Chapter 473 - The Siege of Winterfell 02.

Chapter 473: Chapter 473 - The Siege of Winterfell 02.

[Chapter Size: 3200 Words.]

---------------------------------------

Third Person POV

North, 300 AC.

---------------------------------------

"My Lords," Bran began, gathering everyone as war machines began to be built that very same dawn. Even the men inside the castle were stunned.

"Tonight we will not sleep. Tonight we will prepare and attack, because you will see a kind of war that has never happened in Westeros before. A way of conquering castles that no one has ever used. Winterfell may be large, but the problem is that it is too open. That is why we are going to prepare to launch something inside the castle."

The lords looked at one another uneasily and even in confusion. Surely he was thinking about wildfire, and they would not want Winterfell to be burned, especially with the prisoners inside, who were their sons and brothers.

The war machines were quickly built by the dwarves. Within a few hours, twenty of them were already ready, while a set of strange balls began to be taken directly from some wagons.

"What are those things?" asked one of the lords.

There was nothing made of iron or stone in them. They looked like nothing more than large balls of dry straw.

Brynden smiled. "Wait until all the machines are ready. By dawn, Winterfell will be ours. What I have here is not a normal projectile. The king himself created this kind of thing. This ball is made with a dried herb grown in Arctic, something the king cultivated, a sedative herb that takes effect through smoke in the air. It produces an enormous amount of gas, quickly making everyone pass out. Our plan is simply to make everyone in Winterfell fall asleep," Brynden announced, shocking all the others who had not expected that.

"You... you’re going to make the entire castle sleep?" Lord Glover asked, looking at Brynden in disbelief.

"Why wouldn’t we do that? It’s much easier. Just a few seconds of inhaling this gas and a person will already fall unconscious for at least half a day," he said.

Everyone simply had to follow the plan. It was not bad. Basically, they would have the entire castle to themselves when they were finished, if it really was as effective as Brynden claimed.

"All right. Let’s begin," Bran said.

The machines began to be prepared by pulling the ropes, stretching them, until they were finally ready. Winterfell was already prepared for a possible battle, but the men within the walls did not see the army move. Only those weapons were positioned, ready to launch something against the castle, making them wonder whether they truly intended to damage Winterfell with that weapon of theirs...

They could begin a siege and try to invade Winterfell by force, but with those gas bombs, it would be much easier.

Brynden was also using the large ravens themselves, giving them the antidote so they could carry some of the small charges and take them inside the castle, mainly to the dungeons where the prisoners were. It was essential that the place be filled with gas to knock out not only the prisoners, but anyone who tried to approach to harm them because of the attack.

Then, the catapults were ready. The Arcticans simply waited for Bran’s signal to launch them.

"Prepare all the flames!" Bran shouted.

Although his voice still showed a certain inexperience, the Arcticans nodded, preparing the torches before the fuses of the bombs positioned on the catapults.

One by one, they quickly began to light them, while the flames approached the crushed herbs inside each ball.

When everyone was ready, Bran pointed toward Winterfell. "Fire!" he ordered.

Even from that distance, seeming impossible in the eyes of everyone that they could reach the castle, the balls simply went flying, lighting up the air as they traveled. When they finally began to approach the walls, they were already releasing gas, even leaving a trail of smoke in the sky. The men of Winterfell could only watch in astonishment as they began to fall inside the walls from all sides.

Visibility quickly became compromised. It was almost impossible to see anything in some parts of the castle, which began to fill with gas. The moment the herb burned, it simply released that smoke, which quickly spread through the air. It was no wonder that even the sky was filled with it, looking like a cloud following the trajectory of the bombs.

Brynden and Bran also moved to one side while trying to control their animals. Under the command of the two, small birds quickly flew into the smoke.

There were men running from one side to the other before they began to fall, one by one, their screams growing weaker and weaker until they passed out.

