Chapter 102: Act 2: Chapter 40

Sixth day, Seventh Moon, 260 AC (+15 days)

Ryden POV

I was an idiot.

An idiot who underestimated the stupidity of others. A Prince should have been smart. Daring, but cunning.

Not yet a Knight, but only for a conscious decision to wait. Taught by the finest tutors in the Seven Kingdoms, he should have had a razor-sharp mind. Instead, he was human. Impatient.

Which was why I was on this little boat, rolling around precariously in the surf while wearing armor that was way too heavy to feel comfortable in. The men and I were part of one of four landing forces, as the Prince had split the host to assault the island. Originally, it was to be a single landing, just outside the largest of the villages, but that was foiled when the enemy decided to sally out to meet us.

That wasn't really a problem. We sailed further down the coast of the island and moved to disembark again. And again, the enemy sallied out to meet us, and we retreated. It was confusing, how could they move so quickly? The island was small, but we should have outpaced them. Again, we tried to land elsewhere and were met with force. The few scouts that had managed to land reported back that the enemy was using a messenger relay system to direct the forces they had spread out over the island so that they could respond to each landing attempt with just enough force to drive us back. It was an ingenious idea.

Ser Thorne had cautioned restraint – just blockade the island and sink their fishing boats; force them to surrender. It was a sensible idea and one that I had backed in the planning meeting. Ser Brune suggested that we force a landing regardless and call their bluff of having enough force to dislodge us. If we could smash through whatever paltry defenses they could summon on short notice, they would already be tired by the time they arrive, and we would sweep the island shortly. The Prince listened to our ideas but decided to go with his own – splitting our forces and timing it so that the enemy converges on one location, the rest of the fleet could land safely, and the original force could link up with the rest of the army that had landed.

It was a strategy that made theoretical sense if someone needed to capture the island immediately. But that was as much praise as I could give the idea. We had no way of communicating between the forces, so everything relied on luck, timing, and our assumptions being correct.

I shifted uncomfortably in my armor, as the boat was rocked by another wave. The sailor closest to me chuckled.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"Ah, nothing, m'lord," he replied.

"Out with it; it's not like we have anything better to do."

The man didn't shrug, as he was too busy rowing, but I could tell he wanted to. "Just thinkin' 'bout how happy I am t' not be wearin' all that weight."

"You'd be grateful once arrows start flying your way."

"Aye, and that's why I'll stay on my boat. My mama always said I was her smartest brat."

I chuckled. "I think a smart man would have stayed far from here."

The man grinned toothily. "Never said I was smart, just the smartest!"

I snorted, leaving the man to his rowing. As the shore neared, our pace slowed, for the shores of this island were treacherous, with poor, rocky beaches, and hidden shoals. The shore loomed in front of us in the early light of day, just as the sun was almost fully above the horizon and highlighted the slope of the beach. The rise of the shore hid what lay behind, but the bait force should have already tried a landing hours ago and our way clear.

The dinghy began to scrape while we were still a ways from the shore proper, but we exited nonetheless, into the cold, early morning waters. For this exercise, most of us went without greaves, at least those that had them in the first place, and even more, like me, went barefoot into the surf. I had my shoes tied around my shoulders so that I could have dry feet when we got to the shore, but a few fools didn't bother to bring them at all.

The water was close to my hips as I jumped over the side of the boat, the cold water giving me a nasty shock in the sensitive bits. The beach remained clear as we trudged our way to shore, and the boat backed out into the ocean once again to pick up more passengers. The beach itself was a rocky beach, rather than sand, which made setting up a camp an unpleasant affair – meaning we had to make sure we moved inland if we were going to find somewhere nice to set up.

The beach was quiet, ignoring the sound of the waves, with only a lone bird winging its way over the horizon, flying to the hills in front of us.

"Alright, everyone," I shouted as the men squeeze dried what they could and put on their shoes. "Form up and let's secure this beach for the next group! I want eyes on the tops of these hills!" I pointed to the small Crownland contingent that bolstered our numbers and said, "I want your group on the right hill! Mine will take the centre and left while we wait for the next wave of men."

I led my group, made up of a mixture of Rangers and a few of the smallfolk archers we had brought, to the central hill, while Donovar took a small number of Rangers along with some smallfolk that the Prince had lent to us to the left.

As we began up the incline, I turned to see our ships out in the ocean. The dinghy had almost made it back to the ships, so it shouldn't be too long until reinforcements.

