Author's Notes: Annnnd we're back for another chapter! I've enjoyed all of the reactions I've been getting from you amazing readers! Thank you so much for reading!

As we reach the end game, I want to especially sing my praises of Catzrko0l! They're doing a lot more than just reading and making corrections. They've also been key in helping make sure that the end has real tension and real impact. You're the best!

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Chapter 152

Renly II

The best Renly could say for these castles was that at least they didn't have to worry about rats the size of beavers making their home in them. He was surprised they didn't find more animals living amongst the wreckage. They were always met with an eerie silence. Among the strange artifacts they discovered at the Nightfort was a wall made entirely of weirwood, with the most ghastly wrinkled and stretched face as though a man's final screams were frozen for all to behold. Renly's first instinct was to burn it or chop it down. He very nearly got his wish when he and all of his men had been sent screaming upon the weirwood opening its eyes and stating, "Who are you?"

Eventually, one of the soldiers, a young boy named Grint with more swagger than a boy of five-and-ten had earned, had eventually figured out that stating the vow each of them had taken opened a doorway outside the Wall. It was deemed useful enough for that alone, especially since the gated entrance into the forest from the courtyard was still cluttered with fallen stone and the trunks of old dead trees. Tollard set his men to that task promptly so that more supplies would be able to get through from Castle Black.

Renly went back into his stupor, feeling as frozen as the blizzards that were now blowing with alarming regularity. At first they halted work when the storms set in, as the wind felt erosive enough to tear off any exposed skin. But as the blizzards became longer, they had to start forging through. They were forced to send more than one man back to Castle Black with blackened fingers. It was becoming such an issue that the rudimentary healers who were familiar only with the regular injuries from work had to be supplemented by a maester. The king had apparently arranged for the Citadel to send up a wealth of new maesters to man the castles that were being repaired in preparation for the Long Night.

After Renly had initially ignored everything around him for the first two years, the Long Night was all he seemed to hear about now. The Night's Watch men were becoming increasingly paranoid, even Captain Bergan, and Renly assured them that they were safe behind the Wall. However, fear escalated when two of the soldiers decided to go through the weirwood entrance into the forest on a jape, and then never returned.

Captain Bergan arranged for half of the soldiers to go forth in a search party and look for them. They were gone for two days, and then sometime in the middle of the night they heard one of the men on the inside of the Wall screaming through the door: "They're here! They're coming! It's the Others! Let us in!" Someone hastily uttered the passphrase and half a dozen men fell through. On the outside, they saw a figure peering down into the tunnel, the bright blue eyes like torches in the dark.

Of the twenty men sent forth to search, only six had returned. Captain Bergan was forced to relay a report of the losses and ask for more men. It was decided that no one was to go wandering north of the Wall anymore.

Renly was absolutely terrified, for himself, for Loras. What if Loras was made a ranger and sent north of the Wall? He whimpered at the thought of him dying and returning as an undead. He thought he might die of fright if one night he came face to face with Loras as an undead. It was such a potent fear, he quickly began having nightmares about it, waking up screaming in the early hours of the morning. He wasn't the only one. As the leader of the stonecutters, Renly did his best to quell his fear and keep order, but they were reaching a point where men were too scared to, despite the Others being unable to breach the Wall.

After a week, five hundred men showed up and none were more relieved than Renly when he saw Loras was at the head of the line.

His lover brought with him a level head which soothed much of the fears. "Maester Aemon assures me that the Others can't reach you through the Wall. There is magic in it specifically meant to keep the Others out. That's what the Wall was built for, after all. As long as you stay on this side of it, there is nothing to fear."

Renly wished he'd paid closer attention to his surroundings when he first arrived. He felt ashamed that he'd done little to control the men when they'd started to panic like wild deer.

"Is what you said true?" Renly asked Loras one night. Enough progress had been made that the first and second floor of the Nightfort had been cleared enough for a mess hall, kitchen, and rooms for most everyone. A roaring fire was alight in the biggest rooms. In the mess hall, there were two fire pits. There was another room that was not quite free of the elements that held a fireplace. Renly had commandeered it for their use from time to time. There was still a hole in the roof where gusts of wind and snowflakes still fell through. Even after four years, Renly still didn't feel accustomed to the cold and he shivered. Loras' blood ran hot, so he took Renly's hands in his and rubbed them to create warmth.

