Trials and Tribulations of the Oathkeeper

Chapter 62: Battle of Pyke

—The Iron Islands—

Pyke...

The decisive battle on the shores of Pyke was intensifying as the storms battered the mainland, thunderbolts shooting across the skies and torrential downpour drenched the faces of men. Several towers were being torn down as the archipelago was being bombarded by the royal fleet; even so, the ironborn were putting up a fierce resistance as the mainland armies rushed ashore.

Leading the vanguard was Daveth, surrounded by his Kingsguards Ser Meryn and his uncle Ser Jaime and accompanied by his squire Olyvar with legions of his best troops. As his armies cut their way through the center, he was in a very precarious position: ever since he was forced to discard his armor during his fight against Victarion Greyjoy in the open water, the Young Stag's body was left unprotected and rendered vulnerable to any oncoming attack. As such, his Kingsguard acted primarily as his best defense against the ironborn. Even despite being at a personal disadvantage, Daveth held his own as he parried and slashed the raiders in front of him. "Don't stop! Keep up the pressure!" he barked orders to his men. "Give the enemy no quarter!"

Ser Meryn and his squad cut through the ironborn, though he lost a few of his men. The royal army was pushing their advance towards the castle of Pyke, the ancient stronghold standing on a cliff and the seat of House Greyjoy where King Balon himself resided. The castle had been eroded by the sea leaving the towers standing on mere stone stacks – its towers connected by swaying rope bridges. Such a route would be disastrous for any seeking to cross it; large groups would have to cross one at a time unless they face the risk of the rope bridges snapping under the strain.

Following the distinctive clues of repressed memories during his captivity being brought to the surface, Daveth recognized which pathway his men would need to take if they were to ever breach the gates of Pyke and bring the kraken king to justice. To do that, however, they had to swat aside the 6,000 ironborn infantry/axemen, javelineers and kraken guards standing in their way. Leading a force of over 30,000 men, however, Daveth's armies engulfed almost anything that stood in their way – with the losses of 2,000 being relatively minor in comparison to the enemy. He ducked sideways as 10 kraken guards in front of him swung their blades, missing as Jaime and Meryn parried and shoved their blades in their flesh. The Young Stag thrusted his sword Stormbinger forward, driving the Valyrian steel blade into his nearest adversary's mouth and out the back. More axemen and infantrymen moved to strike the vulnerable young King, but a timely intervention prevented them from reaching their target; not from one of Daveth's Kingsguard, but from a much larger, muscled older yet bloodied northerner.

Robb Stark, who after finishing off two assailants with Grey Wind, immediately recognized him. "Lord Umber!" he called out.

Lord Greatjon Umber, having survived the siege of Great Wyk, chuckled boisterously. "Heh, glad to see me, boy? It'll take more than a few 'scratches' to take me down!" he bellowed proudly.

Lady Maege Mormont, along with her daughters Dacey and Alysane, arrived not long after to join the fray.

"Lordsport has been set ablaze, Your Grace!" Dacey reported as she bashed an ironborn's skull with her mace.

"Our allies are en route to secure the other areas of Pyke," informed Alysane.

Maege bashed in an ironborn's skull with her mace. "Got to at least save some of the fun for us!"

Daveth shook his head, punching and backhanding a kraken guard. Ignoring the chatter, he pushed forward with his personal guard as more reinforcements arrived to surround Pyke by land and sea. As the fighting further intensified, the more they advanced, the worse the storms brewed and darkened the skies. The terrain was started to get slippery as the dirt beneath Daveth's feet had turned to mud, making the slopes slippery. As the Royal and Redywne Fleets moved into position around the island of Pyke, some surrounding the castle of Pyke itself, he felt himself being kicked backwards by an ironborn attacker. The Young Stag slid down the hill before regaining his balance in time to block the blade; a thunderbolt above shot across the skies, revealing the attacker as Yara Greyjoy. "This is as far as you go, mainlander!" Yara held the blade firm in her grasp.