Secret Flames (Sandor Clegane)

Chapter 39

The warning bells rang all over the city the night the dead arrived. Tallulah had been cuddled up in bed with Sandor, trying to take in one last moment together. Closing her eyes, she had tried to focus on the feel of his skin, the way his chest moved up and down with each breath and even the scent of his body, a mix of old spices and wood bark. She made a promise to herself to never forget that smell.

When the sound of bells echoed through their room though, she knew the time had finally arrived. Quickly, jumping from the bed, she began to dress and tied her hair back.

"We will each other again. I know it," she whispered as he walked over to her and cupped her face.

"Aye," he smiled through sad eyes as they kissed one last time.

Once outside, she quickly found Arya and Jon. Arya knew what she had to do, and went to help ready the other men that waited for battle upon the walls of King Landing. She and Jon then departed the city on horseback. The dead were not insight yet and it gave them just enough time to reach their hiding spot in the woodlands that surrounded the city.

"The other night, when Arya asked you, why me. How do you know I am the one that has to kill the night king?" Jon asked her as they perched in the trees high above the road which lead to the city.

"A dream," she replied and turned to face him. "You were brought back into this world Jon. A gift such as that does comes at a price. You have to pay your debt, and that is to kill the one which could end us all,"

Jon looked away for a moment, seeming to think on her words until he finally nodded and looked back. "I cannot apologise enough for the way I have behaved. Making the same mistakes as the man I thought my father. Acting like a boy and not a man which others looked up to. I should have listened to you Tallulah, heard your truths. The truths of my true Queen,"

"Jon," Tallulah sighed.

"No, it is true. If it was not for you... I can hardly speak it, but we both know of what I speak of. That is why I will follow your orders and believe this dream of yours. But Tallulah, if I... if I do not make it... I must ask one last thing of you. Protect my sisters. You are the only one that can."

Below them, in the darkness, the army of the dead rushed down the kings road and towards the city. Within minutes they manage to reach the city walls and Arya screamed for the wild fire.

In a blast of raging green light, the flames explode around the walls, instantly burning any of the dead that had neared them. Back up top, Sandor stood alone, trying to control his inner fear as the task before him unfolded.

"Prepare your arrows!" Voices echoed across the walls as the dead continued to march on them.

"Hold.... hold.... FIRE!" Arya screamed and at that exact moment a wall of flaming arrows began to rain down over the wall.

Back in the Woodlands, Tallulah finally spots the Night Kings with his 12 commanders. Silently, she pointed her sword in their direction and Jon nodded.

Like silent spider monkeys, the pair jumped from tree branch to tree branch until they were finally stood over them.

"I shall jump down first and block the commanders with my fire. When you have a free shot of him, charge jon, charge and do not stop." She whispered.

Back on the walls of King Landing, Tallulahs plan seemed to be working. The dead kept charging towards them, but they were stopped by the fire and the flaming arrows from above.

"Its working!" Arya cried out.

Sandor was stood a few meters further down the wall, leading another group of men. Somehow, a stray arrow had been released and landed in a mini explosion of fire just before his face. Sandor instantly stumbled back, unable to take his eyes of the terrifying flames, until he fell back into what he initially thought was a stone wall.

Quickly, turning around he released it was not a wall at all, but the large deformed body of his younger brother. Between the fire, war cries and fighting, a switch seemed to flick inside his mind, he was no longer scared. Now he was pissed.

Reaching down for his long sword which sat at his hip, Sandor quickly spun around to swing it towards his brother. The beast looking monster somehow managed to grab it in mid air though and snapped it with his bare hands. Yet, still raging with anger, Sandor began to pound his fists into his brothers face and body. The impact of the hits managed to push him further back and gave Sandor a brief moment to reach for his blade. Roaring with rage, he reached up and slammed the sharp blade into the side of his head.

Smiling, he believed he had finally ended the rain of terror his brother had caused. Stepping back in exhaustion, he laughed wickedly and leant back on the wall. This moment of relief was quickly shattered though, when Gregory suddenly reached for the blade and slowly pulled it from his skull.

"How?" Sandor whispered in disbelief.

With no time to think of the impossible was happening before his eyes, his brother began to step closer to him. Sandor was exhausted though and had nowhere to run. Dodging each attack, he continued to fight for his life until Gregory finally reached out for him.

Gripping his head like a childs play ball, he began to apply greater and greater pressure as he lifted Sandor off the ground. Roaring out a wild war cry, sandor tried to reach his brothers face and push him back but it was no use. He was going to die.

Suddenly, a flaming arrow flew through the air and smashed through the side of Gregory's head. The attack had obviously caught him of guard, and he quickly dropped Sandor to ground. With his head pounding with pain, sandor quickly looked over to see who had saved his life and saw Arya smiling back at him.

"He was on my list. Now finish him," she shouted out before returning to command the men with the release of arrows on the dead.

Bleeding, but smiling, Sandor reached out for a iron cub, which lay on the ground next to him, and slowly pulled himself up with a new found strength.  Roaring again in pure anger, he began to pelt the iron club into the ribs and head of his brother. Each hit caused him to stumbled back towards the edge of the wall where the flames of wild fire flickered up towards them.  The flames no longer scared him though, nothing did, and with one last slam of the iron club, his brother stumbled back and began to fall over the edge, but with one last movement of life, he managed to reach out and pulled Sandor over with him.

On the outskirts of the woodlands, with the flaming walls of Kings Landing behind them, Tallulah had exploded into a wall of fire, separating the 12 commanders from their Night King. Through the flames, she could see Jon drop down from the trees, behind the blue eyed monster who watched the flames in intrigue and disbelief, completely unawares of the northern prince who was raising his sword for attack.

With one quick movement, Jon was able to slam his sword through the back of the Night King, pulling across to cut him completely in half. The moment he died, a bitterly cold wind blasted across the land, causing every single dead soldier to fall and disappear into a pile of dust.

"Jon!" Tallulah smiled in disbelief as she withdrew her fire and turned to face him.

"We did it!" He laughed and quickly pulled her into a tight hug.

Slowly, Tallulah stepped away and looked back towards the city. "I just hope the plan worked. I hope this victory is not in vain."