《Game Of Thrones: Season 8 - The Right Way》 At Winterfell Prologue ¡°I can''t believe this.¡± Lady Sansa said as she stared at the crow paper that the Maester of Winterfell had just given to her. ¡°Jon is bringing an army of over 100,000 people here.¡± The Maester stood awkwardly behind her. ¡°They are marching north from Dragonstone, so they should take about six months to get here.¡± Sansa sighed. ¡°The North can''t support that many people for any extended period of time.¡± ¡°With what Jon and Bran say is coming, we won''t have to worry too much about feeding them all.¡± Arya said. Sansa gave her a withering look that only bounced off Arya''s stoic exterior without impact. ¡°That''s not something to look forward to.¡± Arya shrugged. ¡°He''s bringing an army to defend the North, just like he promised.¡± She said. ¡°Bran told us that it will take the army of the dead just over six months to get here.¡± ¡°So, if we''re lucky, Jon will get here just in time to help fight.¡± Sansa said. ¡°If we''re not lucky...¡± ¡°Then it won''t matter.¡± Arya said. ¡°This came with the message as well.¡± The Maester said and took out another piece of paper, this one unfolded to be a full page of parchment, unlike the small missive of Jon''s note. ¡°What is it?¡± Sansa asked as she looked at all the scribbles of directions and nonsensical drawings on it. ¡°I can''t understand what this is supposed to be.¡± Arya looked over her shoulder. ¡°Those are field traps.¡± ¡°What?¡± Sansa looked at her sister in confusion. ¡°They are traps you set up in preparation for an encroaching army.¡± The Maester said with a smile to Arya for guessing it correctly. ¡°Trenches, open pits, wooden spikes, covered pits, moguls and little hills and embankments to stop an army from moving quickly over open terrain.¡± He pointed to each thing. ¡°It''s an ingenious use of all the dirt the traps would produce.¡± ¡°What are we supposed to do with this?¡± Sansa asked. ¡°We don''t have trained men that prepare these field traps.¡± ¡°That''s what the directions are for.¡± Arya said. ¡°We have six months to convert the lands around Winterfell.¡± ¡°Who made these plans?¡± Sansa asked. ¡°It doesn''t say.¡± The Maester said. Sansa looked at the paper and then sighed. ¡°Very well.¡± She handed the paper to the Maester. ¡°Make as many copies of it as needed and inform the men to start making these traps. If it will give our people even a chance to survive, it must be done.¡± * ¡°I''m glad you rejected that man''s idiotic plan to retrieve one of the wights, my Queen.¡± Tyrion said as he observed Daenerys'' army prepare to travel the 1,460 miles to Winterfell, which would take almost six months. ¡°Not only would it have been a waste of time, I sincerely doubt that it would make my sister listen to reason.¡± ¡°Jon is not an idiot.¡± Daenerys said, a little perturbed at her Hand''s comment. Unlike him, she was watching the Dothraki people prepare the long supply train and wagons they would need to feed the troops for the six month journey. ¡°I didn''t say that he was an idiot, just that his idea was.¡± Tyrion said and gave her a slight smile. ¡°Of course, if you did ask me for my opinion about him...¡± ¡°You can keep your opinion to yourself.¡± Daenerys said. ¡°I need an adviser for this upcoming battle, not a gossiper.¡± ¡°Some of the best army strategies have come from gossip.¡± Varys said before Tyrion could. ¡°So, what would the gossip from an army of the dead be about?¡± Daenerys asked, curiously. ¡°After listening to the wildlings and Jon talking, the dead apparently never need to rest or sleep, so our estimation of them taking just over a year to cross the land of eternal winter from Hardhome to get to Winterfell, is now reduced to half that.¡± Daenerys looked at her advisers and then at Jorah Mormont. He gave her a slight nod to confirm the change in the amount of time they would have to reach Winterfell. ¡°Hasten our departure.¡± Daenerys ordered. ¡°I won''t break my word to help defend the North over a small matter of a few weeks.¡± ¡°Yes, my Queen.¡± The three men said. End Prologue ****Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. A gathering of the leaders for the defense of Winterfell stood in the war room around a large table of wooden blocks that represented their available forces and the enemy they would face. None of them had seen so many blocks on the opposite side before. Thanks to Bran''s use of crows to scout, they had an accurate number of the dead that would be coming for them. Almost 3,000,000 dead. Half of the people in the room had groaned in despair at the number. With the men of the North and Daenerys'' army, they had a scant 130,000 viable warriors, which meant that they were facing a force that was over twenty times their size. They stood there and stared at the table for several minutes before someone spoke. ¡°Please tell me you completed all of my field preparations.¡± Tyrion said. ¡°I saw the embankments and the slight hills and depressions; but, I couldn''t see any of the traps.¡± ¡°You sent us that?¡± Sansa asked, surprised. ¡°Who else do you know that can work things like that out?¡± Tyrion asked. ¡°I hadn''t expected this number of foes to fight, however.¡± ¡°Everything is covered in snow.¡± Arya said and ran her finger over the lands in front of the small model of Winterfell. ¡°Almost all of them are concealed that way on purpose.¡± ¡°We have maps for you as well.¡± The Maester said and handed out maps to all of the commanders. ¡°As long as you stick to the strategy and stay in your assigned areas, you won''t be in danger of getting caught in them yourself.¡± Everyone turned and looked at Daenerys with slightly worried faces. ¡°The Dothraki will follow my orders.¡± Daenerys said. ¡°Although their fighting style makes them appear to be a mob that attacks randomly, it is actually a useful tactic to harry the enemy and demoralize them.¡± ¡°Which won''t work on the dead.¡± Jon said. ¡°That''s why they are to circle around and try to cull the white walkers before their army reaches the gates of Winterfell.¡± ¡°The army will lose a lot of its power if the white walkers are defeated quickly.¡± Bran said from the side of the room. ¡°Unfortunately, he''s had decades to build up his forces. With all of the sacrifices and abductions from the wildlings, he now has close to 1,200 white walkers.¡± ¡°And if any one of them survives, so will their part of the army.¡± Jon said and looked at Daenerys. ¡°Your Dothraki are the fastest attacking force we have. I hope they are up for this.¡± ¡°They would have gone after them already if I hadn''t restrained their enthusiasm.¡± Daenerys said with a smile. ¡°If we didn''t have to wait for the army of the dead to enter the field of battle to leave the white walkers undefended, they could have already been culled.¡± ¡°We''re going to need that enthusiasm.¡± Tyrion said. ¡°We can place unsullied in these trenches.¡± He said and had to use a stick to point. ¡°They are behind the trenches with spikes, and we can make a stand there and kill as many of them as we can. Once those positions start to be overrun, which we know will happen and have planned for, the unsullied will retreat back to the next series of trenches and continue to remove as many of the dead as possible.¡± ¡°I can''t believe that we are about to fight a war of attrition with an army of the dead.¡± Davos, the Onion Knight said. ¡°Is this even possible?¡± ¡°The women and children will be safe down in the crypts.¡± Tyrion said. ¡°It''s completely enclosed and easily defensible.¡± ¡°You''re putting the women and children into a crypt full of dead bodies?¡± Brienne of Tarth asked. ¡°Are you crazy?¡± ¡°Crazy like a dragon.¡± Tyrion said and laughed. ¡°Most of them have been dust for decades. I''ve had several squads of unsullied opened every tomb and internment to check them and burn the remains.¡± Sansa, Arya, and Jon gave him angry looks. The only one who didn''t react was Bran. ¡°Don''t be stupid.¡± Tyrion said. ¡°They didn''t drag them all into a pile. They did each one individually and left the ashes where they lay and sealed them up again.¡± He said and they relaxed. ¡°Sansa, please assign some Northmen to guard the crypt during the battle. I would have used a squad of unsullied; but, they make the women and children nervous.¡± Sansa waited for a moment and then nodded. She appreciated that he had asked her and not Jon. ¡°Now, because of the way the embankments are set up, once the dead get by the trenches, they will be funnelled down into much smaller and manageable fronts.¡± Tyrion said and looked at the commanders of those units. ¡°Keep your men focused on the task at hand and we should be able to handle the majority of the dead before those positions are overrun as well.¡± ¡°Is your strategy to continuously fall back?¡± Arya asked. ¡°No. It''s to continuously whittle the enemy''s main force down, like a meat grinder.¡± Tyrion said. ¡°Using this method, most of our forces will barely have anything to do, except replace the tired men in front of them and take their turn hacking down the dead.¡± ¡°What about the catapults?¡± Jon asked. ¡°They are medium range and won''t come into play until the battle is well underway. We can''t risk hitting our own men, so they have been aimed to hit and scatter just outside the trenches.¡± ¡°That''s a little shortsighted, isn''t it?¡± Davos asked with a smile. ¡°Ha. You''re so funny making fun of my height.¡± Tyrion said. ¡°Our big hitters, namely our three powerful dragons, will be constantly strafing the enemy as they approach.¡± He said and pointed to where the best spot to do that was. ¡°The catapults will be holding the dead back just enough to give the dragons large targets to hit.¡± ¡°What happens if the dead reach the walls?¡± Sansa asked. ¡°Not if. When.¡± Tyrion said and everyone looked at him with surprise. ¡°Plan for the worst, remember?¡± He said. ¡°I saw the triple trench you put around the moat. We can''t fill them with water, since it would probably freeze... unless we add oil to them.¡± He said with a smile. ¡°We can even have squads on the walls with barrels of it to spray on the dead, then light them on fire.¡± ¡°Won''t that make thousands of running torches?¡± Davos asked. ¡°Winterfell is defended by a huge granite wall that''s 40 feet high and is almost twenty feet thick.¡± Tyrion said. ¡°Even a dragon''s fire breath would have a difficult time getting through them.¡± ¡°A dragon would just fly over them.¡± Daenerys said. ¡°It was just an example of what amount of fire would be needed to break the walls, my Queen.¡± Tyrion said. ¡°With the archers we have positioned on the top of those walls, we can defend the castle against any force, even the dead, for several days.¡± ¡°Unlike the dead, we need to rest.¡± Jon said. ¡°We can''t be constantly fighting without relief.¡± ¡°Like I said before, I''ve designed this battlefield to give us the most advantages and the enemy has none.¡± Tyrion said. ¡°What about their giants?¡± Jon said. ¡°Ah... about that.¡± Tyrion said and gave Daenerys an odd look, almost as if he was apologetic. ¡°Thanks to Sir Davos'' being the best smuggler in the realms, I may have left King''s Landing with... a secret or two.¡± ¡°I''m not going to like this, am I?¡± Daenerys asked as she squinted her eyes. Tyrion motioned to Davos, who left for a few minutes. While he was gone, Tyrion took out a bundle of old and dry papers. He carefully took off the wrapping around the bundle and unrolled the pieces of parchment. ¡°No.¡± Daenerys said, almost in a whisper as she saw what the papers had on them. Davos came back in and dropped one of the six foot long metal bolts onto the table, right next to the plans to build the heavily modified catapult called a ''scorpion''. The Long Night, Part 1 ¡°That looks like it was drawn by a child.¡± Sansa said. ¡°It was.¡± Tyrion said. ¡°By me.¡± ¡°What? How did you...¡± ¡°I spent an inordinate amount of time in the catacombs underneath the Red Keep. I grew up surrounded by the bones of dragons and I drew everything I saw down there.¡± Tyrion said and took several of the other papers from underneath the stack. Daenerys pick up the sheets and looked through them. Her eyes teared up a little as she saw the skulls of all of the dragons that had been killed. ¡°The drawings are crude compared to my normal standard; however, they are accurate and the measurements are all exact.¡± ¡°After arming all of our fighting forces, we don''t have the metal to make more than a dozen of those six foot long metal bolts, assuming we divert some of our blacksmiths from working on dragon glass.¡± The Maester said. ¡°We can''t do that.¡± Jon said. ¡°We need as many of our people armed with it as soon as possible.¡± ¡°There''s no need to make the bolts out of metal. The reason it''s metal is so the weight can pierce a dragon''s hide.¡± Tyrion said. ¡°Make the bolts out of wood and attach the scraps of dragon glass from the forging of other weapons to the ends. It doesn''t need piercing power because it''s just a delivery system.¡± ¡°Won''t the dragon glass shatter?¡± The Maester of Winterfell asked. ¡°It doesn''t matter if it shatters after it hits, as long as the dead are hit with it.¡± Tyrion said and looked at the Maester as he held out the plans for the scorpion. ¡°I doubt you can have your people make more than two of these by the time we need them.¡± ¡°Definitely one at least, and if we use wood for the ammunition...¡± ¡°The weapons are ridiculously easy to aim.¡± Tyrion said and used his stick to point at the model of Winterfell and pointed to a central point on the wall. ¡°If you only manage one, place it here. If you manage two, place them here and here.¡± He said and tapped two points at the corners of the walls. ¡°The first position with a single scorpion will hit the main force of the dead army, if there are two, the entire battlefield, including the flanks, can be covered.¡± ¡°Will having them be that decisive to the battle?¡± Brienne of Tarth asked. ¡°Even if every shot misses the giants, it should still cut swaths through the dead around them.¡± Tyrion said. ¡°The wooden bolts are cheap, quick to make, and easy to reload. Since they use the scraps from the forges that can''t be used anyway...¡± ¡°...having them can only be an advantage and not a drawback.¡± Sansa said and looked at the Maester. ¡°Have one constructed as soon as possible and have ammunition made for it.¡± She said. ¡°Mount it in the central position. Once it is completed, start another.¡± She glanced at Tyrion. ¡°Would reducing it''s size make the construction faster?¡± ¡°Unlike me, making it smaller would reduce its effectiveness.¡± Tyrion said and Sansa let the hint of a smile touch her lips and a few people chuckled. ¡°I have commanded forces in several battles, so I...¡± ¡°...will be safely behind the walls of Winterfell.¡± Daenerys said. ¡°There isn''t a real way for you to coordinate everyone once the battle starts.¡± ¡°We will all be fighting for our lives.¡± Tyrion said. ¡°Once the main force of the enemy enters the battlefield, the unsullied will have the worst fight they''ve ever had.¡± He said. ¡°Even with a well timed pincer attack when they break through the funnels, the battle will be fierce and frenzied.¡± ¡°They are prepared to give their lives for me.