Chapter 20; The pieces are moving

Characters of the chapter

Charles Vieux Captain of the Imperial Army of Orlais

Lyanna Mormont, Lady of Bear Island

Sansa Stark, Lady of Winterfell and the Eyrie, Wardeness of the North

Tormund "Giantsbane" A wildling chieftain

Cursive/Bold text is in Orlesian

Beyond the Wall a darskpawn surveyed a settlement from a distance. Around it were gathered the members of its warband. The settlement before them was a cluster of thatched barns belonging to the fur-clad humans that inhabited the inland in these parts. From the size of the place there were perhaps between a fifty and a hundred inhabitants. With more than a hundred and fifty darkspawn here, they outnumbered their prey comfortably. The settlement had no protective wall of any kind. A swift charge would bring the darkspawn right into the midst of those buildings. And the inhabitants of this place looked to be unaware of danger. Unless that changed soon they'd be caught completely unawares. But even without these advantages the darkspawn would make this assault. So the voice that commanded them told them to do. A voice similar to that of an Old God, but not quite the same. But even as it was somewhat different it triggered the same compulsion to serve in the darkspawn that heard it.

The alpha of the warband motioned them forward and they surged toward the village. As their running feet ate away the distance between them and the settlement, the inhabitants of this village finally began to become aware of what was happening. Some reacted to the darkspawn approach by running away. Others rushed to grab whatever weapons they could and prepared to face them. Still others reacted with confusion, having never seen creatures like this.

The darkspawn charge reached the edge of the village, breaking into smaller groups fighting amidst the buildings, swarming over the area like flowing water.

A man stumbled out from one of the doorways and swung at the darkspawn with a crude cleaver. The darkspawn blocked that blow and smashed the chest of the man with the mace it wielded. Close by another darkspawn was felled by an arrow fired from a window of one of the huts. A group of Hurlocks with bows fired back at once. Most of their arrows impacted the wood of the building and the frames of the window, but one found its way inside, resulting in a muffled gurgle coming from within the building. An emissary accompanying the warband set fire to the building, finishing the job.

The darkspawn moved on, seeing one of its fellows killed by a spear through the stomach. But in that moment the human was distracted. The darkspawn snuck up behind him and hit him on the head, hearing his skull crack with a satisfying crunch. A woman tried to run past, so it swung its mace again, breaking her leg and as she fell it pummeled her repeatedly, turning her into a pulp.

Active resistance collapsed in moments, and hunting down the villagers did not take terribly long either. A few managed to flee out of the village. The darkspawn did not bother to chase them, too busy with the ones still in their midst. Handful of prisoners were taken, the rest were slaughtered, the darkspawn showing no mercy to anyone. All the buildings in the settlement were set ablaze. Once this was done the darkspawn departed as quickly as they had arrived.

One more of the local settlements had been destroyed, its inhabitants destroyed or scattered. Just as the voice that commanded them had wished to be done. The voice wanted as much of these settlements destroyed as possible before they woke to the threat and started to band together with each other and the other humans that lived in the fortresses along the coast. That was the will of the Archdemons which this voice claimed to serve. Not that the reasons why this was happening mattered all that much. They were implanted with a compulsion and they obeyed it, delighting in the death and destruction they sowed around them as they did. And even without this compulsion some of their number might have found their way into these lands anyway, preying on the local peoples for no other reason than because they wished to.

What the darkspawn didn't know as they departed was that some of the ones that had survived lived to reach other villages in the area. They brought word of what had happened to their village, of monsters unlike any they had seen that attacked without provocation and slaughtered them without mercy. At first those stories were met with skepticism by most who heard them. But then more news began arriving. Tales of raids against other settlements, of unusual numbers of traders and hunters who mysteriously disappeared. Some of the Free Folk won skirmishes against smaller groups, bringing back further corroboration to the stories of the survivors. Little by little the Free Folk began to become aware of a new reality: There was an unfamiliar menace in their lands attacking them indiscriminately. Something foul was afoot. And seeing as how few there were of them now, even these attacks could result in an existential threat for them, particularly if it proved to be a prelude to something much more serious.

Like it had been during the dark days facing the Others, the Free Folk began to gather what strength they had to face this threat. The smartest among them did their best to set aside their differences and seek to band together for mutual protection.

