Game of Dragonborn.

Chapter 141 - Cerwyn.

[Chapter Size: 1900 Words.]

Third Person POV.
North.

...

...

What had happened at Hornwood Castle quickly spread south, as the surviving servants and soldiers chose to flee rather than remain in that castle, afraid of Jon's actions, scattering in all directions at full speed.
No one wanted to stay there after witnessing the carnage Jon inflicted upon all those he deemed guilty — even by negligence — against Lady Hornwood.

Many thought Jon's actions were unfair, since they were only following orders, but it was a symbolic message not just for the North, but for all the Seven Kingdoms.

Unfortunately, the Hornwood bloodline would end there, and someone else would have to take over those lands, just as House Bolton had been destroyed.
He was already planning to divide its territory into two or three parts, taking the opportunity with the Boltons exterminated, to ensure no future house could become powerful enough to rival House Stark.

But that would be decided later.

For now, they had to march west.
At this point, his 5,000 men should already be arriving at Winterfell, but Jon didn't even bother to look through the animals as they began leaving Hornwood Castle, leaving two thousand Free Folk men there to keep the castle locked and functioning, offering shelter to the victims of the kingdom's internal and external disputes.

Now with 8,000 men, he marched toward Cerwyn territory.

His wolves did most of the work here, capturing small groups of Ironborn camping without even seeing the size of the army approaching them.
They were so arrogant they didn't even seem to have set up an intelligence network in their invasion that could quickly relay information across the regions.

Otherwise, they would know that an army of nearly 50,000 Free Folk had arrived in the heart of the North, with only a few left behind at Karhold Castle before entering Bolton territory.

They didn't even seem to realize it, as the groups kept setting up camp, still looting villages for spoils, confidently continuing to capture women after killing their husbands and sons.

And so moved a pack of wolves led by Ghost — Jon's main wolf, or rather, the alpha — whom he had made a point to bring personally to the battlefield by his side, leading all the other wolves, which were no longer just direwolves at this point.
As Jon passed through the North, he let Ghost advance into the forests in search of regular wolf packs.
He quickly dominated them, making them follow as one gigantic pack.

This did pose some problems with food, as they had to feed over 200 smaller wolves, but that wasn't an urgent concern with White Harbor just ahead, with its supplies stocked in the port warehouses — or so he hoped from Lord Manderly.
Otherwise, the man would be quite upset with Jon having to forcefully collect his losses when he had already given the order to be obeyed.

"Hey, why does everything here feel... kind of... uneasy?"
An Ironborn man was in a camp of thirty others, sitting with a companion in front of a fire that night, when he began to hear some strange sounds and everything went silent, with no nighttime animal activity.

"What are you talking about, you fool? What's the problem with not hearing anything?"
The other said, laughing as he drank, just before seeing a man grabbing a woman and dragging her by force into his tent.

"And what are you doing with that blonde? I had my eye on her!"
He complained immediately, standing up.

"Tough luck, you idiot. I plan to spend the night with her,"
The other replied, laughing, while the woman screamed in despair.