The new day started early for them all. Gendry put out the fire and they re-saddled the horses, to continue their journey. During the morning, before the sun found the apex in the sky, Arya practiced the mind bridge with the horses. Aulix had them pick up the pace, until reaching a densely wooded area. Here they stopped for a break and so Arya could be taught how to connect with the crow. It wasn't as easy as the horse and she had a terrible headache by the time Aulix let her rest and the journey continued. He didn't ease her pain, because she had to learn that crows had a much more powerful mind, than most beasts. He decided to reunite her with the friend and protector, before completing her training with the crow. If his trip north was delayed a day or so, it truly made no difference. His original reason for coming with Arya on her adventure to complete her kill list, would have to be put on hold. The crow's third eye had given him information, due to it's important nature. Somehow it knew that only Aulix could use the knowledge without bias. But if Arya could connect with the crow, he had to find out if she could see the third eye too. That would determine her true extent of this deviation of the warg ability. He figured that since the third eye sight hadn't closed for him, that was a good sign.
What he didn't plan on was the Lannister raiding party on horseback, that they met as The King's Road came into sight. There were twenty men for the three of them to fight. Arya didn't know their names, so she wouldn't kill, just maim. Gendry used the sword from Taron and Aulix used daggers, his preferred weapons of choice. Using the partial bridge, he called to Arya's friend and protector. It wasn't the reunion he had planned, but it would do.
The raiding party that were wounded, had their necks torn apart. Aulix laughed when he saw the surprised expression on Arya's face when she recognized her friend. Gendry had no idea what was going on, so just kept fighting. His kill ratio was impressing Aulix. As the remaining men tried to flee, they were chased down and slaughtered.
"Nymeria! Oh god Aulix, it's my direwolf!" Arya sobbed, with her face buried in the neck of her childhood pet.
The wolf licked her face, cleaning the blood and tears from the girl that she loved and had missed for so many years. Nymeria barked a command to her pack, who regrouped and waited close by.
"How is this possible? Were the visions because I was connecting to her? She remembers me!" Arya's words were blurted and jumbled.
Aulix wiped his daggers clean on one of the men he'd killed. "Yes the visions were you seeing through her eyes. I wanted to surprise you with reuniting, just not like this. And the crow showed her to me, you can thank the birds for helping to locate Nymeria." He sat down and to the shock of Arya and Gendry, the entire wolf pack came to him, submissively.
"How are you not scared when they nip you like that?" Gendry asked in amazement.
"That's how they show their affection . Lying on their back is showing they know I am an alpha leader."
Nymeria moved forward, after Arya released her. She barked once and the pack split to let her move past. Aulix stood up and waited for her to come to him. She sniffed him and then sat down like a dog, making puppy-like sounds of happiness, while tail wagged crazily. He scratched behind Nymeria's ears.
"Do you know her?" Arya asked in amazement.
Aulix tapped his head and grinned. Then he encouraged, "try it… the bridge."
Looking at her direwolf Arya tried to do the partial mind connect and got it the first try. "Is it always this easy with wolves?"
"No. It's because you have a connection with her since she was a baby. Normally it would be even harder, because she's the leader of this pack. But you and your family, the other direwolves of your brothers, they're part of her original pack, what she considers family."
"Thank you Aulix… without you I may never have found her again, or she me. Did you come with me, just for this?"
He laughed. "Silly woman of course not. But I had promised Taron that I would keep you safe before I left you. Who better to do that, than your loyal friend Nymeria and her wolf pack?"
Gendry noticed and yet still wanted to clarify, "wait you're leaving? When?" By now he knew not to ask why, because Aulix was likely not to answer.
"Soon. I'll be going north, while Arya plans to go south to King's Landing."
She looked at him, "to the wall or beyond?"
"Not sure." He nodded at the Gendry and then the wolves. "You don't need me around anymore, they'll have your back. If you can't kill without a name, they can."
Gendry looked from the woman he loved, to the man he feared and respected. "She sucks at letting go. To her, you, Taron and the guild are her family, as much as I am."
Aulix smiled, "she never forgot who she was and that her blood family is still out there. I know we are her extended family." Arya began to protest and he held up his hand for silence. "The crow will tell me when it's time to leave."
Nymeria whined anxiously.
