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Castle Black 300 AC,

Jae.

The visions were almost constant. At night when he slept, in the morning not long after he broke his fast. Even once or twice as he was in the middle of a spar or training session. Jae fell to his knees and blood poured from his nose while all around him those who looked to him for leadership and resolve, worried that their king was dying or worse, was losing his mind. Given what Jae had done to those who had once named this place their home, the latter was mayhap far more prevalent in people's thoughts.

There had been no way to hide the truth of what had happened to the Night's Watch. It could not be denied or sugar-coated. One look to the ground in and around the Wall was enough to show that Brankardix had unleashed his flames on a larger scale than anyone had seen or heard him do thus far. So questions had been asked of those who had been there. More of those who were more closely connected to the Wall such as his uncle Benjen and Samwell Tarly. Then, despite their faith in him, looks had been aimed Jae's way that at times named him the monster he felt he was.

Added now to visions of death and destruction on a scale unparalleled and it was a wonder that Jae had not grown as paranoid or as mad as his grandfather had become. None may name him Aerys come again in their words and those of the Free Folk thought him almost a god for what he'd done for them, yet, the Lords of the North, Men of Dorne, they at times looked at him as if they knew him not. In some ways, Jae understood that better than most. as at times it seemed he knew himself not. The visions showed him a different life after all and it was hard to tell which was true, what he saw, or what he lived. Had it not been for Bloodraven's help once more, then Jae may have lost himself before the battle ever began. His mentor sought him out in his dreams, however, and told him the truth of what he was experiencing.

"Here you are vulnerable, Young King. As mine own magic allowed me to come to you, so too does his."

"The Night King is in my head?" Jae asked, horrified at the thought.

"Yes and no," Bloodraven explained. "He seeks to make you doubt yourself and shows you images of a war not fought to sow those seeds even more truly. He wishes for you to crumble under the weight of your destiny, Young King. Yet it's that very destiny that he himself fears truly. You are the Song of Ice and Fire, the Prince that was Promised to your mother and father. You are my kinsman and never have I been prouder to name someone so. Remember this above all else and the visions will affect you not. The truth is hidden amongst the lies, Young King, and only you can see and know that truth."

Bloodraven was as cryptic as ever and Jae believed he knew far more than he was telling him even now. He'd made Jae a promise to one day explain it all to him, yet for that day to come would require the defeat of the Night King's army. So Jae fought away all the doubts that had been forced into his mind. He sought clarity and in his dreams, he believed he eventually found some of it at least. Though he spoke of it only to Arthur and with them alone at the top of the Wall far from prying ears or searching eyes.

"A contingency? A restart? The tale being spun anew? I understand this not, Jae." Arthur shook his head, the two of them standing close but not too close to the edge of the Wall.

"I believe I fought this fight before. Or….a version of me did."

"That's impossible….there can be…"

"What's impossible to the Gods, Arthur? They who made the world and everything in it. Life is impossible as too is death and yet we see them both each and every day. My children are impossible." Jae raised his hand. "No, not those of flesh and blood but those of scale and fire." He named his son and daughter as incredible, but not impossible, for others had children they named as wondrous too.

The dragons, however, were creatures of myth and legend who had not been seen in more than a century. They were extinct and then they were not. Jae may have found the eggs, and helped them to hatch, but he was not arrogant enough to name himself as the architect of their birth or very existence. No, that honor fell only to the gods whom Jae was very well aware had been guiding his hands and those of Bloodraven, for more years than he could even begin to count.

"I traveled to Valyria, Arthur. Walked amidst a land that was poison to all but those afflicted with Greyscale. While there I found a ship the likes of which none of us had ever seen. Treasures that have made me the single wealthiest man alive. The armor you and I both wear, along with the sword I carry and those I've given out to all who need them. Whatever I achieved was not done alone, and true I had help from many people along the way, but you see not the gods' hands in all of this?"

"I see that," Arthur admitted before continuing. "Yet 'tis one thing to see the gods hands in what happens all around us, Jae. Another to think they have the power to simply have a do-over when things go wrong."

"What if they can, Arthur? If what I'm saying is true? Then what does this mean and what happens if I lose again?" Jae asked the true question that plagued his mind and made him fear enough to almost still into inaction.

"You won't lose," Arthur said firmly. "Fuck the gods, the Night King, Visions and Bloodraven. My faith is in none of them and never has been. I believe in the boy I helped raise. The man who stands before me. Rhaegar Targaryen may be your sire, Jae, but I name you mine own son and whatever doubts you have, doubt that not. Nor that my faith in you is without limit and unwavering."

He needed it. The conversation, the reassurance, and even the hug they shared were all boons to his spirit. It allowed Jae to focus even more clearly on what needed to be done. To speak to the men of Dorne and the North and show them that their king was in this fight with them. Jae was able to hold truer conversations with his uncle, his cousin, the Lords and Ladies of the North, Prince Oberyn, and those of Dorne. He took his meals among the men and sparred with all and any who asked it of him. His spars with Arthur, Jaime Lannister, and Prince Oberyn bringing almost as many people to the courtyard as his only spar with his uncle did. Even if that one required some goading by Jae and his cousin to get Ned Stark to agree to it.

"'Tis not a tourney, father, and these men are our allies, not our enemies."

"Yet there are far more eyes upon me than I am comforted by, son." his uncle responded to Robb's request.

"Come uncle, one day I'd like to be able to tell my children of my spar with their Grand-Uncle, you'd not deny me that pleasure would you?"

"Name a time and place and I'll spar with you in private, your grace."

"We cannot stray far from the Wall, uncle, and as for the time, I may not have as much of it as I have right now. Best we get to it."

"Is that an order, your grace?" his uncle said, Jae was unsure if he was japing or not given how straight he kept his face.

"No, merely the request of a nephew, uncle."

"Then so be it. Never let it be said that a Stark turned down a request from kin." his uncle said to loud cheers.

He was good, but Jae had faced better. Though something in his uncle's eyes made Jae certain that was this a truer fight, then he'd be facing a far different man than he now was. Not that his uncle was holding back, mind. More, Jae would name it something that even his uncle wasn't even truly aware he possessed within him. That was his life on the line, then Ned Stark would turn into the true wolf he was, and he would fight like one.

The nosebleed started the moment Jae had made his uncle yield. Jae dropped to a knee and raised his hand to allow people to know that he was in a far better way than he looked. It wasn't the Night King nor Bloodraven who wished to show him something, however. It was Rhaegon. His son showed him the victory that had been won at Eastwatch and that he was now taking his cousins to safety. Jae worried for a moment when he saw that Shireen was injured, only for Rhaegon to make it clear that it was but a minor wound and that he feared for her not.

"Their last ride, father. Lest it's one with my brother and sister atop my back."

"I am proud of you, my son. Of them too."

"I come to you, father?"

"No, my son. Your place is elsewhere. Go to my children and show them that you are well."

"And if you have need of me?"

"I will call."

Rising to his feet, Jae wiped the blood away and moved to the center of the yard. He called for Stannis and for his uncle Ned and bid them to stand beside him. Once they had joined him, then and only then did he speak.

