Death. Such a simple concept, the end of life. The end of your story. Yet for those you leave behind, your legacy continues to influence the shape of the future. Such it was with two of the most powerful men in Westeros, both in their lifetimes had been Hand of the King, the second most powerful position in the Kingdom.
Eddard Stark, Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North. A man bound by honour, law and love, a man who did everything in his power to try and bring order and justice into a corrupt court, and help an old friend, and was repaid with betrayal, humiliation and finally execution. His death would spark a war that would drown Westeros in blood and leave his family broken and dispossessed, the last remnants of the first men scattered to the cold uncaring winds of the North.
Tywin Lannister, Lord of Casterly Rock and Warden of the West. They say a Lannister always pays his debts. This was certainly true of Tywin, who is famed for reminding the world why House Lannister is a house to be feared and respected. A song is sung to this day of how the Reyne family tried to usurp the seat of Lannister power, and were repaid with wholesale slaughter. Tywin went on to serve two kings as their hands, both of them madmen, but both times he outlived them, and House Lannister only grew stronger. A master at the political arena, Tywin used everything at his disposal, including his children, as pieces in the Game of Thrones. But this would prove to be his downfall, as his children's actions would begin the decline of his house, his Son Jamie and Daughter Cersei siring their own children behind his and the current King's backs, and his open disdain for his other son, a Dwarf named Tyrion, led eventually to that son being driven to the point of despair and rage, and then to Tywin's death at this son's hands.
One man took the lawful and moral route, and another took the route of fear and cunning, yet both were now dead, their bodies rotting, buried in the ground. Death was nothing but equal and fair.
However, unlike most men, their stories were far from over, for there was a third party who would not let them pass into the next world just yet.
"Welcome back to the world of the living 'my lords'. I must say for two nobles of such high standing you did have the most undignified deaths."
A strange voice echoed inside Ned's mind, a voice that was soaked in cunning, deception and mischief, three things that reminded Ned of a man he knew all too well, yet it wasn't his voice. The last thing he remembered was the moment his sword was swung down on his neck, which should have ended his life. Well then, why was he still alive? And what had happened to his surroundings? No longer before the Sept in Kings Landing, he was now in a bright white void, lacking of anything, including sound, to indicate a natural environment.
"Who are you?" Ned asked, unsure of who he was talking too, slowly getting to his feet.
"Lord Stark?" Now here was a voice Eddard knew only too well. Though they'd met only once before, long ago, he still recognized the voice of Tywin Lannister, the man whose children were responsible in part for his current state, whatever this was. Standing up tall he looked to his right and gazed upon his rivals face. The two men stood staring at each other in shock, horror and of course anger. No words passed between the two, their expressions alone were enough to convey everything the other wanted to say.
"Ooooh! Well this is awkward" the voice sounded again. Ned and Tywin quickly looked in the direction of the voice but found nothing but more of the white void.
"Its no use trying to make sense of your predicament, you'll just hurt your fragile human minds trying to figure it out. But no need to fret, I mean you no harm, I mean, how can I any way since you're, well, dead?"
"Really?" asked Tywin, "I may not know everything about the workings of the world, but I do know death doesn't involve talking or breathing."
"Oh Tywin, you were a strong favorite of mine, your cunning in life was legendary, as was your practicality. Shame you weren't nearly as good with family as you were with politics. Maybe then you wouldn't have been killed by the one son who actually did some good for your family."
Tywin's face notably pulsed with barely contained anger. "He was no son of mine!"
"Oh I think you'll find he was Tywin. As much as you and your daughter would deny it, Tyrion was more your son than anyone else, except maybe Jamie, he ended up slightly better in the end. Oh and what a way to die(!)" the voice sniggered, "two bolts to the heart whilst on the privy! Admit-tingly not they way I pictured our exit, but being you, you still made it work."
