Chapter 106: Act 2: Chapter 42

Second day, Eighth Moon, 260 AC (+13 days)

The dead man was splayed out in front of me, thrown back from the force of my horse as I rode him down, face down in the dirt and mud, his blood spreading out beneath him. My lance stood like a grotesque flag, its point buried in the man's chest and standing upright.

I took a swig of water as my heart ached at the sight. I knelt, trying to push the feeling aside, and picked up some of the soil – a familiar task. The soil was thin and acidic, held loosely with little vegetation to hold it down. Anchorage was a medium-sized island, but it tended towards the windswept rock, rather than the jungle of the other islands. The dormant volcano dominated the landscape, rising to the northeast, overlooked the pastureland that I was in. The rolling hills and large stretches of land were perfect cavalry country, and we were using it.

I stood as a fully armored man approached me. He flipped his visor up, revealing my brother, Arthur.

"Ryden," he said. "You hurt?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm fine. I ended up losing my lance, and I lost my balance."

"You fell?" asked Arthur, his eyebrow raised.

"No, I remained seated, but I had to hang back. Has the enemy been routed?"

"Naturally. Everyone else is back looting; you done here?"

I nodded and hopped back onto my horse, giving him a reassuring stroke. Thor was a large black destrier that I had been given from Prince Aerys, after what had happened.

Arthur looked at me, sympathetically. "You know, it's no-"

I cut him off, "Any word from Lord Baratheon?"

Arthur pursed his lips. "A messenger did arrive," he said, slowly, unwilling to give up the previous topic.

"And?"

He sighed. "He gave us a location to be at in two hours. The main body of the army has started to run into the enemy scouts, so they expect to meet within the next four or so hours."

"The Golden Company?"

"No sightings yet. The messenger indicated that they might not be on the island yet, so the Ironborn have been sent out to make sure they don't land."

"We should hurry then. If we can secure this island, it will be the last of the major islands in the northern chain, and only Ember Island is still untaken in the south."

Arthur raised his hand for me to stop. "We have some time still. Did you finish the letter?"

I grimaced. "Yes, I sent it out this morning."

"I could have helped you know."

"It was my fault, and it was my duty to send the letter to Donovar's wife."

"It wasn't your fault."

"It was. I made the decision to come to your aid. I left Donovar's flank open," I said. "He died," I grounded out, "because of my actions. I was in charge, and he died on my watch – along with so many others."

"Hiding from it doesn't help anything."

"I'm not hiding," I countered.

Arthur waved his arms around the battlefield dramatically. "And what is this then? Where are the rest of our people, Ryden?"

"Fighting, as we should be."

His brother glared at him. "No, they are by themselves, folded into Lord Stark's forces."

"The Rangers are able to look after themselves, especially with a Captain. It was what father originally had in mind for them."

"Ryden," Arthur said plaintively.

"Come," I said, cutting him off once again. "Time is growing short; let's meet with everyone else."

I rode off, heading back to the main body of our group, not turning around, and I told myself that I wasn't fleeing anywhere.

Xxxx

Thor neighed impatiently beneath me, as we both stared ahead at the assembled forces. Lord Baratheon has assembled his host of 6,000 men, that was made up of roughly 600 horse, of which, I was now a part of. Across from us, the pirates and mercenaries had assembled what they could – roughly 8,000 men, with only a hundred or so light cavalry. There was still no sign of the Golden Company, but the number and quality of mercenaries had significantly improved.

No longer were our enemies a ragtag lot, they were more of a mismatched group. Different armor styles ran rampant, not unlike ours, but there was a distinct air of disunity. Their weapon doctrine also seemed mismatched, with some favoring spear and shield, while others carried axe and shield.

My eyes drifted over to our infantry, and I couldn't help but note that we were disappointingly not all that different. Each region present, the North, Stormlands, and Crownlands, all were clearly visible and different from each other. We really weren't all that different after all.

I sighed. I guess I really wasn't cut out for war after all.

I traced the long wound that covered my face, running from my chin over my right eye – a gift from that arrow in two weeks ago. It still stung, but it was a reminder that I had to do better – be better. I closed my visor, blocking out the breeze, as our archers began to march forward.

"Ready, lads! Our archers are about t' soften these pirates up for us!" shouted Ser Denys, the commander of our knights.

We moved into position, spacing ourselves out into a triangle, with specific spaces between us – all to maximize our damage. Ser Denys moved around inspecting our shape, before nodding and moving to the front of the formation, and out of my sight. I took comfort in the fact that I was not the one in charge.

I could feel rumbling begin, and I knew that the first wave of cavalry had begun their charge. Led by Ser Barristan, these were the best of the best. They would be the first in, delivering a crushing blow to the enemy, while we, the second wave, would finish them. A third wave of poorer hedge knights waited as well, just in case.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, we began to move forward as well. At a walking pace, we moved forward, slowly building up speed, like an unstoppable avalanche. A force of nature.

As the speed picked up, the rest of the world went out of focus. My helmet blocked my sight and sound, not that the sound of war was easily distinguishable anyway, and my adrenaline surged. A cry went up around the men around me, though I couldn't tell what was said.

I could tell we began to go up a slight incline, and I knew that the enemy would come to us. The brief glimpses of what was in front of us that I spied through the men in front of me showed the enemy ever closer.

All of a sudden, our cavalry shuddered. Men along the outside dropped, and the rest of us tried to get out of the way of their falling bodies. The enemy archers had scattered at our approach, but all along the line of their infantry, crossbowmen stood reloading their weapons.

