Chapter 3: Winter is coming.

Jon along with Tormund and some of the Free Folk warriors were waiting patiently under the cover of darkness graciously provided by the thick trees a few miles out from the Gift. Jon once again took a peek from behind the tree he was hiding and saw a few guards standing vigil at the outer walls of Last Hearth. The only reason he could see them clearly was because of the burning torch the guard was staying close to. It was a foolish mistake but in this heavy snow, it was understandable to be as warm as possible. Unfortunately, this would be the guard's last mistake.

Jon nodded to Tormund and the unofficial leader of the Free Folk took fifteen men with him and moved farther left from their current position. Jon concentrated and a few owls that he had warged into flew from the trees to settle inside the walls of Last Hearth. Unlike normal castles, Last Hearth has weak walls especially considering half the wall is made of wood rather than stone. After making sure the castle was under-guarded and most of the guards were asleep Jon decide to commence their work.

"Aim above their neck." Jon ordered two of his archers and they carefully took aim and let the arrows fly. The first arrow found its mark on one of the guard's throats. The other found another guard's eye and was killed instantly.

Tormund's men were not idle as two archers from their company stepped forward and fired their own arrows. Both found their mark on two men upon a watchtower. Jon signalled to pause and pull back as a group of five Umber men with two hounds came around the castle wall. If they find the dead men then a fight will break out which will take out Jon's advantage.

Without wasting any time he warged into the hounds and led the two archers with him further right, close to the position of the patrolling guards. As the guards came into Jon's immediate line of sight he made the hounds turn on their masters. The brief moment of surprise was enough for two arrows to find their marks. While the hounds tore off the flesh from the hands of two guards. Just as they let out a scream two arrows silenced them.

The last guard who tried to make a run for his life didn't get far as Ghost's jaw clamped on the guard's throat. In a shower of blood, the last guard fell and the night was silent once again. Jon once again observed the castle through the owls inside and noted that a few guards are stepping out of the castle probably because they heard some of the screams. It doesn't matter because they won't be able to do much in the next few minutes.

Jon nodded to the men and they carried over a long enough wooden pole that they managed to scourge off from the forest near Last Hearth. It was not much of a ladder but using a scythe they had managed to carve out some grooves. The makeshift ladder was carefully set on the ground and slowly the other end touched the top of the wall. One of the men tied a rope around his leg and started the climb using the rope to lock into the grooves. As the fellow made to the top he waited for Jon's instruction.

Jon was observing the Umber guards who had returned to their posts probably thinking that they imagined the scream. Jon gave the signal and the man climbed over the wall and ran straight to the watchtower and tied the rope he was carrying. He threw the other end of the rope down and one by one the Free Folk climbed over the wall as did Jon. If Jon was being pragmatic he really had to thank the Red Wedding for cutting down the bulk of the Northern army as House Umber has also suffered some significant losses.

That was the only reason why the men in the ancestral home of Umbers were this few in numbers. If the Red Wedding hadn't happened then Jon wouldn't be forced to do this as well which made his earlier point moot. One by one they silently climbed down the wall using ropes. Jon signalled them to pause and he sent the owls into the castle. The winged creatures glided through the open corridors without making much sound. Even still the flapping of the wings did wake some of the guards but they went back to sleep once they saw it was just some owl.

Jon gave the signal and once again their group split into two each following Jon and Tormund respectively. While Tormund took the Eastern corridor that led to the library and quarters for the Umber guards, Jon took one that led to the lord's quarters and the ravenry. Jon walked forward the men that followed him began to slice the throats of the guards one by one.

Soon the castle was filled with screams as the Free Folk cut a bloody swathe through the ancestral home of Umbers. While this happened Jon walked through the corridor feeling not a shred of guilt at the amount of blood he was spilling. Most of the men dying around him probably had no part in Smalljon Umber's treachery but dealing with these men was never about revenge or justice. It was a political statement and a warning to all those who stand against House Stark. But to truly make that statement strong a lot of death is needed, even if the majority of them were innocents.

It was a necessary act because that was the only way Jon could establish his power base and that's why Jon had no qualms stabbing an unarmed man straight through his abdomen. He didn't wait for the guy to properly gasp before he pushed him away from Longclaw and sliced the head clean off from a wounded soldier nearby.

"Spread out and kill anyone that remotely looks like a threat but don't burn anything or rape any woman. If you do be prepared to be short of a head and that will be the least of your worries." Jon ordered and continued to fight his way into the lord's quarters. Already they had secured the ravenry from the maester and with the old man knocked out no ravens will be sent from the castle.

