In the square of Silver Mountain, Gendry's gaze flashed like lightning. Even Gerold Serrett found himself bowing, despite himself, beneath the king's aura.
The legendary charisma of a king, warm and approachable like Robert Baratheon, frank by nature, with an uncanny gift for turning enemies into friends.
"Proclaim my decree." Gendry drew Just Maid.
All the lords, knights, squires, and foot soldiers fell silent.
"The army will split into two columns. Lord Yohn Royce, Lord Bryce Caron, I command you to lead the elite cavalry of the Stormlands, the Vale, and The Reach along The Goldroad. You will be my right fist.
Ser Lyn Corbray, Ser Mychel Redfort, and the others will march with this force as well. In all major matters, Lord Royce's judgment will prevail."
The cavalry of the Vale and the Stormlands consisted mainly of heavy horse. Sending them over the mountains would be a waste. It was better to have them skirt the hills and face Deep Den head-on along The Goldroad.
Because they needed speed, they had not brought much siege equipment. The work of storming castles and breaking formations would still fall to Gendry.
"As you command, Your Grace!" "Bronze" Yohn vowed with hearty confidence. The Stormlands lords were too young, and the craftiest among them, Gerion Swann, was in Oldtown. Bronze was the safer choice.
"As you command, Your Grace. My lady is thirsty for blood." Lyn Corbray wiped the ring of Lady Forlorn.
"Prince Oberyn Martell, Ser Lothor Bren, Timett, Ser Anguy the Archer, and Lord Jack Crabb will be my left fist. They will cross the mountains with me and strike straight at Deep Den."
The Vale, the Stormlands, and Dorne all had no shortage of warriors used to crossing mountains. After all, each of those lands had vast stretches of rugged terrain. The Unsullied marched with them as well.
Dornean soldiers usually relied on lightly equipped warriors and fine horses to launch swift attacks, preserving their advantage in speed.
They could not charge head-on against massed heavy cavalry, but for raids and surprise assaults, they were perfect.
That was why Dornish civil wars and foreign wars were fought so differently.
Dornish sand horses were hardy, too. They were smaller than ordinary warhorses and could not bear a rider in full armor, but the Dornish claimed they could run for two days and one night without the slightest sign of exhaustion.
"Then let's do it," the Red Viper said without hesitation.
"Good."
"Will the king's force be a little too small?" Ser Gerold Serrett asked. "Deep Den's defensive network is far stronger than Silver Mountain's."
"Whether we have eight hundred men or several thousand, as long as we go in and fight, we can win," Lothor Bren said firmly.
"We're striking at their elite," Anguy said with disdain.
Victory was the finest tonic an army could have. This was the spirit of a force that knew how to win, one that fought from beginning to end.
Like dragons and tigers, brave and fearless.
Gendry looked at the soldiers who followed him. These were men he had selected and promoted himself, well-treated, strong in battle, and able to endure hardship. They were an iron fist.
A Hero's troops were sometimes like gamblers. The greater the danger, the greater the reward.
Besides, Tywin had few elite troops left. Apart from the defeated men pulled back from the Riverlands, there was only the Lannisport garrison, which was said to be exceptionally fine, even better trained than the garrison of Oldtown.
...
The Upper Mander River was also known as the Silver Mountain River. As the terrain rose, its waters grew swifter and its channel narrower.
Following the river from Silver Mountain would bring them to a point not far from Deep Den and The Goldroad.
Amid the gray-green mountains, the warriors advanced under cover of the terrain.
With its banners furled, the army looked like a long black serpent, fierce and full of life.
Aside from warhorses, Gendry had the soldiers pay to bring a number of donkeys. Donkeys, it was said, had greater endurance and were better suited to crossing mountains, while horses were better used for charges and battle.
Apart from Dorne, Westeros still had a fairly high forest cover overall. Oaks, pines, birches, and other trees concealed the army's movements.
Now, however, the largest stretches of forest were the Kingswood and the Rainwood.
Because of the dragons' presence, no animals in the forest came to disturb the marching column.
"This smell really is nothing like dry Dorne," the Red Viper said, feeling the dampness in the air and the starkly different climate.
"Are there still lions here?" Gendry remembered that the Westerlands had once had a kind of giant lion, larger than any real lion, though they too had disappeared.
"I fear not, Your Grace," said Sandor Clegane, Commander of the Dragonkeeper. In truth, he had no interest in the Clegane castle or lands. They were full of painful memories.
The last known appearance of a lion had been connected to the Hound's house.
The first knight of House Clegane, the Hound's grandfather, had been knighted for saving Tywin's father, Great Lord Tytos Lannister, the "Laughing Lion," from a lioness.
But he had lost a leg for it, and the three hounds he kept had also died in the lion's jaws.
