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Nox merely tilted his head before rolling back. With a flourish, the man flipped backwards through the air before landing onto the ground as gracefully as a cat with just as little sound. "Simple," the sorcerer shrugged, nodding towards the Kingsguard. "These three are supposed to be the best in the land and your personal protectors, no? Yet not one of them noticed my presence. Granted, if I don't want anyone to find me, they won't, but I wasn't necessarily trying to hide just now. You people need to look up more often."
The other lords started grumbling, but in the end, it was Stannis who brought them back to the topic at hand. "Master Nox, you said that our strategy is flawed. Perhaps then you can offer a better one? And as you do, perhaps you can explain why you felt it necessary to disappear and ignore the summons of your King for the past three days?"
Nox, either ignorant or simply ignoring Stannis's tone, merely shrugged. "I was scouting Pyke."
Once more, the Lords started mumbling, which ended only when Lord Lannister spoke. "You felt the need to scout the island? And what could you have learned in three days?"
"I didn't scout the island," Nox replied before waving at the map of the keep. "I scouted the Pyke Keep. The main gatehouse and the other islands that the keep is situated upon. I must say, your grace, your presence surely does have the Ironborn nearly shitting themselves out of fear. Hell, from the mumbling I heard, about a third of the inhabitants are ready to storm the other islands, capture the Greyjoys, and present them to you as a peace offering."
That quieted the other lords to the point where one could hear a mouse squeak.
"You mean to tell us," Lord Tywin began slowly and lowly. "That in three days you managed to not only cross the distance from here to the castle on foot, but you managed to infiltrated the keep, get a read on all of the facets and the moral, and return here unnoticed? Is that what you are saying, sorcerer?"
Nox merely shrugged. "Yeah, sounds about right. But honestly, I arrived back about half a day ago. I wanted to get a read on our forces as well. Much easier to do that when the men think you are one of them rather than a Lord that they have to be all prim and proper in front of all the time."
Again, Nox amazed Ned. And his resolve to have his sons learn from the sorcerer only strengthened. 'Cat will rant and rave, but his training will help Robb and Jon lead the North to a new and bright future.' "You say that our plan is flawed, Master Nox," Ned cut in, wanting to get back on topic. "How so?"
Walking up to the table, Nox pointed down at the map directly where the weakness in the walls of the Pyke had been discovered. 'For a blind man, his sight is impeccable.' "A weakness, Lord Tarly, is only truly a weakness if your enemy doesn't know it exists. If they do, then an apparent weakness can be turned into a trap. And that is exactly what the Ironborn have done. They've decommissioned two of their wrecked ships and used them to reinforce the wall at the weak point. They've also set up barrels of oil and four scorpions, all stationed around where the breach would potentially be created. You can breach the wall here, that is true, but the Ironborn are ready for you. And you'll lose a lot of men in the process. Not to mention, attacking from this point puts the troops unfortunately close to the coast."
"And why would that be an issue?" Lord Tyrell scoffed.
Looking down at the map, Ned thought he knew where Nox was going with this, but instead of interjecting, he let the man continue. 'He needs to prove himself to Robert, and this is a good way for him to do so.'
"Simple," Nox shrugged, gesturing towards the several islands that made up the Pyke. "The Ironborn have hidden ships between the islands that separate out the Pyke. Once our men are in place, they will more than likely conduct night raids by ferrying their men in behind us or using whatever they can on board their ships like ballista or scorpions or whatever else they can fit onto the decks of the ships."
"Impossible," Lord Tarly growled, rising to his feet. "No one can navigate between those islands. They're a mess of rocks and shallow waters. They would sink their ships in a matter of hours. And the Redwyne fleet have not reported spotting any Ironborn vessels around the Pyke."
"And that in and of itself convinces me more than anything that the Ironborn are there, hiding and waiting for us, Lord Tarly. Think of it, this is the heart of the Ironborn, the seat of their 'King'. Why would they purposefully leave it undefended from sea? They wouldn't." Nox counted, making a good point, enough so to even make the near legendary field commander hesitate. "Ser Davos, your former profession makes you the closest thing we have to an expert in this particular situation. Tell us, if the Ironborn were to hide ships around the Pyke, where would they do so?"
All eyes turned to the former smuggler, who suddenly looked very nervous at finding himself the center of attention. Only after receiving a nod from Lord Stannis did Ser Davos rise and make his way towards the map. The elder man looked over the map but once before pointing out several small outcroppings surrounding the Pyke. "I would place ships here, here and here…mi'lord, your grace. They'd have to use longboats to avoid bottoming out on the rocks…but they could do exactly as the Lord…umm, Master, sorcerer says."
