Second chapter. Longer this time, I'll probably look at a weekly upload if I can keep up the pace. I've also collected a beta-reader, Eragong.

Chapter 2: Blizzard

Benjen groaned in relief as golden light flowed over the tear in his side, pulling away to reveal untouched flesh. He turned his head to look at the heavily armoured man, stood with one foot on Benjen's dropped blade, "You don't look like a wildling, don't much look like a brother of the Watch either." He grunted in pain as Cae moved to a different part of the wound, "You hold yourself like a knight, but I don't recall any house with a sigil like that one. Two curved arches, spits off the top and bottom, with an arrow between them? Not enough blades and beasts, even for the Tyrells."

The man raised an eyebrow, looking over the seated ranger with fresh eyes. "It's a symbol of Akavir. I don't think most people, outside of scholars, would recognise it; now, which hold are we in? Judging by the blizzard, I'd have to say Winterhold or Eastmarch, though I suppose The Pale could get this bad at times."

"We're north of the Wall," Benjen stated, beginning to push himself to his feet, "I've not heard of a Winterhold, or Eastmarch. In fact, the closest I've heard of would be Winterfell, but that's a fair distance south of the Wall." He looked over the group, "We're in the lower Frostfangs, if I didn't wander too far off course in the storm, probably closer to the Shadow Tower than to Skirling Pass." After a second look at Landon, Benjen slips a backpack off of his shoulders, starting to take stock of its contents. "Whoever you are, you aren't wildlings, so I think our best course is to head back to the Wall, I need to report what I've discovered to the Lord Commander. We'll have to wait out the storm though, and hope we aren't discovered."

Cae looked over from the small fire she had started, and Benjen turned to get a good look at her. Her pale golden skin contrasting with the few threads of dark blonde hair that had escaped from her hooded helmet; and a long, narrow face, framing bright emerald eyes. Her armour looked like castle-forged steel, though with a strange surface shimmer he couldn't quite place; it was finely crafted, with dark leather under the steel plates, which were themselves engraved with images of birds in flight. "Never thought I would be sharing a camp with a child of the forest, let alone two of them." he said suddenly, gesturing towards M'rissi with one hand. M'rissi looked over at him, with a scowl, her ears flicked back. "She is not a child, she is grown up!" She almost hissed, amber eyes flashing dangerously before she turned back to the cave entrance, keeping watch on the blizzard outside.

"I think you meant something different to that, didn't you?" Cae suggested quietly, "You were staring at us as if you have never seen an elf, or a Khajiit before, even a Tojay. Auri-El... it's like you've never seen magic before…" With a twist of her wrist, a small flame appeared in the palm of her hand, and she held it aloft towards Benjen for a moment, before extinguishing it with a clenched fist. Benjen stared at where the flame had floated for a moment, "Not outside of stories and Old Nan's tales," He replied carefully, "Seeing you three though, and the attackers that sent me in here; I'm fairly certain that either magic is real, or I've passed out from the cold and about to meet the gods."

Landon interjected quickly, "Figured you'd been attacked by the wounds, bandits? Not many animals that can leave a claw mark like that one."

Benjen shook his head, "If I hadn't seen you seal a wound like a month's rest, or conjure fire from nothing, I wouldn't even bother telling you, you'd think I was mad. I was heading to scout the Skirling pass, I'm a ranger of the Night's Watch; one of the better ones," He smiles slightly, "This storm came up out of nowhere, no warning at all, and I was trying to find some shelter when two wildlings jumped up out of the snow and charged at me. I put my blade through one, but as I was working on the second, the thing got back on its feet and went for me." He indicates the slice through his black leathers, "Wights. I always heard about them in stories and tales but… never thought one would take a chunk out of me."

Landon grimaced, glancing up at the icy statue that dominated the cave, "If there are undead about, we should get moving; there's never just a few; might even be a necromancer nearby; I'd prefer to hunt it down, but we don't have the rations or time for that."

