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The Dothraki were in full retreat. Their charge had cost them little in lives, but their horses had spent most of their strength.
The human-shaped wights behind them were one thing. The animal corpses were another. They could run nearly as fast as warhorses, especially now that the horses had already burned through a full charge.
Jimmy had Horus pouring fire down as hard as he could, but an encirclement was still beginning to form around the Dothraki riders. The crescent-shaped wings were already closing in from both sides.
Then the war horn sounded.
From the slopes on either side, Robb's elk cavalry burst into view.
Without realizing it, they had already reached a narrow valley, and the dead had split into two sections: the slower human-shaped wights and the faster animal ones.
Then came the thunder of the giants.
Two hundred giant warriors charged out, their massive shields studded with cruel, razor-sharp dragonglass spikes.
In their other hands, they carried long, bristling weapons like monstrous anti-cavalry poles.
Two hundred giants.
Enough to seal the valley shut.
The Free Folk host moved in behind them. Part of the force began digging trenches at speed while the rest drew their bows.
Jaime was also there, charging alongside the riders. He led the elk cavalry on the left flank, while Robb commanded the right.
The two attacks occurred almost simultaneously, proof that both men had judged the timing with nearly identical precision. As enemies, they would have respected one another. As allies, they were exactly the kind of men you trusted with your life.
"Run. Keep running. Let the horses recover first. Then we decide the next move."
Jimmy was shouting himself hoarse from Horus's back. Some of the Dothraki looked ready to argue, but Jimmy gave the order, wheeled away, and was gone.
The pressure at the front still needed relieving.
This time he let Horus act freely, then jumped down and charged straight into the dead with Horse-Cutter and Cloudsplitter in hand.
He had no time to waste. The giant line was already starting to tilt under the impact.
And that was after the dense volleys of arrows had already cut down a large number before the dead even reached them.
Then the dragons arrived.
All three of them.
Daenerys and Jon rode above, but for a moment neither dared order dragonfire. Jimmy was leaping and cutting through the dead below, and neither of them wanted to risk roasting him with the enemy.
Jimmy saw their hesitation immediately.
"Burn them. I'm fine with fire."
To prove it, he smashed a jar of lamp oil across his own helmet, then signaled Horus for a blast.
Flames washed over him.
And out of that fire, Jimmy came charging, blades moving even faster, his whole body carrying a burning aura that made him even deadlier than before.
After watching him for a few moments and seeing that he was still very much alive and fighting harder than ever, they finally let go of their doubts.
"Dracarys."
Dragonfire roared down.
Three dragons and Horus unleashed flame into the narrow mouth of the valley, and for one brief, blazing stretch of time, they actually held back the tidal wave of the dead.
…
"Pull back."
The dragons had nearly burned their lungs dry. They banked hard and turned toward Winterfell. The giants began retreating in order, moving along the escape corridor that had been left open for them.
Once they had fallen back to a safe distance, flaming arrows were loosed.
A line of fire sprang to life, forming a blazing barrier that cut the dead off on the far side.
Watching the wights stagger forward through the flames, their bodies burning while they still kept coming, sent a chill through everyone who saw it.
Yes, they had killed many of the dead that day. The heaviest losses had come when the Wall itself collapsed. But after seeing how many still remained, no one felt even the faintest taste of victory.
From above, it looked like a river of fire had been drawn across the land, sealing the dead away from the North.
That barrier had bought them at least one night.
The cost was staggering.
Nearly all the North's stored firewood had gone into making it, leaving only the bare minimum needed for survival. Even if the entire North emptied itself, it would be nearly impossible to create another such wall of flame.
…
There was no point holding Last Hearth anymore.
The castle was too small, its walls too low. One full rush from the dead would flatten it completely.
Winterfell.
The last line of defense in the North.
The place where the final battle would be fought.
Every remaining soldier had been gathered there.
…
"And where exactly do you plan to ambush the Night King?"
"At the heart tree in Winterfell. If he knows I'm there, he'll come himself. We only need a small group of elites. The dragons and the eagle can't be near the godswood, or he may not come at all."
Bran spoke calmly to Jimmy.
It sounded less like a plan and more like a notice. A statement of terms. The conditions for a duel already decided.
Jimmy barely reacted.
"That's fine. I can kill him by myself anyway."
…
Jimmy, Arya, Theon, and Beric took the innermost position, guarding Bran beneath the heart tree.
In the woods around the outer edge, the best of the ironborn waited in ambush.
To be fair, when it came to fighting as individuals, the ironborn were stronger than most. But stationed there like this, they were all but guaranteed to die.
This was a war between powers far beyond ordinary men.
How could common soldiers truly take part in something like this?
Once everything was in place, Winterfell shifted fully into battle mode.
In the entire castle, only Jimmy and Bran truly believed victory was certain.
Jimmy believed because he had the strength for it.
Bran believed because he had a plan.
…
And what was Cersei doing at that very moment?
She was receiving the captain of the Golden Company from the Free Cities.
That was her confidence.
That was the foundation of her nerve.
Every one of Cersei's armies was gathering at the Twins. If the North lost, she had every intention of blocking the survivors from retreating south.
And if the North somehow won, then it would still be a bloody, shattered victory.
At that point, she could strike north from the Twins by land and river, sweep into the North, and crush whatever was left.
As for the dragons, Qyburn had supposedly developed improved scorpions. Fifty-six of them, if his count was to be believed.
Three dragons against fifty-six scorpions.
Cersei was convinced they would not survive that.
As for Jimmy's eagle, that might prove trickier.
Still, if he refused to know his place, she intended to kill him along with the rest.
Where that confidence came from, no one could say.
The Golden Company alone was not enough. Nor was the patched-together host she had scraped together.
…
At last, the Night King's forces finished clearing a path through the shattered Wall.
The line of fire that had once cut them off had burned itself out.
Nothing remained to slow their march.
They came day and night without rest.
Soon, the vanguard of the dead was only a day away from Winterfell.
And with the Night King's approach, even the weather itself began to turn.
Snow.
Bitter winds.
A killing cold.
Dark clouds that swallowed the sky.
Even the flames in the braziers seemed to shrink away from it all.
Ordinary men were shaken by the change.
Even Jimmy felt the tension settling in.
At night, the blizzard made it nearly impossible to see clearly. But it brought one advantage with it.
No one could tell how many wights were still out there.
So the only thing left was simple.
Charge when it was time to charge.
Kill whatever stood in front of you.
Every corpse brought down meant one more sliver of hope.
The three dragons and Horus poured fire across the field without restraint.
This time, everyone but the cavalry remained inside the walls.
The riders would charge until their horses began to fail, then fall back under the cover and guidance of the dragons and Horus.
That was the plan.
But when it came time to carry it out, even half the riders escaping alive would have counted as mercy from the gods.
Robb was still deep in the fighting when an ice spear came screaming toward him.
It struck with a sharp burst, exploding into a spray of frozen shards.
Another ambush from the Night King.
"Kill!"
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