Prologue:

As the three Rangers rode through the tunnel beneath Castle Black, about to leave the Wall behind them, and head off into the woods, Will could not help but wonder if this was indeed the wrath of the old gods, or merely a slight fraction of it.

It had been nearly a decade since the fever struck. At the same time summer had returned. Everywhere in Westeros, people were stricken by the fever from highborn to the lowest of lowborn, even the King's family was not spared from this plague.

Then from there, it led to mass hysteria and confusion. The highborns blamed this fever on the smallfolk initially, claiming they were filthy scum who could kill with even the smallest touch. The smallfolk did the same, blaming the highborns for not providing enough food, that and much more.

Later, someone had mentioned the gods were incurring their wrath against all the people of Westeros for their sins. Looking back at it, it seemed... reasonable.

King Robert had lost his queen and both his sons, not to mention his brother Stannis and his advisor Davos Seaworth. The smallfolk whispered amongst themselves that the gods had decided to repay the King for killing Rhaegar and supporting the deaths of his family and trying to kill the last dragons whom he usurped the Iron Throne from. The king had been so furious that he sent an army of Goldcloaks out to find the men who said such things just so he could bring his warhammer down upon them. The event caused such a stir that the smallfolk revolted in return, causing the Goldcloaks to retreat back to the Red Keep.

Now word had spread throughout the Seven Kingdoms of the situation in King's Landing and the fact that King Robert was now without a queen, and his two heirs, three if you counted Stannis as well, were dead, leaving his younger brother Renly next in line to inherit the Iron Throne, and his only daughter Myrcella now being his only surviving child, but most importantly, his only means to continue his lineage after he was gone. Already, there was impending rumors of a potential betrothal between her and Robin Arryn, heir to the Vale, not that Will cared about rumors, but it was important to know who would be leading the next generation of lords and ladies. After all, no one really wanted to betroth their only daughter to a young lord who still nursed at his overbearing mother's tit.

The rumors that were most likely to happen, of course, would be the late Lord Stannis' only daughter Shireen, the new Lady of Dragonstone, coming to King's Landing to be a ward and provide Princess Myrcella comfort, but deep down, everyone knew part of the reason was so the King could separate her from her stern, harsh mother Lady Selyse, who word had it, still lamented over her stillborn sons.

But most importantly were the rumors who would be the next Queen of Westeros. Word had it the king's younger brother, Lord Renly, had urged him to remarry and suggested he make Margaery Tyrell queen.

Lady Margaery was nicknamed the Rose of Highgarden, for being either charming or cunning as her mentor and grandmother, the late Queen of Thorns. The Tyrell household had been utterly devastated by Lady Olenna's death, most specifically Lady Margaery, who was said to be very close with her grandmother. To make matters worse, Mace Tyrell, the Warden of the South, did not fare any better. Everyone knew Lady Olenna was the strength behind her House, and her death seemed to take its toll on her son. Some people said that he had roamed around Highgarden, ignoring the servants and his family while lost in his thoughts. What was more heartbreaking was that Mace Tyrell decided to lock himself in his chambers for a week and refused to see anyone. Any tasks that were needed from the Lord of Highgarden he simply neglected and was passed off to his sole remaining heir, Loras, after his other two sons Willas and Garlan were also taken by the fever. While Loras took care of all impending matters and was proving himself to be a capable lord, it was said Margaery had convinced her father with just the right words to let her in, which was soon followed by her father crying a river of tears on Margaery, who held him for nearly two hours, before he composed himself and returned to his duties.

Robert, who was so enraged at the Tyrells, for the siege on his home, Storm's End, gleefully remarked that perhaps the gods were not so cruel after all and nearly refused Renly and...left him with a black eye and a broken nose, simply for stating that she resembled Lyanna Stark.

Lyanna Stark, the She-Wolf of the North, King Robert's one true love, who Robert had fought a war, and killed a Dragon Prince for, only for her to die of a fever, perhaps the same one that was happening in all of Westeros, King Robert noted, which cursed him to marry Cersei Lannister, who had no love for the King despite bearing him three children who quite strangely were all lacking in the Baratheon features, but Will did not press more on that matter.

