Chapter 36

Varamyr looked at the large group of men while hiding behind a thick foliage along with his three direwolves and a shadowcat.

These men were not like anything he had seen before.

At first when he had seen them, he had thought that they were Thenns. After all, only Thenns would be able to muster such a large group and then give them proper gear, food and weapons to venture in these areas. But that theory was proven wrong when he observed them for a while.

Their clothes were different than any other that he had seen before. They were far too 'clean' to belong to any free folk clan. And their weapons were not the bronze and wood that the Thenns use but of steel instead.

Their way of talking and their manners were also different than any other clan that he had seen before. And last but not the least, these men were far too disciplined to belong to any free folk clan.

All these evidence clearly told him that these men were not of the true North but had come from the South instead.

But these men were not Crows. As Crows wore black clothes and these men wore white from top to bottom. A color that helps hide them in these lands rather easily.

So who were these men and what were they doing so close to his territory.

He direwolf and it's two companions suddenly heard footsteps coming from a distance and became alert at once as a group of four men rode on horses and went past the foliage where his direwolves were hiding without seeing them.

He knew what these men were doing.

They were scouts.

He had already dealt with a pair of scouts yesterday by attacking and killing them before they could shout for help.

That was probably why there were more scouts roaming around the Camp today.

He was sure that he and his direwolves would not be able to kill the four of them without them alerting the others. And once they shout for help, the people in the camp will know that someone is attacking them and will go on an alert.

A pity a that he didn't have enough men and women that would be able to fight these men.

As of now he only had 1200 people in the villages under him of which only 700 were capable of fighting.

But those 700 fighters didn't have any decent weapons, armors, discipline or the training required to fight an army like this.

So if he decided to attack these Southron then he'll only be leading his people to a slaughter.

So it would be wise to stay away from them for the time being.

Perhaps he'll be able to ask Weeper for help and make an alliance with that fool. The thought of asking anyone for help angered him but desperate times call for desperate measures Maybe even talk with the Thenns for a change.

After all, these men were equipped with a lot of weapons. Weapons that any man and woman would risk their life to get in the True North.

It was likely that by allying with the Thenns, he'll only get a small portion of these weapons or even none at all. But it would be better than having such a large army in his backyard.

Maybe he would…

Thud..

Thud…

Grr…

Thud…

He turned around just in time to see his last direwolf falling to the ground before his shadowcat snarled and started climbing a tree faster than anyone man would ever be able to climb before a red ball light hit her and she went stiff for a moment before her body went slack and she fell down on the ground.

Thud…

He looked at his four most trusted companions and felt his heart freeze before he looked up and found a young boy pointing a thin branch at his shadowcat.

The sight was so surreal that he was not able to understand what he was seeing for a time.

A boy had brought down his three direwolves and shadowcat. With the help of magic.

"Are you the children of the forest?" he asked, showing more boldness than he actually felt.

"No. My name is Domeric Bolton." The boy replied "And you're the one they call Varamyr Fiveskins. I don't see your snow bear beside you."

"My snow bear is too huge and too loud for scouting." He said. He had no idea why he was so freely giving away that bit of information to a stranger but decided not to think too much about it.

"I see." The boy said before he pointed his stick upward and a loud 'bang' resonated from it making him close his ears as he wondered what the boy was trying to do.

Then he realized that the boy had called for his scouts and probably intended to capture him as well as his direwolves and shadowcat. Seeing that his four animals were not going to wake up any time soon, he decided to make a run for it.

However he was not able to run very far before a red light struck him and everything went black.