¡± Daenerys said. ¡°They are unwavering in their loyalty.¡± ¡°As am I.¡± Tyrion said. ¡°I will stay behind the walls.¡± Daenerys nodded to him. ¡°Without your army, we would be easily overrun.¡± Jon said to Daenerys. ¡°We didn''t stand a chance against them on our own.¡± Daenerys nodded to him as well. ¡°So, is that it?¡± Davos asked. ¡°Is that everything covered?¡± ¡°No.¡± Bran said from across the room. ¡°We need to deal with the Night King.¡± ¡°We can''t do anything against him until he reveals himself.¡± Jon said. ¡°We can hope that when the Dothraki swarm the white walkers controlling the army of the dead, he will have to make an appearance. When he does...¡± ¡°We attack with everything we have.¡± Daenerys said. Jon nodded. ¡°He cannot be left alive, or whatever he is. He can raise more dead and increase his numbers with our own men.¡± He shivered mentally at the remembered sight of Hardhome and all of the wildlings the army of the dead had killed and the Night King had raised to join them. ¡°The unsullied have been ordered to decapitate or crush the heads of anyone that dies.¡± Daenerys said. ¡°They are to be treated the same as any other member of the dead army.¡± The people around the table exchanged glances. ¡°It''s only prudent.¡± Daenerys said. ¡°The worst thing to happen would be for our people to rise and attack us. It would be demoralizing and could cause a panic.¡± And smashing their skulls before they rise isn''t? Sansa asked herself. ¡°According to Bran, we have less than four days before the dead arrive.¡± ¡°At dusk, I believe he said.¡± Arya said. ¡°The perfect time for a nightmare to arrive, isn''t it?¡± No one said anything and Bran raised a hand and pointed to Daenerys. ¡°Mother of Dragons, I''d like a word.¡± Daenerys gave Jon a look and he shrugged. She walked over to Bran and he whispered to her. ¡°Whatever happens, keep you dragons away from the white walkers.¡± Bran said so that only she could hear. ¡°Whatever happens.¡± Daenerys wasn''t sure what to make of that statement, so she nodded. I''ll ask Jon about it later. The meeting ended and they all left the war room to finish the preparations they still needed to do. * Author''s note: The personal scenes between the characters that happen... like Tyrion and Bran sharing their life stories... Tyrion magically being alone and Jaime Lannister showing up for brotherly time... then later the gathering with Davos, Brienne, Pod, and Tormond the wildling and Brienne getting knighted by Jaime... they all happen as they did in the show, except that they occur over the space of four days and not all within a few hours. I won''t rewrite some of the best personal scenes in the episode, even if some of the dialogue was a little cheesy.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Although, what I want to change is Arya sleeping with the Barantheon blacksmith. That was totally out of character for her and had absolutely no impact to the story at all. Neither of them benefited from the experience and it didn''t enhance their relationships or developed their characters. Also, Jon and Daenerys continue to sleep together. He''s not conflicted about love over duty or some such garbage. His love is his duty. He knows she needs his support now, more than ever. They love each other and they are potentially about to die. He''s not going to piss her off by telling her his secret just before a battle to the death. The knowledge doesn''t benefit either of them in this situation. I can''t remember if Jon told Sam that he wished he never told him the truth. * Daenerys and Sansa have their little talk and when Sansa asks her about the North, Daenerys answers. ¡°The North has always been a part of Westeros. Whether it was ruled by what people believed was an independent king or by the ruler of all seven kingdoms, it is still a part of the land. The lands themselves are still ruled by kings and queens in their own right, except that we call them wardens. They still exercise their powers as rulers and no one in the capital has ever challenged their rights to do that.¡± Daenerys gave Sansa''s hand a squeeze and let it go as she stood. ¡°Just like the other lands, the North needs others. Trade. Food. People. No one can survive on their own. The totality of Westeros was united under a single ruling authority for a reason. Survival.¡± ¡°The North has survived on its own before.¡± Sansa said. Daenerys smiled. ¡°Ask your Maester about the history of the North and see if you can still come to the same conclusion.¡± She said and left the room. * Work continued in Winterfell at a breakneck pace as they desperately tried to arm the soldiers with dragon glass. Only one of the modified scorpion catapults were finished by the third day and the hopes to have a second done by the night of the next day, when the army of the dead would arrive, were dashed. Instead, they made as many wooden bolts with dragon glass shards as they could. The next day passed and as dusk fell over the countryside, a low thrumming could be heard as light snow fell. Everyone was in position and were as ready as they could be for the coming battle. Only a few of them had experienced a fight with the dead before and they had shared the experience as much as possible to prepare everyone for it. It wasn''t enough for some of them, especially the Northmen. When the dead started to come into sight, the sheer number alone sent a few of the troops into a panic. They were quickly subdued to stop the panic from spreading and the leaders of each section shouted orders and encouragement. They needed to do this. They needed to win here, now, or all of the world would be lost, not just the North. A dragon''s roar pierced the growing darkness and that brought everyone to their senses. That was the signal they had all been waiting for. The battle had begun. The dead walked at a steady pace and never faltered. Tyrion''s field traps captured dozens of them at a time. The hidden pits were revealed and thirty of the dead fell in, then a dozen more, and then the pit was full and the dead walked over it as if the pit never existed. All of the traps were handled in the same way. The dead didn''t care if they lost a few of their number. Or scores of their number. There were millions of them and they were not going to be stopped so easily. They reached the first trench and fell in, then it quickly filled up and the unsullied in the hidden trench behind it started to fight back with their long pole arms with dragon glass on the ends. Thousands of the dead fell and were no more. When those unsullied were tired, they changed places with the men behind them and the tired ones retreated to the next trench to rest. Catapults started to launch their flaming payloads over the trenches and smashed into the unrelenting tide of dead that continued to move forwards. Another dragon''s roar cut through the sounds of battle and all three dragons flew over the battlefield and unleashed their flame attacks on the enemy. The two smaller dragons didn''t seem to have as much power as their brother Drogon, whom Daenerys rode. They cut three swaths through the sea of the dead that were quickly filled by the dead not hit by the attack. The dragons turned and made another pass over the army. * ¡°Who could have guessed that even the power of dragons seem to pale in the face of the dead?¡± Tyrion asked of no one in particular. He stood on the wall of Winterfell next to Sansa and she looked down at him. ¡°Do you doubt your queen?¡± Sansa asked. ¡°No, and she''s your queen, too.¡± Tyrion said. ¡°All she wants is to liberate the people from their oppressors.¡± ¡°The North does not oppress their people.¡± Sansa said, slightly angry. ¡°I didn''t say you did... even though you have.¡± Tyrion said and she glared at him. ¡°The Carstarks. Riverrun. The Eyrie.¡± Sansa opened her mouth to respond and then closed it. ¡°I''m not judging you, my dear wife.¡± Tyrion said and she widened her eyes at him. ¡°I see that you''re surprised we are still married.¡± ¡°I... I thought...¡± ¡°What? That absence makes the contract null and void?¡± Tyrion asked, then his eyes softened at Sansa''s confused face. ¡°Your marriage to the Bolton bastard isn''t binding, even though he did what he did.¡± ¡°He... he...¡± ¡°I know.¡± Tyrion took her hand and when she didn''t pull it away, he kissed it. ¡°I am so very glad that you dealt with him before I could.¡± ¡°You?¡± Sansa asked, surprised. ¡°Well, a squad of unsullied.¡± Tyrion corrected. ¡°Then again, he might not have even seen me coming.¡± Sansa smiled at his self-depreciating joke. ¡°Oho! Over there! There''s a giant!¡± Someone shouted. ¡°This should be good.¡± Tyrion said as the large modified catapult turned to the right direction, then they released the wooden bolt. It shot across the battlefield in only a few seconds and slammed into the mass of dead beside the giant and killed a bunch of them. ¡°Sorry! There''s ice built up on the sights.¡± Someone said and used a knife and hot breath to melt it. The next shot took the giant in the head and the wooden bolt splintered from the impact. It took a few seconds for the giant to stumble. It fell forward and crushed ten to twenty dead and trapped twice as many under its bulk. A cheer rang out and another giant sighting was called out. At the same moment, the first trench in their defense was lit on fire, which meant it was full and the unsullied needed to retreat. The dead army quickly reached the trench the unsullied had been in and found the same problem. It was filled with spikes and the unsullied attacked them from the next trench with their long weapons. Thousands more of the dead army were removed every minute, thanks to the coordinated efforts of the defending army, the three dragons, and the catapults. Even the scorpion helped, because they had run out of giants to shoot and started to shoot into the mass of the dead. After half an hour, the dragons needed to eat and rest to regain their strength, then they resumed their onslaught on the army of the dead. The battle continued on for six more hours before the scouts returned and said that the entire dead army was on the battlefield and the white walkers were revealed. A small fire was lit on the wall where Daenerys could see it, and she nodded. She mounted Drogon and flew back around Winterfell and disappeared from sight and the other two dragons followed her. A few minutes later, if anyone had been able to hear them over the other sounds of battle, the clatter of hooves resounded well outside the battlefield. The Dothraki rode their fast mounts through the open part of a nearby field and circled around the army of the dead. Even if the dead were inclined to turn around to face the new threat, there was no way for them to catch the fast horses as they passed by. However, they believed that the white walkers were alone, and they couldn''t have been farther from the truth. A second mass of dead surrounded them, nearly a hundred thousand dead if anyone cared to count, and the Dothraki discovered that they had a real battle on their hands and not the quick raid and cull that they had expected. The thing about fast horses is that they are only useful when on the move. When the Dothraki hit the mass of dead to try and get through to the white walkers, the dead didn''t have to try and catch them. Just their own bodies acted like stoppers and a lot of the Dothraki were brought to a standstill after getting thirty or so feet into the mass. Dead and skeletal hands tore at the horses and dug at them to bring them down. The Dothraki swung their custom curved swords with dragon glass smelted onto them and killed droves of the dead as they severed their heads from their necks. It didn''t take long for them to be overwhelmed by the numbers around them. ¡°NO!¡± Daenerys yelled as she watched from on high as a good portion of her blood devoted men were killed. ¡°Drogon!¡± She said and they flew down to try and help her people. Her other two dragons followed her and they blasted a swath of flames through the mass of dead surrounding the white walkers. She couldn''t attack directly, because her Dothraki were still there trying to cull them, and that was a mistake. A piercing cry rang out from behind her and she turned to see Viserion take three long spears of ice through its wings. The poor dragon fell to the ground as it lost altitude and it plowed into the dead, flipped over several times, then came to a stop between the white walkers and the main mass of the army of the dead. ¡°NOOO!¡± Daenerys yelled and tried to get Drogon to fly back, then several more ice shards flew by her. They just missed Drogon and Rhaegal and could have taken them down in the same fashion by removing parts of their wings, so she steered Drogon away from her hurt dragon and Rhaegal followed closely behind. Her tears were bitter as they froze to her face, because she had to abandon both her people and one of her children. It wasn''t until a few minutes later that Bran''s words of warning came back to her. The Long Night, Part 2 Daenerys flew Drogon out to a safe distance and turned to see the Dothraki make one final push into the mass of dead to get at the white walkers. She exulted as they finally broke through and started to cull the leaders of the undead army. Unfortunately, the white walkers were not without their own skills. The dragon glass did hurt them more than normal weapons; but, they were the source of power behind the army of the dead. Deep cuts and lost limbs were not going to stop them. Every single one of the Dothraki were caught, overwhelmed, and killed. As were the horses. She turned Drogon around and was about to unleash his Drakarys fire breath when a feeling of unease befell her. In the next moment, the mutilated horses stood up, then to her horror, all of the Dothraki rose from the dead and mounted those horses. ¡°Oh, no.¡± Daenerys almost moaned as the dead army gained a very substantial force that was much faster than their walking dead. The dead army parted, almost as one, and the dead Dothraki rode their horses through the mass and over the various traps and trenches that had been filled by the walking dead. When they reached the trenches that hadn''t been overrun, they merely jumped them and proceeded into the embankments that funnelled them towards the waiting troops. They were wholly unprepared for a mounted assault. Even with a squad of unsullied and their pole arms, only the first few horses were taken down and then the dead Dothraki were on their feet and fighting within the pole arm''s reach. The Northmen stepped in to help and pretty much got in the way of the unsullied, who were trained to fight with multiple weapons. Little Lady Mormont, the youngest leader of their house and lands, was the first to be overcome by the new dead threat. The lady, the Northmen she led, and the unsullied stationed there at that choke point put up a valiant fight and took just as many of them out as they could, then they were swarmed and slaughtered. Their slashed and torn bodies were kicked aside and the dead army moved through the choke point unhindered. ¡°Nooo!¡± Jorah Mormont, Queen Daenerys'' loyal servant, rushed to the spot to try and do something. He was quickly caught by a squad of unsullied and brought back to the staging area where he was supposed to guard Missandei and the others. He tried to fight them and they easily subdued him and sat him with the others. ¡°Unless you calm down, you''re just about as useful as I am right now.