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"Ah!"
A Gold Cloak let out a scream as he was thrown down from the inner wall. Fortunately, thanks to the relatively low height of the wall, although the fall was heavy, he at least survived.
Mounted on the wolf's back, Robb kicked the helmeted head of a Gold Cloak, knocking him unconscious in an instant.
Since Robb did not want to absorb too much red mist, the two of them had been fighting with restraint. As a result, the Gold Cloaks on the wall managed to tighten the encirclement and block him in the middle of the passage.
"Bloodwind, stop holding back! Kill them!"
Seeing that, farther ahead, several Gold Cloaks had already reloaded the scorpion and were now adjusting its aim, Robb shouted.
Hearing the order, the direwolf stopped holding back. He violently thrust his head forward and sank his teeth into the right side of a Gold Cloak's waist.
Then he clenched his fangs hard and flung his head outward. The man, with half his body missing, was thrown far away, scattering blood through the air.
Immediately after, Bloodwind lunged forward and raised his right paw, crushing another Gold Cloak against the ground. His claws sank into the man's body, and the wolf's weight killed him on the spot, pressed flat beneath him.
Revealing his ferocious nature once more, he killed two men in the blink of an eye. The Gold Cloaks atop the inner wall's gate were completely shaken by the brutal deaths of their companions and all retreated at once, afraid they would be next.
The beast seized that instant and sent two Gold Cloaks blocking his path flying through the air, breaking through the encirclement. Then he accelerated toward the scorpion.
"Fire! Fire already!"
Seeing the giant wolf almost upon them, the captain of the guard screamed desperately at the men still adjusting the weapon.
Bloodwind slammed head-on into the heavy wooden scorpion, which had not even been properly aimed yet. Robb jumped from his back before the impact and, gripping Ice with both hands, brought down a brutal strike that split the captain of the guard from skull to groin.
"If you don't want to end up like him, open this gate immediately!"
Seeing Bloodwind stagger out of the wreckage of the scorpion, a little dazed, with the machine reduced to broken wood, Robb raised his sword and threatened the remaining Gold Cloaks.
Creeeak.
The inner wall's gate was opened.
Dozens of criminals rushed toward the newly opened passage in panic.
Behind them, the Mountain came slowly limping with two detachments of Gold Cloaks, driving them forward like cattle.
Meanwhile, Eddard and the others used the mass of criminals to draw everyone's attention and quietly slipped through the area beneath the field where tourneys were usually held, heading toward the South Gate.
Just above that path was the garden where, in the future, Joffrey would celebrate his wedding. It was also through there, down the slope, that Dontos Hollard helped Sansa escape when Joffrey was poisoned.
Because the giant wolf stood out too much, he did not reunite with Eddard and the others to escape alongside them.
Instead, Robb remained mounted on his back, atop the inner wall's gate, commanding the criminals toward the Red Keep's outer wall.
As expected, because of Robb's presence, both the Mountain and the fortress defenders focused all their attention on that group and advanced to surround them.
Thrum! Thrum! Thrum!
The criminals believed they would soon be free. But the moment they rushed to the foot of the outer wall, three enormous scorpion cords fired at the same time.
Three bolts as thick as spears pierced through the four criminals running at the front and pinned them to the ground. One of the bolts even skewered two of them at once, like pieces of meat on a spit.
Seeing that the criminals would not be able to break through, and that the three large scorpions on the outer wall still posed a considerable danger to Bloodwind, Robb gave up on pushing forward.
His objective in all of this had always been only to draw attention and buy time.
Because of that, he turned the wolf toward the right side of the inner wall and moved away.
That change left the criminals completely stunned. After all, they had believed that since Robb had freed them and was leading the charge on such a monstrous giant wolf, he would certainly lead them out of the Red Keep.
Who could have guessed that, at the crucial moment, Robb would simply turn his beast around and abandon them?
Creeeak.
The Mountain and his men, who had just arrived, closed the inner wall's gate.
Looking at the Gold Cloaks beginning to surround them, the criminals could not help silently cursing Robb.
When Robb reached the wall that led directly to the South Gate, he saw that Eddard and the others had not continued their escape.
Instead, they were waiting for him there.
Before Robb could say anything, Sansa ran to him, her face covered in tears, and cried out.
"Brother... Arya disappeared!"
Disappeared?
Robb immediately passed the thought to Bloodwind and ordered him to search for Arya.
The wolf raised his head and sniffed the air, his nostrils flaring. In theory, Arya's scent, since she was always dirty, should have been very easy to detect. But strangely, he could not find any trace of it.
Pup's scent... gone.
Finding nothing, the wolf passed the thought to Robb.
"Is there any sign where Arya disappeared?"
"There's a strange coin."
Hearing the question, Sansa answered and took an old coin from her pocket.
Robb immediately jumped down from Bloodwind's back, took the coin from his sister's hand, and recognized at a glance the featureless face engraved on one side.
The Faceless Man, Jaqen.
He could have taken Arya away in silence, without leaving any clue. But he had left the coin deliberately.
That means he wants me to go personally to the House of Black and White in Braavos.
The answer to Arya's disappearance appeared in Robb's mind in an instant, and he clenched his hand tightly around the coin.
No wonder the giant wolf could not detect her scent. For a Faceless Man, erasing traces would be second nature.
"Arya won't die. We leave King's Landing first."
Knowing that Arya was not in immediate danger for now, Robb decided that escaping the city came first.
Hearing him say that, Sansa trusted him without hesitation.
Then the group headed toward the South Gate.
With Bloodwind there, impossible to ignore, the Mountain and the Gold Cloaks on the outer wall naturally spotted Robb and the others.
But the Mountain was still busy crushing the criminals, and the Gold Cloaks on the wall were too far away to intercept them in time.
After regrouping with Crey and his two men at the South Gate, the group from Winterfell headed directly for the South Tower, following the withdrawal plan.
When they arrived there, besides the two House Seaworth guards, Torrhen was also waiting for them.
Seeing his brother, Eddard immediately stepped forward to embrace him, but Robb, having already received a warning from Bloodwind, reached out and stopped him.
"Torrhen, how did you get here?"
Torrhen's face was covered in blood, as if he had gone through a brutal fight. Robb stared at him and asked.
"Lord Robb, after your giant wolf killed all the Lannister soldiers at the inn, the three of us followed him here.
But on the way, we ran into some Gold Cloaks... and only I was lucky enough to survive."
After greeting Robb with a salute, Torrhen immediately answered.
"Oh? Do you know him?"
After hearing the answer, Robb turned to ask the two House Seaworth guards.
"We don't know him, Lord Robb."
The two exchanged a glance and shook their heads.
"Then why did you let him into the tower?"
"Because he shouted that he was Torrhen Karstark, commander of the rear guard of Winterfell's forces.
And he also showed Winterfell's official command seal."
Hearing Robb's new question, the two guards answered without hiding anything.
"Torrhen, and how did you know they were our men?"
"Because I already..."
"Kill them!"
Before Torrhen could finish answering, a shout echoed from the foot of the southern wall.
Jaime was coming from a distance with dozens of Gold Cloaks, running straight toward the South Tower.
"Lord Robb, leave now! I'll stay behind to hold them off!"
Seeing the Gold Cloaks advancing below the wall, Torrhen's expression changed at once. He pointed toward the passage ahead of the tower and spoke loudly.
"Ha ha ha, sacrificing yourself to buy us time to escape? Torrhen, you truly are loyal.
Don't worry. As long as Bloodwind is by my side, a few Gold Cloaks don't scare me at all.
But... what truly frightens me is the wildfire hidden in the passage ahead."
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