"Our army has been victorious at Eastwatch and the dead have been defeated. My cousins are both hale and hearty and their fight is done. Ours is soon to be upon us and yet I fear it not. For we are the living and we fear not those who are dead."

Later he told Stannis of Shireen's injury and then how she would recover fully. Jae allowed Rhaegon's lack of concern to be his guide in this. He told his uncle Ned that Arya was safe and that her fight was over. Then, alone in his bed, Jae sought out Syrax and he turned his eyes to Westwatch and the Bridge of Skulls. Happy enough at what he saw there, he closed his eyes and sought his sleep. Far more pleasant images came to him as he did so, as through Ghost's eyes he saw his children and then his wife. Jae missed them all terribly and counted down the moments, hours, days, and mayhap weeks until he was with them once more.

Ahoooo

Ahoooo

Ahoooo.

The three horns rang out and Jae needed no vision, no nosebleed to tell him what they were signaling.

"The War for the Dawn is now to be fought. My song will be sung. For you father, for you mother, and for my wife and children. I will conquer death and the living will prevail. I must."

King's Landing 300 AC,

Lyanna Stark.

It was hard, trying to keep people's minds on anything but the war that so many of those they cared about fought in. For Lyanna it was mayhap a little easier. She'd gone through it once before and so while she worried over her son, husband, brothers, Dany, and her niece and nephew, she allowed those worries to paralyze her not. Had she not gone through what she had at the Tower of Joy all those years earlier, then mayhap she wouldn't have been able to focus her mind elsewhere. However the fact that she was once again with child did threaten to bring up unwanted emotions too.

Lyanna knew that this time there was both less and more danger in all that was happening. The war that Jae and the others fought in was a much different beast than the rebellion that sought to overthrow a mad king and his family. As for the babe she bore in her belly, even that was much different. She was older, had birthed a healthy babe before, and was in the capable hands of Aemon Targaryen. Jae's granduncle was far more invested in seeing her birth a healthy babe than any other Maester and so Lyanna worried about that not. Or less so at least.

Being in the city helped much in this regard too. Not only would word arrive from the Wall sooner and with more frequency, but the solitude of the Tower of Joy left far too much time alone with your thoughts. The lack of female company helped not there too and here in the Red Keep, Lyanna was far from lacking in that department. Her Gooddaughter welcomed the time they spent together as too did her niece. Sansa had believed she'd be spending the next two years at Winterfell until she came of age, only to find that due to the war, it was the Red Keep and King's Landing that she'd spend the next few moons. Her niece's only complaint was that her betrothed too was playing his part in the war so they could spend no time together, supervised or not.

"To be young and in love." Lyanna smiled.

Lakoes missed her own love and yet the woman hid it well. Lyanna was the only one who'd seen her cry or reveal just how worried she was over Dany. The words she'd spoken to her had helped relieve that worry, she believed. Yet it was the ravens that truly made them all begin to believe that this was a war that would cost them far less than they feared and only what they had in them to give up. Word from White Harbor was the first to arrive and Lyanna smiled when she was handed the raven's scroll and read of her niece's adventures and success. Happy too to read that Rhaegon would bring them back to the Wall not and so their fight was done.

It was ravens from Jae and Arthur that arrived next. Along with one from Daenerys and Margaery's uncle and brother. Their own fight had begun and had it not been that Arya and Shireen's were over, that may have caused them all true concern. Lyanna saw through the brave words that her husband and son had sent to her and while they laid out not their fears, they had no need to. For those were the same that they had when they'd left and had been expressed in words already. Both Jae and Arthur had taken the time to speak to her and each had earned themselves her truest embrace. Lyanna elicited promises from them both and while only the gods could allow them keep them, they'd been spoken truly and were heartfelt.

"I promise I will return, Mother. I have too much to live for not to."

"I will see our babe born, my love, I promise you that."

When not in the Red Keep, Lyanna spent time in the orphanages and among the people of King's Landing. Jae and Margaery had already seen much work had begun on the city, the smell had even become lesser over time. Weekly food parcels were handed out and to see the King's Mother, his cousin, and other highborn ladies doing so was a boon to the spirits of those who named King's Landing their home. Seeing Ghost as he moved among the city helped much in that regard too. The White Wolf spent most of his time with Margaery or the children, and yet there were times too when he moved around the city at will. Oft to return with blood on his snout that Lyanna named not as prey or food. At least not in terms of prey that had become the white wolf's food, that was.

At night they would eat either in the Great Hall or have a more private family dinner. It depended on the mood of the Queen most times, or whether or not Aegon and Rhaenys slept or were still awake. If her grandchildren had not yet taken to their beds then it would be in the Royal Chambers they would eat so they were close enough to the children to allow them to eat with them. Those were the nights that Lyanna enjoyed the most as she would eat while holding Rhaenys in her arms or at times Aegon.

They would speak not of the war or their concerns and worries. Instead, they would allow themselves to pretend that those they loved were simply away on a trip and not fighting in a battle that may well end them. Words would be spoken on trivial matters, tasks that needed to be carried out, or tonight on a day's jaunt that Lyanna had organized for all the ladies of the court. Only Margaery and her grandmother not joining her the following day when they rode through the Kingswood.

Lakoes, Missandei, Sansa, Margaery's cousins, and Oberyn's daughters, even Margaery's mother all rode from the city and held a picnic in place of a hunt. Their day came to a far more sudden end than any of them had expected when they caught sight of Rhaegon in the sky.

She was not the only one concerned at the sight of the Black Dragon flying alone. Her mind not allowing her to remember her niece's words in the raven she'd sent from White Harbor. Lyanna could only see a dragon flying without a rider and that the dragon flew over King's Landing and not the Wall. So she was greatly relieved when as she hurried through the Red Keep she bumped first into Tyrion Lannister and his new bride. The lady too was with child which had required a large celebration to be held.

"What word?" She asked, half panicked.

"Her Grace expected Rhaegon's return, Queen Dowager."

"Expected? How did she expect such a thing? Why did she…"

"His grace informed her, I…"

"You should speak to the queen, Lyanna." Shae interrupted Tyrion's attempt to find the right words.

Lyanna was far happier to be named as who she truly was rather than how some saw her. She'd never truly wished to be a lady, let alone a Queen Regent or Queen Dowager, and had even argued that she was neither as Jae was past his majority and Rhaegar had never been crowned king. Her son japed then that Princess' Dowager just felt wrong for some reason and so Queen it was.

"She's in her chambers?" she asked to nods from two heads. Lyanna stopped to ask Shae how she was feeling and if the tea she'd given her had worked.

"It did, thank you, Lyanna."

Given their lack of worry, Lyanna almost stopped to have a truer conversation with them both. Tyrion could make anyone laugh at times and Shae too was fun to be around. Something that at times was much needed. Yet, she could not, even though she was far more composed than she had been a few moments earlier. The need to know that all was well was too pressing to ignore and so she hurried to the Royal Chambers, spoke not to Ser Loras or Ser Brienne, and entered without being given leave to.

There was no sign of Margaery or the children and Lyanna almost called out worriedly for the Queensguard. Only for the sound of laughter to ring out from the balcony. Hurrying to discover the source of that laughter and almost certain who she'd find before she actually saw them, Lyanna was graced with a sight that forced away the last of her worries. Margaery for once held both children in her arms. Aegon and Rhaenys laughing as truly as they ever had as in front of them, Rhaegon flew close to the balcony and made sounds of true and pure joy. Trills was what Jae had named them when she's asked and it was only when the dragons were truly content did they sound that way.

