章節 6: Chapter 6 - Adventures in the North 03.
[Chapter Size: 4082 Words]
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Third Person POV
Northern Kingdom, Icehill Farm, 289 AC, the next day.
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Jon noticed how people were looking in his direction now; he felt uncomfortable since yesterday's events. The looks had changed a lot since they saw the newly planted harvest; people went from a look with a shine of disbelief to adoration from everyone in the families. Some expressed fear and caution, but that didn't last long, and it bothered him quite a bit. How could it not?
For everyone on the farm now, Jon, who was a handsome and uniquely looking boy, not only intelligent and kind but simply appeared out of nowhere, lost. People here felt pity and sympathized with him, and strangely, the field they had just planted their seeds in, which they didn't expect to see a sprout from the ground until the next moon, transformed when they saw it that morning. The field had magically blossomed, filling with their grain-laden plants ready to be harvested.
The crops flourished like a sign from the Old Gods for the farm. Everyone believed that the boy was now blessed by the Gods. And not just that, besides the fields laden with crops, which Jon spent the whole day using his powers while resting a few hours, the soil had its own change in their lands. They could feel a different soil; it was as if the soil was saying that it would bring any healthy and stronger child to this world as soon as they planted in it.
Soon the families were in an uproar. The harvest that was scheduled to be collected in 3 moons, and the last batches were already leaving Torrhen Square. After seeing their fields magically transforming yesterday, now everyone was rushing to take this batch and include it in the shipment that was leaving with these grains. It would be very welcome money for the upcoming moons and the transformation of the farm. They now had 6 crop areas with 100% grain yield, which was 30 times larger than what they did in 4 shipments per year. The small farm could produce 120 times more grains in a year than it used to.
Now that the surreal image of their harvest appearing in their yard overnight, they had to harvest as fast as possible to deliver it to their lord, Helman Tallhart. They didn't have the capacity to store their grains, let alone such an absurd amount like this now, despite the warehouse being large. The quantity now would be like trying to fit 30 stocked farms, let alone Icehill Farm itself. They would end up losing everything or a part of it until they could fetch these grains.
Jon joined the other boys in the harvest in the following days. Everyone was happy and talked to him. The adults treated him like a magical child because, as surreal as Jon's gifts seemed, the child never brought harm to the families. On the contrary, the harvest event and his conversations with all the children did a lot of good for them.
Jon also learned that in the next few days, neighbors who appeared at the farm like any other normal day were astonished by the families' harvest, as they had never seen anything like it. Rumors soon spread like wildfires in the region. Many travelers and curious people passed by the roads in front of the loaded harvest in 6 planting areas, being harvested by all the families, scaring anyone with the sight.
Dult, who wasted no time, took the families' savings and rode to the city to talk to Greg about the news. The business head was negotiating the last seeds of the old batch with his lord's castellan. As he was not aware of what was happening with the harvest now, they would need to talk directly to him, along with Lord Tallhart, and request a new shipment of carts to distribute to the storage points. Dult would also buy the map for Jon. He owed it to the boy after everything. It was the least to do after Jon did for the farm.
Thus, 4 days passed after Dult went south towards the city, and Jon continued helping the families harvest their grains in their barns and even in their houses, due to the increasing size of the stock. Unfortunately, the families also didn't have a mill for the grains, which would be more profitable for them by delivering their shipments at a higher value. However, that would change from now on, as with this kind of harvest, they would never go hungry or needy again as before. They would have enough money to fortify the entire farm with their needs. Jon didn't mind at all that the families would make much more than just a map. He had to do this for the family that warmed his heart a little after a long time. He was still a boy longing for the love of a family, and the women, even without knowing him, treated him kindly, something that had never happened in Winterfell. Of course, there were servant girls who sympathized with the Stark bastard in the Stark seat, but everyone should keep their opinions to themselves under Lady Catelyn's watchful eyes.
He was happy for the families. He had only Caraxes, the 4 giant wolves, Arya, and his father, who was his father figure. But his father's love was very absent due to his work as the North's protector, and he even understood, but he couldn't help but feel his absence. And here, these families showed that even a bastard could be well-treated, even before making their fields abundant with grains. The families already embraced him and treated him well. Jon had one of his happiest moments in his life. He worked in the field, even though the families told him not to do anything, as they believed the child was blessed and didn't want to anger the gods by making him work for them after everything. However, Jon insisted on his decisions, refusing to stand idly by. How could he stand still while the families, who gave him something he almost never received from others, worked hard in the field while he stood still?
