Chapter 128 125

The Vale. The Mountains of the Moon. 298 AC.

Lord Axel Arryn.

The Mountains of the Moon are a great mountain range in the eastern part of central Westeros. They cut the Vale of Arryn off from the rest of the continent and serve as the natural boundary between the Vale and the Riverlands, with smaller ridges branching off from the main spine in every direction.

Formally the mountains are part of the Vale, more precisely part of the Arryn domain, but the mountain clans and the local wildlife acknowledge no authority my house holds over them. My father, for all his virtues, had considered these mountains one large problem. I see enormous potential. Using only the most accessible metal deposits, the Vale already stands as a bastion of knighthood and rivals the Reach. What might we find if we put pick to stone in the untouched ranges? A great deal of resources, that much is certain.

In the service of exterminating the mountain men, Vale rangers had been formed, the forces of the defeated houses put to work and generously provisioned by the other lords. Every lord, great and small, had contributed to the effort against a shared enemy. Lordly pride can be a very convenient instrument. If I announce to the whole region that I am personally committing five hundred swords to the killing of mountain men and invite others to match it, the rest have little choice but to do so, whether they want to or not. As a result, nearly five thousand swords are now operating in the southern Mountains of the Moon.

The results had been significant. But the savages were not fools, and they had simply grown better at hiding. Those we could reach had been dealt with, and for a full month now the men had been standing idle, which is an expensive way to keep an army. The sensible thing would be to disband it, but I was quite certain that the moment it left, the mountain men would crawl back out of their holes.

That was when, under rather unpleasant circumstances, Lady Elena Snow's particular talents came to light. I could have strangled her, but there was a better use for her gift. The plan had seemed straightforward enough: she would enter birds, scout the hidden camps, and we would cut them down. What I had forgotten was a rather obvious detail, that Elena was no ranger. And so I was now living with the consequences. The mountain men had hit us from both sides, catching us in a pinch. I had grown complacent and leaned too heavily on the warg's abilities; fortunately I had at least run minimal reconnaissance beforehand, otherwise the mountain men would have caught us with our breeches around our ankles.

"Garth, take ten men and get to that hill! Hold the position or we're finished," I said, giving the order while dismounting; cavalry was useless on ground like this.

"Yes, my lord," my guard sergeant said, and ran for the hill behind us.

"Eyris, twenty men and cover the rear!" He hesitated, and I had no patience for it. "Move!"

The situation was grim: forty of us on a mountain road, a drop on the left, mountain men front and back, and a hill on the right where they would send archers the moment they thought of it. The one mercy was that the road was narrow, barely three men wide.

"Snow! SNOW!" A firm shake brought her back to herself. "You stay directly behind me and keep your eyes on the number of the savages from above! You see anything unusual, you tell me! Understood?!"

"Yes!" Good girl, she had gathered herself and drawn her rapier.

My heart was pounding hard, something like lightning running through my body, and even without magic the world was sharpening and slowing around me. Despite everything I have tried, I remain a thorough combat enthusiast. The more dangerous the situation on a battlefield, the better I feel. What pleased me even more was that this would be a fight on foot, which meant I could finally make proper use of my mace.

Armored, with my weapon of choice in hand, faithful companions at my side, and retreat meaning death, there was nothing left to do but kill everyone who had attacked us. After that, a feast in honor of the victory. Meat, wine, women, and drunken songs...

Those won't be a problem, and as for her... a brief glance along Elena's small but trim figure. I'll think of something.

"FOR THE VALE!!!" A dozen throats roared back.

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