For a long moment, Ned stared into the burning blue eyes of what was once his nephew. So many thoughts of denial and fear twisted around inside his head like snowflakes in the wind, but then, the moment was broken by a whip of crimson fire cracking across Jon's face.
Jon stumbled back with steam hissing from the point of contact.
"YOU DARE!" The burning man howled in that terrible voice, "YOU STEAL MY CHAMPION AND DARE TO IGNORE ME!?"
The second whip lashed forward, and swung to cut it apart, but the whip roped around his sword like the flames were solid. The burning man tried to yank his weapon free, but Jon's grip was stronger than iron and the blade didn't budge. The spear in Jon's other hand, more of a javelin than anything, was aimed and thrown with inhuman precision and went clean through his opponent's chest. At once, all the fires dimmed around them even while the unnatural red flames blazed brighter as another roar of pain and anger filled the air. The burning man swung his arm up to aim at Jon, and the whip held in his grasp became a jet of crimson fire that scorched a glowing line across the ground. The attack was like the breath of a dragon; a torrent of unstoppable flames that engulphed Jon completely. When the fire finally sputtered out, Jon was standing unharmed amidst the flames save for a few wisps of steam curling off his armor. Jon tilted his head up, and a small, imperceptible smirk curled his thin lips. The demon snarled and yanked the length of ice from its body before hurling it away. A gout of fire flashed from the gaping hole in the man's torso, and the wound shone with red-hot light like the heart of a forge.
Eddard watched with a detached sense of incredulity as the shaft of frozen water embedded halfway into the trunk of the tree he was leaning against. He felt like a green boy on his first field of battle; sick and shaky with fear, but instead of staring down Crownlander soldiers or Ironborn reavers, he was trapped within his own skin witnessing a battle between two monsters of myth and legend wielding powers from the wildest of dreams. A groan of pain was heard above the crackling fire and howling wind, and Ned's head snapped to Lord Pool's motionless body. He was still alive! Purpose fueled him, then. He had to move, had to get Vayon out of the godswood and get to safety; they would surely die if they stayed here. Ned hurried across the ground, ash and snow mixing together under his gloves, and grabbed a hold of Vayon's shoulder to haul him up. A gauntlet grabbed Vayon's other shoulder and helped ease the weight. Ned turned and found himself staring into the wide green eyes of the Kingslayer. Jamie Lannister honestly looked as scared as Ned felt. His white cloak was burnt and blackened, his golden armor caked with mud, and all smug and swagger was replaced by wide eyed terror. Half of the once beautiful godswood was in flames while the other looked like it was in the grip of a harsh winter. Ash and snow swirled about in the hot smoke and freezing winds, and just before the supernatural creatures resumed their clash, Jamie spoke; "Run!"
The Night Prince stomped up to the embodiment of the Red God and slashed with his sword. A howl escaped from flaming lips as the blade slashed through robe and flesh alike, spilling more red light and fire into the air like so much blood. The Red God screeched in anger and frustration before vomiting a stream of flames into his nemesis' face. When a freezing hand rose to block the flames, R'hllor took that moment to seize the frozen fiend by his armor and hurl him bodily through the air where he crashed into the branches of a burning tree.
"FOR TOO LONG YOU HAVE HID FROM ME!" The Red God roared and snatched up the spear his vessel had planted into the earth. The spear erupted into a lance of crimson and blazing heat that was jabbed in the direction of his enemy as the branches snapped under Jon's weight and he fell to the forest floor. The fiery weapon tripled in length and struck the falling Other in the side. Jon was sent spinning through the air and landed hard on the ground with steam billowing from where he had been struck. The Other rose with eyes blazing like blue stars while red fire flared brighter as R'hllor stepped forward.
"WHERE IS YOUR ARMY OF DEAD, COLD ONE? WHERE ARE YOUR SERVANTS OF COLD AND FROST? WITHOUT THEM YOU ARE NOTHING!"
