Since Greatjon Umber reported that the Rockseed and Ironborn pirates preferred to attack at night, Eddard decided to launch a counter-attack.
Umber's men said that recently, the pirates had been landing on distant beaches, flanking the Umber camp on the coast. While the Umber soldiers were busy dealing with the enemy behind them, the pirates hiding at sea would launch a surprise attack from the beach, catching the Umber troops in a pincer movement—a tactic that had proven consistently effective.
Eddard ordered Jory Caesar, captain of the Winterfell Guard, to take twenty of Winterfell's personal guards to the beach and set up ten tents, filling them with scarecrows and some food. As dusk faded and darkness fell, Jory Caesar led the Winterfell guards back to the Northern army's camp.
With the bait laid, they waited for the enemy to take the bait.
At midnight, scouts led by Ferran and Robert Glover spotted the enemy. In the darkness, about fifty pirates circled around to the back of the camp and roared as they charged in.
Pirates from the sea also emerged from the beach and entered the camp, setting some ablaze. The pirates quickly discovered the tents were empty, only straw men remained.
At that moment, Greatjon Umber sounded the horns of the North, their echoes reverberating across the sea and sky.
Cavalry from Streamlands, the Knights of White Harbor, and horse archers from Torrenfjord charged in from all directions. Eddard, riding a grey warhorse and wielding the greatsword Frost, led the Winterfell cavalry in the charge, with Captain Jori Caesar of the Winterfell Guard, Cyrio Forel, the Braavos Water Dancer, and Dawson, the Guard, close behind.
In recent days, House Umber had rarely used cavalry to attack the pirates, because the pirates had once burned their camp, killing many of their horses, causing them to run away, or steal them. Since then, House Umber had been plagued by a lack of horses, giving the pirates more flexibility in their guerrilla warfare.
The pirates were clearly unaware of the Northern army's arrival. When shouts of "Long live Winterfell!" "Long live Starks!" "Long live Streamlands!" and "Long live White Harbor!" echoed from all directions, the pirates immediately realized they had fallen into a trap.
Faced with cavalry charging out of the darkness from all sides, the pirates could only hastily engage in battle. Many pirates were trampled underfoot before they could even react. The
Northern cavalry lost only five men, but killed more than thirty pirates and captured eight. Only a small group of pirates escaped to the sea, boarded ships, and fled. When the Northern cavalry reached the shore, only three longships remained.
After the battle, Jon Snow said, "Lord Eddard, it's a pity some pirates escaped."
Eddard replied, "Let them escape! When they reach Skaggs and bring news of the Northern army's gathering at Seal Bay, the Rockhead and Ironborn pirates there will be terrified. Once that fear spreads among the enemy, they will be too afraid to withstand the onslaught of swords and fire."
Domilik Bolton's longsword was stained with blood. "Theon, I killed an enemy. This pirate became the first enemy I've ever killed."
Theon dismounted and began rummaging through the corpse of a pirate riddled with arrows. "I shot three,"
Domilik said. "With so many archers firing, how do you know it was you?"
"Believe it or not, I knew whether I hit or not when I drew my bow." Theon pulled off the pirate's sealskin boots.
"Why are you rummaging through a dead man's belongings?" Domilik asked, puzzled. Theon said smugly, "Flaye, you don't understand, do you? I shot this guy dead, so I have the right to take everything he had. That's called 'paying the iron money.' His spoils are mine! It's a pity he was a pauper; only his boots were decent."
The prisoners were brought before Ed. They were all tall, burly men with stubble and thick body hair, wearing animal skins over chainmail. In appearance, these men looked more like Rockborn than Ironborn.
Ed asked, "Which of you is an Ironborn?"
Some glared at Ed, some were indifferent, and some looked disdainful, but none of them were afraid. A pirate wearing a horned helmet sneered, "None of us are Ironborn; we are all Rockborn."
The horned pirate's gaze lingered on the direwolf emblem on Ed's chest. "You're the Wolf King of Winterfell? Let me tell you, the Stark family of Winterfell will never again be able to make the proud Rockborn kneel. Samuro Crowley, the Rock King, will slaughter every one of you."
Greatjon kicked the horned helmet pirate in the mouth, the sound of teeth shattering echoing as the pirate groaned and fell to the ground, spitting out two broken teeth. Greatjon drew his dagger. "Lord Eddard, these beasts have killed many of my warriors and people, and abducted women and children. Kill them all! None of the Rockborn we've captured have surrendered anyway."
Eddard shook his head in refusal. "No, we lack knowledge of Skaggs Island and the Rockborn who live there. Capture them first, torture them severely, and perhaps we can extract some information."
These Rockborn pirates had just been captured; gathered together, none of them would dare to be cowards. But given time, and through individual interrogation, Eddard believed he would surely gain something.
After the Northern army appeared at Seal Bay, the pirates who had ravaged House Umber's territory vanished like dew in the sunlight. The pirates boarded longships and fled towards Skaggs, the largest island in the North, on the eastern shore of Seal Bay. Those who couldn't escape back to sea were all killed by Northern soldiers.
Soon, the coastline returned to tranquility. However, the burnt farmland, the burned fishing boats along the coast, the destroyed saltworks and fishing villages ravaged by war, and the corpses lying everywhere all spoke of the sorrow left behind by the pirates.
Ser Herman Tauhar of Torrenfjord said, "Lord Eddard, the fleet at White Harbor hasn't arrived yet. Where should we camp? To prevent the pirates from returning, I suggest we retreat to a point one league from the coast; it will be safer to camp there."
"No, we'll set up camp right here," Eddard refused. "We'll arrange the supply wagons and provisions at the rear of the camp. Along the seaside of the camp, we'll raise the direwolf banner of Winterfell and the banners of the various Northern families. If the pirates dare to scout, they'll know they have no chance once they see our large, flag-flying army."
Jori Caesar said, "Lord Eddard, we don't know where the fleet from White Harbor has gone. Should we send ravens to search for them?"
Eddard shook his head. "Forget it. Sending ravens to the castle is pointless." "The question is, send a message across the sea to find a fleet? We'll likely find nothing. Besides, there might be pirate ships at sea. If the raven is shot down by pirates and the message falls into enemy hands, we'll only be at a disadvantage."
"Lord Ed," said "Big Barrel" Warr of the Mountain Clan, "are we just going to stand here and do nothing but wait for the White Harbor fleet?"
Ed sighed, "We can only wait. That's how it is in cross-sea warfare; without ships, you can't do anything." Ed could only hope that Willis Mandelbrot had lost the fleet at sea; otherwise, the Northern army's food supplies would be wasted.
.....
Completed eng PDF of this fan-fic on my Patreon shop if you want to support and own the full fan-fic in one go. Just grab the PDF and binge the entire story from start to finish!
Guys, I've uploaded some NEW High Quality english translated fanfic on my Patreon shop! Feel free to check it out—if you're interested, you can grab a copy and support me there.
Here are a few titles of recently uploaded fanfics:
" Game of Thrones: I've Loaded the Witcher System "
" Game of Thrones: I Became the Crown Prince for a Day "
" Game of Thrones: Viserys the Three-Headed Dragon "
" Game of Thrones: Holy Flame King "
" Game of Thrones: King of the North " many more are available for you,
Your support means a lot—thanks in advance, legends!
Patreon.com/AniFic
(End of Chapter)