Chapter 43: The Attack of the Rockborn

Eddard stood on the hillside, looking down at the Rockborn warriors of Skagos as they surged in from all directions.

Most of these men were clad in shaggy, pungent-smelling animal skins; Rockborn warriors possessing plate armor or chainmail were few in number. This was as Eddard had predicted; the Rockborn had perhaps reached some sort of covenant with the Ironborn, and even if there were Ironborn smithies on the island, they could not provide a large quantity of armor to the Rockborn in such a short time.

The pirates who had previously appeared along the coast of the North and in the waters surrounding Skagos almost all had armor; it seemed the King of Rocks, the Iron Bitch, and Helen Pyke had provided all their armor to the pirate raiders, leaving the Rockborn remaining on the island with very little, many Rockborn warriors not even having leather armor.

However, the quality of the weapons in the hands of the Rockborn was not poor; almost everyone had a battle-axe and a longsword, it seemed the number of weapons forged by the smiths of Skagos was far higher than the number of suits of armor.

In the camp at the foot of the hill, the mountain clansmen "Big Bucket" Wull, Donnel Flint, and Morgan Liddle and others were shouting orders, as the warriors of the clan tribes fought the Rockborn warriors in close quarters. Walton "Ironlegs" of the Dreadfort rode a grey warhorse, charging into the enemy ranks with the Dreadfort cavalry.

Eddard's guard Dawson charged down the hillside to engage the enemy; he brandished his double-edged battle-axe, leaping into the midst of the Rockborn warriors like a whirlwind, hacking down enemy after enemy as if chopping melons and vegetables.

The Rockborn crossbowmen began to loose arrows, and arrows rained down from the sky. Some flaming arrows fell into the camp of Lord Cerwyn, and Lord Cerwyn's tent caught fire.

Some arrows and stones landed on the hillside, and a soldier from Bear Island had his arm pierced by a sharp arrow, screaming incessantly.

The Captain of the Guard of Winterfell, Jory Cassel, drew his sword, "Lord Eddard, it is not safe here, you must hurry back to your tent!"

Eddard looked at the direwolf banner on the hillside, "The Rockborn enemy is trying to drive us back into the sea; if our defensive line is breached, would it be safe to stay in a tent? I will remain here and fight side by side with my warriors."

Jory Cassel deflected a flying arrow with his sword, "Lord Eddard, but it is truly too dangerous here. Otherwise, you should go to the sea and take refuge on the ship of Kaserun the Greybeard."

The sounds of battle were deafening all around; the Rills cavalry, the spearmen of Karhold, the knights of White Harbor, and the mountain clansmen shouted "Long live Winterfell," "Long live Stark," as they fought the Rockborn enemy. The battlefield was filled with the sounds of battle and screams, and the air was thick with the smell of sea salt, blood, and sweat.

The personal guards of Winterfell, Haihua and Will, guarded Eddard's side. A stone the size of a fist flew from somewhere unknown and struck Will's head; Will's head burst like a watermelon, emitting a sickening sound, and he fell into a pool of blood.

Eddard was greatly shocked, and Haihua broke into a cold sweat. At this moment, another oval stone flew toward Eddard; the Bulaofosi Water Dancer Syrio Forel was quick-witted and pulled Eddard away.

The stone grazed Eddard's face, spinning as it smashed into the ground, gouging out a deep pit.

The sun gradually set in the west. In the dusk of twilight, the sound of drums came from the rear of the Rockborn; this was the signal for retreat. The Rockborn warriors retreated slowly like an ebbing tide, vanishing into the woods and mountains. The battlefield was left with corpses and wounded soldiers everywhere.

Haihua sobbed while holding Will's corpse. Will was a personal guard of Winterfell who had grown up in Winterfell and received training from Rodrik Cassel. He had always been close to Eddard's children, and seeing him killed by a stone like this, Eddard was deeply pained.

"These savages actually use stones as weapons."

When the stones flew, Syrio Forel had pushed Eddard away; otherwise, Eddard might also have been smashed to pieces by the stones.

Syrio Forel said: "Lord Eddard, when I was in Braavos, I heard some rumors about Skagos. I heard the Rockborn have a cruel stoning punishment, and among them are formidable slingers whose power is no less than the slingers of Tolos in the East. The difference is that the Tolos slingers use iron lead balls, while the Rockborn use stones."

Slingers; it seems the Northern Army has gained another formidable enemy. The Rockborn might run out of ironware, but they will never run out of stones.

Roose Bolton walked to Eddard's side, "Lord Eddard, the enemy has been defeated, we should send cavalry to pursue."

Eddard frowned: "Defeated? It looks more like the Rockborn retreated on their own initiative. No pursuit allowed; the Rockborn are far more cunning than we imagined, the enemy is very likely baiting us."

The Heir of the Dreadfort, Domeric Bolton, was covered in blood. Roose Bolton was startled, "Domeric, are you wounded?"

Domeric smiled: "Father, you need not worry, I am not wounded; this is the enemy's blood."

A flash of anger appeared in Roose Bolton's eyes, "Displaying brute courage on the battlefield is not the way of a wise man. Lord Eddard let you manage the ravens, yet you ran off to kill the enemy. What if you had been killed by the Rockborn?"

Domeric said: "My spear skills and horsemanship are enough for me to deal with these Rockborn."

Eddard said: "Domeric, you fought the Rockborn warriors yourself; what kind of enemy do you think they are?"

"Far harder to deal with than I imagined." Domeric's gaze swept over the corpses covering the ground, "In the past, I scoured ancient texts; the Maesters of the Citadel seem more willing to link the Rockborn of Skagos with the Wildlings beyond the Wall, but we all know that the Wildlings beyond the Wall pride themselves on being Free Folk; they are loose and undisciplined, and their organization is very poor."

"It is precisely because of this that the various Kings-Beyond-the-Wall of the past, even when they gathered a great army of Wildlings north of the Wall, posed very limited threats to the Seven Kingdoms. The Rockborn before us have far stronger discipline than the Wildlings. Why is this? The Rockborn and the Wildlings both worship the Old Gods, are culturally backward, and are full of savagery; why is there such a big difference between the Rockborn and the Wildlings?"

Eddard thought for a moment, "I think this might have to do with geography. The Wildlings north of the Wall live in the frigid and barren lands Beyond the Wall, but no one knows exactly how large that place is. In such a vast, sparsely populated, and cold wilderness, the Wildlings seem to go wherever they want; if a Wildling tribe loses a battle, they can just move to another place to live."

"However, the Rockborn on Skagos live on this island. The various clan tribes have gone through thousands of years of war and blood feuds; if the Rockborn tribes here are defeated, they will lose their living space. It is likely because of this environment that the Rockborn worship strength and the strong, and possess such discipline when fighting."

Eddard, Roose Bolton, and Jon walked across the corpse-strewn battlefield. Eddard saw that all those who died on the ground were tall, sturdy Rockborn clad in animal skins; there was not a single Ironborn pirate.

"Where did the Ironborn go?"

Jon said disdainfully: "I reckon the Ironborn all followed Helen Pyke and the Iron Bitch and escaped by sea! The Ironborn have longships; seeing the Northern Army assemble, they would only flee at the sight of it."

(End of chapter)