Jon
With the "trial" of Jaime Lannister concluded, all that was left for the evening was to plan for the battle at the Wall. Stepping up to the large map, Jon set Blackfyre on his chair before pointing out Castle Black's location.
"The Night King and his army are going to strike here in just over a month's time. They'll bring their entire force and so will we." Everything was riding on the certainty of this. Being a soldier of the dead gave Jon a vision of what was to come. But what if the Night King knew of the plans and changed them? No, Jon knew the Night King would meet his challenge
"We should seal the tunnel!" A Riverland lord shouted out. When once that was the best idea to stop an army marching south on the Wall, now such a plan would be fruitless.
Only a few of them knew that such a tactic would be completely pointless. "It doesn't matter what defenses or fortifications we establish at Castle Black. Most of you may not know, but the Night King rides an undead dragon and has all he needs to bring down the Wall." Many men murmured, sounding distressed at such a revelation. "But that won't happen! Because we're going to bring the Wall down first with our dragons." Everyone seemed stupefied at what Jon just said, like they misheard him, but considering what he just told them, their reaction wasn't surprising. "I know that may sound ridiculous-"
"Ridiculous?" One of the lords of the Reach said. "It's outrageous! Why in seven hells would we bring down the Wall? It's the only thing keeping them from reaching us! If we can just kill their dragon, we won't have to worry about it collapsing at all!"
"And how would we do it?" A lord of the Riverlands objected. "With some scorpions or arrows? I heard about the battle of Blackwater Rush. Cersei's device failed to kill the Queen's dragon and arrows bounced off its scales like they were nothing."
"The Night King only has one dragon, we have four! He won't stand a chance!" This man knew nothing of dragons and there hadn't been a battle of dragons for over a century. Their fire would be useless against one another and the Night King. Only dragonglass and Valyrian steel would be able to defeat him.
"Quiet!" Jon shouted. The two men settled down and waited for Jon to speak. "We can't risk setting all of the dragons to fight the one. If we were to lose one of ours, it would only come back as another empty soldier of the dead. Please, at least hear the entire plan before objecting to it." Jon realized that this would be no discussion like among the brothers of the Watch or his advisors of the North. There were more seasoned and battle tested commanders with him than he is. He turned back to the map and moved his hand over the area of Castle Black. "We'll bring down the Wall, and use what we can to rebuild it, but only smaller. Every man who knows contruction, stone masons, wood workers, will march north as soon as possible. They'll be accompanied by the builders of the Watch and the giants to help with the construction and work to create a barrier arching out to the north side of the Wall that will be crossable to the foot soldiers and draw them to us. On the south side, we'll build a pass that will become narrow and force the dead to only be able to get through in small numbers. We'll post our archers at the ramparts we create on the north side and destroy as many as we can. Once the dead get close enough, the archers fall back behind our infantry on the south side of the Wall who will all be stretching from each side of the pass at the exit way. The rest of the foot soldiers will be behind the spears and shields if the dead break through." So far, everyone was on track and respectful to Jon's wish of waiting. "While the infantry holds their lines, our combined cavalry of the Dothraki and Westeros riders will divide and be stationed on the North side of the Wall, entering through Queensgate and Oakenshield to flank the dead from the east and west." Jon returned facing all of the lords and commanders. "As for the Night King and the dragon, I take my mount and one other to follow and engage them in the air. Queen Daenerys will take the other two and ignite the haunted forest to prevent any of the dead from escaping." And with that, Jon was concluded. Only few who listened did not talk with others about this strategy.
"Your grace," a man from the Vale stood up from his seat, gaining the attention of everyone, "how can you be certain that the Army of the Dead will arrive when you say?"
"Our warg scouts have been keeping watch over it by seeing through the eyes of animals. We'll also be sending one hundred of them with the builders to keep watch over the lands beyond in case there are any changes." Jon realized that this wouldn't be the last of questions. "If anyone else has anything to say, step forward." More than a dozen men got out of their seats and stepped down to the foot of the bleachers, less than expected. "We'll start from the left." Jon looked over to none other than Edric Dayne.
"How wide will the gap we make be?" This wasn't the first time this question crossed Jon. He consulted Sam about this matter and he told him that sheer force of the Wall collapsing would shake the ground for miles.
"I don't know. The force of the collapse could bring the Wall crashing down for miles for all we know. That's why we need every builder we can get to go north. We'll try to control the destruction as much as we can."
The next lord after him was a commander from the Westerlands. "The Lannister forces brought fifteen hundred barrels of pitch, are we not to use them at all?"
"We will. We'll dig three trenches along the areas where the Wall once stood and fill them with pitch. We'll have bridges for the archers to cross over and leave them to burn when we ignite the pitch. Combined with what the North has in its stores, we'll have enough fill all three of the trenches and launch the rest with catapults if we have the time to build them." It would be a miracle if they would be able reconstruct the debris itself in time.
