Hello !

Here comes the 21st chapter of the story!

Thanks for all the people who review, fav or favorite this story! More than 250 followers, you guys are awesome. Shall we keep on this trend ?

This will be a very short chapter, the preparation of the coming battle ! I've started to write it, and I'm very excited to share it with you as soon as I can !

Jctherebel : Not the battle yet, but it's coming very soon ;)

AnimeA55Kicker: I think Eragon can teach a lot to Daenerys, about her dragons, but also about the consequences of her actions.

Obviously, I own a computer, some books and even a cat. However, I own nothing in the Inheritance Cycle and Game of Thrones franchise. They do belong to Christopher Paolini and G.R.R Martin.

Without further ado, here comes the chapter !

Their travel had been without any real troubles, except for long and cold nights in the middle of the North. Jaime Lannister had been a silent passenger, remaining deep in thoughts during most of their travel, occasionally asking a lone question here and there. He hadn't made any attempts to escape during the nights, preferring to stay close to the fires Saphira would make. He probably knew an escape wouldn't end well for him, having been warned once before their departure.

He wasn't as eager as his brother to be closer to the dragon, but he looked less scared of her than most. Eragon remembered Jaime had once tried to go solo against Drogon; so he didn't know if this lack of fear was madness or boldness. From what he had seen of the Lannister, it looked like a mix of both.

The two men had remained in a peaceful silent during most of the day. It suited Eragon just fine, who could prepare the coming battle with the Eldunaris and Saphira.

But like always, it was difficult to make a war plan if you couldn't see the battlefield, and now that they had felt the sheer number of dead spirits, they knew it would be impossible to kill them all. The answer laid in the middle of this enormous web. Once again, they would need to kill the leader if they wanted to win this war, where greater numbers opposed them.

Eragon and Saphira looked at the endless sea of snow laying in front of them. Nothing seemed to have changed at the Wall since their departure all these months ago. At yet, they could feel this now familiar dark presence looming behind the menacing white forest, weighting on their mind. It was the same feeling they had felt when facing Shruikan or to a lesser extent Durza. The feeling of facing an entity made of hate, destruction and constantly seeking death. But today, their enemy was invisible and greater in number. He didn't know what he preferred between either.

The power and magnitude of the army of the dead had slightly increased in the past few months and the cold surrounding the presence of the Night King tasted just like death. It horrified Eragon that they couldn't find the smallest amount of life behind this mass of death. The Night King had thoroughly erased every life that crossed the path of his gigantic army. Eragon never imagined he would feel such an emptiness one day. He remembered lessons with Oromis, where he would sit for hours, focusing on the movements of his environment, losing himself observing small ants. But now, he could only feel the void left after the passage of a merciless enemy. Even Helgrind or the Hadarac had felt livelier and the taste of death would pale in comparison to what laid North of him.

Nevertheless, their minds were constantly scrying this great fog, to feel and measure the advance of this silent but deathly enemy. All the experience accumulated from the several war veterans present at Eastwatch by the Sea meant little in the current situation. Nothing could help them to evaluate physically the enemy. There was no noise, no smoke and no movements to be seen in the distance. From the outside, the only thing that showed the advance was the constant drop of temperatures.

Eragon had prepared a few strategies while crossing the continent, but it was difficult to predict such a foe. However, they were no living or dead records that could offer any sensible comparison. Here again, they were thrown in the dark and would have to make up their strategies from scratch.

Their mental skills were the only tools available to measure the advance of the army of the dead. Sending scouts would be suicide and the wargs couldn't find any birds in the harsh cold. Which meant that Eragon and the elves were the eyes of the Wall. Saphira could have flown above the forest to find the army but he didn't completely trust the idea to send her above an army without any reinforcement available. Instead, she would fly South to assess the possible arrival of armies and reinforcements.

On his right, Blödhgarm was also facing the white wildness that was North of the Wall, which was now a complete No Man's Land. He had arrived, along with all the other elves which were in Winterfell and a delegation from the North. Mitsu's news had urged the elves to go North, to protect the Wall and to protect Eragon. Winterfell was now less guarded but they knew the risk of an attack was now minimal. As a last safety, the eggs had once gain been stored into their boat, with two elves guarding it. It was a painful remainder of the dangerousness of their mission and their critical situation. Their only safeguard here consisted of a boat and two dozen of people to protect it, for a continent which looked just as large as Alagaësia.

"Brush away these thoughts, you've done everything you could to protect the eggs and the Cast. Now, make sure you protect yourself" said Saphira seriously.

"And you?" teased Eragon

"I'm a dragon. No one will dare to hurt me" mocked Saphira

"All hail the mighty one, the untouchable" praised Eragon with a laugh.

Saphira grumbled good naturally, which caused the man around her to jump, frightened by her unexpected growling. Even after a few weeks, they still were easily startled by Saphira. But for Eragon, this was familiar sounds a source of comfort. In these moments, they were each other's rocks, a comforting presence in all the foreign place they had come across, in Westeros and Alagaësia.