Jon continued to advance and more and more Umber men were cut down. Finally, they reached the lord's quarters but found them to be empty. Jon immediately warged into the owls and he knew where his target was.

"Two of you follow me." Jon ordered and immediately rushed through a small pathway and jumped through a window closely followed by two of his men.

They landed on the open courtyard on the west side of the castle and Jon could see a few guards trying to open the gates. But his eyes locked on to a tall figure on a horse surrounded by two large bulky men. The two men that followed Jon into the courtyard were archers and they immediately dispatched the men trying to unlock the gate. The fully awakened castle was by now filled with screaming women and children as their men were being slaughtered without mercy.

"I suspect you are Mors Umber and Hother Umber along with Ned Umber. Surrender now or watch as your people suffer the consequences." Jon demanded and by that time the Free Folk had dispatched the Umber guards for good and only two of them were left who were protecting Ned Umber with Mors and Hother.

"You are Jon Snow aren't ya? Consorting with Wildlings! Your ancestors will be rolling in their graves boy and we Umbers will never surrender to Wildlings." Mors barked out in rage as he unsheathed his blade but Jon stayed the hand of his archers.

"Maybe but that's my decision and if you had problems with me you should have taken it out on me. Instead, you broke guest rights and handed over Rickon Stark to the Flayed Man. I believe your ancestors will be rolling in their graces too." Jon fired back

"House Stark is dead. You, Starks, have destroyed the North with your foolishness." Hother Umber screamed while glaring hatefully at the Free Folk warriors.

Jon had heard rumours that a daughter of Hother Umber was taken in a Wildling raid and the hate that he could see in the castellan of Last Hearth proves this to be true. But Jon didn't have the luxury to sympathise with his enemies so he decided to end the battle for Last Hearth for good.

"So long as I am breathing and my sisters are breathing House Stark is not dead. But House Umber, on the other hand, is going to die by my hands." Jon sneered, unsheathing Dark Sister from his back. Armed with two swords he moved forward while the Free Folk and much of the surviving inhabitants of Last Hearth watched on.

The two guards that were still standing beside the Umbers were the first to charge forward on their horses. Jon ducked from their swords while he stabbed Dark Sister through the back of one of the guards. The man screamed in pain and fell off his horse and after a century Dark Sister finally tasted blood once again.

The other guard screamed in rage and he began to hack and swipe wildly atop the horse. Jon easily parried a wide blow with Longclaw and that left the guard exposed which Jon used by stabbing the guard straight through his stomach. The guard fell from his horse slowly bleeding to death on the ground. Jon kicked away the sword so as not to get a surprise attack just in case the guards were bold enough to try for one. With the last two Umber guards dead Jon gave his undivided attention to the three Umbers.

"I would have thought both of you to join that traitor in Winterfell." Jon commented as he spun Dark Sister in his left hand and held it in a backhanded grip while he positioned Longclaw in his right ready to spill the blood of Umbers.

Mors and Hother number down from their horses and charged at Jon with their swords. Jon parried a swipe from Mors while ducking another from Hother and positioned himself right at the middle of the two brothers.

From there, Jon twirled his sword expertly in fluid motions keeping the Umber brothers at bay with the speed of his attacks. The Valyrian Steel blades sang as they cut through air expertly blocking and parrying the blows from the Umbers. Jon blocked a jab from Mors and he quickly knelt and spun on his knee. Longclaw flashed and in a shower of blood Hother was cut down at his knees as his right leg was clearly separated.

Mors wailed as his brother fell and increased his power to his swings in his rage. Jon slowly moved back blocking each blow with Dark Sister and quickly he turned tables by stepping in closer and plunged Dark Sister straight through Mors's neck while he used Longclaw to block the strike from the elderly Umber. The switching of defence by Jon had taken Mors completely by surprise and the large burly man fell on his knees. Jon kicked Mors on his chest and the man fell on his back staring vacantly into the night sky.

Jon slowly turned to see Hother sobbing at the death of his brother but the giant of a man climbed to his single knee staring defiantly at Jon.

"You and your wildlings will die you bastar—" Hother didn't get to complete his sentence as Jon cut his head off with Longclaw in a single swipe. The headless corpse fell in slow motion and when it fell Last Hearth remained eerily silent except for Ned Umber who was sobbing upon his horse at the fate of his family.

"Well met Lord Umber. I am sure you will find me quite likeable and so will your brother soon enough." Jon smirked and the Free Folk took the boy down from his horse and bound him in ropes.

