Rise of Silverpine chapter 37

I do not own ASOIF/GoT or Warcraft

The icy wind bit ferociously into Tywin's face as his horse struggled along the road. He was spurring it on quickly, the next tunnel that would take him ever higher in sight. Silently cursing, he entered it swiftly and unwrapped the cloth that he had covered his head with, the warmth inside from the braziers that lined the wall giving him warmth.

'Bloody dwarves' he cursed mentally. Just as he was catching his breath and trying to warm himself, a burly dwarf with wild black hair and a massive bear to boot passed him, a large ram carrying an arrangement of bags and boxes next to him, passed the old lion, the dwarf giving a quick, cheerful and loud "Hello!" before without a care in the world exiting into the storm outside, not showing any signs of having even noticed the change in weather.

Baffled, the old lion trying to clear his mind and steel his resolve. Almost shakily, he kicked his horse forth, the next exit in his direction quite far away…and quite far up. While their forms, in his mind, were lacking, not even he can deny the craftsmanship of the dwarves. Aye, there were tunnels back in Westeros, but not on this scale, nor of this quality. On his way here, he passed next to Grim Batol and he was expecting it to be a hilltop or a hillside city, not really believing it to be entirely underground. And yet, when only a gate was visible and the occasional tower jutting out from the ground, while not outright believing, he was begging to second guess himself.

The seven damn this cursed land for making him doubt himself. And damn all these Alliance people. It's perfectly safe as long as you stick to the road, they said. Morons, the whole lot of them. Granted, he had not encountered any threat in terms of hostile anything, but the amount of times he could have gotten killed by other occasions was abit too much. Two times he could have fallen of the edge in Dun Algaz and that was when he had to constantly look up in case of something falling, especially after a few rather large stones fell but a few meters before him… even a ram fell once. A ram.

This land is madness made real.

Still, Loch Modan was… pleasant, he hesitated to call it. Maybe because it was so normal and peaceful. No tentacles from the ground, no massive marshes, no mountains, no dark forests filled with undead. Just peaceful greenery. Even the air was pleasant. On the border of chilly, yet when the sun shone through, it because just right.

As he neared the exit, he consulted his map. This should be the last tunnel before he entered Dun Morogh proper. In a moment like this, he was abit annoyed at having decided to go alone. Having to make sure he was going the right way every so often was bothersome, having someone else do it was much easier, usually leaving the old lion to focus on more important things. Yet, he knew that if he had taken a full squad of guards with him, he would be easily distinguished and whenever he entered a town ot a city, there would be a lot of fanfare. He would be dragged to this formal event or to that 'important place' or that beautiful scenery. It was not something he wanted. What Tywin desired was to be able to observe his new allies, unobstructed from anything. A horse, map, armor lacking the usual marking and a hefty bag of gold and he was off. As far as the army was concerned, he had returned to Westeros on "Hand duties". Only Kevan knew the truth.

He was beginning to see the mist of his breath again. Looking up from the map, sure enough, the final exit was but a hand away. Bright light momentary blinded him before his eyes adjusted to the sun that shone. Unlike the previous level, it was not snowing. The weather was clear, pleasant even. Still cold, but the shining sun brought an interesting balance to things. In the distance, he could even see some dwarves near the defense…short…tower structure that were sitting outside in the sun, playing some board game, their jolly shouts at what the dice roll been audible even to Tywin.

As he approached, they waved him over and deciding that angering guards would not be a good idea for his incognito mission, he decided to approach them, dismounting.

"Good day, friend. Not many humans come to these parts. What brings ya here?" asked the one that had waved him over, his posture and what can be seen from his face from his beard- friendly.

"I am just a traveler from Silverpine." Quickly lied Tywin. "I don't have much left and I wanted to see the wonders of the world before I die." Said the old lion and realizing just how stupid and ridiculous it sounded as he said it aloud. And yet, the dwarf simply laughed, despite his short stature been able to grasp him by the shoulder.

"What, ya gettin old? Nonsense! Come, sit with us, have a drink. This will put some spirit back into ya!"

They all quickly scooted over, making a place for Tywin on one of the benches.

"TYGAS, GO FETCH A KEG OF MEAD,YA GOATHEAD!" he turned to the old lion and gave a toothy grin visible through his beard "Can't let new recruits slack off, now can we?" and soon enough an engraved metal stein was placed before him filled rich golden liquid. Around him, the dwarves happily continued their board game, shouting and laughing, while those not directly involved began telling stories.

"So there I was, looking for that good copper ore, ya know. Gnomes pay a lot for it these days. And as I am digging away, this huge white bear comes around a bend in the cave and without so much as a hello, the thing charges at me! I had to…err… call in a tactical retreat and my pickaxe got in the rocks so I had to leave it there!" those that were listening burst into laughter and Tywin tried to bite down a smile, If not for the story itself, for the over exaggerated way the dwarf was telling it.