The birds went to some of the bombs no larger than a ball with a diameter of 10 centimeters, which were still burning, and the ravens’ claws gripped firmly onto the side opposite the embers. They were not very heavy, made only with a structure in the middle to maintain their circular shape. With some effort, they began carrying them even farther into the castle.

Roose Bolton immediately saw all the air filling with smoke and held his breath, trying to move away. But he only managed to take a few steps before falling unconscious to the ground, while a bird flew past him.

"To the dungeons! Cut the prisoners’ throats!!" Ramsay snarled when he saw his father pass out.

He immediately gave the order. At least he would give one final lesson to the Arcticans.

He saw ravens carrying those smoking balls, flying into the castle, and quickly drew an arrow, hitting one of them. While the bombs continued releasing smoke on all sides, Ramsay ended up inhaling some of it and recoiled in alarm, staggering away, already feeling his mind beginning to fade.

How did those men have such plagues?

He did not manage to get very far before seeing the smoke itself invading the corridors. He entered a room and found Theon Greyjoy standing there, trembling.

"Did you see that, Theon?" Ramsay snarled mockingly. "It looks like they’re going to kill us all. Well, I know I’m going to die, but you will too. You’re going to die with me at the hands of the Arcticans!" He began to laugh, already accepting his fate, but still finding joy in seeing Theon frightened.

"Maybe they’ll burn us... maybe this is poison. Maybe it’s something much crueler. Funny... they can even launch something like this. Have you ever heard of anything like this, Theon?" Ramsay continued, still finding it quite amusing, even though his situation was desperate.

Meanwhile, Theon merely trembled.

"I heard you had disagreements with Jon Arctic. Tell me, would you kill him if you had the chance? They certainly aren’t going to be very reasonable with you. You used to call the king a bastard, didn’t you? You even called his mother a whore who spread her legs for anyone. And now they’re coming... they’re coming to get you. I’ve already broken you a little. Maybe they’ll even thank me and do worse to you..." Ramsay said, as the smoke began to enter that room as well.

"Listen, Theon. You’ll be mutilated by them far more than you ever were by me. Maybe you’ll even come to like me more after they’re done with you."

As he spoke, the smoke was already inside, and Theon, who was trembling, began to stop, before passing out.

Ramsay looked at the smoke and let out a sigh before he began to inhale it, feeling his mind begin to shut down. He fell unconscious the next moment, his body collapsing to the floor.

Inside the dungeons, several smoke bombs also began to be dropped by the birds themselves, which were faster than leaderless, panicked men. The men who were arriving immediately became terrified and tried to run away, but it was already too late. Some tried to enter the smoke itself, others tried to stay as far away as possible, but soon, thanks to those small winged animals, the gas was already circulating throughout the prison, causing anyone who breathed it in to pass out and frightening those few who still did not know what it was.

Outside, the Arcticans merely watched several flashes of fire still glowing like torches within the enormous cloud of smoke that covered all of Winterfell.

"We only have to wait a few minutes. There won’t be a single place this smoke won’t reach. Now we’ll wait a few hours. The effect will last until then and, with the prisoners already safe, there’s nothing else we have to fear," Brynden said, somewhat enraged that his former home had been taken over by those Bolton rats.

Everyone nodded, while the lords of the North certainly continued staring at the sight of Winterfell covered in smoke, no longer hearing a single scream.

The smoke itself also had an effect on fire. The flames began to go out one by one, since, amid all that chaos, with men falling everywhere, fires could break out. That was why Jon had also prepared that herb to extinguish any flames, and soon the outbreaks of fire did not last long. The entire place was extinguished.

Most of the men of the North simply kept watching throughout the entire night. Nothing else came from Winterfell. Everything was silent.

They couldn’t believe it. Even though they already had the advantage and were certain they would win a siege, seeing Winterfell fall that way was shocking. If they told anyone who hadn’t been there, they would probably be accused of lying, but, before the eyes of all those men, what they had just seen was real.

