The 500 escaped Zonian troops moved east, deeper into the Wolfswood. Their leader had decided to move inland, find a small target, and capture it. They moved east into the woods deeper and deeper. One of their archers shot a deer, so they settled down to camp and cooked it. They were feeling pretty good about their situation, so they posted a watch and went to sleep as darkness fell. As the night deepened, they began to hear wolves howling far off, and it seemed like they were getting closer. Around dawn, a party of hunters from one of the deep-woods villages noticed the smell of their campfire burning. The hunting party got close enough to see who they were and sent a runner to the tree-kin so that the war effort would realize some Zonians were here in the Wolfswoods. The hunting party faded back into the woods unseen.
The runner reached the tree-kin encampment by dark that day. He had run the entire way. He gave the information to the tree-kin guards and went home. The telepath with the tree-kin passed on the information, and a small contingent of troops was dispatched from Brandon's Rest on a vehicle. They all dismounted when they got to the tree-kin encampment. Another 50 tree-kin archers and fighters joined them, and the 100 took off south to try and head off the Zonians. As they reached a hunter village, about 50 more hunters joined them. They intended to fight a hit-and-run action and whittle away the Zonian troops. By late afternoon, they could hear the Zonians crashing through the trees as they approached.
When the Zonians broke into view, they were met with a hail of arrows. At least 40 Zonians died in that first volley, and their leader ordered 300 of his troops to pursue what they thought was a large band of hunters. The Westeros party knew the woods well, and they deftly avoided the noisy pursuit. They took shots when they could, causing the Zonians to split their pursuit. Of the 300 Zonian troops that started the pursuit, no more than 100 were left as darkness began to fall. The Zonians realized the folly of trying any further and made their way back to their leader's location. The Zonian leader took stock of the situation and decided to lay a trap for the Westeros fighters. He took dead troops and made it look like the camp had gone to bed. He stationed his troops hidden around the fake camp. The tree-kin, hunters, and troops found this fake camp and fell for the trap. They charged into the camp firing arrows, but then they suddenly realized they were surrounded. The Zonians charged them, and it turned into a hand-to-hand fight in the falling darkness.
Nymeria's eye glowed gold in the darkness. She had watched the fake camp being set up and the Zonians secluding themselves to spring a trap. When the hand-fighting started, she and 50 other wolves charged the Zonians from behind. They ripped enemy throats out before they even knew what hit them. Suddenly, a lopsided battle in favor of the Zonians became a slaughter of the Zonians. The last 30 or so threw down their weapons and surrendered. 25 Westeros troops had died, and 400+ Zonians were dead or captured.
The tree-kin and the Brandon's Rest troops marched the prisoners back to the waiting vehicle. And all the troops and the prisoner group crammed onto the vehicle and went back to Brandon's Rest. When they got to the station, they were hustled through the side gate to the intel building. Once again, Ming said, "We need more prison cells." Tyrion told him that there was a hastily constructed building towards the stone-kin caves, and when the first round of interrogations finished, this group of prisoners was marched to the new prison. The stone-kin had taken control of it, and they quickly turned the tables on the Zonian prisoners and put them to work breaking rocks. The Zonians recognized the stone-kin, and the irony of their predicament was not lost on them.
Arya and the Brandon's Rest naval forces had made it into the harbor. They set up ship patrols near their home city and rotated crew members so that everyone got a chance to sleep in their own beds sometimes. Reports came in that a serious push by the Zonians had happened near the Iron Islands. Many Iron Island and Braavos ships had been lost, and there was a troop landing near Fort #10. The fort was holding its own as it was high above the water, and there were two observation balloons on that coast. They thinned the ships and cut the troops in half before they could find a way up the cliffs. The Braavos and Iron Island ships managed to defeat most of the Zonian ships and keep the Islands free of troops. But it had come at great cost.
In the dark on the second day after the Zonian prisoners had arrived, the Tower and the observation balloon both spotted a large group of enemy ships coming towards Brandon's Rest. The balloon began firing fire arrows when they got close, and the guns on Bear Island began to degrade the enemy ships. One enemy ship got close enough to see the city and then broke for open water. Brandon's Rest was going to bear the brunt of this attack, it seemed.