Chapter 5 Brannella

Brannella and Carth stood frozen in the forest as arrows flew past them, Balriks men falling to the ground like trees. Men started to emerge from behind the cloaked man, letting loose arrows into the guards.

The next moment Carth tackles one of the guards to the ground and starts to hammer his fists into his head, crushing his face into a pasty mess.

Branella Was frozen, staring into the cold grey eyes of the cloaked figure sitting in the trees, slowly he knocked his arrow, raising his bow Brannella watched as he aimed right for her head and let the arrow loose.

"AAAAAHHHHHGGGG"

Brannella jumped and turned to her left behind her lay a man with the cloaked man's arrow sticking out his head. suddenly out of the bushes around the cloaked man ran five men clad in boiled leather and bronze swords cutting down the remaining men that were chasing after Brannella and Carth.

Carth soon comes around and grabs Brannellas arm, breaking her from shock.

"Ella, are you alright?"

"No, no I don't think I am."

slowly Brannella starts to hug Carth, surprised by her actions Carth just stands frozen

"Um, Ella?"

"Just hold me, please."

Carth then wraps his arms around Brannella as they stand in silence, for a short minute the two felt each others warmth, they took it in comfort, they were both scared, so many things were happening they had no time to slow down, their short moment of peace is broken by the cloaked man who saved them.

"You both alright".

Brannella lets go of Carth and turns to the bowman.

"I think so, thank you for saving us friend, may I have your name good sir?"

The man pulled back his hood, Branella could only scream with joy "Yorn!" Brannella pulled her thought-lost little brother into a bone-breaking hug.

Yorn struggled to breathe in his elder sister's hold, barely getting his words out "Ella, I... can't breathe!"Brannella still wouldn't let go, her fear of almost losing Yorn was the only thing on her mind. They stood there as she shed silent tears and Yorn slowly embraced her

"I've missed you, Ella" to the reluctance of Brannella Yorn pulled away from his elder sister.

"What in Hell's name are you and Carth doing out here, and why are Balriks guards trying to skewer you both," Yorn says sternly.

"We were looking for you, brother and Father, Yorn." Brannella replies with heat "I wasn't ready to lose my family" she says sadly.

"And did you find out what happened to them, brother and Father" Only sadness and regret can be heard in his voice?

Brannella's voice broke "We did, their... gone, Yorn, we don't know what killed them.

Yorn looked at his elder sister with tears threatening to break, he spoke with a shaky voice "I know, Ella, we were hunting deeper in the forest than we should of, but Father spotted a white heart and we chased after it, soon we tracked it to a great Weirwood tree, we knew we should have left immediately but brother went ahead much to Father's chagrin."

Brannella wanted Yorn to continue but knew he was experiencing more grief and pain than her. reaching for his hand she held it close "You don't have to continue Yorn, we can talk when you need to"

"No, you have every right to know what happened and I won't withhold it because I'm feeling hurt. What happened next was when it all went to hell, our brother, Yarrik had lost the white heart but found something else, a man too large to be a man and too short to be a giant, Father knew of the strange tall man though, he had destroyed a village east of ours, Father had heard of him from Balrik who gotten word from the high king to deal with him yet had refused to do anything about, of course, Father didn't sit well with that but couldn't do anything about it, so when he encountered him again, Father and brother decided to deal with him so no one suffers again, we were supposed to surprise him but, somehow he knew about us, we charged him from the bushes, I was knocked hit in the head with the butt of his axe, when I woke up I was alone, I went to search for Father and Yarrick and found what you had, that's all I remember."

Brannella stood there processing what her brother had told her. She needed to understand "But their bodies, no man could have done that to any person, what was he, the man you found"

One of the men that aided Yorn in killing Balriks guards spoke up "He's a skin-changer, and his name is Beorn, from what you all described, it makes sense, he's troubled these lands for years now, working with the children of the forest and the giants, he was here long before us and he may be here long after if someone doesn't stop him."

Branella looked at the man with confusion written on her face. "Wait a moment, Who are you, I can't thank you enough for saving us but how did you come across my brother, and how do you know so much about this man, Beorn as you call him."

