Chapter 23: The Harsh North
"You should have told us she is that powerful! I have lost so many men for nothing." Mance beraded Dan.
"Told you? I had no idea the girl had that much power to take on multiple grown men on her own. I haven't seen anybody in that place practice of doing any fighting of any kind. If I had, I wouldn't have betrayed her." Dan sulked because now he has to join the homeless group with his people who we are mostly women and old.
"That girl must have something special about her if she is able to build such a large structure silently in the North were conflict can be found everywhere."
"She wants giants, perhaps if she found them in your army she would let us stay in her city." One person said.
"Who is going to tame them? Giants only follow someone who is able to defeat them. I may be faster than them but I don't have a weapon strong enough to take them down." Mance admitted.
He has a noble cause to unite the people of the true North and together they will attack the South to run away from the army of the dead. If he had a safe place like that city he could train his army and they would stand a small chance against the armored trained soldiers of the south.
However as they are now, they don't stand a chance. They don't have food, they don't have weapons, the women and children are dying from the cold and hunger. Men who don't have families to fight for are not good fighters.
The true North is too harsh to be a place for nurturing but he didn't have a choice in the past. There is only going South or dying here to join the nighht king's army but now there is an option to get that city under his control. He will try to reason with the giants and see if they will join him and help him take the city.
Olivia on the other hand is raging in anger at being ambushed and surrounded like an absolute moron. She has been surrounded by non schemers for too long, perhaps it is time she sharpened her mind but there is something that keeps gnawing at her thoughts.
When she was training on spells with the children, there is a series of old sights where the nights walkers are said to have walked passed killing and raising the dead for their army. The symbols are not completely unfamiliar to Olivia but whenever she asked about them, the children of the forest always changed the topic.
Somehow she knows if she can figure out the meaning of the symbols, she can perform a reverse spell that can hurt them as much as those symbols can help them.
"What are these drawings?" Dixon entered and cringed at the sight of the drawings.
"Whats that expression?" Olivia asked her.
"I know someone who likes to play with such symbols and she is sort of family." Dixon said with an uncomfortable expression.
"Sort of 'family' means you are not talking to this person?"
"She went and joined a church and now pretty much everytime I see her in private, she is surrounded by such symbols." Dixon said.
Olivia smiles "I need you to get me in contact with this person."
"Do I have to?" Dixon frowned.
"You said it yourself, this person is your family, this is very important." Olivia explained
"I'll go first thing tomorrow. "
"I'll go with you." Olivia said.
"What could this be about?" Dixon didn't understand.
"The safety of my city. It is very important." It would have been better had the children of the forest taught her but she will first try and fail before she gives up the idea of absolute safety against her foes.
"For now come with me to see our level of combat power before we decide to cease the operation of strengthening for the soldiers." Dixon took her to the training grounds.
She found atleast 200 men training. The speed is four times faster than a horse, the strength is above the strength of 10 ten men. The difference is mostly in the speed where many seem slower than others but the distinct advantage of a more experienced soldier is obvious.
Just because they are transformed into freaks doesn't mean they are suddenly invincible in battle. If anything their advantage may cause them to make mistakes from over confidence.
Olivia would have liked to humble them herself by beating them senselessly everyday but now she has to bother herself about the dead soldiers and how to get a mighty army to kill them.
The Southerners are prone to descend into chaos as soon as the current king dies. The North will follow and fight for whatever honorable path is available, the Tyrells will side with whoever gives them more power while Lannisters will try to hold on to the throne.
Olivia is not the hero but she promised to fight in the war. She never promised her army but her people will probably want to fight with her.
"They are becoming so strong their lives are getting difficult. You may cut them off now. If they are trained well, they will be a fierce force."
"Yes."
"Let me go and visit my little fledglings." She went to the main castle on the side of a small hill, there is a cave with a large space for the dargons to live. The place was made while she was out training all those months.
