AN: Sorry for the delay, a combination of family stuff and bad Wifi is to blame.

Hope you all enjoyed the last chapter, now let the story continue.

MOAT CAILIN

JON SNOW

Jon felt his consciousness slowly return to him, though it was a struggle to hold onto it for more than a few fleeting seconds. When he did finally manage to awaken, he attempted to get up, only to be pushed back onto the bed.

"Easy there Jon Snow. No one wants you to strain yourself." A quiet voice said from above him.

Jon opened his eyes, and was greeted by a sight he had not expected.

"Lord Bolton?" Jon got out, before losing any ability to move.

"Don't worry Jon, you are perfectly safe." A second voice said from behind Roose Bolton.

Jon managed to turn his eyes and saw the familiar short figure that made up the Lord of the Neck.

"Lord Howland." Jon greeted the man in a whisper..

"Well then, I shall take my leave. I trust you to inform him of everything.." Roose Bolton said to Howland, before turning back to Jon. "I will inform the Maester that you are awake. For now, rest up. We can hardly have the hero of the North hurting himself so soon after he saved us all." He reached into his coat, and pulled out a deck. "The High Sparrow's. Feel free to take anything you want from it."

With that, he walked out of the room. Jon and Howland were now alone, save for a spider in the corner Jon noticed.

Howland eyed the man until he left, letting his shoulders relax once he was out of sight. He then walked over and sat by Jon's side. "How are you feeling?" He asked.

"Like...My body is a statue, and I can hardly move it." Jon answered after a few moments.

"Yes well, I would expect that after what the others described. Apologies, but I only got here this morning. Now it's about an hour before dinner. I was busy harassing the Faith Militants who tried to regroup the force under them." The lord explained.

Hearing about the Faith Militant reminded Jon about what was going on. "The army stopped them?" He asked.

Howland laughed. "No, the army got there too late. The honor of defeating them goes to you and you alone."

Jon's mind was flooded with memories from the duel. Both Goryus, Judgement Dragon, and finally being able to summon Slifer for the first time.

"I only dueled once. Did they not retaliate?" Jon asked, still a bit shaky on the final few moments before he lost consciousness.

"They tried, but Slifer was still on the field. It protected you. Took out all the ones charging and a few of the slower runners. At least, according to Lord Bolton." Howland explained.

"Lord Bolton was not there." Jon pointed out.

"He spotted the battle when Judgement Dragon was summoned. He was in the Barrowlands discussing his son's possible betrothal opportunities with Lady Dustin. They received the raven I sent and he led the Dustin and Bolton forces to Moat Cailin. Other lords arrived over time, but he and a few other more minor lords were the only one who caught the end of the duel. He saw you summon Slifer and defeat the Sparrows, saw Ygritte trying to keep you awake, and ordered you be looked after." Howland said.

A thought then occurred to Jon. "How long have I been asleep?"

"Three days." Howland explained. "I have to ask, have you ever summoned Slifer before?"

"No. It requires three sacrifices, I never had the chance to." Jon answered.

"Well, I would caution you against using it freely. By the looks of it, you summoning it is what made you pass out. There is still much we do not know about the cards." Howland advised Jon.

"Fair enough." Jon admitted. "What about the others? You mentioned Ygritte."

"Ah yes. The scouts are all fine. As for the Wildings, Dryn is being put to work by some of the men, otherwise he is usually in here. Roose was a bit against them being so close to you, but the other lords pointed out that they are loyal to have stayed by you when it looked like you would die." Howland began to laugh. "Ygritte is somewhere. You should have seen it Jon. One of the soldiers under Roose said something about her not wearing a dress, and she took him out in three turns. Roose actually told the man that it was his own fault for antagonizing her, and apologized to her on his behalf."

"Yeah that sounds about right." Jon said with a bit of a chuckle of his own. "So what now?"

"Now, we are going to stay here until you heal, then I am going to head to Winterfell with you. Lord Bolton and his men will hold the Moat for a few more days, just to make sure the surviving Sparrows, few as they are, have truly flown South. Your father will either meet us on the road or at Winterfell, now that he is done cleaning up White Harbor."

Jon looked at him confused. "What happened in White Harbor?"

Howland looked amused. "Oh right, well it turns out you were not the only ones facing the Sparrows."

WHITE HARBOR

A FEW DAYS AGO

NED

N: 2200 S: 1350

"Now, I equip my Silver Fang with Beast Fang, raising his attack to 1500. And he attacks you directly!" Ned announced as his silver/green wolf jumped at the Septon's throat, tearing it out and making a corpse in mere seconds.

