Chapter eight: The Whispering slaughter
Ser Jaime Lannister, lord commander of the Kingsguard, looked at the castle Riverrun for at least hundredth time this morning. It was still the same as ever: a small castle in the middle of the Red fork. He almost turned away to his soldiers, but something caught his eye. Something big, golden and flying.
Jaime shook his head. The thing was still there, but further. 'What is that?!' he thought. One of maesters, that were provided by his father suddenly rushed to the Kingslayer with a Myrish eye in his hand. "My lord! That thing is a giant golden dragon with some horses in its grasp!" the maester shouted. Jaime froze in sudden realisation.
"Give me the Myrish eye!" he commanded. The maester nodded and handed him the telescope. Jaime looked in the supposed direction of the golden dragon. And he froze again in shock. "My lord?" the maester asked. "The Starks had managed to smuggle the last Targaryen with three small dragons and I bet, that this isn't the first smuggling, that they managed via the golden dragon." the Kingslayer answered.
'Tyrion would be happy to see even a dragon's egg. I can only hope, that he managed to get past the Neck before the Starks declared war on us.' he hoped and went back to his tent. "Maester?" he called. "Yes, my lord?" the maester asked. "Prepare a raven for my father. He must know this." Jaime answered and gave him back the telescope.
A few minutes later, the Twins
Robb Stark smiled, when he saw ser Borch and his last passengers alongside three small dragons. His mother went to greet the last female Targaryen with all of her grace, that she could muster at the moment.
However, Aemon just took off his helmet and smiled. Geralt suddenly threw a head to him. "This was ser Jorah Mormont. He insulted house Stark with words, that I don't dare to say to you." Geralt announced. "He even attacked us for no reason so, it was in place to kill him." ser Borch explained without a trace of a lie.
Robb nodded and looked back at Aemon. "We still need to go through the Twins. And, the Lannister forces possibly saw you." his cousin stated. "We believe, that the Lannister forces near the Riverrun saw us. There could be a maester with a Myrish eye." Geralt answered and went to greet with his mare, Roach.
'If only we could get a prisoner to negotiate with Tywin...' Robb thought and suddenly, one guard walked to him with a small man. The man was unforgettable. "The Imp. I was expecting you to be in your dad's hands right now." Robb said. "Well, some good brothels slowed me down, lord Stark." the Imp answered and bowed.
After that, the Imp paled. Robb followed his gaze and saw Aemon in his armor with the black dragon on his left shoulder. "C-can I touch him?" Tyrion Lannister asked. Robb smirked before he turned back. "If you want… Just be careful. Drogon burned down several fish and rabbits on the way here." Aemon answered. The Imp laughed at the joke about Drogon's feeding and curiously touched the black 'n' red dragon. Surprisingly, Drogon let Tyrion to touch him again.
Geralt was talking nearby with some Bolton soldiers for no reason. They whispered something to the witcher and rushed away. That was strange to him. The 24 Dothraki warriors, that came with Daenerys were practising their skills with bows and arakhs. Robb only heard about the savage cavalry and it's skill with bows and arakhs, but he never saw them in real battle.
Suddenly, a whole army of Walder Frey rode up from the Twins with their own and Lannister sigils. His bannermen saw them and rushed to their positions with curses and angry stares. Robb felt betrayed. Aemon rode to him with Geralt. "Weasels. They chose their family ties over their liege lord." the witcher stated.
"Should we show the Targ sigil?" asked Greatjon. "No. We must have our moment of surprise." Aemon answered. Robb only nodded in agreement. "I hate, when I must be in battle. The last time, when I did that, the grateful queen Meve almost did from me a knight." Geralt muttered.
The Frey army was nervous. "WHO ARE YOU WAITING FOR? LORD TYWIN TO SAVE YOUR ASSES?!" Greatjon shouted at the enemy army. Robb couldn't resist his urge to smile anymore. Freys seemed to get closer to them. In a minute, they finally went into attacking rush.