A shout interrupted my thoughts. Turning back, I saw Arthur pointing up the hill in alarm. A group of horsemen crested the top of the hill, pulling back their bows, as my men milled in confusion.

Why were they here?

"Shields!" I shouted. "Shields up! Man to man!" I ordered, as my men started to recover from their shock.

Arrows raced the distance between our groups. The Rangers, out front, managed to get their shields up in time and the sound of arrows striking against the shields almost echoed across the hill.

"Archers, loose at will! Drive those bastards back!" The smallfolk archers began to exchange arrows as they hid behind the well-armored Rangers.

I looked at the surroundings, determined not to tunnel vision once again. The other two hills had been secured, without battle, but confusion reigned as they saw us under attack. I saw Donovar readying a group to send over to us, but I waved my hands to gain his attention.

I shook my head and waved my arms in a big circle and exaggerated a searching motion. I didn't want to be surprised by another group; hopefully, he understood what I was trying to get at.

I turned my attention back to the fight in front of me. The horses had the high ground, but the incline was slight enough that it wasn't devastating. Still, there was no point in just sitting here and taking it.

"Rangers! Stay in formation and move forward!" I shouted. "Archers! Keep it going!"

I didn't have my bow on me, so I stood uselessly at the rear as we advanced. I itched to lead from the front, but I needed to keep my awareness. We had no scouts out, and I couldn't afford getting flanked.

Donovar's group seemed smaller, but I could still make him out atop his hill, which hopefully meant that he had sent out some scouts. It also looked like he had sent a runner to the Crownlanders, who had secured their hill, even as they seemed to mill about in confusion - still no sign of more opponents.

One of my archers struck a horse with an arrow, and it went down with a cry, sending its rider toppling to the ground. The Rangers picked up their pace to close the distance, and the horsemen seemed torn between holding their ground or falling back to keep harassing us. Not that their strategy had been overly effective so far, with only a few light wounds among the men, but they had only lost a single man and a horse, of the thirty or so that made up their party.

Well, no sense in giving them time to recover. "Forward!" I shouted as the Rangers broke into a run to close the distance. The horsemen panicked and turned their horses away from us and loosed their arrows as they kept ahead of us, ceding the hilltop.

"Halt!" I said, to stop the men from chasing the enemy. "Hold here, let the cowards flee! Archers, stand ready!"

The horsemen quickly withdrew out of bowshot, but instead of fleeing the battlefield, they curved over to Donovar's hill.

"Shit!" I cursed. We were too far to help them, especially with the enemy having horses.

I watched, helplessly, as the horsemen circled the group, loosing arrows as they passed. The Crownlanders that were with Donovar were poor archers, with weaker bows, so the horsemen circled with impunity.

Reinforcements were still far away, as the boats were still being loaded. Something needed to be done, but I couldn't abandon the center.

Time to consolidate then. I waved over to Ben, a young boy from Redbridge, who was acting as my messenger today. "Run over to the right flank and tell Ser Mace to bring his men over to Donovar. Tell him to keep it safe and stay close to us as he travels – we don't know if there are additional enemies. Got that?"

Ben nodded and raced off. I waved over Tobin and Dercin, two of the Rangers, and said, "I need you two to start scouting. Donovar has sent out some men already, but I need more information. We can't afford to move until we know these horsemen are alone." They saluted and headed off as I looked back at Donovar.

His men were hunkered down behind their shields, but his men were generally less armored than mine but had the advantage of a higher hill. I couldn't guess at his casualties, but they had yet to hurt the circling horsemen.

Retreating from the island wasn't an option. Sending out my archers, with their longbows, would expose them to the more mobile horsemen. Moving my group would effectively be retreating - no good options.

Luckily, the horsemen would run out of arrows soon enough, especially at the pace, they were using them.

Suddenly, the horsemen broke from their circling attack, and like a river, flowed from Donovar's group to Ser Mace's, who were still making their way to reinforce Donovar. Fortunately, Ser Mace was competent and had indeed stuck close to my own group. Finally! An opportunity!

"Archers! Ready to defend our brothers!" I nodded to Arthur, who led the assembled archers forward into range and waited for the horsemen to near. I held back with the Rangers who stayed in position at the top of the hill and worriedly watched the fight unfold.

