Chapter 36: This couldn't be…?

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When this Milk Snake reached Gregor, he thrusted his weapon at the massive knight. Gregor dodged the stab and hacked at the assailant's neck.

Almost right away, blood started leaking from the slit in the Milk Snake's throat. He dropped his spear, grasped his throat with both hands, and dropped onto his back.

Gregor had killed three men in under a minute. None of them was the camp leader, though. As disorganized as the Milk Snakes were, so long as their chiefs lived, they had some order.

Once the leaders fell, their subordinates would lose all discipline.

Gregor brought it upon himself to seek out the chief of this camp. All around him, people were fighting and dying.

As he made his way through the camp, Gregor traded blows with two more Milk Snakes, and he cut down all of them swiftly.

However, he was so preoccupied with his search for the leader of the camp that he did not notice another of the Milk Snakes sneaking up behind him.

This one wielded a greatsword. He was smaller, more agile, and faster than most of his fellow clansmen.

He stealthily approached Gregor whilst his back was turned, and he raised his greatsword into the air.

He was about to hack at the small visible bit of skin between Gregor's helm and shoulder plates.

Gregor managed to glimpse the assailant out of the corner of his eye, and he hastily maneuvered to meet the new foe.

Right before the Milk Snake could deliver a blow, a crunching sound emanated from the immediate vicinity.

The mountain clansman was frozen in his attack stance with his greatsword in midair.

Gregor positioned his shield in front of his torso defensively, but in this situation, his shield was unneeded. As it turned out, so was his sword.

A moment later, the clansman dropped to his knees, and then he fell flat on his face. Gregor realized an axe was imbedded in the Milk Snake's skull.

When he looked up, he saw the owner of that axe. It was Dacey. She was standing over the Milk Snake with her left arm outstretched. She held her sword in her right hand.

Gregor smiled at the tall girl and said appreciatively "Thanks."

"Don't mention it," Dacey asserted. She leaned down and yanked her axe free from the Milk Snake's head.

Gregor and Dacey cautiously made their way through the camp. Before long, they encountered the leader of the camp.

He was a fearsome, gigantic man armed with two bastard swords. He also carried a dagger in his teeth, which he was just as deft with.

He had just killed two Stone Crows singlehandedly when Gregor and Dacey stumbled upon him.

He shifted his focus to the Mountain and the girl from Bear Island. He snarled wickedly and rushed at them.

Two of the chief's warriors rushed to reinforce before either Gregor or Dacey could engage him.

Dacey busied herself with the new underlings whilst Gregor took on the chief.

The chief turned out to be a formidable adversary, but he was no match for the discipline and brute strength of The Mountain That Rides.

The fight was over almost before it began. Less than ten seconds into the duel, Gregor managed to disarm the Milk Snake leader long enough to jump behind him and slash at his neck.

As a result, the back of his throat was sliced open. Another two inches and he would have decapitated him.

His head remained attached to his body. But it made no matter. The Milk Snake chief groaned in agony and sank to the ground.

After the Milk Snake leader fell, the battle was resolved very quickly. It was an overwhelming victory on the part of the Legion and the Stone Crows.

Every one of the Milk Snakes had fallen in battle.

Of course, Gregor's forces had not been without losses. Three of his men-at-arms were lost in the skirmish. Gurn, Dolf, and Coratt all survived, luckily. But eight of the Stone Crows had perished, including Jaggot.

Still, a total of eleven casualties was not devastating, considering the seventy-plus enemies they had faced.

As the Tickler and some of the other men-at-arms tended to the wounded, everyone else checked to ensure that all of the Milk Snakes were indeed dead.

At one point, Gregor came across a Milk Snake with a particular helm. He recognized it quickly. It was the standard helm worn by a standard Northman soldier.

Its structure indicated that it was the most modern version of the helm. It could not have been forged more than five years ago.