"CAVALRY FORWARD!" Robb shouted and rode to greet with the traitors. He was soon after that followed by the Dothraki and Umber heavy cavalry. Before Robb even could kill his first enemy, the Dothraki fired two salvos of arrows. Geralt and now dead ser Jorah did a great job with increasing their effectiveness against knights and soldiers in heavy armor.
Suddenly, some Frey soldiers flew on their allies' swords and spears. He even didn't need to look behind, because only Geralt was able to do this feat. When Robb finally reached the Freys with the Dothraki and Greatjon's cavalry, Freys simply tossed their weapons away. "COWARDS!" shouted an elderly voice from the castle. It was lord Walder Frey or the "late Walder Frey," as his mother and some lords preferred to call him.
Some of the more bold Frey soldiers tried to attack Robb, but they found soon their demise from the Dothraki arakhs. This was the breaking point of the Frey army. Seeing the oldest sons of lord Walder beheaded by half-naked savages.
Robb was impressed. 'If 24 Dothraki can do this much damage, than how many could do a whole Khalasar?' he thought. Robb looked at his men. They were happy from victory, but at the same time sad, that they didn't get the chance of killing even one Frey soldier.
"Come out, traitor!" Robb commanded. Lord Walder looked directly at Robb. "FUCK YOU!" the old man shouted back without hesitation. Robb rolled his eyes. Walder Frey was really insane. "Should I scare him a bit?" Aemon asked. "Do it, if you want." ser Borch interrupted. Aemon nodded and went out from the crowd. After that, Walder Frey paled and went unconscious.
Geralt smiled, when he saw the coward of a lord getting pale and blacking out. He was also impressed from the work, that the Dothraki did after a bit of training. He, Robb and Aemon are the only men, that could become a Khal of the smallest, but most loyal Khalasar. The witcher wandered through his thoughts for another minute, when something caught his eye.
Roose Bolton and some of his "bodyguards" were leading five Frey soldiers to the forest nearby. Geralt watched them disappear in the forest and followed them after a minute. The White wolf was sneaking in bushes to avoid being noticed. Step by step, he got closer to his destination. A loud screaming of a tortured man helped him to find the group faster.
When he finally found them, his eyes saw the most brutal torturing scene of his life. Roose Bolton peeled skin from one of the Frey soldiers, while two of his men held him. The rest guarded the last four soon to be tortured men. Roose was skilled in peeling someone's skin, because no blood was spilled and human meat was exposed.
"What Tywin Lannister offered you to betray lord Tully?" the quiet Leech lord asked. "P-position of… AAARGH!... house Paramount!" his captive answered. "Hmm… I'd like to see house Bolton ruling over that overhonorable cunts, that are Starks." one of the men announced.
"Luton, can you shut up?! What if there is someone, who is listening? He'll get us all killed." the Leech lord countered. 'So, he haves one of his bastard's men here too? Interesting.' Geralt thought and slowly sneaked back to Robb's camp. He went straight into the main tent without saying a word to the guards.
"Geralt? What are you doing here?" Robb asked. "I found some disturbing news. Lord Bolton is skinning five men and asked, what did Tywin Lannister offer to them, in order to betray lord Tully." the witcher answered. This caught the young lord off guard. "And what did they say?" he tried to know. "A position of house Paramount. There was also one of Bastard's boys, who used the same words as ser Jorah about house Stark. He also mentioned, that at least Ramsay wants to see house Bolton as rulers in the North." Geralt announced.
"We must keep it as a secret for now. Only time will tell, when lord Bolton is betraying you." the witcher continued and went out from the tent. He had enough intrigues and spying for a whole month. Suddenly, a voice was heard behind him. Geralt turned and saw Tyrion talking with the last two Targaryens. It took the Imp a whole minute, before he noticed, that they were being watched.
