Wolf's Blood | Daenerys Targaryen |

Chapter Thirty-One

Death

  Somehow the Night King had known their plans of sending the weak to the Riverlands. He had heard word that the dead in the crypts were raised by a White Walker and it was a slaughterhouse.

  The people who had died in the Riverlands were brought back North to be burned.

  Ser Jorah Mormont's body lies on an unlit funeral pyre. Daenerys looks down at his battered body, crying in mourning. She leans down and kisses him gently on the forehead. She then whispers something in his ear.

  Even with Donner's efforts of getting him off the ground, Ser Jorah has succumbed to his injuries. Donner stared at him with sorrow.

  On the same funeral pyre, Sansa weeps over Theon's read body, her hand on his chest. He had died after protecting Bran for nearly the entire battle with the other Ironborn. She steps back and takes the Stark wolf pin from her chest and secured it to Theon's.

  Donner can only stare at the dead bodies of Ser William Lannister and Poka. He takes deep breaths before dropping Poka's prized bo staff down next to him. He had found the weapon laying among the many after he was escorted outside with help.

  William’s eyes had returned to the signature green Lannister eyes. They stared up at the sky looking at nothing. Donner closed the eyes.

  He walked over to the other end of the funeral pyre where a familiar direwolf laid. Tears threatened to spill over as he untied his necklace, taking the wedding band off, leaving only the carving of Alice Jon had carved all those years ago. He carefully put the necklace around her neck, running his hand through her fur.

  A wight had managed to stab her in the neck with whatever blade it used.  He laid his head down onto her midsection, remembering how she had been by his side for years.

  Jon, Arya, Samwell, and Bran stand among the Stark men, some of which bear torches. Daenerys joins the crowd a bit further down next to Grey Worm, Varys, Missandei, and Tyrion. In front of them multiple funeral pyres in a grid. stark soldiers stand still, holding torches.

  Sansa finally returns to the somber crowd, joining her siblings. Even Ghost stands obediently in mourning. Faust lays on the ground with a sad expression in his eyes. Donner takes one final look at Alice before walking back to join his siblings. Jon steps forward to address those who have assembled, “We're here to say goodbye to our brothers and sisters. To our fathers and mothers. To our friends. Our fellow men and women who set aside their differences to fight together and die together so that others might live. Everyone in this world owes them a debt that can never be repaid. It is our duty and our honor to keep them alive in memory for those who come after us and those who come after them for as long as men draw breath. They were the shields that guarded the realms of men. And we shall never see their like again.”

  Soldiers and Wildlings hand torches to the Stark company and Daenerys. Donner picks up the snake. They fan out to various parts in the field to get one final look at their fallen comrades. Donner stares hopelessly at Poka. The snake holds itself forward as if to inspect Poka.

  Faust moves his body towards the floor and slithers away towards nearby brush. Donner only watched him go. He looks up to Daenerys who watches the flames spread under Ser Jorah.

  Donner walks around the pyre and places the torch under Alice's body. The living return to the cloud and watch as the flames rise higher. The air fills with a cloud of thick black smoke.

  He makes his way toward the stables, only to find one horse that had not been killed. He saddled up the horse before mounting it and riding out the front gates.