"Leave my friend alone." A small voice screamed before its owner crashed into the side of the witch. It was a clumsy attack with a branch too large for young hands. Arya was astonished to see Lisa's determined face as she assaulted the creature.
But it caught the witch by surprise as she was off balance.
The creature staggered, lost its footing and then tripped over Arya's prone body. Pitching off the edge the red witch stretched out its arms in a final desperate act of survival, grabbing the small attacker. Only instead of arresting the witch's fall both tumbled off the edge.
Ignoring her pain, Arya threw herself far enough over the cliff edge to snatch hold of Lisa. There was a massive jolt against Arya's throbbing shoulder forcing her to cry out in agony and use every last ounce of strength she had to hold on to her friend. There was another screeching cry and the weight diminished. A final eruption of green fire scorched the side of the cliff before the witch smashed into the rocks. Moments later the river dowsed the fire and swept the broken body away.
"I'm slipping." Lisa's voice was full of panic.
"Hold on I've got you." Arya tried to sound more confident than she was. "Can you grab the edge?"
There was a scrabbling from Lisa as she whimpered, and Arya could tell she was struggling. The problem for Arya was she lacked the strength now to pull the girl up. Lisa's hand slipped. Could feel the terror coursing through the young girl and gave it everything she could to pull her up.
Finally, as the last of her strength gave out, Arya saw Lisa scrabbling onto the grass, her hands grasping any tufts to give her purchase until she was rolling safely away from the edge.
"Here lass let me help you with that." Another arm came into view. Arya looked up to see Myra help the shaking girl to her feet. Lisa then threw herself into the older woman's arms and began sobbing with relief and shock.
Lying face first Arya could just about turn her head to look at Myra.
"The others?" She didn't know what else to say. Arya daren't look back to see the carnage wrought by the remaining Lords and their men.
"They'll be fine." Myra winked. "Friends of yours came by."
Arya felt a presence standing right over her. "You fucking laying down on the job while we save your fucking arse." It hurt to laugh, but it was all Arya could do.
"Some new kind of fashion you're wearing." The head of a huge hammer was placed on the grass in her view. "Burnt wolf skin. Not sure it'll catch on."
"Fuck off Gendry and help me up."
While her body was still wracked with pain Gendry and the Hound hauled her until Arya could at least stand with the former blacksmith's assistance.
She looked down upon the courtyard where the fighting had ended. The soldiers had surrendered their weapons with the Innkeeper seemingly calling the shots while Elsa was directing some of the people to march the Lords down to the dungeon. She was expecting to see other soldiers that might have come with her friends. "You came alone?"
"Don't need an army to squash a few fucking fake Lords." The Hound spat. "While you were pissing about wrestling with an old woman we had to clean up your mess."
"An old woman who shoots green fire." Arya protested but she was so pleased to see the two of them it was hard to be mad, and her body ached so much she just wanted to sit down somewhere quiet and drink wine until she fell asleep.
"I'll give you that." The Hound muttered.
"We got word heading to King's Landing," Gendry said. "Jon said he thought you might be doing something stupid."
"I had it under control," Arya said.
"You were saved by a fucking child." The Hound laughed as they started making their way to the central courtyard.
"When we got to the town, we could already hear the fighting." Gendry continued. "Once we charged in the soldiers and Lords took one look at us and threw down their weapons. I only had to crush one of them. I think they assumed there would be an army with us."
They passed the bonfires before reaching the steps and descending to where some of the townsfolk were dispersing. Elsa hurried over. Gently hugging Arya where she could and announcing her concern at Arya's wounds.
"Aye, we need to get them seen to," Myra said. Lisa moved into next to Arya both helping and using it as a chance to stay close.
"Thank you, Lisa." Arya bent down to speak to the young girl. "That was really brave."
"Not as brave as you," Lisa whispered. "You fought her fire. I wanted to help but didn't know what I could do. Then I saw you wanted to get her over the edge when she knocked you over. Thank you for not letting me go. That was really scary."
Arya gave her a squeeze. "Good job it wasn't one of these to oafs." She indicated to the two men helping her walk. "They would have pulled me right over."
Lisa gave a small giggle.
"What shall we do with the prisoners." The Innkeeper strode over from where he had been standing guard over the bedraggled soldiers kneeling with their hands on their head. Interspersed among them were the visiting Lords and some of those townsfolk who had supported Lord Flowers.
"Put them in the cells," Gendry commanded. The Innkeeper gave Arya a brief glance and seemed satisfied by her nod. "Send a raven to King Jon with word of who's been involved."
"We wanted no part of this." Lord James shouted from his knelt position. "We were forced into it. We demand to be free."
Arya broke away from the others and hobbled over to Lord James He almost had a hopeful look on his face before she delivered the most potent kick she could right into his balls. Despite her feet being bare, it was still powerful enough for the old man to collapse on the floor to the laughter of her friends.
"We didn't face the Night King and his White Walkers just so scum like you could Lord it over the rest of the people." Arya spat at the other two Lords who were now quivering on the floor. We fought them so the people could be free of terror. She looked up at the Innkeeper who had a broad smile on his face. "Take them away."
Within a few minutes, the Lords and other prisoners were dragged away by some of the more feisty townsfolk who delighted in prodding them with some of the various everyday implements they'd been using as weapons.
"So is there anywhere we can get a drink?" The Hound muttered. "I mean proper ale and not the stuff lying around in this fucking shit hole of a keep."
The Innkeeper, who had not gone with the prison escorts, gave a cough. "I might be able to find something suitable for men of our stature. "He threw a little bow in with his gesture."
"Donkey's piss would be more suitable," Gendry said before ducking out of the way of a weak fist the Hound aimed at his head.
"Well, we need to get Arya seen to before there can be any of that." Myra clucked hovering around the small group. "But the Inn would be a good a place as any to deal with that. Elsa, can you help her? There are other things these other two louts can carry for me." Myra then stepped up to Lisa. "And as for you my girl." She then scooped up the child in her arms. "I can see you are exhausted and nearly out on your feet."
Lisa didn't object to being carried though Gendry did at having to haul crates of fresh vegetables Myra had found in the Keep she said should be turned into something decent to eat for the now free people. As the group made its way to the Inn, there were murmurs of gratitude from the townsfolk and slaps on the back when they were close enough, but many people were so tired after the night's events and the torments they had been through.
And by the time they'd reached the Inn and lain Arya on a soft bed to tend to her wounds she'd collapsed into a deep sleep.