Arya rides into Town

Arya Unleashed

"What is this." Lord Flowers rose once again, sensing something was wrong.

One of the traitorous villagers in the stand began to be violently sick, stinking grey vomit splashing on the wooden floor so near to Arya she had to control her own body to prevent convulsing.

But it was the perfect distraction. Leaping up from her position at his knees, Arya delivered a firm elbow to the Lord's groin. It was powerful enough to bend the large man double. Though he was wearing enough sturdy clothing to protect him from significant injury.

"Why you..."

Arya didn't let him finish. With his head bowed and exposed, she hauled up the chain attached to his wrist and wrapped it around his bulbous neck. Reacting faster than she'd have thought he was capable of, Lord Flowers lashed out with his free arm gripping the chain between him and Arya's collar. As she tightened the chain around his neck, the Lord pulled hard enough for the leather collar to crush her windpipe.

Instinct demanded she relieve the pressure on her throat, allowing her to breathe. But Arya knew it would mean easing up on Lord Flowers, giving him the opportunity to get free. Instead, she used the last air in her lungs to haul even tighter on his chain, satisfied with the strangled cry he emitted.

As soon as his body went limp, Arya let him go and collapsed to her knees, trying to force her fingers between the leather collar and her flesh in a bid to breathe. It had been pulled so tight there was barely any room.

"Let me help," Lisa scrambled to her side

Looking up, Arya saw the girl was carrying a small dagger. Turning her back, Arya indicated to the leather on her neck and Lisa went to work. There was a sharp pain as the young girl drew blood.

"Sorry," Lisa mumbled, but Arya was so close to passing out she didn't care.

A few moments later, there was enough slack for Arya to force her fingers inside the collar gasp down precious air.

"It's too hard to cut through," Lisa cried, desperation in her voice. Arya held up her hand as she struggled to restore her normal breathing rhythm.

"Don't worry," she croaked. "At least I can breathe."

A shrill cry pierced the night, drowning out the sounds vomiting guests and the panicking dignitaries on the stand.

"The witch," Lisa pointed towards the bonfire. "Her hands are on fire."

Her throat still burning, Arya turned to see the witch standing in the centre of the bonfires with arms outstretched and hands consumed with a green flame. The gruesome fire reached to her elbows and yet the cloak she wore seemed impervious. The prisoners, including Myra, were screaming for someone to help them or to praying to their gods for mercy.

"Lisa, cut them free," Arya could barely speak her voice was so hoarse, but Lisa understood as she witnessed the horrific scene. Arya hoped Lisa's nimbleness would allow her to move among the panicking people without being hindered.

As the girl sprinted off, Arya took stock of her own predicament. Lord Flowers was collapsed on the ground but was recovering. Around the stand, the other Lords struggled to barge passed vomiting guards and guests. The poisoned stew was going into full effect.

A guard pushed through the confusion towards her. He looked aghast at Lord Flowers sprawled on the floor with a purple face. Turning his attention to Arya, he stepped towards her. She judged the distance, and with only a short amount of free chain, the guard was too far away for her to attack.

"Are you responsible for this?" He pointed his shortsword towards Arya's face.

She shook her head and indicated he'd been sick. The guard took another step. Arya made as if she was going to help Lord Flowers.

Another step.

Arya delivered a vicious punch to the guard exposed throat, and as soon as her hand dropped, she took the wrist of his sword arm and bent it so far back the weapon slipped from his hand. All part of the same move Arya grabbed the hilt before the shortsword dropped to the floor before delivering a kick to his stomach designed to push him off balance. While not as powerful as she would have liked, it was enough to send him sprawling into the rest of the bewildered crowd.

There was a tug on her collar. It tightened again as Lord Flowers yanked on the chain while attempting to climb up using wooden seats around him. The arm the chain was attached to was exposed.

Lord Flowers never saw the vicious blow that separated his hand from the rest of his body. Arya pulled the chain away from the bloody stump and wrapped it around her left arm as she hefted the short sword in her right. The Lord cried out and toppled over again. This time he stopped moving, and though Arya wasn't sure if he were dead, the blood pumping from his wound a suggested he didn't have long.

Arya turned to see if the guard was going to rechallenge her. Apparently, the sight of a Stark clad in a full wolf pelt and brandishing a sword after tossing aside a recently dismembered hand was not something the guard wanted to get involved in. For the most part, everyone was scrambling away and desperately trying to keep their footing on the vomit-strewn wooden planks.

Arya nimbly leapt down the steps past them before leaping over the sides. As she landed on the grass, Arya once again assessed the situation.

Over towards the townsfolk, there were signs of fighting as a group of them looked to overpower the remaining guards. However, being unarmed and with not all the guards having been taken down by the vomiting, their fight was a desperate one. Over at the food serving table, Elsa and the Innkeeper had tipped the remains of the hot stew over two guards who'd approached them. Elsa then lifted a heavy iron ladle and smashed one of them on the helmet as he tried to rise.

A burst of green flame caught Arya's eye.

The witch had launched it towards one of the bonfires. The shouts of alarm, and pleading to be freed from the old woman tied to the wooden pole in the centre, were replaced by screams of terror and agony as the woodpile instantly became a deadly inferno of green and orange flames. Looking for Lisa, Arya saw she was at the nearest bonfire, already having leapt on the wood, and was hacking the male prisoner free.

The witch hadn't noticed Lisa yet.

If she did, then the young girl would be helpless.

And it was Arya who'd sent her there.