The man in question straightened up "I'm Stieg, my lady, housecarl of lord Brandon Stark of the bloody blade, me and the others here were sent with Yorn on the order of lord Stark to scout ahead and see if your family survived while lord Stark mustered up a force to kill Beorn. Lord Stark has known of him for some time now, he's killed hundreds of men alone and destroyed dozens of villages few know of him to be real, some don't believe because they have never seen him nor heard of him."

Yorn spoke up deciding to explain further. "Balrik has known about him for years now, and so has Father, but Balrik has been too afraid to try and kill him, even when the high king has ordered to every village Magnar and lord to kill Beorn, he still refuses, Father wished to take the hunters and kill him but Balrik told him he and the hunters were needed at the village, soon after that another village was destroyed, it was preventable if we had interfered, it caused the rift between the hunters and Balrik to grow."

Brannella looked to Carth "That explains why Balrik killed the hunters with us, he had no sway with them, and if they discovered he had stolen Greens Bane."

Carth interrupted her "A coup would break out in the village, the hunters would never follow him if they discovered he had stolen Greens Bane."

Yorn head snapped to his sister and shouted "He stole Greens Bane!?"

Brannella could only nod her head in sadness "Aye, he never wished to find you nor Father alive, his entire plan hinged on Father's death. To steal Father's sword."

"Lady Brannella, young Yorn, I believe it would be safer to discuss all this at the camp with lord Stark" Stieg brought up "We all may be good fighters but if your Magnars guards aren't back he may send more men than we can handle."

"Stiegs right Ella, we need to get to lord Stark, he'll know what to do and how to deal with Balrik, he'll also allow us to avenge our Father and brother," Yorn spoke

Brannella took Carths hand "Then lead the way, the sooner we deal with Balrik the faster we kill Beorn"

Stieg began leading the group through the forest towards where lord Stark had told him he was forming the encampment, slowly navigating under branches and through bushes. There was little to talk about after they began trekking their way out of the great woods, the recent events finally settling in, the death of Brannellas Father and Brother, and the betrayal of the Magnar.

Though the silence was soon broken though by Carth. "Stieg, you said Beorn was a skin-changer, what does that mean?"

Stieg responded but kept on trekking through the forest "Means he can control animals, Deer, wolves, rabbits, Bears... But Lord Brandon thinks he's something else, Only Lord Stark has fought the beast and come back alive, but I know no man can fight that thing alone and tell the tale."

"So you're saying Lord Stark ran away?" Carth questioned

Stieg stopped taking great offense to what Carth even suggested, he snapped around and yelled at him. "Lord Brandon Stark would never run like a coward he is the reason giants no longer roam the lands of the south, he slayed so many Children of the forest he turned the Blue lake red!

No, I know he did not run because he told me, he told me he spoke with the beast, Lord stark tried to negotiate with the beast to leave and go farther north, or at least stay in his home and stop destroying villages, yet Beorn would not leave, and that was when lord stark saw what Beorn was, he did not control beasts, HE WAS THE BEAST!

When Lord Stark first tried meeting with him he watched Beorn turn into a giant Bear larger than a Giant." Stieg then returned to the trek to the encampment.

It was nearly sundown when the small group finally made it out of the forest and came upon the encampment of Lord Brandon Stark of the Bloody Blade

Brannella gazed across at the hundreds of tents that made up the gathering forces, men preparing for a great battle, it felt more like they were preparing for war, men were forging and sharpening blades, gathering in groups to talk amongst each other. "So many men, surely there is no need for this large of a force to take care of a single man, even if they can turn into a giant bear"

Stieg just shrugged "You can never be too careful with these sorts of things, Besides I think Lord Stark should explain his decision on the matter, come follow, I should be able to find him."

After a short walk through the lines of tents, two of the men that had saved Brannella and Carth had left the group, eventually, the group comes upon an enormous tent most likely occupied by Lord Stark which was guarded by two massive heavily armed and armored men at the front flaps of the tent.

The enormous guards stood aside for Stieg and the rest to enter "Lord Stark, we've returned, and with more than we left with" Stieg spoke with a short bow to a man sitting at a desk with his back to the group

Brannella looked at the man in awe, a grizzled and old man, not weak nor scraggly, but broad and strong, tall and confident, Brannella had heard stories from her father about the man who he fought with against the children of the forest, and the giants, he's the second eldest of the sons of the High King Garth Greenhand.

The man turned his head and looked at the newcomers "And who might you two be, I know Yorn, but this is no place for green boys and women, and I don't tolerate whores in my camp."

