Eastwatch 301 AC.
Aurane.
The torches lit the way to the ships and allowed for people to be moved quickly through the dark. Around him, men, women, and children moved in a far more orderly manner than he'd feared. So far they'd managed to get almost a quarter of the people onto the ships and out to sea and had been lucky enough that as of yet the fighting hadn't come close to them. He could hear the sounds of battle in the distance as could those who'd not yet boarded a ship and while his own worried feelings were under wraps, for now, it was clear that some of those who waited to leave were starting to let theirs get the better of them.
Was it not for how calm the men were in moving them and how quickly they were able to get people onto the ships, then he feared there may have been a panic. As it was, they were managing for now and he hoped that when and if that panic did come, he'd be ready for it. After some time he began to take people onto the Dragon's Breath to show them that even he was ready to leave when needed. More than that though it was the knowledge that his ship was his wife's ship as well and that Dany would see those on it were safe which offered up the reassurances that most needed.
He knew his wife was on Ellagon and that they were in the thick of things, and though he'd not been able to see the dragon as she flew through the air, he knew she had done so. That should cause him more concern than it did and he perhaps should be more fearful for her than he was. Dany though was not some helpless lady, far from it, his wife was fierce and could easily beat him with a blade. Upon Ellagon's back and in the sky was exactly where he wished her to be. Aurane had worried more about her when she was on the ground on Ellagon's back as dragons were unmatched in the air after all. History had shown that nothing but a lucky shot could take a dragon down when they were flying. While on the ground history had shown them to be far easier to kill.
"We've loaded most of the ships, my lord, shall we set off?" Kennat asked.
"No, not until the others are loaded. Any word from the battle?" he asked and Kennat shook his head.
"Should I send some to find out how it's faring?" Kennat asked and this time it was Aurane who shook his head.
"No, let them do their jobs, we have our own to do." he said and Kennat hurried away to do just that.
Over the next few hours or what felt like hours, as there was no true way to tell the time in the darkness, they managed to get another quarter or so of the ships loaded and out to sea. The panic that he'd feared may come had not. Those who were being evacuated had seen how quickly the ships were being loaded and it had kept them calm so far. He tough was starting to worry more and more and for some reason, a strange feeling that all was not right had come over him. Where it came from he knew not, but it was almost overpowering and just as he was ready to move away from the Dragon's Breath and head towards the Wall, he then heard the pained sound of Ellagon as she flew towards him.
Despite what it may do to the morale of those waiting to be evacuated, Aurane ran from the deck of the ship and down the gangplank. Ellagon landed on the open ground some way off from where the Northerners and the Free Folk lined up to take their places on the ships and Aurane knew their eyes were on the dragon and on his as he raced across the ground towards the dragon. Each step he took only made his fears rise and when he saw Dany being carried down from the dragon's back by Ser Bonifer and Grey Worm, he feared the worst.
"Dany, Dany, I'm here, I'm here." he said shakily as the two men laid his wife on the ground.
"Sandor, Belwas…." his wife asked as Aurane looked to Grey Worm and Bonifer who shook their head.
"Are safe and well, my love." he lied and then he cried out as her eyes closed.
He lifted her up from the ground himself, cradling her in his arms as he turned to look at Ellagon whose eyes showed that her worry was just as deep as his own.
"Fetch a Maester, there's one on The Crab's Claw, it's five ships down. Fetch him and bring him to the Dragon's Breath." he said, his voice high-pitched and panicked as Bonifer did as he bid "We need to get her to the ship." he said turning to Grey Worm who nodded and led the way.
He ran with her in his arms, this time slower than he had run from the ship both because of the extra weight he now carried and in case running too quickly damaged the wound that he'd seen on her shoulder. There was not much blood flowing from it which relieved him somewhat, but it looked nasty and he hoped it was much less serious than he feared. Fear was what was guiding him more than anything right then, fear for his wife, fear for those around him who'd see her and what they may do once they did and fear of how she'd react to finding out that Sandor and Belwas had fallen.
That he lied to her would be something that she'd forgive him for, in time. The loss of both men and of Sandor especially would be something that would devastate her and something that she couldn't be allowed to know until she was well on the way to recovery. By the time they arrived at the Dragon's Breath one of his fears was close to coming true. Upon seeing Dany in his arms a panic had started to begin and as he looked down at his wife he knew what he must do, though he wished he did not.
"Take her to our cabin, I'll be there presently." he said as Grey Worm took her from his arms.
Aurane looked at Grey Worm as he carried Dany up the gangplank and onto the ship before he then turned and moved to the crowds that were starting to push past each other in line and where small fights were breaking out already. It took him some time to calm them down, far too much time, and time he'd have much preferred to spend elsewhere. Eventually, though he managed it and when they saw that the ships were still being loaded in an orderly and quick manner and he told them that the battle was still a distance away from them, it seemed to do the trick.
It allowed him to go and be where he wished to be and soon enough he was by his wife's bedside as the Maester examined her and Dany rested, or at least he hoped it was rest and not something worse. As the Maester worked on his wife, Bonifer and Grey Worm told him what had happened. Aurane listening as they told him that when last they'd seen them, Belwas, Sandor, and the men who'd followed Dany out onto the ice had been overwhelmed by the dead that surrounded them.
"He told us to get the princess onto Ellagon's back, my lord. That she'd take us back here even if the princess herself couldn't order her to do so." Bonifer said the knight's own worries for Dany clear in how he spoke and how his eyes never left the bed that she lay on.
"The king?" he asked and Grey Worm shook his head as did Bonifer, making Aurane worry that little bit more.
