Version 2.0
In the early morning light, Brandon's camp buzzed with activity. Soldiers moved swiftly, packing up the essentials while leaving behind just enough to maintain the illusion of occupancy. The baggage line was set to depart first, carrying wounded, loot, and supplies to a safer designated location in the nearby forest where they had first arrived and where the battle would unfold.
With the baggage line vanishing into the forest's depths as the sun just started to part the trees, Brandon executed the main plan. His main army feigned a hurried camp breakdown, their movements loud and frantic. Soldiers bustled about, shouting commands and clattering equipment, creating a hurried departure.
As Brandon observed the Ryder King's forces mobilizing in response to his movements, his once 1,500-man army before the Greenwood Kings battle now around 1,200 fighting men, quickly starting to form. The army was quickly packed before they retreated across the open plain as fast as they could heading towards the forest. Yet, as it was not long into their retreat, the unmistakable thunder of hooves clattered behind them.
The approaching cavalry, clad in gleaming bronze armour, wielded swords and small shields along with one or two spears on their sides for throwing. They rode quickly and skilfully on what was just some rope for the horse head and some carpet on the back. As they closed the distance, harassing and calling out the retreating men, 'cowards' and 'spinless' were their favourers before some would move close enough to throw their spears.
As Brandon's forces pressed onward in their retreat, the Ryder King's cavalry doggedly impeded their progress. They would feign charge into the causing the men to form up, and if they did not form, they would quickly charge into the ranks scatting the men.
Despite the valiant efforts of the few archers in Brandon's army (mainly scouts), their arrows struggled to either hit the swift-moving cavalry or pierce through armour and hit major points. Nonetheless, the archers persisted in their attempts some instead aiming for the horses, albeit with limited success, their arrows serving more to deter than to inflict substantial harm.
Brandon maintained his resolve, moving among his men urging them onward picking up men who seemed close to falling. Though slowed by the incessant harassment, they pressed forward.
As Brandon's forces neared the forest, the approaching line of the main Ryder King's army loomed dangerously close from behind. Brandon again urged his men to hurry pushing the men to the max. Despite his relentless encouragement, the army could practically feel the Ryder kings' men breading down their backs.
Just as Brandon reached the brink of his designated fighting position in a bay of the forest, the Ryder King's main line closed in, too close for Brandon's liking. Brandon swiftly shifted gears, moving to reorganize his troops to face the imminent threat, helpfully scaring off the fewer numbers calvary as they returned to their army. The feigned retreat had served to disorganise his men disciplined and cohesive, only through Brandon's dispersing of Theon and the king's guard around the army during the march could they quickly organise the line back into shape.
His original plan lay in disarray, as Brandon watched Eamon come ever closer. His force of around 1,800 still bloodied from their previous war against Ned marched towards him. As the lines formed and marched Brandon calmly but constantly looked upon the amies looking upon his tired men and the encroaching eager enemy army. Suddenly his lips split into a strained smile before he nodded to himself, his plan could still work it just needed to change.
As the Ryder King's army closed in and the forest was too far away to trap the enemy army against, Brandon organized his forces into formation placing his king's guard all along his line part of the line to keep the men organised and firm. He slit the army in half Lyanna took position on the left flank, whilst Brandon commanded the right. He instructed Lyanna to allow her left side to be pushed back and to move it into the centre.
The army swiftly fell into position, anticipation crackling in the air as battle loomed. With a deep breath, Brandon prepared to face the enemy head-on, his eyes fixed where he could see Eamon. The Ryder Kings not wanting to give Brandon any time finally presses his line forward smashing into Brandon's line.
As the Ryder King's forces clashed with Brandon's, the battlefield erupted into a whirlwind of chaos and violence. The two lines collided with a deafening clash of arms, each side pushing against the other with relentless force.
For a time, the battle raged on with no clear victor in sight despite Brandon's thinner line having to match Amons larger force. Men fought tooth and nail, their determination unwavering despite the ferocity, though as the conflict wore on, signs of strain began to show.
Brandon's left flank, under Lyanna's command, slowly began to "yield ground", forced back by the relentless pressure of the enemy's assault. The fighting intensified, each blow landing with bone-rattling force as the men grappled for supremacy on the blood-soaked field.
Exhaustion weighed heavily on the soldiers, the strain of previous weeks' marches and battles now taking its toll. Brandon could feel the line beginning to buckle under the relentless onslaught, his heart heavy he rallied his men fighting on the front lines with his men.
As the battle raged on, Brandon fought alongside his men, rallying their spirits and urging them to press on despite the mounting odds. They fought with all their might, refusing to yield even as exhaustion threatened to overwhelm them.
Finally, the moment they had been waiting for arrived. Lyanna's forces had drawn back far enough to bait the Ryder King into pressing his advantage. The thunderous sound of hooves signalled the cavalry's charge, sweeping around to attack Brandon's weakening left flank. They moved fast quickly moving past the gap, past the tree line, and around before falling onto the more open side of the left.
Lyanna held her line, as her men on the flank quickly tried to shift into their shield wall. They quickly tried to form up and bravely hold their ground, hoping to fend off the cavalry charge. Quickly hooves beat onto the ground, spear where throne before they charged into the line. Men where throne horses screeched and crashed into bodies breaking and snaping bones.
Then, like a thunderbolt from the heavens, Edric charged from the forest with force. With a fierce battle cry, they surged forth, charging across the open plains and crashing into the rear of the enemy cavalry. Caught between two flanks, the cavalry was caught, their once-unstoppable momentum grinding to a halt.
Now trapped and outnumbered, the enemy cavalry found themselves on the receiving end of the same pain they had inflicted upon so many others. Lyanna's army held the line with renewed vigour as they fought to turn the tide of battle in their favour.
