[Chapter Size: 4000 Words.]
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Third Person POV
Twins, 300 AC.
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The explosion echoed throughout the entire region, loud enough to be heard on the most distant horizons. At the very least, all of northern Riverrun and part of the southern North and the Vale heard the blast.
The castle did not go flying apart as a whole, but instead began to tear itself to pieces.
Everyone could hear the sound of destruction coming from within the explosion, stones breaking and structures collapsing as the towers seemed to fall forward, flames consuming their shapes before they caved in.
Boulders, mostly from the bridge between the towers itself, which had been completely obliterated and launched upward, began falling in every direction, while they, even from that distance, prepared themselves for any impact.
They started seeing countless pieces of debris crashing into the surrounding forest trees, the road, and even the water.
Despite the instant vapor being created by the heat of the flames, everyone could still clearly see the giant towers themselves simply toppling over, falling between the riverbank and the river, while water, smoke, and green fire erupted alongside the thunderous blast, drowning out even the sound of the flames.
The river rose on that side, surging from within the steam that covered the entire area. The riverbank was flooded under the weight of the two massive towers.
Quickly, the entire area was overtaken by water. The ground itself trembled throughout the area when the explosion happened, and the river was already violently agitated, but a wave also came toward them. By the time it reached them, however, it was no longer that strong. Only part of the water rose, and a slight force from the current passed through their legs, but nothing concerning, far better than the area consumed by the flames, where the water had even invaded the forests while animals retreated ever since the explosion happened.
"It seems we won't be needing wildfire anymore. The Freys' seat no longer exists," Jon said simply, as though his words did not carry the weight of what everyone was witnessing before them, ignoring all the cries, horrified groans, and the thunder of stones still falling amidst clouds of dust and eruptions of water.
Some giants even had to raise their shields on the other side of the river because of the rocks flying toward them.
Jon sighed when he saw some of them breaking their arms from the impact. Even though it was not enough to shatter the Valyrian steel, it had dented it, and he would have to heal them once he crossed the river.
Caraxes was also unharmed as he flew northward. The giant eagle was already more than fifteen hundred meters away by that point. The stones did not even come close to him. If it had been anyone else, there would have been no escaping the explosion, and Jon had not brought the trebuchets capable of launching flames from that distance.
Jon turned toward Walder Frey, who stood there trembling while groaning. His eyes were bleeding.
"You looked directly at the explosion?" he asked in surprise, though he did not need an answer.
The man was blind. The explosion had not been small, after all. Jon had placed tons of wildfire barrels on those eight boats, each one carrying more than twenty stacked barrels. There were at least twenty thousand liters of wildfire, far more powerful than normal.
"Well, we're done here," Jon said while looking at the Frey women, men, and children.
"All the adults... kill them."
Jon gave the order while people screamed trying to stop it, but there would be no mercy.
"The women will be taken to the Silent Sisters in Oldtown. The younger boys, all of them to the Night's Watch."
Jon had already started walking among the Freys until he stopped in front of someone.
"Roslin Frey... are you truly carrying a child with Tully blood in your womb? Is that true, not some lie?" Jon asked while looking at the young woman, who was terrified. Jon could tell it was true and not some Frey trick.
"You will be taken to Arctic. Your boy will receive an education and one day rule the Riverlands, as is his right. But he will grow up loyal to Arctic."
Jon spoke while everyone began moving.
He ignored the bridge he had created to the north and built another immediately afterward to cross to the other side.
"Let's go," he said, since there was nothing left there for them. The thousand knights who had eliminated every Frey, and even those who had fled into the forest had not survived. Now everyone began crossing the bridge.
"Hey, Jon... can you tell me why you still kept these people alive?" Tormund appeared, asking about Walder Frey and a few grandsons who had not been killed. They had been left on the other side of the river with horses and supplies.
Jon observed them with a calm expression. Walder Frey was there, still standing, groaning in pain, unable to see through his own eyes. And his grandsons did not know what to do or why they had been left behind.
Walder Frey was close to having another attack, still trembling. Jon had helped a little with healing earlier, but he could not save him from another heart attack.
"I want him to live. He is harmless now. In fact, he is more useful alive than dead. Look at him. House Frey will still have a central figure, nothing more than an old man I want to live knowing what happened to his house. Killing him would be too easy, and I want him to report what happened here today."
"I want him to show what happened to the Freys. That the Twins no longer exist and how we can simply devastate any enemy of ours. I want our enemies to feel fear."
Jon spoke.
He certainly did not want the people of the South to fear his dragons, which was why he had not sent them, but at the same time, he still created fear in his enemies. This was a fear in which they could still see a chance to fight.
"Let's go."