He watched as Dany's wound was cleaned and firemilk was poured into it, his wife not moving an inch as it was done which would have worried him were she not a dragon. The Maester bandaged it up and Dany mumbled his name which Aurane and the Maester both took as a good sign. Then after giving her what looked to be milk of the poppy, the Maester moved away from the bed to speak to him.
"I've never seen a wound like it before, my lord. I can't even begin to imagine what caused it, but what I can say is that there was little blood loss and the wound itself is clean, even without my ministrations."
"It was an arrow of ice, Maester." Bonifer said and both the Maester and he looked at the knight in disbelief.
"Hmm, that could explain it perhaps." the Maester said as he rubbed his face "Regardless I believe it's simply the shock of the wound and the fall that the princess is suffering from. She needs rest and once she wakes we can get a better idea of the wound itself. I've given her some milk of the poppy, just to make sure she doesn't wake before she should and I'll come back on the morrow to examine her again."
Aurane barely heard the man and was glad he left them alone a few moments later. Despite their own worries he asked Grey Worm and Bonifer to see to the loading of the ships and to check up on Ellagon. Then after they left him and Dany alone, he sat down in the chair beside the bed and took his wife's hand in his, and waited for her to wake.
Eastwatch 301 AC.
Jaehaerys Targaryen.
Flame after flame he and Rhaenix had laid down as they neared Eastwatch itself. They barely made a dent in the army of men that moved closer to the Wall and he knew then he'd need more than himself to stop them. Rhaenix though had felt Ellagon's worries grow and so it was to her that Jae looked rather than to the dead men below him. He closed his eyes and he went looking for the door and found it to be closed off to him completely.
"She needs to let me in, I need to calm her." he said and his sister through whatever bond it was that dragons shared spoke to the reluctant dragon.
The door never quite opened and he was certainly not let inside, but he was giving a peek and it was enough for him to do what he needed to do. Ellagon feared for her mother's safety, she worried that Dany was hurt and that the hurt was serious. She showed Jae and Rhaenix the arrow that had hit Dany and the fall she'd had and he found his own fears for his aunt quickly rising. It was only that Ellagon had brought Dany close to the ground so that the fall wasn't from too high up that had saved her and Jae let the dragon know that because of her, her mother would recover.
He swore to her that Dany would be well and that he'd see those who dared to harm her paid and paid dearly for doing so. Rhaenix vowed to bring the fire to them and that Ellagon too would get to do the same when Dany recovered and it was that thought more than anything which finally allowed the dragon to calm and relax. She was worried still and only seeing Dany in front of her would be enough to make that worry go away, but for now she was calm and that would have to be enough.
"We need to buy time, I have to go Dany, but we need to buy time." he said aloud, half to Rhaenix and half to himself to try and help him think as they flew towards Eastwatch.
Lightbringer was useless to him, for this anyway and a part of him wondered if he should have sacrificed the men and women from Skane. Had he done so, then he would now be able to shatter the ice that left as it was would allow the dead to simply walk around the Wall at Eastwatch. It was a fleeting thought, he was not the Night King and he couldn't simply write people off and leave them to their deaths as that monster could. There may soon come a day when he would need to make hard choices. Today was not that day and those choices would only be made when they were truly needed.
Seeing another large group of dead moving across the ice, he felt Rhaenix's need to see them burn for the hurt they'd caused Ellagon and Dany and he too felt that same need. They flew low and bathed the dead in a wall of fire and once they were done, they then headed to the Wall. The fighting was already done when they reached it. Whatever dead had made it close enough to the Wall had been turned back and he was relieved and gladdened by that, and more so when he looked to see they'd not lost too many of their men.
"Go to Ellagon, I'll be here for some time." he said as he climbed down off Rhaenix's back.
"I'm needed here." Rhaenix said to him, his sister reluctant to leave his side.
"Go to her, she needs you more than I, for now at least. I'll do what I must and then join you."
"No risks, Jae, promise me you'll take no risks?" she asked worriedly.
"I'll take no risks, I swear it." he said as he softly stroked her snout and looked deep into her purple eyes.
He could feel the worries of those who were now moving towards him recede when Rhaenix took to the sky and he stayed on the ground. Those worries receding a little more when he unsheathed Lightbringer and began walking towards him. Whether there had already been so many heading his way before he'd taken out the sword or the taking out of the sword itself drew the crowd, in the end it mattered not.
"We have much work to do, and that work will be hard." he said as the crowd formed around him "We have time and Rhaenix is simply resting for now, but I'll need all of you. Swords, shovels, picks, and wood, I need you to gather as much of all of them as you can." he said a little more loudly as people looked to him and the sword and then began to move.
As they left him, Loras, Arthur, Garin, and some of the Rhoynish and the Black Brother's arrived. His friend looked tired but unhurt, as did, Arthur, Garin, and the others. Each of them wore the same expression on their faces and their eyes all looked to him for answers that he wasn't sure he had. He had a plan though and he hoped that it was not a foolish or wasteful one.
"Your grace." Loras said with a nod, Jae moving to embrace him this time and caring not how it looked or what message it sent.
"Loras, thank the gods." he said softly as he felt Loras embrace him back.
"Do you have a plan, your grace?" Garin asked after Jae and Arthur had greeted each other.
"We need to break the ice, to weaken it. I intend to dig and melt it and hope to make a gap big enough so that they can't simply walk around the Wall." he said and Garin nodded.
"If you can get the gap big enough so that the water is exposed then the Water Wizards could help, your grace" Garin said as Jae looked at him eagerly.
"Have you slept or eaten, your grace?" Loras asked worriedly.
