Shack shivered at the morning chill that was locking up his joints pushing him back from moving forward apace with Jon and Nester. He doesn't know why but Lord Commander Mormont allowed the three of them to range beyond the Wall. In his opinion both Jon Snow and the Old-bear are morons. Who in their right mind wants to go further north of the Wall and what kind of a Lord Commander of the Night's Watch allowed this farce of a ranging done by someone other than a brother of the Night's Watch. Personally, he suspected that the Lord Commander was trying to intimidate Jon from not going by allowing him passage with a warning of no help from the Night's Watch. Instead of doing the sensible thing and abandoning the moronic idea of travelling north of the Wall Jon did the opposite. The fool thanked a flabbergasted Lord Commander and happily skipped over to the other side of the Wall.
Shack wanted to wring the neck of Jon but he held himself back. While Jon was acting out of character and endangering all of them by this trip Shack had to admit that he was curious. He was not curious enough to abandon all sense of self-preservation but he was curious nonetheless. The main reason that he was curious was because of the raven that was sitting on Jon's shoulder giving them directions in this snow-covered hell. Even Nester who had opposed vehemently at first has mellowed out and was quite eager where this trip was going although the portly guy was looking around them constantly for any signs of danger.
Then again even if Shack disagreed with Jon on this trip he would never allow the younger boy to wander-off into Wildling infested lands all alone. His family owed Lord Stark a great debt for ensuring that they never go hungry. His own father had served in the rebellion and fought beside Lord Stark. In the battle of Trident, his father lost his sword hand. A soldier without a hand was no soldier but Lord Stark still employed his father in the granaries of Winterfell. The Starks have always been good to his family and if he turned coat and abandoned someone with Stark blood then what would that make him. The Old Gods would never forgive him for being ungrateful to a family that gave him so much. Besides, following Jon was not such a bad thing. There was this air of greatness that surrounded Jon in a cocoon that attracted others. This attraction is further amplified when someone really gets to know Jon. It would not be remiss to say that he considered Jon a friend and he was sure the feeling was mutual.
"I have to ask this once again Jon. Do you really know what you are doing?" Shack asked one last time just to soothe his conscience
"Trust me, Shack. We are safe here so long as we do not travel outside the boundaries of Caster's Keep." Jon replied as he carefully traversed through the snow dragging his horse by the reins
"I say we just mount our horses and ride to where we have to go." Nester wheeze out as he waded through the snow
"No! We don't know the ground and there is a chance that the ground may give under the weight. We can use the horses on our way back but right now we have to trust our legs." Jon cautioned as they continued to wobble through the snow. As they moved farther and farther away from the Wall the snow was getting thicker and thicker which was not helping matters.
"Stop…stop…stop…"
The raven on Jon's shoulder cawed repeatedly forcing their party to stop.
"Now what?" Nester growled at the bird
"It seems we are here." Jon smiled as he looked up to the Weirwood trees
Shack exchanged a look of confusion with Nester and they not followed Jon's line of sight which took their breath away. Up in the thick branches and red leaves of the Weirwood trees several dark figures moved. Shack and Nester quickly unsheathed their swords and stood at the ready.
"Sheath your weapons. They don't like that." Jon ordered them
"What are you…?" Nester trailed off as the dark figures jumped down to the ground showing themselves to the three of them. Out of the three of them, only Jon remained cool while Shack and Nester stumbled back falling down on their arse.
"Wha…how???...who…?"
Shack blabbered incoherently as he backpedalled on the snow. Nester was also in a similar condition as he struggled to form coherent thoughts much less any words for that matter. Their swords fell into the snow forgotten as shack and Nester openly gasket at the small chestnut coloured beings that were standing before them. As their brain processed what was before them they climbed to their knees and bowed with their forehead touching the ground.
"Children of the Forest!!!" Nester reverently whispered
"All the stories are true! All the legends are true! Old Gods take me…I am in the presence of Children of the Forest!" Shack whispered in awe as his eyes shined with tears
Jon really did want to let out a snort of laughter at the way his two companions were acting but he managed to suppress the impulse. It was quite understandable why Nester and Shack were behaving like this. It is not every day that the old myths and legends get validated right before one's eyes. Openly displaying amusement at his companions' state would be insensitive and cruel. So he decided to let this go for now and tease them some other time for all their grumblings about his 'mad actions' since arriving at the Wall.
So rather than taking advantage of their weakened state, Jon turned his attention to the Children. There were two of them dressed in red leaves of the Weirwood trees. Both of them were small only high enough to be at his waist level which was kind of cute. They looked like a grown-up version of HP elves minus the tennis ball eyes and grey skin. The Children of Forest looked more humane if one could neglect their skin tone and black beady eyes. They looked too cute and completely harmless. He couldn't get around the fact these were the beings the Andals cut down indiscriminately.