"Tarly, Tyrell. Send the Redwyne ships around to the other side of the Pyke and have them scout for these longboats and them have them set anchor just offshore to where we're going to be camping. I'd rather not give the Ironborn the chance to fuck us in the ass when we're asleep at night." After the two Lords acknowledged the orders, the King turned his attention fully to Nox. "Alright sorcerer, you've proven Tarly and Tyrell were half asleep or partially drunk when making up this plan. So, what's your alternative?"
Ned winced at the insult, throwing a passing glace towards the two lords as he did so. Tyrell flushed red out of embarrassment, but Tarly, Tarly remained stoic save for the tightening of his fists. 'Damn it, Robert… Has seven years of Kingship taught you nothing of watching your fucking tongue? We're not boys in the Vale anymore.'
"I do," Nox nodded. "We feint. Make the Ironborn think we are going to do as they suspect but do something completely different."
Leaning over the table, Nox rearranged the figurines representing their army around the Pyke on the map, dividing their army up into three parts. "We will set up the siege engines like planned, only with only a quarter of our forces. Make the Ironborn believe we are still trying to breach the wall at the weak point. Half of our forces will arrange themselves before the main gate and the remainder of our forces will be here near the northern wall where defenses are the lightest. I can breach the wall, and with the forces with me we will storm into the castle. Once we do, the forces will clear the battlements and make for the main gate. We will open the main gate, allowing the main force to enter the first part of the Pyke."
The Lords of Westeros were silent as they thought over the plan. "Do you mean to say that you plan on breaching the strongest part of the Pyke's walls by yourself, with no siege equipment?" Lord Tywin asked disbelievingly, but more from curiosity than anything derogatory or dismissive as he previously would've done. "How? Wave your hand and make a magic door appear?"
"Slightly more complicated than that, but yes," Nox answered. "And if I'm wrong, our siege engines will still be in place and you can revert back to your original plan."
Seeing the disbelieving looks on the Lords' and King's faces, Ned rose to his feet. "My Lords, your grace. While I admit that Master Nox has only recently entered my service, I can vouch that he is a man of honor and a man of his word. If he says that he can create a breach to let our men in, then I believe him." Turning towards Nox, Ned prayed to the old gods that he was not making a mistake. "Master Nox, I will dedicate my forces to you during this assault. The men of the North shall be under your command during the battle."
Nox merely nodded, as if he expected Ned to do just this. "Thank you for the vote of confidence, Lord Stark. Now, my lords, if you will excuse me, it has been a long time since I've bathed and I smell like a bantha's backside. It's getting to the point where I'm starting to offend myself. And as we will be on the march first thing in the morning, I don't know when the opportunity will present itself again. Your grace, my lords." And without waiting for a dismissal, Nox merely bowed lowly and marched out of the hall, no doubt much to the surprise of the guards outside who never even saw him enter.
"Well," Robert bellowed, rising to his feet, prompting everyone to follow suit. "You heard the pretty fucker. We go with his plan. Tarly, Tyrell send out the orders to the fleet. Everyone else, inform your men of the plan. We set off at first light… Now, someone get me a fucking whore. I need to feel a good cunt around my cock before we set out."
Striding forth between the lines of Northern soldiers waiting for the battle to start at the foot of the walls of the Pyke, Nox was hit with a wave of nostalgia. 'How long has it been since I've led men into battle like this?' he thought as a slight feeling of elation flowed through him. 'Not long. Yet still, I have missed this sensation. The fear. The lust for battle. The desire to destroy one's enemy. The unknown before a battle. It's so thick in the air, it's almost intoxicating.'
Walking to the front of the battle formation, Nox stationed himself between the towering figure of 'The Great Jon' and the only slightly smaller figure of the young bear Jorah Mormont who were both staring at the imposingly high wall of the Pyke that was a mere four hundred meters in front of them. Nox had to hand it to the people of this world. When they built a castle or a stronghold, they did it right. When one studied the keep with a critical eye, you could tell that at one point the separate parts of the keep had once made up a singular whole keep. But, according to what he'd read and heard, years of erosion of the island cliff face that the Pyke had been built upon had separated the keep into several smaller keeps that were situated on different islands and connected by rope bridges. First one had to get over or through the walls of the first keep on the mainland, and even once that was accomplished, you had to navigate through the different keeps that made up the Pyke and hope that the defenders didn't destroy the bridges that connected the keep together. It would be a tough fight for sure. But Nox had faced far tougher in his time.
"Well sorcerer, here we are," the 'Great' Jon mumbled, spitting on the ground. "Standing before the strongest part of the fucking gatehouse of the Pyke with no siege equipment, ladders, or even enough men to scale the fucking walls. So, what's your great plan, huh? Going to give us all wings with a wave of your hand and let us fly over the walls or some horse shit?"
