Land of the King
Chapter 53: I See Fire
"Push forward! We are soldiers of Arnor, we will not allow this fortress to defeat us!" Túrin ordered to his men as they charge toward Tyrosh.
Under the Admiral's orders, Tyrosh had been mercilessly bombarded for the past few days with a storm of boulders and arrows that endlessly fell upon the city's defences. Though the walls emerged unscathed, the morale of the city's defenders had doubtlessly fallen.
Their siege towers reached the outer walls of the city this time and their battering rams had reached the gates as well. The Arnorian army was throwing sheer numbers at the city's defences.
Túrin was in the thick of the action, Anglachel tasting the blood of many Tyroshi that day as he and his men cut through the defenders.
After a long and hard day of fighting, the Tyroshi withdrew behind the second level and Admiral Celosien ordered the army to move into the first level of Tyrosh.
The men's morale had never been higher. Word had come that Pentos and Myr had both fallen and finally after eight days of endless assaults, the first level of Tyrosh had fallen to them. It was a common belief amongst the men that it was only a matter of time until the rest of Tyrosh fell as well.
Túrin for his part, was pleased at the progress. Though it had cost them significant casualties, Arnor was well on the way to being entrenched in its position by the time the dragons arrived which was estimated to be at least another week. Ample time to fortify their position in outer Tyrosh and take the inner city as well now that the hurdle of the outer wall had been passed.
The Tyroshi had evacuated the civilian population behind the second wall so that night the Arnorian army camped inside the houses and buildings of Outer Tyrosh.
Túrin had convinced Admiral Celosien to let the men hold a celebration of sorts amongst themselves to celebrate their recent success and boost their spirits and morale as it would be sorely necessary when they began their assaults on the second wall the next day.
Túrin himself would be relaxing with his crewmembers from the Arsarothod. The admiral had allowed the men to relax slightly for one night but many were still ordered to keep their eyes trained on the sky and the Tyroshi positions.
"Ah Túrin, there you are! Come, Halbarad is singing a song for us," Allard said to him as he entered the building that the Arsarothod crew members had seized for their own.
As Prince, Túrin's personal command was not under the traditional military chain of command and they could be given orders only by Túrin himself and someone who outranked him. Not all his crewmembers were here of course as others were on the ship itself, those that had joined in the city had been those who had accompanied him, serving as his guard.
"Very well," Túrin said as he took a seat. "What song do you have for us Halbarad?"
"My own rendition, a ballad of brotherhood and honour in the face of the dragons we are soon to face," Halbarad said humbly as he took his guitar into hand and began to sing and play.
Oh, misty eye of the mountain below
"Friend, what mountain are you referring to?" one of his other men asked.
"If you didn't notice, the Stepstones happen to be mountainous. Shut up and let Halbarad play his song," Allard ordered.
With the interruption settled, Halbarad continued his song.
Keep careful watch of my brothers' souls
And should the sky be filled with fire and smoke
Keep watching over Elendil's sons
A calm melody of music and a bass began to play as Halbarad started the first verse.
If this is to end in fire
Then we should all burn together
Watch the flames climb high into the night
Calling out Father oh,
Stand by and we will
Watch the flames burn auburn
The mountain side, hey
And if we should die tonight
Then we should all die together
Raise a glass of wine for the last time
Calling out Father oh,
Prepare as we will
Watch the flames burn auburn on
The mountain side
Desolation comes upon the sky
Now I see fire
Upon the mountain
And I see fire
Burning the trees
And I see fire
Hollowing souls
And I see fire
Blood in the breeze
And I hope that you remember me
By the time Halbarad had reached the final chorus and bridge after the second verse, all of them were singing along with him.
Now I see fire
Upon the mountain
And I see fire
Burning the trees
And I see fire
Hollowing souls
And I see fire
Blood in the breeze
And I hope that you remember me
And if the night is burning
I will cover my eyes
For if the dark returns
Then my brothers will die
And as the sky is falling down
It crashed into this lonely town
And with that shadow upon the ground
I hear my people screaming out
Now I see fire
Upon the mountains
I see fire
Burning the trees
I see fire
Hollowing souls
I see fire
Blood in the breeze
I see fire
Oh you know I saw a city burning out (fire)
And I see fire
Feel the heat upon my skin, yeah (fire)
And I see fire (fire)
And I see fire burn auburn on the mountain side
There was a round of applause for Halbarad and his song as they finished but before any of them could say anything else, the horn blasts alerted all of them.