Jon, in these last 4 days, smiled more than he smiled in his whole life. He worked, played, and talked with everyone. Unfortunately, he often found himself thinking about what Dult had proposed. He saw himself several times accepting his offer, but he had to continue his journey later. The gods gave him the opportunity to have these moments; now he had to fulfill his mission with them.
A few more days passed, with a large part of the field already harvested. Jon was currently playing sword (a stick) with the boys and teenagers. He demonstrated his talent entirely with fencing there, something that even scared the present adults. This same adult was once a soldier and used to train with other guards. Jon would beat all the boys and teenagers, only losing to Lucas when he wanted to test the boy himself. However, the boy was only defeated due to strength and size terms, but Jon proved to be far superior in technique. This even scared Lucas, the adult trained for a few years to become a soldier and knew that Jon was a much superior talent than him, even with 8 days to his name.
Lucas wasted no time and told everyone how Jon could become a legendary knight of the continent in the future. This gained more admiration from the boys, and the girls were all already fascinated with Jon's tales in the past few days. He told about chivalry in the south that he read in books and some that his sister Sansa used to daydream about in the castle.
However, some time later, while everyone was talking and playing in the training area with wooden swords, Jon suddenly frowned. This did not go unnoticed by the people around who were talking to him. Jon received a mental message from Caraxes, who was in the sky and saw through his eyes. Caraxes had grown even more in the last week; he already looked like a young eagle in size, large enough to soar the region in a few attitudes and could even emit his animal sound now. This was also surprising for the families. In a few days, everyone had to be more careful with Caraxes' size now, as the eagle had no sense of the current size and lived breaking something being careless. Fortunately, this always resulted in even more laughter from the spectators. Everyone knew about the strangeness of the animal's ultra-fast growth. However, Jon and everything around him were something they couldn't take in common sense.
Jon saw through Caraxes' eyes that he was 1000 meters high, a breathtaking sight for him. However, he wasn't concerned about that at the moment. He saw a group of horses coming towards the farm at a distance of 5 kilometers through eagle eyes along a trail in the Wolfswood. He felt a premonition from the group as soon as he set his eyes on it and knew that nothing good was coming from it. There were 12 men, all armed and looking like bandits, as he saw his father execute some. His first reaction was fear, fear for the families and for himself. He looked at everyone around him thinking about what he could do now, something that Lucas noticed.
"Jon! Is something wrong?" - Lucas asked.
"Ser Lucas, there's a group of bandits heading our way. I know it's hard to believe, but I can see through Caraxes' eyes like a warg from the legends, and my eagle showed me the group of 12 armed men coming here. They don't look like any soldier from any house. With their current speed, they should arrive in 10 minutes!" He calculated after a few seconds and said, almost choking with nervousness.
What followed, in turn, was frightening in front of all the people who heard. Lucas knew Jon had his secrets, and seeing through animals was really like one of the legends of the North known as the ancient wargs. But he couldn't waste time questioning Jon because he trusted the boy with all his heart. A talented child, never seen before; even the sons of lords never showed 10% of what Jon could do at his age. He knew this because he worked as a guard for his lord. Looking at the boy, he gave a sad smile to Jon.
'This young man was very humble in his eyes, even calling me Ser. When I was just a simple guard.' Lucas thought with a sad smile.
Jon always refused to talk about his family or the reason for going to the great wall. He couldn't understand how a large family could send a child away like this, condemning him to the frozen wall. Now, they were in danger, and he needed to get Jon out of here.
"Take all the children and women to the basement and lock it, quickly!" As soon as Lucas used those words, the whole place turned into chaos. The older children grabbed the children and women from the harvest, barn, and kitchen to take them to the basement in one of the houses. Unfortunately, the family was very poor and had only three horses, and two were with Greg and Dult. If that were not the case, everyone could escape. After that, everyone who would fight the attack gathered in the fields.
Jon was looking blankly at the situation, which now was 5 against the 12 bandits. Even a child knows that bandits have much more experience in terms of looting and fighting than the group. Farmers would be cut like scrolls so easy for outlaws. Scared, Jon said:
"Ser Lucas, we need to call for help. With our numbers, the battle would be a massacre!" Jon said in desperation, as he shouldn't. He was scared, as were the eyes
of all the other young ones who would fight.
