AN: Again, special thanks to Reviewer543 for the contribution to this story. Without those contributions, this story would not have reached the quality levels of the past few chapters. Thank you to everyone that has followed, favorited and reviewed. Please continue to do so!

A creaking sound resonated through the relative silence surrounding the Shadow Tower. The Tower itself lived up to its name as it seemed to be shrouded in shadows. Though it was connected to the Wall, as were all of the Nights Watch's strongholds, this one pierced the sky but did not seem to gain notice from the sun as the rays of light failed to penetrate the intense shadows.

The Wall and this tower even dwarf Winterfell in height Jon thought to himself as he stared up in wonder at the two massive structures. Turning his head, he followed the wall as far as he could with his eyes before it met the horizon and disappeared into the distance. To think that structures like this exist in the world. It's no wonder that people credit legendary figures like Bran the Builder with their construction. How could any mere man build something so much bigger than himself?

"Look, Snow," Alyn grumbled getting his companions attention. "You helped get me out of a tight spot back there. I'm not one for words but for that you have my thanks."

"We helped each other," Jon countered with a smirk while his gaze returned to the tunnel that had been revealed at the base of the Shadow Tower. "There is no way that I could have made it here by myself. Right now I just want a bed."

"Well, the Shadow Tower may not be as finely furnished as you are used to but you will find that there are more than enough beds that getting you set up in one should not be a problem"

"The Shadow Tower is the tallest building that I have ever laid eyes upon." Jon countered, while his eye caught sight of a Raven taking flight from one of the windows a hundred feet off the ground. "Then there's the Wall…"

"Aye, then there's the Wall. Just about everyone feels that way when they see it for the first time. Though usually the first glimpse of it is usually from Castle Black as that is where Lord Commander Mormont has the new recruits say their vows."

"What is Castle Black like?"

"It's not as tall as the Shadow Tower but it is still pretty impressive. It's as well maintained as possible given the circumstances and it's much lighter than this place."

"From what I've heard, the Shadow Tower has been shrouded in darkness since the thirteenth Lord Commander of the Nights Watch crowned himself as Night's King before he was killed. It is said that upon his death, his wife, the Night's Queen, fled the Nightfort and lived the rest of her days barricaded in one of the chambers in the depths of the Shadow Tower that has been lost to time."

"The Night's King, I've heard of that before," Jon said, grimacing as he tried to recall what he had heard of the Night's King, as he and Alyn reached the tunnel and he saw the man begin to dismount. "That was the one that was taken down when the King in the North of that age allied with a King Beyond the Wall?"

Alyn's usually solemn face seemed to lighten as he laughed. "There was a bit more to it than that but aye; that is the one I'm talking about."

Jon almost voiced a thought that such a thing shouldn't be possible before remembering that he could summon frost, fire and lightning on a whim and decided to let the matter drop. Pulling up on his horse's reigns, he caused the mount to stop before he pushed himself from the saddle to dismount. Unfortunately, sleeping in the saddle did not seem to provide the same regenerative properties as sleeping in his bed as the sudden movement caused a sudden rush of dizziness that resulted in him falling in a heap at the horse's side.

"You lasted far longer than I thought before falling from the horse," Alyn said as he shoved his hand out to help Jon to his feet. "It's a good thing too. If you had fallen off during the night's ride you would have had to figure a way here by yourself."

Jon just shook his head, too disoriented to respond vocally as he reached for the hand that was presented to him. With a swift tug, Jon was back on his feet as the dizziness returned causing him to lean heavily on the horse that had brought him to the Shadow Tower.

"That works. Lead the horse through the tunnel and one of the stewards will take him to the stables once we're through."

Again, Jon nodded and forced one foot in front of the other to make his way through the dark tunnel. The occasional torch on the wall provided just enough light to prevent the tunnel from fading into darkness. The length of the tunnel was surprising to Jon as, by his estimation, he had traveled at least 300 paces before the tunnel turned sharply and began to angle up.

As Jon, Alyn and the horses made the turn they could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. After two hundred more paces, they had reached the end of the tunnel and stepped into the sunshine in the middle of what appeared to be a training ground. Standing in a semi-circle at the entrance to the cave was a group of men dressed in black. Jon turned his head lethargically to compare Alyn to the assembled group.

Like many of the others, Alyn had a sizable beard, though streaks of grey in his beard indicated that he was one of the older members of the Watch. Also, now that Jon had others to use for comparison, he could clearly see that Alyn was taller than average. While everyone was clad in black, Jon couldn't help but think that the attire worn by Alyn seemed to be higher quality than that of the other members of the Nights Watch in general. Not only did his clothes seem to be of higher quality but his eyes were revealed by the light to be a very unusual golden brown in color.

While Jon was making his comparisons, a man who seemed to be in his late forties with exceptionally blue eyes, a bald head and a bushy white mustache stepped forward followed by another old man with lank white hair that formed a sort of halo around the bald crown of his head who was clean shaven with brown eyes and a Maester's chain over his black robes.

The man's gaze flickered from Alyn to Jon before resting on Alyn again.

"Alyn, it's good to have you back. We will discuss your unauthorized ranging later." The man that Jon presumed to be Denys Mallister, said while narrowing his eyes. "Who is this that you have brought back with you?"

