CHAPTER 29. THE THREE EYED RAVEN
Bran's journey with his companions had bought him to a small village a few miles south of the wall. They were given lodging with a family, "What's your name?" Bran asks.
"Olly…"
"Good Northern strong name…"
"My father went off to fight for House Umber…"
"Enough talk about that…" Olly's mother Anyll says.
They sit down to eat dinner and afterwards Bran has a dreaming vision as he sleeps. "The Wildlings are coming…" He whispers opening his eyes. "Do you know the old tales ma'am?"
"That depends on which tales you speak of…"
"Greenseers…"
"Yes I know of those tales. There was a woman who died when I was ten name days old…She would see things before they happened."
"I have the sight and the Wildlings are coming…You need to convince the people of this village to pack their things and leave as soon as possible."
Anyll stares at Bran for a few minutes, "How long do we have?"
"I do not know…Days weeks…the quiker you go the better…" After breaking their fast with Olly and his mother Bran, Jojen, Meera, Hordor, and the wolves leave.
"Be careful what you say…Changing the future is dangerous…"
"I listened to you when you told me to say nothing to my family about the assassins and now they are all dead…I will not do it again…If I can help save lives I will…"
"I am sorry about your family…"
"Just leave me alone…"
They travel by horseback towards the Nightfort. The castle is abandoned so they can rest in peace without being disturbed. They spend the night and then the next morning the search for a secret passage to the North. It takes two days of looking to find it then they continue on. After two weeks they reach Craster's Keep. The women still there grant them food and shelter. "The Wildling Army is coming." The Old woman says. "Come with me…" She hides them in the hay loft. "Be silent…"
Bran's eyes turn white and he enters the mind of a horse to listen. "What you want her aye?"
"Where is Craster Old Woman?"
"Dead…Killed by a Crow…His own men turned on him when Craster refused to give them more food…"
"Where are they?" The Wildling Man asks.
"All dead…The Traitors anyway…"
Without Craster dead your deal with the White Walkers is no more…You had best come with us…"
"We should take the Horses…" A woman says.
"We need the Horses…"
The man looks at her, "Why?"
"Meat! Our deal with the Walkers…Nine months of peace for every son we give them…We gave them one a moon's turn ago so there…"
"Stubborn old woman the lot of ya should come with us…"
"Leave us in peace!"
"Leave the Horses…Lets go…"
Bran leaves the Horse's mind, "They are leaving…"
"What about our Horses?" Meera asks.
"They won't take them…" Several hours pass before the Old Woman gets them down from the hay loft. They eat stew with the Craster women and then at sunset Bran, Jojen, Meera, Hordor, and the wolves leave. The Direwolves had been sent into the wild to hunt and then hide. As he rides his horse Bran scouts the path through Summer. He returns to his mind, "There is an abandoned village ahead a mile maybe less…"
When they reach the village they search it for food, but find nothing. They build a large fire and eat some of the food they bought with them. "I will keep first watch…" Meera says. She climbs up onto the roof of a house wrapped in a blanket. Meera watches the area in grids, while the Direwolves walk around the house. At midnight Bran comes to relieve her. That is when Grey Wind starts growling and is joined by his brothers.
"White Walkers!" Bran screams drawing his sword. Meera dips her arrow in fire and shoots. Then she draws another arrow and shoots while Bran runs down to help Johen get the horses. "Hordor!" He screams nervously as the fight unfolds.
"I'm out of arrows!" Meera screams running downstairs.
They are surrounded on all sides, then the Walker dismounts his dead ride and walks up to them. Suddenly he screams as a spear tipped with Dragonglass hits him in the back. He whales and shatters then a black robed rider using a fire ball and chain kills several White Walkers. The rest retreat, "Mount up we have a long way to go…"
"Who are you?"
"In life I was your Uncle…Benjen, now come…We have a long way to go and the dead do not rest."
As they travel with Benjen Bran notices that he does not eat "You are not human anymore are you…"
"No I am not…"
"What are you?" Jojen asks.