"The chained man you spoke of, Jon." Tormund pushed the old Maester forward and Jon noted that outside of a few scratches on his cheek the maester was unharmed.

"What is your name Maester?" Jon asked as he cleaned the blood on his blades using the cloak of Mors Umber.

"Vormer, my lord. What will you do with Ned? He is just a boy! Please don't harm him for his brother's mistake. I pleaded with Lord Umber to not break guest rights but he was blinded by his rage and loss." the old Maester explained as he cast concerned glances at the young Umber lord.

"Ned Umber will be unharmed so long as Rickon Stark remains unharmed. Now, I have some questions for you Maester and I implore you to answer truthfully. Can you do that?" Jon asked and at the reluctant nod of the old Maester, he ploughed on.

"How many Umber men have joined with the Boltons?" Jon asked

"200 men, my lord."

"There were at least fifty men in the castle. Were they supposed to stay here or were they intending to join the Boltons in Winterfell?" Jon asked and he could see the Maester was reluctant to divulge that piece of information.

"I would like to remind you that your vows are bound to this castle and like it or not this castle has fallen to me. That means I am the acting lord of Last Hearth. Answer me truthfully Maester Vormer." Jon snapped running low of the little patience he had left.

"The men were supposed to join a host of Karstark men and march on Winterfell to join forces with Lord Bolton." Maester Vormer said quickly which made Jon a little suspicious.

"Why would Umbers and Karstarks delay their march and do it separately?" Why the delay and why didn't everyone march to Winterfell right away?" Jon asked curiously

"The bulk of the Karstark and Umber men have already marched out my lord. But weapons and food are needed to be escorted to Winterfell. The storms delayed the caravan and that's why the delayed march." Maester Vormer answered truthfully

Jon's eyes lit up in understanding and he silently began to think. He had only come here with thirty men and in hindsight, it was not a good idea. If he had known this information he would have brought more men. They would not have been able to strike as quickly as they did but still to think that he could have dealt with both the Umbers and Karstarks. It was a missed opportunity but he was not that much disappointed.

'Hmm, if only I had more time. Time!'

"When will the Karstarks be here Maester?" asked Jon hoping that he was blessed with a sudden stroke of luck.

"By next week, my lord. It was hoped that the caravan could reach the Lonely Hills within two weeks and continue the journey before more snow set in." Maester Vormer explained and that put Jon at ease because he still had time to call for reinforcements.

"So who would like to ride back to the Gift and lead forty men here before first light?" Jon asked and he was exasperated to note that the men were looking at each other clearly not looking forward to riding back to the Gift on this cold night.

"Fine, you have to only travel on the first light." Jon conceded and he won him a volunteer. Now, all that was left to do was to plan the ambush for the Karstark forces.

For the rest of the night, Jon stayed awake just in case but his vigilance was for nought because the night passed without any incident. When first light shined on Last Hearth he sent a rider to the Gift asking for that reinforcement all the while he prepared the trap for the Karstark men.

As a first step, he made all the Free Folk men shed their clothing in favour of some leather and iron armour from the dead Umber guards. All the bronze weapons of the Free Folk were replaced by steel swords, steel-tipped spears/arrows, maces and axes. Then the dead Umber men were replaced by the Free Folk disguised as Umber men. Then they began the long wait. The reinforcements that Jon requested arrived a little early than he predicted as the Free Folk were a hardy bunch and he equipped them as quickly as he could and described his plan in detail.

*****

Merret had served the Karstarks for as long as he could remember. When the children of Lord Rickard were murdered by the Kingslayer he was there demanding justice from the Young Wolf. Fat load of good that did and the Kingslayer was set free by the Stark boy's own mother.

As if that was not enough the upstart had the gall to cut off the head of Lord Rickard for killing a few Lannisters. He didn't understand what the 'king' was supposedly thinking, after all, the North had assembled to kill the Lannisters in the first place. What does it matter if the Lannisters were killed in captivity or battle? The Lannisters had no qualms in killing several of good Northmen in captivity.

It was by that point that Merret, as well as many Karstark men, saw no reason to stick around under the thumb of the foolish boy. So, right after Lord Rickard's execution, he had marched the entire Karstark army back to Karhold. A few weeks later he let out a sigh of relief when he learned about the Red Wedding.

On one hand, the Stark boy was dead and that meant the Karstarks will be free from any retribution from the Starks. But the Boltons now controlled the North at least in name and Lord Harald became the Lord of Karhold. Lord Harald had great plans and it involved destroying the Boltons and taking the North from the Flayed Men.

