The next day, before the first light of dawn.
The Shieldhall of Castle Black was already packed.
The fire in the great hearth roared, but it did little to dispel the heavy, oppressive atmosphere that filled the room.
Every ranking officer of the Night's Watch who could be present was gathered here.
With the exception of First Ranger Benjen Stark, who was still missing.
First Builder Othell Yarwyck, Master-at-Arms Ser Alliser Thorne, and several stewards responsible for logistics and defense were all present.
Their faces were grim, eyes sunken deep in their sockets. It was clear no one had slept a wink.
The events of the previous night had thoroughly shredded the illusion of peace they had lived under.
Lynn also sat at the end of the long table.
In the past, this would have been unthinkable.
A so-called deserter had no right to participate in a meeting of this level.
But now, no one raised a single objection.
Alliser Thorne didn't even dare to meet Lynn's gaze. He simply stared sullenly at the table in front of him.
Jeor Mormont sat at the head of the table.
He had changed into clean clothes, but the purple bruises on his neck were still shocking to behold, silently testifying to the peril of the night before.
Yet, there was no sign of fatigue on Mormont's face.
In his sharp eyes, a fire burned unlike anything seen before.
"You all know what happened last night."
Mormont's voice was exceptionally steady.
"Othor and Jafer Flowers... they turned into monsters."
"They feared neither steel nor pain."
"They... had become wights, creatures of legend."
The word "wights" caused everyone in the room to tense up instinctively.
Even though some had seen it with their own eyes, hearing the Lord Commander say the word aloud sent fresh waves of cold terror through them.
It was a fear carved into the bones of the First Men, a fear that had lasted thousands of years.
"This is no story. No legend."
Mormont's gaze swept across every face.
"It is fact."
"Beyond the Wall, our enemy is no longer the wildlings who drink blood and wear skins."
"It is the Others, and the army of the dead they command!"
The room fell into a dead silence.
Only the sound of heavy breathing remained.
"How many men do we have?" Mormont asked suddenly.
The portly Bowen Marsh opened the ledger in his hands.
"Lord Commander, counting the brothers at Eastwatch and the Shadow Tower, we have less than a thousand men capable of bearing arms."
"A thousand men?"
Mormont laughed, a self-deprecating sound.
"A thousand men to guard a wall three hundred miles long."
"It sounds like a joke."
Bowen Marsh thought for a moment before speaking.
"We need more men. More steel. More supplies."
"We must send ravens south immediately. To the King, to the Wardens, to every Lord, begging for aid!"
"Beg for aid?"
Alliser Thorne sneered.
His acidic nature seemed to return.
"Do you think those fat, soft lords in the south will believe a word we say?"
"They will only think we are a bunch of madmen with frozen brains, spinning old ghost stories to cheat them out of resources!"
"They don't even take the wildling threat seriously. You expect them to believe in White Walkers?"
Thorne's words were harsh, but they rang true.
The glory of the Night's Watch had long since faded.
In the eyes of the southern nobility, they were nothing more than a penal colony for criminals and bastards at the edge of the world.
"Then what do we do?" Bowen Marsh asked anxiously.
"How can we possibly hold back those monsters with just a thousand men?"
The room fell silent again.
An atmosphere of despair began to spread among them.
Just then.
"We can."
A calm voice broke the suffocating silence.
It was Lynn.
Instantly, everyone's eyes focused on him.
He had performed a miracle, and he was the first to confirm the existence of the wights. He had earned the right to speak.
"We can?"
Thorne looked as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world.
"Lynn, has killing wildlings gone to your head?"
"Do you know what you're saying?"
"I know."
Lynn stood up, meeting everyone's gaze calmly.
"I know we are few. I know we lack steel and supplies."
"But we also have our advantages."
"What advantages?" Thorne retorted.
"We know our enemy."
Lynn looked at each person in the room.
"At least starting now, we know them better than anyone in the south."
"We know they cannot be killed by normal means. We know they possess immense strength. And more importantly..."
Lynn paused.
"We know how to kill them."
He pointed to the dancing flames in the hearth.
"Fire."
Then, he tapped the Valyrian steel dagger at his waist.
"And dragonglass. And Valyrian steel."
Maester Aemon's ancient voice drifted through the air.
"The old scrolls confirm this."
"Dragonglass, and Valyrian steel forged in dragonflame, can deal fatal wounds to them."
Thoughtful expressions appeared on everyone's faces.
"So, what we need to do now is not send men south to beg for aid that will never come."