"They feel him as much as they see him," Margaery said without turning her head. "Jae told me that he is theirs now. That Rhaegon will allow none other on his back but our children from here on in. Only if Aegon or Rhaenys decide to have company will another join them in their flight."

"I had thought he'd have joined Jae."

"As had I, but Jae said to worry about it not and I find my faith in my husband to be undimmed."

"As is mine own in my son," Lyanna said as she moved to take Aegon from Margaery. Her grandson was ever more active than her granddaughter and so she sought to give her some respite from his movements.

"This will be your playground, my loves," Margaery said as Lyanna stood beside her holding Aegon while she held Rhaenys. "This will be your destiny. Your father fights so that you never have to. So that all you'll know is peace. That was his promise to you both and your father will keep that promise. Jae knows not how to fail"

"The song will be sung by the prince that was promised," Lyanna said softly. Rhaegar's words now truly hitting home.

The Battle of Castle Black 300 AC,

Mance Rayder.

Though he couldn't be certain, Mance believed they had prepared differently than those at Eastwatch or Westwatch. They stood not atop the Wall for one. Other than the few men and women that acted as lookouts. Instead, it was the courtyard and beyond that the Free Folk, Northern, and Dornish Armies lined up. The longest shield wall that Mance had ever seen along with more horses with men on their backs than he could count. There in front of them all, sitting atop the White Dragon and readying to fly at a moment's notice, was Jae.

Mance had been speaking to Tormund about Dalla and his son when the horns had rung out. Both he and the Tall Talker bemoaned the fact that, unlike Val, they had spent the night alone in their tents. Val and the White Cloaked Knight that shadowed Jae had mayhap had the best of it. Given that the dead had finally arrived, they had no doubt spent the night doing what most men and women would have wished to do if they were soon to face their ends. Spend a night locked in a lover's embrace and Mance knew that in this, Jae too was much the same as he was. Neither of them would wish to stray as they had both found the woman they were meant for.

Now, they stood in line and as he looked to the Free Folk, he could see no shaking of heads or wish to turn tail and run. The fight they had all known was coming to them had finally arrived and even if it cost them their lives, it would be one they'd not run away from. Their loved ones and those they cared for could afford them not to fail. Mance was happy enough that Dalla and his son were at present far to the south of where he stood and as he looked to Tormund, he knew that the Tall Talker felt the same about his daughters and youngest sons.

"Would I be shamed by saying I wish it was on the morrow or not at all they came?" Tormund said half in jape.

"If so then I'd be shamed right beside you, old friend."

"Should I fall…"

"Aye, me too."

There were words that they would both like to share. Thanks that each of them felt they owed to cover all they'd gone through and yet those words would not come. Instead, it was a nod of Mance's head that was returned by one from Tormund, and then the ground shook as the White Dragon took to the sky.

"HERE THEY COME!" Mance shouted as around him shields were locked together and behind him, horses moved into position.

Looking to the Wall in the distance, Mance saw the shapes as they clambered over the top of it. He'd told those from the South that he and his people had been climbing over it for years and while some had lost their lives doing so, he and others had very much not. Tormund had then added in his own imitable way that the dead feared not the fall from the top of the Wall as they were dead and their time for fearing such things was long past.

Mance believed that some listened to him not. A part of him almost wished to see their faces now as the dead dropped to the ground from the Wall's summit and then rose again. Men and women were not the only things that did so either and even he shuddered at seeing the animals begin to charge. That charge was then met with a wall of flame and cheers rang out. Though not even Jae and his dragon were able to stop everything that came over the Wall and all too soon, an army raced their way. Shouts rang out behind him and things soon flew through the air. Balls of flame and large rocks amongst them.

"The Dragon, Mance," Tormund called out worriedly. as twice one of their balls of flame came close to hitting Brankardix. The White Dragon or Jae had seen them though and with practiced ease they moved out of the way allowing the ball of flame to hit its intended target.

He hoped the White Dragon dodged the ice spears just as easily. Jae having told him about them and Mance searching the sky for them with one eye. His other was on the dead that had closed the gap and were now less than a hundred yards from their line.

It was not an ice spear or a spear of any sort that Mance saw in the sky, however. Instead, it was a wave of Dragonglass tipped arrows that was quickly followed by another and another. Most of them hit home and the dead fell for true when they did so. Then it was flaming arrows that lit up the night sky and showed them even more truly what came their way. The moon being full and the night sky being clear had helped them much in that regard already.

"By the gods," he whispered as already he'd name them evenly matched.

Removing his sword and thanking Jae for gifting him such a fine blade, Mance listened to the sound of snow being crunched underfoot as along the line, their army made ready. In the front, shields twice the size of normal ones had been locked together and each of those shields had a large Dragonglass spike protruding from its center. The second line too held the same shields in their hands and these would be placed almost atop the heads of those in front. Though not an impenetrable defense, it offered far more protection than some had felt was needed. Mance was not one of those and so he was glad enough it was in the third line that he stood. When it came to weapons, there would be two types brought to bear.

The first were Dragonglass tipped spears that required three men to wield them. They would be forced through small gaps in the shield wall and Mance had seen those who wielded them practice in the yard of Castle Black. In his hand and the hands of countless others lay the secondary weapons. Swords, axes, maces, morningstars, pikes, and spears. Some of them were made from Valyrian Steel as his sword or Tormund's ax were, while others had Dragonglass somehow infused into their metal or their tips were made from the dark volcanic rock.

How those weapons would be brought to bear had been the source of much concern. Mance and others had at first believed that it would mean their lines had been broken only for Jae to tell them differently. Horns would blow their signal and the lines in front of them would hollow and allow some dead through. Those dead would then face men who were more than ready for them, or so they all hoped. For as much as a man or woman's courage could be counted on in the planning of a battle, the truth of that courage could only ever be truly revealed in the fighting of one.

"They're here," Tormund shouted and Mance felt the dead crash against the shield wall. He looked to those with the long spears and watched as they used them as if they'd been doing so for years instead of mere days or weeks.

Ahooo

Ahooo

Ahooo

Three blows of the horn meant Others. Mance had learned that well when he served as a brother in black. Now, it meant that the pressure on the shield wall was so intense that a gap would soon be shown and the dead would be allowed through. Or some of them would be.

"For my wife and son," Mance said softly.

The sword cut down the dead as if they were not made of flesh and blood. Mance swung it as if he'd been using such a weapon for all his life. While it was true that he was an above-average swordsman, never had he held such a sword or wielded it as well. Tormund he'd wager would say the same about his ax, had he the time to ask him such a thing. Three, four, five, six, he was cutting down his seventh Wight when he heard the dragon roar and the horns rang out once more. All the dead that had been allowed through their lines had been dealt with and so it was to their own dead that they now looked.

"I worried there would be more." Tormund said as he stood beside him and they watched the bodies being carried to the awaiting pyres.

"The day is only just beginning," Mance answered ominously.