One horn blast indicated the Tyroshi sallying forth from the second level. Two indicated the arrival of dragons. With no small amount of apprehension and trepidation, all of them took their weapons and armour after they heard the first horn blast. Within seconds of the first horn blasts, the second round sounded all over the Arnorian army.
They all shared a glance before they rushed out of the building.
"Where are they!?" Halbarad asked.
"The skinchangers must have spotted them early, we don't have much more time! Come, we have to join with the rest of the army!" Túrin ordered.
Dragonfire could melt through all but blackstone. The safest part in the city for them now was the outer walls and it was there that the Arnorian army would lead its counter attack.
With great haste, Túrin led his company to the walls but before they could reach them, a massive burst of fire came out of the sky, narrowly missing them.
The Arnorian army looked up to the sky and saw desolation.
Dozens of dragons began swooping down on the Arnorian army which proceeded to counter their assault.
With every burst of fire unleashed, the Arnorian water mages countered by summoning great spouts of water from the neighbouring sea. Windlances, scorpion and steelbows targeted the dragons as they came down to burn.
They saw some success, Túrin noted, espying a dragon crashing into the sea as he came to the top of the battlements.
Admiral Celosien was inside one of the towers overseeing the defense.
"Admiral, how goes the defense!?"
"Not good. The Valyrians took us by surprise. We had barely ten minutes notice from the scouts before they descended on the army. We lost thousands in the first wave alone. And there are fears that this is not even their full force."
"What do you mean?" Túrin asked.
"Look at the sky. The outriders spotted hundreds of dragons but there are barely a few dozen above us now. What we're facing now is naught but the advance force of Valyria."
"By Eru, and we're already having so much trouble?" Túrin thought to himself.
With bursts of flames hot enough to melt stone, the dragons began turning Outer Tyrosh into some twisted sculpture, melting stone like candles and setting off fires.
Men unfortunate enough to be targeted by the dragon's wroth were instantly vaporised by the sheer heat of the flames.
Túrin and his company were scanning the skies with steelbows, aiming carefully at any dragon that came within range.
"There!" Allard cried out, pointing at one dragon and its rider that had come close to the walls to burn the Arnorian regiments taking shelter. With a carefully aimed volley, they loosed their arrows, killing the rider and piercing the dragon's right eye. In a rage the dragon thrashed around, destroying several buildings before it crashed into the ground.
Their triumph was stolen from them however as cries of despair filled the air when the horn blasts alerted the Arnorians to the arrival of the remainder of the Valyrian dragons.
Unlike those that had come earlier, these dragons were the biggest and most powerful that Valyria had to offer and their arrival signalled their doom.
The Arnorians' fates were sealed when the full force of Valyria arrived. Their water magic could no longer protect their armies from the heat of the flames, the water instantly vaporising from the heat. Their windlances and steelbows were lucky enough to shoot down some dragons but there were simply too many to fight.
Túrin had been there when Admiral Celosien and many of his friends, including Allard and Halbarad had been killed. The commander had left the tower to oversee the defence and had been incinerated when a dragon breathed fire onto the battlements. By some luck Túrin had been spared yet he almost wished he had died with them.
By the time the battle had come to an end, almost all of the fifty thousand Arnorian soldiers that had been besieging Tyrosh were dead. They had taken fourteen dragons down with them but that fact gave Túrin little comfort.
What kind of Eru-forsaken ratio was fifty thousand to fourteen? Was his grandfather right after all? What was the purpose in sacrificing so much for so little gain?
As the sun rose on Tyrosh, the few remaining Arnorian soldiers surrendered to the Tyroshi army and the Valyrian dragons.
As they were led to their prisons, Túrin could only feel a sense of despair and guilt. They could slay dragons and fell them from the sky yet what was the use when it cost thousands to kill just one?
