in anything less than what my blood demanded. It was beneath me.

He held his hands out to me in surrender and when I raised my sword, it cut through them, and his neck. Ending his life, and hopefully, this battle.

I reached down and grabbed his head before turning to Anogar.

Petyr POV:

I felt Weirña take to the skies through our link, and I couldn't help but feel relief at it. I had hoped that Ben and Anogar had similarly survived the mission, but at least Weirña had. As bad as it was to think that way, I felt no remorse.

"THRUST!"

For what felt like the thousandth time, my soldiers dealt death in my name. I steeled myself to continue this treatment of the city I meant to conquer until it conceded to me. I called for Weirña to return to me, and she obeyed quickly.

I bellowed out another command through my horn for my armies to stop. It seemed like all movement stopped on the battlefield at that moment. It didn't last very long because Weirña almost collapsed the building beside us that she landed on.

The enemy soldiers stopped their charge into my lines, and looked up to the rooftops above them. Weirña looked menacing with a snarl on her face, and blood covering her maw, and some of her scales on her flank. To add icing on to the cake, another dragon landed on the rooftop directly opposite of her, and to my relief Ben was there holding a head in his hands.

He tossed it in the air, where it flew directly in the game between our two armies.

'Squelch'

I took the opportunity to speak.

"That is the head of the Archon of this city!" I said as I walked in front of my lines and pointed to the head on the ground.

"Throw down your weapons, surrender, and you will leave with your lives and no more damage to your city!"

It was a simple command, but I knew that my Public Speaking skill would work on top of their combined fear of my army and dragons. The first man that threw down his weapon and shield caused a chain reaction throughout the rest of the army. I smiled as the sound of metal clanging against stone hit my ears.

I raised my sword to my men.

"The city is ours!"

A cry of triumph rang throughout my men. I waited for it to die down before I turned to the enemy soldiers just standing there.

"Bring me your leaders! Bring me Mero and the Gonfaloniere!"

A/N: Boom!

Tyrosh is Petyr's, and this time, it's not him who is the hero!

Well it wasn't as easy as Ben made it out to be. Petyr will go into more detail about that in the next chapter, as will Davos.

What did we think? The battle was one of the easiest Petyr has been a part of. Except maybe the massacre of Jon Connington's forces during Robert's Rebellion. I thought it would be a good idea for Ben to come up with the game plan, and I tried my best to make something that Petyr wouldn't really think about.

Do you guys think I did that? Let's talk in the reviews!