A/N: Once again I want to thank anyone who has reviewed since the first chapter, your support means a lot. I hope you like this chapter, and here we go...
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters or universe. All the credit goes to George R.R. Martin.
Chapter 25 Gendry III
Gendry
The men cheered his name as he and Tyrion walked the empty streets of King's Landing with the remainder of his force that brutally took the King's Gate from Aegon Targaryen. The empty houses that they walked by before were still reflecting the green light of the wildfire, and Gendry felt an ominous vibe coming from them as if something bad was about to happen. Up ahead on the ramparts he noticed the archers that tagged along with them running in a sprint towards the Mud Gate. James needed their help, now more than ever, and Gendry just hoped he wasn't too late. He didn't know how he'd be able to tell Daenerys if her beloved husband died….he shook that image out of his mind.
More explosions could be heard from the Blackwater. Maybe more of Aegon's galleys are being destroyed. Suddenly before him he saw a woman with brown hair, she was a short and gave him a dead pan stare before scurrying off into the darkness. It reminded Gendry of Arya.
When the bells had tolled and they'd left Varys's chambers, Gendry immediately went towards the Great Hall with his companions. They did not know where the women were at the time, but they did not have enough to spare to go and search for them. The courtyard of the Red Keep was filled with people running around like chickens without a head, and the tolling bells only proceeded to get louder with each passing second. Upon arrival at the Great Hall they found men-at-arms already preparing for battle, and Edric was there with the King's armor as were other numerous squires with Gendry's, Tyrion's, and Jon's.
A boy that Gendry had never met helped him with his armor, and handed him his war hammer. For once it felt heavy in his hand because he knew that by the end of the day he'd have to take a life with it. Finally as his breastplate was strapped on and his hammer was slung onto his back, Gendry saw the women run inside the Great Hall out from the gardens with the children in hand. Arya had finally kissed him in front of her family, showing the affection that he'd always wanted and told him not to be stupid. Gendry only laughed and held her, as all the men did to their respective woman. He could have sworn he saw a tear roll down the cheek of Arya Stark as he gave her one final goodbye, but surely he had to be dreaming: Arya never cried.
Everywhere there was movement in the streets, Gold Cloaks coming out of barracks, manning the city walls and gates, people running around, panicking, and his move to the Mud Gate was not swift. When he got there the trebuchets that Tyrion loved so much were already in position inside the walls, loaded with wildfire pots to fling at the enemy ships when they sailed up the Blackwater. They raced out of the city by a postern door near the gates and climbed the stairs onto the ramparts overlooking the shore of the Mud Gate. He could already see the naval galleys moving out into the Blackwater, lining up, getting ready to meet the enemy navy, to draw them upriver to the trap. It was then that James ordered the wildfire thrown and the battle began.
"Who was that?" Tyrion asked him. The dwarf's hair was wet with a mixture of sweat and blood, and his armor had dents in it. Tyrion had proved himself upon the sands of the King's Gate and was a warrior in Gendry's eyes. He remembered him yelling out the war cry before they collided with Aegon's men, and it made Gendry laugh inside.
"I'm not sure," Gendry said in a whisper. "It reminded me of Arya."
Tyrion sighed as they turned a corner. Gendry turned back to his men and bid them to begin to jog to the Mud Gate. Something in Gendry's mind told him that James needed his help, and that they had to arrive right away. Siege ladders on top of the walls could overwhelm them immediately, and the archers could only keep them at bay for so long. If the ramparts were overrun than all would be lost, they didn't have the man power to repel them. It would be a massacre.
"We need to make haste, Tyrion." Gendry told him.
He nodded and the men began to run at a swift jog, and the sounds of battle began to ring in Gendry's ears again. The sweat and blood made his hair matted, and it weighed heavy upon his head. Although the hammer did feel light as a feather, that gave him the second wind he needed. The night sky was green again, but in the distance Gendry could see the flickering of lights and screams from the Mud Gate. They arrived at the stairs as he and Tyrion sprinted up them with the King's Gate party behind them.
"KEEP FIRING!" Gendry heard Edric yell at the archers when he arrived at the top of the walls. The squire looked back at him and nodded, his eyes wide as saucers as he spotted the blood on Gendry's breastplate. The dents that he'd received too.