"I'm well, Loras, I've no time to sleep, not yet." he said and he saw Loras nod to one of Garin's men and so he looked at him questioningly.
"You've time to eat, your grace." Loras said and annoyed though he was, he hadn't the energy to tell his friend that he was not a child and didn't need mothering. Instead, he just nodded and moved with Loras, Arthur and Garin to the sea or what had once been the sea and was now ice as far as the eye could see.
"The ships have begun to leave?" he asked as he walked with Loras a little ahead of Arthur and the others.
"As soon as the battle started for true, Aye. Did you see the princess, Jae?" Loras
"She was hurt, an arrow made of ice and she fell from Ellagon's back. I don't think it's life-threatening, I think I'd feel it if it was, but…"
"You wish you could be with her." Loras said and Jae nodded.
"We've work to do here though. I'll see her once I'm done." he said before changing the subject "You got your sword."
"Aye. I had thought you'd forgotten about me." Loras said softly.
"As if I could." he said with a small laugh, the first one he'd had in a few days "I wished to gift you one myself, but Garin told me that he wished you to have that one and I felt you'd welcome it even more than one from me." he said looking to Loras to see if he was right.
"Aye, I did. Not that I wouldn't have appreciated it, Jae, but…"
"But some gifts mean more than others." he said as his hand moved to the favor tied to his waist, it's color had almost faded away and it was frayed around the edges and yet it was still something that he treasured greatly.
"Jaime and the others are well?" Loras asked and Jae nodded "Garlan?"
"I've not been to the Nightfort for a few days, when Arthur and I visited he and Shiera were both well." he said seeing Loras relax some.
"I'm happy you're here, Jae." Loras said stopping to look at him and after a small nod, Jae then smirked as he shook his head.
"Would it bother you if I said I wish I was not? That I wish we were anywhere but here. Even were we back at the Rock sitting in on one of Creylen's dullest lessons." he said and though he hated speaking the Maester's name, he knew that Loras would take his meaning.
"The one on the history of the great houses." Loras said with a chuckle.
"What are their words, Lord Loras." Jae said trying to make his voice sound as dull and boring as it could be.
The two of them were laughing for true when they reached the shore, Jae hadn't realized how much he'd needed it until he'd started. Nor did he realize how hungry he was as he not only ate the first bowl of hot stew that was brought to him, but asked for a second one a few moments later. Once he'd eaten he began to walk the ice and looked to see where they could break through with the least amount of work to be done.
Deciding to work out from the edge of the Wall itself in an arc, he marked out what he felt would work best, and then the painstaking work of breaking through the ice began. He was surprised by how many picks and shovels they had in Eastwatch. Or he was until Cotter Pyke told him that they had to at times break the ships free from ice so that they could sail if the weather had turned, which it often did in the Bay of Seals. Jae had them place wood in the holes they dug and set them alight to melt the ice and then he called on Rhaenix to let loose her own flames to make it easier for them to break through.
Eventually, in some spots the sea began to bubble through cracks and so he called for Garin and the Water Wizards. He, Loras, and others all looking on with interest as the Water Wizards almost seemed to call the water forth. What started off as small bubbles soon became larger ones and then even larger until finally, the sea began to shoot up from the holes in the ice, and then the ice began to break and crack even more. Which came first, the breaking of the ice or the storm was hard to tell, but as the gap widened and the water crashed against the two sides of the gap, Jae felt the storm and he immediately knew. The fight was no longer here and he needed to fly once more.
The Nightfort 301 AC.
Randyll Tarly.
He'd ignored their complaints and warnings when they'd arrived here, the nonsense that they spouted about the castle not feeling right was just too ridiculous for him to entertain. The idea that they'd stay in tents and out in the cold when they had a perfectly good keep to stay in was just too absurd for him to contemplate. That others felt the same as he only reinforced Randyll's feeling that Garlan Tyrell despite not being as foolish as his father, was a fool still.
As for the princess, truth be told she unnerved him far more than this place ever could. How it was possible for her to be alive was beyond him. So while she spoke of dark magic's, to Randyll's mind she was speaking more of herself than anything else. He'd ignored her, ignored Garlan Tyrell, and set his men to work to make the Nightfort both habitable and secure. Both of these things turned out to be very easy to do and compared to Icemark and Deep Lake, this keep was practically undamaged. Within a couple of days of arriving it was warm and welcoming, or as warm and welcoming as a keep built into a wall of ice could ever be.
So Randyll then began to drill the men daily, those who'd already become proficient in the style of fighting the king had asked him to teach them in, now taking turns to train those who had not. He manned the top of the Wall with lookouts and the waiting began, as did the dreams. They were perhaps the one thing that he'd seek to change in his time here, his nights filled with them, and not even changing rooms seemed to make them go away.
He did his best to hide the toll they and the lack of sleep were taking on him, his brusque nature more than helping in that regard. Even when he started spending more and more time alone, no one truly commented, as he had never been the most sociable of people. At times he found himself thinking about his family, his girls, his boys, even Sam. Mainly though his thoughts were filled with cold and ice, with dark shadows that moved in the night, and by the end of the first week, Randyll was beginning to hate it when night fell.
"Some of the men tried to run last night, Randyll, tried to desert." Mathias Rowan said to him as they were taking their meal.
"Damn cowards, they should be forced to run free on the other side of this damn Wall, see how far they'd get." he said looking to the plate and once again feeling no appetite.
"I've ordered them locked up. We could see them flogged but perhaps it's for the best if it's done out of sight of the others?" Mathias asked.
"It is, though were we in another place I'd see it done more publicly as a warning to those others." Randyll said with a grimace as he pushed the plate away and took a swallow from the wine glass.
