The sky was still dark, and the humid morning mist hung heavy on everyone's sight.
Suleiman summoned Bryn and his ten bandit brothers who crossed the bright moon High Mountains without any unnecessary explanation or notification to any nobles in the coalition.
This frighteningly elite team broke away from the larger army and disappeared into the depths of the forest with their horse hooves wrapped in wet mud.
Their departure left a huge question mark in the huge coalition army. Where was he going and what was he going to do? Panic spread silently like the mist in the forest.
A Vance family soldier lowered his voice, but his words were filled with uncontrollable panic. "He must have run away!"
"That Black Lion! He left us as bait! He ran away with his cronies!"
The companion next to him immediately retorted, "Shut up!"
"His main army is still here, Rosso Brune is still here, and his flag is still flying. How could he escape alone?"
"Then what did you say he went to do??"
No one can answer this question, and more people are willing to believe the guess that is more in line with the desperate situation and more in line with the human heart and the behavior of the nobles.
Suleiman must have discovered some kind of huge danger that he could not contend with, so he abandoned them as burdens without hesitation. Ironborn would not let go of their army, and it was convenient for him to escape with his cronies!
As the rumors of Suleiman's "escape" intensified, uncontrollable commotion began to occur within the coalition forces. The leaders of some small families had begun to whisper with their men, and kept glancing at the edge of the team, as if they were ready to leave at any time.
At this moment when people's hearts were about to collapse, an action happened that stunned everyone, even Lymond. Lychester.
Tytos. Blackwood, one of the oldest and most noble lords Riverlands, personally rode his horse to the front of the team. In front of everyone, he found the nominal commander-in-chief of the army, Lymond. Lychester, who was at a loss because of the chaos in front of him.
Tytos turned over and dismounted, his movements were crisp and clean, and he announced loudly in a calm but extremely solemn tone:
"Lord Lymond, from this moment on, my army, House Blackwood, will completely obey your command and management."
He even bowed slightly, a gesture of respect from one noble to another.
"I apologize for my previous rudeness at Oldstones."
Immediately afterwards, young Patrick. Mallister also immediately led his knights and stepped forward to express to Lymond. Lychester that he would obey the unified command and express his apology for the incident of Oldstones.
The soldiers of Blackwood and Mallister, in collaboration with the troops of House Darry, House Deddings, and House Vance, were like several solid dams, quickly stabilizing the morale of the army that was about to collapse.
This sudden obedience performance shocked everyone completely. What happened?
House Blackwood, whose bloodline can be traced back to Age of Heroes, House Mallister, is also the decisive force of Riverlands.
And Lychester is just a declining family that has been in decline for a long time, the castle is small and square, and even the lord himself is crazy. This completely illogical thing made the soldiers frantically search for a "reasonable" explanation.
Then, a ridiculous, but seemingly only possible rumor spread around the campfire.
A veteran of the Darry family said mysteriously, "I'm telling you."
"That Lord Lymond. Lychester, he must have the blood of Targaryen!"
Another person slapped his thigh fiercely. "That's right!!!"
"Didn't you see his old white hair? And his crazy symptoms! Isn't this exactly the same as the legendary Targaryen?!"
"This is the only explanation!!"
This statement, like Wildfire that started a prairie fire, quickly became the generally accepted "truth" among the coalition forces.
"Otherwise, it is completely unexplainable how an unknown and even crazy person could receive the full support of such big families as Deddings, Darry, Vance, Blei Woodwood and Mallister in a short period of time!"
"Master Suleiman even killed people who insulted his honor for him!"
Only those nobles who are in high-level positions, such as Raymun. Darry and Keke, know that this rumor is completely outrageous, and even Lymond. Lychester was afraid that he would be implicated by Robert. Baratheon because of such rumors that he was inexplicably related to House Targaryen. He kept explaining that his gray hair was due to old age! It was definitely not due to the Targaryen bloodline!
