House of The Dragon:The Rise of the Emperor of the Seven Kingdoms

Chapter 135: Chapter 134 – The Fall of White Harbor (III)

The Braavosi army crashed hard into the three hundred-man shield wall of House Manderly. Although the spears killed anyone who came close, the spears were not as fast as the sheer number of people. Especially some who used the bodies of their own comrades as shields to force an opening in the shield wall.

Though that gap in the shield wall was quickly sealed, it was clear the balance of victory had already shifted sides.

Even so, the men of House Manderly were a highly trained army, not a band of peasants with scythes and plows. They were disciplined and managed to quickly stabilize the wall, pushing forward and forcing the enemy back.

But this cost even more energy, energy these soldiers no longer had after a full day of battle. Some of House Manderly’s men could be seen completely spent, collapsing to the ground in utter exhaustion.

Even so, no one stopped; they kept fighting.

Two hours later, the city was quieter than usual.

Theomore coughed amid the smoke hanging around him; he leaned against one of the houses with a completely exhausted expression. The lord’s green eyes swept the surroundings with a sorrowful look.

Even with all the bravery and courage of their soldiers, the shield wall had been broken in about two hours. Of the three hundred soldiers, a little more than fifty men remained, and they now protected him, forming a shield wall around him.

“My lord, fall back to the castle!” One of the soldiers, covered in blood from head to toe, spoke in an exhausted tone as he blocked a spear thrown by the enemy.

Theomore’s face showed reluctance at those words. If he retreated, the city would be left defenseless and would be utterly plundered by the Braavosi soldiers. He could imagine what would happen to the city’s people once he pulled back.

Rape, plunder, murder.

As a lord raised to be an exemplary knight, honorable, and a good man, Theomore felt this decision was harder than any other decision in his life. In the end, he closed his eyes and whispered in a weak tone.

“Give the order for all squadrons to fall back to the castle.” Theomore said in a desperate tone, knowing he had condemned his city and everyone in it.

The soldier did not hesitate; he grabbed a horn and blew it with all the strength he had. The instrument let out a loud, thunderous roar that echoed across much of the city. Five other horns sounded moments after the first, showing there were five squadrons of men, besides the main one, still fighting.

By the end of the day, Theomore had fallen back to the castle, and all his men fell back with him, leaving the city completely defenseless.

The Sea Lord’s Admiral of Braavos, Luke Algarsy, did not pursue the enemy soldiers. Either way, his orders were to destroy the city, not to destroy House Manderly. He would not lose more men trying to take a castle known for taking months to conquer.

Not to mention House Manderly was a noble house that commanded a fleet of merchant ships, which meant a great amount of food stored in the castle.

Setting aside the months it would take to conquer the castle, he had a little more than a day to sack the city and flee as quickly as possible.

“MEN, WE HAVE CONQUERED THE CITY!!!” Luke shouted loudly as he looked at the soldiers around him. They looked like starving wolves, craving meat after long days without food.

“This house is mine!!!”

“No, I saw it first!!!”

“HAHAHA, I FOUND A PRETTY GIRL!!!”

In war, human desires were amplified by brutality, fear, and greed. The soldiers were no longer civilized men, but demons who had crawled out of the hell of war’s flames.

In one of the castle’s towers, Theomore could be seen being treated by the maester of New Castle as he looked out at his city burning amid the screams of his people.

“Monsters!!!” Theomore exclaimed furiously. Even though he knew this would be the outcome, seeing the city his family had built with such care over a thousand years being plundered and being devastated made his heart bleed as if it were being stabbed.

“My lord, don’t move.” The Maester of New Castle spoke in a calm tone as he pushed the needle through the skin and then through the other side of the wound, joining both sides with a single thin thread.

Theomore ignored the maester; his eyes were red with fury. If most of his forces had not been with Prince Maekar at Dragonstone, even with twice as many enemies, they would never have managed to breach the city’s gates.

The maester let out a helpless sigh and continued stitching his lord’s wounds. Given Lord Manderly’s advanced age, the maester feared the lord might die from blood loss and exhaustion.

At the same time, he could not believe an eighty year old man had dared to fight in a battle and had managed to hold on until this moment. It was simply incredible. The maester felt he ought to write a book about Theomore’s life.

The Lord of New Castle merely stared at the burning city with anger and regret. Then, under the maester’s shocked eyes, the man simply closed his eyes and lost consciousness.

“QUICKLY, TAKE THE LORD TO HIS CHAMBERS!!!” With the maester’s shout, the castle sprang back to life.

–

Half a day later, the city was in complete silence.

In the city, a fifteen year old boy was helping lay the corpses out in the city square. He was not the only one, other young people were doing the same. Despite the unbearable stench, they kept dragging the bodies and laying them side by side. They took the swords from these dead soldiers and placed them on the corpses’ chests.

“Milo, I found one alive!!!” Hearing his friend’s voice, fifteen year old Milo raised his head and looked at his friend, surprised. He set the corpse down and quickly approached.

He soon saw his friend crouched beside a man lying on the ground. The man was covered in blood, but seeing his chest rising and falling, he knew the soldier before him was alive.

“I’ll have Torn notify the castle.” Milo said, wiping the sweat from his own forehead. Even though this was the North, it was the southernmost part of the North, the climate was quite mild compared to the interior of the North.

“I don’t think he’ll survive if we wait any longer.” The boy said in a worried tone. He held great respect for these soldiers who had defended the city from the enemy attack.

“There’s nothing we can do.” Milo said with a sigh. He was only a blacksmith’s apprentice. Setting aside healing, he did not even know whether some fruit was poisonous or not. Anything he did could kill the soldier before him.

The boy knew this too and let out a tired sigh.

“Pray that the Mother delays the Stranger’s arrival.” It was the only thing the boy could do, pray that the gods would be kind and not carry this man off to the afterlife.

Suddenly, the world seemed to darken.

The boys gathering the bodies raised their heads with confused expressions, but upon seeing the gigantic being above them, their mouths fell open in complete shock.

“I think I understand why King Torrhen knelt.” Milo said to his friend, his eyes fixed on the dragon with an expression of awe and fear.

If he were Torrhen, he too would have knelt before Aegon and Balerion. Only a fool would fight against a being so immense. It was suicide.

“Unfortunately, he arrived too late.” Milo murmured, looking at the bodies around him. The entire city had been sacked, the women raped and the children killed. Whoever dared fight the armed soldiers had been killed without any resistance.

——–

Note: Happy September 7th, my country’s Independence Day!!!

Read my other books:

House of The Dragon:The Rise of the Emperor of the Seven Kingdoms

Game Of Thrones: The God-Emperor of Planetos

Percy Jackson: Godwyn the Golden.

Game Of Thrones: The King’s Court Wizard