Seventh Moon of 269
Pyke
The Hour of the Hound (2 A.M.)
The battle that formed next did not even come close to being difficult for the crowd that descended the stairs and ran through the corridors of the stronghold like a flood, or like ants moving through the tunnels of an anthill.
Everyone who put themselves in front of them died in seconds, with Alaric and Andrey risking themselves in the impacts of the vanguard against the ironborn, knocking several down together using what they had practiced in the Lannister camp days earlier.
The only thing that slowed them were the doors, which the ironborn always locked when they retreated, forcing them to break them down with kicks. They were irritating, making Andrey and Lyonel curse while kicking them, but manageable until they found one that was not.
Being on the second floor of the stronghold, with only one staircase left to descend to reach the first floor and go to the bridge, they came face to face with a door that would not move, even after several kicks.
"The sons of bitches must have reinforced this one. Shit, this is why we barely saw any on this floor. The cowards abandoned the floor before we arrived so they could reinforce this door. There must be dozens of pieces of furniture on the other side. Shit!" Lyonel shouted, realizing the situation.
"It is over…" he finished, accepting the situation. Accepting that he would not be able to win the Lannister prize.
"No, no, no," Andrey repeated in denial.
Turning around and pushing people out of his way, he reached a window and looked down, coming face to face with the stone bridge, which was full of people and their allies waiting for the ram in front of them. The ram was almost completely burned and had lost its roof to break the gate of Pyke.
PAH!
As the sound of the ram striking the gate echoed, Andrey's shout echoed as well. "No!"
"Move away from the window," a voice spoke behind him.
Looking back, he saw Alaric, who had determined eyes.
"What?"
"I said move away from the window!" This time he did not ask but demanded, pulling Andrey away from the window with force.
Confused and irritated, Andrey questioned, "Tha fuck is your problem?" while looking at Alaric, who was taking position at the window.
"We were too late, do you not see? Now we can only hope that Lannister repeats the offer in another castle. Hey!"
Alaric jumped.
Caught off guard while speaking, Andrey could not stop Alaric, who fell three meters onto the crowd.
"Tha FUCK!" In shock, Andrey ran back to the window and looked down, finding Alaric lying on top of two men.
Being pushed aside, Lyonel joined him, looking at Alaric's body.
"Is he dead?" he asked.
As if he had heard the question, Alaric began to rise. Slowly. Then, he looked up and met the eyes of both of them and began to run toward the ram, fighting to open a path through the men who tried to push him back.
"Son of a bitch…" Lyonel said, astonished.
"Little Cub is truly crazy," Andrey added, earning a suspicious look from Lyonel, who wondered if he was a sword swallower.
Andrey, ignorant of Lyonel's half-correct thoughts, felt one of his flames ignite inside him.
"Fuck it," he said, pushing Lyonel back, earning complaints from him while climbing into the window, squeezing himself to fit through it. "Move out of the way!" he shouted to the men below, who looked up and actually opened a path.
Landing spot ready, he jumped, shouting, "AAAHHHH!"
Hitting the ground, he felt his feet buckle. But, forcing himself to stand, he grabbed the spear that had slipped from his hand and looked up, finding Lyonel also inside the window, ready to jump.
Meanwhile, Alaric was still trying to reach the ram, pushing everyone in his path; but just as he pushed, others pushed as well, each trying to advance at the same time while not letting anyone pass.
Not being tall enough to see the ram striking the gate, but hearing Steffon Baratheon shouting that the gate was almost breaking and that they should prepare, Alaric crouched and began squeezing between people, sometimes even between legs. And since he was still holding his spear, sometimes he cut someone by accident, making people curse him and even kick him while he crawled on the ground. One particular kick to his head even left him dizzy, but he continued.
But eventually, the concentration of people became so dense that even that was impossible, leaving him trapped behind the last twenty men. Thinking that this truly was his end, a hand grabbed his shoulder and called to him.
"Finally caught up to you."
