Chapter 71: Chapter 71
- The Wall - Sometime Later -
Men of the Night's Watch, the free folk, the Unsullied, and the soldiers throughout the Seven Kingdoms filled the Wall from left to right. From the top of the massive structure to the base where the doors opened to allow passage to the other side. All were here to fight. All here to protect the realms of men. Above the Wall, flying high, were the three dragons, and each one ready for a fight.
Riding on the massive form of the biggest dragon among the three, Vaderon, was Aegon himself while he stared down at the coming army of the undead. Wearing his now infamous "dragon mask" as it had been come to be called when on his head, his sword in hand, and the Force as his ally. The final battle between life and death had come with one side being the victor over the other.
"Time to bring the dawn nephew," said Daenerys as she was on Drogon and eager for a fight.
"Indeed. Are the Wildfire caches in position?" asked Aegon despite knowing they already were.
"Yes. All of them carefully hidden and well placed. One spark of fire is all we need to unleash it on our enemy," said Daenerys with Aegon smirking behind his mask.
"Good. Wait until the majority of this army is close enough and, on my signal, unleash dragon's fire on the assigned spot," ordered Aegon with Daenerys nodding before she ordered Drogon to fly toward her intended destination.
The plan was simple enough, yet still dangerous all the same. The vast snowy field leading between the Wall and the trees beyond it were soaked with Wildfire or had various caches of it buried in slightly in certain spots When enough of the Night King's army was over the areas where they were located, the dragons would ignite the liquid with their fire, causing a chain reaction that would consume the vast majority of the army intending to take the Wall. Even without the free folk numbering over 100,000 people, the army the Night King had amassed was no less impressive.
It was now clear to everyone seeing it that the undead evil they were facing today had gathered well over a million undead people to his cause. All undead. They saw giants, ice spiders as big as war horses, men from the Night's Watch, and free folk all slowly marching their undead bodies forward under the command of the Night King.
It was here, seeing the army in all its glory, Aegon knew that even with the Wildfire trap being ready for use, the damage done to the Night King's army would only slow them down. It would take everything they had to win and the desire to win against the undead army. Swords, spears, arrows with dragon glass tips, fire of all kinds, and everything else they could bring down on the undead army heading their way.
"Valar Morghulis," said Aegon to himself, but also sent the words to his Aunt through his mind.
"Valar Dohaeris," said Daenerys back through the mental link before she had Drogon unleash his flames on the spot Aegon wanted her to strike.
And sure enough, the devastating unleashed in the chain reaction was everything Aegon had foreseen through the Force. The green fire erupted in an explosion of death and violence that would have made the Mad King, if alive, laugh himself further into madness until he died from laughing too hard. The fire consumed a massive portion of the undead, the various caches buried underneath the snow had shot out in massive explosions, killing many of the giant ice spiders, undead giants, and other creatures the Night King had turned to his side.
But even with all the damage done, the undead army didn't stop marching toward the Wall. They just kept walking over the ashes and burning bodies of those who marched in front of them. It was almost disturbing that so many would keep marching over the burning corpses of their brethren, if not for the fact those marching forward were already dead. With the Wildfire dying down, Aegon had Vaderon and Revanchist move in with their flames while Daenerys did the same on Drogon. They had dragon fire rain down on the army of the undead from the safety of the skies, hitting the more dangerous creatures had survived the Wildfire.
Aegon sensed something nearby and turned his head to see the Night King looking at him from behind the large army marching toward the Wall. A massive ice spear in hand, ready to be launched at him to either hit the King or the dragon.
When the projectile was launched however, Aegon was ready for it. Maneuvering Vaderon around the projectile the Night King threw at him. In retaliation, the King of the Seven Kingdoms had his dragon unleash a wave of dragon fire at the line of troops in front of his enemy. By that point, the Night King had formed another ice spear and was getting ready to throw it. Using the Force, Aegon had timed it exactly right for Vaderon to move just before the weapon could be thrown to hit either of them.
The same could not be said for several of the Night King's fellow commanders sitting on their undead horses by the evil creature's side. When Aegon move Vaderon out of the ice spear's direction, he also had Vaderon keep the fire going and burned two of the Night King's commanders. As a result, a large portion of the Night King's army fell immediately from the act. Glancing back at the Night King, it was clear the enemy was not pleased with seeing a weakness being made known to Aegon. If anything, it made the Night King show anger on his usually unreadable face and made another attempt to hitting one of the dragons flying in the air with an ice spear.