The Baratheons' words were "Ours is the Fury", and it was said that the Stag King had personified those words when he attacked his brother Renly, and coldly told him no one could replace Lyanna, NO ONE! It was only his Hand, Jon Arryn, who calmed him down and ultimately convinced Robert to marry Lady Margaery at the last minute.

Now the realm would have a new queen, by the looks of things. It all seemed so perfect. So perfect, in fact the Tyrells had been known to try to marry their way to royalty just to gain control over the Iron Throne, almost like a certain House which had now been more stricken than any other House by the utter devastation which had rocked Westeros... House Lannister.

In addition to the Queen and the two Princes, Tyrion Lannister the Imp, who was visiting in King's Landing, had also succumbed to the disease and not long after, his father the great Lord Tywin Lannister soon followed afterwards. Not long before his death, it was said he had sent a raven to his eldest son and much preferred heir Ser Jaime, the Kingslayer, to take up his rightful place as Lord of Casterly Rock, just before passing away early the next day.

One would say the Lannisters had gotten what they deserved, after putting House Reyne to extinction, Ser Jaime breaking his oaths when he decided to stab Aerys the Mad King in the back and ordering the deaths of Princess Elia Martell and her children. Now the Kingslayer and his niece were the last surviving members of Lord Tywin's line.

Will, at one point, would have gladly stated that all the Houses had gotten what they deserved...had it not been for the fact that Lord Commander Mormont and a few of his brothers had died as well.

Some recruits of the Night's Watch at Castle Black had blamed it on the Rangers coming into contact with wildlings or perhaps a corpse of one of their fellow brothers in black, but the majority had stated that the gods had decided to punish the Old Bear for allowing Ser Alliser Thorne, the master-of-arms to pour his malice and his cruelty on the young recruits, for the sake of "building them up".

Some of these aforementioned brothers had rosen up in revolt and had nearly succeeded in killing Ser Alliser right then and there, but all of them were talked down and calmed by Benjen Stark, the First Ranger who also happened to be younger brother to the Warden of the North, whose House did not have any members who had succumbed to the fever...as of yet, but then again it looked like their famous honor had made them favorable in the eyes of the gods. He gave an extensive speech, that perhaps the fever was a test from the gods to determine who was unworthy of life, but also who had the strongest endurance, and even used the famous saying of the Starks, "the lone wolf dies but the pack survives," to emphasize his point that they must stand together in the face of the old gods, and prove to them they were worthy of life, for winter was coming.

All the brothers cheered and roared in approval at the First Ranger, who was proving himself to be a worthy sucessor to Mormont while Ser Alliser had glared at Stark and stalked off to get a hold of himself.

Not long after that, all the brothers of the Night's Watch had decided to name a new Lord Commander in the event of Mormont's eventual death, since the man had gone pale and lost a significant amount of weight to the fever, while being expected to last a few more hours of life. Benjen Stark won almost unanimously, with Alliser Thorne coming in behind with only a few votes.

If that wasn't the talk around the Wall, then everyone had been surprised that the late Lord Commander had given the new one his approval and his family's ancestral sword, Longclaw. What was even more surprising was when Lord Commander Stark had sent Longclaw back to its rightful house, along with Jeor Mormont's body and a letter to his House stating he couldn't take what belonged to them, the Mormonts had sent it back along with a letter of their own, stating that if Jeor had said that Longclaw was his now, then it was his, and the next time that he refused, the Mormonts would leave Bear Island with their men just to beat Stark with Longclaw in front of the recruits for being too honorable. The new Lord Commander had laughed in shock, stating his brother would not take too kindly if he had found out if any of his bannermen had done that to his kin.

It would look like things were starting to calm down for the Night's Watch, with them having gained a new Lord Commander, one who wasn't willing to turn a blind eye to recruits' well-being, but as Will split off from his party, he couldn't help the feeling that their troubles were only just beginning. As he passed thrpugh the Haunted Forest, Will felt like he was being watched at this very moment as he rode forward when he caught a patch of smoke rising up. Not by the old gods, but by something cold and ancient as the Wall itself.

Will pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind aas he stepped off his horse, only for his fears to return when he had caught sight of the descerated campsite piled with body parts on the ground in an unholy ritualistic manner. He turned around, only to be held back for a moment as he locked eyes with a young wildling girl hanging from a tree branch, pinned with a stake through her chest. Will quickly jumped back on his horse and rode back to inform the others of his discovery.

