Harold led five hundred Dragon Guards on Holy Flame Island's finest warhorses, charging at the head of the column with unstoppable momentum.
Danyla's Dragon Guards consisted of talented second sons of noble families, bastards, and the orphans she had raised since childhood. Almost every one of them was an outstanding warrior of the Seven Kingdoms. They underwent rigorous training every day and had seen considerable combat in the streets of the Stepstones and in Oldtown over the past six months.
Moreover, their equipment, forged from false Valyrian steel, was arguably the finest armor and weaponry in the world. Even their warhorses wore exquisite barding. Like a sharp blade, they pierced through the mass of men surrounding the Vale warriors.
Their weapons easily pierced their enemies' armor, flesh, and bone, while enemy blades striking them produced nothing but showers of sparks, scarcely leaving even a sizable scratch.
Those few hundred men tore a massive breach straight through the packed ranks like a torrent of steel. Seizing the opening they had created, the four or five hundred surviving Vale horsemen broke out of the encirclement.
But they did not stop even to catch their breath. Instead, they followed Harold and his men in another charge against the enemy.
Only blood could repay wounds dealt in blood!
Now they demanded blood for blood!
Another hour passed. Of the so-called Thirteen Acorns Alliance, only Earl Mosswood, who had withdrawn of his own accord, escaped. Every other leader died bitterly on the battlefield. Harold and his men did not even give them a chance to surrender.
As Danyla's sworn warrior, Harold was ambitious, but his loyalty to her was beyond question. He knew full well that the hidden hand behind these men had incited them to gather here for the ultimate purpose of opposing Danyla.