DAVOS
He looked on, by the king's side, as the knights charged. He himself now also was a knight, but in name, not in skill. He had had to learn to ride only a few years ago, and although he knew how to use a sword or a crossbow, he had never learned to fight from horseback. He was a man of the sea. Davos however was not stupid. He knew that the king's army was by far the stronger, and should triumph with relative ease. Especially because they were mounted knights, and the enemy only footmen. He had heard the tales about the fight against the dead, and he knew that their warriors were poor fighters, only strong in large numbers, which they now lacked. But still, he did not trust in the stupidity of his enemies. There had to be something, some hidden scheme to destroy them. The woman had seemed too confident to not have some plan.
But there was no trace of one. The scouts said that there were no hidden forces, only that small group, and beyond them, their encampment, where they must be keeping their royal prisoners. Davos had heard of how they had acted, and what would happen would be what they deserved. The king would give them to the red woman, who sat at his other side, also watching.
Suddenly he heard the sound of thunder, close by, and fire spat from the lines of the dead. Dozens of men and horses toppled to the ground, although it was hard to see at this distance what had done it. Swathes had been cut through the advancing knights, blown over as by a storm. The rest soon turned around, as the dead started beating their drums and advanced. The king spat: "What sorcery is this?"
"I do not know, my king", the red woman answered, "but it is clearly a gift from the Great Other to those who chose the darkness. But the Lord of Light has strengths of his own to gift those who have chosen the light."
"Get on with it.", he commanded.
"Great fires have burned these last days, blessing your throne. The last spark remains preserved, and will go with your army when their hearts are true. Bring me close to the children of the darkness, and your enemies will burn."
The king rode off, drawing his sword, heading towards the retreating vanguard. He was followed by his advisors and guards. Close behind them came the main force, around a thousand knights. Stannis was far ahead, and the fleeing horse slowed down, and moved aside. Now there would be no charge of only the younger knights, all of them would ride together, and smash through the devilish sorcery of the enemy. Davos suspected that it was of the same kind of trickery as that employed by the red woman, but at least she was on his side. He silently prayed that the Seven would forgive him for associating with her, but at least he tried to point his king to the right path. That which was not dark sorcery.
Stannis drew his flaming sword, and at that signal his men rode with him. He sensibly was not in front of the host, wary of the strange magic, but the priestess went to the front. Davos hoped that she would be struck down by some arrow or spell, and remained behind, with the small rearguard, and several wounded men who had managed to escape the dead. They had horrific wounds, limbs torn right off, and these were the lucky ones. They were being helped by the squires and other attendants that had been brought along, and he again found himself praying, for the safety of Stannis.
He looked at the second charge. When they almost reached the site of the previous carnage the same thunder came, and fire and smoke spat from between the enemy companies. Again knights were swatted aside as mere flies, but now they did not stop. It was hard to see what was happening, there was a thick black smoke coming from the dead, but he saw the red woman, she had survived then, as had the king. He thought that he saw a spark around her, and a little later there was another roar of thunder, from the left of the enemy formation. It was then that the charge hit home. The clash of steel was audible even from hundreds of feet away, but that was nothing compared to the sound that followed.
It was louder than anything he had ever heard, louder than the greatest storms, louder than the thunder itself. And there was light, followed by more black smoke. The whole battlefield became obscured, and he heard nothing, not even the cries of battle. After a few moments he felt thick drops of rain fall, but when he wiped them away, he saw that it was not water, but earth.