The fire lance stabbed out again and struck the Night Prince square in the chest, knocking him to his knees. More steam flowed from the hole in the mirror-like armor he wore. The Night Prince quickly rose and became a dark blur that crossed the distance between them in an instant, and the fiery lance disappeared when the Night Prince's blade slashed off the arm holding it at the elbow. The stump spewed forth a torrent of red light and flames, and R'hllor's bellow shook ash and snow from the air. Jon's following backhand struck R'hllor hard enough to send him to the ground. When the Red God struck the earth, the Night stood over him with sword held high to finish off his foe. R'hllor simply spat out another conflagration to engulf him; this one larger and hotter than the last. This time, Jon did not go unaffected by the flames and staggered back with steam hissing from every inch of his body. When the fire finally died down, sections of Jon's armor had been melted, it had lost its reflective aspect, and rivulets of water were streaming down his body onto the ground.
What was more, half of the Night Prince's bluish skin had seemingly been burned away to reveal a layer of pale human flesh underneath.
In the blink of an eye, the icy flesh of the Night Prince crept over the sign of humanity, and the infamous blue eyes of the Others glared balefully at the blazing form upon the ground. R'hllor began to laugh; a loud, hissing noise that sounded above the crackling flames surrounding them.
"YOU HAVE NOT TAKEN HIM COMPLETELY! HE IS STILL MINE!"
The Night Prince lunged, but a blast of fire erupting from R'hllor's remaining hand kept him at bay.
"I WILL TAKE HIM FROM YOU! STEAL HIM BACK FROM YOUR WRETCHED CLUTCHES!"
Crimson light flared from every open orifice and injury on R'hllor's vessel.
"WITNESS THE POWER OF FLAME AND SHADOW!"
All at once, the light and fire spilling from R'hllor was replaced by darkness. Liquid shadows poured from his body; smoky shapes twisting into skeletal forms that pulled themselves from his body like maggots crawling from a carcass. Some emerged from his open mouth, some poured from the slash across his chest, and one flowed from the stump of his right arm. Half a dozen figures soon floated into the air around R'hllor; all of them the upper torsos of skeletons connected to him by tails of darkness. All of them were made up of the same gritty blackness, and all of them let out ear-splitting screeches before they swarmed Jon like a pack of hornets. They attacked with gnashing teeth, blades for hands, and heavy blows that struck the Night Prince from every angle, and where they struck, cracks formed in his icy skin. The Night Prince in turn lashed out with swift swings of his sword. The shadows burst into frozen granules with shrill screams when the Other blade passed through them, but as quickly as they vanished, they reformed from the tendrils connecting them to R'hllor's form. The shadows began grabbing his sword arm to try and twist his weapon from his grasp. They bit, beat, and clawed at his wrist and arm to free the weapon killing them. Jon tried to swat them away, but his hand just passed through them. More shadows began flowing from R'hllor to join the melee, and the Night Prince was soon covered in a swarm of churning darkness.
The Other blade finally fell from the mess of grainy shadows and stabbed into the ground, wrenched free from its wielder. The shadows were free to attack without hesitation, and they pummeled the Night Prince to his knees and held them there. One of the shadows yanked the sword from the ground and floated over to present it to R'hllor, and the Red God reached out to take the frozen blade with his remaining hand. Still covered in the tumor-like protrusions that fed his shadows, he began to shuffle forward. The shadows moved all at once to present the Night Prince on his knees with his armor melted and deformed, and with cracks and whole chunks missing from his blue skin. What flesh could be seen underneath was bruised and bleeding. He struggled against the many shadows gripping him, but they held him from every angle with inhuman strength. His droplets of blood sizzled when they hit the earth as R'hllor approached. The fires were closing in around them, melting the snow and ice and leaving only ash behind until they were encircled by a ring of red fire. The Other blade in R'hllor's hand began to melt.
Even though one of the shadows bulged from his mouth, his voice filled the air.
"MY CHAMPION!"
The Red God's voiced dripped with madness, rage, and glee all at once. The Night Prince stared back with unblinking eyes and an emotionless expression, although he began to fight against the hands holding him like a desperate animal when R'hllor reached out with fire swirling about his fingertips. The shadows wrapped their hands around Jon's head and hair and yanked him up so that his chest was present to their master. R'hllor's hand melted straight through the remaining armor in a cloud of steam, singed away the filthy and ragged cloak underneath along with Jon's clothes until he touched icy skin. The fire surrounding R'hllor's hand sputtered and dipped, and the Red God hissed in anger. Eyes like twin suns bored into Jon, and R'hllor spat out a single word.