Both he and Tormund looked to the sky and each took comfort at the sight of the White Dragon. Jae, and the flames that covered any dead thing that they flew over.

Oberyn Martell.

He spun and took down yet another of these so-called Wights. Oberyn preferred to use the name that Jae did rather than some of those that others named them. His spear was a blur as he spun time and time again. The dead fell each time its Valyrian Steel tip struck home. Only mayhap outshone in the beauty of its use by the white sword that Oberyn could see being wielded twenty feet away from where he stood. Ser Arthur Dayne moved more gracefully than any man had the right to. With Dawn in hand, there was no truer sign of the Gods' divinity to Oberyn's mind.

Finished now with his last remaining opponent, Oberyn moved to take a closer look at the Sword of the Morning and did so wearing a true smile on his face. He'd thought that Arthur may fly with Jae atop the White Dragon's back or that he'd be put in charge of keeping the Free Folk in line. That dubious honor had instead been bestowed on Jaime Lannister which made more sense. The White Lion had been stolen by a Wildling Princess after all.

"By the gods, I've never." Ser Daemon said to him and Oberyn chuckled. Both at the fact that they were able to hold such a conversation with thousands of the dead battering their front line and because he too felt the same.

"What we see in the yard is only a part of what he's capable of. The king too, I wager."

"You think the king is as good as…."

"There's not a man alive who is a match for Ser Arthur, Daemon. Let's hope that stays true when it comes to the dead."

They reached Arthur as he dispatched his last foe. A pile of bodies around him and none of them were Dornishmen, Oberyn was relieved to see.

"Eight, Arthur," Oberyn called out.

"Fourteen, Oberyn," Arthur replied and was it another man then Oberyn may have named him a liar.

"The day is still young," he said, though it was night not day and he wished it was very much over.

"Still trying to best me, Oberyn. I would have thought you knew by now it cannot be done."

"I live for the challenge, Arthur." he smiled.

The horns rang out once more and with a nod to Arthur and Daemon, Oberyn moved into position. A hundred, two, he counted them not but the line opened and the dead were once again let through. Oberyn shivered when he saw them and briefly thought his courage was faltering, only for the sight of the White Walker to be enough to tell him it was an unnatural cold he was feeling and not the onset of cowardice.

"Keep them from Ser Arthur!" he shouted as he, Daemon, and others moved to the dead while Arthur, with Dawn in hand, moved to face the White Walker.

Out of the corner of his eye, Oberyn bore witness to a fight the likes of which he'd never seen before. Even as his spear took yet another Wight down, he kept one eye on Arthur and the White Walker. To fight alongside Arthur Dayne had been something he'd longed for ever since he'd first seen his skills firsthand. Having him with him, knowing that if he should fall here today then the command of the Dornish Army would fall to Arthur Dayne, that had given him the comfort of not worrying about today being his last. Seeing him go toe-to-toe with something that moved even more gracefully than he did, that was a true delight and as Oberyn's spear struck its last victim in this particular soiree, Arthur brought Dawn down and shattered the White Walker into a thousand pieces. Dead men and women along with some animals all fell as he did so.

"That still only counts as one," Oberyn shouted out in jape and Arthur laughed as he moved to take up his position once more.

Through it all, Jae and Brankardix flew and loosed their flames on the dead beneath them. Their trebuchets and catapults fired balls of flame and others filled with stone or Dragonglass. Off in the distance, the cavalry readied to be called into action and the dead pushed and prodded at their front line to no avail. Three more times the horns rang out and Oberyn had long given up the ghost of matching Arthur's tally.

He was tired, hungry, and cold. They were losing men and had not the time to burn them all. Swords, spears, and other weapons needed to be brought to bear when Dornishmen rose and sought to face their countrymen in battle.

It was then that the sound of hoofbeats rang out. The lines in front of him opened to let their cavalry through and a charge cut through the first line of the dead. There would be no second charge, not then. Instead, the horses returned, reformed, and waited. All of them eagerly anticipated when the horn would blow once more and call either the men on foot into action or those who sat atop their horses with lances in hand. They ate, drank, replenished, and replaced their front line and then each of them shivered and felt what true cold felt like.

"The Storm is here."

Oberyn knew what, or more precisely who, was in that storm. Jae had named its coming as the harbinger of the Great Other. The Night King had finally decided to reveal himself and Oberyn could only pray that Jae was as ready as he said he would be.

As for himself, he looked to Arthur, to Jaime Lannister, and to the spear in his hands. He closed his eyes and thought of Ellaria and his daughters. Of Doran, Arianne, Quentyn, and Trystane. Finally, he thought of Elia, Aegon, and Rhaenys and for once he thanked the gods that they were already in their warm embrace.

"Best you were far from here should the day go badly. If so, I'll see you soon."

Val.

She fought with her people and side by side with her love. Val was more than happy to be able to see Jaime was hale and hearty. They'd fought back the third wave of the dead and their cavalry had charged once when the storm hit. All eyes then looked to the sky and each of them was relieved to see the dragon still flying unhindered. Its flames were loosed even through the hail and snow that fell and one look at Jaime was enough to show his concern for his king.

Val understood it not, the level of devotion that the men in White Cloaks showed their kings, queens, princes, or princesses. Jaime had tried to explain it to her but then again he'd tried to explain why he'd killed the king he'd served too. A king who deserved killing and yet Jaime had been ostracised and denigrated for doing just that. At least until Jae had come along and set the record straight that was. She had thought that was mayhap why Jaime claimed to be willing to die for Jae, only for her love to tell her a much different truth.

"'Tis true that he saw the truth of me where others had not. Jae named me as who I've always been and that's not something you can easily forget. He gifted my daughter her heart's desire too and yet that's not the reason I'd give up my life to save his."

"Then why?" she asked, half annoyed at her love for being so willing to die for anyone that wasn't them.

"Because without him, we're lost. You, me, the Free Folk, my son and daughter, my brother, all of us are lost if he falls before killing the Night King. If it costs me my life to see that is so, then that's a small price to pay."

"No, it's too high of one," she said softly.

She had made him promise he'd not go quietly into the long night, that he'd not give his life up easily and Jaime had been only too happy to do just that. Then they'd lain together more than once before parting briefly in the morning. The fight had brought them together and during it, she'd seen his eyes look to her as much as they looked to Jae and the Dragon. Her own looked far more to Jaime than anyone or anywhere else.

Swinging her sword, cutting off the head of yet another dead thing that moved her way, Val looked to the others who stood with her. Free Folk and Northmen stood side by side and it should have brought a smile to her face. Yet it had taken a threat that wished to swallow the whole world to do so and it made her just a tad bitter because of it. The thought that had it not been for the Night King and his army of the dead, then her people would still be seen as little more than savages, was not one she could let go of. No matter how hard she tried to.

Hearing a roar, she and those with her turned their attention back to the sky once more. The sight they were greeted with was a most worrying one. Brankardix, Jae's dragon, seemed to be fighting with the man atop its back. There was no foe near them, no flames being unleashed and when she saw the dragon reluctantly land, Val knew not what to make of it. Before she had a true moment to process it, Jaime was by her side and she felt his lips on her own. His words were almost missed by her and it took until he was running from her to Jae's side for her to remember them.

