Chapter 144: 144- Clash of Titans.
For this eighth (8th) of March, I do not wish you "happy day", but I hope you a life where you are always treated with respect, where you feel protected every time you go out in the street. A life where your holidays end in special memories, I wish that in your life you have fulfilled dreams, healthy and real loves, that you always surround yourself with people who add to you, not subtract from you. I wish you days full of self-love and self-learning.
~~~
~~~Third Person, Tenth Moon, 277 AC~~~
~~~Lannisport, Westerland~~~
The situation had reached its peak. The Greyjoy ships were gaining overwhelming momentum at the hands of the beasts that Euron Greyjoy controlled. Although an attack on a port as important as Lannisport had many variables that could lead to the defeat of the attackers, a night attack was the best decision since that way, they could arrive unnoticed.
But Euron Greyjoy was not one to do things the conventional way, and instead decided to attack Lannisport in the daytime, because having Krakens in his control, what could he be confronted with at sea?
And the answer soon came.
With over thirty Lannister ships destroyed, Greyjoy victory was in sight, especially because no Greyjoy ships had been destroyed. Euron had made a good strategy, he ordered the vessel not to breach his, and as silence was more than two hundred meters from the nearest Lannister ship, he caused the damage to be directed at the Lannister fleet. For with the Krakens, there was no reason to approach.
And it would only be necessary to wait until the entire Lannister fleet was destroyed, to disembark without mishap. But Euron had not expected the Xandarian fleet to remain in Lannisport, since according to what his brother Balon had told him, the Xandarian fleet would leave the day before. So there would be no problem in attacking Lannisport for fear that some Xandarian vessel would be damaged.
Balon Greyjoy was not stupid, or at least not that stupid, he understood the complications that would arise if Xandar decided to besiege the Iron Islands due to an attack on his fleets, or worse, on a ship of the Xandarian Royal Fleet. It was asking for death, and that was why he postponed the attack on Lannisport until the Xandarian fleet left.
But apparently, the reports he was given were not correct. And what was the result? That one of the three Krakens Euron controlled left a Lannister ship behind, and instead changed course.
Mikaela, standing on one of the decks of one of the ships, watched as one of the Krakens came dangerously close to the ship, while she smiled.
She had ordered one of the Guardians to lure one of the Krakens, to be the one to attack and not the other way around, and thus have their casus belli.
And the Kraken offered them that. "Ruuum!" a small vibration was felt in the ship, and Mikaela knew her work was done. Soon, from both sides of the hull, giant tentacles shot out of the surface, encircling the starboard and port side of the ship.
"Now," Mikaela said, and in the middle of the deck, where a pillar was located that was raised by spinning a mechanism, was triggered, which caused the pillar to rise, then fall and hit hard against a metal plate located on the keel.
"Pummm!" Once again, the seismic noise spread through the water, and the Kraken, which was under the ship and sensing danger, prepared to leave, but it was too late.
From the depths of the sea, a Sperm Whale-like beast emerged, with giant spines protruding from its head and torso, and with a giant eye on its forehead.
The Guardian, over thirty meters long, crashed headlong into the Kraken, grabbing it with its enormous jaws and pulling it into the depths of the sea, while the Kraken struggled and squeezed with all its might against the body of the Guardian, but to no avail due to the giant spines.
During all the struggle, the giant eye of the Guardian began to glow a bright yellow color, which acted as a plague for the Kraken, who released the Guardian and was about to leave, but the beast protector of the oceans of Xandar was not willing to let his prey go, and releasing the lightning characteristic of his species, struck the Kraken squarely.
The beam pierced the water and caused it to boil, reaching the Kraken and tearing flesh and bones, painting the water a deep red.
On the surface, back on the ship where Mikaela was, she gave the order to engage in combat, and those operating the scorpions and propellers prepared to rain death.
"Baerok!" at Mikaela's command, over fifteen enchanted scorpion bolts were fired, cutting the two-hundred-meter distance easily and reaching where the Greyjoy fleet had stood.
And the tables were turned, for the first Greyjoy ship was destroyed. The scorpion bolts, enchanted with the enchantments of damage, edge, thrust, and aspect of fire and impalement, turned the bolts into weapons of death, more than they in themselves offered.
The power was such that the bolts did not stop after passing through the first ship, but continued their advance until they passed through a total of four Greyjoy ships in a single attack. And they would have destroyed many more but for the fact that there were no more ships in their path.
~~~Duskendale, Crownlands~~~
The Escort of King Aerys moved as orderly as they could manage, surrounding Aerys at all times to prevent him from getting hurt, the marketplace courtyard was becoming more and more crowded with bodies, the product of the skills of Ser Barristan Selmy and Ser Gwayne Gaunt.
Years away from the Kingsguard becoming an organization composed of rapists, murderers, and scoundrels, as was Joffrey Baratheon's Kingsguard, the current Kingsguard was true to its name.
A group of seven composed of the finest knights in Westeros, willing to lay down their lives for the king if necessary, being the knights to whom the greatest honor could be given, and without a doubt, Ser Barristan Selmy and Ser Gwayne Gaunt, expounded that.
"Quickly, to the gates!" Ser Barristan was shouting orders left and right. As he cleared the way in the company of his sworn brother, the two of them, along with Prince Rhaegar, were making a killing just to get out.
Luckily, the gate was not far away, although at this point, the twelve-meter distance between the gate and they seemed to look more critical, especially when the soldiers on the battlements forgot Lord Denys' orders and began firing arrows or launching crossbow bolts.
The gate approached, and thank the gods that the guards had not had time to close them, but it was here that misfortune struck.
An arrow had miraculously struck behind the prince's knee, causing him to fall flat on his face, Ser Gwayne went to his aid, but Ser Symon stepped in his way, starting a combat between the two.
On the other hand, Ser Barristan arrived at the gates, where the horses were waiting, and made Aerys get on one, once this was done, he realized the prince's situation, but when he was about to go to his aid, an arm stopped him.
"Come on, they can't capture the king too, or they will have won," Aerys told him in an eerie tone of voice as if Prince Rhaegar's life was not worth it. Ser Barristan saw in his gaze the pain and struggle he felt. "My king, I can do it. At least escape you. We will hold them off long enough."
"Stop!" however Aerys told him, "You will do as I say, I cannot return safely to King's Landing if I go alone."
Ser Barristan would not, but there was no time for hesitation, so he climbed onto the king's horse and sat behind him, to protect him in case of arrows because Barristan wore armor and Aerys did not. And without thinking, he struck the horse and it took off.
The last thing Rhaegar saw before he fell unconscious from a blow to the head was his father riding off and leaving him, and Ser Gwayne and the rest of the escort dying at the hands of the city guards and Ser Symon Hollard.
.
.
Ser Barristan and Aerys rode on and on for the next few hours, though no one pursued them, Barristan wanted to reach the safety of King's Landing quickly.
Throughout the journey, neither of them uttered a word, it was not Barristan's right to judge his king, but deep down, he felt that Aerys abandoned Rhaegar to save himself. But he also understood that this was for the best, between deciding to save the king or the prince, the answer was obvious, and he had done what was expected of him, but luckily, Aerys was the one who chose.
And that meant there was only one hostage, not two.