16 | HARDHOME

When Jon and Reyanna arrived to a small village north of the Wall, Hardhome, they were greeted with hundreds of pale wildlings staring back at them. "You trust me, Jon Snow?" Tormund muttered to Jon.

"Does that make me a fool?" Jon asked.

"We're fools together now." Tormund spoke, then led Jon up to the wildling leaders. Reyanna followed closely behind.

"Lord of Bones. Been a long time." Tormund greeted the lord.

"Last time I saw you, the little crow was your prisoner. The other way around now. What happened?" Lord of Bones inquired.

"War." Tormund answered.

"War? You call that a war? The greatest army the North has ever seen cut to pieces by some southern king." The Lord scoffed.

"We should gather the elders, find somewhere quiet to talk." Tormund suggested.

"You don't give the orders here." The Lord growled.

"I'm not giving an order." Tormund clarified.

"Why aren't you in chains?" The Lord peered down at Tormund's wrists.

"He's not my prisoner." Jon spoke up.

"No? What is he?" Lord of Bones barked at Jon. Jon tried to search his mind for the proper term but only ended up stumbling over his words and looking like a fool.

"A friend." Reyanna stepped up, piquing the Lord's attention. He recognized her and noted that she was one of them before. Yet, now, she wore the clothes of a crow.

"Ah. The traitor. What? You plan on ruling the wildlings?" The Lord hissed.

"If that's what it takes for them to survive, yes." Reyanna spat back in his face, looking straight up at him.

The Lord turned to Tormund. "Fucking idiot. You have a weak spot for the traitor. You fight for her? For the crows?"

"And you have a weak spot for the bones you use to cover your horrific face. Bones can't hide your age, m'lord. Tormund doesn't fight for the crows. I don't fight for the crows. We fight for our survival. All of our survival." Reyanna dragged the wretched man. He was one of many leader of the wildlings. He was just another bystander that could get in the way of the masses from surviving by allowing them to move south.

"We're not here to fight. We're here to talk." Jon spoke up.

"Is that's right?" The Lord asked Reyanna to assure. Reyanna nodded.

The Lord of Bones was about to reach out and grab Rey by the throat when Tormund pushed her out of the way and began to beat the aging Lord. Tormund didn't stop slamming his fist down on his head until he heard the spirits of blood coming from his brain. When he was done, he stood up and looked to the others. "Gather the elders and let's talk." He growled out to the crowd.

* * *

Inside a small building, all of the elders, Tormund, Jon and Reyanna all met to discuss terms to save the wildlings. "My name's Jon Snow. I'm Lord Commander of the Night's Watch. We're not friends. We've never been friends. We won't become friends today. This isn't about friendship. This is about survival. This is about putting a 700 foot wall between you and what's out there." Jon spoke to the leaders.

"You built that wall to keep us out." A woman leader mentioned.

"Since when do the crows give two shits if we live?" Another leader mumbled.

"In normal times we wouldn't. But these aren't normal times. The white walkers don't care if a man's free folk or crow. We're all the same to them, near for their army. But together, we can beat them." Jon announced.

"Beat the white walkers? Good luck with that. Run from them, maybe." The same woman from earlier snickered.

Jon took off the satchel he was wearing and handed it to that very woman. "It's not a trick. It's a gift for those who join us. Dragonglass. A man of the Night's Watch used one of these daggers to kill a walker." Jon informed the crowd.

"You saw this?"
"No. But I trust the man."

"There are old stories about dragonglass." The woman noted.

"There are old stories about ice spiders as big as hounds." Another, sarcastically, spoke.

"And with the things we've seen, you don't believe them?" She snapped back at him. Reyanna was taking a liking to this woman.

"Regardless if these daggers work or not, trust me, you'd rather be on our side of the wall when the walkers come. We'd have a small fighting chance." Reyanna stated to the crowd. The crowd murmured in agreement.

"I like when she talks." The woman spoke, nodding in satisfaction of Reyanna.

"There are good lands south of the wall. The Night's Watch will let you through the tunnel and allow your people to farm those lands. I knew Mance Rayder. He never wanted a war with the Night's Watch. He wanted a new life for his people, for you. We're prepared to give you that new life." Jon told.

"If?..." The woman waited for him to continue for the catch.

"If you swear you'll join us when the real war begins." Jon finished.

"Where's Mance?" Another elder asked. There was silence for a moment.

"He died."
"How?"
"He was burned alive."