The Karstarks are descended from the Starks and in the absence of a male Stark Winterfell should go to Lord Harald. With Roose Bolton dead his lord's ambitions were about to be fulfilled. When the Bolton forces fight with the Starks one will be wiped out while the other will be weakened. That will be the time Lord Harald will deliver the final blow and take the North from the fool of a bastard. In the end, the Karstarks will rule the North.

All of that will come to pass but first, he had to lead the caravan to Winterfell and the Umbers will soon join them on their long march to Winterfell. Merret saw a scout riding hard towards him and realised it was one of his own.

"The gates are open captain. The Umbers are ready." the scout reported

"Of course they are. To me men! Last Hearth awaits." Merret ordered and he led his men straight to the ancestral seat of Umbers.

As he rode into the castle he noted that the castle was thick with tension. He could feel it in the air and his instincts were flaring up. Before he could act on it the men that were stationed on the walls of the castle began to rain down arrows at his men spreading chaos and death.

"To me men. To me." Merret tried to rally the men but his forces became further disorganized when a large group of men attacked from their rear boxing them into the gates trapping his company. He couldn't call for a retreat which left him the only option to fight out of this trap. He cursed as he saw enemies rushing towards the castle and began cutting down his men.

He took the head of a man that dared to charge him and resigned himself to fight to the death. He dismounted from his horse and stabbed a man through his abdomen and was rewarded with a strike to his nose by the dying man. The blow disoriented him and he was about to slash open the back of another soldier but a sword blocked his attack. Even with his blurry vision, he could make out the ripple patterns on the sword and the wolf pommel. All around him he could make out his men falling in droves screaming as they died one after the other.

"Jon Snow!" that was his last words as he felt a flash of pain in his neck and he knew no more.

When Merret regained his consciousness he was very much confused. He looked around in wonder as he was once again riding his own horse! Where was the battle? What happened in Last Hearth? Where the hell was he? He was surrounded by men who were holding the banners of the white sun but he knew none of them. Then one of them rode alongside him on a horse and he felt a flash of recognition.

"Glad to see you back among the living. Your name is Merret right? I was planning on slaughtering you all but I have a better idea, my dear friend. You are going to help me take Karhold." said Jon Snow

"I will die rather than sell out House Karstark you bastard." Merret snarled and his hand went for his sword but found none at his hip.

"You are loyal to the Karstarks. I respect that but unfortunately for you, I don't need your permission. I have not tried this yet but if it is painful for you then know that it is completely unintentional." said Jon Snow with an apologetic tone

"What are you talking about…?" Merret trailed off as he flinched in fear when the dark grey eyes of Jon Snow turn pearl white and once again he knew no more.

But unlike the first time, he was horrified to note that he was not unconscious but rather trapped in his own mind. He was not allowed to move, make a sound or even think! He watched on with growing horror as the guards of Karhold opened the gates and unknowingly let the Stark army in all on his own orders. He was powerless to stop it and watched as the Starks wreaked havoc inside Karhold.

The keep had never fallen from outside attacks in thousands of years and yet on his watch, it has fallen. He wanted to cry but he was denied even that by this sorcery of Jon Snow. When all was said and done he watched on helplessly as the ancestral home of Karstarks being overrun by its enemies. He followed Jon Snow into the quarters of young Alys and he prayed to the Old Gods that she had escaped somehow but it was not to be.

"Lady Karstark, it is an honour to meet you in person. I am Jon Snow and we have a lot to talk about regarding your father."

Merret heard the bastard say and he couldn't help but wish the smug bastard dead for ruining everything.

******

Jon observed the brave face Alys Karstark was projecting and sighed internally. He knew the Karstarks were wronged terribly by Robb and frankly, he doubted that the bad blood Robb started will ever go away. Lord Karstark lost two sons to Jaime Lannister and Robb cut his head off for killing two Lannister boys.

While the murder of the Lannister boys was wrong Robb could have at least punished the man by sending him over to Karhold instead of taking his head. The Karstarks were kin and when Robb took Lord Karstark's head he became a kinslayer. The Starks have married into this house for many generations and many Karstark women have married into Winterfell as well. Now, it fell to Jon to clean up the bad blood between the two houses and it was not helped when he had to war with the Karstarks.

"I do apologize for what happened with your grandfather and brothers. Robb should have never done what he did and if I was there I would have stopped him at any cost." started Jon but he was greeted with an unimpressed stare from Alys Karstark.