One ice spear nearly hit Revanchist, but Aegon had Vaderon fly near it just enough to swing his sword and shatter the weapon in a single strike. Even from on high, the King could see his enemy below was now starting to lose his patience with trying to best them. Deciding to forgo simple intimidation and break the enemy's spirit, the Night King commanded his entire army to rush the Wall in order to climb it knowing the losses suffered on its end were not important. Once the Wall was taken, the bodies of the living lay dead, the evil entity would simply use its powers to make them rise to follow him and replenish his losses once more.
"Ready! Fire arrows and release barrels!" ordered the Lord Commander Mormont with the archers launching their projectiles down on the enemy.
The ice spiders who survived the Wildfire and dragon fire were soon blown to pieces. The fire arrows hit the undead, catching them ablaze, ending their connection to the Night King almost immediately. Some of the barrels hit the base of the Wall, hitting the giants and mammoths there. Some of the giants were hit by fire arrows, but they were too big for the fire on them to have any immediate effect. Adding the coldness of their surroundings, the fire on the massive men wouldn't last long. The undead mammoths charged the gates below, even if they were sealed and iced over to ensure no one could enter through them for a long time, if ever again.
But for every undead being that fell, an infinite more seemed to replace them. They ran to the Wall with a purpose driving them that was not their own. They were driven by the desire of their master to climb and kill all who stood in the Night King's way. It didn't matter how many were destroyed or taken down in the process. They were to obey the Will of the Night King and carry out his orders to the letter.
And right now, their orders were to climb the Wall and seek the death of everyone alive on it over it.
Due to the massive numbers of the undead, those among their ranks who managed to get to close to the top were struck down by spears with fire covered tips. Those that managed to get to the actual top were struck down by swords or knocked off the Wall by shields wielded by strong men who knew how to use them to such effect. Some of the ice spiders managed to get to the top of the Wall, but they were soon ripped off the Wall by Revanchist and thrown to their doom onto the undead below.
"Gods damned fuckers! Is there no end to them?" asked Lord Umber while swinging his sword down on the one undead in front of him and splitting it in two down the middle.
"The Night King has been planning to take the Wall for a long time Lord Umber. I would be surprised if we destroyed them all at this point," said Ned Stark right beside him while swinging his sword and taking the head off one of the undead before kicking it off the Wall from where it came.
"Joking during the middle of a fight for the realms very existence! Ha! And here I was almost afraid your time down South would soften you. You are a true northerner to the end Lord Stark!" exclaimed Lord Umber with a laugh before punching an undead soldier off the Wall.
"The North remembers!" said Ned Stark with everyone around him shouting it with the Umbers being the loudest of them all.
Nearby, Gendry was wielding his Father's war hammer, a gift from the King himself and even legitimizing the boy as Robert Baratheon's son. Many had wondered why the King would do something like this after what happened during Robert's Rebellion, until Aegon explained that Gendry was not his Father and his own man. He may have Robert's blood in his veins, but his destiny was his own to choose on how to live his life.
Gendry had made it clear he wasn't one who wanted anything fancy in his life, having lived a humble life as a bastard, but Lord Stark still felt some measure of loyalty to his late brother in all but blood. As such, he arranged, with the King's blessing, for Gendry to live in the North and where the Dreadfort had once stood, only rebuilt, and would eventually be renamed Fury's Dwelling in honor of the Baratheon House words "Ours is the Fury!" all the Baratheon men were known to possess.
During his time under Aegon's rule, Gendry had become quite the smith, and helped in the creation of many of the weapons being used against the undead. Most of the swords, shields, maces, spears, and other weapons most of the men and women here now wielded were put together by Gendry in the time he had been given his own place to work.
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"Do you think he would be proud of me, Lord Stark? My Father?"
"Without question Gendry. You are strong. Determined. You look like he did during our younger years growing up. Your skill with the war hammer is damn near identical to Robert's own. Why do you think it would be otherwise?"
"Because of the man now sitting on the Iron Throne. Because of the man who is currently King. I call him a friend, yet he is a Targaryen. His Father and mine were not exactly friends."
