( Eddard Stark's perspective)
When I told him that his mount was a giant Shadowcat, Yohn Royce's eyes widened.
Yohn Royce was tall and had a loud voice, but he would remain silent when he had nothing to say. He disliked empty talk like most Reach nobles.
The Vale people came as representatives of Arryn, but control of the Vale army rests directly with Robert, for the Lord Hand is busy ruling the kingdom in place of our absent King. The last time I saw him, he was old and frail, like a stick. Lord Royce said.
"Sir, you said he was riding Shadowcat? It's definitely not Shadowcat. Although Shadowcat are deadly animals, they are certainly not large enough for an adult male to ride."
"Oh, he's not yet a grown man; Aermir Ser Drasil is almost sixteen, but he's about the size of most grown men. I've never seen this Shadowcat myself, but I've read many reports about its size from reliable sources. We've sent word to the city gates, and he'll be here soon; then we'll see if it's real or not."
At this point, Mace Tyrell interjected.
"Is that all? Lord Stark, how can you declare someone a user of magic and knight him? This is heresy, an insult to the Seven. The Seven explicitly forbid the use of magic and declare it the power of demons; such behavior is unsuitable for someone of your status."
What is this clown trying to say?
"Lord Tyrell, you speak of the Knights of the North. We do not worship your gods; for us, the Warg is part of our history and heritage. Yes, over time, we North have lost part of our magical heritage, and now only the Wildlings possess the Warg, but as First Men, our bloodline from the Warg and the Greenseer remains undeniable. Most importantly, why should we North care about your gods' views on magic? The Warg's power comes from the Old Gods; it is a great blessing."
Upon hearing my words, Mace Tyrell's expression shifted several times; she seemed to want to say something else, but then gave up. Seeing this, I continued.
"We don't care what you think of us, but what we care about is that you respect our way of life, just as we respect you. Leave your religious beliefs to yourselves; the Seven ' have no place in the North, and never will."
At the same time, my father-in-law intervened, asking me questions to ease the tension.
"We've all heard the term ' Warg,' but I myself have no idea what's so magical about them. I apologize if I sound ignorant, but I truly know nothing about them. Aren't they just animal trainers?"
Judging from his expression and behavior, he did not have any malicious intent in asking this question.
The magic of the Warg doesn't lie in taming animals, because they don't tame them. The animals remain wild; it is the Warg that control them. The Warg can connect with and possess the animals' minds, then control them like puppets.
At this point, the Old Lion also raised a question.
"Is that how the Crow found you in my sunroom?"
As expected of Lord Tywin, his keenness and observation remain as sharp as ever. The passage of time has not dulled the Old Lion's wisdom; he is as sharp as Valyrian steel sword. Upon hearing Lord Tywin's question, all the other lords realized what had happened. Receiving a message from Crow was perfectly normal for them, but they hadn't realized before that the Crow hadn't gone to its roost in Casterly Rock. It had managed to find me in this vast Citadel.
"Yes, it must have used magic to find me in the Citadel."
"Does that mean they can control all the animals?"
"I'm not Warg expert. Until a few years ago, I thought they were stories from the heroic age, but as far as I know, they can't control all the animals. From the stories, those who can control more animals are considered powerful Warg. The most powerful Warg is the Warg King. He can bind with thousands of animals. As for Ser Drasil, he has five animals: Shadowcat, two Crow, a snake, and a dog."
Robert, in particular, asked many questions about the Warg. After answering their questions as best I could, I said.
"Since you're so curious, let's go downstairs and see this animal for ourselves. To be honest, I'm also curious to know how big it is."
Robert quickly stood up from his chair, downed the drink in one gulp, and then threw the large goblet on the floor.
"That's a good idea, Ned. Let's go see your Warg and his giant cat."
Stepping out of the grand Citadel, we arrived at the top of the high steps leading to the Citadel gate. At the other end of the road beside the Citadel gate, we could see Aermir and his giant beast slowly walking along the cobblestone path.
Bathed in the glow of the setting sun, the black stripes on its smoky gray fur occasionally turned a deep brown, but what was most striking about this animal was its sheer size. We've seen horses bigger than it, but never an animal this large that could devour us. It was this very fact that shocked and terrified people.
This animal approaching us is not a domesticated mount. It is an apex predator. As it gets closer, its body lines become clearer. Even its thick fur cannot conceal the powerful muscles on its shoulders and legs.
When we saw this animal approaching, I could even guess what most of us were thinking: an ordinary adult Shadowcat could disembowel an adult man, and I didn't even want to imagine what this thing could do.
It stopped about 5-6 meters away from us, stretched, and yawned. At this moment, its mouth was wide open, perhaps big enough to fit a child. We could see the sharp fangs in its open mouth. Each one was like a small dagger. Aermir dismounted from the beast, placed his hand on his heart, bowed first to the king, and then bowed to me.
"My king, my lord, I have carried out your orders; all the Ironborn who attacked the North have been killed or thrown into the sea. There are no more wet rats in the North."
How many people did we lose?
"Approximately 1000 people."
"Lord Tywin asked."
How large was the invading force?
"Approximately 80,000 to 10,000 people"
"How could you have lost only 1,000 men when facing an army of nearly 10,000?"
"If we are not prepared before they set foot in the North, we will lose even more."
What does """ mean?
Aermir raised his arm, and a Crow swooped down and landed on his arm.
"I scouted them from the air and spent most of the time ambushing them. During the main engagements, the Emre the Druid's powerful magic aided us. After the battle, he healed almost all of our wounded, so our losses were minimal."