THE LONG NIGHT

PART 1. BATTLE FOR THE WALL

ROBB

Upon arriving at wall he informs the Lord Commander, the men of the watch and the Free Folk Elders of the coming danger. "We cannot defend the wall. The magic that keeps the Wights from passing the wall has been weakened…Your only hope is to flee south to White Harbor, Winterfell or Moat Cailin…But the line must be drawn at Moat Cailin…"

"Your Grace…We here at the wall all heard of your great victories in battle…When I heard you had been named King in the North…My heart rejoiced. That being said; what you ask of the men of the watch is a hard thing. We swore an oath to defend the wall and the realms of men…"

"And you are not breaking your oath to take up a better strategic point…I will not argue. All castles North of Winterfell are evacuating either to Winterfell or to White Harbor…If any man here dies they will rise again in the Night King's army…"

Mance stands up, "The Free Folk will follow your lead…My people will retreat to Winterfell…"

Robb nods and looks at Mormont, "I must speak with my commanders before we make decision…"

All along the wall the Free Folk abandon the castles they had been manning and the Gift. Meanwhile The new recruits are sent to White Harbor, those with no fighting skills among the Night's Watch. At night Robb goes beyond the wall to the Weir-Tree. He places his hand on the tree and his eyes glow. "I now call on the Elder Folk…The High men…Come forth Titans of old and fulfill your vow…Hear my voice and come forth!" Using the ancient magic, he calls to the Giants who added the Children of the Forest and the First men long ago.

"I summon the shadow cats…The snow Bears…And the Ice Wraiths come forth and do my biding…"

They couldn't stop the Night King, but they could slow him down. Then Robb turns his attention to Craster. A man who through blood magic made a deal with the Night King and his Walkers. "Craster…I curse thee…Now Freeze!" The women at Craster's Keep scream in horror as Craster is turned to ice before their eyes. Then they all hear a voice in their heads, "Craster is dead…I killed him…The Giants will come and escort you all to the wall…"

THE NIGHT KING

The boy had foolishly tried to time walk without the protection of the Old Blood Raven. Now the Night King had the power to bring the wall down and cross it. But he had to be wary of Robb Stark who wielded the power of Bran the Builder. And then there was the Prince who was Promised, him to he had to wary of. If the Night King hurried, he could cross the wall and add many dead to his army.

As his army marched, he heard the old voice of Bran the Builder speaking through the new King in the North. The Giants, the Shadow Cats, and Ice Wraiths had been called upon to defend the wall. All they would is slow him down. The Night King pauses and uses his sight to spy on the movements of the warm fleshers.

A strategic move to abandon the wall, but it was also foolish. The Night King did not have to concentrate his forces on one section of the wall. He calls one of his Walkers and sends him with a large force to attack Castle Black while the Night King himself will attack another part of the wall and head for White Harbor a city with many followers to awaken.

They travel at night and hide in the snow during the day. A few days later he receives a mental image of his servant Craster who had been turned to ice. Working through the Walker the Night King animates the ice and Craster joins the Walker in the ranks if the dead. His own Ice Wraith.

CASTLE BLACK

Mormont and his men had decided to remain at the castle and defend it. Some men are on the walls and stare in disbelief as an army of Giants, some riding Mammoths emerge from the forest. "I thought all the Giants were fighting with Mance." He says looking at Robb.

"Some…Those that followed him, do so out of respect. Mance is the second man to learn to speak their language. The rest come because I called them empowered with the voice of magic…"

"By the Old Gods!" A man exclaims, as the Shadow Cats join them.

"What in the world are those?"

"Shadow Cats…" Robb replies looking at Mormont, "I am leaving…My Lord I have done all I can to slow them down…I implore you and your men to come with me."

"For years we have waged war on the Free Folk…We did so because we forgot our true purpose…We wish to give our lives to make up for generations of bloodshed."

"Then I will go North to the tree one last time and grant you all protection from the Night King's power…" Robb takes the lift down and then goes through the tunnel as the women from Craster's Keep flee south for safety.

"Builder." The Giants say as he walks among them. When Robb reaches the tree, he places his hand n it and casts a spell that will prevent the Night King from animating their dead bodies. Then he uses his magic to teleport to the tree in Winterfell.

