"Matthew, bring the kid over here. The three of us will box him in between us to keep him safe just in case."
After arranging the defensive formation, Davos turned and shouted to Matthew.
Matthew immediately grabbed Little Fish and pulled him forward.
Meeting up with Davos and his son, the three formed a small triangle, keeping Little Fish protected in the center.
Davos took point, crouching low with his legs, gripping his longsword tightly with both hands, facing the charging men, and shouted:
"Night's Watch! Do not come any closer, or we will defend ourselves!"
Yoren, wishing he could grow two extra legs to run faster, wasn't about to stop.
Panting heavily as he waded through the calf-high grass, he said bluntly:
"There's been a mutiny in our camp! If we die, those traitors won't let you live either. They are heinous criminals..."
The boys supporting him also shouted:
"We aren't bad guys! The ones behind us are!"
Davos wasn't buying it. Who knew if this was a trap?
Ser Imry shouted even louder:
"Stinking crows! Come any closer and we'll turn you into dead hedgehogs!"
The boys supporting Yoren stopped instantly, not daring to take another step.
"Yoren, what do we do?"
"Don't stop."
Yoren gritted his teeth, hunched over, clutching his wound, and forced himself to keep moving forward step by step.
"I am Wandering Crow Yoren. We met today. Please, for the sake of a true Night's Watchman from the Wall, help us."
Davos hesitated.
Although the Night's Watch had a bad reputation, they still guarded the far north, holding back the wildlings.
By the code of knightly honor, he shouldn't stand by and watch.
Meanwhile, Yoren was getting closer.
Matthew saw their condition clearly. He tugged on Davos and nodded:
"It really is the man in black from this afternoon, Yoren. He wears the black cloak; he probably won't break the Night's Watch rules."
Davos withdrew his gaze. After thinking for a few seconds, he shouted:
"Come over! But you must stand in line with us and keep your distance. We will defend against the enemy together."
Yoren sighed in relief, a smile touching his lips.
"Good. We're coming."
Hearing Yoren's successful negotiation, the boys behind him immediately stepped up, supported him again, and ran forward.
Following the path trampled by those before them, they moved much faster.
Breaking out of the grass and onto the rocky beach, under Yoren's direction, they moved to the left and formed a line.
Ser Imry looked at them with extreme disgust and suggested to Davos:
"We should leave here, not fight to the death against criminals for the sake of these crows."
Davos watched the torches approaching from the other side, shook his head, and explained:
"There's nowhere to hide in this wilderness. If we knights stay together, they can't do much to us. But if we scatter and run, we'll get picked off one by one."
Ser Imry knew Davos was right, but he was still unhappy. He shouted at Yoren:
"Crow! I'll be watching you. If you dare try anything funny, I'll kill you first."
Yoren was no pushover either. He sneered directly:
"Try it if you have the guts."
Ser Imry wanted to escalate, but his subordinate held him back, pointing ahead and warning:
"Enemies incoming."
Rustling sounds came from the grass at the edge of the rocky beach. The grass swayed constantly as if something was about to burst out.
A moment later, a few men emerged and saw the line of knights.
With just one glance, they wanted to run back.
The tall grass parted again.
But three arrows flew out simultaneously with a whistling sound.
Two men were hit instantly, pinned to the ground, struggling and screaming.
Matthew and the other two guards quickly reloaded, just in case.
Before long, dozens of torches arrived.
But they didn't show themselves, instead shouting from the cover of the grass:
"Friends opposite! We have no quarrel with you. Please hand over the traitors."
Davos snorted coldly, looked at Matthew, and asked:
"Can you shoot another one?"
Matthew aimed at a torch, angled the crossbow slightly down and to the right, and pulled the trigger.
The bolt flew with a sharp hiss, cut through the grass, and elicited a scream.
Several torches retreated instantly.
Ser Imry immediately followed suit, ordering the other two crossbow-wielding guards to shoot.
In truth, few knights knew how to use crossbows.
They considered it a coward's weapon.
If Davos hadn't insisted, no one would have wanted to bring them.
Sure enough, both guards missed.
Ser Imry glared at them fiercely and couldn't help shouting:
"Useless!"
The guards, being knights seeking glory, were naturally annoyed too, but didn't dare get angry at Imry.
Suddenly, a commotion broke out in the grass. Screams rang out continuously, as if they were infighting.
But it ended quickly.
Then, someone shouted loudly:
"If we leave now, the people opposite will still tell the nearby lords, and we'll get caught sooner or later."
"Those guys opposite are rich! Kill them, and no one will know where we went. We can escape safely, and we'll have money to live well!"
"Brothers, there's no way back! Charge!"
"Charge... kill them all... rob them blind..."
Suddenly, patches of tall grass were trampled flat.
Torches became projectiles, thrown from meters away.
Then, dozens of people surged out together, charging toward the rocky beach.
Leading the charge was a one-eyed fat man with a scar on his mouth.
Wielding a longsword, he laughed like a maniac and shouted:
"Die, all of you!"
The Night's Watch traitors behind him did the same.
Seeing this, Matthew immediately raised his crossbow and pulled the trigger.
The bolt flew true, hitting the one-eyed fat man directly in the stomach. The force was so great it knocked down three people behind him as well.
After that, the crossbow was useless.
He quickly drew his axe.
By now, countless people were swarming in.
Davos engaged the traitors first, standing firm at the front, holding off the swordsmen.
But the enemy had numbers. After tying down Davos, they immediately spread to other directions, splitting the guards' two-man formations apart.
Enemies, stench, and flashing blades were everywhere, inside and out.
The clashing of metal and shouts of killing made ears ring.
Everyone was busy.
Dale held off enemies flanking from the outside, swinging his longsword wildly while shouting at the top of his lungs:
"Watch out for sneak attacks!"
But Matthew couldn't hear clearly.
Holding his crossbow as a shield in his left hand, he had just blocked a dwarf when a kid with a stick jumped at him from the side.
Little Fish, peeking out, saw it and roared:
"Brother! Watch your left!"
Startled, Matthew instinctively pushed the frontal enemy away and shrank back.
The stick aiming for his head missed.
In that split second, he lashed out with his axe, slashing across the dwarf in front.
Simultaneously, he used the crossbow to block the stick coming at him again.
Freeing his hand, Matthew kicked the stick-wielder in the stomach, then viciously chopped another fool trying to squeeze in.
For a moment, the axe swung so fast it was a blur.
[Slashing Proficiency +1...]
After taking down two fools, Matthew scanned the field.
Chaos. Total chaos.
Figures were just blurring everywhere.
However, not many people were coming his way.
Most of them were surrounding the group next door.
Through the gaps, Matthew saw Ser Imry looking pathetic.
Ser Imry was very busy. At least ten people surrounded him, staring greedily at his armor.
Gold and silver threads interwoven around the gem on his chest, forming a dazzling red-gold fox surrounded by a ring of lapis lazuli flowers.
The armor engraved with the Florent sigil shone brighter than anything else by the firelight.
Matthew's eyes flashed.
Isn't this the perfect time to get rid of Imry?