ARYA
Finally she felt alive. It was in the early afternoon and the countess had ordered her servants to put up tents by the side of the road while she rested. The columns of the dead marched past on both sides, parting for the tents, creating a small clearing around them. Strangely enough those were the only moments that she sun got through. Arya however was wide awake. She wore mail armour, covered with a few steel plates. Armour was new to her, but her new teacher insisted on it. He had been assigned to her by Sybille, and she said that this knight was a great warrior, a champion belonging to what she called a knightly order, the Knights Panther.
Now he did not use his strangely glowing blade, but instead used a blunted training sword, holding it in one hand, the other carrying a solid steel shield. He motioned to Arya, and she tried again, to find an opening, to reach the weak spots in the armour with her new sword. It was finely made, given to her after the battle of only a few days ago. Arya had watched it with the countess, a few thousand men surrounded and ground down. Sybille didn't even find it necessary to charge into the battle, although she had used strange magic to call more of the dead from the ground behind the other army. In the aftermath there were only a few prisoners, from the horsemen who had tried to escape. Those knights had been returned to Harrenhal, where a small force remained, along with that witch, Luise.
By now she was almost used to the smell of decay that came from parts of the army, and she stabbed at Von Greif, as she learned the knight's name to be. He blocked her strike with his shield, but she had expected that to happen, and quickly rebounded, thrusting again, from up close. Steel rang against steel as he moved so the plate was covering the former opening, and he struck back at her, throwing her back with the force of the blow, and the sword fell from her hand.
"DO NOT EXPOSE YOURSELF", he said, completely monotonous. Sometimes she wondered what would be hiding below his helmet, if there was anything at all.
"BE VARY OF MY ARMS, ZE SHIELD IS AS MUCH OF A VEAPON AS ZE SWORD."
She got back up, again running at the knight. At the last moment she hopped to the left, away from his shield, and stabbed at the armpit. The sword touched the weaker armour, even as her sword was knocked aside a few moments later.
She kept practicing, only pausing when she was too tired to move herself. During one such break dark clouds gathered in the clear sky, and Sybille emerged. "Come."
One word only, and immediately Von Greif exchanged his practice weapons for the tools of war, and mounted up on his skeletal steed, to ride with the countess. Arya got onto one of the horses taken from her, and she galloped besides the countess, to the head of the column.
Once they reached it she saw the army vanning out already, ahead of them, at a piece of the road which passed between a cliff and a small lake, an army was drawn up. It seemed small, far smaller than the last army they had fought. Arya took the Myrish eyeglass she had been given, and looked. And then she saw him: "The Mountain"
"Vhat did you say?"
"That is the Mountain that Rides. He is a murderer, a rapist and a monster. They call him that because he is so huge."
"Ah, I already thought that I saw someone closer in size to an ogre than a man in their ranks. This Mountain that Rides, do you know more about him?"
"He is one of the deadliest knights of the realm. And he is evil."
"Then ve should do something about him, vouldn't you agree?", she said, as the army around her stated to advance. This time she however did not stay back to watch, she dismounted.
"Herr von Greif, vould you be as kind as to keep ze young lady safe?", she walked with her army, accompanied by a pair of the armoured warriors, one of them carrying a huge sword, the other the banner. Not having to think twice Arya followed the countess, flanked by the Knight Panther.
The opposing force only stood there, waiting, while the dead marched towards them. Sybille was saying strange, meaningless words and Arya could see the swirling, flowing blackness gather again, almost obscuring the countess. It changed, disappearing into her before shards of blackness leapt from her eyes. Some archers had been loosing arrows, and now they fell, their skin and flesh dropping off their bodies.
And then the lines clashed, the disciplined skeletal warriors and the Mountain's ill-disciplined but deadly men. He himself also burst into the fight, cutting down the undead, crushing their bones with his gigantic sword. A little later Sybille entered the fray, cutting a swath through her enemies, clearly fighting a way towards the Mountain.
She couldn't simply watch anymore and Arya dismounted, drawing her new sword, and flanked by Von Greif. She saw a wounded man with two things she recognized all too well. Needle and Gendry's helm, a fallen banner by his side. She cut into him, even as he tried to resist, and didn't stop.
"VATCH", Von Greif said, and Arya looked up from the bloody hunk of meat that Polliver had become. She saw the Mountain, close to her. He towered over Sybille, but the lady did not seem at all frightened, armed as always with her mace, but also brandishing a dagger. The battle almost seemed to stop, as the leaders clashed. He swung at her, but she stepped out of the way of the blade. He now tried cutting sideways, and she did something almost impossible. She leapt up into the air, over the sword and over the Mountain.
He shouted, in rage and in pain as he fell to his knees, still taller than Sybille. She turned around on one foot and ended back in front of him: "You vill not die yet."
"But you will, whore!", he shouted, grabbing the lady in his enormous hands and falling forwards, pushing her to the ground.
Arya ran forwards to help her, even as her bodyguards stood impassively. But before she could reach them the Mountain grunted, and toppled over, Sybille sitting on his armoured chest, with only some dust in her rose-filled hair and thrusting her dagger into his armpits. "You vill serve."