Things Are Looking Up

Stepping forth, Jon parried the downward swing of the blade, coming back around with a slash to the man's back as he spun, grabbing him by the throat and piercing his sword right through the man's chest. Pushing his foe away, Jon watched as Ghost leapt through the air, jaws snapping around the neck of another Bolton soldier, ragging the body around, blood splashing through the air till flesh and bone broke away, head dropping to the ground.

Yet Ghost did not stop, eyes locking onto another target and bound through the battlefield towards its prey. Jon himself moved in and slashed away at a spearman, Valyrian steel blade cutting through the wooden spear, Jon coming back up, cutting deeply into the man's chest who fell back with a cry.

Stabbing his blade down through his chest, Jon was knocked to the ground when Owen Norrey and Tormund Giantsbane, both men wielded large axes as they fought against the group of Bolton men, but also against one another. The two fight to see who could kill the most enemies and do so with large smiles on their faces. In fear of these two men, the Boltons fled backwards and a few so happened to knock into Jon, many collapsing as a result.

It was a slaughter, just like it always was.

Tormund and Owen continued on as Jon pushed aside the bodies atop of him and rose up. The battle had been won, another in a recent string, but Jon felt no closer to victory. No matter how many Boltons or Ironborn he killed, the war seemed no closer to ending than when it had begun.

-X- Line Break -X-

Taking the letter given to him by his squire, Ryon Forrester, Jon opened it up as he stood in the main hall of House Mormont. All around him, the Castellans and in some cases, Lords of the North all stood around talking amongst themselves. Each providing possible ideas for their next target or how they could lure out Stannis Baratheon.

The Wolfswood had seen the most bloody of conflicts in the entirety of the northern campaign. It was effectively under the control of neither the Starks, Ironborn or Boltons, but something they all fought over. The vast amounts of land, the largest patch of fertile land in the North as well as the main hunting ground was a valuable resource that would give whichever side claimed it a huge advantage.

It was why the fighting was so fierce and bloody.

Yet Jon's plan was working, certainly, he and the Starks openly engaged with the Boltons and Ironborn at times, to avoid suspicion. The majority of the time that he and his forces engaged the Boltons or Ironborn, it was by dressing up and pretending to be one of them. He fed the hatred that the Ironborn and Boltons shared for one another as they fought for control of the Wolfswood, but he also made his own forces openly get involved. If he didn't, it was possible that one side may grow suspicious and suspect them to be behind it.

Unlikely though it may be, it was a chance Jon would not take, not with how the war had gone in the past. He had been inexperienced then, unprepared and unable to step up when he was needed most. Jon was no longer that man anymore and he would do what was necessary in order to win.

However, while the Ironborn and Boltons fought with one another, he fed that hatred further, it was not enough, not yet. The Ironborn in the north around Deepwood Motte and the Northern Mountains only came down in groups of a few dozen, that was how most conflicts were fought. Setting out in small hunting parties that often clashed with other small hunting groups from the Boltons and those his own men were disguised as. The same was the case for the Ironborn in the south, by Torrhen's Square, their parties larger, but still small so as not to waste soldiers in a failing endeavour.

The Boltons were similar, but they were becoming fewer and fewer by the day, Jon found that the number of Bolton hunting parties they came across dwindling by the day. It was clear that the Boltons were either losing too many soldiers or unwilling to push deeper into the Wolfswood. Today had been the first Bolton party they came across in days and it had been a large one, Jon expected it would be the last one they saw for a while.

Despite all that though, the Ironborn of Torrhens Square were mostly content to remain where they were. They had access to the Saltspear and with it the fish and sea life that they could use to feed themselves, though from his scouts reported, fights were common.

The problem was, that the North wasn't a prosperous kingdom and so, the Ironborn were fighting amongst themselves over the scraps.

That was good news at least.

But what wasn't good news was the movement or lack thereof from Stannis at the Wall. Despite rising tensions between his soldiers and the Night's Watch, it had not yet devolved into infighting just yet. Nor did Jon expect it would, the Baratheons had too many men and from the letters, Sam had sent him, the soldiers were training every day.

