If you want to read 4 chapters in advance, you can support me on patreon.
patreon.com/arcanedruid
.............................................…285 Ac
As I passed through the gates of Winterfell, a small smile formed on my face. I was finally home. I wish I could have come another way, but this was enough. Seeing the familiar courtyard brought back old memories. Brandon, Ned, Benjen, and Lyanna and I had played many pranks here. We were the nightmares of the entire castle.
Seeing familiar faces lined up in the middle of the courtyard made me even happier. Benjen was standing at the front. Right behind him were the most authoritative people after Benjen. There was Rodrick, the master-at-arms in Martyn's absence, and Vayon, the steward's son. The absence of the steward and the maester caught my attention. Behind them, the rest of the castle was lined up.
As soon as I dismounted, the entire castle stood at attention. I motioned for them to rise calmly. Benjen stood up and spoke. "My lord, the castle is yours."
I watched him for a moment. I studied his face. Little Benjen had grown up. Then I embraced him. He responded in kind. Then we parted silently.
Artos asked, "Are the vaults ready?"
Benjen replied, "They are ready. We can bury them whenever you wish."
It was already late afternoon.
"They will be buried tomorrow at noon."
Then he turned around and began introducing me to those behind him.
Benjen said, "Well, you already know everyone here. Sir Rodrick is filling in for Martyn as master-at-arms. Vayon was appointed steward two years ago, replacing his father, who died in a sudden fire."
Artos asked, "Where is the maester?"
Benjen replied, "Maester Walys fell down the stairs and died during the rebellion. We requested a new maester from the citadel, but he has not yet arrived at Winterfell."
Artos: "Everyone return to your duties. Later, my father (I paused and hesitated). See you at my solar. I want a full report on what happened at Winterfell while I was away."
Then, as the people in the courtyard dispersed, we set off for the lord's solar.
..........................................…..
Benjen was reporting on what happened at Winterfell during the rebellion, and Ned and I were listening to him.
Benjen said, "That's all for now. Nothing else out of the ordinary happened."
Even though Benjen said everything was over, it was easy to see that something was bothering him.
Artos asked, "What's bothering you?"
Benjen replied, "Are they really going to stay here?"
It didn't take a genius to understand what he was saying, but I pretended not to understand anyway.
Artos said, "Many people will stay here, Benjen, and that's a very broad definition. You'll need to be a little more specific."
Benjen looked angry. That was good; anger could be channeled. Pure hatred was more problematic.
Benjen: "Stop pretending not to understand. I'm talking about the Targaryens."
Artos: "Yes, they'll stay, and they'll be treated as guests, not hostages."
This seemed to anger Benjen even more. Even Ned looked angry from his corner, though he'd had time to get used to the idea.
Benjen said, "But they killed my father and Brandon. His husband took Lyanna."
Artos said, "As you know, those who did this were Aerys and Rhaegar, and both are now dead."
Benjen said, "Still, do they have to stay here?"
Artos said, "Yes, they have to stay here."
Benjen: "Why???" He had stood up and was now shouting at me.
I simply looked at him with an expressionless, icy stare. Benjen sat back down hesitantly, perhaps because my gaze reminded him of my father, or perhaps for some other reason.
Artos: "Is that all?"
Benjen: "I apologize. I shouldn't have spoken that way."
Artos said, "It's okay. I understand. Many people question the decisions I make, but they, you, and Ned don't know what I know."
I gave him some time to calm down. When he finally did, he began to speak.
Benjen asked, "So what do you know that we don't?"
I hesitated for a moment, but not for long. I had already decided to tell them at the right time.
Artos said, "What I'm about to tell you stays in this room, understood?"
Both nodded in agreement.
Artos said, "Tell the guard outside to go to the end of the corridor and not let anyone except Alyana into this corridor."
As Ned stepped outside the room to relay my orders, I heard the sound of a chair scraping across the floor. A few seconds later, he returned to his seat.
After gathering my thoughts for a moment, I pointed to the bookcase in the corner and began to speak.
