The Old Kings and the New
Jon Snow had begun to hate solitude. Whenever he was alone he began to reminiscence about his life. He was contemplating family, duty, honour and other follies which had almost led his house to ruin. His own father did not tell him anything about the night's watch nor did he try to stop him. He had betrayed Ygritte, lied to her and saved the wall only to be killed by his own men. But the one he felt most hurt was the battle of Winterfell, like a fool he had allowed himself to be outwitted by Ramsay Bolton and almost forfeited his life and the lives of the people who had trusted and followed him. He was well aware that though he led the forces, the battle was won because of Sansa, Baelish, Davos and Wun Wun and not because of him. Yet for all those setbacks and mistakes, here he stood, the king in the north so maybe these things were not so useless after all. "Snow!" cried Tormund from behind, "Someone's here to see you."
The night's watch brother was shivering and pale even when wrapped in blankets and sipping on warm broth. "They are almost at the wall, the white walkers, they will fall upon us soon." "How large a force do they have?" asked Ser Davos. The man's eyes were filled with terror. "The largest anyone has ever seen. Thousands of undead not to mention undead giants, mammoths and direwolves. The sight of them alone is enough to defeat any army even before the battle has begun." The man paused as an eerie sense of doom descended over the gathered nobles. "The Lord Commander sent me to appeal to you. We are short of men, weapons and supplies. But from what I have seen, the entire might of the seven kingdoms may not be enough." The man seemed like he had lost all will to leave, like he had stared into the abyss and he knew that there is no way to survive, let alone win the coming war. "Rest brother", said Jon " House Stark will do all in its power to save the realm."
The small council meeting was in uproar. "They ruined our family! How can you ask them for help? Besides, Cersei is mad. You let the Lannister forces in, they are just as likely to seize Winterfell." Sansa was distraught at Jon's suggestion to ask for aid from the queen. Ser Davos was in deep contemplation, "The Tyrells and House Martell have rebelled against the iron throne as well, not to mention the tales I keep hearing about a Targaryean princess with dragons and an unstoppable army on her way here. It is a divided realm my liege, chances of unity are slim to nonexistent." The only person who was happy at the turn of events was Petyr Baelish as the wheels began to whir in his mind. "The Knights of the Vale will lend their support, but it would take a strong commander to make sure they, the northerners and the wildlings do not turn on each other." He saw an opportunity to send Jon away from Winterfell and was determined to take advantage of it.
Jon contemplated his bleak options. "The wall is more than just ice." he said "Powerful magic is built into it to keep the white walkers at bay. That is the only place we have a chance of putting up a fight." "I will lead the wildings, the knights of the vale and some of the northerners to the wall and we will fortify castle black and hold it till help arrives." "What about Winterfell?" asked Ser Davos . "A small contigent of northerners and Knights of the vale will be garrisoned in Winterfell. Lady Sansa will henceforth be the lady of Winterfell." Sansa was at a loss for words. "But Jon…" she started to speak before Jon cut her off. "You and I both know sister, winterfell is ours because of you. If anyone can negotiate with the other houses, it is you. Davos and Littlefinger will stay back with you. Get help from the rest of the realm. Make them see that unless we come together, all of us are doomed". "I will. Promise me you will come back safely brother." Sansa's voice began to quiver. Jon held her tight "I promise" he said softly as he prepared to go back to the wall once again.
Dolorous Ed wore the look of a man who had no idea what to do with the power bestowed upon him, not unlike Jon himself Jon thought as his forces reached castle Black. "Well, that's the second king in recent times the Night's watch had the pleasure of hosting" remarked Ed. This was followed by an awkward silence as both dint want to bring up the fate that befell the previous one. "Where have the White walkers reached?" asked the former lord commander to the current one. "Don't you know?" asked Ed incredulously "They are at the wall!"
"They just stand there, waiting, threatening and watching us wet our pants. They are just outside the reach of our catapults so most of the men are up there, trying to build ones with better range." Jon was relieved on hearing this. So the old tales were true. The white walkers were held back by the magic in the wall. Slowly a plan was forming in his mind, "Ask your men to.." Jon didn't even complete his sentence when he heard an ear shattering sound and fell to the ground. It felt like a thousand horns blowing and sucking the soul out of him. "Get a move on!" he heard and felt himself being hauled up. It was Tormund Giantsbane and Ghost. The duo were dragging Jon and running. Jon regained a little composure and turned around to look. His heart almost stopped beating in shock as vertical cracks started forming in the wall and then with an almighty rumble, it came crashing down.
