After a month and a week, and very long and drawn out running battle against time, Daenerys and her army finally arrived at Riverrun. They stopped at a respectable distance away from the gates of the castle, to show that they weren't trying to be aggressive about their approach. Jon, Sir Davos, and Tyrion walked towards the gates alone, despite Daenerys' protests that Jon should take a personal guard squad. The trio arrived and saw that there was no reaction.
“HO! In the CASTLE!” Sir Davos yelled and both Jon and Tyrion gave him surprised looks. “It should get their attention, at least.”
“No doubt.” Tyrion said. “If the dead weren't already roaming around, you would have woken them.”
Jon smiled and then heard a light ring of metal and then the loud thump of wood. He looked over to see the small door in the large gates open up and a young woman, barely sixteen, walked out. She was dressed in her best dress, which was quite an accomplishment for a peasant, and she walked over to them.
“What can I do for you, my lords?” The young woman asked.
“I wish to have words with the Lord of Riverrun.” Jon said. “There is much to discuss.”
The young woman's face showed surprise for a moment, then she smiled. “I am the Lady of Riverrun.”
Jon stared at the young woman and didn't know what to say.
“My lady.” Tyrion said and bowed his head. “Can you tell us what happened to put you into power?”
“Of course, my lord.” She said and looked back at Jon. “The North Remembers.”
Jon was too shocked to think straight. He had heard all about how Rob, his new wife, and Lady Stark had been killed by the Freys; but, if what this woman said is true, then it meant that all of the men in House Frey were dead. All of them.
Tyrion and Sir Davos saw Jon's apparent inability to respond properly and took things upon themselves.
“My lady, we have travelled far and...” Tyrion started to say.
“We don't have the provisions to feed and water your horses, let alone your whole army.” The Lady of Riverrun said. “The most I can do is open the gates and let you pass.”
“My lady.” Sir Davos said bowed his head slightly. “An army of the dead are chasing us. We need to use your castle to prepare a proper defense.”
The Lady of Riverrun laughed. “A proper defense?” She waved at the giant castle that covered the massive Twin Rivers. “When these gates are closed, nothing can get past them.”
“But, the dead...”
“There are barely five hundred people inside this castle. If these 'dead' are really coming, they won't find much of a fight here.”
“My lady...” Tyrion was about to explain and Jon put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.
“My Lady.” Jon said. “Passage through these honored gates would be much appreciated.”
“Then you and your army can pass through.” The Lady of Riverrun said. “We will bar the gates after you pass through and you need not worry about the army chasing you.”
“Come with us.” Jon said. “If there are only five hundred of you...”
“These last few months on our own have been the best time that any of us have ever thought we deserved.” She said and turned away. “If we are killed by this army, then this time was worth it.”
“Don't just give up.” Tyrion said and she turned back to look at him. “If they kill you, you will join their ranks.”
“Do you believe this army of the dead will kill all of the old lords and ladies as well as the peasants under their rule?”
“Yes, my lady.” Tyrion said, honestly.
“Then my death at their hands will be doubly worth it.” The Lady of Riverrun said and walked away. “It's their fault we have become like we are, so removing them can only be a good thing... no matter how it is accomplished.”
The three men were too surprised by her words to say anything in response, then she disappeared back inside the large gate. Ten minutes later, after a lot of noise, the large gates opened and gave them access to the huge bridge that crossed the massive rivers.
With no other recourse, Jon, Sir Davos, and Tyrion walked back to the head of the army and informed Daenerys of what had transpired. When she heard the news, she didn't react like they thought she would.
“Greyworm.” Daenerys said and he bowed his head to her. “As we pass through the gates, ask five squads of troops to stay behind and leave enough provisions for them.”
“Yes, My Queen.” Greyworm said.
“My Queen, we need those fifty men and their commanders.” Tyrion reminded her.
“Yes, we do.” Daenerys said and looked at Greyworm. “Tell them that they will delay the army of the dead for a long as possible, then they will retreat and join up with us again.”
“Right away, My Queen.” Greyworm said and left to fulfill her orders.
“Is that satisfactory, my Hand?” Daenerys asked Tyrion.
“Of course, my Queen.” Tyrion said and bowed his head briefly.