"Have you…do you?" he heard Mathias begin to speak and yet when he turned it was to find that he was sitting alone and there was no sign of the other lord.
Shaking it from his mind, he rose from the table and began to set about his nightly routine. He made his way to the top of the Wall and walked past the men on guard. His eyes searched deep into their very souls as he sought to find out if they were true or not. Some he could see where as cowardly as he feared, though there were a few brave souls among them. Randyll looked down from the top of the Wall at the lands below, the tents stretching for as far as anyone could see. He looked at them and felt his disapproval grow, they should be inside the keep and not outside, damn cowards he thought, as he made his way back down from the Wall.
After he'd taken stock of the men in the courtyard and the barracks, he then made his way to his room and reached his hand out to open the door before turning away and going to the one place in the Nightfort where he felt at peace. The vaults were dark and the torch he carried in his hand barely illuminated his way and yet this darkness he welcomed. It wasn't oppressive like the night was, it didn't bring him dreams that would wake him in a cold and sometimes warm sweat. He felt calmed by it, soothed by it, and as he reached the Black Gate and stroked the white Weirwood face, his eyes closed and his breathing slowed and then he finally got some much-needed rest.
What time it was when he reached his rooms after that rest he couldn't tell, other than he must have spent hours in the vaults. Reluctantly he climbed into his bed and no sooner did he close his eyes than the dreams came once more. He saw Horn Hill being bathed in fire, Melessa holding Talla and crying out his name as the flames took them. Dickon being cut down by men in white cloaks as the dragon let loose its flames and his wife and daughter were no more. Randyll called out, he screamed and shouted loudly to no avail.
Why?
I'm Leal.
I've always been Leal.
Why?
He woke up and felt the sweat running down his back, warm instead of cold this time, and in his mind, he put that down to the heat from the dragon's flames. After dressing himself quickly, he made his way to the Great Hall where men were breaking their fasts and he took his seat alone and with no desire for company. On the table, in front of him his meal lay untouched and he swallowed down the ale before making his way back outside. These men were cowards, all of them were damn cowards and he had no desire to eat or spend more time with them than was absolutely needed.
The sounds of their panic annoyed him and the questions they asked as day turned to night were ones that he ignored. As he looked to the sky and saw that night had fallen again he felt his own panic begin to rise and so he moved away from them. He left them alone as he went and sought the one place that he knew would bring him peace once more.
Nightfort 301 AC.
Garlan.
He stood with Shiera and looked to the dark night's sky, the night that was now all that they knew. Its arrival had caused panic and concern and it had taken both his words and Shiera's to calm the men down. The Long Night had arrived and it would only be chased away by the Dawn, Shiera had explained it more to him than to the men. Her words to them much simpler and used in order to calm them and so as to not allow the night to drain their spirit.
With him, Shiera was much more forthcoming and he listened as she explained the nature of the Long Night and that it had always been Jae's purpose to face it and to force it back. The Prince that was Promised will Bring the Dawn. For the first time since he'd heard Margaery speak those words about Jae, he had finally begun to understand what they meant. He only hoped that he would bring it soon because lighting fires, speaking to the men, and trying to keep them busy would only go so far in keeping the fear they all felt at bay.
As bad as it was outside the wall of the Nightfort, it was far worse inside. Garlan had actually needed to order men to leave the keep and to take their places amongst his own men. Had Jae himself not given Shiera overall command then he'd not even have been able to do that much. Tarly, Rowan, and the others seemed to have lost their minds when it came to the comforts that place offered and it was with great reluctance that they allowed him to move men from the keep, even with Shiera's backup.
What had surprised him though was that so few had actually wished to leave. Given the expressions they all wore he'd expected that once he gave them the choice that it would have been the vast majority of them who took it. Instead, it was less than a hundred and though he wished to push for more, he knew he could not. Tarly was pricklier than ever and Garlan couldn't risk creating a rift between him and Shiera and the rest of the Reach lords.
"You cannot help those who don't wish it, Ser Garlan." Shiera said taking him from his thoughts.
"I know that, it's just I know most of those men and I like it not that they seem so comforted by that ruined keep."
"Men seek comfort where they can, it's their nature. Their lord commands and they follow, in time we'll need not worry about them." Shiera said and Garlan looked at the woman as she stared at something off in the distance.
Shiera was an enigma, he would freely admit to anyone other than Leonette that was, that she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. Yet it was never truly that he saw when he looked at her. There was a sadness about her, an air of something that he couldn't quite place, and though at times she'd laugh and even jape, it all seemed almost an act to him. As if she was pretending to be something she was not. Not in a duplicitous way, but more as if she was trying to look as if she was part of a world that she was not truly a part of. He had at first put this down to her in some ways being out of her own time. That it was the time of Bloodraven and Daemon that she belonged to and not the time of Jae and Daenerys The more time that he spent with her the more he wasn't sure he was right though.
"Are you ready?" he heard her say and he nodded.
Garlan called for their guards and together they made their way to the Nightfort to speak to the lords and to spend some time on top of the Wall. It was only the latter of those that he looked forward to as each time he visited the keep, which was as little as he could limit it to, he liked it less and less. This time it seemed was to be just as bad as the others and he was once again annoyed that there was no sign of Randyll Tarly when he got there.
He spoke to Mathis Rowan who told him that though the darkness was worrisome, the men were in good spirits. Something that Garlan found strange considering that all of them wore the same dark expressions on their faces that they had since they'd arrived here. Eager to get back to his camp as quickly as he could, he looked to Shiera who nodded at him and they made their way to the top of the Wall. Again just like all the other times he'd come here, they found themselves looking out onto a vast expanse of nothingness. Just white snow, trees, and all of it was barely able to be seen in the moonless night.
