The Ambush

In broad daylight, a band of sixty Wildlings from the Mountain Clans marched along a trail across the plains, carrying loot and driving a group of Flatlander prisoners before them.

The prisoners were bound together by a long rope.

They were making their way along a trail across the plains.

Among them were members of the Burned Men and the Stone Crow Tribe.

The Wildlings looked utterly different from the Flatlanders.

They were rough and savage, with no orderly clothing.

They had no shining armor, only leather armor made from animal hides.

Even their weapons were iron ones looted from the Flatlanders.

They moved quickly, their steps uneven and without any formation.

A young Stone Crow Tribe warrior came sprinting back from the woods ahead, panting hard. His expression and eyes betrayed his unease.

The young Stone Crow Wildling's voice trembled. "Something's strange in the forest! The trees are talking! They're watching me!"

A Burned Men Wildling with severe burn scars covering nearly half his face, leaving it charred black, was Dell, Son of Chek.

He was also the leader of the Burned Men in this band.

A contemptuous, mocking smile appeared on his horrifying scarred face. He spat on the ground, then swung a fist at the young Stone Crow Wildling and cursed, "Did the ghost stories from the High Mountains scare you witless? The trees are talking! They're watching you!"

"Listen to my fist and tell me if it's talking to you!"

The young Stone Crow Wildling was struck hard and knocked to the ground, blood gushing from his nose.

"How dare you!" an angry roar immediately rang out from the Stone Crow Tribe.

The Stone Crow warriors in the band glared at Dell, Son of Chek, their hands already on the axes and weapons at their waists.

Though the Stone Crow Tribe and the Burned Men were both part of the Mountain Clans, they often clashed and even fought over raiding and other matters.

This was merely a temporary alliance formed for this large-scale raid.

"Enough!" Just before the dispute could escalate into a bloody fight, a burly, older Stone Crow Wildling stepped forward.

He looked at the young tribesman lying on the ground, then at the Burned Men Wildlings warily eyeing them, their hands likewise on their weapons.

Then he looked at the woods ahead.

He took a deep breath, suppressing both his tribesmen's anger and his own.

"Dell, Son of Chek! You keep going your way!" he said coldly as he pulled the fallen Stone Crow tribesman to his feet. "We'll follow behind!"

With that, he didn't spare another glance at the Burned Men leader. Instead, he stopped with his Stone Crow tribesmen.

"Suit yourselves, Stone Crow!" Dell, Son of Chek, answered roughly.

The Burned Men warriors around him gave low chuckles, their eyes full of contempt for the Stone Crow.

The Burned Men leader brandished the long sword he had looted from the Flatlanders and urged his band onward.

Under the Wildlings' shouts, the Flatlander prisoners being driven along continued forward, looking even more despairing.

At the edge of the woods, an experienced old Burned Men Wildling frowned.

He said to Dell, Son of Chek, "This forest is too quiet. Not even the birds are singing."

"They're afraid of us, afraid of the Burned Men!" Dell, Son of Chek, shouted.

The old Wildling shook his head. "The Flatlanders might be lying in wait for us!"

Dell, Son of Chek, grew angry. "The Flatlanders? They're all on the coast right now, fighting the Free Folk coming from the sea!"

"And all they know how to do is hide behind stone walls and shout! Out here, they run like sheep!"

"Stop talking like a Flatlander! Take your fear and get to the back of the band! The rest of you, move!"

The old Wildling fell silent. He looked at the stubborn Dell, Son of Chek, then at the silent woods.

In the end, he could only sigh in resignation and move to the back of the band.

Deep in the woods, where the sunlight couldn't reach, all was pitch-black.

Suleiman watched uneasily as the Wildlings stopped outside the woods.

He thought their plan had been discovered. A young Wildling had just entered the woods to scout the situation, then hurried back out.

But what happened next surprised him.

The Wildling band got into an argument and nearly came to blows. Then, unexpectedly, it split into two groups.

Suleiman furrowed his brow.

Was this some kind of battle plan? Splitting a band in two and entering the trap one after the other?

Wouldn't that just make it easier to surround and destroy them?

"Archers, ready!" he ordered in a low voice.

Roslyn, standing beside him, asked nervously, "Lord Suleiman, there are Riverlands prisoners among them."

Suleiman was silent for a moment before saying, "War inevitably brings casualties. Do your best not to hit them."

Roslyn said nothing more.

Suleiman slowly raised his right hand.

All the soldiers lying in ambush turned their eyes to him, waiting for the signal that would decide who lived and died.

The air in the forest seemed to freeze.

Suleiman's soldiers were eager for battle, because battle meant riches.

Dell, Son of Chek, led the Burned Men band along the forest trail, swaggering.

He grew more and more pleased with his earlier judgment.

"See?" he shouted to the Wildlings around him. "I told you the Stone Crow are all cowards! There isn't a soul in these woods!"

The Burned Men warriors behind him gave a chorus of mocking laughter.

Then, everything changed!

Countless wooden spears flew at them, mixed with arrows.

They ripped through the forest's silence!

This was a cheap ranged attack method Suleiman had adapted.

They threw sharpened wooden spears from a distance.

It worked well for a band like theirs, which lacked archers.

"There's an ambush!" The old Wildling at the back of the band was the first to react.

He warned the others.

But it was already too late.

"Ah!"

"Damn it!"

Screams and curses erupted all at once.

The Burned Men were fierce, but the animal-hide armor they wore offered little protection.

It was practically useless against incoming attacks and easily pierced.

In an instant, seven or eight Burned Men warriors were struck by spears and arrows and fell, screaming.

Blood stained the fallen leaves beneath them.

Dell, Son of Chek, was also stunned by the sudden attack.

He instinctively raised his longsword to block, but an arrow still struck his left arm, its head sinking deep into the muscle.

The pain made him roar like a beast.

"Kill them! Charge through! Charge through, I said!"

But a second, even denser volley of wooden spears and arrows answered him.

"Thud! Thud! Thud!"

The sounds of arrows and spears piercing flesh rang out without pause.

The Burned Men band descended into utter chaos.

They scattered like headless flies, trying to find cover.

Others futilely swung their weapons, attempting to deflect the flying spears and arrows.

The captured Flatlanders screamed, adding to the turmoil.

Suleiman watched the chaos unfold before him, calm and composed.

"Lushen! Roslyn!" he ordered calmly.

"Here!" they answered in unison.

"Roslyn! Take your men and cut off their escape route! Attack them from behind!"

"Yes!" Roslyn moved quickly, taking his men toward the entrance to the woods where the Wildlings had entered.

"Lushen! Take your men and charge straight at them with me!"

"Yes!" Lushen drew his sword with his right hand and held a horn in his left.