Jon Snow. Beyond the Wall.
Our journey to Mara and Cid's clan was going smoothly and even pleasantly. And if the map I looked at from time to time was to be believed, we were approaching Howling Pass, so named for the wind howling through the series of gorges that made it up.
The snow here beyond the Wall was harder and noisier than in the North of the Seven Kingdoms, the wind was colder, and there were no roads at all, but despite all that, I felt fine, much better than I had in Winterfell or on the other side of the Wall.
I felt different in Winterfell, different from Robb and Arya and the others, like I didn't belong there. And it wasn't the way Lady Stark treated me, who'd outright hated me before Lord Solomon came, or the stigma of being a bastard, but something larger.
Lord Stark and my brothers and sisters tried everything they could to prove otherwise, but in doing so they only reinforced the feeling. Something was missing, and I began to realize what it was when I left Winterfell.
Freedom. Freedom from the shackles of fear of other people's views and thoughts on any of my actions, bad or good, and from prejudice and opinion based on others' actions toward me. Here, in the company of Sid and Mara, seemingly enemies of the Seven Kingdoms and the Black Watch, I felt like myself, acting and speaking as I wanted to myself.
Lord Solomon is a great man, the wisest and fairest I have ever seen, and he taught me not to be afraid to distinguish myself from others and to follow my own heart. If it wasn't for him, I would have been afraid to take one extra look at someone, draw my sword, or just think, for it could all have affected those who truly cared about me and I about them.
- Keep up, Jon Snow," I heard Cid's voice, and I looked up. - You can't slow down in these parts. Snowstorms, lots of predators, and little shelter. You don't want to freeze to death, do you?
- His brains are already frozen," Mara grinned, then looked at me. - Move your feet, you idiot. If it hadn't been for Grandma, we would have left you here, and the world would have one less idiot in it.
Listening to all of this, I couldn't help but smile and quickened my pace, and Ghost did the same.
Since my angry outburst, both Mara and Sid had been treating me noticeably better. I'd even say we've gotten closer, and some semblance of friendship has formed between us.
Mara talked to me more, sometimes sharing stories from the clan or her own life, and Cid's gaze wasn't as suspicious and hard as it had been before. He even taught me how to butcher a carcass, the basics of hunting and archery, which was different from the usual style of the Seven Kingdoms.
I used Mara's bow, who had offered it herself, as well as the training, promising that if it suffered in any way, it would be my balls that would suffer. And my reaction to her actions was only hearty laughter and gratitude.
Suddenly Cid stopped, and Mara and I repeated his actions. All around us were only mountains of varying heights, and, it seemed to me, nothing more.
- What happened? - Mara asked, and I started to explore the area with my eyes, because Cid doesn't do something without a reason.
- Look," Cid said and pointed into the distance.
There was a group of people dressed in Free People clothing recreating some kind of symbol in the shape of a twisted star with lots of lines, and they were using... severed body parts.
- Is this some kind of tribe? - I asked.
- We're not that wild," Mara said indignantly.
- They're dead people," Cid announced. Mara looked at him stunned, shifting her gaze away from the reanimated corpses, and I instantly activated my magic circuits and applied 'Strengthening' to my eyes.
I could now clearly see the partially bare bones, chunks of stringy flesh, and most importantly, the glowing blue eyes. These were the White Walkers, or rather, Wights, the reanimated corpses of the people who had been raised first.
The realization of this news made my eyes light up.
At last I could find them. What I had come here, to the deep North, for. They were the ones the deserter Lord Stark had spoken of, the ones who had been executed by Lord Stark for escaping the Night's Watch. Their aura was nasty and unnatural. It reeked of cold and death, and I quickly began to recall every text that mentioned them.
However, why were there so few of them? I had only seen eight, and the legends spoke of an army of hundreds of thousands of dead men following the White Walkers. And what did this symbol mean? Who did it belong to? What was the meaning of their actions?
And at this point I realized that I felt no fear or anxiety, far from it, but interest and excitement. My Origin sang in my soul, zealously wanting to unravel the mystery of the White Walkers, to understand their essence and get answers to my questions. This desire came from my very essence, and it was extremely difficult and even painful to resist it.
Magic is mysterious and unnatural to the vast majority of the people of Westeros, and it takes study, observation, and experimentation to understand its essence, and to figure out how any particular part of it works. And right now, my Origin was only spurring me to throw myself at them and try to pull it all off, but my companions had other plans.
- We need to leave. Now," Cid said.
- We need to tell the elders," Mara nodded.
- Wait for me for ten minutes. If I don't come back, go without me," I said and moved toward the dead. Or rather, I tried to move, because Mara grabbed my arm.
- I knew you were an idiot, but this is too much. We don't know how many there are, or what can kill them. You're just going to die," she said with a note of concern, and Sid gave me a stern look, but didn't say anything.
- And I want to find out. I HAVE to find out," I said firmly, and I got a look of incomprehension and anger from Mara.
- Why? The Elders must know about it. You should ask them first," she said indignantly, and then looked at Sid. - Aren't you going to say anything, Cid? He's trying to kill himself.
- Five minutes," he said, to everyone's surprise.
- What?! Are you crazy?! - Mara raised her voice. - Shouldn't we take him to his grandmother?! Alive! What good will his corpse be?!
- If he can find out their weaknesses, let him. I'll explain everything to the elder myself in the event of his death," Cid said rather coldly and glanced at me. - Five minutes, no more.
- Thank you, Cid.
