Chapter 1

The day of the long night

It was three men who left the age old bastion Castle Black. Three rangers making their way across the white wasteland of the lands of always Winter. Snow stacked plains and frozen hills where passed and a dark forest was entered. Three men, one veteran, one knight and one former poacher tracked one the many ranging trails in search of hostiles chancing the woods close to the wall.

Ser Waymer Royce, a knight from the Vale and now of the night's watch was given command of the ranging an unfortunate snubbing of the long time ranger Gared. Ser Waymer was the third son of a high lord and if the watch wanted more support from the noble families men like Royce had to be placated. Gared was a frost scarred veteran of the night's watch while Will and Waymer were rookies, Waymer being the newest recruit. Waymer was a fit young man of noble stock and handsome features. Will was thin and lanky compared to the knights superior form and Gared was short and stout with no ears from frostbite.

It was few hours on their patrol that Gared had spotted smoke coming from a nearby spot in the haunted forest. The three went as close as they dared before commanding Will to scout the area before they proceeded.

Will got off his horse and made his way deeper into the forest. Tall sentinels dotted the landscape and hid everything in dark shadows. The predators in this forest were silent things that melted into the darkness and ambushed unsuspecting prey. Will did as they did and moved without a sound, his black sheep's wool cloak he was invisible to the world. Each step was silent and each step took him closer to his target.

When he was close enough he dropped on to the snow and crawled closer to his destination. Puffy squirrels and other critters squeaked and rattled around him as he neared the destination of the smoke. To his surprise it was a camp with four tents made of pelts. His position allowed him to see the back of the camp and so he had to move to get a better view of the camp. It was as he moved that he heard something fall on the ground. Whether from adrenaline or fear, he spun around with his hand on his obsidian torch. Relief washed over him as he found a pile of snow fallen from a tree behind him and not a predator out to kill him. Unfortunately as he looked up at the tree the fear returned as he spotted a wildling two stories high in to the tree looking down at him. He scrambled backwards in fear when his back met the trunk of the tree he'd been hiding behind. Nowhere to go he waited for the call that would have the whole camp set upon him.

Only nothing happened and as he stared at the wildling he noticed that she wasn't moving. The longer he looked he realised that she was frozen and not only that but terror was sculpted on her face. Disregarding the oddity of the situation Will got up and moved to the next vantage point looking out for more scouts on the trees. He made it to the next vantage point and he was shocked at the scene. Children, mothers and fathers even a few goats all of them frozen. It looked like a blizzard had come out of nowhere freezing everybody before they could even react.

Something wasn't right about this whole entire scenario. How could all of these people be frozen if a fire had been going not even a few hours ago. The logs of the fire were still standing he noticed. The whole camp was silent meaning everyone was probably dead. As he tried to make a picture from the evidence he felt a cold creeping in to him. It was not the wintery cold he felt with his body but one inside, one littered with dread and malice. This was a premonition and as he fell deeper into it he could feel terror but always a cold hand digging into his heart. As soon as the vision left him Will ran and didn't look back.

It took him no time to make it back to the rangers. Breathless and flustered he couldn't answer the furious questions coming his way from the senior rangers.

"What is it boy? What happened out there?" Gared asked breaking him out of the breathless daze he was in.

"I found them. It was a camp of wildlings." Will answered while trying to get oxygen into his lungs.

"Wildlings? Did they spot you? are they following you now?"

"No, you don't understand. Something isn't right out there. I found all of them frozen as if something went and froze them before they could do anything."

"So the savages are killing each other then?" Asked Ser Waymer.

"No, I don't think so nothing was taken not even the live stock was touched. The fire was still fresh from what I saw. Something isn't right out there. I felt something before I left something terrible."

"Sounds to me like someone attacked that camp there. We will go back and see if we can track the bastards from there."

"Waymer I told you before we have to get back now before the weather turns. A few hours could turn into a couple of weeks if we get stuck in a storm!" Gared explained to the Knight.

"Shut up and get the horses ready those are my orders, now get to it. I will not have it said that I abandoned the mission because will found dead bodies. We will make sure no other Wildlings are lingering out here."

Gared was angry but he did as the knight commanded and prepared the horses. Will looked at him and then Waymer hoping the Ser would take back the order but he didn't.

"Please Ser we should go back. Something isn't right out there."

"By the father man up Will. You are a ranger of the night's watch and not a poacher anymore. Continue with this cowardice and I'll make sure that you never endanger your brothers on the field with your lack of courage. We need brave men out here not cravens."