Jon bowed to the waist before he addressed the two Children.
"Greetings, Earthsingers. It is a great honour to meet you in person."
"Greetings son of builder. My name is Mist. We come bearing gifts from the three-eyed-raven." said the Child who's name is Mist and her companion produced a small wooden cup filled with green paste and handed it to Jon
"What is this?" Jon asked as he took the cup
"The concoction will help you remember the past and see the future. You will need it if you are set on the course that you have chosen. The war for Dawn start anew and the world needs its hero." said Most who led Jon to a nearby Weirwood tree and made him sit at its base
"Drink the paste and see the world with new eyes." the other Child said as it guided the cup to Jon's lips
As Jon took a single but small gulp of the paste and he felt the fluid burn through his throat. A white haze started to cover his eyes and he felt he was losing the motor functions of his body. He heard the panicked sounds of Shack and Nester but the Children forced the rest of the liquid down his throat. He could hear drums beating in his ear and was that a coach being blown. His vision was completely lost and it was full white all around him.
Suddenly he found himself lying face down on the snow-covered ground. He immediately stood up and looked around confused as this was not a place that he was familiar with. There were several Weirwood trees but this was not beyond the Wall not could he find his companions or the Children.
He heard movement in the trees to his back and he saw a man and a woman walk out hand in hand. They were wearing animal skin like clothes and the man was carrying a sword made of obsidian. Instead of noticing Jon, they walked right past him without sparing him a glance. Jon curiously followed them and soon they stopped before a Weirwood tree. The woman had blood-red hair and she placed the tip of the man's sword against her heart and spoke,
"Nyke, tala hen dawn, sacrifice issa immortality naejot ōños se perzyssy hen ēlī perzys. (I, daughter of Dawn, sacrifice my immortality to light the fires of the first flame.)"
Jon could understand some parts of the language as it was High Valyrian but some of the words were unfamiliar. Still, he managed to understand the full meaning behind the words.
After those words were spoken the black obsidian glowed a fiery red. The blade was projecting a scorching heat that was reminiscent of lava.
Jon felt as if the vision was beginning to get blurred but before he lost the vision he saw a young silver-haired girl bouncing over to the couple. That was the last thing he saw before he regained consciousness.
"Jon are you alright? Can you hear me?" Shack asked as he helped him sit up against the bark of the tree
"Don't worry. I am fine." said Jon as he stood upon his own legs with some support from Shack while Nester was keeping the Children at an arm's length while holding his sword threateningly
Jon felt some wet substance in his cheek and he checked it out with his fingers. Instead of finding some snow or water, his fingers found blood. It was then that he realised that his eyes were bleeding.
"What did you do to me?" Jon asked
"What we did for you son of Builder! We awakened your blood. You should be feeling the changes now." Mist looked at him pointedly as if that explained everything
It was then that Jon realised that the bone-chilling cold that he had felt all this time was much less apparent. Apparently, it was as if there was a special heater within his immediate space that was keeping him warm exclusively.
"Jon, your eyes!" Shack gasped out
"What about my eyes?"
"They are purple, not grey!" said Shack confusedly
"We cannot stay here longer so of Builder. We must return at once. Brynden Rivers wishes you success in your endeavours and he sends his regards." said Mist as she moved closer to Jon and handed him a mud-covered dragon egg. The other Child dumped two swords and a dark red scabbard on the white snow.
"You will be needing that scabbard for your weird when the time comes. It is reinforced with runes. Take care son of Builder. Our hopes and prayers go with you." said Mist and the two Children ran back into woods without waiting for any reply
"This is going to be very hard to explain!" Jon said as he rubbed his eyes
"You don't say! I think the boy transferred his madness to us Shack!" Nester muttered still in a daze at everything that happened
"We have to get back to the Wall as fast as we can. I have to leave for Braavos as fast as possible." Jon said as he secured the two swords, scabbard and the dragon egg on the back of his horse. He climbed in to of the horse and looked expectantly at Shack and Nester
"Aren't you guys coming back?" Jon asked startling the two out of their daze
Together the three of them began to trace back the path they came from and started their journey back to the Wall all the while Jon filled them in on some of the truth. After all, he needed people he could trust and after today it was important that he ensured the trust of these two men at all cost or else he will have to neutralize them despite his personal feelings or sense of morality. There was too much at stake for him to risk everything this early in the game.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:The back story of the swords and the dragon egg will be explained in later chapters. One of the swords is Dark Sister while the other is an unknown for now. I struggled with adding the dragon egg here but I think I am going with it for now. Even still I am not convinced to introduce a dragon rider Jon but if I can come up with a plausible plot I will proceed to hatch the dragon. Till then Jon will remain without a dragon.There are more benefits to the concoction that the CoF gave to Jon which will be apparent as time goes on.Next up we have Benjen meeting with his nephew.