The Orlesians meanwhile were reacting to reports brought by passing ships of the fortress of The Lady's Radiance having been destroyed by an unknown force. Search parties dispatched from two ships that had been sent to investigate had never returned, leading some to suspect that hostile forces might still be present. The news was received with no small amount of confusion. To destroy one of their fortresses before any warning of them being would require considerable power. The widlings would not have the strength for such an attack. The Twin Kingdoms were the only other power close enough to try would have been hard pressed to have the resources to spare and an army large enough to do this approaching by land or sea would have been spotted. Some suggested the Dragon Queen might have flown in with her beast and burned the fortress. But even this scenario was met with skepticism. Why would she violate a peace treaty she had just managed to gain when she still had other active enemies to fight?

While a larger expedition to retake The Lady's Radiance was being prepared, a single company of Imperial soldiers were sent to investigate, their mission to verify the presence and nature of the enemy as well as gauge their numbers. It was how an Orlesian Captain by the name of Charles Vieux found himself wading through deep snow with his troops, navigating a maze of jagged black rock. The ship that had brought them had dropped anchor near a gentler stretch of coast some distance back. This was as close as they could bring them without docking at the fortress itself, which neither the ship crew nor Vieux wanted to do. It was too risky, and considering their mission today there were benefits to not having the ship be seen and alert potential foes of their presence. Their task was to observe, assess the situation and report back so the higher ups would have a better picture with which to make their plans. That would be much easier to do if they did not need to fight today.

Several hours passed uneventfully, their company slogging towards the fortress. They were surely close to the fortress now, and Vieux thought about scaling the rocks with a few others to see if their destination was within visual range yet. But then he thought he spied movement amongst the rocks. He was about to call for a halt, but then a hurlock burst out of the snow, cutting down two soldiers before anyone could react. And then in an instant the darkspawn were on them, erupting from the snow or swarming from the rocks above, jumping into their midst.

"Ambush! Defend yourselves!" He shouted, drawing his sword. His soldiers followed suite, though many were slain before they even could. They tried to close their ranks into a defensive circle, but the creatures already among them were making this difficult.

Vieux slashed open the throat of one darkspawn, then turned aside the thrust of another before cutting it down as well. He worked with one of his soldiers to take down a third before the said soldier got knocked to the ground and gorged to death by a genlock attacking from behind them. He turned quickly and sank his blade into the creature's exposed back, then withdrew into a tighter cluster with a group of other soldiers.

This was bad. Of the hundred or so soldiers he had with him nearly a third had been slain in the opening moments. Now half of them lay unmoving on the ground. What was left of them were badly outnumbered and surrounded, unable to do anything except hold their ground and fight for their lives. Had they had anywhere to go many of his troops might have routed already. The only advantage they had for the moment was that they had managed to get themselves into formation and kill the spawn inside their perimeter. But he had a nagging suspicion that would not be enough to save them. On the rocks above darkspawn with bows had appeared, firing into the melee, causing more losses for his side. In the chaos the creatures occasionally hit their own by accident, but as ever the darkspawn cared nothing for their casualties. Without archers of his own he had no way to counter that threat.

Then, to the thumping of heavy footsteps an ogre came into view, making Vieux spit out a curse. The creature pulled off a large stone from one of the surrounding rocks and threw it at the Orlesians. It crushed three more of his soldiers and made a hole in their perimeter, through which the darkspawn began to swarm immediately, breaking their formation anew. He saw the ogre charge straight at him and braced himself for an attempt to fight it off, thinking his end might soon be upon him. But just before the creature reached him a big fur-clad warrior with a red beard charged onwards up above and jumped onto its back. The ogre roared, its hands rising, trying to grab the fighter dangling from its horns. But before it could get a grip a sword was pushed through the back of it head, and the ogre fell face first to the ground with a loud thump. Vieux could barely believe what he had witnessed. What this warrior had just done was as crazy as it was efficacious. And where on earth had he come from all of a sudden?

More fur-clad warriors appeared after the first one, some attacking the darkspawn with swords and spears, others bringing bows and slings, clearing the rocks from darkspawn archers in a matter of moments. With this unexpected help the tide began to turn, and soon enough the last of the creatures had been cut down, none of the darkspawn retreating. But now that the monsters were all dead the two groups eyed each other warily, not quite sure what to make of each other yet.

"My name is Chalrles Vieux. Who might you be?" Vieux said, taking a step closer to the red bearded warrior from earlier who looked to be in charge and sheathing his sword. The warrior did likewise, as did the others in their respective groups, the tension dissipating.

"Tormund." The warrior said simply.

"Well met, and thank you for your assistance. Without a doubt you saved our lives. I do hope this means you are not here to fight us as well."

"Hah. No worries there. Not sure there would even be any of you metalfaces here. Not after we saw what had been done to your castle. Were here for these fucking creatures. Figured we'd hunt a few down, make them pay for attacking us and make them think twice next time. Managed to track these ones here before we ran into you lot." Tormund said.