"Your grace," The next man said, again from the Westerlands, "what is your plan for the archers that retreat?"
"We'll have them join the foot soldiers." With all that was planned so far, it was all they could do.
"It would be a waste of firepower if we did that." The man walked up to the map a and traced a line of where one of the narrow passage walls would be. "Instead of having them join the foot soldiers, we build to battlements on each side of the pass. We can post a good amount of our archers there that can destroy some of the dead as they try to get through." He moved his hand to over where the infantry lines would be. "We could build another behind the infantry lines and provide volley attacks against the oncoming horde."
"We should also station men atop the Wall that doesn't collapse." Another man said. "If the Night King will be occupied fighting two dragons, then there should post some men where they cannot be reached. Do we know how many archers we have?"
"The final count was eighteen thousand." A maester informed.
"Then how many are stationed where depends on how big the gap is made."
"We have women and children fighting with us." Lord Glover said. "We should put them on the Wall where they'll be safest."
Jon shook his head. "The top of the Wall isn't the safest place to be. If the Night King is able to get away from me for even a moment, he could attack the Wall to try and create a better opening for his soldiers, free of any resistance. We'll post the women and children on the main wall and have them retreat to the ramparts behind the infantry."
What was hoped to be a quick discussion turned into nearly an hour of debates and strategy. Many nearly fought over who would be where and whose soldiers should be in a more dangerous position. It kept going back and forth and many were becoming angered. Whoever was at the front lines would surely die of course. But if it wasn't for the Grey Worm volunteering the Unsullied to be at the front, no one would have.
But even with the strategies and ideas being given, it all rode on how large the gap in the Wall would be and how many builders were available. Bringing the discussion to a calm and everyone returning to their seats, Jon took control of the counsel. "MY lords, we can't continue further until we build the pass and the barricade. If we're to do this in time, we'll need at least forty thousand men to march in two days."
"Two days?" A lord of the Reach exclaimed. "Most of our troops just finished settling in, now you want them to just undo their work!?"
"We don't have choice. A march to Castle Black would take at least a week, but if the Free Folk lead the company, they can get there in five days."
"You expect us to let Wildlings-"
"I don't give damn about your pride or any fucking conflict you have with the Wildlings! You will follow them because I am commanding you to. If you don't want to obey, then pack up your arms, gather your men, ride south, and cower with Cersei."
'Kill the boy, Jon Snow. Kill the boy, and let the man be born.'
Jon was in no mood for the pride of other men. If they were to live, they would all have to fight together, as men of Westeros no matter where they were from. The lord of the Reach shut up looked defeated and disgrace. Jon let himself calm before going on. "We have two days to get prepared, and five days to get to the Wall. If we're going to win this war, we have to take the offensive. There is nothing that can stop the Night King from coming, no defense, no strategy, nothing! That's how he works. He'll corner us at every angle and kill us all. This will be the only way we have to face him head on. And we have to do it together, as army made from every corner of the world we all share. If you can't understand that, then you have no place here, and no place in this army." Jon looked around at the stares the men gave him. They weren't angry or afraid with him. He wasn't sure what this was. Looking through the entrance to the outside, the light of the twilight hour was gone and the darkness of the evening was taking hold. "I'm concluding this meeting. If any of you have any objections, save it tomorrow. We have two days, and no more. Now get out and gather your men."
The noise of the lords and commanders rustling out of the longhouse sounded like a battle of its own. But they obeyed nonetheless. Only a few people remained inside, being Jon, Daenerys, Sansa, Arya, Bran, Rickon, Missandei, Tyrion, Davos, Benjen, Grey Worm, Jorah, Jaime, and Varys.
"That went better than I expected." Tyrion said.
"Aye," Davos replied, "same here. Now we just have to hope that they are desirable enough to throw their pride and grudges away just to live."
"They may yet surprise us." Tyrion insisted. "The hour grows late, I suggest that we should all retire for the evening."
"Well said, Lord Tyrion." Daenerys agreed. "I give you all this time for yourselves, please use it my friends. We won't have it for much longer." Varys left the building with Tyrion, Grey Worm, Missandei, Jaime, and Davos.
"Your grace," Benjen said to Jon, "I'll head North with the builders. I'm the only one who can see Bran and Rickon when they use the sight, so I can form a quick two-way communication line between us. There's not much I can do here anyways."
"As you wish uncle." Jon replied. Benjen bowed his head and left quickly. Jon looked down at his seat and eyed Blackfyre for a moment before picking it up and really looking at it. The Valyrian patterns on the blade were unlike any he'd ever seen. Whereas most were ripples or stars, the metal looked like layers of fire where the pattern showed. As interesting as it would be to wield in battle, he already had a sword. Jon looked over to Arya and held it out to her. "You take it. Needle was meant for stabbing, and techniques like that are pointless against the dead. You can slash deep with this."
Without even questioning Jon, Arya got up from her seat and took it from him. She held it in her hands and gave a few swings to get a feel for it. "Give me two weeks to practice and I'll be ready."