But all this made everyone even more confused. They only knew that the night before Suleiman "disappeared", he and Mr. Tytos. Blackwood had an extremely mysterious conversation that no one was listening to.
Even little Patrick. Mallister didn't know what his idol, Lord Tytos, and that "rude guy" actually said.
This was really weird, and among the noble women in the team, another even more disturbing rumor began to spread.
"That Suleiman! Can use black magic! He can confuse people's hearts!"
"That must be the case! Everyone must be careful about him!"
This statement seems to be better able to explain Master Tytos. Blackwood's 180-degree change, otherwise all this would be completely inconsistent with common sense.
Deep in the forest, there is a clearing covered with mud and rotten leaves.
Five Ironborn scouts were surrounding a small bonfire, boasting in their vulgar voices.
"Oldstones Not counting that time, we encountered three times the number of enemies, at least four to five thousand people. Otherwise, how could we lose!" Ironborn, who had half of his ear broken off, argued.
Another guy with a sinister face smiled ferociously and picked at the black stains between his nails with a dagger, "Whatever."
"Last time I collected Iron Price, but in front of a man on the green ground, I fucked his woman."
"That kid still dared to glare at me, so I picked up his baby who was still nursing in front of him and threw him headfirst on the rock to death, hahahaha!"
The crowd burst into wild animal laughter.
An arrow shot through the air, with a sharp whistle, and pinned the boaster's arm to the tree trunk behind him.
The laughter stopped in the summer, and the battle broke out instantly.
Suleiman A cold voice sounded in the forest, "Stay alive!"
Bryn and his ten brothers have been in battle for a long time in Mountains of the Moon. Their fighting method is simple, direct and efficient. Everyone is an elite archer and swordsman. There are no unnecessary movements. Every time he draws the bow, shoots an arrow or swings the sword, it is to make the opponent lose his fighting power, remove the opponent's weapon or break the opponent's bones.
The battle ended quickly, and all five Ironborn were captured alive.
Suleiman ordered Bryn and the others to tie these mourning Ironborn to the tree in the middle of the clearing.
Then, let Bryn and his brothers pile the kerosene and dry firewood they brought at the feet of Ironborn.
Bryn looked at the strange scene in front of him and understood something instantly.
He was silent, and a voice echoed in his heart. This... seemed to be some kind of... ritual...
Suleiman turned around, looked at Bryn and his ten brothers, and asked, "Are you afraid?"
Bryn shook his head, his voice hoarse. "The moment my wife and children were killed by my lord, I lost all faith."
"If there really is a god, I will believe in the god who can help me take revenge."
"Sir, that is what I believe in."
The brothers behind him also nodded silently, with the same hollowness and determination in their eyes.
Suleiman nodded. This is why he only brought these people here. He thought for a while and decided to do an experiment. He extinguished the torch in his hand and handed it to Bryn:
"You guys come and light it."
Bryn and his brothers, with expressionless faces, each picked up a torch. They stepped forward and put the flame close to the dry firewood soaked in kerosene. The flames instantly shot up into the sky, accompanied by Ironborn's shrill screams that were not like human voices.
At the moment when the flames reached their peak, Suleiman felt that his soul had left his body again. His vision quickly increased, passing through the layers of tree canopies, and flying into the sky. The entire Riverlands was like a huge, real-time sand table, displayed in front of his eyes with incomparable clarity.
He could see the fleet of Roderick moored in the shelter of a tributary. He could see the Dagmer Ironborn pursuit team coming quickly. He could see the defeated troops of Riverlands other nobles, spinning around in that forest and area like headless flies.
He could even see where his coalition forces were setting up camp, and he was frantically memorizing these key tracks and information.
Suddenly, a huge force pulled him back to his body, and he woke up suddenly, panting violently, as if he had just struggled out of deep water.
He raised his head, only to find that Bryn and his brothers were looking at him with extreme shock and awe.
Before Suleiman could speak, Bryn was the first to kneel down on one knee and buried his head deeply, followed closely by his brothers.
I and others followed.::::
:. Doesn't look like a mortal.