Reyanna palmed her forehead. Commotion erupted in the room and people began to scream harsh things at Jon. "Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey!" Tormund stood up in front of Jon to protect him from any wild wildlings.

"I say we send the Lord Commander back to Castle Black with no eyes." One elder muttered out lowly as he readied his knife.

"And I say I'll flay you alive then feed you to the walkers if you dare try." Reyanna growled at him, pulling out her own, larger and sharper knife.

The man began to pursue Reyanna, but again, Tormund stopped him by standing between him and her. "Hey, none of you saw Mance die. I did. The southern king who broke our army, Stannis, burned him alive to send ya a message. Jon Snow wanted to defy the cunt's orders. We need the courage to make peace with men we've been killing for generations." Tormund elaborated on Mance's death.

"I lost my father, my uncle and two brothers fighting the damn crows." The woman from earlier announced.

"I'm not asking you to forget your dead. I'll never forget mine! I lost 50 brothers the night that Mance attacked the Wall. But I'm asking you to think about your children now. They'll never have children of their own if we don't band together. The Long Night is coming and the dead come with it. No clan can stop them. The free folk can't stop them. The Night's Watch can't stop them. And all the southern kings can't stop them! Only together, all of us. And even then it may not be enough, but at least we'll give the fuckers a fight." Jon lectured the ignorant wildlings.

They were all quieted for a mere moment before the woman from earlier spoke up again. "You vouch for this man, Tormund?" She asked.

Tormund looked over to Reyanna, then to Jon. "He's prettier than both my daughters, but he knows how to fight. He's young, but he knows how to lead. If Reyanna— the fiercest and most reckless woman I know— likes him, then I do too. He didn't have to come to Hardhome. He came because he needs us and we need him." Tormund told.

One Thenn spoke up. "My ancestors would spit on me if I broke bread with a crow."

"So would mine, but fuck 'em, they're dead." The woman spat. She approached Jon. "I'll never trust a man in black. But I trust you, Tormund." She turned to Tormund.

"If you say this is the way, we're with you." She finished.

"This is the way." Tormund's usual gravelly voice sounded out.

"I'm with Tormund."
"We stay here, we're dead men."
"Keep that new life you want to give us."

The mixed reactions split the wildlings drastically. "Keep you glass, too. As soon as you get on his ships, they're gonna slit your throats and dump your bodies to the bottom of the Shivering Sea. That's our enemy. That has always been our enemy." A Thenn leader spoke out then left the small building. Many others followed him out.

"I fucking hate Thenns." The woman spoke.

"Me too." Reyanna smirked at her.

* * *

Many wildlings were already boarding the ships awaiting off the coast. Those that didn't agree with the alliance, stayed back. "How many are with us, 5,000?" Jon asked Tormund.

"I'm not good at counting." Tormund answered.

"We're leaving too many behind." Jon huffed.

"The free folk are stubborn. You know how long it took Mance to band them together? 20 fucking years." Tormund sighed.

"And he knew them better than I ever will." Jon spoke in a sad manner.

"They're running out of food and there's nothing to hunt. They'll come around. Plus, you've got a wildling girl by your side. The others like to see a fierce leader." Tormund assured Jon before walking away.

Reyanna was on the dock watching people load onto the small row boats to head to the large ships. She watched as the woman from earlier led her two daughters to a boat. Once her daughters departed, Reyanna approached her. "They're beautiful." Rey mentioned.

"They're scared."
"They'll be safe."
"How do I know?"
"I'll make sure of it."

"What's your name?" The woman asked.

"Reyanna. And yours?" Rey asked.

"Karsi." She introduced herself. Little did Reyanna know, that name would mean much more to her in the future.

* * *

The dogs of the village began barking insanely. A loud rumbling noise could be heard past the tall fence that encased the coastal village. Reyanna looked over to Jon who was on a distant dock. Jon locked his eyes with her and widened them as he realized exactly what was coming. Wildlings began running to the docks, away from the fence. The gates of the fence were instantly closed. Hundreds of wildlings were locked outside of the gates. There was pounding and screaming at the gates for the others to let them in. The screams of terror seemed to be unending and they gave listeners chills.

Then, there was sudden silence.

It only made the hairs on Reyanna's arms stand up straight. The silence consumed the village as they all realized what was going on outside of the gates. Wildlings had charged in and killed all of the people in one swipe. They probably even managed to change them into their own blue eyes soldiers all in one instant. The magical beasts were incredibly powerful, and now, even Reyanna doubted if they could ever beat them.

