The end of a long night

The end of a long night

Theon POV

All I needed to do was hold back as many men as possible until reinforcements freed up one of the pyramids. Then, if Windblown joined us, the victory would be at our hands. But I wasn't one to depend on the others. The battlefield was in my control, with Yunkai forces spread out thin. There was no reason for me to sit and do nothing.

"I don't think I will be able to revive you if there is nothing left of your body," Thoros said, looking down through the window. "This is crazy even by your standards."

"It is not that far down," I defended my decisions. "And the pyramid is inclined enough to able to move with support. You worry too much."

"I am not drunk enough for this," Thoros replied as he checked the tightness of the rope for the tenth time. "Can't we get a few floors down before we do this?"

"Any lower and the enemy will notice us," I said. It was dark enough his high up, so we would be nothing but shadows descending. "And do I see the Tattered Prince approaching?"

Indeed, it looked like the command of the Windblown was riding toward us. Probably trying to communicate with the commanders of New Ghis. The city was in chaos, with fires raging in three separate points and soldiers spread out everywhere. The civilians were running amok, nobody knowing what was happening. And there was nobody to take command of the situation.

"Fuck, fine," Thoros cursed as he readied himself.

"Don't look down, and you will be fine," I said, observing the situation and waiting for the perfect moment to move.

"Where else should I look?" Thoros didn't like my advice. "Up the sky?"

There were about four hundred men in the pyramid right now. Three hundred will descend with me, while the remaining men will support us from here. Below them were about five hundred men from New Ghis and at least three hundred inside the pyramid, trying to get deeper. The remaining were at the broken gates and trying to control the fire in the city.

"Look at me," I said, throwing the rope down.

The rest followed my actions and did the same. Taking the rope for support with one gloved hand, I glanced around the battlefield one last time before running down. The slope of the wall was steeper than it looked, but it only made me run faster. I could feel faint heat in my hand as the rope ran through it. Soon, the ground came to my vision.

I wasn't the first to reach the ground as before I could, three or four men rolled along the walls and smashed into the ground. Poor sods probably lost footing, or the rope slipped from their hands. But in their deaths, they at least smashed into the enemy, crushing them and distracting the rest. It was enough for me to leap from the wall onto a group of men.

I crashed at them, only now realizing I didn't think through the plan, as I didn't even know how I would have landed if there weren't enemies to cushion my fall. I hoped everyone else would find their landing strategy as I rolled on the ground and drew my sword. I was surrounded but had just fallen from the sky, and the enemy had no idea what to do.

Before they regained their senses, I was swinging my sword, cutting one man after another. Realizing that it would be better to gather his men as they fell, I cut through my wrist the chance I got, drowning my sword in my blood before igniting in bright red flames. I could see the fear in the enemies' eyes under the light of my flames. They knew I was their death.

Or they saw my manic smile under my helm, or maybe my laugh got them all uneasy. It took some time for me to realize that I was laughing like a madman while blood covered my black armor. But who could blame me when I had the time of my life? This was what it was about. The sound of the flesh burning under the pressure of my burning sword, the sound of my men crashing into the enemy from above. It was hard to decide what sounded better.

"Theon! You fucking madman!" Thoros found his way to me before more and more joined me. "I think I sprained my ankle. It hurts like hell."

"Stop your whining," I was too immersed in the blood and carnage to listen to Thoros. "What are you? A little girl?"

"I stop when I get my wine!"

It wasn't too difficult to push the remaining Iron Legions. Even if their number was twice or trice higher than ours, their morale quickly plummeted, and their command couldn't reach them. Once the remaining of my men formed up, the Iron Legions tried to retreat before abandoning the fight and turning their back to us to run away. I couldn't blame them. I wouldn't want to fight madmen who fell from the sky either, or would I?

"Why are you running?!" But I didn't care what they were thinking.

I wanted them dead, so I chased after them. Their commanders were on the way, so it wasn't like I wasted time. It was a crushing defeat for them, and once I had taken care of the commanders, I could finish the remaining men in the Pyramid trying to get inside. I wonder what faces they will show me when they realize that they are trapped without a way out but be killed.

"Theon Greyjoy, I presume," My thoughts were interrupted when a group of cavalry came up to me by cutting the running Iron Legions.

"The Tattered Prince in the flesh," He probably could hear my grin. "Have you decided to join me?"

"It seems I have, as you have left me no choice," The Tattered Prince replied calmly. "I am not of a habit of making enemies of the men who willingly run down the walls of the pyramids to attack the enemy from above."

"A wise choice," I agreed with his mindset. It was only reasonable.

"Let me clear of one thing, Theon Greyjoy," The Tattered Prince said, looking down at me from his horse. "You scare me. So, I will ally with you in this fight. But I will never serve a madman like you."

"Even a wiser choice," Thoros said as he limped to us. "Trust me, if he doesn't get himself killed, he will get us killed."