They were just about ready to make their way back to the courtyard when it happened The men swarmed them and Garlan was barely able to unsheathe his sword. He moved Shiera behind him and told her to call for Rhaegal as he looked at the men who had just killed their guards. The dark looks he'd found on men's faces earlier were nothing compared to the looks that these men wore now. Garlan didn't feel one moment of guilt for the first or second life that he took and even when more joined them, he quickly cut them down.
"The dragon, Princess? Where is the dragon?" he asked as he took a deep breath.
"I do not know, he's not answering me." Shiera said worriedly.
"We must use the Wall." he said and she looked at him with no understanding in her expression "The narrowness on top, we must use it and try to make for a different place so that we can reach the ground." he said and she nodded.
It was the narrowness of it that allowed for him to stop the men from overwhelming them. Only two could move towards him at any one time and though they had bows and had fired arrows at him, he was too heavily armored for them to do him any damage. He thanked the gods that none of them had been smart enough to bring a crossbow as he cut down two more men and he and Shiera moved along the top of the Wall and towards Deep Lake and Castle Black.
If the men had been relentless then even the narrowness of the Wall wouldn't have been enough and they would have fallen. As it was they attacked and then did not which allowed for him to rest between those attacks. After more than an hour in which he'd killed maybe ten more men, they'd put some distance in between themselves and the Nightfort. Over the next hour or two the attacks had slowed down to nothing and Garlan felt himself relax somewhat. Enough to at least speak to Shiera and ask what the hell had just happened.
"The magic's of that place are dark, it's history is dark." Shiera said.
"How does that explain us being attacked by our own damn men?" he asked irritably.
"They are no longer our men." Shiera said and Garlan knew he'd not get a better answer than that.
"Your dragon?" he asked and she shook her head "Fuck."
"We should make for Castle Black." Shiera said and he looked at her as if she'd lost her mind.
There were two keeps between the Nightfort and Castle Black, making it more than 40 miles they'd need to cover if they were to try it. Without food or heat, they'd be dead long before they reached Castle Black and at least if they were off the Wall itself, they could light a fire or find some food that would be enough to sustain them until they were safe. Garlan also felt that once off the Wall they'd be able to bring Rhaegal to them, that it was the Wall itself that was stopping Shiera from being able to call to the dragon. He did his best to explain all this to her as they moved towards Deep Lake, but she insisted and so he deferred.
In the end, it mattered not as they were waiting for them when they reached Deep Lake. The Wall had widened out too and if they so wished they could easily send five, six, maybe even seven men at him. Not that they had a need to do so, as at least four of them bore crossbows and he looked from them to Shiera who shook her head. At her command, he gave up his sword and the last he saw of her was when Randyll Tarly grabbed her. Then the world turned as dark as the night itself when something struck him hard across his head.
Nightfort 301 AC.
Shiera.
She was dragged across the top of the Wall and back the way they'd come. Behind her, Garlan's blood fell and left a trail across the ice as it dripped while he too was dragged. Her request to be allowed to offer him aid had been denied and as scared and worried as she was about herself, she was much more worried about him. They'd not harmed her other than the roughness with which they pushed her and moved her along and she bore no injuries. Garlan though would be lucky to make it through the night if he wasn't given some treatment.
"Get up." one of the men said as she fell down onto the ice of the Wall.
"No. you'll have to fucking drag me on my hands and knees, and the first chance I get I'll end myself." she said to worried looks from the two men, looks that told her that they wished her alive at least.
"Get up." one of them said as he kicked her hard which winded her a little.
"You can fucking beat me all you want, I'll not move until you let me treat him." she said motioning to Garlan.
"He'll be dead soon enough." one of the men said before he quickly shut up when Randyll Tarly moved their way.
"A few moments, that's all, and I want your word that you'll move once you're done?" Randyll said and she nodded.
She did her best with what she had, ripping a piece off her dress to bind the wound. It was all she was allowed to do and she hoped that it would be enough. Though even if he recovered enough to wake she feared it wouldn't mean much in the end. When they arrived back at the Nightfort she felt her fears for herself rise and more than once did she consider jumping as they dragged her down the stairs and out into the courtyard. it was only the hope that she'd be placed with Garlan and could help him a little more that stopped her. That and the prayer she said to the gods that her dragon or her nephew would arrive before they did whatever it was they intended to do to her.
On one of these, she was proved fortunate as she and Garlan were placed together in a cell and Shiera spent the next hour or more trying to stop the blood flow and doing all she could to save his life. It was soon clear to her that her efforts would be in vain. The hit to the head had been too hard and he'd lost far too much blood. A night, maybe two was all he had and not even a Maester could save him now. She looked down at him as he lay on the cold icy floor of the cell they'd put them and she knew then what it was she had to do.
Removing the ruby from her neck, she looked around for something to cut her hand with and soon found a jagged edge on Garlan's armor. Once her own blood was flowing, she wrapped her hand around the ruby and spoke the words to change it into what she needed it to be. It took some time until she felt sure it was done and once it was she then moved quickly over to Garlan. After raising his head from the ground she placed the chain around his neck and hid the ruby beneath his breastplate.
"What in the seven hells have you done?" a voice called out as the cell door opened.
"If I'm to face my gods then I'll face them as who I truly am." Shiera said as the torch the guard carried lit up the room and showed her for the old woman that she truly was.
"Come Lord Tarly wishes to see you, leave him for he'll be dead soon enough." the guard said and as she left the cell she took one last look at Garlan, a small smile on her face as she saw him move and sit up in the darkness.