As the battle reached its zenith, the fighting intensified, as the cavalry struggled to fight into such close combat, quickly pulled down from horses and killed. The conflict descended into a relentless relay of blows.
Lyanna and Edric smashed the enemy cavalry, their forces pressing relentlessly until the riders were broken. Seizing the moment, Lyanna and Edric's army swiftly capitalized on their victory, capturing as many prisoners as they could while the enemy scattered in disarray. With the cavalry threat neutralized, and more numbers on their side they pressed into the now-open enemy flank which had already seen their cavalry destroyed and scattered. They battle quickly and flanked, outnumbered, and seeing their pressures and proud cavalry defeated it broke the enemy's left flank, quickly giving way and retreated.
Quickly Edric and Lyanna moved to reinforce Brandon, only to witness the grim sight of their main line buckling under the relentless assault of the Ryder King's forces and the right line fleeing for the forests cased after by countless Ryder men. The battle was lost.
They closed their eyes for a moment, a tear running down Lyanna's eyes as they sent the message to retreat. But just before they did, they heard and then saw fighting still taking place right at the centre of the line. Despite overwhelming odds, Brandon and his King's guard stood firm, refusing to yield even as their comrades retreated.
Edric smiled and rallied his forces with a resounding cry of "For the King!" The echo of his words reverberated through the ranks, igniting a renewed determination among his men as they charged back into the fray alongside Lyanna and the others.
Despite being surrounded on three sides Brandon refused to give up now. "Fight men, if they wish to take one of us down then we will take five of them with us!" he bellowed as he stabbed a man who came too close to him. As 'fight' rang around him he heard the cries of 'For the King' from behind the left flank before a crash resounded behind them as men cried out.
Despite the sun starting to settle lower into the sky the battle raged on with ferocious intensity, each side locked in a desperate struggle for supremacy. As the left side was attacked from two sides the men could not help but taught the enemy pelting the enemies with insults of losing their proud calvary.
This quickly spread down the lines and as word of this loss reached Eamon in the centre watching with a gleeful smile as his lines pressed into Brandon, he frowned before rowling his jaw.
The battle had been raging for many hours and as the sun was heading down for the night, he called an end to the fighting calling his men back in a retreat, his need to see his cavalry was greater than his want to fight Brandon to the end in the dark. He sighed before staring deeply at Brandon's still-standing men seeing Brandon staring straight back at him. Both felt like it was their first defeat.
With the Ryder King's army marching back to their camp, batter and bruised from intense fighting and prisoners abound, Brandon and his men collapse to the ground in exhaustion. Many pass out soon after; the call for sleep is too tempting, while the medical teams and helpers rush from their makeshift camp in the woods to aid their family and friends.
"Brandon," Edric says as he moves to where Brandon is lying on the ground. "Are you alright?" he asks, moving closer. He receives a weak thumbs-up in return, Brandon too tired to even speak.
"You are crazy, Brandon," Lyanna says as she joins them, surveying the field where the medical team is already treating the wounded, including Theon, who seems to have gained a cut to the face. "Why didn't you retreat?" she asks.
"Because I can't just give up when things get tough," Brandon pants out, his eyes too tired to open or even move his head. "I will unite the North. I refuse to give up on that just because the rest of the army did. So, I continued to fight," he says before finally falling asleep.
Edric seems to have a smile on his face, while Lyanna just looks at Brandon like the crazy person that he is before shaking her head.
Brandon and the Men are carried back to camp whilst Edric and Lyanna spend their time finding and rounding up the men who managed to retreat, most of them returning to the supply train. Learning of the Kings continuation to fight and the stalemate that came from it, bathed them in shame, some thinking the King did it so they could safely retreat, others shame in their so willingness to run away. They dragged their bodies into camp some refusing to look at the kings' guards whilst others did so in awe.
In the aftermath of the battle, the wounded and tired were tended to, while the able-bodied men rounded up prisoners, primarily the Ryder King's cavalry, along with their horses and bronze equipment. Despite his exhaustion, Brandon wakes early the next day, sending out a messenger to the Ryder King proposing a meeting for a peace agreement. By mid-morning, they both meet halfway between their camps to discuss terms.
"You are quite something, Brandon," Eamon said smiling, "You live up to your reputation."
"As do you, Eamon," Brandon replied. "You have carved quite the way through the west of the North."
"Yes, I have, and yet here I am, stopped by you." He eyes Brandon. "It won't happen again. The West is mine," Eamon declared, passion burning in his eyes.
"I'll make a deal with you Brandon. My cavalrymen for the men I captured, and you also leave and don't interfere in these parts again," he proposed.
"You're shrewd, I'll give you that, Eamon. Your cavalrymen for my men, but I keep the loot; we defeated them, it is ours by conquest. A fair deal, Eamon," Brandon negotiated, unwilling to leave empty-handed after the continued battle.
"For you Brandon, you can keep the loot, but the horses stay with me." Eamon countered.
Brandon waited in silence, hoping to see if Eamon would change anything about his deal, but he remained resolute.
"Deal," Brandon said, and the Kings shook on it, bringing an end to the conflict. With this, the Ryder King secured his gains into the Greenwood King's lands, taking more land for himself. The Barrow King, after his defeat to Brandon and quickly followed by the Ryder King, lost lands to the Ryder King in return for the release of his men. For Brandon, it was his first loss, having only gained loot from the Ryder and Barrow Kings' armies but having taken losses for it. He had also potentially soured his relationship with the Greenwood King for not fully helping him reclaim his lost lands.
Although the people of the North would not see Brandon as having lost the battle, in fact, they praised him for being the first to defeat the cavalry of the Ryder King, others with more astute eyes could see he lost more than he gained.