Those Arcticans, who already possessed dangerous weapons at sea, were now demonstrating that they could even take castles with ease. And, according to what they had heard, they were already blowing up castles in the south.

Everyone could only remain silent as they spent the entire night watching. When morning came, the smoke was already beginning to dissipate. It didn’t last long, since it easily broke down when exposed to oxygen for too long.

Then, when they reached the gates of Winterfell, there was no sound, nothing to indicate that anyone inside the castle was awake. Only after they began setting up ladders and sending men to investigate did they see several people passed out, some snoring as they slept peacefully. The entire courtyard was like that.

Either way, they climbed down from the walls, went to the gates, and opened them with ease. Their efforts didn’t even require the use of the giants. They quickly began entering Winterfell, finding the entire castle asleep. Not even the sound of hundreds of men passing by them could wake them. They would remain like that for quite some time.

The Arcticans simply picked them up and began placing them in groups, tying them up, while the more important ones were separated from the rest. They went to the dungeons and checked the place, finding the prisoners unconscious as well.

In the end, Winterfell had been conquered in a single night, with only a few minutes of attack and a few hours of waiting for the smoke to dissipate. No matter where they searched, even in the most hidden places far from the courtyard, they found bodies lying on the floor, all unconscious from having breathed that air.

In any case, throughout the rest of the day, they organized everything. The Bolton soldiers who had come from the south were placed in an area outside the castle, guarded by thousands of men until they decided what to do with them.

It was only during the night that people finally began to wake up. First they went to speak with the servants and the Maester, while Roose Bolton, Ramsay, and others, even Theon, woke up inside the cells in the dungeons. Smalljon Umber, Wylis Manderly, and the other prisoners also awoke dazed, while their own families went to speak with them and explain what was happening.

The Bolton soldiers fell into despair. One moment they were being attacked, and the next, they woke up there with aching bodies, since they hadn’t slept in the best conditions, tied up and unable to do anything.

"Just in time, huh? Here. So you don’t starve to death," an Arctican said, laughing as he handed food to the prisoners.

"Hey, I need to go to the bathroom," a man pleaded.

"Do your business right there, man. You’re a prisoner now. Hold out until tomorrow," a dwarf said, laughing.

That made the Bolton men themselves grumble as they received some secondhand clothes, while the Arcticans enjoyed much better food in the camp.

Winterfell was also celebrating, with a grand feast taking place as the former prisoners reunited with their respective families and talked about the future.

"My men," Bran stood up at some point from the main bench, while everyone immediately stopped talking.

He was young, but he was the heir to Winterfell now, and no one could question that. Even if Robb, according to some rumors, was still alive, most of the North was not pleased with him. There were certainly those who would try to uphold the tradition of having the eldest son continue to lead, but who would contradict that group? The Arcticans were not supporting Robb Stark. They were supporting Bran and even handing leadership over to him.

"To Lord Stark of Winterfell!" Jojen shouted from one corner, beside his sister, since the two had accompanied him ever since he had come south.

Everyone roared at the same time.

"My lords, I just wanted to say a few words. I know I’ve already said this to some of you as we traveled together during the last moon and even to others at the camp, but you should know the condition I was in some time ago. I was paralyzed because of a fall. We were fleeing after we managed to escape Winterfell, but Jon Arctic came to our aid, to the aid of my Rickon, Cassandra and the baby, Lady Meera, Lord Reed, and the others. I went to Arctic and they took care of us. They took care of me and helped Cassandra have a healthy baby, the last of my siblings, my father’s youngest son, named Ned Stark in his honor."

"To Ned Stark!" the men roared, raising their mugs, especially the Northerners, since that name meant more to them than it did to the other Arcticans.

"It was Arctic and my cousin, the king, together with my sister Arya, who brought light back into the darkness. For that, I wanted to thank them. Today I am alive and walking because of them. My brother Rickon, my youngest brother Ned, and my stepmother, Lady Cassandra, are in Arctic, safe and living far better than anyone in the North."

