21 The Three-way deadlock
Lannisport, Westerlands, 1Oth moon of 276 AC
The melee tent had a surprisingly good ambiance; the competitors were talking to each other and making new friendships or rivalries. Those who already were rivals before the tourney threw japs at one another.
" JORAH! There you are, my friend! Getting ready for the melee? I'm sure this tournament will have only northern winners!" Ragnar said merrily.
" Ragnar! Champion of the archery! If you are as good with a sword as you are with a bow, then we're all fucked up! But AYE let this tourney be won by us northerners. Gods know we don't do many tourneys on The North." Replied Jorah.
" Then it's just you and me, Jorah, against them all," Ragnar pointed out " for The North," Ragnar joked.
"For The North indeed. But we're going to have to best the sword of the Morning." Jorah answered.
"Hah, you northerners will never be able to land a hit on him; he's unbeatable," Replied a man; he had fiery red hair and beard, his eyes were blue, and he had a playful smile on his face, his tone wasn't one of mocking or disbelief, it was more of a joke-ish fashion than anything else. He wore nice-looking steel armor with griffins engraved on it.
"Reality tends to be disappointing… Ser?" Ragnar joked
"Jon Connington… and you? Another Dragon whose name is not Targaryen?" Connington asked as he saw Ragnar's coat of arms on his armor.
" Aye, I'm Ragnar of House Dovahkiin, the Ice Dragons of The North." Ragnar laughed
"It's actually a good title, my Lord; the Ice Dragons are said to roam the shivering sea… and Skagos is an Island on the Shivering Sea." Replied the until now silent Davos.
" Aye, Davos, Aye," Ragnar agreed.
" Is it true what they say about you? That you arrived at Casterly Rock riding a bear and wearing a Valyrian Steel Armor?" Jon Connington asked, and the tent went utterly silent.
"Aye, completely true. Lord Lannister forbade me to wear my armor in the Tournament. It would be unfair to you all." Ragnar replied, laughing.
" Of course, it would. A fucking monster like you wearing a Valyrian steel could win a war. You are bigger than that fucking Greyjoy." Jon Connington joked, and the whole tent laughed.
"Well, the sword of the morning would beat me, wouldn't he? An unbeatable man can beat anyone," Ragnar said
" Yes, Arthur would," Connington said.
" So that's his name, Arthur," Ragnar calmly said as he took Wuuthrad from his back and raised it high " Our battle will be more than legendary."
Ragnar did know Arthur Dayne's name, but he wanted to create a good atmosphere for his fight with Arthur. It would be Legendary, as he said. Ragnar intended to fight Arthur with "axmenship" and swordsmanship alone. He wouldn't use much of his strength to fight Arthur, just Wuuthrath and his Nightgale Sword, which he had sheathed on his hips.
" A Valyrian Steel Battle-Axe. Incredible." Commented Connington.
Before Ragnar could answer him, the sound of trumpets was heard, and all competitors went out to get their weapons blunted and to be selected into two groups. Each group would fight among themselves in battle-royal-like style, and the six remanding men of each group would qualify for the one-on-one semi-finals and the three man who won two fights in the One-on-one would fight against each other in the final
In Ragnar's group, the only important person other than him was the Silver Prince himself.
The group fight was chaotic as they came; Ragnar lost the count of how many men he defeated, He knew Rhaegar wasn't one of them as by the end of the Group Stage, the seven still standing were:
Ragnar
Rhaegar Targaryen
Two knights of House Foote
Lord Tybolt Crakehall
Emmon Frey, son of Genna Lannister ( NEVER FREY)
the Seven of the other side were:
Ser Arthur Dayne
Lord Jorah Mormont
Ser Barristan Selmy
Ser Gerion Lannister
Ser Kevan Lannister
Ser Gerold Hightower
The opponents were chosen by drawing. In the first round of the finals would be
Ser Arthur Dayne x Ser Gerold Hightower
Ser Kevan Lannister X House Foote Knight 1
Ser Baristan Selmy X Lord Jorah Mormont
Lord Tybolt Crakehall X Emmon Frey
House Foote Knight 2 X Prince Rhaegar Targaryen
Lord Ragnar Dovahkiin X Ser Gerion Lannister
Ragnar's fight was totally one-sided; Ragnar won the contest in one movement. He stepped into Gerions guard with his sword pointing at his throat. Gerion Yielded as was his only option.
