Chapter Ten: Battle for the Wall

Jon-Three Days Later

It had been a trying few days. First, the snow had piled in, snowing harder each hour as time went on. Jon had come to realize that despite being King in the North, he had not experienced a true northern winter until coming here. It was colder than he had expected, affecting even him, and the men were downright sickly. Many had died due to freezing or had lost limbs to frostbite. Fires were lit and kept that way around the clock, and then Jon had to order extra beer and food rations be given out purely to keep the men healthy despite their flagging supplies.

At least the talks with Mance Raydar had went well the next day. The others had left him nominally in charge of negotiations, so long as nothing they heard affected their own kingdoms too much. Jon had received ten thousand more fighters from Mance, along with a bevy of information on the Walkers and their tactics. It seems they had approached the free folk with an offer of clemency and wealth if they assisted them in taking the Wall. Jon had no doubt they would have been killed or enslaved afterward; a sentiment shared by Mance. In return for this information and the men, Jon had to give a little as well. First, the men beyond the wall would not kneel, but he got Mance to swear an oath to him without needing to kneel. This sentiment was agreed to by Prince Oberyn, but Stannis took issue with it though he did not voice such.

Jon also agreed to let them settle in the Gift. Though given to the Watch some time ago, they had done nothing with the land, and it was good fertile land. They soon agreed that Mance and his people would be far better there than anywhere else they could think of. As far as food went, the free folk did not use gold, or silver, and therefore did not have much in the way of money to trade for food. They did not have much food either. That problem had been set aside until Jon could figure out a solution. He planned to speak to his parents for help of some kind, but then that proved unnecessary.

This very morning, a surprise had come. His letters for aid had gone through, and many of the newly trained and older men of the North, from each lord that could spare them, had come. Almost 50,000 northerners, along with the 10,000 free folk, and the 38,000 men they originally had between them. That gave them an army nearly 100,000 strong, equal to the army opposing them, though in terms of skill that remained to be seen. They had brought plenty of supplies as well, though Jon was given a letter by Lady Catelyn that informed him that every single castle, city, and village in the north were suffering from lack of supplies. It was something Jon would need to fix if they survived this.

Nonetheless, more men and supplies meant more hope for the time being. Jon arranged the supplies and behind Castle Black stood tents, touched by him with his powers to dispel cold as much as possible, filled with cooks, supplies, men, blacksmiths, and more. Every man there was busy being outfitted in his armor and weapons, hoping the valyrian would give them an edge. He ensured each man in the armies had an opportunity to eat and drink plenty in anticipation of the battle as well. Then he met the commanders and planned the battle.

The men of the Watch would guard the walls as they had always done, along with Stannis' men with Stannis himself in charge. The Dornish, under Prince Oberyn, would form the first line of defense in the tunnel and on the gate that Jon had built upon arrival that barred the tunnel from entry or exit without at least six men to open it. It was a very sturdy gate, made of obsidian and resembling a wall more than a gate, but with only a few days to build it, it had to be built into the existing walls instead of being braced on its own, its one weakness. Jon's personal army that he had begun all of these battles with would form the second line of defense, in hopes that their tactics would help stave off any enemy that breached the lines of Dorne. The new men of the north that had arrived, his men now as well it seemed, had been trained in their northern tactics but had not had the time to perfect them. They would be scattered throughout and behind Castle Black for the main confrontation should it reach that far, along with the free folk that had joined them. Hopefully the enemy would be stopped without entry into the castle itself, and Jon would have time to train his new men further before the Walkers came.

With the chain of command set and all in readiness, Jon took the time to contact the gods and meditate on his own in preparation of the battle. If it came to be that the Titans showed up, the gods could only help by coming themselves, and ONLY if the Titans showed. Their wights must be handled by Jon and his people unless the Walkers came themselves. In days of old, demigod armies would have been sent to assist, but none of those existed anymore.

It was during this time that Jon was in his quarters eating a bowl of venison stew with bread and cheese and a bottle of wine, that he heard horns. Two blasts, wildlings, and on the end of that thought came a knock on the door. Jon answered the door to the same boy as before.

"Wildlings sir…the forest is on fire." Was all he said. Jon nodded and finished his last few bites of stew before stepping out into the chaos of men taking their positions…the battle for the Wall had begun.

