11. The Ice King.

With Winter quickly approaching, the journey to the Wall was proving to be most tiring: the snow made it more difficult for the horses and the foot soldiers, and the cold was taking a toll on men and animals alike. Only the direwoves appeared to be untouched by the weather. After the prophetic dream he had had, Jon had insisted on bringing the wolves with him back to Castle Black. He had a hunch they would have a role to play in the grand battle against the wildlings. Ghost was running next to him and so was Shaggydog, Rickon's wolf. Summer, Bran's wolf, was wandering around and would every so often approach his brothers.

After their long journey, finally setting their sights on the run-down black fortress at the bottom of the Wall was a welcome respite for the travelling party.

"Welcome back, Jon" his friend Samwell Tarly greeted him at the Gates of Castle Black. "Lord Commander Mormont has been waiting for you and a meeting has been assembled. Let me escort you to the Main Hall while the soldiers can rest and tend to their horses."

"Thank you Sam. How have you been? Have the other men from Winterfell arrived? They left Winterfell a month before we did with Harrion Karstark."

"Yes, the have. They are already North of the Wall" he started to explain as they made their way through the yard.

"Fighting the wildlings?"

"No. Things have changed, Jon"

"What do you mean?"

"It is not the wildlings we are fighting, it is the Others" he explained with fear in his voice.

"The Others" Jon repeated, visibly distraught.

"Umh, an explanation for those of us south of the Neck?" Jamie Lannister requested.

"Wights, undead, Ice Lords, The King of Ice" Sam replied.

"Oh, that explains it" Jamie replied sarcastically. "Have you seen them?"

"Yes. We had a ranging party go take a look. They are not far from here and their numbers exceed ours. Now with your help, our chances have improved greatly."

"When do we fight them?" asked Lady Mormont standing next to Jon.

"We – We don't" Sam stuttered. "Well, not yet, at least. Let's go inside so Mormont can get you all up to speed" Sam said opening the door to the Main Hall.

As soon as Jon Snow stepped into the Hall, he was embraced and greeted by his old friends: Edd, Pyp, Grenn.

"Jon Snow, my Lords, glad you could make it in time" Lord Commander Jeor Mormont addressed the people walking into the Hall. "The men brought by Harrion Karstark have already been deployed and with the men you have brought with you we have a better chance. Now, did you really have to bring those beasts with you?"

"Thank you Lord Commander, I am glad to be back. Please let me introduce you to Lord Marlon Manderly and your niece, Lady Alysane Mormont," Jon started to present his companions "members of King Bran Stark's Council, and Ser Jamie Lannister and Loras Tyrell, trusted members of King Tommen Baratheon's guard. As for the wolves, Lord Commander, I feel confident they will aid us in our plight against the wildlings or whatever threat it is we face now."

"Well, you may be right. I assume Samwell Tarly has already told you of our tidings here at the Wall."

"Some"

"We had a meeting with the Wildling King Mance Ryder. He swore they were not intent on killing us, they just wanted to cross the Wall. They wanted to run away. They were being attacked by the Others".

"Creatures we had never seen before … demons … wights … creatures from tales of our Nans and grandmammas …" some of the other Brothers added.

"So yes," continued Mormont "our enemy has changed. We are not fighting the wildlings. We are fighting the Others. Before you arrived here we had a vote. We have decided to join the Wildlings and fight this new enemy together. I spoke with Mance Ryder and I vouch for him. The decision was not unanimous, but it will stand" he continued, looking directly at Janos Slynt. "We will gather our forces and fight this new fiend. We have discovered they are not easily killed by our swords, lances and arrows. Fire can kill them, as Jon Snow could very well testify, as well as Valyrian steel. But dragonglass will do the job."

"Do we have dragonglass?" asked Loras Tyrell.

"We are in the process of obtaining it. We are working with Mance Ryder's people in a cave not far from here where ancient relics have been found. Among these relics we have found a substantial number of dragon glass blades and arrowheads. The cave also contains dragonglass imbedded deep within the rocks which we are in the process of retrieving."

"Honourable knights turned miners siding with the savages" Janos Slynt muttered with disdain.

"The idea is for all the men and women to be armed with dragonglass," continued Mormont ignoring Slynt, "be it with a sword, with arrows or with lances."