"Little Jon, that's where you come in. You'll take the horse and run to my lord's city to ask for help!" He said firmly, and Jon looked at him pale. 'Was he going to escape safely while the families that embraced him would be massacred?' The boy thought.
"No, Ser, I refuse to do that. Let one of the little ones do it!" He said reluctantly.
"Jon, you've already done a lot for this family. You don't have to die today. Remember, Jon, with what I've seen of you, I believe you can be the future of the North. The North has suffered for thousands of years with its harsh and cold land, and now we have a child sent by the Gods here. You may not save this family, but you can save others. Help other families, Jon, and families like ours will have less chance of facing this kind of fate!" Lucas said firmly and then turned to arm himself and create a barrier with his sons and nephew against the bandits. He ran off without giving Jon a chance to respond. Jon looked at his back while tears were falling from his face. He saw the adult sons preparing for the attack as well. Everyone was nervous; they were farmers and not warriors. The children and the two women were crying and screaming in despair as they ran to hide when they were taken before. Everyone knew they were going to die there.
Jon turned and went to the stable with a blank mind. He saw the only horse; the animal was also restless, knowing that this animal was scared. Jon hadn't been to the stables in the last few days, so he didn't get a chance to see the horse. Seeing the state of the horse, he petted it to try to calm the animal, but he himself was nervous. He didn't want to die, but he also thought he was a coward coming here to the stable while the families were going to die in this place as soon as he left.
Unbeknownst to Jon, he established a connection with the horse; his vision changed, and he saw himself through the eyes of the animal in front of him. A boy with black hair, gray eyes, and that green circle around his eyes that highlighted his appearance, but he saw his current state; his expression, he saw himself scared.
As Jon shared the horse's vision, he saw his own image. He wondered what would happen if he went to the city and asked for help, even though he knew the answer. When he finally returned with help, what would be the state of the farm and the people who welcomed him a few days ago? He would bring help and soldiers, but possibly at what cost? When he returned, would he find only ashes and bodies? Lucas told him to go help other families and that the North needs him, but could he live with the deaths of commoners who protected him and gave him a chance to escape at the expense of their wives and children? Would he have a heart to live like that? Jon knew he couldn't. He needed to fight for this family, even in fear.
He remembered that his father once said to him and Robb when they went to see the crypts for the first time. Lord Stark accompanied them, and the two boys were scared to death of finding some ghosts among their ancestors on that occasion. Lord Stark, seeing the state of his boys, said:
"Boys, I know you're scared, and this will happen many times in your lives, but remember, without fear, there is no courage..."
Jon opened a sad smile in front of the horse. His father's advice didn't help those two boys much, as it took them 10 minutes to take their first step with their father into the crypts at that time.
Even with the vision of himself through the horse, Jon knew he couldn't run away, even being a fearful child, he had to do something. Jon tried to reason about the situation; Lucas and the older sons of the families were preparing for the bandits' attack. He knew that once they died, the bandits would do horrible things to the rest of the families. Jon had to do something; he swore to himself that he would stop it at any cost. He closed his eyes with determination; he needed his magic more than ever.
When he strengthened the 6 crop areas, he passed out from exhaustion after the excessive use of his magic, even with breaks. In the end, the boy couldn't stay conscious. Dult tried to stop him because the boy seemed increasingly tired with each area he used his powers, but Jon wanted to finish everything on the first day. That was days ago, and he was rested from that mental burden still, but even so, the boy began to feel that his powers were increasing with each passing day. He realized that as he reached his limit, like a muscle, it increased its density after recovery.
He knew he still had many limits, but he needed to push them beyond his capacity at this moment too. First, he tried to find his wolves, who had been left to roam the region and hunt for days. He found them with his connection after 1 minute of searching; his connection with them was stronger than with Caraxes now; his Stark blood had weight in it. He immediately asked for their help, and the wolves, as soon as they felt the signal from the human they considered their master, went at full speed in that direction; they were far away and would take a while to arrive. Jon cursed himself, not blaming the wolves, but for the situation that was against him.
