"There are many reasons, the most direct being that it is difficult to build," Bran replied without hesitation. "Almost all the snowmelt from the Frostfangs flows into the sea through the Milkwater River, and the current at the bottom of the Great Canyon is extremely strong in summer. If the Wall were built at a low point, it would be washed away by the water. Built halfway up the mountain, it would soon tilt and collapse. Built on the mountaintop... I wonder if the Commander has calculated this: the mountains on both sides of the Great Canyon rise over a thousand feet, higher than any point of the Wall, and serve as natural barriers themselves. If construction of the Wall began there, the difficulty would be equivalent to building countless Eyries, and the labor and resources required would likely match those needed to build another Wall."
Aegor was not satisfied with the explanation. "Then at least patrol routes could be made along both sides of the Great Canyon to aid the Night's Watch. The reports I received from the Shadow Tower soldiers are that there is no road at all. Everything must be cleared anew. Why is that?"
"There used to be roads, but after thousands of years, they have long since collapsed into the valley due to landslides and been carried away by the current. They are gone," Bran sighed deeply. "Speaking of the loopholes in the Wall's defenses, I want to tell you something else that has long been forgotten. Do you remember what I just said, that it is difficult for White Walkers to control wights across the Wall?"
Of course he remembered. At that time, Bran had also said he would explain the reason later, and now was clearly the "later" he had spoken of.
"I'd like to hear the details."
"Besides being a massive Wall that physically blocks Wildlings and monsters, the Wall is also a barrier of magic. White Walkers do not like to approach the Wall, which gives the impression that the Wall can 'counter White Walkers.' That is not an illusion, but I must add that countering White Walkers is only one of the Wall's secondary effects. The primary purpose of the magic woven into it is to shield against the power of the cold god that originates from the Land of Always Winter, the power that drifts in the air and sustains the existence of White Walkers and wights."
"That makes sense, but wouldn't it be better to seal off the Great Canyon as well? You are not going to tell me the power of the cold god is denser than air and sinks into the valley so it cannot penetrate, are you?"
Even with the wisdom of a Greenseer, the concept of gas density did not exist in Bran's mind. Yet, with the accumulation of knowledge from countless years, he quickly grasped Aegor's meaning and moved past it. "As the Commander of the Night's Watch, you should be clear about the distribution of the nineteen castles along the Wall. Which one is in the very middle?"
Nonsense. If he did not know the map of the Gift and the Wall by heart, what kind of Commander would he be? Aegor nodded. "If we are talking about the 'middle' in terms of numbers, then it is naturally Queensgate. Whether you count from east to west or west to east, it is the tenth. But if we are talking about the spatial distance from both ends of the Wall, then it is Castle Black. Even when the Night's Watch declined to its lowest point, this castle remained the headquarters, because the time it takes to send patrols from here to either end of the Wall is the same, whether on the ground or atop the Wall."
"A competent Commander, exactly right," Bran nodded. "So, if I am not asking about along the Wall, but from the Bay of Seals to the Bay of Ice, which castle of the Night's Watch is equidistant from the eastern and western coasts?"
Aegor opened his mouth, and before he could think, he already had the vague answer.
The westernmost section of the Wall was forty to fifty miles from Ice Canyon Port. Therefore, the castle equidistant from the two coasts must be just over twenty miles west of Castle Black. It was definitely not the adjacent Queensgate. Deep Lake, a little further west, did not seem right either. Further west...
Aegor's heart suddenly leapt. The final conclusion was indeed what he had already suspected. Wasn't the castle equidistant from the Bay of Seals and the Bay of Ice precisely the original headquarters of the Night's Watch, the place with the giant glowing weirwood and the Black Gate, the ancient fortress of the Black Brothers where he and the little Greenseer Bran now sat?
"Nightfort!" Aegor blurted out. "Damn, this means that when the order was first founded, the Great Canyon was indeed within the patrol area set by the first Night's Watch high command."
Bran's face was full of approval. "Exactly. I can also tell you that the energy source for the Wall's protection against the cold god and its power to drive away White Walkers is the giant weirwood embedded within the Wall at Nightfort, which has merged with the most powerful Greenseer in history. The stone base, carved with ancient runes and pressed under millions of tons of ice, gathers and confines its endless energy. That energy radiates outward in a circle... no, in a sphere, within a certain range inside and outside the Wall, shaping a magical barrier similar in form to the Wall, but higher, wider, and thicker. The physical Wall of ice and the 'soul' woven of magic together form this ultimate defense against death."
...
Aegor was utterly stunned. So that was it. Everything, absolutely everything, was connected. The Wall was not only the largest man-made structure in the world of Ice and Fire, but also the most spectacular magical artifact. It was a powerful "barrier generator," and that super weirwood was the energy core sustaining its operation.