- You know what? Screw both of you," Mara threw up her hands, to which Cid didn't react, but I laughed and started to descend, applying the Reinforcements to my entire body and leaving Ghost with them.
Slowly and cautiously I crept up to the living dead and began to study them.
We were in a fairly open area, and my clothes definitely stood out in the midst of the white snow and gray rocks, but the Wights did not react to me. The distance from me to them was not even three hundred paces, and I found that strange and interesting. And already from this I could draw a few conclusions.
The dead had no will or mind, it was just a dead body, a puppet to be controlled. They were not oriented by senses, because the few that had ears, nose or eyes were no different from the others. And, as I understand it, due to the lack of an order from the White Walkers, the Wights won't do anything until they get one. I mean, right now, they weren't even looking in my direction, but just continued to create their strange symbol.
In addition to that, they could move their limbs even if they didn't have the muscles needed to perform any movements, and their bare bones were held together by the mana that was in their bodies, or rather, on top of them. It was like water, completely enveloping the Wights, but I could not say more than that, for that would require me to touch them.
What kind of weapon could have slew them? My first guess was fire, for in the legends of Azor Ahai it was the sword of fire that was used. However, was it only fire? Lord Solomon spoke of Mystic Codes, specially blessed objects and materials that have a silver-type influence on supernatural beings, but what of this was suitable for the White Walkers and the Wights?
Again, it all came down to close interaction with the living dead. Experiments needed to be made, and I estimated there wasn't much time left, about two minutes.
On the other hand, if I'm invisible to them, why not try? One of them was just getting somewhat separated from the others.
I didn't think about it for long, so I moved towards it, using "Projection", as a result of which a regular steel sword appeared in my hand.
I wanted to test it first, and after that I wanted to test the Durandal. Lord Solomon probably gave it to me for a reason, right? I would also see if the Wights would react to an attack by one of their own, and how quickly.
I crept up to the whirlwind and swung my regular sword at its torso, causing its body to split into two halves. In the same second, the upper half gave a howl that resembled the cry of a dying bear, and the other seven turned their heads in my direction and came at me a moment later, arms outstretched with dead flesh hanging from them.
I quickly dispelled the Projection and exposed the Durandal and then stabbed the disembodied Wights, and as I expected, it worked, causing it to give a death howl and then stop moving. I then extended my hand towards the remaining Wights that had almost reached me and drew an Ansuz, and a huge flame erupted from it, scorching the four of them and making them squeal in pain, which was weird.
The remaining three ran around the burning Wights, where they were already met by Durandal's blade. With the Reinforcement, I wasn't afraid of them and decided to continue the experiment, targeting different parts of their bodies. They ran like animals, that is, in a straight line, so dodging wasn't a problem.
I aimed for the first one's head, causing him to instantly collapse into a pile of bones. The second one was hit in the legs, but after he lost them, he kept trying to get to me. The third took two arrows to the head, which I realized were from Mara and Sid, which slowed him down but didn't stop him. I hit him in the chest, and he died.
I didn't kill the last one, but used Projection again and stabbed him in the chest, knocking him to the ground and rendering him unable to move. My hand then rested on his bare spine, allowing me to study the mana flows in his body. What happened next, however, was something I had not anticipated.
I found myself in an unknown place surrounded by a vast array of Wights, and right in front of me stood the White Walker. His skin was dead pale and had a tinge of cold frost. He was clad in plate armor, and his head showed icicles in the shape of a crown. But special were his eyes, shining with an ominous blue light, and most importantly, I could feel the intelligence in them.
He just stood there looking at me, but my body was pierced with fear. Fear at the realization that I couldn't defeat him, even using all my skills and mana reserves. The White Walker's mana enveloped his body, and it surpassed mine by a factor of ten, making me physically feel its pressure. Even so, I wanted to know who he was and what he wanted.
With all my courage in my fist, I wrapped both hands around Durandal and pointed it at the White Walker in front of me.
- Who are you?" I asked, to which I got no answer. As soon as I blinked, however, he was instantly at my side and grabbed my arm. I felt an intense pain, as if the coldest ice had been applied to my skin. My attempts to use magic failed, and Durandal fell out of my hands, leaving me to stare straight into the White Walker's eyes.
Gradually the cold began to spread through my arm, and now I was really starting to panic and try to push him away, but it was all in vain.
Am I...going to die...?
Just like that, when I finally accomplished something...?
In front of my eyes, as in a death vision, appeared Lord Solomon, who looked at me with some disappointment. The fear of death instantly receded into the background, giving way to another fear. The fear of disappointing Lord Solomon.
I... have not given up...
I haven't given up yet.
I will prove to you that your efforts have not been in vain.
You will be proud of me and we will meet again so that I can tell you about my adventures...! Yes! That's right! It's not over yet!
As if responding to my will, the Durandal that was lying on the ground shone with a bright golden light, reminiscent of the sun itself on the summer day itself. It blinded me, making me close my eyes, but I could no longer feel the White Walker's hand on my skin.
When I opened my eyes, I saw a worried Mara, with Sid standing behind her with Durandal in his hand.
- You fucking idiot! - she shouted in my face. - Why would you attack them?! And what the hell happened when you touched that corpse?! Answer me!
I couldn't help but smile as I saw familiar faces again. Joy and satisfaction, because I had managed to survive, which meant my journey wasn't over yet. I could also catch Mara's emotions, and among them was indeed worry.
She was genuinely worried about me, huh?
- I'm so glad to be back with you...
And as soon as the last word came out of my mouth, I lost consciousness, accompanied by a nagging pain in my arm.
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