"Thanks to Jon Arctic, the North was freed from the ironborn. Thanks to him, we are here today as well, even though he is not personally fighting on this front. That is why I want to give my thanks and swear my loyalty to Arctic, because the Seven Kingdoms, whether they like it or not, will submit to the kingdom north of the Wall. The Seven Kingdoms will now be known as the Ten Kingdoms. Jon will surpass the Conqueror, and the North stands with him!"

Everyone immediately roared.

That night, they drank, laughed, and ate, with the names Stark and Arctic constantly heard on their lips. It was a recognition that was more than obvious. Even those pettier men who might have spoken ill of Jon years ago or opposed bowing before him now had to lower their heads.

Perhaps they should have recognized that much sooner. The moment Arctic had come south, the games of war would be different from anything they had ever known.

They were there to annihilate their enemies once and for all, to eliminate and exterminate Houses that would prove troublesome and had already shown that there was no point in forgiving them. They were there to change the perception of all Westeros, change the rules of the game of thrones and even the way it was played, but, above all, change the way people viewed war.

After that, Westeros would be one, unified under a single banner, but with a history that would be born from that war and would be recorded and known throughout the future.

Despite its importance, that was only one part. After all, Arctic would prove to be much more than that. They could conquer an entire continent, unify it, and make it function under their banner, but the world would still feel Arctic’s power as they expanded. No one there had any idea that there was already a cure for the disease of Sothoryos, of the expeditions they would begin, or of the voyages that would come. They would go West and venture even beyond the known boundaries of the Jade Sea. Although the Jade Sea reached the edge of the known world, there was still the south to explore and, north of Essos, there was also a vast unknown region.

There was an entire unknown world that would come to be explored with technology far more advanced than anything that had existed before that kingdom.

In any case, those were stories for the future.

As the days passed in the North, events continued to unfold throughout Westeros. The guests in King’s Landing quickly began arriving for the royal wedding.

It would be the next day; finally, the long-awaited wedding would take place.

That very same day, an army began marching from the north, heading toward King’s Landing. 80 thousand men marched as a complete army.

That very same day, a man flew through the sky with a woman in front of him, embraced and pressed against his chest, as they traveled east atop a dragon.

At the same time, a raven remained steady as it carried an enormous box toward King’s Landing. A box that would, basically, be a wedding gift Jon would have to deliver to Tywin and the others.

At that moment, people were now gathered inside the Great Sept of Baelor, watching an extremely well-dressed and beautiful couple prepare to begin their wedding vows.

As Jon traveled, he couldn’t help looking south, thinking about something he had already noticed days earlier.

"Aegon Targaryen," was what they were calling a boy who claimed to be his older brother. The same boy who had died in King’s Landing and who now claimed to be alive.

Jon was furious.

At the same time, in the lands beyond the Wall, the dragons began growing increasingly restless, looking south. Not one, not two. Even Vezofēdrur, with his enormous shadow, raised his gaze, as if sensing some kind of call.

Dozens of dragons now roared restlessly, ferocity in their eyes, all facing south as they waited for an order.

◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

?? Raccoon here: ??

I deeply appreciate your support since the beginning of this exciting journey!

?? RaccoonLeague | Patreon??

Visit our Patreon for more: https://www.patreon.com/RaccoonLeague

Extra Content Already Available:

????? One Piece - I Am a Different Luffy!: 30 extra Chapters!

?? Game of Thrones: The Legend of Jon Arctic!: 30 extra Chapters!

?? HOTD: Jon Arctic! 30 extra Chapters!

?? Naruto - Minato Namikaze SI!: 30 extra Chapters!

??? The Witcher - As Uchiha Madara! 30 extra Chapters!

?HP - Jon Arctic as Severus Snape! 30 extra Chapters!

? Harry Potter - Shadow Monarch! Finished! [100%]

?? Game of Thrones: DragonBorn! [100%]

?Danmachi – The Alchemist! [Coming Soon.]

Visit our Patreon for more!!

◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