"What about catapults?" asked Marlon Manderly.

"We could place catapults on the Northern side of the Wall. Rocks from these catapults will reach a far greater distance than any arrow shot from the top of the wall and cause considerably more damage" continued Jamie Lannister.

"Good idea. Let's get to it, then. Ser Jamie Lannister, can your men be responsible for building the catapults?"

"Yes, Lord Commander. I'll assign some of my men"

"Good. Ser Jamie and Ser Loras, can you aid in the training of the new recruits and the wildlings? Many of them are young and know not how to fight."

"Yes Lord Commander."

"My niece Lady Alysane and Marlon Manderly, I would like for you and your men to assist in the retrieval of dragonglass from the cave."

"Of course."

"Lord Commander, if circumstances have changed so, I believe our Kings should be apprised" advised Jamie Lannister.

"I know that, Ser. The letters have already been drafted. I was just waiting for your party to arrive so I could also inform the Kings of your safe arrival. The messages will go out today."

.

Castle Black was buzzing with activity the likes of which it had not seen in centuries. An honourable order founded thousands of years ago, it had fallen into disgrace in the past decades, populated mostly with thieves and criminals who had chosen the Wall over death penalty or imprisonment. Most of the recruits had been taken from long-forgotten cells in dungeons all over Westeros. Gone were the days in which second sons of noble Houses would, of their own volition, come to the Wall to make a name for themselves and their families. With few notable exceptions, many of the Brothers of the Night Watch had never held a sword in their hands, did not know a thing about strategy, were never taught how to read or write and could barely follow simple instructions. On top of this, they now had to work alongside the wildlings, or free-folk as they called themselves. They were an assorted lot from different clans, with a different set of beliefs and sometimes even a different language. It was not an easy task to ask both parties to put aside thousands of years of rivalry and mutual enmity to be able to work together towards a common goal. How could one lead such a motley crew? Yet, Lord Commander Mormont fervently believed he was up to the task and that if at one point in the history of the Night Watch they were to align themselves with the wildlings, this was the time. … Thus, the plan was set in motion.

Three weeks later, when the horn was sounded signalling the coming of the Others, everything was in place: archers at the top of the wall holding flaming arrows with dragonglass heads; a well-prepared cavalry and thousands of foot soldiers wielding swords and battle axes speckled with dragonglass studs; wildling fighters whose weapons had been lined with dragonglass; thousands of untrained and unprepared new recruits and wildlings standing all along the wall ready to drop rocks or anything they could get their hands on; catapults at the foot of the Wall holding flaming rocks with pieces of dragonglass imbedded in them; and last but not least three fierce direwolves.

And so the battle began. Preceded by their battle cry, an ear-piercing screech, the incoming horde of creatures was a sight to behold. Behold and tremble. When they were within shooting range, the catapults unleashed their first load of flaming rocks. Caught up in flames but impervious to pain, the whitewalkers continued their march towards the Wall. The dragon glass in the rocks appeared to slow them down and many of them eventually succumbed to the fire. To roars of victory and seeing that their plan was working, the catapults launched a second load, and a third, soon followed by a fourth and a fifth. When the enemy was close enough, the archers took their turn. Many more whitewalkers fell to the fire and the dragonglass-studded arrows falling from the sky. However, for as many whitewalkers they killed, thousands more would show up and continue to march.

"They can't get past us!" yelled Jon Snow. "Brothers to me! Charge!" his actions were mimicked by the Northern and the Southern army. Soon, they all came together in a bloody melee at the foot of the wall: the whitewalkers trying to get through, the newly-formed alliance trying to prevent it. The soldiers, albeit still a bit frightened, had by now become accustomed to the presence of the direwolves, and their aid was more than welcome as they tore apart the icy limbs, torsos and heads of the whitewalkers.

"We are the last line of defence!" "We guard the Realms of Men!" "For King Tommen!" "For King Bran!" "For Westeros!" different battle cries rang in the cold crisp air of the North.

The white snow soon turned red with the blood of the humans; body parts, missing limbs, and dying bodies strewn across the field. The Others were not faring much better. Dragonglass, fire and sheer human tenacity was taking a toll on these creatures and their numbers were slowly diminishing.

