Three days had passed since Sylvia had reached the shore of the mainland. This was the closest point on the mainland to reach the city of Lys. It would take a little more than one day from this place to reach Lys on ships.
Officially, she had already entered the territory governed by Lys. Lining the coast of the mainland were a few settlements that had their suzerainty pledged to Lys. They were governed by Lys, followed the rules and laws drafted by Lys, paid taxes to Lys, and depended on them in times of crisis.
If Sylvia had wanted, taking over these territories would have just been a matter of choice. Even a small, token force would have been more than enough to force these settlements into surrender.
But it did not really matter. These settlements were mostly farming settlements who cultivated the fields in the disputed lands and were not very important. At least, not important in the immediate aftermath.
The real prize was the city of Lys, and once they had Lys in their control, these settlements were naturally to follow. The same had been the case with Astapor, Yunkai, and Meereen. And even now in Qohor, all its allied territories had fallen to Rhaenys.
Not only would they have the dependent settlements of the three cities under their control, but by the sheer virtue of control over all three cities, Lord Aeos would have control over the entirety of the Disputed Lands.
Sylvia was standing at the edge of the cliff, which descended toward the sea. Just below the cliff, on the coast, her forces had made their camp and were preparing for the upcoming battle.
Her eyes were fixed on the distant sea, where she could spot two small spots in her vision, two ships lurking in the waters for the last three days.
It was no secret to her that these ships belonged to the Magisters of Lys and were here to spy on her forces. Not only was she aware of the ships, but using her warging powers, she had also made a detailed note of how many men were on them. And they were not many, nothing that her coming force, the hidden navy, could not handle.
If she wished, she could have single handedly destroyed the ships. She could have swum up to them and burned them using her fire magic, but it was not necessary.
But today she was not here to see the scenic view of the sea and the enemy spy ships. She was here for the arrival of her own force.
Standing there, emerging from the horizon, she saw what she had been expecting. At first, a couple of small spots, ships appeared in her vision. Then a couple more ships followed, and in no time Sylvia could spot twenty one ships in her line of sight. A smile appeared on her lips as she saw the ships moving rapidly.
But they were not approaching her or the shore. Instead, they were moving towards the two ships floating at a distance, the very same ships which had been collecting intel on the army camp.
In a matter of moments, the twenty-one ships split and started rounding the two spy vessels. Sylvia could not really see what was transpiring on the deck of the two ships or hear the shouting and screaming on the two spy ships, but even from that distance, she could imagine the chaos and the panic that had broken out on them. She could see it through her warging powers but she did not. She did not feel the need to do so. She was confident in her men. And their numbers were too overwhelming compared to their enemies.
Meanwhile, on one of the spy ships, a man was perched on the top of the mast. He was holding a far-sight in his hands, stuck to his right eye, which was focused on the army camp in front of him on the shore.
He had been at this for three days, with two other people dividing the shifts. But apart from seeing a few things on the first day, he had hardly found anything worth noting. Every day it was nearly the same.
The men in the camp were far too relaxed. It did not look as if they were here to invade a city. They woke up early in the morning, prepared breakfast, did drills and exercises, rested, cooked lunch, did drills again, rested, and then had dinner.
This had been their routine. Apart from that, he would see the general of the army climbing the cliff a few times. That was all.
In fact, not even the whole army was visible to him. Half the army was camped behind a small, raised landscape. Thanks to this and the distance, he so far had not even been able to deduce the correct strength of the army.
He was frustrated but as long as these men did not make a move, everything was well. But he had a gut feeling that things were not as simple as they seemed.
Another sigh escaped his lips as he saw General Sylvia standing on the cliff. He lowered the far-sight and turned his head in frustration and irritation. But the sight that greeted him left him stunned, shocked, horrified and every other objective that fit the description.
Ships. More than twenty ships were rapidly approaching their way. They were moving fast and were trying to surround their two ships. And armed men on four of the ships. These four ships were getting closer and closer to their ships while the rest of the ships had only taken encircling positions, blocking any path of swift escape.
He was horrified. Shocked. Stunned. According to intel, Lord Aeos' navy was close to the city of Lys. How did it reach here? Was it even Lord Aeos' navy? He did not have any answer and neither did have the time to find out anything.
He did not even have the time to think as a scream escaped his lips.
"Ships!" he roared. "Ships!"
"Prepare yourselves!" he shouted as he himself began to hastily descend the mast.
He could feel the chaos and the mayhem on the deck of his ships as he landed on it. But he knew every effort was futile. The men on the ships were not warriors. And they were almost completely surrounded, and there was no way of escaping the encirclement.
The men on the deck had barely prepared themselves when two of the ships almost collided with his ship and in a moment multiple men jumped on his ship. The same was happening on the other ship too. Lord Aeos' first physical assault had begun.
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