The Lion and the Trout

Lions and Trout

"Boiling oil! Gods!"

When blazing arcs once again poured down from Riverrun's walls, terrified cries beneath the castle seemed ready to tear apart the sky.

Watching the sudden scene before him, Daven Lannister pressed his lips tightly together, his hands unconsciously clenching into fists.

With the Lannister army's current morale and the situation as it stood, he knew full well that remaining here would only bring more casualties and disaster.

Ser Daven did not hesitate for long. Drawing a deep breath, he roared, "Pass on my command—retreat!"

During the withdrawal, Ser Daven looked back toward Riverrun. He had to admit... the Blackfish was truly troublesome. Brynden Tully might become another famed commander of Westeros.

Ser Daven could not help but admire him. The Blackfish had anticipated what would happen after the sluice gates were opened... he had withstood Riverrun's many desperate crises and deliberately saved the boiling oil for today.

Trout soldiers cheered atop Riverrun's walls, while thick smoke billowed beneath them, and the Lannister army's siege engines suffered grievous losses.

The battered Lannister Soldiers needed time to recover. Ser Daven could only wait for the three thousand fresh troops being sent from Golden Tooth.

With fresh forces joining them, the Lannister Soldiers' morale would rise again. Then... the next round of his contest with the Blackfish would truly begin.

Ser Daven was also bolstering his own spirits. Only by taking Riverrun could House Lannister, bereft of Lord Tywin, restore its former glory.

This was a war they could only win...

However...

Ser Daven could not help looking back toward Riverrun once more. How much of the new Lannister army, forged at great expense by Lord Tywin, would be consumed beneath its walls?

If the losses were too severe, Ser Daven was even more worried that it