"I love you too," she shouted as somehow she stopped herself from running after him.

The dead came again in even greater numbers. With no dragon loosing its flames upon them, they were truly able to attack, and this time they did so not alone. Winds swirled and ice crashed against shields, helms, and uncovered faces. Val swung her sword at both seen and unseen enemies. Only certain that she had struck them by the rattle that went up her arm when her sword made contact with dead and rotting flesh.

How many fell before the icy blade stopped her, she knew not. When it did, her first instinct was to run and yet it was not one she gave into. Instead, she stood her ground and was soon face to face with one of the White Shadows. The White Walker, as she had heard some name it, almost seemed to be laughing at her. It certainly was treating her with naught but contempt and that was enough to fuel Val's anger and rage. Her sword moved more swiftly and her blows seemed to surprise the icy creature in front of her.

It was not her sword nor her skill that ended the White Shadow for true. Luck and good fortune won her more time in the world for she was clearly outmatched by her opponent. Val slipped and fell on the hard icy ground and it saved her from the blow that sought to take her life. It gave her time to remove the Dragonglass dagger from her waist and feinting a strike from her sword, she threw the dagger and time seemed to still before it landed squarely in the White Shadow's chest.

A laugh was followed by relief at the sight of the White Shadow crumbling and the sound of hundreds of the dead falling. Val rose to her feet and moved to stand with her people once more. She welcomed the pats on her shoulder and the chants of her name. Her eyes sought Jaime only to remember that her love had gone to his king and as she closed them, she felt the pain in her chest.

"Val…VAL!" who shouted her name, she knew not.

"Jaime…"

Dying was a hard thing to describe or truly understand. The cold she felt was much different than the worst winter storm she'd ever known. Realizing that you were in your final few moments brought a clarity of mind that she had longed to know for many years. While the images that flew through her head brought her some comfort.

Dalla and the babe.

The Free Folk fighting to avenge her.

The Dragon taking to the sky and loosing its flames without a rider upon its back.

Jae with sword in hand cutting through the dead as if they were made of straw and not flesh and blood.

Her love standing by his king's side and looking truly magnificent as he showed the dead no mercy.

Dalla

Mance

Tormund

Her nephew.

Jaime.

Jaime

Jaime.

"Goodbye, my love," Val said as the White Dragon loosed its flames on her and those with her who'd fallen too. A final mercy that stopped them from rising and attacking those they cared about or those they loved.

Tormund.

He'd moved to help her. To offer her whatever comfort he could in her final few moments. Tormund was under no illusion that she could be saved, but he'd hoped to stop her from turning. Ygritte deserved a better fate than that after all. In the end, he'd not needed to. The White Dragon may no longer have Jae on its back but it carried out the Dragonrider's work regardless.

'She's truly kissed by fire now.' he thought sadly.

Her death filled him with a rage the likes of which he'd never known before. Tormund fought like ten men rather than one. He lifted Wights from the ground and smacked his head against their skulls before stabbing them with a Dragonglass dagger. The ax he'd been given by the king was on his back as Tormund wanted, no he needed, to feel the life or whatever it was that made the dead able to move, leave them, and make them dead for true.

Had it not been for Mance, then Tormund's rage would have been the end of him. He'd left the lines and the dead would have swarmed all over him had it not been for his truest friend and the man he'd named his king. Mance dragged him back to the lines and slapped some sense into him. Literally. Tormund was so stunned by the slaps to his face that he stood open-mouthed and waited to be lectured by one of the few men he'd accept it from.

"She's dead, Tormund. You dying won't bring her back."

"They killed her, Mance. They fucking killed her."

"And she's not the only one they'd killed today, nor will she be. Val has fallen, Tormund. I too feel the wrath and rage you bear."

"Val….she's truly fallen?" he said in disbelief.

"Aye, and were it not for him." Mance pointed to the sky. "She'd have risen again. Take comfort in that and that Ygritte will rise not."

"'Tis little comfort," he said sadly.

"Yet all we have, old friend."

A nod of his head. That was the only answer he gave Mance and together they moved back to the line. The storm had turned the tide against them and they'd lost far too many since its arrival. Their mounted men could ride not and so most had joined the battle on foot. Yet in truth, it was the fact that Jae had done so too which both worried Tormund and made him prouder than he could ever imagine he could be.

While a part of him wished that Jae would stay on the White Dragon's back, another wished to fight alongside him even more truly. It would not fall to him to guard the Dragonrider's back, however. That honor was already taken by his white-cloaked knights. Tormund would do all he could to try to get to him if the opportunity arose. For now, mind clear, wrath and rage contained, he began to try and fashion that opportunity as he removed his ax from his back and began to swing it with purpose once more.

It was the slaves and not their masters who came their way. Tormund was both cursing and welcoming that they did so. The knowledge that if they could take down one of the White Shadows they would do more damage to the army of the dead than if they took down fifty Wights, was well understood. Yet the need to avenge Ygritte, Val, and the rest of his people was sated with each dead thing that his ax struck. Tormund needed not to look to Mance to know he felt the same.

At some point, the giant eagle that Jae had named his own flew close to him and Tormund came damnably close to both losing his life and taking the eagle's own. In the haze of battle, it was difficult enough to tell friend from foe when it was a man or woman you faced, let alone a giant eagle that screeched loudly at you.

"Mance?" he asked as his ax struck home once more.

"I know not."

The eagle screeched and then flew a few feet behind them before flying back to them and repeating its actions. Tormund somehow understood the message it was sending to them.

"We move back. It's telling us to move back."

"It's a fucking bird, Giantsbane." a Northern voice said dismissively.

"That's no ordinary bird, that's the king's own eagle and it's ordering us to move back," Mance said.

They looked on as the eagle flew down to where the Northern Lords were. Tormund was certain it was Jae's uncles and cousin that it had flown to. Then it flew to where the Dornish and their prince fought, again repeating its orders once more.

"On three," Mance shouted out.

"One."

"Two."

"Three."

Never before had he been a part of something so organized. A line of men that may as well stretch the length of the Wall itself, given he could see no end or beginning to them, all moved as one. A step back. Then another and then another.

No sooner had they done so than the White Dragon unleashed its flames upon the dead who'd been pressing against their line just a moment earlier. Their movement had caused the dead to fall on top of each other. The pressure they'd been placing on their line had been their downfall, literally. With nothing to push against, they simply toppled over and the White Dragon had then set thousands of them alight.

A loud screech and a move forward by the giant eagle had them once again follow its command. Their weapons were then brought to bear on those who'd managed to escape the fire and were now rising to their feet once more. The dead were easy pickings when they were unable to fight back and once they'd finally regained their footing for true, Tormund, Mance, the Starks, and Oberyn Martell gave the orders for the line to be reformed.

Twice more they repeated the same trick with the same results. There was not to be a fourth time, however. The eagle left them and Tormund missed its presence. Though the sound of horses moving behind them and the call to open the line were both welcome enough. Their cavalry was to ride once more and Tormund was not the only man who cheered when they did so. Nor was he the only one relieved to see so many of them return.

