Shadow of the Dragon Queen

10.

"I suppose it must be frustrating, not being the largest man in the group anymore." I say to Tormund with a small grin, motioning to the Hound. Tormund shoots a glare at me before looking back to the second massive man before us.

"He may be big, but I could take him in a battle." He says, I laugh and he smiles at me. His eyes suddenly widen and he engulfs my body in his own, pulling me away from an oncoming polar bear. "Look out!" The rest of the group looks in fear at the bear turns to face us, his body riddled with gapping, rotting wounds. I watch as the Men without Banners light their swords ablaze with some sort of magic, I pull my own sword from my hilt though Tormund refuses to move his body from in front of my own.

"It's a walker!" Jon shouts, quickly looking to ensure my safety. The group of us begin to battle the undead creature, it takes snaps at each of us as we swipe our swords. The bear suddenly pounces on the Hound, Thoros quickly draws the bear off him and is savaged himself by it. I run past Tormund and raise my sword above the bear's neck, plunging it deep within its skin. The bear suddenly crumbles to ice and falls to the ground, I look back at my sword in shock.

"How did you do that?" Beric says, walking to examine my sword.

"Valyrian steel." Jon says, comparing it to his own. "I killed a walker once like that with my own sword." A proud smile grows on Tormund's face and he nods at me. The Hound and Beric lift Thoros to his feet and we continue on.

"You saved my life." I say to Tormund, he grins and looks away from me.

"I told you I would protect you, princess." He says, I place a hand on his arm and meet his eyes.

"Thank you, Tormund." A small group of rocks forming a cave comes into view, Jon leads the group towards it.

"It's best we make camp. We won't be able to take on the walkers if we're all exhausted, and Thoros' wounds need attention." He says, I nod in agreement. He walks to me and checks my arms. "You're alright? Didn't take any hits?" I grin at him.

"I'm a Targaryen, Jon Snow, it will take more than a bear to kill me." He laughs and nods in agreement. I follow the group into the cave and Tormund lights a fire, Beric begins attending to Thoros. I watch as the sun sets beneath the horizon and feel my eyelids begin to droop. I lower myself onto the stone ground, warmed by the fire, and lay to rest. Just before I succumb to sleep, I watch Tormund remove his top layer of fur and drape it over me.

...

My eyes flutter open to see Tormund sitting beside me, fallen asleep with dagger in hand. The fire has since extinguished, everyone lays asleep around me. I slowly stand, moving to drape Tormund's fur across his legs, and see the Hound standing at the cave's entrance. I walk to him, barely making a sound as I arrive beside him.

"Did you get to sleep?" I ask as I gaze out onto the snow covered horizon with him.

"Don't sleep much anymore, your highness." He says, not looking at me.

"Thank you for keeping watch." I place an arm on his forearm and he looks at me in surprise. I smile at him and walk further into the cave, he stares at me for a second more before returning his gaze to the wilderness.

...

"There." Jon says, pointing to a group of wights accompanying a white walker ahead of us. Together we ambush them, Jon destroys the white walker and the rest of the wights fall to ruin around us. I stare at it in confusion as the rest of the group captures the only survivor. Why did they all fall when the walker was destroyed?

My thoughts are interrupted when the wight lets out a shrieking scream, the rumble of thousands of footsteps following. Jon turns to Gendry who looks at him in fear.

"Get back to the wall, send a raven to Dragonstone." Jon says, Gendry doesn't hesitate before sprinting from us. Tormund grabs my arm and pulls me along with him as the army of the dead comes into view behind us, traveling through the snow like an avalanche. He pulls me through a partially frozen lake onto a small island, Jon breaks the edge and creates a barrier of frozen water between us and the army of the dead. I collapse onto the ground and watch as they surround us, a group of white walkers and the Night King himself arriving on the high ground.

"What do we do?" I ask, Jon looks at me with fear in his eyes.

"We wait, Daenerys is our only chance now." He says.

...

I watch as the others cremate Thoros after he succumbs to his wounds in the night, Tormund sits against the wall and stares at the army around us. I shiver within my furs as I look up at the Night King, his gaze remains on me. I finally give into the thought consuming my brain and sit next to Tormund, pressing myself against his warm body. He looks at me in surprise before letting out a small laugh and wraps his arm around me.

"Your body is so warm, how did you ever become so accustomed to this cold?" I ask in disbelief.

"Life in the south has not prepared you for a journey like this, Rhaenyra Targaryen." He tells me, I roll my eyes and rub my hands together. I sit beside him for some time, feeling my eyes begin to slide shut at the feeling of his warmth.

...

"Rhaenyra, wake up." Tormund urgently says, I shake myself awake and look to see the first wight test the slowly refreezing water. I pull my sword from its hilt as they all carefully follow, realizing the water has become solid once more. I look in fear as they all quickly close in, Tormund takes a step in front of me.

We fight with backs against one another as the dead surround us, my sword of Valyrian steel cutting straight through them. The sound of a dragon comes from above as Drogon tears through the wights with a blaze of fire. I watch as Rhaegal soars down beside him, killing the dead around me. I suddenly notice as the Night King takes a large spear into his hand and realization dawns on me.

"Beric give me your bow." I say, he looks at me in confusion as they climb into Drogon. "Just do it!" He does as I say and Tormund and I climb onto Rhaegal. He soars into the air as the Night King readies his arm. I move into the Dothraki stance, one they take atop their horse to fire their bows, and ready an arrow. Just before the spear leads his hand, I fire an arrow at his wrist. He is thrown off balance and the spear misses its mark.

"Go! Go now!" I hear Jon shout, I watch in horror as he falls from Drogon's back and stands to fight the wights. Drogon obliges before Daenerys can protest and we soar away from the massive army. Tormund places a hand on my arm as I watch in disbelief as we leave Jon Snow behind.