The White Harbor.
Dozens of Dothraki disembarked in the port, soldiers of the reach, impeccable.
Rows of wizards stood on the shore, and before them, hundreds of orange portals glowed.
Jon Snow stood on the pier, unable to tear his gaze away from the water at the ships.
It was frozen...
He watched as the ship docked at the pier, the water, already cold, gradually froze, and ice crept up the ship's hull.
It troubled him greatly. The White Harbor was one of the warmest places in the North, but now the sea was freezing, while snow and cold-filled winds swept the land.
He looked towards where Winterfell should be, but all he saw was a blizzard beginning slightly northward.
"Clap, clap."
A red ripple of fire ran through Jon's body, the effect of the heating bracelet issued to everyone in the first team, as alchemists from all over the magical world mass-produce them so that all soldiers can wear them. Jon turned around as he felt someone patting him on the shoulder.
"Are you ready? The first party of wizards is ready to open the gates to Winterfell. We can begin the transfer."
"Your Majesty Morningstar, do you think, with such cold outside, my people stand a chance of surviving?"
"...if it has lasted less than two days, then probably yes... But if this cold snap started a while ago, while you were away... Although the castle walls can protect those sheltered within for some time, the cold seeps into the stone, gradually equalizing the temperature... If it weren't for the bracelet I gave you, you probably wouldn't have lasted even five hours in such temperatures as now, and judging from what we've seen, it's likely even colder there... they have no magic, so..."
"Yes... while I was away..."
"Alright, don't despair, we still don't know what's happening there. Let's go see, then we'll know if there's any point in grieving."
"...alright, I'm ready."
Asmodeus, seeing that Snow was ready, nodded and waved his hand.
Before them appeared a portal, on the other side of which was a scene reminiscent of Everest in the peak of a storm. Everything was blanketed in snow.
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Meanwhile, in Winterfell, all the nobles sat in the main hall. Tables were no longer in the center of the room; instead, a large fire was laid out to try to warm the castle even slightly. Sansa rubbed her hands together near the fire, realizing that it didn't make much difference. She put on gloves made of sheep's wool and asked the Maester standing nearby, "Any news from the Wall? From Jon? From anywhere...?"
Upon hearing Sansa's question, the courtiers, who were trying to warm themselves by any means possible, also looked up. Seeing the stares of so many people, the Maester hesitated a bit, knowing that his words would undermine the morale of these people. Seeing his hesitation, Sansa said, "Maester, there's no point in worrying about morale right now. Speak plainly."
"...Lady Sansa, lords... Since yesterday, after the sudden cold snap, we haven't received a single raven... We have no communication with the Wall, and no communication with the White Harbor. As for the smaller castles, I won't even mention them..."
"... "
The hall fell silent, and only the howling of the wind interrupted the dead calm. The mood was already grim among everyone, and such news only made the situation worse. Just the day before, it had been cold in the North, but at least people could still venture outside. However, yesterday it suddenly got colder—so cold that the horses left outside the castle overnight froze and turned into living statues.
"What is happening?! Why did it suddenly get so cold?! I need to return to the castle! My wife and children are still there. If this cold continues for another month, we'll have nothing left to burn!" one of the Northern lords spoke with anger and fear in his voice.
"Lord Whitehill, we are all in the same situation, and if we could influence the weather, we would have done so long ago. There's no use venting your anger on us," Sansa tried to reason with the people who were almost completely engulfed in fear.
But she herself didn't know what to do; they were at a dead end. The wood supplies were constantly dwindling, and it was impossible to go outside the city to gather more. It was too cold outside, and they had already brought all the peasants with weaker homes into the castle. Soldiers were stationed in caves beneath the castle, food was already scarce, and with such weather, they couldn't even butcher a cow outside.
'Jon, where are you...?'
At that moment, Sansa heard something—or rather, she didn't hear something.
"Quiet! Listen!"
The entire hall initially fell silent, as they didn't understand why Sansa suddenly shouted at them, but then they saw her gesture for them to listen.