The dragons will come and turn all your work to ashes
His grandfather's prophecy rang in his ears. He had been right hadn't he? Only the day before, things had seemed so optimistic, the first level of Tyrosh had fallen and they were soon to take the rest of the city. Then within a single night, all of that triumph had been turned to ashes, leaving Túrin to wonder at the worthlessness of the sacrifices of all the men who had fought and died to take Tyrosh.
For what purpose had Allard and Halbarad, and all his other men died? Túrin did not even know if any of his other crewmembers had survived, for the harbour where the Arsarothod had been anchored had been burned with the Arnorian fleet moored there.
Yet even as part of him mourned the purposeless loss of his friends, his heart hardened with fury. He now knew why the Arnorian people had long held an ancient grudge against Valyria. He could not rest until his fallen brothers had been avenged.
It was only then that he noticed that he and the other prisoners were not being led to a prison but rather to a courtyard, one that he noticed had many dragons perched on the surviving buildings and in the streets surrounding the square.
"By Eru, do they intend to execute us?"
One of the dragonlords then began pronouncing their sentence, speaking in High Valyrian.
"All of you have been found guilty of assaulting the Freehold of Valyria and its colony of Tyrosh. This act of war is punishable only by death."
"We're prisoners of war! We surrendered!" Túrin shouted back in broken Valyrian.
The dragonlord ignored him. Just at it seemed all hope was lost, a familiar roar caught Turin's attention as he saw Terrax arrive in the courtyard.
The great dragon landed beside the dragonlord who had previously condemned all of them to die and its rider dismounted to speak to him.
Túrin felt hope stir in his heart when he saw Jaenara look at him with recognition in her eyes before she turned to speak to her fellow dragonlord.
Their discussion was too quiet to hear, even for those with the enhanced senses of the Númenóreans.
At the end of it, two guards came and dragged Túrin away from his prisoners, eliciting shouts of anger from his loyal fellow soldiers.
"What do you bastards want with him?" they demanded.
The dragonlord from earlier calmly replied, this time speaking in Sindarin so they could all understand him.
"Your prince is a valuable hostage and prisoner for the Freehold. Unfortunately for all of you, none of the rest of you can say the same. There's no use in wasting resources keeping the rest of you filth alive."
Túrin turned to Jaenara, feeling betrayed, seeing nothing but a remorseful and apologetic expression on her face.
"Dracarys," the dragonlord ordered, mercilessly and coldly, and all the dragons in the courtyard breathed their flames, executing all of the prisoners who remained, their screams of anguish forever haunting Túrin.
As he turned to the dragonlord that gave the order, he saw no remorse, no regret, not even an impassive expression, but a satisfied smirk. Túrin saw red and lunged for him, knowing he would die but not caring if he could kill this bastard.
He wasn't sure what happened but in the next moment, he felt his legs sweeping from underneath him and he was pinned to the ground with Jaenara's left hand on his neck and his right arm being held in a lock that threatened to break it if he resisted further
The dragonlord could only laugh at his pitiful attempt as Túrin attempted to escape Jaenara's stranglehold on him, struggling to escape as someone he had once called friend denied him his revenge.
"I'm sorry, I tried."
Jaenara's softly whispered words were ignored as Túrin continued to rage and spew insults at the man who had killed his friends and comrades.
In his wrath and feelings of betrayal, Túrin had never realised that Terrax had been the only dragon present that had not joined in burning his comrades.
Túrin had seen the fires, and though by some miracle they had not touched him physically, he had not escaped unscathed. He was uninjured but nevertheless he had been hurt. Túrin saw fire and burned.
Author's Note: Dragons have terrifying power. Something to note however is the percentage loss. Fifty thousand to fourteen sounds terrible until you realise that is 3.5 percent of the total dragon force of Valyria and only 2 percent of Arnor's army.
War is terrible, and wars of attrition doubly so.
Btw if it wasn't clear enough, this chapter was meant to be read alongside Ed Sheeran's I See Fire, the version of which that appears in the text had been altered slightly to fit the changed situation.