"M'Lord, we are about to arrive" shouted a man on an Ironborn ship heading towards Blacktyde.
Donnel Drumm nodded his head and stood up to walk to the front of the ship with the Captain.
He squinted his eyes and looked at the coast of the island where numerous ships large and small were anchored in the water nearby or pulled up to the beach.
The lookout on the enemy ships would notice them in a short while when they get closer and rush to inform their lords but he wasn't too concerned about that.
The seat of Blacktyde was a few miles inland so Donnel was sure that the enemy would have gathered there and should have only left a minimum amount of men to guard their ships.
"Inform the others. We will surround the enemy ships, kill the men, capture a couple of ships if we can and burn the rest that we can't." Donnel ordered.
"Are we going to support the Blacktyde's against the Greenlanders, m'lord?" the Captain asked.
Donnel shook his head. "No. That's all the help they can get from us. We don't have the numbers. They would have to hold until the Iron Fleet comes back to lift the siege."
"But would they be able to hold until then, Captain?"
"That's not our concern, Cnut. We deal with the Greenlander's ships and then sail back to Old Wyk," explained Donnel, a little irritated. He had wanted to sail with his father and brother to raid the rich coast of Reach and Westerland but no, he was left at home. As the second son and the spare, his father had ordered him to safeguard Old Wyk while they are away. The Blacktydes gave him an opportunity to come out and earn some merit. Surely, the salt King would be happy that he dealt such a huge blow to the Greenlanders even if it would come at the cost of the Blacktydes.
Donell had brought his own ship and convinced a few other Ironborn captains in service of lesser nobility on Old Wyk and Great Wyk into carrying this mission.
"Signal the others to get ready. Spread out. Don't let anyone escape with a single ship." Donell gave the command as he unsheathed his sword and pointed it towards the island.
"Aye, Aye, Captain." The man rushed to carry out his orders.
A few miles back, Damian's own ships were following the Ironborn fleet at a distance big enough so that they are not caught by the enemy.
Ace, after coming back, took to the skies to keep Damian informed about Ironborn movements.
"Wait until they start engaging with our allies and fall for the ambush. We will then go in and cut off their retreat, and make them either fight to their death or surrender their arms." Damian shouted.
"Aye, Captain," Sirius replied
"We will do as you command, My Lord," Raymond declared.
"Alright, convey my command to Jory, Selena and Arsen," Damian said.
The attention of the Ironborn ship was to their front, and while Damian's ships were still far away, they could be spotted if one looked carefully.
Donnel grinned when he saw the Greenlanders on the beach scurrying to get their ships loose. He hadn't gotten close enough to gauge the number of people onboard the enemy ships but he could vaguely make out how low their numbers were.
"It is as I thought. They haven't left enough men to guard their ships. Now they going to regret it." Donnel beamed.
"Captian, they are escaping with the ships," Cnut shouted as he saw three large vessels turning in the eastern direction and another two turning to the west to escape along the coast. There were still two large vessels left by the coast but it seems the people on board weren't able to get the anchor out of the sea to free it.
Donnel immediately ordered their fleet to split into three groups and go after the escaping ships. From the seven Longships, three turned their bows to the southeast, two turned southwest to pursue the enemy that couldn't possibly outrun them with fewer personnel on board and Ironborn longships, the smaller ones, being faster than Greenlander's common Galleys.
Donnel sailed straight towards the ships stuck nearby the coast with another Longship following alongside his own.
As they got closer and closer, Donnel's mind suddenly popped a strange thought.
'The Blactyde's letter said they were besieged by roughly two thousand men to three thousand men. But with the number of ships that I'm seeing, they shouldn't be able to transport such a large number of soldiers across the sea even if they stack people on each other.' Donnel thought and wondered if the Blacktydes were exaggerating the numbers.
Donnel was suddenly brought out of his thoughts when they reached up to the enemy's ships close to see the horrified and scarred faces of the Greenlanders.
Donnel could have straightaway bashed into the enemy ship lying still but he didn't do that as they were very close to the coast where the sea was shallow and if his ship stuck into the enemy's then that would be a disaster. Also, he wanted to capture the enemy ships without damaging them.
"Throw the hooks, take out the ramps and charge my fellow brethren," Donnel yelled as he unsheathed his own sword and pointed forward. "Kill the unbelievers and throw them into the sea in-."
Donnel's words got stuck in his mouth when suddenly on the enemy ship, he saw men armed with bows and arrows knocked on, sprouting from behind the railing.
Swish, Swish~
The arrows flew straight at the Ironborn warrior standing unprepared.
Donnel who was at the front, pulled a person beside him to shield himself from the arrows.
The unfortunate Ironborn named Cnut couldn't even scream as the arrow flew straight into his open mouth and killed him before he could throw a curse at his captain.
Donnel squatted and rolled on the deck and hid behind the railing to not get shot by arrows. He looked around and saw the same situation happing to another Ironborn ship. He gave a quick glance over the railing to look at the opponent ship and saw the enemy increasing in numbers as more armed men climbed over to the ship's deck from the other side.
Donnel gritted his teeth and shouted, "Turn back, it's a trap. Turn back!"
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