He barely had time to be physically close to Saphira, let alone fly above the Northern landscapes. His days were spent just like the others in the middle of the snow and ice, which made these small moments close to her all the more rewarding.

Eastwatch by the Sea was buzzling with activities and the population in the castle had probably increased tenfold since their arrival all these weeks ago. Northerners but also Wildlings had filled this place, tasked by Jon to defend the Wall. A nice turn of events for the Wildlings if Eragon ever saw one.

Most of them could do nothing but wait for the battle, after the frenzy of the first few days. There was only so much a forge could host and many were left outside in the cold. They would train, man the Wall or remove the ever-falling snow. Otherwise, there was nothing they could do except wait, sleep and drink.

The Elves were also present, to defend the mighty icy magical structure. There was a sense of redemption coming from them, to rectify the mistakes of the past, an inheritance they had unknowingly carried through thousands of years in their collective memory. Contrary to their Westerosi allies, there hadn't been any shortage of activities for them. They had spent the past weeks reinforcing their wards, training soldiers and scrying the North. They had also felt the power of the enemy and knew that every ounce of energy stored could save their life later on.

The Eldunaris were quite helpful in that regard, and after all these weeks of sailing and their months of travels across Alagaësia, the energy stored in Aren and in their jewels was simply overwhelming. In a few months, Eragon had stored more energy inside his ring than Brom had done in sixteen years in Carvahal. Some of this energy was also added in his sword or in the several wards surrounding him and Saphira. But whenever Eragon thought he was ready, he remembered the pit of void surrounding the Night King and suddenly, the pool of energy waiting to be used in his ring looked almost disappointing.

Such an odd gathering was probably unheard of in Westeros and it made the interactions at Eastwatch by the Sea all the more interesting to watch. The only time Eragon had seen such a melting pot was at Urû'baen before the final siege.

The elves, without surprised, preferred to remain together but it wasn't unheard of to find one of them teaching a small group, usually wildlings. The latter didn't have any trouble getting smashed on the ground by a woman, something that irked much more the proud northerners.

Outside of these scoutings, they would help to the best of their capacities to the defence of the Wall. It wasn't easy, since the days were usually very short. As long as the sun was high in the sky, they would help the soldiers present, prepare the wall or watch the horizon. But once the night had fallen, the temperatures would drop and staying outside became painful and almost dangerous for most of them. Although Eragon didn't risk as much as the other men, it was still quite uncomfortable for him to stay outside. The cold penetrated through their thick layers of fur like cold steel. The only warm places at Eastwatch by the Sea were the forge, which ran non stop and Saphira. Unfortunately, both places weren't accessible for many and ultimately, all the men would gather at night in the common room of the castle which would remain crammed during the day and most of the night.

The close proximity between the men and the constant flow of alcohol during these long nights lessened the inhibitions of many and eased the small tension that existed between Alagaësian and Westerosi. Eragon took some pleasure discussing with the wildling who didn't bother with false pretence and lies. They spoke as openly, without any filters which suited him just fine. They respected strength and Eragon and Saphira had long earned their respect with their respective strengths.

They would talk about their lifestyle, their habits or their perfection of magic, even though Eragon would remain quite evasive on the latter. The more he discussed with them, the more he could find some similarity between them and the elves. The curiosity of some of his companions had also been sparked and more often than not, a few elves would join him during these conversations even though they would remain silent. This had first surprised Eragon at first, but he had quickly understood the sudden interest from Blödhgarm and his companions.

The whole lifestyle of the wildlings and the elves was built on respect towards nature. However, the elves considered and respected nature for its gifts while the wildlings considered it as a dangerous but worthy opponent. The perception was different, but the origin was the same.

The magic that some of these wildlings had -which were called wargs- was one of the last testimonies of the legacy of the elves. These people had a spark of natural power but had been left completely untrained. It reminded Eragon of Du Vrangr Gata and its members who had a spark of inheriting magic in their body but were left without any proper training.

Over the centuries, the wargs had concentrated their abilities on the possession of small animals, not a small feat in itself and the rest of their magic had faded away.

These small moments were quite appreciated by Eragon. In the middle of these people, he felt some sort of understanding. There was some mutual and genuine respect for each other. There was no hidden political agenda, no threats. There was a mutual understanding of two groups of people who had been forced to leave their house and would now fight to take it back.

After a few nights, Eragon woke up with a certitude. The enemy would be here tonight.

This is the end of the chapter! I hope you've enjoyed it! This wasn't the longest nor the most action but it was necessary to set everything in place.

As always, reviews and critics are appreciated! A good incentive to publish faster! Critics help me a lot to improve and adapt! I try to answer all your messages and take them into account! Can we reach 10 reviews ? That would be amazing!

Thank you all and stay safe!