Ambush

The five armed men didn't look extraordinary, to say the least. They were all quite average in height and build. Along with that, they didn't wear much armour. In terms of looks... well, they were some ugly bastards to be sure. Four of them wielded longswords while the other had a one-handed axe. Before they could get closer, Jaime walked forward to shield the two from the outlaws.

The Kingswood was quite well known for its outlaws. The terrain served them well as there were many places they could hide in the woods. Therefore, finding and catching them would prove to be difficult. The legendary Ser Arthur Dayne and his two squires, one of whom being Jaime, had defeated the notable Kingswood Brotherhood sometime ago but outlaws still manage to linger till this day. However, they were mostly small, disorganised groups of men looking for some gold.

Jaime had been restless and cautious from the beginning, wearing his armour at all times - even when sleeping. So it was safe to say that he was prepared for a true battle.

"Five fools, all eager to be slain." Jaime confidently stated as he prepared to face all five of them. As he approached closer, they backed away slightly. The dusty yet still white cloak of the Kingsguard came to mind as they observed him more closely. Jaime seized the opportunity.

With a silent charge along with lightning-fast speed, he stabbed one of the outlaws in the stomach before they could even react. The outlaw fell to the ground and the other four looked at each other.

"There's four of us and only one of him... strike the bloody bastard!" The outlaw who wielded an axe exclaimed and the others gained some courage. Jaime parried one of the outlaws and had to settle for a quick slash to leave enough time to block another strike.

Aerion watched in awe, as he always did in the presence of a Kingsguard. Each and every one of them were knights of the highest calibre who served to protect the King, after all. Although Jaime was quite young compared to the other Kingsguard, he had learned from his senior Kingsguard rather swiftly and grew into a most excellent warrior.

With another skilful slash, Jaime defeated his second outlaw. Now only three outlaws remained and their morale was at an all-time low. In every winnable battle, morale is and will always be a key factor. They did not surrender and run yet, however...

One of them turned to Aerion and Elia, managing to scuttle past Jaime. He was preoccupied with the two other outlaws so he couldn't turn his back to them unless he wished to die. Instead, he kicked one of the fallen outlaw's swords closer to them and continued to fend off the other two.

Aerion looked at the outlaw with a saddened expression. "Please, don't hurt me."

Or I might have to burn you...

The outlaw chuckled and turned to Jaime's back, completely ignoring Elia. "You'll come later."

He aimed his sword to stab Jaime and prepared himself for a moment. However, before he could do so, he was interrupted by the great pain in his chest. Aerion stared at the person who had stabbed the outlaw from the back. He had planned to turn the outlaw into a human torch but it didn't seem necessary anymore.

For his mother, of all people, had stabbed the outlaw in the back!

Aerion had to clear his eyes for a moment. It was a simple, relatively weak, yet effective stab... one that sent the outlaw onto the ground as his mother withdrew the sword. Then she stabbed him in the chest, making sure that the deed was done. Then she walked back a few steps in slight shock.

Jaime chuckled and man-handled the other two outlaws. After slaying his third, the last one wished to run in order to survive but Jaime didn't allow it to happen. He threw his dagger at the last outlaw's neck and followed that up with a lethal stab. Then he made sure that the rest were truly dead with a couple more stabs before sheathing his sword.

"Well done, my lady." Jaime chuckled. "I did not expect that from you."

"Then why did you kick the sword?" Elia inquired.

"Eh, I still wanted it to happen. It would have been that, the prince burning him or me moving out of the way." Jaime stated with great confidence.

Aerion walked past the outlaw corpses and noticed several bags of supplies. "It seems like they only have themselves. Otherwise, they would have left these supplies somewhere more secure. It is reassuring to know that we won't have to face a brotherhood of sorts."

"We have greater men to worry about, my prince," Jaime replied. "Lords and ladies who wish to prove their loyalty to the new King by slaying you. My father's men, among many others, should have started their search already. They might even be in the Kingswood as we speak."