N: VICTOR S: DEFEAT

As Silver Fang faded, Ned walked over the Septon's corpse to the ladies who had been tied up and gagged.

"Don't worry. You're safe now." He said to them.

He began untying them, starting with the mother.

"Your father and uncle are right outside." Ned said, watching the two children rush out to see them, followed by their mother.

It had taken Ned and the Manderly men two days of waiting to receive a message from the Sparrows. They believed Ned was dead, as he had planned, but were upset over the capture of his killer. But soon enough, they had been brought here to an abandoned store whose owner had been one of their first victims. The building had large walls and a back room to act as a large vault. Perfect for keeping hostages.

Once they had been able to enter, Wendel surprised the first guard while Wylis and Ned split up to search the building.

Ned had found a Septon standing guard, revealed himself, and started a duel. The rest was history.

Ned saw the tearful reunion of the Mermen family, his mind flashing to replace Wylla with Arya, and Wynafryd with Sansa, though she was a bit too old.

Ned really needed to return to Winterfell. He had been away far too long.

Soon, the group was on their way back to White Castle.

Once Lord Manderly saw his daughter by law and grandchildren were safe, he and Ned retired to his solar. They were alone save for a spider in the corner. Ned saw the pained look on his bannerman's face.

"Lord Stark. I have no right to ask for forgiveness. We broke the oath. We betrayed you. We betrayed the North. Nothing we can do can fix this." Wyman Manderly said, unable to look Ned in the face.

Ned walked up to the larger man and put his hand on his shoulder.

"Wendel told me the moment we got off the ship. I knew the trap walking into it and was prepared." Ned said.

The Merman lord looked at him in shock. "We both know it is not true."

"You said nothing you can do can fix this. Well, as the wronged party, I say there is something that can count as compensation. And that is for what I just said to be the truth. I know what it is like, to be forced to choose between honor and family." Ned said.

"Ah yes. Well in that case, should young Jon ever search for a bride, well he is about an age with Wylla, or Wynafryd if he desires." Lord Manderley said, seeing which specific family member Ned had previously weighed against his honor.

Ned bit back a laugh. To most people, Wyman's offer was beyond generous. Should Wylis fail to sire a son, which was getting more and more likely by the moon, then Jon would essentially be made Lord of White Harbor by marrying one of the Manderley girls. A better match than any normal Bastard could ever hope to achieve.

"Perhaps, if that is Jon's wish. For now though, let that be the end of it. Tell your family, but afterwards speak no more of it. Let the North stand united, as it is meant to be."

THE NEXT DAY

After resting after such a harrowing experience, Ned was preparing to leave White Castle and see to acquire the horses and supplies needed to get him and his men back to Winterfell, when he was greeted by Wylis Manderly running up to him.

"My Lord, we just received a raven from Greywater Watch. More Sparrows are heading North up the Kingsroad! They likely took Moat Cailin by now."

Ned cursed under his breath. "Gather the men, we must ride to raise the banners immediately. Send word back to Howland and have him do whatever he can to harass them from behind."

Ned ran out to prepare his men. Would he ever get a chance to calm down?

Ned briefly thought of Jon, who was likely on his way back to Winterfell from Greywater Watch.

'Please be safe Jon.' Ned prayed silently.

In a mere few hours, the Northern forces from the Dornish War were riding out again, this time to protect their home and kingdom.

KINGSROAD-BETWEEN THE NECK AND TWINS

TYENE

Tyene had managed to snag a horse and run away from Moat Cailin as soon as she saw the High Sparrow get incinerated.

Originally, the plan had been simple. Roughly five thousand Faith Militants had gathered at the Twins and the surrounding land. From there, they would depart in groups of a few hundred at a time to march North. They had hoped that going in smaller groups would allow them to traverse the Neck quicker than leaving all at once. And it had worked to some extent.

The Crannogmen had been a problem, with their hidden traps and surprise attacks causing panic and pushing people into the bogs, never to be seen again.

Tyene's group had successfully made it out, and waited with the groups ahead to see how many had survived.

Luckily, most of the horses had somehow made it out, and they decided to double up on them in order to escape quicker.

Roughly half their force, about twenty five hundred militants, had made it out of the Neck and were in the north. They had traveled up the Kingsroad, only to see the advanced force, led by the High Sparrow himself, had stopped at Moat Cailin.

There, one of the others had explained to her that the High Sparrow was about to win against Ned Stark's Bastard.

And then that...Thing was called to the field.

Tyene had to fight against her body's base instinct to flee and hide like a mere animal. And even then she just barely held out. But when it attacked, killing the High Sparrow, and then killing everyone else, she gave into her fear and fled as fast as she could. A handful of smarter members joined her, but they lost sight of each other in the bogs of the Neck.

