novelraw Chapter 102: ' The Lost Hope... '
Chapter 102: ' The Lost Hope... '
Chapter 102: ' The Lost Hope... '
Dear readers bad news.... My Warrior-War Cleric pg, Duncan Randar (Yes I named him after my D&D campaign PG), fell on the field yesterday....
Pulverized by an infamous Disintegrate spell, against a late campaign Lich boss. He fought with honor, but the 20 on the die didn't come out....
I dedicate this chapter to you, my faithful companion in adventure.
These 200 Sunday afternoons of adventure will not be forgotten.
Honor to you Duncan Randar, may Torm welcome you to the halls of Trueheart!
With that said, happy reading to all!
------------------------------------------------
POV: Balon Greyjoy;
Main Corridor, Sea Tower, Pyke. Visit for the best novel reading experience
Seconds before a primitive entity took over...
Arrogance and confidence melted away like wax thrown into the embers; along with it, so did the nickname "The Brave One", a title earned in his youth for his fierce and fearless deeds. His arms felt like pieces of wood, his legs did not respond to commands, tiny hot drops dripped down his thighs...
Balon Greyjoy felt such a sensation of danger, terror and helplessness. All the past victories in which he prevailed in a fight, the women he stole with iron and became salt wives, the storms the man defeated on the high seas, and the incredible and intoxicating discharges of power Balon felt the moment he snatched a loot conquered with iron, forged the mentality of a giant. A giant Kraken he thought he was... but faced with that presence... a presence beyond what ordinary sight could perceive or describe, the Kraken felt drained like sun-dried brushwood ready to be burned to fertilize fields. In front of him stood a ravenous hunter. He was a hunter who had no fear of the two more prominent, heavily armed individuals in front of him. The Kraken and the shark were no threat, just two larger prey with more meat to cook on the coals and more bones to boil for soup.
Blades and hands smeared with blood, bright raptor eyes and a ravenous mouth ready to savour whatever flowed through the veins of the new fish fresh to his.
'A monster!" the very definition struck the shocked minds of Balon and Ardan.
"By the King!" Three reinforcing Ironmen managed to reach their King and join the fray.
The ominous aura diminished, dispersing into a larger area. Balon finally caught his breath, his limbs working again. Shame, fury and a bit of instinctive wisdom came over him and managed to loosen the knot of total impotence that paralyzed him.
The men behind the demon seemed unwilling to give him a hand. The marksmen continued to concentrate their fire upwards. If the crossbowmen had really wanted to bring down the King of the Iron Islands, Balon would have been dead long ago. In all likelihood, the enemy had received orders not to harm a possible valuable hostage. An advantage that Balon would have used without delay.
"Surround him and take him down!" ordered the King, moving into a safe position behind Ardan. The beast left time and favour for the enemy to deploy and prepare as best he could. The long swords rotated, exchanging grip between the hands with skilful sleight of hand.
"Come along," said the voice in the middle more in an eerie tone of amusement than arrogance. Balon hoped that more men would be able to arrive, but the enemy behind was wreaking havoc on the unfortunate men trying to climb the ever-increasing pile of corpses. But it was still five against one. If Bloody Snow fell, enemy morale would sink along with it.
The first axe, followed by a scream, attempted to lunge at the exposed skull behind. Ardan's sword and the other two tried lunges and diagonal support cuts. Bloody Snow instantly aligned the two hilts rotating the blades as if they were part of a single double-edged sword. The twisting of the arms and torso seemed unnatural. A steel tornado repulsed any attack by slashing two men on the shoulders and forearms with a single jab. Then, a second furious and less coordinated attempt came. The demon-boy rotated fluidly, dodging a lunge and directing it at Ardan, who retreated defensively. A handful of fingers were sliced off with a second double martial movement that disarmed the axe-wielding ironmen and deflected another attack behind him.
Two more vindictive attempts came in that short period... nothing. Bloody Snow defended himself and counterattacked in parallel from all directions. That monster had eyes and ears everywhere; there were no blind spots, but what troubled Balon the most was that the brat seemed to be playing with the enemy more like a bloody sparring against novice pages rather than a real fight against fierce veterans of the islands. Still, even if waning in martial technique, those men should have made up for the imbalance with at least physical strength!