With a low laugh, Benjen gestured towards the cave entrance, "We aren't going anywhere through this storm, we'll freeze in minutes. We need to hunker down, and wait this out, and hope our supplies last."

"He is just scared of this snow, she can go through this storm like it was... snow!" M'rissi called out from the entrance, standing up and snatching her bow off of the ground beside her. "She will show you she is no fluffy child of trees."

"Landon, I didn't stock up on trail rations in Markarth, we've only got the leftovers from our visit to Rorikstead, maybe three, four days total." Cae informed him gravely, gesturing towards a small rucksack resting near the fire. "We don't have the supplies to sit this out for long. Benjen, how far is it to this Wall you speak of? Forgive my lack of knowledge of the area."

Benjen looks slightly taken aback at the formal tone, "We could be at the wall in five days of travel, ten in a storm; is that truly all the supplies you have?" He glanced towards his own backpack worriedly, "I've got maybe six days rations worth myself. So that's what, fifteen between us?"

Landon nodded slowly, before reaching down to pick up Benjen's blade, holding it out to him hilt first, "We travel now, we can't afford to sit and wait for the storm to end, I will see to it." Benjen started to open his mouth as Landon strode towards the cave entrance, stepping past M'rissi and into the howling gale.

"Lok Var Kor!" Benjen flinched, his mouth snapping shut as a deafening roar overwhelmed the sound of the storm, echoing around the cave for a few moments, before fading away; leaving the air silent, as if even the storm was shocked by the blast. He waited for the sounds of the blizzard to return, listening only to hear the faint slither of sliding snow, and the breathing of his companions. Abruptly, he stood up, heading towards the cave's mouth, backpack and blade still in his hands as he stepped out into the icy twilight.

The sky was clear, for as far as the eye could see over a field of crisp white snow; the only flaw in the plane of whiteness being Landon, stood a few feet from the cave, looking up into the sky. "How…?" He murmured, looking towards the warrior, who turned to look at him with a slightly sheepish smile, "You already know the answer to that, magic." Benjen returned a slight, numbed nod, as M'rissi and Cae emerged from the cave, carrying the rest of their supplies, as well as an unsheathed bronze blade, with a brightly glowing stone set into its crossguard. "It appeared at Lady Meridia's feet when you Shouted," Cae explained quietly, extending the hilt towards Landon, who took it solemnly, before attaching it to his belt.

"At least there is no glowing, shouting ball this time," M'rissi muttered, swinging a backpack over her shoulders. Both Cae and Landon broke into laughter at that; as Benjen looked on, bemused.

Their laughter was interrupted as two shapes burst out of the snow with snarled roars, staggering towards the group. Both were clad in tattered leathers and rags, with skin the same roughened texture as frozen meat. The first had a deep wound in its stomach, with frozen blood caked down its waist and legs; the latter had a similarly fatal wound across its throat, cutting back to the bone from ear to ear.

Benjen dropped his backpack on top of the snow as he moved up alongside Landon, both dropping into a guard position as the creatures approached, "Wights," Benjen hissed through gritted teeth, "The stories say they die to dragonglass and fire, but withstand all else." Landon nodded as a reply, moving his hand away from the blade attached to his back, and instead loosening the new-found bronze blade. With a sword in hand, he began to push through the snow towards the undead, only for one to catch ablaze, while the other sprouted an arrow from the centre of its forehead, thrown onto its back from the force of the impact.

Landon almost relaxed, before the second wight pushed itself up, the black-feathered arrow in its skull posing little hindrance, and it managed another few steps forwards, before it also burst into flame; slumping down into the steaming snow. M'rissi rushed forwards, visibly shaken as she drew back a second arrow, this one an off-colour white, "It stood up! It had an arrow in its brain and it stood up! She does not like these things." Cae moved up alongside her quietly, a flickering flame glowing in both of her hands as she considered the undead. "I'm not greatly fond of undead that can shrug off a hit like that… but fire seemed to be even more effective than on draugr. Something to bear in mind for this land."