'At least there is some good news.' Jon thought as he read through the letter. 'Robb has defeated the Targaryen, Aegon and is allied with Daenerys.' How those things came about was a mystery to him, but at this point, Jon did not care. Robb was finally coming North and this war would be coming to an end very soon.

Certainly, he would have liked to have presented a unified and free North to Robb, but Jon was no fool. He knew that with Stannis at the Wall, it would be impossible to accomplish such a thing. The Wall was designed in such a way that it could be manned by a few men and still be incredibly difficult to besiege. It was why the Wildlings had failed in the past and still had failed. Stannis with his army was in a position of strength in the North, so long as he remained on the Wall removing him from it would be all but impossible.

However, Jon knew and would ensure that he would present Robb with Winterfell at the very least.

The second letter gave Jon all the hope he needed to see that dream come to fruition. A compiled report of scouts all across the North, containing the information that Jon had desperately been hoping to receive time and time again.

"Lords, Castellans, Chieftans," Jon spoke, the idle chatter continuing. "Lords, Castellans, Chieftans." He spoke louder this time, chatter slowly dying out as they all turned to him, Jon raising the two letters up in one hand. "In these letters, I bring good tidings, the war will soon be over."

There was silence following his proclamation before cheers sprang up, fists banging against the table and goblets were raised in celebration. Jon smiled along with them all, trying to retake control of the room, there was still much work to be done, but it was good to see smiles on their faces again. The room had been filled with dour and downtrodden looks for too long.

"Aye, it's good news, excellent news," Jon exclaimed over the loud cheers, bringing control once more. "My brother, King Robb has defeated the Targaryen King, Aegon and has allied himself with Queen Daenerys." There were some mutterings at that, deep frowns, but it could not quell the overall feeling of joy at the thought of the war nearing its end. "And he now marches North, bringing with him sixty thousand soldiers."

That proclamation brought with it another round of cheers.

Jon himself, smiling largely but keeping a close look upon the faces of the Wildlings Chieftans. They were worried, all of them were. As Val had revealed, Jon was right, despite possessing a horde of over a hundred thousand, only around thirty thousand were actual warriors. Robb was now marching north with a force over double in size. Not to mention the near ten thousand scattered across the North, mostly on the eastern coast.

"We could wait." Jon continued. "Let King Robb come North and sweep over our enemies like a tidal wave. But I say we gift him with a prize greater than anything, the seat of House Stark, Winterfell."

Nods and murmurs of agreements sprung up. "Our plan to sow dissent and hatred between the Ironborn and Boltons has finally born fruit. Right now, the Ironborn in the north, at Deepwood Motte and Ironrath are now marching south, their numbers only a few hundred. The Boltons are abandoning Winterfell and sending troops back to the Dreadfort. And the Ironborn stationed at Torrhens Square are moving south in droves, back to Barrowtown and Goldgrass."

"We will not let this opportunity pass us by," Jon said firmly. "We will ambush the Ironborn still in the Wolfswood and kill them all before they have a chance to get on their boats." They had already burnt or stolen much of their ships, the remainder of them being positioned south of Sea Dragons Point. It would take the Ironborn days to reach them at which point, Jon and his forces would have already ambushed them.

"Then we make haste to Torrhen's Square, we will besiege that city and retake it. All the while Lord Bracken shall retake Winterfell and Lord Manderly and the forces of the east lay siege to the Dreadfort." Here Jon looked to the young Castellans of House Glover and Forrester, Gawen Glover and Ryon Forrester. "In the meantime, we will need to ensure that Stannis Baratheon can not expand his control over the north further than the Last Hearth like he already has. We will need to ensure that the defences of Deepwood Motte and Ironrath are destroyed, do I have your permission?"

The two looked to one another, then at the faces around them before back to Jon. "Yes." The two agreed, though uncomfortable at the choice, that they would rather see the seats of their families destroyed than in the hands of someone else. At least this way, only the defences would be destroyed and they could be rebuilt with time.

"Good, then let us begin."