Upon hearing this story Ned quietly gave a bitter chuckle, prompting Tywin to turn his head once more to him. "The great Tywin Lannister(!), the feared, cunning and infamous Tywin Lannister murdered by his own son on the privy? Not such a great song as the last one."
"I admit Lord Stark, not the way I envisioned my death, but then neither was yours. The honourable man condemned a traitor to the crown and executed at the whim of a second mad king."
"And now look at us. Both dead and stuck in a white oblivion with no one but ourselves and some invisible man for company. The Wolf and the Lion, forced to bear each other til the end of time."
"I don't recall us being personal enemies Lord Stark, nor for that matter, meeting in life for more than a few minutes."
"Well we'll have plenty of time for that here. We have much to discuss."
"Not that this isn't fun to watch and everything" interrupted the voice, "but I'm afraid we don't have much time for this. You weren't brought here just out of pity you know."
"If there's a reason for you bringing us here then I'd rather speak with someone I can see" said Ned , "I will not talk to a body-less voice with no face."
"Do you honestly expect that to work Lord Stark?" said Tywin "Just commanding our 'host' to reveal himself to us at our command?"
"At your command? No. At your request, of course." said the voice, "just allow me to slip into something more comfortable."
At that moment the white void started to form into something different, multiple colours started to fade into the white spaces, Black, Red, Grey, Blue, Green, all mixed together into a swirling cone, Tywin and Ned looking down in amazement as the floor changed from white to Black, the spiral molding into the rest of the floor, the ever increasing numbers of colours blurring together, but still staying notably seperate, as though they were fighting against being absorbed by the other colours.
"Intriguing, isn't it?" came the voice again. "This spiral can be interpreted in so many different ways, though I like to think it symbolizes Westeros quite nicely don't you think? Each colour could be seen as a house, or a country, a people, a civilization, a race, all of them part of the same spiral of Chaos, but all of them trying to break out and establish their own dominance over the others, only of course to be swallowed back up again by the spiral.
"Now Chaos is my bread and butter you see, though I must admit, even Chaos can get dull after a while. So, here I am, no tricks, no half-truths, no deception, here I am in the flesh, standing before you."
Ned and Tywin looked up, and were frozen in horror by what stood before them. This was not a man, but an abomination. A fissure of different body parts from different creatures shaped roughly into the shape what was presumably a Dragon, but no Dragon like the ones that the Targaryens had used to conquer Westeros so long ago. This, Dragon, for want of a better word, was thin, lean, with the face of a horse, the horn of a ram, an antler of a stag, the left wing of a dragon, the right wing of a bird, the paw of a lion, the claw of an eagle, the scales of a snake, the right foot of a reptile, the left foot of a goat and the tail of a lizard. And those eyes, one bigger than the other and both glaring red and yellow.
"I know, I get that a lot, (and ohh how I love it!). Well you can relax, I'm not here to eat your souls or damn you to the depths of Tarterus or whatever it is you expect of me. I am Discord, recently reformed spirit of Chaos, master of breaking and bending rules and all round trickster.
"Oh I know you're probably thinking, 'I must be insane! How can this be? This is impossible, you don't exist, blah blah blah, well in case the swirling colours and my appearance don't convince you already, then allow me to demonstrate my abilities." He then snapped the fingers on his bird claw creating a flash of white light, which when dissipated he was gone, replaced by....
"Littlefinger!" cried Ned in anger.
"His appearance and voice, but no not him Ned Stark" replied the apperation of the man who had betrayed him back in Kings Landing, before transforming into another form, this time, the Dwarf Tyrion Lannister, Tywin's youngest son.
"I often find people I meet more likely to believe me if I speak to them in a shape they are already familiar with." said Discord in Tyrion's cocky and suave voice.
"Well you're not making a good impression with me, 'Discord'. I refuse to speak to you whilst you wear that Dwarf's face!"