"My name is Jon Snow." Jon introduced himself while trying to emulate Lord Eddard Stark speaking with one of his lordly bannermen. "My father is Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell, Warden of the North."

"Well met, Jon Snow." The man acknowledged. "My name is Denys Mallister, I have command here at Shadow Tower. This is the maester of the Shadow Tower, Mullin. If what you said is true, what brought you so far from home?"

"I speak the truth. Honestly, I can't say how I got here. One minute I was in Winterfell and the next thing I remember is waking up in the woods before passing out and waking up in a cave with Alyn."

"This is not good. It has come to our attention that, recently, Wildlings from Frostfangs have been managing to slip past the wall." The man said as he stroked his beard in consideration. "It is possible but deeply troubling that a group of Wildlings was able to make their way to Winterfell looking for a high-born captive. In the past years, we have noticed the Wildings banding together behind one who has fashioned himself as a King Beyond the Wall. Perhaps he was the reason behind your capture."

"If he's anything like the Cave People that we met, I wouldn't want to meet him." Jon said with a cringe, thinking of the people that had captured him after his battle with Saphiron. "I didn't do anything to threaten them but they still captured me, bound me and, if Alyn is correct, they would have killed me."

"The Cave People are savages." Denys acknowledged with a nod. "In all of my years at Shadow Tower, I have never heard of anyone managing to escape once they were caught by the Cave People."

The maester stepped forward and asserted himself into the conversation. "For that matter, I cannot recall the Cave People choosing to capture rather than kill during combat."

"I don't know much about the Cave People," Jon replied as the dizziness that had been his companion since the battle with Saphiron returned. "From what Alyn has told me, it sounded like they were getting ready to kill us before we escaped."

"Yes," Ser Denys nodded. "How exactly did you escape? Pardon my saying but you don't seem to be in a very good way."

Jon tried to straighten up and present himself as if he was being addressed by the Warden of the North when he had his Lord face, as Arya used to call it. "I'm not completely sure what happened but I have been out of sorts since waking up. It's a small miracle that I managed to stay on my horse throughout the night to make it here with Alyn."

"Alyn," Denys addressed the ranger. "How is it that two men managed to escape the caves of the Cave People?"

"With more luck than we had any right to expect," Alyn answered in an earnest tone. "Apparently, they thought that the boy didn't have much fight in him. His bindings were not as secure as they should have been. He managed to free himself before freeing me. Then we snuck through the caves and were able to steal a pair of horses and make our escape."

"That is fortunate to an extreme," Maester Mullin said with a pointed look. "You went on an unauthorized ranging, met with a group of Wildlings known for their brutality and managed a daring escape with the bastard son of the Warden of the North. I look forward to discussing this in more detail with you and Commander Denys."

"Of course," Alyn nodded before his gaze shifted to Jon. "Though, we should probably get the boy to a bed before he falls where he stands."

"I'm fine," Jon started to protest while stepping forward suddenly. Unfortunately, the action proved to be too much for him and he collapsed where he stood.

Jon was no longer standing in the middle of the training grounds at the Shadow Tower. Instead of the dizziness that he had been experiencing, he felt power and purpose as he ran through trees that dwarfed those of the Wolfswood. His lungs expanded and contracted as he took deep breaths that allowed him to push his body to go faster. As his paws touched down, there was barely a sign despite his massive size.

It was then that Jon realized that the body that he was using to run through the forest was not that of a man. Somehow, he managed to find himself in Ghost's body. With all of the madness that had appeared in Jon's world in the past day, he didn't fight against the unfamiliar situation and allowed himself to be swept up in the sensation joy that his Direwolf companion gained from pushing his newly grown body to its limit, the crisp air in his lungs, the soft ground beneath his paws and the unrelenting feeling of strength in his muscles.

With this realization, Jon realized something that something beyond the pleasures that he had been experiencing was pushing at his consciousness; the reason that he was running. Though Ghost's thoughts were not constructed in the words used by men, Jon was able to understand the meaning behind the waves of emotion rolling through the mind of the direwolf.

He felt Ghosts reluctance to part from his master while Jon was battling against the sea serpent. He felt the desire that Ghost felt to turn around and return to the one who had saved him and his siblings. Most of all, Jon could feel the fear of Ghost's uncertainty that had manifested when the direwolf caught the faintest trace of a smell that caused all of his instincts to rebel.

All of his instincts of self-preservation demanded that Ghost run as far from the smell as he could but the direwolf rebelled against those instincts to help protect his pack and the one that saved him. He followed the scent unstopping as day gave way to night and night, in turn, gave way to day again. The smell had steadily become stronger as Ghost drew steadily closer to the enemies of the living.

As Ghost propelled them forward, Jon noticed that the terrain started to shift. He could no longer see the forest floor as a light dusting of snow had settled upon the ground. Although the presence of snow on the ground caused Jon to think that the temperature dropped significantly, he was unable to feel it through Ghost's thick furs.

Ghost pushed on and Jon noticed that the amount of snow on the ground increased to the point that it would be deep enough to reach his ankle, had he been standing there in his boots. This did not seem to deter Ghost in the slightest as he continued to run without the slightest protest to the changed climate.