With those words, he left the suffering Freys behind, while the Frey daughters and even some wives of the Frey sons began being taken to Arctic's holding grounds.
Far to the north of their position, the Twins were still burning, but there were no towers left anymore. All the debris was scattered everywhere.
"Let's return to Seagard," Jon gave the order while the army began marching back.
Jon moved toward a corner, ignoring the marching army, where he found a group of men.
His eyes settled on them.
"Well, you know what to do first. Remove all those armors and weapons. We can't even use the Valyrian steel swords and the heart tree bows. That will attract too much attention," Jon said.
Lancelot, Barristan Selmy, Jin Sakai, and other trusted and highly trained men, no more than twenty in total, nodded.
Some direwolves also remained behind, among them Nymeria.
After they had prepared and placed all the equipment among the wagons returning to the ships, Jon continued leading the march back to Seagard.
The eyes of the Mallister men still showed shock. In less than a single day, Arctic had simply annihilated the Twins as though it were nothing.
It was far too terrifying. No man should possess that much power, yet those Arcticans did it so quickly.
It was not enough that they had seen only a third of the first western tower destroyed. They had to witness the entire place simply cease to exist.
And as the men of Seagard saw it, it seemed that this had not been anything significant for the Arcticans. It was terrifying to think that Seagard could suffer the same fate if they became enemies.
The journey lasted a few days, and both the Arcticans and the Mallister men continued onward.
Meanwhile, to the south, exactly as Jon had said, the knight from House Blackwood had reached the Lannister and Frey forces, who were laying siege to Riverrun with more than eighteen thousand men... It was only a matter of time before the castle fell. In truth, they could have conquered the Twins with that force, but they were more interested in debating who would gain glory from the siege than actually focusing on Riverrun itself.
Despite sending a messenger knight, the Blackwoods kept the castle closed to the Freys, since they had neither surrendered nor accepted them as sovereigns after what had happened.
When the letter arrived, they read it and could not help but be surprised by it. At the same time, it was a chance to draw most of Riverrun's forces away, forces that were in the southern Blackwood territory.
Because of that, they ended up sending a man to warn the enemy forces about the Arcticans.
"A Blackwood knight is approaching under a banner of peace, my lord."
Hosteen Frey and Addam Marbrand were drinking wine and arguing when they received the news from a Frey man, unaware that the Twins would be annihilated the very next day at that same moment.
"A Blackwood? Have they finally surrendered?" the man commanding the Westerlands armies could not help but display a splendid smile.
"Let's see what they want," Hosteen Frey said while narrowing his eyes.
Hosteen was not the heir. Walder Frey's first son was Stevron, who died at the Battle of Oxcross while serving under King Robb Stark's command. His eldest son, Ryman Frey, was not exactly a commander... He was better described as a glutton obsessed with prostitutes. Because of that, Hosteen had been placed in command of the Frey forces for the moment, for being the most capable, although Ryman was supposed to learn from him before becoming the possible Lord of the Crossing.
Now, hearing about the knight coming from Raventree Hall, Hosteen did not know why, but something deeply disturbed him. He was no mystical being capable of understanding what was happening, yet something in his heart felt profoundly unsettled.
The knight advanced, escorted by the camp's men.
"What do we have here?" Addam Marbrand spoke first.
The man dismounted and approached, carrying the white cloth over the banner.
"I am Ser Baurus. I am here as a messenger, my lords," he said.
"Very well, proceed," Addam replied.
Even as enemies, there were still rules men had to follow there, even if they were about to break them at another moment. Besides, they were not interested in fully besieging Raventree Hall of the Blackwoods, because Riverrun was more important.
If Riverrun fell, the entire resistance base of the Riverlands against the new Frey rule would fall as well.
"A letter. A letter from the Twins," the knight said.
Hosteen Frey immediately stepped forward to grab it, opening and reading it before his eyes widened.
"No..."
"What is it, Lord Frey?" Addam approached and took the letter. His eyes stopped on it.
"So they are going to begin the attack here..." he spoke, his hands trembling slightly before calming himself.
"Come with me, release the knight."
Addam spoke immediately, entering the tent with Hosteen. While the other men could tell it was something serious, no one disturbed them.
"Something is wrong with that letter... the Arcticans were supposed to be fighting in the Iron Islands. How are they already here? Their speed entering the islands' territories makes no sense."
"Well, it's five thousand men. So that means they split their forces among all the ships. We were informed of a greater number than just five thousand men," Hosteen said.
"He must have at least twenty thousand or more, considering the history of what happened to the Dothraki army," Addam began to think.
The information was that Jon Arctic had taken forty-five thousand Arctican men to the Dothraki Sea. Despite losing a few thousand, his forces had not fallen below forty thousand when he returned home.
