Chapter 3
(Dorne, 282AC)
Three figures wearing silver armor with white cloaks were standing around a fourth figure that wore no armor, but instead wore a riding clothes in red and black with a sword attached to his hip. The three armored men were Ser Gerold Hightower, Ser Oswell Whent, and Ser Arthur Dayne three members of the Kingsguard, the final figure was Rhaegar Targaryen the crown prince of the Seven Kingdoms.
"Why are you here, Ser Gerold?" Rhaegar asked him.
"I have been ordered by the King to bring you back to King's Landing to clean up the mess you created," Ser Gerold said simply.
"What has happened?" Rhaegar questions.
"After the news of you kidnapping Lyanna Stark got out, Brandon Stark rode to the capital demanding that 'you come out and die'. The King had him thrown in the dungeon and slaughtered the men that came with him only leaving a few so he can torture them, The King then demanded that Rickard Stark come to King's Landing to answer for his son's crimes but when Rickard Stark got there he was arrested for treason and was to be executed, Rickard Stark called for trial by combat and the King declared that fire is the champion of House Targaryen so he had Rickard Stark burned to death by wildfire while his son Brandon Stark was strangled by a torture device while trying to save his father that burned in front of him. After that the King declared Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon traitors, and wrote to Jon Arryn to deliver him their heads, Jon Arryn refused and raised his banners in rebellion," Ser Gerold revealed shocking them into silence.
"How is the current situation?" Rhaegar asked after getting over his shock.
Ser Gerold's face shifted into frown as if he didn't want to say the words but after a moment he began. "We are losing the war, the loyalist forces in the Vale were destroyed by a preemptive strike from Jon Arryn that caught them unprepared and divided against the houses that joined Jon Arryn, Gulltown fell after less than a day after the siege started and House Grafton was put to the sword, the surviving members were sent to the Night's Watch and the Silent Sisters, House Waxley followed them soon after this breaking the moral of the loyalists while winning over all the neutral houses to the rebel cause, the last I heard the Vale was completely under rebel leadership and they had invaded the Riverlands." This was bad news for Rhaegar for they had lost the Vale but the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard was not done.
"The Stormlands were mostly neutral until they heard what happened to those in houses in the Vale prompting some to side with Robert Baratheon but a lot were still neutral, Robert decided to do what Jon Arryn did and focused his efforts on crushing the loyalists with brutal efficiency, he destroyed three loyalist forces in one day at Summerhall then moved on to ending House Connington, he killed all the men over twelve then he sent the women and children to the Sept or the Silent Sisters, he also stripped House Connington of all lands and titles, as I made my way to you Prince Rhaegar the news out of the Stormlands suggests that Robert has put down all the Loyalist forces in his lands" Ser Gerold said in a stoic voice showing no hints of how he personally felt about how things are going so far.
Rhaegar was shocked but also angry because Jon Connington is his friend, and now his house and family are dead because of Robert Baratheon's actions, he was plans to get revenge for his friend's family as soon as possible.
"So we lost the Vale and the Stormlands, what about the rest of the kingdom?" Rhaegar asked with anger visible on his face.
"The Reach stands loyal and were marching their army of over a hundred thousand men to attack the Stormlands, Jon Connington had mustered up a force of twenty five thousand men from the Crownlands and are marching to reinforce the twenty five thousand loyalists in the Riverlands that were fighting the fifteen thousand Riverlanders that support House Tully who has joined the rebels after the King declared them traitors. The King has Jamie Lannister as a hostage so Lord Tywin will be forced to stay loyal to the Crown or remain neutral at the least, Dorne is gathering their men near Sunspear, but it has been weeks since then so I don't know the current state of things," Ser Gerold said to them.
"What of the North?" Rhaegar asked, for he hasn't heard anything about them.