Without needing to turn, he knew it was Andrey, but turning anyway, he found not only Andrey but also Lyonel, who spoke to him.
"This is the end of the line for you. You will not be able to advance alone anymore." He nodded toward Lyonel to his right before continuing in whispers. "On 'Now,' we pull one back and take his place pushing."
Without waiting for a response to the proposal of cooperation, he gave the signal. "Now."
Alaric, with no choice, grabbed the same man and pulled him back by the right arm, while Lyonel grabbed him by the throat and Andrey by the left arm. The combined strength of the three of them was so great that the man had his legs lifted off the ground and was thrown backward. With him out of the way, the three quickly squeezed into the place where he had been, pushing those beside him away and backward.
Repeating the same action three more times, they were almost at the ram, ending up behind the guard who protected the king, Tywin, Steffon, and Quellon. Andrey, raising his hand to grab the left arm of the guard in front of them, was stopped by Lyonel.
"Stop. There is no need to advance further. Here is enough. Their personal guards are not competing," he explained.
"Oh yeah? And them?" Andrey shot back, pointing to the men inside the ram who were delivering the final blows against the gate. "As soon as they break that gate, they will enter before us!" he shouted, exasperated. "I did not come all this way to lose right at the end."
"The front of the ram is covered, you idiot. With only a hole for the log to pass through, you imbecile. They will have to go around it to enter before us!" Lyonel shouted even more emotionally.
Lyonel ignored the two and stared at the gate, watching the cracks grow and the metal bend more and more.
PAH!
With another strike of the ram, the gate opened a little, making it possible to see a bit of the other side. Seeing that the next strike would be the last, Alaric bent his legs slightly, ready to dash.
Steffon, also seeing that the next would be the last, raised his sword and shouted seconds before the ram delivered its final strike.
"Raise your shields and draw your swords, men. Now is the time!"
As soon as he said that, the ram, as if deliberately timed, delivered its final strike.
PAH!
And the gate opened all at once.
"Advance!" Steffon shouted, pointing the tip of his sword toward Pyke while leading the advance alone beside the King and Tywin.
Waiting for nothing and no one, Alaric threw himself forward, swiftly passing between the guards, passing beside the king and his old friends, earning a few looks, and passing the ram all to be the first. And, feeling the vibration of the ground, he knew that there was a crowd running behind him and that he could not slow down.
Leaving the ram behind and being the first to pass through the gate, Alaric ignored the system notification of success for completing the mission of being one of the first ten to set foot in Pyke, preferring to focus on the many ironborn on the wide staircase ahead who formed a shield wall on the front line and a group wielding bows and crossbows right behind them, with all of them aiming their bows and crossbows at the gate and, consequently, at him.
Using his high dexterity, Alaric easily stopped running forward and jumped to the right, moving out of the path of the gate entrance while crouching and raising his shield, allowing it to fully cover him.
This was the right decision because in the very next instant, even with him out of the gate path, he felt his shield struck by several projectiles. Looking at the small dents forming on the back of the shield caused by the bolts of the powerful crossbows, Alaric knew he would be dead if he were still using a wooden shield.
Looking to his left, he could see several men being struck by arrows and bolts, with the fastest, or those smart enough to have brought a shield to the vanguard of the assault, having raised theirs. Among them, Alaric saw Andrey also crouched with his shield raised, with Lyonel behind him, placing his shield over Andrey's, creating perfect protection against the arrows.
And analyzing his advanced position, being ahead of the royal group, it seemed that they had also managed to be among the first ten to enter, or had become so through a process of elimination considering the bodies covered in arrows on the ground.
Pushing them from his mind and seeing the number of arrows decrease, Alaric decided to take a risk.
Standing up with the shield slightly lowered, allowing him only to see the ironborn, he advanced forward, taking cover behind a wall of the floor that the staircase led to, remaining in the blind spot of the archers.
"Choosing the high ground of the staircase instead of covering the blind spot was their mistake," Alaric reflected.