The apperation's expression frowned deeply before another flash saw the original Discord appear before their eyes once again. "As you wish. I won't take up much of your time for it is quite short as it is. So in a nutshell I brought you here for a second chance. I need you two to help some friends of mine out of a pickle. You see, there is a kingdom that is currently divided, much like your former home. 3 tribes vie for control over a dwindling supply of food in an endless winter that is steadily getting worse. What was your motto again Lord Stark? 'Winter is Coming'? Well for these 'people' winter is already here, and is showing no signs of leaving. If you're having doubts on whether my tale is true, then allow me to show you instead."
With another snap of his fingers the entire void suddenly transformed into a bleak, harsh winter landscape, the silence of the void being replaced with a harsh, roaring wind. All around them was a vast rolling expanse of snow with the grey tips of jagged mountains barely visible on the horizon. Though strangely enough neither Ned nor Tywin felt cold, not even slightly chilled, and their clothes seemed unaffected by the wind, remaining still and un-moving.
"This is but an image of what is going on in the world, conjured by yours truly" said Discord. "Everything you see is a projection of what has happened, what is happening and what could happen. It may surprise you to learn that just a year ago this entire area was once a lush forest with a small town right where we're standing." With another snap of his fingers the entire landscape started to shift, the snow lifting from the ground, the clouds dissipating, the wind grew weaker, and out of the ground rose mighty oaks, along with a set of ramshackle buildings arranged in a circle around what appeared to be a statue of an armoured horse, except without a rider, and seemingly, holding? a banner bearing the sigil of a small tree with massive roots.
Then as the world stopped turning, the town and forest came alive, though not with people as Ned and Tywin expected. In fact when the inhabitants of the town emerged the two men were sure this spirit was toying with them again, for the towns 'folk' appeared to be made up of muli-coloured, horses, ponies? To be honest they were both confused, for these creatures had the same build as a pony, but their faces were disturbingly human like, especially the mares, and what's more, they were all clothed!
"What child's fantasy is this?" said Tywin, visibly insulted and disgusted, "you expect us to believe all this!? I am an adaptable man, but if you expect me to believe that all this is true you are clearly one disturbed creature."
"I am a disturbed creature Lord Tywin, but I'm afraid this is completely true, no tricks, no lies, what you see is what you get. This was the town of Oakwood in the Republic of Terra, home of the Earth Ponies, excellent farmers and guardians of the land, their produce is some of the finest in the land. They are one of three tribes that make their home in this once lush paradise." With another snap of his fingers the village and the forest faded away, the word blurring as though the speed the world was spinning was suddenly made visible. After what seemed like minutes, but was really a few seconds the world stopped spinning, revealing a mighty fortress built into a mountain side. Then before they could digest what they saw they were sped towards the fortress and down into the castle courtyard, were again they saw clothed Equines, but this time their clothes were more bright and decorative, and what's more, they had a horn on their heads, like the mythical unicorn.
"Here is the capital of the Kingdom of Vallis Admul, ruled over by the Unicorn Mages, the most powerful, and cunning, politicians and scholars. You'd like them Tywin, they value Intelligence above everything else." Tywin scoffed, still refusing to believe in this trite, whilst Ned looked on in bewilderment.
Once again the world shifted, and this time they found themselves not on the ground, but, in the sky? And what's more the clouds were shaped like buildings, in fact, they were buildings, and flying in and out of them were multitudes of armoured Pegasai and Griffons!
"Alright, this show has gone on long enough!" Now it was Neds turn to shout in disbelief, "civilized ponies, unicorns and now Pegasus and Griffons! How can you continue to say this is true when you've shown us nothing but fantasy creatures? For all we know this is just another illusion."
"Wow, death has taught you much Lord Stark. I commend you on being more wary of falsehood, I really do, but I assure you this is all as real as you and me. Besides, even if I wanted to deceive you, why would I come up with something so see through and unbelievable? Not to boast or anything, but I am a master of Chaos and deception, if I wanted to deceive you I would have done so."
