From Extinction to Glory
Disclaimer: Characters belong to their rightful owners. Not taking ownership of nothing.
Chapter 8:
The sounds of people lingered the air. The sun was ethereal as it shone on the jousting arena and spread the everlasting warmness into not on only the nobles but among the peasants as well. Those who were wearing heavy and clambering armor, it was a different tale. The jousting was the main event and the main attraction for everyone around King's Landing. It provided the everlasting tradition of knighthood and its delicacy in the arts of flaunting.
However, there were rogue knights that didn't seem to care for human life. More specific, other knights that were in the way to their winnings of forty thousand gold dragons. As Ser Hugh of the Vale learned. He laid on the dusty dirt grasping for air as his neck gushed spoils of blood. Ser Gregor Clegane watched in satisfaction as the recent knighted Ser Hugh was hopelessly grasping to life. Hugh's carotid artery had been pierced with such ferocity it hadn't taken long for the young knight with the aspiring hopes to leave the world.
"Do these 'accidents' occur frequently? I believed to have heard that these knights were honorable." Percy looked on from the hastily crafted viewing area for the rich nobles.
"The Mountain as they call him isn't too honorable at all in its definition. Quite the contrary, he seems to exhibit no morals at all. But the Kingdom rewards the most skilled warriors. Why kill such a cutthroat warrior when his services can be used to instill fear on the Kingdom's enemies. A rather sound logic wouldn't you think?" Lord Baelish responded to Percy's question as he noticed the unknown lord sitting behind him.
"I was asking the question more to myself than anyone else. But thank you kindly." Percy responded as a few men even the King Robert Baratheon himself stood up in astonishment to the knight's death.
Littlefinger picked up on Percy's foreign accent as did everyone else surrounding him but decided to pay no mind. Travelers from the Free Cities wasn't too uncommon. However, Lord Baelish could almost sense with his keen intellectual vulture like eyes that there was a more pressing and underlying objective to the unknown lord.
"While of course. Anything to accommodate any future clients of mine." Littlefinger knew that those that travelled from the Free Cities had well established wealth. More money to be made in his exquisite brothels.
The Stark sisters were sitting with Septa Mordane as they were also accompanied by Lord Baelish. Sansa Stark overcoming her shock of witnessing a man die in front of her began to dreamily look towards the guarded entourage of Prince Joffrey, his supposed father Robert Baratheon and his mother Cersei.
Eddard Stark's captain of his guard, Jorey Cassel proceeded to win the first two jousts against his opponents. As Ser Berin Cave mounted his horse and his name was announced Jamie Lannister looked onto the two men in the jousting arena wearing the same gold steel plated armor with white enamels with the heavy and clean white cloak.
Cave along with Ser Meryn Trant made their way towards King Robert Baratheon and proceeded to nod their heads in a form of acknowledgement to the king. Robert looking at Ser Berin Cave with some form of recognition but didn't seem to harbor any resentment or perhaps any judgements on choosing the losing side of his rebellion.
Cave was pitted against Ser Meryn Trant a current knight of the kingsguard. As they commenced, Ser Berin Cave maneuvered his lance with precision as it struck Trant directly on the left side of his chest. Cave's lance shattered on impact, whilst Trant barely clung onto his destrier with the power of his legs.
"Ser Meryn Trant has seemed to met his match. Perhaps I will put my winnings and bets on the Kingslayer." Lord Baelish examined Ser Berin as he maneuvered his horse around the wooden division. Littlefinger trying to calculate the odds of the Kingslayer winning the tournament.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you. I would hinge my bets on my loyal guard, Ser Berin Cave." Percy interrupted the conversation between Lord Baelish and the Stark sisters.
"That's a fool's errand. Perhaps Ser Berin Cave was a name to be feared amongst the old kingsguard and previous king. But the names muttered with fear are those of Jaime Lannister and Ser Barristan Selmy. Ser Barristan Selmy is the longest tenured kingsguard after all." Lord Baelish rebuked Percy's claim as Percy could only smile in anticipation.
Sansa Stark looked at the lordling Lord Baelish was speaking to. She noticed like Littlefinger, that he held a foreign accent from across the Narrow Sea. His inky black hair was something she had never seen. It was the darkest of black she had ever witnessed. The lord's eyes were a whirlpool of sea green. Unlike Joffrey's light emerald eyes, his eyes were a tad darker that seemed to change with emotion. Although she suspected he was a lord, he was rather young looking. His tan and chiseled face made him look slightly older, yet he was still ruggedly handsome. But she found Joffrey just a bit more desirable because he felt more familiar. Not only that but they were also betrothed. She also wanted to be a queen.