"Yes, it is. The maester may be old and ailing, but he's been here longer than anyone. I don't doubt he knows his history," Loras murmured.

"I'm sorry," Renly whispered.

"For what?"

"I should've had control of my men. You had to save the day. Seems like you're always saving me."

Loras snorted. "I had a sword at my hip and fresh men at my back. Safety in numbers, I think. My men trust me to protect them. You're only a stonecutter now, not that it isn't noble work, but you don't have the same assurances at your disposal as Captain Bergan."

"I suppose so. But you didn't see it."

"See what?"

"The White Walker," Renly said. A gust of wind blew and he shuddered, fearing for a moment that merely uttering it had summoned it.

"I'd dearly like to and shove this dragonglass dagger into it," Loras muttered. He held up the dagger and admired the way it caught the light of the fire.

"No," Renly snapped. Loras looked to him curiously. "I see that look in your eyes. You're actually considering it. Don't be a fool!"

"I will have to at some point. A war is brewing. You can feel it. There's tension in the air, a magic," Loras said excitedly.

Renly closed his eyes in exasperation, willing his fear to stop causing his heart to hammer in his chest. "I know your love of fighting, but you need to be careful. In our time spent separate, I felt like little more than a ghost. Life at the Wall is so much more bearable with you here," he insisted, drawing him in with a kiss.

"I don't have a death wish," Loras purred, his smile growing lascivious. "You're stuck with me."

The Nightfort was still lacking even after two years, leaving a good portion of the top roofless and unfinished. However, the Old Bear was far more concerned about having adequate coverage of the Wall and once more sent Renly, Tollard, their men, and Loras further east to Stonedoor. Unlike many of the rest of the castles along the Wall, Stonedoor was still in working condition. There were only minor cave-ins in some of the rooms and a greater portion of the bathhouse on the bottom floor. Instead of years of work, Renly estimated it only needed about eight months of patching before it was an acceptable space to be garrisoned.

There were no more incidents with any of the White Walkers, though the guards on the Wall occasionally reported seeing figures walking among the trees, distinguishable only by their glowing blue eyes. Captain Bergan sent ravens to the Old Bear with news of these reports.

"The Lord Commander is growing quite concerned. They're seeing more activity at Castle Black as well, though none of it particularly threatening. It does suggest that they're planning to mount an attack."

"Planning?" Renly wrinkled his nose in distaste. "How could they be planning? They're supposed to be dead, aren't they?"

"The army is," Loras interjected. "But there's one called the Night King. It seems he controls where the army goes."

"Night King," Renly muttered, shaking his head. What use is there for a king in this godsforsaken place? Wouldn't he be just as dead as the rest? It perturbed him that the army of the dead was not simply a shapeless mass, like a stampeding herd of bison.

His and Loras' time at Stonedoor came to a quick and unexpected end. The Old Bear sent a raven to him and Tollard personally, summoning them and their teams back to Castle Black. The Old Bear insisted on keeping his missives short, so Renly was pondering the entire way what would inspire the Old Bear to insist they return.

He was further surprised when Lord Commander Mormont addressed them personally. "The pyromancers have arrived. They're busy in a space making wildfire. The king's idea is that we're able to pelt it or toss it over the Wall. The army of the dead is expected to be weak to it and should fall easily. I need you, Renly and Tollard, to collaborate with them on how to best get it up the Wall. It's volatile and viscous. It needs to be handled with care and I expect you'll be able to manage. I fear it might destroy the lift and that would be difficult to recover from."

So he and Tollard had to put their heads together to get the wildfire to the top of the Wall. The pyromancer, Myrous, decided to demonstrate its fearful properties by tossing a flask of it at an unprotected part of the Wall. Though it didn't even so much as leave a blemish, the green fire burned merrily for more than a day before it eventually blew out. It sounded quite promising to Renly and it would keep Loras from having to rush headlong into battle.

