Chapter 41: Camp on the Island

Eddard stood on the beach of Skagos, while soldiers of the Dreadfort, their breastplates engraved with the Flayed Man, were arriving on the shore in small boats one after another. Before this, two thousand soldiers from the Northern Mountain Clans—the Wull clan, the Flint clan, the Liddle clan, and others—had already marched across the beach, driving away the nearby enemies.

The scouts led by Fellan and Robett Glover had already captured a rocky hill on the beachhead, the Ice-River Wolf Emblem of House Stark was raised, and some soldiers began to pitch tents on the hillside.

It was all simply too smooth; Eddard had once worried that the pirate longships would circle around from the sea to flank the Northern Army while they were making their beach landing. Among the ragtag fleet from White Harbor, most were merchant ships and fishing boats; only the ships from the Three Sisters, the Pentos mercenaries, and the swan ships from the Summer Islands had decent naval combat capabilities.

When the ragtag fleet made its beach landing, the pirates did indeed attack from the flanks of the fleet, but the pirate longships only fired arrows from afar and did not launch a charge against the ragtag fleet. When the Northern cavalry scattered the Rockborn archers on the beach, the pirates attacking from the sea seemed to feel that the situation was lost, so they simply hoisted their sails and fled, disappearing into the horizon of the ocean.

The soldiers of Cerwyn under Lord Medger Cerwyn, the soldiers of Bear Island under Lady Maege Mormont, and the Karhold soldiers under Rickard Karstark arrived from the small boats one after another, walking across the muddy, blood-stained beach.

Theon held a bow and arrow in one hand and said triumphantly, "Lord Eddard, we have completed the beach landing with ease. I reckon those savage Rockborn have all fled into the deep mountains, shivering in fear! This war, we have already won before it even began."

Eddard said calmly, "This is but a small victory; the real battle has only just begun."

The Heir of Dreadfort, Domeric Bolton, nodded in agreement, "The victory of one battle cannot determine the course of the war, but it has at least made for a good start. We will surely be able to capture the King of Rocks, and perhaps we might even see the legendary unicorns!"

Legend had it that the Rockborn warriors on Skagos fought while riding unicorns. Eddard did not know what kind of animal that actually was, but he had already notified all his vassals, telling their warriors and cavalry to prepare for battle against the unicorns.

Greatjon Umber's plate armor was bristling with arrows; he looked like a hedgehog. His son Smalljon and several soldiers of House Umber were helping Greatjon pull the arrows out. Greatjon had led one hundred brave men of House Umber to land on the beach first; facing the blocking fire of the Rockborn crossbowmen, one-third of the hundred brave men of House Umber were killed, and one-third were wounded.

Jory Cassel led a group of Winterfell guards to pile the fallen warriors of House Umber together. Eddard saw that the warriors of House Umber were all tall people; some were burly men, some were old men, and others were children who had not yet shed their childishness.

Jon Snow looked at the corpses, his brow furrowed, "Lord Eddard, look at these brave men of House Umber. They are so large, and the Rockborn are usually tall and burly as well. Could it really be, as some Maesters claim, that House Umber and the Rockborn both have giant blood?"

Greatjon spat, "Snow, stop your nonsense. How could we people of House Umber possibly share the same bloodline as the Rockborn? The Rockborn are base and understand no honor, but House Umber is different."

An Ibbenese captain spoke in the Common Tongue with a heavy Ibbenese accent, "Actually, the Rockborn on Skagos might share a common ancestor with us Ibbenese. We Ibbenese all know that in those days, the ancestors of the Ibbenese sailed out of the Shivering Sea and established many colonies in the North and in the lands beyond The Wall. Skagos was precisely an Ibbenese outpost, so the Rockborn have Ibbenese blood."

The Ibbenese captain before them had thick body hair and exuded a heavy, sweaty odor, which was very similar to the Rockborn, but the Ibbenese captain was short and stout, which was a clear difference from the tall and large-framed Rockborn.

Eddard walked up to Greatjon, "Are you injured?"

Greatjon disdainfully pulled out an arrow stuck in his armor, "No, the arrows of the Rockborn are no match for my exquisite armor. My armor is top-tier goods forged in the Last Hearth."

The White Harbor merchant ship "Bountiful" began to lower its small boats, and some soldiers of House Dustin began to move grain into the small boats under the command of Derron Dustin; some horse-drawn carts and ox-carts were also unloaded from the large ship. Through the small boats, the grain and supplies would bypass the reefs and reach Skagos.

Because Skagos was surrounded by reefs everywhere, the shipping lanes were extremely dangerous, and Eddard did not know how many pirate longships were lying in ambush nearby. If the ragtag fleet stretched out too long, the Pentos mercenary ships and the ships of the Sistermen could not provide sufficient protection for the flanks, so Eddard did not dare to take the risk. This time, he only brought one-third of the grain and supplies, with the majority left on the Bountiful.

The remaining two-thirds of the grain and supplies were guarded on the opposite shore in the coastal region of House Umber by Ser Herman Tallhart, Wyman Manderly, and Wendel Manderly with over two thousand men. In Eddard's plan, once the Northern Army gained a firm foothold on Skagos, they could send ships to meet the supply ships of Herman Tallhart and ferry them across the sea.

Seeing the grain and supplies from the Bountiful being transported to the beach bit by bit and heading toward the camp the Northmen had just set up, Eddard felt much more at ease.

Today, the number of soldiers from the various Northern houses, the Sistermen mercenaries, and the Pentos mercenaries who had crossed Seal Bay to land on Skagos exceeded nine thousand. With such a massive army, if there were no grain, the Northern Army would be unable to move an inch on this fog-shrouded island.

The Lord of Dreadfort, Roose Bolton, gazed at the distant hills and the undulating mountain ranges with those eyes like dirty ice, "It seems the Rockborn have already fled into the deep mountains. No matter where they hide, with so many brave men, we will surely be able to wipe them all out."

The Sisterman captain Kaserun the Greybeard laughed, "Lord Roose, don't be overly optimistic! If you ask anyone who sails these waters, they will tell you that this island is not just 'big'; it is bigger than Bear Island and the Three Sisters combined."

Lady Maege Mormont was somewhat surprised, "Bigger than Bear Island? Really?"

Kaserun the Greybeard said, "I reckon it's four or five times the size of Bear Island! Skagos is the largest island in the North, and just like your North, it is vast and sparsely populated. There is another island to the east that is not much smaller than Bear Island, and between the East Island and Skagos, there are countless small islands."

For such a large piece of territory to have maintained autonomy for hundreds, if not thousands, of years, refusing to pay tribute to Winterfell—Eddard wondered how much money that must be.

Kaserun the Greybeard whispered, "Don't forget, there is also Skane to the north!"

Domeric Bolton's eyes widened, "The Feast of Skane. It is rumored that the Rockborn of Skagos once raided Skane, abducted the women and children on the island, and held a cannibalistic feast on Skane. Since then, there has been no one left on Skane."

Maege Mormont said disdainfully, "That's just a bedtime story from Old Nan, used to scare little children."

Kaserun the Greybeard said, "My Lady, when my ship passes by Skane at night, I don't even dare to stop. I hear that one can always hear the sounds of ghosts wailing and wolves howling there."

Jon Snow said, "Is Skane still uninhabited to this day?"

Kaserun the Greybeard shrugged, "It's been a no-man's-land for many years; who knows now? Under the rule of the Rockborn King, perhaps even worse things are living on Skane."

(End of Chapter)