"Is that why you are here Jon Snow. You broke your oaths to the Night's Watch and invaded the North with a Wildling army behind your back. You killed so many of my people because we decided to stand against these wildlings. I doubt you are here to apologize if so a raven would have sufficed." Alys scoffed and stared coldly into his eyes.

"The Maester of Castle Black is dead and that means ravens are hard to come by these days." Jon joked but he could see that was having no effect on her. She was a Stark alright, he admitted in the confines of his mind.

"I didn't break the oaths to the Night's Watch and I had a reason to let the Free Folk settle south of the Wall." said Jon and all he got was a raised eyebrow.

"What do you want me to say? At least have the decency to construct well-formed lies. I am not stupid you know." Alys sneered

"You won't believe me unless I show you." Jon sighed and began to loosen his boiled leather armour and the black tunic underneath. He noted the apprehensive look she was giving him and he realised he should have explained himself first but he ploughed on. With some effort, he took off the armour and his upper body was free to the naked eye. He watched curiously as Alys Karstark's eyes widen comically. It was the first reaction he managed to glean from her and he enjoyed it immensely.

"As you can see I was stabbed several times in the heart and yet I am still alive. The truth is I died and a red priestess resurrected me. So technically I died in service of the Night's Watch and my watch ended with my death. The new Lord Commander is Eddison Tollett and he as well as the rest of my former brothers agreed my watch has ended." Jon could see that his words were having the desired effect as Alys looked on at his scars in wonder and a healthy dose of curiosity.

"I was offered to be legitimized by King Stannis and he offered me Winterfell long before I became Lord Commander of Night's Watch. If I really wanted to abandon my watch then I would have done so and I would be sitting in Winterfell with Roose Bolton and his mad son's head on a spike. As for why I let the Wildlings past the Wall. Let's just say the Cold Winds are rising and the dead rises with it." said Jon to the disbelieving looks from Alys

"You are mad. The White Walkers are fairy tales told for scaring children." Alys scoffed

"Are they my lady? The Long Night is coming and the Others are marching on the Wall. I fought them at Hardhome and if you ask any brother of the Night's Watch all of them will tell you the same. The Others killed thousands of Free Folk at Hardhome and now they match with them to the Wall, a hundred thousand strong perhaps more. The North needs to be united as does all the Seven Kingdoms. Do you think Ramsay Snow can unite the North? He is a fool who enjoys torture and rape as a sport. A mad dog that needs to be put down and I will." Jon took a deep breath as he stood up from his seat and stared out of the window into the night sky. He could see the snow falling and even with his upper torso exposed he was not feeling that much cold. It was strange but he had the feeling that it was because Rhaegal was closing the gap steadily. That was the only reason he could come up with so far.

"He raped my sister and he has my brother. I will attack Winterfell and I will take it by force. Anyone that stands against me I will kill without a shred of mercy. House Umber has already fallen to me and I have put Mors and Hother Umber's heads on spikes. Even if I sympathize with the grievances House Karstark has against House Stark I will kill your brother and wipe his house out if I have to. For what Ramsay did to my sister there will be a reckoning and anyone that stands with him will be wiped out root and stem." Jon stated coldly startling Alys who was now looking at him with a healthy dose of fear.

"What do you want me to do?" Alys asked as the silence just continued to drag on.

"I want you to write to your brother and ask him to abandon his post in Winterfell. Ask him to march his army back from Winterfell or be prepared to face extermination. He will not have to join me. He can return to his castle and stay there for the duration of this war. When the time comes your House will be compensated in any way your lord brother wishes so long as it is reasonable. Convey this to your brother lady Alys and this will be the only chance that I will extend. I will give him one week to remove his armies from Winterfell but if I see him in the field remind him what happened to houses that rebelled with Boltons in the past. Tell him 'Winter is Coming'." said Jon and he took his leave leaving Alys in her room with a quill and a piece of parchment. Just before he closed the door of the room he paused.

"Do find me when you are finished and make sure you are dressed to ward off the cold. We will be travelling to the Wall soon enough." said Jon and with that parting shot, he closed the door leaving Alys to her thoughts.

It didn't take long for Alys to come to a decision and she started to pen a letter to her father. As she penned the letter Jon saw to it that the white sun of Karstarks was taken down and replaced them with Direwolf banners that Sansa had hastily sewed for him before he departed. He saved one for Last Hearth as he had forgotten to place one in the previously conquered castle.

There was still some work to be done as he will have to transport the caravans to the Wall. The supplies of food, medicine and weapons that the Karstarks and Umbers have graciously provided had to be put to good use. As they say, there is no rest for the wicked and it was a long way back to the Wall.