¡± Davos commented. Some of the other choke points fared much better and managed to retreat to their holding points. Brienne of Tarth, Jaime Lannister, Beric Dondarrion (the resurrected man), Theon Greyjoy of the iron islands, and several heads of house in the North managed to retreat with a lot of their fighting men. All of the other heads of house met the same fate as Lady Mormont, mainly because they got in the way. Scores of unsullied, Northmen, and their commanders were lost in the rush by the dead Dothraki. Sandor Clegane, or The Hound, watched the battle unfold from the parapet on the wall of Winterfell. Arya stood beside him and neither of them wanted any part of the fighting. They both knew that their skills were better used elsewhere and they both knew that the position they were in was gradually becoming worse. The army of the dead came closer and closer, even after the unsullied used their pincer attack to smash into the army on either side. The dead didn''t care if they lost tens of thousands of their brethren. It didn''t make any difference. There were still a million and a half of them, thanks to the addition of the Dothraki. The dead pressed on and continued to push the defenders back. Catapults fired their loads and after nearly half an hour, the two remaining dragons added their firepower to the battle once more. Jon Snow and Tyrion Lannister observed the battlefield and they both came to the same conclusion. ¡°We''re not going to stop them.¡± Jon said, with both surprise and defeat in his voice. ¡°You were never going to stop them.¡± Bran said and both men turned to look at him in his wheeled chair. ¡°The most you could do was like Tyrion said. Whittle their forces down like a meat grinder and hope they don''t gain even more dead on their way by.¡± ¡°What?¡± Jon looked at his brother. ¡°I thought you said...¡± ¡°I never said we would win.¡± Bran said. ¡°I only said there was a chance.¡± Jon looked angry for a moment, then sighed and turned to Davos. ¡°Order the troops to fall back to the barricades in front of the walls.¡± ¡°Are you sure that''s wise, considering what''s coming towards the walls?¡± Davos asked. ¡°We need to hold out for as long as possible and hope that they lose interest.¡± Tyrion said. ¡°Not that they will. It''s just a hope.¡± ¡°Order the retreat and start lighting all the trenches.¡± Jon said. ¡°Get the oil ready on the walls as well. We''re going to need it, if our forces have to retreat inside the walls.¡± ¡°What about the queen''s dragon?¡± Varys asked. ¡°We have no way to get to it or a way to carry it back here through an army of the dead.¡± Jon said. ¡°I believe you''ve ridden a dragon. Why can''t you do that again to get to it?¡± ¡°This is a battle, not a joyride.¡± Jon said and started to walk for the stairs. ¡°I don''t know how to fight on a dragon.¡± Tyrion and Varys exchanged sad looks. The dragons were Daenerys'' children and she was going to be very... upset... over the loss of both the dragon and all of her Dothraki. The defending troops fell back, fighting the entire way, and made it back to the barricade. All of the dead horses had been taken care of, thanks to the sacrifices of the unsullied, so the army of the dead lost their temporary advantage. Unfortunately, they had already used that advantage to overcome nearly all of the field traps and were right on the retreating army''s heels. Hundreds of unsullied died as they tried to hold off the mass of dead from overtaking their retreat, and their sacrifice was not in vain. They delayed the dead long enough for the troops to reorganize and start a counter-attack. The barricade had choke points in it as well, and everyone concentrated their efforts on those choke points. Archers mounted the barricade and shot arrows with heads of dragon glass into the horde of dead. The unsullied were smarter this time and allowed the Northmen to take point, that way they could die, out of their way, and then they could take over and really form a full defense. * Jaime and Brienne fought bravely, side by side, as they headed one group of Northmen and opposed the dead army. Ten, twenty, then fifty dead were removed, and they fought on. It was endless. The sea of dead coming for them kept coming, no matter how many they killed. Jaime was tired and swung at a dead man, missed, and that dead man lunged at Brienne. She let out a scream as the dead hands gripped her around the neck and tried to choke her. Podrick had been lost earlier, so she no longer had a squire at her side to help her.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Jaime turned to help her and he was tackled to the ground. An unsullied pole arm sliced off the dead man''s head and Jaime pushed the corpse off, started to stand, and saw a sight that gripped his heart. Brienne was on the ground and had three dead men on top of her. One choked her, one broke her arm, and the last had his hand inside her mouth to stop her from screaming and to stop her from taking a breath. Jaime lost his composure and started to swing. There was no finesse, no thought, as he rammed his sword through the dead trying to kill her and he fought off half a dozen more before he got to her and knelt by her head. He was breathing heavily from the exertion and his hand reached down as he touched her face. It was cold and she wasn''t breathing. She hadn''t been breathing for a while because her lips were blue. The death of a knight was a hard thing for him to accept, especially since it was someone that had deserved the honor. Jaime used his fingers to close her eyes and stood, looked at the carnage around him, then he shook his head and stumbled past the unsullied to let them take over his position. He didn''t have the heart to fight anymore, because even though he would never admit it to himself, his heart had just died. He wished that he had taken the time to be with her like he knew she had desperately wanted him to, and now he would never have the chance. Hands grabbed him and pulled him through the castle doors and brought him over to the group with their wounds being tended to. He sat down, his mind far away from where he physically was, and he wondered how things were progressing back in Kings Landing. ¡°I think... I need to go and see it for myself.¡± Jaime said out loud. No one paid him any attention as he shakily stood up and went to the back of the castle. He took one of the many horses there, loaded it with a few weeks of food and water, that he would have to ration out to last the two month journey, and he led the horse as he joined the throng of people moving in and out of the castle. They brought food, water, and weapon replacements to the troops, so he used that cover to get to the edge of their staging area and climbed up on the horse. Without so much as a goodbye, Jaime Lannister left Winterfell and escaped into the darkness. * Daenerys brought her two dragons back around and unleashed another breath of fire through the army of the dead. She was weary and Drogon was tired, and they needed to land and take a break. She flew over to the staging area behind the castle and landed, and Rhaegal landed behind her. She slid off Drogon''s back and nearly fell, and she felt someone put their arms around her to hold her steady. ¡°Khalissi!¡± The young woman exclaimed. ¡°I''m fine.¡± Daenerys said to whoever it was and then walked over to where they were serving food. She ate, almost by rote, as she fought her despair over the loss of one of her children and also her blood oath and sworn people. She still had all of the Dothraki support people and their children; but, all of the warriors of age were gone. Her eyes drifted over the young boys and she hoped beyond hope that they lived to carry on the traditions of their fathers. * ¡°Don''t let them pass!¡± Jon yelled as he wielded his Valerian steel sword and cut through the dead like a hot knife trough butter. He had to adjust his swing several times so that he didn''t hurt himself. He felt almost no resistance as the sword destroyed more and more of the dead. He hadn''t thought of putting people that had Valerian steel at the head of the groups at the choke points of the barriers, and he looked over to the side and saw Jorah Mormont two places over as he swung Sam''s Valerian sword. Way to go, Sam. Jon thought and turned his attention back to the fight in front of him. As long as he stood his ground, none of the dead were going to get by him. He knew that would be very valiant... if he was the only one that they had to rely on. Not everyone had Valerian steel and not everyone was as good of a fighter as him. He knew they would have to retreat back behind the wall soon, and he wanted to delay that as long as possible. The battle raged on, the dragons joined in again, and the tide of dead continued to move forward through the trenches of fire, the dragon''s fire, and the hail of arrows. It all became automatic for the people fighting. Swing. Breathe. Swing. Rest. Swing. Breathe. There was no longer any need for thinking as the two forces clashed over and over, on and on, all through the night. When dawn broke over the horizon, mounds of the dead were scattered across the battlefield. The unsullied and the remains of the Northmen retreated into the castle and they defended the walls from the relentless assault of the dead. * ¡°We have to risk it.¡± Jon said as he and the remaining group leaders met before going back into battle. ¡°I will not risk losing another one of my children by trying to assault the white walkers.¡± Daenerys shook her head. ¡°Dani, please.¡± ¡°No.¡± Daenerys said. ¡°I''ll send them away before risking their lives again.¡± ¡°So, as long as they are safe, you''ll send them out?¡± Sansa asked and Daenerys glared at her. ¡°They are the last dragons that exist.¡± Daenerys said. ¡°If I thought they would survive and actually make an impact on the white walkers, I would ride Drogon in to decimate them.¡± She said and hid her pain over what she had to say next. ¡°I tried that already, and not only did the white walkers survive, I lost Viserion.¡± ¡°Are you saying that dragon fire didn''t harm them?¡± Tyrion asked, surprised. ¡°No, I''m saying we didn''t get close enough to see if it would.¡± Daenerys said. ¡°I won''t take my remaining dragons into a situation that will get them killed for no reason.¡± Jon sighed. ¡°Then what do we do?¡± He asked and looked at the others. He saw a lot of the Northmen house leaders were absent, which meant they were dead, and Jamie Lannister, Brienne of Tarth, Poderick, Tormond of the wildlings, and his brother from the Night''s Watch, the current commander Eddison Tollet, was missing as well. Jon looked at Sam Tarly and saw that he had a forlorn expression on his face. ¡°The catapults are out of ammunition and we are almost out of oil to burn the bastards with.¡± Tyrion said. ¡°Unless you have some hidden magic talent that we don''t know about, just like new whores in a brothel, we''re about to get fucked.¡± No one laughed, because they all felt that way. There was nothing else that they could do, except keep fighting... and then die when they were overrun. ¡°Perhaps I can help.¡± A woman''s disembodied voice said from the shadows. Everyone in the room turned towards the dark corner as a red cloaked woman stepped out. When she dropped her hood, she revealed herself as Melisandre, the Red Priestess of R''hilor. She was very beautiful with her flowing red hair and her haunting eyes and nearly everyone stared at her with awe. Except for one person. Davos stepped away from the group and approached her. ¡°Hold your sword, Sir Davos.¡± Melisandre said. ¡°There''s no need to kill me. I''ll be dead by-HURK!¡± Blood spurted out her mouth and she stared at the Onion Knight with disbelief. ¡°I swore upon the burned corpse of that beautiful little girl, Shireen, that the next time I saw you, I would kill you for her death.¡± Davos said and yanked his sword out of her chest. Melisandre dropped to her knees and reached for him, almost in a plea. When she opened her mouth to speak, Davos turned his sword and whipped it across her neck. It cut her flesh right down to the bone and blood poured from her throat. ¡°We can''t have you casting a curse on us now, can we?¡± Davos said and walked back to his spot slightly behind Jon. Everyone stared at him like he had just killed them all. ¡°The only thing she could offer is death. Usually by fire, and I''ve had enough of that. Nothing she has ever contributed has led to good things. Ever.¡± Davos said as an explanation. ¡°Sir Davos.¡± Tyrion looked at the body of the Red Priestess and then back to the Onion Knight. ¡°I asked for magic to intervene and she appeared.¡± ¡°Yes, and you have to ask yourself... why did she wait until now to appear?¡± Davos asked. ¡°Why not last night, or last week? Why right now, when we seem to be at our weakest?¡± No one could respond, because it did seem rather convenient. ¡°We don''t need her evil magic. We have men and we have the thickest walls in the North. If history tells us anything, unless someone inside betrays us, we can hold the walls for as long as it takes.¡± ¡°Unfortunately, the walls will only last one more day.¡± Bran said in his cold and monotone voice. Everyone turned to look at him to see that he held Melisandre''s ruby necklace in his hands. ¡°The wall will be breached in the morning and the castle will overflow with the dead, both theirs and ours.¡± The Long Night, Part 3 ¡°What do we do?¡± Arya asked. ¡°The only thing we can do.¡± Bran said. ¡°We run.¡± ¡°The army of the dead are right outside the castle, Bran.¡± Jon said. ¡°We can''t run.¡± ¡°If we don''t leave, we die.¡± Bran said. ¡°Before you try to convince everyone otherwise, I''m leaving and taking some of the Northmen with me.¡± ¡°You can''t order my troops to follow you.¡± Sansa said, almost jokingly, because she knew that Bran wouldn''t do that. ¡°They are leaving anyway, so I am just going with them.¡± Bran said and looked at their surprised faces. ¡°Did you really think that you lost nearly all of the heads of houses from the North to the dead and almost none of the commanders of the unsullied?¡± Everyone fell silent as Bran had his attendant push him out of the room. ¡°So, even the Northmen won''t honor their king''s pledge.¡± Daenerys said, her voice full of scorn. ¡°You removed him as king when he bent the knee.¡± Sansa said. ¡°He''s just a warden now.¡± Daenerys squinted her eyes at her. ¡°Did you forget our previous discussion already?¡± ¡°No, I heard you.¡± Sansa said. ¡°I don''t fault my men for leaving a losing battle.¡± ¡°You would defend such cowards and not have them killed for abandoning their countrymen?¡± Daenerys asked. Sansa''s eyes grew hard and tried not to show her anger. ¡°That''s twice you''ve referred to them as ''your'' men.¡± Daenerys said and looked at Jon. ¡°How does that sit with you? Your own family claiming that they have the right to rule over your people without even talking to you about it first or asking you to step aside?