The place has hot stones on the walls and the ground. The dragons love it but Lola doesn't. The black dragon Olivia named Morpheus and the white gray one is called Aeryn. One thing she noticed about their growth is that they are growing slowly and she thinks perhaps it is because of the foul magic in the North.
They are as big as two horses each and they are both female. Lola sleeps with Olivia inside her room and she doesn't seem to have any problems growing big. She is now three meters long and can hide Olivia's entire body if she coils around her.
She doesn't eat served food and goes hunting now. The dragons as well but they ensure no one sees them when they go out or sneak in. They can fly which is a big boost for their ability to sneaking in.
The only people who know about the dragons is the council and a few guards. She doesn't want to put them in danger before they grow strong enough to protect themselves.
The one good thing about learning magic with the children is the lessons about her bond with the dragons. She can communicate with them in her mind and although they don't speak words, she can feel their intentions and emotions.
After boding it is said they will share feelings between them. Her connection with Morpheus is very clear, whereas she needs to consecrate to understand Aeryn's desires. Leaf said although she hatched them, she can ride one and another will bond with someone else.
"Discontent? It is the cave? You can come live in the castle with me if you dislike the cave. Oh? Disgust? That was definitely disgust. You don't like my castle? Is it too modest for you?" This is how they communicate.
The dragons send emotional feelings while she speaks like she is now, the dragons can hear her even though he can also speak high valarian dragons are very intelligent, it took only a few weeks for the dragons to completely understand common tongue.
"I hope you guys grow bigger soon. I want to use your fire to burn thousands of the night king's army. And I will use your fires to mask my own fire when necessary. I don't want people to think I am some sort of freak even though it is true." She felt that the two find her words funy.
....
The king is planning to ride North with his family. This is to make Ned Stark the hand of the king. As they king and his family ride North, a group of sell swords attacked the white harbor waters. Or atleast they tried.
The conflict between Winterfell and the Myr over the sale of wine has been going on for more than two years. The people of Myr are saying yhe north stole their recipe which was not for the public.
Of course this is a lie but the other factions are staying out of this just to watch a good show. The one who lit this fire is none other than the Tyrells. They were angry at the North's sudden independence from them and wanted to cut them to size.
Bree and the Haunted city's council having been aware of the upcoming conflict have been sending ships to battle at sea against those armies this entire time. The North didn't even get the glimpse of these battles but something went wrong today.
The defemding ships came later as the sell swords were almost at the gates of the North. As a result, the Northen lords are able to see the batle. The council didn't want to let the North pay for the wine produced by them while their mistress was a way training with the children of the forest.
They all agreed thateven though the mistress is displeased with the Starks she would never let them pay for something that is on her she produces the wine and uses the North to sell it which put the North in cross fire.
They could have given the ships that Olivia had built for the North but none of them are aware of what she wanted for the ships so they never even considered it. They use the fighting as training for the soldiers.
"The place we are going is said to be filled with snow even during summer it is always snowing. Wear cozy unless you want to die before getting to the battlefield." The captain of the Reels sell sword warned.
"Is the numbers really necessary? many of these are rookies who will only slow us down." Vice captain asked with a troubled look.
"They are here for the easy win and grab some expirience by the way." The captain laughed happily. This job came at the right time. He is now planning on retirement and handing over his reign to the vice captain.
He finally found something worth fighting for in this world. Sell swords are like hired thugs who point their weapons on whomever their employer want dead. Until a man finds himself that one reason he would gladly lay his life for, he is not living but only existing.
"Captain."
"What?"
"We are here." The man pointed at the upcoming harbor. Only a few hours before they make it to the North. This part is said to be very weak on security.
In the meantime Lord Stark received a letter from Widows watch stating that an army of what is suspected to be a sell sword company is coming for them with Intent to attack.
Ned quickly sent letters to inform and gather his banners who are closer to quickly make it there. Even so, he doubts he will be able to put together a descent number.
