Chapter 25

We arrived at Duskendale at around 10 am with the sun to our backs and immediately deployed into the planned battle formation. I of course took the center, ensuring just that little bit extra discipline in order to keep our formation and stick to the plan. Oddly, the enemy was mostly still in a ramshackle camp outside the walls of Duskendale when we arrived, meaning that they hadn't expected us for some reason. I guess nobody told them that their plan to assassinate me had failed. As horns sounded across their camp and they began to filter out into battle array, I decided to be lenient on them and let them get into some semblance of formation instead of attacking them whilst they were completely unprepared to resist.

Immediately a party rode forwards under a banner of truce. I could see the enameled white plate armor of Ser Boros amongst the party coming to parlay along with the banner of black warhammers on white cross on blue field of House Rykker. "What the hell?" I muttered to myself and headed off to parlay along with several of my elite guard, my bronze longship on gray fluttering in the morning breeze above us. As we met the parlay team halfway between our forces and theirs. I could see that Ser Boros was having to visibly restrain himself from drawing steel on me.

"Lord Irons, is surrender not an option?" asked Lord Rykker as the talking began.

"You wish to surrender to me? Very well I accept." I replied glibly.

"Yes, how droll. I suppose then that you are not willing to surrender in the face of our army?" asked Lord Rykker.

"We outnumber you, have the advantage in discipline, and all my troops are sufficiently trained and equipped. I like my odds." I replied with a grin.

"Perhaps you would be willing to settle this with a contest by champion? A champion of your choosing versus Ser Boros and whoever's man loses, his army must surrender?" Asked Lord Rykker.

"I have already bested Ser Boros once, I see little harm in doing so again if it will get you to surrender. Shall we meet here again in a half hour then?" I asked.

"That would be acceptable." replied Lord Rykker.

Ser Boros just grinned.

I arrived back to my forces to relay the appropriate orders.

"Do you really expect them to honor a contest by champion, my lord?" asked Ser Waters, commander of my cavalry.

"No, which is why I want a fast horse waiting for me the second the contest is over to carry me back to our lines and you to be ready with a counter charge should they attempt to capture me." I replied.

Ser Waters nodded before I said, "If they break their word, the plan is still on. We'll annihilate them."

Nods all around.

After the meeting it was simply a matter of getting a piper and drummer to play my intro. As I met Ser Boros in the designated area, a familiar tune began to play from the piper and drummer, one from back home on earth. I grinned savagely as the tune wafted through the air from my lines to the cheers of my men and the jeers of the Enemy. Ser Boros it seemed had brought with him a greatsword to this battle, obviously hoping his greater size would allow him and his choice of weapon to steamroll me. Fortunately I doubted it would.

As we met for the combat, Ser Boros grinned and said, "I've been waiting for four months to pay you back for the humiliation you caused me by besting me, Ironscum." He growled.

"Oh, do get on with it." I replied.

At some unspoken signal, he lurched forth with a big slashing swing of his greatsword, which I caught with both sword and axe in a cross block. He attempted to twist his sword out of the block and break my guard, but I held fast and used my broadsword and axe to bind his greatsword in place, attempting to gain enough leverage in the bind to rip his greatsword out of his hands, as he attempted to use his greater size and lesser strength to bull me over for a follow through that he hoped would finish me. The bind went on for a few minutes and I got a mental notification that I received a new Skill, Winding and Binding. Which had a 3% chance of disarming an opponent per level and small chance to knock them to the ground.

As the bind continued into it's third minute, I finally gained the upper hand and was able to use Winding and Binding to wrench Ser Boros' greatsword out of one of his hands and execute a hip toss to bear him to the ground. I immediately attempted a follow through with Finishing Strike to end the combat early, but he managed to deflect the attack with his gauntlet, smashing his hand. I noticed that he received the status effect Crippled: Off Hand from the attack, which meant he wouldn't be able to use his great sword anymore, but he managed to get his feet under him again and pull his broadsword with his main hand, leaving his greatsword on the ground. He attempted a high-low-high combination, which was expertly dodged or parried by myself, and I sent off a Power Attack in riposte, which he just managed to dodge. A flash of Battle Precognition had me jumping back out of the way of a boot in order to cut off my advance, and Ser Boros bulled in with a slash aimed to cut into my side, that I quickly tied up with Winding and Binding. This time the bind barely lasted a minute before I managed to gain enough leverage to toss him to the ground. Another Finishing Strike was aimed at him, but he managed to roll out of the way and get to his feet.

Thus far I was dominating this combat and Ser Boros had a look of intense fury on his face. "Why won't you die!" He growled out as he came at me with a feinting slash that turned into a thrust. Fortunately, my Battle Precognition warned me so that I could sidestep the thrust when it came and slam the pommel of my sword into the side of his head with a Mordschlag. He was rocked back onto his heels and a Power Strike managed to rend his Pauldron, inflicting another status effect Crippled: Sword Arm. This time I followed through with a Meisterhau and to take his head. It connected as he attempted a dodge and managed to pierce his gorget and cut into his throat just enough to nick the carotid artery, causing Ser Boros to crumple to the ground and choke on his own blood.

Immediately I knew I had killed him and immediately a horn blew from the enemy lines to signal a cavalry charge. Sure as shit, the Royal Court's army wasn't going to hold to the bargain and I immediately mounted up and headed back to my lines as Ser Water's Hussars immediately intercepted the enemy cavalry with a countercharge. As I reached my lines I noticed the cavalry fight had gone off the main field and the enemy infantry was advancing. Pointing my sword at the Enemy I shouted, "Just like we practiced lads! Stick to the plan!"

The enemy was upon us then and we fought furiously. I was sending out Power Strikes, Mordschlags, and even the occasional Meisterhau, as the enemy men at arms crashed into our lines. I had easily cut down two score of men before we began to be pushed back. I had hammered into my troops the need for a slow fighting withdraw in order to look like we were being pushed back, and I switched to Interrupting Strikes in order to sell the effect. Bit by bit we began to withdraw, though not without killing a fair number of the enemy. Finally I saw that the wings had begun to advance and that the plan was proceeding swimmingly. The enemy seeing that we were apparently being pushed back, charged ahead with fury and within an hour of fighting the trap was sprung, the wings met, and we had managed to encircle the enemy army. Pressing in on them on all sides the enemy began to see that they were fucked and after another hour of slaughter, Lord Rykker's banners were struck and a white flag was there in their place.

I commanded a halt to fighting on my end and Lord Rykker, who I saw was wounded in the leg shouted, "We surrender! For the love of the gods don't kill us all!"

I shouted back, "I accept your surrender. You will bend the knee to Stannis and your troops will be used to supplement our own and I will place 200 men to act as a garrison force for Duskendale. You will send your eldest son to Dragonstone to act as hostage against your good behavior. These terms are non-negotiable. Do you agree, or shall we continue with the slaughter?"

"I agree, just don't kill us!" begged Lord Rykker.

Two hours later we were marching into Duskendale up to the very gates of the Dun Fort as conquerors. I spent the rest of the day sorting out garrisons and arranging matters of supply. We would rest here for a week and a half while I trained up new pikemen and crossbowmen before moving on Rosby. About a week had passed before I had heard from Stannis, he had taken Faring's Cross, which stood between him and King's Landing. He would wait for me to take Rosby and then we would move on the capitol together from North and South.

The war in the Crownlands was nearing it's endgame. . .