"We need to leave here, go closer to God's Eye, cross the King's Road and go past the forest. Strip the men naked, so the wildlife can get at their flesh easier. Take what you want, they don't need it," Aulix instructed, already pocketing coins from a dead man and rolling up a long coat he'd need for the trip north.
"Should we burn the clothes or hide them in the woods?" Gendry asked.
"Toss them in the woods, no time for a fire."
They did the same with the swords, except for the one that Gendry took, so he could return Taron's gift to Arya.
Nymeria led her pack and the three riders, across the road, through the bordering forest and kept going until sunset. When she stopped, it was near a small stream, it's source from God's Eye. Aulix took care of the horses, while Gendry collected wood for a fire. Using the mental bridge, Arya went hunting with the pack. They returned with a baby pig, the mother and rest of the boar family eaten by the pack.
That night when Aulix got restless and left camp, the wolf pack, minus Nymeria, followed him. Arya knew it was her wolf protecting him, not Aulix requesting the pack to come. She looked at the wolf, "he's fine on his own."
Nymeria grunted and stared at Arya and then looked out into the darkness, from where Aulix had gone.
"Okay, you know this area best." She scratched behind the wolf's ears. "This is the happiest I've been in a long time." Arya looked at Gendry and blushed, "well except for the times when we…."
He chuckled. Then added, "if you connect to the crow, like Aulix does, do you think you can find where the Red Witch is?"
"Maybe. I don't think I'll get in to the third eye the way he can. Anyway, if he knew where she was, he'd have told me already."
A howl interrupted their discussion. Nymeria flicked her ear in the direction it came from. Shortly after the wolves from her pack, sounded off from all around them. Then Arya's direwolf sat up, pointed her muzzle to the sky and answered the call.
"What's that all about?" Gendry asked.
"Her pack is letting Nymeria know where they are. She probably told them to stay with Aulix until he comes back."
"But how does she know he will come back?"
Arya smiled, "well I think after everything he said and that happened today, Aulix would send them back if he was leaving for the north."
"True. Once he goes, the sharp hearing and noses of those wolves will give us advanced warning of danger. And you'll be able to use birds like he does to check the area too."
"I'll have to practice riding and connecting to birds, or I could fall out of my saddle."
"If he leaves before you've mastered that, I'll help you stay in the saddle or you can ride with me during that connection." Gendry was trying to reassure her that they didn't need to rely on Aulix anymore.
The wolves returned. For a moment Gendry and Arya both thought Aulix had left without saying good-bye. Then they heard his horse, before seeing him due to the reflection of the fire in his eyes. It gave them shivers, their hair standing up on the back of their necks.
"Miss me?" Aulix joked. Then said, "tomorrow is all about Arya and the crow connection. Oh and before I forget, my horse has a shoe loose on the right front."
"I can fix it no problem. Did the leg feel lame?"
"Maybe a little swelling, you'd know best." As he lay down, head resting on his saddle, the other wolves crept in as close as Nymeria allowed them to get, near him. Their bodies acted as a barrier from the cool wind that blew through the camp.
Gendry guessed that there was nothing wrong with the horse's leg. If he was right, it was his choice whether to confirm Aulix could leave at any time.
As they all lay down for sleep, Gendry held Arya and she had an arm around Nymeria. All three slept soundly. Aulix glanced over at them, his eyes held not envy, but satisfaction. When he rolled over, his back facing them and the fire, one wolf came and lay beside him. That made him smirk and pet the wolf.
Overnight clouds rolled in and the new day was gloomy. That didn't stop Aulix from having Arya try to connect to the crow. She was too distracted and that irritated Aulix. "If the plan is to delay me leaving, by not completing the link to the crow, you're wrong. I'm teaching you this, so you can have it tell me if you're in danger and need my help. I'm going tomorrow, one way or another."
He was right and she was ashamed of trying to stop him from going, like that. Arya knew better and realized that making Aulix angry with her, was not what she wanted. "Sorry and I am truly lucky that you've come with me this far. You've done so many things to help me and I've done nothing for you. I owe you."
This met silence. She tried again with their private language. 'Forgive me please. I'll go out of camp, leave them behind and practice.'
'Do you still want to finish your kill list?'
'Yes… unless you tell me not to.'
Aulix narrowed his eyes. 'That's not for me to decide, you know that.'