Chapter 13: Chapter 13 : Threat Beyond The Wall
"By the Seven, what have you put in my drink, Ned?" Robert all but choked as Benjen carefully placed the item he had brought and finally lifted the cloth covering it.
"Haha… I swear by my hammer, it's not the drink." I, for some reason, had a smile on my face, seeing two of the strongest people on this continent gawking at the thing in front of them.
The two of them surely resembled real brothers by how they looked right now. Though I knew better than to take this as a laughing matter.
"By the Old Gods, Benjen, what is this?" Ned Stark finally came out of his stupor and asked his brother, who stood beside him with a grim face. The others weren't faring any better either.
Understandable, since currently in front of them was a pale blue, severed hand of a White Walker, thrashing around, hitting the small cage restraining it, and making those horrendous noises—like nails being scraped against certain surfaces, sending shivers down one's spine with its high-pitched screeching.
Inside the room stood the King, Ned Stark, Jaime Lannister, Tyrion Lannister, and some other important figures. I had made sure they were all here to learn the truth as soon as possible. I had even considered bringing the Queen, just in case she assassinated Robert like in the show—someone in the South needed to be aware of the White Walkers. But ultimately, I didn't bother. That woman was the kind who would let the entire continent burn if it meant gaining any advantage. Her brothers were much more suited to attend this meeting.
"This is what I've been meaning to talk to you about, brother. I would have brought it up immediately if not for the sudden arrival of the King's entourage. I told Thor to wait a little while, but it seems like he made all that fuss just to get your attention, Your Majesty." Benjen sighed, particularly giving me a glare.
"And waste this excellent opportunity to make the Seven Kingdoms aware of the looming threat beyond the Wall? Not on my watch." I replied, speaking to no one in particular.
"Seven Hells, now's not the time for this. Explain—what is this sorcery?" Robert Baratheon looked at the hand thrashing inside the small iron cage meant for ravens, and a chill went through his spine. He had a very bad feeling about what he was seeing.
"Yes, forget about other things and just explain." Ned Stark asked his brother again. He had an idea of what this could be, but by old god and the new he didn't dare believe it.
"Aye, a few days ago, a small ranger party left Castle Black to investigate wildling activities.
We didn't hear from them for days. Then one of the lads returned with Thor, carrying that thing wrapped and tied up on his shoulders." Benjen paused.
"And it's not just the hand I brought. The entire dead body is still kept in the cellars of Castle Black, roaring and eager to eat anyone foolish enough to unbind it and step inside the cellar." I added, making the others take a sharp breath.
For confirmation, they looked at Benjen, who only nodded.
"When they reached the wildling camp, they found all the wildlings slaughtered—torn to pieces. Though I believe Thor could explain better, as I wasn't there myself." Benjen looked at me, prompting the others to do the same.
"Well, I wasn't there at the start either, to be precise. I just happened to meet the only survivor of the ranger party while I was lost beyond the Wall. He was running from something, and I needed his help to find my way. By now, you all should know I'm not from Westeros.
Before I could ask him anything, behind me stood the owner of this hand. I have to say, I have fought many battles, but I had never seen anything like that before. It was unnatural—the stench of death, the glowing blue eyes. It was as if the thing had crawled out of the stories adults use to scare children." I replied, keeping a straight face and making sure not to break eye contact with the King and Ned Stark.
For a while, there was silence. It seemed they had all lost their words, until finally, the Jaime Lannister spoke up.
"And you expect us to believe that? I'm sorry, but strange as this might be, I don't see myself believing in legends of White Walkers just because of a moving severed hand." jaime said, making all of us look at him.
"Nay, I don't expect you to believe anything. I want you all to see what lies beyond the Wall in the North. I assure you, it's not just some wildlings. I fought one, and thus, I believe it. Will, the ranger, saw two of his fellow Night's Watch brothers die to these things, and thus, he believes it.
The Night's Watch saw this monstrosity when I brought it there, when I caged it inside the cellar, when I severed its hand to bring here—only for the hand to keep moving. They saw the body of that thing still moving even after I crushed half of its skull, after it lost a leg, after it had been without water or food for days. And yet, it still makes noise. It still moves. That is when the Night's Watch believed.
If you find yourself unable to believe, then by all means swordsman, you are welcome to visit the Wall and see this new wonder for yourselves. Perhaps then, you will believe." I said, with a little heat in my tone. Lately, I had found myself quick to anger, and this man insinuating that I was lying only stoked that fire.
Jaime quieted down. He wasn't someone to believe in fairy tales, but the proof was in front of him. Still, he didn't want to believe it. However, if the man who defeated Sandor claimed to have fought and defeated one of these creatures—and if it was imprisoned in Castle Black—then…
"Did you try killing it?" Robert finally spoke after my outburst had silenced Jaime and the others. No one else dared speak after that.
"While fighting it, I dealt enough damage to kill a man ten times over—it did nothing. Part of the reason I brought it to the Wall was that I had no way to kill it. As for whether it is possible to kill, if that's what you're asking, we are not sure. We didn't touch it further, since we needed proof to convince the rest of the Northern lords—and if possible, the South, if we could get any help from there." I replied before Benjen could. At this point, he was probably wondering why he was even here. Who was the First Ranger again?
"Are you telling us that there are more of these things beyond the Wall and we don't have a way to kill them?" Tyrion asked, finally making his presence known. It was easy to forget he was even there.
Hearing Tyrion say that made everyone panic slightly. Their minds rebooted, and they finally started to grasp the reality of the situation—now eager to know what defense the Night's Watch had against this threat.
"Hmm… I'm afraid I have no answer for you, Master Dwarf. I'm just as much in the dark as any of you. I only know that there are more of these things out there, since it's impossible for a single undead to have slaughtered an entire wildling camp. And even if they are not many yet, they will be soon enough—because the corpse this hand belonged to… was a wildling from that same camp…"
That was like a bomb going off. Only a few failed to grasp the implications, but those who did went pale.
"How many wildlings are beyond the Wall currently?" the King asked, his eyes wide, as if he had connected the dots.
For once, the alcohol didn't dull his wits. Unfortunately, he was asking the wrong person—I had no idea. So, even I turned to Benjen for answers.
"We don't know… but if we count all of them… hundreds of thousands." Benjen replied grimly.
"Gods help us…"