The nine hundred and ninety-eighth Lord Commander of the Night's Watch gained a new understanding of this Wall that was nominally his. Yet Bran's narration continued. "Because the giant tree is closer to the western end of the Wall, the magic against the cold god is stronger in the western half than the eastern. At the Shadow Tower at the very end, this power even flows through the forest of weirwoods planted along both sides of the Great Canyon, extending outward for dozens of miles like an invisible Wall, closing that final gap and reaching into the Bay of Ice. Except for the faint traces that leak from high above and the distant sea, the Wall blocks all of the cold god's power beyond the Wall."
That vast weirwood forest covering the mountains and plains had originally been planted to make up for the Wall's absence at the Great Canyon, its purpose to complete the invisible Wall that shields against the cold god. Although the Wall had a physical gap, on the magical level, it stretched unbroken east to west, blocking the energy the White Walkers relied upon to the north, and creating a haven for the living.
Perfect, intricate, and unimaginably grand, Aegor was struck for the first time by the magnificent beauty hidden beneath the seemingly clumsy Wall. His first thought was that in the original tale, Daenerys had sacrificed her dragon to save Jon and ultimately destroyed the Wall... a decision so foolish and unforgivable that it was beyond belief.
After cursing silently, he felt more spirited. Having made countless preparations with foreknowledge, and with such a defense at hand, if he could not win this war, he would truly be worthless. What kind of Commander would he be then? He might as well drown himself with his own spit.
But the questioning spirit he had cultivated quickly raised another issue. "Then I have another concern. The Wall is difficult to destroy, but the weirwood forest is exposed. If the White Walkers burn it, would that not open a gap in the invisible Wall, this continuous energy field against the cold god?"
"They will certainly attempt that." Unexpectedly, Bran did not deny Aegor's thought. "But I must stress again that the weirwood forest covering the Great Canyon is only reinforcement, not the foundation of the... anti-cold god energy field, as you call it. As long as the Wall does not fall and the great weirwood remains, the magical barrier is complete. Even if the forest is destroyed, the cold god's power would only seep slowly through the weak point of the Great Canyon. White Walkers south of the Wall would still be weaker than those beyond it, and so long as handled properly, they can be defeated."
That was good.
The last doubt was cleared, and Aegor nodded with relief. Unfortunately, his mind was too quick, and he immediately thought of a deeper question that had long been buried in his heart. "You keep talking about the power of the cold god. What in the seven hells is that damned cold god... and R'hllor? You said there are no gods in this world. Are they, like you, simply beings who wield more extraordinary power?"
...
After a moment of hesitation, the young Greenseer finally admitted there was something he could not answer. "This, forgive me, I cannot explain. I have not encountered either of them, neither in spirit nor in flesh. What is certain is that they both exist, and their power is far beyond what I can perceive or test. But they are not the omnipotent deities their believers imagine. They are not human, perhaps some higher form of life. My suggestion is to avoid groundless speculation. Considering the possibility of the cold god personally joining this war is meaningless. If he were to act, aside from relying on the equally mysterious Lord of Light, all preparations by the Night's Watch would be in vain. Tell me, do you believe in prophecy?"
Again? How had the discussion of the cold god suddenly turned to prophecy?
Although puzzled, after many talks with Bran, Aegor had grown used to the Greenseer's style of speech. His topics seemed to jump about, but in truth, they followed a hidden logic and were never truly random.
This was not an examination, so without straining too hard, Aegor gave an answer that seemed moderate enough not to cause problems. "I think prophecy is something you listen to. You should not ignore it, but you should not take it too much to heart either."
Bran looked into Aegor's eyes, shook his head, and gave a shallow, unfathomable smile. "That is not wrong, but prophecies differ. Roughly, they can be divided into three types. The first type: curses and venting. If you believe, it exists. If you do not, it does not. A typical example: you offend someone, and he prophesies that you 'will surely die a terrible death.' No matter what, men die. In truth, whether you die early or late, the prophecy will not be the cause. But if you live every day in fear beneath that curse, you may indeed die young, just as foretold."
An interesting theory. Aegor nodded, thinking of the witch's prophecy to Cersei, that she would have a miserable second half of her life.
"The second type: when one has sufficient information, a deep understanding of the essence of things and the workings of the world, they predict the direction events will take through logic, calculation, and inference. Even if such prophecies are not always accurate, they often have considerable value. To ignore them would be a waste."
Aegor nodded again. The boy made sense, and there was no shame in admitting it. "Indeed... And the third type?"
"You must have heard the following. After a long summer, the stars will bleed, and the cold darkness will cover the world. In this terrible hour, a hero shall be reborn in the land of smoke and salt. He will wake dragons from stone and draw a burning sword from the fire. That sword is Lightbringer, the hero's red sword. He who wields it is Azor Ahai reborn, and he shall drive the darkness away."
"I have certainly heard it." To be honest, Aegor could not recite the entire passage word for word. "The priests of the Lord of Light and the followers of R'hllor spread it everywhere. It is one of the most widely known prophecies in the world today. What about it?"
"This is the third type of prophecy. It appears to be a prophecy, but in essence, it is a warning, an ultimatum, and a declaration of war—from R'hllor to the cold god." Bran lifted the cup of water from the bedside table, took a sip, and began to explain the prophecy as a Greenseer.
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)