"Everyone, ready! Loose!"
At Earl Blackwood's command, two hundred longbowmen of House Blackwood unleashed a sky-darkening rain of arrows at the House Brune soldiers thrown into chaos by the fire.
House Blackwood's longbows were painstakingly crafted from weirwood, giving them exceptional resilience and penetrating power. Alongside the goldenheart longbows of the Summer Isles and the Dragonbone Longbow, they were renowned as the three finest bows.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
The arrows easily pierced the bodies of many Brune soldiers who no longer had armor to protect them.
"Aaargh!"
The agony of burns from the flames and choking smoke, compounded by arrows piercing their bodies, drew wretched screams from House Brune's soldiers. Their cries were so harrowing that even the residents of Lord Harroway's Town could hear them.
Many soldiers had yet to recover from the terror of being surrounded by flames before arrows struck them. Under the searing heat, most of House Brune's men had been forced to strip off their scorching armor, leaving them unable to withstand the arrows flying in from afar. By the end of the first volley, over a hundred men had fallen dead.
Harold and Zos shouted themselves hoarse trying to steady the army. Fortunately, the warriors were well trained. Though they had lost their horses, they immediately ordered the soldiers to form a shield wall, effectively blocking the first volley.
Billowing clouds of acrid smoke rolled over the Brune army, making the men cough so violently that they seemed about to cough up their lungs.
"Wet your clothes and cover your mouths and noses!"
As House Brune's master-at-arms, Harold had considerable experience and immediately gave the army the right instructions. In a fire attack, burns from the flames were not the greatest danger. The smoke was far more deadly.
Most people who died in fires