As the sun sets the next day an ice storm rolls towards the wall near castle black. The winds blow and the snow falls. That is when the horn sounds and the Giants rip trees up, set them on fire and throw them into the darkness. Hundreds of Wights burst into flame and thousands more are outlined by the light of the fire.

"Old gods help us." Ed says.

"Arrows!" Mormont screams, "Watch your aim boys those Giants down there are helping us. FIRE AT WILL!"

A hail of arrows flies overhead towards the screeching horde, while Ice Wraiths join the battle. Living forms of men in the shape of Ice come out of the snow. They hurl ice daggers at the Wights breaking them apart. When the Wights are close enough the Shadow the Cats, Snow Bears, and Dire Wolves attack. As the battle unfolds a flock of Ravens fly overhead, heading East.

Some Wights get pass the Giants, Ice Wraiths, Snow Cats, Bears, and Dire wolves and scale the wall. "Prepare to…" The Words stop in Mormont's mouth as a Walker stabs him in the back.

"White Walker!" Ed screams rushing the Blue-Eyed creature. He tries to scoop up Mormont's sword, but the White kicks it over the side of the wall. Then he stabs Ed and is confronted by an Ice Wraith. The Walker kills twelve more men and before it can raise them from the dead a Giant hurls a Dragonglass spear head at the Wight destroying it and the other Wights it created.

THE NIGHT KING

Meanwhile the Night King arrives at the wall near Sable Hall. He points his hands at the wall and the ice starts to crack. He manipulates the ice so that it can break the stones beneath. The ground rumbles as a chunk of the wall ten feet long falls and opens a breach. The Night King Leads his army through the wall and heads for the graves at Last Hearth the first Castle in their path.

The ancient ancestors of House Umber break free of their graves and tombs to walk the land again adding numbers to the Night King's army. When they reach Last River a flock of Ravens fly overhead as the River Freezes. The Night King Stares at the birds and they scatter.

WINTERFELL

When Robb appears, Frightening his mother who is standing watch as Bran trains with the Blood-Raven. "Sorry mother."

"Sorry! You could have given me a heart attack…Where did you come from?"

"I can use the trees to move from one place to another very quickly."

"By the Seven I wish an end to all this magic."

"It will be soon."

They waited until Bran came out of his trance. "The Night King has crossed the wall and he has raised the dead at Last Hearth."

PART 2. FIRE AND ICE

BRAN

WINTERFELL – THREE DAYS AFTER BRAN WAS MARKED BY THE NIGHT KING

"The time has come…Time to see how the Night King became the Night King…" The Old Raven says to Bran. Into the past they go during the age of the Andels who came to Westeros a few hundred years after the First Men. Bran witnesses the Andels who cross the land bridge and start cutting down the weir-trees tended to by the Children of the Forest. They hunt and kill Shadow Cats, Dire Wolves, Giants, and the Children.

"Its horrible…How can they do this?"

"People fear what they do not understand…Especially when it comes to the gods and what a group of people believe in."

They watch as the Children of the forest teach the men of the Stormlands to control the weather, but instead of using their power to help they use it for their own purposes. Then the Children blow up the land bridge and retreat North. They gather at the tree that would one day become the godswood for Winterfell.

"Give us magic!" A man says, "Give us magic and we will fight the Andels!"

"The last humans we gave magic to used it for themselves…No!" A Child of the Forest named River says.

"I swear by the Old gods that I will not…"

"Humans make promises to get what they want. But when it comes to time to fulfill their vows they do not!" River replies.

"Aye!" A few other children say.

"When we came here to these lands…" Edward Stark father of Bran the Builder says, "…we First Men set aside the gods of the East and we made oaths to the Old gods of the West…Your gods…We seek only to protect what we have built and what is…"

That is when Leaf the leader of the Children stands up, "So be it…We shall grant you magic…Magic to warg into animals…and see the past, the present, and the Future…"

"What kind of Magic is that?" The man from earlier says, "You gave the Stormlords power over the weather…Give us something that will make our enemies tremble before us…"

"What is his name?" Bran asks.

"The Children took his name…I do not know…Watch and learn…"

Five of the Children pull the man on the side. They say his name, but it sounds like gibberish to Bran. "What do you want?"

