“Years ago, King Robert fought alongside the North and was generous during his reign. Loyalty to him made perfect sense. But think about it, my lord—what has Stannis ever done for the North? No marriages, no meaningful aid, nothing of worth to your people. He’s dragged you from one battlefield to the next, leaving the North vulnerable even to the Ironborn. When the Wall faced the threat of the Others, he couldn’t spare a drop of aid. Why stake your lands, your family, and your lives f...
2025-01-29 16:46:50 +0000 UTC
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“Yes, there’s only one person in the world with dragons. Everyone knows that!” Rickard Karstark was momentarily stunned by Aegor’s bold and direct admission, his confusion lingering for several seconds before he regained his composure. “Then tell me, how did a Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch end up conspiring with the Mad King’s spawn?”
“The Dragon Queen traveled all the way from the battlefields of King’s Landing to the Gift’s frontlines, personally riding he...
2025-01-29 16:46:29 +0000 UTC
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Seeing the wary anger on Lord Karstark’s face, Aegor felt his stomach drop.
Everyone has their own plans. While he was strategizing over a game of thrones involving the Seven Kingdoms and the Iron Throne, others naturally had schemes of their own, fitting their station and ambitions. Unfortunately, his lack of familiarity with Northern history and the unspoken rules between its lords had backfired—his efforts to persuade Rickard Karstark had been misinterpreted. Instead of seeing r...
2025-01-29 16:46:08 +0000 UTC
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The snow had passed, and the sky was clear.
Soft hues of pale blue and light purple streaked across the eastern horizon as dawn broke—a rare and long-forgotten sunrise over the Gift and the Wall. The morning reveille echoed alongside the smoke rising from breakfast fires, painting the horizon in vibrant colors.
The soldiers who had fought in the bloody Battle of Long Lake couldn’t see the sunrise immediately, their view blocked by the Wolfswood and the Lonely Mountain. Inste...
2025-01-29 16:45:47 +0000 UTC
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The snow had passed, and the sky was clear.
Soft hues of pale blue and light purple streaked across the eastern horizon as dawn broke—a rare and long-forgotten sunrise over the Gift and the Wall. The morning reveille echoed alongside the smoke rising from breakfast fires, painting the horizon in vibrant colors.
The soldiers who had fought in the bloody Battle of Long Lake couldn’t see the sunrise immediately, their view blocked by the Wolfswood and the Lonely Mountain. Inste...
2025-01-29 16:45:26 +0000 UTC
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“Lady Stark remains safe at Castle Nightfort, untouched by the enemy, and Arya is unharmed in Queenscrown. Once I return to the Gift, I will urge them to come home as soon as possible,” Aegor said without hesitation. “As for your brother Bran, he is now a sworn brother of the Night’s Watch. Though he has marched south with the army to this point, the war is not yet over. For now, I cannot release him to return home. I hope you’ll understand, Lord Stark.”
Swearing allegiance...
2025-01-29 16:45:05 +0000 UTC
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"First, see to the wounded and burn the bodies. Those are the priorities. Set up camp where we stand, and leave the less urgent tasks for daylight. Though we’ve won, guards must still be posted for the night. Assign only the most reliable men to watch over the queen—there can be no accidents, whether from others or… herself."
Warner Buckwell nodded solemnly. "I will oversee it personally. Rest assured."
The Night’s Watch and the Gift’s forces were a motley assembly. Un...
2025-01-29 16:44:44 +0000 UTC
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Aegor didn’t send the champion of the archery competition or the two high-ranking Red Priests to deal with the wight dragon because he had an equally critical mission: ensuring the queen’s safety.
The famed marksman Angai, known as the “Sharpshooter,” lived up to his reputation. From dozens of meters away, outside Drogon’s accidental damage range and with only flickering firelight to guide him, he effortlessly shot down the wights crawling up Drogon’s back to threaten Daene...
2025-01-29 16:44:24 +0000 UTC
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“Damn it, missed!” Theon Greyjoy cursed, yanking another dragonglass-tipped Lightbringer arrow from his quiver and nocking it onto his bowstring. “How the hell is it agile enough to dodge an arrow in the dark? How are we supposed to deal with this thing?”
(Can’t stop bragging, can you?) Ygritte rolled her eyes, a derisive sneer flashing across her face. If it weren’t for Theon being Jon Snow’s foster brother and actually somewhat skilled, she would’ve long since mocked ...
2025-01-29 16:44:03 +0000 UTC
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Dragons are not truly intelligent beings, but they possess brains and the capacity for thought. Even after being injured by the Others’ combined assault and unable to maintain their altitude, they were far from foolish enough to crash into the horde of wights below. As Rhaegal glided downward, instinctively, it veered toward Daenerys atop Drogon. In the end, the two dragons landed not far from one another, crashing onto the northern edge of the wight army’s ranks. With a heavy thud, their...