¡± Several people in the room hissed at her accusation and all eyes turned to look at him. Jon stood there and knew that he was in a bad situation. If he spoke out about Sansa undermining his authority in the North, then in is mind he would be a hypocrite, because he knew that Daenerys was his father''s sister... which made her his aunt and close family... which also made her guilty of the very thing she had just accused Sansa of. It was true that Dani didn''t know his secret; but, he had the feeling that if he did tell her, or anyone else, she would insist on ruling anyway. ¡°I don''t think...¡± Jon started to say. ¡°I have half a mind to call upon her to answer for treason.¡± Daenerys said and everyone in the room froze. ¡°The entire time we have been here, she has done nothing but undermine your authority, and mine, by sowing discontent and hatred against me and my people.¡± ¡°I have not done such a thing!¡± Sansa exclaimed. ¡°No?¡± Daenerys said and turned to face her. ¡°Then bend the knee.¡± She said and saw the shocked look on her face. ¡°If you truly believe in Jon and his love for you, that he crossed the world to find me and begged me to help your countrymen and these lands, then you should have no problems with bending the knee to me, just as he has.¡± All eyes turned from Jon to stare at Sansa. Now it was Sansa''s turn to be in a bad situation. She had never suspected that her halfhearted support for Daenerys would have been brought out in the open like this. ¡°I shouldn''t have to bend the knee, since Jon already has.¡± Sansa said to try and deflect the attention. ¡°Normally, that would work... but, as I''ve discovered, if you don''t have individuals of the powerful families bow and accept my rule, getting their troops to bow will not work unless they are too afraid of refusing.¡± Daenerys said. ¡°So, which of them are you going to be, Lady Stark? A coward that will ignore her responsibilities to her people, or an honorable woman who accepts that her position means she must look after her people''s needs before satisfying her own?¡± Sansa looked around the room at everyone''s faces and stopped at Jon''s. She saw his desperate plea to accept what Daenerys was offering and to get it over with. Her thoughts went to him accepting Daenerys'' rule without even hesitating, and she couldn''t do it. She knew that Daenerys wasn''t going to be the best thing for the kingdom because she was too ruthless, too brazen, and didn''t know how to handle the people properly. Sansa stepped away from the table and everyone expected her to bow... and she didn''t. Being called a coward did not sit well with her at all. She fought her own self-preservation instincts and held her head high as she spoke. ¡°You are not my queen.¡± Sansa said and a soft moan escaped from Tyrion before he could stop it. ¡°Jon, just withdraw your support from her.¡± She said. ¡°She can''t survive in the North if...¡± Daenerys nodded to the side of the room and two unsullied stepped forward and grabbed Sansa by the arms. ¡°Your highness, perhaps a lenient hand would be best...¡± Varys started to say. ¡°My queen, please.¡± Jon interrupted him. ¡°Jon, I have warned you every day since we came here that she was not helping us like she was supposed to, and now she openly defies me in front of everyone.¡± Daenerys said. ¡°What would you have me do?¡± Arya tried to step forward and one of the unsullied stepped in front of her. She slit his throat with Needle before he could ask her to step back.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. ¡°ARYA!¡± Jon yelled; but, it was too late. Arya sidestepped the next unsullied that tried to attack her and she shoved her dagger into his lower back and into his kidney. Three unsullied stepped forward and she hopped up onto the table to fight them. Not wanting anything to do with her antics, one of the unsullied kicked the table over to make her fall to the floor. The next moment, she was tied up and gagged, her weapons removed and held to the floor. Daenerys shook her head. ¡°Jon, if I''d known your people lacked this much common sense and had no honor, I would have refused your request to save them.¡± She looked at Arya. ¡°You killed two of my men without provocation.¡± Arya mumbled something through the gag. ¡°He was going to ask you to step back, you stupid girl.¡± Daenerys said, anger clear in her voice. ¡°Unlike what you just did, we would have given her a trial where she could defend herself.¡± She shook her head. ¡°Thanks to you giving me proof that Sansa and the Starks had no intention of fulfilling their pledge to me, a trial won''t be necessary.¡± Arya yelled through the gag and struggled. Daenerys looked at the unsullied holding the girl. ¡°Send her to the Dothraki caravan at the back of the castle. Tell them what she did and they will punish her appropriately for killing two unarmed warriors.¡± ¡°My gueen.¡± Jon said and Daenerys looked at him. ¡°Can''t you...¡± ¡°I should have her killed; but, I know you love her. She will serve the next six months as a handmaid for the horses.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Jon said in relief and the unsullied took Arya from the room. ¡°As for her sister and traitor to the crown.¡± Daenerys said and looked at Sansa. ¡°There is only one punishment suitable for treason.¡± ¡°You aren''t the queen of the seven realms!¡± Sansa said. ¡°You can''t charge me with being a traitor to you if I was never loyal in the first place!¡± Several people gasped and Daenerys laughed. ¡°Foolish girl. I didn''t say my crown, did I?¡± Daenerys said. ¡°I believe Jon was your king and you did everything you could to undermine his authority in the North, so much so that the heads of the houses left in the middle of the battle and took their commanders with them!¡± Sansa''s face flushed red at her words. ¡°You understand it, then. You cannot stand here in front of everyone and say that you haven''t rebelled against him or harboured ill will towards him, especially for bringing me here.¡± Daenerys said. ¡°At the next opportunity, I will...¡± ¡°No.¡± Jon said as he stepped forward and drew his sword. Daenerys turned to look at him, and he was surprised that she didn''t have a bit of worry on her face, even though he was brandishing his sword so blatantly. ¡°I am so sorry about this.¡± Jon said and lifted his sword as if to strike, and Daenerys gave him a calm and peaceful smile. He knew in that moment that she really loved him, above all other concerns, and he knew he had made the right decision. He swung his sword and pivoted... ...and plunged it right through Sansa''s heart. The three Northmen that were heads of houses reacted and tried to attack, and the unsullied grabbed them and put them on their knees. ¡°Kill them.¡± Daenerys said and the three men were quickly killed. ¡°Oh, Sansa.¡± Jon said as he removed his slightly glowing sword from her chest and dropped it, then caught her body before she fell to the floor. ¡°J-J-Jon...¡± Sansa managed to get out. ¡°I have always loved you like a sister, even though you and your mother hated me so much.¡± Jon said with tears in his eyes. ¡°You... knew...¡± Sansa took two quick breaths and then sighed as her breath left her for the final time. Tyrion stood off to the side, his eyes filled with tears. Once again he lost a woman whom he was to be married to and he cursed silently. He didn''t say anything or stepped forward to add his sorrow to Jon''s. ¡°Treat them appropriately.¡± Daenerys said to a squad of unsullied as she put a hand on Jon''s shoulder. He nodded to her in thanks, picked up his dropped sword, and everyone followed the two of them out of the room. In moments, all of the dead bodies in the room were decapitated. All but one were taken to the wall, covered in oil and lit on fire, then dumped over the side onto the army of the dead. The last body was taken to the crypts and put into one of the empty ones, covered in oil and lit on fire, then placed her remains inside with the cover slightly open to let it burn. * Arya tried to struggle as the two unsullied ignored her and carried her through the castle. She had heard Sansa''s death from the hallway and she stopped herself from crying about it as she added Daenerys'' name to her now very short list. As she thought about how to deal with it, from one second to the next, she went from being completely immobilized in her captors arms to laying face up on the ground. Arya looked up and saw a towering man as he easily decapitated the second unsullied with his broadsword. She blinked her eyes at the brutal efficiency and the power, then that same sword cleaved through the air and sliced the ropes around her ankles and her wrists in one motion. ¡°Who did you piss off this time, girl?¡± Sandor Clegane asked as he grabbed her shoulder and stood her up on her feet. ¡°Daenerys.¡± Arya said after she pulled the gag out of her mouth. ¡°Aye, the blonde bitch.¡± The Hound said and hiked a thumb over his shoulder. ¡°If that''s the case, then you better get going.¡± Arya looked at the two headless bodies and then back at him. ¡°So should you.¡± The hound looked down at the dead bodies and shrugged. ¡°Fuck''em.¡± Arya fought to keep the smile off her face. ¡°They won''t take kindly to you doing that.¡± ¡°Girl, there''s a literal army of the fucking dead climbing the outside walls right now.¡± The Hound said. ¡°I could do anything I wanted right now and no one is going to tell me no, nor could they stop me.¡± Arya bent down and retrieved her dagger and her sword, Needle. ¡°What do you want to do, then?¡± ¡°I want a fucking drink and to be left alone.¡± The Hound said. ¡°I''m sure I can get you the first if follow me.¡± Arya said and led him through some hidden pathways through Winterfell and they came out near the main house and the stable. ¡°Help me do up the horses.¡± ¡°Horses?¡± The hound asked and they did up two horses and added the supplies they needed for a long journey. No one was around, so they took a bit more than they were supposed to. ¡°Come on.¡± Arya said and led her horse between two buildings to a small entrance, then she disappeared. A few minutes later, she came out with two large saddle bags that looked quite heavy. ¡°What''s this?¡± The Hound asked and grabbed one to put on his horse. ¡°The best wine in Winterfell.¡± Arya said and climbed up onto her horse. ¡°Are you coming?¡± ¡°Cheeky girl.¡± The Hound said and popped open one of the saddle bags and took out a huge cask of wine. He took a swig of it and his eyes bulged as his face turned red from the strength of the alcohol. ¡°What the fuck is this?¡± He asked, completely surprised. ¡°I told you. It''s the best wine in Winterfell.¡± Arya said and kicked her horse into motion. ¡°You better keep up if you want the other saddle bag when those run out.¡± The Hound stared at her for a moment, grumbled a curse under his breath as he climbed his horse, then trotted after her. ¡°You know you''re a right bitch, don''t you?¡± Arya didn''t stop her smile this time. ¡°Hurry up, you drunk bastard.¡± She said and kicked her horse to go faster. ¡°Your wine is getting away.¡± ¡°Oh, for fuck''s sake.¡± The Hound said and rode his horse to catch up to her. * A caravan of Northmen with Bran in the lead cart, left the safety of Winterfell and rode as quickly as they could towards the south. He knew that if they didn''t reach a particular spot before the dead broke through Winterfell''s defenses, then he would be killed as well. Bran didn''t even feel bad about leaving Sansa to die, mainly because she had believed that she was too smart to be caught by her own machinations. He thought about what could have happened, had he told her the truth about Jon, then he shrugged. He had left it to Jon to tell who he wanted and that was how it was going to stay. Flight and Fight Because of Bran''s warning and his fairly quick exit from Winterfell, which neither he nor the Northmen with him tried to hide, Daenerys had no choice but to order her army to withdraw. Losing more of her people for the lives of others that didn''t care if she did lose them, bothered her more than she let on. She had wanted to react strongly to their betrayal and wanted to burn them to ashes as they fled the castle; but, because of her love for Jon, she let them go. As if he felt her emotions in that regard, Jon''s hand found hers and held on as they stood in the rear staging area and planned their retreat. Thankfully, her army had always been a mobile one, and it didn''t take them long to get everything reorganized for what would become one of their hardest fought battles ever. They knew they didn''t have the speed to completely get away by this point, mainly because a good portion of their troops were still on the far wall and were doing their best to fend off the horde of the dead. Once they were withdrawn, there would be nothing to stop the flow of the enemy, except for the high walls and maybe some luck. ¡°Do not worry, My Queen.¡± Greyworm, the general of the unsullied said. ¡°My men will not fail you in this task.¡± ¡°I know you won''t.¡± Daenerys said. ¡°Carry out my orders.¡± ¡°Right away, My Queen.¡± Greyworm said and left her side. Missandei touched his arm as he passed and gave him a sad smile. ¡°You heard the lady.¡± Jorah Mormont said loudly. ¡°Everyone! Move out!¡± Everyone left to do their appointed tasks. Horses were quickly prepared for Daenerys and her entourage and they mounted up to ride at the head of the procession. Despite having so many people and troops to move, they made short work of it and left the safety of the castle. They were surrounded by troops in case the dead made it around the castle to attack them. They needn''t have worried on that front, however. Tyrion''s tactics had been very effective against the army of the dead and had whittled them down to a fairly small number. They had been reduced from over three million to just barely under 500,000. If they had had a bit more time and perhaps another field of traps for the dead to cross, they might have stopped the army in its tracks. Unfortunately, all of the dead army that remained were at the castle walls and were trying desperately to get over them. With the unsullied thinned out from the retreat, their coverage of the wall was less effective than it could have been. They fought bravely under Greyworm''s direction and stemmed the flow to only a trickle; but, that trickle got through. Those who were still inside the castle and waiting for their spot at the end of the train of retreating people, came under attack. The troops guarding them fought the dead off and managed to only lose a few members. ¡°They''re all out!¡± Someone yelled as the last of the caravan left the staging area. ¡°Light it and retreat!