"We should move, no telling if there are more around," Benjen spoke quickly, moving to scoop up his backpack, before stowing it on his back, "The Wall is south-east of here, we'll only get an hour or so of travel in before it's too dark, so we need to move quickly."

Landon looked to the darkening sky, "Agreed, let us move quickly, Yol Bo Shul!" Benjen flinched again at the roar, even as he tried to turn away from the blazing heat that illuminated the area around them. A ball of flames, easily the size of a cow floated in the air above them, driving back the darkening twilight, as well as the biting cold. "Come then, we should not waste time." Landon said as he trudged forwards through the snow at Benjen's direction; the other three falling in behind him as he cleared a path forwards.

They travelled onwards for close to three hours, before it truly became too dark, even with the balls of flame that Landon periodically conjured. The clouds closed back in as the stars began to emerge, hanging low and heavy in the air, but holding back from releasing their bounty as the party began to set up camp. With another shouted word, Landon swept a small sheltered glade clear of snow, and set about erecting a pair of heavy tents, laden with thick furs and leathers, with Benjen's assistance. Cae drew a small black and red dagger from her belt, and began slicing down branches from the nearby trees, carefully stacking them for a fire. As she did so, M'rissi prowled around the edge of the camp, bow in hand, keeping watch for both wights; and for wildlife, to supplement their meagre supplies.

With a final twist, Benjen stepped back from the first tent with a nod, "Landon, I have some questions for you, if that's all right." Landon looked up from driving the last few stakes into the ground, "Ask away, though I might refuse to answer some questions."

Benjen nodded again, "As is your right. Alright, my first question; that… magic you've been using, it's different to what your friends use, is that a magic of men? While they use a magic of the children?"

Landon paused to think for a moment, "No… I have not heard tales of mer using the Thu'um, but I see no reason why they could not learn it. It is something anyone can learn, given the time and inclination; but there are rare people, like myself, who grasp its power more easily, the Dragonborn."

Benjen stiffened, a hand sliding almost instinctively to his sword, after a long moment, his grip relaxed, "Dragonborn… I wouldn't have placed you as a Targeryan, or a Valyrian at all; your colouration is all wrong. You look closer to a man of Dorne." He noted that Cae had turned her attention away from the small fire she had started, watching the pair of them carefully.

"If those are noble houses, I do not know them." Landon replied carefully, glancing at Benjen's sword. "I'm an imperial of Chorrol, a commoner, not a lost lord. A Dragonborn is… difficult to explain, the simplest way of saying it is that a Dragonborn is a mortal, with the ability to use the Thu'um as a dragon does." Landon stopped, giving Benjen a contemplative look, "You said that magic was little more than children's tales in your lands; how do you know of dragons? More old tales?"

Benjen grimaced, shaking his head, "They weren't in the past, but there are none left to find in this land, at least for the last century or so. The Targeryans, a house of nobles who fled the Doom of Valyria, brought them across the sea as warbeasts. I've never heard of them using magic though; they were beasts, like any other, but powerful enough to bring down a castle."

Both of them started slightly as Cae spoke, her voice carrying over the quietly crackling fire,

"When misrule takes its place at the eight corners of the world.

When the Brass Tower walks, and Time is reshaped.

When the thrice-blessed fail and the Red Tower trembles.

When the Dragonborn Ruler loses his throne, and the White Tower falls.

When the Snow Tower lies sundered, kingless, bleeding.

The World-Eater wakes, and the Wheel turns upon the Last Dragonborn."

She raised a hand to gesture towards Landon, "Landon is the last. The slayer of Alduin, the World-Eater. The dragonblood may travel in families, but the soul does not; I doubt your Targeryans were Dragonborn, even if the beasts they warred with carried the same name."

Landon sighed, running a hand through his short black hair as Benjen pivoted to look at him, "It's a long story."