The tournament continued as Cave easily disposed of Ser Meryn Trant on the next tilt shattering his lance and cleanly knocking the kingsguard off his destrier and onto the dusty ground. Ser Meryn Trant's droopy eyes could only marvel at how a man much older than himself could still have such eloquence and expertise at jousting.
Percy's teacher and most loyal friend continued to destroy any rider in his path. Cleaning any riders from House Frey as they seemed be the most represented. Cave even managed to dismount Ser Loras Tyrell the knight of Flowers who couldn't believe his sly tactic of using his mare that was in heat to distract any other stallions within the jousting. However, Cave was using also using a mare (who wasn't in heat) which was unaffected by Loras' tactic.
Jaime Lannister was defeated in the Semifinals by Ser Gregor Clegane as he was dismounted in two tilts. Gregor Clegane's massive strength able to overwhelm even Jaime's defense. The next match was between Gregor's brother Sandor and Ser Berin Cave. The joust was entertaining as both riders managed to score points and shattered lances amongst each other. However. Ser Berin Cave would come out on top during the joust as he managed to dismount the Hound in the final tilt.
Lord Baelish was sitting down in the spectator area with distaste as he lost a few gold dragons in his bets. Percy could only continue to laugh at Littlefinger's expense knowing that jousting and being an expert warrior were two different things. Sure, Percy knew that many dangerous warriors had lost the jousting tournament but that wasn't due to their skill on the battlefield. Rather jousting was an art, something even he couldn't master. It was all about placement and having the skill to guide your destrier into a certain position just out of the range of your enemy. It was about pinpoint accuracy and speed. Sometimes speed overpowered strength and Ser Berin Cave proved that.
The final joust was in place as King Robert looked at Berin with interest and intrigue. He was most satisfied by the way he defeated his opponents with patience. Of course, Jaime Lannister losing against the Mountain was also a highlight of the tournament. The Hand's tournament was proving to be one of the best tournaments held in King's Landing for quite a while.
Cave was not going to lie to anyone that he was not nervous for the final joust. He had seen how Gregor ruthlessly killed Ser Hugh of the Vale. He also witnessed him beat Jaime Lannister someone he believed to be a skilled jouster, one of the best in King's Landing.
The surmounting sweat on his back and on his nose proved it. Sure, the weather in King's Landing provided heat and may have contributed to his sweating. But he felt it differently, the sweat felt cold on his back and on the whiskers of his moustache. His hands were beginning to shake slightly which could be life or death in his case for the jousting.
Gregor was a behemoth of a man. Cave also wondered how his horse could even carry such a monstrosity on its back without dropping onto the ground. Clegane's armor clunky and heavy which added to the already insurmountable mass.
As they began to ride towards each other he noticed that Gregor was aiming high and at that instance he knew the Mountain was trying to kill him. Gregor wanted to win at all cost, and he didn't care if that meant taking the life of anyone and that included a former kingsguard. The lack of morals displayed by the Mountain forced Cave to play this particular tilt defensively as he held his shield higher than normal as he felt the fury of Ser Gregor Clegane's lance as his shield absorbed the full wrath of the tilt. A particular ache beginning to form in his arm holding his shield.
The second tilt went more of the same. Cave played defensively even thrusting his lance against the Mountain's in hopes to direct and avert his attack elsewhere. It was in vain as Cave's lance was broken in half by Clegane's tip. He however missed, nearly hitting Cave's protected head.
As Cave grasped another lance, he came to the realization that he needed to be daring and risky to defeat the Mountain. What Ser Berin had in his favor was that Ser Gregor was a huge man which meant he just needed to hit a part of him strong enough to dismount him. He deduced that although Ser Gregor was strong and massive that he did not have the presence or skill to remain mounted on his horse if struck upon.
The next tilt commenced, and Ser Berin Cave lowered his shield hoping that Gregor would see it as cowardice and eagerly make a mistake. Cave was correct as the Mountain didn't bother to lift his shield. In the last possible moment Cave maneuvered his lance diagonally under his opponent's lance and was able to twist his body on his horse just enough to dodge Gregor's thrust. The mountain was hit with Cave's thrust right through his midsections and he was knocked cleanly off his destrier.