'The Faith Militant is done for. Half of our numbers wiped out in one duel, and the other half is without a leader. Should I head back to the Twins and warn them of what happened? Perhaps I could convince them to...No, sending them to Dorne would do nothing but restart a war we are unprepared for. Most of them will likely believe that they must go North to avenge the High Sparrow. The few I could convince anyway would be too small to make much of a difference by themselves.' Tyene thought, trying to figure out what to do.

She eventually saw a group on the Kingsroad. 'Those must be the back half of the forces who had yet to cross.' She thought to herself. She kicked her horse to hurry up and approached her temporary allies.

However, as she got closer, she realized the group was strange. They were all on horses like her, but the Faith had been traveling with a mix of foot and horse. Also, they all wore armor. They could be just Warrior's Sons, but to go without any Poor Fellows, especially since they outnumbered the Warrior's Sons, made no sense.

She soon had her answer as she slowed down a few feet from a tree with a spider web on it.

"In the name of King Robert and House Tully, surrender! We have already retaken the Twins! Surrender and you may live." One voice called out as the group began to circle her. Their horses were less exhausted and they managed to surround her before she could escape.

"We got another one Edmure." One of them, whose armor was decorated with the colors of House Blackwood said.

"Not just any Sparrow." The leader of this group said. "I recognise her from when Father tried to have me get Arriane Martell's hand last year. This is Tyene Sand, daughter of Oberyn Martell."

SUNSPEAR

GEROLD DAYNE

"Thank you Maester, but I assure you, my arm is as good as the old one." Gerold said with a kind smile as he left the Maester's rooms.

As the temporary head of House Dayne, until young Edric reached manhood, Gerold was one of the most important lords in Dorne. As such, he had been invited to Sunspear to help young Trystane rule. Doran and the young prince would be arriving soon, but Doran would be expected to leave for the Wall in a year's time.

Until then, Gerold, Lord Anders Yronwood, and Trebor Jordayne would be forming a small council to govern and aid in rebuilding Dorne.

The war may have pushed Dorne to the edge, but personally it had done wonders for Gerold's standing. He had lost an arm trying to defend Prince Quentyn from the Ironborn. Thankfully, he had enough cards to regain Life Points that an entirely new arm sprouted out of his stump. It felt just as good as the old one. Also, the burning of Starfall meant his seat of High Hermitage gained control of all the surrounding lands. Once Dorne was back to normal, Gerold would see a great increase in tax revenue.

Shaking himself out of his musings for the time being, Gerold returned to the rooms House Martell had provided him. He had work to do.

Once inside, he locked the door. He grabbed the sleeve of his other arm and pulled it back. On his arm, a purple tattoo of a spider began to slowly appear. This tattoo, a Dark Mark, was the key to his conquest.

'Varys calls himself the Spider, but I rule over all of them.' Darkstar thought with a grin.

He remembered briefly how he had gained this power. He had burned himself accidentally on the same day the cards appeared. He thought nothing of it besides how strange the shape was. Then came the dreams, and he learned just what power had been gifted to him.

Unfortunately, his true self was much less productive than his public persona. In fact, he had actually had to deal with a string of failures recently.

Not to say that he was completely incompetent. He had learned of Oberyn's plans to kill the Mountain. The night before he left for the Westerlands, Darkstar was at Sunspear for some other business and actually managed to get drunk with Oberyn. Then it was just a matter of turning the conversation to Elia, always a simple task since Oberyn loved his sister. Darkstar brought up that she was literally given to a man with a bunch of dogs for a sigil. He then made a comment that so long as Tywin lived, he could just get a new pup to replace the dead Clegane. More wine and talk like that and he saw that he had manipulated Oberyn into changing his target. One look at the glowing tattoo, and Oberyn forgot he had a drinking companion, and thought going after Tywin was the plan all along.

From there, it went how he figured it would go. Sure there were a few things like War Mode that had been surprising- for reasons different than it being a surprise to everyone- but that just opened Starfall up for the taking. From there, he managed to convince an Ironborn noble he had befriended a few years ago over drinks that he could help them make a name for themselves. Quentyn had to die of course, the man had seen Darkstar's true colors. And Archie was back out of his control, but luckily his memory was so messed up he did not know the truth.

Darkstar then reminded himself to keep an eye on the Ironborn as a whole. He felt a sensation from his tattoo warning him that they were not to be messed with. At least just yet. They had their own plans. And he felt a chill run down his arm when he thought about messing with them any more than necessary.