"Eddard Stark is rumored to be the one behind all the moves that Jon Arryn and Robert Baratheon have done since the start of the war, he was the one that killed Lord Grafton breaking the will of the men defending Gulltown, he then returned North rallying the North behind him and made himself the King of the North, he then lead his army of around ninety thousand men to lay waste to all who stood in his way. From the most recent news King Eddard Stark has cutting a sea of blood across the Riverlands slaughtering all the loyalists his army comes across, he put most of House Frey to the sword and all of the loyalist houses in the northern section of the Riverlands were forced into submission by his northern army." Ser Gerold said with a disgusted look whenever he said Eddard Stark's name.
The other men in the clearing were shocked silent by the size of the northern army, at various times through history no northern army that has ever marched south has ever been over thirty thousand soldiers, the rate at which they subjugated the northern section of the Riverlands was very strange, the Twins should have held out for months under siege from the northern army and going by what Ser Gerold said, it hasn't been six months since the start of the rebellion.
"How long did it take the Northern army to breakthrough the Twins?" Rhaegar asked Ser Gerold.
"One day," Ser Gerold said without emotion.
"What!?" The other exclaimed in disbelief.
"It took one day for Eddard Stark to take the Twins, in fact from all the reports we received about the war has confirmed it only took one day for him to take over any castle, fort, or town," Ser Gerold said with a serious look in his eyes.
"How?" Rhaegar asked after a few minutes of silence.
"Nobody knows, not even Varys is able to find any information on how Eddard Stark takes over these places so quickly," Ser Gerold states bitterly.
"So we know nothing about the Northern army then?" Ser Arthur Dayne asked with a frown.
"Aside from their numbers and who is leading them no we don't know much else aside from rumors, and any scouts or spies that are sent to get more accurate information ends up getting killed, the smallfolk has said that Eddard Stark commands Direwolves but that was being dismissed as just rumours," Ser Gerold said with a frown.
"Eddard Stark has Direwolves?" Rhaegar asked with a crazed gleam in his eyes that reminded Gerold of the King for a moment.
"A few smallfolk from near where the army has been said they saw abnormally large wolves marching with the northern army," Ser Gerold became worried when instead of looking displeased with the rumors, Rhaegar looked as if he couldn't be happier.
"So I was right, our child will be the child of Ice and Fire, who will save the world from the darkness," Rhaegar muttered to himself but they all heard him.
"Prince Rhaegar, we need to return to the capital now or it will be too late to do anything when they purge the Riverlands of opposition," Ser Gerold's voice was cold as he said this and none of them missed the fact he said when the rebels defeat the loyalist forces in the Riverlands not if.
Rhaegar looked back to the tower that held Lyanna Stark for a few minutes looking like he was fighting an internal battle before he sighed in defeat.
"Okay, I will return to the capital but we have to ride to Sunspear to take command of the Dornish army, then we will march to join the Tyrell forces in attacking the Stormlands and if we are lucky we can kill Robert Baratheon bringing the Stormlands under heel," Rhaegar said with a determined look on his face that served to greatly reassure the three Kingsguard knights.
Prince Rhaegar nodded his head to his loyal knights before turning and heading back into the tower to his wife, Lyanna.
As he walked up the stairs Rhaegar thought about the current situation he found himself in; the North, Vale and Stormlands were in open rebellion for what happened to Rickard Stark, and Brandon Stark, the Riverlands were tearing itself apart between those loyal to the Tully's and those loyal to the Crown.
He had wanted to remove his father from the throne as his father was no longer suited to rule the Seven Kingdoms, that was the whole point of the tourney at Harrenhal but that plan had failed horribly with his father showing up at the event.
He stopped at a door near the top of the tower for a moment before he opens the door and lays eyes on the only thing that made all that he has been through worth it.
Wild long dark brown hair that fell to her waist, beautiful grey eyes, a long yet lovely face, pale skin, a budding womanly figure covered in a grey dress that did nothing to hide the swell of her pregnant belly.
Lyanna Stark, his wife, the love of his life and the mother of the third head of the dragon.
"Hello my love," Lyanna greeted him warmly while giving a kiss on tge lips that soothes his mind.
