The Kingswood lies south of King's Landing, separated by the Blackwater Rush. Ever since the Targaryen dynasty established King's Landing as its capital, it has been the king's royal hunting ground.
As such, this forest has been uninhabited for a very long time, and its trees have never been felled, resulting in it possessing the richest flora and fauna in all of Westeros. It is even rumored that creatures from ancient tales, such as the Children of the Forest, still live in this vast forest.However, during the reign of the Mad King, the control over the Kingswood from King's Landing became very weak, which allowed many commoners who could not survive in King's Landing to enter the Kingswood to make a living.
Although it couldn't provide them with a very comfortable living environment, as long as they knew a little about hunting skills and plant identification, they could survive on the edge of the Kingswood.As a result, more and more commoners lived in the Kingswood, no longer just people from King's Landing, but also debtors, refugees, and others from other territories. In the later stages, the entire Kingswood had formed more than twenty villages and towns of various sizes, with a population of tens of thousands.
Because the Kingswood is a vital area connecting the north and south, and the Roseroad needs to pass through the Kingswood to reach King's Landing, countless caravans pass through here, which has led to a large number of bandits gathering here. And those villages and towns built privately in the Kingswood have become the best hiding places for bandits.Originally, the bandits were just small groups, at most able to rob lone merchants and small caravans, but with the emergence of the Greenwood Brotherhood, all the bandits in the Greenwood were united, forming a bandit group of up to five thousand people.The Brotherhood Without Banners was not only numerous, but its leaders and chieftains were all exceptionally skilled. Leaders like Simon Toyne, the Smiling Knight, Wenda the White Fawn, Oswin Longneck the Undying of the Three Knots, and "Big Belly" Ben were all strong enough to fight the Kingsguard to a standstill. You have to remember that the Kingsguard under the Mad King were known as the strongest Kingsguard ever, with the likes of Barristan the Bold, Arthur Dayne the Sword of the Morning, and Gerold Hightower the White Bull, all of whom were the strongest knights in the Seven Kingdoms at the time.Possessing such formidable strength, the Kingswood Brotherhood naturally harbored great ambitions. They completely severed the north-south connection of the Roseroad, established checkpoints in the Kingswood to collect taxes, and showed no mercy to caravans that did not comply with their regulations. Not even the caravans of small lords were spared, and they did not hesitate to attack even the official caravans of House Tyrell, the Warden of the South, and House Targaryen.
The Kingswood Brotherhood's actions had severely affected the safety and tax revenue of King's Landing, and the Mad King Aerys II had sent men to suppress them on more than one occasion, but with little success.If the forces besieging the Brotherhood Without Banners are numerous, the Brotherhood will hide in the villages and towns within the Kingswood, using them as cover, until the besiegers leave, and then emerge again.
Because the Brotherhood Without Banners fences all the goods they steal in the surrounding villages, and the people in those villages have gained a great deal of profit, coupled with the fact that many of the commoners in these towns and villages have joined the Brotherhood Without Banners, the two are closely linked, making them very willing to provide cover for the members of the Brotherhood Without Banners.If the forces sent to encircle them numbered only one or two thousand, the Greenwood Brotherhood would slaughter them within the Greenwood, then decapitate them and hang their heads on either side of a section of the Rose Road within the Greenwood, to demonstrate their power and cruelty, and increase their deterrent effect. The forest where that road was located was also known as Howling Wood, and before the Greenwood Brotherhood was completely wiped out, it had already hung more than a thousand heads.Although the heads that hung in Howling Forest after the Kingswood Brotherhood was wiped out were taken down and buried, it is said that caravans passing through this road can still feel a terrifying aura and hear the howls emanating from those heads.
Whether it was the Mad King's twisted sense of humor or not, he actually built an inn in Howling Forest, ostensibly to provide a place for passing caravans to rest. And to ensure the inn's usefulness, he even demolished all other resting places along this road. In other words, Howling Forest is the only inn on this stretch of the Rose Road through the Kingswood.However, the vast majority of caravans choose to rest for a night at Sagebrush Rock, which is the closest open space to Howling Forest and one of the few in the Royal Forest, offering a wide field of vision and making it ideal for camping.