The horsemen flowed around Ser Mace's men, like a river on a rock, unleashing arrows as they rode past. Ser Mace's group was not idle, with his knights in tight formation protecting his archers, who answered back with arrows of their own. A few horsemen fell, and as they rode past the group, even more, fell as Arthur's archers, now that the horsemen were past Ser Mace's group, could loose their arrows without worrying about hitting their allies.

As more of their number started to fall, the horsemen pulled from their attack and retreated inland, leaving us the field.

I said to Ben, who had returned after his last message, "Tell Ser Mace to continue to Donovar and bring his wounded to us."

A messenger came jogging over and said, "Master Ragnar! Master Donovar sends his regards, and to let you know that he has sent seven men out scouting in a sweeping circle from the left flank to the right!"

"Very well. Are there any wounded?" I asked.

"One of the Rangers is dead, two men have severe wounds, and six with scratches and the like."

I nodded and looked out to the ocean. "The boats are still being loaded, so reinforcements are still a way to go. Tell Donovar to expect the horsemen to continue to harry us. I doubt there are any reinforcements for them."

The messenger saluted and ran off. As Ser Mace's group continued, their wounded made their way to us. A knight, cradling his arm, led the wounded who could walk. "Master Ryden?" He asked.

I nodded. "That's me. How is your wound?"

The man grimaced as he flipped up his visor. "Lucky arrow," he explained. "Slipped in under my arm; I'm lucky to be alive. It struck the underside of my arm rather than my armpit."

I let out a low whistle. "Lucky indeed; the gods smile upon you."

The man tried to smile, but he was clearly too exhausted for it.

"How many wounded do you have?" I asked as I looked over the group of men.

"I'm the worst off, but we have two men wounded badly, and one dead."

I nodded. "Go on and lay down a while; we've got the area secured."

"My thanks, Master Ryden," he replied as he made his way to the center of our little camp, where we had dragged some of our limited medical supplies.

I tried not to frown as I took stock. We had a landing party of sixty, split into three groups, and we already had four dead, eight severely wounded and out of the fight, and another thirteen lightly wounded. We had already reduced our fighting strength by a fifth, but we held the field. The horsemen had had around thirty men and had lost ten over the fight. They would not charge again with those numbers.

As the wounded began to get their wounds bandaged, I worried about our lack of maester. One would have to be part of the third wave of reinforcements. Looking over the men, they seemed discouraged. We had won the fight, but there ought not to have been a fight in the first place.

Time to be a leader.

I spent the next few minutes going around, clapping shoulders, spreading words of encouragement, and sharing a short joke or two. I got someone to collect what driftwood was near, along with what few bushes that grew around us and start a fire – a welcome addition after that cold swim.

A shout from a sentry interrupted me mid-speech. I calmly walked over and asked, "What is it?"

"I saw a horse moving out in the distance, Master Ryden!"

"A single one? With a rider?"

"I'm not sure, Master, I just caught a glimpse."

I nodded. "Good job; keep watching." As I turned to leave, the sentry shouted again, "Incoming scout! Ours!" I turned to see a Ranger riding on a stolen horse, his partner nowhere in sight.

As he neared, he reigned in his horse and saluted. "Master Ryden!"

"Tobin," I replied. "Where is your partner?"

"He stayed behind to watch enemy movement, and we only managed to take the one horse, Master."

"The enemy? Did you find where the horsemen went?"

"We did," he confirmed. "They passed us, and we managed to follow their trail. Unfortunately, we also found another group of infantry making their way here, Master."

I grimaced. "Numbers?"

"Sixty, Master Ryden."

I quickly glanced behind me and saw the boats were still loading. "How long until they get here?"

"Ten minutes or so. But, Master Ryden, there is a valley up ahead where we think they'll come through. We might be able to ambush them."

"Do they not have scouts?" I asked.

"Just their horsemen and they are still recovering, we think. There was an argument going on when we watched the camp. Besides," he said, patting his horse fondly. "They aren't very good scouts."

I chuckled. "I can see that. Is it just the one group?" At his nod, I asked, "Where is this ambush point?"

"About two minutes to the east."

I shook my head. It would be too tight of a time frame to get everyone gathered and get there. Besides, Rodrik didn't have a lot of battle experience, and I didn't want to rely on his assessment of a good ambush point. "We will hold here. Go on back to your partner."

He saluted and turned around his horse. Ben, who had returned from Ser Mace's group, stood silently beside me, waiting for orders. My plan to hold the three hills was in shambles and following it made no sense. We had 48 men, to the 80 the enemy had. Splitting in any fashion was suicide. "Ben, tell Ser Mace and Donovar to regroup on us. We will make our stand here."