However, since Loras was also now at Castle Black, he was once more press ganged into training. It was hardly his favorite method of work, but they both were content as long as they were in each other's company.

They were there when young Bran Stark and Lady Meera Reed arrived after having spent many long years on the north side of the Wall. Despite both being in their second decade, they appeared quite ravaged from their years on the other side of the Wall. Lady Meera was hollow-eyed and hungry, whereas Bran was stolid but his face was full of sharp angles. Renly didn't think that was entirely the Stark blood at work. He didn't speak with them and simply returned to his work.

The next exciting event to happen was when the Targaryens showed up with their dragons. Renly had ducked behind a cart, unsure if he was hiding from the king or his dragon. They were enormous beasts. Not nearly as large as Balerion, but formidable in their own right. They had at least landed outside Castle Black rather than inside. He'd done his best to continue his work, periodically stopping to eye the dragons. Thankfully, neither they nor their masters paid him any mind. It was later announced that Maester Aemon had passed and there was to be a burning in the yard. He wouldn't deny there was something beautiful about the dragons appearing to honor someone they considered kin as they swooped in to set the old maester's pyre alight.

That had been a year past. Roughly eight months later, scores of men began to arrive at the Wall. They were soldiers mostly from the northern houses: Stark, Umber, Karstark, Bolton, and from his brother Stannis. Renly was careful to avoid seeing his brother. He still hadn't quite forgiven him for abandoning him in the Red Keep. Perhaps if you weren't so gloomy and sour, we may have been able to keep it, Renly thought acerbically. Then again, there hadn't been a siege. The Kingslayer had simply snuck in and made a fool of both him and Loras. He would forever be sore about that.

As more soldiers from more houses continued to pour in, Renly was beginning to get nervous. It seemed the king was certain winter was near at hand and had started to send men and supplies. The new men brought their own news of a Blackfyre invader in the Reach. This news had left Loras tense and moody, though he repeatedly assured himself that his brother Garlan would easily outwit the new, would-be usurper. Though Renly disliked that the Blackfyre chose to strike near his friend's home, he thought it amusing that the king was now fending off a usurper himself.

It became most evident that the Long Night was nigh when Queen Daenerys made an appearance with her two dragons. At one point, she had her black dragon alight on the top of the Wall, in a deserted stretch and her second, cream-colored dragon had followed suit. The men on the Wall gave them a wide berth, eying them warily, but the dragons paid them no mind. She stayed for a few days initially, but then Renly noticed her circling, and eventually flew further afield. Over the course of two days, she flew the dragons across the entire expanse of the Wall as if doing her own patrol.

I would never have expected a noble lady, let alone a queen to act in the capacity of a soldier. But that wasn't quite accurate. Brienne was a noble lady and had tried to act like a soldier. Renly had pitied her. It wasn't her fault she was so homely compared to the other women. He'd only been hoping to cheer a girl up when he'd danced with her that night so long ago, but he'd won himself an ally instead. When she'd first shown up in King's Landing, he'd wanted to send her back, not in the least because he was displeased that her father had ignored a direct call-to-arms. There was little point to her being here. Though the rest of the Stormlands had heeded his call, he'd noticed they were reticent. She was the only one loyal and true.

He'd been gobsmacked when Loras told him that Brienne had married the Kingslayer. Though he disliked the Lannisters for their haughtiness and disdain, he could appreciate Jaime's effortless appearance. Renly would've considered him if he thought he would be susceptible, but then if Lord Tywin had caught them, Renly wasn't so sure the old lion wouldn't have removed his head himself. The beauty of the Lannister line proved merely skin deep. Cersei was vicious and Jaime was disgruntled. Despite their dislike of one another, they nearly always had a matching sneer on their faces.

I suppose if I see Brienne, I should congratulate her on making such a fortuitous match, he thought bitterly. Would she have allowed the Lannisters to make her just as bitter and haughty? Or was she wallowing in misery away from her sword and armor? If the latter, he rather doubted he'd ever see her again.