¡± Greyworm yelled and ran down the stairs to the ground as his last group of soldiers poured out the last of the oil on top of the walls and lit it, then followed their leader. As they ran, they lit the houses and barns that had been oiled up previously and created a firebreak to stop the dead from following them as a mass. Greyworm and his elite platoon of troops double marched and slowly made their way up to their proper position with their queen. As they travelled, they met groups of the dead that seemed to have broken off from the main group and were easily defeated. They were wrong about them being a part of the main army, though. Once Winterfell had been set afire and became impassable for the army of the dead, they stopped trying to get in and waited. Something was coming. At the appointed time that Bran had warned them about, the sea of the dead parted for their latest member. The ground trembled as the massive dead creature crawled over to the defensive wall of Winterfell. The creature''s glowing blue eyes glittered from the reflective fire on top of the walls. It looked at the stone and saw that the fire had weakened it somewhat, and if it could have smiled, it would have. It reared back and opened its large mouth, then let a steady stream of blue magical fire spew out. It slammed into the weakened wall and blew it apart. Viserion, now fully converted to serve the dead, roared its defiance to a wall it could normally fly over. Its wings were still damaged from the ice spears that had taken it down and they would take time to heal. When they did, the world would learn what it meant to truly be afraid of the army of the dead. With the wall down, the army of the dead no longer had to divert around the huge Winterfell castle and went right through it instead. There hadn''t been time to set many traps or to dig more than a couple of trenches on the inside of the castle walls when the retreat was announced, so the dead had almost no obstacles between them and the other side of Winterfell and the large gate that everyone had fled through. The dead flowed through the streets and buildings and searched for any signs of the living. They found none, except for a few stragglers that had thought they could hide while the army of the dead passed by. They were very wrong and then they too joined the army of the dead.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. There were lots of bodies scattered about, both inside and outside the castle walls. Despite the unsullied and their mandate to treat all of their own dead the same way, decapitate and burn, there was no way for them to do that for everyone that had been on the battlefield. As the white walkers passed through the fields outside and then through Winterfell, a few wildlings, over a thousand unsullied, and about three thousand of the Northmen that had fallen, were raised up and joined their ranks. That didn''t seem like much in the full scheme of things, considering how many dead they had lost on the assault of the castle; but, now their only main obstacle was gone. There was no one left with any significant defense to oppose them. The dead didn''t know that and wouldn''t discover it until they did their own march to follow the retreating forces that had fought against them. Not that they cared. Their entire goal was to kill the living. As they travelled south and encountered more and more people, their numbers would increase by the same amount, assuming they didn''t suffer more losses. Considering the people they would meet were just normal people and not trained fighters, maybe one or two people will be lucky enough to make a stand... for a few minutes. Commoners and peasants didn''t stand a chance against the relentless army of the dead. The army would grow as it moved across the countryside and converted every living being to serve the dead. * ¡°Your majesty, please listen.¡± Qyburn, the current Hand of the Queen said. ¡°I don''t want to hear it.¡± Cersei Lannister said as she gazed out of the top window of the Red Keep. ¡°But... the dead...¡± ¡°Yes, yes. I know.¡± Cersei said. ¡°Your spies have already warned us that Winterfell has fallen to them and that the army of that... woman... is fleeing from them.¡± She said with a smile. ¡°Your majesty...¡± ¡°It will take them two months on horseback to get here.¡± Cersei said. ¡°Since we know most of them are troops and can only march, it will take them that much longer. Another month at least.¡± ¡°We should make preparations for their arrival.¡± Qyburn said. ¡°We only have a dozen of the large scorpion catapults ready.¡± Cersei held in her sigh. Must I order him to do everything? She asked herself and turned to look at him. ¡°Have all of the workers in the city concentrate on making more of them.¡± ¡°We are low on iron.¡± Cersei actually sighed this time. ¡°Have squads of the troops dig out the chains that were used to block off the harbour. Have the blacksmiths smelt the large links down and we will have all the spare metal we will ever need.¡± ¡°Of course, your majesty. It will be done.¡± Qyburn said and gave her a bow, then left at a fast walk. I''m waiting for you. Cersei thought as she turned back to the window. You think you can conquer me, do you? She let a smile touch her lips. I''ve survived four kings so far, as well as several usurpers to the throne, and I am still here. She picked up a glass of wine and took a sip. Let''s see you try. * Jaime Lannister had a lot of experience travelling alone the last few months, and had years travelling with squads of men and even with caravans. He easily traversed all of the inherent dangers that going such a long distance presented. Creatures, bandits, roving patrols of soldiers, and even desperate citizens who overreact when a stranger on horseback approached them. None of that really concerned him, except for the fact that if anything happened to him, he wouldn''t be able to get back to King''s Landing. So, he diligently avoided all of the dangers and made his way to his final destination. He knew if he went back there, after the way he had left, he wouldn''t be leaving again. Not that he cared about that. It would fit into his plans perfectly. * Daenerys, her army, and their entourage, marched south. They travelled hard to reach a defensible position. As everyone else rested, the soldiers hastily constructed a trench and used the dirt to make a short dirt wall in front of it, then added wooden pikes to the trench. It wouldn''t slow the dead very much, since they didn''t care if they lost thousands of their number to simple things like that. All the army was doing was trying to buy themselves time. They were only half a day ahead of the army that was chasing them and they needed to keep moving. If they kept doing what they were doing, creating stop-gaps to try and stem the flow of the dead, they had a chance... a slim chance... to be far enough ahead to reach where they needed to go to try and fight off the dead again. According to Jon, the next best defensible position was Riverrun at The Twins. Unfortunately, it was just over a month''s travel away. Plus, neither he nor Daenerys controlled the area. Their position was precarious to say the least, especially if the people there decided not to let them enter and form a proper defense against the dead. If they wasted too much time trying to negotiate, then all would be lost. When the soldiers finished their trench and wall, they rested for an hour, then the entire army moved on. They needed to keep moving. If they didn''t, they would be caught before they reached anywhere, and no one wanted that to happen. As they travelled, they passed several small castles. They were owned by the Northmen lords that had fled the battlefield with their troops before the retreat had been called. Daenerys was tempted to attack them to punish them for their betrayal, and Jon touched her hand. ¡°Look at their defenses.¡± Jon said. Daenerys gave them an appraising eye and then she looked back at him with surprise. ¡°The dead will do the work for you.¡± Jon said, sadly. He hated that his people had turned on him and he couldn''t deal with them himself. He had to let his sense of justice be settled by the same words. Their stupidity in not fighting the dead when they were supposed to, had led them to lose to the dead anyway. Daenerys and her army moved on and when they believed they were far enough ahead, slowed down to a normal march. The troops were tired, the people were tired, and Daenerys was tired. It hurt her heart that after all of the people she had saved, and all of the slaves she had liberated, that she had to flee from a fight. Her dragons should have let her win the battle decisively, except that there had been so many of the dead to destroy. Her thoughts went to the one she lost, and tears came to her eyes. Viserion. Daenerys thought and wiped at her face. I''m so sorry. She felt a hand take hers and she looked at Jon, who gave her a sad smile and then lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it. ¡°We will get through this.¡± Jon said. ¡°One way or another, we will get through it.¡± Not What It Could Have Been After a month and a week, and very long and drawn out running battle against time, Daenerys and her army finally arrived at Riverrun. They stopped at a respectable distance away from the gates of the castle, to show that they weren''t trying to be aggressive about their approach. Jon, Sir Davos, and Tyrion walked towards the gates alone, despite Daenerys'' protests that Jon should take a personal guard squad. The trio arrived and saw that there was no reaction. ¡°HO! In the CASTLE!¡± Sir Davos yelled and both Jon and Tyrion gave him surprised looks. ¡°It should get their attention, at least.¡± ¡°No doubt.¡± Tyrion said. ¡°If the dead weren''t already roaming around, you would have woken them.¡± Jon smiled and then heard a light ring of metal and then the loud thump of wood. He looked over to see the small door in the large gates open up and a young woman, barely sixteen, walked out. She was dressed in her best dress, which was quite an accomplishment for a peasant, and she walked over to them. ¡°What can I do for you, my lords?¡± The young woman asked. ¡°I wish to have words with the Lord of Riverrun.¡± Jon said. ¡°There is much to discuss.¡± The young woman''s face showed surprise for a moment, then she smiled. ¡°I am the Lady of Riverrun.¡± Jon stared at the young woman and didn''t know what to say. ¡°My lady.¡± Tyrion said and bowed his head. ¡°Can you tell us what happened to put you into power?¡± ¡°Of course, my lord.¡± She said and looked back at Jon. ¡°The North Remembers.¡± Jon was too shocked to think straight. He had heard all about how Rob, his new wife, and Lady Stark had been killed by the Freys; but, if what this woman said is true, then it meant that all of the men in House Frey were dead. All of them. Tyrion and Sir Davos saw Jon''s apparent inability to respond properly and took things upon themselves. ¡°My lady, we have travelled far and...¡± Tyrion started to say. ¡°We don''t have the provisions to feed and water your horses, let alone your whole army.¡± The Lady of Riverrun said. ¡°The most I can do is open the gates and let you pass.¡± ¡°My lady.¡± Sir Davos said bowed his head slightly. ¡°An army of the dead are chasing us. We need to use your castle to prepare a proper defense.¡± The Lady of Riverrun laughed. ¡°A proper defense?¡± She waved at the giant castle that covered the massive Twin Rivers. ¡°When these gates are closed, nothing can get past them.¡± ¡°But, the dead...¡± ¡°There are barely five hundred people inside this castle. If these ''dead'' are really coming, they won''t find much of a fight here.¡± ¡°My lady...¡± Tyrion was about to explain and Jon put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. ¡°My Lady.¡± Jon said. ¡°Passage through these honored gates would be much appreciated.¡± ¡°Then you and your army can pass through.¡± The Lady of Riverrun said. ¡°We will bar the gates after you pass through and you need not worry about the army chasing you.¡± ¡°Come with us.¡± Jon said. ¡°If there are only five hundred of you...¡± ¡°These last few months on our own have been the best time that any of us have ever thought we deserved.¡± She said and turned away. ¡°If we are killed by this army, then this time was worth it.¡± ¡°Don''t just give up.¡± Tyrion said and she turned back to look at him. ¡°If they kill you, you will join their ranks.¡± ¡°Do you believe this army of the dead will kill all of the old lords and ladies as well as the peasants under their rule?¡± ¡°Yes, my lady.¡± Tyrion said, honestly. ¡°Then my death at their hands will be doubly worth it.¡± The Lady of Riverrun said and walked away. ¡°It''s their fault we have become like we are, so removing them can only be a good thing... no matter how it is accomplished.¡± The three men were too surprised by her words to say anything in response, then she disappeared back inside the large gate. Ten minutes later, after a lot of noise, the large gates opened and gave them access to the huge bridge that crossed the massive rivers. With no other recourse, Jon, Sir Davos, and Tyrion walked back to the head of the army and informed Daenerys of what had transpired. When she heard the news, she didn''t react like they thought she would. ¡°Greyworm.¡± Daenerys said and he bowed his head to her. ¡°As we pass through the gates, ask five squads of troops to stay behind and leave enough provisions for them.¡± ¡°Yes, My Queen.¡± Greyworm said. ¡°My Queen, we need those fifty men and their commanders.¡± Tyrion reminded her. ¡°Yes, we do.¡± Daenerys said and looked at Greyworm. ¡°Tell them that they will delay the army of the dead for a long as possible, then they will retreat and join up with us again.¡± ¡°Right away, My Queen.¡± Greyworm said and left to fulfill her orders. ¡°Is that satisfactory, my Hand?¡± Daenerys asked Tyrion. ¡°Of course, my Queen.¡± Tyrion said and bowed his head briefly. As they passed through the large gates, Daenerys looked up to see dozens of young women looking down at her from the battlements. Her eyes picked out the young Lady of Riverrun and nodded to her. She had broken free from the chains that had bound her and didn''t want to be shackled with more by letting her army stay. She respected that. So, she left troops to help as much as they could and her army continued on. * The Lady of Riverrun was surprised to see a beautiful woman riding at the head of the army that passed through her gates, then she was doubly surprised when five of the squads split off and their commanders came to her to arrange lodgings for the length of their stay. They didn''t expect it to be long, considering how close the army of the dead was, and they warned her as such. She quickly arranged for their needs and they stored their provisions where they were told, then they formulated the best way to defend the giant castle from the dead. She hadn''t quite believed the lords when they made the outrageous claim, and now she had no choice but to believe that they believed that the dead were coming for them. She would hold off her own judgment until she saw them for herself.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. It was unfortunate that her view, that they wouldn''t believe it until they saw it, was to be common among all of the people Daenerys and her army told the tale to. By the time they got to see it for themselves, it would be much too late to do anything about it. The large gates were barred to their fullest extent and then other defenses were set up that would stem the tide of the battle. It would not be enough to stop the dead, though. After travelling for over a month through the countryside and among the people, who couldn''t defend themselves, the army of the dead had once again grown to their previous proportions. It took just over a week for them to arrive. Just over three million dead appeared on the horizon. They spread out as far as the eye could see and were a blight on the land. Some of the women inside the castle started to scream at the sight. They were quickly stifled by the others, because there was no point in screaming and drawing attention to yourself. They were coming and that was all that mattered. ¡°Kind sirs.