An idle Ranger captain, Jon, asked, "What is the plan, Master Ryden?"

"We will defend this hilltop until reinforcements come in."

"With only the one hill, can we defend the landing?"

"If they focus on us, we can. Jon, get some of the men to stacking stones, from the beach, along our flanks for some defense. Have the men pair up and use their shields to carry the stones."

He saluted and started hollering to the men. They wouldn't be able to build anything high enough to protect from arrows, but it would halt cavalry charges and infantry flanking.

One of the smallfolk from Redbridge, a newer settler, whose name I had forgotten, was tending to some of our wounded. I got his attention and said, "Conscript someone else to help you. I want you to get some water heated – we might not have anything pleasant to drink, but people will like something hot regardless."

A few minutes later, when Donovar and Ser Mace had arrived, with Arthur following them, I had their men immediately begin helping to build the stone wall.

"What is the plan, Master Ryden?" asked Ser Mace.

"We form up here on this hill and hold until reinforcements, facing the east, where the enemy will come from. I want knights in the center, the Rangers on both flanks." Ser Mace raised an eyebrow at the unexpected honor of holding the center. "I will join you there; we need the most heavily armored to hold our center since we are outnumbered 80 to 48. Twenty of those will be their light cavalry, but even still, our center must hold."

Donovar nodded. "Aye, and the archers?"

"They will be out front to start to harry the enemy, but we can shift them back before the engagement. We can have our frontline start a bit down the hill so that the archers can stand at the highest point and still somewhat engage."

Donovar sucked in air through his teeth as he thought it over. "They might not have the height for that."

Arthur shrugged. "It might be close, but I can have the archers also be watching our flanks – we can't forget about their cavalry."

I nodded. "Aye; Donovar shall have the left flank, I the center, Jon the right, and Arthur the archers."

The assembled men all nodded and left to go about their preparation. As they did so, the scouts started to stream back in and paint a picture for me. The cavalry was scouting for the group, but not very far ahead, and the infantry was advancing at a quick pace – likely trying to drive us off before we had reinforcements. Still, it was a wonder where they managed to scrounge up so many people!

Before long, the hot water was passed out, and the spirits of the men were raised – if only a little. Finally, the last scout pair had returned, Tobin and his partner, Dercin, with a horse apiece. I made sure to equip them with bows and sent them back out to harry where they could. Seeing the two return with news of another two enemy cavalry dead was excellent news.

Sooner than I would have liked, the enemy marched into view. Even the weather seemed to mirror our situation, as heavy clouds began to roll in. They marched in from where we expected, but they were a more mish-mashed group than I had expected, but really, I had known they were either pirates or mercenaries. Still, they were all well-armored and looked energetic.

As they formed up across from us, outside of bowshot range, their cavalry started forward. Picking up the pace, they tried for a false charge, unleashing arrows as they swept by, but our archers did not let it go unanswered. Seeing the unsuccessful attempt, the enemy began to move forward, their few archers in front. The cavalry waited off to the side, but I could see that Arthur had put our archers, with their powerful longbows, to the sides as they would outrange the cavalry.

"Loose!" yelled Arthur, as a volley of arrows streaked forward. The enemy archers answered in kind, and a duel between the two began. After a few volleys, it became obvious that little was being accomplished, and that time was on our side, so the enemy horn sounded, and they surged forward, closing the gap.

"Stand ready!" I shouted as I stood upon the frontline. Dad would have killed me if he had known where I stood, but I had already led from the back today. I needed to be at the front to inspire the men for the real challenge.

We let our archers slip through our ranks, before closing in, shield to shield, and spears out. The rest of the fight was zoned out as the enemy neared. There was no great clash, no moment that came out from the legends - just two forces, probing with spears, trying to find an opening.

The man in front of me had a large shield, so I tried to slip to his side, but his shield moved to block. Over and over again, I probed for a chance, just as he did. Looking to the lower right, I lunged to the left, jabbing forward like a viper with my spear into the armpit of his comrade.

Trying to take advantage of my lunge, the man tried to do the same with me, but his spear glanced off my chest plate as I pivoted my body to block. I shoved forward with my shield, pushing the man back, as did Ser Mace beside me. Slowly, our line surged forward to push shield to shield. The men behind me stabbed forward through the gaps, finding unarmored spots on the opponents, while our fully armored knights afforded the enemy no opportunity for something similar.