Artos, "The first thing you need to know is that there is a secret passage behind this bookcase. The passage leads to a windowless room. The room contains many books and records, including copies of various agreements made with the Northern Lords, records of historical events not mentioned in any books, and most importantly, prophecies. Traditionally, only Lord Stark and his heir know about this room. Do you have any questions so far?"
Benjen: "If only the lord and his heir know, how do you know?"
Ned: "And if only the lord and his heir are supposed to know, why are you telling us?"
Artos: "You know that Brandon and I used to switch places often when we were children. We also switched places during the lessons my father gave Brandon here. When my father discovered this, he was truly angry, but there was nothing he could do. After that, I started attending those lessons. As for why I'm telling you this, if I had died in Essos, no one would have known the location of the room until a lucky servant activated the mechanism while cleaning and revealed the secret passage." "The information inside is truly important, from secret agreements made behind closed doors with various lords to the secrets of various houses. That room is one of the foundations of House Stark's power, I couldn't risk losing it. I'm sure you'll tell my son about it in the event of my sudden death."
My last words seemed to make them a little emotional.
Ned: "Don't say I'll die early."
Artos: "I'm inclined to live a long time."
Artos: "As for his connection to Princess Elia and her children, that room doesn't just hold records of agreements. I mentioned prophecies, didn't I?"
Benjen: "Prophecies?"
Artos: "There have been many greenseers in our family's history. The information they gathered or received from reliable seers is collected in that room. Some have already come true. Some are still waiting for their time, and some, I hope, never will."
Benjen "Does our family have prophecies about the Targaryen family?"
He began to make the connection.
I leaned back and continued.
Artos "First, what do you know about the Conqueror Aegon?"
Ned: "As everyone knows, he conquered all of Westeros except Dorne with his three dragons and two sisters. The North surrendered without a fight." Ned's voice grew quieter toward the end.
Benjen: "Are you saying that King Torrhen surrendered because of a prophecy?"
Artos: "Partly. Conqueror Aegon, like his ancestor Daenerys, saw dragon dreams. In his dreams, Conqueror Aegon saw a great darkness coming from beyond the Wall, first taking over all of Westeros and then the entire world. According to him, to escape this fate, all of Westeros must first unite and a Targaryen must sit on the Iron Throne. Of course, our ancestor's kneeling had a great influence on the dragons."
As I finished my sentence, a deep silence fell over the room. I let them process what they had heard for a moment.
Benjen said, "Do you want to put them on the throne?"
Before Benjen could finish his sentence, Ned spoke up.
Ned said, "Are you going to betray Robert? You knelt before him. You swore an oath."
Benjen adopted a more neutral expression, while Ned looked angry. This boy's loyalty and love for Robert would be a problem.
Artos said, "No, I have no such intention."
This seemed to calm Ned down a little.
Benjen said, "But the prophecy."
Artos said, "First, prophecies don't always come true. It's better to think of them as warnings rather than absolute truths. Second, the prophecy only says that the person sitting on the Iron Throne must be descended from Aegon the Conqueror, and even though our new king chooses to ignore this, he carries Aegon the Conqueror's blood through his grandmother. Thirdly, the prophecy speaks of a prince or princess, not a king. Therefore, as long as the Baratheons do not botch things up or the situation becomes hopeless, I have no plans to restore the Targaryens to the throne. This is more of a precautionary measure, nothing more."
This seemed to calm Ned down. Benjen had reluctantly agreed as well.
Ned: "What do we know about this enemy?"
Artos: "This is a complex question, and to understand the context, we must go back to very ancient times. First, what do you know about the Age of Heroes, the Long Night, and magic?"
Ned: "The Age of Heroes is the oldest known era, when magic was still powerful. Miracles were everywhere, and some say that gods walked among us in that age. The Long Night was a night that lasted an entire generation, according to legend. The White Walkers or others came with their armies of the dead and tried to conquer Westeros. They were eventually defeated and banished to the far north, and Brandon the builder built the Wall to protect Westeros against their return. Legends say that he had help from giants and the children of the forest."
Benjen said, "When it comes to magic, it disappeared from the world along with the death of the dragons, but even in its heyday, it was said to be a double-edged sword."
Artos said, "That's not entirely wrong, but it's incomplete. First of all, some of the things I'm about to tell you were found in the secret room, but some were discovered through my research during my travels."