"My beautiful She-wolf," Rhaegar said with love in his voice as he stared into her grey eyes that were full of love for him and their unborn child.
He wants to keep that bright joyful smile on her face for all time but he knows that he has to tell her what has happened after they ran away together.
For just a single selfish moment he wants to lie to her about everything so as to not risk the news affecting her pregnancy, but he can't risk losing her trust at this stage.
If the worst should happen and his two other children die during this war, he will need Lyanna by his side to produce more heirs or the world will fall into eternal darkness.
So he tells her everything and even though he tries to be gentle with her, the news of her family's deaths hits her as hard as he feared.
"Lyanna! Lyanna! Listen to me! I know you want to blame yourself for what has happened but it is not your fault! The fault lies with my madman of a father!" He holds her tight as he said these words with conviction clear in his voice. "I promise you, my love, I will avenge your family for my father's crimes against them and I will make sure nothing happens to your other brothers at the end of this war," as he speaks he can feel her calming down somewhat.
"To do that Lyanna, I need to know that you and our child will be okay when I am not here, you can't lose yourself to grief or guilt for both your sakes. Can you promise to wait for me and look after yourself?" Rhaegar asked with a firm yet loving look in his eyes.
"I promise you Rhaegar, that both of us will be waiting for your return in good health," Lyanna said with a fire in her eyes that reminded him why he loved her in the first place.
He hugged her again and ran his hands through her long hair hoping to help soothe her pains.
"Just make sure you come back to me Rhaegar, I might be able to survive the loss of my family but I know I won't be able to continue living without you by my side. I can't live without you Rhaegar," Lyanna said from where her face was nuzzled into his chest.
"I will," Rhaegar said with certainty that he wasn't sure he felt anymore but he has no path aside from the one he was destined to walk.
The loving couple cuddled for a few more minutes before they both fell asleep on the bed in the room.
Unbeknownst to everyone at the tower a raven with shimmering silver eyes was watching everything that just took place, the raven's eyes were filled with anger and hatred that could melt steel.
The raven watched them for a minute or two before the bird flew away into the night sky.
(Riverlands, 282AC)
King Eddard Stark sat atop his warhorse as raindrops bounced off his magical armor, his gaze locked on the blood-soaked battlefield before him.
Thousands of dead bodies litter the ground turning the fresh green grass a rusty red color from all the blood and bodily fluids leaking from the corpses, broken shields, swords, spears, and poles holding various banners further decorate the horrid scene. Crows were already swarming above ready to dive into the feast that they laid out for the hungry birds.
The crows haven't tried their luck as of yet for there are still a couple dozen or so men going through the battlefield trying to find any survivors or the body of someone they know for proper burial.
When Eddard had led the Northern army into the Riverlands to find only enemies waiting for them he had rejoiced, for now, nothing was holding him back from getting his revenge on the Freys, his army crushed the lords of the northern region of the Riverlands that sided with the crown.
It always made a smile come to his face when he recalls that day.
Eddard stood at the front of his soldiers as they marched on the Twins, they had only had minor obstructions on their march to the Frey's castle and those small battles were hardly worth the lives Walder Frey wasted in a pointless ploy to buy time in hope of getting reinforcements from the other loyalist Riverlords.
Eddard almost pitied those men and women who are holding onto hope that their lord hadn't just sentenced them to death in his greed for what House Tully had.
"Begin the attack!" Eddard shouted and not a second later the night sky was full of flaming arrows fired by his archers.
The flaming arrows killed several of the castle defenders on the walls and they set any wooden structure they landed on aflame, the enemy was not discouraged by those that died on the wall and any fire that the flaming arrows started was promptly taken care of before the fire could spread.
The stone walls stood strong and the castle gates were still firmly shut, there were men shouting words of encouragement to keep the defender's morale high and not be intimidated by the northerner's larger numbers.
It was all pointless in the end though as no salvation would be coming for those people.
"Shields up! March!" Eddard shouted his order.