Ghost kept up the pace until they arrived at a small break in the trees where the smell that had compelled Jon so far from his master was unmistakable. Besides the smell, the next thing that alerted Jon to the danger of the clearing would have made him heave the meager contents of his stomach if he saw it in his human body. There on the other side of the clearing was the body of a little girl with her back to a tree. Initially she looked to be standing but upon further inspection it was revealed that she had been impaled upon one of the low hanging branches that jutted from her chest.

The girl's brown eyes remained opened and her face was frozen in terror. Following her gaze, Jon saw a clearing filled with dismembered body parts that had been arranged to form a rough circle with a line bisecting its center. The dismembered heads men were impaled upon sticks that had been driven into the frozen ground, and were facing away from the parts that had formerly made their bodies.

Three men dressed in black had dismounted as Ghost pawed closer to the clearing, his coat allowing him to blend into his surroundings despite his massive size. All of the men were wearing the blacks of the Nights Watch though only one had the beard of a man. The other two, presumably younger, members of the Watch were almost opposite in appearance except for their height.

One of the younger two had shoulder length blonde hair and blue eyes while the other had very dark hair that was kept short and plastered to his head. The other of the two younger men kept his dark hair short and had wispy facial hair that was common at the age just before he would be considered a man grown. The eldest was not yet showing any grey to give his age away but his eyes spoke volumes and seemed to tell the story of many journeys north of the Wall.

While Ghost was close enough to hear the words that the men spoke, the direwolf's ears instead focused on the crunch of snow beyond the men who had drawn their swords and his nose on the smell of the being that created the sound. It was only the sound of swords being drawn from sheathes caused Ghost to shift his attention to the men again.

The men were looking around the disjointed body parts for the culprits of such a crime when the man with beard stooped down to pick something up off the ground. Whatever it was that he picked up was indiscernible from Ghost's vantage point but it served to attract the attention of the member of the Watch with the short dark hair.

Ghost's body was in motion before Jon realized the danger that the member of the Watch had inadvertently encountered. When he was distracted by the object held by his brother Watchman, a hulking figure with white hair, grey skin and glowing blue eyes rose from the snow with a sword that seemed to be made of ice held in its hand.

The entity with the blue eyes that seemed to glow with an unnatural blue light and the ice sword did not make a sound as he decapitated the man with the dark hair and wispy facial hair that was so unfortunate as to cross its path. The bearded man of the Nights Watch let out a scream as the figure lunged forward and plunged its icy blade into his heart, silencing forever.

In the seconds that passed between the figure with the glowing eyes appearing and the second member of the Nights Watch being cut down, Ghost's body had crossed the clearing. He was the one thing standing in between the supernatural being the death of the last member of the Nights Watch who had dared to leave the safety of the wall and ventured into the unforgiving lands to the north.

The being lashed out with its sword made of ice, causing Ghost's body to hop backward before recoiling on his powerful legs and lunging forward. Ghost's teeth found purchase in the being's right shoulder right at the point where it met the neck which caused its eyes to narrow but it seemed otherwise unperturbed by the attack.

Attacking the arm that held the sword prevented it from being used against him but it did nothing to disable the other arm. The glowing eyes seemed to burn with fury as it cocked its left arm back and slammed its fist into Ghost's skull, dislodging the wolf and causing it to remove a mouthful of flesh.

The blow phased the direwolf but Jon knew that he had to act before the being with the glowing eyes was able to attack with that sword made of ice. For the first time since finding himself in Ghost's body, Jon exerted himself and took control of his companion's body.

Coiling back on his hind legs, Jon harnessed all of the power in the direwolf's body before launching himself at the enemy that had caused Ghost's self-preservation instincts to go into overdrive. He pulled his right paw back in the same way that Jon would cock his arm for a punch and felt his limb burn with the insistence that he had come to associate with fire magic.

Ghost's paw was ablaze as it smashed into the body of his adversary. The inflamed paw slashed through the body of the entity with the glowing eyes with no resistance causing the eyes to dim before going dark. As the flaming paw came into contact with the space, where the being's heart should have been, it exploded backwards in a discharge of ice.

Alteration: Warg +10,000
Warg – The ability to enter and take control of another creature. The cost of this ability along with the variety of creatures that you can control is based on your relative levels and the familiarity between yourself and the creature that you wish to control. It will cost more MP to attempt to warg into a creature that is closer to your level and hostile towards you than it would to warg into the same creature if it was lower level and friendly towards you. The first time warging into a creature will have an additional MP cost to establish the warg link. As you warg more frequently with the same creature, the cost of warging will decrease.
Evasion +500
Light Armor +500
Destruction: Flames +1000

Jon woke with a start after all he had experienced with Ghost.

"Finally awake, Jon Snow?" Maester Mullin asked with a rasp. "Here, drink this. It'll make you feel better."

Jon took the cup that was offered to him and noticed that, though he did not feel quite as refreshed as when he slept in his own bed, he was feeling significantly better than he did when he woke up after spending the night on horseback. "Thank you Maester."