"I am what the children of the forest made me…My brothers and I were ambushed by White Walkers…The others died and came back…I managed to escape, but I was severely wounded…As I lay dying the magic of the White Walkers started to take hold of me…But the Children came and stopped it…They made me this neither living nor dead…I serve them now and the three eyed raven…"
On they go pushing north and as they do the snows get colder and deeper. Soon they come to a tree on a hill with a cave beneath. "I cannot enter they await you inside…"
Three children of the forest stand in the mouth of the cave, "Welcome Bran, Meera, Jojem, Hordor…Follow us…"
They walk up the tunnel to the roots of the tree where an old man is merged into the tree. The roots of the tree growing in and around him. "Greetings Bran Stark…"
"You…I heard your voice…"
"Yes and I have been watching you all your life…"
"Well now young one let us get started…"
"What do you eat…"
He laughs, "The tree sustains me I need no nourishment…But sometimes the Children bring me food…"
"How did you get like this?"
"Touch the tree roots, close your eyes and let me show you…"
Bran and the Raven stand by the tree many years ago. The Children of the Forest are there and a man of the Night's Watch. "Who are you?" The Crow asks.
"We are the children of the Forest…and you are Jordan Snow a man of the Night's Watch…We have need of you…"
Bran looks at the Raven, "Is that your name?"
"It was long ago…Jordan Snow…A bastard who came to the wall looking for adventure…I got separated from my companions, then they came the children of the Forest…"
They watch as Jordan is taken to the tree and taught by the Raven before him. "How many Ravens have there been?" Bran asks looking at Jordan.
"I don't remember to know that we would have to travel back to the days when the Free Folk walked the land in true freedom…"
They did and Bran learned many things. He witnessed the old gods offering a group of children immortality if they would watch over his trees and swear never to use black magic. He saw the first Raven, a wildling all the way to Jordan. Twelve in all and Bran would be the thirteenth.
THE PRESENT
They return to their minds and when they do the Raven sleeps while Bran is fed mushrooms, berries, and water. "Will what has happened to you happen to me?" He doesn't answer he just smiles.
The next day the Raven shows Bran how the Night King was created, the war on the Andels, and how the Children lost control of the Night King. "Why?"
"Many of us died fighting the Andels…We asked the old gods to intervene…But they would not…So we broke our vow to never use blood magic and created the Night King…The Andels ran before him…Then we lost control of him…"
The next day the Raven showed Bran how to connect with the weretrees and animals all across the world. The one creature he could not control were Dragons. "Never try to control a Dragon's mind…They will go berserk…"
"What about people…"
"That is forbidden and akin to rape…Don't ever try warg a person…"
THE PAST – HARRENHAL
"Is this Harrenhal?" Bran asks.
"Yes…" The Knights parade before Lord Whent who sits in the seat of honor as it is his tourney, but in the highest chair sits Ellaria Targaryen.
"That is my father…He is young man…"
"Yes but be silent and let us watch…"
They watch the first match between Prince Rhaegar and a younger Lord Randyl Tarlly. Rhaegar unhorses him. Lyanna claps at every victory by the Prince. "She is really smitten with him…"
"Yes she is…" Finally Rhaegar faces Sir Brandol Thorne and unhorses him. Then Rhaegar gives Lyanna the winter roses proclaiming her the Queen of Beauty.
"Many people seem upset…"
"And rightly so…Rhaegar is married to another…" Bran looks at Robert Baratheon who is standing up venomously looking at the Prince.
"Is this how the war started?"
"More or less…Come we have lingered here long enough…"
Bran returns to his body and stands up to stretch, "Can go to the future next…"
He smiles, "The future is a road with many twisting paths and hidden places. It is a maze and if one does not know how to distinguish the one path from another one might become lost. You cannot fly young before you learn to run and you cannot run until you learn to walk…and you cannot walk until you learn to stand…You are crawling now and just learning to stand…When you are ready you will fly Brandon Stark…but the greatest lesson you must learn is patience." Every day was lesson from the past. As time passes Bran learns many things from the Raven who even shows him what could have happened when his father went to King's Landing.