"I see. If your intention was to intimidate the darkspawn then I fear it's a wasted effort. They are mindless creatures, and they thrive on death and destruction. Even when its theirs. No amount of slaughter scares them off and they will only retreat to regroup. They will keep coming until you, or they, are dead." Vieux said.

Tormund's expression darkened somewhat. "That sort then? Hmm. Faced things like that before. Didn't think more like that after the Walkers. But I told you why were here. What are you skulking about for?"

"Doing some scouting in preparation for a larger assault. We wanted to find out what we were up against. Darkspawn were perhaps the last thing we were expecting to find. By all the signs there are an awful lot of them here. This is not good. My people still need to get an estimate of how many darkspawn are still here at this fortress, but as soon as that's done I intend to return home and have this reported. You should not linger overlong either. You triumphed against some today, but there are doubtless others." Vieux said.

"When we return here with a larger force, you'd be welcome to join us. You and yours seem an able sort and more blades can always be put to good use. You can take proper vengeance on the darkspawn then. Of course it shall be your choice whether you want to take part in the battle. But since these darkspawn are enemy to both our peoples it makes sense for us to work together to destroy them." Vieux then offered.

"Strength in numbers you say? Hmm… we'll think about it. No promises though. If we decide to fight with you we'll find you when the time comes." Tormund said.

"Oh, one more thing." Vieux said as the other man was about to turn away. "Since you helped us I'm obligated to give you a warning. These creatures, they carry a disease, each one of them, one that can infect those that fight them. It comes from their blood. Saw a handful of cases when I was still stationed back home. It brings a high fever, black marks on the skin and a sensitivity to light. Some may also speak of a song being sung to them that no one else can hear. If in a few hours or days' time some of your people fall sick with those symptoms, they'll have caught it. There is no cure for the disease and in time it kills those sickened by it, or worse. And it's contagious from person to person. You might have no choice than to put down those afflicted to keep the disease from spreading."

"You're telling us to kill those of us that fall sick? Seriously now?" Tormund asked.

"A grim thing to do, but unless it is done the sickness can kill as many of your people as the darkspawn themselves. The peoples of Thedas have learned that the hard way.

Reluctantly Tormund nodded his understanding. "Let's… hope it doesn't come to that."

"Let's. But if it does at least you know now what needs to be done. I do hope you join our effort despite the risks, so we can smother this thing before it grows out of control." Vieux said.

With that the two groups went their separate ways. Made more knowledgeable of this foe through the information provided by the Orlesians, the Free Folk decided they had had enough fighting for one day, and returned the way they had come. Furthermore the proposal made by the Imperials needed to be discussed amongst the other leaders of the Free Folk. The Orlesians remained in the area some time longer, carrying out their task. They determined that the darkspawn numbered some thousands. Fewer than they estimated would have been necessary to take this fortress in the first place, which meant the main body of the darkspawn force must have moved on. Regional forces might be sufficient to retake the fortress, provided enough were brought to bear before the darkspawn managed to strengthen their positions. Those might be supplemented with the elements of the Grand Army on their way back to Orlais. Technically so doing would still be in compliance with the peace treaty they had with the Twin Kingdoms, since the territories of the Corridor were part of the Orlesian Empire, though their adversaries in Westeros might not see it the same way. Ultimately it would be up to his superiors and the Emperor whether or not those returning troops were used, but if it was up to him he would risk angering the Twin Kingdoms if it meant more troops against the darkspawn.

Now that it was known that their enemies were darkspawn, it would also be necessary to call on the Grey Wardens. Their expertise in fighting these monsters would be sorely needed and their involvement would doubtless save many lives. He made a mental note to recommend sending the Wardens messages as soon as he got back to base. He hoped they would make it here before the assault against this fortress would have to take place.

Little did he know that they had the Grey Wardens were already aware of the presence of their enemy and were on their way…

At Winterfell Sansa was in her office, reading through letters that had arrived just recently, until Lyanna found her.

"Ah, Lady Mormont. How fares ser Caleb?" Sansa greeted her.

"Recovered, thanks to the mage that was sent for him." Lyanna replied curtly. "But that is not my why I have sought you out."

She did not show it, but inside Sansa smiled. Lyanna was still as blunt as she had been when they had first met her to enlist her help against the Boltons. It was good to see her personality had not changed overmuch from battling the Qunari in her home. Amidst all this chaos one needed whatever constants there were to be had.

"Then what seems to be the issue? You seem rather… disapproving of something." Sansa said.

