North of the Wall, 303 AC
The army marches slowly: a cold wind has risen since they have left Winterfell, and their progression is slower. The men suffer from frost, their hands and their feet hurting as if they would fell off their bodies. Soon, the men on horses, Stannis included, have to get down and lead their mounts through the howling wind. Most of the horses are terrified, not only by the weather, but also by the unfamiliar smell that spread through the landscape. A horse is a prey and their nervousness anger and scares the soldiers. The King limits the halts, knowing that most of the men who would stop walking would never rise again. But they need to fight, that is sure. He scrutinizes the landscape, not understanding why it is so silent. Where are the Others? He tries to talk to Jon about it, but Jon looks just as surprised as him. Thus, they keep walking, each one with his own motivations: the pleasure to fight, the will to go back home and see his wife and children again, or the thought that they will save Westeros. Stannis does not mind what lead their swords, as long as they are with him. His thoughts take him to Melisandre: none of the men have understood what has happened as they have walked past the gate of Castle Black. But, somehow, he still hopes she is alright, but he wonders what happened with their "baby". He is sure it is because of it Melisandre could not follow him to the battle.
The army wakes up after a night of rest, with a grey and heavy sky above their heads. The wind is still here, more violent than ever, and they get back to march, to find the Others. They end up reaching what Stannis thinks is a frozen lake first, but, indeed, it is just ground, surrounded by icy walls, not very high, but leaving just two tiny ways to get there. The wind stops as soon as the army steps on that ground. Stannis swallows hard and unsheathes his sword: he knows it is time. The whole army imitates him, and he shouts orders, placing his men. The soldiers shout, excited to know they will finally fight. Archers prepare their arrows, some made with dragon glass to weaken the Others, or foreseen for the Wights, with simple steel. The shouts, tho, disappear when the army of the Others walk to them. They are just as Jon has told them, beautiful yet terrifying, with big blue eyes. The Wights that go with them, tho, are something else. Some look human, some look awfully bad, arms missing, or half the face ripped apart. The horses of Stannis army get agitated, and Stannis's one even rear, scared of the smell that fills up his nostrils. The King stares at the Others, fascinated: hence, here are they, the Ones he was born to fight, if he believes Melisandre. He looks down at his side, seeing Lightbringer already shining, shining bright red. But, he is not born to fight them. He knows it now he faces them. He will fight them, because it is his duty as a King, but his fate was to rule Westeros. And it will be for Westeros he will fight. For Aylis, Shireen, Aistan, Doryos, Oswyn, and the child who is born, and who does not have a name yet. He glances at his army, checking they are ready, and, without a word, he just takes a step forward. He could lead the battle from behind, as he is accustomed to, but he feels his men need him, more than ever. The army follows him but sudden yells of battle make them all stop walking. Stannis turns to the path by which they got there and his eyes widen with surprise. The Dothrakis are there, on their horses, half naked. Robb, by Stannis's side, gasps slightly:
"What are they doing here?! Aren't they suppose to be in King's Landing?!"
The King does not answer, speechless. He does not have time to find his words. The Dothrakis attack, spurring their horses that swoop on the royal army like a furious stream.
"Archers!" Stannis shouts and the thousands of men bend their bows, and release so many arrows the sky darken above them. The noise they make as they run through the flesh, the human one, and the animal one, is deafening, as well as the shouts of the men injured, and the neighing of the horses agonizing. Stannis quickly divides his army, leading the one against the Others, leaving Robb and Edmure to lead the army against the Dothrakis. Jon watches his brother leaving, and yells:
"Cut their heads! All of them, even the dead! Or they will rise again!"
Robb shouts an approving "Aye!" and runs to the Dothrakis. He realizes soon they are not alone, Unsullied are behind them. The Dothrakis have been the sacrifice needed for the Unsullied to attack. The archers are divided, too, between the Dothrakis and the Wights, who now attack in turn. Stannis, with all the men who earn a Valyrian steel blade, attack the Wights, but to reach the others. These ones stay behind, observing the battle. The King wonders where Daenerys is, and scrutinizes the sky, looking for the dragons.
Aegon looks at his aunt, then at his soldiers: they are far less numerous than Stannis' army, but the trap they have foreseen has succeeded: instead of attacking King's Landing, they have headed North, and have made an alliance with the Others. An alliance they will break as soon as they will have destroy Stannis and his army, of course. The dragons they have mounted had remained South of the Wall: no matter how hard they tried, they could never get north with them, as if they were hurting an invisible wall. Once the Others are free to go South, once they will have killed every enemy, the dragons will be there to kill them all in turn. But now, Aegon is looking at his men fighting, noticing Jorah Mormont among them, and he glances at Ser Barristan, still by their side. Barristan turns to him, and says quietly:
"You should join them and show your men you are ready to fight, just like they do."
