Beauty and the Hound - Sandor Clegane

35 - A Fellowship for Winter

It's been a fortnight since Meela invaded the Boltons camp and it was now safe to say that they lost the Brotherhood's trail. That explained why everyone was calm and not over anxious.

The fire provided more warmth than they ever had that night. Most of them were asleep until it was only Meela and Beric still awake. Beric was chugging down some remains of self-made wine while Meela was staring at a distance, caught in her thoughts.

She missed her family. Missed Sandor. Missed Arya. Missed Sansa. Missed Jon. Missed her father. She didn't know how they were and what they were doing. All that ever crossed her mind was ' Did they survive today? Will they survive tomorrow? The day after?'.

Beric saw her dreaming in a distance and neared her, offering the bottle of wine. She blinked a few times, dawning to reality and looked at a smiling Beric. She smiled back, taking the wine and drinking it.

Her nose scrunched in disgust when she drank it. It tasted too strong and smelt too acidic but she wasn't complaining. Instead she kept on drinking. It was a prolonged silence for while and she knew both of them were enjoying the quietness.

After a while, she noticed Beric staring way too long at the fire and she tugged his shoulder.

'What are you doing?'
Her confusion only increased when he chuckled.

'Look into the fire, and you'll see what I see.'

She snorted, shaking her head and gulped more of the wine.

'I don't like bedtime stories, Beric.'

'I'm not lying Meela. The fire, it gives visions-'

It was her turn to chuckle, and it sounded more like a mock.

'And what does the fire show you?'
He kept quiet when she asked him, his face turned serious and she could feel the tension in the air.

'There is something out there, Meela. Something greater than us and it's coming. Summer is coming to an end and we can all feel it. The chills in the air. The cold. The shivers. It's not just the winter that worries me, it's what that comes with it. Something evil is out there and I'm afraid nobody can run from it...' he looks at her as he continued.

'Ned Stark always said it..'

Her face turned into a scowl at the mention of her uncle's name.

'Winter is coming,' she breathed and Beric nods as a sharp breeze hits them, sending shivers all the way down her spine.

'Yes. Now look at the fire..and see if it tells you anything.'

Her gaze never left his, looking at him intensely before her eyes dropped to the fire.

She saw nothing. Only fire. A matter she could never understand. Nobody could touch fire, yet it was the deadliest weapon. It could bring the worst pain that one could ever encounter.

The flames were beautiful. The orange and yellowish colour were a beautiful shade that could let one get lost in the flames just by looking at it. She could feel the the power it radiated from its warmth. The heat it offered. Not too much and not too less.

But as her stare stayed longer than it should, she noticed something. Something was happening. Something different.

A shape was forming.