An overwhelming victory, considering they had faced the most powerful khalasars, with some of them reaching up to one hundred thousand warriors.
"We must leave," Hosteen said immediately. There was no way he could allow his house to be besieged.
"You think the Twins could fall?" Addam asked.
"Honestly, I don't know. But we should also remember that their king himself is there personally. It could be an opportunity for all of us... I'm sure Lord Lannister will reward us for such an act..." Hosteen said. That made Addam's eyes gleam.
However, he had to remain rational.
"I heard this king of the wildlings is a sorcerer. He can control animals and see through them. If he notices the army approaching, he will either flee or prepare a trap," Addam said.
"I know, but it's still only five thousand men... we can leave Riverrun behind... Even if this might be a trap to lure us north and split the army," Hosteen said, though he was clearly frustrated. He had to be there. Saving the Twins was more important...
"I don't think they can possibly have their entire army here, think about it. There's no way they simply dealt with all the ironborn and are already here now... It doesn't make much sense," Addam still tried to stay rational.
Even though they were dealing with an enemy who would know when they were approaching. What kind of unfair game was this? There would be no surprise attacks, and they could be monitored the entire time...
"Fine. Let's go," Hosteen said.
"We'll take at least ten thousand men," Addam stated.
Hosteen agreed.
"Very well. Then we'll divide the camp," he said while the troops began moving away from Riverrun Castle.
Brynden Tully had been summoned by his men as soon as they noticed the strange movement of the enemy forces leaving. In truth, Brynden already knew what was happening.
After all, the Blackwoods had already sent a raven.
The Frey men were always prepared to shoot down any raven that reached Riverrun, but this time, the Blackwoods' raven was strangely smarter than most.
He already knew about the Arcticans. The Blackwoods had begun reporting everything. The knight had not been allowed to go to Riverrun, so he had to return to the Blackwood seat, while Brynden watched him depart northward.
'The Arcticans have reached the Twins. They are going to attack the Freys' seat.'
The words Brynden had read in that letter still echoed in his mind.
"Five thousand Arcticans... and their king is among them."
There were certain rumors his men had heard. Rumors about the North. Some of them were dark. Animals massacring men from the Iron Islands, while Arctican soldiers showed no mercy, killing every ironborn they found, even those who surrendered.
There was no mercy.
They acted like monsters.
And they were supposed to be sailing through seas filled with ironborn, yet they were here seeking battle against the Freys.
Perhaps their king was taking revenge for the North. The Blackfish did not know. But neither did he doubt it.
After all, Jon also had his own interests in dealing with the Lannisters and the Freys, who were now his declared enemies.
If everything he had heard about that group was true, the Freys would be destroyed before Tywin's army even arrived.
Even if the army before him marched north, it would already be too late.
But Brynden could not help thinking about his nephew as well. What would happen now that the Arcticans were heading there? Would they spare Edmure? Could they rescue him?
To tell the truth, Brynden was quite worried, because Edmure had never shown any goodwill toward Lord Stark's possible bastard. After all, he had always openly displayed his hostility toward Jon Snow, even later after Jon Arctic appeared.
Brynden, over the past years, had not been in Riverrun, but instead overseeing the Bloody Gate in the Vale, and he could hear many things whenever he visited his brother and nephew.
"What will happen to that fool?" Brynden muttered.
Throughout the moons, letters had arrived from the Lannisters, the Freys, and even a letter from Edmure stating that the Freys had forced him to marry one of the Frey daughters.
Obviously, that would not be accepted easily. However, Edmure himself wrote, whether under threat or of his own will, that he accepted the marriage and that Roslin Frey, his new wife, was pregnant with Riverrun's heir.
But none of that mattered anymore. With the arrival of the Arcticans, it seemed a new phase of the war had begun. Westeros was still deeply divided, and the conflict involving the maesters was causing even more intrigue everywhere.
Just when all the Lannisters and Freys expected was to claim the spoils of war and restore order to the Riverlands, this happened.
Brynden did not know whether he should be amused or worried about it.
After all, his house did not seem to be viewed favorably by Jon Arctic because of Catelyn's actions. She openly spoke about Jon during Robb's meetings and had been an active voice in making everyone agree that they should not accept a king beyond the Wall.
Now, that mistake was about to come knocking on everyone's door.
Brynden merely sighed while watching the army spend two days preparing before a good portion of it marched away.
His men were quite pleased with that. The Freys were desperate to protect their seat. After all, an army meant nothing without a place to defend. The conquered castles did not seem ideal for them. The Twins would always be the most important place, and the Lannisters followed as well.
In any case, while the Freys and Lannisters advanced north, Jon had already cut off all communication throughout the Riverlands.
He would leave everyone in the dark while they received no news from the North.