It occurred to him that the Myr island must have really been annoyed by the success of their wine to even go so far. He pulled together all of his veterans and rushed to the forefront.
Ned finally made it but it seems he came late, they have discussed and made up their minds about who is wrong. The Boltons certainly wouldn't let a chance like this pass.
The ships became visible Ned Stark is about to give a brief speech when the words got stuck on his throat. A massive ship made with iron wood looking like a wolf's head suddenly appeared behind the enemy ship. Then tens of other ships suddenly appeared on the sides surrounding the enemy.
Ned thought he is dazed because the speed of those ships is very fast. It is not something he has seen in the past.
After surrounding the sell swords ships, they immediately bombered them with the long range fire arrows. The enemy ships took only a few seconds to adjust to the sudden situation and started firing their own weapons.
For a while it became a fluster of arrows and large flaming balls of fire. The number of the invading ships is nearly three hundred. The ships blocking the way are smaller in size but very quick to maneuver the enemy ships.
It turns out the large arrows were only a distraction as a new weapon is fired using a device with a long barrel mouth. These are the explosives that Olivia decided to make after a combination of the cold glass and kiss of the sun exploded last time.
She adjusted the measurement and now all that needs to be done is to destabilize the two components and 'boooom.'
As long as the glass is handled roughly and the two components inside touch, it will explode. Olivia send a signal and when the enemy ships are all cornered into a closed cycle, the pins are released and the small round bombs are thrown simultaneously to the enemy ships.
When the people realize they were being led into a corner it was too late. The explosions sounded one after the other. Large clouds of fiery smoke rose to the sky. The people standing in the harbor felt the ground shake violently several fishes rose to the top of the water. Then a while later swam away.
There is a little powder isolated in a small part of the bomb called wild fire power. When the kiss of the sun is unstable against frost glass it explodes but the wild fire power multiplies the madness making it a weapon capable of dealing serious damage.
When it has stopped exploding, the men in the defeding ships jumped into the foreign ships and started hunting the survivors. The fight officially begins.
Ghu! GHU!
Wehha! WEHHAH!
Ghu! GHU!
Wehha! WEHHAH!
The ships in the back made way for the battle warriors of the haunted city to pass while making loud battle cries. The warriors of the haunted city have bodies that can adapt to environments easily they were able to navigate the way even with smoke blocking their view.
The cries of their comrades encouraged them to move forward even further into the ships. Enym walked through the dark space of the ship's corridor with fast movements turning a corner he dodged a fast coming small axe being thrown to his chest.
The man opposite him lunged at him with a sharp looking saber aiming for his stomach areas. In this small space, even if he missed vitals he will surely make Enym bleed.
Sadly for him, Enym is one of the fastest warriors under the direct command of Olivia. He moved his body nimbly dodging the incoming attack and quickly counter attacked the man with a sharp knife to the middle of his eyes killing him where he stood.
The man's weapon dropped making a loud sound alerting others of his position. He quickly moved to another location finding his opponents growing stronger as he moves further inside.
This is the biggest ship of the enemy the captains and his closest allies are in this ship. Luckily, more of the haunted city men came in and they assisted in cleaning up the ships. They left the slaves unharmed but told them to take back the ships to the Myr islands where their little group came from.
At last the encirclement opened a gap and the ships is driven by the slaves back where they came from. With the battle over, their group also moved the ships away leaving the North men grasping.
The Northern lords are left gaping in surprise. The ships came to defend them from foreign forces. They had fast ships with the leading ship shaped like a large wolf. The sigil of house Stark.
It didn't take long for Ned to figure out this is Olivia protecting them because the wine they are fighting over belongs to her. The North has saved a lot of coins from the wine business and Ned is now finding that he is tired of the conflict. A few days later he went to mert the soap shop keeper and gave her a letter to Olivia with the last profit share from the sale of Wine.
Olivia
The wine business is too stressful for an old man like me. I hope you are foing well. Thank you for the save. Your father Eddard Stark.
...