Loki: Winds of Winter

Chapter 15 - A Border Crossed

When Loki and Sansa returned to Westeros with Crown Prince Halden of Jotunheim and his bodyguard/fiancé, Tanaya, he could sense that something was off. Loki knelt down on the ground, his palm flat in the earth. Sansa observed him quietly, while Halden and Tanaya looked at the Unsullied guards who were glancing at them. "These are the Unsullied warriors of Queen Daenerys of Westeros?" Tanaya queried.  She had never been to Westeros and was curious about different forms of military units.

"Yes, dearest," Prince Halden answered. Tanaya looked at them and her hand strayed to her double-bladed spear strapped to her back.

"They'll be no need for that. They're concerned for the Hand of the Queen," Sansa explained quickly, kneeling down beside her husband. Loki had not moved or said anything at all. He appeared to be listening to the earth, but nobody knew why. Sansa placed her hand over his, interlocked their fingers, and used her own magic to see what he was seeing.

The Wall was what she saw. Sansa saw hoards of skeletons, creatures of a forgotten era all clawing through the ice, and the terrible thing was, they were almost through! Loki suddenly sent out a wave of green magical energy. After it dispersed, Loki came back to himself and stood up. Sansa supported him and he held onto her. "I just bought us some time. Tell the children we will need all of them. They'll be able to follow me. Rhaegal!" Loki called as he started running. All the Unsullied parted for him and for his emerald dragon. Rhaegal swooped down low and Loki swung up into the saddle. Sansa watched as he flew off. She shook her head.

"He thinks I'm going to play his messenger..." she muttered to herself, turning to her nephew. "Halden, have these guards escort you and Tanaya to the throne room and tell the queen what has happened. I'm going after him," Sansa explained. With that she signaled for the gates of the Red Keep to be opened. "Alfheim!" A large, black panther appeared and Sansa mounted up, riding her loyal pet towards the North.

"Well, it would seem that we're going to speak to Queen Daenerys of Westeros," Halden said to the Unsullied, who did not bat an eyelash at his and Tanaya's blue skin. The female was amused by their apparent lack of interest in her shading, but chocked it up to the fact that their Hand of the Queen being half Jotun and his children being hybrids.

"It would appear so, my prince," she responded as the Unsullied started to lead them to the throne room.

Loki knew the barrier was not going to hold up for long. He was doing his best to keep the Wall sealed, but he knew that the magic he was up against was old and powerful. It had been sleeping for several centuries, but that did not mean that it was any less potent. Loki felt the Jotun magic inside of him rebel at the ice power that was leaching from beyond the Wall. The Jotuns had a pure kind of ice magic; derived entirely from the natural element. This darkness had taken that and twisted it into something evil and Loki felt like he wanted to vomit. He wondered if Rhaenar could sense it; wondered if he had sensed it when he and Ragna had gone beyond the Wall the second time. It was insidious and seemed to be getting stronger. Loki felt the chill beginning to take hold the closer he got to the Wall. Loki had to call upon his Targaryen nature to actually heat his blood up. "I'll have to warn Helbindi this magic might try to harm his men. They must be ready," Loki told himself. Rhaegal snorted and Loki gave his dragon a look. "Vel, jeg er ikke bekymret for deg! Du er et magisk dyr! Du har mer motstandskraft enn en Jotun fot soldat. (Well, I'm not worried about you! You are a magical beast! You have more resilience than a Jotun foot soldier)" Loki said to his dragon. Rhaegal rolled his eyes and concentrated on flying.

Loki saw the Wall fast approaching and he soon caught sight of Castle Black. Loki had Rhaegal swoop down low and fly around the castle a time or two. "Pull your men away from the Wall! There's nothing you can do!" Loki shouted before he flew off. Eddison Tollett knew better than to question Loki and had the maester hastily scribble notes and send them on ravens to the other castles on the Wall.

Loki could sense that the break was taking place closer to Eastwatch-by-the-Sea where the Wall was not as thick as it was elsewhere. He could also tell that it was near an area where the Night's Watch was already spread thin and unable to properly maintain and monitor the Wall. Loki was surprised the Wight Walkers had chosen a location without any people; unless they did not want to risk survivors escaping and spreading the warning.  If there was nobody to see, there was nobody to tell. That was when a wave of icy blue magic that blasted out from the wall and Loki pulled on Rhaegal's spikes, slowing him down momentarily. The dragon did not take too kindly too it and continued to push through in the direction of the Wall, close to Eastwatch-by-the-Sea. "Rhaegal! Trekke tilbake! Det er en ordre! (Rhaegal! Pull back! That's an order!)" Loki commanded. The dragon still did not seem to like it and Rhaegal fought back against the command and Loki growled himself. "Rhaegal! Jeg sverger ... hvis dette er på grunn av, var Drogon snu med Viserion ...! (Rhaegal! I swear... if this is because it was Drogon's turn with Viserion...!)" Loki muttered under his breath. His dragon had become more a free spirit as his master's personality rubbed off on him. It was a repeat of Alfie, except involving a fire/ice breathing dragon. Rhaegal continued steadily onward towards the Wall and Loki finally allowed him, leaning forward in the saddle and closing his eyes. When they opened again, they were glowing green and suddenly all the birds flew in the direction of the Wall.

The Night King looked up and saw the birds and he raised a hand as if in greeting, but it was really a silent command to the archers in his ranks. They turned around and started firing at the birds. Some of them were hit and Loki would flinch when a bird went down. However, there were several birds that made it through and flew towards the gap they had made in the wall. One bird broke through the magical field that separated Westeros from..."Midgard?" Loki asked as the raven flew around the wintry forests of the Swiss Alps. There were already foot soldiers of the undead walking through the snow and down the slope. Loki commanded the raven to turn on them, shifting into a being of flames, and slicing through them, turning them into ash in an instant. I can't do this forever. I'm not even going to put a dent in them like this, Loki thought. He knew in the long run, his attempts were futile. He could only use this opportunity to monitor the Wight Walkers and see where they would go. "Midgard, you don't know what's coming."