The Burnt Prince- GOT SI Ch.42

Chapter 42

EDDARD STARK

The battle began as the Sun fell, and even in the distance, Eddard Stark could see the second the army of the dead clashed with the brave men standing in their ways, and the slaughter began.

The dead were like an unyielding, unending storm. They came upon the men with no care for their own lives and attacked with no mercy. They attacked with their blades, with their bones, with their teeth.

They attacked without rest. They attacked without any rest. They were not alive—No, they were the dead, and the one’s facing them were not, they tired, they needed rest, they bled.

And they died.

Shields could not stop them; neither could steel. The only thing that worked against them was dragon glass, and the men fought bravely, supported by the few longbowmen who fired volley after volley from the Wall and the few scorpions that had been built over the castles.

And yet it was not enough. The Free Folk poured through the gates like a flood, and the men divided them into groups and began to lead them to the lands beyond. Most, though, stayed, wanting to pledge themselves for the fights to come.

Letters had been sent to all the Lords of the North, to prepare their armies, to send reinforcements to the Wall, and the men from the Umber lands had begun to arrive and he hoped the rest would follow suit.

“They will not last for much longer,” added Stannis, the new Lord Commander of the Watch as he stood beside him on the edge of the Wall, looking straight ahead at the battle ahead.

And Eddard knew those words to be true, knew that the number of the men keeping the Dead at bay was dwindling fast, and that they needed to rush things up.

“We need to close the gates,” Stannis added and he shook his head.

“No, thousands of Free Folk are still outside the gates. Shutting down the gates now would be as simple as killing them,” he replied sharply, as the younger Baratheon brother shook his brother.

“And why should I care for them, they are savages....”

“The only difference between us and you....” and they both turned around and found a blonde Free Folk warrior woman standing there, beside them.

“...is that when the Wall went up, we were on the other side of it,” she finished, as she glared at Stannis.

“Those are my people down there. People who have done no crime except for being born on the other side of the Wall, and you wish to condemn them all to death for that,” she thundered as Eddard raised his hand.

“And who may you be, my lady,” he asked as the woman turned towards him.

“I am Val, Mance chose me to lead our people when he stayed back to fight,” she said and his eyes widened at that.

“Your people are savages, they have killed hundreds of my brothers, and now you seek refuge from us,” Stannis roared, and Eddard knew he had to intervene.

“We killed because your crows hunted us...”

“ENOUGH!” Eddard thundered, shutting them both up as he shook his head at Stannis.

“We are all on the same side here. We cannot entangle ourselves with infighting at such a crucial time. The Wall falls under the Command of the Warden of the North, and I am the Warden,” he added, looking at Stannis sharply.

“The Gates will remain open for as long as possible,” he announced, for doing anything else would be an insult to the men fighting out there, sacrificing their lives.

“In the meantime, we nee...” but before he could say anything else, they were interrupted by a man in Black Cloaks.

“Lord Stark,” he said as he climbed up, his face red from exertion, as he nearly stumbled towards him.

“My Lord, a missive came for you!” Eddard frowned before he reached for the missive and unfurled it, and began to skim over its contents, his eyes widening at the words he was reading.

“The Royal Army,” he gasped, and the man nodded.

“Our riders spotted the cavalry a few hours later, riding down South. The army will be here soon,” the man added. Eddard nodded as hope bubbled inside him, and yet it was in that moment that tragedy struck as he was too late to hear the scream.

“The King rides to our aide,” he whispered as both Stannis and the blonde girl turned to look at him with surprise.

“But it has not even been that much time,” Stannis asked, and indeed.

“The armies were already on the move. I suspect they entered the North just as I left from Winterfell,” and then he had been riding continuously and had already spent quite some time at the Wall.

They were headed for the Gift, and now they were but a few hours away. This was a blessing.

“The King flies here as well,” he added as he passed on the missive to Stannis, whose lips thinned at the mention of the King.

“He asks us to assemble the men,” Stannis asked and he nodded.

“He does,” and the Blonde girl in question seemed surprised by his words.

“The Dragonrider,” she gasped both in question and surprise as he nodded, and he saw those eyes grow hopeful.

“The Free Folk shall fight with you. Give us those Dragonglass weapons, and we shall fight to our last breath,” she added and he nodded, as he turned towards the man that had carried the missive.

“Go and tell the men to ga....”