The entire front line of men raised their shields and started to march in formation toward the castle gates, the defenders took notice of the approach and turned their attention to stopping the enemy's advance.
Eddard's men weathered the storm as they moved forward making sure not to break formation, whether it be rocks, arrows, or any random projectile they threw at them the shield wall did not falter for a moment as their failure in those moments would put their King in danger, as he was in the center of the formation.
A short walk to the castle gates turned into a long tedious march due to the resistance they faced but they finally arrived at the castle gates.
The men then made a path through the center of their formation so that Eddard could reach the gate while still being protected by their shields, he moves swiftly through the path and makes it to the castle gates where he then placed his hands on the gates.
The world went quiet as Eddard reached inside himself to the power that lives in his veins, the cold, frigid, ancient power of his ancestor's true enemy, and pulls it forth to bend to his will like he has done many times before today.
When he had first learned that the Stark bloodline had the blood of the Others mixed into it from the time of Bran The Builder, he had wanted to deny it with his entire being but he was shown how powerful a foe his ancestors fought in the Long Night, and even with the help of Giants and the Children of the Forest it was not an easy victory to achieve without them stealing the power of the enemy, and using it against them.
(Flashback)
Two individuals stood on a large cliff of snow, earth, and ice looking down at the events taking place on snow covered field dyed red with the blood of those who were dying on the field at this very moment.
One of the figures was a tall imposing man over six feet eight inches tall, he had long dark brown hair, steel-grey eyes, a long face, and a large muscular frame wrapped in dark furs.
Beside the man stood a very tall young boy who shared many features with the first man, so much so one could confuse them as father and son.
The man was Brandon Stark also known as Bran The Builder, the legendary founder of House Stark of Winterfell.
The boy at his side was a thirteen-year-old Eddard Stark, the second son of Lord Rickard Stark and the chosen champion of the Old Gods.
They were having their regular meetings in a greendream, where the previous Kings of Winter would impart their knowledge on their descendants that the Old Gods have chosen.
"Is there a meaning behind this, King Brandon?" Eddard asked in fluent Old Tongue which earned him a smirk from the other man.
"Already getting bored of listening to this old man, young pup?" Bran The Builder asked in Old Tongue with mirth clear in his hard voice.
"Of course not, but you have shown me the savage slaughters of the Long Night before, so I want to know what makes this battle any different?" Eddard asked in fluent Old Tounge while sweeping his eyes over the carnage happening below him.
"What you will see here Ned, will be the truth of our victory over the Others," Bran The Builder said in Old Tongue with a serious look on his face.
Eddard didn't know what his ancestor meant but as he watched the events unfold before him, he will receive his answers even if he would have preferred ignorance.
The battle taking place was a lost cost; there were just twelve Others against an army of over a thousand men but it might as well have been a dozen men, the Others moved with speed, strength, and technique that made Arthur Dayne the best swordsman he has ever faced look like a novice with a blade. The Others didn't even get tired after hours of fighting in heavy snowfall like the First Men that fought them, the men were not completely helpless as they had armor enchanted with magic that let them take a blow or two before being killed by the shimmering blades of the Others, they also had obsidian swords, spears, spiked mace and hammers that managed to hurt if not kill an Other if they hit somewhere vital.
Scenes like this were rare in the Long Night as most of the time the Others were just too powerful for any kind of true resistance to them on an open battlefield.
A loud painful screech tore through the battlefield as two Others died in quick succession thanks to the sacrifice of two men holding them down while a third stabbed it in the head killing it.
Six of the Others were now dead and over half the number of the First Men were dead or dying when a new player joined in the battle.
Ridding atop a massive ice spider was a large Other that had more intricate armor than the other of its kind they have seen before, the Other had what almost seemed like a small crown on its head and a large crystal greatsword alive with moonlight that was larger than quite a few weapons the Others used so far.
The new Other with its powerful steed tore through the lines of First Men and in little to no time it reached the center of the men's formation. It released a roar of victory that was echoed by the remaining Others.
