32 Looping Around

I swung down my sword at one of the nearby Ironborn, cutting through his shoulder like a hot knife through butter, the blow wasn't immediately fatal, but enough to disarm him, even then, the hundreds of men behind me will make sure he stays down. Unsurprisingly, we had managed to completely scatter the Ironborn attempt to block our path and were now making our way towards the back of the enemy and flanking them.

My men, the Lionguards, were trained to use a variety of weapons, from the sword, lance, mace and even wrestling, the multitude of trainers and teachers did cost a small fortune in order to gain their services for the next few years, but it was nothing compared to the cost of supplying my men with their weapons and armour.

Steel plate armour was the standard for all of my guards, using a few new designs from my previous life that would accentuate protectiveness and flexibility. I chose a barbute style helmet with a Y-shape design for the eyes and mouth, in order to not minimise their visibility, though I am still debating whether to swap it for a sallet style helmet. For weapons, an arming sword was used, though they could change it for a flanged mace if they wished. All my guards were primarily cavalry and were proficient with the lance and everyone possessed a rondel dagger.

The plate armour itself was blackened steel that was decorated red and gold, not overly decorated to the point it was suited for a more ceremonial purpose but enough that you could identify they fought for House Lannister. The amour of officers in the Lionguard displayed a roaring lion in the centre of their chest as well as on their pauldrons. I wore a suit similar to that of the officers except for the fact that I was wearing a crimson sash around my shoulder, making it easier to identify me.

"Coll, take a couple dozen men and start destroying as many long ships as you can, set them on fire or create holes in the hull, just make sure that they can't escape if they try to retreat." I tell one of my guards, who acknowledges my words and rides towards the back of the line to find some men. Whilst the ships could be of use, I wanted to cause as much of a blow to the Ironborn as possible and trapping a large part of their forces with no way of retreat would do that.

As we continued down the harbour, more and more Ironborn made themselves known, not enough that they were posing a serious threat to us but enough to slow our momentum slightly. I wasn't too worried about my own personal safety, Ironborn didn't have a strong culture of hunting and so lacked a wide range of people skilled with a bow, even then, arrows would only harm me and my men if it hit us in our weak spots. There was the risk of getting hit with a throwing axe, even if it doesn't pierce the plate, it will more than likely break a rib or two.

In the distance, the two towers that held the boom chain between them were the stage for fierce fighting. Only one had been taken by the Ironborn and the other was still defending the entrance to the harbour, which by now was partially blocked by wreckages of ships and fire from barrels of pitch dropped from the tower, however that didn't stop Ironborn ships from entering the harbour, albeit at a slower pace than before. From here it was visible that there was mass fighting going on in the tower that had been taken by the Ironborn, men of the city watch were on top of the walls in a deadlock with the enemy. Seeing this, I decided to change my plan.

"Everyone, head straight to the end of the harbour and retake that tower!" I shout out, uncle Kevan would have to hold out for a while longer, it was more important to lift up that boom chain and cut off the Ironborn completely. The men in front carried on till the end of the docks, they had let go of their lances once they got stuck inside someone and were now swinging swords and maces at the enemy. We bypassed several streets that were filled with the Ironborn, most didn't notice us due to them being occupied with fighting members of the city watch and the few that did were either too small to make a difference or just didn't care.

There were only a handful of the Ironborn at the base of the tower, most were within, and defending the entrance to the tower from the city watch atop the walls. The ones down below were swiftly dealt with by the cavalry at the front, in the mean time archers amongst my band of soldiers started peppering the Ironborn on the walls with arrows, diverting their attention and making them an easier target for the city watch.

Observing that the bottom was secure, I give an order to the captain of my guards, "Orton, take a few men and seize that tower, it is critical that the boom chain is raised as quickly as possible." Orton gives a nod at my words and indicates for a couple men to follow him. I could always rely on him to get things done, especially in something like this. Whilst the tower's corridors were designed to be narrow, capable of funnelling enemies into a chokepoint, the same went for the Ironborn. Orton was like an unstoppable machine and only having to face one or two Ironborn at a time means that the chances of him getting injured were low, let alone killed.

Seeing that he had entered the tower, I turned to the rest of my men, "Defend this position, hold off the Ironborn!". My infantry formed a pseudo-shield wall facing the rest of the docks as a couple dozen Ironborn harass us, meanwhile our archers are firing on the Ironborn on the walls, who have now begun to retaliate in the form of dropping rocks from the battlements. We were caught between a rock and a hard place and if Orton failed to raise the chain then it would devolve into a worse and potentially costly situation.

As we were repelling a renewed assault from a batch of freshly-landed raiders, a heavy creaking sound emerged from behind me. "The chain! The chain! It's being lifted!" shouted a soldier in the crowd, turning around, I immediately noticed the Ironborn on top of the walls panicking, trying to run back into the tower only for the city watch to cut them down from behind. The boom chain was being lifted just as a long ship was trying to cross it, slowly lifting the bow of the ship into the air, lifting it to such a height where gravity started to interfere, turning the ship on its side and capsizing the ship. The crew of the long ship were slowly picked off in the water by arbalesters in the other boom tower.

As the members of the city watch swarm into the tower, the sounds of fighting soon start to quieten and eventually stop. A few minutes later, Orton steps out of the tower, fully covered in blood head to toe. The men who entered with him were also behind him, appearing fully unscathed and cleaner than their captain.

"Well done." I tell him, Orton nods his head in return, I turn towards one of the knights who came with me from Casterly Rock, "I need you to stay here, protect the tower and make sure that they don't retake it. I'll leave a hundred or so men with you and you have the city watch as well." The knight acknowledges my orders and starts barking commands at a few men nearby.

"Monty" I say to my page, "Get the men ready for a charge again, exactly how we did it before. We'll go down one of those streets we passed earlier and hit the Ironborn from behind." Monty does as I ask, meanwhile I mount my black courser and prepare myself for the upcoming battle. The main bulk of the Ironborn would be locked within a fierce battle with my uncle in the streets, catching them off like this should send the enemy into disarray and mass panic, allowing our forces to pick them off.

It wouldn't be the first time I have killed. The Lionguards were sent out to police the lands of House Lannister and deal with bandits and such in order to gain experience. I went with them when I could, believing that it was necessary to gain the loyalty of my guards. However, it would be the first time I was in an actual battle, most of the fighting I had witnessed today didn't really involve me, but it was more than likely that I would be in the thick of the fighting when we descend upon the Ironborn.

Noticing that my me seemed to be ready, I rode up next to them at the very front, by now the Ironborn harassing us were long dead and so I didn't have to worry about being stabbed in the back. "If any of you notice someone bearing the sigil of a certain house or is wearing more expensive armour than the rest, then you are to try your hardest in taking them alive, if you can't then don't worry, I would prefer that none of you die in the attempt to do so and can kill them if they prove too much trouble." I say to the men around me, they all nod in affirmation at my words.

I turn around my horse to face the bulk of my men, unsheathing my sword and holding it up in the air, I shout "FOR HOUSE LANNISTER!". My men responded, repeating my words and others shouting the words of House Lannister.

"FOR HOUSE LANNISTER!"

"HEAR ME ROAR!"

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Question for everyone. Who would you suggest is most suitable for being the love interest of Cerion. I already have a few ideas but can't make my mind up. Do bear in mind that this isn't a poll, this is just meant to be your own opinions.