I meant to take a break but I couldn't stop myself from finishing the battle. Thank you for all the reviews by the way. I love my readers. Even the negative reviews I get have constructive criticism. I really appreciate it guys and gals.
An American in Westeros
Chapter 9
Now for Wrath, Now for Ruin
February 301
Lord Hunter Whent was in a forward observation post at the center of his enemy's battle lines. The observation post was about forty feet by forty feet with 4-foot-high walls made of snow with wooden bracers and raised several feet off the ground. It had a roof just a few minutes ago but it had been ripped to shreds when the Red God King Stannis worshiped had intervened personally upon the battlefield. Cyclone grade winds had ripped through the battlefield blowing away most of the snow and ice on the battlefield. It had also swept away many of Stannis's fortifications and bowled over a great deal of Hunter's troops. In fact, more than half of his remaining troops were still 100 yards or more from the front lines and most had to pick themselves up and reorganize into their units before continuing on. Without the organized shield walls and covering fire, they were extremely vulnerable to the unaffected missile troops of Stannis's army. Arrows and other missiles fell like rain upon the exposed troops. Those of Hunter's troops that had made it to engagement range desperately tried to force their way through the dedicated and professional melee troops to Stannis's missile troops to save their comrades. A number of the troops were from Harrenhal and well equipped with sturdy armor and good weapons, they were the best trained troops in Westeros and they were a nearly unstoppable force. Unfortunately, more were the contemporary Northern and Vale troops.
At the observation post, Hunter took in the battlefield. Though Stannis's forces had been disrupted by the rocket attack, they were closer to fireworks than weapons of war and had not caused as many casualties as their spectacular impact might have suggested. Several members of his command party and their bodyguards finished clearing the post and began fortifying it. The ground within the post was littered with dead bodies. Roose Bolton, Howland Reed, Brandon Tallhart, Rodrick Forrester, Harrion Karstark. The corpse of the Red Woman was given a wide birth though by both the living and the dead. During the chaos of her awful miracle several members of Stannis's entourage had disappeared including Stannis himself. While they were secure for a brief moment, Hunter's command party had been mounted enabling them to race ahead of the rest of their forces. The leadership of his army was at the tip of the spear and judging by the charging Baratheon troops, the enemy was aware of it. "Grimsby!" Hunter commanded.
"Yes milord"
"Ride back out, rally the troops and get them to our position!"
"At once" Captain Grimsby replied.
Captain Sulven Tiren of the 11th company of the Trident Battalion leaped over what was left of the first row of barricades landing steel boots first onto a cowering Bolton trooper crushing his chest. With a quick thrust of his short sword he cut deeply into the trooper on his left. A sharp blow on from behind sent him sprawling to the ground. The trooper that had been on his left quickly moved up to finish him off only to top suddenly as a sword erupted from his chest. From behind the falling Bolton trooper a knight of the Vale stepped forward and yanked Cody to his feet. "Keep going" The knight commanded. More Whent forces hopped the barricade in greater and greater numbers. A good deal of them died on the spears and swords of their more prepared enemy. As the press of men and metal began to crush in more and more, Captain Tiren decided to ignore the shouted commands of the valeman, there was no time to argue over command. The only thing that could be done was to kill or be killed.
Ramsey Bolton the new Lord of the North was happier than he could ever remember being. He had been worried about those cannons but things had taken a huge turn for the better. During the chaos of the Red Woman's magic he had stabbed his father in the back even as Stannis made his retreat. After they had backed off, Stannis had given him command of the Bolton forces and commanded him to kill as many of Whent's forces as he could.
He took to his new task with dedication and glee. He rallied his closest men and swept around the sides of their former observation point and engaged Whent's reinforcements. He spared a moment to look at the still burning pyre. He loved it when a plan came together. "Alright boys, let's cut the head the southern snake." His men roared with excitement as they charged towards Hunter.
"Hold!" Hunter cried to his retinue. Dozens of troops led by Ramsey Bolton swarmed up to the walls of the observation post from almost all sides. As both sides fought and died at the post's barricades Hunter stood at the heart of it all and commanded.
First the East side began to fall. Then the West side. Hunter's retinue were continually reduced in number and forced closer and closer together until Hunter was finally face to face with the monster himself, Ramsey Bolton.
"I've been waiting a long time for this!" Ramsey snarled.
Hunter swung with his sword but his ever meager martial ability failed him against such an experienced opponent. As he swung high Ramsey came in low and brought his sword crashing into his breastplate. Hunter was thrown to the ground violently. His entire chest was in agony and he could barely breathe.
Ramsey loomed over. "I had hoped to cut you slowly but I guess we'll have to settle for quick today!" He swung his sword down again and again, each blow bringing even more pain. The first blow cracked open his helmet, blinding him with his own blood. The second blow caved in part of his chest piece cutting of his air. The third blow broke through bit deep into his chest. Around him lay the bodies of his dead and dying retinues, only Stannis's troops were still standing. Time seemed to slow down as Ramsey raised his sword above his head for the final blow with a mad grin on his face. Hunter could do nothing, absolutely nothing.