Eddard thought that battle was lost the moment that powerful Other showed up but he couldn't be more wrong.
Suddenly as if by an unknown signal all the four hundred or so First Men remaining cut their throats using a bronze ceremonial dagger they were all carrying on them.
The Others were shocked into inaction and Eddard was similarly shocked at all those men sacrificing themselves like that.
"What could be the meaning of such an action?" He asked himself in the privacy of his own thoughts.
His answers came a few moments later.
The battlefield came alive with powerful magic and there was a large magical barrier over the area now, the barrier originated from twelve points over the battlefield where a bronze totem the size of a child covered in runes was buried before the battle.
The Others were trapped in the barrier that seemed designed to contain them as one had tried to touch the barrier only to lose its hand from the backlash of the barrier's magic.
The lead Other that rode on the ice spider screeched in agonizing pain drawing all eyes to it. The magic wasn't just used for the barrier as another one was erected immediately around the Other forcing it to its knees as it was bombarded by pulses of harmful magic that were weakening it greatly.
The rest of the Others tried to assist their comrade but they couldn't as they were hit by powerful magic courtesy of the Children of the Forest that came out of the hiding places they had made in the ground beforehand.
The magic was not meant to kill the Others but to temporarily disable them while a group of First Men that were hidden like the Children of the Forest captured them in enchanted obsidian ropes.
It dawned on Eddard as he watched this happen, this was a plan! The First Men lured the Others to a battlefield of their choice knowing that most of them would die from the attempt and the sacrifice that would come later.
With the help of the Children of the Forest, they were able to capture the powerful Other alive after killing the ice spider, though there was no celebration as they had lost hundreds of men to accomplish this feat.
The next thing that happened was that the six Others were dragged to a small alter made near a large weirwood heart tree, the First Men strung the captives up and cut into those Others with obsidian daggers letting pale blue blood flow into large bronze bowls.
It was a long and horrid process to bleed the Others dry for after a while each of the wounds made was healed naturally by the Other's regenerative abilities, so the men had to cut into them again and again and again until the Others hung still as lifeless husks.
Eddard was disturbed by what he had seen; he could smell the blood of the Others which was close to the smell of human blood but different in a way he couldn't place, the cries of the Others rattled his bones with how loud they were and while he couldn't know their language he felt that the Others were pleading for their lives as the bleed like pigs.
With the blood of the Others all drained the bodies were cut down, then the men tore the bodies apart using their daggers and when the body shattered they made sure to gather as much of the shatters remains. Which they then placed into the bowls of pale blue blood.
While the First Men were busy doing that, the Children of the Forest were praying before the weirwood heart tree calling on the powers of the Old Gods to aid them in their task.
The leaves of the weirwood tree glowed brightly and the earth before the alter sunk into itself making a hole large enough to fit four grown men at the same time, a few moments later water started to fill the hole to the brim but the water was not cold, it was steaming hot against the cold of the Long Night.
It took Eddard a few moments to realize that he has seen a pool of water like that before and it was with a start that he finally realized that the pool was almost identical to the black pool in the Godswood of Winterfell.
He looked at his ancestor and the man just gave him a nod confirming his thoughts.
A man with features looking very similar to Bran The Builder walked forward when called upon by the Children of the Forest, the man took off all his clothes leaving him completely naked then he was cut several times by bronze daggers the Children had making him bleed, after which he walked into the black pool that started to turn red from his blood.
All six bronze bowls were brought forth and poured into the pool containing the man with Stark features while the Children of the Forest chanted in their mother tongue.
When all the bowls were empty the chanting of the Children of the Forest intensified making the air go thick with potent magical energy, the men knew it was time and brought the last Other forth.
The last Other glared at the Children of the Forest with a hatred that burned like the sun, it was as if the Other knew what they were about to do and wished nothing more than to kill them for it.
The First Men bound the limbs of the powerful Other to the altar and used the obsidian daggers to peal the armor off of the Other, the armor was as much a part of them as their skin so it was excruciating for the Other as it was peeled off piece by piece.