"What d'you expect?" said Ser Waymar Royce, the leader of the party, an obnoxious little cunt, who was far too similar to Ser Alliser...or would be, give or take a few more years of experience in the Night's Watch. "They're savages. One lot steals a goat from another lot and before you know it, they're ripping each other to pieces."

"I've never seen wildlings do a thing like this," Will said. "I've never seen anything like this before, not ever in my life."

"How close did you get?"

"Close as any man would."

"We should head back to the Wall," said Gared, the final member of the party, who had more experience in the Night's Watch than Will or Ser Waymar combined, and Will couldn't help but agree with him. He had seen several brothers in black huddled in rows of sickbeds when the fever broke out, and other such things that Will was bold enough to have encountered, but this... this was something completely different. Something that chilled him to the very core.

"Do the dead frighten you?"

Will wasn't brave enough to admit, but yes, he felt a fear stir in him like he had never known. And knowing who was in charge at the moment did not help matters at all, but Will kept his thoughts to himself.

"Our orders were to track the wildlings," said Gared. "We tracked them. They won't trouble us no more."

Will wished he could say the same and head on back to the Wall, but knowing Ser Waymar, knew that was very unlikely.

"You don't think the new Lord Commander'll ask how they died? Get back on your horse."

As Gared grumbled under his breath, Will couldn't help but feel sorry for the man. It was then, at that moment, he had decided to speak up.

"Whatever did it to them could do it to us. They even killed the children."

Royce turned to Will, as if finally realizing he was there, and Will knew he was done for.

"Well then, it's a good thing we're not children. You want to run away south, run away. Of course they will behead you as a deserter... if I don't catch you first. Get back on your horse. I won't say it again."

Will glared at Royce, wanting to throttle the man, but knew that such things would not go unpunished. He reluctantly did as he was told, and as they returned to the campsite, Will still couldn't shake the feeling he had before, but decided not to press it any further.

As each man stepped off their horse, they finally came upon the campsite.

"Your dead men seemed to have moved camp," said Royce who gave Will a look that would've stabbed him in the heart at that moment.

Will didn't pay any attention as his mind was panicking in confusion as to how such a thing, if possible, could have happened.

"They...they were here," Will finally said after his words got stuck in his throat.

"See where they went, Will," said Gared, who noticed Will's state, hoping to break the increasing tension.

As Will went off to look around, Gared and Royce drew their swords and stayed behind, studying the campsite when Gared noticed something on the ground.

"What is it?"

As the north wind blew past them whistling a haunting tune in the likes of the Rains of Castamere boasting of whatever happens when one questions House Lannister, Gared finally pulled out a red cloth buried in the snow.

"It's..." Gared's words died in his throat, as he saw a figure rising up from the snow behind Royce, who in confusion at Gared's apprehension, turned around as its blade struck him.

"Aaaaaaahhhhhh!"

Not too far, Will was startled when the Rangers' horses brushed past him hurriedly. He turned in confusion in all directions until he finally saw someone standing very still in the distance behind him, their back turned towards Will. The figure finally turned and Will's heart beat faster by every second until he got a good look at them... then his heart stopped. It was the same girl who Will had come acrosd suspended in the tree, only her lifeless eyes now glew an icy blue.

This is the wrath of the gods, Will thought.

He turned and ran for his very life.

If only he had known what would've happened, Will would have gladly knocked that idiot Royce into unconsciousness and turned back to the safeties of the Wall with Gared. No, he should have brought some of the mangled body parts as proof to Royce, maybe the arrogant cunt would have been more reasonable and had them present the new Lord Commander with their discovery when they were safely back in Castle Black. But now... now it was too late. It was useless to think of what could've been but more importantly, he needed to survive.

Will's heart was already pumping to the point of explosion. He needed to breathe for a few minutes before he could continue on to Castle Black.

Will's eyes widened as he saw something running in his direction, only to be relieved when he realized it was Gared. Both men stopped a distance apart from each other, and every breath they took was filled in between with wheezes and coughs. Once their breathing relaxed, Will turned up to Gared, only for his heart to miss a beat as Gared's head was neatly separated from his body.

Will began to cry. As the creature threw Gared's head at him, he sunk to his knees in despair.