On the morning of the 8th day out, the winds just stopped. They had run out of food a day ago and were on the last drops of fuel. The fire gem barely flickered red. He said to Penny, "We are going to hit the water soon; we need to be ready." She nodded solemnly at him. Bart studied the horizon with his spy eye; he could see no ships anywhere. Penny contacted the telepath aboard the skiff and was told they were getting closer to the skiff now. She relayed that the winds had quit, and they weren't moving west anymore. The telepath aboard the Iron Island ship also relayed that they were getting closer as well.
Bart was glad when she told him the messages. He said, "I am going to burn the last of our fuel and keep us out of the water as long as I can. Maybe we will get lucky, and they will see us when we are up so high." He poured on the fuel, and they rose straight up. It was a clear day with not a cloud to be seen anywhere. They rose for 20 minutes, and, looking down, it seemed they were standing still while the world moved beneath them. As they rose, he scanned the horizon south and east. The fuel ran out, and the gem died. They were as high as they were going to get. Suddenly, Bart saw a sail to the south, and it was moving directly towards them. He fired a fire arrow in their direction, and Penny got a reply: they were seen! A fire arrow came from due east as well, the ships were still hours away but the rescue had found them. As they started downward, the hair on the back of Bart's neck rose, he turned west, and on the far horizon, he could see what looked like thousands of ships. "Penny, tell them that the invasion is here! It's thousands of ships coming, and they are a day or two from us."
The news sent shock waves through all of Westeros. 100 ships were deployed to seed the waves with wildfire, loose, and also in barrels. They knew the Zon were aware of the dangers of barrels floating in the water, so they had weighed them down where they barely broke the surface. Thankfully, the sea was as smooth as glass, and the wildfire didn't disperse much.
30 fighting ships from Braavos, 30 ships from the Iron Islands, 40 ships from King's Landing, and 20 ships from Brandon's Rest were outfitted and took to the sea. 120 ships, heavily armed with guns and ammunition, were to face off against 1,500 Zonian invasion ships. The wildfire was their ace in the hole; they were counting on it to turn the enemy and make them show their broadsides. They planned to let the Zonian fleet see them, then turn and run, leading the enemy into the wildfire zone. Then they would turn and fire all they had at them. Tyrion had told them all that they must do as much damage as possible, then split up, and that, hopefully, the Zonian fleet would split up to pursue the different groups. Each group would lead the enemy ships within range of the coastal batteries, which could further decimate them. Then it would devolve into hand-to-hand fighting with boarding crews and coastal troops. It was a dangerous plan, but it was the best they could come up with.
And now it was being put into action. Arya stood astride the deck of the Sovereign as they closed on their set location. Many old friends were with her on deck, both troops and fighters. Captain Dirk was on the Black Hand with one of his first mates. His other first had been promoted to captain and was aboard one of tree-kin ships. The Portsmith was waiting for them when they arrived, having run ahead. Syrio and his Braavos crew waved happily in their direction. The Sovereign had passed the skiff with Penny and Bart aboard as they came out; they waved the skiff on to shore as those two deserved a rest and reward.
To the south, Arya could see sails coming into view. She was happy the wind was in their favor, as the Zonian fleet had just crossed the becalmed zone and would be tacking into the wind on their way. There was a tangible sense of adventure among all the crews; they fairly glowed with it. Soon enough, it would all come to death and destruction, but in this moment, it was a joyous, good-to-be-alive feeling. They had worked hard on this plan, and they trusted it. And now all the waiting was done.
Enemy sails appeared on the western horizon; within hours, all would go mad with war. Each sailor and troop said small prayers for their own safety and for the survival of Westeros. A massive cloud of fog began forming in front of the Zonian fleet, and Thea came out on deck. She began chanting in a strange language and made offerings in all four directions. A golden flash occurred,d and the cloud of fog began to disperse. She turned and said it was done; no fog spell would work for 20 days within a thousand leagues of this location. She stammered and began to fall, but Hassan caught her, and several of the sand-kin carried her below decks.
Here in the first volume of the trilogy 'A Wolf Goes West' finishes, the second volume 'A Shadow Comes East' will follow.