2025-01-29 16:43:43 +0000 UTC
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The black dragon Dany rode began its fiery breath as it descended to a height of twenty or thirty meters. Below, the wall of flame lit by the Northern army outside their defenses, though not strong enough to fully repel the wights' assault, served as the perfect beacon for Daenerys to distinguish friend from foe and execute her dives with precision. The dragon's massive column of flame didn’t just target a single point—it carved across the wight horde like a divine plow, slicing the tide ...
2025-01-29 16:43:21 +0000 UTC
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Under the starless, moonless sky, the Northern army's temporary camp blazed with light, its torches and lanterns illuminating soldiers scurrying about, their shadows dancing across the snow-covered ground.
Scouting cavalry riding light and strange ravens delivering precise messages to Robb Stark’s hand brought identical intelligence: before nightfall, the wight army had been spotted ten miles north of their hastily erected defenses along the Kingsroad. At their current pace, the enem...
2025-01-29 16:43:01 +0000 UTC
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Dragons soared on the edge of the horizon, their massive silhouettes cutting through the darkened sky.
Their sheer size and the waves of intense magical energy radiating from them made them as conspicuous as beacons in the night. Even as the darkness deepened, their forms remained vividly clear, hovering just out of reach, refusing to cross that final gap into striking distance.
The Chief Priest of the Cold God tracked the movements of the three dragons with unyielding focus, gn...
2025-01-29 16:42:40 +0000 UTC
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The wights were capable of deceit and conspiracy?
Daenerys arched an elegant brow, finding Aegor’s suspicion a little overcautious. However, it was clear this was his army, his war, and she had only been his queen for two days. She hadn’t yet contributed to their agreement, and if she rushed ahead with her dragons to claim all the credit for defeating the Others, it might indeed be inappropriate.
With this thought, she shrugged and didn’t object. “What makes you think so...
2025-01-29 16:42:17 +0000 UTC
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Worship of strength and the presence of double standards are deeply ingrained in human nature.
When people face opponents of similar strength, they often feel indignant and humiliated when forced to yield. But when utterly crushed by overwhelming power, the conquered may instead feel a strange sense of reverence, submitting wholeheartedly without resistance—sometimes even taking pride in their subjugation.
When the Night’s Watch first forced the Free Folk into submission, th...
2025-01-29 16:41:56 +0000 UTC
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The Wall still stood, making this southward campaign of the Others a desperate, almost hopeless gamble cloaked in the illusion of opportunity.
In the shadows several hundred meters away, the new Chief Priest of the Great Cold God stood, observing the captured castle and the seemingly endless wight army pouring into it. The screams of the living echoed through the air—their cries for mercy and final shrieks of agony. Yet, the priest’s mood was heavy.
He had inherited nearly h...
2025-01-29 16:40:24 +0000 UTC
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The inner keep and outer city of Crown’s Rest combined were no more than one-fortieth the size of King’s Landing. From the air, the entirety of the town lay in clear view beneath Daenerys as she approached on Drogon. Even from afar, she could see smoke rising from the city—a shade darker and the settlement seemingly larger than it had been two days prior.
As she drew closer, the changes became starkly apparent.
The once orderly rows of snow-capped rooftops had been reduced...
2025-01-29 12:57:22 +0000 UTC
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The miracle of the two dragonsteel bombs turned the Battle of Crown’s Rest into a relatively short-lived engagement. Supplies of wildfire, dragonglass, and standard explosives were still sufficient for another one or two medium-intensity battles, but the dwindling stock of Lightbringers and the number of combat-ready soldiers required immediate attention.
Recovering the dragonsteel shards scattered across the snowy battlefield and the remnants of the wights was a futile endeavor. How...
2025-01-29 12:57:02 +0000 UTC
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In the thick, swirling snowfall, two fiery flashes lit up the darkness a thousand feet away. A second later, the sound of explosions echoed back to the defenders on the wall. As if scythed down like wheat, the wight horde surging toward the fireline collapsed en masse, not a single one making it to the walls for an attack.
For a brief, fleeting moment, amidst the tsunami of cheering, Aegor allowed himself to believe—like the exhausted soldiers around him—that this horrific, unprece...
2025-01-29 12:56:43 +0000 UTC
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Thanks to the glowing Lightbringer lodged in the shoulder blade of a wight, the Night King, with his exceptional night vision, spotted the two airborne dragonsteel bombs clearly. He sneered, unconcerned. With a slight expenditure of magic, he reinforced the ice armor that encased his body and dismissed the threat. Instead, he continued orchestrating the wight army’s assault, directing them to cross the fiery barricades. Simultaneously, he attempted to coordinate with the eight—no, now sev...
