The Apostle raven flew swiftly into the pitch-black night, using its magical senses to locate Roman high in the stratosphere.
Meanwhile, the Lannister soldiers in the western camp refused to wait on the shore to be slaughtered. In desperation, they rowed their wooden ferries hard across the rushing river, whether to support their comrades or simply to escape.
Lord Hoster Tully took full advantage of their vulnerability. Riverrun's stone catapults hurled massive payloads at the boats on both the Red Fork and the Tumblestone. Ferry after ferry was smashed, sending hundreds of men to drown amid splintered wood and debris.
Still, the Lannisters rowed with everything they had. Their only chance of survival lay on the other side.
By now, Ser Barristan and the Blackfish had completely destroyed the Lannister forces in the northern and southern camps. They waited on the opposite banks, ready to finish off any survivors who made it across.
Suddenly, a deep roar split the dark sky. The Harrenhal soldiers looked up and cheered.
Blinding white dots appeared high above, then streaked downward at supersonic speed into the fleet of crossing boats. Massive columns of White Flame erupted from the rivers, followed by deafening explosions that shook Riverrun itself.
Using his White Flame Vision in the total darkness, Roman scanned for concentrations of enemy troops and targeted them precisely. Volley after volley of concentrated Magic Missiles struck the most crowded areas.
The attack was swift. The Northern and Riverlands armies felt only a brief shower of white fire before the Red Fork and Tumblestone were engulfed in roaring flames. Roman completed one wide circle in the night sky and destroyed every remaining ferry. The few Lannister soldiers who staggered ashore alive immediately threw down their weapons and surrendered.
The siege ended quickly. In the quieter hours that followed, the victors began clearing the battlefield and hunting down the last fleeing enemies. The mood among the allies was one of relief.
When the orange-red sun rose in the east, the armies that had fought through the night finished their tasks. Northern and Riverlands soldiers embraced and cheered across the bloodied ground. The Harrenhal Vanguard, under Roman and Barristan, set up an orderly camp, prepared hot food, heated bathwater, tended to their wounded, and rested.
The southern camp had suffered the worst. Barristan's no-quarter charge left barely three hundred prisoners. Most Westerlands knights and highborn nobles lay dead, riddled with lance wounds.
Because Harrenhal's own lands to the east were under attack again by Tywin's main host, Roman made only a brief formal visit inside Riverrun to meet the Tully family. He then returned east with his rested Vanguard cavalry.
Robb Stark and the Riverlands nobles held a short council before leading their combined forces in pursuit of the remaining Lannisters, hoping to drive them all the way back to the Golden Tooth.
The Eastern Riverlands.
After the disasters at the Whispering Wood and Riverrun, Tywin Lannister knew his chances of victory in the Riverlands were gone. The Old Lion could only withdraw in bitter frustration.
The situation was now clear: Roman Rivers held the eastern front at the Gods Eye while the combined Northern-Riverlands army pressed from the west. Tywin could not strike either side without catastrophic losses. With Robb's forces relieving Riverrun, the two allied armies now threatened to trap his host west of the Gods Eye in a pincer.
Rather than risk total destruction, the calculating Old Lion ordered a full retreat back to Casterly Rock. The pressure west of the Gods Eye eased.
Roman waited briefly in his territory until Apostle ravens confirmed the Westerlands host had truly withdrawn. He then sent Vanguard troops to occupy the newly abandoned lands before Lord Hoster could object.
He had secured full control over the entire region surrounding the Gods Eye.
The lands west of the Gods Eye, however, had been brutally ravaged. Once-prosperous towns lay in ruins, fields were scorched, and the ground was littered with charred bones and rubble.
Roman brought convoys of starving refugees and Valyrian giants to the area. Looking at the smoking devastation, he closed his eyes, filled with anger and sorrow.
"Lannister!" he roared, the sound shaking the earth.
Fili stood beside him, her large blue eyes reddening with fear and righteous anger. "Lord Roman… why did they do this? Why burn their homes and steal their winter food after killing the innocent?"
Roman pulled her into a gentle embrace, wrapping his leathery wings around her to shield her from the wind. "Some men believe they are superior, Fili. They treat ordinary people like disposable livestock. We are different from those monsters."
It wasn't just Fili. Many of the refugees had fled similar destruction elsewhere. Seeing the ruins reminded them of their own lost homes, and they wept openly.
"Fellow countrymen!" Roman called out, his voice magically amplified across the crowd. "We have all seen the atrocities of House Lannister. Tywin massacred King's Landing during the rebellion for political favor, and now he slaughters the Riverlands for his own gain. This honorless man deserves to burn in the deepest hell!"
He raised his gauntleted fist. "But cursing his name achieves nothing. We must rebuild our homes, produce what we need, and train our soldiers so we can take our revenge while he still lives. Now is the time to act!"
Inspired by Roman's words and burning with hatred for the Lannisters, the refugees began rebuilding with fierce determination.
To speed up the work, Roman brought over two hundred obedient Valyrian giants and distributed advanced steel tools and healthy livestock. In a remarkably short time, stone strongholds and insulated brick houses rose again, roads were paved, irrigation canals were dug, and public facilities began to appear across the landscape.
Word of the new towns and fertile fields west of the Gods Eye spread quickly. Thousands of desperate Riverlands residents flocked to Harrenhal's borders seeking asylum.
The news reached Riverrun as well. By then, Robb had driven the last Lannister remnants back to the Golden Tooth. Lord Hoster Tully could only sigh and pretend he knew nothing of the territorial changes.
During this time, Ser Barristan watched Roman's leadership firsthand as he turned a wasteland into thriving land once more. The old knight sometimes reflected that if King Robert had possessed even a fraction of Roman's sense of duty to his people, Westeros might not be in such a bloody mess.
Now Get The FULL AVAILABLE NOVEL at Once!
Get 50% OFF for limited time only.
@patreon.com/Authorizz/shop