¡± The Lady of Riverrun said to the commanders of the troops that Daenerys had left her. ¡°I see now that my own foolish pride had blinded me to the truth.¡± She said. ¡°However, we cannot run in the face of these forces.¡± The commanders let a rare smile show on their faces as she told them the ways that her people had held off countless armies over the years. ¡°I suggest waiting until they are close enough so that your men can get an accurate count, then send them after your queen to let her know what is coming.¡± The Lady of Riverrun said. ¡°You would have made a good general.¡± One of the unsullied said. ¡°You would have made a better husband than the worthless garbage I was married to before he died.¡± The unsullied had never been complimented in that fashion before, so their passion for the coming battle went from resignation of their fate, to proving that even a small amount of unsullied were worth thousands of normal troops. And they did. * It was almost three weeks later when Daenerys and her army arrived at the crossroads to go to either The Eyrie, the seat of House Arryn, or to King''s Landing. The Eyrie''s castle complex straddled a mountaintop that was thousands of feet above the valley below, making it an easily defensible position, and it would be the best place to fight off an army of the dead. It had never fallen to any ground forces in all of its history, mainly because any invaders needed to pass through three castles along the path through the narrow valley, which made any ground troops completely vulnerable to archery fire. The upside to going there, was it was another three weeks travel and took them away from the main path of the army of the dead. If they went this way, there was a good chance that the army would completely pass them by. On the downside, if they did go this way, then there would be absolutely no way to leave if the dead followed them. They would be boxed in and would have to fight the dead until either the dead were all destroyed or they were all dead themselves. Daenerys and her advisers were in the middle of the discussion to weigh the benefits of using the Eyrie when one of the scouts shouted a warning. A few minutes later, two very ragged unsullied, barely alive, were brought into their encampment. ¡°My... My Queen.¡± One of them managed to say. ¡°It... fell.¡± ¡°That''s not possible.¡± Jon said. Daenerys looked at him and saw his surprise. ¡°There''s a reason The Twins have stood all these years.¡± Jon continued. ¡°How could they fall?¡± ¡°It... it w-was...¡± The unsullied coughed and someone handed him and his fellow water skins. They took several shaky drinks and a long breath before one of them spoke. ¡°A dragon.¡± The other unsullied said to everyone''s shock. ¡°It was a dragon that breathed blue fire.¡± Daenerys gasped and covered her heart as she staggered and Jon grabbed her and held her steady. ¡°They... they took my Viserion!¡± Daenerys exclaimed and desperately held onto Jon, so she wouldn''t collapse from the grief that gripped her heart. ¡°Tell us what happened.¡± Jorah Mormont commanded, and the unsullied relayed the tale. - The dead moved towards the large gates as if the gates didn''t matter to them. They moved almost as one towards the bottleneck that the castle represented. Or so the defenders thought. To their utter surprise, the first few thousand members of the dead army fell right into the water and were washed away. ¡°That''s it! Keep walking to your deaths!¡± One of the women shouted, to the amusement of the others. As if they had heard her shout a command, the entire army stopped walking. The poor woman was embarrassed to have caused the dead to stop what she wanted them to do. She started to apologize for her mistake and then the sea of the dead parted. The women and the five squads of unsullied watched in fascination as the twelve hundred or so white walkers came through the opening. No one breathed as the feeling of death flowed out from them and sent chills down their spines. It wasn''t death doing that, though. It was actually freezing cold, because they had brought winter with them. Arctic and icy winds carried snow and ice around them, then amazingly, those winds focused on the raging waters of the twin rivers that joined under the castle. It was slow at first, then it grew in intensity as the churning water slowed down. The currents underneath still flowed; but, the surface of the water came to a complete stop. It was freezing over! To the defender''s shock and horror, the thin ice became thicker and turned white, to show that it was safe to walk on, and then the army of the dead stepped onto the ice and kept walking. The defender''s plans to block or even slow down the army of the dead were less than useless. ¡°We need to go.¡± One of the unsullied commanders said to the others. ¡°Grab the women and run!¡± His order seemed a little self-serving to those that hadn''t seen what he just saw. Water proved to be no barrier for the dead. He didn''t know that he was witnessing the fatal flaw of the large magic ice wall that protected the lands. It only protected and blocked off access to the land. The water on either side of it was completely open, which was why the dead had moved across the untamed upper north to go to Hardhome first. It was right on the water and their path from there led them directly past the wall and into the lands of the Northmen. The unsullied did their best to gather who they could, so they could start running. It was a hasty retreat and most of the women decided to stay behind. He couldn''t fault them for choosing to stay, mainly because the army of the dead was walking past them right then. Running was going to be a very dangerous proposition. ¡°Do you have the count?¡± He asked his five scouts and they nodded. ¡°You need to tell the Queen! Go!¡± The five scouts started to run ahead of the rest, then there was a loud bang. And another. Everyone stopped running and turned around to see what could make such a sound, then the large gates of the castle exploded inwards in a ball of blue flame. All the women screamed as the dead dragon roared its defiance at the thing that had barred its way, then they started to run again. This was a mistake. Viserion saw them and its glowing blue eyes sparkled as the little motes of life tried to flee from his wrath. It barked a short roar, as it clearing its throat, then it spewed out another long gout of magical blue flame. Unsullied and women alike screamed in pain for only a moment, then they were no more. Fortunately, the scouts were far enough ahead that only two of them had been caught in the very edge of the attack and only the backs of their shirts had caught on fire. They stripped off those burning clothes and the five of them ran for all they were worth. - ¡°Only two of you remain.¡± Daenerys said, her grief pushed aside temporarily, thanks to Jon''s support. ¡°We... lost...¡± The unsullied couldn''t continue and collapsed from exhaustion. The other had fell unconscious only moments before. ¡°Tend to them and make sure they are rewarded for their bravery.¡± Daenerys said and the two men were taken away. ¡°My Queen, if I may speak?¡± Tyrion asked. Daenerys nodded. ¡°I believe I have the best strategy, considering this new information.¡± Tyrion said. ¡°Please enlighten us.¡± Daenerys said. ¡°We have been debating on whether we should continue on to King''s Landing to make our final stand, or if we should divert and make our defense in The Eyrie.¡± Tyrion said. ¡°I suggest we do both.¡± Everyone looked at him like he was insane. ¡°We only have one army.¡± Sir Davos said. ¡°We can''t be in two places at once.¡± ¡°We can be if we split the army.¡± Tyrion said, to their surprise. ¡°At the moment, we cannot even hope to stand against the army of the dead with what we have.¡± Daenerys said, even though she hated to admit it. ¡°If we split the army, we will die that much faster.¡± Jorah Mormont said. ¡°How will we protect the Queen if we are all dead?¡± Tyrion smiled and it pulled on the scar across his face. He reached up and touched it, because he hadn''t felt that sensation in a while. A smile on his face had been a long time in coming. ¡°Before you take the job of Hand from me, Sir Jorah, let me explain.¡± Tyrion said and kept smiling as he told them what his plan entailed and he had everyone''s undivided attention. Brilliant Desperate Plans ¡°That''s insane.¡± Sir Davos said when Tyrion was done. ¡°You want to leave all of the support people and only a quarter of our fighting forces to travel from here to the Eyrie?¡± ¡°No, they don''t have to travel all the way.¡± Tyrion said. ¡°They only need to get to the first castle that''s a few days away. Once there, thanks to the way the path is set up, if the dead army follows them, they can be easily dealt with.¡± ¡°You don''t believe they will.¡± Jon said. ¡°No, because the remaining three quarters will lead them away from this route and continue on to King''s Landing.¡± Tyrion explained. ¡°We nearly stopped them at Winterfell. We can stop them at the Eyrie with a fraction of the force, if we keep them occupied and attacking.¡± ¡°Which we couldn''t do, because only so many can come towards the Eyrie at a time.¡± Daenerys said. ¡°You fully expect the rest of the army of the dead to continue on.¡± ¡°Yes, my Queen.¡± Tyrion said. ¡°There won''t be enough conflict to hold their interest, so they will seek out other living things to attack.¡± He said. ¡°Once the army passes the entrance to the Eyrie, the force we leave behind will be in a perfect position to attack from behind.¡± ¡°Where the majority of the white walkers are.¡± Jorah Mormont said. ¡°They are still protected by a mass of the dead.¡± ¡°Are they?¡± Tyrion asked and let another smile show on his face. Everyone looked at him in surprise. ¡°We assumed they will continue to protect the white walkers to maintain the army, and yet at Riverrun, the army split and the white walkers came forward to freeze the water.¡± ¡°The white walkers don''t need to be protected if there is no battle for them to be protected from.¡± Jon said. ¡°They saw us from miles away at Winterfell and prepared a defense. They wouldn''t need a defense anymore if all they are doing is chasing their prey.¡± ¡°You do realize that we are that prey.¡± Varys said. ¡°All we need to do is keep doing what we were doing.¡± Tyrion said. ¡°They are following us. Where we go, they go.¡± He said. ¡°We can trap them with a force in front and a force in behind.¡± ¡°How are we supposed to do that?¡± Samwell Tarly asked. ¡°You just said there''s not enough of us to stop them.¡± ¡°You plan to use the Golden Army to fight.¡± Varys said when he understood what Tyrion intended. ¡°That''s right, my friend.¡± Tyrion said. ¡°I doubt I can get the King''s Guard or the Lannister army to engage as well, though.¡± ¡°Yes, that would be too much to ask.¡± Varys said and squinted his eyes for a few moments, then he nodded. ¡°I need to send a message to the city.¡± ¡°Get a Maester over here.¡± Jorah barked and an unsullied ran to get one. ¡°There''s no rush. We have three weeks yet to get to King''s Landing.¡± Varys said. ¡°After travelling to the first castle, if the force we leave here is delayed a few days to a week while waiting for the army of the dead to pass by before they can follow, we will only be a week away from King''s Landing.¡± Tyrion said. ¡°We don''t have a lot of time for anything else.¡± ¡°Not we.¡± Daenerys said. ¡°You will stay here with the reserve force.¡± ¡°My Queen, I...¡± ¡°Only you can be an accurate judge of when to follow the army of the dead safely.¡± Daenerys said. ¡°I''m sure you would be useful riding a horse at my side when we reach the capital; but, we are fighting a losing battle. I need you in the right position to give me the best advantage to win.¡± ¡°I will stay as well.¡± Jon said, to everyone''s surprise, especially Dani''s. ¡°Jon...¡± Daenerys wasn''t sure what to say. ¡°I''m sure the unsullied don''t need a leader, since they are the best trained army I have ever seen.¡± Jon said. ¡°However, what they don''t have, is this.¡± He said and popped his sword out of its scabbard. ¡°You told me how the white walkers reacted to the dragon glass on the Dothraki weapons. It hurt and killed them as if they were normal and the weapons were normal.¡± He said. ¡°Valerian steel destroys them.¡± ¡°Jorah...¡± Daenerys started to say. ¡°Is your personal knight.¡± Jon said. ¡°He would be useless if he is worrying about you all the time.¡± ¡°Does that mean you don''t?¡± Daenerys asked. Jon slid the sword back into its scabbard and stepped close to her. ¡°My Queen.¡± He said and put his arms around her. ¡°Day and night I think of you. I do worry; but, you are as safe as you can possibly be right now. I know I can be more useful to you if I help you this way, than I would be by riding at your side and not doing anything except staring at you.¡± Daenerys smiled at the admission, then she sighed. ¡°I don''t want you to go.¡± ¡°That''s always going to be a problem.¡± Jon said and gave her a quick kiss, then he let her go and stepped back. ¡°We should decide who you are leaving behind for this.¡± ¡°Greyworm.¡± Daenerys said. ¡°This is going to be very dangerous.¡± ¡°My Queen. I will assign the best and most experienced unsullied to do this task.¡± Greyworm said. ¡°Not you.¡± Daenerys said. ¡°No, My Queen. You need me here and I will stay.¡± Greyworm said. ¡°The army of the dead pursues us and I will slow them down as much as possible.¡± Daenerys nodded. ¡°Have the men you choose gather with the caravans.¡± Tyrion said. ¡°We will need to head off as soon as possible if we are to be ignored by the dead as they pass by.¡±This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡°You should give packs of provisions to the soldiers as well as stock up the horses you take with you.¡± Varys said to Daenerys and Greyworm. ¡°I''m sure you should have no trouble gathering enough food along the way to last until King''s Landing. However, it is always better to plan for thin rations.¡± ¡°Make it so.¡± Daenerys said and everyone quickly left the vicinity to leave her and Jon alone. ¡°We don''t have time for me to say goodbye properly.¡± Jon said to make her smile and hugged her again. ¡°Do your best.