"It's a shame," Rickon said, all eye's turning to him as he rested his hand on the handle of Snow and stroked the pommel with his thumb, "I have a Valyrian sword and I won't be able to use it in the battle."
"I'll teach everything I can, little brother." Jon told him, but Rickon just shook his head at him.
"A month is nothing compared to years of training. Snow should be carried into the fray of battle by a knight, a Northern knight." Rickon began to undo his sword belt and wrapped it around the scabbard. He walked up to Ser Jorah and offered the sword to him. "You should take it."
"My lord," Ser Jorah said, "Snow is yours, the sword of House Stark. A Stark should carry it into battle."
"Your father gave Jon the sword of House Mormont and you let him keep it. A Stark will lead the armies wielding a Mormont sword and a Mormont will fight for him wielding a Stark sword. Take it, but I'll be wanting it back." Rickon pushed the sword closer to Jorah, forcing the Bear Knight to take it from him. "Use it well. Come on Ghost." Rickon patted his leg and Ghost got up from the floor and followed him outside.
Jon walked over to Daenerys and offered his hand to her. Still hold onto the egg, she took his hand and intertwined arms and walked out of the longhouse together, everyone else following after them. As they walked through the camp, Daenerys stopped. "Jon," she said, looking up to him, "I want to see the dragons before we sleep."
"I was about to say the same." They broke off from the others and changed course to the location of the dragons' nesting area. Jon was curious to their reaction when they would see a new dragon egg. They showed certain emotions from time to time, but very few. All Jon had to do was warg into them to feel it. Though he hadn't done that in quite some time, given how busy he was. But a part of him longed to do it. It was how he could speak with his dragons and hear their feelings.
The two of them exited the camp and crossed the road over to the side that the dragon's claimed. The creatures of fire lifted their heads up when they sensed they approach of their mother and father. Ygris was the only one who got up from lying down and approached the two of them. She seemed to pur and growl at the same time when she got close to them. Daenerys let go of Jon's arm so he could pet Ygris overhead. She always wanted his attention more than Rhaegal did and he was Jon's mount. Ygris looked over to Daenerys and saw the egg in her arms. She let out a small growl that caught the attention of the other dragons. They rest of them got up from resting and approached Daenerys to see what she held.
If Jon had to guess, he thought that the dragons were happy to see the egg, but he didn't need to. He warged into the four dragons and heard different thoughts through each of them.
'A child, from stone to fire and flesh.' Lyarras felt.
'Red is power that destroys.' Drogon felt.
'Fire and blood.' Rhaegal felt.
'A fourth child.' Ygris felt.
Jon warged out of the dragons and received a small headache. Drogon snorted a small puff of smoke from his nostrils and returned to where he was resting, the other dragons following after him. Before Jon could gather his thoughts, Daenerys grabbed onto his hand.
"Jon, do you remember the first person you ever killed?"
Jon was curious as to where this question came from. It was very out of the blue and there wasn't much that could spark the desire to ask such a thing. "I do. I killed a brother of the Watch who was turned into a wight. That's how I earned Longclaw." He remembered how proud he was when Jeor Mormont gave him the sword and when he showed it off to all of his brothers.
"I meant 'living,' Jon."
Jon's pride died when she clarified. He would never forget the first man he ever killed and how ashamed he was when he did it. "It was another brother of the Watch, Qhorin Halfhand."
"Why? Was he a deserter?"
"No, he was a man I greatly admired."
"But why did you kill him?"
Jon didn't want to say, but something in him said that she needed to know. "It was during the Great Ranging beyond the Wall. We were both captured by the Wildlings and taken prisoner. But in order for me to gain their trust, he called me a traitor and made me kill him."
Her grip tightened around his fingers as her gaze fell to the ground. "Was that when you realized it?"
"What?"
"You don't enjoy what you're good at?"
Jon silently nodded. "Yes."
Daenerys turned her head to look at him. "Could you promise me something?"
"Of course, what is it?"
Daenerys was hesitant to tell him and looked sad to do so. "When the battle begins and you see the Night King riding Viserion, please try to end it quickly."
"I was already planning it that way."
"No, I don't mean that, I meant when the time comes to…" She couldn't bring herself to say the last bit, but she didn't need to.
"Viserion died beyond the Wall Daenerys. What he is now is just a puppet, a tool that suffers under control. I won't kill him, I'll set him free from his prison." Jon wrapped his arms around Daenerys and held her tightly, burying her face into his chest.
"When I saw you as one of them, my heart broke a thousand times over. I don't want to see one of my children like that." She looked up to his eyes, on the verge of tears. "What I'm trying to say is… don't make it painful."
Jon leaned his head down and kissed her warmly, reassuring her that everything would be alright. He let them stay this way for a moment, wanting it to become one they would remember. "Come on," he said as he loosened his embrace around her, "let's go home."
She gently smiled him as the walked back to the castle together.