"Aye, that last part is true. But just because Robert and Rheagar were enemies doesn't mean you and Aegon have to continue the fighting. You don't have to hate each other. If anything, you should strive to be better than Robert by not hating Aegon for being King or sitting on the Iron Throne."
"It was said my Father rebelled against the Iron Throne because Rheagar kidnapped your sister. Some still say it is the truth while others say it was a lie."
"It was a lie. But at the time, until I arrived at the Tower of Joy in Dorne, I believed it was true. Many of us who fought against House Targaryen believed the lie was true. And sadly, most of those who did know the truth were already against the dragon and chose to keep it from being known. The Mad King's own reputation with what he did to his sister and Queen once he saw someone burning didn't help dispel the rumors regarding his son. But in truth, Robert never loved my sister. He loved the idea of her. The idea of this wild, untamed woman of the North, being his wife. His great conquest to show off to the other Lords and Ladies. I was blind and didn't see his true feelings regarding my sister or Lyanna's own when it came how she felt about Robert."
"So, she didn't love my Father."
"No. But love had nothing to do with their arranged marriage. Lyanna had hated the idea. Even more so when she met Robert only once. She saw the kind of person he was the moment they first met. And like a fool, I was blind to the truth and didn't listen to her."
"They say my Father was drunkard and loved whores."
"That much is true. Any woman who caught his fancy, he tried to bed. I tried to help him show restraint before and during the war. Even when I was Hand of the King at the end of his rule. But the man was not one to show restraint in our youth. Even less when he became King. The man didn't understand what it meant to be King and wield so many responsibilities that came with the position of power one possesses when sitting on the Iron Throne."
"I wish I could have known him. But I don't want to be like my Father with his drinking and whoring ways that earned him such contempt from others. I wish to be a Baratheon like him, but not to the extent I will be identical to him. Does that make sense Lord Stark?"
"Aye, it does. I understand what you mean Gendry. You wish to be known as Robert's son, but also to not be known for the same vices he himself is known for and the same ones he enjoyed. I can help you with that since I knew Robert when growing up. I can help guide you to be the man Robert failed to be in life and become more in life to make your own legacy."
"I would welcome your assistance in this Lord Stark."
"Call me Ned. And if there is anything about Robert I don't know, we can talk to your Uncle Stannis to fill in the gaps. If there was anyone who knows more about your Father, good or bad, it is him."
---------------------------------------------------
In many ways, Ned had been a Father to Gendry. Trying to guide him, educate him, and make sure he was Robert's son, but not identical to the man himself. Stannis had also helped in that regard. At first, the second oldest Baratheon among three brothers thought Gendry would one day be the future Lord of Storm's End. But Gendry didn't want it. He was honored of course but felt Stannis's daughter should have the honor of being ruler over the Baratheon ancestral home. The boy wasn't about to usurp his cousin's position when she had a right to be its ruler. Something Stannis appreciated since he didn't want his daughter to be set aside like she was second to another member of the family. With the issue of succession to the Baratheon home handled, Gendry asked as many questions about his family as Stannis could answer. Eager to know more about his birthright, his heritage, and just about anything else connected to the Baratheon name.
"That Gendry boy sure can swing that fucking war hammer. He's the Demon of the Trident reborn!" stated Maege Mormont while using her Mace to smash and shatter an undead skull to powder.
"You can talk to him more about that later after we survive this Lady Mormont. Right now, we need to hold back this undead army," said Jon Connington, who was still finding it difficult to imagine fighting in the North, at the Wall, and beside people he once fought against during Robert's Rebellion.
"Still think the Dragon King is not worth fighting for?" asked Sandor Clegane while fighting side by side with Brienne of Tarth with both in full armor and swinging their swords to fend off the coming horde of undead.
"I'll let you know if we survive this," countered Brienne while her swing took the head off three undead men who once belonged to the Night's Watch long ago.
"When we survive. I don't intend to die here and becoming one of these fucking undead cunts!" replied Sandor after kicking one undead right in the chest and causing the torso part of the body to turn to dust before stomping on its head.
In the distance high above, Daenerys was still flying on Drogon and bringing fire down upon the undead in her area. As she was doing this, a presence made itself known to her and Drogon's mind. It was trying to tell her to attack the Night King. To seize glory for herself. To show everyone her nephew was not the only one worthy of praise and being second in the eyes of others and her House. But Daenerys would not be swayed. Her time with Aegon in strengthening her mental defenses and providing a sharpened mind allowed any such prodding from this outside presence to be a minor annoyance not even worthy of acknowledgement.
