Fosterage IV

- 279 AC -

- Bay of Ice, Bear Island -

(Maege POV)

I look at Leman as he walks up to his ship and smile. He has always been like this. Quiet, strong and capable. No matter what it is, he will be able to achieve it. He is a storm that leaves nothing but destruction behind if you don't watch out, you will be caught in that same storm. I turn around and start to yell at my men to move it. 

"Get your behinds moving! We have Ironborn to kill and to defend our home, so move it!!", I yell and move towards our ship. Ever since Leman created the vessel, we have had a big rise in food and also wealth. 

Our plan was simple. Given the power and physical strength of Leman at the age of 11 name days, which is unheard of, he will engage one of the Ironborn ships on his own, while Colren and I attack the second one from the north. This will be necessary since the Ironborn ships are larger than ours and probably better equipped. But that doesn't matter now. We will win, that's for certain. 

I walk on my boat and make sure everything is in place. The ship is in pristine condition and ready to disembark for this battle. I look to the other side and see that Leman has already left with his vessel, leaving only Colren and me to go. I look to my right and see Colren nod from his ship. I nod as well and then give the order. 

"Let's go!"

We finally set off. Jorah is stationed at the beach with Ronan and will defend against any Ironborn who slip past us. But that hopefully doesn't happen. Not on my watch. I'll kill those f*ckers. The sails are unfurled and the wind picks us off, pushing us forward towards the enemy. Colren is slightly ahead, giving me a good angle and enough time to react to anything that might happen. We went over the plan shortly, but this is nothing new for us. The Ironborn have long 'demanded the Iron price' from us and we are long enemies. 

"Lady Maege, the enemy has been sighted ahead. A few minutes until contact."

"Good. Tell the men. What about Leman?", I ask since I wasn't watching and instead prepared for the fight. 

"Leman is just about to engage with the enemy. He has opted for a direct attack and is trying to ram his ship into them, from what we can tell."

"That's what I expected from him. Good. Tell the men and prepare, this will be a hard fight.", I tell him and he leaves. 

I am dressed in patched ringmail, and my favoured weapon, a spiked mace is in my hands. I feel the grip of my weapon and mentally prepare. For some reason, this fight with the Ironborn feels different, despite it not being the first time at all. The presence of Leman Stark changed things and I felt pressure. He will crush them, without a doubt. So this leaves the only thing that could go wrong, on our side. I feel my blood starting to pump faster and excitement filling me.

*BOOOM*

I hear a loud bang and look around. There was no damage and no wounded or killed men around me. 

"What was that?!", I shout for someone to tell me what happened.

"Lady Maege, something just hit Colron and his ship. The rudders were damaged."

I look to my right and see Colron's ship. Indeed there is damage to quite a few rudders for some reason. But what happened? On the left side of his ship, the rudders are broken, leaving him unable to use them anymore and therefore unable to move forward. He will continue to sail forward aimlessly and not be able to steer very well. The Ironborn have changed course slightly and forced us to respond as well. 

"Change course! We have to intercept them and stop them from moving past us!", I shout the order and everyone gets to work. 

We overtake Colron and his ship and see him fuming. They are sitting ducks right now, but what was it that took out the rudders? We change our course slightly and manage to intercept the Ironborn.

"Prepare the bows!", I shout. 

The men prepare the bows. Normally we would use the oil, Leman prepared to destroy the boat, but it is far too useful to destroy it like this. We will take the ship from them and kill all of them this way. My men and women pull the strings of the bow and aim high. 

"Fire!"

*WOOOSHHH*

The arrows fly high and are about to reach the Ironborn when I hear a similar sound of arrows coming from the other boat. They are also shooting at us. 

"SHIELDS!!", I shout and the men hold big shields and stand in front of the archers. 

*Thud thud thud*

The arrows hit the shields and the archers continue to fire their arrows. It was a tactic Leman thought of. To create larger shields that one man wields and have the archers hide behind them. This offers protection and also a chance to keep firing at the enemy without stopping. Naturally, this also halves the number of men who can fire arrows, but it has proven to be better. 

"Prepare for impact!", I shout and grip my spiked mace tighter. I hold something to keep me from falling and then it happens ...

... the impact.

*BROOOM*

Our ship hits theirs. But it doesn't work as intended and we only hit the side a bit and are now parallel to them. That's not what I wanted. Now, this gives them a chance to move away, exactly not what we wanted. Our hulls are more powerful than normal and reinforced to allow direct ramming, but now we hit them with our side. A bad start to this fight. 

"RAAAAHHHH"

"EEHHHHHH"

I hear the war cry of both men from my side and theirs. Then they arrive, the Ironborn. Some jump across the railings and attack our men, while others use ropes to swing on our boat and move behind the line of defence. This is not going well. 

