The First Day

Robb watched with a frown upon his face as the vanguards clashed against one another in the centre of the field. For over an hour the two thousand vanguard force led by Lord Slate had been fighting the one thousand strong Lannister vanguard under the command of Ser Gregor Clegane.

Neither side was giving an inch and despite the fact that they were outnumbered two-to-one, the Lannister vanguard was not giving an inch. As hard as Lord Slate pushed his men, Ser Gregor continued to push back just as hard.

It was a stalemate.

The fact that worried Robb was that they couldn't lose this clash. A draw was good, a victory would be even better, but a loss would be the worst outcome. Already the battle was disadvantageous towards them considering they had around twenty-three thousand men in total to face off an enemy force over two times that size. For some reason, out of the ten thousand men of the Golden Company, only eight thousand had arrived. This meant their force of fifty thousand only numbered forty-eight, but even then that was still a very large force to fight against.

Doubts were prevalent throughout the men in his army and if they lost this clash then those doubts would grow. That was the stakes of this simple engagement of three thousand men in a wider battle of over seventy thousand.

Small it maybe, no more than a skirmish in the grand scheme of things, but it was one they could not afford to lose.

"The Lannister flanks are moving." One of his aids noted out loud and Robb momentarily tore his gaze away from the battling vanguards to look left then right. Just as he expected, the Lannister flanks were moving in response to his own flanks, slow moving but their presence alone ensured that more and more pressure was put upon the vanguard forces.

And Robb turned to look directly at the Lannister main camp. Much like his own, flags denoting to their respective sworn houses were raised, a show of power and might however small it maybe. But despite not being able to, he felt like he was looking directly at Tywin Lannister and that the Old Lion, was doing the same.

The battle around them became inconsequential, both men despite the impossibility of it, stared at one another across miles of green fields.

It was a dangerous game they were playing, Tywin knew that if he won this clash here, then he would gain the upper-hand. If he didn't, he'd be giving hope to his enemy. Robb in turn knew this as well and as result, both commanders anxiously waited.

Who would order their vanguard to retreat.

Too soon and it would come across as a defeat, too late and their forces might be routed. Both of them needed to judge it perfectly while also ensuring that their own men didn't break before that moment.

'Not yet, hold on just a little longer.' He thought to himself, almost a silent prayer to the Old Gods that his men would continue to fight. And in this moment, the fallacy of Tywin's military leadership showed itself, the flag raising and the Lannister vanguard retreating. He judged it well, but it was still just a tiny bit too soon to raise the flag of retreat.

Nodding his head to Olyvar, the flag was raised and his own vanguard force pulled back and Robb looked on with a smirk. This, despite neither side coming out as the actual victor, was still his victory. Tywin had misjudged it by the slimmest of margins and once again, went to show that while an able commander, Tywin was nowhere near the military genius the rumours had presented him as.

'But even so, I cannot count him out just yet.' Robb reminded himself. 'He has not survived this logn nor achieved so much in his life without being shrewd. I will have to be careful of that fact if I wish to emerge victorious here.'

-X- Line Break -X-

Taking a deep breath, Lord Tytos Blackwood urged his horse on forward, following behind hisQ marching infantry. Behind him, Wylis Manderly and his archers followed after them, all the while Tytos remained firm faced. His gaze looking over the field towards the Lannister right flank under the command of Kevan Lannister, fourteen thousand men in total.

As he urged his horse on forwards, Tytos looked up to the sky to see that the sun was high, a few clouds in sight and he smiled. 'I am glad that the weather is not against us. We are already outnumbered as it is.'

Much like they had expected, the moment he moved his flank forwards, the Lannister's did the same. "Father, they've got a few detachments pulling further ahead of the rest of the army." His third son, Hoster Blackwood said urgently, but Tytos didn't panic, instead turning to count the detachments.

Five in total and only a few hundred men in each.

"Don't worry, Hos." He replied calmly, then looking to his eldest son, Brynden who was at the front of the infantry. Already the young man was giving out commands to the front ranks of his infantry, they shifting and moving in preparation to meet the charging Lannisters, even a few archers rushing forwards into the ranks. "Your brother, is more than capable of dealing with them."

-X- Line Break -X-

"Get ready!" Brynden shouted as the small cavalry detachment rushed towards him across the fields. They were few in number, but they weren't Lannisters, from their clothing he'd wager that they were Sellswords.

Before him, his front ranks were formed entirely of shield men who each stood firm, spears held in one hand. The enemy growing closer, targeting the front ranks of the left flank in five points. The centre, the far left, the far right and a point just left and right of the centre.

"Now!" He shouted and the shield men, crouched down allowing the archers that had been hidden amongst the front ranks of the infantry to release their arrows. The suddenness of the tactics caught the cavalry off-guard, they having expected to clash against a shield formation, arrows embedding into the horses and riders of the front runners. This caused disruption in the ranks of the cavalrymen, just as the tactic intended to do. "Cave in!" His command was echoed by the commanders under him.

And the front formation shifted, the targeted areas of the Lannister cavalry shifting backwards to form a U-like shape that funnelled mounted soldiers into it. Spears thrust forwards, piercing into riders and horses while Brynden's men closed ranks. Pushing in on the enemy cavalry and pushing them back out.

The sound of clashing swords, of whistling arrows and men dying filled his ears. It was a sound he had become familiar with and one that Brynden could never associate with the sight before him. It sound glorious, a battle of epic proportions as men fought and died for some unseen glory.

But when one looked upon the sight that accompanied those sounds, could this truly be glorious?