Chapter 37.3- The Seadragon's Roar

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They heard their approach after a few good hours of riding. The sand steeds of House Martell in full chase. Icarus dared to turn about and found them a few good kilometers away, but if he could see them then it meant they could see him, and the armoured form at the head of the formation was unmistakable.

If Gerold could see them then he would chase them until the world ended. A wall. They needed to get a good wall between them and him. A wall would mean everything.

“Yoren” he yelled.

“Yes?” His friend returned.

“Delay tactics.” He asked. Yoren turned about, looking at the approaching force. It was Gerold and six others. Seven, an auspicious number when on one’s side, a dangerous one when on another’s. They had a force of two and twenty not including the two of them. Only eight of that two and twenty were Knights.

“Fuck it, we can take him” Yoren said.

“Have you taken leave of your senses? That is Gerold fucking Sand, and we have his Prince. Delay tactics, Yoren” he said.

His friend’s face took a harsh set. One did not need to have known him for as long as Icarus had to know that he was upset. Yoren was not the kind of man, Icarus was. He was not so callous. He cared— about his people more than he should. But there was only one real choice.

“Men of House Yronwood.” He called.

“Behind us lies a chasing force. Whoever can bring me the head of their leader will have their weight in gold” There was a cheer as their force of guards jubilated. And then they turned, rushing backwards at them. Icarus detached the carriage from his horse, dismounting to pick up the Prince. The carriage would only slow them down, and they needed to put as much distance between them and Gerold as they could. That force could only delay him for so long.

He struggled with the Prince’s weight, almost losing his footing, before he felt the weight disappear.

“Did you think he was light for some fool reason?” He heard Yoren’s voice, seeing him on the other side, supporting the Prince’s weight with ease.

“The ease with which you lift him might have led to that conclusion. A failure of mine to see the difference between us most assueredly” He concluded.

“Indeed.” Yoren said, moving the Prince’s unconscious form towards his horse.

“You’d kill the horse with all that weight. Put him on mine” He added. Neither of them looked backwards as the sound of clashing steel began to reach their ears. Instead, they spurred their horses forward with all the speed they could. If they had looked back, they would have seen Gerold Sand cut through their men like a hot knife passing through butter.