Both of them nodded like cuckoos.
Artos said, "Let's start with magic. Magic is performed using an energy called ether. Just as fire needs wood to burn, magic needs ether. There are many ways to obtain ether, but the most significant source is ley lines. You can think of ley lines as imaginary lines that continuously send ether to our world. In the age of heroes, ley lines were powerful, and the world was filled with ether. At the peak of this power, decay came along with it. In the Far East, in the Dawn Empire, the Tiger Emperor forcibly seized the throne of the Amethyst Empress and committed unspeakable sins, but he did not stop there. The Tiger Emperor began to worship a foreign god who was not from these lands. His name was the Great Other. The Great Other made deals with many dark, evil, or simply greedy creatures and granted them great powers. Thus, the Long Night began. The Long Night was actually the war between the gods of this world and the Great Other. The war engulfed the entire world, so almost every culture has its own Long Night legends. In Westeros, this war manifested itself as the Others and the White Walkers. Contrary to popular belief, the White Walkers and the Others are not the same beings. The Others were another magical race, like the children of the forest, living in the frozen continent of the far north. They made a pact with the Great Other and created the White Walkers. The White Walkers helped them overcome their numerical disadvantage thanks to their ability to raise the dead, but remember that even the strongest White Walker was actually a slave.
Both of them listened to me breathlessly. I drank a glass of water to quench my thirst and continued.
Artos said, "We tried to resist, but we lost every time. Until the final battle—this was not just the final battle in Westeros, but the final battle in the entire world. Legends say that the gods descended to Earth and fought. In the end, our gods won the victory, and the Great Other was defeated, either fleeing or dying. What happened doesn't matter. What matters is that when the Great Other was defeated, all the White Walkers vanished, along with their armies of the dead, though not before causing great damage. The ley lines were so severely damaged that they entered a state akin to hibernation to heal. Since then, magic has been waning in the world. Our ancestors drove the others back to the far north and reclaimed all the lands. Later, they formed a council and summoned their most powerful seers. They asked them whether the others and their armies of the dead would return. The seers looked into the future and saw armies of the dead invading Westeros. Thus, our ancestors built the Wall and established the Night's Watch. They should not have done that."
I took a deep breath and waited for them to digest what I had said.
Benjen was the first to speak. Even before I went to Essos, he had always been fascinated by the Night's Watch. Perhaps this story about how the wall was built caught his interest, or maybe my last words had annoyed him a little.
Benjen said, "What do you mean by not establishing the Night's Watch? Isn't a massive wall and army that will always protect Westeros a good thing?"
Artos said, "The old Gorgan of Ghis wrote about prophecies. A prophecy is like a treacherous woman. She takes your organ into her mouth, and you moan with pleasure, thinking how sweet, how beautiful, how good it is, and then her teeth close, and your moans turn into screams. That is the nature of prophecy. The prophecy bites off your penis every time."
Ned: "And I suppose we'll soon come to the part where the prophecy bites off our penises."
Artos: "Exactly. Everything happened during the time of the 13th Lord Commander of the Night's Watch."
Benjen: "The one who declared himself king."
Artos: "There's more to it than that. Even though magic was beginning to weaken at that time, it was still powerful. Naturally, the lord commander and all the kings of that era were powerful magicians. The lord commander met someone who was said to be the queen of the others. He fell in love with her and learned from her. He successfully transformed himself into a whitewalker. He became the first free whitewalker, the first whitewalker who was more than a mindless puppet."
Ned: "Fuck."
Benjen: "Definitely a big fuck."
Artos: "So the prophecy bit us in the ass. It would have been even worse if the Stark king of that era and his allies hadn't stopped the Night King. The entire continent would have been destroyed before him. Rituals are very important for sorcerers to gain power, but the number of rituals one can perform is limited. This depends on the soul and body of the creature. Giants can perform up to five. Humans can perform seven, and some types, like the children of the forest and others, can perform nine."
Benjen: "Does that mean a human will always be weaker than a child of the forest?"