One hour later

They were in position and waiting when the first wave came. Climbers, spread about ten feet apart and in jagged lines, began climbing the wall. After about five minutes, another line would follow then another until almost a thousand wildlings were attempting to climb the wall. Jon and Stannis were both puzzled by this when Jon as nominal commander made his rounds and reached the top of the wall for their report.

"They cannot hope to take the wall with so few men. Either they don't know our strength, or they are probing the Wall, for what I do not know. The Wall has been standing longer than living memory. It has no weakness, or it will have been found by now." Stannis told him.

Jon told him to continue as he was, as Stannis had already given orders to fire arrows down on them, as well as to drop the scythe if they reached halfway up the wall. The scythe was an ancient defense system built into the wall. Two taut ropes being cut would release it into a deadly arc flush against the Wall, scraping the attackers off like pests. The scythe could be hauled back up using winches and dropped again and again as needed. With that, Jon went to check on the Dornish.

When he arrived, he discovered that the second wave consisted of giants and mammoths being deployed against the first gate at the tunnel. He sent word to drop fire on them and sent another runner off with orders to ensure everyone on gate duty got an extra round of mulled wine and bread. After this, he went into the mess hall to get himself some food in case opportunities ran thin later on in the battle.

He received the same rabbit stew as everyone else with a piece of semi-hard bread and a mug of ale. He sat near a fire and ate quickly. He finished in record time, drained his ale, and left at a run for the top of the wall once more. When he got to the top, he noticed the scythe being hauled up.

"Already?" He asked Stannis who stood nearby.

"Twice now. The bastards keep trying. Gods know why, they rarely make it halfway. You'd think they'd try to find another way by now instead of wasting manpower." Stannis replied grimly. "Fire arrows on them again lads!"

"Right, well, as long as they keep attempting this they are kept busy. I'm sure when we find out why we won't like it." Jon answered him as he glanced over the edge to see several giants and mammoths burning. Unfortunately, they did some damage to the gate by pounding on it, it seemed. That could be repaired though. "Keep the bastards off that gate as best you can."

"Right you are." Stannis said tonelessly as he signaled the men to ready the scythe. The two men nodded at one another, and Jon was off again.

Round and round Jon went; to the top of the wall, the front lines of the Dornish, his men, the main army, the cooks and smiths, and the occasional stop for food. This went into the night until it was too difficult to see well, and the attacks finally stopped, or at least seemingly. Jon ordered the men to stand posts in case they tried to climb or break the gate in the night, though he rather doubted either with it being this dark. Mance agreed with him but erring on the side of caution he ordered the men swap out every four hours for food and sleep. Following his own advice, Jon and the other commanders had some food and went to sleep themselves, rotating in shifts of four hours as well.

The next day

Jon awoke for the second time that night right before dawn to wake Oberyn, who had been relieved by Stannis. Stannis was running on less sleep than both of them but was also likely to see less action on top of the Wall. They both had a very quick breakfast, courtesy of Jon, and left for their respective areas. Oberyn went to the Dornish lines and Jon went to check the top of the Wall.

It seemed the next wave was far more deadly than the first. Upon making it to the top, Jon walked into organized chaos as archers continuously shot their arrows and fire and oil were sent down onto the area by the gate. Deciding he needed more information, Jon sought out Stannis, whom he found in the center of the chaos issuing orders left and right.

"What news?" Jon asked him in the lull between commands.

"The wildlings began climbing early morning, but we didn't see them through the fog until they were almost upon us. We shot them down, and more kept coming. The giants and mammoths are at the gate again and we cannot see what they are doing through the morning fog, so I rained fire on them and hoped for the best." Stannis said quickly before issuing more commands to the men operating the scythe.

"Understood." Jon said. "I'll go rally the front lines and let them know they may or may not see battle soon. Drop fire on the gates every fifteen minutes or as you're able. They may need the help or may not, but rather safe than sorry."

Stannis nodded and Jon rushed to the front lines from the top as quickly as he could. His legs felt like they were on fire the entire night, and he knew even he couldn't do this forever, yet this was only the second day. This wasn't his first battle or siege, but it was his first war on this level. This was on a scale he had not dreamt of. His thoughts were set aside when, upon reaching the Dornish front lines and about to speak to Prince Oberyn, the front gate shattered and the tunnel and ground shook around it.