Defeated Will waited for the horses to be ready. He found himself thinking of what had led him to his life in the night's watch. He thought about his ma, he could remember her eyes blue as the ocean and her hair long brown and straight same features as Will himself. He remembered the tune she would sing to him on the cold winter nights to get him to sleep on her bosom. He couldn't remember much else he realised. His mother had died when was still young. He thought about his da next. He couldn't remember him though he only remembered what his uncle had told him about him. That the man had drunk himself to death in Whiteharbor. It was his uncle who'd raised him after his mum's death. Together they lived mostly in the wild hunting and selling pelts when they had enough. They'd lived mostly away from people only keeping each other as companions. The last time he'd seen his uncle they had just killed a stag and butchering it when a lance struck uncle Tomny to the back of the head and showering everything with his brains. They'd known they were within the lords borders but with the last catch being a moons passed they chanced it and unfortunately nothing was the same since.

Will had been spared only because of his age and given to the night's watch. Life in the watch was hard and many times he would have run if he wasn't scared of dying. From when the recruits woke they were hiven wooden swords and trained by the master of arms at castle black and then before supper they had to work on chores. Day in day out the routine was the same and only a bunch of grumpy old men for companionship. Will had been happy to be chosen as a ranger. He wanted adventure but more importantly to be away from the stuffy castle and out on the field among the trees.

Will was brought out of his thoughts by Gared who handed him his horse. Will headed towards the camp and the other rangers followed. It took them longer than when he ran but they made quick time getting there. Immediately Will knew everything had changed here. Instead of frozen statues or even just dead bodies on the ground all the people where gone without a trace.

"Well where are they then? I thought you said that there were frozen bodies out here not even a hour ago so where are they?"

"I don't understand they were here even a few goats all of them frozen. Please Ser You have to believe me I wouldn't lie."

"Ok. Then where are they Will? I can't even see any foot prints indicating someone or something took them! And you want me to believe you after that! Huh you are a craven and clearly ran at the first sign of danger!"

Ser Waymer's words were making will uncomfortable but not only that something told him that the shouting was not a good idea neither.

"Waymer come look at this." Gared called to the knight by the abandoned campfire. Gared lifted the lid of a pot and inside was frozen stew.

"This stew is fresh and these logs were recently lit someone was here not long ago. If I had to guess this is from the fire we saw. The boy is right something happened here I can feel it as well. Did you feel any lingering magic here Will?"

"No I didn't that is why none of this makes sense."

"Ok so we found frozen stew. Where the fuck is the rest of the camp then?" Ser Waymer asked.

It was at this moment that Will felt the temperature drop. Suddenly a white mist started to rise.

"Waymer shut up. Can you feel that? Its getting colder."

Will could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. The feeling of Cold Dread filled him again and this time it felt like it was multiplying with each second passed.

"Ser I think we should leave now. Something isn't right out here." Will tried to plead to the knight.

Suddenly out of nowhere someone came out of the edge of the forest dragging their feet through the snow and heading their way. Long dark hair fell over the face hiding it from view.

"You there yield now!" Waymer commanded but the wildling paid them no mind and continued coming at them. Will was starting to panic now something wasn't right with this. The horses could feel it to as they started to get agitated. Waymer got off his horse and made way to the lone wildling. Unlike will and Gared, Waymer was carrying a bearded war axe and he pointed it directly with the blunt head at the wildling to stop her.

"Stand down wench I've got a question for you." The woman didn't answer but as soon as she was close enough she Launched herself at the knight. Ser Waymer reacted quickly and sunk the axe in her shoulder dropping her to the ground.

Sense demanded that the dead looking wildling stay down at the blow but like everything that had been happening at the wildling camp, the woman defied sense and struggled to attack even as the steel axe bit into her.

The knight put his foot on her back and pulled the axe out of the wound and took the wildlings head off with one strike. Again defying expectations the wildling struggled, this time harder and with more gusto. The head looking at the rangers hissed and bit into what would have been flesh.

"What in the seven hells? Why won't this wench die!" Ser Waymer shouted hacking into the struggling corpse.

"Waymer we need to leave now!" Shouted a visibly frightened Gared. He was doing better than the shaking Will but even he was retreating from the body and eager to leave.

"No! Someone is doing this and we have to find out who!"

Gared made to respond but he was interrupted by three dead bodies running out of the tent nearest to him. Faster than Will thought possible the ranger pulled out his own obsidian shard and ignited it. An arm and a half long blade of purple energy burst from the blade powered by the magic of a night's ranger.

With a slash of the energy weapon he cut the first from arm to chest, the next one was decapitated and the last stabbed straight through the heart. The third wasn't dead however and grabbed Gared by the arms and attempted to bite the ranger on the neck. The two on the ground shook and thrashed, clawing the wounds from the torch. All three suddenly set on fire and burned to ash where moments before they fought.

