"Use a tighter grip!" Ser Hugo shouted. "Your sword isn't going to bite you; that's what your opponent's sword will do!" The Knight watched as the fifty men that had accompanied him from Dragon's Rest sparred with some of the Goldcloaks that had been pressed into service. Normally, their numbers were constant at 2000, but that number had swelled by the thousands since the war had started, and those new City Watchmen were ill-trained, inexperienced men who had probably never held a sword before. That much was evident based on what Ser Hugo was seeing.

The 2000 veterans were, generally speaking, well-trained, so they were fine on their own. The new recruits, on the other hand, were proving to be one of the greater challenges of Ser Hugo's life. "When you're fighting a man for real, and he tries everything he can to kill you, you damn well better kill him first!" he shouted. The various recruits, exhorted by his words, noticeably fought harder than they had been, but it wasn't making much of a difference. "When you're in a battle, one of the things that can kill you is tiring yourself out! Stannis Baratheon is coming, and he has tens of thousands of men-at-arms that are coming with him! Now, unless we have an army hidden away somewhere, the battle is going to last for a long time! If you spend all of your strength in the beginning, then you'll be too tired and too slow to kill anyone else!"

After he and the 50 men from Dragon's Rest had done all they could with the recruits, Ser Hugo found himself in the Red Keep, escorting the Queen Regent and the other noblewomen to Maegor's Holdfast. Stannis and his fleet would arrive within the next few hours, and the entire city was preparing for the sole remaining Baratheon brother's assault. Suddenly, the Knight felt the Queen Regent gripping his arm tightly. "Will Stannis break through?" she asked, the fear evident in her eyes. "Will he reach the keep?"

Ser Hugo, very careful about what he said around the vicious Lannister woman, replied "The city has strong walls, it has well-trained men protecting it, and it has your brother leading the defense". The mention of the Imp soured the Queen Regent's face, and she walked off appearing unconvinced. Two of his men then approached, and the Knight muttered to himself "You people don't stand a chance". He then walked away, making his way out of the Red Keep and over to the Mud Gate, the weakest point on the wall and Stannis' most likely target.

Once he arrived, he met with the fifty men that had come with him from Dragon's Rest, who were gathered near the Lannister men who were preparing to defend the gate. "Will, Cooper, Darion, Martyn, and Cedric, you're with me" he said quietly. "The rest of you, stay inside the gate. When it falls, kill all the Lannister men and let Stannis' men through". They all nodded their understanding, and Ser Hugo walked off with the five men he had named to one of the secret tunnel entrances that dotted the city. Lord Blackfyre had given him a detailed path that would take him outside the wall, and the Knight soon found that his lord had been correct. He and his five men emerged from a sewer grate and onto the beach. With the gate ahead of them, Ser Hugo and his men crouched down, having a clear line of sight to the Lannister archers posted along the walls. Turning to one of his men, he asked "Did you bring the helmets?"

Cooper nodded, passing a Baratheon-style helmet to each of them; the helmets, combined with the chaos of the battle to come, would help disguise each of them and ensure their anonymity should the battle turn against Stannis, which was highly unlikely.

Will then distributed the bows, and each man nocked an arrow, waiting to fire until Stannis' men landed. They watched as a single ship from the Lannister fleet sailed toward the Baratheon fleet. "One ship?" Darion asked incredulously.

"Aye; best be ready for anything" Ser Hugo warned, wary of any plan the Imp may have concocted. The ship sailed forward, making its way a little into the midst of the Baratheon fleet, when a flaming arrow suddenly flew through the air, toward the single ship. "What in the Seven Hells?" he asked. The arrow landed behind the ship, and the water erupted into brilliant green flames. "Wildfire!" the Knight exclaimed moments before the single ship exploded, consuming several of Stannis' ships in a brilliant green firestorm. He could only watch in horror as sailors aboard the ships burned alive and several of the ships sank into the Blackwater.

Luckily, the majority of Stannis' fleet was still intact, and soon hundreds of long boats made their way to the shore. The first boat to land deposited its troops, and a man who could only be Stannis Baratheon led the charge along with hundreds of his men. "Let loose!" Ser Hugo ordered his men before he fired an arrow toward the archers along the wall. At the same time, arrows began to rain down on the Baratheon troops, killing many of those who set foot on the shore. Ser Hugo and his five men continued to fire at the Lannister archers for some time, until they saw several Lannister men coming out of the Mud Gate. Turning to his men, Ser Hugo said "Let's skin some Lions!" The Knight and three of the soldiers discarded their bows and drew their swords, joining the other Baratheon troops as they engaged the Lannisters.

Easily dispatching a Lannister soldier, Ser Hugo looked to his left and saw the Hound, the King's personal butcher, savagely cut Darion in half. Seeing one of his comrades die in such a manner made the Knight fight that much harder, slicing a Lannister soldier across the torso with his sword. He then heard a shriek of pain, and saw that the skinny Lannister boy, Lancel, grimacing from an arrow that had pierced his shoulder. Turning around, Ser Hugo saw Cooper nodding at him, meaning that he had wounded the Kingslayer's cousin.

Eventually, the Lannisters fell back through the gate, and the Baratheon troops brought ladders and a battering ram to bear. It wouldn't be long now; Ser Hugo and his men only had to hold out for a little while longer before the Mud Gate fell. Suddenly, Will ran up beside him, saying "The Imp's leading a sortie; he's coming through the tunnel!"

Ser Hugo growled in anger. "Get the others, and let's get past the tunnel; we need to get more Baratheon reinforcements over here, and we can't let the Imp see our faces. Go, now!" The other man nodded before he ran off to gather the three others. Soon, they ran past the sewer grate moments before the Imp and the remaining Lannister troops came out. Turning around, Ser Hugo could see them overcoming the Baratheon soldiers at the Mud Gate. A minute later, they then found a large number of Stannis' men who were attacking another part of the wall. "The Mud Gate's fallen!" he shouted. "This way!" With him and the three others from Dragon's Rest in the lead, the large number of troops charged back to the Mud Gate. Ser Hugo could see that the Lannister soldiers had burned the battering ram, and he focused all of his battlefield rage on them.

The two forces crashed into one another, and Ser Hugo killed several Lannister soldiers. After beheading an opponent, he saw Martyn fighting with the Imp before one of the Lannister men tackled him to the ground. Before he could see any more, another man tried to stab him in the chest with a thrust. The Knight swatted the man's blade aside before he stabbed him through the face, killing him instantly.

Suddenly, a horn sounded from behind, and Ser Hugo watched as a large force of cavalry thundered toward them. They were carrying both Lannister and Tyrell colours. "Seven Hells!" he cursed, knowing that the battle had taken a sudden and drastic turn as he discarded his helmet. Finding Cedric, he said "Get your helmet off! Tell the others, too; we can't afford to be mistaken for Baratheon men!" Ser Hugo just finished speaking when he watched as Cedric was killed by a Lannister sword as the rider struck him with his horse. Everything then became black.