Chapter 13.6- The Seadragon's Roar

The violence was raging all around me. How many pirates had there been? Surely not this many? We hadn’t charged into this many people. Was this a counter ambush? An ambush on our ambush? Or was I just miscounting? One man came to me next, he had a mace clutched in his hand and a smile that screamed blood. Looking in his eyes told me one thing. This man was an experienced killer of men. It showed in the compete fearlessness with which he approached, like I could not pose any threat to him. I’d lost my helmet at some point so my face was fully exposed.

While I was easily as tall as a smallfolk adult, my face did broadcast my youth to all who cared to listen. He swung the mace for my head. I leaned backwards, moving my head just slightly back , enough for the spiked head to miss, and I retaliated with a foot aimed for his knee. Shockingly, he managed to move left, allowing my straight kick to miss and he took advantage of the extension, aiming the mace for my outstretched leg next. I snatched my leg backwards as quickly as I could. Maybe too quickly.

I’d moved too abruptly and lost my balance. I felt my life flash as I fell to the mud on my backside. It allowed me avoid the mace aimed for my chest, but now on the ground, this was going to be a nightmare of a fight to win. At least, that was my thinking until I heard a man scream “Velaryon”, as he and his horse bolted past us. It took me a second to track the pirate I’d been fighting. His body was dangling off the man’s lance. It took me even longer to realise the man was Ser Ben, my sworn shield.

“You’re one lucky fucker” He said, turning his horse around, and allowing gravity rip the body from his lance as he pointed it downwards. There was a squelch as the pirate’s body fell to the ground.

“Ser Ben” I called, rising to my feet.

Instead of replying, he tossed a scabbard at me, I caught it just barely. It was a short straight sword. The kind I preferred.

“Don’t go falling on your arse again” And to my surprise, my sworn shield did what no one would expect a sworn shield to do and rode away from me heading to the thick of the fighting. Wasn’t he supposed to be guarding me? I didn’t get a lot of time to be confused as I found myself facing two men in short order. One wielded a chain. The other a pitchfork. What an interesting combination. The first twirled the chain before sending it at me. I danced backwards, allowing the chain to land on the floor.

I watched as he recalled it, spinning it again, allowing more of its length to be fed out of his grip. This time, he sent the chain at me, and I carefully tracked it. At the last second, I dodged out of the way. It landed in the mud and I stepped on it, holding it still. The man’s eyes widened as I ran straight at him, closing the distance.

The one with the pitchfork stabbed the straight weapon at me. I weaved to the side, spinning as I did so and avoiding the stab. In a second, I was too close for him to use the weapon. I went low, slashing through his achilles tendon in one blow. He screamed, stumbling backwards, I rose, blade taking his head in the next movement. The one with the chain was frozen in the process of reeling it back, watching his friend’s— scratch that, they had to be brothers— body fall to the floor. It meant he was too slow to avoid me. He lifted the chain, and sparks flew as my blade ground against the metal chain. He held it above his head, pulled taught in the block and I smiled at him for a second before I took the opening he so generously presented.

I slammed my foot into his chest, and I felt something give way to my boot as he practically flew backwards. I turned, searching for my next opponent, but all the fighting seemed to have come to an end. Whatever pirates remained were surrendering. I crossed eyes with one man holding a bow. It was drawn, aimed right at me. And then I realised that I did not have a shield of any sorts. He could kill me now. I prepared to throw myself backwards the second he loosed, but instead, he just casually unnocked the weapon, dropping both it and the arrow he could have ended my life with on the floor as he fell to his knees and placed both hands behind his head.

A/N: So how do you guys feel about Laenor as a fighter? Remember that these are just pirates, most of them not well trained at all, but still he’s clearly got a lot of potential.