Shouts and the din of heavy fighting came from the city ahead of them, but Arya whispered to Captain Portsmith at the wheel, "Put us right next to that ship. We're going to board her." The word was passed, and fighters and crew were on deck to board. Caelan and the other treekin were beside themselves with worry for the city, but they steadfastly followed Arya's command. Caelan understood the value of capturing the enemy's rear in a battle.
The two archers and Gendry, Thomas, and the younger Mangana peppered the 5 watch they could see on the ship's deck before the boarding began. One dying guard raised a whistle to his lips, but before he could blow, Drena's sword took his arm off and then his head. She had leaped across the closing gap between the ships. Boarding nets were thrown, and the fighters streamed aboard. Drena and Bronn both ducked down the stairwell, and Brienne and Arya checked the cabins in the quarter deck. Arya motioned to Caelan with her hands, pointing at the city and then her eyes. Caelan nodded, and several treekin moved to the prow of both ships.
Bronn and Drena moved through the lower deck, killing Zon as it appeared or found. Bronn found a chef, Zon, and knocked him out, bound his hands, and gagged him. A treekin captive was unbound and sent upstairs with a shh. Drena killed two Zon she found in a cabin, then in a room full of maps, she also knocked one out and bound and gagged him. After clearing the fore castle, two knights dropped down to the second lower deck and cleared a couple of Zon. Brienne and Arya went down the stairs to the third deck and found 30 treekin being held prisoner in cages. A Zon slave master was sleeping, and Arya killed him with a thrust through his heart. Brienne got the keys and, whispering the treekin word for quiet, unlocked the cages and sent them to the deck. The ship was theirs. A few crewmen were sent below deck to wrangle the few prisoners Zon into the cages. After whispering with Caelan, several male treekin gathered weapons to help in the battle for the city.
In the treekin city of Haimgaer, about 50 treekin were holed up in a stone temple with a slate roof. The Zon had set every wooden structure on fire, and they were surrounding the temple. Hastily constructed barricades were affording the treekin archers the chance to pick off the Zon as they tried to rush the temple. Every time the archers stepped out to fire, a rain of crossbow bolts would rain down on them. So it was step out, fire, and then duck back again. There were a dozen treekin armed with weapons and magic holding the steps to the temple. The bodies of the fallen Zon formed a barrier against the next set of Zon that tried to rush them.
The Zon Lieutenant had 120 men under him. Some were ship crews, and then there were navigators and intelligence personnel. 80 were crack troops, of which some 20 had died assaulting the walls and at this temple. He had two teams of 5 searching the buildings for slaves and booty. They would herd out any treekin they found, search the building, and then set it on fire. The treekin captives were held in a fenced paddock by a couple of guards. The Lieutenant had time on his side; they could keep skirmishing with the holdouts until they wore them down. 15 of his men were crossbowmen who were at the back of his lines. They would be ordered to stand up and volley at any target. Then they would sit back down and wait for another order. He had one lightning mage in his command, but the man was exhausted from the wall assault. The mage was resting against a tree to regain his power. This wasn't really a standoff; it was more a slow grinding down of the treekin.
Inside the temple, several fighters were resting after battles they had fought. Swords, lightning, or crossbow bolts wounded a few. Three powerful treekin healers were treating these. One of the healers was treating an older treekin woman who had taken a sword wound to the hip area during the fight at the wall. She was hanging on to her life fiercely. The treekin had two fire mages, but one was wounded, and both were exhausted from the defense of the wall and from driving off the first two smaller ships that had attempted to dock.
As the fighting team moved in to do battle in the city, Arya noticed the dead Zon around the outside of the walls. Most had arrows in them, but a few were burned to a crisp. Her team numbered 40. She left Gendry and Thomas on board with their crossbows. Several treekin archers were there as well. At least ten defenders on each ship, with Portsmith manning the new ship and Springer on the Sovereign. Each had a fighting man, along with various crewmen armed with swords and boat hooks. Their orders were to hold both ships in case the away team ran into trouble.
Arya's attackers were Caelan, ten treekin archers and swordsmen, and Jack and the other two knights in full armor. Captain Dirk had 6 battle-experienced crewmen. Arya had Jack, Brienne, Drena, Bronn, the younger Mangana, two archers, and Nymeria. The rest were crewmen, variously armed, who would act as a rear guard until the final push. As they hid at the side of a stone building, she could tell there were a couple of teams loose, looting and burning the city. She saw the captive treekin and the lines set up around the temple. She sent Jack and Drena with two crewmen to take out the teams as they found them, and that group ducked out in the direction of the latest building fire to spring up. She sent Caelan and the treekin group to free the captives and get them to the ship. The rest skulked up towards the lines along the buildings and wreckage for cover. The two archers popped up and began taking out the crossbowmen. In less than a minute, the 15 were dead.
The Lieutenant heard some commotion back in the city and laughed to himself. Some old armed treekin had run out with an old sword, and his teams were having fun killing him. He gave the order for another cross bolt volley...and nothing happened. He gave the order again and stood up to shout at them. An arrow just missed his head....from the direction away from the temple. He shouted a warning to his men.