Chapter 5 - The Hammer

117 AC

Sixth day of the Ninth moon

Ulf Pov

As I entered the only sept present on dragonstone I greeted the septa present inside. You could say I was among the handful who ever visited the sept due to which the sept was in a very bad state. The hinges of the door looked as if it was about to fall off while the benches present looked as if they would break down the moment I would sit on them.

The body of the statue was a bit better off since I would come once a week and help the old septa and septon to clean it. I was not religious in my previous life but my mother in this world made sure that I would go with her to the sept on a regular basis, so In order to honor her memory I would visit the sept once a week and light a candle in her memory.

I would pretend to pray in front of the various statues which resulted in the septa and septon preaching to the population of dragonstone what a holy boy I was but that mattered naught since most of the people on dragonstone did not give a shit about the faith rather worshipping the targaryens as though they were not made of flesh and blood but the descendants of the Valyrian gods.

" Ulf what happened to your face?", the old septa whose name was Leena asked.

It was then that I touched my eye which must have become black by now due to the fight that I had a few days ago.

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Flashback

I had finished my training with Ser Alfred who for some reason liked to torture me. He had increased the number of laps that I had to complete around the courtyard, but the worst part was that my sparring partners were increased too. Instead of the one-on-one spars, it was now two-on-one.

Sometimes I feel as If he feels satisfied seeing me getting beaten up for some reason. No wonder nobody likes him, unlike Ser Robert Quince who is rather nice to not only me but everyone else. He told me that a knight should not only be good with a sword but should also have a kind heart. What a nice guy.

Currently, I was on my way to the smithy. The demon who walked in broad daylight as a knight had decided that It was time for me to start training with a proper sword instead of the wooden one. I was pretty sure that he wanted me to get beaten up with a proper sword instead of a wooden one. The old fart.

As I reached the smithy I saw around three men at arms ganging up on a kid. Seeing this made my blood boil up, already I was pissed off at Alfred, and now seeing three grown men beating up a kid, that was it. I slowly crept behind one of the men and kicked him right in the balls.

He crumpled down right in front of me while his friends looked at me, not being able to process what had just happened.

Capitalizing on their confusion I ran straight into the smithy and got hold of a short sword. By that time they got out of the trance and looked as if they would gut me the moment they got a hold of me. Luckily the two of them were unarmed while their third comrade was still writhing in pain.

I quickly looked at the kid who was on the floor. He had the blood of Valyria flowing through him too. Although his lip was cut and he was bleeding through his nose with a cut on top of his eye. Before I could say anything one of the men tried to jump me, but in a swift motion, I evaded him before cutting his outstretched hand.

As soon as that happened the blood started oozing out of his hand and he was screaming in agony.

I was shocked at what just happened, I just tried to avoid him but my muscle memory had kicked in, and instead of me bruising his hand I just cut it off.

The moment of me contemplating what had just transpired was more than enough for the guy whom I had kicked in the balls to come behind and kick me on the back. I fell headfirst onto the ground.

I could feel the air leaving my lungs and I gasped for air. I could see him approaching me slowly, he was probably thinking about how I must be out of strength but to his surprise, I got up quickly and Kicked his balls again but this time I too received some damage. As I hit him there his fist connected to my eye and I fell down clutching my eye.

"You really have some balls kid, to beat up two of the men-at-arms in service to the princess", said the third guy who did not fight me. He had a cruel glint in his eyes and I felt helpless.

As he stood on top of me with his boot raised up I closed my eyes fearing for the worst when suddenly I felt some warm liquid on my face.

As I opened my eyes I saw that the edge of a sword was sticking out of his gut, with blood pouring from his wound.

I quickly rolled to the side before he fell down.

It was then that I realized that the kid whom I had technically saved had gotten hold of the short sword and impaled the fucker.

As I got up I could see the rage in his eyes slowly subsiding and being replaced with disdain rather than being scared of the consequences.

" Why did you help me?", asked the boy.

"Because you were getting your ass kicked", I said in a cold tone.

"No, I wasn't", he said in a tone that booked no argument.

"Whatever you say man", I said before slowly walking towards the castle.

"What is your name?", the boy asked in a hurry, not expecting me to just leave.

"Ulf", was all I said.

"Hugh, what the fuck are you doing boy?", I heard a bellowing voice.

Wait a minute, did he just say Hugh, "Hugh the fucking Hammer"

Before I could say anything else I heard the footsteps of men coming towards us and I saw Alfred leading them.

He looked at me for a moment and I could swear that he was relieved at seeing me, but that quickly turned into anger as he started questioning why the fuck were two of his men bleeding while the other clutching his balls.

It was then that I told him what happened and I could feel his anger shifting from me towards the three men-at-arms.

End of Flashback

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Ulf Pov

So that Is how septa Leena I got a black eye.

"So what happened afterwards, Ulf", the old septa asked with worry laced in her voice.

"Do not worry septa, nothing much happened since It was the fault of the men at arms I was not punished.

That was when the doors of the sept opened.

" Ulf, Ser Alfred is asking for you, let us go.", I heard the voice of the boy who had been pestering me for the past few days.

I quickly said goodbye to the septa before departing to courtyard , with Hugh constantly buzzing around me as a bee.

Yes, the brute who would go onto slaughter hundreds was currently eating my ear off.

I guess he considered me his friend as It was me who had told the princess of what had transpired with the guards while he was shitting bricks. I was not at all fazed since I knew that no matter what would happen, Gerardys would have my back, but I was not that sure about Alfred.

The princess who was pregnant with her last bastard was least interested in the proceedings and just shipped those men at arms to the wall.

What a good queen she would become in the future. Seeing her administrative skills firsthand convinced me about the fact that no one would ever oppose the Second coming of Jaehaerys.

But the fact that I had helped him in the fight combined with the fact that we were not punished truly made Hugh respect me.

He also told me that I should feel privileged that I was his friend, which made me laugh lightly and I saw him chuckle, saying how that was the first time he had seen me laugh.

I guess he was my first friend who was not a fifty-year-old maester.

Then as we reached the courtyard I could sense the excitement in Hugh's voice, It seemed that seeing his raw strength had convinced Alfred to take him as his squire.

Just as we were about to start the spar with Hugh holding his hammer and me with my sword, I heard a shrill shriek of a dragon and as I looked up at the sky I could see a blood-red dragon in the sky.

Fuck me, the Rogue had finally come back from his vacation in Pentos.