The last five floors went very slowly. But at last the large spyeye was lifted into place, Thomas and a telepath were on the top floor to adjust and train a spotter. Thomas spun the spyeye around until he spotted a fishing vessel a ways out from the coast. He made some adjustments to the focus, and it came clearly into view. Then something much farther away caught his eye. It was much higher and looked like a bag floating in the sky. Scanning around, he spotted four more of them. They were just lazily floating in the air, but it looked like they were descending slightly. He had the telepath send out an alarm. He couldn't see any people in the small baskets that hung beneath these bags, but there must be some. They needed everyone to be on watch for when and where they landed.
The first one landed two days later near the fort just north of Deepwood Motte. There were three bodies in the basket: one was a swampkin, chained to the basket, and two Zon. The bag and the basket were sent to Brandon's Rest. Thomas and his team began studying the things immediately. The bag was basically sailcloth. The basket had a red gemstone mounted underneath an opening in the bag. When fire affinity was applied to the stone, it gave off strong heat for a very long time. When the heat went up in the bag, the bag filled and lifted the basket. When tested, the gemstone gave off heat for almost a week.
There was no food or water left in the baskets. These people died from exhaustion, starvation, and lack of water. The bags didn't have enough lift power to carry enough supplies to keep them alive across the ocean. But the Zon had sent them anyway, hoping for some intel gain, regardless of the cost. This was the resolve of the enemy they were facing. One of the bags fell into the sea and was rescued by one of the smaller vessels. The swampkin aboard was still alive. He was rushed to the infirmary at Brandon's Rest. With healing and small amounts of water and broth, they brought him around. The swampkin in the infirmary said that he seemed to be under some spell, so treekin mages were brought in to dispel him. It took a while, but they finally removed his malady, and he began to wake up.
His name was Woody, and all the swampkin made contact with him so that he understood how many of them were surviving here in the east. Slowly, as his health improved, he was interviewed, and he told all he knew about the Zon and their inventions. Woody told them that, indeed, the Zon planned a first strike next spring with 1000 ships, and that they would follow that assault with an even larger battle group. Thousands of ships, though it would take them several years to complete that group. He called what he had ridden in on balloons. He said they had drifted for weeks in the becalmed zone before a massive storm had pushed them towards land. 10 balloons had started, but only 5 had survived the storm. Wicket and her mother knew him from their village and invited him to come live with them in Braavos when this war was done. He swore allegiance to Westeros from his bed and seemed happy to fight against the Zon. They were monsters to him, and anyway, he could help defeat them, which was something he wanted to do.
Ming and Tse filed their report, and Bran and all the war councils digested its information, and girded their loins against the fighting to come. This was just another reminder of how powerful an enemy they faced, and how determined that enemy was to conquer them.
Thomas gathered all the balloons and baskets, and he and his group came up with an even larger balloon. It had two baskets under it and could carry much more weight. Basically, it had two balloons inside a silk fabric wrap shaped almost like a ship. They connected the two baskets with a railed walkway, which would enable the dropping of gunpowder casks over a wide range. They kept it tethered with a heavy rope and test flew it from a point of land southwest of Brandon's Rest. The test went perfectly, and a new class of warriors was born. The Flight Corps became a much-lauded new force. A second balloon was constructed and deployed further south along the coast. The last balloon and basket were sent to King's Landing for study and development.
As far as Woody knew, the balloons were the last assault tactic before the major attack next spring.
Harvesting was underway, training was going on, young children were being raised, and life went on as usual. The last few improvements were made to the forts and Deepwood Motte; gun practice continued, and troops were placed at strategic points. They were as ready as they could be for what was coming, and events were held to steel their resolve for the coming battles.
Deep in the Wolfswood, Nymeria was raising her pups, who were nearly full-grown by now. She herself was unsure exactly what had happened to her, but she felt fundamentally changed. At times, she glowed gold, and she was unsure what it meant. It felt to her like something was inside her that wasn't there before. She recognized that something was good, but she couldn't understand exactly how it would affect what she did.