Ser Gregor Clegane and his armor could be heard as he dropped onto the dusty floor. His horse and himself destroying the wooden division between the two jousters. The crowd replied in gasps and astonishment on how the favorite to win the tournament could've lost. Percy was already on his way down the elevated seating structure to congratulate his teacher as Ser Berin Cave made his way towards the king to nod in acknowledgement.
"Sword!" Ser Gregor Clegane's yells pierced through the jeering crowd as one of his men ran to him in haste to hand him his great sword.
With one overhead slash the horse was nearly decapitated as the horse fell quickly to the floor in a cry before dying shortly thereafter. Seeing that killing his horse didn't satisfy his rage he turned to Ser Berin Cave who was still on his horse riding amongst the crowd before he was knocked off his horse and onto the floor.
Berin was helpless with only a shield to protect him. His great sword yards away held in its scabbard by one of Percy's mercenaries. Before the Mountain could attack Cave once again his strike was diverted by Percy's longsword Tempest. Unlike the jousters Percy was wearing a simple wool tunic with his undergarments and pants made of linen.
The Mountain focused his rage and attention onto Percy as he swung over his head slowly. Percy quickly got out of the way knowing that he was quick enough to do so. His opening led Percy to strike his side as Valyrian steel pierced the steel plated armor and provided a superficial cut on the Mountain's side. His armor was steel plated which was enough to protect him from a deeper wound, however, Percy didn't really go in for a mortal strike.
Ser Gregor threw his helmet in frustration as Percy easily dodged the heavy object. The Mountain continued his barrage of attacks as Percy blocked them with his reflexes. Many marveled at the strength displayed by the sixteen-year-old being able to divert and block heavy strikes from a monster like the mountain.
Percy quickly picked up some of the dusty soil in his bare palm and threw into the Mountain's face. Ser Gregor yelled in frustration as the sandy dirty had gotten into his eyes. The current disruption to his eyesight gave Percy a perfect window to lead a devastating blow. Just as Percy was about to go for the killing blow he was stopped by an authoritative yell.
"In the name of your good king stop this madness!" King Robert had gotten up from his seat, gold goblet in hand, as he commanded the two combatants to cease their battle.
Percy immediately turned to the Usurper and tucked Tempest in its scabbard as he obeyed the King's orders. Ser Gregor heard his liege's order and proceeded to stomp away with the assistance of one of his men.
"You." He pointed towards Percy as Ser Berin Cave quickly got up and got in between his lord and the King.
"Yes?" Percy responded nonchalant declining to answer more respectfully.
"Silly skirmishes like these cause wars. You shouldn't have gotten involved." Robert reprimanded Percy as he took a huge sip of the great tasting wine of Lys.
"He was attacking one of my men. I will not sit idle while my men get attacked from behind. Only cowards do such a thing." Percy retorted back not caring if he was talking to the King or not.
"Very well. I will pardon you this time. But next time I don't believe you will get such luck. I am in a very good mood. I was entertained enough. Do such a thing again and you will lose that talented hand of yours." Robert didn't bother to hear Percy's retort as he and the rest of his kingsguard hastily made their way back into the castle and ready for the commencement of the feast that would be ongoing until the conclusion of the other events later down the week.
Percy looked at the Usurper with contempt. Robert's threats were idle to Percy's ears. He wouldn't dare lose a hand to a false king. Especially one that housed traitors like the Lannisters. The same Lannisters that wouldn't hesitate to attempt a coup if given the opportunity. They had done so when the Kingslayer Jaime Lannister decided to take matters into his own hands.
The blessed teen looked around as many peasants, merchants, noble women looked at him in awe, but he wouldn't bother with their admiration. He was surprised that no one interceded to help his loyal companion. The fact that everyone was content to see spilled blood no matter if it was in cowardice irritated him to a huge degree. His anger was growing as he couldn't handle the fact the Usurper scolded him like he was a child. Percy concluded that he wouldn't mind if King Robert Baratheon was poisoned by his own men…
Authors Note: Chapter 8 is here. I was debating on whether to include the joust and the melee in one chapter, but I decided against it. But the next one will be the melee and some more drama, I guess. Anyhow I hope you enjoyed the chapter. This is where I will get a little off canon in terms of how the new power struggle occurs. So ill plan that out.
Thanks for being my readers I really appreciate it.
P.S Sometimes I wish I was good at writing :(