The lords in the hall tried to understand what Sansa was talking about. They listened, listened, listened... Nothing could be heard, nothing... Stop!
"There's nothing to hear! The wind isn't blowing!"
"Is it really quiet!?"
"Yes, yes. There's no draft under the door!!"
"Ha-ha, has the storm ended?!"
"We need to check!"
Someone suggested checking and looked at Sansa. Seeing that all eyes in the hall were on her, Sansa nodded and said, "Open the doors, let's see what's happening outside."
Saying this, she walked to the door. Seeing that Sansa agreed, two men sitting right by the door quickly got up and started removing the bolts from the doors, as well as moving the sacks of wheat they used to cover the gaps in the doors.
By the time everything was cleared, Sansa had already reached the door, with dozens of Northern lords standing behind her, waiting to see what the weather was like outside.
Praying in her heart that her hopes would be realized, she ordered, "Open it."
At that moment, when the two men opened the doors, the light illuminated the faces of everyone present. It wasn't sunlight breaking through after the storm; no, it was orange light emitted by fire.
"This?!"
"Oh my gods!!"
People saw three men standing in the middle of the city, waving sticks over their heads towards the fiery blizzard that replaced the snowy one...
Ten minutes ago.
Asmodeus, who had opened the gate, frowned as streams of wind and snow flew towards him. His alchemical bracelet, designed to maintain body temperature, began to draw mana from his body, indicating that the mana invested in the bracelet by its creator was insufficient to cope with such cold!
Seeing that a nearly invisible layer of fire was beginning to appear on Jon Snow's body, indicating the deactivation of the invisibility function, Asmodeus quickly reached out to the bracelet on Jon's wrist and replenished it with mana.
"This won't do... In such weather, not even wizards can stay, let alone ordinary warriors!" He shouted to Jon and turned to find where Dambler and Grindelwald were. Seeing the two of them already walking towards him, he yelled, "Hurry up! Why are you moving like old men!?"
Dumbledore and Grindelwald, who were approaching Asmodeus, saw a stream of snow bursting out of the portal and grimaced but quickened their pace. When they got closer, they had to almost shout to hear each other over the noise.
"What's happening!? Did you open a portal to Yakutia!?"
"No, it's Winterfell, at least the coordinates you gave me!"
"That's bad. It means the weather changes are worse than we thought!"
"Gellert, I remember you have good knowledge of weather manipulation magic. You can even summon lightning from a storm spell. We need to cancel out this blizzard!"
"I can't do it alone! I'll need your help, and a lot of fire to quickly heat the air and then dispel the storm!"
"Alright, let's go, Dumbledore! We'll heat the air here, and he'll cast the weather control spell!"
Shouting, Asmodeus dragged Dumbledore and Grindelwald with him. Passing through the portal, they found themselves at the epicenter of the storm. They saw a brighter spot of light above them, indicating that the storm resembled a tornado in its properties, and the center experienced the least impact. It was hard to imagine what was happening in the villages near Winterfell.
Examining where he would need to direct the spell, Grindelwald shouted, "What are you all waiting for!? Do you want me to wait forever!? Remember, redirect the flow in the opposite direction! I don't want this snow tornado to turn into a fire one!!"
Hearing Grindelwald, Asmodeus and Dumbledore nodded, took out their wands, and began to spin them counterclockwise above their heads. Gradually, flames started to bloom above them, some orange and others black-red.
A beautiful, yet almost apocalyptic scene unfolded in the sky. Ice and flame clashed with each other, trying to determine the winner, until Grindelwald found the right moment.
With a cry of "Meteolojinx Recanto!!!", violet waves resembling lightning shot up into the heart of the storm.
"Boom!"
The spell exploded in the sky, adding new colors to the scene. Literally in an instant, the blizzard ceased, as if it had never been there, leaving only the snowdrifts to remind of the inclement weather that had just wreaked havoc here.
"Creak."
At that moment, the door creaked open, breaking the silence that had fallen after the storm ended. Asmodeus, Dumbledore, and Grindelwald turned around and saw dozens of shocked faces peering out from the castle doors.
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