2025-01-29 12:56:22 +0000 UTC
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The Others could never have guessed that the fire-based magic within the fallen defenders’ bodies—rendering them immune to reanimation—was neither a miracle of R’hllor nor the work of a greenseer. It was the result of an impromptu, desperate measure, conceived and implemented by Crown’s Rest on the very day of the battle, with no certainty of its effectiveness.
After receiving reports from the frontlines in the early hours, the command center convened to revise and expand the...
2025-01-29 12:56:01 +0000 UTC
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“The wights have breached the outer walls in the east, south, and north. The fighting has already spread from the walls into the residential areas.” As the champions of Crown’s Rest’s archery tournament, master archers Anguy and Theon Greyjoy had naturally been assigned to Aegor’s side, entrusted with the critical task of taking down the Night King. However, with no sign of their target, their much-anticipated heroism was reduced to nothing more than ornamental frustration.
...
2025-01-29 12:55:42 +0000 UTC
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A raven from Stone Door Keep brought the latest news: the army of wights did not attack the fortress but instead bypassed it entirely.
Initially, everyone, Aegor included, assumed that the enemy had decided to forgo this last stronghold and march directly on Castle Black. However, unlike their previous tactics beyond the Wall, the Others did not use any magical means to harm the warg-bound birds or prevent observation. Daybreak saw the start of large-scale aerial reconnaissance, and by...
2025-01-29 12:55:22 +0000 UTC
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The first harrowing night of the great battle had ended. Yet for most of Westeros, far removed from the fires and distant from the sounds of horns and explosions north of the Wall, it was just another ordinary winter morning. Thick clouds obscured the sunrise, and the eastern horizon merely brightened faintly over time. Without the crowing of roosters, many might not have realized a new day had begun.
Winterfell, silent for hours during the night, slowly came to life. Maester Luwin dre...
2025-01-29 12:55:02 +0000 UTC
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The Night King chose the Gorge as the primary point of attack not only because he needed sufficient forces to destroy the remnants of the weirwood forests on either side, opening a breach for the Frost God’s magic to permeate, but also because of its proximity to Castle Black, the midpoint of the Wall between the eastern and western coasts.
A surprise attack from the Gorge toward Castle Black required passing through only eight fortresses along the way. Of these, only half—Gorge Wa...
2025-01-29 12:54:43 +0000 UTC
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The situation had shifted so rapidly, it completely exceeded Aegor's expectations.
After whispering a few carefully chosen words to Daenerys, ensuring she would reject any overtures of allegiance from the Reach, and respectfully seeing her off as she took to the skies on her dragon, Aegor expected another quiet and uneventful day in the Gift. Yet no sooner had he returned from the "dragon landing field" to the inner keep of Crown Town than Melisandre came hurrying toward him, her steps...
2025-01-29 12:54:24 +0000 UTC
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Perception is mutual.
When White Walkers expend magic, human sorcerers can sense the ripples of energy to pinpoint their location. It’s a fair exchange—just as Makiro’s continuous spellcasting during his approach had revealed his presence, the Frost God’s priests had likewise detected him.
(A squad of humans is crossing the battlefield toward us, including a powerful sorcerer.)
The two Frost God priests—more accurately, the "Eastern Commanders of the Undead Army...
2025-01-29 12:54:05 +0000 UTC
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The Shadow Tower exploded.
Literally exploded.
The fiery blast was visible for miles, and the shockwave rippled along the icy expanse of the Wall, triggering minor avalanches that sent dozens of tons of loose ice crashing down its sides. The explosion obliterated the first two levels of the Wall’s stairway at the Shadow Tower—roughly ten meters of structure. The third-level platform, stacked with lamp oil, had also ignited and was engulfed in flames, threatening to collapse ...
2025-01-29 12:53:45 +0000 UTC
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Within the walls of the Shadow Tower, flames erupted everywhere. The final stage of the defense plan, at least the part made public to everyone, had begun: street fighting and retreat.
With the rhythmic toll of the bells signaling the fall of the gates, the defenders on the walls began to withdraw in an orderly fashion, retreating into the keep. They lit the pre-prepared barricades and abandoned structures, using the fires and their intimate knowledge of the terrain to conduct a fighti...
2025-01-29 12:53:25 +0000 UTC
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During a siege among the living, if an attacking force found its offensive unable to achieve a swift victory, they would typically retreat to avoid unnecessary losses. They would regroup, re-evaluate their strategy, and coordinate their units more effectively before launching another assault.
The army of the dead, however, followed no such logic.
Even though the defenders of the Shadow Tower had unleashed weapons specifically designed to counter them, the tide of wights did not ...
2025-01-29 12:53:06 +0000 UTC
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