Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 1: Tylos

They were marching again.

Well not at that exact moment, as they'd made camp for the night, but it still felt like part of the monotony of the march. The only change was that Tylos was in a war council with Lord Tywin and the remaining army commanders as they discussed what to do next and the growing dissatisfaction among the men. While morale had been high at the start of the war it was currently flagging.

They had left the Westerlands confident that it would be an easy war, and their early successes had done nothing to change that. The Golden Tooth had fallen easily and River run followed quickly after that. Those marches had been easy and quick, plenty of glory and plunder. They felt invincible under Lord Tywin and had no doubt they'd win against the Northern savages that the boy Stark had brought down. The march to the river had been easy and they'd all thought the war would be over with one quick battle. Looking back on it they had no idea how wrong they'd be.

The river battle had seemed a success, but then word of what happened at Riverrun had reached them. He could still remember Tywin's anger and the forced march that had followed. All for nothing. They'd arrived to find their other army destroyed and scattered, with Riverrun further fortified. They'd marched back to Harrenhall and stopped there, for a bit. He suspected that was less voluntary than Tywin said. Renly and Stannis' armies had paralyzed them, the war councils afterward had focused on what to do next. Half of them had wanted to move south to reinforce King's Landing, while the other half had thought they could beat the Young Wolf first, then crush Renly. Even Lord Tywin had seemed divided and so they had simply stayed at the castle and raided the Riverlands.

The next march had come when they'd received the raven that Stark had somehow made it into the Westerlands. The Tooth still held, as they'd learned when they'd received a messenger near Wayfarers Rest, after the quickest march yet. The only opposition they'd encountered on the way had been a weak defense put up on the ford by the Tully forces that they'd brushed aside, even though they'd left 5000 men under Lord Kevan to prevent Roose Bolton from catching them in the rear though. The next piece of news they'd received at that stop had been even worse. Stannis' inexplicable victory over Renly and word of his march to King's Landing had forced them to turn around again.

They'd been so tired, Tylos remembered, when they'd reached the ford again to see the Tully armies arrayed before them again. Attempts at finding an alternate ford had failed, there were smaller forces and heavy defenses at every ford that they could quickly make it to. Lord Tywin had ordered a full assault and though they had been tired they'd been confident that they'd wipe the Tully forces aside again. Apparently Edmure Tully had learned how to lead an army in the time they'd been away, as the battle had gone disastrously. The Red Fork had lived up to its name, the river running with the blood their armies. He thankfully hadn't been in the thick of the fighting, being in the reserves and being able to do nothing. They'd made it onto the other bank a few times, and he'd thought Lord Tywin would let them loose to make the final push, but the Tully men just kept fighting and drove them back across the river each time. They'd eventually retreated, hoping Edmure would follow them across the river and that they could counter attack, but he'd reformed his armies as well and prevented them from crossing at any of the other fords.

Which led to their current march. The only way to get to King's Landing without crossing the Red Fork involved taking the passes between Hornvale and Deep Den then going up the Gold Road. They were far fewer than they'd been on the Fork, having left most of the army to crush the Stark forces still in the Westerlands and cover their movement. Tylos was shocked out of his musings by a particularly loud statement from one of the other members of the war council.

"We can't stop Stannis with just the men we have here, especially considering their condition!" One of the other commanders almost shouted. "We either need to stop to rest or we should have taken the rest of the army with us." Almost everyone else was nodding, Tylos included. Even Tywin's glare wasn't enough to stop the open dissent.

"We cannot afford to rest, if we stop we will be unable to reach the King in time and all of our effort will have been for nothing." He smashed his fist on the map before any of the other officers could say anything or open their mouths. He stared at each of them before pointing to Deep Den "After we reach Deep Den we will resupply and continue marching down the Gold Road. We will meet up with a force of Tyrell men and sail down the Blackwater Rush to take Stannis in the back as he assaults the city." He finished, tapping King's Landing. "If the men are so weak they need more rest they can get it on the barges but for now we need to make it to that intersection and get into position to win the whole war."

The rest of the room had gone speechless at that. All anyone managed was a simple, "The Tyrells…?" to which Lord Tywin simply nodded before continuing "If there are no other concerns then return to your men and make sure they are ready to move on in the morning." The council stayed silent for a moment before beginning to exit the tent when a messenger entered the tent and handed a scroll over to Lord Tywin.