"Prepare for incoming enemies!" Jon shouted and Prince Oberyn repeated the command. The tunnel filled with a pounding sound as well as the yells of many enemies. "They still have to break the second gate as well as the obsidian gate lads, so be ready to pepper them with arrows if they do!"

A pounding noise reached their ears, and not more than ten minutes later, they heard the gate shatter. All went silent for a moment and Jon guessed the new gate, or rather wall almost, confused them as they had no information on such a defense. The silence only lasted a moment before something pounded against the stone gate, hard. The sound rang through the air for a moment before it was followed by another, then another. Jon prepared himself to use Hades' powers over the obsidian. This would drain him, and he could only use it when the gate was destroyed, but it may turn the battle in their favor. He would not be able to fix or replace the stone without great effort, though a true child of Hades might, but he could cause the broken pieces to explode at a fast rate through the enemy forces.

The giant pounding on the gates was soon joined by another. After fifteen minutes or so of this resulted in a crack appearing. The crack got bigger and bigger and was joined by several smaller cracks until it finally blew towards them. Jon was ready though and halted the jagged stones in midair. They flew back toward the enemy at an explosive rate along with the rest of the gate's stone. It tore through the giants with ease, along with the first few ranks of enemies. After a stunned silence, during which Oberyn got the Dornish ready with spears and shields out, the enemy rushed forward with a roar. They were everywhere, numerous, bloodthirsty, and ready to fight.

They hit the front line, and many died. Many more lived and they began to push through soon enough, leaving dead Dornish men in their wake as the front line buckled and retreated. When they hit the second line before exiting the tunnel though, they paused. Jon's trained men, now veterans of many battles and wars, formed a phalanx at the entrance to the tunnel. They were hardened and unflinching, and they managed to stem the tide of enemies for the moment as the Dornish retreated further into the ranks for a breather.

Enemy after enemy fell under their deadly and disciplined attacks. There were so many that there was no chance of the lines being swapped out, and exhaustion took its toll soon enough. Men began to fall, and the line began to waver. Afraid of losing his most experienced men too soon, Jon gave the order to rotate back into the ranks, and the men gave a final attack to gain time before falling back. The enemy surged forward after them, and for the first time the two main bodies of the opposing armies met. Steel rang against steel, crushing blows on armor, and the screams of the injured and dying filled the air like a horrible symphony.

Jon drew his own sword and joined the fray. Enemies were everywhere, and so were allies. More than once, Jon had to stop himself from cutting an ally down for startling him or simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Every enemy who stood before him was cut down without ceremony or mercy. He could not afford to waste any energy in playing with his opponents, nor could he leave any alive who surrendered for fear of being stabbed in the back. They could not afford prisoners, especially prisoners serving the White Walkers.

Here and there he saw friendly faces, fighting ferociously. Prince Oberyn with his spear, dancing gracefully from one enemy to the next, leaving none alive. He saw Lord Umber with his great sword cleaving enemies in half, Lady Mormont cutting enemies down left and right, and even Lord Howland Reed using his sword with some skill as he skirted around the edges of the battle stabbing unsuspecting opponents in the back like an assassin. The tide of enemies seemed to slow over time, though how long that took Jon did not know. It could have been hours, or days as far as he would have known. Eventually they stopped coming, and Jon quickly gave orders to seal the tunnel as best as they could and to set several lines of men in readiness. He ordered the rest of the army to eat and rest during the lull in the battle, and he went to find Stannis along with Oberyn to discuss the battle and work out a food and rest schedule with him for themselves.

When they found him, they were met with a surprise. The top of the wall was scattered with dead men, both theirs and wildlings. Stannis had blood on his armor and sword but was unharmed it seemed. He was directing men into tossing the bodies over the wall and in front of where the gate used to stand. When they hit the ground, they tended to separate a bit but that was fine too. It would slow the incoming enemies slightly both physically and mentally. Jon quickly went to Stannis for an update.

"Enemies finally surfaced over the wall before we could get the scythe hauled back up. A couple came up from when they attacked below as well it seemed, and took us by surprise. By then we were too focused on defending ourselves to worry about the defenses for the Wall itself until we finally killed enough of them to restore some order and get the defenses going again." Stannis told him as he helped one man toss another body over.

