Inside the inn's hall, the knights of House Corbray came out of their terrified stupor.
Someone threw down his sword.
A shield slipped from a hand and struck the flagstones with a dull thud.
The first man rushed for the door, followed by a second, then a third and a fourth.
They shoved one another. Someone tripped, and those behind him immediately trampled over him. No one glanced back.
No one paid any attention to Lyn Corbray.
No one remembered that they were guards.
No one remembered that their lord was still behind them.
They simply fled.
Instinctively, desperately, they fled.
Brienne still stood where she was.
Her hand still gripped her sword's hilt, her knuckles white, but she did not know what to swing at.
Her gaze was fixed on the enormous breach in the vaulted ceiling. The night wind poured in from above, stirring the hair over her forehead.
In all her years, she had fought countless battles and faced all manner of enemies. But she had never seen anything like that.
That was not something a human could fight.
Arya stood beside her, her face pale.
She still held Needle, but her fingers trembled slightly. She heard shouts, hoofbeats, and the clash of metal outside, all mingling together like a nightmare.
She wanted to run, but she did not know where to go.
The inn's doors stood open. The knights had fled through them, but the sounds coming from outside kept her from taking that step.
She did not know what was out there, but she knew it was more terrifying than everyone inside the inn.
They simply stood there, like two stones forgotten in a storm.
Lyn Corbray saw that all his knights had fled.
With a shriek, he gritted his teeth and charged out through