章節 94: For the House
"Archers!" Brienne could hear the Centurions ordering, and the men behind her kneeled on the shields again like they did so many times before just to be lifted high up and let loose of their arrows.
The screams of pain that followed from the other side of shield wall didn't bother her as much as they used to.
The Damme of Tarth never saw such a disciplined and innovative army before in her life.
The wall held strong, each man holding the leather strips on the back of the one in front, untill a centurion sounded their whistle signaling for the men to change as a freshly rested one took their place.
She admired the constantly changing tactics, one moment they were defending, securely locking their shields and using every free space to push a spear or a sword out, just to change it the next moment for them to either push forward or loosen the wall bringing in a group of Ironborn to be slaughtered a few seconds later before it closed again.
Now, they were lifting the archers on their shields to give them a better aim at the enemy.
The battle wasn't as she imagined it to be, there was no single honorable combat, no knights in shining armour dueling for honor and fame, just two armies pushing at each other amidst the blood, mud and stench of shit.
Brienne felt useless at the begging, just as they gathered after landing, during the night, and watching as their fleet sailed away she understood they are on their own.
The Iron honorless scum meet them at the battlefield at the dawn the same day.
Brienne tried to find logic in their actions, even a child knew that a wall between you and a bigger army is better than none, yet the savages seemed to forget about that as they charged at them, some even shirtless.
'They learned their lesson' she thought watching the Iron army almost break, soon it will be her time again as the countless times before when the squids retreated and Ser Hightower let the Legionaries loose in their fury, yet this time they would pursue the enemy till the end.
The three Lords from Old Wyk combined their forces in the attempt to push them back, unknowingly to them, they just helped the Dustin's finish them off sooner, and from the look in Ser Hightower eyes, no mercy will be given today.
- - - Harlaw Island - - -
Under Rina's lead the group silently landed on the shore under the cover of night.
Bryce, Sandor, Rina, Anguy, Wolffang and a group of their men disembarked the three row boat's that brought them here from the Frigate that will disappear soon after.
In the darkness of the night, they would be lost if not for the warg stationed on the ship discreetly leading them through the unknown land.
20 men and women split in their groups to move to previously designated sleeper establishments that the House had on the island.
Thanks to the whisperers most of the bigger, or more important places had them, known to only the heads of the "darker" side of the house which at that moment were Rina, with Wolffang as the head of the wargs.
Dustin's decided to use every means at their disposal, even going so far as to burn all their networks on the island.
Rina and her girls went to the whorehouses where their job would be to use the magi skills and halucynogenne drug based on the Qarth warlock's shade of the evening that Qyburn made to influence the guards.
Wolffang, his wargs and a security detachment of special guards was taken from the mysterious Whisperers by Rina to protect the wargs that would be responsible for scouting the 10 towers.
The special guards were basically talented spies with the knowledge on how to blind in and unquestionable fighting skills, they would be able to recognize any danger and counteract it if needed.
Bryce, and Sandor were the muscles of the team. With the Praetorians at their side they would rescue their Lady and supervise her safety.
Anguy and the Rangers from the army would look for a place in the unused lands on the island to prepare their hideout after the Lady was safe.
It already took them countless days to figure out how to land on this God's forsaken rock.
Risking an extraction without mobilizing the full extent of Dustin Navy and Army was not something they were willing to risk.
There were already plans prepared to mislead the pursuit, but that was irrelevant for now.
"Don't you think Ser Bryce behaves differently than usual?" Anguy walked beside Sandor whispering to the man to the Hound annoyance just after they landed, unknowingly to him how this mission would change him.
"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" Anguy as one of the few that was able to see the scarface's cold gaze in the night. The title of the best archer wasn't for nothing with such an eyesight.
Younger of the Clegane brothers didn't say anything, but hearing Anguy's next words he almost drawn his sword.
"You don't have to be so mean... you just hide your small puppy attitude, I saw you with that Mormont girl." Anguy said and quickly joined the Rangers after his words left his mouth.