She had thought she was to be brought to the Great Hall, but instead, it was deeper into the vaults that they brought her and Shiera felt her age with each step she took. Her breathing was shallow and she felt a pain in her chest as she moved. Little aches and pains in her legs, arms, and back too and it made her laugh that she'd never known such things before. In her last moments, she finally was beginning to feel what it was to be alive, to be a part of the world that up to now she'd only just been a watcher in.
When she saw the Weirwood face she knew what it was that was intended and she looked to see Randyll Tarly and Mathis Rowan standing there waiting for her along with some other men that she for the life of her couldn't remember their names. Was this another blessing of growing old, to forget, and if it was then she wished that she'd sought it out much earlier. There were many moments that she wished to forget from the life she'd led. She had many regrets and as she looked at Randyll Tarly she felt each of them begin to slip away.
"Your magic finally fail you, witch?" Randyll asked.
"No, for the first time it's served me true." she said, her voice sounding odd to her before she realized that just like her body, it too was aged now.
"Say the words." Randyll said to a man who looked as if he'd been beaten severely.
"Fuck you." the man said before the sword that was stuck in his throat silenced him.
"Say the words." Randyll said to another man, this one far less brave by the look of things as he'd not been beaten much at all.
"I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers. I am the shield that guards the realms of men." The man said shakily.
Shiera looked on as the Weirwood face's mouth opened up large enough to walk through, she felt herself being pushed towards it and though she tried to stand her ground, she could not. Her body was older, weaker and she didn't have the strength to fight them as she was pushed, dragged, and then carried out through the open mouth.
"Kill all the damn cowards, Mathis, all of them." Randyll said as the mouth closed behind them.
Nightfort 301 AC.
Jaehaerys Targaryen.
He'd flown fast and yet the closer he got to the Nightfort the more he was certain that he'd not been fast enough. Never though, not even in the most vivid of his nightmares did he imagine he'd see what he did once he got there. The men were fighting amongst themselves, those outside the Nightfort fighting off those from inside of it. He turned to Arthur who looked just as stunned as he was and then he told Rhaenix to roar as loudly as she could.
It had no effect and so moving closer to the Nightfort and the men who were rushing out to join in the attacks on those outside, he knew what he had to do. Closing his eyes and begging the Old Gods for their forgiveness, he told Rhaenix to bring her flames down upon those nearest the keep. He heard the screams as the flames took them, their cries of pain and agony as they realized what it was their actions had brought down upon them.
The fighting still continued though and he was forced to burn them all once more, and then once again. Each pass that Rhaenix made leaving countless dead in her wake. That these were his men, that they were men at all was something he tried to put from his mind. In time he could allow the guilt and horror of what he'd done here today to prey on his mind, but that time was not today. He directed Rhaenix to land further from the keep and near the edge of the camp and when she did so he nodded to Arthur, and they both climbed down from her back and began to move to rally the men.
"Don't let loose upon them unless you've no choice, roar and threaten, find Rhaegal." he said and Rhaenix told him to be safe "Arthur we need to restore order and to find out what in the Old Gods name happened here."
"Together, Jae, we move together." Arthur said and Jae nodded as he drew his sword.
The first men who came to them were led by Ser Jon Fossoway who soon explained that it was what it had looked like. For no reason, the men from the Nightfort had just attacked them and it had taken them some time to even realize that they were being attacked.
"Garlan, my aunt?" he asked worriedly.
"I've not seen either of them since they went into the Nightfort a day or so ago, your grace." Ser Jon said.
"Form the men up, we move into the keep and find out what the fuck is going on here." he said trying not to sound as worried as he was and knowing he failed.
"Jae." Arthur said after Ser Jon had moved from them.
"I know, Arthur." he said as they too began to move.
The men who came at them wore the striding huntsman of House Tarly and the golden tree of House Rowan. Two of his family's lealest Houses and here they were with swords bared and trying to kill a Kingsguard and a Targaryen King. Jae barely blocked the swords such was his shock that they were attacking him. Was it not for muscle memory and for Arthur shouting at him, then they may have injured or even killed him.
It was only when he took down the first of them did he truly understand that they were actually trying to kill him. They'd lost their minds, turned their cloaks, and for the life of him, he couldn't understand the why of any of it. He called out to Rhaenix and had her roar her warnings once more and then he sighed as he saw they had done no good. Having no choice he then told her to let loose her flames yet again and after two more passes, the tide finally turned.
"Form up, we go inside." he said looking to Arthur who nodded.
"You heard the king, form up, form up." Arthur shouted.
The crossbow bolt glanced off his armor and Jae ordered archers to fire on the men they saw. Each one that fell was another loss to his army and left them weaker and as they entered the Nightfort he did so almost with tears in his eyes. How many men had he burned here? How many had they lost and yet still these men fought them, his own men fought him. Arthur ordered men to secure the keep and Jae knew some of them too would fall in doing so.
What the hell had happened here?
How had it come to this?
Was it just here?
The last thought had him stopping and Arthur looking to him worriedly, Jae closing his eyes as he looked to Castle Black and back at Eastwatch and found to his relief that things were as he'd left them.
"Jae?" Arthur asked.
"I needed to know if it was just here, Arthur. Thank the gods that it seems as if it is." he said and Arthur nodded.
"Tarly, Rowan, I don't understand." Arthur said as he looked around at the dead men in the courtyard.
"Nor do I, but we need to find them, them and my aunt and goodbrother." he said as his worries for both of them grew.