When the White Shadows finally showed themselves once more, Tormund hoped he'd get to fight them. It was not to be. Arrows instead were brought to bear and so many of them flew that there was nowhere for the White Shadows to move to avoid them. Again it was Jae's eagle that had given the command and this time the White Dragon had been used as a distraction more than anything else. Both of Jae's incredible and mighty beasts played their part and only then did Tormund finally realize he'd gotten his wish after all.

"I'm with you, Dragonrider," he said as the eagle flew over his head and went about Jae's work once more.

Robb Stark.

He understood it not. Jae was supposed to stay on the dragon's back. Their plans relied on it, as far as he was aware. Yet the dragon had landed and Jae had jumped from its back and headed out to face the dead alone. At least at first. Robb had begun organizing volunteers to join him as he went after his cousin when his father bid him look to Jaime Lannister and Arthur Dayne. The Kingsguard had followed after their king and while Robb had not thought them to be enough to guard Jae's back, he'd done as he'd been bid and held his position.

They had been winning, he knew that. Right up until the Storm had come they'd been winning and then they had very much not. The Great and Smalljon's had fallen, as had Lyra Mormont and Robett Glover. Each of them had been fed to the fire so they would not rise again. His uncle Benjen bore a wound that had ended his day though it had taken both Robb and his father to get him to see it that way. Benjen had been taken to where their wounded were being tended to a few miles from the field of battle, much to his chagrin.

Horses had been ridden into the ranks of the dead more than once and each time they'd come back fewer than had set out. Not dangerously so, as of yet, but noticeably so nonetheless. Robb had sent men to gather anything that could be fired at the dead from their catapults and trebuchets, their stock of pitch and Dragonglass shards had been used up and there was no way to replenish them. Instead, it relied on men with swords like his or his father's, along with those whose own weapons were infused with Dragonglass to whittle down their enemies' numbers. For Robb was under no illusion they were doing anything else.

Brankardix flew alone without a rider and yet somehow knew exactly what to do. Syrax had flown over their heads and given them a signal that took some time for them to truly understand. The eagle's actions helped them to take a much larger number of the dead from the world. Yet through it all, the storm-battered their lines and hindered their vision.

Feel and touch rather than sight was what everyone now fought with and hoped was enough. A sound soon rang out that told them all that the dragon had landed and though it mayhap fell not to him, Robb moved to where he was certain it had done so. It allowed him a truer view of things as he moved from the storm into relative calmness. So he saw the dragon much sooner than he would have had it landed in front of rather than behind their lines. A dragon that was not Brankardix and one that bore a rider on its back still.

"Princess?" Robb said, sounding much like a fool and caring not. The dragon and the silver-haired woman on its back needed no introduction after all.

"I've come to offer my aid." Princess Daenerys said. "Ser Oswell has joined my nephew and Ellanys and I now seek to join Brankardix. Yet I know not where we're most needed, Lord Stark."

"Everywhere, princess." he chuckled, earning himself a delightful laugh from the princess in return.

"Indeed, then I shall leave you to it and go about my work."

"Good Fortune, Princess!" Robb shouted as Ellanys took to the sky.

"To you too, Lord Stark."

It was his Goodmother rather than his father who Robb spoke to first when he returned to the line. Maege Mormont mourned her daughter and had unleashed a mother's fury on the dead already. She smiled truly now when Robb told her of the arrival of the princess and her dragon. Together they spoke to his father and through the storm they saw two waves of fire being unleashed on the dead. Over and over the two dragons did so and finally it began to tell. The pressure on their shield wall was lessened and then more so. Robb grabbed the horn and blew it, ordering them to move forward for once. The time had come to use the Wall to their advantage once more. Jae's words spoken to him were ones that Robb now sought to follow through on.

"The Wall won't hold them back, Robb."

"Surely…"

"I've seen it. In my dreams. My nightmares. He has a way to cross it and I know not what it is, and yet…."

"Jae?"

"We can use that too should the opportunity arise."

They pushed forward now. Shields and spears being used to their fullest effect. The one to force the dead back and the other to end them for true. All the while, Brankardix and Ellanys laid down their flames and Robb almost expected Rhaegon to join them. Again it was Jae's words that he remembered and he knew that the Black Dragon would join them not. Its job was to protect Jae's wife, children, and mother and Robb took comfort from that.

His sword was a blur. The blade cut through the dead as if they were nothing. How far they'd moved forward, he knew not, but he could see the Wall far more clearly now. He expected them to come sooner and yet it mattered not when they came. Arrows took some of the White Walkers down and men would face the rest. Robb and his father were among those who moved forward to do so. Numbers rather than one-on-one fights to be the way they managed it and Robb soon found himself side by side with his father as their two Valyrian Steel swords fought off against one that was very much not.

Robb was under no illusions that he could beat the White Walker alone. Nor that even he and his father were a match for its skills. So when Brankardix loosed its flames over the White Walker, Robb hesitated not. Not even his father calling him back or the risk of being somewhat caught up in those flames stopped him. Instead, he moved, and swung his sword, and as the flames cleared and Robb stood untouched by them, the sword hit home.

His was not the only one to do so. Around him, the dead fell as did the White Walkers and once more Robb Stark joined the line and began to push the dead back to the Wall.

"For the North!" he shouted, his father's voice joining his own and the men and women of the North all soon added their own to it.

Jaime Lannister.

Briefly he'd been torn between his duty and the woman he'd loved. To stay by Val's side and lead the men wouldn't have earned him any sneers or called his honor into question by others and so Jaime had considered it. His place was by his king's side, however. Jae had given him a second chance and had allowed the truth of his actions to be known and when Jaime had seen the dragon land, he'd known what he had to do.

Shouting his intentions out, placing what he hoped was not a last kiss upon Val's lips, he moved to join his king. Some distances from the line, Jaime turned to see Val fighting as fiercely as any man on the field and smiled. Then he began to run through the dead swinging his sword at any who moved his way. His destination was more than a thousand yards in front of him and there was no clear path to where Brankardix and Jae had landed. Yet not even hundreds or thousands of Wights would stop him. Jaime would allow nothing to do so, his place was by his king's side and there he would be.

It took him some time to reach Jae and had it not been for Arthur joining him, he may not have. They'd faced who knew how many Wights and even two White Walkers, both falling to a combination of Jaime's and Arthur's skills. Now they stood as three men apart. Their army was so far behind them that they could not be seen for true and between them stood the Army of the Dead. Not that they moved backward, mind. Instead, Jae nodded and smiled at them both and they moved forward as the White Dragon took to the sky once more.

"Jae?" Arthur asked. Jaime too was keen to see if there was a plan he was unaware of. One he hoped the king had and that it was for that he landed and no other reason. Though the White Dragon had looked healthy to him as it took to the sky which named it as potentially so.

"He's here, Arthur," Jae said, pointing to the dead in front of him. "He's here and here is where he'll fall."

They spoke no more, not then. Jae's landing may have seemed to have gone unnoticed by the dead momentarily, it was not now, however. Jaime and Arthur took up their positions at the king's side and the dead charged toward them. Brankardix had flown from them and Jaime looked to the king and willed him to call the White Dragon back, but it was another who loosed its flames down upon the dead and landed some feet away from them. Jaime smiled to see the princess and Oswell Whent.

"Jae, come, we can…." Daenerys shouted only for Jae to shake his head.

