Tonight, the wildlings suffered heavy losses.Tonight, the White Walkers suffered heavy losses too.
Tonight, several great heroes emerged beyond the Wall, slaying White Walkers.
Aside from Dany, Barristan, Jon Snow, and Ulmer each killed a White Walker.
Yes, a White Walker—not just a wight.
All the corpses within the diamond formation were collected by the suicide squad and piled under a large tree, their ankles or necks chained tightly, preventing the White Walkers from "making use of local resources."
Therefore, any White Walker who infiltrated the hunting zone had to engage in close combat themselves. Of course, the White Walkers, indifferent to life and death, had no fear of battle.
When five White Walkers approached the small hill guarded by the White Knight, they were met by nineteen fully-prepared rangers and a White Knight armed to the teeth.
The key point is, since Dany dared to lead a team out to hunt White Walkers, she would certainly not send them without proper weapons against the enemy.
It wasn't possible for everyone to be equipped with Valyrian steel swords, but there were plenty of dragonglass daggers and arrows with dragonglass tips stored in the Night's Watch armory.
Sam had returned. He not only brought back a wildling woman and a bastard son, but also a large bundle of dragonglass weapons.
That afternoon, after Sam explained the special effectiveness of dragonglass daggers against White Walkers, Quartermaster Bowen Marsh immediately scoured the Night's Watch storerooms, finding a large chest of dragonglass weapons hidden in a dusty corner.
No need for doubt—the Night's Watch originally had a fair stock of dragonglass.
First of all, although dragonglass sounds impressive, it's really just obsidian, which can be mined from volcanoes. It's rare but not unheard of—the main issue is that it can't be mass-produced.
Secondly, the Night's Watch has a history of nearly ten thousand years, has endured two Long Nights, and once had rich experience in combating White Walkers—at least the Night's Watch from thousands of years ago did.
In ancient times, the Night's Watch consciously stockpiled a significant number of dragonglass weapons.
Finally, before the arrival of the Andals, the Children of the Forest used to send a batch of dragonglass weapons to the Night's Watch every year—a tradition that lasted at least two thousand years.
As for whether dragonglass from thousands of years ago could last until today—the nineteen castles along the Wall, including Castle Black, Eastwatch, and the Shadow Tower, were established at the time of the Wall's creation.
In other words, Castle Black has existed for at least eight thousand years, and so has its underground warehouse. Many of its supplies date back to that era.
Heh, if you searched carefully, you might even find an eight-thousand-year-old ham—the storage rooms beneath the Wall are colder than an ice cellar.
Wander through Castle Black today, and you'd find countless relics from eight thousand years ago—including the Commander's Tower, currently occupied by Second Stag, and the King's Tower, where Dany resides—these towers were built long ago, only renamed in the past two centuries.
Even the fireplace Dany has been using for warmth these past few days is an eight-thousand-year-old antique.Alright, back to the point.
The Night's Watch's supply of dragonglass weapons wasn't enough for the coming Long Night, but it was sufficient for one decisive battle.
Each member of the suicide squad was equipped with a dragonglass scimitar or short sword, at the very least a dagger, and also carried crossbows and bows—every arrow tipped with dragonglass.
So, when five White Walkers stealthily approached the ranger unit, they were met with a group of battle-hardened men wielding dragonglass weapons.
Bows and crossbows fired in unison. In just one volley, four of the five White Walkers were struck—arrows clanged off their armor, but when they hit exposed parts like the arm, neck, or cheek, blood gushed out just like from any normal person, and the White Walkers were injured.
Indeed, White Walkers can't be harmed by iron, bronze, or wooden weapons, but dragonglass and Valyrian steel still need to strike a vital spot to be lethal.
The White Walker struck in the neck by Ulmer struggled briefly before melting into a puddle of icy liquid. In close combat, Barristan stabbed the one grazed on the cheek, finishing him off.
Seeing the unfavorable turn, the remaining three withdrew.
Or rather, they made a strategic retreat.
Upon realizing the ambush had failed, the White Walkers immediately summoned wights. Aside from the wildlings killed earlier by the Stag Party during the day, the White Walkers had been scouring corpses beyond the Wall all along.
Wildlings, giants, mammoths, seals, wolves, giant sea serpents—any unburnt corpse was fair game. Even skeletons were their targets.
And then, tragedy struck the suicide squad.
"Where is the Dragon Queen?!" Ygritte shouted for the umpteenth time as she shot down a wight lunging toward the fire pit.
"Something must have happened on the other side of the Wall," Jon, his forehead dripping with sweat, swung his sword to slay another incoming wight, speaking without looking back. "Hold on just a little longer. Even if Queen Daenerys has been delayed, when the sun rises, the White Walkers will retreat."
When the gong sounded for the first time, the ranger unit—having slain two White Walkers and brimming with confidence—immediately mounted up and rode to the rescue.
They saved Jon, Aliser, and Ygritte, who were being chased by ice spiders.
Yes, Jon, stationed at the northernmost position, was indeed the first to be attacked.
And their attackers weren't wights, but two White Walkers riding ice spiders.
Once again—if hiding in trees worked, the Long Night wouldn't be called an apocalypse.
Even Azor Ahai was once hunted by ice spiders.
—Across the North, Asshai, the Lands of the Yi Ti, and western Essos, similar tales exist: before forging Lightbringer, Azor Ahai repeatedly challenged the White Walkers and failed every time. His sword shattered like countless ice crystals. In the end, he fled with only a broken blade, while the White Walkers chased him on massive ice spiders the size of hunting hounds.
Now, two White Walkers rode enormous ice spiders, followed by a swarm of smaller spiders the size of hounds, all charging straight at the ironwood tree beneath which Jon stood.