The nights were getting deeper and longer. It'd been happening for some time, but Renly thought something peculiar about the most recent nights. Their stonecutter work was ebbing now that the wildfire was in place. He and his men were trained to man the catapults and supplement the guard. They started getting assigned to the rotation and now he was expected to man the Wall much the same as Loras. It irked him that he could no longer spend the coldest part of the nights under the covers.

"Does it seem colder to you?" Tollard asked.

"How can you even tell?" Renly asked. "It's always cold." It was so cold that ice was starting to freeze in his beard and he was tempted to shave it off since it only served to make him feel colder, but then the wind would get at his face. Even Loras, who abhorred facial hair, had eventually grown a beard when the wind made his skin sting.

The Old Bear had ordered a new addition to the Wall. He and Renly put their heads together to create a plan for carting stone slabs to the top of the Wall, then creating dry platforms every fifty feet for bonfires. They needed the fire for lighting the carafes of wildfire before they were hurtled down on the enemy, but they also served as beacons of warmth in an ever deepening winter. It at least made watches far more tolerable.

Suddenly, the alarm bell began ringing, drawing all of their attention. "The Others are coming! Man your posts!" the call went out, repeating over and over. Just like that, the grounds were a hive of activity. Immediately, men piled onto the lift and were slowly cranked up. There was a scramble for armor and arms. Renly checked to see his dragonglass dagger was at his belt and then raced over to the loading point of the catapult and carefully moved the first carafe into place. Tollard went up to the side of the wall and peered out into the darkness.

"How do they know? I don't see nothin'."

Renly snorted. "I'm not about to doubt them." He scowled when he peered over at the lift and saw his own brother stepping out onto the Wall. Half of the men with him looked ragged and wild, hardly to the standard that Stannis kept himself. It took a moment for Renly to remember that as part of his penance for failing to submit to the new king, he'd been stripped of his ancestral keep and sent north to tame the wildlings. The rumors Renly had picked up about that made it sound like there was no end of trouble, which greatly amused him. His brother was such a dullard, he needed a colorful lot to make his life interesting.

"What Others?" A man shouted.

"They're in the trees," a large red-headed man growled.

"We've received word of their approach and I won't doubt our sources," Stannis insisted. "Catapults, load!"

"Load!" the call went out across the line. Renly rushed over to the bonfire and grabbed a torch for lighting the carafes. Each one was stoppered with a length of cloth hanging out so that when each one smashed upon impact, the fire would light the green liquid. He was careful to peer around the machine at his brother, doing his best to see and not be seen. The creaking groan of carafes being loaded had ceased and most of what Renly could hear was the gentle crackling of the torch in his hand and the shrill whistle of a light wind.

"There they are!" the redhead cried out.

"Light the carafes," Stannis said.

"Light the carafes," the man next to Stannis parroted loud enough for everyone to hear. Renly lit the rag and felt the tension build in his shoulders as the fire slowly ate it. He hovered by the lever as he waited for the command to launch, his hand poised. He'd never been in a battle before, but he felt oddly calm, having spent the last year testing out the catapults, aiming them, and practicing their jobs. Atop the thousand-foot Wall, Renly felt invincible. How could an army—even one that was dead—make a dent in their might?

"Launch," Stannis said simply.

"Launch!" the cry went out.

Renly slammed the lever down and watched as more than a dozen lights arced through the sky. He dashed up to the edge of the Wall to peer down at the damage.

"Load," Stannis said again.

"Load!"

Renly cursed his brother under his breath as he raced back to his post. He and Tollard were both needed to crank the catapult back into place. Just as he reached it, he heard a great cheer rent the air as the wildfire landed. They loaded another carafe and this time Renly took the opportunity to dart up and peer over the Wall again. He could just see small dots like ants racing across the grounds. Many of them were consumed by green fire. If the wildfire did nothing else, it gave them a view of their enemy. He felt his mouth go dry as the dead continued to swarm closer to the Wall. Surely there was no fear here.

"Light," Stannis said.

"Light!" the man cried out into the night.

"Launch," Stannis ordered.

