(Male protagonist's perspective)
After surprising Lord Stark, I went to find Caygan and Harrick. They were training at the barracks as usual. I had trained with them many times this year and had been keeping an eye on their progress. Caygan's strength was 7.5 and speed was 9.8, while Harick, at 1.95 meters tall, had a strength of 9.7 and a speed of 7.3. Since they are still teenagers, they will continue to grow for about four more years. It was lucky to find these two. They greeted me immediately when they saw me.
"Commander Drashir, welcome back."
" Caygan, you always say that. You don't have to call me 'Sir.' I'm not here today to train you two. You always say you want to join me. Today we're going to test whether you mean what you say or not."
Caygan asked in confusion
What are you going to do?
We rode together away from Winterfell and came to a desolate place.
"Listen carefully to what I'm about to tell you, because you have no way back. If you truly want to join me, I will accept you, but I have ways to know with absolute certainty whether your vows are true or false. If you don't have confidence in yourselves, then don't try, because if you fail, I will have to kill you. I cannot let those who are disloyal to me know my methods."
They looked at each other, and I allowed them a brief conversation. "When they came back, "Caygan said.
"I have no doubt that we will both pass the oath. But I'd like to know, if possible, what kind of promises would we make to you?"
"You will be 100% loyal to me, but you will not be slaves. If my orders are detrimental to your survival, you are not obligated to obey, but you must never betray me. If you act according to the code of honor, you will be no different from how you are now."
We accept.
Then, I used Oath Magic to have them both swear allegiance, and then sent them to find 50 men who belonged to me. These men would go to Deepwood Motte Keep with Jory Cassel's men, where they would wait for me, while I used the Sith to set off for Blazewater Bay. Over the years, the Sith had grown larger than Berus and Lika, about the size of a pony, and ran about four times faster than a horse. Because of me and our load, the Sith moved three times faster.
When I asked the saddler in Winterfell to make a special saddle, its size and shape were very strange, but after I gave him two pieces of gold dragon, he made the saddle according to my requirements without any objection. She is as fast as the wind, and with my blessing, her stamina has also increased, and the distance she can travel in a day has tripled.
Some super-breed horses can run 60-80 kilometers per hour, but of course, they need a day to rest after running that distance. The Sith, on the other hand, can naturally travel 180 to 250 kilometers a day. With my stamina boost, I covered 750 kilometers in 3 hours, reaching the border between Blazewater Bay and Stony Shore. However, the Sith was too exhausted to join the battle. When I arrived from Winterfell, the Ironborn had already crossed Cape Kraken and split into two groups.
Fifteen ships began their assault on the Flint's Finger, while another twenty-five continued northward. Five warships that had completed their work on the Flint's Finger arrived two days later. Seven of the northward-advancing ships approached the coastline and began to break away from the main force one by one to raid any coastal towns and villages they saw. This was bad news for the public, but good news for me.
Over the past two months, I have been stockpiling arrows near every village and town on the Stony Shore with Lika, Berus, and Sith, because I know the Ironborn will launch their attack in a month or two.
There were over 100 arrows near each settlement. Erebus and his men followed the group that attacked Flint's Finger, while Po followed the group heading north. I am now encamped on the hill behind the village, waiting for them, because a ship is sailing toward the fishing village. There are about 100 soldiers on board, and I am about 100 meters from the shore.
As dawn broke and the villagers were just getting up, unaware of the approaching boat, I began shooting arrows at the large bell in the village square when the boat was about 500 meters from the shore. Hearing the emergency bell, the villagers started coming out of their homes. Upon discovering the approaching boat, they all began to flee in haste. Almost all the villagers left the village within 5 minutes and began to escape up the mountain.
Just then, the Ironborn reached the shore and began to quickly disembark. As they prepared to enter the houses, I fired four arrows at the most concentrated area of the crowd, and immediately took out four more. All four of my arrows hit their mark, but only three caused death. My eyesight allows me to see a distance of 100 meters as only 20 or 30 meters.
The Ironborn, thinking I'd been ambushed after firing four arrows at once, lost 20 men in a minute. But realizing my position, they began to run towards me. Sith might not have the strength to fight, but she was certainly faster than a human, even in the most difficult moments. When I cast Eludo Jelmio ( Warding Wind ) on myself and Sith, their arrows always missed us. I was essentially showing them why every nation in the world trembled before the Mongols.
They followed me hesitantly for 200 meters, but it was clear they were frightened by seeing such a large kitten for the first time. Since I was alone, they ignored the dead men lying beside them and continued their attack. In less than five minutes, only 20 of the 100 attackers remained after the rain of arrows. They began to retreat, but it was too late. Before they reached the ship, I had fired nearly 130 arrows, and only seven men escaped.