¡± Daenerys said and he nodded, then he kissed her. They both knew they wouldn''t see each other for several weeks, and that was only if everything went right. Jon put as much feeling and emotion into the kiss as he could, and Dani did the same. She would be slightly less without him by her side; but, she would endure. She needed to reclaim the throne that was stolen from her family and Jon would do everything he could to help her do that. They broke the kiss and stared into each other''s eyes for several moments, then Jon gave her a bow and walked towards the caravans to join up with Tyrion. Missandei would be coming as well, since Daenerys wouldn''t need her services while leading the army of the dead into a deadly trap. Varys would be staying with Tyrion and they would time their assault on the rear of the army of the dead to have the most impact. Too early and they would be wiped out before removing any of the white walkers. Too late and Daenerys and her army would be wiped out instead. It took a surprisingly short time to divide the army and the caravans into two parts and the part they were leaving to guard the caravans moved off towards the Eyrie. Once that was done, the remaining three quarters of the army waited for the others to disappear from sight into the craggy valley and quickly made a trench and a berm behind it to cover a good portion of the entryway. They would leave a scout close by to observe and make sure that the army of the dead actually passed by and followed the others. The others couldn''t stick around and wait for the dead to show up, however. They had a good lead on them and they needed to keep it, in order to make defenses along the way to King''s Landing. They hoped that anything they did to stem the flow of the army of the dead would be beneficial in the end. No one would know it if it was, though. Except Bran, and he hadn''t said where he was retreating to. With the berm completed, Daenerys led her slightly reduced army towards King''s Landing with the two dragons flying overhead. * Qyburn, former Maester and current Hand of the Queen to Cersei Lannister, was surprised when a message was delivered to him. It was fairly large and he was curious as to what it contained. He opened it and read a very short message from an anonymous sender, then he unfolded the large piece of parchment and stared at the field traps it thoroughly described the construction of. It even had the best places to put them and their best uses. Qyburn was shocked by this, then read the terse note again. ''The dead are coming. This was used at Winterfell and they almost won. Use more land.'' Should I tell the queen? Qyburn asked himself, thought about it for several moments, then shook his head. No, I am her Hand. I am responsible for the welfare of the citizens. He quickly wrote out instructions to copy the plans and to have the Lannister army construct them as far away from the city as possible. The Golden Company would start near the city walls and work their way out. The two forces should meet in the middle and recruit the local militia to populate the trenches, then the two armies were to retreat back to the city. With all of them working, they should have it all done by the time the army of the dead approach. Qyburn thought and left his little office to deliver the orders. * A week later, a heavily cloaked and concealed Jaime Lannister rode his horse into the city of King''s Landing. Discreetly, of course. He couldn''t be seen by the guards, or he could be captured and possibly killed for treason. He had left King''s Landing and abandoned his duty to protect the queen, so he was sure they all would be on the lookout for him. Jaime knew it would take some luck and some inside information to get safely through the streets, and he managed to find one of his old informants to help him with that task a day later. The man was not happy to have him as a visitor, not with the current state of things in the capital with the impending war with the upstart queen coming to claim the throne. ¡°You know I can pay.¡± Jaime said in a hushed whisper. ¡°Money''s no good if you''re dead, now leave me alone.¡± The man hissed back. ¡°I only need to cross the city unseen.¡± Jaime said. ¡°It''s not that difficult.¡± ¡°Then do it yourself.¡± The man responded. ¡°Leave me out of it.¡± ¡°If I could have done it myself already, I would have.¡± Jaime said. ¡°You don''t have to get me into the Red Keep, just get me close and I''ll take care of the rest.¡± ¡°I don''t know why you think I can get you there better than you can.¡± The man said. ¡°I''ve only...¡± ¡°I have trusted you with several things over the years.¡± Jaime said and put a handful of gold coins on the table. ¡°Now, I''m trusting you...¡± He pushed the coins towards the man. ¡°...with my life.¡± The man eyed the coins for several moments, then his hand grabbed them. ¡°I am such a fool.¡± Jaime smiled crookedly and the man led him to the back of the room and out into what looked like a small barn. He went to a cart and lifted the straw and a heavy blanket in the back, then lifted the false bottom to reveal a very small crawl space. ¡°You''ll need to leave the fancy armor.¡± The man warned him. Jaime nodded and quickly took it off, then he climbed into the small space and laid down. ¡°Here.¡± The man said and tossed Jaime a small sack full of dry rations. ¡°It''s going to be a few hours before I can load up the back, then the trip across the city may take an hour or more, since I need to avoid the patrols.¡± Jaime nodded again and the man closed the false bottom. * Arya and The Hound rode into the city wearing cloaks. They didn''t have to be too discreet, mainly because most of the people that came looking for The Hound were now dead and no one else was stupid enough to try and challenge him when they did discover that it really was him. Arya on the other hand, everyone had thought she had been killed when she was a child. Now that she was grown up, no one really recognized her. Of course, most of the people from King''s Landing that would have recognized her on sight were also dead, so she wasn''t too worried about being discovered. That didn''t mean they shouldn''t be cautious, though. ¡°Girl, I think you should turn around and go home.¡± Sandor Clegane said. Arya shook her head. ¡°You''ve been saying that ever since you ran out of wine.¡± ¡°We could get more wine.¡± Sandor grumbled. ¡°If my guess is right, Winterfell is a smoking ruin right now.¡± Arya said. It hurt her heart a little to say that, then she smiled. ¡°It''s been burned out before, though. It''s always rebuilt.¡± ¡°They better start with the winery first.¡± Sandor said, then he grunted. ¡°I can''t believe I came all the way back to this shit hole.¡± ¡°We both have unfinished business here.¡± Arya said. ¡°We need a better way through the patrols than riding like this on horses.¡± Sandor grunted agreement. ¡°I know a guy.¡± They made their way carefully around several streets until they came to a small place with a barn beside it. A man was loading the back of a cart with bushels of grains and a few sacks of vegetables. He looked up at the sound of horse hooves and then sighed as he cursed. ¡°Fuuuuck meee.¡± The man grumbled. ¡°Is that any way to greet an old friend, you slimy bastard?¡± The Hound asked and got off the horse. ¡°Friend! You damn near killed me the last time you saw me!¡± The Hound glared down at the smaller man. ¡°I told you before that I was aiming for the dick that was beside you. It''s not my fault you were a pussy and ducked the wrong way.¡± The man clenched his fists and thought about arguing more, then crossed his arms instead. No one fought The Hound and lived. ¡°What do you want?¡± ¡°A quiet ride through the streets.¡± Arya said and the man blinked his eyes at the half-decently pretty girl beside The Hound. ¡°With as little soldier patrol viewing as possible.¡± The man glanced at his cart and then back at her. ¡°My cart''s full.¡± ¡°Stop being a pussy.¡± The Hound said and picked up two of the largest bundles of wheat and climbed in and sat down with the bundles on his lap. They mostly covered him, so Arya moved another bushel and covered him completely. ¡°I''m not going to do this for free.¡± The man said. ¡°You can keep your life, unless you keep pissing me off.¡± The Hound said from his hiding place. ¡°You can keep the horses.¡± Arya said. ¡°I doubt we''re going to need them again.¡± The man quickly tied the horses next to the lone horse he had in the small barn, then he looked at her. ¡°What about you?¡± ¡°I''ll be your riding partner.¡± Arya said innocently. The man gave her a smile and waved at the front of the cart, then they were off. Confrontations The cart with Arya and The Hound easily made it across the city in about an hour. The man had enjoyed sitting with the half-decently pretty young woman and none of the patrols had stopped them for more than a moment to comment on them being careful in their deliveries. He stopped about five streets away from the Red Keep, since the streets were much too crowded to get any closer than that without arousing suspicion. ¡°This is as far as I go.¡± The driver said as he pulled into a secluded alley and hopped off of the cart. ¡°I can''t be seen too close to the Keep.¡± He offered a hand to Arya to help her down and she took it like a lady and stepped down to the ground. ¡°Stop bitching about it, you cunt.¡± The Hound said and tossed the bundles of wheat that had been hiding him onto the ground and slid out of the cart. ¡°Thank you for the ride.¡± Arya said and the two of them walked down the alley, looked out for a moment, then disappeared as they went around the corner. ¡°All right, they''re gone.¡± The man said and knocked on the false bottom of the cart, then quickly finished taking out enough to let Jaime Lannister out. ¡°We''re five streets away and the Red Keep is right there.¡± He pointed. ¡°Good luck and I hope I never see you again.¡± Jaime nodded and went down to the same end of the alley, looked out into the street, then disappeared as he went around the corner. * To almost everyone''s surprise, except for Tyrion, his plan to split their army worked like a charm. Since there was almost no trace of the living on the path to the Eyrie, only a few handfuls of the dead came that way at random. They were easily dispatched and the rest of the army of the dead passed by. The scout they had positioned and concealed ran to the first castle in the row and let Tyrion know. ¡°Excellent.¡± Tyrion said and turned to the current Lord of the Eyrie. ¡°Would you care to earn several titles and quite a lot of reward money?¡± The young man gave the imp a goofy smile. ¡°Can I wear my father''s armor?¡± ¡°I believe that would be a good idea.¡± Tyrion said, to humour the boy. ¡°Then the Vale''s forces are yours to command!¡± The young boy saluted. Tyrion almost laughed. ¡°Thank you, My Lord.¡± He said and bowed instead, then turned to the people with him. ¡°Prepare to leave as soon as possible.¡± ¡°Is that a good idea?¡± Jon asked. ¡°The army of the dead just passed by.¡± ¡°We have three days to get to that point, then we have to chase them.¡± Tyrion said. ¡°We need to catch them at the same time our Queen arrives at King''s Landing. If she takes my advice and splits just before there and lets the Golden Army take on the majority of the dead, our well armed forces will decimate them from both sides.¡± ¡°Are we giving dragon glass weapons to them?¡± Varys asked, and then smiled. ¡°Do we give them dragon glass weapons?¡± Tyrion let out a chuckle. ¡°That''s my ruthless friend for you.¡± He said. ¡°We will wait until the dead take about a quarter or even a third of the Golden Army, then provide them with the weapons to defend themselves.¡± ¡°Won''t that be too late?¡± Jon asked. ¡°Not for us, since we might have to fight them right after fighting the dead.¡± Tyrion said. ¡°At the moment, the Golden Army soldiers are rested and prepared for battle, while our army has been fighting for weeks and travelling for months. We need every advantage we can get.¡± ¡°I don''t think letting them be decimated and possibly raised as the dead will be an advantage for us.¡± ¡°I''ve given instructions to the Unsullied. They know how to handle the situation when it happens.¡± Tyrion said. ¡°Decapitation and fire will prevail the day we clash, just like it did at Winterfell.¡± ¡°Also, a little bird told me that they are preparing similar defenses as well.¡± Varys said, in reference to one of his child informants. ¡°They will be completed well before our forces reach them.¡± ¡°Which means they will have the same ease of battle as we did at Winterfell.¡± Tyrion said. ¡°We lost at Winterfell.¡± Jon said. ¡°Only because we had underestimated the capacity of the field traps. If we had more time and land...¡± Jon had to agree. If they had taken more time and had commandeered more of the surrounding lands, they might have won. ¡°As it is now, we have to depend on the skills of people desperate to protect themselves from an invading army.¡± Tyrion said. ¡°It doesn''t matter if the army is dead or not.¡± Everyone agreed and prepared to leave. Soon after, the splinter of Daenerys'' army led by Jon and Tyrion, along with 10,000 troops and 10,000 horsemen from The Vale led by the young Lord of the Vale, marched out towards a battle that had the potential to end all battles. The living versus the dead. * Daenerys led the bulk of her army towards King''s Landing and her scouts and people warned all the citizens about the army of the dead coming for them. They discovered that it was still pointless, since almost no one listened or believed them.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Daenerys felt some despair as she realized once again that the people of Westeros were too afraid to listen to outsiders, even though they desperately needed the help. She surmised that the leadership of the nation had fallen even farther than she had suspected it had. In comparison to the people living in the arid lands of Essos, the people of Westeros should have been happy to live in such a prosperous land, and yet... the common people were all downtrodden and barely living within their means. Her army marched on towards King''s Landing, their ultimate destination, and her determination to free the people from their oppressive ruler settled into her heart. I will free them. Daenerys thought. Even if they don''t want me to. * Two days later, Cersei Lannister, Queen of the Seven Realms, sat at a large table and looked at her plans for the dispersion of wildfire, the alchemists'' prized possession, in key places around the underside of the city. She did not miss the irony of this, since it had been the Mad King''s plan to blow up King''s Landing with wildfire to cleanse it. She would be doing almost the same thing, except for different reasons and only if certain conditions were met. The alchemists should have enough built up of it now for the plan to work. Cersei thought as she rolled up the plans and sealed them in wax, applied the royal seal, and sent a handmaid off with it to give to the Hand of the Queen to implement immediately. She sat back in her chair and looked out at the view of the bay. She didn''t have to stand to know that a good portion of the Iron Fleet was moored in the harbour. Such a disgusting man. Cersei thought in revulsion as the image of Euron Greyjoy appeared in her head. The way he leers at me turns my stomach. ¡°Excuse me, our highness.¡± A young woman said and bowed deeply. ¡°The guards have informed us that a man was captured trying to enter one of the blocked secret passages into the Red Keep.¡± Cersei wondered who would be idiotic enough to attempt to enter the Red Keep through an old passage. ¡°Ser Gregor, please retrieve the culprit and bring him here.¡± She ordered. ¡°You don''t have to be gentle about it.¡± Ser Gregor nodded and left her side to do her bidding. He returned twenty minutes later and dragged a dishevelled figure into the room and dropped him in front of the queen. ¡°What do you have to say for yourself?