Jon took a deep drink and had to cover his mouth to stop himself from spitting the foul tasting concoction out. He forced himself to finish the drink as he thought back to Maester Luwin's lectures on how many of the most general curative plants had a very bitter taste. Turning his attention from his cup to the maester, he couldn't help but think He looks even older by candlelight than he did in the training ground.

The maester looked on approvingly, seemingly pleased that Jon had not wasted the potion that he had crafted to help rid his body of whatever poison had caused his weakness. "It is good that you managed to drink the tonic. Were you not the son of Lord Eddard Stark, there is no way that Ser Denys would have given me the approval to make it for you."

"The Nights Watch are supposed to protect men," Jon said while looking around his chambers and taking in the surprising silence and the number of empty beds. "How could Ser Denys have refused to provide such a cure if it was within his means to give?"

"Aye, the Nights Watch does protect the realms of men," The maester agreed as he stood from his chair and placed a hand on Jon's forehead before removing it with a small smile. "Unfortunately, these are hard times that we live in and harder still here at along the Wall. Ser Denys had to weigh the possibility of one person losing their life against the number of people that could meet the Stranger if a member of the Nights Watch was poisoned and could not be cured."

"Surely things cannot be as bad as that," Jon said shaking his head slightly as he pushed himself to a sitting position. "Lord Stark always said there is honor in the Watch. Surely the other lords of Westeros see that."

"If only it were so," the maester responded with a heavy sigh as he made his way back to his chair. "At this point the 'honor in the Watch' has been all but forgotten. Sure there are some that still remember that honor; your uncle, our commander Denys, Qhorin Halfhand and the Lord Commander all still remember that honor. Unfortunately, in recent years the new recruits are more men seeking to avoid punishment for their various crimes than men seeking to do their duty to protect the realms of men."

"This castle is the largest structure that I have ever seen," Jon muttered while looking on the empty beds that had a new significance. "Surely it must take close to four hundred men to see everything attended to in the castle while making arms, tending to livestock and performing all of the duties that the Watch is responsible for carrying out."

The maester looked at Jon appraisingly. "Indeed, it would take very near to that amount of men to make sure that nothing was missed. It is to our detriment that we have barely half of that number. While we are enough to keep the castle from falling into complete disrepair, we are too few to see the castle to its former glory."

"Surely Lord Stark and the other northern lords would send men if they knew the state of things here."

"Ravens fly almost constantly to the lords of Westeros but, even still, we do not have the men needed to man this castle; let alone do we have the men or the supplies to fortify the majority of other outposts that have been built along the wall," the maester admitted quietly with a disappointed shake of his head. "There's enough of that. The troubles of the Nights Watch will be tended to by the Nights Watch, as they always have. Though, if you wanted to remind Lord Stark of the direness of our situation it would certainly be appreciated."

"I will do so, Maester Mullin." Jon nodded earnestly as he let the subject drop. "How long was I out?"

"A new day has dawned since you collapsed on the training grounds." The Maester answered as he stood again and beckoned Jon to follow. "If you are able to stand, we should go inform Ser Denys of your recovery. Just take it slow for the next few hours and you should be back in top form in no time."

Jon followed the maester's instruction as he gingerly pushed himself off the bed and onto his feet. Though the action caused slight dizziness, it was nothing compared to what he had been experiencing since the battle with Saphiron. Looking down at his body, Jon found that he was still wearing the clothes that he had been wearing since his capture. The thought made him grimace. If Lady Catelyn saw me now, I can only imagine what she would have to say about the dirty bastard.

At a sedated pace that Jon assumed to be the old maester's normal speed, Jon followed the man through the deserted corridors of the Shadow Tower. The dust that had settled on the floor of the vast majority of the various corridors that they passed made Jon realize just how much of the castle had been left unattended due to the lack of men in the fortress.

Jon was broken from his thoughts as the pair arrived at what he assumed to be the Commander's chambers. Though they were not as impressive as the lord's chambers in Winterfell, there was still a dignity to the chambers that Jon had come to associate with the air of command.

Maester Mullin cleared his throat to get the attention of Ser Denys, who was seated at a large desk focused on a letter that was laid out in front of him. Upon hearing the sound, the commander raised his head and beckoned the pair into his chambers.

"I'm glad to see you up and about again, Jon Snow." The man said as he scanned Jon from head to toe. "Alyn has told me the part that you played in rescuing him from the clutches of the Cave people and it speaks to your upbringing that you were able to do so in such a state as you arrived."

"I didn't really do that much," Jon attempted to divert some of the embarrassment at having found himself in such a situation in the first place. "If Alyn had not known the layout of the cave, it is likely I'd have either gotten lost or gotten caught if I had managed to free myself in the first place without him there."

Shadow Tower's commander paused when Jon mentioned that Alyn was familiar with the layout of the cave but he did not voice his thoughts on the matter. "Well then, you should both count your good fortunes, it seems."

"Aye, ser," Jon agreed readily. "You have my gratitude for the potion and for the hospitality but need to return to Winterfell. I do not wish to be any more of a burden to the Nights Watch. If it pleases you, I will ride out on the horse that I had taken from the Cave People."

"The horse is yours, as is your choice to return to Winterfell," Ser Denys confirmed. "Before you do, I strongly encourage you to consider taking the vow and make the Nights Watch your home. As you have surely started to see, life can be difficult for a bastard south of the Wall. As a man of the Watch, you would have the chance to rise as high as any man despite your parentage."