He read it before slamming it down and closing his eyes. He stood that way for a second and it seemed like time in the tent froze, no one even dared to breathe. "Clegane left the defense of the pass to pursue a Northern force that attacked him." He said, breaking the spell "He reports that he was able to drive them off and has returned to holding near Hornvale."

"That's good news my lord, the young wolf isn't as invincible as we thought" his cousin Tytos added hoping to help.

Tywin finally looked up and fixed him with a stare that froze him and every other man who had been celebrating the victory in the room. "Have you forgotten the Whispering Wood? Stark will use the opportunity Clegane so foolishly gave him to move into the pass system and attack our forces. Did you see any sign of them?" He questioned the rider, who simply shook his head. "He must have followed one of the other paths through the passes. We need to get through this pass as quickly as possible. Send a rider ahead to Deep Den to warn them that Robb Stark's forces will be following behind us." He said gesturing to one of the commanders who moved to fulfill the command.

"We should make sure there are extra sentries and watches tonight, my lord, in case they try to attack us in the night" Tylos added. Tywin simply nodded, and went back to staring at the map. The commanders took it as their dismissal and returned to tell their troops.

His sergeants certainly hadn't been happy to hear that they would have to tell the men they'd have extra watch shifts, but they had ultimately fallen in line. It seemed the threat of being attacked in their beds was sufficient motivation. He had told them to tell the men that the war would be over soon, and they would finally be able to return home soon, but he had gotten the same look he did whenever that was said lately. A look that said most of them didn't think the war would ever end. It had been less than a year but it felt like far more lately. It was the marching, he thought, they traveled so many places and fought so many battles that it all just ground together into a never ending slog. But it would end soon. He could go home to his wife and daughter in Lannisport and under Tywin and his grandchildren's rule they would have a peace that would last. Or that was what he told himself as he tried to get to sleep.

Thankfully the Stark forces did not attack overnight. They were able to wake up and eat something of a breakfast before leaving. They resumed the quick march trying to get out of the pass and on the Gold Road. The mountains seemed to loom closer and the hills around them higher as they continued the march. He could see Tywin riding near the head of the column, his golden armor bright in the midday sun, and so saw the messenger that broke through the ranks as they began to slow. He heard the shout that followed a moment clearly as well "Form Ranks! Foes to the Front."

He ordered his men forward in a state of disbelief as the enemy in front of him slowly came into view. The direwolf and trout banners were clearly ahead of them though, looming large behind the host before them. "Robb Stark was supposed to be behind us" was the only thing Tylos could think as he saw the cavalry begin to charge at them. They had barely begun to form up when the charge hit, and their unprepared forces were hit hard.

It took a little time but as the battle went on it looked like they might hold. They outnumbered the Stark men and though it had started as a rout Lord Tywin had held them together. He heard the shouts of "Hold the line" and where to form. He was farther forward than Tylos was used to seeing, but it seemed to inspire the men and they were slowly regaining some semblance of order. He had just struck down a man with purple and yellow hawks on his shield when he felt something hit him from the side.

His hand went to the wound and found an arrow. "How?" was all he could think as he looked at the arrow in side and felt the second one hit him in the shoulder. He was too far back for any archers among the cavalry to hit him. It felt like it took an eternity but he turned and finally looked to the side. "Oh. An ambush." Registered somewhere as he saw the rows of archers from the hills on the sides.

"Tywin will hold." He thought, as he saw another barrage of arrows fly into the men. "He rallied us before. He'll do it again. We'll make it." He looked to Tywin to take his lead. Chaos had returned to the ranks with the archer ambush, and the Stark men were cutting through the frontlines. He saw Tywin trying to regain control. There was an arrow sticking out of his armor, but he still looked fine. Until the arrow struck him in the throat.

Time seemed to slow after that. He saw the gurgle of blood as Tywin tried to give another order. Watched it splatter over the glowing golden armor. He thought he could even see the moment the army realized it and the last chance for victory faded. It spread like a ripple through the armies. When the rest of the westermen saw the panic spread and chaos ruled. The Northmen seemed to take heart and pushed forward even harder. He only came back to himself in time to see the blade swinging at him.

He was in no position to react to the strike and felt it bite through his armor. The soldier didn't go for a second strike and the last thing Tylos saw was his blood splattering on the wolf on his killer's chest. It was so hard to breathe, he though as he fell. His chest burned, something so much heavier than air filling it. He tried to cough, to get the pain out and air in, but found he couldn't even do that as the world went black.