Tywin would have argued against that statement, but something about Discord's tone stopped him from doing so. For some reason, he sounded sincere, and Tywin was an expert at reading tones and emotions, its how we became as powerful as he had been back in Westeros.
"I still don't believe in this, strange world" he said finally after a long pause, "but we'll humour you. After all, one law of the natural world has been broken with both me and Stark being dead, yet still able to speak and move, what's one more matter?"
"Thank you Lord Tywin! Have I said you were one of my favorites?" Again Tywin scowled at Discord, but the master of Chaos was unfazed and smiled cheekily back.
"Now this tribe is the Cumuli Empire, a mighty and proud race of warriors and athletes, excellent tacticians, poor tempers. They hold sway over a huge stretch of land, the biggest in the 3 kingdoms, with the Griffon Kingdom as a vassal state under their protection.
"All three of these tribes are for the moment, mutual allies, each race providing the others with mutual benefits, but other than that they don't like each other very much, not one bit, and this has attracted the attention of a fourth player in this game, namely these fellows."
Snapping his claws again the three kingdoms were once again covered in ice and snow, the clear skies being consumed by grey storm clouds, the storms ripping the forest apart, cracking the walls of the Unicorn castle and consuming the Pegasai city completely in grey cloud. By the time the storm was done, nothing remained, nothing except a group of ethereal creatures in the shape of horses looking down on those sites, blowing from their mouths even more ice and snow, determined to bury what remained for good. One creature stopped blowing and looked towards Ned and Tywin with bright blue, pupil less eyes, its gaze freezing them in place with a fear they couldn't explain.
Then as quickly as it came, the vision vanished, and the world turned back to a bright white void.
"What in the names of the Old and New Gods was that?" said a shocked Ned.
"That Lord Stark" said Discord, "is our version of the Others. You know the tale, creatures from the North made of Ice and Snow, raise and enslave the dead and bring about eternal winter to the land. That's exactly what's happening here. If left unchecked all life on our world will cease to exist, frozen by their own hate, for that's what these creatures feed of. The three tribes are preparing for war over the last remaining resources of the land, unwilling to set aside old squabbles to find a way to defeat their true enemies. That's why I need you two.
"Ned Stark, you have the honour and love of family to give them hope, and the will to forge these ponies into a united people, and you Tywin Lannister have the knowledge and intelligence to keep them alive. I can't interfere due to, ehem, rules even I cannot break.
"So that's why I need you two."
"And why should we help you, or these people?" said Tywin, earning a stern, angry look from Ned, "Why should we come back from the dead to aid people we don't know or care about?"
"No reason" replied Discord, "you are perfectly free to pass on into the afterlife if you wish, I won't stop you. You'll be condemning an entire culture and people to die and your own deaths will remain the same. Death by sword on the block and by crossbow bolt on the potty. I'm just giving you another option, the option of earning a life and death worthy of your names. Ned, you may have failed your family and people back on Westeros, but you have the chance to save another country, start a new life a fresh, and perhaps earn back some of the things you've lost."
"Will all my past mistakes be erased? Will I see my family again? No, I get the feeling that despite bringing back myself and Tywin, that's beyond your power too. You don't have to tell me, I can guess that's what you're going to say. However, if what you say is true, then I won't leave others to die and suffer for my selfish desires."
"How did that work for you last time Lord Stark?" said Tywin mockingly.
"I was too gullible to notice the dangers around me that time Tywin. I won't make the same mistake twice, but neither will I let despair and failure guide my actions. Call it stubborn if you like, but I'm going, whether you're coming or not. It can't be worse then endless oblivion here, and I don't know how I can help these people, but its better than doing nothing."
"Death hasn't changed you in the slightest Lord Stark, you're still as gullible, stupid and stubborn as ever. However seeing as how all I have to look forward to is death, and lets face it, there really isn't much of a choice, I'll come along too. If for nothing else then to keep you from killing yourself, again."