Giving the larger man a smirk, Nox moved a few paces towards the keep before stopping and rolling his shoulders. He hadn't done what he was about too in some time. "When it starts, my Lords, I highly suggest that you and your men not approach any closer than you currently are until I'm finished."
The larger man huffed. "And why the fuck is that?"
"Because I cannot guarantee that I won't kill you by accident if you do," Nox responded emotionlessly as he tilted his head back and breathed deep through his mask. "Now shut up and witness the true power of the Force."
Memories flooded through Nox's mind as he opened himself to the Force. His mother being violated before him. The death of Ffon at his and Zash's hands. The death of Zash at his hands. The meeting of Ashara. Of their first time together. Of learning of her death. Every memory that invoked a powerful feeling within him flowed through his mind like a vid reel, and he was merely as spectator to the best and worst moments in his life. And with each memory that passed, his emotions deepened as his connection to the dark side, as well as parts of the light, grew stronger and stronger.
Around him, wind started to wisp as the nearby horses whimpered while the men began nervously shifting their weight from foot to foot. As their movements became more and more anxious, Nox felt the Force condensing around not only himself, but in the very earth and sky around him. He could feel the dark miasma of the Force, a physical manifestation of the dark side, forming around him as his feet left the ground while small arcs of electricity flowed around his body.
"By the gods!" he vaguely heard more than one man cry out over the rush of the Force in his ears. "What is he?"
Smiling beneath his mask, Nox fed greedily on the fear and wonder of the men behind him as he began hovering several feet of the ground. The arcs of electricity growing more frequent and increasing in their intensity connecting him to the ground briefly before disappearing. Raising his hands to the side, Nox began gathering the Force into the palms of his hands. The dark miasma and electricity bounding around his hands and arms as he brought them forward.
Gritting his teeth, he pulled deeper and deeper on the Force. Calling forth the one memory that invoked the greatest emotion of all. The last time he'd awoken in bed beside Ashara. Just before he felt himself reach his physical limit, Nox let out a cry and thrust his hands forward towards the walls of the Pyke.
The resulting wave of Force Lightning surprised even Nox in its intensity. The very earth became scorched and scarred as the bolt of Force Lightning flew from Nox's hands and impacted the walls of the Pyke. Connecting the two together. Turning his hands, palms out and hands back to back, Nox channeled the Force Lightning into the mortar of the wall, chipping away at the binding agent and forcing the lightning between the rocks that made the wall. Gritting his teeth in concentration, Nox slowly pulled his hands apart, separating the lightning into two separate beams that began eroding away at the wall, creating a growing opening.
After what felt like an eternity, Nox let go of his connection to the Force, dropping down to the ground heavily as he just barely managed to keep himself from falling flat on his face. Taking several deep breaths, Nox surveyed what he'd done. A stretch of ground nearly five meters thick and stretching from himself to the castle wall had been scorched to the point where the dirt had begun to crystalize from the heat. And the wall of Pyke was no longer complete. Where Nox's lightning had impacted, there was now little more than large pile of rubble that stretched nearly twenty meters across.
"Well, my Lords," Nox breathed, doing his best to keep himself steady and his voice strong. "I promised you and your King that I would create a breach in the wall, and I'm a man of my word. Now, are you lot going to attack or just stand here with your thumbs up your collective asses?"
"The sorcerer is right!" Jorah Mormont yelled, his sword leaving its sheath as he turned to face the assembled Northern host. "He's given us the chance to pay these Ironborn fuckers back for years of them raping and pillaging our lands! Let us show these fuckers what the North remembers! And that we will make them pay their own 'iron price' for all their sins! For the North!"
A cry of 'for the North' went up through the assembled men. Then, like a floodgate had been lifted, the men of the North charged headlong for the breach that Nox had created for them. Soon, it was only the Great Jon and Nox still standing, watching as the men of the North led by Jorah Mormont ran for the keep.
"Well, sorcerer, it appears you are a man of your word. And I'm not one who admits it easily, but I can swallow my pride today and admit that I was wrong about you." Lord Umber muttered as he stepped up beside him. "But you look like shit. Need me to carry your pretty ass into battle, or can you hold your own?"
Scoffing, Nox drew himself up to his full height and pulled out his lightsaber and held it loosely to his side. "Amusing. As if such a thing like this would be enough to slow me down. No, it's far more likely that by the end of this battle, I'll be the one having to carry your ugly ass out."
Lord Umber's smile was vicious as he drew his blade. "Ha! How about friendly competition, sorcerer? A barrel of good true Northern ale to the one who kills the most Ironborn fuckers!"
Activating his lightsaber, Nox smirked beneath his mask. "You're on, Lord Umber. And do try not to cry when you lose."