¡± Cersei asked, almost rhetorically. ¡°I''m sorry.¡± Jaime said as he lifted his head to look at her. Cersei regretted her offhand comment about not being gentle. ¡°Jaime.¡± She said and almost leapt from her chair to hug her brother, then her face went hard and she glared at him instead. ¡°You have some nerve coming back here.¡± ¡°I know.¡± Jaime said and sat up. ¡°Ser Gregor.¡± Cersei said and a sword was unsheathed and pressed against Jaime''s throat. ¡°Tell me why I shouldn''t have you killed right now.¡± ¡°Appealing to family ties won''t help this time, will it?¡± Jaime asked and she shook her head. ¡°I was wrong to leave.¡± He said. ¡°I went to help the Northmen defend their lands, just so you would have kept your word to send someone.¡± ¡°Don''t you dare tell me that you did it for me.¡± Cersei said angrily. ¡°It''s the truth.¡± Jaime said. ¡°You were being stubborn, and pig-headed, and you weren''t considering what it meant if the Northmen lost the battle.¡± ¡°They did lose the battle.¡± Cersei said. ¡°Yes, and the army of the dead that was almost wiped out, has travelled all the way across Westeros.¡± Jaime said. ¡°Just think of all the people that must have died as they did and added to their numbers.¡± He fell silent for a moment, then spoke. ¡°I daresay the army is just as big, if not bigger, and it''s not even here yet. By the time it reaches the gates of King''s Landing...¡± ¡°What are you saying?¡± Cersei asked. ¡°That we are going to lose? Absurd!¡± She scoffed. ¡°The Lannister Army and the Golden Company will handle these dead creatures easily.¡± ¡°You can''t, unless you have dragon glass, or lots and lots of fire.¡± Jaime said. Cersei squinted her eyes at him. ¡°I will not open the city or the keep to welcome that silver-haired whore and her castrated army.¡± ¡°She still has two dragons...¡± Jaime started to say. ¡°She lost one?¡± Cersei''s eyes flashed in pleasure. ¡°The white walkers killed one during the battle.¡± Jaime said. Cersei waved at Ser Gregor and he removed the blade from Jaime''s throat. ¡°I will spare your life for now.¡± She said, then glared at him as he stood. ¡°I will never forgive you for leaving me like that.¡± ¡°Neither will I.¡± Jaime said and touched his neck where the blade had touched. No blood came off on his fingers and he relaxed. Cersei waved at the chair across the table. ¡°Tell me everything that happened.¡± She said and nodded to Ser Gregor, who walked over to stand behind Jaime. ¡°I already know a lot of what happened, so if you lie to me, your head will be on the floor a moment later.¡± Jaime lifted his left hand in a clear sign of surrender. ¡°I can only tell you what I saw for myself, so whatever you have heard, it could be different or not have the same details.¡± Cersei glared at him for a moment, then nodded to Ser Gregor, who stepped back around to beside her. ¡°This is what I know.¡± Jaime said and started to speak. * It took another week for Daenerys'' army to arrive on the outskirts of King''s Landing and the scouts sent messages to her about what lay ahead of them. Thousands of field traps were scattered over several miles of countryside. Everything they had at Winterfell was there, only in a much bigger scale. Hundreds of trenches, fire pits, pit traps, spiked barriers, and earthen berms eight feet high to direct and break up the army of the dead. It would have been an impressive sight... if they had the weapons to deal with the dead. ¡°I suppose we must go with Tyrion''s idea.¡± Jorah Mormont said from beside her. Daenerys nodded at him and he waved his hand to give several commands. They had thousands of extra dragon glass weapons that they had gathered from the fallen troops. Without these weapons, no army would survive their first encounter with the dead, so she wanted to at lest give the defenders a chance. In a bit of inspiration, she asked someone to send a message to whoever was in charge of the defenses. She didn''t want her gesture of help to be seen as an attack, which was what she had to assume they must think of her encroaching army. The messenger returned with a message from the commander, and that commander told them to ''go fuck themselves''. Daenerys shook her head at the unnecessary vulgarity. ¡°Very well. Split us up and get everyone as hidden as possible and as far off to the sides as we can for a follow-up attack. We will continue to listen to The Hand''s advice and let the idiots here die in droves before we step in to save their worthless lives.¡± ¡°My Queen, we will have the fire arrows readied as well to light their trenches for them when they fall.¡± Jorah said. ¡°Unless you want to take on the task with Drogon.¡± Daenerys smiled. ¡°Shouldn''t you be advising me to restrain myself and to stay back to let the others fight in my stead?¡± ¡°My Queen, I would rather support you than admonish you.¡± Jorah said. ¡°It has been a while since we''ve flown together.¡± Daenerys mused. ¡°Just be careful. The scouts report large carts hidden in various spots.¡± Jorah reminded her. Daenerys nodded. She remembered the ambush that had been prepared for her when she attacked the Lannister caravan. ¡°I believe a bit of friendly fire might be in order.¡± Jorah said with a smile. ¡°If you happen to pass them by, My Queen.¡± ¡°I may do just that.¡± Daenerys said with a matching smile. Her army evenly split and moved off a fair distance to the sides and then started to work on concealing themselves from both the dead and the defending army. It wouldn''t do to have any of them know what was in store for them. The Clash Of Armies Part One It didn''t take long for the army of the dead to arrive at King''s Landing''s outskirts. They hit the field traps just as mindlessly as they had at Winterfell, filled them with bodies, and moved on. The army estimate that Jamie had told Cercei was a little off. It wasn''t a bit more than when they hit Winterfell. It was double. Over six million dead flowed over the traps and through the earthen berm dividers like a river. If the defenders hadn''t quadrupled the number of traps and the amount of land they used, they never would have had a chance, even with dragon glass. As it was, the army of the dead was whittled down the further it went across the traps. The local militia fought valiantly... and died needlessly. What seemed like random arrows flew from various places and destroyed the dead in droves, some lit the trenches of oil and burned thousands of the dead, both the army and the defenders, and the battle continued on and on. Minutes became hours, then a day... and another. The commander of the local defenders sincerely regretted not accepting the conquering army''s offer of free weapons that would deal with the dead. He sent out several scouts to try and beg for the now much needed weapons, and the scouts didn''t return. He started to grow desperate as the army of the dead appeared in sight of his position. ¡°Send... send everything! We have to stop them, no matter what!¡± He said and waved at the people around him. ¡°Use the scorpions as well.¡± ¡°Sir, those are for the...¡± ¡°DRAGONS!¡± Someone yelled and everyone turned to look. They stared as two massive dragons seemed to appear out of nowhere and then they unleashed a fiery hell upon the army of the dead. They strafed back and forth and decimated the dead by the thousands. ¡°Sir! Do we fire?¡± One of the men asked. The commander thought about it... seriously thought about it... then made a decision. ¡°No.¡± He said, to their surprise. ¡°Let them deal with the dead.¡± ¡°But, sir! Our orders...¡± ¡°I know what our orders are.¡± He said. ¡°When the danger seems to be passing, then we take the dragons down.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± ¡°Sir! The scouts have returned!¡± Someone said and ran over to him. ¡°They have carts filled with dragon glass weapons, sir!¡± ¡°Have them given to the men! Quickly! We don''t have much time before they overrun us!¡± The commander exclaimed and most of them left him alone to fill his orders. ¡°Perhaps it might be in time.¡± ¡°We can only hope so, sir.¡± The man beside him said. * ¡°I can hear the sounds of battle.¡± One of the thousands of Unsullied said from their hidden positions. ¡°Don''t worry, brother. We will soon join it and bring glory to our Queen.¡± The Unsullied beside him said. ¡°We only need to wait for the rear guard to hear from the scouts.¡± Suddenly there was a loud clamour and a short horn burst. ¡°ATTACK!¡± Someone yelled in their native language, and every single Unsullied that was concealed burst out from their hiding places, immediately formed ranks, then charged into the side of the army of the dead. In their eyes, it was a glorious battle to fight for their Queen. * The leader of the splinter army of the Unsullied gave the charge order, and every single fighting troop ran forward. The young Lord of the Vale saw them rush forward and ordered his men to follow and fight. The horsemen kept pace with the troops until within range, then they rode at their best speed to engage the enemy. ¡°This is it.¡± Tyrion said as nearly the entire army he was with ran towards the battle to end all battles. He looked at Jon on the horse next to him and waved towards the running troops. ¡°I believe you have a date to get to.¡±The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Jon gave him an odd look, shook his head, and kicked his horse into a trot and then a run. ¡°Was that wise?¡± Varys asked. ¡°To goad him into fighting, or to send him after the white walkers?¡± Tyrion asked. ¡°Yes.¡± Varys responded and Tyrion smiled. ¡°We both know his type. He was going no matter what I said.¡± Varys nodded and they watched as Jon caught up to the troops, passed them, then he joined with the Vale horsemen just as they hit the army of the dead from behind and slammed into the sparsely protected white walkers. * If the army of the dead could suffer from disarray, it would have. It was being attacked on all four sides by experienced troops and none of the dead knew where they should be fighting to be more effective. They were dead and were being controlled by the white walkers, who were also under attack and were unsure as to how to effectively defend themselves without their dead meat shields to protect them. There were only about twelve hundred of them and ten thousand horsemen with dragon glass covered weapons attacked them fiercely. Just as they started to recover from the charge of the horsemen, the ten thousand troops charged into them as well. As each white walker was slain, hundreds of the dead would lose their direction and become mindless automatons. Some would drop on the spot, some wandered around and were easily killed, and others who were already fighting kept fighting, except they didn''t care who it was they were fighting and turned on the other dead. The tide of dead started to slow down as it approached the local defender''s command area, thanks to the efforts of the dragons, and it seemed that the time was approaching for them to turn on the enemy of their enemy. Before the order could be given, the two dragons paused in their flaming assault of the dead army and took one long circular loop in the air and over the defenders. The dragons had done this every ten minutes or so, the commander assumed to rest their throats from fire breathing, then suddenly short bursts of fire shot out from both dragons and precisely struck each and every wagon that had a concealed scorpion in it. ¡°By the old gods!¡± Someone yelled as the wagons burst into flames and lit the large and mostly wooden weapons on fire as well. ¡°They are gutting us!¡± ¡°The old gods be damned.¡± The commander spat. ¡°They should have let the dragons stay extinct!¡± No sooner had the words left his mouth when there was an ear-splitting and ungodly roar from the middle of the army of the dead. The army didn''t part cleanly like it had before, since a few of the controllers were dead, and the dead dragon that used to be called Viserion opened its mouth and a large gout of blue mystical flame shot straight out and consumed the dead that hadn''t moved out of the way. It also destroyed a lot of the field traps right in front of the army of the dead. ¡°Viserion.¡± Daenerys whispered sadly as she circled Drogon around and saw what had become of her beloved child. It broke her heart as she saw it stumble over the pits and things in the fields, then it suddenly turned its head and looked right up at her. It''s bright blue glowing eyes glistened, then it let out a roar and a short spout of flame. Viserion flapped its wings once and wind gusted out from under them. ¡°No... don''t... don''t be healed.¡± Daenerys said and saw the dragon duck its head down and flap its wings again, then again and again. It earnestly tried its best to take off from a standing position and then it hopped up into the air and flapped its wings. ¡°No!¡± She yelled and turned Drogon towards it. ¡°Dracarys!¡± She said the command to spit dragonfire, and Drogon didn''t. ¡°Dracarys!¡± She said again. ¡°Drogon, please! Dracarys!¡± Viserion took to the air for the first time since he had been hurt at Winterfell. Even dead and infused with the Night King''s energy like it was, it still felt the need to be in the air. It was a dragon after all and its desire to rain hell upon the world was just as strong as it ever was. This time, instead of doing it against oppressors to save the downtrodden, it was upon all life that exists. It was fine with that and turned towards the defenders. ¡°We are so fucked.¡± Someone said near the commander of the defenders, and he didn''t even realize it was his own mouth that said it. In the next moment, his words proved true as the blue mystical flame incinerated him almost instantly. The tide of the battle started to turn then. The white walkers were still being decimated in the back, and yet, their destruction didn''t impact the dead army very much. The army continued forward and everyone fought bravely to try and stop them. Viserion did the same strafing move and decimated the local defenders and the remaining pit traps, which cleared the way for the army of the dead. Daenerys did her best to try and stop Viserion from doing that, while at the same time attacking the dead army. Both were proving fruitless and she didn''t understand why Drogon wouldn''t attack Viserion. Every time she tried to command him to use his dragon breath, he wouldn''t, even though she knew he was dominant to the smaller dragon. He had attacked him when alive to prove that dominance as well, so this turn of events stumped her. It wasn''t until one of her failed attacks at Viserion that she saw something that might have made the difference. Someone rode on Viserion''s back. That shouldn''t be possible. Daenerys thought in surprise. Only members of the Targaryen family can ride a dragon! Daenerys started to think that maybe after it had died that the restriction might have been lifted, when her mind snapped back to several months ago back in Winterfell and the battle she was currently in faded from her perception. She hadn''t clued in at the time, mainly because she was so besotted with her new love, that she had completely missed the fact that Jon had ridden Rhaegal several times. By the old gods and the new. Daenerys thought. My love... my Jon... is a Targaryen.