Looking back toward the gate, Alaric saw the guards protecting the king, led by an unknown member of the Kingsguard, having raised a shield wall that even included shields over their heads, protecting against the arrows and bolts coming from higher up the staircase.
Under the shouted commands of Steffon Baratheon, who was within the wall, the men around him moved closer to the formation and raised their shields, increasing the size of the formation and covering everyone, although his inexperience left some openings, allowing arrows and bolts to enter.
Even so, with the formation assembled, they advanced again toward the shield wall of the ironborn.
Seconds before the impact between the two sides, Alaric whistled to Andrey and Lyonel, who were at the far right of the formation close to him. Being behind several shields, Alaric almost did not recognize them.
Receiving no reaction from either of them because of all the noise, Alaric tried another way.
"Andrey, Lyonel, come here!" he shouted.
Seeing both of their shields move until he could see their eyes looking at him, Alaric beckoned with his hand and then pointed upward toward the parapet of the upper floor, where a wide pillar stood.
Seeing their confused looks, he repeated, "Come here quickly," calling them again with his hands.
Andrey came first, standing up and running in his direction. Lyonel, still advancing with his legs now exposed, saw no choice but to follow Andrey, escaping the imminent impact between the two sides.
Joining Alaric and Andrey, Lyonel spoke irritably.
"You better have a good reason for this. And even if you do, I will slit your throat if Lord Tywin saw me running and thinks I lost my courage."
Andrey rolled his eyes at his words while Alaric explained.
"We will take them from behind." He pointed upward. "Give me a boost up, and when I climb, I will pull you up. The pillar will block the archers' view, so it is safe."
Looking at Lyonel, who stared at the pillar with narrowed eyes, Alaric could almost hear the gears moving in his head.
"By the Seven, why think so much?" Andrey said, throwing his spear and shield on the ground, then crouching slightly and interlocking both hands. "Come on, I am ready." He nodded toward Alaric.
Alaric looked at Lyonel but said nothing.
With a snort, Lyonel also threw his shield and sword on the ground and interlocked his hands, placing them beside Andrey's.
Seeing that both were willing, Alaric finally threw his spear and shield on the ground and placed his right foot on their palms, planted his left on the ground, and supported himself by holding their shoulders.
"On three. One, two… Three!"
On three, Alaric jumped with his left foot while pulling himself up with his hands on Lyonel and Andrey's shoulders, while both pushed his right foot upward, giving the necessary boost to reach the parapet and hang from it.
Feeling both their hands below his feet supporting him, Alaric lifted his right leg, steadied himself on the left, and placed it on the upper floor. With one foot on the ground, Alaric easily lifted the other and jumped over the parapet, remaining under the protection of the pillar.
Looking down, he told Andrey and Lyonel to throw up the shields and weapons. Hearing him, both tossed everything up, and catching them, Alaric placed them leaning against the pillar.
Having collected all the equipment, it was time for Andrey and Lyonel to climb. First was Andrey who, boosting himself with Lyonel's help, was thrown upward enough for his hands to be grabbed by Alaric, who pulled him up.
Lyonel was harder. Without anyone to boost him, it was almost impossible for him to reach the upper floor alone. Andrey even commented sarcastically that maybe they should leave him down there, but Alaric told him to shut up and, lowering the shaft of one of the spears to Lyonel, told him to help pull him up.
Unbeknownst to them, the activity of the three was being observed by Steffon, who coordinated the attack and constantly analyzed the battlefield.
With Lyonel holding the spear, Andrey and Alaric could barely pull him up, having to endure not only his natural weight but also that of his armor.
But in the end, they succeeded. And with all of them gathered behind the pillar, they once again took up their equipment.
"We cannot be slow or hesitate when we leave this pillar," Alaric advised. "We must run and take down at least one each. And once we draw attention, we will then retreat and assume star formation."
While he spoke, an unknown hand grabbed the parapet in front of them, startling them.
Following the hand, they found a man wearing full plate armor who had a helmet adorned with elk antlers.
"Pull me up!" Steffon shouted, his voice muffled by the helmet.
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