When they were done and the Other laid bare, one of the Children of the Forest jumped onto the Other and spoke in their mother tongue to it before they drove an obsidian dagger into the Other's chest.
The Other trashed about in rage, hate, and pain as the Child on top of it carved its heart out of its chest, the heart of the Other was icy-blue like their eyes and twice as large as a human's, pale blue blood covered the organ as it dripped on the dying Other.
The Child jumped down from the altar and brought it to the black pool that was now a mixture of pale blue, red, and black.
With a wave of the Child's hand, the body of the Stark man was raised to the surface, the man's breathing was shallow and his skin had gone pale from the blood loss, yet there was still strength in the eyes of the man.
The Child jumped on the man's body and said a few words to the man in their mother tongue before the Child carved the man's heart from his chest and pressed his heart with the heart of the Other. Words Eddard could never hope to interpret were chanted and the two hearts become one that was slightly larger than normal, the heart looked human from the outside but anyone gifted with magic could see the icy-blue power that pulsed from the heart.
The Child placed this new heart into the chest of the man and sealed his chest with magic before jumping off him, the rest of the Children of the Forest started to chant louder and the pool started to bubble as if it was being boiled by a roaring fire.
There was a large explosion that washed over the area in steam which took a few minutes to clear up. What stepped out of the steam could hardly be called a man.
He was nine feet tall with pale blue skin and icy-blue eyes, the Dark brown hair had gone white like falling snow, and he regained his large muscular build but he was thinner as if he wasn't eating for several weeks, his fingernails were like claws now and his whole being radiated danger.
A female member of the Children of the Forest with blood-red eyes stepped forwards and removed all of her meager clothing leaving her bare to the world, she lay on the ground and the man turned Other descended on her.
The vision blurred after that and Eddard didn't mind it, he had no wish to see that towering being mate with one of the Children of the Forest.
When the vision cleared again it showed a scene of a baby being born and the man turned Other was near the clearing where the female member of the Children of the Forest was giving birth.
Eddard noticed that the man turned Other was covered in scars and had lost an arm though it didn't seem to hinder the being as he made a prosthetic of ice to use.
Near the same area was a group of First Men and Children of the Forest guarding the area against any possible enemy attack, most of them were the same ones that were there in the first vision.
Hours passed and soon a child was born, the Child was a boy with pale human skin, regular limbs, steel-grey eyes, and dark brown hair. The people there celebrated the birth of the child as if all their troubles were over now.
The vision changed again and the child was now almost a man who looked identical to Bran The Builder. He stood in front of the being that was his sire, the man turned Other was dying from what Eddard could see, hundreds of wounds covered the pale flesh of the being and they were all bleeding heavily.
The father and son shared words that were not meant for Eddard's ears as even standing beside them he couldn't hear anything. When they were done the being closed his eyes and his entire body started to glow brightly like the rainbow skies of the far North.
When the light faded what was once a man of ice became a large crystal greatsword with a handle made of weirwood and wrapped in leather covered in runes, the blade of the sword was as wide across as a grown man's hand and seven feet long, it was alive with moonlight and has a faint blue glow.
"That blade is the original Ice and was made from the bones, blood, and life force of my father," Bran The Builder said in Old Tongue causing Eddard to look at him in shock.
"Are you saying that our bloodline has the blood of the Others in our veins?! That we are kin to the enemy?!" Eddard shouted at his ancestor in outrage which sounded more severe in fluent Old Tongue than in Common Tongue.
"Yes, young pup, the Stark bloodline was created as the ultimate weapon against The Others as we have all their natural gifts and those of the Children of the Forest. No matter what you feel or what the world will say about it, know this. The only reason the world of the living has continued was because of House Stark and the sacrifices we made to end a war that could not be truly won!" Bran The Builder said in Old Tongue with a hard voice that silenced the enraged youth.
