At the gate beyond The Wall, Garry, a senior Ranger of the Night's Watch, said to Wymar Royce:
"My Lord! The Lord Commander has already stated that we are not allowed to go out anymore. We've already lost more than ten brothers, and we can't risk searching for them any further!"
"Jeremy Lake and the others are our good brothers. How can I rest easy? They're only trapped in Whitetree Village. Cladas, Scholar Yimon's assistant, has already told me that they've received several Raven Letters for help these past few days, but the Lord Commander hasn't made it public. I have to go and see."
Wymar Royce said to the old Night's Watchman Garry, his tone filled with discontent, seemingly dissatisfied with his Lord Commander.
Then he turned his head and asked the more than ten Ranger warriors on horseback behind him:
"Is there anyone who doesn't want to go? Speak up now! The glory of House Royce doesn't allow me to forget my friends and brothers. Although I have abandoned my surname, I will always remember the Family Motto etched into my flesh and blood, 'Remember'. I will not forget my responsibilities or my brothers!"
"Praise you, 'Elegant' Wymar! We'll go with you!"...
The more than ten Ranger warriors behind him cheered at Wymar Royce. However, when he heard his nickname, the young son of the Earl frowned slightly.
Following his lead, everyone set off towards Whitetree Village. Garry glanced around, sighed with a touch of resignation, and then rode to catch up with the departing group.
Things had improved for the Night's Watch since they'd received help from Marco, but they were still short on fighting personnel.
After news of White Walkers started trickling out of the Haunted Forest, the Ranger patrols stopped entering the forest, on the orders of Lord Commander Jeor Mormont. Many Rangers no longer ventured deep into the Haunted Forest, preferring to patrol on the Wall's side. Even so, losses were inevitable, and some Ranger warriors still went missing.
Furthermore, some Night's Watch members kept lovers in Whitetree Village, which led many to disobey orders and sneak into the Haunted Forest.
Eventually, Ranger patrols were increased to over twenty men, which improved safety but also gave some soldiers opportunities to shirk their duties.
The most serious incident was when a veteran Ranger, Jeremy Lake, took more than ten men with him after a patrol and deserted the main force to go to Whitetree Village. They never returned. The Old Bear sent out two search parties, but they also vanished without a trace. Many said they'd encountered White Walkers in the forest.
Therefore, Jeor Mormont ordered the search to be called off. However, this order, intended to protect everyone, caused dissatisfaction among some Night's Watch warriors, who saw it as cowardice and believed it was all a Wildling conspiracy.
These Night's Watch warriors thought the Lord Commander had become confused, believing in the White Walker legends. Therefore, they refused to use Obsidian weapons during patrols.
The situation escalated, eventually leading to the formation of a secret organization called the Ironfist Brotherhood. They referred to the Rangers equipped with Obsidian weapons as "Glass Maidens."
Now, the entire Night's Watch was split into two factions regarding their strategy against the White Walkers. One group believed the White Walkers were real and that the Night's Watch had to defend The Wall, abandoning their previous risky expeditions.
The other group dismissed the White Walkers as mere legend, seeing them as a sign of the Wildlings' impending large-scale southward advance. They believed the Night's Watch needed to take the initiative, eliminating the growing number of Wildlings near The Wall to prevent them from uniting and causing irreparable damage.
The Old Bear, Jeor Mormont, was quite troubled by this. While he remained skeptical about the resurgence of White Walkers, the information Marco brought back from beyond The Wall, coupled with the evidence provided by House Umber, forced him to take the matter seriously.
Following the successive disappearances of Rangers, Jeor Mormont immediately ordered a halt to patrols around the Haunted Forest. He increased the patrol size from teams of three to companies of thirty, and nearly every member was equipped with an Obsidian weapon.
Inside The Wall, a group of mercenary knights hired by Marco, based in Aftercrown Town, constantly patrolled the areas near The Wall.
The Mammoth Marco had brought back from beyond The Wall were also stationed here. Marco invested heavily in their upkeep, rebuilding Aftercrown Town. Under Marco's influence, the once-abandoned town gradually prospered, and the population grew.
These Mammoths were uniformly managed and trained by ten Stoneborn skinchangers, who would form the foundation of Marco's future Mammoth Army.
When training the mammoths, these warriors also followed Marco's instructions to use the mammoths to cultivate farmland outside, which attracted a large number of refugees to Aftercrown Town.
Later, Marco's men learned from the Mountain Clans during a trade that there were several obsidian mines in the Mountain Clans. Marco, with a wave of his hand, directly transported a large number of craftsmen from Skagos Island to this place. Consequently, a large number of obsidian weapons, armor, clothing, and ceramic and glass products began to be sold from the workshops of Aftercrown Town to all parts of the North.
So in the end, Marco simply obtained the right to use Aftercrown Town from Castle Black in exchange for renting and selling goods at low prices. In fact, Marco's initial goal was just to use Aftercrown Town to raise mammoths and help the Night's Watch protect the rear.
It was just that he didn't expect that after throwing a few hundred gold dragons into it, this place would develop into its current scale. Moreover, Marco now didn't need to continue investing money in Aftercrown Town and Castle Black. On the contrary, after Aftercrown Town completed its monthly supplies to Castle Black, there would still be a lot of wealth left over.
So Marco waved his hand again and used all the remaining money to build trade routes. From the Shadow Tower to Aftercrown Town, then to Mole's Town, and finally directly to Eastwatch-by-the-Sea. However, this trade route is still under construction. If nothing unexpected happens, it is expected to be completed in the Year of Yigen 299. This road is only widening on the original basis, so the time spent is relatively short.