"Ah! Master witcher! Can we play Gwen in four?" he asked. "No. Gwent is for two players only. If you want the dwarf variant of the game, you must have another set of cards, but not special and sharp eyes with mind." the White wolf answered and went to them. They talked for a while and even managed to play one full round of Gwent with each other, but when lord Bolton and his men came back from the forest, they went to their tents with a new experience in playing card games. Except for Geralt. He quite enjoyed their little tournament, but he played with smarter men, than Tyrion was and defeated them without any experience in playing the "faction" version of Gwent.
Meanwhile on Earth at a different time…
Ciri looked at the giant buildings made from glass, iron and concrete. That world was more futuristic, than she ever imagined, but it still had loads of nice plants and flowers. She already found out, that this world's life had survived at least dozen White Frosts. Avallac'h told her, that the next White Frost will begin soon in a world, that almost died out from the mere presence of it's humanoid incantations.
The white-haired girl looked at the spot, from which she came there. Ciri was feeling, that the magic is quickly disappearing from this world so, she came to the place, looked around for the last time and smoothly teleported to another world.
Back at Tor Gvalch'ca, a week after the battle at Twins
Avallac'h was angry. Geralt somehow survived all his attacks and no more monsters can be send to end the witcher. Pyat Pree had a useful skill in magic, but he lacked willpower in creating portals. But, the elven mage still had two plans of succeeding: repairing Naglfar amd sending Aen Elle to support the White walkers, or tricking Ciri into killing Geralt and get killed soon after him.
But, if he'll merge both plans, nothing could stop him from ruling the time and space. He'll be more successful, than the fool called Vitiate. If only the golden dragon won't step into his Koschey's way… Avallac'h groaned. He hates what-ifs. And now, one of possible backstabbers is destroyed.
Freys were incompetent fools. They thought, that it was clever to betray at the start of war. The Red priests are his last hope of killing Geralt, but Thoros of Myr respects him and spread the word to others. Only Melisandre believes, that Stannis Baratheon is the right man, who'll defeat the White walkers.
"I should send her a vision in flames about Geralt siding with the Night king. This would be fun to watch." the mage told to himself. 'Gods! I miss someone's company.' he thought and went into his special room with a magical veil, with which everyone can see everything, that is happening now.
The mage smiled and muttered the activating incantation. The veil shined for a second, but blackened again after that. 'Cirilla is teleporting now. I must stop her, before she finds Geralt!' Avallac'h thought and tried to end her teleportation by forcibly pulling her back to the world without magic. Nothing happened. He tried it again and again and again. "What the hell?!" he shouted, when the veil exploded.
Avallac'h stared at it with disbelief. His ultimate weapon broke down in the worst moment possible. It will take him weeks to fix it. But, he was sure of one thing: Cirilla will find Geralt in matter of days at best. Avallac'h cursed. His perfect plan is in ruins after 10 years of preparation.
1 hour of riding from castle Riverrun, Whispering forest
Aemon Targaryen looked at Kingslayer's camp from the nearest bushes, from which he could scout the camp without being noticed. Drogon and Ghost were "playing" nearby with Grey wind to kill some time and never made a sound. He was grateful for that. 'The camp holds 10 000 men at least. This would be a hard fight even with an element of surprise at our side.' he thought and went to report his scouting.
"What did you found?" Robb asked quietly. "The camp nearest to us haves 10 000 men in strength. There's also Kingslayer in the camp." Aemon answered. The gathered Northmen heard it and grinned. With the might of three dragons, two direwolves and 24 Dothraki as their allies, the fight will be almost slaughter for Kingslayer's forces.
Robb looked at Greatjon and nodded. The big Umber smiled and went to his men. The others gt the signal and prepared for the fight. Suddenly, one horn blew, than another and another. Aemon galloped to Robb's side and nodded. "ATTACK!" his cousin shouted and the big army with 2000 Frey soldiers, which agreed to help them with freeing the Riverlands.