They walked along the rows of archers that were wearing Targaryen black, it looked like a long black worm. Finally when they arrived near the gatehouse, Gendry saw a figure sitting down on top of an empty arrow barrel, his back against the wall. He had his Kingsguard around him and Gendry knew it was James. His sword was drawn with the tip against the floor and James held the hilt in his hands. Gendry sprinted over to James with Tyrion to his right, after he ordered his men to take positions along the wall.
"James!" Tyrion yelled.
Gendry saw his brother by law quickly whip his head to the left, noticing Tyrion and Gendry running at him. He got up from the barrel and looked at them, he gave Gendry a quick embrace before pulling off, their fists bouncing off the back of each others breastplates. James had a cut over his right eye and a tiny nick on his left cheek, the blood had dried upon his beard. His hair was sweaty and his sword had blood upon it.
"How did you manage?" James asked.
"We managed to drive Aegon's men off the King's Gate," Tyrion answered in-between pants, "and they've retreated from there. We also managed to destroy their battering ram too."
"That is good news," said James. "How many men did we lose in the attempt?"
"Many," Gendry told him. "A lot of Gold Cloaks were slaughtered in the attempt, and we also lost their Lord Commander."
James sighed. "How many of the men-at-arms?"
"Not nearly as much," Tyrion answered this time. "But we still took quite a bit of casualties. We brought those still able to fight with us upon the ramparts, but some still remain at the King's Gate with the wounded."
"Ok," James muttered. "Ok, ok. Aegon's men are co-"
"Your Grace!" A Kingsguard interrupted, "Aegon's galley has been seen upon the Rush!"
The three men immediately scurried to the edge of the walls and saw the large ship in the middle of the river. It's standard was flying Targaryen black with a red dragon upon the sail, but the dragons had giant golden crowns on each head. I guess if we used the same banner the battle would have been terribly confusing.
"How do we know it's his?" Gendry asked.
"It is the biggest we've seen Y'Grace," the archer replied, "that has to be the galley of Aegon Targaryen."
James nodded. "What is the plan?"
"They're about to land the second wave of reinforcements upon the shore," Tyrion pointed out with his finger the giant mass of boats coming back to the shore line.
There were still some men against the walls that were hiding out of the archers fire, waiting for he siege ladders to come upon the shore. Back in the water, Gendry could see surviving archers shooting from the rubble of the galleys, some arrows making their target. He had to duck to keep from getting hit at times, and all kept their heads low.
"We need to bring whatever men we have up on the walls," Gendry yelled over the sound of hissing arrows and yells.
James nodded in agreement. "That I agree with."
"We also need to form some flanking party, tiny it'll have to be," Tyrion suggested to them.
"Have, Edric, lead a sortie from the sally port of the King's Gate, and flank them," Gendry said. "He won't utterly defeat them, but it'll help to drive them off a bit."
"And we will stay upon the ramparts to lead," James told them. "Edric!"
Gendry nodded at him, and the squire ran over to him. James clenched him by the shoulders and explained what he was to do. He was to take the remaining men at the King's Gate and take whatever horses they had left to lead a calvary charge to their flank. James also instructed to leave two horses along the end of the stairs for them, in case they need to retreat. While James was explaining to Edric his plan, the boys eyes were wide in shock.
"You'll be a knight by morning if you live the night," James said after finishing explaining. "Good luck to you, Edric."
The squire nodded at him and bowed out, running down the steps with nobody following him. James walked down the ramparts to make sure that all the men were in order and prepared. Gendry and Tyrion walked over to the walls again and peered out to the shore line, Aegon's men had freshly landed upon the shore line and had begun to run up the length of the beach. The command to fire was being passed down the rows of archers and Gendry heard them knock their bows back. The volley was like a dark mass that blotted out the stars, and hit the sand like a thud, some of them hitting flesh. Aegon's men fell to the ground with a scream but some of them survived the volley and kept on sprinting towards the wall.