"You both sound like little girls. Why would you be scared of me?" I asked as I cleaned off burned skin and flesh parts from my armor. A finger was stuck in the elbow joint of my armor, and an eyeball was hanging on my chest. It was stuck here, and I had no idea how that got here. "If you both are done whining, we have more men to kill."

"I will return to my men and inform them of switching sides," The Tattered Prince turned his head away. "I hope you know which pyramid is under the attack of the Company of the cat."

"We will meet you here," I replied.

The situation was changing rapidly in my favor. Seeing that the Tattered Prince had already killed the commanders of the Iron Legions, all I had left to do was take their horses and command my men to finish the rest stuck in the Pyramid. But before I could, Thoros informed me that they had already surrendered, and it would be a bad idea to kill them as they weren't even running away.

It was all good, but the lack of bravery and perseverance disappointed me. It was time for them to make the last stance and fight to the last man, showing unbelievable strength as they were cornered. Yet they dropped their weapons and started kneeling like I was their king. I thirsted for blood; if they couldn't satisfy me, I had to find someone who would.

…

The Company of the Cat was a stupid and lazy name. Yet when I saw the sellsword company's men, I couldn't complain much. Did they think that because they had more men, they were safe? Did they not think nothing of the fires around the city. How dare they stand here before me, barely armored and drinking. They didn't even try to breach the pyramid they were ordered to.

"How dare they?!" My anger was beyond anything I had experienced.

This was my battle. We were outnumbered. It should have been our triumph against all odds. But they weren't prepared for us. Even with only twenty horses, the three hundred of us instantly overwhelmed them. They were so distracted by us that they couldn't do anything against the Tattered Prince, that came from their behind.

There was barely anything I had to do. It was a one-sided victory that sobered me. Everything went way better than planned, so I wondered why I tried to ally with the Windblown. Maybe I should have fought them then my lust for the battle would be satisfied. Hearing battle from around the city, especially from the harbor direction, I knew I had won again.

Dagmar has come. Since we lifted the siege of the pyramids, the rest of my men joined me. Now, I had a bit more than one thousand men. With Windblown two or so thousand men we didn't lack numbers. While there were still a few thousand men from Volantis and a few Iron Legions from New Ghis spread out in the city. I didn't see how this night could end without us winning.

"The Long Lances have started to run away," The Tattered Prince brought even more bad news.

"The West will be taken care of by my reinforcements," I said, losing my enthusiasm. "Let's split up. I will go to the south, you to the north. Once finished with their forces, we will move in on the Wise Masters."

"Very well, good hunting," With a nod, The Tattered prince rallied his men and rode off through the streets.

"You heard him," I yelled, trying not to sound so disappointed. "Those who will bring me the heads of Volantis commanders shall drink with me tonight!"

I loved the yell coming back from my men. At least I satisfied their battle lust. Even outnumbered and in a disadvantaged position, nothing was stopping us. We took what we wanted, and those who stood in our way got killed. It was the essence of being an Ironborn, of being a man serving under me. But I wanted something more. I wanted a challenge, a fight between two warriors at their peak with ultimate consequences.

As much as I didn't like to admit it, only Lannisters were left that could give me that. The Essos have disappointed me with their weak-willed men and pathetic commanders. I wanted to clash in tactics with Tywin. I wanted a rematch with Jaime. Not fight some overconfident and useless men who didn't even take me seriously before it was too late.

Even the Great Masters gave me more of a challenge. Is this what it feels like to be on top? It was quite lonely. But at least I have a great company, Thoros complaining about his sprained ankle and my Greycloaks decimating everything they come across. At this point, I gave up on testing them, they kill everything they meet. Those lunatics were as good as me at killing, and they surely didn't seem to dislike it.

The hunt continued till dawn. When Dagmar joined us, we split our forces into three more groups and soon secured the walls and gates. Some escaped through the broken gates, but the city was ours. And so were the Wise Masters. I let my previous hostages take care of them. As the Wise Masters tried to kill them, it wasn't shocking that they willingly and brutally helped us out.

"I have to ask," Bronn returned to me half drunk after the battle was over. Still, I forgave him as he did his work and brought Thoros some expensive wine. "What was the initial plan? I tried to think about it, but it doesn't make sense. There is no way you expected to take the city with one and a half thousand men. We could not have secured the walls and the pyramids with only so many men."

When Broon said it aloud, it made me think that, too. I didn't even know where I got the plan to hide in a hollow wooden dragon statue and present it as a gift. I was just angry and probably high from the deadly poison to think of something like that. Of course, I couldn't admit I had no plan and thought everything would go my way. So, I just smiled at Bronn instead of answering. Technically, it went my way in the end, and we won, so everything happened as I had planned.

A.N. As always, If you want more, up to seven advanced chapters, you can support me on pa treon. com \ ironwolf852. And if you have any requests for stories, I will only take them on my pa treon.