The rest of the survivors were left behind to secure the Twins from possible attacks. But, he must not think about that thing, when fight is near. Gray wind and Ghost were running just a foot behind them and made no sound. After a second, they rode out from the forest and first arrows from Dothraki flew at the shocked soldiers.
Aemon smirked under his helmet and whistled. Drogon answered his call with a roar and flew to his location. Some Lannister bowmen grew cocky and fired at the black dragon, but Geralt blocked the arrows. "Dracarys." Aemon said simply and Drogon started with spitting fire at the bowmen.
"STARK!" someone shouted at Robb. "Kingslayer." he answered and jumped from his horse to fight with Tywin's oldest son. Aemon followed him just in case to test his skills with the cocky Kingsguard member. Drogon, Gray wind and Ghost followed them as a honor guard. Robb unsheathed his sword and rushed at ser Jaime.
Aemon stiffened a bit, when he saw a possible killing blow and jumped to stop the Kingslayer from finishing his cousin off. His sudden interruption caught both of the duellists off guard. "What?! Prince Rhaegar?! Is that really you?" the Kingslayer asked. "Yes, it's me. I came back from my grave to scare you to the rest of your days!" Aemon answered with his prepared answer.
But, Robb ruined it, when he started with laughing. "Hahahah! That is a good talk! You probably scared the shit from him!" Aemon sighed and whistled. Drogon landed on his shoulder with all of his dragon grace. "I could set you aflame for killing king Aerys, but I am not like him or Viserys. You're lucky, that Drogon is still small for not needing a human as a snack." the hidden Targaryen continued. Jaime started to slowly bend for his fallen sword, but Robb saw the try and kicked the sword away.
The Kingslayer was defeated for now. Everyone else, who survived from this part of Lannister army quickly yielded. Aemon turned and went to talk with the Dothraki. Some of them were wounded, but no one of them died. "Those 'lion' worshippers are the biggest cowards. And they even have their iron suits." Jhogo announced. The other Dothraki laughed at that words.
Suddenly, one of Karstark men rushed to him. "One cage is empty, my lord! They sent a raven to Tywin Lannister!" he shouted. 'Damn it!' he thought. "But, we have BOTH of his sons. So, he would be crazy to try anything to save them. If he tries that, I can imagine, that Daenerys will have at least Kingslayer burned." Aemon answered.
But, the fight wasn't over. They still had two Lannister army camps to destroy and save Riverrun. He smirked under his helmet and turned to talk with Geralt. The witcher smiled at him. Suddenly, his 'magic detector,' as Aemon preferred to call it started with turning like crazy. There was unknown usage of magic nearby. "Fuck. It does this only, when portal is nearby." Geralt muttered.
And just a second later, a pure white door-like thing showed up from nowhere. The witcher prepared his silver sword and readied himself to attack, but suddenly, he sheathed his sword back and smiled a bit. From the portal jumped out a girl with the same white hair as Geralt got. She hugged the surprised witcher without hesitation. "Can somebody tell me, what is happening here?" Aemon interrupted their meeting.
"Aemon, this is my adoptive daughter Cirilla." Geralt announced. "Dandelion sung a song about you a month earlier. And it ended with a horny man's talking about women curves and genitals." Aemon said to her. Cirilla suddenly radiated with anger. "Geralt was on mission so, the bard got time to do it." the last male Targ defended the witcher from being smacked. "I'll kill him." Geralt sighed and went away.
"You are looking like a Nilfgaardian soldier, but this isn't my world. I have never seen that big wolves and small dragons." Cirilla announced. "At least Drogon will grow." he answered and patted his dragon. "Is he still a hatchling?" she asked. "No. He is at least three months old. Oh… I must go to fight again." Aemon answered and rushed to the rest of Robb's army.
Author's notes: Hey guys! Another chapter is done! Sorry about the delay, but I got really hard homeworks to do and also played SW: KotOR a bit, y'know… normal things. See ya later!