Benjen shrugged, "We have the time."

Landon groaned as a reply, pressing a hand to his face as Cae's lips rose into a slight smile, "So we do."

"If I hadn't seen you shout away a blizzard, I would find it impossible to believe any of this… as it is it's still difficult, gods…" Benjen muttered as they pushed their way through the snow, the sun shining weakly above them, a contrast from the last few overcast days. "Dragons, vampires, spirits, demons… I suppose I should be glad to have such things only be tales and whispers." The Wall rose high above the trees to their south as they passed through the haunted forest. "Looking at it from the outside it must be a lot to take in. Back in Skyrim it was just how things were." Landon shielded his eyes as he peered up at the Wall. "We're making good progress today, you said we would break out of the forest by a day's travel from Fort Black?"
"Castle Black," Benjen corrected, "I would guess we're about a day and a half away no-" He cut off suddenly, his head snapping to the north, as M'rissi's did the same.

"She can hear people," M'rissi murmured, slowly unslinging her bow, while continuing to stare to the north. Benjen's head moved in a slight nod as he loosened his sword in its sheath. "Wildlings, a dozen or so from what I can hear, no dogs, so it's not Rattleshirt's band…" Landon and Benjen stepped forwards together, putting themselves between the closing group and their two companions. Landon's sword hissed quietly as it slipped out of its sheath, the yellowed bone blade glittering with dark red light for a moment, catching Benjen's eye.

"A black crow, a kneeler lord, and two of their womenfolk. Sounds like the start of a bad fucking joke, don't it?" A stocky, blond man stalked out of the trees; a sturdy steel scythe resting loosely in his hands as more wildlings stepped out of the woodland, laughing and joking with each other, even as they readied weapons in their hands. Benjen's lips curled into a slight snarl, "You'd best be on your way, Weeper; this isn't a fight you want to pick. Just head on your way, and we'll go on ours." M'rissi's bowstring creaked quietly as she drew it back, the weapon pointed squarely at one of the closer wildlings.

"That sounds like a bloody challenge, crow. What I think is gonna happen is we're gonna gut your kneeler friend there, I'm going to pluck your eyes from your head, we'll wrap that damn bow around her head, and then we'll have our fun. Then you can find your way back to your flock all on your lonesome." Weeper's mouth split into a wide grin, revealing his discoloured and rotten teeth. "Might even take you back to Mance as a trophy, bet he'd like that."

"Fus Ro Dah!" A blast of concussive force slammed across the standoff, sending Weeper and several of his men flying in a flurry of snow. Benjen leapt forward immediately, even as Landon paused to recover from the magic. His blade lashed out at one of the startled wildlings, a gash opening in his throat, before Benjen spun past him, catching the blade of one of the more adept, before opening his belly with a feint.

Black arrows screamed through the air as M'rissi let loose, burying themselves in throats and eyes as she moved her aim back and forth across the group. As several of the wildlings recovered their senses and charged towards the party, Cae's hand lashed out, and a slight glow was the only warning the fighters received before they slammed into the air around her, hardened into steel-like barriers as she sought to limit their avenues of attack.

Landon roamed the outside of Cae's barriers, his blade lancing out towards one of the men staggering back from the ward, glancing off of a hastily raised sword. Even as Landon drew back for a second strike, fragments of metal and rust began to flake off of the wildling's blade, and the man's eyes widened in panic, even as he turned his weapon to block the next blow. The dragonbone blade tore through the disintegrating weapon in a cloud of ruddy dust, carving through the man's torso before Landon moved onto his next target.

Weeper scrambled to his feet, screams of pain and the clang of steel spurring him to action, even as Benjen jabbed towards him, carving a thin gash down his side as he twisted away from the blow. His scythe rose to return the strike, only to fall from his suddenly limp hands. The First Ranger yanked his blade out of Weeper's ribcage as the man slumped to the side; withdrawing against the ward to survey the battle.