Jon had never felt prouder of being a member of the Night Watch. His fellow Brothers were fighting like there was no tomorrow. If we lose today, there will be no tomorrow, he added grimly. Actually, all his companions - regardless of creed, banner or rank – were fighting like true warriors. He looked to his sides and could see wildlings fighting alongside Southern soldiers, Northern fighters assisting Brothers of the Wall, Brothers defending wildlings, Northern and Southern soldiers (who until recently had been butchering each other) helping one another. And to top it all off, they had added direwolves to the mix. This is the new Westeros! he thought.

Longclaw in hand, he ripped through the whitewalkers who stood in his way like a hurricane, until he suddenly locked eyes with a taller, much stronger being. His eyes were dead cold, but had an eerie glow to them. So cold was he that his skin was blue rather than white. His long hair, white as snow, flowed freely in the wind. But what struck Jon the most were the horns on his head. So enthralled was he by this man's appearance that he almost didn't see the blade coming. He ducked just in time to avoid being split in two. As he got up to face his enemy, he felt his courage suddenly desert him. He took a deep breath and summoned all strength once again. His sword felt heavy in his arms, and not because of its actual weight – Valyrian Steel was indeed lighter than regular steel. Longclaw shall not fail me, he promised and willed his sword to empower him. The two fighters locked eyes again and engaged in combat. It took all his strength to repel the blows from the Ice Lord with his sword, and he felt his energy slowly waning. Jon knew the Valyrian steel in his sword would hurt his enemy, but he was yet to land a blow. He heard rather than saw the Ice Sword come down at him and a particularly strong hit knocked him to the ground. He was unable to stop him this time. He took a quick peek around him and saw all his companions engaged in combat, nobody would be able to help him. This is it, he thought. I have fought bravely and I die honourably.

Just as he was saying his final prayers, one of the whitewalkers pushed the Ice Lord aside giving Jon time enough to get to his feet and assume an attacking position. Once again, he mustered all his courage and lunged forwards thrusting Longclaw into the Ice Lord's chest. The being shrieked in agony and started to fall apart. First his arms became disentangled from his body, then his head looped sideways and fell on the ground. The rest of his body followed suit and soon he was nothing but a heap of ice bones on the snow. A sudden bewitching silence enveloped the forest. All the Others stopped fighting and stood paralyzed, becoming thus an easy target for the allied forces from South of the Wall. Without difficulty the men stabbed the frozen whitewalkers and they disappeared in a puff of cold air.

Jon took a second to look at the whitewalker who had just saved his life. Behind the creature stood the three direwolves howling and baring their teeth and Jon found it odd the animals would not attack the whitewalker. It was almost as if the direwolves stood together with this being. Just like in my dream, he suddenly remembered. He studied the whitewalker. He thought he recognized the face. His eyes looked familiar. Ice grey hair in a braid, but it wasn't always grey. He had a pin on the torn remnants of his ragged cloak: a direwolf. Could it be …?

"Uncle Benjen?" Jon asked and the being merely nodded. "You saved my life. Thank you. What happened? How did you become a white…?" but before he could finish his question he saw a sword protrude from what was once his uncle's chest and he dissolved into dust.

"Saved your life, Jon Snow!" his friend Pyp grinned proudly. "This white walker could have killed you!"

"Yes Pyp, thank you" Jon smiled with a pang of regret. "You saved my life."

"We won!" yelled the soldiers. "Victory!" they roared. And the three wolves howled into the Winter sky.

.

After the celebration it was time to gather the bodies of their fallen comrades.

"Why do we need to burn them?" asked Jamie Lannister appalled as they were mounting the bodies in a pyre. "Why can't we just bury them? It's the least they deserve."

"Not if you want for them to rest" replied Lord Mormont. He went on to explain how the dead rise in the night if they are not burned. Most of the Brothers of the Night Watch and the Wildlings had seen it happen with their own eyes and had suffered greatly because of these undead. They were not about to let it happen again.

"We all got together for the greater good. Men and women from the South, from the North, from beyond the Wall. People of the Seven, people of the Old Gods, people of the New Gods, people of the Ice Gods, we all share the glory and we all share the pain. We are one. Now, as one, we say goodbye to our friends. They fought bravely. They died honourably. And now their watch has ended" Lord Commander Mormont recited as he lit the pyre.

"And now their watch has ended" echoed the rest.

TBC

We're getting close to the end.

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