"Launch!"

He slammed the lever down and the catapult once more tossed the carafe.

"They've reached the gate," a man called.

"Toss a few of those carafes over the side here," Stannis commanded. "We need to make the entrance unpassable."

Renly and Tollard wrenched the catapult arm back into place and once more loaded another carafe. He was pleased when more cheers went up among the men and he once more rushed to the Wall to peer over. Though it was patchy, much of the area at the gate to the Wall was wreathed in green flames. They could now hear an unearthly cry as the creatures below writhed and flailed against the flames. Renly squinted, noticing much larger forms than the tiny ants that appeared to be men and his mouth went agape when he realized they were giants. Dead giants. Even in death, their cries were deep and formidable. They walked through the green fire. It started eating at their feet, but they continued, burning merrily and started pounding on the gate.

"Archers, nock your arrows. These are dragonglass. Few but valuable. Make your shots count," Stannis growled.

"Mark," Stannis commanded in an infuriatingly calm manner. "Loose!"

Two of the giants shattered into dust, but the other dozen or so merely took their place and continued pounding on the Wall and the gate.

"Pour the oil," Stannis commanded. "Catapults, load!"

"Load!"

Renly was once more forced to turn away from the Wall and load the carafe into place.

"Light."

"Light!"

"Launch."

"Launch!"

This time Stannis didn't allow himself to get distracted by the front gate and continued a steady stream for the catapults. Renly fell into a system as he and Tollard manned their machine. Renly hesitated when he saw only five carafes left. "Report to the commander we're running low on carafes," Renly said to Tollard.

"We're running low, my lord!" Tollard shouted above the fracas.

"We are too, my lord!"

"Five carafes left!"

Stannis frowned and Renly once more was careful to use the catapult as a shield to keep Stannis from spotting him.

"Are there more below?" he said.

"There should be."

"Send out the call. Tell the men below to load more carafes."

"Aye, m'lord."

Renly saw Stannis' face flicker in irritation before it smoothed out again. He sniggered. His brother was always so particular. His amusement was short-lived, however, as he once more peered over the Wall and felt his heart beginning to pound. The battlefield was awash with green flames that burned merrily. While he noticed large dark patches of bodies that had stilled, he saw yet hundreds if not thousands more still pouring from the forest. Just how many undead were there? Despite the wildfire and death, Renly had the sense that there was no care to the army. It seemed obvious, but he expected something classed as an army to bear some resemblance to a real army.

Despite being low on carafes, Stannis still gave the order to load, light, and launch. Renly was almost surprised when he reached for another carafe and was met with empty air. He peered at the lift and saw that it was still trying to crank up to the top with a fresh load of carafes.

"We're out of carafes!"

"They're coming," Stannis growled. "Archers, keep nocking your arrows and firing. Catapults, begin loading stone."

Renly frowned. Stone was considerably heavier than carafes. They'd need more than two men apiece to manage it. He and Tollard started with the smaller stones first, grunting painfully at the strain of trying to load them.

"Catapults, ready!"

"Launch!"

Renly reached for another rock, when he heard Tollard say, "What's that?"

He frowned at him and joined him at the edge of the Wall, squinting down. He wasn't sure how long the fight had been going, but it felt like hours had passed. All they had seen up to that point were bodies spilling out of the trees like water overflowing its banks. But now there was something new and despite Renly's squinting he couldn't make it out, even in the light of the green flames. It was large, whatever it was, sitting on the edge of the forest, out of range of their arrows and catapults.

Suddenly, he heard a low thrumming sound that seemed to vibrate through the Wall. Renly looked down at his own feet in alarm and started to see cracks forming. "Stannis?" he called out unconsciously.

He looked up to see his brother had whipped his head around to look at him, tilting his head in curiosity.

"The Wall is falling," Renly said quietly.

He'd never seen Stannis perturbed, but he quickly snapped back as he too was peering at his feet. Another low thrumming sound blared again and this time Renly could hear the cracks forming. The Wall was falling.

"It's gonna fall!" another man called out.