Now they were firing at will, and Gendry saw the ladders being unloaded from the ships. Five men carried each ladder and they ran across spread evenly, and whenever a man was hit by an arrow another would come up and take the dead mans spot. The arrows gave out a deadly hiss as they whizzed down at the shore, and some yielded either a thud or shriek in response. A call for ladders was yelled by one of Aegon's captains and Gendry peered down for a second to see them being raised by the men. At the last second an arrow hissed by his head and hit an archer that was standing behind him. He fell to the ground without so much as a scream, he was dead before he hit it with a thud. His armor clanking as well.
Startled, Gendry looked around and felt his head with his hands, he sighed in relief when he felt no scratches. "Fire at the ladders!" Tyrion yelled, standing upon a barrel to point down at the ladder men who were desperately trying to raise them. A concentrated volley was aimed at one of them, and most made their mark; instantly killing two of the five and injuring the other three. The three survivors fell to the ground, one of them hit in the leg, a second in the shoulder and chest, a third under the armpit. "Finish them off!" Tyrion ordered again. Another volley was fired and the three survivors were riddled with arrows that killed them instantly, their screams silenced.
"There we are," Tyrion told them. But as soon as the men died, more took their place and they picked up the ladder again. Soon, Gendry, heard the clash of swords and yelling, he noticed that down at James's direction he saw some ladders had made it against the wall, Aegon's men flowing over the ramparts. Ahead of Gendry one ladder had made it up, but the concentrated arrow fire were keeping them pinned. The arrow barrage could have lasted so long, and finally the remaining ladders made it up on the wall, and the men began to flow over. "Swords!" Gendry yelled, "Swords!"
The men-at-arms all unsheathed their swords, and prepared for battle with the archers unsheathing small daggers and the Gold Cloaks had their swords too. Their spears were too long and most were casted aside. Gendry's war hammer felt like a feather in his hand, as the first of Aegon's men climbed up the ladders and came up on the wall. A Martell man wielding a morningstar came running at him and Gendry blocked the blow with his hammer, reeling it around to hit him against the head, his body fell to the ground and his head ricochet off the wall with a thud.
By now the battle upon the wall was in full swing, and Gendry began to tire from all the killing. Archers and men-at-arms were being killed left and right, but it was at a stalemate. Whenever the royal army would gain the upper hand, more reinforcements would land upon the shore and whatever remaining archers could fire shots off, but it was not enough to completely hold them back. Aegon's galley was still upon the river, swaying in the current, and Gendry could swear he could see the man himself standing at the front of the galley, surveying the scene before him. Tyrion said he could see his silver hair reflecting in the night and Gendry thought he saw Rhaegar Targaryen reborn. He'd never met him before Daenerys had him imprisoned. Gendry never understood why she did in the first place, but she must've had her reasons. The rush was still ablaze with patches of wildfire and the remains of the exploded galleys were flowing down the current.
"Tyrion!" Gendry yelled, as he watched the dwarf drive his axe into the head of a knight who was pinned down on the floor. He looked up at Gendry with fresh blood across his face. "I must go and check how James is doing, hold the line!"
Tyrion nodded running the opposite way of Gendry and fighting again. Gendry turned around and ordered a few Baratheon men and Gold Cloaks follow him towards the King. The men nodded and followed Gendry towards the end of the Mud Gate, along the way another ladder went up and more men poured upon the ramparts, blocking their path. An Arryn man came upon Gendry wildly slashing at him. He struck at Gendry and missed, Gendry took his hammer and swung down upon his arm, breaking the bones within it in a crunch. He then finished him off to a blow in the chest, he fell over.
Pushing past the remaining men he finally saw James come into view. The King had just finished shoving his sword into a Tyrell boys belly, and pulled it out brutally. James noticed Gendry and gave him a nod as he ran over to him with fresh blood on his sword.
"How fares things on your end?" James asked.
"We have lost a few men," Gendry replied, "but we are still holding. It has become a stalemate," he paused when as he dodged a Martell man who lunged at him, James cut the soldiers throat. "We can't hold them forever, James!"
"We must hold them as long as we can."
"At what cost?"
"We have no choice!"
"If we can't hold them any longer we must fall back!"
"We won't lose."
"Look around you," Gendry told him. He watched as James took his advice and actually looked around at the sight of blood, sweat, and death. "We don't have the men to hold him and it is just a matter of time."