After spending a night at Sagebrush Rock, they can set off the next morning and use the entire day to pass through the eerie Howling Forest.This time, however, House Tyrell's party was out of luck. They, like other merchant caravans, spent the night at Rattail Rock, only to be met with a light rain the next day that steadily intensified, lasting for days. Continuing to wait at Rattail Rock risked missing the tourney in King's Landing, which could displease King Robert.
Therefore, Garlan had no choice but to force the party onward. Rainy weather already slowed their progress, but to make matters worse, the Mad King had deliberately removed the paving stones from this section of the road when constructing the Howling Forest waystation, turning it into a dirt track.Robert Baratheon had ascended the throne and was preoccupied with other matters, leaving him with no inclination to repair the road, so this dirt road remained in its original state.
This dirt road was passable on sunny days, but once it rained, it would turn into a muddy mess. Not only would carriages be unable to traverse it, but even people walking on it would sink into the mud if they lingered for even a moment.Until nightfall, the Tyrell party had not traversed the muddy road through the Howling Forest, and by sheer coincidence, they arrived near the Howling Forest station just as darkness fell, forcing them to stop there for the night, otherwise they would have had to camp in the mud.
Although the station had only been built a few years ago, due to its location deep within the cold and damp forest, coupled with years of disuse and lack of maintenance, many of the station's buildings were uninhabitable due to rotting wood.Only the front hall, with its stone foundation and walls, was in relatively good condition despite the dilapidated roof, faring better than the other buildings. After lighting the fireplace to dispel the dampness, it was barely habitable for the night.
Only Garland and the other nobles, along with their servants, could find shelter from the rain in the hall. The others had to erect makeshift tents outside that offered minimal protection from the rain, but even that was better than the lot of the guards on night watch.Linde, who was originally assigned to the scout team, could have stayed in the tent to rest as well, but the nobles accompanying Garland wanted to eat some game, so they had the hunters in the team form a hunting party to hunt in the nearby forest. Among all the hunters, Linde, the bear hunter, was obviously the most famous, so he naturally became the leader.
"I think this game is enough," Raul said to Linde, turning his head while carrying a deer shot through the head with an arrow in the depths of the forest.After more than an hour of hunting, almost every member of the hunting party was carrying prey, which wasn't enough to feed the entire group, but it was more than enough to fill the bellies of those noble lords.
Although Linde's hunting skills were mainly focused on setting traps, and he wasn't good at tracking prey, he possessed extraordinary sensory perception. With his exceptional hearing, vision, and sense of smell, he could easily find suitable prey even in the rain.The only flaw is that his archery skills are slightly lacking. In dry, open areas, he might be able to hit his prey, but in this situation, hitting anything is just a matter of luck.
Fortunately, there's a hunter in the group who's skilled with a bow and arrow; otherwise, it would probably take them much longer to catch enough prey.
"Let's go! Let's head back." Lind nodded in agreement with Raul's suggestion.Perhaps the thought of returning to a warm campfire to dry off and change out of their wet, heavy clothes made everyone's steps lighter, and they even began to laugh and joke.
"Stop, everyone be quiet! Be on guard." After walking for about ten minutes, Linde suddenly stopped and called out to the others, then looked towards a dense forest on the right.Because everyone had already witnessed the powerful searching ability that Lind had displayed before, when Lind opened his mouth to give the order, everyone stopped in their tracks, silently put down their prey, and took down their bows and arrows, looking ready to draw and shoot at any moment.
At this moment, Lind looked at the dense forest ahead with some confusion, concentrating his mind to find the unknown presence that made him feel dangerous.Just now, Linde suddenly felt a strong sense of danger, and the hairs on his body even stood on end because of it, which made him immediately order a halt and stand guard, while carefully searching the dense forest that triggered the strong sense of danger.
Although after a careful search, Linde found nothing, and even the sense of danger disappeared, just as he thought it was all an illusion, his extremely sensitive hearing seemed to pick up a faint sound of breathing coming from the dense forest.