"You could say that. You see, I have conversed with the people here. When the Qunari first invaded my island I sent out warnings, asking for help. Until recently I thought those messages never reached here, that only thanks to Brandon Stark did the King come for us. But now I've learned that is not entirely the case. Those messages did arrive here. But because the King had already left with his army you were the one to receive them. And you… you didn't forward that information to the King until much later, when he returned here." Lyanna said, her voice cold.

Sansa stiffened, sighed heavily and lowered the letter in her hands to the table. "So they told you. Part of me hoped that they would not. There is no sense in denying it. That is what I did. It's not something I'm proud of having done, but I stand by the decision I made."

"Why? Why did you do that?" Lyanna demanded. Sansa's eyes briefly stopped at the dagger on the other woman's belt. Not that she thought Lyanna would actually bare steel in her presence, but even so the presence of a weapon in a tense situation did make her feel a little more uneasy.

"At that time we were fighting not one war, but two. Both our enemies were strong, terrifyingly strong. Our own numbers, our resources… only so many. We could not fight a war on two fronts, so we needed to pick one and worry about the rest later. And unfortunately the Orlesians were the more immediate problem." Sansa explained.

"And you took it upon yourself to make that choice yourself. A decision that rightly belonged to our King?" Lyanna said.

"Jon's decisions come from the heart. Always have, always will. It's a good thing, a precious thing. We are lucky to have a King with such quality. But it means that sometimes others have to make cold-hearted, rational decisions for him. That day it felt like I had to be the bitch to do that. Telling Jon might would have divided his attention at a time we needed to concentrate our efforts to achieve a meaningful resolution. He would have felt compelled to try and aid you, even if it would be a bad strategic move. At the very least his concern over a second front would have reduced his efficiency to deal with the first one."

"And have you any notion how much that *rational decision* cost my people? Because we didn't get the help we needed when we asked for it?" Lyanna accused.

"Not in terms of numbers. But I know there was a cost to that decision. And I am saddened by those that have been lost. The Qunari slew them, but without a doubt at least a part of the blame is mine." Sansa said, keeping her voice calm. "But I also know that there would have been a cost had I chosen to act otherwise. In times like this, sometimes we are forced to choose the lesser of two evils. A cold comfort to you I know, seeing what it caused. But I did what I thought was necessary. And I hope that one day you can forgive me for thinking I needed to do what I did."

"Forgive you? That is not something I think I can do. Not for a long time to come. No more than you could restore my dead to life. But I get that this was a wartime decision. I've done a few of those myself. I know those can get ugly. And at least you owned up to the choice you made. There are things going on that require us to cooperate, so I'll try to put this out of my mind. But never again, you hear me?" Lyanna said.

"Then let's hope that decisions like that won't be necessary." Sansa replied.

"While you're here though, there have been new commands to you from the King. They just arrived." She said then, handing Lyanna the letter she had just been reading. Lyanna's eyes scanned the words on the letter.

"Well… looks like it's time for me to return to work." Lyanna said once she was done reading.

"Me and Caleb will be leaving as soon as we're able, take command of this army the King mentions. Do you have any local guardsmen to send with us when we go?" She continued, switching to a businesslike tone. Internal difficulties ought to be set aside when the demands of the ongoing conflict came calling.

"Not many. But I will see what I can do if that's what you want." Sansa said.

"Good. Everything helps. From what was in the letter this sounds like an important battle that needs to be won. Could even prove to be decisive, if not for the whole war then at least for the fighting before the coming of winter." Lyanna said.

She was almost at the door when she stopped and turned back. "Do take good care of my people while I'm gone. It might do something to start mending my opinion of you. At the moment it seems you have quite a bit to do in that regard."

After Lyanna was gone, Sansa left her office a short time later as well, to go ask about these troops Lady Mormont had asked about.

A part of her hated that she could not go with her. Hated that she had to just sit at Winterfell, listen for news and hope for the best. Yet another part of her knew better. She was no warrior. During the siege of Winterfell she had killed a man, but that did not make her a soldier. Even if she chose to train herself she would likely be abysmal at it. And the only strategies she knew were the ones for the political field.

Perhaps she could have been there to help treat wounded like during the siege, but the rational part of her knew that was not the most productive use of her time. She had important things to do here. Her guidance was what kept the North Kingdom running through all of this. No one would ever sing songs for administrative feats, but at times they were more important than the battles being fought. Without her contributions there would be no war, only defeat and death.

As she walked she also promised herself to care for Lady Mormonts people like she had been asked. She may have the inner strength to do the ugly but necessary choices others were unwilling to, but she was not heartless. When and where she could she would make amends for the lesser evils she was forced to commit.