The final blow never fell. Before Ramsey could finish the strike a cone of flame washed across the battle, roasting all still standing. Ramsey himself caught the flames across a great deal of his upper body. He managed to run screaming from the battle into the nearest snow bank before rolling around to put out the flames melting his face. He screamed and screamed and screamed.
Hunter managed to look over to see a Harrenhal trooper with a crude gasmask and a flame thrower leading a dozens of his men into the fray. Captain Grimsby sprinted up to him and dropped to his knees. "He lives!" he shouted to the others. "Milord, we have to get you to safety!"
With extraordinary effort Hunter managed to whisper "Transfer…(cough)…command." And then the blackness took him.
Captain Tiren struck with a captured spear at a man across the third line of barricade, killing the man. He had been fighting for at least an hour since the charge began. An hour of death with no clear victory in sight. Almost everyone he had managed to link up with had died. Only Ser Mancy, the knight of the Vale that had saved him when the mad charge had begun had stuck with him. "That's twelve!" Mancy declared off to his left.
Tiren barked a short, humorless laugh. "I'm on sixteen!"
On and on it went. Off in the distance he saw one of the priceless flame troopers be consumed in a fireball when his pack was pierced consuming all around him. It appeared as if the enemy was endless and he was joined by fewer and fewer of his compatriots all the time.
A rider came up behind them and shouted "We are pulling back!"
Tiren's heart plummeted. They had lost, all that was left was to see how many people would survive the retreat. He turned to Ser Mancy, "Get out of here! I'll lead a group to cover your retreat!" As he turned he was struck across the back of his head savagely.
"Not today!" Ser Mancy said "They need you more than me. Gentlemen take this man to the rear. Knights of the Vale with me!" He raised his sword above his head and charged into the breach, his armor gleaming with light reflected from the snow, every bit the image of a true hero. That was the last Tiren ever saw of him.
Stannis stood at a secondary command post far to the rear of his army watching the retreating Whent army with grim satisfaction. "Do we have the capability to pursue them?" he asked an aide.
"Not at this time" came the reply.
"Mhm" It didn't matter in the end. He had won decisively, from reports he had wiped out the enemy command and nobility. It was not a total victory, the Red Woman and his Stark were dead and Davos had disappeared shortly after his gamble and his forces had been mauled. He would take it though, and Whent's forces could be hunted down later. "Find Lord Bolton, I have need of my Warden of the North".
February 301
In the end no one was able to successfully assert command in time. Most of Hunter's chain of command went down with him early in the battle at the captured command post. Eventually, with lack of clear leadership Sansa Whent rode forth from the rear and bullied all the swaggering men surrounding her husband into following her lead. Under her guidance, order was restored to disorganized and broken units and a proper withdrawal was begun. Though she wanted more than anything in the world to take her family home back and avenge her family, she understood the reality and she prioritized the welfare of the living over that of the dead as much as she burned with rage and sorrow on the inside.
As the minutes became hours and miles were added between the armies she allowed them to slow their desperate flight to a sustainable pace. She left the lead elements in the hands of Captain Grimsby and slowed her horse to meet up with the wagon carrying her husband. "How is he?" she asked the maester overseeing Hunter's recovery.
"Not well, his sternum was broken, most his rib cage has collapsed actually and the organs they protect have been severely traumatized. He lost a lot of blood from his cut and he can barely breath. I'm afraid we need to stop soon to treat him. Even then, he may not make it"
She had lost so much already, she had lost her baby brother today, her chance at returning home and now her husband was dying. It was tearing her up in side but she was not the little girl she had been when she left Winterfell and she steeled her soul. "No" she said. "We stop when we are safe, not a moment before." She leaned over and grabbed Hunter's hand. "Live…please."
She then kicked her horse into a gallop and returned to the lead and sidled up to Captain Grimsby's side. "What happened to Hunter? Why is my husband dying in a cart being dragged through a snow storm while his sworn shield is perfectly fine?"
Grimsby's head hung low and his whole body slumped in the saddle. "When your brother was…when Stannis did what he did to your brother, Howland Reed charged across the field and most of the northerners followed him. Lord Whent knew his plans were doomed from that moment, he said so at the time, but he pressed on anyway but he climbed on his horse and leapt into the fray and tried to rescue his forces and your brother. He led from the front trying get his men out of the killing fields. In the end though Howland had led the lead elements too far ahead of the rest of our forces. Then the witch worked her foul magic. Even then Lord Whent took charge and slew the Witch with himself. When he took in the situation and sent me to rally reinforcements as he fortified his position. We…we didn't make it in time. When we got there the only survivors were a few severely wounded men. Ramsey Bolton was chopping away at Lord Whent when I arrived."
Sansa was silent for a long time before speaking. "I think you'd be of most use guarding the rear of the army, with the scouts perhaps."
Grimsby nodded silently, shamefully before turning his horse around and heading towards the rear.