"I see. We will have Mance and his folk focus on guarding our rear as well as key points in the castle such as the lift. They can tell their own people from the enemy better than we. You've been up a while. You should get some food and rest. I will take over the top of the Wall until you wake, while Oberyn takes the gate. We can rotate every four hours again until the attack begins once more." Jon said. Both men agreed and turned to go. Stannis stopped for a moment and turned back.

"I believe they have run out of giants. They stopped sending them and I saw no more on the lines, but I can't be sure. If not, the bodies I had thrown where the gate was can be lit on fire with oil and will serve as a deterrent to their brute force. I've noticed they shy away from the fires."

"Good, very good, I was beginning to worry they had no weakness at all." Jon replied in relief. "Get some rest. I'll have someone wake you for your next watch or if the battle begins once more."

Stannis nodded and the three commanders separated tiredly once more, wishing for the battle to be over.

The next morning-at dawn

Jon kicked out, hard, and his opponent flew over the edge of the wall screaming. The attack had begun an hour earlier, and it looked like they now knew what they were probing for when they climbed the wall before. Using the morning mist to gain some distance, they had begun to spread out, climbing out of reach of the scythe, and within, stretching their defenders thin to stop them, and in such vast numbers that once the scythe had been dropped they had been unable to take the time to lift it once more.

A sword flashed by him, saving him from an attacker behind him as it buried in the man's neck. Turning to see who it was, he nodded back as Stannis nodded at him. The attackers were mounting the wall quickly, faster than they could react now that the archers could not focus on shooting them down and the scythe could not be used. Jon quickly parried another attack, slashed the man down his chest, and spun to stab another before pulling back to block another hack at his head from a wildling with an axe. This one was a woman. A beautiful redhead who, in another life, may have stirred reactions in him at a primal level. As it was, her attack was blocked and Jon hesitated a brief moment, allowing her enough time to smash her axe into his knee.

Thankfully, his armor saved him. In doing so, it crushed inward, and he felt his knee snap before he went down into the ice and snow. The wildling girl gave a shout of triumph and hacked at him again. This one he blocked, but with a wrench, the woman disarmed him. She struck a third time, and this one crushed into his breastplate. Again, the godly armor saved him, but when it crushed inward it broke a couple ribs. He rolled, coughing blood and in agonizing pain but knowing it was all he could do. When he faced upward again, he saw her miss her next swing. Having missed, she kicked him instead. The blow struck his helmet. It didn't dent the helm in any way, but it did leave his ears ringing and his vision went a little blurry.

Confused, disoriented, in extreme pain, and unable to move, Jon waited for his death. He was more confused when it didn't come. Instead, he felt strong arms moving him to the air. There were shouts, clashing of metal, and a ton of movement before he finally succumbed to the darkness that had gathered at the edge of his vision.

Stannis POV-Same Time

He watched Jon go down hard thanks to his moment of hesitation, and he hesitated for a moment himself. If Jon died, he could reunite all the kingdoms against the Targaryen girl and be king over all the kingdoms once more. Nobody could blame him because no one knew he noticed what was going on in the chaos of the battle. The moment of hesitation caused him to allow two blows to land on Jon from the girl before he finally spurred himself to action. Jon was his friend. It started out as a political friendship, then family as his brother wed Jon's sister, and now after traveling and fighting together he had come to respect and befriend the man who did his best to help everyone who deserved it.

Stannis moved as quickly as he could, his kingsguard following as best they could. That was another thing that he needed to suggest Jon get. Every king needed a kingsguard no matter how good they were. Only four of his seven were here, the other three protecting his family, but all four still lived and were trying to protect him as best they could. He finally fought his way to the pair right as the woman lifted her axe for the final blow, Jon unmoving before her. Without remorse or hesitation, Stannis stabbed through her exposed neck from behind, blood spurting everywhere.

"Pick him up." Stannis told one of his kingsguard. "Get him to the Maester now! Stay with him until he wakes or Prince Oberyn or myself relieves you. Let no one else be alone with him until then."

The kingsguard picked Jon up, and between two other men and himself they managed to carry him safely to the lifts. Stannis watched until he was sure they were safe and then turned back to the battle. They had been attacking for a while now, and since Jon had joined them over an hour ago he had no idea what was now going on below. He took this moment to peer over the edge, his remaining kingsguard protecting his back as he did. Below them was a never-ending stretch of enemies. Some were beginning to join their brethren in the climb while countless others streamed toward the tunnel.