"MINE!"
R'hllor shoved his hand against Jon's chest, and red light and fire exploded from the point of contact. The steam that billowed out was hot enough to boil a man alive, but it was nothing compared to the scream that shredded the air.
Ned and Jamie were hauling Vayon back down the path towards the main entrance into the godswood when the high-pitched wail, loud enough to hurt their ears, made them stop with shouts of pain and turn to see what was behind them. R'hllor stood over Jon, his form bloody, maimed, covered in bulbous protrusions fueling the shadows pinning Jon to the ground. Steam boiled from where his hand was pressed against Jon's heart, and Jon…Jon was screaming. The Night Prince's head was thrown back, letting out that bone-chilling scream, and he was struggling against his captors to escape the agony.
R'hllor's hand melted away the frozen flesh and began to touch human flesh underneath.
"YES…" He hissed as his fingers burned intoJon. Harsh blue light spilled into the air; the pulsing heart of a frozen star inside Jon's own chest. R'hllor snarled and reached deeper, burning through his chosen's skin, grasping for his heart. The entirety of Jon's body seemed to be melting. His blue skin shattered into whole chunks that sloughing off him into water, revealing more of the man underneath. The blue winked from his eyes, leaving Jon Snow's coloration once more, and the bastard of Winterfell let out a human scream of sheer torture as R'hllor began to laugh.
Ned's entire body locked up at the sound and he stared in sheer horror. It felt like his mind was breaking. The impossible events of the past year; his nephew falling to ghost knives, the night in the crypts, the reports coming in of Jon's actions-
"Promise me, Ned!"
Cat revealing the secret, Robert trying to kill him, the attack, the red priests, Robert murderedat his own hands, and now…this-
"Stark?" Jamie questioned when Ned let go of Vayon and turned towards what was behind them.
He couldn't handle any more…
"Stark!" The Lannister called when he began walking forward, Ice held at the ready.
But he had to keep going…
"Promise me…"
All he could see was the small bundle placed in his arms by his sister, his dear, dear sister; his nephew, his son, his promise, on the edge of death-
Fire surrounded his sister's son and he was screaming, screaming how Eddard imagined his father and Brandon had screamed in their final moments of life; burned and tortured to death by a cackling madman, a madman who was laughing at this very moment-
The wolfsblood surged inside him and bayed for him to protect the pack.
His sister's final words echoing in his ears, fear gripping his heart, and his mind on the brink, Eddard once more ran for his nephew. His boots sloshed against the muddy ash coating the once proud godswood as he ran as hard and fast as he could. It was not a corpse possessed by a red demon Eddard saw. No, he saw the Mad King burning his family, the man whose death he was owed more than anything until Jamie Lannister stole it from him. Those horrible, burning eyes swung towards him, but Ned was already upon him. Ice howled as it cut through the air, the billowing steam, the shadows' connections to R'hllor…and the burning man's wrist.
R'hllor screamed in rage, pain, and confusion as his connection to Jon was quite literally severed. Many of the shadows holding Jon screamed and dissolved into nothing, and Jon slumped to the ground in a boneless heap. Fire flared from his newest stump and he fixed Ned with a glare that would have quite literally reduced him to ash if Ice didn't go straight through his open mouth and out the back of his neck with a loud crunch of bone. Ned roared as he kicked R'hllor off his sword and loped the monster's head off with his next swing. Fire exploded from his open neck like a roaring volcano and sent Ned stumbling back in surprise. What remaining shadows were screeching and flailing about in a hangman's dance, and one by one, they dissolved into dust on the wind when R'hllor's headless body hit the ground, still spewing fire and light from its many wounds. Ned dropped Ice to the ground with a hiss of pain. The blade was burning hot and glowing orange from where he'd slashed R'hllor. Ned watched the metal cool for a moment before he turned and hurried over to Jon's side for a third time that day.