“Watch out...” and before he could react, Eddard found his body shoved and he fell down, and looked up only to find Stannis Baratheon in his place standing there with a Spear of Ice sticking out of his chest.

“Stannis!” he screamed as he rushed up but was pulled down by the blonde Free Folk girl, who shook her head.

“NO!”

“It’s him, he is here,” she said with a quivering tone, as she looked towards the True North, he followed her gaze and found himself staring at a man walking through the army of the dead, and the dead partied for him as if in fear as the man raised another.

“The Night King....”

And this was their enemy—the true enemy. As he watched him raise and throw another spear, even from the distance, he saw it cut through the air.

BANG!

And hit the wall right beside him as Eddard felt his heart skip a beat, and yet he did not deter as he took out his Blade and looked into the distance into those blue eyes as he gave his command.

“Gather the men! Today we fight!”

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VAL

They had been wrong. Very Wrong.

And now everywhere she looked, death surrounded her. Thousands and thousands and thousands of men and women lay dead around her as the smell of death itself laced the air.

Screams filled the air as the men clashed with the dead, fires burnt, touching the skies as they fought and fought but to no avail. The death had attacked like a flood, led by the Night King in their assault, they had tried to storm the castles, while they were rained down with arrows, fires and scorpions from the twenty or so castles that stood tall on the Wall.

They had hoped to lower their numbers and cut them down before launching an assault using the gates, but they failed as the gates were struck down, with one single attack from the leader of the dead.

And so the fighting had ensued, the living against the dead.

They had thought they were ready, but they were not. While they were able to put up a valiant fight against the White Walkers, they could do nothing when it came to the Night King himself, and she had watched him tear through men, women, and giants as if they were nothing, and even now as she lay there bleeding out of her leg she could see him standing there imperiously looking down at the only man who had lasted longer than a few seconds.

Eddard Stark, the Warden of the North, lay there, on the ground, his sword a yard away as the Night King looked down at him, his mouth sealed.

She had to do something, she had to try, and so she pushed herself forward, clawing across the ground as she saw the Night King raise his hand, and an ice spear formed in it.

“NOOO!” she screamed as she saw him trying to kill the Lord of the North, and yet before he could do anything the monster suddenly stopped, as silence spread all over the area as the chill that had enveloped the air lessened and the fires roared, and in that instant she heard it.

A screech, and then it appeared as a shadow from the skies, her eyes widened at the sight of the massive beast before a torrent of fire enveloped the air.

“AHHHHHH!” screams filled the air as fire enveloped the white walkers that stood behind the Night King. Their screeches filled the air as the dragon flew away, and she watched as it circled the battlefield, spewing fire as it flew over the area, killing the White Walkers.

“FIGHTTTTT!” she heard Eddard Stark scream as the man stood there once more surrounded by fire, as he grasped his Valyrian Steel Blade once more and stared the Night King in the face once more.

“THE KING IS HERE!” and this was the man, the one they called King. And a cheer shook the clearing as they began pushing back once more.

She pushed herself up and watched as the Lord of the North clashed with the Night King before she joined him. Their combined might did nothing to the demon, and yet she could see its frustrations grow as dragon fire decimated its army with every passing second.

And she could feel it. The tides of the battle shifted, as for the first time, she saw those blue eyes narrow, and as she tried to push her blade into his chest, she found herself stilled, as pain ripped through her as she looked down and saw Ice impaling her gut, before blood began to gush out her mouth.

“AGHHH!” The Lord of the North tried to push forth and cut his head off, and yet the demon retaliated, as she saw the man’s arm fall of as the Great Valyrian Steel sword fell to the ground, as the demon walked past them with no worry as he tore of one of the spears from the monstrosity that had impaled herself.

And she saw it, saw those eyes focus on the beast decimating its armies, and as she saw the monster pull back her arm she used what little remained of her strength and pushed herself forward, as the Ice tore through her and swung her dagger at the demon’s legs.

“GAAA!” she heard it screech in agony as the spear cut through the air, and yet it missed the might beast, leaving behind what seemed to be a scar on its shoulder as those blue orbs turned towards her, and yet despite the cold, there was a fire in that gaze as the man raised his hand, and she felt pain like no other as her whole body was torn apart, and she knew no more except the quaking of the grounds as the might beast landed there infront of her as a man slid off the saddle.

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