Our formation shuddered again, this time from the enemy archers, and we began to veer away from the enemy – though I couldn't tell if that was Ser Denys' decision or if the horses had had enough. Regardless, our retreat was swift and embarrassing.

"Seven hells!" shouted Ser Denys when we had returned to our original spot. His head swiveled about as he counted us. "Damn! Fifteen of us gone." I winced, that was about five percent of our force.

A knight rushed over from Ser Barristan's force, and over in the distance, I could see our archers moving forward to engage once again.

"Too slow, Ser Denys! Too slow!" shouted the knight.

Ser Denys scowled, and in a lower voice, said, "Our pace was fine. Our speed increased as soon as we entered their range, as is proper."

The knight shook his head, three stocks of yellow wheat on a brown background, on his surcoat, blew gently in the breeze. His fine armor seemed polished to perfection, even after a fight. I could only just hear his reply, "No, your pace was too slow even once you sped up."

Ser Denys scowled. "The hidden crossbowmen spooked the boys and horses. If not for that, we would have crushed them. Besides, your men did not even manage to close, Ser Barristan."

The other knight, Ser Barristan, replied, "True, though that was more due to our angle of approach than any mistake in execution."

"Oh?"

Ser Barristan nodded grimly. "The right flank has a small hill in front that hides a small marsh; the horses got stuck, and our charge faltered."

"Damn, they have chosen their spot well."

"Indeed, while our scouts did notice that there was poor terrain to the right of the enemy, they did not note anything in front of them."

"We will have to focus on the left and center then," concluded Ser Denys.

"Aye. If we can crack them, Lord Baratheon can lead his foot in and finish this today."

"Does the left have anything to bar our way? I did not notice anything after our charge in the center."

"I sent a man, and he said that it was clear."

"That is something, at least. Though they may have another trick up their sleeve, like those crossbowmen."

"Doubtful, as I believe this was their trick. Their left flank has their heavier infantry, so they likely gambled on us focusing on their right and center."

Ser Denys nodded. He said, projecting his voice to the entire group, "Very well. So, you shall strike the left, I the center, and I shall curve toward you. Just as before?"

"Indeed, Ser Denys. Ware your speed this time."

"Aye," he ground out. "I shall."

As Ser Barristan rode away, Ser Denys mumbled to himself. Raising his voice, so the entire group could hear him, "Take a minute for water, boys! We ride again!"

Arthur and I took a sip of water and waited patiently for the next charge. I wasn't looking forward to it, but all I had to do was listen to orders. Nice and simple.

After a few moments, the call to form up went out, and we came together in our now smaller group. Squires had replaced broken lances, and we stood battered, but gleaming in the sunlight once again.

As one, we started to move forward, our pace slowly increasing as we neared. It wasn't until we were only a few hundred feet out that our pace surged once more, and we thundered toward the enemy. This time, we were not deterred.

Some of the enemy might have tried to stand firm, but I could not see that. All I knew was the force of our contact sent men flying, and my lance dropped out of my hand as it stuck in two different men. Unsheathing my sword, I stayed with the rest of the knights as we cut our bloody way to the left flank. The shock of our contact contracted the enemy line, disrupting them enough that the heavy infantry couldn't withstand the rest of our cavalry, and they plowed through the infantry like a plow in fertile soil.

My sword slashed down to my right, as my shield covered my left, and I swung with impunity, for even though our charge had slowed, we still had some momentum, and I let it carry my sword forward. I aimed for what exposed flesh I could; otherwise, I tried to bludgeon who I could and leave them for those behind me.

Once we carved our way to the other wing of cavalry, we started to cut our way out, before our momentum was stopped. None of the enemy seemed willing to engage us yet, not after seeing the bloody trail we left in our wake, but if we slowed down, they might gain their courage. Men tried to move out of our way, but the press of bodies hampered them, and my arm soon grew heavy. The man beside me had his horse fall, and he tumbled to the ground and out of sight - poor man.

Finally, we broke free of the enemy ranks and burst into the open field that separated the two armies. We cut off to the side as our infantry was quickly closing and rode out triumphantly.

I turned in my saddle and saw our infantry crash into the disorganized enemy line with a savage battle cry. I soon lost sight of the battle as we entered our camp.

Ser Denys shouted, "Rest up and be ready to run down the enemy if they rout!" He turned to the waiting squires and said, "Lances! New lances for those who lost theirs!"

I took a long sip of water and relished the cool breeze as I took off my helmet. Arthur, who stood beside me, looked similar to how I probably looked. His hair was matted with sweat, and his face flushed.

After a much too short break, I mounted my horse once the call was passed out. Ser Denys stood in his saddle and addressed the group, "The enemy is breaking, lads! They couldn't stand up to our charge, and the infantry got 'em ready for round two! Let's ride and finish this! Kill these pirate scum!"

It was going to be a slaughter.

I could see Arthur looking at me uneasily from the corner of my eye, but I ignored him. Thousands of men still had to die today, since none were worth any ransom and only our infantry typically let anyone surrender, so as to send men to the Night's Watch. It was going to be a bloody day. But all I had to do was follow orders.

No thinking. No leading.

Just follow orders.

A/N: I finally managed to get this chapter out! The ending is a bit rushed, but with exams, I don't know when I would have had the time to do it justice without making everyone wait a really long time to resolve the cliffhanger. I might come back at some point and touch this chapter up.