Mara held up her Axe high over her head; as she did her soldiers knocked and lit arrows aflame. Several catapults were also loaded with great spheres made of material that would burn long and hard. Once everyone was ready she swung her axe forward and all the arrows shot as one, followed by the great burning spheres from the siege weapons. The sky was filled with fire and it rained on half a dozen long-ships. Three were set ablaze with a demonic speed, others however, were only covered in small orange dots from flaming arrows. The ironborn were quick to stomp these out, but no sooner had they finished their work than fire fell on them all over again. Still some of the ships made it to land only to come face to face with bears wielding and wearing steel.
Mara watched the battle with grim resolve wishing she was down in the fray earning her glory in the blood of Bear Island's greatest enemies. John on the other hand was firing arrows in such rapid succession that the barrel he had started with was now halved. Still half of the archers along with the entirety of the catapults were still attacking the other ships, the other archers were raining arrows down on the ships that had landed and the men that had landed as well. The battle was raging on and it was at its fullest now. It was total war, and it was a war that the Ironborn were now starting to lose. At least that is how it appeared at first.
As John kept firing he couldn't help but feel that there was something wrong with the scene that was playing out before him. It Finally dawned on him that a few of the ships that the first raven had reported were missing here. It wasn't a large number to be sure. Less than half a dozen, four to be exact. Still four ships could hold at least Fifty soldiers in their entire body. John stopped firing as he sat there and thought where the ships could possibly land. He wasn't worried about the holdfast as it was held fiercely, and it was strong. He then looked at the cliff to his right that he was standing on and horror struck him hard in his heart. The Ironborn held a weapon called a boarding axe, and it could easily double as climbing axes as the Mormont's had learned already. He moved to the edge of the cliff that faced the beach and looked down thankfully there were no climbers scrambling up towards their front, but he slowly looked to the edge of the cliff that faced the sea on his right and he began to run to it as fast as his legs would carry him. Mara was at his heels the moment he began to run, but she was confused hoping to catch him to ask him what he was doing. As they neared halfway to the side however Three Ironborn men were pulling themselves up onto the top of the cliff. John knocked and loosed an arrow as the first got to his feet. John called to the top of his lungs as the arrow found its mark "Climbers! Right Cliff! Climbers!" he finished by firing a second arrow as the next Ironborn pulled his axe up in hand. The archers around him heard the call and turned to fire. As each Ironborn climbed over the cliff they were feathered with at least five arrows a piece. Only a dozen archers were needed but soon a battalion of Ironborn lay dead on the cliff some hundred or so. The battle below on the bay however had finished and only two ships remained of the fleet of a dozen and a half that had assailed the Island, but these two ships were turning away.
As the archers moved to head home the greatest call of the great bear horn sounded. It was the signal that the enemy was assaulting the Holdfast. John and Mara looked to each other and at once moved as one towards the back of their lines to the mounts that were there. They mounted quickly and rushed as fast as their horses would mount them. Some of the archers followed on a few dozen horses, but the rest were on foot. Below on the beach half the vanguard were mounted and riding hard back to the keep. The other half stayed in case of another assault. It took the mounted forces only minutes to see the front gate where Jorah was leading the push against the Ironborn host that had indeed managed to land in one of the other spots meaning that at least one point was butchered to a man, or they snuck by in a breaking point. John rode harder loosing the arrows from his saddle quivers each finding a home in an Ironborn soldier. Mara on the other hand was chopping the heads off all Ironborn who came close enough to her axe hand. Despite the ferocity and the bloody nature of the fight it lasted only a few minutes and the Ironborn either died where they stood or surrendered. The former option being the one that most chose; for every one that surrendered ten more died. The wolves, crows, along with the bears would feast well for days to come.
John climbed down as he and Mara neared where Jorah Mormont stood holding the blade that John now knew as Longclaw covered in blood. He looked at the two youths with pride and a bit of surprise "Neither of you are children any longer. You are battle tested warriors, and let no one ever say otherwise. I want you and your men to take all the weapons and armor from the dead. Leave only cloth and leather we need steel and iron not scraps." Both John and Mara nodded in agreement as their archers arrived both divided the men up between the foragers and the guards. John was the first one out on the cliff where his men had killed all the climbers gathering all the weapons he could find; along with their armor. As he arrived at a corpse that was marked by one of the noble houses of the Iron Islands he had to stop. This man was older but he wore better armor than all the men around him. Still this wasn't what interested John instead he picked up the sword that the man was holding. He noticed it was of a much different metal that the rest of the weapons that were lying around him in the blood and mud. The blade itself was as black as night, but softer dark twists and tendrils ran along the length of it. He was mesmerized by the sight of it. He took the scabbard from the old man and sheathed the blade putting it into his sword belt. He and the men continued to pick clean all the corpses while another group came to pile them. When the task was done it was late and John was tired. He however went to Maester Rorok's tower instead of to bed and instead of to bed.