Just as the Old Bear got the news, Wymar Royce and the others also arrived near a small village in the Haunted Forest. During a break for the group.
Will, who acted as a scout in the team, habitually patrolled the surroundings. As he walked, he realized something was wrong. There wasn't a single person in sight, and there wasn't even any smoke from cooking near the village. It was already afternoon, and many Wildlings usually ate at this time, but now there was nothing!
"Caw caw..."
Underneath a dead sentinel tree, a large number of ravens had gathered. Their raucous calls startled Will. He had intended to investigate, but their noise made it impossible to observe anything properly.
He moved away from the large, dead tree and quietly climbed a small hill nearby. From there, he could observe the village not far away. What the young Night's Watch ranger saw was extremely strange: rows of Wildlings stood in the center of the village, their backs to him. They didn't move, just stood there motionless.
Will even saw a few naked individuals. Just when he felt something was wrong, the ravens not far from him suddenly began to caw and flew towards him at great speed, startling Will.
But when he looked back towards the village, he saw a face, half-rotted.
The right side of the face had half its flesh stripped away, a blurred expanse of black blood and pinkish-black flesh, appearing utterly disgusting. The eyeballs were also missing, adding to the terror!
"Ah!..."
Will's howl instantly pierced the forest, causing the Ranger squad, who were still gathered around a fire, to jump in surprise. Each of them hastily drew their weapons from their waists and quickly formed a defensive circle.
Next, everyone saw Will burst out of the forest. One of the Night's Watch rangers teased him, "Will! What's wrong? Did you see a big-breasted female Wildling? Is she going to steal you away to be her husband? Why are you running so fast?"
"Hahaha!"
Everyone burst into laughter, assuming he had encountered some animal that frightened him so.
Will was a poacher before joining the Night's Watch. He had served on The Wall for four years. His superb stealth and hunting skills were a great help to him when performing Ranger reconnaissance missions.
It was just that this guy was too timid, especially after his patrol squad disappeared a year ago. He had become a bit neurotic and would shout for everyone to run at the slightest disturbance.
Originally, he had not planned to come out this time, but he couldn't resist the persuasion and praise of the others, so he snuck out with this team.
"Run! Wights are coming!..."
Will shouted loudly at the crowd, and then he sidestepped, avoiding a figure that lunged at him from behind.
Only then did the others react, raising their weapons to meet him, trying to join him. Will shouted:
"Retreat! Retreat! They're already flanking us! Li…"
Before Will could finish, an Ice Spear shot from the west side of the forest towards the huddled group. Caught off guard, the terrifying spear pierced the bodies of two Rangers. Terrible cold energy erupted, instantly freezing them solid.
Immediately after, a large swarm of Wights surrounded them from all directions, numbering around 100 or so. They looked incredibly frightening; some of the Wights seemed to have just died, with viscous blood still oozing out.
At this moment, Will had rejoined the others. He gasped for breath and said,
"Quick! Quick! Use Obsidian weapons! I just used one to kill one of them. It's very effective! Hurry!"
Seeing some of his brothers staring at him with strange expressions, he realized what was happening and swore,
"FU*K! I knew I couldn't rely on you! Is it embarrassing to use this kind of weapon? What now? I only have one left!"
Wymar Royce's face flushed slightly upon hearing this, and he said helplessly:
"We have to break out now. There should only be one White Walker here. Otherwise, we would have been attacked already, just like those guys in the castle! We just need to find the right moment to kill it, and then these Wights will be finished! Everyone, listen to my orders! Break out to the west, using torches to lead the way! Hurry!"
Under Wymar Royce's command, everyone raised their torches and began moving west. Because the Night's Watch had always had people spreading the word about how to deal with White Walkers and Wights, the men weren't overly afraid.
Furthermore, the Rangers were quite numerous, so they were treating these creatures as if they were Wildlings. Of course, they were still terrified of actually fighting the Wights. So, they began their breakout with a mixture of fear and excitement.
After hacking down over a dozen Wights that had surrounded them, the Ranger squad's warriors began to break out to the west. Wights from other directions quickly converged on them.
The Night's Watch's warhorses had been scared off when the Wights appeared. In the chaos, the warriors couldn't calm the panicked beasts.
After charging over 200 meters, they saw the White Walker standing near the village. This White Walker looked old; its gaunt appearance made it terrifying. Seeing the Night's Watch warriors appear, it waved a large hand, summoning the Wights hidden in the village to attack.
It also threw an Ice Spear at the soldiers, but this time, everyone was prepared, so no one was hit.
"How is its weapon still in its hand? Didn't it attack us just now?"
Wymar Royce watched the ice spear hurled by the old White Walker, a strange feeling welling up inside him.
He quickly received a bloody answer to his question. A White Walker wielding two ice longswords suddenly leaped into the midst of the Ranger warriors.
First, it crossed its swords, lopping off the head of a Ranger. Then, in the astonished gaze of another warrior, it cut him in two!
In a matter of seconds, three warriors were brutally dismembered by this White Walker. Its strength and speed were terrifying; the Rangers were utterly slaughtered.
Without Obsidian weapons, the Ranger warriors couldn't harm the White Walker. Seeing this, Will roared and drew the Obsidian dagger from his belt, intending to avenge his brothers. However, Wymar Royce stopped him.
He shouted to everyone, "Listen, everyone! Run now! Our mission has failed. I've brought you all to ruin. Run...!"
But before he could finish, an ice sword pierced his throat, silencing all his words and regrets. With Wymar Royce dead, the Rangers scattered, each hoping that by doing so, someone might have a chance to escape back to Castle Black.