The ice spiders didn't have the speed of the apes, but they could still swiftly climb tree trunks, chasing after Jon.
Two White Walkers each rode a giant spider, followed by twenty smaller ones. As they closed in on Jon, they stepped into traps—snares, pits, and hunting nets—losing six spiders in the process, several of which were shot down by Jon's arrows.
Ice spiders were living magical creatures. Once killed, they could be reanimated by the White Walkers as wights, but dragonglass arrows could kill them permanently.
The first to be targeted was Jon, as he was the fiercest—taking down two ice spiders on his own.
If not for Ygritte, Jon would have perished in this wave of attack. Well, if he had died, he would've become a wight and couldn't have been resurrected. The Dragon Queen wouldn't have to worry about her nephew rebelling anymore.
The wildling woman turned from a corpse-watcher to a death-seeker, climbing down from the tree and cursing at the White Walkers, drawing all their hatred onto herself.
The ice spider closing in on Jon shifted direction and pounced toward the red-haired woman.
Thankfully, the ranger squad wasn't far—only 300 meters away—and managed to arrive within five minutes.
After that, Jon and Ygritte joined forces with sword and arrow, taking down one ice spider rider.
Once the other White Walker escaped on his spider, Barristan made a swift decision: the intelligence was wrong, it was no longer safe to hide in the treetops. He ordered the tree canopies set ablaze and abandoned the hunting sites, regrouping all the suicide squads.
Since there was no prearranged signal to rally the squads, the rangers could only lead Jon and the other three to the next hunting point.
Two hours later, the canopies of all twenty hunting points had been set alight. The entire suicide squad had gathered, using the oil they carried to burn the tree trunks and forming a loose defensive line on a small hill.
At this point, only 34 suicide squad members remained. The other 66 had either been killed by ice spiders at the hunting points or died fighting wights after joining the ranger squad.
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Around the small hill, there were hundreds—maybe thousands—of wights. Some had only just died, including fallen members of the suicide squad. Others had rotting skin and swollen muscles, while some had died years ago, their flesh mostly fallen off, leaving only skeletal remains.
It was like a fusion of zombies and the Scourge of the Undead.
The frigid mist, swept by the howling wind, surged toward the hill in waves. The hope in the hearts of the suicide squad members flickered like the flames in their bonfires, gradually dying out.
The White Knight abandoned defense, gripping his sword with both hands, slashing left and right like a high-powered cutting machine, creating a storm of blood and gore among the wights.
Wights constantly struck him with claws, bronze blades, and wooden spears. But aside from a cacophony of clangs, they only made the old knight stagger slightly—causing him no real harm.
Even a White Walker hurled an ice sword at him from behind, hitting him squarely in the back and sending the towering knight flying three or four meters, crashing into a heap of wights.
At that moment, Jon and the others thought "Fearless" Barristan had finally ended his legendary life at the hands of the White Walkers.
But the old man let out a tiger's roar and, using a ground-level sword technique, rolled and slashed wildly. The rotting thighs of the wights were cut down like wheat in a field, felling them in swathes.
Once he had some room to maneuver, the old knight quickly got back up and continued the fierce battle. Aside from a faint layer of icy frost on his back, he was almost entirely unharmed.
Alone, he shouldered nearly a quarter of the squad's defense, fighting with incredible ferocity.
"Hold on! Her Majesty Daenerys will be here any moment!" the White Knight shouted, retreating into the crowd while rallying everyone.
"Whoosh—" Suddenly, a black shadow leapt out from the wight horde, jumping over two meters high and landing right on the White Knight's head—it was a boy, seven or eight years old, eyes glowing blue, his skinny little hands clutching the knight's helmet, trying to rip it off.
"Ygritte!" Jon shouted.
"Thwack—" The red-haired woman immediately drew her bow and shot the ghostly child to pieces.
"That's the fifth one already. The White Walkers are too cunning!" she shouted furiously. "You tin-can men better be careful. We don't have many dragonglass arrows left!"
"That's enough," Barristan suddenly stopped and looked up, smiling. "Her Majesty is here."
"She's here?" The crowd was overjoyed and looked up, spotting a small red dot rising above them. "What is that?"
As they were still wondering, the red dot rapidly expanded—to the size of a bowl, then a washbasin.
The strange phenomenon in the sky grew more intense. The crimson light drove away the surrounding dark mist like a rising sun, bathing the land in red.
Within seconds, the sky above the hill transformed from pre-dawn darkness to radiant morning light. Everything within several hundred meters was bathed in a glowing red aura.
Even the frozen maggots in the wights' teeth could be seen clearly.
"By the Seven... What... what is that?" Ser Alliser muttered.
"The gods have answered our prayers and sent divine punishment upon the White Walkers!" Urma shouted, eyes wide.
"The sun's come out early!" cried the red-haired woman.
"Uh, that's Her Majesty..." the White Knight mumbled.
"Whooosh—" The crimson sun plummeted from the sky, heading straight for them. A wave of scorching wind blew away the freezing mist brought by the White Walkers.
"Ah! It's coming down! Run!" someone screamed.
"Don't run! Quick, get down!" the White Knight shouted.
Suddenly, the falling red sun rapidly expanded, stretching from a round ball into a giant ring.
This time, even without the knight's shouting, everyone understood what the Dragon Queen meant: take shelter inside the ring.
"Boom! Boom! Boom—"
From a height of 500 meters, the fiery ring kept expanding. By the time it hit the ground, it had formed a flaming ring with a 30-meter inner and 50-meter outer diameter.
There was no explosion, only a ring of roaring dragonfire three feet high.
(End of chapter)
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