As they passed through the large gates, Daenerys looked up to see dozens of young women looking down at her from the battlements. Her eyes picked out the young Lady of Riverrun and nodded to her. She had broken free from the chains that had bound her and didn't want to be shackled with more by letting her army stay. She respected that. So, she left troops to help as much as they could and her army continued on.
*
The Lady of Riverrun was surprised to see a beautiful woman riding at the head of the army that passed through her gates, then she was doubly surprised when five of the squads split off and their commanders came to her to arrange lodgings for the length of their stay. They didn't expect it to be long, considering how close the army of the dead was, and they warned her as such.
She quickly arranged for their needs and they stored their provisions where they were told, then they formulated the best way to defend the giant castle from the dead. She hadn't quite believed the lords when they made the outrageous claim, and now she had no choice but to believe that they believed that the dead were coming for them. She would hold off her own judgment until she saw them for herself.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
It was unfortunate that her view, that they wouldn't believe it until they saw it, was to be common among all of the people Daenerys and her army told the tale to. By the time they got to see it for themselves, it would be much too late to do anything about it.
The large gates were barred to their fullest extent and then other defenses were set up that would stem the tide of the battle. It would not be enough to stop the dead, though. After travelling for over a month through the countryside and among the people, who couldn't defend themselves, the army of the dead had once again grown to their previous proportions. It took just over a week for them to arrive.
Just over three million dead appeared on the horizon.
They spread out as far as the eye could see and were a blight on the land. Some of the women inside the castle started to scream at the sight. They were quickly stifled by the others, because there was no point in screaming and drawing attention to yourself. They were coming and that was all that mattered.
“Kind sirs.” The Lady of Riverrun said to the commanders of the troops that Daenerys had left her. “I see now that my own foolish pride had blinded me to the truth.” She said. “However, we cannot run in the face of these forces.”
The commanders let a rare smile show on their faces as she told them the ways that her people had held off countless armies over the years.
“I suggest waiting until they are close enough so that your men can get an accurate count, then send them after your queen to let her know what is coming.” The Lady of Riverrun said.
“You would have made a good general.” One of the unsullied said.
“You would have made a better husband than the worthless garbage I was married to before he died.”
The unsullied had never been complimented in that fashion before, so their passion for the coming battle went from resignation of their fate, to proving that even a small amount of unsullied were worth thousands of normal troops. And they did.
*
It was almost three weeks later when Daenerys and her army arrived at the crossroads to go to either The Eyrie, the seat of House Arryn, or to King's Landing. The Eyrie's castle complex straddled a mountaintop that was thousands of feet above the valley below, making it an easily defensible position, and it would be the best place to fight off an army of the dead. It had never fallen to any ground forces in all of its history, mainly because any invaders needed to pass through three castles along the path through the narrow valley, which made any ground troops completely vulnerable to archery fire.
The upside to going there, was it was another three weeks travel and took them away from the main path of the army of the dead. If they went this way, there was a good chance that the army would completely pass them by. On the downside, if they did go this way, then there would be absolutely no way to leave if the dead followed them. They would be boxed in and would have to fight the dead until either the dead were all destroyed or they were all dead themselves.
Daenerys and her advisers were in the middle of the discussion to weigh the benefits of using the Eyrie when one of the scouts shouted a warning. A few minutes later, two very ragged unsullied, barely alive, were brought into their encampment.
“My... My Queen.” One of them managed to say. “It... fell.”
“That's not possible.” Jon said.
Daenerys looked at him and saw his surprise.
“There's a reason The Twins have stood all these years.” Jon continued. “How could they fall?”
“It... it w-was...” The unsullied coughed and someone handed him and his fellow water skins. They took several shaky drinks and a long breath before one of them spoke.
“A dragon.” The other unsullied said to everyone's shock. “It was a dragon that breathed blue fire.”
Daenerys gasped and covered her heart as she staggered and Jon grabbed her and held her steady.
“They... they took my Viserion!” Daenerys exclaimed and desperately held onto Jon, so she wouldn't collapse from the grief that gripped her heart.
“Tell us what happened.” Jorah Mormont commanded, and the unsullied relayed the tale.