From the waist down, Jon was still covered in the remnants of his armor, but from the waist up it had been melted into icy slag, and around his chest it was completely gone. The skin over his heart was blackened and charred in the shape of a hand; another horrid mark that joined the multitude of knife scars. Patches of blue ice clung to portions of his skin, but around his face it was completely gone. The cold that had perpetually surrounded Jon was gone as well. Ned realized this as he kneeled by Jon and gently placed a hand into his hair. Portions of it were singed and burned black, as was his scraggly beard that had been white like his hair. For a moment, Ned said nothing.
"…Jon?" He whispered after a moment.
Jon's eyes shot open. One was the flinty black he'd been born with, the one lined by the thin scar that had appeared on the day of the ghost knives. The other was the familiar, alien blue. Before Ned could react, Jon's hand shot up and seized him by the throat. The cold was back now, and Ned watched patches of blue ice slowly creep along Jon's skin to cover him once more. He gasped and struggled against the grip holding his throat, but Jon said nothing and glared at Ned with a look of wide-eyed fury. No, not fury, he thought as Jon sat up and began to stand with the Lord of Winterfell still in his grip. Ned recognized that wild-eyed expression from when Jon had awoken with the expression of a war-torn veteran gripped in a panic. Up close, he could see that Jon looked nearly at an age with himself. Older, even.
The grip tightened.
"J-Jon!" He croaked, "It's me!"
The blue eye remained eerily unblinking while the human eye…blinked.
"I-" Ned struggled to get in another breath of air, "-orry!"
The wildness faded from Jon's eyes and his expression drew into a confused frown when his eyes focused on him.
"…Father?"
The words were barely a whisper, but when the grip around Ned's neck slackened, he used what air he had left to respond.
"Jon…please-" He let his hand press against his nephew's cheek, "Come…back…"
Jon's eyes suddenly went wide at something behind him Ned felt the heat flare against his back, and before he could react, he was flung to the side. He crashed against the ground and looked up to watch in horror as the headless body, spewing fire and light from every open wound, collided into Jon. Jon reached out to grab his attacker as the corpse beat at his face with its remaining arm, and a disembodied voice dripping with madness and rage carried into Ned's ears, yelling the same word over and over again.
"MINE!"
The fire seared Jon's skin as he grappled with his enemy. No longer immune to fire, his flesh bubbled from where the flames touched him. Jon seemed to ignore it. His sole blue eye blazed with light, and white mist began to gather around him. He wrapped the red demon into his arms as tight as he could, even while his skin blackened and bubbled in some places while freezing over in others. He turned and locked eyes with Ned. In that moment, his nephew smiled, but it was tired and so, so sad. Ned reached out, but Jon leaned back and took R'hllor with him. Together, they tipped back into the pool below the still burning Heart Tree. The hit the still water with a loud splash and vanished under the dark water.
Steam curled from the water for a moment before it crackled with rapidly forming ice and froze solid before Ned's very eyes.
I told you I wouldn't abandon this story. Let me just say that this was very difficult to write to say the least. I lost my muse for this story to be honest for a while. That, and I had major writer's block. I felt like I sort of wrote myself into a corner and I actually considered rewriting the whole story and posting it as something else for a while, too, but…that's just not fair to everyone who likes this for the way it is.
I'm not good at explaining myself and some of you are just going to skim over this authors note, but to the ones who ARE reading, well aside from thanking you for your patience, and I have something more than just thanks. I've realized something over the past 5 months when it came to this fic, and that's stick to your guns, especially with writing a story. I had a vision for this story, and I'll damn well finish it! It might not be the best one on here, and I acknowledge that it has its faults, but over 500 people want to see more of this story and over 100 tell me they want more. I'm not going to change a damn thing.
I actually had, like, half of this written for the longest time and struggled to continue it. There was going to be a lot more going on with what I had planned, but, well…less is more sometimes. I shouldn't have so much trouble writing the next chapter, so you all won't have to wait as long. I'm been dedicating most of my focus to finishing my other story Silver Dawn, and I hope to finish that soon, but I won't ignore this one. In the next chapter, there's going to be a small earthquake and the godswood is going to fucking explode.
Thank you everybody. Winter Wolf is back on track!
Edit. Just fixed benjen to Brandon. That's what I get for being half asleep when I wrote that part. Fixed now and thanks to who pointed it out