"I would be lying if I said that I hadn't considered doing that more than once in the past after talking to Uncle Benjen about what he had seen beyond the Wall while he was out ranging." Jon admitted as his eyes made their way to a window that looked out over the vast wilderness north of the Wall. "Maybe someday I will return to the Wall and say the words. Right now, my place is at Winterfell with my family and I must return to them."

Ser Denys nodded in understanding before replying. "Remember that there will always be a place among the Wall for one who can escape the Cave People while a poison flows through his veins."

"You have my gratitude Ser Denys." Jon voiced his appreciation again. "I would ride today if possible."

"I thought that may be your intention. Alyn and a handful of other men will be riding for a village some twenty miles south of the Wall that was reportedly attacked by a group of Wildlings that managed to slip through the gorge. They can escort you that far but after that you will need to continue the rest of the way on your own." The commander turned his attention back to the letter that he had received. "Maester Mullin, please show Jon to the training grounds. By my estimate, that group should be ready to leave. I had instructed them to wait until midday on the chance that you would wake up today."

The maester was used to the commander's usual method of dismissing people after a conversation ended so he merely nodded and gestured with a wave of his arm for Jon to leave the room. The two took their leave and walked through the corridors in silence until they came to a large door that the Maester pushed open with a grunt of exertion.

After leaving the Shadow Tower, it was only a few more minutes before the two arrived at the stables where a group of eleven men stood in dark leathers ad dark furs with either tall spears or two-handed battle axes. Among the group, Jon saw that Alyn was the exception in his choice of weapon. Unlike the other brothers from Shadow Tower, Alyn had a sword strapped to his hip.

Again, the maester announced his presence by clearing his throat which caused the group to look at him. "As you lot already know, Jon Snow will be traveling with you to the village before continuing south to Winterfell. See to it that no harm comes to him as it is likely that his father, Lord Eddard Stark will be riding north to meet him once the raven arrives at Winterfell with word that his son has appeared at the Wall."

Alyn and the rest of the men nodded at the maester's words but it was Alyn who spoke. "We'll see the lordling south as charged."

This confirmation seemed to be what the maester was waiting for as he nodded before making his way back to the Shadow Tower. The men started to make their way to their horses as the maester walked away and Jon realized that he ought to do the same if he was to avoid being left behind.

"Sure you can ride, boy?" one of the men with a large scar marring the left side of his face with only one eye asked while implying his doubt. "We were charged with getting you south and it won't do to have you falling off your horse every few leagues."

Jon was about to answer when Alyn surprised him by speaking up. "He can ride in his sleep. He shouldn't have any problem keeping up with us while he's awake."

"What is it we have here?" A man with a permanent sneer that would make Theon envious asked, his tone laden with derision. "Has our Alyn fallen in love with the damsel that he saved from the Cave People?"

"Or was it the other way around?" A man with beady eyes and rotting teeth questioned with a strong undertone of implication. "The way I heard it, Lord Snow was the one to rescue Alyn from the Cave People. Who knows what caves they explored while making their escape?"

"Would Alyn Ryswell forsake his vows for a pretty little thing like Lord Snow?" Another man asked rhetorically while clearly enjoying the sight of Jon and Alyn getting worked up. "Well he is not disagreeing with the claim, so I suppose it is possible."

This time, Jon beat Alyn with his response. "Nothing of the sort happened between me and Alyn. As for you lot, it makes sense that you would swear off the company of women to live among men if that is your preference."

Speech: Taunt +500

"I wouldn't lay with a man, no matter how pretty he may be, Alyn exclaimed while casting a murderous glare at his brothers and finally settling on Jon. "I did what I had to do to survive. I would have made it out of that cave even without the help of a green boy like you."

Jon was slightly taken aback by Alyn turning on him in such a way. "I may not have as much experience as you lot but let's not forget that it was me that managed to free you from your bindings."

"What's done is done," a man, who appeared to be one of the youngest there with wavy brown hair, stated to close the matter. "We were charged with escorting Jon Snow to the village. Let's make haste so we can see for ourselves if the rumor of Wildlings kidnapping villagers is true."

The reminder of the reason for the journey south was sufficient to put the matter to rest as the men mounted their horses. Jon sought out his horse, which was one of the few horses in the stables without a rider, and put his hand out to let the horse know that he meant it no harm. The horse pressed its snout against Jon's palm which was taken to be a sign that the horse had accepted him as a rider.

Jon smiled while admiring the horse's dark brown coat in the light. While it was not so dark that it could have been mistaken for black in the sun, the bay coloring along its head and body gave way to the inky black hair from joint to hoof on its leg. Fortunately someone had saw fit to saddle the horse while Jon was in the Shadow Tower so it was a simple matter of mounting the horse and grabbing the reigns for him to fall into rank with the men leaving the Shadow Tower.

15-15-15-15-15

After the initial confrontation, the men had fallen silent during the journey with the exception of occasional whispers between Alyn and the men that were so vocal about their misgivings about Jon. The journey passed by monotonously but much more quickly than Jon had expected.