Darkstar had then learned about the gathering of the royal army at Sand Hill. One little conversation with his partner, and they managed to get the order to attack sent. Now House Martell was weaker than it had ever been in the last century.

But that was where his luck began to run out.

Darkstar was no idiot. He could not do everything by himself. But finding more allies was proving to be difficult, even with his powers. He had one ally, who was more mysterious than Darkstar would have prefered. He knew they were a man, and where he was, as it was through him that the Breaking of Sunspear was possible, but he kept his identity hidden from him for now, saying he would reveal himself when their ranks had grown from just the two of them. Darkstar had been on the lookout ever since.

In terms of possible allies, he had a few lined up, but some were proven to be better pawns or complete failures.

First, there was Viserys Targeryean. He felt the man's mind weaken as his despair grew. But when he witnessed his duel against the two assassins, something pushed his influence away before he could offer Viserys the power to win. Since then he was unable to spy on the exiled prince. Almost as though he was blind to him. He briefly thought about going after Princess Danaerys instead, but her mind had no cracks to slip through. She was too sheltered. She had not had enough stress or loss recent enough for him to exploit. So House Targeryean was out.

He then considered recruiting a disgraced Priestess from Ashai who had fled from some trouble in Volantis. It was easy enough to speak to her through the flames, turning them purple like the spider on his arm, but she was TOO pliant. She obeyed well enough, but Darkstar doubted she could lead like he could. Having served her purpose on Dragonstone, he had commanded her to go into hiding with her allies until the time was right.

There were some others that had potential, and so he kept them in the back of his mind. Edmure Tully held little respect in the Riverlands. It could be simple enough to corrupt him. There was Willas Tyrell. He was politically weakened for his inaction in the War, and saddened by his friend's death. Paxter Redwyne was an emotional mess who might make a good pawn as well.

Darkstar had also hoped that the Sparrows may cause enough chaos in the North to allow him to turn at least one of the Northerners, but whatever happened at Moat Cailin put an end to it. Looks like he had to trust that his partner could get that squire he mentioned as a possible ally to turn, though from what he had heard, the boy was more likely a tool than a player.

But for now, there was one possible ally who was ripe for the picking. He only needed to wait for him to come by. He should be arriving in Dorne any day. Assuming the Old Lion kept his word to the king.

Deciding it was time to look around, Darkstar's tattoo glowed as he used his power. His sight shifted from his rooms in Sunspear to a tree in the northern Riverlands.

He crawled over the web, and there he saw a familiar face.

'Tyene Sand. Interesting to see you so far north. Will you prove to be a possible pawn as well?' He thought as he watched the Sand Snake from inside the spider in the tree. Upon seeing her become surrounded, he shifted his sights onto others. He took as great an interest in the room of the one who defeated the Sparrows as he did in White Harbor a few days ago.

After watching them for a while, he changed his view. He saw through the eyes of one spider, which was witnessing Melisandre and two others worship a fire, hoping for him to speak through as he had before.

'Ah, so that is where you have gone. That reminds me…' Gerold thought upon seeing where they were. He then turned his sights on the one charged with hunting her. Some small landed knight who used to be a smuggler. Daven, he thought the name was.

'Luckily, even on a ship there were plenty of spiders to look through.' He thought as he listened to one of the crew talk with Daven about where they were headed.

Gerold frowned. They were actually getting close to Melisandre, and while she was only a small part in the grand scheme, she still had her use.

'I really hate doing this, but it appears to be necessary.' Gerold thought as he took out his deck and pulled out Giant Trunade, Heavy Storm and Mystical Space Typhoon. He concentrated on his tattoo. It glowed with power, and then faded away. No sign his arm had ever had a mark on it.

In truth, he hated using it in such ways. Sure, it was perhaps the strongest ability given to him, but he could only use it sparingly. He guessed based on past uses that his tattoo would take half a moon to reappear, such was the amount of power required to bring those cards to life outside of War Mode. But it was necessary. Now his tools were safe for the time being.

Yes, he just had to wait. And then everything would be his.

AN: Another chapter done, and more is revealed.

Dark Signer Gerold Dayne has played a large part in the Dornish War, both gaining power for himself and destabilizing the region. But he is not alone. Who is this partner he mentioned, and who else will fall and join them as Dark Signers?

Melisandre is also revealed to be a pawn, mistaking his corrupting influence for R'hllor.

With that revelation out of the way, Jon wakes up and is being hailed as a hero, Ned saves the Manderly women and then rushes to defeat an already defeated army, and Tyene is captured for her membership in the Sparrows.

Next chapter will have a bit of a timeskip. Not long, just enough for Jon to get back to Winterfell and news of the Sparrows defeat to reach King's Landing.