The Dragons Of Ice & Fire

The Beginning Of The End

Daenerys

The sound of silence. It was the first time she experienced it. Nothing moved, no one moved. As she arrived at the ramparts and stood between Tyrion and Sansa, she looked at the battlefield. The army of the living was ready to defend Winterfell. Jon had reached the vanguard and spoke to his sister, words she could not distinguish from afar. Fear was in the air, fear of the unknown by almost everyone, fear of a possible beginning of the end. There was nothing visible on the horizon, for the mist had covered the view. Nevertheless, the vibrations of a thousand marching feet resonated and invaded her body. There was no mistake, the Army of the Dead was here and Jon was in the front row to face them. The moment Jon is in danger, I will not hesitate to ride Drogon to battle. No matter what they tell me, Jon cannot die. Sansa and Tyrion were amazingly calm. They had not seen the imminent threat that came with the sole purpose of exterminating them, or at least that is the only purpose they could understand.

Her whole body was shaking, but it was not because of the cold. Sansa noticed and grabbed her hand, trying to help her stop shivering and calm down. "Do not worry, your grace. We will win this battle. We have the men, we have the advantage and we have your children. Jon is a very experienced commander and he knows the enemy more than any of us". You know nothing of what is heading our way, dear Sansa. She looked down and breathed in deeply. Perhaps it was better if they did not know the gravity of the situation. They would be more confident in battle and not be paralyzed as she was at the moment. "You are right, Lady Sansa. We will be victorious". Tyrion moved his head forward as if trying to distinguish something in the distance. "They are here, my queen." When she focused her vision on the horizon, she saw it and as she looked around, the entire border around Winterfell was surrounded by wights. They were hurrying toward them. Jon saw them and turned to Daenerys with a look of pure fear in his eyes that quickly transformed into one filled with bravery and anger.

He began to turn his horse to address his soldiers. "The Army of the Dead is approaching and I know everyone fears the outcome of this battle. Let this be clear, I do not blame you. I see in your eyes the same fear that took over me when I first saw them, but we have an advantage. They are just remains of what once was a human... They have no purpose but to be controlled. We are living, breathing men and women willing to protect, not just our homes, our lands, our people, but life itself! Do not fight for Westeros, do not fight for Winterfell, do not fight for your Banners, and certainly do not fight for me. Do not fight for honor, do not fight for glory... Fight for every mortal you have ever seen alive, fight for those children that will never have children of their own if we lose, fight for not coming back from the dead as a slave, condemned to follow their control perpetually! We will not falter! Aye, it will not be an easy fight, but we have the numbers! From Unsullied to Dothraki, from FreeFolk to the proud Northern Houses! We have the largest and most diverse army of men Westeros has ever seen! And even then it might not be enough, but at least we will give those fuckers a fight! We will fight unsparingly til the last man, woman, dragon and wolf no longer draws breath!" The crowd started to root and shout after those words. Even the Dothraki joined, who probably only understood half of what he had just said. Jon was a leader, a true commander. How he could inspire these people to cheer when the army of the dead was advancing towards them, she did not know. He continued to move in the front or the army, speaking so loudly that she was sure he was being heard from everybody. "Show them no mercy, for we shall receive none from them! Maybe someday humanity will go extinct and be erased from Westerosi history, but today is not that day! Today we fight. They will hear the ring of our swords and they will know what we can do!" The crowd's battle cries made her believe in a bright future and she understood everything the soldiers were feeling. She was also ready to fight for the dawn.