"Wonderful! Well gentlemen I wish you all the luck in the world. Oh and if you should happen across a winged unicorn or two on your travels, be sure to get to know them, they'll be important to your efforts."
"What?" said both men.
"Oh and I forgot to mention that Humans don't exist in this world. Sooooooo, when you enter Equis, you may or may not be a teeny tiny bit altered from how you were in life."
"WHAT!"
"Well toodle pip brave adventurers! I'll see you sooooon!"
And with that Discord and the void vanished, leaving Ned and Tywin standing on the outskirts of the same Oak forest they'd seen in their visions. But they didn't have much time to gain their bearings because at that moment their legs gave way, causing them to fall forwards onto their...Paws?
The two men looked at each other in bewilderment. No longer where they men, but now both were the literal personifications of their houses sigils, Ned as a dark grey Dire Wolf, and Tywin as a massive golden Lion.
"Now I think about it Stark" said Tywin, "I think I would have preferred to stay dead."
Here now stood the Wolf and the Lion at the gates of a strange forest in a strange land, set on a path that led towards an uncertain future. Looking upon the pebble dashed dirt road that led into the forest, towards what they guessed was the town of 'Earth Ponies' they'd seen in the vision, the two men considered their current predicament in silence.
The forest before them looked peaceful enough, a mixed clump of oak, beech, fir, hazel and yew dotted the inside, spongy, damp moss spread out over the forest floor like an endless blanket of dark green unprocessed silk, and the chorus of sparrows, blackbirds and the odd occasional woodpecker digging for grubs in the bark of the trees echoed throughout the woods like discordant yet soothing orchestra. Yet both knew from experience beauty often hid a frightening and dark secret. Even if this world was inhabited by, as Tywin put it, 'children's fantasies', that didn't discredit any evil or danger that might exist.
"So, 'Lord' Stark" said the Lion to the Wolf, "how shall we proceed?"
"My first thought before that spirit did....this...." replied the Wolf "was to take the direct approach. No use hiding if we're meant to help these...'people'. But as you can plainly see, Discord has somewhat complicated that plan."
"As much as I am shocked by this turn of events" said the Lion, "how different is it really? These creatures would most likely attack us even if we were still Men, perhaps more so."
"You seem very calm under the circumstances Lannister" said the Wolf.
"Despite this strange happenstance, I will not sink so low as to cry out in horror nor fear. Panic will not change us back, nor will cursing any God, or in this case 'Chaotic spirit', and believe me, I'm surely tempted to do so right now. But you too seem to be accepting this in stride. Then again, in the war following your death, some of my soldiers believed certain members of your family could transform into Wolves at will. I guess now that rumour has come true after all."
At the mention of his family, the Wolf's eyes narrowed in suppressed anger, "Yes, the war. I have some questions regarding that for you."
"You won't like what you'll hear Stark" said the Lion.
"I'm sure I won't" the Wolf replied, his words accompanied by a soft growl, "but why don't you tell me anyway?"
"And what would that accomplish? You said it yourself, it won't change anything that happened."
"Perhaps my last statement was too mired in subtlety" said the Wolf, now coming dangerously close to the Lion with anger burning in his eyes, "It was not a request."
The Lions mouth curled in cruel amusement, "You demand something of me? My title may have been lost Stark, but I am still a Lannister, and this time, the Lion really does have claws." As he said this the aforementioned claws slowly creeped out from under his velvet paws, each one bright white and sharp as a spear.
Undeterred, but now wary, the Wolf continued to glare menacingly at the Lion, his teeth bared, and his paws dug into the ground, as if ready to pounce. "Neither of us are Lords anymore Lannister. Titles mean nothing here."