Aerion sighed. "Even if we manage to escape to Dorne, what comes after?"

"First, we must escape the lion's clutches," Jaime stated.

Elia nodded and embraced Aerion. "Ser Jaime is not wrong. Survival must always come before all else... we do not have the pleasure of thinking past that. For now, that is."

"I understand..."

Will Dorne hold long enough for Robert to withdraw?

Aerion wondered nevertheless. Eventually, he left his mother's embrace and inspected the supplies that once belonged to the outlaws... or, well, the people they stole from previously. He found a bow along with a couple of arrows, for hunting wild animals most likely.

Jaime joined him and inspected the bow before strapping it to his back. "This will be useful."

He added the arrows to his supplies and looked further into what the outlaws had. Some water skins, food and a couple of daggers. He added the water skins to his collection, left the food as he had enough and looked at the daggers with some interested.

"My prince, can you hold a dagger?"

"Of course." Aerion proudly replied.

"Then take your pick. My lady, you may as well. We need to all be capable of protecting ourselves in one way or another. Your magic is limited to two flames..."

"And now I have a dagger as a weapon in case I use up those two flames," Aerion added.

"Precisely. The enemy will not be expecting you to be capable of using a weapon... it will catch them off guard and you will use this to your advantage to deal a great blow. The dagger should come first, followed by the magic which is even more deadly."

"I will be sure to do that if the opportunity arises."

Aerion nodded. Any advice from a Kingsguard when it came to combat was gold, especially when he was as inexperienced as a... child. Well, he is a child. No one ever let him anywhere near a weapon while he was in King's Landing. Even if he wished to become a knight of sorts, he would have to wait until much later to start using real weapons. Instead, his time had been spent reading books and being tutored by the King's advisers at times.

"It certainly will... sooner rather than later. We need to find some horses from somewhere, after all."

"The Lannister men searching for me?" Aerion inquired.

"Indeed, we will proceed forwards at a slower pace and look out for them. They will be spread out all around King's Landing, searching in small groups. Probably three to six men per group... quite manageable to defeat one of these groups with our new strength and take their horses for ourselves."

"It would be best if we do something like that at night," Aerion added.

"Your fire will stand out in the night... no, we will strike while they are taking a rest in the day and ride out of the Kingswood as swiftly as possible with our new mounts."

I see.

"Very well."

~

As he was the smallest out of the three and wielded the most terrifying weapon, Aerion was sent to scout ahead and use the woods for cover. He got closer to the party of men without much issue, Jaime following him only a metre away. Four men sat near each other, discussing a few matters as they ate. They had proper armour and were well-equipped in terms of arms unlike the outlaws of the past. There were four horses tied to a couple of trees at the side as well.

"I still can't believe that Ser Jaime betrayed his own house and escaped with the prince."

"That is only a rumour." One of the soldiers replied.

"Then where else could he be? Lord Tywin would be quick to dissolve these rumours by simply presenting him... but he is nowhere to be found."

"What about the Mountain? I remember seeing him during the Sack when he started scaling Maegor's Holdfast... but there was nothing after that. It's hard to miss a giant like him."

"Ser Jaime slew him... what else?"

"No, no... he wouldn't have had enough time. Someone else... perhaps the prince himself?"

The others burst out laughing. "Is that a jest? If so, it's a good one!"

Aerion took a deep breath and prepared himself. It was still not easy for him to kill people but it's something that he had to do for survival. It was a Dragon's instinct.

"Indeed, it is!"

Aerion formed a ball of fire and hurled it towards one of them, followed by another. Two men caught on fire instantly, burning away within seconds. The moment Aerion struck was when Jaime released an arrow. His first arrow struck a soldier's head, killing him instantly. It was followed by another which pierced the last soldier's leg as he was further away.

Jamie charged the last soldier and cut him down within three strikes.

"And now we have four mounts to choose from, my prince." Jamie smiled.