"If things continue this way all will be lost…The trees are memory the eyes of the old gods to watch us and to speak with us."

"I know all this." The man replies

"There is an ancient ritual we know of…It will turn you into a living weapon of sorts…You will command the ice storms…You will have the power to animate the dead…imagine an army of the dead…Wights to kill our enemies…Not even fire will harm you…"

"Yes, give me this power…What must I do?"

"You have to die." Root says. They take the man North. To the far North where no one has ever gone before. They take him to a godtree and tie him to it. Then they take a shard of Dragonglass and cut the skin of their hands. Their blue blood is slathered all over the dragonglass shard. Then they plunge it into the man's chest.

"STOP!" Leaf yells, but it is too late. The man's eyes turn blue and his skin cold and hard as rock. His hair falls off and the ropes binding him freeze and shatter as the sky turns black and it starts to snow. "By the old gods do you realize what you have done?"

"What was necessary to save what is left and to avenge the dead."

"The old gods will turn their backs on us for you have done!"

"Perhaps they have already turned against us…" Rabbit replies.

"So the doom I have foreseen comes to pass like this…You have doomed the world."

"We have saved it!"

"Great and terrible things will happen because of the abomination you created…But you will not live to see it!" Leaf draws a dagger and cuts her own hand. Then blue waves of light shoot out from the wound and consumes the five Children who created the abomination. They cry out, age, mummify, and turn to dust. Then she looks at the abomination.

"I will destroy our enemies as promised…"

She shakes her head, "I thought you understood the old gods fool…Only the gods of the east play with magic to bring back the dead…The old gods serve forged the circle of life…and because of your makers that circle is broken…" She points her cut hand at the Night King, "I take away your mind…Your voice…I bind you to this place…Your prison it shall be!"

"If Leaf bound him to the tree and imprisoned him…How did he escape?" Bran asks to the Old Raven. He explains that the children were forbidden from practicing blood magic. When Root and her friends did what they did. The old gods did turn their backs on the Children. A follower of Rhillor came to Westeros and used his magic to free the Night King from his prison. Rhilor and his followers wanted humans to follow him and him alone. So, they freed the Night King so that Rhilor's followers could save the day and people would abandon the Seven, the old gods, the drowned god, and all the rest. The Priest became the first White Walker.

"When someone dies they take all their knowledge with them…When the Night King reanimated the Priest he gained the power to break free from the children's control…He also gained some of his memories back through the visions he gained from the Priest. That is why the Night King seeks to destroy the children and men…He felt betrayed by both…And that is why it took both Bran the Builder and Azor Ahai to stop him the first time…He was created by magic of the old gods, but he gained power from a fire god as well and is able to resist the greatest representation of godfire on earth…Dragonfire…"

"Fire and Ice…It will take someone born of both to defeat him."

"Aye that is why Azor and Bran failed the first time…Now Jon is the Prince that was Promised born of Fire and Ice…The power to stand equal with the Night King…"

PRESENT

Bran is warging through the Ravens. The Old Blood-Raven had given him a task. Using the flock of Ravens he searches for the Night King. When he reaches the wall the battle is underway. "He is not here." Bran says to the Old Raven.

"Think! If you were the Night King and there was an army of Giants, Wolves, Shadow Cats, Ice Wraiths, Bears, and men waiting for you…What would you do?"

Bran hesitates, "I…I would…I would divide my forces and attack in two maybe even three places…"

"Fly and keep looking…"

Bran flies East and after several miles he finds the Night King. With one glance the Night King sends a blast of power at him. It disorients Bran, but he was protected by the Blood Raven. That is when he hears and feels his brother. "My brother is home I need to tell him…"

"Go it is time to rest…for the both of us…"

"But the Night King…"

"We have time for one last lesson…Until tomorrow."

Robb appears, frightening his mother who is standing watch as Bran trains with the Blood-Raven. "Sorry mother."

"Sorry! You could have given me a heart attack…Where did you come from?"

"I can use the trees to move from one place to another very quickly."

"By the Seven I wish an end to all this magic."

"It will be soon."

They waited until Bran came out of his trance. "The Night King has crossed the wall and he has raised the dead at Last Hearth."