"You can," Jae shouted back. "You and Ellanys join Brankardix and do what you can."

"I'll stay with you, my king." Oswell began to move off the dragon's back and Jaime half expected Jae to tell the Black Bat to stay with the princess. He did not.

"Very well, Ser Oswell. Dany, fly safe." Jae called out and as the Black Bat's feet hit the ground the Princess bid her dragon to take to the sky and fly back to where their army awaited. Not before unleashing one more wave of fiery death upon those in front of them, however.

It allowed for the ground they covered to be without danger. For a time at least. Jae speaking to them of his plan and explaining how just as with the White Walkers, should the Night King fall then so too would the dead. This time in far greater numbers. The king believed that it would end the fight and who was Jaime Lannister to argue with him. How large a fight it would take to do so, was soon revealed to them and it would be fought with three men rather than four.

It had always been said that a Kingsguard's task was not only to protect their king and his family, or to hold their secrets as if they were his own, but to be willing to die for their king should they be called upon to do so. Oswell Whent proved himself to be as true a Kingsguard as any when as the spear flew towards Jae, he stepped in front of the king and pushed him to the ground. Both Jaime and Arthur looked on in stunned silence as the Black Bat fell to the ground. Then together they moved in front of Jae and readied to do as Oswell had. While behind them the king knelt on the icy ground and spoke softly to a man who'd guarded him all his life. The words went unheard. As for the tears Jae shed, Jaime and Arthur both saw them and commented on them not.

They did ask some questions when Jae stuck his sword in Oswell's chest and Jae answered them shakily. His voice was full of emotion as he told them that he had no fire to stop Oswell from rising again, so he prayed that this would suffice.

No attack came and no more spears were thrown their way. Each step they took was one where they expected one or the other and yet their path was clear. Right up to the gates of Castle Black, it was and only upon reaching them did they see why that was. Here they were faced with more than a thousand Wights who stood as sentinels in front of the dilapidated keep. More than twenty White Walkers could be seen behind them too. Either standing at the gates or atop the walls. Jae, Jaime and Arthur's eyes instead were on the one that wore an icy crown upon its head and who looked at them with malice.

"Face me you craven!"

"Come out and end this once and for all!"

"Should I fall then you've won, have you not?"

"Or hide behind your army and watch as I cut them down to get to you!"

Jae bated a creature that could not be bated. His words had no effect on the Night King and moved those with him not. Jaime looked to Arthur and was ready to ask him what it was they would do should the stalemate prevail when Jae knelt and rubbed some ice over his hands. Looking to his king, he could see that Jae's eyes were white and that he was warging, though what he was warging he knew not.

Jaime turned to look at the Night King who wore what he'd name a curious look on his face. Then he looked back to his king, Jae wore a smile now as he rose to his feet and it made him wonder just what the king had up his sleeve.

Moments passed with nothing happening. Jae stood there, he and Arthur in front of their king, just in case the Night King or those with him tried something. Occasionally one of them would look to their rear and find that nothing moved their way. Jaime both wished he could see their army and was happy that he could not at the same time. His worries for Val were ever present and while he'd been able to pick duty over love thus far, he knew not if he could say the same should he see Val in true danger. Not that fighting against the dead had not proved dangerous enough.

"It's time," Jae said before moving forward.

They came at them then. Jaime saw the movement from the Night King as the orders were given. Hundreds of Wights charged and Jaime called out for either Brankardix or Ellanys to come to their aid. Neither of them did so. Instead, it was the Black Dragon that flew over their heads and unleashed his flames upon the dead. Rhaegon, who as far as Jaime had known had flown to King's Landing to be with Jae's children and wife, had been called back and had answered that call.

Through the flames, Jaime wished he could see the Night King's face. As the White Walkers were called into action, Rhaegon landed and Jae moved to the Black Dragon. Jaime thought for a moment that the king would mount the dragon and yet he did not, instead, he took his sword and cut himself before holding the sword in front of Rhaegon's giant maw. The White Walkers reached them before Jaime could see exactly what it was that Jae was waiting for and so he saw it not when the Black Dragon loosed its flames over the blood-covered blade.

"Protect the King!" Arthur shouted and Jaime looked at the man he'd always wished to be and nodded. Arthur moved to face off against two White Walkers and Jaime moved to stand in front of Jae and Rhaegon. Finding only one of them there when he reached where they'd last been seen.

Jae stood with his sword raised and Rhaegon flew back toward the army. Three dragons would now be brought to bear against the dead and Jaime doubted they were ready for such. To his utter amazement, Jae's sword looked to be aflame. A fire that burned ever more brightly as Jae's blood dripped into the flames.

"Fire and Blood!" Jae shouted as he turned and ran to Arthur. Jaime ran after him.

They offered Arthur their aid and together they cut down four White Walkers. Others moved their way and yet did so somewhat tentatively. The flames on Jae's sword had taken up a different form, or so it seemed to Jaime's eyes. Light rather than fire if he was to give it a name.

Two more White Walkers fell to Dawn and Jae's sword, another then to Jaime's and that was enough to bring the Night King into the battle for true.

He swung his sword against his opponent and saw the moment his king was about to fall. The Night King had attacked like a craven, from behind. Jaime was certain that Jae saw it not and so he moved more swiftly than he ever had before. Somehow managing to make it in time to block the blow. Though not with his sword, as the Night King's Icy blade simply cut through the Valyrian Steel as if it was a blade made of grass or a reed. Coldness was the only thing Jaime felt as he fell to the ground. Images of a life lived now flashed before his eyes and he smiled to see his mother once more. Cersei too as well as his father and then she beckoned him forward. Her blond hair sparkled in the light and her blue-grey eyes were filled with so much love that Jaime felt the cold being forced away.

"Go to her. Go to her as the hero you always were. A true Kingsguard." Jae said and Jaime closed his eyes and felt her hand take his own.

Jae.

His days spent atop the Wall had shown him things. The dreams and visions that Bloodraven sent his way had shown him more. When the blood spilled from his nose, Jae had seen plans that forced him to discard others he had made. Yet it was not until he was flying in the sky and Brankardix had loosed his flames once more that the true plan came to him.

Syrax he sent to do as she must. Signals, warnings, his orders, she would see they were followed and carried out. Rhaegon, he called back from King's Landing, the Black Dragon was needed more than any in the fight to come. Ellanys he spoke to truly for the first time since Dany and she had bonded, his daughter only too keen to play her part. As for Brankardix, he begged his son to put as much faith in him as Jae had always placed on each of his children's heads. The White Dragon did so even if he left Jae's side reluctantly.

Arthur and Jaime joined him not long after he landed and Jae was both happy to see them and not at the same time. One at least would fall in the fight to come and while he saw Arthur as his father by choice and so cared more for him than any, he wished not for Jaime to fall either. Only later when he saw Val fall did he begin to believe that Jaime would somewhat welcome death should it come to him.

Later still when he realized that this was always how it was meant to be and Jaime's role was to fall so that Jae would not. One truth revealed of the many that Bloodraven owed him. He'd wondered why he'd needed to forgive Jaime Lannister all those years earlier, now he knew and Jae could only hope that the White Lion had died without regret.

