Chapter 20

I rode through the snow on my horse, my senses on high alert for any danger. I had travelled for a few days before I got a sense of foreboding.

'Thank fuck I trained my survival and hunting skills.'

No matter how much one liked the wild, there was something spooky about the trees and the wild beyond the wall. It could have been my knowledge of the dead or their presence affecting my surroundings, but, I knew that there was something very wrong about the place.

I was close to the Whitetree settlement. The wildlings living there had somewhat neutral relations with the Watch.

'I could try and ask them about the situation here.'

Although, I had to be careful. 'Perhaps, my coat and arms would make them not to attack me.'

It was a haunting feeling and interestingly, I wasn't the only one to feel that way. It was called 'The Haunted Forest' for a reason.

As I had expected, animal voices began exchanging messages amongst one another. I stopped and said loudly, "I'm a Stark man from south of the wall. I was sent here to talk."

"And what does the Stark man wan'ta talk 'bout?"

"How about I talk with the leader of your tribe? I'm a lone man here. No rangers from the Watch have accompanied me."

A moment of silence...

"And what stops me from killin' ye right 'ere and take all yer stuff?"

"Nothing, truely. I've come in good faith."

A few men then climbed down the trees and one of them walked forward. He said, "Follow us."

I was led through the snow to the Whitetree, perhaps the biggest Weirwood tree alive in the landmass of Westeros. It was quite a dreary looking tree and as we got closer, scores of wildlings trickled out of their homes.

The man who had talked to me earlier walked to an older looking man and whispered something to him. The older man scrutinized me with his narrowed eyes and said, "What does a kneeler want from us?"

I dismounted from my horse and said, "Just something about the movements beyond the wall that has concerned Lord Stark."

"Follow me."

The spearwives and the men made a narrow path for me to follow the Whitetree leader. I was careful not to provoke them. I didn't want to be involved in a mass murder.

I sat around a fire along with the leader and his men and said, "I'm here to learn why so many of the wildlings have begun to raid villages south of the wall. It used to happen before, but, the incidence has increased... By a large margin. Is something happening here that we should know?"

The man leaned on his knees and said, "A straightforward man, aren't ye?"

"I have no reason to talk in riddles. I'm here for a task given to me by lord Stark I want to fulfill it."

He sneered and said, "'Lord' Stark. Ye fuckin' kneelers and yer lands and yer titles. *Spit* What happens in the true North doesn't concern the kneeler Stark. We are free folk and he doesn't rule over us!"

"It does concern him when 'free folk' invade our lands and kill, abduct and rape our men, women and children!"

He leaned away into the back of his chair as a few flagons of ale were brought for us to drink. The leader pointed to the ale and said, "Drink. Know what freedom tastes like."

'Reminds me of those American memes where Americans have an orgasm when they hear the word.'

I decided to inspect the ale.

[Free folk ale

Made from goat milk, it is a crude moonshine that has 65% alcohol. The only thing that adds to its sweetness is the lactose from the milk. The ale has a very strong bite]

'It's not poisoned.'

I steeled my nerves and picked the flagon up. I took a sip and barely stopped myself from spitting it out. Perhaps, they could see it on my face as they began laughing uproariously.

"That's a man's drink! Not like yer sweetened wine and the piss that your southerners drink!"

I coughed a bit and said, "It's strong."

"Hahaha!! Ye need a strong ale to survive in the cold!"

I knew it was wrong. Alcohol, instead, was very bad for sleeping or escaping the cold. It disturbed REM sleep, increased heart rate, gave dehydration and made the body lose heat by flushing the skin. A person would only feel they are warm, while they are losing all the heat to the surroundings.

I didn't disagree with them and just drank the ale.

Perhaps that was enough to make them cordial with me because the leader had begun talking. He said, "Free folk are disappearin'. Mostly in the lands of always winter. I don't know why, but, it is bad. Word is, the cold gods are back and they are wantin' ta' kill all the livin'."

"And, you believe that this is the reason why free folk are raiding more?"

"Aye. Tribes are fightin' more for land. The Thenns have been raidin' other tribes and killin' and eatin'. The tribes from the frozen shore and the ice river clans are warrin' a lot and we get a lot of desserters who want to run south. Their faces are haunted, like they saw somethin' dreadful. They'd rather die climbin' the wall than face whatever they ran from. And that tells me somethin' dark is happenin' in the land of always winter."

It wasn't a pleasant talk for obvious reasons. We talked some more of the warring clans and I left the Whitetree settlement to travel further north.

(ACJTF)

After some more days of travel, far away through the haze of the snow and mist in the air, I could see a settlement made of wood. For a moment, I thought it was another wildling settlement.

Then I remembered...

'Craster's Keep.'

The house of horrors of Craster and its victims which later became the house of horrors for Night's Watch desserters and the said victims.

'I wonder... has he started supplying the Night king with Walkers?'

As my horse trudged closer, I could hear the screams of the women being raped and tortured by Craster.

'Given the year, Craster must be in its twenties or early thirties.'

I was in no danger. I confidently rode my horse towards the keep, making no attempt of trying to be discreet.

As expected, the screams stopped and out came Craster with its axe.

"Who the fuck are ye?! Get the fuck away from me place or I'll fuckin' gut ye like a fuckin' whore!!"

I said nothing. I simply dismounted my horse and walked towards it.

"Can't ye hear me, ye spastic mongrel, ye?! Are ye fuckin' dea.."

As he entered my range, I quickly unsheathed my Kriegsmesser and in one swift motion, beheaded the animal where it stood. Its head flew as blood splattered all over the snow and painted it red.

The animal was dead and I refused to acknowledge it as human. From my inventory, I took out a blazing torch and lit the animal's carcass to flames.

All of its victims had come out of the keep to see the cause of the sudden silence. Seeing me light Craster up, they fell on their knees and began crying.

Looking at them, I said, "You're free. The Shadow tower to the west is unmanned. Go there and wait for the doors to open for you. After that, you can settle down anywhere south of the wall."

I walked away and mounted my horse. Without sparing them a glance, I rode North towards the Fist of the First Men as Craster's carcass burned their burdens away, forever.