I jump into motion. A screaming Ironborn runs towards me with his tongue out. He shouts some profanity and swings his sword in a horizontal arc at me. I swing my mace and bend my knees to move under his swing. His sword passes above me, giving me the space I need. With all my strength, I swung my spiked mace and hit his crotch...

"AAAAAHHHHHHH", the pussy screams and drops his sword. He holds his dick and screams like a girl. 

*Wooosh*

*BANG*

I intercept another Ironborn who wants to use this chance to strike. I don't kill the first man. Having him scream like that will add to the fear the Ironborn will feel. The man is bleeding to death anyway, no need to make it easier for him. I reach out to grab hold of the Ironborn's arm which has just attacked me and pull him closer. I swing my head forward and headbutt him. 

*Bang*

He is disoriented for a moment, but so am I. No matter how strong I am, my head is still vulnerable to blunt force. But I am used to it and know what happens, so I can use my muscle memory to bring out my knife and stab the f*cker in the neck. I feel the blood run over my hand and pull out. Wet hands mean a weak grip and I can't allow that. I move forward, pushing the man away and running towards one of my men who is about to get impaled. 

I swing my mace and hit the arm of the Ironborn who is about to slice my man in half. 

"ARGH"

I don't stop moving and pull my mace out, ripping his arm apart. My man sees the opportunity and impales the Ironcunt with his sword, while I turn around and swing my mace at the other one who strikes from the back. 

*Clang*

Our weapons clash and I push with all my strength, to overpower him and keep my momentum going. But he is a strong f*cker, I'll give him that and it is hard for me to do what I want. I shift my weight from one side to the other in a quick fashion and change his centre of gravity, allowing me to surprise him and push him off his feet. I lift my leg and kick him in the balls. 

Immediately I feel the resistance crumble and push forward. My mace reaches his face and I see the second of fear as he understands what will happen. 

*Klschlick*

The nails pierce his face and kill him. I stand back up and move back, dodging a spear thrust aimed at my chest. I breathe heavily but have no time to assess the damage I have attained right now. Another Ironcunt comes from the side, giving them the advantage. But I'm a bear and this is my land I am fighting for. They will fall here.

"Raaahhh!!", I shout and run towards them.

I run towards the man on the right. Both of them prepare and sneer at my lame attempt to fight. But I am not an idiot, that was my plan all along. Just before they thrust their weapons at me, I change my direction and move to the left. They didn't see that coming from a 'bitch' like I am, as they called me. I am far too close for the man to change the direction of his spear thrust and reach him. I swing my mace with my full strength and crush his head.

*BANG*

*PUFF*

Blood splashes all around and reaches my face. I move back instinctively as the blood reaches my eyes and that is a death sentence in battle. As it happens, I suddenly feel the pain coming from my leg. I swing my mace without looking and hear the pained shout of the man who was standing at my right just moments before. 

"AAH, f*cking WHORE! I will F*CKING R*APE YOU!!"

I still have my eyes closed as there is blood all around it and instead of reacting, I simply rush the cunt. I don't know whether he has a knife or a sword ready, but I don't care. I take my chances and tackle the man. He didn't see that coming it would seem, as he didn't have a weapon ready. We both fall to the ground, with me on top of him. I pull my fist back and punch the f*cker again and again. 

After a moment, all I hear is the wet sounds of blood as his face is crushed and brain matter surely leaks out of his skull. Quickly, I grab hold of his body, looking for some form of cloth. Gods be good, I find some and wipe my eyes with it, regaining sight. And not a moment too soon. I see another Ironborn about to kill me, when an arrow hits him in the neck, killing him.

"Kakkk..."

One of my men runs towards me and helps me stand, giving me my mace. 

"Lady Maege, things aren't looking good. We managed to hold them, but the Ironborn have disengaged. Their ship left their men here and has managed to slip past us. They are approaching the shore!", he yells. 

Shit, that was what we wanted to avoid. I see the few remaining Ironborn fighting the rest of my men. The fight cost us much, but if the Ironborn hadn't decided to move towards the shore, we would probably have lost all men and I would be dead for sure. 

"What about Colren? Is he here yet?!", I ask. 

"Just about. The winds weren't good just now, but he has managed to reach our position. What should we do?", he asks me. 

"Kill the Ironborn. I'm sure Jorah will be ready when they land. We have to be quick. Go!!"

I look across the water and see the ship of Leman. I can't tell from here, but I do see a maelstrom flashing across the deck there. I can count on him to help, should I not manage it in time. With a shout, I attack the last remaining Ironcunts on my ship. 

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Writing such scenes is hard for me. I apologise for the delay.