"What would you have me do? Retreat and create utter chaos," James replied with a blunt whisper. "I can't. have. that. happen."
Gendry grabbed him by the arm. "I'd have us stay alive, James. If the battle is lost we must retreat to Maegor's and go back to the women, we must-"
"-If we lose than we are dead, Gendry," James ruefully said. He turned his attention back to the battle, and Gendry did the same.
The fighting grew intense with each passing minute, and the screams were only growing more frequent. Gendry had received a slash to his arm and he had killed three men in the process. Most of the knights tried to bash their way past, Gendry. Hoping to use brute strength against him, but Gendry always pushed them back, using his agility to use their armor as a disadvantage. Usually he'd hit them hard in the back or cave in their breastplate to break their ribs. Back and forth he moved between James and Tyrion, making sure the lines wouldn't break. Aegon's men were as vast as the sea, and would always receded and crash like waves. Tyrion was holding his part of the rampart as well as he could, and was having an easier time than, James.
"Where is Edric?" Gendry asked James, throwing a Tyrell knight over the ramparts down to his death. James told him that the boy should be arriving at any moment now, and continued fighting on.
Gendry couldn't hear anything by the time Aegon Targaryen himself landed upon the shore, a ghost of his father at the Trident. The flame, smoke, and shadows made him dance, and created a mist about him. His black armor contrasted against the night, and the red-rubied dragon upon the breastplate. His sword was drawn and he lead another wave of reinforcements upon the shore. "It's, Aegon!" James had yelled pointing to him with his sword. The morale of Aegon's men were bolstered and his men upon the ramparts were getting a second wind. That was when they had begun to be pushed back, until Edric arrived.
"James we are losing this fight!" Gendry yelled at him after running back from reinforcing, Tyrion. I wonder what Arya is doing right now?
There was a pause in the battle, "a battle pulse," James called it. The fighting would die down for about five minutes and resume again after all had caught their breath. In-between reinforcements the soldiers would have time to rest before the men made their way back up the ladders, and at times they could manage to push some of them down but they'd just come up again. Most of the archers had been killed in the battle, reeling from improper weapons for hand to hand combat. Gendry had seen some archers defending themselves by using daggers, swords from slain men, and at once time Gendry saw one use an arrow as a dagger to pierce a man through the neck.
"I wonder how Daenerys is at the moment," said James when the fighting died down, "or Jon."
"I wonder how Arya is doing," Gendry ruefully replied to him.
James braced his shoulder. "We will see them again, Gendry. We will."
"Will they go through with the plan?"
James sighed. "Jon will see that they do. I know that they may be stubborn at first, but they'll go through with it."
"Arya is the most stubborn person I've met," said Gendry. "Besides you, of course."
"Arya and I are so much alike," James admitted. "Not just in appearance, but in personality as well. It is why we give each other a hard time and always yell at each other, but I know that Arya would kill for me…if it came down to it. I know that she shows her love through her giving me a hard time."
"That she does," Gendry said. "You Northerners and you're stoicism. I don't get it."
"It stems from just being a Stark, I suppose."
"I can see that."
That was when the shouts came back and the men were coming up the ladders again. James stood up and pulled Gendry up with a help of his hand, and unsheathed his sword. The clangs and screams resonated through the air as the night sky was black with the green tint of wildfire. By this point in the battle, Gendry had killed about ten men, some of them were no more than ten and eight. He remembered one of them had tried to come upon him from the side, but he knocked him on the ground and caved him in before he could yelp. The boy couldn't have been older than, Edric.
And as if the Gods were being coincidental, Gendry heard the hooves of galloping horses upon the sands and the screams with clashing swords and broken lances. Gendry pushed past a Stark man-at-arms and put his hand against the rampart as he watched Edric and basically an army of Gold Cloaks clash into Aegon's flank. The man himself was along the shoreline in his black armor and was pointing over at Edric. Now the army upon the shore was distracted with Edric's men and soon they had stopped climbing the walls. Taking this opportunity, Gendry, pushed most of the ladders down and the order was passed along the ranks as the fighting continued.