From his previous experiences in the Wolfswood and north of the Wall, he expected to be notified that the group had entered a spawning zone as soon as they left the Shadow Tower. Despite his expectations, the warning never appeared.

The position of the sun in the sky told Jon that roughly two hours had passed since the group had departed. By my estimates, we've probably covered just over two leagues. At this pace we won't reach the village until tomorrow unless this group plans to ride through the night.

Even though I managed to survive my unexpected trip north of the Wall, there is still much to be done to fulfil the Return to Winterfell quest. I have only two months less the days spent getting south of the Wall to complete all of the quest's objectives. I have to figure out a way to raise all of my magical skills to level 10 and increase my level to 25 by the time I reach Winterfell.

I haven't failed a quest yet and I do not intend to do so now. Especially if failing the quest could cause someone I know to have to live a life as a cripple. With that thought, Jon checked his stats to see how close he was to completing the secondary and tertiary quest objectives. I have already gotten my Destruction skill to level 11. Alteration is the next closest after warging into Ghost at level 7. That's followed by Restoration, Illusion and Conjuration at levels 5, 4 and 3.

So far, I've only been able to raise my Restoration skills in battle when using the magic ward. Warging seems to be an effective way to level my Alteration skill. Now I just need to figure out how to level Conjuration and Illusion and the secondary objective of the Return to Winterfell quest is as good as done.

I was able to break an illusion before. Maybe I would be able to cast one if I tried to focus my magic on a specific task. In a way it's odd to that manipulating my magic would be considered as Destruction magic, but I suppose it makes sense as The Black Arts on Trial did show that all magic could be used to cause destruction.

Alright, I'll try to focus my magic on one of the trees in the distance to see if I can hide it behind a magical illusion. Jon looked off into the distance to try to find a tree that could hold his attention in a forest full of similar trees. A few hundred yards from his current position, Jon spotted a tree that he estimated to be twenty feet tall with a larger tree felled and laying across its roots.

Focusing on the tree, he then used Magic Manipulation to send his magic toward the tree while focusing on his intention to make the tree disappear. He felt the drain on is MP immediately but he kept pushing his magic toward the tree while focusing on his desire to make the tree disappear. While it was not the largest tree in the forest by a long shot, it was resisting Jon's efforts to make it disappear.

He had, so far, sunk 50 MP, a quarter of his MP, into his effort but still had not succeeded in his effort. As his MP continued to decrease Jon redoubled his focus on his efforts to make the tree disappear. A caw of the crow in the distance grew Jon's eyes beyond the tree for just a second which is when it happened. As soon as he acknowledged the woody area behind Jon noticed the outline of the tree that he had been focused on begin to waver.

With the small success, Jon tried to go about the task in a different way. While he was still completely devoted in his intent to make the tree disappear, he tried to focus on the scenery behind the tree and making the tree blend into that background rather than simply trying to make the tree disappear. Slowly but surely, the tree seemed to become thinner before vanishing altogether just as Jon's MP had dwindled to a fifth of his full MP capacity.

Magic Manipulation +1000
Spell Unlocked! Illusion: Magical Distortion
Magical Distortion: Using magic, blend an object perfectly with other objects in the vicinity to hide it perfectly from the untrained eye. The number of objects that can be placed under a magical distortion vary based on magical reserves and the cost of the magical distortion will vary based on mastery of illusion magic.

Jon did not have the chance to congratulate himself on the feat before the young man with the wavy brown hair, who had spoken up to quell the argument that had broken out amongst the men of the Watch and Jon before they departed from the Shadow Tower, exclaimed in disbelief. "Did anyone else see that? There was a tree standing above that fallen oak just off to the west of our current path that just disappeared!"

"What are you playing at, Rolf?" One of the other men asked, his skepticism at the younger man evident. "Seeing things are you?"

"Of course you would miss something as obvious as a tree disappearing, Ronas." The young man, who had been identified as Rolf, answered the man with a large scar marring the left side of his face with only one eye who had questioned Jon's ability to ride earlier. "That one eye of yours doesn't make you much of a ranger these days."

"That may be true," the one-eyed Ronas acknowledged. "At least I don't feel the need to pretend to see things disappearing to draw attention to myself."

"I have no desire to draw the attention of the like of you upon myself," Rolf argued fervently. "I know what I saw and I know what I don't see anymore. Just because you can't see what is clearly in front of you doesn't mean that it wasn't there."

"Right, Rolfie," the man with beady eyes and rotting teeth agreed sarcastically. "Even if your two eyes can see better than the singular eye of Ronas Payne, you can't claim that your eyes are better than mine. As you know, my name is Warne Stally and my houses words are Our Eyes Are Open."

"Just because your eyes are open, it doesn't mean that you are using them to pay attention to the thing in front of you," Rolf countered as his head turned to allow him to sneer at Warne. "It's no wonder that you were sent to the Wall in favor of your younger brother."

Ronas bristled at the insult momentarily before responding. "It is well known that I came to be at the Wall by my own choice. Can you say the same Rolf Stone, bastard of the Vale?"

"My choices bear no consequence on my ability to see what is clearly before me," Rolf bristled. "Nor does my relation to the Vale affect how I see what is clearly before my eyes."