Ragnar's second fight was against Emmon Frey, a boy of one and seven. Ragnar won the battle with the same movement he used in the previous contest. Emmon could only sigh and yield.
The Three-man final would be between Ragnar, Arthur Dayne, and Barristan Selmy. Ragnar had defeated Gerion Lannister and Emmon Frey. Arthur had defeated Gerold Hightower and Rhaegar Targaryen. Barristan had defeated Jorah Mormont and Ser Kevan Lannister.
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The crowd was cheerful as it could have been; two Kinguards were in the finals, two legendary swordsmen and, if the way his fights in the semifinals went, a soon-to-be-legendary warrior.
Arthur Dayne was the deadliest man in King Aerys Kingsguard, wilder of the mythical sword Dawn, and the current Sword of the Morning.
Barristan Selmy, or Barristan The bold, was the most skilled swordsman alive; the slayer of Maelys the monstrous.
Ragnar Dovahkiin was a Giant of a Man, wielder of a massive Valyrian Steel battle-ax; he won all his battles with one move.
This fight would go down in the annals of history
Ragnar entered the field with his battle-axe in one hand and a bastard sword in the other. The bastard sword was as dark as night and had a bird on its quillon.
Arthur entered the field holding his sword Dawn in his hand, a bastard sword in the other, his golden armor shone as it should, and his white cloak moved with each step he took.
Barristan Selmy entered the field holding a bastard sword; he was handsome in his golden armor, and his long hair and beard gave him a respectable look.
The three warriors presented their weapons to a Lannister squire, who wrapped cloth on their blades to make them blunt, as was done in the other rounds.
Ragnar nodded at Arthur and Barristan, and both nodded back at Ragnar and at each other.
Ragnar smiled as he guarded up, he had his battle-axe pointed at Arthur and his nightingale sword pointed at Barristan.
" FIGHT" said King Aerys ll
None of the warriors moved immediately; they were waiting for an opening, they found none; they were all just too good, but then Ragnar moved first. He thrust his sword at Ser Barristan, who easily paired, and prepared to use a flung on Ragnar; he had no time to, so as Ragnar spun and was about to hit Barristan with Wuuthrad, to Barristan's luck, Arthur threw an overhand cut at Ragnar, who had to use his sword to pair, the attacks made no sound as the cloth muffled it all, but all could feel the power on the impacts.
The fight continued like that for almost 10 minutes. The speed and technique they showed was something no man had ever seen, at least not in - a three-men fight. These 10 minutes would be known to the rest of Westeros as The Three-way deadlock; THE GREATEST fight in the history of the seven kingdoms.
Unfortunately, Ser Barristan wasn't in his prime anymore, and as such, he ended up being the loose end in the Three-way deadlock. Barristan yielded when both Ragnar and Arthur had their swords pointed at his throat. He was cheered by the crowd as loudly as they had cheered for Prince Rhaegar when he arrived at the bleachers.
The fight now was one-on-one,
Arthur was clearly more tired than Ragnar, which for the crowd, was an INCREDIBLE feat considering he was holding a battle-axe.
Ragnar smiled at Arthur once more as they both assumed a high guard; the crowd's noise disappeared from their minds, focusing on one another. This time Arthur attacked first, with a simple overhand cut, followed by a fast underhand cut from his other sword; Ragnar evaded the first attack and parried the other with his sword. Ragnar gave a step back and stuck Wuuthrad in the ground; he then held his nightingale sword with two hands and said loudly said
" Now it ends."
Ragnar then began a series of complex thrusts followed by spins and last-second evasions if, by chance, Arthur could counter-attack him, Arthur did pair all of his attacks, but he was being pressured in a way he had never been pressured in a fight before. It was then that Ragnar feinted a bad overhand cut; Arthur fell for it and tried to thrust Ragnar in his ecstasy to finally having a point in the fight to being his counterattack, but it was all a feint; Ragnar spun backward and had his blade millimeters from Arthur's throat
"I Yield," Ser Arthur Dayne said for the first time in his life
" The champion of the Melee, Ragnar Dovahkiin, Ice Dragon of The North."
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A/N: That's it guys, a really hard chapter to write, if you guys see ANY mistakes, please point them out, I want this chapter to be perfect!!
Thank You