"Abandon your posts," Stannis finally called. "Go to the right or the left, but clear the middle. Leave now!" He took the time to shout to those down below, "Retreat! The Wall is falling! Flee!"

Renly simply grabbed Tollard and began running east to the edge where Castle Black's expanse ended. Another thrum blew through the air and the cracking grew to a dull roar, then split the air like a clap of thunder. He glanced momentarily to see the Wall's normally straight edge waver. It split, cracked, and then began to fall. Men screamed as they fell. He had no idea if Stannis had saved himself.

The sound of the Wall crashing was a tremendous roar, louder than any sound Renly had ever heard. He thought it would never end as it got so loud he could hardly hear himself think. Somehow, he kept to his feet and never let Tollard go. Eventually, the sound ebbed away and the air grew still. Flurries had begun to fall and he felt the wind pick up as it whipped around him. Tollard was bent double, sucking in air, but Renly hardly noticed his own perspiration as a dull ache began to form in his stomach. The large man with the wild red hair and beard that had bellowed Stannis' orders for the whole Wall to hear had also escaped. His face was shocked and paler than usual, if Renly wasn't mistaken. He carefully peered down at the remains of the Wall.

Loras, Renly thought, beginning to feel a numbness fall over him. His lover had been abed when the Others attacked. His shift of watching the Wall was supposed to begin in the morning. Would he have still roused himself to join in the effort? Of course he would, Renly thought, a tremble beginning to fill his limbs as he stepped up to the edge with the red-haired man and peered down. The Wall had lost all of its rigidity and had tumbled away like snow falling down an avalanche. He could see the twisted remains of the lift protruding out from the top of the pile. The pile of snow had just reached the gate which was slightly open. Despite the devastation, he could see men crawling out.

Was Loras alive? Was his brother? As he surveyed the area, he saw more men climbing up through the rubble. Then he realized it was the undead. The remaining undead giants and the small foot soldiers were scrabbling their way up through the snow, crying balefully. More wights were attempting to climb the newly formed jagged edges up to the path of the Wall. He felt fear crawling up his spine as he looked down and found they were similarly climbing up to him. He started backing away, but his legs felt locked, and he fell back. Fear seized him, but he gritted his teeth, returned to his feet, and put one foot in front of the other.

The men who were with him seemed frozen in their stupor or were resting. The big man gave a wild shout. "They're comin'! Up on yer feet. Run, run!" Renly watched helplessly as one man slipped and slid straight off the side of the Wall, his lingering cries lost in the howl of the wind. He reached Tollard and grabbed him to pull him up. "Come on, we need to go!"

"But … whuh-what about Castle Black?" Tollard asked miserably.

"We can't do anything for them here," Renly urged, continuing to tug on him. The wind was growing stronger and the snow was coming down harder. He was beginning to shiver more from the cold than terror.

Tollard slowly stumbled to his feet, but he looked lost and sad.

"Come along. We need to go," Renly said, noticing that many of the men around them were heading east. They were left among the stragglers. "All of you, up! We need to go."

"Who put you in charge?" one said sullenly.

"I'm in charge then," the red-haired man barked.

"You're a wildling," the man shot back.

"And you're a cunt! I don't care if'n ya call me by one of your lordly titles, but you can call me Tormund. We need to leave," he grumbled. His command came none too soon as they began hearing the ragged screeches of the wildings as they got closer to the edge.

"Feel free to die here, but I won't," Renly said, once again pulling on Tollard.

"They're coming!" another man shrieked, barreling past them.

Renly felt another thrill of fear surge through him as he looked back to the Wall. Was he mistaken or were there glowing blue eyes peering over the edge?

Suddenly, a great roar split the sky. The cream dragon seemed to break through the flurries and sprayed a jet of white fire across the gap. The second dragon roared and the silhouette of the black dragon swooped in and inflamed a dark line onto the ground, overlapping with its sibling.

Renly coughed a laugh. He never thought he'd be happy to see dragons. He once more pulled at Tollard and said, "We're not done yet. It's best we reach Oakenshield. Someone will need to know what's happened." And I won't dare give up on Loras.