Chapter 81

You were naturally quite tempted to simply cut the Ropes of the Bridge before vanishing into the Undergrowth, but you swiftly discarded that Idea once you realised that a normally well hidden Path through the mostly unexplored Woods like this one was quite the good Asset to have in Case of Emergency. Thus, after taking another moment to properly think about the matter, you soberly decided that, yes, adding this Path to your Assets for Contingencies far outweighed whatever Value those few false Knights currently occupied with guarding the Bridge could possibly hold.

And while it would be needless to say be far more desirable if you were spared from ever encountering a Situation that might force you to make use of this little Bridge of theirs, Contingency Plans weren't exactly crafted to be of use when their Creators were having a lot of Luck as of late. So while it was a bit disappointing that the Valley would need to remain as peaceful as it had been since you found it for the Mountain Clans to properly maintain the Bridge with minimal Security, you were sure that you could live with it.

Especially seeing as the Vale had many untouched Ravines such as this one, as the Arryns hadn't been able to spare the Resources they would have needed to make use of them. For while the Vale had never been truly stable, the flow of Water in the Rivers of the lowlands had apparently been quite consistently more than sufficient throughout the last few hundred Years. Or so you would guess, as no matter how much you tried to find them, not even a single Foundation of the Watermills these Lands surely once held could be found.

You didn't have much time to spare, so the Amount of Ravines you had been able to actually check was naturally quite limited, but you decided to trust your Gut in this matter, as you couldn't imagine that all these outwardly untouched Ravines held Infrastructure worth saving up. For the more Knight Squads you found and followed, the more secret Infrastructure and untouched Land you were able to mark on your Map before you decided to return to your Companion the moment you spotted the first Group of unarmoured Clansman in the Distance.

You would return with your Companion once he accomplished whatever Goal he was trying to achieve to make sure that all the remaining Mountain Knights you could reasonably get your Hands on and the Secrets they were exposing would be dealt with. For the simple Fact that both you and your Companion were faster than the average Clansman remained unused, and the Ability to retain the Initiative even if you were to start retreating wasn't something you could just leave in the Dirt. Especially considering that the Mountain Clans wouldn't be able to afford the massive loss of their Camp and Elites for nothing in Return with how their Army had been structured, which would most certainly make sure that you couldn't let them focus on hunting you and your Companion down alone.

...

Your Companion for his Part had apparently just continued his grisly and disturbing work as if you had been gone for no longer than two or three Minutes, leaving only his soon-to-be dead Opponents and the Corpses of the slain to tell what had truly transpired while you had been occupied. And the Tale said Corpses told you was quite bothersome, as most of the Men turned Fertiliser hadn't been clad in Steel like the Mountain Knights that had fallen to defend the Gate, which meant that you had quite clearly run out of time.

But that being said, the Monster you called your Companion surprisingly didn't seem all that bothered by the Fact, nor did it feel like things were going amiss as you watched your Companion continue his Slaughter from your nearby Hiding spot in the Bushes. If you hadn't already figured out that your giant Companion wasn't actually Human you were sure that now would be the Point where even the densest of Minds would get the Message that the Knight in his blackened Armour, now broken and pierced in a dozen Places simply couldn't be considered mortal.

You hadn't really understood that the difference between your Expectations and Reality had been as massive as they currently seemed, but a Revelation like this should have been so obvious that even the greatest of Fools should have seen the Flaw in genuinely fighting something immortal. Hmm, you supposed that even People with a decent Head on their Shoulders like the Enemy Commanders could fool themselves if a Situation this grim turned out to be hopeless from the Start if they wagered as many Lives as they had. It was only natural that the Guilt of losing the best the Mountain Clans could muster for this Generation on something that turned out to be completely out of Reach would mess with the Thoughts of everyone that had truly invested their Heart and Soul into the Struggle against the Arryns.

And the more you thought about their Situation the more understandable it became that they weren't able to think clearly, it actually humanised them a great Deal despite how little Sympathy you could find for them within yourself after the Warriors of their fellow Clans had tried to kill you again and again. Thus, you simply watched and waited just far enough away that you couldn't make out your Companion's favourite Way of abusing the Empathy of Humanity against itself, for while you could see that the Clansmen had adapted, you still had no Interest in getting any closer to that Hell than you absolutely had to.

For simply mercy killing whoever fell fatally near your Companion wasn't exactly a perfect Solution no matter how much you stretched it, and you were pretty sure that a few still got squished, as you could see that the Mass of Men still froze up from time to time. Sigh, you couldn't help but wish that your Companion would finally revert back to his usual self, but with how much fighting there was to be had you knew that wasn't going to happen. Though, if he really was as immortal as he looked with his untiring Attacks and the State of his Armour, you supposed that you could risk to speed things up a bit.