Beast Slayer Online: Initialization
Copyright© 2026 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 156: Wolves Outside the Gates
After saluting before the King, the two riders turned their mounts and separated.
Gregor Clegane’s reputation had not been built on monstrous size alone.
As he guided his horse toward the starting position, even Lannor could tell the giant’s riding skill belonged among the best.
Compared to the infamous Mountain, Ser Huff looked like a monkey riding a dog.
No one watching seemed optimistic about his chances.
Still, nobody expected disaster to arrive so suddenly.
“Neigh!” *2
The horses screamed as the two riders thundered toward one another.
Warhorse hooves hurled mud and weeds into the air, and the pounding of iron shoes against earth beat like giant hearts inside the crowd’s chest.
Both lances trembled with the rise and fall of the mounts, their points wavering enough to make the true target impossible to read.
For jousting knights, feinting the line of attack and reading a shield’s adjustment were essential parts of the craft.
In the instant before they crossed, Gregor’s warhorse happened to lower its weight onto its forelegs.
Almost instinctively, Huff tilted his shield downward to protect his upper chest.
It was the broadest target, and against Gregor’s posture, the most likely strike point.
But from below the stands, Lannor’s superhuman reflexes made his brow tighten.
“The horse’s center of gravity is dropping,” he muttered. “But his own weight is leaning backward in the saddle ... the lance is aimed higher.”
Just as Lannor predicted, the black-coated lance moved like a striking viper.
The moment Huff lowered his shield, the lance slid past the edge and drove straight toward his throat.
The gorget was one of the weakest parts of plate armor, because it still had to allow the neck to turn.
The tournament lance was designed to shatter on impact. That much was true.
But under normal circumstances, it shattered when it struck the thick breastplate of a fully armored knight, dispersing the force before penetration.
The throat armor did not survive long enough for that.
The lance punched straight through it.
The riders crossed in a heartbeat.
The Mountain’s warhorse never slowed, charging all the way to the end of the lane.
Meanwhile, Huff crashed from the saddle directly before the King’s platform.
His armored body slammed into the muddy ground. A jagged wooden splinter, as long as a man’s palm, protruded from his throat.
Blood poured steadily around the wood.
Huff stared upward blankly, one hand twitching toward his neck as though he meant to pull the splinter free.
But before his fingers reached it, strength abandoned him.
His hand only clawed weakly at empty air.
High above, Sansa screamed and buried herself against Eddard’s chest.
Arya’s face paled as well, though after the night at the tavern in Vizima, surprise was all that truly remained. Fear no longer rooted her in place.
The Sister accompanying Sansa reacted worst of all, shrieking and wailing openly.
Eddard stared wide-eyed at the sudden bloodshed while trying to comfort his eldest daughter. At the same time, his gaze swept downward toward the stands below.
His eyes met Lannor’s.
The young man merely frowned and gave a slight nod.
Silencing a witness.
And done openly, without leaving a clean excuse to condemn them for it.
The Mountain’s allegiance, and the calm ease written across his posture afterward, made that plain enough.
They were not even attempting to hide their arrogance. To those who understood the situation, the gesture bordered on naked provocation.
But when the enemy stood powerful enough, one had to account for the absurd margin of error they could afford.
Even if everyone understood the Lannisters had arranged it, explanations remained plentiful.
Yes, perhaps they silenced a man. But who could prove why?
What if it had merely been over some petty grievance?
A knight offending the Lannisters over some trifling matter and ending up dead was hardly impossible.
To read the complete story you need to be logged in:
Log In or
Register for a Free account
(Why register?)
* Allows you 3 stories to read in 24 hours.