"So no copper, lost me pickaxe, got tired and on me only free day for a month to boot!" more laughter followed, this time the Lannister unable to hide his merit.

"Ya've always been one for easy money, Hanmouth." Said another dwarf, a smile on his face as he poked fun at his companion.

As the dwarves bickered back and forth Tywin leaned slightly back and took a large sip of the mead before him. The cold on his back, the sun warming his face and the sweet drink in his hand. He knew that as it was nearing sundown, he would likely not make much more progress today and for that short moment, he allowed himself to be the nameless stranger from Silverpine observing the jolly dwarves around him.

"You seem oddly deep in though." Idly commented Tyrion as he entered the chamber. Cersei Lannister barely spared him a glance before turning her head back to look out of the window and over the city, but it was clear she was looking westward.

"My little girl is out there in those terrible lands while you are happily prancing about, doing nothing." Her voice was gaining volume and edge with every word.

"There is little we can do. Those are not our lands and if she does not wish to be found, which she does not, she will likely not be found." Stated the dwarf in a suddenly serious voice. "Besides, didn't you yourself said she will be save with Jaime. Do you doubt the world's greatest swordsman?"

"I do not doubt him. Only you and the inaction of everyone at court. We should be demanding her return from the Stark whores! Instead we are sending soldiers to aid this…Alliance!" she spat out the word.

"Cersei, this is larger than you or me or Myrcella or even the bloody house Lannister." Said the dwarf stepping closer.

"I do not like how rushed and simplistic the decision was, but you did not go to Andorhal. What hap-"

"If you are going to talk about skeletons and snarks and grumbelfusses, spare me." She dismissed him quickly.

"Even if we step away from those, you need to focus on the here and now!" Tyrion nearly shouted "We are part of the Alliance for better or worse. There are rumors of the dragon queen finally setting for Westeros, with all this magic suddenly everywhere, the septons are constantly shouting nonsense and your son is not making any of this easier!"

"Joffrey is doing a perfect job." Almost mechanically stated Cersei.

"He tried to have the Kael'dorei ambassador stripped infront of the court!"

"That beast probably did something to offend him. Joffrey would never do something like that without a reason."

"You are right. There is a reason. He is sick!" Tyrion took a deep breath "You need to stop pampering him. He needs to grow. Now. With all these threats around us we need a good king if good old Robert has too much wine one evening and decides for a walk on the battlements."

"We are perfectly safe here, and if not, there is always the Rock." Returned the queen, turning to look out of the window.

"And how long do you think they will last against dragon fire?" mumbled Tyrion just loud enough.

"And how can you be so certain of all of this?" retorted sharply Cersei.

"Because of all that is happening. Did you read through the report about the battle in the Twilight Highlands?" at Cersei's snort, Tyrion knew all that he needed.

"The might of a combined Westeros against a single creature." He took a step closer. "And not just men, but ship and siege equipment. Heavy cavalry. Knights!" another step. "All of this, against a single creature… and a third of our army is gone." Cersei sharply turned her head towards the dwarf.

"The Ironborn were scared of it and if those murderous glorified pirates are…well…" after a lengthy pause, the queen spoke.

"House Lannister will prevail." She stated with false certainty, turning to look back out of the window.

"Maybe, but not as we are now." Returned Tyrion, his voice losing volume with each syllable. The small man turned to leave, only stopping at the door to spare a glance of disappointment at his sister.

Jaime and Myrcella climbed above the edge of the plateau, more forest revealing itself before them.

They did not bother standing up, only rolling to the side and panting heavily from exhausting. Climbing in light armor and a full backpack was not an easy task for anyone. The girl took out a water jug and splashed some of it on her face. Jaime turned his head and looked at her, speaking.

"We don't know when we will be able to get more water. You shouldn't have done that."

"Shush." *pant* "I don't care. *pant* Not now."

"This good enough of a vantage point for you?" asked the knight, having already regained his breath and getting up to his feet.

Before she could answer, from the trees near them heavy footsteps began to echo, Jaime quick to unsheathe his sword. Before he can even urge Myrcella to get up, they were all surrounded by men. Scanning them quickly, Jaime took note that they were, perhaps thankfully, not undead. All wore the same plate armor with minimal variations and a light blue coat of arms with a grey gauntlet in the middle of it.

"Don't move, either of you." stated in a harsh tone the only one not bearing a helmet.

"Sure." Tiredly returned Myrcella, still looking up at the sky from her position on the ground, not having regained her breath completely, lazily lifting a hand in a thumbs up.

Good mead does wonders. Oh, and…hi!

Sorry for been away so long. Abit of a Lannister centric chapter, but they are also players in the game and things up in Silverpine are in abit of a stalemate at the moment with the Northern army slowly grinding through the Plaguelands.

Thank You for Reading.