Jon felt bad that Rolf was getting flak due to the results of his actions so he focused on a tree that he was sure both Rolf and Ronas would be able to see that was both slightly smaller and quite a bit closer than the first tree that he had caught in the Magical Distortion. Just as before Jon pushed his magic while repeating the process that allowed him to hide the initial tree from view.

It could have been because of the size or it could have been due to the fact that his target was much closer, Jon did not know for sure, but, using his remaining MP, Jon was able to cast a Magical Distortion on the tree causing it to fade from view and causing the men who had been arguing to stop short and their mouths to gape.

Illusrion: Magical Distortion +1000

"Seven hells," Warne exclaimed as his beady eyes seemed to bulge from his head. "Rolf spoke true, the forest is disappearing."

"We must push harder to get away from this accursed place," Ronas declared while he gave his horse a quick clip with his legs that the horse took as a sign to increase his speed. "If you lot aren't fools then you would do well to pick up the pace also."

The other men kept quiet but they did as Ronas instructed. With renewed vigor and intent, the men pushed through the forest and the argument was all but forgotten. They kept up the pace for, what Jon estimated to be, a league before the horses' exhaustion started to show and the galloping gave way to an exhausted trot.

"We've pushed the horses too hard," the man with the permanent sneer broke the silence with this observation. "They won't be going much faster than this unless we give them some time to rest."

"As much as I hate to agree with him, Nelsor is right," Alyn stated plainly. "We should stop to give the horses time to rest if we want to stay on pace to make it to the village by nightfall."

"Let's keep going a bit further before stopping," Alyn suggested while looking southwest of their current position. "By my reckoning, there should be a stream about a mile or two in that direction that would provide drink from the horses without emptying our flasks."

The group agreed and continued in the direction that Alyn had specified without argument. After spooking the Brothers of the Nights Watch when he made the first two trees disappear, Jon was not in a hurry to repeat the feat in present company.

Even if it didn't scare the men of the Watch when I hid the trees with Magical Distortion earlier, I don't have the MP to cast anything right now. Jon pulled his stats and considered a new trait that he had overlooked earlier. Mysticism: Allows recovery of MP at a rate equal to your current level per minute outside of combat. Right now my Mysticism perk only recovers 6 MP per minute. If I want to be able to cast spells more frequently, I'll need to raise my Intelligence.

I know that I can raise Intelligence by reading; my experience with the Learning with Luwin quest proved as much. I'm not one for betting but I would bet that intelligence works the same way as my Strength and Endurance when it comes to my stats. If I can raise those stats by physical acts, then I should be able to raise my intelligence by mental acts.

Since Mysticism is listed with Intelligence, then maybe casting magic will count towards using Intelligence in the same way that reading does. It would make perfect sense, I'll treat magic like a muscle and I can make it stronger by using it more often.

"There's the stream," Alyn called, bringing Jon out of his thoughts. "When we get there we can dismount and give the horses some rest after this morning's ride."

The stream was unremarkable. It was small, flowing from the north with a three foot bank on either side that seemed to indicate how much it would expand when the northern snows were melting and it was flowing at its thickest. Their approach wasn't particularly clear of the foliage that was typical of this forest but, from their vantage point, they could see a good sized clearing on their side of the stream about 100 yards south of their current position.

Taking an angle towards the clearing, the men made it to the river in about a minute and proceeded to dismount, allowing the horses to drink or graze as they would. The men also took their rations of hard bread and salted meat after dismounting.

It's so peaceful in this part of the wood, Jon thought to himself as he listened to the quiet babbling of the stream as it flowed. I can scarcely imagine how many other places, like this, exist in the world that have rarely been seen by human eyes.

Warning: You have entered the spawn zone, The Forest of Brandon's Gift. In The Forest of Brandon's Gift, you will encounter various creatures capable of causing physical damage. The unwary traveler will find himself falling prey to the numerous predators large and small that claim The Forest of Brandon's Gift as their home. It is recommended that characters below level 15 travel in parties to better combat the various enemies that may be encountered.

Jon waved the warning away quickly and turned his attention to the brothers of the Nights Watch who were milling about the clearing after they had finished tending to their horses. One of the men had finished drinking his canteen and walked to the stream to refill the empty vessel. The man bent to dip his canteen in the water with his right hand while whistling a tune that Jon could not place and Jon's attention moved away to look into the activities of the other men.

Jon witnessed Alyn and one of the men that had not yet been identified playing a game where they would pound their fists into their palms three times before folding out either a flattened hand, a closed fist or two fingers in an approximation of scissors. In the first round Alyn crushed his opponent's scissors with his closed fist. In the next round, his opponent covered his fist with his open palm causing Alyn to clench his jaw in frustration. In the third round, Alyn got his revenge as he pretended to cut his opponent's open hand with the scissors he had formed with his fingers while letting out a cry of victory.

To Jon's surprise, there was another shout from the direction of the stream at the same time. He quickly unsheathed his sword as his head jerked in that direction. It was to his dismay that he saw the man who had been filling his canteen in a seated position on the ground holding the stump of his right hand, which had previously been holding his canteen. Between the man, the stream and his arm was the largest crab that Jon had ever seen. From his perspective it looked as if it would be at least waist high if Jon made the poor decision to get close.