"No, you're right Stark, they don't. What does is respect and fear. That's how I kept the Seven Kingdoms together during both the Mad Kings reign and the reign of my idiotic grandson. How I assured my family's survival and prosperity, and that is why you ended up on the block Stark, and why Westeros was plunged into chaos, because from what I heard, you didn't have the guts to make the difficult choices, and now Westeros and your family have paid the price for your mistakes."
The Wolf now growled louder and angrier then before, bright yellow fangs now visible beneath his quivering lips.
"I'm going to be blunt Lannister. If you, or any of your kin harmed mine in any way....."
"And now I'll be blunt Stark. Attack me now and there's a strong chance one or both of us will be killed. If we intend to survive this mad venture we'll need each other, and we certainly can not afford vengeance now. Perhaps when this is done, then we can put this rivalry to rest, one way or another."
The two stood in silence, their eyes locked upon the other, the Wolf's burning in subdued anger and the Lion's in barely disguised contempt. After what seemed like half a minute the Wolf slowly backed away, his body relaxing and his snarl fading, though his eyes remained just as hard as before.
"Alright Lannister, you have a point but mark me, after this is over I will get my answers from you, and if it comes to it, my vengeance."
"Yes Stark, that's a great motivator for me to open up." The Lion sighed in minor frustration, "Lets just get this over with." Nodding in reluctant agreement the two men turned beasts started walking into the woods, though it look them a little while to get used to their new legs and bodies.
As they continued to venture further into the woods they began to notice other, more subtle changes begin to take place, none of them welcome even if they were needed. Both started to pick up smells both familiar and new, and what's more at increased intensity. To someone who had just moments ago been a man, whose nose was admit-tingly one of the weaker variants of the Animal kingdom, this was disconcerting and mildly disturbing, and surprisingly difficult to master. The same rang true for their hearing, able now to pick up even the smallest rustle in the leaves in the nearby bushes as unseen wildlife rushed to escape the two predators striding past them like Lords.
Despite being in a new world and new forms, the two men could not help but think of home whilst they passed the innumerable and eerily familar trees. Ned was constantly reminded of the Wolfswood near Winterfell, the woods mostly made up of tall and menacing pines, grand oaks, and the resilient Iron wood whom his former banner men, the Forrester's, had harvested for generations for strong ships and sturdy shields that were the envy of all in Westeros. Every tree rose high and proud, reaching to touch the unreachable heavens to soak up every ounce of the suns fading rays as it slowly started to dip towards the western horizon. Even if they were in a new world the trees felt just as alive to Ned as the Hart tree in Winterfell's Godswood, and surprisingly just as seemingly holy and worthy of respect.
Tywin on the other hand could have cared less about the woods, though looked upon a certain way they reminded him somewhat of Kingslanding. Each tree rose to grab as much sustenance for itself, and rise above the rest, whatever the cost to it's fellows. Each Tree was an enemy to each other, all competing for the ultimate goal with only the laws of nature and their food source to keep them in check. Just like in Westeros, were each Lord, Knight, Priest and Peasant all in their own way jostled and competed for more land, more power, more freedom, for good or ill intent to rise above everyone else and shape the world as they saw fit.
The Lannisters just happened to be the bigger tree, for a time. But now, if Discords words were to be believed, all that had been lost, or soon would be, and for the first time in years Tywin started to feel a small twinge of guilt. He knew how the game was played better then anyone (aside from Tyrion), and yet he had still fallen prey to its workings thanks to his poor skills as a Father. Yes, he never denied he hadn't been a good Father, he knew he'd treated his children as pawns in the Game, but as he reminded himself, that's how the world worked. 'A good man does everything in his power to better his families position,' he reminded himself, remembering the lesson he told Tyrion on the day he recieved news of the Starks deaths, 'regardless of his own selfish desires.'
But with that thought he remembered Tyrion's response. That bitter sarcastic chuckle, his reply dripping with anger and selfishness, 'it's a good lesson, only its easy for you to preach utter devotion to family when you're making all the decisions. When have you done something that wasn't in your interest? But solely for the benefit of the family?' And he remembered his own reply, 'the Day you were born!'
