LION'S LEGACY | ROBB STARK [2]

56

LION'S LEGACY
56. Nothing

In the Riverlands, just a mile away from where Annalys had been captured by the Reachmen, Eddard was traveling with Allyria and Dusk, who always seemed to be running off, oddly enough.

Allyria had walked off to find them some food while Eddard stood watch, making sure no one was following them.

He suddenly stopped, however, frowning when he came across dozens of bodies lying on the ground, all of them close together.

He glanced around, noticing that each man seemed to have been attacked by what seemed to be a wolf. A direwolf.

He turned to look at Dusk, giving him a questioning look. "Did you do this?" He asked and Dusk only whined, yet Eddard knew that meant a 'no'.

There was no way Dusk could have killed so many men on his own so quickly before returning to him. The corpses seemed fresh, but Eddard couldn't understand it. Their direwolves were killed alongside his siblings. How could these men be killed by direwolves and why?

He stopped for a moment, hearing someone groaning in pain. He turned his head, locking eyes on a man that had happened to be the only survivor. He walked over to the man, kneeling next to him. Eddard placed his hand on the man's chest as he examined the wounds. They were horrific, clearly done by a vicious and lethal animal.

There were only two direwolves South of the Wall that viscous. Dawn and Dash.

Annalys had been wrong. It wasn't just Dawn who helped Greywind and Robb. It was Dash as well. After all, Rickard still hadn't been reunited with his direwolf, despite escaping King's Landing several months before.

Eddard wondered if the man could survive such a thing with such serious wounds. If he had known, why the man had been attacked, he most likely would have left him to die.

  Eddard slowly unsheathed his dagger from his belt when the man wasn't looking. He stared down at the man, who he believed was in need of a mercy-killing.

"Eddard," A voice called out, causing Eddard to turn his head to see Allyria had found him.

  Allyria walked over to Eddard before she slowly knelt in front of the man that he had come upon.

"It looks a direwolf attacked these men. It wasn't Dusk, though," Eddard informed Allyria, an uneasy look on his face, "Do you think he'll survive?"

She examined the man's wounds, knowing almost immediately that he wouldn't survive what had been done to him. It was far too severe.

  She looked toward Eddard, a saddened look on her face as she shook her head. Eddard sighed in defeat, avoiding eye contact with her.

"I'm going to help you, alright?" Allyria told the man quietly, smiling softly as the man continued to shudder, nearing the point of death.