Quest Alert!
Mollifying the mudcrabs. Defeat the highly territorial amphibious creatures that would expel you from their lands.
Rewards for completion: Gain an ally amongst the Nights Watch.50,000 Experience.
Penalty for failure: Increased dislike by surviving Nights Watchmen potentially crippling injury.

Even though he recognized that getting close was a bad decision, Jon was intent on doing just that. He closed the distance between him and the crab that had been camouflaged by the mud on its tough outer shell. Since the men did not expect an attack, they were not prepared to react in the way that Jon had. With his peripheral vision, he noted several were running to their horses to pull their swords from their sheathes and help their brother.

Jon reached the downed man who was holding what remained of his forearm while staring at the stump in a state of shock. Thanking the gods that the crab did not take advantage of the man's prone position to attack, Jon maneuvered himself in between the man and the crustacean with his sword held at the ready in a two-handed grip.

The crab apparently took Jon's appearance and posture as a challenge as it began to scuttle forward to attack, its hard shell causing a clicking sound with each movement. As it got closer Jon lashed out with a heavy two-handed strike that met the crab's advancing claw. The weapon was not able to penetrate the crab's think exoskeleton but Jon succeeded in knocking the claw away from his body and turning it in such a way that he had an unobstructed view of its shell.

In quick succession, he landed blow after blow until the crab's thick shell cracked and its legs gave way causing it to fall to the ground. Though Jon was reasonable sure that the crab was out of action, he plunged his sword into the fleshy opening that had appeared when the shell cracked. He did not have any time to celebrate his victory as he heard the same clicking sound that the crab had made coming at him from each side as he faced the river.

Whipping his head to the left and the right, Jon confirmed that a pair of mudcrabs was closing in on him from either side. He briefly saw Rolf approaching the crab to his right and decided to trust the man to, at least, distract that mudcrab while he took care of the one on the left. Similarly to the first crab, Jon launched a heavy two-handed blow to knock its attacking claw away before launching a salvo of swings at its shell.

Again, he was able to break the shell before impaling the exposed innards of the creature. As soon as the creature collapsed, Jon turned his attention to the mudcrab that had left to Rolf. Even though the man was not able to dispatch the creature in the way that Jon had, twice previously, he had done a good enough job of holding its attention to keep it off of Jon.

Jon leapt forwards towards the crab with a massive overhead swing and succeeded in creaking through the tough outer shell before raising his sword above his head again and slamming down to impale the sea creature.

"Good work, greenie," Rolf commented, unable to contain the surprise that Jon had been able to assist him in combat. "Though it looks like we'll be able to see how good you are with a sword very soon."

Jon made to reply but stopped when he the clicking sound resumed with a, previously unmatched intensity, intensity from the river. Jon whipped his head around and saw no less than twenty of the crabs scuttling forward to attack him, Rolf and the injured member of the Nights Watch.

Fortunately, the other members of the traveling party had found their weapons and had made their way to the banks of the stream. Unfortunately, they were still outnumbered almost two to one since the inured member of the Nights Watch seemed to have passed out from the shock of his amputation.

In an instant, the banks of the stream had erupted into a battleground. Jon and the men of the Nights Watch surged forward to meet their attackers. Even though Jon would have liked to observe the battles taking place between the men and their respective adversaries, he saw the damage that a single crab could cause to a man. He attacked with the same strategy that had served him faithfully during his battle with the previous mudcrabs and attacked with a massive two handed strike, Unlike before, Jon channeled electricity into his blade while launching his attack.

The empowered strike cleaved right through the mudcrab's exoskeleton and dropped it where it stood. Instead of celebrating his accomplishment, Jon turned to the nearest crab that was not engaged with one of the members of the Nights Watch and attacked with an electrified slash. Again, the slash cut through the tough exterior and dropped the creature where it stood.

Jon cut through six more crabs with his electrifies slashes before he ran out of MP and was forced to result to more traditional attacks. Still, his efforts had managed to turn the tides of battle for the men of the Nights Watch. Without the threat of being overwhelmed by the superior numbers of their opponents, the men of the Nights Watch were holding their own while inflicting damage on their foes.

While Jon noticed that several of the members of the Nights Watch had been able to defeat their foes, he also noticed that the men that he had not yet learned the names of seemed to be struggling against their foes. Alyn, Nelsor, Rolf, Ronas, and Warne moved to assist their struggling comrades.

Unwilling to wait for the men of the Nights Watch to take down their foes and move on to the final three mudcrabs, Jon moved to meet the challenge by himself. His original attack strategy proved to be equally effective against the final three mudcrabs and he was able to slay them in quick succession.

After taking down the last of the mudcrabs, Jon was relieved that he did not hear the clicking sound that he would always associate with attacking mudcrabs .Though the air was absent of the clicking sound, an ominous warble filled the air as a somewhat humanoid figure rose from the water.

Two-Handed +12,100
Destruction: Sparks +4,000

AN2: I hope you enjoyed. Please review if you have a constructive criticism and would like to see another chapter in the near future. I'm aiming for another 80k words by the premier date (7/16/17) for the next season. Positive reviews will definitely hep me get there. :-)