-
The dead moved towards the large gates as if the gates didn't matter to them. They moved almost as one towards the bottleneck that the castle represented. Or so the defenders thought. To their utter surprise, the first few thousand members of the dead army fell right into the water and were washed away.
“That's it! Keep walking to your deaths!” One of the women shouted, to the amusement of the others.
As if they had heard her shout a command, the entire army stopped walking. The poor woman was embarrassed to have caused the dead to stop what she wanted them to do. She started to apologize for her mistake and then the sea of the dead parted. The women and the five squads of unsullied watched in fascination as the twelve hundred or so white walkers came through the opening. No one breathed as the feeling of death flowed out from them and sent chills down their spines.
It wasn't death doing that, though. It was actually freezing cold, because they had brought winter with them. Arctic and icy winds carried snow and ice around them, then amazingly, those winds focused on the raging waters of the twin rivers that joined under the castle. It was slow at first, then it grew in intensity as the churning water slowed down. The currents underneath still flowed; but, the surface of the water came to a complete stop.
It was freezing over!
To the defender's shock and horror, the thin ice became thicker and turned white, to show that it was safe to walk on, and then the army of the dead stepped onto the ice and kept walking. The defender's plans to block or even slow down the army of the dead were less than useless.
“We need to go.” One of the unsullied commanders said to the others. “Grab the women and run!”
His order seemed a little self-serving to those that hadn't seen what he just saw. Water proved to be no barrier for the dead. He didn't know that he was witnessing the fatal flaw of the large magic ice wall that protected the lands. It only protected and blocked off access to the land. The water on either side of it was completely open, which was why the dead had moved across the untamed upper north to go to Hardhome first. It was right on the water and their path from there led them directly past the wall and into the lands of the Northmen.
The unsullied did their best to gather who they could, so they could start running. It was a hasty retreat and most of the women decided to stay behind. He couldn't fault them for choosing to stay, mainly because the army of the dead was walking past them right then. Running was going to be a very dangerous proposition.
“Do you have the count?” He asked his five scouts and they nodded. “You need to tell the Queen! Go!”
The five scouts started to run ahead of the rest, then there was a loud bang. And another. Everyone stopped running and turned around to see what could make such a sound, then the large gates of the castle exploded inwards in a ball of blue flame. All the women screamed as the dead dragon roared its defiance at the thing that had barred its way, then they started to run again.
This was a mistake.
Viserion saw them and its glowing blue eyes sparkled as the little motes of life tried to flee from his wrath. It barked a short roar, as it clearing its throat, then it spewed out another long gout of magical blue flame. Unsullied and women alike screamed in pain for only a moment, then they were no more. Fortunately, the scouts were far enough ahead that only two of them had been caught in the very edge of the attack and only the backs of their shirts had caught on fire. They stripped off those burning clothes and the five of them ran for all they were worth.
-
“Only two of you remain.” Daenerys said, her grief pushed aside temporarily, thanks to Jon's support.
“We... lost...” The unsullied couldn't continue and collapsed from exhaustion. The other had fell unconscious only moments before.
“Tend to them and make sure they are rewarded for their bravery.” Daenerys said and the two men were taken away.
“My Queen, if I may speak?” Tyrion asked.
Daenerys nodded.
“I believe I have the best strategy, considering this new information.” Tyrion said.
“Please enlighten us.” Daenerys said.
“We have been debating on whether we should continue on to King's Landing to make our final stand, or if we should divert and make our defense in The Eyrie.” Tyrion said. “I suggest we do both.”
Everyone looked at him like he was insane.
“We only have one army.” Sir Davos said. “We can't be in two places at once.”
“We can be if we split the army.” Tyrion said, to their surprise.
“At the moment, we cannot even hope to stand against the army of the dead with what we have.” Daenerys said, even though she hated to admit it.
“If we split the army, we will die that much faster.” Jorah Mormont said. “How will we protect the Queen if we are all dead?”
Tyrion smiled and it pulled on the scar across his face. He reached up and touched it, because he hadn't felt that sensation in a while. A smile on his face had been a long time in coming.
“Before you take the job of Hand from me, Sir Jorah, let me explain.” Tyrion said and kept smiling as he told them what his plan entailed and he had everyone's undivided attention.