Few of the wildlings were still on their feet, those who Landon and himself had not felled, M'rissi's arrows had taken with unerring accuracy. A wildling woman near the back of the group was scrambling back to her feet after the magical blast, snatching up a horn bow even as M'rissi took aim at her. Benjen raised a hand towards the Khajiit, "Aim for the leg!" M'rissi reacted instantly, her aim dropping slightly as she loosed the arrow. The woman shrieked as it tore through her calf in a welter of blood, and the nerve of the last of the raiders broke, the last two fleeing back towards the treeline. They almost succeeded before another pair of arrows struck them both down, and Benjen advanced on the crippled wildling.

"Reach for that bow again, and I'll take your hand," He pronounced coldly, leveling his blade at her gritted teeth. Grey eyes glare back at him, but she slowly pulls back from the weapon, clenching her fists at her sides. "Good, now. I have a message for Mance Rayder. If you carry it to him, you live. Tell him there are wights in the haunted forest." The woman instantly stilled at his words, eyes going wide, and even the wound on her leg forgotten as Benjen's companions approached. "I assume you had a reason for wanting one alive," Landon questioned quietly, taking a rag from his belt to begin wiping blood from his blade. "Generally bandits receive quick deaths in Skyrim, is it different in this land?"

Benjen shook his head, "She's not a bandit, she's a wildling. Not much difference, I suppose; but we need a message sent to their 'King-Beyond-The-Wall'. The wights are going to be a threat to everyone, even them. Cae, would you be able to get that?" He asked politely, gesturing towards the woman's skewered limb, receiving a slight nod in response as the elf knelt beside the wildling, beginning her work.

The woman flinched as the magic began to work, almost yanking her leg out of Cae's grasp, before forcing her attention back on Benjen, "You've seen them too?" She asked hoarsely, "The White Walkers, the Others?"

Benjen nodded grimly, "About three days travel west of here. Poor omens abound. I intend to inform the Watch. I need you to tell Mance, consider it repayment for your life." He glanced to the side as Cae handed M'rissi a bloody arrow, before pushing herself to her feet. A quick gesture to the wildling, and she carefully climbed up as well, gingerly testing her leg. "I'd have your name, crow. You're more'n most. Rest would have killed me too."

"Benjen Stark, First Ranger of the Night's Watch. You act like you've seen them too." The tone of his voice rose questioningly, and she quickly nodded.

"Fires are burning day and night to keep them out." She shivered, "Don't always work. They're coming, crow. Mance says it's so." She slowly reached down to collect her bow with one hand, brushing a few red hairs from her face with the other, "Knew I should'a joined up with Old Bones over the bloody Weeper." She muttered, testing her leg again, before slowly backing away from the group. Benjen let her go, taking the cloth that Landon held out to him to begin cleaning his own blade. The four of them continued to watch the wildling woman until she was lost in the trees.

"We should burn the bodies, if we can; make sure they can't come back for us." Benjen suggested, looking back over at his allies. M'rissi was moving through the killing fields, yanking arrows from wounds as she accounted for her ammunition. Cae and Landon nodded at Benjen's suggestion, taking a few steps back from the edge of the bloodshed. Twin jets of flame burst out of Cae's hand, bathing the bodies closest to her, while Landon braced himself.

"Yol." A wave of flickering flames washed over the last few bodies as M'rissi retreated with her salvage, and after waiting for a moment to ensure the flames caught, Benjen nodded, "Let's continue on, the Lord-Commander needs to hear our report now, more than ever."

I don't know if I'm 100% happy on the fight at the end, I've not got much experience on group vs group combats. I think it's alright, but any suggestions on how to improve it would be appreciated.

Yol Bo Shul (Fire Fly Sun): A shout that forms a large ball of fire, similar to a magelight, but much more powerful, and also provides warmth. Very useful in the frozen wastes of Skyrim, the North, and Canada.