40 part 1

Chapter 40 – War for the Dawn Part 4

White Knife, the North…

On the banks of the river White Knife, the army of the dead clashed with the army of the living. Explosions of green fire lit up the field along with blasts of normal coloured flames that consumed entire columns of wights in seconds while in other places men wielded flaming torches instead of swords to set the wights that had broken through their lines ablaze. Carts with flame throwers on the back ran along the front line throwing bombs and firing flamethrowers at clusters of wights where they could, some men were getting caught in the crossfire but where they could take a chance the carts attacked.

On the battlefield with their men were most of the newly created Brotherhood for the Dawn, their special weapons in hand cutting down wights left and right while above, four dragons fought against an enormous ice dragon.

Jon on the back of Sunfyre worked with Daenerys and Daeron to do a joint strafing run on the ice dragon which howled in agony as more of its beautiful blue ice scales were burnt but the onslaught was unending as Shaena and her two dragons then did their own strafing run. It was almost a shame Jon thought sadly to have to kill such a beautiful creature but with its master's intent on using it to kill everything living so they had little choice. Maybe it was because he was a Targaryen by his father but had he always had a soft spot for any kind of dragon? He knew that his half-sister Rhaenys and aunt Daenerys felt the same. Still he sobered up, it had to be done.

While the Targaryens dealt with the Ice Dragon above them, on the ground Robb Stark found himself fighting alongside Ser Jorah Mormont and Lord Hadrian Lannister. Ice would have been hard to lift without the gauntlets he had been given when they had formed their brotherhood, he should not he thought be wielding his family's sword at all but for the fact his father was getting too old to do so. Still he felt proud at wielding the great sword and severing the head of the a few wights with a mighty swing. The two master swordsmen at his side were enough to humble him though as they moved with a far greater grace and skill than his younger years could match, their skill sharpened by many years' experience. He could see the Hound not far away with his sword Nightfall fighting alongside Dacey Mormont, their bright golden sun badges gleaming for all to see inspiring the men around them even him though he had such a golden sun badge on his own chest. It made his proud to fight alongside such great warriors.

Above them on the back of Elinor who at Rhaenys' direction was blasting wights with fire, Kinvara was unleashing her own fiendfyre blasts at the wights below. The effect was devastating as entire columns of wights were burnt away and cut down the numbers of their enemy and the walkers that were leading the party were left with no option than to charge into battle themselves. Five White walkers charged forward and attacked the human soldiers that were on the furthest edge of the battle. The men had no chance as the ice weapons of the walkers shattered the steel they were carrying and then were plunged through whatever armour they had into their flesh. The walkers turned to look for more when a dragonglass arrow fired by Ygritte struck one of them, reducing it quickly to ice crystals.

Seeing the walkers now advancing on Ygritte, Hadrian and Raga rushed forward with his sword swinging through wights with magical fire covering the steel though men after the battle would put it down to their imaginations. Reaching into his pouch he pulled out one of the bombs that he had modified to throw shards of dragonglass when they exploded and with the aid of a banishing charm sent it right into the centre of the approaching four walkers. Having seen the explosives during the battle and knowing that it would normally pose no threat the walkers did not try to evade the hit, intent on ending the life of the archer that had killed one of their own. They did not realise their mistake until it exploded and threw dozens of small, yet lethal dragonglass shards into the air.

The walkers were impaled several times each by tiny shards but the effect was just as a deadly as if they had been Valyrian steel. Immediately their thin and grey bodies started turning into fine ice crystals splitting from each other like breaking icebergs from a glacier. Powerless they fell to their knees as if praying before breaking apart completely.

The wights instantly began to fall, their strings cut with the death of their masters. The humans cheering as they achieved another victory, even if the price was yet again a high one as the number of dead around them was testament too. Burning of the bodies would have to begin immediately, an unpleasant job to be sure but like a gift from the gods to boost their morale the ice dragon plummeted to the ground as the Targaryen dragons managed to bring the great beast down.

Long Lake, the North…

The Night King felt the death of his brothers as the five perished and with them the army he had bequeathed to them. The situation was not going as he and his queen had foreseen he mused, the humans should not have been able to slay five of his brothers and an ice dragon so quickly and the number of dead should have been far higher if they had. It was an ill omen for his campaign, leaving him with just two options.

One, return to the Lands of Always Winter and wait, once the humans had allowed him and his kind to fade again into folklore and superstition before returning to finish his conquest when they were less prepared. This was something he really did not want to do as it would take thousands more years and there was also the possibility that the humans could build another wall which might not be so simple to breach. This was what happened the last time he had fought the humans and he did not wish for history to repeat itself and this time they might leave no humans to prey on as they had before to replenish his forces.

The second option however was more dangerous, he could mass his remaining army, brothers and ice dragons in one place making them too powerful to take but too important a target for the humans to ignore forcing a confrontation. Thousands would come where he could use his dragons and army at full strength and overwhelm them. It could turn the entire situation around and replenish his army, even allow him to kill the fire breathing dragons and bring them back as his own weapons. But the danger was that his entire force would be in one place including him. If the humans emerged victorious then his people would be wiped from the face of this world, never to bring the blessed cold ever again.

The decision was a hard one, the Night King knew this would be the biggest gamble in history. Looking at his queen however as she smirked at him and his mouth formed into a sinister grin, he made up his mind. Reaching out with his mind he called the last of his brothers to him, the ice dragons too. He would not wait another eight thousand years to triumph over the living he decided, it was going to be here and now.

Camp of the Brotherhood, the North…

The Brotherhood as it was now known gathered around the table with a map of the North as they pondered the situation. A pile of messages lay in the corner with the strange news on each of them.

"All of the scouts in the North bare the same information, the Walkers and their army are pulling back to Long Lake." Jon said to his fellow warriors as he gestured on the map to the place in question which was puzzling all of them. All of the wights and walkers had abandoned the sieging of castles and walled towns, stopped ambushing the supply convoys and fighting their men retreating to the large body of water known as Long Lake. While the Brotherhood talked of the situation, Kinvara was using some spell on a piece of canvas. With more important matters at hand the others ignored her.

"Why? They will not expand their army there. No castles close enough that have not already been taken and no real strategy advantage. Why do it?" Robar Royce asked as he looked down at the map while Hadrian sighed with anger as the answer occurred to him.

"Consolidation." He said simply, Lord Tarly and Robb Stark both nod in agreement having realised the same conclusion as him.

"If they combine all their remaining forces there then they are either hoping to make a force to large for us to dare attack or they hope to fight us with all of their strength in hopes of slaughtering our army so they can break through to the south." Lord Tarly said grimly while Robb did see the positive in the situation.