No witness from the destroyed Twins would be able to spread the information quickly enough. Only a horse carrying a message could do that now.
Addam had sent a raven to Tywin, but that raven would never arrive. The same was happening to ravens traveling through the Riverlands.
Every raven sent was intercepted. Jon interfered with them, forcing them to change course and fly directly to him while he began gathering all the ravens in a designated location.
Upon arriving at Seagard, the army began marching once more toward the ships while Lord Mallister and his heir son came to greet the king at Seagard's entrance.
"It seems we will part ways here," Jon said.
"Yes, Your Majesty," they bowed.
"I will leave Seagard under your protection. An army of ten thousand men will come north, but do not worry. I have a way to deal with them before they seek revenge. After all, you also know there were soldiers among you during the siege," Jon said while the men nodded.
After that, he returned to his Kingsguard.
"Let's leave. We've already wasted enough time here. We'll return to the sea and now march westward," Jon announced.
They left Seagard's gates while giant beasts, pulled by giants, carried several ships back to the sea, since they had buried their prows into the sand to attack the enemy when they arrived.
In any case, they had recovered around forty more ships to transport part of the men and women enslaved by the ironborn who still awaited rescue on the islands.
Everyone in the city watched the Arcticans organizing themselves near the coast before they finally began departing.
The wind pushed the ships as they started advancing, moving farther and farther away until, before long, they were only visible on the horizon.
Jon stood on the deck while preparing a backpack in front of Caraxes.
"Well, the time has come. You know what to do," Jon said, turning toward his men.
They had already organized all the hostages. The Frey women had been placed on some of the ships behind them, while Roslin had been placed separately. Maege, Jon Umber, and Edmure were also among the ships.
None of them had freedom, obviously. Not even Maege, though she received better treatment than the others.
With that, he began fastening Caraxes' saddle after placing the bag beside him.
The giant eagle was extremely resilient. It could carry considerable weight, and there was a reason Jon was waiting for someone else to climb aboard.
Arya approached, wearing nothing but a cloak. Even Dark Sister had been left behind. She now carried an ordinary steel sword. What they were planning was a reconnaissance mission through the Riverlands.
"Get on," he asked while extending his hand toward her.
Arya grabbed his hand, climbing up and positioning herself in front of him while adjusting herself.
Jon turned back toward his men.
"Well then, we will maintain communication through the new bird connections," Jon said. "Meet with the men who will be responsible for leadership once we return."
Birds were undoubtedly the Arcticans' favorite animals because of their mobility and sharp senses. Besides, they could position themselves in the best locations for spying.
Although a rat was better for infiltration, no one besides Jon would train a rat, since he could immediately connect with animals regardless of distance, unlike wargs, who had to physically take the rodents wherever they wanted to spy. Because of that, they chose birds as their warg connection.
With that, he pulled Arya against himself to keep her secure while Caraxes spread his wings and took flight from the ship.
No one on the continent saw it. To the people of Seagard, the king had merely returned to the sea.
The bird climbed to a height where it would be invisible to the naked eye, and they continued flying over Seagard and back into the Riverlands.
They could still see the destruction of the Twins in the distance, with smoke still rising even after days. The explosion had certainly attracted many people, but that was not important now.
They continued through the region until they found who they were looking for.
A group in a clearing, almost behaving like bandits, wearing cloaks while Caraxes landed among them.
Those men were none other than members of Lord Jon Sakai's infiltration team, with Sakai himself present alongside the Kingsguard, Lancelot, Barristan Selmy, and others.
Barristan Selmy was a more obvious choice because of his knowledge and experience in Westeros.
Furthermore, Lancelot was there instead of commanding the Arctican troops because the king's mission was extremely dangerous.
Jon climbed down from Caraxes, adjusting his bags while several horses were already waiting for them.
"Thank you, buddy. Go hide in the mountains. If I need you, I'll call you," Jon said while stroking the animal.
Caraxes let out a sound before soaring back into the sky.
Jon turned toward his men.
"Well, now let's rest a little and finally head south, go around the army marching north, explore the Riverlands, and move into the Westerlands..." Jon said.
He wanted to understand what the war had done to that land. More than what he was seeing through his birds. There was no shining Valyrian steel among them, no army by his side.
It was only the king and twenty-one others traveling like a wandering group through lands devastated by war.
And how could Jon feel confident advancing through a place like that, with thousands of enemy soldiers surrounding the entire region? Even if they did not know of his existence, if they did, they would swarm after him like ants after sugar.
Fortunately, they were in an area filled with forests, and Jon might not have an army at his side, but he had thousands of animals in his favor.
That gave him confidence against any problem that might arise, but for now, this would be a time for investigation.
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