Jon tried to regain his composure as he surveyed the carnage. A large portion of the wall was completely collapsed taking with almost the entire Night's watch with it. The ancient order now buried under a small mountain of snow. His leg was hurting and was barely able to assessed his injury. No bones were broken but he had a huge gash on his thigh. He would have bled out but ironically, the ice had stopped it. He surveyed the remaining forces. Hardly a few hundreds had survived and many among them injured. His heart sank as he made out a shape, for lying mangled, bleeding and deatd was Ghost. His faithful companion had dragged him clear while sacrificing his own life. All Jon wanted to do was hug his companion and mourn but fate had given him no time to grieve for he had men to save. "Double back! Get as many men as you can and load them onto the wagons and horses." The men started to obey his commands when Tormund suddenly froze in fear. "Look" he said as the undead army crossed the wall.
Jon knew and so did his men that they would not survive to see another day. The undead army was massive. Legions of men as far as the eye can see not to mention giants and mammoths. He mulled his options and gave the orders. "Those who can ride, grab the horses and make for winterfell. The rest form a guard and follow me." "Snow! That is suicide!" cried Tormund. "Either some of us die or all of us do. Go now, tell Sansa she is queen now" ordered Jon. Reluctantly, Tormund left him to gather up the horses. It might have seemed heroic but the truth was the moment he saw Ghost's dying carcass, Jon felt that his time had come and this time for good.
"Half of you double back into the castle, reign arrows on them. Rush out when we fall." Jon was aware that he used when, not if but this strategy would give the others more time to escape. The undead army was advancing slowly when all of a sudden it stopped. Jon's men looked at him waiting for the order to charge but he was holding out for the appropriate time. The men were watching with bated breath as the night's king and his white walker generals rode to the head of the column. Strangely, instead of charging and crushing the opposing forces he clambered down from his horse. He came a little forward and drove his sword into the snow. He just stood there for several moments staring coldly at Jon Snow when a soldier gave out a gasp. "My liege" said the man "He is challenging you to single combat!"
Forward strode the White Wolf. He could barely stand on his injured leg. Jon knew that the odds were stacked against him yet he was happy since the more time he could occupy the Night's king, the better the chances of his men escaping. Jon gave out a loud battle cry as he fell upon his nemesis. The combatants parried and slashed as the pain in Jon's leg receded to a dull throb. Jon was huffing and panting, slashing with all his might. In contrast the Night's king dint seem to put in any effort at all. He blocked every attack of Jon seemingly reading Jon's mind even before he attacked. His reflexes were otherworldly, yet his style was strangely familiar. He was just defending without going on the attack yet Jon was thoroughly outclassed. Finally, as if almost out of boredom, the Night's king blocked an attack, ducked and swept Jon's feet right of the ground. Jon lay sprawled on the ground as the Night's king put a foot on his chest. The fiend raised his crystal sword to strike yet held the same position before striking, as if willing Jon to do something. Jon took advantage of the delay, grabbed Longclaw and thrust it into the Night king's heart. Oddly, the night king seemed happy at this. He looked at Jon and actually smiled before bursting into a thousand shards.
Jon got up and sat on the snow clutching his leg. He saw that the white walker generals wore a look of stunned disbelief. He turned around and saw that his men wore the same expression. Slowly one or two men started cheering and soon everyone joined in, " We won!" cried one, "The king in the North!" cried another. "The White wolf! Savior of the realm!" "The prince that was promised!" cried someone else. Relief and joy washed over Jon and his men for even if their enemy was strong, without their king, the living had a fair chance of winning.
"Aargh!" cried Jon and collapsed as freezing cold pain shot through him. He felt like a thousand daggers made of ice were stabbing him repeatedly. The men stopped their cheering as a white light seemed to engulf their king. The watched in disbelief as Jon's hair turned white and his eyes began to turn blue. The black armour he wore turned light and shone like a glittering diamond. He looked beautiful, he looked immortal and he looked terrifying. Jon just sat there, completely dumbfounded as one of the white walkers came up to him and placed a throne made of ice on his head.
Then all of them knelt, the white walkers, the wights, the giants and all the other fantastic beasts. Jon noticed that there were not kneeling in front of him but had turned to their sides. A path was cleared in the middle. Flanked by two long dead giants riding mammoths was a creature bigger than a stallion but looked like a wolf and had a rider atop. Jon's eyes widened as he recognized the rider on top. The rider was white, almost translucent and had a blue aura around him. Even though the creature was surely not of this world, it was unmistakable who it was. "Bran!" he cried in utter shock and disbelief.
"Hello cousin." said Bran in a voice both soothing and spine tingling. "Yes. I was Brandon Stark of Winterfell once. I was also the three eyed raven not long ago but only now did I find out who I am and was since ages." Bran's voice felt like somebody was whispering inside Jon's mind, "The Great Other."