The sword he held and the light that shined from it, was something else. Just like the Horn of Joramun that the Night King had sought and found, Lightbringer meant not what people believed it to mean. A blow from a horn was not enough to take down the Wall, it only allowed passage over it. While a flaming sword that emitted light was not the weapon to kill the Night King and end him for good, but instead just the means to do so.

"It falls to us, Arthur," Jae said after he'd said his goodbyes to Jaime Lannister. Two more knights in white had died in service to him. The time to mourn them and Ser Barristan would come later, should there be a later that was.

Ten White Walkers and the Night King. Too many and not enough at the same time. Images of a battle fought and yet not fought filled Jae's mind as he and the Night King finally crossed blades for true. Arthur was left alone to guard his back from those who wished to stab him there.

Jon struggled through the masses of Wights, his army broken behind him. Few if any still able to fight and yet it stopped him not. He could see the Night King standing no more than twenty yards ahead of him, but there were far too many Wights between them for him to be reached easily. Longclaw now felt heavy in his hands for the first time and Jon began to wonder if this was to be finally his end. He slashed at the Wight closest to him before a White Walker suddenly appeared behind him. Without even thinking, he turned and feinted high before swinging his sword low and crashing it into the White Walker's chest. The high-pitched scream and the explosion of ice forced him to close his eyes for a moment.

That battle was not this one. The path to it was not one that Jae had needed to walk. There was no longer a mass of Wights to stop him from facing his true enemy. Nothing would stop him from doing what needed to be done. As another White Walker felt Dawn's kiss, Jae smiled and swore he saw fear in the malevolent blue eyes that looked into his own purple ones. A truth finally revealed that the Night King was unprepared to face.

"The Gods alone decide our fate," Jae said as he swung his sword and cut through the icy blade before burying it deep into the Night King's chest.

There was no explosion of ice, not like when the White Walkers were defeated. The Night King fell to his knees and Arthur suddenly found himself facing no more opponents. Where once eight remained, now there was naught but puddles of water, as the sun too had decided to join them in their fight. Jae stood unarmed as he looked at the thing in front of him. This creature who had caused more suffering and death than mayhap any who'd ever come before it.

Behind him, three dragons flew his way with but one rider atop of them. Jae bidding Brankardix to his side as he knew now how this truly ended. Further behind, an army moved across an empty battlefield. Victory was something that was truly within their grasp and Jae pulled his sword from the Night King's chest and smiled to see naught but Valyrian Steel. The fire, and the light were both no longer needed, and yet they burned still in the empty wound left behind.

"You should move, Arthur, and cover your eyes," Jae said as Brankardix landed and he moved to the White Dragon.

They took to the sky, joining his other children and Jae looked to Dany and offered her his warmest smile. He turned to Rhaegon and through their bond, he told his son what needed to be done. Then, all three dragons flew to where the Night King remained on his knees. Jae alone gave the order, for it took a king to end a king.

"Dracarys."

The three flames joined together to make a singular one. Jae felt the heat from it even from atop Brankardix's back. He saw Dany cover her eyes and on the ground some distance from the flames, Arthur did likewise. Jae did not, not quite. Instead, he looked through the eyes of his children. Ellanys, Rhaegon, and Brankardix were only too happy to show him what their flames wrought. The end to a threat that had spanned Eight Thousand years. A war that had been destined to be fought forevermore had finally been won and the Old God's plans had now truly been realized.

"Hear my song," Jae said as he thought of his mother and father. Of his wife and children. Those he lost and those he loved. "My promise is kept," he said as the flames were loosed no more and the Night King was finally defeated.

Epilogue.

307 AC, Isle of Faces.

Bloodraven.

His thousand eyes and one looked to the North, new births being celebrated that would see the region prosper. The young heir held his daughter in his arms as his wife, mother, and father looked on. Lyarra Stark was named after her great-grandmother and who would be as loved by her three brothers as her grandfather and granduncle loved their own sister. Her fate was destined to be a far happier one than had once befallen Lyanna Stark to the tune of a Different Song.

Bloodraven looked to the Lands Beyond the Wall, the Free Folk back to living where they always wished to, though this time without the threat from the Lands of Always Winter. The weather was far more temperate and with the expertise of those that had been sent there by the Young King, it allowed for food to be grown and livestock to prosper. Each new son and daughter that had been born since the Night King's fall would now have a much easier life than the father or mother whose child they were.

In the Reach, the Westerlands and Riverlands. Through the Stormlands, Crownlands, and even the Iron Islands. From the Mountains of the Vale to the deserts of Dorne, new life brought new opportunities. With a king and queen who wished for those opportunities to be shared by one and all, Bloodraven was not the only one who looked forward to the years of peace and prosperity that Westeros was to know.

Looking to those in the Red Keep, was to see some who mourned still and others who simply remembered. Names were written in the Great Book that told of the heroism of those who'd fallen in the Battle of the Dawn. While in White Sword Tower, three men's deeds had been added to those of other great and true men. Barristan the Bold. Oswell Whent. Jaime Lannister. All were now remembered as fondly as Gerold Hightower, Duncan the Tall, and Aemon the Dragonknight. In the case of Jaime Lannister, he was remembered now through his namesake, his nephew who would one day be the Warden of the West. The firstborn son of Tyrion Lannister, Hand of the King, and his wife Shae.

By the Great Weirwood that grew in the Godswood of King's Landing, Bloodraven saw the Red Wolf and the Silver Seahorse along with their children. Sansa Stark and Aurane Velaryon may both follow the Seven who are One, but their children, like every other who'd been born since the Night King fell, would learn too of the Old Gods. A King's Decree would see it so and had already seen the return of the Weirwoods. Every Great House and almost every keep with a Godswood now had a place where the Old Gods could be thanked for all they'd done.

Riding hard over the open fields near Storm's End, two girls' laughter rang out as they for once thought not about a different mount they'd once shared. They raced, chased, and finally rested beneath the shade of a tree, the kiss they shared was but a fleeting one, and yet it was one that showed the depths of the feelings that had grown between them. Feelings that had grown ever more true when the younger of the two girls had finally been gifted with a brother of her own.

In Essos cities fell and Masters trembled. Slaves rejoiced as chants of MHYSA resounded across the land. The Breaker of Chains freeing yet another city from the stain of slavery. Her love was by her side as they set their sights on those cities further from the newly named Bay of Dragons. Their work was not yet done and in time all of Essos would only ever bow their heads if it was to the princess who had promised them their freedom.

On Dragonstone in a room in the keep, a white knight spoke to his son and daughter, Rickard and Ashara Dayne. His wife looked on fondly as tales were told of those they were named after and others were spoken of a White Bull, Bold Knight, Black Bat, and White Lion. The two children were rapt in their attention while their father spoke and their mother rubbed her swollen belly and considered names for the son she bore.

It was outside that Bloodraven truly wished to see, however. Atop the cliffs where a White and a Black dragon readied to take to the sky. A husband helped his wife atop the one while a sister helped her brother onto the other. Jaehaerys, Margaery, Aegon and Rhaenys. The future of his House was secured, their line set to continue and in time there would be even more dragons in the world. Watching as they took to the sky, Bloodraven smiled.

"Your battles are over, Young King. Enjoy the peace you brought to us all."