"Drop oil and fire onto the bodies in front of the tunnel!" Stannis ordered one of the men of the Watch manning the barrels of oil. The man nodded and quickly set about his business. Stannis dispatched ten men to protect him, and another ten to each station where the scythe was hoisted with orders to hoist the scythe and protect the men doing it. He also began issuing orders for a line of archers to begin firing on those climbing the wall and a line of men to protect them.

The rest of the men present continued to fight those who mounted the Wall until the situation was under control. Stannis would take it in turns to step forward and fight a few men here and there, and then falling back after killing a few in order to see how his men were handling their orders. The lines held, to his relief and satisfaction, and slowly the tide of enemies began to slow and then stop. The scythe and archers were doing their job, and he dispatched most of the remaining men to help the archers as well, posting the remainder to watch over the lifts and the climbers and the gate as necessary.

Stannis shook his head as he watched another giant, perhaps the last of them or so he hoped, run through the lines of the enemy toward the gate. Hopefully it would be burned badly, at the least, if it broke through the pile of burning bodies. His thoughts now turned to those below under Oberyn's command as he got his first breather of the battle that day.

Oberyn POV-Ten minutes later

The minute the enemy came pouring through the breach in the makeshift seal on the tunnel, Oberyn knew they were in trouble. Jon wasn't here to help them, he had seen his friend being carried to the Maester earlier though in what condition he could not tell, and a giant had burst through the tunnel followed by thousands of screaming wildlings. The giant broke through their front and secondary lines with ease, as nobody had been trained to handle such a beast.

Oberyn knew it must be taken down, and he hefted his spear, aiming carefully. The spear was poisoned with a paralyzing agent. It served to slow his enemies as much as possible in order to give him time to react. He had another, but it was his last one since his third spear had been broken in the earlier battles after being shattered by a great sword wielded by a rather large wildling. He threw the spear, hard, and watched it bury itself in the giant's chest. For one heart-stopping moment, Oberyn thought he had killed it.

In the next moment, the giant ripped the spear out and snapped it, tossing the pieces back at Oberyn. The next thing he knew was that he was spinning, jumping, dodging, and twirling for his life as he stabbed and slashed at the giant that was now trying its best to either squash or grab him. It did not seem that the poison had worked, or that it had any effect at all except to have angered the giant greatly. If Jon were here, he simply would have used his powers, or that impossible strength or brain of his to kill the giant. He may have even read something that said how to kill them. Unfortunately, Jon wasn't there.

He was distracted from his frustrated thoughts when the hand he had been so diligently avoiding smacked him into the wall hard. He had the presence of mind to hold onto his spear, but the downside was that he was sure he had broken his left arm during his flight or collision. The giant bore down on him quickly, and in that moment Oberyn did something that was either very brave, or very stupid. As the giant reached for him, Oberyn used his last bit of flagging strength to puncture the beast's eye with his spear. It broke off as the giant clawed at it, backing up immediately and trampling several wildlings in its panic. It squashed and killed several more as it flailed around in pain before finally falling over on top of a few as it died, Oberyn's spear point still lodged in its eye.

Oberyn climbed to his feet painfully and ducked under a blow from a wildling sword, pulling his dagger from his boot and stabbing the man under the chin. As he pulled his dagger free, he turned to his second in command, noticing the wildlings being pushed back to the tunnel.

"Hold them there. Set the lines at the tunnel and keep the wildlings funneled there as long as possible. Use Jon's men and rotate them as their commander sees fit. Set our own men behind them. I must go see to the king's health. There should be no more giants today, but if there are having the archers posted near the back and fill them with arrows if they come." Oberyn ordered him, neglecting to mention that his arm was the real reason for his visit to the Maester. There were plenty of lords and commanders present, and they would be capable of controlling their own men for a few moments while he received treatment and checked on Jon.

At that moment, the wildlings sounded their horns and retreated. The day was won, but he knew morale was dropping. This battle had to be ended, and fast. Both sides had enough men to drag this out for weeks, if not longer, and Oberyn didn't know how much more he could take, let alone the men. After the wildlings retreated, Oberyn changed directions to discuss things with Stannis to allow him to take overall command temporarily until either he or Jon were clear minded enough to join him. Healing enough to continue fighting on the other hand, would take far longer for the injuries they had both sustained. He could only hope Stannis was in a far healthier position.