"Are there no traces of the Children of the Forest or the Giants in the Summerlands either?" Gendry asked Rodrik Harlaw. The man was no ordinary Ironborn. He was more like a walking library.
"Likely not, Your Grace.
From what I have read, the original Sunset Lands belonged to the Children of the Forest and the Giants. Back then, forests stretched everywhere. Later came the invasion of the First Men, the Age of the Heroes, and records of the Hero-Kings fighting Giants and the Children of the Forest, but the forests kept shrinking.
After that came the even harsher invasion of the Andals. The Seven and the Old Gods could not coexist, so great swaths of forest vanished. The Lion of the West, the Giant Elk of the Stormlands, and the Direwolf of the North were nearly driven to extinction, and the Children of the Forest and the Giants disappeared completely."
Listening to the learned man, Gendry thought that House Hightower had not chosen the Seven without reason. The Seven were already a rejection of the Old Gods, and they were comparatively the mildest gods. One could even call them man-made gods.
By contrast, cruel gods such as the Red God, the Old Gods, the Drowned God, and the Storm God often demanded blood and souls.
Compared with them, the Seven almost seemed gentle.
"I wouldn't say there are none at all. In that magical land Beyond the Wall, perhaps such creatures still exist," Gendry said to Rodrik. "The lords of The North sent me snowbear pelts and giant elk antlers. Things like that are almost never seen south of the Wall anymore."
"We'll wait a little longer for news from Jon and the Onion Knight." Gendry stepped through the thick layer of rotting leaves. "I have a fleet advancing in the north. Aside from the wildlings, perhaps we'll get the chance to see every strange old thing out there."
Gendry looked through the woods, but he saw no hanged bandits.
Even though the Riverlands and the Crownlands had been set aflame by war, order in the Westerlands remained fairly good overall. After all, the Westerlands was not the battlefield.
The Riverlands always suffered the worst. A land fought over by all sides, like the public privy of the Seven Kingdoms.
So it was no accident that the Sparrows had emerged from the Riverlands. War had made the broken men and the Sparrows.
Come to think of it, those Sparrows sent back to the Riverlands had meant to take revenge on Tywin. He simply did not know where they had gone.
Gendry looked up at the three black dots in the sky. They looked like hawks soaring high above, three Dragons surveying the surrounding land.
This was also why Gendry had not sought too much siege equipment. Most castles simply had no way to guard against bombardment by Dragons.
"Hold formation, my knights. Once we take Deep Den, the path to the Lion's Den will be open." Gendry shouted to his warriors.
Even as king, Gendry crossed the mountains alongside his men.
They ate and slept in the open together, enduring the same hardships as they pressed north. Keeping a reserve was not the Baratheon style. Their style was to lead from the front.
"Victory!"
"Victory!" the soldiers shouted, spurring one another on.
This was a military surprise attack. Gendry had crossed the mountains.
Although both the Westerlands and the eastern Vale were mountainous, the mountains and hills of the Westerlands were noticeably lower, so the difficulty was somewhat reduced.
"Your Grace, we have kept up raven correspondence with Deep Den. Their checkpoints are mainly set along The Goldroad," Gerold Serrett said.
House Serrett had found the guides and hunters most familiar with the roads. As nearby lords, the local houses often intermarried, and they knew one another well enough.
Hornvale, the castle closest to Deep Den, could also be broken. Once Deep Den fell, a frightened Hornvale would bend the knee.
After all, the former Lord of Hornvale, Andros Brax, had drowned when his boat overturned during the river crossing in the Battle of the Camp, where Gendry had launched his surprise attack.
His eldest son and heir, Ser Tytos Brax, had been captured in the Battle of the Whispering Woods, while his second son, Ser Robert, had died in the forced crossing of the Red Fork of the Trident.
Now the youngest son, Ser Flement Brax, remained to guard the seat.
Standing on a ridge, Gendry could see Deep Den in the misty dawn, perched upon a rise, while its defensive checkpoints lay along The Goldroad. Deep Den itself was comparatively weak.
A man's defenses were weakest when he was still half-asleep, and the army had already crept close.
"Woo-woo-woo-woo-woo!"
A horn suddenly sounded, followed by a roar that seemed to shake the sky.
Anguy had led a squad of longbowmen into a concealed position ahead of the others. With Dragonbone bows, Purpleheart bows, and Goldenheart bows, they held the advantage in range and ensured that not a single raven could fly out of the castle.
"Boom!"
Roaring Dragonfire suddenly fell from the sky, and the Dragons went from tiny specks to solid, terrifying forms.
Black-red spirals of Dragonfire. Bright yellow and golden Dragonfire.
The Dragons' fury awakened Deep Den's dawn.