Lynn walked to the map, his finger tracing across the vast lands north of the Wall.
"We must take the initiative."
"Take the initiative?"
Mormont frowned.
"Lynn, you mean..."
"We can no longer be passive as we have been."
Lynn's voice grew resonant and powerful.
"We must send our best rangers deep beyond the Wall. To find traces of the wildlings, to find clues about the Others, to find anything that might be of use to us!"
"For instance, miraculous gifts bestowed by the Old Gods beyond the Wall."
"For instance, uniting with wildling tribes willing to ally against the Others."
Hearing the suggestion to unite with wildlings, the expressions on everyone's faces changed instantly.
But given Lynn's status as a "prophet" of the Old Gods, no one dared to pick a fight right then.
Even Thorne, who always clashed with Lynn, kept his mouth shut.
The suggestion was bold. Dangerously so.
One slip, and it could be branded as treason.
Mormont frowned. Fearing Lynn might say something even more radical, he quickly intervened.
"Lynn, the blood feud between us has lasted thousands of years. Let us set that matter aside for now. Do not speak of it again."
Lynn knew Mormont was trying to protect him out of kindness, so he wasn't discouraged. He nodded.
There would be time enough to unite when the Night King marched south.
He was just planting the seed; he didn't expect to persuade them all at once.
Lynn's gaze finally settled on the area marked as the "Haunted Forest."
He weighed his words carefully before speaking again.
The others remained silent, waiting for him to continue.
Combining the Frostheart Herb he had previously obtained with the human-skin map from the wildling chieftain...
Perhaps the marked spot on the map was where these miraculous plants grew!
However, Maester Aemon had said that the Frostheart Herb was most potent upon the first consumption. Otherwise, Lynn might have chosen to keep it all for himself.
Revealing this information would serve to boost his prestige within the Night's Watch.
But he wasn't going to give away benefits for free.
He had to get his share first.
Thinking this, Lynn spoke up.
"My Lord, I know the location of a place blessed by the Old Gods. I can lead men to find it!"
Everyone's breathing quickened, even Mormont's.
This wasn't a secret; they had heard the stories!
Some plants increased reflexes, others granted immense strength...
It was one reason why the wildlings could grow so strong.
If they could truly find the source of these blessed items, the strength of the entire Watch could skyrocket!
The threat of the dead would be invisibly lowered!
"Is this true?"
Mormont stood up in excitement.
Lynn nodded.
"I can't guarantee it, but I am fifty percent sure."
Fifty percent was enough!
Just as Mormont was getting excited, Lynn added a "but."
Mormont knew well what that word signified.
It meant that whatever came after "but" was the real point; everything before it was just hot air.
Lynn pointed to his own guards.
"But if I find those herbs, my men must have priority!"
"That is my condition!"
"Only after all of them have partaken, may the remainder be distributed as you see fit!"
Enough blessed herbs for a hundred men was no small amount. After his own men were satisfied, the Night's Watch might not get much.
But men are selfish creatures, and Lynn was no exception.
Upon hearing this, Torren felt moved to the point of tears.
Such a good Lord!
Where else could you find such a leader?
Mormont pondered for a moment, then nodded in agreement.
The other brothers showed no dissatisfaction either.
Lynn had discovered it, after all. And he had the men and the power to keep it all for himself if he wanted.
Yet, Lynn had chosen to reveal the secret.
This proved that Lynn was truly a man of honor who cared about the safety of all mankind!
They admired him too much to complain.
Besides, consuming more of the same herb had diminishing returns.
This meant everyone would likely get a share eventually. Why would they object?
Only a fool would object!
To do so would be social suicide in Castle Black, ending in isolation and scorn.
Seeing no objections, Lynn nodded with satisfaction.
Since he planned to control Castle Black in the future, even if the Watch gained significant strength from this, those benefits would ultimately belong to him anyway.
Thinking of it that way, he wasn't losing anything.
"This is it. I found it in a wildling chieftain's tent."
Lynn pulled out the map made of tanned human skin from his tunic.
He unrolled it on the long table.
Everyone crowded around.
When they saw the bizarre symbol in the center of the map, drawn in blood-red dye to look like an eye, they were puzzled.
"What is this?" Mormont asked.
Lynn explained, "The specific location."
"This place seemed very important to that wildling tribe."
"I believe this is where the herbs grow."
"I won't hide it from you all—I found a Frostheart Herb."
"It likely came from this very tribe!"