They needed to clean the keep out room by room almost, in each of them men fought them and refused to surrender and as the day or night went on more and more of his men fell. Both sides suffered losses that he couldn't afford them to suffer. By the time it was done he was even more exhausted than he had already been. The tiredness finally hitting him once the adrenaline of the fighting had worn off.
Above him, Rhaenix flew as now too did Rhaegal and he could hear the worried way that the green dragon called out for his rider. Jae sharing those worries as there was no sign of Shiera or Garlan anywhere and Randyll Tarly too it seemed could not be found.
"We found Rowan, your grace." Ser Jon Fossoway said as he hurried towards him.
"Alive?" he asked to a nod "Take me to him."
Around him lay countless dead, thousands of them and all lost in a fight against the wrong foe. This had to be magic at work, the darkest of magics. It made no sense for things to have come to this without it. He cursed himself as he walked and thought on what Shiera had said, on what he himself had felt when he'd come here. They should have moved somewhere else, left this place to its dark past, and not gifted it more bodies to add to it. Had he done so would this have happened? Jae was sure it would not and each step he took and each body he looked at it only brought that home even more.
"That's Rowan?" he asked looking at the man who had been beaten, battered, and was now chained.
"It is, he's not been himself , your grace." Ser Jon said and as understatements go that was a big one.
Mathis Rowan was or at least had been a proud and noble lord. The man in front of him looked anything but as he seemed aged, drawn, and had lost far too much weight. There were dark circles under his eyes from what he could only imagine was a lack of sleep and were that all then it would be more than enough to cause concern. Adding how he struggled against the chains and the words that he spoke and that concern became something far more worrying.
"Cowards, Damn Cowards the lot of you. I fight for the King, the True King, and not the usurper who sits his throne. A dragon, a true dragon and not a fat stag." Mathis shouted and Jae looked to Arthur who stared at the lord open-mouthed.
"Princess Shiera, Ser Garlan where are they?" Jae asked moving forward, holding Lightbringer up so the Three Header dragon could clearly be seen on his breastplate.
"My king, my king. I knew you'd come. We've fought off the traitors, my king. Randyll and I, we've made up for our crimes. Forgive me, my king, forgive us all for Storm's End. It was the Tyrell's, not us, though we failed you there as well." Mathis said no longer struggling as his tears fell down his cheeks and he looked at him with pleading in his eyes.
"I forgive you, Lord Rowan and name you Leal and True." he said and Mathis began to sob "Ser Garlan?"
"In the cells, my king, I wished to take his head but it's not mine to take." Mathis said with a nod.
"Princess Shiera?"
"With Randyll, these men were traitors, my king. They meant to hand her to the lions, they'd have seen her dead just as they did…."
"Lord Rowan? He asked softly.
"The children, gods the children, what kind of a monster. Send me forth, my king, give me leave to attack the Rock itself. Randyll, I, Paxter, let us see the lions brought low." Mathis begged.
"In time, Lord Rowan, in time I'll not hold you back, I give you my word." Jae said and Mathis smiled a full and true smile "The Princess, Lord Rowan, where does Randyll intend to take the princess to keep her safe?"
"Beyond the Wall, my king, far from the traitors and their reach."
"I thank you for your service and I'll see you released once you've recovered. Ser Jon's men will see you from here, they're good men and true, Lord Rowan, just as you are." he said and Rowan nodded.
With a nod to Ser Jon and telling him to move Mathis and any of the others that were left alive out into the camps, he called for a guard and asked where the cells were before he and Arthur moved off in the direction that the guard pointed to.
"What the hell did I just see?" Arthur asked as they walked.
"He believed he was back in the rebellion, or just after it. I think he saw the Tyrell's as traitors for not riding to my father's aide and instead besieging Strom's End. His own guilt over the Trident has been used against him."
"He should feel guilty, had they…"
"No." he said reaching out to touch Arthur's shoulder "As much as I may hate the truth of things, this is how it was meant to be. My family had to fall, Arthur, I wish it were not so, but they had to fall. This world is the only world that we have a chance in, my father, mother, grandmother, and Daenys herself have all told me this."
"He's lost to us?" Arthur asked and Jae shook his head.
"For now. In time who knows. I should never have had them come here, gods, I've been such a damnable fool." he said shaking off Arthur's words of comfort when he spoke them as now was not the time for such.
When they reached the cells he found that it wasn't only Garlan who was being held prisoner and worse than that he found that some had suffered more than simply being confined. Men had been tortured here, killed, sacrificed was what his mind shouted out to him, and were it not for finding his goodbrother to be relatively unscathed then he'd have felt much worse when he left than he now did.
"Shiera?" Garlan asked as Jae and Arthur helped him from the room.
"Tarly took her Beyond the Wall." Arthur said as Garlan looked at him and Jae nodded.
"I, my head, why doesn't it hurt?" Garlan asked.
"Your neck, she gave you her ruby." Jae said as he pointed to the chain around his goodbrother's neck.
"Why?" Garlan asked confusedly.
"To save your life." Jae said and Garlan stiffened before he spoke.
"We need to find her, to save her." Garlan said determinedly.
"We don't. I do. You and Arthur need to gather the men here, to form them back up and see what state we're in. No one stays in the Nightfort itself and I need you to move all of the supplies far away from it. I'll go and seek Shiera out, Rhaenix and I. I'll send for Aemon or Tyrion to come and offer you a dragon's protection."
"What about Rhaegal?" Arthur asked.
"He needs to leave, and leave now." Jae said as both men looked at him worriedly.
Beyond the Wall 301 AC.
The Night King.
