WILOW-Ch.322: Sending Men to the Campaign
Lands Beyond the Wall
POV of Domeric Bolton
Domeric's astral projection flew over the vast lands of the true North and searched for the area ahead for the presence of a White Walker.
Upon arriving at Hardhome, he initially intended to travel north, towards the Land of Always Winter, but a green dream he had the night before setting off changed his plans.
Green dreams, unlike Dragon dreams, were not clear and consisted more of images and difficult-to-understand visuals.
Therefore, the only thing Domeric could understand was that a direction would lead him to what he was looking for: a White Walker.
And the direction in his dreams pointed southwest.
That's why they had been walking in that direction since the beginning of their journey, and Domeric saw the same images every night and continued his journey in that direction the next day.
But at the same time, he never neglected to scan both the lands ahead and the areas as far north as he could with his Valyrian Candle.
With the increase in his magical power thanks to the Dragon Lord Ritual and becoming a Greenseer, he was able to search in a larger radius, but he was still not able to find anything.
It was as if killing two White Walkers and tricking another one made them more cautious, and they went into hiding or something.
That made him wonder how many White Walkers there actually were.
During the last Long Night, there were hundreds of them. If these White Walkers were immortals, then there was no reason why that number would have decreased.
In fact, if the White Walkers had found a way to increase their number, then…
He felt someone shake his body, and he returned his astral projection to where it had come from.
His eyes opened, and he felt slightly disoriented for a moment. Then the disorientation went away, and he turned to look at Ygritte, who was giving him an apologetic look.
"A call from Lyra. She says it's important." She said and handed him the mirror.
He took it from her hand and looked at the mirror. Lyra was once again sitting on top of the Wall.
She had learned her lesson from last time and wore a thick leather jacket and a lot of clothes. She looked like a dumpling, but at least she was not shivering.
"Lyra," he said, not really pleased at having been disturbed when he was using the Valyrian Candle to search for the White Walkers.
"My lord. Letter from Lord Stark." She said and showed him a letter through the mirror. "He's calling the banners. Lady Barbrey asked how many men would be sent. She doesn't want to send too many because… You know the Lannister/Myr/Tyrosh alliance and the White Walkers."
He hummed and thought about it for a moment, "Send the 1st legion and Mocqo's horse archer unit. Add a total of 20 wargs and skinchangers. 40 direwolves and 30 Giants. General Bronn will be the commander of our forces."
"That's…"
"A third of our military force and half of our wargs, skinchangers, giants, and direwolves. I know. Also, add Vothora and Roghomyr to their group of skinchangers as well."
"You want to send the two with wyverns as well?" she said and hesitated for a moment. "… Are you sure, my lord? We won't have as much of an aerial advantage once the Lannister/Myr/Tyrosh alliance attacks us."
"That is why I'm leaving Varamyr, Orell, and half of our special forces back home. Varamyr has the largest wyvern, and truthfully, with all the preparations we've done and the Unsullied forces that Muron will buy, I'm not really worried about Regalis Port's defenses."
Lyra nodded and wrote down his instructions on a piece of paper.
"So… 7000 men from the 1st legion, 1200 men from Mocqo's horse archer unit, 20 wargs and skinchangers, 40 Direwolves, 30 giants, and Vothora and Roghomyr with their wyverns." She said and frowned, "That's… twice as many men as any other house in the North."
"That is a given. Our land has twice as many people living in it as any other house. And we're also far more prosperous. I also want to use this as an opportunity to build my Empire, and for that, I need to gain fame on the battlefield. Otherwise, I would secretly kill those leading this war and put an end to it." He shrugged, "Tell my aunt to send a great deal of food and other supplies to Moat Cailin. We'll create a supply line from there on our campaign down South."
She nodded, and he was about to cut the connection, but then she said, "Wait, wait… there's something else."
"What is it?"
"The princess is with child." She said.
"Myrcella?" he asked, confused.
"No, no… the Targaryen princess. Is the environment suitable for me to speak comfortably?"
"Yes, go ahead."
"I knew imposter mannequins could mimic anything humans can do, but getting pregnant...is it really possible for them to give birth to a child?" she asked.
"Not exactly. As you said, they can mimic almost everything humans can do. Ultimately, it's their survival mechanism. But even though they can get pregnant to make their roles more realistic, they can't give birth to a living child. What they give birth to is actually a fake child that looks like a stillborn. It's not a real human."
"Oh… So, the princess will ultimately have given birth to a stillborn."
"Yes. Keep an eye on them. And continue giving instructions to the mannequin according to the plans I gave you. I want everything to go according to plan." He said, "I doubt that the Beggar Prince would succeed in persuading the Dothraki Horse Lord to attack Westeros, but you never really know."
"Will do my lord. Anything else?"
"No. That will be all." He said. She nodded, and he cut the connection.
Ygritte sat down beside him and asked, "So… we are going to war?"
"We are." He nodded. He had not expected the King to die so soon, after he had given him warnings in Winterfell. But in hindsight, this was better than the King dying at the start of the Winter. That would have truly fucked up their situation.
She nuzzled his chest. "Are we going to the war as well?" she asked. "With me, you, Varko, and Raksa, we can do a lot of damage."
"We will go, if we manage to capture a White Walker." He said, "If we fail or take longer than anticipated, then General Bronn will have to hold out on his own for a while."
"Do you think we'll win this war?"
He thought about her words and shrugged, "Most likely. The wyvern, bottomless bag, and wildfire mudballs combination alone would be enough to destroy any army."
But as a precaution, he planned to go to Vale sometime in the future and put the madwoman Lysa Arryn under an Imperius.
Usually, he didn't like using the Imperius Curse because it wasn't a long-term solution. Its effect gradually diminished over time, requiring him to renew it constantly.
And Domeric didn't want to spend his time constantly renewing the curse on people he'd used it on, moving around from place to place.
Besides, those who were constantly exposed to the curse would eventually develop immunity.
But renewing the curse on Lysa a few times during this war wouldn't be too difficult for him.
And perhaps, if he got the chance, he could catch Petyr Baelish too. Domeric had some plans for him.
"Let's find this White Walker quickly, then." Ygritte said, "I want to join the war and minimize the casualties from our side."
"I'll try." He said and kissed her forehead.
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.323: A Lone White Walker
Ch.324: A... Normal Baby and the Northern Army
Ch.325: Catelyn Stark's Letter