"Careful, on guard!"The moment Linde sensed the faint breathing, he also saw the bushes beneath the dense forest begin to tremble slightly. This trembling wasn't caused by raindrops, but by something else moving through the forest. Realizing this, Linde immediately warned the others and drew the twin swords from his waist.Immediately following, a blurry, enormous black shadow emerged from the dense forest, rushing at incredible speed towards the hunters closest to the edge of the woods. Before the hunters could react, it slipped through the gaps between them, snatched up a small deer from the ground, and darted into the forest on the other side.
Everyone was stunned by this scene. They never imagined that a black shadow would emerge from the dense forest, and that its target would be a dead deer.Although the darkness and rain obscured it, even those who brushed past the dark figure couldn't make out what it was, only vaguely discerning it to be a beast, Linde saw it clearly: the dark figure looked like a huge black panther, and the only animal with such a form in Linde's memory was the legendary Shadow Lynx.
Although the Shadow Lynx is predominantly black, the black in its fur is not entirely uniform, giving its coat a striped appearance, much like zebra stripes.
"What was that just now?"Raul looked at the direction where the shadow disappeared, a lingering fear in his heart, and asked with a slightly trembling voice.
"A shadow mountain cat," Linde answered truthfully.
Upon hearing this, everyone couldn't help but gasp. They were all hunters and knew very well what the consequences would be of encountering a hungry shadow mountain cat in the dark forest. At the same time, they were extremely grateful that the shadow mountain cat had not attacked anyone, but had instead carried away prey. This meant that the shadow mountain cat probably wouldn't appear again, and they wouldn't have to worry about being attacked by it.
"You guys go back first."Linde put down the wild boar he was carrying on his back and then instructed the others.
The others were stunned when they heard this, all thinking that Linde wanted to hunt a shadowcat, after all, for a hunter, successfully hunting a shadowcat was definitely an honor.
In addition, there has always been a legend among hunters in Westeros and Essos that if a hunter can hunt ten powerful prey, then that hunter will receive the blessing of the Old Gods and ultimately possess the power to hunt dragons.Although the names of the ten beasts varied, the Mountain Bear and Shadow Lynx were always on every list, so everyone subconsciously assumed that Linde wanted to complete that hunting legend and become a legendary hunter capable of hunting dragons.
"Are you trying to complete that legendary hunting list?" Raul asked Linde with curiosity to confirm.
Hearing Raul's words, Linde was momentarily puzzled, but quickly realized that everyone had misunderstood. However, he didn't explain, but simply signaled Raul and the others to return as soon as possible, and if anyone asked about him, to report truthfully.Seeing this, no one said anything more. Raul became the leader, picked up the prey again, and before leaving, they all reminded Linde to be careful, then continued walking towards the camp.
Although Linde had been demoted from a knight's squire to the most arduous and tiring scout team in the half-month since leaving Bitterbridge Castle, none of the Tyrell family's guards, servants, or noble knights believed that Linde had lost favor. They knew very well that Linde's demotion to the scout team was actually a kind of trial, and it wouldn't be long before Linde returned to his rightful place.For those low-ranking warriors, this was actually a good opportunity to befriend Linde. When Linde became a formal knight in the future, they, as Linde's friends, would more or less be able to obtain some benefits. At the very least, as Linde's friends, they would no longer be bullied.
As a result, many guards proactively offered to join the scout team and work with Linde. For example, Raul, who had a very good relationship with Linde among the guards, was one of them.
...
The fully completed English PDF of this fan-fic is now available on my Patreon shop.If you want to support my work and enjoy the entire story in one go, grab the PDF and binge-read it from start to finish without any breaks.
Patreon Shop:patreon.com /InkNovels
Here are a few fan-fic titles that I've recently uploaded on my Patreon:
"Game of Thrones: Dragon Prince"
"Game of Thrones: Political Life"
"Game of Thrones: Holy Flame"
"The Game of Thrones Upgrade System"
"Game of Thrones: Lannister Kingdom"
"Game of Thrones: Godzilla vs. Dragons"
"Game of Thrones: Ruler of the Deep Seas "
"Game of Thrones The Glory of a Knight"
"Game of Thrones: The Most Powerful Dragon Queen"
" Game of Thrones: From the Elden Lord to the Young Wolf"
"Game of Thrones: Rise of a Lord with the Army-Building System"
(End Chapter)