~ "Attack! Attack the Night King! Kill him with your dragon!"
"Your nephew is taking all the praise and glory for himself. You are of House Targaryen, are you not? Why should he be allowed to have it all? Because he is the King? You could challenge him for the right to be Queen!"
"Show them all your commanding presence. They will follow you if the Night King falls by your hands. You can make the world a better place. Kill the Night King and be given the right to remove your nephew from the Iron Throne!" ~
Daenerys scowled slightly at the words the voice that was almost screaming into her mind at this point, knowing fully well they were not from her mind or that of Drogon. She had no intention of obeying it and neither was Drogon. Neither cared for the voice or the presence behind it. They easily blocked the individual out like Aegon had trained them to do and reinforcing it with the bond between them. The presence trying to influence them was now becoming increasingly angry, as if it should be obeyed like one of the Gods.
But Daenerys knew differently. She knew who this was and what it was trying to do.
The three eyed raven would not control her like he tried to do the rest of the Seven Kingdoms.
Aegon had been able to provide a detail history of what the wretched man had done with his powers and even more when imprisoned to the tree beyond the Wall by the Gods. How he had helped in the orchestration of the realms being weakened, the whispering and dream influencing of men and women from all over. Event he Maesters who tried to kill magic and influence the realms had been pawns to the three eyed raven. Telling them what to do without being none the wiser. All so the raven could be the one of the few, if not only beings in all the realms capable of wielding magic. How certain events were to connect with the here and now so one of those people strong enough to wield magic, but still so young to be molded to his liking would come find him. How the three eyed raven was plotting and planning to jump to a new body when the time was right.
And how Aegon's actions had disrupted his plans when altering the future away from what the mad man had foreseen with his powers.
- Flashback - Several Moons Ago -
"The three eyed raven? He is behind it? All of it?" asked Daenerys with Aegon nodding.
"He is a spiteful man Aunt. Always has been. When imprisoned beyond the Wall by the Gods, he vowed revenge against the realms of men. Even when Bloodraven knew the punishment fit the crime and he was guilty of committing it. He's been influencing everyone and everything to his cause. Man, woman, child, and even animals. Lady Olenna's husband falling off a cliff when riding his horse? It was the three eyed raven. The war of the Five Penny Kings? It was him. Even your Father's, my Grandfather's madness was helped along when he was captured all those years ago. The Maesters had a hand in making him into the Mad King with their herbs and concoctions to be sure, but the architect behind how they did everything was all Bloodraven. He entered your Father's mind when it was weakened, opening it using a figurative door to gain access, keeping the door open just enough for him to enter when he required, and whispered things into his ear from time to time. It was the main reason why your Father was always appearing to be talking to himself and thought mad," said Aegon while Daenerys scowled angrily at how someone could do that to her own family.
"Would my Father still become mad without Bloodraven?" asked Daenerys with Aegon shrugging.
"It's hard to say. Would the Maesters been able to do what they did without Bloodraven's influence? Possibly. But they wouldn't have been able to do it or find out how to do it just as quickly without his influence. What I do know is the man wanted to control the board on all sides and hates anyone who can take or move the pieces away from where he wants them to be placed. Anything he deems a threat to his plans are either manipulated or killed," said Aegon since Bloodraven was a very spiteful man full of hate, ambition, and a fear of dying.
Which is exactly why the man was trying to leave his old frail body for a new younger one with a strong connection to magic he could build on. The Heart Tree that pinned him was meant to keep the old man there until death came in the form of time draining his life away slowly while in perpetual agony. All the while keeping Bloodraven's powers from being used to their fullest. But the Old Gods did not anticipate the man would seek to use what little of his powers he still possessed to influence events throughout the realms to one day plot his escape. There were so many lives throughout the realms that influencing them all was not possible. Even for Bloodraven. But the Old Gods did not anticipate the man's desire to fight back against his prison.
"What if Bloodraven tries to influence us? Or the dragons?" asked Daenerys with concern.
"I can help with that Aunt. I can easily train your mind to block his influence. I can also do the same for the dragons should they be targeted. Our bond with them will only strengthen our mental defenses if and when he tries," said Aegon with Daenerys smiling since she knew her nephew would do everything in his power to protect them from harm.
(End Flashback)
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