People began to desperately climb onto boats to head toward the ships to safety, but Reyanna stood her ground to fight. The silence that overcame the village soon was disturbed when the growls of the undead began to sound out throughout the city. The undead was managing to punch their way through the fence and more and more wildlings managed to flee to the ships.

The fence shook as walkers began to climb it. Reyanna pulled out her sword and nodded over at Jon who was desperately trying to get out of the swarms of people trying to jump into boats. Tormund ran up to Reyanna and grabbed her arm. "If they get through, everyone dies!" He noted.

"I understand that, Tormund. Get Jon to a boat now!" Reyanna shouted at him.

"Don't you think I've tried? He's staying to fight." Tormund grunted.

Reyanna huffed and ran toward the fence to try to help keep the walkers away. As the walkers squeezed through the fence, Reyanna took them on one by one by decapitating them. Reyanna continued to slice, swing and stab as much as she could until she realized the four leading white walkers stood on the mountain before the village. They looked down upon the seige with such authority it made Reyanna shiver. She knew she had to get to the dragonglass. Because if one of those leading white walkers got near, they'd end everyone.

She ran back to the small building where they had the meeting with the wildlings. On the way there, she saw a giant— with wildlings attacking it like pesky flies— burst out of the building. When she got there, Jon and a Thenn were already there searching for some dragonglass too. The entire building was up in flames because someone lit it up to keep the undead away. On the other side of the building, one of the leaders of the white walkers marched into the building. He stared the three opponents down with his icy eyes. "Get the glass." The Thenn shouted at Jon and Rey before charging at the walker.

Both Jon and Rey dropped to their knees and crawled around the room to find the daggers of deaginglass. But, soon enough, the walker killed the Thenn quicker than expected. He then moved on to attack Jon. Reyanna's palms began to get quite sweaty and her heart was pounding against her chest. She feared the walker would come after her or kill Jon before they could even try to fight the beast.

Fortunately, she found some dragonglass buried in a corner of the room. She crawled into the hole and hid in it until she found the opportunity to attack the walker. The walker was flinging Jon around and eventually managed to throw him into a lower level of the building. The walker stood on the upper level, looking down at Jon with his creepy blue eyes, for a moment before jumping down to reach Jon. Jon was suffering in pain. He had landed on his back and his eardrums were busted. He grabbed his chest, trying to catch his breath since he had gotten winded.

That was when Reyanna took charge.

She jumped down on the lower level onto the walker's shoulders. She strangled him to get a better grip on him to hold on. The walker stabbed his spear up in the air and managed to slice Reyanna's sides a few times. She struggled to pound the dragonglass into his throat, as he was moving too much. And before long, the walker managed to throw her on the ground with full force. He lifted his spear, preparing to end her life. Reyanna kept her eyes open. She didn't want to give the walker the satisfaction of watching her cower before she died.

Just as the walked began to thrust his spear down at Reyanna, Jon popped out of no where with a sword and swung it at the walker. The walker and his spear shattered into shards of ice.

Reyanna gasped for air, feeling like she had been holding it forever. Jon dropped to his knees next to Reyanna. Reyanna peered at his snow dusted curls as she felt her mind slip away into darkness. She knew she wasn't dying. But she definitely knew she was going unconscious. She forced herself to turn on her knees and begin crawling away from the scene. "The dragonglass!" Jon shouted at her.

"Fuck the dragonglass!" Reyanna grunted in pain as Jon helped her stand up.

The two turned around to run to the boats but stopped in their tracks when a frail white walker with no eyes and a thin frame faced them. It seemed to be a child. Reyanna grabbed her knife from her hip and threw it at the walker. It collapsed on sight. "Let's go before more comes. They're breaking through the fence." Reyanna mentioned before she began pushing through the pain of her cuts and running to the row boats with Jon by her side. The two and a few other men hopped on and began rowing quickly to get away from the mainland.

They all watched the scene of infiltrating whit walkers as they rowed away from the coast. It seemed as if the walkers couldn't swim because they stayed on shore killing the remaining survivors. Just when Jon and Rey through the horrible scene was over, the dead warriors from the fight then began to rise. This time, with blue eyes— now soldiers to the undead army. It was horrifying and chilling to see. Their army multiplied by two and it was now more powerful than ever. Reyanna was sure they'd never be able to defeat their army now that their army grew so large.

The only question she had now was... what was in Jon's sword that he managed to destroy a white walker with only a tap of it?