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Chapter 24: Bigger Fish!
🕑 Added 2023-05-14 13:57:54 +0000 UTCWhen Damian left the cabin, Sirius had already tallied what loot they had gained from the Ironborn ship.
Damian was a little disappointed when he heard about the coins the Ironborn had on them which included the money they looted from the villagers—less than two golden dragons. Perhaps for the Ironborn, the people were more valuable as thrall than money and that is why they attacked such a poor village.
"Distribute it back to the villagers before they alight the ship," Damian said. "Is there anything else of value?"
"Aside from the ransom, we may get for that boy we have striped the Ironborn of all their shields, swords and armour if they were wearing any on their bodies, Captain" Sirius said and then asked, " What should we do with the prisoners?"
Damian hadn't decided on the fate of the six Ironborn that managed to stay alive after being beaten down by the angry victims. He didn't want to keep them on his ship nor did he want to send them to Night's Watch.
"Keep a watch on them for now. I will decide on their future later on." Damian said.
. . .
After sending the rescued villagers back to their lands on Cape Eagle, Damian once again took his ships to hunt down any lone Ironborns raiding ships around the waters of Cape Kraken. With the help of Ace, his Falcon, Damian managed to evade a fleet of five ships, and hunt another Ironborn ship down before sunset with the same tactic as the previous one though this time he lost three men to the Ironborn.
This battle added another vessel to Damian's small fleet bringing his fleet size to six if he included the three ships he had stored away in his warehouse.
Nevertheless, they made an anchor somewhere on the western coast of Cape Kraken to rest for the night because his
While sitting by the fire, Jory asked if they would still continue hunting the squids in the sea around Cape Kraken.
Damian was also thinking about that. Hunting lone ships was becoming a chore and it took too much time to look for an easier target as his enemies mostly travelled in groups.
"I was thinking that we should be catching a bigger fish rather than wasting time on the sea and going after Ironborn ships that are under some minor nobility. I have an idea if you are willing to listen?" Jory said seeing Damian wasn't keen on doing the same thing tomorrow even after having success in it today.
"Sure, go ahead, Jory. What do you have on your mind? Damian asked, very much curious about what his friend had to say.
"I was thinking if we should take out the home of the bigger fish while they have sent most of their men to fight south," Jory said and continued, " I know we don't have enough numbers with us to take down a keep and keep it in our hands since the other lords might send reinforcement. But I have a place in mind who shouldn't have many men to defend their place and are far away from other Iron Island Lords to get any reinforcement."
"Do you mean the Lonely Light? The dominion of House Farwynd?" Damian was quick in thinking about what place Jory wanted to target.
"Yes, that's the one."
"Well, it would take us some nine or ten days to reach the Island," Damian said while trying to remember what he knows about the island from the books or in his studies with the Maester of White Harbour.
The Lonely Light should be the smallest island of the eight major Iron Islands. If he remembered it correctly the island is the seat of House Farwynd of the Lonely Light.
While most of the Iron Islands lie in Ironman's Bay, there is a smaller group of thirteen islands clustered around the Lonely Light lying eight days' sail northwest of Great Wyk. It lies well into the Sunset Sea and is probably the westernmost location in the Known World aside from Aegon, Rhaenys, and Visenya which are further west and south of Westeros.
Damian didn't know who was the current Lord of the House Farwynd but he must be fighting in the south with most of his men away with him and his keep should be the easiest one to take out.
Plus, that place had one of the markings from the Treasure Map and therefore he shouldn't return empty-handed if House Farwynd's treasury turned out to be unsatisfactory.
Still, Damian thought it to be best to take precautions and bring his full force to the Island. This meant that he needs to find a way to take out his recently summoned men from the Space world.
That night, Damian sneaked out of the camp and went far enough to take out every man in his Space world with clear instructions on what they should do in the morning. He installed Raymond as the leader because he seemed capable enough to him with Selena and Arsen as vice commanders of the group before going back to the camp.
In the morning, the whole camp became a mess when someone saw a group of almost a hundred men making their way towards them.
Jory came running to Damian's tent to inform him about the unknown force.
The atmosphere around the camp was tense, well it was mostly for the men who weren't summoned by him as the others were already briefed about this and didn't make any aggressive gestures. It went as he had planned yesterday.
Raymond came forward and explained how he was escorting a foreign trader and how he recently lost his ships to the Ironborn attacks which caused him to get stranded on Cape Kraken with his men.
Raymond acted well and talked in broken common language to fool Jory and others into believing his story.
When Damian questions what they wanted from him, Raymond said politely, "Goodman, with the death of my client, and the loss of my ships we are stranded in this place. I see that you have three ships and barely enough men to operate them. If you could part with one of your ships, we would be deeply grateful to you. Of course, I will pay you for it."