He needed to do more; after taking a deep breath, closing his eyes, he focused on the region of the farm. He needed to find anything that could help him here to delay the attack. He knew he couldn't do that at his age and current state, but still, Jon did it. First came the horrible headache over him, and even so, he did it. After a few seconds, his nose started to bleed a lot from the effort and mental expenditure, but in the midst of pain and blood, he continued, already entering an almost unconscious state while screaming internally in pain. He began to realize that he wouldn't be able to stay conscious for much longer, that, in the end, he made a mistake.
Losing sight and everything going dark, just when he was about to faint, he had a faint glimpse of remembering the despair of the children and women, saying to himself that they depended on him at this moment. Only he could save everyone here from a horrible death, feeling that he needed to keep doing this, he fought with all his strength to stay conscious.
Even in pain and blood, his screams were no longer mental; he was screaming in pain in that stable without anyone noticing, as he was far from the other people, and his friends were too nervous to pay attention. He was fighting to stay conscious. Some time later, his blood formed a puddle on the floor; his head felt like it would burst at any moment as he struggled to maintain balance. He wanted to scream even more to calm all his body pain. He even wondered if an adult would endure what he endured.
"Why did you need to go through this suffering?" A voice was heard in his head, and he responded with another question. "Why wouldn't I?" He retorted. Wasn't it he who sacrificed his dignity to save Hodor? He would never forgive himself if his bastard status affected Hodor, who was also innocent. And now he would never forgive himself if he ran away like a coward from the situation, afraid of the bandits without doing anything.
His pain began to pass along with the nosebleed, and his world started to stop spinning. He did it; he found a solution that could help a little here. When he used his power amid the pain, Jon forced himself to enter as many living beings as possible around the farm and searched their memories to find something that would help them in battle. Due to forcing so many minds, even if they are animals, and reaching an area of hundreds of meters with his power, receiving so many memories from these living beings at the same time was like a bomb exploding in his head. He had never felt so exhausted in his life.
He also wanted to make all those living beings fight for him, but unfortunately, he didn't have enough power for that; he could only use their memories here. However, he achieved his goal after connecting with more than 200 creatures of all species. Just that; it's a giant effect for an 8-year-old boy who almost died in the process. Jon, who almost fell to the ground and knelt in his own blood, but with little time to rest, got up sweating and out of breath. He looked at the horse that had been watching him the whole time, realizing that the animal was a little calmer than before. He had no more strength to force the horse through a connection to take the boy where he needed to go, the place he wanted to go, not far from the farm but difficult for a horse guided by a human to reach.
However, without Jon's knowledge, his connection with the horse was not severed in the middle of the process. He didn't have the power to activate it with the poor horse, but the horse itself felt his emotions and saw what he planned to help the people of the farm while the boy suffered. So, to his surprise, the horse walked slowly beside Jon and leaned so that the boy could climb on him. Surprised and smiling at the animal, Jon barely managed to get on him, so the horse followed where Jon had set as his goal and trotted in that direction at the highest speed possible while the boy was almost unconscious on his back.
Seeing that he didn't need to use the connection on the horse, he gathered a little mental strength to once again see the situation through Caraxes. Jon was calculating his plan; he needed to get to his goal to the East. He had his wolves coming from the North as well; the bandits were coming from the West. He had Caraxes in the air, so he calculated that if Jon were the bandits, they wouldn't attack immediately; they would assess the situation of the farm to catch the family off guard, and that would give Jon a few precious minutes with him and his wolves. So, he focused on his goal while the horse headed east on its own.
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Lucas POV
Icehill Farm, 289 DC, at the same moment.
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Lucas was preparing the siege with the boys; they used machetes, axes, and scythes, which were farm tools. Unfortunately, only he had a sword, and they were looking for something to use as a shield; the only bow on the farm was with Greg, as they didn't hunt much. Lucas saw how the young ones were trembling with fear; this was the cruel life, and they couldn't change anything. He saw the boy mounting the horse strangely and galloping east when he should go south.
"Well... That doesn't matter, as long as he can survive is what matters. We're a lost cause here, but let's kill some bastards before we die," he exclaimed as he looked at the forest from where the bandits would appear and cursed himself for not having any long-range weapons. He imagined they would never need such a weapon, but seeing the situation they were in now, he looked at the fertile field that was full of grains that had not yet been harvested. Lucas sighed, letting only a wandering comment linger: "Seems like abundance can be a curse when there are greedy people around... at least the boy has a future and will live." He looked at the sky as he said these words.
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