That struck Gregor's curiosity. He removed the helm from the dead Milk Snake and looked around for the sole female in his party.

When he sighted her, he called out "Hey, Dacey."

The tall girl turned to the massive knight, walked over to him, and asked "Yes, Gregor?"

"Look what I found," he stated, showing her the helm.

Dacey took the headgear in both her hands and examined it closely. She raised an eyebrow and remarked "Interesting…"

"Tell me," Gregor bade her, "When was the last time a Northman was lost in the Vale?"

She rubbed her chin and thought aloud "Well, Lord Eddard was fostered by Lord Jon Arryn at the Eyrie. But he always travelled to the Vale by sea from White Harbor. As far as I know, no one from the North has used the road to the Bloody Gate in at least fifty years."

"Then how could this have gotten here?" Gregor wondered.

"I don't know," Dacey confessed, gazing down at the helm, "Let's see if we can find the set of armor this thing went with."

None of the fallen Milk Snakes wore any armor of Northern design. However, Gregor and Dacey managed to locate a tent that had been utilized by the Milk Snakes as their arsenal.

They found a wide variety of armaments and protective garments in there. Among them were a breastplate, gauntlets, boots, a shirt of mail, and a doublet; all Northern in origin.

The breastplate and shirt of mail were lightly stained with blood; the stain appeared to be over three years old.

Obviously, whoever wore this armor had been ambushed and killed by the Milk Snakes. The armor must have been subsequently stolen by them.

But if that happened approximately four years ago…

'This couldn't be…?'

Gregor tentatively picked up the doublet and searched through its pockets.

The outer pockets were empty, but when he frisked the inner pockets, he heard what sounded like the rustling of paper.

Gregor reached into the deepest pocket, and he pulled out an old piece of paper.

It appeared to be a letter. The seal had yet to be broken, but the wax was marked by the gray direwolf of House Stark.

'So that's what became of the rider that was dispatched to the Vale.'

Gregor made a note to bring this up to Oberyn later when the two of them were alone.

He would also have to inform everyone else who had been at the Tower of Joy, including the woman who sent it.

Dacey was standing a meter directly behind Gregor, so she had yet to see the letter. She asked him "Did you find anything?"

Gregor hastily tucked Lyanna's unopened letter into his hauberk, and then he pronounced "No, the Milk Snakes must have taken everything of value."

At that, Dacey merely nodded in acknowledgment and said "We should get back to the others."

"Right," was all Gregor said in response.

Gregor and Dacey regrouped with the other Legionnaires and the Stone Crows.

There they discussed the rest of Gregor's plan.

Gregor went over it three times, just to ensure that there was no confusion.

Dolf and his warriors remained at the camp. After disposing of the corpses, they dressed themselves in the trademark attire of the Milk Snakes, and they passed themselves off as the original inhabitants.

Essentially, the Stone Crows were supposed to fool anyone who came by – especially other mountain clansmen – into thinking that they were the Milk Snakes.

At the same time, Gregor and his men continued on to the Bloody Gate. It took less than a day to get there.

Before he joined the Legion without Banners, Brynden Tully had served as Knight of the Gate for a time.

When he left, he was replaced by Ser Gilwood Hunter.

Ser Gilwood still held that position, and he manned the Gate diligently.

Victarion's platoon was already there. They had been there for a couple days, and they had impatiently waited for Gregor's platoon to arrive.

When they finally rendezvoused, Victarion and his crewmates vocally expressed their dissatisfaction about having to traverse over land.

Gregor had anticipated those complaints, but he simply disregarded them. In a united Westeros, the Ironborn would have to get accustomed to sometimes riding instead of boating.

On the plus side, Victarion had come through in his primary objective. He had efficaciously escorted Petyr Baelish all the way from Gulltown to the Bloody Gate.

That was the first – and only – time Gregor actually met Littlefinger. He was a shorter than the average man. He looked to Gregor the way Tyrion would look to an average-sized person.

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