Aegon nods, kisses Daenerys, and joins his army. Daenerys stares at them, thrilled, excited by the sight of the battle, the men begging but dying under the Dothrakis arakhs and axes. No mercy, she had told them, even though she has known it is useless to precise it with the Dothrakis. She looks at the horses running away from the battle when their riders have been killed, and the arrows, more and more arrows, being released on the men. They will win, she thinks. Even if all the Dothrakis have to die, they will win. They have the Others with them, and the Others cannot be defeated. Her eyes leave the Dothrakis to stare at the Others and the Wights, slaughtered by Stannis and his men. She gasps very slightly when she sees Stannis fighting one of the Others, and she frowns slightly: she knows which can kill the Others, and she is surprised to see Stannis fighting, while she knows he has no Valyrian steel sword. But, while he distracts the Other, Jon gets behind him and beheads the creature, which vanishes right away. Daenerys half smiles, amused by all of this. The dead bodies are so numerous they hide the white snow of the soil, which has turned red with blood, and black with the bodies. Jon Snow kills another Other, but Randyll tarly, Renly's father-in-law, is killed by Wights that rush on him. His shouts as he is almost eaten alive are awful for common ears, but not for Daenerys. She enjoys the shouts. She enjoys death.
In the middle of the battle, Stannis grabs Heartsbane, the sword of the Tarlys, and helps Jon to fight another creature. The wights have suffered severe losses, but Stannis has the terrible feeling the battle is lost. He will not surrender, he will fight to the end, to his end, but, as his tired arms still hold the sword and crash it on each creature that attacks him, he thinks about his wife whom he'll never see again, and this child who will never remember him. How long will they survive, if Stannis dies? Not long, he fears. With a desperate energy, he keeps fighting while around him, all his men seem to die. One of the wildlings is killed by a spear and, as he falls back, Stannis stumbles and falls too. He immediately grabs the corpse and places it on him, as the Wights rush on him and start eating the poor wildling. Stannis knows this is the end: the teeth of the Wights are getting closer and closer from him. He manages to grab his daggers and to stab the Wights on multiple times, but there are a lot of them, and he cannot fight them all. Desperate, he is ready to give up when he hears a familiar sound. The whole armies, enemies and allies, stop fighting when they hear this sound. A deafening sound, that makes Daenerys flinch as she stares at the battle from a crest. Facing her, thousands and thousands of men, from all the Houses of Westeros, blowing horns at the same time. She does not understand. Who are they? Where were they when their brothers were being slaughtered? She hears Barristan whispering her name and she raises her hand angrily:
"Not now, Ser Barristan", she spats coldly.
"I am sorry", he says in a strange voice and she turns to him. He is staring at her, and suddenly shoves his sword in her belly. She shrieks, and weirdly holds onto him, not understanding, again, why he has done that. She gives him an inquiring look, surprised mixed with disappointment, and Barristan holds her, tears running on his cheeks.
"I couldn't let you become like your father…" he whispers and Daenerys hiccoughs, as if she wanted to say something, and suddenly remains silent, her eyes staring at Barristan. He lets her fall on the ground, and weeps.
On the facing crest, Davos and Renly are side by side, Davos giving the order to attack. Renly looks for his brother on the battlefield, but does not find him, and spurs his horse to lead the men. They hurtle down the path, spurring their horses again and again, slamming into the Wights that stand there, not fast enough to escape the fury of horses charging. Thousands of horses, and archers remaining on the crest, soon surrounding the battlefield, and endlessly throwing arrows at the Wights, the Dothrakis and the Unsullied to kill the last of them. Barristan watches this, he watches Aegon fighting the previous King, Joffrey, who now belongs to the Night's Watch, and killing him. He sees Jamie Lannister, the man he has served with for so many years, rushing on Aegon and beheading him as easily as if he was a piece of bread. The old man closes his eyes a moment, and sighs: which choice did he have? None. It has been a while since he has noticed the first signs of Daenerys' madness. He could not have saved her father, but her, yes. And nothing can save them from madness except death. Barristan has remembered his real ruler was Westeros, and imagining the country destroyed by Dothrakis and the Others has been too much for him to stand. So he has written in secret to Ser Davos, knowing that Stannis army was marching North, and that his Hand would have stayed in King's Landing. He has told him everything about Daenerys' plan, and has been lucky, or cautious enough to not be discovered. He strokes his long white beard, and strokes the pommel of his sword. One last time, he thought. One last fight. For the only one I should ever fight for. For Westeros. He unsheathed his sword, and, with a smile on his lips, joined the fight.