Game of Thrones || The Sword of the Morning

The Second Battle of the Ruby Ford

~~Evelyn Dayne~~

"Are the men ready?"

I ask and Lady Mormont nods. I look at all the men, some on horses while the others remain on foot. But they all have weapons and they all indeed look ready.

Ready to die, ready live, I do not know which.

"Today, each and every one of us will be tested. The math here is 2 to 1 in our favor. But any battles that have been fought in history with those odds and the ones who had the fewer has some times come out as the underdogs."

I shout as the Ruby Ford continues its course North, the sound of the splashing water and the thousands of men on the other side fill my ears. But my focus is on my own men.

"Never underestimate a lesser! Prince Rhaegar Targaryen was killed in this very river, the rubies which encrusted his very breastplate may still be scattered here. He had the numbers but Robert Baratheon was the underdog that day! Lets not share the same fait as Rhaegar, shall we?"

I shout and my men raise their weapons high in the sky, shouting war cry's and I turn my horse around, looking out across the Trident.

Archwin Lannister sits on his own horse at the very front of his pride of lions. Even across the river I can see him shaking. His saddle is probably soaked with his own piss right now.

"Look at that, boys! The little fucker's afraid!"

Someone shouts and the men laugh.

Archwin seemingly hesitates to draw his sword but he does. I hold my breath for a moment.

"Let them come to us, first. Take the flanks."

I order and Lord Williams takes most of his men and go to the flanks.

"Charge!"

The Lannister men charge across the Trident River and I raise my sword in the air.

"Attack!"

Thousands upon thousands of Lannister, Stark, Mormont, Karstark and every little House in-between attack at once. In an instant, the men come to a standstill, slamming into one another, may losing their footing in the water.

I kick my horse into a fast gallop, swinging my sword as if to slice through thin air, but in this case, the air is human flesh. Blood splatters every which way. Men scream war cry's while others scream in agony.

We continue fighting. A man on horseback with a long spear charges towards me. He thrusts his spear forward and I narrowly duck under the blow, twisting my sword so that it scrape across the man's horse, killing it and knocking him off.

But with the momentum and the weird angle I'm on, I slip off my horse, falling into the chilling water of the Trident.

The water is frigid and is stained with the taste of iron. Blood.

I suck in a harsh breath as I resurface, watching as more men continue cutting each other down. I stand, shoving my way around, avoiding killing blows as I stab and lash forward.

Lord Williams breaks around into the flanks, surrounding the Lannister men.

For what feels like hours we fight. Water and blood get mixed as men continue getting killed. I don't even know how many I've killed at this point. It's hard to say.