As Helder saw Lark approaching, just by looking at his face he knew the situation was not good, after looking at his officer, he said "Don't spare any details, what happened"
The scout took a moment to recompose and said shortly after, "My prince, it's worse than I thought, the ironborn invaded the town, and razed almost everything, there are some survivors left, mostly able-bodied men, probably to be sold as slaves, we are outnumbered, I think we should go back and gather reinforcements"
After listening patiently Helder asked curtly, "How many enemies there are"
"At least fifteen my prince, but again I must say …" replied the officer just to be interrupted.
"I didn't know Baneforte bred cowards, you will spearhead the entry, if you try to run away, heh, let's just say It will not be good for your health"
All of the men were surprised, but in truth, for a man thinking he had the gift of immortality, it was not that surprising that he would have such an attitude.
Still, such an action was unwise in most people's eyes, so to try to appear more reasonable Helder said, "I can guarantee that if you follow my orders, none of you will die, at least not today."
The officers looked at him with great doubt still, but there was not much they could do, even if the prince was not that liked by his father the King, they were no much more than glorified peasants, guards of a castle, and now subordinates of a scoundrel.
After a brief plan, they set out to enter the town.
Looking around everything was torn apart, bodies were everywhere, and many houses were set ablaze, the town did not have many riches, but anything the ironborn could plunder they would, be it bronze utensils to people.
As the group sneaked in the direction of their enemies, Helder found a place he found adequate to start their raid, a street corner that had an abandoned hay cart in front, after observing for some time the prince commanded the man wielding spears to hide behind the cart, and said "Only attack after we pass through, and don't make a noise"
To them it seemed irrational, they were at a numerical disadvantage but their commander was ordering them to stay behind, but now they were so close to the enemy that any discussion would be heard. If they knew beforehand they would never come.
Not giving his men much time to think, seeing that things were set up correctly and they were in position, Helder like a madman started to scream, "Hey you ironborn fuckers, look here" he threw a stone in their direction and started to advance.
From the ironborn perspective, it seemed a bit absurd hearing the shout, as they turned around they saw only seven men, and despite being armed, were outnumbered by more than double, so they just snickered and rushed in their direction.
Helder knew ironborn were not known for their intelligence, so their actions were in accordance with his plan, so he and his man advanced too.
Soon they clashed, and a fierce battle broke out, but still, no one was majorly injured, but the scene was soon to change, his men manage to hold the ironborn back a little, and in the fray one of his officers by the name of Tylan had pulled an ironborn to the ground with his the back of his bronze axe, seeing this, Helder made quick work of him, with a sword downward strike to the back of the neck, which managed to enrage their enemies further.
Taking one down was good, and knowing that he could not match them for much longer while being outnumbered, the scheming Helder shouted, as if desperately, "Retreat, retreat!''
As if struck by lightning the men soon realized their princes' plan, with renewed vigor they battled while retreating, giving their all so that they could see the sun come up one more time.
As they neared the corner the desperation had grown exponentially, just a little more and they would be there, but their happiness was not long, one of the ironborn had managed to hit one of theirs on the shoulder with the thrust of his weapon.
But Helder was quick to act again, shielding his guard from further damage while managing to cut the hand of the assailer.
All of them were surprised, no one thought that this unremarkable princeling was such a fierce warrior.
The retreat progressed and they were soon in the corner, Helder seeing the opportunity hastened their pace, took out his secondary blade, and simply threw it, the dagger was embedded in an ironman eye socked, and all of the others were even more enraged, they already lost a lot of comrades to the townspeople, and now this group of misfits managed to take down two more.
Unbeknownst to them, the pirates were marching in the direction of their graves.
When Helder managed to get to the corner he commanded, "Attack, kill them all". The spear-wielders in hiding all proceeded at the same time, one movement one dead man. Gore and screams of pain sounded.
Now facing an unexpected attack the ironborn had to divert their attention, but it was to no avail. The prince was the first to take advantage of the situation, with only one swing he managed to sever the spine of one ironborn, and his men soon followed, seeing a real chance of victory they fought like their enemies were the Great Other himself.
With eight down and seven to go the drowned men were not in a good position, the spearmen were relentless, and with the surprise on their side, they mowed down their enemies, while enjoying the bloodbath.
The battle soon was over, and when there were only three ironborn left, including the captain, they felt that there was no more chance to win, which was followed by a decision to surrender, the look of despair was evident on their faces as they threw down their weapons got on their knees.
Helder ordered his men to tie them up, with his sword in hand he looked them in the eyes coldly and said, "Why are you attacking my domain, if you tell the truth I promise you mercy".
Feeling like he found land after being adrift in the sea the captain was quick to reply, "Milord, we just wanted to make our names back home, if we knew that there were such brave men like you in this lands we would never come." his words oozed fear.
While in such a stressful situation many would abandon their honor and standing just to get a chance to live, even if in the freezing hell of The Wall.
Being a deceiver himself, Helder felt the truth in his words despite the flattery, so he cooly spoke, "Very well, tell me your name, good man".
"I'm Desmor Milord" replied the Captain, with a smile so ugly it could kill.
"Desmor, I'm Prince Helder, not some lord, but I will keep my word, you have my mercy'' Just as the pirate fully relaxed, Helder struck with his sword, severing the head with one swing.
Everyone was horrified, such trickery and deceit were not common in this land at all, not giving time for them to think more, Helder took his sword once more and gutted the last two ironborn leaving them to bleed to death while suffering.
"Good riddance, if you were fast enough, you would have a quick death, if you have a next life, pray not to cross paths with me again".