He felt it, the magic flowing through him as he set the wall of ice against the other Wall and filled in the ice bridge across the Gorge. More so when he froze the sea and made his moves against the islands and the Wall itself. They drained him and yet he recovered quickly and though each move had failed, he'd achieved all he'd set out to with them. The defenses they had set against him were more than he anticipated, but they were manageable and the boy showed his true colors once again.
Losses had to be accepted, sacrifices had to be made and the boy powerful though he was had not yet learned that lesson. So eager was he to save them all that he missed opportunities to strike a bigger blow against him. He had left himself open and the boy rather than take that chance had tried to save those who brought him little in return. An island that he didn't even seek to take into his army, giants that would take an age to reach him and would find themselves in his own army soon enough.
In his haste to save them all, he'd almost given him the dragon too. The girl had fallen and had almost been his, only for luck to take her from him. He felt her though, felt his mark upon her, and in time she too would belong to him as would her dragon. Though it wasn't that girl he was thinking about as he watched the man bring the other one to him. The smile he wore was more for her than for the carnage he had wrought at the castle.
"My king." the man said and with a nod of his head, the icy swords were quickly drawn and the man spoke no more.
After he had raised his hands and they rose again as his for true, he then moved to the girl and touched her skin watching as she became young and beautiful again. Every king needs a queen after all and now that he had his, it was time for the true fight to begin. As he watched the girl struggled as the changes came over her, as her skin turned a beautiful pale white and her eyes finally knew only one color, his smile grew as he then gave the order to attack for true. Castle Black, The Nightfort, Eastwatch, not separately but all at the same time, and the full extent of the army that marched with him would now be brought to bear.
Casualties.
7,000 men of the Reach killed.
Randyl Tarly killed by the Night King and risen as a wight.
Shiera Seastar killed and reborn as the Corpse Queen.
A/N: Thanks to all who've read and reviewed. Things have turned a bit hectic and I'm behind in everything. Expect the updates to be a day late so while I will try for Thursday it may be Friday for the next chapter. Up Next we take a break from the War as we take a look around the realm both before and during events at the Wall. Riverrun, Last Heart, and King's Landing amongst other places.
Daryl Dixon: So glad you liked it.
The Sphynx: So touching, love this one, my friend.
Vdwade: Belwas and Sandor I feel went out how they'd have liked, so I'm glad you liked it. Next week will see the NK unleash it all.
Celexys: I felt that here this is the end he would have chosen and as sad to see him go as it was, he saved Dany which for him was everything.
Undeath: I was trying to tell people this during the war for the throne here, Jae had all the advantages he could have wished for in that and so the losses were negligible, here he's facing a much more even fight in every aspect and so the stakes are raised. The show did a terrible job of that and we actually lose more important characters fighting for the throne than against the NK, SMH. The NK is or was almost testing the fence so to speak, looking for weak spots and judging the response that Jae especially would make, once he knew that, he is ready. I think that's the biggest stupidity of the entire NK arc at the end of things in the show, he becomes a moron, as you say thousands of years to plan it out and that's what he does.
Cravenst: so very glad you thought so.
Scarila: I wanted it not to seem as if they were clearly not going back, but once they followed Dany, Sandor knew that unless she turned before he did, there was a good chance of it. Then all that mattered to him was her safety. Belwas wished to be with his friend, even at the cost of his life.
Vfansnake: They are, it was inevitable it would go like this, the stakes are much higher and unfortunately they won't be the last.
Sibeal: So glad you liked it, I wanted to give a little moment to them before the death and a nice little call-back to the relationship they have.
Guest: No worries, as I said it's easy enough to skip past if it's not your thing and not a huge part of the story.
Remi: I think there are so many issues with the long night episode for most that were I to cover them here it would be a chapter all on its own lol. I'm glad though you enjoyed it for what it was. I still think that the best strategy in the scenario of the Wall fallen is one I've used in another of my stories. You hit and run the Highland way, Harry them all the way to WF, you don't just let them march and add to their army.
Anyway, here it's not fallen as you said and so it allows for other tactics to be used. The NK's plans have worked for what he wants from them, we're about to see stage two of those plans.
Jaman: Sorry my friend, they won't be the last.
Hkt29: I'm so glad you liked it. We'll see in the next chapter some of the effects it has on the rest of Westeros as we take a step away from the war. I so wanted that to be his end, to save his little sisters from the monsters this time around, so happy to see you put it that way.
Xand007: Thank you, my friend. The first but unfortunately not the last, Jae will be forced to adapt and we may see some of his own plans come into play really soon. We'll see if you're right about the Red Priests: Sandor went out as he would have wished as did, Belwas. Stay safe, well, and lucky my friend.
Keb: With all that Jae is doing, I wanted there to be something he missed, something that forced him to act and so the Giants seemed to work best for that. No more chicken indeed, though maybe Sandor is gone to that big KFC in the sky lol.
Xan Merrick: Thank you, my friend.
Irish Hermit: Exactly, he was her father, brother, a mentor really and her whole persona is down to the time she spent with him. She'll be devastated and feel his loss very deeply. In regards to her finding out, it's hard to say, Jae could probably tell her, he could show her with the Glass Candles, but given how gruesome the events leading to his death were, it may not be a good thing.
Lady Octarina: Had they not gone after her then she'd have fallen, I think if you'd have asked Sandor he'd give his life for hers 100 times out of 100. Belwas wished to be by his friend's side, even in death. The giant thing was exactly that, a big mistake which in some way led to Sandor/Belwas dying as had he been there then they'd not have been. But I wanted to have Jae overlook something and have it have a cost, also he has been really busy, so it's an understandable mistake.
Pauline: LMAO: so funny. Glad you liked the chapter.
Sachelle: They will be missed, Dany will take Sandor's loss hard.
