Alliser Thorne stared at the bizarre scene in the room, his brain struggling to process what he was seeing.
Lord Commander Mormont was slumped in the corner, disheveled, with clear finger marks bruising his neck—evidence of a violent struggle.
Jon Snow, the bastard, stood there like a fool, holding a burning rag as if his soul had left his body.
And then there was Lynn, the deserter he despised most, holding a strange dagger and standing over Othor's corpse.
The most disturbing part was Othor's eyes. They were not their normal color, but a deathly, clouded white, and there was a gaping hole in his throat.
"Lynn! You traitor!"
In an instant, Thorne's mind concocted a grand conspiracy of "traitor assassinates the Lord Commander."
Almost reflexively, he drew his longsword, leveling the tip at Lynn.
"You have some nerve! How dare you attempt to murder the Lord Commander!"
His roar prompted the confused Night's Watch brothers behind him to draw their weapons as well.
In a heartbeat, a dozen longswords were pointed at Lynn.
The tension in the room snapped tight.
"Hold!"
A roar of authority froze everyone in their tracks.
It was Jeor Mormont.
Supporting himself against the wall, he struggled to stand upright.
"Sheathe your steel!"
The Old Bear's eyes burned with fury.
The commanding presence of the Lord Commander forced Thorne and the others to hesitate.
"Lord Commander, but he..."
Thorne tried to argue.
"I said, sheathe your swords! Are you deaf, Ser Alliser?"
Mormont's voice carried an unquestionable command.
Thorne's face turned purple with rage.
He glared venomously at Lynn but, in the end, reluctantly slammed his sword back into its scabbard.
The other brothers followed suit.
"Just now... Othor. He came back to life."
Mormont's voice was heavy, every word squeezed out through gritted teeth.
"He tried to kill me."
"Lynn and Jon saved my life."
This statement hit the room like a boulder thrown into a still lake, sending waves of shock through every man present.
Came back to life?
Othor's corpse... actually came back to life?
Everyone's gaze unconsciously shifted to the body on the floor.
Their expressions morphed from suspicion to shock, and finally to undisguised terror.
"This... how is this possible?"
A young brother's voice trembled.
"How can the dead..."
"I saw it with my own eyes!"
Mormont cut him off, his voice trembling with the aftershocks of fear.
"Steel did nothing to him. He had the strength of ten men. He was no man! He was a monster!"
Thorne's face went pale, then red.
He looked at the corpse, then at Lynn.
He still didn't believe it.
It was too absurd!
It had to be some sort of sorcery he didn't understand!
"Lord Commander, this must be the deserter's doing!"
Thorne pointed a shaking finger at Lynn, his voice shrill.
"He used southern blood magic!"
"He controlled Othor's corpse and staged this whole play just to gain your trust!"
Hearing this, Lynn didn't panic. In fact, he was laughing inside.
This Thorne was truly something else.
Even at a time like this, instead of thinking about how to deal with the crisis, he was still trying to pin crimes on him.
What a pig-headed fool.
"Blood magic?"
Lynn sneered, finally speaking up.
His gaze pierced straight through Thorne.
"Ser Alliser, what kind of magic do you think can deceive the eyes of the Lord Commander?"
"What kind of magic can make a direwolf react as if facing its mortal enemy?"
Lynn pointed to Ghost, who was still guarding Jon, a low growl rumbling in his throat.
"Or perhaps you think that I, a so-called deserter, possess such power that I can pull the wool over the eyes of the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch right in front of him?"
Every word Lynn spoke was like a slap across Thorne's face.
Thorne was left speechless.
He couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation.
But he simply refused to believe!
He just knew there was something wrong with Lynn!
The Old Bear slammed his hand on the table in anger.
"Ser Alliser, I know you've never liked Lynn. I've seen how you act. But this crosses the line."
"Is this the time for infighting and slinging mud?"
"If I hear another word of this nonsense, Thorne, you will answer for it!"
The Old Bear made a decision then and there.
Something this big had happened; they would have to send someone to King's Landing.
He would send Thorne with the proof.
Get him out of his sight.
He was tired of looking at him!
Just then.
"Ahhh—!"
A blood-curdling scream echoed from the other side of the castle.
The sound was filled with absolute terror.
Everyone's heart skipped a beat.
"That's Maester Aemon!"
A brother cried out in panic.
"Quick! Go see!"
Mormont reacted first, bolting out the door.
The other brothers, forgetting their standoff with Lynn, scrambled after him.
Thorne shot one last hateful glare at Lynn before grunting, drawing his blade, and following the rush.
The courtyard was in chaos.
Torches flared everywhere as men of the Watch poured out of their barracks, faces etched with panic.
"What's happening?"
"Over there! Something's happened at Maester Aemon's!"
When Mormont and his men arrived outside Maester Aemon's chambers, they were stunned by the scene.
Torren and his thirty Northern soldiers stood with torches and swords, forming an impenetrable wall around the room.
Inside, another black-clad corpse was being devoured by roaring flames.
It was Jafer Flowers.
The body thrashed wildly in the fire, twisting and convulsing as it emitted sizzling sounds.
Its ice-blue eyes, eerie and bright amidst the flames, stared unblinkingly at the crowd outside.
Maester Aemon was being shielded by Torren and several soldiers.
The ancient Maester looked shaken, but surprisingly calm.
"It came alive."
Aemon's voice was old and raspy.
"Just now."
"It tried to attack me."
"Torren and his men stopped it with fire."
Everyone stood transfixed.
Watching the monster struggle in the flames, smelling the stench of burning flesh, a chill from the depths of their souls spread through every limb.
If they could explain away what happened in the Lord Commander's room as magic or hallucination...
What about this?
Two corpses, in two different places, resurrected at the same time.
This was no longer a coincidence!
Everyone's gaze involuntarily converged on the figure slowly walking up from the back of the crowd.
Lynn.
He wore the same calm expression, as if this horrific scene had been entirely within his expectations.
"Now," Lynn spoke slowly as all eyes turned to him.
"Does anyone still think this is magic?"
"Does anyone still think I am telling fairy tales?"
No one answered.
Alliser Thorne's face had lost all color.
He knew Lynn's words were directed at him.
But...
Looking at the wight twisting in the fire, and then at the composed Lynn, his body began to tremble uncontrollably.
Fear.
Damn it.
Everything Lynn said... it was all true.
Beyond the Wall, those monsters that existed only in legends...
They had truly returned!