The greendream ended a while after that and Eddard was left having to deal with the truth he had just received from the founder of his bloodline.
The blood and essence of an Other were bound to the Stark bloodline, this was the main reason that they beat back the Others ending the Long Night and the power over ice, sleet, and snow was one of the fundamental building blocks that raised the Wall.
The title King's of Winter held more truth to it than many knew and it is because they had forgotten the true history of the Long Night that they were not ready for the Other's return.
It took him two years to do it but Eddard had no choice in the end, but to accept the truth of what he is, what his ancestor had to become to save the world. He has winter in his veins and it is his bloodline's duty to safeguard the world of the living from the dead.
(Flashback End)
He closes his eyes for a moment and when he opens them it was no longer shimmering molten silver, it was now a bright icy blue that shines as bright as stars.
From his hands, a pulse of pure icy cold power surged outwards into the air around him freezing the castle gates instantly, along with the stone walls that the men defending the castle stood upon.
When he was done Eddard sent another pulse through the frozen structure after which cracks started to appear all over until everything his ice froze shattered as if it was glass showering him in the shards of frozen debris.
There was silence as the defenders looked at where their castle gate and wall once stood, a feeling of dread washed over the men and women of the castle as they realized what this meant.
"Attack," Eddard said with an icy chill in his voice.
Eddard himself had led the men that breached the walls of the Twins where he proceeded to slaughter the entire household, as a blind and all-consuming rage had taken over his mind. This rage had spread to his direwolves making them far more savage as they tore people apart.
He hardly can recall what happened clearly only small flashes make it into his memories and none of the scenes were pleasant; flashes of him cutting down fleeing men with a savage smile, flashes of him tearing a man in half with his bare hands bathing himself in a shower of blood, flashes of him tearing the heart out of the chest of a screaming woman with tears on her face.
It is only when he had killed Walder Frey himself that he managed to come back to himself soon enough to stop the slaughter, but only some of the women and children remained along with one of the older Frey boys so he had the older boy sign over the lands of House Frey to him Eddard Stark, the boy got to live as a sworn brother of the Night's Watch, the women and children were sent to the Sept, Citadel, or the Silent Sisters.
The sole exception to that order was the sister of Tywin Lannister, Lady Genna, and her children who were all sent North until the war was over.
The absolute terror Eddard had seen in the faces of the children that survived the slaughter of the Twins would have haunted the man he once was for the rest of his life but the man he is now just felt indifferent to the trauma he undoubtedly inflicted on these people.
He did wonder for a moment if he was becoming the people he hates but he dismissed that thought for he did not start this war, nor is he fighting it for greed, glory or pride like many others are. He is fighting this war for the protection and survival of his people and family, vengeance and justice are just a bonus for there is no future that his family can still live their lives with the Targaryen family on the Iron Throne.
He also knew the real reason behind the slaughter of House Frey; he had anger and hatred in him from his first life that he had never been able to part with, due to the horrors he experienced the first time in the war and the guilt that ate at him for all the things he failed to stop from happening.
Walder Frey and his family provided Eddard an outlet he subconsciously needed for all these pent-up emotions, and hatred while also quenching his thirst for vengeance for what the Frey's did to his family from before.
They were also the only ones that he could lash out at this point; the Boltons were not traitors yet and he needed the North united together, not at each other's throats in a civil war. The Lannisters are not an enemy he can afford to make while still fighting the Loyalist forces, he may want them to pay for what they did but he will have to put off any thoughts of revenge until he is granted an opportunity to do so.
It was a bloody campaign Eddard set out on to reclaim the Riverlands from the Loyalists, he lost count of the number of men he killed on his march through the Riverlands but he was sure that some of those Loyalist Houses he destroyed may never rise again so the map of the Riverlands might need to be redrawn after the war ends.
The fighting was intense and deadly, but the Northmen fought with a fury, and purpose that made them a terror for their enemies to face on the battlefield, none more so than Eddard Stark himself.