He'd made no pretense he hated that deformed creature, how his birth killed his beloved Joanna, how he almost took him out to the sea to drown him. But despite his hatred he kept him alive, helped him grow into the man he would become. And for his unselfish act he was rewarded with two bolts to the heart. Two bolts he perhaps deserved? Maybe. But definitely two bolts that killed not only himself, but his family too. He didn't need to be told of their deaths to know that without him, they would crumble. Cersei would make enemies of everyone, Jamie would be too stubborn to be of any use as a politician and Tyrion was either dead or in exile. It wouldn't take a genius to figure out what would come next.
And as he let that sink in, he realized how much of this had been his own fault. Maybe he had been more selfish then he'd let himself believe. And he certainly wasn't as smart as he had believed. The Lion was blind.
But the time for melancholy didn't last long, for a few more steps into the forest the Wolf and the Lion were suddenly thrown up into the air, their back legs suspended 5 ft from the ground from thick, strong ropes. Immediately afterwards dozens of green and brown painted equines armoured in dark Brown leather Jerkins sprang from the surrounding trees, armed to the teeth with a variety of weapons, many of which the Lion and the Wolf were confused as to how they could be carrying such instruments, including Steel tipped spears, yew longbows, small iron axes and large knives all held in the hooves as though they were human hands, all trained on them. What world of madness had they chosen to defend?
"Another predator seeking an easy meal?" One of the equines said, a female by the voice, armoured in a padded jack and an iron helm covering most of her face and wielding a loaded crossbow in their direction. "You should have turned back when you had the chance."
"HOLD!" The Wolf cried out, temporarily halting the Equines advance, "we haven't come to harm anyone."
This seemed to give every Equine in the clearing pause as many of them gasped in disbelief and shock. The Mare, seemingly the leader quickly calmed her charges then turned back to the Wolf. "We know animals can think, but we also know they can't talk" she brought the crossbow further up towards the Wolf's eyes, murderous intend burning in her eyes. "Who are you, and what are you doing in our forest?"
'Well, this will be awkward to explain' thought Tywin. Obviously the whole truth isn't going to fly here, so here's hoping they believe in magic'.
"We are not what we seem my lady" said Tywin, "we've been cursed to walk as a Lion and Wolf, we came here seeking a cure."
"Cursed eh? By whom?"
"We...don't know" Tywin continued, "we were ambushed in the night, knocked out, robbed blind and left like this come the dawn."
"A likely story" another Equine spoke up, this one a Male, wearing heavy maile armour, and wielding a sword in one hoof and a shield in the other standing to left side of the Mare leading the group, "how do we know you're not Unicorn Assassins?"
"That happened once Lwythred, and the killer paid for her crimes with her life" another Equine replied, another male.
"My Son, our Chancellor, nearly lost his life to a 'Wild Animal attack', and 4 of our best warriors were torn to shreds defending him, or have you forgotten so soon Caled?"
"I also know the Unicorn who organised the attack has been executed, by his own people no less. I doubt any Noble Unicorn would make the same mistake as her."
"You don't know them Caled, they...."
"Enough squawking! Both you!" the Mare shouted, silencing the pair. Turning back to Ned she again aimed her crossbow at his head, "despite Lwythred's ravings he could be right, but I'm not about to kill innocent creatures on a suspicion. You'll come with us back to town, and we'll discover the truth about you."
Lowering her crossbow and strapping it to her back she waved her left hoof towards the canopy and quick as you please the ropes gave way, dropping the Wolf and Lion face down on the ground, hard. Quickly the surrounding Equines rushed forward and none to gently pulled the two to their feet. With that the party walked on-wards down the pathway with their prisoners in tow.
All the while a shadowy being, not quite equine, not quite any natural creature watched them from the canopy, gave a small amsued chuckle and slithered away into the darkness of the woods.