The fighting continued some more and Tyrion had waddled over to their side of the wall after he'd cleared his. James had ordered him to lead a sortie out and envelop Aegon in a vice now that he was distracted by Edric's men. The amount of Aegon's soldiers on the wall was deduced, but now James had only a handful of true soldiers left. Most of them had been killed in action and others were wounded. Only a few hundred Gold Cloaks remained on the wall, and they had lost a lot of those as well.
Gendry watched on the ramparts as Tyrion's men came bolstering out of the Mud Gate. He saw Aegon now come into the battle and charge his men at Tyrion's, both clashing against each other. He watched as Aegon killed one Stark man, as Tyrion along with two members of the Kingsguard killed one of Aegon's men. Gendry turned his attention back to the ramparts and saw James slash a Martell man across the face. A scream pierced Gendry in his ear, as he saw another Vale man coming at him. He dodged the mans strike and reeled back, snarling at him. Gendry then lunged at him and missed with the swing, but managed to reel back to block the mans sword thrust. Than he smashed him across the face with the hammer finally and the man went crashing down onto the floor with a thud.
Gendry took to the ramparts and walked along the wall, as he surveyed the shore line. Tyrion and Edric still held Aegon in a vice, but they had too little men to surmount any sort of defense to drive them back into the rush. Aegon had now fought his way to Tyrion, and Gendry felt his heart dip into his stomach. It took no time for him to make his way to Tyrion, and both began to fight each other. It did not last long, but Tyrion was quickly overwhelmed and was knocked down on his back. Aegon was about to deliver the final blow when an explosion could be heard out in the Bay, and Gendry turned his attention to it. It wasn't wildfire, as he presumed.
Gendry watched as did everyone else, as they saw a galley of ships enter Blackwater Bay. They were many galleys in number and Gendry did not see a Targaryen standard upon his sails. This time, however, it was a Stag encompassed by a fiery heart. Stannis! "It's, Stannis!" The remaining men had began to yell. On the shore line the men began to panic and they watched as Stannis's galleys had begun to attack Aegon's remaining ships. Gendry saw as Aegon turned heel upon the shores and retreated back to his boats with his remaining men. All of the city's defenders began to cheer, but there were still men upon the walls to deal with. By now Aegon was in his own boat, heading back to his galley in the rush to deal with Stannis. Now whatever was left of Aegon's fleet were quickly begin outnumbered and Stannis began to have the upper hand.
That was when he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head, and Gendry fell over onto the ground in pain. His hammer flew from his hand and he grasped for the wall, but he didn't find anything. The breastplate made a loud clang when he hit the ground, and he saw a Tyrell knight standing over him, demanding that he yield. Gendry could not feel anything as everything began to fade away. The last thing he heard was the explosion of Stannis' ships destroying Aegon's, screams of dying men, jovial shouts, and finally a voice that sounded like James. "Stay with me, Gendry!" Gendry looked up at him and looked to his right to see the dead knight staring back at him with his dead-plain gaze, blood trickling out of his mouth. "Stay with me!" James yelled once more. "Aegon is retreating, Your Grace." Was the last thing he heard before everything went silent and he remembered no more.
Gendry heard the sound of chirping birds when he finally awoke, the sun was breaking over the horizon and dawn had arrived. The blood had dried up on his face, and he felt the wind breezing over him. The sky was an orange when he opened his eyes and felt a sharp pain in the back of his head. Gendry cringed and gradually sat himself up, looking around him. Empty arrow barrels still lined up the ramparts, some being knocked over with arrows spilling out onto the ground. Wounded men clutching their wounds were sitting up against the ramparts, Gold Cloak and men-at-arms alike. Gendry stood up now, slowly but surely and saw his hammer leaning against the wall. He picked it up with his hands and strapped on his back, as he stood up and looked over the ramparts. Aegon's dead men littered the shore line by the hundreds, with horses and men from Edric's charge. Parts of the sand were stained blood red with rivers of blood flowing down onto the shore, even the Rush was blood stained, with the wood of galleys and bodies floating with them.