Eddard was unstoppable with the crystal greatsword Ice in his hands, he slaughtered all who faced him with his blade cutting through armor with casual ease, his strength, and stamina kept him going no matter how many people he faced, he hardly ever tires, even when the day is won he is seen standing strong amidst the death and destruction of the battlefield.
The goal was finally accomplished when his army had fallen upon the core of the loyalist forces from the Riverlands several hours ago. The enemy could not put up much of a fight due to the size of the northern army and the fact that they were already in a fight against the rebel Riverlands lords under the command of Ser Brynden Tully.
The loyalist was surrounded on both sides and then they were slaughtered with overwhelming force leaving few if any survivors of the battle.
Yet as he looks on in the rain Eddard can't feel any sense of accomplishment from what he had done here, instead, he feels the same way he feels when he has to clean up a mess one of his siblings or Robert made, the only difference was that this was a mess that he had created all on his own.
There were other ways he could have secured the Riverlands to his cause that didn't require all this death and destruction, hell some of these men he killed today could have become his allies but those methods would require time he didn't wish to waste trying to satisfy one man's greed.
The North was several times stronger than the first time this war had taken place, the Vale and Stormlands were fully united behind their respective leaders which has given them a huge advantage over the loyalist forces.
Eddard had no illusions about how close of a victory they had managed to secure in the Rebellion the first time around, they are not pressed for time as they once were but that doesn't mean that he can let his guard down.
"My King," a voice spoke up from below him and he turned to the speaker.
The speaker was a small person covered in a thick dark green cloak made out of the skin of the lizard lions that inhabit the Neck, the cloak covered everything making it impossible to tell if they were a man or a woman unless they spoke to you.
The person belonged to a group of spies and Wargs that were made by Cregan Stark in the aftermath of the Dance of Dragons. Every house in the Neck was required to send at least ten people to be trained for these tasks at the inception of the plan and as the decades passed the numbers grew into the hundreds.
Nowadays most of the men and the women in the group were made up of crannogmen from the Neck and the head of the group is currently Lord Howland Reed of Greywater Watch.
Eddard has made effective use of them in the war so far, making them the eyes and ears of the Rebellion which has made them out maneuvering the enemy forces far easier while making it almost impossible for the enemy to ever get accurate information on their size, location and battle tactics.
"Report," Eddard told the crannogmen.
"No remnants of the enemy forces destroyed today were able to escape before our members got to them, there is also a sizeable force numbering around twenty-five thousand men from the Crowlands under the command of the new Hand of the King, Lord Jon Connington," the crannogmen reports then waits for Eddard's orders.
"Where are they now?" Eddard asked while tapping a finger on his leg as he thinks.
"They will soon be entering the Riverlands, by our estimates it will take them two to three weeks to reach Castle Darry," The crannogmen said.
Eddard thinks about what he wants to do for a few moments before finally coming to a decision.
"Have your people stationed with the Vale army instruct Jon Arryn to take out the Crownlands army before they reach Castle Darry, make sure that the enemy is blind to their movements until it is too late to do anything. I will also be sending Lord William Dustin with fifteen thousand cavalry troops as extra reinforcements to ensure that this is done," Eddard gives his orders to the crannogmen.
"It will be done, My King," the crannogmen said then dashed off to complete his orders.
There was silence around him again and Eddard let his mind drift from the world around him, he is not sure long he does this but it must have been an hour or two based on the position of the sun when he opens his eyes again and the fact that crows are feasting on the bodies left to the elements further confirmed this thought.
His Direwolves shifts from where they were laying around him and he followed their gaze to a group of men that were riding toward him.
Eddard couldn't make our who they were immediately but what he did recognize was the banners they flew; a leaping silver trout on a field of blue and mud red.
He cursed under his breath before releasing a tires sigh as he braces himself for what's to come, for with the orders he just gave out for Jon Arryn it will leave him as the one to negotiate terms with Hoster Tully this time around.
He was hoping to avoid meeting with the Tully's for as long as possible but it does not look like that will be happening.