The awe and respect drained out of Brannella and was replaced by anger and fury "Who the hell are you calling whore you old bag of bones! Give me a bow and I'll hit a man's balls 300 meters away"

The grizzled lord stood from his desk rising to a tall imposing six foot four inches staring down at the girl that just insulted him, the old lord glared and spoke with fury "Who do you think you are, calling me old?"

Brannella returned with a cold stare of her own "I'm the eldest daughter of Errold, the Old Man of the Wailing Trees, wielder of Greens Bane, elder sister of Yorn and Yarrick, I am no whore, and you... you are an impudent old man!" Brannella's eyes blazed with fury as she insulted one of the most powerful men of Westeros.

Lord Stark's eyes took on a glint of recognition "HAHAHAHAHA" He bellowed out a hearty laugh "Why the hell didn't you say you were Errold's girl, and is this young Yarrick." He looked to Carth thinking he was Brannellas elder sister. "Come sit, we have much to discuss of what you have found and what we have prepared." he guided them to his table they had found him sitting out

Carth tried to correct him but was interrupted by Lord Stark, "So, where is my old friend, must not be too far behind"

Brannella realizing that Lord Stark thought that her Father and Brother were alive, took it upon herself to break the news of lord starks dear friend's death, and the events that transpired about how they were betrayed "Lord Brandon, this is not my brother Yarrick but my dear friend Carth, my brother Yarrick he's... dead, along with my father, killed by the skin-changer you call Beorn. Soon after we found their bodies Magnar Balrik stole my Father's sword, he ordered his men to kill us and the hunters who aided us in our search for them."

Lord Brandon sat there, wide-eyed, sadness creeping into his eyes, that sadness was soon overtaken by rage "How dare a lowly Magnar steal from my friend! I'll kill him and then ill avenge him by taking Beorn's head myself!"

Stieg voiced his concern "Do we even know if Beorn will be at his home when we march on it, and is it safe, for all we know he could be somewhere roaming the woods, and the children could be with him, or giants, or worse, the green men could be with him, they all look to him as a leader if any of these factors are true we could be marching to our death, my lord?"

Lord Stark calmed himself to placate Stieg's concern "Beorn does not cooperate with the children the giants and certainly not the green men, not unless he absolutely has to, and even though he may have to with us, he does not know we are coming for him.

Lady Brannella, with your permission, I would like to go after the man who killed your father first, Your Magnar is a coward, few men is all we need to deal with him, and if we lose men against him it will be all the harder to take down Beorn.

Branella looked to Lord Stark with confusion written on her face "Me? Why me?"

"He was your father, he may have been my friend, but a father always comes before a friend"

Brannella looked to Yorn for his input. He shrugged. "It's up to you Ella, you are the oldest."

Brannella looked down lost in her thoughts, she had no idea why she was chosen to decide on what to do, she may know how to hunt but she had no military experience like her father, she wanted to kill Balrik for what he did, killing the hunters, stealing her father's sword, but she knew Beorn had to die, and the more men the better.

She looks up to lord stark and spoke with a newfound confidence. "We go after Beorn, we can get the sword back another time, if we don't go after Beorn, we may not get another chance, he may heed word that we are seeking revenge and disappear and start working with the children, now is the time to strike."

Lord Brandon looked a Brannella with respect. "Well said, lass. Stieg, tell the men we leave at first light tomorrow."

"Aye my lord" Stieg got up and left the tent to prepare the men for the coming fight.

Yorn though was still worried. "Lord Brandon, how many men did you bring"

Brandon snorted "Not enough if having not enough is what you're worried about"

Yorn asked again, slowly and sternly "How, Many?"

Lord Stark was silent for a moment "Three hundred, like I said, not enough."

"Three hundred! Surely you jest, that's more than enough." Carth exclaimed

But Lord Stark had a face of stone. "I do not jest, I have faced Beorn before, man and beast. He is not to be underestimated, fear him, fear him and you shall survive. now leave, all of you, we have a long day ahead of us and you have had a hard day, get some rest."

As the last of the group left Brandon was left alone, he poured himself a cup of wine, his hands shaking as he slowly raised his cup to his lips, setting the cup down he shed silent tears, laughing to himself to hide his pain "Ha, my oldest friend is dead and now I'm to kill another friend.