Now he looked further in and saw Stannis's galley at anchor in the Blackwater Bay, his men were coming down the river in boats heading towards the shore. Gendry saw Edric out there by the shore with the remainder of his men, looking like he was meeting Stannis himself. Already some of Stannis's men were on the shore, waiting for the Baratheon man. The former proclaimed, King of Westeros, was not on the shore yet, but Gendry knew he'd be here soon. He cupped the pain in the back of his head again and looked around for Tyrion and James. Gendry saw the Imp himself standing over by a few Gold Cloaks, his hair was damp from sweat, and he was overseeing them stacking the remaining wildfire pots into a big cluster by the wall. He turned around and saw Gendry, giving him a nod with a frown and turned back to the wildfire. Now where is James? Where is the King?
And there he was, standing against the ramparts, his arms spread out holding on against the wall and looking down at the sortie upon the shore. His breast plate armor was off and against the ground, as were his arm guards and gloves. The only thing he stood in was were his leg armor, his sweat stained grey tunic, and his sword belt. His black hair was slick with sweat and stuck against his neck, and he looked exhausted. He looked around and noticed Gendry standing, he nodded and walked over to him with the remaining soldiers carrying the dead off the ramparts. James's nick had dried up and the cut above his right eye had a bandage on it.
"How are you feeling?" James asked him, as he came over and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Like I died and came back," Gendry answered. "As if someone kicked the shit out of me."
James laughed. "I feel the same way. But now the battle is over and Aegon has lost."
"Is he dead?"
"Not sure. Last we saw of him he was headed back to his galley, but his galley is still upon the rush and most of his fleet either retreated or was destroyed."
"Where is Stannis?"
"Last I heard he was headed to shore. Edric is out there to greet him."
"Did you send a man to Dany?"
James shook his head. "Damn. No, I didn't."
He called over a Stark men-at-arms and told him to let Daenerys know that Stannis has come to save them, and told him to tell Sam to go to the Queens Ballroom and wait for his command. The man's knowledge was needed this day and for the days to come. He also mentioned for them to stay in the Queens Ballroom until James arrives there.
"STANNIS IS COMING ASHORE!" A knight upon the shore yelled, waiving over to James upon the ramparts. Gendry looked over and saw the king nod, and looked up at the shore line.
Stannis Baratheon himself was walking up from the rush, he was wearing a grey suit of armor with his fiery heart imprinted on his chest. Next to him were his royal guard and a man that Gendry knew as Davos Seaworth and next to him was Tommen Lannister. The product of Jaime and Cersei was tall and lean like his father, and he wore crimson armor of Lannister. That was when Gendry saw the man himself: Aegon Targaryen. The boy was being dragged upon the shore in his black armor with his helm right off. He was bleeding from the mouth and had cuts and bruises upon his face. Stannis dragged him onto the sand and made him kneel down before him, as Edric came forward with his sortie and began to converse with Stannis.
Gendry and James watched with anticipation while Edric was meeting with Stannis. The boy was standing with the man and both were conversing at a calm demeanor and Gendry looked over at Tyrion and James once more. The dwarf was standing on the ramparts again, next to the Gold Cloaks who had clustered the wildfire pots into a giant mountain by one of the catapults. James was still standing next to Gendry and was watching the exchange with such fervor. Than he noticed his face change to shock, and Gendry knew something was wrong.
"Edric!" James yelled, almost jumping off the wall himself.
Startled, Gendry, looked back at the sortie and noticed a body on the ground: it was Edric. He had an arrow sticking out of his chest, and his head was looking up at the sky. Gendry was in shock and saw archers shooting at the rest of Edric's sortie from the boats along the shore, the men were falling down with screams.
That was when Stannis's men charged the Mud Gate.
"Stannis has betrayed us!" Tyrion yelled, he was standing by the pots with his axe drawn. "CLOSE THE FUCKING GATE!"
"CLOSE THE GATE!" James ordered waiving over at the men guarding it, but it was too late, Stannis's men had already stormed the length of the shore, hundreds in number with more coming, and they had already made it through the Mud Gate. Gendry looked down at the shore and noticed that Aegon Targaryen had been knocked down onto the sand, but he looked alive. Stannis was on the shore line ordering his men forward, and Gendry pulled out his hammer preparing for battle. Already the clashing of swords could be heard and the massacring of the cities defenders. Stannis has betrayed us…Stannis has…
"TYRION!" Gendry heard James yell. "GET DO-"
That was when he heard the explosion.