Artos: "No, rituals can be performed for different purposes. For example, one ritual might grant you the power to create and control fire. Another might allow you to increase the amount of ether in your body. Generally, a wizard's power depends on multiple factors. The amount of ether is one of them, but it is not everything. Ether can also be increased through training. The problem here is that the Night King had already performed seven rituals before becoming a whitewalker, and the ritual that turned him into a whitewalker was the eighth ritual."
Ned: "But you said that people can only perform seven rituals."
Artos: "True, the Night King broke that rule. Our ancestors thought it cost him dearly, but they weren't sure. The real problem is the ninth ritual he wanted to perform."
Benjen: "What else could that bastard have wanted to do?"
Artos: "To become a god. I told you there was more than one source of ether, didn't I?"
Both nodded in agreement.
Artos "Another source is the weirwoods, which constantly emit a certain amount of ether into the surrounding area. The weirwoods south of the Wall provide ether to the castles they are in to maintain any magic within them. They also send all the remaining ether to the Wall. The Night King wanted to destroy the Wall and use all this ether to perform a ritual that would make him invincible."
Both of them took a deep breath at this point.
Artos said, "This is where the Stark king of the time came into play. The builder Brandon was extremely cunning. That's why, while building the wall, he connected Winterfell, the Stark bloodline, and the wall to each other. If Winterfell and the Stark bloodline were destroyed, the wall would collapse. Similarly, if there was a problem with the wall, House Stark would notice it early on."
Ned: "This must not have been well-received by the other kings."
Artos: "Ah, yes, they certainly didn't like it. Frankly, I would have loved to see their expressions when they discovered it."
Benjen: "I don't understand what you mean."
Artos: "Benjen, Winterfell's location in the north is extremely critical. In fact, it's so critical that attacking any point in the north would be very easy. Naturally, it is extremely easy for the house that controls Winterfell to rule the north. By doing this, Builder Brandon almost guaranteed that his family would rule the north. After all, if the Stark line dies out or there is no Stark in Winterfell for a long time, the wall will fall."
Benjen now seemed to understand. He whispered quietly, "There must always be a Stark in Winterfell."
Artos said, "Exactly. Anyway, thanks to this connection, the Starks discovered the Night King and, with the help of their allies, drove him from the Wall, but they couldn't kill him."
Ned asked, "Wait, are you saying that the Night King is our great enemy? But thousands of years have passed. Wouldn't he have died by now?"
Artos said, "According to our records, the more powerful a wizard is in terms of ether, the longer they live. Magical beings like the Children of the Forest can live even longer—a Child of the Forest could live between 5,000 and 6,000 years. Who knows how long the Night King's life was extended when he turned into a whitewalker. Besides, what does it matter if our enemy is the Night King or one of his descendants? Don't forget, he also had a queen."
Ned asked as he poured himself a glass of water. "Do we have any idea when the attack will take place?"
Artos replied, "Within 20 to 30 years."
Ned spit out the water he was drinking, while Benjen stared blankly.
Benjen stammered, "20 years?"
Ned asked, "How do we know that?"
Artos replied, "I mentioned at the beginning of the story that the ley lines were damaged, causing them to enter a state similar to hibernation."
Both nodded as if to indicate that they remembered, but it was clear that they did not understand the context.
Artos continued, "During this entire time, the ley lines have been healing. They will soon be fully healed. When that day comes, the gods will announce it with a red comet, and magic will return to this world. This will be the perfect time for the Night King to attack. While he possesses all the power of the old days, we will be ignorant and uninformed."
Ned "Can't we stop it? Or delay it? The return of magic?"
Artos said, "Can you stop the sun from rising? Or winter from coming? What you need to understand is that this is a natural phenomenon, a part of nature, and it cannot be stopped. But don't worry. I have my own cards to play."
Ned asked, "What are those cards?"
I told them about the magical library in my mind and what I knew about magic.
Benjen: "So you have a library in your mind containing information about magic?"
I think it will be easier to show them.
I took a piece of paper and visualized what I wanted to happen. A moment later, the ether in my body flowed onto the paper, and words began to form. Ned and Benjen were speechless with astonishment.
Artos said, "One of the new abilities I've discovered with this library is that I can transcribe a book I've read onto a blank piece of paper."
This seemed to finally convince both of them.