We took another step forward, stepping over the dead and pushing their replacements. Then we did it again. And again.

Until panic streaked up our line, voiceless and nameless, for no words were exchanged. Only the gripping certainty that something had gone wrong. Shouts from the right flank intensified, and I could hear some of the men turning to meet a new challenge.

Cursing, I dropped my spear, grabbed my dagger, and lunged over the top of his shield to stab my opponent through the eye slit, tumbling forward as he fell. Leaving the dagger behind, I whipped out my sword as I stood behind the enemy's line and swept forward in a simple slash. A pirate went down, clutching his calf, as more turned to face me. Taking heart, my men surged forward as well, as the line collapsed into frenzied fighting.

"To me!" I shouted. "To me! Make for the right!" I yelled, trying to be heard above the din of the battle.

I forced my way ever to the right, curving around, like a pincer. Ser Mace, still beside me, had also lost his spear and fought superbly with his sword. Still, I could not make out what had happened to the right.

As I cut down my last opponent, the field cleared for a moment. The enemies were inside the makeshift stone wall, forcing the right flank back. Dead bodies, littered with arrows, lay on the ground outside the wall, testament to Arthur's reaction. Distressingly, the bodies of my men lay amongst the pirates.

"Forward!"

We rushed into the backs of the pirates who turned to meet us. Once again, my shield was pressed to my opponents as we sought to get around each other's defenses. Exhaustion was starting to overcome my adrenaline, but my job wasn't done yet.

Unfortunately, the pirates on the flank managed to push through and link up with the rest of the pirates.

I cut down my opponent after a feint and finished him with a stab. As I looked up, my heart dropped.

As if in slow motion, I saw Arthur drop from a blow to the head with a sword.

"NO!" I roared, running forward.

I pushed past my opponent, sending him spinning, and raced forward. Men lay bleeding on the ground, but I leaped over them in my haste. The man, about to stab Arthur, who lay senseless on the ground, looked up and saw me coming with alarm.

I swung with my sword, aiming for his upraised arm, but he parried the blow. He countered, and I blocked him with my shield. We exchanged blows furiously, he, playing it safe, and I, attacking relentlessly. I knew if I stopped, I would look at Arthur, and I couldn't afford to.

Another pirate tried to intrude and lost a hand for his troubles. As I turned back to the scum, someone pushed into me from behind. I tucked into a hurried roll and raised my shield in anticipation of a blow – instead, a hand clamped down on the top of my shield, pulling it to the side.

A sword swept in, curving upward to strike at my head.

I pulled back, but my head rang as the blow connected.

The day was suddenly bright, as I looked at the sky above. The clouds above were darkening; a storm was coming. I could feel sweat stinging my eyes, and I wished for a nice cool breeze to accompany the storm. I suddenly felt constricted; I had to move.

I sat up, my ears ringing – why was that?

A man loomed in front of me. Who was that?

Wait! I threw myself to the side as the man's sword swung down. War! Battle!

Keep moving!

I rolled to my feet, hands empty, and head still ringing. I realized that I could see incredibly well and that the man's sword had jammed open my visor.

The man eyed me warily as I picked up a dagger from the body at my feet. I snarled as he raised his sword but forced my breathing back into order. Caution; I needed caution. Use the armor on my arms to deflect the sword, stab forward with my knife. Deflect and stab.

I circled him, keeping to his shield side, making sure that if he swung, he'd have to reach for it.

As I waited for him to make the first move, an arrow came out of the haze of the battle, striking my chest plate and shattering the arrowhead.

The burning sensation of metal raking across my face distracted me, and the pirate rushed forward. Ignoring the pain, I ducked forward, and as he lowered his shield, I used my free hand to push it toward his sword and throw him off balance.

I threw myself forward, dagger stabbing into his face with a satisfying squish, and fell atop his body. Immediately, I looked over to Arthur, who lay, unmoving, on the ground. With his armor, I couldn't see if he was breathing, so I crawled over to him.

As I knelt at his body, I went to take off his helmet, but a scream pierced my focus. I looked up to see a man swinging a mace, and I knew no more.

A/N: Oh, boy. That took a lot longer than I expected to finish. School has been crazy busy, so I doubt I can keep up any sort of respectable pace until the semester is over. I have reading week this week, so I'd like to get another chapter or two out, but after that, it will probably be more like a chapter a month until January.