Noxious Snow
Part 5
Two hours they received, two hours of blissful peace where the only sound that could be heard was the soft sound of breathing and the occasional shuffle as one of the Starks shifted in position. Despite the task at hand, Eddard found himself glancing up every few seconds like clockwork just to make sure all three of his offspring were still in his sight and had not by some impossible feat disappeared into thin air. Lord Stark's vigilance sky-rocketed when he heard the sound of a twig snap within his radar. Widened eyes quickly searched his surroundings as he spotted movement and the sound of cautious footsteps. Ned wasted no time picking up his Valyrian blade and circled his wrist to wake up the tired muscle. He knelt down beside the sleeping Robb and shook him conscious.
"Wake up Robb, I hear something," he proclaimed, his voice no louder than a breath to not give away his acknowledgement of the unwanted company they now shared who were clearly preparing for a stealth attack. Within a moment Robb was wide awake and boldly alert, instantly reaching for his sword. Getting to his feet he took a defensive stance as Ned moved on to wake up his other son.
"Jon, I think we have company get up." Grey irises flickered open as Jon registered Ned's words in his head, which immediately had him sitting bolt upright. The jostle of movement brought Arya round as she groaned and rubbed her eyes, "what's going on?"
"Protect Arya, Jon," Ned ordered standing himself up and positioning himself back to back with his eldest son, placing his other hand on his enormous sword. Jon nodded, grasping hold of Longclaw and jumping to his feet grabbing Arya by the arm and pulling her up as well before standing protectively in front of her. Arya Stark however didn't want to go down without a fight herself and picked up her own weapon which she held tightly within her clasp.
With a savage battle cry the first of the gang of Wildlings shot out from the trees an axe held high and ready to strike. Ned bolted straight into action as he swung Ice, parrying the Wildlings unfocused attack with his own blade. Knocked back from the lack of impact and from the weight of the axe the Wildling back stepped, Ned didn't hesitate by running his blade through the Wildlings stomach, driving out the man's guts with the strike. As first blood spilt the rest of the group all growled rabidly and ran into the clearing. Eddard removed his sword from the man's belly to block the assault of his neck opponent.
A tall, thin man with a ragged looking short sword made of rusting metal sliced his blade through the air to be met with Longclaw. With a powerful swing, Jon forced the rough sword to the side hearing the screech of the grinding metals before following the movement on by making his own counterstrike. Jon kicked the Wildling in the gut, forcing his enemy to fall onto the ground backwards before he drove the end of Longclaw through the man's heart. Having easily heard the sound of the second opponent behind him with his loud breathing, Snow forced his elbow backwards to be met with his other attacker's nose – breaking it on impact – before spinning on his feet to thrust his long blade into the Wildlings chest at an upwards angle, splattering blood across the grass at their feet.
Robb Stark eyed up his opponent who wielded a clearly stolen steel claymore. The Wildling struck first bringing the blade down heavily from above, a strike that was easily defended by Robb by holding his own sword horizontally above his head. Having next to little combat training the large Wildling wasn't prepared for a counterstrike aimed so precisely and with such speed as Robb's sharp blade sliced clean through the man's throat, dying silver steel crimson. Robb's victory however was short lived as another opponent dashed into view. The eldest Stark son barely had time to react as he saw the tip of a dagger heading straight towards his eye. It was only sheer muscle speed that saved him as he craned his neck out of the way only taking a fraction of the possible damage as a thin slice to his cheek.
Eddard fought his way through another Wildling, blocking an array of brutal assaults that left no time for his own strikes, Ned's only attack plan was to wait for the huge stocky man to tire himself out. What Lord Stark didn't notice however, was the second small Wildling stood behind him with a dagger in hand. Managing to find an opening in the brutes aggressive attacks, Ned tore his blade through thick flesh and muscle – almost slicing the man's torso in half. By the time he had turned around he was met with a dagger. One that was frozen in mid-air next to a face of pure, utter shock. Eddard only had to look down to see a thin, needle-like strip of metal peeking out of the man's throat before hearing the sick sound of gurgling as blood bubbled out from between the man's lips. To his side he saw Arya Stark with a fearsome twinkle in her grey eyes pull out her weapon not flinching when the body crumpled to the floor in a heap. He gave her a thanking nod of appreciation, still not fully being able to process the fact that his daughter had just taken a life in front of him without batting an eyelid.
Robb finished off his last opponent quickly after dodging a second dagger during his charge towards the adversary that hid in the shadows by driving his sword through the man's chest. Pulling out his blade from between two bones, the final Wildling had been defeated and Robb turned towards the clearing, his eyes checking over each family member for any injuries. Other than blood splatter, which he knew wasn't there's he found none which made him relax and instead bring a hand to his own face to feel the warm substance trickling down his skin. It was only a small graze. The Stark family re-joined each other in the centre, looking around at the bloodied corpses still feeling the rush of combat shoot through their veins.
"Is that all of them?" Robb questioned, his voice coming out sharper than usual. Not one of the Starks were yet to relax their defence as they scanned the darkness.
Jon was the only one to notice the arrow.