"My Lord, their ships are coming!"
Esmond Island is a small, mountainous isle, not as fertile or picturesque as Yas Island to its north. For generations, the Esmond family has called it home, building a moderately sized fleet and occasionally collecting tolls from passing ships.
The island has little arable land, so its population remains small. Yet, this doesn't mean the Esmond family is poor. Its central location along the shipping lanes connecting Dorne, the Crownlands, and the Stormlands ensures that the tolls provide a comfortable living.
Esmond Island doesn't maintain a large standing army. Greenstone City's garrison numbers less than a hundred year-round, and the family boasts eleven sworn knights, five of whom are Esmonds themselves. Due to its limited population, the island cannot quickly raise a large force in times of war—a significant vulnerability.
Cole, while reviewing records of the Esmond family, noted their presence in various historical events, but always in passing. Clearly, no one of great renown had emerged from their ranks.
The Esmond fleet was led by Ser Lomas Esmond, whose elder brother was Earl Elton Esmond. They had anchored their ships in the strait off Esmond Island.
Lomas watched as the enemy warships, nine, then ten, and a round-sailed merchant vessel, slowly grew larger on the distant sea. The intelligence seemed correct: no ships from Storm's End were missing.
Still, the thought of their approaching enemy stirred an unavoidable unease in Lomas's heart, an emotion that had pervaded the entire island for days.
The man bards called the "White Bird Knight" had shattered the confidence of the rainforest people with a series of swift victories. They had believed the families and castles in the rainforest could slow Cole's advance, but the defenders of those strongholds either surrendered without a fight or were utterly defeated.
They had anxiously awaited reinforcements, hoping Cole would be delayed, but now he was here. Though his fleet consisted of only a dozen ships, the white bird banner flapping in the wind seemed to bear down on them with immense pressure and fear.
"Where are the Lannisters, brother? Why do you trust those lions?" Lomas muttered to himself.
Cole's fleet numbered only thirteen ships, while Esmond Island had twenty-seven—eighteen warships and a 150-oared flagship named the Green Turtle, giving them more than twice the enemy's strength.
Lomas ordered the horns blown, preparing to lead his fleet to meet the enemy and prevent them from landing. On land, at the foot of the Red Mountains, the rainforest people, despite outnumbering Cole's forces two to one, had been thoroughly beaten.
The White Bird Knight's soldiers were well-trained and disciplined. Esmond lacked the confidence to defeat them on land, especially given the current state of morale.
"Let's see if this White Bird Knight is as formidable at sea," Lomas thought.
Nearly fifty years old, Lomas had heard countless legends in his lifetime. Prince Rhaegar and Robert the Usurper had lived in his era; he had personally witnessed the conflicts of that generation and understood that even legendary warriors were still just men.
The enemy ships drew closer. When the warships were about 500 paces away, arrows began to fly through the air. Lomas thought they had released their arrows too early; few found their mark, most splashing into the sea or harmlessly striking the ships and decks.
The Storm's End fleet was arrayed in a single, neat line. Lomas found himself curious how they maintained such a formation.
It was incredibly difficult to hold a precise formation in a naval battle; often, skill came from a commander's ability to direct ships independently. It wasn't until the fleets were less than 200 paces apart that Lomas saw it: the thirteen warships were connected by chains.
On their decks, he saw soldiers holding spears and shields, forming a solid wall. He even glimpsed the silhouette of a warhorse among them.
On the central warship, he spotted a knight in silver armor beneath a white banner, waving the flag. At his signal, the archers on the deck began to loose their arrows.
Lomas bellowed orders to dodge. At about 200 paces, he had just ordered his ships forward at full speed.
Before he could countermand the order, the distance between the two fleets closed to less than fifty paces.
The thirteen ships, now effectively a single, mobile island, bore down on them head-on.
The Esmond warships had adopted a scattered, sword-shaped formation, each ship intending to attack the Storm's End vessels individually. But now, with the enemy ships linked, this tactic was clearly useless.
Bang!
Lomas heard the sound of a keel striking a hull. Before they could steady themselves from the jarring impact, the enemy's boarding bridges were already down.
Three or four wide wooden ramps formed a bridge connecting the two ships. When Lomas saw soldiers with swords rushing across, he roared, "To arms! Quickly!"
Men fell into the sea from the plank bridges, and the deck descended into chaos. Lomas, wielding a one-handed axe, cut down several Storm's End soldiers.
He seized a brief lull in the fighting to survey the battlefield. Several of his chained ships had been struck and were sinking. The iron chains had entangled all his ships, pulling the entire Esmond fleet into a confused mass.
He saw that the enemy was using their exceptionally long spears to stab Esmond soldiers through the ships, while Esmond's own men couldn't break through the spearmen arrayed on the enemy decks.
The boarding bridges, it seemed, had only been built for the initial wave of attackers. After that first surge, no more enemy soldiers crossed over; instead, the spearmen held the bridges, creating a deadly barrier.
Now, the two forces faced each other across these bridges, but with their shorter weapons, the Esmond men were at a distinct disadvantage.
Lomas heard a horn blast from the enemy's side. Instantly, the spearmen shifted formation, opening a path. Heavily armored soldiers rapidly boarded the bridge and began to charge. At the forefront, he saw the silver-armored knight.
Wielding two swords and clad in full plate armor, he moved with astonishing speed, boarding the Green Turtle in an instant. Behind him followed five or six heavily armored axemen and four or five chainmail-clad swordsmen.
They leaped onto the deck and began to kill. The Esmond soldiers at the front broke and fled in an instant, many leaping into the sea in a panic. These armored warriors carved out a space, though several were struck by desperate, wild attacks.
Still, they had bought enough time for the spearmen behind them. Those soldiers, still holding their spears, also jumped aboard, leaning on each other to form a stable, unyielding "hedgehog" formation.
They had lost. These enemies had somehow turned a sea battle into a land battle. Lomas watched the silver knight drawing closer and closer, tightening his grip on his axe.