Not only did the Dothraki dare not attack at night, but fearing an ambush, they also chose to retreat five miles back to set up camp.
Once Lancelot confirmed their withdrawal, he immediately sent men to collect all of the hundred thousand-plus arrows the Dothraki had fired.
The next morning, Lancelot met with the slavers of Meereen and showed them the arrows he had collected overnight.
"To think you collected over a hundred thousand arrows in a single night! How did you do it, Ser Lancelot?" Great Master Oznak zo Pahl asked.
"Just a little trick, nothing worth mentioning! Hahaha!" Lancelot laughed it off.
"However, they will besiege the city again! I will send the Unsullied to defend outside the gates, and Meereen's archers can stand on the walls to exchange fire with them. This time, shooting from high ground against their low position, they won't have the upper hand," he continued.
Things unfolded just as Lancelot anticipated. When the Dothraki army arrived at the city walls, they launched their assault, only to be met by the Unsullied defending the gates.
From atop the walls, Meereenese soldiers rained arrows down on the Dothraki.
Although the Dothraki were born warriors, they lacked the terrain advantage. Their casualty rate was far higher than Meereen's.
Lancelot witnessed firsthand the iron discipline of the Unsullied—fighting to the death without retreat, infantry standing firm against the Dothraki cavalry.
"Form ranks!" Rat commanded.
One hundred Unsullied formed a triangular formation, each point sharp as a dagger. Their spears were positioned specifically to pierce the throats of charging warhorses, throwing the riders to the ground.
Standing behind his warriors, Khal Drogo watched his clansmen die one by one. He roared in fury.
"Damned Meereenese! Killing so many of my warriors! Charge with me!"
Khal Drogo led the charge personally.
His arrival boosted the Dothraki's fighting spirit immensely.
The tide of battle began to shift quietly.
"Drogo is coming!" Lancelot saw the ferocious warrior leading his pack of wolves and tigers in a charge.
"Order all Unsullied to retreat inside the gates. Then scatter all the soybeans and black beans outside the city."
Although the Great Masters of Meereen didn't understand why Lancelot wanted to do this, they followed his instructions.
When Khal Drogo arrived beneath the walls of Meereen and saw the Unsullied retreating, he laughed loudly.
"Rats! Cowards! Scum! Do you dare not fight me to the death?"
The other Dothraki joined in, mocking the Meereenese.
But as roasted black beans and soybeans poured down from the city walls...
The warhorses began to move forward on their own.
The aroma of the roasted beans made the horses salivate.
Khal Drogo was the first to notice something was wrong. He tried to control his mount, but it wouldn't obey, charging relentlessly toward the base of the wall to eat.
"No! The horses won't listen!" Cohollo shouted.
Although warhorses were trained to obey their riders, hunger and instinct could override their training.
"The horses are entering their arrow range!" Qotho said.
Atop the walls of Meereen, Lancelot had already ordered the archers to nock their arrows. In a few moments, Drogo and his men would be turned into pincushions.
"Dismount!" Drogo commanded. He was the first to jump off his horse, and others followed suit. They dismounted and tried to pull the reins with all their might to drag the horses back.
But a man's strength is no match for a horse's! They couldn't pull them back.
At that moment, the city gates opened again, and the Unsullied charged out with their spears.
Khal Drogo and his men immediately drew their arakhs to fight.
But their weapons lacked reach, and the Unsullied were fearless. Even a warrior as strong as Khal Drogo was forced back.
The first phase of the Defense of Meereen ended in victory for the Meereenese.
When Rat led Drogo's horse back into the city and brought it to Lancelot, the other Meereenese nobles gathered around him.
"Ser Lancelot, your brilliant strategy is truly impressive! Not only did you easily capture half the Dothraki arrows, but you also brought back hundreds of their warhorses."
Lancelot didn't comment on their praise. He mounted Drogo's jet-black stallion and found it to be a top-tier steed, comparable to the Akhal-Teke he had won in the lottery.
"From now on, your name is Raven. You have a companion in King's Landing named Red Hare."
Lancelot named them after famous horses from his past life.
However, the black stallion under Lancelot, being ridden by a stranger for the first time, was furious and tried to throw him off.
But Lancelot immediately used his Skinchanger power to subdue her. It was only then he realized that Raven was actually a mare, albeit a very large one.
"When we get back to King's Landing, I can breed Red Hare and Raven myself!" Lancelot thought.
The Great Masters generously invited Lancelot and his men to a feast. Even the Unsullied each received a whole roasted chicken.
After leaving the banquet, Lancelot returned to the Temple of the Graces.
"Ser Lancelot! The crisis in Meereen is not over. The city is still shrouded in mortal danger," the Green Grace said again.
"The horselords have been beaten back for now. Perhaps they'll decide Meereen is too tough a nut to crack and go bully Yunkai instead. I don't care about Yunkai," Lancelot said.
"I saw a monstrous flood collapsing Meereen's walls. Slaves drowning in the water, Great Masters starving to death atop their pyramids, resorting to cannibalism, trading children for food."
"The crisis is not over. Your responsibility is not over," the Green Grace insisted.
"A flood? You mean the horselords will destroy the dam?"
The Skahazadhan River was indeed upstream of Meereen, and the city sat at the river's mouth.
If the enemy destroyed the dam, the consequences would be unimaginable!
"Ser Lancelot, you must protect Meereen. Otherwise, this ancient city will be destroyed," the Green Grace said solemnly.
"Whether alchemy works or not remains to be seen. If you're playing me, don't forget the Lannister words: A Lannister Always Pays His Debts. You'd best not be tricking me!"
Lancelot left the Temple of the Graces and returned to his quarters. He needed to leave as soon as possible, but the threat of the horselords had to be dealt with quickly.
Lancelot summoned Podrick and ordered him to lead twenty Unsullied upstream along the Skahazadhan to check if the Dothraki were preparing to break the dam.
Podrick and his men moved in stealth, evading Dothraki surveillance, and reached the upstream area. There, they saw many Dothraki gathered, bathing in the river.
Many men and women were openly having sex in the water. Such was the Dothraki way!
However, while monitoring the Dothraki, they were discovered. Outnumbered, the Unsullied were all killed. Podrick was bound and taken to see Khal Drogo.
In Khal Drogo's tent, the Khal was drinking fermented mare's milk and sulking. He had actually lost a battle. Khal Drogo hadn't lost a battle in ten years. This failure at Meereen brought back the humiliating feelings of his youth.
"Khal, this man brought men to spy on us. I caught him!" Qotho entered and reported.
He lashed Podrick viciously with his whip, knocking him to the ground.
"Who are you? You don't look Meereenese," Khal Drogo asked. The slave translator beside him translated the Khal's words for Podrick.
"I am from Westeros. I am a squire of House Lannister, serving Ser Lancelot," Podrick answered truthfully.
"From the Sunset Kingdoms? I've seen some of their mercenaries, but they stick to the Free Cities. This is the first time I've seen one come as far as Meereen. What are you doing here?" Khal Drogo asked.
"We came treasure hunting. We just came out of the ruins of Valyria! Many people died there, and many caught a disease... their skin turned grey and hard as stone."
When the slave translator relayed this to Khal Drogo and his men, every Dothraki warrior in the tent turned pale with shock.
The ruins of Valyria were a cursed place. They knew about Greyscale. They wondered if the man before them carried the disease.
Qotho, who had personally captured Podrick, fearfully stripped off his own clothes to check his skin.