A great booming sound came from Gendry's left side, a sound that shook him to his core and rocked his chest and guts. Suddenly, a blast of wind knocked Gendry and James onto the ground with a violent force and he heard the sounds and shrieking of men. His ears were ringing when he finally regained his composure and stood up in a daze. A few Gold Cloaks were screaming and running around, both ablaze with wildfire. The wounded that were leaning against the ramparts were slumped over and dead. He also saw a Baratheon man clutching his arm, and Gendry noticed that he was missing one of them. Behind him, James was on one knee, shaking his head with fervor and regaining his senses. Gendry could still hear the shrieks when he turned and saw what had caused the blast.
The wildfire pots had ignited and sent plumes into the sky, all the men that surrounded it were instantly killed and already it had caught fire to the houses down at Fishmonger's Square. Down on the streets he already saw peasants and running from their lives away from the fires, and from Stannis' men. Tyrion..where is he?
Gendry felt two arms on his shoulders and whip him around, it was James. His eyes were sunken and his face in shock, his Kingsguard were holding him up and he did not appear wounded.
"We must go, Your Grace," one of the Kingsguard urged. "Stannis, has betrayed us, and we must go."
James nodded. "The city is lost. Stannis has betrayed us…Stannis."
"No, we can't leave him!"
"Leave who?"
"Tyrion!"
James shook his head. "Tyrion is…Tyrion is dead, Gendry. The blast knocked him off the walls. I..I..I saw him fly off the walls."
Gendry was in shock. Tyrion couldn't be…he couldn't be.
"I refuse to believe it…I refuse, James."
James shook him. "Believe it, Gendry. Tyrion is dead, the whole city is lost, and Stannis will be the King of Westeros."
"What are you saying?"
Before James could answer the Kingsguard kept tugging at him, urging him to go.
"We must head over to Maegor's. We have to get our family out of the city by the Old Gate."
"But we can't leave, Tyrion! He still might be-"
Another explosion blasted through the air and it shook the ramparts, causing the men to stumble. Gendry looked around and saw the carnage before him. The fires were now spreading evenly across the city and Stannis' men were beginning to pour in. James was right. Tyrion was dead and the city was lost. The wildfire couldn't be controlled and half the city would be destroyed by the end of this. Stannis Baratheon has just taken the Iron Throne and had betrayed them. His men would rape and kill those who resisted, even though Gendry knew Stannis would not allow rape on his watch. They needed to get to Arya..to their family. It was the only reason left for living.
"Right." Gendry said, looking at James who was grabbing him by the arm.
"Let Stannis be the King of Ashes." James finally told him.
Both men nodded and ran down the stairs of the Mud Gate with the chaos looming around them. Below they saw the horses that James had left for them, both were rearing and neighing at the sounds of the screams and death. Gendry and James mounted their horses with the Kingsguard straight behind them. The road ahead was littered with smallfolk coming from every direction, some trying to leave out of the Mud Gate. Some of Stannis's men had entered the city and were pillaging and killing the rest of the defenders.
Gendry and James spurred their horses forward and galloped towards the Red Keep. To escape the city they had sworn to protect, they had aimed to keep from Aegon's control, only to lose it to Stannis Baratheon. Gendry's thoughts were on Arya and his children as he galloped, but at last he thought of Tyrion Lannister, the Imp. The man who had been their most trusted companion since the first day. The man the Stark family sought for council and wisdom. The man who had become one of Gendry's best friends. He was like the uncle he never had. The roads were crowded with smallfolk and the wildfire left a distinct smell in the air. The wind made Gendry's hair fall into his eyes and he had no time to react to whatever was in front of him. They had to make it to the Red Keep with all haste, they had to get out of here. I'm coming, Arya. I'm coming.
Gendry Baratheon spurred his horse further down the stone road, passing the burning and death alike. With James by his side and the three remaining Kingsguard behind him. The former King of Westeros and Gendry spurred their horses through the gate, as the Red Keep appeared before them. Let Stannis be the King of Ashes...