The three rangers were dumbfounded but they didn't have time to do so for long as suddenly more bodies attacked. Some from beneath the snow, others from the forest and one from a tent.

"Ignite your torch Will it can kill them!" Gared shouted at the terrified ranger too green to act.

"Fuck!" Shouted Waymer as he still struggled to kill the corpse at his feet.

"Fine if I Can't Kill you I'll just take your legs then!" Ser Waymer unlike Will and Gared was already trained in the manner of knights and controlled his magic with those techniques. He knew not the grimoire of the night only the seven pointed star and rune art of Runestone.

Will did as Gared instructed and lit his torch as well, his casting a jade glow and only as long as his hand to his elbow. He tried to settle himself as the master of arms had instructed but he couldn't. Too many of the corpes were coming at him. He defended himself but where Gared would hack off any offending limb, Will snicked and missed his strokes. Will was fortunate that that even his pathetic strokes set the corpes ablaze.

Waymer was holding up as well. A yellow light was shining from his axe. Glowing runes decorated the axe as it cut the wildlings like a knife through butter. With the dead refusing to die he lopped off legs, waists and arms easier than Gared using his torch. With the limbs dealt with his axe struck the heads of the undead but it didn't just cut, it obliterated the heads and left craters on the ground when it struck.

Even headless the the bodies fought, arms tried to grab and legs flopped. Only the torches could deanimate these hollow husks. Waymer retreated and made his way to Gared and Will hacking as he went.

Will was the first to spot the unnatural creature that stalked from the forest. A tall man like monster with blue skin and shimmering ice armour. Pure ice radiated from the being and the dread he had feared returned a hundred times. Will tried to warn Waymer of the creature coming for him but he couldn't a cold hand was grasping his heart try as might nothing was coming out like in a terrible nightmare he was powerless.

The creature was only a few metres away from Waymer when Gared called out in warning. Waymer was just able to dodge the long pole length blade of ice. Rattled, the knight struck at the newcomer with an overhead blow which the monster blocked with the ice blade. Upon contact the runes on the axe turned blue and burned Waymer's hand with the creatures foul magic. Waymer dropped the blade. The fiend struck at him with a blow aimed at his heart. Waymer seeing the attack created a yellow wall of yellow runes but on contact with the blade the wall shattered.

Having earned himself space from the unknown creature, Waymer prepared himself for a second round. Yellow runes covered his arm and formed a chain made out of energy. The chain finished forming and moved on its own, connecting to the axe and reactivating it. "Who are you and what have you done to these people creature?" He asked the silent being.

Instead of answering the creature attacked, charging the knight but Waymer was prepared and pulled on his axe with the rune chain. Unaware of the axe the blade cut threw the leg of the creature spilling blue blood on the snow. The creature fell on its knees from the blow and merely sneered at the offending warrior.

"Forgot about my Rune Anchor did you? Now tell me what I want to know or I'll end you." Commanded an overconfident Waymer. So convinced of his victory, he was unaware of the snow fusing into the wounded leg and with a sudden launch the creature cut off the hand of the knight. Waymer scrramed at the loss. Pain and shock derailing his composure the knight was helpless to stop the creature as it climbed on top of him and began choking the ranger a sinister grin carved on its face.

Ser Waymer struggled against the arms robbing him of breath but to no avail. The grey winter sky and the wrinkley horned blue face began to merge as one as no oxygen reached his brain. Death was near when suddenly the tight hands slacked. The villainous grin slacked and confusion troubled the ice fiend. A green energy blade glowed between the two before the creature screamed and turned into a puddle of water showering the wounded knight.

"Come on Ser we have to go! More of those things are coming!" Will explained pointing to Gared who was holding off as many of the dead as he could protecting the horses.

Will lifted the now delirious from blood loss knight and helped him to the horses. Using strength he never thought he had he lifted him so that he hung on his stomach on the horse. Quickly Will got on tis own horse and as he called out to the senior ranger he saw him being overcome by a tide of dead corpses.

With no choice Will set off for the wall with the wounded ranger stopping a half a field away from the fight to force the whole gallon of healing potion they had in hopes of helping the knight not die. Will didn't know what to make of the days events only that the enemy cared not for anything but the annihilation of all living things. He'd seen the true desires of the creature out there and he knew running would only stall the inevitable. Will had found strength from that because the creatures had left him no other choice.

"The whitewalkers are back. The whitewalkers are back. The whitewalkers are back." Waymer chanted from the horse beginning as a whisper and getting louder with every iteration. The proud brave knight was reduced to madness from the attack. Broken, would he ever be the same again? Would anything?