The boy seemed to be able to parry and respond to blows as if he were the adult there! A flat kick to the chest sent one man flying nearly five feet backwards...
While he was looking for possible openings, Balon noticed a couple of possible winning shots held back. Only Ardan seemed to be the most tenacious and challenging in the group. The other three men were merely toys trapped in a cruel game of cat and mouse. As the seconds passed, more and more slight cuts and wounds appeared on the prey's body. The terrifying amused smile on the demon's face was proof of that.
'You filthy bastard! You dare to mock the iron men! Arrogance will be your undoing!" the wave of anger prevailed against fear. Balon shielded the man still searching for his lost fingers and joined the fray. Bloody Snow had both blades occupied in a two-way parry, allowing the offending King to strike bare shoulders. A cry of pain, a spray of blood that blinded his eyes and a voice, "Finally, Balon! Ahah!"
The man didn't even know how that call could come from his own back. He realized that the axe was planted on the shoulder of a familiar man whose name Balon couldn't even remember; somehow, the Tallhart boy slipped behind him in a single movement that the King couldn't even follow. "You bastard!!!" roared Balon turning around and cleaving blows left and right in a fury.
Ardan supported the offensive at his side, wielding his sword and throwing an axe.
[What are you waiting for?! Balon is escaping! Hurry up and finish him off! ACT!!!]
End POV.
--------------------------
POV: Ardan 'Shark's Tooth'
Main Corridor, Sea Tower, Pyke.
About a second after a tooth was picked up...
Ardan had given his all in that fight, but the enemy was unstoppable. He was already aware that he had no chance in front of that demon. So the goal was to hinder that demon as long as possible and give his king enough time to retreat.
He had lost too much blood; he no longer had the strength to fight and oppose the fate that awaited him. With his one remaining eye, he caught a glimpse of Balon climbing over the wall of corpses of his fallen comrades. Soon that wall would rise another foot with his body.
Attention turned again to the demon.
'Long live King Balon! Let that which is dead never die' was all Ardan could think, unable to voice those words.
His attention turned again to the individual in front of him. Furthermore, the demon seemed to want to make havoc on him with his symbol of honour.
'So this is how I will die...', not even the anger or contempt he felt could be manifested. Ardan closed his one remaining eye, waiting for the inevitable bitter end...
But the pain didn't come, far from it. A warm, invigorating vitality slowly slipped from his eye to his belly. Opening his eyes, he could see a faint, dying green glow that faded away an instant later.
The pain in his side had subsided considerably. An object was placed in the weak hand of the injured arm. Ardan lowered his gaze, and his tooth was there; he clenched his fingers greedily, grasped his honour symbol and looked up. Only then did the man realize that somehow his vision was no longer half-obscured...
'My eye... my eye is healed!' thought Ardan incredulously, wondering if this was all a figment of his imagination.
Bloody Snow's face was very different from before... as if a foreign individual had replaced him. Those were the eyes of a boy, a frightened, hesitant, regretful and exhausted boy.
His only free hand rested on the sword's hilt, pointed at the ground for support.
"Anf... Anf... The battle is over, Ser... Anf... Your king has fled, and mine has just arrived... Lay down your weapons and surrender. There is no longer any reason to shed more blood." Said the boy in a quieter voice and on the verge of fainting at any moment by casting a glance to his left side.
Ardan turned his gaze in the direction indicated.
The white shields and golden armour were dirty and bloodstained but easily recognizable. The two royal guards paved the way for a massive metal figure adorned with two conspicuous pairs of horns, and beside it, a helmetless Nordic man with a banner behind a grey wolf on a white field.
Robert Baratheon had come to put an end to the Rebellion.
End Chapter.
----------------------
****If you have a chance and desire to support me.
Here's my Ko-fy link for you: /duncanrandargotpaladin
Thanks everyone and leave a comment! See you next time!****