Time flew by fast after they organized everything for the rescue, the welcomed surprise was when the handler from one of the sleeper establishments, after being activated, found out that not all Dustin spies were eradicated after he checked the contract point of one of them.
Some of the men and women figured out early on that they were hunted one by one, and suspended any contacts outside, working in their closed group and waiting.
They got more active again when their Lady was brought to Ten Towers dungeons, and were working on a rescue plan since then.
Knowing they are not alone, things started to look better.
"Word from the Lord, Old Gerold is already on Old Wyk with Brienne and the army, they should be cleaning the Island as we speak." Rina looked around her companions, after spending almost a month on the Island they were now all of the same thought. 'All Ironborn should die.'
The atrocities they saw here, were something that no human should go through, even the innocent Anguy lost the shine in his eyes, the Rangers already couldn't count the number of times they stopped the man from killing the scum with his arrow, but the last time, watching a party of grown up men closing themselves in a house with young children for days, and hearing the painful screams of the innocent kids was the last straw for the boy.
"Let them burn the place to the ground." Anguy just whispered, he grew tremendously, disregarding his instincts and overriding his humanity for his Lady's sake and the mission wellbeing.
Everyone knew how hard it was for the boy, but he found his way in giving his all to the House and his Lord, just like Sandor did before.
"The Lord ordered us to proceed, they should attack the Iron fleet from Pyke and move here to concentrate everything they have in dealing with the Harlaws. The wargs will send a falcon to our Lord tonight informing him of our attack. Is everything ready?" Rina was the one responsible for the planning of the rescue.
"We scouted the castle multiple times confirming the floor plans we delivered to the assault team, the timing and the movement of guards. My men will keep watch over anything unexpected and will inform you the moment it happens. The fleet is still at the port, the patrols intensified, probably because of Old Wyk, looks like Rodrik takes some precautions in the event our Lord changes his mind. For now it looks like we are proceeding at his will and do the Harlaw's bid, but when we rescued the Lady he will lose the only bargaining chip he has, so there will be war." Wolffang got serious. "We will burn few ships with our wargs when you escape, but just as a small distraction, organizing this and execution using our animal companions is too dangerous and, I'm not going to risk the lives of my men."
"The Dustin men, not yours." Bryce got annoyed. Even if he had to sacrifice everyone here, he would do so without battling an eye.
"Anguy?" Rina ignored the man and quickly continued to nip the problem in the bud.
"We found a cave on the shore not far away, it partially sinks underwater with the tide, but the deeper you go in, the higher the elevation is, it is big enough for everyone. Once the assault starts we will move the agents from the town, so we can hide there without a problem. The supplies and the doctor is already prepared, we can wait it all out safely there." he walked over the map and pointed. "After you rescue the Lady me and my men will cover your retreat and dispose of any possible pursuit and erase any tracks, we will make a few false leads as well, so you won't have to worry." Anguy finished.
"The Praetorians are ready and waiting, 10 men with me and Bryce will infiltrate the castle, similar to what Ser Barristan did at Duskendale with King Aerys..." Sandor had more to offer than just his sword skill. Seeing the unbalanced mentally Bryce, it was him to take care of most of the issues and planning.
"Good, my girls have the gate guards under our influence, you can't imagine how much a simple handjob, some sucking off and a halucynogenne drug can achieve. The suggestion from our Lord surprised even me, but the effect in combination with my skill is unquestionable. We didn't have enough time, so they won't kill for us, but they will let you through without problems." Rina knew about the sacrifices her girls made willingly, thankfully none was ra*ed, that only happened in the men's heads after the drug took effect making their minds vulnerable for simple suggestions of the magi. "The Lady is weak and starved, so don't forget to inject her with the potion Qyburn gave you, it should stabilize her before the doctor takes care of the rest. Any questions?" Rina looked around, not seeing seeing anyone asking she finished the meeting. "Good luck to you all, for the House!"
"For the House!" came the chorus of voices.
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