[100 Powerstones Bonus Chapter]
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The Vale of Arryn. Near the River Gull. 298 AC.
Lord Axel Arryn.
"AAAAH, IT HURTS! IT HURTS!!!" Soone was having a leg amputated right there on the ground.
"Save , I don't want to die!" a knight of Redfort was pleading.
"Mama, MAMAAAA... kha..." They had finally finished off a screaming Tollett militiaman.
It is rare for soldiers to die cleanly in the heat of battle. Usually they lie wounded and wait for their hour to co. Even now, nearly an hour after the fighting had ended, the injured were not silent for a single mont. n hurried everywhere. By order they were doing their best to save as many of their own as possible, taking prisoner those whose wounds were light enough, and finishing off those beyond saving, all while dragging off anything of value.
I walked toward the hastily assembled command post, covered in blood, with the n of my pursuit detachnt behind . How long had it been since I had been in a proper slaughter. Death, pain, suffering, blood, cries of despair, prayers to the gods, the cacophony of war. It gave a pleasure nothing else could match. I had tried at various points to cut that bloodthirst out of myself, but a thousand years of conditioning a fallen Maia cannot be undone in twenty.
"Bloody Blackfish, bloody Waynwood," I muttered, venting my frustration at the two chief architects of our failure, while wiping blood and flesh from my blade.
"My lord." A ssenger ca to and gave a short bow. "Lord Royce requests your presence at council."
"I will be there in fifteen minutes." I could hardly arrive soaked in blood. I needed to make myself presentable first. "A full report on our position on the table in three hours."
"Yes, my lord." The guardsman bowed.
Exactly fifteen minutes later I was seated at the head of the table, looking at the n around . My most influential supporters were all present. On my right sat my uncle, Yohn Royce, with his son Robar beside him. On my left sat Jasper Redfort, heir to Redfort. His father was too old for war and had sent his heir in his place. Next to Jasper sat his kinsman and my close friend, Desmond Redfort. At the far end sat Morgan. A small company, but it was ours, and we sat together and thought through what ca next.
"Let us begin. The Tolletts and the Graftons have raised their banners for my brother." Whatever I thought of Lysa Tully, Robert was still my brother. "Through our combined efforts we drew their forces into encirclent and very nearly broke them from three sides, but Blackfish intervened." Morgan's permanent smile faded. The fact that the Blackfish's detachnt had slipped through was partly his fault. "The encirclent was broken. The enemy retreated toward Ironoaks."
"We need to put together a cavalry force and finish them off before they can regroup and receive reinforcents," the Redfort heir proposed.
"We won't make it in ti. We need to storm Ironoaks directly. The rebels are broken and exhausted, they won't be able to mount a proper defense. One decisive assault and we bring the Waynwoods to heel," Robar offered.
"I disagree, son," said the most senior voice in the room, Yohn Royce. "Blackfish is an experienced commander. We will get bogged down at Ironoaks."
"Then what are we to do?!" the cousin asked, and it was a fair question. "We planned to lure the traitors in and break them completely so that the entire eastern Vale would fly our banners. Now we have a problem."
"Morgan, rough count, what forces do we have available?" What ca next depended on our numbers.
"You brought fifteen hundred originally, and another two hundred were gathered along the way. Lord Royce managed to raise three thousand n, and Lord Redfort brought two thousand. The Tolletts and the Harforts mustered about three thousand between them. By rough estimate the rebels have lost nearly half their strength against our five hundred. That leaves us with about six thousand, but only five thousand are fully fit. Ironoaks is a strong castle, and the Waynwoods haven't taken losses yet. That ans fifteen hundred in the garrison, plus whatever remains Ser Brynden Tully brings in." Not a comfortable picture.
For most n, six thousand attackers against three thousand defenders ans a certain victory for the defense. But I knew I could take the castle quickly. There was no reason to spend thousands of my soldiers on a useless pile of stones. Ironoaks was not worth that. Sitting on the defensive was not an option either. The first rebel army under Uthor Tollett had been broken, but the second army from the Eyrie was coming, and I had to move before it arrived.
"My lords, I have made my decision." The discussion stopped and all eyes ca to . "We will not attack the Waynwood castle. There is nothing to be gained there. We divide the army in two and strike Grey Glen and Gulltown simultaneously."
"Nephew, I can understand taking Grey Glen, most of their soldiers rode out with Lord Tollett after all, but Gulltown is another matter entirely. All our combined strength would not be enough to take it, and you want to do it with half our forces." My uncle was an honest and loyal man, but he understood very little of the kind of war that got things done.
"Desmond." I shifted my gaze to my left hand. "Do you rember the taking of Syilor?" That had been one of my first campaigns after I was made paymaster of the Golden Company. I had been given three thousand swords and six thousand levies and tasked with taking a small but well-fortified town called Syilor. The problem was that the river guarded it from the north and west, and marshland from the east. A direct assault would have cost more than half my force. It had required a creative approach, but the town fell, and I lost only seven hundred n doing it.
"You want to do it again?!" Desmond looked genuinely startled. "It could work, but it will take a great deal of effort."
"Yes." I confird his thinking. "You, together with Robar and four thousand n, will take the town." I turned to my cousin. "Robar, you are in command. Desmond is your second. If you need more n, you may delay the assault and raise additional forces from your own lands." My uncle gave a short nod in confirmation. "We will wait for the Templetons and then march on Grey Glen. Once both are done, the entire eastern coast will be under our banners. Three days for rest and reorganization. Dismissed."
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